Chapter One.
New Beginnings.
"Just because everything is different, doesn't mean anything has changed." — Irene Peter.
June 30, 2018.
"Sooo, how was your first day?" Satoru excitedly asks while making his way over to Asami, who had just finished teaching her final class of the day, and was now headed towards the training field in order to supervise the martial arts club.
It was the club that Satoru personally fought tooth and nail for her to get assigned to, as the higher ups were originally wary of having her supervise the students. Reason being was that they didn't want her to potentially teach any techniques that they considered to be "too advanced", not exactly aiming for students who could one day pass the title of a special grade sorcerer. Especially because there was already an over looming fear of having their authority questioned.
In response to his question, Asami nonchalantly shrugs, having changed into a tracksuit, "It was…" she pauses, trying to find the right word to describe everything, "Interesting," she ultimately says.
"But there seems to be a lot you haven't told me," she adds, referring to Megumi.
Satoru playfully smiles, "Hey, that's your fault for leaving the world of jujutsu," he says, causing her to roll her eyes, "But don't worry, I'll catch you up on everything soon. Perhaps when we go on a date. Especially since there's this dessert cafe I've been wanting to go to…" he casually throws in.
And at his words, Asami suddenly stops walking, eyebrows now furrowed, "Satoru—" she sighs, ready to set a clear line between them, as she wanted to make sure that things stayed strictly professional.
But to her surprise, Satoru interrupts her before she can even begin, "I'm just teasing you Asami," he says, choosing not to say anything about the faint blush on her cheeks.
"But in all seriousness, I really do need to catch you up on everything. Remember, you were my friend before you were ever my ex," he adds, placing an arm around her shoulder.
Scoffing, Asami rolls her eyes, "Sure I was. Anyways, you can catch me up on everything when you help me move the rest of my stuff into that cramped place this school calls an apartment," she says, the image of her new place appearing in her mind.
Located in the outskirts of the school, where the nearest Tokyo district was (because no way in hell was Asami going to live on campus where the service completely sucked), Asami's new apartment was being completely paid for by the school. This included utilities such as electricity, water, and gas. Of course, that didn't mean that it was some kind of luxury apartment either. In other words, the higher ups were cheap scum.
And considering Asami's income would drastically lower soon, she had to save all the money she possibly could.
"It's not even that bad," Satoru teasingly says, knowing he was lying through his teeth.
Asami simply scowls in response, "Maybe for you, mister I get fed with a golden spoon."
At her statement, Satoru laughs, not exactly denying it.
At a young age, he had inherited his clan's fortune, meaning he was set for life when it came to finances. Not only that, but considering he was the one who did the majority of missions around here, it was only fair that he was compensated for it too.
But before he could even bother defending himself, the distraction of Ijichi walking towards them steers the topic of their conversation.
Spotting the timid man, Asami immediately pushes Satoru's arm off.
"A-Ah Asami-san," Ijichi bows, too polite to comment about what he'd just seen, "I'm happy to see that you've returned to being a sorcerer."
'Has anything changed around here?' she thinks to herself, the mental image of a wimpish first-year Ijichi appearing in her mind.
Meanwhile, Ijichi nervously avoids eye contact, feeling the intense stare of the intimidating woman, ''If Gojou-san wasn't already too much to handle, now I have to add Asami-san into the mix! I don't know how much more stress my weak heart can handle!' he thinks to himself, anxiously waiting for her to say something.
"Tch, I'm nothing more than a professional babysitter, almost like you," Asami monotonously states, causing Ijichi's mouth to go wide in shock.
Throwing his head back in laughter, Gojou's grin grows even wider.
That's because if there was one thing Asami was good at, it was being straightforward and unafraid to say what she was thinking out loud. This trait of hers was something that could be traced back to her adolescence, as her manner of speaking has always been …. blunt …. so to speak, even occasionally insulting like it was just now. As a result, people often made the mistake of assuming she was some kind of rude person, when in reality, she was quite the opposite.
"Well I-I should get going," Ijichi bows once again, "It's always nice seeing you Asami-san," he whispers, and with that he practically runs off.
"Glad to see he's still the same as ever," Asami huffs, she and Gojou now making their way outside, where it seemed that only the first-years were waiting for her.
Frowning, Asami scans the area, "Where the hell are the second years?"
Gojou shrugs, "Last minute mission I assume. That just means you have more time to bond with the first years then," he says, giving Asami a cheerful thumbs up.
"Oh great…" Asami sarcastically mutters, quietly sighing when she sees Yuuji waving at them from afar.
"Asami-sensei, Gojou-sensei!" the pink-haired boy yells from across the field. Now that he'd gotten to know Asami better, he was now over his initial starstruck phase. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't any less excited to see her, still staring at her with the same puppy dog eyes from earlier in the day.
Politely bowing in return, Asami glances at the time on her watch, 'One hour huh…' she frowns, not exactly coming with anything planned for the day.
With all eyes now on her, Asami tries to think of something on the spot, awkwardly clearing her throat when she does, "So …. because today's my first day supervising this thing, I want to see what you guys already know," she states, walking over to a nearby wooden bench that luckily gives her a perfect view of the field.
Following her lead, Gojou makes his way next to her, sitting a little too close for her liking. As a result, Asami scoots a couple of inches to the side in order to create a bigger space between them.
Smirking, Gojou decides to tease her by closing the gap. From there, a childish game of scooting begins.
'Well aren't they an interesting pair,' the three teens stare at their sensei's in wonder, more questions beginning to arise in their heads about the basis of their relationship.
Meanwhile, overestimating the length of the bench, Asami almost ends up accidentally falling off, her face immediately turning beet red, "Gah! Will you stop doing that?!" she yells, glaring at her ex.
Playing dumb, Gojou stares at Asami in confusion, "Doing what?" he pouts.
Clenching her fist, Asami narrows her eyes at him, deciding she wasn't going to entertain his childish behavior for any longer. Turning to her students, she points her index finger at Yuuji and Megumi, "You two will spar first," she instructs before pointing at Nobara, "And you'll spar with me."
Noticing the look of shock on Nobara's face, Asami quickly adds, "You're a kid Nobara, I'm not going to use you as some excuse to stroke my ego. I'll just be doing defense," she reassures the young girl, recalling the number of times she's seen movies have a "badass" character completely destroy those around them for no other reason than to show off. She hated it.
If a situation called for Asami to have to "show off" her skills then so be it, but sparring with a kid called no means for it.
Feeling reassured, Nobara nods, ready to take up the challenge.
"Look at you," Gojou playfully nudges at Asami as they watch Megumi and Yuuji spar with one another, "I'm not the teaching type, but clearly you are," he says.
To that, she rolls her eyes, fixing the hem of her blouse in the process, "God, it's hot," she complains, the summer heat beginning to get to her, "Cannot believe you're all wearing those thick uniforms, especially you," she says, eyeing her ex's jacket.
"Want me to take it off?" Gojou winks.
Choosing to keep her mouth shut, Asami crosses her arms before sassily turning her head away, aware that the blush on her cheeks wasn't a result of the glaring sun.
Softly chuckling to himself, Gojou playfully shakes his head, "That mouth of yours can lie, but the way you blush around me will always tell me otherwise," he pauses as if coming to a conclusion of his own, "You still loveeeeee me," he happily sings.
Scoffing, the redness in Asami's face deepens, "You're an idiot," is all she says.
"You're not denying it," he retorts.
Purposely avoiding eye contact, the red head crosses her arms like a child, "No I don't love you, there, you happy?" she barks back, fingers itching to hold a cigarette.
Gojou, noticing the fidgety movement of her fingers, then pulls something out of his pocket….
A strawberry bubblegum lollipop.
Silently offering it to her, Satoru gives her a tiny smile, "Take it," he says, reminding her of a memory from long ago….
2006.
Dangling her feet off a building ledge, a sixteen year old Asami stares off into the sunset as she exhales the smoke from her cigarette, seeming lost in her own thoughts. For that reason, she fails to hear the sound of a rooftop door closing.
"I thought you said you'd stop smoking," a well-known voice says from behind, "You do know those things are bad for you, right?" they ask.
Sighing, Asami quickly throws out her cigarette, realizing that she's been caught red handed, "I don't see you bothering Shoko about her habits."
"Smoking isn't a habit, it's an addiction," Satoru takes a seat next to her, "And it seems like your little "habit" has turned into just that."
"That's not true," the young girl mutters, stubborn to admit that what started off as a rebellious act, had spiralled down into the lines of dependency.
"It just runs in the family, I guess," Asami sarcastically whispers to herself, eyes glistening as she focuses on the view in front of her, wounds still fresh.
"Asami—"
"Satoru, I don't want to hear it ok—Hm?" Asami suddenly tilts her head in confusion, now staring at the piece of candy in front of her, "A …. Lollipop?" she asks with furrowed eyebrows.
"Not just any lollipop, a strawberry bubblegum lollipop," he grins, "so that you have something to chew on when you're done with it."
Blinking in surprise, Asami studies the lollipop as if it were some kind of foreign object.
"Go on, take it," he motions at her to grab it from his hand.
Hesitantly grabbing it, Asami slowly begins to unwrap the item.
"I've noticed that you like to smoke when you're stressed and feeling sad. Stress is something that can be avoided and squashed," Satoru says out of nowhere, "As for the sadness ….." he gives her a small smile, "...well that's what you have me for, right?"
Feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks, Asami sheepishly looks away, "Right…" she quietly whispers.
"Rather than buying yourself a pack of lousy cigarettes at the convenience store, next time, try buying a pack of lollipops instead."
Asami hums in response.
Noticing the look of skepticism on her face, Satoru adds, "Just try it out for a week or two, okay? And if that doesn't work then we'll try something else."
Remaining silent for a moment, Asami desperately wants to ignore the soft look in Satoru's eyes, "Fine," she mumbles, "Why are you doing this anyway?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Why are you desperately trying to get me to stop smoking? Not only that, but I heard about you convincing Ichirou-sensei to give me an extension on the paper that's due next week. And I also know that you were the one who wrote that check for 11 million yen. I mean, I just don't get it. It's not like we're together anymore, so why are you acting like—"
"I care?"
Asami remains silent.
Satoru frowns, almost as if offended by the question, "Because Asami, I care about you. I'll always care about you. You do understand that …. Right?"
Blinking in surprise, Asami expects to hear his tone falter, or perhaps see something that would tell her that he was lying. Especially because he wasn't one to be so vocal about stuff like this.
But as she studies him, all Asami could see in his eyes was nothing but pure honesty.
That's because Satoru meant every word he said.
Gulping, Asami finds herself getting red.
"Asami," he calls out to her, deciding that perhaps right now was the perfect opportunity to talk about something he'd been wanting to get off his chest for quite some time, "I know you've had a lot on your plate as of recent, especially with everything that happened with…"
"Mhmhmm," Asami hums, understanding who he was referring to.
"Right…" Satoru awkwardly mumbles, "But it's just that I was hoping we could talk about what happened before that. About what happened with us."
"Oh…right..." she lowers her gaze, knowing she'd been avoiding this confrontation, but not for the reasons one would think she was. Soon, she remembers the sadness she felt from that night.
"Look," Satoru sighs, knowing he had a lot of apologizing to do, "I know I said some things I shouldn't have, but before I get into all that, I need to get this out the way. From there you can scream at me all you want because God knows I deserve it. Asami, I lo—"
"There you are!" a voice interrupts, the rooftop door suddenly swinging wide open.
Turning around, the two teens are met with one of the school's many auxiliary managers,"Asami! Masamichi-san has been looking for you everywhere! Something about having another mission for you to go on," the woman explains.
Face now flushed in embarrassment, Asami awkwardly gets up from her seat, "I um—I should get going then," she says.
Satoru frowns, "But—"
"Thank you for the um—lollipop," she feigns a soft chuckle, "I'll see you around."
Watching her walk towards the auxiliary manager, Satoru can't help but smile when he sees her pop the strawberry lollipop into her mouth. Lollipops that would soon replace the cigarettes for quite some time. That was until….
Present Day.
Grabbing the lollipop in Satoru's hand, Asami stubbornly unwraps its plastic covering. Quickly turning away from him, she attempts to hide the small smile on her face before placing the sweet item into her mouth.
Smugly folding his arms behind his head, Gojou stretches his legs out while mumbling an inaudible, "Yeah, you still love me, now to just get you to admit it."
"What'd you say?" Asami asks in genuine confusion.
He shakes his head, "Nothing," he chuckles before pointing at his students, "Looks like Yuuji won," he says, laughing at the sight of Megumi now lying on the grass.
"Hm," Asami hums, surprised to see that Yuuji had won. To think that this boy was nothing but a regular human being a couple of weeks ago. In fact, it was quite strange just how much of a natural he was. Then again, Asami herself had similar beginnings like him, somehow having a special knack for hand-to-hand combat when she first enrolled into the school as well.
Choosing to shrug the thought off, Asami points at Nobara, "Okay, your turn," she says while lazily getting up from the bench. Stretching her arms over her head, Asami yawns, thinking about just how tiring this job was when compared to her previous career.
"Remember I'm only doing defense, but if you really want it, I'll do offense as well, but don't expect much," Asami reminds Nobara, getting into her sparring stance.
Nobara nods, ready to begin.
"Okay then," Asami begins the countdown, "1….2…."
But before she could even get to the number three, there was already a kick making its way towards her, almost catching her by complete surprise.
Quickly dodging the roundhouse kick, Asami quietly scoffs to herself, choosing to excuse Nobara's cheap shot for competitive excitement.
Nobara, who was accustomed to using her hammer and nail technique, seemed to specialize in attacks that came from either above or the side. As a result, it often caused her to forget about the torso-down region. Making a mental note of this flaw, Asami continues to analyze the young girl's fighting style, purposely holding back as she swiftly dodges her attacks.
Meanwhile, the two teenage boys watch the spar in wonder, genuinely surprised at how flexible their new teacher was. It was the kind of flexibility that only a gymnast could possess. The move that shocked them the most was the one where she threw herself completely back, getting into a backbend position before lifting her legs up and walking on her hands.
Noticing their shocked expressions, Gojou out of nowhere says, "Acrobatic gymnastics."
Turning their attention towards him, Megumi and Yuuji give their sensei a look of confusion, causing him to let out a faint chuckle.
"Asami used to be a part of a traveling circus," he states, his gaze remaining on the spar in front of him. From there, everything about her fighting style begins to make sense for the young boys.
No wonder she moved so flexibly.
Nobara, who also seemed to be in awe of her teacher's acrobatic skills, was now beginning to tire out. At this point, it felt like she was swinging at a ghost, Asami managing to dodge each and every one of her offensive attacks.
At the same time, Asami sees a window of opportunity for her win, Nobara's torso now completely unguarded due to her tired state of being. If Asami wanted to win, all she'd have to do is put her in a grappling hold and throw her onto the ground. Something which was child's play for the woman.
Not only that, but Asami knew that the only way to get Nobara to fix her flaws would be by directly showing her. The young girl needed to learn how to guard all parts of her body, as well as never letting that very same guard down. There was a lesson to be taught and Asami knew that, yet when it came to landing the final blow …. she just couldn't go through with it.
All because of the look of determination in Nobara's eyes. It was the kind of look that said that even though she knew it'd be nearly impossible to get her on the ground, she was still going to try anyway. It almost reminded Asami of her past self. The person who was once….
Unapologetically herself.
That's what Nobara was, and always would be.
Realizing the orange-haired girl wasn't going to call it quits anytime soon, Asami ultimately decides to throw the match.
Purposely making a rookie mistake in her grappling, Asami gives Nobara the opportunity to throw her to the ground, making the error look as natural as possible. From there, all it takes is a single second for Asami to feel the wet grass on her back, groaning as she feels a sharp pain in her spine.
"That's match," Asami mumbles, feeling like an 80 year old with back problems.
Nobara, unaware of what Asami had done, was now in a clear state of disbelief. Blinking in surprise, the young girl tries to fight the smile that was forming on her lips, not wanting it to seem like she was happy that her sensei was in pain. Except, it was hard to do that when internally, she couldn't help but feel …. excited.
Excited for what was to come this school year, as this sparring match proved that she was capable of becoming stronger. Of course, that wasn't to say she didn't already believe in herself, but even a person like her occasionally needed some self-affirmation.
Offering her hand to her sensei, Asami accepts the kind act of sportsmanship.
"You should be proud of yourself Nobara, not often is it that I'm thrown onto the ground like that," she says, giving the young girl a small (and not to mention rare) genuine smile.
Soon, Yuuji is seen excitedly tackling Nobara, screaming things such as, "Congratulations!" and "That was so cool!"
And because Nobara was in such a good mood, surprisingly enough, she didn't immediately throw him to the ground, "Thank you Asami-sensei," she bows while carrying Yuuji on her back.
Nodding in acknowledgment, Asami makes a shooing gesture at the kids, "Well what are you guys waiting for? Today's meeting is over, so go enjoy yourselves," she awkwardly announces, as she and this whole "being a teacher thing" was still a work in progress.
And with that, the kids leave, leaving Asami and Satoru to themselves.
"Ha, you're a better person than me," Satoru says while walking over to his ex, referring to the match she had just thrown.
"Oh, I know," she rolls her eyes while patting the dirt off her tracksuit, well aware that Satoru would have no qualms in teaching his students a direct lesson, "I'll just have to talk to Nobara some other day about the things she needs to work on."
Satoru chuckles, "Either way, it's nice to know you still have it in you. For a moment there, I thought you had lost your touch," he teases her, ruffling her crimson head of hair as a way to make fun of her height.
Honestly speaking, Asami wasn't even that short. In fact, she would even consider herself to be someone of average height. But like anyone else, standing next to Satoru automatically meant that you were considered short.
"Tch, just remind me to go see a chiropractor," she scoffs, still feeling the grueling effects of Nobara's takedown. For Asami, it was a harsh reminder that she wasn't the teenager she used to be, her body no longer as conditioned.
"Anyways, we should get going. I still want all of my things moved into my apartment by tonight," Asami says while walking towards the field exit.
"Uhhhh …. about that …." Satoru awkwardly laughs, not exactly following behind her.
Recognizing the tone, Asami's quick to shoot him a glare, "What?"
"Technically speaking," he gulps, knowing he was stepping into hot waters, "I never agreed to helping you move your things, and well…. I really want to go to that dessert cafe…."
Asami furrows her brows, "Yeah, and I really want to move my things."
"Welllll I don't want tooooo," he playfully sings.
"Wellllll that's too damn bad," she mimics him.
"Mm, then I say we make a bet," he smirks.
As a result, the expression on Asami's face goes from one of annoyance, to one of clear confusion, "Like what?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion.
"A sparring match, just like old times. If I win, we go to the dessert cafe. If you win, I'll help you move all of your things in less than an hour. I'm just that fast," he says, crossing his arms in a smug fashion.
'Knowing how competitive she gets with me, there's no way she'll say no,' he thinks to himself while waiting for a reply. So imagine his surprise when he hears the word….
"No."
His mouth gapes open, "Huh?"
"You heard me," she nonchalantly says.
"But wh—"
And just like Nobara did earlier, Asami, out of nowhere, attempts to land a kick to Satoru's face. Luckily, his quick reflexes help him block the sudden attack, but to say she was close to knocking him out would be an understatement.
"Oh, that was a cheap move," Satoru laughs, now rolling up his sleeves.
"Like you haven't done one of those before," she scoffs, following his lead by rolling up the sleeves to her blouse as well.
"Remember Gojou," she mocks him by using his last name.
In the end, it only makes his smirk grow even wider, as it only confirmed to him that she wasn't going to go easy.
"No infinity," she reminds him. That's because as long as he had that on, there was no way she was winning.
"I don't need it," he taunts her, "especially not with you."
Clenching her jaw, Asami decides that she's had enough of the trash talk, lunging at her ex with such a speed, only lightning could compare. Aiming for his face once more, the red head throws two back-to-back kicks.
Knowing the move would result in her being off balance, Satoru grabs her dominant foot before it can land on the ground, immediately tugging at it in a way that causes her to spin in the air.
But just like a cat, Asami is quick to land on her feet, using the opportunity to quickly swing low at him. As a result, Satoru instinctively jumps, leaving him in the air for almost less than a second. It was enough time for Asami to kick him in the abdomen, sending him flying to a nearby tree.
From there, she performs multiple acrobatic-walkovers towards him, knowing that a simple hit to a tree wouldn't be enough to declare her win. Due to the speed in which she was moving, she accidentally strikes at the tree, unaware that Satoru was already up and standing.
Scowling when all her foot meets is tree bark, Asami grouchily knocks the tree down out of pettiness, giving a glimpse to her natural strength.
"I'm beginning to think that you've lost your touch Satoru," she smirks, mocking his words from earlier as she turns to face him.
Taking off his jacket, Satoru laughs, "Me? Asami, have you forgotten who I am?" he teases her.
"Tch, how could I," she says while cracking her knuckles, "I'm Gojo Satoru and I'm the strongest," she childishly mimics him.
Pouting, Satoru shakes his head, "Now you're just….." he suddenly lunges at her, tired of playing defense, "Being mean!"
Barely managing to dodge his attack, Asami internally panics when she sees another one of his fists coming her way, underestimating just how fast Satoru was. That's because in the end, Gojo Satoru was quite the skilled fighter himself, with or without the infinity.
Quickly executing a back-handspring, Asami tries to create a bigger space between the two, eyes widening when she sees his right foot coming towards her face at full speed.
Satoru, predicting that his ex would grab his foot, outmaneuvers her at the last second, giving him the opportunity to grab her arm and throw her to the ground.
Refusing to lose, Asami keeps hold of his arm while getting thrown, harshly twisting it when she lands on the ground. From there, she kicks his thigh, causing him to wince and get into a crouching position.
Swiftly wrapping her legs around his neck, Asami forcefully brings him down to the ground with her, straddling him as she repeatedly attempts to punch him in the face. Groaning in frustration, Satoru somehow manages to dodge each one of her hits by moving his head from side to side.
"Don't you think it's a little too early in our relationship for us to be like this?" he asks, using his forearms to protect his face.
"What…." she swings from the left, still somehow getting blocked, "...Are….." she swings from the right, "...you talking about?"
Grabbing her wrists, Satoru forcefully pulls her closer to him, her long locks of hair now dangling in his face, "Though I can't say I hate the position we're in right now..." he whispers into her ear, pretending to ponder.
Eyes widening, Asami looks down at the straddling position they were currently in, barely noticing just how …. intimate …. it was. As a result, her face goes beet-red in embarrassment.
"W-W-What are y—GAH!"
Using her flustered state to his advantage, Satoru catches her off guard by suddenly rolling her over, causing their positions to switch. With him now on top, the young man slyly inches towards her, completing his sentence from before, "...I think I like this one much more."
Internally panicking, Asami finds herself feeling like her teenage-self. And so she does what she knows best, she swings her head back and ….
"OW!" Satoru holds onto his jaw, staring at Asami in disbelief as he gets up from the floor, history truly repeating itself.
Rubbing her throbbing forehead, Asami glares at him, "Don't look at me like that! And don't act like you don't know what you were doing down there!"
Dropping his bimbo act, Satoru throws his arms in the air, "Oh come on! I was just teasing you, that's all! Doesn't mean you have to go head-butting me!"
"Tch," Asami scoffs, "You should've specified that before we started our bet."
Softly chuckling, Satoru shakes his head before raising his hands in defense, now aware that if he didn't put some kind of rules into place, one of them was going to end up dead, "Okay, how about this? Whoever hits the ground first loses. No cursed energy, no cursed techniques, and no physical attacks that'll result in anyone getting their lights knocked out…."
Raising a finger, Asami prepares to give a smart-ass comment, "You still didn't—"
"This includes head-butting," he adds, effectively silencing her, "How does that sound?"
Crossing her arms, Asami stubbornly avoids eye contact, "Mm, fine," she hums, getting back into her fighting stance.
"Ready?" Satoru asks.
Asami nods.
From there, the two continue their spar, going back and forth between offense and defense. With each punch and kick Satoru threw, Asami was there to either counter or dodge, performing multiple cartwheels and flips all over the field.
From afar, the students who had yet to leave the school premises, watch the spar in awe. Not only were they amazed at the speed in which their sensei's were moving, but also at just how easy they made hand-to-hand combat look. There was something in the way they moved that made fighting look more like a dance, rather than an actual challenge.
"I think this is the first time I've seen Gojou-sensei actually break a sweat," Megumi says, Yuuji and Nobara standing alongside him.
"And that in itself is saying something," he adds.
"So, who do you guys think is going to win?" Yuuji asks, eyes glued on the fight in front of him.
"Gojou-sensei."
"Asami-sensei."
Answers conflicting with one another, Megumi and Nobara subtly glare at each other before turning to Yuuji, choosing him to be their tie-breaker, "Who do you think is going to win?" they ask.
"Oh…." Yuuji gulps, not expecting his innocent question to cause such tension, "If I'm being completely honest…." he carefully stares at his teachers, realizing they were both in their own elements, "I think—"
"OW!" Asami yells loud enough for the whole school to hear, causing Yuuji to give an unfinished answer.
"What?" Satoru stops dead in his tracks, a look of worry immediately appearing on his face.
"I just broke a nail!" she dramatically whines, glaring at him from where she stands.
Feeling the corners of his lips twitch, Satoru tries to hide the smile that's forming on his face, truly endeared by the woman in front of him, 'She really is the same old Asami…' he thinks to himself, the image of a teenage version of herself appearing in his mind.
But what Satoru didn't know was that Asami was using this opportunity to catch her breath, her body now aching for some kind of break. Then again, what should she have expected? It'd been years since she'd fought someone to this extent, meaning her stamina just wasn't going to be at the level it once was.
Huffing in annoyance, Asami switches back to offense, "Don't think you're not paying for it," she says. Aware that she was beginning to reach her limit, Asami decides that it's time to end this once and for all, conjuring up a plan that she was confident would ensure her win.
"Getting tired I see," Satoru taunts her, noticing that her moves were beginning to get sloppy, a clear sign that she was getting tired.
Choosing to say nothing, Asami allows him to dominate the fight, waiting for the perfect opportunity to execute her plan. This so-called "opportunity" comes at the swing of a foot….
"AH!" Asami yells, Satoru's kick to her foot causing her to accidentally twist her ankle, the young woman somehow managing to grab onto a nearby tree before she could completely fall onto the ground.
"What?" Satoru asks, "Broke another nail?" he teases her, unaware that the situation was quite serious.
Asami quickly shakes her head, "No," she groans in pain, facing away from him as he begins to walk over to her, his eyebrows now furrowed in concern.
"What happened?" he frowns, worried that he may have gone too far.
Pointing at her right ankle, Asami's eyes begin to water, "Satoru, it hurts," she mewls as he bends down to look at her so-called injury. Once he does, a mischievous glimmer appears in her eyes.
"Checkmate," she smugly whispers to him, enjoying the look of shock on his face as she swings her left foot at him, ready to land the final blow.
But Asami should've known better…..
She should've known better than to think she could take the Gojo Satoru by genuine surprise. Not only that, but there was no way in hell he'd ever let her beat him, especially not in a sparring match.
With her left foot only centimeters away from his face, Asami's eyes widen when she feels her right foot suddenly get yanked off the ground, causing her to go from being at ground-level, to being dangled in the air like some rag-doll.
That's because in the while that she was focusing on swinging her left foot, Satoru had secretly grabbed onto her right "dislocated" ankle, giving him the opportunity to pull her off the ground.
Looking down, Asami finds herself only inches away from the grass, her hair now dangling upside down.
"That was low Asami," Satoru playfully shakes his head in disappointment, "Then again, you were an actress…." he ponders to himself.
"Tch," Asami scoffs while giving him a death glare, her upside-down position making it seem like she was smiling at him.
Laughing at her intimidating expression, Satoru smirks, "That's match," he says, as the two of them both knew that there was no getting out of this one, as the hold he has on her ankle is quite tight.
Meanwhile, Megumi says, "Told you so," to Nobara, causing her to shoot him a glare of her own.
"Let me go," Asami commands her ex, clearly bitter over her loss.
Satoru smiles, "You sure about that?"
"Yes."
Shrugging, Satoru softly chuckles to himself, "Okay, if you say so," he says, choosing to take her words a little too literally.
Soon enough, Asami receives a kiss from the moist grass.
"You are such an asshole!" she yells.
Raising his hands to his defense, Satoru purposely acts dense, "You said let me go, and that's what I did," he says while offering his hand.
Refusing his help, Asami grumpily pushes his hand away while getting up from the ground, "You know that's not what I meant," she barks at him, ready to storm off until….
"Don't forget about our date tonight!" Satoru yells from where he stands, stopping Asami dead in her tracks.
Turning around, Asami tries to laugh his statement off, "W-Wait, you didn't actually think—"
"Hey," he frowns while crossing his arms, "A bet's a bet."
Groaning in defeat, Asami mentally curses at herself, "Fine," she huffs in annoyance.
Grinning from ear to ear, Satoru gives himself a pat on the back, "Great! I'll see you at eight then!" he announces before walking off, excited for their date night.
3 Hours Later.
Taking a bite of her cake, Asami relishes the taste, the slice of red-velvet cake she had ordered definitely satisfying her hunger. "This is good," she says in between chewing, afterwards gulping down some milk.
Satoru, who was currently munching on his slice of lavender-blackberry cake, nods in agreement, "And to think that you wanted to have me working as your personal slave and deprive me of this," he dramatically complains.
Rolling her eyes, Asami scowls at him,"You still have to help me."
"I'll do it when I come back from my business trip this weekend, I promise," he lowers his glasses, giving her a flirty wink.
"Do you really have to wear those sunglasses of yours indoors?" she sighs, scanning his appearance. It wasn't that he looked bad or anything, in fact, he actually looked quite …. good, but that still didn't make it any less rude.
Then again, it wasn't like anyone in this cafe was going to call him out on it. That's because the moment they walked into the shop, Asami could immediately feel the heart eyes that were desperately being thrown his way. Not that she was jealous or anything…..
Shrugging in response to her question, Satoru takes another bite of his cake.
"I guess I can't complain too much, at least it's not that damn blindfold of yours…" she says before changing the topic, "Anyways, where are you even going?"
Swallowing his food, Satoru wipes any crumbs from the corners of his mouth, "Monthly check-in for an overseas student, and since it's about to be July, I want to get it done as soon as possible. From there I can focus on the … bigger … problem on our hands."
"Who's the student?" she asks out of curiosity.
"Okkotsu Yuuta," he casually answers.
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" she asks in a blunt manner, the question coming out ruder than intended.
"He's the one who defeated Suguru," Satoru utters the name that Asami felt like she hadn't heard in years, "The one who ultimately helped me in—"
"That's enough," Asami interrupts him before he can continue, "So I assume the kid's a special grade then …."
Satoru nods, confirming her assumption.
Yawning, Asami then rubs her eyes, "Well I'm tired, so maybe you can tell me the full story another day. Right now, I just want to go home."
Throwing away their trash, the two exit the cafe and begin to walk towards Asami's apartment. Luckily, the location of the cafe wasn't too far from Asami's place to begin with, a fifteen minute walk at most.
Rubbing the side of her arms, Asami's surprised at how chilly it is outside, immediately regretting not bringing her own sweater. Feeling goosebumps run along her arms, the young woman takes a deep breath in, choosing to suffer in silence.
Trying to keep her mind distracted from the weather, Asami begins to count the number of trees she passes by, knowing that as long as she kept thinking about how cold it was, she'd only feel colder. As a result, she fails to hear the sharp hissing sound of a zipper being pulled down, leaving her nothing but surprised when she feels a warm sweater get placed over her shoulders.
Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she looks at a sweater-less Gojou.
"You were shivering like a chihuahua," he jokes around, not minding the night time breeze.
"Oh," Asami sheepishly looks away, ready to take the sweater off as she now felt bad, "Thank you, but it's fi—"
"Asami," he interrupts her before she can continue, "Just take it. I promise you, I'll be fine. I have my infinity, remember? If I get too cold, I'll just have it block the wind," he chuckles, giving her a small genuine smile.
Oddly feeling flustered, Asami immediately hides the forming blush on her cheeks with her hair, mumbling a quiet, "Thank you," to him.
God, how she hated this.
She hated how easy it was for him to get her to blush. She hated that despite everything that had happened between the two of them, he still looked at her like she was the same old Asami. And most importantly, she hated that no matter what, Gojo Satoru would always mean something to her.
It was funny, really. Had it been anyone else who had asked for her return into the world of sorcery, then Asami was quite certain she would've relentlessly said no, not bothering to think twice about it. Hell, she'd probably even laugh in their faces.
But in the end, he had asked her….
Her Satoru had asked her to come back.
And how could she ever possibly say no to that? Especially when he had a dream. A dream that wasn't as selfish as hers. One that would actually help people in the long run.
Closing her eyes, Asami feels a wave of guilt wash over her, memories that she once desperately fought to forget now resurfacing from the abyss that was her mind.
"Satoru," she suddenly stops walking.
Tilting his head in curiosity, Satoru notices the contemplative look on his ex's face, wondering what had her in such deep thought, "Yes?" he asks.
"I—" avoiding eye contact, Asami feels a lump form in her throat, as any sense of courage she had felt was now gone, "I—"
"Asami," Satoru's gaze softens, almost as if he realized what she wanted to say, while also understanding why she couldn't, "I kn—"
"I w-was just wondering if you had another l-lollipop," she cuts him off, any unsaid words now lingering in the cold air.
"Oh," Satoru feigns a soft chuckle. It'd be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed.
"You're lucky I packed extra pieces of candy today," he teases her, pulling out a green apple-flavored lollipop from his right pocket.
"Thank you Satoru, I mean it," she softly hums, giving him a warm heartfelt smile as she grabs the piece of candy from his hand.
Gulping, Satoru grins while scratching the back of his neck, "Don't worry about it," he says, heart now racing.
It was weird, really. Gojou Satoru was a confident man. Confident enough to constantly tease his ex about things like going on a date and taking off his clothes. In fact, one could even call him the most confident man on Earth. Which in some sense he was, but around Asami, it was nothing more than an act.
That's because as long as he was around her, Gojou Satoru was always going to be that teenage boy who didn't have his first kiss until his freshman year in high school. The one whose palms would always secretly get all sweaty before kissing her because he was just that nervous. It was the kind of nervousness that only Asami could bring out of him.
"Looks like we're here," she says, the two of them now standing outside of her apartment building, thus bringing him back to reality.
"Looks like it," he rocks back and forth on his heels, "So…"
"I um….I guess I'll see you tomorrow then…" Asami awkwardly chuckles, unsure of how to say goodbye. Then again, it wasn't like she was bidding farewell to just any co-worker. This was her ex for God's sake. An ex who she knew considered her to be his first love, the same way she considered him to be hers.
"We should do this again sometime..." his voice lingers, almost as if wanting to say something else.
"Yeah … if we're not too busy that is. You know, exorcising curses and all, trying not to die…." she attempts to joke around, the delivery of her so-called "joke" coming out quite stiff.
As a result, Satoru laughs not at the joke, but at her, "Yeah, well for you, I'll make the time," he says in between his fit of laughter.
Unable to hide her smile, Asami nods, "Well, I should get going. Here," she takes the jacket off her shoulders, ready to give it back to him.
"Keep it," he makes an opposing gesture with his hand, "It's not like I don't have any more of them," he says, treating the luxury-brand sweater as if it were something from a thrift shop.
"Okay then," she says, unaware of just how expensive the piece of clothing in her hands was, "Goodnight Satoru," she gives him a small smile while waving a quick goodbye, desperately trying to ignore the pounding feeling in her chest.
It's only until she enters her building complex, and is out of Satoru's line of sight, that she feels like she can breathe normally again. Entering her apartment, Asami quickly kicks off her shoes before sliding down the door, running a hand through her hair out of frustration.
"I'm such a fool…." she quietly huffs to herself, having come to a bitter realization, "A stupid, stupid fool…." she sighs, finding herself smiling at the thought of him.
"You still loveeeeee me."
"You're an idiot."
"You're not denying it."
"No I don't love you, there, you happy?"
Who was she kidding? After tonight, Asami knew that no matter how much she tried to deny it, she was still a girl in love.
The Next Morning.
7AM.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Groaning in annoyance, Asami grouchily shuts her alarm off, already missing the days of sleeping in and getting up on her own time. Rubbing her eyes, the young woman groggily gets up from her bed before heading towards the bathroom, mentally preparing for another day of work.
After brushing her teeth, Asami focuses on brushing her tangled crimson-colored hair, noting that she needed to go get it professionally done soon. Though it was quite subtle, by now, the roots of her naturally strawberry-red colored hair were beginning to grow in.
Running her hands through her hair, Asami ties it into its usual low bun, allowing a couple of loose strands to stick out. From there, she focuses on getting her choppy bangs to cooperate with her, attempting to go for a messy-but not too messy kind of look.
Growing frustrated with her hair, Asami ultimately gives up, choosing to move on to her makeup routine. Grabbing the bottle of cover-up foundation she has in her bathroom cabinet, Asami pumps a moderate amount of the product onto the back of her hand, using a beauty blender to cover any notable blemishes. It isn't until she gets to covering the small tattoo behind her neck that she begins to use an increased amount of product.
The tattoo, which covered up a scar she received a long time ago, was of a slithering snake. Usually she had her makeup artist cover it for her, but now that she was in a …. different …. profession, she now had to do it herself.
Honestly speaking, her hair-bun naturally covered most of the tattoo, but if stared at carefully, the head of the snake could be seen peeking at the bottom. Quietly hissing in pain, Asami sucks it up and continues to blot onto the scar with her beauty blender, shoving the memory of how she got it aside.
Once done, she stares at herself in the mirror one last time, wanting to make sure that she looks presentable. Scoffing, she carefully traces the forming bags under her eyes, reminding herself to buy a thicker concealer.
'How is it that my bags were never this thick when I was an actress, but now that I'm a so-called teacher, I look like Frankenstein,' she thinks to herself, 'No wonder I look so unapproachable….'
Aside from the heavy bags, Asami also had narrowed eyes that were paired with naturally furrowed-eyebrows, leading her to have what one would call a "resting bitch face."
Sighing, Asami heads over to the kitchen and prepares her morning coffee. Despite it being Friday, she wasn't exactly looking forward to the weekend. This was partly due to the fact that Satoru was leaving for his business trip, meaning she and Ijichi were in charge of the brats while he was gone. And knowing her luck, something was just bound to happen.
Glancing at the clock, Asami sees that she's going to be late if she doesn't get going soon. Pushing her worries aside, Asami knows that all she can do is pray that things would end up just fine.
1 Hour Later.
"Asami-Sensei! I'm so sorry!" Yuuji cries out. In front of him, stands a powder-covered Asami, who was now vigorously shaking her head in order to get every last bit of white-chalk out of her hair.
"It was supposed to land on Megumi, I swear!" he continues to dramatically explain himself, his attempt at a prank completely backfiring on him.
Slouching her shoulders, Asami mutters faint curses to herself. Meanwhile, Gojou stands behind her, laughing his butt off.
You see, what happened was that Megumi had quickly gone to the restroom before class, and just as he was about to re-enter the classroom, Asami had also arrived. Him, being the polite person he was, let his sensei enter first. As a result, she was the one who ultimately got covered in powdered chalk.
"Don't frown Asami! This means that our students know how to have fun!" Gojou slings his arm around her shoulder, blatantly ignoring the cross-popping vein that's appeared on her forehead.
"Say cheese!" he pulls his phone out, obnoxiously taking selfies of the two of them while a crying Yuuji appears in the background.
Glaring at the camera, Asami pushes it away from herself before patting at her skirt, "Go sit," she commands at Yuuji, making her way to the front of the classroom.
Yuuji, like an obedient dog, follows her orders without question.
From there, Asami turns her attention to her ex, "Why are you here again?" she snaps at him.
Playfully raising his hands in his defense, Gojou laughs at the expression on her face, "Because I'm here to remind my students that I'll be gone for the weekend. That means they need to be on their….." glancing at Asami's powdered hair, he attempts to stifle his laugh, "... best behavior."
As a result, Asami sends him a death glare.
"If you guys need anything, you're going to have to call Asami or Ijichi. And if you happen to be assigned a mission, you'll be chaperoned and assisted by either one of them," he explains to the three teens.
'Sounds easy enough,' they all think to themselves, 'What could go wrong….'
Report:
July 2018.
Kanagawa Prefecture.
Yokohama City.
Abnormal deaths have consistently occurred near a local abandoned hospital for the past two weeks. Sorceress, Okada Asami, was assigned to exorcise the curse thought to be responsible. [Report is to be finished at the completion of the mission.]
Standing in the dimly lit room, Asami could feel her blood pressure rising by the minute. The reason for this was that behind every shoji-style screen, were eyes that wanted her dead.
"You called for a meeting," she states into the eerie room.
"No hello, young lady? After all these years, one would think that you would've learned how to have good manners by now. Especially at your age," one of the old men says, nothing but bitterness in his voice.
Another voice scoffs, "It seems that Gojo Satoru clearly still has some influence on her. Pity, really. She used to be such a well-behaved little girl. In fact, she was once an exemplary student—"
"Tch, how about you all just cut to the chase? You're wasting my time," Asami rudely cuts off the old man, not exactly in the mood to go down memory lane.
Allowing a moment of silence to pass, the tension in the room is at an all time high. Clearly, there was still a hatchet to bury. The chance of that actually happening? Zero to none.
"We have a mission for you, a potential special-grade curse located in Yokohama—"
"Yokohama?!" Asami is quick to interrupt, her eyes now widened, "But that's about an hour away!"
"What about it?" one of them cruelly spits.
Closing her eyes, Asami clenches her jaw as she tries to keep her temper under control, internally wishing for their deaths, "I'm in charge of supervising the first years while Gojou-san is on his business trip. There must be someone else willing to take the mission," she says, attempting to keep her voice in a calm and neutral tone.
"Last time we checked, you don't work for Gojou Satoru, you work for us! That means you follow our orders, not his," someone yells at her, any common decency being completely thrown out the window, "And no, there isn't any other sorcerer willing to take the job, don't you recall we have a shortage of them?" their voice drips with sarcasm.
Glaring at the screens, Asami grits her teeth in anger. She knew what they were trying to do, and like hell was she going to let them have their way, "And are you forgetting that I'm not exactly the sorceress I used to be. Me against a special grade now would be an almost guaranteed suicide mission, and you know it!"
"Perhaps you should've thought about that before you ever made the bind—"
"Fine," Asami cuts them off, realizing there was no point in arguing. If she didn't do this mission, they'd only throw another one at her. At the end of the day, she was going to have to face her fears at some point, so she might as well do it now.
"I'll go," she mutters, "But don't worry, I'll make sure to come back just so I can laugh in your faces," she sneers, "Of course, that's me assuming that you won't be hiding behind those screens like a bunch of cowards."
"WATCH YOUR MOU—"
"I should get going now," Asami mockingly bows, "It's been nice catching up, if I do say so myself," she chuckles, ignoring the voices that were shouting at her as she exits the room.
Glancing at her watch, Asami makes a mental note of the time.
'4PM? That should be more than enough time to get to Yokohama and back before sundown,' she thinks to herself. All she needed to do was tell Ijichi of her upcoming venture and she'd be good to go.
[4:01PM] Going to Yokohama for a quick exorcism. No matter what the higher ups tell you, do NOT let the kids take on any missions!
Pressing send, Asami tucks her phone into her back pocket before heading to her car, unaware that her text message would never actually end up getting delivered. The reason for this was that the cell-service at Jujutsu High was absolutely horrible.
Either way, by the time she had left Tokyo, Ijichi, along with the rest of the kids, were already at the location of an emergency mission….
Report:
July 2018.
West Tokyo City.
In West Tokyo City, at the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center, in the sky above the exercise yard, an unnamed apparition of potential special-grade was witnessed by multiple non-jujutsu sorcerers. Since it was deemed an emergency, three first-year students were sent to the scene….
[Report is to be finished at the completion of the mission.]
And as she drives to a far-away city, Asami can't help but think that this was exactly why she wasn't looking forward to the weekend.
A/N:
This chapter begins to hint at Asami's level of power (combat wise). I needed to show that even though she's a skilled fighter, she still isn't better than Gojou, as canonically he is the strongest character in the show and I was not planning on changing that lol. We're also getting glimpses and/or hints of the past as well which is something I'm definitely excited to dive into :)
Music Inspiration:
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - by Santa Esmeralda
I Won't Say I'm In Love - Ariana Grande Version
I Won't Say I'm In Love - Hercules Version
Revised 12/3/21.