Jujutsu High

The next morning,

Akutagawa stood at the gates of Jujutsu High, clutching the crumpled enrollment documents. He looked down at them for three seconds, folded them, and stuffed them into his pocket. He had spent the entire night thinking. He could not return to his original world even if he wanted to, and he had no idea where to go in this unfamiliar world. After thinking it over and over, joining Jujutsu High seemed to be his only option.

"Ah, fine. Jujutsu High isn't out of the question."

With that, he stepped through the old wooden gates.

The steps were quiet, and the wooden floor creaked softly beneath his feet. It was clearly very old. The smell of aged wood hung in the air.

He stopped after barely two steps. He could feel something flowing around him, like an entire invisible net covering the walls and ceiling. He could not see what it looked like, but he could feel it. It was like wind being blocked by an invisible wall as it blew past his face, letting him know that "something was there."

He took another step forward. The layer of something "gave way" as he passed, seemingly granting him entry after identifying him.

"...A barrier," he muttered, continuing forward.

Having read the original story, he naturally knew that all of Jujutsu High was covered by that old hag Tengen's barrier to prevent intrusions. In practice, though, Suguru Geto, Hanami, and Mahito had all gotten in. Mahito in particular had strolled in as though it were his own backyard and even swiped everything the Jujutsu Higher-Ups had hidden away. Its actual effectiveness apparently fell short of how powerful it was supposed to be. Tengen really was a letdown.

At that thought, Akutagawa Shang could not quite hold back a laugh.

Last night, after thinking it through, he had told Satoru Gojo of his decision to join Jujutsu High. After telling him where the classroom was, Satoru Gojo had hurried off, apparently because another assignment had come down from above. Left with no choice, he had gone to the classroom alone. When he found it, the door was half-open, and voices came from inside.

Akutagawa Shang paused at the doorway. Although he had a pretty good idea who was in the classroom, anime and reality were still different things. He actually had social anxiety now. (Dealing with strangers was so exhausting~@~@~)

Inside the classroom, Panda said, "Hey, Maki, Gojo-sensei said a new student's coming today. Apparently he's an international student, too."

Maki said, "Well, I don't care whether he's new or from overseas. I just hope he's not some troublesome guy, or I'll have to beat him up."

Inumaki said, "Bonito flakes."

Akutagawa Shang pushed open the door. Sunlight streamed through the windows, and fine dust motes floated in the classroom. A long-haired girl sat by the window, her dark teal high ponytail hanging behind her shoulders. Side-swept bangs covered one eyebrow, and translucent round-framed glasses rested on her nose. She wore an open black high-collared uniform jacket. Beneath the hem of her short skirt were fair, firm legs that looked wonderfully springy, and the white slouch socks around her calves made them look even longer. She sat with her legs crossed, tapping the desk with her fingers. (Honestly, Maki looked so damn sexy in this outfit. Anyone get it?)

Akutagawa Shang recognized those legs-no, that face. Maki Zenin, the Zenin Clan's second Heavenly Tyrant.

Beside her sat a white-haired boy with short, fluffy hair that stuck out a little. A dark blue scarf around his collar covered half his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. His head was lowered, and he seemed to be spacing out. When Akutagawa pushed open the door, he glanced up. "Salmon."

An enormous panda lay sprawled on a desk in the center of the classroom, all four limbs spread out and his belly rising and falling. At the sound of the door opening, he propped up his upper body and turned to look. "Yo, new kid?"

Maki turned as well, her gaze sweeping from Akutagawa's face down to his feet, then back up to his face. "Tch, that white-haired bastard's late again. You're the one Gojo-sensei mentioned? The new student?"

Akutagawa Shang immediately stopped looking them over and stood straight to introduce himself. "My name is Akutagawa Shang. Nice to meet you."

"Maki Zenin." She gave her name, then paused. "Tch, another useless nobody without cursed energy."

"Salmon," Inumaki said again, closing his book and setting it on his lap.

Panda rolled off the desk and landed lightly. "He says hello. This is Toge Inumaki, a Cursed Speech User. Because of his cursed technique, he can only use rice ball fillings in everyday conversation. I'm Panda. Don't let my looks fool you, I'm a first-year. We'll be classmates from now on."

Akutagawa picked a chair at random and sat down.

Maki kept studying him, her thoughts unknown.

Panda lay on the desk and seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Inumaki remained in his seat, spacing out.

No one spoke, and a strange silence settled over the entire classroom.

Akutagawa Shang was already so embarrassed that his toes were about to claw into the floor. To break the silence, he took the initiative and asked Maki, "Are there really this few people at our school?"

Maki looked at him in surprise. "Everyone who gets into Jujutsu High is a jujutsu sorcerer, and jujutsu sorcerers are extremely rare to begin with. Isn't that common knowledge? I'm starting to wonder whether you're even a jujutsu sorcerer. You don't have any cursed energy at all. You're not that white-haired bastard's illegitimate son or something, are you? Though he doesn't seem interested in girls, you never know. Let me tell you-"

To stop Maki from continuing her barrage of outrageous remarks, Panda quickly cut in and added, "Over ten thousand people die from curses in Japan every year. Negative emotions that spill out of humans create cursed spirits, and jujutsu sorcerers exist to fight them. Because they spend year after year fighting cursed spirits, jujutsu sorcerers have always had a high mortality rate. And people with a talent for jujutsu are few and far between, so there have never been many of us."

He glanced at Akutagawa and lowered his voice. "That's Maki. Don't take what she says too personally. That's just how she is. She's not targeting you. She's actually pretty nice."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it."

Akutagawa Shang nodded and met Maki's gaze, staring straight into her eyes. Maki looked repeatedly taken aback, but she did not look away either. The two simply sat there staring at each other in the classroom.

While Panda was still talking, the classroom door banged open, and Satoru Gojo flew in from outside.

"Well, kids? Did you miss your dear Gojo-sensei?"

Maki looked exasperated. "How can a teacher be so shameless about being late? You really are unreliable."

Inumaki said, "Pollock roe."

Satoru Gojo paid it no mind. Resting both hands on Akutagawa Shang's shoulders, he said, "Great, everyone's here, and you all look full of energy. Looks like you've already gotten acquainted, but let me introduce everyone again. These are Maki, Inumaki, and Panda. This is Akutagawa, your classmate from now on. Akutagawa-kun, what do you think of Jujutsu High? Also, could you take your hand off Panda first?"

"Ummm, it's all right. My hand did that on its own. Nothing to do with me."

Even as Akutagawa Shang spoke, his hand kept moving, stroking Panda's smooth fur over and over. It felt pretty darn good.

"There, there, there, there."

"Uh, never mind. As long as you're happy. Now that everyone's here, let's start class. Today's lesson is the basic use of cursed energy!! Akutagawa-kun, how's your leg injury?"

"Uh, it should be pretty much healed#-#."

"Good! This class is specifically for you. Akutagawa-kun only awakened his cursed energy yesterday, and he still doesn't even know how to output it. Your lesson today is to help Akutagawa-kun master the use of cursed energy. Everyone, assemble on the field. Hurry!"

The three said, "Huh?"

Maki said, "You're saying this guy has-you're saying this guy has cursed energy?"