Chapter 189 - 190: Sleeping Under One Blanket

Cold, but no shaking.

When Emiya Shirou opened his eyes again, he felt the chill in the air and, as expected, saw Saber and Sakatsuki Miyu sleeping beside him. They had kicked away the blankets they were originally sharing.

This allowed the Fuyuki City weather—which was gradually shifting into winter—to invade their bodies without hindrance.

"Honestly, did the 'me' from the other world not properly correct Miyu's sleeping posture?"

Muttering a low complaint toward his counterpart from Miyu's world, Shirou sat up and tucked the blanket back over them. "When I finally meet the other me, I definitely have a few words for him.

How can he act like such a Onii-chan? According to my past memories, that other Shirou even dumped all the housework onto Miyu. That's truly..."

Indeed, though it had cost quite a bit of time at the very end...

This was mainly because the cursed spirits and cursed objects Gojo Satoru and the others wanted handled were far more numerous than Shirou had imagined. Or rather, for someone who only knew the world of Jujutsu Kaisen through past memories, it was hard to fathom just how many unprocessable cursed objects had accumulated over thousands of years of jujutsu history.

After all, not everyone was as "broken" as Emiya Shirou, capable of crossing over with power systems from other worlds. Within the world of Jujutsu Kaisen itself, it was impossible for an ability to be born that fundamentally violated its own settings.

Therefore, the only way for the sorcerers to deal with cursed objects—the remains of cursed spirits—was to seal them and prevent the seals from aging, which would otherwise allow spirits to consume them and grow stronger.

As for why they didn't just destroy them?

You think the sorcerers didn't want to? They simply couldn't. Because cursed objects are stationary, they carry a "Binding Vow" of sorts that makes them incredibly difficult to damage. Even Gojo Satoru could do nothing against them. Over time, the curses within these objects only grew stronger—they were absolute time bombs.

So, when Shirou showed up saying he could not only handle these "time bombs" but also completely eliminate the hidden dangers they posed, it was no wonder Gojo was so desperate to trade for that technology.

Looking at the at least thousand-year history of the jujutsu world, the stockpile of cursed objects was no small amount. Consequently, during his final moments in that world, the

Shirou who chose to stay temporarily spent almost every second busy processing those objects for Gojo and the others.

Fortunately, Shirou had obtained what he needed.

"The rest is finding a way to help Miyu return to her world and solving the [Pandora's Box] problem for her."

Stopping his complaints about his alternate self, Shirou looked back at the sleeping face of Sakatsuki Miyu under the blanket and spoke with some emotion. Before this, he had hoped the Ainsworth family from Miyu's world would take longer to find them.

But who could have guessed that after only seven days and a new round of system travel, he would start worrying about whether he could follow the steps from the original Prisma Illya plot? Could he, like Illya and the others, reopen the barrier between this world and Miyu's parallel world?

"I guess 'fickle world' describes exactly this."

—Trace on!

As he channeled the magical energy in his body using Ripple Breathing, a specific DISC that had been recorded by [Unlimited Blade Works] in the Jujutsu Kaisen world manifested out of thin air in his hand.

Shirou attempted to slot it into the projected [Pseudo-Osiris] to confirm that this DISC could still be used even after returning to the Type-Moon world. Tucking the DISC back away, a confident smile appeared on his face.

"But actually, it's not a problem.

Whether it's Darius, who wants to displace the two worlds, or Julian, who was deceived by Darius and wants to save the world—they must use a Holy Grail to achieve their goals.

They need to use the massive magical energy within Miyu to grant their wishes..."

In other words, the ones who should truly be anxious are the Ainsworth family back in Miyu's world. Even if Shirou does nothing now—or even if he chooses to wait out the seven-day system cooldown to keep another travel opportunity as a trump card—the Ainsworths will find a way to punch through the barrier between the two worlds themselves to take Miyu back.

For the current Shirou, who now has the means to solve [Pandora's Box] and its associated problems, he only needs to wait and keep hope alive.

Just as the Shirou who had harvested so much from this trip was confidently planning his next moves, a soft voice sounded by his ear.

"Onii-chan? Is it morning already?"

It was Sakatsuki Miyu, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she sat up.

"...Sorry, Miyu, did I wake you?"

Stopping his musing, Shirou heard her voice and glanced at the clock on the table. He said softly with an apologetic face, "It's still very early before school. Sleep a bit longer, Miyu.

Although the transfer procedures were handled thanks to Fuji-nee, this is your first time at school. You won't leave a good impression if you don't have enough energy."

"But breakfast..." Miyu whispered.

"Leave today's breakfast to me." Shirou patted his chest. "This is to celebrate your first day of school. How could I let you keep doing the cooking?"

At this point, Shirou felt a sense of shared experience with Sella from the Prisma Illya world.

Having a sister so capable that she rushes to finish all the chores really leaves one with complicated feelings—pride that she's grown up, but also not wanting her to be exhausted.

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