Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

What he didn't tell Gojo Satoru was that the aftermath of the incident was not a heartwarming story of "helping others" at all—

Later, on one occasion, after watching him imitate his interrogation process from outside the door, Dazai Osamu not only did not show any satisfaction that "the student has finally graduated," but instead demanded with a look of disgust that he immediately change and that he should find someone else to learn from from that day forward.

Dazai even seriously said that he would find him a "more intimidating person" in the organization.

Then, he strongly recommended the new member to Sumi Kizawa, who would later become the famous "Gravity Master"—Chūya Nakahara.

In the bar, Dazai Osamu put his arm around his shoulder, smiling brightly and sincerely, his tone gentle and persuasive like that of a selfless and good teacher.

"You'll definitely learn something amazing if you follow that new little dwarf around."

At the time, Sumi Kichikawa didn't realize that something was wrong.

Dazai then continued with that incredibly deceptive face, earnestly analyzing for him: "Think about it, Chuuya is less than 1.6 meters tall, yet so many fierce-looking subordinates at the port listen to him. Isn't that the best proof of his prestige?"

At that time, Sumi Kichikawa hadn't been to many worlds yet, and was at her most naive and easily deceived.

He actually believed the utter nonsense that Dazai was spouting.

So for a long time afterward, he stubbornly followed Chuuya around.

Not only did he follow along, but he also always wore that expressionless face and earnestly sought advice from that hot-tempered gravity user:

"Mr. Chuuya, I really want to learn from you. How did you manage to build such prestige with such a small body?"

"..."

"Is it because you are skilled at using gravity? Or is it because you are smaller in size, which makes you more agile?"

His response was usually a dark expression from Chuuya Nakahara, accompanied by a voice filled with gritted teeth: "Sumi Kurikawa."

"Um?"

"Are you looking to die?"

Because of these offensive words, Sumi Kichikawa got beaten up quite a bit by the enraged Chuuya Nakahara during that period.

Looking back now, what was that "guidance from a helpful friend"?

He was completely played by that bastard Dazai Osamu back then!!

Kikawa Sumi sighed silently in her heart.

However, so much time has passed now, and it has been quite a few years since he left that world. I wonder if Chuuya, who used to get furious at the mention of height, has actually grown taller.

Although the bone age of normal boys usually stops growing at 16 or 17, shouldn't Chung-ya be considered a normal boy?

How tall is he now?

At the very least, he should be about the same level as Dazai.

Considering their tendency to argue whenever they meet, Chuuya would probably be very angry if he didn't grow any taller in the end.

Kikawa Sumi sighed silently in her heart, finally pulling her thoughts back from that not-so-distant, yet somewhat hazy, past.

He looked up and met Gojo Satoru's still enthusiastic gaze.

"Sumi." Gojo Satoru waved his hand in front of his eyes. "Were you daydreaming just now?"

"……No."

"You have."

"……No."

"You have."

"no."

"You do," Gojo Satoru said decisively, then leaned down slightly, squinting his eyes behind his sunglasses as he approached him.

"And it's obvious you've thought of something interesting. Let me guess, is it your 'helpful friend'?"

Sumire Kawakawa remained silent.

Seeing his reaction, Gojo Satoru's eyes lit up immediately, like a cat that had caught a ball of yarn.

"I knew it!"

"no."

Gojo Satoru didn't expose him, but simply changed the subject: "So tell me, besides the mafia, what else have you been involved in?"

Sumire Kikawa paused almost imperceptibly.

Gojo Satoru caught the pause and his eyes lit up: "There really is more!"

"...Not many either," Sumire Kichikawa said.

Gojo Satoru laughed even harder: "How much is 'not a lot'? Two? Three? Or ten?"

Sumire Kawakawa thought about it seriously.

As he thought about it, Gojo Satoru's smile gradually faded a little.

Because he discovered that Sumi Kichikawa seemed to be genuinely calculating.

After a moment, Sumi Kichikawa hesitated before speaking: "It's not easy to categorize them."

Gojo Satoru: "...Types?"

"Hmm." Sumi Kichikawa lowered her eyes, as if considering how to say it without sounding too strange, "Some are due to identity, some are due to profession, and some are just for temporary missions."

Gojo Satoru became interested: "For example?"

Sumire Kikawa pursed her lips.

"For example... pirates."

Gojo Satoru: "..."

Gojo Satoru blinked slowly, as if to confirm that he hadn't misheard.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Sumire Kichikawa thought he had misunderstood something, so she added in a low voice, "But he wasn't the captain, he just traveled with a ship for a while."

Gojo Satoru: "..."

Seeing that he still didn't react, Sumire Kikawa simply continued to fall down: "I was a hunter for a while too."

Gojo Satoru paused for a moment, then asked, "A hunter?"

"Yes. The kind with a certificate."

Gojo Satoru's expression had changed from excitement to a kind of indescribable blankness.

"Anything else?"

"Ninja".

"..."

Sumire Kikawa carefully added, "However, the ninjas of that world are not quite the same as ninjas in the normal sense."

"..."

"I also briefly played the Grim Reaper."

Gojo Satoru finally couldn't hold back any longer. He raised his hand and pressed it against his forehead, as if he was digesting this overwhelming and outrageous amount of information.

Seeing his reaction, Sumi Kikawa lowered her voice even further, with a hint of honest confession: "And the Survey Corps soldiers too."

Gojo Satoru slowly lowered his hand: "Why does this suddenly sound so heavy?"

Sumi Kikawa thought for a moment: "It's definitely not an easy world."

Gojo Satoru paused for two seconds, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

Sumi Kikawa hesitated for a moment: "I've also been to a world with a lot of mafia."

"To be a hero?"

"No," Sumire Kichikawa replied honestly, "I'm a temporary teacher."

It was as if Gojo Satoru had finally heard a word that he could understand and that was close to reality amidst all this bizarre and outlandish resume.

He immediately clapped his hands and laughed, "I get it! This is pretty much the same as now."

Sumi Kichikawa nodded: "Yeah, more or less."

But after Gojo Satoru finished laughing, looking at Sumi Kichikawa's nonchalant expression, he seemed to finally realize something very serious.

"Sumi," Gojou Satoru's tone became somewhat incredulous, "you didn't happen to have tried every profession in the world, did you?"

"No," Sumire Kichikawa corrected him earnestly, "There are still many things we haven't done."

Gojo Satoru slowly turned his head and stared at him.

"Are there still many things we haven't done?"

"Um."

"What else have you done?"

Kikawa Sumi lowered her eyes and listed them off: "Magicians, Onmyoji, adventurers... occasionally they also do some more ordinary jobs, such as coffee shop clerks, convenience store clerks, and—"

"etc."

Gojo Satoru raised his hand, stopping him from continuing.

The air in the corridor suddenly became a little quieter.

Gojo Satoru had always known that Sumi Kikawa had many secrets. He also knew that Sumi had experienced many past events that he had not been a part of.

However, the concept of "knowing" is different from "actually hearing the other person say it one by one."

The words floated down from Sumire Kigawa's lips like heavy doors being pushed open one after another before Satoru Gojo's eyes.

Behind the door lay countless bizarre and fantastical worlds he had never seen before.

It was also countless years that he couldn't be by Kikawa Sumi's side.

Gojo Satoru suddenly reached out and gently hooked his hand around Kigawa Sumi's finger.

Kikawa Sumi paused for a moment, then looked down at their clasped hands.

Gojo Satoru, however, acted as if nothing had happened, and said in his usual lighthearted manner, "How amazing."

"What?"

"Isn't Xiaocheng about my age?"

Gojo Satoru turned to look at him, his smile tinged with genuine amazement.

"You already have such a wealth of experience?"

Sumi Kichikawa did not answer.

He seemed rooted to the spot by those words.

Seeing his silence, Gojo Satoru's smile gradually disappeared.

He called again, "Xiao Cheng?"

Sumi Kichikawa remained silent.

This time, Gojo Satoru finally realized something was wrong.