[Jujutsu Kaisen] Light Shining Through Shattered Jade (Suguru Geto)

[Jujutsu Kaisen] The Many Possibilities of Suguru Geto

While Suguru Geto crouched beneath a convenience store awning, eating oden, he heard the TV report on the "Shinjuku serial assault." The steam from the hot broth blurred the wanted poster on screen. Rain dampened his topknot, and his sleeve was still stained with crayon from the pictures the children at the orphanage had given him.

The woman behind the counter suddenly raised her voice. "There are so many crazies these days!" His fingers paused around a chikuwa. He thought of the Curse User girl he'd saved three days ago. The higher-ups had sent her to kill him, and she had a cursed tool at her waist just like Yu Haibara's.

"That'll be 480 yen."

As Suguru took out his change, the scar on his wrist showed. The cashier recoiled half a step. It reminded him of Kento Nanami's reaction when he saw him at an izakaya last week: "So people like you eat grilled chicken skin, too."

The Time Vessel Association had been gone for years. Now he lived beside a coastal road in Chiba, riding a secondhand bicycle to the fish market every morning to buy discounted mackerel. Mimiko and Nanako went to a nearby junior high. Their uniform pockets were always stuffed with talismans he'd written by hand, improved with the puppet technique Masamichi Yaga had taught him.

It was snowing lightly the day Satoru Gojo came looking for him. The strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer wore a ridiculous Santa scarf and tossed Sendai Kikufuku onto the fishing net Suguru was mending. "My student is getting hassled by the higher-ups again."

They sat atop a rusty shipping container, sharing cream daifuku that had gone cold. Suguru told him about the Curse User group he'd rescued the previous month. The kids were now working with Yuki Tsukumo on research to neutralize cursed energy. Satoru complained about the old fuddy-duddies at Kyoto Jujutsu High and casually used Blue to fix Suguru's leaky roof.

"Haibara's sister got into medical school," Satoru said suddenly. "She asked me to bring you some homemade cookies."

Suguru stopped chewing for a moment. The sea breeze carried a postcard from Kento Nanami past his ear. It showed a sunrise over the African savanna.

That night, he broke into the headquarters' records archive, not to kill anyone but to copy the genetic experiment data. On his way out, he ran into Yuta Okkotsu. The Special Grade Sorcerer pretended not to notice the files in Suguru's arms, but secretly had Rika block the pursuers.

"You've become more human than you were at Jujutsu High," Suguru said before leaving.

"Ms. Shoko says it's a midlife crisis." Yuta tossed him a first-aid bandage issued by the higher-ups.

On the day Mimiko graduated from junior high, Suguru bought a suit at a secondhand shop. He stood in the back row of the auditorium, watching his adopted daughter walk onstage to receive an award, a lily-shaped bow tie at her collar. Nanako secretly took a picture of him wiping his eyes. Later, that photo appeared on the refrigerator in Satoru Gojo's faculty apartment.

One morning, Suguru found an abandoned Jujutsu Sorcerer baby at the fish market. He crouched on the damp dock and used Cursed Spirit Manipulation to dry the swaddling clothes. The baby grabbed his right ring finger and giggled. On the distant horizon, Yuki Tsukumo's research vessel was slowly sailing toward the Pacific.

"What should we name the baby?" Nanako asked, teasing the child.

Suguru looked toward Tokyo. Satoru had just sent him a message: Masamichi Yaga's posthumous vindication hearing had passed.

"Let's call her Himawari." He wiped the raindrops from the baby's face. "The sun and sunflowers are both lovely."

Suguru Geto isn't the type to apologize or turn back. But to me, there's a warmth more real than "the greater good" in the briny scent of salted mackerel and the soapy fragrance of school uniforms.

Theme: No good deed is too small.