December 20.
Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"Huh?!"
Yuta Okkotsu stood on the steps in front of Jujutsu High's main building, his hand unconsciously settling on the hilt at his waist.
His brows creased slightly, and he looked up.
Panda, beside him, noticed something was wrong and turned his head.
"Yuta?"
"Someone's coming."
Okkotsu sounded certain.
Panda's ears twitched.
His round panda ears turned toward the sky, as if picking up a sound only he could hear.
Then his pupils contracted.
"Hey, hey."
"What's that?"
Following his gaze, they saw something descending through the clouds.
It was a bird.
An unnaturally large giant bird that filled over half their field of vision.
The giant bird's neck hung low, its beak slightly open, like a living transport.
"What a huge bird."
Okkotsu's hand had already closed fully around his sword hilt.
He was poised to draw at any moment.
Toge Inumaki stood to his left.
Maki Zenin stood on the other side, already holding her Staff-shaped Cursed Tool horizontally.
"A curse?"
The three humans and one panda stood in a fan formation, their gazes fixed on the descending giant bird.
The giant bird landed smoothly and opened its beak.
Several people walked out of its mouth.
At the front was a man wearing dark Buddhist robes.
Two girls followed behind him.
One wore twin braids, and the other had short hair. Their faces were similar, and they surveyed their surroundings with both wariness and curiosity in their eyes.
Behind them was Larue, a tall, muscular, naked man.
"He looks exactly like the photograph."
"Suguru Geto."
Okkotsu murmured the name.
He had heard that name from Satoru Gojo.
Suguru Geto's gaze swept quickly over them.
Then his gaze stopped.
It settled on Yuta Okkotsu.
He moved with almost no warning.
His hand emerged from