Borrowing money

Gu Yanzhi left the alley and washed his hands.

He shook off the droplets and glanced up at the sky reflected in the window.

Lunch break wasn't over yet, and the sunshine was just right.

He put his lunch box into his schoolbag and headed toward the classroom with his hands in his pockets.

Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something-he had just offered to take those guys to the movies.

He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and checked it: a few crumpled bills and some coins.

He had already made the offer, but he seemed to be a little broke.

He searched his memories and quickly settled on a name-Ito Shota.

The original owner's impression of him was clear: a rich kid with a wealthy family, someone nobody at school dared to mess with.

He was the one who had led the bullying against Junpei. He always had a few lackeys around him and liked sitting beside the courtyard fountain during lunch break.

He'll do.

Gu Yanzhi crossed the corridor and pushed open the courtyard's glass door.

The lunchtime sunshine was just right, and the fountain's jets shimmered with flecks of gold in the light.

Ito Shota lounged on a wooden bench with a girl on either side, both listening to him talk and occasionally covering their mouths as they laughed.

Two lackeys sat on a stone bench nearby, looking down at their phones.

Gu Yanzhi walked over and stopped opposite the wooden bench.

Ito glanced up at him, thought nothing of it, and kept talking to the girls.

"You guys-"

Gu Yanzhi looked at the two girls and the lackeys on the stone bench. "Give us a minute. I need to talk to him."

The girls didn't move. Instead, they looked him over with interest.

The two lackeys on the stone bench also raised their heads. One curled his lips into a smirk, as if he had heard something amusing.

Ito lounged on the bench with a faint smile and said nothing.

One of the lackeys stood up, walked over to Gu Yanzhi, and circled halfway around him, looking him up and down.

"What was that I just heard? 'Give us a minute'?"

The lackey clapped Gu Yanzhi hard on the shoulder. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? Ito's business is our business. Whatever you want to tell him, tell us first."

The other lackey got up too and moved to Gu Yanzhi's other side.

The girls whispered to each other, laughing brightly. The one on the left took out her phone and aimed its screen toward Gu Yanzhi. From the angle, she seemed to be recording.

"All right." Gu Yanzhi nodded, his voice calm. "Stay if you want. I'll get straight to the point, then."

He looked at Ito. "I'm a little short on cash. I'd like to borrow some money."

The courtyard fell silent for a moment. Then both girls burst out laughing.

"Did I hear that right? He came to borrow money from Ito?"

Ito didn't laugh.

He lounged on the bench with his legs crossed, his gaze turning cold as he sized up Gu Yanzhi.

After a few seconds, he stood and tilted his head toward the two lackeys. "Let's talk somewhere else."

He turned and headed toward the gym behind the courtyard. The lackeys flanked Gu Yanzhi, forcing him to follow.

The girls called out from behind them, "Go easy on him, Ito!"

"We're recording! Don't finish too quickly!"

Behind the gym was a narrow alley, with high walls on either side and a boundary wall at the far end. The two lackeys blocked its only exit.

The girls had followed too. They leaned against the wall at the alley entrance, one holding up her phone to keep recording, the other folding her arms with an eager look on her face.

Gu Yanzhi surveyed his surroundings, grumbling inwardly.

Why do all these guys like scurrying into corners like rats?

Ito turned around, unbuttoned his cuffs, and rolled his sleeves partway up his arms.

"You said you wanted to borrow money from me." He flexed his wrists, his tone flat. "Say that again."

Gu Yanzhi leaned against the wall, his hands still in his pockets. "I want to borrow some money. Enough for a few movie tickets will do."

Ito walked up, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him against the wall.

The movement was practiced and forceful. The girls cheered him on, and the one recording raised her phone higher.

Gu Yanzhi was getting impatient. Borrowing money meant drawing on his future earnings to cover an urgent need; he would still have to repay the debt afterward.

For him, it was better to keep his feet on the ground.

-Simply robbing someone was more practical.

Ito was still glaring coldly at him when Gu Yanzhi lulled him to sleep with a slap.

The girls' expressions froze at the alley entrance. The lackeys immediately charged at him, but what good did that do?

In less than three seconds, they were all off to the side, clutching their faces and sobbing.

Gu Yanzhi reached into the inner pocket of Ito's jacket and pulled out his wallet.

It was designer-brand and bulging. He opened it, took a look, and closed it again.

With the money in hand, Gu Yanzhi had no intention of doing anything else, so he simply left.

Just as he reached the alley entrance, he seemed to remember something and turned around.

"Thanks, everyone. I really needed money in a hurry today. If you don't mind, come find me this afternoon. I'll treat you to a movie."

He stepped out of the alley into the sunshine again, narrowed his eyes, and stretched.

He had finally managed to get a normal start, but that afternoon he would have to go find his good buddy Mahito. Whether he would make it back alive was another question.

Ito really is a generous guy, insisting on giving me all this money without even saying a word.

I'll enjoy myself properly this afternoon first.

He headed toward the school gate. The guard was dozing in the guardroom, so he easily climbed over the side gate, dusted off his hands, and set off toward the shopping street.

The sunshine was lovely, there weren't many people on the street, and the wind chimes outside the convenience store jingled.

He strolled with his hands in his pockets, stopping outside a music store to look at the new CDs in its window, then browsing the hundred-yen bargain bin outside a secondhand bookstore.

After wandering around for a while, he realized he didn't actually know where to go.

In his previous life, he had liked staying home. His biggest workout on weekends had been walking from the bedroom to the living room.

Now he suddenly had several hours of free time, the sunshine was wonderful, and the street had everything, yet he had no idea what to do.

Sit in a café? Boring. Watch a movie? I'm going with Blondie and the others this afternoon. If I watch one now, what will I watch tonight? Buy clothes? I don't care much about what I wear. My school uniform is fine.

He wandered aimlessly along the shopping street, rounded a corner, and was pulled out of his thoughts by a blast of noisy music.

Looking up, he saw a three-story building covered in flamboyant fluorescent graffiti. Its huge sign read "GAME ZONE," with a row of flashing LED lights beneath it and several life-size game-character standees by the entrance.

Through the glass doors, he could see an entire row of claw machines on the first floor and the flashing drumheads of Taiko no Tatsujin machines.

An arcade.

Gu Yanzhi stood outside for a while, then suddenly chuckled.

In his previous life, he had spent his weekends at home playing games. Now he had traveled to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, only to find himself rooted to the spot outside an arcade.

All right. I'm not going to the cinema until this afternoon anyway. I might as well kill some time at the arcade first.