The next morning, before he was fully awake, Satoru Gojo burst impatiently through his door, roughly dragged him away, and threw him into a car.
"I object! I object!!! This is breaking and entering! I'm suing you! Students have human rights too!" Sitting in the back seat, Akutagawa Shang kept struggling and protesting, his voice choked with sobs as though Gojo had violated him.
"Objection overruled, Akutagawa-kun. We agreed to pick up the new student together at seven today, and it's already 6:50, yet you were still sleeping in. That's not right. Besides, I paid for the construction and furnishing of the Jujutsu High dorms, so technically, that room belongs to me. Breaking and entering doesn't apply." Ignoring Akutagawa Shang's protests, Gojo stepped on the gas and started the car.
"It's not time yet, is it? I have my ways. There's absolutely no way I'd be late. Forget it. I'm here already." Since he was already up, he could only sigh helplessly.
"That's more like it. Here, this is the transfer student's file." Driving one-handed, Gojo used his free hand to toss a stack of documents to Akutagawa Shang in the back seat.
It really is Yuta Okkotsu, Akutagawa Shang thought to himself.
"He stuffed the four people bullying him into a locker?" Akutagawa Shang studied the file.
"What, scared?"
"No, I just think-that's so fucking satisfying?"
"Oh? I didn't expect you to take it so well. I thought you'd be scared."
"What's there not to accept? That's exactly how you should deal with scum like that! I hate school bullying more than anything." He flipped through the file, looking furious, as though he wanted nothing more than to drag those bullies out of the locker and stuff them back in again.
"Actually, it wasn't entirely his doing. He seems to be possessed by a powerful entity. He didn't seem to intend to hurt those people himself, but the entity possessing him acted on its own."
"He doesn't look like a violent person. You could even say he's a little introverted and socially anxious? When I got the news and rushed over, he even told that big thing not to hurt me. That's also why I wanted to protect him."
"Did you go threaten those old fossils again?"
"Aw, don't make it sound so nasty. I just had a friendly chat with them."
"They wanted to sentence that kid to death right off the bat. I didn't think that should be how his story ended. I went to talk to them, and with me vouching for him, they finally agreed to let him enroll first. Anyway, you'll understand once you meet him."
At the words "friendly chat," the corner of Akutagawa Shang's mouth twitched involuntarily. He knew all too well what Gojo's "friendly chats" looked like.
"Fiiine. I'm socially anxious too, anyway. I believe one socially anxious person won't make life difficult for another."
"Hey, by the way, sir, where's Mr. Ijichi? Doesn't he usually drive you around?" Akutagawa Shang asked in confusion when he realized Gojo himself was driving.
"Oh, Ijichi? I gave him a day off to go have fun," Gojo answered casually.
"Working for you really is hard on him. Poor Mr. Ijichi (;￣Д￣)." Recalling Ijichi's dark circles, which were almost as bad as his own, he could imagine just how badly Gojo tormented him on a daily basis.
"Also, Gojo-sensei, are you really okay driving with one hand? I don't want you sending me to the afterlife before we even pick up the new student!" As the young master of the Gojo Clan, surely Gojo had had a chauffeur driving him everywhere since childhood? Akutagawa Shang's trust in his driving skills was practically zero.
"Boo-hoo-hoo... How could you say that about your teacher, Akutagawa-kun? Am I really such a terrifying man in your eyes (´;ω;｀)? I'm so hurt." He even wiped at his tears with his free hand, but unfortunately, the bandages got in the way.
Akutagawa Shang felt his temples pounding, with an urge to open the door and jump out right then and there.
"Besides, you think a little driving could stump your teacher? I've played every game in the Horizon series. Buckle up. Your teacher's about to take flight." Gojo pressed down on the accelerator, and the car instantly picked up speed.
"Let-me-out-of-the-car-(´Д` )!" A powerful force pressed Akutagawa Shang back into his seat, pinning his whole body against the backrest. Gojo had also slyly opened the window, ostensibly to enjoy the gentle breeze on his face.
Gentle breeze, his ass. The moment he opened his mouth, the air rushing in tore his voice to shreds.
He swore that if he ever got another chance, he would rather walk than ride in a car driven by Gojo.
Even an idiot could tell that this car was absolutely speeding, yet there wasn't a single traffic cop behind them, because the traffic cops simply couldn't keep up with Gojo.
With the precise control afforded by the Six Eyes, Tokyo's morning rush-hour traffic did nothing to hamper Gojo. Speed, following distance-countless pieces of data were processed with incredible precision as the car wove like a dragon through the traffic that symbolized human civilization.
"Hey... we're about to crash! There's a Dayun truck ahead!" Up ahead, a heavy truck was about to change lanes. If they kept going at the same speed, they would definitely be flattened like paper between two Dayun trucks.
But Gojo didn't panic in the slightest. He accelerated again, as though his heel were welded to the gas pedal. The car slipped through like a fish, darting past before the lane change was complete and narrowly escaping that two-sided squeeze.
"Woohoo!!"
Gojo let out an excited shout. He was clearly thrilled.
"Get ready, Akutagawa-kun-we're drifting next."
Gojo kept turning the steering wheel, and the car began tracing an elegant arc around the bend.
"What? More? Let me out." In the back seat, inertia sent Akutagawa Shang swaying from side to side.
Under Gojo's control, the car sped out of the city center toward the outskirts of Tokyo.
Half an hour later, the car stopped before an old gate in the suburbs.
"Bleeergh~~~"
Akutagawa Shang slid limply out of the back seat, holding on to the car door as he retched. His face was deathly pale, his stomach churned, and his legs wouldn't stop trembling.
Back in the car, he had felt as though his soul had already flown away, leaving nothing but a soulless husk behind.
"Well? Your teacher's got some pretty good skills, huh?" Gojo got out of the driver's seat and patted the retching Akutagawa Shang, his tone unmistakably smug. Clearly, he had thoroughly enjoyed that drive.
"Good, my ****... Back in the car... I almost thought I wouldn't make it here alive." Akutagawa Shang didn't even lift his head.
"Aw, look, we got here safely, didn't we?" Gojo was utterly unconcerned.
Akutagawa Shang raised his head and looked at the wooden gate before him.
A wooden fence enclosed the grounds, with a rustic wooden building inside.
The building was sealed tight, with only a small door at the front for entry and exit.
Yellow talismans that suppressed cursed energy covered every part of the building, enclosing it without a gap.
On top of that, a barrier to prevent intruders seemed to have been set up here as well.
Two Jujutsu Sorcerers in hunting robes stood guard at the entrance.
All these layers of restrictions existed solely to guard Yuta Okkotsu, who was confined here.
It was easy to imagine just how deeply the higher-ups feared him.
"Catch your breath first, then. I'll go say hello to the guards." Gojo walked toward the iron gate.
Gojo got out of the car and greeted the two sorcerers guarding the entrance, after which they opened the gate they were guarding.
"All right, we can go in."
As Gojo spoke, he headed through the gate. Akutagawa Shang steadied himself on his still somewhat shaky legs and followed.
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