[A quick check confirmed the old Curse User wasn't dead yet. You applied Reverse Cursed Technique just enough to keep him from bleeding out. He wouldn't be going anywhere under his own power, but he'd live.]
[A cursory search of his belongings turned up his phone. Right there on the screen: Riko Amanai's location data, and beneath it, the thirty-million bounty posted on the black market.]
[You dialed Gojo. He'd already wrapped up on his end, apparently dealing with a Curse User who could create copies of himself.]
[The description piqued your interest.]
[You passed along what you'd found about the bounty on Riko, then contacted Windows to handle cleanup on the downed Curse User. By the time you regrouped with Gojo and the others, something felt off. The air between them was tense in a way it hadn't been before.]
[From the restrained Curse User with the paper bag over his head, you'd already extracted and analyzed his technique: Linked False Bodies. It could generate up to five physical clones infused with Cursed Energy. Pain wasn't shared between the original and its copies, but vision was. As long as even one clone existed, the caster could swap positions with it instantly.]
[The drawbacks were significant. Each clone was fragile, dissolving the moment it took real damage. Creating them split the user's Cursed Energy evenly, so the more clones, the weaker each one hit.]
[Still, none of that explained the mood. Riko was present and unharmed, which only deepened your confusion.]
["What happened? Why does everyone look like this?"]
[Geto flipped open Riko's phone and held it up. On the screen: a photograph of Misato Kuroi, bound and gagged.]
["Kuroi's been kidnapped?"]
[Frustration twisted across Geto's face.]
["That's on me. I underestimated how valuable she'd be to the enemy and left her on her own."]
[You pieced together the sequence of events, then reached over and gripped his shoulder.]
["Given how things played out, nobody would've called that a major mistake. Besides, their endgame is Riko, not Kuroi. If anything, that means Kuroi is safer right now than any of us."]
[Gojo clearly shared the sentiment. He picked up without missing a beat.]
["They'll push for a hostage exchange next. Hand over Riko for Kuroi, or maybe threaten to kill Kuroi if Riko isn't delivered. Either way, we hold the cards. Stick to the original plan, bring Riko back to Jujutsu High, have Shoko make a body double."]
[Riko's voice cut through before he could finish.]
["W-wait! I'm going with you to the exchange. I don't trust you people enough to just sit here!"]
["Huh? You bratty little... this isn't the time to throw a tantrum."]
["Even if you rescue Kuroi, what if you can't bring her back before the assimilation!? I haven't even said goodbye to her...!"]
[Her voice cracked on the last word. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and her hands twisted the fabric of her skirt, knuckles white.]
[Silence.]
[Gojo stared at her for a long moment. Then his shoulders dropped, just slightly.]
[His tone, though, stayed firm.]
["The kidnappers will contact us soon. If their terms are reasonable enough for an exchange, bringing you along actually lowers Kuroi's chances of making it out alive. When that happens, you stay behind. But if we end up going in, and you start crying halfway through begging to come home, I'm not listening. Get your head ready for that."]
[Riko wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and met his gaze.]
["I understand. That's fine."]
[A few hours passed before the kidnappers made contact. The exchange point: Okinawa.]
[No debate. You coordinated with Jujutsu High, secured seats on the next available flight, and were airborne within the hour. The trip itself proved uneventful. No Curse Users appeared on the plane, and Geto's Rainbow Dragon circled outside as an escort, which kept any aerial threats well at bay.]
[Okinawa arrived without incident. Suspiciously without incident.]
[A Grade 4 Cursed Spirit phased through the walls of the safehouse to confirm what you'd suspected. The kidnappers were just ordinary people. Star Religious Group cultists, not sorcerers. You kicked the door in and had Kuroi free within minutes.]
[Too easy. The question gnawed at you. What was the real objective? Why drag everyone all the way to Okinawa for a rescue that barely qualified as one?]
[It was as though the kidnapping had never been meant to succeed at all.]
[Or maybe the enemy had gotten exactly what they wanted the moment your group set foot on this island.]
[What bothered you most was a specific absence. Not once, through all of this, had you caught even a trace of Toji Fushiguro.]
[With Kuroi safe, the mission shifted into something gentler: accompanying Riko on what amounted to a sightseeing trip. Gojo even pushed their return flight back to the third day, a concession to Riko's state of mind that surprised no one more than it surprised him.]
[As a precaution, Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara were pulled in from Jujutsu High's first-year roster and dispatched to Okinawa as additional support.]
[But Phantom Night Parade never rested, and your passive analysis of Gojo's and Geto's techniques had been running since the journey began. You noticed something. You pulled Gojo aside.]
["You haven't deactivated Limitless once since Riko joined us. Which means you didn't sleep last night either."]
[A beat of surprise crossed his face before the grin slid back into place.]
["Sharp as ever, Touma. You really do pay attention."]
[He clearly hadn't registered the implication behind your words, and had no intention of changing tomorrow's schedule. When he turned to wander back toward Riko, you caught a fistful of his collar and held him in place. Your voice dropped, deliberate and grave.]
["You're planning to keep this up tonight too. The final day of this mission is going to bring the strongest enemy we've faced yet. Are you sure you can handle that on no sleep?"]
[Gojo turned back. His eyes searched your expression.]
["This assimilation happens once every five hundred years. Tomorrow is their last chance to go all in. The kind of fight that's coming... even you might slip up."]
[You didn't say what failure in that kind of fight would mean. You didn't need to.]
[Gojo smiled. Light, easy, utterly unfazed. He reached over and clapped your shoulder.]
["You're underestimating me. I'm the strongest, remember? And I've got you and Suguru backing me up. So do me a favor and hold down that support role properly, yeah?"]