The photo

The scene shifted to an inconspicuous street-corner café somewhere in Tokyo.

Madara and Satoru Gojo sat facing each other at an outdoor table.

Unlike the clone training with his juniors at Jujutsu High, the one sitting here was Madara's original body.

The afternoon sunlight was lovely, spilling past the edge of the parasol onto the wooden table and casting slanted patches of light beside the coffee cups.

An iced Americano sat in front of Madara, while Gojo had a large serving of pancakes piled with strawberries and cream.

Not far away, Yuji Itadori stood beside Kento Nanami on the street, seemingly going over the details of a mission.

Nanami wore a neatly pressed suit. He pushed up his glasses with one hand as he spoke to Itadori with meticulous seriousness.

Itadori nodded repeatedly, his expression earnest.

Madara watched for a while, then stood and walked over to Itadori.

"Itadori."

Itadori turned at the sound of his voice. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes when he saw Madara, followed by a smile.

"What is it, Madara-senpai?"

Madara took something small from his uniform pocket and casually tossed it to Itadori.

It was a wooden Doll about three centimeters tall, not particularly finely carved.

But its rough human outline was recognizable, and its surface had been polished smooth, giving off a faint woody fragrance.

Itadori caught the Doll and turned it over in his hands, looking curious.

"A Doll? You're into this sort of thing too, Madara-senpai?"

At some point, Gojo had wandered over as well. He leaned in beside Itadori, bent down to inspect the Doll, then let out an "Oh~" in an unmistakably teasing tone.

"So Madara likes arts and crafts too~" Gojo straightened up.

"That'll score you points with the girls~ Boys who are good with their hands are pretty rare these days."

Madara glanced at Gojo, his expression unchanged, then turned back to Itadori.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. I just made it for fun when I had nothing to do," Madara said evenly.

"Think of it as a good luck charm, Itadori. Keep it with you. It might bring you some luck."

Hearing that, Itadori immediately tightened his grip on the Doll with a serious expression and nodded firmly at Madara.

"Yeah! Thanks, Madara-senpai! I'll make sure to keep it with me!"

He carefully slipped the Doll into the inside pocket of his uniform and gently patted it to make sure it would not fall out.

"I'm off, then!" Itadori waved at Madara and Gojo, then hurried after Kento Nanami, who had already reached the roadside.

Madara waved too.

"Have a good trip~"

He watched Itadori and Nanami get into the Assistant Supervisor's car. Only after it slowly pulled away and merged into the afternoon traffic did he turn and return to his seat.

Gojo was already back in his seat, digging into the strawberries on his pancakes with a fork. When Madara returned, he asked indistinctly through a mouthful of food.

"You really aren't taking part in this Goodwill Event?"

Madara sat back down, picked up his iced Americano, and took a sip before nodding.

"Yeah. I'm not."

"Why?" Gojo tilted his head, the emotion in his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"With your current strength, entering the Goodwill Event would be the perfect chance to show those conservative old men a thing or two."

Madara set down his coffee cup and lightly tapped its rim.

"The lack of a challenge is exactly why I'm not entering." His voice was calm, but his words carried a matter-of-fact confidence.

"Besides, I should leave the opportunity to my juniors, shouldn't I? They need actual combat, a chance to prove themselves, and to make a name for themselves at the Goodwill Event. If I went, I'd just steal their stage."

Gojo stared at Madara for a few seconds, then smiled.

"I see~" He drew out the words, scooped up another large bite of pancake, and stuffed it into his mouth, speaking as he chewed.

"What a thoughtful senpai you are, Madara~"

Madara did not reply. He simply watched the pedestrians on the street in silence.

After a while, Gojo suddenly spoke.

"Come to think of it, Madara, have you already learned Reverse Cursed Technique?"

Madara's movements paused.

He raised his head and looked at Gojo.

Gojo was still focused on tackling his pancakes, but Madara could sense those concealed eyes calmly watching him.

So he noticed...

Madara was not surprised.

Gojo's Six Eyes could see through the flow of Cursed Energy and detect even its most minute changes.

That change might escape other people's notice, but it would never escape Gojo's.

"Yeah." Madara did not deny it, nodding in acknowledgment. "I learned it a few days ago."

He paused, then added, "You have to get the hang of it step by step. Once you grasp that 'feeling,' the rest falls into place."

Gojo put down his fork and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his abdomen with an exaggerated sigh.

"Young people these days are terrifying~" He shook his head, his tone full of feigned world-weariness.

"Back when I was young, I never had things this good. I got stuck on Reverse Cursed Technique for months and nearly threw my Cursed Energy into disorder practicing it.

"Nothing like you lot, learning Domain Expansion in half a year and Reverse Cursed Technique in a few months... Tsk, times have changed."

The corner of Madara's mouth twitched as he watched Gojo put on his "I had it so hard back then" expression.

"It's not as if I haven't heard about your past exploits, Gojo-sensei," Madara exposed him without expression.

At that, Gojo immediately broke character. His world-weary expression vanished in an instant, replaced by his usual flippant smile.

"Oh dear~" He spread his hands, his tone light.

"So someone's been gossiping about me behind my back? Who was it? Principal Yaga? Or Ieiri?"

"No one needed to tell me." Madara picked up his coffee again and spoke mildly.

"You can hear plenty of rumors about 'Satoru Gojo' in Jujutsu Society just by asking around. Besides..."

He paused and glanced at Gojo.

"You're pretty annoying, after all, sensei. With so many people disliking you, naturally, plenty of them are 'happy to share' your embarrassing history."

Gojo immediately clutched his chest, dramatically miming being struck by an arrow.

"It really hurts to hear my student say that..." he said mournfully, then picked up his fork again and aimed for the last and largest strawberry on his pancakes.

But just as the fork was about to touch the strawberry, Madara suddenly took a small box from the paper bag he had brought and pushed it toward Gojo.

"Here," Madara said. "I bought it when I passed a dessert shop earlier. Their new limited-edition strawberry cake."

Gojo's eyes lit up in a flash.

He immediately set down his fork, took the box, and swiftly opened the packaging.

Inside was a delicate strawberry cream cake. The strawberries on top were large and red, and the cream was piped into beautiful patterns that made it look mouthwatering.

"Thank you~" Gojo thanked him happily, then picked up the little fork that came in the box, scooped out a large piece without hesitation, and stuffed it into his mouth.

But the moment the cake entered his mouth, Gojo's expression froze.

He frowned, chewed carefully a few times, then slowly lowered his fork, his expression turning somewhat odd.

"I feel like..." Gojo smacked his lips, then leaned closer to sniff the cake. "There's a strange taste... Pepper?"

The moment he finished speaking, Gojo's nose twitched, and then-

"Ah, achoo!!!"

He let out a sudden, loud sneeze, the force making his whole body jerk backward.

And at the very instant he sneezed-

Click.

Click, click, click.

A rapid series of shutter sounds rang out.

At some point, Madara had taken out his phone, aimed the camera at Gojo, and switched on burst mode.

From Gojo's frown to his sniffing the cake, right up to the moment he sneezed-the entire sequence had been captured.

Gojo rubbed his nose and looked up, glancing at the phone in Madara's hand, then at the cake, before giving a helpless smile.

"Ah..." He drew out the sound, his tone caught between laughter and exasperation. "Putting pepper on a cake? You really are wicked, Madara."

Madara ignored him, simply lowering his head to admire the photos on his phone.

On the screen, the instant Gojo sneezed had been captured with perfect clarity-his mouth wide open, his expression contorted, without a trace of his usual composure as the "strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer."

"Hmm..." Madara nodded, sounding satisfied. "Not bad. The angle, the lighting, the expression-all perfect. I think I'll use this one as my lock screen."

The corner of Gojo's mouth twitched.

"You should delete it," he said, his tone still fairly calm.

Madara raised his head and looked at Gojo, a sly gleam flashing through his black eyes.

"Five hundred thousand." Madara calmly named a figure.

Gojo: "..."

He was silent for two seconds, then narrowed his eyes.

"Have you met Mei Mei?"

"Hmm?" Madara tilted his head, looking utterly innocent. "Who's that?"

"Never mind..." Gojo took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair again, folding his arms.

"Just delete the photo. I can pretend I didn't see you putting pepper in my cake."

"Six hundred thousand." Madara raised the price without batting an eye.

"Why is the price going up?!" Gojo's eyes widened.

"Now it's seven hundred thousand." Madara raised it again, then added, "Keep haggling, and it'll be a million."

Gojo stared at Madara for several seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"All right, all right." He waved a hand, picked up his fork again, pushed the pepper-laced cake aside, and dug into his original pancakes.

"Keep the photo, then. But let's be clear: no sharing it. If I see that photo anywhere else..."

He paused, lightly pointing his fork in the air.

"I'll make you join Itadori for a month of 'hellish special training.'"

Madara put away his phone, his expression still calm, then pulled a face.

Madara: ┐( ˘_˘)┌