Gojo steered him away from the dormitories, walking them down the wide dirt path lining the training grounds. The heavy pressure vanished, replaced by his usual bouncy energy.
"So," Gojo began, tapping his chin. "We established yesterday morning that you somehow managed to perfectly copy our dear Maki's physical stats through... highly intimate, physical contact."
Ren kept his mouth shut. He just stared straight ahead, playing the part of the embarrassed teenager who didn't want to talk about his sex life with a teacher.
"By the way, you do know what a Heavenly Restriction actually is, right?" Gojo asked, tilting his head.
Ren gave a stiff nod. "Maki explained it. It's a biological trade-off. You lose your cursed energy, but your body gets stronger."
"Exactly!" Gojo cheered.
He stopped walking. His arm tightened around Ren's shoulders, pulling him in closer. Gojo leaned down until the black fabric of his blindfold almost brushed the side of Ren's face.
A wide smile curled Gojo's lips. He dropped his voice into a loud whisper.
"Which makes me wonder... what if you slept with me? Do you think you'd be able to copy my ability?"
Ren stared at him. The sheer creepiness of the question overrode his plan to play dumb. His muscles tensed.
Crunch.
The gravel beneath Ren's boots kicked up in a sudden spray of dust. One second, Gojo's arm was resting on Ren's shoulders. The next, he was hugging empty air.
Ren skidded to a halt thirty meters down the path. His boots dug into the dirt to stop his backward momentum. He crossed his arms over his chest, his face twisting in disgust.
"Stay away from me, you creep," Ren called out.
Gojo stood perfectly still. He slowly lowered his empty arm and turned his head to face Ren. His grin stretched wider. Through the blindfold, he saw the movement clearly. There was no spark of cursed energy. No technique. Just raw physical speed.
"Wow," Gojo laughed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "That was fast! I've got to put this in the group chat."
Gojo shoved his phone back into his pocket. He didn't try to close the thirty-meter gap immediately. He just started walking down the path at a normal, leisurely pace, waving his hand dismissively.
"Relax, relax," Gojo chuckled, his tone completely shifting back to casual. "I'm just messing with you. You're not my type anyway."
Ren didn't drop his guard. He kept his arms crossed, watching his teacher approach.
"Actually," Gojo said, his smile softening just a bit as he stopped a few feet away. "I just wanted to let you know I'm heading out on a business trip for the next few days. Very boring, highly classified management stuff."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Have a good trip."
"I will! But I can't exactly leave my brand-new, incredibly talented student with nothing to do while I'm gone," Gojo pointed out. "And since you and Megumi obviously aren't going to be best friends right away, I found someone else to act as your teacher for the week."
Ren frowned. "Maki can just—"
Before Ren could finish the sentence, Gojo reached out. Ren's eyes tracked the movement, and his muscles fired to dodge, but the sheer, overwhelming speed of Satoru Gojo was completely unavoidable. Gojo's hand clamped firmly onto the collar of Ren's denim jacket.
"He's a little rough around the edges, but he hits like a truck!" Gojo announced cheerfully.
The afternoon sun vanished.
Ren's stomach lurched as the space around them violently compressed and expanded in a fraction of a second. The crisp mountain air was instantly replaced by the stale smell of old popcorn and damp concrete.
Ren stumbled forward as Gojo let go of his jacket, his boots hitting a hard, dusty floor. He blinked, his eyes rapidly adjusting to the dim, flickering light.
They were in a windowless, underground room. Empty soda cans and snack wrappers littered a small coffee table. Against the far wall, a boxy CRT television was rolling the end credits of a movie.
Sitting on a beat-up leather couch in front of the TV was a teenager with spiky pink hair.
Yuji Itadori.
Yuji was staring blankly at the screen. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. In his arms, he was tightly hugging a giant, incredibly ugly stuffed bear wearing boxing gloves.
He sniffled loudly, aggressively wiping his nose with the back of his sleeve as he noticed them standing in the room.
"Oh. Hey, Gojo-sensei," Yuji croaked, his voice thick with emotion. He held up a DVD case. "The dog... the dog waited for him every day. Even after he died."
Gojo clapped his hands together, entirely ignoring the emotional breakdown. "Great job, Yuji! You finished the whole stack! I brought you a present to celebrate."
Yuji blinked, his puffy eyes finally shifting from Gojo to Ren. "A present?"
Ren just stood there. His face went completely, perfectly flat. The sheer absurdity of the situation drained every ounce of adrenaline right out of his system, leaving him staring at the crying kid on the couch with a look of profound, deadpan exhaustion.
He knew exactly who this was. This was the vessel of Sukuna. The guy who was currently legally dead to the entire Jujutsu world.
Ren stared at the tears on Yuji's face, then down to the ugly boxing bear clutched in his lap, and then back up to his face.
Gojo wants me to learn how to fight... from him? There is absolutely no way.
"Yep! A training partner!" Gojo announced, practically vibrating with excitement as he gestured broadly to Ren.
"Yuji, this is Ren! He just transferred in, and he punches really, really hard. Ren, this is Yuji! He eats cursed objects and cries at dog movies!"
Yuji sniffled again, setting the ugly boxing bear down on the couch. He hastily wiped his eyes and stood up, offering Ren a bright, entirely genuine smile that stood in jarring contrast to his tear-stained face.
"Nice to meet you, Ren!" Yuji said, bowing slightly. "Sorry about the crying. Hachi: A Dog's Tale is just… it's really a masterpiece, you know?"
Ren stared at the kid. sliding his hands into his jacket pockets. "Yeah. Nice to meet you, man."