The two of them traveled atop the "Rainbow Dragon."
The speed was a little—no, far too fast.
Gojo Satoru plastered himself against the surface of the flying cursed spirit, his backside stuck as if glued in place, while Getou Suguru was blasted by the fierce wind until his eyes narrowed to thin slits. He spoke through the gale, "By convention, aren't cursed spirits in Kyoto supposed to be handled by the Three Great Families?"
Gojo Satoru replied, "The hell would I know what those people are thinking?"
He braced himself against the freezing air currents at high altitude and urged impatiently, "We're running out of time. Go faster."
Getou Suguru said nothing and silently urged the "Rainbow Dragon" to accelerate. At twice the previous speed, even he was nearly blown off.
He clung desperately to the dragon's scales beneath him, the muscles in his arms bulging as cursed energy began to circulate through his body.
"Gojo," he asked through gritted teeth, "are you satisfied now?"
"Hahahaha—this is awesome! Suguru, your eyes are completely gone!"
"..."
"And that funny weird bang of yours is gone too!"
"..."
Getou Suguru had long since stopped getting into arguments over such "trivial matters." He could only smile helplessly.
"So you finally admit it, Suguru—you can't win an argument with me," Gojo Satoru said, placing a hand on Getou Suguru's shoulder. He extended the Limitless technique to cover the area above Getou Suguru's chest, but not his entire body; otherwise, an aerial traffic accident would occur on the spot, and Getou Suguru would lose contact with the flying cursed spirit he was controlling.
Getou Suguru was finally able to open his eyes. His pupils were small and deep, and the single lock of bangs he styled most carefully every morning fell over his left eye, paired with the high bun tied at the back of his head to form his distinctly recognizable appearance.
Either Gojo Satoru was deliberately stirring up trouble, or Getou Suguru refused to play along—calm, level-headed conversations between the two were rare.
Yet on their urgent dash toward Kyoto University, they somehow ended up creating exactly that kind of atmosphere.
Gojo Satoru spoke bluntly and without preamble. "I'll say this straight. I treat both you and Akiya as friends, so you're not allowed to lose your mind like you did last time. Akiya only has one life—if you get him killed, that would be far too pitiful."
The corner of Getou Suguru's mouth, which had been about to curl into a smile, stiffened and pressed into a straight line. "I would never want to kill him."
Gojo Satoru answered immediately, "But right now, Suguru, you can't protect Akiya."
Getou Suguru lowered his head. "Akiya is waiting for me to become stronger. When I'm strong enough…"
The hand gripping his shoulder quietly slid up to that strange lock of bangs. Gojo Satoru tugged at it, lifting it aside, revealing those eyes so small that Gojo often joked he couldn't see them properly—eyes that were, in truth, astonishingly resolute, their determination laid bare under the gaze of the Six Eyes, which missed nothing.
"Then we'll take those people down together!"
"…Aren't you the young master of one of the Three Great Families?" Getou Suguru asked. "You'd really dare to betray your own class?"
"Are you looking down on me?"
Gojo Satoru did not rise to the provocation. He let out a short, scornful laugh. "I don't have a class. I don't have parents, and I don't have siblings. I was born destined to become the strongest in the jujutsu world, and everyone has told me that with their attitude—"
In front of his friend, Gojo Satoru laid bare the lawless, unrestrained side of his nature.
"You have the right to change the rules."
Not giving Getou Suguru a chance to refute him, Gojo Satoru added the reason that only Asou Akiya had understood back then. "It's just that now isn't the time yet. I haven't mastered the Reversed Cursed Technique, and I can't take on the Three Great Families by myself."
He smiled as he spoke. "So wait a little longer. You and I—we'll become even stronger."
There was no ambition in his words, only a clear, crystalline certainty, as though he were stating an unalterable fact already set in stone.
"You got one more thing wrong," Getou Suguru said. He was never willing to let Gojo Satoru shine alone. At that moment, he clenched his fist and thrust it toward him. Gojo Satoru tensed—was he about to start a fight?—but then he heard Getou Suguru continue, "No. We will be the strongest. In the future, no one will be able to cross our defenses and hurt Akiya."
That so-called modern era's sole special-grade sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo? Never seen her. Don't know her.
In Getou Suguru's eyes, only Gojo Satoru's strength was worthy of acknowledgment.
Gojo Satoru's blood surged hotly, driven by emotion, and he clenched his fist as well, knocking it against Getou Suguru's in response.
High above the ground, Gojo Satoru's coming-of-age story now had many participants. Each person contributed a portion of the force that dragged the "Six Eyes" prodigy down into the mortal world, and among them, Getou Suguru and Asou Akiya occupied the greatest share. Gojo Satoru shouted noisily, "Suguru! Then how are we dealing with Akiya later? He said we're not as mature and handsome as college students!"
Getou Suguru placed no value on academic credentials; in his view, students from Jujutsu High who saved ordinary people were far cooler than any university student.
"We can't bully Akiya," Getou Suguru said. "He just has bad taste."
His voice, still carrying a smile, paused. A word of intimacy lingered in his throat, circling again and again before finally being released.
"Satoru, let's go correct his way of thinking."
…
Kyoto University. Crows circled near the rooftop.
Mei Mei observed the battle from the sidelines, the light in her right eye flickering as it reflected the scene unfolding within the Curtain.
Her cursed technique, Black Bird Manipulation, allowed her to control weak animals. By sharing vision with the crows on site, she could monitor the flow of battle at all times, maintaining constant readiness to rescue Asou Akiya if necessary.
Asou Akiya had no savings.
And her premium, high-end service attitude was usually reserved for big-spending clients.
However, Asou Akiya owed her two hundred million yen, plus two full years' worth of interest.
Mei Mei thought to herself: If something happens to my junior right under my nose, I'll jump straight off this rooftop. Aside from taxes siphoned away by governments around the world—which already break my heart—there must not be a second thing in this world that makes my heart ache!
Without realizing it, the way Mei Mei looked at Asou Akiya became overlaid with the exclusive filter reserved for a VVVVIP client.
Seeing Asou Akiya calmly facing the corpses of the dead, Mei Mei felt satisfied.
Seeing Asou Akiya probe the cursed spirit and respond to an unknown cursed technique, Mei Mei heightened her vigilance.
Seeing Asou Akiya narrowly evade the cursed spirit's indiscriminate attacks, Mei Mei broke into a cold sweat on his behalf.
"A Grade One cursed tool?"
Mei Mei recognized the longsword in Asou Akiya's hand—one capable of injuring a Semi–Grade One cursed spirit. With her extensive background knowledge, she was genuinely surprised. "It's not a weapon from Tokyo Jujutsu High's restricted vault. There's an imprint on it… does it belong to the Gojo family?"
Mei Mei immediately began calculating rental fees. "A Grade One cursed tool is worth at least seventy million yen. Rentals are charged by the day, with a daily rate of no less than twenty thousand yen. Sword-type cursed tools are always more sought-after than my axe—high demand, limited supply. The vast majority of second-grade sorcerers after graduation can't afford to buy one, let alone rent it. Is Gojo-kun really that generous to his classmates?"
She felt a flicker of regret—none of her own classmates had ever been like that.
Still, compared to being overshadowed by Gojo Satoru and Getou Suguru in the future, she decided that being a dependable senior wasn't such a bad option after all.
"Junior Asou, don't let the expensive cursed tool in your hands gather dust."
Mei Mei watched him with open anticipation.
She had not told Yaga Masamichi or Asou Akiya in advance that the Higher-Ups had a tendency to make things deliberately difficult, mixed with a clear desire to prevent Asou Akiya from advancing too quickly. Ordinarily, a mission involving the exorcism of a Semi–Grade One cursed spirit would be used as the promotion assessment for a second-grade sorcerer aiming to advance to first grade, not as an evaluation for a third-grade sorcerer seeking promotion to semi–second grade.
To lower the difficulty somewhat, Mei Mei reinforced the power of the Curtain, confining the cursed spirit to a limited area so it could not escape.
Barely… that made things a little fairer.
On the battlefield, Asou Akiya realized that in a real confrontation, there was no room to dwell on the origins of a cursed spirit's birth. The first thing he had to overcome was the effect of its cursed technique—the terror of plunging from a great height. From time to time, the ground beneath his feet produced the vivid illusion of falling straight off the rooftop. For an ordinary sorcerer, that moment of disorientation would last several seconds, long enough for the Semi–Grade One cursed spirit to seize the opening and launch a sneak attack, ending the mission in failure.
Sorcerers rarely possessed the ability to fly, let alone experience with high-altitude combat. That Asou Akiya could react instantly was thanks to his prior sparring with Rainbow Dragon, as well as his own firsthand experience of falling from great heights.
—After all, Gojo Satoru had once tossed him off from several thousand meters in the air.
Asou Akiya's wealth of combat experience was enough to make past graduates of Tokyo Jujutsu High from civilian backgrounds burn with envy.
Just look at Utahime Iori—despite having a cursed technique, it had taken her three full years of struggle to be promoted to second grade. Asou Akiya, on the other hand, had spent less than a year skyrocketing in strength, to the point where he could now face head-on a quasi–Grade One cursed spirit that Utahime would only be able to challenge next year.
"So it's just falling to your death?" Asou Akiya bent his knees again, sword in hand, launching another attack while forcibly suppressing the dizziness of descent.
"As if I haven't been through that before."
He struggled to adapt.
If he failed this mission, Gojo Satoru and Getou Suguru would definitely make him jump off buildings thousands of times until he developed an immunity.
The two DKs were equally despicable in that regard.
Asou Akiya counted his heartbeat, calculating the interval between the cursed technique's repeated "falls"—one minute. Fresh abrasions appeared on his body from rolling across the ground. Seizing that precious minute, he hurled himself forward without hesitation, closing the distance to the cursed spirit. Guided by instinct, he locked onto the point where cursed energy was most densely concentrated—
the more than ten tightly packed human heads embedded in the Semi–Grade One cursed spirit's body, the source of its hatred, the source of its cursed power.
All of the missing people had been completely pulverized, leaving behind only their heads, reduced to nourishment for the cursed spirit.
Within a single minute, Asou Akiya pierced through every one of those heads.
Even if it meant being smashed to his death, even if the rooftop collapsed beneath him, Asou Akiya would complete this mission—success was the only option, failure was not permitted.
The one-minute countdown came to an end.
The cursed energy core of the Semi–Grade One cursed spirit was destroyed by the razor-sharp longsword.
Flame-shaped cursed energy, combined with the cursed tool's innate Scorch technique, ignited a blazing crimson inferno. The flames swallowed the cursed spirit whole, leaving behind a blackened silhouette. A shriek, eerily similar to a human scream, tore through the air as the stench of scorched corruption spread, making it impossible to tell who, exactly, was struggling to survive.
Cursed spirits of Grade Two and above were more than enough to trigger both megalophobia and trypophobia in those who faced them.
Asou Akiya landed safely on the ground, staring straight ahead at everything before him, as though he were absorbing the scene of terror itself and turning it into fuel for his own confidence.
He was afraid of horror films he had never seen.
But he was never afraid of cursed spirits like those in Jujutsu Kaisen—entities that could be exorcised by sorcerers. People feared the ghosts in horror movies because they could not harm them; once something could be harmed, a ghost was nothing more than a thorn in the eye, a splinter in the flesh.
The rooftop's surface was split apart, the railings shattered. Mei Mei walked toward Asou Akiya and said, "Junior Asou, your combat mindset is excellent. Coupled with your efficiency in using a Grade One cursed tool, as long as you don't tell anyone it was borrowed, I can recommend you for promotion to a second-grade sorcerer."
Asou Akiya did not let his attention waver. His gaze remained fixed on the raging flames; until he confirmed that the cursed energy had completely dissipated, he would not relax.
Mei Mei waited quite some time before receiving a reply.
"No," Asou Akiya said at last. "Just take the normal route. Sorcery isn't a profession that tolerates padding or shortcuts."
The cursed energy within Asou Akiya had yet to fully settle, and when he looked at Mei Mei, his eyes were unnervingly cold and scorching at the same time.
"Senior Mei Mei," he continued, "a poor student like me can't afford a Grade One cursed tool. And there's a flaw in what you said—what do you mean by 'as long as I don't say it was borrowed'? Does the Higher-Ups really have no way of checking the Tokyo Jujutsu High armory's weapon rental records?"
"…Don't tell me," he continued, a thought clicking into place, "this isn't a weapon from the armory at all? You recognized it, didn't you, Senior Mei Mei?"
Asou Akiya stepped forward.
Mei Mei was not forced back by his unusual attitude. Instead, she smiled serenely and made a gesture unmistakably associated with asking for money.
"Information fees," Mei Mei said smoothly, seizing the opportunity without forgetting her true calling—profit.
Asou Akiya stared at her for three full seconds. His eyes flushed red, eerie sparks of fire flickering within them.
Then he let out a soft laugh, tightened his grip on the longsword, and lowered its tip toward the ground, complaining in an almost aggrieved tone, "Senior Mei Mei, I don't have any money."
Casually, he pierced straight through her intent. "Are you really planning to charge the Gojo family for intelligence?"
If it was not an item from Tokyo Jujutsu High's restricted armory, then there was only one answer left—the Gojo family.
Mei Mei smiled, but said nothing.
Asou Akiya, thinking of next year's Valentine's Day love-letter transactions, decided not to press the matter further. He ended the mission with an equally gentle smile.
"Senior Mei Mei, did I pass?"
"You passed."
The two people, both insincere in their own way, stopped testing each other and left the rooftop with remarkable efficiency.
Just as they exited Kyoto University and were about to board a business vehicle to return to Tokyo Jujutsu High, two figures leapt down from the sky above.
"Asou, what do you think of Kyoto University's college students?" Getou Suguru struck first, his words soft on the surface yet edged with hidden barbs.
"Yeah, yeah, you're not leaving until you say it out loud!" Gojo Satoru chimed in, gleefully fanning the flames.
"..." Asou Akiya halted halfway through opening the car door, tilted his head, and looked toward the two of them, while nearby university students also turned their gazes in curiosity.
Placed among Kyoto University's students, Gojo Satoru and Getou Suguru still stood out like cranes among a flock of chickens.
Asou Akiya's fingers brushed over the longsword that had fought alongside him, a trace of reluctance lingering, yet he had no intention of continuing to play dumb.
This was a tremendous favor.
Even in the original story, no junior had ever taken advantage of cursed tools like this.
He was neither a member of the Gojo family, nor Gojo Satoru's student—what right did he have to possess a Grade One cursed tool?
Asou Akiya smiled and said, "College students still aren't mature enough, and they're not as handsome as you two."
As for taking the blame on behalf of the Three Great Families, he would treat it as the price paid for borrowing the cursed tool today and defeating a Semi–Grade One cursed spirit.
"Sorry for borrowing something from your family for so long." Asou Akiya pressed the Grade One cursed tool into Gojo Satoru's hand, waved goodbye to the two of them, then slipped into the car and said to the assistant supervisor who had been waiting in the front seat for some time, "Let's head back."
Mei Mei stared at his actions in surprise. "You're giving up the cursed tool?"
Asou Akiya replied, "Even without a cursed tool, I'm still a quasi–Grade Two sorcerer. Or is Senior Mei Mei planning to withdraw her recommendation?"
Mei Mei had a premonition that if she jokingly answered "yes," then whatever goodwill existed between her and this junior would end right there.
She stated her decision plainly and decisively: "Junior Asou, your combat mentality, your sense of timing in battle, and your reactions under pressure all meet the standards of a quasi–Grade Two jujutsu sorcerer. I agree to act as your recommender."
Outside the car, Gojo Satoru—who had ditched class and come running over in high spirits—froze in place.
Seeing this scene, Getou Suguru suddenly pieced together the cause and effect. He raised his hand and tapped on Asou Akiya's car window.
"Asou."
"Getou, is something wrong?" Asou Akiya rolled the window down, responding calmly and without changing his expression.
Getou Suguru spoke gently, his tone unhurried. "Since Yaga-sensei entrusted the cursed tool to you, you should at least consult him before making a decision."
Asou Akiya replied with uncharacteristic patience, "A Grade One cursed tool is far too expensive. I can't afford to buy it, I can't afford to rent it, and even holding onto it for one more second makes my hands burn. Please help me persuade Gojo. When I get back, I can think of a way to borrow a cursed tool from Yaga-sensei instead."
The moment he finished speaking, Gojo Satoru shoved Getou Suguru aside, squeezed himself in front of the window, bent down, and stared coldly at Asou Akiya.
"The cursed tools in Yaga's hands are borrowed from me too. What, you want to throw it back at me as well?"
"..."
For a brief moment, Asou Akiya was at a loss for words, a trace of guilt surfacing on his face.
Gojo Satoru refused to accept the idea of taking it back. He looked as if he wanted to drag Asou Akiya straight out of the car, declaring forcefully, "If you won't take it, then I'll snap it in half. I've never cared about its value!"
The Asou Akiya who had just begun to waver instantly regained his composure.
"Then go ahead and break it."
After waiting far too long without the car moving, Asou Akiya's irritation finally boiled over. He suddenly raised his voice sharply, "Assistant Supervisor, are you driving this car or not?!"
The assistant supervisor, who had been standing nearby watching the scene unfold, jolted in fright and stomped on the accelerator in reflex.
In the back seat, Mei Mei grabbed the handrail just in time, while Asou Akiya lurched forward, his forehead knocking hard against the back of the front seat.
The vehicle surged forward—then promptly stalled.
Getou Suguru froze on the spot.
Gojo Satoru's displeased expression instantly cracked into loud laughter. "You totally deserved that, Akiya!"
In the very next second, Gojo Satoru viciously snapped the long sword in half, then shot a provocative glance toward Asou Akiya, who was clutching his forehead inside the car.
"I'm never lending you anything again—nyeh nyeh nyeh~."
...
At Tokyo Jujutsu High, Yaga Masamichi looked at the three students standing in his office, stiff and upright as if being punished.
Because the two most talkative among them had chosen to keep their mouths firmly shut, Getou Suguru had no choice but to step forward and explain the entire sequence of events from beginning to end.
After listening, Yaga Masamichi did not scold anyone. He dismissed Getou Suguru and Gojo Satoru from the office, leaving Asou Akiya alone. The small gift he had originally intended to present as a promotion congratulatory token remained hidden away in the desk drawer.
Yaga Masamichi reached out and patted Asou Akiya's head, letting out a soft sigh. "You've had it rough. Don't worry—I'll return the cursed tool to the Gojo family."
Asou Akiya felt unbearably ashamed.
What hardship was there, really… it was nothing more than wounded pride, and yet it had dragged his teacher into the mess with him.
Yaga Masamichi said gently, "This isn't your fault, and it isn't Gojo's fault either. Realizing the gap between you sooner rather than later isn't a bad thing."
He continued to comfort Asou Akiya, who had been worrying over far too many things. He was still only half-grown—there was no need to force himself to carry the weight of an adult.
"The things you consider priceless," Yaga went on, "are things he doesn't care about. He's had far too much from the moment he was born."
"..."
Asou Akiya lowered his head, staring at the tips of his shoes.
No—this wasn't it. No matter how much Gojo Satoru possessed, it had nothing to do with him. Everyone's sense of values was different. He had never cared whether help came as icing on the cake or aid in a snowstorm. He had done it for…
For…
So that the youth of the four of them would pass without regrets.
Asou Akiya couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. His nose felt blocked, his chest tight, silent guilt and grievance swelling inside him, the image of the broken cursed tool weighing heavily on his heart.
How could he—how could he possibly have spoken so lightly, so carelessly, the words: "Then go ahead and break it"?
That had been a Grade One cursed tool of the Gojo family!
Yaga Masamichi pulled his adopted son and student into his arms, unable to bear the sight of him so shaken. "It's all right. Don't dwell on it. As jujutsu sorcerers, we may lack many things, but we'll never lack money. In the future, you can earn it yourself and buy a Grade One cursed tool."
Comforted by his teacher's words, Asou Akiya forced himself to recall the scene of Fushiguro Toji destroying a Special Grade cursed tool.
In the future… he would buy it himself, and he would bear the consequences himself!