Fire trucks roared past one after another, speeding toward the blast zone.
Inside a temporary tent, members of the Jujutsu Association, Japanese government officials, and military personnel were gathered to discuss the cleanup.
Outside the police cordon, numerous reporters held microphones, broadcasting live.
"We have received reports that a massive explosion occurred near the expressway due to aging underground gas pipelines."
"The fire has currently been brought under control..."
Watching the reporter recite a pre-prepared script so skillfully, Kenmei could already imagine the reaction of families watching the news over dinner.
"Again? Where exactly are my tax dollars going? It's the same news every day."
Normally, a "Curtain" would be deployed—a barrier technique that hides a specific area from non-sorcerers.
But that pillar of fire had torn right through the Curtain, exposing the disaster to the world.
Meanwhile, the "culprit" behind the exploding Curse, Kenmei Isayama, rolled up his sleeve and watched in amazement as a nasty gash on his arm healed at a visibly rapid pace.
"It healed so fast."
Kenmei had been unlucky. When the shockwave knocked him over, he scraped his arm against a car door, tearing the skin and staining his white shirt with blood.
"So this is the Reverse Cursed Technique?"
Since Cursed Energy is born from negative emotions, it is essentially negative energy. To use it for healing, one must reverse its nature—multiplying negative by negative to get a positive. Only this "positive" energy can regenerate flesh. Raw negative energy would only make the wound worse.
It sounded complicated because it was. Aside from the young "doctor" in front of him, Kenmei had never seen anyone else in the Association use it.
It was a first for him.
"Alright, you should be fine now."
Hearing this, Kenmei snapped out of his thoughts, smiled at the young doctor, and thanked her sincerely.
"Thank you so much, Doctor."
The person Kenmei called "Doctor"—the one who mastered the rare Reverse Cursed Technique—was surprisingly a girl who looked like a student herself. She had short brown hair and a mole under her eye.
She was sucking on a lollipop (usually it was a cigarette), wearing the black uniform of Tokyo Jujutsu High, and sitting primly next to Kenmei.
"If not for you, I wouldn't know what to do with such a bad injury."
Kenmei had school tomorrow.
Take a sick day? Kenmei wasn't even sure if he could get one approved. A sick note might just turn into an expulsion notice at this point.
"Don't mention it. It wasn't much trouble. Just a little help."
But she really had been a huge help.
Kenmei's gratitude made the girl feel a little shy.
"Just be careful with that arm for a bit. Avoid strenuous exercise or lifting heavy objects. The new tissue is still a little fragile."
"And if you feel any discomfort, you can call me at this number."
"Oh, thank you."
Seeing Kenmei take the piece of paper, the girl smiled slightly.
"Shoko. I'm Shoko Ieiri."
---
"Did you see that? Suguru."
Not far away, two boys on hospital beds looked like they had seen a ghost in broad daylight. especially the white-haired one, whose eyes were practically popping out of his head. He rolled over and asked the black-haired boy with a topknot next to him.
The black-haired boy, whose eyes were usually narrow slits, had them wide open now.
"I saw it, Satoru."
"You gotta be kidding me. That Shoko... actually having a gentle moment?"
"Tch. Making a fuss over nothing."
Sitting to the side was a girl in a red-and-white miko outfit. She hugged her shoulders and looked down at the two boys like they were pests.
"That's just because he's handsome, you two idiots."
"Look at yourselves. You can't compare. Right now, you look no different from beggars on the street."
"Hah? Utahime, when you talk about us, aren't you talking about yourself too?"
"Exactly. If you weren't also covered in soot and looking like a beggar, you would've gone over to hit on that pretty boy yourself."
"What?!"
Having her inner thoughts exposed by the duo, Utahime trembled, her face flushing red. Fortunately, the layer of soot on her cheeks hid the blush, or they would have mocked her mercilessly.
"Gojo, this is all your fault, you idiot!"
"Teleporting us right next to a bomb... were you trying to kill us?"
These three were the "Unlucky Bastards" from earlier who had used an unknown technique to teleport to the distress signal's coordinates.
They were all students from Tokyo Jujutsu High. The girl was Utahime Iori, a graduate and Grade 2 Sorcerer.
The white-haired one was Satoru Gojo, and the black-haired one with the topknot was Suguru Geto. Both were second-year students, the same age as Kenmei.
They were the rapid response team from Jujutsu High.
But as luck would have it, the Cursed Spirit had turned into a bomb with terrifying Cursed Energy fluctuations for unknown reasons, and it decided to blow the moment they landed.
One wrong move and it would have been "Game Over" on spawn.
But despite facing that terrifying explosion at point-blank range, they survived with only minor injuries.
That showed just how strong they were.
Though they did look a bit rough—covered in dirt and soot, faces black as coal miners.
Getting angrier the more she thought about it, Utahime rolled up her sleeves, ready to beat the bastard Gojo lying on the bed.
"Your classmates sure are energetic."
Hearing the commotion, Kenmei looked up and saw three soot-covered figures bickering.
"Haha... they're always like that."
Shoko Ieiri laughed awkwardly, her tone strained.
"Those two scumbags..."
"Pissing off Utahime-senpai again."
Shoko didn't need to look to know what was happening. Her fist was clenched behind her back; clearly, she was reaching her limit too.
"Shut up, all of you! This is an infirmary!"
Suddenly, a furious roar burst through the tent flaps.
To Kenmei's surprise, the moment the first syllable of "Shut" was uttered, the three bickering students instantly stopped fighting. As if nothing had happened, the two boys lay back down properly, and the girl sat upright in her chair, practically radiating "I'm being good."
Their reaction was fast and practiced. Clearly, this wasn't their first rodeo.
Two men entered the infirmary. One was Mr. Akutagawa, whom Kenmei knew well. The other looked familiar, but Kenmei couldn't place the name.
He was a burly, serious-looking middle-aged man with a buzz cut and dark sunglasses, appearing slightly younger than Akutagawa.
"Sorry, Akutagawa. You had to see that."
The buzz-cut man apologized to Akutagawa.
"It's fine, Yaga."
Akutagawa looked at the students who had just been fighting, his gaze lingering on Satoru Gojo. When he saw those brilliant, star-like blue eyes, he paused for a moment.
"So those are the Six Eyes?"
Recovering from his brief surprise, Akutagawa regained his calm composure and offered a rare tease:
"Yaga, your students..."
"They've got quite the personalities."
One was wearing sunglasses with only a single lens left; one was pretending to be asleep with narrow eyes; and the other was frantically wiping her face, only to smear the soot and make herself look like a calico cat.