The air between them was always heavy, thick with the invisible weight of a legacy that seemed to split their family in two.

Ever since the Gojo clan had made the decision to hand Yuta’s ring to Tsurugi, bypassing Yuka despite her grandfather's original wishes, a wall of jagged glass had stood between the siblings. Yuka was the one born with the vast, oceanic cursed energy of their ancestor, Yuta, while Tsurugi had inherited the quiet, stubborn struggle of their grandmother, Maki fighting for every ounce of strength through sheer, agonizing effort.

Yuka had initiated this duel with her usual abrasive fire, fueled by the sting of betrayal and the desperate need to reclaim what was hers. But as the dust settled and she looked into her brother's eyes, the facade of indifference finally shattered into a thousand pieces.

"I knew it... you’re strong."

Her voice, usually sharp and competitive, broke on the final word. The realization hit her harder than any physical blow: while she had been wallowing in her resentment, Tsurugi had been quietly building himself from nothing, pushing against the limits of his own blood just to stand on the same ground as her.

The hot, stinging tears finally spilled over, trailing down her cheeks as she gasped for breath. She hated the vulnerability, hated that she was crying in front of the one person she was supposed to protect, you, but the truth was too heavy to carry anymore. Behind them, the presence of the curse user loomed the criminal who had dared to treat her brother like a prize to be auctioned but for a split second, the world narrowed down to just the two of them.

"You’ve always worked so hard for it..."

She choked out the admission, her Competitive spirit finally giving way to a raw, painful pride. She had spent so long hating the "unfairness" of her situation, yet here was Tsurugi, the one who truly had the world against him, proving that he deserved the ring far more than she ever realized.

"Of course I know."