"I didn't see this coming."
Satoru Gojo leaned against the railing, hands in his pockets, a teasing note in his voice.
"Mei Mei's usually so shrewd, yet she's actually sharing clients with you."
"Doesn't she always keep everything to herself?"
Wangchuan slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned to glance at him.
"You have too many cursed spirits in Japan and too few jujutsu sorcerers."
"Mei Mei can't handle that much work alone. Teamwork's the way to go."
"Tsk, I guess you've got a point."
His gaze settled back on Satoru Gojo.
Some of the casualness left his tone.
"But you."
"Haven't you always been the one who stands supreme above heaven and earth? And now you're asking me to be your safety net?"
Satoru Gojo didn't answer immediately.
He remained leaning against the railing, but behind his sunglasses, his gaze shifted toward the darkness shrouded by the curtain over the field.
The night breeze stirred his silver-white hair. A few seconds passed before he spoke.
"Before I met you, yes."
For once, his voice lacked its exaggerated lilt. It was calm and even, as though he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.
"I felt invincible. I never even thought much of that so-called King of Curses, Sukuna."
He paused and turned to look at Wangchuan.
His azure eyes curved slightly behind his sunglasses.
"But after meeting you."
He stopped there.
Satoru Gojo didn't finish.
He merely smiled. Then Satoru Gojo suddenly laughed again, returning to his usual tone.
"Besides, the Jujutsu Higher-Ups have been pestering me to try persuading you again, to ask if you'd be willing to join in name."
"In name?"
"Right. No office hours, no classes. Take missions if you feel like it, turn them down if you don't."
Satoru Gojo counted them off on his fingers.
"You still get a monthly salary, plus extra pay for every mission you complete."
"Much better terms than the regular jujutsu sorcerers get."
Wangchuan raised an eyebrow. "Those people at Jujutsu Headquarters would offer terms like that?"
"I forced them to," Satoru Gojo said, utterly unabashed.
"I told them, if you don't agree, I'll dump every grade-one mission and above on Wangchuan, then have him charge two hundred percent extra for each one he takes. We'll see who's crying then."
Wangchuan couldn't help laughing. "Aren't you throwing me into the fire?"
"No way. This is what we call a win-win."
Satoru Gojo leaned a little closer, lowering his voice a notch. "Seriously, I have my own selfish reasons too."
Wangchuan looked at him.
"Whether it's wanting you as a comrade or finding someone my students can count on."
Satoru Gojo spoke with a rare, unvarnished sincerity. "Either way, I'd really like you to stay here."
Wangchuan was silent for a few seconds.
Then he spoke, his tone softer than before, with less teasing and distance. "All right."
"Huh?"
"I said all right." Wangchuan looked at him.
"I'll join in name."
"I'll be fighting cursed spirits wherever I go anyway. A steady salary beats waiting for jobs."
Satoru Gojo's eyes lit up at once.
Behind his sunglasses, they instantly curved into crescents.
"Really?! Chuan."
"You agreed so easily! I had this whole speech ready. I wasted half an hour memorizing it!"
"You could spend that half hour saying something else."
"Like what?"
"Like how you can let go of me now."
Satoru Gojo looked down.
At some point, he had draped his entire body over Wangchuan.
His arms were wrapped around Wangchuan's shoulders, making him look like an oversized accessory.
He reluctantly let go. "So cold..."
"Get lost."
The black curtain over the field suddenly began trembling, then slowly dispersed, dissolving into the night like mist.
As the curtain receded, it revealed the figure in the middle of the field.
Maki was on Yuta Okkotsu's back.
She was panting, her uniform smeared with dust and dirt, but she didn't seem seriously injured.
"Let's go." Wangchuan straightened and walked toward the field. "Those students of yours must be pretty badly hurt."
"How do you know?"
"Because I heard Maki swearing."
One evening, a few days later.
Inside an izakaya.
Satoru Gojo stood at one end of a long table.
He held a glass of sparkling wine he had dug up from somewhere. The amber liquid swirled in the glass, making his face look especially radiant.
He cleared his throat, raised his voice a full octave, and shouted in every direction.
"Come on, everyone!"
"A toast to Wangchuan officially joining our Jujutsu High!"
"Cheers!"
Panda was the first to respond, holding a glass of juice in his furry paw, though he shouted louder than anyone.
"Cheers, cheers!"
For once, Maki Zenin wasn't wearing a stern expression. She raised a cup of tea, and her eyes alone made it clear she was in a good mood.
She clinked her cup against Yuta Okkotsu's beside her.
He froze, then hurriedly lifted his glass, nearly spilling it in his fluster.
"Ah, cheers!"
Yuta Okkotsu still sounded a little nervous, but he was clearly much more relaxed than yesterday. He
stole a glance at Wangchuan, then lowered his head and sipped his drink.
Toge Inumaki stood beside Maki, holding his glass high as he called out in that ever-unchanging voice tinged with a smile.
"Salmon roe!"
Happy.
Wangchuan sat farther in at the long table.
A barely touched cup of sake sat beside his hand as he watched the tableful of people making a commotion.
He wore simple black casual clothes.
"I can't believe it!"
An even rougher, more excited voice burst out from the other end of the table.
"Wangchuan really joined Jujutsu High! And he's the fifth Special Grade! I told you he'd join sooner or later!"
Kinji Hakari sprang out of his chair.
He raised his glass with one hand and slapped the table with the other, his golden hair gleaming under the lights.
Beside him, Kirara Hoshi smiled as he linked an arm through Hakari's. Holding a drink in his other hand, he winked at Wangchuan.
"Welcome, welcome! We're coworkers now, Wangchuan, sir~"
"...Why does that sound so weird coming from you two?"
Wangchuan lifted his cup and took a sip, his tone languid.
"And I didn't join. I'm only here in name. In name, understand? I don't keep office hours."
"No office hours, no regular meetings, no reading documents."
Satoru Gojo recited the rest for him, grinning even more broadly.
"We remember! Don't worry! You just need to show your face once in a while!"
Wangchuan glanced at him and didn't argue further.
The dining hall's lights cast everyone's shadows onto the floor, warm and mellow.
Wangchuan's gaze swept over the faces around the table.
Panda was gesturing something to Toge Inumaki, who kept nodding; Maki leaned back in her chair with her teacup, her expression unusually relaxed.
Yuta Okkotsu sat upright and meek.
Kinji Hakari and Kirara Hoshi were already fooling around with Satoru Gojo, the three gathered around a corner of the table, debating some piece of Jujutsu High gossip.
He drew his gaze back and suddenly noticed someone else sitting beside him.
Mei Mei slowly set her cup on the table, her eyes on Wangchuan.
"...What are you doing here too?" Wangchuan turned to ask her.
Mei Mei lifted her cup and took a sip, her tone unhurried. "Gojo invited me."
"And you came just because he invited you?"
"He said there'd be good food." Mei Mei's expression didn't change. "And he'd reimburse my fare."
Wangchuan fell silent for a second, then nodded. "...Fair enough."
Mei Mei smiled, glancing over the rim of her cup at the rowdy table as she lowered her voice a notch.
"Besides, I graduated from Jujutsu High too. I'm a freelance jujutsu sorcerer now, but coming to see what you're like officially joining Jujutsu High is quite interesting."
Wangchuan opened his mouth, but in the end, he merely grunted and lifted his cup for another sip.
"Speaking of which."
Mei Mei suddenly turned toward him, changing the subject. "That job I mentioned yesterday."
"Hmm? The big one?"
"Yes. But there's no rush." Mei Mei set her cup back on the table, her gaze drifting toward Satoru Gojo.
"Enjoy yourself with this crowd first. We can talk afterward."
Wangchuan followed her gaze.
At some point, Satoru Gojo had climbed onto a chair. He was raising his glass and delivering another speech welcoming their new coworker, while several people below egged him on.
Watching the scene, Wangchuan finally let the smile he had been holding back curve a little more freely.
"...All right."
He lifted his cup and clinked its rim against Mei Mei's.
"We'll talk after the fun's over."
Before you continue