Hi guys, author here! Please share your thoughts in the comments and reviews. And if you like it, don't forget to drop some stones — they're a great motivator!
-----
The shadow dome around them disappeared, and with that, Mahoraga went back to the shadows as well.
At first, Satoru was momentarily lost when he realised that he could not use his technique at all and even started shaking Naoya for answers.
After neutralising the hyperactive, panicking, white-haired son, Naoya explained that the seal on his technique was not permanent and asked Sephiroth to fix it for him.
Sephiroth did that, meaning that the next time they need to seal it, they will need to restart the 8 slashes, but that won't be a big issue in the future.
Because of their fight, Sephiroth has now adapted to [Blue], [Red], [Infinity], and [White]. The only thing that Satoru could potentially use to hurt him was his [Purple], but Naoya has ways to deal with that.
After getting his technique back, Satoru immediately tried every move and sighed in relief.
He looked at Naoya and Sephiroth with anger. These two broke down the near-flawless technique that he devised to deal with all the ways Naoya fights with him, and knowing how [Mahoraga], the pinnacle of [Ten Shadows] work, he knew that even in the future, he would face troubles to deal with his rival.
-----
Back to the present:
Naoya brought down the barrier that surrounded them, signalling that their fight had ended.
"AGH!!!!!!!!!" yelled Satoru as if trying to release his anger.
"What? Hit your head?"
"You! Just how much do you try to be better than me?!"
"Hey....you are not at the level where I need to try son. Remember da-"
"-Daddys always finds a way to whoop their son's ass. I know!" said Satoru and narrowed his eyes at Naoya.
He knew that behind the sarcastic remark, Naoya would have actively been trying to better himself while finding a way to neutralise him.
- A new, fuck-everything-in-that-general-direction move in the form of [Black].
- Taming of the divine general [Mahoraga].
- An entirely new way to utilise his technique in the form of high-speed chanting.
These were the things that he showed in the Goodwill event. Who knows what tricks he had in his sleeve? And all these improvements in a year..... Does this guy even goof around?
The more Satoru thought, the more annoyed he got; finally, unable to bear it, he flicked Naoya's forehead.
"Oi! What's wrong with you?!" asked Naoya
"Rest more and enjoy your life, bastard!!!!!" scolded Satoru.
Naoya snorted but let it go. Honestly, if not for the no killing or fatal injuries rule, he could not say he would have won.
Satoru could have easily used his [Blue Rush] to blitz past him while firing a [Purple] to end him then and there.
As much as it pained him to accept it, for long distances, Satoru was faster than him. Within the range, he could predict and use [Projection Sorcery] to catch up with Satoru's speed, but once Satoru starts increasing range, the gap will start to show.
'Just how strong can a single technique get? I have to mix and match and train multiple things to beat him, while he can just work on one technique to catch up to me.' thought Naoya.
As Naoya thought, he got more annoyed.
Without any hesitation, he flicked Satoru's forehead.
"Oi! Why did you hit me?!"
"...Just wanted to hit your face."
"Huh? How can you get annoyed by my beautiful face?! Look closer!! You will even fall in love with me if you look for long!!!" said Satoru and gave his best ikemen look to Naoya.
The handsome face annoyed Naoya even more, and he flicked Satoru again.
"Agh! That's it! I will hit you back now!!!!"
Satoru and Naoya started their pointless banter.
While the two were having a pointless fight, the rest of the students soon gathered near them.
They didn't see most of it, since they were quite far away from the barrier, and the fact that most of the fight took place under the Black dome didn't help the case either.
Still, when they saw the annoyed Satoru, they kind of guessed the outcome.
Just like that, the Goodwill event came to an end with another win for the Kyoto branch.
-----
In a hot spring:
Since most of the facilities at the Kyoto Jujutsu High were destroyed, the students had no choice but to stay at a different place.
Gakuganji chewed out Naoya for his actions while Kagenori was begrudgingly praising his grandson, who openly declared that he had surpassed him.
Naoya didn't believe him, though. He knew that the old man was a tsundere.
Maki and Mai, on the other hand, went to 'talk' to Satoru, who lost to their brother.
Needless to say, the twins came running back to Naoya and hid behind him while sticking their tongues out at Satoru, who came to fight the kids.
Like any good brother, Naoya stepped aside, leaving the twins without any cover.
Maki and Mai looked at Naoya, the betrayer, with shock on their faces. Satrou looked at the twins with a smirk.
Needless to say, Satoru won his fight against the kids, and now Maki and Mai were not talking to Naoya.
Still, because it was kind of his fault, Naoya decided to accommodate the friends from Tokyo Jujutsu High at a hotel that was owned by the Zenin family.
Currently, they are relaxing in a hot spring.
"Ah! Hot springs sure hit different! All the fatigue gets washed away in an instant!" declared Haibara.
"Big talk for the only one who didn't fight and even slept through the end," retorted Nanami.
"Oi! That's not my fault! It was because of Gojo-senpai!!! He was in a hurry to fight! That's what I'm more bummed out about than anyone! He took my chance to look cool in front of Inumaki-san!" yelled Haibara and pointed towards Satoru, who was getting a shoulder massage from Naoya.
The two were taking turns, and right now it was his turn.
"Ah~ Yes~ That's the spot~ Do it harder, daddy~" moaned Satoru. The message hit different.
Naoya was not even weirded out by Satoru at this point.
The rest of them, though, looked at the white-haired freak with disgust.
"Who~ are you blaming~ If you went before me, you would have gone before me~ You would have been folded by my Naoya anyway~" said Satoru mid moan.
Haibara looked at Satoru and pointed his finger at him, but could not deny that statement.
"Agh! So what!!! You should still have let me go anyway!!! You and Geto-senpai fought him and lost anyway! I should have got a chance too!"
An invisible arrow pierced Geto and Gojo.
The two looked at Haibra with a frown.
"...Yeah, I am not staying here," muttered Nanami and moved away from Haibara and sat beside Naoya.
"Good work out there, senpai," said Nanami.
"Same to you, too."
"I lost way too early for that."
"Don't fret the small stuff. In a fight, there will always be a winner or a loser. The important thing is to try until you win. If not this time, then next. Work hard," said Naoya and closed his eyes to relax.
Nanami nodded and sat back to relax just like Naoya.
The two blonds simply rested in the hot water while the seniors from Tokyo were bullying Haibara.
"By the way, senpai? Where is Kamo-san?" asked Nanami.
"Hideaki, Shion, and Utahime-san are packing up their things to move. Because of my little stunt, the dorm facility will be down for a few days. They should arrive soon," explained Naoya.
Hearing Shion's name, Haibara, who was floating lifelessly in the water, suddenly twitched.
He sat and then started thinking.
Soon, he got up on his feet and, with a fire in his eyes, declared out loud.
"Alright! I have decided! Before we go back! I will try to get my feelings across to Inumaki-san!!!! Naoya-senpai! Please translate what she says to me!!! Nanami! No skipping ahead of me!"
Nanami gave him a stink eye. It's not like he needs to follow this idiot's warning....though he cannot imagine himself asking her out without getting to know her much.
In a way, Haibara was more courageous than him.
Because they were in the hot spring, all of them were buck naked, and because Haibara stood up, his entire body was in view.
Not that it bothered them much. This was a common culture in hot springs.
"Sorry for arriving late."
"Cashew!!!"
Suddenly, new voices were heard and recognising the familiar voices, the boys turned around.
The ones who just arrived were Hideaki and Shion.
And because of their arrival, the entire hot spring turned dead silent.
Haibara looked at the beauty who stole his heart.
Many questions came to his mind.
Why was she here?
Why was she naked in front of them?
Why did she have a 'thing' between her thighs?
Why was that 'thing' bigger than his?
'...My entire life was a lie...'
Nanami had an equally strong reaction. He felt the entire reality around him cracking apart.
Gojo and Geto were no better. They checked Shion from top to bottom multiple times. Both of them looked at each other and then pinched each other as well to make sure that the two weren't dreaming.
By this time, Hideaki and Shion were in a hot spring and were relaxing as well.
Shion looked at Naoya with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Pistachio?"
"Yes, they are shocked beyond belief."
Shion chuckled at that and looked at Nanami, who was still looking at him with a shocked look.
Feeling a bit bad, Shion joined his hands and made an apology.
Nanami looked at him and felt that even that gesture was cute.
'...Maybe it's not that big of a deal,' thought Nanami, feeling a bit embarrassed by the cutesy expression that Shion just showed.
"Oi Haibara, sit back down," said Geto.
By now, they had accepted the fact that the cutie from the Inumaki clan was not a lady and were now back to relaxing, except for Haibara.
Haibara didn't move at all.
Feeling a bit curious, Geto tapped the boy, only for Haibra to fall lifeless in the water.
The boy was so shocked that he got knocked out while he was still standing.
Seeing him fall, there was a moment of silence before all of them broke out in laughter, though they still made sure that Haibara didn't drown.
