Ieiri yawned. "They are still asleep."

All of the hospital's wall high windows were curtained, except for the window behind Ieiri's desk. To the right from it, along the walls, there were two rows of beds. Each row had ten beds, separated by white fabric screens. The midday light made the closest to Yuji screens semi-transparent and he could make out three bodies lying on the beds. But the bodies were under blankets and Yuji wasn't sure who was who.

He looked back at Ieiri. The bags under her eyes were visible even under her smoky eyes makeup. She sat behind the desk, which had a lot of folders and papers scattered around. One folder was opened in front of her. Inside were photos of the school in which Yuji and his team had fought yesterday.

Ieiri drank from a cup of coffee and placed it near the two empty cups that stood on the desk, inserted into each other. She said, "Does something still hurt?"

"No, everything is healed completely. Thank you again, Ieiri-san," Yuji said. "How are Kugisaki and Maki-san?"

"I've healed them, but they still need to rest."

Yuji exhaled. They both had a mild concussion, broken and cracked bones, torn ligaments and internal bleedings. And if Mai hadn't survived the big curse's attack, they would have died. He must become stronger. They all needed to do it.

Ieiri continued. "But considering the curses that you had encountered, these injuries had been very light."

"How long they will be in the hospital?"

"It's possible that they will leave my care when they awake."

Yuji raised his eyebrows. "Oy, that's great."

He feared that the recovery from these injuries would take days or even weeks, but Ieiri was truly brilliant.

Yuji pulled up his trousers a little. The weight of Mai's revolver tried to pull his trousers down when he didn't support it. "How is Mai-san?"

"I had diagnosed her several times, but she only had complete mental, physical and cursed energy exhaustion. However, she had already recovered and left an hour ago."

Yuji looked at the three bodies that lay on the beds. So the third person wasn't Mai. He was glad that she just had an exhaustion.

If Mai wasn't in Ieiri's hands, Yuji didn't know where to find her. That would sound strange to Ieiri, but he had to ask. "Do you know where I can find her?"

Ieiri tilted her head slightly and peered at him, then said. "You know where Iori's room is?"

He nodded.

"All members of Kyoto school are staying in that building and another building behind it. If I'm not mistaken, Mai's room is in the second building."

Yuji thanked her and went to Mai's room. He hoped he wouldn't stumble on students from Kyoto school if any were around. It certainly would look strange if they caught him snooping around their rooms.

He intended to use the revolver's return as an excuse to talk to Mai. There were a lot of questions in his mind. Why did she hide her true power? Did she fear something or someone? And what was going to happen now after she had revealed it to him? He hoped Mai knew he wouldn't tell anyone about her power.

And regardless of the secret, he would like to know her better. He had already discovered that under her hostile appearance, she was a good person who cared about her sister and others.

Yuji especially liked the moments between the fights when he and Mai talked. She even flirted with him. At least he hoped she was flirting with him, because he was trying to flirt with her.

He reached the second building. It was like the building where he and other students of his school stayed, with living rooms that had wall high windows on one side.

Keeping a dozen meters, he strolled alongside the building and peered inside the rooms. Most rooms had their curtains drawn, others had only wooden furniture. It looked like they weren't in use for a long time.

The curtains of the last room were opened. The bed was made and covered with a black blanket, but nothing lay on it. Somebody lived in the room.

Yuji walked farther, looking at the room from the better angle. Nobody was inside. He stopped and searched the room for any indicators that it was Mai's room. There weren't any posters on the walls or clothes lying around. Except for the covered bed, the room looked unused.

Maybe Mai was tidy and liked when each object was on its place. The closet in the far corner of the room might hold a lot of items.

On the floor near the window, there were three small plants in pots that Yuji hadn't noticed before. They didn't have stems, their thick leafs grew from the soil itself, forming symmetrical roses. The rose of the first plant was silvery-green, the second plant had blueish rose and the last one had white rose with red leafs on its edges.

The strange plants reminded Yuji of his grandfather's cacti that he grew in pots. And if these plants were like cacti, then they required a small amount of water, so they could have stayed here for a long time with no care.

Maybe it was a wrong room, but he wouldn't try to knock on the doors of the curtained rooms, even if Mai was in one of them. Who knew who he could find in these rooms? And Mai would leave her room and they would meet eventually.

Although he had bought two tickets to a cinema for today's evening, they could go another time. But what if she had already left and returned to Kyoto? She couldn't leave without her revolver, could she? That thought created cold inside Yuji. If she had left without a goodbye, she certainly wasn't interested in him like he was in her.

He breathed out and relaxed. It was pointless to imagine different scenarios in his head. He should do everything that he could, and if they didn't meet, or she refused to go with him, then at least he would know that he did his best.

So, what was the best course of actions now? Waiting for her here or look for her on the school grounds or in the common building? The last idea sounded good.

Yuji went past the room, but stopped. Something caught his eye. Behind the closet was a stack of huge black plastic boxes. They looked suspiciously like gun cases in movies. And a small weapon case laid on the chair that was pushed in under the table.

So it was Mai's room. Nobody else would need gun cases. And there were a lot of them, so maybe she hadn't left yet. Previously, he thought she had only the black revolver and the grey one that he saw during the team battle, but she might have an entire arsenal.

He heard voices right behind the corner of the building. If somebody found him lurking near Kyoto school's rooms, it would be very difficult to explain.

Running away or jumping on the roof would create a lot of noise, so he darted to the nearest large tree, pressed his side to the trunk, hoping that it completely hid him.

A woman laughed.

A man said, "Yes, we have missed our traditional Friday, so I have no other choice except to do a movie night today!"

Yuji recognised the man's voice. It was Gojo. Yuji cursed under his breath. He should have run away while he could.

The woman laughed again.

Gojo said, "I've already bought not one, but three excellent movies. We can binge watch them, or select one for the current night. What do you prefer, an action-packed comedy, a thriller, or a sweet romantic story about two people that hate each other at first, but then fall for each other?"

The woman said, "I know how this ends. This trick won't work on me again!"

The woman's voice belonged to Iori. Even though Yuji wanted to ask her about Mai, he couldn't reveal himself now.

Iori said, "Don't wiggle your eyebrows at me!"

"Okay, do you remember the ice cream parole in Ebisu that I've shown you?"

"Yes."

"If today you won't have me for a movie night, I will eat your favorite ice cream from that parole all by myself."

"That is blackmailing!"

"It's not if it's for your own good!"

Their footsteps sounded close. They passed the tree behind which Yuji hid and continued to move alongside the building. Yuji glanced from the side of the tree.

Iori wore her usual white top, red bottom Miko. Gojo wore black trousers with a light blue shirt, his face was turned to Iori and his black glasses didn't hide his right eye that looked directly at Yuji.

Yuji stopped breathing for a second. Gojo stared at Yuji for a few moments.

Iori started turning around. But before she could see Yuji, Gojo winked at him, turned away and put his hand around Iori's waist, pulling her closer to him.

She said, "Satoru! What if somebody sees us!?"

"Utahime, are you ashamed for being seen with me?"

"That's inappropriate!" She said, but she didn't push him away. "And I'm your senior at work."

"I like your idea."

"What idea?"

"Why wait for the evening? Let's do something inappropriate now!" Gojo swept Iori's legs from the ground and carried her with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back.

"Satoru!" Iori wrapped her hands around Gojo's neck. "Put me down, you..."

They moved behind the building and Yuji couldn't comprehend what they said any more.

He exhaled. That was close. The next meeting with Gojo or Iori would be strange. He didn't see it before, but it was obvious now they always were close, with a spark between them.

Yuji jogged through the grounds, checking all places that he knew about, but nobody was around. He finished his search in the common building. Its lounge was empty, and the kitchen looked clean. It seemed nobody had used it today.

Yuji returned to the lounge and plopped down on the couch in front of the TV. He absent-mindedly watched it for several hours, waiting for Mai or somebody else to come, but nobody came.

The movie was going to start in three hours. The reviews said that it was a fun movie, maybe it would be fun to watch it even alone.

He went to his room to change into more casual clothes. He put on black sneakers, dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt.

The afternoon was hot and windless, so he rummaged

in his closet until he found a thin green zip-up hoodie and put it on without zipping it. He placed the revolver in the hoodie's pocket. It fit perfectly. If he didn't find Mai in an hour, he would drop the hoodie with the revolver in his room and went alone to the movie.

The mirror on his closet's door showed him that the outline of the revolver was visible. He put his hand around the revolver in the pocket. This made the outline not recognizable as a gun. He transferred the revolver to his left pocket so his right hand was free.

Somebody knocked on the wooden door.

Yuji said, "Come in."

Kugisaki, Maki, and Panda entered the room.

Kugisaki wore a grey zip-up hoodie, black leggings and pink sneakers. Maki wore a dark blue jersey, grey shorts over black pants and white shoes.

Smiling, Panda grabbed Yuji's shoulder and squeezed it slightly. "You really can punch and kick."

Yuji smiled. "Thank you."

Kugisaki said, "Itadori, where have you been? We were looking for you."

"I've checked on you, and Ieiri-san said that you were still sleeping. With nobody around, I've been watching TV in the common building."

Maki said, "And I've thought that it was a dream that somebody visited us. I've must be half a sleep because what that person was saying made little sense."

Yuji hoped she didn't hear that he asked about Mai. On the other hand, Maki was Mai's sister. She must have Mai's phone number. And he needed to find her urgently enough that he had to use all options, even if it meant he would be questioned by Maki and Kugisaki. "Have you seen Mai?"

Kugisaki said, "We haven't and I hope she has already left to Kyoto."

Maki said, "Why are you asking?"

Yuji said, "Maki-san, can you give me her phone number?"

She frowned. "I would give it to you if I had it. But as you've seen, we are not on friendly terms, so we don't have each other's numbers."

He should have guessed that, but still he was glad that he tried it.

Kugisaki said, "I'm surprised that you want to talk with her after the last night."

Maki said, "What do you want from her?"

"Just wanted to make sure that she is alright, after the mission." Yuji tried to stir the conversation away from Mai. "How are you feeling? "

Kugisaki said, "Ieiri-san said that everything was mostly healed. And we can do a light training, mostly to stretch our sore muscles."

Yuji said, "She has done a miracle."

"Yeah."

Maki took the chair that was in front of the desk and turned it to Yuji, sitting on it. "How did you exorcise the curse?"

Panda sat down on Yuji's bed, and Kugisaki leant against the desk's top surface. Together they formed a circle with Yuji in the centre.

Kugisaki asked, "And how did Mai survive?"

Yuji should have talked with Mai before this questioning. Kugisaki and Maki were his friends, but Mai's secret wasn't his to tell. However, he should tell everything else as close to the truth as he could.

Maki said, "Let's start from the beginning. What the curse did to knock both us down?"

Yuji gathered his thoughts, then said, "After the curse has beaten me and went to you, I saw Mai. Her clothes were dirty, but she was uninjured. She shot at you and I guess because she knocked you out, the curse lost interest in you."

Kugisaki said, "That bitch! I even remember hearing something like a shot."

Maki said, "That's why I had a splitting headache when I woke up."

"She did it again." Kugisaki clenched her fists in front of her body. "Damn, I want to get my hands on her neck."

Yuji said, "She did it with good intentions in her mind. I wouldn't have helped you in time."

Kugisaki said, "Good intentions, my ass."

Maki said, "What happened after?"

Yuji hoped Mai wouldn't mind if he diminished her role in the exorcising. "Mai distracted the curse with her shots, and I successfully beat it by using Black Flash several times."

Maki cocked her head. "That sounds like the fight was easy, but I saw how the curse wiped you out using its four hands."

"It was hard as hell. We were just lucky that the two of us could split its attention. I received a lot of blows, but in the end caught the curse after it used teleportation and beat it with Black Flashes."

Kugisaki placed her hand on Yuji's shoulder. "We've got lucky that you were on the mission with us. At least you could damage the curse, because Mai's shoots certainly were only good as a distortion."

Maki said, "I saw the blood that came from Mai's nose. She used her technique, didn't she?"

Mai must have another technique that Maki had seen, because the technique that Mai showed Yuji was incredible and she started bleeding after the fight.

A memory of blood leaking from her nose made him shiver. He looked down. When he saw her blood, he thought that even after he had been fast enough to exorcise the curse, it was still not enough to save her. That he failed her twice in one day.

Somebody slid the room's window-door open. "Talking about me?"

Yuji looked up. The sight took his breath away.

Mai wore black ballet flats and a black short-sleeved lace dress. Its fitting bodice gradually widened from her waist, creating a flowing skirt that ended just above her knees. The lace fabric of sleeves and around shoulders was semitransparent.

Mai caught Yuji's gaze and smiled, moving strands of hair away from her eyes.

He had forgotten how to breathe for a moment.

"You have some nerves!" Kugisaki walked to Mai, pointing her finger. "You shot me! Again! And also shot Maki-san. I'm going to strangle you for this."

Mai said, "So you would better get your limbs ripped off by a curse than receive a rubber bullet concussion? I'm going to remember it."

Maki jumped from the chair and hugged Kugisaki from behind. "What are you doing here?"

Kugisaki tried to escape Maki's hold, but couldn't.

Mai didn't look at the straggling pair and stalked to Yuji, holding his gaze. The daylight came from behind her, making her eyes almost black.

Yuji gulped. What was she doing? He had already told what happened and now he hoped she wouldn't give her secret away by contradicting his version of the story.

Kugisaki examined Mai from top to bottom. "Where did you get this dress?"

"I've bought it from the Erity boutique." Mai stopped when she was in a few steps from Kugisaki and Maki, then turned to Maki. "So, you didn't hear about it?"

Maki said, "About what?"

"After the attack during the Goodwill Event, Kyoto school stays in Tokio, until all the culprits are found."

Kugisaki stopped straggling and, together with Maki, shouted, "What!?"

"I'm not so fond of seeing your faces more often, but at least Itadori-kun is here." Mai studied Yuji. "How are you, Itadori?"

"Healed and rested. Are you okay, Mai-san?"

"Still not fully rested, but I don't want to sleep before the evening, or I will wake up in the middle of the night. And call me Mai."

She had a soft smile on her lips and looked far better than when Yuji handed her over to Ieiri. He said, smiling, "I'm glad that you're alright Mai and call me Yuji."

Kugisaki darted her eyes between him and Mai. "Huh? Itadori, have you forgotten how she called you before?"

He didn't forget about it, but he thought he understood Mai more and saw that she did it because of the traditions and fear. "I haven't forgotten about it, but- "

"I'm sorry," Mai looked down. "I want to make it up to you."

She said she was sorry. He didn't think that she would or even could say this out loud, especially with Maki and Kugisaki here. It meant a lot.

He nodded. Now he wanted to talk with Mai alone even more, but he couldn't exactly make others leave without being rude or raising more suspicions about the mission.

Maki let Kugisaki go. Everyone in the room seemed to be too stunned to talk.

Mai looked at Maki and Kugisaki, then smiled at Yuji. "Do you have any plans for today?"

Kugisaki said, "We were going to the training grounds, but you're not welcome."

Mai held Kugisaki's gaze for a second, then said, "It's good that you understand that you need to train more, because on the mission you were useless. Yuji- "

Maki said, "We are alive only because of him."

Mai brushed her hair with her hand. "I agree with you on this one."

Maki opened her mouth, then closed, frowning.

Mai stepped closer to Yuji, now only one step separated them. This close he could make out the real colour of her eyes, dark green close to the pupils, blending with grey on the irises edges. She glanced down at his hoodie's pocket where he held her revolver.

She winked at him, walked to his left side, and turned to Maki and Kugisaki.

Yuji glimpsed the back of Mai's dress. It had semitransparent lace from the shoulders to the middle of her back. He felt his face heat up. He glanced down and noticed that the skirt of her dress had slits that must be hidden pockets.

Mai's smile disappeared.

Yuji followed her gaze. She stared at the poster of the woman that wore a revealing yellow bikini. He cursed under his breath. Previously, when Kugisaki or Maki came to his room, he didn't care, but now he thought that he should have removed this poster.

Mai said, "While you lay unconscious. Yuji effectively distracted the curse, and I shot it to its death."

Yuji froze. He hoped she wouldn't talk about the mission.

Kugisaki said, "You're a liar. Itadori told us he exorcised the curse using Black Flash."

"He said he've beaten the curse, but not that he exorcised it. Am I right, Yuji?"

So she overheard what he had told them. Then why did she still want to talk about it and risk revealing her secret?

She was smirking at him. Oy, she must have done this to taunt Kugisaki and Maki or as a payback for the poster. Two could play this game.

"Your shooting was incredible," Yuji said, "but I'll say that we exorcised the curse with our joint and equal efforts. Don't you agree with me, Mai?"

Maki said, "Even the sword that damaged the cursed spirit of nature

barely scratched yesterday's curse's skin. I hardly believe that your bullets can do any damage to a special grade curse, even to a second grade."

Mai said nothing for a few seconds.

Yuji said, "She hit the curse's eyes multiple times, damaging it heavily."

"Let's say that or efforts were indeed equal." Mai turned to Yuji and stepped so close to him that their chests almost touched. "But remind me who created the plan that allowed us to win?"

He shuddered and almost jumped when Mai's warm hand brushed his hand that held her revolver inside his pocket. Mai's body hid the pocket from the others in the room. Her fingers gently grabbed the revolver and Yuji's fingers on it. A moment later, the revolver disappeared and their palms touched. She pulled out her hand and strolled around Yuji, then stopped to the right from him.

She put her left hand in the pocket of her dress.

"This dress has pockets!?" Kugisaki grimaced. "It's utterly unfair that you have a dress like this."

Yuji cleared his throat and said, "The plan was yours, but it was based on the curse's weakness that I had spotted. Let's agree that we couldn't defeat the curse without each other." He lowered his voice and whispered. "Thank you for believing in me, in us."

Mai beamed.

Panda said, "Thank you Mai, for saving Maki and Kugisaki."

Mai nodded without looking away from Yuji.

Kugisaki said, "I haven't needed her help. Itadori you- "

Someone knocked on the wooden door and opened it. Fushiguro entered the room. "I've heard your voices."

He walked around Yuji and Mai, stopping near the bed and greeting everyone.

Kugisaki said, "Fushiguro, how has the mission gone?"

"The curse was noticed too late, but at least we prevented further deaths. We exorcised two curses, and one had another Sukuna's finger. How was your mission?"

If Fushiguro was here, then Todo must be here too. Mai and he should be gone before Todo came here.

Yuji turned to her, and their eyes met. He braced for the negative consequences, and said, "Mai, do you want to go to a cinema with me? I have two tickets for-"

"It will be my pleasure." Smiling, she took Yuji's hand in hers and quickly led him to the sliding window-door.

Kugisaki gaped at him with wide eyes. Fushiguro looked between Yuji and Mai with raised eyebrows. Maki narrowed her eyes and sat down on the bed near grinning Panda.

Fushiguro muttered, "I shouldn't have asked."

Mai and Yuji exited his room.

Kugisaki called after them. "Itadori, she tried to kill you and made perfectly clear how she thinks about you..."

They walked around the building. Mai got them off the paved road that led to the main exit from the school. She led Yuji along the narrow beaten path that had trees flanking it from both sides.

They quickly strolled away from all buildings and landmarks that Yuji could use to navigate. He didn't know any buildings in the path's direction. And both exits from the school were in the different directions.

"The looks on their faces were priceless," Mai laughed. "I think you've broken them and they will always remember that moment."

The initial shock of her agreeing to go with him to the cinema started wearing off. Why had she agreed so quickly? She hadn't even learned the movie's name. Had she done this only to spite her sister?

They went deeper into the forest. The trees' canopies completely hid the sun.

What if Kugisaki was right? But Mai's warm hand still held his. Could it be an act and she led him into a trap? She might want to get rid of him because he had discovered her secret. A wave of coldness ran through Yuji's body.

Mai stopped and peered at Yuji. "Something is wrong? I've asked you a question three times."

"Do you really want to go with me? Or you've done this to spite your sister?"

Baring her teeth, she yanked her hand from Yuji's and pressed the left side of her body to him. She slapped her right hand on his chest. Shadows gathered under her palm and she deepened her hand inside him.

He tensed. He had felt the slap, but now he didn't feel her hand on his chest. What was she doing? He really didn't want to fight her, but...

She pulled out the black revolver from the shadows, and they disappeared. Her hand pressed the revolver to his chest, but her index finger lay on the revolver's frame.

The revolver's barrel was aimed up along Yuji's body and if Mai would shift it slightly, it would target at the base of his head. But this close to him, she wouldn't be able to use her revolver effectively and she must know it.

He stilled, waiting for her next move.

Her deep green eyes glared at him, and he could feel her warm and agitated breath on his face.

"Everything I do, I do because I want to. Not because of Maki or somebody else." Mai whispered. There were tears in the corners of her eyes, but she said firmly, "Do you think that if I still thought about you as an abomination, I would hold your hand or agree to go with you anywhere?"

Yuji remembered how she talked about him with Iori. The hate and indifference to his life that she conveyed. During the mission, she was cold at first, but then she was warm and even laughed with him.

She was rude to Kugisaki and Maki, but she helped them more than once and ultimately saved them. The final fight was tough, and they had won only because they worked together.

"I had chosen to trust you yesterday, and you had justified my trust… yesterday," She stared into his eyes. "If today you don't want to trust me, then you must go away before I shoot you."

"You're always mean to your sister and Kugisaki, but you've agreed to my offer so fast..."

"If Fushiguro was there, then Todo might appear at any moment."

"I've thought about this too."

"Also, Kugisaki and especially Maki deserve to be mocked once in a while. You deserve it only when you behave like a dimwit. Mostly, I enjoyed working with you."

"Even after I've discovered your secret?"

"If I thought you would betray me, I wouldn't bother with leading you into the forest." She sounded dead serious.

Her eyes and the tone of her voice were enough for Yuji. "I'm sorry. I trust you and I liked to work with you."

Mai lowered her right hand with the revolver and nodded.

He laughed bitterly. "You said that you wanted to make it up to me. Now it's me who needs to make it up to you."

"You don't need to do anything." Her eyes still had tears in their corners.

"But I want to," He ran his hand through his hair, "Can I hug you?"

She nodded.

He hugged her gingerly and whispered, "I was a dimwit and deserve your wraith."

She returned the hug. "Just held me tight."

Yuji did that. She was warm and smelled good. He couldn't name the fragrance, but it was sweet and fresh.

They stayed like this for a minute.

Mai stepped back. "It's good that we've cleared this out right away."

"Yeah," Yuji didn't feel good making her cry, but she was right. It was good that they established that they trusted each other. He said, "And I swear I won't tell anybody your secret."

"Thank you." She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and used it to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Yuji said, "But why are you keeping your abilities a secret?"

"It's safer if everyone thinks about me as a weak sorcerer with a useless technique."

That surprised him. "But you've told Kugisaki and Maki the truth about what had happened on the mission."

"Do you think they've believed me?" She beamed. "Not a chance. They must have thought that I'm bragging. And when you supported my words, they might have thought you were doing it to pity me or something like this. The more chaos, the better."

"I haven't supported you because of the pity."

"I know." She smiled.

Yuji still wanted to know why she had to lie. "I haven't seen you summon shikigami, but you and Fushiguro have the same inherited technique, if I'm not mistaken. But he doesn't hide it."

"I can conjure a few shikigami, but controlling them constantly takes cursed energy from the conjurer," Mai sighed. "And I have a very limited amount of it. Also shikigami are a dead giveaway of my technique, so I don't use them often."

"But you can store energy in objects, maybe you can take it from them and use it to support shikigami?"

Mai tilted her head and looked at Yuji for a few seconds. "I've never tried to take energy from an object. I need to think about it and experiment." She looked away for a few seconds, then turned back to him. "Thank you. Anyway, it's complicated why Fushiguro can show everyone his abilities and I can't, but let's leave it for another time."

She glanced down at her right hand, that still held her black revolver. She unloaded it and put it in her pocket. In her hands, there was a bundle of six rounds. Five were empty cartridge cases, but one had a bullet. Mai took out the round with the bullet and put the bundle in her pocket.

She examined the round from all sides. Its bullet was cracked and uneven, but the primer was smooth and not used. She held out the round to Yuji. "It's the bullet that I've created when that curse rushed to me in the end. But I haven't used it, thanks to you."

Yuji took the round from her. So that was the technique that Maki had seen. Mai must have almost no energy left when she had used her technique and, because of that, she passed out.

Mai said, "It's coarse and flawed, but functional and if you want it, you can keep it as a lucky bullet."

Yuji wrapped his fingers around it. "I like it and will keep it, if you allow."

Mai nodded.

He placed the round in his hoodie's inside chest pocket. Maybe he imagined it, but he felt as if he could feel that the cursed energy inside the round was Mai's.

"In that case, let's go. The taxi I've ordered must be already waiting for us." With a smile, she took his hand and led him. "We are going to Risk Addiction?"

"Yes."

"Which cinema are we going to?"

Yuji took his phone from the hoodie's pocket

and opened the tickets info. "It's a 200 seats cinema near the Shibuya Station."

Mai looked at his phone screen.

He said, "But the movie starts in two and a half hours. We need to hurry or I'm not sure that we will be there in time."

"Then we are going to the cinema where I've bought the tickets." She showed him her phone's screen. There was a ticket order. "It's closer and the screen should be bigger because the hall has 400 seats."

He was shocked and couldn't say anything for a few seconds.

She laughed.

He said, "You've bought the tickets too!?"

"I wanted to watch Risk Addiction and was going to ask you out, but didn't want to do it in front of others. But I'm pleased that you did it."

"I still want to make it up to you."

She glanced at him sideways. "If we are going to use my tickets on this date-"

"Date?!"

Mai smirked. "Have you thought that we were going to a movie like friends?"

"Yes."

Her smile disappeared.

"I mean yes, but if we like how this goes, I hope we will go to more... places." Yuji said, "On dates, as more than just friends."

Mai's smile returned.

"I see this as the first date." She stopped, then turned and leaned closer. "And this to make you see it as a date as well."

"What?" Yuji turned his head to her.

Mai kissed him on the corner of his mouth.

His brain stopped and couldn't create a coherent thought for a few seconds. She kissed him, almost on his lips.

She leaned back with a flushed face. She must have wanted to kiss him on his check, but because of his turn, she missed... He wasn't sure how he should respond. Turned out fighting curses was far easier than going on a date. She hadn't moved away, so Yuji wrapped his arms around her and held her. She hugged him back tightly.

After several seconds, they drifted away. Yuji wanted to kiss her properly, but he wasn't sure how or if this was a right thing to do now. They had already moved farther that he had wished for today.

Yuji said, "That was..."

Mai nodded. She pushed strands of her hair away from her eyes. Her checks were still pink. She took his hand in hers and they interlaced their fingers. They continued walking, but now she walked closer, with her shoulder touching his. She said, "So, you said that you want to make it up to me?"

"Yes, even more now."

"Then, on the next date, I want you to impress me."

The next date!? Mai seemed to be sure that there would be the next date. He wasn't. He might screw this up badly, but he would try his best not to do it.

She said, "I've heard that you can cook deliciously. If you cook something tasty, that will make it up to me."

Cooking, that was something he knew how to do well and he already had some ideas of dishes that might impress her. "That will be my pleasure. Any preferences?"

"I will leave it up to you, but nothing vegetarian, please."

Yuji nodded, changed his voice to more formal and with a serious face said. "Chef Itadori Yuji at your service. Beware his signature dishes are a life-changing experience."

Mai laughed. Yuji couldn't keep his serious face and joined her, laughing.

They walked through several alleys, with Mai leading the way. And at last the road with moving cars became visible not far ahead.

Yuji felt the cursed energy manipulation. He glanced and saw that Mai's right hand was in her pocket.

She noticed where he looked.

He said, smiling, "Would you really shoot me?"

"Right in your heart." Mai grinned, squeezing his hand.

Yuji grinned back.


Juju stroll Q: What do you think about Yuji and Mai dating?

"What!? Where is he right now? I'll beat this out of him. What the hell has happened between them during the mission?... Damn Mai... It's like her life purpose is to vex me…. The humiliation when I had to excuse myself and leave on the counter the best dress that I've ever seen will kill me if I don't finish Mai first."

"My brother, with one of my best friends, what could be more exciting!"

"And I thought I would surprise farther, haha... You know... I hope Mai had found what she was always looking for."

"I've seen how he looks at her. It's so cute. She tries to hide it, but I know she is totally smitten with him. Every time she receives a message from him, she shines."

"I don't know what happened during their mission, but Itadori and Zen'in-senpai look different now. I've never seen her laugh so often, and he became more serious."

"I don't understand how Mai could do this? She worked so hard only to abandon everything without a good reason. And who in their right mind would date a half curse? Did he force her to do it?"

"Salmon."

"That will end when the head of Zen'in clan hears about it. He will cleanse that dishonor with blood."

"Obviously I'm happy for them, because I'm a panda and will support any choice of my friends."

"I don't see how this in any way concerns me?"

"Haha, you are kidding, right?... Ahahaha, to whom can I pay to see Naobito's face when he will hear about it?!"

"Yaga, we must put this to stop immediately. We should have dealt with him a long time ago."

"We shouldn't make rush decisions, lets wait and observe without interference."

"Damn Shoko, she was right! I've even noticed that Mai recently seemed to be more relaxed and cheerful, but I didn't believe that there was something between them. They're so different…. Although... These differences might be a reason why they are together. In any case, I'm glad that he makes her happy."

"I knew it! I must have been the first one to notice it. And someone lost her bet and would treat me with a good wine at the next Saturday."

"I do not envy an idiot who will try to stand between them. Together they are an unstoppable pair, and if comes to that, I'll side with them, and I'm the strongest."

"That brat... found an interesting girl... A long time ago I too once had a girl like this… Maybe for him it will work out better than it did for me."


Notes

Thank you for reading my story. If you like it, please leave a review.

I enjoy all of your reviews, likes and support.

We'll see how it goes, but I want to write a sequel when the next season of Jujutsu Kaisen will finish airing.

This story is my first finished story and English isn't my native language, so if you'd like to write a critique review with tips and pointers about my grammar/punctuation/word order/style/etc. I will appreciate it very much and try to improve my following stories.

Thank you, Gege Akutami, for the world of Jujutsu Kaisen and Mai Zenin.


P.S. There are not enough pictures of Mai, so I've generated one for my story cover, using ArtBreeder. You can see the full version of the cover on AO3's posting of this story.