After leaving Kagome with the students, Gojo heads to the conference room to meet up with the rest of the faculty. He sits behind Mei Mei, who seems the least concerned about the day's events. He wrinkles his nose. Was someone burning something? Mei Mei glances back at him over her shoulder.
"The insects."
The insects? Oh yeah, he forgot that some of the body parts didn't get caught up in his hollow purple. Kind of a waste to burn the remains. In his opinion, they could have learned something about them.
"The scroll about the Shikon jewel was also taken," Ijichi says, pushing his glasses up as he reads through the report. "The curse user is not saying anything about working with…. demons. Based on his reactions, it is clear that he was just a scapegoat and knew nothing about the actual plan or motive." Ijichi keeps his focus on the report.
Either he knows information about the jewel or Ijichi is finding out at the same time as him, that the Jujutsu world had some knowledge about the demons. But why hide it? And to take Sukuna's fingers too… was it to power themselves up?
The lights overhead flicker. No one else seems to notice, too wrapped up in their own misery. The petty side of him wants to tell Yaga, he told him so, but the more sensible side of him realizes that curses and demons working together on such a large scale like this are cause for concern. Too bad the rest of them did not share in Yakeru's opinion that curses were vermin.
"So that giant insect was a demon? Why have we never heard about them until today?" Utahime questions. Worry coats her words and hands as she shifts around. The fabric from her red hakama rustles, breaking up the static atmosphere.
Is it wrong that now he wants to see Gome-chan fighting in a priestess outfit?
Satoru leans back against the wall, crossing his legs. He opens his mouth to make a snide retort. He mentioned these demons to Yaga ages ago and got blown off. Yaga scratches at his neck. Satoru pretends to yawn, stretching his arms up as though the whole thing is laughable. Utahime glares at him.
"They should have all died out. These unregistered and demons attacked the school in order to get the scroll, Sukuna's fingers, and the cursed paintings." Gakuganji drums his fingers on his knee. "There was also that incident with the unfamiliar energy. Kagome-san's technique lacked the residual of cursed energy."
Subtle. Gojo opens his mouth but gets interrupted. He blows out a breath. Goes for the more irritated approach this time.
"It's possible that she can use positive energy offensively," Utahime speaks up. "And if there are more demons still alive, then I think we need her. What is this Shikon jewel and why would some curses need to take the scroll? Sukuna's fingers I can understand."
Gakuganji scowls. His back hunched over even more. "A fairy tale." He wets his lips, the action seems to a lot out of him, and Satoru wonders just what are they trying to hide here.
"That's it? Not even what the fairy tale is about?" Satoru gives a cheshire smile, his arms placed behind his head. Oh, Gakuganji always the high ups lap dog.
"That's all we know - all that was shared. We can't break the seal. But whoever took it must be able to."
"So, they took a scroll. What about this jewel?"
"We've never had it in our possession. Again, it was told to just be a fairy tale."
"Why have something that is just some fable?"
"Because the scroll is a cursed object."
"Enough," Yaga says, his voice leaving no room for argument. "We have demons and unregistered curses to worry about. It's likely that multiple curse users are behind this. Do we have any more information on these demons?"
"Just that they are mindless. And they should have all died out." Gakuganji sighs, his shoulders sag with the weight of his words. "All we have to go off of is footnotes and even those give nothing away."
Yakeru's words float back to him. Demons have been passing themselves off as sorcerers for shits and giggles. What Yakeru failed to mention was just how high on the hierarchy they went. Satoru snorts. It's no wonder the higher-ups are always on his ass. Maybe he should schedule a meeting with them and sniff out the demon or demons himself.
"Alright, so we're going to let the others know?" Satoru says, tilting his head when Mei Mei gives him a puzzled look.
"If word gets out how easily Master Tengen's barrier was bypassed, then we can expect for more attacks. I'd wager that this was an isolated event."
"I agree. This information stays in this room. We need to be careful how we look into this," Yaga says.
"Are we not interrogating Kagome?" Gakuganji asks, his eyes lowered to his clasped hands.
"For saving you and the students from the demons? Sure, have a funny way of expressing your gratitude."
"If she has truly found a way to use reversed cursed energy offensively, then we need to determine the full scope of her abilities. And how she was trained to do so."
"Unnecessary." Personally, he cares little for how they want to discuss Kagome without her there, nor that they believe he would allow for them to interrogate his girl.
Gakuganji twists his lips into a half snarl. As if he would ever fear the old man.
"Satoru can give us a report later. I doubt Kagome-san is going anywhere."
"You're too kind-hearted," Gakuganji retorts.
"We should cancel the rest of the events." Yaga scratches at his beard. He squares his shoulders as he looks around the room for any objection.
"Hold up, why not ask the students if that's what they want to do? I'm sure they want the extra training to get stronger. After all, it isn't just curses that they are fighting against," Satoru says. The room goes silent as his words wash over. Utahime frowns, trying to get her hands to stop shaking. He wonders if it was the curses, the demons, or both that have shaken her up so much.
"The best idea you've had all day," Gakuganji goads.
"A comedian." Satoru stands, stretches as he walks out of the room. The residue smell of burning flesh hits him right on the nose, sadly he's smelled worse. He hums as he switches out the option of a tournament from the box, replacing all the options with baseball instead. Yeah, the students need to get stronger—but they are still kids, and enjoying their childhood is just as important.
He finds everyone waiting around in one of the many empty buildings. With their bandages and sour attitudes, they remind him of a bunch of delinquents posted up. He glances at Megumi, holds back his giggle. They should have dinner sometime with the kids, so he can spill all of Megumi's embarrassing childhood memories.
"Yo, so the rest of the event can either be canceled or we can continue on like normal. The goodwill event is for all of you, and so you get to decide. We understand that today didn't go exactly as planned and that there were some injuries. No one will think less of you if you don't want to continue." Satoru stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets and resists the urge to smile back at Kagome.
Yaga and Gakuganji come up behind him. After a moment of quick discussion, the students prove what Satoru already knew—they want to get stronger, and canceling the event would only lead to them festering in the what-ifs.
"Huh, baseball?" Yuji says, but it comes out more like a question. He holds out the piece of paper. Satoru motions for Kagome to follow him.
"Satoru Gojo!" Yaga shouts, which Satoru just laughs off.
"Toru." Kagome smiles prettily up at him, intertwining her hand with his. "Can we go home now?"
Home. This time he doesn't hold back his smile. Home, repeats in his head, even as he whirls them away back to the apartment. Home keeps ringing in his mind as she pulls him along towards the couch. He wants to – no, he will give her one that they can build together.
A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews and for enjoying the story :) I think Kagome and Satoru are gonna need to do their own digging if they want answers. I hope everyone is staying safe. A small preview for next week:
Her eyes flick to his hands. At this rate, he's going to put a hole in the couch. "I never said you couldn't touch me," she says.
