Tsukumo Yuki’s funeral was held simply.
Even if she had been an enemy, it was done with due respect for a woman who had once chased her dreams with nothing but sincerity, and for a special-grade jujutsushi.
There had been Todo’s forceful insistence that he couldn’t bear to look at his teacher’s ruined corpse, but no one objected to it.
Thud
The spot they chose was a sunny place with a clear view of the stars, one she had especially liked.
They dug into the earth, buried her, and set up a modest gravestone over the grave.
On the stone, carved with clumsy hands, was a simple inscription.
Tsukumo Yuki rests here.
And beneath that, they also made sure to include an epitaph for Larue, who had given his life for the world.
They knew almost nothing about him, but they owed gratitude for the sacrifice he had shown at the end.
For a man whose taste was terrible, but who had been nobler than anyone.
The burial process was carried out entirely by hand from start to finish.
From Todo’s face, which endured all that labor, dripped drops of liquid that might have been tears or sweat.
Kusakabe and Hakari pretended not to notice it, and once everything was done, they finally managed to speak.
"Uh, are you okay?"
"I’m fine."
"Even so...."
"It was the choice my teacher made. She paid the price she should have borne. We should be grateful we could at least bury her like this."
Todo sniffled hard, then said no more about it.
He said he was fine, but he looked anything but fine.
And in truth, he wasn’t fine at all.
I’m guessing the aftereffects are going to linger for a while.
He had killed with his own hands the first love and teacher he had spent years with. There was no way he would get over that easily. To Kusakabe, Todo looked like he needed a long rest.
He didn’t think he’d get back on his feet easily, but in the end, the dead were dead, and the living had to keep living.
Time would handle it.
Still, he was such an upbeat, self-paced guy that Kusakabe had no doubt he’d bounce back again.
Clapping his hands once to lift the gloomy mood, Kusakabe thought about what to say, then pulled one forgotten matter back up in his head.
"Hey, you, Hakari."
"Me?"
"Aren’t you about due to explain yourself? What took you so long?"
"Ah, that. Well, a bunch of things happened."
So what were those bunch of things?
"Then explain them, you irresponsible bastard."
"Geez, I’m lazy...."
Hakari’s expression as he said that looked a little sulky.
Looks like this guy....
"Are you pouting?"
"I’m not."
"You are."
Yes. He was pouting.
He got saved, only to be cursed at.
And now, if he tried to spill the whole sorry story, it wouldn’t exactly look good.
I mean, with a face like that, he’s weirdly sentimental....
While Kusakabe was cursing inwardly, Hakari, who had been picking at his nose, summoned Kogane and shoved it in front of his eyes.
The player rankings, which he hadn’t been able to check for a while because he’d been busy.
He’d thought things were probably fixed in place by now and not likely to change much.
But apparently that wasn’t the case.
{Player Rankings}
1st. [Yoshino Junpei - 530 points]
2nd. [Kashimo Hajime - 482 points]
.
.
.
.
.
.
"You’re kidding me...?"
"That’s why we were a little late."
Junpei had somehow passed 500 points and climbed to first place.
The names of Uro and Higuruma, who had originally held third and fourth, were nowhere to be found.
The score of second-place Kashimo Hajime was just as shocking. From his previous 390 points, he had apparently slaughtered every minor player in the top ten and inflated his score all the way to 482.
Considering that the third-place player below him had barely broken 20 points, it was obvious that the shape of [Deadly Migration] would now be dominated by those two alone.
We left the neutral zone on the evening of day six. If it’s night on day seven now, then they took out third and fourth place both in a single day?
That speed was absurd.
With this, if the two of them are made to fight and Junpei kills Kashimo, [Deadly Migration] can be brought to an end.
The end was drawing near.
But somehow... it felt a little...
Hollow.
We’d spent all seven days grinding ourselves down hard, only to end up with nothing and a pile of emotions to show for it.
Considering Yoshino’s reputation, it made sense, but seeing him handle things so easily stirred up an unmistakable, snake-like jealousy.
"That’s unfair...."
"That’s life."
"You’re the guy who got suspended for gambling and charging the headquarters, and you’re talking like some sage?"
"Maybe that was gambling too? Could I still keep my footing on this side after beating up a headquarters council member? You could say I was testing my luck, couldn’t you? Maybe?"
"Quit talking bullshit."
---------------------------------------
The morning of day seven of [Deadly Migration].
Junpei, who had happened to stop by the neutral zone and was chatting with his friends, was suddenly approached by a man in a wheelchair.
"I can’t take it anymore. You, fight me right now."
"...?"
A fight-crazed lunatic.
That was Yoshino Junpei’s first impression of Kashimo Hajime.
When Junpei was left helpless, unable to do anything about Kashimo’s one-sided courtship, Nobara was the one who saved him.
"Pikachu, can’t you see we’re talking? Don’t make a scene and get out."
"You bring a strong man like this here and tell me to endure it? You ask too much of me. And you need to show me more respect. I am the strongest jujutsushi from 400 years ago, a legendary man who remained undefeated until death...."
"Enough already. Get out!"
"I must once again insist that you respect me!"
Bang!
Kashimo, who had been frantically spitting out words at machine-gun speed, was subdued by Yuji and thrown out of the room.
Still grumbling, he slammed on the door a few times, then, unable to contain his anger, creaked and rattled his way off into the distance.
Megumi let out a sigh and explained the reason to the dumbfounded Junpei.
"Cut him some slack. He hasn’t been able to fight for a while, so his brain’s gone a little weird."
"He seems like that kind of person to begin with....."
"He wasn’t this bad. We could at least talk normally before, but then he went and heard something weird somewhere, and now he’s like that."
They should never have let him stick with Yuji.
What had started as a lie about trying to kill each other had turned into them getting pretty close in just one night, to the point where they were even teaching him internet memes.
Their social skills were absurd.
Thanks to that, Megumi had been tormented every other day by Kashimo’s 5,700-character letters.
Though today would be the end of that.
"The fact that you came here yourself means that’s what this is about, right?"
"You really are quick on the uptake."
The fact that Junpei, who had been using Shinjuku as his base, came all the way here himself meant he had finished preparing.
He was ready to hunt Uro Takako and Higuruma Hiromi.
Since he had come all the way here without passing through nearby Ikebukuro, it was also clear who his first target was.
"Uro Takako?"
"Yeah. Higuruma felt a little too suspicious. Ishigori said something before he died."
The weird lawyer guy is a little different, though.
When he killed Dorobu Rakdawa yesterday, the presence caught by his cursed sense had not been just one person.
As soon as Dorobu died, there had been a figure fleeing the scene, and after asking the personnel under him, he had been able to conclude that it was Uro Takako.
Higuruma hadn’t moved from his Ikebukuro base all day.
The fact that he specifically singled out a lawyer by profession.
Unlike his brutal 117-point score, his temperament was defensive, the kind that wouldn’t make a move unless attacked first.
Higuruma Hiromi was probably not a reincarnated player, but a [jackpot].
Despite the overwhelming gap in experience, he had stood shoulder to shoulder with the other rankers, which meant his potential was considerable.
Uro, who had come to kill and then fled.
Higuruma, with his neutral attitude and the certainty that he had a trump card.
Which of the two would be easier to deal with was obvious, and naturally Junpei’s first target became Uro.
"But her movements are a little unclear. You guys are probably better informed than I am, so I came to ask."
"Sure enough, if it’s that, you came to the right place."
There was a reason they had been called the rulers of the neutral zone all this time.
They had their subordinates keep watch on the movements of suspicious rankers, so finding Uro would only take a moment.
"And while I’m at it, I get to see a familiar face too."
"Hmph."
"....."
"Could you two take the lovey-dovey stuff outside?"
Yuji stopped the couple who were staring at each other with eyes dripping honey.
If he left them alone, they looked ready to start kissing without even caring who was watching, so he had no choice but to stop them.
Megumi waved the two away with regretful expressions, then called Amai over and had him bring the written investigation materials.
"You’re pretty professional."
"If I mess up, it’s a problem. I can’t leave this to these idiots, so I have to do it myself."
"Hey, who are you calling idiots?"
Ignoring the protest, Megumi took the documents on Uro Takako and read them, his expression darkening.
"Bad news."
"What is it?"
"The last place Uro Takako was seen was...."
Ikebukuro.
"!!"
"Looks like she didn’t just happen to stop by. Someone saw her coming and going from the theater Higuruma was using as his base."
"You sure?"
"I’m sure."
The reason an enemy like Uro would deliberately come and go from Higuruma’s base was one thing.
They were almost certainly allied.
To keep in check Junpei and Kashimo, who might hunt them at any time.
"Two rankers at once...."
Showing themselves moving around so carelessly meant they were half-luring him in.
If it was just Uro, maybe, but if Higuruma was with her too, did that mean they had some kind of method?
Should he walk straight into the obvious trap?
The hesitation didn’t last long.
"I’ll go alone. Thanks for telling me."
"It could be dangerous. You don’t have to go by yourself; if we go with you...."
"No. Sorry to ask this of you, but this is something I have to do."
Junpei grinned and stood up, then walked out of the room.
Reading the firm resolve in his eyes, the three of them couldn’t stop him any further.
And yet, beneath that, there was also a belief that if it was really him, he could handle everything alone.
"Uh... if that’s what you want to do, then do it."
"Don’t get hurt."
"And don’t make us worry again!"
"Thanks for worrying about me. I’ll come back safely."
Leaving his friends’ farewells behind, Junpei parted from them and, as soon as he stepped outside the building, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
The Zippo lighter he pulled from his pocket to light it had a cherry embossed on it.
He hadn’t told his friends, but there was another reason he wanted to handle this alone.
I promised them.
That he would save them.
"All right. Let’s go."
He was now one step away from the final gate.
No, should that be two steps?
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