The Macau trip was reasonably fun—Toji was extremely satisfied after brute-forcing his physical specs to win big at Casino Pacifica. To avoid any weird friction, Naoya checked into the Presidential Suite at the attached Sheraton Grand Macao, let the children spend lavishly to return some money to the hotel, and ended up exhausted. The children, naturally, were super excited—some time has passed since then, and the world is now fully showing the bustle of December.
Naoya, unusually alone, was walking along a mountain path lined with countless torii gates, holding several paper bags.
"Is it about time? It's hard to tell where I am because the appearance changes every time. Tengen, think about the layout a bit more here, though I guess it's impossible."
While saying such things, his destination was the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School.
The reason Naoya was visiting this school, which he planned to enroll in next year, was to run an 'errand' for Naobito Zen'in.
'I want you to deliver year-end gifts to the Technical College and the Gojo family.'
He had given some plausible, vague reason like that, but even Naoya, who lacked political aptitude, could understand that he was being told, 'I'll give you a reason, so go make connections.'
Well, it is a fact that Naobito cares about Naoya in his own way. Thinking there was no need to spurn that goodwill, Naoya was currently enjoying this mountain climb.
And so, the Japanese-style school building that finally appeared before Naoya after he passed through the torii gates and barriers for the umpteenth time was the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School.
At its entrance, a single male sorcerer with a strangely stern appearance was standing.
"Are you Naoya Zen'in?"
"Nice to meet you for the first time. I look forward to working with you."
"...Sniff. No, I apologize. The winter cold gets to me. Let me guide you."
Based on the guess that he was probably a teacher and the reaction of his own 'Strongman Sensor', Naoya greeted the stern man properly. In response, the stern male teacher (?) pressed his fingers to the inner corners of his eyes, fell silent for a few seconds, gave a single sniffle, and guided Naoya to the Principal's Office.
After conversing for a while with the old man waiting there, it became clear that the male teacher who had been waiting at the gate was the next principal.
Upon asking, he learned that the man was the leading authority on 'Puppet Sorcery', Grade 1 Sorcerer Masamichi Yaga. While praising himself that the sensitivity of his 'Strongman Sensor' wasn't to be underestimated, Naoya handed one of the spare year-end gifts he had brought just in case to Yaga as well. After greeting him with, "Please guide and teach me after my enrollment next year," he asked for the location of the first-year classroom where Gojo would likely be and left the Principal's Office.
Incidentally, although Instructor Yaga had been sniffling for some reason, Naoya, sensing the background somewhat, dared not to retort and let it slide. For some reason, an image of Toji holding a betting ticket with a great smile and giving a thumbs-up flashed through his mind; perhaps the cause of his sympathy lay around there.
And so, came the moment of greatest tension for Naoya today. When he knocked on the door of the first-year classroom three times and opened it, Satoru Gojo was—not there.
Instead, there was a boy with long hair and interesting bangs, and a girl with a bob cut and a downer atmosphere.
If he were to match them with the information on Technical College enrollees he had gathered beforehand, they were most likely...
"Hello. Ieiri-san and Geto-san. My name is Naoya Zen'in. I am making year-end greeting rounds. I'm afraid it is a boring thing, but here."
"Oh, thanks for this. ...Speaking of Naoya Zen'in, you're the Special Special Grade Sorcerer of the Zen'in clan, one of the Three Great Families. I've heard rumors."
"You're going to be a junior next year, right? Satoru mentioned it. ...Oh, it's a Dashi Chazuke set. Stylish, junior."
"Shoko, we aren't in America, so you shouldn't open a received gift immediately."
"Ehh, but I'm bad with sweets. It would be awkward for both of us if it were an assortment of Japanese sweets."
"Even so... No, I apologize. We showed you something unsightly. Naoya-kun, looking forward to next year."
"Likewise, please take care of me. ...Where might the head of the Gojo family be?"
"Satoru? Come to think of it, he was here just a moment ago—"
Yes, immediately after Suguru Geto muttered that, all three people in the classroom felt an intense chill.
The cause, a fierce torrent of cursed energy, was released from the Technical College grounds and was clearly directed at the classroom.
"...That idiot."
"Satoru, you're definitely going to get yelled at by the teacher later...?"
While sweating cold sweat, Geto muttered in exasperation, and Ieiri held her head saying, "Oh boy." Just as they predicted, when Naoya looked at the schoolyard from the school building window, a silver-haired beautiful boy was standing there.
"What can I say, seems I'm being called?"
Immediately after Geto and Ieiri heard Naoya's muttered words, Naoya lightly jumped out of the classroom window, stepped on the air as if there were ground there, and descended to the schoolyard as if walking down stairs.
Immediately after seeing that off, Shoko ran toward the staff room with the Dashi Chazuke set in hand, saying "Run away\~". Geto, pondering what to do but deciding someone had to supervise, summoned a cursed spirit and flew off toward the schoolyard as well.
It seemed that Naoya's day, which was supposed to be just for greeting rounds, would not be a peaceful one.
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