"Where is he?!" I ask in a panic to Shoko.
It was supposed to be an easy mission. Nanami was with him. How could it have gone this south?
"Down the hall. He's okay." She tries to tell me but I need to see him for myself.
My cursed energy is starting to rise. I can feel it in my hands and face, but mainly with the baby. He can tell i'm stressed.
I rush down the hall and burst through the door seeing Nanami and Itadori. I walk over to them quickly and look Itadori over thoroughly.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?" I ask him quickly.
"I'm fine Sensei." He says grabbing my wrists and smiling, "see? Everything's fine."
I sigh in relief and hug him tightly, "I read the report Nanami submitted." I say as I let go of him and hold him by the shoulders in front of me, "i'm so sorry."
It had to have been traumatic what happened to him. He's never really experienced battle before, so this whole world is new. Seeing what he saw must have been hard.
"Thanks Sensei." He says standing taller as I let go of him, "it just means I need to become stronger. I can't let something like this happen ever again."
I nod, "c'mon. Let's go." I say.
He walks ahead of me and I walk over to Nanami, "Thank you Nanami. If I could have gone I would have."
"I understand. When will Gojo be back?" He asks.
"In two days, why?" I ask him.
"I want to go over some details and my evaluation of Itadori with you two. There is some information I need to pass down." He says seriously looking out at the warehouse we're in.
I nod, "very well. I'll let Satoru know." I tell him.
I catch up to Itadori and escort him back to the movie room. He goes to sit on the couch and just stares at the black screen of the TV. Something's wrong. I walk over to the couch and sit facing him crossing my legs to cradle my huge stomach as best I can.
"What happened really?" I ask him seriously.
He looks at me with anger in his eyes, "i'm going to kill him." He says with rage in a low tone. I look to his hands and he's gripping them so tight I'm afraid he'll break.
"Who?" I ask gently.
"The Patch Faced curse. He was the one causing all this horror." He says.
"Patch faced curse? Tell me about him." I say.
"He looks like a human, but with blue hair and stitches all across his face. He has an ability that can turn people into monsters. It's called idle transfiguration." He says.
"A patch faced curse? Did you exorcise him?" I ask him.
He sighs and looks down at his feet, "no. He slipped away through the sewers. But, he killed good people, including someone I could have saved. Junpei." He says.
I sigh and nod my head, "I see. He became a friend didn't he?"
"Yeah, in the short amount of time I knew him. I could see the good in him. But I promise, I will kill him for it." He says gripping his hands tightly.
"Then let's get to it. C'mon, training session now." I say.
"But Sensei, you're pregnant! I can't spar with you!" He says.
"I know, but I have someone I trust who can. C'mon, let me see your fighting stance." I say.
Itadori stands and I try to get up but the weight of the baby makes me struggle a bit. Itadori walks to me and offers me his hands. I take them thankfully and stand clumsily. We walk behind the couch and I go over his stance. He doesn't need to change much actually. He's a natural.
"Very good actually. Strong from what I can tell. Now, can you tell me what you believe your biggest weakness is?" I ask him.
"I'm just not strong enough." He says.
I laugh, "not strong enough? Itadori you were strong enough to be Sukuna's vessel. I'd say you're pretty strong." I say.
"Wrong! This brat is useless!" I hear a deep gravelly voice say and see a mouth and eyes has appeared on Itadori's cheek.
"Sukuna?!" I say surprised.
"You on the other hand are far more interesting darling. Paralytic and nullification powers, plus you carry a stronger sorcerer in your belly? Very interesting." He says with an evil smile.
Itadori slaps his face, "shut up!"
The mouth appears on his hand now, "i'll be seeing you very soon love. We have much to discuss."
With that, Sukuna vanishes and Itadori and I both look confused, "what does he mean Sensei?" Itadori asks cautiously.
"I don't know. But whatever it is he wants, he won't be getting it. C'mon, ignore him." I say. I don't feel great about it either but we can't focus on that now. It'll have to wait until Satoru gets home.
"Hey Sensei! You texted me?" I hear someone familiar say as he walks through the door.
"Panda! What's up?" I say smiling.
"Training for the good will event mainly. Who is this?" He asks looking to Itadori.
"Panda, this is Yugi Itadori, Sukuna's vessel. Itadori, this is Panda." I say.
"Yeah, and I'm a Panda!" He says enthusiastically.
"Really? That's all the explanation I get? He's a panda?" Itadori says.
"Yup! So, Panda, remember you can tell no one of his existence. He is almost ready to rejoin everyone, until then, lips sealed yeah?" I say.
"Understood. Don't worry, you can count on me Sensei." He says.
"Good, now. Itadori, you will be sparring with Panda." I say.
"Like for real fighting?" He asks.
"Sure! Don't worry, you won't hurt me. I mean after all, i'm a Panda!" He says.
"Okay. But if you start hurting just-" Itadori asks before he's cut off by Panda yelling and rushing him. Panda grabs him and spins throwing him across the room.
Itadori lands and groans in annoyance, "why?"
"Never underestimate your opponent. Now, stand up and try to land a blow." I tell him.
Panda rushes again and this time Itadori slides beside him and popping up behind him hitting him in the back. It throws Panda's balance off but I notice something interesting, it seems like he got him twice.
"Hmmm." I say putting my hand to my mouth thinking.
"How was that Sensei?" He asks.
I nod, "good. Better. But I know what your technique is, which I guess really isn't a technique." I say.
"What's that?" He asks.
"You use divergent fist. You intially hit with your way above average strength, then your cursed energy lags behind and hits again. So basically, you hit twice." I say.
"Ohhh, cool!" He says smiling.
"Very useful." Panda agrees.
"Again." I say.
———
We train with Itadori for the rest of the day. By the end we were all pretty worn out. I sent Panda home to rest assuring him that if he told anyone then i'd be coming for him. Itadori fell asleep on the couch during Panda and I's conversation so I just left him there to rest. He's had a long day.
When I get home I lay on the bed and text Satoru. I'd normally call him but I don't want to distract him if he's in a fight. But only a few seconds go by before he calls me.
"Hey my love." He says.
I chuckle, "Hey handsome. Just wanted to talk about Itadori's mission." I say.
"Alright, shoot." He says.
"So, apparently Itadori had to fight a humanoid patch faced curse. He can use a technique called idle transfiguration to transform humans into curses." I say.
"Special grade?" He asks.
"Yup." I tell him.
Within seconds he's in our bedroom. He teleported here.
"Satoru, you didn't have to come back." I say hanging the phone up.
"No, I didn't, but there's something off. We need to talk to Nanami now." He says.
"Alright. Let me get my shoes." I say.
I walk past him but before I can go by, he grabs me by the waist and pulls me to him. He kisses me softly and smiles.
"Although, we could stay here just for a minute." He says smiling seductively.
I smile wanting more than anything to, but he has to get back to his mission. We can't waste time, "no, we should go before you're gone too long."
He sighs, "yeah, you're right. Let's go."
We go get my shoes and he helps me put them on since I can't bend over very well. We walk to Nanami's apartment and knock.
"Gojo, Naomi, what a surprise. And at this hour." He says annoyed.
"Yeah yeah, just wanted to talk about Yugi." Satoru says.
Nanami sighs, "come in."
We walk in his apartment and it's very clean. Not one thing out of place. But at the same time it's very bland. Not a lot of color.
"We should discuss the main topics." Nanami says, "those being the special grade patch faced curse and more importantly, one of the fingers found in our informants home." He says sitting.
"Alright." I say as both of us sit too.
"The patch faced curse uses Idle Transfiguration to transform humans into curses. He's incredibly strong and difficult to fight even for me. One touch from him and it's game over. For Itadori however, it seems he isn't able to have the same effect. Probably because Sukuna's soul is within him." Nanami explains.
"Very interesting. And what about the finger?" Satoru asks with his elbows on his knees.
"It was found in our informant Junpei's home. His mother was a victim of a curse. Half her body mutilated. Junpei soon followed the following day." He says.
Satoru leans back in his chair and crosses his legs, "did you tell Itadori?" He asks.
"No." Nanami says simply.
"Good, we can't let him think it was his fault." I say.
"Well, thanks for the report Nanami. We'll get out of your hair." Satoru says standing and helping me up.
"Let me know if you have any questions." Nanami says.
I nod to him, "thank you."
We walk out of his apartment and back to ours. We head inside and sit on the couch.
"So what does all this mean? Why is it all so close together? First the attack on you and now this?" I say.
Satoru shakes his head, "I don't know. But something's up."
"Sukuna also spoke to me today." I say.
"What? When?!" He says looking to me quickly.
"When I was training Itadori. He appeared on his cheek and said I'd see him soon and that we had much to discuss." I say.
Satoru shakes his head, "Don't listen to that loser. He has another thing coming if he thinks that. He's gonna have to get through me." He says protectively.
I chuckle.
"Well, let's get you and the baby to bed huh?" He says.
I nod and yawn, "alright."
We walk to the bedroom and I change into sweats and lay down. He lays down with me and pulls me close to him.
"Don't you have to get back?" I say.
"Yeah but I have time. I can help you sleep." He says.
I smile and close my eyes, "I love you so much Satoru Gojo."
"I love you more Naomi Gojo."
But before I can say anything else, i'm fast asleep.