"How is the investigation going?" Yaga questions, his hands folded on top of the wooden desk. There's a couple of new cursed dolls near his hands.

"I'm still observing," Gojo replies. "What do you know about demons?"

If Yaga is surprised by the change in topic, he doesn't show it. "There's no such thing as actual demons." Yaga leans back in the chair. "Did you run into another unregistered?"

It occurs to him that Yaga truly doesn't believe that the existence of demons is possible. Gojo bites down on his tongue. Yakeru mentioned having some sort of glamor that hid his non-human like features. But how did demons as a whole fly under everyone's radar for centuries? There has to be something on them. "It wasn't a curse that I encountered."

"A new breed of curse, perhaps."

"Ask Master Tengen sometime." Gojo pushes himself off the wall and walks out. There is no point in sticking around and talking in circles over something that Yaga won't allow himself to believe. He walks down the halls, head cast down in thought, towards Megumi's room. Gojo rolls his shoulders, easing some of the tension away.

"Don't start," Megumi calls out. A couple of seconds later, the door opens.

Odd that Megumi heard him before he could start his excessive knocking. Gojo flashes a wide smile at the dark-haired boy. "Aw Megumi-kun! Your senses are getting better."

"It was actually Buyo Jr," he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

Gojo makes a show of looking around the boy. The once bare room is now decorated with pictures of Megumi and Buyo Jr. Kagome really isn't getting her cat back, he thinks. "Where is he?"

"Can we go out to the woods?" Megumi closes the door behind him and steps around Gojo.

"Must be important if we can't talk about it here," Gojo comments, following Megumi. "How's training going with the second years?"

"We'll win the event."

"Maki must be putting you guys through it." Gojo puts his hands into his pants pockets. What was so important that they had to go all the way out to the woods? It's not as though the school is overflowing with students and staff. "You know, Megumi-kun,"

"Don't start."

"Such a cruel child I've raised," Gojo replies with feigned hurt.

"I wanted to talk to you about Buyo," Megumi says. He turns around, facing Gojo. The trees surrounding provide a semblance of privacy.

"If you lost him, then you get to tell Gome-chan." Gojo wags his finger in the air, tsking.

"I didn't lose him," Megumi snaps. He clenches his fists, face cast into a frown.

Gojo's heart sinks drops to the bottom of his gut. "Megumi, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." His eyes snap towards the moving shadow, they widen behind his blindfold as Buyo Jr jumps out in his larger form. The nekomata approaches Gojo. He reaches a hand out and scratches Buyo's head. "How?"

"I don't know. I was experimenting with hiding weapons in the shadows when he just jumped in. He's able to go in and out as he pleases. My shikigami are different now."

Gojo stops petting Buyo Jr, much to the annoyance of the nekomata if the growls are anything to go by. "How different?" Gojo thinks back to the earlier conversation with Yakeru. If curses are able to gain power from demonic energy, then maybe Megumi's shikigami are no different.

Megumi calls forth his black dog. The size of it doesn't concern Gojo since he knows that Megumi lost his white dog from fighting that special grade. No, the size isn't a cause of concern, but the puffs of fire emitting from its jaws, and the electrifying energy surrounding it, are. "Are all of your shikigami like this?"

"In some fashion, yes." Megumi retracts his dog. "They're still tamed, but it is as though they have mutated. I'm just assuming that it is because of Buyo."

"Well, Buyo Jr here is a demon." Gojo resumes scratching the nekomata's ears. Honestly, he's just happy that the cat isn't lost or dead somewhere.

"Demons don't exist," Megumi states.

"Then what is Buyo? A mutated house cat?"

"But…"

"Does that change your opinion of him? I can take him back—"

"No!" Megumi coughs. "No, I like having him around. And he protected me when Sukuna took over. Are there more demons out there?"

"Yes." Gojo looks down at Buyo Jr. "They use some sort of glamor to keep themselves hidden. This is just a hypothesis, but Buyo Jr may be able to alert you if one of his kind is near. Not all of them are allies. How many people know about Buyo going in your shadow?"

"Just you. I told the others that he is a shikigami that I like to keep out. Nobara knows that he isn't."

"Let's keep it that way."

"I agree. You wouldn't want your humans experimenting on the poor thing," a voice calls out.

"Gojo-sensei, is that fox talking?"

"Yakeru?" Gojo asks, looking down at the red fox. He hopes that it's that stupid fox.

"I hope that this is later enough for you," the fox responds as its body shifts, stretching out into the red-headed man that Gojo is used to. "I didn't feel like following your scent all over Japan. Too cumbersome when you're a small business owner."

"Oh, funny how you got through the barrier." Gojo flashes his teeth, noting how Buyo moves from his side to stand in front of Megumi.

"That flimsy thing? I'm sure Kagome-sama could make one better." Yakeru waves the air as though the barrier that has kept the school protected for years is nothing more than a child's plaything. "At the very least, a barrier should keep people out. Just having one that makes the school invisible is ineffective. But what do I know?"

He likes to go off on tangents, Gojo thinks, but at least nothing in his stance suggests aggression. "Megumi, this is Yakeru. He's a fox demon. Not sure if he's an ally just yet."

"I have pledged myself to Kagome-sama, and as her mate, that pledge extends to you as well." Yakeru dips his head. "Others are free game if it pleases me."

"Mate? Pledge?"

"Megumi, did I ever give you the birds and bees talk?" Gojo quips. Heat ebbs and flows through his veins.

"I'm going to punch you, knock it off."

"At any rate, you requested a spar," Yakeru interjects.

Gojo teleports to the side of Yakeru and kicks the fox. He doesn't want to kill the demon, so he holds back, treats Yakeru as if he were one of his students. Easy. Not too much force, but not so little that Yakeru won't feel the pain later. Buyo Jr's hair spikes up. "Easy, boy," he says, "Yakeru and I are just training."

"I certainly wouldn't want to face you seriously," Yakeru says, standing up. He pulls out a flask and throws the items onto the floor. Pink smoke follows the contact.

It would be an effective tactic against anyone else, Gojo thinks, grabbing a hold of the fist that Yakeru throws at him. The man's face is lit up in pure joy, his green eyes sparkle along with the trees, and for a brief moment, Gojo allows a genuine smile to grace his face. "Is this all that you can do?" He mocks.

Mischief flashes across Yakeru's face. "Of course not, there are better tactics to use against someone like you." He kicks out and jumps back when Gojo releases his fist.

"Oh?" Gojo hums, crosses his arms. Yakeru blows a kiss at him as white smoke engulfs the demon's body. Confusion crashes into him, forcing him to take a step back. Logically he knows that what he's seeing can't be true, but his six eyes never lie to him.

"How do I look?" Yakeru asks, twirling around. The short green skirt rises up in the action. "A perfect transformation, yeah?"

"Why do you look like Kagome," Gojo grounds out, his body shakes. It's not her, he reminds himself, but he can't bring his body to move.

"Doesn't matter how strong the human is," Yakeru states, "there's always a weakness somewhere. So, what will you do now? Would you actually attack your mate?" He sticks his tongue out and throws up his hands.

It makes Gojo sick.

"You can't do it," Yakeru goads and then sighs dramatically. "Can I call you Satoru? I feel like we're learning so much about one another."

"Why do you look like Kagome?" Gojo repeats.

"I can transform into anything or anyone." Yakeru plays with the hem of the skirt.

"Don't flash my student."

"How is this guy an ally again?" Megumi questions.

"Can your six eyes see through the illusion?" Yakeru crosses his arms, the action pushes his bust–no, Kagome's bust upward.

Gojo berates himself for noticing. "No… there is a haze around you. Kagome's aura is brighter."

"Focus on that. Cursed energy is similar enough to demonic. You just need to train your eyes to see the difference."

Gojo tilts his head. When did he become the student in this exchange?

"Can all demons do this?" Megumi asks.

"No, but enough of us can."

While they chat, Gojo focuses on the distortion of energy, pushing past the ache between his eyes. The image of Kagome fades away, morphing back into Yakeru. "Seven. You have seven tails." He snaps his fingers.

"You truly are a genius!" Yakeru praises, clapping his hands.

"Someone has shown you the school before," Gojo says, the words leaving his mouth before his mind has time to analyze the impact of them. "Who?"

"No one that is still alive."

"I thought we didn't bring civilians here," Megumi says, but it comes out more like a question.

"We don't." A lie since he brought Kagome to the grounds when he heard about Yuji's death. "Either you pretended to be someone else…"

"Or, I was simply a student. After all, I had you fooled."

"Why reveal all of this?" Megumi asks.

"Because of his weird devotion to Kagome," Gojo responds. He needs to pry this whole prophecy ordeal out of Yakeru when there's no one else around. His phone buzzes in his pocket, drawing his attention away from the smirking fox. He glances at the message and sends a quick response back to Nanami.

"Well, I'm afraid that I am out of time," Yakeru says as he peels back his illusion. "Should you need of me, you know where to find me." He salutes them as he transforms into a bird and flies off.

"Megumi," Gojo starts.

"Yeah, I know."

He laughs, full-out belly aching laughing. Gojo walks over and slaps Megumi's back, delighting in the boy's irritated expression.

"You've lost it."

"Isn't this so much fun?"

"We're surrounded by demons and now there are talking curses. How is that fun?"

"Sure makes things interesting. I wonder what else we'll find." He throws an arm around Megumi's shoulder, squeezes. "Come on Megumi-kun, we've got training to do."


A/N: Thank you all for the reviews :) I hope everyone has a great weekend and holiday! Next week, will be from Mahito's point of view.