Three days after Junpei was interrogated, his treatment was decided.
After breakfast at Ijichi’s home, Junpei was finally told what that meant.
“There’s good news and slightly bad news. Which do you want first?”
“The good news.”
“Yoshino-kun will be entering Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School. Just not right away.”
“Why not?”
“It’ll take a bit to explain, so please listen.”
After getting a call from Nanami, Ijichi explained why Junpei still couldn’t be admitted to Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School.
The existence of Sukuna inside Itadori’s body.
The conflict between the higher-ups, who wanted to execute Itadori, and Gojo Satoru.
And the fact that Junpei’s survival still couldn’t be made public, so they had to wait until Gojo returned from Africa.
“Also, the exchange event with the sister school in Kyoto is starting soon. You could call it a pretty big event.”
“So there’s more than one jujutsu school in Japan?”
“Of course. Japan has a far higher rate of curse outbreaks than other countries, so covering everything with just one school in Tokyo would be impossible.”
“Then I’ll get to meet the others too, right?”
It would be his first time interacting with other jujutsushi besides Yuji, Nanami, and Ijichi.
Maybe he could finally be recognized as one of them instead of someone standing on the outside.
At the thought of making new friends, new companions, Junpei found himself a little excited.
“If you do enroll, you’ll probably be the fourth first-year. You’d technically be a second-year by age, but... there’s also the issue of school refusal, and it’d probably be better to go with Itadori-kun, since you already know him.”
“Ahaha... yeah, that makes sense.”
“Even if you’ve learned the basics of your technique, you’re still not fully formed as a jujutsushi. There’ll be a lot to learn.”
At that, Junpei thought of Gojo Satoru.
Yuji had said he was a ridiculously strong teacher.
What kind of person was he? At the very least, Junpei hoped he wasn’t an incompetent fool like Sotomura.
“What kind of person is Gojo-sensei, the homeroom teacher for the first-years?”
He asked with some expectation, but the answer he got was a little strange.
As if recalling a bad memory, Ijichi shuddered and offered only a low warning.
“Don’t expect too much. He’s incredible and absurdly strong, but if you’re expecting an ‘adult’ like Nanami-san, you’ll definitely be disappointed.”
“...Is his personality that bad?”
“I can’t tell you any more than that. I’d rather not find out what hell looks like because I said the wrong thing once.”
“Ah, yes...”
What on earth had he done?
The way Ijichi said it only made Junpei more curious.
Adjusting his glasses, Ijichi shook his head and continued.
“Now for the slightly bad news. Yoshino-kun’s punishment has been decided.”
Junpei had been bracing for something like this ever since he stormed the school.
So even if they said it now, it didn’t really hit him.
“Before you’re admitted to the school, Yoshino-kun, you’ll need to complete three Grade 1 missions under Nanami-san’s supervision.”
“...Huh?”
-------------------------
Grade 1 missions are usually assigned to Grade 1 jujutsushi.
“Grade 1” might sound unremarkable, but in reality, only those with extraordinary talent or years upon years of experience and training can become Grade 1 jujutsushi. Their strength is on a completely different level from ordinary jujutsushi.
For a rookie jujutsushi to handle three such missions was basically the same as being told to die.
Since Nanami would be leading him, Junpei probably wouldn’t die, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.
Junpei took this as a kind of trial.
He had to prove that, even if he had nearly become a curse user, he was still valuable enough to be brought into the fold.
And, as a bonus, it would also be a chance to show that he no longer harbored any malice.
How could he leave a good impression?
After thinking it over, he went to Itadori Yuji for advice.
“Nanamin? Hmm... he’s strict, but he’s really kind, and super mature.”
“He does look that way. What does he like?”
“I’m not sure about that. I heard from Ijichi-san that he’s mixed-race, so he likes bread. He even said he was devastated when the vegetable bread he liked disappeared from the convenience store.”
“A guy who looks like not a drop of blood would come out even if you stabbed him, devastated because a vegetable bun disappeared...?”
Of course, Nanami had never said it like that.
He had only said that when small disappointments piled up and piled up, you learned to accept reality, and that was when you finally became an adult.
The vegetable bread had just been the example he used, but it must have left a strong impression, because it had been distorted through Yuji’s mouth and delivered to Junpei that way.
As the misunderstanding deepened, Junpei pictured a scene.
“...There’s no vegetable bread. One of the small joys in my life has disappeared.”
“Pfft!”
“Why are you laughing? Tell me too.”
“N-no, I just imagined a grown adult sadly turning around and leaving because there was no vegetable bread, and it was too funny...”
“Hahahahaha! It is pretty funny!”
“What exactly is so funny?”
At that moment, Nanami appeared out of nowhere, having opened the door without a sound.
“Eek!”
“Huh? Nanamin? When did you get here?”
“Just now. You didn’t answer when I knocked, so I came in. It sounded like you were having a rather interesting conversation. Please, continue.”
“N-no...”
Junpei hated himself for the stupid image he’d conjured just seconds earlier.
Nanami had definitely heard everything. He was supposed to be making a good impression, and instead he’d been caught gossiping and snickering.
Maybe I should just die...
“If you’re done, let’s go. We have a request.”
Surprisingly, Nanami let it pass without saying much.
(See? I told you he’s way more forgiving and way nicer than he looks.)
(Is that so...)
“How long are you two going to keep whispering?”
“S-sorry! We’re coming now!”
“Nanamin, Junpei! Have a safe trip~”
Waving at the two of them as they walked away, Yuji recalled a conversation he’d had with Nanami not long ago.
“Nanamin. I killed someone today.”
People die anyway. I know that can’t be helped.
If I couldn’t stop it, I at least wanted them to die properly.
So I was only thinking about how to stop them from pulling the trigger, but when I actually pulled the trigger myself, I couldn’t even tell what was what anymore.
“What is a proper death?”
“I don’t know either. If a good person dies normally and an evil person is punished and dies, that might be the proper thing—but most people in this world are neither evil nor good.”
Death is the destination for everyone, but no two deaths are the same. Guiding them onto the right path is surely a difficult thing.
So I won’t recommend that you do it. Even if I say that, you’ll probably choose that path anyway.
Just do enough not to die.
Today you killed someone, but you saved that boy. There will be many more people who need your help in the future.
“Itadori-kun is already a jujutsushi.”
In other words, I don’t recognize you as a jujutsushi either.
When that old remark overlapped with what he’d heard before, Yuji felt like he might cry.
That indifferent kindness, that casual recognition, had sunk deep into his heart.
So he had no doubt Junpei would do well.
Nanami would surely guide him onto the right path, just as he had guided Yuji.
--------------------------
“We have two weeks until you head to Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School. We’ll finish everything within that time. Normally, Grade 1 requests aren’t scheduled this tightly, but we need to push through.”
“What’s the usual pace?”
“Jujutsushi don’t really get vacations. It’s a lot like office life. If the boss says jump, you jump, so whenever a request comes in, we go where we’re needed. Investigation, exorcism, and cleanup usually take about a week all together.”
These days, for some reason, the frequency has gone up, so there’s no time to rest.
Junpei headed with Nanami to the nearby department store where the request had come in.
The outline of the case was replaced by documents prepared by Ijichi.
“There are two victims in total. Cause of death: massive blood loss from limb severance. Both were killed in the underground parking lot.”
“Just from that, it sounds like the killing site is connected to something, but with only two samples, it’s hard to narrow down. It could just be a coincidence, right?”
“That’s possible. But something suspicious came up during the investigation, so I’d like you to look at the background information.”
Junpei turned the page at Ijichi’s instruction.
The victims were a middle-aged man and a young woman.
Like anyone who came to a department store like this, they seemed to have a fair amount of money.
“VIP?”
“Large department stores like this usually use a membership system. Customers who spend a huge amount of money earn the right to enroll in VIP membership, which comes with various benefits like discounts and early access to collections.”
And once you start receiving those benefits, you naturally begin to think you’re the one with all the power.
Junpei swallowed hard at that.
“So this is probably a curse born from inferiority complex over wealth inequality... or resentment from being treated like dirt by people with power.”
“That’s likely. The reason the murders happened in the underground parking lot is probably because it’s an underground space with no light, which makes for the perfect environment for curses.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s what we still need to find out. The next target is almost certainly another VIP, so I’ll interview the department store staff and get a list in the meantime. Yoshino-kun, please search the underground parking lot with Ijichi-kun. But if you encounter the curse, leave the area and prioritize regrouping with me.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just switched places?”
“I’ve been to department stores enough to know that the staff here are sensitive about personal information leaks. Also, we came in a hurry, so I couldn’t notify them about Yoshino-kun in advance. I doubt anyone would believe a child is a jujutsushi.”
That was... convincing!
At the clear, logical argument, Junpei found himself nodding before he knew it.
“Then I’ll head out first.”
After Nanami got out of the car and disappeared from view on the escalator, Junpei was left alone in the vehicle with Ijichi.
“Where should we start investigating?”
“Let’s go to the place where they were killed first. There may still be traces left behind.”
“Sounds good?”
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