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Principal Gakuganji was quite the odd fellow, in Adam's opinion. Despite his old age and clear misunderstandings about younger generations, he just would not give up on trying to make small talk. It kind of reminded the boy of Ijichi when he first met him, but worse; especially since Gakuganji seemed so sure of himself with every question he asked. "So, are the two of you in any relationships? I hear that young ones are getting into all sorts of things nowadays at far younger ages than I did." He said with a laugh.
'No, you old bat; have you ever even seen a woman before?' Adam bit his tongue to hide the thoughts on his mind, something Fushigoro seemed to have no difficulty in doing.
"No sir, I am quite content in waiting until I graduate for such things." Behind the principal's back, Adam signed to his friend 'Suck up', to which the boy flipped him off. Adam grinned to himself at the successfully conveyed message.
"I'm in the same boat." He quickly added, realizing he hadn't said a single thing out loud. "Relationships are stressful, I'd much prefer to focus on my career as a sorcerer." The same exchange via sign language happened in reverse this time with Adam flipping off the antagonizing Fushigoro.
The old principal glanced back at the boys before huffing. "Well, that's too bad, many of our young ladies here are looking for potential suitors." Adam suppressed a laugh at Fushigoro's twitch in expression. One of those 'young ladies' the elder was talking about happened to be Fushigoro's second aunt.
"Hmm, I'm sure each of them will find someone nice to fight alongside or take care of," Adam replied. The principal merely nodded while Fushigoro looked at his friend with a confused expression.
"Take care of?" He signed. Adam wasn't as experienced in sign language as Fushigoro, but he could understand basic things like that. As such, he wasn't able to form an entire response that would convey his thoughts on the matter.
"Well, sorcerers are stronger than normal people." He chose to reply instead. Fushigoro narrowed his eyes in clear disagreement but chose to drop the matter as Gakuganji continued to lead them through the campus.
During the long lapse in conversation, Adam finally realised why his surroundings sent shivers up his spine; there were far too many similarities with the shrine he had died at previously for his liking. Pebble gardens with statues in the middle, large, traditional buildings with black tiles; at least the rivers and garden were a nice change of pace.
Gakuganji noticed the boy's staring at let out a laugh. "I see you like our campus so far; we've put great effort into making it resemble the rest of the city and our historical roots."
"Historical roots?" Adam parroted.
The principal chuckled at the boy's confusion before pointing to the main pagoda, specifically a short, tattered banner hanging under one of the overhangs. Over a violet background, a star, sun, and moon figure existed together. The star was in the middle, coloured a bright yellow colour as opposed to the blue and red on its right and left side respectively. Hugging close to its right side was a crescent moon, opposed by a bright circle that represented the sun.
"From the Heian era." Gakuganji elaborated. "This campus was once the headquarters of the notorious Sun, Moon, and Stars squad of assassins. They served the ancient Fujiwara clan in their fight against curse users and curses alike."
"Wow, they must have been incredibly influential to have such widespread headquarters," Fushigoro commented. Adam looked at him in confusion, causing him to elaborate. "The Fujiwara clan lorded over what is now the modern-day Nara prefecture, this campus is located in the Kyoto prefecture. So they must have had quite a lot of influence to spread their posts so far from each other."
"Yes, but back then it was called the Yamato province," Gakuganji added helpfully. "Alas, their ancient buildings still serve us purpose to this day; not without a few modern refurbishments though." He said with a laugh.
"Any other trivia facts I should know for tonight's game show?" After 20 minutes of restraint, Adam finally let his tongue slip; accordingly, Fushigoro slapped him across the back of the head. However, Gakuganji seemed to take the quip in stride as he simply chuckled upon taking another step.
"We're here; if you didn't pack any slippers, we have some for you to use during your stay here." The man announced. Adam glanced up at the building they were quickly approaching, taking in the sight with a soft smile.
Much like the rest of the buildings in the area, the dorm was built predominantly using wood and paper doors. Along the outside of the building was a wide plank veranda, on which several students were sitting; each of them holding a popsicle in their hand as they talked.
"Good morning students." The Tokyo students followed closely behind Gakuganji as he approached the group of chatting teens. "As I'm sure your teacher has announced, we will be having 2 students from the Tokyo branch spending the week here while two of our own will go over there."
The 4 students present nodded simultaneously, offering kind smiles towards the newcomers along with them. Furthest from the trio sat a boy with straight blonde hair swept over the right side of his face. The rest of his features could be summed up as average, with lean muscle hugging his frame tightly under the cover of his baggy grey t-shirt and black shorts. "Nitta Arata, it's nice to meet you two." He offered kindly; as he spoke, his head tilted forward, the gesture causing his popsicle to slip off of its stick and fall onto his crotch. Adam had to hand it to the boy, he didn't screech nearly as loud as he probably would have if something so cold attacked his family jewels; that wouldn't stop him from laughing though.
"Fushigoro Megumi, you must be a first-year." The black-haired student replied blankly. Nitta nodded while wiping off his pants with a grimace. Fushigoro turned to Adam expectantly, immediately raising his hand in warning as the boy tried to hide his laughter.
Adam held up his hands placatingly before introducing himself. "Pendragon Adam, it's nice to meet you all." Gakuganji glanced at the boy in surprise but quickly hid the expression as the next students began to introduce themselves.
"Nishimiya Momo." Another blond, this one a petite girl with extremely tall pigtails. Her ears were pierced with 2 studs on either side, their colour matching the same sky blue as her eyes. Around her neck lay a leather collar with the school's insignia carved into a medallion hanging from the front. "Principal, do you want me to get Todo? He is leaving with Nitta, right?" Her tone sounded almost…hopeful; it was hard to tell with how high-pitched her voice was. Adam wasn't sure if it was to escape the awkward introductions or to get this Todo person out of her vicinity.
Gakuganji huffed in amusement at the girl's tone before waving her away. "Please do, we do not want to keep Gojo Satoru waiting after all." At the mention of the name, the third person in the line looked up hopefully.
"Gojo Satoru is here?!" She gasped. Quickly, she began to clean herself up, going as far as to hand off her popsicle to the last student in line while she straightened out her clothes and jumped up. Gakuganji grumbled quietly at the fangirlish behaviour before coughing politely into his fist. With an embarrassed flush, the girl turned straight around and bowed. "Miwa Kasumi, I have no cursed technique to speak of and am rather useless." Adam cringed at the self-deprecation, an action gone unnoticed by the girl as she jumped up and sped into the dorm building. He barely caught sight of the end of her long blue hair as she slammed the door shut behind her.
"Well…" Adam turned his attention to the final student, the doll they had met earlier. "Are you even able to eat those?" The doll huffed in annoyance as both his and Miwa's popsicles melted down his wooden hand. "I'll take that as a no."
Gakuganji stepped forward and patted the doll on the shoulder. "This here is Mechamaru; his real body is off campus due to several medical issues." The doll scowled at the mention, and Adam had just an inkling of a feeling that it didn't want its dirty laundry aired out like it had been.
'The least I can do is treat him normally then.' Adam decided with a mental nod. "Alright then, nice to meet you." He held out a hand, but the doll merely looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Right, popsicles," Adam said with an awkward laugh.
Gakuganji walked away from the conversation with a blank expression, being quickly followed by Fushigoro as he slid open the door Miwa had just previously slammed. "Well, it was great meeting you Nitta; I've gotta catch up to those two, hopefully we can talk more next time."
The blonde boy looked up with an embarrassed flush. "Y-Yeah! Hopefully, I won't make a mess of myself next time haha." Adam brushed past him and entered the dorm, only to immediately turn around and backpedal.
"Oh, right! Your sister told me to say that she was looking forward to seeing you; she's been pretty good to me when Ijichi's not available, so can you give her my thanks?" He said quickly.
"Yeah, I got it," Nitta replied immediately. Adam didn't hear the rest of the boy's murmurs as he ran into the dorms to catch up to his friend. Thankfully, Fushigoro was waiting in the hall for him.
"Did Manager Nitta actually ask you to pass along that message?" He asked with a raised brow. Adam looked at him with a confused expression as they began to walk.
"Yes? Why? Do they not get along well or something?" Fushigoro shook his head.
"Nothing like that…you just aren't don't seem like the approachable type." He murmured. Adam glared at him before his expression changed into a smug one.
"Aww, does wittle baby Megumi not like it when I talk to other people?" He teased, only to have a palm pushed into his face as Fushigoro scowled.
"Shut up." He growled. Adam shrugged while turning back to the end of the hall.
"I like to think I've gotten better with that sort of thing." The white-haired boy eventually said.
"Well, you certainly scowl less." Fushigoro acquiesced. "When you first came here, you didn't smile."
"Nothing much to smile about back then," Adam replied simply, dampening the mood to an immeasurable degree.
The due soon turned a corner of the hall that immediately opened into a large common room. On their left was a similar counter to what they have in their dorm, with 3 stools set up on one side and cupboards on the other for easy access. In the middle of the room, a table just small enough to fit everyone and still not be obtrusive sat; currently, Gakuganji was sitting there with a mug of tea in his hand. On the right side of the room was the couch set up, with one larger couch sitting in front of the TV and another up against the wall directly to the boy's right. Nishimiya was sat on the centre couch, her hand wrapped around a TV remote while the ogre of a man next to her mumbled 'Boring' at every option she flicked through.
Eventually, she seemed to have had enough as she threw the remote at the ogre's head and exclaimed, "Then you pick something!" Gakuganji coughed politely for the second time in the day just as Miwa burst into the room with a frantic expression.
"Where the heck is my perfume?!" The entire room stared at her for a few moments before Nishimiya flicked a finger over her shoulder.
"It might be in my room." Miwa sped off before she could finish the rest of her sentence, brushing past Fushigoro and Adam as she went. "Why were you looking in the pantry though?" her question remained unanswered as the bulky student next to her threw down the remote and placed his legs on the coffee table with a satisfied sigh.
"This is more like it." Adam glanced at the program and suppressed a laugh. The huge, almost 2-meter-tall brick shit house of a student sitting in front of him was watching a bright idol concert recording. His hair was pulled into a messy bun, revealing just a small piece of the scar running down his face from Adam's perspective. The black tank top he was wearing did nothing to hide the bulging muscles covering his entire torso, something that only further cemented the hilarity of such a man watching a high-pitched woman prance around on stage and sing.
"More of this Takada crap?" Nishimiya whined. "She had like, one good song–" Her complaining was cut off when the ogre turned to her with an expression that promised death.
"Say something like that again, and I'll kill you." He promised angrily. Nishimiya scoffed at the words but kept her mouth shut as a drop of sweat ran down her face.
Gakuganji drank the rest of his tea quietly as he watched the exchange occur, much to Adam's shock. The two Tokyo students stood in the doorway for several more minutes, watching with morbid curiosity as the ogre-like student cheered with the crowd whenever the singer completed a song. Gakuganji eventually took matters into his own hands and announced his presence with another cough.
"If you could please point your attention towards me once your idol has finished her set." The ogre huffed in annoyance before the singer bowed for a final time and left the stage.
"What is it?" He asked patiently. "I wasn't able to get a ticket because of this exchange event, so whatever you're saying better be worth my time." He growled.
Gakuganji rolled his eyes in annoyance when the boy turned back to the TV to watch the broadcast. "This boy is Todo Aoi, a third year. He will be one of the students heading to Tokyo in your stead this week." Finally, the student looked away from the TV and glared at the two newcomers.
"Oh?" He stood up from the couch and walked over to the two boys, leering down at them with his aggressively tall stature. "First-years, right? I'm Todo Aoi; what type of girls do you like?"
Fushigoro glowered at the taller teen with a scowl. "Why should we answer that?" He said in a frustrated tone. Being forced to wait for almost 30 minutes had clearly gotten on his nerves.
Unlike Fushigoro however, Adam snapped his fingers as a grin slipped on his face. "You're Tsukumo's brat!" He exclaimed, uncaring to the fact that he was calling a person 2 years older than him a brat.
Todo glared at the white-haired boy for a few moments before he broke into a grin of his own. "You're Adam? I could hardly recognize you without a broken nose!" Adam groaned at the mention of his temporary mentor's harsh training.
"I told her to delete that photo!" He squawked. Todo seemed amused by the sudden exclamation as he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder and brought him down to the couch. Fushigoro trailed behind with a perturbed expression.
"So, tell me, what type of woman is your type?" Todo asked seriously, his grip getting slightly tighter around the boy's body. "Since you've also trained with Tsukumo, I'm expecting a good answer."
Adam huffed. "I'd like to hear your taste first; mine is a bit hard to understand." Todo slapped the boy on the back several times while laughing.
"Right, right! It's only polite for me to offer first. I love tall girls with big butts!" He exclaimed confidently. To his left, Adam heard Nishimiya slap her forehead. With an exaggerated gesture, Todo swung his arm at the TV to show off the idol that had just walked on stage. "Like my lovely Takada-chan!" Adam narrowed his eyes in the direction of the show, nodding up and down as he scanned the woman's form.
"Nice, nice, certainly a good choice." He replied sagely. "For me personally, anything goes!" The grip around his shoulder tightened to a painful degree. "See? I told you it was a bit hard to understand." With a weak slap, he attempted to push away Todo's arm. "Small boobs, big boobs, small butts, big butts, cute, mature, sophisticated, simple; all of those factors still make up a completely valid target of admiration!" He announced. "Unlike you, I'm not limited in choices of suitress in the slightest." Thankfully, Tsukumo had grilled into him that not having an explainable preference was not an answer; so he had gone with something else, loving all women. Adam gestured to the TV with his unrestrained arm. "How many women do you think are out there with a beautiful figure like that? I'll tell you, it certainly isn't a large amount. I, however, have around 2 billion possible options."
Todo nodded along with the boy's words with a serious expression. "I see, I see, so you are keeping yourself open to any possibility while also admiring every figure you can. Hmm, I understand." He nodded to himself a final few times before turning back to the TV program. Without even looking at Fushigoro, he repeated his original question. "What type of girls do you like?"
Fushigoro narrowed his eyes at the dismissive third-year. "I don't care about looks or anything like that; as long as a person is compassionate, I'm fine with that." The entire time Fushigoro spoke, Adam had been faux slicing across his neck with a straight hand, the universal sign of 'Abort'.
"I see…" Todo murmured.
"Please take any scuffles outside, your previous battle with Nitta required a frankly disturbing amount of money to clean up," Gakuganji announced carefully. Despite his position of clear authority, it seemed the elderly man still held some reservations about pushing Todo around.
Todo murmured something intelligible before pressing the record button on the remote and standing up. He turned to face Fushigoro with a bored expression. "Do you really mean what you said?" Fushigoro glared up at the man defiantly, not uttering a single word. "So that's your answer." With speed eclipsing what would be considered normal for a person of his stature, Todo grabbed Fushigoro's face and swung around. Gakuganji sighed lowly as the third-year threw Fushigoro through a nearby window.
"And I can't even take it out of his paycheck." The principal lamented quietly. Todo ignored his superior's mumbles as he leapt past the TV and through the window Fushigoro had crashed through.
Adam overcame his shock at the sudden violence moments later, quickly following after the two boys by vaulting over the window sill.
"Boys are so stupid…" Nishimiya groaned. She quickly made use of her fellow third-year's absence to change the channel onto a mushy rom-com that seemed even to intrigue the old principal.
"I'm inclined to agree after that display," Gakuganji chuckled. "Now what was this one called? I must put it on my watchlist."
"Silver Dreams," Nishimiya replied calmly. "If Todo paid attention to it for a second, he might have realized his beloved Takada-chan is in this episode."
"Truly?" Gakuganji asked. Nishimiya nodded in reply before gesturing to the TV. "Oh, I see; she is the one performing at the bar."
"Maybe I should buy him a box set for Secret Santa this year; if I get his name." She mused.
"I'm sure he would enjoy it; last year you received Zenin's name, correct?" The principal asked calmly. Last year he received Kamo's name, the monumental headache that ensued while looking for a gift was not an experience he would like to have repeated. That boy truly did not want anything; he'd ended up going with a gift card for an airline after he mentioned wanting to take a vacation to China with his family.
"Yeah, she was easy to buy for. It was pretty funny when she came crying to me for ideas on what to get Todo." Nishimiya giggled.
"Speaking of which, what did he get you? If memory serves correctly, he had your name."
"He didn't get me anything; he got sidetracked by a limited-time merch drop from his idol and spent his entire stipend." The girl replied with a groan. Gakuganji opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud crash coming from outside. "Maybe you should step in."
"I think so too." Gakuganji stood from his seat and headed towards the hall, narrowly avoiding a panicking Miwa as she sped past him.
Fushigoro rolled across the ground in an unflattering heap. 'Fuck, he hits hard.' The boy quickly stood to his feet and raised his hands into the form of a shadow puppet. 'Is this the strength of a grade 1 sorcerer?' Before he could summon his shikigami, Todo leapt through the hole he had created in the window and landed before him.
"If there is one thing I hate most in this world, it's boredom." He said furiously. The boy's eyes raised to meet Fushigoro's own, and the black-haired boy was surprised to see tears filling them. "And you, Fushigoro Megumi, are the most boring person I've ever met." Todo raced forward with an arm outstretched, but barely moved 2 steps before he was kicked over the back of the head by Adam.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The boy yelled angrily. Todo shook off the blow without issue.
"I should be asking you that." The third year growled. Fushigoro quickly flicked his hands into the same sign he attempted earlier and called out his divine dogs.
"No, I really should be asking you that." Adam spat. "Why the hell are you attacking my friend!?" He shook his leg with a grimace, Todo's physical durability wasn't anything to scoff at.
"He's boring!" Todo exclaimed in response. His tone was one of complete and utter confidence.
"You're crazy!" Adam exclaimed. With a quick flick, he reached into his inventory and grabbed his spear. "But if you want to fight, it'll be with both of us."
Todo's eyes narrowed minutely at the challenge before he broke into a grin and nodded. "Yes! It only makes sense for somebody to stand up for their weaker brother." Fushigoro flinched angrily at the unintended insult. "Very well, I'll take you both on!" In response to the challenge, Adam raced forward with his spear aimed straight. Todo leaned to the right to avoid the blow, right into the way of a black divine dog's bite; before the attack could land, however, he clapped his hands.
Suddenly, Adam was in the dog's place and received a kick to the back of his head. Shiro rushed forward to attack Todo from his right, while Kuro came in from his left; with another clap, their positions were switched and both attacks missed! Todo swung both of his arms outward and spun, collecting both dogs in a widespread lariat before throwing them in opposite directions. "Hmph, weak!"
Adam recovered from the kick to his head and spun around, rushing towards Todo's front while Fushigoro attacked his back. "Put away your spear!" Fushigoro shouted, watching Todo raise his hands to clap. In an instant, Adam cast away the tool into his inventory but was kicked in the face for allowing an opening. Before Fushigoro could land his punch, Todo clapped and swapped their positions; subsequently, Adam was punched in the sternum by his friend before they were both sent sprawling from a front kick by Todo.
"Far too predictable!" Todo chastised loudly. "If you want to land a hit, you've gotta be willing to take a few!" He clapped once again as Fushigoro's divine dogs attempted to tear his body apart. Instead of biting into Todo's arm, Kuro was now jaw-deep in Shiro's body.
"Shit!" Fushigoro exclaimed, cancelling their summoning before they could be destroyed. He quickly rolled off of Adam's body and back onto his feet, providing an arm for his white-haired friend to stabilise himself on. "Do we really have to go this far?!" He asked angrily.
Todo huffed angrily. "Of course we do! Your boring answer pissed me off, so you have to take responsibility!"
"Jeez…" Adam stumbled to his feet with a hand rubbing the back of his head. "You make it sound like we pump and dumped you; are you sure you like women?" Fushigoro sent his friend a glare as Todo gripped his fists in rage.
Todo clapped his hands, and Fushigoro immediately prepared to attack the place Fushigoro was standing; only for the boy not to have changed positions. "Fuck!" Before he could put up an arm to guard, Todo slammed his shin into Adam's nose before punching Fushigoro in the face.
"I was prepared to have a friendly bout before, but now you've made it personal." The third year growled. Adam slid back to his feet but was immediately assaulted by Todo once again.
"Then bring it on, scrub," Adam growled as he blocked a punch. Todo kicked the boy's leg out and quickly clapped, switching their positions. Suddenly, Adam was falling backwards as Todo planted his hands on the stones below them. With a strong push, the ogre of a student slammed his feet into the white-haired boy's back and launched him into the air. Adam coughed up a handful of blood as he felt his spine slam into his organs.
Todo clapped his hands again as Adam tumbled through the air, switching their positions. With his feet still outstretched, Todo prepared to plant both of them straight onto the grounded boy's stomach for a finishing blow. His attempt was foiled by Nue flying in the way and taking the hit; not only that, but the forward momentum from the bird's flight led to him slipping over.
As Nue continued to fly straight, Todo clapped his hands mid-air and allowed the bird to fly straight into his waiting leg. Fushigoro watched in horror as Nue was catapulted into the dorm building's roof by Todo's side-kick.
Nue was immediately sent back to Fushigoro's shadow as the boy prepared to launch an assault of attacks when Todo landed, only to find himself mid-air when Todo clapped his hands again. He was then kicked in the chin when Todo flicked his foot up in an attempt to mimic Fushigoro's initial plan of attack. Before he could attack again, however, Adam wrapped his arms around the boy's stationary leg and slammed him into the ground with a flip. "Hell yeah! First blood!" The boy exclaimed childishly.
Todo kicked the boy in the cheek to knock him away just in time for Fushigoro to stomp on his chest. "Will you please take this seriously? At least until Gojo gets here!" Adam wiped the blood from his face as his broken jaw quickly healed.
"Sorry, sorry, I was just getting caught up in my memories. Man, this reminds me of when I was training with Tsukumo; she slammed me into the ground just as hard!" Todo narrowed his eyes in the boy's direction as he watched his injuries disappear, the distraction earning him another stomp from Fushigoro.
The third year attempted to clap his hands, but Fushigoro stomped on his wrist with his other foot. "Adam, call our teacher so we can get this switch over with." It was as if the black-haired boy wasn't there, Todo raised his hand and clapped. The third year tried to stomp on the boy's chest, but he found his leg being pulled by a string of cursed energy.
"So this is your cursed technique?" Todo applied a small amount of cursed energy to his leg and attempted to tear the threads off, only for them to stretch with the attempt.
"Try that again and I'll make them sharper," Adam warned. Fushigoro quickly rolled out from under the third-year's reach and stood next to his friend. Todo huffed before turning to face a new arrival.
Gojo strolled onto the scene while clapping. "Nice fight, nice fight; we're going to have to work on your body Megumi. Adam, you're way too slow to get started. Aoi, you can't underestimate your opponents like that." His offered advice was taken in stride by the older teen, but the two first years were another story.
"What the hell man?! How long were you standing there for?!" Adam yelled angrily. "I got my nose broken because of you!"
"Well, technically it was Aoi who did it…" Gojo drawled. "And it was only for like…10 minutes?" Fushigoro narrowed his eyes before checking his phone.
"It's been 5 since I got blasted outside." The boy reported angrily. Gojo chose to ignore the boy's words and walked over to Gakuganji, who had just now appeared on the veranda.
"Yo! Is Arata all good to go? Because I can take both of those rascals to the station as soon as they're ready." Gakuganji ignored the man and instead turned to his strongest student.
"Have you packed?" Todo nodded. "Good; then you can take them both away. I'm expecting them back here by evening on Monday." His statement was aimed towards Gojo, who had been cleaning his ear with his pinky.
"This Monday or next Monday?" Gakuganji's eye twitched at the stupid question.
"Next Monday."
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