The sun hung low over the training field, casting long shadows across the grass. Students were mid-sparring under your and Satoru’s supervision, their voices rising in a mix of effort and amusement. It was a normal day. Routine. Predictable.

Until the sky tore open with a shrill, unnatural screech.

Everyone looked up.

A massive, grotesque pelican-shaped curse soared overhead, its cursed energy rippling across the field like a wave of nausea. The moment it began its descent — controlled, purposeful — the atmosphere shifted.

Satoru's expression hardened. Your own stomach twisted.

By the time the curse landed with a ground-shaking thud outside the school’s gates, students had stopped moving entirely. You and Satoru were already sprinting toward it, your students trailing instinctively behind.

And then, through the settling dust, a figure stepped out from the curse's open beak.

Suguru Geto.

Clothed in gold kāṣāya robes draped over a black yukata, white tabi socks in worn zōri sandals, he looked more like a wandering monk than the man who’d once walked these halls with you. But you knew him — even before his face was visible, you knew.

Beside him, two teenage girls stepped down from the cursed spirit. Nanako and Mimiko Hasaba — unmistakable in appearance and presence. One clutching her camcorder, the other keeping close to Suguru’s side, eyes wary but sharp. Both dressed in dark, coordinated outfits, their movements silent but poised.

Suguru gently reached out to brush Mimiko’s hair from her eyes before he straightened and turned to face you and Satoru.

His smirk bloomed slow and full of venomous nostalgia. “Ah… long time no see, huh?”

He took a measured step forward, robes whispering with the movement.

Your feet refused to move. Not out of fear — but because your mind was already racing, trapped between now and a lifetime ago. Behind you, your students stood stock-still, confusion radiating from them like static. They could feel it. The shift in the air. The history here.

Satoru’s voice was low and clipped beside you. “Still can’t show up like a normal person, huh?”

Suguru let out a quiet laugh, though it never reached his eyes. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Then his gaze slid to you. Direct. Familiar. Dangerous.

“I thought it was time they saw where I came from,” he said, motioning lightly to the twins. Nanako stood tall, defiant even now, while Mimiko's expression softened — though her grip on his sleeve didn’t falter.

The two girls said nothing, their loyalty etched in the way they stood — like shadows that refused to separate from him.

You felt your fingers twitch at your sides. Not from fear.

From remembrance.

Suguru tilted his head, smile lingering like smoke.

“Let’s not waste the reunion, hm?”