April 1, 2005.
A black sedan drove along a road on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Outside the windows lay the Japanese countryside in April. The cherry blossoms were blooming, and an occasional pale-pink tree swept past on either side of the road.
Light rain had fallen over the past two days. The air carried spring's distinctive dampness and the smell of freshly turned earth, slipping in through the half-open window.
Satoru Gojo had been making a racket in this car for the entire ride.
Today, he wore his best-looking outfit.
Not a kimono, nor anything outlandish, but a white shirt he had picked out himself beneath a dark jacket, trousers in the latest cut, and a pair of expensive shoes.
A pair of sunglasses sat on his nose, their solid-black lenses hiding his sky-blue eyes completely.
At fifteen, Satoru Gojo had already begun shooting up in height. His shoulders still had a boy's slenderness, but just sitting there, his presence was already big enough to take up two seats.
He kept moving, as though he had fleas.
First, he reclined his seat, then decided lying back was uncomfortable and raised it again.
Then he started investigating the storage compartment in the door, rummaging through everything inside.
A few maps of Tokyo, a slim Jujutsu High freshman guide, a ballpoint pen, and a whole lot of dust.
He took out the pen and clicked it a few times, then lost interest and put it back.
Next, he began fiddling with his seat belt, pulling it out, letting it retract, pulling it out again, and letting it retract again, repeating the process several times.
Then he started squirming sideways.
It wasn't intentional.
At least, not entirely.
He simply couldn't sit still. Every so often, he had to change positions, shifting his long legs around in the limited space in front of his seat. His elbow occasionally brushed the person beside him, and his knees bobbed along too.
The back seat wasn't particularly spacious to begin with. He and Shoko Ieiri sat side by side, an armrest's width between them, but to Satoru Gojo, that distance might as well not have existed.
Shoko Ieiri leaned against the other side of the back seat with her eyes closed. A lollipop rested in her mouth, its sweetness faint.
She didn't like things that were too sweet.
This lollipop was green tea flavored. It tasted only vaguely sweet, with more of the plant's distinctive mild astringency and fresh fragrance.
She sucked on it, feeling the candy slowly dissolve on her tongue, trying to use that monotonous taste to shut out the source of constant noise and vibrations beside her.
Her hair was a very conventional short cut for a girl, reaching just to her chin, its neatly trimmed ends lying smoothly against her ears and neck. It wasn't pure black; in the sunlight filtering through the window, it took on a faint chestnut sheen, a color touched by autumn.
A few loose strands slipped out from behind her ear, swaying gently forward with the motion of the car.
The black beauty mark at the outer corner of her eye was especially noticeable when her eyes were closed. It was as though someone had lightly touched a calligraphy brush to the end of her eye's curve, adding an elegant signature to her impassive face.
She wore Jujutsu High's dark uniform jacket over a white short-sleeved shirt, with the buttons meticulously fastened down to the second-to-last one. Without any unnecessary adornment, she was as plain and clean as a glass of water.
Satoru Gojo beside her, meanwhile, was a fizzy drink with far too much syrup and carbonation, crackling and splashing everywhere.
The car crossed a speed bump, giving a gentle jolt.
Taking advantage of it, Satoru Gojo tilted his entire body toward Shoko. He didn't touch her, but his sunglasses-clad face came very close as he studied his future classmate.
Shoko's eyelids twitched.
Satoru Gojo bounced back into place, then leaned over again before ten seconds had passed.
Shoko opened her eyes.
Her eyes were a very deep brown, so dark they looked almost black in poor lighting.
At that moment, they regarded Satoru Gojo calmly, without any unnecessary emotion, but what she saw was a cat that refused to sleep in the morning and ran around tormenting its owner instead.
She didn't turn her head, only shifted her eyes to give him a sidelong look.
"Need some insecticide?"
Her voice was just like her, without any unnecessary inflection, as though she were asking, "How's the weather today?"
As she spoke, the lollipop shifted from the left corner of her mouth to the right, its stick tipping up slightly to trace a "v."
Satoru Gojo was still leaning sideways, invading her space, when her words made him stop.
His sunglasses slid a little down his nose, revealing those sky-blue eyes beneath, sparkling with the smug anticipation of a child caught misbehaving.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
He sounded delighted, his grin stretching too wide to look remotely sincere.
"Do you have fleas?"
Shoko took the lollipop out of her mouth and pointed its stick at his constantly moving legs. "You haven't stopped since you got in. If you have fleas, just say so. I brought rubbing alcohol. I can feed you some."
Satoru Gojo pushed his sunglasses back into place and sprang back against the seat, thrusting his long legs forward until his toes nearly kicked the seat in front. "Feed me some?! Shoko, wouldn't that kill me?"
"Then if you have too much energy, do you need a sedative?" With that, Shoko put the lollipop back in her mouth and closed her eyes again.
After three seconds of silence, Satoru Gojo went straight back into hyperactive mode.
"Hey, Shoko."
"Mm."
"Aren't you curious?"
"About what?"
"Tokyo!"
Satoru Gojo sprang up, bracing his hands on the backs of both front seats and leaning forward until his head was nearly squeezed into the gap between the driver's and passenger's seats.
It would be hilarious if he got stuck there.
As he propped himself up in that outfit, his shirt rode up, exposing a small strip of his lower back. He didn't care.
Passing light and shadow fell across his white hair, illuminating the strands until they were almost transparent.
He started complaining.
"Those old fossils in Kyoto are all wrinklier than the last, they talk so slowly it's unbearable, and they have enough rules to crush you flat. Tokyo's different, right? I heard the principal and teachers at Tokyo Jujutsu High all know how to sew stuffed toys. That's way more interesting than that old man in Kyoto who scowls all day, isn't it?"
"Mm, sewing stuffed toys is definitely better than scowling," Shoko said. Her tone gave no indication whether she was sincerely agreeing or merely humoring him.
Low-energy people really didn't like being around high-energy people.
Satoru Gojo paid her tone no mind and continued rapidly, "And Tokyo has loads of cursed spirits, all different kinds. Exciting, right?"
"Exciting," Shoko repeated his last word, eyes closed, moving the lollipop from her left cheek to her right.
"You're not curious at all, are you?" Satoru Gojo finally caught on to her attitude.
"Mm."
"Then why did you choose Tokyo?"
"Because Kyoto has you."
Satoru Gojo froze for a moment. He turned his head and tugged his sunglasses down, revealing one sky-blue eye, then blinked twice. "What do you mean? You came running to Tokyo because I'm in Kyoto? Do you hate me that much?"
Shoko opened her eyes, her deep-brown gaze calmly meeting his for a second.
Then she took out her lollipop and pointed its stick at Satoru Gojo, her tone cool and level. "Because you're in Kyoto, Kyoto Jujutsu High would be noisy. I came to Tokyo for some peace and quiet."
Choosing her school was one of the few rights the higher-ups still allowed her as a Reverse Cursed Technique user.
She paused and put the lollipop back in her mouth. The corner of her lips moved, so slightly it was hard to tell whether it counted as a smile.
"And then you came too."
Poor, unfortunate Shoko.
Satoru Gojo burst into laughter so hard the entire back seat shook. The Assistant Supervisor in the driver's seat glanced at him in the rearview mirror, keeping his expression carefully restrained.
"Hahahahaha! You miscalculated! You miscalculated, Shoko! You thought you could get away from me?!"
He rocked back and forth with laughter, his white hair swaying in the sunlight. His sunglasses nearly slid off his nose, and he hurriedly held them in place with one finger.
"I was originally going to Kyoto. The old man had it all arranged-the courses, the teachers, all that nonsense. They even cleared out a whole separate dorm building just for me, twice as big as what the other students got. Tch, like I cared..."
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