Title: Nevertheless

Disclaimer: I do not own Jujutsu Kaisen.

AN: This chapter was supposed to be up earlier in the week but I had to take a break due to work piling up from university. I hope everyone isn't ooc. Also remember that Natsue was born on March 7, 1990, Gojo on December 7, 1989, and Geto on February 3, 1990. So, she is in the same generation as them thus they're classmates. Anyways, enjoy.

Chapter 4

The dorms were a thousand times better than the one I had inhabited before I dropped out of college in my previous life. It was a spacious room that already had furniture and all I needed to do was organize my lightly packed suitcase of clothes into the cabinet. Folded neatly on top of my bed were my uniforms with two golden buttons next to them. I picked them up, cradling them in my palms. The gold was engraved with the crest of Jujutsu High; the swirly black design indicating allegiance and providing a sense of belonging. The buttons were kind of like an official indicator that I was a sorcerer now. That I had succeeded in the first step. Sakaguchi Kazuya, the assistant director, offered to customize my uniform if the design didn't meet my satisfaction but I declined. I already liked the high collared asymmetrical blue jacket, skirt, and stockings as they were.

The first and second days were spent on touring the campus with Sakaguchi and him explaining the importance of abiding the jujutsu regulations. Which was pretty tiring as there were so many rules or 'articles' as they were called and one had to memorize and enforce them all. The evening that I returned to my dorm was probably the highlight between those days. I knew I couldn't be the sole student currently enrolled although classes were constantly small as sorcerers made up what— less than one percent of the population so it wasn't impossible to be the only one.

"I don't think I've seen you around before."

I paused midway from entering my room and angled my face to the side.

She had shoulder length, chestnut brown hair and a beauty mark underneath her right eye. Her face retained the same features of 2018 in the manga but the only difference was she didn't have her signature tired eyes and looked much younger. Shoko Ieiri.

Part of me almost forgot who my potential classmates were due to my priority of surviving my family first but her appearance was a wakeup call. I was a 90's baby, which meant I was in the same generation of Gojo, Geto, and Ieiri and it was currently 2005: we were all first years. Oh joy.

I mentally berated myself for the lengthy, awkward pause before quickly extending my hand out. "Nice to meet you, my name is Kamo Natsue. I just enrolled."

"Ieiri Shoko." She replied, shaking my hand. "Thank god— I won't be the only girl anymore."

I gave her a small chuckle. "It can't be that bad." Oh, I knew it could get bad. One of our classmates was Gojo Satoru.

"Well… you gotta see for yourself." She scratched the back of her head, thinking otherwise. "Anyways, got any questions? I'm not sure if I can answer every single one of them but I'll try."

I hummed, "what are the classes like? Is there a fixed schedule?"

She shook her head, "I wouldn't really call it a fixed schedule per se. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we have field tests or training missions we complete. During Tuesdays and Thursdays we stay in class to learn Jujutsu concepts and train one on one with the teacher, Principal Yaga. We deviate a lot from the schedule so that's why I wouldn't call it fixed." She continued, "as for classes, they're just lectures. You walk in, listen and get out."

"There's no exams?" I asked incredulously. "You're joking right?"

No matter how deviant this school was from the traditional civilian high schools, there has to be a process that measures our knowledge.

"Nope. The exams are basically training and improvement. Your proficiency and knowledge are examined through your improvement in jujutsu."

Holy shit. No standardized testing. Finally, something worth celebrating for in my new life.

"Wow, I mean— that's nice."

"Yup. Got anything else?"

I quarreled with my mind, trying to find any more questions but I think that was it—

"Actually, I uh… do you mind walking with me to class tomorrow?" I hesitantly asked. "I still have a hard time navigating my way through campus so I easily get lost."

"Hey, don't sweat it." She gave me an easygoing smile. "You just enrolled and the campus is huge. I'll wait for you in the morning and we can walk in together. While we're at it, let's grab breakfast together too."

I sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"I'll see you tomorrow then." She said while entering her dorm. "Goodnight."

Jujutsu High was obviously not your average high school and so I was stumped on deciding what to pack or whether I even bring a backpack to class. Should I be taking notes? The classes were mainly conducted in practical training assignments or field tests that didn't really require the traditional paper and pencil. I ultimately decided that tomorrow's class will be a trial and gauge what it was like, basing my necessities from there.

I woke up the next morning, feeling jittery than usual and slightly amused at my new found excitement. I haven't felt this way since my first day of high school as Reina. I fastened the last button on my uniform and loosely tied my hair into a ponytail with the braided, red string that mother had made me when I was seven years old. Over the years it became my lucky charm as I always kept it around me whether as a hair tie or a bracelet wrapped securely around my wrist. I headed out and just as she said she would, Shoko was casually leaning against the door, waiting. We stopped by the school's dining hall for a quick breakfast and walked to where the classes were being held, which was the building located at the eastern side of the campus.

Strangely, my heart thumped our entire way there and I wasn't completely sure why.

Shoko slid the door open and led me inside first. Immediately, our eyes met. His dark eyes curiously staring back at mine. It felt bizarre seeing him at this stage of his life. When everything didn't go downhill like it originally did. When he wasn't a curse user. The Geto Suguru sitting in front of me had shorter hair, mostly tied up with the exception of his bangs and donned his Jujutsu High uniform.

Next to him, sat a slumped Gojo, propping up his head with a hand while facing the window. His demeanor full of disinterest for his surroundings.

"Aren't you guys going to introduce yourselves? She's new you know." Shoko remarked frankly as we took our seats.

He stared at me for a moment and a small smile formed on his lips, his voice had a melodic tone to it. "Hello, I'm Geto Suguru."

I gave him one of my warm smiles that I wore only in front of Chitose and mother. "Hi, my name is Kamo Natsue."

"Oh? You're a Kamo, from one of the great sorcerer families." He turned to his side, towards where Gojo sat. "Hear that? Looks like you won't be the only one from the big three anymore."

Now that piqued the white haired sorcerer's interest enough for him to respond. He slowly turned his body towards us, tilting his head downward, slightly revealing his eyes. "I'm supposed to hate you."

He then leaned against his chair, balancing backward onto its two back legs.

I blankly stared at him, not knowing how to reply as he was referring to the bad blood between our families.

"Don't mind him. He can be… rude sometimes." Geto rested his chin on his knuckles. "I thought the Kamo resided in the Kyoto area. Why aren't you attending the sister school?"

How should I summarize my reasoning for attending this school without going off on an entire tangent?

"Because I'm a girl and my family prevented me from being a sorcerer just for that reason and I wanted to prove them wrong. I also didn't want to feel… helpless." I lamely added, not knowing how to summarize everything in just two sentences.

"Woah, misogynistic much?" Shoko jeered.

"Well, those are legitimate reasons to attend here." He simply answered.

"What about you guys?" I asked. "I mean, besides wanting to become a sorcerer. Do you guys have other reasons."

"Not really." Shoko lazily twirled a piece of her hair around her finger. "I just discovered one day I could see cursed spirits and use cursed energy and the last thing I know, I'm enrolled."

She was so nonchalant about everything. I wish I could be this laid back with life.

"For me," Suguru started out. "I was taught from a young age that those who are stronger exist to protect the weak and so, I joined to uphold those values as someone who possesses jujutsu."

I would've given him some sort of compliment if it wasn't for the scoff resonating beside him.

"Protecting the weak? What are you, some sort of guardian angel?" Gojo's marble-like blue eyes glimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the window. They were honestly mesmerizing to look at. It was like he had captured the entire sky within his eyes.

"What?" Suguru frowned.

"You heard me." There was a teasing, playful edge in Gojo's words. "Protecting the weak is just so— hmmm exhausting. So why bother?"

"I thought I told you already." Suguru's face twists into a scowl. "It is our duty as jujutsu sorcerers to protect the non-users. Why can't you understand that? How many times do I have to educate you?"

"Blah, blah, blah. Protecting this, helping that— I find it all annoying!" Gojo exclaimed immaturely.

Now I knew what Shoko was referring to when we first met.

Cursed energy flared within the room, slamming against me without warning.

"Here they go again." Shoko rolled her eyes and rested her head on the desk. "Wake me up when Principal Yaga gets here."

Geto stood up from his chair. "Let's go. You and me. Outside."

"Sure. I'm ready whenever you are." Gojo mockingly grinned while stretching his arms.

I mean, objectively speaking Gojo is not wrong. Compared to making up less than one percent of a population, it was an intense amount of work being jujutsu sorcerers. The number of lives a sorcerer was responsible for was a bit staggering to think about and sometimes might be mentally draining.

Sure, that whole star plasma vessel experience was very critical in Gojo's growth as a person and presented him with a larger purpose in life which was changing the Jujutsu world. But the thing about Gojo is, he's definitely not the antagonist that he is made out to be. Even as he questions a jujutsu sorcerer's principle of protecting the weak, he merely stated that he finds it tiring to do so, which is fair and then proceeds to complete his job anyways. Throughout the story, he never harmed an innocent life and never misused his power for his own selfish gains, unlike the assholes of the jujutsu higher-ups. Not to mention, he was also the one who broached the subject of calling off the merger of Riko if she wasn't willing to go along with it. He let her live her life to the fullest and was willing to go against Tengen and the whole jujutsu world to help her win her freedom. And this was all before things went horrible in the star plasma incident.

I feel like his belief that kids should live their youths kind of stemmed from his childhood. Considering how my own clan and the Zenin were like, I wouldn't be surprised if Gojo also resulted from a messed up upbringing. However, he was the exact opposite. Unlike me or Maki who left our clans for being mistreated, Satoru must have been placed on a pedestal since his birth, evident as they stated that his birth shifted the balance of the world. But it's also precisely this fact that he likely had an insane amount of expectations placed on him. Toxic expectations placed on a child. He was seen as their sole ray of hope to maintain the clan's prestigious status and reputation in the jujutsu world. He must've felt stifled, alone. The same power isolates him from others, making him a very lonely person. So, he was and always has been a good person at his core, a rebel in the jujutsu system.

"You're not wrong." My voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

The cursed energies fizzled down as both men shot me different degrees of confused and surprised looks.

A rueful smile reached my lips. "It is exhausting to constantly look after the weak. Afterall, those are people you do not know nor care about, and not obligated to care about. And yet, you still do your job properly. You and, let's just say, I have different reasons and opinions as to why we help those in need. It doesn't really make you a bad person but at the end of day, we just have different morals and I can't force you to not think about something in a certain way. Only you can change yourself."

It was hard to decipher those blue eyes of his as they observed mine and the silence that followed was starting to suggest that I shouldn't have spoken up. The sudden slam of the door opening broke the awkwardness that was forming.

"Good morning." Principal Yaga's voice was deceptively light at first but noticed the weird atmosphere in the room. "… is there something wrong?"

"Nope."

"Nothing's wrong."

Both of the guys adamantly assured, all traces of their previous alteration gone.

"Right then. Today, we'll be going on another practical training assignment. As for you, Kamo, since this will be your first time, it will also double as a field test." The principal continued, "we'll be investigating an abandoned children's hospital called The Tuberculosis Sanatorium for Children located near the outskirts of Tokyo. Built in 1943, the government tried to manage the spreading and treatments of the highly contagious disease until it was closed in 1992 due to the lack of patients. There have been paranormal reports of cursed spirits of children who had suffered agonizing deaths due to the disease. It was theorized that the overwhelming grief of the hospital staff and the fear at the time cursed the children, causing them to manifest into cursed spirits."

Okay, my first mission was already so heartbreaking. The amount of loss of children that occurred in the hospital was tragic enough but the fact that they had to be exorcised was just too painful. As Danny Thomas, a well known actor and comedian from my distant past puts it, 'no child should die in the dawn of life.' And I fervently believe in that.

"Your job is to exorcise every one of the cursed spirits. Since they are mostly grade three and two and occasionally semi grade one spirits, you shouldn't have too difficulty in completing the mission."

"Of course we won't; we have me."

I heard Gojo mutter underneath his breath casually like it was blindingly obvious. I can see the arrogance oozing off from him.

Principal Yaga glanced at the clock, "let's regroup at the main entrance in thirty minutes. That should be plenty of time to prepare yourselves as we won't be travelling far this time. Class dismissed except for you, Kamo."

Shoko tapped my shoulder. "I'll see you at the entrance."

I nodded before making my way up to where the principal stood.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes." Principal Yaga folded his arms. "Soon, you will be tested for your grade registry, your starting rank. Hailing from the Kamo clan and possessing Blood Manipulation, I expect that you will automatically receive a grade two but to be sure you will be examined."

"I understand. However, I believe my future promotions won't be easily possible as my family will impede every attempt." If the Zenin clan did it to Maki, I'm a thousand percent certain that the Kamo will do the same to me.

"That is a very likely outcome." He replied. "But I'm working with the jujutsu higher-ups to override your clan's interception, if they do. For now, it doesn't seem like there is any resistance to the decision of you receiving a rank."

No resistance? I don't know whether I should feel glad or be suspicious.

I strode out of the classroom, forming a list in my mind on what to pack and also making sure I had enough blood bags for the mission. Actually, there was nothing else to pack other than blood. I guess I can try to pack a first aid kit but the weight will definitely hinder me during battle. I made frequent appointments with the school clinic to draw blood and have them properly stored until the time came when I needed them. After stopping by the clinic to pick them up and spending some time chatting with the school's doctor, I arrived at the front entrance ten minutes early.

"Ready for your first mission?" Geto asked.

I shrugged. "I think so. But I'm not too worried."

"That's good." He assured. "You'll be fine."

"Why can't we just go there ourselves." Gojo yawned, scratching the back of his head, exasperatedly. "The two of us are enough."

I wasn't offended by his last remark. This was Gojo Satoru. His opinion of others only went as far as his judgement of their strength and was apathetic to those he deemed weak. It was for that reason he carries a very disinterested demeanor towards me. But whatever, I came here to become a sorcerer not to care about a classmate's opinion on me.

"To enforce the concept of teamwork." Geto reminded him. "To make us rely on each other."

The white haired sorcerer fake-pouted. "I don't need that."

When the rest of our group finally arrived, we drove to our allotted destination; Nishi-Azabu, a district in Tokyo. It wasn't surprising that the sanatorium looked like what you would imagine a creepy abandoned hospital to be in a horror movie. All it needed was some spooky music and a random person who is about to get themselves killed by exploring its confines to complete the tableau.

The building reeked with dark, malicious cursed energy and it was in debilitating conditions due to time. The concrete walls were faded, filled with cracks, and stray vines climbing to search for sunlight. The rusting iron fences that bordered off the hospital were in their last stages of life, struggling to stand upright. The surrounding area was almost like a garbage landfill with medical wastes such as face masks and gloves covering the grounds. With the outside already being this disgusting, I can only imagine how dirty it was on the inside.

"Gross doesn't even describe this." Shoko cringed.

"As you can already sense, there are multiple curses within the building. Do not come out until every one of those have been exorcised." Principal Yaga sat on a broken tree trunk. "I'll be waiting here."

"Let's get to it then." Suguru mused, walking towards the building.

It was fucking disgusting inside and the smell that permeated the room was putrid. We were probably inhaling fifty pounds of dust in here.

"Let's save some time and split up." Shoko suggested. "Each of us will take a section of the building. I'll take this section."

"What? You scared?" Gojo sneered. "This is where the least amount of curse spirits are cause it's near the entrance."

"No. It's called using your brain, Gojo." She deadpanned. "Maybe you should give it a try."

"What?!"

"I agree on splitting up." I scanned the environment. "By doing so, we'll cover more ground, completing the mission faster."

Suguru jabbed his thumb behind him. "I'll take west."

Gojo was already strolling towards the direction he deemed had the most cursed spirits which was the north.

"Guess, I'm taking east." I said flatly. "Let's meet back up in this exact spot after we're done."

They agreed, well Shoko and Suguru agreed and we split up in our respective directions.

Just the eastern section alone was pretty vast, with many halls and rooms that made it like a maze. I kept track of my surroundings, using dirty wheelchairs or medical carts as check marks that I've been there. The building was definitely eerie and a bit creepy but not scary. Instead, a certain feeling of never ending bleakness and hopelessness washed over me. Empty boxes, filthy hospital beds, and graffiti decorated the halls as I carefully avoided them.

Following the first residual I detected to a room, I reached for a blood bag and slowly opened the door. The room was probably used for an X-ray or MRI due to the machines still left untouched even after all these years. The tables were covered with x-ray photographs mainly of children. I hesitantly took one more step forward when the cursed spirit I detected burst out from behind, screeching and I threw myself to the ground, avoiding its gigantic, sharp teeth against the back of my neck. The curse spirit was a mini sized one but its mouth took up most of its body portion. It kind of resembled an angler fish but more prominent teeth and it had legs.

I scrambled back up and burst open a blood bag, concentrating it between my hands for Slicing Exorcism. The blood swirled into a circle with a hollow middle and spikes protruding from the edge. Unlike Piercing Blood, the projectile of Slicing Exorcism was more akin to the chakram, a weapon originating from India. The blood launched in a blinding speed, slicing the spirit into a perfect half. Purple blood drenched the floor. It must've been hiding behind the door and pounced on me from behind. Judging by how easily it was defeated, the cursed spirit was a grade three maybe four.

Undoubtedly the first floor was the creepiest for me, because it was darker and more disheveled. The farther down the hallway I went, the darker it got. I was acutely aware I was not alone but every sound heightened my senses, especially after that first attack.

"It smells like shit up in here! Found ya!" I heard Gojo's voice faintly echo from the northern side of the hospital followed by a loud bang.

He was having way too much fun with this.

I continued searching the halls and rooms I came across, making my way up each floor. I followed residuals, exorcised spirits, and slowly navigated around the sanatorium. The speed at which I exorcised increased, becoming a lot easier and over time, I got used to the filth.

It was at the final hall that I didn't explore on the first floor did I actually find myself in a troubling situation. Unlike the other hallways, this one was located in a weird area, hidden from plain sight and unless you cut a specific corner, you'll completely miss it. I only was able to find it after discovering a strangely, menacing cursed energy radiating from that hallway. As I grew closer, I realized just how evil this cursed energy was. It was overwhelmingly demonic, vengeful, and sinister. Describing it evil was an understatement. It was frightening.

I still forced myself to carry on, knowing I had a job to do but the air became thick around me, crippling me, taunting me, choking me. Each step became heavier and heavier, until my eyes focused on a large, looming figure at the end of the hall.

When I describe cursed spirits, I try to use descriptions of real life animals or objects to help better visualize. But the spirit in front of me was probably the most terrifying one I have ever come across. And that was including the very first one I exorcised at age eleven. The spirit had the form of Venom, a sentient alien symbiote from the Spiderman series but add tentacles, claws, and four white eyes on top of that and we get the abomination in front of me.

I wasn't sure if I was hearing stuff at this point but the curse seemed to be chanting something over and over again like a broken record.

Taking in deep breaths, I repeatedly told myself that this was no different from any of the other cursed spirits. Maybe a bit more powerful but the same nonetheless. But I was wrong and I was going to learn the hard way.

I decided to attack first, striking it with Slicing Exorcism and like a rubber ball bouncing back after hitting a wall, the blood ricocheted off its shoulder with no damage whatsoever. It must have a hard exoskeleton at the chest and shoulder area to function as an armor. My initial attack was used to gauze this curse's strength since it was an outlier to the ones I came across before and adjust my attacks accordingly. But I don't think that was a great idea now. The spirit turned, its four white eyes focusing on me and it began knuckle-running at me like a furious gorilla.

"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" The cursed spirit screeched distortedly.

I thickly swallowed. It speaks.

Gathering more blood, I hardened it by compressing a voluminous amount of my cursed energy and targeted where I thought the vital organs were located in its body. Blood Meteorite. Although the technique was nowhere close to Piercing Blood in speed and power, it still can cause lethal damage and I created a handful. A rain of hardened blood pelted against Venom (my nickname for the curse spirit. I know this isn't the time for one.) and before any of those could land on their intended target, it disappeared within thin air.

I froze, stunned and trying to process what just occurred. It disappeared. In my frozen state, I felt something wrap around me tightly from behind, squeezing out the air from my lungs. I thrashed about trying to free myself but it was futile. It flung me against a nearby wall and my body collided with such a force that I think I heard some bones cracking. My breathing became labored, my body was on fire, aching, pleading with me to not move.

It had fucking invisibility. I had to retreat and call for help. This was no semi-grade one or one cursed spirit. It had to be a special grade. Or maybe it is a grade one curse but I was too weak. My legs wobbled uncontrollably as I stood up.

It revealed itself once more and after realizing that I survived, it charged at me. In a panic, I screamed. "Flowing Red Scale!"

I narrowly dodged its tentacles and glanced back at the massive dent it created, knowing if it wasn't for the speed boost of Red Scale, my life might have ended here.

Fueling cursed energy into my hands, it was my turn. I dashed in front of it, slamming my hand once on its stomach and a follow up to the chin. It growled its phase, 'it hurts' before disappearing once more. Fuck. I frantically shook my head around, desperately trying to pinpoint its location. Clearly, I didn't see the series of punches either and it felt like being hit with a ton of bricks. The last punch sent me flying back then, it viciously tugged me down by a tentacle wrapped around my ankle. My back landed on the ground first. I winced, that was going to leave a mark.

I used Blood Edge to create a small knife, slashing erratically at the invisible tendril around my leg. The spirit whooped with agony and was gone with the wind. I was becoming agitated and mostly impatient. For the next whatever minutes, I got my ass kicked a few times, but majorly escaped from its assaults, relying heavily on Flowing Red Scale. Whenever there was a small window of opportunity, I tried striking back with Piercing Blood. There had to be something, anything that would reveal it and the worst part is; I was dangerously low in blood bags.

"Piercing Blood." I fired around the area I think it was at, estimating using sound.

The attack missed. Or so I thought. I watched as blood droplets appeared to float in thin air, its movement of that of the cursed spirit. My eyes widened. The curse spirit wasn't invisible, it was camouflaged with the background. The blood droplets of Piercing Blood had splattered somewhere on the spirit's body, revealing a tiny portion of it.

The sudden realization distracted me from dodging another punch. The right side of my face burned from the impact and I tasted the iron of fresh blood in my mouth. Instead of running, I braced myself, spreading my legs for better balance and one hand gripped a blood bag. I had a plan. Now this plan was a gamble as my life was on the line but I'm willing to bet on it. I waited for the spirit to rebound, until it was at my reaching distance and without hesitation, I splashed the blood into the general vicinity. A red outline of the body was exposed.

It worked.

I wove around its punches and kicks, now able to see every attack it tries to land on me. I ducked another punch then stabbed the stomach with my blood knife and punted it across the face.

"It hurts!"

"Yeah, me too buddy." I reached for another pint bag. I had one more left.

"It hurts! It hurts!"

"Crimson Binding."

Blood exploded from the bag, transforming into a net that ensnared the curse spirit, effectively immobilizing it. It wriggled, struggling to break itself free.

After taking a moment to catch my breath, I used the final blood bag for the finishing blow. I clapped my hands together for hopefully the last time today and aimed at the incapacitated spirit.

"IT HURTS MOMMY!" The curse spirit howled… fearfully and this time tears were visible.

I stopped.

This was once a human. A scared, human child with dreams and aspirations, all taken away unfairly. The fear and the amount of pain a child had felt during his human years was unfathomable to imagine. This continuous cycle of exorcising made me momentarily forget, desensitizing myself from the grim realities that all of these cursed spirits were once living, human beings with souls. Endlessly roaming around in a cycle of insanity. Were spirits conscious enough to endure and understand that insanity? This one seemed like it did.

I let my hands fall and slowly approached the cursed spirit.

"No child should die in the dawn of life." I mumbled, wiping a tear falling from one of its eyes. "I'm so sorry."

The cursed spirit lowered its head slightly, like a nod, suggesting it had understood me. The level of cognitive ability it possessed demonstrated intelligence which was rare.

Since I wasn't the one who cursed the child, I couldn't dispel it. I could only provide one thing: freedom. I let the net dissipate away, freeing the curse spirit and what it did next will resonate with me for a long time. The spirit, already given up any form of resistance and willpower, held up its arms, awaiting death.

"You are free."

With those words, the cursed spirit closed its eyes.

I aimed for the head, usually reserving this method to behead opponents for a quick, painless death.

May you be free and happy and reunited with your mother.

Piercing Blood.

And that was the tragic end of an unknown child's story.

My body began swaying until my legs buckled underneath me and I collapsed to the ground. I couldn't move a muscle so I just laid there.

There was graffiti on the tall ceilings. How did it get up there? Who brings a tall enough ladder in the middle of nowhere just to vandalize?

I just want to sleep.

"Damn, it really roughed you up."

I didn't bother opening my eyes, already knowing who it was.

"How did you find me?" I asked, not really expecting a reply. "This place is pretty big."

"Using my eyes." Gojo answered.

I knew that he meant that quite literally not sarcastically as he was the wielder of the Six Eyes.

"You replied."

"Because you're strong." I can almost hear his smug smile, implying he had watched some parts of the battle unfold.

"You shouldn't judge someone's entire character solely from their strength."

"Then what am I supposed to look at?"

I didn't say anything. Too exhausted to argue. Too exhausted to care.

We walked— I mostly limped back to the promised area that we would meet up again and the reaction to my busted up state was expected.

"What the hell happened?" Shoko demanded.

"Are you alright?" Suguru asked with the same amount of alarm in his voice.

"Ouch!" I grimaced from Shoko lightly touching my back. "I think I'm okay. Aching but alive. Apparently, one of the halls I missed had a grade one or special grade."

She sighed, "by the looks of it, your injuries don't seem life-threatening."

I sheepishly stared at the floor, not meeting their eyes. It was kind of embarrassing to be the only one in this state.

"Let's get you to the school's clinic," was all Suguru said before we headed back out to where Principal Yaga waited.

I sat at the examination table as the doctor reapplied ointment on various cuts on my arms and face. Apparently, I blacked out the minute my head touched the pillow of a hospital bed and now it's been several hours after the mission.

"Oww!" I flinched for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I'm sorry. Please bear with me." She said before gently applying a bandage. "There, that should do it."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Just please make sure you get plenty of rest until your body fully heals."

"I don't know if I can follow that." I said dryly.

"Guess that's the life of a jujutsu sorcerer." She peels off her gloves. "By the way, your friends have been waiting for you."

I paused at the word friends. Were we even friends? Do they consider me as one? After all, we literally just met each other. Maybe coworkers was the right term.

"Natsue!" Shoko cried out upon seeing me coming out from the clinic.

"How're you feeling?" Suguru quired worriedly. "You took some nasty blows. From what Gojo witnessed, the cursed spirit you fought was a grade one."

Gojo shrugged indifferently, "It looked like it could communicate and the cursed energy that it expelled matched one of it."

So, it was a grade one. I frowned, remembering all those moments where I almost lost my life.

"Yeah, I'm mostly fine. I still feel overly sore in some places but I'm all patched up."

"You better be after that sleep." Gojo snorted. "I've never seen anyone knock out so fast in my life."

I chuckled, "hopefully I didn't snore."

"Honestly, I think you might have." Suguru joined in on the teasing.

"Guys, she just woke up. Cut her some slack." Shoko elbowed Gojo in particular. "Anyways, since you're awake now, we thought of getting dinner together." She hummed. "I'm mainly thinking of getting an all-you-can-eat barbeque at Gyukaku. It's been really popular these days too"

"And who's paying for that?" Suguru lifted a brow.

A barbeque where you can constantly order meat was not healthy for one's wallet. I can feel my own shiver at the thought.

"You, of course." Shoko smiled archly. "You lost at rock, paper, scissors."

Suguru's eye twitched before calmly stating, "I did not lose. That round was clearly rigged by you and Satoru."

"Tsk, tsk." Gojo shook his head, "It's important to know when you have been beaten, yeah?"

Shoko struggled to hold in a snicker, "I'm with Gojo on this one. You lost fair and square."

Suguru was livid, searching my face for any indication of backing him up.

"How do you rig rock, paper, scissors?" I queried, genuinely curious. You pick the three choices and you either win or lose. How do you find a way to cheat?

"Ha!" Gojo cackled. "You see that? Even she thinks so too! Now come on, I've been neglecting my stomach for too long."

My body convulsed into laughter after watching Suguru sadly check his wallet.

Defeated, he said nothing more as he begrudgingly followed us to the restaurant and it was his wallet that suffered the most tonight.