My treat!

The trip down the mountain was much lighter than the climb up.

"Hey~"

"Mr. Wangchuan, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure."

Kasumi Miwa walked beside Wangchuan, a little behind him, taking quick steps and almost skipping to keep up with his stride.

Her sparkling eyes stayed fixed on his profile, and her mouth ran like a faucet that had been turned on full blast.

"You know?"

"I just heard Todo mention it, but what kind of cursed technique is that gravity thing of yours?"

"Is it a sorcerer's reversal?"

"Does it have a range limit? Can you control its direction?"

"Todo said those three Special Grades couldn't resist at all when they were pulled over."

"Does it attack indiscriminately, or..."

She rattled off five or six questions in one breath, without even pausing for air.

Wangchuan turned to glance at her, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.

"Too many questions. One at a time."

Kasumi Miwa stuck out her tongue sheepishly, but soon pressed him again.

"Then do you know Mr. Satoru Gojo?"

"The Satoru Gojo from Tokyo Jujutsu High!"

"I heard you two are really close? What kind of person is he, really? Is he actually as strong as the rumors say?"

When Wangchuan heard the name Satoru Gojo.

"...I know him."

"As for how close we are, we're so-so."

In Wangchuan's dictionary, "so-so" probably meant very close but unwilling to admit it.

Kasumi Miwa clearly failed to pick up on that, though, and kept chattering beside him.

"Teacher? She's calling him a teacher?"

A few steps behind them, Mai Zenin's voice carried over, distinctly puzzled.

She walked beside Momo Nishimiya with her arms folded, her gaze resting on the pink-haired younger student ahead.

Then it shifted to Wangchuan's back, her brows drawing together slightly.

"He's from Tokyo Jujutsu High, right? Why are we Kyoto students calling him a teacher?"

Carrying a broom taller than she was over her shoulder, Momo Nishimiya waved a hand nonchalantly.

"Oh, what does it matter!"

"Mai."

"We're sister schools! Besides, he really is stronger than us. Calling him a teacher doesn't cost us anything."

She paused, then added another remark, her voice carrying that particular teenage girl's air of absolute conviction.

"Besides, he's Ms. Utahime's boyfriend. Isn't it only natural to call him a teacher?"

Mai Zenin fell silent for a moment, as though digesting the chain of logic in that statement.

Two seconds passed, and she offered no objection.

Her gaze swept past Wangchuan's back, then settled on Aoi Todo.

The wound on his left arm had completely healed, without even a scar remaining.

She had seen the healing effects of Reverse Cursed Technique, but never seen it output to this extent.

That man had healed every injury on Aoi Todo's body with just a casual wave of his hand.

"...He's not just powerful."

Mai Zenin spoke very quietly, almost as though talking to herself.

"He can output Reverse Cursed Technique, too."

"Isn't that a little overpowered?"

"Hm?" Momo Nishimiya hadn't heard her clearly and tilted her head toward her. "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Mai Zenin withdrew her gaze and quickened her pace for a couple of steps to catch up with the group ahead.

The stone steps rounded a bend, and several figures suddenly appeared at the corner of the mountain path ahead.

Utahime Iori stood in the shade of that old camphor tree with two support staff from Kyoto Jujutsu High, a phone in her hand. Its screen was still lit, and she looked as though she had just been about to make a call.

When she saw the group emerge around the bend, she visibly let out a great breath of relief.

Her gaze quickly swept through the group, confirming that Momo Nishimiya, Kasumi Miwa, Mai Zenin, and Aoi Todo were all there, safe and sound.

Then her eyes settled on Wangchuan, and she strode toward him.

"You're out."

Her voice had that tone of someone trying hard to stay calm while still betraying concern, and she stood before Wangchuan, looking him up and down.

"Are you all right?"

"What could possibly happen to me?" Wangchuan lifted his chin, his tone carrying its usual laziness.

Utahime's gaze lingered on him for two seconds. Only after confirming that even his clothes weren't wrinkled did she turn to look at Aoi Todo and the other students.

"What about you? Is anyone seriously injured?"

"No!" Aoi Todo thumped his chest hard enough to produce dull thuds.

"Wangchuan healed all my injuries!"

The tension between Utahime's brows eased a little, and she turned back to Wangchuan, her voice softer than before.

"Thank you."

At those words, the curve of Wangchuan's lips deepened.

He tilted his head toward Utahime, his tone carrying that infuriatingly teasing note she knew so well.

"Oh? Utahime Iori actually knows how to say thank you?"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You never struck me as the type to say thank you."

Wangchuan pulled his hands out of his pockets, folded his arms, and raised his chin slightly.

"Looks like you really have changed quite a bit lately, Ms. Utahime."

Utahime Iori's temple twitched.

She said nothing.

She raised her hand, clenched it into a fist, and swung it at Wangchuan's shoulder.

It wasn't a hard blow, but the angle was tricky, landing precisely on the spot along the edge of his shoulder blade where there wasn't much flesh.

"Ow."

Wangchuan flinched in pain, drawing his shoulder in, but the smile on his face grew wider.

"You!" Utahime pulled her fist back and glared furiously at him, though the tips of her ears had already begun to redden.

"I told you not to hang around that scumbag Satoru Gojo!"

"Listen to yourself now! You're even starting to sound like that scumbag!"

Wangchuan rubbed the shoulder she'd hit, watching her with a chuckle.

"...I'll try. I'll try."

Utahime looked at his utterly shameless expression as though she wanted to punch him again, but ultimately lowered her hand.

She let out a long breath.

The force she had just built up slowly drained from her face, bit by bit, becoming an expression somewhere between helplessness and surrender.

"Forget it."

"But I still have to thank you."

"Chuan!"

Several stifled, distorted laughs came from behind them.

Wangchuan turned his head just in time to see Aoi Todo nudging Momo Nishimiya's arm with his elbow, the two exchanging meaningful looks as they held back their laughter.

Kasumi Miwa covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking. Even the corners of Mai Zenin's lips lifted slightly, though she quickly flattened them again.

Noticing the students' reactions, Utahime's lingering blush instantly deepened another shade.

She cleared her throat and coughed hard twice.

"Ahem!"

The laughter subsided a little, but the students' eyes kept darting between Wangchuan and Utahime, as though they couldn't get enough.

Utahime took a deep breath, then planted her hands on her hips and raised her chin slightly, as though she had made up her mind.

"Forget it. I'm ignoring all of you."

"Today."

She paused, sweeping her gaze over the students' faces before returning it to Wangchuan.

"It's my treat."

"Dinner tonight is on me."

For a moment after she spoke, the group went quiet. Then Momo Nishimiya was the first to cheer, while Kasumi Miwa nodded repeatedly.

Even the usually aloof Mai Zenin raised an eyebrow slightly, showing a rare expression.

"Yay! Ms. Utahime's treating us!"

"Barbecue! Let's have barbecue!"

"Kyoto wagyu barbecue! I've wanted to try it forever!"

Wangchuan looked at the students, who had erupted with excitement in an instant, then at Utahime's expression as she worked hard to maintain her authority as a teacher.

Yet a hint of a smile hid in her eyes, and his lips curved slightly.

Utahime Iori also withdrew her gaze and continued down the stone steps, her pace a little lighter than before.

"Let's go."

"Chuan, I've already picked out a Chongqing hot pot place, your favorite."

"Huh?!"

"Hot pot? Ma'am, I want barbecue."

"All of you, shut up!"

"Mm, hot pot's pretty good, too."

Aoi Todo spoke with a grin.