Things never unfold the way you expect.
Either there's a sudden turn for the better, or everything takes a sharp nosedive.
If Mahiru had to sum up how things were currently developing for her, it would probably be...
"...What is this whole mess...?"
"Hm?" The still-young Yaga heard her muttering and assumed she hadn't caught what he'd said, so he repeated himself in different words. "In short, we're sorry about how we handled things earlier. We mixed you up with the criminal who kidnapped Lord Tengen. From now on, you're a guest instructor at Jujutsu High. As colleagues, we really are sorry..."
Ha... a guest instructor... Mahiru's mouth twisted into a wry grin.
First she'd snuck into Jujutsu High as a student, and now, somehow, she'd wormed her way in again as a teacher. The decision had technically been hers, but really, she hadn't done anything deliberate at all — things had simply carried themselves along until they ended up here.
Looking back, the whole sequence of events made no sense whatsoever.
First, a bit of context: the last time Mahiru had operated in this "past world," she'd used two identities in total. One was Miwa Ran. The other was the "Blue Existence" who'd kidnapped Tengen and, in front of the entire Jujutsu High, spirited away Maki and Mai.
Maki and Mai had also been granted Magical Girl powers by Mahiru, but she'd never sent the two of them out to work missions in public. As far as the general public knew, there were still only two Magical Girls: little Itadori and little Fushiguro.
Since no one had ever seen Maki or Mai, Jujutsu High couldn't be certain there was any necessary link between little Itadori, little Fushiguro, and the Blue Existence — much less whether this sudden "Magical Girl Jogo" was actually the same Blue Existence from before.
Still, the moment they saw the same shade of blue, Suguru Geto and the assembled Jujutsu Sorcerers had reacted on instinct — and nearly come to blows.
That was four hours ago.
The Cursed Spirit storm had only just begun to settle, and once Riko Amanai saw that every last Cursed Spirit had been dealt with, she couldn't hold back any longer — she'd thrown her arms around Mahiru's leg and begged, at the top of her lungs, to be made a Magical Girl, whining and clinging so hard that Mahiru genuinely wondered if the girl had lost her mind.
Pressed for time, Mahiru had no patience to spare for Riko's antics, but she couldn't bring herself to pry the girl off with real force either, so she'd settled for symbolically bopping Riko on the head a few times with her magic wand.
Suguru Geto and the other Jujutsu Sorcerers happened to catch sight of the scene and, assuming Riko was under attack, rolled up their sleeves and charged in swinging.
It wasn't until Riko explained the situation afterward that they realized the blue Magical Girl in front of them was actually on their side — and so they'd invited Mahiru into Jujutsu High as a guest.
All of that comedy of errors was why Yaga was apologizing to Mahiru now.
As for why Mahiru had ended up as a Jujutsu High teacher?
Mainly because the whole point of Yaga inviting her in had been to make her a teacher.
Jujutsu High was desperately short-staffed right now. When Yaga discovered a new Jujutsu Sorcerer — one of unknown background, sure, but clearly willing to save civilians — he was overjoyed.
What's that?
You're saying he had no idea who she really was? That putting her in charge of teaching, just like that, could be dangerous?
Oh, come on — who cares about background checks! And how dangerous could it possibly get?
Tengen had already been kidnapped — if someone else wanted to sneak in now, what would they even be after?
Going to all that trouble just to infiltrate Jujutsu High would net you less than robbing a roadside KFC — at least the egg tarts there were actually good.
And Jujutsu High? What did it have to offer?
Not a damn thing.
So Yaga's current approach was refreshingly blunt. It wasn't just Mahiru — these days, any new Jujutsu Sorcerer he came across, as long as they didn't show any obvious signs of being a sociopath, Yaga was willing to try recruiting them, just to ease the constant staffing crunch.
Oh, and there was another reason they'd been so eager to recruit Mahiru: word had it that the "teacher of the Magical Girls" could turn ordinary people into Magical Girls.
Round that up a bit, and wasn't that basically mass-producing Jujutsu Sorcerers?
At first blush, that ability sounded even more impressive than a Special Grade Sorcerer!
Whether the rumor was true still needed looking into, but if it was, this was a huge win.
"So... um..."
"Just call me Jogo."
"Oh, ha ha, sorry, my memory's terrible... So, Miss Jogo, can you really turn an ordinary person into a [Magical Girl]?"
Mahiru rubbed her chin, then nodded with a smile. "Mm, that's right. Though the exact results vary from person to person."
Mahiru actually had her own reasons for accepting Jujutsu High's "come be our teacher!" invitation. Otherwise, as busy and pressed for time as she was these days, when would she possibly have found the spare hours to teach?
She was here purely for Suguru Geto's sake.
Trying to earn Suguru Geto's trust and get him to cooperate willingly was pretty much a dead end.
Sneaking up to knock him out and force-copy his Cursed Technique was the far more reliable plan.
And becoming a Jujutsu High teacher would definitely mean going on missions.
Since missions were part of the job, Mahiru could arrange things so that she and Suguru Geto ended up on a mission alone together. And with no one else around to back him up, there was no way Suguru Geto could ever beat her.
"Well then, I'll be in your care from now on." Mahiru smiled as she and Yaga reached an understanding, and he saw her out of the office.
Just before she left, Yaga asked whether little Itadori and little Fushiguro might also want to enroll at Jujutsu High as students, but Mahiru politely turned him down.
Her reason: "The kids are still too young. Come find us again once you've got a Jujutsu Elementary School" — delivered with more than a hint of "doesn't it bother your conscience, putting children that small to work as sorcerers?"
Hearing that, Yaga's mouth twitched, faintly. It wasn't us who sent little kids out to fight Cursed Spirits, he thought.
Still, Jujutsu High was the one asking Miss Jogo for favors right now, so of course he had to play it smart and stay polite.
"Then I'll hope Miss Jogo can train up a few more Magical Girls for us." Yaga nodded to Mahiru with a smile, and they finally parted ways.
Mahiru turned, her expression sinking into weary resignation. And there, right in front of her, was that all-too-familiar girl again, staring back at her.
"Teacher, I want to become a Magical Girl!" Riko Amanai's face was bright with anticipation, her eyes practically shining.
"Ugh..." Mahiru sighed and buried her face in her hands.
There was no way around it. Until she found her chance to knock Suguru Geto unconscious, both duty and decency demanded she pitch in and help Jujutsu High out. It wouldn't take long — two or three days, tops — but the maddening part was that her very first assignment was "turn Riko Amanai into a Magical Girl."
...Ugh.
Anyone else would've been fine.
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