The First Day of Teaching

When Utahime Iori jolted awake from her sleep, it was already seven o'clock. Realizing she seemed to have overslept, she hurriedly got up and washed up, recalling what had happened yesterday. When she remembered last night's dream, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Don't misunderstand—there had been nothing strange in the dream. It had merely been a scene of her showing off her newfound offensive abilities in front of a certain junior.

Thinking about it now that she was awake, the dream version of herself had really been childish.

Muttering to herself internally, she tied the sash of her shrine maiden outfit, picked up the teaching materials and books she had prepared beside her, then hurried downstairs. After saying goodbye to the elderly woman who managed the dormitory, she jogged toward the training ground.

Just as she reached the entrance of the training ground, she heard a distant call.

"Senior~ I'm over here~"

Not far away, beneath the morning sun, a certain junior stood quietly. When he saw her look over, he waved at her.

Perhaps because of the sunlight, from her perspective, Toho Tetsu seemed to be glowing all over, making it almost hard not to lose herself in the sight.

The next second, she hurriedly shook her head, scattering those strange thoughts, and cursed herself internally for letting her imagination run wild again.

Although this junior was indeed somewhat handsome, and after a night of rest and washing up, his formerly dust-covered face had become much cleaner.

His previously tattered clothes had also been replaced with a fitted Jujutsu High uniform, outlining a physique that was neither skinny nor overly bulky, but just right.

But that was no reason for her to think nonsense! This was a junior who trusted and admired her, someone who would become her underclassman in the future! She had to set a good example!

Meanwhile, Toho Tetsu, standing not far away, was a little confused.

Utahime had suddenly frozen after seeing him, then started patting her own cheeks. Had she not woken up properly yet?

Was eight o'clock really too early after all? Should he move it to nine later?

"Senior, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just slept a little too deeply last night. But you came pretty early, didn't you? It's not even seven-thirty yet, and you're already here."

As Utahime changed the subject, she looked at him curiously.

"I thought you'd be a little late."

Toho Tetsu could only smile helplessly at that.

Perhaps because he had developed an unusually stubborn body clock before being transported here, he inevitably woke up at seven every morning, and that habit had remained the same in this world.

Or perhaps he had already rested enough before, so he had gotten up early. He had even run a few laps around the dormitory buildings before coming here.

Although some mysterious music had seemed to play in his ears the entire time he was running, he had not felt any discomfort. Afterward, he checked himself in the dormitory mirror, and his lips had not turned purple, so there was no need to worry too much.

With that in mind, he took out a wrapped sandwich from beside him and handed it to Utahime.

"Senior, have you had breakfast? I picked one up for you while I was at the cafeteria."

Looking at the sandwich her junior offered, she was about to say she was not hungry when her stomach let out a faint but quite noticeable growl in the quiet morning air.

Embarrassed, she turned her head away, a light blush creeping up her neck.

Seeing her like this, Toho Tetsu did not kick her while she was down. Instead, he spoke with deliberate regret.

"If you won't eat it, Senior, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to throw it in the trash."

"Wasting food isn't acceptable."

Realizing he was deliberately giving her an out, Utahime was a little touched despite herself. Still, she accepted the sandwich and began eating with a rather haughty expression, shooting him a glare as she did.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because of this, okay? I'm very strict when I teach!"

"Understood, Senior."

Thus, the morning passed as Toho Tetsu watched Utahime eat and chatted with her. Naturally, they talked mostly about things like her impressions of the dormitory after spending the night there.

It was clear that Utahime at this age was quite talkative and had plenty to say. However, once the official morning lessons began, she immediately became as serious and stern as she had claimed.

"So, the essence of cursed energy is..."

The morning was reserved for preliminary common-sense instruction, the first lesson Utahime was going to teach him.

Normally, this lesson should have been held in one of the school's classrooms. However, since it was currently vacation period and he was not an official student, they held it directly at the training ground.

Besides, Toho Tetsu felt that the outdoor air was more conducive to memorizing this sort of thing.

Much of it was knowledge he already possessed, but there were also some obscure things he was hearing for the first time. So, he listened while committing everything to memory.

And after this lesson, there were finally some things he could begin discussing with Utahime.

"I didn't expect your memory to be so good. You remembered all those basics after hearing them once?"

After a round of questions and answers, Utahime looked at him in surprise. The common knowledge of the jujutsu world was not particularly difficult to remember, but there was quite a lot of it. Memorizing it all should have taken some time.

Yet immediately after she finished explaining, Toho Tetsu had claimed that he had remembered everything.

That displeased her somewhat, and she assumed this junior was brushing her off. So, she asked several difficult questions on the spot, only for him to answer every single one.

For Toho Tetsu, who had endured the bombardment of endless practice questions in his previous life, this was nothing. Moreover, he had already researched many of these things while studying the setting in his past life, so remembering them now was no difficult task.

"Maybe I'm just talented in this area. But now that we've learned the basics, should we move on to practical training?"

Utahime thought for a moment.

Originally, she had believed that common knowledge alone would take a day or two to teach. She had not expected him to memorize things so quickly. In that case, she really could adjust the lesson plan and move on to practical training.

Still, there was one thing she was very curious about: did Toho Tetsu possess an innate technique? If he did, what effect would it have?

Of course, that was not something to consider right now. First, she needed to make sure this junior could skillfully control the flow of cursed energy.

With that thought, she nodded.

"That works too, but I need to remind you of something. Controlling cursed energy is not as simple as you imagine.

"The way you used cursed energy at the subway station that day was far too wasteful. If your total amount of cursed energy had not been so large, that method would have drained it completely in just a few seconds."

Seeing her serious expression, Toho Tetsu straightened up as well.

"Then what should I do, Senior?"

After thinking briefly, Utahime gave him some guidance.

"First, you need precise control. Now, recall the feeling of cursed energy flowing through your body and gather it in your hand."

He nodded and began recalling that sensation. Very quickly, a mass of dark-blue cursed energy appeared in his hand like a flame, its edges sharp and its form stable.