In an ordinary carousel, Yuji and Megumi are enjoying the children's ride.
Normally, the two shouldn't be allowed to ride alone. However, Jin and Toji can be very convincing.
The poor staff member was forced to cooperate.
"I'm confident in Yuji's maturity, but don't you think our wives won't like us leaving them alone?" Jin asked, grabbing a bottle of sake.
Toji paused at Jin's question before answering in a laid-back tone: "Don't worry, they agreed to take their time doing girl stuff, so why should we deal with these brats?" he said, snatching the bottle from Jin's hands.
Although Jin had a moment of doubt imagining his wife getting angry, he decided to let it go under Toji's advice.
After all, Kenjaku wasn't going to take her role as a mother too seriously, right?
"Why am I overthinking this? It's not like Kenjaku's going to find out I left my kid with some random ride operator," he told himself, accepting the cup of sake Toji passed him.
The two irresponsible fathers enjoyed a break, far from their wives. For a moment, there was only the music of the carousel and the sound of alcohol flowing down their throats.
Surprisingly, the first to break the silence was Toji.
"Gong Shi Woo told me you've been getting a little too active in the underworld," he said, staring at his reflection in the small traditional cup.
Jin was surprised by Toji's words, but he didn't show anything too obvious on his face. Still, the slightest twitch of his muscles didn't escape the sorcerer killer's perception.
Nevertheless, the latter chose to hide that crack in Jin's defense.
He wanted to see what kind of man his business partner's new acquaintance really was.
"Indeed, I'm expanding my influence in the world of cursed spirit users," Jin admitted without a trace of shame.
An act of honesty that surprised Toji.
"At least he's not a liar," he thought, comparing him to the higher-ups in jujutsu.
If there was one thing Toji hated even more than the sorcerer world, it was probably the concept of groups.
As a lone wolf, Toji had always found people who formed organizations to be weak.
So his interest in Jin dropped a notch.
"Why bother? You want to create an official clan that the higher-ups will approve? Tss…" he said, clicking his tongue at the end of his sentence.
Toji's contempt received no immediate response. A situation that only deepened his disappointment, but what came next made him change his mind.
"I have absolutely no intention of bowing to the good bloods of this world or joining any faction," Jin replied, taking a sip of his sake.
Contrary to Toji's assumptions, Jin had no plans to accept Yaga's offer or become an official sorcerer.
The very idea of creating an official clan was unthinkable to him.
"Cough… what?" Toji slightly choked on his sake before turning his attention back to the bespectacled man in front of him.
Jin wasn't fazed by Toji's exaggerated reaction.
The man simply looked at his son on the carousel, then gave a serene smile before elaborating.
"This world—I couldn't care less about it," he said suddenly.
Toji didn't take his eyes off his interlocutor, searching for a lie. But there wasn't one.
The man in front of him was clearly stating that he didn't give a damn about the state of the underworld—or about jujutsu either.
A situation quite similar to his own.
"But then, why all these maneuvers?" he thought, locking eyes with Jin Itadori.
That was how Toji sought an answer to his own situation.
To the emptiness inside him.
Questions kept arising one after another in Toji's mind, while his interest in the man before him only grew.
As if answering that doubt, Jin's lips parted again.
"However, I don't want that kid to be sad," he explained, recalling the expression on Yuji's face in Shibuya.
Despair.
That was the only word that could properly describe Yuji Itadori's situation.
Jin didn't want such a future.
He wanted freedom for himself, but would it truly be freedom if Yuji or Kenjaku weren't happy?
Jin didn't know and didn't want to find out by experimenting.
So he had to be strong.
Only overwhelming strength could accomplish everything in a world ruled by it.
A conviction embodied by the causal market.
Bam!
"Pfft… AHAHA, you're a funny one. Have you even seen your own face? You think you're in a shonen manga or something?" Toji mocked, after giving him a friendly slap on the shoulder.
Jin caught his glasses mid-air on reflex after the casual shoulder tap.
Toji clearly hadn't put much force into it, but it was still enough to send the glasses flying.
However, that attack wasn't the reason for the frown on Jin's face.
The man didn't like seeing the shadow of his past earthly self right in front of him.
"Is this my imagination?" he thought inwardly.
In his previous life, Jin hadn't lived for a dream or a noble goal.
He had dedicated his life to money!
Looking at Toji, he couldn't help but see the reflection of a man seeking comfort.
Of course, he had eventually found it, but it was still just comfort.
Like Jin back then, money had only been a means to get more.
Toji was in a similar situation.
He genuinely loved his family, but Toji had no clear goal to pursue.
Something Jin had found in the pursuit of freedom.
"Am I funny? Maybe, but I stay true to my nature," he said, emphasizing the last part.
Jin took another drink and continued:
"That loyalty leads me down a path full of greed, but also full of hardships. So I understand why some would find it laughable. However, isn't a man without dreams who lives for the dreams of others already dead?" he finished, taking another sip.
Unfortunately, Jin had to stop drinking. A strong killing intent had focused on him after he had explicitly stated that Toji had lost himself.
Despite the dangerous situation, Jin smiled at Toji.
"So my conjecture was true? Toji Fushiguro lives for others?" he thought, removing his glasses to clean them under the obvious intimidation from his interlocutor.
"Watch your words," Toji said, narrowing his eyes at him.
Toji had neither his weapons nor his cursed spirit, but Jin couldn't underestimate him.
The cursed spirit user was almost certain that victory would be hard to grasp in a fight. Still, it remained possible.
"If I were Toji's assassination target, I'd have way more to worry about," he thought while putting his glasses back on.
"Or what? You gonna start a fight?" Jin asked, before shaking his head in disapproval.
At those words, Toji slowly retracted his killing intent. Sure, Jin had pissed him off. Nevertheless, they were still in a public area.
His son was nearby too.
"Wise decision. It would be a shame if our wives learned more about our professional lives," he said, sitting back down casually.
In response, Toji clicked his tongue.
Now it was clear that the mood and atmosphere had been ruined by Jin's speech about dreams—the one he had drawn inspiration for from Griffith.
Thinking back, Jin remembered that it was because of that that Guts had left the Band of the Hawk, marking the beginning of all the problems.
"Maybe that wasn't a good idea," he thought for a brief moment.
He ended up shrugging and enjoying the sake.
…
"N-no, I wanna stay!!" Yuji complained, clinging to Jin's clothes.
"Play!" Megumi simply repeated, looking sullen.
The two irresponsible fathers had mentally exhausted themselves trying to calm the two children, but without success.
Although the carousel had given them a moment of adult sake time, it had clearly pleased the two brats way too much.
So they decided to let them tire themselves out.
"This act isn't ethical, but what can I do?" he thought inwardly, deciding to ask the babysitter of Nayuta for some tips.
"My wife's coming with yours," Toji suddenly declared after sensing Kenjaku's approach.
Jin nodded in response.
Their relationship was still tense after Jin had called Toji a man without dreams.
However, it was clear that Toji hadn't entirely refuted his words.
His thoughtful face confirmed it.
Jin decided to extend an olive branch, because he didn't want the best assassin of this era as an enemy.
"Listen, I was a bit too direct with my words," he said, pulling out a business card and handing it to him.
Toji ignored the card, but Jin placed it in front of him.
"If you want to talk, you know where to find me. Anyway, I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other," he said, watching Yuji making faces at Megumi.
The two kids had stopped insisting on the ride, but now they were arguing over who had ridden the best horse.
"OK, but you'd better watch your tongue next time," Toji said, picking up the card.
Jin nodded, giving a more relaxed smile after partially smoothing things over.
He still had one card left to play to put Toji in his pocket after his mistake.
"By the way, do you follow horse racing too?"
***
Author's note: just a heads-up, there's still a slice-of-life part before we get to the beginning of the problems, a.k.a. Reiko and Tengen.
I plan to publish two chapters (this one with a bonus when we reach 100 votes).
Want another one after that? Then vote! If you reach 180, there'll be another bonus!!
Gotta make up for my delay!!! Haha