[Note: The following is information unavailable to the protagonist.]
[On the Shinkansen traveling back from Kyoto to Tokyo, sunlight streamed through the windows into the smoothly moving carriage.]
[Since this was a special carriage chartered exclusively by Jujutsu High, its only occupants were the first-years who had just finished participating in the Goodwill Event and their chaperone, Satoru Gojo.]
[Satoru Gojo lounged against his seat back, his long legs crossed, idly playing with souvenirs he had bought in Kyoto, when the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.]
[He pulled out his phone and casually glanced at the caller ID on the screen: Masamichi Yaga.]
[Without a second thought, Satoru Gojo answered. A proud, slightly boastful smile curled his lips as he spoke cheerfully.]
["Why are you suddenly calling to check up on us? Of course we won! Just look at who was leading the team. That kid Yuta took out everyone on the other side, even Tsukumo's prized student, Aoi Todo. He got beaten so badly he couldn't fight back at all~"]
["..."]
[But what answered Satoru Gojo's cheerful tone was neither Masamichi Yaga's usual helpless sigh nor an authoritative reprimand, but several seconds of oppressive, deathly silence.]
[Only after a long while did Masamichi Yaga's voice come through, extremely low and even a little hoarse.]
["I... didn't call to ask about the Goodwill Event..."]
[At Masamichi Yaga's deeply abnormal tone, the smile on Satoru Gojo's lips briefly froze. He straightened, his brows knitting slightly behind his blindfold. A vague, inexplicable irritation stirred inside him, and he dropped his joking tone to press further.]
["Then why are you calling now? Did something happen?"]
[There was another silence on the other end. Masamichi Yaga seemed to be struggling to find the words-or rather, he had no idea how to tell Satoru