Chapter Text
“A Buddhist monk?” Satoru asked mockingly.
“Just because his family are Buddhists, doesn’t mean he is,” Shoko corrected him.
“Same thing,” Satoru insisted. And he should know a thing or two about influential families. As the young head of the Gojo clan, the first to wield both the Limitless and the Six Eyes in centuries, he knew enough about expectations. So what if the Geto family had no history of sorcerers in their lines? Not every Sorcerer came from one of the three big clans. In fact, they were in the minority. He could already imagine it—a Buddhist sorcerer, quoting koans left and right. If you meet the Buddha, kill him. What is the sound of one hand? Laughable. Satoru himself had nothing against religion as long as no one would force their beliefs onto him. Do not kill, do not lie, do not steal, abstain from intoxication, abstain from sensuous misconduct…
“I heard he is late because they had to assess his abilities,” Shoko ignored him. Interesting. Usually, Jujutsu High candidates had no blank pages in their dossiers. Buddhist monk was certainly late for his first term. It was already mid-April. Satoru had no qualms when it came to his education at Jujutsu High. He had only one fellow student in his class. Shoko Ieiri and he had hit it off from the start. Both of them had a laid-back attitude when it came to rules, and both of them liked a bit of fun. Shoko would never be pressed to risk her life on the front lines. Her abilities were just too valuable for that. That was fine. Satoru himself couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else but on the front lines. It was fine that they pushed him. He could handle it. In fact, he had no doubt that he could handle anything they threw his way. He was the strongest, after all.
They called it orientation week, which was fine with Suguru. Apparently, he was already late. The term had officially started two and a half weeks ago, but that couldn’t be helped. What was more concerning was that there were only three students this year, and that it wasn’t unheard of either. So either Jujutsu sorcerers were that rare, or they were not looking hard enough for them. Neither put him at ease.
In any case, Suguru had some catching up to do. Quite a bit, actually. But they wouldn’t let him on campus just yet. The school was on the outskirts of Tokyo, which meant far enough away that he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing his family on a regular basis. That was fine. They wouldn’t miss him very much, either. He could tell that they were a little relieved to see him go.
School transfer would be handled. He’d live on campus with the other students. No problem there, either. Actually, all things considered, it wasn’t too different from his living situation before. The problem was he couldn’t figure out what he was getting himself into. No one came out straight and told his parents the truth either. No your child isn’t lying or seeing imaginary things. Just your son is gifted and our school is the right place for someone with his talents. So much flattery. They put too much effort into it, he thought. It had been years since he had last spoken of what he could see to anyone. So, how had they found out about him in the first place?
The same evening, he packed his bags and said goodbye to everyone. Then, they had left the temple grounds. He had expected an uneventful drive to his new school. Instead, they ended up in the middle of nowhere. Suguru was a little confused when his driver told him they had reached their destination. He got out of the car and saw three people waiting for him down a little hiking trail.
“Satoru!”
“Yeah?”
“Where is Shoko?” Yaga called. Satoru smiled.
“She forgot something and went back to get it.” He wouldn’t snitch on her and say she had gone out to buy new cigarettes, hopefully getting some sweets to share, too.
“Your new classmate has arrived. Give him a tour when you see him.” Satoru rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses.
“Yees…” So, he had finally arrived. Found worthy by the higher-ups, apparently. Interesting. It didn’t take long for him to find their new classmate. Suguru Geto got out of the black car that had brought him on campus, shouldered one bag, and carried the other, following the auxiliary manager over to the dorms. Tall, Satoru noticed, baggy clothes, hair pulled back in a bun, revealing purple earrings, and strange bangs on one side. It looked like he had cut them himself. Not what he had expected, Satoru had to admit. His cursed energy wasn’t that impressive either, weird as it was. He wore a polite smile plastered on his face like a mask as he nodded along to whatever he was told. Then they went inside.
Satoru pulled out his phone and texted Shoko that Buddhist monk had arrived. She replied that she was on her way back, and he flipped his phone shut with a satisfying snap. On his way to his room, the auxiliary manager greeted him and told him that the new student had temporarily moved into the room next to his own. Temporarily, because the rest of the dorm was still undergoing renovations after a very unfortunate accident, Satoru would always deny having ever been involved in. Temporarily, because once the building was finished, it would be weird for the only two young men living there right now to share a wall so thin, they could almost make out every word spoken in the room next door. And Satoru already knew somehow that his classmate wouldn’t appreciate listening to him playing video games late at night.
He stopped in front of his door, wavered for a moment, before deciding to say hello. They would see a lot of each other over the next three years, so he’d better get it out of the way. He knocked twice but got no response. What kind of fool would think he could hide on campus with a bunch of other sorcerers? Satoru could clearly feel his cursed energy behind the door, even without using the Six Eyes. He knocked again.
“Hey, you okay?” There was some shuffling and unintelligible mumbling. He considered and decided it was enough of an invitation for him before he opened the door and leaned inside the frame. Buddhist monk hadn’t unpacked yet. It rather seemed like he had simply dumped his bags next to the door before collapsing onto the stripped bed. Satoru raised an eyebrow at him as Suguru Geto unfolded his long limbs and awkwardly sat up. He looked like shit warmed over.
“Hey, I’m the guy next door,” Satoru tried again. “What’s up? Did you get car sick or something?” The young man glared at him.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled.
“Wow. You look like shit, though.”
“I’m fine,” He repeated, a little more articulated this time. “Thank you.” That polite smile had returned. It looked even more disingenuous than the last one.
“Okay, fine, if you change your mind, you know where to find me. I’m supposed to give you a tour, so…” Satoru shrugged.
“Thanks.” Obviously, this guy wanted him out of there, and Satoru was only too happy to oblige.
The tour didn’t happen. Neither of them brought it up again, and Satoru didn’t push the matter. If the new guy thought he could find his way around on his own, so be it. They saw each other next in class. No one in Japan would ever escape the awkward introduction game, not even a kindergartener, let alone a high school student. However, even Satoru and Shoko had to admit that it looked rather silly with their entire class now consisting of only three students. But the new guy jumped through the societal hoop with practiced ease. He stood in front with their teacher, straight-backed, head held high, eyes focused somewhere above their heads, and waited for Yaga to start the introduction ritual.
“Right. Pay attention. This is your new classmate. You two had a bit of a head start on him, so I expect you both to help him catch up.” New classmate didn’t miss his cue, didn’t blush or stammer, and showed no nervousness at all for the matter. He smiled and glanced at both of them for a second.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Suguru Geto.”
It was on purpose that the only empty desk stood in the middle. Satoru and Shoko had decided on it this morning, maximizing their opportunities to simultaneously satisfy both of their curiosities. And why should the new guy have a say in it? This wasn’t your ordinary high school, but some rules still applied no matter what.
“Suguru here uses Cursed Spirit Manipulation.” If Geto was taken aback by the uncommon use of his first name, he didn’t let it show. “You probably haven’t encountered this technique before, it’s rare, after all, so let’s take the opportunity and familiarize yourselves with it. —You may sit down, Suguru.”
“What? No demonstration?” Satoru quipped, “Boooring.” Geto ignored him and sat down. He hadn’t brought anything with him, they noticed. He just sat there with his hands folded on his desk and focused on their teacher.
“We all know you are always eager to show off, Satoru. Most people demonstrate a little more restraint in general.”
“Hah? Why should I hide it? And here of all places… It’s not like it could ever be a secret with the whole Jujutsu society knowing about it. What’s the point?”
“Suguru, tell Satoru what you think of his technique,” Yaga said while crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against his desk.
“I don’t know anything about his technique,” Geto replied without hesitation or embarrassment.
“Hah?” Satoru looked at him in disbelief, and Shoko snickered. “I’m Satoru Gojo, in case you’ve missed the obvious.”
“Is that supposed to tell me something?”
“Is he for real?” Satoru questioned his teacher and pointed at the young man in question.
“Hard as it is to believe, some people haven’t entered the Gojo-centric model era yet.”
“Well, let’s hope they’ve at least made it into Renaissance, if not into Enlightenment, then.” Satoru rolled his eyes. He highly doubted their Buddhist monk could understand the dig, though.
“I’m pretty sure my understanding of Mathematics and science is better than yours,” came Geto’s even tone from his left. Satoru glared at him and huffed in annoyance.
“Pretty sure it isn’t. And it’s not about what you know but what you can do with it, genius.”
“Alright. That’s enough, both of you. —As I was saying…” What followed was a very dry, very basic lecture about Cursed Spirit Manipulation, during which Geto himself contributed nothing.
They had a break afterward, before the scheduled hand-to-hand combat lessons. Shoko went outside to have a cigarette, and Satoru followed her, leaving their new classmate behind without so much as a glance backward at him, let alone inviting him to tag along.
“Can you believe him?” Satoru complained, sitting on a wall below a ginkgo tree. Shoko lit her cigarette and raised an eyebrow at him. She took a moment before she answered.
“I don’t know. Let’s not forget he is new to this. He’s probably never heard of any of the three clans.”
“Don’t take his side.”
“Why not? Not much of a conversation otherwise, don’t you think?” He made a face, and she gave him a crooked smile in return.
“Anyway, he’s never going to catch up with us. Seriously, he’s so weak. He was puking his guts out after he arrived yesterday. I could hear him down the hall. Fricking gross!”
“Utahime-senpai told me they were testing him before they brought him here. Probably side effects of his technique, don’t you think?”
“Testing him? And why did she tell you?”
“Beats me. Maybe so I would keep an eye on him.” She shrugged. Satoru huffed and put his hands in his pockets. “We have combat training next.” Not Shoko’s favorite, but now that they had a new addition to their class, Satoru would hopefully have someone new to make fun of. She was, and would always be, hopelessly outmatched. He always went easy on her, but it wasn’t fun.
“Right.” He was grinning with glee.
“Don’t break him,” she warned half-heartedly.
“Why not? You are here. We will be fine.” She liked that part of him. Annoying as he was sometimes, he knew who he could rely on. Coming from someone like Satoru Gojo, it was more than a compliment.