The next day.
Tokyo Station.
Pre-departure announcements circled overhead on the platform, woven through with the screech of wheels on tracks.
Uchiha Ayato reclined in the plush seat of the premium car, staring at the ceiling with mild disdain.
[Investigation Mission: Complete Kakashi’s commission.
Reward: Ninja Art — Four Symbols Seal] “Honestly.
If it weren’t for the reward, there’s no way I’d be burning my precious free time on a below-Grade-2 cursed object retrieval mission.” He muttered to himself, then lazily swiped open his phone screen.
The message Gojo had sent looked nothing like a proper mission briefing.
Every other sentence was stuffed with some kind of emoticon.
Ayato-kun~ I’ve arranged a fully-funded trip to Sendai just for you!
(ﾉ>ω<)ﾉ Seize the chance to connect with your future schoolmates!
Youth is all about running, sweating, and living life to the full!
Reading this dreck first thing in the morning was a genuine workplace hazard.
But…
Sendai.
Sugisawa Third High School.
If nothing had gone off the rails, this should be where the story began.
The King of Curses from a thousand years ago — Ryomen Sukuna — was about to stir back to life in this era.
Not that his awakening was what Ayato was worried about right now.
There was something far more pressing.
Chihaya Anon.
Yesterday, in order to cool down a certain pink-tinted atmosphere that had gotten a little too warm, he’d taken the coward’s way out.
Needless to say, the seething resentment on the other end was going to be substantial.
Already hard enough to deal with under normal circumstances, and now on top of that he’d taken the day off school without even telling her — the storm awaiting his return was going to be something else.
As if on cue, his phone buzzed with a rapid series of short vibrations.
He opened Line.
The president — using a blooming lotus flower as her avatar — had already fired off several messages: Ayarin, why aren’t you at school today?
Teacher said you took a sick day.
What happened?
Is it serious?
Do you want me to come check on you after school?
Should I pick up any medicine?
The string of texts hit like a rush of warmth through the screen.
You could practically picture the girl staring at her phone with those big eyes of hers.
Being cared for by a beautiful girl is both a burden and a gift, isn’t it.
Ayato sighed and tapped back quickly: Heading to Sendai to deal with some personal business — body’s perfectly fine, don’t worry.
I’ll be back at my student council post Monday morning, and I’ll bring back a souvenir.
P.S.
— have a great weekend in advance, Madam President.
Good luck at band practice.
Sent.
Screen off.
Immediately.
Clean, efficient, delivering exactly enough warmth to keep things going while firmly refusing any in-person contact.
Outside, the platform alert bells shrieked to life.
A uniformed station attendant waved a red signal flag.
Uchiha Ayato raised a hand and flagged down the cabin attendant, requesting an iced oolong tea.
He’d barely gotten the cap halfway off the bottle, the cold mist still dispersing across his fingertips, when two figures swept in through the carriage door on a light breeze, moving fast.
“That was close, that was close!
If we’d missed this one, the manager would’ve actually killed us, right?” The one in front had warm brown hair past her shoulders, bright expressive eyes, and a slightly winded but completely guileless smile plastered across her face.
Behind her, the other girl wore a black baseball cap pulled low, white minimalist T-shirt, chestnut high-waisted skirt — the lines of it framing a slender figure.
The premium cabin was arranged in a “2+1” layout.
They stopped right at Ayato’s row and settled into the two seats across the aisle.
The moment Ayato caught the face under the cap, his gaze went still.
It was a face that was flawless even completely bare — no makeup, no filters needed.
Platinum blonde hair falling to her shoulders.
Lavender eyes with a quiet, contained depth to them.
But it wasn’t her looks — striking enough to land on any magazine cover — that made Ayato stop.
[Social Mission: Even a God Can’t Hold Back Tears — Persuade Uchiha Obito to let go of or change his obsession.
Reward: Dōjutsu — Kamui] Uchiha Ayato: …
Ayato stared at the absurdly beautiful blonde girl across the aisle and genuinely didn’t know where to start with his internal commentary.
Uchiha Obito?
“Even a god can’t hold back tears — only Sakiko everywhere.” There’s definitely something going on with the Togawa family.
Everyone connected to them keeps getting flagged by this broken system as an Uchiha clan member.
Uncle Ayato really needed to start wondering what the “darkness of the Togawa family” actually was.
As for the mission itself…
Difficult — genuinely difficult.
But the reward was worth trying for.
Come on, who doesn’t want to just glare at someone and teleport their head off their shoulders?
Sumita Mana had just shoved her bag into the overhead compartment.
She turned around and walked straight into Ayato staring directly at Uika.
She blinked, then nudged Uika’s arm and shot Ayato an outgoing, sun-bright smile.
“Hey there, are you looking at Uika?” Misumi Uika heard her partner’s words and turned slightly, a little self-conscious.
She found a black-haired boy in the single seat beside them.
He had the kind of deceptively handsome face you’d expect to have a slightly devastating effect on people — with that naturally unhurried, unbothered quality about him that was genuinely rare for someone his age.
She’d gotten used to eyes like these a long time ago.
Out of long habit, Uika adjusted her breathing, lifted the brim of her cap ever so slightly.
A professional, impeccable warmth settled across her face.
Her mouth curved into exactly the right arc.
She gave Ayato a small wave.
“Hello~” Textbook.
Misumi Uika’s handling of that was completely textbook.
But Uncle Ayato was equally shameless when it came to changing faces.
In the same instant Uika spoke, Ayato’s eyes lit up.
The languid aloofness melted away and was replaced with something that looked genuinely surprised and just a touch flustered.
“Uika?
Mana?
Are those seriously the two of sumimi?” He sat up slightly, voice picking up a little speed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare — I just couldn’t believe I’d run into you two here.” “I’ve been following you since Here, the world!
charted for the first time — I’m a hardcore fan!” Uika’s wariness dialed back a notch.
For a fan who was enthusiastic but maintaining a polite distance — this was well within her comfort zone.
“We really appreciate your support~” Misumi Uika pressed her hands together lightly, voice maintaining its pulse-quickening warmth.
“Running into a fan on the train — that makes us happy too.” Mana, by contrast, had none of Uika’s invisible social buffer.
She was naturally bubbly to begin with, and the second she heard “fan,” she leaned right over, half her upper body dangling into the aisle.
“Oh, a fan!
I knew it — the way you were looking at Uika was so obvious!” Mana let out a cheerful giggle and started digging through her bag.
“Since we’re fans of each other now, we’re basically friends!” “Look, look, look — ta-dah — strawberry chocolate doughnuts!” Ayato looked at the pink doughnut box being thrust toward him and felt one eye twitch slightly.
This girl is way too easy to talk to.
He complained internally, but outwardly put on the expression of someone who absolutely couldn’t believe their luck — both hands out to receive the doughnut box with full ceremony.
“This…
is this really okay?” “Getting doughnuts from Mana herself — I’m genuinely so happy right now!” He took a bite.
The strawberry glaze hit his tongue in a burst of sweet.
He gave a thumbs up.
“Incredible.
Because of this doughnut, my mood today is officially a ten out of ten.” “RIGHT?!
I’d queue two hours for these and I would do it again!” Mana tipped her chin up smugly.
Uika watched the two of them chatting away and let a gentle smile settle on her lips.
This boy’s smile was too natural.
His gaze was clear and open, and somehow it made it impossible to feel on guard around him.
The train dove into a tunnel.
Outside, the scenery blurred into grey streaks at high speed.
“Are you both going to Sendai for something special?” Ayato asked between doughnut bites, sliding naturally into the point of the trip.
“Speaking as a fan — I feel kind of bad for missing the schedule announcement.” “Oh, it’s not really a formal tour or anything,” Mana said without hesitation, telling him everything.
“Just a small mall meet-and-greet with a live set, in a shopping complex near Sendai Station.
It was added last-minute, so it was only mentioned quietly inside the fan club.” Uika added with a smile, “If you have time, feel free to come~” “Obviously — I can’t miss this.
Opportunity like this comes once in a lifetime.” Ayato washed down the rest of the doughnut with a sip of oolong tea.
The next hour and a half, the carriage was full of easy laughter.
Uchiha Ayato could drop one sentence that complimented Uika’s arranging sensibilities and Mana’s stage presence simultaneously, then follow it up with two or three of those “middle school boy jokes” that had both of them hiding their laughs behind their hands.
But all good things must end.
The train was about to pull into Sendai Station.
Arriving at the city of the highest jujutsu civilization — Sendai!
“Alright then, we’ll head off to get ready!
Remember to come see us sing!” Mana hoisted her bag and waved at Ayato.
Uika lowered her cap slightly and gave a small bow.
“It was a pleasure.
Thanks for the company — looking forward to seeing you in the crowd.” “Break a leg.
I’ll have my eyes on you both.” Ayato stood at the side of the aisle and watched the two girls merge into the departing crowd.
Once their figures disappeared completely, the smile on his face folded up without a trace, going back to his default state of not caring about anything.
He drifted with the flow through the station, even making time to pick up a souvenir.
His gaze, however, stayed locked on Sumita Mana and Misumi Uika the whole time.
Compared to the cursed object retrieval mission that was destined to come up empty, doing his own business was clearly the better use of his time.
As for Fushiguro Megumi?
Whatever.
Forget Fushiguro Megumi.
To be continued…