Huh, I actually know how to cook?

On the way to the cafeteria, Itadori eagerly peppered Megumi Fushiguro with questions about Jujutsu High.

Though Megumi Fushiguro wore a sour expression, he answered each one fairly calmly.

He had no choice but to go to the cafeteria with him. First, Itadori couldn't find it on his own. Second, he didn't dare let Itadori, who had Sukuna inside him, wander freely around a place with this absurd concentration of jujutsu sorcerers...

One wrong move, and the sorcerers here might off them.

Of course, it could also go the other way, with them offing everyone else.

"Megumi Fushiguro, what does the cafeteria serve? What are you having for lunch?"

Itadori wanted to get some ideas for himself and Sukuna beforehand.

"...Pretty much everything, I guess. You can look when we get there."

"Everything? That's great... Ah! Oh no!"

Itadori's quiet cry startled both Megumi Fushiguro and Sukuna.

[What happened?]

Itadori awkwardly patted his pockets. "I think I forgot to bring money."

[...]

Sukuna thought, I suspect you don't have any money to begin with, and I have evidence!

Going out to eat without bringing money? Was he planning to dine and dash?

Megumi Fushiguro pressed a hand to his forehead. "Relax. Jujutsu High's cafeteria is only open to us jujutsu sorcerers. It's an internal facility, so you don't have to pay."

Sukuna thought, So we really can eat for free?

He was envious. Those were some pretty nice perks.

"Huh? We don't even need to swipe a student card?" Itadori asked.

"No... It's basically the same handful of people coming and going, so I just need to introduce you today."

"Got it. My face is my meal pass."

Itadori paused.

"Then do they have fried rice, curry, ice cream, or pudding?"

He still remembered that Sukuna wanted those things.

Megumi Fushiguro thought, ...You're pretty demanding, aren't you?

...But isn't that a little too much food?

"...Don't waste anything," he warned.

That meant they had all of it. Itadori was delighted.

"I absolutely won't!"

He was the Tiger of West Junior High. His appetite could handle it.

Besides, he had Sukuna as his cheat code!

Sukuna thought, *???*

At the cafeteria, Itadori happily followed Megumi Fushiguro around to meet everyone.

Then he gathered everything he and Sukuna wanted to eat and set it on the table.

Looking at the two little mountains piled up before him, Megumi Fushiguro's mouth twitched.

"Can you finish all that?... Don't waste it!" he stressed again.

"Relax, I've got this!"

Itadori gave him a reassuring look.

Then he sat down, hunched over, and suddenly began acting furtive.

Megumi Fushiguro heard him lower his voice and quietly mutter to himself, "Which one do you want first?"

"...Pudding? You got it~"

He deftly tore off the packaging, opened the lid, and scooped up a spoonful-

Then shoved it into a mouth that had suddenly appeared on the back of his hand.

Megumi Fushiguro: "..."

Cough, cough, cough!!!

-What kind of horror movie was this?

"Is that... Sukuna?"

It was his first time seeing that mouth full of sharp teeth, but he guessed immediately.

"Yep! He suddenly learned to make a mouth today. Our teacher said it was a new skill he unlocked after eating the Second Finger."

Itadori answered without looking up, then added, "Sukuna, say hello to Megumi Fushiguro."

...Say hello, my ass. I'm not a pet.

Sukuna rolled his eyes irritably and urged, "Hurry up. Next spoonful."

After getting confirmation and personally hearing Sukuna speak, Megumi Fushiguro felt his entire worldview cracking.

There was so much wrong with this that he didn't know where to start.

Why would anyone openly feed a curse at Jujutsu High, a place full of jujutsu sorcerers? And why did they look so happy doing it?

He began to feel grateful that he wasn't particularly popular. If a few acquaintances came over to say hello right now... whose side was he supposed to take?

Meanwhile, Itadori had opened two tubs of ice cream and picked up his spoon to start feeding Sukuna.

"So? Is the ice cream good?"

"Mm... Not bad."

"Do you like chocolate or vanilla better?"

"They're both okay... If I had to pick, vanilla?"

"Sukuna..."

"Hm?"

"I just realized you've got a sweet tooth!"

"..."

Sukuna fell silent.

He didn't deny it, but...

Wasn't a king who loved sweets a little bad for his image?

Sukuna sank into silence, judging himself. Itadori was already used to it and paid him no mind, demolishing his own food like a whirlwind.

Megumi Fushiguro looked at Itadori across from him, then at the back of Itadori's hand, and suddenly felt his stomach ache.

Thinking about having to spend every day with him from now on, he decided he could start stocking up on stomach medicine.

"You two... Be a little more discreet..." he managed.

"If another jujutsu sorcerer sees you doing something this obvious, even Teacher Gojo won't be able to protect you."

How could a jujutsu sorcerer and a curse get along so lovingly? What about all the other sorcerers risking their lives fighting curses?

Itadori looked up in surprise. "Huh? Really?"

He thought for a moment, then lowered his head to whisper to Sukuna.

"Then how about moving your mouth to my palm, Sukuna? If someone comes over, I can just make a fist and they won't see you."

Sukuna thought, *...*

What a brilliant idea.

Despite his internal sarcasm, he obligingly moved to the other side.

Staying alive mattered, after all. The palm really was a little more discreet than the back of the hand.

"Curry rice. Curry rice."

"Oh, right."

Itadori put down his chopsticks, picked up a stainless steel spoon, and brought a spoonful of curry rice toward his palm.

Just as Sukuna bit down on the spoon, a sudden shout rang out behind them, startling them both.

"Megumi Fushiguro! Long time no see!"

Nearby, Takuma Ino, who had just returned from a mission, sauntered over, patted Megumi Fushiguro on the shoulder, and looked curiously at Itadori.

"Who's this...?"

Megumi Fushiguro pressed his lips together, his whole body tense as he answered stiffly, "A first-year student Teacher Gojo just enrolled. Yuji Itadori."

"Nice. You're finally not alone anymore."

Ino turned to greet Itadori. "Itadori, right? I'm Takuma Ino. Welcome to-"

His voice cut off abruptly.

Ino's gaze landed on the spoon in Itadori's right hand, and his eyes widened.

It might once have been a spoon.

Now, all that remained in Itadori's right hand was a length of handle. The bowl of the spoon had vanished.

Then came a crisp clink.

Itadori lifted his left hand, which had been covering the tabletop.

The broken-off bowl of the spoon lay there in plain sight.

Itadori: "..."

Megumi Fushiguro: "..."

Ino: "..."

"Heh, haha... You've got some strong teeth."

Ino laughed awkwardly and patted Megumi Fushiguro on the shoulder. "I'll go find Mr. Nanami. Take your time eating. Take your time."

With that, he turned and left, moving so fast it looked as though something was chasing him.

Sukuna: "..."

He really hadn't done it on purpose.

[There's definitely something wrong with this spoon's quality.]

Itadori weakly added, "But it's stainless steel."

[...]

[Does being stainless steel make it sturdy? Try squeezing it. See if you can break it.]

"Even if I can break it with my hand, I still can't bite through it..."

[...]

"...Anyway, do we have to pay for it...?"

[...I don't have any money.]

"Neither do I..."

The two penniless souls stared at each other.

Then they both looked at Megumi Fushiguro.

Megumi Fushiguro pressed a hand to his forehead.

Though he would have preferred to clutch his stomach.

"You don't have to pay. Just be more careful from now on and don't break anything else."

He probably really needed to buy some stomach medicine first.

Itadori ran off to get a new spoon.

Everyone continued eating in utter silence.

Perhaps because of the broken-spoon incident, Sukuna stopped eating after only a couple more bites.

"What do you think of the taste?" Itadori asked.

"It's average. The curry rice isn't good."

Itadori paused. "You can't take it out on the curry rice just because you bit through the spoon."

"I'm not taking anything out on it!"

Sukuna snapped, "Even I could make it better than this!"

"Huh? Sukuna, you actually know how to cook?"

Sukuna thought, *...*

Huh, I actually know how to cook?

He had really just blurted it out, but things blurted out like that often came from ingrained habits.

So I know how to cook...

That really didn't seem like something a king would do. Sukuna felt a little conflicted.

Curious, Itadori leaned closer and whispered, "How about finding a chance to cook sometime? I'd like to try it."

Sukuna bared his teeth.

"No cooking."

"Then what can I do?"

"Keep dreaming."

"..."

Sensing Sukuna's disdain, Itadori switched conversation partners.

"Megumi Fushiguro, our teacher said we're picking up a third student tomorrow. There are only three first-years? Isn't that too few?"

"Have you ever met anyone who could see curses before?" Megumi Fushiguro asked.

Itadori thought about it. "...No."

"That's why there aren't many jujutsu sorcerers to begin with," Megumi Fushiguro said.

"Oh. Then how many second-years are there?" Itadori asked.

"...Four," Megumi Fushiguro replied.

"That really is so few!... But if we count Sukuna, there are four of us too," Itadori said.

Megumi Fushiguro: "..."

Just how much do you like Sukuna? Have you forgotten he's a curse?

"By the way, should we get a gift before we pick him up tomorrow?" Itadori abruptly switched topics.

Megumi Fushiguro leaned back and posed the soul-searching question: "Do you have any money?"

Itadori: "..."

He sighed, and the food in his hands suddenly lost its appeal.

All his living expenses and the inheritance his grandfather had left him had gone toward his grandfather's funeral.

He was truly broke now. Not a penny to his name.

"Sukuna, let's go make some money."

[...How do you plan to do that?]

"Don't you know how to cook? Let's set up a food stall."

[!!!]

You want me, the great King of Curses, to run a food stall?!

"If you're worried about the hassle, you can leave everything else to me. All you have to do is cook."

"Don't you want to try buying food with money you earned yourself?"

Itadori sounded cheerful, and his argument seemed perfectly reasonable.

Sukuna firmly refused to fall for it.

He was a king. What king did his own cooking?

Even if he was broke, even if he died penniless, he would never cook!

-One day, much later, Sukuna cradled food he had made himself, looking utterly satisfied: Totally worth it!

With the food-stall plan dead before it began, Itadori felt a little disappointed. He supposed he would have to get a part-time job at a convenience store after all.

Perhaps Itadori's face was simply too expressive, because Megumi Fushiguro couldn't help reassuring him. "It's all right. There are hardly any expenses at Jujutsu High, and once you start taking missions to exorcise curses, you'll be able to earn bonuses too."

Itadori's eyes lit up. "Then when can I start taking missions?"

Megumi Fushiguro said, "Teacher Gojo should arrange some for you. Once you're strong enough, you can take them on yourself too."

Itadori rubbed his chin. "Sukuna, let's take some missions on weekends when we don't have classes."

[Can you even beat a curse?]

"That's what I've got you for, isn't it?"

[...]

Seriously? Was he going to milk him for everything he was worth?