Yuta Okkotsu

The usual morning, the usual morning training.

The usual brawling, the usual Gardevoir clearing the field.

There was no helping it. Close-quarters combat easily got people's blood up, and that was when Gardevoir had to step in and forcibly control the situation with Psychic, making everyone calm down.

Whenever this happened, Playful Panda got especially excited. That little troublemaker who feared the world wasn't chaotic enough would start tearing up the roof if it went three days without a beating.

Yet the little rascal had gotten smarter. The moment Akesato gave it a glare, it burrowed into Akemi's arms. That made it difficult for Akesato to snatch it back and spank it or flick its forehead.

Akesato looked away, out of sight and out of mind, and casually changed the subject. "The transfer student is coming today, right?"

"Probably." Panda nodded. "I heard he stuffed four classmates into lockers."

"Did he kill them?" Maki asked heartlessly.

"No, but they were apparently seriously injured."

"Oh. If she's too arrogant, I'll teach her a lesson."

"Bonito flakes." Inumaki's speech: no. Compared to delinquent Maki, he was far kinder.

"Don't be like that, little Maki." Akemi gently persuaded her. "I've met that child before. She's a good child."

"A good child?"

Maki glanced at Akesato, then at herself. They were both good children in Akemi's eyes—why did that sound so unreliable?

At Jujutsu High, aside from Gardevoir, only Toge Inumaki barely met the standard for a good child. As for the others... were there good children skilled in underhanded fighting techniques who spent every day figuring out how to kill their enemies?

"Good or bad, we have to meet him eventually." Akesato sprang to his feet from the ground. "Just in case, let me ask—Mom, you're not the one picking him up, are you?"

"No. Teacher Gojo has always handled admissions." Akemi shook her head.

Akesato lay back down. "Then wake me at nine. I was thinking about something last night and went to bed a little late."

"What about first period? You're not going?"

"Mom, it's not like you don't know when Satoru Gojo has ever been on time. We can't just leave the transfer student there and start class first, can we? Yawn~"

"That makes sense. I'll take a little nap too." Maki lay down as well.

"Brother, come here." Panda secretly glanced at the two lying down, then waved a paw at Playful Panda. "Let's take a walk in the little woods. Toge, you come too."

"Salmon." Inumaki nodded.

Akemi's eyelids twitched. Were students supposed to act like this? Back when she was a student, she had been much more well-behaved than them.

"Come back, all of you. This transfer student is different. Teacher Gojo won't be late this time—Little Sa, why are you fooling around with them too?"

It turned out that Gardevoir had seen Akesato looking uncomfortable without a pillow, so she moved his head onto her lap. At the same time, she summoned two blankets and draped them over Akesato and Maki.

She truly was Akesato's considerate little cotton-padded jacket. Though in Akemi's eyes, she was simply adding fuel to the fire and aiding the villain.

No, she could not let this bunch of students keep fooling around.

It was her duty to correct Jujutsu High's school spirit!

Akemi, who had somehow fallen into a strange sense of mission, did not know that the Jujutsu High in her memories was Kyoto Jujutsu High, while this was Tokyo. The atmosphere of the two had always been different.

Kyoto had always been traditional because of the Zenin and Kamo clans, while Tokyo was freer and more open-minded because of Masamichi Yaga and Satoru Gojo. The difference between them was more like the regional divide between Japan's Kanto and Kansai. Such things were unavoidable whether in China or elsewhere.

Still, Akesato got up. Once Mom's stubborn streak flared up, he could not outstubborn her—and there was no need to.

Anyway, when Satoru Gojo appeared—

"Uh, Teacher Akemi, why are you looking at me like that?"

Even with that white-haired broom-head's bizarre thought process, he knew Akemi had the best temper at Jujutsu High. For her to glare at him like this, something had definitely happened—and it was no small matter.

"You are half an hour late." Akemi enunciated every word.

"That's all?"

That was right, Satoru Gojo was late again. But he did not understand why Akemi was so angry. When had he ever arrived on time? Except when heading to a battlefield.

"I promised the students you wouldn't be late today, because an important transfer student is coming."

Akemi was furious. What happened to my standing as an elder? My authority? There wasn't much of it left to begin with!

Satoru Gojo realized how serious the situation was. "Sorry, but this time it really wasn't my fault. It was Yuta—he got stubborn again and refused to go to school. I finally cured his fear of transferring schools, so could you all please perk up and welcome the new student!"

Akesato: "ZZZ..."

Maki: "ZZZ..."

Yes, the two were sleeping together, each occupying one of Gardevoir's shoulders.

Playful Panda: "Ora ora ora..."

Panda: "Muda muda muda..."

The two brothers were playing a fist-fighting game. Toge Inumaki held two cartoon panda signs, raising the one belonging to whoever won.

Well, under his brother's careful instruction, Playful Panda had learned other pronunciations.

In short, human or not, not a single one of them gave Satoru Gojo any face.

This should have been the scene Akemi found hardest to tolerate, but after her authority had been swept away, the top student who had graduated from Kyoto Jujutsu High chose to give up and silently stood in a corner.

Satoru Gojo gave up as well, raising his voice toward the door. "Come in."

The main door slid open in response, and a boy under 1.7 meters tall walked in, dressed in a white jacket. From his face to his build, everything about him screamed, I'm timid. I'm easy to bully. Even his self-introduction was delivered in the same timid voice.

Yet this timid boy jolted Maki awake from her nap. She snatched up her weapon and drove it into the blackboard beside him, less than a centimeter from his neck.

At the same time, Panda raised his fist, and Inumaki pulled down the collar covering his mouth. They took up positions on either side of Maki.

Only then had the boy gotten through the first sentence of his introduction. "I'm Yuta Okkotsu. Nice to meet you."

Who could handle something like that right off the bat? Let alone the already timid Yuta Okkotsu—his legs shook so badly that he nearly collapsed onto the floor.

Maki, the fiercest of them all, first shot Satoru Gojo a glare before bluntly asking, "Hey, you're cursed, aren't you? This is a place where we study curses. What's a cursed guy doing here?"

"Classmate Okkotsu probably doesn't even know why he came here himself."

Akesato opened his eyes unhurriedly and affectionately tidied Gardevoir's clothes and hair. Of everyone in the classroom, only the Akesato family had not moved.

"Because Teacher Gojo is lazy. So lazy that he can't even be bothered to explain."

"Bingo! As expected of my Assistant Teacher, you really do understand me." Satoru Gojo's shamelessness was on the same level as his strength. "Then I'll leave the explanation to you. Keep it as brief as possible."

"Got it." Akesato stretched lazily and began explaining amid the other students' customary contempt for Broomhead. "Did you know? In Japan, the annual average number of unnatural deaths and disappearances exceeds ten thousand. Only a small portion are accidents. The vast majority are caused by 'curses,' negative emotions that overflow from the body. There are even vicious incidents caused by Curse Users. Only curses can defeat curses. This is Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School, a place where we learn about curses in order to exorcise them."

Yuta Okkotsu was still reeling and unable to speak, but his expression had already laid his thoughts bare—You could've said that earlier! Isn't this a trap?

"Also, you'd best step back immediately. Maki, put on your glasses. The Cursed Spirit attached to Classmate Okkotsu is no ordinary one."

No sooner had Akesato finished speaking than a furious roar rang out. "Don't bully Yuta!"

In an instant, a pressure like a pitch-black swamp engulfed the entire room. At the center of that swamp were two ghastly pale giant hands. With a casual squeeze, they twisted the Battle Blade embedded in the blackboard into a spiral.

At the same time, Akesato heard a familiar notification: "Pokémon meme detected—"

PS: As usual, please support with follows, reading, monthly votes, and tips.

PS2: Continuing the thanks—to This Side's Biscuit, Midnight's Swamp Mud, Su Xuechen, Moon Accompanying Water, Bandaru, Shining Starwheel, and the other readers for their tips. Thank you very much. Also, a little preview: Brother Bones is making his debut, though we won't be entering the prequel storyline that quickly. There will be two original arcs first—one involving a confidential mission, and the other the interschool exchange event from the previous year. Please look forward to them.