Chapter 24: Twice Near Death (Patreon)

Chapter 24: Twice Brushed with Death

...

Satoru Anjouin could understand why Class A's students were so excited.

After all, they were still just fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kids — of course they'd be thrilled by supernatural power.

Kitou, a tall classmate with a rather fierce-looking face, was over in the corner secretly pressing down on his own left hand.

Anjouin could faintly hear him muttering, "Settle down, my left hand."

In the end, to satisfy his classmates' curiosity, Anjouin used lunch break to teach them how to refine cursed energy from negative emotions.

After all, if they wanted him to talk about the jujutsu world itself, well — right now he knew nothing about the outside world either.

Watching everyone in the classroom stand up straight, chests out, stomachs in, hips tucked, all trying to refine cursed energy from negative emotions, Anjouin stifled a laugh and sat down beside Arisu Sakayanagi.

With Masumi Kamuro off in the food-fetching group, the silver-haired girl looked a little lonely just then.

Still, she watched the class's antics with an amused, curious smile.

"I'm a Heavenly Restriction~"

Arisu Sakayanagi said it to Anjouin as though showing off something.

"So I actually guessed right." Anjouin felt a bit surprised, though not entirely.

"But Heavenly Restriction isn't a normal restriction — you can't choose the cost or the effect yourself. In your case, the cost gets fixed first, and the effect you gain won't necessarily match whatever technique you end up awakening."

But to Arisu Sakayanagi's ears, it sounded like praise for her talent.

It even sounded like he was certain she'd awaken a technique.

The smile on her face refused to fade — if anything, it grew brighter.

She'd heard countless flattering words since childhood, and had once suspected she wasn't really a genius at all — that the title of "genius" was just something people around her used to curry favor with her father.

Especially after learning about the jujutsu world from her father, that old doubt she'd thought had vanished resurfaced once more.

"Want to make a bet? On who awakens their technique first?"

She'd already learned from last night's class group chat that all three of Class A's representatives had awakened cursed energy.

Even though Katsuragi wanted to keep a level head, once he'd awakened his cursed energy, the boyish pride in him got the better of him, and he'd shown off a little.

"What's the wager?"

Anjouin asked, curious.

"Whoever loses has to agree to one unconditional request from the winner."

Arisu Sakayanagi flashed an innocent, carefree smile.

"Isn't that stake a little too big?"

"Oh? Were you hoping to make me do something naughty?" Arisu Sakayanagi laughed until her eyes narrowed to slits.

Her voice carried a hint of allure, almost teasing — as if she were doing it on purpose.

It left Anjouin's ears tingling.

Arisu Sakayanagi's frame was unusually petite, delicate as a fine porcelain doll — the kind of girl who looked like she might shatter if handled too roughly.

"I am your fiancé, you know — I'm just worried about you~"

Anjouin wasn't the type to take teasing without hitting back.

He lowered his voice so only Arisu Sakayanagi could hear.

In an instant, an unnatural flush spread across her cheeks, and her heart pounded harder than usual.

Seeing her face suddenly go pale, Anjouin broke into a cold sweat and kept patting her back gently.

"Should I take you to the infirmary?"

"N-no need."

Arisu Sakayanagi caught her breath a couple of times and shot Anjouin an annoyed glare.

"Anjouin-kun, some things shouldn't be said so carelessly..."

Sakayanagi, who'd nearly been floored by his one line about being her fiancé, cut herself off mid-sentence.

She stared blankly at the boy in front of her — one who'd make a fine live-in husband — and thought back to the trace of worry on her father's face when he'd told her the jujutsu world existed.

"So, Anjouin-kun, you met my father last night?"

"Yeah."

Anjouin wasn't surprised she'd say that.

"Mm..." Arisu Sakayanagi could understand it too, honestly.

"Your father respects your own choice more than anything — I'm just a backup candidate. Though I'll admit that joke just now went a bit too far."

Anjouin hadn't meant to rile up this little cutie too much, especially since her retaliatory power rivaled a T. rex's.

"No — from the standpoint of lineage, combining excellent genes is the correct choice. Turning the Sakayanagi family into a jujutsu sorcerer family would let it survive far better in the age to come."

The intro lecture in their first specialized class had already roughly explained how techniques were passed down through bloodlines.

Arisu Sakayanagi could more or less guess just how corrupt and fragile the jujutsu world really was.

"But I'm not thinking about that right now."

Though Arisu Sakayanagi could accept that her future might be a political marriage, she was still a young girl at heart, and had dreamed of a sweet, beautiful romance.

Having steadied her breathing, she shook her head, unconsciously pressing her lips together.

"Satoru Anjouin..."

Just then, Kohei Katsuragi's voice came from beside them, his face etched with deep confusion.

"What's wrong, Katsuragi?"

"I have alopecia." Kohei Katsuragi said it with complete composure.

"And?"

Anjouin didn't think anything of it — he just didn't understand why Katsuragi was bringing it up.

"And... it seems this also counts as a Heavenly Restriction."

It seemed that at this school, when awakening cursed energy, people born with certain physical defects were prone to being judged as having a Heavenly Restriction.

"That's good news. A physical defect gets traded for talent in cursed technique. As long as the technique itself isn't too bad, your future looks promising."

......

But Kohei Katsuragi fell silent.

His expression was a tangle of conflict and helplessness, his mouth opening and closing several times.

"What is it?"

Anjouin could tell he was struggling with something.

That was exactly why he wanted to seek help from an "insider" like Anjouin.

"Is there something you need help with, or a question I can answer?"

"Right. The technique I awakened lets me control hair and harden it."

???

Anjouin felt his brain briefly short-circuit.

In fact, the rest of Class A had gone quiet too.

To keep them occupied, Anjouin had taught them to gather cursed energy, then gone over to sit beside Arisu Sakayanagi — after which no one had wanted to interrupt.

Especially since Arisu Sakayanagi wasn't in great health, and Masumi Kamuro, who usually looked after her, had gone off with the food-fetching group.

But when Kohei Katsuragi walked over, playing third wheel about as subtly as an extra-bright lightbulb, it was hard for the others not to grow curious and take notice.

And as they listened in, something started to sound off.

Suddenly, Class A burst into laughter.

"Ha-ha-cough, ha, cough cough..."

Arisu Sakayanagi's face turned bright red instantly, her expression twisted in utter agony.

"Katsuragi, I'll talk to you later."

Seeing her like that, Anjouin stopped caring about anything else and swept her up in a princess carry.

"Little Blue, if Sakayanagi and I don't make it back in time, tell the teacher we're both out sick."

With that, he reinforced his body with cursed energy and bolted straight out of the classroom.

Kohei Katsuragi looked troubled. Plenty of students were still laughing, but it didn't last long — most of them grew worried about Arisu Sakayanagi's condition.

Still, whenever they thought of Katsuragi's technique, a smirk kept tugging at their faces despite themselves.

Once at the school infirmary, the doctor gave Arisu Sakayanagi some medicine, and she calmed down quickly.

Anjouin did know a smidgen of a technique for using cursed energy to soothe someone, but it was nowhere near as effective as the positive energy produced by cursed energy squared.

Arisu Sakayanagi's heart condition was congenital — perhaps only the positive energy from a Reverse Cursed Technique could truly ease her state.

After a while, Arisu Sakayanagi came to.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"...I never thought I'd brush death twice in one day."

Even she found it a bit absurd, caught somewhere between laughing and crying.

Whether it was being startled by the fiancé remark or nearly dying of laughter over Katsuragi's technique, both had left her feeling like she'd been teetering on the edge of life and death.

"Yeah, nearly died laughing."

Anjouin, honestly, felt a lingering chill of fright himself.

At first, Arisu Sakayanagi had felt a bit put out — that someone as ordinary as Katsuragi shared her Heavenly Restriction.

But the moment she thought of his technique, the corner of her mouth curled up again on its own.

"You really should try to keep your emotions steady."

Anjouin rubbed his temples. "I've already notified the Chairman."

"Mm, thanks."

Arisu Sakayanagi closed her eyes and lay obediently on the bed.

He stayed by her side for a while, and soon heard a commotion outside.

A middle-aged man came hurrying in. Though he still carried himself with some composure, the sweat on his forehead and his slightly ragged breathing gave away just how anxious his rush had been.

"Chairman."

"Satoru-kun, I'm sorry Arisu has caused you trouble."

"No, we were the ones fooling around too much."

"What happened?" Arisu Sakayanagi's chairman father knew only that his precious daughter had ended up in the infirmary.

Anjouin thought it over, then glanced at Arisu Sakayanagi, who obligingly covered her ears.

So Anjouin told Sakayanagi what had happened between them.

The man nearly choked on his own laughter.

It really was something nobody could have seen coming.

"...I see, so that's what happened."

Sakayanagi was still holding back his laughter. "Well, we can't really blame Katsuragi for this. I imagine he's quite troubled by it too."

Anjouin shook his head. "It was also my carelessness that led to this."

He took the blame onto himself first, then added, "Chairman, could you tell me the rules for awakening a cursed technique?"

After all, Kohei Katsuragi's situation was more than a little absurd.

Even now, he couldn't quite hold back a laugh.

No wonder Katsuragi had looked so confused. He must have awakened his technique during class — otherwise he'd have come asking for help the night before.

And Kohei Katsuragi's personality could be seen clearly enough from the original story.

Having had alopecia since childhood, he'd been hairless his whole life, and in this island nation's social climate, that had made him an easy target for mockery and discrimination. Yet from elementary school through middle school he'd kept top grades, and had always been a member of the student council.

His parents had died when he was young, his grandparents were also gone, and he'd been living on his own with his frail, sickly twin sister.

Steady, upright, straightforward — the serious type.

He'd probably never imagined his own situation would turn out to be this ridiculous.

Honestly, that kind of thing feels completely different when it happens to you versus when it happens to someone else.

In response to Anjouin's question, Sakayanagi shook his head.

"I'm not entirely sure myself, but faculty members can sign a labor contract of ten years or more with the 'school' in exchange for a chance to become jujutsu sorcerers."

"And for Advanced Nurturing students who are already jujutsu sorcerers, their technique gets further strengthened on top of what they already have."

"Only a very small chance exists of awakening a second technique."