It was nearly identical to their previous eting.
When Bokue Keikain received the ssage and left the school building, he found the sa swordswoman quietly waiting by the guard booth near the school gates at dusk, hugging a sword bag with her katana inside, gazing at the sun sinking into the horizon.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Senpai."
"No, it's fine…"
Saeko Busujima gave a slight shake of her head, turning to face the boy who had just arrived. She raised the corners of her mouth into a calm, tranquil smile.
"Actually, I only got here a short while ago myself. I was thinking Bokue-san might not see my ssage for a while if I didn't send it ahead of ti, so you might have made wait. But you ca pretty quickly—rather surprising."
Bokue-san???
A question mark appeared over the boy's head. "Didn't you address as 'Bokue' last ti, Senpai…?"
Usually, the second eting should be more familiar, but now it felt more formal than the first.
"Ah, that's—"
ntioning this, Saeko, whose sword-like features always seed serene, briefly showed a hint of awkwardness.
"Last ti, we didn't really know each other, and I had no idea who you were. In fact, my father raised to treat people politely, and the Jujutsu Association specifically asked that I adopt a more official tone for this matter."
Sothing about it felt off...
Bokue went quiet for a mont, then scratched his head with a soft click of his tongue. "Eh, forget all that. I'm not like those hidebound relics in my clan. If it's you're talking to, just keep it casual. Hearing overly formal speech makes uncomfortable—if you don't mind, just call 'Bokue' and skip all the nonsense."
"Mmm, all right. If you insist, then I'll do that."
Hearing the boy's suggestion, Saeko relaxed her earlier uptight manner. She nodded toward the west side's intersection off campus. "Sa plan as last ti—let's find sowhere quiet to talk?"
"Sure, let's go."
❁❁❁❁
Though not the exact sa ti, it was the exact sa place: ten minutes later, in a familiar café.
Saeko once again ordered coffee, while Bokue changed up and got orange juice plus a slice of tiramisu.
The swordswoman sipped her coffee, cutting straight to the point:
"About the incident with the Sukuna's Finger that Bokue-kun destroyed, I reported it to the Jujutsu Association the sa day I returned to the school. This afternoon, they finally gave a response."
"They're not gonna make pay up, right?"
Bokue asked around the straw in his mouth, voice muffled.
"Of course not," Saeko said, smiling faintly. "The Association wants Bokue-kun to co in for a face-to-face discussion. Conveniently, next month is the Goodwill Event between Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High and Kyoto Prefectural Jujutsu High. At that ti, Principal Gakuganji from Kyoto, along with exchange students from that side, will be at Tokyo Jujutsu High."
Oh, so that's it.
Bokue got the picture. Even though Saeko didn't spell it out fully, the implication was clear: The Jujutsu Association would send the principals of both sister schools (Kyoto and Tokyo) to talk with him.
He saw no problem with that—Kyoto plus Tokyo effectively represented half or more of the jujutsu world in Japan.
It was like how the top two universities were Tokyo University first, and Kyoto University second, overshadowing everything else.
It wasn't that Tokyo and Kyoto themselves were inherently special, but that all the best resources and top talents were funneled into those places for historical and political reasons.
Resources out of ten: Tokyo got four, Kyoto three, Osaka one and a half… the rest scattered.
❁❁❁❁
"Oh, right…"
Setting aside his tiramisu spoon, Bokue arched an eyebrow.
"It's a major event with serious stakes, so… the Three Big Clans aren't going to show up in person?"
"That… I'm not sure," Saeko admitted with a hesitant shake of her head.
Strictly speaking, if you combined Tokyo–Kyoto Jujutsu High, the two principals could represent half the Jujutsu Association. But fundantally, the Association was still dominated by the Big Three Sorcerer Families:
Gojo, Kamo, Zen'in.
Those two principals were basically just window dressing, figureheads like Jim Hacker in Yes, Pri Minister.
Or maybe even less. At least the British pri minister, if determined, could overrule the cabinet secretary.
But these principals? The Three Families could easily reforge iron to reassert dominance.
Thus the only logical explanation: The Three Families had decided on a humiliating fallback strategy.
Just like in that Yes, Pri Minister episode about redrawing boundaries with the French, Jim Hacker originally intended to handle it personally but ended up letting the Foreign Office do the "Dishonorable" negotiation after Humphrey cornered him.
Likewise, the Big Three Clans likely intended to avoid humiliating themselves in front of an Onmyōji, so they'd let the two principals handle the dirty work.
On the surface, at least, it looked better.
Aware of that subtext, Bokue didn't press further. He took another bite of cake, then nodded:
"Got it. Guess that's settled, then."
"Then I'll send you the details as soon as I can confirm the eting ti," Saeko said, nodding contentedly.
❁❁❁❁
❁❁❁❁
anwhile—
At a different café far from the student district in Tokyo, in a discreet corner booth:
"…So you say the intelligence about that cursed womb is confird now?"
"Mm, at worst there should be eight or nine left."
"Eight or nine, that's enough… so it's decided. At next month's Goodwill Event, I'll handle killing Gojo Satoru. None of you get involved. Once it's done, you hand over Prison Realm to —I want it for my collection."
"Mhm, of course—provided you can actually pull it off."
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