The next day, in a classroom at Kyoto Jujutsu High.
"Eh? Kusakabe-sensei is the current head of the New Shadow Style now?!"
When Kusakabe made the announcement from the podium, several question marks seemed to pop up over Miwa's head at once.
She remembered that when she first joined the New Shadow Style a few years ago, she had heard that disciples had to hand over part of their lifespan.
By that logic… shouldn't the head be someone very long-lived?
"That guy Fushiguro went and did something ridiculous. I'm just cleaning up after him," Kusakabe scratched his forehead helplessly as he replied.
After that strange sensation in his body yesterday, he had been informed, while still confused, that he had become the current head of the New Shadow Style.
Becoming the head meant teaching the students one more course. He also had to figure out how to spread the use of Simple Domain as much as possible while preventing curse users from stealing it.
For a working adult like him, this was basically a nightmare. He did not care about money or status. All he wanted was to stay alive and spend peaceful days with his family.
But becoming the head was, overall, still a good thing. To give the students another path forward, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept the responsibility. Only by holding the position himself could he make sure young sorcerers could learn it without letting it leak out.
As for the higher-ups, there was no need to worry. If they dared to complain, the special grade sorcerers would not mind killing a few more people.
"As expected of Fushiguro-sensei! Then the binding vows related to it…?"
Kokichi's eyes widened, his voice full of anticipation. Unlike the innocent Miwa, he understood the New Shadow Style much more deeply.
Mukuro must have personally killed the previous head; that was the only reason the position had fallen to Kusakabe, who had reached grade 1 level through the New Shadow Style.
But what he cared about most was whether Miwa would still lose part of her lifespan because of the old vows. Compared to techniques or binding vows, that was closer to a curse.
"That's right. From now on only the non-disclosure vow set by Ashiya Sadatsuna will remain. Everything else is void. Missions and anything related to lifespan included."
With a toothpick in his mouth, Kusakabe answered Kokichi's expectation. Those complicated and excessive vows were the first thing he planned to remove after becoming the head.
"That's great! Then I want to learn too!"
As the only one among them who had never touched a domain-type technique, Momo clapped her hands in excitement.
(Noritoshi and Mai, as members of the Big Three Families, had learned Falling Blossom Emotion. Todo had learned Simple Domain from Yuki's personal demonstration.)
"Yeah, yeah. Simple Domain will become a required course at the school. All of you, get serious."
Kusakabe let out a long sigh. Just thinking about having to go to the Tokyo campus later to teach other students made him feel like his once leisurely life was slipping away.
So tiring.
Even so, he accepted it willingly.
There was also a reason no one else knew.
* * *
(Kusakabe's memory)
One day earlier.
"I remember Mei-san's younger brother is also a disciple of the New Shadow Style. How about I pass the position of head to him?"
When Mukuro and Mei Mei returned to the school and explained everything to Kusakabe, his first reaction was to push the responsibility away.
He already looked for chances to slack off as a teacher. If he became the head of the New Shadow Style, his peaceful life would be over.
"Ui Ui wouldn't take a job that's all effort and no reward," Mei Mei rejected it immediately.
The so-called "minimum tuition" Mukuro mentioned was, in her eyes, a complete waste of time.
Taking one or two students occasionally for fun was fine, but making her brother the head was simply not worth it.
Time was money. Anything that could not be converted into money had little value for her or her brother. Besides, it was not as if there were no other options.
"I'd feel more at ease if you took the position." Mukuro gave his opinion.
Both the New Shadow Style and its secret, the Simple Domain, were techniques that should be carried forward within the orthodox jujutsu world. It required a head with high mastery and strength strong enough to convince everyone, not a coward like the old woman he had killed.
Kusakabe was strong.
Aside from special grades, he and Nanami stood at the peak of the jujutsu world. More importantly, he had no innate technique. His strength came purely from his understanding of the New Shadow Style.
And as a colleague, he was someone Mukuro could trust.
"..."
The man who usually drifted through life without effort was suddenly being relied upon. He did not answer. He simply thought in silence.
"After a while, I'll have Principal Yaga lend you Takeru for some time as payment for your hard work."
"Seriously?!"
The moment Mukuro finished speaking, Kusakabe's expression made a complete one-eighty. His face filled with excitement and anticipation.
Takeru was the only son of his beloved younger sister. He had died in an accident several years ago.
Following the incident, his sister had become like a walking corpse. She had fallen gravely ill and could only move around in a wheelchair pushed by others. After losing her child, she had lost all hope in life.
Back then, he had committed a "mistake." He begged Principal Yaga to record his nephew's information into a cursed corpse so it could take Takeru's place and give his sister a reason to live again.
But cursed corpses with independent consciousness were forbidden in the jujutsu world. Panda's existence had already made the higher-ups deeply wary of Yaga while coveting his ability.
Because of that, Kusakabe did not dare to expose too much. Whenever his sister missed Takeru to the point of breaking down, he could only take her to Tokyo to see him.
"Why would I lie?"
Mukuro's answer lit a spark in the heart that had long been like still water.
Just thinking of his sister's bright smile made everything else seem insignificant. What did it matter if he had to suffer a little?
* * *
"Kusakabe-sensei is smiling?!"
At that moment, Momo pointed at the slight curve of his lips as if she had discovered a new continent.
Kusakabe snapped out of his memories, rubbed his messy short hair, and said, "I just remembered something pleasant."
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