"I wanted to fight Sensei one-on-one."
Kira watched her calmly. Killer Queen flickered and vanished, streaking through the dim twilight as a pink afterimage before reappearing in front of Ei in an instant—but she simply stepped back half a pace.
The fist stopped just short of her face. It couldn't reach any further.
Beyond Killer Queen's range. She'd calculated it from the start.
Clearly, she understood Kira's Stand very well.
A smug tilt of the head. The clover earring swung gently. She blinked her pretty eyes.
Kira took half a step forward.
"...Huh?"
The fist came down—a devastating strike aimed squarely at Hoshino Ei, trailing a blast of wind in its wake.
BOOM—
Killer Queen's blow landed with the force of a cannon shell. The floor around them cratered and cracked; the air screamed with a sonic shockwave.
"She blocked it?"
Ei's hands were crossed over her head, pale fingers interlocked in front of Killer Queen's fist, trembling faintly. Beneath that black skull-like fist, her pupils flashed.
No—she hadn't caught it barehanded. On closer inspection, a thin film of white Cursed Energy separated her hands from the fist, just barely preventing a lethal detonation.
Tenacious. Kira pressed forward another few steps. Killer Queen followed, inching the black fist closer and closer to Ei's face.
"Huh? Huhhh?"
CRACK—
Another tearing shriek of displaced air. Ei was only a Grade 2 sorcerer. She couldn't match Killer Queen's raw power. The punch finally broke through. That white Cursed Energy shattered into wisps that dissolved into nothing. The fist kept going, slamming down without mercy.
Dust erupted.
But Kira felt no impact. Through Killer Queen's eyes—those deep-red cat-slit pupils narrowing—Hoshino Ei was gone.
Where... Going after him directly—the same plan as Fushiguro?
He didn't have any bomb-rigged pebbles on hand this time.
He checked his watch. Ten minutes left.
"Interesting."
Kira looked at the abandoned building wreathed in dusk. Ominous aura still poured steadily from inside, but the sun was nearly gone—the battle in there was probably wrapping up.
This year's freshmen are something else.
He didn't know Ei's innate technique, but he was certain: the person who'd traded blows with Killer Queen moments ago was definitely Hoshino Ei in the flesh. And in one instant, she'd simply vanished.
Similar to Todo's technique?
No—if it were, she could have activated it the moment Killer Queen lunged, warped behind him, and ended the fight immediately.
Why wait until she'd lost the clash to do it?
Only one explanation: she was stalling for time.
She couldn't teleport at all.
Hoshino Ei was still right there. She hadn't moved—she'd only disappeared from his perception.
That simplified things.
Can't find the enemy? Level the entire block. Same logic as beating up every suspect until you find the right one.
Killer Queen returned to Kira's side to guard against a sneak attack. Then it slammed both hands into the ground. Slabs of pavement launched into the air. It snatched one, Cursed Energy flared—and the slab was a bomb. It hurled the slab down the street.
BOOM. It struck a tall, crooked tree and detonated. Gushing flame devoured the green canopy in an instant—layers of leaves became perfect kindling. And it wasn't over. Slab after slab flew from Killer Queen's hands like a volley of missiles.
Wherever they passed, dust erupted. Wherever they struck, fire raged. Within moments, both rows of trees lining the street were heavy with blazing red fruit that crashed to the ground, tongues of fire spreading wildly, thick smoke darkening the already fading twilight.
Sensei, Kira-sensei... please stop. We're here to exorcise spirits... you're scarier than the Curses.
Fushiguro's mouth twitched from the sidelines.
But Kira's expression grew more serious. Killer Queen had just carpet-bombed the entire street. When the smoke cleared—still no sign of Ei.
Three minutes left.
Was his deduction wrong?
...Or had he actually blown her up?
Ei watched the fire rage in the distance, smoke blanketing half the street, and let a slightly unhinged smile cross her face.
Kira's reasoning was correct. Hoshino Ei's technique was indeed a concealment type.
But he'd gotten one thing wrong. She'd never intended to ambush Kira himself. Quite the opposite.
She'd slipped away the moment she had the chance.
The rules said survive twenty minutes. So why fight head-on at all? Running was the obvious play.
Nigerundayo.
That was her conclusion. She turned on her heel, her small boot tracing a half-circle on the ground. White hair gleamed faintly in the twilight. Then she froze.
"Look over here."
"...Huh?"
"Look over here."
A small blue tank blocked her path. The hollow eye sockets of its skull seemed to glow with a cold, cruel light, staring her down.
They locked eyes. The silence stretched.
The street ran dead straight—one road, nothing else. Nothing but overgrown, impassable graves on all sides. This was the only way back to the highway.
And Nanami Kira, upon arrival, had quietly stationed Sheer Heart Attack on this very path.
Right where the fleeing Miss Hoshino now stood.
"Look over here."
Thirty seconds until the twenty-minute mark.
Nanami Kira was, as always, a man blessed with extraordinary luck.
The dying sun finally sank entirely behind the mountains. The last scraps of dim light dissolved into the embrace of night. Insects began their chorus—rustling across headstones, inside the building, on blades of grass bent by rain.
A graveyard, yes—but with all these small, living things stirring around them, it didn't feel so frightening anymore. The night was gentle, almost kind. Moonlight settled softly over the ruined street, quietly lapping at the scorched and blackened trees.
Yuji and Nobara had emerged from the building. They'd dealt with the Curses inside cleanly and efficiently. Ei had been caught and dragged back by Kira, and was now in something of a sulk.
"Fushiguro—you could've lasted longer, but you refused to sacrifice anything. If you won't let go, you can't pick anything up either. That's your weakness, though not your flaw."
"But your nature will hurt you someday."
Fushiguro said nothing.
"Hoshino—you got overconfident. You thought you were safe and dropped Concealment early, which is exactly how you ran into Sheer Heart Attack."
"If it were me, I would've maintained the technique until the full twenty minutes were up."
A faint blush crept across Ei's cool features. She stuck out her tongue, just barely.
Following his philosophy of showing up and doing the bare minimum, Kira went through each of them with corrections and evaluations.
Making the next generation better wasn't a bad thing. At least the jujutsu world would have capable successors, and his own workload might shrink.
Maybe he could even retire early.
"Itadori."
"Yes!"
Yuji snapped to attention, voice booming. "Nanamin-sensei, is there anything I need to improve?"
"...Your ORA and MUDA lacked conviction. I couldn't even hear you from outside. Again!"
"ORA! MUDA!"
"Good."
"What about me?"
Nobara pointed at herself with a slender finger, face beaming with pride. "I didn't mess anything up, did I?"
She tossed her head like a triumphant little hen. "Flawless exorcism!"
"...You were late. You'll stand as punishment."
Kira said it without blinking.
"Huh?"
"But I'll make an exception tonight."
He glanced at his watch. "Be back at school by ten."
Pandemonium.
"YESSS!!"
"Nanamin saikō!"
"Roppongi! Roppongi! Roppongi!"
In the gathering dusk, Kira watched the cheering teenagers in silence. Yuji leaped into the air, so excited he threw his arms around an equally thrilled Nobara—who immediately shoved him off. Nearby, Ei smiled with quiet grace. Even the perpetually stone-faced Fushiguro had a flicker of warmth in his eyes.
Moonlight fell across them, soft and indistinct.
They were still children. Easy to please. Bold and brash—calves that hadn't yet learned to fear tigers. But the future belonged to them.
When did I become an adult, anyway...? Kira turned the question over in his mind.
Regardless—Nanami Kira's first day as a teacher drew to a close.