Tokyo, Shinjuku.
Toji was walking with Megumi and Tsumiki, heading toward the commercial district.
He hadn't had any classes in the past few days, and Satoru, now tagging along with Choso, no longer came to pick fights with him. As a result, he had been quite idle lately.
Originally, Toji had planned to pass the time by watching TV at home.
However, Minako had announced she was doing a thorough cleaning today and that his presence would only get in the way.
So, she entrusted the two kids to him, asking him to take them out to play.
As they walked, Megumi glanced at a park by the roadside.
More precisely, he was looking at the swings in the park.
They had been walking for a long time with Toji. Megumi was still fine, but Tsumiki was clearly getting a bit tired.
"Want to play on the swing?"
Toji noticed Megumi had stopped and turned to ask.
"No need, just sitting down for a bit is fine."
Megumi recalled a scene from last year.
Back then, Toji had also taken him out to play.
Megumi had been a bit down when he saw that all the swings were occupied.
But Toji had taken out the Chain of a Thousand Miles and tied a makeshift swing to a nearby tree.
Then, Megumi had flown up, down, up, down in Toji's hands.
The surrounding kids, seeing him constantly flying into the sky, all ran to their fathers enviously.
"Dad, I want to play that."
"No, it's too dangerous."
"Is that kid okay? Should we call the police?"
The children's requests were met with firm rejections, and their parents immediately took them and left.
"Huh?"
Toji looked around, confused at the suddenly empty park.
"The swings are free. Let's go play on those."
Toji didn't think too deeply about why everyone had suddenly left.
He just saw that the swings were now available and casually untied Megumi, then walked over with him to play on a regular swing.
"No, I'm good."
Megumi now wore a blank expression, trying to suppress his wildly beating heart.
'Swings are terrifying.'
Megumi thought to himself, trembling slightly.
The memory ended, and his body involuntarily shivered.
"Tired?"
Toji looked at him, then at Tsumiki.
He squatted down and picked up both kids, one in each arm.
They instinctively wrapped their arms around his neck.
"We're almost at the restaurant. You can rest once we get there."
Toji's strength was impressive, and his arms were thick with muscle.
The two children sat securely as he carried them.
Soon after, at the entrance of a children's amusement park.
Toji spotted someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Long time no see, Toji."
Suguru, holding a young girl in each hand, nodded slightly in greeting.
"Oh, it's you. You're that... guy with the weird bangs?"
Toji tilted his head, eyes narrowing to dots.
Suguru kept a smile on his face, but his brow twitched slightly.
'I haven't been back to Jujutsu High for PE class in a while. I guess I'll make up for it this time.'
"I'm Suguru. Are those your kids? They're pretty cute."
He smiled as he spoke.
"Hmm, but didn't you not have kids last year? They've grown this much in just one year?"
Suguru couldn't tell if Toji was messing with him or just not thinking at all.
"They're my adopted daughters, Nanako and Mimiko. Let's talk inside."
Once they were inside, they ordered four kids' meals and two adult meals.
The children dug in happily.
"Eat slowly. Don't choke. Mimiko, don't spill food."
Suguru tended to the two girls sitting on either side of him, patiently guiding them.
On the other hand, Toji was completely relaxed.
He casually forked a takoyaki and popped it into his mouth, showing no sign of managing the children.
He didn't need to, either. Megumi and Tsumiki were quietly focused on their meals, eating bite by bite.
Tsumiki even helped wipe food from the corner of Toji's mouth from time to time.
It was clear they were well-behaved and mature.
After the four kids finished eating, they went to the nearby amusement park to play.
Suguru let out a small sigh of relief.
"I didn't expect your kids to be this well-behaved. How do you usually teach them?"
He leaned on one hand and chatted with Toji, occasionally glancing toward the children playing.
"I don't really manage them. They just do whatever they want."
Toji replied indifferently.
"Huh? If you don't manage them, aren't you afraid they'll get hurt?"
Suguru looked at him in surprise.
"Not long ago, Nanako and Mimiko were jumping around on the bed and fell off. They cried for ages. Ever since then, I've had to tell them bedtime stories and wait for them to fall asleep before I can leave."
"Oh, that."
Toji thought back to Megumi crawling around on the bed and falling off.
After that happened a few times, Toji started using the Chain of a Thousand Miles to tie Megumi to the bed.
The next day, a new rule was added to the Fushiguro family household—children must not be tied up with chains.
On the third day, Minako added another rule: sticking children to the wall with tape is also forbidden.
"Just take safety precautions. That's enough."
Toji said flatly.
"I see. We've been moving around a lot for charity events, so things aren't exactly stable."
In recent months, Suguru had been traveling around the world with his team for charitable causes.
Those genuine acts of kindness, along with the team's occasional spiritual and practical lessons, had changed him quite a bit.
"By the way, how old is Megumi now?"
"Age?"
Toji thought for a moment.
"Probably five or six, I guess."
'Probably…'
Suguru had met people who didn't know their own age before, but this was his first time meeting someone who didn't know their child's age.
"So he's already that age? Has he awakened his Technique yet?"
Nanako and Mimiko had just awakened their Techniques recently.
If Megumi was five or six, he should be nearing that stage too.
Normally, sorcerers awaken their Techniques between ages four and six.
"Oh, this year. It's the Ten Shadows Technique."
Toji stirred the drink in his cup with a spoon, looking bored.
"Huh?"
Had he awakened it or not?
Fortunately, Toji followed up with an explanation.
"That guy said Megumi will awaken the Ten Shadows Technique this year, and then he'll take him in and guide him."
Draining his drink, Toji glanced at the menu, bored, wondering whether to order something else.
"What about you? Why are you back this time?"
"For the graduation ceremony."
Suguru seemed to remember something pleasant. A smile appeared on his face.
"Graduation ceremony? Jujutsu High has something like that?"
Toji looked up in surprise.
He'd been at Jujutsu High for two years, but this was the first he'd heard of it.
There had been an entrance ceremony where some of the seniors spontaneously held a welcome event for the newcomers.
"Eichi said he wanted to hold one, to celebrate all of us graduating together, not a single one missing."
(To be continued.)