The day, Yukino didn't show up to school. She had requested leave in advance, g that she wasn't feeling well.

  "Yukino didn't e today?" Mai asked curiously, notig the absence. She looked over at Ryuji, who seemed unusually casual about the whole thing.

  "Yeah," Ryuji responded easily. "She's resting today."

  "First, you were out yesterday. Now, Yukino?" Mai raised an eyebrow, her suspis clearly rising.

  Ryuji just chuckled, giving her a pyful kno the head. "Don't overthink it, Mai. You've got more important things to focus on, like actually learning how to use cursed energy."

  "I'm trying!" Mai pouted, rubbing her head. She had been putting in the effort, but sensing cursed energy wasn't ing as easily to her as she had hoped.

  Just as Mai was about to pin more, Hana suddenly excimed iement.

  "I did it! I finally sensed cursed energy!" Hana shouted, her face lighting up with pride.

  "No way…" Mai stared in disbelief. Hana, the girl she had least expected to succeed first, had beateo it. "You've gotta be kidding me…"

  Before she could process her shock, Miko raised her hand calmly. "I think I've got it too."

  A faint light-blue gloeared at her fiips, marking her success as well.

  "…"

  Mai stared at her friends in silence, feeling utterly defeated. Of all people, how did she end up the st one?

  Ryuji chuckled at her rea but didn't say anything. He just gave her a knowing look. Mai, feeling the pressure of Ryuji's gaze, quickly turned back to her practice, her face set with determination.

  "I'll get it today, just wait!" she muttered to herself, now more motivated than ever.

  Ryuji, amused by her resolve, turned his attention to Yotsuya and Hana, both of whom were clearly thrilled by their progress.

  "Well done, both of you," he said with a nod of approval. "Sensing cursed energy is the first step, but now the real training begins. trol, focus, and application. You'll need all of it."

  The thing about Cursed Energy is that it's always hardest in the beginning. Onao dense a bit of cursed energy, everything starts to flow more easily."

  Everything is hard at the start.

  It's the same as how going from 0 to 1 is much harder than going from 1 to 100.

  Starting from nothing is always the most difficult part.

  But once you have something to build on, things will naturally bee easier.

  "Hm!"

  Hearing Ryuji say this, both Hana and Miko obediently nodded in agreement.

  "By the way, Ryuji, are you sure everything was fierday?"

  Miko knew why Ryuji had taken a day off, but even though he was standing in front of her perfectly fine, she was still a bit ed.

  "Don't worry!"

  Seeing Miko's worried look, Ryuji smiled and waved dismissively.

  "Didn't I say? I'm really strong!"

  Ryuji's fidence made Miko giggle softly.

  "I'll do my best to help you, Ryuji-kun!"

  Miko wasn't someone who craved power. She wasn't desperate to get stronger, but retly, she had been trying to build up her strength so that when Ryuji faced danger, she could at least help him.

  Not necessarily fight by his side.

  But at the very least, she didn't want to be a burden.

  "And me! I'll help too!"

  Hana, who had been standing quietly beside them, suddenly raised her hand and shouted excitedly.

  Her i personality meant she probably didn't uand the full weight of her words.

  But it didn't matter.

  The thought itself was enough.

  Ryuji wouldn't force them to do anything, so he just smiled aly patted both Miko and Hana on the head.

  "Take it step by step, o rush with your training."

  "Yes!" they both responded seriously, nodding their heads.

  inally, they were eager to take advantage of the moment they sensed a bit of cursed energy and tinue practig, but just then—

  "Ryuji! Ryuji!"

  Saki came running in, her face beaming with excitement.

  Following behind her was a girl in a high school uniform. She didn't seem shy at all. In fact, she looked around the room curiously as soon as she entered.

  "Ryuji! I found someone who experienced something strange!"

  "..."

  Is it really okay to be this excited about someone else entering a cursed i? She probably just saw this as a ake some money.

  Ryuji didn't let it bother him. Instead, he g the girl Saki had brought with her.

  Her appearance was average, nothing that stood out.

  But in a pce like Tokyo, makeup was so on that even a pin-looking girl could be transformed into something else entirely with a few yers of foundation.

  Of course, Ryuji wasn't ed with appearances. What truly caught his attention was that the girl didn't give off any cursed energy ative aura.

  "Are you sure about this?" he asked Saki, raising an eyebrow.

  "Of course!" Saki replied, looking indignant, as if Ryuji had doubted her abilities. "Riko herself told me about it, and she seemed really serious!"

  Saki had been struggling to find anyone who had experienced something supernatural. But as soon as she left the earlier, she overheard someoalking about a stra they'd gohrough. Excited, she immediately asked the person if it was true, and when they firmed it, she wasted no time bringing them over.

  That person was, of course, Riko.

  "So, what happely?" Ryuji asked, still somewhat skeptical but willing to hear her out.

  "Well…"

  Riko wasn't shy. She immediately started expining her situation.

  Initially, Saki looked hopeful, excited about finally having a case to solve.

  But as Riko kept talking, the expressions of everyone else in the room slowly started to ge.

  By the time she finished her story, Saki's face was frozen in disbelief.

  Miko and Hana, who had been curious, couldn't help but g Saki.

  Was this really what she meant by a stra?

  The issue wasn't anything supernatural.

  It was what Riko said :

  "Every time I see him, my heart starts beating faster. I dream about him all the time. When I don't see him, I miss him so much. I just want to be with him forever. What do you think? Do you think something weird is happening to me?"

  At the end, she looked at them expetly, waiting for their validation.

  The boy Riko was referring to was just a cssmate of hers.

  Ryuji didn't say anything.

  A stra?

  No, this was just a textbook case of someone being head over heels in love.

  "This… this is what you meant by a strange i?" Saki asked, her mouth twitg in frustration. If Riko had said it was just a crush from the beginning, Saki wouldn't have dragged her here and embarrassed herself. She g Ryuji and the others, w if they were silently ughing at her.

  "What's wrong?" Riko asked, clearly not uanding what the problem was.

  "If I wasn't possessed by a ghost, why would I be following him home i? There's definitely something off. It's like something's taken over my body!"

  "… No, you're just being a stalker! That's not possession."

  "Well, teically, a stalker," Ryuji thought, but didn't say out loud. After all, she was a girl. They'd probably bel her something less harsh.

  "I'm sorry. This isn't something I help with," Saki sighed, clearly embarrassed. "You should probably just go."

  "How could this be?! I really thought you could help!" Riko pouted, clearly unhappy, but eventually stomped her feet a.

  With that, the stratle episode ended, leaving Saki sitting at her desk, utterly defeated.

  "Ugh, life..."

  "Enough already, don't let it get to you," Ryuji said, not making a big deal out of it. Even if it was a ridiculous situation, it was just one of those silly moments in life.

  "Well, anyway, the real cursed events haven't fully spread yet. But soon, more people will e to ask for help."

  "Really?" Saki perked up at the idea, but then quickly realized something.

  If more people e asking for help, doesn't that mean more people will be in danger? What kind of person am I, hoping for that to happen?

  "Whatever, I'm over it," Saki grumbled, waving her hand dismissively.

  "But speaking of which, doesn't Ryuji-kun seem a little different today?" she asked, suddenly notig something.

  "What? Have I beore handsome?"

  Ryuji smiled casually.

  "Handsome? I don't know about that, but you're definitely as shameless as always!" Saki joked, ughing.

  "Brat!" Ryuji chuckled. He ehese little moments. The higher one's strength, the lohings became. pared to endless battles, Ryuji preferred these peaceful, everyday iions.

  There were still a few days before the weekend, and for now, Ryuji didn't have much to do.

  "Strahough. Why hasn't there been any news from Jujutsu High?"

  They had been so desperate for help, but in the past few days, it was as if something had e up. They'd gone pletely silent.

  "They couldn't have been attacked, could they?"

  It wasn't impossible. Even though Jujutsu High rotected by the barriers set up by Master Tehose who kengen well uood that he wasn't as infallible as people thought. He had tricked special-grade sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo, leading to her death. He had lived for thousands of years, and while that was impressive, he was still just an old an at the end of the day.

  "Eh, whatever. It's not my problem as long as it doesn't affect my life."

  Over the past few days, Kitagawa, who had always been cheerful and outgoing, had beuch quieter. She used to be lively in css, but now she barely spoke.

  Having seen a cursed spirit with her own eyes, it was only natural she'd be affected. No matter how carefree someone was, witnessing something like that would leave a mark.

  "Marin?"

  Her friends, notig her dazed expression, approached her with .

  "Are you alright? You've been so quiet tely."

  "Did something happen?"

  Mariated for a moment, wanting to say something, but in the end, she just shook her head.

  "It's fine. I'm okay."

  Even though Utahime had said she didn't o keep the existence of cursed spirits a secret, what was she supposed to say? "Hey, did you know monsters are real?"

  Sometimes, it was better not to know certain things.

  "What is that?"

  During lunch, Marin saw Ryuji walking outside the . Her face immediately turned cold, and she stood up as if to front him, but by the time she reacted, he had already passed by.

  Her cssmates noticed too.

  "Hey, wasn't that Ryuji?"

  "Yeah, that's him! He got top marks on the exams!"

  "He's amazing!"

  "And kinda cute, don't you think?"

  Watg Marin's rea, some of the girls started teasing her.

  "Wait, do you like Ryuji-senpai?"

  Marin's rea hadn't gone unnoticed.

  "I k! You're so bold, Marin!"

  "Wow, go for it!"

  "If you like someone, you should go after them with everything you've got!"

  "Yeah! Don't give up!"

  "__"

  ***

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