'Have to admit Gojo's analysis is very reasonable,' but Arashi found it strange, 'I have already hidden my cursed energy, yet I was still discovered.'
'Maybe it is because of that black flash of a kick, which left a unique trace of aura behind.'
"Mr. Gojo, your analysis is indeed spot on. Actually I have a unique inherited technique, but I can't use it over there, it would attract the curse's attention, so I have to be extra careful. You understand, right?", Arashi's answer was half-explained, but at least he managed to reveal some information to Gojo.
Gojo stood there facing Arashi, eyes behind that black blindfold seeming to see through everything. No one could know what he was thinking at the moment.
"Hahaha! It's fine, don't be so nervous. Mm, the noodles you made are really good," Gojo suddenly patted Arashi on the shoulder, took a slip of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table, then walked to the door and said, "Wait for me here in a week."
Arashi watched Gojo leave. The man hadn't interrogated him harshly, he'd simply left like that.
He picked up the note on the table; it listed a location in Tokyo. It seemed to be a meetup point.
"I didn't expect it would be so easy to get into Jujutsu High. Easier than I thought," Arashi had assumed he would have to struggle to join the school, so this outcome was unexpectedly simple.
There was still a week until then. Arashi already planned not to go back to school; it would be best to let everyone think he was dead. No need to explain anything to the school.
Sasaki and Iguchi were fine, so they'd definitely go to school tomorrow. That way he wouldn't have to. Let them believe he had died.
If he stayed at school, besides Sasaki and Iguchi asking questions, Yamano Momoe and some of the other girls would ask too, that would be a real hassle.
With a week to spare, Arashi wanted to check out the biggest company nearby, the one people talked about as a frequent site of paranormal incidents. If he ran into a curse, he'd be more than willing to deal with it.
All in all, today he had taken two of Sukuna's fingernails and received Gojo's admission note, double good fortune. Now his real jujutsu life was about to begin.
———
[Sugisawa High]
As usual, students came to class, except that the teaching building where club activities were held was cordoned off by police.
Students could easily see the damaged building, and everyone wondered what had happened.
Curses exist in the real world, but most people don't know about them. After all, such things don't happen often; they're statistical anomalies.
The school would give students some explanation to help them move past the strange atmosphere; for them, academics were the priority.
In this incident, word spread that a first-year had died in an accident. That was Arashi, who had transferred not long ago. He was still fresh in his classmates' memories.
Sasaki and Iguchi had grown silent because of the incident; during class they were often distracted, their minds constantly returning to that tall figure who had stood in front of them and helped them escape.
"If Arashi hadn't been there, I'd probably be dead by now. No, actually, I should be the one who died. I caused Arashi's death...", Sasaki kept sinking into self-blame.
He didn't even notice the end-of-class bell until Iguchi tapped his shoulder and brought him back.
"Don't blame yourself so much," Iguchi said, though he didn't really know how to comfort Sasaki; he felt awful himself.
The school categorized such incidents as "paranormal events" — things that couldn't be explained. There was no result to be had, unless they brought in specialists. Besides, the matter was already over, and someone had already told the school that similar incidents wouldn't happen at Sugisawa Middle School again.
So the school didn't pursue it further. They hired some contractors to repair the damaged parts of the building, and then the matter was considered closed.
Yamano Momoe looked at the empty bench next to her. That had been Arashi's seat, but now it sat vacant.
No one dared sit there; everyone was afraid of picking up something bad. So Momoe continued to sit alone.
She reached out and touched the bench, trying to feel Arashi's presence, but sensed nothing. It was only a small comfort for her heart.
———
Arashi certainly didn't know that anyone still cared about him. Dusk was approaching, and office workers were beginning to finish their shifts.
Arashi stood in front of a massive building. The headquarters of a large company, the one people said had frequent paranormal happenings.
His purpose in coming was naturally to see what cursed object might be affecting the place and to exorcise it.
People nearby knew about the incidents that had happened at this company, but awareness was limited to the area; further away, nobody paid attention.
After asking around a bit, Arashi got the answers he wanted.
It was indeed a very large publicly listed company: Heisei International Group. It employed many people, every department was busy to the point of chaos.
But at some point a string of paranormal incidents began to occur there, and many employees had died within the company.
Forensic exams concluded those deaths were due to overwork, sudden death from overtime, basically. That result seemed reasonable to most people; after all, many young people now drop dead from overwork. Those youngsters party, drink, and barbecue, and then pay the price with sudden death.
But the young people working at the company were dying while on the job.
To outsiders, it didn't look particularly supernatural. Overwork kills, just as being murdered kills; it's a simple logic.
However, the number of sudden deaths at Heisei International Group was too many, three or four per month. For a company with thousands of employees, that was a large figure.
Arashi watched from below for a while. As he suspected, more than half an hour past quitting time, only a handful of people left the building; the rest were still working overtime.
'Why is that?'
To find the truth, Arashi had to enter the company. The moment he stepped in, a strange oppressive feeling wrapped around him.
It felt like anyone who entered the building would become uncomfortable.
Even non-employees could walk around freely, and the company president welcomed visitors, proud to display his hardworking staff to outsiders.
Other company bosses envied him for it: having so many young people working themselves to the bone to make money was something to be proud of.
That spirit sounded positive, but to Arashi those people working overtime looked deeply unhealthy.
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