You close the door to your room and deposit your new uniform without ceremony onto the floor. Flinging yourself across the bed, you groan with the exhaustion at the completion of your day. Your FIRST day, you groan again even louder.
"I'm so drained," you remark.
"No surprise there, you really made your mark today. Nice work," Ryomen chides to you, his mouth appears in the palm of your hand with a smirk.
"You caused me alot of trouble..." you gripe.
"You want to get stronger don't you?" he flashes his teeth in a grin. "You're going to leave these other sorcerers in the dust."
Turning onto your side, you blink in the darkness. What is that? Something out of place is on the desk. You sit up and look closer, squinting your eyes. A single long stemmed white rose lays atop a handwritten note. Your heartbeat accelerates as you reach for the paper. There's only one sentence, left unsigned.
You are exquisite.
"Gross," Ryomen critiques.
"No way! It's totally sweet!" you squeak and hug the rose and letter to your chest. The fragrance is intoxicating.
"Do you think it was Itadori? It had to be him right?"
"Bah! Humans and their pathetic tokens." Ryomen ignores you, so you ignore him right back.
"It couldn't have been Fushiguro, I'm positive you've made him terrified of us."
"Oh, that wasn't terror he was exhibiting," Ryomen chuckles.
"I could practically taste his excitement on our tongue. He wanted me to take him."
"...Like, in a fight?" you ask, unsure of his meaning. He merely chuckles again in response, a dark and evil rumble.
You smell your rose again, noting that every single thorn had been removed from its stem. Someone really cared about you.
"Exquisite," you repeat with a smile. Nobody had ever used that word to describe you before.
.
.
.
You dress yourself the next morning in your new uniform, scowling at the skirt in your mirror. Ryomen's features appear on your face, concerned.
"Why do you hate it? Your legs look so-"
"I know! I get it. They're nice, whatever. I just...I want to be taken seriously, and that's never happened before when I dress like this. Humans tend to talk down to cute people, like they're not capable of being anything but eye candy." Your mood is particularly sour this morning.
"Uh huh," Ryomen listens with patience.
"But you know you're more than that, right?"
"Yes. I'm more stressed about the students here. I keep making an ass out of myself, no thanks to you, mister." You point a threatening finger at his reflection.
"Mm, yes. A glorious ass," he takes your hand in his control, sliding it behind to grip your thigh beneath your skirt with playfulness.
"Subsisto!" you snap
"We're going to breakfast dammit! I will socialize even if it kills me today!"
You latch your door and march to the kitchen with determination.
There are sounds coming from dining hall as you were rounding the last corner. You feel nervous about meeting anyone new, but you're trying your best to be brave.
There is a modest spread of breakfast pastries, cereal and fruits left on the countertop. A single table sits in the center of the dining area with three students eating and conversing casually. You recognize two of them, but the girl facing you notices your arrival first.
"Look who decided to finally show up for breakfast."
She has shoulder length orange hair and a serious face. Fushiguro and Itadori both look over their shoulders in your direction. Your heartbeat doubles.
"Good morning! It's great to see you'll be joining us. Fushiguro make some room, will ya?" Yuji shoves his friend's shoulder, scooting him toward the wall.
Megumi huffs in annoyance,
"You can just ask politely, you know? Plus there's plenty of room next to Kugisaki."
"It's fine! Really don't trouble yourself to get up," you grab a peach from a fruit bowl and sit next to the girl wearing the same uniform as you.
"Hello! Umm, my name is-"
"Yeah, I already know who you are. You're all anyone's been talking about, trust me." She takes another bite of her pastry without looking at you.
Everyone is talking about you? Was that a bad thing? What was with this girl though? She was rather rude.
Kugisaki turns her head toward you.
"You got a problem?"
"Me? No I-" then you realize she isn't talking to you. She's looking at your face where Ryomen's eye had opened up to leer at her, then his mouth appears and makes a lewd face, waggling his tongue suggestively.
"Ugh! Well, my appetite is ruined," she drops her breakfast to the table.
"I'm sorry! It's not me, it's-" you stop midsentence, she's already stalking away.
"Sorry..." you say again uselessly.
Then inwardly at Ryomen, "Thanks alot, you dick." He giggles madly in response.
"Hee hee hee!"
Itadori offers his consolation, "Don't mind Nobara, she gave us a hard time when we first met her too. She's hardwired to be in a crappy mood, it's totally not your fault."
He looks down at your meager breakfast. "You sure you don't want anything else? Coffee?" he offers.
"Oh! Coffee? Sure, that would be...exquisite," you attempt, watching his face carefully for a sign of recognition in the word you chose. He pauses for a second, then he laughs.
"Well, I wouldn't say our coffee is that good. They only get us the cheap instant stuff. I bet the faculty gets something different though. "
He opens the cupboard by the coffee pot for a cup. You wilt in your seat. You thought surely it had been him who had wrote that note and left the rose for you. Was he playing it cool because Fushiguro was here? Speaking of... He was currently staring hard in your direction from the corner of his eye.
"Good morning, Fushiguro." you attempt to sound neutral. He matches your tone.
"..'Morning."
"So...Any idea what my training will be today?"
"Why would I know that?" He sips from his coffee cup with indifference.
"I'm not your sensei. Remember?"
Ouch, he sounds annoyed by your question. "I just thought...I don't know. I've only trained with you and Gojo."
"Wait. Fushiguro, you ran a training exercise?" Yuji sets a coffee mug in front of you.
"You never volunteered to train me!"
"Would have been an even bigger waste of my time." He gets up, taking his coffee to-go.
"Gojo is out again on business. He won't be around to babysit you and neither will I. Whatever you end up doing today, keep it low key." With that, he takes his leave.
Itadori looks at you with confusion,
"I guess everyone else got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Don't worry, they'll lighten up eventually."
Either side of your bed would be the right side, Itadori, you muse dreamily.
"Yechh, I heard that," Ryomen retches from the side of your face.
"Oh, cram it!" You stuff the peach into his mouth as a gag. He spits out the first bite,
"This tastes terrible..."
"So, if you have no scheduled training yet, I'd be happy to show you a few things I know. Oh! We could go to the weapons room and spar if you'd like?" Yuji clasps your hand in excitement.
"I'd love that!" You give his hand a gentle squeeze in return.
Ryomen spits a second bite of peach onto the table.
"Disgusting!"
Yuji doesn't bat an eye.
.
.
.
"You know any style of self defense at all?" Itadori asks you, holding the door open wide.
"I took a few classes years back. Just a one-on-one."
"Private lessons? Cool. Let's see what you know! I'll go easy on you, don't worry." Itadori removes his uniform jacket, revealing a tight black tank top underneath. You can't help staring. Did he wear that intentionally for today because he knew you'd be sparring? Or did he always have that on?
"You all good?" he asks you. You shake your head to snap you from your trance. Jesus, his shoulders were beautiful.
"Yup! Uh...though I don't know how well I can fight in a skirt..." you shift nervously, kicking off your shoes when you see Yuji doing the same. Your eyes linger on his feet.
"We'll save kicks for another time. For now, let's see if you can land a punch on me." he flashes you another smile and gives you the 'bring it' motion with his right hand.
"Oh, it would be my pleasure," Ryomen gushes. His energy fills your arms with warmth.
"Hey! Don't you dare-"
Quicker than you can protest, Ryomen zips you across the room to deliver a solid blow to the center of Itadori's chest. Fortunately the boy's palm easily catches your fist before it can connect.
"Yeah! Great job! That almost caught me off guard," Yuji cheers you on, his smile growing larger with enthusiasm.
Ryomen is highly flustered at his victim's playfulness. He throws a left hook, this time at Itadori's adorable face. He pulls back just in time, narrowly missing being clobbered.
"Wow, you've got some real speed!"
Ryomen's growl is deep and guttural in your skull. You can tell how badly he wants to hit him, but sweet Itadori is none the wiser.
"Throw some combos my way! I can handle it." He adjusts his stance, raising both fists in a blocking position.
Your elbow slashes in to connect with the side of Yuji's jaw- he blocks it with his forearm, exposing his center. Ryomen smashes your knee in to close the gap.
Wham! Itadori's elbow comes crashing down to block again.
"Haha! Yes! Keep those surprise shots coming!" He doesn't sound upset that you've broken the no kicks rule.
"This brat is an imbecile!" Ryomen grits your teeth.
You want to make him stop attacking, you genuinely are worried for Itadori's safety. But the ease at the pink haired boy's deflections, how he moved with seemingly no effort even though Ryomen was pushing your body so hard to strike, he was overwhelming to behold. That must be because you're both vessels to Sukuna, you reason. Only Itadori had more training.
"You move beautifully," he compliments you, catching your fists in both his palms. Your heart skips. Ryomen shoves hard, sweeping Itadori's leg from behind with a heel kick.
Finally, he goes down, pulling you on top of him. As his shoulders touch the mat, he rolls backward, using your momentum to pull you completely over him. You land hard on your back, the wind knocked temporarily from your lungs.
"Oww..."
"My bad! That was just a reaction to being floored, I'm so sorry." Itadori's concerned face hovers above yours. He reaches down to help you up. You take his hand, but kick up a foot to catch his middle. You pull him flipping down to the mat next to you.
"Whoa...you're strong." he marvels without moving to get up. His hand is still in your grip, you both lie panting for air.
"Thanks," You feel his fingers squeeze yours briefly before he rolls to his feet.
"Wanna try a weapon?"
Ryomen's glee rises again with the idea of going after Itadori with something deadlier than fists, but you decline the offer immediately.
"Maybe not yet."
"Wanna go again?" he asks, rolling to his side and propping his head up on his fist. God, he was so cute. Your face feels so warm with him looking at you like this.
"Actually...Can we just go for a walk?"
.
.
.
The sun is warm and there's hardly a cloud in sight. It's just you and Itadori in the garden...And Ryomen.
"It stinks out here," he complains.
"Those flowers are awful."
"No, they're gorgeous!" You correct him inside your head.
The sweet smell of roses was thick in the air. You're reminded of the gift you had found in your room the night before. All of these roses are brightly colored though, no white ones. Still a walk with Itadori though the garden is doing its job to brighten your mood.
"Over there we have the vegetable patch. We split and rotate chores, so don't be surprised if you get called out here to help out too." he explained.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind that at all. I like plants." You stop to look into the spiral of a rose splotched with orange and pink.
"It's so nice out here..."
From the corner of your eye, you see Itadori reach out his hand to you. There's a ladybug on his fingertip.
"I come here when I need to clear my head. Seeing life unfolding peacefully around you, unbothered by curses, it's a reminder of why we're doing all this. Making the world better."
He slips the red beetle into your own hand. It creeps across your finger.
"I've swallowed four of Sukuna's fingers so far. And I get some pretty bad side effects from having him possess me," he confides.
"Alot of nights I don't sleep. Or if I do, he just makes a horrible nightmare for me."
His light brown eyes crinkle at the corners when they meet yours. "But there's still so much beauty in the world I can appreciate while I'm awake..."
"Now I am going to vomit," Ryomen gags.
You ignore him and watch the insect fly from your finger, following it through the air with your eyes. Your breathing catches when you see something familiar. White roses. There was a single shrub growing beside a fruiting pear tree. Trying to seem casual, you walk closer to get a better look. It was nearly impossible to tell one white rose from another, but these did look identical to the one left in your room. So your admirer could have taken it from here. But Itadori had said everybody worked in the garden. That didn't narrow down any suspicions at all.
You sigh and rock back on your heels. Ryomen shifts your eyes to the pear tree next to the roses. The fruits hang heavy and thick in its branches. It smells heavenly, even overpowering the aroma of its neighbor. Absently, your hand trails up to pull off one of the pears. Ryomen, forever hungry.
"Ah, we're actually not supposed to touch that one tree," Itadori walks up to your side.
"And why is that?" Ryomen asks in a grouchy version of your voice. You wince at how harsh it sounds. Could Itadori tell the difference when Ryomen was speaking through you?
It didn't seem so, as he continued, "It's some sort of memorial for a past Jujutsu sorcerer." He bites his lip with consideration, then adds,
"I won't tell on you though. I know you didn't eat this morning."
"Here. You have one," Ryomen holds your hand out offering another pear to Itadori.
Aw, that's nice of him, you think.
"That way if you do tell, it's on you as well."
Oh, of course.
His ulterior motives are just to implicate someone else with him as an accomplice.
"Shame on you! Don't get him into trouble." you scold Ryomen subconsciously.
Itadori accepts it before you can attempt to withdraw, taking a bite just as you had. Ryomen makes you watch as he finishes it, not that you would have turned away on your own. You stared at his mouth as he ate.
"Damn...These are something else! I've never enjoyed a pear this much. Must be the mountain soil."
He wipes the juices onto his shirt, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody saw. Both of you toss your cores over the back wall, and he gives you a sheepish smile.
"Don't tell," you remind him. Or was that Ryomen? It's hard to decipher.
BREEEET BREEEET BREEEET
Itadori's phone chirps in his pocket. He pulls it out and takes the call, excusing himself politely.
"Ryomen...you don't think that could be one of those calls where we go and fight another monster, do you?" You ask inwardly.
"Probably. That's why we're here, right?"
Yuji hangs up and purses his lips firmly.
"Oh...Well. I guess we need to go."
"Go?" you squeak.
"As in 'go'?"
He nods gravely. "Yeah. We have an assignment."
.
.
.
The car ride is long and awkward. You're crammed in the backseat between Kugisaki and Itadori. Fushiguro had claimed the front seat. Something about his seniority over the rest of you gave him that right apparently.
"You sure you don't wanna wait in the car when we get there? No one would blame you if you're too scared to start a mission after only one day of training." Itadori was looking to give you an easy way out. He looked as worried as you were feeling.
"No. I can handle it. This is life now, right?"
"Yup, so you might as well get used to it. And I really hope you aren't a screamer." Kugisaki glares at you from the corner of her eyes. "I hate that."
"I'll try to keep that in check," you promise meekly. There's a tap on your foot as Yuji nudges you. A tiny action of comfort. You needed it too.
Fushiguro was still being icy with indifference toward you. And Kugisaki clearly found you repulsive because of Ryomen. She didn't seem much warmer toward either of her peers though, so maybe Itadori was right about her permanent bad mood.
"I'll tell you what I think..." Ryomen's voice pops into your head.
"She's mad there's no other lesbians around."
"You hush, that's none of your business...But, like, do you really think so?" The thought was lingering, but Fushiguro interrupts your thoughts to begin reading the mission docier.
"There was a report made on August 25 2021 of a body found in a neighborhood residence. Age of victim, 73. Female, living alone. She was discovered by a neighbor who noticed packages piling up on the front doorstep and called the local authorities to do a courtesy check."
"So why are they calling us in?" you ask. "It sounds like the police should already be taking care of this."
"According to police, there are signs of other things at work here. At the crime scene, another incident occurred which resulted in the hospitalization of two officers. Both are in critical condition. That's why we're going."
"Doesn't Fushiguro so cool when he acts like he's in charge?" Itadori leans forward to poke his friend's cheek playfully.
"Cut it out! I'm not in charge either. We're going in on this as equals. Four equals." His eyes meet yours in the reflection of the car mirror. What did he mean by that? Is he saying you're equal to him now?
"We're almost there," the driver announces.
Venturing a glance out the window, you're shocked to find that you recognize the street you're turning on.
"Hey, Fushiguro? About the body they found...What was the victim's name?" you ask in a small voice. The car rolls to a slowing halt along the neighborhood sidewalk. Fushiguro leaves your question unanswered, stepping out and closing the door behind him. You all get out and follow suit. There's a wooden sign hanging by the front door, sealed off with yellow tape. It answers your question for you.
Mitsukuni Hama.
"This place again?" Ryomen comments with recognition.
Your eyes scan the perimeter of the yard, seeing the overhanging limbs of a peach tree that was growing over the back. Across the street from the tree is the charred remains of Lee's house.