Chapter 114 : Type of Woman (1)
Two days later, the morning sun was just starting to warm the stone pathways of the Jujutsu High campus.
"Ummm... teach, why exactly are you following us?" Yuji asked, walking backward to squint at the blonde man trailing a few paces behind them.
Mark slouched along with his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets, stifling a yawn, looking completely dead to the world.
"Yeah, it’s way too early for your usual antics," Nobara grumbled, arms crossed, shooting him a skeptical glare. "Are you just trying to get out of doing actual work?"
"I’ll have you know I’m being a highly responsible adult," Mark said, flat and exhausted. "I’m sticking around for your safety. Today’s the day the Kyoto principal comes up to discuss the Goodwill Event."
Megumi stopped walking, eyes narrowing as the pieces clicked. "I see. I understand."
Yuji smacked his fist into his palm, face lighting up. "Oh! I understand!"
Smack. Mark chopped him on the head.
"Ow!" Yuji winced, rubbing his hair.
"What exactly did you understand, you idiot?"
Yuji puffed out his chest, unbothered. "I understood that I understand absolutely nothing!"
Nobara let out a sharp "Tch," staring at him like his existence was actively draining the team’s collective IQ.
Megumi sighed, stepping in before Nobara could take a nail to Yuji’s skull.
"What the teacher’s trying to say, Itadori, is about the detention center mission last week." His expression hardened. "The one where we got ambushed by the Special Grade. One of the higher-ups who set that mission up to get you killed — is the Kyoto Principal."
"So that’s why teach is acting like our shadow!" Yuji gasped, the gravity finally sinking in.
"Bingo," Mark said, digging lint out of his pocket. "It’d be a massive headache if that old fossil tried something sneaky while Satomi’s busy."
"Babysitting you brats is easier than filling out the paperwork if one of you gets randomly assassinated."
Yuji frowned. "But... would he really try to kill me right here? In broad daylight, on school grounds? That seems insane."
Megumi pinched the bridge of his nose.
Mark stopped walking. The sleepy droop in his eyes sharpened, just slightly, as he looked down at his student.
"Don’t ever underestimate what an old man will do," he said, the sarcasm gone from his voice, replaced by something flat and cold.
"People with a little power will do anything to keep it. And in the Jujutsu world? Anything is possible."
"Humans can be disgusting, kid. Completely without a moral compass. Don’t go around assuming everyone out there has a good heart just because you do."
A shadow passed through his mind as he said it.
He wasn’t just thinking about the corrupt old guard of Jujutsu society — his thoughts flickered to the psychos back in the Boys universe.
Corporate boardroom sociopaths at Vought. Capes who smiled for the cameras while massacring civilians. People who thought they were untouchable gods.
Homelander’s vanity. Stormfront’s cruelty. Compared to that, the conservative old men in Kyoto were just a different flavor of the same poison.
Unchecked power bred monsters, whatever world you were in.
He shook the thought off, and the intensity faded back into his usual tired half-lidded gaze.
"Anyway," he sighed, waving a hand to break the tension. "If the guitar-playing geezer tries anything, I’ll snap his walking stick in half. Come on, let’s keep moving. I need a nap."
Yuji blinked. "Wait, guitar geezer?"
Mark’s smirk widened, leaning in like he was sharing a secret. "Oh yeah. That fossil’s cursed technique involves shredding on an electric guitar to power up his attacks."
Nobara snorted, clapping a hand over her mouth.
Yuji burst out laughing, delighted at the mental image of a wrinkly old man aggressively shredding to exorcise curses.
Megumi let out a long, suffering sigh, resigned to the fact that his whole team shared one brain cell.
"Oh. So this is the Sukuna vessel. Disgusting."
The laughter died instantly.
The group turned to find two Kyoto students on the path — a sharp-eyed young woman who looked nearly identical to Maki, wearing a mocking smirk, and beside her a towering, absurdly muscular student with a scar down his face and hair tied up in a spiky pineapple shape.
Mark barely registered them, waving a hand dismissively. "Ignore the edge-lords. Let’s go grab something to eat."
He stepped forward, expecting the others to follow. But before Yuji could take a step, the towering student vanished and reappeared directly in front of them, blocking the path entirely.
Aoi Todo stared down at the group, gaze locking onto the Tokyo students.
"Before we bond, I need to ask you something vital." His voice boomed across the courtyard. "What is your type of woman?"
The absurdity of it hung in the air. Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi all tilted their heads in unison, faces twisting in bewilderment.
Mark didn’t miss a beat. He looked up at the towering high schooler, thoroughly unimpressed.
"Fuck off," he deadpanned, not even breaking stride as he walked right past him. "I don’t discuss my type with kids. I’m a grown-up. Go bother someone your own age."