3 A.M.

A sharp knock broke the silence of the room. Suguru, half-asleep, dismissed it as the wind rattling the windows. The sound came again—firm and deliberate. He furrowed his brows, pushing off the sheets as a familiar sensation crept up his spine. 

Cursed energy. 

Fully awake now, he ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed. There was only one person who would come unannounced at this hour. He didn't need to open the door to confirm it. 

Suguru swung it open, revealing Satoru standing in the dimly lit hallway. His usually confident posture was slightly off, and his piercing blue eyes were clouded with something unreadable—concern, hesitation, frustration, perhaps all at once. 

"Come in," Suguru said, stepping aside. 

Satoru walked in without a word, shutting the door behind him with an absent-minded click. The air between them was thick with unspoken questions. Suguru checked the clock—3 A.M. 

"What is it, Satoru? What's so important that it couldn't wait until morning?" Suguru asked, crossing his arms. 

Satoru exhaled, glancing around the room as if looking for the right words. "I have some questions." 

Suguru turned off the air conditioner, the sudden silence making Satoru's words even heavier. They both sat around the small table, their shadows flickering under the dim light. 

"We could have talked in the morning," Suguru pressed. "What's so urgent?" 

Satoru leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Suguru… you know everything about Sana, right?" 

Suguru's expression hardened. "What do you mean? Is this about her curse?" 

"I don't know," Satoru admitted, his voice quieter than before. 

Suguru frowned. "You don't know?" 

Satoru's fingers drummed against the table, his gaze fixed on a spot on the floor. "Who's that person?" 

Suguru blinked. "Who?" 

"The guy," Satoru clarified, looking up. "Sana's ex. Or whatever he was." 

Suguru studied Satoru carefully. His usual carefree tone was absent, replaced by something far more serious. 

"What exactly do you want to know?" Suguru asked. 

"Everything," Satoru said, his voice firm. "I think her curse might be linked to him. Either directly… or through her emotions. Her feelings for him might be playing a bigger role than we thought." 

Suguru leaned back, exhaling through his nose. "You might be onto something. When she came back from the hospital, she seemed fine. But something about her was different. A Stronger cursed energy. Almost like yours came from her." He hesitated. "Back then, I didn't know much about Jujutsu, but I could feel how overwhelming it was. Something changed in her." 

Satoru listened in silence as Suguru continued. 

"She was fine until the end of our second year. That's when she confessed to Akagi," Suguru said, his expression darkening. "I wasn't there, but from what I heard, he rejected her. And it wasn't just some small heartbreak—something about that moment broke her in a way I can't explain." 

Satoru's jaw tightened. "What do you mean?" 

Suguru's voice was tinged with frustration, not at Satoru, but at himself. "She's always struggled with self-worth. No matter what I did, I could never get her to see herself the way I did. The way she was when I first met her as a kid." He clenched his fists. "And after that rejection… I thought I lost any chance of helping her heal. But when she came to Jujutsu High, she started changing. She was healing. And I'm grateful that you and the others have been there for her." 

Satoru stayed quiet for a moment before speaking again. "I understand how much you care about her, but this isn't just about emotions anymore. We need to figure out how to lift her curse before it consumes her." 

Suguru's shoulders tensed. 

"And there's something else that doesn't sit right with me," Satoru added. "No one has ever survived the curse of that cave. No one." His voice was low. "How did Sana, a non-shaman, make it out alive?" 

Suguru's eyes darkened. "What are you implying?" 

Satoru held his gaze. "I don't know yet. But I intend to find out." 

Suguru's fingers twitched, his frustration bubbling to the surface. "Satoru, do you even hear yourself? She's my best friend. Watch what you say." 

Satoru sighed, raising his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying we need to dig deeper. Something about this whole situation isn't normal." He stood up, stretching his arms. 

As he walked toward the door, he paused. "One last thing," he said over his shoulder. "She hasn't moved on from him." 

Suguru's breath hitched. 

"You should help her, Suguru. As her best friend," Satoru said, before slipping out of the room, leaving Suguru alone with his thoughts. 

The door clicked shut, but the questions lingered.