Because Kiryu Ranka had delayed him a little in the classroom, Hanakaiin Tomitaka didn't reach the club activity room until about fifteen minutes after the end of class.
The location of the club's activities—or more precisely, the "Mystery Research Club" that Tomitaka belonged to—wasn't in any ordinary classroom on campus. Instead, it was housed in an old school building at the back of the campus.
"Old school building" might be a bit of an understatement.
When people thought of an old school building, they typically imagined a block from the previous century, with peeling walls, sagging gates that looked like they'd collapse any second, broken or missing windows, and rooms cluttered with rusty bunk beds and scattered garbage.
Koma Academy's "old school building," however, was more like a quaint wooden villa. Though its frame was primarily wood, it had withstood decades of weather and remained sturdy. On its west-facing wall, ivy climbed gracefully, blending naturally with the surrounding landscape.
When Tomitaka arrived at the foot of the building, a crimson-haired girl sat at a second-floor window. Her figure rivaled even Hasegawa-sensei's in presence, and she rested her chin on her hands, elbows leaning on the window frame, staring off into the distance with a dreamy expression.
Was she… completely lost in thought?
Tomitaka looked up for a while, then couldn't resist slightly raising his voice.
"Rias."
"Ugh…!"
Startled as if pulled back into reality, the red-haired girl flinched and looked down toward the voice. Seeing Tomitaka's familiar face, a genuine smile bloomed across her features, and she lightly patted her chest, like fingertips skimming a still pond and stirring gentle ripples.
"Tomitaka, you're here! I was just wondering when you'd come. Come on in—I'll be down in a moment."
"Got it."
Tomitaka gave an OK sign and stepped into the old building.
As always, "old" was relative. The building resembled a small villa more than a dilapidated structure, complete with a reception area on the first floor that doubled as the main club activity space.
By the time Tomitaka reached the reception area, everyone else had already arrived.
The room was large. Two three-seater sofas faced each other along the left and right sides of the room, about two meters from the walls, separated by a coffee table in the center. At the front sat a wide desk, and the red-haired Rias, previously at the window, now stood gracefully behind it, arms crossed over her chest.
Two other girls were already seated on the left sofa.
One had long, silky black hair tied into a high ponytail, a refined beauty whose downward-tilting eyes hinted at a nurturing elegance. Her chest was visually even more prominent than Rias's.
The other was petite, a sharp contrast to the two taller, more mature women. Her white hair fell to her shoulders, adorned with a black cat-ear hairpin, and she quietly nibbled a piece of cake.
"Sorry for the slight delay, Senior Shuna, Koneko. Something came up on the way here," Tomitaka said as he carried his suitcase into the room and settled onto the right sofa, casually placing the suitcase on the coffee table.
Upon hearing him call her "Senior Shuna," the black-haired girl's gaze flickered toward Tomitaka but she said nothing, her expression slightly dimming. The small, seemingly expressionless white-haired girl, however, paused her cake-eating, lifted her head, and gave a soft acknowledgment.
With everyone present, Rias pushed up from the desk and walked over to sit next to Tomitaka.
"Well, first of all, thank you for your help last night, Tomitaka. Without you, it would have been tough for the three of us—Rias, Shuna, and Koneko—to capture the target with such limited manpower… Alright, enough formalities. Now that everyone's here, let's see what you brought. This was confiscated from the rogue demon we defeated yesterday… hmm? I can't seem to open it."
The red-haired girl pressed on the handle with one hand and tugged at the already-unlocked latch with the other, but the suitcase refused to budge. It was as if someone had filled the seams with industrial-strength glue.
"Oh, right. Almost forgot."
Tomitaka tapped his head lightly, then touched the suitcase with his fingertip. Golden spiritual pressure shimmered over the latch, and the previously unyielding case clicked open effortlessly.
Inside, exactly as it had appeared the previous night and that morning, lay a shriveled, purplish-black human finger.
"This is…"
Rias blinked, slightly stunned. She hadn't expected a human finger inside.
Tomitaka shrugged. "The case didn't originally have a seal, but… as I said, Hakimi got into it last night while I was showering. Also, the seal on the finger had weakened over time, so I tore it off and resealed it using the suitcase as a medium."
"As for the finger's origin, I did a little research online. Apparently, it belongs to the Jujutsu Association. They claim it's a Special-Grade sealed object, though I couldn't tell what made it so special…"
"Let me take a closer look."
Before Tomitaka could respond, Shuna stood politely and, after asking for his permission, lifted the finger from the suitcase. She examined it under the classical chandelier's light.
After about half a minute, she set it down and exhaled gently.
"Hmm… while I can't be entirely certain, judging from the finger's form and its connection to the Jujutsu Association, this is likely one of the fingers left behind by the Cursed King, Ryomen Sukuna, a thousand years ago."
"You knew, Senior Shuna?" Tomitaka asked, surprised.
"Yes…"
Shuna nodded, explaining gently, "Rias and Koneko already knew. Before I became a devil under Rias, my mother was a shrine maiden of the Himejima family, so I studied some family records from a young age. Did I mention this to you, Tomitaka?"
"I don't think so," he replied after thinking carefully.
"Ah, then now you know," Shuna said with a soft smile tinged with melancholy.
As expected… he really didn't remember.