In the past, the schedule depended entirely on Satoru Gojo's mood. Whatever he said to teach got taught, and if he did not show up, everyone studied on their own, whether reading books or training in the field, with a very high degree of freedom. After two teaching assistants were newly hired, the schedule finally became more fixed.
Mornings were for theory, afternoons for practical combat. Although most students had backgrounds and connections, the fact that Tokyo Jujutsu High could exist meant it had its own strengths. Using modern teaching methods to organize Jujutsu knowledge made it broader and easier to understand than traditional clan education.
Akira only realized now that his mother's low rating in Jujutsu was about combat ability, while her theoretical knowledge was top tier. In her own words, if she was not good at fighting, she would make up for it in other ways. "When I was young, I also had dreams," she once said.
Akira was curious how such a dreamy mother had been beaten down by reality and ended up with that cheap father, but he could not bring himself to ask. As long as his mother was happy, he felt there was nothing wrong, especially since she was far better off than when she lived in seclusion in the countryside. It turned out that the saying that dreams make people beautiful was not wrong.
This was true not only for his mother Akemi Aki, but also for Maki Zenin.
What kind of person was Maki Zenin? She looked good, but her personality was honestly not great. She spoke bluntly and harshly, and often danced through minefields, with Satoru Gojo doing it on purpose and her doing it out of pure dullness.
For example, she once asked Akira, "Who's your dad? Is he dead?" She had also invited Akira to a spar. These experiences made Akira deeply understand how accurate the description "a heartless devil" could be.
Yet even such a "heartless devil" had moments that shone brilliantly. When she threw herself into battle or training, her focus and commitment were unmatched. Akira could not compare, Toge Inumaki could not compare, and Panda could not either.
Every time Maki Zenin made a move, Akira felt like hauling over a sound system and blasting a song about confidence and dominance. Because of this purity and confidence, Maki Zenin became the third person Gardevoir was willing to get close to. Her Cursed Spirit perception training was personally assigned to have Gardevoir escort and support her.
On one hand, Psychic Power made controlling the situation convenient. On the other hand, after training, they could eliminate the targets on the spot and convert them into experience. Pancham also participated, mainly because most of the Cursed Spirit captured for training were very weak, perfect for a beginner to level up.
Before long, its level reached double digits, and its combat power met the minimum standard of a Jujutsu Sorcerer, a Grade Four Jujutsu Sorcerer. With another eight or ten levels of training, it could head into battle on its own like Gardevoir.
Time passed slowly in this steady daily routine.
Training, classes, missions. Chatting together, sweating together, laughing together, and ganging up on Satoru Gojo. Compared to adults, the world of youths was simpler, and surrounded by such good people, Akira blended in easily and lived quite comfortably.
Of course, with an adult soul inside, he still did some different things.
Publishing books.
Satoru Gojo worked as a part time editor, but he did a genuinely good job. The printing house was already contacted, with an initial run of fifty thousand copies by industry standards, and local bookstore promotion and online sales were steadily progressing. Because the library edition and the web version had to differ to avoid hurting sales, he and Akira spent many nights discussing the plot.
His rich knowledge and grasp of reader tastes impressed even Akira, an old otaku. All one could say was, as expected of you, Satoru Gojo. Even so, his unreliability in other areas remained unchanged.
One evening, he deliberately showed up after school, shouting from far away, "It's been days, did you miss Teacher Gojo at all?" After being ignored as usual, he suddenly appeared in front of everyone. "Don't be so cold, the very busy Teacher Gojo made time to have dinner with his cute students."
"No thanks, seeing you kills my appetite."
The expert at trash talk, Maki Zenin, led the charge. With Satoru Gojo drawing all the aggro, her sharp tongue even became an advantage.
"Come on, I even broughtCare Package," he said cheerfully. "Look, a specialty from Kyoto, sweets from Kyo no Tori, they're really good." He shook the shopping bag proudly, but the students did not fall for it at all.
Akira looked disgusted but resigned as he asked, "Just say it. What do you want us to do this time?" Ever since he enrolled, Satoru Gojo had gone further and further down the path of being a hands off teacher, only stepping in for problems that required a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer to solve.
That alone would have been fine, but Satoru Gojo also liked to create extra tasks now and then, calling it student training when everyone knew better. As the most reliable, strongest, and most willing to handle things among the students, Akira naturally got dragged in the most.
"You saw right through me," Satoru Gojo said, sticking out his tongue. "This time it's a personal request. My kid has recently entered a rebellious phase and doesn't really want to talk to me, so could I ask you all to help out?"
"What? You have a kid already???"
Tokyo Jujutsu High instantly turned into a gossip editorial office.
Author: Third Magus
"I am at least a reliable adult of twenty seven. Why can't I have a kid?"
That statement itself was not wrong. In Japan, the legal adult age is twenty, but the legal marriage age is eighteen for men and sixteen for women, with guardian consent required before adulthood and no restriction after. Those occasional high school brides came from rules like that.
But coming out of Satoru Gojo's mouth made it different.
Maki Zenin said, "You? Reliable?"
Panda asked, "Can you even take care of a child?"
Akira added, "Are you sure it wouldn't be the child taking care of you instead?"
Toge Inumaki did not speak. He simply picked up Pancham, who sat comfortably in Inumaki's arms, perfectly showing what taking care of a child looked like.
Seeing that, Satoru Gojo gave up arguing and nodded again and again. "Mm, mm, looks like you could get along with my kid pretty well."
By now, everyone was used to Satoru Gojo's awful personality. Maki Zenin asked, "So which unlucky kid is it?"
"I'll show you a photo."
Satoru Gojo took out his phone, opened the gallery with practiced ease, and tapped on a picture.
The photo showed a teenage boy with hair grown long like Satoru Gojo's, sticking up as well. It was not the uniform upward sweep like Satoru Gojo's broom head, but spikes pointing in all directions.
People usually called it hedgehog hair. Like broom heads, it was common among delinquent types.
The boy's eyes also carried that rough delinquent feel, though his looks were good enough. His features resembled Maki Zenin a little, and his appearance could easily compete with hers.
But looks were not the focus. At Tokyo Jujutsu High, everyone was good looking, and being average was almost embarrassing.