"It was a busy summer."
"Perhaps the frequent disasters of the previous year were finally taking their toll."
"Curses surfaced like a never-ending swarm of maggots."
"Exorcise. Consume. Repeat. The cycle was endless."
"Most people have no idea what a curse tastes like. It's like swallowing a rag used to wipe up vomit."
"And who is this all for?"
Water cascaded over his head.
Ever since that girl he wanted to protect died right before his eyes...
Ever since he secretly investigated the Star Religious Group afterward, only to find a crowd of people wearing hypocritical smiles, applauding him...
Or perhaps it was even earlier. Ever since everything he saw in the Tombs of the Star—all that ugliness—he had begun to question if his conviction was right.
"Protect non-sorcerers? Since that day, I've kept telling myself that what I saw wasn't rare. It was a well-known ugliness."
"I made the choice to keep saving people as a sorcerer, fully aware of that reality."
"Stay focused. Fulfill your duty as a sorcerer..."
"Monkeys..." Suguru Geto sat on the steps, staring into space as he dried himself off. "Satoru doesn't seem to care. Neither does Gumo..."
"What exactly is the point of this profession?"
As he pondered his future, Suguru was clearly spiraling into a dark loop.
"Geto-senpai!"
A voice full of sunshine and vitality shattered his thoughts. He looked up to see the thick-browed, energetic Yu Haibara.
"Haibara... is that you?"
"Good work today, sir!" Haibara stood at attention like a soldier, offering his heartfelt sympathies.
"Forget it." Seeing the young, spirited Haibara felt somewhat healing. "Want a drink?"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly!" Having been "refined" by his seniors for nearly a year, Haibara's skin had grown quite thick. "I'll take a Coke."
"Haha, are you just like Gumo? Come to think of it, Satoru is the same. You all love sweets." Suguru stood up, pulled two cans of Coke from the vending machine, and handed one over. "Maybe I'll give it a try too."
"You look exhausted, Senpai." Haibara looked at the disheveled senior beside him. With those deep dark circles, he looked like he was on the verge of death.
Haibara figured it was best to start a conversation; if they just sat there in silence, things would get awkward fast. "Tomorrow's mission is pretty far away."
"Is it? Remember to bring back some souvenirs."
"Understood!" Haibara's replies were always concise and full of energy. "So, do you prefer sweet or salty treats?"
"Satoru will probably want some, and Gumo..." Suguru hesitated. He actually wasn't sure what Hasegumo liked. It felt like that guy had no hobbies other than drinking Coke.
However, Haibara's next words made the decision easy. "Hasegumo-senpai is coming with me. He said he wanted to experience the 'charms of Hokkaido.'"
"Sweet, then."
Haibara saluted. "Got it!"
A sudden silence fell. Haibara slowly lowered his hand from his temple and rested it on his leg.
"Haibara, do you think you can keep doing this? Being a sorcerer?" Suguru asked. He felt that Satoru and Gumo were both incomprehensible freaks. If it was Haibara, maybe he could get a real answer. "Doesn't it... hurt?"
"Well, I'm just not the type of person who thinks too deeply about things." Haibara, whose head was equally empty, took a moment to gather his thoughts.
He took a sip of Coke to replenish his sugar levels, and suddenly he was back at full health. He sat up straight and gave a thumbs up. "Doing my absolute best at what I can do... it really feels great!"
"Is that so? I suppose you're right." While his words were agreeable, Suguru thought to himself: I really shouldn't have expected much from him...
Step... step... "Are you Geto-kun?" A mature, slightly playful female voice echoed from nearby.
The newcomer was the Special Grade sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo, who had just returned from abroad. The boys looked up to see a woman with long blonde hair, wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and jeans. She was tall, with muscles that radiated power yet retained a feminine grace. "What's your type?"
Looking at this "Big Sister" figure, Suguru could already sense her immense power. "Who are you?"
"I like girls who eat a lot!" Haibara didn't care about the context; he answered the question first and worried about the rest later.
"Oh?" Yuki Tsukumo looked the boy over. He seemed like an interesting one.
Haibara... Suguru thought. Training with Gumo for a year really changed you. Your body got stronger, but your common sense hasn't improved one bit.
"It's okay, she's not a bad person." Haibara's big eyes twinkled as he looked at Suguru. Sensing something, he continued, "I trust my intuition about people."
Recalling the dark thoughts he'd just had, Suguru couldn't help but snap, "You can still say that while sitting right next to me?"
Haibara, possessing both a powerful technique and a passive immunity to sarcasm, beamed. "Yes!"
"Haha..." Hearing their exchange, Yuki Tsukumo couldn't hold back a laugh. "Kid, that last part was sarcasm."
"Hehe." Seeing that the two had things to discuss, Haibara rubbed the back of his head and stood up. "I'll take my leave, then."
"A junior? He's very straightforward. Cute, too." Yuki was quite pleased by the interaction and didn't hold back her praise.
Suguru crossed his arms and countered, "I'd argue that as a sorcerer, being suspicious is a necessity."
"Geto-kun, aren't you going to answer?" Yuki looked ahead, repeating her opening question.
Suguru turned to her. "Why don't you answer first? Who are you?"
Finally, time for the self-introduction? Took long enough. I already spent ages thinking of the most impactful pose.
Yuki Tsukumo tilted her head back, giving him a cool profile view. "Special Grade Sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo. Ever heard of me?"
If I say no, will she expand her domain and kill me? The stray thought flickered through Suguru's mind as he feigned surprise. "So you're the one..."
Without a doubt, Suguru's expression and leading sentence gave the "cool" woman exactly the ego boost she wanted.
Seeing his shocked face, Yuki's "cool" facade vanished into a grin of pure anticipation. Like a student waiting for a teacher's praise, her eyes sparkled. "You've heard of me? Go on, say it."
"A Special Grade who refuses to take missions," Suguru said, watching her face darken as he continued, "A drifter who spends all her time lounging around overseas."
"I hate Jujutsu High." Yuki leaned back against the bench, thinking that the students here were getting more annoying by the second. That boy from earlier was much cuter. "I'm joking. But Jujutsu High and I definitely don't see eye-to-eye."
"The people here only focus on treating the symptoms. I want to treat the cause." Suddenly serious, Yuki began her "sermon."
For some reason, Suguru felt a strange magnetism in her words. He felt compelled to listen. "Treat the cause?"
"Instead of hunting curses, we create a world where curses aren't born in the first place."
This woman... she's speaking directly to my heart, Suguru thought.
"Let me give you a lesson. At its core, what are curses?" Professor Yuki began her quiz.
Suguru, already hooked, played along. "They are the manifestation of cursed energy that leaks out from humans, accumulating until it takes form."
"Correct." Yuki held up two fingers. "Therefore, there are two ways to create a world without curses."
"One: eliminate cursed energy from all of humanity. Two: teach all of humanity how to control their cursed energy."
She lowered one finger. "I used to think the first option was best. After all, we have a prime example."
"A prime example?" Suguru thought of the answer immediately. "Toji Fushiguro?"
"Wasn't it Zen'in? Whatever, same thing. I've seen cases where cursed energy is suppressed to the level of a normal person by a Heavenly Restriction." Yuki didn't know Toji had changed his name after becoming a stay-at-home husband, but it didn't affect her lecture. "But a case where cursed energy is literally zero? In the whole world, he's the only one."
"And that's not even the most interesting part. Even with zero cursed energy, he could perceive curses with his five senses. By completely abandoning cursed energy, his physical body reached a state where it developed a natural resistance to curses. He was a true superhuman. You shouldn't feel ashamed of losing to him."
"Is that so? Come to think of it, Satoru and Gumo both beat him..." Suguru suddenly felt his "Special Grade" title was a sham. Only I...
Though the thought crossed his mind, he didn't say it aloud. He kept listening.
"I wanted to invite him to study with me, but he turned me down. It's a shame he's dead."
"Study? Was his job just to be a lab rat?" Suguru couldn't help but quip.
"Shut up. Samples are part of the experiment. I would have put his name on the reports." Yuki was annoyed at the interruption but continued. "Samples of Heavenly Restriction are too rare. My current focus is the second method: teaching all of humanity to control cursed energy."
"Did you know? Sorcerers don't produce curses. Except, of course, when a sorcerer themselves turns into a curse after death."
"The amount of cursed energy a sorcerer leaks is negligible compared to a non-sorcerer." She made a fist to illustrate. "While part of it is the difference between consumption and capacity when using jujutsu, the most important factor is 'flow.' A sorcerer's energy circulates perfectly within their own body."
"To put it simply: if everyone became a sorcerer, curses would cease to exist."
"Then shouldn't we just kill all the non-sorcerers?" As if possessed, Suguru blurted out the words.
"That's a viable option. In fact, it's probably the easiest way. Continually culling non-sorcerers to force them to evolve into sorcerers as a survival strategy... but unfortunately, I'm not that crazy yet."
Outside, a light drizzle began to fall. The gloomy sky reflected Suguru's internal state.
"Do you hate non-sorcerers, Geto-kun?"
Geto-senpai's state seems to be getting worse and worse. Yu Haibara wasn't as airheaded as he appeared. He worried for his senior as he walked out of the building.
"Mmph—!"
A hand suddenly clamped over Haibara's mouth. He instinctively prepared to throw a punch, but he stopped when he recognized the face.
Hasegumo winked at him. Haibara gestured back, indicating he would keep quiet.
"Whew... Senpai, what is this about?" Haibara whispered as softly as possible.
"Shh!" Hasegumo leaned in, his voice quieter than a mosquito's wing. "Shoko noticed Suguru's been spiraling lately."
"Satoru and I discussed it. Since my cursed energy fluctuations are naturally minimal, Satoru is taking over all my missions. My job is to monitor Suguru's every move, see if he's talking to himself, and find a way to get him back to normal."
"Then why are you grabbing me?" Haibara thought these seniors were really something else. Caring for a teammate by stalking them? If Geto-senpai found out, wouldn't he kill them?
"I've been on watch for three days. It's boring as hell doing this alone. As of now, you've been drafted. Satoru will cover your missions too. You're on surveillance duty with me." Hasegumo made it clear he was just grabbing the nearest warm body. Besides, you don't have any energy fluctuations either.
"Huh?" Haibara looked reluctant. He didn't want to be a secret agent.
"Shh!" Hasegumo didn't care. Finally, he had someone to share the "prison sentence" with. "Stop talking, or we won't be able to hear what they're saying inside."