The classroom was quiet, save for the soft ticking of the clock overhead. A warm shaft of light filtered through the high windows, dust dancing gently in the air.
Satoru Gojo leaned against the front desk, arms crossed, blindfold masking any sign of fatigue. His posture was relaxed, but his presence filled the room with a sharp kind of authority—casual, but undeniable.
Three students sat in front of him, each with their own rhythm.
Maki Zenin rested her chin on her palm, twirling her glasses in her other hand, her eyes half-lidded but alert.
Toge Inumaki leaned back in his chair, lazily scribbling on the edge of his notebook, only half-listening.
And Panda—well, Panda was eating pocky, because of course he was.
Gojo cleared his throat.
"So," he said, voice chipper. "Big news."
No one responded.
Gojo smiled wider. "We're getting a new student."
Maki sat up straighter. "A transfer?"
"Nope. A first year. Just like you three. But a little… special."
"Special how?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
"Dangerously special," Gojo answered.
Toge raised an eyebrow.
Panda groaned. "Please don't tell me it's some overconfident rich kid who thinks they can see curses."
Gojo chuckled. "Oh no. He can see curses, alright. He carries one."
Maki folded her arms. "What's his name?"
But before Gojo could answer—
Slide.
The classroom door creaked open.
A chill passed through the room.
Everyone's head turned at once.
Standing in the doorway was a boy their age—but thinner, paler, eyes uncertain and heavy with sleeplessness. His school uniform looked slightly too big for his frame, his hands clenched nervously at his sides.
But what silenced the room wasn't his face.
It was the pressure.
A wave of cursed energy poured off of him like a broken dam—raw, unstable, suffocating. It wasn't directed, it wasn't controlled. It just was.
The walls groaned faintly.
The lightbulbs buzzed.
Toge's eyes widened slightly.
Maki tensed.
Even Panda took a step back.
Only Gojo remained still.
"Everyone," he said with a grin, "meet Yuta Okkotsu."
Yuta swallowed hard, shifting his feet but trying to keep his back straight.
"I… I'm Yuta. Sorry if I… scared you."
Maki's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't fear. It was instinct."
"Cursed energy that wild shouldn't be possible without… are you contracted to something?" Panda asked, staring at him.
Yuta nodded slowly. "Her name is… Rika."
Gojo clapped his hands together once, breaking the tension. "Well! This'll be fun."
He stepped beside Yuta and ruffled his hair without asking. "Yuta here is going to be training with you three. I expect you to not bully him too much."
"You didn't tell us we were getting a Special Grade curse as a classmate," Maki muttered.
"I didn't want to ruin the surprise."
Toge scribbled on his notepad and held it up: "Dangerous?"
Yuta read it, hesitated… then nodded.
"I'll do my best not to let her hurt anyone," he said quietly.
Gojo smiled faintly, a flicker of something more serious behind it.
"And that," he said, "is why he's here."