The campus after the fight was unnervingly quiet.
The mist had yet to fully lift, and the heavy scent characteristic of a summer morning clung low over the damp soil.
It was so serene that it was hard to believe the place had been a chaos of Cursed Energy, frantic footsteps, and the lingering residue of Cursed Spirits just moments ago. The only damage was a few scattered pebbles and shallow scrapes etched into the ground.
Itadori Yuji brushed the dust off the back of his hand.
His breathing was steady.
The collar of his uniform was barely out of place; only the edges of his sleeves were slightly stained with grime. Conversely, Gojo Satoru was smiling, while Geto Suguru stood in silence.
Both were unscathed. However, the fact that they were fine was a separate matter from the intensity of the exchange they had just shared.
Gojo pressed the tip of his tongue against the inside of his lip.
He didn't taste blood. Yet, for a fleeting moment, his absolute certainty of being untouchable had wavered. The realization that the opponent before him was tracing and reading the boundaries set by Limitless through raw instinct was both exhilarating and repulsive.
"You really are something else."
Gojo laughed as he spoke, though the smile was shallower than before.
Geto retracted his Cursed Spirits. The black silhouettes flickering at the edge of the shadows vanished quietly. He didn't take his eyes off Yuji until the very end. It wasn't the gaze one used to look at a person; it was the eye used to calculate a threat.
"Satoru."
"Yeah?"
"You felt it too, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
Gojo gave a short reply and looked up at the sky. The color was in that ambiguous state—too dark to be called dawn, but too pale to be called night. It was that kind of uncertain hour.
"It's seriously weird."
This time, it wasn't a joke.
Gojo's tone was always light, but that didn't mean his words lacked weight. He was capable of making precise judgments even with a playful smile. In fact, he was often more terrifying when he wore such a face.
"I've seen plenty of strong people. I've seen Special Grades, lunatics, and the types that are just plain annoying. But this one is a bit different."
Geto asked quietly.
"In what way?"
Before answering, Gojo glanced at Yuji.
Yuji didn't bother to interrupt their conversation. With his hands in his pockets, he simply breathed in the dawn air.
"The combat is too short."
Geto's brow twitched ever so slightly.
"Short?"
"Yeah. This might sound strange, but... this guy moves in a way that suggests he has no intention of letting the fight last in the first place. He isn't reacting to what I'll do next or where you'll lay your traps—he's just moving to end it before it even begins."
Gojo tapped his temple with a finger.
"It feels like he's seeing several moves ahead from here."
Geto didn't counter immediately.
He had felt something similar. It wasn't that the scale of Yuji's Cursed Technique was overwhelming; rather, it was as if he already knew exactly where technique would meet technique. It was a style of combat that ensured the opponent could never cross a certain line, no matter what they tried.
That couldn't be explained by talent alone.
After a period of silence, Yuji finally spoke.
"If you're done, let's head inside."
Gojo let out a smirk.
"Is that an order?"
"I'm cold."
"Well, that's a pretty important reason."
Just then, the doors to the main building opened.
Yaga Masamichi stepped out first, followed slowly by Ieiri Shoko. Yaga was naturally a man of large build, but he seemed even more imposing now. His eyebrows were knit deep, and his expression was far from pleasant. Shoko looked half-asleep, but her gaze was sharp and precise.
Yaga scanned the campus before speaking curtly.
"You look more intact than I expected."
"Are you disappointed?"
When Gojo asked, Yaga glared at him instead of answering.
"That's not something to say after turning the school upside down since dawn."
"Nothing was really turned upside down."
"If it had been, you wouldn't be standing there talking like that."
Gojo chuckled, and Geto quietly shut his mouth. Yaga's gaze soon shifted to Yuji.
Seeing him head-on made it even more obvious.
It was clear why the Higher-Ups had practically dumped this boy here, and why Gojo and Geto had reacted immediately upon his arrival. The reason was simple: his presence was on another level.
Even though he wasn't hiding it, he felt unreachable. Despite standing close by, there was a profound sense of distance. He looked human, yet he felt like a creature beyond human familiarity.
Yaga asked.
"Itadori Yuji."
"Yes."
"The explanation I received from the Higher-Ups was brief. Unknown identity, unknown affiliation, unknown objective. In exchange, they claimed your combat power is Special Grade or higher."
"That's not incorrect."
Yaga's expression hardened further.
"As long as you are in this school, you follow the rules. If that's too difficult for you, you're free to leave right now."
"I have nowhere else to go."
The answer was dry, yet strangely, it didn't sound like a lie.
Shoko spoke for the first time then.
"I need to check your vitals first."
Yaga glanced to the side.
"Now?"
"Right now."
Shoko walked toward Yuji with her hands in her coat pockets. Her steps were slow but lacked hesitation. As she approached, the faint scent of chemicals and cigarettes mixed together.
She stopped in front of Yuji and looked up at his face.
"Arm."
Without a word, Yuji held out his right arm.
Shoko grabbed his wrist. She made it look like she was checking his pulse, but it was more than that. Through her fingertips, she was tracing the quality of his Cursed Energy flow, observing reactions beneath the skin, and reading his body temperature, blood flow, muscle tension, and recovery state all at once.
After a few seconds passed...
Shoko's eyes changed ever so slightly.
"How strange."
Gojo laughed immediately.
"That's what I said."
"Quiet."
Shoko spoke without letting go of Yuji's hand.
"You use Reverse Cursed Technique, don't you?"
Yaga and Geto looked up simultaneously. Gojo narrowed his eyes, intrigued. Yuji hesitated for a moment before giving a short answer.
"I do."
Shoko moved straight to the next question.
"Who taught you?"
"I just picked it up along the way."
That was both a truth and a lie.
He had never been formally taught. He had used it because he needed to survive, and because he had been broken so many times that he eventually mastered it. It wasn't a learning process that could be explained with words.
Shoko let go of his hand and stepped back.
"He's not normal."
Yaga asked in a low voice.
"Do you mean that in a bad way?"
"I don't know yet."
Shoko looked at Yuji's face once more and said:
"It's not just a body that's been injured; it feels like a body that has been injured far too many times. No, actually... Itadori Yuji, are you even human?"
At those words, the air in the campus seemed to freeze for a moment. Gojo stopped smiling, and Geto's gaze wavered ever so briefly.
Only Yuji showed no reaction at all.
Shoko didn't ask further. He didn't look like the type to answer, nor was it the most important thing right now.
She put her hands back in her coat pockets and turned to Yaga.
"If you're going to take him in, do it. If you're going to kick him out, do it now. Being indecisive will only make things more troublesome."
Yaga closed and opened his eyes briefly.
The Higher-Ups' orders had already been issued: monitored transfer. Behavioral restrictions, mandatory mission accompaniment, and reporting duties, centered around Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru.
The problem was that those orders weren't for the sake of the school, but for the Higher-Ups' own peace of mind.
He didn't like that fact. However, he had no choice right now.
Yaga finally spoke.
"I am not acknowledging you as a formal student yet. For the time being, you are an object of observation. Your classes, missions, and daily life will all be governed by the rules of this school."
Yuji nodded.
"That's fine."
"Really?"
This time it was Geto.
"Someone with your power is willing to submit to someone else's rules?"
Yuji looked at Geto for a moment.
It was a good question.
Normally, it wouldn't make sense. Humans whose power transcends rules tend to move outside of them. It's easier, and it's natural. But the current Yuji was different.
It wasn't that he needed the rules; he needed the school as a foothold to ground himself in this era.
Gojo, Geto, Riko, and the many crossroads that would follow were all connected here.
So, remaining at the school wasn't a concession; it was a choice.
"This is where I'm needed."
Geto didn't seem fully convinced even after hearing that, but he didn't push further.
At that moment, an Assistant Director came running quickly from the main building. Without a chance to catch his breath, he stopped in front of Yaga and bowed, handing over a document.
"This just came in."
Yaga took it and read.
The brief sound of paper flipping was followed immediately by the narrowing of his brow.
Gojo casually sidled up.
"What is it?"
"...So soon?"
Yaga muttered under his breath and folded the document.
Gojo grinned.
"I'm guessing it's not good news."
Instead of answering, Yaga looked up. His gaze passed over Gojo, then Geto, and finally settled on Yuji.
"It's a mission."
Gojo dropped his bored yawning expression. Geto immediately corrected his posture. Shoko looked indifferent, but she was listening.
Yaga spoke slowly.
"It's regarding the Star Plasma Vessel."
In an instant, Yuji's pupils wavered ever so slightly. Only Gojo noticed that minute tremor. Even without his Six Eyes, he would have known. It was so brief that it stood out all the more clearly.
Tengen's Star Plasma Vessel——Amanai Riko.
Yaga continued.
"It is a mission to protect the girl who is the Star Plasma Vessel before her merger with Lord Tengen. This was already decided regardless of the Higher-Ups, and we expect intervention from their side as well. Satoru, Suguru. The primary deployment is you two, as originally planned."
Gojo tilted his neck as if loosening his shoulders.
"And?"
Yaga's gaze turned to Yuji.
"Itadori Yuji will accompany you."
Gojo was the first to laugh.
"Nice."
Geto didn't laugh.
"I think I understand why the Higher-Ups are grouping you with us."
"They want to feel safe," Gojo said. "Because they can't handle him themselves."
Yaga didn't deny it. Yuji didn't say a word.
"When do we leave?" Yuji asked first.
Yaga looked at him for a moment before answering.
"Finish your preparations within the day. I will explain the details inside."
Gojo put his hands behind his head and said, "Great. While we're at it, we should have a welcome party for the new student."
"Who's the new student?"
"Feels like you are, given the atmosphere."
Yuji let out a short, quiet breath—almost a laugh. Gojo didn't miss it.
"You just laughed, didn't you?"
"I didn't."
"No, you definitely laughed that time."
Geto let out a soft sigh.
Yaga looked like he already had a headache, and although Shoko turned away as if bored, the corners of her mouth were turned up ever so slightly.
And so, the morning began as if nothing had happened.
But Yuji knew.
He knew that a world different from the one moments ago was beginning to open.
A world where Amanai Riko was still alive. A world where Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru had not yet drifted apart. A world where he hadn't arrived too late.
Climbing the stairs toward the main building, Yuji took a slow, deep breath.
Warm air filled his lungs.
This time would be different.
He didn't speak the words, but his mind was already set. He wouldn't let anyone die easily.
At least not this time.
The faint light of the summer morning filtered through the windows at the end of the hallway. In that light, Gojo walked ahead, prattling on about something trivial, Geto responded with a nonchalant face, and Yaga hurried along while flipping through papers.
And between them, Itadori Yuji walked as well.
That fact alone already made this different from the past.
This summer day, a season that should have begun with a death, was now quietly moving in a slightly different direction.