First Meeting with Two Upperclassmen

Before long, the morning passed in training.

During that time, Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru's bickering never let up, and several times, they nearly dragged Toho Tetsu into it.

Overall, though, the morning was fairly peaceful.

"Ah, I'm starving to death. Let's hurry up and eat. Whatever else Jujutsu High has going for it, the cafeteria food is at least really good."

Gojo Satoru took off his uniform jacket and casually slung it over his shoulder as he headed out of the training ground.

After a whole morning of training and intense concentration, his stomach had long since started rumbling faintly. At first, it had drawn strange looks from the other three, leaving him somewhat embarrassed.

But he recovered quickly and soon stopped caring much about it.

Geto Suguru, meanwhile, was rather curious.

"You're the heir of the Gojo Clan. What delicacies haven't you eaten? You actually like cafeteria food?"

Toho Tetsu could understand how Gojo Satoru felt.

"The Gojo Clan's food can't possibly taste bad. What's missing is probably that particular atmosphere and feeling, right?"

Gojo Satoru paused at that, gave him a look that said, You get me, then spoke lazily.

"That's exactly it. Whenever we eat at the Gojo Clan estate, everyone sits perfectly straight. Hardly anyone even talks. They don't restrict me, but I still find it boring."

Geto Suguru and Shoko Ieiri both gave him odd looks, but Toho Tetsu understood. Gojo Satoru had always been free-spirited and unruly, so it was only natural that he disliked that sort of environment.

"If that's the case, we'd better hurry. There aren't many staff or students at Jujutsu High right now, so they don't prepare much food. If we get there late, there won't be anything left."

At his suggestion, Gojo Satoru nodded and quickened his pace slightly.

But they had not gone far when two figures suddenly appeared on the road ahead. When they saw the group, they stopped as well, their voices carrying a hint of surprise.

"Eh, Toho?"

Toho Tetsu stared at the pair for a moment, then smiled and greeted them.

"Senpai, Mei Mei-senpai, you're back from your mission?"

That was right. The two who had run into the group of four were Utahime Iori and Mei Mei, who had previously gone on a joint mission together.

They seemed to have only just returned. Although they appeared to have changed clothes, they still looked travel-worn.

Seeing how naturally and familiarly he greeted them, the other three exchanged curious glances.

However, Shoko Ieiri soon fixed her gaze on Utahime, who was wearing a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit, a thoughtful look appearing in her eyes.

"Yeah. This mission lasted so long, and the environment over there was absolutely terrible. I never want to go back there again."

Utahime Iori, whom he had not seen in some time, walked lightly over to him. At the same time, her eyes swept over him several times, checking whether he had suffered any serious injuries this time.

"Oh, right. I heard about your first mission. You actually faced a quasi-special-grade cursed spirit and defeated it?!"

Mei Mei also walked over and examined him. After confirming that he had no obvious injuries, she nodded.

"On our way back, quite a few Sorcerers asked us about it. They all knew that four first-year students from Jujutsu High had completed a quasi-special-grade mission. You really became famous this time."

Faced with the two women's concern and questions, expressed in their different ways, Toho Tetsu remained modest.

"We only completed the mission because everyone worked together. Oh, you haven't met them yet, have you? Let me introduce you."

Only then did the two women look at the three people beside Toho Tetsu.

When she saw a vaguely familiar figure, Utahime's body stiffened, and her expression became strange and complicated.

Mei Mei, meanwhile, studied all three of them with a contemplative expression.

"There's no need for introductions. The Gojo Clan heir—Gojo Satoru; the user of Cursed Spirit Manipulation—Geto Suguru; and Shoko Ieiri, the rare healer in Jujutsu Society capable of projecting Reverse Cursed Technique. We've heard about all of you."

Utahime snapped back to her senses and nodded.

"Yeah. Your information spread through half of Jujutsu Society after that mission. There's no need to introduce yourselves."

Toho Tetsu found her serious manner rather amusing, but before he could say anything, Gojo Satoru, who had been staring at Utahime for quite a while, suddenly smacked his fist into his palm and looked enlightened.

"Ah, you're that weak person Toho met when he was training Curtain at the training ground that day."

"Huh?!"

Utahime Iori instantly exploded. She did not even care that the white-haired brat in front of her was the Gojo Clan heir, immediately pointing at him and shouting.

"Y-You little brat, how can you talk like that?! I'm your upperclassman!"

Her words made perfect sense, but Gojo Satoru merely shoved his hands into his pockets, turned his head away, and pretended to whistle.

Seeing that infuriating expression, Utahime grew even angrier.

Geto Suguru inwardly cursed, realizing things were going badly. He hurriedly stepped in front of Gojo Satoru and spoke with some apology.

"Sorry, um... senpai. Gojo is just that kind of person. Could you not take it too personally?"

Although he used the term senpai, his attitude was more one of trying to settle things down, hoping the two would stop arguing.

Because in his eyes, Utahime was overreacting a little.

Though he was not yet the kind of person who casually teased Utahime as he would later, he still believed that Utahime was not particularly strong. Someone like that having such intense pride was not a good thing.

And Utahime noticed the faint emotion underlying his attitude.

So, although this junior had called her senpai, she was still displeased. Yet since he had put it that way, she could not keep pressing the matter, or she would be the one seeming unreasonable.

Thus, she only snorted and turned her gaze aside. But when she saw Shoko, she froze for a moment before immediately walking over.

The sudden decrease in distance made Shoko uncomfortable, and she took several steps back.

"Um... senpai, is something wrong?"

"Eh? You don't remember me?"

Seeing that Shoko had not recognized her, Utahime looked a little disappointed. After thinking carefully, Shoko also hesitated. Utahime did look familiar, but she simply could not remember where they had met.

"I seem to remember you a little, but I can't recall."

"About a year ago. Didn't you come to Jujutsu High once back then? You helped treat several injured people, and I was one of them."

Hearing Utahime's words and taking another careful look at her face, Shoko Ieiri searched through her memories and finally recalled that something like that had indeed happened.

She had come here once a year ago.

Although she had not yet been an official Jujutsu High student at the time, her unusual ability meant that Jujutsu Society's higher-ups often arranged for her to treat patients with severe or unusual injuries.

During one treatment, there really had been an upperclassman in shrine maiden clothing.

Though Utahime had been badly injured herself, she had still insisted that Shoko treat another severely injured Sorcerer first. She had even thoughtfully handed Shoko the medical supplies she needed.

And when Shoko treated her, although she was in great pain and nearly cried, she still grit her teeth and endured it.

She was afraid of pain, yet strong, and she had an exceptionally kind heart.

Shoko had seen no fewer than fifty, if not a hundred, injured and dead Sorcerers over the years. If she clearly remembered every single person's story, those emotions would crush her sooner or later.

That was why Utahime had been a comparatively special presence to her, and why Shoko had vaguely remembered her.

"Eh, I didn't expect to meet again here."

When it came to complete strangers, Shoko's usual principle was to keep her distance. But faced with someone with whom she shared a bit of history, she could not bring herself to drive the other person away.

Once Utahime realized Shoko had remembered who she was, she visibly brightened.

"Yeah, yeah. You really helped me out back then. Let me tell you..."

Toho Tetsu's eyes flickered as he watched the two girls chatting.

He had known from the beginning that Shoko and Utahime would become good friends in the future, but he had not expected them to share such a past.

He did not know whether the world had changed because of his transmigration, or whether this had always happened in the original world but had simply never been mentioned.

Still, it seemed like a good thing. Utahime had just hit a wall with Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru, so having someone genuinely acknowledge her was nice.

With that thought, he turned his gaze to the side.

Mei Mei was standing beside him, looking over at Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru as they chatted idly. Then she shook her head almost imperceptibly.

She had actually been rather curious about what the Gojo Clan's genius and the user of Cursed Spirit Manipulation were like.

Of course, she had not been thinking of partnering with either of them.

Or rather, she had entertained that idea long ago, but after confirming that Toho Tetsu would become her partner, she had stopped considering it.

Now that she had met them, these two juniors were certainly capable, but they did not match what she wanted in a partner.

There was no need to mention Gojo Satoru. He was powerful, but his personality looked troublesome, and he probably had plenty of complications too.

Geto Suguru was friendly enough, but he seemed burdened with heavy thoughts. He did not look like the sort who would easily trust others.

More importantly, neither of them seemed to get along very well with Utahime.

Thinking it over, that someone really was the most suitable after all.

As she thought that, she looked toward the person beside her. The instant she noticed that their eyes had met, she slightly turned her gaze away, leaving Toho Tetsu confused.

Elsewhere, after chatting with Shoko for a while, Utahime finally realized that it was getting late. She checked her phone, then hurriedly suggested,

"Ah, I didn't realize it was already this late. Since today is your day off, why don't we all go out and have a nice meal together?"

Shoko hesitated somewhat at the suggestion, but Gojo Satoru, who had just been too lazy to pay Utahime any attention, unexpectedly voiced his agreement with interest.

"That works. I haven't really eaten out much. The cafeteria food is good, but going out for a change would be fine too, right?"

Geto Suguru nodded as well.

"That's a good suggestion. We can also walk around Tokyo this afternoon and buy whatever we need, then come straight back in the evening. That way, we won't have to go out again tomorrow."

Toho Tetsu also agreed.

"It really is a good idea. Let's get going."

Naturally, he agreed because he wanted to use this opportunity to bring everyone closer together.

There were only so many people he knew at Jujutsu High. It would not be good if their relationships were too hostile; perhaps he could find a way to ease the tension.

Seeing that no one objected, Shoko had nothing more to say. Thus, the group that had just been heading for the cafeteria changed direction and walked out of the school together, preparing for their first outing as a group.