Everyone's smiles faded slightly.
Yu Haibara stood frozen for a moment, then looked around at everyone. Instead of crying, he gave a small smile and tried to reassure them.
"It's okay. This is already good enough."
He slowly sat down beside the hospital bed, gazing at his younger sister. His voice was gentle, like he was speaking to everyone—and maybe also to himself.
"I haven't been a good brother… I didn't even realize she was being bullied."
His nostrils flared slightly, fine lines creasing the corners of his eyes. Under the ceiling light, shadows deepened across his face.
"When we saw her, I barely recognized her…"
"I always thought the Jujutsu world was too dangerous, so I didn't want her stepping into that mess. I believed I'd protected her, that I'd done what a brother should… but in the end, the world is dangerous no matter where you are."
"She even said once, 'Brother, when I turn fifteen, I'll go to Jujutsu school with you.' Something like that."
"I told her over and over not to come to Jujutsu High… Why didn't I realize it sooner?"
"Because she had the talent of a sorcerer, she could see curses others couldn't. When the neighbors found out, they rejected her… and I thought she was doing fine…"
"There are some people in this world who are just beyond saving."
Kento Nanami stood beside him—the only one among them who had actually met Haibara's sister. She had even called him "Onii-san."
"For someone like that scum, there's only one solution—send them straight to the afterlife."
The anger hadn't faded from Kento Nanami's face.
They had just completed the Ubusunagami mission. Although things didn't go entirely as expected—the mission briefing had described the cursed spirit as Grade 2, but it turned out to be Grade 1—the three of them still managed to contain it and bring it back.
It should've been something worth celebrating…
Yu Haibara had returned to his hometown with Nanami, bought the gift his sister had wanted, and just as they neared the house, they overheard a few neighbors chatting, gloating over something.
His heart sank. His eyelids twitched. A creeping sense of dread took hold.
He grabbed one of them by the collar and pressed for answers—only then did he learn something had happened at home. There was no one else there, just his sister…
When they got to the city hospital, they saw several police officers talking with the doctors. One of them looked over and asked, "You're her brother, right?!"
The policewoman beside him had a trace of pity on her face before she explained what had happened.
Kento Nanami couldn't hold back his anger.
Yu Haibara, on the other hand, stayed surprisingly composed. He didn't care about anyone else—he just insisted on bringing his sister to Jujutsu High. Ordinary people couldn't save her. Maybe a sorcerer could.
Even knowing the chances were slim… even knowing she was already gone… he refused to give up that sliver of hope.
Thankfully, their senior had a way to bring her back. If not, no one knew what Haibara would've done.
Now, they just had to wait for her to wake up and see how serious the aftereffects were.
Kento Nanami placed a hand on Yu Haibara's shoulder.
The room went quiet.
Shoko Ieiri stepped forward and addressed the group.
"Alright, everyone out. Let the nurses take over—she needs to rest."
When Haibara's sister had arrived, she was severely burned. Sōjun Minamoto had healed her, but she still needed additional treatment and proper hygiene. A group of men crowding around her wasn't appropriate.
She'd need to stay under observation for the next two or three days. They were free to visit anytime.
Normally, this would be left to standard medical care, but Shoko Ieiri felt it was better to use Reverse Cursed Technique to stabilize her vital signs and speed up recovery.
Everyone quietly filed out of the care room, with Shoko Ieiri and Sōjun Minamoto leaving last.
Because she was also a medical professional—and one of the only two people who had mastered the Reverse Cursed Technique—it was even harder for her to wrap her head around it. Could someone really come back to life after dying? She turned to Sōjun Minamoto.
"How did you do it?"
"Just fix whatever's broken. If it's the body, heal the body. If it's the soul, patch up the soul. People are made of those two parts. As long as you recover both, you can bring them back."
Sōjun Minamoto said it like it was no big deal.
"Healing the body is relatively easy. But the soul? That takes talent."
Shoko Ieiri gave him a look, half helpless.
"Unfortunately, very few people have that kind of talent. So this method can't be made common."
"Well, that makes sense. Bringing someone back from the dead can't be that easy, right?!"
She sighed with a bit of regret, but quickly moved on.
"It just feels easy because it's you."
Sōjun Minamoto hadn't taken much time at all—less than fifteen minutes, start to finish. The whole thing had felt almost effortless.
"If I'd been even a little later, I wouldn't have been able to do anything."
He shook his head.
In the end, saving a life and taking one aren't all that different.
Whether it's a person or a curse, both body and soul are essential. Even though a cursed spirit's body is formed from Cursed Energy, it still functions as a body. Otherwise, it would have long since dissipated.
Whether you're healing or killing, it just depends on whether you're targeting the soul, the body, or both. Masamichi Yaga had mentioned this when he first trained him, but Sōjun saw it even more clearly than Yaga did.
Destroy the soul or crush the body, and that's death. But if you do the opposite, you can reverse it—bring life from death.
"So it's about the soul too?"
Shoko Ieiri asked.
"Yeah. A dead body can't hold a soul. It was already starting to disperse."
"And that's why you said she might lose her memory? The longer it drags on, the harder it is to bring them back?"
Sōjun Minamoto nodded.
Not everyone can be saved. The requirements are strict. At the very least, both the body and soul must still exist—and not be too damaged. Otherwise, the chance of revival drops significantly.
Even he couldn't regenerate from a single drop of blood right now.
To achieve a perfect resurrection without any side effects, the body had to be at least half intact, and soul damage couldn't exceed one-seventh.
And that was for himself, under ideal conditions with full control.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
They both looked over at Riko Amanai. She had a natural talent for dealing with souls, and her technique could stabilize souls—but unfortunately, she hadn't managed to develop it yet.
Riko Amanai seemed to sense their gaze and suddenly turned around. When she saw it was Sōjun Minamoto and Shoko Ieiri, she walked over.
"Thanks."
She was the first to say it.
Sōjun Minamoto understood. She had strong empathy, and since this involved Haibara—her close friend—she'd treated it like it was her own sister. When she came to find him, she looked like she was about to cry, which had made him think something had happened to Yu Haibara.
He remembered how, even watching movies, Riko Amanai would tear up whenever there was a touching or sad scene.
Now, seeing her back to normal, carefree as ever, he couldn't help but smile.
"What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, right—this is yours."
She didn't dwell on it and handed him back the broken thorn sword. A sixth of the blade had already turned black.
"Ubusunagami? And…?"
There was clearly more than just Ubusunagami.
"Ubusunagami and a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit."
Riko Amanai beamed.
"I caught the Grade 2 one myself."
"I've got the strength of a Grade 2 sorcerer now too," she said, clapping her palm.
"Too bad no one's recommended me yet."
So that's what this was about.
Sōjun Minamoto reached out to take the broken sword. She'd helped him out—of course he wouldn't be stingy about a recommendation.
"I can be your recommender."
But Riko Amanai pulled the sword back.
"Then wait until I've filled it up. You can recommend me then, okay?"
Sōjun Minamoto nodded in agreement. Seven Grade 1 Cursed Spirits—converted to Grade 2—would take her a while to save up.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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