Fujino pouted as she looked at the two people in front of her, her gaze shifting to the boy standing behind Gojo Satoru. Gojo, noticing her focus, turned to look behind him.

“Ah, I almost forgot to introduce you! This is Okkotsu Yuta. If all goes as planned, he’ll be… one of your classmates.”

“Got it. But, what’s the deal with the curse behind him?” Fujino pointed lightly to the entity lingering behind Yuta, her tone casual. Her words, however, caused Yuta to freeze in place.

At that moment, the air grew heavy, and Pink-chan immediately darted out from Fujino’s hair.

“Idiot! Fujino, watch out!”

“Don’t bully Yuta!” Fujino’s eyes widened in alarm as a massive curse materialized behind Yuta.

“Rika, stop!” Yuta spun around in panic, but Rika didn’t cease her hostility toward Fujino, charging directly at her.

“What the hell is this thing?!” Fujino exclaimed, swiftly drawing her katana.

Rika’s claws swiped down at her, but Fujino sidestepped with agility, countering with a downward slash. However, her strike missed its target.

After a few exchanges, Fujino was already feeling exhausted. Just as she was about to reach for her cards, Yuta shouted, “Rika, stop! Fujino-senpai isn’t a bad person!”

If one looked closely, they might have noticed a subtle shift in Gojo’s expression the moment Fujino reached for her cards.

───

“So, Rika’s your girlfriend, huh?” Fujino asked casually as she adjusted her messy hair. She and Yuta followed behind Gojo Satoru.

“Uh… Rika is definitely… someone very important to me,” Yuta stammered, his face turning a bit red at Fujino’s comment.

“By the way, Fujino-chan, your technique involves cards, right?” Gojo suddenly turned around, catching Fujino off guard. She didn’t bother to hide it and simply nodded. Yuta, however, looked puzzled.

“Cards?” he asked.

“Just regular stuff,” Fujino waved dismissively. But before she could continue, Gojo came to an abrupt stop in front of them.

“We’re here! Now, Fujino-chan, Yuta, wait here for a moment while your handsome and capable teacher, Gojo Satoru, goes in to have a word with them.”

As Gojo confidently opened the door and walked in, Fujino turned to exchange a look with Yuta. Both of them sighed simultaneously.

“Just call me Fujino, Yuta,” she said with a smile.

“Ah, okay… Fujino,” Yuta replied, a bit awkwardly.

Moments later, Gojo’s voice called out, “You can come in now!”

Fujino glanced at Yuta and said, “Why don’t you go in first?”

Yuta hesitated briefly before nodding and stepping ahead of her. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Fujino was about to follow when Pink-chan popped out.

“That guy is dangerous, isn’t he… Fujino?” Pink-chan asked cautiously.

Fujino gripped the door handle, lowering her head as if in thought. Finally, she replied, “Oh, come on, Pink-chan. It’s not as complicated as you’re making it sound!”

“Fine, have it your way,” Pink-chan muttered before disappearing again. Fujino paused for a moment before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

As the door opened, Fujino was met with a chaotic scene. The table was a mess, and Maki, Toge Inumaki, and Panda each stood with a bump on their heads.

I must have opened the door wrong… Fujino thought, dumbfounded.

“What happened? Wait… don’t tell me, Yuta?” Fujino’s mind flashed back to the image of Rika. She slowly turned to look at Yuta, who nodded sheepishly.

“I knew it. Rika really adores you, huh…” For some reason, Fujino felt a twinge of envy.

“Hey, Fujino! You knew about this all along, didn’t you?” Maki accused angrily.

“Salmon roe,” Toge chimed in.

“Fujino, that’s so uncool of you!” Panda added.

Scratching her head awkwardly, Fujino pointed at Gojo, who was standing to the side.

“Hey! He knew about it way before I did! Why aren’t you blaming him? Speaking of which, Gojo-sensei, you didn’t even help me when I was getting beaten up by Rika!” Fujino huffed, frustrated. “Do you know how long I spent washing my hair yesterday just to have it ruined today?”

As the three of them—plus Panda—turned their heated gazes toward Gojo, he shrugged and spread his hands.

“Well, I didn’t want to interfere, you know~ I was scared, too!”

“Liar!” the three of them and Panda shouted in unison.