TYPE OF LADY
"Would you mind explaining why Gojo called me, halfway across the world, bragging about being a good boyfriend to you last night?" The voice on the other end of Juri's call was tired and irritated, with a slight flare of sass hidden within the woman's voice. "It was midnight, Juri. Midnight! He was bragging so much that he never bothered to explain what it was that he did!"
Juri gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, Sana. He knows you're busy, so I don't know why he called you."
"It sounded like he wanted to be praised, but I didn't give it to him…so he hung up after twenty minutes of rambling." It sounded like Sana sighed deeply. There was a loud exhale of breath that Juri heard. "Is everything alright? Please don't tell me he was talking about his intimate life? I don't wanna hear about it."
Juri blushed vividly and slapped her head down into her hand. "No…no. He was talking about an ambush last night. An unregistered special-grade attacked me. Gojo-san and Yurei had to help me since I was alone," Juri said, feeling her body clench like she was bracing herself for what was coming.
"I'm coming back to Japan," Sana said with sharp resolve.
"No! No, no! We're fine! Everything is fine," Juri said frantically. Sweating with the thought of her dear friend coming back home. "We need you out there. Working jobs that no one else can work."
"I'm only working the abroad jobs because Gojo keeps pushing them on me! We're both special-grades! I know he can handle it too. He's just too lazy to travel that far. Juri, I haven't seen my husband in months!"
"You talk to him every day though, don't you?" Juri said, hoping to defuse the situation that Gojo had created.
"I did. Every night! But that doesn't make it any better!" It sounded like Sana was still talking, but it had become incoherent ramblings now. Juri wanted to help make Sana feel better but feared making It worse. "How is he anyway? Since you've seen him in person. Still complaining about overtime?"
"Nothing much has changed. So yes, he's still complaining."
"I see…" Sana sighed again, but this time it was a sigh of defeat. "Sorry, Juri. I gotta go. I gotta get up in five hours and I hadn't slept a wink because of your idiot calling me. Tell him to lose my number for the next month. I hope to see you soon."
"Goodluck, Sana," Juri heard what sounded like an exasperated groan before hanging up. After a moment of silence, Juri paled. "That was…terrifying."
"She's not happy, is she," Yurei asked.
"She's hardly happy these days. She wants to come home so badly. I feel like she'll use any excuse now to come back," Juri whimpered and put her phone away. She walked over to a vending machine and looked at what was inside. As she was thinking about what to buy, she saw a shadow cast over the machine.
"Kocho-sensei, buy me a drink," said a voice from behind.
Juri lifted her head and saw Kugisaki and Fushiguro standing behind her. They weren't dressed in their typical uniforms but wore what looked to be tracksuits. Juri quickly realized that they were probably training.
"It's been a little while, Kocho-sensei," Fushiguro said.
Juri smiled at the both of them and placed a dollar into the machine. She pressed the water button and waited for the bottle to pop out. "How have you guys been? How has Maki, Panda, and Toge been treating you?
"They've been good," Fushiguro answered. "What have you been doing this whole time?"
"I've just been busy," Juri said with kind eyes. She grabbed the water and passed it to Kugisaki.
Kugisaki grimaced at the water bottle. "I wish we had more vending machines…"
"Not gonna happen. We're strick with who we do business with," Fushiguro explained. His eyes then narrowed as they traveled up, noticing two figures approaching them from down the hall.
Juri felt herself take a deep breath when she recognized them. They were Kyoto students. Second years, Zen'in Mai, and third-year, Todo Aoi. Juri's heart jumped a little, but she did well to keep her composure. Smoothly, she stepped towards them, subtly moving in a protective manner in front of Kugisaki and Fushiguro.
"Aoi. Mai. I haven't seen you guys in quite some time. It's good to see you again?" Juri began, offering a charming smile.
Mai smiled back, but there was evident disgust in her eyes. It had always been hard for Juri to look at Mai because of her similarities with her sister Maki.
"Kocho-san, are these the replacements for Okkotsu and the third year?" Todo asked.
Juri kept her smile strong and nodded. "That's correct. Yuta is unavailable right now. And so is Hakari. But…why are you two here? Did you come along with Principle Gakuganji?"
Mai had a dangerous looking smile. "That's right. We were worried, so we tagged along. I heard a classmate of theirs died. Must've been tough. Or maybe it wasn't?"
Juri felt her smile waver a little. She knew what was coming but pushed on anyway, hardening her heart for the cruel words to come.
"What are you getting at?" Fushiguro asked cautiously.
"It's ok. Some things are hard to put into words. So I'll do it for you. 'Vessel' sound harmless. But he was basically a half-cursed monster-"
"Mai," Juri cut in, her voice sharp and clear. She was no longer smiling, and her eyes were far from kind. She gave Mai a pressing look as she approached her. "You don't need to finish that sentence, right? Because…I know exactly what you were going to say. You said the same thing to me once before. Remember?"
Juri wasn't threatening or harsh. But there was still that sharpness to her words that didn't allow Mai to continue speaking. Her sudden change in demeanor surprised all them as they stayed quiet, looking at Juri with weary eyes as she stared at eye level with Mai.
"We don't need a repeat of that…now do we," Juri said, smiling after the silence had passed. "Now…is there anything else you want to discuss here?"-
"I do, Kocho-san," Todo said, stepping close to Juri. His hulking frame towered over her, making Juri look as small as a mouse. "I wanna know if these guys are a worthy replacement for Okkotsu."
Juri crossed her arms over her chest. "I see. Is there any questions you wish to ask them?"
"Yeah. Just one." He stepped past Juri and looked right at Fushiguro. "Fushiguro, right? What…type of girl do you like?"
The question was the last thing any of them expected. Juri blinked a couple times while Kugisaki and Fushiguro just looked puzzled.
"Ah. That question. You know, he asked that same question to Gojo last year?"
Juri's eyes widened, but she tried whispering her words. "What do you mean he asked him the same question?"
"Same exact words. And what's worse…the idiot answered. I'm pretty sure Gojo didn't know what he meant…so he just looked in your direction and quickly described you in less than ten words."
"What did he say?"
"A short girl with a big chest."
Juri's face went red in an instant. Frowning deeply, she shook her head, fighting with everything she had to keep her composure and poise in tack.
"Depending on your answer, I would've beaten you half to death. And drag out Okkotsu, or at least that third-year. But since Kocho-san is here… I'll control myself this one time." Todo's face stretched into a wild kind of grin. "By the way…I like tall girls with big butts."
"Charming as usual. At least he has enough sense to not wreak havoc."
Fushiguro's jaw tightened. "Why should I share something like that…with someone I just met."
Kugisaki nodded in agreement. "It's kinda hard for a closet pervert like him to answer that."
"Shut up. The situation's bad enough without you complicating it," Fushiguro groaned.
Todo leaned on his knees and crouched down. It looked like he wanted to charge, but Juri watched him closely. "Kyoto. Third-year, Todo Aoi. Now that introduction is over…hurry up and answer. A person's taste reveals everything about them. Guys who have boring taste are boring. I don't like boring guys. The Goodwill Event gives me a rush. If my final one ends up being boring, who knows what I might do. This is me being nice. Answer me now. Tell me, Fushiguro…what type of girl do you like?"
Juri crossed her arms over her chest and stared between them. She looked calm but couldn't help but be curious about the question. She wondered if Fushiguro did have a type—silent, reserved, Fushiguro.
Fushiguro looked reluctant as his eyes fell everywhere but Todo, briefly landing on Juri. "I don't have a preference. As long as a person is compassionate…then I don't need anything else."
A wide smile crept to Juri's lips as her eyes lit up brightly. She never heard Fushiguro talk like that before, and it warmed her heart and gave her a bit of comfort. "What a pure taste in women."
"Boring." Todo's voice was like a crack of thunder as his expression darkened. "You're boring, Fushiguro."
Silence held everyone hostage as Juri slowly looked over to Todo. By the look on his face, she feared that he would charge Fushiguro at that exact moment. The energy that was coming off him was suffocating and hostile. Even Fushiguro could feel it, positioning to defend himself if needed. Kugisaki was a little shaken too by the atmosphere Todo had created.
"Aoi…" Juri said with a deep, warning voice.
Todo made brief eye contact with Juri, and after a moment of suffocating silence between everyone, he sighed. Todo straightened himself up and slumped his shoulders. "You're lucky, Fushiguro. If Kocho-san wasn't here…I would've hurt you really, really badly."
Todo's words weren't exactly comforting, but they gave Juri some solace in knowing there wouldn't be a fight today. She walked back over to Fushiguro and Kugisaki, patting their shoulders to let them know everything was going to be alright.
"That's a relief. I thought we were gonna have to step in." said a familiar, deep voice.
Everyone looked up and saw three people approach them. The bright look on Juri's face was evident when she saw them.
"Maki, Panda, Toge," she said with a wide grin. "What are you three doing here?"
The immense feeling of relief made Juri feel like she could breathe again. She approached the three and placed a semi-firm hand on Maki's shoulders. Maki looked strikingly similar to Mai, but she never felt that air of comfort Maki brought to her. And there was also Panda and Inumaki. Inumaki, who could hardly say a word aside from rice ball ingredients, and Panda…who was just Panda. These three students held a special place in her heart, the same amount of love and pride she had for Okkotsu Yuta.
Todo's face lit up. "Long time no see, Panda."
Panda huffed. "I saw the look in your eyes. You can hardly wait for the event, can you? You should probably leave now before someone much worse gets involved." Panda glanced at Juri, referring to Yurei who had not yet come out. There wasn't a doubt in Panda's mind that the Queen of Curses would've appeared if Todo decided he wanted to fight.
Todo shrugged. "You don't have to tell me twice." And just like that, any kind of fright Todo had left in his eyes disappeared. It was odd to look at. Like a switch going off in his head. "Mai, we're leaving?"
Mai frowned and took a quick glance at Maki and Juri. "Really? And here I thought I was going to have the chance to fight." Mai motioned like she was about to grab something but stopped when Maki's gaze sharpened into a glare.
"Forget it. Unlike you, I've got some important business in Tokyo." Todo said as he rummaged through his pocket, looking for something.
Juri looked curious. "Really? What would that be?"
Suddenly, Todo brought up a ticket in front of Juri's face, showing it off passionately. "Takada's Meet and Greet Event!" he proclaimed, much to the dismay of everyone else. On the other hand, Juri was far too polite and just smiled.
"Good for you, Aoi," she said.
As Todo and Mai began to leave, Kugisaki looked like she suddenly remembered something. Her face bloomed out into anger, and she raised her voice, already yelling across the way at them.
"Hold on a minute! You said Fushiguro's taste in women were boring! Are you saying compassionate women are boring? Are you trying to insult Kocho-sensei? Huh?!" In a matter of seconds, Kugisaki was already getting aggressive and had to be held back by Maki and Juri. "I'll tear you apart if that's what you mean!"
"Leave it, you idiot," Maki grumbled.
Todo stopped and thought about it for a moment. In fact, he was giving it a lot of deep thought, like he was moments away from having a revolutionary breakthrough. "Kocho-san is a compassionate woman… who's also short with big boobs. That's quality taste," he said with great clarity, referring back to what Gojo told him last year.
Everyone's mouths dropped open at Todo's bluntness, and Juri looked beyond red with embarrassment. "Aoi, please just leave! You're not making it any better!" She cried out as Yurei laughed absurdly loud inside her mind.