[And just like that, the battle was over.] [To be precise, you couldn’t even call it a battle.] [Walls split open, floor tiles flew into the air, and clinic doors and ceilings shattered into splinters.
The Cursed Spirits that had been surging forward like a pitch-black tidal wave just moments ago were grabbed, crushed, and ripped apart by the Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit, before being slammed onto the walls like crumpled wads of paper.] [And this was all before Yuna Okotsu had even copied a single Innate Technique.
If you gave her Cursed Speech right now, she’d only need to utter a single “Die” to completely clear the map.] [In the Jujutsu world, sorcerers capable of expanding a high-output technique to single-handedly overthrow a nation are classified as “Special Grade.” Because of this, certain sorcerers who can’t use Domain Expansion or Reverse Cursed Technique can still rank among the Special Grades–like the Special Grade Curse User Suguru Geto, or the current Yuna Okotsu.
The chasm between them and a Grade 1 is something numbers simply cannot bridge.] [Though, you’ve heard rumors that there are some sorcerers who can’t use domains or Reverse Cursed Technique, and don’t even have a high-output technique–hell, they haven’t even used an Innate Technique their entire lives–yet they still carry the title of “The Strongest.” Who knows if that’s actually true or just a myth.] [“Tachibana…
kun…?”] [Before you knew it, Yuna Okotsu–standing atop a literal sea of blood–had turned toward you.
Her eyes completely lost focus as she began taking slow, deliberate steps in your direction.
Beside her, Rika floated inside her shadow, waiting on standby.] [*You want me to fight Rika?
For real?*] [Propping yourself up on your elbows, you try to scramble backward, but Miss Okotsu catches you…
Though “caught” isn’t really the right word.
She basically lunges forward like a hyperactive large breed dog, pinning you flat against the floor.] [The young girl’s slender body weighs down on you as she straddles your waist.
This time, Rika doesn’t even need to pin you down; your cursed energy is practically running on fumes, and your limbs are entirely drained of strength from the blood loss.
You can’t even push away a socially anxious, shut-in high school girl who clearly doesn’t do sports.] [The scent of jasmine shampoo envelops your nose.
Before you realize it, she has leaned in so close her face is almost rubbing against yours, staring intently at you as if trying to calculate exactly where to take her first bite.
Her warm breath tickles your neck, and it’s so close to making you burst out laughing…
If she weren’t actively trying to eat you alive right now, the scene would actually be pretty romantic.] [Perhaps because piggybacking you earlier burned through too much of her stamina, Yuna’s mental state is even worse than the night you first met.
She has completely surrendered to her primal desires.] [Time to treat a dead horse like a live one…
Using the absolute last bit of your energy, you raise your freshly sliced finger right in front of her eyes.] [“…!”] [It actually seems to work.] [You wag your finger left and right, and the young girl’s gaze sways along with your movements.
Like a little kitten, she slowly crawls down over you, cautiously wrapping both of her hands around yours…
and then she opens her mouth and takes your fingertip inside.
Sucking gently like an infant, she vividly craves you, your blood dissolving against her tongue.] [At this, her movements quietly settle down.
Perhaps her subconscious has realized that the intense appetite she had been suppressing for so long has finally been answered–or rather, accepted.
The mere act of you actively reaching out your hand to embrace her flaws has completely pacified her, making her far less feral than last time.] [Her licking tickles your fingertip like crazy.] [Your neck is incredibly itchy too.] […For some reason, you just feel an overwhelming itch spreading across your entire body.
Your chest feels heavy, like something is trying to burst out from inside.
Surely it’s just a reaction to the terrible air quality in this abandoned hospital, right…?] […] [Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote: ‘Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.’] [But Ms.
Gojo is incredibly nosy.] [*Wait, wait, wait, what is going on here?* Her own kid and the other girl she plans on recruiting have known each other for a few days max.
How did a single joint mission make their relationship status look so incredibly sketchy?] [Fun fact: Satomi Gojo actually *can* read the room when she wants to.] [Even though Rui and Yuna hadn’t been on speaking terms before the mission, that was a cold-war type of silence…
But right now, as they step out from the Veil, both of their faces are completely flushed red.
The entire ride back, they keep stealing glances at each other, instantly flinching in panic the moment their eyes lock.
Ah, is this the taste of youth?] [Suspicious.
Highly suspicious.
What the hell actually happened inside that abandoned hospital?] [“Hey, Rui, tell me~ Have you and Yuna made some kind of progress?”] [“No comment.”] [“Tch, lips are sealed tight…
Then Yuna, how about you?
Did anything happen between you and Rui?”] [“Eh?!
M-me…?!
N-nothing special really happened!
It’s just, Tachibana-kun saved me again…
or something like that.”] [*Miss Okotsu, isn’t your filter a bit too thick?
Didn’t you literally summon the Rika-truck and run over every single Cursed Spirit in that building yourself?*] [“Ho…
is that so?
Sounds like Rui’s gotten a lot stronger too.
Guess I’ll have to assign him a Special Grade mission next time.”] [*Don’t actually believe her, Ms.
Gojo!*] [“Oh right, I actually wanted to ask this the moment you finished the mission…
How does it feel, Yuna?
The feeling of helping people, of being needed by someone–it’s not so bad, right?”] [You turn your head to look at Satomi Gojo beside you.
She is resting her chin on one hand, her sky-blue eyes sparkling with sheer amusement as she evaluates Yuna Okotsu resting in the car.
Miss Okotsu’s physical stamina is practically non-existent; the moment her body wound down from the high-stress state, she nearly fainted.
You were the one who had to support her and help her into the assistant director Mr.
Ijichi’s car.] [This time, Yuna Okotsu doesn’t shut down in silence.] [“Ms.
Gojo…
please let me join Jujutsu High.”] [“Care to tell me your reason first?”] [It’s a traditional rite of passage at Jujutsu High.] [Whenever a new student enrolls, either Ms.
Gojo or Principal Yaga will ask for their definitive reason for becoming a sorcerer, checking to see if they actually have the resolve to survive in this industry.] [Miss Okotsu lifts her head.] [“Tachibana-kun, Ms.
Gojo…
Back at my old school, I used to be bullied.
Getting beaten up was really painful, but…
part of me actually felt a bit relieved.
It felt like all the harm Rika caused to others was coming right back to me in that form.”] [But those people were still hurt by Rika regardless, she says.] [“For the longest time, I’ve been terrified of letting anyone see the ugly, despicable sides of myself…
It was the same with Rika, and it was the same with wanting to eat Tachibana-kun.
Whenever things like that happen, my immediate instinct is to run away, to pretend those things just don’t exist.
Living like that is exhausting…
it’s just so exhausting.”] [Her gaze lands on you.
She flinches slightly when you look back, but this time, she doesn’t avert her eyes.] [“So, um…
I want to stay in a place that can accept even the worst, most selfish parts of me.
I want to be needed…
If I have to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer to make that happen, then I’ll do it.”] [“–Excellent answer.
Welcome to the school.”] [Satomi Gojo flashes a bright smile, reaching over to aggressively ruffle Yuna Okotsu’s hair.] [*New Pokémon, GOTCHA!* …You can practically hear the meta-chasing, strength-obsessed Ms.
Gojo cheering that exact phrase from the bottom of her heart.] —