In the kitchen area, even a specially made high-sugar milk tea failed to coax Gojo Satoru into a better mood.
Faced with the love letter that had been reduced to ashes, Gojo Satoru sprawled sulkily against the edge of the stove, biting down on a straw and gulping the milk tea in large mouthfuls.
Getou Suguru poured himself a cup of milk tea from the side. After hesitating for a moment, he took a small sip. His entire face immediately scrunched up, looking as though he had just tasted the opposite extreme flavor of a cursed spirit orb.
Completely unable to tolerate such a lethal level of sweetness, Getou Suguru rinsed his mouth with plain water and proceeded to watch the two of them make fools of themselves.
Gojo Satoru, too, was overwhelmed by the cloying sweetness of the milk tea, barely managing to suppress the urge to spit it out.
"I don't care. I want that senior's love letter!"
"It's gone."
Asou Akiya tidied up the stove and shooed Gojo Satoru over to stand beside Getou Suguru.
Gojo Satoru protested, "That was my stuff!"
Asou Akiya responded with a mischievous smile. "No, that was something I paid for, signed in Miss Mei Mei's name."
Gojo Satoru bit clean through the soft straw in a single snap and fell into sullen contemplation.
Miss Mei Mei?
What exactly would that senior have written in her love letter?
Getou Suguru interjected, "Something this entertaining—why didn't you notify me in advance, Akiya?"
Asou Akiya replied breezily, "It wasn't entertaining. I didn't inform anyone. I gave up."
Getou Suguru looked surprised, while Gojo Satoru demanded fiercely, "Explain clearly—what was your original plan?"
Asou Akiya said, "Haven't you always wanted to receive a love letter?"
Gojo Satoru answered sluggishly, "Huh? Well… that's true."
He suddenly realized something. "But that doesn't mean it can be fake!"
Asou Akiya said lightly, "What if you believed it for your entire life and never found out it was fake?"
Gojo Satoru refused to be deceived. "Fake is fake!"
Asou Akiya responded, "When you become clan head, even something fake can become real. Miss Mei Mei would be full of goodwill toward you."
Gojo Satoru was thoroughly confused, and swiftly returned to his original question. "That's not important. Why did you buy a love letter for me in the first place?"
Asou Akiya fell silent for a moment. After weighing his words carefully, he spoke honestly.
"I wanted you, at sixteen, to receive a love letter and chocolates—to have the things other high school boys have experienced, so that you could experience them too."
Gojo Satoru retorted, "Didn't you and Suguru also not receive love letters or chocolates?"
"..."
"..." In response to Gojo Satoru's question, the two of them awkwardly yet politely shifted their gazes away.
Getou Suguru thought: [I already received them back in middle school. The only reason I don't now is because there's only one female classmate.]
Asou Akiya thought: [If I wanted those two things, wouldn't it be a matter of minutes?]
As everyone knew, Getou Suguru had always been popular with the opposite sex. The official guidebook explicitly stated that his "good man" attributes attracted many sorcerers, regardless of gender. The only person in this lifetime destined never to receive a love letter from a girl was Gojo Satoru.
The attitudes of Asou Akiya and Getou Suguru struck Gojo Satoru with a heavy blow.
Gojo Satoru stared in disbelief. "Me? In your eyes, am I the type who can't receive love letters?"
He jabbed a finger against his own cheek. "I'm insanely popular, you know!"
Asou Akiya replied with a hint of humor, "Popular with men?"
Getou Suguru burst out laughing as he recalled the gossip surrounding the Three Great Clans. "Popular with the Zen'in family's sworn enemies?"
Gojo Satoru was rendered speechless.
No matter how Asou Akiya tried to explain, the more Gojo Satoru listened, the angrier he became. He made a fuss and insisted that Miss Mei Mei write him another letter.
Otherwise, he refused to believe that Miss Mei Mei had confessed her affection purely for the sake of money.
Seeing how much he cared about the meaning of his very first love letter, Asou Akiya had no choice but to deliver a second bombshell.
"I made up the contents of the love letter, because Miss Mei Mei couldn't write one herself."
"You've got some nerve."
Gojo Satoru glared furiously at Asou Akiya and grabbed Getou Suguru by the arm. "Suguru, release that cursed spirit on Akiya!"
Getou Suguru shook off Gojo Satoru's grip. "Give it up. I'm not helping you deal with Akiya."
"He made me mad!"
"You being mad is a pretty normal occurrence."
Furious, Gojo Satoru stormed out and slammed the door behind him. After walking a few steps, he belatedly realized that this was his dormitory—why should he be the one leaving instead of kicking them out?
Inside the dorm room, the conversation between the classmates continued.
"Although your intentions were good, you angered him today. Be careful—he might hold a grudge afterward." Getou Suguru did not entirely approve of Asou Akiya's decision to abandon the "prank" halfway through. Either they should never have let Gojo Satoru discover that the love letter was fake, or they should have carried it through to the end and teased him together—having Miss Mei Mei personally reveal the truth would have been even more entertaining.
Asou Akiya spoke of one of Gojo Satoru's virtues. "He doesn't usually hold grudges—unless the same annoying thing happens more than twice. He follows the principle of 'never more than three times.'"
Getou Suguru quietly committed that to memory; in the future, he would be able to step on Gojo Satoru's bottom line a few more times.
Asou Akiya shot him a sidelong glance. "I advise you not to remember that kind of thing."
In the original story, Hanami had completely enraged Gojo Satoru—leading him to refer to it as "that weed"—precisely because the Special Grade cursed spirit had slipped away twice right under Gojo Satoru's nose, recklessly dancing back and forth across his minefield without any sense of self-preservation.
When they met for the third time, the twenty-eight-year-old Gojo Satoru immediately locked onto his target among three enemies and exorcised Hanami first.
Hanami died by being crushed to pieces.
The way Gojo dealt with it was extraordinarily ruthless, his desire for retaliation overflowing.
And it was not only about Hanami. In the original story, after Getou Suguru defected, the seventeen-year-old Gojo Satoru let him go once on the streets of Harajuku, withdrawing the hand sign for "Hollow Purple." At twenty-seven, at the gates of Tokyo Jujutsu High, he let him go a second time when Getou openly declared war.
It was not until their third meeting, after Gojo Satoru realized he still could not bring his best friend back, that he stopped avoiding the inevitable and granted him release.
One could easily see—
He truly does abide by "never more than three times."
To this day, Asou Akiya dared not touch Gojo Satoru's "Six Eyes" again, precisely because he feared stepping across that bottom line.
"I saw that you bought quite a lot of ingredients for white chocolate," Getou Suguru said as he walked over and began tinkering around in the kitchen. "Teach me one trick, and I'll teach you one in return. As long as you give him obligation chocolate that symbolizes friendship, he'll be one hundred percent over his anger."
Asou Akiya smiled faintly. "You make it. I'll go take a walk and see how the Zen'in family plans to renovate."
After saying that, Asou Akiya stepped out of the dormitory and ran into Gojo Satoru standing at the doorway.
Gojo Satoru glared at him resentfully.
Asou Akiya did not retreat. Instead, he took a step forward. Sure enough, the one who stepped back became Gojo Satoru.
Asou Akiya headed toward the dorm room in the corner that was currently under renovation. After hesitating for a moment, Gojo Satoru hurried after him, reached out his hand, and demanded, "You burned my love letter—at the very least, there should be chocolate as compensation."
Without turning his head, Asou Akiya replied, "Suguru is making it for you. No need to rush."
Gojo Satoru snapped, "Didn't you understand? I want two portions!"
Asou Akiya responded, "All right. I'll send Suguru a message and tell him to make two portions of white chocolate for you."
Gojo Satoru was so furious that smoke practically poured out of his seven orifices, and a large, throbbing "vein mark" popped on his forehead.
"Weren't you supposed to cheer me up on Valentine's Day?"
"Yes."
"Then right now, immediately, show me your sincerity! I don't accept being brushed off!"
"I never intended to brush you off."
Every word Asou Akiya spoke was the truth, without the slightest trace of falsehood, and it left Gojo Satoru momentarily at a loss for words. The noise of renovation echoing through the corridor added an edge of irritation, pushing the two of them to the brink of an argument, just one step away from a full-blown quarrel.
Gojo Satoru said, "You might as well have written a love letter yourself. Why did you have to spend money asking a senior to do it?"
Asou Akiya's back suddenly stiffened.
"Gojo… is that really what you think?"
"Yes!"
"I'm sorry. I would only ever write a love letter to the person I truly love, and I don't make chocolate either. Helping Miss Mei Mei come up with the content was already my limit. Thinking back on it now, the contents of that love letter were truly not suitable for you to see."
The letter had been filled with the word "like" that he had written on behalf of Miss Mei Mei—shallow sentiments, nothing more.
Asou Akiya placed his hand against the wooden wall, facing forward, deliberately avoiding looking at the white-haired boy behind him.
"True love is not something that can be written out in a few casual lines."
"If what can be written isn't love, then what is it?"
Gojo Satoru asked out of curiosity, while Asou Akiya quietly digested the disgust he felt toward that fabricated love letter and let out a soft laugh.
"It's desire."
A selfish desire—an attempt to make a divine child rejoice over something shallow.
In a gentle voice, Asou Akiya said, "I won't make the same mistake again. Please forgive me this once."
With the "Six Eyes," which granted him a field of vision without blind spots, Gojo Satoru should not have minded that Asou Akiya was speaking with his back turned to him.
And yet he was still deeply displeased.
The way Akiya was acting felt as though he were once again drawing a line between them, creating distance, and it irritated him to no end.
For some reason, Gojo Satoru suddenly recalled the broken-sword incident. "If you're asking for forgiveness, are you just going to rely on a few words? Akiya, your attitude still sucks. I don't feel like forgiving you anymore—unless you let one of Suguru's cursed spirits kiss you!"
Asou Akiya: "..."
Gojo Satoru felt smug, as though his plan had succeeded. "Well? That's way easier than chugging milk tea, isn't it?"
Asou Akiya replied flatly, "Then don't forgive me."
Gojo Satoru's mind went blank for a split second, thinking he had misheard. "What? Say that again?"
Asou Akiya answered as if nothing had happened, "It's nothing. You heard wrong. Pick a different request. I think that's too disgusting. I don't have the 'Limitless' technique to keep distance between me and things, so I'm not about to give my first kiss to a cursed spirit."
Hearing the note of concession in Akiya's tone, Gojo Satoru instantly forgot the earlier conflict. "Then give me chocolate!"
Asou Akiya nodded. "Alright."
Not long after, Gojo Satoru received handmade chocolate from Getou Suguru, along with store-bought chocolate that someone else had purchased.
"Ahh…" Gojo Satoru didn't bother distinguishing between them. He opened his mouth and swallowed both in two bites.
Getou Suguru chuckled softly, gradually joining the ranks of those who indulged Gojo Satoru without even realizing it. "No more sulking now. You've got your chocolate, haven't you?"
Gojo Satoru was completely satisfied. "That's more like it."
In his eyes, Suguru's narrow, crescent-shaped smile no longer looked sly or calculating; instead, Suguru seemed even kinder to him than before.
Glancing around, Gojo Satoru found Asou Akiya. The other boy was organizing his bookshelf, adding several books related to the art of language and rhetoric. Gojo Satoru's gaze swept over them briefly, with absolutely no intention of ever opening any of those books.
"Akiya." Gojo Satoru launched a sneak attack from behind, leaping forward and draping himself over the other's shoulders. In high spirits, he declared his wish, "Happy Valentine's Day! If any one of the three of us gets a partner, that person's a traitor to Tokyo Jujutsu High!"
The eyes beneath the heavens shone with pure friendship.
He looked down upon all things from on high, yet treated Asou Akiya and Getou Suguru as his equals.
And yet, somewhere deep within his humanity, a faint spark of possessiveness began to stir—an instinct to exclude anyone outside of his classmates.
Asou Akiya arched a brow. "Isn't that a curse?"
The curse of the "Strongest"?
Gojo Satoru actually paused to consider it. "Compared to the birthday curse you put on Suguru, what I just said doesn't even count for anything."
Asou Akiya clicked his tongue. "Tch…"
Gojo Satoru clung to him and said, "I'll tell you something private."
Asou Akiya continued wiping the books one by one. "Go on. It's not as if you ever have anything important to say."
Gojo Satoru replied, "Oh, I'm perfectly healthy at home—nothing wrong at all—but the moment I come back to the dorms at Jujutsu High, something's off. Every morning I can't pee. It hurts like hell. I don't know whether I should ask Shoko to treat it."
Asou Akiya: "..."
The Gojo clan! The Gojo clan! Isn't this the sort of thing your family is supposed to teach you?!
Suddenly, from the other side of the bookshelf, a high school boy's head popped out—the kind with a man-bun and those oddly shaped bangs.
"Satoru, you're talking too loudly."
"Hey, stay out of this!"
Gojo Satoru nearly jumped out of his skin. Suguru had overheard what he had said to Akiya!
"You'd be better off asking me about this sort of thing," Getou Suguru said. He appeared gentle, but there was a mischievous edge beneath the surface. "Have you ever watched a video?"
Gojo Satoru let go of Asou Akiya. "What kind of video?"
GetouSuguru stopped short of saying anything further. Instead, he deliberately cast a glance at Asou Akiya, wearing an innocent expression as though waiting for the other's permission.
Asou Akiya was left speechless.
Aso Akiya was rendered completely speechless.
Gojo Satoru noticed that Getou was looking at Akiya, so he immediately turned on the full charm offensive, voice dripping with honey as he whined at maximum firepower: "Akiya… you're the best, I know you understand everything, come on, just tell me already! I don't want to know less than Getou does!"
Asou Akiya couldn't handle it. His mind was a complete mess, flooded with the single dangerous thought of corrupting a sheltered Six Eyes boy.
Sixteen years old… isn't that a bit too early?
No no no… for a Japanese high-school boy, isn't it actually kind of late?
Aso Akiya finally gave in and said: "Just call the Gojo house and ask them to provide some adult videos."
This time Gojo Satoru didn't need any urging. He immediately dialed the Gojo family and rattled off his request in a rapid-fire burst.
The Gojo Clan: "??"
Of course they would provide it! They had heard that Satoru-sama was fond of the Inoue Waka type!
That night, the construction crew from the Zen'in family withdrew early, not daring to disturb the sleep schedule of the three jujutsu high students.
On the enormous wall-mounted television in the dormitory, an intensely embarrassing adult video began to play. The white-haired boy buried his face deep into a sofa cushion, curled up into a tight ball, mortified beyond words. This time he didn't sit between his two friends; instead he huddled alone at one end of the sofa, using Asou Akiya as a human shield so Getou Suguru wouldn't have any chance to tease him.
Next to Gojo Satoru sat Asou Akiya, and then came Getou Suguru. Neither of these two was some sheltered, unworldly "Six Eyes" raised in a conservative clan.
Getou Suguru remained perfectly calm, occasionally offering a detached comment: "The picture quality provided by the Gojo family is honestly impressive."
To be fair, the person Getou Suguru truly admired was Aso Akiya.
The black-haired boy somehow managed to completely tune out the adult film. With an utterly serene, almost Zen-like expression, he lifted his book and immersed himself in deep reading of a Russian masterpiece.
The title of the book — Crime and Punishment.
Getou Suguru's inner voice practically shouted in awe: This is what a true monk looks like! The very model of someone who will graduate and immediately ordain as a Buddhist monk!
"Akiya, you… really don't feel anything at all?"
"Listening to the two of you panting is quite stimulating in its own way. Mm, do your best—and when you're finished, remember to clean yourselves up."
Unaware that he was being admired to the point of utter reverence, Asou Akiya held Dostoevsky's work in his hands, while his thoughts wandered to Bungou Stray Dogs. The Dostoevsky in that series could be considered an upgraded version of Kenjaku. His ability, Crime and Punishment, allowed him to possess whoever killed him—an absolutely terrifying power.
If such a figure were placed in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, then should Kenjaku ever encounter Dostoevsky, no matter the circumstances, he would likely make Dostoevsky experience firsthand what it felt like to have his skull opened and his brain removed while still alive.
Encouraged somewhat by the calm and rational tone of Asou Akiya's voice, Gojo Satoru regained a sliver of courage and lifted his head to stare directly at the intimidating television screen.
After overcoming his inner resistance, Gojo Satoru still found himself flushed by the female actress's provocations; a faint blush spread across his cheeks, and in the dim light his eyes shimmered with a ghostly blue glow.
Suddenly, Gojo Satoru's gaze passed over Asou Akiya and fixed directly on Getou Suguru. Through the perception of the "Six Eyes," he saw that Suguru—who was the same age as himself—was doing something rather suspicious. Getou Suguru cleared his throat politely and said, "Turn your face away. The 'Six Eyes' look rather frightening at night."
Gojo Satoru burst out, "Suguru was corrupted long ago!"
"Isn't that right, Akiya?!" Gojo Satoru refused to let Asou Akiya continue reading; despite his own burning skin, he pressed closer.
"Please watch the movie quietly and stop making noise." Asou Akiya was shaken to the point of dizziness, and from the area near his shoulder and neck came the white-haired boy's muffled, uneven breathing, hoarse yet edged with a strange clarity. "Akiya, help me… it's starting to hurt again…"
Under the pressure of Getou Suguru's gaze, Asou Akiya's lips twitched, feeling as though he had been dragged into this situation for no reason at all.
With no other choice, Asou Akiya grasped Gojo Satoru's wrist.
"What's the point of telling me?"
He spoke gently.
"Learn from it. Use that ability of yours to learn. Don't shut your eyes and cover your ears at the critical moment."
His fingertips rubbed against the snow-pale skin of the wrist, leaving faint red marks. The otherwise physically insensitive young "divine child" was, for once, sensitive in this particular regard; before long, he abandoned his embarrassment, imitated Getou Suguru's viewing composure, and took another step toward becoming a thoroughly wayward high school boy.
Gojo Satoru gradually found himself settling into the experience.
Clutching a plump Pikachu body pillow in his arms, his thoughts in disarray and his heartbeat pounding like a drum, the sound reverberating within his chest overwhelmed most of his auditory senses, and he selectively absorbed the words spoken by "Little Tangerine."
[A perfect guy like me… I pick things up fast…]
[Mm… this feels really good…]
Taking advantage of a moment when Getou Suguru was not paying attention, Gojo Satoru lifted his other hand and brought it to his mouth, licking and lightly biting at the place where his pulse throbbed.
The white-haired boy's way of pleasing himself was completely different from what played on the television—innocent, yet fervent.
At last, a change crossed Asou Akiya's expression.
Quietly, he blocked Gojo Satoru's movement, using the copy of Crime and Punishment in his hands to conceal a trace of helplessness on his face.
Where their knees pressed together, warmth spread outward, tingling and electric.
Before long, Getou Suguru leaned closer as well, carrying with him an even stronger warmth and presence that tightened both Akiya's and Satoru's nerves.
"Satoru, what are you doing? Akiya—don't push me. The sofa is only this big; you can't block him."
…
After watching.
Asou Akiya: Truly unbearable to watch—Tokyo Jujutsu High's high school boys are more indecent than the adult film itself.