"Special grade sorcerer?! Are you serious? Mukuro, when did this even happen…?"
Suguru rubbed his eyes, then wiped the student ID again, focusing on the rank section. Once he confirmed it wasn't a joke, his face lit up with excitement.
"Just yesterday," Mukuro said casually, taking the ID back and slipping it into his pocket. "Accidentally took down a special grade curse on my own the day before, and, well… I might've blown up half a mountain by mistake too."
He spoke as if it was nothing, but the smirk tugging at the corner of his lips gave him away. Nothing felt better than showing off a little in front of a friend.
"Alright, alright, I was just asking. Why are you still going on about it?" Suguru waved a hand to stop him before changing the subject. "So, did the teacher send you?"
Judging from Riko's expression, it didn't seem like she knew Mukuro. The only person he could think of who might've arranged this was their teacher.
"Do you know why Toji showed up right after the bounty on the Star Plasma Vessel ended? Right when you were the most relaxed?"
Instead of answering, Mukuro threw a question back.
"What do you mean?" The smile faded from Suguru's face. His tone turned serious.
"Simple. The bounty those curse users received about the Star Plasma Vessel came from the two of us."
"You know what you're saying, right?" Suguru's brows furrowed tightly as he raised his voice.
"The reputation of us brothers is too well known. The Star Religious Group paid a fortune to hire us to kill the Star Plasma Vessel. Of course, we accepted, so we could keep everything under control. Plus, pretending to be doing the job seriously let us collect a bit of 'training funds' from that idiot."
Seeing his friend's expression darkening, Mukuro stopped joking around and explained.
If that mission hadn't been taken by them, the cult would've simply found someone else. And then, who knew how things might have turned out?
"I see... no wonder."
Suguru sighed in relief. He knew Mukuro wasn't someone who would kill an innocent girl for money. Thinking back to all the enemies they'd faced recently, it made sense now. None of those curse users had really tried to hurt Riko. Even when Kuroi had been kidnapped, she was unharmed.
It was all because Mukuro had been orchestrating everything behind the scenes.
"But why are you helping Riko?"
He glanced at the girl behind them. She was young, full of life... and honestly, quite cute.
"Hey! What's with that weird look in your eyes?"
Noticing his gaze, Riko's cheeks turned red as she puffed them out in protest.
"It's a job. The first request I ever took in my life."
Mukuro reached into his pocket and pulled out an old pocket watch pendant. He was about to toss it to her but stopped halfway, choosing instead to hand it over politely.
"This is... my mom and dad?!"
Riko felt a strange familiarity before she even opened it. When she did, the photo of her parents with a small smiling girl hit her like a wave. Memories she had buried long ago came flooding back. She thought she'd already come to terms with it, that she wouldn't cry anymore. Yet now, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"How did you get this?"
As the girl clutched the locket tightly to her chest, sobbing harder with each passing second, Suguru quietly stepped aside with Mukuro, giving her some space to grieve in peace.
"I told you already. It was a job. When her parents were killed by the Star Religious Group, Toji and I happened to pass by the car crash site. We found her mother barely alive. She begged me to take the job before she died."
Mukuro's tone stayed calm.
At that time, Riko's mother was already on the brink of death, surviving only through her love for her daughter. Knowing she didn't have much time left, she clung to Mukuro as if he were her last hope, rambling about things no ordinary person could understand.
Yet, by that desperate act of reaching out, she managed to leave behind a chance for her daughter to live.
"Maybe that's just fate," Suguru muttered softly.
Fate had made him and Satoru the girl's protectors. And it had brought Mukuro to her as her savior. With the three of them together, even going against Master Tengen didn't seem impossible.
"But the Star Religious Group still needs her to show up to finalize the payment. Don't worry. I'll be there, and they only want to stop the merging, nothing more."
Mukuro finished and started walking toward Riko.
"At least ask her what she thinks first," Suguru said with a faint smile.
He didn't object. As long as she agreed, it was fine. To him, the Star Religious Group was just a bunch of stubborn old fanatics. Nothing that could cause real trouble.
"I... I'll go!"
Even though she'd been crying, Riko had heard their entire conversation. She trusted the boy who came all this way to fulfill a ten-year-old promise and wanted to repay him in her own way.
"Then let's go. Your maid's still waiting outside."
Mukuro walked ahead, casual as ever. One would never guess his actions were about to challenge the entire jujutsu world.
"Mukuro, you and Riko go first. Send me the address, I'll catch up later."
Suguru's concern now shifted toward Satoru. His best friend was strong, but Mukuro's relaxed expression gave him a bad feeling.
"Got it."
* * *
Elsewhere.
"Hmm? Someone's coming. Must be that girl who's good with Reverse Cursed Technique," Toji murmured lazily. He had been so bored he was almost dozing off, but seeing Shoko running toward him, he finally stood up.
Beside him lay Satoru, his body riddled with holes, too injured to move.
"But if he still can't grasp the Reverse Cursed Technique after all this, should I call that my success or my failure?"
He stroked his chin thoughtfully. After glancing down at the battered boy one last time, he dropped the thought entirely. Getting the chance to beat the Six Eyes and Limitless combo half to death wasn't so bad.
This was his way of spitting in the face of this twisted world.
Even a monkey like him could still strike down the brightest star in the jujutsu world.
Cursed energy and technique above all else? What a joke.
"Gojo..."
"Don't worry. He won't die."
Toji brushed past Shoko, leaving only those words before disappearing from sight.
"Those two are unbelievable... getting hurt this badly." She sighed, crouching beside the fallen boy to activate her technique.
Snap!
But before she could begin, his trembling hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
This was his first defeat. Utter and humiliating.
Frustration and unwillingness burned like wildfire in his mind.
"No way..."
In shock, Shoko watched as the boy's brilliant blue eyes flickered like fireworks.
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