79

"Sendai, is it?"

Mei-san's voice has a smooth, rich note to it, in a way that sounds far clearer in person than it had been over the phone. The woman and her brother had both arrived shortly after the phone conversation. Quite prompt, but unsurprisingly so, since Shiki had agreed to add a bonus to her fee for a swift response.

If you ever need Mei Mei to do something for you, then money is the way to go. It's the most effective and efficient way of working with her.

Truly, Satoru-niichan had not been lying.

"Yes, to Sendai." Shiki does not know what has befallen her classmates, exactly, but one thing is certain: Something has most certainly gone amiss in what should've been a routine mission. That much had been clear from what little she'd heard from Kirara's call.

"And the precise location we're looking at…" Mei-san hums lightly, tapping away at her phone as she looks up the address of the school that Shiki's classmates had been sent to. The woman reaches up and brushes back a stray lock of hair falling over her face.

Similar to Satoru-niichan and Shiki, Mei-san and her brother also share the same white hair coloring –Karahashi instead of Gojo blood, if Shiki is remembering this correctly– but there appears to be a larger age gap between the siblings than there is between Shiki and her cousin. Shiki knows for a fact that Satoru-niichan and Mei-san are around the same age, seeing as the woman had been Satoru-niichan's upperclassman during school. Ui Ui, however, is significantly younger than Shiki

The boy is older than Shiki had been when she first started taking missions, though. And age is not necessarily an indicator of skill when it comes to jujutsu.

Almost as if noticing her gaze on him while his sister is otherwise preoccupied, the young boy looks towards Shiki, and frowns.

"How rude, calling Nee-sama out on such short notice," the boy huffs, folding his arms across his chest and pointedly looking aside.

… That was a little hypocritical of him now, wasn't it? The dissatisfied tone of his voice and his demeanor were both clear indicators of–

"Now, now, Ui Ui," Mei-san chides gently, absently. "These things happen sometimes, don't they? And we're being well-compensated for it this time, too."

The boy whirls around plaintively, "But still–"

His tone is quite… childish. Is it on purpose?

"Be good for me, Ui Ui," Mei-san says, and at this, the boy's protests immediately subside. His sister rewards him with a smile, and the boy's cheeks redden in embarrassment.

Shiki tilts her head.

… She supposes that it only makes sense that a younger child would be lacking in professionalism. Shiki isn't going to hold it against him, as long as he performs what is required of him.

"I must admit, I'm rather surprised that you reached out to me yourself like this," Mei-san's gaze slides away from her brother towards Shiki instead. "But pleasantly surprised, of course. It's always a pleasure to do business with generous clients. I presume Gojo-kun gave you my contact information?"

Shiki nods silently in response.

Mei-san's smile widens, pleased. "Hm. Perhaps I should thank him for the referral next time, then."

It hadn't quite been a referral, exactly, but Satoru-niichan had said to Shiki that Mei-san was a competent sorcerer with a varied skill set that allowed her to perform well in many roles. So…

… On second thought, maybe that was a referral?

Shiki muses over the thought, then gives the equivalent of a mental shrug.

Irrelevant. Right now, the priority is reaching Sendai… preferably before something unfortunate befalls her classmates. Or Takagi-sensei.

They should be fine. Takagi-sensei was a decently powerful sorcerer by the administration's standards, and Kinji is capable of using Domain Expansion. Kirara isn't as strong in a direct confrontation as them, but he's not a helpless damsel, either.

Yet, the phone call she'd received…

…

It would be best to head to Sendai as soon as possible.

To date, her only experience with teleportation is Satoru-niichan's method of teleporting. Limitless allows for spatial manipulation, and Satoru-niichan is able to use it for both short-range and long-range teleportation. With Satoru-niichan, there's not really much of anything in terms of side-effects, not unless one takes into account the jarring disorientation of suddenly being displaced in an entirely different area in the blink of an eye.

Ui Ui's teleportation is similarly jarring. One beat, Shiki is standing in the familiar neighborhood, and in the next, her surroundings blur –then sharpen into something unrecognizable.

But the unfamiliarity of the new environment is only to be expected. What's rather less expected is the unusually heavy cloud of cursed energy that thickly saturates this unfamiliar environment. There's something about the aura that makes her skin tingle, an instinctive whisper for caution.

Special Grade.

… So much for Kinji boasting about his 'good fortune.' What were the chances of her classmates running across a Special Grade cursed spirit on what should've just been a routine mission?

Beside her, Ui Ui stumbles roughly. The boy's body sways slightly as he staggers, face paling as he registers the oppressive cursed energy that he'd teleported directly into. His older sister is far more composed, merely humming faintly in interest while placing a gentle, steadying hand on the younger boy's shoulder. Under her touch, Ui Ui's erratic breaths even out into a normal rhythm again, and the boy swallows roughly.

"Good job for getting us here, Ui Ui," Mei-san praises. Long fingers brush over her brother's cheek teasingly before she withdraws her hand entirely from him. Almost unconsciously, the boy seems to follow the movement, before snapping back and standing straight again after he receives a reprimanding tap on the nose.

"Nee-sama–"

"Hide yourself and stay safe," his sister tells him. "Don't enter the school. This one's a bit beyond you for now."

The boy makes a vague sound of protest, looking as if he is about to protest for a moment. But at a pointed look from Mei-san, he ducks his head in begrudging acquiescence of the orders instead of arguing against her.

"… I understand."

Shiki, on the other hand, is no longer paying attention to the conversation between the siblings behind her. She strides briskly towards the school, towards the source of where she's sensing the oppressive cursed energy splayed out everywhere.

By her side, her cursed sword rattles excitedly in its sheath, eager at the prospect of blood. Shiki raps it sharply with a knuckle, and the blade obediently falls still once more.

"Is that a Muramasa blade from the Gojo Clan's inventory?"

Shiki spares the woman a sideways glance and a small nod as Mei-san comes up beside her, apparently having finished settling things with her brother. Unlike most sorcerers who elect to use swords, Mei-san's weapon of choice is a tall battle axe that's nearly as tall as she is. She carries it over her shoulder easily, effortlessly; as if such a heavy weapon weighs nothing at all.

"I would've thought that your clan would choose a Special Grade cursed tool for you to use," the woman continues easily, still with a smile.

"I chose it myself," Shiki responds, turning back to face forward once more as she steps through the front gates of the school. "I don't need a Special Grade cursed tool."

She genuinely doesn't need one, not with her abilities being what they were. Technically, even a regular knife or blade would suffice to cut through the deathly red lines that she saw. But cursed tools generally tended to be sturdier than their regular counterparts, so that was something that was worth taking into consideration when choosing a weapon.

… That, and Shiki had already broken two valuable weapons in the Gojo Clan's possession: Isao-san's Mirror Blade, and Jihei-san's Kuji Kanesada. While the clan would undoubtedly still accommodate her wishes if Shiki requested a Special Grade cursed tool, the last time she'd been around the clan's weapon storage, she'd seen some of the tool-keepers start hyperventilating when they caught sight of her. Which was probably a clear indication of their opinion on her… admittedly rather abysmal record when it came to the fate of her swords, all of them having been broken in battle to date.

Personally, Shiki is of the opinion that weapons are meant to be used. What is the point of a powerful Special Grade cursed tool that's carefully polished and maintained and tucked away in the dark corners of a warehouse, never to see the light of day? A cursed tool's purpose is to kill cursed spirits. Wearing down and eventually breaking while it fulfills that purpose is only an inevitable part of the natural process. A cursed tool that's never used is nothing but a waste.

Not that this is an opinion that the Gojo Clan shares, evidently…

Still, none of this changes the fact that Shiki does not need a Special Grade cursed tool. If she were to wield one, then she would only be using it as she would any other blade in her hands. In her eyes, it's unnecessary.

Is this arrogance, perhaps?

… Shiki does not consider it as such, but she acknowledges that there are others who would most likely see it that way.

Mei-san does not appear to be one of them, however. The woman merely makes a thoughtful sound, accepting Shiki's answer for what it is.

"I've heard about your cursed technique," Mei-san says, pivoting to a different subject. "Seeing lines and cutting them, not unlike Nanami-kun's Ratio Technique. This requires you to be up and close when it comes to fighting, correct?"

"Correct." And judging from Mei-san's giant battle axe, the woman was most likely also someone who preferred to fight in close quarters.

Except–

"I'll support you from the back," is what Mei-san says next instead, causing Shiki to blink in surprise. The light laugh from the woman indicates that her reaction does not go unnoticed. "I have my birds, Shiki. They're useful for more than just reconnaissance."

Ah, right. Her birds.

Mei Mei is a Grade One sorcerer with a unique, highly specific cursed technique that appears to be entirely useless for combat on paper –crow manipulation. The technique is exactly what it sounds like: The ability to manipulate crows. It allows her to direct and control the birds as one would cursed corpse puppet dolls, and to see through their eyes at will. Quite useful for performing reconnaissance and other investigative tasks.

Ordinarily, this would mean that the sorcerer is encouraged to take on a supportive role instead of a combative one. Mei-san, however, is also fairly skilled in combat in her own right. Satoru-niichan had said as much, back when he'd first introduced the woman to her. Mei-san is one of the rare few sorcerers to work independently of both the jujutsu school and of any sorcery clans.

So Shiki merely nods in acknowledgment of the older sorcerer. On the topic of reconnaissance that she'd just mentioned, "Have you already looked into the current situation here?"

"Of course." Mei-san raises a hand, whereupon a black-feathered crow briefly alights upon her fingertips, wings fluttering. "Right now there are a few other Grade Four and Grade Three cursed spirits scattered throughout the school. But only one that appears to be a true problem would be the Special Grade that we're heading towards right now. Seeing as a Special Grade cursed spirit is an unexpected factor that was not previously accounted for in your briefing–"

"Your payment will be adjusted accordingly," Shiki cuts the woman off once she realizes where the conversation is headed.

Mei-san smiles. The crow in her hand caws, and easily takes flight once more.

Throughout their brief exchange, neither of them have slowed their footsteps; they're approaching the cursed spirit now–

And the entire length of the wall beside them blows outwards before either of them so much as even catch a glimpse of the cursed spirit itself.

If it were one of Shiki's classmates standing next to her right now, she would be grabbing them in order to activate White on the both of them as a defense from the sudden onslaught of flying shrapnel. As it is, however, her current companion is a fellow Grade One sorcerer, and so Shiki disregards the older woman beyond a cursory glance. If a Grade One sorcerer can be taken out by something as minor as this, then Shiki would be very surprised.

"Shiki?!"

Ah, that's Kirara. Shiki waves her hand in front of herself a few times in an attempt to clear away the cloud of dust that was blown into the air, squinting in the direction of her classmate's startled exclamation. It's relieving that he still sounds well.

Or rather, as well as one could be when there was a Special Grade cursed spirit hovering in the background like an ominous cloud, screeching.

Its pale, pasty torso is vaguely humanoid, and there are long tendrils that sprout from its head, in a manner that's almost reminiscent of long locks of hair. The bottom half is serpentine in shape, a black tail that whips back and forth viciously, destroying anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its path–

There is a pained shout, immediately followed by a loud swear.

Kinji hits the ground, the entirety of his left leg from below the knee completely missing –but only for a brief second, before the automatic self-healing granted by his Domain Expansion's effects take place. In a brief few seconds, he's standing to his feet on both legs again, albeit barefooted on his left. Reverse cursed technique can regenerate flesh, but unfortunately it cannot recreate missing pieces of clothing.

And in regards to clothing, there are… quite a few pieces of fabric missing from Kinji's uniform, actually. Shiki presumes that this would be an indication of other instances of injury that he'd sustained while fighting this cursed spirit. While attempting not to be killed by it.

The cursed spirit raises its hands overhead in a fist, hammering down–

–and Shiki steps upon its bony wrist, light as a feather, having closed the gap in the blink of an eye.

She doesn't bother saying anything to it. With a light click, Shiki simply draws her sword.

Self-preservation finally kicks in for the cursed spirit. It rears back with an echoing wail, one arm coming up to defend its neck –which is the only reason why Shiki does not behead it instantly. The other arm flips around, and a clawed hand grips at her body. Shiki slices through three of its fingers as she spins around in midair, pulled down naturally by gravity now that there is no longer stable footing beneath her.

But this does not mean that she is helpless. Far from it, really.

The Special Grade cursed spirit roars angrily. YoU're a bULly!

Shiki lets the nonsense wash over her. Random, meaningless phrases are common enough to hear from cursed spirits, after all.

… Even ones that are Special Grade, for all that they generally possess more intelligence than most.

The cursed spirit's tail flicks, a motion that makes as if to slam into Shiki's side. Shiki twists, one hand pushing off of the appendage into a flip to gain more height for momentum, then brings her sword down. Distorted black blood spurts out from the injury inflicted on the cursed spirit, and it thrashes wildly beneath her. Its body, filled with cursed energy as it is, carves long, jagged cracks into the ground beneath its form. Stray pieces of sharp debris glance off from Shiki harmlessly, easily ignored, but the cursed spirit rearing up again in a fitful surge is less easy to ignore.

Not that Shiki intends to ignore it.

She simply intends to kill it.

A crow dives down towards the cursed spirit's face, cawing loudly, and tears through both the hand swinging at it and the cursed spirit's head in a formidable burst of cursed energy. The cursed spirit rears back with a deafening screech, sludge-like blood splattering through the air in a thick shower that briefly blots out the sun shining above.

Taking advantage of its distraction, Shiki twists her blade upwards through the cursed spirit's flesh and–

–stumbles briefly, when unexpectedly her sword meets no resistance at all.

Shiki frowns.

Around her blade, the cursed spirit –melts, for lack of a better descriptor. Its form dissolves fluidly, and for a split second Shiki thinks that it's about to use a cursed technique. Some kind of ability that allows it to destabilize its form and shift into a different state, but…

Oddly enough, it doesn't seem as if this abrupt dissolution of its state is even intentional on the cursed spirit's part. In fact, the cursed spirit struggles and screams even as it melts into the ground. In the short span of a scant few moments, only an angry, haunting wail is left behind it in the sudden silence.

How strange.

"… Did you just kill that thing?"

"No." She had been about to, but she had not actually dealt the cursed spirit a killing blow before its untimely, inexplicable disappearance. But even though the cursed spirit's physical form had seemingly vanished, that didn't mean that it was gone.

The heavy, near-tangible weight of miasmic cursed energy lingering in the air indicated that the threat was still here, somehow.

Shiki turns, tracking the residual cursed energy to–

–another sorcerer?

… There is another boy standing next to Kirara, wearing a shocked expression. The school uniform that he's wearing indicates that he is a student, most likely a student of the very school that had been torn apart by a cursed spirit just now, but Shiki… has her doubts about that. Even though his appearance is that of an innocent, oblivious civilian who'd been swept up in this mess, the sheer pressure of the cursed energy emanating from him indicates the opposite.

Shiki levels her sword at the potential threat, "Explain."

Interestingly, the boy's cursed energy fluctuates –the way that leaping flames do, before blazing even higher. But instead of retaliating against the sword in his face, all that he does is startle and scramble backwards in a very civilian manner, yelping when he bumps into Kirara beside him.

Kirara, who… steps in front of him in a faintly protective gesture?

Shiki tilts her head questioningly.

"He's not a threat," Kirara defends his actions. "I was surprised by his cursed energy at first, too, but… he's not the one controlling the cursed spirit."

If the boy had been in control of the cursed spirit, then it would mean that his cursed technique was Cursed Spirit Manipulation, or some variation of it.

The only other sorcerer who possessed that particular cursed technique was–

"You're certain of that?" Mei-san strides over smoothly, her giant battle axe casually slung over one shoulder.

"Yes. If Okkotsu-san had actually been trying to kill us with that cursed spirit, Kinji, Takagi-sensei, and I would be a lot worse off than we are. He was trying to stop Rika from rampaging along with us," Kirara replies, then blinks rapidly. "Err, wait, who are you?"

"Mei Mei, Grade One sorcerer."

"Grade One…?" Kirara's gaze flicks towards Shiki.

Mei-san huffs, clearly amused by the immediate comparison. Shiki is not bothered by it, as other members of the Gojo Clan might be; they are the same rank, no matter the fact that Shiki is… a bit of an anomaly, when it comes to taking the typical measure of strength for a Grade One sorcerer.

But this isn't exactly the time to be getting sidetracked here.

Shiki eyes the not quite-civilian consideringly, and the boy shivers beneath her gaze, shrinking back and hunching into himself timidly. Despite the cursed energy she could sense from him… everything else about him, from his appearance to his behavior and mannerisms, really did seem… civilian, for lack of a better word. Which made it unlikely that he was a curse user, but…

With cursed energy like this, how had no Window picked up on his tracks and reported about it? Was it because the appearance of this Special Grade cursed spirit that was somehow related to him had been a recent development? … Or was it because of politics?

If it's the latter case, then there is much that the Jujutsu Headquarters has to answer for.

Shiki sighs. This entire situation is just…

"What will you do?" Mei-san asks idly. The woman's arms fold across her chest as she shifts her weight and leans back comfortably, evidently perfectly happy to remain on the sidelines instead of interceding… despite technically being the sorcerer with the highest seniority present. Her tone of voice also indicates that she is quite entertained by this situation, now that the imminent danger has passed.

But for all that the cursed spirit had seemingly vanished for now, the threat had not yet been fully resolved, and it was this nervous-looking boy who appeared to be at the center of it all.

So, Shiki focuses on him. "You are responsible for this mess? Why did you summon that cursed spirit, and for what purpose?"

Depending on his answers to her questions, Shiki will decide on how to deal with him –whether killing him would be an appropriate response, or if there are other measures that should be taken instead. It's one thing if the individual in question was a malicious user, but in this case…

She watches the boy intently.

"I-I…" he stutters, dark eyes wide. Shiki waits patiently for him to formulate his words. "I'm not… I can't control what Rika-chan does."

Shiki is silent for a moment. 'Rika-chan' is an interesting name for a violent, Special Grade cursed spirit. And there is also… a sneaking suspicion that occurs to her in this moment. "… A vengeful cursed spirit?"

The boy blinks, disconcerted, "Excuse me, a what?"

"Vengeful cursed spirit," Kirara supplies from the side, brows furrowing. "You don't mean…?"

"Was 'Rika' once someone you knew, as a living person?" Shiki asks simply.

The boy pales. But at the same time, his hands clench into fists at his sides, and he grits his teeth.

Then, in a hoarse whisper, "Yes."

Shiki nods in understanding, while Kirara hisses sharply. Kinji, drawing up behind them, also lets out a low whistle.

"Damn."

If this 'Rika-chan' had been a person who became a vengeful spirit in death, and decided to haunt this boy for some reason… it explains why he apparently has no control over it, but it doesn't explain why it almost feels as if the cursed spirit's cursed energy is an extension of the boy's own. In a way, it's almost similar to how Megumi's shikigami draw on their master's cursed energy, but 'Rika' is very clearly a cursed spirit and not a shikigami.

Hmm.

"Do you… do you know what happened to Rika-chan?" The boy asks, after a brief moment of hesitation where he gathers his courage. He sucks in a deep breath, and lifts his head to look Shiki in the eyes determinedly. "She was… she was hit in a traffic accident. And then she… there was just so much blood everywhere, and the next thing I knew, she was crawling out from it looking like… this."

'This' being the apt descriptor for the monstrous form of a cursed spirit, Shiki presumes.

"It sounds as if she transformed into a cursed spirit immediately upon death." Which is actually quite unusual, if the scrolls in the Gojo library aren't mistaken.

"You say that like an immediate transformation is something important," Kirara prods cautiously.

That's because, "It is."

For a sorcerer to become a vengeful cursed spirit upon death… in addition to the requisite condition of the cause of death being something void of any cursed energy, a sorcerer also needs to be powerful for such a rapid metamorphosis to take place so swiftly.

The chain of reasoning here is simple: The more cursed energy that a sorcerer possesses, the more cursed energy ends up being fed into the transformation, and the more powerful the resulting vengeful cursed spirit.

Most of the time, this sort of transformation is one that takes place over the course of several days. Which serves as additional 'buffer time' of sorts, for pacification rituals and calming ceremonies to be carried out where necessary.

However, clearly none of these measures had been in place for Rika's demise.

"So sorta like Obon stuff," Kinji summarizes. "… Why weren't any rituals held for her, though?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" It almost seems as if Rika had been purposefully made into a vengeful cursed spirit, and there were laws in the jujutsu world specifically prohibiting such actions. There are enough cursed spirits that exist in this world already without crazed individuals intentionally exacerbating the problem on their own, for whatever incomprehensible reason. "… Although, if the transformation happened immediately when she died, most rituals would've been ineffective anyways, since they would require time to set up and carry out properly."

"Okay, yeah, I guess I can see that," Kinji nods thoughtfully. "What happened to the cursed spirit just now if you didn't kill it, though? Kinda seems like it just… disappeared."

"It's still here." Of that, Shiki is distinctly certain. "I think… there are probably conditions to its manifestation."

"… 'Manifestation?'"

In contrast to Kinji's confusion, Kirara makes a sound of realization instead. "You mean something sort of similar to shikigami summoning? Like Takagi-sensei?"

"More or less." There are shikigami that bear visual resemblances to cursed spirits, but there's no instance of a cursed spirit actually being a sorcerer's shikigami. By definition, a shikigami is a familiar conjured by a sorcerer using their own cursed energy, typically through a medium –a worn talisman in Takagi-sensei's case, and shadows for Megumi– and a shikigami is unquestioningly subordinate and obedient to their master.

… But in the situation of Megumi's Ten Shadows, he needed to defeat and subdue a shikigami in battle first before he could freely summon and command it at will. Perhaps the disobedience of 'Rika' was a similar case to this?

Something worth looking into, later.

And on another note…

Shiki glances towards her classmates, "What happened to Takagi-sensei? Don't tell me he was called away last-minute again, and left you to deal with this yourselves."

"Aw, is that concern I'm hearing?" Kinji grins, rolling his shoulders. "Nah, Takagi-sensei was here the entire time. He was the one doing most of the fighting at first before he got knocked out earlier though, and we left him somewhere back over… there, I think?"

The boy points vaguely in the direction to the north. Almost as if on cue, another section of the half-destroyed wall over there promptly collapses.

Kinji gapes, "… Oh shit."

"Language," Shiki reprimands automatically.

Kirara immediately starts running for their teacher, and Kinji follows after him. Shiki watches her classmates dig through the rubble, wondering if the proper reaction in this instance is to be amused by the comedic timing of events, as Mei-san is, or concerned for her teacher's wellbeing as Kirara and Kinji evidently are.

"… Is there a way to help Rika-chan?"

The question is quiet, tentative. But when Shiki looks back towards the strange boy brimming with cursed energy, the boy does not flinch away from her. There's something that's almost earnest eyes, and it's obvious what answer he's hoping to hear from her.

Unfortunately for him, Shiki's answer when it comes to dealing with cursed spirits is to–

"Kill it."

This time, the boy does end up flinching. Shiki is unimpressed, although she concedes that perhaps such sentiments are unavoidable, if this 'Rika' had been someone that this boy had been close to back when she'd lived and before she became a vengeful spirit.

"Your 'Rika' is already dead," she reminds the boy. Moreover, "Cursed spirits are beings of negative energies. Vengeful spirits are no different, even if they were once human."

Especially since they were once human, one could say.

"There exist ways of pacifying and quelling vengeful spirits without resorting directly to exorcism," Mei-san suddenly speaks up from the side. "Although to my knowledge, the details and methods aren't very well-documented. I suspect the clans might possess more information on this front."

The boy whirls around towards Mei-san, mouth opening to ask another question –but is swiftly silenced by a raised hand from the woman.

"I don't have the answers you're looking for," she says. "Between the two of us, Shiki is the one in a better position to find what you seek."

"Killing it would be the simplest way to resolve things," Shiki maintains her previous answer. For all that the level of cursed energy that the cursed spirit possessed was Special Grade level, the cursed spirit itself hadn't proven to be particularly challenging to fight. It had not revealed its cursed technique, nor any particular abilities that would make it a tricky opponent to deal with. The attacks had been straightforward and simple for the most part, almost as if it were a child brawling.

As the cursed spirit currently was, it shouldn't be too hard to kill it. The boy, too, if he insisted on standing in her way.

If Okkotsu-san had actually been trying to kill us with that cursed spirit, Kinji, Takagi-sensei, and I would be a lot worse off than we are. He was trying to stop Rika from rampaging along with us.

… Shiki would not feel anything about killing him. Kirara, however, seemed to be attached to him, and perhaps the same was true of Kinji to some degree as well.

She sheathes her sword.

"You've decided to help?" Mei-san asks with a smile in her voice.

"I have one last question for you," Shiki ignores the older sorcerer in favor of addressing the boy instead. Okkotsu-san, Kirara had called him. "… Does the name 'Geto Suguru' mean anything to you?"

Previously being unknown to the administration despite possessing great cursed energy, and being bound to a Special Grade cursed spirit… even if this boy seemed to be wholly unaware of the jujutsu world, there was no denying that this was a strange and unusual situation for her classmates to have coincidentally stumbled across.

Had this really been a coincidence, or were there other forces at play here?

Shiki studies the boy's reaction to her question carefully. Faint surprise, followed by bewildered confusion, mouth falling slightly agape. To her eyes, the expressions appear to be genuine.

"Who's Geto Suguru?"

…

Information. Shiki needs more information before deciding what to do about all of this. She'll need to ask Choki to perform a background check on Okkotsu-san and his 'Rika,' and an investigation into the school would also not be amiss. The Window responsible for overseeing this area in Sendai needed to be investigated as well, to see if they'd been deliberately hiding things instead of reporting honestly. Shiki also needed to ask Satoru-niichan for advice as well, regarding the boy's situation.

It seems that there's still much to be done.

But first…

"I think we might need help for Takagi-sensei!" Kirara calls out. Between him and Kinji, they've managed to find Takagi-sensei, but the man does not appear to be in a good state. He's still unconscious, and the blood staining the side of his head is probably not a good sign, either.

Shiki turns around towards Mei-san, "Is your brother capable of teleporting us to the Tokyo school?"

A slow smile spreads over the woman's lips. "Are you willing to pay the same rates?"

That's fine. "Money is not an issue."

Off to the side, Kinji makes a wounded sound.

.

.

…

.