Tokyo, a modest restaurant at the edge of a busy shopping district.
The night air buzzed with distant cars, snatches of conversation, and the soft thud of a closing shop door. Streetlights cast long, stretching shadows across the sidewalk as Gojo, Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi stepped out, leaving the warmth of the restaurant behind.
Gojo stretched slowly, putting his arms way up with a happy smile. "Wow, that was great food! Megumi, you saved us paying the bill." He patted his pocket like he was sad. "I guess I forgot my wallet. but I will pay you as usual later so no worries."
Megumi gave him a cold look. "You didn't forget your wallet. You just didn't bring it," he said simply. He knew Gojo did this a lot. "And about you paying me, that's why I paid it, otherwise I wouldn't have paid for you."
"So, you wouldn't have paid for your lovely sensei only."
"It's okay, Gojo-sensei!" Yuji said, full of happy energy. "Megumi is used to it!" He poked Megumi, who just made a small noise.
"Yeah, thanks, Megumi," Nobara added, smiling a little. "I needed that good sushi after today's annoying curse problem."
"It's decided next time Nobara would be the one to pay."
"The hell! What did I do? I aint gonna pay for your lousy asses." Nobara shot back looking deadly at Gojo and Yuji.
"Could we just please get out of here please? People are staring at us." Megumi pleaded as he sighed.
"Tch tch Megumi! They aren't staring at us. They are probably staring at me."
Sigh
They walked and talked easily, teasing each other like good friends do. Megumi was usually the one who had to be the grown-up between these three idiots.
They turned a corner. Nobara suddenly stopped walking.
"Hey," she said, looking at a plain library building across the street. "Let's go to the library real fast. I need something."
Gojo looked surprised. "The library? Nobara, you usually only care about shopping And only care about reading price tags. Do you have fever."
"Yeah, what do you need?" Yuji asked, curious. "A cooking book?"
Nobara scowled, gritted her teeth, and socked each of them once-lightly, but enough to make a point.
"Shut up. I didn't ask for your comments." She turned on her heel, walking ahead.
"I found something interesting, and you're coming. That's it."
Megumi let out a soft sigh. "I literally didn't say anything."
Nobara shot him a look over her shoulder.
"Exactly. I know you were about to."
He shrugged and followed. So, the group followed Nobara across the street and went inside the library.
….
Inside, the loud city sounds went away. It was quiet and a bit dark, with tall shelves full of books. The air smelled like old paper.
Nobara went right to a section about old clothes and history. She looked at the books quickly. Gojo and Yuji started messing around nearby, like they usually did.
"Look at this book, Yuji," Gojo whispered loudly. He held up a small book. "'How to Not Do Things You're Supposed To.' I could write this book! Ypu would buy it and give a 5 star review right… yuji."
Yuji giggled quietly. "Of course, I would sensei!"
"Be quiet, you idiots, this is a library not a park" Megumi whispered back, sounding sharp. "We're not here to play."
"Megumi, a party pooper." Gojo teased as Yuji laughed at it.
While they were doing this Nobara was looking for the book she wanted.
"Found it," Nobara said, pulling out a book with pictures. "'Old Japan Pictures.' Good. And… huh?" When she took her book, another smaller book fell off the shelf. It landed near her feet. It was covered in dark, old leather. There was no title on the side, but the front had shapes pressed into it: a sword, a spear, a bow, and a shield.
She picked it up. "'Four cardinals Weapons'?" she read from the cover. She looked interested. "What's this? Like a game book Of some RPG thing?"
Yuji looked over her shoulder. "Whoa, cool! It has pictures, a sword, spear, bow, and a shield!"
"Probably just some lousy isekai or whatever story," Gojo said, walking closer but acting like he didn't care much. "Got your book? Let's go, Nobara."
Megumi looked at the strange book. He got a weird feeling, like something was wrong. "Put it back. We don't need it."
"Wait," Nobara said, being stubborn. The strange book caught her eye. "I just want to look inside real quick."
She ignored Megumi's unhappy look and opened the old leather cover.
The moment she opened it, the quiet library changed. A very bright, golden light shot out from the book's pages. It was so bright it hurt their eyes. The light felt warm and strong, making the air shake.
"What the, ?!" Nobara shouted, dropping the other book she had.
"It's so bright! What's happening?" Yuji yelled, falling back a little.
Gojo stopped joking around almost jnstantly got serious. He looked at the three of his students and said. "Hold on, get behind me this instant.!" he ordered.
"What the hell… I knew this was a bad idea!" Megumi said through tight teeth. They all felt a strong pull, like something was dragging them towards the book Nobara held.
The golden light got even brighter, covering everything. The pulling feeling got stronger, pulling them off their feet. Then, everything went black.
Megumi felt cold stone under him. His ears were ringing. He smelled dust and smoke. Shaking orange light showed through his closed eyes.
He sat up, blinking. They were in a big, round room made of rough stone blocks. Torches on the walls made shadows dance. Strange marks were drawn on the floor in a big circle where they had landed. Around the circle stood people in dark robes with hoods hiding their faces. They stared with wide eyes.
There were other people too. Three teenagers stood near them in the circle, looking just as confused. One held a sword, one held a spear, and one held a bow.
Then Megumi felt something heavy on his left arm. He looked down. A small metal shield was stuck tight to his arm. He couldn't pull it off.
"The call… it worked," one robed person whispered. "But… there are seven?"
Gojo blinked, getting used to the room faster than the others. He was still serious, but he looked confused too. "Seven? Oh, us four," he pointed to himself and his students, "and those three over there with the weapons?"
"Megumi!" Yuji pointed. "You have a shield stuck on you!"
Megumi pulled at the shield, but it was no use. It wouldn't move. He gried to take it off but… "It won't come off," he muttered. "Where are we? What is this place even?"
"Who are these weird people?" Nobara asked, glaring at the robed figures and then the three teenagers to her othser sides. "And why do they," she pointed at the other three teens, "have weapons too?"
Another robed person stepped forward. They held up their hands to calm them down. Their voice was serious. "Welcome, Heroes. You were called here to use the Great Weapons. The one with the shield," the person looked right at Megumi, "is the Shield Hero."
"The one with the spear is a Spear Hero."
"The one with the bow is a Bow Hero."
"The one with Sword is a Sword Hero."
Gojo slapped Megumi on the back. "Shield Hero? Wow, Megumi, you're like some story's main character!"
Gojo's serious mood vanished, if some trouble did happen he could take care of it, though he didn't sense any type of domain or anything for them to be under.
'Definitely not Cursed Spirits,' Gojo thought, his eyes scanning the dimly lit room. Even in the near-darkness, his Six Eyes made everything sharp and clear. 'But these other guys... they don't have a drop of Cursed Energy. What is this place?'
"This is nuts. Get this thing off!" Megumi grumbled beside him, yanking at a strange shield that seemed fused to his arm. He wasn't even paying attention to Gojo.
Near them, another group of three, maybe four, young men were looking just as confused, though maybe less panicked.
"Whoa, this isn't anywhere I know," said one, gripping a spear that hadn't been there moments ago.
"Looks kinda like the middle ages? Or some fantasy game?" another added, eyeing the bow in his own hands.
"Seriously, what's the deal with these weapons?" asked the third, a guy with black hair, staring down at the sword he now held.
Gojo watched them. 'They're taking this weirdly well,' he noted silently. 'Almost too well.'
"Yuji, Nobara, Megumi," he said, his voice casual despite the bizarre situation. "Stay close, right behind me."
This whole thing felt wrong. Someone managing to pull him, Gojo Satoru, somewhere without him even noticing? That shouldn't be possible. It took some crazy power. He hadn't sensed any technique, no Cursed Energy surge, nothing right before they were yanked from... wherever they were before.
Just then, one of the figures in robes stepped forward, pulling back his hood to show his face. He pressed his hands together like in prayer. "I am sure you are all very confused by this sudden event," he began, his voice echoing a little. "But please listen, time is short for all of us."
He took a breath. "Our kingdom, Melromarc, is in great danger. Terrible monsters have been crawling out in huge numbers from cracks between worlds, hurting our people and land."
"Our knights and adventurers fought hard together," the robed man went on, "and they barely managed to stop the first wave of the monsters that came feom the dimensional crack."
"But a special hourglass tells us... the next wave, the next disaster, is coming very soon..."
Behind Gojo, Yuji suddenly whispered, way too loud, "Gojo-sensei! This is just like those isekai manga I told you about! You know, where normal people get summoned to another world to be heroes, fight a demon king, and maybe get a harem along the way?"
The robed man either didn't hear Yuji or ignored him. "I know you must have many questions you want answers to," he said, gesturing towards a large doorway. "Please, follow us to the grand hall. Our King is waiting there and will explain everything you wish to know."
