Stealing young people's youth is unforgivable

On the Training Ground.

"Bang-!" ×2

Yuji Itadori and I went flying at the same time, getting intimately acquainted with the Training Ground.

I'd been practicing hand-to-hand combat with Maki every day lately, and the beatings had nearly finished me off (entirely one-sided beatings).

At first, Maki hadn't dared hit too hard because I looked so fragile. But once she realized that, despite how easily I passed out, my hand-to-hand skills were improving rapidly and I could block most of her attacks, she started beating me up in earnest.

No matter how much my hand-to-hand combat improved, though, I still passed out easily. That hadn't improved in the slightest.

Maki, Satoru Gojo, and Shoko blamed it on the "family curse," which led to everyone looking at me like I was a fragile glass doll for a while...

I shook my head to clear it, then shed a couple of tears of despair alongside my fellow sufferer, Yuji Itadori.

"Yuji, I'm so tired. I don't want to try anymore! Aaaah!"

"Edano, me too. How about we swap? I'll fight Maki, and you fight Mr. Gojo?"

My expression changed immediately. I wiped my face, rose resolutely, and walked away, leaving him with only a view of my back. "No, Yuji. Mr. Gojo is doing this for your own good.

"As much as I'd love to learn from such an outstanding teacher as Mr. Gojo, too..." Before I could finish, Satoru Gojo suddenly appeared and startled me.

"My, my! So Edano admires her teacher that much!" Satoru Gojo approached from behind, rested his head on top of mine, and loosely wrapped his arms around me.

"In that case, I suppose I'll just have to take on the trouble of coaching you too."

I felt a little uncomfortable. He was too close-so close I could feel his burning body heat and hot breath, making my heart tremble.

Satoru Gojo, do you know how much you look like a creep luring in a student right now? Have you no sense of propriety whatsoever?!

And Yuji, how could you abandon me and run away?!

But then something occurred to me, and I quickly recovered.

"Mr. Gojo, look, we've been training for a whole month now. Why don't you give us a day off and let us go have fun in Tokyo?" I tugged at Satoru Gojo's sleeve and put on a pleading smile.

"Hmm? Well..." Satoru Gojo rested his chin in his hand and said nothing.

Well, what?! Hurry up and finish! Just put me out of my misery!

My expression grew even more earnest, and I pressed my palms together. "Please, Mr. Gojo, let us go have fun for a day. Ever since I got here, all I've done is fight cursed spirits or train. I'm going stir-crazy."

The girl tilted her face up beneath the sun at its brightest, her lips opening and closing. Her pure, sincere smile nestled in the golden light, like a newly blooming pink-and-white lotus in a sunlit pond, fresh and flawless.

Satoru Gojo's breath caught. What the hell? "Edano, have we met before?"

"Huh?" Hearing him say my name so seriously, I couldn't quite react.

"...All right, I'll give you a day off. Megumi and Nobara don't have any missions lately either, so you can all go together."

"After all, stealing young people's youth is unforgivable!" With that, Satoru Gojo turned his back, waved to me, and walked away.

He was clearly walking in the sunlight, yet something about his figure struck me as lonely. Perhaps it was the first time I truly realized that some people's loneliness wasn't just in their eyes-it stretched out even through the sight of their retreating backs.

Satoru Gojo, what are you thinking about right now?

Are you remembering your best friend, the days you fought side by side, those three youthful years at Jujutsu High?

I hurried after him. "Mr. Gojo!"

Satoru Gojo stopped, turned, and lifted one corner of his blindfold. Those azure eyes, as clear as the sky, gazed quietly at me.

"What is it, Edano?"

"Aren't you coming with us, Mr. Gojo? If you're not there, I'll feel like there's a hole in my heart. It'll be so boring!"

For an instant, Satoru Gojo forgot how to think. His mind went blank, and everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl. All he could see was the girl before him, her expression earnest, petals caught in her hair as the wind swept them past. All he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.

After a long moment, he burst into a laugh, like spring warmth bringing flowers into bloom. "Since it's a request from my favorite student, of course I'll grant it."

"Oh~ So I'm your favorite student, am I~?"

"Of course it's you, Edano~"

"Hehehe."

"Are you that happy, Edano? You're grinning so hard your mouth's gone crooked~"

"Of course I'm happy! And my mouth isn't crooked!"

Something in his long-dormant heart seemed to quietly come loose.

This is going to be the death of me.