"Mei-san, are we just going to keep wandering around like this?" asked a cute girl in a red and white miko outfit. This was Utahime Iori, currently sporting a youthful bob cut.
"If there's a place we shouldn't be, logically someone would stop us, or there'd be a Curtain up," Mei Mei replied, her left hand raised as she idly twirled a strand of silver hair that fell beside her face. "We haven't run into a soul since we got here."
"But still..." Utahime turned to her. "Aren't we here for the Goodwill Event? Shouldn't we be sticking with Gakuganji-sensei?"
Mei Mei seemed to grow bored of her hair and dropped her hand, continuing her leisurely pace. "Who knows? Maybe he wanted to test our information-gathering skills."
"There's literally no one here." Utahime plucked a stalk of foxtail grass from the path and swung it around. "This is so boring. We aren't going to gather any intel at this rate."
"Familiarizing yourself with the terrain is also a form of intel, Utahime."
Mei Mei rubbed her chin. "I don't do anything that doesn't turn a profit. With those two 'monsters' here, I can already imagine the sheer number of high-stakes requests that will involve them in the future. Consider this advance reconnaissance for future commissions."
"The 'Strongest,' huh?" Utahime mused. "I really want to see what kind of guys they actually are."
"Yo! Morning!"
"Good morning!"
Two high-energy greetings rang out. Utahime and Mei Mei blinked as Hasegumo and Yu Haibara came into view, mid-morning jog.
The pair didn't seem surprised to see them. With a major event looming, there had been plenty of unfamiliar sorcerers drifting in and out of Jujutsu High lately.
Too bright! Utahime thought, squinting at the two boys who were smiling with enough radiance to rival the sun.
"Sorry, quick question," Hasegumo said, jogging up to Mei Mei. "Are you a relative of Satoru Gojo?"
To be clear: though Hasegumo had watched the anime in his previous life, he only remembered the main protagonists and the major plot beats. He had zero memory of the side cast. Seeing Mei Mei's silver-white hair, he'd stupidly assumed she was Satoru's sister or something and charged right in to ask.
"No. I have no relation to him whatsoever." Mei Mei was momentarily stunned, her body instinctively tensing as she warily eyed the man before her.
"Ah, haha! It's because Satoru has white hair too. My bad, my bad! Wrong person!" Hasegumo rubbed the back of his head, laughing sheepishly without a hint of actual embarrassment.
"I'm Hasegumo!"
"Yu Haibara!"
"Utahime Iori."
"Mei Mei."
The next second, the two men were off like the wind, showing no intention of lingering.
"Nice to meet you! See you around!" Hasegumo shouted over his shoulder, waving for Haibara to keep up. "Pick it up, Haibara! The goal is five hundred laps around the campus today! Don't waste time, or you're missing dinner!"
"Yes, sir!"
Utahime watched their figures disappear into the distance. "Huh?" Her eye twitched as she turned to Mei Mei. "Mei-san... those guys were weird."
Mei Mei rested her chin in her hand, silent and deep in thought.
"Right? They just run up, give a weird greeting, and bolt," Utahime continued. "I mean, they seem energetic, but that was just... too much passion."
"Is that all you noticed?" Mei Mei sighed, sounding helpless. "Those two... their Cursed Energy signatures were barely above civilian levels, yet they were running that fast. Didn't you find that strange?"
"Maybe they're just civilians who wandered in?" Utahime started racking her brain. "Wait, no. The barrier would stop anyone without Cursed Energy."
"I've got it! They must be relatives of some Jujutsu High higher-up!"
"They were wearing school uniforms, Utahime. Did you miss that? You still have a lot to learn," Mei Mei analyzed. "Possibility one: one of them has an Innate Technique that masks their Cursed Energy to civilian levels."
"Ohh," Utahime listened intently.
"Possibility two: they have such extreme control over their energy that it remains perfectly static within their bodies, preventing us from sensing any fluctuations."
"With those goofy smiles? No way they're powerhouses," Utahime grumbled.
"Never judge by appearances. When that one-armed man stood in front of me, he didn't show a hint of hostility, yet my body instinctively went into a state of high alert." Mei Mei shook her head. "Forget it. They're students here; we'll run into them eventually."
"Senpai!" Haibara huffed as they ran. "Since your body doesn't get stronger from training, you don't need to waste time supervising me! I promise I won't slack off!"
Unlike Hasegumo, Haibara wasn't a natural martial arts prodigy. He needed to build up his physical strength alongside his technique, so Hasegumo had designed a grueling regimen for him to ensure his skill and power grew in tandem.
As for "spiritual zen"—that was still a long way off for Haibara.
"Focus on your breathing," Hasegumo reminded him, noticing Haibara's rhythm falter. "Maintain abdominal breathing even while you're talking."
"Understood!"
"I'm not here to supervise you," Hasegumo added. "Exercise makes people happy. I'm just out here enjoying life!"
"Senpai's enlightenment really is on another level... Still, that white-haired lady was wearing our uniform. Is she a new student?" Haibara asked.
"Huh? Yaga-sensei didn't mention any new students. Who was that?"
Hasegumo hadn't actually noticed her clothes at all.
"Is that so...?" In Haibara's mind, the image of his "perfect senior" lost a tiny, insignificant corner.
"If it's a sphere, where exactly is the 7:3 ratio point?"
Kento Nanami sat at the entrance of the dorms, so deeply lost in thought that he didn't even notice the two people approaching him.
Lately, Hasegumo had been busy training Haibara and was nowhere to be found. Lacking their usual punching bag, the "Strongest Duo" had turned their sights on Nanami. Between missions, they took turns harassing him under the guise of "training."
Today was no different. Suguru Geto had summoned a new curse he'd captured—the "Anti-Nanami Special Type No. 1." It was shaped like a giant dodgeball with no limbs, attacking by projecting Cursed Energy from its surface. It wasn't particularly strong, but Nanami's Ratio Technique was a nightmare to apply to a perfectly round object. He had been thoroughly tilted by the experience.
Gojo and Geto had bullied Nanami to their hearts' content before wandering off to find lunch, leaving Nanami to brood. Since the Ratio Technique is influenced by the user's perception, he could technically hit it if he could logically define the 7:3 point on a sphere, but the math was giving him a massive headache.
"He looks so gloomy. Is the polarization at Tokyo High really this bad?" Utahime and Mei Mei had arrived. Mei Mei continued walking with her head down, lost in her own calculations.
Utahime looked at Nanami and thought: This guy would be a delinquent even in a normal school. What do I do? Should I say hi? With a face like that, I'm afraid he might kill me—or himself—if I speak.
Nanami, consumed by spherical geometry, was blissfully unaware that his "gloomy" face was terrifying a cute girl.
"Is this the legendary miko of Kyoto High? Why does she look like such a Weak-hime?"
The voice belonged to Satoru Gojo, who had looped back around with Suguru and Shoko in tow.
Satoru was undeniably brilliant. Even though Yaga hadn't told them to gather yet, the moment he saw Utahime in her uniform, he deduced her identity and purpose.
Unfortunately, his personality made his brilliance easy to overlook. Instead of delivering the message that they needed to meet up, he immediately used his deductions to mock the girl who looked decidedly weak.
"Don't say that, Satoru," Suguru Geto interjected smoothly. Utahime looked at him—he was handsome and his voice was gentle. Finally, a normal person, she thought.
Then Suguru continued: "We must protect the weak. Don't look down on her just because her stats are pathetic."
Utahime's fist clenched. Are these two really the 'Strongest'? My blood is boiling. I want to hit something. She glanced at Mei Mei, but since the older student hadn't spoken, she forced herself to endure.
"Are you two always this much of a nightmare to pretty girls? Give it a rest," Shoko said, rolling her eyes at the boys. She walked up to Mei Mei.
"Are you the students from Kyoto here for the exchange? I'm Shoko Ieiri. Nice to meet you." Shoko clearly couldn't stand her classmates' behavior toward the visitors.
"Yes, we're here for the Goodwill Event with Gakuganji-sensei. He said we could explore the campus. I'm Mei Mei. Nice to meet you," Mei Mei replied with a professional self-introduction.
"That silver-haired one looks pretty strong."
"Don't worry, we'll have plenty of chances to trade blows during the event."
"Is that weak one really participating too?"
"I told you, Satoru, we have to respect and protect the weak."
The two show-offs continued their conversation as if Utahime wasn't even there.
Utahime suddenly found the strength to ignore their verbal barbs. She looked at Shoko like she was an angel and threw her arms around her. She smells so good, Utahime thought, her nose twitching. "I'm Utahime Iori. Shoko, it must be so hard for you, going to school with these monsters."
"Tell me about it," Shoko smiled gently. "Thank god for Gumo and Haibara, otherwise I'd feel completely mentally contaminated. Are they still out there?"
"The one-armed guy? They ran up, introduced themselves, and vanished in a blink," Utahime replied. "They were weird too. Too much energy. They didn't feel like sorcerers at all."
"Are any sorcerers actually normal?" Shoko explained. "But compared to these two trash-heaps, Gumo and Haibara are like the sun. They make everyone feel warm."
"Are they still training?"
"Word is they're doing five hundred laps."
"That'll take until tonight."
"I'll just use the Rainbow Dragon to go get them."
"How? The dragon can't talk."
"Plan A is to fly over, smack them with the tail, and then kite them back to Yaga-sensei's office."
"What if Gumo catches you? That guy's grip strength is terrifying."
"The dragon can fly, Satoru."
"Good point."
The two idiots, realizing they weren't getting a reaction from their target, pivoted seamlessly back to their villainous schemes.
"If you pay me, I can go get them for you," Mei Mei interjected.
Nanami, his train of thought thoroughly derailed, watched the exchange with Shoko and Utahime. His lip twitched. Yep. There really are no normal people in the jujutsu world.