Chapter 23 - Yumi's Death

Five days ago

"Yumi's coming tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, she called me yesterday. They said they were going to be here by tomorrow evening."

Yuki replied to Sachiko with a nod.

"Is that so? I'm excited to meet her again. It has been like six years already." Sachiko smiled.

"I bet she would be excited too." Yuki said.

That was the conversation Sachiko had with her mother before the day Yumi was supposed to come back.

But Yumi didn't come back.....

The next day, the day Yumi was supposed to come back, Yuki got a call from the police stating that Yumi died in front of her fiancé's house. She was murdered along with her fiancé.

Sachiko was with her when that happened.

"They said Yumi was murdered..." The voice was barely audible as Yuki sobbed.

"Yumi...has died?" Sachiko couldn't believe what she heard.

Yumi died.

Yuki sobbed beside her and she didn't know how to comfort her.

It hurts.

It hurted even more when she saw Yumi's dead body.

"It was a curse..."

Sachiko mumbled quietly when she realized the cause of Yumi's death.

Yumi, someone she considered as her own sister, was killed by a curse and she couldn't do anything about it.

She was someone who was supposed to be able to see the possibilities of everything but she wasn't strong enough to see those possibilities.

She knew it wasn't her fault that Yumi died and with her current strength, there was no way she could've seen the possibility of Yumi dying out of nowhere but the pain was still there like a thorn.

Was it guilt? Or regret? Or simple sadness?

Sachiko didn't get it. But, it hurted a lot and she still felt like she failed in some way.

She always thought she was strong.

But was she?

She started to doubt.

It was true that she had some advantages compared to other Jujutsu sorceres because of her infinite cursed energy and superior ability to manipulate cursed energy. She had always relied on those two traits to win most battles. She always thought Possibility was like a double-edged sword and instead of training herself to improve the technique , she just avoided using as much as she could. If things went her way, she wouldn't even have mastered Domain Expansion but due to some special circumstances, she mastered it. But, she stopped trying to improve Possibility itself after that.

Was she delusional to think it was enough?

Or was she scared of the drawback?

Why didn't she try something to make it work?

She knew it had more potential so why didn't she try hard enough?

Sachiko couldn't figure it out.

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Sachiko called Gojo later that day.

"Gojo sensei, I don't think I can come back after a week yet. Someone close to me died... And I have to be here for a few more days." She said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. " Gojo said, "Don't worry about school for now. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know...it hurts and I..." Sachiko paused, not knowing how to continue.

"It was a curse.." She said after a while.

Gojo listened to her without interrupting.

"Do you think it's funny how I'm supposed to be able to see possibilities but I can't because I'm too weak and.. therefore, I can't change anything for the better?"

"Hm? Now why would you say that, Sachiko?" Gojo frowned.

"I don't know. I feel like I'm wasting a lot of potential by not being able to see those possibilities. And realizing how things could've been better if I actually could use my cursed technique...I feel pathetic." Sachiko replied.

"Now..now.. That's what I don't agree." Gojo said, "Do you have much more potential? Yes. I know you could be really stronger if you could use Possibility effectively but that doesn't mean you're pathetic or useless right now. You just have to learn and figure out a way for yourself. Remember we all have regrets but don't let those regrets tie you down. Don't say yourself pathetic and give up. Instead, become stronger."

"..That's right, I need to become stronger." Sachiko nodded.

"Okay. Rest for a few more days for now. Because I'll give you more challenges for your training when you come back." Gojo said.

"Alright."

"Okay. I got some business to attend to , so I'll hang up now," Gojo said.

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Sachiko spent more time with Yuki and her mother after Yumi's funeral. Meanwhile, she thought back to what Gojo said to her and thought how she could deal with her problem.

She wanted to be able to start using Possibility more frequently and prevent some of the bad things. It was practically impossible to prevent everything and Sachiko knew that. But, what Sachiko was after was not changing the whole world's fate. In fact, she didn't have a strong opinion on it. She didn't care about changing the world for better and her actions mostly based on her interests. However, she always had soft spot for family or people she considered family.

The sudden phone ringtone shook Sachiko out of her own train of thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Sachiko! How're you feeling now? Are you feeling better?"

She heard Gojo's voice.

"A bit better now, I guess. Why did you suddenly call me? "

"To check on you. Of course!"

"….." Sachiko sighed.

"It's not a lie tho. You shouldn't stay alone when you're sad so I'm going to call when I have some free time."

"Thanks. Anyway, how're the others doing? Do they have interesting missions?" Sachiko asked, hoping to divert her attention to an interesting case for a while.

"Oh…I think there is one. A series of death, I believe. Five people were killed in front of their doors." Gojo replied.

"…..Did you just say in front of the doors? Were there a couple ?" Sachiko slightly raised her voice.

"Well, I don't know the details. But why would you ask like that?"

"….You remember I said someone close to me died and it was a curse, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"…I think she might be related to the case they are investigating. Because she was killed in front of her fiancé's apartment door."

"Oh…." Gojo was a bit surprised at the coincidence.

"Can..can I join the investigation, too?" She asked.

"Well, missions are given to Jujutsu sorcerers according to their rank so special grade Jujutsu sorcerers usually don't go on small missions like this. And given your situation, the higher-ups are already displeased so what you might do could very well upset them." Gojo warned.

"I know but I still want to join."

"Alright. I will give you the assistant's number. But, don't interfere too much unless necessary. It's not only for you but also for your classmates. They need missions to toughen them up." Gojo said.

"Okay. I understand that." Sachiko nodded.

She then called the assistant's number Gojo sent her and told her that she wanted to join the investigation.