"Ieiri-senpai, how is Mei Mei doing?"
Yuji Itadori watched Shoko Ieiri emerge from the operating room, unable to hold back the question.
Over the past few days, he'd come to think quite highly of Mei Mei. He genuinely didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
The same went for Nanami-sensei. Yuji flat-out refused to believe that someone so kind and responsible could have slaughtered all those people.
In truth, the jujutsu world had already split into two factions. One side demanded that Nanami Kira be convicted and exorcised on the spot as a Curse User.
The other believed there had to be more to the story—that Kira had been framed. This faction consisted mostly of his admirers and those who'd worked alongside him.
The two camps were at each other's throats. As for the Big Three Families: the Gojo Clan, led by Satoru Gojo, supported Kira. The Zenin Clan's head, on the other hand, had personally stepped in to demand Kira's immediate execution.
The connections Kira had forged in Kyoto were paying off now. The Kyoto sorcerers, grateful for his role in saving their city, rallied behind him.
In short, the entire jujutsu world was in chaos—mud-slinging from every direction.
"She's out of danger for now."
Ieiri pulled down her surgical mask, revealing a face drained of all enthusiasm.
She was the school physician at Tokyo Jujutsu High, one of Gojo's classmates, and one of the few people in the jujutsu world capable of using Reverse Cursed Technique for healing—which made her a prized asset. She was also incurably lazy, having obtained her medical license two years after graduation by cheating.
"A big hole blown through her abdomen. Regrettably, none of her organs were hit. More than half the bones in her body snapped from the impact. Unfortunately, no brain damage."
"In short, she'll be discharged soon. Nanami Kira didn't go for the kill."
This wasn't because Kira was merciful. He didn't care whether Mei Mei lived or died.
He simply hadn't given up on his quiet life yet. Killing someone in broad daylight meant there was no going back.
He still held out hope.
Ieiri delivered this with an expression of genuine disappointment. Yuji even caught her murmuring under her breath: "Can't dissect her after all. What a shame."
...Yuji did his best to pretend he hadn't heard whatever terrifying thing Ms. Ieiri just said. The boy scratched the back of his head.
"Nana—Kira-senpai... what's happening with him now? What did the higher-ups decide?"
Ieiri sighed. Her already gloomy aura deepened. She pressed her fingers against her temples.
"They're still arguing about what to do with him. The final judgment will be delivered tomorrow, at Jujutsu Headquarters. Life or death—it all comes down to tomorrow."
She rubbed her temples again, grimacing.
"But if he keeps refusing to turn himself in, the result of tomorrow's trial is a foregone conclusion."
"Deploy all available forces. Exorcise Nanami Kira. No mercy."
"I don't believe Kira-senpai killed anyone."
Yuji protested. "His fighting stance against Cursed Spirits has always been that cool, and the stuff he shouts sounds like something a good guy would say! There's no way he's the kind of person who looks perfectly ordinary on the surface but is secretly some twisted, deranged serial killer!"
"Your opinion doesn't count. And he still hasn't turned himself in."
Ieiri's face was blank. "Jujutsu Headquarters will make it a fait accompli."
"The bounty's already been posted. More and more people will be hunting him down."
A trace of sorrow crossed her features. She pressed her lips together. "It's a sad thing."
"You're worried about Kira-senpai too, Ms. Ieiri?"
Ieiri gave Yuji a look that was half-smile, half-something else, and shook her head. "That's not what I meant, kid. You've got it wrong."
"Huh?"
"Nanami Kira is a few years older than me, but he, Gojo, and I were actually in the same year. I know his personality fairly well."
Ieiri looked Yuji in the eye and said, very seriously: "He's a monster."
"I can feel it."
Her voice dropped, gone hoarse. "He's been holding back this entire time. For the sake of what he calls his 'quiet life,' he's been holding himself in check all along."
"There's a scale in his heart. Humanity on one side. The monster on the other."
"But the moment Headquarters hands down the final verdict—when the arrest warrant truly goes out, when countless sorcerers come for his head, when he realizes that his quiet life can never be reclaimed—"
Ieiri paused, then continued in a tone that sent a chill down Yuji's spine:
"The balance on that scale will shatter."
Yuji stared into her eyes. His hands and feet had gone cold, and he didn't know why.
"A lot of people will die. And that means my workload as a doctor will increase—dissecting a different body every day."
She sighed, resigned.
"It'll be exhausting. That's why I was sighing just now."
A day passed quickly.
Yesterday's storm clouds still hadn't dispersed. It was clearly going to rain again.
The crabapple blossoms, battered by the sudden downpour, hung their heads in defeat. The courtyard was littered with broken branches and wilted leaves. Plants that had been thriving were now on the verge of death, beaten into submission by the violent rain.
The trial was set at the Zenin estate.
One of the Big Three Families—the most prestigious clan in the entire jujutsu world.
The compound stretched for kilometers: blue brick, red tile, rich with the elegance of old Japan, built into the mountainside. A staircase climbed from the base all the way to the summit—ten thousand steps in total.
Today, the judgment of Nanami Kira would begin.
Even though everyone already knew the outcome.
Inside a council hall the size of half a football pitch, attendees knelt on both sides, silently counting down the time.
A glance across the room revealed half the jujutsu world's power.
Jinichi Zenin, Special Grade 1 Sorcerer. Naoya Zenin, Special Grade 1 Sorcerer. Ogi Zenin, Special Grade 1 Sorcerer. Representatives from the Kamo Clan and the Gojo Clan. From Kyoto Jujutsu High: Yoshinobu Gakuganji, Utahime Iori, Aoi Todo—all Grade 1 Sorcerers.
And the principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High, along with the entire first-year class.
Altogether, several dozen sorcerers.
This was less a trial than a war council. Kira still hadn't surrendered.
Even his supporters, who continued to argue on his behalf, were losing ground by the day.
If he's innocent, why won't he face trial?
"I hereby announce—"
Ogi Zenin glanced at his watch and spoke in a deep voice. "Regarding the trial of semi-special grade sorcerer Nanami Kira—"
Nanami Kira dragged a corpse dozens of meters long, climbing the staircase one step at a time. Putrid blood trailed behind him on the stone, streaming all the way down.
From the summit, the trail of blood stretched back along those ten thousand steps like a rotting dragon, nourishing the flowers along the path.
He straightened his tie and knocked on the great door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Knock.