Chapter Nineteen.
Part I.
Till Sundown.
Thursday.
December 5, 2005.
8:45AM.
Pop.
Shoko chews on her pink bubblegum while filing her nails, patiently waiting for Masamichi to walk in and start class. Meanwhile, Asami and Satoru loudly bicker with one another while playing a game of Mario Kart on their Nintendo DS's, one of them having just used a blue shell.
"No fair!" Asami childishly pouts, now in sixth place due to Satoru's surprise attack.
Mischievously laughing, Satoru begins to stick his tongue out in concentration when he hears the music speed up, signalling that they were now on the final lap. Wanting to hold onto his first place position, Satoru refuses to throw any of the banana peels that were currently on the back of his cart, skillfully drifting his way through the turns of the course.
Asami, on the other hand, grins when she sees that she's been given a star from the mystery box, knowing that this was her chance to regain the lead. Quickly catching up to him, Asami presses onto the buttons of her pink DS with more force than before, believing that by pressing onto them harder, it would somehow make her faster.
"Haha, nice try!" Satoru laughs at Asami's failed attempt of knocking him out the course, luckily managing to swerve just in time before she could successfully do so.
From there, the victory music loudly plays from Satoru's blue DS, the boy following it up with an obnoxious dance.
Glaring at him, Asami slams her DS shut, "Oh shut it! You only won because you threw that stupid blue shell!" she huffs, no longer in the mood to play.
"Oh come on! It's just a game," Satoru teases her, aware of how competitive she could get.
"Tch, whatever," Asami crosses her arms before turning away, noticing that a certain classmate of hers was missing, "Wait…." she looks around the room before tilting her head in confusion, "Where the hell is Suguru?"
Satoru shrugs, "Heck if I know," he replies truthfully, "Today the cafeteria was serving grilled salmon for breakfast, so I didn't bother waiting for him. Especially because he takes at least twenty minutes on his hair," Satoru rolls his eyes, the mental image of Suguru's bangs appearing in his mind.
"Perhaps he woke up late," Shoko says, checking to see if her nails were evenly shaped.
"Hmm, maybe," Asami places a finger to her chin, skeptical about her classmate's whereabouts. That's because unlike her other classmates, Suguru wasn't one to ditch or miss class.
In fact, aside from herself, Suguru was probably the one student who took his studies seriously, despite already knowing what his future career would be. Of course, he still occasionally cheated on exams, but compared to Shoko and Satoru, he was much more responsible than the two, occasionally taking time out of his day to study.
'Weird…' Asami thinks to herself, preparing to say something before getting interrupted by an enthusiastic Satoru.
"Anywayssss, enough of Suguru! Let's talk about more important things," he grins, playfully leaning over to Asami.
"Such as?" Asami chuckles, curious to know what had him so excited.
"You know," he gives her a knowing look, "The special day that's coming up," he wiggles his eyebrows up and down, expecting her to know exactly what he was talking about.
Instead, Asami only raises a brow, clearly confused by his words, "Mm, I wouldn't consider winter finals day to be a special day," she laughs, shocking an eager looking Satoru.
Mouth slightly agape, Satoru finds himself at a loss for words. He'd been talking about it for so long! How could she possibly forget?!
Meanwhile, Asami begins to ramble about their winter term coming to an end, "Can you believe we're going to be second years soon?! I mean seriously, where has the time gone!" she says.
It was true. After their upcoming winter break, they'd only have three months of the school year left, with their second year immediately starting in April. Of course, such a rapid transition was often seen as a downside of the Japanese school system, but it was something most students were accustomed to by now.
Not only that, but it wasn't like Asami attended a "regular" high school. Though Jujutsu High often tried its best to emulate the traditional Japanese school year and curriculum, due to the number of things always going on around them, it was quite impossible for Asami and her friends to truly be "regular" high school students.
"Speaking of finals, we have to start studying for the science final," Asami reminds Satoru, who was still in complete disbelief over what he was hearing. By now, he was expecting her to tell him that this was some kind of sick joke, that there was no way she'd forget. But nope! All she did was continue talking about the damn school year.
"I think if we start from Chapter 15 and work our way back—"
"Asami," he interrupts her, the two then staring at each other in silence. Carefully studying her facial expression, Satoru waits to hear some kind of laughter, something that would signal to him that she was simply joking around. Instead, her face remains neutral.
"Are you serious?" he furrows his brows, his expression having gone from being confused to clearly offended, "Did you really forget?"
"Forget what?" Asami's inner eyebrows curl upward, a sign that she was genuinely clueless as to what he was referring to.
Sighing, Satoru shakes his head, ultimately deciding to remind her of the grand day that was coming up. A day in which the most handsome man on Earth was born, thus changing the course of everyone's dull and boring lives. At least, that's what Satoru liked to refer to it as. To anyone else, it'd simply be called…
"My birthd—"
Swoosh.
Masamichi's entrance interrupts Satoru before he could complete his sentence, the three students immediately tucking any electronics away before sitting up straight. Recognizing the sigh that escapes from their sensei's lips, the three students know better than to act up, understanding that the man was in an obvious state of stress.
Walking over to his podium, Masamichi immediately notices the absence of his long-haired student, "Where's Suguru?" he asks.
Waiting for someone to respond to his question, Shoko, Satoru, and Asami awkwardly glance at each other, knowing that a vague answer would only agitate the buff man. Not wanting to deal with the potential consequences, the trio give urging looks to one another.
"I'm waiting," Masamichi frowns, his patience beginning to run thin.
"Ummm…." they continue to side-eye each other before coming to a telepathic consensus, "Iunno," they simultaneously mumble, shrugging their shoulders in a clueless manner while also giving their sensei the puppy dog eyes, purposely making themselves look like little toddlers.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Masamichi exhales deeply, realizing he was way too accustomed to his students' childish antics, "Well, whatever his reason for missing class is, it better be a damn good one because I have a missi—"
"I'm here! I'm—A-A-ACHOO!" a stuffy nosed Suguru enters the room, his hair in disarray as he stumbles his way into his seat.
Meanwhile, Asami, Satoru, and Shoko comically pull out face masks and disinfectant sprays from God knows where, pushing their wooden desks several feet away from the infectious boy. It seemed that the annual winter flu had begun to make its appearance, already claiming its first victim.
"What?" Suguru frowns, offended by his friends' sudden movements, "It's not like I'm si—" he suddenly goes into a coughing fit, the phlegm in his throat making its appearance for the hundredth time this morning.
"Yuck!" Satoru squirms in disgust, "Is that curse mucus coming out of your mouth!" he still finds a way to tease his best friend.
Covering his mouth with a tissue, Suguru glares at the infinity user, "Ha-ha, very funny," he says with a congested voice, his eyes now watery due to his unexpected coughing fit.
Meanwhile, Masamichi sighs before muttering something under his breath, "Looks like it'll only be Asami and Satoru…"
"Hm?" the two teens quickly turn to their sensei, their curiosity having been piqued.
"Only us for what, Masamichi-sensei?" Asami asks.
"For the mission I originally intended to have you three go on," he points at Suguru, Satoru, and Asami, signalling to the students that whatever mission he had planned for them was going to be somewhat dangerous, as Shoko was only ever assigned non-combative missions.
"But because Suguru here is sick, I'll just have you two go," Masamichi explains.
"No, I can still go, I just need—A-A-ACHOO!" Suguru sneezes once more, lowering his head in defeat before mumbling, "I was extra careful this year," to himself.
"Not careful enough," Satoru, in dramatic fashion, begins to spray the disinfectant can in his hand, purposely annoying his best friend.
"Fuck off," Suguru narrows his eyes at him, a smirk then appearing on his face, "Don't go acting like you're not excited that you get to go on a mission with—"
But before Suguru can even finish his statement, the young boy suddenly feels his stomach begin to twist and churn. Eyes widening, Suguru runs to the nearest trash can, barfing up his morning breakfast.
Crossing his arms in satisfaction, Satoru lets out a sarcastic sigh, "I always knew you were half-curse. I mean, you did always reek of one," he stares at his friend with a smug look, internally thankful for the sudden interruption.
"You wanna go?" Suguru growls, a curse of his beginning to crawl out from behind.
"Ha, you won't even last a minute before passing out! Let's focus on getting you to a hospital instead, old gramps," Satoru flashes him a mischievous smile, spiking up his own cursed energy.
Scowling, Suguru tightens his fist into a ball, fully prepared to go at it with his best friend, "Gramps? You're the one whose old—"
"Will you two cut it out already!" Asami finally butts in on their argument while motioning towards an agitated looking Masamichi. Due to the loads of paperwork from the prior night, the buff man hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, something which by now was painstakingly obvious.
Slowly turning to look at their sensei, the two boys feel a collective chill run down their spines, awkwardly laughing as they make their way back to their seats.
"Anyways," Asami rolls her eyes before innocently looking up at Masamichi, "What's this mission of ours going to be?"
Still glaring at his two students, Masamichi hesitantly turns his attention towards the red-head, "You two will be escorting a woman and her child back to their village," he says, making a mental note to cross out Suguru's name off the report before continuing, "Because the village is located in the outskirts of the Kochi prefecture, I have estimated that this mission will take about four days in total."
Asami and Satoru immediately jump out of their seats, "FOUR DAYS?!"
"B-But Masamichi-sensei!" Asami stutters in shock, her mind having gone haywire.
"Four days," Masamichi firmly repeats.
"I thought you said this was an escort mission?" Satoru asks.
"It is, but unlike past escort missions, you two won't be able to fly directly there. Instead you two will have to land at Wakayama airport and travel by ferry to get to Tokushima. From there, you'll travel by both car and foot to get to Kochi," Masamichi answers, pulling a map of Japan out of thin air.
Grabbing a wooden stick from the board, Masamichi begins to point at the route they'd take, explaining that the auxiliary manager in charge of them would have to stay behind once they got to Wakayama. This was due to the fact that Tokushima and Kochi were prefectures that had more mountains than city, meaning unlike Wakayama (which was only a couple of kilometers away from Osaka) curse users would have unlimited range in their attacks.
And considering Jujutsu High was already low on staff, the higher ups simply couldn't afford to put any more auxiliary managers at risk. For this reason, it was up to Satoru and Asami to make sure that any curse users hounding around Tokushima and Kochi were appropriately taken care of. Only then could the auxiliary manager meet up with them.
"I still don't get why we can't take a plane directly there," Satoru huffs, crossing his arms in the process. So much for having a spectacular birthday. Now he was stuck doing unpaid labor.
"It's because curse users are expecting you two to take the most obvious routes. In this case, it'd be better to have no record of your travels and keep your location off the grid," Masamichi says, making Satoru groan in annoyance.
"What the hell is so special about this woman and her kid anyway," he asks in bitter fashion.
"To put it quite simple, let's just say they live in a rural village for a reason," Masamichi answers, "Perhaps when you meet them tomorrow—"
"About that," Asami interrupts, still unable to wrap her mind around the mission they'd just been given, "There's no way we can postpone this mission for some other week..." she nervously laughs, giving Masamichi what could only be described as a … weird … look.
Masamichi furrows his brows, "And why would I do that?"
"Because…" Asami gulps, knowing all eyes were on her, "You know…." she covers the side of her face with her hand, using her eyes to point at Satoru, hoping that Masamichi would understand what she was trying to insinuate.
Sadly, he gets the completely wrong message. "I thought you two made up," he says, to Asami's dismay, outloud.
Clearly taken back, Satoru is quick to turn his attention towards Asami, "We did," he raises a brow, taking note of Asami's discomfort, "Right, Asami?"
Nervously scratching the back of her neck, Asami nods, "Y-Yeah, it's just that finals are coming up and I really need to study and complete all of my assignments so—"
"I've spoken with your teachers already. They'll be giving you two extensions on any upcoming assignments, as well as a couple of extra credit points for your finals," Masamichi states in complete oblivion.
Faking a cough, Asami puts her acting skills to good use, "O-oh well I think I might be coming down with the flu," she places a hand to her chest, "Maybe I should—"
"But you're not as sick as Suguru," Masamichi rudely interrupts, "Not to mention, you two are currently the only available sorcerers for this mission, and I can't have Satoru here going by himself," he firmly states, as first years were prohibited from going on solo missions, no matter how strong they were.
Eyes popping out of their sockets, Asami stares at Masamichi in a way that says, "WORK WITH ME OLD MAN."
"B-But—" the red head continues to stutter, trying to think of another way out, "But I still don't see why this mission will take four days! "
Meanwhile, Satoru frowns, beginning to get offended at Asami's odd behavior. Clearly, she didn't have anything important to do this weekend, so why the hell was she insisting on staying so bad? Choosing to bite his tongue, Satoru bounces his leg up and down, his state of annoyance growing worse by the minute.
"Asami, are you not seeing how far Kochi is from Tokyo?" Suguru chuckles, voice still nasal, "No way can you make it back by the weekend, not unless you get some kind of head start…" he says, seconds away from knocking out.
Tapping her fingers against the wooden desk, Asami carefully studies the map in front of her, 'Head start…' the words repeat in her mind. With a number of calculations running through her mind, Asami estimates the different wait times for each mode of transportation.
DING!
A wide grin suddenly appears on the red head's face, "Then we'll start the mission today!"
"WHAT?!" Masamichi and Satoru yell at the same time.
"Yeah! In fact, I think we can make the trip by sundown! That way, we'll be back by Friday evening!" Asami enthusiastically exclaims.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Masamichi shakes his head, "The plane tickets the school bought are set for tomorrow at—"
"We'll take the bullet train," Asami interrupts him before he can bother completing his sentence, clearing her throat as she prepares to explain her extensive travelling plan.
"Actually, we'll take two trains. One arriving at Osaka and the other to Wakayama. If we leave at 10, we should arrive at around two-ish," she pauses for a moment, placing a finger to her chin as she double checks her mental math.
Realizing she was correct, she nods before continuing, "From there, we take the ferry from Wakayama to Tokushima, which should have an ETA of two hours, meaning we'll arrive by four. After that, we'll take a cab to the outskirts of Kochi and hike our way to the village, just like we were always meant to! Three and a half hours later and … BOOM! We're at the village before the sun is completely down!" she gives her sensei a thumbs up.
Narrowing his eyes at the young girl, Masamichi stares at Asami in suspicion, "Mm," he hums, carefully studying her appearance, looking for any sign of potential doubt. Instead, what he sees is determination.
"Pleaseee," Asami begs, "You said it yourself! It's best we keep our location off the grid, and what better way is there to do that, than to take a train?" she tries to further convince him.
Realizing that she wasn't going to let the idea go, Masamichi glances at the wall clock, "Fine," he sighs, not exactly looking forward to the extra paperwork, "I'll speak with the auxiliary manager. Just make sure you're not late," he reminds the two before making his way out the classroom, leaving the students to themselves.
Clapping her hands together, Asami finds herself unable to contain her excitement, "Yay! I didn't think I'd actually be able to convince him!" she laughs while turning to Satoru, "Now we have the chance of getting back before the weekend."
"Tch," he lets out a sardonic chuckle, his mood having gone completely sour, "Whatever," he begins to grab his stuff, knowing the bell was going to ring at any second.
Confused by his lack of enthusiasm, Asami frowns, "What happened?" she asks, genuinely concerned.
"Nothing, forget it," he gets up from his seat, ready to make his way out the door. But before he can even take a step forward, Satoru feels a hand grab onto his own. Turning around, he's not exactly surprised to see Asami looking up at him with doe-like eyes.
"Satoru," she tugs at his hand, giving him a small smile as a way to comfort him, unaware that she was the reason for his bitter attitude.
And for a tiny moment, he finds himself trapped under her spell, any bitterness he was feeling getting washed away like a riptide. That is until he hears the bell ring, reminding him that he had a mission he had to get ready for. A mission that would've been for Friday had it not been for a certain someone's insistence.
Unable to bite his tongue any longer, Satoru snatches his hand away, "I didn't realize going on a mission with me was that much of a punishment," he mutters.
Taken back by the action, Asami stares at him with hurt eyes, "What are you talking about?" she nervously chuckles, thinking that perhaps she had misheard him.
"You were practically begging to get out of the mission, even making up lies to try and convince Masamichi," he sarcastically laughs, "And now, for some reason, we have to travel across the country in a single day. Something you didn't even bother asking me if I was okay with."
Recalling her little impromptu act, Asami shamefully lowers her gaze for a moment before looking back up, "Satoru," she gets up from her seat, completely understanding why he was upset. Hell, had the roles been reversed, and she would've been just as offended as he was.
"I gotta go get ready," he exhales deeply.
"Satoru, you don't unde—"
"I'll see you on the courtyard," he interrupts her before she could finish, giving her an awkward smile before walking out the door.
Watching him go out the door, Asami sighs before turning to her classmates, "Great…" she huffs, slumping onto her chair while running a hand through her hair.
Softly chuckling, Shoko shakes her head, "You know, it's moments like these where I realize just how much of an idiot Satoru can be sometimes," she says while attempting to wake up a drowsy Suguru by poking him with a stick.
"Tell me about it," Asami sighs, giving her temple a tiny massage, "But I guess in this case, the more clueless he is, the better … right?"
Shoko immediately nods, "Trust me, it'll be worth it in the end."
A small, soft smile then appears on Asami's face, "I hope so. "
Tokyo Train Station.
9:40AM
"Now boarding for Tokyo to Osaka, I repeat, we are now boarding for Tokyo to Osaka. If this is your train, please begin to make your way to platform number six."
"They're late," Satoru mutters, leaning against one of the many steel bollards as he waits for the auxiliary manager and their so-called clients.
"Well now you know how Masamichi-sensei always feels," Asami jokes around, expecting to hear some kind of follow up joke from him. Instead, all she gets is a mumbled, "Whatever," along with an eye roll.
"Someone's in a bad mood," she snarkily murmurs to herself, unaware that it was loud enough for Satoru to hear.
"Yeah, well maybe if I wasn't forced to be here, then things would be a lot more different. But nooo, you just had to act all prissy like you always do," he says with spite, unaware of just how harsh his words were. That is until he sees the visible hurt in her eyes…
"Look, I'm sorr—"
Asami and Satoru's eyes suddenly widen, a collective chill running down their spines when they sense the cursed energy presence of someone who had just entered the train station. Immediately turning around, the two are nothing but shocked when they see that the energypresence wasn't coming from the grown woman in front of them, but the young boy beside her.
"S-Sorry, we're late. We ran into some traffic," the auxiliary manager, Hitomi, frantically apologizes to the students while panting for breath.
Unable to remove their gaze from the boy, the two teens completely ignore Hitomi's apology, still in a halfway state of shock. And here Satoru was thinking he was going to have to babysit someone weak. Boy, was he wrong.
Meanwhile, the mother of the child begins to introduce herself by politely bowing to the young teens, "Hello, I'm Naomi Sato," she offers them a handshake, Asami and Satoru then hesitantly shaking her hand.
"And this is my son, Nikushimi," she taps the young boy's shoulder, urging him to greet them.
"H-Hello," he shyly stutters, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose before bowing.
'No wonder they need the escorts….' Asami secretly studies the kid up and down, almost as if trying to put the pieces to a puzzle together, '...this kid is a walking moneymaker.'
Realizing that she was staring, the red head awkwardly clears her throat before introducing herself, "I'm Asami," she says before motioning to Satoru.
"And I'm Gojou," he gives them a small acknowledging nod, thus earning himself a nudge from Asami, who clearly wanted him to bow. Exchanging grouchy looks with one another, Asami ultimately chooses to back down, deciding she'd argue about this with him some other day.
"This is the final call for train number 562, heading towards Osaka station. I repeat, this is the final call for train number 562. Please begin to promptly make your way over to platform number six, if you have not already. Thank you."
"Ah, we should get going," Hitomi nervously says, as this was her first time overseeing a mission since being upgraded from a storage attendant to an auxiliary manager. And even though the pay was ten times better, the risk of the job made it reasonably …. nerve-wrecking.
Nodding, Asami grabs one of the bags in Hitomi's hands, "You're right, we should," she harshly throws it to Satoru, signalling to him that she was now mad at him for his rude behavior.
Still feeling somewhat guilty, Satoru begrudgingly accepts the punishment, but not before muttering, "Someone's in a bad mood," thus mocking her words from earlier.
"What did you say?" Asami turns to glare at him.
"Tch, nothing," he walks past her, tension now filling the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Hitomi, Nikushimi. his mother, all glance at each other with worried looks in their eyes, realizing that their journey to Kochi was just beginning.
Train #562
11:00AM
"...Once we get to Tokushima, we'll take a cab to the outskirts of Kochi and from there we'll have to hike our way to the village," Asami explains to the mother and kid, unaware that Hitomi had already explained the route to the two.
"We'll probably get there—"
"Asami, they've already heard this from Hitomi," Satoru rudely yawns, stretching his arms over his head as he pretends to be tired.
Closing her eyes, Asami takes a deep breath before plastering a fake smile onto her face, "Sorry, I just like to be thorough," she feigns a soft chuckle.
"It's fine," Naomi makes a comforting motion, "The more thorough, the better, right?" she quietly gulps, sensing the underlying tension between the teens.
"Mmhmm," Asami nods, tapping her fingers against the arm rest, as she was now beginning to reach her limit with Satoru's nasty attitude. For the past hour, the railroad car had been filled with nothing but snide comments from him, with almost all of them being directed at the redhead.
"Yeah, but I've already heard this like twenty times," Satoru butts in, "Trust me, by the third time, you'll get just as annoy—"
"Now you're over exaggerating," Asami furrows her brows, trying to maintain a strong front.
Satoru rolls his eyes, "Am I?" he mockingly smirks.
Clenching her jaw, Asami nods before getting up from her seat, "Yes you are. You're also being an asshole for no fucking reason," she feels tears of anger begin to well up in her eyes, having finally reached her limit.
"Asami!" Hitomi calls out to the young girl, sighing once she sees that she's out of sight. Anxiously running a hand through her silver colored hair, Hitomi turns to Satoru, giving him a "What was that for?" look.
Stubbornly pouting, Satoru avoids eye contact with Hitomi, feeling not only her stare, but the woman and her child's as well.
'How am I the bad guy?' he stubbornly crosses his arms while staring out the window. He was just teasing her!
"Yeah, well maybe if I wasn't forced to be here, then things would be a lot more different. But nooo, you just had to act all prissy like you always do."
He recalls his harsh words from earlier, feeling an intense pang of guilt when he remembers the look in Asami's eyes. The same one she had just now before storming off. Tightening his fist, Satoru lets out a deep exhale before getting up from his seat, realizing that he had indeed been an asshole this whole trip…
A trip that was only one hour in.
"Teenagers, huh?" Naomi nervously laughs.
"Teenagers," Hitomi shakes her head, internally thankful that she was only going to Wakayama with them, and not all the way to Kochi.
Meanwhile, Asami finds herself at the lower deck of the railway car, frustrated with the fact that she couldn't go outside for fresh air. Either way, all she knew was that she needed to be away from that idiot. God, was he being such an assshole!
"Dumb, stupid, egoistic, id—"
"Mind if I sit here?"
Asami looks up to see Satoru towering over her, an awkward smile on his face as he rests his arm on top of her seat.
"Tch, do what you want," she mutters, begrudgingly scooting over for him, "But all imma say is, if you're not here to apologize, don't expect any conversation from me!" she childishly pouts.
Softly chuckling to himself, Satoru is quick to sit next to her, finding her pout to be cute, "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he begins to apologize, "I realize I've been an asshole since the start of this trip—"
"Yes, you have," Asami interrupts, clearly still irritated with him.
"And like I said, I'm sorry," he repeats, "But can you really blame me? I mean, I feel like I have a right to be mad. I just shouldn't be an overt dickhead about it," he reasons.
"Mm," she hums, knowing he had a point. She couldn't blame him for being annoyed at the trip, but that also didn't mean that he had to take it all out on her!
"Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have forced you on this trip, but what difference does a day make?" she asks. As a result, she receives a knowing look from Satoru.
"I could ask you the same thing," he counters back with, successfully silencing the red-head.
Exhaling deeply, Asami sticks her hand out, "Truce?"
Satoru nods, "Truce," he says, but rather than shake her hand, he instead squeezes her nose.
"Hey!" she complains, playfully smacking his hand away, "I've already broken my nose once, don't go breaking it a second time," she laughs.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he rolls his eyes.
"Come on, we should head back upstairs. We're supposed to be protecting them, remember?" Asami chuckles, referring to the mother and her son.
"Ha, like they need us," Satoru scoffs, "Did you not feel that kid's cursed energy?
Asami nods, "And I thought my cursed energy gave people the chills," she says, recalling the intensity of the boy's cursed energy, something which she could feel even now on the lower deck.
"What the hell is his cursed technique anyway?" she curiously asks.
Satoru shrugs, "I don't know. I only know that the basis of it has to do with absorption and amplification. I'd have to see him use his cursed technique in order to know the specific details. All I know is that the kid is definitely on the path to becoming a special grade, if not one already," he says.
"So then why does he live in a secluded area?" Asami furrows her brows, "Wouldn't the higher ups want him as near as possible?"
"Mm, that's a good question," Satoru chuckles, "A question I sadly don't have an answer to," he says, making Asami sigh in disappointment.
"Well actually…" Satoru changes his mind, deciding to let Asami in on his thoughts, "Maybe I do..." he places a finger to his chin, thinking of the best way to word everything.
"Well I'm waiting, " Asami playfully nudges him.
"The higher ups are…. selective people," he hesitantly says, unsure if that was the correct word to describe them.
"Selective?"
Satoru nods, ultimately deciding that it was the most professional word to use, "Meaning they don't just accept anyone in our society. If they did, we'd have hundreds, if not thousands of sorcerers. They only accept what they deem to be either necessary or useful, but they also know when it's best to keep precautions."
"In other words, they know who not to mess with," Asami laughs.
"I guess you can say that," Satoru chuckles, knowing that for the most part it was true. The only reason Suguru hadn't been executed was because his ability was useful for the containment of curses, and he had proven his loyalty a countless number of times.
In Asami's case, the higher ups now knew better than to try and kill her. But even then. When she had first enrolled, they kept her around because they wanted to see if her usefulness outweighed her potential threat towards them. Perhaps they were doing the same with this kid, just from afar.
And then there was Satoru, the boy who the higher ups could only dream of laying a finger on…. literally. His reasons were more obvious than the rest.
"It's always better to have a friend than a foe," Satoru says, pondering on his own ideas, "Then again, for all we know, this kid might have a technique that's deemed as a necessity. Take Shoko for example."
"Hm?" Asami raises a brow.
"When Shoko's cursed technique first manifested, luckily her grandfather knew about sorcery and informed her parents about the school. After identifying her technique, they sent her and her family to a secluded village and when she was finally old enough to enroll, she moved here."
"Had the higher ups known about you and Suguru and they probably would've done the same to you two," Satoru adds, wondering how different things would have been, had that happened.
"I see," Asami hums, fascinated by the topic at hand.
Getting up from his seat, Satoru concludes his thoughts with a final statement, "Whatever the reason is though, this kid is a jackpot for curse users," he says before making his way back upstairs, leaving Asami to ponder to herself.
Wakayama Prefecture.
2:30PM
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Wakayama station. If this is your stop, please remember to take all of your belongings, and thank you for riding with JR West!"
Exiting their second and final train of the day, Satoru dramatically steps out while stretching his arms above his head, yawning loud enough for the whole world to hear.
"NANKAI FERRY STATION (LEFT SIGN) "
"Oh look!" Hitomi points at the sign that, in her eyes, had sparkling stars all over it. That's because it symbolized the end of her responsibilities, as from here on out, the kids were officially on their own.
"How convenient," Satoru smiles, not expecting the ferry to be so close from the train station, "Let's start heading—"
DING!
Satoru rolls his eyes, Asami's phone having gone off for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Sorry," she tries to silence her phone, making a mental note to ask her parents for a new one, as this one kept bugging out on her.
"As I was saying, let's start heading over there," he says with much less enthusiasm, side-eyeing the redhead who currently had her head down her phone.
Clearing her throat, Hitomi prepares to bid farewell to the young students, "Well I guess this is where I—"
"Actually, I was hoping you could lead the way," Satoru gives her a sparkling smile before playfully wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "Masamichi-sensei did say that you were in charge of us until we got to Tokushima…" he whispers into her ear.
Hitomi quickly pushes the boy's hand away, "N-No he didn't," her eyebrows curl upward, the young woman clearly confused by the boy's statement, "...or did he?" her eyes widen, the files in her mind comically going on fire just like that one Spongebob episode.
"Wanna check?" Satoru flips his phone open, his finger hovering over the call button.
"N-No," she frantically shakes her head, "Come on, let's get you guys on board!" she grabs the hands of the mother and kid, practically running out of the train station with them.
High-fiving himself, Satoru walks over Asami, glad to have gotten that responsibility out the way, "You won't believe what I just—"
DING!
"Hahaha," Asami covers her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter, too busy to notice what had been going on around her. Had she seen Satoru wrap his arm around Hitomi's shoulder, she would've definitely done something about it. In fact, it was the sole reason why Hitomi was so quick to push the teenage boy's arm off.
Stretching his neck like a giraffe, Satoru tries to get a glimpse of her phone screen, "Who ya texting?" he asks, curious to see who had her laughing so hard.
SLAM!
Asami quickly presses her flip phone against her chest, "No one," she nervously smiles, making Satoru frown.
"Okay, I guess…" Satoru mumbles, pretending to not care. Two minutes later, and he was once again trying to stretch his neck out, too nosy for his own good.
"Saturday at eight, right?" is what the text reads, the caller ID being covered by one of Asami's fingers. Not that it mattered because by then Satoru's blood was already boiling, any rational thinking being completely thrown out the window.
"Are you serious?" he feels his heart wrench, voice filled with nothing but betrayal.
"Huh?" Asami turns her phone away from his direction, unaware that she was too late.
"All for a stupid date?" Satoru begins to remember Asami's eagerness from earlier, unable to believe that this was what it was all for.
"What are you talking about?" Asami asks, genuinely confused. That is until…
DING!
"Tch," Satoru snorts.
And it's only then Asami begins to understand his sudden change in behavior.
"Oh my God," Asami angrily tucks her phone into her pocket.
"What? Are you mad you've been caught?" he mocks her.
"Caught doing what?!" she places her hands at her hips, offended at the fact that he somehow thought she was in the wrong, "You had no right to look at my phone and you know it!" she inches her face towards his, eyebrows completely furrowed.
"I. Don't. Care," he towers over her, the two completely forgetting that they were in public.
"Of course you don't! When do you!" she scoffs, "It's always about you, you you! You know, you have been acting so weird and out of character since we've started this trip. I mean, seriously!"
Satoru's mouth drops wide open "ME?! You're the one who's been all secretive these days! With your little hehehe and hahaha," he pulls out his phone and pretends to text someone, childishly mocking her laugh in the process.
"Very funny," she glares at him.
"All I'm saying is that if you wanted to go on your stupid little date, all you had to do was be honest about it! Or even better, you could've cancelled it, rather than drag all of us here on some last minute mission across the country!"
"But I'm not going on some stupid date! I'm throw—"
"Asami-san? Gojou-san?" a timid voice interrupts the two from arguing any further.
Turning around, they see none other than Nikushimi standing behind them.
"H-Hitomi-san says the ferry is about to depart," he points at the entry port, his mother and Hitomi waving at them from afar.
Exhaling deeply, the two teens decide they'd have to do this some other day.
"This isn't over," Asami says in a stern voice, resembling that of a mother.
"Blah, blah, blah," Satoru makes a talking motion with his hand while sticking his tongue out.
Tightening her fists, Asami prepares to lash out on him, "You are so—"
POOF!
Face reddening, Asami's jaw practically hits the floor, "No he did not!" she stares at Nikushimi in shock, needing confirmation that he actually teleported himself onto the ferry boat.
Gulping, the young boy nods his head, "He did…"
Steam coming out of her ears, the red head stomps her way over to the ferry boat, ready to give that white haired idiot a piece of her mind.
Nankai Ferry.
3:30PM
"We will be arriving at Tokushima port in thirty minutes. I repeat, we will be arriving at Tokushima port in thirty minutes," the ferry announcer says through the speaker.
Meanwhile, Asami stares at the blue ocean below her while also keeping a careful eye on the young boy next to her. His mother was currently inside the ferry, taking a nap in order to recharge for their upcoming hike. Of course, she didn't allow herself to leave that easily. In fact, it took Asami about an hour of reassurance to convince her to go inside and nap.
Satoru, on the other hand, was "keeping guard" by routinely checking the floors of the ferry, a convenient excuse to avoid Asami and her wrath.
"Idiot…" Asami mutters to herself, throwing a random rock she found on the deck into the ocean.
"Hm?" Nikushimi looks up, having been lost in his own thoughts.
"Oh I'm sorry," she apologizes, "I was just um … talking to myself," she feigns a breathy chuckle, aware of how weird that sounded.
"I-It's fine…" Nikushimi gives her an awkward smile while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, something which Asami had noticed was a habit of his.
"I'm surprised you're not tired," she says, attempting to make some kind of small conversation, as a way to get her mind off that white-haired didiot.
Nikushimi timidly shrugs, "It's not like we've done much…" he softly chuckles, Asami then realizing that this was the first time she'd heard him laugh since the whole trip began. Something which was weird for a kid his age.
"What do you mean?" she asks despite already knowing the answer.
"W-we've just been hopping on different methods of transportation this whole time, though I understand why my mom is tired. She spent the whole night y-ysterday packing and buying things to bring back to the village," he explains, no longer stuttering as much now that he was talking more.
"I see," Asami hums.
"That and well … if I'm being honest, I don't really tire as easily," he says, able to run for hours around the village without a pant for breath.
"Tch, reminds me of someone," Asami scoffs, the image of a sleep-deprived Satoru playing video games at 3AM appearing in her mind.
"Is he your boyfriend?" the young boy asks out of nowhere.
And if Asami had a drink in her mouth, surely she would've spat it out at that moment.
"H-huh?"
"G-Gojou-san… is he your boyfriend?" he repeats the innocent question once more, causing Asami to immediately become flustered.
"N-No," she laughs in an unconvincing manner, "We're just um … friends," she states, her cherry-red cheeks saying otherwise.
"Oh…" the young boy softly chuckles, "I just thought since—well—nevermind," he shakes his head, embarrassed by his intrusiveness.
"What?" she asks, eager to know what made him think that.
Remaining silent for a moment, Nikushimi debates whether to continue, admittedly a little scared of the teenage girl.
"I won't bite," she adds, giving him a small smile of reassurance. Though it wasn't exactly helpful, as it seemed more forced than sincere.
Gulping, Nikushimi ultimately decides to go on, "It's that you two sorta um … you sorta fight like my parents," he lightheartedly admits, "With the petty jabs at each other and mocking tones…"
And if Asami's face wasn't already red before, it certainly was now. He was basically calling them an old married couple! Pouting, Asami rolls her eyes, still upset about their argument.
"I-If it makes you feel better, I think he was in the wrong…" he quietly whispers, making Asami smile.
"Ha! I knew it!" she exclaims, wishing Satoru was here to listen. Sighing in satisfaction, Asami can't help but laugh, "I bet your mom loves bringing you into arguments," she jokes around, making Nikushimi laugh.
"Speaking of your parents… if you don't mind me asking, where's your dad? I mean, no offense, but I genuinely thought it was only you and your mom," Asami asks, curious to know what this young boy's home life was like.
"Oh no, my dad's just back home at the village watching over my sisters," he casually explains, beginning to grow comfortable with Asami.
"Oh, you have sisters as well?"
Nikushimi nods, "Two," he answers quite simply before adding, "They're twins."
"Mhmm I see… how old are they?"
"They just turned three," he says, smiling at the thought of his younger sisters.
"Aren't you lucky," Asami chuckles, "Sorry, I don't have any siblings and well…" she sighs, recalling the days where she'd occasionally feel lonely in her house, wishing she had a sibling to love and cherish.
"I think it would've been nice to have one," she says, as her mom was way past the age of having a second child.
Not wanting the conversation to turn sour, Asami asks a more lighthearted question, "So what's it like?"
"It's," he pauses for a moment, trying to think of the best word, "...nice."
Asami raises a brow, as the young boy then decides to elaborate on his simple answer.
"It's nice to be an older sibling, it's nice to have someone sorta look up to you as if you're the world's greatest hero, it's nice to have someone you can look after and help guide as they get older, and most importantly…" his eyes begin to water, "it's nice to know that you'll always have someone who loves you, no matter what."
A single teardrop falls from the corner of his eye.
"I-I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing," he quickly wipes the tear while attempting to laugh off his emotional state.
"No, you're fine," Asami softly smiles at him, "You must really love your siblings," she chuckles, secretly wondering what it felt like to have that kind of unconditional love for someone.
"I do," he says, "Ever since they were born, I've felt a lot less … lonely," and it's something in the way he says the word that reminds Asami of her younger self.
"What do you mean?" she asks, genuinely curious to know what he meant by the word "lonely".
"Back at the village, before my sisters were born, I had a group of friends who I'd always play and hang out with. We'd do fun stuff like ride our bikes around the village or play games such as baseball and soccer…"
Taking a deep breath in, Nikushimi musters up the courage to continue, "B-But then one day, I started to see these monsters…"
Feeling her heart wrench, Asami knows exactly where the story is headed, for she had once lived this nightmare herself.
"And soon the things I'd touch, in time, would sorta die like wilting flowers. People who'd be around me for too long would feel drained, almost as if I was sucking the life out of them," he fights the forming tears in his eyes.
"After a while my friends would no longer want to hang out with me, not because their parents told them not to, but because they simply didn't want to," he takes a moment for himself, "At first I kept it a secret, but one day.." he sniffles, "O-One day the loneliness became too much..."
"So you told your parents," Asami says for him.
The young boy nods, "And luckily they knew exactly what I was talking about. At first they were mad that I didn't say anything. Then they got sad because they felt like they could've prevented things from worsening had they just sensed it."
"By then my mom was already pregnant and they had already contacted one of the school officials," he explains, recalling the day an old man came to the village, shocked by what he sensed from the boy.
"Soon my sisters came into the picture, and I stopped feeling so lonely," he says, tears now freely falling from his eyes, "Because I knew that it was now my job to make sure they'd never feel like that."
"And your powers?" Asami asks.
"I still don't know how to use them, but I really want to learn how to control them, just so I can be normal again," he says, yearning the days where he'd get to play with his friends without having the fear of hurting one of them, "That's all I really want if I'm being honest," he quietly says, staring at the waves of the sea.
Meanwhile, Asami recalls a memory from her childhood…
"Asami's a freak! Asami's a freak! Asami's a freak!"
"No, I'm not! I swear! You guys didn't see it?" a six year old Asami desperately tries to convince her "friends" that what she saw was real, that it wasn't just a part of her imagination.
"Asami's a freak! Asami's a freak!" the group of girls continue to chant their new saying, laughing as they point at the red-head.
"Please, you guys have to bel—"
"Hey! Leave her alone!"
Turning around, the group of girls turn to see a gap-toothed Yasu running down the hill, a superhero cape draped around her shoulders as she yells, "Asami! I'm coming to sa—AH!"
Facepalming herself, Asami watches as Yasu rolls down the hill, having tripped on her own cape. Soon the group of girls who'd been teasing Asami, direct their laughter towards the purple-haired girl.
Phwwwwwhht!
"Come on girls! Lunch is over!" their teacher announces from afar, having blown her whistle.
Turning around one final time, the group of girls silently mouth, "Asami's a freak! Asami's a freak!"
Running over to Yasu, Asami offers a hand to her, "Are you okay?" she asks.
Patting her knees, Yasu shakes the dirt off her head, "Of course I am! If anything, I should be the one asking you that!"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Asami says in a depressing tone, "I just—I—nevermind."
Knowing what she was going to say, Yasu gives the red head a comforting rub to the shoulder, "If it makes you feel better, I believe you Asami! Once I get a hold of those monsters I'm going to go PEW PEW PEW, " Yasu makes finger guns with her hands.
Unable to hide her laugh, Asami wipes any remaining tears in her eyes, "Thank you Yasu."
Wiping the forming tear in her eye, Asami softly chuckles at the memory, as she too understood what it was like to be ostracized for the unknown. Of course, kids were kids. And who could blame them for being … kids?
"Nikushimi," Asami calls out to the young boy while continuing to stare at the deep blue sea.
"Yes, Asami-san?"
"... Stay special."
"Hm?" the young boy stares at her in wonder.
"Stay. Special," she repeats her words with a firm tone, "Don't force yourself to become normal," she says, "Because in three years time you're going to enroll into a school for special people, and meet special friends, so just hang in there a little longer, and don't you dare become normal."
Silence.
"Thank you, Asami-san."
Tokushima Prefecture Mini-Interlude.
4:20PM
"Taxi! Taxi!"
SLAM!
"Where to?"
"As far as you can take us to…" someone's finger begins to roam around the map before finally pointing at their intended destination, "HERE!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?"
"A little!" a voice shouts.
"No way! The farthest I can take you is ….." the taxi man points his finger at a road miles away from the village.
"Mm, we need to be a little closer than that…."
"No can do! I'm—"
CHA CHING.
A certain white-haired idiot begins to fan himself with several bills.
"How bout now?" he winks at the middle-aged man, lowering his glasses just for him.
VROOM!
Kochi Prefecture.
5 Miles Away from Village.
6:00PM
"Sayonara Yoshihito!" Satoru waves goodbye to the taxi driver, the two having become best friends throughout the car ride to Kochi.
Rolling her eyes at his enthusiasm, Asami begins to flip the map around, wanting to make sure they were at the correct spot before starting their hike, "Okay, so if I'm correct, it's going to take us about an hour and a half before we make it to the village. Assuming we bump into a curse user or two, it'll actually take us about two hours," Asami explains, reminding the mother and child of their plan.
"If you guys want to get home safely, you two have to stay in between Satoru and I, you got it?"
The two nod, understanding that their trip that had been smooth so far was potentially going to take some rough turns.
Pushing her pride aside, Asami turns to Satoru, "You ready?" she asks.
"Always," he smugly answers, making Asami scoff.
"Alright then," Asami claps her hands, taking her first step into the forest, "Let's get this show on the—"
SNAP!
"AH!" Asami falls to the ground, immediately feeling a sharp pain in her ankle as the side of her body meets the rough forest ground, "OW OW OW!"
"Asami!" Satoru frantically runs over to her, wondering what in the hell just happened.
Biting her lip, Asami tries to bear the pain she was currently feeling in her ankle, feeling as if it was currently on fire, "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!" she repeatedly yells while heaving for breath.
"What happened?" Satoru crouches down, feeling frantic as he finds himself unsure of what to do.
"Let me see," Nikushimi's mother motions at him to move. As a result, she receives a … protective... glare from the boy.
"I'm a certified nurse for my village," she says, reassuring him that she wasn't just playing doctor, "Nikushimi, grab the first aid kit in my bag," she instructs her son.
Meanwhile, Asami tries to remain calm, "Satoru, keep guard while she does whatever she's going to do!" she says to him, noticing his hesitancy, "Please," she adds, understanding that he was worried.
Begrudgingly nodding, Satoru makes sure to look around their perimeter, trying to sense any foreign cursed energy. Luckily, he doesn't.
Removing the branches of wood and leaves that covered Asami's leg, Naomi gulps when she sees what's in front of her, originally believing there to be some kind of wound on the young girl's leg. Instead, what she sees has the potential to ruin their whole mission…
"I—I don't know how to tell you this, but…" Naomi pauses for a moment, "You've dislocated your ankle."
Asami's eyes widen, "I've WHAT?!"
"You've dislocated your ankle," Naomi repeats, pointing at the foot in front of her.
Looking down, Asami feels her blood run cold when she sees the state her ankle was currently in, "N-No…" she sutters, refusing to believe what she was seeing, "N-No, " she nervously laughs, both panic and shock beginning to settle in.
Choosing to remain in denial, Asami attempts to get up on her own, "You ma'am are a lia—" Asami suddenly covers her mouth with her hand, preventing herself from letting an ear-shrieking scream.
Oh what a foolish mistake she had made….
"My ankle is dislocated," Asami begins to fully panic, "My ankle is dislocated," she repeats over and over again, "Oh my God! I messed up! I messed up! I'm so—"
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, look at me Asami," Satoru grabs Asami's hand, not caring that there was a possibility that something or someone could attack them, "I need you to breathe with me, okay?" he squeezes her hand, but his efforts were to no use, as Asami just kept on hyperventilating.
"Asami!" he shouts, deciding that the whole "acting soft" thing wasn't for him, or at least not now. Right now, he needed to be tough with her, or else she'd never calm down.
Having gotten her attention, Satoru begins to practice breathing with her, "One," he inhales a big breath of air, "Two," he exhales, repeating his actions over and over again until she begins to follow.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
And slowly, but surely, Asami's rapid heart rate begins to slow down.
"You're doing great," Satoru reassures her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"I've dislocated my ankle," Asami whispers, embarrassed by her own foolish mistake.
Satoru laughs, "And that's fine," he says, any anger he felt from earlier now completely out the window. That's because he could be petty some other day, just not now.
"It's embarrassing," she retorts, completely forgetting that they weren't the only ones in the forest.
"You're right... it is," he teases her. As a result, he receives a two second middle finger from her.
Turning over to Nikushimi's mother, Asami sighs, understanding that she had just complicated their mission, "So … what can I do about this?"
"If I pop it back in now, you won't be able to move at all. Not only that, but I don't have any sedatives meaning the pain you will feel when I do it is going to be—"
"Okay, I get it," Asami interrupts her, not wanting to hear any details, "Looks like I'm going to have to wait till we get to Jujutsu High to get myself healed," Asami says, dreading the idea of hearing Suguru and Shoko's jokes.
"B-But what about right now?" Nikushimi asks, as the clock was now ticking for sundown.
Turning back to Satoru, Asami runs a hand through her hair before speaking, "You're," she pauses, hesitating to continue before doing so anyway, "You're going to have to carry me."
"Excuse me?" Satoru's eyes pop out of their sockets.
Asami scoffs, clearly offended by the boy's reaction, "Why are you acting like I'm heavy or something? Not only that, but what else am I supposed to do?!" flames comedically begin to erupt behind her.
Realizing he was in hot waters, Satoru loudy gulps before attempting to get himself out of his self-made dilemma, "What I meant to say was…. Excuse me, why didn't you ask me earlier?!" he feigns a laugh, motioning to Asami to hop on his back.
"Mm," she wraps her arms around his shoulders, quietly gasping when she feels him lift her up with ease. Not that she was surprised or anything….
"Okay, let's get going," Satoru announces, tightening his grip on Asami's thighs before officially starting their hike.
7:00PM
3 Miles Left.
"H-How much more is left…" Nikushimi takes a gulp of bottled water, his feet burning with every step he takes. To say he was tired was an understatement. It'd been about an hour since their hike began, and they were now on what felt like their hundredth mountain.
"Three miles kid," Satoru says, leaving his mouth open as a way to signal to Asami that he needed water.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Nikushimi's mother asks, the young boy immediately shaking his head no.
"No, it's okay mom," he says, trying his best to persevere.
"You got this Nikushimi," Asami says, unaware of how tone-deaf it was coming from her, "I can see the village from here!" she exclaims.
"Easy for you to say," the young boy mumbles, making Asami frown.
"Satoru," she calls out to him, once again feeling guilty for her mistake.
"Hm?" he hums, climbing up their final mountain.
"I'm sorry," she whispers into his ear, softly chuckling when she catches a whiff of his lavender-scented shampoo.
"For?" He raises a brow, making her laugh.
"Everything."
"Mm," he shakes his head, deciding he'd be the bigger person this time around, "Don't be. I was the one being a nosy asshole," he says while fixing his posture, as Asami was beginning to slip from his fingers.
"Mm, well I was being a prissy bitch," she shockingly admits, Satoru's jaw falling to the floor, "And I'm only admitting that once," she says while pointing her index finger at him.
"Yeah yeah, yeah. All I'm saying is that next time you wanna go on a date, don't drag—"
Asami suddenly begins to laugh.
"What?" Satoru furrows his brows.
"Where did you get this idea that I'm going on a date?" she asks, covering her hand with her mouth.
"That's what I read on your phone. It said Saturday at eight," he frowns, "What else would that be for?"
Asami sighs while facepalming herself, "You really are an idiot, you know that, right? I'm not going on a date, I was planning you—"
BZZ. BZZ. BZZ.
"NIKUSHIMI WATCH OUT!" Asami yells, Satoru immediately ducking for cover as a swarm of fly heads begin to attack. With everyone managing to duck in time, Satoru quickly grabs the young boy by the hand, leading him and his mother down the mountain as he tries to activate his teleportation technique.
"Asami, hold on tight!" Satoru yells.
POOF!
"Set me down, quick!" Asami instructs, understanding that she was only a hindrance.
"What the hell, are you crazy?!" Satoru shouts at her, "You'll get killed!"
"No I won't!" she says, "You can't handle carrying me and fighting a curse user at the same time, now put me down!"
"NO!" he tightens his grip, refusing to let go of her.
"Satoru, I'm being —"
"DUCK!" Nikushimi shouts, a pick axe being thrown towards Satoru and Asami's direction.
Barely managing to dodge it in time, the group of four begin to sprint through the forest, "Satoru, you need to set me down," Asami squeezes his shoulder, "Just for while that you fight the curse user."
"Asami, I already told you, I'm not—"
"I'll carry her!" Naomi offers, motioning to Satoru to hand her over, "I know what direction we need to take to get to the village," she says while panting for breath.
"No."
"Satoru! Just go!" Asami begs, "I'll be fine, I promise."
Turning his head towards her, Satoru sees the pleading look in her eyes, "Don't do nothing stupid," he says, preparing to hand Asami over, "I already know what this woman's cursed technique is. I shouldn't take long," he says while helping Asami onto Naomi's back.
"WAIT!" Asami calls out to him.
Satoru stops in his tracks.
"Do NOT activate red or blue!" she instructs, completely shocking the six eyes user.
"But—"
"Not until I get the curtain up, you hear me?" she says, reminding him that they weren't far from the village, meaning they had to be as discreet as possible.
"Fine," he nods before teleporting himself to the curse user's location.
With Naomi beginning to run, Asami immediately knows that the woman won't make it by carrying her, "Stop," she says, gently tugging at the woman's black hair.
"W-What happened?" she asks, trying not to slow her pace down.
"Set me down," Asami demands.
"But Gojou—"
"Don't listen to that idiot," she says, motioning to the woman to set her down on one of the trees.
Looking at her son, Naomi agrees to set the red head down when she sees him nod, knowing this was their best chance at making it back to the village.
"Now what?" the woman tries to keep her breathing under control, currently feeling as if her mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour.
Taking a deep breath in, Asami tries to mentally prepare herself for what she's about to say, "Pop it back in," she says with a shaky voice, knowing she was about to deal with the worst pain in her life.
"W-What? You're crazy! Popping it back in will only—"
"I SAID, POP IT BACK IN!" Asami's veins begin to pop out of her neck, the girl having reached her limit.
"Fine!" Naomi grabs Asami by her ankle, "You ready?" she asks, waiting to see Asami nod.
And perhaps it was due to the adrenaline that was currently flowing through her veins, but all Asami knew was that she needed this ankle popped back in, no matter how much it hurt, "I'm ready."
"One, two—"
"OH FUCK!" Asami screams in pain, blood coming out of the palm of her hand due to how hard she had been squeezing it with her fingernails. Hitting the tree bark, Asami tries to keep her screams at a minimum, "N-Nikushimi," she calls out to the young boy, sweat dripping down her forehead, "I-I need you to absorb my pain," she says, shocking the boy and his mother.
"W-Wait what?"
"You heard me! I need you to absorb the pain in my leg! You said you wanted to learn how to use your powers, so I'm giving you the chance right now!"
"B-But! I-I can't!" tears begin to well up in his eyes, his fingers now shaking as he tries to get ahold of himself.
"He's just a kid! The higher ups said—"
"Nikushimi, remember what I said! Stay special! You're a special kid Nikushimi, so act like it! Act like it, and prove everyone who's normal wrong!" Asami yells, feeling as if she was going to pass out at any moment, the throbbing feeling in her ankle being too much to bear.
Crouching down to Asami, Nikushimi places a hand onto her ankle, exhaling deeply as he prepares to do something he's never done in his life.
"Nikushimi you don't have to—" his mother begins to creep closer, only to be stopped by the raising of his hand.
"But I do," he gives her a small smile, reassuring her that he'd be just fine.
"Here goes nothing," he whispers to himself, for the first time in his life, using his powers voluntarily. Wincing in pain, Nikushimi feels tiny prickles on his skin, the pain Asami was feeling beginning to transfer over to him.
Meanwhile, Asami feels as if a weight has been lifted off her ankle, any pain she felt now gone. Moving her foot around, Asami smiles when she senses its weightlessness, "You did it," she says in disbelief, having had her doubts.
"I did it," Nikushimi softly smiles to himself, feeling proud.
Getting up on her own two feet, Asami bites her lips when she hears the sound of an explosion, knowing it was only a matter of time before the village was aware.
"I need you two to go and hide, okay? Do not go to the village, okay? Not yet!" Asami points out a tiny bush they could hide in, "I'll be back," she says before running off, immediately making the hand sign for a curtain.
"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is—"
But before she can complete the ritual, Asami feels herself get kicked to the gut, blood coming out of her mouth before she even has time to react. Looking up above her, she sees the face of a young man, no older than twenty.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he mocks her, "Night, night," he says.
From there, all Asami sees is black.
Meanwhile….
"Aren't you fast!" the curse-user known as, Dalma Black, throws her weapons at Satoru, frustrated at the fact that none of them were hitting. They all kept getting repelled by his infinity, something she had no solution for, except …
"I have her ready," Dalma hears her boyfriend's voice from her ear-piece, realizing that the fun was just beginning.
"Bring her in," she demands.
"Bring who in?" Satoru furrows his brows, confused as to who the hell this crazy woman was talking to. At this point, he was only waiting for Asami's curtain to come up, so that he could finally blow this forest up into pieces, but it'd been about twenty minutes now and nothing.
"Well your girlfriend of course," Dalma points behind him, a smug look now on her face.
"My girlfriend?" Satoru quickly turns around, heart dropping when he sees a black-haired Asami in front of him, the young girl spinning her knives as she begins to walk towards him, nothing but a dead look in her eyes.
"Doesn't she look so pretty?" Dalma smirks, "I'll let you two have your fun," she says before walking away, knowing she'd won.
Staring at the girl in front of him, Satoru curses to himself when he sees the link of cursed energy between the two women, immediately understanding what fighting Dalma Black would mean. Any injury on the woman would mean an injury on Asami, and any injury on Asami, would mean an injury on Dalma.
"Asami, snap out of the trance," Satoru yells, Asami now raising her hands as she prepares to throw her knife at him, "Asami!" he yells her name over and over, but it was no use.
Soon enough, the two were sparring, one side trying to go in for the kill while the other was just trying to get their hot headed red-head back, "Asami, you don't know what you're doing!" he blocks her knife with his infinite, thinking how crazy it was that he was genuinely fighting the girl.
Swinging at his head, black-haired Asami visibly gets frustrated at the lack of contact, "Fight like a real man," she says, and almost immediately Satoru knows that it's not Asami saying this but Dalma.
"Mm, don't really feel like it," he laughs, stopping himself mid-way his swing when he realizes that it wasn't Dalma he was about to hit, but Asami.
"Fuck," he mutters to hismef, trying to think of a way to get Asami to snap out of it.
DING!
"Damn it," Satoru curses to himself, turning off his infinite, but not before pushing Asami away one last time.
"So the infinite is off," she smirks, the two now standing across from each other like a cowboy showdown.
"You bet it is," he smirks, ready to fight Asami head on.
Cracking her knuckles, Asami pouts, "But you won't actually hit me will you? You like me too much to do that," she winks at him, walking closer to him.
Sighing, Satoru shrugs, "You'll thank me in the long run, by the way black is NOT your color."
Swinging a high kick at Satoru, Asami immediately ducks when he counters with a swing of his own. Grabbing his arm, she tries to twist him in a way that'd get him to flip, but because he had so much strength, he instead pushes her onto a tree.
Pushing her legs against the trunk, Asami manages to escape the potential trap, running towards the end of the forest where a spring lake could be found. Though she was better at combat in tree-filled spaces, for the plan she had in mind, she'd need an open field.
"Didn't take you as someone who liked to run away," Satoru runs right behind her, taunting her with every step he takes, "Then again, you always were a quitter."
"You don't know what you're talking about," she laughs, leading him right in her trap.
"But I do," he says, "A heavy quitter who I just had to carry two miles! I mean, seriously my legs were about to break!"
Immediately stopping in her tracks, black haired Asami feels a tingling sensation throughout her body, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" she involuntarily yells, the tips of her hair becoming red.
"You heard me! I said, a heavy—"
She impulsively swings at him, giving Satoru the opportunity to grab her by the hand and pin her onto the ground. Grabbing her wrists with his hands, Satoru does one final thing to get her to come back.
"W-What are you doing?" Asami watches Satoru inch closer to her face, his eyes staring at her lips.
"Just shh," he hums, and before she knew it….
His fingers were squeezing her nose.
"OW! You asshole!" Aami grouchily slaps him, her hair now back to red.
"There's my Asami!" He wraps her in a big tight hug, not caring that they were in the middle of a battle.
"You called me heavy!" she slaps his arm, forcefully pushing him away.
"I didn't mean it! I just needed to get on your nerves! And it worked! " he says, giving her a thumbs up.
"Hmph, we'll talk about this later," she says, "Anyways, there's two curse users. Dalma Black and her eye-candy," Asami explains, "Eye-candy is basically a useless henchman, so I say, you go get him and I deal with Dalma Black."
"And why would I do that?" Satoru raises a brow.
"Because…" Asami gulps, "I think Dalma is still," her hands suddenly move around involuntarily, "In control."
"Fine," Satoru sighs, "I'll meet you here when I'm done," he says, leaving Asami by herself at the lake.
With Asami's hands now clapping together, the young girl knows that Dalma is near her.
"I gotta give it to him," she appears from the forest, "He's not as stupid as he looks," she insults the Six-Eyes user, while pulling out her two pickaxes.
"He outsmarted you, so what does that tell us?" Asami chuckles, two knives of her own now in her hands.
"Tch," the woman scowls, deciding not to waste any more time.
"So who hired you?" Asami asks while her knife clashes with Dalmas's, "No way would you want a brat to follow you around all day. Last time I heard, you hated kids," Asami grunts, trying to beat Dalma's force.
"Sorry, but I like to keep confidentiality," she winks, attempting to strike at Asami from below the stomach, but sadly the fact was, as long as they kept duplicating each other's moves, no one was going to win.
"It's only a matter of minutes before Satoru returns," Asami smirks, "That henchman of yours is quite the coward so I wouldn't be surprised if he ran away."
"What are you talking about?" Dalma glares at her.
"The whole time I was getting my leg fixed, your boyfriend just kept staring from afar, too much of a coward to face a kid, his mother, and an injured shaman," Asami scoffs.
"Oh shut it! He only waited because that brat has the cursed energy of a devil!" she hisses, offended at Asami's insult.
"Blah, blah, blah," Asami mimics Satoru's talking hand motion, finally gaining enough strength to push Dalma out the way, "Now if you don't mind…."
"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure!"
"No," Dalma panics when she sees the forming curtain around her, knowing that Gojo Satoru now has free range to do whatever he'd like.
Using every last bit of strength, Dalma yanks her own hair hard enough to bring Asami down, crawling over to her with her pickaxe as she attempts to stab the girl to death.
Fighting the woman's attempt off, Asami senses the return of Satoru's cursed energy from across the lake, knowing that it was time to end this once and for all.
"Satoru," Asami calls out to him, "Do it now!" she yells. Watching him prepare to run towards her, Asami immediately tells him not to, "Satoru don't! Just do your technique! The one you've been practicing at school!"
"But—"
"Just do it! I'll be fine," she mouths, pushing Dalma off of her before getting on top, subduing her by the arms.
Hesitating for a slight moment, Satoru makes the hand motion for his newest technique, "Cursed Technique Lapse: Maximum Cursed Energy: Azure Glow!"
A bright blue light then appears for a tiny second, everything that was in the curtain's perimeter closing in on him. And because he was still new to using the technique, Satoru had no control over what was getting thrown around him, as his body had felt as if it'd been hit by a freight train.
All he knew was that one moment he was standing on his own two feet, and the next he was on the ground, surrounded with nothing but rubble and cut up trees. Looking around, Satoru rubs his head before slowly getting up, his mind immediately thinking about a certain re-head.
"Asami!" he yells to the forest, panting for breath as he frantically looks for her. Meanwhile, the curtain that surrounds him begins to slowly dwindle, it's dark color becoming fainter by the second. This could only mean that the caster of the curtain was...
"Asami!" he continues to call out for her, pushing out any intrusive thoughts as he desperately looks for any signs of cursed energy. Feeling as if the world was rapidly spinning, Satoru tries his best to remain focused, forcefully pushing through the aching soreness of his muscles.
"Damn it," he mutters, knowing he shouldn't have listened to her, "Asami!" he feels his throat go dry, yelling her name for what felt like the hundredth time. Limping across the field of the lake, Satoru feels his knees begin to give out on him.
There was nothing here. No cursed energy. No groans of pain. No nothing. Just silence.
'Impossible,' he thinks to himself. She had to be here somewhere. His eyes wouldn't miss her, they wouldn't miss her cursed energy, "Asami!" he walks towards the dock, wanting nothing more than to hear her voice right now.
And then he remembers something….
"I can't swim."
From there, he finally sees it. He sees the bubbles of air on the surface. And it takes him no less than a second to jump in. Swimming down to the deep end, he sees her…
He sees her lifeless body next to Asami's limp one. Asami had killed Dalma. And once again, she had taken the burden for him.
Wrapping an arm around her body, Satoru quickly swims towards the surface, throwing her over his shoulder once he reaches land. Panting for breath, he carefully lays her on the ground, quickly checking for a pulse as she begins to shake her body.
"Asami, wake up," he says, placing his ear against her chest.
Nothing.
Placing his hands onto chest, Satoru begins to perform CPR on her, frantically pressing against her heart as continues to speak to her, "Asami, you gotta wake up, this isn't funny anymore," he says, breathing onto her blue lips.
Shaking her by the shoulders, Satoru refuses to believe she is dead, "Asami, wake up," he demands, pressing onto her chest harder than before. But everytime he checked for a pulse, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile, Naomi and Nikushimi run towards the two, feeling their hearts drop to their stomach when they see what he was doing.
"Go run to the village and get some assistance. Tell them we need a defibrillator, ASAP!" she yells at her son before, tapping Satoru on the shoulder, "I'll take over," she says, but Satoru refuses to relent.
"No, I got this," he says, voice void of emotion.
"Gojou," she pauses for a moment, "I know you care for her, but you have to let me take over," she whispers to him, understanding that what he was going through right now, was much worse than heartbreak.
Closing his eyes, he feels Naomi pry his hands away from her, his mind blank as he stares off into the sunset, not wanting to believe that Asami Okada was dead.
A/N: Next chapter picks up right where we left off!
For this chapter, I really had to study Japan's geology/map haha! At this point I know a good majority of their prefectures lol. Also, for anyone who is confused about the school year in this story and whether we're following a Western or Japanese calendar, as I told another reader, when I first created this story I did not know much about the Japanese school system but after doing decent research, I've decided to stick with it, meaning as of now the first-years are currently in their final months of the school year.
For those who don't know, Japan ends their school year in late March, and immediately start in April. There technically is no "summer break" as students are still expected to do schoolwork and club activities during the summer, but there is a bit of a winter break. Again, I'm going to try my best to have a fixed timeline. As for birthdays.
Shoko = November 7, 1989
Satoru = December 7, 1989
Asami= January 1, 1990
Geto= February 3, 1990
Asami and Geto are younger than Shoko and Satoru, but are part of the same year because I would assume the cut off date for school years is April.
So to sum it all up, their second year start April 2006, and Hidden Inventory happens August 2006! We are currently in December of 2005 so we are approaching it!
I ended up scrapping almost all of the fight scene between dalia and Asami/gojo bc TBH I HATED IT (still do but its whatever!) In the end I decided it wasn't important. In fact, everything that's in this chapter (excluding the fight) is extremely important for future chapters which is why I ended up being like "why am I putting so much effort into something that won't even really be brought up again in the future." And when I say brought up again I mean those specific characters and their techniques. Everything else, I would recommend reading twice because a lot of stuff in this chapter is very important/ hints at future chapters.
The mini interlude was meant to be written that vague. I didn't have anything special planned for that so LOL.
PS. I do not consider CPR as a kiss so this does not fall under that. I at 99% are mature enough to know that , but you know, just for that 1% , this is not and will never be referred to as their first kiss!
It is currently 5AM where live. I 'm sorry I was a couple of hours late yall but I really hated that fight scene you guys like... ill probably go back and rewrite it at some point in the future.