Having bid farewell to the people of the Peach Blossom Spring, Suguru Geto's vacation had finally come to an end.
After completing his own trial, he felt an overall sense of relief. Taking in the beautiful scenery and feeling the forest breeze, he murmured, "That bitter summer... is finally over."
Just as he was leisurely strolling back toward the original wooden shack, Hachi in tow—
Beep... beep...
"Hmm?" Suguru looked down, startled. "Why is there a cell phone in a place like this?"
"And... it looks a bit familiar." He picked it up and held it to his ear. "Moshi moshi?"
"Gumo!" Masamichi Yaga's roaring voice erupted from the phone. "What the hell are you doing?! It's been a month, and you haven't even finished Step One? Vacation is almost over!"
"Huh? What Step One?" Suguru was bewildered. "Um... is that you, Yaga-sensei?"
"Uh." Hearing the wrong voice on the other end, Yaga suddenly felt uncharacteristically guilty. "Suguru?"
"It's me."
"...Where's Gumo?" Yaga truly didn't know what to say. When the assignments were handed out, Hasegumo had beat his chest and guaranteed that he would make Suguru Geto feel the hardships of a non-sorcerer's life.
"Didn't he go to Hokkaido for an arcade tournament?" Suguru still had no idea what was going on.
"Oh, right. He did." Yaga could only pretend nothing happened. "Suguru, get back to school soon. Curse-related injuries are on the rise again lately."
"Understood."
Innate Technique: Never-ending Labor Passive effect. When the user is working, they emit a special aura that makes onlookers unconsciously feel a sense of guilt and compels them to join in the labor. PS: The user must possess iron will and lead by example. If any aversion to work or slacking is shown, the technique will not activate. PS2: "Sir, please remove any metal objects." "I don't have any." "Then why is the metal detector going off?" "That is my iron will."
"Did I get lost?" Suguru Geto stared at the three-story Western-style house in front of him, then glanced at the tombstone on the adjacent vacant lot. "It's definitely the right place."
Clearly, today's events were leaving him a bit mystified.
"Woof!" Hachi barked in agreement.
"Yo, Suguru. You're back." The voice came from Hasegumo, who was dangling from the left side of the third floor, installing a window. He looked down and noticed Suguru Geto's return upon hearing Hachi bark.
Though he was greeting him, his hands never stopped working.
"Geto-senpai!" Yu Haibara on the roof also spotted him and waved down. "Want to join in the labor?"
"So, what exactly is going on here?"
...
"...And that's about it." The three of them boarded the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Yu Haibara slumped in his seat as he confessed their mission parameters. "Yaga-sensei arranged a lot, but it seems we screwed up at Step One."
"Is that so?" Suguru crossed his legs, continuing the interrogation. "So, what was supposed to come after that?"
Haibara glanced at Hasegumo. "Gumo-senpai?"
"Don't look at me." Hasegumo rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed chuckle. "Haibara and I were only responsible for Step One of all the plans. They didn't tell me what came next. Suguru, anyway, let's just head back to school."
It was approaching dusk by the time they returned to Jujutsu High. The sky was dark, but a sliver of light remained.
Unlike the usual silence, fireworks were actually exploding over the barrier-shrouded campus.
The three walked shoulder-to-shoulder along the path toward the dorms. Watching the rare nighttime display, Suguru asked, "Is today some special occasion?"
"Autumn Festival?" Haibara thought about it, offering an uncertain answer.
A month of hard labor in the mountains had completely wiped his brain clean.
"Really? We had activities last year, but nothing this extravagant. Fireworks inside the barrier?"
As Suguru spoke, he gently pushed open the dorm gate.
"Welcome back! x4"
The four who suddenly appeared spoke welcoming words, but their tones were so aggrieved they sounded like housewives waiting at home for a philandering husband. Satoru Gojo casually shoved a stack of boxes into his hands.
"Congratulations, Suguru." The speaker was, of course, their respected Yaga-sensei—or rather, Principal Yaga now. "You are now one of the three Special Grade sorcerers in the jujutsu world."
As of today, at the same time Suguru Geto's Special Grade promotion was finalized, Masamichi Yaga had officially assumed the role of Principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Everyone knows that principals have a knack for long-winded speeches, so we won't dwell on it. In short, after a very stirring, morale-boosting address, Yaga quietly left, leaving the space to the young people.
...
"Can I open them?" Suguru Geto seemed to be asking, but his hands were already moving. "First, Shoko's."
Inside the pink box was a pair of over-ear headphones.
"Because I see you always using earbuds. They're really bad for your hearing," Shoko explained.
"Are these the newest Sonys? Thanks." Suguru was very pleased.
"What are these?" He pulled a stack of paper slips from the next box, then shook the box to confirm there was nothing else inside.
"Are you an elementary schooler?" Suguru glanced at the text on the slips. "Shoulder Massage Coupon?"
"I really couldn't think of what to give..." Haibara twiddled his fingers. "Anyway, they have no expiration date! Senpai, whenever you feel tired, just find me!"
He unwrapped a very serious-looking package, revealing a small, cylindrical box.
This was probably from Nanami? Suguru looked at him.
Kento Nanami nodded slightly. "Stans, imported pomade. Senpai, that long hair of yours still needs proper maintenance."
"Uh..." Suguru determined right then and there to tie his hair up from now on. He absolutely could not let his juniors focus on his hair anymore.
Speaking of which, are the bangs over my forehead really that weird? While thinking this, he unwrapped Hasegumo's gift. It was a surprisingly normal gift: a cool Optimus Prime figure.
"You actually bought it?"
"I said I would right after we talked. I'm a man of my word," Hasegumo replied, patting his chest. "That is my ninja way."
"Next up is the exciting gift from the great Satoru-sama!" Satoru Gojo stood by, pointing at the last large box. "This is a gift full of love that took me a whole month to complete."
"I can't believe you actually have skills like this." Suguru looked at the Pepe the Frog cosplay suit in his hands. "But who would wear this thing out in public..."
The dense, perfectly even stitching told him that Satoru Gojo might have actually sewn this himself.
"Do I detect rejection?" The theatrical Satoru Gojo took off his glasses, pretending to wipe away tears. "The bond of best friendship... it has already become like a candle in the wind."
"Must you be so dramatic." Suguru prepared to offer a slight comfort. "If I had to say, the craftsmanship isn't bad, and it's not that ugly..."
"Then put it on." The group swarmed him, helping him change into the suit.
...
After the joking was over, the group went to the lawn outside. Lying on the grass, they watched the dazzling fireworks continuing to bloom overhead.
"We had a whole batch of plans ready, but none of them got used." Satoru Gojo lay with his head close to Suguru Geto's. "Everyone was really worried about you, Suguru."
Suguru sat up. "Come to think of it, killing all non-sorcerers and stuff like that... those ideas were truly a bit naive. Everyone thinks so, right?"
Nanami and Haibara remained silent, quietly listening to the seniors chat.
"Everyone has the right to choose how they live their life," said Shoko, the upbeat one.
"Obsessing over something that's basically impossible to achieve..." Satoru replied. "I just think it's meaningless."
"You really are arrogant, Satoru." Though he was no longer obsessing over it, Suguru Geto still wanted to voice the reality he had long since recognized.
"Huh?"
"You could actually do it, couldn't you, Satoru?" Suguru looked up at the sky. "Facing something you could do, yet you want others to believe 'this is basically impossible'?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"If you were in my place, would that foolish ideal suddenly seem down-to-earth?"
Satoru Gojo was momentarily stunned, unable to counter. Suguru turned to look at Hasegumo.
"I will do my best to protect every life," Hasegumo looked earnestly at him. "If you really did something like that, I would absolutely do everything in my power to stop you."
"And... I actually think that Yuki Tsukumo person is a bit of a math idiot," the math genius Hasegumo began, cracking his knuckles. "Say you work eight hours a day, and even if you can kill a hundred thousand people a day—and that's with no one stopping you—that's thirty-six million a year. But the global birth population exceeds one hundred million a year."
"So, I actually couldn't do it," Satoru Gojo said, saved from the silence by Hasegumo. "All that 'arrogant' stuff is just your imagination."
"Is that so? Come to think of it, Gumo, you are actually more arrogant than Satoru. Even Satoru and I in your eyes are just objects that need protecting, aren't we?"
Without waiting for Hasegumo to answer, Suguru Geto lightly stretched, as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He spoke easily. "Anyway, don't worry. I'm not obsessing over it anymore. Thanks to everyone, even though it wasn't in your plans, I realized that my previous ideas were unacceptable."
"The choice that seems like a shortcut is actually the one you can never arrive through."
"Even non-sorcerers have their merits. Killing all non-sorcerers to eliminate ugliness is indeed an impractical idea."
Sensing that Suguru Geto had truly changed—though not knowing what had happened—Hasegumo and Shoko put their worries to rest, quietly lying on the grass to enjoy the fireworks.
"So, what is your answer?" The one most concerned about his best friend was, of course, Satoru Gojo. "Are you still going to continue exorcising curses?"
"To create a perfect world without curses." Suguru Geto looked at the group, but his words were a farewell. "Not through slaughter, but by using barrier techniques for control. After graduation, I will go participate in Miss Yuki Tsukumo's research regarding non-sorcerers controlling their cursed energy."
"Everyone... see you if we're destined to."
"Humans really are unreliable." The forgotten Mr. Novski was still completing the final finishing touches. He forcefully hammered the nails into the gate. "Anyway, laboring diligently is enough."