Shoko Ieiri wasn't at Jujutsu High. She was probably out on a mission or had slipped off somewhere to slack off.
Suguru Geto looked at the two beside him and made a suggestion.
"Should I put on sunglasses too? We could debut as a group right here."
Satoru Gojo didn't mind the idea. He grinned at Suguru Geto.
"Want me to give you a pair?"
Suguru Geto politely declined. "If I wore your sunglasses, I'd probably fall and break my leg the next day."
Some sunglasses were worn after you went blind. Satoru Gojo's made you blind the moment you put them on.
Miwa Chisei lovingly touched her sunglasses. They were her only pair, and losing them would really hurt.
Another nice thing about Jujutsu High was that it wasn't strict about students' appearances, so both Satoru Gojo and Miwa Chisei could wear sunglasses in class.
That made it very convenient for Miwa Chisei to sleep openly.
The brawling trio had a reasonably harmonious lunch. When they returned to the dorms, the dorm supervisor on the first floor gently called out to Miwa Chisei.
"Miwa, your custom uniforms are ready."
Uniforms were consumables at Jujutsu High, and Miwa Chisei received three sets for spring and autumn.
Delight lit up Miwa Chisei's tiny face. She reached out with both hands to accept them and replied politely.
"Thank you, Auntie Akisetsu."
Fujii Akisetsu immediately smiled. "Oh, you're welcome. If you need anything, Miwa, remember to let me know."
"Sorry for the trouble."
Watching Miwa Chisei, Satoru Gojo grumbled in displeasure.
"Look at you pretending to be all civilized. What an eyesore."
Miwa Chisei glanced at Satoru Gojo. She didn't want to talk to an idiot. Sometimes, a little sweet talk could win over your elders and earn you a few perks. Living on her own, Miwa Chisei understood that very well.
But when Suguru Geto looked at Miwa Chisei's uniforms, a splash of bright color among them surprised him.
"That's odd."
At Suguru Geto's words, Satoru Gojo quickly spotted the color too, then couldn't resist teasing her.
"Well, well. A problem kid after all."
Miwa Chisei examined her uniforms in confusion.
When asked what style she wanted, Miwa Chisei had chosen trousers. Perhaps because she was a girl, the legs had been flared. The fabric draped nicely, looking like a long skirt unless you examined it closely.
She had chosen a cropped jacket for ease of movement, partly because it made her look taller-she didn't like being called short all day.
But the matching belt was a muted, grayish blue. Everyone else's belts seemed to be plain black.
"Is something wrong?"
She directed the question at Suguru Geto. Clearly, she wasn't going to get an answer out of Satoru Gojo.
Suguru Geto hesitated, but answered anyway.
"I heard that students who need 'special attention' have a different color in their uniforms, so they're easy to spot. But I remember the other kid from the Miwa family having a perfectly normal uniform."
A flicker of confusion crossed Miwa Chisei's crimson eyes.
What was this? Were they singling her out?
Then she quickly shifted her gaze to the two in front of her and asked,
"Then why don't either of you have a different color?"
"You don't just have problems. You have serious problems."
This wasn't fair. Why didn't these two absurd, bizarre high school boys need "special attention," especially that silver-haired one with his punchable grin?
Suguru Geto didn't mind. He shrugged.
"There's nothing strange about our cursed energy, jujutsu, or backgrounds."
If anything was strange about them, it was their brains.
"You don't need to worry about it too much. The color suits you. A high school girl doesn't need to dress so drably, right?"
It seemed meant to comfort her, but it sounded a little strange too.
Miwa Chisei decided it really wasn't worth worrying about. Her background in the Miwa family was probably a sensitive issue. Miwa Riona hadn't been marked with a special color because of her connection to the Kamo Clan, perhaps.
The Kamo Clan.
Their inherited jujutsu was Blood Manipulation. Because the technique consumed so much blood, the Kamo Clan wasn't particularly populous and remained relatively mysterious and low-key.
She'd found herself a pretty good backer.
Miwa Chisei made the wry observation to herself, then took her uniforms and said goodbye to the two.
Watching her disappear up the stairs, Suguru Geto nudged Satoru Gojo with his shoulder and asked teasingly,
"What do you think?"
Damn it, why did everyone keep asking him that?
"The higher-ups have their eyes on her. What else is there to say?"
"Poor Miwa."
"Poor? The ones you should pity are the people targeting her."
Satoru Gojo gave a soft snort. She was terrifying when she went off the rails. Anyone who targeted her had to have eight lifetimes' worth of rotten luck.
You'd be eating those words someday, Satoru Gojo.
Just after returning to her room, she received a call from Eikura Yohei, who told her that her entrance grading test would take place tomorrow.
It was fairly straightforward. Two staff members from Jujutsu High would assess her hand-to-hand combat and jujutsu.
A jujutsu sorcerer's grade wasn't fixed. Those below Grade 1 could advance through assessments, but promotion to Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer was different: it required "recommendations."
After receiving recommendations from two Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerers who weren't their teachers, candidates had to undertake several missions alongside a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer or a sorcerer with Grade 1 ability.
How well they adapted to those missions would serve as the basis for evaluating whether they could become Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerers.
In fact, Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerers were the core strength of Jujutsu Society.
Whether in mission pay or access to confidential information, there was a gulf between Grade 1 and Semi-Grade 1.
Moreover, Grade 1 was a rank "within reach" of every jujutsu sorcerer.
With hard work and accumulated experience, becoming a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer wasn't just a dream. That was why the promotion system throughout Jujutsu Society was refined to keep things running smoothly.
"Special Grade Sorcerer," however, was different. To put it bluntly, without talent, you could forget about it. Hard work alone wouldn't get you there.
So "Special Grade missions" were practically like doing a striptease in front of the Grim Reaper. Once the title of "Special Grade Sorcerer" was attached to you, you were almost constantly living in the spotlight.
There was currently only one living Special Grade sorcerer-Yuki Tsukumo.
And she was a woman with no sense of duty toward Jujutsu Society, who spent all her time traveling instead of doing any real work.
Miwa Chisei had learned all this while chatting with Mei Mei. Now that she had time to sort through it, she discovered a crucial career path within Jujutsu Society.
As it turned out, becoming a "Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer" was the sweetest deal.
The pay for the missions available to her would be on an entirely different level, yet she wouldn't have to live in the spotlight like a "Special Grade Sorcerer." With that title, the most difficult missions were bound to be forced on her.
She had a goal to work toward again: becoming a "Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer." She had no grand ambitions. People needed to know when to be satisfied.
In the future, this goal would make certain people grit their teeth in frustration.
"Come on a mission with me. Hurry up, hurry up."
"A Special Grade mission? I'm Grade 1, so I'm not qualified. Go by yourself."
"Damn, you really have no shame."
When it came to keeping her grade down, Miwa Chisei was serious.
Before you continue