Chapter 5: Tokyo Jujutsu High
Time-skippu.
https://discord.gg/ZrWk2jqjbV (Discord Link)
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December 6th, 2004 (four years later)
"Feeling nervous?" Yamada questioned leisurely, walking side by side Ginko up the foothills of Mount Mushiro as they took their time proceeding up a lengthy set of stairs surrounded by a series of vermilion torii gates.
"A little," Ginko replied as he cautiously observed the scenery around him —his eyes darting from side to side like a hawk.
"I see, it appears to me that your mind is a little preoccupied at the moment," like usual Yamada spared little effort seeing through his grandson. "What's eating at you?"
Ginko didn't offer an immediate response, instead allowing a small amount of his cursed energy to leak into his surroundings as he attempted to make sense of the space around him.
"Is it just me or are we surrounded by a—"
"Barrier?" Yamada continued, "Indeed we are. You should have noticed something rather peculiar about it by now right?"
Ginko nodded as he retracted his cursed energy in a strangely defeated manner.
"I can't read it, not even in the slightest. It's like I can tell it's there but I have no idea what it is at the same time, it's a little creepy if I'm being honest."
Yamada chuckled as he laughed off his grandson's supposed lack of perceptiveness.
"Me neither, this barrier was created by Master Tengen —and it covers the entirety of this school and more, all stemming from just one person," the patriarch's pupils glistened with admiration. "Impressive isn't it?"
The change in Ginko's expression made his shock crystal clear, having heard mentions of Tengen from his grandfather every now and then, but never really going into depth.
Not that anyone was really capable of such a feat.
"I'll say, not only the range but the strength of it is on another level," the title of "Master" evidently wasn't just for show. "Truly, quite something," he muttered under his breath.
"Tengen's barrier is capable of suppression, cloaking, and even strengthening. Alongside hundreds of other functions most of which we probably don't even know about, unfortunately Tengen has quite the reputation for living the hermit lifestyle so I've never had the honor of meeting them in person."
Ginko simply hummed to himself inquisitively as they neared the top of the staircase, shifting his focus from Tengen's prowess to the matter at hand.
As of today Ginko would be enrolling into Tokyo Jujutsu High, officially setting him on the path to become a fully flagged sorcerer.
Most of the first years would be around his age so Yamada had picked a good time to sign him up, but once Ginko put on his uniform, that would be it —no more "coddling" from his grandfather, it would be time for him to completely support himself on his own two feet.
"Ginko," Yamada spoke out of the blue.
"Yeah?"
"You've worked hard, and grown strong through your own efforts. You understand this correct?"
Ginko blinked repeatedly in confusion, taken aback as he glanced strangely at his grandfather.
"That came out of nowhere."
Yamada smiled, "Doesn't make it any less true. All I'm saying is that there's no need for you to be nervous, you've more than earned your place here, I wouldn't have enrolled you if I didn't think you were ready."
The praise naturally caused the corners of Ginko's mouth to stretch as he looked at Yamada appreciatively.
"I guess you're right, thanks."
"Don't sweat it, now look sharp, we're about to go meet your teacher for the foreseeable future."
…
"So this is the one?" A tired voice asked.
Both Ginko and Yamada were currently stood in the confines of a rustic oak hallway, both with their eyes fixated on the figure sat cross-legged in front of them.
He was a middle-aged man with a muscular build and tanned skin, he sported short dark-brown hair alongside an all black outfit with the Jujutsu Tech pin firmly placed on his collar.
'Can't say he's exactly what I was expecting…'
Ginko watched in confusion as the man carefully weaved his needle and thread through what looked to be a stuffed animal of sorts resembling a duck, wondering to himself what the odd figure's deal was.
"Looks like you're busy as ever Yaga, have the old fogeys up there finally decided to make you principal yet?" The way Yamada spoke to the man gave Ginko the impression they were on pretty good terms, which was quite something seeing as he had never seen his grandfather act familiar with another sorcerer.
"Aren't you one of those fogeys as well, Yamada?" He quipped back.
"Hah, that's no way to speak to your elders. Let me guess, you still have to do a thousand more interviews before they even take it into consideration?"
"Pretty much, but I can't say I'm eager to receive the added responsibility on top of what I'm already dealing with," Masamichi groaned.
"So it wasn't just a rumor after all," Yamada dropped his grin. "Honestly even I don't know what's going through their heads sometimes, forcing you to take that monster under your wing."
The faculty member nodded in agreement, "The higher ups have probably deluded themselves into thinking I'm capable of 'controlling' him, as if such a thing exists." He scoffed, slowly craning his head towards Ginko. "But I suppose we should save this conversation for another day, I believe there's a more pressing matter you want me to attend to?"
"Mhm," Yamada gave Ginko a slight nudge forwards. "I think you'll find he differs quite a bit from his father, so have fun with him alright?"
"I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing," Masamichi stood up —looking Ginko dead in the eyes.
"If it's you I'm sure you'll be just fine, anyhow I've got a massage scheduled in a few minutes so I'll be taking my leave now. Ciao!" In an instant, the eccentric grandpa had vanished out of sight.
"Your name is Ginko, correct?" He said, breaking the ice between the two.
"Yeah, and you are?"
"Yaga Masamichi. How old are you?" His questioning continued.
"Uh, I just turned 15 today."
"Enrolling on your birthday huh? I guess Yamada is still a clansman at the end of the day," Ginko felt a slight tinge of disappointment coming from the man's voice. "Tell me Ginko, for what purpose do you wish to join Jujutsu Tech?"
"Cause my gramps told me to do, obviously." He replied as if the question itself was idiotic.
"I picked up on that thank you very much," Yaga responded sarcastically. "I'm talking about what you yourself want from this institution, not your grandfather."
"Me? To learn Jujutsu of course."
"And once you've done that? After you've been taught how to exorcize curses and maximize your technique, what do you plan to do afterwards?"
Ginko hummed to himself, perplexed as to why Yaga seemed so interested in his motives.
Shouldn't the fact that he wielded cursed energy be reason enough?
But nonetheless it didn't seem like the man would budge before he got an answer, so Ginko continued to contemplate until his brain found the words.
"I'll continue."
"Elaborate," at last, a spark of interest had finally kindled in Yaga's voice.
"Once you've decided that there's nothing more for you to teach me, I'll simply start looking for more things to teach myself. Until I die I will continue to amass as much power as I can. That's all there is to it."
A brief silence ensued, Yaga sensing that Ginko still had more to say.
"If you're looking for some grand reason as to why I'm here, I'm afraid I'll have to let you down. I've never been one to look too deep into things, and I doubt that'll change anytime soon. I like Jujutsu, and I want gramps to be proud of me. I don't need any reason beyond that."
"What a dull way to live," Yaga said bluntly.
"Not to me," but Ginko didn't seem to be offended in the slightest.
Yaga groaned, finishing up his threading as the stuffed duck suddenly stood up on its own.
'Woah'.
"I won't pretend to be satisfied with your answer, but I can tell that you weren't lying just now so it'll have to make do for now," Ginko sighed in relief as the questioning came to an end. "However, there's still one more thing I need to confirm."
"And that is?"
"Your skills obviously, you're clearly not a rookie so don't expect me to half-ass this," the duck stepped forward, alongside what looked to be a stuffed grizzly bear. "These two will be your opponents."
"Are those supposed to be shikigami or something?"
"No, they're cursed corpses infused with my technique." Without warning, the dolls rushed towards Ginko with fierce expressions on their faces.
They each leaped into the air and clasped their fists into a hammer, ready to swing down at Ginko.
'As if I'd be taken by such a laughably direct approach.'
Confident that he'd be able to easily anticipate their trajectory, Ginko simply charged his fists up with cursed energy, preparing for a counterattack.
"Didn't you hear me? I said I wasn't going to half ass it."
The dolls joined their feet together, using one another as a board to bounce off, landing on the wooden pillars adjacent to Ginko with freakish coordination.
'That's quite the technique, and by the looks of things I'd imagine he's capable of producing dolls way stronger than these ones.'
They wasted no time lunging at Ginko, successfully capitalizing on the brief opening they made and hitting him square in the gut.
"That actually kinda hurt," Ginko commented, not having moved so much as a single inch from his position. Thanks to Yamada his cursed energy manipulation was on a level where he could coat the entirety of his torso before the dolls could land their attacks.
Tear!
The necks of both the dolls were swiftly cut open, causing a sea of stuffing to pour off their fluffy bodies as they fell to the floor.
But for some reason, Ginko didn't show any inklings of achievement on his face.
"They could've dodged that judging from how fast they moved earlier, I'm assuming you called them back?" He queried skeptically.
"Good observation, truthfully I don't have any doubts about your abilities to cut it as a sorcerer. I can tell from your cursed energy alone that you've already fought cursed spirits quite a few times."
"Then?"
"I just wanted to see your technique, or more accurately your grandfather's. If I remember correctly, you awakened it at the age of six?"
Ginko's eyes widened in surprise.
"If gramps told you that he must trust you quite a bit."
"Indeed, when I was younger I was paired up with your father so the two of us have met quite a few times. He also helped me out here and there but that's a story for another day. More importantly, you've passed. Congratulations."
Ginko smiled.
"Neat, so what do I do now?"
"There's a few procedural steps you'll have to go through before you're official. First, I'll need to register an I.D for you. Then I'll have someone come by and show you to your dormitory, and lastly you'll be sent on one supervised mission."
"What for?"
"I personally have a good grasp of where you are in terms of strength, but without an official record to your name you'll be stuck as fourth grade causing your early on schedule to be all wonky, which I'm sure neither of us wants. Just think of it as a trial run."
"Sounds good."
"With that said, I welcome you to Tokyo Jujutsu High, Ginko."
"Glad to be here, Yaga-sensei."
"Just Sensei is fine."
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