Training

"Well, that's the story. He was cursed by Rikka-chan who loved him so much."

"He's Okkutsu Yuta-kun!"

"Everyone who agrees with him, okay!"

After hearing Yuta's dark past from Satoru, Maki and the others' impression of him changed slightly.

Before, they considered him a delinquent type transfer student, considering his experience of locking his classmate in a locker.

"By the way, if you attack Yuta, Rikka-chan will get active. Besides Eiji, the three of you are no match for her. So, be careful."

"You've been saying that since earlier." Maki complained.

Even with Eiji restraining Rikka, she could still feel how terrifying the Cursed Spirit was.

She was very aware that she didn't stand a chance.

"Well then, I'll introduce them right away."

Seeing them all feeling awkward, Satoru made Yuta know their names.

"Cursed Tool User, Zenin Maki. She uses Cursed Tools to vanquish Cursed Spirits."

Yuta turned to look at the only woman in the classroom.

"Cursed Speech User, Inumaki Toge. Because he can only speak about rice ball fillings, try to understand him."

"Konbu."

"Ah, nice to meet you."

Compared to Maki's indifferent attitude, Yuta received a warm welcome from Toge.

"He's Panda."

Satoru's introduction this time was very brief.

"I'm Panda. Nice to meet you."

"..."

Seeing Panda being able to speak human language, Yuta was surprised and just nodded.

"You both have met before, but I'll introduce you again. Bearer Six Eyes like myself and Limitless Technique User. Kamiki Eiji. If Rikka-chan goes berserk, you can ask for his help."

There was pride in Satoru's tone.

"Extraordinary entrance, Okkutsu Yuta."

"It's beyond my control... From now on, please help me, Kamiki-kun."

"Um."

Yuta was glad to be in the same class as Eiji. This way, he didn't have to worry about Rikka going out of control and hurting others.

"Now, there are five first-year students. It's very rare to have this many students, Sensei is very happy~"

"Luckily, for the Jujutsu training this afternoon, we'll form teams of two."

"Toge with Panda."

"Maki with Yuta."

"Gek."

Yuta could hear Maki's irritated voice next to him, discreetly glanced at her, and saw the reluctance clearly written on her face.

(Is she disgusted with me?)

"Gojo-sensei, what about Kamiki?"

Panda noticed Eiji seemingly indifferent even though he wasn't included in the training, so he asked.

"Ah, Kamiki doesn't need to. He'll just watch. Besides, if he participates, it wouldn't be fair. Doesn't everyone think so?"

Thinking carefully, Maki and the others agreed with Satoru's statement.

They had heard about Eiji's achievements over the past year. It was said that the weakest Cursed Spirit he had exorcised was a Grade 1. Moreover, he often dealt with non-affiliated Jujutsu Sorcerers who engaged in criminal activities.

In some ways, dealing with humans was more troublesome than Cursed Spirits. After all, humans were endowed with intelligence, while Cursed Spirits acted based on their basic instincts.

"That makes sense."

Glancing at Eiji agreeing with Gojo-sensei's arrangement, Maki was curious why others had to attend school instead of graduating directly.

...

The first-year students walked along the corridor.

Perhaps because of the addition of new students, no one was talking.

Walking beside Eiji, Yuta nervously initiated a conversation.

"P-P-Please work together."

"Um."

Eiji's response was so brief and simple that Yuta couldn't continue the conversation.

(Is Kamiki-kun always this quiet?)

Compared to Eiji whom he met in the isolation room, who gave him motivation to go to school, Yuta felt like he was facing two different people.

"..."

"You're often bullied, aren't you?"

Maki suddenly turned and spoke.

*⚡*

Yuta was stunned as if struck by lightning, momentarily speechless because the others easily knew his past.

"You're a bullying target, huh."

His reaction had given an answer without Maki needing to listen to his response.

"I understand. I even wanted to bully you."

"Is it because of your curse?"

"You look as if you're holy. It's disgusting."

"Why do you act like a victim when you're protected? If you always accept the outcome, right?"

Eiji, Panda, and Toge didn't stop Maki from saying harsh things to Yuta. The three men exchanged glances with silent understanding for Maki to address Yuta's inferiority issues.

Isn't it better for a woman to take care of a man than another man, right?

"..."

"You won't be able to survive without any purpose. Jujutsu High School isn't that easy."

The more Yuta heard, the more he couldn't respond at all.

Feeling that Maki had gone too far, Panda and Toge stopped her.

"Maki, that's enough."

"Bonito flakes."

Only Eiji watched silently.

The scene in front of him was exactly like the plot of the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie, which was in Lin Fan's memory.

(Even with my presence, the future isn't so affected. Everything that's destined will still happen, huh) He thought as he continued to walk, leaving Panda apologizing to Yuta on behalf of Maki.

...

Eiji, Yuta, and Maki were in the school environment.

The school was empty, without any students, staff, or teachers. This was all done so that outsiders wouldn't witness when Jujutsu Sorcerers worked.

"Where's Gojo-sensei? Isn't his task to supervise the students? Don't tell me, he threw this job to you, Kamiki?"

"Women's intuition is scary. Your guess is right, Maki. Gojo-sensei said there's an urgent matter. Seeing me idle, he asked me to monitor your performance. Don't worry, I won't interfere unless someone is dying."

"Ehhh..."

The contents of their conversation made Yuta frightened.

Dying?

Could the high school students' training really be life-threatening?

He began to regret agreeing to attend Jujutsu High School.

"Are we going to do something dangerous?" He asked worriedly about this issue.

"It depends on your perspective. From my perspective, this training is just a trivial matter, but it might be different from your perspective."

If Eiji could smile, he would smirk right now. Unfortunately, his expression remained flat without any change.

As a result, Yuta became even more anxious in his heart.

"According to reports, some students have disappeared without a trace."

"Disappeared?!"

Maki didn't react to the information, but Yuta was very surprised.

He seemed like an odd person among two classmates who were too calm.

"Anyway, schools are one of the places where negative emotions accumulate and give birth to natural Cursed Spirits. Okkutsu, you should understand why schools harbor negative emotions, right?"

"Yes."

Facing Eiji's question, Yuta nodded.

As a victim of bullying, he knew very well that school was not a completely safe and peaceful place.

It should be noted that bullying in Japan is among the highest in the world. It's no wonder schools gather very strong negative emotions from bullying victims.

"What about the children kidnapped by Cursed Spirits?"

"Um. So far, two children have disappeared for no reason."

Eiji glanced at Maki, realizing his gaze, Maki reluctantly explained the basic knowledge of Jujutsu to Yuta.

"Places with many memories tend to be filled with Cursed Spirits."

"Schools, hospitals... Places full of memories become containers for negative emotions. When those emotions accumulate, they give birth to Cursed Spirits, like in this case."

"Thank you for the explanation, Maki."

Eiji deliberately did this to make Yuta and Maki's relationship closer. Simply put, he played the matchmaker role even though he had no romantic experience.

"Your task is to eliminate the Cursed Spirits and save those children. Retrieve their bodies if they're already deceased."

"Deceased?"

"There's no guarantee that the missing children are still alive. Prepare yourself mentally if that situation arises, Okkutsu."

Giving advice to Yuta, Eiji raised his hand and began chanting an incantation to activate the Curtain.

"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

Instantly, the Curtain was erected, enveloping the entire school environment.

Seeing the sky suddenly darken, Yuta was amazed. It was his first time inside the Curtain.

"In that case, do your best, Okkutsu, Maki. Remember, I won't intervene unless you're on the brink of death."

"No need to say it twice, hurry up and go."

Waving her hand to dismiss him, Maki nodded to Yuta. The next moment, Eiji's figure disappeared.