[After the Star Plasma Vessel incident that changed everything, your life hit fast-forward.]
[Outside of mandatory missions, every waking hour went into training so brutal it bordered on self-destruction. Cursed Corpse research was shelved entirely.]
[Witnessing Toji Fushiguro's raw, technique-less violence and the godlike Hollow Technique: Purple that Gojo had unleashed after his awakening had carved a truth into your bones: against power of that magnitude, your current Cursed Corpses were little more than slightly sturdier toys.]
[On the training grounds, night after night, you tried to replicate the principle Gojo had described using your own Cursed Energy.]
[Force positive and negative infinity into collision. Let the imaginary mass spill forth, condensing into a black hole of devastating Cursed Energy.]
[You understood the theory. Your Reverse Cursed Technique was flawless.]
[But every attempt to fuse those opposing forces ended the same way: a spray of pulped flesh across your palms and wild, shapeless surges of Cursed Energy spiraling into nothing.]
[Failure. Total, absolute failure.]
[Without the Six Eyes and their atomic-precision control over Cursed Energy, stabilizing the fusion of Blue and Red was very hard]
[That gap couldn't be closed by effort. It was the chasm of innate talent.]
[Yet in that frustration, you found an unexpected understanding of Masamichi Yaga.]
[That stern man behind those ever-present sunglasses... why had he devoted himself to researching Cursed Corpses with self-awareness? Why imprint the soul-data of the dead into their cores?]
[Because it was the only way. A fragile, obsessive tenderness born from weakness, from wanting to hold onto the people you'd lost, to fill the void they left behind.]
---
[Time slipped through your fingers like sand.]
[Before you knew it, third year had arrived.]
[The annual card draw came on schedule.]
[Natural [R]]
[Natural [R]: When you actively choose to conceal your presence, the effect is dramatically amplified, reducing your presence to a fraction of its normal level. This effect is applied as a final calculation, meaning that even without deliberately suppressing your Cursed Energy, the card's benefit still takes effect.]
[You studied the description and adjusted your glasses.]
[An obvious upgrade over Thin Presence [N].]
[But staring at the empty classroom, you couldn't muster a smile.]
[This year's incoming class consisted of exactly one student: Kiyotaka Ijichi.]
[No Innate Technique. Average talent. Timid to a fault.]
[Looking at him drove home the fracture running through the Jujutsu Sorcerer community. And that fracture meant all the weight would keep piling onto the shoulders of the few at the top.]
[Satoru Gojo had completed his apotheosis.]
[He'd developed a passive defense that automatically screened incoming threats at the technique level, achieving true, around-the-clock invincibility. Even Special Grade missions were solo speedruns now.]
[The title of "strongest" had gradually severed him from the group. He no longer needed backup. No longer needed coordination.]
[Combined with Shoko's general absence from fieldwork, you and Suguru Geto ended up paired together more and more.]
[Geto had changed.]
[Not all at once. It crept in like a slow poison, corroding the brilliant honor student piece by piece.]
[Over these months, you'd watched him grow quieter, thinner. The dark circles beneath his eyes deepened into bruises that no amount of Reverse Cursed Technique could erase.]
[That was a wound of the mind.]
[Every Cursed Spirit he consumed was like swallowing a rag soaked in vomit.]
[And to protect non-sorcerers who knew nothing of this world, he forced himself to choke it down, again and again.]
["It's the summer heat, that's all."]
[Whenever you asked, he deflected with the same flimsy excuse, then offered that familiar smile, warm on the surface, hollow underneath.]
[You knew it wasn't the heat trapping him. It was the seed called "righteousness," withering and crumbling in the absurdity of reality.]
[One day, after a mission.]
[Jujutsu High's long, quiet corridor stretched ahead, the setting sun pulling your shadows into thin lines across the floor.]
[You and Geto sat on a bench beside a vending machine, cold drinks in hand, stealing a moment to breathe.]
["Geto-senpai! Hayase-senpai!"]
[An energetic voice shattered the stillness.]
[Yu Haibara, the second-year who never seemed to run out of energy, jogged toward you with his bag bouncing on his back, wearing the kind of pure, unguarded grin that had become rare in the jujutsu world.]
["About to head out on a mission?"]
[Geto's expression softened slightly as he looked at the younger student.]
["Yes! Somewhere pretty far this time."]
[Haibara nodded with enthusiasm.]
["Bring back souvenirs. Sweets, preferably."]
[Geto said it offhandedly, though weariness bled through his tone.]
[Maybe it was seeing Haibara's face so free of shadows. The question left Geto's mouth before he seemed to realize he was asking it.]
["Haibara... do you think this line of work as a Jujutsu Sorcerer is still worth doing?"]
[It was a plea for help disguised as a casual question.]
[Haibara blinked, then broke into a brilliant smile.]
["It's tough, sure! But I give everything my all, and that feeling... it works for me!"]
[Simple and Honest. Without a trace of cynicism. Everything Geto had once possessed, and already lost.]
[Your heart lurched. Even without memorizing the details, you knew.]
[This mission, the one rated as a Grade 2 that was actually a Grade 1, would kill Yu Haibara.]
["Haibara."]
[You spoke up, cutting across their exchange.]
["If you run into anything you can't handle, anything that feels even slightly off, you run. Immediately."]
[Your eyes locked onto his, your tone harder than he'd ever heard from you.]
["Don't push it. Satoru or the rest of us can take over afterward. Coming back alive matters more than finishing the mission."]
[Haibara stared at you, caught off guard by the intensity. Then he scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin, clearly reading your grim warning as nothing more than a senior looking out for him.]
["Yes, sir! Don't worry, Hayase-senpai! I'll give it everything I've got and make you all proud!"]
[You opened your mouth to say more, but a voice from down the corridor cut you off.]
["So this is Suguru Geto, and the legendary Touma Hayase?"]
[At the far end of the hallway, a tall woman with long hair and striking features strolled toward you, hands shoved in her pockets, radiating casual confidence.]
[You'd never met her, but you knew who she was. Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo.]
[Her gaze swept across your group, lingering for a fraction of a second on Geto's gaunt face before she launched her signature question.]
["Cutting right to it. What type of woman do you like?"]
[Geto didn't answer. His guard snapped up, eyes sharp with suspicion.]
["Who are you?"]
[It was Haibara, guileless as ever, who blurted out a response without thinking.]
["Me! I like girls who eat a lot!"]
["Haibara..." Geto pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Don't go answering strangers' questions like that."]
["It's fine, Geto-senpai!" Haibara flashed a thumbs-up and a wide, toothy grin. "She's not a bad person. I trust my eye for people!"]
[Geto froze.]
[A bitter, self-mocking curve touched the corner of his mouth.]
["You're sitting right next to me and you still say that with a straight face?"]
[The meaning sailed cleanly over Haibara's head. He nodded, earnest as ever.]
["...Of course! Senpai, you're a really kind person!"]
["Ahahahaha!"]
[Tsukumo burst into a full, ringing laugh, as though she'd heard the joke of the century.]
["Now that exchange is dripping with irony! Not bad. So this is what youth looks like?"]
[Meanwhile, you quietly ran Phantom Night Parade, analyzing Tsukumo's Cursed Energy while turning over how to play this. You had no idea what answer this Special Grade was fishing for.]
[Until you decided to use this simulation run as a test. You lifted your head, meeting Tsukumo's wild, untamed eyes dead-on.]
[You adjusted your glasses and spoke with the same flat certainty you'd use to announce that dinner was curry tonight.]
["I like you."]