Chapter 99: Hello, This is Useless Miwa
As the only ordinary person at the Kyoto Jujutsu High School, Kasumi Miwa's pressure has always been immense.
It's safe to say that every sorcerer at the Kyoto School, except for her, is a genius who successfully awakened an Innate Technique.
And her ordinariness isn't just limited to her technique; her learning ability and growth in Cursed Energy, physical prowess, and combat skills are also quite mediocre.
Even though she has studied at Jujutsu High for a full year and was fortunate enough not to die during an exorcism mission, her sorcerer grade has only barely risen from Grade 4 to Grade 3.
She has truly been working hard, and her personality is quite resilient due to her family circumstances, but some gaps simply cannot be bridged by effort and hard work alone. The end point of her lifelong effort is merely the starting point for geniuses who awaken an Innate Technique.
Looking back now, the reason she was valued and recruited by the high school seems to be merely because her unusual bangs got her noticed, and after realizing she could see Curses, they simply recruited her on the spot.
Even the opportunity to participate in this exchange event was the result of her hard work to secure a spot.
Because it's a rare grand event in the Jujutsu world, many sorcerers outside the high schools also pay attention to it—and this is what she needs to seize.
As long as her performance in the exchange event is noticeable enough, she'll have more chances for promotion later. After all, the basic promotion system for sorcerers is still based on recommendation. Students with family backing don't need to worry about this, but she, an ordinary person in every sense, absolutely does.
For the sake of her family's livelihood, she must earn more money!
And logically speaking, their chances of winning are very high.
Aoi Todo, Noritoshi Kamo, Mechamaru, Momo Nishimiya, and Mai Zen'in... This is the roster for the Kyoto School in this exchange event, excluding her.
This roster includes not only the monstrously powerful Aoi Todo, who has already been promoted to Grade 1 Sorcerer, but also Noritoshi Kamo and Mechamaru, two pre-Grade 1 Sorcerers who are currently under review.
The former is the heir to the Kamo family, one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families. The latter is a genius who, due to a Heavenly Restriction, can only operate through a mechanical puppet but gained enormous Cursed Energy output and Cursed Technique range as a result.
The remaining few, even Mai Zen'in, who is the same Grade 3 Sorcerer as her, possesses an Innate Technique.
Looking at the Tokyo School, the terrifying guy from the last event is reportedly unable to compete because he's overseas, and their third-years are still serving suspension. Thus, they were forced to drag out even their first-years to participate.
Miwa, who had been quietly mingling in the crowd since arriving at the Tokyo School, carefully observed the opponents' condition and then drew her conclusion:
They will win this time!
But wait, why are there only five people on the other side? Where is the other competitor?
Realizing this problem, Miwa, who was previously tucked behind the others, immediately poked her head out and looked around the unfamiliar grounds.
Finally, near a staircase not far away, she saw two figures she was quite familiar with walking toward them.
It was Shirou Emiya and Satoru Gojo!
Miwa knew very well who had saved her before, but due to the contrasting stances of the Kyoto and Tokyo Schools, she was completely unable to act on her desire to thank him. Someone who desperately protects their comrades is charismatic everywhere, isn't that right?
At the same time, Miwa also knows a great deal about Satoru Gojo next to him, though this knowledge can only be classified as 'fan-girling.' It's only natural for an ordinary person to yearn for the 'Strongest.'
So, Miwa started to hesitate. Should she approach Emiya first, or greet her idol first?
This hesitation didn't last long, as she quickly realized she couldn't do either. Seeking out the opposing team's members to say hello in front of everyone at the exchange event's opening ceremony would surely give the old principal a heart attack, right?
But it's so annoying! She finally had a chance to say hello to the handsome and powerful junior, but couldn't because of the setting... Does she really have to wait until the exchange event starts to do this?
Meanwhile, Gojo, who had arrived in front of everyone pushing a small cart, cleared his throat very seriously.
"Ahem, everyone, look here, look here.
A special feature of the two-school exchange event, the great magic trick of bringing someone back to life—the late Itadori-kun!"
"Osu!"
Yuji Itadori obediently hopped out of the box according to Gojo's instructions, but unfortunately... no one was happy about it.
Fushiguro and the other first-years, who are closest to him emotionally, already knew about his fake death. As for the rest, they only knew of his existence as Sukuna's vessel.
The person who showed the most reaction was naturally the elderly man leaning on a cane beneath the banner—
"Sukuna's vessel... What is the meaning of this?!"
Didn't the intelligence he received say that Yuji Itadori, the vessel, had died along with several fingers inside his body?
"Emiya-kun, look, this old man is Principal Gakuganji of the Kyoto School, and one of the leaders of the conservative faction.
I'm so glad he's okay. I was worried he might have a heart attack when he heard the news that Itadori-kun didn't die."
If one were to demonstrate absolute self-importance in a crowd, Gojo's current actions would be it.
As if he completely disregarded the principal, he blatantly pulled Emiya over and started introducing him.
"You little rascal..."
Gakuganji's long white eyebrows visibly twitched, but he ultimately held back his anger and focused his gaze on Emiya first.
Whether the higher-ups are willing to acknowledge Emiya's ability to subdue a Special Grade Curse is one thing, but whether they believe the intelligence they received is another.
They always view those who enter the Jujutsu world halfway as outsiders.
Ordinary outsiders are acceptable, but someone like this...
"Hey, hey, old man, your eyebrows are too long and scary. Do you want me to trim them for you?"
It only took two or three exchanges for Gojo to easily ignite the old man's fury. Yet, Gakuganji couldn't explode in this setting and could only stare fiercely at Gojo with his eyebrows raised.
Emiya, who wasn't keen on getting involved in this situation, subconsciously turned his head away, only to coincidentally see Kasumi Miwa cautiously waving her hand at him from behind the somewhat chaotic crowd.
"Miwa-senpai?"
"Ah, oh, um... it's better not to casually use that kind of address out here..."
Although she was hooked like a fish by the simple address, Miwa still tried hard to suppress the rising corners of her mouth. She leaned closer to Emiya and whispered her reply.
Among everyone present, she was probably the weakest in terms of combat power. She had that much self-awareness.
"I just wanted to thank you for saving me last time, but the environment here isn't convenient. I'll treat you to a meal after the exchange event, how about that?
By the way, are you here for the exchange event too? Did you enroll in the Tokyo School?"
Miwa's rigid impression of Emiya was still stuck on the scene where he fought a Grade 1 Curse for hundreds of rounds, and she honestly felt it was normal for such a genius to be recruited by the high school.
"I did join, but not as an enrollment..."
Before Emiya could finish his sentence, Miwa interrupted: "You haven't even completed the enrollment procedures? Are you being treated as an external staff member? That won't do!
With your talent, you could easily become a Grade 1 Sorcerer after three years of systematic study! How can you allow yourself to be delayed?
Or, I could go discuss it with the Principal and see if we can get you directly enrolled into the Kyoto School, how does that sound?"
Miwa was genuinely considering Emiya's best interest. After all, the fastest way for a sorcerer who joined later in life to be promoted is to enroll in Jujutsu High.
She just hadn't considered one other possibility—
"Wait, is the position of 'Teacher' considered external staff, too?"
"...Huh? What did you say?"
Miwa doubted her own ears, not the reality of the world.
"As for my position, I should be a teacher now, so I can't participate in the exchange event."
"H-HAAAH!?!?"
"Eh?!"
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