Yukiori lowered his gaze to his wrist, gripped by Suguru Geto.
He bristled at the touch but didn't wrench free, instead saying unhappily, "Let go."
Geto sensed his overstep, releasing him while saying, "I'm Suguru Geto, a student at Tokyo Jujutsu High."
Yukiori's expression turned odd. Why introduce himself?
Wait…
This Geto, a sorcerer, couldn't tell he was a cursed spirit?!
Perhaps Yukiori's stare was too striking, as Geto nearly wondered if something was on him.
He recalled his classmate's words: weird bangs, squinting eyes, really that strange…?
Yukiori, bewildered, glanced at himself, then uncertainly at Geto.
He still disliked sorcerers, maybe because he was a cursed spirit…
"If you're in trouble, I can help. I'll do my best, as thanks for earlier," Geto offered, repaying a favor—a normal gesture.
Yukiori thought of the pitifully weak cursed spirit he'd crushed, acting only because he thought Geto was ordinary.
Had he known Geto was a sorcerer, he wouldn't have intervened.
"I don't need help. Just leave," Yukiori said, wanting Geto gone—or to flee himself.
He had no desire to die by a sorcerer's hand.
Though a cursed spirit, he'd never harmed anyone, often purging malevolent spirits instead.
Subconsciously, Yukiori didn't see cursed spirits as kin, but his fear of sorcerers seemed ingrained.
Yukiori's haste made Geto recall the earlier scene.
If Yukiori knew of sorcerers and cursed spirits, why was he so eager to leave?
That look was more like… fear?
Piecing together the inconsistencies, Geto's thoughts reached a logical threshold.
How had Yukiori appeared? If not a ghost, then what?
He was still a bit off.
Seeing Geto linger, Yukiori prepared to slip away.
He was fast—no sorcerer had ever caught him!
"Did you sneak out from home?" Geto guessed, thinking Yukiori, like Satoru Gojo, might be a clan heir, aware of cursed spirits and sorcerers, perhaps a sorcerer himself.
Clans were strict with their children, as Gojo had mentioned.
That would explain everything.
Yukiori couldn't help but retort, "Can't you tell I'm a cursed spirit?"
Geto didn't react immediately, only staring after Yukiori repeated himself.
"What kind of joke is that? You're clearly…"
"… "
"Now you're scared, huh? I'm in a good mood, so I won't kill you. Get lost!"
Yukiori's bravado—I'm tough, you'd better run—made Geto think he didn't look like a killer.
Even if a cursed spirit, he seemed easily pushed around.
"… "
Geto didn't fully buy Yukiori's claim.
He'd never seen a cursed spirit so beautiful, nor one lacking the twisted aura of its kind.
But…
How to explain Yukiori's oddities?
Geto stood still, saying, "If you're a cursed spirit, as a sorcerer, I must exorcise you. Why would I let you go?"
What kind of dumb cursed spirit outs itself to a sorcerer?
"Because you won't leave me alone!"
Yukiori grew annoyed. He'd wanted to avoid sorcerers, yet this one kept talking…
"Move, or I won't be polite."
The air's temperature plummeted. Geto noticed dripping water freeze, his breath forming white puffs.
The chill pierced his bones until he channeled cursed energy, easing it slightly.
Still skeptical, Geto tested his technique on Yukiori.
His Cursed Spirit Manipulation should react if Yukiori was a cursed spirit.
To his shock, the technique vanished upon touching Yukiori.
Only one explanation: Yukiori was not just a cursed spirit, but a high-grade one!
Yukiori, seeing Geto act against him, felt aggrieved.
He'd harmed no one, hiding and fleeing just for being a cursed spirit.
Did he deserve exorcism just for existing?!
Sure…
Those ugly spirits deserved it, but Yukiori felt wronged—he wasn't hideous.
Geto didn't know what to do. His duty as a sorcerer demanded he exorcise all cursed spirits, his reason for being one.
Yet he couldn't act. He'd softened toward a cursed spirit.
In the standoff, Geto heard soft sobs.
Hesitantly, he looked at Yukiori, whose shoulders trembled, tears falling onto freshly formed frost.
Could cursed spirits… cry?
This shattered Geto's understanding. He reached out, flustered, "Don't cry…"
He hadn't done anything, so why was Yukiori crying…?
Could such a cursed spirit harm anyone?
Geto wanted to smack his head. Why was he making excuses for this spirit?
But his mouth was more honest.
"I didn't know you were… Sorry for scaring you."
What was he saying?!
How could those words come from him?!
Hearing the apology, Yukiori cautiously lifted his head, his tear-streaked face devoid of menace—though it never had any.
He didn't know why he cried; vague memories told him things shouldn't be this way.
"Why should I trust you? You sorcerers would die to exorcise cursed spirits…"
Yukiori had seen sorcerers risk their lives to purge spirits, like one that killed many and deserved it.
He'd wondered if he, too, should be exorcised, but a faint voice insisted someone was waiting for him.
So Yukiori wandered the world, unsure how long had passed, only recalling cherry blossoms blooming and falling, countless times.