The clock struck 5 o'clock in the afternoon, causing Qian to jump up slightly in her chair, tearing her gaze away from the microscope she was examining. She glanced up at the device and gasped in surprise, peering down at her phone to confirm the time.

Whoops. She realized that her playlist had paused on its own, which had gone unnoticed from her having been distracted with her work for so long. She completely missed all the other chimes that clock must have broadcasted throughout the day.

Writing down several more notes, she turned off the microscope and gathered her things, tucking all the notebooks and equipment away in their proper place. She then hopped up the steps and briskly opened the door, only to narrowly avoid hitting a familiar head of pink hair.

"WHOA!" The teen stumbled back, falling on his behind. He rubbed his lower back. "Ow, ow, ow…"

"I told you we should've knocked first." Nobara sighed from behind him, placing a hand on her hip. "But of course you had to just go and try to open the door like an idiot."

"O-Oh! Kugisaki-san, good afternoon-" Qian gasped in horror upon seeing the poor boy, bowing her head frantically. "I-Itadori-san! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!"

Yuji shook his head with a laugh. "Naw, don't worry about it! It was my bad for not being careful!"

"Don't be sorry, this dumbass brought it upon himself." She looked up to see Megumi walking down the path towards them. "He got so excited from the news that he said he HAD to race over here to let you know."

"W-Wait, what news?"

Yuji gripped his hands tightly together, leaping up in the air with an excited cheer. "We're going to the beach!"

—-

"...But why?"

Masamichi glared at his old student, who had his feet propped up on his desk as he leaned back vicariously on the wooden chair. "Satoru, you know as well as we do that things have been stressful for all our students lately. They could use a day off. They earned it, since they all miraculously passed that exam somehow. Not sure what- or how- you did it, but it seemed like you were able to pull it off."

Satoru gasped in mock offense, placing a hand over his chest. "Sir, you have such little faith in me. Besides-" He folded his hands behind the back of his head. "They know when to take a break, and they would do that without forcing us to. What's the point?"

"Unlike you, dumbass, they don't feel it's right to take off without our explicit orders." Upon hearing her voice, he turned to face Utahime Iori, who was sitting calmly in the chair beside him, her legs crossed demurely. She had her hands folded neatly within her miko robes. "Even when we remind them to, they're constantly pushing themselves to focus on training instead."

"Ohhh wait, is that why you're here?" With a smirk, he glanced back at his superior. "Are Kyoto's kids coming as well?"

Utahime rolled her eyes. "Our students also deserve some time off, you know. It's not just yours."

Satoru released his legs and the chair he was seated on returned back to its normal position. He leaned his chin on his hand, a cocky grin spreading across his face. "Should we make this another fun sparring session instead?"

"No, you idiot! Weren't you listening to Principal Yaga?" She sighed, palming her forehead exhaustedly. "That defeats the whole purpose!"

However, Masamichi stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Actually, it's not a bad idea. Shoko's assistant will be there so she can treat any injuries if it happens anyways."

Satoru's smile faltered as he raised his brows in confusion. "Qian? Why?"

"Administration's orders." The principal shrugged. "And don't you think she deserves a break too, after everything she's been through?"

Satoru clamped his mouth shut, unable to argue. His old teacher sighed, taking his silence as an agreement. "You guys depart tomorrow morning."

—-

Qian reached the parking lot, sighing in relief upon seeing the clearing empty.

Good. I'm early. She nervously smoothed out her thin rain jacket, pulling the hem down to her knees over her ankle-length leggings.

Despite her coverings, she felt very uncomfortable and pulled down the zipper, glancing down at her bathing suit. She quickly zipped it back up with a groan, hating that she only owned one, which Miyano gifted her with for Christmas last year.

"If you don't wear that bathing suit I got you, we're not friends anymore!"

Qian squeezed her eyes shut at her friend's screeching, peering down at the screen of her phone. "M-Miyano-chan, I can't! This is too revealing and I'm not going to swim anyways!"

The blond glared back up at her, jabbing a finger into her own camera lens. "I don't give a shit. I got that for you last year and you promised me you would wear it next time you went to a beach or pool and- newsflash- YOU'RE GOING TO A BEACH!"

"B-But still!" Qian protested, though she immediately swallowed her tongue as Miyano brought a single eye in front of the camera, glowering at the poor girl.

"I will hang up this FaceTime right now and drive over to your house if you don't show me you're wearing it."

"O-Okay, okay!" Qian groaned, propping the camera up on her bed stand and taking a few steps back. She nervously hugged her bare arms tightly to her chest, glaring meekly at her friend as her face grew even more red. "T-There, happy?"

Miyano gave a satisfied nod of approval, raising a thumbs up to her camera. "Perfect. Now, you're gonna keep your hair down, right? And you WILL put on makeup-"

"W-What?! NO of course not!" Qian shook her head wildly in horror. "I-I'm literally going to an outing with coworkers- why would I do any of that?!"

Miyano gave a wicked grin as she flipped her hair. "Because this Gojo guy's gonna be there and you got to look HOT-"

"Qian! It's 7:30am, you're gonna be late!" Zeng's voice echoed from the base of the stairs by the kitchen.

"G-Gotta go Miyano-chan! I'll text you later!" Qian quickly grabbed her phone off the table.

"W-Wait Qi-!" The girl pressed the 'END' button and shoved her phone into her backpack. She quickly went back into her closet and threw on the extra clothes before rushing out the door.

The girl mentally gave herself a pat on her back, lauding her own quick ingenuity to find a loophole around her friend's demands. She took out her phone to switch to the camera view, giving herself one more lookover. While she absolutely refused to wear makeup, she decided to partially cater to her friend's request by tying her hair up in a high ponytail instead of her usual bun. Her side-swept bangs have grown out enough that while she was able to pull back most of it, a few shorter strands were hanging loosely down her right cheek.

Suddenly, she heard a few voices and turned to see Yuji, Megumi, Nobara, a tall girl with glasses, a shorter boy with gray hair, and the… panda… she noticed a few weeks ago.

"YO! Qian!" Yuji shouted, waving his arm wildly in the air. The bright orange flowers on his Hawaiian shirt flashed brightly in the scorching morning sun.

"G-Good morning everyone!" She dipped her head in greeting. "Y-You all look so cool in casual clothes!"

"Obviously." Nobara twirled around, her floral sundress fluttering in the wind. "I've been wanting to wear something besides that lame-ass uniform all year."

"Guys, this is Ieiri-sensei's assistant, Qian." Megumi introduced, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel before thumbing at the other three beside them. "These are the second-years."

Qian turned to the others and bowed down politely. "N-Nice to meet you, my name is Qian Tomioka!"

The bespectacled girl nodded, taking off her glasses to wipe the lenses on her gray t-shirt. "Maki Zen'in. This guy's Toge Inumaki"

"Kelp." The other boy tipped his baseball cap, half of his face hidden by the high collar on his windbreaker.

"Yo, I'm Panda! Pleasure to meet you!" The panda raised his paw in greeting.

There was a momentary pause as the first-years regarded the exchange, eyes wide and eager as they peered at Qian's expression.

She blinked. After several minutes, Qian simply bowed her head deeply. "It's an honor to be here and to meet you guys!"

Not even going to ask?! They all thought incredulously in unison.

Even Panda laughed, baring his fangs. "Interesting! You weren't kidding about her, Nobara."

The brunette shrugged. "I told you. Nothing phases this girl at this point."

"Well, well, well…if it isn't the losers from Tokyo." They all turned to see a girl with dark bobbed hair sashaying towards them, her chin tilted up in disdain as a few others followed behind her.

"Zen'in-senpai." Megumi greeted with a nod. Qian glanced at him in confusion, then at Maki, then at the girl. The shadow user jerked his head towards the pair. "Twins."

Qian let out a soft 'ah' in understanding, noting that the two girls couldn't have been more different. While Maki wore plain clothes, the other had a dark maroon bikini, a floral skirt covering her hips.

Nobara hissed under her breath. "Ugh, I knew they were going to be here but seeing your ugly face still pisses me off…"

"YOOOO BROTHER!" In a blur, Yuji was crushed in a muscley embrace. The half-naked man raised his body high in the air, tightening his hold on the poor kid. "IT'S BEEN TOO LONG!"

Qian yelped and covered her eyes upon seeing the man was wearing nothing but a tight speedo.

"T-Todo…can't…breathe…" Yuji wheezed, his face turning purple. The large man gently lowered him to the ground, patting his back heartily as the pink-haired sorcerer tried to regain his breath.

"Good day, everyone!" A girl with blue hair stepped forward, waving her hand in a friendly greeting.

"Miwa-senpai." Megumi nodded, his eyes drawn to a little mechanical doll perched on the girl's shoulder. "Is that…"

"It's me, Mechamaru." The doll spoke, raising a tiny hand up in greeting. Miwa chuckled, rubbing a finger on its head affectionately. "Isn't he adorable?!"

"Adorable is one way to describe him." A short, blond girl with stiff pigtails piped up from behind her, her arms raised behind her head as she struggled with adjusting her pink halter top. "Mai, can you help a girl out?"

As the other Zen'in went to help her friend, a teen with black hair nodded in greeting, white cloth wrapped around his bangs. "Fushiguro."

"Nishimiya-senpai, Kamo-senpai." Megumi acknowledged, a vein throbbed in his forehead as his teammates continued being less than polite, pointedly ignoring their sister school's arrival. Yuji and Todo were already wrestling with each other while Nobara chatted away with Maki.

Qian felt a twang of sympathy and remained standing beside him, bowing politely as he massaged his temples. "It's been a while."

"Yo. Who's the newbie?" Momo pointed at Qian, who unconsciously straightened her back, swallowing nervously.

As she opened her mouth to respond, Megumi beat her to it. "She's Ieiri-sensei's assistant."

"N-Nice to meet you!" She dipped her head once more. "M-My name is Qian Tomioka."

Noritoshi frowned, gripping his chin suspiciously as he cracked an eye open to scrutinize the bespectacled girl. "Are you a new student?"

Qian shook her head. "O-Oh, no I'm just helping out with research and medical services if needed!"

"Then why is she here?" Mai complained, crossing her bare arms in annoyance. "Isn't this an outing for students at Jujutsu High? As in: 'sorcerers-in-training'?"

Yuji's smile faltered, glancing at the third-year with narrowed eyes. "She's as much of a part of this school as any of us."

Qian quickly stepped forward, waving her hands wildly. "I-It's okay, Yuji-san! I-If it makes anyone uncomfortable, I don't need to go!"

"Whoa, are we fighting already?" They turned to see Satoru and Utahime approaching, the former wearing his trademark smirk. "We haven't even gotten to the beach yet!"

Qian couldn't help but stare at the man, who was wearing a black long-sleeved cotton shirt and dark jeans. Her previous encounter with him flooded into her mind and she immediately blushed, ducking her head down to hide her face.

"Sensei! You're late!" Maki chided, placing her hands on her hips in annoyance.

Satoru's grin widened. "Surprisingly, I'm actually on time! See look, even Utahime's here at the same time as me- and she's never late!"

"Don't rope me into this." The woman grumbled, placing a hand over her forehead.

"Gojo-sensei, why is this nobody even here? Aren't you always saying we should only have strong individuals in our school?" Mai whined, pouting her lips.

Nobara lunged forward with her fists raised, right as Qian clutched her arm, pulling her back frantically. "N-Nobara-san, it's okay!"

"I did say that, didn't I?" Satoru tapped his chin thoughtfully and Qian refused to look at him, cold sweat began to form on the back of her neck as she braced herself for another rejection.

"But…I also said that I look for those who exceed my expectations. And, I have to admit…" He glanced at the girl, who shot her head up to regard him with wide curious eyes. "...she definitely has."

Qian couldn't help but gape like a fish and soon, a bus rolled up in front of them. The door slid open to reveal Ijichi in the driver's seat, who gave a nervous wave. "Good day everyone-"

"And that's that!" Satoru jabbed his thumb at the vehicle. " Alright, let's go everyone!"

The Kyoto students got on first, closely followed by the Tokyo students. Ijichi released a dejected sigh as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Gojo-san, do you always have to cut me off like that?"

"Be quiet, Ijichi." The man frowned but obeyed as the remaining students boarded the bus.

Qian hesitated, remaining standing at the base of the steps. She turned to Satoru, clutching the straps of her backpack tightly.

"U-Um, Gojo-sensei, are you sure it's alright for me to go?" She queried, interlacing her fingers nervously. "I-I don't want to make the other students uncomfortable."

Satoru glanced down at her. "Well, it's not really your choice. The higher-ups are saying you have to come with us, so it's kind of an order."

"O-Oh, is that so?" Qian tilted her head quizzically, relieved that it seemed to be out of her control while also fighting off the disappointment that nipped at her chest. "O-Okay, then I'll be in your care."

He stepped back to let her go up the steps inside the vehicle. He heard a groan and turned to see Utahime pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation. "What?"

She sighed. "Why do you do this? What was that big charade of her 'exceeding your expectations' and then you go on to hide behind the excuse of the administration ordering her to come?"

Satoru bowed mockingly, gesturing for her to go ahead in front of him. "It's fun messing with people. What can I say?"

Utahime clicked her tongue at him, shaking her head in defeat. "You're a dick, you know that?"

He simply smirked after her as he followed her inside. "If that's true, you should be flattered since this is the closest you'll ever get to getting some-"

Suddenly, a sandaled heel slammed into his face, kicking the sorcerer out of the vehicle.

—-

As the bus disappeared around the corner, a shadowy figure slinked his way towards the entrance of the laboratory. His fingers nimbly made quick work of the lock, and the door opened ajar. Slipping his way inside, he closed the door behind him and descended down the staircase, pulling open drawers and cabinets around the facility. He stopped upon finding a black notebook, which had been tucked away behind the microscope. Flipping open the cover, he scanned the pages with a discerning eye. A satisfied grin stretched across his lips.