The corners of Wangchuan's mouth curved slightly, but the hand holding his phone stayed still.
"Who knows?"
"Maybe he figured it out himself."
"Oh, come on! You definitely said something!" Satoru Gojo persisted on the other end. "Chuan-Chuan~ Just tell me~"
"I'm hanging up."
"Wait, wait, wait! I won't ask! But do you want to come visit Jujutsu High? Yuta's really made a lot of progress lately."
"When I have time."
"You say that every time."
"Bye."
Wangchuan briskly pressed the end-call button, lowered his phone from his ear, and looked down to lock the screen.
A few students in sportswear walked out through the school gates.
They looked as though they had just returned from PE, with sweat still on their foreheads.
The boy at the front gesticulated wildly as he described something, his loud voice carrying through the iron fence to Wangchuan's ears.
"...and then Itadori threw one punch!! Sent that guy flying! He went so far!"
"Seriously?!"
"Seriously! I saw it myself! His feet actually left the ground!"
"Oh my god, Itadori's way too strong..."
"That guy was using his height to bully people, and Itadori couldn't stand it, so..."
Holding his coffee, Wangchuan naturally slowed his steps.
He turned his head, his gaze passing through the gaps in the iron fence to the edge of the school field.
Several students stood talking in a group, one figure particularly conspicuous from behind.
With short pink hair and a build considerably sturdier than his peers, he wore sportswear and stood with his back to the gates, laughing as he said something to his friends.
"...Itadori."
Wangchuan quietly repeated the name, his coffee cup pausing at his lips.
He studied that figure from behind.
"The protagonist, huh."
The students were still chattering about what had happened.
The pink-haired boy in their midst turned around, revealing a lively face with a bright, open smile.
He reached out to pat the shoulder of a boy a head shorter than him, his voice carrying across the field.
"That guy had it coming! That's what he gets for bullying the younger students!"
The students around him chimed in.
Wangchuan withdrew his gaze, lowered the coffee cup from his lips, and leisurely turned to continue down the street.
He left the school gates behind, the students' playful voices gradually fading into Sendai's bustling afternoon streets.
"Yuji Itadori..."
The curve of his lips remained.
"Sendai, Sugisawa Third High School, June 2017."
"Almost time."
He looked up at the sky overhead and gently swirled the coffee cup in his hand.
"...now, I'll just wait and see when Ryomen Sukuna's finger shows up."
As he spoke, several slouching figures suddenly blocked the road ahead.
"Hm?!"
Wangchuan stopped, the coffee cup wobbling in his hand.
Six or seven young men stood before him, dressed in garish clothes with hair dyed every color.
Some wore three or four studs in one ear; others had crooked tattoos on their arms, cigarettes hanging from their mouths and trouble in their eyes.
Their leader was the tallest, with faded blond hair and a thick chain around his neck. He lifted his chin at Wangchuan.
"Hey, hey, hey, you there."
He took a step forward with his toes turned outward, pulled the cigarette from the corner of his mouth, and flicked off the ash.
"You know where you are?"
Holding his coffee, Wangchuan looked at him, then at the cluster of delinquent faces behind him, his expression barely changing.
Seeing him stay silent, the blond assumed he was scared. His mouth twisted into a smug grin.
"What, you mute?"
"Listen up. We run this street."
"You're from another school, aren't you? You look the type."
"Pretty tall and handsome, too."
He looked Wangchuan's clothes up and down.
A simple casual T-shirt and trousers, clean and tidy-it certainly wasn't the local delinquent style.
Even more certain now, he stepped closer and lowered his voice, putting on a deliberately menacing tone.
"Since you're here, you've gotta pay a toll, right?"
"Pocket money, phone, watch, whatever. You decide."
Wangchuan looked down at himself.
His human body was almost twenty-five.
Although this face did look young, wasn't being mistaken for a middle schooler a bit ridiculous?
He couldn't help laughing.
"Pfft."
It was a faint laugh, but the blond took it entirely differently.
His brows knitted. "What are you laughing at? Looking down on us?"
The delinquents behind him also crowded a step closer.
They shouted over one another.
"This guy asking for a beating?"
"Why waste words? Just search him."
"Those shoes look pretty good to me."
Before Wangchuan could speak, a voice cut in from the side, carrying the distinctive clarity and conviction of youth.
"Hey!"
Footsteps came running up from behind Wangchuan, pattering against the pavement tiles.
Then a figure stepped between him and the delinquents.
Short pink hair, a loose athletic jacket, and a sturdy frame that completely shielded Wangchuan as he stood there.
Yuji Itadori had both hands in his school uniform trouser pockets.
His chin slightly raised, he faced the delinquents with an expression far too serious for an ordinary middle schooler.
"Didn't I tell you?"
"Don't let me catch you bullying people here again."
The blond's expression changed the moment he saw Itadori.
He retreated half a step, though his words stayed defiant.
"...Itadori, you've got it wrong."
"We were just joking around with this guy."
"Joking around?" Itadori quickly glanced back at Wangchuan, confirmed he was all right, then turned to stare at the blond again.
"He was just standing here doing nothing, and four or five of you surrounded him. You call that joking around?"
"We didn't even touch him."
"If I catch you again," Itadori's voice deepened.
"I'll beat you up every single time."
"The guy you put in the hospital last time just got out. You want to keep him company?"
The blond opened his mouth, then glanced at Itadori's clenched fists and finally backed down.
He threw his cigarette on the ground, ground it beneath his foot, and jerked his head at the others. "...let's go, let's go. What rotten luck."
The delinquents hunched their shoulders and skirted around them, quickly disappearing into an alley at the corner.
Itadori watched them leave before turning around, the fierceness on his face vanishing at once.
A slightly embarrassed smile replaced it.
He scratched the back of his head and bowed slightly to Wangchuan.
"Sorry, sorry."
"Those guys are always like that, picking fights whenever they see someone alone."
"Are you okay? They didn't touch you?"
Wangchuan stood where he was, still holding his iced coffee, and looked at the pink-haired boy before him.
As expected of the most likable character in the anime, he really was filled with a sense of justice from head to toe.
He silently made that assessment, then smiled at Itadori, his tone genuinely gentle.
"I'm fine."
"You got here before they could touch me."
"That's good!" Itadori sighed in relief and looked Wangchuan up and down.
"Are you from another school? I don't think I've seen you before. Visiting Sendai?"
"Yeah, something like that." Wangchuan offered no further explanation, his gaze settling on Itadori's lively face.
"Your name's Itadori? I heard them call you that."
"Yeah, I'm Yuji Itadori! From Sugisawa Third High School." Itadori grinned, showing white teeth.
"What's your name?"
Wangchuan paused, then smiled as well. "...Wangchuan."
"Wangchuan...that's an unusual name." Itadori tilted his head. "Are you Chinese?"
"Yeah."
"Oh! Then what brings you to Sendai? Looking for someone?"
"Something like that." Wangchuan swirled the coffee cup in his hand. "Passing through, taking care of something."
Itadori didn't press him and dusted off his hands.
"All right!"
"Be careful on your own, then. Those guys might be cowards, but sometimes they come back for payback."
"If anything happens, come find me at Sugisawa Third! I'm usually by the field."
With that, he waved at Wangchuan, turned, and ran back toward the school.
His sneakers made light, brisk sounds against the ground, his short pink hair bobbing in the afternoon sunlight before quickly disappearing beyond the school gates.
Wangchuan watched that figure disappear behind the iron fence, then looked down, finished the last mouthful of iced coffee, and crushed the paper cup.
"...Interesting."
He tossed the paper cup into a roadside trash can and slipped his hands back into his trouser pockets.
"I really hope to see you at Jujutsu High, Yuji Itadori."
Before you continue