Author's Note: Hello all! Welcome to the new chapter. Hope you like it! Please feel free to leave a review!
Lily woke up before the sun came up. She lay in bed listening to the silence. Rather than simply being quiet there was an eerie absence of all sound as if she might be trapped in a void. She wondered if the odd sense of being here nor there was due to being shielded by a particularly powerful protective barrier.
Getting up, leaving the dormant corpse doll behind, she decided to explore her temporary home. Three floors of rooms all alike except for the one room that could be deemed a "luxury suite" on each. How very institutional. This is only one of several dorm buildings on campus. The thought of every room being occupied by Jujutsu Sorcerers in training both fascinated and frightened her.
Lily hoped there is not actually a need for hundreds of Cursed Technique users in the world. The prospect of millions of Cursed Spirits running rampant in the world terrified her. Perhaps she should be more frightened because a handful of people are responsible for banishing the hundreds of Cursed Spirits presently existing. She no longer knew what she should fear and shun in her life anymore.
In her exploring she found the kitchen on the first floor. It seemed small for such a huge building despite being three times bigger than her kitchen at home. A square room with the same kind of appliances one would find in a house giving it a sense of warmth. The bar height prep table in the center of the room had a thick natural wood top furthering the sense of hominess.
Opening the refrigerator, she found the contents disturbing, mostly due the lack thereof. She could hardly believe two teenage boys lived here, and there is no food in the fridge apart from a wilted spring onion, a shriveled carrot, a carton of leftover fried rice, a half dozen eggs, and a bottle of ketchup. She had planned to cook breakfast but what could she do with these pitiful supplies?
"Hmmm," Lily hummed thoughtfully picking up the container of fried rice.
After passing the sight test and the sniff test for spoilage, a quick taste test of a few grains revealed it was still good. She could salvage parts of the onion and the carrot after soaking them in cold water. Ketchup is the perfect condiment for omurice. A search of the cabinets revealed a few basic seasonings and a bottle of oil as well as coffee and tea.
Once a pot of coffee was brewing, she set to work cobbling together a breakfast from the limited ingredients. Between heating up the fried rice filling fortified with the onion and carrot for extra flavor, she poured herself a cup of coffee. The bitterness of the pitch black liquid made her shudder. A further search in the drawers revealed a plethora of condiment packages including powdered cream and sugar. It was better than nothing.
"You've settled in quite nicely," Gojō commented almost causing her to drop her cup of coffee she had finally gotten semi-palatable with the addition of a half dozen packets of non dairy creamer.
"Jesus, Gojō," she muttered, whirling around to see him standing in the doorway. The tips of his hair bent against the top of the frame. Damn he's tall. He really would be a good model, she thought.
"I brought you this," he said, extending a white paper cup with a protective band around it to her. She did not recognize the logo so she assumed the offering came from a privately owned cafe. "A dark chocolate latte with a dash of cherry syrup."
"Whole milk and extra whipped cream?" she ;inquired hopefully, reaching for the cup.
"Of course. It's your favorite right?"
Lily paused to stare at him with her hands still outstretched to take the cup. "You scare me."
"Ah, I'm harmless," he assured her. "Let's just say at one point I was very interested in you for personal reasons...then things changed."
What things?, Lily pondered but did not speak the question, taking a sip of her coffee drink. His reasons most likely involved her grandmother and her wishes. She sighed in bliss as the sugar and caffeine and familiarity released a rush of endorphins.
"Oh, this is good. Thank you so much."
"No problem," he replied, watching her as she turned to begin beating the eggs for the omelets. "Breakfast, huh?"
"Yeah. I'm doing the best I can with what I got. You hungry?"
"Hell, yeah," he responded enthusiastically. "That smells fantastic."
"We should go to the grocery store. So about a shopping trip..." she said, pouring the whipped eggs into the pan.
"We can go this afternoon once your training is done and classes are over for the day." He deeply inhaled the scent of his coffee.
Lily raised her cup. "Looks like you've already sneaked off campus once today for a little shopping."
"Yeah, well...we had a coffee emergency, wouldn't you agree?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head self-consciously as she turned to glimpse at him.
"I would. By the way, I have a modeling gig next week. I'll be done with training by then, right?"
"You're still working?"
"Uhm yeah. Why wouldn't I work?" she questioned him, her eyebrows drawn together in both confusion and annoyance. "I can't just sit around day doing nothing. Besides, the bills have got to get paid, dude. I have to pay my father rent and - "
"Wait, wait, wait," Gojō said, raising his hand in a stop motion. He straddled one of the round topped bar stools placed on the other side of the prep table. "You're having to pay rent to your father?"
Lily shrugged and shook her head. She carefully pushed the flawlessly puffed omelet filled with rice onto the plate. "It was one of the stipulations of him allowing me to live in the house."
"I see," he mumbled pensively, his eyes following the movements of her hands as she squeezed the ketchup bottle to draw a smiley face on the omelet. "You have a very complicated relationship with your father, don't you?"
She slid the plate over to him. Although she could not see his eyes behind that damn blindfold, she glared at where they should be. "You have no idea. I refuse to be dependent on anybody but me for anything."
"Is that why you're struggling with the whole taking orders thing and the general learning process here? You're too accustomed to having to find your own way of doing things?" Gojō lay his hand on top of hers that lay limply on the prep table. "You're not alone anymore, Lily. There is someone you can rely on besides yourself."
"Eat your food before it gets cold," Lily said, her tone rather chilly. She pulled her hand from under his and turned back to the stove to start preparing the next omelet.
"Morning," Megumi greeted them as he walked into the kitchen.
"Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Gojō exclaimed.
Megumi grimaced and groaned, covering his ears. "Dude, shut up. It's too early."
"Gooood Morning, everybody!" Yūji sang out as he joined them.
"Ugh," Megumi groaned, plopping down on a bar stool.
Poor Megumi. Forced to deal with two morning people. She wasn't much of a morning person herself, but she had slept about sixteen hours so she was well rested. Lily sat down the next plate in front of the bright eyed and raring to go Yūji.
"Awww," he cooed. "My breakfast is smiling at me."
Lily giggled then glanced at Megumi who still looked half asleep as he sat perched on the bar stool slumping forward with his elbows on the table so he could hold his head in his hands.
"Yours will be up in a minute or two, Megumi. It won't be long," she assured him. She figured he needed a few extra minutes to wake up anyway.
"Uh huh," he mumbled in response without lifting his head.
"I'm going to need you two to help with Lily's training this morning," Gojō said between bites.
"But what about our class with Mr. Kusakabe?" Yūji mumbled with a mouthful of food.
"I'll talk to him," Gojō said, his attention shifting to Lily as she pushed the last plate in front of Megumi. "You're not eating?"
She raised her cup of coffee. "This is all the breakfast I need."
"I'll share," Megumi offered, cutting off a corner of the omelet. He held out the forkful of food to her. "Here."
Suddenly even Yūji stopped eating as his and Gojō's attention became riveted on Lily. They observed in captivated silence as Megumi fed the omurice to her then took a bite himself.
"What?" Lily and Megumi demanded in unison as the other two blinked at them.
"Nothing," they replied in chorus, their eyes lowering to their plates.
"Do we have time for a walk before training?" Lily asked after a few more bites.
"You and Megumi?" Gojō asked with obvious curiosity.
She nodded.
"Sure."
Megumi finished off the omurice while she emptied her cup.
"Oh, Yūji, please tell Nobara we're going shopping this afternoon and invite her along," Lily requested as she and Megumi were about to leave. "Okay?"
"Will do!" he eagerly agreed, giving her a wide grin and a salute.
"We're going shopping?" Megumi asked as they walked down the hall.
"Grocery shopping," she clarified. "I would like everyone's input on what to cook and for her to eat with us as well. I plan on stopping by the house to grab a few things on the way back. I'm sure Gojō wanted to take the opportunity to have a major shopping spree at the mall. I'll bake him some cookies or something to make it up to him."
"You're a nice person, Lily," Megumi complimented her.
"Thanks," she replied. He sounded wonderfully old fashioned and sweet calling her nice.
"You seem to be a natural at taking care of people. I guess you really were meant to be a guardian. I'm sorry I tried to talk you out of it," he apologized, holding the door open for her.
"Megumi, do you really think you would have been able to tell me what to do?" she laughed not intending to be derisive.
He smiled sheepishly as a deep pink color spread across his cheeks. "No. I don't. I didn't mean - "
"I know," she said, laying her hand on his shoulder. "I understand because..."
Lily hesitated, lifting her hand from his shoulder to cup his jaw. His eyes flickered up to hers.
"Because I care about you too," she finished, smiling at him. "It's weird isn't it? I've just met you, but I feel like I've known you for such a long time."
"Yeah, me too," he agreed, enclosing her wrist with his fingers to pull her hand away. "Want to walk to the bridge?"
"I do," she replied as he pulled her forward by the hand to lead the way.
They walked hand in hand without feeling the need to talk. Both of them liked how the silences between them were never awkward. Strangely enough they seemed to resonate, down to their souls, with the other.
"Do you think we're soulmates?" Lily suddenly asked out loud, allowing her thoughts to escape her mouth this time.
The question did not surprise Megumi because he had been pondering the same question in his own mind.
"There's different kinds of soulmates, you know," he said, swinging their hands between them.
"I do. Let's see...uhm..." She tapped her chin with her finger as she tried to recall the types. "The the most basic types are romantic and companion soulmates. Pretty much all other types can be separated into those two categories."
"So do you think we're companion soulmates...just friends?" he asked, letting go of her hand when she suddenly pivoted on her foot to face him.
"Honestly?" Her eyes shifted back and forth nervously between his which remained unwavering on hers.
"Honestly," he confirmed. "Whatever the answer, I want to hear it."
"We're definitely not companion soulmates, Megumi," she said, stepping forward to hold his hands.
He inhaled sharply, his eyes widening and skittering away from hers as an epic case of shyness seized him. That was not the answer he expected to hear. He expected to be friend zoned right quick and in a hurry like always.
"Because," she added, touching his chin with her fingertips to entice him to look at her. She smiled when their eyes met. "We were never meant to be just friends. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I would," he exhaled breathlessly, taking her hand in his to pull it away from his face.
Lily stepped closer to him, raising up on her tiptoes. She intended to give him a kiss on the cheek, but he turned his head to catch her lips. The kiss was chaste in its brevity but no less sweet as his lips grazed hers then lifted away.
"But..." she began, placing her free hand on his chest.
Oh, here it comes, he thought.
"Friends are all we can be right now. Do you understand?"
"I understand," he sighed in reluctant acceptance. "Come on," he said, keeping a secure hold on her hand as he began walking forward. He turned her slowly, almost as if they were dancing, to walk beside him. "Let's go to the bridge."
"So what horrors do you think Gojō will inflict upon me during training today?" Lily asked as they passed under the leafy canopy created by the trees, their branches twined together over the path.
"I cannot even begin to imagine what goes through that man's head. He is the definition of chaotic good, heavy on the chaos," he said, eliciting a chuckle from her.
They would find out soon enough.
"You want me to do what?" Yūji asked Gojō in disbelief.
"Attack Megumi," he repeated. "Have Sukuna come out to play and attack Megumi."
"No!" yelled Megumi and Lily in unified agreement.
"Just think of it as friendly sparring," Gojō said, waving his hand dismissively as if to brush all of their concerns aside. "Lily will protect him with a barrier. If Sukuna breaks through, Megumi can protect himself."
"Has anyone ever told you your ideas are really shitty?" Lily inquired as more of a rhetorical question.
"Often," he replied with brutal honesty. "All right everybody!" he yelled clapping his hands together. "Let's do this!"
When Sukuna appeared, he immediately zoned in on Megumi.
"What's up, beautiful?" he greeted the Sorcerer to whom he had developed an attachment bordering on obsession. He believed Megumi could be the one to help him regain his corporeal form and free him from having to settle for a host body.
Lily stepped in front of Megumi between him and Sukuna to make the King of Curses aware of her presence.
"You again?!" Sukuna exclaimed, cackling with wicked delight. "Well, well, aren't you an interesting one?"
His eyes hungrily roamed over her body before switching to Megumi.
"You won't lay a hand on him," Lily said, bringing up the barrier.
"Maybe at the moment he's not the one I'm after," he threatened her, licking his lips in an openly lecherous manner. "I need to keep him around a while. You, however, are expendable, woman. I should teach you your place."
"And where is my place?" she challenged him.
"Under me," he replied, smiling at her. "With my dick inside you. Or under my foot as I stomp the life out of you. Which do you prefer?"
Lily pushed away the cold fear that stroked her spine with its frigid fingers. She had been expecting some lewd and offensive comment, and Sukuna did not disappoint. The fear would only make her weak, and she could not afford any weakness right now.
One of Megumi's hands rested on her shoulder, the other on her hip as he stood behind her as a literal support.
"You can do this," he whispered, kissing her on the cheek. "I believe in you."
Sukuna pulled in a deep breath, expanding Yūji's already wide chest as his brawny shoulders rolled back. He charged at them like an angry bull, roaring and puffing like one as well. Hitting the barrier at full force, he was rebuffed and sent sliding backwards from the backlash of his own momentum.
The head butting did not work, not off setting her off in the least. Her determination had risen exponentially with the desire to protect someone dear to her. After his fists proved useless as well not inflicting the tiniest bit of damage to the barrier, Sukuna resorted to mind games to weaken her and launched a verbal assault.
"You won't be able to keep it up for much longer, bitch. Fucking cunt. When I break through, I'm going to rip off your clothes and fuck you right in front of him. You're going to pay for treating me like a - " Suddenly Sukuna stopped speaking.
"No!" Yūji yelled, reclaiming his body and his faculties. He dropped to his knees, sweating profusely. The expression on his face is one of pure horror as she stares blankly at the ground. "I can't do this, Gojō! I can't keep going! The things he was thinking...the things he wanted to do to her...so gross...I can't..."
Lily diminished the barrier and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"It's okay, it's okay," she murmured to him. She twisted her head around to glower at the overzealous teacher. "Don't ask him to bring out Sukuna again."
"I won't," he assured her. "We'll find another way."
"No!" she bellowed at him, letting go of Yūji who had pulled himself back together. She stood up and stomped over to Gojō. She pointed at herself, poking herself in the chest. "I will find another way. I've done pretty good so far on my own before I got here. I will stay here tonight but tomorrow I am going home."
"But you can't! We just discussed earlier how you aren't on your own anymore."
"I will be fine. The best way for me to develop stamina and improve my control is to just do it. I will still definitely be relying on all of you. If anything comes along I can't handle, any one of you Sorcerers will be there to help me. Right?"
"You have that much faith in us?" Megumi asked.
"I do," she responded confidently. She glared at Gojō. "I have more faith in some of you than others."
"Lily, I'm - " Gojō began to apologize but she stopped him with a raised hand, palm out in a stop gesture.
"Save it," she snapped. "I understand what you're doing here. You're trying to cram several years of training into a few days, and you're having to take extreme measures to do it. But there has to be a better way. Trust me to find it."
"We can try your way," Gojō digressed with a sigh of defeat. He wouldn't be able to change her mind anyway. "The first sign of trouble or if you feel like you're not ready yet, you come right back here. Understand?"
"I understand." She sighed noisily. "Now. I'm going to go get the rabid rabbit and set up a barrier in that building I was in yesterday. One of y'all can stop by at random times and see if you can take me by surprise to test me."
"Okay," they all agreed.
Lily had no idea what she was asking for until it was too late. What she had hoped would be a useful training exercise became a jump scare fest to see who could make her lose her cool in the biggest and most hilarious manner.
The surprise of the day came when Megumi was the one to win the battle of terrorizing Lily. He also learned she is deathly afraid of snakes. Using his Great Serpent shikigami, the snake moved under the barrier and burst through the floorboards behind her.
Lily released a scream so loud and long it brought everyone on campus running. When everyone arrived they found Megumi standing at the bottom of a tree trying to coax her down. She absolutely refused to climb down no matter how much he begged.
Finally, Yūji went up after her when she calmed down enough to realize she had climbed up too far to get down by herself anyway. Once he convinced her to climb onto his back, he scaled down the tree to bring her safely to Megumi's arms.
"Well, everyone, this is Lily," Megumi announced when several pairs of questioning eyes landed on them. "Lily, this is...everyone."
"I've met Maki and Nobara," she said, giving them a little wave which they returned. She looked at the Panda standing on two legs . "You're Panda."
"Nice to meet you, Lily," he greeted her politely, putting out a paw for her to shake.
"You too," she said, putting her hand into his gigantic soft paw with long black claws.
Lily forced herself not to gush over him despite the fact he looked like the adorable animal that is his namesake. Principal Yaga had to be behind this unusual creature. She glanced down at the pink bunny clinging to her leg. Was there a chance Pinky could evolve into a creature like Panda? He had already shown the possibility of changing into something different, developing a will and emotions of his own already.
"This is Toge Inumaki," Megumi said to introduce her to the short boy with short platinum blond hair standing beside Panda.
"Nice to meet you, Inumaki," she said, putting out her hand to him.
"Seaweed," he mumbled under the high collar that covered his face up to his nose as he took her hand.
"What?" Lily questioned him.
"He speaks only the names of rice ball fillings to avoid cursing people. He curses with words alone. It's part of his cursed technique," Megumi explained.
So he proves the old adage sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt simply is not true after all, she thought already being well aware of the psychological damage words can inflict without the addition of cursed energy behind them.
"Oh, I see." She nodded and bowed to Inumaki who returned the more traditional greeting that required no words.
Megumi took her by the elbow to steer her toward a man standing beside Principal Yaga. The man looked old and tired, so tired he appeared ready to drop where he stood for a nap.
"Lily, this is Kiyotaka Ijichi, the assistant director of the school," he said.
"So this is our new Guardian," Kiyotaka said, adjusting his half lensed glasses on his long thin nose to get a better look at her. His voice sounded more inquisitive and unsure rather than demeaning. He shook her hand while saying, "Welcome to Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, Miss Nakamura."
Lily was also introduced to the on campus doctor, Shoko Ieiri. She was exceedingly relieved there would be a doctor around to tend to major injuries and perform surgeries. Her talents would only cover minor first aid and being a nursemaid during recovery.
"That's almost everyone. Mr. Kusakabe is hiding in his classroom. When he heard you screaming, he hid under his desk," Megumi informed her. "Nanami is at the office today so you'll have to meet him later. Yuta is overseas and Kinji has been suspended."
What the hell does someone have to do to get suspended from this insane asylum?, she wondered, not missing the irony of considering this place an institution for greater insanity rather than higher learning.
"Now that introductions have been made in a less than convenient gathering, I suggest we all get back to what we are supposed to be doing," Principal Yaga announced, marching across the courtyard to return to his office.
"Is he perpetually grumpy like that?" Lily asked as everyone began to disperse.
"Yes, he is," confirmed Gojō. "Well, I think your training is officially over for the day. Wanna go shopping?"
"Don't you have teaching or something responsible you should be doing?"
"Probably," Megumi interjected. "But he's going to use this opportunity to sneak off and do something irresponsible. You might as well go with him and try to keep him out of trouble. I have to go to class and pull Mr. Kusakabe from under the desk."
"I didn't know babysitter would be one of my duties," she grumbled, watching Megumi walk away.
"Hey, what do you think being someone's guardian means?" Gojō questioned her jovially. Taking her by the arm, he pulled her toward the front gate. "Let's go, Mama."
"Do not call me Mama!" she shouted at him, snatching her arm out of his grip. "I'm younger than you...and it's just plain weird."
Lily was beginning to suspect Gojō simply enjoyed torturing her in new and inventive ways. He is like the goofy big brother she never wanted, but for some reason the universe thought she needed.
"Weren't we all supposed to go together?" she asked, stopping at the gate.
"Yeah, but do you really want to sit around and be bored the next few hours?" he countered petulantly.
"You're not going to leave me alone until I go with you, are you?" She gave him a dubious and severe glare.
"Nope. Principal Yaga won't be as mad if he thinks it was your idea." He took her hand and pulled her out of the gate. "Let's go!"
"Wait, what?! Gojō!"
Lily quickly understood Megumi's longsuffering with her during their impromptu adventure on Sunday. While at the grocery store, they looked at every item, tasted every sample offered, and argued over every sweet on the shelves, and there were many of them, Gojō wanted to purchase. Two hours later they made it our of the store with the ingredients for dinner and a chocolate cake but miraculously no candy.
"We need to hurry back so I can get started on that cake," she said, walking fast down the sidewalk.
"Can I help make the frosting?" Gojō inquired with his typical childish excitement.
"Do you mean can you eat the frosting after I make it? No," she flatly refused, hugging the grocery bag to her chest protectively. "I'll let you lick the bowl though."
"All right!" he exclaimed throwing his fist in the air triumphantly.
Lily chuckled. It did not take a lot to make him happy. Perhaps he purposely worked at being exceedingly light hearted and cheerful to counteract all of the Cursed Energy he harbored. That would make sense.
What would her father have been like had he embraced what he is rather than running from it? Perhaps he would not be overbearing, melancholy, and emotionally abusive to his family because of his regrets and shame. But thinking about that only made her sad. She did not want to be like him so she pushed the depressing thoughts away and plastered a smile on her face.
Lately the past had jumped up to bite her in the butt far more than she cared to contemplate. But she decided she would have a much better future to look forward to despite it being one she never saw for herself.
Lily sighed dejectedly. The fake smile made her facial muscles ache. She hated being disingenuous, especially to her own emotions. However, her career sometimes required it.
Suddenly she felt cold causing a shudder to run through her body. It was if something grabbed her, and she was being held in a giant freezing cold hand. The invisible hand seemed to tighten, compressing her lungs and her heart. Her steps slowed to a halt.
"Lily? Are you all right?" Gojō asked.
"I'm not sure what's happening. I feel..." She wheezed for air. "I feel like something is touching me...holding me...squeezing the life out of me."
Gojō's head whipped around as if he were looking for something. His head stopped moving as he focused on the little church to their left.
The small building made of white stone looked incredibly old, some of the bricks crumbling while others were missing entirely. The stained glass windows on the front were dirty and dingy, some of the panels broken out destroying the visages of the saints they depicted. The tower containing the bell had broken off some time ago and lay on it's side in the overgrown lawn to the right of the decaying building. Grass and flowers had grown inside the huge bell making it look like a cornucopia of nature's beauty with blue, pink, and white flowers spilling from it.
"Lily, were you sad just now? I mean, really sad," Gojō emphasized as if she did not already understand his meaning.
"Well, yeah, but what - " Her head slowly turned to follow his line of vision.
There appeared to be a person, or at least it is a shadow in the shape of a person, standing at one of the front windows inthe church. At first looked as if the spirit held a candle, the flame moving as if it had a life of its own. Then she could see the flame was actually inside the creature where their heart should be.
"Ready for a test?" Gojō asked her.
No not really, her inner voice replied but responding aloud she said, "Yes."
"Put up a barrier."
"But - "
"I swear, Lily, do what I ask," he commanded her sternly, his lips set in a thin line.
All the grins and giggles were gone. He could be a scary person when serious.
"Protective barriers not only keep unwanted spirits out. They also serve to keep dangerous spirits inside," he explained, setting the grocery bag down at her feet. "I'll be right back."
Once Gojō stepped onto the grass, Lily erected the protective barrier from the sidewalk to behind the church. When he entered the building through the front doors, she heard and unearthly scream that made her wince and drop the grocery bag to cover her ears.
A blue flash occurred followed by the sound glass breaking. She watched in astonishment as what remained of the stained glass windows disappeared from the the metal frames to be sucked into the building followed by the frames themselves. Wood snapped and splintered, and the roof caved in.
The tall grass lay over, clumps being pulled out and sucked toward the church. Flowers were ripped from their stems and hurled into the vacuum created behind the barrier. On the outside, she felt nothing, no movement of the air whatsoever - not even a slight breeze.
"Gojō!" she screamed in a panic as the building collapsed further into itself, the sidewalls cracking and leaning inward but not completely falling.
A rumble began. Even the sidewalk under her feet vibrated from the tremors as the foundation under the church gave way and a crater formed under it dropping the entire pile of rubble a few feet.
"Gojō!"
Despite her fear for his life, she gritted her teeth and upheld the barrier the had ordered her to create. The earth stopped quaking, and everything went quiet. The only thing that moved within the bubble was the plumes of dust rising from the broken bricks and dirt that been disturbed by the vacuum.
"Gojō!" she shouted again.
One of the double front doors, both currently hanging halfway from their busted hinges, opened. Gojō stepped out of the mostly demolished church covered in white dust that he fruitlessly tried to beat from his black uniform sending up clouds around himself. His shoulders hunched up to his ears when the door he had opened fell off the twisted hinge and crashed into the pile of debris.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he walked toward her.
"I-I'm f-fine," she stuttered. "How about you?"
She dropped the barrier as he neared the sidewalk.
"Ah, I'm great!" he replied, coughing from the dust drying out his throat. Bending in front of her, he picked up both of the grocery bags. "Let's go. You've got a cake to bake."
How can he act like nothing happened? He just exorcised a Cursed Spirit and demolished a church that should have been torn down anyway...but still! And he walks away like it was nothing!, her inner voice shrieked as she followed behind him.
"You get used to it," he said with a nonchalant shrug.
Lily did not know if she wanted to get used to it but supposed, once again, she had no choice.
"It's just what we do. It's no more remarkable than an office worker going to his office to do his job. Our office just happens to be wherever, our hours are whenever, and the job is - "
"Whatever cursed spirit needs to be exorcised," she interjected.
"You got it."
"Damn," she muttered.
"Having second thoughts?" he questioned.
"No. Would it matter if I did?"
He sighed loudly expressing the exasperation she felt. "No. Not one bit. But hey, at least we have each other."
"Yeah," she laughed lightly. "That definitely accounts for something."
"Now do you see why you're job is so important? We don't have time to get hung up on the emotional and sometimes not even the physical implications of what we do. That's where our friends, our family, comes in. And you're a part of that family now."
Lily felt warm inside from his words. Not just friends but family. This family would be quite different from what she knew about family - and that is an incredibly good thing.
As they approached the dorm, she could see Megumi waiting for them at the doors. He looked angry but when he saw her relief relaxed his taut features.
"Where the hell have you two been?" he demanded like an agitated father whose kids snuck out of the house. "What took so long?"
"You have been shopping with guy, right?"
"We exorcised a spirit while we were out," Gojō informed him.
"You exorcised the spirit," she corrected to give credit where credit is due. "You did it fast too. You were amazing!"
"You held up the barrier. You did your job and did it well," he complimented her.
"Oh, it wasn't that big of a deal." She flushed with pleasure and pride from the compliment. "You had the much bigger part and harder job."
"No seriously, you were great!," he exclaimed. "You should be proud!"
"Well, I would like to draw this meeting of the mutual admiration society to a close," announced Megumi to interrupt. "Shouldn't be getting those things into the refrigerator?"
"Oh, yeah. I need to start baking," she said, unable to look into Megumi's eyes they were so narrow with agitation. "Wanna help?"
"Sure," he replied, following her and Gojō into the building.
"I get to lick the bowl though right?" Gojō clarified.
"Of course," she sighed.
With two helpers in the kitchen, not only did she get the cake mixed and into the oven in record time, she also started on dinner.
"I know how to make the meatballs," Megumi offered as she dumped the ground beef into the bowl.
"You do?" she inquired, genuinely surprised.
"Yūji taught me how."
"He knows how to cook?"
"His grandfather taught him. But those meatballs were made out of ground turkey," he said as she added a small mound of another kind of ground meat. "What is that?"
"Pork. It's the the same concept just different types of meat. I'm going Italian all the way with this since they had the meat I needed," she explained, opening the bread crumbs.
"Hey, Lily, I need your help with the sauce," Gojō said, picking up the fresh oregano and sniffing it.
Since he already had the canned tomatoes crushed up and in the pot, she showed him how to chop the oregano and garlic and how much to use. By that time, Megumi had the meat mixed and had started forming it into balls to place them on the pan to go into the oven and bake. The timer on cake dinged to signal its completion as soon as he placed the last meat ball on the pan. The sauce bubbled away on the stove as well.
"Where are Yūji and Nobara?" Lily asked as she took out the cakes, setting the pans on the prep table to cool.
"Getting in some last minute sparring. They're both good close combat fighters," Megumi said, sliding the pan of meatballs into the open oven.
"If there's something you guys want to do, I can stay here and baby sit the food," Gojō offered.
Lily was thankful she had not yet mixed up the frosting for the cake. She had the feeling it would be gone by the time the got back.
"All you have to is stir the sauce occasionally. When the meatballs are done, take them out of the oven and drop them into the sauce. It will still need to simmer a while," she instructed him.
"I got it, Mama," he teased her.
"I told you not to call me that," she snapped, smacking him on the back of the head.
"Ow! Yeesh, you really are like your grandmother."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said with a big smile on her face.
"As you should," he rejoined, returning her smile. "No go on. You two get out of here and relax a while."
They walked up the path leading into a thick tree line behind the dorm. Without saying a word, they wandered the paths, the backs of their hands occasionally brushing. Lily caught Megumi's pinky with hers, pulling him to a stop as they stepped into a small courtyard amidst the trees. Smooth round gray and white river stones filled the small square with a stone lantern in the middle.
"Are you okay?" Megumi asked, turning her to face him.
"I will be. I was never in any danger. It was over fast. But it was..." She met his dark blue eyes. "It was scary. Honestly, I'm kinda glad it's not my job to be right with you when you're out fighting these things...putting yourselves in danger. I don't think I could..."
Megumi pulled her into his arms. He could feel her shaking. "I know. I'm glad too. I wouldn't want you to watch any of us get hurt...or get hurt yourself."
He couldn't bring himself to say killed despite it being a real possibility. She was far more sensitive than he had first thought. He realized he had so much more to learn about this woman. Seeing it as a challenge, he looked forward to unraveling the mystery of the sharp tongued beauty queen with a shy, frightened inner child.
"Hey," Lily called to him, pressing her fingertips along his jawline. When his eyes connected with hers, her soft pink lips curled at the corners. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm looking forward to the years of getting to know you as a friend before I make you my lover," he readily admitted.
"Oh," she gasped, her cheeks turning pink as she shielded her eyes from his by looking down.
"Did I say something I shouldn't have?" He squeezed her hand that he held in his which prompted her to look at him. HIs belly flipped and flopped like a fish on the sand.
"It was just...bold. I'm glad you feel that way...because I feel that way too."
Lily closed her eyes as he bent toward her, anticipating a kiss. Instead he pressed his forehead to hers. There was a certain level of platonic intimacy that made her appreciate the affectionate gesture.
"We should get back before Gojō eats that cake even without the frosting," Megumi warned making her laugh.
"You're right."