The golden rays of the glorious sunshine set down a sense of warmth and comfort as the residents of Sendai City went on with their daily activities. Even amongst those who had a predisposed disposition that today wouldn't amount to much, some of them dared to hope that perhaps today would bring with it worthwhile merits. And for those who were greatly pessimistic,they dared to hope that perhaps today would be slightly more tolerable than the last.
But for our young hero, Ben Tennyson, he dared to hope that today would be far greater than the last. And nothing highlighted his optimism better than the joy he took with performing complex maneuvers as Big Chill across the sky.
Though eager to reach Jujutsu Tech as soon as possible, Big Chill didn't let that deter him from taking joy in maintaining his slow flight speed across the skies. The reason being that this had been the first time in days since Ben had used the Ultimatrix, and he always found flying to be one of his greatest delights with his powers.
Using Big Chill over Jetray, his fastest transformation, also came with it's merits. Due to Big Chill's intangibility, he could blend with the sky and clouds, and go to his destination almost unnoticed. Even when they were a few civilians who looked up and noticed his slightly transparent silhouette, they would brush it off as nothing, and go on with their activities.
After spending a few minutes of flight,Big Chill, upon reaching his destination, would descend downwards while still maintaining his intangibility. Now hovering directly above the entrance,Big Chill would land in front of it and become visible again. Upon folding his wings back into a cloak,a bright flash of green would engulf Big Chill, and once it died down,Ben would stand in his place.
With a smile on his face,Ben would walk into the compound, while occasionally looking from side to side incase anyone was nearby. After a few moments of walking,Ben stood at the entrance of the hut where Masamichi normally resided.
"Looks like no one's around. I might have to look deeper inside the campus." Noted Ben with his left finger cupped under his chin briefly. Dropping his hand in order to put it in his pockets,Ben would leave the hut with a smile on his face.
"And I think I know just where to look."
The setting was a forest with stone statues designed in the form of lanterns placed from side to side. On the road where the statues were placed opposite of were three individuals. Two whom were instantly recognizable.
The first, Megumi,wore a tracksuit jacket zipped up in the middle. It was mostly black, including the pants, with only the top half of his chest and the entirety of his back being blue.
The second,Nobara,wore a tracksuit as well. Her's being a white hoodie also zipped up in the middle, with a horizontal black design placed across her chest to her back. The design was adorned with white flowers, and just like Megumi, her pants were black.
The third,a girl,who was around Nobara's height,thus making her shorter than had a tall athletic build, along with small golden eyes and dark green hair which was tied into a short ponytail. She had fringes of hair over her forehead with smaller strands framing her cheeks and used to sport a pair of dark pink glasses.
She also wore a purple tracksuit with tan shorts over her leggings. She also held causally a brown bo-staff with her right hand, even placing it atop her right shoulder.
'Is she one of the students?' Thought Ben to himself as he stood behind a tree which was a few feet away from the trio who seemed to be in a deep discussion.
'I've never seen her before. Though to be fair,I haven't seen any other student outside Fushiguro.' A small smile formed on Ben's lips with that recollection.
'I'm guessing she's a senior, but I can't help but wonder if Fushiguro's ever mentioned her.' Ben would look up as he began to recollect past conversations with Megumi,so as to ascertain whether the girl that stood a few feet away from him had ever been mentioned.
'Well, I'm not going to get any answers here. If I ever had to meet any of the second years or higher, I'm guessing now is a good time.' Concluded Ben before coming out from behind the tree and walking towards the trio.
"Yo. Fushiguro, Kugisaki." Greeted Ben, causing the three teens to look at his direction.
"How's it going?" Asked Ben with a smile.
"Tennyson?" Asked a surprised Megumi as his eyes were widened. The green haired girl looked at Megumi as he said Ben's name before looking back at Ben.
"What are you doing here?" Asked an equally surprised Nobara.
"Just thought I'd drop by and say hello. It's been a while since we've seen each other after all." Said Ben with a shrug.
"And it's nice to meet you too,um..." Said Ben as he looked towards the green haired girl.
"Zenin Maki. But you can call me Maki." Greeted Maki formally.
"Zenin... Zenin Senpai." Muttered Ben as his eyes widened upon saying the last sentence,as a revelation had just dawned on him.
"You must have been the girl Fushiguro was talking about. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Tennyson Ben. But you can call me Ben if you want." Said Ben slightly more ecstatic as his smile slightly widened.
"So I've heard. Fushiguro has told me quite a lot about you." Said Maki as she eyed Ben curiously. Her expression was subtle,so Ben couldn't tell when she looked at him from head to toe. Though he would try the same thing, but wouldn't achieve the same success as Maki would notice almost immediately. Despite that, she didn't seem to mind it.
"All good things I hope." Said Ben with a sly smirk.
"Hmm...he mentioned an air of mystery surrounding your background, and a stubbornness that stems from either naivety or moral obligation. Or a mix of both." Pondered Maki in a manner that suggested that it was addressed more towards herself than Ben.
"Is that right?" Asked Ben somewhat nervously. His eyes then turned towards Megumi who immediately avoided his gaze.
'Great,her first impression of me isn't exactly a positive one.' Thought Ben with a small frown.
"Why are you here, Tennyson? I thought you and Itadori would be training with Gojo Sensei for the foreseeable future." Said Megumi as he managed to reestablish eye contact with Ben.
"Oh,we we still are. I just decided to take a break to pay you guys a visit." Said Ben.
"Sounds like slacking off to me." Said Nobara as she crossed her arms and eyed Ben suspiciously.
"Trust me it isn't. Besides, both Itadori and Gojo are cool with it." Assured Ben.
"Oh?" Said Nobara as she raised a single eyebrow due to curiosity.
"How is that?" Asked Megumi who maintained his calm and collected demeanor alongside Maki.
"It's a bit of a long story, which brings me back to you." Said Ben as he turned his direction back to Maki.
"Zenin Sen...I mean Maki." Stuttered Ben slightly.
"I'd like to talk to both of them in private for a bit,if that's ok with you." Said Ben with a smile.
"There's no problem at well. I had already asked Fushiguro to run an errand for me, and Kugisaki was just about to accompany him." Said Maki casually.
"Since you're here, you might as well tag along." Maki then turned to face both Megumi and Nobara.
"My thoughts exactly." Said Ben in agreement.
"So..." Began Ben.
"You guys ready?" Megumi wouldn't verbally respond, but his demeanor did show that he would display no opposition to Ben's proposal.
"I guess. But I have to wonder. What's so important that you had to come all the way down here?" Asked Nobara.
"I'll tell you along the way." Assured Ben as he walked ahead of the trio before standing directly in front of them by a few feet away.
"Oh, and it was nice meeting you,Maki." Said Ben as he turned back to wave at her. Both Megumi and Nobara would walk towards Ben.
"Likewise." Said Maki with a nod.
"She's seems pretty alright." Said Ben as he began to walk alongside Megumi and Nobara, standing in the middle. Megumi stood at his left and Nobara stood at his right.
"Feel the same way. I can't exactly place it, but I just have a good feeling about her." Said Nobara, sporting a small smile as well.
"Heh,I can relate to that. And if it's coming from your gut,I say follow it." Advised Ben, catching Nobara by surprise,thus leaving her unable to form an immediate response.
"Now, back to the subject matter. Let's say we put that on hold for a bit and talk about something more important." Said Ben.
"Being?" Asked Megumi.
"How have you guys been? We've barely seen each other for a week, and we haven't exactly been the best at keeping touch." Said Ben with a light chuckle. It was evident that neither of expected to head their conversation in that direction,as Megumi had briefly opened his mouth wide, but was unable to reply immediately.
"We've been fine, but mostly busy." Megumi would eventually say.
"Preparing for the upcoming festival. Completely understandable, since Itadori and I have been doing the same thing." Said Ben
"How's your training been going?" Megumi's eyes narrowed slightly,as he contemplated lightly what would be the best answer to Ben's question.
"I've been making some progress on getting the most out of my cursed technique. It hasn't been a rapid or instantaneous progression, but I'd say it's been significant, and gradually shaping up to be more." Said Megumi with confidence.
"That's great. And don't worry about it. Progress is progress after all,no matter how small." Said Ben with pride, causing an initially surprised Megumi to form a small smile on his face.
"And what about you, Kugisaki?" Asked Ben.
"Me? Aside from getting to know our seniors,I wouldn't say I've done much." Said Nobara with a mild shrug.
"I mean, I've certainly been training but i feel like I've learning more about how it feels to be a punching bag than anything new." Nobara would form a pout along with a frown,as if she was recollecting an unpleasant memory.
"Oh...um...Wow." Said a dumbfounded Ben.
"Didn't expect that at all." Nobara would look at Ben with suspicion.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Her question made Ben to flinch almost immediately.
"N-n-nothing. I'm just surprised, that's all. You've got nothing to worry about. Heh heh." Said Ben as he treaded his words carefully,in hopes of not incurring Nobara's wrath. Though she still eyed him with suspicion, she didn't speak out when Ben would not so subtly lean towards Megumi to whisper into his ear.
"Um... Fushiguro? You mind telling me exactly what happened?" Asked Ben in a whisper.
"She's been training in close quarters combat with Panda Senpai and Inumaki Senpai. They believe her current skill level, though impressive, could be better." Megumi however, would be not subtle,as he answered audibly enough that Nobara would hear him.
"Jerk." Said Nobara with a frown.
'So that's what she meant.' Thought Ben with his eyes slightly widened in realization.
'I've got to be careful with her. If what Itadori told me about her is true, she can get mad pretty fast. Which is something I'd like to avoid.' During one of their conversations,Yuji would recount to Ben his experience with Nobara when they both exorcised the Roppongi curse. Citing her short tempered and prone to lash out with aggression when angered, Yuji advised Ben to always ensure that he never be the focus of her rage.
An advice that Ben had no problem following. As experiences with his cousin, Gwen,had enlightened him that the saying 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' was indeed factual. And with those experiences came another lesson, that no matter how powerful he could be, women could always find a way to harm him.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Nobara. No one expects you to do perfectly on your first try." Encouraged Ben.
"Besides, the fact that you've got skills on your own is pretty impressive. You've just gotta keep building on that." Both Megumi and Nobara were visibly taken aback by Ben's statement.
"I can't even mention how many times I've messed up before I finally learnt what I was doing wrong." A snicker would escape Ben's lips as he remembered times when he would struggle to control his alien powers,or to adhere to lessons that had been taught to him. All struggles which he faced when he was ten, but still faced even in his teens.
"Why are you so nice?" Asked Nobara with a frown, shocking Ben and Megumi so greatly that they both nearly stopped walking.
"Excuse me?" Asked Ben.
"Trying to lift make Fushiguro and I feel better about ourselves? I may not have known him for more than a few days,or you for that matter, but it definitely feels like something Itadori would do as well." The reason being Nobara's suspicion of Ben's activities was that she wasn't completely certain that he was as kind hearted as others and himself had made him out to be. A notion that she once held with Yuji before he would aid her in exorcising the Roppongi curse,thus proving her wrong.
Though she felt that it may have been unfair to make such an accusation of Ben,in her defense, she only had his words and the words to go by of his actions. And though she was gradually begining to trust her colleagues more and more,it didn't stop her from making efforts whenever she could to ascertain whether they would be reliable or not.
Fortunately, and to her surprise,Ben seemed to understand her plight, because not long after she made her statement,a warm smile followed with a minor but lighthearted chuckle would be made by Ben.
"Huh." Said Ben with a snicker.
"Well,if it's that,I guess you could say that's just who we are." The sincerity and confidence in Ben's voice caused Nobara to blink twice in surprise as she looked at him.
'Part of me wants to chalk it down to bullshit, but I can't help but feel that he's telling the truth.' Thought Nobara.
"Speaking of Itadori,how is he?" Said Megumi, drawing Ben and Nobara's attention towards him.
"Oh, he's alright. He's either training by himself or with Gojo, which is why he didn't come if you're both wondering. The second I believe to be the least favorable one." Said Ben as he slightly winced upon remembering his spars and Yuji's spars with Satoru always leaving them bruised.
"But despite that, he's making good progress. He's gotten the hang of how to control his cursed energy output. Hasn't quite mastered it, but I'm sure he will in time. He's getting even better in hand to hand combat as well, though to be fair, he was already pretty amazing at it to begin with." Complimented Ben.
"I see. That is indeed very stellar and very effective progression." Said Megumi in agreement.
"Yep. For all the flack I've been giving, I've gotta say,so far, Gojo's a pretty cool teacher." Said Ben as he acknowledged that Satoru was proving to be a capable ally more and more despite his flaws.
"Despite his lack of tact with a lot of things, Gojo Sensei is very competent, especially when he chooses to be." Cited Megumi.
"I'll keep that in mind." Said Ben.
"And how's your training been like?" Asked Nobara.
"Heh. To put it simply, it's been full of surprises. Not too much, but definitely enough to be memorable." Said Ben with a smirk.
"For starters, I've finally been able to channel my cursed energy, which I didn't even know I have by the way. Can't do much with it except draw it forth and channel a little into other objects." Stated Ben.
"That doesn't take away from it being a commendable feat nonetheless. Being able to draw forth your cursed energy, though being the foundation for you to better utilize it, isn't an easy task to achieve, especially in such a short time frame." Praised Megumi.
"Not to mention that you had no prior knowledge about the mechanics of cursed energy before meeting Gojo or I." A small snicker would escape Ben's lips in response.
"Thanks man. And though I'm proud of myself too, that's not the most exciting that happened during my training." Said Ben with gratitude and excitement.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Asked Nobara.
"We're here." Said Megumi as he stood in front of Ben and Nobara. The trio had stopped at a small corridor that had up to four vending machines,all placed side by side of each other.
"Hold that thought." Said Nobara as she walked towards the second one.
"Huh?" Said Ben in confusion.
"Wait a minute. You guys were sent to get Soda?" Asked Ben in disbelief.
"Yep." Said Nobara as she pressed a button on the utmost top section of the vending machine under the category 'Cold'
"Were you expecting something else?" Asked Megumi as he watched as her order Soda.
"Kinda, but I guess that's on me for not asking." Said Ben with a sheepish smile.
"Couldn't they put in a few more vending machines?" Complained Nobara as she turned back to face the boys with one Soda can in hand.
"They can't. They are only so many workers who can come in here." Explained Megumi.
"Bit of a bummer to say the least, but I understand why." Admitted Ben.
'The whole shtick of Jujutsu isn't exactly for the public eye after all.' Ben thought to himself.
"We were still able to get what we came for though, right?" Asked Ben.
"Yeah,we only need the one after all." Said Nobara.
"Nice. So we might as well start heading back." Said Ben with a smile.
"More or less." Said Megumi.
"I'll tell you all you need to know and more on the way back. I can spare a few hours to hang out with you guys after all." Said Ben with enthusiasm.
Back in the forest where Ben met Megumi and Nobara along with Maki,Maki was seen walking in front of two rather unusual individual.
The first was a fully-grown panda who completely towered over Maki, and was most likely even taller than Satoru. He stood on his two feet and walked in a manner similar to a human.
The second, who stood behind the panda was a boy much shorter than Maki. He was slim with light skin, purple eyes, and mid-length straight, platinum blonde hair. His clothing was the most unusual thing about him as he wore a zipped-up dark collared shirt underneath a white short sleeve shirt that was fitted with a high collar with a zipper that covers his mouth. He also wore athletic pants and shoes. He walked right beside the Panda
"Huh?" Began the Panda before raising his left hand over his head as he began to scan the area in search of something.
"Where are the first years?" He asked.
"On errands." Replied Maki.
"Bonito flakes." Said the boy, which was in fact a rice ball ingredient.
"Will they be ok?" Asked the panda with concern as he dropped his hand.
"Salmon." Said the boy.
"They're not three years. They can handle an errand run." Said Maki casually.
"No, that's not what I mean." Said the Panda
"It's today, right?The day Kyoto's principal comes." Maki would turn her head back to face the Panda.
"To go over the exchange event." The boy would look at the Panda with curiosity.
"Tuna." He would say.
"Satoru's fighting with the higher-ups because they arranged for the first years to get dispatched on that special grade case, right?" Theorized the Panda.
"And the principal of Kyoto is one of those higher-ups, isn't he?So if they run into each other..." The Panda intentionally trailed as he already knew that Maki understand where he was driving at.
"The first year they were targeting, Itadori, survived. Not only that, but the special grade was exorcised. All of this due to the other first year Megumi told us about,Ben Tennyson." Stated Maki.
"Hard to believe that a first year's already a grade 1 sorcerer. The only other sorcerer that comes to mind is..."
"Trust me, he's no Yuta." Interrupted Maki.
"Huh? How would you know that?" Asked the Panda in confusion.
"We've met." Stated Maki simply.
"Mustard Leaf?" Said the boy with mild but evident surprise in his voice.
"How did you..." Asked the Panda with shock.
"He came to see Megumi and Kugisaki, and tagged along with them for the errand. We only spoke briefly, but I'm certain that he's everything Megumi said, and more." Explained Maki.
"Salmon Roe." Said the boy.
"I'm not sure how strong he is either, but I doubt it's on his level But despite that, Tennyson has already caused quite a stir as it is." Said Maki, allowing a small smile to form on her face.
"But there's no need to worry. It's only Tennyson and Itadori he's interested,so won't bother Megumi or Kugisaki. Plus, only Tennyson came here, and the old man wouldn't dare to cause a scene in broad daylight even if it were otherwise." Explained Maki.
"Salmon." Said the boy.
"An instructor might have his position to worry about, but that's not the case for the students." Said the Panda, causing Maki to stop walking.
"Are you saying Mai is coming?" Asked Maki as she turned back to face the Panda,her smile completely gone.
"It's just a guess." Stated the Panda, his expression of worry still present.
"Students aren't necessarily for a meeting." Said the Panda as he raised his head up slightly.
"But still..." He began.
"They love harassing us, right?"
Ben, Megumi and Nobara both stood side by side as they looked at their front with surprise. Standing there with a makeshift stadium grass behind them were two individuals.
"Both Todo..." This was a rather tall young man that stood around the same height as Satoru. He had a very defined, heavy muscular build and relatively tan skin, small black eyes and shoulder-length black hair that is almost always tied into a top-knot bun. And most notably,a large scar running down the left side of his face. It added to his already intimidating countenance which resulted from him visibly frowning and his teeth gritted with his neck cocked sideways to the left
He wore the jujutsu uniform, but his jacket was removed, and instead wrapped around his right hand. He had on a pink undershirt. His pants were styled differently from the normal jujutsu uniform,as it was more in the line of martial arts pants. A clothing choice that was complemented by martial arts slippers as well. The choice of pants was also very loose and had stops above the ankle with a bright blue sash wrapped around the waist
"...And Mai." This was a young woman within the same height as Nobara and Maki. Her similarity with Maki didn't stop there,as she looked near identical to her, almost as if they were twins. But they were also some notable differences in their clothing and accessories that helped differentiate the two.
For starters,her hair cut shorter, thus making it mid-length that reached just to her neck. Though it's color was green as well. Dark brown eyes in contrast to Maki's gold, but thin eyebrows as well. Though she didn't wear glasses like Maki did
Her clothing was the biggest difference in her appearance compared to Maki. She wore a black sleeveless high collar shirt with a long, black skirt and black shoes. She had a rather warm smile on her face as she placed her left hand on her right one which she leaned straight down on that side.
Ben's eyes were widened in surprise by the appearance of the two new individuals. An action which stood in stark contrast to the composure Megumi and Nobara displayed. However Megumi's composure did raise cause for concern,as it seemed like he knew the two teens that stood before them.
Whoever they were,they caused Ben to lightly grip his left hand into a fist. His instincts told him that their intentions could prove to be sinister or troublesome at the very least, and that he should be wary of them.
He would soon come to realize just how right he was.
TO BE CONTINUED!