A/N: This chapter along with the next is the whole month that Yuuji is training before our beloved Nanami comes in, so these are just little moments all in two chapters along with lots of wholesome content, enjoy !
Chapter Five.
Sweet & Sour.
"Yuuji you can't expect to beat anyone at this level of speed," Asami fixes the punch mitts in her hands while Yuuji catches his breath, having sparred with the woman for the last 2 hours, unable to get her off guard at least once.
"Come on Yuuji, I know you can get her to stumble at least once!" Gojou yells from the branch he was sitting on, having cracked jokes all day rather than actually help.
"Boxing just isn't my thing I guess," Yuuji sighs, gulping down the cold water in his hands and wiping the sweat dripping down from his forehead.
Asami, having woken up in a bad mood, throws off her punching mitts, glaring at the teenage boy, "Then what is? Because it seems to me you're wasting my time. You're not going to get any better if you don't try," she scowls.
'You know what they say, real love is tough love' Gojou thinks to himself, deciding not to step in.
"Can we just do regular sparring, a mixed martial arts kind of thing…" Yuuji says, getting up from his squatted position.
Asami fixes her ponytail, her vigilant gaze fixed on the boy, "Fine," she huffs, "But I'm not going easy today," she barks, feeling as if her efforts with training the boy were completely useless in the past week. It was mid July already, and the Goodwill event was about a month away and the clock was ticking fast. Yuuji hadn't even gone out to a mission of his own yet.
Nodding, Yuuji looks at her with a determined look on his face, preparing his usual fighting stance while Asami does the same. He couldn't lie he was a bit nervous, but this was his Asami-sensei, she wouldn't go too hard rig—
But before he could even complete the thought, he was already being splattered onto the log of the tree like a bug, Asami's foot being the direct cause of it, "W-W-What the?!" Yuji manages to say, barely managing to avoid her next attack by ducking, "G-Gojou-sensei!" he yells for help, but Gojou only laughs, watching the show from afar.
"Don't call for him now!" Asami grunts, "Stand up and fight!"
"B-B-B—"
"B-B-But nothing," Asami mocks him, "Tch, I told you I wasn't going easy on you kid, I'm not your Asami-sensei right now, I'm someone who wants to take your life, so you better get up and act like it," she mutters, nearing him with every step, deadly intent in her eyes.
Furrowing his brows, Yuuji feels himself become angered. Taking a deep breath, he mentally refocuses himself, understanding that Asami was right, he had to try in order to get better, to become stronger. And if viewing her as the enemy right now was going the only way to do that, then so be it.
Getting up from his position, Yuuji pats the dirt on his shoulders causing Asami to smirk, as she knew she had gotten him riled up, "Give it your all kid," she mumbles to herself, throwing multiple kicks in his direction, Yuuji dodging each one with swiftness.
"Always use your surroundings to your advantage Yuuji," she says before leaping onto a branch and throwing a kick using her right hanging leg, knowing that Yuuji was following right behind her. Barely managing to dodge the right kick, Yuuji bends his back just in time, watching Asami begin to flip and tumble across the different branches, making it hard to track where she was.
"You're not the only fast one around here," he hears her say. And feeling a presence from above, Yuuji quickly gets out the way, managing to land a punch to Asami's abdomen, but she's quick to counteract it with a punch of her own, the two then going at it hand-to-hand.
'Left kick. Right punch. Crouch down. Right kick. Low swing to the feet.' Yuuji thinks to himself as he follows his train of thought with the actions to fulfill it. But Asami was good, and even greater at defending herself, her dodges and flips truly a special thing to watch.
Throwing a high kick to his face, Yuuji then does something that even surprises himself. He dodges and does a frontward flip, his foot meeting Asami's face.
Silence fills the air for a moment as Asami gets off the ground, raising a finger to her nose as she comes to see the blood, a sly chuckle coming out of her mouth.
'Oh he's done it now' Gojou laughs to himself, for Asami hated blood.
"Copying my moves now?" she begins to near him once again, noticing how his face was still in a scowl, not feeling bad (for now at least) at all for his sensei, "Guess it means I'm a good teacher."
Running at him full force, she uses the fact that he has his back faced in front of a tree to place her hands on his shoulders before propelling herself forward in mid air and kicking him behind the head, landing on the branch of that same tree.
Using the opportunity of him having his back faced away from her she runs to him and grabs him from the waist, effectively throwing him down to the ground. Knowing that he was going to get into a crouching position in order to get up, she uses the time that he only had one knee bent forward to give herself a booster. Placing her foot on his knee and jumping, she prepares to land the final blow to his face.
But he does something that not only takes Asami by surprise, but Gojou as well. He dodges and lands a manji kick to her face once she lands back on the ground, a move only someone who's an expert at Taido martial arts could only do.
Catching her breath, she opens her eyes to see a hand being offered to her, Yuuji now having a concerned look on his face. But before he can even begin to apologize the sound of a soft laugh stops him, as it'd been a very long time since Asami genuinely felt herself nearly get knocked out.
"You're—" she breathes heavily, "You're going to be strong, kid," she giggles, staring up at the sky above her.
"Nice job Yuuji!" Gojou tackles his student, having witnessed the whole scene, "Where the hell did you learn that from?!" he asks.
Yuuji, having an overwhelmed expression on his face, is still comprehending everything that happened, "I-I don't know," he manages to stutter out, not remembering himself where he had learned that from.
"Probably a result of all those kung-fu movies I made you watch, huh?" Gojou jokes, pulling Asami up from the floor, "I say I treat you to a winner's meal," and Yuuji's face immediately lights up, already thinking of the steak he wanted.
"Come on Asami-sensei, let's go!" Yuuji tugs at Asami's hand, leading her back to the car like a child with its mother.
Gojou watches the scene from afar, a smile on his face as he thinks of the potential of his salmon-haired student, "He is, isn't he?" he says to himself, remembering the words he heard Asami say moments earlier, "You're going to be strong, kid".
"You're an idiot Satoru!" Asami feels her blood boil, setting her small bag of luggage onto the king sized bed, "I told you to order a room with two separate twin beds, what the hell is this?!" she yells.
Satoru nervously scratches the back of his neck, "I swear I did!" he says in all honesty, "They must've messed up the booking!"
Asami lets out a huff of annoyed air, the two just coming back from the receptionist's desk, having had their request for a new room denied. Just imagine Asami's surprise when she first walked into the room, completely jet lagged, only to find that they'd been given the honeymoon suite.
"You are so—"
"You're over exaggerating Asami," he scoffs, "you're acting like the bed's not big enough to fit both of us."
She rolls her eyes, "That's exactly the issue, you idiot," she curses at him, already regretting accompanying him on this overseas exorcism, but it wasn't like it was up to her to begin with. The higher ups basically threatened to have her fired if she didn't. Not that she would've cared, but she was too deep into the rabbit hole of helping Yuuji to turn back now.
"When we come back we'll figure out the sleeping arrangements, alright? For now we gotta get going," he reminds her of the mission, only causing her to groan.
"Fine! But don't be surprised when you're sleeping on the floor!" she scowls at him, leaving the room with nothing but attitude.
Satoru laughs to himself once she slams the door, "Oh Asami," he sighs, following behind her.
"God I'm tired, not to mention all this blood on me is disgusting," Asami swipes the key card to their room, her shirt covered with the blood of the kids she managed to save in the school, several of them having stayed there for some after school club only to be attacked by not one, but two curses.
"Tell me about it," Satoru says, this being one of the very rare times that he actually felt himself be sleepy. He wanted nothing more than to just plop onto a bed and —
"Ugh," Asami groans, remembering the bigger situation they had left behind before leaving for their mission, "You're sleeping on the floor," she states, her emotionless face signalling that she was completely serious.
Satoru scoffs, "No I'm not," he says, plopping onto the bed, marking his territory like some dog.
"Yes, you are," she glares at him, grabbing her silk pajamas from the small bag she packed. Knowing exactly what to do to get on her nerves, Satoru begins to take off his shirt, "What are you doing?!"
He shrugs, a sly smirk on his face, "I like to sleep shirtless, don't you remember?" He gives her a taunting look.
Her face immediately goes red, "You are so—"
He purposely yawns, beginning to make himself comfortable on the bed, "I'm about to change my bottoms too, so unless you wanna stick around for the show then I suggest you," he motions to the bathroom door with his hands, telling her to get to changing.
"How is it that you're supposedly exhausted, but still have the energy to get on my nerves!" she yells before slamming the door.
"Someone's grouchy," Satoru laughs, placing his hands behind his head, a smug look on his face.
"Asami, you're acting childish," Satoru laughs from above, "You're acting as if I'm going to pull something on you, when you know I'm not," he says, watching Asami twist and turn from her uncomfortable position on the hotel floor. She had been tossing and turning her head for the past half hour and honestly it was getting quite annoying with all the noise she was making.
"I. Don't. Care," she stubbornly says, convinced that she was going to fall asleep at any moment now.
"Asamiiiii," he groans, unsure of what to say to further convince her, "If you want we'll even make a line between us two using the pillows and blankets," he offers the grumpy woman, and noticing that her ears perk up , he continues, "We'll make it extra thick so you can be reassured that I won't cross it."
Asami quietly gets up, pillow and blanket in hand, "Fine, but you better be serious about this," she plops onto the bed, awkwardly laying herself on the right side.
Satoru begins to set up the barrier between the two, patting the pillows and blankets as a way to fluff them up, "There, you see? Impenetrable!" he gives her a goofy smile, turning off the bedside lamp beside him and making himself comfortable once more…. That was until he heard the sound of a certain someone shivering and chattering their teeth.
Because he had used so many pillows and blankets, Asami along with him were only stuck with two thin blankets. Honestly for him it was enough, but clearly for the woman beside him, it was too little for it seemed she was going to wake up dead by hypothermia if he didn't get her an extra blanket.
"Don't tell me you're cold," he says into the darkness, a teasing tone underlying in his voice.
"I-I'm n-not," Asami stutters, stubborn as ever.
Sighing, Satoru removes the extra blanket he used for the barrier, placing it over her frail body.
Asami thanked the Gods that they were in complete darkness, for she was blushing like a schoolgirl who had just been waved at by their crush, "You know I can see you blushing right?" Satoru suddenly announces, a soft laugh following afterwards, "Did you forget the six eyes let's me see everything in high-resolution thermography when in the dark? And let me tell you the amount of heat on your cheeks is hilar—"
"Shut up!" Asami hides her face with her blanket, wanting more than this night to be over, "And keep to your side of the bed!" she reminds him, paranoid that he was getting closer to her.
And so with that he went to sleep, keeping his word and respecting the boundary placed between the two. But surprisingly enough, it was Asami who still couldn't sleep, as she now simply stared at Satoru's muscular back, a sense of warmth and safety washing over her.
She was a stubborn fool, she knew that, but she just couldn't help it. Admitting her feelings for Satoru would only resurface the hope of one day living her dream with him. It would mean having to confront a past she had desperately tried to run away from, and she just wasn't sure if she was ready for that.
But staring at the peaceful sleeping man in front of her, she knew she loved him, selfishly and wholeheartedly. That she could no longer deny.
Softly running a hand through his hair, Asami softly laughs to herself, realizing just how much of a hypocrite she was, for she was the one to break the barrier. She was simply selfish in that sense.
"I love you Gojo Satoru," she whispers to herself, confessing once again, just like she did years ago, to the man she loved since she was a teen. The one who ultimately showed her she was capable of being strong. The one who teased her everyday as if there was no tomorrow. The only one who was capable of bringing her back to this wretched world they called being a jujutsu sorcerer. And finally, the one she knew would always love her as much as she loved him.
At the sound of his soft snores, Asami smiles to herself, finally allowing the sleep she'd been pushing off to take over her, Gojo Satoru being the only thing on her mind.
Feeling the rays of the sunshine outside hitting her, Asami complainingly groans, cuddling further into her pillow while wanting nothing more than a couple more hours of sleep. That was of course until she felt that her pillow was a little too soft, in fact it resembled that of human skin.
Slowly rubbing her eyes, she feels her heart drop once she sees the position she's in. With one arm draping over him, she seems to be completely cuddled by his side, Satoru himself having his own arm wrapped around her frame. She looks up at him, noticing just how innocent he looked with his hair tousled and his nostrils flaring slightly, matching his slow breathing pattern.
She remains frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do or who to blame. This was very inappropriate. Very very inappropriate. But, God was she tired. Her body just felt way too sore to make a scene, and she couldn't lie... the position she was in was very comfortable.
Shaking her head, she pushes away her idiotic thoughts, coming to the decision that she was going to say something. But before she could, the sound of Satoru moving interrupts her, as he groggily begins to wake up.
"Asami you can hit me all you want later," Satoru lazily mumbles, his morning voice in full effect, "Just go back to sleep and we'll act like this never happened," he murmurs, sighing and tightening his grip on her, for Gojo Satoru was just as tired as her.
Asami remains awkwardly silent for a moment, feeling like a cherry tomato. Deciding she'd let herself enjoy the moment just this once, she silently nods to herself, snuggling further into the position she was in. A small smile placed on her face as her heartbeat slowly began to catch up to his, a peaceful slumber waiting for the two of them.
"What do you brats think you're doing!" Asami yells, raising her voice at the scene she just happened to walk in on. Not only did she find a bloodied and beaten Megumi, but also Nobara who for some freaking reason had some girl in a chokehold. And to think she only came here for a soda from the vending machine!
Both Tokyo and Kyoto students remain silent, sensing the intimidating aura from the woman older than them. Separating the two girls, Asami isn't sure who to give her glare to, her own students or the ones from the other side of the country.
Placing a hand to her temple, she ultimately decides to glare at the kids across from her, trusting that her students wouldn't get in a mess like this unless provoked, "So I'm assuming you two are from Kyoto?" she asks them, and a smirk appears on the muscular man.
Deciding she didn't like the smug look on their faces, she walks towards the man, glaring at him while pointing a finger to his chest, "You pull something like around here again, and I'll make sure to have your head on a stick, you hear me? Or may I say those hands of yours..." she hisses at him, only loud enough for him to hear, having read his and the girl's student profile before arriving here. The students' feel the energy shift from one of tensity to one of full on killing intent, a chill going down each one of their spines.
"Come on Mai, I've got some important business to attend to," the man steps back, taking the woman's threat completely seriously, Asami ignoring what the boy had to say about some woman named Takada as well as the Zenin girl's empty threat.
It was once they were out of sight that Asami turned her glare to the students behind her, now able to scold them without embarrassing them in front of their competition. The victorious faces of the girls quickly fall when they see their sensei's expression, "A-Asami-s-sensei?" Nobara uses the honorific, a sign that she knew she was in trouble.
Flames were practically coming out of Asami's body, "What the hell was that all about?" Asami says while grinding her teeth and clenching her jaw.
"They attacked us first!" Nobara quickly defends herself and her classmates, "That man started asking Fushiguro about what type of women he's into, called him boring, and out of nowhere attacked him! And then Maki's sister freaking shot me!" Nobara feels herself getting angry, not at her sensei, but at the situation that occurred.
Asami turns her attention to Maki, "Is it true?" she asks the second-year, knowing Maki wasn't one to really ever feel the need to lie. She simply was a blunt person like Asami.
Maki nods her head, "I sent Kugisaki and Fushiguro to run errands and they happened to run into the Kyoto student's," Maki states, "it wasn't their fault."
Asami sighs, running a hand through the loose strands of her hair, "Fine, I'll let you all off the hook just this once," she says, "Go get your injuries checked with Shoko along with Megumi," she commands at Nobara, "And save the fighting for later, I expect both of you to kick their asses next month," and a smirk appears on the girls' faces, the Kyoto Goodwill event just around the corner.
Watching the two girls walk away, Asami mutters something to herself, putting her coins into the vending machine. 'C10' she clicks the buttons for a soda, along with a candy bar for Satoru, who was currently in a meeting with the Kyoto principal, Yoshinobu Gakuganji.
Well that was what she thought until she saw Satoru taking a selfie with a young turquoise haired girl. Walking over to the bridge, she politely greets the young woman, complimenting her hair in the process, "I like your hair," Asami says a little too stiffly, awkwardness being in her nature.
Thanking Asami, the girl announces she's in a rush, thanking Satoru one last time before running off.
"I have fanssss," Satoru sings, happily walking alongside Asami, "Something you can't relate to."
Asami scoffs in return, "I used to until you came along," she glares at him, a small pout appearing on her lips as she remembered the gifts some of her fans would buy her, "In fact I bet I still have some!"
Her statement only makes Satoru laugh out loud, "Asami, you're funny!" he says, placing his arm around her shoulder as the two began to walk around the garden, unaware of how intimate the scene looked from afar.
"It's true!" she barks back, "I bet I can walk the streets of Tokyo right now and have at least one person recognize me," she scowls, feigning her confidence as she remembered going out with Yuuji and being completely unrecognized.
Was her acting career really just gone? Did the Japanese film industry really just continue spinning the wheel like nothing? Spewing out different "up and coming" actresses like there was no tomorrow.
Satoru, who was waiting for her to come to the realization, only stares at her with a smug look.
"Tch, whatever," she says, crossing her arms and pushing him off, "You're a smug bastard, you realize that right?"
Satoru nods his head, "You know you love meeee."
Asami remains silent, for the first time not denying it. But that didn't mean she was going to go admitting it to him either. Her silence for now at least, was enough.
Satoru genuinely smiles to himself, knowing progress was being made. Unexpectedly grabbing her hand, he practically yanks her to follow him, "Come on, let's go back home, Yuuji's probably starving!" Satoru says, unaware of the words he just said. And almost as if time stopped, Asami stares at the man running in front of her, eyes slightly watery, for Gojo Satoru was her home.
"Asami-sensei look!" Yuuji excitedly points to the TV screen, this being his 10th time already tonight. Currently, he, Asami, and Gojou were watching some of Asami's straight to DVD movies, cringing at the horrible script writing of some of these movies. Asami didn't really mind, in fact she liked to poke fun at them herself.
Right now they were currently watching one of her romance movies called, "To Capture a Heart", an Edo period set movie that revolved around the love story between a geisha and samurai warrior with Asami playing the secondary love interest. Currently they were at a scene where Asami's character was confessing to the handsome warrior, Yuuji's eyes brimming with tears already.
"Asami-sensei your performance in this is just so-so-so," he stutters, snuggling into his blanket, "So beautiful!" he cries out.
Gojou laughs at his student, "If you think that's beautiful then—"
"Shhh Gojou-sensei!" Yuuji places his index finger over his puckered lips, effectively silencing his sensei, "We're getting to the best part!"
Asami softly chuckles, knowing that the emotional kiss scene is coming where the warrior ends up ultimately rejecting her character, declaring his love from the main geisha of the movie afterwards.
Gojou rolls his eyes, deciding he'd be quiet just this once. Resting his arm across the couch, he continues to watch the movie, not really caring for it as he was more of an action adventure kind of guy. He scoffs at the cheesy lines, 'Who writes this stuff?' he thinks to himself, Asami's portrayal of the character being the only thing done right in this movie. In fact her performance was …
What the?!
Gojou's eyes widen at the kiss he sees on the screen, for he wouldn't have cared if it was a little two second kiss, but no! This was a practical make out sesh happening right in front of him! How the hell was this a PG-13 movie?!
Asami and Yuuji awkwardly stare at one another, noticing the changed aura in the room as Gojou was now shooting daggers at the TV.
'Someone's jealoussss' Yuuji conveys his message to Asami with a look on his face.
"Ha. Ha. I forgot how long this kiss was," Asami awkwardly chuckles, avoiding Gojou's intimidating glare, the green eyed monster called jealousy making its first appearance in years. Asami was his and his only. Even if it wasn't official yet.
And before he could even think twice, he grabs the remote and turns off the TV entirely, movie night officially coming to its end. Asami quietly snickers to herself, ready to tease him relentlessly later.
"Gojou-sensei?" Yuuji gulps.
"Movie night is over," Gojou mutters, the horrendous kiss replaying in his mind on an endless loop. So this was infinity….
Pouting like a child, he avoids Asami's gaze, knowing that she was waiting to laugh at him like a lion waiting to pounce on its prey.
"Yuuji don't you have some homework to work on?" Asami suddenly brings up to Yuuji causing him to look at her with a confused expression on his face.
He scratches his head, "Uhh I don—"
She purposely coughs, shooting him a knowing glare.
"O-Oh, how could I forget?" he forces a laugh, "See you tomorrow sensei!" and with that he quickly runs to his room, allowing Asami to finally break character and laugh her ass off, just like old times.
"It's not funny," Satoru mumbles, Asami dramatically and not to mention childishly dances circles around him. The two having reversed roles for once.
"You still love meeeee," Asami smirks, the sweet satisfaction of saying his phrase was a feeling like no other.
Gojou narrows his eyes at her, knowing exactly what she was doing.'So this is how it's going to be..' he thinks to himself, a competition having silently been set between the two. The game? Who's going to crack and confess first. And lord were those two competitive.
Grabbing her hand, Asami gasps in shock when she's pulled down to the couch, Gojou frames his tall figure over her, "Don't think I'm confessing first…"
Asami scoffs, deciding to act clueless coy by innocently placing her index finger to her chin and pouting, "Confess what?"
Back to his usual playful attitude, he laughs, booping Asami's nose. She, as per usual, scrunches it as a result. "You're on," he whispers to her ear, enjoying the view of a flustered Asami.
"A-Asami-sensei?" Megumi pokes his teacher's shoulder, having lost the rock, paper, scissors match against reason he was currently stuttering like a scared child was because he, along with the other Tokyo High students were now convinced she had steam coming out of her ears.
Her silence only causes a chill to run down his spine, as he begins to follow the direction in which her murderous gaze was set on. 'Ohhhhh. This is making a lot more sense' he thinks to himself. Because not too far from where they were standing, on a bridge, stood Gojou and Mei Mei chatting it up, a couple of flirtatious hits to the shoulders on Mei's part only making Asami's jealousy rile up even more.
"So if I'm correct, I'll be receiving my direct deposit soon, right?" Mei Mei smirks, already planning the trip she was going to take with the money sent to her.
Gojou nods, a cheesing grin on his face, "You betcha, just do that thing you did with the shoulder just now," he instructs her, and she immediately follows his direction, the two laughing after to really sell it off.
"If I were her, I'd kill you," Mei Mei says while smiling.
Gojou nods his head, "Haha, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried," he laughs.
"Do not let him win," Asami whispers to herself, ignoring the presence of her frightened student. Taking a deep breath in, she turns around and walks away, deciding she'd punch something when she was out of everyone's sight.
"Damn…" Gojou snaps his fingers, dropping his act of being flirty once he sees she's gone.
"I still expect my payment."
"You know I'm going to get you to admit it first," Satoru throws a rice ball at Asami, who catches it with her hands and scowls at him.
"Stop trying to play that silly game of yours," she scolds him, throwing him his rice ball back and rolling her eyes as she saw him catch it with his mouth, "You're disgusting," she mutters to herself.
Tonight the two were having dinner at her place, Asami labelling it as some casual talk between two friends... Definitely not a date!
"It's fun," Satoru says with a mouthful of rice, "Something you should learn how to have."
"I threw it back at you, didn't I?" she snaps back, taking off her kitchen apron and sitting across him once more.
"Asami, Asami, you really need to fix that temper of yours," Satoru dramatically sighs, "I don't remember you being like that when I first met you," he jokes around.
"Then clearly you have a bad memory," she scoffs.
"Mm I don't think so, you were more shy back then."
Asami remains silent.
"That was of course until we started dating," he adds, "Hm interesting isn't it?" he laughs, "Only I really bring out that side of you."
"I don't think that's a good thing," she says, taking a bite out of her food, "But I get you. I—" she hesitates to say her next couple of words, unsure if she wants to give him the satisfaction of them or not, "I guess you can say I feel more comfortable around you."
Tense silence fills the air.
Asami immediately regrets saying what she did, but not like she could put the words back in her mouth. Staring at the smiling man across from her, she wonders if he's going to say another one of his lame jokes or—
"I feel comfortable around you too," Satoru says, taking Asami by surprise, "You'll always understand me in ways others can't. The same goes for Shoko and Suguru. Each relationship has—" he corrects himself, recalling the fate of his best friend, "had its own uniqueness to it. Don't you think?"
Asami hesitantly nods, a faint chuckle escaping her lips, "Yeah I guess you're right," she says, and the tense silence from before is soon replaced with one that was comforting. The two indulging in their meals with a new sense of profoundness between each other.
"Do," she pauses, "Do you want more?" she looks at Satoru's empty plate of rice balls, awkwardly avoiding eye contact as she feels the faint blush on her cheeks.
He laughs while nodding his head in the process, "Thank you Asami," he says, for subtle acts like these, more often than not, spoke much louder than words.
"Asami-senseiiiii, this is beginning to hurt!" An upside down Yuuji complains, as he had been handstanding for over 20 minutes now.
Asami only rolls her eyes in annoyance, "You were the one who said you wanted to become more flexible and get better at dodging things like me," she says, recalling his constant asking for tips and tricks to learn, "Balance is the first step," she pushes his legs forward, making him get into a bridge position.
Almost immediately Yuuji groans in pain, "But—" he forces himself to suck up the pain, remaining in the odd position, "But I thought I'd be learning how to do flips and stuff…."
The comment makes Asami softly chuckle to herself, "It's more than just doing flips Yuuji-kun, it's about having balance, flexibility, and fast reflexes," she places several heavy books on Yuuji's abdomen, almost causing him to completely fall down due to the immense pressure.
"Asami-senseiiiii," he cries once more, sad that his Gojou-sensei wasn't here to save him as he had to train with Nobara and Megumi today.
"No complaining!" she scolds him, tired of hearing his cries for help.
Feeling bad right afterwards, she sighs, getting into the backbend position herself across from Yuuji, a way of morally supporting him, "The more you practice," she adjusts her arms, "the easier it becomes," she says, her long hair touching the floor.
"You," he hesitates to continue with his next sentence, "You don't have any books on your stomach…." he quietly mumbles, but still loud enough for Asami to hear.
Asami scowls at him, walking with her legs and feet to where she had the rest of her books and managing to balance them on her stomach while making her way back to Yuuji, "There, you happy?"
Soon Asami sees a frown on Yuuji's face which she knew was indeed a smile, it was just both his and her backwards position that made it seem like a frown.
"Asami-sensei, you're the best!"
"I know."
"Reflexes Yuuji! Reflexes!" Asami yells into the forest, throwing a multiple number of her knives in different directions, Yuuji managing to dodge each one but just not confidently.
For the past week Asami had been training him in dodging attacks, to the point where he no longer needed styrofoam tips at the ends of her knives to practice with him. That's just how confident she was that he wouldn't get hit, but something was missing. More often than not, she found it that it was his luck preventing him from being hit, and Asami didn't like that. Asami needed him to be confident in what he was doing.
She grumpily walks over to Yuuji, who was currently catching his breath, "Stand straight," she commands at him, the scowl on her face signalling that she wasn't in the best of moods.
Yuuji follows her orders, somewhat used to her mood swings as he knew it was often from a place of care, she would just never admit that out loud of course. In fact, ever since Yuuji's shocking "revival", it seemed she'd grown to not only have a soft spot for Yuuji, but for all of her students. Just that considering Yuuji was her current roommate, it only made sense that he was her …. favorite.
She walks slow circles around him, studying him up and down with narrowed eyes. Yuuji nervously looks around, unaware of the strike she was planning to land on him until suddenly he sees a knife going his way. Barely managing to dodge it, his efforts were of no use as once she threw the second one, he found himself being stuck to the trunk of a tree, his hoodie being caught by her throwing knife.
"You have a blindspot," she informs him, "not only that but whenever you manage to measly dodge one of my attacks, you leave yourself open to the next," she flicks his forehead, taking out her knife from the bark of the tree in the process, "you're not confident in how you move, and it'll be what gets you or others killed."
He remains silent, a frown now on his face.
She places a hand to her temple, reminding herself that she couldn't baby him too much, even if she didn't necessarily like hurting his feelings, "Look Yuuji," she sits next to the boy on the grass, "The things you'll find yourself fighting in the future are rarely ever going to make mistakes, and so it's either kill or get killed, you do understand that right? Not to mention you're a little hesitant with a couple of things..."
Yuuji smiles, "That's because you're my sensei Asami! But trust me when the time comes, I'll have no problem killing those curses!"
Expecting Asami to smile, Yuuji's shocked when he sees her only frown. She stares at him with a hard expression, "But what if I wasn't your sensei? What if I was someone who genuinely wanted to kill you, and you had no choice but to kill me… then what?"
He shakes his head, not wanting to think about such mundane things, "T-That won't happen…" he struggles to respond, not confident in his own answer, something Asami is quick to pick up on.
"There are curse users who want to take your life Yuuji, not curses, curse users," she emphasizes her words, "People like you and me who have dreams and longings," she intensely stares at the teenage boy, "Humans just like you and me who are motivated by different things," her voice begins to rise, feeling herself get triggered, "You'll have to play God Itadori because to be a shaman you'll have to kill—"
"No!" Yuuji yells, a frustrated look on his face, "You're wrong Asami," he gets up from the grass, while Asami only calmly looks at him from her seated position, not bothering to get up herself.
'You're in for a reality check' Asami thinks to herself, his naivety reminding her of a younger version of herself.
"I won't … I can't," he gulps, "Because human life has value to it, and people deserve a proper death…"
Asami carelessly scoffs, feeling like a moment like this needed a cigarette, but the lollipop in her pocket would do, "And what's a proper death to you Itadori Yuuji? Dying peacefully in a bed surrounded by loved ones," she mocks him, feeling riled up herself.
His silence is enough of an answer for her.
"Not everyone gets to have that," she laughs.
Yuuji scowls at her, "I know that... I know that death is inevitable and not everyone gets to have rainbows and sunshine on their deathbed, but I'm not talking about everyone, I'm talking about the people I want to save, the people I'm going to help give a proper death to…"
She shakes her head, knowing that she was probably being the biggest asshole in the world with the bitter smirk on her face. But she just couldn't help it. She refused to watch him become like her. She refused to witness that innocent spark in his eyes flicker away. So if she had to be the bad guy and get rid of it now then so be it. He'd thank her in the long run.
"Look at you already playing God without realizing it," she chuckles, now getting up from the grass and leveling her stare with his, "In this jujutsu world, to be a savior means you have to be a killer," she harshly states, "I had to learn that the hard way," are the unspoken words that follow.
Unwavering his gaze, he looks at her with more determination than ever, "You're wrong," is all he says before turning and walking to the car, unable to dismiss the lingering fear in his heart.
"That's weird, Yuuji usually joins us, is there something wrong with him?" Satoru asks before taking another bite of his food, another unplanned dinner date night happening between the two now that Yuji wasn't here to join them.
The question makes Asami frown, a scowl quickly replacing the sad look on her face, "How should I know? I'm not his mother," she pouts like a child, angrily munching on her food.
"Someone's in a bad mood…" Satoru mumbles, ready to pry into what was going on, "Did you two argue during training or something?"
Bingo.
Asami's grouchy reaction was enough of an answer for Satoru, "No, he's just being a brat like someone I know," she scoffs while beginning to ramble, "In fact I blame you for putting those bullshit ideas into his h—"
"Asami," Satoru interrupts her, "Slow down," he softly chuckles, the speed in which she was speaking making her hard to understand.
"How bout we just eat our food and call it a day," Asami mutters, wanting nothing more than to go to bed already, for she had an exam to give her students tomorrow.
Satoru playfully sighs, "You know I can't do that, especially now that I know something's bothering you," he sets his chopsticks down, ready to listen to the angry woman.
She stares at him for a moment before continuing, deciding that she didn't have the energy to go back and forth with the man, "Yuuji is too…" she pauses, sighing in the process, "naive."
Satoru raises a brow, confused because he thought it'd been clearly established that the fifteen year old boy was indeed quite the naive person. He was a child. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it seemed Asami had quite the issue with it.
"I know that because he idiotically swallowed that finger and became Sukuna's vessel that he has no choice but to be involved in this Jujutsu world, but," she frowns, "But I can't help but feel…" she struggles to find the right word.
"Worried," Satoru says for her, "You're worried for the boy," Satoru kindly smiles at her and Asami shyly looks away, unable to believe that she was in fact feeling protective over the young boy she'd only met weeks ago, almost like some kind of freaking parent. It made her want to puke.
"Asami, Yuuji's a strong kid, both physically and mentally. He won't end up—"
"Like me?" Asami says for him, and to that Satoru frowns, quickly shaking his head.
"He'll be just as strong as you," Satoru boops her nose from across the small table, "So stop worrying so much about him Asami because as long as he's got us by his side, he'll be just fine," Satoru reassures her, giving her a silly two thumbs up pose, successfully making a small smile appear on her face.
"Yeah I guess … I guess you're right, huh?" she chuckles.
"Aren't I always?" he smugly winks at her, only making her roll her eyes.
"Don't get ahead of yourself Satoru…."
And the two soon go back to eating in peace, happy to be one another's support system.
Softly tapping on Yuuji's door, Asami hears a muffled "Come in."
Yuuji sits up from his laid position, awkwardly staring at the woman who was stiffly entering his room, sticks of Hanami Dango in her hand, "Gojou and I made some of these earlier, I um…" she awkwardly pauses, "I thought you'd want one," she offers to him.
Yuuji softly smiles and takes one from her hands, noting that this was Asami's way of apologizing, "Y-You can sit," Yuuji pats the spot next to him, and Asami slowly does.
An awkward silence lingers in the air.
"I'm sorry," Asami randomly says, turning to face the young boy next to her, "I was being too strict with you today, too rough," she explains, any pride she originally felt now gone, "And I was wrong for it. Sometimes I forget you're just a kid, and so it's wrong of me as an adult to expect you to act like anything more or expect you to do things that you honestly shouldn't."
Yuuji nods in understanding, taking a bite of the snack in his hands, "I understand Asami," Yuuji surprisingly drops the honorific, "You're just worried," Yuuji repeats Satoru's words from earlier, but this time Asami doesn't deny it by looking away. Instead she nods in agreement.
"I am," she laughs, "I am very worried," she reiterates, accepting the feeling she felt.
"Do you mind if I ask why?"
Silence.
"I'm sorry—" Yuuji's about to backtrack, feeling that maybe he was over stepping boundaries, but Asami is quick to interrupt him.
"I'm—" she pauses, "I'm not going to get into details…" she contemplates on continuing, "But a long long time ago something happened, something that changed me and my personality completely. It changed the way I looked at the world and the way I carried myself and it took me a long time to recover from it. But I guess you can say it still affects me to this day," she gulps, "I know what it's like to not want to kill people Yuuji, to want to hold onto that innocence and preservation of life," her voice begins to shake, "I just hope," she sniffles, refusing to cry, "I just hope you get to continue to hold onto that innocence of yours," she smiles, ruffling Yuuji's hair in the process.
And with a determined look on his face, Yuuji smiles, "Don't worry Asami, I will!"
And so that night, the two went on a movie marathon while eating the rest of the snacks Asami and Gojou made, enjoying the peaceful state everything was in. But if only the two knew that things were going to change, for soon in the future one of them would attempt to kill the other…..
A/N : lol im not the best at writing fight scenes but for anyone who's curious, if you've ever played virtua fighter and know who the character "pai chan" is then I'd say Asami's fighting style resembles of that (a style of wushu). Ahhh the next chapter is a mission with Yuuji and Asami, and as the last sentence of this chapter says, something will go wrong.