Gojo Sensei's Dad?

Although no one in the world except Aikawa Kaze could obtain [positive energy] or use it yet, that hardly stopped him from dangling promises!

Besides, once his plan succeeded, everyone would have a chance to wield this "divine power"!

Of course, for now, he still needed to affirm the existence of "God" and demonstrate his "divine gift."

Even if someone who could detect lies came over, every word he said would be true-after all, the Geo Archon Morax really was a god, and he really had given him a Vision that allowed him to wield Geo power.

Smiling, Aikawa Kaze lifted the Geo Vision hanging at his waist and waved it in front of Maki.

"Anyone can use this power if they earn God's recognition!"

Naturally, that included people with a heavenly restriction who couldn't use cursed energy.

That was true.

As long as Morax was willing, he really could give Maki this power too.

"Don't joke around! I'll fight and work for the power I want myself! Who would pray to some vague, nonexistent god?!"

Maki's face darkened, and she mercilessly slashed at him again, striking even harder than before.

Maki Zenin didn't believe in gods.

If gods really existed, why had they let her and her sister suffer such unfair treatment?

If gods really existed, why had they allowed the disgusting Zenin Clan to continue existing?

If gods really existed, why hadn't they answered when the sisters were weak, when Mai cried helplessly?

"Shut up! You're really pissing me off right now! I'm definitely beating you into the ground today!!!!!"

Anger burned in Maki's eyes. It wasn't displeasure with Aikawa Kaze, but fury at the fate she and her sister had suffered.

She stood here precisely because she didn't believe in gods or fate, because she refused to obey the Zenin Clan's revolting rules about women having to serve their husbands and raise children.

Even with cursed energy so meager that she couldn't see cursed spirits, she gritted her teeth and kept pushing forward.

If she started believing in some god now, wouldn't that make all her perseverance and effort look ridiculous? Wouldn't it be a form of weakness, an attempt to rely on someone else?

So Maki had long since stopped praying for anything.

"Sorry..."

Sensing the fury blazing in Maki, Aikawa Kaze couldn't help reflecting on whether he had said something out of line.

Admiration shone in his eyes.

Although he couldn't truly share Maki's feelings, he understood her resolve.

Asking nothing of heaven, gods, or miracles, and fighting for whatever she wanted herself-wasn't that what it meant for human determination to triumph over fate?

Just like Jingwei Fills the Sea, The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains, and Kuafu Chases the Sun...

With that light shining within her, Maki was dazzling.

Aikawa Kaze smiled, but his gaze grew even sharper.

In truth, Visions were usually manifestations of an individual's will and wishes. Cases like Aikawa Kaze's, granted through a god's direct attention, were rare exceptions.

But for the sake of his plan, he had concealed the "truth" and disclosed only the "reality" people mistakenly believed in.

Because he needed this "divine miracle" to help build his plan.

-Still, I won't feel guilty or regret it.

After all, as an ordinary person from an ordinary world, he needed the resolve and madness to sacrifice everything if he wanted to achieve his ideals.

This little emotional conflict wouldn't hold him back.

In return, all he could do was devote himself to their fight with even greater care.

Aikawa Kaze watched Maki, his presence growing increasingly focused.

"Not bad, actually! You haven't let some stupid reason weaken you. That's good!"

"Of course, holding back to 'go easy on you' now would only make you angrier, right?"

Someone gentle and considerate like Yuta Okkottsu or Toge Inumaki might have found himself torn, worrying about Maki's feelings. Aikawa Kaze had no such reservations.

"Giving it my all is how I show respect for both you and myself."

-After all, I'm just an ordinary person.

Although people often assumed transmigrators were impressive and powerful, an ordinary person who came from a peaceful world had to pay an even greater price to embark on a path of constant battle.

Because he had to break out of his former "comfort zone" and force himself to face cruel reality.

Their battle grew ever wilder. The fierce winds stirred up by their clashes sent sand and stones flying everywhere, leaving the spectators barely able to make out what was happening.

The Athletic Field cracked, and the destruction even showed signs of approaching the scale of a small earthquake.

"Th-this... this... Isn't this bad? Someone stop them!"

"Spicy cod roe!"

"Where's Gojo Sensei? Right, Gojo Sensei was supposed to teach us today-"

"Hey, hey~ Your super-reliable Gojo Sensei is here! Yuta, hold my Kikufuku for me. No sneaking any!"

A white-haired man darted onto the field, tossed his bag of sweets to Yuta Okkotsu, then zipped between Aikawa Kaze and Maki Zenin as they fought tooth and nail.

"All right! That's~ enough~! Keep fighting and your mission pay won't cover the damages!"

Aikawa Kaze and Maki: "!!!"

The two had intended to ignore their white-haired teacher entirely, but those words made both of them freeze, struck by cruel reality.

Maki's situation went without saying. Having run away from home, she had to earn her own money and worry about both daily expenses and buying and maintaining cursed tools.

As for Aikawa Kaze... although he had an inheritance, it was essentially only enough to let him study and grow up without financial worries until adulthood. An overly extravagant lifestyle was out of the question.

For a moment, the terror of being ruled by money made them obediently stop.

Even so, when they looked at the shattered Athletic Field, which was so devastated it looked as though a special grade cursed spirit had rampaged through it, their eyes wandered guiltily.

By now, Maki had vented most of her anger.

As someone who owned up to her actions, she steeled herself and stepped forward, intending to put on a brave front-she might not be able to pay that much all at once, but if she paid in installments and took a few emergency missions...

"Ahem, Maki, have you forgotten what our teacher said when we enrolled?"

Unlike the more thin-skinned girl, Aikawa Kaze was a dependable adult with extensive experience in society. After one second of guilt, he decisively tossed his scruples aside, grabbed Maki before she could apologize, and turned the tables.

"Back then, our teacher said Jujutsu High would provide the finest educational resources. Obviously, that includes instruction, accommodations, training grounds, and so on!"

The more Aikawa Kaze spoke, the more justified he felt, his expression declaring that none of this was their fault.

"Maki and I were just carrying out perfectly normal sparring practice. The school's Athletic Field was too poorly built to serve its intended purpose. That's why this happened!"

With her sleeve caught, Maki instinctively fell silent. Then she heard her classmate's decidedly specious argument.

How should she put it? It did sound pretty reasonable.

Thinking of her various daily expenses and the exorbitant costs of buying and maintaining cursed tools, Maki hesitated for only half a second before firmly backing him up.

"Exactly! This definitely isn't our fault. It's the school's shoddy construction!"

"Right, right! We haven't complained about the school's false advertising or demanded compensation for emotional distress. Not only are we completely innocent, we're downright kind!"

"..." No, isn't filing a complaint going a little too far?

Maki's conscience gave a faint twinge. Ruthless as she was, however, she endured its reproach without voicing her thoughts and calmly nodded in support of Aikawa Kaze.

Who would've guessed? Aikawa Kaze could practically talk the dead back to life! I have to bring him along to haggle whenever I go shopping!

Watching the pair tell blatant lies in perfect harmony, Satoru Gojo rubbed his chin, unbothered by this minor loss.

The sum that terrified his two students was nothing at all to the super-rich Gojo Sensei.

"All right, I was joking. I won't really make you pay! This little bit of money is small change to Gojo Sensei!"

"Phew..."

Aikawa Kaze and Maki both sighed in relief. Even when Satoru Gojo announced that he would hand several of his upcoming missions over to them, neither reacted much.

After all, Satoru Gojo already had a habit of dumping his own missions on his students. This was normal.

"So, why were Maki and Kaze so worked up this time?"

Satoru Gojo raised one hand to ask like an inquisitive child, while taking his bag of sweets back from Yuta Okkotsu with the other.

"Don't tell me that while I was away, you went through some melodramatic, on-again, off-again tragic romance, and this was your breakup battle?"

"Of course not!"

Fuming, Maki pointed at the square, gemlike object at Aikawa Kaze's waist.

"Kaze said he met a kind god who blessed him, so he can use something called [positive energy]."

"Couldn't you already do that?" Satoru Gojo casually stuffed a Kikufuku into his mouth and mumbled, "Still, this God business sounds pretty interesting."

"Hmm... Come to think of it, I remember people used to say Gojo Sensei, with his Six Eyes, was a [child of god]!"

Panda propped up his chin and thought it over. No wonder something had felt strange. He whispered to Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki, sharing the earth-shattering gossip he had just uncovered.

A child of god's father was a god, and Aikawa Kaze had met a god. In other words...

"Doesn't that mean Kaze met Gojo Sensei's dad?"

"..."

For a moment, a suspicious silence settled over them.

Even someone as unflappable as Aikawa Kaze and as eccentric as Satoru Gojo felt as though lightning had struck them from head to toe, let alone the others, who were far less seasoned.

In a certain sense, Panda's destructive power really was terrifying!

But Satoru Gojo was Satoru Gojo. After the initial shock, he felt no shame or embarrassment whatsoever. Instead, he eagerly cupped his face in both hands, flashed an adorable smile, and swayed his hips like a high school girl.

"Oh my, I'm so curious! What is my dear daddy like? Could Kaze-chan arrange a father-son reunion for me? Satoru-chan is really, really curious!"

"..."

For some reason, Aikawa Kaze's thoughts veered off course for a moment.

Actually, because Liyue's Geo Archon was so closely connected to the Land of Rabbits, he seemed especially fond of white-haired people.

-If it's someone on Satoru Gojo's level, maybe that Geo Archon really wouldn't mind being called Dad?

Just kidding. No way.

In the end, Satoru Gojo still didn't get to meet the God he was so very, very curious about. The villainous Aikawa Kaze cruelly rejected the father-son "reunion" storyline.

"I just happened to be lucky enough to receive a glance from him."

As Aikawa Kaze said this, he fiddled with his Vision and shrugged, looking helpless.

"Even I have no way to attract that god's attention again-maybe Gojo Sensei could try carving a dragon and calling it Dad every day, then see whether God answers you?"

Satoru Gojo declined that suggestion.

However, with the Vision serving as evidence, Jujutsu Society now had no choice but to acknowledge that the seemingly nebulous [positive energy] Aikawa Kaze spoke of existed.

As for whether a god existed, everyone had their own opinion.

Of course, even after Jujutsu Society's higher-ups confirmed the existence of [positive energy], they wouldn't openly acknowledge it. Instead, they began researching that power in private, hoping to claim it for themselves.

The first to bear the brunt was Aikawa Kaze, who had finally enjoyed a stretch of peace.

When forcibly ordered to surrender his Vision, Aikawa Kaze gave them a mocking look and recalled it the very next second after it reached their hands.

"But unfortunately, you can't steal someone's wishes. Besides, this is a 'gift' from God!"

"Hahaha, their expressions really were entertaining."

The Strongest in Jujutsu Society had snatched a break from his busy schedule and used Teleportation to bring Aikawa Kaze to a dessert shop downtown, specifically so he could exchange information without interrupting his enjoyment.

"Those old geezers still wouldn't give up. They tried putting your Vision inside all sorts of seals, but unfortunately, none of them worked."

Listening to Satoru Gojo recount the scene, Aikawa Kaze couldn't help curling his lips into a smile.

No matter how many sneaky thieves tried to steal his Vision during his subsequent missions to research its power, not one of them succeeded.

"I heard Jujutsu Society has started secretly looking for shrine maidens and onmyoji?"

"Have they actually found any?"

"Whether their ancestors were genuine or not, the ones around now are either frauds or jujutsu sorcerer families."

Although Satoru Gojo already believed that [positive energy] really existed in this world, some questions remained.

"Your teacher is curious about that too! Those old conservatives are annoying, but they still have a pretty solid grip on all of Jujutsu Society. Yet even after searching everywhere, they haven't found a second example!"

Satoru Gojo removed his blindfold, his Azure Eyes quietly studying Aikawa Kaze.

"Could Kaze-chan be the only person in this world who can use this power? Or... is there actually something uniquely special about Kaze-chan?"