Sol stood beside the shattered window of the abandoned floor as the night wind rustled his hair. In the distance, Nobara's furious surge of Cursed Energy flared like a beacon cutting through the darkness.
Without a word, he leaped through the broken window. His figure crossed the rooftops in a series of effortless bounds before he arrived near the entrance to the subway station.
Below, Nobara and assistant supervisor Akari Nitta were moving the injured Kiyotaka Ijichi away from the danger zone. Worry and determination mixed across the young sorcerer's face as she gripped several Cursed Energy infused nails in one hand.
Almost at the same moment, a damp, oppressive wave of Cursed Energy spread from the shadows deep within the station.
A disheveled Curse User with messy blond hair and murky eyes staggered into view with a twisted grin.
"Oh my, oh my? There's a stray kitten here?" Haruta's gaze settled on Nobara, an unsettling gleam flickering in his eyes. "A Jujutsu High student? Playing with her sounds much more entertaining than dealing with ordinary people."
Nobara nearly gagged in disgust.
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Without hesitation, she hurled a Cursed Energy infused nail straight at his face.
Haruta laughed strangely as he dodged. The nail buried itself deep into the wall behind him while he casually swatted a shrieking low grade Cursed Spirit toward her.
"Such a fiery temper! I like it!"
Akari Nitta quickly reached for Nobara.
"Nobara! Don't be reckless! We need to get Mr. Ijichi to safety first!"
But Nobara's anger had already boiled over. Akari's warning came too late.
She slipped past the lunging Cursed Spirit, reinforced her legs with Cursed Energy, slammed her foot against the pavement, and charged straight at Haruta.
"I'll kill you first, you piece of trash!"
"Come on! Come on!" Haruta shouted excitedly.
He threw his oddly shaped long blade. It carved a bizarre arc through the air before suddenly changing direction on its own, driving toward Nobara's ribs.
Nobara's eyes narrowed. She raised her hammer just in time.
Clang!
The blade crashed against the hammerhead in a shower of sparks. The impact sent a painful numbness through her arm.
Missing its target, the blade curved through the air and returned to Haruta's hand like a living creature.
"Heh, nice reflexes," Haruta sneered, licking his lips. "But dodging my attacks isn't that easy."
He threw the blade again.
Nobara clicked her tongue and rolled aside. Nail after nail shot forward as she tried to knock the weapon away, but its unpredictable trajectory made every attack futile. It clung to her relentlessly, forcing her into a purely defensive fight as each exchange pushed her closer to danger.
Akari Nitta watched anxiously from behind, unable to interfere while protecting the unconscious Ijichi.
Just as the spinning blade was about to slice across Nobara's cheek...
It suddenly stopped.
Without warning, the whirling blade froze in midair as though it had struck an invisible wall. A faint hum echoed through the air. No matter how desperately Haruta poured Cursed Energy into it, the weapon refused to move even a single inch.
Nobara instinctively retreated several steps, staring warily at the blade suspended before her.
Haruta's grin vanished, replaced by confusion and growing panic.
"Who?! Who's screwing with me?!"
He tried to recall his Cursed Tool, only to discover that the connection between himself and the blade had been completely severed by an overwhelmingly stronger force.
The absolute loss of control sent a chill down his spine.
A figure silently appeared beside Nobara.
His dark blue tracksuit blended naturally into the surrounding shadows. Only his striking profile stood out beneath the distant flashes of firelight.
It was Sol.
His arrival was so quiet that it felt as though he had always been standing there.
Nobara's pupils contracted.
She instinctively tightened her grip on her hammer and nails, her body tensing as caution and confusion filled her eyes.
Why was Sol here?
Why had he sealed Gojo Satoru?
Why was he helping her?
Countless questions flooded her mind.
Had everything been a lie?
The missions she, Yuji Itadori, and Megumi Fushiguro had completed alongside Sol...
The guidance he had given them...
The countless moments when he had protected everyone during life and death situations...
Were all of those nothing more than an act?
If they had been genuine, then why had he sealed Gojo Satoru?
What was real?
What was false?
Her thoughts swirled into complete chaos.
Was Sol truly an enemy?
He had sealed Gojo Satoru. That fact was undeniable. Mechamaru had relayed the information, and Yuji's desperate shouts had confirmed it.
Yet now, Sol stood before her, effortlessly stopping the strange blade that had nearly wounded her.
Why?
Was this nothing more than a cruel display of hypocrisy?
Or did he have another reason entirely?
Haruta's uneasy voice shattered the silence.
"You... who are you?!"
A faint tremor crept into his words.
He frantically poured more Cursed Energy into his suspended Cursed Tool, desperately trying to reclaim control. Instead, his energy disappeared into an immeasurable force that suppressed and swallowed it whole.
That overwhelming control filled him with genuine fear.
Sol did not answer.
He did not even spare Haruta a glance.
Instead, his eyes settled on Nobara.
His expression remained composed, betraying neither hostility nor apology, as though stopping the attack had required no effort at all.
Tilting his head slightly, he looked at the long blade suspended motionless in the air, held fast by his telekinesis.