"What are you doing here?"
"I'm probably... waiting for someone."
"Probably?"
"Because... I don't know either."
A gloomy young man in a white lab coat sat on a bench, looking at the police officer in front of him.
Akira Zenin, male, twenty-nine years old.
An honest, well-behaved man. For various reasons, time had always been incredibly tight for him, so much so that he had never even held a girl's hand, let alone had a sweet romance.
And now, under someone else's prodding, he had come to take part in a "blind date." He had already been sitting on that bench all morning waiting for the other person.
As for why the police had shown up... a little girl had called them.
The moment the little girl saw the police arrive, she burst into tears as if she had just survived a disaster, pointing at Akira Zenin and insisting that he was planning to use her for human experimentation...
The young police officer, Yamano Teru, knew the instant he saw Akira Zenin that something was definitely wrong with this man.
Because from just one accidental glance, a whole string of images had flashed through his mind:
Drug injections, data records, failed experiments, a calm shake of the head, disposal of waste, corpses sinking into Tokyo Bay...
This man was either a psychopathic murderer or an obsessive scientist...
Teru Yamano even felt like he had already been marked by him...
And he had a completely inexplicable feeling.
If this man wanted to, he would definitely die. The kind of death where he would not even have time to write a last note.
The moment the young officer sensed that bizarre danger, he instinctively pulled the little girl behind him protectively.
"You're waiting for someone, but you don't know who you're waiting for, and you don't even know roughly when they'll show up... that makes this very hard for me..."
...Could it be that he was short on experimental materials, wanted to randomly pick a passerby, but had not found a suitable one yet...
"Then take a look at this... here..."
As if performing a magic trick, Akira Zenin produced a business card and handed it over.
Teru Yamano adjusted his gloves so that not a single patch of skin was exposed, then reached out and took the card.
"Zenin New Energy Research Institute..."
Teru Yamano blinked. He had no idea what it was... but it did not sound like biology or medical research... Hiss... was he even a professor?
...
After a series of identity checks and apologies, the police officer left with the little girl.
But that was far from the end of it. The young couple sitting on the bench to Akira Zenin's right had long since gone weak in the legs from fright...
And now that the police were gone, so was their emotional support.
"Ah, um... I... Asaka! I suddenly remembered I have something to do! I need to go first!"
The boy suddenly sprang to his feet, gave Asaka Kobayashi a sharp ninety-degree bow, then turned and ran off without a trace, leaving the girl alone in total disarray.
Asaka Kobayashi: "..."
Akira Zenin: "..."
That had nothing to do with him, okay... even the flowers and plants in the park next door could testify to that!
Watching the boy who had been halfway through confessing suddenly turn and bolt, vanishing at a speed that vaguely surpassed the Tiger of West Junior High, tears began to gather uncontrollably in Asaka Kobayashi's eyes.
Do not misunderstand. She was not crying because of the boy who ran away.
She was crying because now she was the only one left beside Akira Zenin!!!
And just as she was reaching her limit.
A figure passed by her, blocking part of the midday sunlight.
"In the future... find someone you can entrust your whole life to..."
"Ah? Oh... okay..."
The voice was not warm, but it was unexpectedly gentle, a little like the shade under a tree at noon in summer...
By the time she came back to herself, that figure had already receded into a tiny silhouette.
Akira Zenin left the park. He actually knew that Satoru Gojo had "threatened" him into coming to confession park for one reason only. To make him leave the lab and enjoy life a little.
This was what had happened.
The day before, Akira Zenin got a call from Naobito Zenin. Because the old man had been blocked by Akira Zenin, he had gone straight to Satoru Gojo and used his phone to contact him...
"Jinichi and the others aren't worried, so what are you in such a hurry for?"
"What am I in a hurry for? What am I in a hurry for?! Take a look at yourself. You're almost pushing forty. When Jinichi was your age, you were already able to subdue Mahoraga!
I knew I should never have let you become classmates with that bastard Satoru Gojo..."
"Hm? Ahem..."
"Cough... I mean, no normal person should be hanging around with the head of the Gojo Clan..."
"Mm... mm???"
At that moment, Satoru Gojo took the phone.
"How about this, Akira-chan. I'll point you toward the bright road. I'll send you a location in a bit.
After that, someone from the Gojo Clan will come and get to know you~~"
Then Satoru Gojo hung up on the spot.
To avoid Naobito's nagging, Akira Zenin had no choice but to go along with Satoru Gojo and come here.
"Isn't this just helping me out in the open... Old Man Naobito too..."
The truth was, both of them had noticed that although he was no longer drowsy, he still carried that gloomy air and spent every day buried in the lab, so they wanted him to get out and spend some time around other people...
Akira Zenin headed toward the research institute, carefully observing his surroundings along the way. With the appearance of the GDU organization, the work of Jujutsu Sorcerers had gradually shifted from "cleanup" to "support."
Cursed Spirits below Grade 1 no longer drained the energy of Jujutsu Sorcerers, and immature Jujutsu Sorcerers no longer had to carry out missions alone...
Compared to the past, everyone had a lot more free time now.
Yuta and Rika had already taken funding from the Gojo Clan and were off on an absurdly extravagant world trip.
As for Kokichi and Kasumi, they spent every day sitting in "Gundams," flying all over the sky as the GDU's top-tier support.
Actually, support missions like that did not require Kokichi in the first place. Just count it as a bit of romance between young people...
Akira Zenin removed the Cursed Energy protecting his eyes, raised a hand to his forehead to block the sunlight, and faintly saw a human-shaped figure fly across the sky.
"Youth really is wonderful... the future is full of promise..."
...
...
The End (•ㅂ•)/