Clot fell back from his chair, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. His breathing was ragged, his chest heaving as he hyperventilated.
"No, this can't be. What the hell... did that guy just teleport?"
Clot's eyes were glued to the screen. A tall, muscular man—shirtless for some reason—was the centre of the footage. He clapped his hands and instantly switched places with his opponent.
"What the fuck?! How did he do that? Also, did he just heal his entire arm?" Clot yelled in pure shock.
The video shifted. He saw another man whose arm had been taken apart, cleanly cut as if by a laser. But that wasn't the most shocking part. Even as the limb was severed, it grew back just as fast. Clot could hardly believe his eyes. He turned his attention to the final monster on the screen—a guy who had wild hair...
As he swung his arms, slashes tore through the environment. Red ropes flew out from his wrists, binding the area.
'What the hell?' Clot thought, his mind spinning. 'Is that... he is the most dangerous one. He won in the end, too! Is that nanotech? Or some sort of black technology I can't even imagine? Oh fuck, this is way out of my league!'
"Fuck all of this!" Clot scrambled to his feet.
He frantically turned off his cameras and initiated a factory reset on his drones, wiping every frame of video footage he had captured. He couldn't leave a trace. However, before the data vanished forever, he backed up the core files onto a single USB drive.
Pulling the drive from the PC, Clot muttered, "This is too dangerous. They need to pay me at least a billion for this information... No, I can't even think about money right now. This is too big. If this information is leaked, the outside world might explode. Hell, an all-out war might break out."
He clutched his head with both hands, the weight of the secret crushing him. "This is too much... I can't let anyone see this. Who knows what the USA's reaction would be... they might start a war before anyone can even process what they're seeing."
He collapsed onto his back, rubbing his face. "OK!" he yelled suddenly, forcing himself to stand.
'Ok, it's fine; nothing has happened yet,' he thought. 'No point in overthinking. I shouldn't care about a war. It doesn't matter as long as I'm on the winning side...'
He looked down at his desk. On one side lay an FBI document. On the other was a small file labelled "CG 99".
'That's the name of this mission: CG 99. Which side is winning? I just need to be on that side. Even if a war starts, I will be on the right side... I'll try my best. Just hope a war doesn't actually break out.'
He grabbed the USB, closing the CG 99 and FBI files with a trembling hand.
Meanwhile, at the Jujutsu High infirmary, Mai Zenin stood with a blank, hollow expression.
'We lost? 'And Ren Sato appeared at the end?' she thought bitterly. Whatever, he's a Special Grade; that makes sense. But why was he speaking to MAKI? And why did Maki hug him?! There is no way they are... No, no way she gets someone like him. He is way out of her league! What does Ren even see in her? She should disgust him! '
As Mai's thoughts spiralled… A figure sat bolt upright in one of the hospital beds. It was Hakari.
"Ugh, fuck! Where am I? Shit, where is he?!" Hakari barked. "Ren! This isn't over yet!"
"Shut up," Shoko Ieiri said loudly from across the room. "You're in the infirmary. You won, and the event is over now be quiet!"
Hakari grunted, throwing his head back against the pillow with a groan.
"Hey, why are you so angry?" Mai asked, looking at him. "Aren't you a Tokyo student? Your school won."
"Ugh, that's not why I'm pissed," Hakari muttered. "I'm pissed because I lost to Ren Sato!"
Mai blinked. 'What? Did Ren humiliate him or something?'
Before she could ask, Hakari continued his rant. "Because of Ren, I had to participate in this stupid goodwill event in the first place! That damn Gojo made a bet with me. He bet that I'd lose a fight in this event. The only reason I showed up was to prove him wrong! But he won! Gosh darn it, he must have known Ren could defeat me! No, he probably told Ren exactly how to handle me! That white-haired cheater!"
Hakari punched the air in frustration.
'What the hell?' Mai thought. 'Gojo Satoru made a bet with him? That's the only reason he was here? Wait... Ren knows Gojo? Now that I think about it, Gojo Satoru was the one who recruited Ren. I saw that in his file... wait, I should have read the whole file! I ignored it because I thought if I met him, it would be game over anyway... but if he's getting close to Maki...'
Mai turned and walked fast, exiting the infirmary with a new sense of urgency.
At the same time, Maki arrived back at her dorm. She stopped at the door, her instincts screaming. Reaching for a knife on her kitchen counter, she gripped it tight, then moved with explosive speed to kick her bedroom door open.
THUD!
"What the hell are you doing here, old man!" Maki barked, her voice low...
Sitting in the middle of her bedroom floor was Naobito Zenin. He looked up at her with a calm, unsettling smile.
"Is that really the way you speak to family?"
His tone was weirdly nice—far too nice. Maki took an involuntary step back, her guard higher than ever.
"I will only ask one more time: what are you doing here? Tell me right now, or I'm reporting you to the school for being a creep!"
Naobito laughed. He reached out and placed a single sheet of white paper on the floor.
"As the head of the Zenin clan, I am giving you an order. Your first real order. Make yourself useful, Maki. That is all I want. Nothing else."
Naobito stood up, walking past her as if she weren't even there.
He exited the dorm room without another word. Maki rushed to the paper and snatched it up. It was a letter. As she read the contents, her hands began to shake...
To: Maki Zenin
Listen well. Since you've insisted on playing sorcerer without a shred of cursed energy, the time has come for you to finally serve a purpose that matches your station.
The Zenin Clan has no use for a failure who struggles to see what others find plain. However, even a dull blade can be polished if it's put in the right hands. You are to secure a tie with Ren Sato. Whether you use your charms to seduce him or find a way to drag him to an altar matters little to me—so long as he is bound to this family. This is your chance to prove you aren't a complete waste of the Zenin name. Don't disappoint me; I would much rather spend my time with a bottle of sake than cleaning up another one of your messes.
Be grateful for the opportunity to be something other than a stain on our history.
Make yourself useful... — Ogi Zenin