So cute, he must be a boy

Mai disappeared from everyone's sight, leaving behind the subtle tension of the sisters' earlier confrontation.

Panda poked Akutagawa Shang, who had shrunk off to one side. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

Akutagawa Shang cautiously edged over to Maki and offered her an ice-cold drink.

"Here, this is for you."

Maki glanced at him, then at the drink in his hand, and took it.

"Isn't this the weapon you used to bully a girl? What made you think of giving it to me now?" She pulled the tab open and took a swig.

"I bought it for you in the first place. Who knew I'd get the wrong person? It really was an accident. How was I supposed to know your sister looked exactly like you?" Akutagawa Shang shrugged innocently, his tone helpless.

"All right, I know it was an accident. I didn't expect her to be here alone, either." Maki shook the can as she spoke casually.

"Could she have come specifically to see you?" Picking up on her words, Akutagawa Shang offered his hypothesis.

Maki's hand paused as she raised the drink to her mouth. Then she lowered it, her expression turning disdainful.

"To see me... forget it. She probably wishes I'd never show my face in front of her again for the rest of my life."

She tilted her head back and drained the rest of the drink. The cold liquid slowly slid down her throat, and she exhaled a stale breath before casually tossing the drink can into a nearby trash bin.

Akutagawa Shang watched Maki's profile. Though her expression was disdainful, her eyes were clearly tinged with other, complicated emotions.

He knew very well that the entanglement between these sisters was far too complicated to sum up as simply "hating each other."

"Then why did she start hissing the second she saw you? If she really didn't want to see you, she should've turned around and left without a word." Akutagawa Shang stroked his chin as he spoke slowly.

"...What would an idiot like you know?"

She didn't turn her head, merely speaking weakly, her voice very soft.

True enough. He was just an observer from another world. What did he know?

"Let's go. Didn't she say she wanted to take us on? We shouldn't keep her waiting." Maki started walking again, her back ramrod straight, like a blade that would never break.

Meanwhile, in front of Jujutsu High's main entrance,

The group from Kyoto Jujutsu High had already been waiting there for quite some time. From a distance, their principal, Gakuganji, could be seen standing above them with his cane, while Tokyo's Principal Yaga stood beside him with his hands behind his back.

Their leader, Utahime Iori, stood with the Kyoto Jujutsu High students in the open space before the entrance. Mai Zenin was among them.

Besides her, one towering figure stood out in Kyoto Jujutsu High's ranks: a burly man covered in muscle, sporting a chrysanthemum-petal hairstyle. Among the Kyoto students, whose average height was under 180 centimeters, Aoi Todo, who stood over 190 centimeters tall, towered above the rest.

"Are those the students from Kyoto Jujutsu High? He looks terrifying. I think he's even taller than Panda," Yuta Okkotsu said faintly, pointing at Aoi Todo.

"Salmon." Toge Inumaki nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Akutagawa-san, isn't Maki's sister looking at you?" Panda poked Akutagawa Shang and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Seriously?"

As he spoke, Akutagawa Shang turned his head for a quick look, only to meet Mai's gaze directly.

"Oh my, everyone from Tokyo Jujutsu High finally decided to come out. You weren't too scared to show yourselves, were you?" Seeing Maki arrive, Mai covered her mouth and chuckled, looking thoroughly smug.

At her words, everyone from Kyoto Jujutsu High turned to look at the Tokyo Jujutsu High group.

Maki was about to retort, but Akutagawa Shang stepped past her and headed straight toward the Kyoto Jujutsu High students.

He walked right up to Mai, leaving Mai Zenin looking puzzled.

"What do you want this time?"

"I'm truly sorry." Akutagawa Shang walked up to her and immediately put his masterful bowing spirit to work, bowing deeply before offering Mai Zenin the remaining unopened ice-cold drink.

The air froze.

"I'm sorry. Please take this drink as my apology gift."

Akutagawa Shang's actions stunned Mai Zenin on the spot. In fact, the students from both Kyoto Jujutsu High and Tokyo Jujutsu High were all stunned as well.

She instinctively accepted the drink Akutagawa Shang offered. The chill against her palm brought her back to her senses a little.

She had intended to use the opportunity to make a few more sarcastic remarks, but who knew this guy would fold so quickly and hit her with a ninety-degree bow? All the barbed remarks she had ready suddenly refused to come out. Mai's mouth twitched, and she looked at Maki as if to say, Is there something wrong with this guy?

"You... you... you..."

Akutagawa Shang remained bent over before her, looking very much as though he wouldn't straighten up unless she forgave him.

"Phew... all right, all right. Get up. I accept your apology." Mai turned her head and sighed helplessly.

"Great, you got it." Hearing that his apology had worked, Akutagawa Shang slowly straightened up.

"Oh..." Behind him, Panda gave a thumbs-up, barely managing to hold back his laughter. Able to bend or stand tall as needed-Akutagawa-kun truly was a man among men.

"This idiot..."

Maki finally couldn't take it anymore. Watching Akutagawa Shang act like a lunatic up ahead, she rushed forward, grabbed his collar, and dragged him back.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing~~ ow~~ wasn't I apologizing to your sister for you?" Akutagawa Shang's eyes rolled back as his collar choked him.

"Hey, sis, what are you doing? Why won't you even let him apologize to me?" Mai's voice wasn't loud, but it was just loud enough for everyone present to hear. "Looks like Tokyo Jujutsu High does have some well-mannered people after all. Not everyone's a muscle-brained brute like you."

She recovered from her surprise, and that half-smile returned to her face.

Veins bulged at Maki's temple, and her knuckles turned white around her Naginata.

"Mai Zenin..."

"I can't, this is too funny. I can't hold it in much longer." Off to one side, Kasumi Miwa was desperately suppressing her laughter, but she was nearly at her limit.

"Pfft." A sudden burst of laughter came from Kyoto Jujutsu High's ranks.

Everyone turned to look at Kasumi Miwa, who had failed to hold it in.

Kasumi Miwa froze, still huddled up, her face bright red and tears of laughter brimming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" She was almost crying, her voice small and trembling. "I really didn't... it's just... it was too funny..."

"Hey, Tokyo Jujutsu High first-years, over here! You took way too long." Just then, a blond man with a gyaru beside him suddenly waved at them from a short distance away.

"Do you know him?" Yuta Okkotsu pointed at Kinji Hakari, who was waving at everyone, but they all simply shook their heads.

"Uh, but he seems to be calling us first-years over, so he's probably one of the upperclassmen Satoru Gojo mentioned. How about we go over first?" Akutagawa Shang said, rubbing his chin, and everyone headed toward Kinji Hakari.

As they drew closer, everyone finally got a clear look at the pair. The blond man wore an open white old-man tank top, his face covered in stubble and his muscles bulging. No matter how they looked at him, he didn't look like a high school student.

"Is he really an upperclassman? He looks like a middle-aged guy to me," Panda muttered into Akutagawa Shang's ear.

"Why not just ask?" Akutagawa Shang stepped forward to inquire.

"Hello, who are you?"

"Huh? Didn't Gojo-sensei tell you? I'm your super-friendly big brother from second year, you first-year rookies. Can't you tell I'm a high school student?" Kinji Hakari raised an eyebrow.

Everyone froze on the spot. Come on, man, you call this a high school student? If you hadn't said anything, we'd have thought you were the same age as Masamichi Yaga.

"Wait, if you're Hakari-senpai, then could this be..." Yuta Okkotsu seemed to realize something, pointing a trembling finger at the gyaru beside Kinji Hakari.

"This is your second-year upperclassman-Kirara Hoshi." Kinji Hakari openly pulled Kirara Hoshi into his arms.

As though they had been electrocuted all over again, everyone stared at them as if they had seen a ghost.

"Hello~ new students." Kirara Hoshi smiled and greeted them.

"Didn't Gojo-sensei say there were two male upperclassmen?" Maki and Panda stared wide-eyed at Kinji Hakari and Kirara Hoshi.

Kirara Hoshi brushed aside the loose hair by his ear and covered his mouth with a chuckle, a sweet smile blooming on his delicate face.

"That's right, I am a male upperclassman. I never said I was a girl, did I?"

The air seemed to freeze completely at that moment.

The Tokyo group's gazes kept moving back and forth between Kinji Hakari and Kirara Hoshi.

"Then you two are...?"

"Can't you tell?"

Kirara Hoshi rose onto his toes and kissed Kinji Hakari on the cheek.

"Kin and I are a couple."