August 3, 2017.
10 p.m.
Exiting the store, Eiji stared at the bustling crowd even though it was late at night.
"It seems I'm not talented in this aspect."
Recalling the amount of money in his wallet, which was originally one hundred thousand yen and now only had one thousand yen left, he felt a little regretful.
"Oh well, that amount of money is nothing compared to all my savings. After this, I won't play pachinko again."
The feeling of regret didn't last more than five seconds, and he returned to his indifferent attitude. Then, he walked on the sidewalk along with other pedestrians.
"Now, what to do next?"
Walking aimlessly, Eiji pondered seriously.
He realized his life was somewhat bland. His daily routine was very boring, sleeping, training, exorcising Cursed Spirits, and eating.
This cycle repeated every day.
So, he decided to find a hobby. However, he encountered a problem; he didn't know his own hobby! Therefore, Eiji decided to try many new things.
Singing at karaoke, bowling, chess, fishing, extreme sports, pachinko, etc. In his quest to find his hobby, he had spent over two million yen. However, he didn't feel any pleasure in doing all of that.
In fact, Eiji knew he was incompetent in many things. For example, his singing voice was very off-key, his cooking was not tasty, his luck in gambling was so bad, and many more.
Simply put, he was only talented in academics and physical activities.
*Thud.... Oww*
His contemplation was interrupted as someone bumped into him, and the person fell to the ground with a grimace.
"Are you okay?"
"Zzzz..."
"..."
Not only did the other party not respond, but they also fell asleep on the sidewalk.
Other pedestrians just glanced briefly at the man sleeping on the street and didn't care.
As the closest person to the other party, Eiji smelled alcohol from their body.
He also wasn't interested in helping the other party and continued walking.
In Tokyo at night, drunk people sleeping anywhere was not unusual; in fact, it was a common occurrence.
"Man cannot choose how they are born, but how they live and die, that all depends on themselves."
Seeing more and more drunk people he encountered on the street, Eiji remembered a quote from a certain wise person.
Although he was born into an ordinary family, he was adopted and raised by the Gojo Family. Since childhood, all his needs were fulfilled and he was given the best.
He never thought about financial problems like most ordinary people. For him, making money was very easy. So, seeing others working hard and even sacrificing time and energy to earn money, he wondered what it would be like if he were in their position.
"What absurd ideas am I thinking... For me, living past the age of 20 is still unknown, my priority is to become strong, strong enough to defeat Sukuna. If not, whatever plans I make, I have no future to realize them."
Catching sight of an office woman venting her depression into the trash can, Eiji felt pessimistic about his future.
...
Eiji wandered around Shibuya and tasted many foods only available at night. It was only after 11:42 p.m. that he returned to the Gojo Family Residence.
Opening the door, he saw his cousin whom he hadn't seen for over a year.
"Welcome home, Eiji!"
"Want to take a bath, have dinner, or me~?"
"..."
Seeing him strike a pose as a wife welcoming her husband home from work, Eiji felt nauseous and held back from vomiting all the food he had eaten.
"Stop that, Satoru Nii-san, it's disgusting."
"Is it? It seems my effort made you show a failed expression this time."
"Because Nii-san is here, it means Tengen-sama's evolution is complete. What's the result?"
Although he already knew the answer, Eiji still asked to avoid suspicion.
"Can you guess?" Satoru smiled playfully.
"Tengen-sama maintained her rationality and humanity."
"Oh, you seem very confident. What's your reason?"
"Simple, if Tengen-sama failed, then Japan would be in chaos right now. But, Japan is still fine, which is the best evidence."
"As expected from my little brother. You're smart, but not as smart as me. Your assumption is correct, here's a reward for you."
Catching the object thrown by Satoru, Eiji saw it was an apple-flavored candy.
"Is there anything else? If not, I want to sleep."
Passing by him, he walked to his room.
"Wait, Eiji. There's one more thing I want to ask you."
"What?"
"How far along is your relationship with Kosaki? Have you two kissed or even taken steps into adulthood~"
Putting his hand on Eiji's shoulder, Satoru said teasingly.
"My relationship with Kosaki is not what you think. Instead of worrying about my love life, Nii-san should think about yourself. I heard the previous head of the family urged you to get married, right? He even arranged blind dates for you. Why doesn't Nii-san consider Shoko-san or Utahime-san as candidates for your wife?"
"Yawn~, it's late at night, I haven't slept in my room for a long time, hopefully my bed isn't dusty."
Stretching his arms upward, Satoru pretended to yawn, then hurried away to avoid answering the question.
"..."
Seeing him flee, Eiji walked to his room.
(Now that Nii-san is back, the Jujutsu high school will start operating again. That means, Okkutsu Yuta will appear soon) He thought to himself.
Arriving in his room, he took off his school uniform. After all, the school uniform was like the dress style of young people in Japan.
Putting on pajamas, he lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket over his body, and closed his eyes.
"Hopefully I won't dream of that woman again."
...
The next day.
After breakfast, Eiji was about to wander around as usual, but his cousin invited him somewhere.
When asked where they were going, Satoru didn't give an answer and just said to wait and see.
As usual, their driver was Ijichi Kiyotaka. Although he was the manager who took care of other Jujutsu Sorcerers, he often took care of Eiji and Satoru.
"Want some? It's still warm, just out of the oven."
Satoru offered a muffin he bought from the Onodera Family's pastry shop.
"Sure."
Eiji didn't refuse the pastry. He took one muffin from the package and ate it with one hand resting on the window, watching the scenery outside. More precisely, he watched the young people rushing to school.
(If only I mastered the power of time, I could make a difference in the time ratio when using Azure. That way, I would have more time and... Maybe I could live a normal daily life like normal people in another world)
Thinking about this, he became more ambitious to obtain the power of time.