Even back in his universe , Satoru Gojo prided himself in one thing, his brilliant mind. He was an all rounded fellow, exceptionally bright and undeniably strong, with limits to just how far he could reach unknown ( gave a new meaning to limitless) . It was a fact he knew from a very young age, which, as expected made him develop an ego the size of a planet, and who could deny it. As a child, no one could dispute his power, as an adult, even in dreams sorcerers couldn't hope to match him.

So it was understandable just how frustrated he became at the concepts of power in this new reality.

At first , Gojo was content with just being a normal kid in this life. It was a second chance, something he had never even thought of in the past. Here, he had the chance to experience love, to not be revered by everyone, to be approachable as an ordinary dude who experienced life's shitty problems just like everyone else.

And it was blissful. Despite the lack of parents , he made sure to enjoy his life to the fullest. He played with kids, got into fights, lost them to his utter joy, made bonds with kids his age, played pranks on adults, got into trouble that only pure mercy and not his status as the heir of a clan could get him out of and basically became a local nuisance.

Bu it didn't last long. Being different was all he knew. He technically was different even in this life. He was a kid with the experience of an adult and despite the hormonal influence of his young body, his soul was old and battered with the weight of his past identity and his solitude.

Playing with kids became boring , pranks became dull and he started to care less about getting into trouble and as a result started avoiding them. It wasn't long before he became a loner once again for another different reason. Many a time he'd stopped to wonder whether he was in his afterlife, his hell, forced to drift and swallow the bitter pill of never being able to truly fit in.

Then Kent Nelson came along.

And a roaring flame was lit once again in blazing passion. He had a chance to regain his old power once more, but this time differently , where instead of being born into it, he would become it. He would prove once again that he was the strongest because he was Satoru Gojo.

And now we're back to his frustration , the beginning of it being the one glaring difference to his past universe , the lack of cursed energy. With that came the obvious realization that he could not access his limitless technique. But he didn't dwell on that because in this universe there existed sorcerers who could use a wide range of techniques not limited to their genetics. So obviously he was ecstatic to learn about this, because simply put, he could not only relearn limitless but a wide range of other techniques.

But then came a momentum stopping realization. The coded magic of this universe had had many similarities to cursed energy in that not everyone could wield it, but where cursed energy resulted from negative emotions thus making it negative energy, magic was a variation of absolute power given limits.

Unlike cursed energy where limiters were placed in the form of binding vows which had a plus advantage with the added disadvantage, magic had its own limiters which acted to root the magic wielder to humanity , which wasn't exactly what Gojo envisioned. Which led to his frustration.

"If you frown any further than that your face might melt off your face." Kent Nelson said, crouching down in front of a shelf.

Gojo sighed. He looked at the old man, dressed impeccably as always in a three piece suit and a cane that went well with his attire. To anyone passing , he was a respectable man of senior age, but to Gojo, he was a constant source of annoyance . Perhaps Utahime had left a curse on him, because Kent Nelson taught Gojo on a repeated basis on the concept of empathy. If this was what she had to go through everytime she was with him, it was a wonder she hadn't killed him.

Oh wait, she couldn't , he was a monster.

But still, he didn't think he was that bad. This old man could really work his nerves, and coming from a guy who just kicked back and had stupid fun on a recurring basis in his past life that was saying something . Kent had serious issues when it came to commitment in teaching . He didn't really embody the hands on approach . He was the 'look for books on related topics in the vast library in the house of Fate and while you're at it, clean the place up' kinda guy.

Of course he understood the relevance of having a student grasp a concept from his own understanding. It was such a fulfilling experience , seeing them gain a new perception of strength based on their limited guidance. He smiled everytime he remembered his time with Yuji and that boy embodied the concept of strength, mentally , physically and emotionally .

And that was because he had great teacher Gojo as his mentor.

Kent was vastly different . Even Gojo, despite his usual taunts and measures of annoyance took on a hands on approach with his students . Kent didn't . He merely referred you to a few books and took credit of the knowledge you gained which gave a whole new level to Gojo's annoyance he had not been previously aware of.

But Gojo continued nonetheless . He was a genius after all and learning the basics about magic was not short of childplay given the two weeks he had been living with the once sorcerer supreme .

Kent Nelson was not a good teacher and admittedly , Satoru Gojo was not a good student. What Kent ' taught' was entirely different from what he wanted to learn.

"Why are we here?"he asked, looking around.

"We're here to buy a birthday gift."

"For who, one of your buddies at the retirement homes " Kent narrowed his eyes at the reply , making Gojo smile.

He still had it.

That smile was wiped off his face when Kent sighed and grinned back.

"No, its for your new buddy."

"What buddy?" Gojo asked with a frown on his face.

"Zatarra Giovanni."

"The superhero ?" Gojo's brows fell with obvious boredom. He was well aware, of course of the superheroes in this reality and their many adversaries , the one seated at the pinnacle being the Superman.

Did Gojo envy the man of steel? No. Absolutely not. The big blue as the world called him was a boy scout, living off doing good and only using his strength to help. Gojo respected that, but he did not envy it. What he did envy however was the family of superheroes that surrounded him, being some powerful as him and others lesser but they didn't just revere him, they loved him.

"Yes, the superhero. A sorcerer just like myself."

"And he's the buddy with a birthday ?"

"Nop."Kent said, popping the p" his daughter is the one celebrating her thirteenth year. And we're being expected."

The man obviously had not informed Gojo of that. " so we're going to the birthday of a thirteen year old who has no idea of who i am...and you're telling me this now?"

"What better time than the present ." Kent replied with a smile.

"And let me guess, we're here in some store on the tool aisle to look for a gift for her-"

"Practicality over beauty as I always say." kent replied, picking up a shovel and eyeing it. Gojo tried to find the dry humor that always sparkled in the man's eyes whenever he was being intentionally annoying but he found none.

He shrugged and held out his hand, putting a wide grin on his face that stretched his face so much it almost closed his eyes. Kent raised his eyebrow at him

" my student allowance."

"There's no such thing as a student allowance." the old man responded dryly.

"There is if your teacher can surprise you to birthday parties and expect you to attend it without prior warning. I need a huge bundle on my hand now old man. You wouldn't want me to go without a present, would you?" he raised his eyebrow at that, his grin widening even further at the frown on Kent's face.

Ding dong.

The door opened to reveal the face of a middle aged man with raven black hair, a classy moustache with an angular jaw and bright green eyes. He had a button up shirt with two of its top buttons opened, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows revealing his muscular and slightly hairy forearms. He was the kind of man Shoko would look at and go ' damn' with that lazy expression of hers.

The only thing that ruined it was the bright makeup and pink beads on his hair.

The sight of him made Gojo stop thinking because for a moment there, he didn't know whether to be horrified or impressed. How someone could pull off the 'hey, I'm a guy who can strike directly at your father's self esteem' and ' I kidnap little girls and steal their make up and dolls' at the same time was a mystery to him.

"Giovanni...what's going on?" Kent asked.

"Kent." the man named Giovanni responded, a wide smile on his face which was severly offputting with his highlighted cheeks" you made it!"

"Giovanni ...what is going on?" Kent asked again, this time taking a step back from the man. It seemed Gojo wasn't the only one freaking out at the man's look.

"And you must be Satoru Gojo!"

Gojo took an entire step back. At that moment , he knew, this would haunt him for the rest of his life, the image of Zatarra Giovanni's excited face with highlighted pink make up and cherry red lipstick ad the dreadful house he was inviting them into.

"The girls are waiting " the sorcerer continued " and they're eager to give everyone a make over."