"You can destroy the body. You can silence the mouth. But fire—fire remembers every name it burns."
—Some Spiral Cultist, right after their head got chopped off
Kyoto — Jujutsu Tech College, Stupidly Early
Akashi hit the gravel walkway just as the sky started thinking about waking up. Cold as hell. The wind basically knifed him through his coat—black, heavy, with that red spiral on his collar catching the weak sunlight. Looked good, if you ignored the fact he was here as a walking threat, not a guest.
He wasn't invited for tea. They hauled him out as a warning.
The Spiral Cult's latest curse went full nuclear and signature glyphs popping up all over Japan, especially on ancient jujutsu turf. And, of course, the damn thing was signed with Akashi's own blood glyph.
Yaga fought the elders about it. Gojo? Didn't say a word to help. Maybe the white-haired menace wanted Akashi to eat it.
"You should know what they think of you now," Gojo had said, deadpan. "And prove them wrong."
Yeah, thanks for the pep talk, Captain Sunglasses.
Kyoto Assembly Hall — Tribunal of Headaches
A bunch of old guys in black robes sat on tatami, all doom and gloom. Principal Gakuganji was dead center, arms crossed, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"Akashi Ryuunosuke," he began, "You used an unregulated Domain fragment and forbidden glyph work on a mission."
Akashi shrugged. "To save civilians and nuke a fresh glyph-rite. You're welcome."
Silence. One elder twitched, probably annoyed his nap got disturbed.
"Do you deny the final glyph carried your family's spiral?"
"I don't deny crap about it," Akashi shot back. "But I didn't put it there."
Another geezer leaned forward, voice all dramatic.
"We think the Spiral Cult crawled out of a failed Ryunosuke branch. Your blood, Akashi."
"If my family made monsters," Akashi muttered, "I'll be the one to put 'em down."
Kyoto Temple Ruins — Glyph Ground Zero
Akashi wandered the busted-up shrine, footsteps echoing. Spiral scorch marks—perfect, almost OCD-level spirals snaked from the altar to the steps. Not a cursed spirit in sight. Too clean.
He ran his fingers along a burnt stone.
It whispered.
"Welcome home, Ryuunosuke."
Yeah, that's not creepy at all.
Suddenly, he felt a memory sliding under his ribs somebody else's: fire, screaming, chanting spirals, a kid bawling in the corner.
A cursed flickered behind him that snapped him out of it. He spun, hand raised.
Kid. Maybe seven. Shaking, spiral scars carved onto his forehead—ritual brands, straight-up horror movie stuff.
"They said you'd come," the boy whispered. "The Fire Messiah."
Akashi's blood went cold.
HOLY SHIT ...The Spiral Cult was recruiting kids now. Fantastic, Marvelous....
Meanwhile — Tokyo, Jujutsu High
Nobara was out back, beating the hell out of training posts. Every swing of her hammer sounded like it could break ribs.
Yuji watched, hands stuffed in his pockets.
"He'll come back," he said. "You trust him, right?"
Nobara didn't answer right away. Then:
"He's saved my ass not once but twice you know and I trust him more than half of these teachers."
Megumi drifted over, arms folded.
"But the thing is his power's getting wild. That dragon thing? The spiral fire? Cursed energy isn't supposed to do that."
Yuji nodded, eyes dark.
"We'll need him for Shibuya. Whatever's coming… it's following him."
Kyoto — Shrine Basement
Akashi knelt in front of a busted mirror jammed in a stone altar. Blood everywhere, dried and old. Twelve spiral glyphs carved in crusted red, one after another.
He traced each one—Twelve-Step Glyph Rite, Sangenjaya style. But the last glyph, number twelve? Cracked down in the middle and unfinished.
He hovered his hand near it.
Then the air shredded itself.
A curse burst out—A humanoid, twisted up, spirals and fire eating its skin. The mouth gaped:
"Step Eleven… consume the messiah…"
It lunged.
Akashi didn't flinch.
"Dragon Glyph: Crimson Dismantle."
A trio of spiral glyph-blades exploded from his shoulder, slicing the curse midair. The thing sizzled into red smoke.
"You remember me?" Akashi breathed to the empty room. "I'm still making my mark."
After — Outside the Shrine
Yaga waited under a half-dead tree as Akashi stepped out, coat bloody, glyph-light fading off his hands.
"You saw it, right?" Yaga called.
Akashi nodded.
"The Spiral Cult wants something from me. Or maybe… they wanna be me."
"That altar was a Spiral Warden's temple," Yaga said. "Centuries old. Your name's in the history."
Akashi just smirked, looking up at the battered sky.
"Well, guess I've got more family skeletons to torch."