All Four First-Years Were Here

Lin Ran and Fushiguro Megumi stood by the roadside while Yuji queued alone at the shop. More than ten minutes later, he came out with three plain vanilla soft-serve cones.

"Make do with these. The other flavors were pretty expensive." After handing two ice creams to them, Yuji Itadori smiled awkwardly. He had actually wanted matcha, but it turned out to be ridiculously pricey.

"These are good. They taste great." Lin Ran praised them. For students their age, spare money really was scarce. Plain vanilla was good enough.

"By the way, who's the other person? I was already surprised when Lin Ran joined. There's another one too?" Yuji asked as he ate his ice cream.

"Enrollment was decided a long time ago. Lin Ran and you are exceptions, of course. It's a rather unusual school, so there must be some reason behind it," Fushiguro Megumi said flatly. At that moment, he saw Satoru Gojo walking toward them.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Oh? You're all wearing your custom uniforms already?" Satoru Gojo greeted them. That morning, he had only told them to get up and had not known that they had changed into their school uniforms as well.

"Yeah, just in time. But why are mine and Fushiguro's uniforms different from Lin Ran's? And what's with the hood?" Yuji touched the red hood at his collar.

"As long as you make a request, the uniforms can be altered for you," Satoru Gojo explained.

"Huh? But I never asked for that," Yuji said, puzzled.

"I had them alter it on my own initiative," Satoru Gojo said with a smile.

"I see..." Yuji still did not quite understand why Teacher Gojo had changed his uniform like that.

"You should be careful. This is one of Teacher Gojo's old habits," Fushiguro quietly told Yuji.

"Then can my uniform be altered too?" Lin Ran noticed that his outfit was the same as Fushiguro's—or rather, basically the same as everyone else's.

"Oh?" Satoru Gojo looked at Lin Ran. "You want to alter your uniform? Sure. What do you want it changed into?"

Naturally, he would accommodate any request Lin Ran made.

"Uh... add a black cape? Hahaha, just kidding. Just give me a hood like Yuji Itadori's, except I want it dark blue. Is that okay?" Lin Ran laughed. He did not know how to alter his uniform to make it look good, but Yuji's looked pretty nice.

"Of course. It'll be ready in a few days." Satoru Gojo waved a hand. It was a small matter. "Now then, let's walk over there."

The four of them headed down the bustling street, surrounded by food stalls, dessert shops, clothing stores, and luxury watch boutiques.

Yuji Itadori spent the last of the money in his pocket on popcorn and a pair of strange glasses.

Lin Ran had already spotted Nobara Kugisaki and instinctively moved behind Yuji Itadori. But Yuji was shorter than Lin Ran, so even standing behind him left half of Lin Ran's head exposed.

"Hey, over here! Over here!" Satoru Gojo spotted Nobara Kugisaki as well and called out with one hand cupped around his mouth like a megaphone.

"Huh, well isn't this something? What's with the blindfolded guy?" Nobara Kugisaki saw the group by Satoru Gojo and walked over.

Only when she got close did she notice someone shrinking timidly behind the others.

Lin Ran realized he could not hide anymore, so he stepped out openly and greeted Nobara Kugisaki. "Long time no see!"

"Huh?... Huh?!" Nobara Kugisaki's eyes widened as she pointed at Lin Ran. "Lin Ran, why are you here?"

"Oh my, so you two know each other? That's great." Satoru Gojo had not expected Lin Ran to know the newly arrived Nobara Kugisaki. What a pleasant surprise.

"Yes, we were neighbors for a short while. She almost beat me up before." Lin Ran smiled awkwardly.

Nobara Kugisaki walked up to Lin Ran, raised her head, and stared into his eyes. "So then, how exactly did you end up here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lin Ran spread his hands. The answer was right in front of her.

"No, I mean, someone like you can join Jujutsu High? Do you even have cursed energy?" Nobara Kugisaki truly could not understand it. Lin Ran had somehow joined Jujutsu High too. There were only a handful of people who could use cursed techniques these days—how could she run into one just by having him as a neighbor?

Still, Nobara Kugisaki remembered that Lin Ran had dodged the punch she threw at him. That only proved his reflexes were better than average; he did not show any signs of possessing cursed energy.

"Lin Ran really does have cursed energy. It's even taken physical form," Yuji Itadori said in Lin Ran's defense, though he did not know exactly what kind of relationship Lin Ran and Nobara Kugisaki had.

"Don't blab." Satoru Gojo patted Yuji Itadori on the head, then looked at everyone. "Now that we're all here, let's go. You can chat on the way."

Satoru Gojo did not want everyone to know about Lin Ran's abilities. Even if they were all on the same side, there was no need to bring it up the moment they met.

Satoru Gojo led the way, and the others quickly followed. Only then did Yuji Itadori step up to Nobara Kugisaki and introduce himself. "I'm Yuji Itadori, from Sendai."

"I'm Fushiguro Megumi," Fushiguro Megumi said simply.

Nobara Kugisaki's gaze landed on Yuji Itadori's face. He looked so country. As a kid, he probably ate his own boogers.

And this Fushiguro Megumi... just hearing that name, I can tell I won't like him. I hate self-important men. He's definitely the kind of guy who'd set fire to a seagull soaked in oil.

And finally...

Lin Ran has such a punchable face. Honestly, she still could not stop thinking about why that punch had missed him.

And why had she run into him even after writing "don't miss me"? Anyone who did not know better would think he was a stalker.

"What a mess I've gotten myself into..." Nobara Kugisaki looked utterly defeated. Just seeing these people drained all her energy.

"Why are you sighing at someone's face?" Yuji Itadori felt like he was being looked down on.

Lin Ran did not mind. He knew what Nobara Kugisaki's personality was like—she wore everything on her face and spoke with blunt honesty.

"Teacher, where are we going?" Fushiguro Megumi asked.

"It's rare for all four first-years to be together. Heh heh. And three of you just arrived in Tokyo, so of course we're going sightseeing in Tokyo." Satoru Gojo's words immediately got Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki excited.

The two seemed like entirely different people as they shouted excitedly, "Tokyo~ Tokyo~ Tokyo~ We love Tokyo!"

"TDL! I want to go to TDL!" Nobara Kugisaki said, waving her arms around.

"Idiot, TDL is in Chiba! Let's go to Chinatown instead!" Yuji Itadori rolled his eyes at Nobara Kugisaki.

"Chinatown is in Yokohama, okay?" Nobara Kugisaki gritted her teeth and glared at Yuji.

"Yokohama is practically Tokyo! Don't you know that? Look at a map!" Yuji retorted without backing down.

Lin Ran and Fushiguro Megumi watched the scene before them with relative calm. At that moment, Fushiguro Megumi realized that compared to those two, Lin Ran was actually normal.