Please, hurry up and hit me

Noon, Jujutsu High.

The sunlight over the sports field made people feel lazy.

Akutagawa stood in the middle of the field, looking at the grounds with their distinctly war-torn Syrian aesthetic, and couldn't help complaining.

"Why is Jujutsu High's field full of craters? Who did this? Have they got no sense of public responsibility?"

Satoru Gojo drew a circle in the dirt, then added a small arrow beside it pointing toward the wooden posts on the other side of the field.

Once he finished, Satoru Gojo stood up and dusted off his hands. "All right, stand inside."

Akutagawa stepped into the circle and watched him quietly, waiting for him to speak.

"Well, you've only come into contact with the Jujutsu Society in the past couple of days, so I should explain the basics. Cursed energy comes from human beings' negative emotions, and Jujutsu Sorcerers can use cursed energy to activate cursed techniques."

The moment he finished speaking, a wooden post on the other side of the field was suddenly sent flying, fragments scattering everywhere. Immediately afterward, another post twisted out of shape as though crushed by an invisible grinder, sending wood chips flying.

"How was that? Did you understand?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"It's fine if you didn't. Let me explain, cursed energy is like electricity-huh? You said you got it?" Not expecting his prediction to have been anticipated, Satoru Gojo paused. He had assumed Akutagawa would shake his head blankly, giving dear Teacher Gojo the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the essence of jujutsu.

Satoru Gojo stood there with his arms folded, seemingly trying to find the words. "...Uh, how about this? Since you understand, try mobilizing the cursed energy inside you. Start like this-imagine drawing your cursed energy up from inside your body. Don't know how? Then try feeling around. Is there anything unusual moving inside you?"

Akutagawa fell silent for a moment. "...No."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing at all," Akutagawa answered truthfully. "I can't feel anything."

Satoru Gojo tilted his head and started scanning Akutagawa with his Six Eyes again. "Weird. That shouldn't be possible. There's no way I saw it wrong. You definitely used cursed energy to punch that thing back then. If you really didn't have cursed energy, you should've died already. Why don't you try moving around a bit? Just give it a try?"

Akutagawa tried throwing a punch. Nothing happened. He kicked a leg out. Still nothing. He even did a backflip on the spot, but apart from nearly twisting his ankle when he landed, his entire body remained quiet, with nothing beyond the biological flowing through it.

"...Still nothing."

Satoru Gojo fell silent. "That shouldn't be possible. I remember cursed energy control being pretty simple. No matter how dumb someone is, how could they not even know how to use cursed energy? Any Jujutsu Sorcerer should be able to do it. Weird. Try again. First you do this, then this, and finally, bam, you've got it. How about that? Did you understand?"

"Not at all."

Akutagawa crouched off to one side, drawing circles with a twig he'd picked up somewhere. All the color drained out of him, turning him into a black-and-white drawing.

"I want cursed energy..."

"Don't worry. There's bound to be a way. Oh, right. Panda, Inumaki, come over here and give Akutagawa-kun a practical demonstration."

Satoru Gojo called across the field, summoning Panda and Inumaki, who had been spacing out nearby.

"Teacher Gojo, we don't know how to teach either."

"It's fine. Just attack that row of posts with cursed energy like you normally would. Akutagawa-kun, watch carefully and learn."

"Okay, Akutagawa-kun, watch this."

With that, Panda mobilized the cursed energy inside him, his furry body shooting forward like a cannonball. His cursed-energy-coated fist slammed into a wooden post with tremendous force. The entire post shattered into fragments across the ground, and even the surface beneath it was smashed open into a huge hole.

"Fly away."

Inumaki pulled down his zipper and uttered a line of Cursed Speech. The instant his voice rang out, another wooden post soared into the distance along a bizarre trajectory that defied gravity.

"I think I get why this field is so run-down now."

Akutagawa wiped the nonexistent cold sweat off his forehead. Jujutsu Sorcerers' destructive power was simply too astonishing. Looking at it that way, the field's current sorry state was actually rather restrained. At least you could still tell it was a sports field.

"Well? Did you understand?"

"Salmon."

Looking at Panda's and Inumaki's expectant expressions, Akutagawa scratched his head sheepishly.

"Still no."

Panda and Inumaki collapsed on the spot, unable to get back up.

When everyone else's teaching proved ineffective, Akutagawa Shang turned a pleading gaze toward Maki.

"What are you looking at me for? I don't even have cursed energy myself." Maki ground her teeth in anger, seemingly feeling insulted.

With no other choice, he turned toward the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer of the modern age, who was wearing an awkward expression.

"Don't worry. I'm the strongest teacher, after all. Trust me."

Standing nearby, Maki finally couldn't bear to listen anymore. She lowered the staff from her shoulder and thumped it against the ground. "Enough nonsense. Stand still and look at me."

Akutagawa Shang turned to answer, but before he could say anything, he saw Maki swing her staff at him. He tilted his head on reflex, dodging the blow by a hair.

"What are you doiiiing-ow!"

Before Akutagawa Shang could even finish speaking, he suddenly felt a faint, fragrant breeze rush toward him.

A foot grew larger and larger in his vision before driving straight into Akutagawa Shang's face, sending him flying.

Akutagawa Shang rolled across the ground, only coming to a stop after tumbling several meters.

"Didn't you say you couldn't feel anything? Didn't you say you couldn't learn it? A Jujutsu Sorcerer's duty is to fight, so fighting is the best way to practice cursed energy. I might not know how to use cursed energy, but beating people up is my specialty." As she spoke, she thumped her staff against the dirt.

Akutagawa, who had still been lying motionless after tumbling to the ground, climbed to his feet. He glanced at her, immediately turned around, and took off running.

"No dodging, Akutagawa! Charge straight at my staff!" Maki shouted.

Another sweep of the staff came at him, fast and aimed at his calves. Akutagawa instinctively jumped back, stumbling as he landed.

"Too slow." Maki's second strike followed swiftly, slamming into his kidney.

"Aaaoow-" Akutagawa Shang clutched his kidney and screamed like Tom, tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.

"What's with those tears?! How are you supposed to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer like this?!"

"Akutagawa-kun, are you okay?"

Panda and Inumaki ran toward him, seemingly intending to help him up.

But Akutagawa Shang held out a palm, stopping them.

He seemed to feel it. Something seemed to have changed inside his body, which hadn't responded at all before, like faint ripples spreading over a still lake.

"It works!" Getting beaten up could actually stir the stagnant pool of cursed energy inside him?

"Hit me, Maki! Hurry up and hit me! Please, don't stop!" Akutagawa Shang shouted, wheeling around and charging toward Maki.

Maki, who had been about to pursue him, watched him rush toward her with a strange grin, constantly shouting, "Hit me! Hurry up and hit me!" Her hand stiffened, and her staff stopped in midair.

Panda and Inumaki froze too. After all, what normal panda had ever seen anything like this? They both stared blankly at Akutagawa Shang's sudden fit of madness.

Only Satoru Gojo, holding back his laughter, quietly took out his phone and switched to video mode, trying to record evidence of Akutagawa Shang's current offense.