"He's coming after Rika!?"
Yuta exclaimed, nearly standing up from his seat, stressed as Satoru revealed what he had learned from Kiniro, "Most likely yes."
"So what are we going to do about it?" Maki asked as her hands balled into fists, remembering the way Suguru had insulted her and couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like to bury her fist into his face, "If his plan is to fight Yuta, shouldn't we just hide him away somewhere Suguru can never find him?"
Yuta immediately shook his head as his eyes steeled over, "I'm not hiding, while everyone else is risking their lives fighting to defend the city."
"This is more about your pride, Okkotsu," Maki admonished as she crossed his arms, "From what I can tell, if Suguru manages to subjugate Rika, then not even this moron will be able to save you. So stop being selfish and take one for the team and sit put."
Yuta's jaw clenched, "And then what happens? I go into hiding for the rest of my life?"
"No, we kill this guy when he comes looking," Maki corrected with a fire in her voice, "Now that we know Suguru's next move, this moron can fight him and put an end to this."
"I'm afraid that won't work," A new voice spoke up, and everyone turned to look as Kiniro walked into the room, a hand over his mouth as he stifled a yawn, "Sorry it took me so long to get here, but it's nice to see you all again; it's been a hot minute."
Maki sent Kiniro a glare but didn't say anything while Yuta stared at Kiniro with a conflicted look on his face, "Why won't it work?"
"Because there's no scenario where Suguru tries to fight Sensei directly. Why risk years of effort and labor to fight against the one person who can put an end to all of it? No, it's much more likely that the moment Sensei makes a move, Suguru will flee and go back underground waiting for his next moment to strike," Kiniro summarized as he sat down on one of the classroom desks.
"Then what do you suggest?" Maki asked, though her tone made it clear she would rather Kiniro not speak at all.
"The best outcome would be that we kill Suguru once and for all, so we need to force him to commit with everything he has," Kiniro explained as he glanced over at Yuta, "That means we have to give him what he wants."
Maki's eyes narrowed, "You can't be serious. You want Yuta to fight him?"
"Only for a time," Kiniro clarified, "He doesn't have to win, just make Suguru commit to the fight, give him a glimpse of his ultimate victory."
"This is a stupid plan," Maki muttered. "How can you expect Yuta to go against a special grade Curse User?"
Kiniro grinned, "To think that you've spent all this time with him but still don't realize how strong he is."
Kiniro's eyes slid back over to Yuta, "I still remember our little spar, the power you unleashed that wasn't Rika's. That strength belonged solely to you. I'd bet that even without your stalker, you'd reach special grade in a year or so on your merit alone."
"Really?" Yuta asked, clearly not believing Kiniro.
"He's right," Satoru chimed in, "Your talent for Jujutsu ranks among the best I've ever seen. In fact, I almost sent you to represent us in the Goodwill Event."
"He would have won single-handedly," Kiniro interjected with a confident smile, "Though I imagine Todo would have given him some trouble."
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you how that went down," Satoru muttered as he glanced over at Kiniro, "What exactly happened? All I heard was that Kyoto forfeited."
"Oh, you don't know? They ambushed me the moment I set foot on campus and tried to kill me," Kiniro replied casually, making Maki and Yuta react while Satoru just looked confused. "They didn't really expect that to work, did they?"
"I don't know, it was probably part of some ploy or scheme," Kinrio replied with an unimpressed sigh, "Either way it didn't work out and doesn't matter. We've got more important things to talk about."
"Right, did we decide that Yuta is going to fight Suguru?" Satoru asked, trying to recall the conversation before their side tangent.
"I think I was trying to hype him up, but I can't remember if it worked or not," Kiniro said as he and Satoru both glanced over at Yuta, "He doesn't look all that confident."
"You two are idiots." Maki groaned as she glared at the two of them, "Would it kill you to act the least bit serious about this?!"
"I'm afraid that's up to Yuta." Kiniro replied as he glanced at the quiet special grade, "This doesn't move forward without his say-so. He's the one being targeted, and thus he has the final say on how this all goes down. Though I doubt he's even thought about himself once for this entire conversation. He's frustratingly selfless like that."
Yuta was silent for a moment longer before he replied, "Our best chance is if I fight Suguru, right?"
Kiniro nodded, "Yes, you'll need to draw out at least one of his trump cards, preferably once you manifest Rika."
Yuta flinched, "Why? Didn't you say I'm strong enough to become a special grade on my own?"
"Yes, but as you are right now, there's no way you can contend with the man who used to be Sensei's equal," Kiniro stated with absolute certainty. "If you can manifest Rika, you might even have a chance at beating Suguru with how absurd of an entity she is. But the real goal is to give Suguru a glimpse of his goal. Rika is the key, and once he sees her power, I doubt he'll be so quick to give it up."
"And then what happens?" Maki spoke up, "If Yuta is the bait, what's the trap?"
"Oh, I thought it was obvious," Kiniro grinned, "I'll be on standby to finish the job, that is if Yuta doesn't do it all by himself."
Maki's first instinct was to call Kiniro out for being overconfident and arrogant instead of thinking of a more reliable plan, but the words died on her lips as she remembered the last time she had seen Kiniro.
Maki recalled the terrifying presence that Kiniro had summoned, she still had no idea exactly what it was, but there was no denying how powerful it was, 'And that was months ago…just how much stronger has he gotten in the meantime?'
Forcing aside her cynicism and natural distrust, Maki looked Kiniro dead in the eyes, "Do you really think you can kill Suguru if it comes down to it?"
"Yes," Kiniro answered without hesitation, but his response was void of the usual overinflated ego that he liked to show off. Instead, when Maki looked into his eyes, all she found was cold, calculating pragmatism, "With Suguru being a Cursed Spirit Manipulator, I'm the one most suited to fighting him. His strength will become a weakness when we fight."
Maki stared at Kiniro for a second longer before giving a stiff nod, "For all of our sakes, I hope you're right."
Kiniro grinned and sent Maki a wink, "Don't worry, I'll get Yuta back to you in one piece."
A vein stood out against Maki's forehead as she raised her clenched fist menacingly, "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?"
"Come on, it's just nice to see you care about something that isn't a weapon or training," Kiniro replied as he waved away Maki's hostility, "Speaking of, how has Dragonbone been treating you? Have you figured out how to imbue your cursed energy into it?"
"Surprisingly, I have," Maki answered after a tense second, "I didn't think I'd be able to, but the sword just takes what it wants. Not that I'm that upset about it, when I don't have any cursed energy left, my heavenly restriction receives a small boost."
"Well, at least it's something," Kiniro muttered disappointedly, "When I first gave it to you, I was hoping that the sword could completely take away your cursed energy, but I realized long ago that achieving something like that is impossible with your twin still around."
Maki felt her skin crawl as Kiniro talked about her so casually, like she was some experiment. "Didn't I nearly break your neck the last time you mentioned my sister?"
Smiling at the threat, Kiniro grinned, "Yeah, but can you blame me? After all, if you manage to unlock your potential, I'd imagine that you'd be able to fight Suguru yourself."