It wasn’t clear whether it was because Yuan Shanxiao had been beaten up in Antarctica, or because the trauma of a surprise attack when he first encountered a stranger off the mountain had affected him, but after returning to Tokyo Jujutsu High, Yuan Shanxiao was exceptionally compliant with Gojo Satoru.

From Gojo Satoru’s initial confusion marked by a bewildered “Huh?” to later, after testing a few times and realizing that the boy wasn’t just randomly acting out—

Gojo Satoru: …

Choice A: Take advantage of the boy’s obedient phase to finish his work and then take care of him.

Choice B: Use this period before the boy’s next mutation to properly teach him.

Gojo Satoru’s rational mind hesitated between A and B, hesitated for a full three seconds, and then swiftly pressed C—

“Xiao—today I feel like eating butter potatoes—can you make some?”

“And from last time—at that pub where Garo and the others had a meal, get me a kid’s meal too—thanks—”

Observing the lanky youth sprawled like a boneless cat in the chair, the people of Tokyo Jujutsu High: …

No way, how could Yuan Shanxiao agree to these things—

“Okay.”

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks: …

Everyone looked questioningly at the black-haired boy, who scratched his cheek somewhat sheepishly. “But for the latter, I might have to ask if that restaurant does deliveries, I’m still not quite ready to leave Jujutsu High.”

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks: …

This was a bit, very much not right.

————

While the boy might appear from the outside, and by his normal behavior, to be the type who could easily be bullied at school and then effortlessly tasked by upperclassmen to run errands and do menial tasks, it’s just that the boy’s times of acting “normal” might have been too few after coming to Jujutsu High.

It’s like having seen Lin Daiyu wielding a willow branch sweeping through adversaries, then seeing Daiyu quietly reading by candlelight at her bedside—it leaves one thinking—

“Am I confused, or is the world confused?”

Although the folks at Jujutsu High couldn’t understand why the boy had suddenly become too quietly normal to the point of abnormality, they universally disliked seeing Gojo Satoru making the boy do various things.

They didn’t understand the white-haired teacher’s suddenly singing serf’s feelings that couldn’t be suppressed. They just saw—

“Xiao, take this shirt to wash, will you?”

“Xiao, I want to read manga—eh? It hasn’t updated yet? Then just draw the next part for me—”

“Xiao, I don’t feel like writing this report—could you do it for me? Just ten copies, oh, and my previous version? Hahaha, I never really started it.”

As they saw the black-haired boy about to simultaneously wash clothes, write reports, and moonlight as a manga artist, the folks at Jujutsu High finally couldn’t stand it anymore—

Zen’in Maki pulled the boy who was indeed washing a shirt with one hand and writing a report with the other—how can someone really do all these things at once, he’s not a four-armed two-faced deity…

“Yuan Shanxiao, you shouldn’t do everything for that bandaged jerk!”

The boy thought for a moment, “But they’re just small tasks, right?”

Zen’in Maki glanced at the thick stack of report papers in the boy’s hand—just ten thousand words, after all.

Zen’in Maki swallowed silently, deciding to follow the boy’s train of thought.

“So, don’t you think it’s too much for him to dump these ‘small tasks’ on you?”

“He could totally do these things himself!”

The boy continued to ponder, repeating softly, “These tasks Gojo-sensei could do himself—”

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks nodded, “Yeah, yeah!”

“But Gojo-sensei also hands them to me—”

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks nodded, “Yeah, yeah!”

“—So Gojo-sensei is training me!”

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks nodded, “Yeah, ye—”

“…”

How did we skip to that conclusion?

————

Yuan Shanxiao might indeed have been scared by that stitched-up head. After this event, he also understood that not all strong people are like Gojo Satoru. The only ones who wouldn’t disdain him, wouldn’t hurt him, and would protect him were Gojo Satoru—

And Antarctica.

But since Yuan Shanxiao had already acquired Antarctica and had set up a safe house and multiple backup locations there, he finally had more leeway to focus on Gojo Satoru.

At this moment, while eating butter potatoes, sipping cola handed over by the boy, the youth lazily said, “Only I am strong enough to protect you, right?”

The boy would agree, “You’re right.”

Gojo Satoru swallowed the potatoes in his mouth, letting the cola fizz and roll down his throat. “Cough, um, so, you won’t find anyone more reliable than me!”

The reports handed in by Gojo Satoru needed to be transcribed again—Yaga could recognize his handwriting.

The boy, while correcting the mistakes in Gojo Satoru’s report, nodded solemnly, “You’re right.”

Gojo Satoru: …

Because the boy was so compliant, it almost felt like he was being sarcastic. Gojo Satoru pretended to naturally push up his sunglasses, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the boy—seeing the report under the boy’s pen covered in red marks was like a stab to the eyes, quickly shifting his gaze away.

“…Cough, cough,”

Gojo Satoru felt that the boy’s behavior was a bit off and hesitantly ventured,

“…So, you’d die without me, right?”

The boy, without looking up from his precise circling in red ink, “You’re right.”

Gojo Satoru: …

Where was he right!!!

————

These days, the intensity of “Gojo Satoru Push” by Yuan Shanxiao made the students of Jujutsu High keep their distance.

Initially, seeing all the Gojo Satoru paraphernalia in the boy’s dormitory, everyone joked about it, but deep down, they had no doubt that it was Gojo Satoru’s own bad taste that crammed it in there—at first, it was like that.

But one day, passing by the boy’s dormitory door, they saw the boy earnestly saying to the white-haired teacher, “Gojo-sensei, send me some more amulets I can carry around!”

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks: …

Has it really reached this level?

There’s even jargon for it.

Can this still be saved?

Conscience and instinct were at war.

Although they wanted to pull the boy from the sea of sin, surely—

When the boy seemed to sense something and looked towards the door—

Tokyo Jujutsu High folks quickly hid behind the door, pulling the oblivious Inumaki Toge who was trying to wave at Yuan Shanxiao with them.

Inside the room.

Gojo Satoru also fell silent when he heard the boy’s request.

Although he wanted to ask why, asking seemed like doubting himself, especially when Gojo Satoru’s gaze swept past the boy’s back—Antarctic posters, Antarctic memory cards, Antarctic flyers, Antarctic ornaments…

Gojo Satoru pushed up his sunglasses without hesitation, suavely saying, “Okay.”

“I’ll give it to you tomorrow—”

The next day, Gojo Satoru gave Yuan Shanxiao a pendant.

A global satellite navigation GPS locator pendant. Accurate even as far as Antarctica.

Yuan Shanxiao: …

————

“It’s a pity I have nothing of value to give as a gift to Sensei…”

The next day, when Yuan Shanxiao stopped Gojo Satoru, looking at the lowered top of his hair, he heard these words, then seemed to hesitate for a moment before stretching out his hands with a box—

“This is a necklace I made for Gojo-sensei by hand, please accept it—”

Gojo Satoru: …

Gojo Satoru looked inside the box—

Neat and square, aside from looking like a box, it seemed really just to contain a box.

If someone else were present, they might sarcastically call it “The Emperor’s New Necklace.”

But Gojo Satoru, possessing the Six Eyes, easily saw the necklace inside the seemingly empty box, formed of a series of neatly connected spaces.

This was a necklace only the boy could make.

And only he could see.

The white-haired man smiled. The eye mask on his nose trembled with his amusement, then settled back into calm.

Gojo Satoru took the necklace out, holding up the invisible necklace that only they could see, appearing to size it up.

Sunlight could completely pass through this seemingly non-existent space, like overly transparent crystal, entirely dissolving into the air. Only when the boy willed the space to become visible could Gojo Satoru lift this special necklace; otherwise, Gojo Satoru could only see the special Jujutsu circuit, knowing there was the boy’s spatial creation there, but reaching out would not touch this strange space.

The boy looked up, his gaze trembling slightly, swallowing as if nervous.

In the boy’s gray-green eyes reflecting Gojo Satoru’s suave actions, it was unclear how he managed it, but he easily slipped the necklace around his neck with one hand and clicked the clasp shut.

“A gift from a student, of course I’ll accept it—”

Yuan Shanxiao licked his lips, seeming to muster a smile. But then—

“But—”

Gojo Satoru’s eyes still on the boy who looked down again, blue eyes curving, his hand unerringly finding one of the space clasps, easily removing it, and then—

“Take out the GPS locator I gave you and put it back in, Xiao.”

Yuan Shanxiao: …

Alright.

Okay.

The boy silently took the space clasp from Gojo Satoru, removing the GPS locator and reinserting it into the pendant around his neck.

“…Do you really dislike being located that much…!”

“…Because I feel like Gojo-sensei would be the type to drag me back from Antarctica—”

Gojo Satoru: …

Feeling correct.

But please don’t describe him like a meddling mother-in-law at a shotgun wedding.

Gojo Satoru pursed his lips, took a deep breath, ready to switch tactics.

“Giving a gift to a teacher and not being sincere…!!”

Yuan Shanxiao: …

“No, of the eleven space clasps, I only put the locator you gave into one—”

“…Should I be grateful for such a generous gift from a student?”

Yuan Shanxiao: …

The boy looked confused, his expression genuinely baffled.

Huh?

Just discovered one GPS and you expect thanks?

He had put ten in there.