The dim glow of Yuji's office cast a faint warmth against the cold atmosphere of the academy. The bitter scent of untouched tea lingered in the air, mingling with the musty aroma of old books and unfinished reports.
Maki leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, watching as Yuji's expression shifted while they discussed the academy's new system—how the jujutsu world was now ruled by people who weren't even fit to live, let alone lead.
"I can't wrap my head around this." Yuji exhaled, fingers tapping an erratic rhythm against the wooden desk. "They don't care at all. To them, our students are just numbers, Maki. Just—"
BANG!
The office door shattered.
Not just forced open—blown apart like something had rammed into it with overwhelming force.
Yuji and Maki instantly rose to their feet, bracing for whatever stood beyond the wreckage—
But what they saw was Himari. Blood. So much blood. That was the first thing Yuji's brain registered.
Himari's usually pristine and elegant training gown was now in tatters, shredded in multiple places, revealing wounds so deep that her bones were nearly visible. Her golden hair was disheveled, her face marred with crimson gashes that had begun to dry—
But her eyes—Her eyes were filled with terror.
"Himari?!"
Yuji barely recognized his own voice as he stepped forward. Maki, however, remained still, studying the girl with a calculating stare.
Himari staggered, hands grasping at the air as if searching for something to hold onto—before collapsing onto her knees in front of them.
Her breathing was erratic. Like someone who had just run from hell. "S-Sensei…" her voice rasped, barely above a whisper.
Yuji immediately crouched, gripping her shoulders. "Himari! What happened?!" Himari lifted her head, and what came from her lips was not just an answer—
But a plea. "Please… Megumi-sensei…" Yuji froze. The pounding of his pulse grew louder in his ears.
Maki, who had remained silent, finally moved, lowering herself to eye level with Himari, studying her face with sharp intensity.
"What do you mean?" Maki's voice was cold, precise. "What happened to Megumi?" Himari clutched Yuji's sleeve, her fingers trembling.
"He—he's out of control!" Her voice wavered, not from weakness, but from fear so immense she could barely speak. "He—he's not himself anymore! Tetsuya—Tetsuya is missing too! I don't know what happened, I don't know if it's a curse or something else, but he needs you!"
A chill crawled up Yuji's spine. This was one of those moments. The kind that couldn't be ignored. Not just because he was their teacher.
But because this was Megumi. The person he had considered a brother since the day they met. The person who had walked through hell with him.
The person who had always tried to save him—And now, Yuji had to save him.
Without hesitation, Yuji rose to his feet, effortlessly lifting Himari into his arms despite her injuries.
"I'm going." Maki's gaze sharpened. "Don't be reckless, Yuji."
"This is Megumi, Maki." Yuji turned to her, his expression unlike anything she had seen before. Not the reckless, impulsive Yuji—
But a Yuji who had already made up his mind. A Yuji who would not be stopped.
The air at Jujutsu Academy felt colder than usual. The evening sky was painted in hues of gray and purple, a sign that dusk was beginning to fade.
Yuji moved swiftly, unwavering in his determination, still carrying Himari in his arms. The girl was barely holding on, her breaths short and ragged—like someone who had just escaped death's grasp.
But something felt off. Not her wounds. Not her fear-stricken expression. But his own instincts.
A creeping unease settled deep in his bones, a whisper at the back of his mind telling him that something wasn't right.
And he was right.
Just as they reached the open courtyard, moments before passing through the academy's main gate, Himari's body suddenly stiffened in his arms.
Then, in a voice far too rough for a body that small, she spoke:
"Put me down."
Yuji froze.
It wasn't a request. It was a command.
His hands, which had been holding Himari with the careful grip of a mentor, now felt like they were carrying something inhuman.
And before his mind could fully process it, Himari—the girl who had been dying in his arms—looked up at him.
With a smile that was wrong.
"Now."
Still trying to grasp the situation, Yuji slowly set her down. And in the next instant—
BOOM!
Yuji was launched. Not just thrown—blasted away. As if his body had been fired from a cannon.
The air around him erupted into a vortex of crushing pressure as an unseen force struck him with terrifying brutality.
In an instant, the world became chaos.
The academy's sturdy buildings cracked, the ground beneath them shattered like fragile glass, and the deafening sound of impact filled the air as Yuji was sent flying—kilometers away in mere seconds.
Then, impact.
Yuji crashed through two academy buildings, his body tearing through stone and steel before being flung past the main gates. Trees in the surrounding forest snapped like twigs as he tore through them—
And then—The city.
His body slammed into the asphalt with the force of a meteor, sending a cloud of dust and debris billowing into the streets. The sheer shockwave from the impact overturned nearby cars, shattered traffic lights, and sent glass raining down from windows in a massive radius.
For a few seconds, the city fell silent. Then—
A man, who had just stepped out of a convenience store, stared at the fresh crater in the road and muttered under his breath—
"Again?" One word was all it took for the others to realize. They couldn't see curses. They couldn't sense cursed energy.
But after the battle with the King of Curses, they had learned. They knew. They knew when something inhuman was fighting.
And now—seeing the shadowed figure rising from the settling dust and collapsing rubble—they knew.
A battle had just begun.
Yuji pulled himself from the wreckage, dust coating his shoulders, a thin stream of blood trailing down his temple.
His eyes burned—with anger and confusion. His heart still pounded from the sheer speed and power of the attack. Not just because it had come from Himari—his own student.
But because—He hadn't been able to stop it. Himari had struck so fast, so hard, so perfectly.
Yuji took a deep breath, letting the frigid air fill his lungs. Then, he lifted his gaze, staring back toward the academy.
One question echoed in his mind. "Why?"