At the school gate, three people were squatting there in a thoroughly suspicious manner.
Asou Akiya asked, "Will this actually work?"
Getou Suguru replied with visible distress, "I've already done everything I can… this is the first time I've ever done something like this."
Ieiri Shoko poked at the grass in front of them; the shrubs had been removed overnight by the Gojo family's construction team and replaced with fresh turf, while the cursed technique traces left by "Blue" had been covered up by Getou Suguru using the power of Curse Spirit Manipulation.
Ieiri Shoko said, "Asou, considering the hole you made Gojo dig, it's already impressive that Getou managed to fill it back in."
Asou Akiya said, "I didn't expect the biggest flaw to end up being right at the school gate."
Suddenly, all three of them lowered their heads in unison as Gojo Satoru's selfie appeared on their phones.
[Gojo Satoru: I'm heading out!]
In the photo, Gojo Satoru was wearing the Tokyo Jujutsu High uniform as he left the house, with a chauffeured car provided by the Gojo family parked beside him.
They tapped to download the image, saved it, and without prior coordination, sent Gojo Satoru's photo to people inside the school.
The staff of Tokyo Jujutsu High immediately entered a state of first-level alert.
Right after that, they cleared away the residual traces of cursed energy they had left at the scene, their faces breaking into unmistakably mischievous expressions.
Getou Suguru said, "It's started!"
Ieiri Shoko said, "The first stage goes to Asou. Asou has to take the bus and coincidentally run into Gojo Satoru; only then can we lure Gojo Satoru onto the bus and keep him from noticing the flaws out on the road."
Getou Suguru said impatiently, "Akiya, are you confident you can fool him? If it really won't work, let me do it instead!"
Asou Akiya cast him a sidelong glance, clearly picking up on whatever questionable proclivities Getou Suguru had just exposed, and said, "With your cooperation and a thoroughly prepared script, deceiving a sheltered Six Eyes like him with nothing but acting is hardly a challenge."
Ieiri Shoko silently turned her gaze toward Getou Suguru. "And you…?"
Getou Suguru replied with difficulty, "Shoko, don't look at me like that—even I wouldn't dare say something like that."
Ieiri Shoko raised her thumbs at the two of them and immediately ushered them off. "Hurry up and get ready. Asou handles the first act, Getou the second. We need to hit him so hard in the shortest possible time that his brain goes blank and the 'Six Eyes' fail."
Asou Akiya straightened his school uniform, walked out beyond the campus gates, boarded the bus, and spoke with the driver about what was to happen next.
The large-scale immersive drama A Day Without Knowing Gojo Satoru officially began filming.
—
Act One: An Encounter on the Bus.
…
The journey from Kyoto to Tokyo took some time.
Gojo Satoru sat in the back seat of the vehicle, occasionally shifting his posture as he continuously looked out the window.
On Tokyo's winter streets, people dressed much the same as they had before he left school; girls were especially fond of short skirts.
It was as if everyone were a sorcerer capable of reinforcing their bodies with cursed energy—such stubborn devotion to skirts alone was enough to give birth to curses.
The "Six Eyes" automatically filtered out certain indecorous sights.
Gojo Satoru regarded strangers with indifference, though under the influence of his classmates he would spare an extra glance for pretty girls.
Even so, the number of women the "Six Eyes" judged to be truly beautiful was exceedingly small, and whether they wore heavy makeup or none at all, none of them left an impression on him the way Asou Akiya had when cosplaying as Kawakami Tomie.
He thought to himself that, just as Getou had said, the black-haired, straight-cut, horror-type JK really was something uniquely special.
Several hours passed…
"Stop the car!" With a single command from Gojo Satoru, the driver slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road.
"Go back on your own. Don't wait for me," Gojo Satoru said as he opened the door, tossing the words behind him before chasing after the bus ahead, abandoning the idea of having the Gojo family's driver take him to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The red bus ran from the city center out toward the suburbs, passing through numerous leisure areas for dining and shopping.
To put it bluntly, wherever Tokyo Jujutsu High's sorcerer students liked to go, new stops were added there; the bus company carried its money-losing goodwill all the way through, accommodating the students at every turn, quietly instructing drivers to treat passengers wearing buttons with golden whirl patterns with particular caution, and strictly forbidding any public mention that this route was prone to paranormal incidents.
Gojo Satoru found a bus stop, waited obediently for the red bus to come to a halt, and boarded with evident cheer.
The "Six Eyes" caught the lingering fragrance of Akiya's cursed energy.
Had he gone out shopping today?
Was he buying a gift for me?
Gojo Satoru let his thoughts run wild as he fished out some coins and dropped them into the fare box; the driver was someone he had seen many times before.
Gojo Satoru keenly noticed the man beginning once again to sneak glances at him under the illusion of subtlety, and he lowered his sunglasses slightly, the "Six Eyes" glaring back with ferocity and disdain as he said bluntly, "Didn't I tell you last time to stop staring at me?"
The driver shuddered as if frightened, and like anyone seeing Gojo Satoru for the first time, exclaimed in surprise, "Sorry, I've never seen someone with white hair and blue eyes before—are you Japanese?"
Gojo Satoru didn't dignify the question. "Hah? What business is it of yours? Why should I answer you?"
Ignoring both the driver and the other passengers, Gojo Satoru strode toward the rear of the bus, his long legs moving easily as he ducked around the overhead rails, the "Limitless" technique isolating his body from any accidental contact with others.
There were many passengers on the red bus today, and every seat was occupied, including the one he wanted; there, a white-haired elderly man was seated, blocking a black-haired youth in the same school uniform as Gojo Satoru, who sat farther inside.
Gojo Satoru walked over to a pair of seats and planted his feet, intending to ask the old man to give up his seat, but the words stuck in his throat.
He held himself back, silently reciting the rules of public transport—when dealing with ordinary people, respect the elderly and care for the young.
As the bus swayed gently in motion, many passengers noticed the white-haired boy wearing sunglasses, standing directly in front of the elderly man; both had white hair, yet the boy's was the pure hue of fresh snow, while the old man's was the withered color of dusk.
"Akiya…"
Two stops passed, the old man still did not get off, and Gojo Satoru could no longer wait.
"Stand with me for a bit, will you?"
Gojo Satoru was shameless, taking advantage of the fact that it was his birthday to drag Asou Akiya down with him.
Normally, after a few more stops, the number of passengers heading toward Tokyo's outskirts would drop sharply; no one went wandering aimlessly into deep forests.
By then, empty seats would naturally be left for the students of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The black-haired youth seated on the inner side—namely, Asou Akiya—raised his refined face at those words.
He had glanced at Gojo Satoru once when he arrived, then withdrawn his gaze, and only after Gojo Satoru called out "Akiya" did he seem to realize that the white-haired boy was speaking to him.
A subtle expression flickered in Asou Akiya's eyes as he examined the hair and the school uniform for several seconds, then deliberately asked, "Young Master Gojo?"
Gojo Satoru immediately twisted his head away. "What a disgusting way to address me!"
Asou Akiya: "..."
Gojo Satoru was not the type who needed others to carry a conversation; his sense of self was overwhelmingly strong, and he quickly fixed his gaze on Asou Akiya. "Why aren't you wearing the red cord? And you're being stingy again, refusing to wear new clothes?"
His "Six Eyes" saw through the school uniform and recognized the old clothes underneath.
So even when he got money now and he's still this miserly?
Asou Akiya smiled faintly and replied with deliberate vagueness, "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Gojo Satoru clicked his tongue. "Tch…"
Then he added, "Come out here and keep me company—stop sitting."
Asou Akiya ignored him, and Gojo Satoru persisted relentlessly. "Where's my birthday present?"
Asou Akiya appeared empty-handed.
Gojo Satoru grew increasingly irritated. "Today's my birthday, you're not allowed to be this cold to me!"
He went on noisily, arguing one-sidedly for a while, until the elderly man finally couldn't take it anymore and got off the bus, scolding him as he left, "Kids these days are all talk, no sense of keeping quiet."
Gojo Satoru was the kind of person who would ignore you completely if you didn't provoke him, but explode the moment you did, snapping back without restraint.
"Old people these days are just rude—they don't know how to give up seats for the young! I'm a flower growing strong like this, the future of the world!"
The old man was left half-dead with anger.
Asou Akiya: "..."
Whether or not he was supposed to be following the script, he very nearly laughed out loud.
With the old man gone, Gojo Satoru dropped into the seat with a thud, pulled out his phone, and prepared to contact Getou Suguru to complain about Asou Akiya.
And yet—
Gojo Satoru blinked. "Huh? Why isn't Getou replying to me?"
He muttered, "Akiya, did you threaten him or something? He always replies to my messages really fast."
Standing beside Gojo Satoru, Asou Akiya could clearly sense the distant, isolating pressure created by the "Limitless" technique.
This man looked carefree and rough around the edges on the surface, yet in truth he was constantly maintaining a mind-taxing technique.
Asou Akiya understood at once.
Gojo Satoru—have you started to notice that something's wrong? Hah, don't worry, this is only the beginning.
He kept silent, his gentle brows and eyes calm and unruffled, as though he had not heard a word Gojo Satoru said.
That silence lasted all the way until the announcement of the final stop.
"Final stop: Enzanroku."
Asou Akiya got off the bus; before he could fully rise from his seat, Gojo Satoru had already stormed ahead in a huff, as if he were going to settle accounts with Getou Suguru.
The driver turned around to watch the two boys disembark, his face filled with curiosity.
Something felt wrong.
Everything felt wrong.
Gojo Satoru strode quickly up the steps, and every ten steps or so, he would stop and wait briefly for Asou Akiya.
Asou Akiya did not feel grateful for that waiting. On the contrary, he yielded politely, never daring to overtake him, always remaining three steps behind. It made the fine hairs on Gojo Satoru's neck stand on end, and a strong suspicion crept in—had the Gojo family warned Asou Akiya, forcing him to adopt the respectful attitude one ought to show the young master of the Gojo clan?
An inexplicable heaviness settled in Gojo Satoru's chest, and his buoyant excitement came crashing down with a clatter, like something smashed straight into the core of the earth.
This person was Akiya, without a doubt.
And that person's aloofness did not seem fabricated in the slightest.
Today was his birthday—this was the day he was entitled to shamelessly demand gifts from his friends!
"Akiya, can you be like before?" Gojo Satoru asked.
He turned around and reached out toward the black-haired boy who had been under the constant gaze of the Six Eyes, his fingertips stretching forward, wanting to touch him.
"..." Asou Akiya looked at him, distant to the extreme, his pitch-black eyes reflecting Gojo Satoru's figure.
"You and I are friends," Gojo Satoru insisted, his hand still extended.
And so—
Faced with such a Gojo Satoru, Asou Akiya would always raise his hand and return that goodwill.
When their hands met, there was a momentary resistance, as though his fingers had pressed into glue.
In the next instant, Gojo Satoru dispelled the "Limitless" technique and curved his lips into a smile meant only for a friend. "Not mad anymore, right?"
He used the "Six Eyes" and his own instinct to confirm that Asou Akiya was, without question, Asou Akiya.
Gojo Satoru suddenly grabbed Asou Akiya's arm and dragged him forward, sprinting toward the school at full speed. "What's going on at the school gate? The shrubs you had people plant have all turned into a lawn!"
Asou Akiya's voice scattered in the rushing wind, carrying a faint, inscrutable smile. "You'll understand once you go in."
Gojo Satoru stepped into Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The Tengen barrier that enveloped the campus sensed the presence of an unfamiliar sorcerer, and a piercing alarm shrieked through the air!
Gojo Satoru whipped his head around. "It's you?!"
Asou Akiya had only just managed to steady himself, yet even when Gojo Satoru turned the accusation back on him, he did not panic in the slightest.
Unhurriedly, he pried open the fingers that Gojo Satoru had clenched tightly around his hand, one by one.
"No," he said calmly. "It's you."
With a smile, he reminded Gojo Satoru, "You haven't registered your cursed energy. The intruder Tokyo Jujutsu High is on guard against… is you."
Gojo Satoru looked utterly bewildered. As if trapped in a dream, he lifted his hand and slapped his own cheek.
—The hell, I'm not dreaming.
And yet, if this wasn't a dream, how could he possibly be seeing such a bizarre scene?
Asou Akiya was introducing himself to him—as though they were meeting for the first time. His gaze was unfamiliar, his brows and eyes stripped of that tenderness reserved for Gojo Satoru alone, leaving only a suffocating weariness toward the world, and a deep, shadowed gloom.
"Nice to meet you, the famous 'Six Eyes.'"
"My name is Asou Akiya, a first-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High—possibly your senior next year."
"To be honest," he said plainly, "I don't know you."
Don't know him? ?
Had he been hit by some kind of cursed technique??
Gojo Satoru viciously yanked off his sunglasses, his "Six Eyes" sweeping over Asou Akiya in a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree inspection without a single blind spot. The flow of cursed energy was perfectly normal; there were no wounds on his head, no signs of trauma whatsoever.
At that moment, he sensed Getou Suguru's cursed energy and immediately snapped his head around. Sure enough, he saw Getou Suguru hurrying toward the school gate. Gojo Satoru's face twisted with grievance as he called out, "Suguru!"
But the other party seemed not to recognize him at all. He walked right past Gojo Satoru and asked Asou Akiya instead, "Akiya, is this white-haired guy an intruder?"
Asou Akiya nodded, then hesitated, as if unsure how to phrase it. "He… seems to know us."
Gojo Satoru's sunglasses slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground.
Had the whole world finally gone mad? ! !