Oher side of things, Mai, who had just ended her call, was left with a plicated expression as she stared at her phone.

  "Sister..."

  Deep down, Mai still cared for her sister and wanted her to be safe, but her stubbornness kept her from admitting it aloud.

  She let out a long sigh, trying to steady her thoughts, when the door to her dormitory suddenly swung open.

  Miwa Kasumi, her blue-haired cssmate, peeked in with a cheerful expression.

  "Mai! Are you ready? We're supposed to go exorcise some cursed spirits with Utahime-sensei in a bit!"

  At Kyoto Jujutsu Tech, much like at Jujutsu High, there was never a she of cursed spirits to deal with.

  "Yeah, I'm ready," Mai replied, f a smile as she set her phone aside.

  "I'll head over in a minute."

  "Great! I'll go ahead aahime-Sensei know!" Kasumi said before disappearing bato the hallway.

  As the door clicked shut, Mai took a deep breath.

  No matter how much she doubted her abilities, she refused to be a burden to anyone, not to her teammates, and especially not to herself.

  ---

  Meanwhile, on Ryuji's side, his day had been rather uful so far.

  As usual, he attended school simply because he didn't have anythier to do at the moment. With no pressing tasks on his agenda, the quiet routine was almost a wele ge.

  But during lunch, something unusual caught his attention, the girls in the service club were deep in discussion about something.

  "Hmm?" Ryuji looked up from his seat, a bit fused. "What are you all talking about?"

  The girls turo him with excitement, clearly thrilled to pull him into the versation.

  "Winter vacation is ing up soon," one of them said. "It's the perfect time for us to pn a hot spring trip!"

  "Winter vacation?"

  Ryuji blinked, caught off guard.

  Time had flown by so quickly that he hadn't even realized the holidays were approag.

  His puzzled reaade the girls giggle.

  "Of course you wouldn't notice," Utaha teased. "You barely e to school these days. You're so busy, you probably fot what season it is."

  Yukino chimed ione sharp but pyful. "sidering how rarely you show up, it's no surprise you didn't know."

  Ryuji sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're just trying to make fun of me, aren't you?"

  "Who, us? Never," Utaha said, feigning innoce.

  But before Ryuji could respond, she quickly added, "If that's how you feel, maybe you shouldn't e on this trip at all."

  "Don't even joke about that!" Utaha's sudden suggestion caused the irls to protest in unison.

  "If you don't e, there's no point in us going," Miko said firmly.

  The irls nodded in agreement. Ryuji was the glue that brought their group together, if he wasn't there, the trip would lose all its meaning.

  "Besides," Utaha added with a sly smile, leaning closer to him, "don't you want to see what we all look like in bathrobes?"

  Her teasing gaze swept over the irls, who reacted in various ways.

  Some lowered their heads in embarrassment, while others—like Yumiko—stood tall and fident, openly funting their figures.

  "Tsk," Ryuji muttered under his breath, realizing where this versation was headed.

  Of course, not everyone was willing to go along with Utaha's teasing.

  Eriri, ever the feisty one, crossed her arms and huffed. "Ryuji isn't going to fall for your cheap tricks!"

  Utaha turned her sharp eyes toward Eriri, clearly unimpressed. "Oh, please. With a figure like yours, there's nothing for him to fall for in the first pce."

  "..."

  The air grew tense as Eriri froze, visibly seething. Her small frame and ck of curves made her an easy target for Utaha's sharp tongue.

  But before Eriri could unto a tirade, Utaha wasn't done.

  "Face it," she tinued with a smirk. "Whether you're wearing a bathrobe or a trash bag, there's really not much of a difference."

  Eriri's face turned red with anger.

  "You want to go? Fine, let's go!" she shouted, pulling out her sketchpad as if it were a on.

  Utaha, unfazed, pulled out her notebook, holding it like a shield. "Anytime, anywhere."

  The two squared off, their pyful rivalry on full dispy.

  The irls exged nervous gnces, unsure whether to intervene. But as soon as they noticed Ryuji standing up, they immediately quieted down.

  There was o step in. With Ryuji around, any potential flict would be resolved in an instant.

  "Bang! Bang!"

  With two light but firm flicks of his fingers, Ryuji tapped both Utaha and Eriri on the head, sileng them.

  "If you two really want to fight, how about I step in instead?"

  "..."

  Eriri immediately fell silent, knowier than to push her luck.

  Utaha, however, maintained her usual pyful demeanor, even as she rubbed her head.

  "That depends," she said, her voice dripping with innuendo. "Are we talking about a different kind of fight?"

  "..."

  Ryuji narrowed his eyes at her, unimpressed.

  Utaha's boldness had only grown siheir retionship deepened. What had once been pyful banter had now evolved into full-fledged provocations.

  Even Ryuji wasn't sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the way, Utaha had bee a master at throwing him off bance.

  At this point, it felt like she was driving a car, and the wheels had just rolled over his face.

  The irls, sensing the shift in atmosphere, tried to stifle their ughter.

  Ryuji let out a sigh, his patience wearing thin. He didn't bother responding to Utaha's test jab and simply gave her a ft look of disapproval.

  "Alright," he finally said, turning back to the group. "Let's go on this trip."

  "Yayyyy"

  His words immediately lifted the mood, and the girls cheered.

  ***

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