Chapter 107 : Second Year’s

Chapter 107: Chapter 107 : Second Year’s

"Hmm... let’s see. Matcha soda is out of stock. Not really my taste anyway. Lemon... orange..." Mark muttered, staring at the vending machine inside Jujutsu High.

He was still wearing a T-shirt and boxers, apparently having no problem walking around the school dressed like that.

"Who is this weird guy?"

Mark turned and found three second-years standing behind him.

Maki Zenin stood at the front, looking him over through her glasses with open suspicion.

Toge Inumaki stood beside her, collar pulled up over his mouth, while Panda watched with a curious expression.

Mark barely glanced at Maki before his attention landed squarely on Panda. "Wow... a panda."

He walked over, looking Panda up and down like he’d just discovered something he’d never seen before. "That’s definitely the first time I’ve seen one."

Panda looked down at him as he reached out and touched his fur. "You’re making this weird."

Mark ignored that, still studying him. "You’re actually a panda."

"Yeah."

"And you talk."

"Yeah."

Mark nodded, genuinely impressed. "That’s pretty cool."

Panda glanced at Maki. "Who is this guy?"

"That’s what I’m trying to figure out," she said, eyes still on Mark. "I’ve never seen him around here before, and now he’s walking around in boxers touching Panda."

Toge looked at Mark. "Salmon."

Mark turned toward him. "What?"

"That’s Toge," Panda said. "He talks like that because of his cursed technique."

Mark glanced at the collar, then back at Panda. "Cursed Speech?"

Toge nodded. "Bonito flakes."

"Okay, that makes sense."

Maki crossed her arms, patience thinning. "Are you done inspecting Panda?"

Mark gave him one more look. "Almost."

"You realize you’re standing in the middle of Jujutsu High wearing boxers, right?"

Mark looked down at himself, paused, then back up. "...Oh."

Panda snorted. "Yeah, ’oh.’"

Mark didn’t seem particularly bothered. He turned back to the vending machine. "I was looking for something to drink."

"You’re weird."

He pressed the button for a lemon drink. "You’re not the first person to say that."

Panda leaned toward Maki, lowering his voice. "He’s taking this way too normally."

Maki adjusted her glasses. "At this school, I’m starting to think normal isn’t worth expecting anymore."

Mark grabbed his drink and turned back to face them. "So you three are the second-years I’ve heard about?"

"Who are you, anyway?" Maki said, still wary. "I’ve seen you around the school, but I don’t know anything about you."

"Well, I’m the first-year teacher."

All three of them paused.

"You’re a teacher?" Panda said.

Maki looked him over again, trying to make the answer match what she was seeing. "You’re teaching Megumi?"

"Yep."

Toge tilted his head. "Tuna mayo?"

"Yes, and now there are two more."

Maki’s suspicion didn’t fade — if anything it grew.

Nothing about the man standing in front of a vending machine in boxers, casually sipping lemon soda and treating this introduction like a chance meeting at a convenience store, said "teacher" to her.

Mark took another sip and figured he might as well finish the introductions. "So — you’re Maki Zenin."

She gave a short nod.

He pointed at Panda. "Panda."

Panda raised a paw. "That’s me."

He looked at Inumaki last. "And you’re Toge Inumaki."

Toge nodded. "Salmon."

Mark stared at him a beat, then took another sip. "...I’ll figure that one out later."

Panda laughed. Maki just shook her head, still trying to process how this man had somehow ended up teaching the first-years.

"So, nice to meet you. I’m Mark Foster, one of the first-year teachers. I’m from America. And if you hear any strange rumors about me and Gojo, just ignore them. Don’t bother with that stuff," Mark said casually, already walking off.

He was gone before any of them could ask what he meant.

Maki watched him disappear down the hallway, then looked at Panda. "What rumors?"

He shrugged. "He didn’t say."

"Then why the hell would he warn us about them?"

Panda thought about it. "I don’t know. But when a guy specifically tells you not to pay attention to rumors about him and a woman, what else are you supposed to think?"

Maki frowned, glancing back at the hallway. "You mean..."

Panda gave her a knowing look. "Probably."

Her expression turned faintly uncomfortable. "About Gojo-sensei?"

"That’s the only woman he mentioned."

She folded her arms. "That’s weird. I can’t even picture Gojo-sensei dating someone."

"Same. She’s our teacher. Thinking about her going on dates or having some romantic thing feels strange." Panda paused. "I mean, can you imagine her actually doing that?"

Toge looked toward the hallway. "Shake."

"Exactly," Maki said.

Panda scratched his cheek. "But then there’s Mark himself. He’s already weird enough on his own. Walks around the school in boxers, starts touching Panda the moment he sees him, then casually tells us to ignore rumors about him and Gojo-sensei."

Maki pushed her glasses up. "Maybe the rumors aren’t even true."

"Probably not." Panda paused. "But now I’m curious."

"So am I."

Toge looked at them. "Salmon."

Maki glanced at him. "Yeah, but we’re not going to ask him."

"We probably won’t have to," Panda said, smiling. "If there’s actually something going on, we’ll notice."

Maki looked down the empty hallway where Mark had disappeared. "Maybe. Or maybe that guy just enjoys making people curious."