One year later
Narrator POV
"One of you three said they would cast the veil themselves to the window and then disappeared without putting it up," Yaga said in the classroom, standing in front of his three students. "Who did it?" he asked in a serious tone.
The three students kneeling in front of Yaga nervously looked at him. Then Gojo put his hand up and shouted, "Sensei! I think we should stop this hunt for the culprit!" he said, while his two friends pointed a finger at him.
"So it was you, Satoru," Yaga said angrily as he punched him on the head.
"Owww! Yaga-sensei!" he complained, holding his head.
"Next time, put the curtain up, Satoru!" Yaga shouted angrily.
A childish laugh sounded in the corner of the room.
"What are you laughing at, you ungrateful brat?!" Gojo said, looking at the kid who laughed at him.
"Gojo, why do you say that to me? You hurt my feelings," Noroi said in a fake hurt voice.
"Satoru, don't bully Noroi!" Another punch from Yaga landed on his head.
"OWWWW!" Gojo complained loudly.
Shoko stood up and crouched in front of me. "Ohh, did that blind jerk hurt your feelings, Noroi-kun?" she said, following my theatrics.
"Yes, Shoko, he is bullying me," I said in a fake sad voice.
"I see… that means he has to pay for our food now," she said schemingly.
"Huuuh?! What are you saying, Shoko?!" Gojo said, annoyed.
"She is right, Satoru. After all, you bullied Noroi," Geto said, joining our scheme.
"Haaaaaah?!!! You too, Suguru?!" he shouted.
"Keep your bickering out of class, you four," Yaga said seriously.
Gojo huffed in annoyance and started leaving the classroom.
"Let's go, Noroi-kun," Shoko said as she walked toward the door.
"Yeah," Noroi said as he followed them.
In just one year, Noroi's mastery of cursed energy had grown tremendously. He was fascinated by jujutsu—the techniques, the ways cursed energy could be used, the fights—all of it fascinated him greatly.
They strolled through the school and stopped in front of the gym.
"Wanna play some basketball, Satoru?" Geto asked, looking at Gojo.
"You're on," Gojo said confidently as they entered the gym.
"Sigh… I bet they're going to fight again," Shoko said.
"Yeah," Noroi said, laughing slightly.
They entered the gym.
Noroi POV
Gojo and Geto played basketball for thirty minutes before stopping.
"Is the veil really that necessary in the first place?" Satoru said while sitting on the court.
I ignored him as I tried on his glasses with Shoko. "Noroi-kun, try them. You won't see anything," she said while handing me the glasses.
"Shoko, I have four eyes," I said, looking at her deadpan.
"Oh, my bad," Shoko said, laughing slightly as she returned the glasses to Gojo.
"Shoko, I am hungry, and these two fools look like they are about to start fighting," I said, looking at the two teens arguing.
"Okay, let's go grab some food, Noroi-kun," she replied.
As we left the basketball court, Shoko lit a cigarette, and I looked at her.
"Why do you smoke, Shoko? Yaga said it damages your body," I asked in confusion.
She looked at me and smiled. "It's because after seeing so many curses and so many injuries on my classmates, I end up stressed, and the only thing that keeps me sane is smoking," she said with a bit of sadness in her tone.
"I see… so smoking relaxes you?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah," she said after taking a drag from her cigarette.
We arrived at the school vending machine and saw Utahime and Mei Mei standing in front of it.
"C'mon, Mei, buy me something. I don't have money, and I want to eat," Utahime pleaded.
"No," Mei said, crushing Utahime's hopes in one word.
"Utahime-saaaan," I said in a sing-song voice.
"Noroi-kun!" she squealed as she ran to embrace me.
"Utahime-senpai," Shoko smiled as she watched her hug me.
"Shoko!" Utahime said as she stood to hug her friend.
"Noroi-chan," Mei looked at me with a strange gaze. "You are as good-looking as ever," she said, smiling.
"Thank you, Mei-san," I said, looking at her. Why does she look at me like that? I thought, confused.
"Utahime, would you like me to buy you something?" Shoko asked.
"Seriously?! Thank you, Shoko!" she said as she hugged her again.
While we were looking at what to eat, Yaga approached us.
"Noroi, come with me," he said seriously.
"Okay, Yaga-san," I said, waving goodbye to the three girls as I followed him.
We strolled through Jujutsu High, greeting other students who knew me.
We stopped in front of a classroom.
"Noroi, if I am being sincere, your growth in sorcery is impressive. You already mastered the basics of cursed energy," he said as he slid the door open.
"Thank you, Yaga-san," I said proudly.
"Now I want to teach you hand-to-hand combat," he said as he walked inside.
"I see. But why are we in the classroom? Shouldn't we be in the training grounds?" I asked, confused.
"Because fighting is not only about combat and real experience. It is also theory, and I will teach it to you before we start practicing," he said seriously.
"Oh, okay," I said as I sat down.
After an hour explaining the basic forms of various martial arts, he stopped.
"That's enough for the basics. Knowing theory is fine, but if you don't know how to execute the moves, you will never succeed in a fight," he said seriously.
"I want to start practical training," I said excitedly.
We walked to the training grounds, where a doll stood in the center.
"You won't fight me," Yaga said.
"Huh?" I looked at him, confused.
"You will fight one of my puppets created with my cursed technique," he said, channeling cursed energy into the doll.
The doll came to life, jumping and swinging its fists in a goofy way.
"Don't underestimate it," Yaga said as it launched toward me.
I caught a punch aimed at my face which surprised me, but as i recovered from my confusion a kick hit my stomach.
"Guh!" I grunted as I stepped back.
The doll attacked again. I took the stance Yaga taught me, dodged, and punched it in the face, sending it flying.
"Yeah!" I shouted.
"Focus on your enemy!" Yaga yelled as the doll rushed again.
I looked at the doll and analyzed its stance when it was rushing. 'Right arm hook.' i thought
I blocked with my right arm, countered with a kick, grabbed its fist, and pummeled it with my free arms. It broke free and kicked me, but I blocked with my left abdomen arm. As I was about to launch a right hook a shout caught my attention.
"Now imbue your fists with cursed energy!" Yaga shouted.
I imbued my fists with cursed energy and launched the hook to its face. The face of the doll broke apart, and cotton started spilling onto the ground.
"That was so fun!" I said looking at my four fists, smiling.
Yaga's POV
It's impressive. He is truly blessed by jujutsu. His arms give him versatility, and he can imbue his hits with cursed energy at such a young age.
"Your form was a little off," I said seriously, though my tone softened. "But you did amazingly, Noroi."
He smiled even wider and looked at me. "Yaga-san, teach me everything about martial arts!"
I smiled. "Okay, but don't complain if it's too hard."
After another hour, I was left speechless by how quickly he learned.
When I first met him, he was skin and bones. Now he has begun forming muscle. He has grown taller too.
I looked at him proudly.
He is truly blessed by jujutsu.