"According to the family records, legend has it that a thousand years ago, during the peak of jujutsu development, there appeared a cursed sorcerer with four arms and two faces—Ryomen Sukuna. He was unnaturally powerful and obsessed with slaughter. Among all practitioners of the era, none could match his strength. But Sukuna didn't belong to humanity or to cursed spirits—he acted entirely according to his own whims."
"Later, the Fujiwara Northern House sent its elite strike forces, the 'Sun-Moon Star Advance Squad' and the 'Five Void Generals,' to hunt down Ryomen Sukuna. But they were annihilated. In the end, the shogunate had no choice but to enshrine Sukuna in the Heian Palace as a form of appeasement."
"Before dying, Sukuna split his soul into twenty parts and sealed them into his fingers—the very one you brought, Tomitaka, is one of those twenty."
Shuna Himejima's explanation was concise yet precise, easy to follow.
Yet after hearing all this, Hanakaiin Tomitaka stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. After a long moment, he finally spoke, hesitantly.
"Sounds impressive… but I feel like there's some… exaggeration in there."
"Exaggeration?" Shuna asked, puzzled.
"Well, this touches on some of Onmyoji history," Tomitaka said, recalling old memories.
"I've read my own family's records. A thousand years ago was indeed the fastest period of jujutsu and Onmyodo development. At that time, the pinnacle of the Onmyoji wasn't the Hanakaiin family, but the Mikadoin clan. Its head then—now the most famous Onmyoji in history—was Abe no Seimei. He should have been enshrined in the Heian Palace."
"It is said that Abe no Seimei's mother was a fox spirit. At first, as head of the Mikadoin, Seimei's goal was for humans and yokai to coexist peacefully—"
Tomitaka shrugged.
"But one day, someone murdered his mother… and even turned her into a fur coat to send to him."
"And Seimei snapped. He abandoned the Heian Palace entirely, siding with yokai, becoming the master of chimeras and spirits a thousand years ago."
"So, it seems Sukuna ended up in the Heian Palace only after Seimei ran off."
Tomitaka paused, pursed his lips, then continued.
"As for the Fujiwara Northern House—honestly, though they were nobles in ancient Japan, they were just nobles. They had no real standing among true Onmyoji clans. At most, they spent huge sums hiring ordinary Onmyoji from the Hanakaiin and Mikadoin families as guards."
"So it makes sense that a squad of ordinary Onmyoji failed to defeat the peak of the cursed world. And with Seimei gone, siding with yokai against humans… no wonder the shogunate panicked and invited a dangerous sorcerer into the palace."
Hmm…
Thinking it through, the records about Ryomen Sukuna seemed… a little exaggerated.
Tomitaka glanced at the Sukuna finger in Shuna's hand and smirked.
"So, if those jujutsu sorcerers wanted to seal the fingers, why didn't anyone think to just destroy them?"
"Well… honestly, this is my first time seeing one in person, so I'm not entirely sure," Shuna replied, shaking her head.
"But from the records, it seems many tried to destroy these fingers—and all failed. Sealing was the last resort."
"…Huh?"
Tomitaka froze for a moment. Not buying it. It's just a finger. If they couldn't beat the guy alive, fine. But after he's dead, it's just fingers—how could they not destroy those?
"Is it really that difficult? Let's see…"
He rose and took the Sukuna finger from Shuna. Golden spiritual pressure flared across his body, whipping a fierce wind through the room. Curtains and drapes flapped wildly, like all the windows of a typhoon-stricken building had been thrown open.
Naturally, the skirts of the girls in the room fluttered too.
"W-wait, Tomitaka! You're not planning to really use your power here, are you?"
Rias clutched her skirt, flustered. Though they hadn't known each other long, she'd seen him in action before. One careless burst of his spiritual pressure in this old building could blow the place apart—let alone risk the entire academy!
"Hehe, Tomitaka seems serious this time~"
Across from him, Shuna sat elegantly, hands folded on her lap, wearing her usual gentle smile. Even Koneko, the small white-haired girl who had been quietly eating her cake, had to press her hand on her skirt and murmured, eyes squinting.
"Whenever Tomitaka-senpai deals with anything related to jujutsu, his competitive streak comes out," Koneko whispered.
"Maybe it's the pride of an Onmyoji?" Shuna added, in perfect harmony.
Tomitaka stood silently, fingers interlaced in the air, forming a sphere. Golden light enveloped the Sukuna finger in his palms. It was as if he were spinning the core of an artificial sun.
Soon, as his spiritual pressure intensified, a sharp crack split the supposedly "indestructible" finger, like ice breaking under pressure.
He pressed harder. Crack. Crack. Crack.
Within moments, the Sukuna finger had shattered into charred fragments, collapsing into powder on the coffee table.
"Not hard at all."
Tomitaka's voice was calm as he looked at the destroyed remains.
"Beautiful…"
Koneko swallowed her last bite of cake, eyes wide, and asked the crucial question:
"So… if the jujutsu association comes looking for you to return the finger, what will you do?"
"True, technically it's their property," Shuna added, lips twitching. "They might even demand compensation."
"…!"
For the first time, Tomitaka's satisfaction froze. Compensation? Normally, they'd be grateful he destroyed the finger after all their failures. But knowing how messy the relations were between jujutsu sorcerers and Onmyoji… and how unpredictable those old elites could be…
Uh-oh.
If they came to make trouble, he had no money to pay, and if his Kyoto Hanakaiin family got involved, it would get messy. What now?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the phone on the office desk rang.
Ring-ring-ring!
"Ah… a call…"
Shuna, as vice president of the Mystery Research Club, instinctively reached for it. But Rias, closer, snatched it first, waving at her friend.
"Hello? Mystery Research Club, Koma Academy… oh? I see… okay, got it. I'll pass the message along."
After hanging up, she looked toward Tomitaka.
"It's the school gate. Some high school girl from another school specifically asked for you—her name's 'Saeko Dokusima.' Tomitaka… do you know her?"
"…"
Man!