Neither Yaga Masamichi nor Getou Suguru had seen the lip-reading. From their perspective, Gojo Satoru simply stood there looking utterly bewildered.
He was only one step away from being thoroughly led astray by the two of them working together.
The white-haired boy was never easy to deceive. The Six Eyes were practically a cheat—give him enough time, and his all-seeing gaze would approach omniscience. Sooner or later, he would uncover the truth that this was just an elaborate, carefully coordinated immersive performance staged by everyone together.
And yet, faced with the script Asou Akiya had laid out, Gojo Satoru's thoughts were in complete disarray. He had lost the one thing most crucial to him—his composure.
That glimmer of tears in Akiya's eyes was the deadliest weapon of all.
"Getou, Akiya… you didn't lie to me, did you?" Gojo Satoru swept his gaze over the two of them, deliberately excluding the older Yaga from consideration, and spoke with a sincerity so pure it went straight for the heart. "I trust your judgment."
Getou Suguru suddenly froze. "..."
Asou Akiya felt helpless at Getou's spectacular failure at a critical moment. Who was it that had sworn he absolutely wouldn't go soft?
"Gojo-san," Asou Akiya smoothly took over, "we've been standing at the school gate for quite a while now. Why don't we go inside and take a look around? I can introduce Tokyo Jujutsu High to you along the way."
Gojo Satoru still wanted to say something, but Asou Akiya smiled with a trace of melancholy and gently grasped Gojo's wrist, his fingertips brushing lightly over the skin.
Asou Akiya said softly, "Isn't this proof enough?"
Gojo Satoru recoiled as if electrocuted, then immediately felt his momentum falter. Irritated, he seized Asou Akiya's wrist in return, fingers clamping down tightly as he glared at him. "If this really is a parallel world, then how do you know about it?"
Asou Akiya replied calmly, "I'll explain later. First, let's go register your cursed energy."
And just like that, Gojo Satoru was pulled into the inner grounds of the school by Asou Akiya, still turning his head back as he walked. "Getou—Yaga—"
Yaga Masamichi failed to catch his cue entirely. "Uh..."
Getou Suguru followed after them and, on the teacher's behalf, voiced the unease in the air. "You're being way too familiar with us, you know."
"Akiya, wait for me," Getou called, hurrying until he was walking side by side with him.
In the principal's office, the old principal was absent, so Yaga Masamichi handled everything himself: receiving Gojo Satoru and registering his cursed energy. All of these actions would have been perfectly ordinary—if only Gojo Satoru had never attended Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Getou Suguru and Asou Akiya chatted casually about the Three Great Families.
Gojo Satoru stood leaning against the wall with a blank expression, once again wearing that aloof, untouchable air he'd had when he first enrolled earlier that year.
Only Asou Akiya showed no fear whatsoever of Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes. He poured him a cup of hot tea. In theory, Gojo Satoru should not have taken it, and even more so should not have drunk tea offered by a "stranger."
The teacup felt scalding in his hand. Puffing up with irritation, he still took a sip—earning from Asou Akiya a smile no longer shadowed by gloom.
This "world" felt absurdly like a farcical, fabricated stage play.
Yet within that falseness was a faint trace of reality, like a chill seeping into the gaps between Gojo Satoru's bones, compelling him to remain and observe.
Just as Gojo Satoru was about to pull out his phone and, at last, contact the Gojo family for verification, Asou Akiya signaled Yaga Masamichi and Getou Suguru to leave. He gave Gojo a look meant only for him and walked out of the principal's office.
Gojo Satoru followed without a word. When Asou Akiya led him into Yaga Masamichi's office instead, anticipation stirred—he was waiting for an explanation. Asou Akiya closed the door, creating a secluded space for a private conversation.
"You clearly know me!" Gojo Satoru exploded the moment he confirmed no one else was around.
"Yes. I do." Asou Akiya's previously straight back seemed to collapse. He sat down in the seat Yaga Masamichi usually occupied, buried his face in his hands, and spoke in a weakened voice. "I've seen you before."
Gojo Satoru frowned. "Seen me how?"
Asou Akiya finally spoke the truth. "In the future."
Gojo Satoru felt that something already absurd had just become even more outrageous. "The future? And what does that have to do with you grabbing my hand?"
Lowering his voice, Asou Akiya began to recount it. "A year ago, I encountered an object that was suspected to be a special-grade cursed tool. I don't know what its name was, so I just call it 'The Book.' When I touched it, my soul seemed to rise into a higher-dimensional realm. I saw that every page of the 'Book' contained a parallel world—countless worlds folded and layered within it. The price I paid was a severe shock to my mind; ever since then, there are times when I can no longer clearly tell who I am."
Asou Akiya continued, laying out the rules. "The 'Book' cannot be known to a third person. You are the second. If a third person were to learn of it, the very foundation of the world would be shaken."
He went on. "It is a book with a white cover and no words at all. Only those who are fated to it can gain everything upon opening it."
Bitterness saturated Asou Akiya's voice. "Do you understand? No—you do understand… because you possess the Six Eyes. You are the one closest to the essence of the world. That feeling of knowing everything, seeing everything, touching everything, while your body is frozen in place and your brain is crammed full of information until it can hold no more…"
"There was nothing I could do. I just stood there, dazed and stupid, as the boundless sorrow of countless parallel worlds surged toward me along the timeline of the future. I wanted nothing more than to suffocate and die."
Asou Akiya went on, his words trembling. "When I finally came back to myself, I went mad and tried to kill myself again and again in a children's welfare home. Only by watching my blood flow out could I obtain a brief moment of peace. I wanted to enter Tokyo Jujutsu High! I wanted to change the future!"
Then, abruptly, his tone shifted, collapsing into exhaustion and desolation. "But when I got to the school… I never managed to meet you."
"For an entire year—where did you go? Didn't you want to attend school? Didn't you want to… save this world again? Then again, maybe that makes sense. This world is truly awful, broken beyond repair. Holding up the entire jujutsu world by yourself must have been unbearably exhausting…"
His torrent of words stunned Gojo Satoru into silence.
After a moment, Gojo steadied himself. The impact was simply too great, and there was no obvious flaw he could pick apart with words. He stepped in front of Asou Akiya, crouched down, and forcibly pried apart the hands covering his face. "You're saying you saw my future?"
"…Yeah." Asou Akiya, fully immersed in the role he had been forced to play, felt as though the sky collapsing on him would be no worse than this.
Asou Akiya continued, "From April 1st to November 30th, I waited for eight full months—over two hundred days and nights. You wanted to know where the three 'bindings' on me came from, didn't you?"
His face was deathly pale, hatred seeping through his expression. "They were set by the Headquarters—the Supervisory Committee. Monitor Getou Suguru. Befriend Getou Suguru. Record information on Getou Suguru's cursed spirits."
Gojo Satoru replied calmly, "With Suguru's strength, even if you leaked that information, it wouldn't really matter."
Asou Akiya laughed—laughed in a way that left Gojo Satoru inexplicably unsettled.
"Did I say something wrong?" Gojo pressed on. "Suguru's already a semi–special-grade jujutsu sorcerer, isn't he?"
"You're all far too arrogant," Asou Akiya replied. "Arrogant to the point of being a little cute, cute to the point of being… so ridiculous that it makes me want to laugh—laugh until my whole body turns cold."
Still seated, his wrist caught in the other's grasp, Asou Akiya could no longer hide the face twisted by grief and laughter.
"Gojo Satoru."
"I'm so cold. I'm so tired. Could you hold me, just once?"
"I've told you all my secrets—"
Gojo Satoru didn't wait any longer. He wrapped his arms around Asou Akiya without hesitation, holding the man who looked as though he was on the verge of being crushed completely.
Asou Akiya's breathing gradually steadied. He rested his chin atop Gojo Satoru's soft, tousled hair.
"You're really kind."
"Of course I am," Gojo Satoru bragged shamelessly. "I'm the best person in the world!"
Yet the Six Eyes throbbed faintly, unsettled by the fragile calm settling over Asou Akiya.
"Don't speak. Listen to me until I'm finished," Asou Akiya said, forcing his voice down, holding it tight. "There are some things I don't dare to tell you outright. Since you are a Gojo Satoru from a parallel world, there should be hope for you to return to your own."
"Remember this—engrave every word of it into your mind. We have many enemies lurking in the darkness, but Master Tengen is not our enemy."
"You must be careful. Next year, a great calamity awaits you. No matter what it takes, you have to survive it. Master the Reverse Cursed Technique. Leave everything else… to another version of me."
Asou Akiya lifted Gojo Satoru's face in both hands. Focus was written plainly across Gojo's features—he was truly listening, taking every word to heart.
"You are a miracle."
A miracle that existed across billions of parallel worlds.
"No matter where I am, I will be cheering for you. Please, never feel alone."
Asou Akiya's heart softened into something like cotton candy, light and buoyant. Even if Gojo Satoru, in his thoughtless way, took a playful bite out of him, it felt as though sweetness would spill forth—sugary and warm—offered solely to the Gojo Satoru he loved most across countless anime, to the most revered and longed-for Six Eyes, the chosen child of the gods.
Gojo Satoru's appearance was already nearing the version seen at the opening of Jujutsu Kaisen's Hidden Inventory arc.
Through Gojo Satoru, Asou Akiya seemed to glimpse countless parallel versions of "him," reflected back from those eyes.
"Go back."
"Go back to your own world."
"Tokyo Jujutsu High without you has no meaning at all. You are, and always will be, the most important person among us."
Asou Akiya urged Gojo Satoru to loosen his embrace, even though he himself was reluctant to part with that warmth. "I threw myself into the world of jujutsu with everything I had just to meet you. You have to protect the other me… and Suguru, too."
More than once, Gojo Satoru had known how deeply Asou Akiya cared for him, and yet every time, that feeling still struck him straight in the heart.
Gojo Satoru made his promise. "I won't let anything happen to you guys!"
So what if it was a parallel world?
He would overturn every enemy in the jujutsu world and turn the entire world into his stage!
Asou Akiya laughed softly at that boundless confidence. The melancholy between his brows never fully faded, yet a faint light trembled in his gaze—clear, unwavering support directed at Gojo Satoru. "Gojo Satoru, I'm sorry. I think… I'm still not qualified to make you stay."
With a cruel resolve, Asou Akiya pushed Gojo Satoru away. "I'll wait for the Gojo Satoru of this world instead. Maybe he'll come. Maybe he'll stand me up. It doesn't matter. Today is your birthday—so let me offer you my congratulations first."
Under Gojo Satoru's expression—equal parts dissatisfaction and anticipation—Asou Akiya tapped open the birthday song on his phone.
He offered his blessing to Gojo Satoru. "Happy sixteenth birthday."
"Please believe this: I, Suguru, Shoko, and Yaga—we are the ones who love you, across infinite worlds."
At that moment—
Gojo Satoru believed it.
Across endless worlds, across endless parallel realities, only these four people loved him in the purest sense.
Not the Six Eyes, not the Gojo clan—just Gojo Satoru himself.
They were using Akiya's voice to celebrate him.
...
Gojo Satoru left Tokyo Jujutsu High in a daze, so distracted that he didn't even greet the assistant supervisors or the upperclassmen he passed along the way.
He heard their murmured discussions about him, all of them revolving—unsurprisingly—around their curiosity toward the Six Eyes.
That was when a sudden irritation flared within him toward the "Gojo Satoru" of this parallel world. What was even the point of staying cooped up in the Gojo family estate all day, watching anime?
Did he not want to attend Tokyo Jujutsu High?
Fine then—he'd drag him here if he had to.
No matter what, that guy was going to come and meet Asou Akiya and Getou Suguru!
Gojo Satoru charged toward the Gojo estate. In the instant of teleportation, he pulled out his phone and dialed Old Tangerine's number.
The Gojo family's phone number in a parallel world had to be the same.
As long as he was here, he could put an end to the Higher-Ups' pressure on Asou Akiya!
As long as he was here, no one would dare force Asou Akiya to spy on Getou Suguru—they would become genuine friends!
Only now did Gojo Satoru realize how crucial his existence at Tokyo Jujutsu High truly was. Without him, Akiya would forever feel guilty toward Suguru, and Suguru—unable to see through the Higher-Ups' layers of schemes—would simply assume that Akiya was cold by nature.
But that wasn't true at all.
Akiya was someone incredibly gentle with both him and Suguru, a friend who cared deeply and hid everything in his heart.
That gloomy, black-haired boy had been crying out to him in despair!
Gojo Satoru felt a blazing fury swell in his chest, ready to erupt.
From the phone came the calm, unhurried voice of the Gojo family head. "Lord Satoru, have you arrived at Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
Gojo Satoru ground his teeth. "I want you to arrange everything immediately!"
The Gojo family head paused. "?"
Gojo Satoru snapped, "Let Gojo Satoru enroll at Tokyo Jujutsu High!"
The Gojo family head fell silent. "..."
Gojo Satoru continued without hesitation, "I want Yaga as my teacher! I want to be classmates with Getou Suguru, Asou Akiya, and Ieiri Shoko!"
The Gojo family head: "?"
At the Gojo estate, one of the Three Great Sorcerer Clan' heads fell into deep suspicion that his own young lord's brain had, quite literally, overheated.
When Gojo Satoru came charging back home, he slammed on the brakes so suddenly that he nearly crashed straight into the Gojo family head, who was just about to get into the car bound for Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The Gojo family head's first reaction was pure alarm. He immediately reached out and checked Gojo Satoru's forehead. "No fever?"
Gojo Satoru stared at the familiar surroundings of his home. "Eh? I'm back? This is… my house?"
The Gojo family head said solemnly, "Lord Satoru, let us go to Tokyo Jujutsu High together."
At this point, the most urgent matter was clear: the Gojo family desperately needed Ieiri Shoko to treat Lord Satoru's severely overloaded brain.
At Tokyo Jujutsu High, everyone was swept up in a collective frenzy to complete a grand, large-scale stage play titled A Day Without Knowing Gojo Satoru. From Yaga Masamichi—who was usually driven to headaches by Gojo Satoru's antics—to the long-suffering assistant supervisors, hundreds of staff members mobilized during winter break. The campus was plastered wall to wall with birthday banners, every one of them carrying sincere feelings toward Gojo Satoru.
"Celebrating Gojo Satoru's 16th Birthday!"
"Welcome back, handsome and charming Young Master Gojo, triumphant return from the parallel world!"