"Why are you here, Zen'in-senpai?" Megumi said, surprised by the sudden appearance.
"I knew it! They have a similar vibe. Are they sisters?" Nobara asked, not impressed.
"Oh, Fushiguro. Isn't that what you call Maki? Call me Mai," Mai Zen'in said, brushing her hair from her face.
"So these are the replacements for Okkotsu and that third-year," the man, Aoi Todo, said with a grimace.
"We were worried, so we tagged along. I heard your classmate went missing; must be tough," Mai said coyly. "Or maybe it wasn't?"
"What are you getting at?" Megumi asked.
"It's okay. Some things are hard to put into words. So I'll do it for you."
" 'Vessel' sounds harmless, but he was basically a half-curse monster, right?" Mai said without remorse. "Such a vile facade of a human was calling himself a Jujutsu Sorcerer alongside you. It must have been terrible." She covered her mouth as she mocked them.
Not many people know exactly what happened to Yuji after the detention center incident. Only Gojo, Shoko, and Ijichi knew; Megumi himself only knew because he happened to be there when Gojo decided to tell Shoko about it.
Of course, Nobara learned of this from Megumi, but because Gojo told them to, they've kept it a secret and didn't plan to entertain Mai's snarky remarks.
"You two must be so relieved he's probably dead."
"Mai, stop talking nonsense. I just want to know if they're worthy replacements for Okkotsu," Todo cut her off, finding her voice annoying. "Fushiguro, was it?"
"What type of girls do you like?" Todo released a pressure of malicious intent as he tore his shirt to shreds.
""Huh?"" Megumi and Nobara froze, confused.
"By the way, I..." Todo got into a combat stance. "Like tall girls with big butts!" Todo grinned wide.
"Why would I share something like that with someone I just met?" Megumi asked, confused.
"It's kinda hard for a closet pervert like him to answer that," Nobara said, pointing at Megumi as he grit his teeth in annoyance.
"Shut up."
"The situation's bad enough without you complicating it."
"Kyoto. Third-year. Aoi Todo. Introduction over," Todo said simply. "Now that we're friends, hurry up and answer. It can even be a guy."
Todo narrowed his eyes, waiting to decide if the answer was boring or passionate.
"A person's taste reveals everything about them. Guys who have boring tastes are boring; I don't like boring guys," Todo explained like it was a science. "The Goodwill Event gives me a rush. If my final one ends up boring, who knows what I might do... This is me being nice. Answer me now, and you'll escape with just a few bumps and bruises."
"So tell me, Fushiguro. What type of girls do you like?"
Megumi looked between Todo and Nobara as he thought.
'Kugisaki's unarmed. We should avoid conflict.'
'Are those summer clothes? They're annoying, but I'm jealous,' Nobara muttered.
'Damn, why do I have to answer?' Megumi was sweating bullets.
Suddenly, Megumi remembered his sister's words.
It's not a bad thing to not forgive people. Megumi, that's your way of showing kindness.
"I don't have a preference. As long as a person is compassionate, then I don't need anything else," Megumi said, dead serious.
Mai and Nobara seemed pleased with the answer as they nodded.
"Not a bad answer! If you had said boobies or something, I would've killed you myself," Nobara said, smiling.
"Shut up!" Megumi told Nobara, a vein on his forehead.
"I knew it." Todo's expression darkened. "You're boring, Fushiguro."
Todo's pressure became heavy as Megumi subconsciously blocked as Todo punched him. However, unlike what Todo expected, Megumi didn't go flying; his arms were coated in shadow claws as Megumi sighed.
"Glad to see my training wasn't for nothing..."
Nobara, seeing this, looked to see Mai, who seemed about to make her own move, as she herself got on guard.
"I'm surprised a boring guy like you can take a punch," Todo said, feeling this may not be so boring after all.
"I'm shocked Fushiguro can withstand a blow from Aoi. I know he was called a genius who was a Grade 2 since the start of school, but to go against a Grade 1 like Todo, he must be something else," Mai said, as she seemed to be looking for an opening to fight Nobara.
"At first I thought you two looked alike, but forget that." Nobara looked disappointed. "Maki is a hundred times prettier than you. Are you gettin' enough sleep? I can see the pores on your face from here."
"Watch your mouth!" Mai said, offended, as she pulled out her gun. "Or else I'll teach you a lesson." She took aim at Nobara, who was annoyed she didn't bring her hammer or nails with her today.
———————————————————
"I knew you were going to be boring the moment I saw you. I thought to myself, this guy is definitely boring," Todo said, walking towards Megumi, who was watching his every move with focused eyes. "But it's not good to judge a book by its cover, right?"
"That's why I took the time to ask you anyway, but you trampled all over my kindness." Todo looked like he had been truly wronged by Megumi's actions as Megumi was annoyed.
"Is the inside of your head also a pineapple?"
'Could this guy be that Todo?!'
He remembers how last year, an unprecedented jujutsu terrorist attack that came to be known as the "Shinjuku to Kyoto Night Line of a Hundred Demons" was led by the curse user Geto. Six cursed spirits—five of which were Grade 1 and even a Special-grade—appeared on the night line. But they were defeated by Todo single-handedly!
How did a Grade 1 sorcerer win against a Special-grade curse?
"I hear you refuse to use your cursed technique," Megumi said suddenly.
"Oh, that's just a rumor. I used it against the special grade," Todo clarified.
'He didn't bother using it against the Grade 1 curses?! He's a beast!' Megumi thought as he sighed, getting ready to fight for real.
"Well, isn't that a relief!" he said sarcastically as his shadow gauntlets grew denser and the shadows around his legs did as well.
'Ever since I landed that Black Flash, I've understood my technique to a new level. I also have been working a lot on my close-quarters combat, so I should be able to keep up.'
Todo moved with extreme speed, but thanks to his improvement over the past few weeks, Megumi sidestepped Todo's attempt to grab him and punched Todo, who blocked it smiling.
Suddenly, from Todo's shadow, a bolt of lightning slams into Todo's back, actually stunning him, as Megumi punches the off-guarded Todo in the face, sending him through a building.
"You'll have to try harder than that."
'Holy shit, if I were the old me, I wouldn't be able to keep up at all!' Megumi thought mentally as Todo quickly recovered.
"Maybe you aren't so boring after all!" Todo rushed in again, dodging a strike from Megumi and aiming to kick him, but Megumi sank into his own shadow, hopping out in the shadow of a tree.
Making the sign for Nue, Megumi mentally commanded it to cover the skies for him as it flew up and Todo appeared in front of him.
"Found you!" Todo finally managed to grab Megumi as he moved at full speed to slam Megumi into a building.
VUUMM
Todo finds his leg falling into another shadow as he loses his balance.
Crack!
Megumi kicks Todo across the face before flipping into a crouch and tackling Todo through the building at full speed.
"Damn!" Todo said, actually feeling this one.
He clasped his hands together and slammed them onto Megumi's back, but Megumi was stubborn. By the time they reached the other side of the building, Megumi let Todo go, grabbing his ankles and tossing him into the sky as he shouted.
"NUE, NOW!"
Multiple powerful bolts of lightning rained down on Todo, exploding where he was as smoke covered the area.
"That was close..." Todo said behind Megumi, having used Boogie Woogie to escape at the last minute.
Before Todo could get serious, they both heard a voice a bit ahead.
"Don't move."
Todo's body froze as Panda came from above, slugging Todo across the face.
"What are you doing?!!"
Stumbling back, Todo smirked. "Phew!"
"We made it just in time."
"Fish flakes!"
"Yeah, that was close."
"Hehe, long time no see, Panda," Todo greeted as Panda faced him.
"Why couldn't you wait until the event? Now get out, or I'm gonna scream. Like, Eeek!"
"Fine. I'll leave, but thanks to all this, I know now that my last Goodwill Event won't be boring at all," Todo said as he looked around. "Huh? Where's my shirt?"
"Be sure to tell Okkotsu to show up as well," Todo said, pointing at Panda.
'What a pain...' Panda thought.
"Me Panda. No know human speech," Panda said, as Inumaki stayed quiet.
———————————————————
"Wow, Megumi was right. Increasing our training hours was helpful..." Nobara said, sitting on Mai's back as she laid on the ground.
"Oh, I see you handled everything yourself, errand girl," Maki said, having shown up to see Nobara surprisingly beating Mai even without her weapon.
"Yeah, although even with rubber bullets, they kinda hurt to be hit with..." Nobara rubbed her side which was a bit bruised.
"She ruined my perfect skin..."