3rd POV

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Many would find it odd that a teacher would volunteer to take one of their students in. It was an uncommon occurrence, to say the least. Nonetheless, Yuji didn't care. Sure, he's only known Tobe-sensei for what, a month and a half, and anyone with enough common sense would immediately find this sudden situation suspicious but as mentioned earlier, Itadori Yuji, did not care.

Moving on, it usually doesn't take that much to surprise the teenager because, well, he tends to be easily impressed by anything shiny.

Anyway, Yuji, like many of his classmates, knew that their new art teacher was rather receptive to pop culture, even if she was merciless toward some...extremes and wouldn't sugarcoat her words when things went too far, but that wasn't the issue here. He simply thought that she was one of those adults who were okay with animes but wouldn't dedicate their entire lives to them like those who were on the NEET and Hikikomori spectrum, a casual consumer in short.

So how freaking surprised was he when the first thing he saw upon entering her house was a giant framed picture featuring the three main characters from this show, uh...what was it called... Attack on Titan! Yeah! He only watched two or three episodes tho. Too complicated for him, plus he wasn't an avid anime watcher even though he saw most of the popular shows before. He somehow managed to dodge spoilers from that show despite not even trying. Although, his senpais wouldn't leave him alone about it and would press him to watch it so he might actually do so someday.

Anyway, he hadn't expected to be greeted by that and when he asked her about it, the woman showed signs of...melancholy and longing, something that greatly surprised Yuji who was expecting excitement and eagerness instead. More importantly,why were they in a picture frame as though they were precious family members was a mystery to the teen but he made sure to not comment on that. It wasn't like he hadn't done the same with Jennifer Lawrence but moving on—

After that, Tobe-sensei started showing him around. The place was unlike anything he's ever seen before considering the fact that he's never been in a foreigner's house so that effectively piqued his interest.

For a moment, he thought that Tobe-sensei had a kid when his eyes fell on a bunch of baby stuff chilling in the corner until she casually told him that she accidentally bought those. How one 'accidentally' buys baby stuff was beyond him but he brushed it off to look around instead.

Tobe-sensei had been nice enough to shed light on some of the foreign things there, like those wonky sculptures she called ciwara or something, that were placed there and there...Or the freaky mask hanging on the wall of the living room that nearly made him pass out in fear the moment his eyes landed on it.

She said it was a Kanaga, a mask mostly worn during festivities by the men of her village. She had gotten it from an uncle years ago when she went to visit her mother's tribe for the first time.

He had no idea why she told him about this, but, having never heard of Dogons in his life, it piqued his interest enough for him to ask a lot of questions.

And that was hereby the day when Yuji realized, with astonishment, that Africa wasn't just one giant country.

The more one knows!

The more time passed, the more Yuji was prone to think that Tobe-sensei was a former soldier before. Now how did he come to that conclusion you may ask?

"I'm going out for a while, breakfast's on the table if you're hungry! See ya!"

"eh? Where are you go—" Yuji had just woken up. It was a Sunday morning when Tobe-sensei knocked on his door to notify him that she was going out which wasn't in itself unusual ever since he got here. Yuji had been drowsily rubbing his eyes until he stopped to look at her clearly and gaped.

'muscles'

It seemed like Tobe-sensei was going to work out, though what left him speechless the most were all these scars...!

WHAT KIND OF LIFE DID SHE LIVE TO GET THOSE?!

"Oh, I'm just going to the gym if you're wondering." she stated casually, not paying attention to the teen's gaping face as she walked toward the front door with a puzzled Yuji scurrying behind her, no longer drowsy.

"T-Tobe-sensei—"

"I told you to call me Colith, I don't mind." she sighed and turned to face him, a hand on the door handle as she was ready to go.

"Colith-sensei!" the woman snorted, close enough. "How did you get those if I may ask?"

Her eyebrows rose. He watched her tilt her head to the side in question, "Get what?" and glanced down "...my hoodie?"

The boy quickly shook his head negatively, "the scars!" he said bluntly while staring at them in curiosity.

Now, under normal circumstances, a normal person wouldn't even dare ask about someone's scars as it might've been the result of a bad or traumatic experience, especially if there's a lot. Alas, Yuji wasn't a normal person.

Fortunately for him. "hm, I got those while training." Colith-san wasn't exactly normal either. She nonchalantly extended her arm for Yuji to see, not minding the attention as she was accustomed to the public's constant scrutiny.

The boy leaned in, quite mesmerized and impressed by the sheer amount of cuts present just on her right arm. She usually wore long sleeves, so he didn't expect her to have any other scars than on her face. His face immediately paled. What kind of training did she do to get those though?!

In the end, they found themselves in the living room. The teen had been horrified to learn that it was actually the result of continuously falling and crashing into trees—what the hell?! What was she?! A ninja!?— though she was vague about one of them, the one on her face precisely. Yuji was smart enough not to probe. Nevertheless, it prompted him to use that opportunity to ask what kind of job she had before.

"oh, I was in the army or something like that."

So he was right! Take that, Sasaki-senpai!

"Though, now that you mention it, they look more prominent than usual.." he heard her mutter as she glanced at her arms in wonder.

"eh?" what had she meant by that?

"Oh don't bother, kid!"She smiled, shaking her head before pausing. Yuji watched as a pensive frown adorned her features as though she was contemplating something. Although before the teen could inquire, a gasp of realization left her lips. She proceeded to say the following: "Why don't you join me?"

"...What?" Yuji had been utterly confused when she suddenly grabbed his shoulders and gave him a big dumb grin he never thought he'd ever see on the usually laid-back woman.

Turns out she suddenly wanted to train him. Well, that sure came out of nowhere but Yuji was interested enough to roll with it so he agreed, even though he was pretty confident in his strength. In the following days, he was quick to realize that she was actually super strong and could easily overpower him without trying! He had been so surprised when she swept under his legs and made him fall on his ass, something nobody managed to do until now. The last time someone had tried that they ended up with a broken foot so he wasn't expecting it to work.

Needless to say, his admiration for the woman grew tenfold! Also when he told his senpai about it, they went nuts!

Someone knocked on the door. Being the closest to it,Yuji got up to answer since Colith-sensei was in the kitchen and therefore couldn't hear it from where she was. It was Saturday around midday. Was she having visitors today? He wondered since it was the first time this happened while he was around.

Without checking the door hole, the teenager opened the door to greet whoever that was with a smile. Though, before he could open his mouth, his eyes fell on the person, or rather the startled boy in front of him.

"Eh? Who're you?"

The boy seemed highly uncomfortable under Yuji's curious gaze though he managed to regain his composure enough to say the following.

"i-I'm sorry," he stammered softly, dark green eyes fleeting. "I-It seems like I got mistaken. I didn't mean to bother you—sorry..!" his gaze quickly flickered to the apartment number though, causing a little frown of confusion to morph on his face. "But that's weird...I'm sure this is the right place..." he mumbled absently.

Yuji blinked. "Huh? What do you mean? Need help?" He asked, tilting his head like a puppy.

The boy snapped out of it. "O-Oh hum I said that out loud...? Gee..." he rubbed the back of his head with a nervous laugh. "well hum, it's just that I was actually supposed to meet someone. Can't believe I traveled from Tokyo just to end up in the wrong place..." he sighed, about to turn on his heels and leave, "So—"

"Wait you're from Tokyo?!" obviously that's the only thing Yuji registered.

"H-Huh, Yeah...?"

The boy jolted in surprise when he felt two powerful hands grab his shoulders suddenly. Damn...!

"Please tell me more!" Yuji's eyes gleamed.

"e-eh?! W-Wait—" he was unceremoniously dragged inside, his pleas ignored by an excited Yuji who rapidly arrived in the living room and began his onslaught of questions.

"I can't believe it, man, this is so cool! How's Tokyo? Are the restaurants nice? I heard they even got one with robots! Oh-Oh, I've never seen the Tokyo tower before! Is it true that it's bigger than the Eiffel tower?! I've always wanted to go to Shibuya!"

"I-I don't—"

"Ah!" Yuji gasped, once again startling the boy who could do nothing but blink in puzzlement. He quickly slapped a hand to his mouth in realization. "Sorry Sorry, I dragged you here without even telling you my name! The name's Itadori Yuji but you can call me Yuji! I promise to help you look for whatever you want but please," he clapped his hands together. "Tell me more about Tokyo!"

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The overwhelmed teenager just stared at Yuji in utter bewilderment, wondering how the hell he got into this strange situation. How was he supposed to react to this? A stranger just dragged him into their apartment out of nowhere and started bombarding him with questions about Tokyo like it was completely normal. Should he call the cops? run away? Was his life in danger? Crap, why didn't he just text before coming? Oh yeah, he wanted to surprise her with a visit but everything couldn't be that simple, right?!

Oh no, he was waiting for a response...! What should he do? What should he do?! Should he punch him in the face and run? Or scream? He might attract someone's attention with that, but—

"Oi are you in here?" He stiffened when he registered a waving hand in front of his face and promptly jolted backward.

Ah...the pink-haired guy was waiting for a name. Huh. Should he divulge his identity? That doesn't sound safe at all. Maybe giving a fake name might be the best option here, given the fact that he barely knew that guy. He'll definitely book it on the first occasion. However, the way this...Yuji guy's eyes shone innocently with genuine curiosity didn't hint at anything nefarious, so maybe he was being paranoid for nothing...?

Ugh, watching all these thrillers sure messed with his brain, but one's never too cautious so...

Fake name it is. There was no way he was about to tell a complete stranger his identity. The boy was about toopen his mouth to introduce himself when—

"Well huh, m-my name is—..."

"Jun-kun?"

Both teenagers jolted in surprise at the new voice and promptly glanced toward a bewildered ebony woman who was holding several plates in her hands.

The impromptu guest's mouth fell agape, "C-Colith-san...?"

"Eh ? Eh? Jun-kun ?" meanwhile a very confused Yuji was glancing back and forth between the two before pointing a finger at the boy with a puzzled look. "You know him, Colith-sensei?"

The woman let out a bark of laughter as she approached the duo, her hands now empty of the trays that magically appeared on the dining table across the room. "If I know him? That's my beloved nephew !" She grinned, her hand easily finding the startled teenager's scalp, and began unceremoniously tousling it. "I wasn't expecting you to show up out of nowhere! How's your mom? Did she finally quit smoking?"

"Wait wait wait, nephew?" Yuji was speechless.

The boy now known as 'Jun-kun' sighed as his shoulders dropped. In the end, there was no need for him to panic or change his name since, well, he had reached his destination. "Don't take her seriously, she proclaimed herself 'super aunt who rocks and can probably beat Goku' the first time we met. My name's Yoshino Junpei by the way, not 'Jun-kun.'" he sent a sour look to the woman who had yet to stop the abuse on his scalp.

"Nah, Jun-kun's cuter." she finally stopped after blowing a raspberry. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

At that, the male straightened up, "Well, mom wanted me to surprise you, also, haven't seen you in a while. You didn't show up last time."

"Oh," Colith facepalmed. "I knew I was forgetting something. Sorry, Jun, I've been busy. Lots of things happened recently." her hand came resting on Yuji's head to prove her words. At Junpei's look of confusion, she elaborated by recounting what happened with the pink-haired boy's assistance.

"I see. I hope he gets better soon. " Junpei utters in sympathy as he nods toward Yuji.

"yeah, he wasn't really happy about it but he had no other choice but to let it happen. He's been doing better by the way!" Yuji grins cheerfully. "Oh, now that we're on the topic, how did you two meet?"

"Actually, she's my mom's friend. She just offered to train me when she saw me." Junpei chuckles, eliciting an 'Oh' of understanding from Yuji.

"speaking of which, is everything alright? Do you need me to show up at your school again?"

"show up to his school?"

Junpei rubs the back of his head, an uncomfortable laugh slipping through his lips. "it's a bit hard to explain but...I used to get bullied months ago..." he brushed Yuji's shocked gasp off and went on. "Somehow she found out about it and offered to train me to defend myself. Even though we both knew that retaliating would come with consequences, I still accepted." he smiles softly as he told him more about it.

"How did you put an end to it?" Yuji tilts his head to the side.

Junpei blinked, "Oh, I didn't."

"eh ?"

"I did." Colith cuts in, causing Yuji to stare at her in question. An innocent smile slowly etched itself on her face as she choose not to further elaborate, which prompted Yuji to seek information from Junpei who shrugged.

"I don't know either. They just showed up one day and started avoiding me ever since. But now that I think about it, what the hell did you actually do?" he craned his neck to look at her in question, genuinely curious about the matter.

She merely eye-smiled and patted his head, "Now now, don't worry I just had a little chat with them and they politely accepted to leave you alone, nothing crazy."

Junpei's visible eye narrowed in suspicion, unconvinced, "Really? They looked really terrified to be in the same room as me."

"Really. Now come on, let's eat before it gets cold! Ush!" She clapped her hands while wandering toward the table without giving any further explanation which causes the boys to exchange perplexed looks.

'She definitely did something' they both thought simultaneously before deciding to get up to follow her.

They both felt hungry and the delicious smell coming from whatever the hell she cooked was enough to make them drool in anticipation. While Yuji was rapidly getting used to her cooking, it had been a long time since Junpei had a taste of it so it wasn't surprising to see them both rush to the table.

"So you've been training him too, right?" Junpei questioned after finishing his second serving. Gosh her cooking rocks!

This made Yuji perk up for a second, causing him to look at them in interest, his cheeks full like a chipmunk.

"Hm? Yup but only physical training tho. The kid's a brawler."

"Huh, does that mean that he can't see them?" He briefly glanced at Yuji before his gaze returned to Colith who shook her head as she brought a fork to her mouth.

"See what?" Yuji was confused. What were they talking about?

"Nothing you need to worry about, dear." she waved a hand, and before Yuji could inquire more about the topic, "By the way, how's Tokyo? Do you know that this boy here really wishes to go there?" she nodded toward Yuji.

The mere mention of 'Tokyo' was enough to divert the pink-haired teen's attention toward Junpei, his eyes gleaming with sudden interest.

"Huh, yeah, I noticed."Junpei sweat dropped.

He understood why she suddenly changed the topic because it seemed like Yuji wasn't like him. His assumptions were proven to be correct when the teen didn't acknowledge the floating jellyfish currently hovering above them. Also, the lack of cursed energy was a dead giveaway.

'so he's not like me and Colith-san...'

That was unfortunate. It would've been great to have someone his age with the same powers as him. Sure, he had Colith-san, but, well, she was a busy adult who wasn't always available and didn't show much interest in them even though she was the one who helped him awaken his newfound power. Which was...strange considering the fact that he couldn't feel any cursed energy from her too, yet she was able to see curses like him. Huh.

Weird.

Nevertheless, he couldn't understand why she forbade him from summoning [Moon dregs] in public, yet, she let it slide here, otherwise he sure as hell he would've already gotten earful for his...recklessness by now. Maybe it was because they were indoors. Yep. It wasn't like people could see it anyway, even his mom had been unable to see it that time he forgot to cancel the summoning and panicked only to see his mother's unfazed gaze. Regardless, he still listened and did and is still doing his best not to bring unwanted attention to himself like Colith-San said.

Maybe it's because there's an evil organization that hunts people like him!—

He was brought out of his thoughts by 'Waku waku' sounds and proceeded to stare at a bouncing Yuji. Junpei couldn't help but compare the teen to an excited puppy.

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While the boys were talking, Colith took the time to clear the table, declining any help from them as she expertly carried the plates to the kitchen.

The rest of the day went smoothly.

Junpei and Yuji not so surprisingly got along and quickly formed a friendship over their common interests for Daigo and horror movies, even though Yuji barely watched some of them, though it didn't prevent him from eagerly nodding along.

Meanwhile, Colith was on the phone with Junpei's mother, Yoshino Nagi. The woman had been happy to learn that her boy reached his destination without any trouble, though she wondered how he'll return since it was beginning to get late until Colith offered to let him spend the night there. At first, Nagi didn't want to bother her but her concerns were quickly brushed off when Colith told the woman about Yuji and proceeded to send a picture of the boys.

Upon seeing her son's carefree grin on his face, Nagi easily agreed, glad that he had made a new friend and seemed open enough to laugh without worry.

Colith informed the boys of the situation which they readily accepted before returning to their animated chat.

After sunset, a debate about which horror movie to watch began. Of course, Yuji suggested Mother! Just because Jennifer Lawrence was in it. Regardless, it was overshadowed by the other plethora of choices such as Alien, Mister Babadook, Chucky, etc... In the end, they settled on The Descent, one of Colith's propositions. None of the boys had yet to see it and didn't know about that movie until now. They weren't expecting it to be that scary, having had their fair share of horror shows in the past until Colith started the movie with a knowing smile.

Seriously, what was so special about this mo—

They barely managed to sleep that night.

The next day, and with the promise to never leave the choice of a horror movie to Colith-san, they found themselves at the train station about to send Junpei off.

He had a heap of packed food the woman had been happy to share per the teenager's request since, who was he kidding?

Colith-san's food.

There's no way he wasn't bringing her godsent creations with him, though he refrained from mentioning that it mostly was his mom's idea but you didn't hear that from him. He's pretty sure Colith-san already knew it anyway. Naturally, the two boys immediately clicked and quickly exchanged contacts to stay in touch, although Junpei promised to bring Yuji souvenirs on his next visit, which was enough to make him shout out in excitement, successfully getting everyone's attention in the station.

After bidding Junpei goodbye, they returned to their daily routine consisting of training and visiting Yuji's grandpa—

Speaking of him, the kid was so ecstatic about the new friendship that he physically couldn't stop asking Colith questions about Junpei. Even during their training and after he got thrown headfirst into a wall because he wasn't focused. His grandpa scolded him through the entire visit for not paying attention while Colith stood awkwardly in the corner, strangely intimidated by the fuming elderly.

Although the next day, he woke up without a scratch.

Sure that was hella weird but hey, he was okay so that was good right?

Yeah, it was nice.

Meanwhile, the Jujutsu world had yet to find any clue about the mysterious gaijin woman for she hadn't made any striking appearance and seemed to have vanished from the face of earth.

The elders weren't thrilled about it.