Whoosh, whoosh.
Days later, in the empty dojo of the jujutsu high, Zoro swung a giant barbell with both hands. His white shirt was draped over a pole, revealing his bare upper body.
Crack.
A drop of sweat rolled into his mouth, tasting salty. Sweat streamed down his face and torso, but Zoro never slowed his pace with the barbell.
At the exchange meeting, when that phenomenon called "Black Flash" occurred from Geto's hand.
He couldn't keep up in that moment.
'I should have realized it.'
Just as there is a breath in stones and a breath in swords, there is a breath in energy.
Not everyone who awakens Observation Haki perceives the expanded senses in the same way. Some see, others hear.
In Zoro's case, he felt the breath of all things.
When physical strikes almost aligned with the energy, he was slightly late in following the change in the energy's breath. He was fortunate that Geto was controlling his power, and that Zoro was heavily armored with Armament Haki; in a real fight, he might have been seriously hit.
'I still have a long way to go.'
He needed to become stronger.
Not harboring petty ambitions, but aiming to be the strongest of all.
Clack.
Drops of sweat fell to the wooden floor, beading up before eventually soaking in. Thousands of times thereafter, Zoro continued swinging the barbell.
Zoro's ears twitched slightly. He put down the barbell and dumbbell. No sooner had he done so than he heard footsteps, and Haibara appeared at the door of the kendo hall with a pale face.
"What's wrong, Haibara?"
"Something big, senior! Right now, at the jujutsu high, in the jujutsu high!"
"At the jujutsu high?"
"Zenin Naoya is here!"
"...What?"
...
Toji, arms crossed and backpack hanging heavily, glared at Zenin Naoya who had unexpectedly shown up at the Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Yes, at the 'Tokyo' Jujutsu High.
Tsumiki, wide-eyed, asked Naoya,
"Mr. Naoya, why are you here?"
Exactly what Toji wanted to ask. To that question, Naoya boldly turned everything upside down.
"I'm going to be attending here now."
Gojo snickered.
"You're joking. Why would you attend here?"
"Obviously because Toji-kun and Zoro-kun are here!"
"No. Just get lost, you freak."
Toji grimaced and moved away from Naoya. It was nauseating enough that a big guy, and moreover a Zenin, was clinging like this.
"Did the family give you permission?"
"Permission, why would I need that? I'm going to be the next head of the family."
After the exchange meeting, Naoya returned to the Zenin family and—well, not a tantrum, but he certainly turned the place upside down.
"Why didn't anyone tell me Toji-kun was attending the Tokyo Jujutsu High? Is it because you're all too weak to even mention Toji-kun?" he raged like a mad dog in front of the Zenin elders and servants.
An infuriated Naobito told Naoya to shut up or leave the house.
"So I just stormed out right away!"
"Wow, this guy is seriously nuts."
"You're just realizing that now, Shoko?"
Completely insane, Gojo gestured crazily beside his head.
"What if you're removed from the family registry?"
Nanami asked, to which Naoya shrugged.
"The Zenin family can't do without me. Who else is there to be the head if not me?"
Including Naoya's three older brothers, Naoya was the only one among his contemporaries in the Zenin family with the talent to be a sorcerer fit to lead.
"Ah, of course, excluding Toji-kun and Zoro-kun!"
"..."
The Zenin family is doomed. Toji thought, looking at Naoya who was overly excited. Even without him causing trouble, having such a person as the next head seemed a sure sign of decline.
"Did you get permission from Yaga to enroll?"
"Do I need to do that?"
"Obviously, you idiot."
It was a delicate situation that could be misconstrued as the Jujutsu High holding the Zenin family's heir hostage.
Of course, if the Jujutsu High and the Zenin family clashed, the Jujutsu High wouldn't lose, but it wouldn't look good to openly confront one of the Big Three families, especially with the presence of the unruly Satoru Gojo and Toji already drawing criticism.
'It would be better if he just went back to his family.'
If not, enrolling him and then beating some sense into him might not be a bad idea. A good beating might bring him to his senses.
Unaware of all this, Naoya blissfully watched Toji giving him attention.
Nanami and Haibara, realizing roughly why Toji wasn't vehemently opposed, looked at him with mixed feelings. It was pitiful, but he had brought it upon himself.
A masochist, maybe? Haibara thought to himself.
"Get permission from Yaga, and inform your family about your enrollment. If you don't like it, pack your bags and quietly head back to your family."
"Okay. I'll do as Toji-kun says. Whatever this Yaga is, I'll go see him."
Naoya nodded vigorously as if his head might fall off and scurried towards the building where the staff room was located.
Yaga Masamichi, who suddenly saw Zenin Naoya burst into the staff room shouting, "I'm going to enroll here! I want to learn from Toji-kun!" clutched his stomach. It seemed he would need stomach medicine again today.
...
In the culinary practice room of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Suguru Geto was watched by everyone as he looked at a curse placed on a plate.
The curse was enclosed in a thin, round capsule with a pinkish hue.
Carefully, Geto picked up the curse with the capsule and put it in his mouth.
"…!"
Instead of the usual revulsion, a sharp, sweet taste of peach and sugar hit his tongue, making Geto's eyes widen. He swallowed, and it went down smoothly without getting stuck in his throat.
A moment later, he reached into the air. Nothing happened at first, but after a few minutes, the curse he had just swallowed, which resembled a snake, was summoned without issue.
After sending the curse back, Geto turned around. His juniors and peers were looking at him with anticipation shining in their eyes. Suguru gave them the most honest truth they had been hoping for.
"...Delicious."
"Woaaaah!"
"Yahoo!"
"That's it!"
"It took a long time."
The practice room burst into cheers instantly.
Haibara patted Nanami's shoulder.
"Amazing, Nanami! You finally did it!"
With a microphone in hand, Gojo stepped forward like a recreation instructor, dramatically spreading his arms and declared,
"The 15th Cursed Cooking Contest! The final winners are— Shoko Ieiri and Kento Nanami!"
Applause poured out for the two. Gojo politely shoved the microphone in Nanami's face.
"As the winner, please share your thoughts!"
Nanami muttered sheepishly.
"It wasn't that difficult. The idea was all Ieiri-senpai's."
Tanghulu, rice paper, wraps, seaweed. They had tried many things. However, all of them either made it difficult for Geto to swallow, or the wrapping came off in his mouth, negating the point of wrapping.
So, Ieiri thought to cover the curse with a capsule used for making pills.
But there was no way a capsule large enough to cover a curse existed, so Ieiri added sugar and peach flavoring to the ingredients of the capsule (such as gelatin) to produce the current result.
Of course, even the skilled cook Nanami failed the first few times.
Gojo patted Nanami's shoulder in praise.
"Truly impressive, Kento-kun. Winning the cooking contest after only five attempts. Remember, Zoro cut the curse the first time he tried cooking."
Nanami looked down at Zoro, who mumbled with his face slightly red.
"...I didn't know it would disappear if I cut it."
"That's understandable."
Who would think to cut a curse with a knife, after all.
Excited not to taste the flavor of a tooth-brushed rag anymore, Geto hummed softly until he realized something and exclaimed, "Ah."
"It seems to take a bit longer to digest than just swallowing it directly. About 10 minutes?"
"In urgent combat situations, we'll just have to swallow it directly."
There wouldn't be time to encapsulate the curse in emergencies, nor could they afford to wait for 10 minutes.
Ieiri, placing her hands on her hips, confidently said, "Since Nanami and I made it, Geto, you should be grateful to us every time you digest it."
"Sure. Thank you, Shoko."
"Then start by giving me a massage."
"...Was the massage the real goal here?"
"I'm tired from studying all night. Hurry up."
Geto moved behind the chair where Shoko was sitting and began massaging her shoulders. Seeing this, Gojo brought a chair over to Nanami.
"Nanami, sit here! I'll give you a massage."
"No, thank you."
"Come on, don't be like that!"
"...Sigh."
Resigned, Nanami sat down and received a massage from Gojo. Incredibly, Gojo's massage turned out to be really refreshing, so Nanami stayed put.
"Nanami, I'm jealous. I wish the seniors would give me a massage too."
"If you're jealous, try winning the capsule contest next time, Haibara. How about a chocolate flavor next?"
"Don't sneak in your personal preferences, Satoru."
"Shoot, you caught me."
While Toji watched this scene, he turned around feeling something odd. Caught in the chaos, Megumi, who was stuffing his cheeks with gingerbread man cookies, froze under Toji's gaze.
Tsk, Toji clicked his tongue and picked up Megumi.
"I told you to stop eating. You won't be able to eat dinner at this rate."
"Ow, owie..."
"What? It's my sea urchin."
"Woowoo!"
Despite her mouth full of cookies, the mention of sea urchin, which he disliked, made Megumi punch Toji's chest repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Naoya was struggling to peel half-stuck dough off his hands and the countertop, which stretched like melted cheese, draining his soul.
"Why is this happening!"
While massaging Shoko's shoulders, Geto casually asked, "Should we help him?"
"Not really."
"Just leave him."
Unfazed by their peers' merciless comments, Geto decided to let it be. Naoya wasn't even officially a junior yet, just a guest, as his admission hadn't been formally approved by the Zenin family.
Tsumiki approached Naoya cheerfully, "I'll help you!"
"See, this is why you're supposed to do it, Naoya."
Her brown eyes widened.
"What are you saying? Of course, Naoya also needs to do it. I'm just helping."
One must do their own tasks. Raised by Zoro, who believes in doing one's duties whether helped by colleagues or family, Tsumiki and Megumi had developed a strong sense of responsibility.
Tsumiki handed Naoya a thin metal spatula for scraping the dough, then cheerfully said, "It's more fun than you think! Let's do it together!"
Naoya's face turned bright red, but he couldn't scold her. The last time he nearly did, the expressions on Zoro and Toji's faces turned terrifying.
"..."
Eventually, Naoya quietly accepted the spatula. As Tsumiki and Naoya scraped the dough off the countertop together, Zoro fanned himself with his hand in the sweltering heat of the kitchen.
It was hot. Too hot to be called spring anymore.
...
The strong sunlight heated the humid air, warming the earth intensely. Trees lushly draped their leaves, heavy with rich green. Through them, the wind carried the laughter of youth.
It was a season ripe with curses and youth.
Finally, summer had arrived.
...
"Thank you for the help."
And then, Zenin Zoro met Amanai Riko.
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