A week passed quicker than expected, and before I knew it, I was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Zenin estate. The familiar wooden halls greeted me with the same suffocating atmosphere—quiet, controlled, and filled with people who smiled with their mouths but not their eyes.
My body had recovered well thanks to my cursed energy reserves, far better than any normal person would, but I wasn't fully healed. The muscles still ached if I pushed too hard, and every now and then a sharp reminder pulsed through my arms like my body warning me not to get overconfident again.
Not that I planned to listen.
One thing I noticed immediately after returning was that Maki and Mai had become… attached.
No—that was putting it lightly.
They were glued to me.
If I moved, they followed. If I sat, one would sit beside me while the other leaned on me. If I trained lightly, they watched like guards. The only times they left my side were during their morning sessions with Mei Mei or—thankfully—when I went to the toilet.
Even then, I was half-expecting them to wait outside like bodyguards.
I sighed as I sat in the engawa, watching the courtyard. "You two realize this is not normal, right?"
Mai tilted her head. "What isn't?"
"This," I gestured vaguely at both of them, "is constant surveillance."
Maki frowned. "We're not watching you. We're just… staying close."
"That's the problem."
They both blinked.
I rubbed my temple. "Listen carefully. Personal boundaries are some of the important concepts. You need space. I need space. If you grow up thinking this is normal, you're going to have problems later. If you have a boyfriend later, he would really find it weird that their girlfriend is still chubby with his brother."
Mai puffed her cheeks slightly. "We're fine. And you are not our brother, nor are we planning to get a boyfriend."
Haha, I almost let out a laugh. It's like children saying they won't marry anyone in the future and they will be the first ones to marry either way. Cute.
Speaking of Boyfriend, I remember Maki and Yuta were a thing in canon, but I don't know if Mai has anyone she loves. If everything goes according to my plan, then by ages between 20 and 25, I can settle down in the countryside and give Maki or Mai power of the Zenin clan. It's a good future.
I need to meet some realtor and buy some land. After all, I am 14; in the span of 5 to 6 years, this world will spiral into chaos. After that, my life will begin as the cool countryside uncle's will begin.
Maki crossed her arms hearing my lecture. "You're the one who keeps getting hurt."
"…That's unrelated."
"It's completely related."
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it. Annoyingly as it is, they had a point.
Still, this level of attachment wasn't healthy. I'd have to fix it gradually. Force wouldn't work. Logic barely worked. Maybe distraction training… or assigning independent tasks. I was still thinking about solutions when footsteps approached from behind.
A servant.
He bowed slightly. "Naoya-sama."
"Hm?"
"There is news from the outside."
I turned slightly. "What kind of news?"
He hesitated for just a moment before speaking.
"Toji Zenin… is dead."
"..."
Maki blinked, and Mai looked confused as they couldn't understand why the servant was telling them that.
I already asked the servants previously to give me a heads-up if something related to Toji happens.
I didn't open my mouth for few minutes.
"…How?" I asked quietly.
"He was killed," the servant replied, "by Satoru Gojo."
I leaned back slowly, eyes drifting toward the sky beyond the courtyard. So it happened just like in the original.
The ghost of the Zenin clan. The man who was rejected by cursed energy itself. Gone, just like that.
A strange feeling settled in my chest—not grief or anything; I barely know that guy, but the kind of realization that events were moving forward whether I was ready or not.
And if Toji were already dead, then everything else would follow soon after.
"…I see," I murmured.
~~~
Bonus Ch for 100 power stone, while haven't reached the milestone yet but either way here is the chapter.
Posted some extra 35+ chapter in patron and daily update, if you are interested check it out, link is:
patreon.com/BlackBolt517