A Bizarre Adventure That Begins in Jujutsu Kaisen

Chapter 86 You will die surrounded by a crowd (1/10)

June 1, 2018, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Sugisawa Third Hospital Inpatient Department.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting alternating stripes of light and dark on the quiet single-occupancy hospital room floor.

On his sickbed, Itsuji Yasuke sat up straight.

His body was so thin that he was almost unrecognizable, and his hospital gown hung loosely on his shoulders, revealing his weakness as he was nearing the end of his life.

The old man looked at his daughters-in-law who were sitting quietly by the bed, and spoke in an unexpectedly clear and strong voice, with a kind of last burst of energy: "Kaori, please go out and wait for a while."

"Hirohito and I—there are some things we need to discuss privately."

"Yes, Father-in-law." Kaori Itadori obediently stood up, her face still bearing that gentle and polite smile. "Call me anytime if you need anything."

She gently closed the door to the ward, leaving only the grandfather and grandson inside.

Yasuyuki's gaze shifted to his grandson, who was arranging a bouquet of flowers by the windowsill.

Compared to a year ago, Hisahito Itadori has clearly grown taller and stronger, and his pink hair looks very vibrant in the sunlight.

"Yujin," the old man said, trying to get his grandson's attention.

"Hmm?" Yuhito replied casually, without stopping his hands.

Yasuyuki's voice turned somber: "I can't take this secret to my grave—there are a few things I must tell you before we die, things about our ancestors in the Itadori family."

"It's alright, Grandpa, I'm not interested." Yuji didn't even turn his head, focusing intently on tending to the flowers.

"It's yours! Your ancestor!" Yasuyuki raised his voice, emphasizing it.

"So I'm not interested." Yuujin pouted, finally turning around. "Can you stop trying so hard to look cool? Just be yourself."

"You brat!" Yamato-suke was taken aback, then cursed, but there was little anger in his tone; instead, there was a sense of helplessness, as if he couldn't do anything about it.

"Every man wants to look cool before he dies! Look at the atmosphere!!"

After saying this, he took a breath and his gaze fell on the windowsill where Hisahito had just arranged the flowers: "Hmph—"

Don't buy any flowers, it's a waste of money.

Save it well; you'll need money for your studies later on.

"It wasn't bought for Grandpa, it was bought for the nurse," Yujin explained, pouting.

"That's even dumber!"

Yamato glared at him, then quickly returned the topic to serious matters, his tone softening somewhat.

"Hiruhito—by the way, how's your university life going?"

Kaori mentioned it before; the rules at the new mage school are quite strange.

Young sorcerers who haven't attended a regular university not only have to learn sorcery and Marxism, but also general education courses that are useful in combat, such as thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and mechanics of materials.

"You enrolled early, after all, and haven't even properly stepped into a high school—how can you keep up with the other kids?"

"It's so noisy."

Yu-Jin scratched his head, seemingly a little impatient with his grandfather's excessive worry, but still honestly reported: "The course schedule isn't that scary. All the classes are finished before 5 p.m. every day."

And I wasn't idle either; I listened attentively in class and completed all my homework on time. My overall ranking in the midterm exam was still in the top 10% of the grade.

"Tsk," Yamasuke uttered a disdainful syllable, pursing his lips, "Five o'clock, the relaxed generation, huh?"

So—are you ready to date? Do you have any close female classmates at school?

The topic abruptly shifted, and the old man's eyes narrowed slightly, taking on a different meaning.

Yuji was clearly taken aback by this turn of events and paused for a moment before asking, "I'm only fifteen—Grandpa, isn't that too early?"

Wozhu persisted, leaning forward: "Just tell me if you have it or not. So Grandpa can rest assured. You know, Jin passed away early, and you're our only son—"

"There's one female classmate I get along with fairly well," Yuujin replied quickly, interrupting his grandfather's follow-up questions.

Yamato's eyes lit up, and he pressed on, "What's your name?"

"————Nobara Kugizaki." Yuujin muttered reluctantly.

"Do you have any photos? Let Grandpa see them."

Yuujin's voice immediately rose eight octaves: "No! We're really just ordinary friends!"

Seeing his grandson's forced composure, Watanabe Yasuke ultimately said nothing.

He leaned back against the pillows, his gaze slowly shifting to the ceiling.

A brief silence filled the ward, broken only by the rhythmic ticking of the medical equipment.

After an unknown amount of time, the old man's voice rang out again, this time devoid of any teasing, leaving only a heavy entrustment: "Yujin—"

"Hmm?" Yuujin noticed the change in atmosphere.

"You are strong, so you should help others."

The old man turned his head to the side.

"Save people if you can within your capabilities."

Even if you save someone, you may not receive gratitude, and you might even fall into confusion—but save them first.

Yuujin, you are going to die surrounded by people. Don't—don't become like me—"

As soon as he finished speaking, Itadori Yasuke's head slumped slightly, and he stopped moving.

"Grandpa?" Yuji paused for a moment, then tentatively called out.

no respond.

The boy's expression froze instantly.

Without the slightest hesitation, he rushed to the bedside and forcefully pressed the red emergency call button on the bedside table.

A piercing alarm sounded in the ward.

"Hey—this is the nurses' station. What's wrong, Mr. Itadori?" came the nurse's urgent voice through the intercom.

Yujin took a deep breath and leaned closer to the intercom next to the button.

He said in as calm a voice as possible, "Nurse, Grandpa—has passed away."

Half an hour later, in the reception area of ​​the outpatient hall, the lights were dim and the air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant.

Kaori Itadori sat with Hisahito at the reception desk, signing the family documents related to the deceased one by one.

The nurse in charge carefully counted the documents, put the stack of files away, and placed them into numbered folders.

"Yes, these are all the necessary documents. Please accept my condolences."

"Yes," Kaori Itadori replied on his behalf, bowing slightly, "The old man was well taken care of by all of you during his lifetime."

The nurse looked up, her gaze involuntarily lingering on the pink-haired boy.

This nurse was the one Hisahito had planned to send flowers to express his gratitude to.

During Mr. Itadori Yasusuke's hospitalization, she did her best to help him a lot and became quite familiar with the somewhat stubborn old man.

At this moment, Hisahito's face did not show the expected grief or tears.

He was just quieter than usual, his gaze calmly fixed on some empty space, as if processing his suppressed emotions.

The nurse asked with concern, "Are you really alright, Itadori-kun?"

At times like these, there's no need to force yourself to stay strong.

If you feel sad and want to cry—just cry. It's okay.

"Hmm—to be honest, this is the first time I've encountered this situation, so it doesn't feel real—" Yujin answered honestly.

"But if I keep crying now—Grandpa will probably get angry."

Then, as if he had thought of something, he slightly twitched the corner of his mouth and said in an unusually straightforward, even somewhat crude, manner: "So, let's just roast him while laughing."

"What you're saying—!" The nurse's prepared words of comfort instantly got stuck in her throat.

She was stunned by the abrupt and abstract statement, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond. She could only open her mouth, look at the boy, and then look at her mother who was still maintaining a proper smile.

"Is this harsh? Please don't take it to heart. Some sadness doesn't need tears to prove it."

Kaori Itadori explained at the opportune moment.

"After all, my grandfather was a very open-minded and easygoing person when he was alive."

In his words, he was most annoyed by those tearful and whiny scenes.

Therefore, Hisahito was raised with this comparative—well, casual and direct personality.

The nurse looked at the mother and child, who seemed somewhat unusual, and ultimately just nodded without saying anything more.

After bidding farewell to his grandfather, who had passed away peacefully, Hisahito Itadori and his mother returned to the Tokyo University of Jujutsu Science and Technology.

"A prodigy who skipped grades"—Hiruhito is currently one such example.

If judged purely by practical combat ability and spell power level, Yuujin's systematic study over half a year, coupled with his already extraordinary physical talent, has given him the strength to consistently reach the standards for a top-tier spellcaster.

Whether it's strength, speed, endurance, or the precision of his spellcasting and his combat intuition, Yuujin is on a completely different level from his peers, and is even comparable to a certain senior special-grade mage.

However, age has become a limiting factor that cannot be ignored.

Seventeen is acceptable, but fifteen is still too young.

Given that he is still a minor, and his mental maturity, social experience, and judgment in complex situations still need time to develop, current security regulations clearly stipulate:

Yujin is not allowed to independently accept or participate in any dismissal or investigation commissions with a difficulty rating exceeding Level 1.

This is out of consideration for protecting young talents, and also a strict adherence to the responsibility for student safety under the new system.

Therefore, Hisahito Itadori's current study and life schedule still consists of participating in team-based risk area patrols, conducting simulated combat training on campus, and studying curse studies.

However, this peaceful life is about to end.

Over the next two days of the weekend, the mother and son are going to do something incredible to make Hisahito the "perfect jinchūriki" of Ryoumen Sukuna!

>