CW: Blood & gore
"I think I need to leave now," Wendy mumbles as she hurries out of the room. She can feel the tears drip down her face, and she's sure that Nanami and Gojo won't follow her right away because of it.
She strides down the hallway and back to the staircase where Larsen was left, just barely fighting the urge to run. The doctor is still out cold, and Wendy doesn't stop to check on him. She doesn't stop at all until she gets to the front lobby of the clinic. Her heart is pounding, but she isn't scared anymore. The clinic is in shambles, but Gojo was thorough when he destroyed all the curses infesting the place.
There are chairs toppled over and a corpse spread out in pieces on the floor. A landline phone dangles off the desk with a human hand still attached to it. Papers have been knocked to the ground, scattered and speckled with crimson red. Her gut churns at the thick stench of blood in the air and the agonizing silence of the clinic.
Alle tot, indeed.
Wendy wipes her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket, trying to catch her breath, and winces when it aggravates her bruised forearm.
The fluorescent tube lighting above her flickers pitifully, hanging by its wires. It makes it difficult to see the desk clearly, so Wendy squints for a while, standing perfectly still and letting her eyes roam.
Her legs hurt. Her right arm hurts, and Dr. Larsen's dried blood is flaking off of her left hand. It's bitterly cold and Wendy is only wearing a jacket, a summer dress, and compression shorts.
I just want this to end already, Wendy thinks, stubbornly searching the blood-stained floors.
She spots what she's looking for eventually, half-hidden by stray papers and flipped upside down next to the secretary's dismembered leg. She sinks down to the cracked linoleum floor and stretches a hand out to reach it, holding her breath so she doesn't smell the metallic scent of blood.
Her fingers close around plastic. Wendy pulls back and brushes the debris away, silent except for her sniffling nose and the squeaking from the light fixtures.
It's the clinic's sign-in sheet—Wendy remembers filling it out the last time she visited Andrea here. She remembers how healthy the German woman looked, how warm and alive and so, so close to waking up on her own. She remembers Dr. Larsen's optimistic prognosis.
She remembers the vivid color of Andrea's blood upstairs.
Don't block it out, Yoshi would tell her. Wendy might cry, might cower in fear and wish she were anywhere else, but she always keeps her eyes open.
She doesn't remember bringing flowers for Andrea. Yet there was a bouquet on her nightstand.
Maybe it was a long shot, maybe it was just a lucky guess, but it's there: the very last entry on the sign-in list. The name and phone number of Andrea's last visitor. She reads it over, memorizing every pen stroke, mouthing the name out loud. Her teeth clench so hard that it makes her jaw ache.
Wendy folds up the page and tucks it in her pocket.
—/—/—/—
Yoshi doesn't hate the rain. It's a real bummer when it delays games, and even worse, when it floods the subway, but most of the time, summer rain is kind of nice. It cools down the streets. It leaves a lingering fresh scent in the grass. Some might even call it cleansing.
This freezing shit is not pleasant.
Yoshi steps back from the remains of the last iceberg, clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. She could activate some of her tattoos meant for regulating her body, but the bitter cold air helps her stay alert too. She needs it to focus on these damn sutras.
The icebergs are down, but the talisman is still active beneath her feet, running through the bedrock of the village like veins of blood through a body. Or ice, trapped in the crevices of the ground. Unfortunately, the quickest way to counter the sutras would also eliminate any residual energy from that monk.
If only she could melt the ice instead of destroying it…
"Salt from Bolivia would've been helpful," Yoshi jokes, even though Gojo is the only one who'd get it. Then she sits down in the mud, digs her fingers into the half-frozen earth, and funnels her nullifying energy right into the ground.
The earth sings, vibrant and pungent and alive. It pours out of her, roaring in her ears, and Yoshi lets it flood the town the same way it escaped into New York all those years ago, violently erasing the sinister taste of negative energy in one, devastating wave.
—/—/—/—
"Do you understand now?" the monk asks irritably, looking upon the rainswept village as it burns up with the numbing, jarring power of the young woman. "Our contact says that she undid the transfiguration on Mahito's plaything, too."
Geto Suguru hums, a slow smile creeping onto his face. He taps at his cheek idly. "My goodness… I could've saved myself so much trouble if I'd known there was still a talisman-user like that around," he says mildly.
"She was smart to hide for so long," the monk comments, the impatience in their tone heightened by the other curse-user's nonchalance. "But now she isn't. There's no way she discovered that vessel accidentally. Something must have changed."
The dark-haired man chuckles and turns away. "No, I think not. She's the same scared little girl she's always been."
The pale-haired monk eyes him with sharp red eyes. "Always?"
His smile widens. "I've seen enough, Uraume. Time to go."
—/—/—/—
Wendy waits for Gojo and Nanami in the very front of the lobby, as far away from the grisly scene as she can be while still standing indoors. Before long the two of them arrive, their footsteps echoing in the empty hall. Nanami goes to her immediately, his wrapped-up weapon already tucked back into its harness. Gojo meanders, peeking over the edge of the secretary's desk and pulling a face of disgust at the sight.
"Are you going to be alright?" the blonde sorcerer asks gently, angling himself in front of her. She wonders if it's intentional on Nanami's part to block her view of the dead bodies.
He's taken off his green sunglasses again, looking at her keenly, and Wendy feels a sudden and overwhelming ache in her chest. "Yeah," she insists, but her voice cracks as she says it.
It's obvious that he isn't convinced. He frowns, scanning over her face like he'll find a solution in her smeared mascara. His arms extend ever so slightly, as though reaching for her. But then he lowers them, doubt eclipsing his concern.
Wendy sees it. And she isn't the sort of person to not take what is offered, no matter how selfish it may be, so she presses herself straight into Nanami's chest and cements her arms around him without a word. She doesn't care if she's too forward, she doesn't care that Nanami might not be comfortable. It feels good to hug him, and if he pushes her away right now she'll cry, probably.
Heavy arms wrap around her waist, firm and secure. Wendy sobs anyway, because he's so kind to her despite everything. He sets his chin against the crown of her head, and Wendy never wants to leave.
"Oh, you're such a hypocrite," Gojo complains loudly, speaking from somewhere over her shoulder. "We've known each other for thirteen years, but you won't hug me back?"
"Please shut up, Gojo," Nanami replies, his voice rumbling against Wendy's cheek. She laughs a little despite herself, muffling it in his shirt.
"If I cried too, then would you comfort me?" Gojo continues, unconcerned by the threat in Nanami's tone.
"No."
—/—/—/—
When Yoshi drops down in front of the clinic, Wendy and the two sorcerers are waiting for her under the awning. Nanami is wiping Wendy's hand with a handkerchief, which would be sort of cute if her hand wasn't covered in blood. At least it doesn't seem to be Wendy's blood…
"You look like shit!" Gojo greets her with a big smile.
Ignoring him, Yoshi's eyes settle on Wendy. The answer is written all over her friend's face before Yoshi can even ask. "So she's dead, then."
Wendy shudders. "There was a curse-user in the clinic, and a bunch of curses infesting the place," she reports sadly. "There's two survivors, including Dr. Larsen, but they're both unconscious now and I don't think they know anything." She looks like she's halfway to hypothermia, and her eyes are puffy and red from crying. Nanami slides closer, like he wants to hug her but isn't ballsy enough to take the initiative. "But we know that someone else killed Andrea. They were gone by the time we got here."
"Someone else got to her?" Yoshi frowns. That could mean someone else had noticed Yoshi's work too. There were only a handful people in the jujutsu world that even knew her name, though the list was growing now that she worked at the school.
Could I have gotten to Andrea first if Wendy hadn't told Gojo and Nanami to come here? Yoshi wonders to herself. She expects to feel angry about it, but maybe it's too late for that—she just feels drained now, wrung out like a wet rag. Wendy looks exhausted too. Maybe tomorrow, after they've both slept and ate and changed clothes, her temper will return, but Yoshi thinks it's unlikely. She and Wendy never argue for very long.
Yoshi sighs. "It's freezing out here," she says. "Why didn't you wait inside?"
Wendy's nose wrinkles in distaste. "It's bloody in there. Besides, it wouldn't make a difference. Gojo blew a hole in the roof."
"Hey," the sorcerer protests, looking past Nanami to pout at her. "Show some gratitude, I saved you from the dog guy!"
"Oh, right. He also killed the curse-user before we could ask him anything," Wendy continues airily. Behind her, Nanami nods very subtly in agreement.
Gojo gasps in shock. "Stop making me look bad in front of Yoshi!"
Yoshi sighs again, tugging her hair tie off because her ponytail is giving her a headache. "If Andrea's dead and the curse-users are gone, then let's get out of this stupid town," she advises sourly, wringing out her wet hair. "I'm not gonna stick around to explain cursed icebergs to a bunch of German villagers."
"Did you want to look at the body first?" Nanami asks.
Not answering, Yoshi yanks on the hem of her drenched sweatshirt and peels it off her back. She lets the sweatshirt drop to the concrete with a heavy slap, but she still feels sticky and uncomfortable. There it is, she thinks to herself as the frustration bubbles up in her chest. All this fucking effort, all this stupid rain, and all that's left is a corpse.
Jaw set, Yoshi replies, "No. A dead body is of no use to me."
Atlantic or Pacific? she wonders to herself morbidly. The rain continues to pour down on Osterby around them. Maybe I'll just stay here a little longer to sulk.
"How morbid!" Gojo chimes in.
"Yoshi," Wendy calls to her morosely, reaching for her arms. "You're all wet, come on." She unzips her jacket and pushes it at her.
"Stop it," Yoshi frowns, grabbing the jacket but not putting it on. "You can't give me your jacket when you're shivering."
"But you're shivering and wet!" Wendy frets, grabbing the jacket so she can try to manually shove it over Yoshi's shoulders. "And you're muddy too, oh, honey…" Wendy sniffles like she's about to cry again, which Yoshi hates.
Groaning, Yoshi puts on the jacket. Wendy beams and draws her into a brief, tight hug. "Go back to New York," she tells her. "I'm sure you need to sleep…" Yoshi's eyes trail over Wendy's bare arms. "…Tienes moretones," she says, askance. She'd already seen the cuts on Wendy's legs, but the bruise on her forearm was different. They wrapped around her forearm like a large male hand.
"Yeah, but—no fue él," Wendy replies hastily, eyes wide.
"Hey," Gojo pipes up, "Did you switch to Spanish? What's with that look, Yoshi?"
They both ignore him. Yoshi wills herself not to look at Nanami. "Parece una huella de mano," she continues in a low voice. "¿Me estás mintiendo?"
Wendy rolls her eyes. "I'm not," she whines. "I'm okay. Estoy bien. Dai-jou-bu. Want to hear it in German too?" she teases.
"Fine," Yoshi relents. Wendy can tell her about it later. "You don't need to stay here, go back to Dani's place. I'm sure the weather's better in New York."
"You won't come with me?" Wendy's face falls, but she doesn't look terribly surprised.
Yoshi shakes her head. "No, it's—" It's too easy to curl up on Danica's couch and hide there forever. Yoshi pulls her gaze away from Wendy, eyeing Gojo instead. "Sunday's already halfway over in Tokyo, right? I should get back."
There was a lot left for Yoshi to discuss, especially with Gojo. The whole thing about Megumi's sister, for one thing. Junpei's shikigami. Mahito's technique. That child-sized monk.
And Junpei's friend, that pink-haired boy…
"Okay," Wendy says steadily, stepping back. There's an odd look on her face. "You'll call me though, right? When you need me?"
"Yeah," Yoshi promises. "I'll call."
"Great!" Gojo exclaims, clapping his hands together. "We need you back anyway, the goodwill event starts soon!" He pauses, glancing back at the clinic. "You also need to write a report about this mess. Nanami can help you with that!"
"Gojo," Nanami says through gritted teeth. "You're also expected to write a—report—" he falters when Wendy pulls him into a hug too, and Gojo breaks out into loud giggles.
"I'll see you later, Nanami," Wendy tells him. Then she smiles brightly at Gojo. "Don't make Yoshi do all the work next time, okay?"
Gojo makes a strange noise, somewhere between a gasp and a shriek. "Oh, you're such a—" Wendy vanishes again, and Gojo howls. "She's doing that on purpose! Yoshi, you saw that, right?"
"I didn't see anything," Yoshi denies automatically. "And if I did, you'd deserve it."
"This is bullying," he bemoans. "I'm filing a complaint with Yaga. And say goodbye to your shoes!" Gojo declares it like a dire warning, and Yoshi honestly doesn't know how to answer. It's unclear if he's threatening to steal her current shoes or to never replace the sneakers she left in Osaka.
Nanami looks down, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "I would like to go home now…"
"Already? Wait! Let's get souvenirs first," Gojo insists.
"Stop talking nonsense."
Yoshi gets the feeling that letting Gojo talk freely might be bad for Nanami's health. "Both of you get over here," she orders the two men. "Unless you want to teleport on your own, Gojo—"
"Nope!" Gojo skips right up to her side, slapping his hand down to claim her right shoulder. "Take me home!"
Nanami follows after him, hovering next to her opposite shoulder patiently until she tells him to grab her arm.
"He's got a crush," Gojo whispers to her loudly. "Should've seen them earlier, Yoshi, he's smitten. As Nanami's only friend I need to ask—should I do a background check? Does Wendy have any skeletons in her closet?"
"As Wendy's best friend, my answer is that she has never done anything wrong, ever, in her entire life," Yoshi replies dutifully, pulling back the sleeve of her jacket to take off her bracelet. "You might want to close your eyes," she adds, shutting her own eyes and activating her bracelet.
The change is significant this time, the chill vanishing from the air and sunlight pressing down on her eyelids. She breathes in dry air and sighs. Nanami's hand has already slipped off by the time she's opened her eyes, but Gojo lingers, drumming his fingers on her shoulder. Yoshi squints up at him in the midday light. She's unsurprised to find him looking back at her, though all he does is frown at her.
"What?" she asks.
"You and Wendy are very close for a sorcerer and non-sorcerer," he shrugs. "I don't really get it."
He says it casually, but Yoshi doesn't think it's just a passing thought. And the idea that he might pester her about it—or worse, investigate on his own or hire another PI—does not sit well with her.
"Maybe you just don't understand women," she suggests, patting the hand he's left on her shoulder. Then she pushes it off.
Gojo grins. "That's definitely not my problem," he insists, chuckling.
"He's lying," Nanami interrupts, straightening out his suit as if it isn't disheveled and wet. Gojo gasps loudly, clutching at his chest like he's just been stabbed in the heart. "Thank you for choosing a train station, Yoshi-san, I can find my way back from here…"
"No problem," she nods. Truth be told, she ought to talk with Nanami regarding everything he knows about her talisman practices and what he saw at the clinic, but Yoshi's still dripping with rain water and Nanami has this far-away look on his face, like he's still thinking about Wendy, and Yoshi doesn't want to go anywhere near that. "See you later."
Nanami murmurs a farewell, ignoring Gojo's loud sendoff, and heads for the turnstiles.
When he's out of sight, Gojo spins on his heel to face her. "We're still kinda far from the school," he comments. "I can take you through the barrier again, if you want. Unless… you like your wet clothes. It feels sort of nice. Like a cold bath, standing up," he suggests.
He's kidding, obviously, but Yoshi is stumped by the grin on his face—who the hell has the energy to be so lively all the time?
"So?" Gojo prompts her, raising his arm. "Are we going? Will your seal get set off again if I carry you?"
"…I don't think so," she admits after a moment. "If I'm given warning, I can avoid that."
She shoots him a pointed look, remembering how he dragged her to that school to treat Junpei, but Gojo just smirks as he leans down to her eye-level. "Then this is your warning, hm?" he drawls, his voice low and silvery. "Careful, Yoshi. If you're not ready, I'll take your breath away."
Yoshi stares, processing piece by piece. The deep, smooth tone. His grin, bright and smug. The play on words, well-timed but oh so cheesy. "Ah," she utters, blinking a few times. Then she turns away and heads for the nearest exit. "Nevermind. I'll just walk back to campus."
"Ha! I saw you smile!" Gojo hollers after her. "Wait for me," he whines, even though it only takes two long strides for him to reach her side. "No, really, I'll carry you—I don't think I can just go from here though, it's pretty crowded. Would you mind following me into a dark, deserted alleyway so I can take you away?"
"Stop talking," Yoshi huffs, covering her face with one hand. Maybe she is smiling, oh god.
"Never," he cackles, reaching out a hand again. "Now come on, don't you play coy, it doesn't suit you!"
They're both getting odd looks from strangers now, walking around in wet clothes on a bright, cloudless day. "Fine," Yoshi caves because it seems like Gojo's just going to follow her around until she does. "Just don't be weird."
"You're the weird one," he retorts. Then he says, in a quieter tone, "Brace yourself, Yoshi."
She takes a deep breath, letting him put an arm over her back. It usually feels different from her talismans; it cuts at her like a sudden, searing wind. But this time, expecting the rush of energy, Yoshi breathes the air in central Tokyo, and exhales on the outskirts of the city, a few meters away from the torii gates.
"Oho, no side effects," Gojo notes gleefully. "We're getting better at this, huh?"
Yoshi breathes slowly, almost expecting her lungs to spasm again. But he's right, and she didn't get the wind knocked out of her this time. "I guess so," she murmurs.
A/N: thank you to /nadiecomoyo on tumblr for beta-reading this!
Spanish translations
Tienes moretones - You have bruises
No fue él - It wasn't him
Parece una huella de mano - It looks like a handprint
¿Me estás mintiendo? - Are you lying to me?