This year passed in peace, without any major incident like Geto Suguru's assault.
The fitting session for six Servants trying on Calvin Klein underwear.
The Christmas event, and a whole string of extrovert-tier social events after that.
Because of all that, Zenin Maki and Zenin Mai had a rough time.
The way they looked at me had gotten strange too.
For months, they wandered around the house with flushed cheeks.
The Servants saw that and flaunted themselves even more.
I had my hands full trying to stop them, but still, it was peaceful.
"Happy New Year."
And then the new year came.
Today, we welcomed it while enjoying the sight of everyone dressed in kimono.
We skipped the shrine visit most people made.
It would have been far too crowded.
"Huh? Master? There's literally a god right here. Couldn't you just greet big sis instead?"
"Oh?"
Ibuki-douji was a Japanese deity.
She had more than enough standing to receive worship.
So, since the subject had come up, we held a sham shrine visit with Ibuki-douji as the enshrined deity.
It was ridiculous, but in its own way, solemn too.
'Time to go.'
The New Year of 2018.
I could not put off this important meeting any longer, so I boarded a plane.
Thanks to the search net steadily expanding, they no longer even approached central Tokyo.
With the cooperation of the Jujutsu Sorcerers as well, it was the perfect time to move.
Even so, just in case, I had Muta Kokichi keep Mahito tied down.
The pretext was the delivery of information.
The Servants accompanying me were Koyanskaya of Light, the Assassin.
And Koyanskaya of Darkness, the Foreigner.
'We're here.'
A combination that felt like going back to basics after so long.
With my two rabbit secretaries in tow, I arrived at Sendai Airport.
I had already confirmed the target address through the Jujutsu Sorcerer network.
All that remained was to go there.
I had planned to use public transportation because taxis were expensive, but an Assistant Director helped us instead.
Jujutsu Sorcerers traveled all over the country, so Assistant Directors were scattered everywhere too.
"We've arrived at the address. Is this the right place?"
The Assistant Director behind the wheel stopped in front of a hospital.
He was a reasonably well-built young man.
I remained in the passenger seat and looked out the window.
We had come to the exact right place.
"Yes. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but could you wait a little while? I need to speak with someone here."
"That's fine. I'll park somewhere nearby and wait."
"Thank you."
"Not at all. It's an honor to be able to escort someone important."
The man smiled as he laid on a suitable amount of flattery.
Maybe it was because he knew I had wiped out the upper ranks, but he was extremely polite.
Polite, yet still keeping his distance.
Or perhaps he was afraid of me.
Still, I did not mind.
Better that than being underestimated.
"Let's get out."
"Yes, Master."
"So this is the place."
I got out with the Assassin and the Foreigner from the back seat.
We took the gift set from the trunk and entered the hospital.
People were already waiting around.
The nurses at the counter and the reception staff all turned to look at us.
"Excuse me. I'm here to visit Mr. Itadori Wasuke. Could you tell me what room he's in?"
"Pardon? Ah! Please wait just a moment."
The woman at reception had been standing there blankly, then hurriedly came back to herself.
Seeing how flustered she was almost made me feel bad for her.
Still, she moved quickly enough to confirm Wasuke's room.
I headed there at once.
Itadori Wasuke was Itadori Yuji's grandfather.
The grandfather of the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen.
People mocked the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen for not feeling much like a protagonist, but...
I did not think that was Itadori's fault.
Anyway.
There had been some strange foreshadowing around Itadori Wasuke, but in the end, nothing was ever revealed.
He was the man who left important words behind for Itadori.
That was the entirety of the role the story gave him.
"Excuse me."
I knocked politely and stepped inside.
Fortunately, I saw the face of an old man I recognized all too well.
A four-person hospital room.
As I walked toward the corner by the window, the old man lying there pushed himself upright.
He was the only patient in the room.
"Who are you?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kadoc. You are Mr. Itadori Wasuke, correct?"
"I am, but...?"
Old man Wasuke asked with a furrowed brow.
His face plainly said he found me suspicious as hell.
'Whoa. So it really was true?'
I met Wasuke's eyes and held out the gift set.
Seeing him in person, he definitely looked like the kind of man who had something hidden beneath the surface.
The Cursed Energy flowing through his body. The atmosphere around him.
He clearly possessed a Cursed Technique.
I had no way of knowing what that technique was, but...
It did not seem necessary to find out.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kadoc."
For the first time in a very long while, I introduced myself first.
As politely as I could.
"That's not a name I've heard before. Foreigner?"
"Yes. I was born in Russia, but I grew up an orphan."
I set the gift box beside the bed and met his gaze.
Even with so little time left in his life, his eyes were fierce.
"An orphan, huh. Suspicious little bastard. Same goes for the women you brought with you."
"A little suspicious, sure. But they're beautiful, so please be generous. They're nice to look at, aren't they?"
"The way you speak is fairly well-mannered... and yet you're strange."
Wasuke blinked at me.
He looked genuinely intrigued.
Just as I had recognized him, perhaps he had recognized me too.
For some reason, that thought crossed my mind.
"Because I don't have any Cursed Energy?"
Just as I thought. The moment I brought up Cursed Energy, Wasuke's eyes widened.
Had I startled a dying man too much?
"The fact that you say that... then you're one of those people after all."
"I'm not a Jujutsu Sorcerer, but yes. I have close ties to that world. I've received a great deal of help from it too."
"So you're not a curse user."
Wasuke nodded calmly.
As expected, he really was someone connected to the world of jujutsu.
"And you aren't a Jujutsu Sorcerer either, Mr. Wasuke."
I called him Wasuke rather than Itadori.
If I kept calling him Itadori, I would only keep thinking of the protagonist.
"So what, you've come to arrest me now?"
"No. Your name isn't known in the jujutsu world. Which means you aren't a harmful curse user."
If someone was not a Jujutsu Sorcerer, then they were a curse user.
I had not changed my mind on that point, but not every curse user was evil.
Late in Jujutsu Kaisen, after all.
Miguel and Larue eventually joined the raid against Sukuna. They were proof enough of that.
"You brought a gift, and you've got manners. So you didn't come here as an enemy. Then again, even if you had, there wouldn't have been anything I could do about it."
Wasuke sighed as he looked at the two Servants.
He wore the face of someone who had measured the gap in power and felt despair.
"Anyway. What did you come here for?"
"Itadori Yuji. I've come to ask your permission regarding your grandson."
"Yuji?"
For an instant, Wasuke's eyes went wide.
He must never have imagined I would bring up his grandson.
"Yes. The truth is, a few years ago, I caught a man with stitches across his forehead. His name was Kenjaku."
"Stitches...? Don't tell me...!"
"Yes. I investigated his trail and learned that your daughter-in-law was one of his victims too."
Itadori Kaori.
The moment I brought up her story, his expression grew even more shocked.
He was not going to die on the spot from this, was he? For a second I wondered if I had said too much, but thankfully he still looked perfectly fine.
"I see. So that was it. Without meaning to, you've avenged my daughter-in-law... and my son as well."
After a brief silence.
Wasuke let out a sigh and closed his eyes.
He looked as though he were turning over old regrets.
Or perhaps as though he had finally cast off a bitter remorse and felt lighter for it.
"Thank you."
"I'd like to say it was nothing... but it was something worth doing."
"Even though you killed someone?"
"That wasn't a person. It was a monster. No different from a Cursed Spirit. No, worse than a Cursed Spirit. It was something even more harmful."
"Something harmful, huh. To that extent?"
"If it hadn't been, there would have been many casualties, and there was a very real chance Tokyo would have been annihilated."
I let out a sigh as I recalled the Culling Game storyline.
If I had seen that become reality, it would have been hell.
Perhaps Wasuke understood what I meant, because he nodded.
I could only be grateful for the sympathy.
"I did think something felt wrong, but I had no certainty. I only felt evil from it."
"You saw it exactly right."
"If everything you've said is true, then it was far beyond merely evil."
Wasuke fell silent for a moment.
After taking a few breaths, he opened his mouth again.
"But if this is about Yuji...?"
"Itadori Yuji is a child born from Kenjaku. He must have deep ties to jujutsu."
"That would make sense. That boy's strength was beyond the level of an ordinary person. No, beyond the level of a human."
A physical [Heavenly Restriction] capable of using jujutsu.
That one sentence summed up Itadori Yuji's nature.
Strength, agility, toughness of body.
Every quality needed for close-quarters combat had been gifted to him at a monstrous level.
As befitted Sukuna's vessel.
"Yes. That's why I want to bring him into the jujutsu world. Even if we leave him alone, I think fate will sweep him away eventually."
"And you came to ask my permission?"
"You're his guardian, Mr. Wasuke. Itadori is still a minor."
"If that's the case, it would sound more reassuring if you said you'd protect him safely."
"In my opinion, isn't he already a child who can stand on his own? He may need support, but not the kind of protection given to the helpless."
"That's true enough."
Wasuke sighed and smiled.
He seemed much, much more at ease now.
"Good. Then when I die, can I entrust that boy to you?"
"Of course. That's exactly why I came all the way here."
"I've only just met you, but I get the feeling I can trust you. The women standing behind you make me a little uneasy, though. It'll be all right?"
"Embarrassing as it is to say, we're in love. So please don't worry."
When I looked back, the Assassin and the Foreigner both had red cheeks.
They were smiling as if they could not have been happier.
"Hah. You're a more absurd fellow than I expected."
Wasuke let out a dumbfounded sigh.
Well, I had just openly declared that I was involved with several women.
'Fair enough.'
It was such a normal reaction that I accepted it immediately.
This was how it should be.
"If you're worried, would you like to cancel it even now?"
"An absurd man tells absurd jokes too, I see. No need."
Wasuke closed his eyes for a moment and composed himself.
He settled his expression, then opened them again.
"Kadoc, was it? Take good care of our Yuji."
"There may be dangerous things ahead, but I'll teach him well. Is there any way you'd like him to grow up?"
"The direction of his life, hm. Yes, I've thought about that."
Wasuke smiled, one corner of his mouth lifting.
It was a sharp smile, but a refreshing one.
"That boy is strong, so I'd like him to help people. And when he dies, I'd like him to be surrounded by many people."
Before he drew his final breath.
Those last words Wasuke left for Itadori came spilling out.
Hearing that will with my own ears made its weight hit twice as hard.
The ache it left behind felt twice as deep too.
"Understood. I'll do everything I can."
"Thank you."
Wasuke nodded and held out his hand.
He was asking for a handshake.
I took his hand politely, with both of mine.
I planned to leave Itadori in the care of Jujutsu High, but it still felt as though I had been entrusted with something immensely important.
'At the very least, I'll have to act as his guardian.'
He could earn money through the school.
I would just need to help manage his property and his house properly.
Share a meal with him now and then too.
If we spent time together like that, it should work out somehow.
"I'll leave the gift here. Itadori can use it, or you can, Mr. Wasuke. It's a high-end bath set."
"I'll make good use of it."
"Yes. I'll leave my contact information too, so please feel free to reach out anytime."
I handed Wasuke the note with my number already written on it.
I was also thinking of informing the hospital staff, just in case he forgot.
If I left my name on the paperwork, the hospital would be able to notify me.
Itadori would probably contact me too.
"I've got it."
"Then I'll take my leave. Please take care of yourself."
After exchanging final farewells, I turned my back.
It was time to part now.