As Akira Zenin spoke, Junpei Yoshino did not suddenly look enlightened. He simply kept his eyes hidden behind his hair and stared at the ground with the same blank expression.
It was not as if Junpei had never fought back.
Back then, he had been a little introverted, but he had not been as negative and shut off as he was now, nor had he carried this kind of disgust for the world.
When he first entered school, he had genuinely tried to fit in. He had even managed to find two like-minded people and formed a "film club" with them. They had applied to the student council and even received permission to use the screening room.
As a true movie fanatic, the only thing Junpei Yoshino could think of doing was sharing the inner charm of film with other people.
But the ones who crushed him were not fellow movie lovers, and the ones who stood in the way of his dream were not other "viewers" either.
It was three swaggering guys who looked like muscle-brained extras, followed by a "rich kid" dressed up to look proper.
"We're friends."
"So friends help each other."
"So hand over the screening room."
He resisted.
Not because of the screening room itself, and not because of how fake they were acting.
It was because they were stepping on a film he had been about to share with everyone.
"Please take your foot off..."
What followed was a beating.
Those two classmates of his were both the honest, quiet type, and they immediately ran off. In truth, three against four should not have been that hopeless...
"The opposite of love is indifference..."
Junpei Yoshino looked up at Akira Zenin.
"I'll remember what you said. In the end, I still have to fight alone. Aside from family, even people who share the same interests as me won't truly care about me..."
...
"Junpei! Junpei!! Junpei!!!"
Junpei Yoshino and Akira Zenin both turned toward the voice.
Yuji Itadori paid absolutely no attention to the looks people were giving him because of the broken streetlamp nearby. He just shouted at the top of his lungs in the middle of the street.
Hearing that voice, Akira Zenin nodded and looked at Junpei, who still had not gotten up from the ground.
"Is there really no one else who cares about you?"
As the shouting got closer, Yuji Itadori turned the corner into the side street and immediately spotted the very conspicuous Akira Zenin crouching there.
"Huh? Sleepy-Eyes-sensei? Junpei, you're here too? You took so long coming back that I thought something happened..."
"S-Sleepy-Eyes-sensei?"
Hearing that nickname, Junpei looked at Akira Zenin seriously again and suddenly felt that maybe this person was not all that scary after all...
"Oh, it's Itadori... what a coincidence."
Akira Zenin did not seem to notice how Yuji addressed him, or maybe he simply did not care about something like that.
"I came to call Junpei home. That guy next to you..."
Yuji Itadori did not even consider that Junpei falling to the ground might have had anything to do with Akira Zenin.
Maybe Junpei had tripped on flat ground and Akira-sensei was trying to help him up.
And as for the streetlamp next to them... maybe it had just been in the way.
With Yuji taking the lead in his usual carefree manner, the group quickly returned to Junpei's house.
The boy went back to his room, took out the first-aid kit with practiced ease, and just as skillfully applied medicine to himself...
The moment they entered, Yuji Itadori introduced Kugisaki and Nagi Yoshino to Akira Zenin.
"Kugisaki, this is Akira Zenin-sensei. He's good friends with Gojo-sensei."
"Good... friends with Gojo-sensei."
Kugisaki folded her arms, the corner of her mouth twitching.
Anyone who was friends with that white-haired weirdo had to be some kind of weirdo too...
"Wait, Zenin? Are you from the same family as Maki-san?"
"That's right. She's my aunt."
"So you're Maki-san's nephew, huh... uh..."
Kugisaki looked at Akira Zenin again and fell into thought, trying to sort out the relationship between Gojo and Maki and also figure out what exactly she was supposed to call Akira Zenin.
Akira Zenin looked toward Nagi Yoshino.
"You're Junpei Yoshino's mother, correct? May I ask what you think about letting Junpei transfer to another school?"
Nagi Yoshino froze for a moment.
"From what Yuji told me, you're a teacher?"
"Yes."
"A different school? If Junpei wants to, then of course he can transfer."
Akira Zenin nodded.
Junpei's mother was actually a very perceptive woman. If she had not needed to carry the whole household by herself and therefore had no time to help guide Junpei, he would not have ended up like this.
Of course, this also had something to do with Junpei never wanting to make his mother worry, so he had never told her what was really going on.
Nagi Yoshino added:
"School is just a small fish tank. There are other tanks, and then there's the ocean. Sooner or later, little fish have to swim toward wider waters..."
Akira Zenin quietly let out a breath of relief. Since Junpei's mother agreed, Junpei himself naturally would not want to stay in that kind of environment any longer.
Kyoto School had been seriously short on incoming students lately.
Aoi, Noritoshi, and Momo were already third-years, and Mechamaru and Miwa would be moving up to third-year soon as well...
As for first-years, there was only Arata Nitta, and his technique was only able to fix injuries in place and stop them from getting worse. There was no comparison at all with Tokyo's first-years.
"Maybe I should lure Megumi over too... well, whatever. Relationships aren't limited to just teacher and student anyway."
At that moment, Junpei Yoshino came out of his room. He had just dealt with the faint medicinal smell on his body again.
Akira Zenin looked at Junpei.
"Do you want to become my student?"
"Huh? Does that mean going to school with Itadori?"
"No. I teach at the Kyoto school. He's from the Tokyo school."
If he had not spent so much time talking with Yuji Itadori earlier, Junpei Yoshino would have agreed immediately. It would have been a perfect chance to leave that terrible place.
But now that his mother had agreed and he actually had a choice, Junpei fell into deep thought.
Just like how his "fat pig teacher" never noticed anything, allowing bullying to run rampant across the entire school, Junpei firmly believed that the kind of teacher you had determined the kind of students you ended up with.
Junpei briefly imagined what life would be like if he transferred under Akira Zenin.
Classes, activities, meals, even resting time, all while a group of gloomy dead-fish eyes stared at him from the side...
He shivered involuntarily.
Yuji Itadori was so cheerful and kind, and he loved movies so much. His teacher must be a bright and lively adult who also loved movies.
"If I transfer... I think... I'd like to become classmates with Yuji Itadori."
Akira Zenin tilted his head and froze on the sofa, completely motionless as he tried to process what had just happened.
Something felt wrong.
When Noritoshi Kamo went recruiting, he said things just as directly and still managed to recruit people.
Could it be that he looked even scarier than that squinty-eyed guy?
Something was definitely wrong. Extremely wrong.
"But... this isn't bad either..."
...
Dinner ended with Yuji Itadori fooling around and joking the whole time. Kugisaki helped the slightly drunk Yoshino Nagi into the inner room, while Yuji Itadori returned to Jujutsu High together with Ijichi.
Akira Zenin remained sitting in the living room, watching Junpei clean up the dishes.
"It's already pretty late. Would you like to use my room? I can sleep in the living room tonight."
Junpei finished washing the last plate and wiped his hands with a towel.
Akira Zenin shook his head.
"No need. I don't sleep. I'm used to it, so don't worry about me."
"Oh... okay."
Junpei did not ask any more questions.
After all, he was a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Having some unusual habits was probably normal.