[8] : The Upperclassman Shows Up

"According to family records, a thousand years ago—during the golden age of sorcery—a cursed sorcerer named Ryomen Sukuna appeared. He allegedly had four arms and two faces, was terrifyingly strong, and reveled in slaughter. At the time, nobody in the entire Jujutsu world could match his power. Sukuna wasn't aligned with humans or Curses—he just did whatever he pleased, entirely on a whim."

"Later, the Fujiwara Northern Branch dispatched two elite forces, the 'Sun-Moon-Star Vanguard' and the 'Five Void Generals,' to subjugate Sukuna, but they were wiped out. In the end, with no alternative left, the shogunate had to invite Sukuna into the palace at Heian-kyō to serve as a sort of patron."

"Before Sukuna died, he split his soul into twenty pieces and sealed them into his fingers. The one you brought in, Bokue-kun, should be one of those twenty."

Akeno's explanation is concise and clear, enough for anyone to grasp. But after listening, Bokue Keikain stares upward, lost in thought, and finally speaks in halting fashion.

"That all sounds pretty epic… but it feels like there's some exaggeration going on…"

"Exaggeration?" Akeno asks, puzzled.

"Well, this ties back to a bit of Onmyōji history."

Bokue's face takes on a thoughtful look.

"I've read records from my own clan. A thousand years ago, Onmyōdō and Jujutsu both underwent explosive development. At that time, the leading Onmyōji house wasn't the Keikain Clan; it was the Gokadoïn Clan. The head of that family was—Abe no Seimei—the most famous Onmyōji in legends—and he was the one who should've been installed at Heian-kyō as a court mystic.

"They say Abe no Seimei's mother was a fox spirit. He inherited the Gokadoïn name, and his greatest wish was for humans and youkai to coexist in peace—"

Bokue spreads his hands wryly.

"—but one day, someone killed his mother and tried to present her pelt to him as a 'Gift'…"

"Abe no Seimei lost it. He abandoned the palace at Heian-kyō entirely, siding completely with the youkai. That's how he became the ruler of monsters and fiends a thousand years ago."

"Given that, Sukuna probably got that palace spot only after Abe no Seimei defected."

He finishes his long explanation, pausing momentarily with a slight curl of his lips.

"As for the Fujiwara Northern Branch: yeah, sure, they were aristocrats in ancient Japan, but still just aristocrats. They couldn't compare to a true Onmyōji household. At best, they spent a fortune each year hiring ordinary Onmyōji from the Keikain or Gokadoïn Clans to serve as bodyguards.

"A ragtag bunch of lesser Onmyōji got stomped by the strongest cursed sorcerer of the era—makes sense. And with Abe no Seimei in open rebellion alongside the youkai, I can see why the shogunate got desperate enough to invite a 'Demonic powerhouse' like Sukuna into the palace."

Hmm…

Seen in that light, the official tales about Ryomen Sukuna might be overblown.

Bokue mulls it over, then glances at the severed finger in Akeno's hand.

"If those Jujutsu sorcerers all wanted to seal the fingers, did none of them try just… destroying them?"

"About that…" Akeno shakes her head. "It's my first time seeing one in person, so I'm not entirely sure. But records suggest many tried—and failed—to destroy these fingers. Sealing them was just the fallback plan."

"…Huh?"

Bokue is momentarily speechless.

It's just a finger, right? Sure, maybe Sukuna was unstoppable while alive, but a thousand years later, it's nothing but a shriveled chunk. They still couldn't destroy it?

"Could it really be that hard? Lemme give it a shot."

He takes the finger from Akeno, and Golden spiritual pressure erupts around him in an instant. The sudden gale blasts through the reception room, thrashing the curtains like a hurricane with every door and window flung wide.

Naturally, it also whips at the girls' clothes.

"Hey… hang on, Bokue, you're not about to go all-out in here, are you?"

Rias, seated beside him, clamps a hand over her skirt. She's worked with Bokue enough times to know just how Destructive his power can be. If he truly lets loose inside this old schoolhouse, let alone the building itself, the entire Kuoh Academy might get blown sky-high.

"Oh my, Bokue-kun seems pretty serious about this."

On the opposite couch, Akeno retains her poised elegance, hands folded on her lap with her usual gentle smile. Meanwhile, the petite white-haired girl, Koneko, who's been steadily munching on cake this whole time, is forced to hold down her own skirt. She narrows her eyes slightly and mutters under her breath:

"Whenever something involves Jujutsu sorcerers, Bokue-senpai's competitiveness gets fired up."

"Perhaps that's his pride as an Onmyōji," Akeno quips, nodding along.

Bokue stands silent in the center, linking his ten fingers in front of him as if forming an invisible sphere. Golden light flares around his palms, completely engulfing Sukuna's finger. It looks like he's forging a mini artificial sun between his hands.

As he intensifies the spiritual pressure, there's a faint crack—like shattering ice—and a gold fissure splits the so-called "indestructible" finger.

Bokue pushes harder.

A second crack… a third… a fourth…

Moments later, as his brilliant aura recedes, he opens his hands. Broken shards of Sukuna's finger—blackened like char—fall onto the coffee table and crumble into dust.

"Wasn't that hard."

He eyes the powdered remains, completely destroyed, and speaks in a calm tone.

"Nice…"

Koneko swallows the last bite of her cake and peers at the boy, who looks rather satisfied with himself. Then she raises a crucial question:

"So, now that the finger's destroyed, what if that Jujutsu Association comes here demanding it back?"

"Right. They might consider it their property," Akeno adds softly, tapping her cheek. "They could ask you to compensate them."

"…"

Their words freeze Bokue in place. He was just basking in his little triumph. But, thinking about it, those sorcerers labeled it 'Indestructible' and gave up on destroying it—only opting to seal it. From a purely logical standpoint, they should be grateful to him.

But considering how messy things are between Jujutsu sorcerers and Onmyōji—and knowing the Jujutsu world's shady higher-ups—emmm… it's entirely possible they'll try some scam.

That begs the question: If they come picking a fight, what then? Bokue doesn't have the money to pay off those "nouveau-riche" types. If the Keikain Clan in Kyoto steps in, it'll turn into a major hassle. Ugh… so what now?

As that thought crosses his mind, the old-schoolhouse's office phone suddenly rings.

Riiiing—Riiiing—

"Ah, a call…"

Akeno, as the Occult Research Club's vice-president, automatically stands to answer. But Rias, closer to the phone, picks up first, motioning for her friend to let her handle it.

"Hello? This is Kuoh Academy's Occult Research… oh, really? …All right. Got it. I'll pass the message along."

After a brief exchange, Rias hangs up and turns toward Bokue—who's staring inquisitively back at her from the couch.

"That was security at the front gate. Apparently, there's a high school girl from another school asking for you by name—says she's Saeko Busujima. Do you know her?"

"...."

Damn!

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