Elsewhere.
Inside one of Tokyo Jujutsu High's guest halls.
It was already close to sunset. After dinner, the students from both schools finally stood face to face and properly introduced themselves.
Utahime and Satoru stood beside their own students, while the two principals chatted outside the door.
"My brother, there's a Takada-chan handshake event coming up soon. How about the three of us go together!"
Unlike everyone else, who was still tense and thinking about tomorrow's next match, Todo stood behind Yuji and Junpei with his arms thrown around their shoulders, inviting them with full enthusiasm.
He even winked and threw them a flirty look, which clashed badly with his huge frame and the burn scar on his face.
"When did he get so close with that gorilla?" Nobara whispered to Megumi.
"How would I know..." he whispered back.
But Yuji and the others heard every word.
"Hey, hey. I heard that!" Yuji looked at them helplessly.
He was confused too. They had just fought once, and he had basically been the one getting beaten up the whole time.
Sure, he learned a lot, but he never expected things to turn out like this.
And what was with the weird "brother" nickname? Why was he being dragged into it?
Who even was Takada-chan?
What was Todo rambling about in the first place?
"I really hope those cute kids don't get led astray by that jerk..." Utahime muttered as she always did.
"So? Are we drawing lots now for tomorrow's individual match, or…?" Maki finally spoke up, breaking the awkward waiting.
After dinner, both schools had gathered here for this, didn't they?
"Individual match? There's no individual match anymore."
Satoru's answer made everyone's brains freeze, including the two principals outside.
As he spoke, he casually tossed the lottery draw box to Yuji.
Yuji caught it and reached inside, but only pulled out a small slip of paper. He read the big word written on it.
"Baseball?"
"Huh?!"
Masamichi had already rushed in, staring at it in disbelief.
He clearly remembered that yesterday, the box was filled with matchups for an individual battle.
"Doing the same thing every year is just too boring. So this year, we're changing it up a bit. It's because you guys wouldn't let me join in, okay?"
Satoru lifted one side of his blindfold and gave the students a thumbs-up, still complaining like it was their fault.
"Gojo-sensei wanted to fight? No way. You're so strong, were you going to take all of us on at once? Hahaha..."
Yuji waved his hands in front of his chest.
To him, Gojo-sensei was the strongest. Not just strong, but on a completely different level. Even Fushiguro's uncle, who could crush Sukuna without effort, only ranked second in his heart.
"No. If it's Satoru Gojo, he probably wanted to fight Cousin. They're both special grade sorcerers who reached that level back in their student days. They're the two monsters the jujutsu world fears most."
Maki shook her head, denying his guess. At the same time, a strange excitement rose in her chest.
More than four hundred years ago, the heads of the Zenin and Gojo clans once clashed at their peak.
It started as a sparring match, but both sides got heated and went all out.
In the end, they died together.
After that, the two clans stayed frozen against each other for centuries, until Satoru and Mukuro entered Jujutsu High and eased things a little.
If they really fought again, would it be another battle like that?
"Huh?! Fushiguro's uncle is that strong?!"
Nobara gasped in shock behind them.
She had lived in the countryside all her life. Only after coming to Tokyo did she realize how strong her teacher really was.
But now she was being told that this cold-looking guy beside her was basically a super, super connected VIP?!
"Come to think of it, every time you ask, someone always interrupts..." Megumi scratched his forehead and didn't deny it.
"Talking about people behind their backs isn't very nice."
Right then, Mukuro walked in through the door.
Behind him were three figures wearing black hooded coats, wrapped up so tightly not even their shapes could be seen.
"Hey, Mukuro. Don't tell me you already..."
Masamichi and Gakuganji only needed one glance to guess who those people were.
It had only been a little over an hour!
"That's right! After today's exhausting team match, this is a surprise gift package personally sponsored by Mr. Fushiguro!"
Satoru, who had learned about it earlier than the students, answered Masamichi's question first. Then he waved his arm and whipped the three black coats right off.
Choso and his two brothers appeared openly in front of everyone.
"Interesting. Extra homework after class?"
The second and third years immediately moved into fighting stances on reflex.
After all, Kechizu looked completely like a curse now.
"Sadly, wrong answer." Mukuro slowly wagged a finger and signaled everyone to lower their guard. "They're your new companions from now on. Support each other, and keep moving forward."
He lightly pushed the three from behind, guiding them toward the students.
"Uh..."
Choso was fine. Eso was still barely acceptable.
But Kechizu, no matter how one looked at him, was far beyond human.
The students were used to exorcising curses. Being told to live alongside someone who looked like a curse was naturally hard to accept.
Even Rika only showed up sometimes.
"They're the Death Painting Wombs..." Satoru started explaining, like a teacher going off on one of his random lessons. "To put it simply, they're another kind of special grade cursed object that took over bodies. It's a little like Yuji and Sukuna. But the difference is, they're the ones in control of their bodies. And being turned into cursed objects wasn't their choice. At their core, they're just nine babies who died before they were even born."
"You... are Yuji, right?"
Choso ignored everyone else and looked straight at Yuji, his lonely younger brother.
After focusing for a moment, he could clearly sense that bloodline flowing in him.
It really was him.
"You know me?"
"We're all your big brothers!"
"Huh?!"
Yuji's brain felt like it was burning.
First Todo had randomly decided they were best buddies.
Now a few guys showed up claiming to be his brothers, and they weren't even fully human!
"Don't worry. From now on, your big brothers will stay by your side. You won't be alone again." Choso's eyes were full of warmth as he spoke.
The nine brothers had spent one hundred and fifty years together. Yet they had never been there for their tenth little brother, not even once.
In the future, they would slowly make up for it, and give Yuji the brotherhood he should have had all along.
**
**
**
Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
P@treon/SilverShark769
Vote with Power Stones for Bonus Chapters!
Your support means a lot, thank you!