“You want to find the real Rika Orimoto. You do not want her to stay trapped in nightmares forever. You are a surprisingly kind Nightmare God.”
Akira felt conflicted. A being that could trap people in endless nightmares was instead thinking about freeing someone from them. Meanwhile, he himself was still hesitating over whether to let Rika Orimoto be released.
If this continued, he might someday walk the same path as a certain villain, losing his humanity even without studying law. He shook his head slightly. “Little Sha, what do you think?”
“Sha…” Gardevoir puffed out her cheeks in rare dissatisfaction. Akira laughed softly. “My fault. I have always understood your feelings. It is time to have a proper talk with Yuta Okkotsu.”
“I want to remove the curse!”
It was hard to imagine the usually timid Yuta Okkotsu shouting words so firm and loud. There was no hesitation at all. He did not even care about the possible dangers Akira had summarized that could come after Curse Removal.
“You’ve thought it through? If things go wrong, you might have to start over from nothing.” Even though he already knew the answer, Akira still asked one last time to be sure.
“I’ve thought it through.” Yuta Okkotsu nodded heavily. “Actually, after entering Tokyo Jujutsu High, I started to feel it. It’s not me being cursed by Rika Orimoto, it’s me who cursed Rika Orimoto. Maybe after losing her, I won’t be able to keep being a Jujutsu Sorcerer, but I don’t want to keep binding Rika Orimoto and making her suffer.”
“Rika Orimoto isn’t suffering at all. Being together with Yuta makes Rika Orimoto very happy.”
Cursed Spirit Rika manifested her upper body, which was the form she used most often. As soon as she moved, Akira’s shadow also stirred, and the dream-eating Darkrai reacted by instinct. This time, before Akira could stop it, Gardevoir stepped down hard with one foot.
The message was obvious. Hungry thing, shut up, look at the situation, this is not time to eat. Darkrai immediately behaved.
Even a Mythical Pokemon knew who truly held Makoto’s heart. No matter how the title of psychic queen sounded elsewhere, here with Akira it was completely deserved. Even if Arceus showed up, it would have to squat obediently.
Yuta Okkotsu only gently stroked the head of the Cursed Spirit. “Being together with Rika Orimoto makes me happy too, it’s just that—”
“Just what? Rika Orimoto is happy, Yuta is happy, that’s enough. We promised to always be together.”
As she spoke, Rika Orimoto’s form gradually expanded, showing signs of fully manifesting. Yuta Okkotsu scratched his head in distress and cast a pleading look toward Akira.
Cursed Spirit Rika’s simple way of thinking could not understand Yuta Okkotsu’s real feelings. To her, Curse Removal meant separation. If possible, Yuta Okkotsu wanted to talk to Akira alone about Curse Removal, but his connection with Rika Orimoto was far too tight, and even if Gardevoir dragged Cursed Spirit Rika away, Rika Orimoto would still sense every movement he made.
The moment separation was mentioned, Rika Orimoto would panic. That made things very awkward.
After signaling Gardevoir to go comfort her close friend, Akira seized the chance to pull Yuta Okkotsu aside. “Talking to her won’t work. You need to talk to the real Rika Orimoto.”
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“The real Rika Orimoto? What do you mean?”
Akira explained the current state of the girl Rika Orimoto and her relationship with Cursed Spirit Rika. Cursed Spirit Rika was the dream of the girl Rika Orimoto, and the process of Curse Removal could also be understood as waking a sleeping soul.
This was not the original method of Curse Removal from the old storyline, but that approach was far too extreme. Yuta Okkotsu clearly had not been pushed to the point of total disregard for his own life. There was no need to go that far when a steadier method existed, and if it truly failed, the last option could still be taken later.
After listening, Yuta Okkotsu was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. “I want to go. Please, Akira, and Darkrai too.” As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Akira and to Darkrai within the shadow.
“Mm.”
Darkrai appeared in response and waved a claw to show agreement. Akira translated, “He says we leave now.”
Tonight was the new moon, when the power of nightmares was weakest and the best time to wake the sleeping. Unfortunately, Akira did not have a New Moon Feather, or it would have been even easier to awaken Rika Orimoto. Yuta Okkotsu was full of energy, unable to hide his eagerness after being troubled by this matter for so many years.
“Before I come back, I’ll leave the Rika Orimoto here to you.”
“OK.” Akira had planned the same.
He was curious about the nightmare that could shape a ceiling-level Cursed Spirit, but that was a private matter between the couple. More importantly, someone had to stay in the real world. “Go, Darkrai.”
With the master’s permission, Darkrai crossed its claws and formed a dark sphere like a bottomless abyss. It was a passage leading into a dream. Yuta Okkotsu jumped in without hesitation, and Darkrai followed right after.
Only a few seconds passed, and the passage had not even closed yet when one human and one Pokémon came rushing back out. Compared to their confident entry, Darkrai now looked dim-eyed, and Yuta Okkotsu was worse, cold sweat pouring down and soaking his clothes.
The sharp drop in his mental state left Akira completely confused. Was this not supposed to be a reunion of childhood sweethearts? How did it turn out like this?
“What happened?”
“It failed.” Yuta Okkotsu hung his head. “There are so many monsters in Rika Orimoto’s dream. I couldn’t get through. I need support.”
Akira glanced at Darkrai and received confirmation, which only deepened his curiosity. You came out too fast, I did not even get a chance to jinx it. Still, it was a nightmare, so monsters were not strange.
What was strange was that under Satoru Gojo’s guidance, Yuta Okkotsu had grown much stronger. Even without Cursed Spirit Rika by his side, his combat ability was not weak. Combined with a level 20 Darkrai, that was worthy of the Curse Queen’s power source.
Testing the waters, Akira asked, “How about I go in with Little Sha to take a look?”
Leaving Rika Orimoto aside, Akira had no pressure fighting Yuta Okkotsu. After all, he was a man who had landed a Black Flash. Yuta Okkotsu immediately agreed, not even thinking about privacy anymore.
“That would be great.”
“Alright, Little Sha, let’s go.”
Akira beckoned to Gardevoir and drew his black sword from the Cursed Tools. Since it was a dangerous dream, it was better to be cautious. First scout the path and understand the situation.
If it did not work once, try again. This was like clearing a dungeon, and even with full combat control, no one cleared it in one run. He took a deep breath, standing with Gardevoir on one side and Darkrai on the other, and stepped into Rika Orimoto’s dream.
As one of the most reliable combinations at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Akira performed much better than Yuta, at least not popping in and out instantly. When the passage closed, Yuta Okkotsu finally let out a long breath and slid down the wall to sit on the floor, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“Yuta, what’s wrong?” Cursed Spirit Rika asked with concern.
“It’s nothing. I just never knew you suffered so much.” Yuta Okkotsu held Cursed Spirit Rika’s hand and spoke softly. “I will definitely free you. I swear. I hope Akira goes smoothly. He’s so strong, it’ll be fine.”
Unfortunately, things did not go as hoped.
Before the sweat on his clothes had even dried, the passage linking dream and reality opened again. Akira burst out, face pale and drenched in sweat, shouting at the top of his lungs:
“Quick, go get Gojo Satoru!”
Gojo Satoru was always easy to talk to, and he almost never refused a student request, though his personality made most students reluctant to ask him for help. As soon as Akira made the call, Satoru Gojo rushed over at top speed and smashed through a dorm door and two walls on the way. The damage was still settling when he strode inside.
