JJK: Wheel of Time

"Shin."

Shin Shuichi had barely fallen asleep after finishing a late-night gaming session when he received a call from Fushiguro Megumi. The voice on the other end was slightly distorted, but the words that followed snapped Shin fully awake.

"My sister suddenly lost consciousness again. I've already called an ambulance, you—"

Shin barely caught the rest of the sentence. He shot out of bed and rushed to the Fushiguro house. When he arrived, Megumi was visibly panicking. Before the ambulance arrived, Shin tried using his reverse cursed technique to heal Tsukimi, but it had no effect.

Even the small improvements that did occur were minimal. Despite Shin's best efforts, Tsukimi's eyelids only fluttered briefly as if she was about to wake up, but she quickly slipped back into unconsciousness. The only bit of good news was that her vital signs were stable; it was as if she were simply in a deep sleep.

After Tsukimi was taken to the hospital and underwent a series of tests, the doctors were unable to find a cause. They concluded that everything appeared normal, except she wouldn't wake up. Even the doctors were at a loss.

However, Shin soon noticed something off. He sensed cursed energy coming from Tsukimi's body, and despite his attempts to dispel it, nothing worked.

"Could this be the same reason she fainted before? This is bad."

Shin immediately reached out to Gojo Satoru for help. Not long after, Gojo arrived at the hospital. After examining Tsukimi's condition, even Gojo's expression turned serious.

"It's definitely a curse, and it's an unknown and troublesome one. At least for now, I don't have a solution. We need to figure out the source of this curse. Has she been to any unfamiliar places recently or come into contact with any curses?"

Megumi sat in the hallway outside the hospital room, his head lowered as he thought for a moment. "No… my sister hasn't been anywhere unusual recently. There haven't been any traces of curses near the school or around the house."

The only silver lining was that Tsukimi seemed to be stable, with no immediate threat to her life. Gojo quickly arranged for a team to investigate the places Tsukimi had been recently. Since there was no immediate cure, she was transferred to a private hospital owned by the Gojo Clan for closer monitoring.

Seeing Megumi sitting in silence, Gojo walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Megumi."

Megumi, who had been quiet up to that point, looked up. "Sensei, if I go to Jujutsu High, will I become strong enough? Right now, it feels like I'm nowhere near capable of protecting the people I care about."

Gojo looked at the determined expression in the boy's eyes, the heir to the Zenin clan's inherited technique, and then said, "You can, Megumi. You have the talent. Wanting to protect the people you care about is a great mindset to have. Jujutsu sorcerers may draw their power from negative emotions, but it's convictions like this that give us strength."

After Tsukimi was taken away, Megumi returned home to pack his things. Standing beside Gojo, Shin broke the brief silence. "Sensei, isn't it more likely this is the work of a curse user? If she had accidentally encountered a curse, there would have been some kind of trace."

Gojo nodded. "It's not an ordinary curse. If it wasn't deliberately cast by someone with a grudge, then it's more likely to be a random attack."

"So, it's going to be difficult to track down the culprit?" Shin said, his face expressionless.

"A curse like this is cast with a purpose. If the caster has other plans in motion, they'll inevitably leave a trail."

Gojo turned and motioned for Shin to follow him. "Come on. By the way, when are you planning on becoming a special grade sorcerer?"

"Soon, once I fully master reverse cursed technique on a continuous basis. Sensei, is there anyone at Jujutsu High who can teach New Shadow Style? Since it'll take me some time to learn Domain Expansion, I figured I'd start with simple domains."

"There is. Your future second-year homeroom teacher, Kusakabe Atsuya, is an expert in that. He's a first-grade sorcerer without a technique of his own. Since Hakari and the others were suspended, Kusakabe doesn't have much to do these days. It's a good chance for you to learn from him."

Shin had heard about the second-year students being suspended. Apparently, Hakari Kinji and the others had clashed with the conservative faction during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons incident.

Shin didn't know the exact details, and he didn't ask Gojo about it. The higher-ups were notoriously good at playing political games. Whatever the original cause, the key issue was that Hakari couldn't control his temper and gave them an opening to exploit. The suspension was likely the result of a delicate balancing act.

By the time they returned to Jujutsu High in the car driven by Ijichi, the sun was rising over the mountains. After helping Megumi settle into his dorm, Shin, who hadn't rested all night, was still full of energy. His sleep had become very minimal these days—if necessary, he could even go without sleep entirely.

It was truly a luxury to snuggle under a warm blanket during the winter. Even though Shin Shuichi didn't really need to sleep, he enjoyed taking a break from the endless work and entertainment by indulging in sleep every day.

After greeting Panda and Maki, who had already started their morning training, Shin went off to find Kusakabe Atsuya.

After explaining the purpose of his visit, the middle-aged man with slightly disheveled hair, thick eyebrows, and a lollipop in his mouth readily agreed.

"This style can be learned at Jujutsu High as long as you have some accomplishments under your belt. You definitely qualify. Do you want to start now?"

Shin nodded. "Yes. I'm particularly interested in the Simple Domain aspect of the New Shadow Style, and I'd like to learn some of the other techniques while I'm at it."

Kusakabe took Shin to a spacious training hall and started explaining the concepts and basics of New Shadow Style while holding a wooden training sword.

Shin quickly grasped the techniques, focusing mainly on the Simple Domain and the methods of integrating cursed energy with cursed tools, which were a hallmark of New Shadow Style.

"Using cursed energy to construct a barrier technique doesn't involve a sorcerer's innate technique, so it's much simpler. However, its effects are also limited, which is why it's sometimes called the 'weak man's domain.'"

Shin maintained a sheathing posture as a basic Simple Domain formed around him, extending a few meters. He could feel that if any attack entered this domain, the technique would automatically launch a counterattack. But what Shin found most useful was its ability to neutralize an opponent's guaranteed hit inside their domain.

Kusakabe then swiftly thrust his wooden sword, the movement like a breeze brushing against the surface of a pond. Shin immediately sensed the intrusion of an "alien" object within the range of his domain. Without even realizing it, his wooden sword had unsheathed itself, deflecting Kusakabe's attack with ease.

Kusakabe sheathed his sword. "You've got talent, kid. No wonder you're Gojo's student. Take these techniques as a reference, and the rest is just practice."

With the lollipop in his mouth, he looked more like he was smoking a cigarette. Though impressed by Shin's quick learning, Kusakabe showed no other emotion. He had long accepted that there were always prodigies in this world—sorcerers who, unlike him, were born with innate talents. Kusakabe didn't care about any of that; he just wanted to live a peaceful life.

And often, it was those "tall people" who bore the brunt of the storms that came crashing down.

"Let's go eat," Kusakabe said, waving to Shin as he headed out.

Shin checked the time and realized it was already noon. After a quick shower, he called Fushiguro Megumi and they went to the cafeteria together.

The food at Jujutsu High's cafeteria was quite average—neither terrible nor great. The daily menu was fairly fixed, with only a few options to choose from. There weren't many people who regularly ate in the cafeteria since many were out on missions. Gojo Satoru, for example, was almost never around, and Shin had rarely seen him in the cafeteria.

When Shin entered, he spotted Panda and the others sitting together. He waved back at Panda and headed to the counter with Megumi to order food. They paid using Shin's student ID, although cash was also accepted.

After getting his tonkotsu ramen and tempura, Shin sat down and noticed Panda giving him a knowing look. "Shin, is that the Fushiguro Megumi you mentioned?"

Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki also looked curious. The last new student they had been expecting was currently still under Nanami Kento's care, and due to an incident before the second-year intake, he hadn't woken up yet. Though his recovery was inevitable, they hadn't had much chance to get to know him.

So, naturally, they felt a bit of affection for this new student, especially since he had grown up with Shin.

After Megumi sat down with his tray, Shin introduced him to everyone. "This is Fushiguro Megumi. I've mentioned him before. He's part of the next batch of students. Gojo-sensei asked me to bring him here early."

He turned to Megumi and introduced the others. "That's Panda—you know about him already." Panda grinned and greeted them.

"This is Toge Inumaki, a curse-speech user. He's really strong, but he usually speaks in keywords, so you might not understand him. You can always ask Panda to translate."

"Kelp," Inumaki greeted, nodding slightly.

"And this is Yuta Okkotsu. He was a special grade sorcerer. I think it won't be long before he's back at that level. Too bad you missed meeting Yuta's little girlfriend."

Yuta politely greeted Megumi, and then it was Maki's turn.

"This is Zen'in Maki. She's great with cursed tools. She'll help train you later on. You two know each other, right?"

Maki scrutinized Megumi before nodding. "Sort of. We met once when we were younger."

Seeing the others' curious gazes, Shin realized he hadn't told them that Megumi's original surname was Zen'in. But he shrugged it off—it wasn't important.

Although Megumi wasn't particularly outgoing, the introductions helped him fit in. They ate and chatted about recent events.

Nothing major had happened lately, except that Yuta mentioned Gojo had given him a mission that required him to go abroad.

"Yuta, don't forget to bring us back some souvenirs," Panda teased.

The group knew how capable Yuta was, especially after mastering the reverse cursed technique, so they wished him well and jokingly asked for souvenirs.

"No problem," Yuta replied with a smile.

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