"Uh..." The girl's eyes swept back and forth over the several people in front of her, a little scorched by the burning gazes of these three.
She really hadn't imagined that one day she would become the protagonist of a story like this.
"Your intuition is right. I really am Mahiru." Mahiru tapped her fingers together in front of her. "For some special reasons... I really didn't die. This matter is rather complicated, and I'll need some time to explain it all to you..."
"What?!" Nobara Kugisaki let out a shriek, shoving the table aside and rushing forward, cupping Mahiru's face in her hands and physically stuffing her words back in, then leaning in close to examine her from every angle.
Miwa was a beat slower to be stunned; she covered her mouth, her eyes full of disbelief.
"Mahiru, you actually didn't die? You're actually still alive??" Nobara Kugisaki's voice trembled, her expression a mixture of disbelief, joy, and the fear that what was before her might be fake. "...Is it real? You're not joking, are you? Please, please don't be lying to me..."
The always tough-as-nails girl was now on the verge of choking up.
Miwa, meanwhile, was behind her weeping tears of joy, collapsed into a chair, every ounce of strength drained from her body.
"Pff, ha... hahahaha... Mahiru, you bastard..." Maki Fushiguro looked as though every last stone weighing on her heart had finally been set down, a complicated smile spreading across her face as she relaxed into her seat. "Welcome back... As long as you're alive, that's the best thing of all..."
At this point, how Mahiru had survived, how she hadn't died... honestly, they no longer cared.
Because none of that mattered anymore.
Only after losing something once do people discover what truly matters most.
As long as Mahiru was alive, that was enough.
As long as they could see that girl again, that was enough.
The commotion of Miwa and Nobara Kugisaki's excitement quickly drew the attention of those outside.
Panda and Toge Inumaki came hurrying over to see as well, and after hearing that Mahiru hadn't died—and getting confirmation from the girl herself—each of them grew excited too.
And so the uproar here grew louder and louder. The cheers and shouts of joy from inside the classroom carried outside, and the people out on the training field who had no idea what was going on assumed someone in there had won a hundred-million-yen lottery.
Of course, to these boys and girls, this was far, far happier than any lottery of a hundred million, a billion, or ten billion.
Finally, two more people arrived at the classroom—Todo and Itadori.
Todo, in fact, had already known the news.
Because of that special way his brain worked, the moment he'd heard the news that "Mahiru will come back," he'd believed it without any hesitation or doubt, simply folding his arms and laughing heartily, "So that's how it is."
And Itadori, carrying that same sliver of hope, had come here too.
After meeting eyes with the Mahiru surrounded by the crowd and sensing that familiar gaze, Itadori couldn't help but sway, nearly falling over.
Mahiru saw Itadori too, and was nearly startled by the state the boy was in.
His face was covered in blood and dust, and his body was riddled with great swaths of wounds—wasn't this just too horrific?
The girl couldn't help but be moved.
She had transmigrated into this world, and moreover she wasn't human—she was a Cursed Spirit—so her sense of belonging to this world had always been very low.
From the very start, she had never expected to hold any important place in the hearts of the other people in this world.
But now, watching these scenes unfold before her, listening to the sounds of the people around her—some happy, some weeping tears of joy—the girl felt her heart being shaken.
She suddenly felt that transmigrating into this world had been such a fortunate thing.
She suddenly felt that everything she had done before had received its due reward.
It was good to be alive.
Thank goodness she was still alive.
She lifted her eyes and met Itadori's gaze once more.
"You look like you're in pretty rough shape," she said to Itadori with a smile. "Pushing yourself too hard and not taking care of your body just won't do, you know?"
"Oh, right, sorry, I won't do it again..." The boy stood in the doorway wiping his tears, choking up. "I'm sorry, Mahiru, I'll definitely get stronger..."
What others couldn't console no matter how they tried, Mahiru soothed with a single sentence. Honestly, maybe Mahiru really did possess a kind of magic.
Come to think of it, the Itadori of the original work had become numb because Mahito killed his companions, forging for himself the worldview of "treating himself as a cog in the Jujutsu Sorcerer machine."
And this time, as if by fate, because of Mahiru, the boy had once again fallen into that same state.
After all its winding twists and turns, destiny had returned to the place it was meant to be.
Only this time, both the people and the world were completely inverted from the original work—no longer the same.
After Mahiru's resurrection, all the boys and girls sank into the utmost joy. They gathered around Mahiru, pouring out their happiness and relief, telling her how heartbroken they had been before, and how happy they were now.
If this were a novel, and it reached a scene like this, it would probably spend a very, very long stretch of pages depicting the scene of their reunion.
But there was no time for that now.
Emotionally, Mahiru very much wanted to give them time to adjust their feelings, but objectively, she couldn't. The window during which she could maintain communication with this world was brief, and she had far too much to say. So she had no choice but to speak up, interrupting their celebration, asking everyone present to rein in their excitement for the moment.
"Next, I have other important matters to discuss," Mahiru told them. "It's about time travel, and about parallel worlds."
Mahiru's resurrection was already the most fantastical thing imaginable to them, so no matter how fantastical or strange the things Mahiru said next might be, they wouldn't feel any sense of incongruity anymore.
Mahiru explained to them the reason she hadn't died, explained how she had been swept into Temporal Turbulence because of a Black Hole and transmigrated into the world of the past.
She told them that in the third parallel world she had seen Sukuna, and she also told them her conjecture as to "why the modern-day Culling Game still hasn't ended."
Clearly, Sukuna wasn't dead, Satoru Gojo was still sealed, the Prison Realm had been lost—the situation at Jujutsu High was already super dire.
Yet after hearing this news, the boys and girls felt no fear or despair at all. On the contrary, every one of them had a very positive attitude.
Mahiru felt somewhat puzzled by their optimism, but didn't press further.
Only they themselves knew the reason they could still keep their confidence and hope even after learning of such terrible things—it was because Mahiru hadn't died.
The girl had always been able to create miracles.
Since the seed of miracles hadn't yet been extinguished, then no matter how terrible the situation, there would always be a sliver of a chance.
"For now we still can't know exactly what Sukuna did in the third parallel world, or what the situation over there really is. Therefore, we must unite and make a whole series of preparations together." At some point, Mahiru had changed into a set of teacher's clothes; she stood at the lectern rapping on the blackboard. "And throughout this process, I'll be counting on all of you."
In this modern era where Gojo was sealed, once Mahiru came back to life she instantly became the students' pillar of support; everyone was willing to follow her orders.
"First, the task I'm giving you all is to keep the Culling Game situation stable and not let things deteriorate further. At the same time, stay wary of Rime and the others still lurking in Tokyo... Oh, and one more thing—for now, don't leak the news of my return to the outside world. It's fine as long as only you know."
If Rime and the others didn't know Mahiru was still alive, then they could exploit that intelligence gap.
That said, the Sukuna in that future parallel world had probably already seen Mahiru. So whether this bit of secrecy would still have any effect, Mahiru wasn't entirely sure.
"Second, please do your best to recall everything about the events and memories from twelve years ago, and tell me everything you remember—ideally compiled into a report. I need this information to operate in the world of the past." Mahiru spoke from the lectern. "The more detailed this material is, the better. Even if you only remember what day you wet the bed as a kid, be sure to tell me—it might just come in handy."
Oh, right—the matter of turning the young Itadori into a girl when he was little, Mahiru still hadn't told Itadori about that... Forget it, he definitely wouldn't mind. She'd bring it up later.
"Yuki Tsukumo, Yuta Okkotsu, and Hakari Kinji aren't here... Among the newly awakened Jujutsu Sorcerers now, go check whether there's anyone named Hiromi Higuruma, and whether there's anyone named Takaba. These two have very strong abilities—they might just become a great help to you..."
Third point, fourth point, fifth point, sixth point... Mahiru rattled off a whole string of plans and arrangements.
It was only then that the students realized—so the heaviest burden still rested on Mahiru's shoulders after all.
Researching the technique of time travel, figuring out exactly what Sukuna had done in the future world—these were things only Mahiru could accomplish.
But speaking of the Culling Game, the girl suddenly thought of a question.
"What's the situation with Tengen here right now?" Mahiru asked.
Mahiru had suddenly sensed something unusual.
Because according to the original work, the moment the Culling Game appeared, Tengen would show themselves and inform Itadori and the others of a whole series of information about Kenjaku and the Culling Game.
But this time, Tengen hadn't done so.
From the look of them, it seemed they knew nothing at all. Every piece of information had still come from Mahiru.
So the girl was puzzled.
Had Tengen not made an appearance?
And in fact, Mahiru's intuition was correct.
In this iteration of the story, Tengen had never once appeared from beginning to end—people who wanted to find her couldn't even locate her anymore.
"Tengen's Tomb of the Star Corridor has sealed itself off. No one can get inside right now."
A voice drifted in from outside the classroom.
Mahiru turned her head and found Yuki Tsukumo leaning against the doorframe.
The two met eyes, and Yuki Tsukumo waved at Mahiru. "Hello. This is the second time you and I have met, right? I still remember you—thank you for saving me."
The students all had a deep impression of Mahiru and had spent a long time together with her.
But to Yuki Tsukumo, Mahiru was a lifesaver she'd only seen once—one who could even be called a complete stranger.
Waking up to find she'd been saved, only for her savior to have died—Yuki Tsukumo's feelings back then had been extremely complicated.
And now, hearing that the other party had come back to life, she naturally rushed back at the first opportunity to see her.
Only, looking at Mahiru now and meeting her gaze, Yuki Tsukumo suddenly felt a kind of instinctive discomfort, as though the other's eyes could see through her completely, inside and out.
She couldn't help but shudder.
And it was at this moment that Mahiru abruptly realized she seemed to have accidentally used the same kind of gaze she'd used to look at the young Yuki Tsukumo before, on this present-day Yuki Tsukumo. She hastily withdrew her eyes.
"What do you mean the Tomb of the Star Corridor has closed?" Mahiru frowned. "Did Tengen shut themselves in, or is there some other reason?"
"I don't know. We don't know anything." Yuki Tsukumo recovered from that intense wave of embarrassment just now and spread her hands toward Mahiru. "Right now, no one on our side can break through Tengen's Barrier, so naturally there's no way to know what's going on inside."
Mahiru bit her lower lip in thought.
She had a feeling that things were most likely looking grim for Tengen now.
This iteration of the Culling Game was special and vast on a scale immeasurably greater than the Culling Game of the original work.
The Culling Game was built upon Tengen's Barrier. Tengen was essentially the nerve center of the Culling Game.
If Mahiru and the others could gain control of Tengen, then they'd have a hope of overturning the Culling Game. But conversely, if Tengen had already been brought under Sukuna's control, then Mahiru and the others would fall into a tremendous disadvantage.
And so the problem circled right back around—
They needed someone with very high mastery of Barrier techniques to break through Tengen's Tomb of the Star Corridor. And that role could probably only be filled by Mahiru, so they'd have no choice but to wait for Mahiru to return.
But just then, Mahiru realized something else... Wait? Tengen?
The world of the past she was currently in also had a Tengen!
And moreover, that Tengen hadn't yet mutated—hadn't yet turned into the kind of state that could be freely manipulated by Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
With Sukuna controlling the Tengen of the modern world, if Mahiru could gain control of that Tengen in the world of the past, then each side would have a Tengen, and they could achieve a mutual balance of power.
That way, they wouldn't fall into such a passive position anymore.
That's right—exactly that!
The girl settled the plan in her heart, then lifted her head and smiled at Yuki Tsukumo. "It's fine—leave this matter to me. Miss Tsukumo, please tell me every piece of intelligence and information you know about the Star Plasma Vessel incident from twelve years ago."
The Star Plasma Vessel incident twelve years ago had been a tragedy.
And the modern-day Culling Game was a catastrophe.
But it was all right, because Mahiru was here.
She would reverse that tragedy of twelve years ago.
And at the same time, she would tear open a ray of hopeful dawn for their present predicament.
This time, she would find the very best of all paths.
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