Early the next morning,
Akutagawa Shang left his dorm and slowly headed toward the field, carrying an iced Americano.
As he approached the field, he spotted Panda and Inumaki already there in the distance. The two were watching someone running around the field and whispering to each other.
"Yo, Inumaki, Panda, good morning." He raised a hand from a distance and greeted them.
Panda and Inumaki turned around and greeted him back.
"Kelp."
"Yo, morning... Since when did Jujutsu High have a second panda? What exactly were you doing last night?" Panda's voice carried an uncertain tremble.
He hadn't been able to see clearly from a distance, but once Akutagawa Shang came closer, Panda discovered, to his astonishment, that the area around his eyes was dark purple. His heavy dark circles practically rivaled Panda's own.
"No big deal. Just insomnia." Akutagawa Shang tugged at his stiff facial muscles and forced out a strained smile.
It was all because of that Blue yesterday. It had turned his brain into mush.
After returning last night, he had lain in bed with his head throbbing, all sorts of jumbled images flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern. He couldn't sleep at all.
Helpless, he could only blast his head with the Reverse Cursed Technique he had learned not long ago. Only after several full minutes of treatment had he slowly lulled himself to sleep.
When his alarm woke him that morning, he felt as though he had been run over by a Dayun truck, aching all over.
His eyes were so dry and sore that he couldn't even open them.
Akutagawa Shang had struggled in bed for a long time before forcing himself to get up.
He had washed his face with ice water in the bathroom, managing to wake himself up a little, but his brain was still foggy. With no other choice, he had bought an iced Americano to forcibly keep himself going.
"Really? You look like you're about to become the same species as me," Panda said worriedly.
"Salmon," Inumaki said.
"I'm really fine. See? Aren't I doing perfectly well?" He widened his eyes, trying hard to look a little more alert.
Suddenly, the figure running around the field caught his attention. On closer inspection, he realized it was Maki.
"How long has Maki been running?" Akutagawa Shang poked Panda.
"She's been here for almost an hour. She's probably finished her tenth lap by now."
"Didn't Maki just say she was waiting for you so you could train together?" Panda looked at Maki, then at Akutagawa Shang.
"Ooh!!!" He seemed to have discovered something.
Panda suddenly hooked an arm around Akutagawa Shang's arm and pulled him closer. Leaning toward his face with a mischievous grin, he whispered, "Hey, Akutagawa-san, let me ask you something."
"Hmm? Go ahead."
"Akutagawa-san, do you prefer big boobs or flat chests?"
Akutagawa Shang swore this was the first time he had ever seen a sleazy expression on a panda's face =⩌⩊⩌=.
"Big boobs, obviously. I'm a veteran Eleking, after all. Only lolicons like flat chests. Busty older women are the best. Anyone who likes flat-chested little girls should be lined up and mowed down with the smallest-caliber bullets." Akutagawa Shang laid out his kink without hesitation.
"Ohh, I see. Then what do you think of Maki?"
"Huh? Maki? I think she's pretty great. She's good-looking too, right up my alley. Though my first impression was that she was a bit of a testosterone monster-sweat-but once you get to know her, you find out she's actually pretty nice."
"Ohh, so that's how you see me." Maki had come up beside them at some point.
"!!!!!!!!" Akutagawa Shang whipped his head around. He really had been startled.
In fact, Maki had spotted him as soon as he arrived at the field. After finishing her lap, she had walked over.
And happened to catch Panda pulling Akutagawa Shang aside for a whispered conversation.
Panda seemed to have noticed Maki's arrival long ago. He took two steps back, stretched out his arms, and formed a giant heart over his head.
"Maki, you've got a chance! Go for it, Akutagawa. I'm rooting for you two." With that, he fled the scene as fast as he could, not forgetting to make teasing whoops as he ran.
"Go for it, Akutagawa! I'll always be your most reliable wingman." He didn't forget to give him a thumbs-up, either.
"Panda-you just wait!!! You're dead!!!" Maki shouted angrily in the direction Panda had fled.
Then she turned back to Akutagawa Shang, who was still standing there, having failed to escape.
"Uh, so, when did you get here?" Akutagawa Shang asked awkwardly.
"I've been here for a while."
"Then how much did you hear?" he asked, still unwilling to give up.
"I heard everything." Maki looked at him with a half-smile.
"I'm so fucking screwed." Akutagawa Shang wanted to cry but had no tears.
He had been caught red-handed talking about someone behind her back. Akutagawa Shang felt so embarrassed that his toes were curling against the ground.
Akutagawa Shang felt he needed to do something.
"Maki, you must be tired after running so long. Here, I bought you a drink."
Without hesitation, Akutagawa Shang produced another iced Americano and offered it to Maki with an apologetic smile.
Luckily, he had had the foresight to buy an extra cup. It had actually come in handy at a time like this. I really am a genius.
Akutagawa Shang lowered his head, revealing a smile straight out of Light Yagami's playbook.
Maki accepted the drink, took a sip, and nodded reflexively. The awkward atmosphere seemed to ease considerably.
"Let's go."
"?"
"Come on. What are you standing around for? Didn't we agree yesterday that I'd help you with extra hand-to-hand training today? Stall any longer and it'll be lunchtime." Maki headed toward the track as she spoke.
"Oh, right, coming." Akutagawa Shang followed right behind Maki toward the track.
For a little while, neither of them spoke.
"You've got pretty good taste," Maki suddenly said.
"Huh?" The remark caught Akutagawa Shang off guard.
"I said you have pretty good taste. I heard everything you said just now." Maki didn't turn around.
"Calling me pretty and all... And thanks for the drink. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."
"No problem, hehe." When it came to romance, Akutagawa Shang's level was infinitely close to zero. At the moment, he was a little at a loss, unsure what to say, and could only scratch his head and grin foolishly.
"But." Maki suddenly changed tack.
"One thing at a time. Didn't you just call me a testosterone monster at the end there? Is my temper that explosive?"
"And that bit about big... Don't you know it's very rude to comment on a girl's figure behind her back?"
Maki suddenly turned around and looked at Akutagawa Shang with a smile.
But despite her smile, for some reason he kept feeling a chill in it, along with a faint hint of murderous intent.
"That was all Panda. It had absolutely nothing to do with me." Following the principle of sacrificing a friend rather than himself, Akutagawa Shang immediately sold out Panda, who had already fled.
"Really?"
"Really!!!" Akutagawa Shang nodded desperately.
"Fine, let's put that aside for now. Take off your jacket. How are you supposed to exercise in all those clothes? Hurry up and get ready to run."
Before they knew it, the two were already standing at the starting line of the track.
"Didn't you ask me to help you train extra? Today's warm-up is laps around the field. Just look at how weak you are. If you don't build yourself up, forget taking hits in a fight-you'd better watch out that someone doesn't take you down in one shot."
"So, how many laps?" Akutagawa Shang swallowed.
Maki held up five fingers.
"Five laps?" Akutagawa Shang forced a smile.
"What, do you think this is for little kids? This is Jujutsu High, not Jujutsu Kindergarten. Fifty laps!!!" Maki waved a hand, seemingly quite displeased with his question.
"What? Fifty laps? Why don't you just kill me instead? Can't I run a little less?" Akutagawa Shang wailed. He felt that if he really ran fifty laps, he would collapse on the track.
"No. No bargaining. Get moving. You're not eating lunch until you finish. What happened to agreeing to follow all my instructions during training? Oh, right, no using Cursed Energy to reinforce yourself while running. Run every last bit of it on your own."
"Nooo ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽." Akutagawa Shang immediately dropped to his knees, clutching his head and wailing nonstop.
"Get up and run, or I'm going to kick you!"
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