Zoro studied the girl slowly. Her hair was cut short like a boy's, adorned neatly with a flower pin, and her eyes, visible beyond her glasses, matched the deep brown of her hair. The hairstyle gave her a tomboyish and mischievous appearance.
She was a face completely new to him, unlike anyone Zoro had known in his past or present lives.
Beneath her bowl-cut hair, her forehead was flawlessly clear, unmarred by any scars. Her primary strength was... somewhere between a sorcerer and a non-sorcerer. The strength she possessed was typical of a non-sorcerous child.
Zoro flicked his fingers towards where the curse had been.
"Do you see that?"
"Yes!"
"What was it?"
"Uh—a huge centipede!"
It was right to see the curse.
"A non-sorcerer who can see curses?"
He had seen it occasionally. Although not a sorcerer, there were some assistant supervisors who had this ability.
The child asked innocently.
"Do you see that monster too?"
Looking into her earnest, sparkling deep brown eyes, Zoro chuckled.
"No."
"...? How do you catch it if you can't see?"
"There's always a way."
Her eyes widened, and she clapped her hands.
"Wow, that's cool! I've only seen my brother catch them before!"
"Your brother?"
"Yes. He's different from me. He can see and eliminate them."
With a naïve gesture, the child punched the air. Evidently, her brother was a sorcerer.
She declared boldly.
"My name is Haibara Yume! What's yours?"
"Zenin Zoro."
"Ze—ring?"
"Zen. In."
"That's hard. Zerin. Zenin. No..."
"You can just call me by my name. It doesn't really matter."
Anything was better than Marimo. Zoro thought to himself. Accustomed to creepy nicknames and the creative titles given by a perverted chef, he didn't mind bypassing Japan's formal naming customs.
Yume jumped up joyfully.
"Really? Thanks! You can call me Yume-chan too."
Just Yume was not okay. That was reserved for her brother. Yume stated seriously. Zoro found it simply adorable and chuckled.
"Alright, Yume-chan."
Drrriiiing.
Zoro's phone rang. Who was calling and what they wanted was unknown, so it was awkward to answer in a crowded place. Realizing the situation, Yume smiled with a missing front tooth.
"You're in class 2, right? I'm in class 1! Let's eat together tomorrow."
"…Okay."
"But make sure you eat lunch! Because I'm hungry!"
Preferably with rice! Nodding to Yume, who was patting her belly, Zoro slipped out of the lunch line and headed to a secluded area. Walking aimlessly, he quickly found himself in front of an empty storeroom and answered the call.
"Hello."
[Marimo, where are you?]
With the lively voice of Gojo, veins popped on Zoro's forehead.
"Don't call me Marimo."
[Aww, don't be so cold. You're not like that with the teacher!]
Well, that's because he's my father. And I've told Toji not to call me Marimo several times too. They never listen, so I just let it slide.
Whatever. It wasn't important.
"What do you want?"
[Just checking. Thought you got lost again.]
"I'm at school."
[Eh, you're not at the usual one?]
"The other one."
[Ah, the elementary? You wouldn't find it fun. You're just relearning what you already know.]
"Maybe."
There was some significance to it, not through the lessons, though. Zoro thought of the young girl, Haibara Yume, with a missing front tooth.
[If it's boring, come to the classics. We have a new student enrolling today. Got everything ready.]
"…What preparation?"
Gojo laughed mischievously. It made one worry about the new students.
[Come and see. Shoko~ is the dunce cap ready?]
[Here. Geto, you should stick it a bit more to the right.]
[Is this good, Shoko?]
[Hmm, looks great. Should we add more balloons?]
[Hey, kids! That whistle isn't yours! It's for the new students, so put it down!]
[Beeep! Beep!]
What on earth are they doing? Zoro listened to the various voices and whistle sounds over the phone and felt overwhelmed.
[Beep! Beep! Beep!]
[Zoro, come and stop your siblings! It's not their birthday party today! I wanted to do this for my cute juniors!]
Zoro pressed his temples with his fingers.
"... it's because it's a party in front of the kids."
Who it's really for, the kids wouldn't understand. It's just exciting because it's a party. Zoro's siblings might be mature for their age, but they were still kids. This is the age they love to play.
[Beep! Beep!]
[Beep!]
[Ah, really stop blowing that whistle!]
[Kids, are you out of breath? Let's take a break.]
[Yes!]
Thankfully, Geto had calmed the kids down, or at least the whistle sounds had stopped for a moment.
[Elephant nose, elephant noo-ose.]
Following Megumi's voice, Zoro heard the whistling again and made up his mind. He would go to the classics before Megumi and Tsumiki caused more trouble. After all, he was supposed to go home after lunch anyway, so it wouldn't be a problem to leave now. ...Probably.
"I'll be there soon."
[Okay~ Did you hear that, kids? Zoro is coming, so behave—]
[Brother is coming?!]
[Big bro!]
[Brother! How was school today? Was it fun? I hope it was fun!]
[Big bro. Bye bye.]
[...Satoru. You really can't stand kids.]
[Shut up! Like I need to deal with kids.]
[Why. You could just look in a mirror.]
[Shoko!]
Zoro chuckled softly.
"I'm on my way."
[Good. You should look after your juniors too.]
That how it goes? Since Zoro came to the classics first, they indeed were his juniors...
I guess. Better think about it when I get there. Zoro shrugged.
[Just in case, you better take a taxi.]
"...?"
[I'll pay for it. Don't pull any stunts like taking a bus.]
"Do I look like I can't take a bus?!"
[Yeah.]
...
A male student with a bowl-cut, Haibara Yuu, walked up the forest-rich path of the classics, remarking,
"The trees are really big. It must be refreshing to live in a place like this. Don't you think so, Nanami?"
Nanami Kento, carrying a large bag with a sword, looked at his recklessly cheerful classmate as they climbed the mountain trail.
"What should I call you? Nanami-san? Ah, is that too stiff? Then, Nanami-kun? Or just Nanami? Surely not Kento? Just tell me anything! Oh, I should just call you Haibara, right?"
With his eyes as clear as a calf, he had given permission to call him Nanami.
Well, better this than being pessimistic about soon dying... Nanami sighed softly.
"…I wonder if you'll even have the spirit to enjoy that."
Nanami remembered what the large teacher, Toji, who had introduced himself, had said.
"Sorcerers are busy. This industry is always short of manpower. I only take on local missions, but other sorcerers often go on business trips."
That wasn't any different for students, Toji had explained.
"You'll learn what's taught in typical high schools, but you'll spend a lot of time on missions."
"...."
"Prepare yourself, the world of sorcery is truly insane."
Both the people involved and the work they do are anything but normal, Toji had explained.
Haibara stepped forward cheerfully.
"I'm curious about the seniors. I wonder what they're like?"
"From what I've heard, there are only three in the grade above ours."
Three in a grade seemed ludicrous, but there were only two in their own grade.
When Nanami Kento and Haibara Yuu arrived at the front of the classics, a brown-haired female student stood alone at the entrance's torii gate, holding a cigarette.
"Ah, it's you guys. The new students, right?"
Already in my second year, how nostalgic—she muttered. Haibara Yuu stood at attention and bowed deeply.
"Hello, senior! I'm Haibara Yuu!"
"…Nanami Kento. Nice to meet you."
Hmm, Shoko watched the two politely greeting.
"You're quite different from my peers. You pass."
"Excuse me?"
"You'll understand soon. Let's go. Oh, I'm Ieiri Shoko."
A reverse sorcerer. She tossed her cigarette to the ground and stamped it out. Then, she led the two students inside the building.
Haibara asked excitedly.
"What should I call you? Ieiri-san, Ieiri-senpai, or—"
"Call me Ieiri-senpai."
"Yes!"
At the sharp response from Ieiri, Haibara readily accepted. I should have handled it that way too. Nanami glanced at Ieiri.
"Where are the other seniors?"
"They're getting scolded by Yaga-sensei for fighting while waiting for you."
"…Excuse me?"
"Ah, don't worry about it. It's not your fault; they're always like that."
Ieiri waved her hand dismissively. …Shouldn't it be more concerning if that's the norm? Nanami, who seemed utterly normal, glanced around the desolate classrooms of the classics.
"If it's not too much trouble, could you tell us who else is in the classics?"
"There are three of us in the second year, including me, no third years, a senior in the fourth year, Utahime, and a senior in the fifth year, Mei Mei."
"…That's few."
"There's always a shortage of manpower in the world of sorcery."
They had fewer deaths of sorcerers lately because Gojo, Toji, and Zoro were actively eliminating high-grade curses, but that was too dark a topic to discuss on the first day of school.
"There are two teachers. Toji-sensei, who teaches physical skills, and Yaga-sensei, our homeroom teacher. Both are incredibly strong, so don't mess with them."
People even Gojo hits, Shoko said.
Haibara Yuu's eyes sparkled.
"Are both of them waiting for us then?"
"No, just Yaga-sensei. Toji-sensei is returning from a mission. He said he'd be here soon, so he might already be here."
"...? We didn't see him on the way here."
"That makes sense. If he decides to hide, there are hardly any who can find him."
Except for Gojo and Zoro.
It was probably time to mention Zoro. Shoko spoke slowly.
"There's a boy who's sort of your senior. He's still young, but he helps the sorcerers in various ways."
"…A boy?"
"You'll see when you meet him."
Ieiri stopped in front of a classroom. The door, covered haphazardly with colored paper to block the view from outside, had a large sign that read 'Welcome!'
Inside, faint sounds of arguing could be heard. Ieiri slid the door open. In front of Gojo and Geto, who were kneeling with their hands up, Yaga was shouting with a vein popping on his neck.
"Even in the first year, you kept fighting, and now on the first day the new students arrive? You're more trouble than Megumi and Tsumiki who couldn't even enter school. Really—"
"We're sorry."
"We're sorry—sensei, the new students are here?"
"What?"
At Geto's words, Yaga abruptly turned around. Shoko casually said.
"Yaga-sensei, I brought the new students."
Hem hem, Yaga coughed and signaled with his eyes to the two kneeling men. They sprung up like lightning. Geto sat down, and Gojo approached the two new students with a paper-made fancy dunce cap.
"First, wear this!"
"…What is this?"
"Gojo Satoru's special dunce cap! Megumi wanted it, but I didn't give it to his. Accept it with gratitude."
Is this some kind of new bullying? Nanami half-doubted as he put on the holographic paper dunce cap that was so shiny it hurt his eyes.
"And this too."
"...."
Seeing the paper sash that read 'Not the best in Japan, but the second coolest new student,' Nanami was convinced. This was bullying. If it wasn't, his head would hurt more.
Nanami impassively draped the sash over his shoulder. A sign that read 'Welcome, new students' filled the chalkboard.
Pop! Confetti rained from the sky. A boy and a girl with tousled brown hair, apparently too young for elementary school, climbed onto a desk and vigorously threw paper-made flower petals around. …It looked more like they were seasoning food.
Poo-poo! The two children merrily blew their whistles.
"Welcome!"
"Welcome!"
"Thank you! Thank you, seniors!"
Unaware of Nanami's discomfort, Haibara laughed with the dunce cap and sash on. The two new students stood side by side in the cleared space.
"—Megumi, Tsumiki. Stop and come here."
Nanami turned towards the unfamiliar voice. On the lap of the teacher known as Toji, a green-haired boy, Zoro, was sitting.
Nine years old, maybe ten? At the command of the green-haired boy, whom the children called Megumi and Tsumiki, they ran over without a word. They hopped down from Toji's lap and sat next to the other boy.
"That kid is…"
"Ah, he's your senior. His name is Zenin Zoro."
He's currently six years old. Geto Suguru stated in a calm tone.
"...."
Nanami Kento finally understood Toji's description that the world of sorcery was insane.
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