Today was truly terrible.
But that wasn't really worth mentioning, nor was it surprising, because for Zen'in Mai, every single day was terrible.
The Zenin estate was a shithole.
She couldn't say who had first discovered this truth—herself, or her older sister Maki.
But in any case, Mai knew it, and she figured her sister had probably caught on long ago too.
It was just that her sister was a stubborn fool.
Maki still clung to the idea of striving with her own strength, of fighting for a better life.
But how could that ever be possible?
In the Zenin estate, without talent, you could never rise up.
There were plenty of people in the Zenin estate who worked hard, yet none of them had ever turned their fortunes around.
Here, to have no Cursed Energy and no Cursed Technique was itself an original sin.
Men without a Cursed Technique were trained into ordinary foot soldiers, cannon fodder to sacrifice themselves for the family, and girls without Cursed Energy fared little better.
As for the two of them, from the very moment they were born together as "twins," their fate had already been sealed—doomed to spend this life as nothing but the scraps of someone else's tragedy.
"Hey, you two rejects, remember not to drag me down." Out in the wilds, the boy hurling taunts at the two sisters was named Naoya Zenin. "If it comes to it, even if it's just to serve as feed for a Cursed Spirit, at least make yourselves useful."
Unlike the two of them, he was the family's rising star, the object of everyone's attention, the head's son, and the universally acknowledged next head of the Zenin estate.
Compared to the two sisters, it was as if he stood in the heavens and they lay in the dirt.
And at this moment, they were all taking part in a family trial together.
It was called a trial, but it was really a mission—they were about to go exorcise a Cursed Spirit said to be grade two.
In fact, this too was part of the butterfly effect brought about by Mahiru.
The earlier incident where little Fushiguro and little Tsumiki were attacked by a Cursed Spirit had been an extra accident—different from the original story, born of that same butterfly effect.
And this trial was no different.
Mahiru had been opening Domains all over the city and stirring up trouble, forcing Jujutsu High to divert a huge amount of manpower to investigate.
With their manpower spread thin, many Cursed Spirits in the city that should have been cleared out on a regular basis slipped through the net, piling up more and more.
Jujutsu High was overwhelmed and stretched to its limit, and in the end they had no choice but to turn to the Zenin estate, asking the old head to send a few of the younger ones over to lend a hand.
And so, this trial came to be.
Sending Maki and Mai to face a grade-two Cursed Spirit was, frankly, cruel and unreasonable.
Because with the little strength the two of them had, they really could die.
But the Zenin estate had never cared whether they lived or died—to the family as a whole, they were nothing more than two pawns with just a sliver of remaining usefulness.
Thankfully, the old head of the Zenin estate was a normal person, and he'd at least assigned the children an ample guard detail.
The only thing that went wrong was this—what lurked here was not a grade-two Cursed Spirit at all.
It was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
And so, the accident happened.
One of the guards the Zenin estate had sent was torn apart by the Cursed Spirit, blood spraying everywhere, dying a gruesome death on the spot.
This Special Grade Cursed Spirit, craftier than any other, had not only concealed its true strength deeply but had also set a trap well in advance, imprisoning everyone who stepped into it within a sealed Domain space.
Just like the time Itadori and the others had faced at the Juvenile Detention Center.
"Protect me! Protect me! You lot! If you dare throw me to the wolves, then even if you escape, my father will hold you accountable all the same! You have to save me!" The young Naoya, scared out of his wits, scrambled and crawled, huddling among the guards, screaming in panic and losing all composure. "Throw those two dead weights aside! Don't bother with them! It doesn't matter if they die!"
In such perilous circumstances, the guards had enough trouble just protecting themselves—how could they possibly have the spare strength to divide their attention and protect everyone?
For now, they could only protect a limited number of people.
And between Naoya Zenin and Mai and Maki, whom would they choose to protect?
The answer was, no doubt, self-evident.
"Out of the way!"
The young Mai was kicked aside.
The guards knew perfectly well that the girls' father, Ogi Zenin, didn't care in the slightest whether his daughters lived or died, and so they didn't hesitate to "cut off the arm to save the body."
"Mai!"
Maki rushed forward, catching her little sister who'd been kicked to the ground. The girl's forehead had struck a sharp rock, and blood streamed down along her brow.
"You bastards!" Maki glared furiously at the guards. "Why would you do this?!"
The guards who still had a shred of conscience left averted their eyes.
But the older guards, long since thoroughly pickled by the Zenin estate's ways, spared the two sisters not so much as a glance.
"You two stay put, don't move. We'll get the young master out first, then come back for you." The lead guard tossed out these icy words, then turned his head and led the whole pack off into the distance.
Even a fool knew that even if these guards did manage to escape, they would never come back for the two of them.
The two of them left behind here were, rather than "awaiting rescue," being used as bait to delay the Cursed Spirit's pursuit.
The two girls, who from childhood had tasted every kind of discrimination and contempt in the Zenin estate, felt their hearts turn utterly cold in this moment.
The guards left without a backward glance.
"Don't go—please, I'm begging you, save me!" Mai stretched out her hand, screaming at their departing backs. "Save me, and save my sister too, I'll do anything! Please…"
But it was no use.
How could it be?
The guards didn't even bother to spare them another glance, merely clustering around Naoya Zenin and hurrying off, wary and rushed.
And Naoya Zenin, before he left, didn't forget to turn his head for one last look at the two sisters abandoned there.
His gaze was full of indifference, even an undisguised disgust… that gaze seemed to say: You two, hurry up and die for me.
Now only the two of them remained here.
They could only hide behind cover.
Mai's legs went weak with fear, her whole body trembling. "Maki, what do we do… we're done for…"
Maki gritted her teeth, looking around, forcing herself to comfort her. "Don't be scared, we can get out of here."
But in truth, she knew in her own heart that they were finished.
She scanned their surroundings.
This was the Domain the Special Grade Cursed Spirit had unfolded. The furnishings looked like some office building, but in reality it was a maze that kept endlessly reshaping itself, one with no exit to be found at all.
By her ear came the sound of water dripping, drop by drop.
The sound came now near, now far, now to the left, now to the right, slowly closing in on them, and yet it also seemed to have hovered all around them from the very beginning, impossible to shake off.
Maki's face went pale.
Mai trembled even harder, a frightened whimper escaping her throat.
The monster seemed to let out a low chuckle.
It seemed to be savoring the two girls' terror.
And it was in this very moment that Maki clenched her teeth and made a decision.
She turned her head and met Mai's eyes. "From here on, you do as I say. I'll go lure that Cursed Spirit away, and you take the chance to run, go find someone to save us."
Hearing this, Mai's eyes flew wide open. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Maki had already charged out from behind the cover, shouting toward that pitch-black corner: "Come on! If you've got the guts, come kill me!"
Having shouted this, she turned and ran off in another direction.
"Maki!"
Mai cried out involuntarily, feeling a gust of sinister wind sweep past her.
The Cursed Spirit had gone chasing after Maki. As it chased, it let out a sinister, broken laughter.
"No…"
Mai watched helplessly as her sister's figure vanished into the darkness, reaching out uselessly toward that direction, her voice already choked with tears.
"Sis…"
Run out, find rescue, and come back?
What a joke—how could that ever be in time?
Setting aside whether Mai herself could even escape this maze—even if she did make it out, Maki would never hold on until rescue arrived.
The two of them, the sisters, were too weak, far too weak. The reason that Special Grade Cursed Spirit hadn't killed them yet was purely that it wanted to slowly savor their fear. If it wanted them dead, it wouldn't need even a second.
Yes, their survival hinged on the Cursed Spirit's momentary whim.
The instant it sensed some enemy threatening enough to it approaching from outside, Maki would, without a doubt, be as good as dead…
"Uwaah… uwaah… uwaah…"
Mai's emotions collapsed completely; she slumped to the ground and wept aloud.
The instinct to survive frantically urged her to run right now.
But another layer of thought held her fast, making it impossible for her, no matter what, to abandon Maki and save herself alone.
The girl was broken and despairing.
And it was precisely at this moment that she suddenly felt the phone in her bosom ring.
…A phone?
Why would the phone ring?
After they'd entered this Domain, they had already tried to contact the outside world, but it simply couldn't be done.
If that was the case, then why was the phone ringing now?
Trembling, she fished the old-fashioned flip phone out of her bosom, and on the screen an unfamiliar string of numbers was flashing.
She didn't recognize the number.
Yet it was precisely this string of unknown numbers that, inexplicably, kindled a faint spark of hope in her heart.
If only she could get a message out to the outside… then there was still a chance they could be saved! At least something like hope!
Cradling that hope, Mai answered the call.
However, the other party spoke up before she could, one step ahead of her.
"Hello? Helloooo? Excuse me, is this little Zen'in Mai? Would you happen to be interested in becoming a Magical Girl?"
It was a woman's voice, flippant and frivolous, brimming with a teasing tone.
The four words "magical girl," whose meaning made no sense, honestly left the girl stunned for a moment, even briefly interrupting her fear.
Right after, she heard the other party go on: "If you're willing to sign a Magical Girl contract with us, then we can even grant you a wish, you know?"
Grant… a wish?
The girl's lips began to tremble.
"Really… can you really grant a wish?"
"…Hm? Where are you? What are you doing?" On the other end of the line, that flippant female voice seemed to sense something off in her tone. "Wait a second, Mai, did something happen over there?"
"Can you really grant a wish…" Little Mai clutched the phone, on the verge of sobbing. "I'm willing, I'll do anything… save my sister, save Maki…"
The woman on the other end drew in a sharp breath.
Immediately after, Mai heard a jumble of rustling friction and running footsteps come through the receiver.
Faintly, she seemed to hear the woman on the other end say something to someone beside her, something like, "Mahiru, it seems the past me has run into danger…" Those words were even more bewildering than "Would you like to become a Magical Girl." But the girl was crying, was trembling, and truly had no spare strength to ponder what exactly that sentence meant.
She only heard the woman return to the receiver.
The other party's tone turned gentle and earnest.
"Mai, don't panic. Tell me, what's happening over there? Where are you right now? And how bad is the situation on your end?"
"I'm at… I…"
The girl choked back sobs and, in fits and starts, poured out her entire predicament to the other party.
Over and over, she begged the other party to save them, terrified that this seemingly illusory lifeline might slip through her fingers if she wasn't careful.
The other party quickly exchanged a few more words with the person beside her, then came back to soothe her. "It's all right, we'll save you. Can you feel anything strange happening to your body right now?"
"No… nothing strange…"
"Good. If there's nothing strange, then it means Maki hasn't died yet." The other party seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, her voice growing a little lighter. "Don't worry, both you and Maki will be saved. From this moment on, nothing will ever be able to harm you again…"
Nothing will ever be able to harm us again?
Hearing this, little Mai, for some reason, actually cried even louder.
"No… please don't go… I don't need you to save me, I only beg you to save Maki. If it's too much trouble, it's fine if you don't save me, as long as you can save Maki… I'm begging you…"
An excessive promise is, instead, a kind of refusal.
It was like this: you only wanted to borrow five bucks from someone, but they thumped their chest and swore they'd give you a hundred million instead—any normal person would immediately understand that the other party wasn't taking your request seriously at all.
And to little Mai—"no one will ever be able to hurt you again"—this promise itself was something utterly impossible.
Just how vast the Zenin estate's power was, it wasn't as if she didn't know.
Just how viciously she and her sister's fates had been cursed, it wasn't as if she wasn't clear on it.
So she didn't dare hope for anything more.
Right now she only wanted to live—or rather, even if it just meant letting her sister live, that would be enough.
So the girl clutched the phone and pleaded bitterly, over and over. For this powerless girl, this was already everything she could do.
Hearing that her comfort had backfired, the woman on the other end fell silent for a moment. She seemed to understand what was going through the girl's mind right then.
"You know what, Mai? The truth is, only a few months ago, I once had the exact same thoughts as you."
The woman spoke again.
This should have been a moment of utter despair, yet she let out a soft laugh.
"I have a sister too. My fate and hers were cursed just the same. One of us had to die for the other to gain power… and as luck would have it, we happened to live in a family where, without power, you'd live more miserably than a rat in the sewer…"
"So, I understand you very well. I understand why you despair, and I understand why you no longer dare to believe in hope…"
"But, you know what, Mai? I was lucky. Both my sister and I were very lucky." The woman spoke as if reminiscing about something. "That damned fate had blocked off every path for us… it closed our door and sealed our window shut."
"It was as if we were destined to march toward the most tragic ending—yet right at that very moment, we met a savior who could tear apart, by sheer force, the cage that fate had built around us."
"That person saved us…"
"How lucky we were…"
"But what use is any of that!" Little Mai couldn't hold it in any longer and cried out. "You have one! But I don't, we don't! …You have your savior, but what about me, what about me and my sister…"
What use was all this feel-good talk, in the end?
These words, real or fake, what could they possibly change?
Someone would go save you—but that didn't mean anyone would be willing to come save them.
No one would make an enemy of the entire Zenin estate for the sake of the two of them.
Nor would any strong figure be willing to lower even a sliver of their gaze for the sake of two "rejects" like them.
"Heh, no… Because I am you—I am the future you." Rebutted by the girl this way, the woman on the other end merely let out a gentle, soft laugh. "And this, precisely, is what I wanted to tell you."
And in that very moment, the ground of this Domain beneath her feet began to shake violently without any warning.
Even the girl, who wasn't all that sensitive to Cursed Energy, could now clearly feel it—an aura of Cursed Energy so immense it made the heart tremble was closing in from somewhere extremely far away, at incredible speed.
Like a falling meteor.
Carrying an unprecedented brilliance.
In this instant, the Domain twisted, collapsed—every thing conjured by the Cursed Spirit's Domain had nowhere to hide before that which was about to arrive.
In this instant, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit trembled, seemingly afraid, wailing, as some irresistible power crushed down upon its Domain, sealing off, in a single moment, every possibility of movement it had.
At a loss, the girl raised her head, clutching the phone, dazed, feeling all these earth-shattering changes around her.
And over the phone, the other party's voice remained as gentle, and as happy, as ever.
"There is someone… who will answer your cry for help."
"Whether in the future, or in the past… as long as you call for help, she will come…"
A thunderous roar descended from the heavens, tearing apart the Domain and the darkness.
The blue-haired Angel, bearing a myriad of sacred voices, descended before the girl.
The girl tilted her head up, eyes wide, her pupils—reflecting the Angel's silhouette—filled with shock.
—Because she was simply that all-powerful.
____
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