Chapter 3

WOW WOW! Intensive Driving Camp—WOW! Hello there. It’s me, Naoya Zenin, head of “Hei.”

Because of the disastrous reputation left behind by the Zenin Family raid battle, I somehow ended up absurdly overhyped. And yet, no one comes near me. The only people who interact with me—aside from Father—are Maki-chan and Mai-chan, the sisters treated like ticking time bombs, just like I am.

Maybe they’re the kind of gyaru who are nice to nerds.

Lately, even my internal monologue has started slipping into full Naoya dialect. Terrifying. Is this another Heavenly Restriction or something? It even feels like some Snack ○sue energy got mixed in there.

At this age, most of my original-story knowledge has already faded. The only things I truly need to remember are that Maki-chan destroys the Zenin family… and the Shibuya Incident.

…And, well, the Hidden Inventory / Premature Death arc, too.

Though honestly, there’s barely anything I can actually do about any of it. At best, I can subtly cover for Maki-chan and the others.

As for the Shibuya Incident, I doubt anything would change just because one extra “Naoya Zenin” exists. If I could somehow warn Gojo Satoru in advance that the enemy is a curse user possessing Suguru Geto’s body, there might be a chance.

But then the obvious question arises: how would I know that?

Unless I became best friends with Gojo-kun, that move is unusable.

Hidden Inventory / Premature Death… personally, I’d like Toji-kun to survive. But if I interfere carelessly, Gojo Satoru might never become the strongest. Whether or not he awakens Reverse Cursed Technique matters enormously.

I can use it myself, of course. I’m peerless.

Do you know how many times Toji-kun nearly killed me?

Stopping Suguru Geto from falling into darkness… that’s impossible. If anything, learning about the internal affairs of the Three Great Families would only accelerate his downfall. The number of rotten oranges marked for extermination would simply increase.

Old ruling families that have held power for centuries are always rotten to the core.

I’ve gone on long enough, but the biggest issue is this:

“Naoya Zenin” is not the kind of person who goes out of her way to help others.

Yes, I accept missions to exorcise curses, and that indirectly saves people. But my motivation is becoming stronger—not helping someone. Only genuine saints or relentlessly cheerful types can act for reasons like that.

Honestly, even protecting Maki-chan comes with resistance. My benchmark for Heavenly Restriction is Toji-kun. Compared to him, she feels like a downgraded version.

As for Mai-chan… her technique is the problem. If she had inherited something like the Ten Shadows Technique, people would have treated her entirely differently.

Well, Maki-chan has enough rebellion in her to survive some bullying… probably.

But Mai-chan…

The original Naoya likely “matured” because of Mai-chan. Though honestly, a grown woman going after someone nearly ten years younger is questionable at best. Then again, Naoya herself is already a walking problem, so it hardly matters now.

Anyway.

Mai-chan would probably break if pushed too hard. She also lacks motivation, even with training. Honestly, marrying her off somewhere might be kinder—but her father is the real issue. That man can’t even conceive of a woman’s happiness. He would either shove her into the “Akari” unit for appearances or use her in a political marriage.

Completely trapped.

Maybe I’ll consult Dad about it someday.

That’s still far off.

Personally, the most important matter—the one I’ve tried not to think about—is Megumi Fushiguro.

Toji-kun’s son.

My honest impulse right now is to kidnap him, raise him into my ideal man, and turn him into my husband-route breeding partner…

…but I still have a human conscience, so that’s out.

Ideally, I’d want Megumi-kun to fall for me on his own. And if that fails…

Well.

Creating an irreversible situation might still work.

The problem is that Gojo Satoru becomes his guardian. The story never really covered what happened between then and the main plot.

If only I could insert myself somewhere along the way.

In the end, I’ll just have to respond with advanced flexibility and adapt to circumstances as they arise.

"Naoya, we’re going out. Come with me."

"Even for you, that’s way too blunt, Otōn. Been overanalyzing your technique again? Watching too much anime?"

Inviting someone without even explaining what it’s about is unpleasant enough—but this wasn’t even the worst version. When you leave no room for refusal like that, it almost makes me not want to go at all.

"It’s a summons from Toji. I won’t force you. I’ll apologize to him myself—"

"Otōn. You’re way too slow. Let’s get moving already."

A change of clothes. Presentable makeup. Minimum essentials. Projection Sorcery is truly convenient. Everything gets done fast.

"...If you’re this invested, you could at least contact him yourself once or twice—"

"Don’t interfere with your daughter’s love life. Any further and it’ll mean war."

I can speak freely with people I don’t care about. But when it’s someone important, I become awkward.

Such is a maiden’s fate.

The complicated heart of a girl who can’t be honest.

"This is my son. He’s clearly on the gifted side. If he inherited a technique—"

"If he inherited one, it’s the Ten Shadows."

So this is the scene.

That was my first thought.

Which means his wife has already passed away.

Part of me wishes I had met her at least once. Another part knows I would have screamed, “That’s NTR!” the moment I saw her, so perhaps it’s better I never did.

The human heart is complicated.

What they were discussing was the price of Toji-kun’s son.

Well, this is the Zenin family. Talent supremacy above all else. If a child possesses an excellent inherited technique, they will pay any amount. I’ve only read about it in the records, but there’s supposedly even the strongest shikigami.

Mahoraga. Thanks, as always.

While I was lost in thought, their conversation came to an end.

"...Yo, Naoya. Been a while."

"Yeah. Toji-kun… you’ve gotten pretty worn down. Not on the outside. On the inside."

"Don’t talk like you know me."

"Well, it’s been years, and I don’t know the details. But have you noticed? Right now, you’ve got the exact same face you had back when you lived at home."

To put it simply, he wore the face of someone who no longer cared about anything. Not his own future. Not the people around him. The face of someone who had given up on all of it.

And yet, on the day he ran away from home after throwing everything into chaos, I remember him looking almost exhilarated.

"...To me, that place was a garbage dump. But if you’ve got talent like yours, it’d be different, wouldn’t it?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Though it would’ve been perfect if I’d been born a man—but well, nothing to be done about that."

It feels strange to say it out loud, but I do have talent. I was blessed with my technique, and the sense of frame timing I inherited from Father is completely innate.

"If my kid ends up going there… take care of him. Setting Naobito aside—you wouldn’t treat him badly."

"Sure, but… hearing that from you stings a little, you know? As your daughter. That lack of trust in Otōn."

"I’ve seen how your siblings are treated."

"Yeah. Fair enough."

I know Father dotes on me. But the way he treats my older brothers… at best, it’s like an elite salaryman fully devoted to his job interacting with his sons. Strip away the politeness, and it simply means he has no interest in them.

The fact they didn’t turn delinquent probably says more about their mother’s upbringing than anything else.

Funny enough, I barely have any memories of interacting with my own mother at all.

Makes you wonder which situation is actually happier.

"...And you’re really okay with this, Toji-kun? It’ll be difficult, sure, but if you wanted to, you could raise him yourself."

"...I just stopped caring. That’s all."

He really did love his wife.

So much that when she died, everything else lost its color.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up killing himself someday. It probably depends on how long his memories of her can keep him going.

…Still, I would have liked to meet the woman who influenced Toji-kun this much.

But it’s far too late for that now.

Earlier, I said he had the same face he wore when he lived at home. That’s not entirely accurate.

Back then, there was defiance.

Now, his eyes hold resignation… and grief.

The hollow gaze of someone convinced that nothing good will ever happen to him again.

Seeing someone I once admired like that—

Simply put…

…it’s incredibly attractive.

Isn’t a handsome man wrapped in widower melancholy basically cheating?

"Well, fine. I still like you, Toji-kun. Looking after your son’s no trouble at all. I’m practically raising two little sisters already."

Of course, I meant Maki-chan and Mai-chan. Those two truly lost the parent lottery. If they had been born as my actual sisters, things might have turned out differently—especially for Mai-chan.

Uncle Ōgi ranks below third-rate as a parent, below third-rate as an educator, and below third-rate as a man. As a jujutsu sorcerer… I’ll generously call him barely second-rate.

Being born to someone like that was misfortune enough.

Which leaves Maki-chan carrying the burden.

Anyway.

"So? What are you going to do now, Toji-kun? If you’ve got nowhere to go, you could come back, you know? Right now, you could even become my husband."

"Say that after your chest grows a little more. …Not like I’ve got plans anyway. I’ll just earn enough to get by and live however. Just secured myself some money, too."

"Leave it alone. This is my optimal balance."

Self-neglect.

It’s hard to approve of that when you have a child.

Though, come to think of it… we did just finish discussing selling that very child.

After that, it was nothing more than trivial small talk. I knew there was no convincing him now. And it’s not as if I could ever win by force.

Even without prior knowledge, I can tell how this ends. The lifelessness in his eyes alone makes it feel as though death is waiting somewhere down the road.

But this isn’t something I can change.

There’s no justification for stopping someone who truly wishes to die.

Only those close enough to say, "Don’t die—I’d be lonely," and receive the answer, "Then I’ll live," are allowed to make that request.

So for now, I won’t do anything more.

If he ever chose to marry into my family, I would gladly devote the rest of my life to him.

That’s what people mean when they say that falling in love means losing.

Still… putting that aside—

Since this might be the last time…

…couldn’t he at least sleep with me once?