Jujutsu Kaisen: Tragedy Life Simulator-Chapter 116 - Holiday [bonus]

Hayase noticed the shift in Yaga’s face. Misreading it as doubt about the theory itself, he added in an easy voice,

"Of course, Yaga-sensei, I can’t say with complete certainty that the concept will transfer perfectly into reality. I’ve also considered the obvious risk. If this kind of soul-creation technology ever becomes real, someone with bad intentions might steal it one day and turn it into a weapon for war or exploitation. But that’s a problem to guard against later. No matter what happens after, this technology has to exist first."

In Yaga’s eyes, the boy sitting under the dim desk lamp stopped looking human.

Inside that suffocating obsession, Yaga sensed something impossible.

The realization hit him hard.

Compared to Gojo’s shameless confidence, compared to Geto’s noble certainty that protecting the weak was simply what the strong should do, Hayase, the one who seemed the most normal on the surface, was actually the real disaster.

The real problem child.

His mind was warped in a way Yaga didn’t even know how to classify anymore.

And the worst part was that Yaga, as his homeroom teacher, had no idea where to even start.

No idea how to guide him.

No idea how to fix this.

Because this kind of problem was too strange. Strictly speaking, what Hayase wanted was deeply selfless. By normal standards, it might not even count as a problem at all.

But Yaga knew, all the way down to his bones, that the way Hayase was treating himself was horribly wrong.

He was burning his own life like fuel.

Using himself up like he was a disposable tool.

Any thrill Yaga felt at discovering his prized student’s absurd talent for cursed corpse engineering vanished on the spot.

So did every impulse to sit down with him and compare notes. To discuss research. To share his own progress.

He couldn’t even bring himself to look twice at the gorgeous core sitting there on the table, the one that could’ve shaken the entire jujutsu world if word of it got out.

Slap.

Yaga snatched the core out of Hayase’s hands and dropped it on the workbench with zero care. Then he reached out, grabbed the boy by the collar with one huge hand, and yanked him straight out of his chair.

"Yaga-sensei? What’s wrong?" Hayase blinked, genuinely caught off guard. A faint crease formed between his brows. "Was there an obvious flaw in my theory?"

The fact that Hayase was still worried about whether the theory held up almost made Yaga grind his teeth to powder.

He didn’t explain a thing.

Like he was carrying a kitten by the scruff, he dragged Hayase out of the workshop and toward the dorms, voice cold and absolute.

"I don’t give a damn about your stupid theories right now. The only thing I know for sure is that you should not be in that workshop at this hour!"

He half dragged, half marched Hayase all the way back to the boys’ dorm.

When Hayase finally opened his door with a resigned look, Yaga planted himself in the doorway like a furious guardian statue, pointed at him, and gave the order like he was laying down martial law.

"Listen carefully, Hayase. Not just tonight. From now on, every night. As your homeroom teacher, I am officially forbidding you from entering my workshop before nine in the morning or after ten at night. If you set one foot in there outside those hours, I’ll break your legs!"

His chest rose and fell hard.

Then he looked at Hayase’s calm face, decided that still wasn’t enough, and immediately doubled down.

"No, forget that. For the next two days, you’re on mandatory leave. I refuse to let you work yourself into the grave in this school. Go shopping. Go sleep somewhere. I don’t care. Classes, combat training, exorcism missions, and that cursed corpse research of yours, none of it concerns you for the next two days. Get out of this school and act like a normal high schooler for once!"

BANG!

Yaga’s completely unrestrained roar exploded through the predawn hallway and woke the other two residents on the floor.

Creeeak...

Gojo’s door and Geto’s door opened one after the other.

Two messy heads poked out, both of them sporting enough bedhead to qualify as a natural disaster.

They hadn’t heard the whole argument, but Yaga’s final order about forced leave had come through loud and clear.

Gojo, drowning in oversized pajamas, rubbed at his sleepy blue eyes, yawned without an ounce of grace, and complained,

"Haaah... why does Hayase get time off? I’ve been training my ass off too, you know. I want a break."

Yaga, already one breath away from exploding, spun around and glared at both of them like an enraged black bear. His voice cracked through the hall like a whip.

"And you two little bastards. For the next two days, you are not to contact him for any reason. And from now on, cut way back on how much you drag him into training. Understood?!"

Geto stood there in his doorway looking completely lost. He glanced at the homeroom teacher radiating murderous intent, then at Hayase standing behind his own door with that helpless expression, and had no clue what had happened to produce this scene.

Gojo was just as confused, but irritation beat common sense as usual. Hands shoved in his pockets, he twisted his mouth and fired back,

"Hah? Why are you throwing a tantrum this early? Early menopause or something?"

The veins on Yaga’s forehead bulged instantly. His fist clenched hard enough to crack.

"That is a direct order from your homeroom teacher. Shut your mouth before I shut it for you."

Gojo, naturally, was not impressed in the slightest. If anything, the threat seemed to amuse him. He tipped his chin up and muttered just loudly enough for everybody to hear,

"Tch. Who’re you trying to scare? I’ve already got Reversal: Red down, so I’m pretty strong now, you know. It’s not like you could actually take me..."

THWACK!

The impact rang through the hallway before he’d even finished the sentence.

"Ow!"

Yaga didn’t waste another word. His iron fist, fueled by the full righteous anger of a teacher who had absolutely had enough, came down on top of Gojo’s white head in one brutal knuckle-rap.

Gojo grabbed his skull, eyes watering, ready to launch into a protest. Then he got a proper look at Yaga’s face and immediately shut up.

The truth was, Yaga’s outburst and this forced vacation weren’t only about making Hayase rest.

Yaga needed the time too. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

He needed room to sit down, clear his head, and figure out what the hell he was supposed to do with a kid carrying that kind of suffocating messiah complex.

For the first time in years, Masamichi Yaga had no answer.

He needed space to think about how to guide, how to correct, this boy who seemed to be walking the razor-thin line between humanity and something far beyond it.