"So… how's your job going, Sweetie?"

Yi-lang Tomioka sat across from Qian, a glass of wine held between her thin fingers. She straightened her slender back to scrutinize her daughter, using her other hand to pull down the skirt of her midi-length tea dress and adjust the shawl covering her bony shoulders. Her dark hair, despite her age, remained glossy and thick, not a single speck of gray was to be seen. The locks were pinned back into an updo using a bronze hair clip, with crisp, finely cut bangs hanging over her forehead and strands framing her sharp cheekbones. While her pointed face was gently wrinkled with age, her brown eyes were bright yet wide with worry.

Qian gave a sympathetic smile, knowing her mother's anxiety, and reached over to place a hand over hers. "M-Mom, I'm fine. I really enjoy the work I'm doing and I'm learning a lot too!" She reassured. "T-The school has been very kind."

As the woman still remained skeptical, her husband simply chortled, stroking his pepper-gray beard thoughtfully. His bright green eyes were glittering in mischief as he raised his bushy brows. "You know that won't reassure your mother one bit. She's going to put a tracking device and have to install a spy camera in order to trust you."

She shot a glare at her father, who towered over the table like a gargoyle statue. Having been a heavy-weightlifter in his college days, he remained relatively hefty and brawn despite his age. The burly man barely fit in his chair with his massive torso, even the silverware he held seemed to bend in his firm grasp. Despite wearing a nice navy suit, the cloth seemed to barely restrain his muscles as he reached over to grasp the tiny glass of water with his massive fingers.

Zeng guffawed. "Very true, Dad. Mom, chillax. Qian's about to turn 19, she's practically an adult now in this country."

"Not in America, she's not. All she can do is vote." The woman huffed, sipping her drink. "And you! You've gained weight. Your hair has gotten much too long, and when was the last time you shaved? You're starting to look like that monkey man from that cartoon."

Qian giggled as Zeng pursed his lips, raising his fingers to pinch the strands that began to hang over his eyes, before using his other hand to pat his solid gut. "Ouch Ma, it's barely reached my lower neck. And are you talking about Tarzan?" He smirked. "Most people find him attractive, I think I could rock it."

As the woman continued regarding him skeptically, he held a hand against his chest in mock offense. "And for the record, I'm still the same weight. I'm sorry I'm not massive like dad but come on." He suddenly unbuttoned the bottom of his dress shirt, revealing his developed abdomen. "Look at this, isn't my six-pack enough?!"

As Chase released a hearty bark of laughter, Yi-lang gasped in horror, throwing her napkin at her son. "OH, YOU. Button that up right this instant!"

He smirked as he shrugged in defense, choosing to obey the woman. Yi-lang glared daggers at her son. "Honestly, you two know how to stress me out. You with your job, him STILL being single." As Zeng groaned, falling back into his seat with a dramatic eye-roll as he muttered 'here she goes again', she sniffed and turned to her daughter. "If anything, you should be working at your brother's firm. Just like we told you to do."

Qian internally sighed. "M-Mom, I've told you before. I want to work in healthcare as a scientist. I've always been passionate about medicine."

"Oh sure, and then you'll wind up with polio, the black plague, meningitis, and all other stuff that you're 'researching'." She scoffed, tilting her nose up distastefully. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

The girl winced, recalling the injury she sustained not too long ago. Shaking her head, she forced a smile. "N-Nothing's going to happen to me, Mom."

However, her mother was too astute. She narrowed her gaze. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"N-No, I just bit my tongue." Qian lied quickly, swallowing the last bite of her food before she dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "I-I'm going to the restroom, I'll be right back."

She soon walked off towards the back of the restaurant. Upon ensuring she had disappeared in the back, the trio's smile fell.

"I knew it." Placing her glass on the tablecloth with an angry 'thud', Yi-lang was glaring daggers at her son. "I knew letting her stay there would be too dangerous."

"Ma, just stay calm. She needs to be there a bit longer just so we can get what we need." Zeng interjected, trying to soothe his mother.

"Absolutely not. This was a ridiculous idea in the first place!" She hissed under her breath, throwing her husband a pleading look. "We all knew that Tokyo's division has always been shambolic. Especially since Gojo Satoru became a teacher- how many times have their students been gravely injured?! And now it's affecting our daughter! Completely unmethodical- we need to get her out of there, immediately."

Chase initially didn't reply. A dark shadow cast over his usual jolly expression as he sighed, leaning towards his son. "How much longer?"

"We settled the date." Zeng gave his mother a pointed look before he pulled out his phone. "Your party will be held on September 3rd. Everything is going according to plan. She's already invited everyone from Tokyo Jujutsu High, so we will have no interference."

"That's just a couple weeks away." Chase turned to his wife, placing a hand over hers. "Yi-lang, this is something that has to be done. You agreed, remember?"

The woman bit her lip before raising her fingers to her brow, massaging her temples as her eyes shone with confliction. "I… I know but-" She shook her head. "I don't like this, Chase. I don't like lying to our daughter… what we've put her through for the sake of their goals."

"I know, dear. But their goals are ours too." Chase wove his fingers through his wife's, regarding her tenderly. "This is for the greater good. For her future, for all of humanity's future." He turned to his son, who regarded his parents with conviction. "They told us they just need one more thing. We can't let anyone, especially Gojo Satoru, stand in our way."

—-

Miyano sat on the bench in the hallway of the dressing rooms. She tapped her foot impatiently, glancing down at her phone to check the time.

"Is she done yet?!" The blonde snapped her head to glare at the lady standing at the front of the way-too-long dressing room line: some sleazy chick with clothes too tight who looked way too old to be shopping here.

In her defense, she was not expecting the small boutique where her sister was working to be so packed. 'Ai-Shadow Elegance' was not super well-known- it had its grand opening a little over two months ago in the farthest corner of KITTE Marunouchi's first floor. According to her sister, 'Ai-Shadow' selection was limited, mainly focusing on women's special occasion-wear, ranging from cocktail to formal evening attire. Admittedly, Miyano loved their cute-but-sexy styles, especially with how the clothes were made with high-quality fabrics like organza and chiffon while the price remained affordable. Their jewelry was stunning as well, spanning the wall in the back from floor to ceiling with a wide variety of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.

But still, why here? There wasn't that much they offered- she even came early Saturday morning, thinking that there would be less people out and about.

Miyano peered at the window, squinting to backwards-read the sign that was laminated on the glass. Annual Fall Sale! BOGO 50% Off! She leaned back with a groan, her ponytail squishing against the wall. It's not even that good of a sale!

"Listen, lady. Can you just chill? She's almost done." The blonde growled at the woman as she hopped to her feet to approach the closed door in front of her. She kicked the wooden panel with her boot. "Qi… you can't hide forever in there. Come on, there are other people waiting!"

"I-I can't! This is too embarrassing!" Her voice cried out from inside the room. Miyano rolled her eyes and peered around, seeing a familiar face organizing a rack of skirts not-too-far away. "Nee-chan! S.O.S!"

Anya Kaien turned around with wide blue eyes, recognizing her little sister's voice. She quickly straightened out the clothes before her before rushing backwards, muttering apologies as she squeezed through the throng of people in line. Despite being three years older, her height did not quite catch up with her age, causing her to fall a couple inches short of her younger sibling, so she had to put in extra force to push through with her petite body. "What's up, Mi-chan?" She chirped breathlessly as she finally reached them, adjusting the nametag pinned to her blouse.

Miyano jerked a thumb at the closed door. "Low self-esteem. Refuses to budge. People are bitching. Mind doing me a favor?"

Anya regarded the door with a sigh. She flipped her shoulder-length, blond hair, highlighted with copper balayage. "Tomioka-chan, I hate to do this to you but if you refuse to come out, I'm going to have to obey my little sister."

From inside the dressing room, Qian squinted one eye open to inspect herself once more in the mirror before squeaking, covering her bare shoulders. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. The Kaien sisters waited for a few more seconds. Upon hearing silence from the other side of the door, they turned to each other with a shrug and Anya grabbed her keys from her back pocket, her fingers pinched on a particularly silver one, and she unlocked the door.

Qian yelped as the door swung open, both of them towered over her cowering form. With an annoyed sigh, the younger Kaien yanked the girl up to her feet. "Come on, Qi, it can't be that-"

Both their eyes widened as they took in the dress she was wearing. Anya gave a low whistle of approval. "Damn, Mi-chan. You really do have a great eye for fashion, don't you?"

Miyano grinned victoriously as Qian paled. "I-I really can't wear this. It's way too… too-!"

"Hot? Sexy? Oh, honey. That's what we want to go for." Miyano smirked, turning to her sister. "We'll get this one!"

—-

To say that the main ballroom in The Sonesta Hotel is gorgeous would be an understatement. The walls were covered with floor-to-ceiling length windows, held together by pearlescent wooden frames. Towering over the space was an intricately designed domed roof made of glass, allowing all the guests to see the stars and bright, half-crescent moon. A glistening chandelier hung down the center, the lit pillar candles flickering and casting specks of gold across the room. Loud chatter and laughter resonated throughout the floor, a few individuals paired off to slow dance by the string quartet. Others were seated at the tables, conversing about the latest gossip, and a few more strolling about, plucking hors d'oeuvres off the trays of circling staff.

By the bar, Satoru hooked his finger underneath the collar of his suit with a sigh. "Is dressing up like this really necessary?"

Shoko sipped her glass of champagne in her palm as she leaned against the table. "She told me semi-formal. So we do semi-formal. Quit bitching."

Satoru frowned as he glared at his coworker. She wore a simple one-shouldered emerald maxi dress with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, though her bangs were left loose as she twirled a strand with her other hand.

He heard a series of whispers and glanced behind her to see a couple of women eying him like a pack of starving lions. He cracked a sardonic smile, knowing that they were planning to introduce themselves sooner or later, hoping to spark a special relationship. "I honestly don't know why I agreed to attend this thing. I hate events like this. Don't we have lives to save?"

"Principal Yaga already said the other schools can handle it, and he ordered for us to take some time off." Shoko retorted. "Besides, we already told Qian we were coming. It'd be rude if you decided not to show up."

The man clamped his mouth shut, unable to argue. He took a swig of his orange juice before placing the glass down on the table, pushing his sunglasses up with annoyance.

Shoko stared at him from the corner of her eye before she sighed. "Also seriously, do you own anything that's not black?"

Satoru quirked a brow as he inspected himself. He actually felt like he went out of his comfort zone today. Rather than going completely black, he chose to dress himself in a fitted ebony suit, with an Oxford cotton charcoal-gray dress shirt and satin black tie. "I beg to differ, this shirt is actually gray, not black." He argued with a smirk, taking a moment to loosen his tie and adjust the cuffs on his sleeves.

The motion caused a collective sigh to be heard from the predatory women nearby. Not that he blamed them. With his freshly shaved chiseled jawline and slicked-back hair, he was by far the most attractive man existing in this current party. A few of his silver strands fell out of his styled locks and settled on his brow, painting the perfect picture of sexy arrogance.

"Same thing." Shoko rolled her eyes, knowing that most of the female population in this area were all-but swooning. "Anyways, have you seen any of our students yet? The party started half an hour ago."

Satoru shrugged. "Probably running around doing who knows what-"

As soon as he spoke, there was a loud yell as a familiar head of pink hair tumbled towards them in a blurry of red. With his cheeks full, and a stuffed mushroom in one hand, Yuji raised a hand in greeting, brushing off the crumbs sprinkled across his red polo shirt with the other. "YO! SHENSEI!"

"-and there he is." Satoru chuckled. "Having fun I see?"

Nobara followed closely behind him with an angry huff, trying to smooth out her dark purple ruffled dress before grabbing the boy by the ear. With a quick flip of her curled hair, she snarled at her teammate. "Can you fucking behave?"

"OW, OW, OW!" The poor boy yelped, dropping the mushroom as he quickly swallowed whatever was in his mouth. "KUGISAKIIII!"

"Jesus Christ. Guys, can you pull yourselves together?" Satoru peered over them to see Megumi emerge, muttering a polite apology as he squeezed through the crowd. He gritted his teeth as he rolled up the sleeves of his navy-blue dress shirt, reaching over to grab both his teammates' shoulders. "Qian was nice to invite us and here you guys are, making a fool of yourselves and our school."

"Speaking of, where is she?" Yuji quipped, rubbing his wounded ear.

Shoko pulled out her phone. "I know she said that she's going to be busy catching up with her relatives and family friends, so we may not see her for a while."

"Oh! There she is!" Nobara stood on her tiptoes to see farther past the crowd, raising her hand up in greeting. "HEYYY, QIAN!"

Cursing underneath his breath, Megumi gripped her wrist and pulled her down. "Kugisaki, for the love of god, do you know anything about behaving in public?!"

Satoru followed her gaze and searched through the sea of people, perplexed as he couldn't find the familiar spectacled assistant. It wasn't until one dark-haired girl in general, who was conversing with an older gentleman, turned her head quizzically towards the direction of Nobara's voice that his throat suddenly became dry.

She wasn't wearing her glasses. Her eyes, wide with curiosity, were shadowed with light makeup, shimmery gloss peppered on her lips. Her dark hair flowed loosely down her back in soft curls, her bangs brushed to the side and framing her round, rosy cheeks, with a gold lily flower pinned delicately behind her ear. Her high-neck halter dress was burgundy in color, with floating lace florals across the bodice and continuing to scatter down over the floor-length chiffon fitted skirt. Her arms and back were totally bare, revealing supple, smooth, unblemished skin.

She didn't see him but she recognized his students, and she smiled, quickly dipping her head in respectful farewell at her interlocutor, before meandering through the crowd to meet them. His eyes shot down, noting that the dress had a long slit going up to her upper left thigh, providing a teasing glimpse of her lusciously long legs with every step she took.

"Y-You guys made it!" She gasped, giving them each a quick hug. "I-I'm so happy you guys are here!"

"Well that makes all but one of us." Shoko returned her hug, jerking a thumb at her coworker. "This idiot here has been bitching all night."

Qian giggled as she followed her mentor's gesture, though upon seeing who she was referring to, her smile faltered as her cheeks darkened. He, in turn, suddenly felt oddly nervous and swallowed thickly, feeling a bit too warm in his clothes.

For a moment, they were silent once more as they remained staring at one another. She forced her smile to remain as she dipped her head respectfully. "G-Gojo-sensei. I'm very glad you can make it."

"Y-Yeah." He coughed, completely at loss for words. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. "You look…um…different."

Qian blinked owlishly and ducked her head in embarrassment, giving an awkward chuckle. "R-Right, yeah, this doesn't suit me well does it? Miyano-chan made me wear it and threatened to end our friendship once again if I didn't-"

"What are you talking about? Qian, you look amazing!" Yuji shouted, swinging an arm around the girl's shoulder. "It totally suits you, man, if I had known you were this hot without glasses, I would've asked you out AGES ago-"

The hairs on the back of Satoru's neck suddenly bristled, shortly before a hard fist dug into the back of the teen's head, causing the poor boy to collapse to the ground. Megumi's face was eerily dark, his eyes shining with fury. "One more stupid thing out of either of your mouths and I'm dragging us out of here."

While his teammates whimpered with wide, puppy-dog eyes, Qian waved her hands wildly in front of her. "I-It's really okay! Please, you don't have to act any differently- I'm just so happy you guys even came!"

"Actually, Qian, quick question." Nobara turned to the girl. "Do you know where the bathroom is? I definitely need to freshen up."

"O-Oh sure, right this way." Qian gestured to the side. "F-Follow me!"

As the two girls left, Shoko nudged her old classmate. "Breathe, dude. Your cursed energy is leaking out and causing the temperature to rise."

Satoru snapped himself out of his reverie upon hearing Shoko's voice, carefully regarding his surroundings. As she described, people had begun sweating profusely, a few asking the circulating waiting staff for water and other beverages.

He cleared his throat, raising a hand to take off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, don't know what came over me."

"O beware, my lord… It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Shoko murmured, taking another sip of her champagne.

"What?" The silver-haired sorcerer turned to the doctor quizzically. She simply shrugged.

"Nothing, I'm going to get some food." With a soft click of her heel, she disappeared into the crowd, leaving the man completely bewildered.

"Jealousy?" Satoru gave a bitter chuckle. "No way." He finished the rest of his juice.

No way… right?