Rina's eyes twitched and her lips curled up slightly as the rays of the sun peeking through the windows danced across her eyelids. She took a deep breath in, wondering how many more minutes her alarm had before she had to get up for school then work. Stretching an arm towards her nightstand to check her phone as usual, her hand found nothing but air. Dazed for but half a moment, Rina's mind suddenly caught up with the current situation. Images of the monster and the snow haired man from last night flashed before her minds eye. Shooting up in the bed and bringing her knees quickly towards herself she frantically looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Despite her minds expectations the surroundings were quaint and ordinary. Nothing like the torture chamber she had been expecting after being carried off by a man near 2AM.
Moving to the edge of the bed she began to put one foot over the bed but quickly retracted it. A blush crept across her face at the embarrassing urge she suddenly had to look under the bed to check for monsters. For years she had known that monsters didn't exist. But, in the light of last night nothing seemed impossible. The deep urge to check under the bed nagged at her and her foot felt like lead, unwilling to be placed onto the floor until she checked for that hell spawn from last night.
Slapping a hand over her face and breathing out a deep sigh she tried to console herself by telling herself she wasn't crazy.
But how crazy is it to believe that there was a monster under there!?
You're not crazy! You remember that demon that chased you….it happened didn't it…?
Rina sucked in a deep breath and got up onto her hands and knees on the bed. She cautiously leaned her upper body over the edge of the bed, straining to get a line of sight underneath it without touching any of her limbs to the wooden floor. She gripped the sheets and mattress as she leaned precariously further over the beds edge to check each corner of the bed frame.
The door flew open suddenly. Rina threw herself back onto the center of the bed quicker than she she ever believed she could move. The tall man from the previous night had his head cocked to one side with the door knob still in his right hand.
"What were you doing?" he sounded genuinely befuddled.
The blush from earlier became much more deeply profound, "n-nothing!"
The man snapped his fingers and made an "ah ha" type of sound, now pointing at her with his hand in the shape of a gun. "I know! You got a concussion from last night," he exclaimed confidently.
"I don't think so…?" Rina replied, although not so confidently. She brought a hand to her head and rubbed it, searching for tender spots. "I don't remember hitting my head-"
The blindfolded man was suddenly in front of her so quickly it made her yelp. He leaned over to bring his face to her eye level and grasped both sides of her face in his large hands. He remained unmoving with his face inches from hers. Rina's face warmed again and her eyes shifted side to side not knowing what to do.
"What...what are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you have a concussion, obviously." The mans hands steadied her face in his palms.
"You can't even see me," she retorted as she attempted to retract her head from his grip.
"Wanna test that? Look in any direction and I'll tell you where you're looking," he said with a small smile at the edges of his mouth as his grip became slightly firmer.
Rina's face crinkled quizzically.
"You just frowned."
Her eyes widened and her eyebrows lifted.
"Now, you look very surprised," he mentioned casually.
So, now a dude can see through a thick blindfold. It's not like it was even the strangest thing that had happened over the last 24 hours. "Okay, so I guess you can see," Rina murmured still unsure of what reality even was anymore.
A few more moments passed with the man's face just a few inches from hers and his palms gently but firmly grasping her face as he continued to stare at her. After a few more long seconds Rina lifted a singular eyebrow at the man quizzically, "do you know what you're doing?"
"In life?" the man asked with a joke in his tone.
Rina squinted her eyes at him, "do you know how to tell if someone has a concussion or not?"
A smile broke out on his face, "not a clue".
Rina closed her eyes to give herself a moment of peace. Upon reopening them she glared at the man with all the pent up frustration she had been feeling since last night.
"Then, I'm going to have to ask you to please, let go." Rina spoke slowly as if talking to a toddler but her tone was dipped with poison.
The man's smile broadened and he dropped his hands from her face before bringing them up into an exaggerated shrug.
"I suppose that's fair," he replied. His voice was thick with bridled laughter and Rina got the distinct feeling she was being mocked.
She stood up and smoothed the slept-in wrinkles out of her clothes. Turning from side to side scanning the room, "um, do you know where my bag and phone are?"
The man was sauntering towards the open door, "in the car," he threw back over his shoulder. Standing in the threshold of the door he tipped his head back indicating to follow. "Come on, it's waiting for you outside to take you home".
Rina began walking forward obediently out of habit but suddenly stopped when she processed his words.
"Wait, wait, wait," Rina shook her head and waved her hands in front of her body indicating displeasure with every gesture. The man remained in the threshold with his face towards her. He leaned up against the door frame with his arms now crossed over his chest.
"I was attacked by a monster, my body felt like….like…." Rina searched for the word but couldn't come up with any. She shook her head giving up trying to describe the feeling as she was at a complete loss for how to exactly explain it and continued while ticking the points off on her fingers. "I was almost killed, the shadows on the ground weren't dark anymore, you killed said creature," Rina looked up nodding at the man to see if he would confirm it. When he nodded back she continued. "You picked me up and carried me to," she looked around waving her arms, "here."
She continued, "you can somehow see through a thick clothe wrapped around your freaking head. And now, you're telling me, you're just going to send me home?" Rina questioned, her voice hitching with disbelief.
"Correct!" The man exclaimed.
Rina felt herself getting an instant headache, "you're not going to explain, any of this to me!?"
"Correct," the man purred back at her. His calm tone made hers sound even more hysterical.
Rina crossed her arms resisting the urge to strangle him, "I demand you tell me what the hell is going on."
"I refuse," he retorted with a side smile.
Rina opened her mouth to protest when once again he was in front of her before she could react. And, just as quickly she was suddenly over his shoulder and out the door. He was walking briskly down the long hallway and the sight caught several on lookers. Rina could just die of embarrassment. She gripped the back of his black jacket and tugged on it hard and hissed under her breath, "hey, hey! Put me down! I'll walk out. I'll walk!"
"You promise?" The man inquired. It sounded more playful than inquisitory.
"I promise," Rina hissed. "Just put me down!"
"I didn't hear a 'please'," he laughed.
"For the love of- PLEASE!"
Once she was back on her feet she gave him a death glare that she wish would have been effective.
"Let's try this again," he leaned forward whispering the next part in her ear, "follow me."
Turning on his heel he continued down the hallway. Rina kept pace with him to avoid any further embarrassment but the onslaught of questions tumbling through her mind that she may never get the answer to was killing her.
They exited the building outside into a scene that looked almost like Feudal Japan with twilight skies overhead. Rina looked obviously confused by the twilight sky. The white haired man noted her confusion, "it's the next night. You only missed a day".
A nervous looking man with glasses and dark hair stood by a car with the door open for her.
"Ijichi, make sure to get this girl home safe and sound."
"Of course, Gojo," the man quipped pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"And, make sure she keeps this blindfold on for the first part of the ride out of JJ High," Gojo ordered pushing her towards the car, ignoring Rina's protests. He turned her to face him pulling a strip of cloth from his pocket.
"Wait!" Rina pleaded, "I don't understand what's going on. Please tell me what's going on."
Gojo held the strip of cloth in between his index finger and thumbs of both hands. His blindfold bunched in the center and Rina could tell he was frowning slightly.
"Here's what you need to know...you can't handle the life that comes with what you experienced last night. If you were, I'd tell you everything. But, you're not," Gojo pushed the words out hastily as if it were burdensome to have to explain. "You will be protected by people that can handle the lifestyle in your area. That type of curse being in such an area was a fluke. However, we will keep people around there that can sense the energy and will destroy them the way I did. You'll probably never see anything like that again, the most you'll see is some small grade creatures that won't harm you. They'll be a small and temporary part of your daily life until that 'feeling' in your body, goes away."
Rina opened her mouth to ask for clarification but Gojo covered her mouth with his hand and said gruffly, "forget about this and go back to your life. Understand?"
Rina's look of confusion only intensified.
"Nod so that I know you understand."
Rina slowly nodded.
"Perfect," Gojo quipped, quickly tying the blindfold over her eyes and shoving her in the car. Rina heard the door close behind her and she felt her heart fall.
As the car pulled away Gojo could feel someone walk up behind him. A broad blonde man with glasses stood to his left side watching the car leave Jujutsu High with the white haired sorcerer.
"Ah, hey, Nanamin!"
"Don't call me that," the gravely voice from the blonde haired man held an open threat, daring Gojo to call him that again. Gojo smiled and continued to watch the car go down the mountainside.
"What are you planning with that girl?"
Gojo snickered, "all sorts of things. She has massive potential."
Nanami simply raised an eyebrow indicating for him to continue.
"Well, after researching her, I found out she's a nursing student on her last semester. She's someone that deals in black and white thinking. The Jujutsu world thrives on the gray. In order for her to become a sorcerer, she's got to really want it. She has to be ready to abandon the world she once had such a firm and analytical grasp on for one that feels like sand in your fingertips."
Gojo let a slow mischievous smile spread onto his lips.
"So, I'm going to make her beg me to enter this world."