22 Chapter 22

She stared at the serene looking white-haired teen in surprise.

He didn't need any actual introduction. There was not a single person in the world of jujutsu who didn't know him, by sheer reputation if nothing else.

The one that was rumored to stand at the peak with Satoru one day.

The reclusive Gojo, bearer of the mutated six eyes – eyes that were rumored to bear so much hate and malevolence it took inhuman willpower and cursed energy to look him in the eye.

The prodigy who killed his first cursed spirit at the tender age of six and the youngest special grade sorcerer in the last three centuries. The Zenin clan had tried to marry Mai off to him in an attempt to bring him into the clan, but the previous Gojo clan head had denied the arrangement.

When they brought the offer for the second time after the first clan head stepped down, she heard rumors that Gojo Satoru had laughed in the Zenin clan envoy – her father's face – before sending them packing.

Naobito never forgot that slight, and the child had been a thorn in the Zenin clan's side, for all he seemed ignorant of it.

"You're late," came the stern and authoritative voice of Principal Yaga.

"Apologies," the teen replied calmly. The scolding tone had broken on his apathetic defense.

The principal made to speak further before deciding against it. 

"Take a seat beside Maki. You can do your introductions later."

Jiki nodded curtly at him again before walking. She noticed the way he slid his feet on the floor in a way that didn't create any sound. A killer's walk. A technique she had observed in one other person years ago: her older cousin Naoyi.

Principal Yaga cleared his throat to draw back attention to him before he started speaking.

"We usually have two or three students every year. Fortunately or unfortunately, something changed. We have ranging theories, but that is not for you to bother about. The number of sorcerers born in the past fifteen years has multiplied, and we believe it'll be increasing even more in the coming years." He sent a brief glance at the white-haired teen.

"Your assigned teacher will be Gojo Satoru, who for some reason has decided to venture into education. That should not make you negligent. To be a jujutsu sorcerer is to dance with death, to know it intimately in a way few people ever manage to do. To be a true jujutsu sorcerer is to have conviction, conviction so strong that whenever you die, you do so without regrets. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir!" they all chorused in response.

"No, you don't," he replied in a low tone."But you will. Now I'll give you a few minutes to get to know yourselves before Satoru comes along. Welcome to Jujutsu Tech."

With those ominous parting words, the man stepped out of the classroom with heavy steps that echoed in the silence.

Maki sent glances at her fellow classmates. Her eyes naturally gravitated to the one person who had the most presence in the room even without trying.

Gojo Jiki sat straight beside her, legs stretched out and crossed, eyes closed, and one hand folded and hanging out of his haori in front of him. She would've mistaken him for asleep if not for his well-measured breath and the lack of movement of his eyes beneath the eyelids that would've indicated REM sleep.

Even this relaxed, his mere presence screamed danger to her. Instincts long honed in the treacherous pit that was the Zenin clan were screaming out at her, tugging wildly at her fight-or-flight response. Only her near-total control over her body kept her from acting out on the supposed danger.

She forced her attention away to the others; Panda was the next person her eyes went to. Of all her new classmates, he was the most confusing. Simply because he wasn't human.

Yet he was not a curse.

He had no real heartbeat she could hear, no lungs to take in and filter out oxygen, no kidneys to break down toxins, and no real scent that she could perceive.

What he did have were points in his body that were particularly dense with cursed energy, points that she only picked up due to how fine-tuned her glasses were.

Her eyes glanced over the nervous girl and landed on the scion of the Inumaki clan. Panda had made to try start a conversation with him only to get single-word replies that had to do with food.

The platinum-blond-haired teen seemed to enjoy the confusion that the panda was undergoing and continued to needle him further with his response. Her knowledge of his clan was vague considering how much the Zenin clan tried to stifle her growth and relegate her into a maid not even fitting to marry off.

The more the platinum-blond teen continued to speak, the more it needled her till she had enough.

"Hey!" she called out, before stepping up and walking to face the platinum-blond teen. "What the hell is Kelp supposed to mean as a response to a simple hello?" She stared down at the wide-eyed blonde before a reply finally came, from the most unexpected voice.

"It's a greeting."

"Huh?" was her astounding reply to the surprising addition. She idly noted his voice was soft and silky in a way she didn't expect.

Jiki continued to speak without opening his eyes or even moving from his lounging state. "The Inumaki clan makes use of cursed speech; this inadvertently affects their ability to hold a regular conversation. He is using the names of food to replace words; Kelp is a greeting."

"And how do you know this?" she rounded up to face him. The white-haired teen finally opened his eyes a bit to stare at her blankly before he continued.

"Intuition, intonation, and body language. He is saying kelp, but the intonation of the words is more reminiscent of hello. His body language was open and welcoming, till it changed to mischievous and cunning when the panda got confused and finally defensive and worried when you rounded up on him aggressively."

With those last words, the white-haired teen closed his half-lidded eyes and went still once more.

Yet the effects of his words could be felt even as they resounded in her head.

'Defensive and worried when you rounded up on him aggressively.'

She took a step back and looked at the purple-eyed teen. She had noticed the way he tensed up, yet she had no real reference to interpret the motion accurately. She was more used to people getting aggressive when she asked questions.

She took a step back and gave him a short bow in apology, "I'm sorry for that," and he replied with his body loosening up and a smile. "Salmon."

Her eyes went to the still-resting Jiki, and he answered her unasked question even with his eyes closed. "Affirmation."

"See, we're all good, right?" the panda asked with wide eyes and what she was starting to see was his signature innocent smile.

"Salmon," the Inumaki replied with a raised thumbs up at her. Affirmation/agreement, her mind automatically translated it, and she smiled in response before sending back a thumbs up. 

"Salmon," she replied, and even with his mouth covered by the scarf, she could see how the visible parts of his face formed a smile.

"My cute little students are already making friends, eh?"

She spun again, and only previous experience with the elder Gojo stopped her from the wasted effort of planting a kick in his sides.

The wide-grinning face of Gojo Satoru was inches from hers; his grin suddenly grew even wider, and somehow she knew he had an idea of what she was about to do.

Damn, Gojos.

"If the introductions are done, I have a mission already prepared for you."

"What!"

"Mau Mau, it's just a quick inves—"

"This was supposed to be an introduction class!" she replied hotly; surprisingly, every other person didn't seem to mind much.

"Oh, that's true," Satoru admitted with a thoughtful frown on his face, and she breathed out, happy she had finally gotten through to him before he continued with a big smile. "What better way to be introduced to the world of Jujutsu than experiencing it yourself, eh?" he finished with a satisfied smirk on his face like he had solved the greatest mystery.

She fell to her knees in horror.

...

"We have a bus!" the panda exclaimed in surprise as he went to touch it to make sure it was not an illusion.

"We do. We don't use it much, but you guys are alot to stuff into a car. Let's hope Ijichi's driving experience translates well with a twelve-seater," Gojo replied with his regular smile and laissez-faire attitude. "Speaking of Ijichi."

A suited man wound down the window of the driver seat before waving at them. Jiki took it to mean that was the man, considering the way Satoru waved back. The man's cursed energy output was minimal; the only person he had an edge over in terms of cursed energy seemed to be the Zenin girl.

Not that she stated it, but if you knew what to look for, it was startlingly clear. The slant of the brow, the tilt of her eyes, the almost predatory features, and her desire to avoid any topic of her clan.

It almost reminded him of another Zenin. Her nonexistent cursed energy expulsion only solidified that thought. Another heavenly restriction then.

From the immense control she had over her musculature, he was almost certain it was a heavenly restriction similar to Toji's.

His hand twitched at the thought of exchanging blows with someone of Toji's caliber. A superhuman physique that not even cursed energy reinforcement could match easily.

"You're smiling." He looked up to see her up in his face again. Maki Zenin. All pent-up anger and vinegar. His mind registered what she said, and he reached up to touch his cheeks to realize he really was. It was slight, nearly impossible to see, but her eyes were proving just as sharp as her mouth.

The Zenin clan seemed to be blessed and cursed with the attention of the heavens it seemed. Was it a generational thing?, he mused.

"I was thinking of something," he noted she was carrying a single gym bag over her shoulders. "The mission?" she inquired even as she turned her eyes back at the bus and the conversation between Satoru and Ijichi.

"Somewhat. The odds of facing something that was going to be a challenge with what his eyes picked up; were an inexperienced curse speech user, a cursed puppet, a girl without cursed energy, and finally a seemingly civilian girl without a jujutsu clan's early teaching was next to nothing.

Not even Satoru would throw them into those kinds of deep ends. Then again, he was an anomaly here, maybe…

"Oh, by the way, you're sitting this one out, Jiki!" Satoru called out from ahead of them. Huh, that cleared things then. It was probably going to be a grade three or considering their sheer numbers, maybe a semi-grade two cursed spirit.

Maki sent him a quick glance before moving ahead to get on the bus; he let them all get on before climbing on.

He took a seat beside the Inumaki, hoping that would reduce whatever conversation he would've had to engage in otherwise, before closing his eyes as the trip started.

His rest was broken by a poke in his side, and he forced his eyes open to see the panda staring right up in his face.

He raised a delicate eyebrow at the cursed puppet before it bared its teeth at him in its attempt at a smile.

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

So, it didn't just look like a panda; it named itself one. "Same," he nodded in response.

"You're Gojo Jiki, right—"

"Alright, quiet up for a bit," Satoru interrupted the budding conversation with a yell as he stood up and spun to face them with a smile.

"Now, this shouldn't be tough. It's just a way for me to see how you will react under the kind of pressure that comes with facing a curse for the first time."

They all replied with varying nods before focusing on their preparation. Jiki closed his eyes once more.

....

"We're here!"

He was forced awake to the sound of his cousin's yell. Blinking his eyes open, he realized they had gotten to their destination, in one piece too.

Panda and Maki stood up first; seemed like they had not bothered with taking a short rest and climbed down from the bus quickly. Inumaki followed them with a lazy stride and his hands in his pocket.

Jiki was left with the civilian girl. He stared down at her shaking form in the chair and felt the sudden urge to say something. He might not be the most conversational person, but just like back in Aiko's village, leaving a confused and scared person to themselves never seemed right to him.

But this girl was not just a mundane child incapable of understanding what was going on. No, she could see. That meant he could not treat her the same way.

"Hey," he called out calmly, forcing the girl's eyes up to him.

"You're worried, yes?"

A blank look was his answer, so he continued.

"Good. You should be."

"W-what?" came the stuttered reply. One he ignored as he continued to stare at her. A remnant of his time as captain of the Hidden Leaf's Anbu Corps leaked into his voice.

"For you are weak."

"I-I'm not," she replied, forcing herself to her feet.

If nothing else, she was not going to roll over, he noted with a slight smile.

"There is nothing wrong with being weak or scared," he continued lowering his voice to soothe, "fear is an inbuilt emotion that ensures survival. Embrace it. What you should not accept is remaining so. Satoru is here, this is the one time your safety is assured. Use this opportunity to see the world for what it truly is, and maybe you won't remain so for long."

With his spiel done, he gave her a last nod and turned away, heading out of the bus. He Idly noted the way her sporadic breathing and nervous jitterings died down, so it was not a complete waste then.

They had stopped in front of an abandoned building. He looked at the structure with a discerning eye and noted its architecture was old, cracked walls and broken window frames littered the building, and the single entrance that led in and out was boarded up.

Satoru waved at him from the entrance where he stood beside his fellow students, and he waved back before heading towards them.

The quiet echo of trailing steps behind him.

"So, this is it," Satoru started before bringing out a stopwatch from his pocket. "This is a contracted job and normally would be left for actual sorcerers, but I deemed it good enough for you guys."

He clicked the button before facing them. "You've ten minutes to clear the building, and your time starts now!" He grinned at them.

Jiki noted Maki was the first person to react. The moment Satoru pressed down on the button, she unzipped her bag and pulled out two short sticks that she attached together to form a staff.

In one smooth movement, she lashed out at the boarded-up door; the force of the blow sent it flying inward.

A second later, she was already in after it. Inumaki followed her in, reacting faster than the panda and the civilian girl.

He eyed them as they all rushed in before Satoru finally addressed him.

"It was nice what you did for her," he tilted his head to face his cousin and noted he was surprisingly serious.

"That should've been your job as the teacher," he replied as he turned back to the building, trying to track their movements.

"True, I could've done that easily, but this is not just about teaching."

Jiki could spot it even if Satoru didn't say it outright. Just Like Kakashi did a lifetime ago, Satoru was preparing him for a leadership role.

"Hn," he replied.

"Mau Mau, are you annoyed with that? My cute Jiki-kun is all grown up now and doesn't want to help out his big brother." Satoru let out an exaggerated fake wail that he ignored easily.

"Anyway," he continued with a quick switch-up in character. "I don't suppose you've realized domain expansion to add to your repertoire of techniques?"

"No," Jiki answered, putting in effort to curb his annoyance from leaking out. The whole concept of a domain was not one he was familiar with, but with his intellect, he could understand it. Yet he had found it impossible to form.

"Don't sweat it, it's nothing unusual," Satoru consoled him with a quick poke at his forehead.

"Still, you might be a special grade right now, but your lack of a domain would be dangerous if you're unfortunate enough to face something with the ability to use it."

"Old man Tatsumi said there were counters to it," Jiki replied, his eyes still on the building as the sound of combat, screeching, and struggling got to them.

But would he truly need them? He mused distractedly. While domain expansions were touted as the pinnacle of sorcery, the Susanno was the pinnacle of what it meant to be an Uchiha. Its manifestation was not a trifle to witness, and it had felt different since he came to this world.

A metaphysical weight was attached to the name. Now, armed with the Yata mirror, could he fend off a domain?

"Yes. That is what you'll be focusing on for the rest of the year. You'll have to be prepared, Jiki."

The seriousness in Satoru's voice drew his attention again. "Something is brewing, Jiki. I can feel it, see it, and sense it intimately. Fate has been spurned, twisted, and turned, but it won't be denied."

Satoru tilted his head a bit, and his glasses dropped a bit, allowing Jiki insight into those eerie blue eyes.

"You'll need to be ready, Jiki."

"I will," Jiki replied, his tone hard. He had not forgotten the promise he made all those years ago.