"Why should I be a sorcerer in your jujutsu order when I'm strong enough to do whatever I want?"
Satoru is fraught with indecision, pulled in several directions at once. He wants to strangle this woman. Launch her into the stratosphere. Scream into a void about her. Maybe kiss her a little bit, too, to see if that shuts her up. It's very confusing, and in the end, all he can do is burst into loud, shocked laughter.
"At first I thought you were just ornery, Yoshi, but you must have balls of steel to say that to my face!"
Yoshi deflates further, disconcerted by his reaction. "Whatever. Are you going to withdraw your request about me?"
"Nope!" Gojo laughs harder so he doesn't think too much about throwing Yoshi into a volcano or something. "Now, I've got to leave," Before I develop an ulcer, Satoru adds silently. "There's a council member I need to go terrorize!"
She blinks. "...What, like right now?"
"Yeah!" Gojo grins. "He's head of the Kyoto school, and we have an exchange event to sort out. You could plea your case to him if you'd like, but full disclosure, he's a staunch traditionalist."
"I'll pass," Yoshi deadpans. "Nothing I say to one crusty old man will change anything."
"How do you know he's old and crusty?"
"Is he not?"
Gojo cackles. "No, you're right, he's ancient! Well, I've kept ol' Gakuganji waiting long enough. Would you mind looking after my sweet students? I think Todo's going to bully them."
She shoots him a questioning look. "Who's—?" But before Yoshi can ask, she's cut off by a rumbling crash from across campus. She instinctively looks back towards the buildings, sensing the burst of cursed energy from Megumi summoning something. "Gojo, what's—?"
He's gone.
Yoshi curses loudly, and goes to check on Gojo's students.
—/—/—/—
Head throbbing in pain, Megumi forces himself to his feet to summon Nue and his toads. He doesn't take his eyes off of Todo, who's babbling some more about his lack of taste. Today's just not his day, is it?
I'm up against a hardcore close-range fighter, he thinks carefully. I need to keep my distance, but can I? I just fought against another first-grade sorcerer, and… Megumi frowns, thinking of the damage he took trying to dodge Yoshi. At least I can't feel the bruises anymore. Is it the adrenaline?
That doesn't matter. Todo dashes forward, and Megumi startles when his toads are tossed aside like rag dolls for the second time today. Todo's thick arms clamp around his torso, lifting— "Flimsy and shallow, both your body and your taste in women!"
Pain thunders down Megumi's spine as he crashes into the gravel. He leaps out of the way when Todo follows up with a punch, avoiding it by the skin of his teeth. But Todo doesn't stop there, darting after Megumi with raised fists.
Megumi swears under his breath, desperately keeping his arms up to block. Blood keeps dripping into his eye, and in an instant, Todo seizes his chin and slams him up against a wall.
A wave of cursed energy suddenly floods over Megumi, and he feels Todo stiffen as he senses it too.
"Oi, what's the big deal?" Todo rumbles, "I'm not finished with you yeeeee—ow, ow, ow!"
The meaty hand over Megumi's face vanishes, and he collapses onto his knees.
"Stop that," Yoshi's voice is flat and annoyed. She's holding Todo by the hair of his bun, yanking him down to her level.
Todo twists around in the blink of an eye, but Yoshi's already released his hair and swiftly avoids his fist.
"What're you doing?" Todo snaps, glaring at the young woman. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"
Megumi slowly gets to his feet, trying to gather himself. Yoshi takes a few steps to the side, neatly placing herself between Megumi and Todo.
"You're in my way," Yoshi replies bluntly, dropping her hands back into the pockets of her jacket. "Megumi already agreed to spar with me today. Who are you?"
"Kyoto, third-year, Todo Aoi," he declares, repeating the introduction he gave to Megumi. "I've never seen you here before. Are you another student?"
Megumi watches as Yoshi's shoulders slump. "Not a student. I'm Yoshi," she answers shortly. Then she cocks her head towards Megumi. "I told you that blocking wouldn't work," Yoshi says in a mild voice, but her eyes lock with Megumi in a silent question.
"K-Kugisaki," he hisses to Yoshi. "Sensei, check on Kugisaki, I'll be fine," Megumi urges her, not even realizing the title that slips out of his mouth.
She frowns. "Where's—?"
"Sensei, is it?" Todo interrupts, grinning at Yoshi eagerly.
She ignores him, eyeing Megumi in concern. "What's wrong with—?"
"You must be a very recent hire," Todo continues, taking a threatening step forward. Yoshi's forced to pay attention as he nears. "Welcome. What's your type, Yoshi-sensei?"
Megumi and Yoshi stare back at Todo with identical looks of loathing.
"My what?" she demands, dumbfounded.
"Seriously?" Megumi grumbles.
"Your type in men," Todo elaborates, readying himself for a new opponent. "What kind of man is your type?"
She doesn't answer for a long moment, silently looking him up and down. "Why?" Yoshi asks, sounding troubled. "I'm not interested, please don't ask me that again."
Todo freezes, momentarily losing his focused grin. "Huh?"
Megumi slaps a hand over his mouth and snorts. The situation wasn't even remotely funny, but it couldn't be helped. He'd almost laughed earlier too, when Yoshi told Gojo he was too old for her, and then Kugisaki blurted out that Yoshi was hot.
"I—I didn't mean me," Todo stammers, his stance relaxing further. "You're not my type. Well, no—" he pauses, shrugging lightly, "You are pretty tall for a woman, and—" Megumi is already shaking his head furiously, and Todo catches himself before he digs an even greater hole for himself. "But a person's fetishes reflect everything about them! Like Fushiguro, he's a boring guy with a boring taste. And I hate boring men."
Yoshi doesn't look the slightest bit amused. "So… you're attacking Megumi because you don't like his taste?" she inquires, skeptical.
Sensing her judgement, Todo raises his fists again. "The exchange event is near, and I don't want to spend my final year fighting boring men like him!" Todo announces. "But you, Yoshi-sensei, I felt your spirit. Tell me your type. You look like the sort of woman that knows what she wants!"
"He's just trying to pick a fight," Megumi explains quickly to Yoshi. "There's another Kyoto student here, Zenin-senpai's sister. I left Kugisaki alone with her."
"Is she in danger?"
"I don't know," Megumi confesses, frustrated.
"Hurry up and answer me, Yoshi-sensei!" Todo cries. "What's your type?"
"Tch," Yoshi glares at Todo. "My type is a guy that knows when to shut up." She doesn't want to use her bracelet again. Despite how tall and muscular he looks, the truth is that Todo is underage, shirtless, and not nearly as dangerous as that Zenin guy.
"You can do better than that," Todo encourages her, delighted. He's clearly not taking her seriously, and Yoshi is not going to fight a sorcerer for no good reason.
"Leave her out of this, Todo," Megumi speaks up, wiping the blood from his brow. "She's an instructor, you won't get a proper fight from her."
"You won't get a fight at all," Yoshi amends his statement, eyes glued to Todo. "Listen, kid. If you attack me or Megumi again, I will send you back home," she explains. "That's a promise."
"Feisty!" Todo exclaims. "I like it! Come, Yoshi-sensei, show me what you're made of!"
Yoshi gives Megumi a hard push aside, and before he can blink, Todo's fist is cracking the stone wall behind them with impossible force.
"Yoshi!" Megumi yells, seeing Todo go after her. She's fast, but she didn't have anything like Todo's insane physical power—Crrrack!
Megumi blinks. Todo grunts wetly, staggering a step to the side. Wooden splinters go flying. Yoshi drew her baseball bat, but it shattered against Todo's flank.
"Good swing! More, show me more!" Todo laughs, brushing the dirt from his pants. He lunges for Yoshi again, and she leans into the move, seizing Todo's outstretched arm and—
Suddenly, there's a burst of white-hot energy, making Megumi flinch in surprise. When he looks back at Yoshi, she's alone.
A beat of silence passes.
"...Yoshi-sensei?" Megumi speaks up. "Where's Todo?"
Yoshi hums, not looking at Megumi. "I think he's on the second floor…"
"The… second floor?" he asks, puzzled.
"The second floor of Kyoto Station," she says warily, shooting Megumi a guilty look. "But I've never actually been to Kyoto, so that's an estimate."
He stares at her, and then the cracked wall that Todo smashed. Megumi can feel the bruises forming along his back, and his teeth are aching from clenching his jaw while Todo put his fist in his face. Yoshi looks down, and begins to pick up the ruined pieces of her baseball bat to toss in the nearest trash bin.
It was over so quickly.
"You went easy on me," Megumi says at last, unsure if he's in awe of her speed or frustrated at her nonchalance. "Your technique can teleport people, so… you weren't even using a technique to hit me, earlier."
The young woman trudges over to him, kicking at the gravel idly. "You look terrible. How are we supposed to go for another spar when you can barely stand?" Yoshi rationalizes, running her eyes over him.
"Those baseballs," Megumi continues doggedly, now that his head is clearing up. "They hurt like hell when you struck me, but—" he presses a hand to his ribcage, where he knows the last ball hit him. "There's no injury now. It's like it never happened."
She peers at him with cool black eyes, unimpressed. "You wanted me to crack your ribs?"
"I'm not made of glass," Megumi grits his teeth. "And you didn't need to step in with Todo, either. He was targeting me for a reason."
Yoshi watches him quietly, considering his words. "Alright. Then I'm sorry for interrupting," she shrugs. "But the effect was temporary because we were sparring, not fighting. And for the record, Megumi," Yoshi adds seriously, "I used my technique against you, not Todo."
Megumi exhales a breath, not quite mollified. "Then how did you do that to Todo?"
"I promised to send him back home," Yoshi scratches her cheek, unconcerned. "I had to follow through."