“—Tachibana-kun.” Satomi Gojo spoke with unusual gravity.
You had to realize she normally addressed Rui and the other students directly by their first names.
Switching to “Tachibana-kun” now carried the kind of sudden, suffocating pressure you’d feel if your older sister abruptly called you by your full name.
After all, Ms.
Gojo was only twenty-seven and practically ageless.
At first glance, she only differed from her youthful, invincible high school days by her mature aura; she was nowhere near “milf” territory just yet.
“G-Gojo-sensei?” For some reason, Rui felt a pang of guilt and quietly took a step in the opposite direction of Yuna Okotsu and Rika.
Ten minutes ago, he had led the two girls out of the academic building, only to spot Ms.
Gojo leaning lazily against the school gate, casually swirling a bottle of cola while humming a little tune…
The moment she laid eyes on him, however, her face instantly flipped into a deadpan battle mode, refusing to say a single word.
Anyone walking by would have assumed she was preparing to step onto the battlefield to throw hands with Sukuna.
“Tachibana-kun, if you’re genuinely feeling that sexually frustrated, teacher can recommend a few websites to you…
Teacher knows you live in a bizarre environment completely surrounded by girls—honestly, I’ve been meaning to ask why this year’s batch at Jujutsu High consists entirely of girls except for you…” “But there’s really no need to think about dating me.
That level is a bit too high for you right now, okay?” “…?” To be completely honest, if Satomi Gojo hadn’t brought it up, Rui would have completely forgotten about that voice message he sent.
He chuckled awkwardly, preparing to brush it off…
but Yuna Okotsu beside him clearly didn’t share that sentiment.
In the simulation, she had been unconscious when this event was triggered.
In other words, this was her very first time hearing this shocking piece of information.
*Rui-kun…
poured his heart out to someone other than her?* *Haha.
Wow, since when did the world have such hilarious jokes?* “This…
Ms.
Gojo, right?
I don’t think that’s quite how it is.
Rui…
Classmate Tachibana doesn’t seem like the type of person to make such a reckless move.
Could you have misunderstood something?
It’s probably because Classmate Tachibana is incredibly gentle to everyone, making it very easy for misunderstandings to arise.
Besides, I’ve heard that relationships with too vast a gap in status have a terribly low success rate when it comes to staying together peacefully in the end…?” When she first opened her mouth, Miss Okotsu spoke a bit haltingly—after all, to her, Satomi Gojo was the mentor who had guided her for years, so pretending to be total strangers wasn’t easy.
Yet, after just a few words, her speaking speed accelerated rapidly.
Combined with an absolute palette of emotions in her eyes—four parts resentment, three parts denial, and three parts pure envy—a heavy, suffocating gravitational field suddenly erupted from her, forcing even the strongest, Satomi Gojo, to take two steps back.
“Uh…
and you are?” Ms.
Gojo was thoroughly baffled, trying to clarify the situation first.
“…I am someone who has received Classmate Tachibana’s kindness, someone whom Classmate Tachibana has helped immensely…
so, I suppose you could call me a person who wishes to repay that debt.” “No, I was literally just asking for your name…” On the other side, Rui subtly took two steps sideways, desperately trying to escape this explosive, dagger-filled atmosphere.
After moving a couple of paces, he suddenly felt a prickle of needles against his back.
Turning his head to look, he found Miss Rika staring straight at him.
“Mr.
Rui, you seem to possess quite an exceptional charm with the opposite sex.” “Ah?
Do I?” To be perfectly fair, Rui genuinely believed he was just a normal guy.
If he had to look at it objectively, he just happened to have a cheat running in the background.
“…Could you please not wear such a genuinely shocked expression?
It’s incredibly irritating, and I might not be able to stop myself from attacking you.” Was she talking about a verbal attack or a physical one?
To make matters worse, despite tossing out such disrespectful words to the very person who had just saved her life, this girl was still strictly utilizing honorifics.
Furthermore, she kept a perfectly pleasant, gentle smile plastered on her face the entire time she spoke, which was honestly a little terrifying.
“NTR.” “What?” “Nothing, you must have misheard.” The pressure was immense…
…
“Tachibana-kun…
that honorific always makes us sound so distant…
Rui-kun, is it okay if I call you that?
And Rui-kun can just call me Yuna directly, that way we’ll feel more like peers…
I think?” Upon returning to Jujutsu High, the absolute first thing Yuna Okotsu did was modify how they addressed each other.
Rui internally lamented that something was terribly off.
Where the hell did that stuttering, introverted, socially anxious Miss Okotsu go?
This sheer level of proactivity was fast approaching the territory of a seasoned, aggressive carnivore.
“…So, could you please try calling me that just once, Rui-kun?” She drove straight past his social safety boundaries, her eyelashes fluttering softly at an arm’s reach.
Her hopeful, seeking expression instantly brought to mind a loyal Shiba Inu wrapping itself around your pant leg, acting exceptionally affectionate right before dinner.
“Yuna…-san?” Hearing the “-san” tacked onto the end, Miss Okotsu pouted her lips slightly, though she quickly masked it with another bright smile.
“Then Rui-kun, I’ll go head over to pack up my dorm room first.
See you tomorrow~” As for Rika, the second they arrived at the school, she claimed she needed to sort out her room and immediately bolted.
It seemed that having her, Rui, and Yuna Okotsu occupying the exact same space simultaneously subjected her to an astronomical amount of mental strain.
Rui turned his head, only to find Gojo-sensei staring at him in dead silence.
“Rui, while this is ultimately your own personal freedom, and I really don’t want to nag…
you should probably exercise some restraint in your relationships with girls.
Now that both Yuna and Rika are preparing to enroll at Jujutsu High, creating a messy web of drama is going to be a massive pain in the ass.” Even though she had just been implicitly read the riot act by Yuna Okotsu out of nowhere, Ms.
Gojo possessed an incredibly broad mind– In reality, she had just noticed that the girl’s cursed energy reserves were absurdly massive, and standing right beside her was a fully sentient, humanoid Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit bound by a strict vow.
To Satomi Gojo, the raw potential of this duo was infinitely more seductive than a billion zundamochi rice cakes!
She had been too busy joking around earlier to notice, but now that she focused her gaze, she realized a distinct shift had occurred within her most familiar student as well.
“Hmm?
Rui, come over here.
Get closer so teacher can get a proper look at you.” The tall, 178cm white-haired beauty closed the distance, pacing around Rui a couple of times while poking here and prodding there…
For a fleeting second, Rui felt the distinct, uncanny illusion of an inmate undergoing a physical strip-search by a prison guard.
He couldn’t help but flinch backward, only to receive a swift swat to the back of his head from Ms.
Gojo.
“What are you dodging for?
You’re just a little brat; I literally changed your diapers when you were a baby.” Like hell she did.
Rui wasn’t exactly a toddler when he transmigrated into this world.
After finishing her examination, she pondered in silence for a brief moment, a rare flash of genuine bewilderment crossing her features.
“How bizarre…
Rui, you should already be well aware that my eyes can track the literal flow of cursed energy, right?
An Innate Technique naturally alters how that energy circulates, meaning that most of the time, a single glance is all it takes for me to accurately deduce someone’s technique.” “But in your current state, your overall reserves have inexplicably skyrocketed by a massive chunk, and the core signature of your technique feels entirely different…
It’s almost exactly as if you’ve been incarnated by a cursed object.” *Incredible—* Rui silently marveled to himself.
Spotting a fluctuation in cursed energy reserves wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but being able to detect a literal mutation in an Innate Technique was a feat no ordinary sorcerer could replicate.
His expression remained perfectly casual.
“That’s right, Gojo-sensei.
I completely forgot to mention it to you just now.
While I was being hunted down by Rika, my head suddenly started splitting apart out of nowhere.
Immediately after, I felt the my technique begin to shift, mutating from Construction Technique into something that allows me to manipulate the shape of souls…
Could this be a literal case of technique evolution?” “Evolution my foot…
What do you think you are, a SkullGreymon?” Satomi Gojo seemed to recall something specific, her gaze dimming slightly.
“Don’t take this lightly.
Jujutsu strictly operates on binding vows of equivalent exchange.
You might be reaping the sweet rewards right now, but you could very well end up tripping over a hidden restriction later down the line.
There are plenty of historical tragedies where a sorcerer was sweet-talked by a cursed object, forgot the exact terms of the vow they struck, and ultimately paid an astronomical price.” “Which means…?” Rui couldn’t quite fathom where she was steering the conversation.
Ms.
Gojo flashed a cocky, sharp grin, suddenly reaching out to aggressively ruffle Rui’s hair.
The latter, however, was already entirely accustomed to his teacher’s sudden bouts of eccentricity.
He simply stood there like a statue, letting her mess it up without offering a single shred of a reaction.
Seeing no amusement in it, she groaned, “No fun~” and finally let go.
“Aww, you’re really not cute at all…
I was just trying to get you to unwind a bit, because the matter we need to discuss next is going to require a decent amount of mental fortitude.” Still wearing her signature smile, Ms.
Gojo calmly dropped a terrifying bombshell.
“Rui—I need you to head down to the Cursed Warehouse and have a little chat with the Special Grade Cursed Objects stored by Jujutsu High.
Let’s start with Sukuna’s fingers.” —