So this is the efficiency of the higher-ups?
They're way too slow!
Hearing that the adoption paperwork had been held up, Asou Akiya's plans were thrown into disarray. He had waited from the beginning of the month all the way to the end before finally receiving good news.
Yaga Masamichi told him that the higher-ups had approved it.
After stepping outside to take a phone call, a flicker of delight crossed Asou Akiya's eyes before vanishing. He returned to Gojo Satoru's dorm as though nothing had happened.
At this point, Gojo's room was piled high with all kinds of Halloween maid costumes.
Gojo Satoru and Getou Suguru were busy picking out outfits that suited them, engaged in an intense debate over whether a headband or a ribbon would look better.
"Suguru, cat ears are way cuter!"
"No, Kuroi-san tied a ribbon around her bun back then!"
Half a year had passed, and Getou Suguru had finally learned to distinguish Kuroi Misato from Amanai Riko, no longer burdening himself with excessive guilt.
Whenever he mentioned Kuroi Misato, it was with the quiet tone one might use when speaking of an old acquaintance whom they could never meet again. She had passed away, but the diligent image of her as a maid had been preserved forever in his memories.
Asou Akiya happened to pass by the two of them and was asked which one looked better.
Without the slightest hesitation, he chose the cat-ear headband.
"Cat maids are the best!"
Asou Akiya let out the triumphant cheer of a true anime otaku.
"I think so too! And don't forget, Akiya, you promised you'd wear the wings again this Halloween! You're going with the angel maid outfit!"
After becoming obsessed with anime, Gojo Satoru had developed a thorough understanding of Asou Akiya's tastes.
"..."
Getou Suguru regretted asking Akiya.
"But if it's you, Suguru, fox ears would suit you better."
Asou Akiya found a pair of pure-black fox ears and placed the headband on Getou Suguru's head. The ears blended perfectly with his hair color. He reached up and stroked one of them. They felt surprisingly realistic, made of faux fur designed to mimic fox fur.
"Yip!" After having his ears stroked, Getou Suguru quickly got into character and let out a fake fox cry.
Gojo Satoru, standing nearby, immediately mocked him. "Isn't that the sound of a mouse?"
A moment later, Gojo Satoru took a punch to the head and went tumbling into the pile of fluffy, soft maid outfits.
Getou Suguru showed him no mercy. "Could you please learn how to speak with a little more tact, Satoru?"
Asou Akiya said, "Impossible, he'll never learn. The communication books we bought for him will stay untouched on that bookshelf forever."
Getou Suguru carefully picked out a wig with a hime-cut hairstyle and handed it to Akiya. Since he had already resigned himself to becoming a maid, he wasn't about to let everyone else have a laugh at his expense. He began discussing the matter with Akiya.
"Akiya, should we drag the juniors into this too?"
Asou Akiya thought for a moment. "You handle Nanami?"
A subtle, almost mischievous smile appeared on Getou Suguru's face. "You handle the Zen'in."
As for Haibara Yu, the two of them left the easiest assignment to Gojo Satoru.
"Suguru, paint my nails for me."
Asou Akiya suddenly remembered something and went to fetch the nail polish Getou Suguru had given him.
"I want some too!" Gojo Satoru looked like he had just spotted an interesting new toy.
"Let me trim your nails first, then let Suguru paint them for you." The moment Asou Akiya finished speaking, Gojo Satoru instinctively pulled a nail clipper from the drawer and began snipping away, carefully shaping his nails into a neat, attractive form.
A ripple passed through Asou Akiya's eyes.
Gojo Satoru had taken another step toward becoming independent.
Was it because he had guessed that Akiya intended to sever ties with the Gojo family…?
…
November 1st, Halloween. A wonderful Saturday where there was no school.
The staff at Tokyo Jujutsu High quietly turned red in the face, some nearly walking straight into lampposts as they were treated to a close-up view of the very pinnacle of the jujutsu world dressed in maid outfits.
"Today, we're having some fun with gender-bending."
Ieiri Shoko had a smoking pipe between her lips and was openly dressed in a three-piece suit, watching the maids with an amused smile.
"That's right, Shoko-sensei!"
Asou Akiya imitated a feminine voice with uncanny accuracy. He truly lived by the philosophy of doing his best to embrace whatever role he took on.
"I really don't want to fool around with these senpais."
Nanami Kento had completely withdrawn into himself, hiding in a corner. The European-style black-and-white maid outfit suited him almost perfectly.
More precisely… He looked a little like Cinderella being abused by her stepmother.
"Haha, this is actually really fun! My little sister asked me to send her some pictures."
Haibara Yu stood beside Nanami Kento, shielding his friend from the camera while flashing a peace sign.
When it came to shamelessness, no one could underestimate a cheerful young man like him.
Gojo Satoru wore a tailor-made maid outfit, complete with a petticoat beneath the skirt and a pair of snow-white cat ears on his head. He still moved with remarkable speed, relentlessly snapping pictures of his juniors.
The camera flash went off again and again.
He was thoroughly pleased with their newly transformed appearances.
Gojo Satoru sent the photos to everyone he could think of who might appreciate them.
"Don't take pictures—aaaaah!"
Zen'in Naoya was mortified beyond words and desperately tried to escape, but Gojo Satoru had somehow applied his teleportation to photography.
One photo after another of a blonde, twin-tailed maid appeared on everyone's phones.
—
Kyoto.
The Gojo Clan Head: "..."
His finger slipped, and he accidentally saved one of the pictures. Then, out of pure spite, he sent it to his old rival, the head of the Zen'in family.
[Zen'in Naobito: Why do you have a picture of my son?]
[Zen'in Naobito: Nice picture. Your Six Eyes isn't half bad either.]
Zen'in Naobito promptly forwarded the picture of Gojo Satoru in a dress that Zen'in Naoya had secretly taken in the boys' dorm the previous day.
The Gojo Clan Head: "..."
Tokyo Jujutsu High really was a blessed place.
It had a way of pushing every young heir to discover just how low their dignity could go.
The bus was filled with the students' laughter and chatter as they headed out, and even the driver struggled to suppress his laughter.
Up front were the Gojo-brand cat-eared maid, the Getou-brand fox maid, the Asou-brand angel maid, and the Ieiri-brand shameless gentleman.
In the back were the Nanami-brand mixed-race braided maid, the Haibara-brand high-ponytail maid, and the Zen'in-brand blonde twin-tailed maid.
Ieiri Shoko covered her lips with one hand and asked Asou Akiya, "How did you convince that misogynist?"
Everyone at Tokyo Jujutsu High knew that the Zen'in heir despised women. He clung to the antiquated, male-dominated ideology of the old days, hated women walking ahead of him, and went around insisting that female jujutsu sorcerers were only fit to bear children for men and should always walk three paces behind them.
If he weren't a Zen'in with the possibility of inheriting the family in the future and having the strength of a Grade 2 jujutsu sorcerer, someone would have stuffed him into a sack and beaten him up long ago.
Asou Akiya smiled. "I bet him that Gojo would dress up as a woman. He didn't believe me, so he took the bait before he could stop himself."
Ieiri Shoko gave him a thumbs-up. "It was that easy?"
Asou Akiya adjusted the knot of Ieiri Shoko's bow tie. A proper, intricate men's bow tie added a certain refinement to one's appearance.
"Don't underestimate the power of fans. In the eyes of many people from the Three Great Clans, Gojo is an untouchable flower on a high mountain—beautiful, but only meant to be admired from afar. The Gojo clan has protected him far too well."
Ieiri Shoko calmly left the tie in her classmate's hands, thinking to herself: An untouchable flower? How thick is that filter?
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Gojo Satoru reaching toward her and immediately did her best to protect the British-style hat on her head.
"Gojo, you already have a headband, don't steal my hat."
Gojo Satoru had an exceptionally beautiful face, with glossy, translucent jelly-like lip gloss on his lips. His lips weren't particularly small, but their proportions were just right, giving him a soft, incredibly kissable first impression. All ten of his fingernails had been painted pink. Everything about him, from head to toe, was exquisitely put together.
His pale legs were hidden beneath the skirt, and sitting on the bus made his height less apparent. An almost overwhelming sense of youthful, innocent femininity radiated from him. Together with Getou Suguru, whose fox-like eyes had been accentuated with eyeliner, the two looked like a pair of beautiful sisters.
Don't be fooled by the contrast between one looking pure and innocent and the other looking alluring and seductive.
In reality, both of them had been single since birth.
Gojo Satoru deliberately raised his voice and shamelessly wheedled at Ieiri Shoko. "How about I switch with him?"
Ieiri Shoko immediately refused. "No!"
That's all you got? He's just a cat maid who can only rely on his face and is good at tearing things apart!
Ieiri Shoko lifted Asou Akiya's chin. "Now this is the kind of maid a normal person would want."
An angel maid who is pure, loyal, excellent at housework, emotionally intelligent, and never causes her master any unnecessary trouble!
Asou Akiya cooperatively lowered his eyes with a smile, silently conveying all the bashful satisfaction of someone being praised by a gentleman.
Gojo Satoru: "You're just bullying me because I can't act!"
Getou Suguru: "Watching Akiya act is a pleasure, while watching you act just makes people's scalps tingle."
In the seats toward the back, Nanami Kento couldn't bear to watch any longer. Haibara Yu, meanwhile, embraced the spirit of learning and enthusiastically chimed in, "Asou-senpai, a maid like you would be incredibly popular!"
Nanami Kento thought it was terrifying. Who could possibly afford to keep a maid like Asou-senpai?
For a moment, Nanami Kento thought Zen'in Naoya was the only normal person left on the bus.
Then he turned his head.
Naoya had actually turned gray from the psychological assault.
The blonde, twin-tailed Zen'in Naoya covered his face with both hands and muttered miserably, "Satoru-kun has no shame, Suguru-kun has no shame either. How could Akiya-kun join them in this ridiculous nonsense? We're going to completely ruin the reputation of the Three Great Clans."
Nanami Kento decided that ever since he enrolled at Tokyo Jujutsu High and met this group of people… His reputation had been doomed.
"What are you murmuring about? Keep it up and I'll beat you up!"
A white-haired maid suddenly stood up. His height instantly drew every eye on the bus, his head nearly brushing the ceiling. He clenched his fists and arrogantly threatened the junior who had been forced to leave the house dressed as a woman.
Zen'in Naoya immediately shut his mouth, tears welling in his eyes as he regarded today's maid outfit as the greatest humiliation of his entire life.
How could I possibly have made a bet with Akiya-kun!!!
Last time, he lost because of Toji, and this time, he lost because of Satoru. Neither of them could be relied upon!
So much for the jujutsu world's "strongest."
In the end, he only managed to screw himself over.
...
Shibuya—the same place they had visited for Halloween the year before.
Keeping with their old tradition, Gojo Satoru and Getou Suguru competed to see who would be more popular, collectively excluding Asou Akiya from the competition because they considered his participation an unfair advantage that would ruin the balance.
What they never expected was for the blonde, twin-tailed Zen'in Naoya to emerge as the dark horse among this year's maid cosplayers.
Surrounded by men, Zen'in Naoya was on the verge of breaking down.
Other than Asou Akiya, he was the only one whose physique, appearance, and outfit came closest to what people expected from a maid. Once he decided to just embrace the situation, Zen'in Naoya's short temper came roaring back. His murderous glare could practically kill, and when a young man came over to ask for his phone number, he snapped, "Get lost! Peasant! Take one more step toward me, and I'll put your entire family in coffins!"
His repertoire of insults was limited. He kept cycling through words like "peasant," "bastard," "trash," and "weakling." Compared to Gojo Satoru, the only addition was a vocabulary exclusive to someone raised in a feudal family.
And yet, the guy being insulted somehow turned red.
"Tsundere young mistress type?"
Blonde twin tails, a sharp tongue, a maid outfit, and yet the personality of a textbook feudal young lady.
Very… anime!
Asou Akiya passed by nearby, taking pictures to commemorate the occasion. In his hand was an electronic fireworks wand Gojo Satoru had bought and then lost interest in, while the wings on his back were spread wide.
It wasn't even particularly over-the-top. If anything, there was something adorably endearing about the sight—a novice angel who had descended to the human world in search of a master.
Gojo Satoru was having the time of his life watching the spectacle, half draped over Asou Akiya as he looked through everyone's photos.
"Akiya, when are you going to start serving me tea and water?" Gojo Satoru still remembered the promise Akiya had made him and began bringing up old grievances. "I'm in an even better mood than I was last Halloween!"
Asou Akiya shot back, "Haven't I always brought you water when you asked?"
"That's different, you don't normally wear a maid outfit."
Gojo Satoru's hand sneakily reached out to lift his skirt.
Pulling on his braids, lifting his skirt— Those were exactly the sorts of things little boys would do, and Gojo Satoru had no qualms about doing them to his friends.
Asou Akiya wasn't bothered. He stood there with perfect poise, smiling brightly.
"I'm a man, so I don't mind you lifting my skirt. But if you make me expose myself in public, you'd better watch out. You might not be laughing on your birthday this year."
Gojo Satoru's hand stopped.
The Six Eyes caught the eager gazes of the onlookers around them.
Gojo Satoru absolutely refused to admit that he had backed down because of the threat to his birthday.
"I'm just worried you'll get cold."
His hand dropped, pinning down the hem of Akiya's skirt, before he gave Akiya's thigh a loud smack.
The careless force of the blow left Asou Akiya's skin stinging, along with the humiliating feeling of having the tables turned on him.
Without even realizing it, Gojo Satoru had managed to tease Asou Akiya purely on instinct.
"Akiya, why'd you stop smiling~?"
Outside the crowd.
Amanai Riko had arranged to come to Shibuya for Halloween with a friend who had transferred schools. By coincidence, she happened to run into the group from Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Amanai Riko knew most of them.
They were simply too distinctive, with their looks that were one in a million, and pride that refused to bend before the judgment of society.
She was surprised to see Getou Suguru laughing so freely, even lifting his skirt and bowing to Ieiri Shoko, who was dressed as a man. Gojo Satoru wore cat ears as he playfully horsed around with another male classmate in a maid outfit. Once they took off their school uniforms, they were nothing more than a bunch of rebellious high school students unapologetically being themselves.
Just as Amanai Riko was about to walk a little closer, Gojo Satoru suddenly pointed toward a shopping mall.
"I want to buy something."
Asou Akiya said something to Getou Suguru and Ieiri Shoko, then accompanied him into the mall.
The two of them walked off together.
"What do you want to buy?"
Gojo Satoru's usual flippant attitude was tinged with a smile.
"It's not for me, but If it's something Akiya likes, I'll buy it all for you."
—Strong, wealthy, capable of protecting me, and able to buy me every luxury in the world.
The Six Eyes recorded every second of Gojo Satoru's life. For some reason, those words suddenly resurfaced in his memory.
Had he… maybe, possibly… never actually given Akiya anything particularly valuable himself?
If that was the case, then he might as well make up for it.
The result of their shopping trip was that Gojo Satoru pointed out luxury goods one after another, only for Asou Akiya to reject every single one of them.
The angel maid refused to let him pay, which meant Gojo Satoru couldn't buy anything.
Asou Akiya said calmly, "None of these are as good as the red cord you gave me."
No matter how narcissistic Gojo Satoru was, even he didn't think the red cord was worth much. Hadn't Suguru already stopped wearing his old red cord and switched to a silver bracelet?
He had stopped snooping on his friends' private lives.
Gojo Satoru wasn't discouraged in the slightest. He clung to Asou Akiya, insisting that Akiya pick out a gift he liked. Otherwise, he refused to let him leave.
Wanting to make him understand that the thought behind a gift mattered more than its price, Asou Akiya seriously made a request.
"Then let's go with this."
Gojo Satoru followed his gaze.
It was a flower shop on the second floor of the mall.
Asou Akiya explained, "At this shop, pick the flower that looks most like you and give it to me. That would make me very happy."
Gojo Satoru wandered around the flower shop. With the Six Eyes, he could read the prices on every tag with perfect clarity. He bought the flowers with his allowance and hurried back out to give them to Akiya.
"Here!"
He hadn't chosen an expensive flower.
By looking at the flowers themselves, Gojo Satoru had understood that the most expensive ones weren't the kind Akiya wanted.
Asou Akiya smiled and pressed his cheek against the flowers.
He had received the flower he would come to love most in his life—a sunflower from Gojo Satoru, brilliant and radiant, smiling toward the sun.
"Gojo, take a picture of me with the sunflower. I want to preserve it at its most beautiful."
—A gift for the 16-year-old Asou Akiya.
Gojo Satoru did as he was asked, without any antics this time. His choice of angle was a considerable improvement.
Afterward, Asou Akiya stuffed several bank cards that he had been managing for Gojo Satoru over the past six months into his pocket, refusing to let him live in poverty anymore.
After experiencing firsthand how unpleasant it was to need someone else's permission before he could pay for something, Gojo Satoru developed a greater appreciation for the importance of money.
He accepted the cards.
After the two of them reunited with Getou Suguru, Gojo Satoru was surprised for a moment when he realized that Amanai Riko was nowhere to be seen.
Riko didn't go looking for Suguru?
Oh well, if she's gone, she's gone. Saves Suguru from running out of money. He's been awfully generous with me lately.
Gojo Satoru's attention returned to his own people. Playing with his phone, he looked at the wallpaper that had occupied his screen for the past several months—the angel maid from the maid café last time.
Suddenly, he deleted the photo of that stranger and replaced it with the latest picture of Asou Akiya and the sunflower.
As expected of me, the sunflower I picked looks amazing!
It's got at least thirty percent of my charm when I smile!
———
Author's Note:
I recommend visiting Sanqing Mountain. The scenery is beautiful, the air is fresh, and the guesthouses are very cheap. Food is a little more expensive, which is understandable since supplies are limited in the mountains. However, I don't recommend rafting here.
While I was rafting, my kayak got stuck on some rocks, and I only managed to get out of the area safely with the help of a rescue team.
After the rafting trip, I got sunburned under the blazing sun and am still recovering. I'll do my best to update daily, but it'll be difficult to manage any bonus updates this month.