Yuta Okkotsu pushed the classroom door open with the quiet confidence he built up over multiple life and death missions.
The moment he stepped inside, the air in the room grew heavy all of a sudden.
A crushing, dark pressure washed over the three sitting students like an invisible weight pressing down on their shoulders, far denser and more oppressive than even Gojo's usual presence
It felt like standing at the bottom of the ocean, every breath suddenly difficult.
Inumaki Toge's eyes widened behind his collar . "Salmon…"
Panda's hand froze mid-wave. His expression shifted for a brief second before he composed himself."Whoa… that's… a lot."
Maki Zenin narrowed her eyes, refusing to show weakness like her classmates even as sweat beaded on her temple.
Gojo who leaning against the back wall, clapped once. "Alright, everyone! This is our new second-year transfer student.
He studied abroad in America for a while, but he's back and ready to join the class for a while before he goes back."
Yuta offered a polite bow, his expression kind and a little shy. "Nice to meet all of you. I'm Yuta Okkotsu. I'll do my best not to cause any trouble."
The overwhelming cursed energy slowly eased as Yuta pulled it back, revealing the gentle, well-mannered boy beneath the power. His warm smile and soft-spoken nature made him surprisingly easy to approach despite the initial shock.
Maki recovered first as she carefully eyed him, dark hair, dark eyes and the calm look that shouldn't belong to a sixteen year old.
"You're… the Sword Saint? The one they talk about in international reports?"
Panda's eyes lit up excitedly as recognition dawned upon his face. "Wait, seriously? The guy who's supposed to be on Gojo-sensei's level? The one who always completes every mission perfectly?"
Inumaki tilted his head with an expression that matches that of panda's. "Tuna mayo."
Yuta rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. "I… guess that's what some people call me. I just try to do my best."
Panda stood up and wrapped his arms around the boys shoulder "THE SWORD SAINT IS IN OUR CALSS. TOGE DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS?"
"Kelp, tuna"
The tension in the room broke almost immediately after that. Yuta's kind-hearted nature quickly won them over.
☀️☀️☀️☀️
Gojo clapped his hands again. "Great! Now that introductions are out of the way " he paussed for dramatic tone that nobody seems to care about much to his dismay .
"let's see how strong our new classmate really is. Three versus one. Show them what you've got, Yuta. No going all out for you."
Maki smirked as she drew her naginata , her knuckles tightly clutching the staff. "Finally. Let's see if the rumors are true."
☀️☀️☀️☀️
The spar took place in the training grounds behind the school. It was quite big , not enough for a special grade sorcerer to go all out but nothing a couple of barriers couldn't fix.
Yuta stood calmly in the center as Maki, Panda, and Inumaki surrounded him All three taking a fighting stance .
Gojo watched from the sidelines with an excited grin. "Try to land a hit"
Maki scoffed before charging head first, moving with incredible speed and precision honed from years of training despite her heavenly restriction.
Her strikes were sharp, aiming for vital points with clear lethal intent.
Yuta didn't use any cursed energy reinforcement. He relied solely on pure physical strength and masterful footwork.
He sidestepped her first punch with minimal movement, then countered with a simple palm strike to her shoulder.
The force sent Maki flying several meters back, skidding across the ground. She rolled to her feet, eyes wide with shock at the strength of the simple shove.
Panda roared and lunged with raw, overwhelming power, swinging his massive fist.
Yuta ducked under the blow and stepped inside the cursed corpse's guard, with a delivered precise and powerful kick to the side of his torso sending Panda tumbling across the field like a thrown ball.
Inumaki tried cursed speech next. "Don't move!"
The words slammed into Yuta with immense force… but the sheer overwhelming density of his natural cursed energy simply shrugged it off.
Inumaki's mouth filled up with blood as the backlash of the technique hit him pretty hard
Yuta smiled apologetically. "Sorry. That doesn't really work on me."
Maki attacked again, this time faster as she chained kicks and punches in a relentless assault. Yuta blocked and redirected every strike with perfect timing and minimal effort, using her own momentum against her.
She changed her tactics mid motion, going for a feint she bent down and went for a sweep the was easily stepped over.
Pushing of the ground she went for an uppercut into an elbow strike that ended up completely missing him , granting in frustration she went for a heavy punch completely letting down her guard.
He grabbed her wrist mid-punch, twisted, and gently but firmly threw her over his shoulder. She hit the ground hard knocking the breath out of her.
Panda came back swinging trying to overwhelm Yuta with sheer size and strength.
Yuta met him head-on, catching a massive fist with one hand. The impact created a small crater under his feet, but he didn't budge.
With a smooth motion, he pivoted and slammed Panda into the ground using the larger opponent's own weight.
The fight lasted only a few intense minutes. When it ended, all three opponents were on the ground, breathing hard.
Yuta walked over and offered his hand to help Maki up. She brushed it aside sharply, clearly frustrated with her own performance.
Panda chuckled as he pushed himself up. "Don't mind her. Maki's just annoyed because she got humbled by pure skill. No cursed energy reinforcement at all ... that's impressive... Even discouraging "
Gojo laughed from the sidelines. "See? That's my favorite student!"
Ignoring the overly energetic man child, Yuta helped heal them with reverse cursed energy, the warm glow soothing their bruises and fatigue.
Maki still looked annoyed, but Panda stepped in to clear the air. "She's only frustrated with her own weakness , she would warm up eventually. You could even call her a soft gorilla."
The rest of the day passed with lighter moments. During a break in the common area, Panda leaned in with a mischievous grin. "So, Yuta… what's your type? Tall? Short? Quiet? Loud?"
Yuta blinked, caught off guard. "Uh… tall and… thick, I guess? Preferably the crazy type."
Rika, who had been quietly staying in his shadow, suddenly perked up with a very satisfied smile, or so he felt.
Maki rolled her eyes. "Boys…"
☀️☀️☀️☀️
The conversation stayed light and normal typical teenage stuff mixed with sorcerer life. It felt surprisingly… nice
Meh not as good as the superhero fan club back in New York, but not the worst thing that happened to him.
.
Later that day, Gojo pulled Yuta and Maki aside.
"First mission together," he announced cheerfully.
"There's a school on the middle of Tokyo reporting strange activity and missing children. Possibly cursed spirits. Go check it out. Should be a good socializing exercise."
Maki simply nodded, adjusting her glasses. Yuta simply agreed.
As they left the school grounds together, the first step into an unknown danger .
Yuta glanced back once, Rika's presence a comforting weight in his shadow.