Following the night of the Spring Lantern Festival, a profound, quintessential spring arrived at the Fujiwara secret estate, just as it had in seasons past.
The massive, ancient tree standing stoically in the heart of the garden had finally reached the peak of its bloom; with every gust of wind, it scattered a blinding blizzard of pale pink petals, descending like flakes of snow.
Utsugi sat leaning against the wooden veranda, his weary gaze fixed upon the scenery.
In the center of his vision stood Kiyo, the jade-colored forget-me-not hairpin he had gifted her gleaming in her hair as she took hurried, light steps, reaching out to catch the falling cherry blossoms.
It was peaceful.
A miraculous time where he could look upon the world with his bare eyes, unshielded, without the stinging agony of the Six Eyes.
Utsugi unconsciously stroked the hilt of the tachi resting at his waist.
'Just five more days.'
Five days hence, the day the primary Star Plasma Vessel would successfully undergo assimilation with Master Tengen.
Once the primary had vanished, Kiyo, having served as a standby, was intended to live out her remaining days in the depths of the Fujiwara underground. Utsugi intended to seize that moment to spirit her away.
He did not care if he became a traitor to the jujutsu world, hunted by the entire realm. He possessed the overwhelming martial might to carve through any pursuers, and even if he were to wander the deepest pits of hell, it would be enough if he kept this one clear star by his side.
It was a fiercely emotional and blind plan—the first of its kind conceived by the genius of the Sugawara clan.
However.
Phwoosh-!!
"...!"
Utsugi sprung up from the veranda as if propelled by a violent force. His cerulean irises narrowed sharply, staring intensely at the distant southern sky, at the outskirts of the capital, Heian-kyo.
Though the distance rendered individual cursed signatures and forms invisible, he felt the highest-grade concealment barriers—layers cast by the Jujutsu Headquarters to protect the primary Star Plasma Vessel—shattering like brittle paper.
'The sanctuary of the primary has been breached.'
A cold chill raced down Utsugi’s spine.
It was not merely the rampage of a cursed spirit. The barriers themselves had been forcibly torn apart from the outside. It was undeniable proof that someone had deliberately targeted the very heart of the Jujutsu Headquarters.
"Lord Utsugi? Is something the matter?"
Kiyo, sensing his unnatural shift in demeanor, approached while holding a cherry blossom petal.
"There has been an upheaval at the sanctuary near the capital."
Utsugi answered through clenched teeth.
It was in the very moment he gripped the hilt of his sword in agitation.
Flutter-!
The air in the villa garden distorted grotesquely, and a blood-drenched blue paper crane shikigami fell from the sky. It was an emergency dispatch.
Even with its wings half-charred, the shikigami erupted with cursed energy, spewing a mechanical, toneless voice.
"Emergency. Defense line of the Jujutsu Headquarters' first sanctuary collapsed. The primary Star Plasma Vessel has been confirmed deceased."
The moment that cruel decree echoed through the garden, Kiyo’s movements froze.
"We issue an order in the name of the house to Sugawara no Utsugi."
"Escort Fujiwara no Kiyo to the Tombs of the Star Corridor (Hongu) where Master Tengen resides immediately. Carry out the assimilation by any means necessary. This is a supreme mandate, one that transcends the interests of the clan; it is a matter of the survival of the entire jujutsu world."
Having finished its report, the paper crane dissolved into purple ash.
A suffocating silence remained in the garden. Cherry blossoms dancing on the spring breeze drifted listlessly onto the shoulders of the two figures.
"......"
Utsugi’s breath hitched. A sensation as if his heart had plummeted to his feet.
The death of the primary meant that the only remaining substitute for sustaining the world was reduced to 'Kiyo' herself, standing right here in the Fujiwara estate.
Utsugi’s plan to safely extract her had been rendered perfectly worthless the instant the primary perished.
Kiyo’s large eyes trembled minutely.
The primary was dead. Now it was her turn to take that place, to ascend the altar of the Tombs of the Star Corridor, to have her consciousness extinguished and melt into the flesh of Master Tengen. A death sentence.
The blood drained from her face, leaving her cheeks—once blindingly radiant—as pale as wax.
"Ah...."
A small, pitiful sigh leaked from Kiyo’s lips. Her hands clutched the fabric of her kosode robes until they threatened to tear.
However, she did not collapse or sob. She simply lifted her head slowly, looking at Utsugi with eyes filled with resignation, as if she had already foreseen her own tragic fate.
"The primary... has passed away."
Kiyo’s voice was so eerily calm that it induced a shudder.
"Then, it is finally my turn."
"...."
Cursed energy, as cold as a frozen lake, began to erupt from Utsugi’s entire body. The gravel scattered on the ground rose into the air, unable to withstand the pressure of his technique, emitting cracks and pops.
Fury.
Fury at the rotten, inevitable laws of the jujutsu world that maintained their hollow peace by sacrificing an innocent girl.
And above all, a vicious hatred for the world itself, which had so tightly ensnared Kiyo—a world that had caused her to submit and abandon any attempt at resistance even in the face of such a cruel fate.
"Lord Utsugi, please do not be angry. I was born for this... from the very start."
"You are not a tool!!"
Utsugi grabbed Kiyo’s shoulders with savage intensity.
There could be no such thing as a sixteen-year-old girl who did not fear death.
She had simply spent her entire life trapped in a birdcage, forced to resign herself to her lot and conditioned to suppress every flicker of emotion.
"Kiyo. Listen to me."
Utsugi spoke while staring directly at her with bloodshot eyes.
"Even if the barrier collapses because you do not assimilate with Master Tengen, the world will not easily perish. If cursed spirits swarm, I shall simply cut them all down. If Master Tengen loses his reason and becomes an enemy of mankind, I will simply sever that old man’s head."
"We are going to break through the barrier and flee, right now."
Utsugi’s Six Eyes burned with ferocious resolve.
"I do not care if it is the Fujiwara punitive force that stands in our way, the elders of my own house, or the pack of rogue sorcerers who crushed the sanctuary. I can save you if I pour every fiber of my being into it."
A vow of treachery that dumped his identity as a sword of the Sugawara clan squarely into the trash bin.
Kiyo’s eyes trembled violently at that earnest and terrible confession.
Thick, transparent tears welled up and tracked down her cheeks, soaking the back of Utsugi’s hand.
"If... if I flee..."
Kiyo sobbed as she spoke.
"Barriers across all of Japan will collapse. Countless people, innocent children, will be torn apart by cursed spirits. Your clan will not be spared either. Above all else..."
Kiyo clutched Utsugi’s sleeve tightly.
"Lord Utsugi, you possess the power to save the world, yet you would have to spend your entire life as a branded traitor, hunted, simply to save one girl. Covered in the blood of others, receiving all the world’s hatred upon yourself. How can I... how can I thrust you into such a hell just to save myself?"
"I do not care!"
Utsugi roared.
"The lives of others, the safety of the world—they mean nothing to me! If you are not in this world, then whether it thrives or burns holds no value!"
Utsugi was entirely sincere.
He had always been that kind of man. Causes and worldly morals were nothing more than dusty excuses. He desired only his one perfect sanctuary—this transparent star that had, for the first time, painted color into his hollow chest.
"Lord Utsugi... you are truly a chaotic soul, aren't you."
Kiyo leaned her forehead against Utsugi’s chest, her face tear-streaked, weeping without sound.
Utsugi pulled her frail shoulders against him, as if to fuse their forms. Her warmth began to thaw his long-frozen chest. If he could simply spirit her away to the ends of the earth, it would all be over.
However, the god of tragedy did not grant even that fleeting embrace.
Schwing-!
Beyond the garden wall, from the forest encircling the villa, a chilling metallic screeching sound erupted alongside dozens of presences.
Utsugi’s Six Eyes pierced through those surrounding the garden.
These were not Fujiwara troops. They were killers sent to ensure even the substitute was wiped from existence; a swarm of wicked rogue sorcerers.
"They are here."
Utsugi hid Kiyo behind his back and drew his tachi.
Utsugi’s explosive cursed energy billowed like a heat haze over the cold silver blade.
"Kiyo, do not step a single inch away from behind me."
Utsugi’s voice, unlike his previous agitation, was now coldly, terrifyingly settled.
"Target discovered! It is just the one Sugawara brat! Sever that girl’s head at once!"
As the leader of the rogue sorcerers appearing atop the wall shouted, dozens of assassins lunged into the garden, radiating bloodlust.
"Pests."
Utsugi’s azure eyes flared.
There was no need for flight.
Dash-!
Utsugi’s frame propelled itself, cutting through the swirling cherry blossom petals.
"Wha—what...!"
Clang! Shred!!
The rogue sorcerers could not even conjure their techniques. Each time a blue streak carved the air, three, four, or more sorcerers saw their torsos severed or necks parted, crashing to the ground amidst geysers of blood.
"Th-this monster! Burn him to ash!"
Panic-stricken, the remaining sorcerers simultaneously unleashed jujutsu mixed with fire and venom.
But Utsugi leapt headlong into the oncoming pillar of fire. Bursting through the flames, his kick struck the leader’s face, causing his head to burst like a crushed melon.
A single minute.
The band of dozens of brutal sorcerers was annihilated under Utsugi’s blade without having once managed to stain his skin with a single drop of their blood. Nothing remained on the grass but severed limbs and the overwhelming stench of slaughter.
"It is finished."
Utsugi flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed it. An overwhelming violence, and his breathing had not even quickened.
He looked back and offered a hand to Kiyo, who stood frozen in the center of the bloody garden.
"Let’s go, Kiyo. No one can stop you now..."
Before Utsugi could finish his sentence.
Kiyo looked at Utsugi’s extended hand, then lifted her gaze to behold the blood-soaked garden and Utsugi, standing alone amidst the devastation.
The fear and lingering attachment that had clouded her eyes washed away as if they had never existed.
Replacing them was a resolution, profoundly clear and noble.
"...Lord Utsugi."
Kiyo, instead of taking Utsugi’s hand, pressed her palms together over her chest and gave a faint, fragile smile.
"I was so happy that you would make this whole world your enemy just for me. It was the most dazzling salvation of my short life."
"What are you saying? Take my hand at once."
Utsugi urged her, agitated, but Kiyo took a step back.
"But, I will not flee."
Her voice, clear as rolling silver bells, rang out over the blood-stained garden.
"I realized it just now, watching you cut down these enemies. If I flee, you would have to spend your life living like this—killing, stained in blood and gore. I cannot allow those beautiful eyes of yours, capable of saving the world, to be clouded by curses and slaughter."
"I do not care what happens!"
Utsugi shouted as he tried to approach, but she was entirely resolute. Even if he forced her away, it seemed she would rather take her own life than let Utsugi become a traitor.
"If the primary has passed, then it is correct for me to take that place. I am not a tool, but with my own will, I choose to protect this world... and the tomorrow you must live in. I will go to the Tombs of the Star Corridor."
Before that absolute devotion, Utsugi was struck dumb, as if he had been bludgeoned with a hammer.
There was no weapon in his arsenal that could shatter the noble resolve of the one he loved, who had chosen death of her own accord.
The absolute impotence of the strong.
Utsugi’s shoulders slumped in desolation. He stood hunched, clutching his trembling fists. For the first time since his birth, transparent tears, soaked in bitter loss, dripped from his eyes.
"Please... escort me to the Tombs of the Star Corridor."
Kiyo stepped forward, reaching out to gently caress the cheek of the bowed Utsugi as she whispered.
"I would like you to watch over my final journey. Not anyone else, but you—my own shadow."
A breeze blew.
Cherry blossom petals drifted through the stench of blood like a blizzard, veiling the two.
The boy’s first love was thus crumbling helplessly before the girl’s noble will—shattered as surely as his arrogant resolve to destroy the world was discarded before her clear, bright smile.
The cogs of fate began to churn, dragging them toward a conclusion both profoundly tragic and terrifying.
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