Moving house

Satoru Gojo nodded in satisfaction, waved, and turned to leave.

Not long after he left, hurried footsteps sounded from the end of the hallway.

Itadori came running back with two people behind him.

One was Megumi Fushiguro, his face wrapped in bandages. Apparently, his injuries still hadn't fully healed.

The other was a girl Mashiro was seeing in person for the first time. She had short hair and sharp eyes, wore a baseball jacket over her uniform, and walked with undisguised confidence.

Nobara Kugisaki.

"Mashiro!" Itadori ran up to her and pointed at the two behind him. "This is Fushiguro-you met last night! And this is Kugisaki! She just transferred here yesterday!"

Nobara Kugisaki studied Mashiro.

The silver-haired, red-eyed girl stood quietly in the hallway, reaching roughly her shoulder. She looked like a child sent over by some jujutsu sorcerer family.

"You're that older sister Itadori mentioned? The twelve-year-old?" Kugisaki bent down to look closer, her voice full of undisguised curiosity.

"Yes." Mashiro met her gaze and nodded.

"What's that on your head?"

"A manifestation of my Cursed Technique."

"I see. Still, you're really tiny." Kugisaki straightened and folded her arms. "I heard you're a good fighter? You traded a few blows with Sukuna last night and didn't die?"

"I got lucky."

"Don't be modest," Itadori cut in from beside her. "Mashiro's super strong! She held her own against Sukuna last night, and she can use fire..."

"Yuji," Mashiro called.

Itadori shut his mouth.

Watching this, Kugisaki raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

She looked Mashiro up and down. "Itadori said you're younger than him but still his older sister. I don't really understand how that works."

Mashiro looked at her and said calmly, "His grandfather asked me to look after him, so I'm his older sister."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

Kugisaki turned to Itadori. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen..."

"And you call her your older sister?"

Itadori's expression grew awkward. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He'd already wrestled with this question last night and didn't want to go through it again.

"...We recalculated the family seniority."

"Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Anyway, she's my older sister," Itadori said stubbornly.

Kugisaki shook her head, gave Itadori a look usually reserved for idiots, then turned back to Mashiro. "Whatever. If you're Itadori's older sister, you're one of us. I'm Nobara Kugisaki, a Grade 3 jujutsu sorcerer."

"Kujo Mashiro." She nodded slightly, then added, "Barely Grade 1."

She wasn't lying, either. After fighting Sukuna, the cursed energy inside her had condensed further. That made her halfway to Grade 1, right?

It definitely wasn't because saying Grade 1 sounded cooler than saying Grade 2.

Kugisaki froze mid-sip, and Fushiguro's gaze shifted slightly.

Itadori, meanwhile, looked as though it was only natural. He even nodded.

"...Grade 1?" Kugisaki lowered her water bottle and looked the silver-haired girl, barely over 140 centimeters tall, up and down in utter disbelief.

Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to see-that shocked look on your face!

I'm on the highest high right now! ☆

"How old did you say you were?"

"Twelve." Mashiro looked at Kugisaki, fighting to keep the corners of her mouth down.

"A twelve-year-old Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer?" Kugisaki turned to Fushiguro and pointed at Mashiro. "Fushiguro, she says she's Grade 1."

"She survived several exchanges with Sukuna last night." Fushiguro's voice was flat, his signature dead-fish eyes staring ahead. "Grade 1 sounds about right."

"No, but she's twelve..." Kugisaki stopped halfway through, took another look at Mashiro's face, so calm it was practically expressionless, and finally gave up saying anything else. She slumped against the wall. "Fine. I've already given up thinking so many times today. What's one more?"

"A fifteen-year-old boy calls a twelve-year-old girl his older sister, and the girl's a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer. This school really isn't normal."

"You're a student here too," Fushiguro reminded her.

"That's why I'm saying I'll start being normal tomorrow. Today can stay abnormal."

Itadori couldn't help laughing beside them, but immediately stopped when Kugisaki glared at him.

Nobara Kugisaki was just like she was in the original story: frank, straightforward, and willing to say whatever was on her mind. People like that weren't exhausting to be around.

"By the way, where do you live?" Kugisaki suddenly turned back to Mashiro. "Itadori said you're not staying at Jujutsu High."

"An apartment near Jujutsu High. I'm moving in today."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Don't you get bored? Living in a big place all by yourself?"

Mashiro thought it over and answered seriously, "No. Living alone gives me more freedom. I can sleep whenever I want and go out whenever I want. I don't have to check in with anyone."

Kugisaki tilted her head at her, then nodded without asking anything else.

"Then I'll come over sometime. I'll bring snacks."

"...Sure."

Itadori's eyes lit up beside them. "I'm coming too!"

"Of course you are." Kugisaki gave him a smack. "You're her little brother."

The smack sent Itadori stumbling a step forward, but his smile only grew brighter.

That afternoon, Mashiro left Jujutsu High and went to see the apartment alone.

It was in a newly built residential neighborhood near Jujutsu High, about a fifteen-minute walk from the school.

Sixth floor, two bedrooms and a living room, a separate kitchen and bathroom, and south-facing floor-to-ceiling windows that let in plenty of light. The monthly rent was 140,000 yen, nearly twice what she'd paid in Sendai, but she still had plenty of the money she'd saved from Nanami's commissions.

Besides, Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerers earned substantial commission fees. One job would keep her going for a long time.

It was already evening when the movers delivered the belongings she'd packed in Sendai.

She took less than an hour to get everything in order, putting her clothes in the wardrobe and hanging Murasame on the sword rack in the entryway.

Then she stood in the kitchen, silently facing the brand-new stove and oven for a while.

It was a good kitchen, fully equipped.

The problem now lay with her.

In her previous life, she'd lived in a university dorm and relied entirely on the cafeteria and takeout. She'd barely touched a cooking pot.

After coming to this world, she'd either eaten convenience store food or dined out. The closest she'd ever come to cooking was heating a supermarket boxed meal in the microwave.

She opened the refrigerator. Inside were only two bottles of mineral water, complimentary gifts from the real estate agent.

She sighed and closed the refrigerator.

Mashiro picked up her phone, opened LINE, and messaged Itadori.

"Mashiro": All moved in. I'll send you the address.

The reply came almost instantly.

"Yuji": Great! Kugisaki, Fushiguro, and I will come over tomorrow! Do you need us to bring anything?

Mashiro thought for a moment, then replied.

"Mashiro": Buy ingredients for whatever you want to eat and bring them over.

"Yuji": Huh?

"Mashiro": I can't cook.

"Yuji": What?!

"Yuji": Wait, wait, wait, Mashiro, you can't cook? Then what did you eat every day back in Sendai?

"Mashiro": Convenience store food, or I ate out.

"Yuji": ...No wonder you're so skinny.

"Mashiro": I'm still growing.

"Yuji": Then I'll cook tomorrow and let you try my cooking! I made all the meals at home while Grandpa was in the hospital. I'm not amazing, but I'm definitely better than convenience store food!

Mashiro looked at the screen and pursed her lips.

"Mashiro": Sure. I'll pay for the ingredients. You cook.

"Yuji": Deal! Kugisaki says she wants sukiyaki, so I'll buy beef and vegetables and bring them tomorrow. Oh, Mashiro, do you have a pot?

Mashiro turned to look at the set of stainless steel pots in the kitchen, their packaging film still untouched.

"Mashiro": Yes.

"Yuji": See you tomorrow, then! (•̀ω•́)✧

She went to the entryway, peeled the packaging film off the cookware, and put the pots in the sink one by one to rinse them.

She couldn't cook, but she at least had to wash the pots. She couldn't let them arrive and find everything still brand-new.

A problem suddenly occurred to her. Itadori had said he would make sukiyaki, but she didn't know how to light the gas stove.

She stared at the knobs on the stove for a long time, then tried turning one. Nothing happened. She turned it again. Still nothing.

Mashiro crouched down, opened the cabinet, found the gas valve, and turned it clockwise. Then she stood up and tried again.

Click, click, click-whoosh.

When the flame sprang up, she hopped half a step back, then quickly returned to her expressionless state.

...That was simple enough.

She turned off the flame and wiped the water from her hands. Tomorrow, she'd get up early and go to the supermarket for bowls, chopsticks, and seasonings.

She had pots already, but no bowls or chopsticks.

She picked up her phone and made a list in her notes app.

After finishing, she thought for a moment and added another line at the end:

Strawberries, cake mix, cream.

She couldn't cook, but there still had to be a cake.

As for how to make it, she decided she'd look up a recipe tomorrow morning.

The oven was new. It should work.

If the cake turned out badly, that would be the oven's fault.

About 4,000 more characters tonight.