The Goodwill Event begins

Two hours before the Goodwill Event.

Deep in the woods outside Jujutsu High's walls, sunlight filtered through overlapping canopies, scattering tiny patches of light across the ground.

Mahito stood in the shade of a cedar, arms folded, looking up at the barrier ahead of him that was all but invisible to the naked eye.

He extended a finger and gave it a gentle poke.

A faint ripple spread across the barrier, bouncing his fingertip away.

"Hey, Geto."

Mahito withdrew his finger and tilted his head toward the man in Buddhist robes behind him.

"Are you sure I can get in this way?"

The man called Geto stepped out from beneath a tree, holding a talisman.

A trace of dark red blood remained on it, not yet completely dry in the thin early-winter sunlight.

"Jujutsu High's barrier rejects outside cursed spirits."

He smiled, his voice calm, as though stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

"But this talisman is an assistant supervisor's entry pass. With people coming and going so often during the Goodwill Event, the barrier's identification mechanism will classify it as belonging to 'authorized personnel.'"

He glanced down at the bloodstain on the talisman.

"As long as its owner is still 'alive,' the barrier won't stop you."

Mahito took the talisman and twirled it twice between his fingers, his eyes curving with his smile.

"That assistant supervisor really did us a huge favor."

"His job is done. You just need to go in, pick up a few things, and come back out."

"Remember, no unnecessary complications."

As he spoke, Geto tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robes.

"Unnecessary complications?" Mahito tilted his head. "I'm just a little curious about Sukuna's vessel."

"That isn't today's mission."

Geto's voice didn't grow any sterner, but the air seemed to drop a few degrees.

"Yuji Itadori is at the event venue, and so is Satoru Gojo. The two biggest problems are both away. This is our only chance to get Sukuna's Fingers and the Death Painting Wombs."

Mahito closed his hand around the talisman and raised his hands in surrender.

"Got it, got it. Drop things off, scout the storehouse, take a look, and leave."

He walked toward the barrier. As he passed through the pale blue screen, another ripple spread across it.

The ripple expanded, then slowly settled.

Standing inside Jujutsu High's walls, Mahito looked back at Geto.

"You aren't coming in?"

Geto remained where he was.

"I'll wait outside and keep an eye on things at the venue. If Satoru Gojo comes back early, I'll signal you."

"A signal, huh..." Mahito tapped his temple with a finger. "Let's use that, then."

A moment later, he disappeared into the shadows inside Jujutsu High.

The woods fell quiet again.

Geto stood outside the barrier, watching the spot where Mahito had vanished. The curve of his lips slowly faded.

After a while, a faint snap of grass being trodden underfoot came from behind him.

"Master Geto, everything is in place," a voice called from behind a tree.

"...Cursed spirits using talismans to slip through a barrier. I'd rather like to see Satoru Gojo's face when he sees that."

Geto said nothing. He merely turned his gaze away from Jujutsu High and walked deeper into the shadows of the woods.

Two months of training had passed faster than anyone had expected.

The air carried the dry, chilly scent of vegetation. The trees by the school gates had long since shed their leaves, their bare branches reaching quietly toward the sky.

Nobara Kugisaki was the last to arrive.

She dragged an enormous suitcase behind her, with two bulging travel bags stacked on her back. The bags swayed with every step, making her look from a distance like an ant moving house.

Maki leaned against a gatepost, twirling her naginata. One eyebrow rose when she saw Kugisaki's luggage.

"Are you going to the Goodwill Event or moving house?"

"Mind your own business!" Kugisaki set the suitcase down with a thump, caught her breath, and said as though it were obvious, "Of course I need to bring plenty of stuff if we're going to Kyoto!"

Silence fell for a beat.

Half of Panda's round head peeked out from behind Maki. He blinked.

"The Goodwill Event is in Tokyo."

"...Huh?"

Kugisaki's expression froze.

"Right here. Jujutsu High is hosting this year." Maki rested her naginata on her shoulder, making no attempt to hide her smile.

Inumaki poked his head out beside Panda, raised a finger, and rubbed salt in the wound in his usual calm voice.

"Tuna mayo."

Translation: You dragged all that stuff here for nothing.

Kugisaki stood there, looking down at her twenty-eight-inch suitcase, then at the two travel bags on her shoulders that nearly buried her.

The corner of her mouth twitched. Then she drew a deep breath.

"GO-JO-SEN-SEI!!"

Panda shrank back half a step at her ferocity.

"That bastard! Couldn't he have added one more line to the notice?! Is 'Kyoto' some obscure word?! Why didn't he write it?!"

"Oh dear, I could hear someone cursing me from a mile away."

A lazy voice drifted in from outside the school gates.

Satoru Gojo strolled up the stone path with his hands in his pockets, wearing his ever-present smile.

"Didn't the notice say 'Sister-school Goodwill Event, location: our school'?" He tilted his head. "I thought you could all read."

"What was the point of even writing that notice?!"

Satoru Gojo raised both hands in surrender, his smile only widening.

"All right, all right. To make it up to you, your teacher brought you a surprise."

He stepped aside and tipped his head toward the stone path behind him.

At the end of the path, beneath the bare branches of a ginkgo tree, a figure was walking toward them.

Yuji Itadori wore his familiar school uniform, his jacket unzipped to reveal a hoodie faded from washing.

He was a little thinner, but his shoulders were broader than they had been two months earlier, and his jawline had grown more defined. Only the pointed canine showing at the corner of his smile was as conspicuous as ever.

He stopped a few steps away, scratched the back of his head, and grinned.

"Hey. Long time no see."

The school gates fell silent for a full two seconds.

"Itadori?!"

Kugisaki rushed up in two strides, grabbed his collar, and dragged him down a couple of inches, staring at his face for three full seconds.

"...What have you been eating? How did you get taller?"

Itadori didn't resist her grip. He just grinned. "Gojo-sensei's special training package. Miserable as hell, but it keeps you fed."

Fushiguro came down the steps, his pace a little quicker than usual.

He stopped in front of Itadori and fell silent for a moment.

"...You're back?"

"Yeah. I'm back."

Fushiguro didn't say welcome back. He merely raised a hand and patted Itadori's shoulder, the corners of his tightly set mouth beginning to lift.

Kugisaki released Itadori's collar and punched him in the chest. "Don't screw up later. If you make us lose, I won't let you off."

Itadori nodded with a smile. "We won't lose."

Rihito came down the steps and met Itadori's eyes for a second.

Itadori raised his fist.

Rihito glanced down at it, then smiled too.

Thump.

Their fists bumped.

Neither said a word, but that single fist bump said everything they needed to say.

Satoru Gojo stood by the school gates, watching them, and slipped his hands back into his pockets.

"Everyone's here. Let's get going before the Kyoto bunch take over the venue."

Only then did Kugisaki remember her abandoned suitcase. She turned to retrieve it, but Fushiguro was already walking past her with its handle in his hand.

"Good old reliable Fushiguro." Kugisaki laughed, then strode after him.

Voices were already drifting over from the Goodwill Event venue. The Kyoto students had probably arrived.

An early-winter breeze blew in from the woods, carrying a clean chill.

Rihito didn't know what would happen today.

But there was one thing he knew for certain-

The Goodwill Event had officially begun!