Whoosh…
A red string shoots out of Ren's wrist, thin and bright and violently alive. It wraps around a street lamp below — not gently, not like the old Red Stitch — but with a snap that makes the metal let out a cracking groan. The lamp actually bends under the grip.
Ren doesn't even get time to react.
His body launches upward.
Too fast. Way too fast.
He shoots into the air like he's been yanked by a slingshot. Wind slaps his face, and Ren blinks in shock as the ground drops away beneath him.
'What? Too fast!'
He throws out his other hand on instinct. Another red stitch fires from his other wrist—ripping through the air—and latches onto a rooftop.
The moment it connects, Ren is yanked again—but then suddenly—
He stops.
Mid-air. Hanging.
Stuck.
The first red stitch is still attached to the lamp below, pulling him down. The second one is pulling him up. He's suspended like some idiot puppet right above the street.
'Ugh, ok, fuck, this is not how Red Stitch used to work! It's so much faster…'
And then—
Snap.
The red stitch connected to the lamp fades away on its own, vanishing into particles.
Ren shoots upward like a bullet.
He slams onto the rooftop, half-rolling, half-crashing, landing with a heavy thud! before sliding to a stop.
He sits there for a moment, breath puffing out, dust settling.
Then he mutters, rubbing his shoulder,
"Ah, fuck, it's weird... not like how Red Stitch used to work... also... it's stronger now... my Red Stitch did not leave marks on concrete... and metal lamps..."
Ren stands and looks over the edge of the building. The street lamp below is visibly warped, like something had tried to choke the pole. Even the concrete around the base is crushed inward from the earlier grip.
He exhales and lets go of the string still attached to his other wrist. It fades.
"Huh, ok, before all I had to do was to stop using cursed energy, and my red stitch would just stop, but now... I have to choose that I want this string to let go. When I decide that, that's when this red stitch lets go, huh?"
Ren scratches the back of his head.
'Well, this makes things a little more complex. I'm used to just using Red Stitch normally. I stop using cursed energy, and the technique stops. But now I have to use the string, and if I want to stop it, I need to stop using cursed energy and also want to let go of Red Stitch. Only then will it vanish…'
He pauses.
'Hmm. Well… what if I do this?'
He aims his wrist downward. A new red stitch shoots out instantly, connecting to the rooftop floor.
Ren decides for it to stop.
The string breaks like dry glass — cleanly, instantly.
Ren smiles.
"Ok then, that's pretty much possible. I will not stop using cursed energy; I simply now will want the red stitch to stop, and it will stop. No need to turn my cursed energy off... Huh, it's better."
He nods to himself.
'It's like a switch now. Before, I had to shut off the main power just to turn off one light. Now it's just… on and off. Flip the switch. Much better. As expected… but using it in practice is so much weirder.'
Ren steps back, stretching his fingers. His wrists still tingle from the sudden speeds, the recoil, and the weight shifts.
'Anyway… it will take a while to get used to this new speed and the new control method. I'm used to the old Red Stitch. So I can't use Spider to get to Jujutsu High… Ok, what if I try to run… It'll take me more than an hour to reach Jujutsu High. That means I'm screwed. Completely.'
He sits down on the rooftop, crossing his legs. The night air is cold. The clock is ticking. Literally.
Seconds matter.
Ren closes his eyes.
'Maybe. If I find a hospital. But who would take me in looking like this? Clothes ripped without a shirt, no ID, magical injuries ripping open on their own on my body which would be very troublesome to explain… Plus there is no guarantee a normal hospital can even heal me…
Can I take the damage?
Maybe, but even if I could take the damage, I'd bleed out or faint from the pain. And getting help? Impossible.'
He opens his eyes again. His hands tighten into fists.
'I need to call someone. But how? My phone and everything got destroyed in the ritual…'
Ren suddenly freezes.
Then grins.
"No, wait! I do have a phone! Worm!"
He snaps his hand outward.
"Worm, come out and spit out the phone I gave you before!"
A shadow ripples beside him. A worm plops out, a round blur of cursed flesh, and spits a phone onto the rooftop tiles before dropping back down.
Ren snatches it fast.
He turns it on. It glows.
He smirks.
'Ha. I always have backups. Worm is too damn useful.'
He presses Gojo's number.
The phone buzzes — then — a robotic voice echoes:
"Your mobile phone has ended recharge. If you want to call someone, recharge it."
Ren's face freezes.
Then slowly twists.
"You've got to be kidding me, right? Fuck! FUCK!"
He throws his hands up.
"I don't have money on me... I can't recharge it! Shit, I stocked this phone months ago... of course the data pack expired! Ugh…"
He clenches his teeth.
"I had one more phone in Rika, but I can't use Rika... shit, shit… what to do…"
Ren freezes.
'Wait. The Hour of Undoing happens in one hour. But Rika also recharges in one hour…'
He blinks. A weak smile appears.
"No, that would be insane. I would have to summon Rika and then draw a kanji… that would take… at least five seconds…"
He swallows.
'The question is: can I handle five seconds? And can I even heal the Hour of Undoing? I never tested that. Shit…'
He squeezes the bridge of his nose.
'No. There must be another way.'
Ren tosses the useless phone to Worm. Worm instantly eats it and slips back into his shadow.
Ren's thoughts spin faster and faster.
'Take someone's phone? Impossible. It's nighttime. No one's around. This district is barely populated even during the day. The odds of running into someone now are basically zero…'
He grips his head.
'There has to be a way… I can't die. Project Re can't be restarted. It hasn't been a year since I died—only a few months. My soul will break. And even if I did die, how would I even tell Ogami? How would she know to start Project Re again? It's impossible. Fuck! Communication!
He looks around at the empty rooftops.
'I'm in the 20th century… How does this even happen?! How is communication being a pain in the ass!'
Ren presses his hands over his face, takes a breath—stops.
Then smiles.
Slowly. A spark brightens in Ren's mind… He smiled.
Ren mutters under his breath, "Got it."