Once the chaos in the gym settled down, we were dragged back to the classroom and forced to sit quietly in our seats.
Yaga-sensei seemed to have a mountain of paperwork left to process, moving frantically at the podium while gathering documents.
"I'm heading into a meeting with the higher-ups. Stay put."
As soon as Yaga swung the front door open and stormed out with heavy footsteps,
I stood up without hesitation. I looked at Shoko in the seat in front of me and mimicked a light flicking motion with my index and middle fingers in the air. It was our secret signal: the nicotine was calling.
"I'm in."
Shoko stood up, giving a chill okay sign.
We were just about to sneak out through the back door when—
"Oho~ What's this, what's this? Are you two dating already?"
Satoru Gojo, who had somehow trotted up behind us, cackled with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Shoko shoved her hands into her pockets and replied dryly.
"So what if we are?"
"Ha! Listen well. This great Satoru Gojo hasn't even landed a date yet, so do you really think I'll let you guys get ahead of me? Never!
I'll use every ounce of my power and resources to troll your relationship until it burns, so be prepared!"
While Gojo acted like a stubborn brat, Suguru Geto walked out behind him, shaking his head in disbelief.
In the end, the first-year quartet huddled together and headed toward the secluded smoking area behind the dormitory building.
As I lit up and exhaled a long trail of smoke, Gojo, leaning against the wall, asked in a serious tone.
"Yo, Hachiro. That Reverse Cursed Technique stuff from earlier... how exactly do you do it?
Suguru and I have lived our lives being called geniuses, but we can't even get a feel for that technique no matter how hard we try. Give us a hint."
Shoko, with a cigarette already dangling from her lips, took the lead on answering that.
"Ah, that? It's super easy. You just take the Cursed Energy in your gut and go fwhooosh, mix it all together, and then let it ka-pow inside your head. Like that, I guess?"
Shoko explained with dead seriousness, her hands swirling in the air.
However, listening to that alien-esque explanation only made Gojo and Geto's expressions go completely blank.
"...What kind of gibberish is that?"
"...I don't understand a single word."
At their reactions, Shoko merely shrugged and took a deep drag of her cigarette, looking at them as if to say, 'How can you not get something this simple?' A frustrated Gojo snapped his head toward me.
"Alright, Hachiro, you're next! You explain it.
Surely you can explain it better than Shoko."
I flicked my cigarette ash away and looked to the side.
"Ah, it's a bit hard to put into words. Plus, my Cursed Tool is back in the classroom, so showing you a demonstration is..."
Just as I was about to dodge the bothersome explanation with a half-hearted excuse—
Slide—
A Grade 4 Cursed Spirit in the shape of a long snake slithered out of Geto's school uniform sleeve, flew through the air, and ducked into the classroom window.
In exactly five seconds, the creature returned with my large baseball bag in its mouth and placed it politely at my feet.
"...There. Your weapon is right here."
Geto said, a thin smile playing on his lips.
Internally, I marveled at his audacity.
'This sly bastard. Pretending to be a pacifist, acting like he wasn't interested, yet he was clearly the one most obsessed with my Reverse Cursed Technique since the gym brawl.'
Grumbling, I unzipped the baseball bag and pulled out the Cursed Blade Muramasa.
"Oh, it's a katana-type tool. Cool~"
While Shoko's eyes sparkled, I gripped the hilt firmly.
"Watch closely. First, this is the base: Negative Energy."
Ssssh—
Cursed Energy flowed from my hand, coating the blade in a viscous, ominous dark blue aura.
I slightly adjusted my stance and reversed the energy flow.
"And this... Negative times Negative equals Positive Energy."
Flash!
The dark blue energy was instantly purified, and the entire blade of Muramasa burned with a brilliantly clear white light that was almost blinding.
"Whoa..."
The three of them let out a small, simultaneous gasp of admiration. But I didn't stop there.
While still holding the glowing white Muramasa in my right hand, I conjured the dark blue negative energy (Cursed Energy) over my empty left hand.
Radiant white light in the right hand. Pitch-black darkness in the left hand.
"This is a name I just made up, but I call it 'Dual Intent.'
Handling Positive Energy and Negative Energy at the same time."
Finishing my explanation, I grabbed the radiant white blade of Muramasa with my swirling, bare left hand.
Ssssss—!!
In that instant, the two polarized energies collided tensely before perfectly evaporating into the air, like water droplets hitting a hot griddle.
Without a single scratch on the blade or my hand, all the energy had returned to zero.
"And this is the final application: Nullification."
"Ooooh! That last part was seriously cool!"
Shoko cheered, clapping her hands.
But Satoru Gojo's reaction was different.
With his sunglasses perched on the tip of his nose, his blue Six Eyes pulsed as he stared intently at my hand and the sword. A bead of cold sweat formed on his brow.
"...You lunatic. You synchronized the output of Positive and Negative energy so perfectly, down to the single digits, that they didn't even explode upon contact. You wiped them out without leaving a single trace of Cursed Residue. That's pure high-tier artistry."
Gojo, having instantly deduced the mechanics of my technique, swallowed hard.
"So! How do you actually run that Reverse Cursed Technique circuit?!"
At his urgent shout, I shoved the sword back into the bag and shrugged.
"Who knows? How is a bird supposed to explain how to fly to a human?
The only thing I can say is to move your wing muscles like this and catch the air like that."
"...Are you seriously the same type as Shoko?"
"There's no other way. You just have to keep watching others do it, get beaten to a pulp, struggle through trial and error, and eventually twist your own brain until you reach it."
I exhaled a cloud of smoke, leaving the dazed Gojo and Geto behind as the first day of school drew to a close.
The tumultuous, long first day of school finally ended.
Just as I returned to my dorm room and was about to throw myself onto the soft bed for some sweet, well-earned rest...
"Gather 'round~! The grand location for the first official meeting of the Tokyo Jujutsu High First-Year Association is... Hachiro Kuroda-kun's dorm room! Round of applause!!"
Clap clap clap clap!
"..."
Rest? Forget it. It was canceled.
These crazy bastards didn't seem tired at all, despite our bloody brawl in the gym earlier. They had invaded my room unannounced with a mountain of delivery food, holding an unauthorized party.
"Ah, refreshing! This is the life. This is what it's all about!"
Satoru Gojo, who had brazenly claimed the spot on top of my bed, let out a satisfied exclamation as he downed a can of cola. Shoko, sitting on the floor chewing a slice of pizza, chimed in dryly.
"Right. Sorcerers like us never know when or where we'll kick the bucket on a mission, so we have to eat and enjoy as much as we can while we're still breathing."
"A-hem! No bad omens allowed while good people are gathered in a good place! Today, we're just going to eat until we drop!"
Gojo shouted, thrusting a pizza slice into the air.
"Hey, Suguru! Give us a cool toast!"
"Eh? Me? Hmmm, okay."
Geto, who had been quietly eating chicken in the corner, picked up his cola can with a reluctant cough.
"I'll do it, then. To the future of the four Tokyo Jujutsu High freshmen... May our days be filled with eternal glory and peace—"
"Booo! Boring! So boring! Booooo!"
"You smell like an old man."
Before Geto's model-student toast could even finish, Gojo's aggressive booing and Shoko's blunt reality check flew in.
As Geto shut his mouth with a wounded expression, Gojo whipped his head toward me.
"Ah, Hachiro! You do it! Don't you have anything punchy?"
"Sigh..."
I pressed my palm to my forehead and let out a deep breath.
To get these people out of my room quickly, the only way was to play along with the mood.
"Fine. But you guys have to give a proper response. Got it?"
"Okay, okay! Hurry up and do it!"
Looking at the three of them with their expectant eyes, I decided to impart a legendary Korean-style drinking toast from my previous life.
"Listen well. If I shout the first half of 'Praying for PENultimate Success', you shout back the abbreviation 'PEN-S!'. Then, if I shout the first half of 'Wishing for BALListic Growth', you shout back 'BALL-S!'. The rule is simple, so just time it after my lead. Okay?"
"Hmm. An abbreviated toast? Well, it's a bit old-school, but... fine. Let's go!"
Gojo, Geto, and Shoko readied their beverage cans and looked at me.
I cleared my throat, lifted my can high with a world-class solemnity, and roared.
"TO PENULTIMATE SUCCESS!! PEN-!"
"...Huh?"
The nuance of the word caused Geto's eyes to twitch with a sudden realization. However, the two with more instinctive reflexes, Satoru Gojo and Shoko Ieiri, responded at the top of their lungs without a shred of hesitation.
"IS-S!!!"
"FOR BALLISTIC GROWTH!! BALL-!"
"S-S!!!"
"WAAAAAHOOOO!"
"YOU ABSOLUTE MADMEN!!"
Before long, those who fully understood the phonetic puns were clutching their stomachs, exploding into fits of hysterical laughter.
In an instant, my dorm room was devastated by the lewd-sounding toast and the uncontrollable laughter of four horny high schoolers.
And so, the night of our grueling first day of school deepened amidst the absurd, chaotic noise.