As she limped her way to the front gate of the middle school, a kind-looking woman waited for her.

_Good morning, you must be Uzumaki Kira? - she greeted - my name is Takatsuka Ichiyo, and I will be your literature teacher as well as your homeroom teacher.

_Good morning, sensei - Kira politely bowed.

"What a well-behaved kid" - Ms. Takatsuka smiled, nodding her head in approval then asked - I trust you have prepared your speech?

_Yes, sensei. I have it with me - Kira struggled to maintain balance while reaching back to her backpack. She had the speech all written up and ready to go.

_No need Kira-chan, I trust you have it - Ms. Takatsuka lightly tapped her shoulder, signaling her to stop reaching back - let me show you to your seat. It's almost time.

The tradition of the middle school Kira attended was that the highest score first-year student would give a speech as a form of recognition for the student as well as an encouragement for all new students to strive for their best. Kira had never done something like this in her entire existence. Back in the day, the head of the clan, Madara-sama, would always be the one who did all of the speaking and represented the entire clan. Although she was the prophecy child and the strongest Uchiha member, there was a hierarchy ladder. Meaning, as the youngest member of the clan, her chance of public speaking was 0. Sweat started to pool in the palm of her hands, her blood slowly drained from her face, she shivered, feeling cold - "This will be bad."

Gojo Satoru joined other second-year students in line for the welcome ceremony held on the school basketball court. After greeting some of his classmates from last year, he turned his focus to a small figure on the stage. Kira was seated at the end of the faculty row, right next to the stairs. His notice slowly turned to the brace on her left leg, and then her face, which was white as a sheet of paper. He chuckled out loud, drawing attention from other students.

_Gojo-samaaaa - girl students squeaked as they realized Satoru had arrived and was in line - can I get your number, pleaseeeee? Gojo-sama, so handsome! My husband. I love you….

Within seconds, Satoru was surrounded by an army of girls from his fan club, causing a big scene that made teachers shake their heads. The faculties knew about Satoru's popularity and they already gave up on controlling his fan club for him. The noise did not stop until the principal started yelling at people to be quiet. But Kira did not mind or hear a single sound at all. Her entire mind and soul were engulfed in the upcoming speech, trying not to mess anything up. She had never been this nervous before, even when she faced Sukuna or her death.

"I can do it. It's easy. It's just a speech. There is no need for curse energy. No need for physical strength. A speech does not kill you. You defeated Sukuna. You can do it, Kira! I will make the Uchiha clan proud." - Kira chanted in her head repeatedly, completely oblivious to Satoru's stare. He kept his eyes on her, intrigued by the way her lips moved, and he could read it.

_Now, please join me and welcome to the stage, Uzumaki Kira, the first-year student with the highest entrance score - a huge clapping session exploded. Wiping her sweaty hands on her new skirt before standing up, Kira slowly approached the podium. Contradicting her extreme nervous condition earlier, Kira wore a perfectly calm facade during her speech. Her speech was clear, and flawless, each sentence, each word were chosen and delivered carefully, making all teachers smiled in satisfaction. Satoru looked at her with the uttermost surprise and fascination - "she fakes it so well."

After the welcome ceremony, students were instructed to look for their new class assignments on the information board. Kira remained seated on stage, still recovering from the speech that she thought went okay. Only when there were a few students left, she stood up and started moving. With the current leg condition, she struggled to step down the stairs although there were only a few steps before reaching the ground. Her hands held tight to the railing when out of nowhere, a pair of arms wrapped around her and lifted her body up. In a second, her feet were on the ground.

_You! - it had been 2 years since she last saw Gojo Satouru.

_You are welcome!

_What are you doing here? - she pointed at him, completely lost for words.

_I'm a student here - he pointed at his uniform - did you bump your head somewhere since the last time I saw you?

_No - Kira narrowed her eyes.

_You seem to get dumber, ahahahaha.

Her face darkened. Before Satoru could say anything, a kick was about to land on his face. But it fell short caused she forgot about her damn injured leg. Satoru was quick to react, his hand once again held onto her waist, preventing her from falling. Then he felt a trace of Reverse Rotation energy.

"Curse energy, it's fainted. Hm…But this girl obviously does not have any curse energy." - curse energy would not pass the Six Eyes. Even if the user hid their energy, he would be able to see right through it. This fact puzzled him. - "Just who is this girl."

_Get your hand off me!

_Just trying to help - he smiled, lowering his round sunglasses.

Without giving another word, she walked past him, heading toward the class assignment board. Satoru followed after.

_Gojo-sama, which class are you in this year?

_Gojo-sama, you are in class 8-A-1. I saw it

_Gojo-sama, we are in the same class.

_Gojo-sama, you are so handsome!

_Gojo-sama, please take my heart..

"Ew.,,Gojo-sama,…" - Kira shivered at the term. Tried to walk as fast as she could to avoid the crowd behind. She was placed in class 7-A-1, the top class of her year.

_You are in class 7-A-1 right, Uzumaki-chan? - a hand touched her shoulder.

_Yes - she turned and smiled back.

_I'm Aoyama Hide, Ms. Takatsuka asked me to help you around. Very nice to meet you - the boy bowed - we will be classmates moving forward.

_Ah, thank you, Aoyama-kun - Kira bowed back and followed after him, completely ignoring Satoru and his fan club.

Kira walked very slowly due to her leg but Hide did not seem to mind. He matched her pace, patiently leading her to class 7-A-1, where everyone had already been situated. Following the seat map on the blackboard, Kira sat down next to the window and next to Hide. Ms. Takatsuka arrived shortly and the homeroom session began. The first day was not too bad, a lot of introductions and timeline overview as usual, no homework, yet.

As the day ended and Kira returned to the orphanage, a strange sensation hit her in the back. She gazed in the direction where the feeling came from, across the soccer field, behind the trees. She pulled out the pair of glasses obtained from the Uchiha ruin in Kyoto and put it on.

"Not curse. What is it?" - then she saw a white hair shadow, approaching the same spot that she was looking at - "Satoru, he must have sensed something too. Should I follow him?"

Kira was contemplating whether she should follow him or not. But in the end, she decided not to and put the glasses away.

_He has Six Eyes, if he dies because of this, he should not have lived in the first place - with that thought, she continued walking home, excited for tomorrow's physical education period - I have been bedridden for a long, time to exercise.

Gojo Satoru's Pov

Heh? She did not take the bait. But now I know for sure that she can sense curse energy.

So weird that I cannot sense any curse energy from her. Also, this morning, she did not see the curse that stood right next to the information board. Maybe she can only see with the cursed object. It looks like something Zen'in clan would make for their useless members who don't have curse energy.

Hm…

And that bruise on her flank was healed by Reverse Rotation. Who healed it? When did she get that? Her flank was healed but her leg was broken, with no curse energy toward the leg.

Hm…either the person who healed her is stupid or they are hiding something.

Hm…I don't get it at all….

But interesting, everything involving her is very interesting.

End Pov

Satoru smiled darkly, he found a new toy to play with.