"My apologies. I have no interest. In fact, I am planning to resign from my current job at the end of the day."
Standing on the sidewalk, Nanami Kento, who had not yet made his phone call, politely rejected the business card Ichiro handed him.
The card displayed Ichiro's name and the agency's contact number on the front, with a list of bodyguard and private detective services printed on the back. Nanami scrutinized the man standing before him for a brief moment before handing the card back.
"Fair enough," Ichiro said, pocketing the card without missing a beat. "Well, I hope your next job treats you a bit better!"
Seeing that the exhausted salaryman was a lost cause, Ichiro turned around and sauntered away.
With the uninvited guest gone, Nanami finally dialed the number he had been staring at. The call connected almost instantly.
"Hello, it is Nanami. I have something to tell you... Yes. I can return to Jujutsu High tomorrow."
"Nanami-san? Is that really you?"
Another voice suddenly interrupted his call. Nanami covered the phone's receiver and looked toward the crosswalk. Three figures were approaching him: two adults and one teenager.
Leading the group was Ijichi Kiyotaka, the perpetually stressed Auxiliary Manager from Tokyo Jujutsu High. Beside him stood a tall young man in casual black clothes wearing a signature knit beanie, and a slightly shorter but equally well-built teenager. The teenager had a distinctly sharp, handsome face and a very unruly head of spiky black hair that looked exactly like a sea urchin. He looked like a textbook high school delinquent.
"Ijichi. Ino." Nanami nodded in greeting.
"And this is Gojo-san's student, Fushiguro Megumi," Ino Takuma chimed in, gesturing to the teenager. "He is from the Zenin bloodline."
Megumi looked incredibly annoyed.
"Why did we stop to say hello? Was our mission today not strictly observation?" He turned his head, glaring suspiciously in the direction Ichiro had just walked off.
Though Nanami had his own suspicions, he focused his attention on Ijichi. This particular manager had been supporting Sorcerers on missions since Nanami's own high school days, making them quite familiar with one another.
"I did not expect to run into you out here, Nanami-san," Ijichi said, adjusting his glasses.
"Are you all on a mission?"
"Yes, actually," Ijichi explained briefly, detailing the unregistered Sorcerer who had dismantled a room full of yakuza the previous night. The story caused Nanami to turn and look in the exact same direction Megumi was glaring.
Could that bizarrely friendly stranger who just tried to hire him be the unregistered Sorcerer active in Shinjuku?
"He looked like a completely ordinary civilian to me," Nanami noted.
"Perhaps," Ijichi replied carefully. "But we need to confirm it. Nanami-san, are you currently working?"
"No. I was just about to resign. I am actually on the phone with Gojo Satoru right now, but..."
Ichiro Agency, Mixed-Use Building, Ome Kaido.
"Well, well! I cannot believe you memorized my address from just a passing glance at my card!"
Ichiro stood at the door of his agency, enthusiastically welcoming his unexpected visitors.
"Hayashi-san. These are my colleagues for my next job," Nanami lied smoothly, gesturing to Ijichi and Ino. He then pointed to the spiky-haired teenager. "And this is our intern."
"I am a professional, Nanami-san. I know the rules of the trade. No unnecessary questions," Ichiro grinned. "So, are you here because of a requirement for your new job, or did you change your mind about my commission?"
"It is a requirement for the new job."
"What a shame. Since it is official business, do you have any identification? If not, I am pretty sure I have the right to refuse entry."
"We do."
Nanami calmly pulled out his wallet, extracted a crisp 10,000-yen note, and placed it flat on the desk right in front of Ichiro.
With lightning speed, Ichiro snatched the bill and made it disappear into his pocket. His smile grew twice as wide.
"So, how can I be of assistance to you fine gentlemen today?"
"Forgive my intrusion," Ijichi stepped forward, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Hayashi-san, where were you last night?"
"Oh, last night? I was working a job. Helping a client sort out a rather messy personal issue."
"What kind of issue?"
"Now, that sounds like something you should not be asking, sir."
"Let me rephrase," Ijichi continued, pulling a photograph from his coat. He slid it across the table. It was a picture of the wrecked yakuza hideout. "Did your commission have anything to do with this location?"
"Your new job is incredibly weird, Nanami-san," Ichiro commented lightly before looking at the photo. "But yes, it was related to that place. My client asked me to handle a minor nuisance."
"Then let me ask you directly, Hayashi-san. Are you a Jujutsu Sorcerer?"
The atmosphere in the room plummeted below freezing.
Ijichi subtly took a half-step back. Flanking him, Nanami and Ino silently flared their Cursed Energy, their eyes locking onto Ichiro like hawks.
Instead of reacting to the killing intent, Ichiro's face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated confusion.
"A what? Jujutsu Sorcerer? Is that like a psychic medium or something?" Ichiro scratched his head. He then pointed at the teenager sitting at the edge of the sofa. "Hey kid, what are you doing with your hands?"
From Ichiro's angle, he could clearly see Megumi clasping his hands together, forming a shadow puppet silhouette that looked exactly like a dog's head.
Megumi stared intensely at the detective.
"You cannot see them?"
"See what? Am I supposed to be seeing something? Look, in my line of work, seeing things that are not actually there is usually a very bad sign."
Ichiro's deadpan response threw Nanami, Ino, and Ijichi for a complete loop. They stared intently at the detective, desperately searching for a micro-expression of a lie or a twitch of panic.
Because right at that very moment, in the vision of the four Sorcerers, two massive wolves stood on either side of Ichiro. One black, one white. The Divine Dogs were crouched low, teeth bared, ready to tear Ichiro to shreds the second Megumi gave the command.
Yet Ichiro remained completely oblivious. He just looked around the room with mild annoyance, muttering, "Hmm? Why does it feel like somebody is staring at me?"
Seeing this, Megumi lost interest in the test. He unclasped his hands. The two massive wolves melted into black ink and faded back into his shadow.
"Hayashi-san, could you tell us exactly what happened when you went to deal with that 'minor nuisance' last night? I believe you can answer that much."
Realizing their intimidation tactics were useless against a seemingly normal civilian, Ijichi pulled out five more 10,000-yen bills and fanned them out on the table.
"Oh, I can definitely answer that!" Ichiro said, his eyes practically turning into yen symbols. "I went up there fully prepared for a massive fistfight. But guess what? By the time I arrived, somebody else had already beaten the living daylights out of them! So, I just took a few photos of the unconscious bodies, sent them to my client, and collected the paycheck. Work smarter, not harder, right?"
"I have no further questions," Ijichi sighed, thoroughly convinced this man was just a slimy opportunist. "I apologize for taking up your time, Hayashi-san. We will be taking our leave."
"Take care!"
As the group stood up to leave, Nanami's sharp eyes caught sight of a wall calendar hanging near the desk. A thick, red circle was drawn around a very specific date: October 31st.
"October 31st," Nanami spoke up, pausing at the door. "Hayashi-san, do you mind telling me if that date holds any special significance to you?"
"Oh, that? It is just my target date for a vacation," Ichiro smiled brightly. "Once the busy season wraps up, October has the perfect weather for a trip abroad to clear the mind. By the way, Nanami-san, I am not sure what your new corporate gig entails, but if it allows moonlighting, my offer still stands. Give it some thought!"
"Excuse us. Goodbye."
"See ya!"
Ichiro stood on his balcony, happily waving as he watched Nanami and his crew drive away in their black sedan.
Once they were completely out of sight, he walked back into the living room and threw himself heavily onto the sofa, letting out a massive breath of relief.
He had not been acting earlier. He truly, genuinely could not see the Shikigami Megumi had summoned.
And that was entirely thanks to his golden ticket to survival in this incredibly lethal country overflowing with curses and Sorcerers.
His Innate Technique: Polar Reversal!