Hayashi noticed that Todo Aoi seemed a bit single-minded. "I'm heading to school, just like you guys."
"Hayashi, right?" Zen'in Mai interjected. "It's our first time meeting, and you didn't even greet your seniors? How rude~."
Hayashi looked at Mai, who spoke with a slightly flirtatious tone, and replied without emotion, "Aren't you seniors the same? It seems you're not very friendly to first-years either."
The only people on this road were Hayashi, Todo Aoi, Zen'in Mai, and Miwa Kasumi. He didn't see Mechamaru, Kamo Noritoshi, or Nishimiya Momo, so they must not have come.
"Oh, it's not that," Mai said with a mocking tone. "We were just considering the fact that one of your first-years died, right? That boy, Yuji Itadori, the half-curse monster? Am I right? Such a filthy, inhuman creature, and you have the nerve to call him a 'jujutsu sorcerer'? That must make you feel sick."
"Shut your mouth, senpai," Hayashi cut her off abruptly. "You have no right to judge Itadori, and you're not qualified to do so. Understand?"
"What did you just say!?" Mai couldn't believe her ears. A first-year had the nerve to talk to her like that? Even with her generally calm demeanor, she couldn't hold back her anger. And truth be told, she wasn't that calm to begin with.
"Don't get riled up, Mai," Todo Aoi raised a hand to stop her, turning his gaze to Hayashi. "I just wanted to see what kind of skills a first-year like you, who's standing in for Okkotsu and the third-year, has. That's all!"
Kasumi Miwa stood quietly on the side, unable to get a word in. She wasn't the type to provoke anyone and could only watch silently.
Mai, though angry, held back. Since Todo was going to make a move, she figured she'd just watch the show. They were still a distance from the school, and no one would be paying attention here.
"Your name is Hayashi, right?" Todo Aoi stared at him intensely before suddenly asking, "What kind of women do you like?"
Hayashi's mouth twitched. Was this guy really asking everyone this same question?
Although Hayashi wanted to say he liked girls with small chests and small butts, he couldn't. He had to admit, he preferred big ones.
So there was no point in lying just to make Todo unhappy. With a helpless smile, Hayashi answered, "Hmm, women like Elizabeth Olsen, Gal Gadot, Kim Kardashian. Of course, I could name many more. People shouldn't be too greedy—liking and having are two different things."
Not only did Todo freeze at this answer, but Mai and Kasumi also stood there in shock.
He actually named several types of women?
Kasumi glanced down at herself, then looked at Mai out of the corner of her eye. She realized she wasn't as… endowed as Mai and felt a bit embarrassed.
But she wasn't the kind of girl who relied on size to get attention. She was the cute type, okay? Even if she was just "useless Miwa," she could still be cute.
Todo Aoi stood frozen for several seconds, his eyes widening, and suddenly, tears began to flow down his face, dripping from his chin to the ground.
"Seriously… is it that dramatic?" Hayashi thought, surprised to see Todo Aoi in this state for the first time, unsure of how to react.
"It seems… we are best friends."
"No!" Hayashi immediately denied it. "I don't know what kind of fantasy you've got going on, but we are not best friends. Your best friend will appear someday, but it's definitely not me!"
Hayashi didn't want to get involved with someone as troublesome as Todo. Even though Todo was strong, Hayashi didn't really care about that anymore—he might even be stronger than Todo now.
Besides, everything had happened too suddenly. Todo Aoi's thought process was clearly different from normal people. But that said, Todo wasn't just some brute with strength—he was actually quite intelligent.
Mai frowned slightly. Was Todo acting up again?
Even so, there was nothing she could say about it. Todo was the kind of guy who wouldn't even give the school principal any respect, and crossing him never ended well.
"Good, good, very good!" Todo said the word "good" three times, wiped the tears from his face, and his expression suddenly became serious and determined. He looked at Hayashi and said, "To become my best friend isn't easy. The weak don't deserve it. Hayashi, are you prepared?"
"Hey! What kind of nonsense is this? Did you even hear what I just said? Don't just make things up!" Hayashi realized he was in trouble. If he had known this was going to happen, he would've avoided these people and gone straight back to school.
With his current abilities, avoiding them wouldn't have been a problem. But because he didn't think much of it, he had now gotten himself entangled with the troublesome Todo Aoi.
"Strength is the best measure of friendship! Show me what you're capable of, Hayashi!" Todo Aoi shouted, launching himself into an attack.
Hayashi hadn't intended to fight Todo, so he immediately dodged, flashing to another spot.
"Not bad, your speed is impressive. But…" Todo suddenly changed direction, moving twice as fast as before, and aimed a punch straight at Hayashi's chest.
Todo's speed surprised Hayashi. The ability to change directions so quickly demonstrated Todo's strong fundamentals.
Hayashi decided not to dodge anymore. A faint blue armor appeared over his chest, absorbing Todo's punch.
Boom!
Hayashi was pushed back a bit, feeling a burning pain in his chest. That punch wasn't light at all.
"The layer on your body just now, is that your technique? A defensive one?" Todo didn't immediately follow up with another attack. Instead, he stood analyzing Hayashi. "It appears briefly and disappears just as quickly, appearing wherever my punch lands. It's probably not a small-scale technique. If I'm right, this technique can cover your entire body, correct?"
Hayashi had never displayed his curse armor in Kyoto before. Had someone leaked this information? Or did Todo Aoi figure it out on his own?
Todo's analysis was spot on. Hayashi's curse armor could appear in small areas or cover his entire body, just as Todo had said.
"But if that's all the defense you have, it won't be enough to stop me." Todo prepared to launch another attack.
Kasumi Miwa and Zenin Mai watched closely from a distance. This was a test of Hayashi's abilities and an opportunity to learn. In battle, one could constantly learn and improve, even from small movements and predictions.
Kasumi, in particular, was observing intently with her big eyes. She didn't want to miss such an exciting fight—she wanted to learn something valuable from it.
Even if she was known as "useless Miwa," she had a strong desire to improve!