Akira lay back down and closed his eyes.
"Then wake me up at nine. I stayed up late thinking about some things last night, so I didn't get much sleep."
"What about first period? Are you planning to skip class?"
"Mom, you know what Satoru Gojo is like. When has that guy ever shown up on time? Besides, we can't just leave the transfer student alone and head to class first."
Akira yawned halfway through his explanation. He had already made up his mind to get some more sleep.
"That makes sense." Maki Zenin nodded and lay down beside him. "I'll take a short nap too."
"Little brother, come here."
Panda glanced at the two people lying down, then quietly waved a paw at Pancham.
"Let's go check out the small woods nearby. Inumaki, you're coming too."
"Salmon."
Inumaki nodded without hesitation.
Watching the students make their own plans, Akira's mother's eyelids twitched.
*Was this really how students were supposed to behave?*
Back when she was a student, she had always followed the rules. Even if the teacher was absent, she would never have dared to skip class so openly.
Yet these children were already planning to sleep and play before the first lesson had even started.
"Everyone, come back here!"
She finally couldn't stand it anymore.
"The transfer student coming today is no ordinary student, and Gojo-sensei won't be late. You should all be preparing to welcome your new classmate instead of fooling around."
Then she noticed something else.
"And Little Sha, why are you helping them?"
It turned out that Gardevoir had noticed Akira lying down without a pillow.
Worried that he might be uncomfortable, she gently lifted his head and placed it on her lap. After making sure he was comfortable, she summoned two blankets and carefully covered Akira and Maki Zenin.
The two immediately settled down, looking even more comfortable than before.
Gardevoir had always been Akira's thoughtful little helper. As long as it was something she could do for him, she would never hesitate.
Unfortunately, in his mother's eyes, this was clearly encouraging their bad behavior.
*No, this won't do.*
*If things continue like this, what will happen to these children in the future?*
As a former honor student, she couldn't bear to watch the students of Tokyo Jujutsu High waste their school days like this.
Someone had to correct this terrible school atmosphere.
And since she was already here, she couldn't simply ignore it.
The more she thought about it, the more determined she became. She had practically given herself a new mission before the first class had even begun.
Unfortunately, there was one small problem with her reasoning.
The Jujutsu High she remembered from her student days was Kyoto Jujutsu High.
This was Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Because of the influence of the Zenin and Kamo Clans, Kyoto had always maintained a more traditional atmosphere. Students were expected to respect their teachers, follow the rules, and observe the customs of the Jujutsu world.
Tokyo was a different matter.
With Masamichi Yaga as principal and Satoru Gojo as a teacher, the school was far more relaxed. As long as the students completed their training and could handle their missions, the teachers rarely interfered with their daily lives.
The difference between the two schools was much like the cultural differences between eastern and western Japan.
Both were Jujutsu schools, but their ways of doing things were completely different.
In the end, Akira still got up.
He knew his mother's personality too well. Once she became stubborn about something, arguing with her would only waste more time.
Besides, getting a little less sleep wasn't worth upsetting her.
Unfortunately, her confidence in Satoru Gojo soon proved to be completely misplaced.
When the white-haired teacher finally appeared, everything happened exactly as Akira had predicted.
"Uh, Linmei-sensei?"
Satoru Gojo stopped at the entrance and looked at the woman staring at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Even someone as carefree as Gojo could tell that something was wrong.
Linmei was usually quite reasonable, and she rarely became angry over small matters.
If she was glaring at him like this, he must have done something to offend her.
"You..."
Linmei spoke slowly, making sure he heard every word.
"Are thirty minutes late."
Gojo blinked.
"That's it?"
He genuinely couldn't understand why she was so upset.
Wasn't being late perfectly normal for him?
Apart from missions and actual battles, when had Satoru Gojo ever cared about arriving exactly on time?
"I promised the students that you wouldn't be late today!"
Linmei's voice rose.
"I told them that since an important transfer student was coming, you would definitely arrive on time!"
And what happened?
He was thirty minutes late.
Where was she supposed to put her authority as an elder now?
She had personally guaranteed his punctuality in front of the students, only for him to prove her wrong without the slightest hesitation.
Her dignity had already taken a serious blow.
There hadn't been that much left to begin with, either.
Seeing how angry she was, Gojo finally understood the problem.
"Ah, so that's what happened."
He scratched his head.
"Sorry, Linmei-sensei, but this time it really wasn't my fault. It's Yuta. That kid suddenly threw a tantrum and refused to come to school."
Gojo spread his hands helplessly.
"It took me quite a while to deal with his transfer anxiety. I finally managed to convince him to come, so could everyone please show a little enthusiasm and welcome your new classmate?"
He turned toward the students, expecting at least some kind of response.
Unfortunately, the classroom had absolutely no intention of cooperating.
Akira: "Zzz..."
Maki Zenin: "Zzz..."
The two had already fallen asleep again.
This time, they were sitting on either side of Gardevoir, each using one of her shoulders as a pillow.
Gardevoir sat quietly between them, carefully supporting their heads so they wouldn't wake up.
Not far away, Pancham and Panda were busy with their own activity.
"Ora ora ora!"
Pancham waved both fists, throwing a rapid series of punches.
"Muda muda muda!"
Panda immediately responded with an equally enthusiastic series of punches.
The two brothers were playing a punching game, completely absorbed in their competition.
Under his older brother's careful teaching, Pancham had apparently learned quite a few new sounds.
Whether that was a good thing remained questionable.
Toge Inumaki sat nearby, holding two cartoon Panda cards.
Whenever one of the brothers won a round, he raised the corresponding card to announce the winner.
"Salmon!"
Apparently, he was enjoying his new job as referee.
Gojo looked from the sleeping students to the two Pandas throwing punches, then finally to Inumaki holding up his cards.
Not a single person was paying attention to him.
Human or not, everyone had decided to ignore Satoru Gojo.
Linmei stood frozen.
This was exactly the kind of behavior she hated most.
Students sleeping during class, playing games in front of their teacher, and completely ignoring school rules.
If she had encountered such a scene during her time at Kyoto Jujutsu High, she would have reported it immediately.
But after her earlier promise had been broken, she no longer had the confidence to lecture anyone.
In the end, the former honor student could only accept reality.
She quietly moved to a corner of the classroom and stopped speaking.
Gojo watched her retreat, then looked at the students again.
"..."
Fine.
If even Linmei-sensei had given up, there was no point in forcing the issue.
He turned toward the classroom door.
"All right, come in."
The door slowly opened.
A boy wearing a white uniform stepped inside.
He was less than 170 centimeters tall, with short black hair and a thin build. His shoulders were slightly hunched, and his nervous expression made him look even smaller.
From his appearance alone, he seemed like the sort of boy who would get bullied at school.
His timid movements only strengthened that impression.
Standing in front of so many unfamiliar people, the boy swallowed nervously before opening his mouth.
"Um... My name is..."
Before he could finish, Maki Zenin suddenly opened her eyes.
Her expression changed.
In the next instant, she grabbed a weapon lying nearby and sprang to her feet.
Bang!
The blade slammed into the blackboard beside the boy.
Its edge stopped less than a centimeter from his neck.
The sudden attack left the boy completely frozen.
At almost the same moment, Panda stopped playing with Pancham.
He stepped forward and raised his fist, taking a position on Maki's side.
Toge Inumaki also stood up.
His hand immediately reached for the collar covering his mouth, pulling it down to expose the cursed markings around his lips.
The three students surrounded the newcomer from different directions.
Their earlier laziness had disappeared completely.
Only Akira and Gardevoir remained where they were.
The boy looked at the weapon embedded beside his neck, then at the three students preparing to attack him.
His face turned pale.
After struggling for several seconds, he finally managed to finish what he had been trying to say.
"I-I'm Yuta Okkotsu. Please take care of me."
Unfortunately, under the circumstances, his polite introduction sounded rather pitiful.
Yuta had already been nervous about attending a new school.
Now, before he had even finished introducing himself, one of his new classmates had nearly stabbed him.
Anyone would have been frightened.
For someone as timid as Yuta, it was almost too much to bear.
His legs trembled, and he looked as though he might collapse at any moment.
Maki ignored his reaction.
Instead, she turned and glared at Gojo.
"Hey, what's the meaning of this?"
Then she looked straight at Yuta.
"You're cursed, aren't you?"
Her voice was sharp.
"This is a place where we study curses. What the hell is someone who's cursed doing here?"
Yuta opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He didn't know how to answer.
Actually, he wasn't even sure why he had been brought to this school in the first place.
"Maybe Okkotsu himself doesn't know why he's here."
Akira's voice came from behind them.
He had finally opened his eyes.
Instead of immediately getting involved, he first helped Gardevoir straighten the clothes that had become wrinkled while he was sleeping.
He also carefully fixed the strands of hair that had fallen out of place around her face.
Gardevoir remained still, allowing him to finish.
Among everyone in the classroom, only Akira and his family had remained calm from beginning to end.
After tidying Gardevoir's appearance, Akira looked toward Gojo.
"And whose fault do you think that is?"
He pointed at the white-haired teacher.
"Of course, it's because Gojo-sensei is lazy. He's so lazy that he couldn't even be bothered to explain anything to the poor guy before bringing him here."
"Bingo!"
Gojo immediately raised a thumb.
"As expected of my assistant, Makoto! You really understand me!"
His expression showed no trace of shame.
Considering how thick-skinned Satoru Gojo was, getting embarrassed over something like this would probably have been more surprising.
"Since you've already figured it out, I'll leave the explanation to you. Just keep it short."
The others looked at him with undisguised contempt.
Even Yuta seemed to realize that something was wrong with his new teacher.
Akira sighed.
"Got it."
He stretched his arms and shoulders, then turned toward the nervous boy.
"Okkotsu, let me ask you something. Do you know how many abnormal deaths and disappearances happen in Japan every year?"
Yuta shook his head.
"The number exceeds ten thousand. Some are accidents, but a large portion involve things ordinary people can't see."
Akira continued explaining.
"Negative emotions constantly leak out of human beings. Fear, hatred, jealousy, regret. When those emotions accumulate, they can form what we call Curses."
"Most ordinary people can't see them, but that doesn't mean they can't hurt people. Some incidents are caused by Cursed Spirits, while others involve Curse Users who deliberately use Jujutsu to harm people."
Yuta listened quietly.
It was the first time someone had explained the situation to him in such a straightforward manner.
"Ordinary methods usually aren't enough to deal with them. Only curses can defeat curses. That's why Jujutsu Sorcerers exist."
Akira gestured around the classroom.
"And this is where Jujutsu Sorcerers learn how to control their powers and exorcise Curses."
"The Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School."
Yuta stared at him.
His mouth opened slightly, but he couldn't find anything to say.
There was only one thought running through his head.
*Why didn't anyone explain this to me earlier?!*
If he had known all this before coming here, he might have been at least a little more prepared.
Instead, Gojo had brought him straight into the classroom without explaining anything important.
Akira could practically read the complaint on his face.
Unfortunately, this was exactly how Satoru Gojo did things.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Akira's gaze shifted toward the space behind Yuta.
"Okkotsu, you'd better step back."
Then he looked at Maki.
"Maki, put on your glasses."
Maki frowned.
"What?"
"The Cursed Spirit attached to Okkotsu isn't ordinary."
Akira's voice remained calm.
"You'd better see it for yourself."
Before Maki could respond, a furious roar suddenly filled the classroom.
"DON'T BULLY YUTA!"
Boom!
An enormous amount of Cursed Energy burst out from behind Yuta.
The entire classroom seemed to sink under its weight.
The pressure was thick and heavy, making the surrounding air feel as though it had turned into a pitch-black swamp.
At the center of that darkness, two enormous pale hands appeared.
One of them reached toward the blade embedded in the blackboard.
Crack!
The hand closed around the weapon.
Under everyone's eyes, the metal twisted.
The blade that Maki had driven into the blackboard was crushed and bent into a useless piece of scrap.
The strength required to do that was frightening.
Yet the creature had done it as casually as someone crushing a piece of paper.
At the same time, a familiar notification sounded in Akira's mind.
[Detected Pokémon meme.]
Akira's expression shifted slightly.
*Oh?*
Meanwhile, Maki had already reacted.
The moment she sensed the Cursed Spirit moving, she jumped backward and created distance between herself and Yuta.
Her hand immediately reached for her glasses.
After months of harsh training, Maki had made considerable progress in detecting Cursed Spirits.
Even without Cursed Energy, she could now sense the presence of a Cursed Spirit within a certain range.
However, her perception was still limited.
She could roughly determine its direction and position, but she couldn't see its appearance or accurately judge its size.
For that, she still needed her Cursed Tool Glasses.
Maki quickly put them on.
And then she saw it.
"...!"
Her pupils contracted.
A gigantic Cursed Spirit stood behind Yuta Okkotsu.
Its enormous body occupied almost the entire space in front of the blackboard.
The creature possessed a pair of huge, humanlike hands. Its upper body resembled a distorted human torso, with a deeply sunken chest and ribs clearly visible beneath the flesh.
The upper half of its face was covered by a swollen mass of flesh.
It vaguely reminded Maki of Gojo's blindfold, except that this creature's covering was made from its own deformed body.
Below that mass was an enormous mouth.
Rows of sharp fangs filled its jaws, giving it the appearance of a monster straight out of a nightmare.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
The Cursed Spirit hadn't fully manifested.
What Maki was seeing was only part of its body.
Even so, the amount of Cursed Energy it possessed was already beyond anything she had encountered before.
Its size, its presence, and the pressure it released were on an entirely different level.
Maki couldn't help remembering the giant caterpillar Cursed Spirit she had encountered when she first met Akira.
That creature had nearly killed her.
At the time, she had thought it was already terrifying enough.
But compared to the monster standing behind Yuta, even that giant caterpillar seemed insignificant.
Maki tightened her grip on her weapon.
Her body had already begun reacting before she could fully process what she was seeing.
Every instinct she had developed through countless hours of training was warning her of the same thing.
The creature in front of her was extremely dangerous.
And there was only one classification that could explain such an overwhelming presence.
**Special Grade.**