That evening, Mashiro was curled up on the sofa scrolling through her phone when the doorbell rang.
She stood up, walked to the entryway, and opened the door.
Itadori stood outside, carrying several large plastic bags in each hand. They were stuffed with ingredients, with half a head of napa cabbage even poking out of one bag.
Kugisaki stood behind him, carrying a bag of oranges and a carton of milk.
That much food? Can we finish it all?
Mashiro stared at the bags and blinked.
"What are you standing in the doorway for?" Kugisaki glanced inside over Mashiro's shoulder. "All moved in? That was pretty quick."
"The movers brought everything over. It didn't take long." Mashiro stepped aside. "Come in."
Itadori took off his shoes and headed straight for the kitchen with the groceries, looking around as he went. "Mashiro, your place is huge!"
"It costs twice as much as the one in Sendai."
"It's worth it, though. You have a separate kitchen and a balcony." He set the bags on the counter and started unpacking. "Where's the pot? Sukiyaki needs a shallow one. You have one, right?"
"I bought all kinds of pots. They're in the cupboard."
Itadori opened the cupboard and found the brand-new stainless steel cookware set. The packaging film had already been removed, and there were traces of rinse water on the bottoms.
He picked one up and looked it over. "Did you use these yesterday?"
Mashiro opened her mouth, then decided to tell the truth. "They're brand-new. I washed them all."
Itadori nodded without asking anything else, set the pot on the stove, and turned the gas knob.
Click, click, click-whoosh.
Blue flames sprang up, and Itadori nodded in satisfaction. "Nice, strong flame. New stuff really is better. Mashiro, could you get me a bowl? I'll mix the broth first."
Mashiro took a few bowls out of the cabinet and set them on the counter. She had bought them that morning, along with a full set of kitchen supplies.
Itadori picked up the kitchen knife and tested it. "This is a nice knife."
"I bought an expensive one."
"Smart choice."
Kugisaki had already made a circuit of the apartment. Two bedrooms and a living room-it was much bigger than Mashiro's old place in Sendai.
The living room had pale wooden flooring, and beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows was a large balcony with an empty drying rack. There wasn't much furniture: a large dining table, a sofa that looked downright luxurious, and a matching coffee table.
"Your living room is way too empty." Kugisaki sat on the sofa and immediately sank into its softness, letting out a comfortable little sigh. "There's nothing but a table and a sofa."
"I just moved in. I haven't had time to buy anything."
"What about a TV?"
"I don't watch it."
"Then what do guests do when they come over?"
"Eat."
Kugisaki was momentarily stumped, then laughed. "Fair enough. You certainly sound confident."
Fushiguro arrived last. When Mashiro opened the door, she found him carrying a bag of apples and a box of pastries.
"Sorry to intrude."
Mashiro glanced at the apples and pastries. "You didn't have to bring anything."
"I didn't feel right coming empty-handed."
Mashiro said nothing more and stepped aside to let him in.
Fushiguro changed into slippers, set the apples on a shelf, then sat down by the coffee table and quietly poured himself a glass of water.
"Fushiguro, come sit on the sofa too. It's so comfortable." Kugisaki had already closed her eyes to enjoy it.
"You're being way too rude..."
Mashiro returned to the kitchen. The sukiyaki broth was bubbling in the pot, and Itadori stood at the stove, stirring along the bottom with chopsticks to keep it from sticking.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Well, could you prep the ingredients for me, Mashiro?"
Sure.
She picked up the kitchen knife and hefted it to get a feel for it, then nodded.
The knife came down in quick, light strokes.
Her fingers stayed firmly curled, her cuts were precise, and the cut surfaces were clean. Before long, all the ingredients were ready: evenly sized sections of green onion, neat squares of tofu, and tidy piles of shirataki noodles.
Pretty easy. Not much different from cutting up cursed spirits with Murasame. I can do it if I try.
Mashiro nodded proudly.
"With knife skills like that, you could work in a restaurant." Kugisaki leaned against the kitchen doorway, munching on a bag of chips she had produced from somewhere.
"I can cut things, not cook them." Mashiro swept the chopped green onions into a bowl.
"Chopping takes knife skills. Cooking takes experience." Itadori took the bowl and tipped the onions into the pot. "Experience is what you're missing, Mashiro."
"Can't be bothered to learn."
"Then I'll cook more often." Itadori answered without thinking, then scratched his head, feeling that something had come out wrong. "Wait, I meant I'd come help..."
"Oh, then I'll leave it to you." Mashiro accepted a chip Kugisaki fed her and spoke around it. "I'll pay you."
Itadori froze.
Kugisaki walked past him to get a drink and murmured, "Got yourself a sugar mama."
"No! I just meant I'd come help cook every day!"
"You should stop talking. The more you explain, the stranger it sounds," Fushiguro said from the living room sofa. In the end, it had captured him too.
As expected of a fancy 150,000-yen sofa. It can even win over Fushiguro.
Before long, the doorbell rang again.
After finishing the chopping, Mashiro had tried to help with something else and nearly caused a problem. The two of them had chased her out of the kitchen, so she went to answer the door.
Satoru Gojo stood outside with a convenience store bag in his hand. Three two-liter bottles of oolong tea and some snacks poked out of the top.
He was dressed casually that day, in a dark gray hoodie with the hood still up and his favorite sunglasses.
Satoru Gojo tilted his head. "I'm not late, am I?"
"You timed that pretty precisely."
"That's called time management." Satoru Gojo handed her the bag. "Drinks, just like you asked."
"What kind of drinks are these? Couldn't you buy something else?"
Mashiro took the bag with a look of distaste and stepped aside to let him in.
"Huh?" He blinked. "Isn't this what people usually drink with meals?"
"I don't like it. It's bitter."
"Then have some pudding. That's sweet." Satoru Gojo shrugged and walked into the living room. His gaze swept around before settling on the kitchen.
Itadori had his back to the living room as he tended the stove, with plates of ingredients already laid out beside him.
"Itadori's already hard at work." Satoru Gojo sat casually on the sofa. "Guess all I have to do is wait to eat."
"You're not doing anything, sir?" Kugisaki poked her head out of the kitchen.
"I brought drinks," Satoru Gojo said without a trace of shame.
"But Mashiro doesn't like them, does she?"
"Never mind that."
Mashiro put the oolong tea in the fridge. As she returned to the living room, Itadori called from the kitchen, "Mashiro, is something baking in the oven?"
Mashiro's expression didn't change. "Yeah. A cake."
Everyone turned to look at her.
Kugisaki was the first to stand up and go into the kitchen. She opened the oven door and looked inside.
There was a small cake, probably enough for one or two pieces each.
It looked reasonably intact, with a few fine cracks on top. Judging by the color, it seemed edible.
Kugisaki blinked and asked hesitantly, "What's this cake for?"
Mashiro fell silent for a second. "A test batch. To see if the oven was broken."
Kugisaki had no response. She closed the oven door.
Itadori poured the sauce he had mixed into the pot. It sizzled the instant it met the beef, sending up steam as the aroma spread.
He picked up a spatula and turned the beef slices. "It's ready to eat!"
Five minutes later, everyone was seated around the dining table.
The sukiyaki bubbled and steamed on the table. The napa cabbage had cooked until tender, and the beef slices melted in the mouth after a dip in raw egg. Just looking at it whetted their appetites.
Satoru Gojo was the first to pick up his chopsticks. He quickly grabbed a slice of beef, dipped it in the egg, and popped it into his mouth.
"Not bad."
"Pretty good, right?" Itadori grinned.
"Barely a pass."
"Could you stop sneaking extra slices while you say that?"
Watching her teacher's astonishingly quick hands, Kugisaki hurriedly pulled Megumi Fushiguro into the meal.
Once Mashiro took her first bite, she didn't stop.
Itadori really was a good cook. The beef was tender rather than tough, the broth had just the right balance of sweet and salty, and the tofu had soaked up the flavor.
She could put away three big bowls.
As she ate, Kugisaki asked Mashiro, "By the way, what are your plans now?"
"Plans?"
"Now that you've settled in, what's next? You're a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, so Jujutsu High will be assigning you missions, right?"
"Yeah. I have a mission tomorrow. I'm partnering with Nanami."
"Which Nanami?" Kugisaki paused. "Kento Nanami?"
"You know him?"
"I heard about him recently. Apparently he studied at Jujutsu High, then quit to become an office worker before coming back." Kugisaki rested her chin on her hand. "Have you worked with him before?"
"Once, in Tokyo."
"How was he?"
"Reliable."
Kugisaki nodded and went back to eating.
Satoru Gojo finally found a moment when his mouth wasn't full and chimed in, "Nanami really is reliable. You don't have to worry about anything else when you're working with him."
"You're just too lazy to worry every time."
"Ahaha, you know me so well, Mashiro."
"Shut up and eat."
The heat under the sukiyaki weakened, and half the broth in the pot had boiled away.
Itadori added some broth he had prepared earlier, dropped in the udon, and loosened the noodles with his chopsticks so they could soak up the liquid.
Once the udon was nearly cooked, he spread all the remaining beef slices over it.
"You bought too much." Kugisaki looked at the little mountain of beef in the pot.
"Gojo told me to buy extra."
"And you bought it just because he told you to?"
"It's fine. Someone will eat it." Itadori pointed at Megumi Fushiguro, who hadn't said a word for a while and had been eating with his head down.
"Got a problem?" Megumi Fushiguro looked up, his expression sour.
"No problem. Take your time, sir."
Satoru Gojo gave them a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, your teacher's here too. Leave whatever's left to me."
Once everyone had more or less finished eating, Mashiro stood up, opened the oven, and took out the cake.
The cake sat on a white plate, with a few strawberries arranged beside it.
"Everyone have some. We can finish it in one go."
Kugisaki came over first and poked the surface with her fork. "It looks... okay?"
"It probably tastes average," Mashiro said honestly. "I think I didn't add enough sugar, and judging by the color, it's a bit overbaked."
"For someone who can't cook, getting this far on your first try is already impressive." Kugisaki cut off a piece, put it in her mouth, and chewed for a moment. "It really isn't sweet, but it's not inedible either. Pretty okay?"
Itadori cut himself a piece too. He was never stingy with praise. "It's better than the convenience store cakes I had in Sendai. Those were too sweet."
Fushiguro said nothing. Since everyone else was eating it, he joined in.
Satoru Gojo looked at the cake on the table but didn't reach for any.
Mashiro stared at him. "You're not having any?"
Satoru Gojo kept a straight face. "I'm full."
"You just ate pudding."
"Pudding goes in a separate dessert stomach."
"So your separate stomach is full now too?"
"...I'll have some."
Kugisaki and Itadori burst out laughing beside him.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Satoru Gojo reluctantly ate a piece, then quickly washed the taste out of his mouth with oolong tea.
Mashiro looked at the mostly empty cake plate, picked up the last piece, and put it in her mouth.
It wasn't sweet enough, and the texture was very dry. It really wasn't as good as a convenience store cake.
But it was the first food she had made herself in this world, so she supposed it was all right.
Yeah, I'm not making it again. I'll just wait to be fed.
When it was time to clear the dishes, Itadori rushed to carry the pot and bowls into the kitchen. Mashiro followed him in, hoping to help.
He waved her off. "I've got it, I've got it. Go sit down, Mashiro."
But when she came out, she found Fushiguro quietly gathering the rubbish on the table into a plastic bag, while Kugisaki helped wipe the table.
Didn't that leave just me and Satoru Gojo doing nothing?
When Satoru Gojo saw Mashiro come out, he put down his phone.
"I'm heading out." Satoru Gojo stood up and walked toward the door without saying much else.
After changing his shoes, he turned to Mashiro. "Good luck with tomorrow's mission. Call me directly if you need anything."
"I don't have your number."
"Oh, right. You don't."
Once they had saved each other's contact details, Satoru Gojo opened the door and left.
The footsteps in the hallway gradually faded away. Mashiro closed the door and returned to the living room.
Kugisaki had finished wiping down the table and was leaning against the kitchen doorway, drinking water. When she saw Mashiro come out, she waved her empty glass. "Where's the water? I'll get it myself."
"There's a water purifier over there."
Kugisaki filled another glass of water, drank it, then left with Megumi Fushiguro in tow.
Itadori came out of the kitchen and glanced at Mashiro as he put on his shoes in the entryway. "Mashiro, what time are you heading out on your mission tomorrow?"
"Ten in the morning."
"Then I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning."
"No need."
"Yes, there is. Convenience store food isn't nutritious. Didn't you say you're still growing?"
Mashiro opened her mouth, only to find she had no argument against that. "Suit yourself."
Itadori smiled. Got you figured out, little Mashiro.
"I'm off, then! See you tomorrow!"
Itadori closed the door behind him as he left, and the apartment fell quiet.
Night had fallen over Tokyo outside the window. In the distance, the trees in the direction of Jujutsu High cast shadows on the ground beneath the streetlights.
She tidied up the living room again, then flopped onto the couch and took out her phone.
She had called Nanami that morning and added him on LINE. He had then sent a mission her way, and since it looked suitable, Mashiro had accepted it.
The last message in her LINE chat with Nanami still read, "Meet at the café at ten tomorrow morning."
She had already memorized the café's location on the map. It would take about twenty minutes to get there, so she would make it if she got up a little earlier tomorrow.
She switched off the living room lights, returned to her bedroom, and lay down on the bed she had made that morning.
She lay on the soft bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
It was her first time sharing a meal with so many people, and the emptiness after everyone had left made her a little uncomfortable.
Even though I'd long since gotten used to it.
Her thoughts wandered until she came back to herself and shook her head.
She would be going on a mission with Nanami tomorrow. A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, working with a partner-she already knew the routine.
For today, I'll just get a good night's sleep.
Another 4,000 to go.
Before you continue