Knock, knock, knock—
Click.
The door swung open, and a small head peeked out. "Uncle Jinsuke!"
Tsumiki Fushiguro's face lit up as she hurried to open the door fully.
"Happy New Year, Tsumiki."
Jinsuke Zenin handed her a red envelope.
"Thank you, Uncle! Happy New Year to you too!" she said sweetly.
"Hello, Uncle."
Behind her, Megumi Fushiguro clasped his hands together politely, his eyes glancing up at Jinsuke with a faint, expectant look.
"Oh, I get it. You want one too, huh?"
Jinsuke smirked. The kid's little act of pretending to be cool wasn't fooling anyone.
"Thank you, Uncle!"
Megumi's eyes flickered with delight as he quickly accepted his red envelope.
When Jinsuke stepped inside, Toji was already in the kitchen wearing an apron—completely embodying the role of a stay-at-home dad.
"Hey, where's my red envelope?"
Toji poked his head out of the kitchen, a rare playful grin on his face.
"You? You should be the one giving me a red envelope."
Jinsuke shot him a look.
He was the older brother here—giving the kids red envelopes was normal. Toji, on the other hand, was long past that age; if anything, he should be giving his big brother one.
"No envelope, but I did bring cake."
Jinsuke lifted the box in his hand with a grin.
"Tch, I'm not a kid," Toji muttered. But his eyes lingered on the cake for a moment before he quickly turned back to his pan, pretending not to care.
"Whoa! Cake! Whose birthday is it?!"
Tsumiki and Megumi's eyes sparkled at the sight of the big cake, drooling despite themselves.
"That's right—take a guess. Whose birthday do you think it is today?"
Jinsuke set the cake on the table.
"Hmm… It's not mine, and Megumi's was last week. Uncle's birthday is in summer, so that means—it's Dad's birthday!"
Tsumiki guessed it in one go.
Megumi blinked. "So Dad's birthday is right next to New Year's."
Last time, Toji had taken the kids to Jinsuke's place to celebrate his birthday. This time, Jinsuke had come over to celebrate Toji's—and spend New Year's together.
A livelier house for the new year.
That night, the four of them gathered to welcome the coming year. Tsumiki and Megumi pressed their faces against the window, watching the fireworks burst across the sky.
"So? Life's better now than it used to be, huh?"
Jinsuke glanced at Toji.
"What are you talking about? I was perfectly fine before—free and easy."
Toji crossed his arms, refusing to admit anything.
Compared to a year ago, though, that careless air around him had faded a lot. Guess raising kids will do that to you.
"You're one to talk. You're almost thirty and still don't have a girlfriend."
Toji grinned, striking back with age-based ammo.
He already had two kids—yet his older brother was still single. How was that fair?
Sure enough, Jinsuke's mouth twitched, and before he could stop it, Yuki's face flashed through his mind.
He immediately shook his head. Why the hell was he thinking about her?
"Talk to me about girlfriends when you finally bring Tsumiki's mom back home."
They were both single men—just because Toji had kids didn't make him some kind of champion.
"..."
Toji went silent at that.
Ding.
Jinsuke's phone chimed with a new message. It was a picture from Yuki Tsukumo—a selfie, with a snowman next to her that looked suspiciously like him.
Yuki: "Happy New Year! [Cute emoji]"
Jinsuke: "Nice snowman. Don't make one next time."
Yuki: "What's that supposed to mean? It doesn't look like you? [Hand-over-mouth emoji]"
Jinsuke: "...Do I look that ugly? [Angry emoji]"
---
The new year rolled in. As if on autopilot, Jinsuke went right back to his daily training routine.
Whenever word came in about a Grade 1 or higher Cursed Spirit, he'd take a team from Jujutsu High and lead the mission—earning a bit of cash and experience while he was at it.
Through repeated experiments, he'd figured out the conditions for his scripture's absorption ability—it only worked on Cursed Spirits he personally killed, and only if they were Grade 1 or above.
Time kept flowing.
Satoru Gojo and Shoko Ieiri graduated from Jujutsu High and immediately became instructors—smooth transition from student to teacher.
Not long after, Kento Nanami and Riko Amanai also graduated.
Nanami opted out of sorcery work entirely, joining the corporate world as a regular salaryman.
Riko, on the other hand, stayed at Jujutsu High, choosing to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer—and often dropped by Jinsuke's place to freeload off his meals.
After all, Jinsuke sometimes took them along on missions, and by now he was at least on familiar terms with most of the Tokyo Jujutsu High bunch.
"Yo, old man! Training again? I'm here to mooch some food!"
Riko Amanai strolled into the yard, her long hair now reaching her shoulders. Gone was the naive schoolgirl—she'd grown into a confident, mischievous young woman in a yellow jacket, blowing a bubble of pink gum.
A bit of a punk vibe, honestly. In Jinsuke's eyes, she looked just one tattoo and a hair-dye job away from going full delinquent.
"Riko-oneechan! You're mooching off big brother again!"
Two other familiar little figures were already there in the yard—Mai and Maki Zenin, as punctual as ever. They showed up at Jinsuke's place so often it was practically their second home, and no one in the Zenin Clan dared stop them.
The girls had grown a little taller, but that was about it—still firmly in the "little brat" stage.
"Can't help it," Riko said shamelessly, puffing her gum. "Gojo's always on missions, Shoko's not around, and it's boring being alone at the school. So I came here instead."
She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
After all, these were her only real friends left. Nanami was a wage slave now, Kuroi wasn't around, so she had no choice but to come bug this hermit of an uncle.
"Even Mai and Maki call me big brother, yet you're still calling me 'old man.' Do I look that ancient to you?"
Jinsuke's irritation was long-standing at this point.
Riko just shrugged. "Please, you're thirty. What else am I supposed to call you? You want me to call you… big bro~?"
"Ugh—"
Even Riko cringed at her own tone, goosebumps rising on her arms.
"..." Jinsuke sighed. "You know what? 'Old man' is fine."
"At least it doesn't make me want to throw up."
"What's so weird about calling him big brother?" Mai asked, tilting her head.
"Anyway," Riko said, changing the subject with a grin, "I heard from the higher-ups that you've officially been labeled something like… a Special Grade 1 Sorcerer Without Cursed Energy! Cool title, huh? You're a certified sorcerer now, and a special one at that!"
Apparently, the higher-ups at Jujutsu High had noticed his years of service and success as a team leader. Though the toughest Cursed Spirits he'd faced were only semi–special grade, his performance had earned him a classification roughly equivalent to a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Jinsuke just snorted.
Sorcerer, special grade, whatever.
He'd rather they pay him in cash.