Ren folded his arms loosely. "Okay… and why does that matter?"
"Because Megumi's technique is weird." Megumi Fushiguro Gojo tilted his head slightly. "The Ten Shadows has this final shikigami nobody in the Zen'in clan has ever properly controlled."
Ren kept his expression neutral.
Gojo continued casually, though there was clear interest behind his tone now.
"From what little history survived, the ritual seems to work differently from normal exorcisms. There are loopholes. Conditions." He shrugged. "Honestly, even the clan records are vague."
"So this is all a guess," Ren said.
"A very educated guess," Gojo corrected with a grin. "If someone with a fully completed Heavenly Restriction entered the ritual, there's a chance the barrier wouldn't treat them as a participant."
Ren frowned slightly. "Meaning?"
"Meaning you could interfere without automatically invalidating the ritual." Gojo lifted one shoulder. "Maybe."
"But for now, it's just a theory," Gojo said, waving a hand casually. "We'd have to figure out a way to actually drop your cursed energy down to absolute zero first. Right now, your levels are just squashed down to match Maki's."
He tapped his chin, looking entirely unbothered. "And to be honest, I have absolutely no idea how to do that."
Ren stared at him blankly.
Gojo leaned closer, his eyes lingering on the permanent, jagged burn scars creeping up Ren's neck from the disaster curse. "Those marks look pretty cool, though."
He sighed dramatically, putting a hand on his hip. "You already threatened my title as the school's most handsome. Are you planning to steal the 'most badass looking' tag too?"
Ren didn't take the bait. "Goodbye, Gojo."
"I'm going, I'm going," Gojo said cheerfully. He turned and headed for the heavy clinic door.
As he pushed it open and strolled out into the hall, he muttered aloud. "If I run into that Mount Fuji coward again, maybe I'll ask him to give me a scar or two. Just to show off."
The door swung shut.
"System," Ren muttered.
The blue holographic interface snapped to life in the dim room, bathing the wooden floorboards in cold light.
Ren blinked. The numbers at the top right corner of the screen had violently updated.
[Current System Points: 120,500]
He'd been sitting at exactly 25,500 before the Kamakura trip. He tapped the flashing notification icon. A cascade of green text flooded the screen.
[Achievement Unlocked: Sore Loser]
[Condition: Successfully win a wager against a Special Grade Disaster Curse by landing a direct, uncontested strike after accepting their arrogant handicap.]
[Reward: +45,000 System Points.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Trial By Fire]
[Condition: Survive a prolonged, lethal encounter against the Disaster Curse of the Earth.]
[Reward: +50,000 System Points.]
Ren stared at the floating blue interface. A hundred and twenty thousand points. Considering his skin had nearly smoldered off his back and his bones almost melted by a walking volcano, the payout felt justified.
The screen flickered, text warping as a golden sub-menu expanded below the points total.
[Special Item Acquired: Domain Shatter Card]
Type: Consumable (Single Use)
Effect: Instantly nullifies and shatters any Domain Expansion barrier from the inside or outside. Bypasses all cursed technique parameters. Cannot be countered.
A small, frosted glass card materialized in the air and dropped into his palm. It was freezing to the touch. He immediately tossed it into his Dimensional Inventory. He wasn't taking chances with an item that broken.
...
Ren dismissed the holographic screen with a flick of his wrist. The harsh blue UI collapsed into nothing, plunging the dorm back into heavy darkness.
He rolled his shoulders, wincing as the raw, newly healed skin along his collarbone pulled taut. A massive point payout and a consumable card didn't change the underlying truth: a stronger weapon meant nothing if he wasn't fast enough to land the hit.
He left his room barefoot, padding down the eerily quiet hallway, the floorboards cold against his skin, until he stopped outside Maki's door. He knocked twice.
Silence stretched for a few agonizing seconds before the lock finally clicked open.
Maki peered out through the narrow crack. She wore her usual dark turtleneck.
But her eyes were rimmed red.
Ren didn't wait for an invitation. He pushed the door open, stepped past her, and clicked the lock shut behind him.
"I didn't say you could come in," Maki muttered. Her voice was rough, like she'd swallowed glass.
Ren ignored the protest. He sat on the edge of her tangled bed, then caught her gently by the waist and guided her to stand between his knees.
He looked up at her for a moment.
"You've been crying."
Maki immediately looked away. "No. just somee.. dust got into my eye."
Ren snorted softly. "Right. Dust."
She tried to pull back into her usual guarded posture, but Ren's grip stayed firm. Before she could argue again, he pulled her down until she was sitting sideways in his lap.
Maki went completely rigid. Her hands hovered awkwardly for a second before finally gripping the fabric of his shirt. Ren tilted his head and pressed a soft kiss against her forehead.
He stayed quiet for a moment before asking softly, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "You've barely said a word to me after that incident, Maki."
She immediately looked away, glaring at the wall like she wanted to punch straight through it. But little by little, the fight drained out of her. The tension in her shoulders gave way, and she slumped forward until her forehead rested against his chest.
Ren lowered his chin onto the top of her head and let the silence settle around them.
A minute passed. Then her breath hitched. Her grip tightened until her knuckles turned white.
The tears came quietly. No wailing, just ragged sobs tearing out of her chest and vibrating against his own. Ren wrapped his arms around her, holding her carefully while tracing slow circles along her back, avoiding the burns.
It took a long time for the trembling to stop.
"I feel weak," she whispered, the words barely audible.
"You aren't."
"I am." She scrubbed at her face with her sleeve in a sharp, defensive motion. "I wanted to be strong enough to crush the Zen'ins. Strong enough to matter." She let out a bitter laugh. "Then a real curse shows up, and I couldn't even draw my weapon. I just froze. If you hadn't been there, I'd be dead."
"If you hadn't been there," Ren corrected quietly, "I'd be dead too."