What is this guy talking about all of a sudden?
Thrown off by the completely unexpected question, Junpei was pressed by Todo.
"Tell me! Now!"
"No, you just barged in here and that’s the first thing you ask? This is our second time meeting, for one thing..."
"Did you not hear it when we exorcised that special-grade curse just now? That magnificent ovation for the soul, my [technique], Boogie Woogie!"
At Todo’s words, everyone looked stunned.
The applause they’d heard from somewhere right before Yuji unleashed [Black Flash].
The instant Junpei and Yuji’s positions had been swapped.
'That was him?!'
"Weren’t we already 'comrades' who fought together? So answer me. What type of woman do you like?"
"Why on earth do you want to know that...?"
"A person’s sexual preferences reflect everything about them. A guy with tasteless taste in women is tasteless himself. But you seem a little different...!"
Todo’s outrageous attitude made Megumi look exhausted.
That bizarre personality and behavior didn’t discriminate by target.
He himself was the obvious victim, having been hit with a lecture about his taste in women being boring the moment they met. And if Junpei failed to give an answer Todo liked, the same thing would probably happen again.
He wanted to believe Todo wasn’t the kind of thug who’d beat up a patient, but there was no predicting what that deranged gorilla would do.
Anyway, it seemed like Todo intended to stay here until he got an answer.
He wasn’t a bad person, but he was the kind of person who was an absolute pain to deal with.
Junpei, openly making a disgusted face, thought about his type.
He had dated someone back in middle school, but it hadn’t even lasted two weeks.
He didn’t think he’d really loved her, either. They just had similar hobbies, sat next to each other, and got along well enough to think, maybe we should try dating? It had all been pretty casual.
Maybe she’d sensed that, because she dumped him quickly and went off to another guy.
After that, life had been too rough for him to have the luxury of liking anyone.
He was even worried his romance cells might already be dead.
"Just someone who’s kind to me would be nice..."
"I didn’t come all the way here to hear some empty answer like that. I’ll give you one more chance."
"......."
Desperately racking his brain, Junpei managed to picture one image.
"A woman with a big chest and a bob cut that suits her."
Junpei didn’t even know why, but his ideal type had unconsciously borrowed quite a bit from the image of his mother, Yoshino Nagi.
If he’d known that, he would’ve vehemently protested, "I’m not a mama’s boy!" But there was nothing he could do about it.
The only woman who had given him boundless love his entire life was his mother, so in a way, it was only natural.
Todo nodded with a satisfied expression after hearing the answer.
"Not bad. A little lacking, but this is a passing grade."
"How is that even the part you judge? And can you really score someone’s personal taste like that...?"
"Of course. There’s a clear standard in my head. For reference, I’ve never found anyone other than me who could score a hundred."
He was insane.
Fortunately, Junpei had picked the right answer and earned some favor, but he didn’t want to get any closer to Todo.
If he got friendly with this guy, his own brain would definitely start going weird too.
Junpei shuddered, then quickly lost interest in Todo, only to catch the looks from the others and suck in a breath.
Yuji nodded as if something had clicked into place, and Megumi looked at him with a slightly cold, tired expression.
And Nobara...
"Uh... um. Yoshino. Could it be that you...?"
For once, she looked flustered.
The emotions in her expression were varied.
Staring at the complicated mix of bewilderment, embarrassment, and contempt, Junpei tilted his head.
'What? Did I answer wrong?'
Looking Nobara over carefully, Junpei soon understood why.
Her chest was obviously bigger than a C cup.
Her brown bob cut reached her nape.
She almost perfectly matched the conditions he’d just described.
"You’ve been looking at me like that all this time...?"
Realizing what he’d just done, Junpei’s face flushed as if it might burst.
"No!"
"A strong denial is a strong affirmation, they say."
"So you were acting all prickly because you were embarrassed this whole time. I’ll support you, Junpei."
"I said no! Why would I like some delinquent-looking girl like her!"
Junpei vehemently denied it, waving his hands.
Nobara, equally fired up by his reaction, flushed red and snorted.
"Who are you calling a delinquent? I don’t like gloomy otaku like you, either!"
"What a mouth on you, no wonder you’re a violent school bully!"
"Fine, then come die by my hand today, you shut-in hikikomori!"
Todo was the one who calmed the two of them down as they exchanged lethal blows with their mouths.
Clap, clap.
"That’s enough of the lovers’ quarrel. There’s still someone I need to ask."
"How is this a lovers’ quarrel?!"
Ignoring their protests, Todo turned to Yuji.
"What now?"
"You’re next, Itadori Yuji. What type of woman do you like?"
"Me? Out of nowhere?"
"After boring Fushiguro and decent Yoshino, it’s time for a big hit, isn’t it? In order, you’re the one I’m most looking forward to."
Yuji took a step back from Todo’s expectant gaze and answered reluctantly.
"If I had to pick... a woman with a big butt and tall height. Like Jennifer Lawrence."
At that moment, Todo’s mind was filled with...
[Nonexistent Memory]
His middle school days with Yuji.
The memory of comforting him after being dumped by his beloved Takada-chan, then going to eat ramen together.
We were the invincible ones, shining brighter than anyone else.
Todo Aoi and Itadori Yuji.
The two of them—problem children, but the strongest.
Like a flash, the vivid summer memories of a time that could never be regained swept through Todo’s mind.
'It’s still alive... the green still lives.'
Why had he forgotten this?
What a fool he was...
"W-why are you crying...?"
"I think... we’re best friends."
"?"
As Todo suddenly burst into tears and snot, everyone slowly put some distance between themselves and him.
At this point, he should’ve stopped, but Todo’s delusion still didn’t let up.
"Call me 'brother' like before, my best friend...!"
"What the hell is this...?"
Yuji backed away, cold sweat beading on him, while Todo slowly advanced.
The sight of a giant over six feet tall shamelessly dripping tears and snot as he approached was more horrifying than any scene from a horror movie.
"Don’t come any closer. I warned you."
"Why are you suddenly acting hurt? Have you forgotten all the memories from our middle school days together?"
"I never went to the same middle school as you! And you’re older than me in the first place!"
"Don’t worry about such minor details. What matters is that I recognized you as my best friend."
"Are you even willing to have a conversation?"
"Even if you push me away, I don’t care. Once more, like that time, that summer...!"
Thud.
Junpei’s poisonous thorn pierced Todo’s back as he was rampaging.
Todo, who had been moving toward Yuji, froze and collapsed on the spot.
Even until the moment his head hit the floor, Todo was smiling.
"Aaah... what a good hit. As expected of my brother’s friend..."
"W-wow..."
"N-nice, Junpei!"
"He’s out of his mind..."
"Agreed."
Junpei, who had gotten up and thrown back the blanket, casually lifted Todo onto the bed and pulled the blanket up over his face.
It was a measure taken because he didn’t want to look at Todo’s disgusting grin even while he was poisoned.
He looked like a corpse in a hospital under the white sheet, but no one objected.
"Shall we go?"
"Yeah."
Even as the infirmary lights went out and the door closed, no one spared Todo a glance.
It was the first moment when the feelings of the first-year students at Tokyo Jujutsu High were perfectly aligned.
-----------------------------
The day after the first day of the exchange event passed, and everyone collapsed from exhaustion and slept like the dead.
The next day, Gojo appeared before the students gathered in the conference room.
"A ton of stuff happened and people died, but what do you want to do? Should we keep the exchange event going?"
At those words, all the students fell into thought.
Now that things had settled, they could technically continue if they wanted to... but...
Was it really right to keep fooling around when people had died and a special-grade curse had appeared?
"Even if you ask it like that..."
"Of course we should keep going."
"Todo?!"
Todo had somehow revived and appeared behind the students.
His arms and legs were twisted like a mannequin’s, making him look like he might topple over at any second and only adding to his oppressive presence.
"I put enough in you to keep you sleeping until tomorrow morning!"
"Did you already build up a tolerance?"
"I’ve already [adapted] to your poison, Yoshino...!"
Todo, sounding like some self-destructing shikigami that a random nobody somewhere kept trying to summon, launched into a passionate speech in that bizarre pose.
"And the reason is?"
"The matter of mourning the dead belongs to those who had [bond] with them. It’s not for us to interfere."
"Why do you keep emphasizing one word every time you speak?"
"If there are deaths, then all the more reason we must grow stronger. [Strength] is the accumulation of acquired [results]. Once an [result] has been decided, no matter what you do, it cannot be undone. So [result] must exist as [result]—that is what matters most!"
"You sure do talk neatly."
"Or are you just neatly insane?"
"Lastly, the incomplete sense of burning from our student days is something that stays with you until the day you die. That is the [reason] we must proceed with the exchange event. If anyone has an objection, step forward."
"Look, no matter how you put it, an exchange event in the middle of all this...?"
"Shut up. Your [claim] is wrong!"
"Then why did you even ask us to step forward..."
Though reluctant, everyone more or less agreed with Todo’s opinion.
Just sitting still and mourning, or trembling in fear, wasn’t going to change anything.
So when it was time to fight, they should fight. When it was time to rest, they should rest. Wasn’t that life?
Anyway, if they were going to continue the exchange event, the next round would be individual matches.
Since the team battle had ended in a draw because of Hanami’s intrusion, the final winner of the exchange event would probably be decided in singles.
They said they’d draw lots for the methods proposed by the students, but that was just a pretext; apparently, holding individual matches had continued on as tradition.
Junpei’s eyes sparkled.
His poison had always been more effective against people than curses.
If an individual match was held, he had a high chance of taking the championship.
Todo and Kamo had already been subdued once, so they were out of the picture. The only ones worth worrying about were Megumi, whose abilities were still not fully revealed, and Yuji, whose poison didn’t work on.
He had lost to Yuji before, but he was different now, with [Aureole Basin] and [Black Scale].
'Just wait for me, championship trophy!'
"Then will the individual match lineup be decided by lottery?"
"We’re not doing individual matches this year."
"Huh?"
Junpei could almost hear something dropping with a heavy thunk in his ears.
"I hate routines. So every year, I put a slip of paper with the competition method written on it into this box, and on the day itself, we open it."
Gojo tossed a small box he’d taken from somewhere to Yuji.
Yuji rummaged through it, and the paper he pulled out had the word 'baseball' written on it in big letters.
Yuji, Junpei, and even Yaga and Gakuganji, who had somehow appeared behind Yuji, were all shocked.
"B-baseball...?"
"What is the meaning of this, Yaga?"
"No, I was sure it said individual matches... Hey, Satoru!"
Gojo, clearly the culprit, had vanished without a trace.
Among the students who were now buzzing over the word baseball, Junpei turned to Utahime beside him and asked in a desperate voice,
"Can we use cursed energy? Please say yes."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but... in sports like this, [technique] and cursed energy are completely forbidden."
"............"
He was hopeless at sports.
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