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Two weeks passed by since Satoru and Naoya had their spar. It took a week for Naoya to adapt to his new levels of cursed energy and get it under control, and once it was under control, Satoru dragged Naoya to Okinawa along with him for the promised trip.
After one week of vacation, the two boys were now returning while riding on Sparkles.
"So, how are we splitting the loot?" asked Satoru.
"Well, first of all,l we will divide it in half, after that you will pay the locker and handling charges."
While they were on vacation, the two did rent a boat and went in search of 'One Piece', and by some obscure luck, they indeed found a treasure buried deep within the ocean.
Satoru, with his [Six Eyes], said that he could see some weird, cursed energy at the bottom of the ocean and then dragged his vice-captain along with him to check out the oddity.
At the bottom, there was a barrier of cursed energy protecting something, and a cursed tool that was sustaining the barrier. Probably a sorcerer from ancient times stashed their treasure there and died somewhere without retrieving or passing on the whereabouts to someone.
Welp, finders keepers.
"What do you mean by locker and handling fees? I found it!" complained Satoru.
"Hey. Capitalism. You pay me for my services," replied Naoya.
"Then I demand the extra payment for my service of finding the treasure."
"I brought it to the surface."
"I could have done that too!"
"Should have thought so before dropping the task on me."
"50-50. Final offer!"
"50-50 and you call me daddy," negotiated Naoya.
"Huh? No way! It is clear that I am the daddy in our relationship," retorted Satoru.
"Since when? Last I remember, it was me who whooped my son's ass, son."
"You only did that because of your hax technique and caught me off guard!"
"That's how daddies work. They know ways to whoop their son's ass. If you have an issue, though, we can go 60-40."
"Ugh! Fine. I just have to call you daddy, right?"
"Yup."
"Alright! Daddy! Now give me my share."
Naoya immediately smacked Satoru, who had conveniently deactivated his Infinity.
"Is that how you talk to your father, you ungrateful brat?"
Satoru stared at Naoya in disbelief, shocked by the sheer audacity on display.
Suddenly, Satoru smirked and clung to Naoya.
"Daddy~ Hit me harder! I have been a bad boy~" said Satoru in a sweet voice.
A shiver went down Naoya's spine, and without any hesitation, Naoya kicked Satoru off the shikigami.
"Stay away, you creep!" yelled Naoya.
Satoru, floating in the air, laughed out loud at Naoya's reaction and immediately flew and clung onto Naoya.
After a while, the two finally arrived at the Gojo clan.
"Well, we are here. Should I drop the luggage here?" asked Naoya.
"Huh? Cut the nonsense. Come inside. Have a meal before you go," said Satoru.
"Don't mind the formality, I should go and meet the kids. They should be missing me by now."
Satoru pushed Naoya towards the clan gates, forcing him to come with him.
"Just come, you little. It's no issue at all! You are practically family," said Satoru.
"What do you mean practically? I am your father."
"Yeah, yeah, let's go in, daddy," said Satoru and stopped pushing Naoya.
"What is this daddy talk?"
A new voice joined the conversation, making the two boys stop and look towards the person who spoke.
"I am back mom." greeted Satoru.
"Good afternoon, Ruriko-san," greeted Naoya with a smile.
The person in question was Ruriko Gojo, Satoru's mom.
The lady smiled gently at Naoya, making his heart flutter seeing the lady smile.
"Satoru! What is all this? How did you get this tanned? Did you not use sunscreen?" asked Ruriko with a frown and checked Satoru from every corner.
"Meh, real men don't use those flimsy creams!" declared Satoru.
Ruriko stared in disbelief before turning towards Naoya, who too was tanned.
"You too, Naoya-kun?" asked Ruriko.
"Well...Ha Ha Ha," replied Naoya and laughed awkwardly.
"Hmph! Like father, like son!" stated Satoru and clung his arm around Naoya.
"What is this father-son stuff?" asked Ruriko curiously.
"Well, long story short. The two of us had a deal, and now I have to call him daddy," replied Satoru and sighed.
Ruriko looked at the two boys and wondered what was wrong with the two of them.
"Seriously, you boys...I am glad that you two are good friends, but still...." muttered Ruriko and sighed.
She then looked back at them and saw Satoru smiling brightly while arguing with Naoya, and gave a soft smile as well. Seeing her son enjoying a genuine friendship was nice, considering the environment that they live in.
Naoya, who was arguing, suddenly felt his arm being held and turned around to see that Ruriko was the one holding it.
"Well, since you are the new 'daddy', then am I the 'mommy' here? Or is it-"
Before she could even finish her sentence, Naoya had already clasped her hand.
"Ruriko-san is enough for me~" replied Naoya with a smile.
"Oh my~ Such a flirt~ Are you fine with an old lady like me?" asked Ruriko.
"No matter from what angle I see you, I don't see an old lady at all. If I didn't know better, then I would have thought that you are Satoru's sister or cousin," replied Naoya and slowly moved his other hand to grasp Ruriko's other hand.
"My~ My~ So much flattery~" said Ruriko as a faint blush adorned her cheeks.
She was just messing around with Naoya, knowing that the boy had a crush on her, but hearing the praise from him still made her feel giddy.
"..."
Satoru stared at his 'daddy' and 'mommy' and gave a sagely nod.
He took a stance and, without any warning, punched Naoya in the gut with full force, pushing Naoya away from Ruriko.
"...Mom! Don't play around with my friend like that! He might take this seriously!" complained Satoru.
Naoya, on the other hand, glared at his 'son' and wondered why this ungrateful brat could not let him live in happiness.
"Fufufu~ I was just messing around a bit," replied Ruriko and looked at the fallen Naoya, giving him a playful wink.
Naoya's heart took critical damage, and he wondered if he should confess.
Before he could spiral further, both he and Satoru sensed incoming cursed energy.
The two turned towards the source and noticed two bird shikigami flying towards them.
"What are those?" asked Satoru.
"Don't know. Should we attack?" asked Naoya.
"Probably a message from the jujutsu division. No need to panic," explained Ruriko.
The birds flew closer and soon one of them perched on Satoru's shoulder while the other one perched on Naoya's.
"Hm? Messages for us?" asked Satoru.
"...Jujutsu High news?" asked Naoya.
They then noticed a piece of paper wrapped around the shikigami's feet.
They untangled it and opened the paper, only to find it empty. Though a moment later, the shikigami birds pecked on the paper, and words started to appear on the paper.
"...They could have just sent a letter by post," muttered Naoya.
"Well, the higher-ups like to be fancy and shit," replied Satoru and immediately got smacked by Ruriko.
"What sort of language is that?!" asked Ruriko in anger.
"Not in front of Naoya!" complained Satoru.
"Don't mind me. Smack him again," said Naoya and gestured for Ruriko to continue.
"You bastard!" yelled Satoru and immediately got smacked again.
Seeing that Naoya smirked, making Satoru glare at the Zenin.
The shikigami then flew away, signalling that their job was done.
The two boys looked at their letters and went through them.
Naoya then snatched Satoru's letter, handed it to him and went through it.
""WHAT THE F*CK!!!!"" yelled both the boys simultaneously.
Surprised by the sudden outburt Ruriko looked at the two with confusion before deciding to peek into their letters and soon realised why the two acted like that.
"I am going to storm the HQ," said Satoru in anger.
"Oi! Don't be stupid!" said Naoya and held Satoru back.
"Let me go, Naoya! I have to give those old bastards a piece of my mind! How dare they! How dare they ruin my perfect high school life! Tell you what! You come as well! Let's turn that place upside down! How dare they separate the two of us!" yelled Satoru.
The letters that the two of them received were their invitation letters to the Jujutsu High. It wasn't surprising since the two were expecting the news to come anytime anyway.
What the two didn't expect was that they would be sent to different locations.
Satoru was allotted the Tokyo branch while Naoya was given the Kyoto branch. This totally messed up their plans to have fun together in high school.
"Let's not take aggressive actions from the start. Let's make a request first, and if they make up some nonsense, then we will see what we should do," advised Naoya.
"What is there to discuss? I will destroy them! Separating the two of us just for their politics! I will not forgive them!"
"..."
Naoya didn't say anything. He knew that politics might be a major part of why the two of them were separated.
It wasn't a secret that the two of them were great friends, and this threatened the higher-ups greatly. If the possible heir of the Gojo and Zenin clan, who were Special Grade sorcerers as well, were to end their clan rivalry, then the political power would shift a lot.
Ruriko looked worriedly at the boys. Though on the inside, she was cursing the higher-ups for messing with the boys. She knew politics was a packaged deal that came with being part of the big 3 clans, but she still hated seeing the two boys suffer because of that.
"...Should we use clan pressure?" muttered Ruriko.
Naoya and Satoru heard the murmur and looked at Ruriko with surprise.
"Mom's taking our side?"
"Such decisiveness. As expected of 'mommy'."
Satoru looked at Naoya and wondered why he was friends with such a guy.