Gojo Satoru clicked his tongue like he was teasing a puppy, dismissing his self-doubt. "Once we kill you, the Curse residing inside your body will die completely, too... Isn't that genius enough?"
"Because of this, those higher-ups who have never been able to handle Ryomen Sukuna will obediently work for us."
"Of course, some conservative old fogies will definitely still be unable to resist making a move against you, so you still need to learn Jujutsu."
Itadori picked himself up despondently, accepting the premise that he was now at odds with the entire world. "So what on earth am I supposed to do?"
Gojo Satoru touched his blindfold, finally getting down to the specifics of his arrangements for Itadori: "I'll be enrolling you as a first-year student at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School. While you're studying Jujutsu and increasing your own strength, you'll be showing those higher-ups the value of your existence."
"You'll also need to cooperate with other Jujutsu Sorcerers to collect Sukuna's Fingers, and stall for time as much as possible while Kamiyado-kun figures out a way to transfer Sukuna's soul out."
Itadori looked puzzled again. "If we're stalling for time, why not just refuse to help find the fingers in the first place? Besides, can I really be of any help..."
Gojo Satoru's high-pitched tone gradually settled into something soft and coaxing. "You can. Besides, you're not doing this to help Jujutsu society, you know.
"You can think of this as helping Kamiyado-kun, so that when the time comes, he can bring home a much more complete Sukuna."
"That'll save Kamiyado-kun a lot of trouble."
Itadori glanced at Senior Kamiyado and found that Kamiyado had been watching him the whole time.
He instinctively flashed a bright, innocent smile.
Kamiyado quietly looked away and said flatly, "Don't think of it that way. I'm just an executioner who killed countless people a millennium ago; I'm not worth you guys doing this."
The pink-haired teenager furrowed his brow and spoke earnestly, "That's not true."
"Though I don't think killing people is a good thing, but... the death of certain people is correct, and necessary."
"If one day my companions' lives were threatened as well, I reckon I'd hesitate without a second thought—"
"And..."
Itadori stared intently at the youth whose good looks rivaled the heavens, his tone extraordinarily firm.
"From what I've seen so far, I honestly think Senior Kamiyado, you're super great!"
"Your cooking is delicious, you know how to coax people, you look cold and unapproachable but you're actually very gentle, and you can even wrap someone as fierce as Sukuna around your finger so he only listens to you! How are you anything like a bad guy?!"
Sukuna, who was suddenly called out: ! Whose finger am I wrapped around?! What is this stinky brat spouting nonsense for?!
Lowering his gaze, Kamiyado said softly, "Even if I deliberately guided you into eating a Special Grade Cursed Object, do you still feel that way?"
"I could have easily dealt with that Curse at the time, yet I let you go in alone..."
Itadori scratched his head and thought about it. "Then I'll stay mad for three whole seconds!"
"After all, you just wanted to see him that badly, didn't you..."
"Anyway, it didn't hurt me, so I don't care."
With a single sentence, he rendered Kamiyado speechless, and Sukuna inside him speechless as well.
Kamiyado suddenly turned his head to look out the window, where the glass pane reflected a somewhat hazy silhouette of himself.
He saw himself... seeming to smile—a smile very faint, yet very real.
"I understand... Before you grow strong enough, I will always protect you."
Itadori laughed out loud and was just about to accept the offer when Sukuna's low, hoarse voice growled from his inner world to stop him: "If you dare let him keep protecting you, I'll hack you to pieces first!"
He shivered all over and hurriedly refused out loud. "Forget it, forget it. Teacher Gojo and Fushiguro can protect me. Senior Kamiyado, aren't you supposed to be figuring out a way to move Sukuna's soul out? I shouldn't trouble you."
It wasn't much of a trouble...
Kamiyado said nothing more. Gojo Satoru, that supreme master of lightening the mood, quickly stepped right up. "Ohh~! Does Kamiyado-kun's cooking taste that good? I really want to try it."
With a deft flick of his energy, he gave Fushiguro Megumi a smack on the back.
Megumi almost cried out from the blow, but could only manage a stiff smile to cooperate with his outrageous teacher.
"That's right, if possible, I'd like to try Senior Kamiyado's cooking too."
Lying on the tatami mat upon hearing this, Sukuna sat up with a snap and issued a deep, heavy warning to Itadori: "Refuse it all!"
Itadori didn't bat an eye and delivered a line that made Sukuna want to throw hands: "Whatever works, the four of us can get together for a meal then!"
Kamiyado replied evenly, "Alright."
That night, after falling asleep, Itadori was dragged into the Innate Domain by Sukuna and beaten to a pulp, so that for the next few days he always felt like his face was swollen on one side or the other.
Naturally, no major issues could be seen on his physical body, because it was his soul that had been beaten swollen.
Leaving aside what happened afterward, as soon as the four of them arrived at the crematorium, the medical staff evacuated in a hurry.
After a few hours of waiting, the body was completely cremated. Megumi stayed outside instead of going in, while Gojo Satoru and Kamiyado followed Itadori into the bone-retrieval room.
Using chopsticks alone, Itadori slowly picked up the remaining bone fragments and placed them into the funeral urn.
The other two stood off to the side without a word, quietly acting as part of the background.
Sunlight streamed in through the small window, looking like holy rays guiding lost souls to heaven.
Finally, Itadori put down his chopsticks, placed the lid on the urn, and gazed at the tiny bit of residual ash, making a silent promise: "Grandpa, I will definitely use my own strength to help more people."
He suddenly turned his head and glanced at the two older seniors. "Do you guys still have any of Sukuna's Fingers?"
Kamiyado shook his head, but Gojo Satoru fished a finger—brownish-red with a black nail—out of his pocket and handed it over.
Itadori took it, looked at it carefully, and let out a wry, self-deprecating chuckle. "Looking at it like this, it really is disgu—"
He abruptly cut himself off, peeked cautiously at Senior Kamiyado, and corrected himself: "It really is disqu— exceptionally unique, hahaha..."
Gojo Satoru choked back a laugh and urged him to eat it quickly.
Itadori took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and swallowed it whole in one go.
After a throat-scraping wave of discomfort, Itadori felt himself plummet as if in a state of weightlessness. When he opened his eyes again, he was already inside Sukuna's crimson world.
Well, not entirely crimson... there was also a very handsome, ancient-style little room added to it.
Hopping over to take a look, Itadori found... the door tightly shut, even secured with a padlock.
Itadori: ...Seriously? Can I steal it or snatch it?! Is guarding against me really necessary?
Meanwhile, in the real world, looking at the black markings gradually emerging on Itadori's body alongside that evil, domineering, and overwhelming Cursed Energy, Gojo Satoru still tensed his nerves somewhat.
After all, this was downtown. Although he was certain Kamiyado could influence Sukuna to a large extent, he was never the type to rely entirely on others.
He secretly prepared his Cursed Technique to prevent any irreversible events from happening.
Fortunately, after Sukuna took over Itadori's body, he didn't do a thing. He merely gave Kamiyado a deep look and spat out a command in a deep, magnetic, and alluring tone: "Come find me tonight."
The moment Kamiyado nodded, Sukuna zipped back into his Innate Domain and tossed Itadori right back out.
Having failed to pry the lock open for ages, Itadori was greeted by a "thwack" to the head from the returning Sukuna. His vision blurred for a second, and then he saw two distinct yet equally handsome faces.
Rubbing his head, he muttered inwardly: That hurt like hell!
On the surface, he was full of energy: "Yoshi! Let's get moving!"
Gojo Satoru laughing rolled up the shutter door, revealing Megumi standing outside.
Megumi looked at the adults and teenager who paid zero attention to transportation: "Our tickets were for this morning. We've already missed the time, so we can only exchange them."
A flock of crows flew past, leaving behind a trail of ellipses.
Gojo Satoru let out a "Ha~": "For real?"
A vein popped on Megumi's forehead: "Of course for real!"
"Then I guess it has to be tomorrow morning's. Let's call it a day for now, and we'll meet at the train station tomorrow morning."
Gojo Satoru shrugged, casually pulled Megumi along, and strolled off lazily.
Kamiyado followed Itadori back to his house.
Itadori rummaged around for ages, packing less than half a suitcase worth of luggage, and even found time to ask, "Senior Kamiyado, is there anything you need me to bring for you?"
Blinking, Kamiyado slowly uttered a single word: "Money."
Itadori: ...Right, I understand.
After that, Kamiyado cooked all the meals for the two of them (and one other) for the entire day, leaving Sukuna thoroughly delighted.
Itadori, however, couldn't quite describe how he felt.
Every time, he only got to smell the aroma without getting to taste a bite himself, yet his stomach was already stuffed full.
Sigh... looking at how happy these two old-timers were, he guessed he'd just have to bear with it~!
Unfortunately, this self-sacrificing thought shattered into bubbles the moment he fell asleep and was dragged into the Innate Domain by Sukuna for a ruthless beating.
He secretly resolved that next time, he was going to eat his own share first before swapping Sukuna out, humph!
As for Sukuna, who had vented his pent-up frustration and felt refreshed... he was currently holding Kamiyado—who had come to find him in full obedience—in his arms as they lay down on the tatami mat, enjoying their first peaceful sleep in a thousand years.