"Kano!" A stub of chalk flew from the square-faced, middle-aged teacher's hand at the podium, tracing a white arc through the air and striking Shoichi Kano squarely between the brows. "How many times have you zoned out today?"
"If you're really that sleepy, stand at the back and listen!"
"The National Center Test-the exam commonly known as Japan's college entrance exam-is just around the corner, and every lesson matters now! How do you expect to get into your dream university if you don't pay attention?" Shoichi Kano's lapse in concentration seemed to have triggered some chain reaction, and Mr. Tanaka began spraying spit like a machine gun from behind the podium.
"What's more, once you've finished this exam, you'll still have to sit the entrance exam set by your chosen university! If you give up now, how are you going to get through both hurdles?"
"Every last one of you, spare your teachers and parents some worry!" Mr. Tanaka slapped the podium, then directed the students' attention back to the mathematical formulas covering the blackboard.
Anyone bad at math would surely have wondered-why did math class involve learning so many English words? Why did sticking a bunch of English words together in various combinations somehow produce a number?
After the chalk struck Shoichi Kano, he immediately pressed his palms together and gave the teacher an apologetic look, then pretended to focus intently on the lesson. Mr. Tanaka let him off the hook.
As for why Shoichi Kano had zoned out, that went back to what had happened the night before.
After he and the Slit-Mouthed Woman Cursed Spirit had agreed on the specifics of their Binding Vow, she fished a small silver ring out of her trench coat pocket, infused it with a little of her cursed energy, and tossed it to Shoichi Kano as a token of the vow.
When Shoichi Kano asked why she collected such strange things, she dodged the question.
Afterward, Shoichi Kano used his Thread Manipulation to produce some black threads, kneaded them into a ring-shaped loop, and handed it to the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman then slipped the loop onto her right ring finger. Without thinking much of it, Shoichi Kano habitually slipped the silver ring onto his left ring finger.
With that, the Binding Vow was established.
"By the way," Shoichi Kano said, touching the ring on his hand a little awkwardly, "I remember closing the door. How did you get in?"
The Slit-Mouthed Woman gave him a knock on the head, neither too hard nor too gentle. "Mind your manners. Ask again."
Kano had no choice but to clear his throat and adopt a polite tone. "Then, Mom, may I please ask you a question? How did you enter my home? I remember closing the door before I came in."
"Sweetheart, you left your bathroom window open."
Shoichi Kano involuntarily pictured the Slit-Mouthed Woman, a female humanoid Cursed Spirit who stood 170 centimeters tall barefoot, climbing up his home's drainpipe and into the apartment. He shuddered.
Only when he lay down in bed that night did he realize something was wrong. It seemed she had played him.
The Binding Vow stipulated that he had to "find things the Slit-Mouthed Woman found interesting," but it hadn't specified how many things or how that would be judged. Didn't that mean whether something was interesting was entirely up to her?
The more Shoichi Kano thought about it, the more unsettled he became. If the Slit-Mouthed Woman flatly refused to acknowledge anything he found, this Binding Vow meant he had only three months left to live.
Sure enough, this world of Jujutsu Kaisen was far too full of malice. One careless step and you fell into a trap. Kano was just an innocent young guy who enjoyed looking at pretty girls and occasionally playing dating sims and Valorant!
The next morning, the Slit-Mouthed Woman, now wearing a black lace-trimmed nightdress and slippers, actually prepared breakfast for him as required by their Binding Vow. Still, the sight of her handling cookware with that cold expression felt incredibly incongruous.
"Whoa." Shoichi Kano was stunned. The original Jujutsu Kaisen hadn't mentioned her having this skill. "Mom, you can do this too?"
He looked down and noticed that the toenails on her small, pale feet matched her fingernails. They looked as though they were coated in some sort of metallic black polish, glossy and pointed. Paired with the soft, graceful shape of her feet, they had a dark beauty like a little succubus baring her fangs. They looked downright adorable.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman still seemed unaccustomed to this, and her cooking movements grew increasingly stiff. "If I make it for you, just eat it. Stop asking so many questions!"
"And-stop staring at Mommy's feet! Keep looking and I'll shove one in your mouth!" As she said this, the Slit-Mouthed Woman unconsciously curled her toes, adding a few touches of beauty in motion to those already lovely little feet.
"You'd really do that for me?"
Thwack! "Owww!!!"
A moment later, she transferred a perfectly circular fried egg onto the plate in front of Kano. The Slit-Mouthed Woman's expression remained cold after she finished, and she merely added, "...I've watched you humans cook before. After seeing it enough times, I learned."
Clang! The frying pan landed heavily on the stove.
If an ordinary person with no aptitude for jujutsu had witnessed this scene, they would probably have wondered why the cookware in this home moved "by itself," like the magical kitchen utensils controlled by house-elves in Harry Potter.
The bell rang to end class. Mr. Tanaka put away his lesson notes, quickly wrote a few lines on the blackboard, and left the classroom.
Shoichi Kano rubbed the cold ring on his left ring finger as his thoughts wandered. But no matter what he thought about, the ring's chilly touch acted like some kind of mental anchor, drawing every thought back to the Slit-Mouthed Woman and their Binding Vow.
Nothing for it. I'll just have to take things one step at a time.
"Hey, Shoichi." A plump, rounded hand landed on Shoichi Kano's shoulder. "Why have you been so out of it today? And what's with the ring?"
With a wry smile, Shoichi Kano stopped rubbing the ring with his right hand and looked up at the person before him.
This guy, who bore a striking resemblance to Big-Eater Ryoko-though he wasn't nearly as fat as she was-was Hiroshi Yamakawa, a good friend of Kano's.
Of course, their relationship hadn't been so harmonious at first. They had even come to blows. But as they fought, they somehow developed a mutual respect worthy of fellow heroes, and wound up becoming friends through their fists.
Kano thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It's complicated. I don't think I can explain it in a sentence or two."
"How complicated could it be?" Hiroshi Yamakawa smiled. "I've seen it on TV. People who are dating or married wear rings on their ring fingers."
Shoichi Kano felt like crying. Had he wanted to wear it on his ring finger? He had simply picked a finger where it wouldn't get in the way and slipped it on. Only afterward had he discovered that the damn thing wouldn't come off!
Shoichi Kano felt the next three months were going to be rough. Either he found some entertainment for his newly acquired mom, or he grew strong enough within three months to reliably defeat the Slit-Mouthed Woman Cursed Spirit, or he was dead.
Those were the only three possibilities.
Seeing the kaleidoscope of expressions on Kano's face, Hiroshi Yamakawa wisely decided not to ask any more questions.
After school that afternoon came the usual student club activities, so Shoichi Kano headed to the Kendo Club's practice space. Honestly, although they called themselves the Kendo Club, what they did had very little to do with kendo.
At first, they had made a proper show of sparring with wooden practice swords, but gradually they had grown lazy. Since neither their faculty advisor nor their club president bothered managing things much, they began openly slacking off.
Then some genius had somehow gotten hold of a broken projector and a screen from the school's equipment storage and repaired the projector. Their Kendo Club had thus become a film club. They occasionally watched samurai sword-fighting films and the like, which at least had some connection to the club's theme.
Now, though, they didn't even intend to watch sword-fighting films. On a whim, Shoichi Kano had suggested watching Chinese martial arts movies. Their remarkably proactive vice president, Junko Hayasaka, had promptly rented a disc of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from a video rental store, and they were getting ready to enjoy it during club time.
For students like them, who were merely putting in enough club hours to meet graduation requirements, sitting on the tatami watching movies-and perhaps bringing a few snacks-beat slogging through kendo practice and working up a sweat.
Besides, when their own turn to choose a movie came around, they could bring something they liked. Wasn't that a lovely perk?
They could just tidy the place up a little afterward and pretend nothing had happened.
"Kano." Junko Hayasaka nudged him lightly with her elbow. "What's with the ring on your hand?"
Shoichi Kano was utterly fed up! Why did it feel as though everyone who knew him had to ask that question?
He rather missed being a nobody in his previous life.
"It's a long story." As Kano said this, he tried to tug the ring off his hand, but it seemed stuck fast and didn't budge.
To Hayasaka, though, Kano's gesture clearly meant he treasured the ring-he even had to touch it while talking about it.
"Does she go to our school?" Whatever she was imagining, she added, "Bring her by the club sometime."
Kano was a little speechless. He certainly dared to bring her over; he just wasn't sure this girl would dare to look!
Once club activities ended, Kano headed toward the school gate, ready to go home.
Then he spotted that slender figure in a brown trench coat and face mask, standing beside a utility pole across from the school gate. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she seemed to be waiting for something.
Although ordinary people couldn't see Cursed Spirits, the parents waiting for their children to finish school seemed to sense something and instinctively kept their distance from that utility pole. To Kano, it looked as though a patch of empty space had suddenly opened around the Slit-Mouthed Woman Cursed Spirit.
"School's over, sweetheart." The heels of her little leather ankle boots tapped lightly against the ground with a crisp sound. "Mommy's here to pick you up. Let's go."
Kano felt his hair stand on end!
With so many people around, he didn't dare speak to the Slit-Mouthed Woman for fear of being taken for a lunatic talking to thin air. All he could do was obediently let her link her arm through his and lead him home!
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