Mahito caught Yuji’s collapsing body with the tentacles of the mapari.
He had taken a direct hit from the Vortex at the end, but perhaps because of Sukuna, the external injuries were not that severe.
Even so, the reason the advantage had flipped back again was most likely the soul strike delivered at the end.
"......"
As Junpei stared blankly, Nobara strode up to him and swung her fist.
-Thwack!
"...."
"You bastard."
Tears had gathered in Nobara’s eyes as she panted with anger.
Junpei knew that, so he took the hit without saying a word.
Her hand, still trembling with anger that hadn’t gone away, soon dropped weakly to her side.
"...We’ll talk later."
"Yeah."
There was a lot he wanted to say.
How was he alive when they’d thought he was dead?
What was that power just now, and why had he been fighting Sukuna?
But there was something more important that had to be dealt with before all those questions.
Nanami. Maki. Naobito.
First, they had to confirm whether those three, dragged into the aftermath by bad luck, were alive or dead.
They didn’t need to say it out loud. After they’d split up, Nanami had briefly met Nobara and told her where he was headed.
-Rustle
As they cleared away rubble, following the faint residue of cursed energy, their hands caught on broken flesh.
Junpei hurriedly smashed the stone apart and pulled it free, his eyes stinging.
"Naobito..."
No matter how vigorous he had been, he was still old. His body had long since passed its prime.
And with the added fatal wound of losing both arms, there was no way Naobito could have survived that attack.
Junpei’s expression was grim as he gathered up Naobito’s charred corpse.
"When this is over, come visit the Zenin clan. I’ll treat you well."
They had only known each other for a few hours, but that was enough to build a real connection.
Praying for the repose of this old man, who had been cheerful and dependable despite his stubborn old-man streak, Junpei closed Naobito’s eyes.
Then it happened.
-Jostle
"Junpei!"
"I’m coming!"
At Nobara’s shout from the other side, Junpei ran over with a desperate heart.
When they dug through the place where a faint movement was stirring, they found the people they were looking for.
Nanami and Maki, half-charred to cinders.
"Nanami! Maki!"
"Luckily, they’re both still alive."
After checking their pulses in a hurry, Nobara grimaced.
Even if they were alive, at this rate they’d both die soon.
Perhaps because of her body’s toughness, Maki was in slightly better shape, but Nanami was practically no different from a corpse.
"We need to get them to Ieiri Shoko-sensei right away..."
"Too late. Even if we go by your [Black Scale], it’ll take at least ten minutes, and they won’t hold out that long."
Junpei’s face fell.
He couldn’t teleport. Only the user himself could come and go from an innate domain.
"What about reversed technique?"
"I’m out of cursed energy. If I squeeze everything I have, I might be able to use it once..."
Nobara’s voice trailed off as she swallowed the rest.
Once.
That meant one of them had to be abandoned.
'If only I could use reversed technique on other people...'
There was more than enough cursed energy stored in the mapari.
But the only one this much cursed energy could heal was himself.
Even if he rushed to try something new, reality was cruel.
As if mocking him for having already returned once from the brink of death and now daring to hope for another miracle, positive energy showed no sign of spilling from Junpei’s fingertips.
"...It won’t work."
"If it were that easy, we wouldn’t be suffering like this."
Even as they tore at their hair in agony, time kept slipping away mercilessly.
The weight of two lives was placed on the scale.
A cruel choice waited for them.
"Leave it to me."
"You have a way?"
"If I bind all my cursed energy as a [binding vow] and raise the return, I can heal both of them."
It was Nobara who made the decision.
She had resolved to save her comrades by staking her future as a sorcerer on it.
Junpei could not say a word in the face of her noble sacrifice, offering up all the effort she had built so far.
"......"
"It’s okay. If I can save these two..."
The smile she forced onto her face was heartbreaking.
Just as Nobara steeled herself and was about to form the [binding vow],
"D-don’t..."
Nanami, eyes flying open, grabbed her hand tightly.
"Nanami...!"
"I... have no hope left.... Save Maki."
"Don’t talk. You’re forcing yourself already."
"It doesn’t... matter...."
Every time he clenched his teeth and forced out words, Nanami coughed up blood from his mouth.
Looking at his condition, there was no doubt his lungs had been damaged.
And beyond that, if one tried to count every other place he had suffered severe injuries, the list would never end.
Nanami knew his own body best.
"Even if I receive treatment like this.... I won’t be able to return to the front lines..."
But Maki, and the rest of you, are different.
You still have a future.
Nanami’s trembling hand guided Nobara’s arm toward Maki, lying beside him.
If she wanted to shake him off, she could have.
But Nobara simply could not reject that powerless gesture.
"Hurry...!"
"I’m sorry...."
From the tip of Nobara’s clenched fingers, a white lily bloomed and spread over Maki’s body.
Because she had squeezed out the last of her nonexistent cursed energy, burn scars remained, but Maki’s complexion improved and a calm breath escaped her lips.
"That’s... enough..."
With a satisfied smile, Nanami’s focus gradually blurred.
When he closed his eyes, the face he saw again was familiar.
"Haibara...?"
"Yo."
-----------------------------------
A sorcerer is a piece of shit.
There are countless times when they give their lives for complete strangers.
And sometimes you have to force that mindset onto your comrades.
So I quit.
No, I ran away.
'The Ubusunagami faith... that was absolutely not a Grade 2 mission!'
I knew better than anyone, even before graduation, that this job was fucked.
The final straw was Haibara dying because those damn higher-ups couldn’t handle things properly.
'Let’s curse each other to our hearts’ content.'
Maybe that was the same reason Geto-sensei had half-lost his mind.
Though I still couldn’t understand that person’s extreme ideals.
I ran away and thought I’d be doing fine, but that wasn’t true either.
While doing ordinary labor, I felt no fulfillment, no joy.
I just lived as if I were drifting through each day, in a feeling like I was slowly dying.
'Do you like kasukrute?'
The reason I came back was truly pathetic.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Just... different people, that’s all."
I’m not curious why this guy is suddenly in front of me now.
It’s probably a deathbed flashback or an illusion, or something like that.
"How was it?"
"How was what?"
"All of it."
How was it, huh. Let’s see.
'Thank you!'
"I guess I’d say it wasn’t bad."
I thought I was someone with no connection to anything like a reason to live.
But I was wrong.
"Huuuu..."
Before I knew it, Haibara was gone, and only Junpei remained in front of me, his face a wreck as tears streamed down it.
How strange.
"Don’t cry."
"But..."
Since this is the end, maybe I should be a little honest.
"Nanami-san..."
"Now it’s your turn."
That summer long gone, Gojo Satoru became the strongest.
The boy in front of me will probably be the same. He’ll surely do fine even if some bastard like me doesn’t worry about him.
So I cursed it cleanly, without any strength left for what came after.
"I’ll leave the rest... to you."
My body’s losing strength more and more. Looks like it’s really over.
From sorcerer to salaryman. Then from salaryman back to sorcerer.
It was a pathetic life, shuttling back and forth for nothing more than that vague thing called fulfillment.
And yet there were many people who thanked me.
I left something behind.
No regrets.
"Ah."
Come to think of it, there is one.
"Malaysia... Right. Kuantan."
I wanted to go there at least once.
-----------------------------------
-Thud
Nanami’s hand, slowly rising, dropped with a thud as his breathing stopped.
In his final moment, he went with a peaceful expression.
Shedding hot tears, Junpei hugged Nanami’s cold body tightly.
'Goodbye, Nanami.'
Thank you for giving me a chance to live a new life.
Thank you for teaching me so much.
Thank you.
After holding Nanami for a long time, Junpei slowly got to his feet.
"Sniff... what are we going to do now?"
"I called the rescue team. They’ll be here soon."
"What about Maki and Itadori? We can’t just leave them like this."
"Don’t worry about that."
A man with twin braids had appeared at some point.
It was Choso, who had broken out of the ice after Uraume fainted and the technique was released.
With blood tears dried onto his face, Choso sat down heavily beside Yuji.
"I’ll guard him from here."
"Who are you?"
"Yuji’s big brother."
"Itadori said he was an only child. This guy’s suspicious."
Before he could even take an attack stance, Choso raised both hands, clearly showing he had no intention of fighting.
The person in front of him was unquestionably the enemy of his younger brothers. It felt like his blood was boiling in reverse, but he had already promised Yuji he wouldn’t touch him.
And right now, what mattered was guarding his unconscious brother.
"Our family situation is complicated. I can’t explain the details, but can’t you trust me?"
"There’s also the option of just getting rid of you and waiting ourselves."
"Then place a [binding vow] on me. I’ll agree to any condition."
His tone was calm, but desperation lay beneath it.
Just moments ago, Choso had witnessed Yuji transform into Sukuna right in front of him.
Not knowing the full circumstances, he was on guard for Uraume to appear from somewhere else, and he looked ready to stand beside Yuji himself until then, no matter what.
There was no need to pick a fight with someone who was showing friendly intent.
With an unhappy expression, Nobara nodded and moved toward Choso.
"I’ll stay too."
"You sure?"
"The less I trust him, the more I need someone watching him. I’m out of cursed energy anyway, so I might as well do this."
She wanted to fight alongside them.
She now had the strength to protect them in any situation.
And yet, perhaps because of something she had felt in Nanami’s words earlier, Nobara chose to stay behind of her own accord.
"We still have a lot to talk about, don’t we?"
"We’d need to stay up all night and still wouldn’t have enough time."
"Then come back. And this time, don’t make me worry."
Junpei nodded, then left Nobara behind and took another step toward the station.
Watching his back, Nobara carefully set Maki’s head down on her lap.
"...Come back safe."
Junpei.
-------------------------------------
23:05.
Underground level 4 of Tokyo Metro Shibuya Station.
"So Choso really did betray me. Ah, what a shame."
Having lost Yuji right in front of him, Mahito was roaming the station and turning the remaining survivors into transfigured humans to replenish his stock.
He had spent a little in the fight with Yuji earlier, but the remaining souls had already been recharged.
He had also stocked up his reserves until they were almost back to the original amount.
Even so, Mahito twisted his body in irritation at the unpleasant feeling that still hadn’t gone away.
"If only I’d had a little more time, maybe something would’ve gone pop- and clicked into place?"
The final Black Flash.
To advance toward a higher existence, he needed that sensation from then.
Soon Geto would be able to lift the Prison Realm, but Mahito didn’t want to leave Shibuya with this nagging feeling still hanging on.
"Is there no skilled sorcerer around here...?"
As he looked around, Mahito suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
-Thump
The soul of Sukuna he had seen at Satozakura High School.
Something similar, but a little different....!
"Who is it?"
As Mahito stared toward the sensed direction, cursed energy began rising from his body.
A vast presence drew closer and closer, until at last the person himself appeared around the corridor corner.
"It’s me, Mahito."
"Junpei?"
He had thought he wouldn’t die easily, but to make it this far.
Whatever he’d been through, he seemed to have grown stronger in the meantime, but Mahito wasn’t patient enough to give up the main dish.
"You really did find your way here."
"Yeah... it took a really long time."
He cut through the forest.
He crossed the sea.
He even placed the earth beneath his feet.
At the end of the road, he faced a human.
It had taken so much to get here.
Through a time so dense it could not be put into words, he had returned to the beginning once more.
Which side was the one to be harvested?
The seeds sown by humanity.
Fully bloomed, they had come back to reap their owner.
"I’m tired. Let’s end this now."
Everything.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register