Taketori Rinku always thought he was simply doing what any ordinary person was obliged to do, whether in Jujutsu Society or among ordinary people. There was no difference.
But his friends had a different opinion about his bizarre insistence.
Suguru Geto: "Hey, Rinku, do you have some kind of mistaken idea about yourself?"
Satoru Gojo: "That guy keeps saying he's an ordinary person, but what ordinary person acts like that?"
Shoko, eyes half-lidded: "Hah. Three lunatics. Get out."
Little Scene 1: Fourteen-year-old Satoru Gojo took in the situation, then suddenly grinned, showing all sixteen of his teeth.
"So, you use Cursed Spirit Manipulation? What about you?" He pointed at Taketori Rinku, standing just behind Suguru Geto. "Hey, weird bangs, aren't you going to introduce yourself? Mind control?"
Suguru Geto was a little annoyed, but he smiled too and casually shot back:
"So what kind of thing are you?"
Taketori Rinku suddenly had a bad feeling. What he didn't know was that for decades to come, this premonition would often turn into a delightful surprise.
In the blink of an eye, the two weirdos had exchanged dozens of blows using nothing but hand-to-hand combat. Taketori Rinku stared in shock.
He watched Suguru Geto climb onto Rainbow Dragon again, while Satoru Gojo made a hand sign and formed a blue ball of light. With demons dancing all around them, Taketori was overcome by a genuine, desperate sense of despair.
Taketori Rinku: "...Since you two have so much energy, why not join us and help bring down Jujutsu Society?"
Little Scene 2:
When Suguru Geto arrived in Tokyo and saw Taketori Rinku, he awkwardly held out a black string of prayer beads. He was wearing another one himself, making it very conspicuous.
"My mom told me to bring these. She said to bring a string for Shunsuke, too."
Black prayer beads are an accessory worn at Japanese funerals.
Taketori Rinku glanced at them and asked, "So what excuse did you use this time?"
At the sight of his nonchalant expression, Suguru Geto, who had rushed all the way there, finally snapped.
"Damn it, act like a human being!"
"Thanks to you, I've already taken more than twenty days off this term. Every time, I have to come up with a different excuse. All my relatives have had disasters happen to them in every possible way. Your parents have died three times already! Do you really think the teacher's going to believe this? Huh?!"
Taketori Rinku put the prayer beads in his jacket pocket.
"So this time I'm the one who's dead, and you came to look after my little brother, Shunsuke?"
Suguru Geto gave him a sweet, fake smile, his eyes narrowed to slits with exhaustion.
Taketori patted Suguru Geto on the shoulder. "It's fine. Look, you're transferring here soon anyway. Everything that happened before will be like a dream, gone forever. You'll never have to see it again."
Suguru Geto flung the prayer beads in his hand straight at Taketori Rinku's forehead.
"Get lost! I must have owed you big time in a past life!"
Theme: Never let go of your aspirations
