Under the moonlight, the once-calm river suddenly began churning in open defiance of common sense. Layer upon layer of waves rose and twisted into several half-transparent ribbons of fluid, coiling upward around the slight figure.
Kaede's silhouette, kneeling in the shallows, was wrapped inside that flowing cocoon of liquid. The crisp rush of water drowned out the faint, muffled sounds of bones and tissue stretching back into place.
Under Gojo Satoru's openly fascinated gaze, that body, which had shrunk so drastically before, was now rapidly "growing" again.
Limbs that had been thin and diminished lengthened beneath the washing current, and the youthful softness of his features gradually faded, revealing the refined bone structure that had always been there underneath.
Dark red eyes glimmered between strands of wet black hair. As his breathing slowly steadied, the cursed energy within the water kept converting itself into power to repair his body.
"I don't have any clothes..."
"Oh dear, what a terribly rude oversight on my part. As a teacher, I can't exactly let a future 'top student candidate' catch cold on a riverbank."
Gojo landed lightly on the pebble-strewn shore. Behind his sunglasses, those pale blue eyes swept without hesitation over the body taking shape inside the water.
He showed not even a trace of embarrassment. If anything, he looked especially at ease, almost pleased with himself, like someone whose prank had worked perfectly.
He lifted one long finger and tapped lightly at empty air, as if pulling something from a crack in some unseen dimension. A dark blue uniform coat appeared in his hand.
"It might be a little oversized, but it's still better than becoming some weird urban legend about a water spirit haunting the Tama River.
Here, catch. This is a specially tailored Jujutsu High model, you know."
With a casual flick, Gojo sent the heavy dark coat arcing through the air, straight toward the figure who had just finished pulling himself upright from the riverbed.
As the coat flew toward him, even the remnants of the guaranteed-hit rain around Kaede seemed polite enough to draw back to either side.
Gojo's gaze lingered for a moment on those dark red eyes, while his mind continued rapidly dissecting the cellular reconstruction process he had just witnessed.
The efficiency of restoring matter perfectly through environmental water sources far surpassed any technique he knew. In some ways, it felt even closer to the root of existence than reverse cursed technique.
"Now, once you put on my coat, that counts as signing a provisional enrollment form.
So then, little mystery god who still hasn't introduced himself, how do you plan to repay the person who saved you from a very awkward situation?"
He leaned forward slightly, hands tucked easily into his pockets. His silver-white hair shifted in the wind, hiding the sharp investigative gleam that flashed through his eyes.
Kaede felt a little speechless. The truth was, he had no problem joining Jujutsu High at all, and he knew exactly what kind of person the man in front of him was.
He was just about to think through what to say when he suddenly realized something.
His memories of the original Jujutsu Kaisen story were starting to blur and break apart.
Only the Star Plasma Vessel incident, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, and the events surrounding Sukuna's emergence remained fully intact.
Everything else had become hazy and fragmented.
He tried to speak, but the words snagged in his throat, as if some unseen restraint had locked them there.
"This is bad... is this one of the costs of transmigrating? Whatever. First I need to get into Jujutsu High. I'll improvise the rest."
Kaede finished pulling on the coat, then released the domain.
Fine grit scraped softly beneath his feet as he stepped out of the ankle-deep shallows.
The deep blue uniform coat belonging to a special grade sorcerer was far too large on him. The hem nearly reached mid-thigh, and the sleeves hung long and awkward around his lowered arms.
The heavy rain that had blanketed the whole area was now rapidly thinning and collapsing, fading into a light drizzle that fell softly between the two of them.
As the domain receded, the subtle pressure it had placed on the surrounding space quietly vanished as well, leaving behind only the damp, cool scent of wet earth in the air.
"I've kind of lost my memory myself. I only remember the last few hours... so I don't really have anything to give you in return. I think... you can call me Kaede."
Gojo stood not far away by a patch of dead grass, one hand in his pocket, posture relaxed and straight.
He showed no visible surprise or suspicion at the mention of memory loss.
But behind those dark lenses, the pale blue eyes that seemed able to see straight through a soul swept once across the last fading fluctuations of cursed energy around Kaede.
"Kaede, huh? Nice name. In a rain like this, it has a quiet kind of sound."
He let out a short, bright laugh, then waved his free hand through the air as if brushing away the last of the mist clinging to the tip of his nose.
"No payment's fine. Investing in promising talent is a personal hobby of mine as an excellent teacher. Besides, a Kaede-kun who can walk away from a fight like that with his head still screwed on straight can't exactly be defined as some ordinary amnesiac."
Gojo's gaze moved from the pale face made even whiter by the high collar of the oversized coat to the abandoned sanatorium in the distance, which had now gone completely silent.
Under his senses, sharp as precision instruments, the lingering residue over the ruins twisted in a violently distorted pattern. That was absolutely not the trace a normal Grade 2 or even Grade 1 curse could have left behind.
The revolting presence had already fled far away, but he could still tell that Kaede had at minimum neutralized several killing blows in that battle.
"Well, if you can't remember anything, then that works out nicely. The dorms at Jujutsu High happen to have an opening for a transfer student who can summon artificial rain.
It's not exactly a luxury hotel, but compared to living like a stray on a riverbank, I'm guessing you'd prefer somewhere with a roof."
He looked as though he had already completely decided the matter, his expression growing lighter, even taking on that usual loose, unserious air he wore so naturally.
Turning slightly, he indicated a direction. In the shadows there, a black sedan seemed to have already been waiting.
"So then, before that disgusting smell decides to come crawling back, should we go get something sweet and refill your energy?"
"Something sweet?"
Kaede did not answer directly. He simply followed Gojo quietly into the car.
The damp riverbank and gritty stones were sealed outside the door, replaced by the cool touch of leather seats. Gojo sank into the spacious backseat, long legs crossed, somehow managing to occupy nearly half the interior by himself.
That oversized dark blue coat looked even more out of place on Kaede now. The sleeves drooped far enough to cover most of his hands, revealing only the pale tips of his fingers now and then as the light shifted.
Gojo did not hurry to speak again. He merely turned his head slightly, propped one hand against the window, and tapped his chin in a lazy rhythm while studying the quiet variable seated beside him through his sunglasses.
"That's right. The kind of premium fuel that gives the brain a very convincing illusion of happiness. You know, keeping these eyes running twenty-four hours a day means my brain burns through a ridiculous amount of sugar every second."
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a brightly wrapped candy. With a neat flick of his fingers, he unwrapped it and popped the strawberry-scented hard candy into his mouth.
As Gojo crunched lazily on the candy, he scrolled through his phone with his other hand. The glow of the screen lit the clean lines of his profile, and reflections of data and maps flickered in those pale blue eyes.
"If your memory only goes back a few hours, then maybe we should let 'dessert' be your first real impression of this world.
A lot friendlier than those disgusting curses, right?"
Then he lowered his voice a little, and some of the joking edge in it faded.
"So before we head to our final destination, Tokyo Jujutsu High, we're making a stop in Shinjuku.
There's a parfait place there with real soul. And while we're at it, I should probably confirm whether a body 'made of water' can actually digest normal human food."
"Uh... I don't think that'll be a problem." Kaede picked up a candy himself and put it in his mouth, letting the sweetness spread.
The exhaustion in his body eased, if only a little.
The assistant supervisor in the front seat looked as though he wanted to say something, but after catching the expression on Gojo's face in the rearview mirror, the kind that clearly said don't ruin my mood, he wisely chose silence.
The car's speed climbed steadily along the open highway. Outside the window, the neon lights grew thicker and brighter, announcing the approach of the city that swallowed all darkness whole.