No title

"Who's that?"

Hayama looked at Ryōichi, who was standing beside Yukino.

Don't ask me… why are you acting like we're close?

Hachiman cringed internally, but he still answered automatically. "Ah, that's Yukinoshita's friend. I think she asked him to help out."

He regretted his words the moment they left his mouth.

Seems like even with increased strength, my social standing hasn't improved.

As they spoke, Ryōichi walked over and clapped Hachiman on the shoulder. Hachiman flinched and quickly retreated behind Ryōichi.

Although he didn't understand why Hachiman seemed so afraid of Ryōichi, Hayama still smiled and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hayato Hayama, from Hikigaya's class."

"I'm Ryōichi. I'm not a student at Sōbu High, though."

Sukuna smiled and shook Hayama's hand.

"Mind if I call you Ryōichi-kun?"

"Of course not."

Sukuna didn't seem as difficult to deal with as Hachiman. That's great... right?

Eh? Why is he squeezing my hand so hard?

Hayama's smile became strained as his hand was trapped in Ryōichi's grip. "...Sukuna-kun?"

"Oh, sorry." Sukuna abruptly released his hand, not sounding apologetic at all. "I spaced out for a moment."

"...It's okay."

Hayama quickly retracted his hand, massaging his sore fingers.

"Nice to meet you," Sukuna said again, then patted Hayama's shoulder and went to help with the luggage.

"What's wrong, Hayato?" Yumiko Miura noticed his discomfort and approached him.

Hayama shook his head. "It's nothing..."

"Okay, that's good." Yumiko glanced in Sukuna's direction. "He's pretty handsome, but he's not from our school, right?"

"No, he's Yukinoshita's friend." Hayama frowned slightly.

Did I do something to offend him?

Sukuna reached Yukino and took their luggage.

"What did you say to Hayama?" Yukino asked curiously as they walked towards the lodging area.

"Nothing much, just had a pleasant chat." Sukuna smiled.

"What are you scheming?" Yukino narrowed her eyes, clearly not believing him.

"Nothing, I swear." Sukuna put on an innocent expression.

After everyone had settled in, Hiratsuka finished her briefing with the summer camp leader and gathered everyone in front of a group of elementary school students.

"...And finally, let's all greet the older brothers and sisters who have come to help."

"Nice to meet you~!"

After the camp leader finished explaining the camp rules and safety guidelines, he handed the loudspeaker to Hayato Hayama, who stepped forward.

"If you have any problems, feel free to talk to us. Let's make lots of wonderful memories at this summer camp! Let's all get along."

Hayato's gentle voice and bright smile, coupled with his handsome looks, easily won over the elementary school girls.

Taking this opportunity, Yukino asked Hiratsuka, "Hiratsuka-sensei, why are Hayama-kun and the others here?"

"We didn't have enough people," Hiratsuka explained. "So I lured them in with the promise of extra credit."

"This is a good opportunity for you all to learn how to interact with a different social circle."

Hachiman couldn't help but twitch his lips, silently retorting, The social circles we get along with are way more impressive than Hayama's group. We even have a talking panda.

"There's no way we can get along with them," he said flatly. After all, they weren't even from the same world.

"I'm not asking you to become best friends. I'm asking you to get along. Learn how to interact with people peacefully, without hostility or indifference," Hiratsuka said, hands on her hips. "That's what it means to adapt to society."

"Unless you're strong enough."

Just as Hiratsuka was feeling smug about her little speech, an unfamiliar voice interrupted her. She turned to see Sukuna standing between her and Yukino, hands in his pockets, a casual smirk on his face.

"If you're strong enough, you don't need to adapt to society. Society will adapt to you. Power, wealth..." Sukuna smiled faintly. "And of course, violence."

"It seems we have different views on society." Hiratsuka frowned, annoyed by the interruption and his "survival of the fittest" philosophy. "Is that what your teacher taught you?"

"Well, it's not wrong, is it?" Sukuna shrugged.

"Here's a simple example. To start a club at school, you need a minimum number of members, right? But the Service Club initially had only Yukinoshita. As the supervising teacher, why did you allow her to create the club and even give her a dedicated room?"

"Because I believed in the ideals behind the club she wanted to create, and I wanted to help her change her isolated situation through club activities," Hiratsuka replied, folding her arms.

"That's because you're a good teacher."

Sukuna's unexpected praise caught Hiratsuka off guard.

"But if it were a different teacher, do you think they would have agreed to her request?" Sukuna continued without waiting for an answer. "Of course they would. It's just a slightly unconventional club. There's no need to offend the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family."

His argument was simple yet effective. After considering it, Hiratsuka had to admit that most teachers would have made the same choice.

She glanced at Yukino, worried that Sukuna's blunt words might have upset her.

But Yukino was simply listening quietly beside Sukuna , her expression calm.

Even Hachiman and Komachi were listening intently.

They knew that Sukuna was teaching them something else entirely.

"You might be right, but that's not something you should teach students."

Hiratsuka sighed. She wasn't the type to stubbornly cling to her beliefs.

"On the contrary, I think this is exactly what they need to be taught," Sukuna countered. "Humans are driven by desire. Power, wealth... people crave these things because they know that with them, they can improve their lives, their families' lives, even their descendants' lives."

"I don't want my students to become those who are content with scraps under someone else's roof. It's fine to endure temporarily, but they shouldn't be satisfied with the status quo and stop striving for more."

He glanced at Hachiman, who flinched and gave an awkward smile.

"That's why I want to instill in them this hunger for strength."

His serious expression softened as he smiled. "Understand? You two."

"Yes."

"U-understood..."

Yukino and Hachiman nodded.

"Your students?" Hiratsuka looked at Sukuna questioningly.

"To be honest, I'm a teacher myself." Sukuna grinned and pulled out his Jujutsu High teacher's ID.

"Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College? A religious school?" Hiratsuka frowned at the unfamiliar name. "You're not a student?"

She had assumed he was a university student like Haruno, but he was already a teacher?

Then she saw his age and gasped. "21 years old?!"

He's only a year older than Haruno!

He became a teacher before even finishing university?

Before she could question the legitimacy of his credentials, another question arose. "Is Yukinoshita planning to transfer schools?"

"Eh? No, why would you think that, Hiratsuka-sensei?"

Yukino was confused.

"But didn't Sukuna say he was your teacher?" Hiratsuka was bewildered. If he's your teacher, then what am I?

"Well, sort of," Yukino nodded.

"He's more like a private tutor," Sukuna explained. "I wouldn't want Yukinoshita to transfer to that school."

"Why? Is your school that bad?"

"No, I just don't want her to go there."

Sukuna's cryptic answer only confused Hiratsuka further. Yukino finally interrupted. "Okay, let's not dwell on this. I'm not transferring."

"Transferring?" Yui and Saika approached. "What's this about transferring?"

The pep talk for the elementary school students had ended, and their first activity was about to begin.

"It's nothing," Yukino said, dismissing their curiosity.

"Hmm?" Yui tilted her head, sensing that they were hiding something.

The camp leader, standing on the platform, announced through a loudspeaker, "Alright, our first activity, orienteering, is starting now!"

The children cheered and set off towards the mountaintop destination in groups.

Hiratsuka, putting aside her concerns about Sukuna and Yukino, turned back to the matter at hand. "Okay, your first job is to support the orienteering activity. Accompany the students, keep an eye on them, and prevent any accidents."

Orienteering involved using a map and compass to reach designated checkpoints in the shortest possible time.

For these elementary school students, it was more about following the established path and finding checkpoints hidden among the trees and rocks. It wasn't competitive, more of a leisurely activity.

Hayama's group was in the middle of the pack, with several girls approaching him for directions. They quickly integrated with the students.

"Compared to these kids, we're practically old men, huh?"

"Hey! Don't make me sound like an old woman!"

The loud voices of Tobe and Yumiko echoed from the middle of the group.

In contrast, Sukuna's group, trailing at the back, was eerily quiet. No children approached them for help. The only two girls who tried to approach Sukuna were scared off by Hachiman's dead fish eyes.

"...Why are you so sure it was me who scared them away?" Hachiman protested, convinced he was being falsely accused.

"Their faces turned pale and they ran away the moment they saw you. Who else could it be?" Sukuna retorted.

Hachiman fell silent, unable to argue with that.

"Sukuna-kun's appearance is quite deceiving," Yukino agreed. "Only Hikigaya-kun could scare people like that just by looking at them."

"My stupid brother does look like a gloomy otaku."

"Exactly! He never talks to anyone in class, always sits alone, and sometimes even makes weird noises."

"Ahaha..."

Yui and Komachi readily agreed. Even the kind-hearted Saika couldn't defend Hachiman in this situation.

After all, the evidence was undeniable.

"It's not my fault I have these eyes! It's my parents' fault, the world's fault!" Hachiman weakly protested.

The students' spring outing… orienteering, was proceeding smoothly.

As they reached the halfway point on the mountainside amidst laughter and chatter, Yukino noticed a group of elementary school girls gathered by some bushes, seemingly hesitant to move forward.

"What are those kids doing?" Yukino wondered aloud.

"I'll go check it out." Hayato Hayama volunteered and jogged over to investigate.

Perhaps feeling it was awkward to be separated into two groups, Hayama and his friends slowed down and gradually joined Sukuna and the others.

However, the conversation became less lively after their arrival.

Sukuna didn't mind, of course, but Yukino and Hachiman weren't interested in talking to Hayama's group.

Hachiman simply didn't want to interact with "normies," and Yukino was indifferent towards Hayama, treating him like any other ordinary student.

After everything she had been through, Yukino no longer disliked Hayama, but she pitied him.

With Yukino and Hachiman not participating, Komachi chatted with Yui and Saika about girly things, and Sukuna, who wasn't interested in small talk, simply enjoyed the scenery.

As for why he didn't talk to his own group, it was because a certain orange-haired, seaweed-headed boy would always butt in.

Hayama investigated the situation and found a Japanese rat snake. He gently picked it up and placed it in the grass away from the path, and it quickly slithered away.

"It's okay, it's just a rat snake," Hayama reassured the four girls with a smile.

"Wow, you're so brave!"

"You actually touched it!"

Hayama, maintaining his cheerful demeanor, replied, "It's fine, it doesn't bite, and it's not venomous."

"Even if it doesn't bite, I wouldn't want to touch it!"

"Right~?"

The girls giggled, their voices echoing through the woods. Hayama laughed along with them.

But Yukino and Hachiman noticed another girl.

She had long black hair and a cute face, but she was clearly excluded from the group, standing alone and fiddling with a small pink digital camera.

Yukino sighed.

"Seeing a reflection of your past self in that little girl?" Sukuna teased gently.

Just as Stand users attracted other Stand users, lonely people were adept at spotting other lonely people.

"Well, sort of," Yukino admitted, her expression unchanged.

Hachiman, overhearing this, felt like he had stumbled upon something he shouldn't have.

He cautiously observed their expressions, relieved to see that they didn't seem to mind his eavesdropping.

It wasn't because he was afraid of them; he was simply good at reading the atmosphere.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" Sukuna asked.

"I'll wait and see," Yukino replied, her eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before them.

Excited to have interacted with a handsome and friendly high schooler, the girls didn't seem willing to let Hayama go just yet. They surrounded him, their eyes shining with admiration. "Onii-san, where's the checkpoint?"

Hayama smiled. "Where is it indeed?"

"Let's find it together!" One of the girls boldly suggested, her request overly familiar.

Hayama acted as if he was thinking carefully. Then, with a playful wink, he said, "Well, I'll give you a hint, but it's a secret, okay?"

"Yay!" x4

Hachiman watched in awe as Hayama effortlessly charmed the girls.

As expected of Hayama. His social skills are leagues above mine.

Sharing secrets, that's also a way to build connections with others.

Hayama led the four girls to search for the checkpoint, while the lone black-haired girl trailed behind them.

The rest of the group went to supervise the main group of students. Yukino, curious to see how Hayama would treat the isolated girl, followed them discreetly.

As for Sukuna, he had disappeared at some point.

Yukino didn't bother with him; it was pointless anyway.

Besides, there was no need to worry about Sukuna.

She even wondered if there was anything on this planet that could threaten him.

Hmm, maybe Gojo-sensei?

Putting aside Sukuna for now, Yukino followed the group and noticed several things along the way.

The four girls would occasionally turn around and sneer at the black-haired girl with malicious looks.

If it were Yukino, even her elementary school self wouldn't tolerate such treatment. But for some reason, the girl simply continued to follow them, silently enduring their malice.

Is she being threatened?

Yukino frowned, worried about the girl.

When the group stopped for a break, the black-haired girl walked off to the side with her camera, but Hayama stopped her.

"Did you find the checkpoint?" he asked with a smile.

"...No."

The girl seemed flustered, surprised that he had spoken to her.

"Is that so? Then let's look for it together." Hayama didn't notice her awkwardness. "What's your name?"

"Tsurumi... Rumi."

"I'm Hayato Hayama. Nice to meet you."

Hayama put his arm around her shoulders and led her towards the other girls. "The checkpoint is probably around here, right?"

The four girls sneered as they saw Rumi approaching with Hayama, but they quickly put on smiles.

However, the moment he turned away, they resumed their chatter, completely ignoring Rumi.

"Ha..."

Yukino sighed in disappointment.

She took back her earlier thought. She still hated Hayato Hayama.

It had nothing to do with the past. She simply disliked idiots.