Chapter 34: If It's a Fight, I'm Ready!
Time flowed quietly between special training and missions, slipping away before anyone noticed.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the Tokyo and Kyoto sister school exchange arrived.
The sun was a little too bright today, and the air itself seemed restless.
At the entrance to the school grounds, Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki were already waiting. Both wore serious expressions.
"I'm asking you seriously," Nobara said, idly spinning a hammer in one hand. "Is that Kyoto school really such a big deal?"
Her tone was impatient, but there was tension hidden underneath it.
"I heard they've got members of the three great families, and also that idiot..."
Megumi's brows furrowed slightly. A certain absurdly muscular man flashed through his mind, the kind who would ask people what kind of woman they liked as if that were a life or death matter.
"Anyway," he said coldly, "they're not coming here with good intentions."
Just then, footsteps sounded from the road outside the gate.
A group of students in dark uniforms approached in formation.
At the front were a tall, heavily built young man and a short haired girl with sharp, hostile eyes.
The Kyoto students had arrived.
"Oh, so this is Tokyo?"
The short haired girl, Mai Zenin, had barely stopped before letting out a sneering laugh.
Her gaze swept over Megumi and Nobara, full of open contempt.
"Why are there only two of you here? It's one thing that Okkotsu senpai isn't around, but what about that so-called Sukuna vessel?"
Her lips curled cruelly.
"Or maybe..."
She deliberately dragged the words out as her eyes paused on Nobara's slightly worn tracksuit.
"He's already dead? If so, that cheap outfit of yours really matches the mood."
The atmosphere froze instantly.
Veins bulged at Nobara's temple, and the handle of her hammer creaked in her grip.
"Hey, short hair."
She smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
"Did you eat garlic for breakfast? Your breath reeks."
"And this is limited edition, by the way. What would a backwater fashion disaster like you know about style?"
Mai's face darkened at once.
"Hah?"
She drew her revolver in one smooth motion and aimed the muzzle directly at Nobara's forehead.
"Is this how Tokyo greets its guests? You really are a bunch of inferior creatures."
At the same moment, Megumi's stance shifted, shadows already spreading beneath his feet.
"Put the gun down, Mai Zenin."
His voice was cold enough to frost the air.
"This isn't Kyoto."
Just as the two sides were about to erupt, the tall man who had been standing silently beside Mai suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Boring! This is way too boring!"
Aoi Todo tore open the front of his uniform shirt with one violent motion, revealing a body packed with muscle like forged steel.
"I don't care about the barking of weaklings!"
His eyes swept the area like a predator searching for prey.
Then they locked onto Megumi.
"Hey, Fushiguro!"
He raised one thick finger and pointed straight at him.
"Where's that guy?"
"The one everyone's been talking about. The monster who can cut down a Special Grade Cursed Spirit without using cursed energy!"
His face lit up with wild excitement.
"Where is Yami?!"
The moment that name came up, even Mai's earlier arrogance faltered for an instant.
Recently, Yami's name had spread through the jujutsu world like wildfire.
No cursed energy.
Killed a Special Grade.
Personally acknowledged by Satoru Gojo.
Every one of those labels was enough to put anyone on alert.
"He's not here."
Megumi's answer was ice cold.
"If you came here to start trouble, I'm happy to entertain you myself."
"Tch."
Todo clicked his tongue in open disappointment.
"Boring."
Then his grin returned, huge and feral.
"If the main event isn't here, I'll warm up with you first!"
The ground exploded beneath his feet.
He shot forward like a cannonball, closing the distance in an instant. His fist tore through the air with enough force to distort it, aimed straight at Megumi's face.
"So fast!"
Megumi's pupils shrank.
His hands flashed through signs.
"Divine Dogs!"
Two shikigami burst from the shadows, lunging in to intercept Todo's charge.
But before Todo's overwhelming physical power, even the Divine Dogs were smashed aside in an instant.
Bang!
Megumi was forced back several meters, shoes scraping across the ground before he barely regained his balance.
"Too weak! Too weak!"
Todo shook his head in obvious disappointment.
"This level can't even make me sweat!"
He rolled his shoulder and stepped forward again, cursed energy surging around him.
"If Yami's too scared to show up, then I'll beat you flat first and go find him myself!"
He raised his fist again, preparing to crush through Megumi's guard completely.
Then, from the shaded path within the school grounds, a calm voice drifted over.
"This is Tokyo."
It was not loud.
Even so, it cut through the atmosphere with perfect clarity.
Everyone instinctively turned.
Beneath the shifting shadows of the trees, a boy in a high school uniform was walking toward them at an unhurried pace.
A black guitar case rested across his back.
His red earrings swayed softly in the wind.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across his face, illuminating a pair of clear red eyes like polished gemstones.
He was not moving quickly.
If anything, he looked almost leisurely.
And yet, the moment he appeared, the tension in the air changed.
The chaos seemed to settle.
Even Todo, who had been radiating violence just moments ago, froze slightly the instant he saw him.
Instinct screamed a single conclusion into his mind.
Powerful.
Absurdly powerful.
"This presence..."
Todo's pupils tightened sharply.
"So strong. Even purer than Okkotsu."
Yami stopped in front of Megumi and Nobara.
His gaze swept over the Kyoto students lightly, then came to rest on Todo.
"This isn't a place for you to run wild," he said softly.
His tone was gentle, but beneath that gentleness was an authority no one could ignore.
Behind him, Megumi and Nobara both felt an odd sense of relief rise in their chests.
Neither of them knew exactly when it had started, but having Yami there always made everything feel more stable.
Safer.
Todo stared at him for a long moment.
Then his eyes lit up with a fervor more intense than before.
"So you're Yami?"
He grinned, teeth flashing.
"At last. I finally found you!"
Yami did not answer.
Instead, he reached back and unclipped the guitar case from his shoulder, then gently set it down on the ground.
The zipper slid open.
Inside lay a black red longsword that looked old, yet carried a sharpness so chilling it seemed to cut the air itself.
Shiranui.
His fingers wrapped around the hilt.
Slowly, he drew it.
Clang.
The crisp ring of steel echoed through the school gate.
"If you want to fight..."
Yami lifted his head, his calm red eyes meeting Todo's directly.
"I'm ready."
.....
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