She was still more than a little bit giddy over her success with the butterfly, but she did manage to reign in her deranged laughter for now.
Junpei still needed healing after all.
"Ieiri-san, Junpei-kun needs healing before we can go outside and play!" She called, leading Junpei back inside by his shirt.
"Eh? No no, I'm alright!" Junpei tried to protest, but Ieiri was having none of it, and one hand on his shoulder was all it took for his nervousness to change straight to wonder as any injuries that he had were erased.
If she had to walk all over him in order to make sure that he got help then she would, because she just couldn't trust him to advocate for himself. Once his self-esteem had been peeled up from where it had been stamped into the ground then maybe she could step back and let him make his own health decisions.
Assuming of course, that even with high self-esteem he wasn't a self-sacrificial idiot. The chances were unfortunately high.
She led the shell-shocked boy outside, past Yaga who had also followed them in and turned to watch. He said something, his tone questioning, but she couldn't make out his words or the response.
He seemed a little better once he was outside of the infirmary, his breathing a little bit slower.
"You alright, Junpei-kun?" She asked gently, leaning down to look him in his eyes, downcast as they were.
"How did she do that?" He asked, and his voice was breathless, disbelieving, his eyes wide, not quite looking at any one thing, just staring off at the floor.
"She uses cursed energy to heal people. It's a pretty rare skill from what I understand. You've seen cursed spirits before, right? The creepy monsters?" She asked, not really giving him the chance to nod before continuing, "People like her, and the other two boys, and my guardian fight strong curses to keep normal people, who can't see curses, safe."
He nodded slowly as he digested the information. He didn't seem too put off by it, surprisingly. If someone had told her monsters were real, wanted to kill people, and 99% of people couldn't even see them and she didn't already know it was true she probably would have run for her life. Ieiri had healed him though, and along with the butterfly that really meant something.
"So they… fight those things?" He asked slowly, and his eyes were distant, like he was remembering something. She didn't think that he had had many negative interactions with cursed spirits, now or in the future, or he would have run the other way when he met Mahito. He had a kind of innocence in his interactions with the curse, almost a teacher-student relationship, for all of Mahito's manipulation.
Junpei had been weirdly physically affectionate with the curse too, she had noted. He had been nearly draped over the curse's lap when he was explaining about Sukuna's finger and its meaning. Junpei was likely starved for physical contact, and that was one thing that she could fix.
She shifted sideways to bump her shoulder with the boy, making him jolt like he had just been electrocuted.
He'd adjust. She'd socialize him before he could get taken advantage of by any random curse. And she'd fight anybody who tried to bully him too. She already had a reputation anyway, not like it would hurt much.
"Yeah! I haven't seen it yet, but I've seen them fight some evil curse users! Geto-san saved me from a curse user, and so did Gojo-san! And Yu-n- ah, Haibara-san you would call him, is super nice so if you ever need help then you should ask him! And Nanami-san's a bit stern and stuffy, but he's really nice too!" She said firmly. She grabbed his shoulders to make sure he was listening closely.
This was important information for him if he was going to be playing here, so that he knew who to go to for help if he needed it.
Gojo and Geto could deal with just about every curse that he ran into, assuming he could contact them, and Nanami was so smart and would probably do great if he needed advice on how to solve his bullying problems within the restrictions of the school system.
Haibara was generally the ideal older brother and would probably be her greatest ally in ensuring that Junpei could recover mentally from the bullying that he was dealing with, especially given how young the boy was to be dealing with such problems. Haibara was a true role model in terms of mental health.
Early childhood trauma could be crippling if it wasn't dealt with, but as long as they removed him from that situation and gave him a place to feel safe, he should have a much better life than the original anime. As it stood, assuming his mother was as permissive as she assumed, he really didn't have much security in life, which did a number on his confidence, which in turn led to him being targeted by bullies and worsening his confidence.
Giving him the opportunity to regain his confidence, ensuring that he was no longer an acceptable target to his classmates, and his school life should improve dramatically.
Step one, help reduce his current uncertainty. That meant, explain things to him.
"Yaga-san is a teacher at Jujutsu High! He's also my guardian and is very responsible. If you need a ride here or get overwhelmed and need to go home, or your Mom forgets to pick you up, just ask him, he will organize everything! He's the coolest adult I've met so far!" She said clearly, still not letting go of Junpei's shoulders. He was staring at the place where her hands met his skin, like he couldn't believe that she was willing to touch him, but he glanced up occasionally, so she knew he was listening.
Probably got bullied about being creepy, from all the horror movies he watched, and that made the more nervous students unwilling to approach him, maybe even flinch away. Others who might be in a similar position could also withdraw, afraid that he could hurt them, that he was dangerous. Rumors sucked.
"Ieiri-san is the doctor here! She once regrew my whole eye!" She said, pointing to her eye. He probably didn't need to know that information, given the way his eyes widened in shock, "If you ever get hurt, she can heal you immediately and there will barely even be a scar! Even broken bones can be fixed easily. She's absolutely amazing!" In other words, if delinquents start putting out their cigarettes on his forehead, come and see Ieiri and she could sic one of the boys on those brats.
He was nodding quickly when she finished and stayed frozen in place when she finally allowed her hands to drop from his shoulders.
"Any more questions?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. She felt a bit like a mission instructor or teacher.
Mission…
She should start talking like Anya around other adults! That's who she could emulate, at least a little bit, with all the knowledge she had, and still sound like a child. She did know a lot of information that she shouldn't have, just like Anya. It might be a good way to make sure she was still acting acceptably childlike but still convey what she needed to! Spy x Family was an anime that she had watched a lot of, hopefully she could get Anya's voice down properly if she needed to, especially if she dealt with the higher-ups a lot more, first impression notwithstanding.
"Riko-san and Kuroi-san also live here for now. Riko-san is really bored because she has to stay here for a while and can't go to school, so if we need more players than we can ask her. Kuroi-san is Riko's guardian, and she's really nice too."
"If you ever see any creepy old men, lame blonde guys, or a guy named Zenin, go and find one of the students or Yaga-san, because they are not allowed here and are probably trying to kidnap me and Riko-san!" She said, and that really caught Junpei's attention.
"They're trying to kidnap you? Why?" He said, alarmed, like he thought his new friend was going to get carried away right that second.
"Politics and power plays." She answered, waving it off, and he nodded knowingly. She doubted he knew a thing about actual politics, but he knew the trope well enough.
People in power would stomp over everybody else to stay in power, and ruin anyone in their way on their path for greater power.
"So, what do you want to play?" She asked, and her tone was just as dramatic as it was before, making him pause as if to give himself extra time to comprehend it.
"Is there a swing set or a park?" He asked, looking around.
"There's a training ground and a river?" She offered, and he nodded approvingly.
"If we get Riko-san, we could play Ice tag?" She offered.
"What sort of game is that?" He asked curiously, his head tilting like a confused little puppy.
"I have a cursed technique and can use cursed energy. You two could team up and I could use limited amounts of my cursed technique to try and beat you, to make it fairer."
"What's that?"
Right, he didn't know much yet.
"It's like Bloodline Limits! I have an ice technique!" She said proudly, and he gasped, understanding it immediately.
Naruto fan, nice!
"Cursed energy is like chakra, and it can enhance your body and physical strength, as well as be imbued into objects. There are even seals, though I don't know much about them yet."
He nodded faster now, getting excited as he realized the potential. She knew he was a nerd. She would hardly refuse help if he wanted to help her experiment, he was a smart kid, and a new perspective could always be handy.
"Can I do that?" He asked eagerly, and she paused.
"I'm not sure. We could ask Yaga-san or Y- Haibara-san, or Nanami-san as well, they might know how to tell." She mused, and he looked ready to run and find them right now.
It wasn't every day that people told you that you might have superpowers.
"At the very least, you can see curses, which means you have a higher amount of cursed energy than most people. If not, maybe by training you could increase it? I'm not sure how everything works yet." She said, and she had lost a little bit of her confidence in her voice. How much of this should she reasonably know? If questioned, she could always say that someone else had taught her, but if they suddenly developed good communication skills, it could be troublesome for her.
Junpei was seriously mulling over all the information that she had dumped on his head. Good, he needed to use that brain as much as possible, grow those neuron pathways.
"Want to wait here while I find Riko-san?" She asked after a few moments, and he nodded absently, still lost in thought.
She looked for Yaga or Geto first, locating neither. Nanami was in the cafeteria, still covered in blood and gore, and he looked ready to fall asleep where he stood, holding onto the open refrigerator door like it was the only thing holding him upright.
"Want me to get something for you, Nanami-san?" She asked and he jumped, high enough that both his feet left the ground.
Oops, she was being sneaky apparently.
"No. I'll get some…" He trailed off mid-sentence, staring into the fridge like it held the answer to some great mystery.
Alright, gentle guidance it was.
She grabbed four onigiri, of various flavors. They really kept the fridge packed full of them for some reason, there were easily a dozen more. She loved them, so she was hardly complaining. There were a few drinks, some sort of apple juice maybe, all marked with Gojo on them. She took two, because he would probably be alright with it, and Nanami needed the fluids. It was hard to hold everything in one hand, but she did so a little awkwardly.
Carefully, she grabbed Nanami's hand and pulled him away, letting the refrigerator door swing closed. He followed uncertainly, and his walk was alarmingly weak and unsteady.
She really wished that she was taller, he was a pretty big fall risk right now.
He sat down only when she pushed him into the chair, holding the bottle she had just shoved into his hand and looking at it like she had just handed him a bomb.
The cap came off with a little difficulty, but she managed, letting him hold it in his hands for a few seconds. Nanami made no move to drink it, despite the clear implications. He was definitely out of it. Where was everyone else? Why was he left alone in this state?
"Nanami-san, please drink your juice." She instructed, speaking carefully to keep her enunciation clear.
Did she have an accent? That wasn't too odd of a question to ask sometime, was it? People thought that accents were the things that everybody else had.
He finally took a sip hesitantly, choking on it a little as his trembling hands poured a little bit too fast and she steadied the bottle quickly for him.
He drank faster, like he had just realized how thirsty he was, and he had half the bottle gone within thirty seconds or so, spilling a little as the urge to cough warred with his sudden thirst.
Finally, he came up for a breath, and she took the bottle to free up his hands, which he brought up to rub at his face.
He looked better, just a little bit steadier after a minute or two of sitting there quietly, breathing slowly and deeply. She gave him the bottle back and he finished it quickly and she took it back to fill it with tap water from the sink, running it back over to him in case he needed more.
Nanami sat there for several more minutes before attempting to stand again, and she took his hand as he led the way. If he did fall, she could probably at least cushion his head. She still had small amounts of cursed energy free to react in her body, and he was quite skinny at this age, she doubted it would hurt her.
The room that he entered wasn't his, judging by the lack of emo-ness and the presence of Yu-nii, slumped bonelessly on the bed in loose fitting clothes, hair still damp from a shower.
Nanami seemed to realize suddenly, as Haibara's head lifted to look at them, that his hands were empty. He stared at them blankly for several seconds, uncomprehending, and she quickly handed him the onigiri, which he held out to Haibara.
"Thanks, Kento! And thank you for helping, Midori-chan!" Yu-nii said gratefully, and aww, they were on a first name basis! Not even a title either! At least in more private settings.
She handed Yu-nii the bottle of juice and set Nanami's bottle of tap water on the dresser as Haibara dragged himself up off the bed to take the onigiri from Nanami, who was still frozen there with his hands extended in front of him.
Haibara took them gently, putting them aside on the dresser before taking Nanami's hands, snapping him out of his frozen state slightly, if only for Nanami to turn his eyes from blankly staring at the bed to looking at Haibara.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up!" Haibara said cheerfully, moving to tug him gently forward, and Nanami seemed to want to protest.
"Drink your juice first, Yu-nii!" She said, guessing at what Nanami was wanting to say, and Nanami nodded faintly in agreement.
Yu-nii laughed and did so quickly, taking several long droughts, gesturing towards himself to get Nanami's attention before putting it back down.
This time, Nanami allowed himself to be pulled towards the bathroom.
There. Nanami was clearly in safe hands now.
Would those onigiri be alright without refrigeration? How long would it take for Nanami to shower, with Yu-nii's help?
After a second's thought, she took another handful of cursed energy from the seal, sending it straight to her palm as she held an onigiri clasped in between the palms of both hands, chilling it noticeably, and repeating the action for the other three.
They probably wouldn't get severe food poisoning if the onigiri got left out for a short while. They probably wouldn't even get sick at all, and even if they did, Ieiri could heal them up easily.
It still made her feel much better to know that the onigiri were properly chilled.
If Jujutsu Sorcerer didn't pan out for her future job, a human freezer was an option. She'd be the savior of food service workers everywhere, handling all the cold foods.
Focus.
Time to find Riko.
She checked the cafeteria again, just in case someone else turned up. Of all places, it was the most likely for her to find somebody.
Yaga's classroom was next, which turned up empty, then his office, equally devoid of people.
She went back to check on Junpei, both to reassure him that she was still looking for Riko, and out of a mildly irrational fear that everyone had vanished again for some reason or other.
Maybe most people were out on missions? Now that she was in school, and still should be, maybe they didn't feel the need to tell her when they left.
She headed to the infirmary, and it was a relief to see Ieiri there, writing fervently in a well-loved notebook.
"Ieiri-san? Do you know where Riko-chan went?" She asked, making the doctor start, undoubtedly slashing a line of ink through her writing. Oops.
"I don't, sorry." Ieiri said absently, gnawing on her pen in irritation.
"Do you want to play with us?" She dared to ask. The infirmary was eerie when it was too quiet, and it was making her skin prickle.
Her question had Ieiri actually look up this time, and she could read the denial on her face like it was written on it before Ieiri paused, like she was genuinely considering it.
"I thought I could use my cursed technique a little bit as practice, just icing over the grass, and that Junpei-kun and Riko-chan could try and tag me while I tried to keep them away. If you were there then I could try a little harder and I wouldn't be so nervous about accidentally hitting anyone." She explained slowly. She wasn't sure what sort of games Ieiri had been expecting them to play, and something in her head was anxious that Ieiri would judge them for not playing correctly.
"How much cursed energy are you holding right now?" Ieiri asked, like she had just remembered something urgent. Ieiri had stood quickly, and it made her want to back away.
"About 20% or so? A little less than that." She replied, holding her hands next to her side to keep from lifting them up in front of her defensively. Ieiri wasn't a threat, even to some part of her was feeling really threatened right now.
"You do remember not to go to 60%, right? Did anyone give you any rules after the test yesterday?" Ieiri asked, relentlessly, and she had to change from a nod to a shake of her head in response to the second one.
"Maybe Yaga-san wanted more time to straighten out the rules?" She offered when Ieiri shook her head in growing irritation.
"We don't know anything about cursed technique yet, or how it affects you. If just your cursed energy is that dangerous for you, we don't know your limits with your cursed technique yet," Ieiri was intense, walking close to her to crouch down to her level, "Don't use it for more than very small things. If you are planning to use it, I don't want you to hold more than 10% of your cursed energy while you do. Never use it by yourself, without anyone responsible to watch over you."
"Yes, Ieiri-san! I understand." She answered quickly when Ieiri stopped for a breath, before the doctor could pile more rules on top of her.
She might hate these restrictions, just a little bit.
Her body was meant to withstand the cold, it just didn't seem likely that her cursed technique would be harmful to her, especially at lower levels.
Was she going to order her to stop using her cursed energy at all?
The thought was sickening.
Being allowed to use it again was like being allowed to draw a breath freely for the first time in a long time. For the first time ever, if she counted her past life.
She didn't want to lose it.
Ieiri had a sharp eye, and she could clearly read her anxiety like an open book on her face. She couldn't read minds however, which was definitely lucky for her.
"Obviously if you ever need to defend yourself, all those rules except for the 60% one get thrown out the window," Ieiri reassured her, her intensity lessening slightly, "if you are in danger then don't hold back, alright?"
Ieiri definitely couldn't read minds.
"I was scared you were going to say I couldn't use my cursed energy all without permission." She admitted to the doctor slowly. A test? For her or Ieiri?
"There isn't really a reason too as long as you don't push yourself too far. You already said that it feels bad to use too much, so your body most likely will resist pushing past your limits without being in a high intensity situation. Like purposely trying to bite your tongue." Ieiri reassured her, even patting her on her head gently, not even flinching at her cold skin, caused by her anxiety stirring up her cursed energy.
Most people flinched a little bit when touching her while she was using her cursed energy.
Did she feel dead?
Was that what she felt like when the others touched her? What Gojo had felt as he carried her out of a desperate hope that Ieiri could save her when she was already stone cold?
She might be a creepy kid. It was hardly her fault that her cursed energy made her so cold, but it was probably pretty eerie for the others.
"Are you alright Midori-chan?" Ieiri asked, still crouched down, and she was staring her directly in the eyes, and the concern Ieiri was conveying was lost in the excruciating pressure of staring someone directly in the face. She broke eye contact first, and she was done with the emotional discussion and vulnerability right now, if she would ever be rid of the latter.
"Junpei-kun's going to be really bored by now. I'm gonna go take him to the river." She said quickly, leaving the doctor behind before she could protest at all.
The burning sensation never faded, a sensation that was an alarming juxtaposition when partnered with the ice shooting through her veins.
She ran back to Junpei, panting just a little from the adrenaline that was surging through her body along with the cursed energy. He jumped a little as she entered the room too quickly.
"Ready to play? I can't find Riko-chan, but it'll be fine with just the two of us! Or we could go play in the river too!" She offered, too brightly to match her trembling limbs, and Junpei was sharp enough to notice it too.
"Are you alright?" He asked uncertainly. Her overreaction to being stared at was scaring him. She needed to get herself under control. And think of an excuse.
"Fine!" She chirped, "I just decided to run back and now my brain thinks I was being chased." He seemed to buy it, surprisingly.
"So, river or ice tag?" She asked him, and his head tilted adorably in consideration.
"River, maybe? If ice tag would be better with more players." He said, explaining himself quickly like he thought his answer might have been the wrong one.
"Alright!" She said cheerfully, and she gestured for him to follow as she led him out, towards the river.
She should probably grab the cursed corpse too, actually.
It was a quick trip to her room to grab the creepy little doll, and it didn't surprise her when it came to life immediately after being freed from the confines of the backpack, squirming out of her hands and walking behind her as she moved away. Junpei stared at it like it was made of solid gold, but didn't say anything.
They had to cross the training grounds to get to the forest, and she stopped for a moment on the outskirts.
"What way is the school?" she asked the cursed corpse, who looked at her like she was an absolute idiot and pointed aggressively towards the school. Yaga must have given it a talking to when he fixed it up.
Junpei was watching curiously.
"I got lost a while ago and this doll wasn't able to lead me back. Geto-san had to come and find me. Yaga-san fixed it up and I was… just testing to make sure it would work." She explained a little awkwardly at her sudden anxiety over his scrutiny, and he nodded.
It was a short, quiet, and slightly awkward walk to the river. It was near the place where she had played with Riko, she thought, a particularly wide but shallow part of the river, with plenty of stones.
It was even more awkward after they arrived and both of them just stood there for a while. She was uncertain what Junpei might want to play, and he was probably too nervous to make a suggestion.
"Want to just splash around or do you want to make something up?" She finally asked, just to get the ball rolling.
He considered it for a moment.
"I could be the evil serial killer, and you could try to run away from me?" He offered after a moment's thought. Figures that he would go the horror movie route, though it's more like a horror flavored game of tag than anything. Maybe they should go out into the forest some night, bring a bag of flour, and have one of the students or each other chase them. Could be a nice Halloween activity for the boy, and tracking training as well.
"Maybe you could try and sneak up on me and surprise attack me?" She offered, glad that at least she had a starting point. She had never been one to appreciate being chased. Something about it was distressing, in the extreme. It went from fun to terrifying with even one wrong move.
Junpei was surprisingly sneaky when he was focused, and he practically melted into the trees with his dark outfit as she discussed the rules. No throwing, no hits above the head, rocks count as weapons but try not to hit. She decided to regulate herself to about five percent cursed energy usage, just enough to give her a slight advantage as she chose. She couldn't use it throughout her whole body with this little, just specific enhancement of body parts of her choosing, which should even the physical gap between them, given that he was older.
She counted slowly for two minutes, to give him time to plan, then started walking aimlessly through the forest.
There was quite a difference, wandering through the forest aimlessly knowing that she could be attacked at any moment, when compared to being followed by Geto. That uneasy feeling remained, but that awful terror of being chased was missing. At some point as they hashed out the rules, that nagging sensation of being watched had finally vanished, and being watched by Junpei wasn't nearly as unpleasant.
The trees in this forest were quite old, she noticed. Spiderwebs crossed between trees, old branches and half decayed leaves littered the ground, and the occasional rock jutted from the ground. She wondered what type of rocks they were, to still be standing long past the erosion of all the other stones around them. Or were they remnants of glaciers?
Would Junpei get lost trying to ambush her?
She slowed her pace dramatically at the thought, just in case she was moving too quickly for him. It was a game, not an actual ambush, she didn't actually want to shake him off her trail.
There was a small clearing, with a tree in the middle, which she climbed quickly, just to get a look around.
The forest was dead silent. She tried not to let that bother her, but it nibbled at the back of her brain all the same.
This might have been a bad idea.
Something moved in the grass, and she barely had a moment's warning to release the branch and drop as Junpei leapt from the grass like a wild tiger, landing on all fours and turning to her with disappointment on his face.
Her heartbeat could outrun a cheetah, but she couldn't help but laugh a little at Junpei's expression.
She clapped for him anyway, because she really hadn't seen him coming at all. If it wasn't for the quiet in the forest and the grass that had moved when he made his attack, she wouldn't have even known he was there.
Was that a bad thing for her, that she couldn't even see a young boy coming in broad daylight? She highly doubted that Junpei was the epitome of stealth at this age.
At least one student would probably be willing to train her on detecting potential threats. Especially if the forest was going to be her go to playground for the foreseeable future.
"Want me to chase you?" She asked, and his expression said no before his mouth could even form his uneasy agreement.
"Junpei-kun," She said slowly, drawing his name out even as he flinched at the presumed reproach, "Don't force yourself to do something you don't want to do. I won't get mad. Did you want to play more, change games, or go back and maybe look for a movie to watch?"
He looked surprised, then a little bit relieved.
"Maybe we could just walk around for a while and then head back?" He offered tentatively, and she nodded quickly. A nice forest walk with a friend sounded lovely.
Neither of them knew what direction would be the most interesting, so they just decided to follow the sun.
It was still rising in the sky, surprisingly. She really had only lasted probably two hours into her first school day.
The forest was less dark with someone by her side. It was probably illogical, but it felt true.
Maybe it was the absence of feeling watched, because Junpei was often staring in amazement at various plants, rocks, and the occasional large insect. She had to steer him around various obstacles, even having to forcibly grab him to stop him from hitting his head on a branch.
She felt like a mother looking after her small child, but his grin every time she took action to protect him made the effort more than worth it. It was like he was testing her, somewhat, just to see whether she would let him down while he was at ease. It wasn't a test that she would fail.
Would Yaga set Geto on them if they didn't get back in time?
She hadn't even told him that she was leaving. Ieiri had known, and she hadn't been able to find him anywhere, so he couldn't get mad at her, right? Did she have a bedtime? Junpei had to be back by six, at the very least, but it wasn't anywhere near that time yet.
They came across a sudden clearing, oddly shaped. A small, vaguely V-shaped valley had stretched into the distance, getting deeper as it went, and the trees curled over the top in a canopy, while sawdust and shattered pieces of wood were scattered about, some embedded in trees.
They unanimously decided to stop and investigate.
It looked like something insanely powerful had been hurled in that direction, obliterating some trees, carving thick swaths through the forest, tearing up the ground along with it as whole trees were torn straight from the ground. Roots left deep groves and broken pieces of wood scattered along the ground, whole chunks of branches missing from trees that were lucky enough to remain standing.
It was enough to pique both of their interests, so they followed in the direction of the blast. The blast radius only got wider, to their astonishment, and soon they both could lie on their stomachs in a line and still need triple their combined height to reach the other side.
The groove got deeper, burying itself into the ground, and it only took a moment to decide to enter as it continued underground.
They were totally the type of children to get themselves kidnapped, weren't they?
She held out her hand to halt Junpei before he could walk in.
"We might need a flashlight for this." She said bleakly, and his shoulders slumped. Way to make a girl feel bad for having a mite of sense.
"Doll-san, could you lead us back here later?" She asked the cursed doll, still loyally following behind them.
It nodded, and its eyes seemed to light up for a moment before returning to normal, making its off-green color look even more unnerving.
"You can light up your eyes?" Junpei asked the cursed corpse intensely, and it only took a quick look for her to pick up what he was planning.
"Can you light up your eyes for us, so we can see?" She asked the corpse as politely as possible, and Junpei joined her with begging eyes that were most likely ineffectual against the doll. She appreciated the help anyways.
The doll seemed to whir for a few moments before its eyes lit up an eerie green.
They shared a little grin for an instant before Junpei snatched the doll up in a surprising display of boldness, aiming the doll's eyes towards the hole.
Little bits of dirt occasionally fell downwards from the ceiling, which made her a bit nervous even as Junpei looked around in amazement.
Maybe she could-
How much cursed energy would it take for her to ice over the walls, just to give it a little more stability? Would it destabilize the ceiling?
Junpei was moving deeper into the cave, and she made the split-second decision to follow him quickly rather than dither at the entrance.
"If this caves in, make sure you stick close to me, alright Junpei?" She said, and he blinked at her for a few moments in surprise before nodding.
This thing was deep and still widening.
She could make an educated guess that it was most likely the result of Gojo's cursed technique, though which one she could only guess. Purple, perhaps, or just Blue. Not Red as far as she knew, because Blue was the one that attracts, and the trees had been ripped from the ground, roots and all.
They walked for an alarming while, getting deeper and deeper. The stream of soil had stopped, but it didn't make it less intimidating to know how much dirt was above them. Junpei seemed oblivious to the potential danger, more confident than he had been before. She was uneasy enough to be getting colder, and she pulled a little more cursed energy free, then a lot more upon her second thought. It didn't hurt to be overprepared, and the boost to her vision certainly didn't hurt.
They reached the end after several minutes of walking, still sloping downwards, though the widening had stopped.
The very bottom was covered in several feet of water, probably from the last storm. Was it supposed to rain today? She hoped not, it would be a difficult climb with the ground wet, and the risk of flooding was a particular threat.
The stone though was worth the view. She could see the strata, each layer of stone layered over the other, inclusions, places where the layers were higher, eroded away.
Gojo's technique could be a geologist's dream, assuming it could be made properly safe.
Junpei walked close to the water, and she had to bite back a motherly urge to call him away from it. Could he swim? What if that was why he didn't want to swim in the river?
"What's that at the bottom?" He asked, and she leapt forward to land beside him, too fast, making him flinch, but her heart rate skyrocketed with images of a curse or something, lurking in the water, ready to drown Junpei.
It was… metallic? There was an unsteady reflection from the doll's eerie eye lights, distorted by the water.
She splashed in a little bit, to get a closer look, muscles tensed and ready to run, but the metal stayed in place, and nothing else moved except for the ripples caused by her feet.
It didn't seem much more suspicious than the average hunk of metal at the bottom of a cave created by the most powerful technique in the world. As she stood there, the ripples stilled, and the water was more or less motionless.
She withdrew for a moment, scooping up a handful of water that froze partially on contact, and forming it into a wonky ball. It had more finger imprints than a cast mold, but it was roundish.
When she hurled it at full force at the metal object, hitting it hard enough to jar it even with the reduction of force caused by hitting the water, both her and Junpei froze in place in anticipation.
Nothing happened.
The metal shifted slightly from the force of the blow, but it settled back down easily enough, the ripples smoothing out quickly and the shattered ball of ice floating to the surface in several pieces.
"What is it?" Junpei asked again, leaning forward alarmingly over the water and she grabbed the back of his shirt just in case he slipped.
"It could be a sword or a helmet or something. I found a kunai in the river a few days ago." She told him softly, never looking away from the hunk of metal, watching for movement.
"I want to grab it!" Junpei decided suddenly, and she tightened her grip on his shirt reflexively. It very well could be dangerous still, trying to grab it by hand. A tinnitus risk, at the very least.
"Be careful. We don't know what could be hiding down there. There are barriers surrounding Jujutsu High, but I don't know how far down they protect. If a curse is down there, we are really far from anyone who could help us. Not to mention the bacteria from the still water!" She explained warningly, which had him frowning in return.
"But I want to see!" Junpei complained, which was honestly a valid point, because she wanted to see it too.
Maybe she could make a tool of some sort?
"We could get a branch from aboveground?" She offered instead, and he took the chance instantly, turning to run back up the tunnel, cursed corpse still in hand, and she trotted easily after him after a moment's delay.
It took nearly half an hour to find a suitable one, shaped impressively like a shepherd's hook. She dunked it in a nearby puddle and used her cursed energy to freeze and shape the curve into a point that could hook under it and lift, with a little edge to keep the staff hooked onto the object.
Junpei sprinted back in once the hook was finished, the light cast by the doll's eyes moving dizzyingly, forcing him to slow down to keep his footing. She followed more carefully, finding him practically dancing at the edge of the water as he waited for her to bring the hook.
It was reminiscent of a claw game, trying to lift the object from the water without dropping it, and several times she had to refreeze the tip of the hook. Each attempt to lift the object only moved it a few inches up, before it stuck like it was caught on something.
She had to be strong enough to pull it out, but delicate enough not to break the hook entirely.
Was it mud that was keeping the object in place, obscured by the murky water, or was it simply heavier than she had thought?
She tried several different positions, from hooking underneath it and trying to lift it, to dragging it forward, trying to shake it loose, and even hurling a couple more ice balls at it. It refused to budge.
She really needed to make sure to wash her hands well when she got home, there was no way she was risking brain eating amoeba or whatever might be living in that water. It'd be a terrible way to die.
"We might need backup to get this out." She conceded, and Junpei drooped like a wilted flower in disappointment.
"What if we can't get it out before we get home?" He complained. It was good that he was feeling safe enough to complain to her now, and he hadn't even known her for a full day yet!
"One more try? Both of us?" He asked pleadingly, and the puppy dog eyes that he gave her were the icing on the cake. How was he just so adorable?
She sighed and hooked the shepherd's hook underneath the hunk of metal, and Junpei went to the other side to grasp the handle with both hands.
They heaved upwards unevenly, and there was a distressingly disgusting sucking sound as the hunk of metal was ripped free of the mud that had kept it stuck to the bottom. The hook lost its grip on it, and it sank to the bottom quickly, but they re-aimed and pulled it back up before it could sink back in.
"What is that?" Junpei said in horrified fascination as they dragged it to solid ground.
It looked alarmingly like a robot. Alarmingly. Would it come to life? Was this a mechamaru type situation? It might be a bad idea to touch it right now.
Rust covered most of its surface, mud clinging to the remainder, leaving what the robot thing was made from up in the air. It may have had legs once but had been severed at the waist. The arms had been carved off neatly, leaving only a forearm on its left side and nothing but a shoulder on the right. Its head, which had been the part that stuck up, was hollowed out on the inside, more like a helmet on a metal spine than an actual head. The control center, if there was one, was clearly not in the head. The torso looked like someone's fist had been driven through it, then pried its chest open. To get to the control center?
It had definitely seen better days. Maybe during the last exchange event a student had used mechs with cursed energy like Mechamaru, and Gojo had destroyed it?
It was hardly impossible, though surely the student would come back for it? Or did they assume that Gojo's technique had destroyed it? This, of course, was based on the assumption that it was Gojo's technique that had caused all this destruction.
"It's a mech! A real mech!" Junpei just about shouted, bouncing on the balls of his feet in delight. His eyes shone like dark stars, and she had to hold back a coo. Was this how everyone saw her? He was fucking adorable, she couldn't take it!
"Wonder what happened to it?" She mumbled quietly, just to voice her thoughts to him. His head tilted, like a puppy, and his expression switched to intrigued in an instant.
"Can we bring this back?" Junpei asked, already pulling out his devastatingly effective puppy dog eyes. She needed lessons from him, she would need them to get Gojo to watch that anime with her.
"Of course! Just don't touch it, just in case, alright?" She agreed, and she hooked the stick into the mech's chest cavity securely, hoisting it over her shoulder with little difficulty. Cursed energy really was a hell of a drug.
It probably looked a little morbid, a four-year-old girl holding a humanoid body like that. Looked like she was parading the body of her enemy on a pike. But Junpei was nodding already and had turned to leave, relatively unbothered, so she left it alone.
The cursed corpse doll, which she really needed to ask its name from Yaga, squirmed down from Junpei's arms the moment that they reached the surface, shaking itself dramatically like a complaint for letting Junpei hold it. It even brushed off its shoulders like it was cleaning off the dirt.
"Can you lead us home please?" She asked it politely and it started walking at a sedate pace.
It was probably early afternoon around now, no later than two pm she would guess, meaning that they had plenty of time to show off their findings to whoever happened to be home at the time. Maybe they could convince Yaga to help them try and fix it.
"Do you think we could fix it?" Junpei asked, echoing her thoughts, and she grinned brightly at him in response.
"Yeah!" She answered, and she had to stop for a moment as Junpei had actually stumbled in surprise at her positive response. She was his friend now, so he'd better get used to it. Positive reinforcement was her favorite method of teaching. Even simple praise would likely work wonders on Junpei.
"Want to ask Yaga-san when we get back?" She asked, before elaborating as Junpei made a displeased face, "We don't really know how to weld or anything. If we want to do it ourselves, Yaga-san would be the best person to find us a good teacher and materials."
"I wanted to do it ourselves though…" Junpei said softly, and his voice trailed off as he jolted a little like he had just realized that he had, however gently, argued against her.
He opened his mouth to speak, probably to apologize, but she cut in before he could do more than draw a breath.
"We can do it ourselves! We just don't have any money, or tools. If we want to get it back into shape, we're gonna need a welder, sandpaper, and probably some primer or rust prevention or something too." She explained to him, and he seemed to acknowledge it slowly, though he seemed disappointed.
"Manga and cartoons are amazing, but it makes things both simpler and more complicated than they actually need to be. It's all fine and dandy to say that we could rebuild a mech, but it really isn't very feasible with our skill sets." She continued, and he was nodding reluctantly.
They weren't shonen protagonists, no matter how much he related to them. A boy who was being bullied already, who could see things that others can't? Sorcerers were certainly a special sort of humans, it was an absolute wonder that Haibara was as well-adjusted as he was. She'd have to keep an eye on Junpei after she built his self-esteem up a bit just to make sure he didn't reach the opposite side of the pendulum.
Eventually they reached the river again and waded across carefully. Junpei kept to her right side, the same way that the current was heading, and stuck very closely like he was making sure that she wouldn't get swept away. This part of the river was over waist deep, and the current was faster, so she was grateful for the older boy's protection even though her cursed energy helped her keep moving forward.
Junpei was looking bedraggled by the time they trudged back to Jujutsu High, wet, tired and muddy too, still in his school uniform. He got notably tenser as they returned to a more civilized area, and some of his open expression closed off slightly. Being in public places was unpleasant for him, clearly, even though Jujutsu High was certainly far less public than most.
"Want to look for Yaga-san? Or we could get lunch too." She asked Junpei and unsurprisingly he was nervous to be put on the spot with the decision making.
She waited patiently for him to collect himself enough to answer.
"Yaga-san?" He said, more of a question than an answer, but she nodded all the same. Baby steps.
She dropped the mech off at the training ground, leaning it, then the cool stick against the wall, before leading the way to Yaga's classroom. She really needed to explore this place some more, she hadn't even met any of the other teachers yet. From what she understood there should be at least two? Maybe Jujutsu High was understaffed.
The classroom was empty unsurprisingly, and she sighed before moving on to Yaga's office, finding it empty too.
The morgue was empty, the cafeteria was empty, Yu-nii's didn't come to the door when she knocked, she couldn't find anybody.
"Want to just eat lunch with Mech-san?" She asked, disheartened.
Junpei nodded, and he definitely looked a bit uneasy, much like she felt. Didn't Yaga say that he wanted someone at the school all the time?
They raided the refrigerator, and she grabbed two ice cream sandwiches that were left in the communal freezer after finding them some onigiri. Onigiri, which were quickly becoming her absolute favorite food, she understood why Inumaki chose them, and some carrots completed their little impromptu meal.
Junpei liked tuna mayonnaise onigiri, apparently, and carrots, and was shocked and delighted when she offered him an ice cream sandwich.
They ate in mostly silence, and the mech sat peacefully next to them, a few feet away. Their occasional conversation consisted of short questions, the occasional offer of a future plan, and remarks over the condition of the Mech.
Junpei seemed a lot more awkward without a set task to do. Maybe she could take him to the movie room and ask him to find his five favorite movies and show them to her. Get him in his comfort zone and take the opportunity to earn a little more of his trust.
Once lunch was over Junpei seemed to get more and more nervous, glancing several times towards her and then back away, panicking without any sort of barrier.
She was about to ask him whether he wanted to go to the movie room when both of them froze, some primal instinct telling them to stop what they were doing and pay attention.
The forest was completely silent. Not the quiet like when Junpei ambushed her, no, this was absolute silence. Birds landed on trees, a raptor of some sort and a pair of finches huddled together on a branch, stiller than ghosts. Insects, even bees and butterflies landed and were now crawling from the grass to the sidewalk, alongside spiders, ants, and beetles.
Junpei grabbed her arm in a tight grip, making her jump a little, and she realized suddenly that the nearest door that led inside from where they had sat to eat was nearly thirty feet away.
She grabbed his arm back, inching slowly towards the door.
It was only the reflective shine of sunlight on silvery scales that caused her to stop, even as Junpei pulled at her clothes urgently. She pulled his wrist back towards her, holding him in place, and Geto's rainbow dragon was visible in the sky, past the treeline.
"It's ok, Junpei! It's Geto-san!" She shouted happily, and the smile that appeared on her face at the sight of the magnificent dragon was enough to stop him from trying to pull her away quite so harshly, though he certainly cringed backwards, backing into the wall as the dragon descended sharply.
Surprisingly, it wasn't only Geto who dismounted off the dragon, but also Yaga, Haibara, and Nanami all dismounted behind him, all varying amounts of windswept. Nanami in particular had quite a bad hair day, apparently, in addition to his audition to be a pincushion earlier.
"Midori!" Yaga shouted, and it was the omission of any suffix that made her smile fade, wincing a little at the anger in his tone. She was in trouble, somehow.
The group was approaching quickly, and she crossed her arms automatically, a self-soothing gesture that had her drop Junpei's hand. He stepped closer though, slightly in front of her.
Was he protecting her? They wouldn't hurt her or anything, though she supposed that he really had no way of knowing that. In retrospect, four nearly adult men, all displaying varying amounts of angry expressions, approaching them like this might be a little threatening to Junpei. It was sweet that his first reaction was to protect her though. Her own automatic display of nerves wouldn't have helped his analysis of the situation.
"It's alright Junpei." She said reassuringly, putting her hand on his shoulder to guide him gently out of the way.
Yu-nii, the king of emotional intelligence, seemed to notice their little exchange, and she could see him say something softly to the group, making them slow down dramatically. She could see Yaga take a deep breath, and something in his posture softened noticeably.
Geto was the first to spot the mech sitting against the wall, followed by Yaga, but they continued their approach until they all stood in front of Junpei and her. Yu-nii kept going, throwing his arms around her to hug her tightly.
"Where did you go, Midori-chan?" He asked worriedly when he finally released her, staying kneeled down next to her.
"We went down to the river, like I told Ieiri-san. Then we went for a walk through the forest and ended up finding that thing and bringing it back with us." She summarized, making Yu-nii sigh, a little exasperated.
"For nearly five hours?" He asked pointedly, and her eyes widened as she realized why exactly they were upset.
Yet again, she had run off for multiple hours without any way to contact them. Actually, she hadn't even been at the river for very long either, meaning if they went looking for her, they wouldn't have found her there anyway.
She might need to work on her communication skills and find a way to get a phone sometime. Maybe she could get an unofficial job somewhere, save up some money. Phones couldn't be nearly as expensive now as they were in the future.
"Sorry…" She mumbled lowly, and Yu-nii hugged her again, more loosely, scooping her up and lifting her into the air with one arm.
He looked at Junpei for a moment before offering his other arm, a silent offer to pick him up too, and let his arm drop at the sight of apprehension on the boy's face, instead taking his hand with a bright, reassuring smile.
Junpei had a faintly starstruck look on his face as he stared at their hands, like he couldn't quite believe that this was happening. Poor touch-starved kid, so amazed by simply holding hands. Should have accepted Yu-nii''s offer to carry him, it was awesome.
Yaga's arms were crossed, clearly irritated, but he held himself in check, which she was grateful for. Junpei needed to be able to trust Yaga if he wanted to have someone to help him.
"Midori-chan, we will need to have a discussion about your elopement soon. For the next school week, I don't want you to go in the forest without me or one of my students with you." He said firmly, and she nodded. It wasn't nearly as bad of a punishment as it could be, if it even was a punishment at all and not just a solution to the current problem.
"Sorry, Yaga-san. Is there any way that I can make sure I know where everyone is? I went looking for you, and Riko-san, but I couldn't find you guys. And I knew that Yu-nii and Nanami-san were recovering from their mission, so I couldn't bother them." She said, choosing her words carefully.
He nodded instantly.
"I will work on it this week and see what works the best." He said in agreement.
"And Midori-chan, we will always be happy to go with you, even if we might not feel up to playing with you!" Yu-nii chimed in happily, and the smile on his face was like a beam of pure sunlight to the heart. She felt a bit stupid for not wanting to bother him.
"Why didn't you ask Ieiri-san?" Geto asked, speaking for the first time. Way to hit a nerve there, Geto. Why didn't he tell Ieiri-san about his homicidal thoughts?
She had been scared to. Ieiri was amazing, powerful, and nice. But being alone with her had made her skin crawl, and she couldn't stand to try and play while she was watching her. It wouldn't even have been playing anymore, just a frantic attempt to appear normal even though she was about to have a panic attack.
Her fear of doctors might be turning into a tiny bit of a phobia.
"I think I'm scared of doctors now." She admitted, and she could see every adult present wince a little. Had they all been there when she had nearly died? How long had they fought Toji for? It had felt like mere minutes, but from what she had faintly remembered, Riko had been there.
Yu-nii squeezed her tighter for a moment, pulling her out of her thoughts. Yaga… looked like he had just been saying something. Her throat felt tight, though she had no urge to cry at all.
"What?" she had to ask, and her voice was hoarse.
"We will need to work on that. If something feels off or starts hurting, you have to tell me or someone else, alright? I don't want you to suffer out of fear of having to see Ieiri-san." Yaga said, probably repeating what he had said before, and she nodded, but didn't say anything.
She should probably put some of her cursed energy away, she hadn't put any back between entering the hole, finding the mech and now. It was simple to tuck it away, and her body started to get warmer quickly, leaching off of Yu-nii's body heat and the warmth of the sunlight on her skin.
Junpei was watching their interaction curiously, a sort of wariness fading away as no one took any sort of aggressive action towards either of them. His mother had seemed nice, but he clearly had some signs of a fear of adults, which probably only helped with his bullying problem as he was too nervous to report such behavior to the people with the power to do something about it.
Luckily, Yaga, Haibara, and Nanami, should have enough combined competence and emotional intelligence to help with that as Junpei spent time with them. As long as they could keep up on playdates, hopefully his ability to trust in adults would improve. If they agreed to give him some training, his increased ability to defend himself should help too, once the power imbalance wasn't so heavily skewed.
Yu-nii had to jolt her again a little to draw her back to the present, and really, she zoned out a lot, and she stared in their direction in alarm for a few moments before whoever had spoken repeated themselves.
"Did you two get lunch yet or should we prepare?" Yaga asked, and she nodded quickly as an answer.
"Yaga-san, did you see the Mech thing? We found it in the woods and brought it back in hopes that we could fix it up!" She said, excitement returning to her voice now that she could finally change the subject.
"I see it. You said you found it in the forest?" Yaga asked, eyeing the thing dubiously.
"I think it was one of the Kyoto students' puppets." Geto said, moving closer to examine it.
"Is it fixable?" Junpei asked, speaking for the first time.
"Maybe. It'd be hard though, this thing is a wreck. Satoru really had fun tearing it up. Is it water damaged?" Geto asked, puzzled.
"It was at the bottom of a hole. It was flooded a bit from the rain." Junpei answered, and she wanted to applaud him for his boldness, he even took a few steps away to stand beside Geto.
"It was a really deep hole too," She said, "I don't know how it was made but it was super weird to find. Did you know that the cursed corpse thingy's eyes light up, Yaga-san? It let us see in the hole! And it led us back here too!"
Yaga nodded, glancing around and spotting the cursed corpse slumped on the ground a short distance away. The poor thing must be tired, it just laid there on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"At least you brought it with you," Yaga said, relieved, "Even if you used it to get into trouble."
"Does it have a name?" She asked, remembering what she wanted to ask earlier.
"A name? No." Yaga replied, just like that.
Poor cursed corpse, so unappreciated. She squirmed in Yu-nii's arms, a request to be set down, and trotted up to the doll, which sat up slowly, like it was sore.
"Doll-san, want to be named… um, Nishinoya-san!" She asked it loudly, and it looked towards her sharply, seeming surprised.
"Nishinoya?" She heard someone mutter behind her, but her attention was on the doll, who seemed to be genuinely pondering it.
It was the perfect name for her little guardian effigy. And it had the benefit of being a name that was familiar to her, so it'd be easy to remember.
The doll, Nishinoya, nodded eventually, making her grin.
"Nice to meet you, Nishinoya-san!" She said, and it seemed pleased enough with the new name, bouncing to its feet excitedly.
It saluted her, making her giggle, and it trotted up to her happily. Automatically, she picked it up, much like the adults picked her up and carried her around all the time.
She's named Nishi-kun now, he was hers now. Yaga wasn't getting him back anytime soon. When she turned to look, Yaga seemed a little confused, but pleased all the same. At least Nishi-kun offered a little bit of protection, since apparently, she was an elopement risk now. Freedom was something that she was used to before, and her mother had always got after her to tell her where she was going, preferably before she actually left and not just a text twenty minutes after she had arrived.
"Nice to meet you, Nishinoya-san!" Junpei echoed nervously, and Nishinoya waved to him as well, making Junpei grin slightly.
"It's not quite 3 yet, so we still have about three hours until you have to leave, Junpei-kun. Want to watch a movie or something?" She asked, now that the whole situation seemed more or less over. Maybe she could drag a few of them into joining.
"What movie?" Was Junpei's first question, not even really phrased as a question at all, so sharp and abrupt. His sudden intensity surprised the others, and the attention made Junpei cringe a little bit.
"Guest's pick! Gojo-san has a lot of movies." She said quickly before he could backtrack or withdraw, and his faint smile showed that it had worked at least a little.
"If anyone wants to join us, I'm going to show Junpei the way there!" She shouted over her shoulder, grabbing Junpei by the hand and towing him away quickly. The mech could sit and dry out entirely, it wasn't like a little more rust would hurt.
They made it to the movie room in record time, and Junpei was suitably awed by the ridiculously comfortable space. He bee-lined for the movies, taking in the pile first, then sorting through them quickly at her go-ahead gesture.
She made herself comfortable on the couch, sparing half a thought about popcorn before dismissing it. They both had eaten already, and while popcorn was fun, it wasn't a necessity. Especially now that her tired feet finally had time to rest. Junpei was muttering to himself softly as he sorted, but she didn't put much effort into comprehending what he was saying.
"This one!" Junpei said suddenly, making her eyes open. She hadn't realized that they had slid shut. It was entirely possible that she wouldn't make it through the whole movie.
Just as a little insurance, she pulled a little more cursed energy back from the seal, just for the jolt of awareness that it gave her, like she had been dunked in cool water.
The movie that he held out wasn't one that was familiar to her, but it's bloody cover meant it was probably a horror movie of sorts.
She'd watch it for him, either way.
"Looks great!" She agreed, and Junpei was giddy as he leapt over to the DVD player, but he still handled the DVDs with care as he moved the old movie back to its case, and put the new one in, grabbing the remote as he snapped both cases shut and put them away neatly. He seemed to have sorted them by genre.
By the opening credits, Yu-nii and Nanami had entered, and she shifted over for Yu-nii to sit on the couch, before draping herself over him like an affectionate cat. Junpei was still hyper focused on the movie playing, not even sparing the boys a glance. Nanami sat on a beanbag after dragging it close by, leaning over and resting his arm on the arm of the couch, coincidentally making him just about as close to Yu-nii as possible without joining Midori in his lap.
"What are you guys watching?" Yu-nii asked curiously, eying the live action movie which was just beginning to be set up. Two teenagers were being introduced, talking about… a videotape?
This definitely was familiar. She had never watched it before, but a cursed videotape was definitely a distinct concept.
Oop, the teenager was dead. Yu-nii looked more than a little concerned, and she patted him on the cheek lightly to get his attention.
"Junpei likes horror." She whispered, as quietly as possible, and Yu-nii nodded, his gentle hold on her tightening. His head tilted, a silent question, if she would be alright.
She nodded firmly.
It was just a movie. It couldn't actually hurt her.
Her tight grip on Yu-nii's arm, only thirty minutes into the film, spoke otherwise, but he didn't say anything, just let her use his arm as a stress toy. At least she had the presence of mind to put almost all of her cursed energy away, which meant that she probably wasn't actually hurting him, no matter how tightly she clung to him.
Nanami, surprisingly, seemed to be quite affected by the unsettling atmosphere of the movie too. Though he was outwardly unbothered, he was pressed against the arm of the couch, nearly leaning his head into Yu-nii's shoulder.
When a mild jumpscare occurred, both Midori and Nanami jumped near simultaneously, making Yu-nii sigh a little and tug his arm free from her grasp, making her whine softly. He replaced his right arm with his left one, using his newly freed arm to wrap around Nanami's shoulders. A large amount of Nanami's tension eased, and she was content as long as she could hold on to Yu-nii.
Junpei was, if anything, more than just unaffected, leaning forward, and he still had a faint smile on his face.
Geto came in about what she hoped was more than halfway through the movie and both she and Yu-nii moved their legs to make room for him to sit on the couch with him. He seemed bemused to see them sitting there so anxiously, holding Haibara for security.
By the time the movie ended, much to her and Nanami's relief, and Junpei's mild disappointment, Geto had been leaned forward, clearly interested in the film despite seeing it before. He had waved a bit to get their attention, a warning for an increase in tension or distressing imagery, which she and Nanami were grateful for.
Unfortunately, they had enough time for another movie, as Yaga knocked politely to inform Junpei that his mother had called to request to pick Junpei up at eight instead. Junpei had looked so disappointed that she offered to watch another movie with him, making him light up.
Thankfully, Yu-nii offered to help him pick one, sending Nanami for popcorn and snacks. Geto sat there awkwardly, looking like he was ready to get up and leave, so she crawled over into his lap, keeping him in place and getting herself comfortable at the same time.
He was awkward, not quite sure where to put his hands. He could be scared to touch her, like he expected her to be afraid of him.
She grabbed one wayward hand, hugging it close to her like she had done with Yu-nii moments before, letting herself go boneless in Geto's lap. He was frozen, uncertain, but when he finally let his other hand rest on top of her head nervously and she made no move to flinch or pull away, he relaxed slowly.
She was actually starting to fall asleep to the quiet murmurs of Yu-nii and Junpei as they discussed what movie to pick, and Geto's gentle hand stroking her hair only served to lull her to sleep even more.
Her eyes slid shut slowly, losing the fight. She could open her eyes, but she didn't really want to. Why would she when she was so comfortable?
The smell of popcorn had her open her eyes sometime later, and she thought she might have actually fallen asleep for a little bit, because Yu-nii had returned to his spot, and Junpei was leaning back against the couch. Nanami had brought some food with him too, two pots in hand and a hot pad shoved precariously in his pocket. Yaga followed behind with a couple of stacked bowls and utensils in one hand and three stacked bowls of popcorn in the other.
Looked like they brought dinner too.
She sat up reluctantly, if only so Geto could eat too, but stayed pressed up right next to him on the couch while Yu-nii got up to help fill everyone's bowls.
He handed her a bowl and she stared at it uncomprehendingly for several seconds.
Curry, maybe? With rice. Wasn't curry spicy?
She took a tentative bite and was surprised by the sweet taste of the curry. Pieces of meat and vegetables were also present, which was quite good when combined with the rice. All in all, a surprisingly good dinner, especially piping hot, and it certainly woke her up quickly.
They had chosen, surprise surprise, a studio Ghibli movie, which was most definitely Yu-nii's influence, aiming for something lighter after the scary movie. There was something about a curse and there was a monk named Jigo, but she didn't have much room in her brain currently to allow her to focus on the movie and her food too.
She ate slowly, and everyone finished before her. Her body just felt sluggish, still half asleep in spite of eating dinner. Spice might have woken her up more than this sweet version, not that she was complaining about its absence.
She was only a few bites away from finishing her bowl of food when someone took it from her gently, making her eyes open, and she didn't quite know when she had closed them.
Now that it was safe, she fell back into Geto's lap, and immediately he resumed gently petting her hair, which only helped her fall asleep faster.
The last thing that she heard was Junpei's whispered question and someone's quiet answer before she drifted off to sleep.
Sometime later she became vaguely aware of someone lifting her up and carrying her and being laid gently to bed. She might have said goodnight, and someone may have answered, but she was asleep too quickly to remember.
When Yaga woke her up, even earlier than he had the day before so that she had time to take a shower beforehand, she realized pretty quickly that she had to go back to school.
Urgh, she had twelve more years of this, plus college if she even tried it.
Being four years old again sucks.