Just as Akemi Aki believed that Akira was telling the truth, Akira trusted her just as much.
They had lived together for eight years. Their bond was real, and with Gardevoir's ability to sense human emotions, there was no reason for him to doubt his mother.
"But Mom," Akira continued, "if that's really the case, you're going to suffer in the future."
"Hm? Why would you say that?" Akemi asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Do you remember what Noritoshi said when you left the Kamo Clan?"
Akemi paused.
"He said that one day, he would come and bring you back."
Hearing those words, her expression changed slightly.
A memory she had buried deep in her heart suddenly came back to her.
It had been eight years, yet she could still remember that day clearly.
...
It was autumn.
Fallen leaves covered the long stone path leading toward the Kamo Clan's main gate.
A young boy stood before her, his eyes swollen and red from crying. He looked to be around Akira's age, and one of his small hands desperately clutched the hem of her clothes.
"Why?"
His voice trembled as he wiped his tears with his other hand.
"Why does Mother have to leave?"
Looking at her biological son, Akemi could barely hold back her own tears.
She knelt before him and pulled him into her arms, hugging him as tightly as she could.
"Noritoshi..."
Her voice broke slightly.
"If I stay here, I'll only become an obstacle for you."
The boy shook his head, refusing to accept her answer.
But there was nothing she could do.
She had already made her decision, and the clan would never allow her to take him away.
In the end, she could only hold him one last time before forcing herself to let go.
Just as she turned to leave, however, a hoarse voice came from behind her.
"I'll become stronger!"
Akemi stopped walking.
"One day, I'll definitely become strong enough to bring Mother back!"
The boy was still crying, but his voice had become surprisingly firm.
"So... please wait for me!"
Akemi stood there for a moment.
Then, without turning around, she nodded.
She wanted to reassure him, even if she had no idea whether that promise could ever be fulfilled.
Dragging her suitcase behind her, she continued down the long stone path.
She never looked back.
Eventually, she passed through the ancient mountain gate that had stood there for hundreds of years.
Outside the gate, another child was waiting.
He was a boy around the same age as Noritoshi.
Unlike the crying child she had just left behind, this boy showed almost no expression. He stood quietly beside the gate, looking as though he had been placed there and told to wait.
He neither complained nor asked any questions.
Looking at him, Akemi felt a complicated mixture of emotions.
There was anger toward the family that had forced them into this situation, resentment toward the people responsible, and pity for the child who had lost his place in that family.
After all, they had both been abandoned by the same clan.
In the end, her expression gradually softened.
She walked over, bent down slightly, and took his small hand.
"Come on. From now on, we'll live together."
The boy looked up at her.
"Mm."
He gave a quiet response and followed her without resistance.
And so, the two of them left the ancient family that had existed for more than a thousand years.
That boy was Akira.
The same Akira who had lived with Akemi Aki for the past eight years.
He had once been known as Noritsuna Kamo, but after leaving the clan, he changed his surname to Akemi.
Neither of them was permitted to use the Kamo name again.
In fact, the clan went even further.
Every record connecting them to the family was erased, as though neither of them had ever existed.
...
Returning to the present, Akemi let out a soft sigh.
"That was a long time ago. Noritoshi was still just a child back then."
"Mom, you're underestimating children."
Akira shook his head.
"Children remember things much better than adults think. Especially something like that. Once they remember it, they might carry it with them for the rest of their lives."
He looked at her seriously.
"Don't assume he'll forget that promise just because he was young."
Akemi looked at him for a moment before smiling faintly.
"I've never underestimated either of you."
Her voice was gentle.
"Not Noritoshi, and certainly not you, Akira."
There was a reason she said that.
Even after eight years, Akemi had never forgotten what happened before they left the Kamo Clan.
Her own expulsion had already been decided. There was nothing she could do to change it.
But Akira's situation had been different.
Although he had lost his position as the legitimate heir, he had never been required to leave the family.
He could have remained in the Kamo Clan.
He was the one who chose to leave.
And what surprised Akemi the most was how he had convinced his family to let him go.
At the time, Akira had personally approached his father, the head of the Kamo Clan, and his biological mother, the clan head's official wife.
He had calmly explained his reasons.
"My existence will only bring shame to the family."
Those were the words he had spoken.
"Even if you announce that I'm not the legitimate son, there's no guarantee people won't find out the truth."
The boy had continued speaking without the slightest hesitation.
"Once rumors spread, Father and Mother will be the ones who suffer. Wouldn't it be better if I simply left?"
He had even brought up Akemi.
"Aunt Hayami has already lost her son. Since you're taking Noritoshi from her, shouldn't you at least give her another child?"
Then, as though discussing something completely ordinary, he added another reason.
"Besides, I quite like Aunt Hayami."
His tone had remained calm throughout the entire conversation.
"Since I haven't inherited a Cursed Technique, staying here won't do me any good anyway. So please let me leave with her."
Akemi had been standing outside the room at the time.
She heard everything.
Every single word.
At first, she could hardly believe what she was hearing.
The person speaking inside was only an eight-year-old child.
An eight-year-old who had just lost his status, his inheritance, and even the right to acknowledge his own parents.
Yet he showed no anger.
He did not cry or beg them to reconsider.
Instead, he carefully explained why removing him from the family would benefit everyone involved.
He even used his own supposed worthlessness as a reason to persuade them.
Listening to him, Akemi felt an indescribable chill.
For a moment, she almost forgot that the person speaking was a child.
His thoughts were far too mature, and the way he viewed the situation was even colder than her own.
It was difficult to imagine what kind of eight-year-old could speak like that.
Of course, what Akemi didn't know was that her impression had been completely correct.
Although Akira possessed the body of a child, his mind had never belonged to one.
After all, hidden beneath his ordinary appearance was a secret that no one in this world knew.
Akira was a transmigrator.
And before coming to this world, he had already lived an entire life as an adult.
More importantly, he knew exactly what kind of world he had entered.
It was a world he had once known through a story in his previous life.
A world called *Jujutsu Kaisen*.
In certain respects, Akira understood this world even better than the people who had been born into it.
Unfortunately, knowing the story didn't necessarily mean he had been given a good starting point.
In fact, if Akira had to describe his life, there was probably only one suitable comparison.
A roller coaster.
One moment, he would be enjoying the greatest luck imaginable.
The next, everything would come crashing down.
His previous life was a perfect example.
He had actually won the lottery.
Yes, the lottery!
Just when he thought he could finally stop worrying about money and enjoy an easy life, he was hit by a car.
He hadn't even gotten the chance to enjoy his winnings.
Just like that, his wonderful future disappeared.
At the time, he was certain he had died.
Who would have thought that when he opened his eyes again, he would find himself in another world?
And his new identity was even more ridiculous.
Noritsuna Kamo.
The legitimate son of the Kamo Clan's head.
In Japan, where family background and status could determine a person's future, being born into such a household was practically winning the lottery all over again.
And this wasn't just any family.
The Kamo Clan was one of the Three Great Clans of the Jujutsu world, a family with a history stretching back more than a thousand years.
Its influence, wealth, and connections were far beyond those of ordinary families.
The clan was so old-fashioned that it still maintained the practice of having one official wife and multiple concubines.
As the son of the official wife, Noritsuna Kamo had been born with an enormous advantage.
Under normal circumstances, he would have inherited the position of clan head.
He wouldn't even have to fight for it.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, everything would eventually belong to him.
What kind of wonderful starting point was that?
He had gone from an ordinary man who had just won the lottery to the young master of one of Japan's most powerful supernatural families.
At first, Akira genuinely thought his luck had finally turned around.
Unfortunately, that happiness didn't last long.
The Three Great Clans.
The Kamo family.
Jujutsu.
As more information became available to him, the names started sounding increasingly familiar.
And eventually, he realized something terrible.
Wasn't this the world of *Jujutsu Kaisen*?
At first glance, recognizing the world he had transmigrated into should have been an advantage.
He knew the story.
He knew many of the important characters.
He even knew about events that had yet to happen.
For a transmigrator, that kind of information could be extremely valuable.
There was just one small problem.
His identity.
Noritsuna Kamo, the legitimate son of the Kamo Clan, was destined to become a complete failure.
In the original story, his existence was so insignificant that he hadn't even been given a proper name.
And Akira knew exactly why.
The Kamo Clan was a family of Jujutsu sorcerers.
Like the other Great Clans, they valued inherited Cursed Techniques above almost everything else.
Family status, blood relationships, and even personal feelings meant very little when compared to the ability to inherit a powerful technique.
A child born with an inherited technique could receive the best treatment imaginable.
Even if that child came from a concubine, the clan would still consider them valuable.
On the other hand, a child without talent might as well be worthless.
It didn't matter whether that child was the son of the clan head's official wife.
In a family like the Kamo Clan, strength determined everything.
And unfortunately for Noritsuna, he was born on the wrong side of that rule.
What made the situation worse was that a child's aptitude for Jujutsu could not be fully determined immediately after birth.
It usually became clear around the ages of six to eight.
In other words, Noritsuna was allowed to enjoy several years of being treated as the future clan head.
He received all the privileges that came with his position.
Servants respected him.
The elders acknowledged him.
Even his parents treated him as the child who would eventually inherit the family.
But all of that depended on one condition.
He had to possess talent for Jujutsu.
Once that condition failed, everything would change.
And that was exactly what happened.
From the moment it became clear that Noritsuna had no aptitude as a Jujutsu sorcerer, his position became extremely awkward.
For an ordinary child, being born without status might have been easier to accept.
At least such a child would never have expected anything.
But Noritsuna had already spent years being raised as the future head of the Kamo Clan.
He had experienced what it meant to stand above others.
Now, all of it was about to be taken away.
The higher someone stood, the harder they would fall.
And without ever experiencing hope, how could someone truly understand despair?
Of course, Akira had been mentally prepared for this outcome.
After all, he already knew the original story.
What he hadn't expected was just how far his biological parents would go to protect their own positions.
When they discovered that their legitimate son had no talent, the Kamo clan head and his official wife made a decision.
They would exchange the identities of two children.
The first was Noritsuna Kamo, the legitimate son who had failed to inherit a Cursed Technique.
The second was Noritoshi Kamo, the son born to the concubine, Hayami Kamo.
Unlike Noritsuna, Noritoshi had inherited the talent that the clan valued so highly.
And so, the two children's positions were reversed.
Noritoshi became the legitimate heir of the Kamo Clan.
Noritsuna, meanwhile, was officially declared a useless child born to a concubine.
As for their actual birth records?
Those could easily be changed.
Before a child's Jujutsu aptitude was confirmed, the relevant evaluations and family records were kept confidential.
For the clan head and his wife, manipulating those records was hardly difficult.
With a few changes, the two boys effectively exchanged their places in the family.
The reason behind this arrangement wasn't particularly complicated.
The official wife had given birth to a son without talent.
Meanwhile, a mere concubine had given birth to a child worthy of inheriting the Kamo Clan.
If that fact became widely known, the official wife's position would undoubtedly suffer.
After all, the woman who should have held the highest status among the clan head's wives had failed to produce a suitable heir.
Yet a concubine had succeeded.
That was something she could never accept.
To preserve her status and maintain the appearance of stability within the family, she needed Noritoshi to become her son.
And once she made that decision, she had no intention of leaving any loose ends.
The clan publicly announced the change in the children's identities.
At the same time, rumors began spreading throughout the household.
Naturally, those rumors were directed at Hayami, the concubine who had supposedly given birth to the talentless Noritsuna.
Her reputation quickly suffered.
After all, who would bother defending a low-born concubine against the clan head's official wife?
But the matter didn't end there.
The clan also began persuading Hayami to leave.
They spoke gently to her, explaining that her continued presence would only create unnecessary trouble.
They told her that leaving was the best way to protect the family.
More importantly, they insisted that her departure would allow Noritoshi to enjoy a brighter future.
As his biological mother, shouldn't she be willing to make that sacrifice for her son?
Their reasoning sounded considerate.
But the result was obvious.
They wanted to take her child away and remove her from the family.
As for how cruel it was to separate a mother from her biological son, the people making the decision didn't care.
Neither did they care about Noritoshi's feelings.
And Noritsuna?
He was merely the useless child whose existence had become inconvenient.
None of the three had any real power to oppose the arrangement.
Hayami was only a concubine from a low-ranking background.
Noritoshi was still a child.
And Noritsuna, despite being the clan head's biological son, had already lost the only thing that could have protected his position.
In the eyes of the Kamo Clan, the matter had already been settled.
In the end, everything proceeded exactly as the official wife had planned.
Hayami accepted what the clan called the wise choice.
For the sake of Noritoshi's future, she agreed to leave the Kamo Clan permanently.
She even persuaded her own son to accept the arrangement, despite how desperately he wanted her to stay.
And with that, Noritoshi Kamo became the legitimate heir, while the woman who had given birth to him was forced out of his life.