One sunny afternoon, in the courtyard.
"Satoru Gojo! Give me back my limited-edition charms!"
Utahime Iori's exasperated voice echoed throughout the campus.
Clasping a broom in her hand, she chased the white-haired boy like a cat with its fur standing on end.
"Bleeeh! Who told you to leave them in such a visible spot? I thought they were just scrap paper!"
Satoru Gojo waved the talismans covered in red cinnabar markings. Relying on his long legs to stay ahead, he occasionally turned back to make a mocking face.
"You bastard! Those were my trump cards for dealing with Grade 1 Cursed Spirits!"
Utahime's face turned green with rage. If she weren't outmatched in a fight, she really would have liked to shove the broom into Satoru's mouth.
"Satoru, stop bullying Utahime-senpai. Hurry up and give them back."
Suguru Geto sat on the wooden floor of the corridor.
Holding a can of chilled oolong tea, his words sounded like mediation, but his 'watching the show' expression made it look more like he was taking sides.
"Suguru, whose side are you on?!"
Utahime grew even more frantic.
On the other end of the corridor...
Yoru, wearing a highly incongruous pink apron, stood before a simple outdoor grill, skillfully flipping skewers of Wagyu beef.
Sizzling fat dripped onto the charcoal, sending up a tempting cloud of white smoke. The rich aroma of meat instantly filled the courtyard.
'Smells so good...'
A window in the adjacent office cracked open slightly.
Masamichi Yaga hid behind the curtains, watching the skewers of Wagyu that were grilled to a golden crisp and still sizzling. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
Ever since Yoru, the unofficial instructor, had moved into Jujutsu High...
Although the frequency of these two problem children's mischief hadn't decreased, the quality of the food at Jujutsu High had skyrocketed.
"Instructor Yoru, add extra cumin to mine!"
Smelling the fragrance, Satoru immediately abandoned his boring game of teasing Utahime and appeared beside the grill in a flash.
"Get in line."
Without looking up, Yoru used his tongs to precisely rap Satoru's reaching hand.
Before long, the group sat around the corridor, feasting heartily.
Even Utahime, who had been angry just moments ago, was completely bribed by a special sweet and spicy chicken wing Yoru had grilled for her, eating without any regard for her image.
The atmosphere was warm and harmonious, as if this were just an ordinary high school without bloody battles or cruel curses.
Just then, a steady set of footsteps broke the courtyard's noise.
Masamichi Yaga walked over with a stern face.
Though he had been secretly salivating behind the window earlier, his dignity as a homeroom teacher was now firmly in place.
"Satoru, Suguru. Both of you, come to my office for a moment."
Yaga glanced at them, his tone more serious than ever.
"There is an urgent designated mission."
Satoru gnawed on a bamboo skewer, complaining unclearly, "What mission? Does it have to be right now? Can't you see I'm eating?"
Suguru also put down his oolong tea, keenly sensing something unusual in Yaga's tone.
Ten minutes later, inside the Principal's office.
Yaga sat with his hands crossed on the desk, looking at his two prized pupils standing before him.
"The deadline for Master Tengen's assimilation is approaching."
"The target for this mission is the Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai."
"Your mission is to escort her safely to the Tombs of the Star Corridor to complete the merge."
Hearing the words 'Star Plasma Vessel', Suguru's gaze narrowed slightly.
"Escorting the Star Plasma Vessel? You mean that girl who's going to be sacrificed?"
"It's not a sacrifice; it's an assimilation."
Yaga corrected him. "This is the price that must be paid to maintain the stability of the barriers and protect the entire jujutsu world."
"Tch."
Satoru shoved his hands into his pockets, scoffing dismissively.
"So we're basically bodyguards? Sending the two of us Special Grades for a mission like this seems like overkill. Are the old geezers at the top that bored?"
"Satoru, don't be careless."
Suguru turned to Satoru, his expression becoming extremely serious.
"The existence of the Star Plasma Vessel doesn't just concern the stability of the jujutsu world; it also touches the interests of many curse users and extremist organizations."
"Especially that organization called the Star Religious Group. They definitely won't sit idly by and watch the assimilation succeed."
"The forces targeting the Star Plasma Vessel this time will likely exceed our imagination."
"What's there to be afraid of?" Satoru pushed up his sunglasses confidently.
"With the two strongest here, even if God himself shows up, he'll have to wait in line!"
Just as the two were about to pick up the mission documents...
"I'm going too."
A calm and certain voice came from the office doorway.
Yoru had removed his pink apron at some point and was leaning against the doorframe, holding that spare iron sword with a hilt worn smooth from use.
"Instructor Yoru?"
Suguru was somewhat surprised.
Yaga also frowned.
"Yoru, this mission was assigned to the two of them by the General Headquarters. As an unofficial staff member, according to regulations..."
"Regulations are static, but people are dynamic."
Yoru interrupted Yaga, walking to the desk and leaning his hands on it, looking directly at the dutiful homeroom teacher.
"Teacher Yaga, my intuition tells me this mission won't be as simple as it seems on the surface."
"Variables might appear that even the two of them can't handle."
Variables that even Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto couldn't handle?
Yaga was startled. If these words had come from anyone else, he would have thought it was a joke.
But the one saying this was Yoru—the man who, in terms of physical techniques and combat awareness, had ground these two problem children into the dirt!
Yaga fell silent for a moment.
He also vaguely felt that the higher-ups' decision to send Satoru and Suguru out at the same time suggested a deeper game being played.
"Fine."
Yaga finally nodded.
"You can follow along as an accompanying instructor. But try not to expose your presence to avoid a backlash from those old fogies at the General Headquarters."
"No problem." The corner of Yoru's mouth quirked up.
"Hey, hey, hey! Instructor Yoru, you're looking down on us too much!"
Satoru shouted in dissatisfaction, snatching the last piece of braised pork from Yoru's hand and swallowing it in one gulp.
"With us around, what variables could there be? Just stay on the sidelines and watch us look cool!"
"Teacher, why are you spacing out? This meat is mine now!"
Yoru looked at Satoru's arrogant display and didn't get angry, though a flash of complex emotion crossed his eyes.
He knew exactly what the variable was.
The man known as the 'Sorcerer Killer' was likely sharpening his blades in the shadows at this very moment.
"Before we set out, I need to solve a problem first."
Yoru looked down at the spare iron sword in his hand, its blade already chipped and curled, and sighed helplessly.
Ordinary steel simply couldn't withstand even a tenth of Sun Breathing's high heat and resonance.
If he went head-to-head with Toji Fushiguro, who wielded the Special Grade Cursed Tool 'Inverted Spear of Heaven', using this toy, it would be pure suicide.
He needed a real sword—a sword capable of bearing the sun!
"You two go get Riko first."
Yoru turned around and tossed the scrap metal into the trash can.
"I'm heading to the black market to find some decent gear."
"I'll regroup with you soon."
Watching Yoru's departing back, Satoru and Suguru looked at each other. Although they found it odd, they didn't ask further questions.
After all, in their eyes, this escort mission was indeed just a formality.
This warm daily life seemed to be continuing.
But they didn't know that a massive net, woven with the Star Religious Group's heavy funding, had quietly opened.
And that legendary, terrifying killer with zero cursed energy had already aligned his sights on them.
The gears of fate began to mesh frantically!