Ch.64 Kink Detected

The first day of the Tokyo-Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event: the team battle.

It was an intense and tense curse-spirit exorcism competition.

"The team that exorcises the Grade 2 cursed spirit placed within the designated area first will be declared the winner."

"There are also a number of Grade 3 and below cursed spirits scattered throughout the area. If the competition isn't decided by nightfall, the team that exorcises the most spirits will win."

"All cursed spirits have been pre-marked with special cursed seals that react to pre-registered cursed energy. Kyoto's team is blue, and Tokyo's is red. Since both Maki and Akira lack cursed energy, any unregistered cursed energy will also be marked as red."

"There are no other rules."

"You are free to interfere with or oppose each other as you wish. Just don't kill your opponents or inflict irreversible injuries. That's all. The match starts at noon. You're dismissed for now."

Thus, the opening remarks were made.

The speech was delivered by Principal Gakuganji Yoshinobu of Kyoto, the host school.

Although he was part of the conservative faction and quite elderly, the old man spoke with remarkable energy, and his actions weren't sluggish either—certainly better than some bureaucrats.

Despite the ideological differences, Gakuganji Yoshinobu didn't give off a bad impression.

But in a world where the abnormal far outnumber the normal, such impressions didn't really matter.

On the Tokyo side, Hakari and Maki, both notorious "delinquents," looked completely bored.

Gojo Satoru was whistling the entire time, making Principal Gakuganji's expression visibly grim.

And Kyoto's side wasn't much better.

An unnamed third-year mumbled under his breath:

"One second-year and five first-years? Are they giving us too much of a handicap?"

"They can't be that scared, right? Or did they just run out of people?"

Not in the official lineup, but observing from the sidelines, Mai was even more blunt: "If I knew she was coming, I would've signed up myself. I'll be the one to take her down."

Miwa stood straight and seemed full of energy, but in reality, she was staring at Gojo with starry eyes, utterly lovestruck.

The only reliable one there seemed to be the wooden robot that looked like Iron Man, who replied seriously, "There will be another opportunity next year."

Weirdos pop up every year, but this year they seem to be out in full force.

Tokyo has cursed corpses, while Kyoto has mechs.

The robot was called Ultimate Mechamaru, a cursed spirit combat machine controlled by the sorcerer Kokichi Muta. His life was akin to Nagato from Naruto, and Akira still hadn't figured out how to approach him.

It was mainly because his current Pokémon didn't have any abilities suited to the task.

Look at the name, Kokichi—"bringing happiness and fortune"—yet his life had been the opposite. He couldn't even enjoy something as basic as sunlight. Definitely one of the most tragic characters in Jujutsu Kaisen.

But even that wasn't what was giving Principal Gakuganji the biggest headache. No, the real issue hadn't even shown up.

After finishing his speech, he immediately found Utahime Iori: "Where's Todo? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"

"Maybe he overslept?"

Gojo Satoru chimed in, only to be promptly subdued by Principal Yaga with a joint lock.

Utahime, laughing at the scene, answered, "He didn't come back last night, and his phone's been off."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!"

Veins bulged on Gakuganji's forehead—embarrassment was one thing, but being humiliated in front of Gojo was another level.

"Because it's Todo-senpai… you know how he is." Utahime left it at that.

"That brat, what's he up to?"

Gakuganji's headache worsened.

Aoi Todo was the biggest troublemaker in all of Kyoto Jujutsu High—he did whatever he wanted, and if you tried to rein him in, he'd beat you up. And the problem was, he actually had the strength to back it up, having defeated everyone in Kyoto.

If not for his terrible attitude, which had delayed his promotion, he would've already been a Grade 1 sorcerer.

"Mai and Kasumi saw him yesterday. He was apparently attending an idol event," said Nishimiya, who had come over after the dismissal.

"You should have mentioned that earlier," said Noritoshi Kamo, frowning. "But even so, he shouldn't have stayed out all night."

"Maybe he got lost. You know how bad his sense of direction is."

Hearing that, Noritoshi's perpetually squinting eyes opened just a fraction. He definitely knew.

At first, he didn't believe it, but during a mission, when Todo was leading the way, they ended up wandering around the mountains for half a day. Their phones eventually died, and it wasn't until Nishimiya flew over to find them that they made it out.

"If you're short on people, we'll allow you to use substitutes."

Even when wrapped up in his "Unbreakable Bond" domain expansion, Gojo never missed an opportunity to be snarky.

"Considering Todo's level, you might want to field all three of your first-years. If that's not enough, we could go easy on you. What do you think, Akira?"

"I think that's fair," Akira, the team leader and strategist for Tokyo, nodded with a straight face. "Why don't we send Hakari-senpai to the bench? A second-year for a second-year, sounds fair to me."

"You little…" Hakari, who had just passed by, heard everything and was immediately irritated. "Are you picking a fight?"

"No, it's just the most reasonable arrangement. You haven't participated in any team training, and frankly, we weren't counting on you."

Even though Hakari wasn't a bad guy, his lone-wolf attitude made him the perfect candidate to bench when needed.

"If you're unhappy, let's settle this with a bet. Mahjong, poker, dice—your choice."

On the train, I used only Darkrai to mess with you. If I bring out Gardevoir too, even Gojo might have trouble against me.

Seeing Akira's cunning smile, Hakari felt a deep frustration.

Betting? That guy would definitely cheat, and I'd lose without a way to prove it.

Argue? There was no ground to stand on—Gojo did notify him, after all.

A fight? Come on, the group battle was about to start—starting an internal brawl first would just be embarrassing. Even if he did fight, there was no guarantee he'd win.

Hakari, being a delinquent, was used to fighting, and his instincts were sharp. In his eyes, Akira and Yuta were the two most dangerous people after Gojo. He had the sense that even rolling a six wouldn't guarantee a win against them.

Where did Gojo find these two little monsters?

Fortunately for him, his dilemma didn't last long.

"There's no need for that," Noritoshi Kamo refused firmly, pride evident in his voice. Kyoto Jujutsu High shared that pride. "Mechamaru, find Todo."

"I've already started."

Just like Panda from Tokyo, Mechamaru was known for being reliable.

A powered-down phone didn't stop him from tracking Todo. Mechamaru was the real genius behind merging technology with jujutsu.

"His location is… uh… the school gate?"

"???"

Everyone looked down the stone steps, and sure enough, they saw a well-built man sprinting toward them, shirtless and muscled.

Upon reaching the school plaza, he tossed a tote bag with "Takada-chan" written on it and his shirt to Nishimiya, exhaling deeply: "Phew, I made it in time. Why is the concert hall so far from the school?"

Before anyone could react, he flexed his muscles into a fully dramatic pose and shouted:

"Men of Tokyo! Answer me one question—what kind of woman do you like?!"

The number of question marks increased dramatically.