Curse Reply: After choosing Nawa, the cursed spirit cursed me for being cruel.

Chapter 313 Small things are very cute!

2018年12月31日，22:00。

The Shibuya Incident has officially ended.

Duanmu Yan celebrated briefly with everyone in the cafeteria before returning to the dormitory with the help of Tian Lizi.

His physical wounds had almost healed thanks to the reversal technique, but his mental exhaustion was something no technique could eliminate.

Riko changed his dressing and poured him a glass of warm water, placing it by his bedside.

She didn't say anything, but simply kissed his forehead lightly and then turned off the light.

Duanmu Yan fell asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow.

I slept very soundly, without even dreaming.

When I opened my eyes again, bright daylight was already streaming through the gaps in the curtains, and I could vaguely hear shouts and laughter from the playground outside.

He stretched his shoulders, changed into clean clothes, and pushed open the dormitory door.

The weather was exceptionally good that day.

Sunlight fell on the playground, still bearing traces of last night's celebration. Several empty beverage bottles lay askew under the bench, and someone's coat was draped over the horizontal bar and forgotten to be taken down.

He walked slowly along the stone path, intending to get a cup of coffee at the cafeteria.

As soon as I reached the rest area next to the training field, I heard a familiar commotion.

Katsuki, Fushiguro, and Wild Rose were sitting around the rest platform, each holding a can of juice. Their eyelids were drooping, but they were still very excited.

Zhang Xiang sat to the side, with several unopened boxes of snacks in front of him. He nodded when he saw Duanmu Yan come over.

Gojo Satoru lay casually on the bench, his long legs propped up on the armrests, holding a half-empty can of cola in his hand.

"Stay up all night?" Duanmu Yan walked over and glanced at the group of people, whose faces all had the same dark circles under their eyes.

Huzhang yawned widely and rubbed his eyes: "Teacher! We were so excited that we couldn't sleep. So we just kept chatting, and before we knew it, it was dawn."

Wild Rose lay on the table, her face buried in her arms, and added, "I originally wanted to go back to sleep, but Mr. Gojo said that since it's a rare occasion to finish a battle, we should celebrate all night long. He even said that he used to stay up all night in Okinawa..."

"And then he dragged us into this conversation until now," Fukuro Megumi added expressionlessly, his dark circles under his eyes more pronounced than the other two.

Duanmu Yan shifted his gaze to Gotō Sō, who was sitting on the bench.

Gojo Satoru sensed something was wrong and was about to put his leg down from the armrest.

"Isn't it obvious who came up with the idea of ​​staying up all night?" Duanmu Yan's tone was calm, but Gojo Satoru was very familiar with this kind of calm.

He leaped up from the bench, grabbed the Coke can, and took two steps back: "Duanmu, let me explain! I was just suggesting, just suggesting! They were the ones who said they wanted to continue!"

"You just said that we should celebrate all night after the battle is over." Wild Rose lifted half of her face from her arm and delivered a precise blow.

Seeing that things were going badly, Gojo Satoru put his cola down on the table: "I suddenly remembered that I still have a task to hand in..."

“You never submit mission reports.” Duanmu Yan took a step forward.

"Then we definitely have to pay!" After saying this, Gojo Satoru teleported away in a flash.

The next second he vanished from his spot, leaving only a half-full cup of cocoa still steaming on the bench.

Duanmu Yan sighed, then turned around and looked seriously at the three little ones in front of him.

"You absolutely cannot stay up late, or you won't grow tall."

He crouched down, looking directly into Itari and Megumi's eyes, "It will always be small."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Gojo Satoru, who had clearly run away, teleported back.

Zhang Xiang stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The two spoke almost simultaneously: "Hey~~"

Then they both fell into a fantasy.

Zhang Xiang looked at Hui, imagining him forever remaining in his current small stature, with a head of spiky, urchin-like hair, looking up and glaring at people.

Gojo Satoru clearly imagined the same scene as him, and the two of them exclaimed in unison, "That sounds so cute!"

Gojo Satoru clapped his hands, pointed at the three little ones, and loudly announced, "Yosh! Stay up all night! Starting today, you'll only sleep one hour a day!"

Duanmu Yan kicked Gotō Sō, sending him staggering several steps to the side.

"Don't corrupt my students!"

Gojo Satoru, clutching his kicked back, laughed even harder.

The two exchanged a glance and, surprisingly, walked towards the outside of the playground at the same time.

Zhang Xiang stayed behind to accompany Hu Zhang and the others. The two, who had known each other since their first year at the vocational college, walked one after the other, around the teaching building, past the training ground, and finally arrived at the familiar grassy area on the back mountain.

The grass was mostly withered in winter, but it was still soft to lie on. Duanmu Yan lay down on his back, put his hands behind his head, and looked up at the clear blue sky above.

"It's been twelve years, hasn't it?" Gojo Satoru lay down next to him, his sunglasses pushed up to his forehead, his voice unusually devoid of its usual irritating tone.

Duanmu Yan thought about it and realized that it had indeed been twelve years since he first met Gojo Satoru.

"Yes, it's been a full twelve years since we first met."

“Back then you were a head shorter than me,” Gojo Satoru said.

"You're mistaken, I've always been taller than you."

"Impossible. My memory is absolutely accurate. Ah Hui can testify to that."

"Megumi was probably still living with Tsumiki back then."

The two remained silent for a short while.

The wind from the back mountain rustled through the withered grass, and from the distant playground, one could faintly hear Itajō chasing after Takashi and calling him "Big Brother," along with Maki's loud and energetic reprimanding voice.

"Seriously, Duanmu."

Gojo Satoru pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead, revealing his excessively blue eyes.

“Being the chairman of the federation must be tough. Ijichi said the pile of documents on your desk is higher than his.”

"When did you start chatting with Ijichi?"

"When he complains about you, he says that every time you go out to fight, you leave him with the documents, and then you bring them back with even more documents."

Gojo Satoru pulled his sunglasses back down. "He also said your back is bad and told me to advise you to stay up less late."

"Who said that? My kidneys are perfectly fine!"

"I didn't say your kidneys were bad, you're just admitting it!" Gojo Satoru said with a laugh.

"I'm much better than a bachelor like you..."

Duanmu Yan smiled and then turned to look at him: "Since you think I have too many documents, why don't you try being the vice chairman? I'll give you half of the documents."

"Absolutely not." Gojo Satoru refused cleanly and decisively.

He sat up from the grass, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the small figures running laps on the college playground below the hillside in the distance.

Twelve years ago, they were among those running laps; twelve years later, the lap runners have changed, and they have become the ones standing on the sidelines watching.

Chapter 314 Twelve Years

"It's been twelve years. Duanmu, when you said you wanted to replace the Elders' Council, I thought you were crazy. Looking back now, it was them who were crazy."

Duanmu Yan listened quietly.

When Gojo Satoru talked about these trivial matters, he spoke very quickly, as if he were reporting on his work, but he knew that Satoru was not reporting on his work.

He was telling him, "Look, these people are still here, their lives are going on, and what we're protecting is still here."

Their persistence is meaningful.

"Twelve years have passed." Duanmu Yan looked up at the sky, his tone filled with emotion. "The first time I saw you, you were standing at the school gate, wearing sunglasses in broad daylight, and you told me that you would become the strongest in the future."

"Isn't this a reality?" Gojo Satoru grinned.

"Yes. It's done." Duanmu Yan didn't say anything more. He looked at the sky above, where the clouds were moving very slowly.

Over the course of twelve years, they fought countless battles, caused countless troubles, were punished by Teacher Moth by being made to stand, were wanted by the Elders, nearly died, and saved many people.

It started with a dilapidated Ryousei Shrine, then moved on to the final battle against tens of thousands of cursed spirits in Shibuya, and finally to last night's final punch with Sukuna.

They really went a long way.

“Duanmu,” Gotaka suddenly spoke up, “let’s have a real fight another day.”

"Didn't you always say you were going to beat me?"

"This time it's for real. You even took down Su Nuo, I won't feel right if we don't have a fight."

Duanmu Yan chuckled. "Alright. I'll wait until you're ready. But let me make this clear, I won't go easy on you this time."

"Who asked you to give way!" Gojo Satoru sat up abruptly, pointing at Duanmu Yan, "You just wait, I'm going to develop a new technique right now, specifically to deal with your tattered armor!"

"Go ahead. Once it's developed, remember to write a report and submit it to Ichiji."

"You're such a spoilsport." Gojo Satoru lay back down.

The two quieted down again.

A gentle breeze blew from the back hill, carrying with it the aroma of the distant canteen and the laughter from the playground, slowly spreading across the small hillside where they had lain together countless times.

Duanmu Yan also sat up, stretched out his hand, and clenched it into a fist, in the exact same posture as he had done ten years ago in that alley.

Gojo Satoru looked at the fist, grinned, and then reached out and bumped it with his own fist.

Two fists gently collided in the morning sunlight on the back mountain, just as they had done every time they fought side by side for the past twelve years.

Twelve years have passed, and many things have changed, but some things remain the same.

Just as the two were enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze, a friendly and familiar voice suddenly interrupted them.

"What are you talking about, so engrossed?" Xia Youjie's voice came from behind.

He walked up the stone steps, his long hair cascading over his shoulders, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and a gentle smile that had remained unchanged for over a decade on his lips.

Shoko followed behind him, leaning against the crooked tree that had always stood on the back hill. She took a cigarette out of her pocket and put it in her mouth, but didn't light it.

"Let's talk about the past, back in high school." Gojo Satoru sat up from the grass, patted the grass clippings off the back of his head, and waved to Natsumi Yujie.