Chapter 95: Fushiguro Tsumiki Needs Help, and the Dedicated Assistant Supervisor Nitta (SIDE STORY)
Far away, Yuji Itadori suddenly felt a faint disturbance deep within his soul.
"Hmph!"
Inside his body, seated atop a mountain of corpses, the arrogant and domineering Ryomen Sukuna let out a cold snort. His expression darkened instantly.
"They actually fed part of my body to a dog?"
"You filthy human. Once I recover my strength, you'll be the first one I kill."
Back on the bridge, Assistant Supervisor Akari Nitta was leaning against the railing, anxiously peering over the edge from time to time.
Unlike sorcerers, assistant supervisors possessed little to no combat ability. Their duties mainly involved intelligence gathering, transportation, logistics, and coordination. They were not expected to participate in battle.
That was why she had remained on the bridge while the others descended below.
"Tsumiki?"
Nitta blinked in surprise at Tsumiki's unusual attire.
"What happened? Did the exorcism go smoothly? Were you hurt at all?"
Questions poured from her mouth one after another.
"There wasn't any major trouble," Tsumiki replied with a gentle smile.
"And I wasn't injured. My clothes were simply damaged by a curse."
Nitta immediately removed her suit jacket and tied it around Tsumiki's waist to cover her exposed legs.
"Wait... your clothes were destroyed, but you didn't suffer a scratch?"
Still puzzled, she opened the car door for Tsumiki before returning to the driver's seat and fastening her seatbelt.
The three students climbed into the back.
"Mhm."
Tsumiki nodded.
"Actually, speaking of that..."
She turned toward Ren and smiled sweetly.
"It's all thanks to the biomimetics books Ren-senpai recommended to me."
"Because I coated my body with biomimetic materials constructed through my technique, the damage never reached me."
"If not for Senpai, I might have suffered quite badly this time."
"Thank you, Ren-senpai."
Her watery eyes brimmed with admiration and gratitude.
With her hands clasped together, she naturally leaned a little closer toward him.
Under Maki's blade-sharp stare, Ren discreetly shifted half an inch in the opposite direction.
"N-No, not really."
He offered a polite smile.
"The important thing is your own talent. You learned everything incredibly quickly."
"Sukuna's finger?"
A short while later, as the car sped down the highway, Nitta listened to their report with growing astonishment.
"Let me see it! I want to see it!"
She excitedly slapped the steering wheel.
"A Special Grade Cursed Object! One of Sukuna's fingers!"
"Sorry."
Ren scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"It's already been eaten."
"What?"
"By my dog."
That night, they stayed at a hotel in the city.
After showering, Ren lay on his bed and spent a few minutes scrolling through his phone.
Then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A rapid series of knocks sounded from the door.
Opening it, he found Tsumiki standing outside.
Her damp hair hung loosely over her shoulders, and she wore nothing more than a simple nightgown.
Wait a second—
Ren's heart nearly jumped into his throat.
Even now?
Supervisor Nitta and Maki are literally next door! If someone catches us—
Tsumiki raised her eyes.
The clear, luminous gaze fixed upon him looked unusually vulnerable.
Only then did Ren realize she hadn't come for the reason his imagination had immediately supplied.
There was genuine fear and unease hidden beneath her usual graceful composure.
"Ren-senpai..."
A faint blush colored her cheeks.
"C-Can I come in?"
Ren nodded and stepped aside.
After she entered, he quietly locked the door behind her.
"What's wrong?"
He sat down opposite her, concern replacing his earlier panic.
Tsumiki remained silent for several moments before speaking softly.
"Ren-senpai..."
"Have you ever killed someone before?"
Ren froze.
"N-No."
Immediately, he understood why she had come.
Her eyes were slightly swollen.
Her expression looked strained and unnatural.
Compared to her usual calm elegance, she seemed fragile and exhausted.
Earlier that day, among the three entities they had eliminated, only the first had truly been a cursed spirit.
The latter two had been something else entirely.
Ren himself had only learned that after reuniting with Tsumiki and Maki.
The blue-black creature and the suspender-wearing man it called brother had left behind corpses.
Their bodies had not vanished after death.
And according to Maki, they remained visible even to ordinary people without cursed energy.
All evidence pointed toward one conclusion.
Whatever those beings were, they were not curses.
At the very least, they were living creatures.
When Maki had explained everything earlier, her complexion had already looked poor.
If even she was affected, then Tsumiki—a first-time participant on her first mission—must have been struggling far more.
And according to Megumi, his sister was naturally kindhearted and gentle, the sort of person who disliked conflict altogether.
To go from that directly to taking lives...
The shock must have been overwhelming.
For Ren, the situation was somewhat different.
The grotesque appearance of the blue creature had instinctively made him categorize it as not human.
And besides...
Though it sounded callous, he had not personally dealt the fatal blows.
But looking at Tsumiki's pale face, trembling lashes, and quivering lips, he could tell the conflict inside her was tearing her apart.
"I..."
Sure enough, her voice shook.
"This was my first time."
"I thought... I thought we were only going to exorcise curses."
"I never imagined... never imagined I'd end up killing someone."
Her voice cracked.
Fear poured out uncontrollably.
"Ren-senpai... did we really do the right thing?"
"Aren't sorcerers supposed to fight curses?"
"Why... why did we end up killing people?"
She stared helplessly at her own hands.
"This... this goes against the reason I wanted to become a sorcerer."
"I chose this path because I thought I could use this power to protect people."
"But on my very first mission... this happened."
"Those people probably had families too."
"I heard them."
"The two who died were brothers."
"One called the other 'big brother.' The other called him 'little brother.'"
"They were family."
"And when the younger brother died... the older one was devastated."
"Tsumiki."
Ren grasped her trembling shoulders and raised his voice slightly, interrupting her spiraling thoughts.
"Listen to me."
He looked directly into her tear-filled eyes.
"This was an accident."
"An accident, understand?"
"You don't need to blame yourself this harshly."
"Even experienced sorcerers—including me—would have struggled to uncover the truth in that situation."
"And as for killing people... yes."
"A sorcerer's primary duty is to exorcise curses, not humans."
"But the world contains more than just sorcerers."
"There are curse users too."
"People who abuse their power, harm others for pleasure, and prey upon ordinary people."
"The danger they pose is no less than that of curses themselves."
"They must be stopped as well."
He paused.
"I know that probably sounds cruel right now."
"But that cruelty is part of what it means to be a sorcerer."
"And honestly..."
"I'm far more worried about you tearing yourself apart over this."
"So take it one step at a time."
Ren squeezed her shoulder gently.
"You're still a beginner."
"Don't demand perfection from yourself."
Tsumiki's shoulders trembled slightly.
She wiped away the tears on her cheeks.
"Mhm."
Then she suddenly smiled.
"It's okay, Senpai."
"Hm?"
Ren blinked.
The fear in her voice had vanished almost instantly.
"Because..."
She looked up at him.
"If this is something every sorcerer faces..."
"Then that means Ren-senpai will be standing on the same side as me, right?"
"No matter what happens..."
"You'll share that burden with me too, won't you?"
Ren froze for a moment before instinctively answering:
"Of course."
"Then everything's fine."
Tsumiki immediately threw herself into his arms, rubbing her head against his chest. Looking up at him with sparkling eyes, she revealed a relieved smile.
"As long as Senpai stays with Tsumiki forever, then no matter what happens... I won't be afraid."
"Tsumiki..."
Her heartfelt confession left Ren completely at a loss.
Unfortunately, what came next left him even more flustered.
"Tsumiki?"
"Didn't Ren-senpai just say that no matter what happens, you'll face it together with me?"
She gazed up at him with pitiful, watery eyes.
"Or... were those words just a lie?"
"Of course not."
Ren's entire body stiffened.
"Right now, I'm very scared. Very uneasy."
Her voice trembled softly.
"And I really need Ren-senpai's comfort."
Lowering her head, she continued quietly:
"It feels like something has left me forever..."
"Like a piece of me is gone and can never return."
"And I think..."
She lifted her eyes again.
"The only person who can fill that emptiness... is Ren-senpai."
"Tsumiki..."
At that point, what could he possibly say?
Ren closed his eyes and let out an unconscious murmur.
Then—
Ring! Ring! Ring!
A shrill ringtone suddenly shattered the atmosphere.
Ren opened his eyes.
The phone on the bedside table was vibrating violently, its screen glowing in the darkness.
Still half asleep, he grabbed it and pressed the answer button.
"Hello...?"
"Ren! Ren!"
Assistant Supervisor Akari Nitta's frantic voice exploded through the speaker.
"Do you know where Tsumiki is?! I went to check her room and she's gone! I've been looking for her for over half an hour already!"
"Huh?"
The sleepiness vanished instantly.
Ren looked down.
Tsumiki was lying peacefully against his chest, fast asleep, her breathing slow and steady.
Then he looked around the room.
Aside from the pale glow of his phone screen, the room was pitch black.
He glanced toward the window.
Not a trace of sunlight leaked through the curtains.
Confused, he pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the time.
02:33 AM.
"Miss Nitta," he said slowly, suppressing his irritation, "what time is it right now?"
"Two in the morning!"
"What exactly is going on?!"
Ren shot upright in bed.
"Since when do assistant supervisors conduct room inspections in the middle of the night?"
He exchanged a glance with the now-awake Tsumiki.
"We're Jujutsu High students, not middle schoolers!"
"Isn't this a little too dedicated?"
"Of course not!"
Nitta sounded completely justified.
"It's not because I think you're children!"
"Midnight is when curses are most active. Sorcerers interact with curses constantly, which means they're more likely to attract supernatural trouble themselves."
"That's exactly why we need to verify everyone's condition at times like this!"
Then she paused.
"Wait... why am I explaining this?"
Her tone became urgent again.
"The important thing is that Tsumiki is missing! This is serious!"
"Hold on."
Ren stared at the Tsumiki currently curled up against him.
His mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
He was trying to figure out how to respond when Nitta suddenly spoke again.
"Why don't you sound worried at all, Ren?"
A suspicious note entered her voice.
"You wouldn't happen to know something about Tsumiki's whereabouts, would you?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Any lingering drowsiness disappeared instantly.
Ren switched to a tone of pure concern.
"I was half asleep just now!"
He even threw in a convincing yawn.
"I barely understood what you were saying. Are you telling me Tsumiki mysteriously disappeared?"
"I'll get up right now and help search for her, Miss Nitta!"
Beside him, Tsumiki chuckled softly.
Then she leaned over and kissed him.
Ren nearly jumped out of his skin.
"T-Tsumiki!"
His face flushed crimson.
"Now is not the time for jokes!"
"Just one more..." she whispered dreamily.
Her warm lips pressed repeatedly against his skin.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A rapid pounding suddenly echoed from the door.
"Miss Nitta, don't worry!"
Ren nearly shouted into the phone.
"I'll be right out!"
"No, idiot. It's me."
A deliberately cold voice sounded from outside.
Maki.
"Stop sleeping!"
"Tsumiki's missing!"
"Get up and help look for her!"
"T-Tsumiki's—"
The moment he heard Maki's voice, all strength left Ren's body.
Every pore seemed to open at once.
Every muscle went limp.
His soul felt as though it had already departed for the afterlife.
"O-Okay!"
His voice shook uncontrollably.
"I-I'll be right there!"
"Idiot!"
Maki banged on the door again, sounding increasingly annoyed.
"What are you even doing in there?"
"Why does getting out of bed take you this long?"