DISCLAIMER, JJK does not belong to me, all rights go to Gege Akutami
A few days have gone and passed and Olga found herself involved in Yuji's training sessions at Satoru's insistence.
She was mainly curious to see Yuji's fighting prowess which were said to be… unusual for a boy his age.
"Take this!" Yuji launches a feign punch to her back but Olga redirects the flow of his motion in a slick turn.
Holding him by his outstretched arm, she yanks him towards her rear and shoved him downwards, thrusting the edge of her elbow onto his back. With a well-measured force, she swiftly took him down to the ground, leaving him to feel the force of her jab.
The boy lets out a groan as Olga released him from her clutches.
Despite having monstrous strength, Yuji was still outdone by Olga's counter move.
"Olga, you should go easy on Yuji-kun. Anymore and you might seriously hurt him," Satoru chimed in, leaning against the wall. "Let's not trouble Shoko with injuries."
She reached for her coat that she had neatly set aside on the ground earlier and wore it as she spoke. "Yuji's durable. He can take it."
This caused Yuji to glare at Satoru as he himself was quite merciless when training with the boy. "Speak for yourself, sensei!"
"Heh! Guilty~" The tall man candidly makes a peace sign.
"Yuji's technique is too predictable. He has the strength, speed and endurance but as for his technique, there's room for improvement." She turns to face Yuji.
"Be more creative."
She tidied her long braided hair. The gruelling sparring session had left her looking disheveled, and she wanted to appear somewhat presentable for their meeting with of Satoru's co-worker later on.
From his crouching position, Yuji slowly gets up on his own, while still suffering from the brunt of Olga's attack. He was grateful that Olga wasn't taking it easy on him but a little shakened by how she had no qualms striking him down.
The look in her darkened teal eyes was especially bone-chilling. Without a doubt, Olga was a seasoned fighter.
"Olga-san, you're quite harsh sometimes. But, thank's for training with me!" Yuji said as he bowed, his voice a mixture of gratitude and respect.
She looks at him carefully, before turning her back. "It'll be a pity if you die again." Olga replied coldly as she headed for the exit.
Her words, devoid of any warmth, left Yuji and Satoru momentarily taken aback. While her tone lacked any sense of compassion or care, her words were open to many interpretations.
"What a strange woman," Satoru voices out aloud after Olga had completely left the room.
Yuji looked up, his expression reflecting his uneasiness about the holy exorcist.
"Gojo-sensei, Olga-san is… I can't exactly put into words, but it seems like there's a lot going on for her," he admitted, his gaze lingering on the spot where Olga stood.
Satoru smiled warmly at Yuji and ruffled his hair. "Well, that's just how she is. I guess Olga has her own unique way of looking out for you, even if it seems tough and unyielding. I bet she genuinely cares about your growth and well-being but doesn't want to express it as much."
Yuji nodded, his thoughts lingering on his interactions with Olga. Despite her seemingly heartless demeanor, he could sense a certain level of care and concern hidden beneath the front she always shows. He wondered if there was a reason behind her distant nature.
"If you're curious about her, why don't you go ask to her yourself?" Satoru suggested, leading Yuji out of the room. "And~ You'll have plenty of chances to get to know her better on your next mission together. Who knows, you might uncover more interesting things about her."
"Mission?" Yuji repeated.
"Yep! I've got something exciting planned for the both of you," Satoru grinned mischievously.
Olga walked down the dimly lit pathway, her footsteps echoing softly as she made her way through the underground passage where they were scheduled to meet Satoru's co-worker. The encounter with Yuji had left her feeling somewhat conflicted.
His earnestness and gratitude had stirred something within her.
"You're a really fast walker Olga." Satoru commented as he catches up beside her.
"You should slow down," Yuji added, catching his breath.
She slows down her momentum at their request.
"By the way, what kind of mission will we be going on?" Yuji asked.
Olga glances at Yuji, considering his question. "This is just a speculation, but lately there were a series of mysterious disappearances cases. It's suspected that cursed spirits might be involved due to the patterns and evidence left behind by the victims."
Satoru nods in confirmation. "That's right. The local authorities have been trying to handle it, but it seems like it's beyond their capabilities. So, we've been called in to help." Though he was slightly taken aback by how she knew about the case. "But Olga, how did you know?"
"Again, it's merely a speculation. My own sources have asked me to look into this particular case and deal with it accordingly. So it's a fortunate coincidence that the mission was aligned to my own investigations,"
Satoru raises an eyebrow, impressed by Olga's network of information.
"Seem's like you're a step ahead, Olga. That's the mysterious Secret Church for you!" He waved his hands in the air dramatically.
"Well, that makes our job easier if you're already briefed about the situation. On a more serious note, I won't be accompanying you guys this time, but you guys don't need to worry. Yuji-kun, you, and Olga will be working with someone I highly trust. He's very capable, experienced, and efficient."
Instinctively, Yuji's eyes darted to Olga. Though his teacher's words did not carry any hint of malicious undertone, he knew what that suggested about Olga; Olga wasn't as trustworthy to be left alone with him.
They've reached their rendezvous point and there, they encounter a peculiar man cladded in a cream colored business suit.
It ignited a rush of blood.
Perhaps that was why she felt the man to be a peculiar individual.
Satoru casually slings his arm over the blond man's shoulders as he begins to introduce his colleague to Olga and Yuji. "This is Nanami Kento, the ex-salaryman Jujutsu Sorcerer!"
"Please, don't call me that," Nanami deadpanned at Saturo's boisterous energy.
Olga glanced at the man named Nanami Kento with her piercing teal eyes. His serious and professional demeanor contrast with Satoru's lively energy. He appeared composed and experienced.
Olga takes a step forward towards Nanami.
"So you're the ex-salaryman Jujutsu Sorcerer?" Olga repeated, her voice holding a faint note of amusement. "That's quite the unique title. Should I formally address you as just Nanami then?"
"It is only courteous that you do so. However, how would I address you?"
Olga forces a smile.
"I'm not particular about how you address me, but Olga should suffice. My surname would be too hard to pronounce,"
It was true, she had adopted a rather difficult-to-pronunce surname which was also Russian. So for the typical Japanese person, they would undeniably fumble with the name's pronunciation.
There was a silent agreement between the two during their front and back exchange, they weren't going to bring up the fact that they had met prior to this.
"You two seemed to be getting along swimmingly," Satoru clasped his hands as he looked between Nanami and Olga.
"Maybe a little too well," He added with intentions to tease.
Olga doesn't bother with him and returns to Yuji's side while Nanami brushes off Satoru's remarks.
"Right. Let's greet each other properly first. Nice to meet you Olga-san, Itadori-kun." Nanami gives a slight bow.
Olga returns his greetings. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Nanami-san,"
Yuji also offers a polite nod. "Yes, it's nice to meet you as well,"
Without missing a beat, Nanami begins explaining his background. "I've studied at Jujutsu Tech, and one thing I've learned… Jujutsu Sorcerers are shit!"
"Huh?" Yuji froze, tilting his head slightly at the man's sheer honesty.
Whereas Olga believed this was part of the culture of her homeland. Before heading back to Japan, she has read up on several topics about the culture of the country. Despite being a native there herself, Olga's years overseas has made it so that her mannerisms appeared very much like a foreigner and less that of a local.
So as to better familiarise herself with the people she was going to work with, she did a little homework in researching the work ethics here.
Since Nanami was a former salaryman, his mannerism, to her, would be based on the ethics and rules set up by his former work life. Him telling a bit about his past was a way for them to trust him, so that they would be able to work together more efficiently and get the job done with minimal problems or difficulties.
However, Olga's background was still shrouded in mystery.
Making her the number one, problematic step.
Nanami added. "And so, I worked as your local salaryman, and I also realised something… Work is shit!"
Ah yes, the depressing working culture that is the life of the salaryman.
In those articles, there were several cases of salarymen committing suicide due to work. Her thoughts digressed but perhaps she wasn't far off the mark for the reason why Nanami came back.
He just seemed like the type.
"So, I figured, if both worlds have their downsides, I should do something that suits me best. That's the only reason I came back as a Jujutsu Sorcerer," Nanami explained matter-of-factly.
Yuji huddled with Satoru about Nanami's unfiltered statement.
"That's dark," Yuji said, taken aback.
"I know," Satoru replied with a chuckle.
"I frankly don't care," Nanami said sternly.
Here's another straightforward one.
Nanami seems to have a fixed mindset and a way of doing things.
"I don't approve of Yuji being a sorcerer, even if he's the vessel of Sukuna, and I don't intend to fully trust Olga-san," Nanami admitted honestly, causing Yuji's enthusiasm to wane.
"I understand," Olga immediately answered, accepting his hostility.
Olga accepted Nanami's reservations without any disagreements, understanding the need to earn trust through actions and proving oneself in their line of work.
While Yuji was determined to prove Nanami wrong about himself, wanting to gain his trust and respect.
The scarred face-woman forces a closed-eye smile.
And it's something Nanami was beginning to pick up about Olga's own strange mannerisms.
"So Olga-san, do you have any hobbies?" Yuji asked in an attempt to thaw the ice between the two rigid adults.
Satoru had left them to their own devices, so at the moment, they were heading to the scene of the incident as a situation had occurred and was connected to the disappearance cases.
It was too awkward for Yuji to bear as Olga and Nanami were being too damn quiet walking beside him.
"A hobby? I don't think I have something like that."
"Huh?" Yuji was dumbfounded.
"But I suppose there were some things I liked to do when I was younger,"
Hearing this, Yuji's ears immediately perk up to Olga's words.
"I think I used to like painting when I was younger. I remember I was quite good at it, too," She spoke, relighting hope in Yuji's eyes that they might actually start an actual decent conversation.
"Then what about now?" He urged.
"I don't know, I just prefer to work." She shot back at the boy.
Yuji almost stumbled.
Once more, they were back to square one.
Yuji switches tactics and turns to the ex-salaryman. Maybe he would be slightly less stiff than Olga?
"So, Nanami-san–"
"When I have the time, I read. But I prefer non-fiction books and reading newspapers." Nanami said, not giving the chance for Yuji to finish his sentence.
Yuji sighed inwardly, realizing that breaking the ice with these two wasn't going to be easy. Nanami's curt responses matched Olga's, and it seemed they both had their own walls to maintain.
Yuji couldn't help but feel like he was hitting a brick wall in his attempts at conversation. Nevertheless, he was determined to break the ice and find some common ground.
"I like reading too. But I'm not really interested in the factual stuff. I know it's a little childish but I like to read Jump Mangas." Yuji sheepishly admits as he nicked his cheek.
This was progress at least, Yuji thought. Finally this conversation was starting to get somewhere.
Feeling more confident, Yuji turns to Olga's direction. "Then do you like books, Olga-san? I see you taking out a red book sometimes. You seem to always carry around."
Olga glanced at Yuji and turned her gaze to the gravel flooring. "I carry a gospel on me whenever I work."
His face was immediately animated as she had responded, and a sudden idea struck his mind.
"Then is it like your book of spells or incantations? Because I heard that holy exorcists have a whole other technique other than their innate ability that they use to exorcize curses." He said with genuine belief.
Olga was slightly perplexed by his thoughts. While the part about holy exorcists utilising a separate technique was true, did he think that they were some sort of fantasy characters like wizards?
This has Satoru written all over it.
"The gospel has no connection to the techniques holy exorcists use. It's a personal choice to carry it around with me, so I can recite the verses in them. It gives me a sense of assurance." She clarified as she hummed towards the end.
Nanami was quick to catch Olga's insinuation.
"So why bother bringing it wherever you go when you've already committed the words to memory?"
Indeed there was no other reason for her to carry that gospel.
Olga pondered for a few seconds about how she was to answer Nanami. Carrying the gospel first started as a way to past the time by reading when she first began her work, but after some years it has become second nature.
For the past decade, Olga has been carrying the same gospel wherever she went. The evidence was in how the gospel was still held together in good condition. The pages had yellowed due to the pressage of time and were slightly creased at the edges. The hardcover of the book was a wine colour cloth that used to be a striking red when she first received it.
"I get bored easily," Olga replied to Nanami's question with a hint of dry humor in her voice. "It's become a habit, a comforting routine of sorts. I'll try to find a hidden meaning in the text, one that I've overlooked despite many times reading and re-reading it. It keeps things interesting,"
Yuji's face was a blend of curiosity and astonishment. He didn't expect that kind of answer from her. "Honestly, I know that you're supposed to be someone religious and all, but it feels a little off to hear you say that, Olga-san."
A faint smirk formed on Olga's lips but it was quickly pressed down into a firm straight line.
"Nobara said something similar that day when you were at the morgue. I take it that there's something in the way I look that makes you all doubt my allegiance. But, I welcome it,"
"Then… Did anyone else said anything about me?" He asked hesitant, but with expectation.
Olga shrugged her shoulders. "I left before anything else could be said,"
The teenage boy dropped his shoulder in slight disappointment. He had been hoping to hear more about his classmates and how they were coping to his "death." But it would seem that Olga could not offer any further information.
Nanami had kept quiet for most parts of the conversation, mainly observing Olga. She was not someone they could overlook no matter how she acts. She was also not just some holy exorcist but the Grand Holy Exorcist and the only Executioner of the Secret Church.
Such titles could not afford to be dismissed so casually especially with the word "Grand" and "Executioner".
Olga's demeanor he realized was indicative of someone who views everything as insignificant. There was hardly light in her eyes. The rare smiles he had seen her shown, he assumed were mostly fake.
Although, that was merely a guess as it was hard to tell if she was genuinely being sincere at all.
Yet, he could understand why she would try to pull it off.
Perhaps it was her way of convincing someone she was approachable despite the solemn atmosphere around her.
And if it weren't for his own experiences in a white-collar industry and involvement with the crazies known as Jujutsu sorcerers, he would've also been fooled like anyone else with her deceptive smiles.
His former senior and current colleague, Gojo Satoru, handed him a yellow folder about Olga's general information and gave clear instructions to just watch and be cautious of her.
Usually if that were the case, he would've immediately declined the mission until the bitter end if it meant not playing into Satoru's hand and avoiding troublesome experiences.
Yet, he did browsed the folder for a bit to give off the impression that he'd at least had a brief skim of the case and declined it appropriately when he was done, but he was immediately drawn by the picture of her.
Nanami immediately recognized that she was the exact same woman he had given his bread to a few days ago.
So in the end, Nanami decides to take up this mission with a hint of curiosity and mostly suspicion with the added childish taunts by Satoru. (As long as he would stop his pestering, Nanami would cooperate)
Going about by what he's observe, Olga would divert scrutiny by answering with a response tailored to the one asking the question. If it's Yuji, her answers are short and quick. And as for him, she thinks about it more deeply and dishes for him a slightly lengthy response that she was sure would suffice him.
She doesn't go into unnecessary topics and sticks to the point. If the question was a bother she'd remain quiet.
In a sense, she's quite manipulative which meant that he's have to be wary.
"Olga-san, you mentioned that 'you work' as your hobby? Why is that?"
She brushes three fingers over her lips.
He wanted to gauge out her motives.
Olga regards Nanami with a sharp gaze before settling her hands to her rear as soon as she had prepared her response.
"When I work, I take my mind off unnecessary thoughts. Because when I work, something interesting might happen. I look forward to it. I'm not someone who bothers stressing about menial things." She ends off, smiling with her eyes closed.
Something about that smile rubs Nanami off in an unsettling way.
Yuji was aware of it too.
But they wouldn't dare bring it up.
The three of them stood at the entrance of the movie theater. Each of them holding onto a clear umbrella under the pouring weather.
The air was crisp with the scent of rain, a refreshing aroma that washed away the usual city smells. Neon lights from nearby shops and the movie theater illuminated the wet pavement, casting a colorful glow on the ground. Despite the downpour, the trio was not very optimistic about being there.
Instead of a lively atmosphere, the people were in hysterics. There was a crowd outside the cinema behind the yellow tape. The police guarded the area, allowing Nanami, Olga and Yuji to pass through.
The stench of the damned reeked the air.
It was one that Olga was all too familiar with. A cursed spirit had laced its traces of cursed energy throughout the place, seemingly ringing in their attention.
Olga had her own plans.
"Go into the cinema without me. There's something out here I want to investigate," Olga began.
Yuji looked at her with concern. "Are you sure?"
"Very much so,"
Compared to the life of dense gunpowder and heavy artillery, Olga's life as a person who now exorcised curses was far more peaceful.
With that, Nanami reluctantly agreed, but he warned Olga, "Be quick, and don't take unnecessary risks."
And like that, Olga was away.
(A/N) I know this is late, but although Art exam is technically not an Exam in my dictionary but Prep work is *ASS*
I LOVE ART. But I also HATE ART (the process)
Here's chapter 12, I hope ya'll enjoy and asks questions(if you're curious and if you want)
ALSO, like Olga I make no concrete promises about next week's chapter update as I'll be going on a holiday.
I MIGHT be able to publish it in time, but we'll see….
Hopefully.
… Maybe?
…Possibly…
With lot's of love from your writer, Ewineenaenae