"Hey, Gojo-sensei? You seem different," Yuta comments as they walk through the streets of Africa. The humidity is on par with back home. It is a shame Satoru could not bring Gome-chan with him, but after the last fiasco with her getting kidnapped in America, it is for the best that she stayed back at the apartment.

Plus, there is no way he would be able to concentrate if she came with him. She is such a damn temptress without even trying. Hopefully, Nanami keeps his word and keeps Kagome out of trouble while he is gone.

"Do I? Guess there is a lot of stuff going on lately. That's why I'm here." Satoru stuffs his hands into his pockets. He stands out, not only because he is a foreigner, but his white hair and blindfold are not helping him to blend in at all. "If anything happens to me, I need you to look after the others."

With these curses working together and demons in the mix, Satoru figures it does not hurt to play things close to the heart. Yes, he is the strongest, but being strong is not enough. He can't solve everything himself and what's the point of having allies if he can't depend on them?

"Happen to you?" Yutu interrupts. A bubble of laughter spills from his lips. "What? Like you getting a girlfriend." Yuta laughs like a dying hyena.

It is not that funny.

"Ha. Ha. I'll have you know I do have a girlfriend," Satoru replies with a snort. This is what he gets for having Yuta go off and train with Miguel. Now his precious student thinks himself a comedian of all things. What's next? Yuta is going to start messing with him like Maki does?

"What? You? How?" Yuta stumbles over his feet. His jaw is slacked.

Tch.

"Well, since you asked." Satoru clears his throat as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. He searches for a photo of Kagome that is... appropriate. "This is Kagome, and that fur ball is Buyo Jr." He fights to keep the grin off his face. Showing Kagome off may be one of his favorite hobbies. She makes it so easy.

And Buyo Jr. may be growing on him.

Yuta takes the phone, and his mouth hangs even closer to the ground. "Does that cat have two tails? How odd." Yuta hands the phone back over. His expression is still pensive.

"It's actually a demon." Satoru waves off the impending questions. "But that's not the point. Buyo is relatively harmless. He mainly hangs out with Megumi these days. Though he somehow kept Megumi alive when he faced Sukuna."

Maybe he needs to fight Buyo to see how strong the nekomata is. Eh, perhaps not. Kagome would get all pissy and then Megumi would frown even more than he already does.

"I didn't even know there were demons," Yuta says. His frown deepens, creating craters in his face. "Is that what you are worried about? Demons that can go toe to toe with the king of curses?"

Satoru clucks his tongue. He wouldn't say Buyo went toe to toe with Sukuna. Seems like a stretch to him, but if one of those demons could harm him, then what could the others do?

"Yes. There's been some curses - special grade ones that can talk and understand what is going on around them - that have been banding together. Not to mention these demons are pretty much unknown. I haven't encountered that many of them, though one of them pledged themselves to Kagome. Can you believe that?"

Yuta chuckles, but it's forced, like he's pushing a boulder down a drain.

"And then there were all these damn foxes at the hotel we stayed at. Gome-chan is like a demon magnet or something. Now all I do is run into them. I swear they pop up out of nowhere just so they can pledge themselves to Kagome or fuck with me."

Like that fucker, Yakeru. Can't stand that damn fox. Ugh, but Gome-chan thinks the fox is as harmless as Buyo.

"Uh... Gojo-sensei? How exactly did you meet Kagome-san?"

Satoru stops and taps his chin with his finger. "Up there." He points to the sky. "She fell from the sky into my lap."

He remembers it like it was yesterday. That skirt of hers was hella short.

"And she somehow got through your infinity?" Yuta wrinkles his nose. "Nice try sensei."

Satoru rolls his eyes. Not that Yuta can see him doing so with the blindfold in the way. "Yes," he sing-songs, playing it off as a joke.

"Yes?"

That's what he said. Satoru resumes walking, but allows Yuta to lead them to Miguel's home. He needs to check on some things. Like ensuring there isn't any more of that black rope around.

"She really fell from the sky? Was something chasing her?" Yuta moves the flap back and peers in. He comes back out a moment later and shrugs. "Doesn't look like Miguel is home. Probably didn't want to see you."

Satoru snorts.

"That's fine. I'll catch up with him some other time." Satoru blows out a breath. "Out of everyone else, you are the closest to me in strength. There's too much going on. Too much change to take a risk. If something happens to me, I need you to step in and protect the others. The higher ups have already attempted to kill Yuji." He pauses. "They did kill Yuji and will attempt to do so again if I'm gone. Gome-chan is in danger because she's with me and her powers may be... different."

"Different?"

"Did I forget to mention her cursed energy is more similar to purification?" Satoru giggles. "So, make sure to watch yourself around her. I'm not completely sure how her powers interact with other sorcerers, but they are enough to purify Sukuna's fingers and take out some low-level curses with ease."

One thing he won't do is confirm to Yuta that Kagome can easily bypass his infinity and how she doesn't have cursed energy at all. As much as he trusts his student, something like that could be more harmful if the wrong ears were to overhear. Best to exaggerate what she can and can't do.

Satoru sighs softly. He needs to come up with a better explanation for how her powers work before someone takes notice. She hasn't been subtle lately and Yaga can only get the higher-ups off his back for so long about investigating the power surge.

Yuta blinks, looks up at the sky, looks around Satoru, and then finally settles on a blank expression. "I see you have been very busy this year," Yuta mumbles. He pinches his arm and then mumbles some more stuff under his breath.

Satoru crosses his arms and clucks his tongue.

Why are his students so dramatic? Yuta, Megumi, Nobara, all of them are so dramatic they give Ijichi a run for his money.

"So, you'll step in?"

"Of course! You can count on me. I won't let anything happen to the other students and I will protect Kagome-san." Yuta stands stiffly, as if awaiting orders.

He half expects Yuta to salute him or bow repeatedly with how serious he is being.

Satoru smiles. "You know, Kagome would love to meet you. She's loves strays." He places his hand on Yuta's head and ruffles his hair. Maybe it is a gut feeling, or he's been watching too many movies, but he can't shake the feeling that something is going on. But at least his students and Kagome will be well protected if something goes amiss.

And that's all he can ask for.

A/N: Don't mind me, just gonna be coping for a bit by writing a lot.