A Bizarre Adventure That Begins in Jujutsu Kaisen

Chapter 125 Watching the Sunset Side by Side with You

June 5, 2018, Wakasa-Wada Beach, Fukui Prefecture.

The sea breeze caressed my face, carrying a salty dampness and the warmth of early summer.

As the sun sets, it paints the sky and sea in a gradient of gold and red.

Anka-hime, dressed in the same retro shrine maiden outfit she wore during her student days, lightly skipped and hopped barefoot on the soft sand.

"Wu, you really know how to pick a date location!"

"Of course~" Gojo Satoru accepted her praise without any modesty.

The songstress pointed to a wooden observation deck extending towards the sea in the distance: "That observation deck over there looks like a fantastic spot to watch the sunset! Shall we go up?"

"Okay, watch out for the stairs." Wu followed behind her, his gaze behind his sunglasses fixed on her cheerful back, and reminded her.

The songstress leaped onto the observation deck, leaned against the railing, and took a deep breath of the sea air.

"We're here! The view from here is amazing."

If the sea is the stage, then the sunset is the most magnificent lighting.

We don't need to do anything; we just need to look at the sea and the sunshine, and accept all the wonderful performances it offers.

La.

Gojo Satoru walked to her side, also looking at the orange-red fireball slowly sinking into the sea. The afterglow of the sunset gilded his profile with a warm golden edge: "Right? Dio told me that the most romantic thing is to watch the sunset with you, so I call you whenever I have free time."

For people like us, this is an absolute luxury!

"Hmm—" Ankahime responded softly, and after a while she whispered again, "—So slow."

"What's so slow?"

"Of course it's the sun." She raised her hand, her fingertips pointing vaguely towards the sky.

"Look, it's moving every second, but the naked eye can hardly feel the change."

You only realize how much you've fallen behind when you suddenly come to your senses at some point.

Gojou's words were pointed: "Perhaps it gets tired because the sunset is the same every day."

So they dawdle, always thinking of going slower, even slower.

However, if the sun really were like an idol, putting on a different kind of sunset every day, people might get tired of it.

Yesterday's sunset used too much magenta, it was a bit tacky! And today's cloud cover was so unoriginal! Or something like that?

But no matter how much we wish time could stand still, and no matter how much we slow down, we are still being pushed forward by the ever-advancing flow of time.

Upon hearing this, Anka-hime laughed mischievously: "Hehe—you're talking about yourself, aren't you? I have some different opinions from you."

Even though I know the sun will rise again tomorrow and set again, watching it slowly sink below the horizon today still makes me feel—

"Ah, this is a scene that can only be seen today."

Every second, the colors, the shapes of the clouds, the ripples on the sea are different from yesterday, and tomorrow will not repeat them.

Her gaze followed the drifting clouds in the sky as she continued speaking.

"Realization: In our lives, we often pursue 'perfect repetition,' don't we?"

That might be a reversal of the aesthetics of mono no aware, a yearning to grasp the unchanging eternity amidst the impermanence and change.

So I wanted to capture that best moment with all my might, and then try to reproduce it precisely every day.

But the most beautiful moment of the sunset is precisely the one that cannot be reproduced!

Thinking about it this way, isn't all our hard work in trying to hold onto something a futile endeavor?

"Perhaps—but even so, many people still come for that one moment."

Wu turned around and embraced the songstress, his eyes reflecting the last rays of the setting sun.

"Moments worth remembering are beautiful in themselves, aren't they?"

The songstress lowered her head slightly, her ear tips turning a little red: "Hmm, when I'm with you, I always unconsciously say a lot of silly things~"

"No, it's not nonsense at all. What you said is quite interesting." Wu tightened his arms around her, his chin gently resting on the top of her head.

The songstress exhaled softly, her breath falling on his shoulder: "Wu, do you know?"

I was just thinking, is the fact that I'm standing here right now, watching the sunset with you, a blessing from the fickle nature of fate?

It seems I never made any decisions; I was just let it manipulate me at will, and that's how the happy story unfolded.

But at this moment, I don't care anymore.

Because my joy is real, my heartbeat is real, and my love is real.

The songstress opened her arms, which were not being held by Wu, her fingertips brushing against the flowing sea breeze, as if to embrace the entire twilight.

The sound of the tide gently lapping against the embankment again and again.

The evening breeze blew by, stirring their hair and clothes, causing them to intertwine and then separate.

"Songstress," Satoru's voice whispered in her ear, "I love your joy~"

"I'm pounding with excitement for your love~" The songstress smoothly picked up on the joke that Dio had "explained".

She rested her head on his shoulder and continued, "Wu, your efforts deserve to be seen by everyone."

Gojo Satoru was slightly taken aback.

"How could there really be a genius who can do perfection so easily?"

You have to work very hard to look effortless.

After you were defeated by Mr. Theo, you spent a lot of time every day training in physical fitness and sorcery, right?

Even though you didn't tell me, I saw it all.

She raised her hand and gently poked his chest.

"You're still too concerned about your image. You just don't want people to feel sorry for you, right?"

Wu gently nudged the other head leaning against his shoulder and muttered softly, "I won't be grateful for saying things like that to undermine me."

However—you're right. Genius is about packaging "giving it your all" as an "effortless" magic trick.

Theo seems to learn everything very quickly; he probably practices extra in private.

If necessary, one should practice diligently even in dreams. This is something that can be achieved with a little effort!

That's what they say, but can it really be done?

I've clearly grown a lot, and I'm confident I could beat myself a year ago, but the gap between me and him hasn't narrowed; it's actually widened.

After an unknown amount of time, the sun finally sank completely below the deep blue sea, leaving only a faint blush of faded rouge on the horizon.

"It's over," the geisha said softly, with a satisfied sigh. "It felt like watching a long, quiet performance. There was no encore, and the curtain call was very abrupt."

She looked up at Satoru, who was standing close to her: "Did you enjoy the performance? Did you have a good day today?"

Gojo Satoru raised his hand and gently ruffled her hair: "Of course. I'll cherish the scenery I saw today and remember it well."

"Me too!" The songstress nodded vigorously. "It's stored somewhere in my body~ Maybe one day it will become the inspiration for a song and dance."

This inspiration is also a unique memory for us, just like the unique sunset of each day.

Let's witness many more sunsets together in the future, Wu!

"Ah, no problem!"

When Gojo Satoru returned home with Ankagi after dinner, it was already late at night.

After washing up and getting ready, the two quickly fell asleep in each other's arms.

The peaceful tranquility did not last long.

Late at night, the mechanical-shaped "Little Genius Watch" suddenly lit up its screen and emitted a sharp, continuous beeping sound.

This is an emergency communication tool that only advanced mages can use, and it can ignore the do-not-disturb mode.

Gojo Satoru stretched his hand out from under the covers, his fingertips twitching slightly as he activated "Azure," causing the watch to fly from the bedside table into his palm.

He glanced at it; the name on the screen was Ninety-Nine Yuki.

"Huh?!" Realizing something was wrong, he suddenly sat up.

Is it true? — Has something happened in Europe?

Theo and his group, along with the top-tier cursed spirits under his command, nearly gathered more than half of the combat power of Earth's sorcery world. With this lineup, how could anything go wrong?

"Feed"

"Five, I am the Ninety-Nine Yogis. 'One Word,' 'All Laws,' 'Submission.'"

Gojo Satoru's still somewhat confused mind suddenly cleared up.

"One word," "ten thousand laws," "subdued" —

This is the complete incantation used by Dio to amplify the power of the Extreme Decree of Heaven.

The power of "incantation" lies in its swiftness of "words becoming law," often requiring only a single word or even a short syllable to manipulate the rules.

Dio almost never chanted complete incantations on a daily basis, so this set of incantations served as his "anti-counterfeiting label."

The fact that Tsukumo Yuki said this at this moment means only one thing.

"The powerful cursed spirit 'Day God Fa'etong' has appeared! Come quickly!"

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