Jujutsu Kaisen — Chapter 65 - Suguru Geto's Public Humiliation, Youth That Never Fades
A week had passed since the Shinjuku incident.
Kyoto Jujutsu Headquarters. Conference room.
A severed, dark-red dried finger sat tossed carelessly at the center of the long table.
Rows of higher-ups sat rigidly upright, cold sweat dripping from their chins onto the tabletop.
No one dared speak.
Because across that table stood the strongest of Jujutsu High.
Not one. Three Special Grades.
Satoru Gojo had both hands in his pockets, feet propped on the table edge, working a lollipop around his mouth. Toji Fushiguro leaned against the doorframe with a perfectly harmless smile. Suguru Geto stood between them, body still wrapped in bandages, but the crushing weight of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit pressed over the entire room like a held breath.
"The Shinjuku incident was the work of foreign terrorists." Satoru Gojo bit through his lollipop.
"As for the Time Vessel Association cultists, Suguru dismantled them completely. This finger is your proof."
"Who agrees? Who disagrees?"
Dead silence from behind the screen. A full half-minute of it.
"N-no objections!" A voice, shaking badly, finally broke through.
"Suguru Geto has set things right. Crimes and merits cancel out. The wanted order is revoked immediately. His status is reinstated."
"Smart." Satoru Gojo snapped his fingers.
The three of them turned and walked out.
Sunlight punched through the clouds and fell over their shoulders.
...
Half a month later.
Kuantan Beach, Malaysia.
The azure coastline stretched without end.
The Gojo Clan's seaside property was less a villa and more a private resort, three helicopters parked side by side on the helipad alone.
The blood and fire of Shinjuku's streets felt like a nightmare from another century.
Here, the air held only salt-wet sea breeze and the faint sweetness of coconut.
Suguru Geto wore loose beach shorts and a white T-shirt, the bruising on his face not yet fully faded, still ugly in the sunlight. He stood in front of the grill and forced himself not to look up.
Because directly ahead of him,
A massive red banner, 3 meters across, stretched taut between two coconut palms.
Printed on it in aggressively flamboyant gold lettering:
[Celebrating Former Supreme Evil Cult Leader Suguru Geto-sama's Repentance and Glorious Return to the Youth Family Reunion!]
"PFFT — HAHAHAHA!"
Satoru Gojo, sporting a ridiculous new pair of sunglasses with a popsicle hanging from his lips, was rolling in the sand laughing himself sick.
"Suguru, don't hang your head like that! Where's your pride? Toji and I designed the font ourselves, isn't it magnificent?"
The corner of Suguru Geto's eye twitched hard. He took a slow breath and turned his full attention back to the grill. He would not dignify this.
Under the giant beach umbrella, Shoko Ieiri lay stretched out on a deck chair, swirling a cocktail garnished with a tiny paper umbrella.
She tilted it lazily in Suguru Geto's direction.
"Well, well. If it isn't our supreme evil cult leader who almost conquered the world."
"So what are you doing grilling sausages for the little goblins? Want a few sips of monkey blood to get in the mood?"
She took a sip of beer, her tone achieving a perfect blend of insufferable and unrepentant.
"Huh? Monkeys?" A voice drifted over from the neighboring chair. "You want to drink my blood?"
"Eww — Suguru, you're actually that depraved!"
Riko Amanai pointed at herself with theatrical disgust. Kuroi, who was in the middle of applying sunscreen to her, muffled a laugh behind her hand.
Suguru Geto's hands paused over the grill.
He exhaled slowly.
Endure. I will endure this.
Nearby, crouched in a sandpit and methodically stacking a castle with a plastic shovel, Megumi Fushiguro didn't even look up.
"A virgin cult leader who never killed a single ant."
Five years old. Completely flat delivery. The deadliest finishing blow of the afternoon.
The iron tongs in Suguru Geto's hand let out a groan under the sudden pressure.
That was it. He was done.
Veins jumping at his temple, he turned around and forced the warmest, most benevolent smile of his life at Megumi Fushiguro.
"Megumi. It seems your recent Youth special training has been getting a little slack."
He walked over and pinched Megumi's chubby cheeks, pulling them wide.
"Starting tomorrow, I'm personally taking over your Cursed Energy lessons. I'll give you a very thorough understanding of what a Special Grade sorcerer's love actually looks like."
The words weren't even out of his mouth before a roar came rolling in off the water.
"Megumi! Stop sitting around! Come feel the embrace of the ocean!"
Toji Fushiguro, bare-chested, was balanced on a surfboard at the crest of a wave, holding a full handstand. Showing off shamelessly.
Megumi didn't get a chance to refuse. He felt his body go weightless.
Toji had somehow already hit the shore, scooped him up in one motion, and then, like throwing a shot put, hurled him with everything he had toward the sea.
"Feel the Youth, my son!"
"AHHHH,!"
"You idiot! Megumi can't swim yet!" Tsumiki shrieked, snatching up a swim ring and sprinting for the water.
The beach erupted into chaos.
A short distance away, Kento Nanami reclined on a beach chair.
Loose linen beach shorts. A floral shirt, two buttons undone. His signature goggles on his nose. An iced coconut with a straw in one hand.
No Cursed Spirits.
No miserable overtime.
Just waves. Breeze. Sunlight.
This was genuinely pleasant.
"Nanami."
Yu Haibara, in floral-print swim trunks and hugging a massive watermelon, came jogging over and dropped onto the sand beside him. He watched the distant chaos with bright, shining eyes.
"Everyone's back! And Jujutsu Headquarters has a whole new group of reasonable elders!"
"You're really not going to think about returning to Jujutsu High?"
Kento Nanami bit the straw and took a long pull of cool coconut water.
"It is currently a statutory holiday. Discussing work during off-hours is extremely egregious behavior."
Yu Haibara scratched the back of his head and laughed.
Kento Nanami leaned back further and let the soft deck chair swallow him whole.
The gathering had been Satoru Gojo and Toji's idea, but the location was one he had suggested himself.
The sea at Kuantan.
He'd been wanting to come here for years.
It turned out the sea breeze and the company were both considerably better than Tokyo office towers.
THWACK!
A volleyball, riding the wind, came sailing at him dead-on.
His left hand still holding the coconut, Kento Nanami's right hand snapped up and caught the ball clean in his palm.
"Yosh! Those muscles haven't forgotten the rhythm of Youth after all! Nanami!"
Toji had materialized with a crowd in tow, a volleyball net tucked under his arm.
"Everyone up! Fall in! The Second Annual Passionate Youth Beach Volleyball Tournament, starts now!"
On the other side of the villa, in the shade.
Masamichi Yaga sat in a rattan chair with his glasses on, working a needle and thread through something small and careful.
It was a Cursed Corpse doll, tiny straw hat, unmistakably Suguru Geto's face. A small welcome-back gift.
He watched his students in the distance: burying each other in the sand, howling with laughter, grinning like absolute idiots.
The corner of his mouth curved, just barely.
Being young really is something.
Night settled in.
A great bonfire roared to life on the beach.
The long dining table was loaded with air-freighted premium wagyu, fresh seafood, and rows of iced drinks and beer.
Everyone gathered around the fire.
Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were still bickering about who had dragged the team down during the volleyball match. Shoko Ieiri sat to the side stoking the argument cheerfully, refilling both their glasses every chance she got. Riko and Tsumiki and the other girls had pulled close together, passing pretty seashells between them. Principal Yaga was walking Haibara, Kento Nanami, and Megumi through the finer points of which wagyu cut was worth fighting over.
"Cheers!"
Toji Fushiguro shot to his feet and raised a beer mug that was roughly the size of his own face.
"To a Youth that never ends!"
Everyone stopped. Cups rose around the fire.
Beer and juice collided in midair.
"Cheers!"
The sound rang out bright and clean, and Kuantan's warm sea breeze picked it up and carried it off into the dark sky.
Stomachs full, everyone started drifting toward their rooms.
"Hold on!"
Toji dropped his skewer, planted a foot on the bench, and vaulted up onto the long dining table.
He grinned wide. His teeth caught the moonlight.
Megumi Fushiguro felt it immediately, that cold prickle of wrongness.
He turned to run.
A large hand closed around the back of his neck and hoisted him onto a shoulder before he'd taken a single step.
Toji kicked a cluster of empty bottles aside, reached into the enormous duffel bag behind him, and hauled out a huge fistful of green fabric.
He shook it loose with a snap.
11 full sets of bright green spandex bodysuits went billowing in the sea breeze.
"Here we go!"
Toji spread his arms wide. His eyes were glistening.
"Even on vacation, Youth training does not stop! Put these on — all of us — and we run the beach until dawn!"
Silence dropped over the sand like a curtain.
Then Yu Haibara leapt to his feet.
"YEAH! It's here! The all-out run we've been waiting for!"
Every other person on the beach stared at the green gorilla standing on the table.
Their voices rose as one, carrying out over the dark water.
"YOU TWO IDIOTS, ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
---
(Is this... okay? Dear readers...)
(Volume One · Hidden Inventory / Premature Death Arc · Complete, throwing flowers~)
➤ Next: The Temptation of the Zenin Clan Headship — The Tyrant Descends