Too Small, Your Vision is Too Small

Because of Satoru Gojo's antics, Megumi Fushiguro's hard-won decision to attend Jujutsu High had once again fallen into doubt.

Back when you were in Tokyo and I was in Saitama, seeing each other once a week was manageable. I could treat it as a change of pace.

But if they had to live on the same campus, Megumi felt that he might pass out before his sister woke up.

In the end, Akesato put on the air of a "real teacher," first driving away the "fake teacher," then carefully explaining just how much the "fake teacher" loved being late and slacking off, how he was nowhere to be found most days, and how someone else was responsible for the actual teaching.

Only then did he pull Megumi back from backing out. Megumi reluctantly agreed to try attending as a visiting student first. His enrollment would remain in Saitama for now, while he himself would make time to audit classes at Tokyo High School for a while.

Well, Megumi did not actually dislike Satoru Gojo that much. That was only the surface reason. Deep down, he wanted to make the transition and aftermath as smooth as possible.

Megumi and his sister, Tsumiki Fushiguro, were celebrities at school—the top kind.

His sister had suddenly fallen into a coma, and his brother was suddenly transferring schools. If handled poorly, it could easily cause problems.

Though Satoru Gojo could settle it with a few connections, Megumi's childhood experiences had made him fiercely independent. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to trouble others, not even his guardian.

After all, every living expense the Fushiguro siblings had received so far came from Jujutsu High subsidies. The price was Megumi becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer in the future; it was essentially a scholarship.

It was not that Satoru Gojo refused to give him money. Megumi simply did not want it.

Satoru Gojo was already handling his sister's care, the removal of the curse, and dealing with the culprit. Megumi could not bring himself to hand over even such a small matter as this.

Satoru Gojo did not say much more to Megumi about it. After nearly ten years together, they already understood each other well.

He merely patted Megumi on the shoulder before saying to Akesato, "I'm counting on you. With you, even the Ten Shadows Technique will surely be taught well."

Akesato caught the deeper meaning in his words and replied quietly, "You found out about my background?"

"With so many obvious clues, if we still couldn't figure it out, the Gojo family might as well be removed from the Three Great Families." Satoru Gojo smiled confidently. "Heh heh. The Three Great Families... perhaps my ideals really can be realized through all of you."

"Leave me out of it. I've never thought about doing anything to the Kamo family."

"Actually, it's all the same. Your existence is the opportunity for change."

With that, Satoru Gojo turned and left, continuing to be his hands-off boss.

"Senior Akesato—?"

Watching the two equally unfathomable men whispering to each other, Megumi would have been lying if he said he was not curious.

But Akesato did not satisfy that curiosity. "It's nothing. Teacher Gojo has his own matters to handle. We just need to do what we should. What do you think we should do now?"

"Train?" Megumi answered immediately.

"No. I told you to calm down, not to go from one extreme to the other."

With a student this battle-crazed, Akesato could only sigh.

Being battle-crazed was a good thing in combat, but in daily life, he hoped their brains could be a little more normal.

"You haven't eaten dinner, and you're injured. If you don't want to die young, take it easy. Eat first, then take a bath, and finally sleep. Tomorrow, go ask the school for leave. I don't need to teach you exactly how to do that, do I?"

"No, thank you, Senior Akesato."

Megumi kept a very humble attitude. That was simply the kind of person he was. Once he acknowledged someone, he would sincerely treat them as an elder worthy of respect.

And Akesato had undoubtedly earned Megumi's respect.

He was strong enough, and what he said was fairly agreeable to hear. At the very least, he was far better than those others whose every word made people want to punch them.

After Megumi left, Akesato asked Maki, "What do we do next—"

"—Of course, we keep fighting. Using Megumi as an opponent was nowhere near satisfying enough, so please indulge me to the end." The fighting spirit on the girl's face had not faded in the slightest.

"What happened to taking a vacation and relaxing?"

"For me, this is a vacation. There's no better way to relax. At most, I'll soak in a hot spring afterward."

"I haven't heard of any hot spring inns or anything like that nearby."

Akesato was helpless, but seeing Maki like this, he feared it would be difficult to get away unless he beat her flat.

You're spending tonight obediently in a hospital bed. Don't ruin my nighttime tour of Saitama with Little Sa.

Meanwhile, Maki secretly decided to hit a little harder. Perhaps because her plan to train her five senses had shown results, she kept feeling that Akesato was up to no good.

In the end, Maki really was beaten into a hospital bed, while Akesato's plan for a nighttime tour of Saitama also failed to happen. He was badly hurt as well, especially after taking several solid hits to the legs.

Without tricks, when it came to pure strength, Akesato's advantage over Maki was not especially clear. Though Maki was injured, the more hurt she got, the crazier she became. In the end, she had a great time, while Akesato was the one left unhappy.

Fortunately, the well-behaved, obedient, and considerate Gardevoir stayed with him the whole time. Though they could not tour Saitama at night, the two eventually found a nice nearby lookout and watched the night scenery together, so the vacation outing had not been entirely wasted.

When the boys and girls met again at the hospital the next day, every one of them was bruised and battered. The sight was exceptionally hilarious.

Satoru Gojo seized the opportunity and snapped photo after photo, exactly like Akesato had done the night before.

Even by the time the group returned to Jujutsu High, the marks from their brawl had not faded.

Panda and Inumaki, who had remained behind, were stunned silly.

"This was your vacation?"

"Big Mustard?" (Are you okay?)

When Maki proudly announced her results, Panda covered his face with a paw.

"This idiot... even I, a panda, can't stand watching her."

The only one happy about it was the childlike Playful Panda. With so many more dark circles around, it was absolutely delighted, waving its tiny fists with whooshing motions—until Gardevoir restrained it with Psychic and carried it away.

Right after that, Panda and Maki started fighting as well.

Mainly because Panda had been getting more and more out of line lately.

One moment, he was asking Maki what kind of boys she liked; the next, he was asking whether Akesato preferred girls with big breasts or small breasts.

Was that something you could ask in front of so many people? You gossip panda!

At Jujutsu High, battles often ended in free-for-alls, and even Megumi Fushiguro hadn't escaped this time. The one left standing in the end was Toge Inumaki.

No wonder his surname had "dog" in it—he fully embraced the survivalist approach. Quick on his feet and fast at running, he rarely spoke and had a weak presence. In the end, one large-scale use of Cursed Speech decisively secured his victory.

After a period of training, he had improved significantly in his choice of when to use Cursed Speech. He either remained silent, or spoke to great effect.

Once the brawl was over, the boys, girls, and pandas lay sprawled across the training ground, recovering as they listened to Akesato and the watching Satoru Gojo review and analyze the battle.

There was little to say about the first-years, who were already used to this. Their problems were the same old ones, requiring slow, painstaking refinement over time. The one truly worth mentioning was the newly joined Preparatory Student, Megumi Fushiguro.

"For the next while, you need to focus on improving your close-combat abilities—hand-to-hand fighting, tool usage, and coordination with your shikigami." This was Akesato's preliminary plan.

"Not taming shikigami?" Megumi asked doubtfully. In Megumi's eyes, gaining control of as many shikigami as possible was the fastest way to increase his strength.

"That's important too. Everyone will help you figure something out."

"I appreciate the thought. The Taming Ritual doesn't allow outside interference. Once outside help is involved, it's judged invalid."

If it had been possible, Megumi would have brought the Ten Shikigami under his control long ago. After all, he had an "invincible strongest" at his side.

In response, Akesato merely shook a finger. "Too narrow-minded. What counts as outside interference? How is it defined? As long as we figure out the trigger mechanism, there'll always be a way around it."

Megumi's biggest problem was that he tended to be overly conservative about certain matters, constrained by fixed ways of thinking.

He was like a model student who only knew how to study hard, solve problems seriously, and rely on his own ability during exams.

What Akesato intended to teach him, however, were cheating methods he had never even considered.