Chapter 44

"Grandpa, don't talk so much. Are you feeling better?"

Upon hearing that his grandfather was about to mention his parents, Hisahito Itadori clearly became less inclined to listen further.

He unwrapped the bouquet, found a vase, and prepared to rearrange the still-blooming flowers, put them in the vase, and place them on the windowsill as decoration.

If Kazuma Hatori hadn't been there, he probably would have loudly interrupted Yasusuke Itadori and refused to listen to any more of what he was saying.

"Yujin, you have to listen to me."

Yasuke Itadori, who had been sitting up slightly, leaned back on the hospital bed. Recalling that unpleasant past, which he hadn't experienced in a long time, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Your parents did not leave you because of an accident or ordinary relationship problems."

"…………"

Yuji, holding a carnation in his hand, stopped combing the flower branches.

Standing by the window, he turned his head and looked in the direction of Itadori Yasuke, silently listening to his grandfather continue.

"Pinus huzhangren, he has always been my good child. From birth to adulthood, although there have been occasional setbacks, most of the time things have gone smoothly as I wished."

After taking a painful breath, Itadori Yasusuke, who was suffering from lung cancer, continued speaking.

“Until… he fell in love with your mother, Kaori Itadori. She was a sorceress.”

"So you're saying a sorcerer... is like Kamo-sensei and Fushiguro Megumi? Someone who can bind me with invisible ropes?"

Yuji Itadori opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“That should be true.” Kazuma Hatake nodded. “The nature of a sorcerer is that they can use the magical power generated within their body to perform spells that are invisible to ordinary people.”

Having become a teacher at the High School of Spellcasting, Kazuma Hatori dragged Satoru Gojo, who was on vacation, to learn from him, and thus brushed up on the detailed settings of this world.

"But different sorcerers use different spells. Even the same spell can show differences in appearance depending on the era and the level of development of the sorcerer who casts it."

"Kaori... is probably related to antigravity."

As Itari Yasuke stared at the ceiling, he felt his fingertips, resting on the blanket, begin to grow cold.

"After all, I'm just an ordinary person. After she got together with Ren, she only mentioned it to me once and never explained the spell to me. But occasionally, I've glimpsed her making things float upwards."

“At first, she and Ren were doing very well and were very happy together, and I didn’t object to her being with Ren.”

"Until later... she was clearly dead."

“She was clearly dead, yet she reappeared alive in front of Jin and me. She became quite dangerous, but Jin was overjoyed because he had a newborn son, Yuujin. Even though I tried to dissuade him repeatedly, he simply refused to let go.”

"What followed was...disappearance. Neither she nor Ren ever appeared before me again."

“Only Hisahito was taken away from Sendai by me and grew up in a small place until he was almost seven years old before he returned here.”

As Itadori Yasusuke's hoarse voice faded into a low murmur, a brief, deathly silence remained in the ward until the very end.

It wasn't until Hisahito Itadori realized that the flower branch he had been holding had been squeezed out of shape that he suddenly let go.

"grandfather……"

He blinked hard, as if trying to hide the emotions that were about to overflow, and looked up. Just as he was about to call out, he was interrupted by the other person.

"Hisuhito."

When Watanabe Yasuke spoke, his already hoarse voice became even more strained, and each extremely heavy breath seemed to reveal the pain of his lungs struggling to draw in oxygen.

"I can't find the truth anymore, but you still can."

"No matter why Kaori became like that, at least I still have Jin, and we both love you."

"Mr. Kamo, you're from their side... If possible, please take care of Hisahito in the future."

With his eyes wide open, Itadori Yasuke felt each weak breath, his blurred vision gradually dimming with each slow blink of his eyelids.

"Hiruhito, he is really a very, very good child..."

Kazuma Hatori stood before the sickbed, gazing at the old man who was now like a candle flickering in the wind, on his deathbed—he was probably worried about his only grandson, which was why he was trying to hold on a little longer, just a little longer.

He nodded seriously, then squatted down in front of the bed as if handing over a responsibility, placing his hand on the back of Itadori Yasuke's hand.

"Okay," Kazuma Hatake promised, "Leave it to me."

"Ah... thank you..."

Watari closed his eyes.

"Finally, I'd like to say a few more words to Hisahito..."

…………

Kazuma Hatori stood at the door, watching Hisahito Itadori slowly walk out of the ward and stop in front of him.

His eyes were red and there were traces of hurried wiping.

"Grandpa has passed away."

As soon as Yuji Itadori said those words to Kazuma Hatori, tears welled up in his eyes again, which he wiped away with his sleeve.

I'm sorry.

Kazuma Hatake spoke softly, then, using his sleeve as a cover, redeemed a tissue from the game's [Shop] and handed it to him.

“It’s okay, it has nothing to do with you. Grandpa has had lung cancer for a long time, and his health has been getting worse recently… I’m actually quite happy to be by his side before he passes away.”

Yuji Itadori took the tissue and shook his head, taking a deep breath—but he still couldn't stop the tears that kept welling up in his eyes and sliding down his cheeks.

"This is the first time I've encountered something like this, and I'm a little unsure of what to do."

He slowly squatted down against the wall of the corridor, then curled up into a sitting position, hugging his knees with his hands and burying his head deep inside.

A faint sobbing sound could be heard.

Kazuma Hatori sat down next to Hisahito Itadori, keeping him company quietly without saying another word.

The sunlight streaming through the corridor windows went from brilliant to gradually turning into the orange-red of sunset, and then slowly transformed into a cool, dark blue.

The sobbing of the cherry-haired boy had long since ceased, and only the passing nurses noticed this. When they tried to come over to inquire, Kazuma Hato, who had been noticed, gently shook his head first, asking them to leave.

He waited until Hisahito Itadori lifted his head from his clasped arms, wiped away his tears, and gave him a slightly apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry, Kamo-sensei, for making you wait here all this time, and for Grandpa entrusting you with such a strange message..."

"It doesn't matter,"

Kazuma Hatori paused for a moment before asking again, "Are you feeling better, Hisahito?"

The fact that he changed his address to the more intimate "Hirujin" means that Kazuma Hatori is already fulfilling his promise to Yamasuke Itadori and will continue to take care of Hisajin Itadori in the future.

"It's nothing,"

Yuujin Itadori's nose and eyes were red as he stared at the tips of the basketball shoes in front of him. He still felt embarrassed by the attention he received from Kamo-sensei, whom he had only met today.

"If she keeps crying, Grandpa will definitely get angry."

“No, he said it himself,” Kazuma Hatake said earnestly, “He loves you just like your father.”

Yuji Itadori's throat bobbed, and he almost let out another pitiful "woof." He quickly wiped away his tears and waved to Kazuma Hatori, signaling him not to say any more.

My emotions had finally calmed down...

Yuji Itadori sniffed, his words still carrying a heavy nasal tone.

"In short, we need to notify the nurse first and complete the relevant procedures."

These procedures were not difficult at all. The nurses who worked here were already used to leaving like this. When they saw Hisahito Itadori being accompanied by someone to complete the procedures, they breathed a sigh of relief.

They had only ever seen this young man come alone to take care of Mr. Itari, but now that they saw the seemingly calm, black-haired young man accompanying him, they felt a little relieved.

Not long after signing those documents, Fushiguro Megumi walked in from the entrance of the inpatient department with one hand in her pocket. She looked quite tired, and there were several tears in the hem of her clothes.

"What's wrong, Fu Hei?"

Yuji Itadori and Yuji knew each other's names when they added each other as LINE friends, and he also spoke up to show his concern.

"You look really tired. Are you alright? Did you get the cursed item back from your senior?"

"It's nothing serious. Your senior was still in the teaching building at the time, and the seal was still intact. It's just that the aura of the cursed object attracted a few cursed spirits to linger outside, including a level two one, the one on the playground near your school. It took some effort to exorcise them, and we had to be careful not to let ordinary people see them."

Fushiguro Megumi sighed, and Asahide Kazuma held out his hand, "Could you please give me that wooden box, Kamo-sensei? I need to put it away."

His mission would be complete once the top-grade cursed artifact was returned to the advanced college and the seal was reinforced.

"for you."

Kazuma Hatori handed the wooden box to Megumi Fushiguro, watching him push one side of the box open, take out his other hand from his pocket, and take out the special-grade cursed item as well, about to put it into the wooden box...

"Fu Hei, look at the edge of that strip of cloth, isn't it already curling up?"

Yuji Itadori asked curiously.

"What?"

Fukuro Megumi looked down and saw that the seal that had been firmly wrapped around the top-grade cursed object had somehow been broken and was now wrapped around his fingers in layers—the top-grade cursed object, [Ryoumen Sukuna's Fingers], could now be clearly seen!

"How is that possible!?"

He didn't touch the seal at all; he deliberately held it in his palm when he came back, and he certainly wouldn't try to break it!

But by then, it was too late.

As the strip of cloth covered in symbols slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground, a dangerous buzzing sound came from outside.

It was as if a torrent of cursed spirits was surging toward them from afar.

"This is a hospital..."

Fushiguro Megumi opened her eyes wide and murmured incredulously.

“There are still patients here,”

Kazuma Hatori made a quick decision: "Let's go out first."

The three of them, carrying the two-faced Sukuna finger, rushed out of the inpatient building without hesitation and came to the center of a wider square. Although they couldn't see the cursed spirit, Itadori Yuujin, who keenly sensed the danger, turned around and shouted to the nurse who was standing behind the service desk.

"Get out of here immediately, don't come out!"

At that moment, countless cursed spirits, accompanied by indistinct, overlapping murmurs, rushed towards the three of them.