The four high schoolers chatted and laughed over their meal, celebrating the end of an exhausting summer.
The hardships they spoke of, the ordeals they had endured—those were topics the other high school boys and girls seated nearby could never truly understand.
"It almost feels like the four of us are the protagonists of some urban legend."
"Haha... maybe we really are."
In response to Getou Suguru's offhand remark, Asou Akiya answered with complete certainty.
At Tokyo Jujutsu High, simply surviving until graduation was a victory.
Their chances of making it to the end were no better than those of ordinary people who wandered into a ghost story.
When the red city bus arrived, Gojo Satoru was the first to rush aboard and claim a seat.
Getou Suguru followed close behind. After casually patting his pockets, he acted as though nothing was amiss and headed straight toward Gojo Satoru.
Asou Akiya and Ieiri Shoko boarded last.
"Ladies first."
Ieiri Shoko shot Asou Akiya a look that clearly said "be fair", then happily clicked up the steps in her leather shoes.
Asou Akiya took out his transit card and tapped it against the reader four times.
He wasn't carrying enough coins for everyone's fares.
The driver's expression softened.
Whenever students dressed in the distinctive black uniforms of Tokyo Jujutsu High boarded his bus, his attention would always drift toward them.
Asou Akiya noticed the driver's quiet goodwill.
Instead of immediately joining his friends, he paused for a moment in thought before smiling.
"Excuse me, Driver-san. May I ask your surname? You've been working this route for quite some time, haven't you?"
The driver, Okamoto Yujirou, who looked to be about ten years older than them, was visibly flattered.
"Huh—Yes! My surname is Okamoto. You don't have to be so formal with me."
Asou Akiya asked seriously, "No, I think it's only proper. Okamoto-san, do you plan to work here for the rest of your life?"
For some reason, Okamoto Yujirou had a strong feeling that this was an incredibly important question.
An inexplicable sense of tension crept over him. Instinctively, he tugged at his collar to make it easier to breathe, feeling as though he were sitting through his very first job interview after graduation.
"I... I've thought about it," Okamoto Yujirou replied. "I'd like to stay here until I retire."
Cherishing the brief moment before the bus pulled away from the stop, he hurried to continue.
"The pay for bus drivers in Japan is fairly decent. I don't earn as much as a taxi driver, but the job is stable. I get along well with my coworkers, and this route has a very reliable schedule."
"Are you married?" Asou Akiya asked. "Judging by your age, I'd guess you've dated before, but you're not in a hurry to settle down?"
Leaning casually against the fare box, Asou Akiya didn't find it strange in the slightest that his questions had made a grown man start stammering.
Okamoto Yujirou answered honestly.
"W-Well, I've been in two relationships before. They just didn't work out, so we broke up. I'd like to save up enough money before getting married."
Asou Akiya studied him for a moment before offering a warm smile.
"That's a wonderful goal. I sincerely hope you achieve it soon."
What was youth?
It was the unique melody woven together by the people you met, the experiences you shared, and the beautiful sights you encountered while growing up.
Youth didn't disappear overnight.
Instead, one day, with the passage of time, you simply realized you had grown up.
Asou Akiya couldn't change anything that had happened before he entered Tokyo Jujutsu High.
But after enrolling, he hoped that its students would meet more people who could become part of their youth—people who would bear witness to those irreplaceable days.
The bright red city bus that never changed.
The driver who faithfully remained at his post year after year.
For sorcerers who had grown accustomed to losing people, even something as ordinary as that could become a small source of comfort.
If necessary, Asou Akiya was even willing to wait until Okamoto-san had married and settled down before quietly supporting him for the rest of his life, so he could continue standing at his post.
Then I wish this for both of us...
May we grow from strangers into familiar faces… and live long enough for our black hair to turn white…
Gojo Satoru patted the seat he had saved beside him.
"Akiya, over here!"
The four of them settled into pairs.
The seat Getou Suguru had saved was given to Ieiri Shoko, who flatly refused to sit beside Gojo Satoru.
After taking his seat, Asou Akiya asked Ieiri Shoko for one of her lollipops. He peeled off the wrapper and slipped the blue, sea salt-flavored candy into Gojo Satoru's mouth.
"A reward for you. I can't believe you've actually learned to save me a seat."
Gojo Satoru happily sucked on the candy and naturally rested his head against Asou Akiya's shoulder.
Getou Suguru, still unusually sensitive after everything that had happened that day, couldn't help noticing Akiya's unusual behavior.
"Akiya, why were you chatting with the driver?"
Asou Akiya replied cheerfully, "I was thinking, we want to spend our entire lives as jujutsu sorcerers, while Okamoto-san wants to spend his as a bus driver.
He'll get to watch every stage of our lives as we grow up.
In a way, it's like he's keeping an invisible diary."
Getou Suguru paused in surprise.
"But he sees so many passengers every day. Would he really remember us?"
"He would," Asou Akiya answered with certainty. "Don't underestimate us. We're also a unique and unforgettable part of his life."
Asou Akiya reached over and poked Gojo Satoru's puffed-up cheek, soft as a marshmallow.
"Isn't that right?"
Gojo Satoru rubbed his cheek against Akiya's fingertip. His Six Eyes had noticed long ago that the driver enjoyed watching the four of them.
"Okamoto-ojisan! If you want to look, you can just look!"
His sudden shout completely startled the driver.
Ieiri Shoko pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Since when did this guy become such a social butterfly?"
Getou Suguru refused to admit that he had corrupted Gojo Satoru and immediately shifted the blame.
"It's definitely Akiya's influence. He's the one who taught him by example."
Asou Akiya corrected him with a smile.
"Gojo, don't call people 'old man.' It makes them feel old."
Gojo Satoru pretended not to hear.
Any man older than him was an ojisan.
Any woman older than him was an obasan.
After an hour-long bus ride, they reached the final stop and walked the rest of the way back to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The moment the familiar campus came into view, all the weight on Getou Suguru's shoulders disappeared.
Only then did he realize something.
The source of his stress had never been the jujutsu world itself.
It was everything waiting for him whenever he stepped outside the school.
Riko-chan... I'm sorry.
I understand why you chose not to enter the jujutsu world.
So please understand me as well.
Once the Star Plasma Vessel mission ended, we should have gone our separate ways.
Back at the boys' dormitory, Getou Suguru was just about to invite his two friends to play a game together when someone stepped in front of them, blocking their way.
"Akiya-kun!"
The voice was thick with indignation.
It belonged to Zen'in Naoya, whom they hadn't seen all day.
Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow.
"Judging by that tone, are you looking for a fight?"
Getou Suguru promptly pressed down on Gojo Satoru's arm before he could do anything.
"For the sake of our Go matches," he said, "Naoya-kouhai, do you need something?"
Zen'in Naoya clenched his teeth.
"I want to speak with Akiya-kun... about something personal!"
Without changing his expression, Asou Akiya turned to Getou Suguru and Gojo Satoru.
"Give me ten minutes, you two go pick a game first."
Gojo Satoru glared at Zen'in Naoya, visibly displeased.
Since when does someone from the Zen'in family get to bully my men?
Getou Suguru, however, had a much clearer grasp of the situation. He grabbed Gojo Satoru by the arm and pulled him away.
"All right. Take your time, Akiya. We'll meet up in Satoru's dorm afterward."
He couldn't help thinking to himself, Naoya bullying Asou Akiya? More like the other way around.
The corridor fell silent.
Staring at the infuriating smile on Asou Akiya's face, Zen'in Naoya's anger flared higher and higher.
"Why did you interfere with my—"
Before he could finish, Asou Akiya swiftly pulled out a handkerchief, clapped it over Zen'in Naoya's mouth, and dragged him into the dorm room.
Zen'in Naoya: "!!!"
Are you a kidnapper?!
The door clicked shut.
Asou Akiya immediately scolded him.
"What are you doing? Were you planning to shout in the hallway and let everyone hear?"
Zen'in Naoya instinctively felt guilty for a split second, then became even angrier at himself for reacting that way.
"I just got the news. Out of the three first-years this year, I'm the only one who didn't get promoted. There's definitely something fishy going on!"
"If you think there's a problem, take it up with Jujutsu Headquarters. Why are you coming to me?"
"I already asked Headquarters!" Zen'in Naoya snapped. "They told me your mission report said I only defeated that high-grade cursed spirit through sheer luck, and that I didn't have the ability to qualify as a Semi-Grade 1 sorcerer!"
"They're trying to drive a wedge between us."
Asou Akiya nearly laughed the moment he heard that.
It was obvious that Jujutsu Headquarters was deliberately trying to deepen the hostility between the Gojo Clan and the Zen'in Clan.
After all, in Headquarters' eyes, he was unquestionably a member of the Gojo Clan.
Zen'in Naoya eyed him suspiciously, "...Can you guarantee that you didn't write that? Are you saying Headquarters framed you?"
Asou Akiya answered without the slightest hesitation.
"No, I did write it."
Zen'in Naoya's cursed energy erupted.
Fury exploded across his face.
He had defeated that high-grade cursed spirit through his own strength!
His first thought was that Asou Akiya was jealous of him—that Akiya simply couldn't stand seeing another genius receive recognition. Beneath that harmless appearance, Akiya was nothing more than a despicable man who couldn't bear to see anyone talented earn glory.
Just like the things he had said that day, standing before the pool of blood where Gojo-kun had fallen.
Zen'in Naoya could accept Akiya plotting against powerful people.
But he could never accept him stooping to something like this.
"You're shameless!"
His body moved faster than his mind. He swung his hand toward Asou Akiya's face in a furious slap.
Asou Akiya caught his wrist, his eyes turning cold, stopping the blow before it could land.
The surge of cursed energy bursting from Zen'in Naoya forced his hand away. As the heir of the Zen'in Clan, Naoya possessed an overwhelming reserve of cursed energy by birth, and the gap between them was immediately apparent.
Pain shot through Asou Akiya's palm. His fingers went numb, forcing him back half a step. He instinctively gripped his aching right forearm with his left hand, the strained muscles throbbing from the impact, but his expression remained icy.
"You idiot. Have you even thought about the consequences of trying to slap me?"
Even with the deadly threat imposed by the Binding Vow hanging over him, Zen'in Naoya stubbornly kept his chin raised, his hostility undiminished.
His gaze swept over Asou Akiya's injured arm, surprise flashing across his face when he realized Akiya hadn't retaliated immediately.
Zen'in Naoya had no intention of swallowing his anger.
"I thought you were someone with pride," he accused. "Someone strong enough to rely on his own intelligence."
"So how can you preach one thing and do another?"
By the end, disbelief had crept into his voice.
"How could you stop me from being promoted?"
Asou Akiya fell silent.
Then he asked calmly, "Is being temporarily unable to receive a promotion really enough to make you this angry?"
Refusing to be cowed by Asou Akiya's composure, Zen'in Naoya shot back, "All my classmates were promoted, and I'm the only one who didn't! What do you think the people who placed all their hopes on me in my family will think of me now?"
Asou Akiya answered indifferently, "I'm not a member of the Zen'in Clan; how they think is none of my concern."
"But I am!" Zen'in Naoya retorted. "I want honor! I want status! I want prestige!"
Asou Akiya's understanding of the Three Great Clans had been limited to what he knew from his previous life. The Gojo Clan and the Kamo Clan had remained little more than background figures in his memories, while the Zen'in Clan had simply been remembered for its eventual destruction.
He had never truly understood what it meant to be born a Zen'in.
But Zen'in Naoya's outburst finally made him see it.
For someone bearing the name "Zen'in," being stripped of honor, status, and prestige was enough to make him ignore even the threat of the Binding Vow.
"Naoya," Asou Akiya said quietly, "what do you think was the point of keeping you at Tokyo Jujutsu High for five years?"
He walked over to the table and poured himself a cup of tea, taking a sip to soothe his throat.
"You don't honestly think it was just so I could order you around, do you?"
Zen'in Naoya remained silent.
Deep down, that was exactly what he had believed.
Asou Akiya continued, "Have I ever made you cook for me? Made you make my bed? Or kneel before me in service?"
He looked at Zen'in Naoya with undisguised disdain.
"Don't flatter yourself. What use would I have for something like that?"
Zen'in Naoya glared at him. "Having the heir of the Zen'in Clan wait on you in private... you'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?"
"No," Asou Akiya replied flatly. "I'd find it disgusting."
Zen'in Naoya: "..."
"I thought it was obvious that I don't like you," Asou Akiya said. "I don't allow you to touch me. I don't like you entering my dorm room. There are even parts of your behavior that I can't stand."
"If I could, I'd rather have nothing whatsoever to do with you in front of Gojo."
Asou Akiya held his teacup in one hand.
"And yet, despite disliking you this much, why do you think I insisted on keeping you here until graduation?
Can't you stop and think about it for once?"
Zen'in Naoya's emotions sank to rock bottom. The grievance welling up inside him nearly overwhelmed his anger.
"How am I supposed to know what you're thinking?"
"Because you're a variable."
Asou Akiya answered without hesitation.
"You've spent your entire life in the Zen'in Clan. You're arrogant by nature, and very few people truly know you.
Outsiders can't see through what you're really thinking.
You're one of the most important cards in my hand. No matter where I place you, you have the power to change the outcome.
What I expect of you..."
Asou Akiya walked over until he was standing directly in front of Zen'in Naoya.
"...what I want you to accomplish..."
Looking at the young man who so desperately wanted to prove himself.
"...is far more important than any promotion written on a piece of paper."
"..."
Zen'in Naoya stared at him in stunned silence.
A variable?
Gojo-kun, whose very birth had shattered the balance of the jujutsu world, wasn't the variable...
But he was?
Was that how Akiya-kun truly saw him?
Asou Akiya reminded him gently, "Just like during the Star Plasma Vessel mission—you played the decisive role in disrupting Toji's plan."
Then his tone softened. "So, for my sake... could you wait until next autumn before seeking your promotion?"
That half-year delay was part of the promise he had made with Gojo Satoru.
For the remainder of the year, his tasks were simple: keep Gojo Satoru from squandering his money, and help Getou Suguru finally take off the rose-colored glasses through which he viewed Amanai Riko.
Next September would mark the beginning of the Premature Death episode.
The mission involving the Jinushigami[1]* that the Window would mistakenly classify; Haibara Yuu's death, Nanami Kento's despair, and Kenjaku's invisible hand manipulating everything from the shadows…
The seniors could not stay by their juniors side at all times. If Asou Akiya wanted to save the two first-years, then he had to ensure that Zen'in Naoya—the one with the greatest talent for staying alive—would be assigned to those missions.
On the surface, Zen'in Naoya could not appear too strong.
Asou Akiya had to suppress his official sorcerer rank while steadily strengthening his true abilities, allowing him to overturn the situation when it mattered most.
Who would ever suspect it?
Who would believe that the heir of the Zen'in Clan—a man who believed wholeheartedly in the law of the jungle—would willingly stop pursuing promotions?
His greatest advantage lay in information asymmetry.
The enemy stood in the light while he remained in the shadows.
He could never be certain that Kenjaku wasn't orchestrating events behind every mission, so he had to plan from the very beginning, calculating every assignment in advance. Only then could the sixteen-year-old Nanami Kento, who had once broken down in tears in the original story, be given enough time to grow into a Grade 1 sorcerer capable of protecting his classmate and partner with his own hands.
A sorcerer's growth was never a straight line.
It was a winding curve.
But the course of that line had to remain in the hands of his own people.
That was how Asou Akiya thought, and that was how he acted.
His gaze had already moved to the following year, treating the coming trials of life and death as nothing more than necessary tempering.
As he spoke, he naturally rested his right hand atop Zen'in Naoya's head. The blond hair had begun to fade, no longer as vibrant as when it had first been dyed.
The black-haired boy's weakened fingers lacked the strength to ruffle it into a mess.
The touch was gentle, yet carried an unmistakable coldness.
"Naoya, this isn't a request."
"It's an order."
Next year, save them for me. Save our two kouhai. This isn't a request—it's an order.
...
Zen'in Naoya: That's great! Akiya-kun hasn't changed after all. So I was the one who misunderstood.
[1] {TL Note: The original translation of Tudishen (土地神) I used was "Land Deity," but after a not so long and thorough consideration, I opted to use “Jinushigami” instead. Tudishen (土地神) literally means "land deity" or "god of the land," and its Japanese equivalent is Jinushigami (地主神, lit. “Land-master Kami")—a Shinto Kami that presides over and protects a specific area of land. Why? It sounds cooler.}