After getting into the car, Shoko sat in the back, while Sakurada Niji opened the front passenger door and told the driver, "I get a little carsick. Sorry for the trouble."
He then took the front passenger seat. The driver looked about thirty and wore a suit.
He said to Sakurada Niji, "Sakurada, there's water in the storage compartment beside the door. Please help yourself."
Sakurada thanked him. "Thanks~"
Eating snacks or drinking water could briefly ease the symptoms of carsickness.
The car started, and the scenery rushed backward around them. Sakurada Niji opened the window, letting the incoming breeze wash over him, and felt a little less dizzy.
Sakurada Niji asked Shoko in the back seat, "Ieiri? Can I ask you a few things? I don't know much about Jujutsu Society."
"Sure, go ahead. I know quite a bit," Shoko said casually.
As far as anyone else knows, I should know absolutely nothing about Jujutsu Society right now. I'd better ask about the basics so I don't slip up later.
After considering his words for a moment, Sakurada Niji said, "I know almost nothing about Jujutsu Society. In fact, I only learned the terms 'cursed spirit' and 'cursed energy' from Mr. Yaga yesterday. I have no idea about anything else, so I don't even know what to ask. Sorry... could you give me a quick overview, Shoko?"
"Well~ that's normal. Jujutsu sorcerers with ordinary parents, like you, are very rare. I'll give you a quick rundown. Once we get to school, Mr. Yaga will teach you." Shoko pulled a cigarette out of somewhere, opened the window, and began smoking toward the outside.
"First, jujutsu sorcerers. A jujutsu sorcerer needs cursed energy and a cursed technique. Let's start with cursed energy. Actually, everyone has it, but ordinary people only have very small amounts."
"Cursed techniques are also called innate techniques. They're techniques you're born with, and you can't acquire them later. Apart from Jujutsu Society's three great clans-the Gojo, Zenin, and Kamo clans-only a handful of smaller families occasionally have children born with techniques."
"Techniques can be inherited. That's why the clans have a monopoly on Jujutsu Society."
"Generally, people who can see cursed spirits but have no technique, or whose techniques aren't suited for combat, become assistant managers. They help full-fledged jujutsu sorcerers carry out exorcism missions."
"People who don't have much cursed energy but can see cursed spirits, as well as people who gain the ability to see them after surviving a cursed spirit incident, become 'Windows.' They gather information on cursed spirits and report it to the Association."
"Evil jujutsu sorcerers are called curse users. They're basically murderers~ if you run into one, just kill them~"
"That's enough to know for now. Take your time digesting it~"
"I'm exhausted~ Mr. Yaga can explain the rest~"
Shoko finished her overview of Jujutsu Society in the time it took to smoke one cigarette. She tapped off the ash and put the cigarette butt in the car's ashtray.
After listening, Sakurada Niji turned toward Shoko and bowed his head. "I'm really sorry for the trouble, Ieiri."
The car moved quickly, and before they knew it, they had reached the foot of the mountain where Jujutsu High stood.
After getting out, Sakurada Niji followed Shoko through the torii gates winding uphill and arrived at the outermost part of Jujutsu High.
Before Sakurada Niji stood a complex of Japanese shrine buildings. Even a layperson could tell at a glance how old they were.
"Come on~ Sakurada~ I'll take you to the dorms. Someone's already prepared your everyday necessities~"
"Sorry for the trouble, Ieiri."
The anime and manga never really showed much of the layout inside Jujutsu High. I never thought I'd actually be moving in.
As they went farther in, Sakurada Niji saw old shrine buildings, a modern gymnasium, old-fashioned classrooms, and several towers whose purpose he couldn't guess.
While Sakurada Niji was still taking in the scenery, Shoko suddenly stopped ahead of him. He followed her gaze and saw two tall boys standing in the middle of a nearby training ground, one white-haired and the other black-haired. They seemed to be arguing about something.
"Heh~ teenage boys really do have plenty of energy~" Shoko said expressionlessly.
"Haha, they sure do~"
As a teenage boy himself, Sakurada Niji felt a little awkward and could only agree.
Then he asked, "Ieiri, who are those two?"
Seemingly reminded of something, Shoko looked disgusted and reluctantly introduced them.
"The white-haired one is Satoru Gojo, the Gojo Clan's precious young master with the Six Eyes. The black-haired one is Suguru Geto. Like you, both his parents are ordinary people. Ever since they enrolled yesterday, they've been arguing over some 'grand principle' or other." Shoko seemed to have a very low opinion of Satoru Gojo.
"Well~ boys their age are all like that~ oh~ sorry~ Sakurada, you're pretty levelheaded~"
Sakurada Niji was glad that her opinion of him was better than her opinion of Satoru Gojo.
Wait, what am I so pleased about...? Most people probably have better personalities than Satoru Gojo, especially Satoru Gojo as he is now.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Sakurada Niji suggested.
Shoko looked horrified, as though she were seeing Sakurada Niji in a whole new light. But she quickly composed herself and replied noncommittally, "Well~ you can try..."
Sakurada Niji eagerly walked toward them, while Shoko quietly dropped two steps back.
When Sakurada Niji was about ten meters away, he called out to the two boys in the training ground, "Hi, you two! I'm Sakurada Niji, and I just enrolled today! Are you training? Can I join you?!"
The two stopped in unison and turned to look at Sakurada Niji, who had suddenly interrupted them.
"Well~ Geto~ our new classmate wants to spar with you~ Mr. Yaga said Sakurada managed to exorcise a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit all by himself, even though he's a 'wild' jujutsu sorcerer~" Satoru Gojo told Suguru Geto in a slightly provocative tone.
Suguru Geto narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He looked every bit the sly old fox.
"Oh, no~ you should go first, Satoru~ you enrolled before I did, after all. Besides, you come from a great clan~ I'm sure you have more experience than I do~"
"Tch~"
After hearing Suguru Geto's reply, Satoru Gojo said nothing more. He lowered his head, revealing the sky-blue eyes behind his sunglasses, and studied Sakurada Niji closely.
Under the gaze of those azure eyes, Sakurada Niji grew a little nervous and instinctively activated his cursed technique.
Well~ nothing special about his body. He has a fairly large amount of cursed energy. His technique is a fixation technique. Anything it touches gets fixed in place. Can his opponent only defend by using cursed energy before the attack lands? What's the essence of the technique? Let's take another look.
The essence of his technique is... interesting~ fundamentally, it fixes space in place? It might actually be a pretty good counter to me~
Having finished his analysis, Satoru Gojo beckoned to Sakurada Niji and invited him over. "Come on, Sakurada. You've got a pretty good technique~ let me give it a thorough appraisal~"
Sakurada Niji felt excited. Right now, he badly wanted to know how large the gap was between him and this newly enrolled Satoru Gojo.
I've only used my technique once since awakening it, but the rough applications I've thought up should work pretty well in a fight.
"All right~ sorry for the trouble, Gojo. Here I come~"
Sakurada Niji poured in cursed energy, carefully sensing his power to "fix" things in place.
Feels good. I can use it smoothly. As for exactly how to apply it, I'll figure that out during the fight!
Sakurada Niji channeled his technique beneath his feet, fixing the air under his soles to create air barriers. Each time his heel was about to touch the ground, a triangular barrier caught it, keeping him accelerating rapidly as he charged toward Satoru Gojo at tremendous speed.
Judging by this, I'm faster than that Grade 2 Cursed Spirit from before. I've thought of better ways to use this, but I'm still not proficient enough. I need a lot of practice.
Sakurada Niji threw a lunging punch at Satoru Gojo, who stood where he was, only to find that his fist never actually touched him. It merely came to a near standstill in front of Satoru Gojo's clothes.
Limitless. What a pain. I thought he'd trade a few blows with me before turning it on~ close combat's useless~ I'll have to fix the air in place to restrict his movement.
Before you continue