Chapter 43: Resolve

Chapter 43: Resolve

"Hajime."

Kamihara Hajime had just fallen asleep after playing games late at night when he received a call from Megumi Fushiguro. The voice on the other end of the phone was a bit distorted, but what he said next instantly sobered Kamihara Hajime.

"My sister suddenly fainted again. I've already called an ambulance, you…"

Kamihara Hajime barely heard the rest of it. He quickly got up and rushed to the Fushiguro residence. Megumi Fushiguro's face was clearly panicked. Before the ambulance arrived, Kamihara Hajime tried to use Reverse Cursed Technique to treat Tsumiki, but found it had no effect.

And the effect of Technique Reversal was barely better than nothing. After Kamihara Hajime gave his all, Tsumiki's eyelids only fluttered as if she were about to wake up, but she quickly fell back into unconsciousness. The only good news was that Tsumiki's vital signs were stable, almost as if she were just sleeping.

After she was sent to the hospital, a series of examinations and diagnoses revealed no cause, only concluding that everything was fine. Yet, she remained unconscious and unable to wake up, leaving the doctors at their wits' end.

But Kamihara Hajime quickly realized something was wrong, because he detected the aura of a Curse on Tsumiki, and his attempts to dispel it were completely ineffective.

"Could the previous coma have been for the same reason? This is troublesome."

Kamihara Hajime could only then urgently seek help from Gojo Satoru. Not long after, Gojo Satoru appeared at the hospital. After checking Tsumiki's condition, Gojo Satoru's expression also seemed serious.

"It's a Curse, and it's an unknown, very troublesome Curse. At least I have no clue how to resolve it right now. We need to find the source of this Curse. Has she recently been to any unfamiliar places or encountered any Curses?"

Megumi Fushiguro sat on a chair in the corridor outside the ward, lowered his head, recalled for a moment, and then said, "No… Sister hasn't been anywhere else recently. There are no traces of Cursed Spirit near the school or home either."

The only silver lining in this misfortune was that Tsumiki was merely unconscious, with no immediate danger to her life. Gojo Satoru then arranged for people to investigate the places Tsumiki had been recently. With no immediate method to dispel the Curse, the only option was to arrange for Tsumiki to be looked after at a private hospital owned by the Gojo Family.

Looking at the silent Megumi Fushiguro, Gojo Satoru walked over and patted his shoulder: "Megumi."

Megumi Fushiguro, who had been silent, looked up: "Gojo-sensei, if I go to Jujutsu High, can I become strong enough? It seems I'm far from strong enough to protect those I cherish right now."

Gojo Satoru looked at the determined young man who had inherited the Zen'in ancestral Technique, and then said, "Yes, you can, Megumi. You are also a talented person. The desire to protect those you cherish is good. Although Jujutsu Sorcerers gain power from negative emotions, they also need beliefs like this to support themselves."

Watching Tsumiki being sent away, Megumi Fushiguro also went back to pack his things. Kamihara Hajime stood next to Gojo Satoru and spoke, breaking the brief silence: "Sensei, this situation is actually more likely to be Curse Users. If she had accidentally encountered a Curse somewhere, there wouldn't be no clues like this."

Gojo Satoru nodded: "This isn't an ordinary Curse. If we rule out being specifically cursed by an enemy, it's actually more likely to be a random act."

"So it means the culprit might be hard to find?" Kamihara Hajime said expressionlessly.

"A Curse like this must be for a certain purpose. As long as he continues to act, he will definitely leave traces."

Gojo Satoru turned and gestured for Kamihara Hajime to follow: "Let's go. By the way, Genichi, when are you planning to become a Special Grade?"

"Soon, once I get used to full-time Technique Reversal. Gojo-sensei, is there anyone at Jujutsu High who knows New Shadow Style? Since I can't learn Domain Expansion anytime soon, I'd like to start with Simple Domain."

"Yes, your future second-year homeroom teacher, Atsuya Kusakabe, is very good at it. He's a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer without a Technique! Since Kinji Hakari and the others were suspended, he probably doesn't have much to do, so you can go learn from him."

Kamihara Hajime had heard about the two second-year seniors being suspended. It was said that they had a conflict with the conservatives during the previous Hyakki Yagyō incident.

He didn't know the specifics, and Kamihara Hajime didn't ask Gojo Satoru. Those old geezers might not be good at other things, but they were quite skilled at setting traps and playing so-called schemes.

The beginning of the matter was no longer important; the key was that Kinji Hakari couldn't hold back and was caught in a vulnerable position. The suspension was probably the result of a balance.

After returning to Jujutsu High in the car driven by Ieiri, the morning sun had already awakened from the embrace of the mountains. After getting Megumi Fushiguro settled in his dormitory and other matters, he, who hadn't rested all night, went to lie down for a while.

And Kamihara Hajime was still full of energy. His sleep was very short every day now; in fact, if necessary, he practically didn't need to sleep at all anymore.

However, it was truly wonderful to hide in the covers during winter, and endless work and entertainment were quite boring, which is why Kamihara Hajime would enjoy the emptiness of sleep every day.

After returning, he greeted Panda and Maki, who had already woken up early and started training. Kamihara Hajime then went to find Atsuya Kusakabe.

After explaining his purpose, the middle-aged man with slightly messy hair, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a lollipop in his mouth readily agreed.

"This style is allowed to be learned at Jujutsu High if you want to, with certain merits. You'll definitely be fine. Do you want to start learning now?"

Kamihara Hajime nodded: "Yes, I'm mainly interested in the Simple Domain of the New Shadow Style, and I'd like to learn other techniques as well."

Atsuya Kusakabe led Kamihara Hajime to an empty room, and began to explain the philosophy and basics of New Shadow Style with a training wooden sword.

Kamihara Hajime quickly mastered the moves. He mainly focused on learning Simple Domain and the New Shadow Style's technique of combining Cursed Energy with cursed tool.

"It's constructed using Cursed Energy in the manner of a barrier technique, and it doesn't involve the Jujutsu Sorcerer's Technique, so the difficulty is much simpler, but its corresponding effects are also not as numerous. No wonder some call it the 'Domain of the Weak'."

Kamihara Hajime maintained the stance of sheathing his sword. A Simple Domain, initially constructed and only a few meters around him, had already taken shape.

This feeling was interesting. Kamihara Hajime could sense that if an attack were to land within his Simple Domain at that moment, he would automatically counterattack under the Domain's 'wriggling' effect. However, what Kamihara Hajime valued most was its ability to neutralize the sure-hit effect within an enemy's Domain.

Atsuya Kusakabe thrust a sword like lightning, as if a breeze had rippled the surface of water. Kamihara Hajime felt an "anomaly" intrude within the few meters around him.

Kamihara Hajime, who hadn't even activated his Technique, didn't notice when his wooden sword left its sheath. The blade, striking later but arriving first, hit the side of the wooden sword that was thrusting directly at him, easily neutralizing the attack.

Atsuya Kusakabe sheathed his sword: "You're very talented, indeed worthy of being that guy's student. You can just use the techniques as a reference; as for the rest, just practice more."

He bit the candy in his mouth, but it looked more like he was holding a cigarette. He merely sighed at Kamihara Hajime's learning speed, with no other emotions.

There are always some geniuses in this world, aren't there? He, who had never awakened a Technique, had long understood this, but he didn't care about it. Atsuya Kusakabe just wanted to live his life peacefully.

Moreover, these 'tall' people are often the first to withstand the torrential storm pouring down from the heavens.

"Let's go, time to eat."

With a wave, Atsuya Kusakabe called out to Kamihara Hajime, who was still practicing, and then left first.

Kamihara Hajime stopped and checked the time, realizing it was already noon. He then returned to his dormitory for a quick shower, and called Megumi Fushiguro, who had already woken up on his own, to go to the cafeteria.

The food in the Jujutsu High cafeteria was ordinary, not bad but above average. The daily menu was generally fixed, with only a limited number of choices.

Because there weren't many people eating there, a portion of them were always on missions outside. For example, Gojo Satoru was often nowhere to be seen; Kamihara Hajime had practically never seen him in the cafeteria.

As soon as he entered, he saw Panda and the others sitting together. Kamihara Hajime waved back at Panda, then took Megumi Fushiguro to the counter to order. He swiped Kamihara Hajime's student ID, though cash was also accepted.

After ordering a bowl of tonkotsu ramen and tempura, Kamihara Hajime sat down with his tray and saw Panda wink at him: "Genichi, is that the Megumi Fushiguro you mentioned?"

Yuta Okkotsu and Inumaki Toge also looked curious. The previous new classmate had been learning with Nanami Kento and hadn't fully recovered from the incident before the second batch of students enrolled, although improvement was inevitable, they hadn't become close enough.

As for this new junior, who had also grown up with Kamihara Hajime, a natural sense of familiarity arose among them.

When Megumi Fushiguro came over with his tray, Kamihara Hajime gestured for him to sit down and said: "Megumi Fushiguro, I've mentioned him to you before. He's a student for the next batch. Gojo-sensei asked me to bring Megumi here early."

Then he introduced everyone to Megumi Fushiguro: "Panda, well, he's Panda, you know him." Panda smiled and greeted him.

"Inumaki Toge, a Zouge user, he's very strong! But he usually uses other words to speak, so you might not understand him. You can ask Panda to translate."

"Seaweed," Inumaki Toge said to Megumi Fushiguro, bowing his head slightly.

"Yuta Okkotsu, he was a Special Grade before, and I think Yuta will be able to return to Special Grade soon. It's a pity you came late and didn't get to meet Yuta's girlfriend."

Yuta Okkotsu politely greeted Megumi Fushiguro, and then it was Maki's turn to be introduced.

"Zen'in Maki, she's very skilled at using cursed tools. You'll have to rely on her to train you later. By the way, you two know each other, right?"

Maki looked Megumi Fushiguro up and down, then nodded: "Barely, I saw him once when we were little."

Looking at the curious gazes of the others, Kamihara Hajime suddenly remembered that he hadn't told them Megumi Fushiguro's original surname was Zen'in. Oh well... it wasn't important.

Although Megumi Fushiguro's personality wasn't particularly outgoing or enthusiastic, after the brief introductions, they became much more harmonious, chatting about recent events while eating.

Generally, nothing much. The most noteworthy thing was probably Yuta Okkotsu saying that Gojo Satoru had given him a mission that required him to go abroad.

"Yuta, don't forget to bring us souvenirs!"

They had seen Yuta's strength, and with him having already learned Reverse Cursed Technique, there was nothing to worry about, so they all smiled, offered blessings, and joked a bit.

"No problem."

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