Ever since their brawl and the subsequent one-sided sharing of food, the relationship between Satoru Gojo and Kurosawa Jin had—visibly—thawed just a little.
Kurosawa Jin still didn't give him a friendly face, and his aura remained as tense as ever, but he had stopped hurling death threats every other sentence.
Gojo felt as if he could see the tiny sprout of their friendship beginning to bud.
Lest we forget, his ultimate goals were Impression Points and Popularity Points.
To put it simply, "Impression Points" were a measure of presence. If you wanted to have a presence in someone's mind, you either had to be their friend or their enemy. As the saying goes, extreme hate is just another form of love.
Since Gin was a heavyweight antagonist in the Conan series, the system had confirmed that the Impression Points harvestable from him were substantial. After all, there weren't many plot-relevant characters in the Black faction to farm points from. Having landed the chance to be roommates with a young "Workaholic," how could he possibly pass up the opportunity?
However, Gojo didn't intend to make the Workaholic truly loathe him. For one, in his past life, he was a fan of "Gin-sama" and naturally appreciated his pure villainous aesthetic. Secondly, he had already decided to take the path of jumping back and forth between the Black and Red factions; building relationships with the "real and fake wines" in the Organization was a necessity.
As for Popularity Points, he had heard plenty about the "queerbaiting" tactics used by boy bands in his previous life.
Fan service and shipping (CP) could boost the traffic of two idols simultaneously, and in the increasingly "fandom-driven" world of Detective Conan, this was even more true. Once the Detective Conan manga in the other dimension was published, with his own superior physical traits plus a little CP-baiting with popular characters, wouldn't he be swimming in wealth?
Just look at Gojo-sensei from JJK—the reason he became a "super hot property" was largely due to his character design, but various fan creations and ships provided a continuous stream of heat.
Don't ask; the answer is "bonds and friendship."
Regarding his persona—the young master Gojo had no playmates and was bound to be lonely. Now that he had transmigrated to a world far more free than the Jujutsu world, his true nature of wanting to let loose couldn't stay hidden for long.
Perhaps frustrated by Gojo's effortless superiority, Kurosawa Jin added extra training sessions for himself every day. Gojo originally planned to watch from the sidelines and offer some mild, "friendship-enhancing" mockery, but he couldn't help the fact that people kept overestimating themselves. They tirelessly rushed up to challenge him, or tried to swarm him in groups, hoping to use him as a stepping stone to gain fame.
Truly blind.
Consequently, he was "forced" to teach these provokers a lesson. He didn't break their limbs, but he certainly sent them home looking for their teeth.
Finally, after several days of Gojo's "Beating Up Kids Theater," there was no one left in the training camp who dared defy him. Some even emerged claiming they wanted to be his lackeys, crowding around him to serve tea and water.
Gojo, however, was not interested. Their fawning faces triggered memories from his original body. Even though the original Gojo had countless servants and lived a life of luxury, it didn't mean he enjoyed being served. Those people didn't see him as a person; they saw the Six Eyes first, then the Gojo name. Even his biological mother addressed him as "Lord" rather than "my child."
In his heart, he didn't want that.
After many people were met with a cold shoulder, they stopped bothering him. Following the death of the big guy whom Tequila had executed for provoking Gojo, the power structure in the camp became more fragmented. There were more lone wolves, and quite a few small cliques. However, everyone shared a tacit understanding: do not provoke the white-haired kid, or you'll pay for it.
"Phew... finally some peace. A bunch of small fry, so annoying," Gojo said, stretching.
Kurosawa Jin glanced at him strangely. "I thought you'd be happy about it?"
"Having lackeys is a total hassle. Ah, but if you want to call me 'Boss,' I could reluctantly accept you..."
"Get lost."
"Why so stubborn? Deep down, you totally admire me, don't you?"
Kurosawa Jin's mouth twitched; his fists were itching again. But after a moment's thought, he decided to be the bigger person and not stoop to his level.
Hmph, it's definitely not because I can't beat him.
The classroom bell rang. A codenamed member with a PhD, acting as their teacher, began the lecture. The training camp members crowded into the room, pulling out paper to take notes diligently.
That's right—they had to take academic classes. Even if they lived by the blade, the Organization did not tolerate illiteracy. In fact, even Vodka, whom everyone considered the low-point of IQ, held a Master's degree from a prestigious university and was an expert in computer science.
However, since most of their time was currently spent on physical training, deep academic study wasn't realistic. Most of the teacher's content was aimed at brainwashing: Japanese Bushido, Western Chivalry, and loyalty to the sovereign—all to ensure maximum loyalty to the Organization.
Gojo was bored to death. Looking around, everyone else was listening intently. Beside him, Kurosawa Jin sat as straight as a sculpture, looking like a model student.
Gojo twirled his pen from left to right, then from right to left.
Kurosawa Jin felt someone poke his shoulder. His expression remained unchanged, but when he saw a crumpled ball of paper roll onto his desk, he nearly lost his composure.
He shot Gojo a discreet glare, his murderous gaze conveying his thoughts clearly: [What the hell are you doing?]
Gojo widened his "Eyes of Heaven," replying with an innocent expression: [Super—bored. Need to find some fun.]
[Don't interfere with my lecture.]
[A life without passing notes in class is incomplete.]
[...]
Kurosawa Jin actually managed to understand the meaning the boy was conveying. His response was to ignore him. He didn't look, didn't listen, and even moved his body five centimeters away from Gojo.
However, Gojo was persistent. Like a three-year-old who had never left the house and just received the world's newest toy, he threw five or six more paper balls in a row.
Kurosawa Jin reached his limit.
Looking up, the teacher had clearly seen Gojo's behavior but acted as if he saw nothing. Kurosawa Jin suspected that even if the kid skipped class right then and there, the teacher wouldn't care. Meanwhile, just last week, someone who accidentally fell asleep due to exhaustion from training was hung from the ceiling for an entire day.
...Is this the power of having connections?
At this time, Kurosawa Jin was roughly the age of a first-year student at Hogwarts. Even if he would become a terrifying "Big Brother" in the future, he still possessed a child's curiosity.
[So annoying... I'll just open it so he stops throwing them.]
He opened the note.
"This Young Master is so bored." (If you're bored, slap yourself.)
"Why are you listening so seriously? Do you want to win a Little Red Flower?"
(What the hell is a Little Red Flower?)
"Hey hey, why so cold? Really."
(As if we're close.)
"Let's play a riddle game. I ask you: An ant goes to the desert. Why didn't he leave footprints on the sand, but only a single line?"
Kurosawa Jin opened the last note.
"If you don't know the answer, you won't get a codename."
(If the Organization recruited based on riddles, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.)
Glimpsing Gojo's smug "waiting for the joke" expression out of the corner of his eye, Jin "tched." Possessed by some strange impulse, he wrote on the back of the note: "Idiot, an ant is too small to leave footprints."
Then, he received this reply:
"So stupid. It's because the ant was riding a bicycle."
"..." He felt his IQ was being rubbed into the dirt. He really wanted to kill him.
Dealing with this guy never led to anything good. Kurosawa Jin thought that maybe he should arrange an "accident" during a drill to have him killed. The Boss probably wouldn't blame him.
No... too risky.
Hmph... fine, I can't beat him in Taijutsu, but I refuse to believe he's better than me at everything else.
Gojo was blissfully unaware of his dark thoughts, clutching his stomach to hold back laughter. Then, he received a new paper ball.
[System, did you see that? Passing notes really is the highway to friendship!]
He opened it: "After class, sniper range. Dare to compete?"
Such a strong sense of déjà vu. Meet me after school? Workaholic, you look so serious... oh wait, you've got small eyes too... I didn't see this coming.
The white-haired "God-Child" curled his lips upward.
Dare to challenge the Six Eyes to a sniping match?
"Sure. Just don't cry when you lose."