Chapter 1: Entering the Higher Institute (Patreon)

Chapter 1: Turned Into a Tech School

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April. Entrance ceremony. Cherry blossoms drifting through the air.

New school, new environment, new classmates, new relationships... a new beginning.

Satoru Anjouin sat on the bus heading to school, gazing out at the passing streets to kill time. The faint crease between his brows betrayed his restlessness.

More and more passengers boarded, most of them young people in high school uniforms.

Only then did he turn his attention back to the inside of the bus.

The Advanced Nurturing High School uniform was... hard to describe. A standard Western-style outfit, modern and neat overall.

The jacket was wine-red with gold trim and two gold buttons, with slit pockets at the left breast and both hips, worn over a white shirt.

Girls wore a white pleated skirt with a sunburst pattern, while boys wore dark green dress trousers — a color combination most people simply couldn't pull off.

He studied the young people around him, as if trying to match them against faces from his memory.

Take that purple-haired girl with the side ponytail and the great legs, for instance — she was the famous little dog.

Perhaps sensing his gaze lingering too long on her legs, the purple-haired girl naturally shot him a fierce glare.

Under the warning in her eyes, Anjouin reined himself in a little.

Still, those really were some great legs.

As the seats filled up one by one, more and more passengers were left standing.

Naturally, those who already had seats weren't about to give them up easily.

Even the passengers in the priority seats ignored the weary looks aimed their way, showing not the slightest intention of moving.

Then, with the sudden appearance of a petite, delicate white-haired girl with a lovely face, the mood on the bus abruptly shifted.

Even Anjouin was somewhat surprised to see her.

"Arisu Sakayanagi?"

Normally, she'd take a private car straight to school, leisurely sip tea in the infirmary, finish whatever checkup would set her chairman father's mind at ease, and only then head to Class 1-A.

But Anjouin quickly worked out the reason.

This was her first day of school, after all — maybe she had a few unrealistic fantasies about it.

Then, as if it went without saying, a number of young people — even adult passengers — rose from their seats to project the image of 'I helped the weak.'

"Sit here."

"You can sit here."

If there were some moral exam being graded on that bus, giving up a seat for someone vulnerable would surely score more points than giving one up for an adult.

Even though he wasn't particularly willing, Anjouin got up too, just to fit in.

The white-haired girl, poised and elegant, thanked everyone present in a soft, gentle voice and made her way to a seat with the help of a cane.

That air of frailty paired with quiet resolve drew repeated glances from the purple-haired girl who'd given up her seat.

"She's so cute."

"Like a delicate doll."

Those who'd sat back down murmured to each other quietly.

The unusually petite white-haired girl wore a white camisole dress with white stockings, innocence laced with a touch of allure.

Her skin was pale beyond what could be called healthy, but it only made her look more delicate and adorable.

Naturally, she became the subject of everyone's conversation.

Maintaining her composed bearing, the white-haired girl looked around the bus with quiet interest, studying the other passengers.

Meanwhile, thanks to where she happened to be standing, the purple-haired girl unexpectedly looked like a knight guarding a princess.

Thinking about the actual relationship between the two of them, though — it was more accurate to call it owner and dog.

"The two of them really are fated to be together."

Naturally, Anjouin was pleased to be their classmate.

He found himself looking forward to his upcoming school life a little, even though Advanced Nurturing wasn't exactly a proper school — more like some faction's personal cash cow.

The school sat on a man-made island just off the coast of Tokyo. Every enrolled student was required to live in the dormitories for all three years until graduation, strictly forbidden from contacting the outside world or leaving the campus grounds.

For that reason, the campus housed a fully equipped, all-in-one commercial complex — Keyaki Mall — that covered nearly every daily necessity, including but not limited to clothing stores, game shops, and movie theaters.

Although the school's name carried 'Tokyo Metropolitan,' it wasn't actually a Tokyo Metropolitan school — it was a national one.

In simple terms, it was a school funded and established by the Cabinet Secretariat.

Compared to some prestigious high school advertising a near-100% college-and-job-placement rate, this thing looked exactly like a bait-and-switch scheme built purely to milk subsidies out of the government.

Especially since this particular school had long been backed by the Kijima Faction of the Citizen Party. Word had it that the Kijima Faction's current leader had recently won an internal power struggle and become the new Prime Minister.

No doubt Advanced Nurturing would now receive even more backing and all sorts of resource subsidies.

So if anyone was hoping for a proper school romantic comedy, they could forget it.

At least going by how things had originally unfolded, there was no way this looked like a normal school romcom.

If anything, it was packed with voice recorders, agents raised by special organizations, might-makes-right power struggles, betrayals, moles, and all sorts of other elements that set it apart from every other school romcom out there.

If he had to sum it up, it was basically My Teen Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected.

The perfect setting for a certain 'Great Teacher' to crash right in.

Thinking back on the special intel he'd seen before dawn, Anjouin's expression turned subtle again — like watching one giant pile of crap get Super-Fused with another giant pile of crap.

By the time the bus arrived, passengers filed off one after another.

The cherry blossoms drifting slowly along both sides of the street made for a beautiful sight, but his mind was already elsewhere — the impromptu interview coming up would determine the shape of his school life to come.

"Whether it ends up as one pile of crap or two — that all depends on the interview ahead."

His grade was full of beautiful girls of every type — a gentle, warm-hearted Big Angel; a deadpan Little Angel with a shocking gap between her poker face and her true self; a cute-looking fake-gyaru Little Cutie; a Little Loner who turned stunning the moment she took off her glasses and always kept a slime with her; a love-brained Little Fairy who started out looking like a final boss but ended up sidelined as a nobody; and a Miss NPC who respawned like clockwork at the library...

Given all that, who wouldn't crave a sweet romance?

Preferably the kind that led straight to marriage.

A certain Big Angel would make an excellent marriage prospect — the type who gets mistreated in every way by garbage men and still forgives them, that kind of personality... ahem.

"Attention: new students, please proceed to the gymnasium for a newly added interview."

The announcement repeated over the loudspeakers.

The new students entering the campus naturally followed the signs and the staff's directions toward the gymnasium.

"...So there really is a special interview, huh?"

A wave of sorrow washed over Anjouin.

His school youth and his romance story were already over.

What came next was the story of Elbow Kaisen.

He followed the crowd to the gymnasium, saw the tents set up inside, and, going by the special intel he'd seen before dawn, headed for the third interview room.

The moment he stepped into the interview room, the noise outside dropped away considerably.

The room, barely two or three square meters, held only two chairs and a table. Seated in the chair behind the table was a composed, mature-looking middle-aged man.

Perhaps because of some Danish blood, he stood noticeably taller than most islanders.

"Have a seat."

Kento Nanami, nicknamed 'the Adult Among Adults,' spoke in a deep, steady voice.

Once Anjouin sat down, Nanami tapped at the tablet on the table while pulling a document from a stack beside him.

"Anjouin, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound strange, but I'm not insane, and the government isn't so bored that it would rent out a whole school just to pull a prank..."

"You're all this year's incoming students at Advanced Nurturing High School. But due to a rising number of curse-related incidents, Advanced Nurturing has officially become a Jujutsu High dedicated to training jujutsu sorcerers."

So it really had turned into a Tech School.

Back in his first loop, Anjouin had made no shortage of jokes about Advanced Nurturing being some kind of trade-school battle royale.

To sum up Nanami's explanation: the island nation was in dire straits, with cursed spirits sprouting up wave after wave. To deal with the crisis, Advanced Nurturing was training jujutsu sorcerers for the country — every enrolled student would awaken cursed energy without fail, with some chance of also awakening a cursed technique.

As for the 100% college-and-job-placement guarantee promised to incoming students, even graduates of Class B, C, or D would now be recruited by the government — unlike before, when only Class A graduates had that privilege. It was actually starting to live up to its name.

After a ten-some-minute explanation, Anjouin finally understood how things had ended up in a crap-times-crap situation.

"Is it too late to drop out now?"

"Of course you can. But for special reasons, if you withdraw now, you'll lose all memories related to Advanced Nurturing," Nanami said flatly.

"All right, understood."

Anjouin dropped the idea of withdrawing.

Sure, Classroom of the Elite times Jujutsu Kaisen couldn't work out like negative cursed energy times negative cursed energy equaling positive energy, but tuition was still fully covered, and they'd even hand out a living stipend.

"Oh, and Private Points can buy almost anything at this school. Please use them wisely."

Maybe because Anjouin wasn't as reckless as the last few high school boys he'd talked to, Nanami repeated something he'd already covered earlier in his explanation.

"Thank you, Mr. Nanami."

Anjouin bowed to Nanami at the waist.

Whatever else was true, back in the original story, he'd genuinely liked this dependable adult.

After leaving the gymnasium, Anjouin found a bench and sat down. Instead of heading straight for Class 1-A, he took the time to sort through his thoughts.

Then, once he focused, three pieces of intel burned into his vision, laid out for comparison.

[Daily Intel Update]

Intel One: The Special Grade Cursed Spirit 'Detective' will remain in Beika Town for the coming week.

Intel Two: During this year's spring break, Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, for unknown reasons, transformed into a Jujutsu High capable of granting students cursed energy and cursed techniques.

Intel Three: Advanced Nurturing has added a special interview session, and Kento Nanami will be handling the briefing in the third exam room from the left.

"So this is it — the second-loop world I've been living in for over a decade is a Classroom of the Elite × Jujutsu Kaisen crossover?"

Anjouin felt like he could no longer stay at ease.

The contents of Intel One also weighed heavily on his mind.

Sitting on the bench, Anjouin got his thoughts in order and came to accept the fact that his future held both elbowing others and getting elbowed himself.

Whatever the case, gaining cursed energy and a cursed technique just by enrolling was hard to turn down.

Sure, getting expelled would strip all of that away along with the memories, but the outside world clearly looked dangerous. By comparison, three years at Advanced Nurturing would actually be safer, and he'd come away with the means to protect himself.

"...So, how long do you plan to keep following me?"

Anjouin asked the little tail that had been trailing him ever since he'd stepped off the bus.

It was a cute-looking girl, her dark blue hair swaying faintly in the air, her school uniform's pleated skirt fluttering.

Beneath the skirt, a pair of shapely legs wrapped in sheer stockings drew the eye all the more.

"I don't know."

The cute girl stared at him earnestly for a long moment, her thin lips parting slightly to let out a reply that left Anjouin utterly baffled.

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