After the teams were settled, the group prepared to set off. As they walked, Yuta seemed a bit nervous.

“Umm... please take care of me,” he said timidly.

Maki turned her head toward Yuta and asked, “You’ve been bullied before, haven’t you?”

Yuta froze on the spot as if struck by lightning, causing the group to stop walking.

“Got it in one, huh? It’s so obvious. If it were me, I’d probably want to bully you too.”

Seeing Yuta’s reaction, Fujino patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Oh, come on! It’s just that Yuta looks easy to bully!”

“Don’t make excuses for him, Fujino,” Maki retorted sharply. “He’s like this because of that curse, right? It’s like he’s wearing a sign that says, ‘I’m a good target.’ It’s disgusting!”

“You’ve been protected all this time, yet you’re acting like some kind of victim. You’ve always been so passive, haven’t you? Jujutsu High isn’t an easy place to survive.”

“Don’t think you can just coast by without any purpose.”

Panda and Inumaki couldn’t listen anymore and stepped in.

“That’s enough, Maki!” Panda said firmly.

“Katsuobushi!” Inumaki chimed in.

Maki glanced back at the group, then scoffed and walked ahead. “Fine, whatever! You’re all so annoying!”

Fujino watched her leave but chose not to chase after her. Panda, on the other hand, comforted Yuta. “Sorry about that. Maki always thinks she knows everything about everyone.”

“It’s okay… she’s right,” Yuta muttered, his tone filled with self-pity.

Fujino looked at him and said casually, “What’s the big deal? I always think people have secret crushes on me!”

“Huh? Fujino, you’re so full of yourself!” Panda exclaimed, looking genuinely shocked. He quickly picked up Inumaki and declared, “Well, we’ll head off first!”

“Takana!” Inumaki added, as they both hurried away.

Watching their retreating figures, Fujino chuckled. Yuta, seeing her reaction, couldn’t help but smile too.

“Fujino, you’re so optimistic...”

“Well... to be honest, I’m not great at comforting people,” Fujino admitted. She gestured for Yuta to bend down. When he complied, he felt a gentle hand patting his head.

“There, there. Doesn’t that make your heart feel a little lighter?”

Yuta’s face flushed bright red as he stood bolt upright. Fujino teased him, “Aww, are you blushing?”

“I’m not!”

───

Fujino, Yuta, and Maki followed Gojo to what seemed to be an ordinary school. Yuta curiously looked around.

“This is...?”

“An elementary school,” Gojo said, folding his hands behind his back and stopping in front of the group.

“An elementary school where students have gone missing.”

“Missing?!” Yuta exclaimed in shock. Fujino tried to reassure him, albeit bluntly.

“It’s no big deal, right? With curses around, it’s either a disappearance or, well, death.”

Gojo chuckled at her matter-of-fact tone. “As expected, Fujino-chan is sharp!”

“So the kids were kidnapped by a curse?” Fujino asked, puzzled. A curse kidnapping children? That sounded... odd.

Gojo turned to face the group. “Exactly! Two missing students.”

Maki added, “Places that hold strong memories for people tend to accumulate curses. Schools, hospitals—places frequently remembered often harbor lingering negative emotions.”

“When enough negative emotions gather, curses like this one are born.”

As Maki explained, Fujino gazed at her with admiration. Maki, noticing her look, frowned. “What’s with that gross expression?”

“Maki, you’re truly the perfect combination of beauty and brains!”

Gojo immediately pouted, feeling left out. “Hey, I’m amazing too, you know!”

“Anyway,” Gojo said, cutting off any further argument, “your mission is to exorcise the curse and rescue the kids! If they’re dead, just recover their bodies.”

Before the trio could react, Gojo deployed a curtain (veil). Yuta, watching the sky darken, was stunned. “The sky… it turned dark!”

“This is called a curtain,” Gojo explained. He walked toward the school gate and added, “It makes it so no one outside can see what’s happening and also draws out the curse.”

“All right! Do your best, and don’t die!”