At seven o'clock in the morning, Mu Sanlu knocked on Suguru Geto's door right on time.
This was what he and Geto had agreed upon yesterday.
"If you really can't remember the way, come to my dorm and call for me when it's time for class, and I'll go with you."
"The way? So early?" Suguru Geto opened the door, looking sleep-deprived as if he had just been woken up by the knocking, still wearing his pajamas.
"Has Geto not gotten up yet?" Mu Sanlu clearly hadn't expected his knocking to disturb his friend's rest.
"I'm so sorry, Geto, I thought you were already up." The guilt on Mu Sanlu's face didn't look fake at all.
"It's fine." Suguru Geto yawned, reached out to grab Mu Sanlu's sleeve, and pulled him into his dorm.
"What time did you get up, Lu? You don't look like you just woke up." Suguru Geto asked casually.
"Four o'clock," Mu Sanlu answered cheerfully.
"Huh?" Suguru Geto asked in surprise, "That early?"
"It's fine, really. I usually get up at five every day anyway. Coming to a new school, the peers all look pretty strong, so I thought I'd work a bit harder and make sure I don't get left behind by you guys," Mu Sanlu explained.
"There's no way you'd get left behind..." Hearing him say this left Suguru Geto quite speechless.
He turned back, reached out, and ruffled Mu Sanlu's hair.
"By the way, Lu, how old are you this year?" Suguru Geto asked.
"Fourteen," Mu Sanlu said.
"A year younger than me." Suguru Geto narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"You're already doing great, Lu. To reach this level at your age is already amazing."
"Don't forget, you can already independently handle a Grade 1 cursed spirit. You know, someone like you already counts as a Grade 1 sorcerer." Suguru Geto continued.
"A fourteen-year-old Grade 1, Lu." Suguru Geto's gaze stared at him intently.
"I only subdued my Grade 1 cursed spirit a while ago, and you did it a year faster than me..." Suguru Geto's hand gave Mu Sanlu's head a fierce ruffle.
"And you're talking about being afraid of getting left behind by your peers."
At this, Suguru Geto withdrew his hand and sighed, "With talent like this and working this hard, the ones who should worry about being left behind are your peers, right?"
"Thank you, Geto!" Mu Sanlu hugged Suguru Geto, expressing his sincere gratitude to his friend.
"No, you're welcome." This was the first time Suguru Geto had ever encountered someone expressing thanks in this manner, and for a moment he was at a loss, his body even stiffening a bit.
"Ah, sorry." Sensing Suguru Geto's discomfort, Mu Sanlu released him.
"Sorry, Geto, I often choose to embrace people. I was just really grateful for your comfort and chose to express my gratitude that way, but I forgot to ask you beforehand. I'm sorry." Mu Sanlu explained.
"It's fine, Lu." Suguru Geto's gaze softened.
Lu really is such a gentle and well-behaved child, Suguru Geto thought.
"Your method wasn't wrong, you don't need to apologize to me." He said gently.
"Wait for me a moment, Lu. I'll go wash up, and once I'm done, we'll head to class." Suguru Geto pulled Mu Sanlu over to the desk and pressed him down into a chair.
"Okay, Geto." Mu Sanlu nodded.
"Let's go, Lu." Suguru Geto moved quickly; in about fifteen minutes he was all cleaned up and ready to go.
"Mm."
In the dormitory hallway, Mu Sanlu glanced at Satoru Gojo's door—which remained tightly shut with the curtains drawn completely-and asked, "Should we call Gojo-kun? If we keep this up, we're going to be late, aren't we?"
"No," Suguru Geto refused.
"That guy looks like he definitely has morning sickness—wait, no, a morning temper. I have no desire to do a good deed and then get yelled at."
"Eh?" Mu Sanlu hesitated.
"Let's go, Lu. Watch out or we'll be late." Suguru Geto reached out to grab Mu Sanlu's sleeve and dragged him away.
When they reached the classroom, unsurprisingly, it was completely empty.
Suguru Geto sat at his desk and sighed, "This is the first time I've ever arrived at the classroom this early."
"Is that so?" Mu Sanlu asked with some curiosity.
"Yeah." Suguru Geto turned his chair to face Mu Sanlu.
"Whether back at my ordinary school or here, this is the first time I've ever arrived this early."
The time right now was 7:20 Tokyo time, forty minutes before class started.
"I got really interested in the Three Great Families that Principal Yaga mentioned yesterday, and I wanted to see what the books say about them, so I came early." Mu Sanlu pinched the corner of a page, smiling as he spoke.
"Them..."
"Yeah."
"I hear they're a bunch of rotting old fogies," Suguru Geto said casually.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Suguru Geto nodded.
"By the way, Geto, do I need to hand my reflection report to Principal Yaga now?" Midway through his reading, Mu Sanlu propped up his chin and asked.
"No need, right? It won't be late if you give it to him when Principal Yaga arrives." Suguru Geto looked up from his busywork to reply to Mu Sanlu.
He was holding his phone, playing a speed-run version of Tetris.
"Alright then." Mu Sanlu nodded, set his mind at ease, and went back to reading his book.
At 8:40 in the morning, Mu Sanlu, Suguru Geto, and Shoko Ieiri watched with their own eyes as Satoru Gojo yawned, strolled leisurely past the classroom window, and then—under Principal Yaga's murderous glare—kicked the door open with one foot.
Bang—
Bang—
The good news was the door opened. The bad news was the door was broken.
"Satoru Gojo!!!"
"Be reasonable here, Yaga! It's clearly this door's quality that's subpar! Why are you beating me up again?"
Five minutes later, Satoru Gojo returned to his seat bearing his allocated 'justice' iron fist and a ten-thousand-word reflection report.
Today is another day of getting beaten and writing reports, Satoru.