Itadori may not have put it in such precise terms, but he now saw the situation in a new light, however dim.
It’s more difficult than I thought to preserve our regular daily life.
When Ijichi returned from the ward office, Itadori welcomed him with a more erect posture.
“Thank you for waiting, Itadori.”
“Uh, welcome back.”
Next, Ijichi visited a small building bearing the logo of a soft drink that Itadori recognized.
“Is this a soda company or something?” he asked.
“It’s a subcontractor for a business group. They install and supply vending machines.”
“Uh … so what’re we doing here? Have curses been haunting vending machines?”
“No, but we were passing by, so I thought I would pop in to show my face. This company installs and manages all the vending machines at Jujutsu High,” Ijichi said.
“Oh … okay.”
At school, Itadori had seen a worker coming and going sometimes. He had never given it much thought, but now he realized that no matter how you looked at that guy, he definitely wasn’t directly involved in jujutsu.
“And you have to go to all the trouble of stopping by?”
“Yes, because Jujutsu High is nominally a religious institution. We can’t let too many people know about what goes on inside, so once we establish a business relationship like this one, we don’t change it. Personal visits to companies you’re friendly with are important, Itadori.”
“Got it.”
“Oh, right!” Ijichi said, suddenly. “Is there a particular drink you like?”
“Me? Um, I like sports drinks. Nothing too sweet,” Itadori said.
“Understood. I’ll mention that. We don’t have many students, so it helps them know what’s in demand. Maybe your favorites will be in stock next time you’re at school.”
“Seriously? Awesome, thanks!”
Itadori bowed as he watched Ijichi walk into the office building.
When Ijichi returned a few minutes later, a good-natured man in work clothes was with him. Apparently, he had wanted to see Ijichi off. Itadori watched the man offer a polite bow, which Ijichi returned. For a moment, Itadori thought maybe he should join in. Then he remembered he was officially dead at the moment.
A moment later, Ijichi climbed back in the car. “Thanks for waiting, Itadori. Let’s go.”
“Yeah, okay.”
As Ijichi drove away, Itadori looked out from the back seat through the darkened glass. The man in work clothes was politely bowing toward the car. He was probably in management now, but his hands looked like they had done manual labor.
Itadori recalled visiting the ward office earlier.
Normal people had no connection to cursed spirits. The employees of that company, however, visited Jujutsu High, which meant they lived at the edge of an abnormal life.
Itadori felt a tightening in his chest at the thought. The man visible through the window was much smaller now. From inside the car, Itadori bowed his head to him.
Ijichi suddenly stopped the car at the side of the road.
“What’s up, Ijichi?”
“Um, excuse me.”
Ijichi pulled a vibrating phone from his pocket, and Itadori realized someone was calling him. He wondered who it could—
“Hello? This is he. Good work, Gojo. What do you need?”
“Gojo Sensei?” Itadori wondered.
Gojo was on a business trip somewhere far away, but Itadori didn’t know much about where or why he had gone. He tried to listen in on the call.
“A detour? Why? Oh, I see. Hold on a second. I’ll look it up and call you back.”
Ijichi ended the call. He pulled a memo pad from his breast pocket and looked at it while scrolling through the contacts on his phone.
“Ijichi, what’s up with Gojo?” Itadori asked.
“He went to see someone, but changed course along the way, so he needs me to look up the window in that area.”
“Window? I feel like I should know what that is, but …”
“A window is someone who isn’t a sorcerer, but who is related to Jujutsu High and who can see curses. Windows can trace curses and assist investigations.”
“Oh, okay,” said Itadori. “I heard about that when we went to the detention center.”
Ijichi’s shoulders tensed, and his fingers, which had been flipping memo pages, froze.
“What’s wrong Ijichi?”
“Oh … never mind. It’s nothing.”
“Hey, why do you have both a memo pad and a smartphone?”
“Well, the smartphone is in alphabetical order, but I need to know who’s in which area, and that’s difficult. For that, I use the addresses in the memo pad,” Ijichi said.
“Which area? We’re not only talking about Tokyo? Don’t tell me you have to know about all the windows all over Japan!”
“Usually, I wouldn’t have to, but Gojo is always asking me about them, so …” Ijichi trailed off.
“Oh … now I understand.”
“You know, that guy has a good memory and he’s intelligent, but he refuses to make the effort to remember anything. That includes window addresses for sure, but he even asks me about sweets at convenience stores and train timetables.”
“Sounds awful. Seriously.”
Itadori could easily imagine Gojo making ridiculous requests.
While they were talking, Ijichi must have found the information he was looking for, because he called Gojo back.
“Um … hello? Gojo? In that area—Hey, I did it as fast as I could! Yes, I did once call you back in under a minute, but—What do I care if your ice cream melted while you were waiting?! Why would you slap me when you get back?! Make a memo for it?! How can you say that to me?! No, I refuse to schedule myself for a completely unjustified lecture! So just forget it!”
“Whoa …”
Within the confines of the car, Itadori could clearly overhear Gojo chewing out Ijichi. The ridiculousness of it even got on Itadori’s nerves.
“Huh? Yes. Now that you mention it, you used the principal’s cursed corpse for Itadori’s training. What about it? Huh? You took that without permission?! And you want me to put it back?! Where is—It’s lying out in the open in the basement?! Huh? Well, first … Yes … uh-huh … mm-hmm … understood. I’ll be sure to fetch it. Hm? You added more movies to the film collection? No, you can’t claim that as a business expense! No. Absolutely not. Out of the question. Yes, uh-huh, yes, I’ll do my best.”
Today, Ijichi was running errands both large and small. Itadori stared at him intently.
That guy sure has it rough.
As they were hustling around Tokyo, the sun outside the car windows was sinking deeper and deeper. When it finally went behind the buildings, the light from the streetlights became brighter.
“Man, we’ve been all over today!” Itadori said.
“Yes, it took longer than I expected. I’d hoped things would go a little more smoothly.”
“Well, that’s Gojo Sensei’s fault!”
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Ijichi said.
“He is dependable, but he’s not much of an adult.”
“You’re not wrong about his dependability. He’s strong and kind, but he has a way of, you know, pushing people to the limit.”
“Yeah, I totally get that!”
“Yet he also has a soft spot for you students,” Ijichi noted.