In the early morning, thin mist shrouded everything, blurring the surrounding scenery. As the rising sun broke through the fog, countless rays of rosy light spilled down.
Inside the first-year classroom at Jujutsu High, Masamichi Yaga was handing out some information on Igarashi Amaha to the two first-years.
Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara felt a headache coming on as soon as they read it.
"Then it looks like we misunderstood him. If it were me, I think I would have killed those people too," Kento Nanami said, looking at the documents in his hands.
"Yeah." Yu Haibara felt the same way. Looking miserable and thoroughly embarrassed, he asked, "What should we do?"
Masamichi Yaga rubbed his head as well, feeling troubled. He had never expected to make such a basic mistake himself. He really had been muddleheaded.
"What else can we do? Buy some gifts and apologize sincerely." With that, Kento Nanami left without looking back.
Watching Kento Nanami leave, Yu Haibara hurried after him. "Wait for me, Nanami! Count me in!"
Half an hour later, outside the door to Igarashi Amaha's room in the student dormitory.
Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara whispered to each other, each carrying two cartons of cigarettes.
"Are cigarettes really all right, Haibara? I still think some tea would be better."
"Of course they are. Who at Jujutsu High doesn't know Amaha is a chain-smoker? Geto told me too: if you need to trouble Amaha with something, just have cigarettes ready and you're guaranteed to win him over."
"All right, ready? I'm going to knock."
"Go ahead, I'm ready!"
Clang!
Just as the two were about to knock, the door was roughly flung open.
Igarashi Amaha stood in the doorway in a pair of baggy boxers, a cigarette between his lips as he stared at them with an unfriendly look.
"Do you need something or not?"
Yu Haibara shuddered in fright and hurriedly raised the two cartons in his hands. "Yes! Yes!"
At the sight of the cigarettes, Igarashi Amaha raised his eyebrows, then glanced at what Kento Nanami was holding. "Come in and talk."
The two entered the room apprehensively, but both were surprised by what they saw inside.
"S-so tidy!" Yu Haibara blurted out as he surveyed the spotless room.
Instead of the heavy cigarette smell they had imagined, a faint scent of hyacinths lingered in the air. Nor were there dessert wrappers everywhere like in Gojo's room; everything was exceptionally orderly, enough to make even someone with OCD feel comfortable. An exquisite oil painting hung on the wall, depicting a tranquil lake and distant mountains. Its vivid colors lent the room an artistic touch. No matter how they looked at it, this did not seem like a chain-smoker's room.
"This painting is beautiful." Kento Nanami gazed at the oil painting on the wall for a long time, offering heartfelt praise.
Igarashi Amaha lit another cigarette and glanced at the painting. "Like it? It's yours."
"Really!?"
"Haha, just kidding."
Kento Nanami stumbled, nearly falling to the floor.
"Tell me, then. What did you need?" Igarashi Amaha sat down in the chair by the window. The sunlight streaming inside fell across his perfectly sculpted features. His looks were exceptionally refined, and he possessed an innate air of nobility. Coupled with his superbly crafted, muscular physique, it left even these two grown men momentarily stunned.
The baggy boxers with a giraffe on them did spoil the effect somewhat.
With lightning speed, Yu Haibara snapped a photo and posted it in the group chat exclusively for students of the two Jujutsu High schools, captioning it: God of cigarettes!
Once he was done, he exchanged a glance with Kento Nanami. Then they bowed together and said loudly, "We're very sorry, Amaha. We misunderstood you that day. Please forgive us. We brought you these gifts, and we hope you won't mind them."
At this, Igarashi Amaha hurriedly waved his hands. "Okay, okay, enough. I'm not that petty. Leave the cigarettes and go."
Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara looked embarrassed. "Then, Amaha, you forgive us?"
"I wasn't angry in the first place, so what is there to forgive? Go do whatever you need to do," Igarashi Amaha said.
"Then we won't disturb you any longer, Amaha." The two bowed again and headed outside.
Just as Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara reached the doorway, Igarashi Amaha called them back. "Wait."
Igarashi Amaha stubbed out his cigarette, rose, and took a dagger from his bedside cabinet. Then he took the oil painting down from the wall and handed the items to the two of them. "Consider these belated first-meeting gifts. I can't just take your things for nothing, can I?"
Ignoring their moved expressions, he pushed them outside and urged, "All right, all right, go find somewhere else to hang out. Stop loitering in my room."
Bang!!
After shutting the door firmly, Igarashi Amaha let out a long breath. "Why do these people all like making things so awkward? Can't they just act like it never happened?"
Suddenly remembering something, his expression changed. "No way. Is Masamichi Yaga going to do the same thing in a bit!?"
The image surfaced in his mind, and he could not help shuddering.
But what was coming would come. Inside the office, Igarashi Amaha looked utterly resistant as Masamichi Yaga apologized, hastily said he forgave him, and fled.
The heartfelt apologies from these grown men today had considerably diminished Igarashi Amaha's appetite. After lunch, the four second-years lay resting on a stretch of lawn.
They enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and exchanged a few words now and then. Only Igarashi Amaha lay to one side without joining in.
"Amaha, what are you thinking about? You haven't said a word," Suguru Geto asked, looking at Igarashi Amaha beside him.
"Nothing much. Thinking about Domain Expansion."
"Domain Expansion!? You can already do it!?" Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto instantly sat up and stared at Igarashi Amaha in disbelief.
He shook his head. "How could I? I'm just wondering what my domain would look like."
Domain Expansion was a measure of the strength of jujutsu sorcerers and cursed spirits, a skill only those at the very top could use. It required vast reserves of cursed energy and highly concentrated mental focus, consuming enormous amounts of cursed energy to construct an innate domain imbued with a cursed technique in the surrounding area.
Within the domain, the caster could alter the rules and phenomena of the space according to their own will and characteristics, thereby greatly enhancing their cursed technique and abilities.
The pinnacle of jujutsu, Domain Expansion!
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