At Sendai Hospital.
A man with pink hair had been pacing the quiet corridor of the medical facility for several hours.
If anyone observed his appearance, they could easily tell that the middle-aged man was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"Damn it… why is it taking so long? Did I cause an unwanted butterfly effect?" he muttered at one point before shaking his head to dismiss that perspective.
The nurses occasionally cast glances toward Jin, but that detail was insignificant to him at that moment.
Ignoring the worried looks from those around him, Jin's mind was entirely focused on the progress of Kaori's delivery.
As for the staff's concern, it wasn't his priority, because the idea of Yuji's potential death flooded his heart with anguish.
Even though Claud's aspect was dominant within him, the body remained that of Jin Itadori.
Toji had been able to crush a person's soul information using only that of their body.
The influence of a body on the soul was something Jin was well aware of.
He had even philosophized about his attraction to Kaori.
Was it purely physical?
Did he truly want to stay with her rather than flee, to avoid a potential death at the end of the millennium-old sorcerer's experiment?
Jin didn't know.
He had never been able to clarify the emotional information between Claud and Jin.
However, at the time, he had decided to leave those issues to his future self and trust his present emotions.
Jin had temporarily accepted the influence of his former self, but it manifested at its peak with the idea of becoming a father.
Jin's emotions proved stronger than Claud had anticipated. That was why he unconsciously stopped fighting them and accepted them more fully.
Claud could not silence the feelings of a father who had been so long obsessed with the idea of having proof of his wife's love.
The idea of doing like Toji with Megumi and his former romantic adventures no longer even crossed his mind.
'I can only hope that Kenjaku uses Reverse Cursed Technique to ensure Yuji's good health,' he thought while staring at the delivery room door.
Time continued to pass at an astonishing speed. Wasuke eventually arrived in the hospital corridor.
He had been informed of Kaori's labor by Jin before parting with his wife.
The old man wanted to speak upon seeing his son's back, but he froze mid-gesture. The atmosphere around his son was so unstable that he was unconsciously emitting cursed energy.
Wasuke couldn't see it, but the negative energy instinctively pushed the elderly man to keep his distance.
'Was it really that important to him?' he thought to himself while sitting in an empty chair.
He had always known his son wanted a child with his beloved, but the old man hadn't realized it wasn't just a simple desire.
A twisted love.
An emotion strong enough to drive an ordinary man to play the fool and sleep with a stranger who had desecrated the corpse of his deceased wife.
The original Jin Itadori had been a twisted man.
…
A cry pierced the corridor.
Jin stopped pacing and fixed his gaze on the delivery room door, filled with countless complex emotions he never thought he could feel.
Finally, his eyes displayed an indescribable gentleness as they settled on the location of his son.
A new source of cursed energy emerged at the same time as the child's cries.
His heart began beating at an elevated speed. Unconsciously, he raised his hand to his chest to feel the pounding of his vital organ, which was beating like never before.
Wasuke placed his hand on his shoulder at that moment. Jin slowly raised his eyes toward him, and the old man said nothing, but nodded with a gentle smile.
No words were exchanged between them. Yet Jin understood the elderly man without difficulty.
"Jin-san! You can come in now!" called a midwife as she opened the delivery room door.
Just a few seconds earlier, Jin would have wanted to enter that room at any cost.
But… he hesitated now.
No.
Jin didn't want to run from his responsibilities, nor was he afraid of being a father because of his former self's emotions. He simply dreaded what would come next in his life after stepping into that white room.
"Will I be able to protect him?" he muttered under his breath.
Surprisingly, an answer came to him at that very moment, after he had let slip his fear for Yuji's future.
"Trust me," Wasuke's voice pulled him from his reverie.
"Being a father isn't easy, but I believe you'll manage—and in the worst case—" Wasuke paused briefly, a more expressive smile forming on his face.
"I'll take care of the little one," he added, giving him a light pat on the shoulder to push him forward.
'Idiot, you're raising a death flag,' Jin mentally cursed his father, but his lips drew a smile for the first time since arriving at the hospital.
"Thank you… Dad," he replied softly.
He didn't turn around to see his father's expression, but he heard an "idiot" before stepping into the delivery room.
"Ah… y-you took your time," Kaori declared upon seeing Jin's silhouette.
Jin looked embarrassed by Kaori's remark, but his eyes quickly left his wife to settle on the tiny creature clinging to her breast.
It was Yuji Itadori.
The baby was in the middle of breastfeeding, regaining his strength after the effort of birth.
"Is this…" Jin began to speak but was interrupted by Kaori.
"Yes, it's our son," she said, resting her eyes on the child who seemed to be slowly falling asleep in her arms.
'So… this child is really mine,' he thought, touched by Kaori's words that resonated in his heart.
Perhaps she had noticed his emotions. Kaori soon handed him the infant after the latter had fallen asleep right in the middle of his feeding.
"So fragile…" he whispered.
"Indeed, he's still fragile," Kaori replied, emphasizing the word "still."
An action that made Jin uncomfortable, but he decided to ignore it for the sake of the child in his arms.
"Sir, have you decided on a name?" the midwife asked beside Jin.
He glanced at Kaori, who explained that she wanted Jin to name the child in his arms.
'Jin Itadori… I won't change the name of the child you always wanted,' he thought while feeling the small life he held.
"Yuji… his name is Yuji Itadori," he declared after a short moment of reflection.
The midwife noted the name in various documents before asking Jin to sign.
Jin then returned the child to Kaori so she could handle the paperwork under his watchful eye.
Unconsciously, he replayed his life since his reincarnation.
One year.
He had lived nearly a year in Jin Itadori's skin after meeting the senile Taoist during his exit from the manga convention.
During all that time, Jin had trained, risked his life to level up, hunted for money, played pretend, and even accepted an identity that wasn't his own.
Why had he done all of that?
The answer was simple: to survive.
However, mere survival was no longer enough for him now.
Holding Yuji in his arms, Jin realized he could no longer imagine fleeing to another country to escape all the trouble, like Mei Mei.
Many would call him crazy.
But…
Jin made a decision as insane as Kento Nanami's in Shibuya.
Jin Itadori had decided to protect Yuji Itadori, no matter the origin of the emotions in his heart.
Was it the old Jin? It didn't matter.
Was it artificial? It didn't matter.
Was it a stupid choice? It didn't matter.
Was it protagonist syndrome striking him? It didn't matter.
Would he die? Possibly… but once again, it didn't matter.
i don't care anymore
Just like when he had wasted a point on the Cook skill, Jin no longer wanted to simply survive an uncertain end.
Jin wanted to live…
…
Author's Note: I went to take a nap while scheduling the chapter for tomorrow morning, because I thought you'd be stingy with the votes… and… damn, I found myself around the top 30 for the first time in my life.
Okay… I'm EXTREMELY satisfied, and I'm counting on you to help seize the top 10 (okay, I'm greedy, but you never know lol).