When Sherlock brought Shoko back to Jujutsu High, the very first thing she saw almost made her lose her composure.
Masamichi Yaga stood on the platform like an iron tower, his face dark, while Satoru Gojo knelt obediently before him with a whole string of lumps on his head.
Although Shoko had mostly healed Sherlock, he still needed her support just to barely stand.
At the sight of this dramatic scene, a faint smile finally appeared on Shoko's lips. She greeted Masamichi Yaga and prepared to help Sherlock to the infirmary first to heal the injuries Satoru Gojo had beaten into him.
Masamichi Yaga did not stop Shoko. God knew how panicked he had been when he discovered her missing yesterday, or how utterly hopeless he had felt when he found Sherlock lying on the classroom floor that morning, beaten beyond recognition.
He had nearly thought that fucking Curse Users or cursed spirits had breached Tokyo Jujutsu High!
Only after he summoned Satoru Gojo and learned the whole story from him did he breathe a sigh of relief. Although Gojo's extremely proud and cheerful account repeatedly made his vision go black, at least Tokyo Jujutsu High was safe.
With his blood pressure nearly bursting the blood vessels in his brain, Yaga treated Dickhead Cat to an unrestrained round of "iron-fisted guidance." Perhaps Dickhead Cat's howls had woken the unconscious Sherlock, or perhaps Sherlock had simply been tough enough to pull through.
In any case, almost as soon as Sherlock woke up, Dickhead Cat sent him off to bring Shoko back.
In fact, Sherlock would have gone to fetch Shoko even without Dickhead Cat saying anything. Given his condition at the time, he had even felt that if he did not get Shoko to give him a heal soon, he might well never see that night's moon.
Of course, after that damned Dickhead Cat had beaten him so viciously, there was absolutely no way Sherlock would not get revenge, even if his own smart mouth had started the whole thing.
So the instant Shoko helped Sherlock out through the classroom doorway, he decisively opened fire indiscriminately.
"Principal Yaga, Teacher Gojo knows Reverse Cursed Technique! He's leaving those lumps on his head untreated just so you'll calm down and feel too bad to hit him again!"
Having said that, Sherlock shut the classroom door without the slightest hesitation.
And after Sherlock exposed Dickhead Cat's little scheme, both Dickhead Cat's and Masamichi Yaga's roars rang out from behind the closed classroom door.
"Sherlock! You ungrateful disciple!!! Owww!!!"
"Satoru Gojo!!!!"
Only after hearing the sounds of punches and kicks from inside the classroom, along with Satoru Gojo's screams, did Sherlock smile in satisfaction. Pulling Shoko along, he hurriedly limped toward the infirmary.
He completely missed the strange expression on Shoko's face as she followed behind him.
Even after the two entered the infirmary and Sherlock lay down on a bed, Shoko still wore that strange expression as she stood beside him in her white coat.
"Seriously, Sherlock, if you can't learn Reverse Cursed Technique, you might end up dying at Satoru Gojo's hands rather than a cursed spirit's."
Sherlock looked utterly unconcerned by Shoko's jab.
"What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!"
That's not how you're supposed to use that saying, is it? And are you really sure Satoru Gojo can't beat you to death?
Shoko inwardly fired off a barrage of sarcastic comments at the smug-faced Sherlock, but her hands never stopped as she began healing him with Reverse Cursed Technique.
Both Satoru Gojo and Shoko seemed to have subconsciously forgotten exactly what had happened that night.
As for Sherlock, he did not care at all what had happened.
It was as though everything had happened, yet nothing had changed.
The only real change was the extra training Satoru Gojo gave Sherlock that afternoon. Yes, Sherlock's pride in "what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger" lasted only a few hours before crumbling beneath Satoru Gojo's iron fists.
Under Shoko's speechless gaze, Sherlock clung desperately to Satoru Gojo's leg on the athletic field, begging for mercy through tears and snot. No matter what, he refused to continue their so-called "hand-to-hand combat training."
Who the fuck used Black Flash in hand-to-hand combat practice?
Know what was most despair-inducing? The most despair-inducing part was that Satoru Gojo had specifically called Shoko over while drilling Sherlock, ensuring that any damage was immediately repaired. Sherlock could not even slack off if he wanted to!
Know what was even more despair-inducing? Your fucking Teacher Gojo insisted with absolute certainty that Sherlock could only learn the so-called Reverse Cursed Technique by being beaten to the brink of death, because that was how he himself had learned it!
Besides, with Shoko right there, he absolutely would not let Sherlock actually die!
Wait, was this fucking right?
He at least used to cover it up when he used official business to settle personal grudges. Now he couldn't even be bothered to hide it? What the fuck did he mean, having a healer nearby meant he could beat someone half to death? Was that fucking normal?
Put aside whether I can learn Reverse Cursed Technique for a moment. How the fuck was this any different from an execution by firing squad where they avoided the vitals, healed you after each shot, then kept shooting?
Oh, there was a difference. At least an execution squad used rifled guns that hit where they aimed, so you could tell at a glance they weren't hitting anything vital. Satoru Gojo had fucking swapped his for a short-barreled, flared-muzzle smoothbore!!!
The whole point was: I have no idea where that bullet undergoing Brownian motion will land either!
And what the fuck did he mean, you could only grasp Reverse Cursed Technique on the brink of death? Shoko was standing right over there, a whole living fucking person and a natural-born Reverse Cursed Technique user. Couldn't I just go humbly ask her for advice? Why the fuck did I have to nearly die to learn it?
Sherlock did not merely think this; he acted on it.
Satoru Gojo did not stop him. In fact, he watched as though enjoying a show while Sherlock scrambled and crawled over to Shoko to ask her to teach him how to use Reverse Cursed Technique.
Faced with Sherlock's request, Shoko glanced at Dickhead Cat standing in the distance with his arms folded and an expression of eager amusement, then at Sherlock, who was covered in tears and snot as though he was about to be shot the next second, and sighed helplessly.
"Listen carefully. Reverse Cursed Technique is actually very simple. Basically, multiplying two flows of negative cursed energy produces positive cursed energy, which is Reverse Cursed Technique.
"All you need to do is make your cursed energy go whoosh, then hoo, and you're done. Got it? Whoosh, hoo. Whoosh, hoo. It's very simple."
Sherlock: (o_0)???
Wait, what bullshit are you spouting? Is this something a fucking human can understand? I could barely follow the first part, but what the hell was that whoosh-hoo thing afterward?
Seeing the utterly baffled look on Sherlock's face, Shoko curled her lips in annoyance and delivered the same assessment she had given Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto back then.
"No talent!"
"????"