“Oh....”
At the boy’s unexpected words, Mahito broke into a wide smile.
Curse energy enough for him to be seen.
The nerve to ask a curse that had just killed someone to teach him.
And on top of that, an abnormality that didn’t even blink when a person died.
This is going to be fun.
“Well, who knows? Innate techniques are something you’re born with. If you can see me, then you might have some potential, but I can’t promise anything.”
“I see....”
The boy was visibly crestfallen.
Mahito strode over and draped an arm around his shoulder.
Whether it was a learned reflex or not, the boy flinched for a moment, but soon seemed to realize the other had no intention of harming him and relaxed his body.
“First, why don’t we move somewhere else?”
-----------------------------
Junpei led the man to a hideout he knew.
Luckily for him, he had a place where he would go alone whenever his mind felt unsettled.
An underpass beside a stream. Deep in the sewer there, hardly anyone ever came.
The man looked at Junpei’s hideout and grinned as if he liked it.
“I like it. It’s perfect for a private conversation.”
It was a fairly friendly reaction, but Junpei still didn’t let his guard down.
He was always in the weaker position, and even if the other person showed goodwill, he couldn’t easily trust it.
The man in front of him was clearly strong. The kind of strength that could knead a frail thing like him to death as easily as clay.
Standing there in an awkward posture, Junpei was addressed by the man.
“First, should I introduce myself? I’m Mahito.”
“Yoshino... Junpei.”
“Junpei. Nice name. The ‘jun’ means gentle, and the ‘pei’ means level or fair. It sounds like your parents wanted you to grow up kind and just. They must have loved you a lot.”
“Ahaha.....”
At Mahito’s words, Junpei naturally thought of his mother, Yoshino Nagi.
The precious mom who had carefully raised him after his father divorced when he was little.
Junpei had given up on expecting anything from other people, but his kind mother was the one exception.
“You saw me at the movie theater earlier, didn’t you?”
“Yes. At Kinema Cinema, during that Worm Human 3....”
“It’ll sound like an excuse, but I came all the way there to enjoy human culture, and those guys had to go and be annoying. So I gave them a little correction. Unfortunately, the movie wasn’t any fun, though.”
“It’s an old movie, and it’s part of a series. You probably wouldn’t understand it unless you watched from the first one. Even setting that aside, the third film’s quality is terrible.”
“Oh? You say that much, and now I’m curious. More importantly, aren’t you a high schooler? Why were you there at that hour?”
Mahito’s words struck a painful nerve, and Junpei’s expression stiffened for a moment.
They did somehow talk well, but could he really show this man his shameful side?
More importantly, hadn’t he said he would teach him that technique or whatever it was....
No.
There was a proper order to everything.
They had only just met Mahito, and even becoming acquainted like this was something to be grateful for.
That technique might not be something just anyone could do, and he had no idea what would happen if he offended this man.
For now, he should go along with it.
“....I don’t go to school.”
“Why not?”
“It’s full of idiots. Most of them are monkeys who haven’t even become human yet, and the trash that goes along with them is everywhere. No one would willingly throw themselves into a cesspool like that.”
“Ahahaha, that’s harsh. Did something bad happen?”
“Yes.”
The cigarette burn on the right side of his forehead was still vivid. He couldn’t go back to school until this scar was gone.
Probably for the rest of his life.
Even if the staff kept pestering him, he could just ignore them. It wasn’t like anyone would care if someone like him disappeared anyway.
Thinking about it only made something boil up inside him.
Junpei bit his lip, suppressing the anger that had nowhere to go.
Mahito, watching him with interest, asked, “You said you wanted to do the same kind of thing I did. If you were to learn jujutsu, what would you want to do?”
“Revenge.”
At the single word spat out like he was chewing and swallowing it, Mahito nodded.
“Looks like we’ll have a lot to talk about.”
“Then....”
“It’s already late today. If you don’t go home, your parents will worry, won’t they? And if you’re absent, the police might start suspecting you.”
“What about you, Mahito? Aren’t you worried?”
“The police will never catch me. Something more troublesome might latch onto me, though.... I’ll explain that later, so look forward to it.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll stay here. I like the atmosphere of this place. Talking with you is fun, too. Come back here tomorrow. I’ll teach you many things then.”
He had gotten a promise.
Junpei bowed his head, forcing down the joy threatening to burst out of him.
“I’ll be in your care from now on, Mahito.”
“That’s what I should be saying.”
Waving his hand, Mahito watched Junpei leave the sewer.
------------------------
I can learn jujutsu, too.
“Haha.”
It still didn’t feel real.
Someone so incredible, someone who could kill a person with a single gesture, was going to teach him.
A person.... maybe. He wasn’t sure.
“Oh my, did something good happen, Junpei?”
Nagi, preparing dinner, looked gently at Junpei’s beaming face.
She was delighted that her son, who had always gone around looking drained ever since refusing to go to school, had finally regained some energy after so long.
“I had an unexpected meeting.”
“Really? A meeting that would make our son this happy? Now I’m curious too. Bring them home sometime.”
Junpei hesitated for a moment.
Mahito to our house?
Not yet.
His mother might be rude, and he still didn’t know Mahito all that well.
The family could be in danger. He refused to bring some unverified bomb into the house.
“We’re not that close yet. Maybe next time, if there’s a chance.”
“All right, do as you like.”
Yoshino Nagi watched Junpei eat eagerly with a satisfied smile.
“Someone from school came by today.”
She had deliberately said it casually, as if it were nothing, since it was a sensitive topic, but it probably still sounded unpleasant.
Junpei, who had set down his chopsticks, stiffened.
“Don’t worry. I talked them out of it and sent them away. Unless something major happens, they probably won’t keep coming.”
It was the path her son had chosen.
The world was wide. Even if it wasn’t school, there were plenty of paths Junpei could choose.
School was nothing more than a small tank. She had no intention of letting him dry up and die in it.
He was smart, too, so he could succeed however he wanted.
Perhaps sensing his mother’s feelings, Junpei scratched his head awkwardly, looking a little relieved.
“Thanks.”
“For what? If you’re done eating, clean up the sink for me. I’m stepping out for a bit.”
“You’re going out to smoke again!”
“Oh? That’s my only hobby.”
“How about picking up a different hobby? Flower arranging or something....”
“Waaah, I worked myself to the bone raising you, and now you won’t even let me have a single cigarette after a meal. What a cruel boy.”
“Sigh.... Don’t pretend to cry. Just one.”
“Ufufu, got it.”
Watching Yoshino Nagi hum as she shuffled outside, Junpei let out a sigh.
He kept telling her to quit smoking, but was it really that hard?
What was so good about cigarettes anyway, when they were bad for your body?
Even after Nagi came back from smoking and Junpei had gotten ready for bed, his eyes were still wide open and wouldn’t close.
His meeting with Mahito earlier that day.
The chance that might become the turning point that changed Junpei’s life kept flickering before his eyes.
‘People I hate. People who hate me.’
If he gained the power to easily take their lives, what would he do?
Make them kneel and apologize?
Or kill them without a second thought?
He wouldn’t know until the time came.
“But if I did kill them.....”
Mom.
At the smiling face of his mother that suddenly came to mind, Junpei pulled the blanket over himself.
If I killed someone, what kind of expression would Mom make?
He didn’t want to see her sad.
The more he thought about it, the more suffocating it became.
Junpei forced himself to ignore the prickling sensation in some corner of his heart and fell asleep.
He had to wake up early tomorrow and go see Mahito.
--------------------------
Early the next morning, Junpei came out into the living room and found the sandwich Nagi had left behind before going to work.
Under the sandwich was a note written in pretty handwriting.
[Do your best today too, Junpei.]
Junpei picked up the sandwich, bit into it, and carefully pinned the note up in his room before leaving the house.
His destination was the sewer where Mahito was waiting.
The sewer was only about a ten-minute walk away.
“You came.”
Lying in a hammock he must have set up at some point, swaying gently, Mahito spotted Junpei and waved in greeting.
“Good morning.”
“I thought you’d come. It’s early—aren’t you sleepy?”
At Mahito’s gentle, concerned tone, Junpei’s lips curled up before he realized it.
“When I was still going to school, I always got up at this time. It’s just a habit now.”
“You’re diligent. I like you more and more.”
“You’re too kind.”
-Whoosh
Flipping himself out of the hammock with an acrobatic motion, Mahito landed and walked over to Junpei.
“If you came here, that means you’re ready to learn jujutsu.”
Jujutsu.
The mysterious power Mahito wielded.
It was a word Junpei had heard in passing while talking with Mahito yesterday, but he still didn’t know exactly what it was.
“I am, but.... what exactly is jujutsu?”
“Oops, I almost forgot the basic explanation. You’ve been talking to me so naturally for someone who isn’t a jujutsushi.”
“A jujutsushi...?”
Frowning as he tried to figure out what that meant, Junpei couldn’t properly react when Mahito suddenly reached out toward his head.
“Wha....”
“I’ll explain later. It’ll be faster to show you first.”
Idle Transfiguration
Mahito’s technique, which could knead the soul and alter the shape of the human body, pierced straight through Junpei’s brain.
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