Solidified psychic force erupted with unprecedented brilliance, bending even sunlight into waves of color brighter than the aurora. Everyone watching stood stunned. They knew Akira was strong, but not like this.

  Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit RikaRika Orimoto was rated as a disaster capable of destroying a town. Yet Akira could move across her body as if dancing, and Gardevoir’s unleashed power tore away half of her arm even in her giant form. What drew the eye most was their One Body, One Mind-like coordination.

  Psychic Power for movement, position swaps, and Teleport came at exactly the right moments. Each time Akira was in danger, Gardevoir pulled him out, and the reverse was also true. Every escape was followed by an even fiercer counterattack.

  When people saw Akira sprinting with Gardevoir in his arms while she focused on meditation for a finishing move, more than one heart was shaken. This was what perfect understanding looked like, what true cooperation could be. Especially for Yuta Okkotsu, who had enrolled only yesterday.

  For a brief moment, he imagined himself as Akira, holding her childhood friend Rika Orimoto in his arms. This was how things should have been between them, if not for that accident.

  Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto grew up together and were inseparable. They were so close that Eriri felt openly jealous whenever she saw them. They were close enough that one day Rika Orimoto secretly took her parents’ wedding rings, gave one to Yuta, and promised they would marry when they grew up and stay together forever.

  Then something dramatic happened. The very next day, Rika Orimoto was struck by a runaway truck meant for transmigration targets. When Yuta rushed over after hearing the news, his childhood friend was already lying in a pool of blood, her head crushed beyond recognition.

  Yuta trembled as he walked to Rika Orimoto’s side, thinking she was already dead. To his shock, the corpse suddenly reached out and grabbed his ankle, forcing out broken sounds. “Yu… ta… Yu… ta…” “When… we… grow… up… we’re… going… to… get… married. We… promised.”

  “And that’s how he got cursed by the person he loved most, more or less like that. So be careful in the future, or you might trigger Rika Orimoto’s curse too.” Satoru Gojo said this with a bright smile, completely lacking the mood of someone telling a horror story.

  The ruins around them were, of course, the result of Gardevoir and Rika Orimoto fighting. Even though Akira had already planned ahead and moved the fight outdoors, he still underestimated the destructive ceiling of a Cursed Spirit. A school building with nearly a hundred years of history collapsed under the shockwaves of their clash.

  “Uh, can you explain what that is supposed to be?” Panda asked. “Salmon roe mayonnaise.” Toge Inumaki spoke at the same time, pointing toward the other side of the ruins.

  There, Rika Orimoto, now reduced to the size of a normal person, sat on the ground and let Gardevoir pat her head. “Sha~ sha~ sha~ sha~” “Oh~ oh~ oh~ oh~”

  Even though neither of them was speaking human language, anyone could tell the two non-humans were getting along extremely well. Just minutes ago, they had been fighting with lethal force. One had been beaten until she lost arms and legs, while the other had been blasted away multiple times, leaving her beloved host unable to lift one arm even now.

  Could it be that the harder Makoto fought, the better their relationship became? “Don’t ask me, I don’t know either. I’m not a woman,” Satoru Gojo said, spreading his hands and looking at Maki Zenin. Maki Zenin rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand women either. Hey, stop grinning and explain.”

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  The grinning “hey” was naturally Akira. Even though he had not remained completely unharmed, his mood was more than ten times better than before the fight. The upward curve of his lips had not stopped once, and if it continued, his face might cramp.

  “Explain what?” “Why are Little Sha and Rika Orimoto getting along so well? Doesn’t she hate Cursed Spirit the most?”

  “Because Rika Orimoto isn’t an ordinary Cursed Spirit. What drives her isn’t hatred, it’s love.” Maki Zenin gasped exaggeratedly. “Love? Love can turn someone into that?” “Overexpressed love is still love. You could call it yandere,” Akira said, accidentally revealing his true nature.

  Luckily, the atmosphere at Tokyo Jujutsu High was healthy, and no one looked down on people with niche hobbies. The concentration of that kind of interest was even higher in Satoru Gojo. “That’s about right. When you put it that way, I get it. There’s no curse more twisted than love. Oh, that line scores very high in Satoru Gojo’s heart.”

  Setting aside this oddly styled teacher, their analysis of Rika Orimoto was correct. To normal people, this kind of love was far too heavy to bear. But for Gardevoir, it was not a problem at all.

  Gardevoir was also extreme at her core. The Pokémon index clearly stated that when her trainer is in danger, she will risk her own life and unleash her strongest psychic power to save them. What Rika Orimoto did for Yuta Okkotsu resonated with her from the bottom of her heart, especially that devotion to caring for only one person for life and death alike.

  So at the end of the battle, when Akira was about to follow the plan and call in Satoru Gojo to control the field and forcibly end things, Gardevoir raised a rare objection. She said she had a way to calm Rika Orimoto. After that, she floated over and carried out a rapid “sha sha sha” encrypted conversation, and Rika Orimoto quickly settled down.

  Then Rika Orimoto said, “Rika Orimoto likes you. Let’s be friends.” After receiving Gardevoir’s confirmation, the scene turned into the two of them leaning together and rubbing against each other in a strange but friendly way.

  Of course, this also had to do with Rika Orimoto’s childlike mindset and her tendency not to hold grudges. Anyone with eyes could tell that neither side had killing intent in the earlier clash. From start to finish, Rika Orimoto had treated it like a game.

  There was no helping it, because Rika Orimoto’s scale of existence was simply too large. Large enough that even Satoru Gojo was not confident he could completely exorcise her. Akira did not even need to think to imagine the fight: invincible defense versus overwhelming toughness, Rika Orimoto unable to touch Satoru Gojo, and Satoru Gojo having trouble emptying Rika Orimoto’s health bar.

  That was why the attacks from Akira and Gardevoir only looked fierce. Compared to that absurdly long health bar, the actual damage was limited. Being able to deal real damage at all and move beyond light scratches was already proof of great strength.

  It had to be said that Special Grade was the rank with the widest gap. Some Special Grade had just barely reached that level, while others were only labeled Special Grade because the evaluation system could not go any higher. Satoru Gojo among Jujutsu Sorcerer and Rika Orimoto among Cursed Spirit were both examples of this.

  Akira and Gardevoir still had a long road ahead. Yuta Okkotsu did as well.

  “Do you know what you need to do now?” “Yes,” Yuta Okkotsu replied, because he was actually very smart.

  Watching Gardevoir and Rika Orimoto get along peacefully, he realized he had fallen into a misunderstanding. Because he had witnessed his childhood friend turning into a Cursed Spirit and because that form looked frightening, Yuta had always resisted Rika Orimoto’s existence. He saw her as the source of his misfortune and his greatest problem, and he had never truly accepted her.

  Gardevoir showed him through her actions that no matter how the appearance changed, Rika Orimoto was still Rika Orimoto. She could communicate, could be reasoned with, and there was no need to fear her hurting others.

  “Akira, please teach me what I should do.” “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Even if you didn’t want to learn, I’d still teach you,” Akira said, patting Yuta Okkotsu on the shoulder.

  It was not that he was addicted to teaching or liked taking everything on himself. “It’s because you’re my Same-Type Stand User.”

  “Same-Type Stand User?” Yuta Okkotsu’s pupils shrank.