Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

Half an hour later, Sumi Kikawa arrived at Tokyo Jujutsu High School.

Before dawn, most of the college buildings were shrouded in the impenetrable darkness, except for the windows of the infirmary, where a sliver of cold white light shone through the crack in the door.

Sumire Kawakawa walked over and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

Ieiri Shoko was writing a record of her injuries with her head down.

She didn't look up until she heard footsteps stop in front of her desk, then she raised her eyes and looked over, a cigarette between her fingers.

"Sumi Sikawa?"

"Good evening, Miss Shoko."

Kikawa Sumi wasn't surprised that the other person called her by her name directly, and said in a gentle tone, "Sorry to bother you so late."

"I've heard so much about you."

Shoko snapped the notebook shut, then leaned back in her chair, her eyes scanning the person in front of her.

Her understanding of Sumire Kikkawa came almost entirely from what she heard from Satoru Gojo.

Occasionally, students would mention it, and there were also a few combat videos of him in the high-level files.

But the extremely dangerous guy in the video is a stark contrast to the person standing in front of me.

The person in front of me was wearing a well-tailored dark trench coat, stood ramrod straight, and gently closed the door behind them after entering.

Whether it was the volume of his voice or the distance he stood at, everything was just right.

"What about Gojo?" Shoko asked.

"I went to look into some things."

"Did you two have a fight?"

"no."

"Is he injured?"

"No, not at all."

Shoko raised an eyebrow and flicked a long piece of cigarette ash into the ashtray: "Then what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Kikawa Sumi didn't beat around the bush. He first briefly mentioned the arrest operation in the early morning, and then talked about the informant he had interrogated.

"...I got the name of the mastermind from one of them."

"Who?"

"Xia Youjie".

The infirmary fell into a deathly silence.

Glass did not respond.

The cigarette burned quietly between her fingers, the white smoke rising straight up, soon accumulating into a small patch of grayish-white ash.

After a long while, Shoko finally lifted her eyelids to look at him.

Are you sure he's not lying?

"He was not capable of lying at the time."

Kikawa Sumi's tone was very confident, and Shoko didn't press Kikawa Sumi about what irregular methods she had used in the interrogation room. She simply reached into her pocket and pulled out her cigarette case again.

"So, after seeing the list, Gojo left on his own?"

"Um."

"Didn't he tell you where to go?"

"no."

"You didn't ask either?"

"I didn't ask."

Glass bent down and lit a second cigarette, the lighter making a crisp "click" sound.

She leaned against the window, looking at Sumi Kichikawa through the bluish-white smoke.

"Since Gojo doesn't want to tell you, why do you think I would?"

Sumire Kawakawa remained silent for a moment.

"Because Wu's emotions were not right."

"That's all?"

"He's worried about something related to Xia Youjie," Sumi Kikawa said, looking into Shoko's eyes. "And that thing is making him very sad."

Shoko narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You can just ask him directly. Given your relationship, he probably won't hide it from you."

"He will definitely answer."

"Isn't that great?"

"not good."

Kikawa Sumi's voice remained gentle, but at this moment it revealed an unyielding stubbornness.

"Wu won't tell me those things directly. He'll process them on his own first, and once he's sorted out his emotions, he'll tell me a few mild things, and then act like nothing happened."

"Wasn't this his own choice?"

"Yes."

"Then what makes you think you're doing, bypassing him and coming to ask me?"

Kikawa Sumi lowered her eyes, remained silent for a long time, and then answered truthfully.

"I can't bear to see him sad."

Glass stopped smoking abruptly.

Kikawa Sumi raised her eyes again, meeting her gaze openly.

"I know this past is definitely not easy for Miss Shoko either. It's not fair for me to come to you in the middle of the night and reopen your wounds."

"It seems you understand quite well."

"I understand," Sumi Kikawa said. "But if someone has to relive those painful memories today, I wouldn't choose Satoru."

The infirmary was silent for a long time, so long that the only sound could be the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Suddenly, Shoko understood why she had felt a subtle sense of unease the moment she saw Sumi Kikawa.

This man is not as harmless as he appears.

His gentleness is genuine, and so is his politeness.

But all of these things are built on a clear, even ruthless, boundary.

Once Gojo Satoru and the others were placed on opposite ends of the scale, he didn't even bother to feign hesitation.

"You really dare to say that to my face."

"Feel sorry."

"I didn't detect much sincerity in your words."

"Because even if I had to choose again, I would still come to you."

Shoko chuckled, shook her head, and stubbed out the cigarette she had just taken two puffs of into the ashtray. She pulled out a chair and sat down again.

"What do you want to know?"

Sumi Kichikawa didn't rush to get the final answer.

"What was the relationship between Wu and Xia Youjie before?"

Shoko glanced at him.

"We were from the same cohort."

She paused for a moment, as if searching through dusty memories, before adding, "He was also the only one of the five who ever acknowledged as a close friend."

At that time, Gojo Satoru had not yet become the "strongest" in the true sense of today.

He and Xia Youjie would go on missions together, argue in the street about meaningless things like what to eat that day, and naturally turn their backs to each other, keeping each other by their side.

Most of the time, Ieiri Shoko is just an observer and doesn't participate in their childish arguments.

She simply sat on the steps, watching the two of them argue until the very end, and then both of them were scolded by Masamichi Nobi, who pressed their heads down.

"They had a very good relationship back then." Shoko's voice softened. "So good that...none of us ever imagined it would end up like this."

The Stellar Mission changed a lot of things.

Riko died before their eyes, and Gojo Satoru, on the verge of death, mastered the Reversal Technique, his power rapidly advancing to a level that even they could not reach.

Xia Youjie began to carry out more and more missions on his own, and began to face the contradiction of "a sorcerer must protect ordinary people" day after day.

That summer was long and dull, the cicadas' chirping was maddening.

By the time the others finally realized something was wrong, Xia Youjie had already made his choice.

"He killed more than a hundred ordinary people, defected, and later took over the Panxing Cult," Shoko said. "His goal was to create a world where only sorcerers existed."

Sumire Kikawa asked, "Didn't Satoru stop him?"

"They met once in Shinjuku."

Shoko did not describe the details of that afternoon.

"Given Gojo's abilities at the time, he could have easily taken action. But in the end, he didn't."

It's not that it's impossible.

It was simply because the person standing in front of him was Xia Youjie.

A year ago, Xia Youjie launched the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts.

"He lost." Shoko's voice was hoarse with exhaustion. "He met Gojo after being seriously injured."

"and then?"

Shoko raised her eyes and looked straight at Sumireki.

"Gojo killed him with his own hands."

Sumi Kichikawa's fingers, resting on her knees, slowly tightened.

"Are you sure Xia Youjie is dead?"

"Sure."

Have you ever handled a body?

"no."

Glass gave an exceptionally clear answer.

"The body did not pass through my hands, and Gojo did not tell me how he disposed of it later; that was between him and Natsuyu."

This answer was slightly different from what Sumi Kichikawa had expected.

But that's precisely why Gojo Satoru's sudden, out-of-control departure tonight had a reason.

"So, Satoru's hasty departure might have been to check the body."

Glass did not deny it.

"If the person you interrogated really saw Xia You, Gojo will definitely go and confirm that first."

Is it possible for the real Xia Youjie to be resurrected?

"To my knowledge, no."

Shoko looked at the messy pile of cigarette butts in the ashtray.

"At the very least, he can't come back to life as if nothing happened and go back to take over the Panxing Cult. Wutiao won't mess up on something like that."

Sumi Kichikawa stood up.

"Thanks."

"You're leaving already?"

"I'll go back and wait for Wu."

Shoko watched him walk to the door, his hand already on the doorknob, and suddenly called out to him, "Kikawa."

Sumire Kawakawa turned around.

"Gojo isn't that easy to break down." Shoko looked at him. "Even if there are problems with the body, he'll handle it."

"I know."

"Then why are you making that face right now?"

Kikawa Sumi fell silent. He stood in the dim light and shadow for a long while before speaking.

"It's precisely because he knows how to handle it that I feel sad."

Shoko paused for a moment.

"Gota is used to taking everything on his own." Sumi Kikawa's face looked somewhat cold and hard in the pale light. "And other people are used to believing that he can take on everything."

"He certainly can."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he should suffer this injustice."

Sumi Kichikawa gently closed the door.

The corridor fell silent again.

Shoko sat there, staring at the closed door, and didn't light another cigarette for a long time.

Outside the corridor, the sky was gradually brightening, and the edge of the deep blue night sky was turning a pale white.

Sumire Kichikawa took out her phone and dialed Satoru Gojo's number.

"Beep—beep—"

No one heard.

He hit it again.

The ringing persisted for a long time in the cold morning air before mechanically switching to voicemail.

Sumi Kichikawa stared at the darkened screen and didn't dial a third time.