After finishing the talks with Tengen, I walked outside.
Talking to her was exhausting… she always spoke in cryptic riddles and never gave a straight answer.
I sighed as I moved away. Still, despite all that, we were in a better position than Kenjaku. Time was on our side.
We were turning Jujutsu High into a fortress. If he came to us, he would definitely lose.
If he doesn't come to us, he will also lose. God, I love Gojo op Satoru…
I began walking toward where I last saw Ryu and Yuta.
As I moved forward, I spotted someone from behind and decided to greet her.
"Hi, Maki-san," I called lightly as I approached.
…Only to realize how wrong I was.
It wasn't Maki. It was Mai Zenin, Maki's twin sister.
She glanced at me with an annoyed frown.
She retorted sharply. "Maki? Do I look like a half-baked potato to you?"
Apparently, tension between twins ran deep.
"Ah… I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I thought you were Maki. I only saw you from behind... You must be her twin… Mai, right?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm Kita. Ikuyo Kita. Nice to meet you."
Mai's eyes softened just slightly, but she let out a small sigh. I could tell she had already heard of me… of everything I had done since arriving in this world.
"My name is Mai… Mai Zenin," she said, offering her hand.
I shook it gently. And in that moment, I felt a pang of sympathy. Her life must have been… difficult. Even worse recently.
Her own clan, her father… they wanted her dead.
She still had a tense relationship with Maki, even after Maki saved her. She had no real connections here. No one she could rely on.
She must feel incredibly lonely.
"Mai-san," I said brightly, trying to ease the tension. "I heard how Maki talks about you. She really cares… she was scared when she thought you were in danger."
Mai blinked, clearly surprised.
"She left the clan to protect you," I continued, letting my words flow without hesitation. "You're so lucky… to have a sister like Maki-san."
Her expression softened, though she still looked conflicted.
"Ah… sorry. I get excited sometimes," I added with a quick laugh.
"I should go now. But… it was nice meeting you, Mai-san."
I turned and walked away.
Mai remained frozen for a moment, staring after me. She never thought of all the things I might have said, I said these… yet hearing it made something inside her feel lighter.
She stayed there, thinking about Maki… about why her sister left the clan.
It still made no sense for her. But hearing it... It was enough to ease here slightly.
Meanwhile, I kept moving toward where Yuta and Ryu were.
I had a cooking class with Ryu planned today. I nodded to myself, mentally preparing.
What would we be cooking? Possibly me.
After ten minutes of searching, I found them—and what I saw nearly made me lose my mind.
Ryu was leaning back, smoking something with Yuta. Both of them were laughing.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
Yuta is smoking?
HOLD ON! THIS DOESN'T EVEN SMELL LIKE CIGARETTES
This wasn't a cigarette. This was… far worse.
Ryu… what did you do to innocent Yuta…
Both of them had red eyes now, and I could feel my frustration rising.
For fuck's sake.
I walked over. They noticed me immediately and turned.
Yuta froze.
"K… K… Kita-san! I… I can explain!"
"Explain what?" I snapped. "Explain why you're smoking weed as a kid?"
"But you're younger th—" he started.
"DOESN'T MATTER!" I cut him off sharply.
He looked down, murmuring softly.
"Please don't tell Maki…"
"I won't," I said, "but you owe me something."
Ryu chuckled, leaning back lazily.
"Blackmailing him, huh?" he laughed harder.
"What is it?" Yuta asked nervously.
I stared him down. "I want you to train me."
Ryu let out a small sigh, shaking his head in amusement.
"That's it?" he said, smirking. "Honestly, I found you annoying for interrupting our sweet time… and now you just want to sweeten yourself even more?"
"Can you not put it like that?" I murmured, cheeks heating slightly.
He grinned, leaning closer.
"You came here for cooking classes, right?"
I nodded.
"Come, then. Let me taste your strength."
I followed him as he led the way.
Tengen had kindly set up a barrier for us so we could train without interruptions.
Yuta stayed behind to watch, smirking nervously at the whole scene.
Ryu lit another weed casually and looked back at me, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"This is going to be fun," he said.
I looked at Ryu's Red-Eyes... Then to Yuta's Red...
The bastard used the reverse cursed technique to remove the evidence... I stared at Yuta in shock.
Then I turned my attention back to Ryu.
What a bad influence...
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End of Chapter.
Slightly short chapter. I was busy today.
Also, do you all think this fiction has the potential to reach 500K or 1M views? I really need an honest opinion about this