"And so! Starting today, the 'Yuta Master of the House Plan' is officially underway! Let's give it our all!"
"Hey, Yuta. Just checking, but do you actually have any idea what kind of plan this is?"
"Um, not at all..."
"Figured. What do you think, Maki?"
"It's not like Satoru talking out of his ass is anything new."
"Salmon, salmon."
"Don't worry! I'm going to explain the plan properly right now, so clean out your ears and listen close!"
As he spoke, Gojo began writing on the chalkboard in surprisingly elegant handwriting: 'Yuta Okkotsu Master of the House Plan,' along with its outline.
"First of all, Yuta's current state is a bit strange, to say the least. While a master-servant relationship should be established with Yuta as the master and Rika as the servant, the current Yuta can't control Rika worth a damn. The reason for this is extremely simple—it's just like the analogy Panda used yesterday."
Gojo drew a surprisingly well-rendered sketch on the board of an 'Owner being dragged along by a large dog,' and wrote 'TOTAL LACK OF STRENGTH!!!!' in massive letters beside it.
"Therefore, what we need to do is simple. We're going to whip Yuta's body into shape and make him worthy of being Rika's master. And as you know, we have a reliable helper for this. So, Naoya! I'll leave the rest to you! I'm a busy man!"
"Satoru-kun... aren't you the assistant instructor? You should at least stay for the—and he's gone."
"Um, I'm really sorry about this..."
"You've got nothing to apologize for, Yuta. Right, Naoya?"
"Well, yeah. It's Satoru-kun who's in the wrong. Though, for what it's worth, it's true he's busy. Satoru-kun is the strongest sorcerer out there, no jokes, so he's always in high demand."
"Oh, I see."
"Yuta, I hate to ruin your relief, but every time Satoru goes on a mission, he finishes the cursed spirit in an instant and spends the rest of the time comparing local sweets. He's playing around more than half the time. Panda knows the details."
"Wait, really...?"
Just as Yuta's opinion of Satoru Gojo was finally solidifying into 'apparently the strongest, but basically a hopeless person,' Naoya took over. Despite not actually being a teacher, he spoke with the tone of one.
"Alright everyone, let's head outside. It's time for practical training."
'What even is a teacher... what is a mentor...' Yuta couldn't help but wonder. However, he only had the luxury of such thoughts until they reached the field and finished their warm-up stretches.
---
A dozen or so minutes later, the young Yuta Okkotsu was engaged in a high-speed hand-to-hand battle against Naoya Zen'in, moving with the ferocity and agility of a savage beast.
If one were to simply call it 'punches and kicks,' it might have looked like something an ordinary person could do. However, within those punches, he mixed palm strikes and spear-hand thrusts; his kicks combined high-flying drops, roundhouses, and axe kicks. He even incorporated body checks like the iron mountain lean and low-altitude tackles worthy of a pro wrestler. His movements were, by all accounts, those of a professional martial artist.
Of course, this wasn't because some hidden talent within Yuta had awakened, or because he had reached a state of void fueled by suppressed anger and sorrow to master an ultimate assassination art passed down through a single lineage for 2000 years.
"Whoa, Naoya's training is as incredible as ever."
"Salmon, salmon."
"He uses cursed energy to automatically intercept any physical body that enters within 10mm of his own, while simultaneously seizing control of the opponent's motor functions through Cursed Technique Reversal: Recorded Ego Sorcery. His Extension Technique... to think he'd adapt that to force an amateur into a high-level sparring match by 'uploading' the attack movements directly into the opponent. Naoya really is versatile."
"...Huh? Why are you here, Masamichi?"
"I heard from Naoya that Satoru abandoned his class to go on a mission... Even if he is family to a degree, I can't leave the students entirely in the hands of an outside sorcerer according to the syllabus."
"The Principal has it rough. ...Well, having Naoya whip him into shape like that is probably for the best, isn't it? My husband is quite the caretaker, after all."
"Naoya does that for every member of the Kukuru Unit, too. It's grueling, but they say it builds the exact same muscles you'd get from real combat, so it's quite popular."
"I guess it's because it forces the movements directly into the body. Though, I don't really get it myself."
"Salmon, salmon. Salad, mustard greens, walnut, rolled omelet."
"Right? Hey Naoya, think you could make a movement set for Pandas?"
"That's impossible. He's a human."
"Is it really...?"
While his classmates and the Principal watched on in full spectator mode, Yuta landed a clean flying kick on Naoya, used the recoil to pull off a perfect somersault, and stuck the landing. Immediately afterward, however, his face contorted in agony and he collapsed.
"E-every single muscle in my body hurts...!"
"You're quite out of shape, Yuta-kun. ...Let's see, maybe I'll have Mai-chan come over—"
"Did you call?"
"—!? Mai-chan, your ears are too good. Seriously..."
Even though Naoya had spoken in a low voice meant only for Yuta, Mai appeared instantly at his side. Naoya froze for a split second like a cat about to be hit by a car.
Seeing that, Yuta felt a strange sense of sympathy. Immediately after, Mai linked arms with Naoya in a movement as fluid as a magician's and spoke to Yuta, who was still suffering from full-body muscle pain.
"Yuta-kun, bring that girl out. I mean Rika Orimoto. Since Naoya mentioned it, I'll give her a special lesson."
"I don't recall actually askin' for any favors yet, but maybe I'm just imaginin' things."
"I can tell what Naoya wants me to do instantly. ...What are you doing, Yuta-kun? The pain is unbearable, isn't it? Hurry up and call her."
"Ah, right, um—come here, Rika-chan."
"Yuta? Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
"Yeah, I'm just sore from exercising... Rika-chan, it looks like Mai-san has something for you..."
"Rika hates this old lady."
"Now, now... and actually, Rika-chan, Mai-san is younger than us..."
"Oh, Okkotsu-kun. You say such cruel things to your own wife. Comparing her age to other women."
"Wife...!? No, I guess so, sorry Rika-chan."
"Yuta, Rika likes this girl after all."
'Rika-chan is surprisingly mercenary...! No, maybe she's always been like that... she acts the same way with my sister...'
"Yuta-kun, a maiden is made of romantic crushes and realistic love. Being mercenary isn't unique to Rika-chan. ...We've gotten off track. Rika-chan, I'll give this to you. Look at it, remember it, and then do what you want with it. Got it?"
With that, Mai held out a perfume bottle to Rika. It was a pink bottle with a heart motif that screamed 'little girl's toy,' though it was rather large—roughly the size of a spray bottle of Febreze.
[DISPLAY ILLUSTRATION]
"This is Magical Mai-chan Cologne. It's a Grade 2 Cursed Tool I made. It's filled with peach-scented perfume imbued with positive cursed energy. The production cost is heavy, so I rarely give it to others... but I'll give you one as a 'sample.' You wouldn't want to spray another woman's perfume on your future husband, would you?"
Rika swallowed the cologne bottle whole. Immediately, she manifested a perfectly ordinary-looking perfume bottle—not designed for a little girl—in her hand and sprayed a generous amount of mulberry-scented mist over Yuta.
"Wow, the pain is fading... thank you, Rika-chan."
"Heh, Yutaaa."
"She copied Mai-chan's technique to produce that? Copying techniques are truly terrifying. ...In that case, where should we go from here? I don't mind either way."
"My, how cold. Don't tell me you hate the idea of a tag-team match with me?"
"No, it ain't exactly like that..."
"Yuta! Rika will help!"
"Huh? Rika-cha— —Wait, what just happened to me?"
"You were frozen like a frame of film for about a second."
"I see. So you take on the drawbacks as well. For now, just focus on the treatment."
"Naoya-san's technique has drawbacks, doesn't it...?"
"Every member of our family is a sorcerer who exerts great power in exchange for a 'Binding Vow.' Right, sister?"
"Yeah. Well, mine is innate, and Gabriella over in Kyoto doesn't put the Vow on the technique itself."
"I see... wait, you can hear this conversation from all the way over there, Maki-san?"
The jujutsu world was truly a terrifying place.
Thinking this once again, Yuta focused on recovering from his intense fatigue while smelling like sweet and sour mulberries.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]