After Yuji fell dead on the ground, the events afterward seemed somehow surreal. (Y/N) wasn't that close to him nor Megumi or Nobara, but nevertheless witnessing someone die, especially someone so young, would always leave a mark. Soon after, Ijichi came back with two more assistants and took care of the situation.

On the ride back to Jujutsu High, (Y/N) hugged Megumi on the rear seat while searching for some words to comfort the teen.

"Yuji, he was really strong... In the end, he took control over Sukuna again."

"Hum." was all she got from Megumi.

She sighed. "I know you're not someone to talk much, but if you need to vent, I'll listening."

Back in Jujutsu High, everyone involved in the mission was interviewed by principal Yaga, including (Y/N). She gave her statement including as many details as she could remember, withholding the part about her marks, of course.

"This is quite the mess you have in hands, principal Yaga. As I understood, three first years were dispatched on a mission involving a special grade curse?"

Looking tired and older than what (Y/N) had seen him before on the school grounds, the principal let a hand run over his face.

"It wasn't supposed to be a special grade curse..." What he didn't tell the curse user was that this mission wasn't even one that he had given. This came directly from the higher-ups. The worst headache he would get was when Gojo would show up. He suspected that wouldn't take much longer...

The principal dismissed (Y/N) so she made her way to the morgue to see Yuji one last time. Then she would make sure Megumi was alright before going home and maybe get drunk so she wouldn't think of all the things that happened that day.

'Are my markings the same as Sukuna? What did he say again? The rite that marks the soul... I remember reading something about that, but it didn't seem to be important...'

She walked inside the morgue and stopped in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Gojo leaning against the wall. She had told herself so many times that he was indifferent to her, that she only stayed around because he was the only lead she had of her parents' murderer, but as her emotions run wild inside of her with only his presence, she wasn't so sure anymore. She knew he was a player and had no illusions that he would feel something for her, especially after she had lied to him, but still, she would be lying to herself if she said he was indifferent to her… He was so strong, funny and although he wouldn't show it most of the time, he was caring.

His voice broke the silence and took her out of her thoughts.

"They did it. They found a way to kill Sukuna's vessel."

His voice was calm, hiding the torment of feelings the sorcerer was hiding, or at least that's what (Y/N) thought. She didn't know what to say to him, she never was good at comforting people with words, so she just hugged him hoping it would work as it did with Megumi.

She felt him try to push her away, so she only held tighter to him. His attempts to push her back stopped immediately, but it took a few more moments for him to relax and hug her back. They stood like this for a moment, Satoru's chin resting on her head, but eventually (Y/N) let go.

"I'm sorry I was late. If I had got there sooner, maybe..."

Gojo interrupted her. "It isn't your fault. You are not responsible for my students, I was the one who should have stayed."

Satoru was furious because of what happened with his students. He regretted profoundly to have accepted a mission aboard, but at the time it seemed the best thing to do so he could run away from (Y/N) and the way she made him feel.

The night he stayed on the couch, he couldn't fall asleep. His thoughts always went back to the woman sleeping naked on his bed.

'I can't get distracted by her. Yeah, she can become a strong ally but I can't be manipulated by her again. She was able to trick me before, so now I need to be more careful. I need some time away from her.'

The day after, he talked to Yaga, but he only had a mission aboard for the next day, so he convinced Ieiri to call the woman.

But that was all in vain because, as he stood in front of her again, he needed to control himself to not just kiss her. And then she had to go and hug him instead. He could be the strongest sorcerer out there, but he couldn't get enough strength to stop her from hugging him. As his heart beat furiously in his chest, he relaxed and hugged her back, slowly accepting that he had a weakness now...

After the hug, Satoru sat on an empty stretcher to get some space between them and observed (Y/N) as she made her way to Yuji. Then Ijichi came in. Just perfect for him to vent some of the tension he had.

"It was on purpose, wasn't it?"

(Y/N) could hear the accusation in Satoru's voice towards Ijichi and she could only pity the nervous assistant that tried to justify himself.

'Poor Ijichi. He did what he could.'

She didn't say a thing though. She listened to what Gojo was saying. That way she learned that it was in fact him to postpone Yuji's death sentence. Again she questioned herself how influential he was in the Jujutsu community.

"Shall I go ahead and kill those guys at the top?!"

The spite was clear in his voice.

"It's rare to see you so emotional. You were really fond of him, huh?"

Ieiri came in and defended Ijichi. She gave a nod to (Y/N) before turning her attention to Yuji's body.

"And this is Sukuna's body, right? I can dissect him however I want right?

It was obvious Ieiri was in medic mode, all excited to get her hands on Sukuna's vessel. While she got herself ready for the autopsy, (Y/N) used that time to say goodbye to the boy. She was about to leave the morgue, not wanting to assist Shoko in her job, but the conversation between Gojo and Ijichi go her attention. She leaned against the wall next to Ijichi trying not to look at Yuji as she listened to Satoru.

"Why would someone like me, who doesn't have the characteristics of a teacher, take a teaching job in a technical college?" ... "Because I have a dream."

She learned that Satoru's dream was to change the jujutsu community. He regarded the higher-ups as conservative, arrogant, and simply fools, but he couldn't just kill them. So he opted to educate the next generations. She remembered how he had told her about that motive before, but she was surprised that it was really the truth.

"Hey, you there, I'm gonna start. (Y/N) are you sure you want to assist? You don't look good."

Ieiri was ready for the autopsy, but as it seemed, she would be disappointed, because Yuji just sat up...

"Woah! My dick's hanging out!"

(Y/N) just smiled and shook her head at the boy's first words after reviving.

...

Satoru was explaining to Shoko why he wanted to hide the fact that Yuji was still alive. She wasn't thrilled, but in the end, she understood it. She then said:

"I think it would be best if I'm talking to Ijichi. You should talk to (Y/N) too."

"You could talk to her too while telling Ijichi."

Shoko knew something must have happened between them when Gojo came telling her she should just call the woman and ask if she could take a look at her markings. That day he didn't tell anything and since she was curious to study the marks she didn't ask further, but nothing held her back today.

"What's going on between you two?"

"Why would you think something is going on? You know me Shoko, I don't do relationships."

"It's because I know you Satoru that I know there is something. It mustn't be a relationship."

She kept staring at him waiting for an answer. When she saw he wouldn't say a thing she sighed.

"I warned you not to get close to her, didn't I? Have you fallen for her? Don't you know how manipulative she is?"

"I know she is, so don't worry."

He really knew that, but he also knew that she was different now since he had found out about her true identity. He got to know her for real. She was strong, not only physically but also mentally. She had to be, to leave her life behind in the pursuit to get stronger so she could go against the ones that did her wrong.

Was that what drew him to her, her dedication to achieving her goals? Or was it the kind way she interacted with his students, trying to improve their skills? Although it was a condition for her to get the information she wanted, she seemed devoted to helping them. She even went to help out when she saw the curtain...

Ieiri knew she wouldn't get anything more from Satoru, so she changed the subject.

"I have been studying her markings but I can't find anything about them. I have tried to compare the pattern online, but I can't find a match."

Taking out of his thoughts, Satoru reminded of something. "Now that I think about it, whenever Sukuna takes over Yuji's body, he has similar markings too. They have a slightly different pattern, but are very alike."

"Do you think they could be the same?"

"Who knows..."

...

After unsuccessfully searching for Megumi and Nobara, (Y/N) went home. She wanted to tell them personally that Yuji was alive, but after an hour she gave up. Tomorrow she would get another chance.

After dinner, she continued to watch a movie on her computer while enjoying a glass of wine, well, a bottle of wine... So she wasn't very pleased when her doorbell rang. She emptied her glass and put it on the ground next to the bottle before rushing to the door. A bit lightheaded from the wine she opened the door to find Satoru on the other side.

Let's stop here for now... I'm not sure what will happen in the next chapter although I now know what I want for the later chapters.

When I started this story I had in mind the scene that I wrote in the first chapter, and I'm still going in that direction. The only thing left to decide is if they confess their feelings for each other now or later. I will probably decide it on a whim when writing, but I would like to know your opinion about that.