The wind was still that morning.
No rustling leaves. No bird calls. No alarms or cries or laughter. Just stillness. As if the world itself was holding its breath.
Kishibe sat outside the dorm building, back resting against the wooden veranda, sipping lukewarm tea from a chipped ceramic cup. The air was cool, clean. The kind of weather that usually meant trouble was on its way. His side still ached faintly—residual pain from his last mission. But he had recovered enough.
Inside the dorms, Geto was humming to himself while folding laundry with uncanny precision. Gojo, meanwhile, was struggling to find matching socks, cursing quietly as he turned his drawers upside down.
None of them said it out loud, but they all felt it—something was coming. And it was big.
---
A knock came at their door around noon. Yaga stood there, arms folded, expression unreadable.
"Report to the tombs. Now."
Kishibe blinked. "That's sudden."
"No time for small talk," Yaga replied. "Tengen-sama wants to see the three of you. Personally."
Gojo whistled low. "Well, that's new."
They followed Yaga through the winding halls and down into the hidden subterranean pathways below Jujutsu High. The light dimmed the deeper they went, the torches along the walls flickering like faint memories of something sacred and old.
They arrived before an ancient circular door covered in sutras and symbols. Yaga stepped aside.
"Don't be rude," he said, though his tone carried weight. "This is serious."
The door creaked open with a hiss.
Inside, the air shifted.
Master Tengen didn't move, yet the sensation of their presence was overwhelming—like standing in the eye of an enormous storm. The central chamber was lined with scriptures and floating orbs, and in the center, rooted into a sacred pillar, was the still, ethereal form of Tengen. They were neither wholly present nor wholly gone.
"You've come," a voice echoed in their minds more than their ears. Calm, ageless.
The trio stood in silence until Gojo cracked, whispering to Geto, "So… do we bow? Nod? Kneel?"
"Be still," Tengen said, voice echoing deeper now.
All three straightened.
"I've summoned you to inform you of your next mission," Tengen began. "It is one that will shape the foundation of balance between the Jujutsu world and this country."
A ripple of tension passed between the trio.
"Each few centuries, I must merge with a compatible Star Plasma Vessel to maintain my stability," Tengen said. "Failure to do so… and my form may evolve beyond human reason. I would become something else. Something unstoppable."
"Unstable immortality," Geto muttered. "That's what they warned us about in class."
Tengen nodded—or perhaps the air simply pulsed in agreement.
"You will escort the chosen Vessel. Her name is Riko Amanai. She is young, but strong in will. There are enemies who seek to stop this merger. You must protect her. At all costs."
Gojo's brow furrowed. "Who are we up against?"
"Those who oppose the merger. Religious extremists. Curse users. Mercenaries. Assassins."
Kishibe felt something shift inside him. A mission to protect a girl. Again.
He didn't speak, but Geto glanced at him briefly.
Yaga stepped forward, clearing his throat. "You'll be deployed as soon as we receive word she's ready for transport. Tengen-sama has spoken."
The chamber dimmed again, and the sensation of Tengen's presence ebbed.
---
Back above ground, the trio stood in Yaga's office.
"I'll be blunt," Yaga said, folding his arms. "This mission is going to be dangerous. You're not escorting a civilian. You're escorting a future pillar of Jujutsu society. The stakes are higher than ever."
Gojo blew out a long breath. "No pressure."
"This isn't a joke, Satoru."
"I know," Gojo replied, tone softer now. "We won't let her down."
Yaga looked at Kishibe. "You alright?"
Kishibe met his eyes. "We've lost people before. We won't again."
Yaga nodded slowly, then turned to Geto. "Suguru?"
"I'll keep them in line," Geto said with a faint smirk.
Yaga raised a brow. "You? The voice of reason?"
Kishibe chuckled under his breath. Gojo tried not to laugh, failing.
"I mean it," Yaga said, growing serious again. "This mission could change everything."
And in that moment, with the laughter gone and silence back again, they understood.
This was no ordinary mission. This was a beginning.
And maybe, the beginning of the end.