Daily life and holidays
That summer seemed exceptionally long. As the weather turned cooler and a thick layer of red maple leaves fell, the winter solstice arrived in the blink of an eye. Before Christmas Eve, Tsurumi Kawa received a letter from Riko Tenten, along with a package of seafood mailed from Hokkaido.
The letter said she was doing well, had transferred to a nearby middle school, and would graduate next year to attend high school. Besides that, there were some other random thoughts from her, and the letter ended with inquiries about their well-being and sincere blessings.
After reading the letter, Tsurumi Kawaru handed it to Natsuyuki and Gojo Satoru, who were standing next to him. He then asked Shoko for a small knife to open the seafood package that had been mailed to him.
There are fewer exorcism tasks assigned in winter, and I've been planning to have hot pot in the dormitory since the weather got cold.
So they organized a hot pot dinner before the holiday, bought the ingredients in advance, spent a whole morning preparing them, and had a steaming hot pot meal with two junior students.
"What? Riko only sent the letter to Ryu, and I only mentioned it briefly in my letter to Jie." Gojo Satoru and Natsuyu Jie read the letter side by side, and complained with some dissatisfaction.
Xia Youjie patiently put the letter back into the envelope. "Wu, Riko's letter was sent directly to the school, and it's enough to know that she's doing well now."
The day after the asteroid incident, they were summoned for questioning by the Directorate General. Later, Tsurumi Kawakami was framed and locked in solitary confinement. It took several days for the matter to finally come to an end.
During the two days that Tsurumi Kawa was locked up, the agent named Kong Shiyu, unable to reach him by phone, finally contacted him and Gojo Satoru to report in detail on the outcome of the Panxing Sect being seized and forcibly dissolved by the court, and the legal representative and several high-ranking members being sentenced to prison and fined a large amount of compensation.
Looking back on what happened during that time, Xia Youjie still feels a bit unreal, as if he wasn't one of the parties involved. It wasn't until he received Tian Lizi's letter today that he calmed down and began to look at the outcome with a rational perspective.
"Jie, you actually betrayed me! You clearly cared about me a little, didn't you? Riko obviously likes Ryu more." Gojo Satoru lay on the sofa like a caterpillar, twisting and turning with his head against Xia Youjie's legs.
Xia Youjie: "..."
After processing the seafood that Riko had sent that day, Tsurumi Kawaru put the dried fish and shrimp into the refrigerator. Hearing Gojo Satoru's words, he smiled shyly and said modestly, "Riko doesn't really like me. She's quite nice to Jai though."
Gojo Satoru sprang up from the sofa, his round sunglasses sliding down slightly to reveal his azure eyes. As if he'd caught something red-handed, he said with a mix of smugness and aggrieved tone, "Jetsu, you still say you didn't? Ryu admitted it!"
Just as a new round of nonsense was about to begin, Ieiri Shoko, who was sitting by the kotatsu eating roasted oranges, interrupted the dangerous topic and changed the subject to the upcoming holidays, the New Year, and the new students who would be enrolling next year.
Although the topic shift was a bit abrupt, Gojo Satoru, who was thinking about inviting Tsurumi Kawaru to the Gojo family for the New Year, immediately put aside his earlier argument with Natsuyu Jie.
"Ryu, come to Gojo's house for the New Year this year. Last year you went home with Jie." Gojo Satoru hugged an orange sunflower pillow and stared intently at Tsurumi River Ryu.
The two junior students sitting around the kotatsu listened quietly to their conversation, not interrupting at all from the beginning of the topic. However, when they started chatting about New Year's arrangements, Xiao Taiyang Haibara Yu blinked and looked at Gojo Satoru and Tsurumi Kawa Nagare with some surprise, then turned to his head and whispered to Ieiri Shoko next to him.
"Senior Ieiri, did Senior Tsurumikawa spend New Year's with Senior Natsuyu last year?"
Shoko Ieiri broke off a segment of orange, the cool, sweet and sour taste exploding in her mouth. She swallowed it without changing her expression and nodded when she heard Yu Haibara's words.
“Liu has no family. He was invited to enroll by the assistant supervisor.” She paused and explained.
Haibara Yu suddenly realized, then looked a little embarrassed: "Ah, I didn't know Tsurumi-senpai..."
Shoko Ieiri waved her hand: "Ryu doesn't care about this, but we rarely bring it up either."
Haibara Yu nodded, covering his mouth, indicating that he would not mention it in front of him.
While they were whispering among themselves, Gojo Satoru had already made the final decision about Tsurumi Kawakami going to the Gojo family for the New Year. He hooked his arm around Tsurumi Kawakami's neck and smugly gloated to Natsuyuki.
"It seems there's only one new student enrolling next year. I heard from Nightmoth that he's a junior who's not very talented, and I think his name is Ijichi Kiyotaka." Gojo Satoru pushed up his sunglasses and told the others about the new student information he had seen in the office a few days ago.
Shoko Ieiri nodded nonchalantly: "Only one freshman? There are fewer and fewer people these days."
Xia Youjie nodded and said, "Speaking of which, it seems that our year had the most students, a total of four."
Gojo Satoru: "There's nothing we can do about it. There are already few sorcerers, and even fewer with decent talent to awaken spells. Most of them are people who can see spirits with their sorcery power, but their talent isn't that great."
Spellcasters are a minority compared to ordinary people, especially those with strong awakened spell abilities. This means that spellcasters with slightly better abilities and talents bear countless exorcism tasks, making students like them, who start doing tasks as soon as they enter college before graduating, feel like pitifully oppressed little ones.
Tsurumi Kawakami listened to this topic with a blank expression, so he focused on eating the snacks on the table while listening to them talk.
"Speaking of which, Mingming and Geji are graduating soon. Mingming seems to be going to become a freelance sorcerer after graduation, while Geji seems to be going to be a teacher at the Kyoto campus." Ieiri Shoko said casually as she shelled peanuts and edamame, talking about what would happen after graduation.
Gojo Satoru: "Hagoko is going to be a teacher? She's so lame, she'll probably be bullied to tears by those guys in Kyoto."
Xia Youjie was also somewhat surprised, then seemed to be deep in thought. Hearing Gojo Satoru's blunt evaluation, he even spared a moment of attention: "Satoru, although the songstress is a bit weak, she is still capable of being a teacher."
At that moment, Tsurumi Kawakami looked up, his curious gaze falling on Gojo Satoru and Natsuyu Suguru. He asked, "What do Satoru and Suguru plan to do after graduation?"
Gojo Satoru stroked his chin and pondered for a few seconds before jokingly saying, "Hmm, I'll go back and inherit the title of head of the Gojo family."
Xia Youjie twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "I haven't decided yet, but I'll probably stay in the world of sorcery, and maybe become a teacher like Senior Songstress."
Xia Youjie thought about this kind of life and felt it wasn't bad. After all, as a capable ordinary person, he still hoped to make a contribution to the world and shoulder his responsibilities.
Gojo Satoru turned his head in surprise, looked his best friend up and down, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a tone that said, "You can't judge a book by its cover, Jie. You actually want to be a teacher? Look at Moth, your hairline has receded a lot, especially after you got married."
Masamichi Noi got married this August. His partner was an ordinary person he met through a blind date. Because of the nature of his work, he didn't tell her that he was a teacher.
However, the honeymoon period after the marriage lasted a long time. Recently, Masamichi Yagami has become somewhat irritable, which Gojo Satoru suspects is due to the marriage.
Veins bulged on Xia Youjie's forehead, his hands clenched into fists on his lap, struggling to suppress the urge to punch someone, and he said through gritted teeth: "Wu, Teacher Ye'e is just too worried, after all, you always make him angry."
Gojo Satoru stared at him in disbelief, giving him a look that said, "What nonsense are you talking about? No way! I'm perfectly obedient. It's you who always makes Yagura worry!"
Tsurumi Kawara stared wide-eyed at the two arguing again, then helplessly turned his gaze to Ieiri Shoko.
Shoko Ieiri waved her hand calmly and nonchalantly: "Let them argue."
Haibara Yuya, standing to the side, was somewhat dumbfounded and said blankly, "Have you two always been like this?"
Nanami Kento's lips twitched, and he commented, "They're clearly evenly matched."
-
Christmas Eve is followed by Christmas Day. During the last class, Masamichi Nobi looked at the students below the podium who were restless, playing on their phones and chatting idly. A hint of anger appeared on his stern face.
He leaned on the podium, his face dark, picked up a piece of chalk and threw it at Gotiao Wu, who was blatantly lounging on Xia Youjie's desk, chatting and laughing.
"You lot, even though it's almost vacation time and this is the last class, you better pay attention!" Nightmo Masamichi suppressed his anger. "So, you can't even control yourselves with things like self-criticisms anymore?"
Gojo Satoru rubbed his forehead, picked up a piece of chalk from the table and rubbed it, then saw Nocturne's dark face, pursed his lips and sat back down.
As the last class ended, before Masamichi Yagami could leave the classroom, Satoru Gojo jumped up, put one foot on the chair, and shouted excitedly, loudly discussing his holiday life with Natsuyuki and Tsurumi Ryuu.
Night Moth Masamichi's lips twitched, feeling a wave of exhaustion. Just as he was about to speak, his phone vibrated a few times in his pocket. He took out his phone, saw the sender, his expression changed, and he hurriedly left the classroom.
Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow, patted Natsumi Yuuki on the shoulder, and said confidently, "I bet it's Night Moth's wife."
Xia Youjie shook his head: "There's no point in gambling on something with such an obvious outcome."
Gojo Satoru scoffed and looked excitedly at Tsurumi Kawaru, "Kawaru, the Gojo family is coming to pick us up later. You don't need to bring much stuff; I'll have someone prepare it."
Tsurumi Kawakami was busy tidying up the textbooks in his desk when he heard this. He looked up at him, smiled, and nodded: "Okay, I understand."
The atmosphere of leaving school for the holidays was joyful. Before it got dark, several people had already packed their things and stood at the school gate to say goodbye. Xia Youjie carried a bag and changed out of his college uniform into casual clothes.
Ieiri Shoko was the first to leave, followed by Haibara Yu and Nanami Kento, who were a bit further away.
The Gojo family's car arrived quickly. After the three of them got in, Gojo Satoru instructed the driver to go to the station first to take Natsuyuki.
"Jay, remember to call me for the New Year! Of course, Laozi and Ryu will send you photos too." Gojo Satoru waved to him.
Tsurumi Kawaru also leaned against the car window and waved goodbye to Natsumi Yukichi.
Xia Youjie smiled and replied, "Okay, I'll be going now."
After saying that, he looked at Tsurumi Kawakami and suggested with a smile, "Kawakami, if you don't feel comfortable here, you can come to my house."
Gojo Satoru grumbled in dissatisfaction, watching his departing figure.
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