After roughly ten minutes of commotion, Nobara Kugisaki finally let Yuji Itadori off the hook for the moment, tears still in her eyes.
Perhaps realizing just how miserable she looked, she turned her back on the pink-haired idiot.
But that turn let the other black-haired poser see her tear-streaked face. Anger flared inside her, and she immediately snapped at him.
Yet because of Itadori's "return from the dead," that outburst carried all sorts of tangled emotions, most of all sorrow.
What should have been a shout came out strained, sharp yet low, leaving only the hurt beneath her feigned strength.
"What?! Turn those damn eyes away! Don't look at me... sob..."
The scenes from the Juvenile Detention Center surfaced again. If only she hadn't been so weak, carried off by a cursed spirit and left dragging them down.
With their abilities, surely the two of them could have held out until Kamo Uncle arrived to help...
If I were just a little stronger, standing at the top like a real queen... would that idiot have been spared?
After returning to Jujutsu High, Nobara Kugisaki, who had never cared for training and only wanted to become beautiful, become a star, and rise above everyone else, found herself carrying a new sense of responsibility for others.
That was why, despite never training before and not even having bought workout clothes yet, she accepted Panda's guidance for the first time.
She felt the gap... When faced with a sudden physical attack, all three upperclassmen could dodge with ease. Even that poser Megumi Fushiguro could do it.
She couldn't.
And she refused to accept that!
Workout clothes, sneakers, hair ties to tie back her hair, all sorts of training equipment.
She pushed herself mercilessly, repeating an unimaginable amount of training every day.
Watching a