"Huh, Geto, is this really Tokyo?"
Nanako Hasaba looked around at the lush mountain forests and old-fashioned buildings, blurting out her thoughts without reading the room at all.
"It feels so rural."
"Nanako, that's rude."
Mimiko Hasaba hugged the Cursed Doll she never went anywhere without and reminded her quietly, though her gaze surveyed their unfamiliar surroundings with just as much curiosity.
"Mimiko, you're thinking the same thing, aren't you?"
If the negotiations went smoothly, Geto planned to enroll Nanako and Mimiko at Jujutsu High so they could spend more time with people their own age.
For that reason, both girls were wearing new backpacks printed with popular cartoon characters. Their suitcases were temporarily stored in the Inventory Curse Worm's storage space.
"Geto, who are those people?" Mimiko asked quietly, her gaze settling on the serious-faced students opposite them.
"Ah! It's a panda! So cute!"
Nanako had completely forgotten her nerves. Her eyes lit up as she pulled her phone from her pocket and snapped several photos of Panda in quick succession.
"I'm the one who wants to know who you are! Yuta won't let intruders off the hook!"
Panda shouted indignantly and adopted a fighting stance for good measure-though the round shape of his panda core made the pose rather unintimidating.
"Kelp!" Toge Inumaki agreed, pulling down his collar with his cursed speech ready to fire.
"Huh?" Suddenly singled out and assigned the role of their main fighter, Yuta pointed at himself blankly, looking rather flustered.
"I suggest you get out of here," Maki said, casually resting her long blade on her shoulder and raising her chin with imposing confidence, "before Yuta beats you senseless!"
"Huh?!"
"Hello there, Yuta Okkotsu."
Suguru Geto's voice suddenly sounded right beside Yuta-his cursed-energy-enhanced footwork had carried him over with ghostly speed, as though he had teleported.
He naturally clasped Yuta's somewhat stiff right hand in both of his own, his manner so friendly that he might have been an upperclassman just one year ahead, returning to visit his juniors.
"My name is Suguru Geto. I was in the same year as Satoru Gojo."
"Huh? Oh, hello..." Thoroughly bewildered, Yuta responded on reflex, his brain still processing this sudden close encounter.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to start trouble."
Geto smoothly released his hand and draped an arm lightly around Yuta's shoulders instead, the gesture familiar and easy.
"I heard this year's first-years are all pretty good, so I came back to have a look. Is Satoru Gojo your teacher?"
"Ah, yes."
"Geto," a steady, resonant voice interrupted this excessively friendly exchange, "could you please step away from those children first?"
Masamichi Yaga arrived first with Mei Mei, Atsuya Kusakabe, Kento Nanami, and Kinji Hakari.
Behind them, the Grade 2 Sorcerers Kirara Hoshi and Takuma Ino slipped nonchalantly into the crowd, quietly taking up advantageous positions.
"Mr. Yaga, it's been a while!" Geto did not remove his arm from Yuta Okkotsu's shoulders. He merely turned his head, his face breaking into an exceptionally bright smile.
"Geto, what exactly are you here for?" Yaga's expression was stern, his eyes fixed on Geto without the slightest intention of exchanging pleasantries.
"Well, that's a long story."
Suguru Geto's smile remained unchanged as his gaze leisurely swept over the familiar and unfamiliar faces gathering one after another, his meaning implicit.
"And some things... can't be explained properly until everyone involved is here. So let's wait for Satoru and Shoko before we talk."
Yaga sighed inwardly and, out of habit, began grumbling about Satoru Gojo's tendency to drop the ball whenever it mattered most.
He had sent him to notify the other Grade 1 Sorcerers on campus just a few minutes ago. Now everyone who needed to come had arrived, and the situation was verging on uncontrollable, yet the person involved who should have arrived first-and whose presence mattered most-was nowhere to be seen.
What on earth was he doing?
About two minutes earlier, Satoru Gojo had stopped without warning while teleporting toward the School Infirmary to find Shoko Ieiri.
A figure dropped straight down from high above-more precisely, from directly over the barrier's dome.
He landed with absolute silence and steadiness, stirring not the slightest gust of air or even disturbing a single falling leaf.
He had drawn in all of his cursed energy, an amount vast enough to leave most sorcerers feeling suffocated, as naturally as breathing. It remained contained beneath the surface of his body without the slightest leakage.
To the eye and ordinary senses, he was as quiet as a plant, blending perfectly into his surroundings.
That was why Principal Yaga had failed to "sense" him-on the "cursed energy radar" most sorcerers relied on, that area was completely empty.
Their attention would only be drawn to Suguru Geto, who made no effort to conceal the imposing presence of his cursed energy, letting it radiate openly.
But Satoru Gojo could see him.
Through the Six Eyes, which perceived every flow of energy and saw through to the essence of all things, the newcomer's cursed energy even exerted a faint pressure on reality, radiating a presence that reached into the heavens-like a perfectly controlled volcano capable of erupting at any moment.
"Hello, Satoru Gojo. I've heard a great deal about you." Dio raised a hand in greeting first.
"Hello~" Satoru Gojo drew out the word. Even with his signature black blindfold covering his face, his unique air of ease was palpable.
"There's something I need to ask you in private first." Dio came straight to the point without any preamble. "If Suguru Geto intended to turn back from the path he's taken, would you be willing to accept him again?"
"!" Satoru Gojo visibly hesitated for an instant, an exceedingly faint crack appearing in his usual mask of ease.
He hesitated for several seconds before speaking slowly, his voice a little lower than usual. "...He's my one and only best friend. So... I probably would.
"But we went our separate ways a long time ago-it's been ten years. Would he really turn over a new leaf now? Why... are you asking me this?"
"Though all I know comes from hearsay, even I can tell that if you'd wanted to kill him, he wouldn't have lived to see this year.
"Don't give me that bullshit about there being civilians nearby at the time.
"At the end of the day, the only reason he's been able to gather curse users and build up his power is because you've allowed it.
"You only care whether he lives or dies. You don't feel any regret over the strangers who die as a result."
Dio's gaze seemed to pierce the black blindfold, staring straight into the legendary Six Eyes behind it.
"'Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one.'
"Because the stars belong to everyone, they have never belonged to anyone. If you love everyone, that is the same as loving no one.
"You're so arrogant that, deep down, you see non-sorcerers as another species.
"You protect humans from their natural predators-cursed spirits-the way someone might protect little animals they keep as pets.
"And when those little animals kill one another, that's their own business. Am I right?"
Satoru Gojo fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, a trace of indescribably complicated emotion mingling with the sound.
"Heh, hahaha-good grief! If there really is a god directing fate, they must have arranged my relationship with Geto very cleverly!"
Before you continue