"I see, no wonder she's acting like a rookie soldier on their first battlefield... Shouldn't we help her?"
"No need."
Roy shook his head dismissively.
"She can handle it."
Showing not the slightest concern for Bocchi-chan's safety.
Seeing her teacher's attitude, Miko decided not to press further.
But could that girl really manage?
Watching the scene unfold, Miko couldn't help but worry deeply for her.
On the road.
The cursed spirit caught its breath and regained some stamina.
Seeing Bocchi-chan still running back and forth, it timed her approach and leaped with all its might, landing precisely in front of her.
"ROAR—!"
Then it opened its bloody maw and unleashed a furious howl.
"Eeeeeek!!!"
The monster she'd been avoiding suddenly appeared before her. Bocchi-chan turned pale as if drained of all color.
She tried to turn and flee but found her momentum too great to stop. Panic swelled rapidly in her chest, and in her frantic state, she began hurling everything on her person as makeshift weapons.
The slug curse nestled comfortably in her arms.
It treated the cursed spirit's roars and its master's screams as white noise, dozing peacefully in her embrace. Though the sounds were rather loud, they didn't disturb its nap.
Suddenly, it felt itself airborne.
Blinking groggily awake.
Why was its master standing opposite?
Oh. It had been thrown.
"SPLAT!"
Then came sudden pain as it was flung against a nearby billboard, its body sliding down like limp sludge.
The slug curse rolled over on the ground, righting itself. Its eyestalks bulged with visible rage.
That cursed spirit!
That big, hairy idiot had just smashed it away!
That hurt!
It curled up its body, flicked its tail on the ground, and its petite frame drew a parabola in the sky, hurtling straight toward—
—only to land right on its master.
As if it had raged in anger for a brief moment, only for nothing to come of it.
Seeing this scene, Roy was utterly convinced.
What kind of master you are determines what kind of cursed spirit you create!
This damn thing was completely harmless from the start!
He should have just let Bocchi-chan fend for herself from the very beginning!
"Calm down! Don't you realize? Your speed far surpasses that cursed spirit's—just hit it once with a punch at that speed, and it's over!"
Roy couldn't hold back anymore and spoke up, suppressing his frustration.
If this kept up, he felt like it would turn into a massive joke!
Though it already seemed like one, letting it continue would only make it worse!
If people were drawn over, and someone filmed it to post online, it'd be a disaster.
He was, after all, a top-tier sorcerer. If his student turned out like this, what would people think?
Did he have no dignity left?
"Eh? Really?"
Bocchi-chan heard Roy's voice. She had been about to scream for help, but upon hearing his words, it suddenly clicked.
Oh!
From the very start, she hadn't even touched the cursed spirit.
It had been lagging behind her the whole time—only that one sudden leap brought it in front of her, but she had dodged it easily.
"Could it be… I'm actually strong?"
The thought bubbled up in Bocchi-chan's heart.
She cautiously glanced back, only to find the cursed spirit wasn't even trying to chase her.
Did it not want to?
No way!
It couldn't keep up!
All it could do was stare helplessly as she blazed past like a streak of lightning!
"Ahaha, I've really gotten strong?!"
Bocchi-chan's spirits instantly lifted, her face brimming with delight.
Only now did she realize—
She had been so terrified earlier that she hadn't noticed how fast she was running. Unconsciously, she had reinforced her body with cursed energy, sprinting as fast as a car, completely leaving the cursed spirit in the dust!
So strong!
She had become so strong!
It felt like power was surging endlessly from within her, as if her very soul was burning, her entire body overflowing with strength!
"UOOOOOHHHHH!!! I FEEL INVINCIBLE NOW!!!"
Bocchi-chan's confidence instantly skyrocketed, her self-assurance shooting up from negative to max—and still climbing.
It was as if a massive golden aura erupted from her body, piercing straight through the dark clouds in the sky.
"ORA!"
With all her momentum, she turned and charged straight at the cursed spirit. From dozens of meters away, she leapt into the air, delivering a flying kick straight to its face!
BOOM!
A sharp explosion rang out.
The giant, furry chestnut cursed spirit didn't even have time to react.
All it saw was a blur before an unstoppable force smashed into it head-on, obliterating it instantly.
Its body shattered into pieces in the blink of an eye, dissolving into black smoke.
"Hah…!"
Bocchi-chan landed on the ground and immediately sprang back to her feet.
Without turning back to look at the thoroughly dead curse spirit, she deliberately kept her back to it. A satisfied yet slightly empty smile appeared on her face as she gazed up at the sky, brushing aside the long bangs on her forehead.
"The sun's a bit too bright today!"
I'm so cool!
Ahhh! I'm so cool!!!
This scene must look absolutely badass!
I, Bocchi-chan, am destined to be a jujutsu sorcerer in this life!
I must join the jujutsu world, become a sorcerer, and be praised by thousands!
No one can stop me!
Meanwhile.
In front of the train station.
Roy undid the invisible runes.
"The rain stopped… and the sun's even out?"
Yotsuya Miko stepped out from under the steel awning above her and walked into the open space in front of the platform.
The scene she had just witnessed would probably be etched in her memory forever.
Roy followed her out.
He looked up at the sky.
The dark clouds that had been looming directly above them had vanished without a trace.
Amid the vast blanket of clouds covering the city, it was as if someone had carved out a hole—allowing a few rays of sunlight to peek through.
Roy adjusted his glasses.
A smile spread across his face, one filled with both delight and deep emotion.
"As expected, this power is truly formidable!"
...
"Come to this location I just sent you—now!"
Roy took out his phone and contacted Ijichi.
On the other end, Ijichi Kiyotaka let out the weary laugh of an overworked salaryman, not daring to disobey as he quickly agreed.
Miko blinked in surprise as she watched.
This white-haired young man… seemed to hold a pretty high status?
"Sensei, sensei, sensei! Did you get a picture of that just now?"
Bocchi-chan, having struck enough poses, bounded excitedly toward the platform.
Her face was practically glowing with unrestrained glee.
She could already imagine how much attention her cool moment would get once it spread online—how many people would beg to add her as a friend!
Heh, from now on, not just anyone would be worthy of being her friend!
"I didn't take one."
"...Huh?"
Bocchi-chan's smile froze instantly.
Her entire body seemed to morph into a child's messy doodle—colors bleeding outside the lines, her hair spilling beyond its borders, and her facial features taking on an abstract, Picasso-esque quality.
Miko stared at Bocchi-chan, her jaw slackening in shock.
Is… is this kid even human?
"Generally speaking, ordinary people can't see cursed spirits. Even cameras can't capture them. Even if I had taken a picture just now, it would've just been you goofing off by yourself."
Roy offered a perfectly polite smile as he watched Bocchi-chan's horrified expression.
"Besides, according to Jujutsu Regulation Article 8, sorcerers are obligated to keep their work confidential from non-sorcerers."
"Anyway, just keep at it. Maybe one day you'll get accidentally caught on camera, just like I did back in April."
If a commotion drew too much attention from bystanders and someone managed to film the fight and upload it online, there was no way to prevent that kind of leak.
Bocchi-chan instantly lost all color, collapsing to the ground before turning into a pile of ash with a gust of wind.
She didn't even need cremation.
All that effort she put into posing!
They say real men never look back at explosions—she deliberately didn't look back and even delivered a cool one-liner, all for the sake of capturing the most badass moment!
But why does the jujutsu world have rules like this?!
She wants to quit the jujutsu world.
She doesn't want to be a sorcerer anymore!
Miko stared at the pile of ash on the ground, her mouth hanging even wider now.
The slug-like cursed spirit wriggled up from the dust, using its antennae to sweep and reshape Bocchi-chan back into human form.
Before long.
Ijichi Kiyotaka arrived at the scene in a hurry.
"Is this Bocchi-chan's first mission? That's amazing!"
"Thank you for the praise! I still have a lot to learn, so I'll keep working hard!"
Hearing Kiyotaka's generous compliments, Bocchi-chan instantly revived at full health, standing up from the ground in human form.
Rubbing the back of her head, she spoke humbly, but the smile on her face bloomed like a chrysanthemum, even revealing her gums.
"That's Yotsuya Miko. Register her as a Window," Roy instructed Ijichi Kiyotaka, pointing at the girl beside him.
"And personally escort her home."
"Yes, understood!"
Kiyotaka respectfully complied.
Seeing this, Miko nodded in gratitude to Roy before following Kiyotaka away.
Though her expression remained somewhat dazed.
After experiencing something like this, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
Not long after, Kiyotaka sent a message: "Yotsuya Miko has been safely escorted home."
"Did you see her parents?"
"Only her mother."
"Any other abnormalities?"
"? None that I noticed."
Roy put down his phone, his expression slightly pensive.
Kiyotaka, after all, had studied at Jujutsu High—though he eventually dropped out, fleeing the path of a sorcerer to become the less demanding assistant supervisor. Still, his observational skills remained sharp.
If he said there were no abnormalities, then Miko's household was likely truly unremarkable.
In other words, Miko wasn't forcibly pulled into this world like Utaha and the others. Instead, she had always lived here.
Just like Bocchi-chan and Kita-chan, she was a native of this world.
This was getting more and more confusing.
Though he had encountered many instances of characters crossing worlds, this was the first time he had seen worlds themselves merging.
Something felt off.
A strong sense of dissonance lingered.
Yet he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong or where the dissonance came from.
Could it be that, among so many worlds, this kind of fusion was actually the norm?
…Whatever.
With his current abilities, he couldn't analyze this phenomenon.
Since this world fusion didn't seem harmful, he'd leave it be for now and investigate further when the opportunity arose.
Outskirts of Tokyo, foothills of Nobeyama.
Not long after hanging up, Roy returned to Jujutsu High's campus with Bocchi-chan.
By now, the sun had set.
A desolate autumn wind swept in from the horizon, climbing the foothills along the steps and cooling the air around the school.
"Hum hum hum~!"
Bocchi-chan followed behind Roy, taking three steps at a time with an exaggerated swagger.
She felt like she had reached the peak of life.
"BOOM!"
Then, a deafening explosion erupted from within the school grounds.
"What was that? What was that?!"
Bocchi-chan instantly reverted to her original form, instinctively hiding behind Roy and peeking out with just her small head, her face filled with panic as she stared at the school in the distance.
Sure, she had grown stronger.
But she didn't think for a second she could just waltz around Jujutsu High unscathed.
If even the school was under attack, the enemy was definitely beyond her ability to handle!
Maybe she should just run away?
With her current abilities, she was more than capable of showing off in front of Nijika and the others, basking in their admiration!
"Looks like a troublemaking student has arrived."
Roy also came to a halt, narrowing his eyes as he surveyed the scene in the distance. His keen vision quickly took in everything happening on the school grounds.
He picked up Bocchi-chan and, with a single step, shot into the air before landing precisely in the direction of the school building.
Bocchi-chan's face was tense.
She was scared.
But she wouldn't say it!
She was a mature sorcerer now—she had to get used to this flying-around feeling!
The moment Roy touched down, a tall figure with a pineapple-like hairstyle emerged from the billowing smoke.
"I heard there's a transfer student in Tokyo Jujutsu High's first year—is that you?"
His expression icy, he fixed Roy with a piercing gaze.
"I have a very serious question for you. Depending on your answer, I'll decide whether you'll participate in tomorrow's exchange event half-dead or completely crippled!"
"—What type of women do you like?"