Zenin Naoya collapses onto the ground, unconscious.
"How the fuck—?" Gojo wheezes out, lurching away from the girl. Gojo's pretty sure he just got the wind knocked out of his chest—which should be impossible, because he's been using Infinity this whole time. "God damn…"
Gojo glances back to the young woman, forcing himself to heal as he keeps an eye on her. She was still the unknown element in this mix, and it was about time that Gojo figured out who she was—and why the hell her curse energy was messing with his technique.
The girl walks calmly over to Zenin and picks up the baseball she just brained him with.
Gojo, perversely, doesn't do a thing to stop her.
If she wants to kill Zenin Naoya, that's fine by him. Naoya is a massive dick, after all. The Zenin family, though cooperative, was no friend to Gojo.
But she doesn't kill Naoya. All she does is take the tanto blade out of his jacket. It's almost like she's taking a prize from him, or payment for her troubles, because he can see the amused look on her face as she does it. Then she turns her back on the Zenin. Naoya has no healing techniques, and unless Gojo takes pity on him, he'll lay there on a chilly rooftop in New York for a good long while before someone comes looking for him.
Do I have any pity for Naoya? Satoru asks himself. What a silly question! Of course I don't. He'll wake up in his own time.
At last, the young woman turns her attention to Gojo.
Gojo almost reaches to pull down his blindfold again, just in case. She's hit him twice now, and he's at a (very slight) disadvantage on this roof—his techniques are destructive, and they're in the middle of a densely-populated city. Gojo could manage just fine—and totally win this time—but he'd rather not turn this into a fight when all he wanted from her was information. She's just one woman. He suspects she's had plenty of chances to kill him or Naoya, but hasn't tried it.
By the time the girl comes to a stop in front of him, Gojo's decided that this sorcerer doesn't pose a clear or present danger to anyone.
Even though she could, if she wanted to.
"Found you," he greets her cheerfully, plastering on a radiant smile.
"Why are you here?" she asks him, surprising him again with her grasp on Japanese. He honestly did think she only spoke English. He even brushed up on his pronunciation before making the trip! Sure, she sort of looked Asian, but not entirely—her skin was tanner, her hair was lighter, and her features were sharper, probably the result of a mixed heritage. But it was a nice surprise nonetheless, because Satoru's English skills were kind of rusty.
Gojo maintains his grin. "I wanted to know more about my mystery girl. You left so soon, I felt like Prince Charming looking for his Cinderella." Her expression remains unchanged. Gojo pouts. "Seems like Naoya-kun got the chance to cozy up to you, but what about me? I still don't even know your name."
She's gritting her teeth, but she looks more ticked off than murderous. It's inexplicable, truly, but Gojo has a good feeling about this sorcerer.
"Yoshi," she introduces herself tersely. "Zenin said your name was Gojo?"
"That's me," Gojo croons, holding his hands behind his back like a bashful schoolgirl.
"He also said you're the strongest sorcerer," Yoshi continues blithely, ignoring his tone.
"I sure am," Gojo confirms, hiding the edge of tension in his voice behind a cheeky grin. "Which brings us to our current predicament, Yoshi-san, because I haven't been outdone by another sorcerer—uh, ever."
(That statement hinged on the technicality of Fushiguro Toji being a non-sorcerer, but Gojo figured it was best not to mention it.)
Yoshi presses her lips together, not quite frowning, but doesn't answer him. She brushes past Gojo and picks up the baseball bat she'd left by the ledge.
He watches her carefully this time. On her hands, there are two little words tattooed in English. She touches her ring finger to the base of the bat, and it sinks into what can only be some sort of pocket dimension created from cursed energy. The tattoo on the side of her finger is easy enough for him to read.
CLOSE
Cursed energy stored in tattoo ink? Oh, she's just a ball of mysteries, all tangled up together, isn't she? Gojo loves it.
"Zenin told me about Limitless," Yoshi says, trudging back towards him. Her hands are hidden again in the pockets of her windbreaker, and her frown looks like it's carved right into her face. "I don't care if you're the strongest, if someone throws a punch at you, you should duck."
Gojo blinks in astonishment. Is she scolding him?
"Yoshi-chan," he protests at once, aghast. "Are you saying it's my fault you punched me in the face? I'm a victim!"
She just stares at him, unbothered. "If you had dodged that first time in Germany, it wouldn't have knocked you out," she says. "And then none of this would be happening now because you got your ego bruised."
He's going to ignore the jab about his ego for now, because this woman just doesn't make any sense. "Naoya-kun tried to dodge," Gojo points out, gesturing lazily at the Zenin heir on the ground. "I saw that. You still beamed him in the jaw."
"That was intentional," Yoshi glares. "He literally asked for it. He wanted to kill me. I should push him off the roof, but I don't need that kind of attention."
I wish I'd gotten here sooner, Satoru muses. I wonder what Naoya said to get her so worked up?
"Ooh, you're cold," Gojo giggles. "But you're a little off-base with that one. Naoya-kun hates being second-best, especially to me. He'd kill me in a heartbeat if he could do it without disrupting the power balance." His grin widens. "But you, Ms. Mystery Technique, I think he'd rather bring you home to meet the parents."
"Is that why he came at me with a knife and said 'I'm going to kill you'?" Yoshi asks flatly, unimpressed. "You saw him attack."
"Good point, good point," Gojo nods, tapping his chin, "But did he say why he was attacking? It's because he wants to know about Germany, right?" Her expression hardens. "Did you tell him what happened?"
She glances at Naoya again, disdainful. "He wanted a demonstration."
"A demons—? Oh. Hah!" Gojo huffs. "So that's what that was about. Wow, so Naoya really did ask for it, eh?" He pouts. "See, that makes some sense, but you really didn't have to knock me out, did you?"
"No," she agrees bluntly. The wind blows harshly, tugging at her jacket and making Yoshi squint in dismay. "In Germany it wasn't intentional. You didn't flinch like I expected you to—but that's your problem, not mine."
Gojo looks at her, pensive. "…I guess not." She was quick, but she wasn't faster than his eyes—he saw her wind up a pitch and aim it straight at Naoya. He saw Naoya recognize the attack and duck to the side. He saw the ball strike Naoya just to the right side of his chin anyway.
Gojo touches his own chin, where Yoshi punched him last week hard enough to daze him for about two minutes before he could get a handle on his cursed energy and heal his own concussion. "I've never needed to dodge."
Yoshi stares at him, apathetic. "Why did you come here, Gojo-san?" she asks again.
Isn't it obvious? Satoru thinks. We've been talking for so long, and I still know nothing about her.
But instead of answering, he smiles widely and cocks his head to one side. "Why don't we get out of this awful weather first? You must be freezing, you poor thing!"
Yoshi's gaze drifts to Naoya before she faces him again. "Where in Japan are you and Zenin from?"
"I'm from Tokyo!" The smile on his face is slowly freezing in place, not that she'll ever notice. "The Zenin family estate is in Osaka. You may have noticed, Naoya-kun has a bit of an accent. He's a country boy at heart."
"I noticed," Yoshi nods calmly. Gojo must say, she's quick to bounce back from stressful situations. It's a good quality in a sorcerer. "I barely understand Kansai-ben."
Gojo chuckles again, still watching her keenly as she rolls up one of her sleeves. She's wearing a couple of thick-banded bracelets, all tie-dyed and covered in scribbles. When she unwraps one of them from her wrist, Gojo gasps. "Oh! I remember those things!"
"It's a slap bracelet, one of those kid toys," Yoshi confirms, straightening one out. It's blue and purple, streaked with inky marker lines. "This one belongs to Zenin Naoya," she states confidently.
"…Huh? It does? Doesn't really seem to be his style." Gojo watches, dumbfounded, as she walks over to Naoya and lifts his arm. "Wait, what are you—?"
She slaps the bracelet onto his wrist, and Zenin Naoya disappears in a sudden surge of concentrated, burning cursed energy.
Gojo's mouth hangs open in a small 'o' of surprise.
Yoshi takes off another bracelet as if nothing had happened.
"Hang on!" Gojo leaps toward her, holding out his hands. "Wait, wait, wait! What just happened? Did he just die? Where'd he go? How'd you do that, is it a magic trick?" He knows it's not a magic trick, but he's holding out hope anyway.
"He's at Osaka Station," she replies frankly, holding up another bracelet. He senses almost no cursed energy from the bracelet, but clearly it was already imbued with energy. "I don't think you need one of these to get back to Tokyo," she says assessingly.
I misjudged her, Satoru thinks. Finger tattoos, cursed kids' toys and baseball bats? This girl is rad. Yaga's gonna love her.
"Yeeaaah, buuuuut what if I want one anyway?" he asks impulsively.
The woman rolls her eyes. "Then this one will take a passenger. Put your hand on my shoulder."
He probably shouldn't trust this woman so much, but Gojo can't help it. He's too nosy to be careful. "You'll escort me home? How chivalrous," he grins, laying his hand gently on her shoulder.
He makes a point of retracting Infinity on his own when he touches her this time, unwilling to test it out just yet. Nothing feels off about his cursed energy, or hers, but Satoru knows there's something different about her.
"You're welcome," Yoshi replies, indifferent, and then she slaps the bracelet back onto her own wrist.
He expects a light show and a forceful burst of acrid cursed energy, but gets neither.
It's actually quite underwhelming. Gojo inhales the air in New York, and exhales in Tokyo. The rumbling noises of the evening are replaced by the fresh, lethargic sounds of morning Japan. The cursed energy dissolves away in an instant, leaving nothing more than a memory of pungency on his tongue.
Gojo looks around, instantly recognizing the streets and signs of home. They're outside the eastern entrance to Tokyo Station.
"Oh," he murmurs, reluctantly impressed. "Wow."
Yoshi takes a step back from him, drawing Gojo's attention when his hand slips off her.
"My mystery girl," Gojo addresses her in a low tone, "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"
She ignores him. "I don't want more sorcerers like you and Zenin knocking at my door," Yoshi says without preamble, squinting into the bright light. "I don't want a bounty on my head either."
"Oh yeah," Gojo agrees idly. "Naoya is a prideful boy. He'll put his own bounty on you for that pot-shot."
"Lucky me," Yoshi says stonily.
"So did you use a technique to hit him?" Gojo muses. "Or does it have something to do with your magic bracelets? Or both?"
"Gojo-san," she says testily, "I'm going to end up in a ditch somewhere if you keep spreading rumors about me." She completely ignores his question.
"Ah, but Yoshi, I never told a soul!" Gojo proclaims, wagging his finger. "My report on the Germany mission was three sentences long. But it doesn't matter anymore. Rumors can't be stopped—you can't put toothpaste back in the tube once it's been squeezed out!"
She squints at him again, clearly unhappy with this answer. But instead of pressing the issue any further, or doubting Gojo's words, Yoshi relents. "So I should expect more visitors like Zenin," she concludes, calm to the point of eeriness. "Alright."
But then she turns her back on Gojo, as if that's the end of the conversation, and he can't have that.
"Orrrr you can avoid a bounty hunt," Gojo slides himself smoothly in front of her again, "By getting the support and protection of Tengen-sama and the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse—"
"I'm not a sorcerer," Yoshi cuts him off prematurely, "And I don't affiliate with them, so that's not happening."
Now it's Gojo's turn to squint at her like she's a foreign object. Which she is, technically, since she's now an American in Japan.
"How so?" he asks politely. "You have cursed energy and you fight curses like the one in Germany."
"I'm not a sorcerer," she repeats patiently, but elaborates no further.
Gojo slumps, jutting out his lip in a big fat pout. "I don't get it. Is this a riddle?"
"It's the truth," Yoshi says, which is just so unfairly mysterious and alluring, Gojo thinks he might die from curiosity at this point. "The jujutsu order won't protect me."
Her hand moves back to her wrist, to the slap bracelet, and Gojo yelps in protest, "No! You can't leave now!"
She pauses, but steps further away from him in case he makes a grab for her hands. She sighs. "Why not?"
"Because!" Gojo waves his hands wildly. "Because—you're still being hunted!" he points out quickly. "And fine, you say you're not a sorcerer—but I, conveniently enough, happen to have a lot of pull in the jujutsu world," he smirks, gaining momentum the longer he talks. "And I can think of a few ways to get you recognized as one."
Yoshi's face begins to pinch in annoyance again. "I don't—"
"Have you seen the Tokyo campus yet?" Gojo asks before she can refuse him.
"Campus?" She frowns.
"The school! The high school for sorcerers! Oh my goodness, you're an illiterate," Gojo gasps. "Is that why you aren't ranked? That's academic elitism."
She exhales loudly. "Is there a point to this conversation?"
"Come visit my school!" Gojo suggests. "You're already in the city, might as well enjoy the sights! Let me give you a tour, let me talk to the principal and see what he can do for you before you blip back to New York to fight off assassins."
"Before I blip?" She arches an eyebrow at him.
"Blip! Or whoosh back home! The slap-back special—ooh, hm, I like the sound of that," Gojo laughs and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, though it's lost beneath his blindfold.
"Gojo-san," she begins to shake her head, again ignoring his last remarks. "Why do you want to help me?"
An easy grin slides over his face. "I don't know yet," he admits candidly. "I just like your vibe, Yoshi. You seem like a good person."
The honesty seems to chip away at her mask, just a bit. It's a heavy toll, though, because it'll start to chip Satoru apart too if he's not careful. Her shoulders lower, just a fraction, the severity of her gaze lessening for a moment.
"I sucker-punched you," Yoshi murmurs. "You don't want to get even for that?"
"Oh, Yoshi-chan, you already had to sit through a conversation with Naoya," Gojo laughs, "There's no greater punishment than that!" She even looks amused for a moment, but the expression is wiped away quickly. "Now. Yoshi. You gave me a lift to Tokyo, why don't you let me bring you to my school?"
He extends a hand to Yoshi, palm up.
It's a risk, yes. She's deflected several questions so far, has hardly given up her name, much less her techniques or her motives. He doesn't actually have a solid reason for letting a newcomer through Tengen's barrier, and he's sure Yaga will give him an earful for that once he finds out.
And still, Satoru offers. He hopes, even. It sounds cheesy and maybe even dangerously optimistic, but—much like he thought Itadori Yuji was worth taking home, he thinks this woman has the potential to be great and good and better than the execs that dictate his world.
"Alright," Yoshi says quietly, taking his hand.
Author's note: Yoshi's powers & history won't be fully explained for a while (hence the mystery genre, lol). But this is basically a canon-divergence story, and Yoshi will become more and more involved in altering the plot line of the anime/manga. Also, a warning: when I say slow-burn, I MEAN slow-burn. My girl just tried to jump off a roof to avoid Gojo, she's not falling for him at first sight.