Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Volume 1: Jujutsu Kaisen: A Puberty Hero Does Not Dream of White Elf
"Hello, Mr. Himmel."
"It is my unfortunate duty to inform you: just moments ago, you died."
Mist rose from the ground in a vast, featureless expanse. The sky above was a dark blue that almost looked like a starfield, and there was nothing, not a wall, not a horizon, that could be called a boundary.
This was the screen Himmel woke up to.
He checked himself over on instinct.
Aged. Small. A shriveled little body.
A bald head.
A long, well-kept beard.
A perfectly ordinary old man, currently sitting on a chair that was just slightly too tall for him.
Before him stood a girl with long, water-blue hair. Her nose was straight and delicate, her lips full and soft, her features so perfectly proportioned they radiated something almost divine.
(Well. I was more perfect at her age.)
Himmel thought this without changing his expression.
"Well... I was already aware of that, at least."
Age slows everything, even speech. Himmel asked his question slowly, in his unhurried way: "So then. Are you the Goddess who's come to receive me?"
"That's right!"
The answer came faster than he expected , with urgency in it, even. The dignified blue-haired Goddess's eyes went wide, cheeks flushed, and she thrust her face toward him , then pulled back just as quickly, tilting her head back with one hand pressed dramatically to her chest, a self-satisfied grin spreading across her lips.
"I am a Goddess. The Water Goddess, Aqua~ Feel free to revere and worship me!"
"Oh my."
"Hm? What are you gasping about?"
(I simply never imagined the Goddess who bestowed her blessing on Heiter would have this sort of personality.)
Himmel smiled, his eyes crinkling to slits. It was the look of an old man watching children make a ruckus in the village square.
"I understand, great Goddess. So , will I be going to Heaven next? Or entering Reincarnation?"
"Ooh, you're sharp~"
Aqua puffed out her cheeks when Himmel didn't immediately prostrate himself, but she let it go. She traced lazy circles in the air with one slender finger. "That part is for you to decide."
"Heaven does exist , but between us?" She glanced left and right as if checking for eavesdroppers, then shuffled close and cupped a hand to her mouth. "It's not nearly as wonderful as people imagine. No TV. No manga. No games. Every day you just sit in the sun. It's a completely old-man lifestyle!"
Well...
I am an old man.
And what exactly is a manga?
Himmel kept smiling, warm and unbothered.
The scatterbrained Goddess pressed on. "The second option, like you said, is starting over from scratch , Reincarnation. Given what you accomplished in life, you'd probably be born into a good family and live a happy one."
Aqua tapped her lower lip. "Though after Reincarnation, the current you doesn't really factor into it anymore."
As a Goddess, perhaps don't discourage people before they've chosen.
"Of course, there's also a third option."
Now that sounded like the main point.
Aqua cleared her throat. She stood up straight, spread her arms wide, and the slightly ridiculous angles of her face somehow smoothed back into something divine.
"Hero Himmel!"
"Himmel, who defeated the Demon King and ushered in an age of peace! Your deeds have been recognized even in the Celestial Realm , and for someone like you, we are making an exception. We are granting you new life!"
"The third path: we will return you to youth. And this time, you will have a body that never ages!"
She threw herself into the speech , fist pumps, dramatic head tosses, the whole performance. Just one person talking, but somehow she made it an event.
On his chair, the little old man watched quietly, both hands resting on his knees.
"Is that so. Very impressive. And the price?"
"To put your strengths to use, naturally."
Aqua spread her hands.
"Go defeat the Demon King!"
"Outside your world, there are countless other worlds. In those worlds, humanity's Restraining Force only concerns itself with survival , but beyond survival, there are what we call Malignant Events. We Goddesses send someone to handle those."
Her eyes darted slyly. "You could call them Guardians, or something along those lines. But for you, the word 'Hero' probably fits best."
"Hmm."
Himmel took it all in.
"I see. So you want me to go on being a Hero."
"Yes!!" Aqua nodded eagerly. "You're happy about it, right?!"
"Ha ha."
The little old man chuckled pleasantly.
"I'll pass."
"Why not?!"
Aqua's jaw dropped.
From where she stood, this deal was an obvious win. Get your youth back, gain immortality, and all you have to do is the job you're already good at.
What possible reason was there to refuse?!
"Hmm..."
Himmel considered.
The title of Hero isn't tied to one specific person. It belongs to whoever inherits that spirit, that will , whoever stands and faces the Demon King in the end. Himmel had done exactly that. And in the years that followed, right up until the day he died of old age, he had kept watch nearby, patrolling, making sure the remnants of the Demon King's army couldn't rally.
He had done everything he was supposed to do.
The greatest of them , the Southern Hero , had once said he would carve his own path forward. Himmel had always understood: he was simply the one who carved the path for those who came after.
The story was finished.
For him to keep growing stronger on his own, apart from that , it would mean nothing. The world didn't need him specifically. It needed a new Hero. That Hero didn't have to be him. It didn't even have to be a single person.
(But explaining all of that...)
Himmel looked up. The Goddess before him was cycling through gestures and expressions at a frankly unnatural speed, rambling on in a tangle of words that had long since stopped making sense, and he hesitated.
(Explaining this to her might be a bit difficult.)
Difficult, yes.
Genuinely difficult.
Aqua clearly hadn't expected things to go this way. Tears were already flying from her eyes in pure frustration. Ten gestures a second. It wasn't particularly pitiable , it was mostly just funny.
"Don't you crave a young body? The way you are now, even doing anything remotely fun would be a struggle!"
"...You're remarkably direct for a Goddess. But it's all right. I've already enjoyed my life fully."
"Stop lying! You're a virgin, aren't you!"
This woman!!!
The gentle old man's eyes snapped wide. His teeth ground together.
But only for a moment. The flash of indignation vanished as quickly as it came , as if it had never happened at all , and Himmel settled back into serene composure.
"...That doesn't matter."
"What about her! I know your secret. You like that elf in your party, don't you! Don't you want to see her one more time?! Go confess to her!"
"..."
That one landed.
But Himmel thought it over and shook his head. "No. For her... I think some things can only be understood through loss. My being gone may matter more to her than my being there. And as long as she hasn't forgotten me, I've never truly left her."
"What about the glory?! Don't you want to defeat the Demon King again, stand in that moment again?! Isn't that the coolest thing imaginable?!"
"It's very cool. But I've already done what needed to be done. Those who come after will follow the road I paved , and they'll do it better."
"The future, then! The era of peace you created! Don't you want to see it?!"
"Someone will witness it for me."
"..."
Aqua sucked in a sharp breath.
Then she made a strangled sound, pitched herself backward, and collapsed into her chair, limbs sprawled, all dignity gone.
It seemed like that was that.
Himmel waited, unhurried.
Heaven or Reincarnation. Catching up with old friends in Heaven wouldn't be bad , but knowing Heiter, he almost certainly wouldn't have gone anywhere without a drink in hand. Himmel couldn't very well let him wander into Reincarnation alone.
He was thinking this over when Aqua finally stirred.
"I understand."
She lifted a hand and swept it through the air. White vortices bloomed all around them, one after another , like the enchanted mirrors in old fairy tales, each one lit from within, showing a glimpse of something beyond.
Countless worlds.
Countless voices.
Countless colors.
"These are the worlds available to you for Reincarnation."
"Hmm..."
Himmel studied them.
Which one, then. It should probably be his own world , he'd initially wanted to meet his companions again,
Just as he was about to decide,
", ...Nnh... ——"
He heard crying.
His hand stopped, hovering in the air.
His hearing had been sharp once, sharper than most, but age had dulled his senses along with everything else.
Even so, he knew a child's crying when he heard it.
He frowned, and turned toward the sound.
But there was so much of it.
Countless cries. Countless screams. In this very moment, across countless universes, there were still countless people suffering.
"That's..."
He couldn't stop himself. He asked.
Aqua followed his gaze.
"You want to Reincarnate into that one? It's not an especially dangerous world, but there are curses — things like that — so the people living there carry a lot of weight. If you go..."
"I'm asking about those two children."
"Hm? Oh..." The expression that crossed Aqua's face was genuinely sorrowful. No matter how ridiculous she could be, she was still a Goddess. "Most likely they're being used as human sacrifices. Humans have no shortage of fools. When people encounter things they can't explain, they calm their own fear by sacrificing someone else."
"Even deities can't watch over every world at once. And humanity's Restraining Force doesn't concern itself with anything short of extinction."
She let out a long, quiet breath.
"Those two children eat scraps every day. The villagers beat them, berate them. Before long the wounds will get infected. They'll get sick. And even if they survive that , when they're old enough, the men in that village, the ones who think with nothing but their lower halves, will probably..."
"Enough."
Himmel said.
"Help me up."