The filthy rag

Suguru Geto finally couldn't hold his tongue.

He had been silent for a long time, watching these two go from giving each other nicknames to business negotiations, then inexplicably losing their minds. Not even two minutes had passed, and they were progressing several times faster than he had expected.

Geto said, "Gojo, you've known each other for less than three minutes."

Satoru Gojo turned toward him, the eyes behind his sunglasses finally focusing on him.

The other "strongest" in this classroom.

Gojo blinked his blue eyes, then grinned. "You're Suguru Geto, right? Cursed Spirit Manipulation? Sounds convenient."

As the Gojo Clan's Six Eyes, Gojo had received information on his classmates ahead of time.

He looked Geto up and down, from his weird bangs to his upright posture to the copy of Jujutsu Fundamentals beside him.

His gaze finally settled on the fingers resting on the desk.

Geto's fingers were long and slender, with well-defined joints and neatly trimmed nails.

Gojo's grin widened as he asked a question he had been holding back for at least thirty seconds. "Do you really roll cursed spirits into balls and eat them?"

Geto: "..."

The question was so direct that it almost seemed sincere.

It wasn't mockery or malice, just pure curiosity.

But that pure, unvarnished curiosity was precisely what made it hurt the most.

Before he could put together a suitable response, the person beside him had already answered for him.

Yan Si's smile grew brighter and brighter as he eagerly prepared to elaborate.

He leaned forward, propped his elbows on the desk, and gestured with both hands. "Yep, he's eaten them. I've seen it myself. His expression was spectacular~"

He paused, then added, "The face he made afterward was like he'd drunk milk three days past its expiration date. So, haha, take a guess how they taste~"

Geto slowly turned to Yan Si, his gaze carrying the calm of a man betrayed by a comrade. "You don't have to explain for me."

"I'm advertising your talents, like your incredible tolerance for disgusting food~" Yan Si winked at him, his purple eyes filled with a sincere No need to thank me.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

As though he had heard something incredible, Gojo moved even closer. He pulled up a chair beside Geto's desk and sat down, resting both hands on its back. "What do they taste like?"

Yan Si jumped in without hesitation. "A filthy rag used to wipe up vomit. Really gross~"

Gojo said, "Wow, Geto, you're amazing!"

There was no mockery in Gojo's voice, only genuine admiration.

Shoko: "..."

Masamichi Yaga: "..."

Geto closed his eyes for a moment.

He regretted it now. Deeply regretted it.

Why had he answered that call from Yan Si?

Why had he gone to that abandoned parking lot?

Why had he subdued that cursed spirit in front of Yan Si?

Why had he then honestly answered the question, "What does it taste like?"

He knew Yan Si never kept other people's secrets.

The man's definition of a "secret" was probably "something you can use as a conversation starter."

What a rotten bastard!

But he hadn't expected Yan Si to make this part of his introduction, much less share it with someone he had only known for three minutes.

What an absolutely rotten bastard!

And now look what had happened. Before he could establish the first impression he had envisioned as a cursed spirit manipulator-steady, dependable, trustworthy-Yan Si and Gojo had joined forces to slap the label "rag eater" on him on the very first day of his first year at Tokyo Jujutsu High.

A fifteen-year-old had his pride.

Gojo rubbed his chin and offered a serious assessment. "Still, that sounds pretty unpleasant, doesn't it?"

He couldn't stomach eating something like that~

Yan Si nodded. "That's why I suggested he dip them in strawberry corpses next time."

"Strawberry corpses..." Gojo repeated. "You mean strawberry jam?!"

Yan Si nodded. "That's right~"

Shoko finally looked up at Yan Si. It was the first time she had deliberately looked at him since entering the classroom, not out of curiosity, but because she couldn't take it anymore. "Are you serious?"

"Of course." Yan Si looked utterly justified, his expression solemn. "Strawberry jam can save the world, and it can save Geto too."

Gojo immediately chimed in, exchanging a high five with Yan Si. "I'm with you. Sweets are the pinnacle of human civilization."

Shoko said, "Both of you, shut up."

Geto said, "...Thank you."

Geto wasn't sure whether he should thank her, but he did anyway.

Yaga stood at the front of the classroom, holding the new students' files. A vein twitched at his temple.

He hadn't even started taking attendance.

He hadn't even had time to say, "Starting today, you are first-year students at Tokyo Jujutsu High."

And the classroom was already this chaotic.

Gojo alone was enough of a headache.

The Six Eyes, Limitless, the direct heir of the Gojo Clan-he had lived in the spotlight since childhood and developed an attitude that he alone reigned supreme throughout heaven and earth.

Before he arrived, the old men in Kyoto had warned Yaga that the boy was "a little difficult to manage."

"A little difficult to manage" was the official wording. In plain language, it meant "no one can control him."

Then there was Yan Si, who had already thrown the entire upper echelon into chaos. He could output Reverse Cursed Technique, had a constitution that attracted cursed spirits, and could laugh and shoot the breeze with you while treating assassination attempts like nothing.

Yaga had originally thought Yan Si would be the most troublesome student in this year's class.

Yet now, on their very first meeting, these two hadn't taken a dislike to each other. There had been no awkward silence, no testing each other out, none of the subtle rivalry so common between geniuses.

Instead, these two absolute freaks were like sources of mental contamination from different places but with nearly identical compositions. The moment they met, some bizarre chemical reaction had occurred. They catalyzed and amplified each other, each laughing louder and spouting more nonsense than the other.

Yaga suddenly felt that his next three years of teaching might not be peaceful.

No.

Not might.

They definitely wouldn't be peaceful.

He took a deep breath, drawing air through his nose and into his lungs before exhaling heavily.

He placed the files on the lectern. The sound of paper meeting wood wasn't loud, but he deliberately set them down a little harder.

Then he raised a hand and tapped the surface. His knuckles struck the wood-knock, knock, knock-a low, solid sound carrying a pressure that couldn't be ignored.

"Quiet."

One word, not particularly loud, but the classroom finally quieted a little.

Gojo lounged against the back of his chair, his long legs stretched out so far they nearly blocked the aisle.

Yan Si lay across his desk, his chin resting on his arms as he watched the front of the classroom with a smile. He was waiting for a good show to begin.

Geto sat properly, his back still straight, but a hint of weariness had crept into his smile.

It wasn't physical exhaustion, but mental fatigue-the sort that came from foreseeing a very unpleasant future.

Two absolute freaks for classmates...

Shoko leaned against her chair and unwrapped a fresh lollipop, her fourth. It was green apple flavored. She folded the wrapper into a neat little square and placed it at the corner of her desk.

Her expression was cool, as though she had already accepted her fate. Her dark brown eyes gazed calmly ahead, and the beauty mark at the corner of her eye seemed especially serene in that moment.

She was dead inside.

Whatever. Let them do what they want.

Yaga looked at them.

Four new students.

The Gojo Clan's Six Eyes.

His gaze passed over the white-haired boy.

Sky-blue eyes looked back through his sunglasses with an open expression that said, I know I'm giving you a headache, but there's nothing you can do about it.

Shoko Ieiri, who could output Reverse Cursed Technique.

He looked at Shoko, who returned a calm look that said, I did my best, but this is what we're dealing with.

Suguru Geto, with his Cursed Spirit Manipulation. Yaga looked at Geto, who sat ramrod straight and gave him a slight nod. His expression carried a sense of responsibility that said, Teacher, I'll do my best to maintain order, along with an honest hint of But I might not be able to handle this.

And then there was Yan Si, who attracted cursed spirits, could use Reverse Cursed Technique on others, appeared to have a rotten personality, and might blow the roof off Jujutsu High at any moment. Yaga looked at Yan Si, who smiled back at him, bright and harmless.

Dazzlingly beautiful.

But for some reason, Yaga kept feeling that a sentence lurked beneath that smile: Don't worry, teacher. I'll definitely cause trouble.

The talent in this year's class was rare even across all of Jujutsu Society.

Any one of them on their own was a promising prospect a clan could brag about for ten years. Yet Yaga couldn't feel happy in the slightest.

All he felt was a headache.

A terrible one.

Worse than being hit by a cursed spirit.

Below the lectern, Gojo suddenly lowered his voice to ask Yan Si a question.

He didn't lower it enough, and it rang clearly through the quiet classroom. "Hey, Meat Bun, wanna fight after class?"

Yan Si's eyes lit up. His half-lidded, languid purple eyes instantly opened wide with excitement. He sat up straight, his voice brimming with the delight of a long-awaited wish finally coming true. "Are you afraid of pain?"

Gojo said, "Huh?"

He had meant sparring. This guy heard the word "fight," and his first reaction wasn't "Who goes first?" but "Are you afraid of pain?"

For once, Gojo was briefly at a loss. He blinked behind his sunglasses, feeling that something wasn't quite right about that answer.

Yan Si's smile grew brighter, his purple eyes curving as the red mark between his brows lifted slightly. Before leaving home that morning, he had been wondering whether Gojo would want to beat him up.

And now it had happened so quickly.

He hadn't tried his pain-sharing skill yet.

"Bring it on." Gojo winked cockily.

Geto: "..."

He quickly played out the scene in his mind: Yan Si and Gojo heading to the training grounds-or somewhere worse-after class to beat each other up. Neither was the type to hold back, so they would probably cause enough of a commotion to alert all of Jujutsu High. Shoko would look at them like they were idiots, and Yaga would give everyone a murderous glare.

Shoko: "..."

She couldn't even be bothered to look anymore, concentrating on her lollipop instead. Green apple was a little sweeter than green tea. She wasn't particularly satisfied; she didn't like things too sweet.

Yaga: "..."

He hadn't even started teaching. He hadn't opened the attendance register.

Yet the two clowns in his classroom were already preparing to beat each other up afterward.

Yaga closed his eyes for a moment.

Despair.

The first day of school.

And he was already beginning to despair.