Chapter 84: There you go

"So, do you believe me?"

"..."

Should she believe him?

Honestly, Mai wasn't entirely sure. She felt like she had never seen anyone more captivating than this boy in front of her, whose bright smile seemed to light up the room.

Humans are sensory creatures. Everyone's drawn to beauty, whether they realize it or not.

As she felt her heart stir, Mai blushed slightly, trying to push those thoughts away.

"... Yeah, I believe you," she finally nodded, her voice steady.

At the moment, she couldn't think of any other way. To Mai, Ryuji was more than just a sorcerer—he was a beacon of hope, someone who made her feel less alone. Slowly, she stepped forward and placed her hand in his.

"Target contacted: Mai Sakurajima. A purple ability entry has been triggered. Would you like to load it?"

A purple entry? That's already pretty impressive.

Ryuji grinned slightly, feeling the warmth of her hand in his. Meanwhile, Mai, a bit embarrassed by the touch, stayed silent.

Without wasting any time, Ryuji began channeling his cursed energy.

The problem with Mai was both simple and complex.

It was complex because, for an ordinary person, even one with exceptional talent, there'd be no way to resolve the issue of her fading existence.

But for a skilled sorcerer with a strong reservoir of cursed energy, it was a simple task. All he had to do was use his own cursed energy to calm the chaotic energy inside her. Once that was balanced, her technique would settle down on its own.

And now, that's exactly what Ryuji was doing.

"So warm…"

Mai could feel something flowing through her body, spreading from where their hands touched. It was a soothing warmth.

The next moment, everyone saw it—a girl with striking beauty slowly appeared in front of Ryuji, holding his hand.

"What the...?"

"Is that… Mai Sakurajima?"

"Amazing!"

The others couldn't hide their surprise. An incredibly beautiful girl had suddenly materialized out of thin air.

At the same time, memories of Mai Sakurajima started flooding back into their minds. After all, she had been a child star, quite famous back in the day. When she'd been in school before, plenty of classmates had approached her because of her fame. Some asked for autographs, others tried to befriend her, but most just wanted to be part of the hype.

"Thank goodness! You can all see me now!"

Noticing the stares from everyone around her, Mai was so overwhelmed with relief that she nearly cried. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Ryuji in a grateful hug.

"Ahem!"

Utaha cleared her throat, her voice carrying a teasing note.

"No matter how happy you are, you can't just hug someone else's boyfriend, you know~?"

Realizing what she'd done, Mai's face flushed deep red, and she quickly stepped back.

"S-sorry! I was just too happy!"

No one held it against her. After all, it was understandable. Being invisible to the world, feeling abandoned by everyone—now that she was seen again, who wouldn't be emotional?

Ryuji, on the other hand, remained casual, as if nothing had happened.

Not that he minded at all.

Honestly, he wouldn't even mind if it happened again.

"Alright, alright."

Ryuji waved a hand, signaling for everyone to calm down.

"Let me explain something real quick. What I just did was use my cursed energy to stabilize yours. But this isn't permanent. If you don't learn to control your cursed energy, there's a good chance you'll disappear again completely because of your unstable sense of existence."

"This... so it's not solved yet?"

The room fell quiet. The other girls, who had been joking just moments ago, now looked on with concern.

Jokes aside, they were good people at heart. They knew when something serious needed their attention, so they kept quiet to let Ryuji continue.

"What should I do then?"

Mai felt panic welling up again.

"I thought you'd be more concerned about what cursed energy even is!"

Ryuji gave a wry smile. This girl wasn't following the usual script.

"Let me explain what cursed energy and techniques are first."

"Uh... okay," Mai nodded, still a little shaken, but she listened intently.

Ryuji didn't bother with too many details. He kept it simple, giving her a basic rundown.

Mai listened, her face growing more and more serious. If she hadn't experienced this herself, she never would've believed that such a thing as cursed spirits and sorcerers existed in their seemingly peaceful world.

"So… does that mean I have the potential to become a sorcerer?"

Hearing this, Utaha, Yukino, and the others looked at Mai with envy.

They, too, wished they had the talent to be sorcerers. But unfortunately, they didn't. It was something they had to accept, no matter how helpless it made them feel.

"Well, before we get into that, why don't you tell me how you ended up like this?"

Ryuji asked, leaning back. This wasn't a typical world they were in an anime world after all, so things didn't always follow conventional logic.

For Mai, her fading from existence wasn't just adolescent syndrome, like the show had originally suggested. It was caused by something far more dangerous—cursed energy.

"Okay."

Mai trusted Ryuji, especially after what he'd just done for her. She nodded and began recounting her story.

In short, Mai had debuted as a child star. With her striking looks, she gained a lot of fans. Naturally, her mother became her manager.

That wasn't a problem in itself.

But while Mai loved acting and enjoyed being in the spotlight for her craft, her mother had other priorities. As time went on, she began to see Mai as little more than a tool for making money. Soon, Mai was being forced into endless commercials. The final straw was when her mother signed her up for an underwear ad without her consent.

That was when Mai snapped. She gave up her acting career and returned to school, hoping for a normal life.

But fame followed her. Back at school, she couldn't escape the attention—autograph requests, random students trying to chat with her for clout.

"At that point, I remember thinking, 'It would be so nice if no one could see me, if I could just live in peace,'" Mai said softly. "The next day, it happened. No one could see me anymore."

Everyone nodded, starting to understand what had happened.

"Emotional states can affect cursed energy. Your emotions must've fluctuated so much that it unconsciously triggered your technique."

It was a reasonable explanation.

"That's horrible! Using your own daughter just to make money!"

"Seriously!"

The girls were visibly upset after hearing Mai's story. They couldn't believe her mother had treated her that way.

Mai, however, stayed silent, her expression unreadable.

Perhaps she was angry at her mother, but in the end, that was still her mom. No matter how much she resented the situation, she couldn't bring herself to speak badly about her.

"Is there a way to fix this completely?" Mai asked, her voice filled with hope.

Ryuji had mentioned earlier that her problem wasn't permanently solved yet. If there was a chance it could happen again, she didn't want to go through that loneliness a second time.

She looked at him, hoping for a miracle.

"There are two ways," Ryuji said, raising a finger.

"First, I could send you to Jujutsu High."

"Jujutsu High? Is that the place that trains sorcerers?"

Ryuji had mentioned it earlier when explaining sorcery and cursed spirits. But Mai had no intention of becoming a sorcerer. All she wanted was to be normal again.

"What's the second option?"

Hearing her question, Ryuji grinned and pointed to himself.

"The second option is… I'll teach you."

"Huh? You'll teach me?"

Mai was genuinely surprised. Somehow, she trusted Ryuji more than the idea of going to Jujutsu High.

But at the same time, she couldn't help feeling a bit unworthy.

"Don't underestimate yourself," Ryuji said, reading her thoughts. "Your technique is really special. It can erase your own sense of existence, but I suspect it can also erase someone else's too. You could make a person disappear entirely. Think about how terrifying that potential is."

The girls all looked at Mai with wide eyes. They hadn't considered that angle before, but now they were starting to see just how powerful her technique could be.

"I've never thought about making someone disappear. I just want to go back to normal, to live a quiet, ordinary life."

Mai didn't want to experience being erased from existence again, but she also didn't want to stand out like she had in the past. Ordinary was good enough for her.

"So, have you decided to learn from me?"

"Yeah."

Mai nodded seriously, her mind made up.

As for learning how to control cursed energy, Ryuji didn't see it as much of a challenge. After all, he had a cheat code of sorts.

Sure, he wasn't exactly an expert in training techniques himself, but he knew someone who was!

"Mr. Ryuji?" On the other end of the phone, Kento Nanami, who was in the middle of exorcising a cursed spirit, sounded somewhat confused after receiving Ryuji's call.

"You want to know how to control cursed energy? No problem, I'll send it over shortly."

In the world of sorcery, non innate techniques and the method of controlling cursed energy wasn't exactly a closely guarded secret. And since it was Ryuji asking, Nanami saw no reason to refuse.

"Thanks a lot."

Ryuji could hear the sounds of battle on Nanami's side, indicating he was in the middle of dealing with some cursed spirits.

"How's it going? Need any help?"

Ryuji had a good impression of Nanami, and if he was in trouble, Ryuji didn't mind offering a hand.

"It's just a grade 2 cursed spirit."

Nanami chuckled softly.

"But, it is lunchtime right now. Having to work during lunch really ruins my mood."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Ryuji ended the call.

Nanami worked quickly. After finishing his exorcism, he compiled the techniques into a document and sent it over to Ryuji.

"Wow, this is way longer than I expected."

Ryuji glanced at the file on his phone, somewhat surprised by how detailed it was. He hadn't realized just how much went into learning to control cursed energy.

"Wait, has Ryuji never practiced before?"

Seeing his reaction, the girls in the service department couldn't help but feel a little confused.

After all, Ryuji was so powerful—it didn't make sense that he had never practiced.

"Well, there are always people in this world who get a little help from luck," Ryuji smirked.

"Some people are just born with advantages."