"Reina!" Hinata squealed, making Reina jump from her seat as she charted her assessments.
Reina rubbed her temples, "you scared me..."
"You have an admirer! Look at this bouquet!" Hinata shoved flowers in her face.
The were sweet peas- Gratitude. Hinata and Reina couldn't see much in terms of expression since they were wearing masks, but Hinata could tell Reina's stern face softened at the sight.
Reina pulled a note from the bouquet. Of course, it was from Gojo. His number was scribbled across the note, asking to call him when she had the chance.
She would consider it. She was just getting used to the Gojo-less existence since he left to observe his students again.
After her shift, Reina sent her mother off on the train back to the village. They waved goodbye until their hands were specks in the air. Reina kept the note in her pocket, contemplating what he'd want from her next.
Curiosity got the best of her, as the bells of the station chimed, she put his number in as a contact.
And then she pressed "call".
"You got my flowers!" He chimed right away.
"I did. You're welcome."
He chuckled, "do you have time to come to the academy?"
"Jujutsu High?"
"Yes."
"Tonight?"
"The sooner the better."
...
Reina found herself in what seemed to be a clinic, an empty one- all but for one bed. A familiar looking kid lay there, a round scar covered his midline. As if someone took a fist and tried to take his heart.
"This is Itadori, he's in a bit of bind. You see, he ate a cursed object."
"Ate?"
"One of Sukuna's fingers."
"Oh fuck. And he's alive?"
"Yeah, he's only like this after a fight with a special grade curse."
"Why would you let a kid-"
"Experiential learning."
"...okay."
"I was wondering if you would be able to purify him."
Reina glared at the kid pensively. Unsure of whether she could give an honest answer, and what that would mean for her future well-being.
"I would, but the finger he ate would reappear elsewhere, kind of like cutting an end root. Wouldn't deal with the rest of the problem. He'd need to eat all the fingers and have Sukuna as a whole if you want efficiency. It'd be easier on me too. I'll probably be comatose for a couple of weeks after purifying even one finger... So uh..."
"Hmm. To give the kid a second chance at life would be great. He's sentenced to execution after he consumes all the fingers."
"Thereby killing Sukuna too. But if you kill Sukuna with the boy at the same time, a more powerful curse could breed."
"What do you mean?" Gojo pondered.
"He's special in his own right outside of being a vessel. Should Sukuna taint him, his spirit can become a curse stronger than anything we've ever seen before."
"I like you more and more Reina, I don't have to explain things to you." He beamed.
She didn't relent from her analytical spell, "But even then, Gojo, you still have the power to eliminate anything that could come of this kid. But it would just come up again in a different form. Eventually. An endless cycle. Isn't that your role to play?"
"Honestly, I'd like to stop worrying about curses like these ones altogether. Humanity would be better off."
"But you'd lose your status, no?"
"I'd rather be sipping cocktails in Okinawa. Or sleeping deeply in a wonderful sofa bed surrounded by your blessed energy. My neck feels so much better now!" He chimed.
His flirtation distracted her from her analysis until Reina's head began pounding. A stronger stimulus came to play. She guarded her right side of her face and grimaced. Gojo frowned, taking a step back to observe before acting.
"Priestess!" A growling mouth emerged from the boy's left cheek, "what a surprise! I've not seen one of you in millennium!"
"Nice to see you too... Sukuna..." she grumbled.
"Just look at you, I've already planned it out. Your death will be a slow one, maybe I'll have you fucked first, and your precious lineage will be tainted by-"
Gojo gently placed his hands on Reina's shoulders, "Ah- that's quite enough Sukuna."
"Sorcerer, I don't know what your plan is with the priestess, but I will see to crush her spirit myself, just as I did before. Blessed energy- what bullshit. At least she's pretty- what a lovely present you brought me."
Itadori groaned a little, forcing the mouth to absorb back into him.
Reina stood there with an expression of disgust. She was taken aback by Sukuna's threats. Usually she'd shrug off the threat, she'd heard many like that before at work. But this threat had her riled in a way she hadn't felt since childhood.
"...Sukuna, I'll make sure your beaten, heartless, cold, fucked-up spirit is gone forever from this world. You will feel at peace, you will rest. You will give back what you have taken. Asshole."
Gojo chuckled. It startled her from her trance, and she realised he was touching her. Though the air was different from his playful self. She felt him almost protectively clutch at her. She felt safe.
At that realisation, she decided to pull away. He caught the vibe
"I brought back some lovely sweets from my day trip, let's have some tea in my office!"
Still dazed, she couldn't think of much else to do, or an excuse for a polite refusal, "yeah, let's eat something."
...
The evening sun shone through the windows, giving an orange glow to the office. It was more an open space, there were no desks, just a couple modern looking chairs and a nice rug. A few movie posters hung on the walls, and there was a bookshelf, with what seemed to be comic books.
Reina sat down in one of those chairs, the leather made an offensive squeak. Compared to her cozy apartment, with Knick-knacks and cheap sofa bed- this screamed rich person.
Reina watched Gojo from behind, pouring tea in a cup. His neck covered by the height of his collar, Reina felt disappointed. She liked seeing the nape of a man's neck. She caught herself, shaking the thought out of her head. This was strictly business.
Him living with her and getting along with her for two weeks definitely muddied the waters. Like reverse Stockholm.
So her feelings, any that sputtered about- would not ignite anything. Regardless of how he looked, how they got along, or the red string. Because the situation was just too weird. And he completely crossed the line by invading her space in the earlier weeks.
Why did everything have to be so confusing?
"You know, you decorate your office like I imagine some pervy movie producer would." She remarked.
"The chairs used to be white and it was a shag rug."
"So you're slowly transitioning?"
"There's room for improvement even in bastards like me."
She snorted.
He handed her the tea. It was light and aromatic.
He removed his blindfold, the sunshine through the blinds illuminated his beautiful face. His hair fell softly, tousled on his forehead. It's silvery glimmer like gold in the warmth of the wood and the sunlight.
Maybe if they were birds, being a couple would make sense.
Gojo stood out, and Reina blended in.
Reina was pretty, but not remarkable, stand-out-in -the-street pretty. You'd have to look at her a couple times to make the determination. Cuter, looked younger than she actually was.
Appearances wise, it would look like a hot dad and his daughter he had really young walked together. Not that they looked alike.
Of course, this was Reina's opinion, and her distortions were hyperbolized by the fact that if she were to follow the red string, life would not be easy. And any deterrent would help.
"You seem lost in thought."
"I am."
"Can you tell me?"
Catching herself lost in the concept of physical compatibility between them, she snapped out of it, "I don't know if I want to."
"Okay, that's fair. Can I ask how your mom is doing?"
"She should be back home anytime soon."
"Ah. I admit I haven't much experience in mental illness, and if I knew-"
"It's fine, you learned something anyways."
"So you're sure you'll be okay to purify Sukuna?"
"Not at all, but I want to try. I feel some sort of vendetta I can't quite put a finger on. A deep seeded, ancient duty to put an end to this."
"Maybe you're God's puppet."
"If anything- I've been your puppet." She held her pinky out emphasising the string.
"I've let you be a little more independent than that!" He teased. She didn't like that joke.
"You let," Reina sighed, sipping her tea, "that kid's fortified, his body was tampered with at birth." She changed the subject.
Gojo blinked, "I knew he was special but, tampered with wasn't where I thought he'd lie..."
"It's as though something planned his consumption of Sukuna. It's not on our side either."
"How can you be so sure?"
"His mother."
"He's been an orphan as long as he can remember. What do you know about his mother?"
"Only through the eyes of his grandfather. But he saw spirits as well. She was a vessel, her soul left her body long before she birthed that kid."
"I'd known something was amiss. How it's getting past the six eyes..."
"It's something ancient. Beyond six eyes. Sukuna's only a weapon, a tool in their endgame."
"Priests have been around longer than sorcerers. Do you guys have some sort of super secret archeological department-slash-archives?"
"Grandmother might know."
"You have a grandma?"
"Sort of."
...
Grandmother was an ancestor of Reina's, immortal due to some contract she had or something she did to help a powerful being. The thing about grandmother though, was that she'd find you. Not the other way around.
Grandmother liked to travel the globe, she could be anywhere at any moment. Her blessings in such intricate control allowed her to do just about anything.
Maybe she was the Priest's version of the six-eyes. Who really knew?
Reina only became aware of her presence and existence the day she had her largest moment of coming of age.
The day Reina realised she could make decisions on her own and it wouldn't necessarily bring her trouble.
She skipped school the first time at age 13 choosing to instead find a comfortable place to nap since she was having nightmares. She used her cursed talents to fool everyone into believing she was still there. The plan worked beautifully.
Gloomily dressed and slouching from exhaustion, Reina stood out like a sore thumb in the pale yellow fields she traversed to search for a tree with adequate shade.
She found a sturdy oak, with large branches thick enough to hold her weight. Why not fulfil the dreams of many and become a sloth for a couple of hours?
Reina steadily climbed the tree and reached the branch with ease. She placed her backpack like a pillow, her legs hung on either side of the branch. She quickly drifted away, expecting a lucid nightmare.
Instead, she was in a boudoir- ebbs of smoke swirled around the gilded ceiling. The room was filled with all sorts of European style intricate decor. The walls a decadent fuchsia.
In a velvet tufted chair sat a woman. She stared at the teenager with invitation.
"Hi child."
"Umm. Hi... You can see me?"
"Of course."
"Usually when I'm in a curse's origin, they can't see me."
"You're in my room. This isn't a flashback."
"Oh, um. Who are you? How am I here?"
She leapt from her chair, embracing her, "my grandchild, silly!"
"Grandmother died years ago..."
"Not that kind of grandmother, I'm an ancient Priestess. Older than you can imagine. You three carry my blood. Your grandmother did too."
"Like a super great grandmother then. But you don't look like one."
"Immortality, my dear."
"That's cool."
"Reina, I wanted to talk to you about your powers."
"Which ones? The trauma absorption? Or the cursed energy?"
"Your blessed energy. It's a gift."
"It's nightmare inducing."
"It's how I became immortal. And you can too. The first dual wielding user. Immortal. To guide us all." The mysterious woman went on, like a prophet. Reina found it all a bit corny.
"That's a lot to put on a kid." She said with some sarcasm. "What about Mieko?"
"She wasn't gifted the amount of blessed energy like yours."
"Well, she did purify herself of her cursed energy. I wish I could too. And mom?"
"She never grew to her potential."
"I guess. So am I immortal now or do I have to do something?"
"You have to keep purifying and the Gods will deem you with eternal life."
Reina stumbled back, almost tripping over a decorative statue near the foot of the boudoir's bed, "No. My mind can only handle so much. Grandmother, I'd rather die than replay the world's pain in my head over and over."
Grandmother frowned in pity, "There's a few tricks to forget. Keep an open mind, I'll come visit you when you're of age."
Reina gasped awake, it was way past sundown already. She overslept. She jumped down from the branch, frazzled, nearly forgetting the dream she just had.
No matter, she finally rested.
Kira and a young Mieko were sitting at the table, nervous. Reina walked in, unabashed.
"I took a nap and overslept. Sorry."
Kira and Mieko had plans to overreact and dole out verbal lashings, but Reina's wave of calm bewildered them to paralysis.
Reina quietly sauntered over to her room, and went back to bed, having one of the best sleeps in her adolescence.
...
"So your grandmother?"
"She appears when she wants to. So never mind what I said. It's pointless."
"Don't get a man's hopes up like that!" He said playfully. "Things will likely fall into place. Surely someone like that will play their part without our intervention."
She was silent for a bit, lost in thought before taking her last sip, "I'm gonna go now, thanks for the tea."
"Miss Aoshima," Gojo sighed. Reina was halfway across the room, and stopped to listen. "I'm afraid we'll have to be a little more serious about the string."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I looked into this over the last few days. This thing isn't only playing with our fates, but our physical lives. I'm afraid your life isn't just yours, but mine as well."
"Sounds... Romantic?"
"I mean if you die, I die as well."
"And I assume it's not of longing or heartbreak?" Her gut dropped.
"No."
"I'm able to care for myself, and we're the only ones aware of the string. And mom and Mieko- but they're not involved with the cursed world like you and I."
"Are you safe from yourself?"
She became agitated, it felt somewhat insulting to be asked that question, as though he looked down upon her. "As of right now I have no urge to jump thank you for asking. And now that I know about this, I'll have more regard for my life I guess."
"I don't like these circumstances any more than you do. I would prefer to have you in hiding but that'll put you closer to the curse users and someone will find out."
"Yeah, find out about Gojo Satoru's greatest crux. How convenient." Her jaw trembled, her back turned away from him, she felt a wave of anxiety awash.
"I know you could handle cursed energy, but a bullet?"
"This is a lot to process and I'd rather be home." She snapped back.
"Tomorrow I leave the country. I suggest after I come back we figure out a way to keep you-"
"The best way to ensure my safety is that we don't meet again, and that we pretend this never happened in the first place."
She stormed out. Gojo didn't follow. Ultimately, she was right.
Reina didn't remember how she got home. She somehow got to the middle of her apartment unscathed. From the outside, she appeared to be in no distress.
Until tears welled in her eyes, eventually spilling over. Every sensation, every stimulus tingled painfully. She felt hot and cold all at once. She sobbed quietly, then the hyperventilating began. She saw stars.
Reina peeled off her top layer, leaving her in a sport bra and boy shorts. The cool air on her skin helped. She covered her mouth with her hands to limit her air. She braced herself against her kitchen counter. Eventually, she started breathing normally.
Cause of the panic: forced co-dependency with some man who's been nothing but a pain.
And to break free, she'd have no other choice but to become immortal.
...