Gojo was in a quiet classroom, a spacious room with large windows letting in the afternoon sunlight. He was teaching, or something that resembled it, to his only two students at the moment: Hakari Kinji and Hoshi Kirara. Both, though talented, often seemed more interested in their own world than in their teacher's lessons. Gojo, as relaxed as ever, had already wrapped up the day, aware that he still had other matters to attend to. Makima and Rika required his attention, and although he knew they were a bit different, he was interested to see what he could teach them.
The clock signaled the end of class, and with his typical carefree smile, Gojo said goodbye: "See you later, Hoshi, Kinji. Don't forget to review what you learned today," he said cheerfully.
One of them, probably Hakari, muttered under his breath: "Did he even teach us anything?"
Gojo, pretending not to have heard, simply smiled even more broadly and disappeared from the room in the blink of an eye.
In an instant, he materialized in front of the house where Makima and Rika were. The aroma of something delicious lingered in the air, causing his stomach to rumble slightly. As he reached the door, he heard soft footsteps from inside. He knocked gently, and soon after, the door slowly creaked open. On the other side stood Rika, who, upon seeing who it was, showed no emotion. Her initial curiosity about meeting the legendary Satoru Gojo had quickly faded, and her expression shifted to a mixture of boredom and detachment. Without a word, Rika turned around and left the door open for him, not even bothering to formally invite him in.
Gojo, raising an eyebrow, thought to himself, "What did I do to get on her bad side?" both amused and puzzled at the same time. With a resigned sigh, he removed his shoes at the entrance, as was customary, and walked down the hallway. The atmosphere in the house was warm, decorated simply yet inviting. In the far end of the room, Makima sat quietly, a cup of green tea beside her, engrossed in a massive book that seemed heavier than she was. Gojo watched her for a second.
"Well, I'm not one to judge literary tastes," he murmured to himself with a small smile on his lips.
He glanced toward the kitchen, where he had seen Rika disappear moments earlier. Soon after, the young girl returned with a couple of plates. On each plate was perfectly served white rice, accompanied by seaweed and a bowl of miso soup. Rika served Makima first, who simply nodded in acknowledgment. To Gojo's surprise, she also served him.
The sorcerer almost got excited. "Does Rika not hate me after all?" However, his brief relief vanished when Rika shot him a cold glare and said icily, "Don't confuse courtesy for something else."
Gojo's heart broke a little. It seemed he was doomed to have students who didn't respect him, not even with his title of 'the strongest.' With a resigned sigh, he bowed slightly and thanked her before murmuring a blessing for the food. As he tasted it, his eyes lit up. The rice and miso soup were simply delicious. Despite the tensions, he couldn't deny that Rika knew how to cook.
After a while of silence, it was Makima who broke the calm.
"What brings you here, Gojo?" she asked serenely, not looking up from the book she was still reading.
Gojo looked at her, thinking about how mature and calm she seemed, very different from a typical teenager. It was as if she had skipped that stage of life. As her mentor, he knew he had to try to make Makima enjoy her youth a little more, but it seemed it wouldn't be an easy task.
With a relaxed smile, he replied, "Well, I came to take you both to see the school facilities and see what I can teach you. Since you're from the Zenin clan, I assume you're well-versed in the basics."
Makima, still not looking up from the book, nodded slightly before saying, "The one who will learn best here is Rika. I'm still not sure what you could teach me."
Gojo paused for a moment. Makima was certainly different, but there was something about her that intrigued him. Perhaps the challenge of finding something that could interest her would be more difficult than he expected.
"Well, we'll see about that in time," he responded optimistically. "For now, finish your meal, and I'll take you to meet the other sorcerers."
As he said this, he glanced again at Rika, who continued to eat in silence. He wondered if he would ever win her respect. But, as always, Gojo kept smiling, ready for whatever came next, confident that, with time, even the hardest souls would find something valuable in his lessons.
Shoko was in her office, reviewing some papers while cigarette smoke filled the air, when suddenly she felt two overwhelming presences that made her cigarette fall from her mouth. Heart racing, she approached the window to find out where that oppressive energy was coming from. In the distance, she spotted Gojo walking with two girls. Both wore unusual outfits, but what surprised her the most wasn't their appearance, but the enormous amount of cursed energy they radiated.
The first girl, wearing a coat and with red hair, stood out immediately. Her aura was so intense that it exuded a palpable malice, making her feel intimidating even from afar. The second girl walked behind the first, wearing the same kind of outfit, and her presence was equally unsettling. As she observed.
"Who are they?" Shoko wondered silently, feeling a mix of curiosity and concern. "And what have they done to reach such a level of cursed energy?"
The idea that someone, let alone girls so young, could exude such malice left her uneasy. She would have to talk to Gojo later and find out what was going on.
Still shaken by what she had just witnessed, Shoko lit another cigarette with trembling hands, trying to process what she had seen. The flames of her lighter flickered for a moment before the smoke began to rise in small clouds, calming her anxiety slightly. From her position by the window, her eyes remained fixed on the group as they walked away. Gojo walked with his typical carefree manner, while the two girls followed closely behind him, as if everything were completely normal.
But none of this was normal.
She inhaled deeply, her mind beginning to race, trying to find answers to the questions bombarding her. She knew Gojo was a magnet for powerful people, but the level of cursed energy emanating from those girls... it was something she hadn't felt in a long time. The red-haired girl, in particular, seemed to darken the air around her, as if her mere presence was enough to fill the surroundings with dangerous tension.
"How long have these girls been here? And why would Gojo bring them to the school? This is a risk, and he knows it." She thought as she exhaled the smoke slowly, the gray haze dissipating in front of her eyes.
She could barely remember the last time she had felt something like this. Maybe during her student days, when Gojo and Geto were still friends, and both exuded those powerful presences. But this... this was different. It was darker, more raw. Something about the girls' energy made her think it wasn't just power, but something more dangerous. Something corrupt.
As Shoko continued watching from a distance, she noticed the red-haired girl pause for a moment, as if she had sensed she was being watched. The girl slightly turned her head, her eyes, though distant, locking onto Shoko's window for a brief second. The doctor felt a shiver run down her spine. There was something in that gaze... something deeply unsettling.
The girl did nothing else, simply continued walking behind Gojo as if nothing had happened, but the moment was enough to make Shoko take one last drag of her cigarette and stub it out in the ashtray with more force than necessary.
"I don't like this at all," she muttered to herself, casting one last glance at the group disappearing into the distance.
She knew she'd have to talk to Gojo, and soon. Something about all of this smelled like trouble. Big trouble.