Aoi Todo

"Everyone, I'm Takada-chan. Thank you so much for coming to my handshake event. Thank you, truly!"

At the Yodobashi Akiba Shopping Complex in Akihabara, a girl with black twin-tails and an idol performance outfit stepped onto the stage amid the cheers of the host and fans of every shape and size below.

In stark contrast to her sweet, energetic appearance, she stood 1.8 meters tall and had curves in all the right places. In Japan, girls that tall were a rare sight.

She could easily have been walking a runway, but the girl known as Takada-chan had chosen the idol route instead. With her sweet, energetic looks and striking height, she had become one of the hottest national idols of the moment.

Lin Yi mingled among Takada-chan's fans. Watching her sing and dance onstage, he put on an act and waved and cheered along with the rest of them.

His reason for attending this handshake event was simple. She was a national-level idol—after the Shibuya Incident, she might end up as some cursed spirit's meal. After all, the day of the Shibuya Incident was Halloween. An idol of her stature might very well be arranged by her agency to hold an offline meet-and-greet in Shibuya.

If he got a signed photo from her handshake event now, he might be able to sell it for a high price after the Shibuya Incident.

As for tickets and such, they were no issue for Lin Yi. With his jujutsu sorcerer form and the technique effect that allowed him to construct objects through cursed energy, getting in was easy.

The opportunistic businessman Lin Yi blended in with the genuine fans below the stage, watching the national idol known as Takada-chan sing and dance for another two and a half hours. He couldn't help marveling at how fiercely competitive Japan's idol industry was.

Even national idols had to sing and dance nonstop for two and a half hours without so much as catching their breath. If it were those people back in his home country who had dropped out of cultural studies, heh, they'd die of exhaustion before managing it.

He stayed there for nearly three hours before the in-person handshake and autograph session finally began.

Thanks to his tall, sturdy build, Lin Yi had gotten near the front of the line early. All he needed was to get his signed photo and commemorative picture, then he could go home and sleep.

At that moment, Lin Yi heard a commotion from the back of the line, but paid it no mind. Not until it drew closer and closer, and a shadow overlapped his beneath the lights.

"Hey. I'm asking you—what kind of woman do you like?"

Lin Yi turned at the voice. Damn, this guy was half a head taller than him.

Broad and powerfully built, with a high ponytail and a scar running from his left forehead through his left eye and down his face—those were unmistakable features. Lin Yi could not possibly mistake him for anyone else. He was a second-year student at Kyoto Jujutsu High in Osaka: Aoi Todo.

His technique was called Boogie Woogie, a simple and brutal technique. By clapping his hands, he could swap the positions of two targets possessing cursed energy, whether living or nonliving. The timing and targets of the technique were entirely up to Aoi Todo, and it ignored any difference in cursed energy between the two sides.

"You're talking to me?" Lin Yi looked around. When he realized Aoi Todo's gaze was fixed on him, he still couldn't figure out what the other man wanted.

"Yes. Answer me. What kind of woman do you like?"

Aoi Todo stared at Lin Yi with a scrutinizing look, as though one wrong answer would make him throw Lin Yi out of the venue by force.

Lin Yi looked at the surrounding stares again. Ah, now he got it. So it was because he didn't look like a Takada-chan fan at all. No wonder Aoi Todo had singled him out.

"Hmm, what kind of woman do I like? If I said I like any beautiful woman, would that answer satisfy you?"

"NO! I need a more precise answer. A type. What type of beautiful woman?" Aoi Todo corrected him with utmost seriousness.

"Ha, you've come to the right person. First, she has to have a good figure. You know, she needs to have this and this. Next is height. Too short won't do—it feels like hugging a child. So 1.6 to 1.75 meters is my sweet spot. 1.8 meters is acceptable too, as long as she isn't wearing excessively high heels."

Asked about his preferences, Lin Yi answered without hesitation. As Aoi Todo listened to his detailed description, the scrutinizing expression on his face gradually turned into the delight of finding a kindred spirit.

Especially when Lin Yi gestured as he explained what sort of figure and weight suited girls in every height range, an nonexistent memory had already surfaced in Aoi Todo's mind.

"Listen up, Todo. As men, we must find women who are the best match for us."

"What kind of woman is the best match? Naturally, a woman who's tall, has a great figure, and is beautiful!"

When former delinquent boss Lin Ichiro, about to graduate high school, entrusted his empire to his underling Aoi Todo, this was what he said.

PS: All of the above came from a little scene that existed only in Aoi Todo's mind.

"Big bro!"

"Huh?"

That night, at an izakaya somewhere in Shinjuku Ward.

"Cheers!"

Their glasses clinked together. Lin Yi drained his drink in one go, looking thoroughly refreshed.

"I never imagined your life in Shinjuku Ward would be so exciting, Big Bro. I'm so jealous!"

"Exciting, huh? Todo, once you start working, Big Bro will make you into an outstanding City Hunter too!"

Inside the izakaya, Lin Yi and Aoi Todo sat facing each other. After Lin Yi had revealed his preferences, Aoi Todo had already recognized him as his big brother through the nonexistent little scene in his mind.

Lin Yi had also accepted Aoi Todo as his little brother. After Takada-chan's handshake event ended, Lin Yi brought Aoi Todo to the izakaya and treated him to a lavish meal.

Although the law here prohibited anyone under twenty from buying or drinking alcohol, Aoi Todo's face and height made the owner and staff skip the ID check altogether.

So long as it had nothing to do with Jujutsu Society matters, Lin Yi was more than happy to make a little brother out of Aoi Todo.

Come on, friendship between men was that simple and direct. As long as two people had something in common to talk about, they could quickly become friends who talked about anything and everything.

He had no need to directly ask Aoi Todo why he had come to Tokyo. Once they exchanged contact information, he could simply meet up with Todo the next time he came to Tokyo and use what he knew about the main plot of Jujutsu Kaisen to determine how far things had progressed.

The two chatted in the izakaya until late into the night. Glass after glass of alcohol was refilled, and plate after plate of snacks arrived.

It had to be said, eating at an izakaya really wasn't cheap.

When Lin Yi paid the bill and saw four zeroes after a number greater than five, he sobered up instantly.

They hadn't even eaten their fill, yet he had already spent nearly a thousand. Still, getting to know Aoi Todo as a little brother meant it wasn't a loss.

After all that, the two left the izakaya. Lin Yi warmly slung an arm around Aoi Todo's shoulders and invited him to stay the night at his office before leaving.

He had already spent so much money anyway, so one more night hardly mattered.

As they chatted on the street about which current actress better fit their respective preferences, Aoi Todo suddenly sensed something and sharply turned his head toward a certain spot.

Though Lin Yi was still in his disguised form, his intuition—which could likewise sense cursed energy and cursed spirits—made him perform the same action as Aoi Todo.

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