According to Mahiko's examination, Kin-chan was physically unharmed — if anything, she was brimming with energy and remarkably healthy.
She was growing.
Just as human children experience growing pains when they shoot up in height, Kin-chan's body had undergone a tremendous degree of growth in the modern era, resulting in a state of discomfort not unlike falling ill.
But Cursed Spirits were not human.
If a human child had growing pains, Mahiko could have treated them directly with her own Jujutsu Technique — but Kin-chan was a Cursed Spirit, and a Cursed Spirit's growth was growth of the soul and of Cursed Energy. Mahiko didn't dare go poking around carelessly.
So the only thing she could do was rush home together with Jogo and Hanami, carrying Kin-chan back to the house and laying her in bed to be looked after with great care.
Throughout the process, Kin-chan was flushed all over — face burning red, body radiating heat at a temperature so high it felt like it could bring water to a boil. Mahiko sat at her bedside, continuously channeling her own Cursed Energy to assist Kin-chan, performing careful, guiding work.
Around late that night, Kin-chan's fever finally broke and her condition improved.
Mahiko and Jogo finally let out a breath of relief.
Kin-chan had grown — but she had not crossed over from a Cursed Womb into her complete form.
Still, based on Mahiko's observation, Kin-chan's Technique seemed to have undergone some subtle change.
It seemed… there was already a divergence from the original work.
About half an hour later, Kin-chan woke up.
Mahiko asked how she was feeling. Kin-chan blinked back at her with a blank expression. "Nothing seems different," Kin-chan said.
Mahiko, Hanami, and the others exchanged glances. They felt it was genuinely a little unreasonable for Kin-chan to have shown no change whatsoever. But since Kin-chan herself said so, there was nothing to do but leave it for now.
Then, half an hour later — just as they had finally managed to put the whole Kin-chan situation to the back of their minds — Kin-chan came bounding back out to them, bouncing on her heels, practically vibrating with excitement.
"I think I learned how to divine!" The girl planted her fists on her hips, eyes shining, beside herself with excitement.
"Divine?" Mahiko heard the word and blinked. "As in — divination?"
This was completely different from the original work.
Could it be that altering a Cursed Spirit's experiences and path while she was still in the Cursed Womb stage could also cause her Technique to change later down the line?
And of all things, divination… Logically speaking, divination shouldn't have anything to do with an element like water. And wasn't an ability with some degree of future-predicting power just a little too overpowered?
Mahiko was more than a little skeptical. "Why don't you… give us a demonstration?"
And so Mahiko, Jogo, and Hanami all watched as Kin-chan lugged a basin of water out from the bathroom and scattered a handful of sand into it.
Then stirred it vigorously. Back and forth, around and around.
And then waited quietly for the swirling water to slow, and still.
The sand settled to the bottom of the basin and gradually revealed a strange pattern — one that had an odd, otherworldly beauty to it.
Mahiko watched from the sidelines and blinked.
It was remarkable. She could tell Kin-chan wasn't just playing around.
Because she genuinely sensed a Cursed Energy signature from that basin — from the pattern in the sand — that was entirely unlike anything Kin-chan had ever produced before. "And then?" Mahiko blinked and asked.
"Hold on." Kin-chan rubbed her chin, staring intently at the basin, her small face scrunched into an extremely serious expression. "I'm translating!"
And then from outside came the sound of a dog barking — probably a neighbor walking their dog past the house.
Mahiko, Jogo, and Hanami all stood there watching as Kin-chan crouched at the rim of the basin, brow furrowed, puzzling over it for approximately ten minutes.
At last the girl's eyes lit up, and she excitedly announced to them that the result of this divination was: ten seconds from now, a dog would walk past their house.
Mahiko and Hanami exchanged a glance.
For a moment, neither of them knew quite what to say — whether the divination had been accurate or not.
"What's the point of that?" Jogo crossed her arms, shooting a pointed, sharp-eyed remark. "Even assuming what you said is true, that doesn't count as divination. At best, that's historical review."
And the content she'd divined wasn't particularly useful, either.
Kin-chan froze at that.
Then her face went red. She puffed up with indignation, cheeks swelling out like a steamed bun. "What do you mean it's useless!" Kin-chan argued back at Jogo. "I only put in a little bit of sand just now! The more sand I use, and the more Cursed Energy I put in, the more important the thing I divine will be!"
Jogo frowned. "The amount of time it takes is still far too long."
"That's because the Cursed Energy and the amount of sand weren't enough, which is why I could only predict something ten seconds away!" Kin-chan puffed her cheeks and continued arguing. "I'll predict something important for tomorrow right now!"
And with that, Kin-chan ran off and dragged the large fish tank over.
She moved the fish out into the basin first.
Then she began her divination with the large fish tank, pouring enormous amounts of sand into it. Stirring. And once she'd stirred and the water had gone still, she began again with the same scrunched little face, puzzling out what the pattern inside actually meant.
Mahiko and Hanami looked at each other again.
What else could they do? Wait.
So they waited.
This time, the amount of time Kin-chan spent on her "analysis" was extraordinary.
The girl's expression visibly worsened as the minutes ticked by, her little face growing more and more furrowed, until finally she got frustrated and summoned several small fish out of the water — fish that floated through the air — and began holding a conference with them.
Whatever they were communicating about, it was all murmurs and chirps.
Leaving Jogo and Mahiko to wait, utterly bored, stifling yawns, starting to nod off.
"Call me when you're done…" Mahiko yawned, rolling over on the sofa. "I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit."
And then Mahiko actually fell asleep.
She had surveillance set up within a two-hundred-meter radius around the house — even if someone attacked, Mahiko would receive advance warning.
So Mahiko closed her eyes and rested.
She fell asleep — and even in sleep, she had a sense that a long time was passing.
Finally, in a hazy half-dream, she was called awake.
"Mm?" Mahiko raised her head in confusion.
Jogo and Hanami had already gone upstairs to rest. Since Mahiko had said to turn off the lights before going to bed, the main overhead light in the living room was off, leaving only a small lamp for illumination.
And there in front of her, Kin-chan was clinging to the edge of the sofa, staring at Mahiko face-to-face — she had just been the one to wake her.
Mahiko blinked in confusion, because she could see that Kin-chan's expression was troubled. Her eyes were even a little red.
"What's wrong?" Mahiko was thoroughly puzzled.
Kin-chan's mood was low. "Big sis Mahiko, I've finished the divination…"
"Oh, you're done — and? What did it say?"
"The divination says that tomorrow morning, not long after you go out, you'll get caught up in a really intense conflict — there's going to be a fierce battle…" So that was why Kin-chan's eyes were brimming with tears — she was worried about Mahiko. "Big sis Mahiko… do you want to ask big sis Jogo to go with you tomorrow…?"
Tomorrow… a conflict breaking out so soon after she stepped out in the morning?
Mahiko paused — then let out a quiet laugh. "Is that so… Tomorrow is the day the school exchange event begins."
Tomorrow morning, Megumi and the others had arranged to come find her and bring her along to participate in the exchange event between Jujutsu High's Tokyo and Kyoto sister schools — in other words, to participate in the grand "Capture Mahiko" tournament.
And Kin-chan had just predicted that tomorrow there would be a conflict… meaning she was going to run into danger shortly after stepping out the door in the morning?
How accurate Kin-chan's divination actually was would need further verification.
That she'd run into danger — Mahiko wasn't surprised by that, and she certainly wasn't afraid.
"It's all right." Mahiko pulled Kin-chan's head into her arms and patted it reassuringly. "I'm very strong, you know."
There would be a conflict — but Mahiko was certain that Satoru Gojo and the other Special Grades wouldn't be showing up, and certain that she wouldn't need to set foot inside Jujutsu High. So whatever happened, it didn't really matter.
If anything, the more likely scenario was… that tomorrow morning she'd be running into someone sent by Kenjaku.
"When the time comes, I'll give a signal — you all withdraw from the house or come help me based on the signal. If I don't give one, everything's fine."
Mahiko wasn't afraid of tomorrow's so-called "conflict" or so-called "danger" — if anything, she was more curious to see exactly what was going to happen to her.
"Don't worry." Mahiko patted Kin-chan's head. "I'm very strong."
She soothed Kin-chan and helped her settle down to sleep.
And then the next day, in the morning — not long after she had headed out together with Megumi and the others…
They did indeed run into a "conflict."
An extraordinarily "intense" conflict.
"Hey! Best friend! You've already got Nobara on your side — Mahiko should come with us!" Todo Aoi was grinning, dropping into a fighting stance right in front of them. "Even if you are my best friend, I won't hold back!"
Taking in the scene in front of her, Mahiko wore an expression of pure speechlessness.
So this was the "conflict" that was supposedly going to "break out"…
In a certain sense, it was indeed extremely "intense" and extremely "dangerous"…
____
👻🔥Read More: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting in The Long Dark with My Waifus
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone