Chapter 36

Takizawa Sei was well accustomed to being alone with Gojo Satoru.

In fact, his first mission, his first job—everything had revolved around Gojo. They had been together since childhood, long since used to giving each other their time.

There was a moment when Takizawa Sei realized the problem between himself and Gojo.

It was Gojo’s way of referring to himself.

Once, his favorite word had been "we": "We are best friends," "We will always be together," "Our thoughts are the same," or, with Geto, "We are the strongest." But after that moment—the moment that turned Gojo’s world upside down—what stayed on his lips became "I am the strongest," "After all, that is something you would do, Sei," "I will remember." Suddenly, there was no one else by his side.

He had inevitably walked down a path of extreme solitude.

Yet, Gojo was busy cultivating companions.

The divine child, who had realized he was an outlier from birth, was still searching for those who could walk beside him.

Takizawa Sei wanted to tell him that he had not left.

Even if he were physically elsewhere, his soul had never betrayed him.

"Quick, take a picture of me! I must look pretty handsome right now." Takizawa, his eyelashes and hair dusted with natural frost, tossed his phone to Gojo. He trotted over to the tree he had just been shaking, spread his arms wide, and without even waiting for a countdown, struck his most dazzling pose with a radiant smile.

The scene was captured by the camera. Gojo studied it for a long time before absentmindedly sending it to his own number.

"How does it look?"

"Looks great~"

"Oh, it makes my skin look so fair. I guess the snow is a natural reflector."

Takizawa reached for the phone, but Gojo pulled it away. The white-haired man blinked with a look of dissatisfied surprise. "Aren't we taking one together?"

"Ah, I didn't think of it."

"Then why take a picture all of a sudden?"

"Because I need to send it to Jumpei," Takizawa said candidly. "Keeping up with sharing is an important step in maintaining a relationship."

Gojo: "..."

He clicked the shutter button repeatedly, capturing several shots of Takizawa’s stunned, caught-off-guard expression, then clicked his tongue. "Tsk, why do you look so handsome in all of them?"

"Childish! I’m naturally handsome, of course I’ll look good in photos." Takizawa knew immediately that he was jealous. Ha, Gojo’s possessiveness was far too strong.

The blue-eyed man in front of him stared intently, as if trying to peer into his soul. "Sei, what does it feel like to be so close to a non-sorcerer?"

"It feels the same as being with a sorcerer," Takizawa said. "I don't actually care about appearances or abilities... well, actually, I do; those are factors that inevitably influence judgment. But I want to say that the deep core of humanity remains unchanged. We will always resonate emotionally, even if he is in his domain and I am in my world."

Although sorcerers had close ties to ordinary people, it was as if they were cruelly divided into two separate realms.

During the time when Suguru Geto was most sensitive and lost, Takizawa had taken him out to clear his head. When they didn't want to deal with people, they went to deserted mountaintops or the ocean floor. They watched unique sunrises and sunsets, rented the most expensive diving suits to swim to unfathomable depths before being brought back by curses. They trampled through the sycamore forests thick with autumn leaves, and while Gojo complained over the phone, they would shout "Yo-ho!" and slide down hillsides on pieces of scrap metal. The craziest time was when Takizawa secretly contacted Geto’s parents to get his documents, forged a visa, and bought overnight tickets to Russia. Ahead of the higher-ups, he took the bewildered curse manipulator to Teriberka—a small fishing village where it was easiest to see the aurora borealis, bordering the Arctic Ocean, possessing the desolation and grandeur of the end of the world.

Outside of Japan, the number of curses dropped significantly, even more so in sparsely populated Russia.

The people there were open-minded and brave, possessing a straightforwardness distinct from Asian culture. Even in the workplace, they spoke their minds without holding back. The ample vacation time and the relaxed attitude of never working during holidays also greatly suppressed the birth of curses.

Takizawa stayed there with him for two days.

Neither of them spoke Russian, and their English was clumsy, yet they relied on body language to communicate with the locals, gesturing wildly and popping out words like "Yes!" and "Nonono!" It was hilarious but lighthearted. A distance that was neither too close nor too far, yet showed goodwill, was the best way for strangers to interact.

The bonfire lit in the snow that day, its warmth shining in the darkness, reflected upon two boys who had completely let themselves go.

The aurora was magnificent, as if they had entered a non-existent but fantastical world of magic.

It hung in the sky, yet it was further away than the sky itself.

This world was so vast, yet most people were trapped in a tiny patch of land.

What a pity.

***

Takizawa, who was fiddling with his phone, received a call. It was from a few students who were having so much fun they were calling to urge their two teachers to hurry up to the ski resort.

The unserious adults shook the snow from their hair and clothes, changed into dry outfits, and headed to the slopes.

"Watch this!"

The blue-eyed man, whose exuberant nature couldn't be hidden even by ski goggles, twisted his waist and used his powerful core to spin the snowboard several times in place. Snow sprayed everywhere; it was incredibly cool.

"Whoa—"

Zenin Maki couldn't help but exclaim, then let out a cold huff and immediately replicated the move.

"Whoa—"

This time, the exclamation came from Takizawa. He gave a thumbs-up with his thick gloves on, grinning. "That's awesome, Maki! You should just take up professional sports and win an award!"

"Sei-musubi!"

The cursed speech user shouted with great determination, then twisted his upper body, lost his balance, and flopped onto the snow.

"Hahahaha..."

The slightly clumsy Okkotsu Yuta burst out laughing at his companion's mistake, only to be glared at by Inumaki. He choked, steeled himself, spun, and then fell in the exact same position.

The two of them were easily lifted up by the strongest sorcerer. Gojo draped his arms around their necks and said, "Come on, come on! When you want the secret, you have to ask your teacher~!"

"Gojo-sensei is showing off at a time like this again."

"Be satisfied, at least he isn't taking pictures of us."

"Ah, wait! The flash went off—"

Takizawa suddenly appeared in front of them, arms spread like a mother hawk protecting its chicks, striking eight poses in one second. He shouted, "Don't worry, Teacher Takizawa is your solid wall of defense!"

So—

Takizawa looked at the smile on Gojo’s lips.

Enjoy all of this.

The youth you ended with pain, the last photo of me saved on your phone—all of that will be turned over, and we will begin again.

***

The Hokkaido trip was a complete success.

Even the final episode of exorcising a curse seemed trivial to Takizawa.

A Grade 1 curse had been born on the snowy mountain, lurking in an inconspicuous cave; it was likely born from human fear of blizzards or avalanches.

Its presence was extremely subtle, and Takizawa and the others only found it because the curse revealed itself.

It seemed to be attracted by something, following the ley lines to find Takizawa, crawling before the blue-eyed man’s vigilant posture.

A scene never before imagined took place. The curse seemed to be demonstrating a hierarchy, "surrendering" to Takizawa.

Takizawa understood this with an eerie clarity, as if a nerve had sprouted in his brain to link with the curse’s thoughts, sensing even such hidden emotions.

In that instant, a thought surfaced in Takizawa’s subconscious: "This is how it should be."

It was only right for it to be so sensible, to learn to bow to the strong.

Frowning, Takizawa told the pensive Gojo about this feeling. "Do you know how disgusting my thoughts were just now? I was thinking that this 'fellow' wasn't so brainless; it's terrifying. Punch me to wake me up, I won't dodge."

Gojo’s eyes widened, shining with an strange luster under the warm incandescent light. "Fellow?"

Takizawa raised a hand to swear. "It was only for an instant. I think it’s because its brainwaves influenced me when it tried to communicate... Ah~ although these are just my guesses. After all, no curse has ever established such a bridge of communication with a human before. If it had used language to express its emotions, I wouldn't have been so confused."

Takizawa felt a dull sense of revulsion. "But regardless, its current state is too rare. I’ve never seen a curse act like this."

The Grade 1 curse shivered before Takizawa.

It reminded Takizawa of the elevator romance curse they had exorcised not long ago; it had been just as terrified.

"Rika is also very afraid of you, Takizawa-sensei." The students watching revealed looks of astonishment. Okkotsu Yuta recalled an important detail and reminded him, "The first time Rika saw you, she was very afraid of you."

The cursed spirit Rika; they had once categorized her and Takizawa as the same type.

And Rika’s grade was immeasurable. She still had a portion of cursed energy that had not been released, yet even in that state, she was powerful enough to make ordinary sorcerers fear her.

"I have a hypothesis..." Takizawa spoke under Gojo’s inscrutable gaze, his tone laced with a hint of mockery. "It’s because I was cursed by Gojo. Cursed by the strongest sorcerer, so my grade must also be the strongest!"

He was now joking about his own identity. Takizawa couldn't help but inwardly scoff: *Ah, this is just like a horror story.*

This was the one thing he had tried his best to deny.

After saying this, Takizawa frantically explained to Gojo, as if he were trying to lay his heart and lungs bare. "I’ll emphasize it again, Gojo. Actually, I still don't believe you cursed me. At most, I cursed myself. And in the end, it doesn't matter who cursed me, and it doesn't matter if I am a vengeful cursed spirit or not. It matters even less that I have this aura of curses while being like a human, because no matter what state I am in, it is the best result."

Takizawa found his own repetitive nature somewhat amusing. "Because I am Takizawa Sei, and I am clearly aware of that."

The students were left dizzy by the circular logic and the lack of any substantive evidence. They hadn't been involved in the grievances of their seniors, and they didn't have the qualifications to judge or change anything. Having only been in the jujutsu world for a short time, they generally didn't think about it on a deeper level, as there was no point.

Takizawa-sensei was vouched for by Gojo-sensei; Takizawa would not hurt them.

He was a gentle and kind person.

That was enough.

Gojo turned his head away as if giving up, refusing to look into Takizawa’s bright eyes. "I know, I know... you've said it so many times, Sei..."