February 2nd. Inside a luxury hotel that the Gojo family had entirely reserved for the occasion, Gojo Satoru bounced around with restless energy, personally stringing up enormous crimson celebratory banners that screamed festivity.
[Warm Congratulations on the Tokyo Jujutsu High Graduates Reunion!]
Asou Akiya stood off to one side with Ieiri Shoko, the two of them speaking in low voices near the corner of the grand ballroom.
"They agreed. And the hospital records show no history of allergic reactions to anesthetics on either of them."
"What about sedatives?"
"There are no records of the Getou couple ever having taken sedatives. I recommend performing a skin test anyway, just to rule out any possibility of allergy."
"Akiya, I've already prepared two units of plasma, one for each. Are you really sure we need to use sedatives?"
"To prevent any chance of cursed spirits manifesting on the 'corpses.'"
The preventive measures Asou Akiya had in mind went far beyond what he had casually mentioned aloud.
To Ieiri Shoko the whole scheme felt amusing, almost like an elaborate prank. To Asou Akiya, however, organizing this birthday event carried the same gravity and meticulous attention he would give to any serious mission.
Ieiri Shoko leaned in closer and whispered, "What kind of people are Getou's parents, really?"
Asou Akiya answered without hesitation. "Nothing particularly distinctive. Ordinary and deeply conservative. They are accustomed to using generational hierarchy to assert authority. Aside from imposing some fairly strict measures on Getou during his early childhood, they have committed no real wrongdoing. In most ways they are quite traditionally minded people."
Ieiri Shoko caught the faint note of disappointment in his tone and could not resist teasing him. "From the way you say it, it almost sounds like you were hoping they would be more difficult to handle."
Asou Akiya shook his head slightly. "That is not quite the thought I had."
From the corner of his eye he followed the restless figure of Gojo Satoru darting here and there across the ballroom.
"Being ordinary is not a fault. The fault lies in being ordinary while at the same time possessing something utterly extraordinary."
The Getou couple had given birth to a son who this very year would rise to the rank of Special Grade sorcerer.
To put it in another way — the son of this ordinary couple was one of those transcendent figures who appear in literature and fiction: one of the five great Nen users from Hunter × Hunter, a Kage-level shinobi from Naruto, a captain-class Shinigami from Bleach, or a rookie pirate in One Piece whose bounty breaks a hundred million berries the moment he sets sail…
A child named Getou Suguru carried with him, from the day he was born, troubles vast enough to shatter this ordinary couple entirely.
Asou Akiya was someone who preferred to learn from lessons already paid for in full.
He would never allow himself to obtain something he had no right to claim — not without absolute certainty in his grasp.
The friendship he shared with Getou had already been an exception among exceptions. For it he had staked everything time and time again, wagering his all without hesitation.
Ieiri Shoko gave up trying to puzzle out his deeper meaning — it was too mentally taxing — and simply asked outright, "What is the next step?"
Asou Akiya answered without pause. "Everything we need to do has already been prepared. The greatest difficulty remains how to knock Getou unconscious. Tomorrow, keep your phones and walkie-talkies close at hand and stay in constant contact with me at all times."
Asou Akiya continued. "Tomorrow I will go capture a Grade 3 cursed spirit and release it near the Getou family home to lure him outside."
Gojo Satoru's voice cut in abruptly from across the room. "A Grade 3 cursed spirit is way too weak! Suguru could exorcise it from inside the house without even needing to step out!"
Asou Akiya disposed of the objection with a single calm sentence. "Then you go capture a higher-grade cursed spirit. Make sure it poses no danger to bystanders while still being strong enough to draw Getou out of the house even if he stays indoors."
Gojo Satoru grinned wide. "No problem at all!"
Asou Akiya continued without missing a beat. "We will release the cursed spirit at exactly eleven fifty tonight. That gives Suguru ten minutes to exorcise it. I will handle drawing his attention. You make sure to knock him unconscious before the clock strikes midnight."
Ieiri Shoko's eyelid twitched faintly. She watched in silent amusement as Gojo Satoru leaped headfirst into the trap without the slightest awareness.
Of course someone as busy as Asou Akiya would never bother with the "minor chore" of capturing a cursed spirit himself. When it came to matters of raw combat strength, handing the task to Gojo Satoru was always the most efficient choice.
However, in Gojo's eyes anything below Special Grade ranked as nothing more than trash.
Sending Gojo to pick up garbage? To babysit garbage?
Yes, brilliant idea. Only Asou Akiya possessed the particular talent required to guide Gojo into actually carrying out something so "simple."
Ieiri Shoko swallowed a laugh that threatened to bubble up from her throat. She clenched her fist to steady herself before asking, "When exactly am I supposed to go meet Getou's parents?"
Asou Akiya turned his gaze toward her — first taking in the white coat she wore, then drifting down to the high heels on her feet. "Bring your tools. Let us go now."
Dressed in full doctor's attire, Ieiri Shoko suddenly carried the unmistakable air of a school nurse — calm, professional, quietly authoritative.
February second was a Tuesday — a regular weekday.
That evening Getou's father, who had taken half a day off from the company, did not return home until seven o'clock. The couple, fresh from their skin tests with no visible reactions, ate dinner together in near silence. They made no casual comments about whatever played on the television. They merely offered one dry, offhand remark: "Today is Wetlands Day."
Getou Suguru had no way of noticing the tiny needle marks left behind by the tests.
Ieiri Shoko had deliberately chosen to inject them on the inner side of the forearm, right near the elbow joint — a spot easily concealed.
Even so, the intuition of someone approaching Special Grade level could not be underestimated. Getou Suguru felt an inexplicable strangeness radiating from his parents. They seemed preoccupied with some unspoken worry, yet refused to share it with him. Instead they went out of their way to maintain an appearance of perfect calm, as though nothing at all were out of the ordinary.
In the back of his mind Getou Suguru could not help but draw a comparison to Asou Akiya. If that cunning overly calculating male classmate — or rather friend — ever intended to conceal something from him he would never allow even the slightest hint to slip out carelessly.
Wait — why did his thoughts suddenly turn to Akiya?
Getou Suguru bit down on the tip of his chopsticks grinding his teeth lightly against the wood. That all-too-familiar sensation of being quietly maneuvered crept up on him once more.
My parents are ordinary people. Whatever this is, it should not involve them. Akiya knows very well that my one absolute bottom line is that family matters remain untouched.
Tomorrow is my birthday. I absolutely cannot afford to let my guard down!
Would Akiya forget?
Impossible!
It clicked for him then. The last time they spoke he had personally asked Akiya for a birthday theme. Of course Akiya remembered. He must be planning some kind of "surprise" right now. I cannot fall into their trap.
But in the group chat Akiya said he was still training at the dojo… that part feels suspicious.
After finishing his meal Getou Suguru decided to go out claiming he needed a walk to aid digestion. In truth he intended to make a quick trip to the Kyoto dojo on the day before his birthday just to confirm whether Asou Akiya was actually present there.
What he did not know was that the moment he stepped out of the house his parents quietly reported his movements to Asou Akiya.
To maintain the illusion of perfect normalcy Asou Akiya hurried back to the Kyoto dojo.
Getou Suguru positioned himself high in the air overlooking the training grounds. Through his cursed energy perception he could clearly see Asou Akiya practicing swordsmanship still appearing quite focused and diligent. It seemed the birthday preparations had been delegated to someone else.
Getou Suguru decided this explanation fit the facts. He let out a quiet breath of relief. As long as Asou Akiya was not personally orchestrating the entire thing everything would be fine.
If the other party lacked sufficient time the room for interference would shrink accordingly and the potential for anything truly frightening would diminish as well.
"What I want is a pleasant surprise not a scare."
"As long as you celebrate my birthday in a normal ordinary way, I will be happy for the rest of my life."
Getou Suguru left the area feeling perfectly satisfied.
Just to be cautious, he made one more detour passing by Tokyo Jujutsu High. Nothing about the school gave off the aura of anything staged or false.
"No openings at all. As expected of you, Akiya."
The momentary sense of security in Getou Suguru's heart tightened once again.
The odds were high that the scripted scene would unfold at Tokyo Jujutsu High. Yet without an insider leaking information to him, the auxiliary supervisors had long since learned to avoid him at critical moments, refusing to be intimidated or threatened into cooperation.
[Akiya, I have finished writing your birthday gift. I will give it to you tomorrow.]
[Satoru, Shoko, please do not go overboard with whatever you are planning. I am the type who will get revenge you know!]
Night fell.
When eleven o'clock arrived Getou Suguru found himself completely unable to sleep, behaving with the childish anticipation of a child who had never before received birthday wishes as he waited stubbornly for midnight.
At Tokyo Jujutsu High he now had three very good classmates and one very good teacher. He was no longer someone without friends. He had passed an entire year that had been utterly different from all the years before.
And so he waited patiently for the birthday greetings that would mark the beginning of his sixteenth year.
23:50.
Getou Suguru's muscles suddenly tensed. He sensed a powerful cursed spirit prowling somewhere nearby.
The density of its cursed energy — could it really be Grade 1?
A curse of that level drew a faint, incredulous laugh from him. "My birthday hasn't even arrived yet and someone is already making their move."
Getou Suguru threw back the covers. He did not bother changing out of his sleep clothes. Instead he simply stepped to the window, pushed it open, and leaped out into the night — mentally bracing himself for whatever "trouble" awaited him this evening.
From a rooftop not far away came the guttural, roaring cry of the Grade 1 cursed spirit.
Getou Suguru walked to the edge of the roof in nothing but his slippers. He watched coldly as the curse thrashed and snarled. For the moment it had harmed no one. The building it occupied stood empty and abandoned. Most strangely of all he could not detect even the faintest trace of Gojo Satoru's cursed energy in the vicinity.
"A curse of this caliber would never be the bait Akiya went out to capture."
"Could it be Satoru? Is Satoru hiding somewhere?"
Getou Suguru raised his alertness to the highest level.
All at once a figure was hurled out from the shadows. It tumbled across the ground wrapped head to toe in ropes that had been densely plastered with talismans.
"Getou — don't come any closer!" The voice cried out desperately. "A curse user ambushed me!"
Getou Suguru could no longer maintain his composure.
The person bound in those special ropes, looking utterly disheveled and covered in blood, was Asou Akiya!
Blood streaked across Asou Akiya's face, bruises bloomed across every visible patch of skin, and without any cursed tools at hand he stood no chance against a curse user!
Getou Suguru's mind raced at lightning speed — was this part of the birthday plan, or had a real curse user launched an attack?
Getou Suguru abandoned any thought of dealing with the Grade 1 cursed spirit. He sprinted straight toward Asou Akiya!
As he ran at full speed he summoned his Special-Grade cursed spirit, sending it charging ahead to shield Asou Akiya. True or false no longer mattered — he possessed enough strength to handle any curse user. The one in genuine danger right now was Asou Akiya!
Even with his sole Special-Grade cursed spirit no longer by his side Getou Suguru still felt complete confidence facing what Satoru would dismiss as mere trash.
"Bang!"
Gojo Satoru swung the special-grade cursed tool "Wind Hammer," borrowed from his family home, and shattered Getou Suguru's cursed energy barrier in one clean strike.
The hammer connected squarely with the back of his head, knocking him out cold!
The black-haired boy dressed in loose black loungewear collapsed face-first into the ground. A massive swollen lump immediately rose on the back of his skull.
Asou Akiya, still lying prone on the ground, said nothing.
The special-grade cursed tool had been lent out at his own request. First, it lowered the overall difficulty of the plan. Second, it gave Satoru valuable hands-on experience wielding a special-grade item.
At their current stage both of these high-school boys treated special-grade cursed tools with casual indifference.
Look at that — experience points gained, +1.
Asou Akiya's hands, hidden behind his back, moved with deft precision. He swiftly undid the slipknot and freed himself completely from the ropes that had bound him.
He wiped away the fake blood and the carefully applied bruises from his face.
"Begin now."
"Satoru, keep monitoring his heartbeat. If it starts to speed up indicating he is about to wake, have Shoko administer the anesthetic immediately."
Jujutsu sorcerers possessed exceptional physical resilience and developed resistance to anesthetics, but that posed no issue here. Three people were working together against Getou Suguru, while Getou Suguru had no hidden cards left to play. Between the three of them they would always find a way to keep the unconscious boy lying motionless through the night until the designated moment arrived.
Midnight struck.
Right in front of the still-unconscious Getou Suguru the three of them took photos, composed birthday messages, and sent them directly to his phone — keepsakes of the occasion.
In the black-haired boy's eyes shone unmistakable tenderness. The brown-haired girl wore an expression of pure mischievous amusement. The tall white-haired boy casually hefted the enormous hammer, his dark sunglasses doing nothing to conceal the wild manic gleam in his gaze. All three bent down to gaze at their dear, lovable classmate, each wearing the exact same wicked villainous smile.
"Happy birthday, Getou Suguru!"
...
At the Gojo estate the head of the Gojo family was jolted awake from deep sleep by an urgent report.
"Satoru-sama borrowed a special-grade cursed tool? For what reason?"
Special-grade cursed tools were few even within the Gojo household. True strategic assets of that caliber would never be loaned out to Tokyo Jujutsu High under normal circumstances.
The servant remained kneeling just outside the bedroom door and spoke in a hushed voice. "Satoru-sama said… he needed it to knock out a classmate… in order to celebrate the classmate's birthday…"
The Gojo family head fell completely silent.
A sudden wave of unease rose in his chest. First the construction of a mock cemetery, now the removal of a special-grade cursed tool — everything had happened too abruptly.
Was Getou Suguru truly Satoru-sama's closest friend?
February third was supposed to be the birthday of a cursed spirit manipulator — surely not his death anniversary!