Convergence

Part 3 : Chapter 9

Satoru's gaze froze.

- "...Suguru?"

For the first time since they had entered the temple, every trace of carelessness vanished from his face.

His smile disappeared. His shoulders tensed.

As if, for a brief moment, the years that had passed had never existed.

As if the ghost of a distant past had suddenly materialized before him.

But before Satoru could utter a single word, Suguru crossed the rotunda.

He stopped directly in front of Utahime and took her hands with an almost unsettling warmth.

- "Hello, Utahime-senpai. I hope you've been doing well all this time."

Utahime blinked.

Since when had Suguru Geto become so close ?

In her memories, he had always been polite, certainly.

But never like this.

Never to the point of closing the distance between them without invitation.

A strange feeling of discomfort crept up Utahime's spine.

- "You possess an exceptional power. A power that deserves to be admired."

Suguru's smile widened. Far too much.

- "I know what it feels like to be misunderstood. To be born with something that the rest of the world cannot comprehend."

Utahime frowned slightly.

It was not only what he was saying that made her uncomfortable.

It was the way he spoke.

Every word seemed carefully prepared.

Rehearsed.

Like the speech of a man who had convinced himself of his own truth.

- "I have always believed that great gifts should serve great causes."

His fingers tightened slightly around hers.

- "Tell me, Utahime-senpai..."

His gaze darkened.

- "Are you truly satisfied with the world we live in?"

Utahime opened her mouth.

But she did not even have time to answer his question.

- "Jujutsu sorcerers are condemned to live in the shadows, even though humanity's very survival depends on us. We bleed. We die. We sacrifice ourselves."

And yet his smile remained perfectly calm.

- "And why that? Because the strong must protect the weak. That is what we have been told since childhood."

Behind them, Satoru had not moved. But his gaze was growing colder and colder.

- "An absurd logic."

Suguru's voice became even more passionate.

- "Take your case, for example. Your technique is capable of amplifying the cursed energy of other sorcerers to a phenomenal degree. An ability that could change the outcome of countless battles. And yet..."

He spread his arms slightly.

- "The world demands that you remain in the shadows. That you be content to serve. That you erase yourself."