Your Life As A Tokyo Jujutsu High Background Student

Chapter 29 - Baseball and riot

The next day, the adults gathered you all to discuss whether to proceed with the Goodwill Event circus given, y'know, the minor inconvenience of the full-scale invasion. Unsurprisingly, everyone seemed gung-ho to power through – why learn from past mistakes when you could just recklessly tempt fate again?

You knew this overeager bunch of adrenaline junkies would be raring to get right back on that quasi-murderous horse. Sure enough, Todo managed to interject some philosophical babbling about "true strength" or some equally pretentious word-vomit. You tuned out the second he opened his mouth, his droning voice fading into the background akin to the buzzing of an annoying fly.

Typically, the second round of the Event would pit students against each other in individual battles. But now, that would be "too boring" according to Gojo's refined tastes. As if you all hadn't suffered enough jaw-dropping bullshit yet. So the principals Gakuganji and Yaga each jotted down their event suggestions before sealing them in a mystery box, to be drawn at random like something out of a low-budget game show.

Then, in a feat of wit and creativity that absolutely nobody asked for, Yuji was bestowed the honor of picking your fates. When he reached into the box, the crumpled slip he plucked out read simply: "Baseball."

Both Gakuganji and Yaga immediately went thermonuclear, spittle flying.

"What's the meaning of this atrocity, Yaga?!" Gakuganji hissed like a feral cat, eyes narrowing to furious slits.

"No, I'm positive I suggested individual battles..." Yaga spluttered, his face reddening to tomato levels as he grappled with this unexpected turn of events. "Wait, Satoru – get back in here this instant!"

But it was already far too late. Gojo had skipped off outside, whistling a merry tune and no doubt mentally checking out early for the day. Poor Principal Yaga – still trusting Gojo with the random draws after he'd helped you switch the event roster last year behind their backs. The old man never learned, did he?

In all fairness, a good old-fashioned baseball game between jujutsu sorcerers did sound like it could be stupid fun to watch. Just a simple sporting event to break up the usual life-or-death intensity, right? Well, if anyone here except maybe Utahime actually possessed the first damn clue about how baseball worked beyond "swing wooden stick at ball."

From the moment Kamo sauntered up to home plate for the first at-bat, it became evident that outstanding jujutsu abilities did not necessarily translate to even a rudimentary grasp on throwing, hitting, or catching fundamentals. The guy just... stood there in the batter's box, yapping away inanities at Yuji as pitch after pitch whizzed past him unfouled.

Not even the most generous interpretation could spin his performance as "waiting for his pitch to drive." Dude just straight up forgot he was holding an implement designed for making contact with the ball rather than admiring its flight path. The secondhand embarrassment was overwhelming.

Then there was Nishimiya, bless her heart, who treated the whole endeavor like a demonic possession, sprinting maniacally around the bases like her very soul depended on it. Her eyes were wide with a crazed intensity, and you half-expected her to start foaming at the mouth. Her sheer commitment was admirable, at least?

But it was Mai's blatant disregard for anything resembling structured rules that made the whole outing careen straight off the rails into maximum absurdity. With Mechamaru out of commission (turned out Panda was serious when he asked for your opinion on how to wreck Mechamaru's shit), Mai decided to one-up everyone by wheeling out a goddamn pitching machine to serve as her teammate. The audacity was both impressive and deeply concerning.

That ballsy power move caused Nobara to lose her shit right then and there – it took multiple people physically restraining her to prevent a Level 5 Cursed Meltdown that would've derailed the entire event into an all-out war. The girl was a ticking time bomb of rage, and Mai had just gleefully lit the fuse with her little stunt.