"Waaah."
Megumi walked up to Zoro, who was sitting in a chair, with a toddling step and whined as he snuggled into his arms. Since Megumi got lost while they were playing together, Zoro had no words to offer.
"...Sorry."
"Mew."
Zoro familiarly lifted Megumi into his arms. Seeing Megumi's eyes faintly wet, Zoro made a troubled face.
"Don't cry."
"Waaah."
Zoro gently patted the back of the whimpering Megumi. Tsumiki scolded Zoro sternly.
"You can't go alone. From now on, let's always go together!"
"Why..."
"Tsk!"
Let's go together! No matter where! Tsumiki insisted.
"If not, I'll wear all the belly bands! I'll wear them all so you can't wear any."
"Why would you wear my belly bands?"
"Then why do you go alone when you can't find the way?"
"Hey!"
Gojo laughed out loud watching the small girl scold the slightly larger boy.
"She's fearless. Standing up to him like that."
"Family is all like that."
Geto, too, despite being called the strongest sorcerer at the academy, was just another son at home.
'I should contact them after a long time.'
A smile appeared on Geto's lips as he thought of his parents.
"Huh? If you disappear without saying anything, huh? Do you know how much it hurts here?"
Tsumiki then climbed onto the chair where Zoro was sitting, after patting her chest with her palms, and stretched Zoro's cheeks like sticky rice cakes.
"Sigh."
Zoro sighed. Tsumiki flinched and backed off, checking his reaction when she might have been too harsh.
"Sorry."
A gruff apology came back. As Tsumiki gently approached Zoro again, he stroked her head.
"I like you, brother."
"Yeah?"
"I hate it when you leave..."
Zoro silently pulled Tsumiki into his embrace. On the chair, the three children huddled together like one.
Shoko sat quietly in the classroom chair, observing the scene before her. It wasn't particularly awkward or surprising to her, having seen it multiple times before. Those kids, well, it was like...
'They're more like parents and children than siblings.'
Of course, that wasn't an extremely rare occurrence. When parents were negligent or there was a significant age gap, it wasn't uncommon for the older child to take on a parental role.
Shoko recalled the sight of Toji, who had sent two students to the brink of the other world and then swiftly retreated to the faculty dormitory.
'Well, it's true he's negligent.'
It wasn't that he completely abandoned parental responsibilities or duties. Whenever Toji wasn't teaching or on a mission, he was usually found by the children's side.
'But those two always turn to Zoro for everything.'
Whether it was something scary, something they needed to say, or something they wanted to be done, Megumi and Tsumiki would first seek out Zoro. Only if Zoro was unavailable or busy would they then turn to Toji, even if Toji was closer.
Toji took this for granted.
It might seem like passing parental responsibilities onto the son...
'It's different.'
When Zoro decided what to do after listening, the implementation of that decision was usually carried out by Toji alone or both Toji and Zoro together.
'Zoro holds more authority than that teacher.'
It's not about who is stronger in terms of power. It's about who holds the upper hand in relationships. Whether in parent-child relationships, romantic relationships, or friendships, there are those who lead and those who do not. Zoro firmly held that leading position within his family.
In other words, the linchpin and the head of the household was Zoro.
'Interesting.'
A 6-year-old being the head of the household. While most people would be astonished at such a realization, Ieiri Shoko, a fully-fledged sorcerer herself, found it absurd.
At least the people in that household seemed perfectly content with their roles, and they weren't harming anyone.
'That settles it.'
Shoko wasn't the type to meddle in others' family affairs to such an extent. She withdrew her attention and interest at that point.
Gojo tilted his head at the sight of the children clinging and snuggling up to Zoro's body.
"Is this a fusion?"
"..."
"With that spiny one's main power, maybe, but that girl won't be much help."
Geto handed Gojo a notebook filled with Chinese characters.
"Do your homework."
"Why hasn't Yaga-sensei come yet?"
"Exactly. He's overdue."
The door opened with a creak, and Toji appeared. Geto's face instantly soured, and Gojo, who had been lying on the desk, perked up his head.
"What, why is Gorilla-sensei here?"
"Yaga suddenly got a mission, so I came in his place. Today's class is self-study."
"Aw man."
I would have skipped if I knew this! Gojo's posture slumped immediately.
Toji, wiping off the green bodily fluids of a cursed spirit that had splattered on his face, noticed his children clinging to a tree and hanging like cicadas.
"What happened?"
"Brother got lost again!"
At Tsumiki's tattling, Toji's eyes narrowed. He looked at Zoro with a reproaching expression.
"I told you never to go anywhere alone."
"The building moved."
"How many times do I have to tell you? You're the one who got lost."
What to do with this chronic case of getting lost. Toji massaged his throbbing head.
"Did you come back from a mission? Cursed spirit, or sorcerer? What grade was it?"
"It was a cursed spirit. Special grade."
That's why he was a bit late. Toji roughly wiped the cursed spirit's fluids off with tissue paper found in the classroom.
Geto asked with a somewhat wary expression.
"...Didn't you say you're a Grade 4 sorcerer?"
"Right. But I also do missions for Grade 1 sorcerers."
"Why on earth..."
"They said it was a grading mistake."
Of course, that was nonsense. Although the Jujutsu Headquarters might be incompetent, confusing a Grade 1 mission for a Grade 4 mission was rare due to the significant disparity.
'They know what they're doing, pretending not to.'
It was a clear intent to have him killed. Of course, Toji was not one to die so easily; he completed all his missions.
'Sometimes they really do miscalculate the grades.'
Yesterday, Toji reported to the headquarters in his mission report. Assigning his mission as a Grade 4 task could lead to a real Grade 4 sorcerer's death if they took it on, so he told them not to spout nonsense about grading errors and to sort it out properly.
Thinking of the upper echelons grinding their teeth made him feel good. Toji, tidying up his clothes a bit, asked.
"So what's this class about?"
"You didn't even listen before coming in?"
"I'm busy, so is Yaga."
The job of a teacher at the Jujutsu High was busier than Toji had vaguely imagined. Missions, supervision and guidance of students, teaching, assigning missions to students, and receiving reports on the outcomes.
Even though he mostly ignored missions that took a long time or required travel far away, citing the reason that at least one teacher needed to remain at the Jujutsu High, he was still quite busy.
There was a reason for this. Currently, Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College only had two teachers. Masamichi Yaga, responsible for grades 1 to 5, and Toji Fushiguro, the physical education teacher.
'Insane.'
Having only two teachers in a high school was absurd. Even if the Technical College wasn't a normal school, it was still far too few.
There was a principal, but rather than working, he was an old man so sick he could die at any time, so Yaga was essentially fulfilling the principal's role as well.
Originally, the Technical College didn't just have two teachers. Yaga was in charge of grades 1 to 3, and there was another teacher for grades 4 to 5.
However, not long after Toji became a teacher, the teacher responsible for grades 4 to 5 got severely injured on a mission. The injury wasn't incurable, but it required continuous rehabilitation, necessitating at least six months of convalescence.
In other words, for at least the next six months, Yaga and Toji had to handle all the classes at the Technical College.
Knowing the circumstances as a sorcerer, Ieiri Shoko looked at Toji with sympathy and readily answered.
"It's a kanji class."
"Ah."
It's important for sorcerers to memorize various kanji. From the names of techniques and talismans to incantations, there was no aspect of sorcery that didn't use kanji.
"I can help out with that to some extent."
"...From a teacher who isn't even a sorcerer?"
Geto sarcastically pretended not to care.
After their duel, it wasn't Gojo, who had suffered more, but rather Geto whose attitude towards Toji had sharpened. Constantly glancing at Gojo and glaring at Toji as if thinking Toji might harm Gojo again.
'Even if I intentionally ambushed him now, it'd be hard to kill him since the young master has become a monster.'
Whether he knew this yet pretended not to, or truly didn't know.
Either way, it was a touching friendship. Toji thought dismissively and responded.
"If you ask, I can at least tell you if it's correct or incorrect."
As a child living in the Zenin household, Toji often hid in the library to read books. It was then he learned about various kanji, techniques, and talismans.
Toji found the library, of all places in the Zenin household, to be the most comfortable. Few people came and went, it was quiet, and importantly, he wasn't beaten there, at least.
Of course, that was because the precious books shouldn't be splattered with the dirty blood of a monkey. A scar twisted at the corner of Toji's mouth.
Shoko quickly handed Toji her kanji notebook.
"Could you check if these kanji are written correctly?"
After looking through Shoko's notebook, Toji pointed out one of the kanji with his finger.
"This one. The stroke count is wrong. It should be one, not two."
After being corrected, Shoko hurriedly flipped through a thick kanji dictionary to check. Realizing Toji was right, she laughed in defeat.
"Really..."
Toji smoothly answered several more of Shoko's questions. Gojo, with his feet up on the desk, fiddled around.
"It really baffles me. Why did the Zenin family expel you? I've been to the Zenin household a few times because of the high school meetings, but there was no one with skills like yours."
"I wasn't expelled. I left on my own."
Why the Zenin family didn't officially disown Toji was a mystery even to him. Maybe because he was the direct son of the previous head, or they were planning to sell him off somewhere.
Whatever the plan was, it must have been ruined when Toji left the household.
"...Why did you leave the family?"
"Couldn't stand the sight of those old folks."
It wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
There was no reason to elaborate. Maybe if Zoro asked, but not Geto.
Toji glanced briefly at Zoro, who was fast asleep in his arms. He always managed to sleep well, no matter where he was.
"Any more questions?"
Gojo raised his hand high.
"Me, me! Mr. Toji! I have a question!"
What is this lunatic going to say? Despite feeling apprehensive, Toji nodded for him to go ahead.
Gojo Satoru, with an innocent face, threw a bombshell question.
"On the day we dueled, what was that black energy enveloping your body?"
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