Kushagara

"There's a saying that goes, "Curiosity killed the cat." If you have the spiritual power and experience of Rohan Kishibe, as well as Heaven's Door, you may have the means to deal with it. However, most people have no immunity to strange things. Nothing exists to guarantee that you won't become that dead cat."

Kushagara (くしゃがら) is a short story that is part of an anthology of short stories based on the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. It was written by Ballad Kitaguni (北國 ばらっど) and published by Shueisha. Kushagara was included with the August 2017 issue of Ultra Jump to coincide with the eighth episode release of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series.

This story received a live action TV Drama adaptation which will air on December 29, 2020.

Summary
At, Rohan organizes his material for a new story when he is caught by a fellow manga artist working at Shueisha who had the same idea, Jugo Shishi. Jugo Shishi was a pen name which originated when he wrote the wrong formula for his multiplication table, so he chose it as a reminder that life does not go as planned. Jugo starts making small talk with Rohan but Rohan wants to be left alone. Jugo persuades Rohan to sit and talk with him, stating that Rohan's yelling will attract attention so he'll have to sign autographs for kids. Rohan describes Jugo as having a thug-like appearance, with pierced eyelids and his hair dyed red. He is annoyed with Jugo's talkative personality and condescending attitude, comparing him to Josuke and Okuyasu. However, Rohan really enjoys Jugo's manga, believing that it has a very detailed reality to it despite depicting a fictional civilization with fictional history. Jugo's works are always logical as he believes that experience and knowledge are necessary.

Jugo starts talking about his new editor. His former editor had the same taste in potato chips as Jugo. He liked, only listened to Japanese music, and was a fan of the band. They were good friends, but his new editor is a lot more serious. Recently, his new editor gave him a list of prohibited terms for manga. Rohan and Jugo are appalled to see that words like "electrocution", "earthquake", and "tsunami" are banned, thinking that the publishers are cowards. Jugo found a word in the list that he wasn't familiar with, "kushagara". He didn't understand the meaning of the word or why it was prohibited. He tried to investigate but couldn't find anything meaningful in the dictionary or on Google. He asked his editor, but he was just told not to use it, and since he's not allowed to use it then it's not necessary for him to know what it means. After telling Rohan about it, Jugo asks Rohan to immediately inform him if he finds any clues.