Jujutsu Kaisen Manga Chapter 42

   

 Summary:

The sisters clash and Mai is forced to realize that Maki has something she doesn't. She resents Maki for leaving the Zenin family and feels pressure to live to be better than her. Despite Mai's best efforts, Maki shows her little sister the difference in their strength.

Plot:

Just before the Goodwill Event began, Nobara asked Yuji what he thought of Maki. He was afraid to answer, but Nobara means it as a jujutsu wizard. Despite not knowing much about jujutsu, Yuji could tell she was a tough fighter just by her position. Nobara revealed that she was only 4th grade because of her family, but they could help get her noticed during the event if they did well in the team competition.

Maki overheard them and remembers it at the beginning of her fight with Mai. Maki is skilled enough to chop Mai's bullets and cut off her legs with just a sword. Mai tries to fight her off by shooting, but Maki dodges and kicks Mai aside. This reminds Mai that her sister has something she was born with, but something Mai doesn't.

In their childhood, Maki helped Mai ignore the curses that appeared around their house. Mai was jealous of how carefree Maki could be and this eventually led to Maki leaving the family altogether. Their old man, Naobito Zenin, threatened to complicate Mai's life, but Maki demanded that she stay out of the matter. Mai overheard and called her sister a liar for leaving.

After deflecting Mai's sixth bullet, Maki believes her opponent's revolver is empty. However, Mai despises her sister, so she never shared the details of her cursed technique: Construction. This allows Maki to craft one bullet per day using a large amount of cursed energy that burdens her body. This allows Mai to distract her sister, but Mai's reflexes are quick enough to intercept the bullet.

Mai believes that Maki has something that she doesn't. Possibly a reverse form of Mechamaru's Celestial Restraint. Maki was supposed to be born with a cursed technique, but she traded it for superhuman physical abilities. The Zenin family avoided it, but it's an ability that Mai doesn't have.

Defeated, Mai remembers how her sister promised she would never leave. She questions why Maki wouldn't live a peasant life with her instead of leaving her. Mai never wanted to be a witch and felt like she had to because Maki was following her dreams. Desperate for answers, Mai asks why Maki didn't fall into the hole with her.

Maki replies that she could never live with herself and leaves her sister. Before the official elimination, Mai breaks down in tears and calls her sister a liar, claiming she hates her.