The sound of footsteps echoed continuously against the floor as the two walked through the corridors of Jujutsu High, one in front of the other.
Since neither of them spoke, however, the silence between them felt strangely awkward.
Utahime Iori was still thinking about the data she had just seen, along with the mountain of troublesome responsibilities that had suddenly been dumped on her.
Tōru Azuma, meanwhile, was wondering how he should start a conversation with her.
Ever since they left the office, he had noticed that Utahime seemed to be in a rather bad mood.
He could understand why.
Suddenly being saddled with a newcomer you were required to look after would be a headache for anyone.
He had encountered similar situations at work in his previous life.
If the newcomer was easy to deal with, it wasn’t too bad.
But if they constantly caused trouble, it could make you want to cry.
Regardless, Tōru Azuma wanted to get along well with Utahime Iori.
With that in mind, he spoke first.
“Senpai, I’m really sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
Hearing his voice, the distracted girl snapped out of her thoughts.
“What did you just call me?”
“Senpai, of course.”
Seeing the serious expression on his face, something inexplicably stirred in Utahime Iori’s heart.
Only then did she realize that she had been silent for quite a while and had completely forgotten everything Masamichi Yaga had asked her to do.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she cleared her throat.
“Sorry.
I was thinking about something just now.
I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
“It’s fine, senpai.
I understand.
If someone suddenly dumped such a complicated and troublesome responsibility on me, I’d be frustrated too.”
Tōru Azuma simply smiled.
For some reason, hearing him call her senpai so naturally, along with those understanding words, lifted Utahime’s mood a little.
She quickly looked away and began explaining Jujutsu High in a somewhat stiff tone.
“First, I suppose I should properly introduce myself.
My name is Utahime Iori, and I’m a second-year student at Jujutsu High.
So there’s nothing particularly wrong with you calling me senpai.”
The way she said it sounded partly like an explanation and partly like she was trying to justify both his choice of address and her own reaction to it.
Tōru Azuma merely smiled again.
That annoyed her slightly, but she continued introducing the school.
“Jujutsu High has three grade levels.
That might sound like a lot, but there are only a little over ten students in the entire school right now.”
“Most of the third-year senpai are away on assignments and hardly ever come back to school.
There are a few first-years, but I’m not very familiar with them.
As for the second year, it’s just me and Mei Mei.”
When she mentioned her classmate, she elaborated a little more.
“You already heard about Mei Mei in the office.
She’ll be your other supervisor.
Utahime glanced sideways at Tōru Azuma, an indescribable look in her eyes.
“She’s very strong.
Much stronger than I am.
She’s just a little too fond of money.
I don’t really understand why myself, but you’d better not act too strangely about it.”
Halfway through, she seemed to remember something else and added.
“Yaga-sensei spent some time handling recruitment recently.
I heard from a few assistant managers that they eventually settled on three people.
So if you manage to enroll this year, you’ll have three classmates in the same year.
That’s already pretty good by Jujutsu High standards.”
Tōru Azuma fell into thought as he listened.
Masamichi Yaga had recruited three students.
That lined up perfectly with the trio from the original story.
Which meant the current timeline should be before the Hidden Inventory arc.
That was actually ideal.
It would make it easier for him to build relationships with them, and easier to change certain things in the future.
Unaware that his attention had wandered, Utahime continued her explanation.
“Next, I’ll show you some of the facilities and training areas.”
She raised a hand and pointed toward the other end of the corridor.
“Over there are the training grounds.
There are two in total, one indoors and one outdoors.
They’re mainly used for practical combat classes, but students can also train there on their own.
Just make sure you check the bulletin board for the usage schedule.”
After walking a little farther, she spotted a somewhat run-down building in the distance, and a trace of nostalgia entered her eyes.
“That building is where the classroom lessons are held.
Theory classes and general Jujutsu knowledge are taught there.
The cafeteria is behind it.
Meals are served at fixed times, so if you miss them, you’ll have to figure something out yourself.”
By the time they reached the middle of the corridor, two separate buildings could be seen standing some distance away from each other.
“Those are the dormitories.
According to the rules, every Jujutsu High student has to live on campus.
But since the school has never had many students, the dorms are actually pretty empty.”
“You can contact the dormitory staff later.
They should already have been informed that someone new is arriving.”
After finishing with the easier matters, Utahime’s expression immediately turned serious.
Her tone also became much more firm and cautionary.
“There are a few places you need to be especially careful about.
First, the tower in the northwest.
That’s where the school’s higher-ups and the higher-ups of the Jujutsu World hold meetings and discuss important matters.
If you enter without permission, you’ll immediately be disciplined.”
“Next is the forest around the outer part of the mountain behind the school.
Students aren’t allowed to enter alone.
It’s only opened during practical training when a teacher is supervising.”
After saying that, she hesitated as though she wanted to add something else, but ultimately decided against it.
She had originally planned to mention the Cursed Storehouse and the Tombs of the Star to the junior beside her, but there was no point yet.
He had no chance of coming into contact with either place for the time being.
She could explain those things later if the opportunity arose.
By then, the two of them had reached the end of the corridor.
Utahime had already covered most of the basics, so it was about time for them to part ways.
But after a brief silence, she suddenly spoke again, her voice carrying both curiosity and hesitation.
“By the way…
back at the subway station, how exactly did you manage to use Black Flash?”
Tōru Azuma glanced at her.
When he saw the curiosity and expectation in her eyes, he paused before answering in an equally probing tone.
“I think I already answered that question for Yaga-sensei.
I really don’t know why I was able to do it.
But senpai, why are you suddenly asking?”
Utahime instinctively fell silent.
At first, she wanted to brush the question aside.
But after hesitating for a moment, she looked at him again.
In truth, over the past few years, she had accumulated plenty of questions and frustrations in her heart.
She felt too embarrassed to talk about them with Mei Mei, who was in the same year as her, and she didn’t feel comfortable confiding in anyone else either.
But for some reason, Tōru Azuma seemed strangely easy to talk to.
He also looked like the kind of person who knew how to keep a secret.
And since she would probably graduate next year anyway, maybe there was no harm in talking about it a little.
With that thought, she finally voiced some of what had been weighing on her.
“Because…
it’s already been two years.
Mei Mei’s strength is almost at the level of a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, but I’m still stuck at Semi-Grade 2.
And my Cursed Technique can only strengthen other people.
If possible, I want to find more ways to make myself stronger too.”
As she spoke, the discouragement in her voice was almost palpable.
Looking at her, Tōru Azuma couldn’t help feeling a little emotional.
In his previous life, when people talked about Utahime, they usually remembered her as a master of buffs, someone cold on the outside but warm on the inside, a sharp-tongued tsundere with a strong sense of pride.
She was professional and meticulous, but also somewhat rigid and overly attached to rules.
Tōru Azuma saw her a little differently.
Utahime’s abilities couldn’t be applied directly in combat.
Instead, they were meant to support other people, which meant she had to work alongside others most of the time.
After enough time passed, it was only natural that she might start doubting herself and wondering whether she was really useful.
It probably hadn’t reached the level of an inferiority complex, but she definitely seemed to lack confidence in herself.
You could see it in how much importance she placed on being someone’s senpai, and in how furious she became whenever Satoru Gojo mocked her for being weak.
But Tōru Azuma thought that way of seeing herself was wrong.
“Senpai, you’re actually really strong.”
“Huh?”