A Christmas Gift

Two blades stabbed into the desk.

Toji Fushiguro returned to his seat and kept staring at Satoru Gojo.

A faint pressure moved around his body.

"Geto has been in the laboratory recently," Toji said. "He does not have time to cause trouble."

He raised one hand and pointed toward the door.

"If you do not believe me, go check for yourself."

"All right, all right." Gojo lifted both hands. "I was joking. Why so angry?"

"Get out."

Gojo heard the anger in the room and smiled.

He looked like a child whose prank had finally worked.

The two of them had fought with each other for years, but this was the first time Gojo had seen Toji look that irritated. His mood improved at once.

Still, the matter had reached a dead end.

If Geto was not moving behind the scenes, then whoever was cleaning up Tokyo's curses remained unknown.

Gojo put the question aside for the moment.

As long as he was in Tokyo, nothing truly uncontrollable should happen.

With that thought, he headed toward another street.

There was a dessert shop there that he liked.

December arrived soon after.

During the past few months, the number of cursed spirits in Tokyo had fallen again. Most sorcerers who had originally worked in the city had been sent elsewhere to handle missions.

For ordinary people, the change was good.

For Jujutsu Headquarters, it was terrible.

Even now, they did not know who was clearing the curses in the city.

If the person was only a quiet guardian, that would have been one thing. The problem was that the city had lost curses like a ghost had swept through it, yet no one knew anything.

They were angry, but they had no way to act.

Even Gojo had begun to take it seriously.

If someone was only killing curses, it was not a major problem. But if someone was collecting them, then Tokyo was carrying a hidden danger. Christmas was approaching. If all those curses were released in the city at once, the consequences would be hard to imagine.

Gojo began searching with real attention. He checked Tokyo and even several nearby cities.

That gave Ren and Toji a rare quiet stretch.

One day, two people came to the agency.

"Boss, boss. Our experiment has made a major breakthrough."

"Here are the recent reports and experimental notes."

Yashima Taiga looked at Ren, who was lying lazily in his chair, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

For ten years, the experiment had almost no progress. Coming to see Ren empty-handed had always made him uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Ren had told Suguru Geto to bring those strange stones to the laboratory. In only a few months, the project had made real progress.

When Yashima thought of that, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Even while Ren had been in seclusion, he had still left a path for the laboratory.

Yashima secretly decided that he would work harder. He could not disappoint the boss.

Ren glanced through the notes.

At first, it had only been a casual move he made out of boredom. He had not expected it to start moving in the right direction.

The false constructs they produced could maintain an outer form for a period of time. They could not reach the strength of true imaginary cursed spirits yet, but they were enough to fool people.

"Not bad," Ren said. "Do you have a sample?"

"Yes. The finished products are decent, but they are still small-scale. I want to make something larger, but I was afraid the disturbance would be too big and hard to explain afterward."

Ren stretched and happened to see the calendar on the desk.

"Christmas is in a week. Give everyone a gift then."

"Yes, boss. We will make it lively."

Yashima's eyes brightened.

For a researcher like him, the happiest day was the day his results were shown to the world. The experimental product was far from complete, but using it as a gift would be easy enough.

"Ren," Geto asked, "has anything happened in the jujutsu world recently?"

Geto had spent the last few months between his cult and the laboratory. When he had free time, he checked the sorcerer network. Recently, the most discussed topic was the sharp decrease in Tokyo's curses.

The description reminded him of the Black Cloud incident.

This time, there was no overwhelming pressure. That made it more frightening. A threat that did not show itself could strike from a dark corner at any time.

The sound of a beer can opening came from the side.

Toji sat there drinking.

"The blindfold suspects someone is playing tricks in the dark. Recently, he has been looking for the missing curses."

He pointed at Geto with the hand holding the beer.

"He also suspected you."

The teasing smile on Toji's face was obvious.

If there was a fire to stir, Toji was a professional.

Geto did not get angry. He opened his hands innocently.

"That is normal. If I were not part of the agency, I might have gathered curses everywhere too."

That was the truth.

If Geto had remained on his previous path, he would have collected curses and released them all one day to sweep away ordinary people.

But things were different now.

He had found another direction. That old, frantic method felt both crude and ineffective.

"Boring." Toji rolled his eyes when he failed to provoke him.

Clearly, he had not recovered from Gojo's earlier prank.

"Boss," Yashima said, rubbing his hands together, "do you still have more of the stones Geto brought to the laboratory? If you do, can we have a few more?"

Ten years had carved age into his face. Seeing a middle-aged man make that hopeful expression was almost painful.

"None left," Ren said. "When I meet that person again, I will ask for more."

Yashima smiled again.

Those stones could absorb cursed energy. If he had enough of them, he could extract the substance inside and greatly shorten the experimental process. With the right stones, he might even be able to make a genuine imaginary cursed spirit soon.

Geto saw Yashima's expression and smiled helplessly.

Ever since he had brought the stones to the laboratory, Yashima had found all kinds of reasons to borrow them. The most annoying part was that refusing was not really an option.

For months, Geto had been pulled into the laboratory's imaginary cursed spirit work. His own plan had barely moved forward.

"Then we will go first," Yashima said. "We will come back before Christmas."

With the answer he needed, he did not linger.

On the way back, Yashima and Geto started imagining what kind of surprise Christmas would bring.

Toji walked to Ren's desk.

"Are you planning to reveal curses to the whole world now?"

His tone was casual, but the question was serious.

"Is that not a little early?"

Cursed spirits had been hidden from ordinary people for thousands of years. If the public suddenly learned such things existed, the shock would be enormous.

Ren remained relaxed.

"I am giving everyone a gift. What they think about it is not my concern."

Christmas Eve arrived.

Ogami stood on the roof of a tall building and looked down at the pedestrians below.

In her cloudy eyes, excitement slowly rose.

Not everyone had the chance to summon over a thousand cursed spirits.

Today, she would.

Behind her, the rooftop was covered with scrolls. They were connected by special wires made from material usually used to craft cursed tools. The wires carried cursed energy extremely well, and the final end was held in Ogami's hand.

"Grandson," she said, "watch carefully with me. You may never see a scene this grand again."

The young man behind her did not answer. He hung the scrolls along the edge of the rooftop so they would not all release in one place.

"We wait for the signal. Once it appears, we begin."

Ogami remembered what Hayato had told her.

She had not been punished for pausing the plan. Instead, she had been told to complete the task as much as possible while ensuring her own safety.

She still did not know what her employer was thinking.

At the same time, inside Jujutsu High, Gojo looked at Yuta Okkotsu.

"Yuta, have you felt anything strange recently?"

Yuta closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before shaking his head.

"No. Nothing unusual. Did something happen, sensei?"

Gojo frowned.

He had a feeling that something major was about to happen. At his level, instinct could already be used as a warning.

Yuta had the makings of a Special Grade sorcerer now, but his instincts were still focused mostly on battle.

"Something big may happen soon," Gojo said. "Everyone should be ready."

Maki Zenin and the others instinctively gripped their weapons.

Gojo laughed.

"Do not be that nervous. It is only a big deal for ordinary people."

"Tch."

They were used to his personality.

Then the ground shook.

Near Jujutsu High, a huge cursed spirit over four meters tall appeared on the street. Its body was white and wrinkled, and many of the folds opened into terrifying mouths. It charged toward pedestrians who still thought the shaking was an earthquake.

Yuta and the others rushed out at once.

Gojo's blindfold did not affect his perception of the surroundings.

"So many cursed spirits appearing at once. Someone really is controlling this."

Several streets around Jujutsu High had been occupied by cursed spirits, and they were spreading toward the city center.

Another roar came from a different direction.

Gojo vanished.

While exorcising cursed spirits, he called Masamichi Yaga and explained the situation. He asked Yaga to notify Jujutsu Headquarters and send more sorcerers to clear the curses as fast as possible.

The problem was that most Tokyo sorcerers had recently been sent elsewhere. Calling enough people back quickly would not be easy.

Then a powerful cursed energy rose from the ground and exploded in the sky.

Brilliant light reflected in the eyes of every sorcerer in Tokyo.

"Bad."

The Grade 2 cursed spirit Yuta's group had killed had released a signal after death. Even an idiot would know more cursed spirits were coming.

Across the city, Ogami saw the signal.

Her mouth curved into a cruel smile.

She looked down at the pedestrians who knew nothing.

"Blame your luck."

Black cursed energy surged through the wire and reached every scroll at once.

The scrolls opened together. Thick smoke swallowed the rooftop.

Ogami and her grandson had already left the building. They hid quietly nearby and watched.

Cursed spirits of every shape began falling from the sky.

Deep pits appeared in the streets.

"What is going on?"

Before the man finished speaking, half of his body vanished.

Screams spread.

Someone shouted that a person had been cut in half. Someone else screamed about ghosts. Another called it an alien invasion.

Another body lost half its shape.

What had been panic became a stampede.

People wished they had an extra pair of legs. Some looked as if they wanted to crawl on all fours just to get away faster.

Death covered the street.

Yuta's group split up.

Each of them was at least around Grade 2 in strength. Staying together would only reduce efficiency.

At the agency, Toji looked at the chaos outside and found it interesting.

"Ren, are we not joining the fun?"

By fun, he meant that his hands were itching and he wanted to kill a few curses.

"Go if you want," Ren said. "I am not interested."

"You are not curious about who caused such a big disturbance?"

Ren changed position in his chair. Winter sunlight fell through the window and landed on him.

Sunlight in winter was comfortable.

"No. If you want to go, I am not stopping you."

Toji finally could not hold back and left the agency alone.

He had been bored for too long. Fewer curses meant fewer sorcerers in Tokyo, and most jobs on the network had moved to other regions. After working with Ren for so long, Toji had learned enjoyment if nothing else.

Money from medicine and intelligence was enough for him to live comfortably for a long time.

He no longer needed to run around everywhere for work.

But his body was not built for too much rest. Training alone could no longer suppress the restlessness inside him.

Ren was the boss, so Toji could not attack him. Even if he did, he could not win.

Toji liked fighting. He did not like losing for no reason.

Now, at last, he could vent.

He could ask Gojo for payment afterward. Gojo would probably be willing to pay for the cleanup.

"Hope there are a few decent ones."

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