Of course, a powerful technique generally came with stringent conditions for its use.
Take Gojo Satoru’s Limitless, for example—it could only be truly utilized if one awakened the Six Eyes at the same time as inheriting the Limitless technique.
As such, Heroic Spirit Summoning likely also had some kind of harsh prerequisites.
But at the very least, everyone present could see its potential.
And they now understood why Gojo had personally brought her back.
Gojo gave Ritsuka a casual pat on the shoulder and grinned.
“Alright then, you all get to know each other.
I still need to handle the rest of Ritsuka’s enrollment paperwork.”
“Megumi, Kugisaki—I’m leaving Ritsuka in your hands for now.
Thanks!”
And with that, before Megumi or Nobara could even react, he teleported instantly, vanishing from sight.
“That irresponsible teacher, shoving his own work onto other people again!”
Megumi’s temple veins bulged.
He was furious at Gojo’s laziness, but utterly powerless to do anything about it.
Noticing that Ritsuka was looking at him, Megumi reined in his irritation and steadied himself.
“Hello, Ritsuka-san.
I’m Fushiguro Megumi, also a first-year student.
Pleased to meet you.”
“And I’m a first-year too.
Kugisaki Nobara.
Just Nobara is fine.”
Nobara flashed a warm smile.
“This is great, finally another cute girl around here.
Do you like shopping?
Wanna go together later?”
“That’d be lovely.
I do need to pick up some daily necessities…”
Ritsuka smiled and accepted without hesitation.
Far from being put off by Nobara’s enthusiasm, she actually got along with her extremely well.
Watching the ever-so-friendly Nobara, and recalling the impression she’d made when they first met, Megumi muttered inwardly to himself, This woman has two completely different faces for guys and girls.
The second-years—Zen’in Maki, Inumaki Toge, and Panda—also came over to say hello and briefly introduce themselves.
After that, Ritsuka was whisked away by Megumi and Nobara for a tour of the school.
Watching the three of them leave, Panda suddenly seemed to remember something and exclaimed in surprise, “Come to think of it, this new kouhai didn’t even bat an eye at my panda appearance.
She’s way too calm about this!”
“Salmon.”
Inumaki nodded in agreement.
“Could it be she thinks I’m just a guy in a panda suit?
Or have pandas gone out of style?
No way…”
Dejectedly, Panda squatted down and started sulking like a mushroom.
Inumaki stood beside him, patting his big head and offering silent consolation.
Ignoring the two goofballs, Maki watched Ritsuka’s departing figure. This story is hosted at g.com.
Her mind drifted to another second-year student—Okkotsu Yuta.
Both were transfer students.
Both had been personally scouted by Gojo.
Both possessed formidable techniques and enormous potential.
She wondered what kind of variables this new arrival might bring to the upcoming Exchange Event.
‘Still, none of my business either way.’
“Let’s keep training.
Since Fushiguro’s gone, Panda, you’ll spar with me.
A good fight always clears the mind.”
“Eh?”
“Here I come—”
“Ehhhh?!”
….
“Over here is the cafeteria, over here the academic building…”
Although the student body consisted of just a handful of people, the facilities were fully comprehensive.
The buildings carried an air of classic elegance, and with the school nestled in the Tokyo suburbs, the air was fresh, the scenery beautiful, and the atmosphere quite pleasant.
“…And this is the dormitory.
Kugisaki will take you inside from here.”
The dormitory building likewise bore the marks of age.
Since it would be inconvenient for Megumi to enter the girls’ dormitory, Nobara alone escorted her in to pick a room.
“Right now, the whole girls’ dorm only has me and Maki-senpai living in it.
There are tons of empty rooms.
You can pick whichever one you like.”
Nobara explained.
That said, every dorm room was identically furnished.
The only real choice was location.
Since the wooden walls weren’t exactly soundproof, Ritsuka chose a room with one empty room between hers and Nobara’s.
After helping her get the room in order, Nobara stood by the doorway, ready to head back to the training grounds.
“Alright, you rest up here for now.
Fushiguro and I still need to go back to the grounds and keep training.
There’s an exchange event coming up with the students from the Kyoto school—basically a competition.
None of us want to lose to them, so we’re all training hard.”
“Speaking of which, will you be participating?
The exchange event?”
Logically, as a student of the technical college, Ritsuka should naturally take part.
But considering she had only just enrolled at this point in time, Nobara wasn’t entirely sure either.
Ritsuka shook her head.
“I don’t know.
Gojo-sensei hasn’t mentioned it to me yet.”
“That guy, seriously.”
Nobara ran a hand through her hair in irritation, equally exasperated by their unreliable teacher.
We’ll figure it out when the time comes.
If you need anything, you can always find us on the training grounds.
In the afternoon, let’s head out to the mall together and see what else you need to buy.
It’s a date!”
“Alright.
Thanks for everything.”
After seeing Nobara off, the dorm quickly fell silent.
Ritsuka sat on the bed.
Beside it stood a set of floor-to-ceiling windows that opened onto a balcony.
Through the glass, she could see the vibrant trees and flowers outside.
The environment was truly lovely.
More importantly, things had progressed far more smoothly than she had anticipated—that part had actually caught her off guard.
Rewind to earlier.
Inside a dessert shop.
“Whoa, no way.
This kind of absurd development actually happens?
It’s more ridiculous than a third-rate movie plot.
This is just…”
“Interesting.
Way too interesting!!”
Gojo’s large hand covered most of his face, but it couldn’t hide the crazed grin that was practically stretching from ear to ear.
Even after Ritsuka had come clean about her identity and, through a series of demonstrations, forced him to accept that she was telling the truth, he still found the whole thing utterly unbelievable.
At the same time, Ritsuka, sitting across from him, felt the displeased stares of the other customers boring into her.
Squirming in her seat, she had no choice but to remind him, “Gojo-san, you’re being too loud.”
“Ah, sorry.”
Prompted, Gojo snapped out of it.
He reined in his voice and his obnoxious lounging posture, resting his chin on one hand as he fell into thought, as if mulling something over.
Suddenly, he spoke.
“Since I’m the strongest existence in this world, then in other words, I’m the ruler of this world, right?”
“Huh?”
Ritsuka was taken aback by the sudden, outrageously arrogant and narcissistic declaration.
Gojo, however, said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, continuing on without pause.
“In that case, if an outsider like you wants to move around in my world, shouldn’t you need my permission?”
“Uh…
I suppose…
so?”
Ritsuka nodded very hesitantly.
Gojo, seeing this, flashed a deeply meaningful smile.
“Well then, let’s make a deal.”