Itadori Yuji studied the girl before him.
No matter how he looked at her, she was a super cute beauty—completely different from Kugisaki!
“Hey there!
I’m Itadori Yuji.
Nice to meet you!”
He greeted Ritsuka warmly, then asked with some curiosity, “You’re a first-year too?
How come I haven’t seen you before?”
Ritsuka replied, “Hello, I’m Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Pleased to meet you.
I only just enrolled a couple of days ago.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.”
Yuji nodded in understanding.
Then he quickly pressed on, “What about Fushiguro and Kugisaki?
Have you met them?
How are they doing?”
Ritsuka nodded.
“Yes, I’ve met them.
They’re currently preparing for the upcoming Kyoto Sister-School Exchange Event.”
“Kugisaki also mentioned you to me.”
Yuji looked surprised.
“Eh?
What did she say about me?”
“She said you were killed in a battle against a cursed spirit, so she and Fushiguro-kun would work hard to cover your share too.
I never expected to find you here.”
“Well, there’s a lot of reasons behind that…”
Yuji scratched his head, unsure where to even begin explaining.
At that moment, Gojo interjected with a beaming smile.
“In short, our dear Itadori-kun is brilliantly playing dead!
We’re planning to give everyone a surprise the day the Exchange Event starts, so please keep it a secret.”
“That’s the gist of it.
Please keep it quiet for me!”
“Alright, I understand.”
Ritsuka nodded knowingly.
Looking at Yuji’s bright, cheerful smile, she inwardly offered him one second of silent prayer.
On the other side, Nanami Kento addressed Gojo with an expression devoid of pleasantries.
“The mission Itadori-kun and I are currently on is absolutely not at the level a novice sorcerer on their first assignment should be touching.
I believe letting her take part in this mission is an extremely irresponsible decision.”
“Such harsh criticism.”
Standing next to the impeccably serious Nanami, Gojo’s flippant demeanor only grew more pronounced.
“But don’t underestimate Ritsuka.
She’s very strong.”
“That’s not the issue I’m talking about.
But…
never mind.
You wouldn’t change your mind no matter what I say, would you?”
“Exactly!
So I’m counting on you~!”
Gojo happily clapped Nanami on the shoulder, wearing an expression that said, “You really do get me!”
Then, smiling at the group before him, he added, “I’ve still got things to take care of, so I’ll leave this to you.
Well then…”
With that, he made a little “bye-bye” gesture and instantly vanished before their eyes.
Everyone was long accustomed to Gojo’s come-and-go-like-the-wind antics.
Staring at the spot where he had disappeared, Nanami let out an almost imperceptible sigh, then turned to Ritsuka and offered a perfectly proper bow in greeting.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fujimaru-san.”
Ritsuka returned the courtesy with equal politeness.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Nanami-sensei.
Oh, and just Ritsuka is fine.
Calling me Fujimaru makes it sound like you’re addressing a guy.”
“Understood, Ritsuka-san.”
Just then, Yuji sidled up beside Ritsuka and helpfully supplemented Nanami’s introduction in a stage whisper.
“Since Nanamin isn’t teaching staff, you don’t have to call him sensei.
You can just call him Nanamin.”
And so, with perfect naturalness, Ritsuka amended, “Alright, Nanamin.”
“…”
Nanami silently adjusted his glasses and chose to pretend nothing had happened.
He continued, “For this next stretch of time, I’ll be responsible for you.
I know students your age are at your most energetic and lively, but I still ask that you follow the most basic instructions during the mission.”
“Yes, understood,” Ritsuka replied dutifully.
“In that case, let’s get straight to business.”
“Alright, everyone, please follow me.”
Ijichi led them to a nearby tactical meeting room that belonged to the jujutsu world.
It was a modestly sized room, furnished with a few chairs, a blackboard, and a television screen.
Ijichi taped a map covered in red markings onto the blackboard, then laid out the full details of the mission for Ritsuka.
The day before, a cursed spirit attack had occurred at a movie theater.
In the course of their subsequent investigation, they had encountered several monsters—humans who had been transformed into something else—and deduced that the same culprit was very likely behind both incidents.
Following a series of clues, they had identified a suspect—
A young student named Yoshino Junpei, who attended the same high school as the victims and had been sitting in the same theater hall as them on the day of the incident.
Today, Yuji and Ijichi were about to set out to investigate Junpei.
Ritsuka looked at the surveillance footage of Yoshino Junpei fleeing the movie theater, her mind turning things over.
Suddenly, her thoughts took a brief detour.
Come to think of it, he’s exactly Bartholomew Roberts’ type.
“Ritsuka-san, your assignment will be to join Itadori-kun and the others in investigating Yoshino Junpei.
Ascertain his connection to the victims and his relationship to this incident.
Understood?”
“Understood!”
Ritsuka nodded her acknowledgment, then asked, “In other words, Nanamin, you’ll be investigating the more dangerous side on your own?”
?!
At those words, both Ijichi and Yuji looked at her in surprise, having no idea how she had seen through that.
Nanami himself paused for just a beat, though his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, betrayed nothing of his expression.
Yesterday it was Itadori-kun, and today Ritsuka-san…
Are all students these days this sharp?
In the midst of his thoughts, he nodded in confirmation.
“That is indeed the case.
But this is the decision and arrangement I have made as the person in charge of this mission.
Do you have an issue with it?”
She did.
According to the original story, during this investigation, Nanami would have his first encounter with the Special Grade cursed spirit Mahito.
The outcome would be a retreat with light injuries.
But she feared that her arrival might trigger a butterfly effect, steering that confrontation toward an unknown outcome.
So she spoke up.
“No issues.”
“But I hope you’ll take this with you, Nanamin.”
So saying, she removed a cord bracelet from her right wrist and handed it to him, smiling.
“This is my good luck charm.
If you carry it, then I’ll have contributed at least a little help.”
“Ahhh, so that’s an option too!!”
Yuji had a sudden epiphany and immediately began patting himself down, searching for anything he could offer up as a good luck charm.
Regrettably, no such item existed on his person.
And so Yuji looked at Nanami with an utterly pitiful expression, like a puppy who’d done something wrong.
Nanami ignored Yuji’s antics entirely.
He looked at the cord bracelet Ritsuka held out before him—
Unlike the obviously precious gemstone bracelet on her left wrist, this simple cord seemed to be woven from the pure white fur of some animal.
It looked quite plain, like a handmade trinket given by a friend with only modest crafting skills.
In the end, Nanami decided to accept it.
“Well then, I’ll gratefully accept the sentiment.
I’ll hold onto it for now.”