The only sound echoing through the Jujutsu High hallway was the steady rhythm of hard-soled footsteps. Kazuki, having just stepped out of the Assistant Supervisor's office, watched Maki's back as she walked ahead. There was no hesitation in her stride. No sign she might glance back, no indication she would slow her pace. —Three days. Three days had passed since that night, when Iris kissed Kazuki right in front of Maki. For those three days, Maki hadn't even met Kazuki's eyes. Every conversation necessary for missions had been reduced to single words. "[gentle]Maki-san, about today's duty shift—" At the sound of his voice, Maki stopped walking. But she didn't turn around. "[cold]I know." That was all she said before she started walking again. Kazuki let out a small sigh. (*She's seriously pissed.*) But it wasn't as if he didn't understand why. In fact, it was precisely because he understood that he had no idea how to approach her. In silence, the two of them headed toward the entrance. As they passed the Assistant Supervisor's office, Toa stood there with an armful of documents. The silver-haired senpai looked from one to the other with his cold, ice-blue eyes. "Late-night surveillance duty in Okutama. 2100 to 0600. Monitor cursed spirit activity from the satellite surveillance post and respond if necessary." His voice was as flat as ever, completely ignoring the hostile atmosphere between the two of them. Maki gave a silent nod and headed straight for the exit. "[gentle]Maki-san, about transportation—" The moment he spoke, Kazuki failed to notice the door swinging open and slammed his forehead straight into it. *THUNK!!* The loud, dramatic sound echoed through the hallway. "Gah—!" Kazuki crouched down, clutching his forehead. At the sight, Maki glanced back for just a moment. The corner of her mouth twitched—for a mere 0.2 seconds. She caught herself almost laughing and immediately returned to a blank expression. But Kazuki didn't miss that split second. (*She almost smiled just now, didn't she?*) Maki started walking briskly, as if nothing had happened. "[angry]Hurry up." "Ah, r-right." Rubbing his throbbing forehead, Kazuki hurried after her. The mountains of Okutama, in western Tokyo. A satellite surveillance post situated at an altitude of 800 meters. The two of them climbed the mountain path in silence, the veil of night fully descended. Cedars and cypresses grew thick and dense around them, branches creaking with every gust of wind. There were no streetlights, of course. The only thing they could rely on was the beam of their headlamps. Unable to bear the heavy silence any longer, Kazuki opened his mouth to say something. "[gentle]Looks like there'll be a lot of bugs out tonight." Maki's feet stopped dead. "[sigh]...That's what you're worried about?" Her voice sounded drained. But the sharp edge from earlier had softened just a little. His goofy remark—an attempt to ease the tension—had disarmed her irritation. "No, I mean, bug bites are no joke, right?" "[cold]You're the joke." With that, Maki started walking again. But it felt like her pace had become just a fraction slower than before. By the time they reached the single-story wooden surveillance post, midnight was almost upon them. The inside of the building was chilly, the lamps on the monitoring equipment blinking green and red. No staff were stationed there permanently. Today was a special duty shift—a night for just the two of them. Kazuki was about to sit down in front of the monitoring device when— *Beep-beep-beep-beep!* An alarm sounded. The screen displayed a location 300 meters east of the post. A cursed energy reaction. Grade Three. "Already?" "I'll go." Maki immediately grabbed her spear. A full 180 centimeters in length, it was a cursed tool passed down through the Zenin family. It was also her sole keepsake. "I'll come t—" "You stay here and keep watch." Before she'd even finished speaking, Maki had already dashed out into the darkness of the night. After a while, the sound of a cursed spirit being obliterated in its death throes reached him from outside. The slash of a spear. Footsteps kicking off the ground. Then, silence. When Maki returned, a single trail of sweat ran down her cheek. "Done." But with no time to rest, the alarm blared again. This time, to the west. Without a word, Maki rushed out once more. When the alarm sounded for the third time, Kazuki realized. (*This is wrong. This isn't a natural spawning pattern.*) The surveillance logs recorded faint traces of a curse. Someone was deliberately luring cursed spirits toward this post. —Iris. A chill ran down his spine. Outside, Maki had just finished off the third cursed spirit and was on the verge of dropping to one knee. The consecutive battles had worn her down. She thrust her spear into the ground, barely managing to support herself. "Maki-san!" Kazuki ran over to her and instinctively reached out a hand to support her shoulder. "[angry]Don't touch me!" Maki forcefully smacked his hand away. But Kazuki noticed that the hand she'd used to strike him was trembling faintly. "[serious]...I'm fine." Watching her profile as she put on a brave front, Kazuki felt a sense of déjà vu. (*She's not fine at all, but she's acting tough.*) It was exactly like how he himself had once been. She overlapped with the image of his past self—the one who never showed weakness to anyone and kept pushing himself to the brink. "[gentle]How about we take a break for now?" "Not necessary." "It's necessary for me. I'm hungry." Kazuki deliberately said it in a lighthearted tone. Maki glared at him in silence for a moment, then eventually let out a small sigh. "...Do what you want." Outside the post, Kazuki got a small campfire going. The crackling sound of firewood popping. The flickering flames cast a hazy glow on both their faces. Countless stars twinkled in the sky above. Being deep in the mountains with no light pollution, even the Milky Way was clearly visible. At first, Maki stayed holed up inside the building, but eventually she came out slowly. Her hands were still trembling, so she must have decided she needed the warmth of the fire. She sat down next to Kazuki, keeping some distance between them. A long silence stretched on. Only the sound of the crackling firewood echoed through the quiet night. "[gentle]...You know, I..." Kazuki spoke quietly, his gaze fixed on the campfire. "During the Great Cursed Spirit Outbreak, my entire family died." Maki slowly lifted her head. "A major disaster that happened about thirty years ago, centered on Tokyo and spanning the entire Kanto region. My family, the Todo family, was wiped out then too. My grandfather, who was the head of the family, my parents—everyone died. The only survivor was me, still just a baby." The flames flickered in his brown eyes. "[sad]I still think about it all the time—why was I the only one who survived? That's why I wanted a job where I could protect people. But I'm completely useless at combat-oriented jujutsu. So I became an Assistant Supervisor." Maki said nothing. The firelight simply illuminated her amber eyes. "[gentle]...I heard that you were also someone cast aside by your family, Zenin-san." Maki's shoulders trembled slightly. "Why are you suddenly bringing that—" "I'm basically the same, right? Being left all alone... I thought we were similar." "[angry]I wasn't cast aside!" Maki started to retort in a strong tone, then stopped herself. Her throat moved as if it had tightened painfully. Silence. The firewood popped with a crack. How much time had passed? Still staring into the campfire, Maki began to speak in halting murmurs. "[sad]...In the Zenin family, it's decided from the start that women are useless because their cursed energy is weak." Kazuki listened in silence. "I was the daughter of a branch family. Even so, I thought if I worked hard enough, I'd be recognized. But three years ago, during the assessment, I was branded as having cursed energy below the standard." Maki's fingers clenched tightly around her own knees. "I was driven out the gate, right in front of my family. They told me I was no longer a Zenin, that I couldn't even leave behind the necessary bloodline, that I was just in the way." Her voice trembled. Her face was downcast, so he couldn't see it. But in the light of the campfire, he caught a glint at the corner of her eye. "[sad]No one defended me. Even though they were family. Even though we grew up together." "I've never told anyone this story before." She lifted her face. She wasn't crying. But her expression looked as if it might crumble at any moment. "[whispers]...But for some reason, when I'm with you, the tension just... leaves my shoulders." Her voice quivered slightly. Kazuki said nothing. He simply shifted a little closer and sat back down beside her. Maki noticed. But she didn't say anything. Eventually, in front of the campfire, their fingers gently touched. Maki didn't shake him off. Slowly, Kazuki took her hand. Clenched tightly, her hand was cold and trembling faintly. "[gentle]Maki-san." At the sound of Kazuki's voice, Maki looked up. Her amber eyes wavered with unease. The distance between them slowly closed. Maki's breathing grew shallow. Kazuki's face drew near, until only a few centimeters remained. Maki's eyes began to flutter shut. At that moment— *BOOOOOOM!!!* From the distant darkness, an ominous wave of cursed energy erupted. The air vibrated intensely, making the campfire flicker wildly in an instant. Immediately after, the post's barrier alarms all went off at once. *BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!* The shrill alarms tore through the quiet night. "[surprised]What—!" Maki shot to her feet and readied her spear. The monitoring device's screen showed countless cursed energy reactions. Not just Grade Threes. Among them were cursed spirits disguised as Grade Twos. They were closing in on the post from all directions. (*Was this Iris?!*) Kazuki gritted his back teeth. That woman, jealous of their closeness, had used cursed energy beyond her limits to forcibly herd the cursed spirits here. "I'll intercept them." Maki was already about to dash off. "Wait!" Kazuki grabbed her arm. "With these numbers, it's impossible in your exhausted state. If you get surrounded out there alone, Maki-san, it's over." "Then what do we do?!" "I'll draw the swarm on the east side toward me with a barrier. I'll act as a decoy." The color drained from Maki's face. "[angry]Are you stupid?! If you do that in your worn-out condition, you'll die!" Kazuki let out a soft laugh. It was his usual, easygoing smile. "[gentle]I won't die. Probably." "That 'probably' is exactly what I'm talking about!" Before Maki could even finish shouting, Kazuki had already started running. He hurled the scroll on his wrist into the air and readied his cursed talismans. Gathering every ounce of cursed energy in his body, he chanted the incantation. "Barrier deployment—maximum intensity!!" A wall of light rose from the ground on the east side. Five meters high, ten meters wide. It was a barrier that exceeded the limits of what Kazuki could maintain. Over a dozen Grade Two cursed spirits swarmed toward the wall of light. *CRACK-CRACK!!* The impact pierced through the barrier, and a sharp pain shot through Kazuki's shoulder. The cursed spirits' attacks had torn through the barrier and into his flesh. Blood splattered onto the ground. Even so, Kazuki continued to maintain the barrier. "Gaaaaaahhh!!" He clenched his teeth. His vision turned red. His knees trembled. But he absolutely refused to let it break. In that opening, Maki swept through the remaining swarm. Her spear howled as it carved arcs through the air. One after another, the cursed spirits dissolved into black mis