A/N: Don't forget to check out my original novel: Can I Magic Please. It's like really good. đ
ANYWHOOO. ENJOY THE CHAPTER
---
A familiar voice suddenly echoed through the area.
"Yoohoo!"
A gust of wind swept through the parking lot.
Then Satoru Gojo appeared instantly beside the car.
One moment there was empty space.
The next moment the strongest sorcerer alive stood there carrying an absurd number of shopping bags.
Gojo blinked behind his blindfold.
"Huh?"
His gaze swept across the destroyed surroundings.
The collapsed walls.
The lingering cursed energy.
Then finallyâ
Toward Oden.
"Wait... it's already over?"
Oden tilted his head slightly.
"You're late."
Maki immediately exploded.
"LATE?!"
She pointed furiously at Gojo.
"WE WERE FIGHTING A GRADE 1 CURSE WHILE YOU WERE PLAYING TOURIST!"
Gojo raised both hands defensively.
"Technically speaking, it was educational sightseeing."
Oden stared at the ridiculous amount of bags hanging from Gojo's arms.
"...Why do you have so much stuff?"
Gojo instantly brightened.
"Oh! Souvenirs!"
He proudly began pulling items out one after another.
"Olive wood carvings from Athens."
"Traditional evil eye charms."
"Handmade leather sandals."
"A miniature Parthenon replica."
"Greek honey."
"Baklava."
"A fridge magnet shaped like Zeus."
"Snow globes."
"Worry beads."
"A fake Spartan helmet."
"And this masterpiece."
Gojo proudly held up a shirt.
It read:
I SURVIVED SANTORINI
Oden stared silently.
Maki looked seconds away from committing murder.
"YOU WENT SHOPPING?!"
Gojo coughed awkwardly.
"Aanyway!"
He clapped his hands together loudly.
"Who's hungry?"
Maki's eye twitched violently.
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"
Gojo ignored her instantly.
"There's a really good Kikufuku Mochi shop nearby."
Oden froze.
"...Mochi?"
Gojo nodded solemnly.
"Premium quality."
Oden immediately looked interested.
"Let's go."
Maki stared at him in disbelief.
"YOU TOO?!"
She pointed between the two men furiously.
"ARE YOU BOTH JUST GOING TO IGNORE WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Oden blinked once.
Then calmly walked toward her.
Maki frowned.
"What are youâ"
Before she could finishâ
Oden suddenly bent down and lifted her effortlessly into a princess carry.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Maki's brain visibly stopped functioning.
Her entire face turned bright red instantly.
"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Oden looked genuinely confused by her reaction.
"You're injured."
"THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN JUST PICK ME UP!"
"But you're bleeding."
"PUT ME DOWN!"
"You'll walk slower."
"THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE HERE!"
Ignoring her protests entirely, Oden calmly began walking toward the car.
Maki struggled violently in his arms.
"OI! LET GO OF ME!"
"Stop moving so much."
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"You say that a lot."
Gojo watched the scene unfold before bursting into laughter.
"Pfftâ"
He wiped imaginary tears from beneath his blindfold.
"Oden, you little lady killer."
Oden glanced toward him.
"...What's a lady killer?"
"Don't worry about it."
Ijichi quietly opened the car door while pretending not to notice Maki internally dying from embarrassment.
Once Oden and Maki entered the vehicle, Gojo's smile slowly faded.
Ijichi stepped closer lowering his voice.
"Gojo-san..."
"Mm?"
Ijichi adjusted his glasses nervously.
"It's unusual."
"That school should not have contained a curse of that level."
For a brief moment Gojo remained silent.
Then he smiled.
But this time there was no humor behind it.
"Yeah."
The evening wind brushed against his uniform.
"Those old geezers definitely planted that curse there."
Ijichi's eyes widened slightly.
"...To kill Oden?"
Gojo shrugged casually.
"Probably."
"And they clearly didn't care if Maki got caught in the crossfire either."
Ijichi clenched his fists slightly.
Gojo suddenly laughed.
"But man..."
"They seriously underestimated him."
He glanced toward the car where Maki was still yelling at Oden.
"If they wanted Oden dead, they should've dropped a Special Grade there instead."
His grin widened beneath the blindfold.
"And honestly?"
"Even that might fail."
Then Gojo casually walked off carrying his mountain of Greek souvenirs.
Ijichi stared silently at his back.
'Special Grade...'
'No...'
'That kid might become something even worse.'
---
Later that evening, the group finally returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The moment the car stoppedâ
Yuta, Panda, and Inumaki immediately rushed outside.
Panda waved excitedly.
"Welcome baâ"
Then he noticed Maki's condition.
"...WHOA?!"
Yuta's eyes widened instantly.
"Maki-san?!"
Inumaki stiffened.
"Salmon?!"
Maki stepped out of the vehicle annoyed.
"I'm fine."
Panda looked toward Oden.
Then toward Maki.
Then back toward Oden again.
"...Wait."
"Did you two actually survive a mission together?"
Maki clicked her tongue.
"Barely."
Yuta quickly stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Ijichi sighed tiredly.
"There was an unexpected Grade 1 curse present."
The atmosphere immediately changed.
Panda blinked.
"Grade 1?!"
Yuta immediately looked alarmed.
"Then how did youâ"
Ijichi slowly turned toward Oden.
"...Oden-kun exorcised it himself."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Panda's jaw slowly dropped.
Yuta's eyes widened.
Even Inumaki froze.
"...Salmon."
Maki folded her arms bitterly.
"Completely by himself too."
Oden yawned loudly.
"It wasn't that hard."
Everyone stared at him like he was insane.
Which honestly did not help his case whatsoever.
---
The room was silent.
Traditional paper doors remained shut tightly as several elderly figures sat around a long table illuminated by dim overhead lights.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Tense.
One of the higher ups slowly exhaled.
"Our attempt failed."
Another elder clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Not only did it fail, but the boy exterminated a Grade 1 curse alone."
"He did so without injury," another added grimly. "According to reports, Zenin Maki was heavily wounded while he remained completely unharmed."
Silence fell briefly.
The old man seated at the center slowly tapped his fingers against the table.
"...His strength exceeds our expectations."
Another elder frowned deeply.
"We underestimated him."
"To think he would already possess combat ability at that level despite his poor cursed energy refinement..."
One of the women present narrowed her eyes.
"And now Gojo Satoru is aware."
That statement alone darkened the atmosphere considerably.
The elder at the center sighed quietly.
"It will be difficult to attempt the same method again."
"If we act too openly, Gojo will interfere."
Another elder's voice turned colder.
"Then we wait."
The others slowly turned toward him.
"He is unstable."
"He lacks proper control."
"And children with power eventually reveal their true nature."
The elder's eyes narrowed slightly.
"When that happens..."
"We eliminate him properly."
Silence returned once more.
Meanwhileâ
Far away from the suffocating atmosphere of the higher upsâ
Oden stared blankly at the room in front of him.
"...What is this place?"
Gojo grinned proudly beside him.
It was a surprisingly large room inside Jujutsu High.
Several shelves lined the walls.
Hundreds of movies.
Stacks of CDs.
A massive television.
Game consoles.
Speakers.
Snacks.
It looked less like a training room and more like the entertainment room of an extremely spoiled rich kid.
Which, technically speakingâ
It was.
Gojo stretched lazily.
"Training room."
Oden blinked.
"...This is training?"
"Yep."
Gojo casually walked toward the center of the room before sitting down cross-legged on the floor.
Oden followed quietly.
Gojo rested his chin against his palm.
"Miguel is a good teacher."
Oden looked slightly surprised hearing that from him.
"But..." Gojo continued casually, "he clearly had no experience teaching someone with absurd amounts of cursed energy."
Oden frowned slightly.
"What does that mean?"
Gojo pointed directly at him.
"Your cursed energy control sucks."
"..."
"Like, genuinely terrible."
Oden looked offended.
"I defeated you."
Gojo instantly corrected him.
"You made me bleed a little."
"...Same thing."
"It absolutely is not."
Gojo sighed dramatically before suddenly grabbing a soda can from nearby.
"Watch carefully."
He placed the can on the ground.
Then lightly touched it.
A faint flow of cursed energy wrapped around his fingers.
Smooth.
Controlled.
Refined.
The soda can slowly compressed inward perfectly evenly.
Compressed with precise control.
Oden stared closely.
Gojo smiled.
"Cursed energy reinforcement isn't just about output."
"It's about flow."
"Efficiency."
"Control."
He tossed another can toward Oden.
"Try."
Oden caught it.
Then immediately poured cursed energy into his hand.
CRUSH.
The entire soda can exploded violently.
Liquid sprayed across the floor.
Gojo stared silently.
"...See? Horrible."
Oden looked at the ruined can.
"...It worked."
"It absolutely did not."
Gojo suddenly stood up.
Then his expression became slightly more serious.
"You have ridiculous raw power."
"But the reason you lost to me is because your cursed energy usage is wasteful."
He pointed toward Oden's chest.
"You burn through cursed energy like an idiot swinging around a bucket of water."
Gojo smirked.
"Imagine what happens when you actually learn precision."
For a brief momentâ
Oden fell silent.
Because even he understood that.
His techniques consumed massive amounts of cursed energy.
Especially his eyes.
Especially Monkey.
Especially the Heaven Defying Staff.
Gojo noticed the shift in his expression.
Then smiled slightly.
"Thought so."
Suddenlyâ
Gojo reached behind him and tossed something directly at Oden's face.
WHACK.
"...Ow."
Oden blinked.
A teddy bear sat in his lap.
It looked cute.
Round.
Harmless.
Thenâ
POW!
The teddy bear suddenly punched him directly in the face.
Oden stared at it.
The teddy bear punched him again.
POW!
"..."
POW!
"...Gojo-sensei."
"Yeah?"
"Why is the bear attacking me?"
Gojo grinned.
"That's one of Principal Yaga's cursed corpses."
The teddy bear immediately launched itself at Oden again.
POW!
"This thing is annoying."
"It gets worse."
Gojo pointed toward the bear lazily.
"If you don't continuously supply it with cursed energy, it'll keep punching you forever."
The bear punched Oden again.
POW!
"..."
Gojo looked extremely pleased with himself.
"Your job is simple."
He pointed toward the massive collection of movies nearby.
"Watch movies."
"At the same time, continuously feed the puppet cursed energy."
"Without losing control."
Oden frowned.
"...That sounds easy."
The teddy bear immediately uppercut him.
POW!
Gojo burst into laughter.
"No, it isn't."
He walked toward the exit casually.
"Oh, and if your cursed energy fluctuates too much, the puppet becomes more aggressive."
The teddy bear slowly turned toward Oden again.
Its tiny stitched eyes looked horrifying somehow.
"..."
Oden narrowed his eyes.
The bear cracked its tiny knuckles.
"...Gojo-sensei."
"Mm?"
"...I hate this already."
Gojo's laughter echoed through the hallway as he left the room entirely.
The door shut behind him.
Silence lingered briefly.
Thenâ
POW!
The teddy bear punched Oden directly in the jaw again.
"...I'm going to kill this thing."
---
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