Three days ago.
The soul of Kaede Hasegawa drifted through the wind—a fragmented spirit, flickering like a stray minnow in a vast, dark ocean. It surged over mountains and rivers, past endless fields and the mechanical rivers of city traffic, driven by the primal instinct of a salmon returning to its spawning grounds.
Its destination was a dim, subterranean chamber.
Inside, candlelight struggled against the gloom, illuminating moldy wallpaper and damp moss. A powerful barrier warded the entrance, shielding it from the prying eyes of the world. In the very center of this sanctuary sat a massive crystal coffin, its base cushioned by a sea of pure white carnations.
Lying atop that bed of flowers was a girl with silver hair. Her features were delicate, her expression peaceful, her pale hands folded neatly over her abdomen. She looked less like a living being and more like a porcelain doll displayed in a window—until her blood-red eyes snapped open.
A shrill, agonized scream tore through the hollow silence of the basement.
The girl sat up, shattering the crystal lid. Her face contorted with pain, her brow furrowed in a knot of suffering as she clawed at her own head, tearing out clumps of her silver hair.
"Kira... Nanami. Kira Nanami!"
The agony of a splintered soul was a torment beyond human comprehension. Her fingernails bit deep into her own flesh, drawing blood as her pupils vibrated with a manic, unadulterated hatred.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll kill you..."
The next day.
The lingering rain had begun to fade, leaving only a soft patter against the streets of Kyoto, though the sun had already claimed the sky.
Jun Handa checked his watch and cursed under his breath. He was going to be late again. He was an ordinary salaryman, a man who traded his life for a paycheck to support his family. The recent storms and the string of inexplicable terror attacks had left everyone's nerves frayed—especially his boss.
Not long ago, he had been humiliated and berated for a minor delay. For the sake of survival, he had swallowed his pride, but today, punctuality was non-negotiable. His own stability was crumbling; if he were targeted again, he didn't know what he might do.
He had already missed the bus. Holding his briefcase over his head as a makeshift shield, he sprinted through the puddles. As he rounded a corner, his pace faltered. His steps grew heavy, then sluggish... until he collapsed face-first into a red-tinted pool.
"Salarymen... I loathe salarymen most of all."
Kaede Hasegawa—or perhaps simply Kaede—stepped out of the shadows. Her bare, slender feet pressed Jun Handa's head into the wet pavement. Blood seeped from the cracks in the stone.
"What a revolting soul. Utterly lifeless."
Her fingers pierced his skull, extracting something intangible. She licked her fingertips, saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth onto the ground. Her face flushed with a faint, feverish glow.
"Tch. Disgusting."
She pulled her hand away, a thin silver thread of spittle connecting her lip to her finger. She frowned in distaste. This wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.
These fragments of common souls were insufficient to rebuild her spirit. It was all Kira Nanami's fault. She vowed that one day, she would drain every drop of his soul.
As a Special Grade Curse User, Kaede had survived only because of her cunning. Her third soul, the Guardian Soul, had remained within her true body, acting as a failsafe. This "Soul of the Corpse" possessed the innate ability to reconstruct other dissipated fragments. This immortality was the very reason she was ranked among the Special Grades.
Fortunately, two fragments had returned to her: her Life Soul and the poin of Malice.
She pressed her hand to the dying Handa's head. "Non-Poison."
Handa's white eyes suddenly focused as the fragment occupied his shell. He turned his gaze toward Kaede. "What is it?"
"Any news of the Desire poin?"
Silence.
"She has defected."
The poin of Desire, also known as the "Smelly Lung," was the most volatile of her fragments. It had vanished the moment the Cursed Plague was set in motion. No one could control desire, not even the one who birthed it.
The second day.
Kaede released her grip, letting the corpses of two sorcerers fall at her feet. From their dying memories, she confirmed that the entire Jujutsu world was hunting her. She also realized that Kira Nanami had successfully framed her for the theft of the Arrow.
"I will kill you! I will kill you!"
She crushed the skull of a sorcerer, her bare feet treading through the cold, viscous blood as she retreated toward her sanctuary.
Despite the pursuit, she was recovering. By devouring the souls of the sorcerers sent to find her, her own spirit was being nourished. Her Fetal Light soul was beginning to manifest, and three of her seven poins had already been restored.
"You think these sorcerers can stop me?" she hissed as she reactivated the barrier to her basement. "They are nothing but fodder for my resurrection."
On the walls of her chamber, written in red ink, was a single name repeated thousands of times: Kira Nanami, Kira Nanami, Kira Nanami...
The third day, morning.
The rain had finally ceased.
Kaede lay in her crystal coffin, her long lashes fluttering. She opened her crimson eyes and stretched, the white carnation petals falling away to reveal her pale skin. Her Fetal Light soul had fully returned. All three primary souls were now unified.
She stared at the wall of names with a look of pure, manic joy. "To leave me alive while I was wounded... that was the greatest mistake of your life, Kira Nanami."
On the other side of the city, Kira Nanami set down his cup and switched off the radio. He pulled back the curtains, letting the morning light wash over him.
"It's about time," he thought.
The dark golden Arrow lay on his table. Framing Kaede had been a necessary precaution, but a Special Grade enemy was a variable that disrupted his sleep. She had to disappear—quietly and completely.
It was 8:00 AM. Time to work.
He pulled the curtains shut, casting a grey shadow over his face. He turned the radio back on. "Morning, morning, Kyoto Video!"
A soothing piano melody began to play. It was a clear, glass-like morning.
In the center of his room, Kira extended his left hand. He tucked four fingers into a fist and raised his thumb.
Three days ago, when Kaede's soul had fled, Killer Queen had touched two of the fragments. One had exploded instantly, but the Life Soul had been allowed to escape.
A dud? No. Kira had intended it.
He knew a third soul was hidden in her true body. He didn't need to hunt for her; he had turned her own soul into a homing beacon. He had waited for her fragments to gather, for her to reform her body, and for her to reach the peak of her joy.
He would take everything from her at the exact moment she thought she had won.
Click.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Kira Nanami!"
Kaede laughed hysterically in her basement, her face flushed with excitement. The sound echoed through the hollow chamber before suddenly cutting into absolute silence.
The crystal coffin remained beautiful. The carnations remained white.
Everything was quiet.
A single, elegant hand lay among the flowers. It was slender and pale, resting in the light like a princess waiting to be awakened.
At dusk, Kira Nanami entered the basement. He picked up the hand from the bed of flowers, feeling a wave of long-awaited peace as he stroked the skin.
He placed it carefully into his briefcase, nestled beside the Arrow.
He checked his watch: 5:00 PM. He could leave early today.
His schedule was precise: thirty minutes to the station, an hour for dinner (caviar, perhaps), and back to Tokyo by 8:00 PM. Twenty minutes of calisthenics, a glass of warm milk, and eight hours of perfect sleep.
He stepped out of the basement and onto the bus. He was surrounded by other salarymen in identical suits—men who had finished their day without error.
For them, it was an ordinary day. For Kira, it was the same.
He loved this mundanity. Punctuality was happiness.
The bus merged into the flow of traffic as the setting sun blurred the silhouettes of the commuters. His business trip was over.
It was time to go home.
[Volume 2: The Heavenly Restriction]