Chapter 152
Inside the principal’s office, Yaga Masamichi watched Kiriya and Maki battling on the training field below.
"That’s the boy you were talking about?" he asked.
"Yep. Pretty impressive, right?"
Gojo sounded far too pleased with himself.
"He can exorcise Grade 2 curses with ease, his hand-to-hand skills are excellent, and he possesses some kind of energy that functions similarly to cursed energy. Overall, I’d place him at Grade 1 at the very least."
He grinned.
"You’ve hit the jackpot, Principal!"
"Perhaps," Yaga said. "But once the higher-ups hear about him, they’ll start making noise again."
"They’re just a collection of old fossils. I’ll deal with them."
Gojo did not appear concerned in the slightest.
"If my students have the courage to stand against them, I can’t exactly act like a coward as their teacher."
A faint smile appeared on Yaga’s face.
"Then let’s see what kind of change this boy brings to the jujutsu world."
...
Maki had no idea how long she had been unconscious.
When her eyes finally opened, she found herself staring at a vaguely familiar ceiling.
She shot upright so quickly it was as though a spring had been installed in her back.
"Where am I... the dorms? How did I get here?"
She instinctively touched her forehead.
A sharp throb immediately made her hiss, and the events before she passed out came rushing back.
She had challenged Kiriya.
He had controlled the entire fight, mocked her until she lost her temper, and then she had tried to turn things around with a headbutt.
Unfortunately...
His skull had been harder than hers.
’I actually let myself get that angry.’
Maki grimaced.
"My training still isn’t good enough."
"Oh, you’re awake."
The familiar voice made her jaw tighten.
She tried to stand and continue the fight immediately, forgetting the condition of her body.
The moment she got to her feet, the room spun, and she pitched forward.
’Damn it. This is going to be humiliating.’
Her face never reached the floor.
Instead, she fell into a pair of strong, warm arms.
"Careful."
Kiriya steadied her with a helpless sigh.
"You’re old enough to know better than to jump up like that. Why are you still acting like a little kid?"
"Why are you here?"
Maki glared at his face from close range.
The memory of every irritating comment he had made during their fight immediately returned, and her fist began itching again.
"Oh, that."
Kiriya helped her sit back down.
"For some reason, you suddenly decided to start smashing your forehead into mine. I’m not very good at quietly accepting that sort of abuse, so naturally I returned the favor."
He rubbed his own head and smiled gently.
"I may have misjudged the strength a little and knocked you unconscious."
"Leaving you under the sun didn’t seem very considerate, so I carried you inside where it was cooler."
He looked absurdly pleased with himself.
"Pretty thoughtful of me, don’t you think?"
Maki felt a vein pulse at her temple.
The calm she had spent the last few seconds rebuilding was already beginning to crumble.
"And really, a spar is just a spar," Kiriya continued. "Why did you have to get so angry? You started throwing headbutts like your life depended on it."
"You’re lucky I reacted quickly and held back. Otherwise, you’d be waking up in intensive care instead."
He continued lecturing her with the expression of someone offering heartfelt advice, as though he had not spent the entire fight deliberately provoking her.
"Try not to do that again, okay?"
’And whose fault was that!?’
Maki nearly shouted it.
Then she noticed the teasing expectation in his eyes.
He was waiting for her to explode!
Her anger cooled immediately.
"Are you finished?"
She pointed toward the door.
"Then please leave."
"Huh? But you haven’t finished showing me around the school."
Kiriya saw her rigid expression and could not resist pushing a little further.
"The school is right outside. Look around by yourself."
Maki’s voice turn cold.
"With that idiot Gojo protecting you, you could probably demolish half the buildings without getting expelled."
Someone else could babysit this menace.
She was done with this crap!
Life was too precious, and she still intended to crush the Zenin clan beneath her feet someday. She was not going to die young from high blood pressure.
"Fair enough."
Kiriya turned as though he were about to leave, then looked back with an obnoxious grin.
"Oh, right. Shouldn’t you pay up?"
Maki’s heart skipped.
A bad feeling immediately settled over her.
"Pay up for what?"
"Our bet."
Kiriya helpfully reminded her.
"The loser has to grant the winner one request. You’re not planning to go back on your word, are you?"
"Hmph. I always keep my promises."
Her sense of impending disaster grew stronger, but she forced herself to remain composed.
"Tell me what you want."
"Excellent! I respect a woman of honor."
Kiriya’s smile widened.
"Call me ’Goshujin-sama.’"
Maki stared at him as though she had just discovered he was some kind of deviant.
"Seriously? That’s what you’re into?"
When they first met, she had assumed he was a distant, mysterious fighter.
That image had now shattered beyond repair.
"Goshujin-sama," she said in the flattest voice imaginable. "There. Satisfied? I’ll say it ten times if that gets this over with."
"What was that?"
Kiriya looked deeply offended.
"I didn’t ask you to simply pronounce the words. I want emotion. Do you understand emotion?"
"No."
"I want frustration. Humiliation! The helpless misery of being forced by cruel reality to lower your head."
He gestured dramatically as he spoke.
"The collapse of a young woman’s innocent dreams. The despair of betraying her own heart again and again until she finally gives in to corruption and falls into darkness."
He pointed at her like a demanding director.
"Put all of that into it and give me ten more takes."
Maki stared at him in silence.
’Where the hell did this director act come from?’
More importantly, what kind of disgusting role had he written for her?
"Come on," Kiriya urged. "I still have a campus to explore."
Maki tried to summon the emotions he had described.
Then she inhaled deeply and roared at the top of her lungs.
"GO-GOSHUJIN-SAMAAA!"
"Why are you screaming?"
Kiriya dug a finger into one ear.
"Far too theatrical. Again!"
Maki’s entire body trembled.
"G... oshu... Goshujin-sama..."
This time, her voice was low and heavy with anger, resentment, and genuine killing intent.
Kiriya nodded approvingly.
Then several sharp gasps came from outside the door.
Maki froze.
Slowly, mechanically, she turned her head.
Panda and Toge Inumaki stood in the doorway, staring at her as though they had never seen her before.
"Maki..." Panda’s mouth hung open. "I had no idea you were into that sort of thing."
"Salmon."
Then Gojo walked into the room wearing an expression of profound sorrow.
He placed both hands on Maki’s shoulders.
"Maki.... this is my fault."
His voice was heavy with regret.
"As your teacher, I should have recognized your needs much sooner. You must have suffered terribly, keeping this hidden fetish of yours for so long."
He lifted his head and gave her a deeply understanding look.
"You don’t need to suppress yourself anymore. Ignore society’s judgment and embrace your true self, Maki!"
"You... absolute... BASTARDS!"
Maki grabbed the cursed spear beside her and swung it in a furious arc.
"WHOA!"
The room instantly descended into chaos.
Furniture went flying, Panda dove for cover, and heavy crashes shook the building.
Within moments, the classroom had been reduced to wreckage beneath Maki’s rage.