"Hey there!" Panda waves a paw in a casual, friendly gesture. "Nice to have you back with us, our resident delinquent."
Shiki pauses at the unusual greeting. "Why am I a 'delinquent?'"
"You really have to ask?" Panda pats her on the shoulder. "I mean, you're the one who got suspended, weren't you? So that makes you our delinquent by default."
Well, if that's how it works…
Beside him, Okkotsu-san raises his hand in front of his mouth and coughs slightly, "Hello, Gojo-san. It's, um, good to see you again."
"It's good to see you as well." Okkotsu-san has been training hard, it seems. Compared to when Shiki had last seen him, it's obvious that the boy has put on more muscle. His overall body language also no longer seems as timid and shrinking as Shiki remembers it once being.
That's good. Having confidence in oneself is important, especially for a sorcerer.
Shiki turns her gaze towards the last member of their little trio.
A young boy with light-colored hair, not unlike several of Shiki's Gojo clansmen. However, there's no mistaking the boy for a Gojo. Shiki would know if another Gojo clansman had been enrolled as a fellow student of the Tokyo school alongside her.
Judging by how the boy's school uniform includes a high collar that completely covers the lower half of his face, he is most likely–
"Konbu," the boy says.
Konbu?
Shiki blinks, and then remembers what Kinji had mentioned in their conversation up the mountain. Something about the Inumaki boy only using food names to communicate with others in a very literal manner, to which Shiki had guessed that it was most likely the result of the Inumaki Clan's Cursed Speech.
"This is Inumaki Toge," Okkotsu-san hastily introduces. "He's one of the new students."
It seems that this is indeed the Inumaki boy, then.
"Hello, Inumaki-san." Inumaki Toge, one of Okkotsu Yuta's fellow first year students alongside Panda… and Zenin Maki. The last of whom had been an unseen variable in terms of the new class of first years. It seemed that there was an interesting collection of students in the Tokyo school this year.
… Not that Shiki expects she would be overly involved with them. From her experience so far, students in the jujutsu school typically tended to stay with their own classes, whether it be for regular lessons or for missions. Certain exceptions aside, of course, such as the annual exchange event with the Kyoto school.
"That's introductions over and done with, then!" Panda cheers, then ambles forward and throws an arm around her shoulder. It almost feels like being buried under a warm, furry mountain. "So, do you know if Zenin Maki will really be staying with us?"
Shiki stares at her friend's arm for a moment, then decides that she doesn't mind the good-natured manhandling. "The final say in this matter rests with Yaga-gakucho, not Hatanaka-san."
"Ooh, so we're really getting an extra classmate, then!" Panda perks up.
Shiki tilts her head. "You seem to be quite enthusiastic about it."
"The more the merrier, right?" Panda responds.
"… I suppose." When Shiki had been slated to attend the Tokyo school, there had been a brief period of time when it seemed that she would be the only student in her class. Which actually wouldn't have been anything new, in terms of class sizes. Those with the potential to become sorcerers were rare, after all, and even among sorcery families, not all children were sent to the jujutsu schools to be trained.
This, in turn, meant that classes tended to be very, very small. Two to three students on average, for the most part. So four students in a single year would be considered a larger class.
In this sense, Panda is lucky. If Shiki looks back on her own experience, it almost seemed that she needed to personally find and recruit her own classmates…
"Y'know, I'm kind of surprised," Panda muses. "But also not really? 'Cuz if Zenin Maki wants to get away from her clan, then the Tokyo school really isn't a bad place to be."
Certainly, the Tokyo school would be a better choice than the Kyoto school in that case.
Kyoto is the heart of the jujutsu world, both in a cultural and traditional sense. In addition to being the location where the original jujutsu school was established, it also serves as the Jujutsu Headquarters' seat of power. Thus, if one's beliefs or actions do not align with conservative values, then it would be a good idea to request a posting somewhere other than Kyoto, before one ends up offending some high-ranked elder.
Tokyo is not steeped in as much history as Kyoto when it comes to jujutsu, and is the place where those with more progressive beliefs gather. In fact, it would not be inaccurate to say that in recent years Tokyo has been more progressive than it has ever been.
There are two reasons for this:
One, Satoru-niichan is the current head of the Gojo Clan. And two, Yaga Masamichi is the current principal of the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School.
Yaga-gakucho might not be as blatantly obvious as Satoru-niichan when it comes to pursuing more progressive ideals. But one does not have to look any further than Panda as an example in order to determine where Yaga-gakucho stands.
As long as Yaga-gakucho is alive and determined to protect Panda, then the conservative faction will find no foothold in Tokyo.
And as long as Satoru-niichan stands here, then they will also find no opportunity to dispose of Yaga Masamichi as they might otherwise secretly desire to do so.
"You're not wrong," Shiki tells Panda. "The conservatives' influence is limited in Tokyo. Although, this does not necessarily mean that they are without other means at their disposal."
Panda scratches his head. "What kind of other means?"
Anything that would prove their own authority, and correct what they saw as erroneous in the Tokyo school. Which would include anything and everything that deviated from what they deemed to be part of their beloved traditional jujutsu values.
"Take a guess," is what Shiki says instead to her friend. Since he's finally being properly placed into a class as an official student in the Tokyo school, it's only a matter of time before Panda will find himself dealing with the higher ups' machinations, regardless of Yaga-gakucho's best attempts to shield him from it all. In that case, a few 'thought exercises' in advance on the subject wouldn't hurt.
Was this anything like what Yuzuki-san had felt, when he'd told Shiki that she needed to learn about Gojo clan politics?
"Uhh…" Panda rubs his chin thoughtfully. "… Nothing good, probably?"
Well. That's a start.
"Something like… sending Hatanaka-san here?" Okkotsu-san asks carefully. "Or, I mean, possibly not the act of sending Hatanaka-san here itself, since I think it's just part of the proper procedure for a promotion, but. Err, just. The stuff he ended up doing?"
Shiki nods.
"Shake," Inumaki-san adds. "Shake, okaka."
…?
"Uh…" Okkotsu-san appears to share Shiki's confusion. Only for a brief moment, however, before he begins guessing at what the other boy is attempting to convey. "Is that, uh. Agreement with what I just said, Inumaki-san?"
The other boy nods, and also takes the opportunity to make another motion with his hands. A small little gesture that ends with drawing his fingers across his mouth as if to indicate silence.
"Erm," Okkotsu-san blinks. "There's… also something else that I'm not saying? Something that I'm saying wrong?"
"Okaka."
"No? Then, uh…" Okkotsu-san hums thoughtfully. "Wait. You don't mean you don't mean that aside from sending officials like Hatanaka-san, the higher ups would also try to, like. Literally silence people?"
For emphasis, Okkotsu-san copies the small motion that Inumaki-san had made earlier.
"Mentaiko," Inumaki-san gives a small nod, and mimes the gesture again himself. This time lower, as if drawing a line directly across his throat.
"There is indeed precedent for the higher ups taking initiative in disposing of… dangerous and unstable elements." It's fortunate that Okkotsu-san seems to be able to understand the general gist of Inumaki-san's words, even though there still seems to be a fair amount of guesswork involved. Shiki is starting to see why Inumaki-san's manner of speech left such a deep impression on Kinji. "What they perceive to be dangerous and unstable, at least."
Okkotsu-san's lips curve downwards in a small frown. "Do you mean people, Gojo-san?"
"Senpai," Shiki corrects. She's a second year student now, and Okkotsu-san is officially a first year student. "And yes. Historically, the Jujutsu Headquarters has meted out execution orders on radical elements from the Tokyo school on a few different occasions before. Some cases more justified than others, perhaps. But in general, the higher ups have a remarkably consistent record in possessing little acceptance for anything that challenges the 'order' they maintain."
"Is there really anything 'remarkable' about that?" Panda asks.
Not really, no.
"Erm," Okkotsu-san raises his hand slightly. "Should we be worried about the higher ups?"
"In part, yes," Shiki answers. "The higher ups don't usually make a point of interfering with how the Tokyo school runs things, but that's only true when there aren't any unusual circumstances that they deem necessary to concern themselves with."
And in the case of this particular class of first year students, 'unusual circumstances' is a vast understatement of things.
The higher ups would've been extremely attentive solely for Panda, as a cursed corpse doll, never mind the budding Special Grade and Inumaki Cursed Speech user who were also learning under Gojo Satoru. Looking at it this way, it almost seems that Yaga-gakucho had deliberately picked a class where there were other priorities for the higher ups to focus on, rather than scrutinize Panda. Of course, Panda wouldn't be able to escape their scrutiny entirely, but there was no doubt that the higher ups would be more concerned watching Okkotsu Yuta and Inumaki Toge in comparison.
Which was also precisely why it would be good for them to at least be aware of what the higher ups' attitude towards them might be, and what it would mean for them.
"A general understanding of the higher ups' perspective will be helpful," Shiki tells the trio.
In a way, it's only self defense. The addition of their newest classmate, Zenin Maki, certainly isn't going to be helping the higher ups' views any. While they wouldn't be wary of her and consider her to be a potential danger the way they would the trio standing in front of Shiki right now, there's no way that they would approve of her presence here.
A girl with little cursed energy and no talent for sorcery, who did not even possess the ability to see cursed spirits.
… Panda's class might have a much tougher time from the higher ups than Shiki's own class. In her case, it was mostly Shiki herself who had been the most notable student in her year, both due to her abilities and due to being of the Gojo Clan. As for Panda's class, however, all four students were each quite unique and memorable in their own ways.
Thinking about it like this, there's actually a nonzero chance that the higher ups might focus more on the new class of Tokyo students this year, instead of causing trouble for Shiki.
The girl sighs, and gives a commiserating pat to the furry paw that remains draped over her shoulder.
"What?" Panda's reaction is one of confusion. Regardless, it does not stop him from gamely returning the gesture with a small, friendly pat of his own.
Shiki doesn't know how much Yaga-gakucho has taught Panda of the endless politicking in the jujutsu world. He's probably not entirely unaware of things, given his status as a cursed corpse doll, but there's no denying that Panda has been very well protected by his father in the Tokyo school. A protection which might be soon challenged, depending on what the higher ups may or may not be planning.
It really would be for the best that Panda and his classmates pay closer heed to the higher ups' actions, especially in light of the eventful start to their school year, courtesy of Hatanaka. Okkotsu-san and Inumaki-san both seem to have some awareness of this already, which is a good sign. And judging by how Zenin Maki decided to come to the Tokyo school in order to escape the confines of her clan, she's clearly not an unthinking, oblivious girl, either.
"Try to keep your eyes open," she tells Panda.
"… No, seriously, what?"
.
.
The sorcerer who is eventually sent to replace Hatanaka Tadao's role in performing Kirara's promotion assessment does not put up nearly as much of a fuss as Hatanaka did. The assessment is carried out properly, and there are no snide comments made towards Zenin Maki in the meantime. Kirara receives an official notice declaring his new rank in the following days.
Perhaps it's because the higher ups don't consider this to be a matter worth making a fuss over, or perhaps they deliberated on the matter and decided that it would be more prudent for them to focus their attention on other matters.
Such as the fact that Gojo Satoru had formally taken up his post as the new first year teacher in the Tokyo school, officially replacing Takagi-sensei.
Shiki had thought that perhaps the traditionalists in the clan would've attempted to interfere with this, since being a schoolteacher is something that they would consider to be 'beneath' the honorable Gojo clan head. Evidently, their efforts have not been enough to delay Satoru-niichan by much, though.
"Shiki! Cutest and most adorable little cousin of mine, do you think you could spare some time in your busy schedule for your favorite oniichan?"
There's an audible smile in Satoru-niichan's voice as he waves towards her from where he's standing on the grassy school field. Towards the center of the field, two of the new first year students are currently sparring with each other.
Inumaki Toge raises an arm to block an incoming fist, only to be promptly kneed in the stomach by Zenin Maki.
"What is it?" Shiki obligingly wanders over to her cousin and his students. She had only just returned from a mission this morning that she'd finished earlier than expected, before coming across this sight. Takagi-sensei had tended to prefer sparring indoors, so this is actually the first time that Shiki is seeing a lesson being held outdoors like this.
"Are you free for the rest of the day?" Satoru-niichan asks casually, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
… Her cousin is definitely planning something again, isn't he?
Shiki halts her footsteps, and gives the smiling sorcerer a look. "It depends."
"Aw, don't be like that." In a flash, Satoru-niichan is suddenly standing in front of her. His arms wrap around her waist, lifting her up and spinning her around in a dizzying motion. "It's a fun thing that I have in mind here!"
"Put me down, Satoru-niichan." Her cousin is a lot taller than her, which means that when he picks her up like this, Shiki can only dangle limply from his grip. Shiki kicks out her feet slightly, even though she knows that it's useless when Satoru-niichan is feeling playful like this.
"Fine, fine." Spinning around in one last circle for good measure, her lively cousin finally sets her back on the ground. Right in front of his students, all four of whom are now staring at them with varying degrees of surprise and incredulity. "How do you feel about coming along as a fellow supervising sorcerer for a few Grade Four missions?"
It's been a long time since Shiki was assigned to anything even remotely close to a Grade Four mission. In no small part because missions involving Grade Four curses are deemed to be far beneath her level, and it's a waste of time and resources for a Grade One sorcerer to be assigned to a Grade Four mission.
But in this context, standing in front of several startled first years and being asked if she wants to be a supervising sorcerer for Grade Four assignments, it's obvious what Satoru-niichan's intentions are.
Shiki tips her head back to look up directly towards her cousin, "Do you even need me to accompany your students? And this is supposed to be a teacher's responsibility, isn't it?"
"Wellll," Satoru-niichan stretches the word, fingers tapping playfully from where they are currently splayed atop her shoulders. "I just thought it would be a fun group activity to have you tag along with us!"
Shiki slowly glances between the first year students, and her pleased-looking cousin. She doesn't exactly see how this is necessary, because it's definitely not as if Satoru-niichan needs to be worried about being unable to handle his students.
"Don't overthink it," Satoru-niichan advises as he reaches up and ruffles her hair. "It's been a few weeks since school started, don't you want to spend some time hanging out with your favorite cousin?"
Even though Satoru-niichan is right here in the Tokyo school now, it's not as if Shiki has had very many opportunities to spend any extended length of time around her cousin so far. Both of them keep busy schedules, and it's not as if first and second year classes overlap with each other, either.
Shiki wavers.
Satoru-niichan instantly hones in upon her hesitation. Her cousin's hands close over her shoulder, gently shaking her in a blatantly cajoling manner. "I'll get you more of that fancy tea you and Megumi like so much."
"… You don't need to bribe me," Shiki sighs. "I don't have any more missions scheduled for today."
Although, if she does end up going out with Satoru-niichan and his students, then it means that she'll be absent from afternoon lessons with Kinji and Kirara.
Lessons with Kusakabe-sensei are something that Shiki finds a lot more interesting than they had been with Takagi-sensei. Which might be slightly unfair to Takagi-sensei, since Kusakabe-sensei is a sorcerer who is highly skilled in using the sword whereas Takagi-sensei is a classic shikigami user who is very much not a close combat specialist. Spars involving Takagi-sensei's 'Byakko' shikigami had only really been interesting the first few times, before it started becoming repetitive.
In contrast, testing her swordwork against Kusakabe-sensei is far more engaging.
… It's easier for Shiki to find Kusakabe-sensei for a spar than it is for her to spend time with Satoru-niichan in the Tokyo school these days. Comparing things like this, it's not so hard to come to a decision.
"You're going to be coming along with us, then?" Panda brightens.
It seems so.
Just as Satoru-niichan had mentioned earlier, they set off on the first years' Grade Four missions together. Which seems to be more of a formality than anything else, given by the ease with which each student completes their assigned task.
Panda's identity as a cursed corpse doll and the training that he'd received growing up with Yaga-gakucho is enough for him to easily exorcise a Grade Four curse with a few solid, well-aimed punches. Okkotsu-san is a Special Grade sorcerer in the making who already possesses Special Grade-levels of cursed energy, and ends up struggling more with finding his Grade Four curse than actually killing it. It's also apparent from his movements that he has grown comfortable with holding and wielding a blade, so clearly he has been working hard on learning and improving his swordsmanship skills.
Inumaki Toge succeeds in dispatching his assigned cursed spirit far more easily than either of his fellow classmates before them. All it takes is stepping forward, lifting his hand and hooking his fingers around the edge of the high collar of his school uniform, then pulling it down.
"Twist."
Cursed energy thrums in the air, and the Grade Four curse that Inumaki-san targets literally appears to twist in on itself, warped along some invisible axis as it's immediately crushed to death.
"So that's Cursed Speech, hm?" Satoru-niichan muses. "I can certainly see how that's a handy cursed technique."
Indeed. More than just being handy, though, Shiki can also see why the higher ups would be wary of such a cursed technique, since it literally only requires spoken words to take effect. The boy hadn't done anything more than stand there with his hands in his pockets, and say a single word. True, this might've only been a Grade Four cursed spirit, but one could take this example and extrapolate from it what else might also be possible, especially as Inumaki-san grew stronger.
There were still limitations to Cursed Speech, though, as powerful as it seemed. Certain drawbacks, and limitations, which only made sense. Otherwise, the Inumaki Clan either would've been fully wiped out by their enemies in the past for the terrifying cursed technique that they possessed, or currently reigning as one of the most influential sorcery clans in the jujutsu world.
Shiki wonders how the command 'Die,' would manifest for Inumaki-san. If Inumaki-san can really kill with a single word, then there exists a certain similarity between that and Shiki's own abilities, which allow her to kill with a single cut.
Something to ask about later, perhaps.
In front of them, Inumaki-san straightens, and turns around.
The boy's collar is still lowered, openly revealing the bottom half of his face that he'd been keeping covered in school the entire time thus far. As a result, it's easy to observe the eye-catching dark markings imprinted into his skin. Almost like tattoos, and yet they are very much not. The rounded symbols on Inumaki-san's cheeks are 'Snake Eyes,' and if he were to open his mouth, then the 'Fangs' of the sigil would be revealed on his tongue.
Snake Eyes and Fangs, unmistakable identifiers indicating an inheritor of the Inumaki Clan's Cursed Speech. Shiki has seen them depicted in the Gojo Clan's texts before, but there's a difference between seeing the symbols painted in ink on worn pages, and seeing them in the flesh on a living Inumaki sorcerer.
There had once been a time when the Gojo Clan had considered the Inumaki Clan to be a small family beneath their notice. This hadn't changed until a certain Inumaki clan head had stabbed a fellow allied sorcerer in the back on a hunt for cursed spirits, wherein said sorcerer had been a vassal of the Gojo Clan. Instead of apologizing and providing proper recompense, the Inumaki clan head had decided to go ahead and wipe out the entire vassal family.
Understandably, the Gojo Clan did not take well to this.
Shiki doesn't know how the Inumaki Clan had recorded this incident, but it's probably quite different from the Gojo Clan's account of events. Regardless, this does not change what came afterwards –the inevitable decline of the Inumaki Clan, as the Gojo Clan decided to seek justice for the perceived slight.
Cursed Speech was a technique that many were wary of; it had not helped that there were multiple records of incidents where Cursed Speech users had killed their enemies under the pretense of negotiations, or through trickery. Moreover, the Inumaki Clan had already been on bad terms with the Kamo Clan, due to a talented Kamo son who'd forcibly taken the beloved daughter of an Inumaki clan head as his fifth concubine.
Long story short, the Inumaki Clan, unable to withstand being targeted by multiple enemies, soon fell into decline and never quite recovered afterwards.
Fast-forward to the current day and age, the Inumaki Clan only loosely followed the traditional ways of sorcery clans. From a certain perspective, the Inumaki Clan could be considered more of a merchant clan than a sorcery one, save for the few who were determined to preserve the family history.
Then, Inumaki Toge was born. The first in many years to be born with both great talent as a sorcerer, and the Inumaki Clan's Cursed Speech.
… For a long time, the Inumaki Clan had only been peripherally involved with sorcery. This was understandable both from a numerical standpoint, and a social one. In respect towards numbers, it was not strange for the Inumaki Clan to sometimes find themselves only able to field a single active sorcerer in a generation. Socially speaking, there were few sorcery clans that they were on trusted, friendly terms with. Sorcerers generally only hunt cursed spirits, yet the Inumaki Clan had the dubious honor of being one of the few sorcery clans that were once hunted down by other sorcerers as well.
Thinking about it like this, it seems that there's one more reason as to why Inumaki Toge had been assigned to the Tokyo school, instead of the Kyoto one: Age-old jujutsu history.
But if the higher ups are expecting Satoru-niichan, as the head of the Gojo Clan, to denounce an Inumaki student because of this, then they're sorely mistaken.
"Good work, Toge!" Satoru-niichan claps his hands a few times as Inumaki-san makes his way back to the group. "I can see why you were given a Grade Two ranking upon enrollment."
"Ta… kana," Inumaki-san coughs. Oddly enough, his voice suddenly sounds distinctly hoarser than it had been before using his cursed technique.
… Or not so odd, perhaps. For a cursed technique that is vocally activated, maybe it's not so surprising that there would be a strain on the user's throat.
Okkotsu-san hands the other boy a bottle of water, looking concerned. Inumaki-san accepts it with a brief nod in thanks, and immediately takes a long swig from the bottle.
"That's another mission successfully completed. And, last but not least…" Satoru-niichan turns towards Zenin Maki.
Zenin-san's arms are folded over her chest, the majority of her weight resting on one foot while her other taps the ground impatiently. "It's finally my turn now?"
"Mhm," Satoru-niichan smiles. "Think you can make it quick? Tell you what, if you can exorcise your Grade Four curse in less time than it took for Yuta to finish off his, then I'd say we'll have enough time to grab a team dinner in the city before returning to school."
Shiki glances towards her cousin, "The school's curfew–"
"It's not breaking curfew if you've got a teacher with you, is it?" Satoru-niichan waves a hand dismissively.
… Is that how it works?
Regardless, the only ones who look actively enticed by the offer of dinner are Panda and Okkotsu-san, both of whom have clearly been trapped for far too long on school grounds. Inumaki-san blinks in surprise, but does not make any other outward reaction aside from that. Zenin-san, in contrast to her classmates, appears to be completely unimpressed by the prospect of dinner in the city.
Instead, her only response is, "Is that a challenge?"
"An incentive," Satoru-niichan corrects with a wink. "I'll even be generous and let you guys pick between yourselves what you want to eat."
The Zenin girl rolls her eyes. Maybe it hasn't been long since Satoru-niichan has begun teaching his new students, but it's evident that they've grown quite familiar with the playfully teasing part of his personality.
"My vote is for tonkatsu," she says.
.
.
Extra.
.
For the longest time, Toge had been under the impression that he would be attending the Kyoto school.
The Inumakis were technically a sorcery clan. But for a sorcery clan, they didn't have very many, y'know, actual sorcerers to their name. Which may or may not have had something to do with the persecution in the clan's history. Currently, there were only three sorcerers across the entire extended family, Toge included.
Toge's uncle and clan head was of the belief that it was only by the grace of the Jujutsu Headquarters that the Inumaki Clan were allowed to live peacefully these days. Thus, there was a debt the Inumaki Clan owed to the sorcery families that had shown mercy to them in the distant past, one that could never be fully repaid.
Personally, Toge thought it was kind of bullshit.
It was a mystery why his uncle would believe that so firmly. Well, maybe not a mystery, considering that his uncle had been raised by a half-Kamo father. The Kamos were practically synonymous with traditionalism, and the Jujutsu Headquarters was very traditional.
As for Toge, though–
Maybe it's because he was never properly deferential enough to the higher ups who've shown up to see him, or maybe it's because Toge has always been an independent kid with parents who loved their son more than their loyalty to the clan. Whatever the case, Toge had ended up being signed up for the Tokyo school instead.
Where Gojo Satoru was going to be teaching first year students, as it turned out.
Gojo Satoru.
And Gojo Satoru was, like. A Pretty Big Deal in the jujutsu world. Sort of like a celebrity, except the celebrity happened to be both loved and feared simultaneously by their, uh. Investors? Managers?
Whatever, Toge isn't exactly the best at coming up with metaphors like this. Point is, Gojo Satoru becoming a teacher at the Tokyo school was something that came completely out of left field for everyone; literally no one had expected the man to pull something like this, despite his reputation for spontaneity. Clearly, there was more truth to those rumors than expected.
At some point in the distant past, the Inumaki and Gojo clans hadn't been on great terms with each other. Toge isn't too clear on the details, but he'd been warned multiple times by his uncle that there was no way Gojo Satoru of all people would look kindly upon an Inumaki student.
Except… that doesn't seem to be the case?
From what Toge has seen so far, at least. Gojo-sensei is really friendly, and it's kind of scary how easy it is to just forget that the man is a Special Grade sorcerer sometimes.
The most trouble that Toge has personally had since school started was communicating with his new teachers and classmates. This was something that he'd expected, though. Talking using rice ball fillings as replacements for all other words tends to leave people more confused than not in most cases.
Fortunately, though, it seems like Toge is still making good headway into making new friends. Okkotsu-kun doesn't seem to mind half-guessing and half-relying on charades, which makes Toge hopeful.
Confused, too, because Okkotsu Yuta is probably the nicest sorcerer that Toge has ever met to date, which is only made all the more mind-boggling by the fact that he's supposed to be a nascent Special Grade.
Don't judge a person based on rumors and speculation, Toge guesses?
Gojo Shiki, too, seemed to be a lot more level headed and sensible than what Toge had been expecting. From what the rumors had made her out to be, Toge would've expected that he'd be meeting an intimidating sociopath or something.
Kind of ridiculous, in retrospect. But how had Toge been supposed to know that?
Panda is cheerful and friendly, and Toge is genuinely curious about what kind of cursed technique turns a person into a superpowered panda. Or was Panda a panda with a cursed technique?
He's definitely going to ask Okkotsu-kun about this, once they've smoothed out the communication thing a little more. "This is Panda" does not suffice for an introduction! Seriously, what?
Zenin Maki is a lot less friendly than either of Toge's other classmates, and very intense. But Toge can appreciate that she takes her training seriously, and hey. If she can put Toge flat on his ass in hand-to-hand sparring, he's most certainly not going to be the one to try and tell her she can't be a sorcerer. He's never seen anyone handle cursed tools the way she does, and he thinks it's admirable how Zenin Maki works so hard to make up for her shortcomings –shortcomings which other sorcerers are born with.
"What are you looking at?"
Nothing. "Shake," Toge says aloud.
Zenin Maki's face wrinkles, "What?"
"Yeah, I like salmon, too," Panda nods from the side. "Sadly there's no salmon in tonkatsu, though."
Pandas eat salmon?
Actually, never mind. A talking and thinking panda whose only difference from another human appears to be their physical form can eat whatever the hell they want, as far as Toge is concerned.
It feels a bit bizarre to be sitting in a restaurant with a literal panda at their table, and not be given any strange looks for it. Some sort of barrier trick that Gojo-sensei had used. Toge definitely wants to learn how to do that in the future, it feels like a useful skill to know. He's going to have to start with learning the basics of barriers, though, seeing as his education with the Inumaki Clan had been sadly lacking on this subject.
Speaking of Gojo-sensei, though, he'd stepped out after Gojo-senpai earlier, when the girl had gone out to take a phone call. Both of them had been missing for a while now…
"Tsuna, takana?" Hey, does anyone know if things are okay with Gojo-sensei and Gojo-senpai?
"Sorry, could you repeat that?" Okkotsu-kun asks earnestly. Toge definitely appreciates it.
"Tsuna, takana?" This time, Toge gestures at the empty seats of their missing Gojos for good measure.
"Oh," Okkotsu-kun nods in understanding. "Um, I think they're still by the back door? I don't think either of them came back in yet…"
Hm.
Hmmm.
Toge lifts his gaze, meeting his classmates' eyes; an understanding is formed.
"Gojo-sensei isn't going to get mad at us for this, is he?" Okkotsu-kun sounds nervous about 'sneaking' over.
"Sujiko." C'mon, they're the ones that left first. It's only natural for Toge and his classmates to be curious, if they're staying away for so long.
As it turns out, Gojo-sensei and Gojo-senpai are indeed just standing around outside. It seems that Gojo-senpai has finished her phone call, and the two cousins –who look more like brother and sister than cousins, honestly– are simply quietly conversing with each other.
"… so have you figured it out yet?" Gojo-sensei's voice is soft, but distinct. "I want you to be familiar with the first years. There's no precedent for a Special Grade sorcerer being a teacher, and there's absolutely no way that I'm being permanently posted here. So when I'm inevitably gone from the school, I'm going to have to ask you to keep an extra eye out for me."
"Shouldn't you be saying this to Kusakabe-sensei?" Gojo-senpai asks.
"Already did. But between you and me, I think it's more important that I have you on the case." Even though Gojo-sensei's back is currently turned towards them, it's not hard to hear the smile in his voice. The Gojos are on really good terms with each other, huh?
"… I will. I'd keep an eye out even if you didn't ask me like this." A brief pause, and then Gojo-senpai suddenly turns around, looking directly towards Toge and his fellow classmates. "Did something happen?"
Clearly, the flower pot wasn't large enough to cover three teenagers and a panda. Oops.
"Erm, ah…" Okkotsu-kun smiles nervously, flustered. "Your food is getting cold?"
Nice improv! Toge discreetly gives the other boy a thumbs up in approval.
Gojo-sensei laughs. "Guess we've been out here way too long, then. C'mon, Shiki! Your cute little kouhais are telling you to finish dinner with them! Don't be picky about your food, now…"
The expression on Gojo-senpai's face indicates disagreement, a sort of You have no right to say that I'm the one who's picky about my food. But she shakes her head and falls into step after her cousin, and their group makes their way back towards their table together.
To be honest, the tonkatsu here isn't the best that Toge has had before. Even so, it's still an enjoyable meal.
.