“If I had to say,” Arata said casually, “Tall, with a great figure and a beautiful butt.”
Todo fell silent for three seconds.
Then, he looked up at the sky, unidentified transparent liquid streaming from his eyes and nose simultaneously.
“WE ARE BEST FRIENDS!”
Arata didn’t even need to guess.
The password was correct; Todo’s “brain-rot” imagination had been triggered.
As for what exactly he was imagining, Arata had no desire to know.
At that moment, he finally understood why Mahito froze upon seeing Todo’s locket in the original story.
Being able to see into someone’s soul wasn’t always a blessing.
People didn’t call Todo’s imagination a “Low-Budget Unlimited Void” for nothing; the content in there was arguably more explosive than the actual Infinite Void.
“That’s enough for today.” Todo turned around.
“We’ll fight again when the chance arises.”
“Wait,” Arata called out.
“You’re done?”
“You’re already injured.” Todo waved his hand without looking back.
“Continuing would be meaningless.
As a gift, feel free to use my Boogie Woogie as you please.”
With that, Todo’s figure vanished into the forest.
“I guess he figured it out,” Arata sighed, sitting down against a massive tree.
As Flowing Red Scale deactivated, exhaustion hit him like a tidal wave.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds to recover.
Reaching into his pocket, he remembered all his candy was crushed.
Worse, the high body temperature from the technique had turned the contents into a sticky, melted mess inside the wrappers.
“Fine,” Arata sighed, stuffing the wrappers back.
“Yuta and the others should be okay.
I’d better go find Maki.”
Faint explosions echoed in the distance.
*Probably Mechamaru,* he thought.
That guy was likely in a heated battle with Panda–the walking armory versus the core-swapping Cursed Corpse.
That fight wouldn’t end anytime soon.
He hadn’t run far when voices drifted from ahead.
Arata paused, ducking behind a tree.
Peering out, he saw Mai Zenin sitting against a tree while Maki stood over her, pointing a katana at her sister’s throat.
“If I’d come a bit earlier, I might have caught a real sisterly brawl,” Arata whispered.
But a second later, he heard Mai’s tearful scream.
“I never wanted to be a sorcerer!
It’s all your fault!
I’ve had enough!
What’s so bad about being ordered around at home?
We could have just done chores and scraped by!
Why couldn’t you have just fallen into the pits with me?!”
*Man, that sounds like a total lovers’ quarrel,* Arata thought.
But it reminded him of their tragic backstory.
Maki had almost zero cursed energy and no technique, treated as trash and a servant by the clan.
Mai had energy but was capped by the “Twins’ Curse,” leading to her being similarly exploited.
As children in the misogynistic Zenin household, they were “failures” who could only rely on each other.
Mai was soft and submissive; she could accept that reality as long as her sister was by her side.
But Maki was strong-willed.
She chose to leave the clan to make a name for herself, vowing to return as the Head.
As children, Maki promised never to let go of Mai’s hand.
But to grow stronger and defy the family, Maki left for Tokyo High, leaving Mai behind to face the bullying and pressure alone.
To Mai, this was a betrayal–Maki had abandoned her for the sake of power.
But in this world, identical twins are seen as a single person in Jujutsu.
Their cursed energy is shared and bound.
As long as Mai didn’t want to get stronger or remained mediocre, Maki’s strength would always be held back, preventing her from ever reaching her peak.
Despite her hateful words, Mai still cared deeply for her sister.
Ultimately, to let Maki become a complete Heavenly Restriction, a dying Mai would exhaust her life force to construct the Soul Liberation Blade for her.
*Sigh, such touching sisterly love.
A sad song would fit this perfectly,* Arata mused, then suddenly snapped to.
*Wait, Maki is mine, dammit!*
Deciding it was time, Arata stepped out from behind the tree.
This sisterly farce needed to end–they were each other’s closest kin, after all.
As he emerged, Mai’s voice caught in her throat.
Her eyes, red from crying, glared at him like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Maki’s blade remained pointed at her sister, but she glanced at Arata, her brow furrowing.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just passing through.” Arata shoved his hands into his pockets, sounding as casual as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
“Seeing if anyone needs a hand.”
“I don’t,” Maki said, looking away, though she didn’t lower her sword.
Mai bit her lip, tears still on her face, but her stubborn streak returned.
She stared at Arata, her voice raspy. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“What are you looking at?
Looking for a laugh?”
Arata didn’t answer.
He simply walked over to Maki’s side and sat down against a nearby tree.
“Carry on.
Pretend I’m not here.”
Maki: “…”
Mai: “…”
The atmosphere turned bizarre.
After a few seconds, Maki sighed and lowered her sword to her side.
She looked down at her sister on the ground, her voice tinged with weariness.
“Mai…
I never abandoned you.”
“Then why didn’t you take me with you?” Mai looked up, tears welling again.
“You…
you said you’d never let go of my hand.
You said you’d never leave me!”
Maki opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Arata watched them, then suddenly spoke.
“Mai, you’ve always known why Maki left.
You only understand the surface, not the deeper motive.
That’s why your perceptions have been misaligned from the start.”
Both sisters turned to look at him.
“You’re soft and resigned.
You didn’t want to be a sorcerer or fight; you just wanted to scrape by in the Zenin house with Maki.
You think Maki wanted to get stronger just to leave you behind, right?” Arata’s tone was flat, simply stating facts.
“Enough!” Maki snapped, glaring at him.
But Arata didn’t stop.
He kept going.
“Did it ever occur to you that Maki wanted to get stronger specifically so she could *take* you out of the Zenin house?”
Mai froze.
“Maki left to get stronger, yes.
But her goal was to return, become the Head, and give you a future where you don’t have to be a puppet.
And you?” Arata stood up, clutching his still-aching stomach, and walked over to Mai.
He placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You wanted her to rot in the pits with you.
Mai, who really betrayed whom?” Check out other works!