At 10 PM.
Jujutsu Headquarters.
"Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit, Orimoto Rikka, has fully manifested for 422 seconds."
"We entrusted Okkutsu Yuta to Gojo Satoru to prevent it, instead, he passed his responsibility onto you, Kamiki Eiji."
"You let Orimoto Rikka go out of control without attempting to stop her."
"What's your defense, Kamiki Eiji!"
Surrounded by the higher-ups, Eiji maintained his expression despite being blamed by them.
"There's something wrong with that statement. Orimoto Rikka wasn't completely out of control, besides the school facility damage, there were no civilian casualties."
"Nonsense! If Orimoto Rikka went out of control, she could've destroyed the entire city!"
The higher-ups didn't accept Eiji's explanation and continued to insist on blaming him.
"If that happens, I will stop her. I believe the reason Gojo-sensei entrusted the supervision of Okkutsu Yuta to me is because he believes I can stop Orimoto Rikka."
"Don't you guys wonder why a little girl not from the Jujutsu Sorcerer lineage could become such a powerful Cursed Spirit? Not only do you guys not want to investigate the cause of this, but you guys also want to execute or isolate Okkutsu Yuta to prevent the emergence of Orimoto Rikka."
"You're all too cowardly. Anyway, just leave it for now."
After voicing his true thoughts, Eiji didn't want to stay here any longer. He feared the contagious nature of the higher-ups' cowardice and blame would infect him.
"Tell Gojo Satoru, the secret execution of Okkutsu Yuta is only postponed."
One of the higher-ups' voices echoed clearly in the cramped room.
"If that happens, then you'll be facing Gojo Satoru and Kamiki Eiji. That's if you have the courage."
"Don't forget that."
Eiji turned, revealing his old blue eyes behind his glasses, his voice carrying a strong sense of intimidation.
After that, he left the room and walked through the forest.
"No wonder Nii-san is always inconsistent with them, I don't like them either."
Gazing at the bright moon in the sky, Eiji somewhat regretted agreeing to his cousin's request.
Normally, as the one responsible, Satoru would be called by the higher-ups. But instead, he made Eiji the scapegoat.
"I won't agree next time."
Thinking of his cousin sleeping while he had to endure the higher-ups' scolding, Eiji hurried back to the dormitory.
...
The next day.
In the school corridor, Eiji stood in front of the vending machine, pondering which drink to choose.
Today's training partners were switched, Maki and Panda, Yuta and Toge.
Because Eiji was too strong, he was exempted from training with first-year students.
The school atmosphere was very quiet due to the low number of students.
*Click*
Before Eiji could make his choice, a delicate white hand pressed the button, and the drink fell from the machine.
"You've been thinking too long, kid. No need to thank me, consider this drink a gift from me."
Taking the drink, the woman unabashedly drank from it, which wasn't hers.
She was a tall woman with a slender figure and fair skin. She had pinkish-red eyes with thin eyebrows and prominent eyelashes.
She wore a dark sleeveless vest tucked into bright high-waisted jeans that covered most of her stomach area.
"Tsukumo Yuki. What do you want?"
"Oh, you know my name? Big sis is delighted."
"There are only five Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers, it would be strange not to know each other's identities."
Choosing blueberry yogurt, Eiji sat down in a chair near the window and began to drink while observing the woman in front of him.
"You're Kamiki Eiji, right? What type of woman do you like?"
Doing a pose to showcase her figure, Yuki asked with keen interest.
"..."
(Whether teacher or student, their personalities are so similar)
Yuki's behavior reminded Eiji of his first meeting with Todo, who asked the same question.
"Ask your student."
"Aoi, huh? Seems like you two are close enough to know each other's types."
"It's nothing special."
"Hmm~"
Sitting beside him, Yuki asked while pointing at herself with an anticipatory smile.
"Since Kamiki-kun knows me, what's your opinion of me?"
"A useless Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer who never participates in missions and instead becomes unemployed overseas."
As Eiji heard his answer, the joy on Yuki's face disappeared.
"Wait a moment, your answer is the same as Geto-kun's."
She suddenly remembered hearing similar words.
"Are you alone? Isn't it still school hours? Where are the others?"
Looking left and right, she found no one.
"The first-year students are training outside, as for the second and third-year students, I don't know."
"Wow, this school is as deserted as usual. It's a miracle this school hasn't been shut down with the minimal number of students enrolling each year."
"..."
Eiji sipped yogurt silently, without commenting.
"Kamiki-kun, has anyone ever told you that you're a quiet person?"
"If you're just here to mock my personality, I'll leave."
"Hey hey hey, don't be in such a hurry, I rarely visit Jujutsu High, come on, accompany me for a chat."
Yuki held the end of Eiji's shirt and prevented him from leaving.
With no other choice, Eiji sat back down.
"Want to know why I'm at odds with Jujutsu High?"
"Not interested."
"People here only treat the symptoms, while I prefer to go straight to the root of the problem."
"..."
Out of the corner of his eye, Eiji frowned as Yuki ignored his rejection and unilaterally expressed her viewpoint.
He already knew her goal thanks to Lin Fan's memories. So, he didn't need to listen to her.
Yuki didn't care whether Eiji listened or not, she kept talking.
"Rather than hunting Cursed Spirits, I aim to create a world where Cursed Spirits never existed."
"That's impossible."
"Why do you say that?"
Turning to look at him, Yuki asked with a thin smile.
"It's basic knowledge that Cursed Spirits are born from the accumulation of negative emotions from human bodies and merge with each other. In other words, to create a world without Cursed Spirits, there are only two ways, either to eradicate humanity entirely so there will be no more negative emotions to birth Cursed Spirits, and the second way is to make the world achieve true peace so humans have no negative emotions."
"True peace or the extinction of humanity. No matter how I look at it, it's impossible."
After a long conversation, he felt his throat was slightly dry, and Eiji drank the yogurt until it was finished.
"Your mindset is quite cynical, Kamiki-kun."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"I'm not complimenting you, you know."
"Then Tsukumo Yuki, what's your idea for creating a world without Cursed Spirits?"
Even though he already knew the answer, Eiji still had to ask her to avoid appearing suspicious.