Sōjun Minamoto arrived at Masamichi Yaga's place and knocked. The door opened quickly from the inside.
Yaga's expression faltered for a moment when he saw who it was.
Sōjun pretended not to notice and walked right in, taking a seat at the tea table.
On the table sat two Cursed Corpses—one a black bear in boxing gloves, the other a white kappa with a bowl-shaped head.
He casually picked them up, examining them closely.
"New puppets? These little guys are pretty unique."
The stitching was still fresh, clearly Yaga's recent handiwork.
And yes, they were unique—or more accurately, cute.
Yaga had a thing for cute stuff. Most of his puppets followed this style. If he had his way, he'd probably tie pink bows on all of them.
Sōjun let out a small chuckle. He brought his fingers together, holding his hand above the puppets as if pulling strings from midair.
The Cursed Corpses trembled to their feet, their faces shifting—one crying, the other smiling, a hint of darkness under their noses giving them a sinister edge.
They paced back and forth on the table like little bullies.
Sōjun withdrew his hand, and the puppets collapsed limply again.
His Puppet Manipulation technique didn't work well on lifeless objects—after all, they lacked thoughts of their own. But if he wanted full control, it wasn't hard. Assimilation, then feed them a golden elixir.
A streak of deep red flickered at his fingertip, which he quickly waved away.
Yaga emerged from the kitchen and set a cup of tea down in front of him with a soft thud. Glancing at the puppets, he asked,
"What do you want?"
Sōjun had mocked these cute puppets plenty of times before. If it were anyone else, Yaga might've felt awkward—but with this guy, that emotion had long since faded.
He stayed calm.
"How's the election for principal going?" Sōjun leaned on the table with his elbow, resting his chin in his hand.
When are you finally becoming principal?
Year after year, and now I've just about caught up to you.
He wasn't here to show off or rush things—just wanted to check if Yaga had any plans in the works, to avoid stepping on any toes.
"The current principal's still in office. Probably another year or two left in his term," Yaga replied smoothly, taking a sip of tea.
There were only a couple of serious contenders now, and he was already ahead of the rest.
"Two years? That long?" Sōjun frowned slightly. So Yaga really planned to just wait it out? That felt way too passive.
"Can't you speed it up?"
"And how exactly would I do that..." Yaga followed along, then paused mid-sentence and narrowed his eyes. "You better not be thinking of pulling something."
Sōjun dismissed the thought.
The current principal was a mess. Under his leadership, Jujutsu High had turned chaotic—factions rising, the powerful clashing, and the guy didn't lift a finger. All he cared about was currying favor with the Board.
"Of course not. I'm just asking if you have any kind of plan. You really just gonna sit and wait?" Sōjun eyed him.
"There's not much to be done... I'm not the only candidate. We're all watching each other."
Sōjun got it. At this stage, any unqualified candidates would've already been eliminated. The few left—Yaga included—were on the same playing field. With everyone holding steady, they were just waiting for someone to slip up.
The remaining two or three candidates, including Yaga, had already started handling school affairs. Each one was focused on doing just enough—nothing extraordinary, just not screwing up. Everyone was keeping close tabs on each other.
So, lately, Yaga had been pretty relaxed. Aside from teaching, he didn't have much else on his plate.
These two puppets were probably what he'd stitched together to kill time.
Sōjun watched as Yaga leisurely raised his cup, blew on it twice, then took a quiet sip.
He shook his head inwardly—there was still so much more he could be doing.
Yaga was the upright type. Not that Sōjun saw himself as dark or underhanded, just... more flexible in his thinking. If the principal still had two years left, then why not eliminate the competition early and settle into the "acting principal" seat?
Give it enough time, and no one would care about the "acting" part anymore.
Satoru Gojo would soon become Special Grade. Not because he'd definitely beat Yuki Tsukumo, but because Special Grade assessments weren't full-on death matches. If the examiner acknowledged his strength, that was enough to pass.
Yuki had already asked Gojo why he hadn't gone for Special Grade before—clearly, in her mind, he was ready.
And with Sōjun himself already a Special Grade, that made two.
Two Special Grades, both Yaga's students, both publicly expressing support.
Sōjun honestly couldn't see how Yaga could possibly lose.
At this point, Yaga should be the only remaining candidate.
Sōjun Minamoto suddenly raised his voice.
"You should pull your forces together and lock that position down."
"I've basically got it in the bag—there's no need to rush." Masamichi Yaga shot him a sidelong glance.
He was confident. He knew the backing behind him was solid, but what kind of senior relies on juniors to climb the ladder? He still had his pride.
Besides, he didn't want to trouble others over something like this. Do what's appropriate for your age—that was enough.
"Have you looked at what Jujutsu High has become, old man?" Sōjun switched tactics when he saw Yaga wasn't budging. "The sooner you take charge, the sooner you can bring Jujutsu High back to what it should be."
"Do you really want to see students dragged into political scheming, injured, or even killed instead of focusing on their studies?"
"Bounty sorcerers full of passion, being crushed under the weight of clan politics?"
"Can you seriously accept this kind of petty power play infecting education?"
...
Masamichi Yaga slowly set his teacup down.
"Then I'd still have to wait two more years, wouldn't I?"
"Time is life, Sensei!" Sōjun shifted tone, deliberately changing the address. "Let's aim for interim principal first—start cleaning up Jujutsu High from there."
"The current principal's already lost interest in running things. Isn't it basically you making all the decisions anyway?"
"The students are counting on you, Sensei!"
Yaga frowned, sinking into thought. After a moment, his expression eased.
"You're right. We really shouldn't keep wasting time. But don't you go egging me on."
"OK." Sōjun gave a quick hand gesture, his expression growing serious, ditching the usual playful tone.
"Gojo's about to become Special Grade. With me, that makes two—both openly supporting you. And don't forget the Gojo Clan behind him," he continued analyzing. "Plus, both of us are from the same Jujutsu High branch, so we can back each other."
"That means Tsukumo can be counted in too. If all three Special Grades voice their support…"
"Oh, and you've always been on good terms with the Kyoto Jujutsu High principal, right? Didn't he write a recommendation for my Grade 1 promotion? We should get him on board too."
With this kind of backing, honestly, even the director position at the Board wouldn't be out of reach.
"I'll handle things with Tsukumo," Sōjun finished.
"Then I'll talk to the Kyoto principal. The annual exchange event's coming up anyway," Yaga finally took the initiative.
"I haven't just been sitting around these past years."
"Good. Then we're settled." Sōjun drained his tea in one go and got ready to leave.
"Wait..." Yaga called after him.
"Tsukamoto and Cathy..." He pointed first to the boxing bear, then to the kappa with the bowl-head.
"What?" Sōjun blinked.
"Their names," Yaga added. "The bear's Tsukamoto. The kappa is Cathy."
Stop naming your puppet dolls!
Sōjun bolted for the door.
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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