JUJUTSU KAISEN: the lost chapters (english version)

CHAPTER 4 ◇ A new world

Location:
Abandoned shopping centre

Acting persons:
Suguru Geto (Jujuzist 3rd rank 1st year)
Sayuri (cursed spirit)

Time:
16.11.20XX, late morning

He stepped past her into the midday sun. Despite the cold air, the celestial star managed to trick him into thinking he didn't need a scarf or jacket. He descended the three steps while she paused on the doorstep. "Suguru.". "Hmmm?". He turned round to face her. She stood there as if she were on a boundary invisible to him. "Do you think it really worked?". "Sure, why not?". Doubtingly, she stepped from one foot to the other. "I could never go further than here. This is where my world usually ended.". He smiled and held out his hand to her. "Then you'll be surprised how big the world really is.". She took the hand he offered her and took her first step onto the pavement. There was nothing that kept her in this place. Nevertheless, she found this 'new' world rather disappointing. Everything out here seemed to be grey in grey and the chimneys of the factories surrounding her stretched like dead trees towards the sunny sky. She didn't know exactly what she had expected, but she had remembered the square in front of the shopping centre as being a little more colourful. He seemed to see her disappointment and gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Cheer up. This is an industrial estate now - they all look pretty unspectacular. Just wait until we're back in the city centre." He delirious her to the station, where he slowly realised what he had actually got himself into. They passed the small guard's house. The stationmaster, an old gentleman leafing through a magazine, nodded to them in a friendly manner. He explained to her that they were about to travel on a train. She seemed to have already read something about it, because she nodded knowingly. While he looked at a board to find out about their next train, Sayuri wandered around the platform and admired the weeds that had managed to eat their way through the concrete.
Only a loud shout from her drew his attention back to her. "Suguruuuu! I think he's coming!". "Yes, that should be our train," he confirmed and turned to her with a smile. The next moment, he almost had a heart attack. Sayuri stood on the tracks and waved towards the fast approaching train. "What the hell!" he exclaimed, jumping into the track bed and dragging her back onto the platform just in time. Curse or no curse, he didn't want to know whether she would have survived being run over by a train. They sat on the concrete floor while the train slowly came to a halt. Sayuri laughed as he tried to breathe calmly again. "Young man, do you realise how dangerous what you've just done is? I don't want to see anything like that here again!" the stationmaster, who had come out of his cubicle, admonished him sternly. "Don't tell me that, but... oh yes...". The man couldn't see her. He apologised profusely for the inconvenience and pulled Sayuri into an empty compartment as inconspicuously as possible. He slumped down as he sank onto one of the hard seats.
"Don't ever do that again," he begged her. "Do what?". Then he lectured her at length about the correct behaviour at train stations. Only interrupted by an enthusiastic "SugurUUUUUU! The train is going! It's really going! Look at it!". He sighed and feared that in future everything new or exciting for her would be announced with a loud 'SUGURUUUU'. She hung enthusiastically by the window and stared at the landscape as it flew by. He watched her for a while in her almost childlike joy, then he spoke again: "Sayuri.". She turned towards him. Her cheeks flushed with excitement. "There's something else I probably should have told you before. I won't be able to leave you outside all the time.". She tilted her head questioningly. "Especially when it comes to my work as a jujuzist. It is of the utmost importance that it remains a secret that I have absorbed you. It's okay for Shoko and Satoru to know, but it must remain a secret within the school." He fumbled a little, which annoyed him, before he found the right words, "A curse like you is a rarity in our world. They are usually considered very strong and dangerous, which is why they are seen as a threat to public safety. Therefore, they are usually either sealed or exorcised. However, we have got to know you and know that you have nothing in common with the other special danger level curses, so we wanted to spare you such a fate. That's why I'll have to send you to the spirit dimension at school or at work as soon as any superiors are around. Just for your own safety. As you are now and here, you can of course walk around freely. Do you understand?". She nodded slowly. "So it wouldn't be good for you if I were noticed," she said. "No. It's not about us in the first place! We just don't want you to pay the price for distrusting old traditions. That's why I ask for your understanding. I know I promised you freedom and I swear to you that I will keep that promise as best I can." She laughed. "As long as I can be with you, I'm free enough, Suguru. Please don't worry too much. Otherwise Satoru will end up being right about what he says about you." "Huh? What's he saying about me?". "Hmm, let me think about it. He once said that your head was full of hypocritical rules. You're like a robot that runs a programme. You love rules and laws more than anything in the world and you have a huge stick up your arse because of them." Suguru sighed. "Please don't listen to that guy. As soon as he opens his mouth, all that comes out is nonsense." She laughed again. "He said the same thing about you.".