Chapter 64 — Awakening
In the now-empty hospital room, Utahime Iori began to dance.
Her white sleeves flowed like drifting clouds, her crimson skirt flaring like blooming flowers.
A chant rose from her lips as her hands formed precise seals.
With each movement, each note of her incantation, Ren suddenly felt an invisible force surge into his body. His cursed energy spiked in an instant—rising, intensifying, exploding in strength.
It felt like he had reached an entirely new state of being.
His power swelled beyond anything he had experienced before, his cursed energy brimming so intensely it threatened to overflow on its own.
Her earlier explanation flashed through his mind—
"My technique, Solo Forbidden Area, amplifies the total cursed energy and output of any number of sorcerers within its range for a limited time."
"Normally, when sorcerers use techniques, they try to minimize the steps—hand signs, chants… everything is reduced for speed."
"But this time, I'm not skipping anything. Hand signs, chants, dance—I'm turning it into a ritual."
"And through that ritual… I can push the output to 120%."
—
Amid the surging tide of cursed energy, Ren extended both hands.
Technique Reversal: Miracle activated again at full power, directed toward Tsumiki Fushiguro on the bed.
On the bed, the girl—her expression calm, as if peacefully asleep—suddenly fluttered her long eyelashes.
Then, slowly, she opened her eyes.
---
"How is she?!"
The moment the door opened, Megumi—who had been standing right outside, fists clenched against his forehead—looked up urgently.
Ren didn't say a word.
He simply smiled and stepped aside.
"Megumi."
The girl on the bed leaned lightly against the headboard, smiling gently at him.
Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, falling across her serene face as if this were nothing more than an ordinary awakening.
Megumi's eyes turned red instantly, tears spilling out uncontrollably.
"Tsumiki!"
He rushed forward, calling her name.
Ren and Utahime exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly. Without a word, they stepped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind them.
From inside came the sound of Megumi's choked sobs—overwhelmed with relief—and Tsumiki's soft, gentle voice comforting him.
A long time passed before Megumi finally stepped out of the room.
Now that he had calmed down, he seemed slightly embarrassed by his earlier loss of composure, unsure where to put his hands.
"Thank you. Thank you so much!" he said repeatedly, bowing again and again to Ren. "Ren-senpai."
"And… Utahime-sensei," he added, turning to her and bowing deeply once more.
Utahime waved her hands quickly, saying it was only what she should do.
Ren opened his mouth slightly, as if about to say something—but stopped.
After a moment's thought, he decided this wasn't the right time.
That suggestion—one that might trouble Megumi—could wait.
For now, it was better to let him fully immerse himself in the joy of being reunited with his sister.
After a while, everyone reentered the room. Tsumiki expressed her gratitude to Ren and Utahime. Shoko Ieiri conducted a preliminary examination and confirmed that there was nothing seriously wrong with her—she was simply weak from having been bedridden for so long.
After that, Ieiri dismissed everyone, preparing to arrange a more thorough and comprehensive examination for Tsumiki.
"A full examination…"
Watching Ieiri briskly direct the nurses as they moved Tsumiki, Ren couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth at the all-too-familiar phrase.
---
A little later, Ren and Utahime walked side by side beneath the trees lining the hospital grounds.
"Utahime-sensei," Ren said with a hint of complaint, "you really had me fooled."
"Fooled? What are you talking about?" Utahime looked slightly flustered.
"Back then, you even helped straighten my clothes and told me to contact you if anything came up—acting like you were really heading back to Kyoto."
"Well—th-that—"
"I really missed you, you know," Ren said dramatically.
"R-really?" Utahime quickly followed his lead, asking without thinking.
She looked at him closely. His brows were slightly furrowed, the corners of his eyes drooping just enough to give the impression of someone weighed down by longing. Under the sunlight, his face seemed almost luminous.
For a moment, her heart skipped.
But the next instant, his expression broke into a grin as he abruptly shifted the topic.
"So what's this 'collaboration' between you and Tokyo High? Some kind of secret project?"
"Huh?"
"If it's not, why keep it from us?"
He stared straight at her, his eyes glinting as if they could see through everything.
Utahime steadied herself and stammered, "It—it is a secret project."
Then she straightened up, putting on a teacher's authority.
"So don't go prying into it, got it?"
"Of course," Ren replied casually. "I was just asking. If it's a secret, I wouldn't dig into it anyway."
He paused, then added lightly,
"I just… missed you, Utahime-sensei."
This brat…
Utahime felt her heart skip again for no clear reason.
At the same time, she let out a quiet sigh of relief that he hadn't pressed further.
She really had stayed behind for a joint operation with Tokyo Jujutsu High—and it truly was confidential.
Because the purpose of that collaboration was to catch a traitor.
According to intelligence from Satoru Gojo, there were two insiders within Jujutsu High who had colluded with curse users—or even cursed spirits. The attack during the previous Exchange Event was likely the result of leaked information.
Two suspects had already been identified.
One was among the higher-ups—far beyond their reach.
The other…
…was within Kyoto Jujutsu High.
Utahime had remained in Tokyo to coordinate intelligence and formulate a plan with the Tokyo side, with the goal of exposing that spy once and for all.
She glanced sideways at the boy walking beside her, casually humming to himself.
Of the two main suspects, one of them… was Ren.
Utahime didn't want to believe it.
She refused to believe that a student she had carefully chosen could be a traitor.
Especially after the recent incident—he had nearly defeated a Special Grade cursed spirit and had come close to losing his own life.
"—Isn't it possible," Gojo had said at the time, "that this is also part of the act?"
"Ren didn't kill the cursed spirit in the end. And that cursed spirit didn't kill him either—even within a guaranteed-hit domain."
"That's because Ren's vitality and cursed energy are abnormal!"
"Alright, alright, Utahime, calm down and listen—this is just speculation! Don't—hey! Don't throw that teacup at my head!"
"Hmph! You wouldn't get hit anyway!"
Even so, Utahime had her own theory.
To her, there was only one plausible explanation if Ren were somehow involved.
Ren was a transfigured human, created directly by that cursed spirit. That meant he could have some kind of hidden link—some "backdoor" left behind without his knowledge, through which information might leak.
No matter what, once they ruled out the other, more suspicious target, the truth would come to light.
For now, one thing was certain—
The joint operation between Kyoto and Tokyo to capture the spy must remain absolutely secret from him.
Even her own presence in Tokyo, if exposed, could alert the real traitor.
If not for Tsumiki Fushiguro's condition—something only her technique could help resolve—she would have continued maintaining her cover until the spy was captured.
…