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After telling Naobito to calm down and clearing away his doubts, Naoya told the old man about Utahime and him.
Naobito, relieved to hear that the Gojo bastard was completely out of the equation, experienced a momentary sense of bliss. However, he soon snapped out of it and began inquiring about Utahime.
He knew the girl was a year older than Naoya and that the two attended Kyoto Jujutsu High around the same time, but aside from that, he knew practically nothing about her.
Naoya told him anything that he thought was important to Naobito and left it at that.
Naobito heard his son talk. From that, he could at least tell that the girl was not planted by someone and was a safe choice.
She was a sorcerer, healthy, and, from Naoya's description, not the type to get scared shitless by the Zenin clan members.
Aside from this, nothing much was needed by a girl who would marry into the clan.
They didn't need any great background to put pressure on others. Naoya was already more than enough for that. If Naoya wanted, he had no issues if he married her.
From what he previously knew, his idiot son was trying to pursue the former Gojo clan head's wife. Compared to that disaster waiting to happen, Utahime felt like divine salvation.
After Naobito was satisfied, the father and son headed to the clan meeting and then called it a day and went to sleep.
-----
The morning arrived, and after getting the health checks done for Naobito, Naoya headed to the Jujutsu High.
As he arrived, he headed to the meeting spot and spotted that the students were already waiting there.
"Morning."
"Good morning, sensei"
"Morning, Big Brother!"
Naoya gave a nod and walked up to them.
"Hm? Are they still not here? It's almost time."
Naoya checked the time on his phone and then looked at the students.
"Well, let's get started with the preparation at least. Miwa, a pen and paper, please."
"Hm? Here you go, sensei."
Miwa took out a notebook and a pen and handed them to Naoya.
Naoya took the stationery from the girl. This girl always carries them around.
He tore two pages from the notebook before cutting them further into twelve small slips.
After writing on them, he folded them carefully.
"I assume everyone remembers the rules. I explained them to the Kyoto students yesterday. Did you guys get informed too?" asked Naoya as he looked towards the Tokyo students.
Maki and the others nodded.
"Perfect. Then let's do the pairings here."
Naoya created two shadowy bowls above his palms and placed the chits inside them.
"Come one at a time and pick a slip. Miwa, note everything down, okay?"
"Yes, sensei."
"Hmph! I'll go first!" declared Todo as he stepped forward confidently.
He pulled out a paper and showed it to Naoya.
"Aoi Todo. First pick from Kyoto."
The students from both schools looked at the smirking musclehead.
The Tokyo side immediately started wondering who would have to face him. After yesterday's performance against Yuta and Rika, Todo had firmly established himself as one of the biggest threats on the field.
Miwa wrote everything down and signalled for the next person to continue.
After everyone finished drawing their chits, the matchups were decided.
-----
The match-ups:
1. Aoi Todo v/s Kirara Hoshi
2. Momo Nishimiya v/s Toge Inumaki
3. Mai Zenin v/s Panda
4. Noritoshi Kamo v/s Maki Zenin
5. Kokichi Muta(Mechamaru) v/s Kinji Hakari
6. Kasumi Miwa v/s Yuta Okkotsu
-----
As Miwa finished writing things down, she stared at the sheet of paper for a while.
'...Yup. Let's tear it.'
Miwa's hand moved to tear the page off.
"Stop her!"
Mai and Momo immediately jumped in to stop Miwa.
"Let go of me! This match is rigged! Rigged, I say!" yelled Miwa.
Naoya caught the notebook before it could be destroyed.
He honestly didn't want to say it, but Miwa was, for lack of a better word, absolutely cooked.
Pinned against Tokyo's Special Grade sorcerer.
And if she somehow injured him, a horrifying yandere curse would probably crawl out and rip her apart.
The poor girl was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
The Tokyo students looked at Miwa's breakdown before slowly turning towards Yuta.
Yuta felt the gazes on him.
"Eh? Why are you looking at me like this?" asked Yuta.
"Why? You're responsible for that," stated Maki bluntly while pointing towards Miwa.
"Huh?! Me?! How?!"
"Don't ask questions. Just accept it, Okkotsu," said Hakari while patting him on the back.
"Guilty by default?!"
"Yes," added Kirara.
"You too, Kirara-senpai?! I took your side yesterday!"
Kirara quietly looked away.
"Yuta made a girl cry," declared Panda solemnly.
"Seaweed," added Inumaki.
"Panda-kun! Inumaki-kun!"
Yuta was getting bullied mercilessly by the Tokyo students.
Still, despite all that, the gloomy atmosphere that once surrounded Yuta was gone now.
Naoya smiled seeing that.
As the chaos continued, the other teachers and principals arrived.
"Took you all long enough. We already finished the draws and matchups."
Naoya tossed the notebook towards Yaga, who caught it cleanly.
"Sorry for the delay. We were late because of a certain idiot," said Gakuganji while glaring at Gojo.
"Morning, students! I am definitely not the 'certain idiot'!" declared Satoru cheerfully as he walked over to Yaga to peek at the matchups.
"Hmm...alright then. Let's get the fights started."
Yaga closed the notebook and looked towards the students.
The students nodded.
-----
A barrier was set up around the destroyed match field.
Inside the barrier were the participants from the first match.
"Both sides ready?"
Yaga's voice rang throughout the barrier.
Aoi Todo gave a nod.
Kirara Hoshi gave a nod as well.
"3...2..."
"Hoshi."
Todo suddenly called out.
"Hm?"
"Normally, I'd ask about your type to judge what kind of person you are...but today, I'm going to beat you without needing to know that."
Todo declared seriously.
His objective of fighting in the goodwill event is to unleash his inner self and fight to his heart's content, but aside from that, he had another objective. To make sure that everyone who is watching the fight understands that his Big Brother was the most amazing teacher out there, and that he taught him well.
Yesterday's fight was declared null and void, meaning his yesterday's display was overlooked(it wasn't). So now he has to lock in from the start and show his supremacy.
From what Kamo told him, Kirara Hoshi has a weird technique that makes it impossible to even get close to him. Both close combat and ranged attacks don't reach Kirara, meaning that if he gave Kirara enough time, there was a chance that he might get stuck just like Kamo did yesterday. If he cannot strike his opponent, he might not win. But if he struggled uselessly against Kirara, then he would make his brother look bad (It does not).
'Lock in, Aoi Todo. Your and Big Brother's reputation is on the line here. Big Brother won't mind even if you struggle or lose...but are YOU satisfied with that?! Are you satisfied with others looking down on your brother?!'
Todo thought with deadly seriousness.
Outside the barrier, Naoya and Satoru watched through the screen.
Naoya glanced at the Kyoto students.
They were already silently praying for Kirara's well-being.
Nobody knew better than they did how terrifying Todo became whenever he got serious.
"1...Start!"
Yaga's voice rang, and Kirara, who had a coin in hand, used his CT on it and threw it away to move along with it as well.
*CLAP*
A resounding clap echoed, and in an instant, Todo appeared in front of Kirara. His fist moved straight towards the boy as CE started to radiate out of his fist.
Kirara looked at the attack and braced himself for the impact. It will get messy and might hurt, but he will apply his technique on Todo and end the match with a stalemate.
Kirara's hope, though, vanished soon after as he noticed a jolt of black electricity like sparks form around Todo's fist.
[Black Flash]
The cursed energy turned violent as a flash of black blasted out the moment Todo's fist struck Kirara.
*BOOM*
In an instant, Kirara's body was blasted away.
Since the field was mostly destroyed, there were no obstacles in the way of Kirara's body, making it easy for him to arrive at the edge of the barrier.
"You alright, Kirara?"
Satoru appeared behind Kirara and suspended his body in the air.
He looked at his student, who had his eyes rolled back.
Kirara Hoshi was knocked out in a single attack.
"Kyoto branch wins."
The announcement rang throughout the barrier, making Todo smirk and look at his fist.
'So this was the sensation Big Brother talked about...' thought Todo and clenched his fist tighter and raised it up in the air.
-----
The audience saw the muscled kid raise his hand dramatically.
"...Show off," muttered Mai.
The other Kyoto students agreed with what Mai said...but along with that, they had another thought.
'...Kinda cool, I guess.'
This was the thought that all the students, be it from Kyoto or Tokyo, had.
Naoya and Satoru smiled seeing Todo's action. What Todo did to Kirara might seem to be far too much, but that's what Goodwill events are for. To compete with your peers, improve while learning from them and showing off how amazing a sorcerer you are.
Winning or losing is part of the event, but if you are participating, then you need to show off what you can do.
The students didn't think that deeply.... However, seeing Todo's fight did ignite something within them.
-----
Todo stepped out of the barrier and looked towards his fellow students and his big brother.
Naoya didn't say anything. He simply raised his hand up.
Todo smiled seeing that.
*CLAP*
The two high-fived.
"How was it? Black Flash?" asked Naoya.
"...It felt amazing," replied Todo and looked towards his hands. He could feel that something within him had changed since he landed that Black Flash.
Naoya gave a nod and looked towards the rest of the students.
"We are in the lead now, but don't get conceited. Momo, you are up next."
Momo Nishimiya nodded and walked inside the barrier.
As she arrived in the middle of the field, she noticed her opponent, Toge Inumaki, arriving as well.
Momo looked at her opponent. She knew how dangerous and versatile his technique could be.
"Both sides ready?"
Momo and Toge gave a nod.
"3...2...1...START!"
The moment the signal was given, Momo used her technique to take off to the skies.
[Sleep]
A cursed, energy-filled voice came from Toge, and an instant later, Momo's eyes started feeling heavy, and she fell to the ground.
Within seconds, light snoring sounds came from Momo.
"Tokyo branch wins."
Toge buttoned his uniform's high collar and started walking back towards his teammates.
-----
"Everyone is now focused on one-shotting."
Naoya looked at the screen and asked Miwa and Mai to carry Momo back.
"Well, we have someone to blame for that."
Mechamaru looked towards Todo.
"Huh? Me?"
Todo looked at the robot with confusion. Why was he the reason?
"It's not a bad thing. You left quite a strong impression in your fight earlier."
Noritoshi added and gave a pat on Todo's shoulder.
"Of course I did. That's how it should be. A fight does not need to be drawn out if it can be ended in a single attack. Only weaklings and lowlives toy with their opponents and stretch out the battles."
Todo said firmly.
Mai and Miwa came back with Momo as Todo said that.
Mai looked at Todo for a second, and her expression turned serious.
"I am up next, right?"
Mai asked and looked towards Naoya.
Naoya gave a nod in reply.
"Good. Can't have this muscle idiot outshine me...." muttered Mai and got inside the barrier.
As Naoya watched her go, he took out his phone.
"Hello"
On the other side of the field, Satoru spoke to Naoya on the phone.
"What?"
"Be prepared to get Panda out."
"Okay."
Satoru ended the call and put the phone back.
Naoya put the phone back and ignored the looks the rest of the students were giving him.
The students might not know, but Naoya, Maki, and Satoru knew well enough what Mai was capable of. There was a reason why the entire Akashi squad was wary of the younger twin.
-----
Mai and Panda stood at a certain distance away from each other.
Mai already had a few card talismans in her hand.
Panda was adjusting his Panda-themed wrist guards.
"Maki told me to be careful of you," said Panda.
"You should follow her advice," replied Mai.
"You are not the type of person who hits cute pandas, right?"
"Hm? Where is the cute panda?" asked Mai and looked around.
"...You are mean just like your sister! Inumaki was right!" yelled Panda and pointed his finger at Mai.
Mai snorted and chuckled at Panda's reaction.
"Both sides ready?"
Mai and Panda gave a nod.
"3..2..1..Start!"
Without waiting a moment, Panda launched forward. His panda body started morphing, and in an instant, a gorilla in a panda's skin appeared.
Mai, though, wasn't worried at all. She pulled her hand back as if pulling on a bow.
Panda didn't know what the girl was planning, nor was he interested in that. If Maki warned him to be wary of her sister, then there must be a reason for that. Fortunately, he knew that Maki's twin was not physically durable, and he would win if he landed a solid strike on the girl.
[Unblockable Drum Beating]
Cursed Energy burst out of his arms as he prepared to end the fight in a single hit.
As Panda was inches away from Mai, she suddenly smirked.
Panda immediately caught onto her smirk.
'A trap?!'
As if releasing a bow string, Mai opened her outstretched hand.
Mai used her CT on the air once again to make an [Elastic Air] wall and pulled it to it's absolte limit.
She waited for her target to get near her, and the moment it did, she released the elastic air wall, sending it back with a massive force behind it, sending Panda flying.
"Uwaa! A panda is flying!"
Panda screamed dramatically as he spun through the air. Mai's attack did carry some force, but for someone as durable as Panda, it wasn't something that he couldn't deal with.
'If it is at this level, I can manage.'
Unfortunately for him...
It was not only that level.
"Good, now that I have some working space and time. Let's get this party started."
She took out a lighter and made a spark with it, igniting the oxygen and hydrogen near her and forming a bluish burning flame on top of her hand.
She then proceeded to use her technique to compress more and more hydrogen and oxygen in that flame, making it hotter and bigger as time passed by.
She then proceeded to take out another card from her belt and reconfigured the air trajectory to guide the flames that she was forming.
"Charging phase complete!" muttered Mai as a giant bluish fireball formed over her hand.
The land around her had started to melt because of the intense heat, but Mai was safe from it. She was using the water vapour in her surroundings to absorb the latent heat for her, thereby making things manageable for her.
Panda, who had landed and was ready to get back on attack, saw the intense heat causing fire near Mai and gulped.
She pointed the flames towards Panda, and with a flick of her hand, the giant mass of fire blasted forward.
*BOOM!!!!*
A massive explosion occurred as the flames exploded around Panda, whose surrounding air composition was changed to intensify the explosion even further.
The earth even shook a bit from the attack.
Satoru Gojo, who was on standby, appeared right on time to protect Panda from the flames.
"Sheesh, such overkill. Who uses such destructive attacks in friendly spars?" {A/N" Pot calling Kettle black}
"Animal cruelty! Sensei! Sue her for animal cruelty!"
Panda saw the giant explosion around him and had his mouth and eyes wide open. He was going to become a black bear if he was somehow able to survive the hit.
"Oi! Satoru! Why are you coming in the way?!" yelled Mai.
"If I don't come, my student dies!" yelled Satoru back.
"Meh, he will walk it off."
"...WHO WILL WALK THAT OFF?!" yelled Panda.
Mai pointed at him.
Panda's jaw opened wider. Why was this sister even more heartless than the one they have in Tokyo?
"Kyoto branch wins!"