The hallway at Jujutsu High felt longer than usual.
Thud.
Tap.
Thud.
Tap.
The rhythmic sound of my walking stick hitting the wooden floorboards echoed in the corridor.
Each step is a effort now.
It had been exactly one week since the fight with the curse, and this is the first time since then I'm attending any class.
My right leg isn't fully healed yet; beneath the bandages, it felt like something invisible is constantly clawing at the edges of the burn wound. Shoko's Reverse Cursed Technique is a miracle, she had literally saved the limb from being a stump—but even miracles have their limits.
[Flashback]
I remember the smell of antiseptics clinging to my skin when I woke up. The infirmary was crowded. Satoru was leaning against the window, unusually quiet, his eyes wandering outside the window.
Shoko stood at the foot of my bed, her eyes red-rimmed from a sleepless night of healing.
Miko sat in a chair beside me, her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles were white.
And in the bed next to mine was Suguru. He was conscious but wrapped in bandages from his neck down that he looked like a mummy, his back still a source of radiating heat.
Satoru started his usual "blah blah", but I tuned him out. I was looking at my leg.
"I tried my best, Emiya," Shoko said, her voice dropping to a rare softness. "But the flesh in your ankle was vaporized—the cells were... deleted. You know it's extremely difficult for Reverse Cursed Technique to completely restore burned tissue. I've stabilized the bone and the nerves, but it will be a month before you can walk normally again, and even then, you won't be able to put as much strain on that leg as before. And the scars..."
She paused, looking away.
"The scars will remain for a lifetime. There's no healing that kind of damage completely."
Then, she looks me directly in the eyes. It isn't a look I have ever seen on her face before. In fact, it's a look I haven't received from anyone in this life or the last. The detachment she usually wears has completely melted away.
"And... thank you. For saving me," she says softly.
".... You don't have to feel any burden over it," I reply, my voice slightly raspy. "I saved you because you're my friend."
"...Yes. A friend," she says.
A fake, hollow smile forms on her face, masking the distance that I don't quite understand.
?
Miko had started to cry then, the words 'I'm so sorry, it's my fault' tumbling out before I could tell her to stop—
[Flashback End]
I reached the classroom door. My hand hesitated on the handle.
After that day, my life shrank to the four walls of the infirmary. I was under strict orders to rest; no classes, no training, and definitely no gym, .
Shizuka-san has called me, her voice filled with a mix of confusion and concern, asking why I hadn't shown up at the gym. I couldn't exactly tell her my leg is half-incinerated by a curse, so I had to make up another excuse.
The others were quickly swept back into the rhythm of Jujutsu High—classes and endless exorcisms. But Shoko was the one who came to visit me every single day.
Of course to check my injuries, right?
She would sit there, sometimes silent, sometimes sharing bits of news,
From what she has told me, things had changed in a week. Miko has officially joined the school. After the incident at the park, she didn't retreat into her usual life. With the help of the Cursed Glasses I (Satoru) gave her—allowing her mother to finally see the Curses for herself—she sat her down and explained the nightmare she has been living. The mask of glass has shattered, and she finally have to believe her daughter.
Wish, I would have gone there with her.
And then there was the spirit of her late father and Francois. The burden that had haunted her for so long was finally lifted three days ago, by her own hands.
Our fight with the Mountain God and that near-death moment had awakened her technique.
Bind Familiar.
It is like a refined, more intimate version of Suguru's. While Suguru consumes and commands an army, Miko binds a specific soul to her own. She can bind any Curse she can overpower, using its abilities as her own or summoning it as a loyal familiar to fight by her side, and the familiar cannot be destroyed as long as she is alive.
She had timed it perfectly. At the exact moment my Goblins were destabilizing the God—sucking its energy and it couldn't even maintain it's physical form—Miko struck. Because the God is not in a state to even put up a fight, she overpowered him entirely, turning the very monster that had terrified us into her own power.
Now, she isn't just a helpless girl whom I saved that day. She can use the God's abilities, summon the Shrine Maidens as her own Shikigami, or manifest the God himself to crush her enemies.
Satoru had also gone as an observer, and even an injured Suguru has gone. He was desperate to replenish his stock; the God had annihilated his Samurai spirit, and he needed something strong to fill the void.
Sigh.
If I wasn't injured...
...if I wasn't grounded and forbidden from moving by shoko...
...I would have gone with her. I wanted to be there for her when she finally had to exorcise her father.
I slid the door open.
The room falls silent. The classroom is exactly as it was before, except for one extra desk. There is still only one row, now with five desks lined up side-by-side.
The window seat is empty. Beside it sits Shoko viewing her phone. In the middle, Satoru is precariously balancing his chair on its hind legs. To Satoru's right, on the side toward the door, sits Suguru; he is sitting unnaturally straight due to his back injury.
And finally, in the seat right next to the door, sits Miko.
"Good morning Everyone."
My voice seems to snap them out of their stupor. They all turn toward me, a genuine smile forms on each of their faces as they see me walk to my seat.
"Look who decided to join us today," Satoru says.
His voice as cheerful as always. He lets the front legs of his chair slam back onto the floor, the noise echoing through the room.
I sink into the window seat, letting out a long sigh as I lean my stick against the desk. "I missed a week. Is Satoru still the most annoying person in Tokyo?"
Suguru chuckled, though he winced as the movement pulled at the burns on his back. "Some things never change, Emiya."
"Yeah... you're right." I say, suddenly remembering the news Shoko had shared while I was stuck in the infirmary. "By the way, congratulations on getting the new curse, Suguru. And you too, Miko-chan, for finally becoming an jujutsu sorcerer."
Suguru gives a small nod.
"It's all thanks to you, Emiya-kun," Miko says immediately. Her voice is steadier than before, lacking the "sardines" of fear—that defined the girl I first met at the station. She looks like someone who finally stepped out of a storm and found her footing.
Looking at her, the guilt of the past week bubbling up. I had promised to help her, and yet, when the moment finally came for her to face her past, I was stuck in a bed, useless. "And about your father... I wish I was there for you."
Beside me, Shoko suddenly lowers her head. She doesn't say a word, her fingers moving in a rapid, silent blur as she starts typing something on her phone, completely shielding her expression from the rest of us.
Miko shakes her head, her voice radiating genuine gratitude. "You don't have to worry about it, Emiya-kun. It's all because of you that I was even able to do it. If it wasn't for you, I would have been just as clueless about the spirits I see as before. You saved me, told me about the jujutsu world... and the chance to join it."
I open my mouth to respond, but the conversation is cut short. The door slides open with a sharp clack, and Yaga-sensei steps into the room. He looks at our smiles, his focus momentarily shifting from the thick folder in his hand.
"Glad to see the 'wounded warrior' has finally returned," Yaga says.
Since my admission here, it's the first time I've actually seen him smile—a small,curve to his lips that softens his rugged features. But the warmth vanishes as quickly as it appeared, and his voice turns tense.
"The Higher-ups contacted me today," he continues, his expression souring again. "They have called for all of you to meet them. You provoked a Special Grade 'shy' curse—and then you started fighting it in the middle of a public park without a veil."
Everyone's attention is fully on him. Even Shoko finally looks up from her phone, her expression shifting to one of genuine surprise.
"A meeting?" I ask, my voice sounding strained. "Now?"
"Now," Yaga confirms, his eyes lingering on my cane. "They want an explanation of your Cursed Techniques, the 'Familiar' absorption, and why the 'strongest' sorcerer in training was found buried in a park wall."
Satoru lets out a loud laugh. "Oh, what do they want to know? You guys don't have to worry about them; I'll go alone and handle it."
"No. Hearing them out this time will be more peaceful if you all go," Yaga counters. "They just want answers to their questions, and nothing major is going to happen—especially if Satoru is with you."
The tension in the room breaks as everyone except Satoru sighs in collective relief.
Yaga gestures toward me. "Emiya, you can barely walk, but you're the one they're most curious about. You're the 'Chief' of this mess. Don't let them bait you into saying something you can't take back."
Well, it seems like it's finally about time to meet them.
"You don't have to worry, Sensei," I say, my voice sounding firm, loud and resolute. "I won't be fooled by them."
Everyone looks at me for a beat—then, in perfect unison, they roll their eyes.
Like we believe you.
(Author note: This volume has finally come to a end. I hope I have transitioned Emiya character to you all enough for all of you to know he is just normal teenager which is growing in character as well as in power.
I like his character.
I like the world building I have done till so far.
I like all the other characters I have portray till now.
I have come way far in my way of writing.
And the fic has lost is ranking because I am not posting the chapter daily nowadays (my exams are going on) so donate power stones today and bring it to top 100 again.
The next volume is ..... Past inventory arc.)