Late at night, there was a soft kno Ryuji's door.

  Surprised, he got up and ope to find Yukino standing there, looking a little weary but determined.

  "Yukino?" Ryuji asked, raising an eyebrow. "What brings you here at this hour?"

  Before he could say anything else, Yukino stepped forward and ed her arms around him, holding him tightly.

  "Thank you… thank you so much," she whispered.

  Ryuji was now fully awake, his surprise turning to curiosity. "So, what happened?" he asked gently, noting the faiion in her cursed energy. It was clear she had gohrough something intense.

  Taking a breath, Yukino reted everything that had happened with her family, the curse user, the attack, and the frontation with her mother. She told him how she finally stood up to her family's expectations, finding the ce she hadn't known she had.

  "So it was a curse user, huh?" Ryuji houghtfully as she finished. He wasn't surprised. The surge in cursed energy around the world meant that sorcerers and curse users alike were being more active. He was grateful that Yukino had learned enough to protect herself and her family.

  "Looks like I was right to teach you all how to handle yourselves. I 't be everywhere at once," he murmured, half to himself. A fleeting idea crossed his mind, maybe he should just buy a huge pce where all of them could live together. It would certainly make things easier.

  "Ryuji?" Yukino's soft voice brought him back to the moment. She looked up at him with a warmth and trust that made his heart skip.

  "What is it?" he asked, smiling as he met her gaze.

  "I just wao say… I wouldn't have been able to stand up to my family without you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had the ce," she said, her voice quiet but sincere.

  Ryuji chuckled, brushing a stray hair from her face. "You give me too much credit. You put in the effort, Yukino. You've been w hard to build your strength, and that's what helped you tonight."

  She didn't argue, just leaned into him with a sigh of te. "I don't want to leave tonight," she whispered.

  A grin spread across Ryuji's face. "Well, it's a bit te to be saying that, don't you think? You're already here."

  With that, he lifted her gently, and Yuki herself rex pletely, holding him with trust and affe.

  ---

  The m, Yukino early, preparing breakfast in Ryuji's kit with surprising energy. She looked perfectly calm and posed, even as Nanako and Mimiko walked in, rubbing their eyes sleepily.

  They both froze at the sight of Yukino bustling around, and then exged knowing looks.

  "Wait… did you stay here all night, Yukino?" Mimiko asked, her eyebrow raised.

  Yukino gnced over at them, unfazed. "Yes," she replied simply, shrugging as if it were no big deal.

  After a moment of silehe sisters just shook their heads. "Well, you're certainly not the first," Nanako muttered under her breath, chug as she took a seat. "Breakfast smells good."

  Soon after, they all sat down to eat together. It felt strangely natural, like they'd been doing this fes.

  ---

  At school ter that m, Ryuji walked into the , only to be greeted by Miura Yumiko and the others with bright smiles.

  "M, Ryuji-kun!" they chorused.

  He greeted them with a nod, taking his usual seat hem. Thanks to some "special arras" by their homeroom teacher, Shizuka, Ryuji now had a perma seat near his friends, which made things much more ve.

  "Ryuji-kun! Have you heard the news?" Yumiko asked, leaning over with excitement.

  "News?" Ryuji asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Yui jumped in. "Yeah! It's all over social media, people are talking about sorcerers and cursed spirits now!"

  Ryuji blinked. "Wait, sorcerers too? I knew people were talking about cursed spirits, but how did sorcerers get brought up?"

  Hina, sitting nearby, adjusted her gsses with a knowing smile. "It was annouhis m. Jujutsu High released a statement expining cursed spirits and sorcerers. Looks like they're trying to get people to uand what's really going on."

  Intrigued, Ryuji took Hina's phone and skimmed the annou. It detailed the existence of cursed spirits, expihe dangers, and categorized them into different threat levels. There was even a se describing sorcerers and how they worked to protect people from these malevoleies.

  "Huh. Pretty thh," he muttered. "I guess they're trying to give people a sense of security, to make sure they don't panic."

  He scrolled further and noticed something else: an annou about a live demonstratio for noon, where one of the "stro modern sorcerers" would show how they handle special-grade curses.

  "The stro in modern times, huh?" he mused, guessing who it must be.

  "Do you know who that is?" Yui asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

  Ryuji nodded. "Yeah. That's Gojo Satoru."

  The girls looked at each other, impressed but still curious. "Is he really that strong?" Yumiko asked.

  "He's definitely powerful," Ryuji firmed with a slight smile. "Let's just say he lives up to the title."

  Yumiko, however, leaned in with a mischievous grin. "Doesn't matter how strong he is. Ryuji-kun is the stroo us!"

  Yui immediately nodded in agreement. "Right! Ryuji-kun is way cooler than any sorcerer they could show on TV!"

  Hina chuckled, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Agreed. I'm sure Gojo's strong, but… he's not our Ryuji."

  Ryuji just shook his head, a slight smile pying on his lips. He didn't care about titles like "the stro." To him, it was all just noise.

  "Holy, being 'the stro' doesn't matter to me. I just want to live my life," he said casually. "As long as everyoays safe, I'm good."

  The girls ughed, eae finding his id-back attitude charming.

  Around them, other students were excitedly discussing the live broadcast, theorizing about what a sorcerer might be able to do.

  "I bet this 'stro sorcerer' punch through a wall with one hand!"

  "Nah, I think he's as strong as a tank! Maybe even a missile!"

  "e on, guys, be realistic. He's still human, isn't he?"

  "How a human be more powerful than a missile? That's a huge exaggeration!"

  "Yeah, totally!"

  "Well, I was just saying it casually!"

  Seeing so many people disagree, the person who spoke just shrugged, not really bothered. He didn't know much about these so-called sorcerers or what kind of people they were, so there was ue about it.

  "But, if there are sorcerers who specifically deal with those cursed spirits, then we won't have to worry about getting attacked by cursed spirits iure, right?"

  "That sounds abht!"

  "That's a relief. My teacher was worried that we might get targeted by cursed spirits!"

  ***

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