Shoko withdrew her hand and the white light faded away.
Expressionless, she removed her medical gloves and tossed them into the trash.
“Don’t casually get yourself injured and increase my workload again.
That’ll be thanks enough.”
Jin smiled and said nothing more.
He pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket, took out two, and held them toward Shoko.
“Want one?”
Looking at the cigarettes Jin offered her, Shoko froze for a moment.
After hesitating, she said,
“I’m currently trying to quit…”
“Is that so?”
Hearing that, Jin slowly started pulling his hand back.
Shoko watched the two cigarettes retreat, then suddenly reached out and plucked one from between his fingers.
“But…
one once in a while doesn’t count.”
She held the cigarette between her fingers and carefully looked it over.
“Mild Seven?”
Shoko looked at Jin with slight surprise, the corner of her mouth twitching.
“Didn’t expect you to prefer women’s cigarettes.”
Faced with Shoko’s mild teasing, Jin placed his own cigarette between his lips and replied as though it were obvious.
“If you’re offering a cigarette to a woman, naturally you offer her a women’s cigarette.”
Shoko smiled faintly and lowered her head, bringing the cigarette to her lips.
After putting it in her mouth, she instinctively reached into her pocket for a lighter.
Jin snapped his fingers, and orange fire appeared at his fingertip.
He leaned forward and held the flame in front of Shoko.
Watching this scene, Gojo’s pupils widened slightly and he paused.
The bright flame reflected in Shoko’s dark-brown eyes.
Shoko stared at the small flame and blinked.
She tilted her head slightly and brought the cigarette closer.
The tip glowed dark red within the fire.
Shoko inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled smoke from between her lips, letting it disperse through the air.
“This is your cursed technique?”
Holding the cigarette between her fingers, she turned toward Jin with a relaxed expression.
“Convenient.”
Jin withdrew his finger, while the cigarette between his lips lit itself automatically.
Gojo leaned against the wall with both hands in his pockets.
Looking at the flame that still hadn’t gone out on Jin’s fingertip, he finally couldn’t hold back.
“Are you two seriously smoking openly in the infirmary?”
His tone was exaggeratedly shocked, his brilliant blue eyes moving back and forth between them.
“I’m pretty sure this is a no-smoking area, right?”
Shoko kept twirling the strands of hair hanging over her chest around one finger.
She exhaled a cloud of smoke and answered calmly.
“More accurately…
smoking is prohibited for everyone except me.”
Shoko lightly waved the hand holding her cigarette, smoke curling around her fingertips.
She looked at Gojo.
The beauty mark beneath the corner of her eye lifted slightly with her smile, giving her expression a hint of mischief.
“But today, I’m granting special permission.”
Jin flashed Gojo a victory sign and grinned proudly.
“Handing out cigarettes raises affection.
Knew it’d work.”
Gojo opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Looking at the expression on Shoko’s face that clearly said, ‘I make the rules here,’ he let out a long sigh.
“Fine.
Your territory, your rules.”
Smoke gradually filled the enclosed room.
Gojo waved it away from his face and turned toward Jin.
His brilliant blue eyes narrowed slightly beneath the light.
“Utahime finally managed to convince Shoko to quit smoking.”
“With you around, I give it a few days before all of Utahime’s effort goes to waste.”
He paused, the corner of his mouth curling into a schadenfreude-filled smile.
“If she finds out, you better be careful.
She might come looking for trouble~”
Jin’s golden eyes glanced sideways.
Expressionless, he flicked some ash from his cigarette.
Gray-white ash fell onto the edge of the metal bed and broke apart into fine powder.
“Don’t threaten me with people I don’t even know.
If she wants to fight, I’ll accept anytime.”
Gojo tilted his head and looked at him for two seconds before laughing.
“Ah…
fair point.”
He shrugged and slipped both hands back into his pockets.
“Utahime is so weak she probably couldn’t beat you anyway.
So ‘looking for trouble’ doesn’t really apply.”
With the cigarette still in his mouth, Jin spoke lazily.
“Why quit smoking when you have Reverse Cursed Technique?
If your lungs go bad, just cut them out and regenerate new ones.”
Shoko raised her brown eyes toward Jin, a trace of nearly imperceptible amusement in her voice.
“You certainly look at problems from an unusual angle.”
The fluorescent light overhead reflected in Jin’s golden eyes, almost painfully bright.
He turned his head toward Shoko beside him and asked in return.
“Am I wrong?”
Shoko didn’t answer.
She simply continued smoking the short remainder of her cigarette.
Jin tossed his cigarette butt into the ashtray.
Sparks bounced once against the bottom before dying completely.
“To make sure I don’t die from lung cancer, looks like I need to learn Reverse Cursed Technique as soon as possible.”
Amusement flashed in Gojo’s eyes.
“You really know how to take the convenient route.
This is the first time I’ve heard someone say they want to learn Reverse Cursed Technique because they’re afraid of dying from lung cancer.”
“Are you two done talking yet?”
Shoko raised her eyes toward Gojo.
There was no impatience in her brown eyes, only the calm expression of someone thinking, ‘I’m already exhausted, can you people please leave?’
“If you’re finished, get out.
I need to rest.”
Gojo pushed himself away from the wall and turned toward the door.
“Nothing else to do.
Let’s go, Jin.”
Jin hopped down from the bed and slipped the cigarette pack back into his pants pocket.
When he reached the doorway, he looked back at Shoko.
“See you, Shoko-san.”
Shoko exhaled smoke and casually extinguished her cigarette.
She yawned, clearly unsatisfied, and spoke without raising her head.
“Bring something more manly next time.
This one’s too weak.”
Jin raised an eyebrow and stepped out of the infirmary.
“Got it.”
The metal infirmary door closed with a hiss.
Gojo and Jin stood on opposite sides of the long corridor.
Golden evening light flooded inside, dyeing the entire hallway a warm orange-red.
Tiny specks of dust floated through the air, slowly drifting inside the beams of light.
Gojo began walking forward, his white hair edged with pale gold beneath the setting sun.
As he walked, he suddenly remembered something and turned toward Jin beside him, asking casually,
“By the way, how did you know Shoko smokes?
I don’t remember telling you.”
Jin narrowed his eyes and stretched beneath the sunset.
“Her eyes lit up the moment she saw the cigarettes.
Obviously she’s a nicotine addict.
Couldn’t have been clearer.”
Gojo turned away and rubbed his chin.
His gaze fell on the distant horizon dyed red by the sunset, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
“Is that so…”
“It’s almost evening already.
What should we eat later?”
Gojo paused, then abruptly changed the subject, his tone becoming even more cheerful.
“How about calling Megumi and throwing you a welcome party?
Sounds good, right?”
Jin licked his lips, anticipation flashing in his eyes.
“No problem.
I’m going to bleed you dry, though!”
Gojo chuckled, turned his head forward, and lengthened his stride.
“Before that, though, I need to take you to meet the principal.”
His voice drifted back from ahead, carrying a casual tone.
“He’ll probably ask you some questions that seem confusing.
Just answer however you want.”
Gojo paused, but his footsteps didn’t stop.
His tone suddenly deepened.
The usual frivolous quality disappeared, replaced by an unquestionable certainty.
“No matter what opinion he has, you’re already a student of mine, Satoru Gojo.”
He looked toward the setting sun.
Orange-red light fell across the side of his face, making it appear unusually warm and gentle.
Jin turned his head and looked at Gojo’s profile.
The usual careless smile was gone.
Gojo’s brilliant blue eyes quietly watched the horizon.
Was he…
worried Jin might be nervous?
Jin’s lips trembled slightly, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes.
He raised his head toward the distant sunset.
His old life was coming to an end, while a bizarre and dazzling new world was opening before him.
At that moment, Gojo suddenly leaned backward, both hands in his pockets as he grinned at Jin.
“Since you’re already my student, hurry up.
Call me ‘Gojo-sensei’ once so I can hear it.”
Jin’s footsteps paused slightly.
How many years had it been since he’d called someone “teacher”?
His Adam’s apple moved, but no sound came out.
Seeing this, Gojo leaned right in front of him, brilliant blue eyes staring directly at his face.
“What?
Don’t be shy!
Come on, come on.”
Jin shifted his golden eyes to meet Gojo’s.
The corner of his mouth rose slightly, looking both helpless and strangely happy.
“Gojo…
sensei.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was perfectly clear.
The final syllable lifted slightly, as though he wasn’t used to the title and was tasting the sound of it for the first time.
“Good!”
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Gojo’s eyes lit up before he straightened and burst into laughter.
His laughter echoed through the empty corridor.
Gojo continued forward while Jin followed behind with one hand in his pocket.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long across the orange-red wooden floor, one in front and one behind.
Gojo suddenly called out from ahead, his voice carrying laughter.
“Hey, Jin!
What do you want to eat for your welcome party?”
Jin raised his head, golden eyes especially bright in the dusk.
“Meat.
Every kind of meat.”
“All right!
Then meat it is!
Eat until you can’t move!”