Kagome had to be the only person at her high school who didn't hate the first day after the holidays. Teachers and students alike dragged their feet back to their classrooms while she marched through the hallways, determined to start that final term the right way. She did try her best to lower her energy levels, not wanting to overwhelm the kids, but she still caught herself humming while wiping the board. She just couldn't help it — she loved it here. Loved her job, loved the kids, and she genuinely, truly believed in what she was doing with them.
That first day, after the winter holidays, was an exception. She hadn't meant to act any different than usual, and truth be told, she still was far more cheerful than any other teachers, earning herself exhausted looks over coffee cups as she'd blitzed through the teacher's lounge on her way to class. Still, there was a distance to her, a thoughtful expression when her eyes drifted to the window, which happened more often than it normally did.
Her students, all obtuse, tired teenagers that they were, didn't fail to notice, unlike her colleagues. It was Ms. Higurashi, after all, and she came back to herself with that warm smile of hers any time someone called for her attention. She might be just a little off today, but no one had the heart to try and mess with her. Instead of taking advantage of it, they let a peaceful quiet take over the room. While the kids reviewed the papers she'd given back to them, along with exercises she'd planned to help them correct the most common mistakes they'd made, her mind was free to wander.
There wasn't much outside to inspire her. With the school being in the middle of Tokyo, all she could look out on was the concrete school yard. There were some well-maintained lawns, some perfectly trimmed bushes, and even a couple of old trees, but it all felt so very urban, so modern, so overbearing. Everything right where it belonged, without any room for growth or, frankly, without any room for people. No one could walk on those lawns, the bushes were there to look pretty and nothing else, and the trees weren't meant to be climbed.
She wasn't sure how much longer she could be here. She wondered if she should have seen it coming, that fateful day in Shibuya, that using her powers on that scale again would eventually awaken this itch in her soul. So far, she'd been happy to just go wherever she was needed. When she was fifteen, it had been the Feudal Era, then her family's side, when they had thought her gone forever, and then to these kids — her kids, for all intents and purposes.
Problem was, now she felt called in another direction, and figuring out what to do with it was weighing on her, heavier than she would have expected. It wasn't like she was no longer needed here. She would just be more useful elsewhere, and she didn't know how to keep being a teacher while looking the other way. That wasn't her, it had never been. But if she did choose to leave her job, going back to her roots as a priestess… It would make it the second time she had to leave behind something she loved once her role there stopped being the most important thing in her life.
These questions followed her around all day, a dark cloud over her head. She knew it wasn't the same, that she would be able to see her students again, even if she left her job, but dammit, she loved it here. She didn't want to leave — and at the same time, if there was something greater out there, she did want to seize it, and—
And by the end of the day, she wasn't any closer to having a definitive answer than she had been a week ago. She let her students escape, missing, for once, the worried glances they were exchanging and their kind, worried tone as they wished her a good evening. Once everyone was gone, she stayed behind, tapping her fingers on the wooden desk, slowly putting her stuff back into her bags, mind and eyes both unfocused.
She was still there when the door slammed open.
"Miss Higurashi! Miss—"
There was Misaki, panting, completely out of breath. She doubled over, resting her hands on her knees, choking on her words when she tried to keep talking too soon.
"Misaki," Kagome called, alarmed, walking up to the girl and putting a hand on her shoulder, searching for injuries, "is everything okay? Did something happen?"
The girl shook her head and hands vehemently at the same time, as hard a denegation as she could muster.
"No," she finally managed to inhale, "no, I'm fine, but your boyfriend is there!"
Kagome blinked.
"My what now?"
"Your boyfriend!" Misaki repeated, impatient. "He's waiting for you outside the school." Then, leaning in as if in confidence: "I think he's brought you a gift! That's why you were upset today, right? You two fought?"
Oh. Oh, sweet kid.
"It's really nice of you to worry about me," she said, her voice soft, "but even if that was true, that is my personal life. I don't share that with my students, you understand, right?" Then, after a couple seconds, and because she couldn't not say anything while Misaki's face grew dejected, she added "but thank you for letting me know."
Just like that, the smile was back.
"I'll go tell him you're coming!"
"No, please don't—"
Kagome didn't bother finishing her sentence, Misaki already too far to hear her. She was sure the kid would stay behind to try and see the 'reconciliation'. She was also sure that Sakura would be behind her, pulling on her arm and trying to get her to leave the scene, but wouldn't be able to convince Misaki and end up watching the whole thing as well. She shook her head, smiling. The whole day, her students had been the ones to pull her out of her melancholia — but it only made it harder, didn't it? She loved this place, and yet a part of her ached to leave it, while the other ached at the thought of leaving.
She wasn't surprised to find Gojo waiting outside for her. Seeing him chatting up a very flustered janitor who just wanted to close the gates but seemed too enraptured by the shine of his blue eyes behind his sunglasses, now that caught her off guard.
"Gojo, would you let Mr. Hayashi do his job?" she called out, walking up to them.
The sorcerer turned towards her, shooting her a dazzling smile that made her breath catch in her throat. By now, she knew full well how handsome he was, of course, and yet even she hadn't expected that it would have that kind of effect on her.
She blamed it on the weird day she'd been having.
"Kagome!" he replied cheerfully, before turning towards the janitor, triumphant. "See, I told you she knew me."
"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Hayashi," Kagome apologized, "I hope he hasn't been too much of a nuisance?"
"Hey, I'll have you know that—"
She pushed her bike into Gojo's legs, deciding on the fly that he'd live and it might succeed in shutting him up long enough for her to remove them both from the situation.
It never actually made contact with him, but she didn't notice that.
"We're just leaving," she said, apologetic once more.
"No worries, Miss Higurashi," the old man replied, shaking his head politely. "We were just having a conversation."
"We were just having a conversation, Kagome," Gojo parroted, "who do you take me for?"
She glared at him, and he snickered, clearly enjoying teasing her.
"You make a very lovely couple," Mr. Hayashi added as he closed and locked the gate, smiling fondly at her.
"That's not— Ugh." As the janitor was leaving, she turned around to face Gojo. Maybe she should have known that, with how she'd been feeling lately, it would only take a moment before he got on her nerves. "Was that necessary? I work here."
He shrugged, not looking too concerned with it.
"Dunno why you'd care," he answered. It should have sounded like nothing but a throwaway sentence, yet Kagome got the sense that it was, in fact, as genuine as it got. He had no clue why she would care, and her anger left her like she'd just taken the lid off a pot of boiling water. Not only was there no point in trying to explain it to him but also… Did she care more than she should? "I got you something," Gojo added, unaware of her mental turmoil, thrusting a small bag in her hands.
"Thank you," she said, mostly on autopilot, glancing down at the elegant, pristine bag.
"Figured I might as well bring back some macarons, since I was in Paris. Now, how about we go see that cursed painting of yours?"
Now that brought her back to herself.
"You were in Paris when I called you?"
She couldn't even begin to process the rest of his sentence, and she didn't know if she liked how thrown off her game she was right now.
"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll pay for the phone bill," he answered lightly. "Don't you want to get moving so you can get home faster and, I don't know, grade papers or something?"
"I'm all caught up," she handwaved his concerns, "now why were you in Paris?"
"'cause they needed help with a curse," he said like it was obvious.
Kagome held back a groan, raising her hands to massage her temples. At this point, it felt like he was deliberately not helping.
"But why would they need you to come all the way from Japan to do that?"
"I told you before," he said, and even if he didn't appear to see the point in this conversation, he at least didn't sound annoyed, "I'm the strongest. They didn't have anyone there that could handle that thing."
She studied his expression, found it to be as nonchalant and easy-going as ever. He didn't have that bright smile of his plastered on his face like he often did, just a ghost of it, curving the corners of his mouth upwards. It was true that he'd said it before but she— hadn't taken him all that seriously. Now, he wasn't giving her any reason to think he was bragging, just making a statement. Seemed like it was true, then…
"Did it go well?" she asked, and his eyes went wide behind the sunglasses, before a grin broke on his face.
"Yeah," he answered, half laughing. "It was nothing."
She kept watching him. It didn't make sense to her, that it could both be nothing and that he would need to be flown in from all the way across the globe to deal with that curse. He would have to be ridiculously strong for it to be true and—
And, well, if yokai existed outside of Japan, the same could probably be said about her, which at least made it a possibility.
"Thank you for the macarons," she said at last.
A soft wind blew on the street, running through her hair, as a comfortable silence settled between them. Gojo was watching her, an unusual softness in his expression, and she was watching him back, studying him quietly. Not staring up at him in awe, not thinking about ways he could be useful to her, no, just watching him.
In the end, he was the one that looked away. There was something about her eyes — something that felt a little too real.
"Not that I don't like standing outside doing nothing, but… Cursed painting?"
"Right," she said, blinking herself back to reality. "You— You just want to check on him, right? You're not going to hurt him?"
"Depends," he answered with a shrug. "If he's a threat, I'll have to."
"What?"
Yeah, he'd thought she wouldn't like that.
"There's an execution notice on his head," Gojo replied, his tone just as light and airy as it had been when he'd given her a gift. "If you think about it, I'm doing him a favor by checking on him first."
"And why is there an execution notice on his head?" Kagome all but snarled at him.
Huh, she actually looked mad now, her face turning red and her eyes stormy. Her hands clenched around the handles of her bike, her jaw tightened, and he thought he spotted sparks of her power flying off her.
There were a number of answers he could give her. Truth be told, there had been a notice ever since the death paintings had gone missing because of their very nature, but that wasn't enough of a reason to end a life, as far as he was concerned, so he didn't see in point in stating that. Instead, as he typically preferred doing, he went straight for the kill, casually, burying his hands in his pockets.
"Has he told you he was part of the attack on Shibuya?"
He watched as she paled, but didn't back down.
"He hasn't said anything about that," she admitted, lowering her gaze, her voice shaky, "but he's— it's been clear that he carries a lot of guilt."
"He didn't play the biggest role," Gojo said, his voice still leveled, like he was talking about the weather, "but he did kill people, and if he'd chosen differently, he could have saved many of them."
Kagome went quiet. She believed in people's ability to change and to get better — how could she not? Of her friends, none had been the same when she had met them and when she had left them. There was something about Choso that resonated with her deeply, and she knew she wouldn't be able to look at herself in the mirror if she didn't at least give him a chance. And yet… She wasn't part of the sorcerer world, but Gojo was. She'd seen firsthand the lengths he was willing to go to in order to ensure humans' survival. It was easy to forget, with how he behaved most of the time, but right now, he radiated calm power and determination, and she was reminded of it once more.
"If I think he's feeling remorseful and that he wouldn't do it again, he'll get to stay," she decided at last.
"And if I think he's a danger to society and to my students, I'll kill him," Gojo said in reply.
Like every part of the conversation until now, he stated it matter-of-factly. He wasn't trying to pick a fight, so Kagome shrugged.
"If I disagree, I'll stop you."
A grin formed on his face, wide and amused.
"Think you'd be able to?"
Yes, she did.
"Do you think it would change anything if I didn't believe I could?"
He laughed, eyes crinkling, and Kagome watched him in interest. He hadn't balked when she'd gotten angry, hadn't flinched when she'd stood up to him. It hadn't changed his mind, clearly, but if anything, he seemed to like it and she… wasn't sure what to do with that. If anything, it made her curious, wanting to know more about this side of him — more serious than most of what she'd seen from him so far, yet with an odd gentleness to it.
Yeah. She was curious.
"Shall we go now?" he offered, opening his arms for her.
"I'd love to," she said, letting the tension dissipate and turn into their usual back-and-forth, "but two of my students are watching us and it would be very weird if we just disappeared. So I'm afraid you're going to have to climb on," she smiled innocently, pointing at the carrier with her chin.
His smile fell.
"If only you'd let me know ahead of time you were coming, I'm sure this could have been arranged for," she sighed, mercilessly playing her part.
"I could just call—"
"I'm not getting in a car."
He pouted, staring at her, and she remained unflinching. For some heartbreaking reason, she seemed to be perfectly immune to his puppy eyes, while he always ended up giving in without her even having to try.
"Fine. But if you can't carry me, I'll drive."
He didn't know what was funny enough in that sentence to make her burst out laughing.
"I think I'll manage," she said, still chuckling to herself.
Well, in that case, he wasn't going to miss the opportunity, was he?
He sat behind her, balancing himself without trouble, even if it meant awkwardly holding up his long legs. She didn't have any trouble maintaining her bike upright, which was a little impressive, to be honest. As she started moving, he wrapped an arm around her waist, putting his head on her shoulder. Not that he needed it, he'd be able to stand on that thing and still not lose his balance. He just figured it'd be fun to see her reaction.
"You don't mind?" he practically purred in her ear.
He didn't think she'd turn around, her face only inches from him, wide brown eyes staring into his. She looked mildly surprised by the question, but not bothered in any way.
"Sure, go ahead," she replied with a smile, and he didn't know if it was the sparks in her eyes, how pretty she was, or how easy she made it sound, welcoming him in her space, but either way, he found her to be breathtaking.
She turned away and went back to pedaling, and while he didn't let go, Gojo found himself very thankful that she couldn't see the redness that spread from his cheeks to his ears and the back of his neck.
It should have been an invitation to do whatever he wanted, to try and mess with her some more, just because he could. Instead, as his heartbeat increased, he went stiff behind her, frozen, unsure of what to do. The thought of wrapping himself around her, letting himself enjoy her warmth and her proximity, was more enticing than it should have been, and it set off alarm bells in his mind that he thought he should have heard a long time ago.
He just— he just hadn't even realized he was letting her get so close before, close enough to affect him in that way. He welcomed fun, and distractions, and things that were outside the norm, and Kagome was all of that at once. He'd never bothered thinking about it, going with what was most natural to him at all times — until now.
Because now, it wasn't just that it came naturally to want to be close to her, though it did. Now, he was finding that he wanted to be close to her. Badly. In a way no one had made him feel in over a decade, if ever.
And no matter how much he wanted to give in, he remembered distinctly where that had landed him the last time.
Kagome had worried about how Choso would react to her bringing Gojo with her unannounced, but he kept himself expressionless, waiting for them under the naked cherry tree in the temple's courtyard. He showed no surprise, no sadness, no fear.
"Have you come to kill me?" he asked Gojo, not letting his voice waver.
"We'll see about that," Gojo answered cheerfully, his usual smile on his face.
Next to him, Kagome grimaced. She didn't like how flippant he was about the whole situation. She had agreed to at least ensure Choso wouldn't hurt civilians anymore, but she wasn't sure that was the way to do it. She was no stranger to death, and she had killed yokai herself when they had been threats to her or her friends. This was different, though, because she had already taken Choso under her wing.
"I understand," Choso nodded before she could intervene. "Many innocents died by my hands. I likely deserve the fate your higher-ups want for me."
"They'd certainly think so," Gojo chuckled, "but what we need to figure out now is if I do."
A shadow passed on Choso's face for the first time. Hesitation.
"I'll let you kill me, if that's what you wish," he said at last. "As long as you promise to protect Yuuji Itadori, I won't fight you."
Gojo scratched his head, tilting it to the side as if it would give him a better look at him.
"It wouldn't do you any good to try doing that," he said casually, "but I'm going to need you to explain that one, 'cause last time I checked, you wanted Yuuji dead. Kugisaki too, I'm pretty sure."
Choso visibly balked at that.
"That is no longer the case," he said through gritted teeth.
"And I'm going to need more than that to decide what to do with you."
Choso stared at him. Gojo exuded confidence and power, but despite his open attitude, he wasn't giving him much to decipher. When he couldn't find anything in the man's frozen smile, his eyes instinctively darted to Kagome. The woman who had put a roof over her head without questioning him, the woman who had just decided to extend a hand to him after witnessing the harm he could cause. She was now watching him, worry all over her face, but still no defiance.
"How about we sit down and have a cup of tea?" she suggested once she realized they'd gotten to standstill.
"Lots of sugar for me!" Gojo called out.
She rolled her eyes, but hurried to a side door in the courtyard, which she opened to find three kids with their ear pressed against it.
"You heard that, girls?" she asked, and when they nodded sheepishly, she grinned. "If you get it to us real quick, I won't tell Miyamoto."
They scampered, and she returned to the more pressing business at hands. Choso and Gojo were still standing several feet apart, Choso's posture defensive, while Gojo's was casual and relaxed. She elbowed him in the ribs when she approached.
"Play nice," she whispered when he looked down at her, eyes wide in surprise.
He blinked at her. Damn, he knew she could get through his Infinity, but he hadn't expected for it to happen in such a blatant and easy way.
"Did you not hear the part about him trying to kill two of my students?"
"I did, but it didn't get us very far, did it?" She turned to Choso, softening right away, which made Gojo scoff in disbelief. "Why do you no longer want Yuuji dead?"
His eyes went back and forth between her and Gojo, unsure. He knew Kagome would never even consider harming anyone based on their nature. She hadn't asked him questions, about what he was, but it had been clear that she knew from the start. A sorcerer, though? That was a different matter entirely.
"How do I know you are to be trusted?" he asked Gojo, voice hardening.
"You don't," Gojo shrugged, not giving him an inch, " you just answer me."
"Will you stop?" Kagome hissed at him, and it made him smile, but not enough to make him look away from Choso. There was too much at stake here — namely, the safety of his students, one of whom had already nearly died twice while he wasn't there to protect him. She was being protective, too. He could understand that.
Might even think it was kind of cute, actually.
"You know what I am," Choso stated, words chosen with care.
"Cursed womb painting, yeah," Gojo shrugged.
"Is that what you call it, when someone is half-curse and half-human?" Kagome chimed from next to him, and, for the second time in a matter of minutes, Gojo found himself just blinking at her. "I can tell from his energy," she clarified, which was not helpful at all.
Hina walked in the courtyard before he could quip back at her, and they all went quiet, tacitly deciding that this was no conversation for a kid to hear. The girl did throw them curious glances, taking her time, making it obvious that she wanted to know what they were talking about.
"Thank you, Priestess Hina," Choso said, bowing his head at her, and the girl beamed, looking up at him with stars in her eyes.
"Thank you," both Kagome and Gojo echoed.
She waited a little longer, before reluctantly leaving the courtyard, a cute pout on her face.
"Cursed womb paintings is what they called us," Choso answered Kagome's previous question, reaching for his cup of tea. His voice softened when he was talking to her. "My brothers and I are the result of the experiments of Noritoshi Kamo, former head of the Kamo clan. We were preserved as fetuses and, because we could not be exorcised, kept as cursed objects in the jujutsu headquarters for 150 years."
Bile rose from her stomach.
"But your mother—"
"We never knew her," Choso replied, speaking with little emotion. "We were never born, but due to our connection by blood, we were at least able to talk to each other, during those years. Nothing but darkness, cold, and my brothers' voices. That is who Nobara Kugisaki and Yuuji Itadori took from me," he added, looking at Gojo again.
"In their defense, your brothers were trying to kill them," Gojo replied, placid as ever.
Choso nodded, his expression tightening, but Kagome could barely hear them over the sound of her own heartbeat. 150 years of nothing. She had spent three days in the Jewel, with nothing to cling to but the thought of Inuyasha coming to save her, and that had been enough for her to consider dooming herself for eternity.
If what he was saying was true, Choso hadn't even had that escape.
She was going to be sick.
"And that… was my fault," Choso kept going, getting even slower, words coming out painfully. "I was the one who— thought we would be better off, living as curses instead of among humans who would never accept my brothers."
Sick. Jinenji was in her mind again, except now she had to wonder: would he still have been a gentle giant, after 150 years in the worst kind of prison? How was she to look at Choso and condemn him? And how was she to not say anything, to act like the lives of the kids and the innocents of Shibuya were an acceptable price for the universe to pay as an apology for what he'd suffered?
This wasn't something she was cut out for. She couldn't be. But next to her, Gojo stood, unwavering.
"So why the change of heart?" he asked. "The remaining cursed paintings are still at the headquarters and there's nothing to be done about it, so it can't be that you want to protect them."
"No," Choso agreed, "but—" He hesitated again, eyes flickering to Kagome once more, before he drew in a breath. "I only realized when I was fighting Yuuji."
A deep breath.
"He is my brother too."
Silence. Gojo looked up at the sky, thinking about it. He'd known there was something about Yuuji, obviously, his Six Eyes had told him that much, but he'd assumed it was just Sukuna's presence within him. Knowing he had failed to come to that conclusion on his own was a very frustrating realization. Sure, he had never seen an incarnated death painting, but did that make a difference? He was Gojo Satoru. The strongest.
He should have figured it out, if not when meeting Yuuji, then the second he had laid eyes on Choso.
"Wait," Kagome said, coming back to the conversation even more confused, "how is that even possible?"
"I— I'm not sure," Choso admitted. "What I know is that Noritoshi Kamo's blood runs through him, too. I don't know how he was able to go through the ages, but there is no mistaking it." His eyes were pleading when he looked at Gojo. "As long as you ensure nothing happens to him, I will let you kill me."
"What about Nobara? No longer want to kill her?"
"She's my brother's friend," Choso replied, unflinching. "All I have ever wanted is for my younger brothers to be safe and happy. If letting her live is what it takes, then so be it."
When Gojo had fought with him in Shibuya, his eyes had been dead, his body guided only by his desire to inflict pain upon others. Now, there was a light in there, a determination he could see in the tension of his shoulders and of his jaw.
"Sounds good to me," he said, grin stretching his lips once more. "What d'you say, Kagome?"
He found her looking up at him, her eyes glassy with tears, and a new emotion surged in his chest. He felt an overwhelming urge to wipe them off, to destroy whatever had made her tear up forever, to ensure it would never happen again. Against his thigh, his hand twitched, fighting to lift up towards her face, but he forced it down.
Hm. He wasn't used to not doing whatever he wanted the second he wanted it.
How unpleasant.
"Really?" she asked, sounding surprisingly fragile, which she never had since he'd first met her. "I mean— I agree, obviously, but if you feel that way too—"
"We'll have to bring Yuuji here, at some point," Gojo commented, and Choso immediately lit up.
"Here?" he asked, childlike excitement in his voice. "Well, you'll have to warn me first, so I ensure— I'll have to look presentable, of course—"
Kagome chuckled, taking one step towards him to put her hand on his arm, and something in Gojo's stomach twisted.
"Of course, Choso. I could even take you to buy some clothes if you'd like but— Just take your time, okay? You have plenty of that." Here. Outside. Under the sky.
Choso looked at her, and, at last, he let himself believe that he wasn't on borrowed time. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes, and Kagome didn't hesitate one moment before wrapping her arms around him. She'd yearned for human touch so badly after the incident with the Jewel, so she was sure there was no harm in a hug.
"Thank you," Choso whispered.
"Of course," she answered, because it was true.
"And I'm just happy to be here," Gojo said from behind them, switching his weight from his toes to his heels, pouting like a kid who was being left out.
Kagome giggled, letting go of Choso and taking a step back.
"Thank you, Gojo Satoru," he said , bowing his head respectfully. "I won't forget what you've done here."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Gojo shrugged, waving off the thanks because, well, what else was he supposed to do? Kill a guy who'd been dealt such a shitty hand at life when he wanted to do better? "Just don't get yourself noticed, 'kay? I'll figure out when Yuuji's ready for this."
"Certainly. I'll stay here. Thank you again."
Kagome squeezed Choso's hand, before turning to Gojo with the brightest smile he'd ever seen on her. He felt his lips move to reply in kind without him having any control on it. He couldn't help being pulled into her orbit, and he wasn't careful, he was going to come crashing down, too.
"I'm not getting on that bike again, but how about I take you home now? You must have papers to grade or some shit."
She tilted her head, thoughtful.
"Actually, I told you, I'm all caught up. I've given all the papers back to the kids today, so I don't have anything like that to do tonight."
Well, there was no harm in having a little fun, hm?
"Oh my god, that's so good!"
"Told you," Gojo said with a smug grin, sitting down at the counter next to her. "Best ice cream parlor in Tokyo." He bit down in his, ignoring the way it made his teeth ache. "Might be the best in Japan," he commented, "Not the world, though. Italy's got some pretty decent ones. You'll have to try it at some point."
"I don't know when I'll be able to do that," Kagome sighed, taking her time with her ice cream. "Or have the money, for that matter. My brother's still in college, and mama and grandpa don't work, so… someone has to."
"For the record, being a sorcerer pays real well," Gojo hummed.
She frowned at that, but he didn't realize why, couldn't understand why it would make the thoughts that had been running in her head worse — that leaving behind one of the things she loved most in world might solve all her problems.
"I could also just pay for you," he added. "That's not an issue."
Kagome chuckled, let his words distract her. Wasn't it fun, how easy it was for him to make her forget all about what had been torturing her for the past week?
"I wanted to thank you," she told him, voice soft.
"Well, wait until I've actually paid for the plane tickets at least."
"No, I didn't— I meant about Choso."
He stilled, tilting his head to the side to look at her.
"There's no need for that." His voice was just more tense than earlier. It was barely noticeable, but Kagome didn't miss it. "I wasn't going to kill him for no reason."
"That's still not what I meant," she said, resting her elbow on the table and propping her chin in the palm of her hand. "I couldn't have done it. Fighting with him to protect kids during a battle is one thing, but— I would never have been able to go through with it. I could—" A brief, embarrassed laugh. "I could barely keep it together, when he was talking about what had happened to him. So, thank you. For taking that responsibility."
Yeah, there was still no need for her to say that, and yet Gojo felt a knot forming in his throat, choking him up. This was something he dealt with constantly. Curses were one part of his job, but curse users were just as big of an issue, and he was the one who went out, the executioner sent by the higher-ups to deal with what they couldn't handle themselves. Oftentimes, there was no debating that they were right — dude who liked wearing people's faces? Dead. Hired killer who could walk through matter and liked pulling his victims in walls before leaving them there to die an excruciating death? Dead. That one woman who only dated married men and then ate their hearts? Dead.
But not all cases were that easy. Sometimes, there were kids. Kids who had grown up not even knowing what curses were, shunned for seeing things no one else could, and who had an execution notice floating over their heads even if they'd never gotten the chance to learn that what they were doing was wrong. And then, yeah, he stepped in, obviously. Who would do it if not him? He was the only one who could do it without facing consequences. He didn't need anyone to thank him.
Yet Kagome did, and suddenly, he felt small.
"That was nothing," he said.
"It wasn't to me," she replied, her eyes so fond and warm, he thought they might make him melt.
He couldn't do that, though, no matter how much he wanted it. There was too much to lose in giving himself over like that. He needed to step back, or else he might become the asteroid plummeting through the atmosphere, all of him lost before he ever reached the Earth's surface.
He would do it. He'd step back, because Kagome was getting too close, making it look as easy as breathing, and he couldn't have that.
He would do it. He swore he would.
But he would wait— just a little longer. He'd wait until her shoulder was no longer brushing against his while she happily ate her ice cream, he'd wait until her arms were no longer around his neck once he dropped her off at her place, he'd wait until the thought of letting her go no longer made him sick to his stomach.
He would do it. Just not right now.
CocoaBeanie144: So, because the Shibuya arc went very differently in this fic vs in the manga, this is more or less just my take on what would happen if Gojo didn't get sealed. Choso still wanted to kill Yuuji and Nobara, so he hid and waited until he got a shot at it. Gojo wasn't in Japan, and Yuuji was in that museum with Nanami to deal with a curse, so he figured he'd shoot his shot.
You've probably read that already, but for now Gojo really doesn't want Nanami to know a lot about Kagome — gaslit him as soon as he was off the phone with her. I will say, I think Nanami and Kagome would have a lot of respect for each other (I used to have a Nanami/Kagome fic I wanted to write, where they're dating without knowing of each other's abilities and it comes to a head with her rescuing him in Shibuya. Then I realized that even in that case, Gojo and Kagome would end up pulled towards each other like magnets and I couldn't do that to Nanami so I dropped it).
Yes, Sukuna sees everything Yuuji sees! But Yuuji hasn't seen much of her or of her abilities (he's focused on the fight in the last chapter so he doesn't really see her purifying the poison in Nanami's bloodstream), and this will all come up again for sure!
So glad you're enjoying the slowburn! I know they're taking their sweet time, but I feel it makes the pay off even better in the end eheh. Thank you so much for your comment!
adechusna: Yeah, I think she couldn't help herself even if she wanted to, which she doesn't lol. There's more insight on how Choso feels about her in this chapter! I think they're both very straightforward people, so they end up clicking rather well~
kitty2142: That truly is his one stroke of luck, considering his situation :') But at least Kagome's here to stay!
GiggleboxGirlie: I'm so glad you liked that line, I was so proud of myself for it askkdjhgsfb. Well this chapter is all Kagome and Gojo, so I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for your sweet comment!
AzurexSkies: Oh my gosh, thank you so much! Glad you didn't have to wait long for a new chapter, I was in the editing process when you sent this :D I'm so happy you're liking their developing relationship, I've been having a ton of fun building that up. I think they'd both need to know each other before they can become something else, if that makes sense.
Yes, I'm slowly making the whole Jujutsu Kaisen gang appear (we'll have a few more cameos from Inuyasha characters too!), and I thought the cursed womb death paintings/hanyos would be an interesting parallel to take on!
I'm glad you like these parts! I love diving deep into the characters' minds, but I'm always afraid that it gets boring after a while, so it means a lot that you're enjoying it. Thank you so much for your kind words!
Alright, they're both starting to catch feelings eheh! They still have a long way to go, though — Gojo especially. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. It's a soft one I think, but it's good to let them breathe. Well, I guess mentally neither of them is doing great on that front, but at least they're not throwing themselves into danger physically so... a win is a win.
Small note storywise: as you could probably tell, Choso hasn't realized that Kenjaku/Geto is the same person as Noritoshi Kamo here. There are two reasons for that: 1) it's better for what I've planned and 2) my reasoning is that he feels and identifies 'Noritoshi Kamo' post Shibuya because he's nearby. Kenjaku is in hiding, so he hasn't gotten the chance to figure it out yet, but it would become obvious if he came close.
I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter, I would love to hear your thoughts on these two, so please let me know what you think of the story in a comment! They're getting closer, baby step after baby step, and I hope you love them as much as I do for that :') Note for the next chapter, while I do hope to have it out in two weeks, I'll be going back to college soon and I don't know if I'll be able to, so sorry if the wait is a little longer next time! Thank you all so so much for your continued support on this story, I couldn't do it without you!