MOVIES AND FRIENDSHIP

"You can see her…right?" Juri asked hesitantly.

A shiver ran through Junpei as he stared at Yurei's floating figure. Her nearly transparent skin and starlight white hair were a vision of snow and death. She was stunningly beautiful but in a tragic sort of way, like a snowstorm or a long winter. It was hard to speak at that moment, but Junpei could only nod in acknowledgment. Juri crossed her arms and glanced at Itadori, both pondering how they should question him.

"So…the other day, people died in the move theater you went to. Did you see anything strange like her. Something that looked like it shouldn't belong?" Itadori asked, gesturing to Yurei as an example.

Junpei blinked and bit down on his lip. He didn't say anything for a while as he maintained eye contact. Then he said, "No, I didn't see anything."

Immediately, like a second sense, she knew Junpei had lied to them. From the way he tried to maintain eye contact and feign an innocent demeanor. She hugged her body tightly and glanced at Yurei, silently letting her know with a look alone of her revelation.

"Then there's nothing more to ask!" Itadori cheerfully said and sat down beside the young kid. He was so laid-back that his behavior startled Junpei for a second. "Hey, what were you watching at the theater?"

Junpei groaned, his face cringing. "It's an old remake, so you wouldn't know even if I told you."

"It's fine. Just tell me."

"Worm Humans 3."

Juri shelved her worries to the back of her head for now. He was a kid, so he must have his reasons for his earlier deception. "Is that some sort of splatter movie?" she asked, sitting on Junpei's other side.

Junpei grimaced at the thought of the movie again. "It is, but it's kinda boring. I guess I shouldn't expect to much substance from a movie like that. But number 2…"

"But number 2 was kind of interesting, wasn't it?" Itadori chimed in, beaming with a bright smile.

Junpei quickly snapped to attention, surprised that they could even agree. "Yeah! You're right! Number 2 just has that kick."

Juri was a little stunned as her head pinballed back and forth between Junpei and Itadori. Watching the two suddenly dive into a passionate conversation about horror movies. She felt a tightening in her chest, remembering what they came here for, but she couldn't bring herself to cut in and end the conversation. It delighted her to see Itadori interacting with someone his own age, and it was nice seeing Junpei's face light up, too.

She knew she had nothing to add to this conversation, so she held back and watched with a lazy smile.

"I dare say he forgot all about his deceit." Yurei's voice echoed inside Juri's head. Juri didn't answer but just silently listened. "I wouldn't be surprised if this boy didn't have friends and was feeling disconnected from people around him."

Juri's mind drifted to her younger days, and she absently ran a finger across the scar on the side of her mouth. The memory of when she got it still made it burn occasionally, even though she knew it was a phantom pain.

Yurei fell silent. "People are needlessly cruel…but that doesn't mean it has to make you bitter like them."

"Junpei, is that you?"

They all stopped what they were doing and looked over their shoulders, seeing a woman. She resembled Junpei with her dark hair and deep-set eyes. She was fairly young, too, with a grocery bag in one hand and a cigarette hanging between her lips.

"Mom!" Junpei exclaimed, his face growing red as she walked down to meet them.

"Friends?" Yoshino Nagi asked.

"I just met them."

Juri smiled kindly and stood up, offering her hand for Nagi to take. "Yeah, we did just meet him. I'm Kocho Juri, a school counselor and teacher of Jujutsu Tech. We only stopped because my student got talking with your son."

"Really?" Nagi said with a lazy smile. "That's rare."

Juri blinked, sensing that she must've been referring to Junpei talking with anyone.

Junpei quickly marched to his mom and snatched the cigarette from her lips. "I told you to stop smoking, didn't I," he scolded.

Nagi groaned. "Okay, okay." She then smiled. "Kocho-san, why don't you and you student join us for dinner?"

Junpei flinched. "Hey, wait! It's a bother!"

"What do you mean my food is a bother!"

At that moment, Itadori's stomach announced by itself, growing loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Is there any food you don't like?" Nagi asked them both.

"Nope!" Juri and Itadori answered.

"Need any help?" Juri asked politely while poking her head into the kitchen.

Nagi looked away from the broccoli sizzling in the pan. She smiled at the help and gestured to the onions still in the bag.

"I'd apricate it."

Juri nodded, grabbed the onions from the bag, and quickly cleaned them. She then got to work cutting them up and occasionally glanced over to Nagi. "Your son is an interesting young man," Juri began, hoping to coax some information and gain more insight about Junpei.

"You think so?" Nagi asked, a lazy smile on her lips. "I'm glad he has someone who shares his interests."

"I'm guessing he doesn't have a lot of people around him he can relate too?"

Nagi shook her head. "No. He doesn't really talk much about what happens at school, but…I can sort of piece it together. I know he doesn't really have friends."

Her heart stung a little. She, too, could paint a picture of Junpei's school life. She imagined it mirrored her own in a way. "He doesn't get along with his peers, does he? Kinda keeps to himself?"

Nagi nodded. "It seems that way, yeah." She paused for a moment to think. "I told him not to let it get to him. That the school he's in now is nothing but a small fish tank compared to the rest of the ocean."

Juri felt the knife's weight sink easily into the chopped onions. "I see what you're getting at. It's good advice. Something I would've been happy to hear while still in school. But for some people…The glass on that tank is too foggy to think of anything outside of it." She sighed deeply and picked up the cutting board. She dumped the onions into the pan and watched them merge and sizzle with the broccoli.

"You were bulled in school, weren't you?"

Juri startled a little and met Nagi's eyes—eyes that mirrored her own. It was probably the same look Juri had given Junpei when she first realized he was being bullied.

"I was," Juri said with a smile that wilted like a flower. "But the difference Junpei and I have…it that I didn't have parents that would give me great advice. Much less advice at all." She stared forward, not exactly looking at anything.

"Didn't have a good home life?" Nagi asked, her voice softer than before.

"I wouldn't say that. I have a pretty big family. A mom and dad and three other brilliant siblings. I was the second youngest." Her voice drifted like she was recalling. "It felt like we were roommates rather than family. Everyone had their own lives and…nothing else mattered to them."

She glanced at Nagi, waiting for a moment to see if she was going to say anything. She kept quiet, though, her full attention on her and ready to listen.

"I was bullied, yes," Juri continued, nodding. "And they were cruel and awfully creative with their tricks. They put thumb tacks in my shoes, tossed my bag away that had my lunch money…and hid my desk so I had no choice but to stand awkwardly in class. This though…" she tapped her cheek where her scar was. "Was the worst of their torture."

Juri cried with agony as she lay on the cold concrete floor, holding her mouth that gushed rivulets of blood through her fingers. Her heart was beating against her chest like a hammer, and she could only faintly hear the three girls argue in front of her.

They said they were only trying to scare her…

That this was a joke…

That it was Juri's fault that she panicked and moved…

Yet neither of them looked at her. If Juri weren't lying on the ground, crying and bleeding, it would've felt like they were talking about someone else they hurt. That it wasn't her blood that coated the sharp metal of the box cutter in front of her.