Cursed spirits were scary.
It's hard to really understand while watching through a screen, no matter the depiction, but curses were truly, unfathomably scary.
The fact that she was the only one who seemed to notice the thing made it so much worse.
She couldn't quite remember how she had gotten here.
One moment she was… somewhere, not here, and the next she was standing on a field of some sort. Grassy, strewn with pebbles that dug into her feet.
A school, maybe, but not one she had ever gone to, and she had gone to a lot of schools in her lifetime. It looked like an expensive one, from the metal fencing and unusually fancy building. The building was a faded yellow that most likely was once white, the roofing brick red. It honestly looked a bit church-like to her, due to the chapel and assorted windows.
Was this what a Christian school looked like?
She was short, she noticed. Unusually so.
The grass was visibly poking up around where her unnervingly tiny bare feet stood. The teenagers were all female, and all dwarfed her small form. They often glanced over at her, and she could hear snatches of conversations, asking who she was, if anyone had a little sister running around.
That couldn't be right. She was 22, she was older than these kids.
Her height, her tiny hands that she held out shakily in front of her, all said otherwise.
She was a kid. Not some twelve year old tween either.
She didn't know where she was or how she got there.
A curse, even just a harmless fly head, looked much larger, and much scarier when you're a kid than when you're an adult watching through a screen.
It took a fluttering hop closer, and she flinched backwards. Her heel hit the sidewalk suddenly and she fell on her butt with a thump, her uncoordinated, stumpy limbs not fast enough to stop her fall.
It took off flying suddenly and she scrambled to her feet, limbs flailing like an uncoordinated bug, and ran. She aimed straight for the pseudo-safety of the building. Kids that were intimidatingly tall stopped in the doorway to look at her as she darted inside, brushing past them.
They let the heavy door sweep shut behind her as they followed her inside. It was much cooler inside and she shivered a little at the temperature change. Probably why the heavyset door was being kept shut.
It was probably the fanciest school she had ever been in. The real stone walls, the huge windows to let all the natural light in. The lower sections of the walls were a golden-brown color, and the floor was made of blueish tiles. It was certainly beautiful, and probably a private girl's school of some sort.
As her racing heart settled, the flyhead left behind, she took the chance to take in the sight, moving off to the side so that she wasn't in any of the students' way.
Where even was this? The students were all dressed the same, in white and blue school uniforms with blue skirts. Who even wore school uniforms anymore?
A peak out of the windows on the other side of the wall showed several other buildings, all more or less the same colors and looks. Seemed more like a college campus layout to her, but the kids here were too young to be college students. Maybe this is just how private schools were?
She started walking down the halls, tersely aware of the looks she was drawing. Her feet were dusty, stained green from the grass, and who knew what the rest of her looked like. Her hair was drawn back with some sort of large clip, holding her hair in a bun, but a few strands escaped. It was relieving to see her hair was still mostly its usual brown color, though lighter than usual, as if sun-bleached.
"Are you alright?" A voice asked softly, drawing her attention to a female teacher with long black hair, who looked concerned.
"Is your older sister around?" She continued with a kindly smile, but the way she said it was unusual for some reason. Older sister? But somehow, she also said something else at the same time, it sounded like…nee-san?
There was a sensation like her ears popping, just all throughout her skull, reverberating through her brain, rattling her teeth, and suddenly the kind looking teacher's voice suddenly shifted somehow.
"Are you here to surprise your Nee-san on graduation day?" She said, a look of mischief appearing on her face as she leaned closer to her.
She gave the teacher a hesitant nod.
"I got a little lost I think." She said back uncertainly, but the words that escaped her mouth were not right at all, the words changing in her mouth without her even thinking about it.
"Don't worry dear. The graduating students should be on the other side of the school grounds, that way," She said while pointing. "It'll be a little while though, so maybe you should play outside while you wait."
The teacher was giving her a broad smile, pointing towards the same field she had left.
She nodded in agreement anyways, having no intentions to follow either direction. The kind woman waved goodbye cutely as she resumed walking. At least she had an excuse for what she was doing now.
She kept walking for a while, taking a staircase upwards when she made it to the end of the hallway. As she walked, the hallway emptied of students.
Maybe class was starting.
This seemed as good a place as any to stop walking, so she took another closer look out of the window, taking a seat on the floor to lean her forehead against the glass.
It really was a beautiful place, the greenery, the flower beds filled with blooming flowers that undoubtedly filled the air was a wonderful scent. She should head outside soon, as long as the flyhead doesn't come back. Not all teachers would likely be as kind as that woman was.
The flyhead…
She crushed the thought of it quickly, returning her gaze back down to the flowers.
Clearly, she had been hallucinating earlier, because cursed spirits weren't actually real. The cat sized, flying monstrosity couldn't have actually been there, because curses weren't real. Jujutsu Kaisen was just an anime, and a sad one at that.
She was just…
In some random school, shorter than she had been in decades, where a very Japanese looking teacher asked whether she was visiting her Nee-san and she understood the woman perfectly. Somehow.
An old man walked slowly past her, back bent and hunched over with age, dressed in a green robe, with a white headdress and round glasses, the first male she had seen in this school. Maybe he was a janitor? He didn't have any cleaning supplies though.
She got to her feet, turning in the same direction that the old man was heading, back towards the stairs. She passes him quickly with his slow walk. He looked up at her and she gave him a shy wave and a smile, which he returned with a slight delay, his smile nowhere near as genuine as hers had been.
She moved a little faster, something unsettled and cold crawling down her spine. Something was wrong here. Showing her back to the man felt wrong, but she needed to leave quickly.
Thumping footsteps alerted her to someone sprinting up the stairs before she was even halfway to it, a terrifyingly familiar tall black-haired man coming to a stop a few steps from the top steps, posture defensive as he locked eyes with someone behind her.
The old man made an inquisitive sound, back straightening as she turned to look at the man too.
"That uniform…" He said appraisingly, hand going out to his side, and she watched with horror as slowly, two curses (shikigami , a part of her whispered) rising slowly out of the ground, and at the black haired man's feet, an arm protruded out of the ground as one curse, then another hefted themselves out of black shadows on the ground.
"Curse Manipulation?" The old man exclaimed, not surprised at all.
"Correct. Living a long life has its perks, I see." Geto Suguru replied, his eyes flicking sideways and locking on her like a sniper's laser, freezing her in place. She was huddled for dear life against a window, as if that would save her.
Maybe if she jumped? She was only on the second floor after all. Kids were tough enough.
"Nah, it's not worth living too long, you know. It costs money just to stay alive." The old man said, a creepy smile spreading across his face.
"Kid, you should get behind me and get out of here." Geto called, addressing her for the first time. She moved quickly to rise to her feet.
The old man's shikigami took a few hops forward, making her cringe back against the cold glass again when he looked towards her. She was trembling, a strange cold flooding her muscles and bones as terror froze her in place.
"My shikigami will get there first if she tries it," He warned, his smile getting bigger and she heard Geto growl slightly in frustration. Not a good sign for her.
The window seemed like a great idea actually. She tapped against it pointedly, shooting Geto a meaningful look, before looking to the window to her left, closer to him. She could catch a glimpse of a bed of flowers outside of it, if she could land on it, she shouldn't break any bones.
The fight began just as it had in the anime, a massive, worm-like curse erupting to life behind Geto, and it surged forward, smashing headfirst through the very window that she had indicated before swerving back on track.
She bolted, the broken glass slicing painfully into her feet as she ran for the window and jumped without even looking where she would land. Better than being crushed like a mosquito by the worm thing, growing bigger by the second.
It was a higher fall than she had thought it would be, and her stomach dropped dizzyingly as she fell, that icy feeling reaching a peak as she dropped like a stone.
She landed roughly in some sort of bush, a plume of petals scattered around her as she crushed them. The bush scratched at her knees and arms as she fought her way free from it, getting to her feet as she turned to look upwards.
The sound of another smashing window filled the air a second time as the other window was shattered by the old man as he made his attack, and she scrambled to get away from the falling glass. Her feet sparked with pain with each step, but she kept moving, putting several yards worth of space between her and the windows.
She sat on the ground with a thump and a whine, her bloody footsteps bright specks of color on the cement courtyard.
Something was buzzing loudly to her right, far, far louder than any bee or fly could be and she turned, already knowing exactly what was there.
The flyhead looked at her, still for a few seconds before approaching warily, wings fluttering. It got a few feet closer each jump, and she froze in place automatically as it opened its distorted little mouth and started to speak.
"It can flyyy" It said slowly, drawing out its last word. Its voice was distorted in the way that curses most cursed spirit's were when they spoke, and she let out an embarrassingly frightened whimper, scooting herself backwards as it got even closer.
It stopped at a puddle of blood that her bloody feet left behind, leaning over it curiously and it leaned down, its mouth making contact with the blood and draining it dry in seconds. The flyhead looked back at her, hungry, and a drop of blood dripped down its elongated mouth. Its twisted and blackened tongue flicked out, catching the drop before it fell.
It made a final jump, landing on her arm that she had raised defensively and leaning down, to bite or to say something else she didn't know, and she shook it off in a panic, her hand flailing wildly. Her eyes shut instinctively like she was trying to hide, but suddenly the buzzing stopped.
She took a few shaky breaths before daring to open her eyes.
Geto Suguru stood in front of her, the purple ichor from the curse dripping from one of his already bloodied hands, splattering on the ground. Nothing but a few splattered pieces of limbs were left of the flyhead.
"Are you alright?" He asked, that weird doublespeak overlapping his voice for an instant just like the teacher's voice had, before it cleared up. He was leaning backwards somewhat, clearly ready to start moving the moment she gave the cue, but too polite to simply leave her there.
She gave an uncertain nod, and he nodded back, starting to move away, but paused, catching sight of her feet. Blood was pooling again, surprisingly quickly around her heels, particularly her right foot, which was the most painful.
He hummed to himself, clearly torn, before sighing. A black portal opened up, another cursed spirit hauled itself out of the ground by digging its massive claws right into the dirt, leaving furrows in the earth as it hauled itself out of the portal like a cat would climb onto a branch. It was vaguely cat shaped, like a mangled version of a tiger, painted by a medieval painter who has clearly never seen one before. Its fur was patchy and unkempt, a discomforting shade of reddish orange, less tiger color and more faded bloodstain.
"Get her somewhere safe and keep her alive, then return." He ordered, and the curse made a noise that could be seen as vaguely affirmative, if given careful consideration.
Geto took off, running off at unfathomable speeds, and she and the not-tiger stood there, eyeing each other warily.
"Hello?" She tried nervously. It was staring at her, unblinking. Bloody red eyes drilled into hers, its too long tail flicking in consideration.
"Food… safe." It growled, that same echoey distorted quality to its voice as the flyhead had, its eyes never looking away from her own.
"I'm… not food." She said, but her tone was still uncertain. The not-tiger was silent. They stared at each other for a few more seconds before the curse took a step forward, kneeling down invitingly. At least it wasn't going to try and carry her by the scruff or something.
She slowly put her hand on its shoulder, and upon getting no response other than a flick of its unnervingly human shaped ears, sticking up like a cat's would, she pulled herself up the rest of the way. It started walking and she held on tightly.
It wasn't anything like riding a horse, which she was familiar with, it was much bumpier, its shoulders rising and falling with every stride. She leaned forward and laid on her stomach, holding on with her arms and legs, clinging to the curse more than she was riding it. It was like clinging to one of those bucking bull rides that they had at rodeos sometimes, throwing her forward and back, side to side as it walked.
No one gave her much of a passing glance, from what she could see through the thick fur in her face.
Where exactly was safe? Just a random street corner? A hospital would be a good start but considering she didn't have her purse or anything, it's not like she could pay for any treatment that they offered.
The not-tiger seemed just as uncertain, wandering more or less in circles. She was hardly going to get off, not with her feet in this shape, but she was getting impatient. It was just wandering the unfamiliar city now, taking turn after turn, sometimes doubling back, walking around city blocks just to go back to the start. There was an interesting shop that they passed, a bakery, likely, smelling heavenly. She needed to come back and get something from there later, when she wasn't quite so small.
It turned down an alleyway suddenly, and came to a stop, letting her peak her head up.
Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, and Riko Amanai stared back at her, clearly mid argument.
"Who's the kid?" Gojo asked, interest immediately piqued, gesturing to her over his shoulder, looking at Geto.
"I told you to take her to safety, then come back." Geto told the curse sternly, one eyebrow raised.
"Food, safe!" The not-tiger replied, its long tail even wagging a little like a dog, clearly pleased to have done well. The man let out a put-upon sigh, lifting her off the curse and dismissing it. He held her uncertainly, at arm's length, and she stared back at him, unimpressed. She was just hanging there.
He clearly did not know how to hold children correctly.
"We have to stop by Jujutsu High anyway, to get her some medical attention." Geto said, clearly putting an end to their argument.
"Midori-chan ?" Riko called uncertainly, walking a few steps closer to get a better view of her, and when Riko's blue eyes met hers, the teenager gasped, a quick intake of breath. She dodged around Gojo, who was watching like he was observing a particularly dramatic play.
Midori? Green? If everyone here was speaking Japanese, who didn't that word translate?
"Midori-chan, what happened to you?" Riko asked worriedly, just about snatching her from Geto's arms, cradling her much, much gentler than he had been. She immediately decided that Riko was her favorite.
"She got caught between me and a curse user and jumped from a window. The glass cut her feet up." Geto answered for her. She gave him a little side eye. He had after all, with his ridiculously strong curse technique and overwhelming force, been the major reason that she needed to get out of the way, right now, with that giant worm thing about to take up all the space in that hallway. She'd have been nothing but paste if she hadn't jumped.
Riko gasped, horrified, immediately turning her attention to her.
"Midori-chan, does it hurt?" Riko asked sympathetically.
She nodded. Her feet after all, still hurt pretty bad.
Suddenly, Gojo's head popped into her view, making her jump, reeling back into Riko, who pulled her away protectively.
"You kidnapped a child?" He asked Geto, utterly delighted.
"I didn't kidnap her, I brought her to safety!" Geto defended himself, now subject to the angry look of Riko and the delighted accusing look of Gojo.
"There was a scary bug thingy too." She said, looking up at the girl holding her in a theatrical sort of horror, and Riko gasped. Getting Geto in trouble was kind of fun.
"What flying thing?" Riko asked, accusing, and Geto held his hands up defensively.
"It was a flyhead, it's very unlikely that it could actually hurt her." Geto replied.
"It wanted my blood! I couldn't exactly run away!" She shot back, and he did seem to acknowledge her point for once, a slight tilt of his head.
Gojo was needling him more now, distracting him, and she took a moment to think. Maybe now was the best time to ask how exactly Riko knew her. Midori meant green in Japanese as far as she knew which was a direct translation of her actual last name. Was Riko just translating her last name for some reason?
"Sorry, but…" She said slowly, letting some of her uncertainty bleed through into her voice, "Who are you? How do you know me?"
Riko paused.
"You don't remember?" Riko said, a bit of genuine worry entering her voice. Riko had been playing her anger up a little when she saw how she had played along with Gojo, but that bit of levity had drained away with her question.
She shook her head.
"You said my name was… Midori?" She asked slowly, confused, and watched as Riko went from worried to concerned, glancing at Geto questioningly. Gojo's needling had faded away as well, and he leaned close to take a better look at her with his alarmingly blue eyes. They really were one of a kind, the closest she had ever seen to their exact shade was the color of bioluminescent algae. Even that was mostly due to the glow than it was the correct shade. She understood now, why he was the honored one.
"Yes. Your name is Midori. I never learned your full name though… you um, lived at the orphanage. One of my teachers encourages volunteer work and I would go there to play with you guys. You don't remember?" Riko asked her gently, trying to hide the worry in her voice and the unevenness of her smile.
She shook her head.
"I just kinda, woke up? I guess? And I was outside of the school. I didn't know where I was, so I just wandered around. Then that old man showed up and that guy," She pointed at Geto, "and I had to jump out a window and ride a not-tiger thingy that thought I was food for like an hour." She explained slowly, though there was a note of complaint in her voice. Riko's face got more and more worried as she explained, shooting glances towards the two men watching.
"Could she be an assassin? Kids with amnesia don't typically just wander around." Geto asked warily. Riko smacked him on the arm.
"It doesn't look like it…" Gojo responded, leaning entirely too close to her face, making her press closer to Riko on reflex, "Her cursed energy looks almost… new."
"New?" Riko asked uncertainly, holding her tighter. It was a comfort to her right now, under the gaze of the person who would soon be the strongest in the world, if he wasn't already.
"Like a newborn baby!" He said, hand on his chin inquisitively, "It's not nearly as strong as it should be, considering she can see curses. It's really weird feeling too."
"Could it be a trap of some sort?" Geto said, his eyes uncomfortably considering. She felt her muscles get tense as she dropped her eyes to avoid his gaze. He probably wouldn't murder her for no reason, right? Just a suspicion wasn't enough. Wasn't it?
"I don't see any latent curse techniques. Shoko-chan might be able to tell for sure."
She glanced between the two men. They were talking about her like she wasn't even there. Even if she was a child currently, she wasn't quite convinced, that didn't mean she couldn't make a decision for herself.
"My feet are bleeding on you, miss." She said, only just remembering not to use her name. She actually couldn't remember Riko's last name anyways. It was rude to use someone's first name in Japan, wasn't it?
Rika gasped suddenly, her attention being drawn right back to the most pressing problem. She had been bleeding for a while now, and while it was sluggish, it was still dripping slowly. How much blood had she lost? How much could her pint-sized body afford to lose?
"And how about Kuroi-san?" Gojo asked Riko, "How are we supposed to keep you safe, rescue her, and help this kid out too? Let's just drop the kid off at the hospital and get going." He had clearly lost interest in the situation, his feet itching to get moving again, to take some sort of action. Did Gojo have ADHD? Sometimes as she watched Jujutsu Kaisen she had wondered. He was so distractible sometimes, so impulsive. Maybe it was the psychologist in her, just looking for signs all the time.
She was going to have to go through college all over again, she realized. She felt herself slump dejectedly in Riko's arms. All that money, all the papers she wrote, and she didn't even make it to her degree. How many hours was she going to have to work just to afford it and rent an apartment, considering she was apparently an orphan here? Does Japan have cheaper colleges than America does?
"Don't worry Midori-chan, we won't just leave you here." Riko soothed gently. Clearly taking her sudden bout of depression as fear of abandonment. She wishes it was that simple. She just made an unhappy sound.
"We can't just drop her off at a hospital without even telling her guardians" Rika protested but Gojo waved her off.
"We'll go there first then." He conceded, and he just started walking, like he had any idea where he was going.
She could see him pause in realization, but Riko was already walking confidently out of the alleyway, making a left turn, and Geto followed closely behind. Gojo walked nonchalantly after the group, like he hadn't been going the wrong way, and followed loosely behind, like a cat that didn't want to admit that it was actually following you.
They really were quite close to the supposed 'orphanage', but that didn't make it much better.
The yellow caution tape, coupled with the rubble, painted quite a clear picture of why she had been out wandering. It was closed down completely, the back half the building fallen in on itself, the entrance blocked off by caution tape.
It seemed strangely ominous, standing there like tens or even hundreds of children hadn't lived there over the years. Something in her chest felt tight, like it was harder to breathe. The fear that was constricting her breathing sent chills down her spine, leaving her shivering.
"I just visited nearly two weeks ago, what happened?" Riko cried out, devastated.
There was a bloodstain in front of some rubble, like something had been crushed beneath it. Whatever had happened, there had been people inside.
Just looking at it made her sick, but she scrambled down from Riko's arms to run up to the rubble, dodging around Geto only to get snagged by Gojo's free hand, who wasn't even looking, staring down at his phone.
There was definitely blood on the rocks to the left, a bloody handprint on the wall. Someone escaped, but the amount of blood on the ground said it hadn't been for very long at all.
"Orphanage destroyed due to sinkhole," Gojo read out loud, having found an article about it on his ancient phone, "All children were presumed dead after a sinkhole opened up underneath the apartments. The owners of the orphanage, Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka, both survived due to being on vacation at the time and declared the building to be shut down permanently. The hired caregiver was at home at the time, while the children slept. The bodies of the children are still being recovered and identified."
They all seemed to pause at that, and Riko grabbed her from Gojo to cradle her close, squeezing her again. She didn't mind it. Had she… possessed the dead body of this Midori? Clearly, she had been isekai-ed or was in a coma and having an elaborate dream, or something. Her hands were tingling. It felt like she couldn't quite catch her breath, and she was just so cold. Riko rubbed at her arms, trying to warm her up a little. It felt like she had swallowed a fist sized ball of ice, and it sat heavily in her chest.
This couldn't actually be real right? She was just in a dream, and she would wake up in her room, her cat at her head, her phone's alarm ringing. She would get up, feed her cat, and then work on her weeks' worth of homework until she was done, exercise if she had the time, and then play video games or write, or watch some anime, she wouldn't wake up to… this. Curses, a soon to be dead girl's arms wrapped tightly around her, hands too small, too small, too small, why was she so fucking small? A full body chill, like she had just been dunked in ice, which left her shuddering.
She was crying, she realized, full body trembles wracking her stupid tiny body. And Geto seemed to realize it too, pulling at Riko's shoulder to turn her away and pulling her forward, leaving the empty orphanage behind. Gojo whispered something in Geto's ear as they walked away, and he nodded. Riko's hand came up as they stood at the curb, smoothing her hair gently, but she kept her face hidden against the girl's chest. She had always hated having an audience when she cried.
It wasn't too long after she stopped crying and pulled away, that a car pulled up. Gojo and Geto had a short scuffle over the front seat, and Riko ended it by climbing in the front herself, still holding her.
It took maybe an hour or so to get to their destination, long enough for her reddened eyes to fade away and her tremors to finally stop. Her foot finally stopped bleeding, though it throbbed with each bump they hit.
Riko exited the car carefully, clearly making the attempt to be as gentle as possible and two of the strongest jujutsu sorcerers in existence stood awkwardly. She could almost see the boy's thought process now that things had had time to settle down. Should they offer to carry her for Riko? What if she cries again and they have to give her right back?
They had brought her to Jujutsu High. She took a moment to feel a little awestruck. This place had a secure feeling to the very air, something that the outside world couldn't match. The barrier maybe?
A girl, brown haired and scowling came marching up, crystal clear irritation painted on her face, only to pause at the sight of her in Riko's arms. Then she got really mad.
"You boys are just making her carry this kid around all day? Aren't you her bodyguards right now, and are supposed to do whatever she wants? She's not your babysitter!" The angry teen said sternly to the two boys.
"I don't mind if it makes Midori-chan happy!" Riko said brightly, a sweet smile on her face.
"What happened to you kid?" Shoko Ieiri asked her, some of her irritation leaving her voice as she looked her over. She was practically the mirror image of Nobara Kugisaki. Were they related, or did they just happen to be doppelgangers who were off by a few years?
"I cut my feet from stepping on glass. It bled for a long time." She said, realizing that Ieiri was waiting for a reply. The doctor hums, taking her foot in her hand to take a closer look, then the next.
"I have to pull all of the glass out before I can heal it. Maybe half an hour or so. Why not make yourselves find some food or something for Amanai-san, boys." She said, lifting her into her arms and walking away.
The boys were protesting, something about bodyguard duty, and something that Riko said made them both jolt, before she clapped her hands, for all the world a princess, ordering about her subjects. She wished she could see a little more, but Ieiri was walking away with her.
"How is your pain level right now, Midori-Chan?" Ieiri asked after entering the medical room.
"5?" She said, questioning. It wasn't as bad as before, but now that she had calmed down it sure was a lot more noticeable.
The doctor hummed slightly, setting her down on a table and walking off to grab some tweezers.
"Your feet have already mostly scabbed over, so this will probably hurt quite a bit. Don't be afraid to ask me to stop for a little while." The doctor warned. She laid down on her back and covered her eyes with one arm. It was better if she just didn't look.
Getting glass pulled out of her feet was more painful than when it went in, honestly. Maybe it was the lack of an adrenaline surge, brought on by the sight of Geto Suguru's pretty but dangerous face.
Ieiri made soft, soothing noises each time a particularly large chunk of glass had to be pulled out, free hand pressing down on her leg to hold her still, and she tried her best to keep quiet through the pain. She knew how guilty adults could get, having to cause more pain to a child just to let them heal. Better to be as quiet as possible.
When Ieiri got to her right foot she paused for a moment, so she lifted her head to look towards the doctor curiously.
"Does this foot hurt the most?" The doctor asked. She just nodded in return, earning a considering hum.
She got to work anyway, picking mostly small pieces of glass out, one by one, before hitting a plateau, abandoning her right foot for her left, picking a few more tiny shards from both before letting them both rest on the table.
"Are you done?" She asked, only to get a shake of the head.
"You've got a big chunk lodged in that foot, and it sliced an artery I think. The glass is stopping most of the bleeding, but it'll hurt pretty bad taking it out. Are you going to be able to hold still while I remove it, or should I get someone to hold you?" The doctor asked, looking her in the face uncomfortably.
"Hold me?" She decided uncertainly. The smaller chunks had hurt like crazy, bringing tears to her eyes and quiet whimpers. If it hurt much more she probably wouldn't be able to hold still. One accidental jerk of her foot could slice the artery even more open, and hurt like hell while doing so.
She nodded, letting her sit up on the table once again, before heading to the door and leaning her head out, looking both ways. There was a bowl of bloody glass on the table next to her, and she examined it curiously. Had all that really been in her feet?
"Haibara-kun! Get over here, I need you." Ieiri called, waving someone over. Haibara? Wasn't that the really nice guy who died? A brown-haired man, instantly recognizable to her, popped his head in curiously, eyes widening at the sight of her.
"Hello there!" He called out cheerfully to her, "What's the problem today?" He asked, eyeing her bloody feet like it wasn't blindingly obvious.
"I stepped on glass while jumping out of a window." She informed him seriously, and he let out a small gasp, followed by a sympathetic sound. This man was good with kids, no doubt.
"I just need you to hold her leg while I get this piece of glass out. Try not to let your face scare her too much." Ieiri said, rolling her eyes slightly at the man's scandalized sound.
"Children love me, I will have you know!" The man shot back, and she couldn't stop a small giggle at his dramatics.
"See!" he cried, gesturing to her, "She already loves me. I'm practically her Nii-san already!" This made her giggle softly again, a small smile crossing her face, and she didn't miss the slightly smug look he shot his upperclassman. She waved him off, grasping her foot again, and she couldn't stop her smile from fading away into a worried frown.
"Don't worry!" Haibara said with a bright smile, circling the table and strategically leaning over her, blocking her view. A good deal of his weight rested on her right leg, trapping it in place. She could admit, he was doing quite well, restraining her in a much more subtle way than she had expected.
"What's your name?" He asked her, conversationally.
"The nice lady said my name was Midori-chan, but I don't remember."
"Well, Midori-chan, you can call me Yu-nii, alright?" He said, a bright smile gracing his face that she couldn't help but return. He was flipping adorable.
"Hai, Yu-nii" She replied, dutifully, and he made a small sound, almost a squeal of delight. Children were likely a rare sight in a place like this, let alone in his field of work. No wonder he was so friendly. Did he have any family at all? She didn't know. He certainly acted like an older brother, that's for sure.
"Why did you have to jump out of the window?" He asked conversationally, focusing on her intently.
"The weird man with the messed-up tiger and the old man with the weird monsters got into a fight and I had to get out of the way really fast! So, I jumped," she said, and he was listening eagerly, "And then there was this really scary bug thingy, and it wanted to dr-"
A sudden surge of pain drew her attention right back to Ieiri, as the doctor yanked the large shard of glass with a quick movement. She screamed, instinctively trying to pull away, but Haibara held fast to her leg, pinning it in place, and just as quickly as the pain appeared it faded away, along with all the other aches and cuts left on her body from the fall.
She sat up slowly, feeling bewildered. Her skin tingled like it had fallen asleep, except only over the previously injured places. Sure, she knew of reversed curse technique, but to have it actually done to her was incredible.
Haibara wiped away a stray tear from her face, that she hadn't even realized she had shed, and her breath caught in her throat. She could feel the urge to cry gathering in the back of her throat, even as she fought it back. She had always been a crier, even in childhood, and it seemed like being a little kid again was only making it even worse.
She could see the alarm and empathy on Haibara's face as he rushed to console her, gentle reassurances that did nothing to stem the inevitable flood of tears.
The sound of the door opening made her turn her head, a familiar head of white hair barely visible through her watery eyes. She raised her hand to wipe the blurriness away and sniffled loudly.
The door shut again, so hard it rattled the table.
Ieire scoffed, and finished cleaning the blood from her feet, moving to dispose of the fluffy white blood-stained towel that she had grabbed at some point. Some blood splattered the white overcoat that she wore over her uniform.
"All better now, Midori-chan?" Haibara asked, his acting… not the best she had seen before, clearly trying to pretend that he was not in fact, a sympathetic crier.
"I'm alright now." She mumbled, but her voice was teary.
A lollipop, bright red and wrapped in clear plastic, appeared in front of her face, making her eyes cross slightly before she leaned back. Ieire was holding it out to her, not looking at her pointedly.
"You did good." Was all Ieiri said as she handed her the lollipop and then quickly backed away, leaving the room. Trying to escape the inevitable meltdown probably.
Haibara wrapped her in a hug, lifting her easily into his arms. These people needed some plushies, just to have something to carry around that wasn't her. It was nice, but still. Her legs were gonna waste away, nevermind that they were shaking so badly that she doubted she could even stand.
"Want to get something to eat besides that lollipop?" He asked her gently, and she leaned against his chest before nodding tiredly. The urge to cry was fading now thankfully, that painful lump in her throat going away.
She didn't pay much attention as they walked, but soon it seemed like they ended up at some sort of cafeteria. Half the tables were dusty and had clearly been unused for a long while, but Gojo, Geto, and Riko all sat at one, eating what looked like cup ramen.
Gojo and Geto were annoying each other, Geto hunched protectively over his cup, Gojo leaning over with his chopsticks outstretched, clearly in the middle of an attempted theft.
"Midori-chan, how are you?" Riko said, quickly climbing to her feet, cup ramen forgotten, and behind her Gojo immediately snatched her abandoned cup, despite Geto's attempt at preventing it. Geto attempted to snatch it back, but his hand hit Gojo's Infinity, and all he could do was glare as Gojo ate Riko's noodles in safety.
Riko noticed none of this.
"I'm ok now. My feet are all better now" She reassured the girl. Behind her, Geto noticed Gojo's cup noodle, left behind after Gojo's theft, and took it in return. Gojo protested, but didn't get there in time to prevent Geto from dumping it out into the waiting mouth of a summoned curse. His head tilted, a smug smile on his face as Gojo watched his own cup noodles be eaten by the curse, then Gojo launched himself at Geto, trying to steal his cup noodles as vengeance, despite his own stolen cup still being held in his other hand. They danced around each other, holding their noodles away with one hand and trying to take their opponents with the other.
The whole scene wouldn't have been out of place in a jujutsu stroll scene, and it had her giggling softly in Haibara's arms. Riko turned to look too and started laughing as well.
"Wait, are those my noodles?" She suddenly cried, getting a good look at the color of the noodle cup in Gojo's hand. Both boys paused for a moment, all eyes on Gojo.
"You weren't going to eat them anyway." Gojo said defensively and they were back at it again, while Riko grumbled about idiots and then Haibara laughed, a bright sound, and soon Riko was laughing too, and both Gojo and Geto were smiling as Gojo's cup finally spilled and he lunged for Geto's noodles with both hands, knocking the dark haired boy over and jolting the cup noodles from both of their reach, both giggling like loons even as they fought over the empty cup.
The door flew open.
Masamichi Yaga stood outside the door, hands on his hips as he took in the scene, broth and noodles splattered on the floor and tables. Geto had a long noodle draped across his hair and dangling over his forehead, a mirror of his bang that was likely just outside of his field of vision. Gojo's hair was slightly damp in spots, gravity defying hair laying flat in some places.
Yaga huffed a massive sigh, the kind of a man far beyond his years, one hand going up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Better get used to this nonsense, with Gojo coming back to teach after graduation.
After things settled down, both boys designated to cleaning duty, a pair of dusters and a stack of rags plopped in their hands, taken from a closet, Haibara walked her through the dazzling display of food options. Shrimp cup noodles, beef cup noodles, chicken cup noodles, plain cup noodles, and mystery cup noodles. Truly, an astounding array of food choices. He laughed at her expression. She had never been much of a cup noodle fan, too salty for her. Still, she couldn't be choosy right now, it wasn't like she could even remember the last time she had eaten.
She chose chicken noodles and received a promise to take her down to the nearest convenience store for some real food soon. He really was getting into this nii-san role. He would have likely been a wonderful father someday if he hadn't died.
4 minutes later she was fumbling with a pair of wooden chopsticks, fishing for one or two noodles at a time like an amateur, even as Haibara and Riko demonstrated.
Geto paused for a moment in his cleaning to reposition the chopsticks in her hand and snap a rubber band around the ends. She finally got a full scoop of noodles all at once. It wasn't too surprising to see that he just carried rubber bands around. Anyone with hair like that carried hair products around.
"What's your name?" She finally got around to asking Riko, mostly out of noodles now and picking out the chicken. Riko's expression of shock was comical as she realized that she didn't even know their names. If she wasn't actually an adult in an unfamiliar body, she might be screaming about kidnapping right about now.
"Amanai Riko!" She yelped, gesturing dramatically towards herself, "The tall black-haired boy is Suguru Geto, and the loud annoying one with white hair is Gojo Satoru!" Each introduction was followed by an aggressive point towards each boy.
"Nice to meet you, Amanai-san" She replied politely, the title still strange on her tongue. Hopefully they were forgiving about children failing to use titles, because she was probably going to slip up sooner or later.
Riko shook her head suddenly, waving her words away.
"Call me Riko-chan!" She exclaimed quickly, hands waving in embarrassment. Was this the equivalent of a teenager getting called sir or ma'am?
"Hai, Riko-chan!" She exclaimed cheerfully, giving the teen a smile, and Haibara made another small squeal. Riko seemed equally enchanted, a soft mumble of kawaii. She must make for quite a cute kid to get this reaction. How old even was she? She sure was a pipsqueak to be sure, if she ever was allowed to actually stand on her own. She had been carried around like a baby for half the day, not getting the chance to measure her own height compared to others much.
God, being a kid was either going to get tiring real fast or was going to be awesome, and that depended upon the way the adults around her treated her.
Still, as Haibara pushed another cup of steaming noodles into her hand, watching as Gojo and Geto did the most inept job of cleaning the cafeteria as she had ever seen, and she used to work in a highschool as a janitor; it was hardly the worst place to end up. Being alone would have been a much greater challenge. At least they fed her here.
It took five cups of noodles to finally fill her up, to the horrified fascination of Geto, Haibara, and Riko, eyeing her tiny body up and down. Gojo seemed to take it as competition and ended up wolfing down six of the things. Salt overload. The brain guy whose name she couldn't quite remember ought to have just waited, heart disease would have taken him out soon enough.
Haibara scooped her up again, the pack of teens hunting down the best room for her, with the ideal location, directly between Riko's temporarily borrowed room and just on the other side of what might be Haibara's, judging by him going inside. She doubts that male and female students were allowed to room so close together, but there didn't seem to be much oversight. Given that the students risked their lives on a daily basis, she doubts the school would deny them what little comforts they may get.
Haibara was lugging a bundle of blankets out of the bedroom. Maybe it wasn't his after all. He dropped them on the bed, arranging them neatly. Must be worried about her being chilly.
Riko dragged her to the shower, and she had to all but chase the motherly teenager out of the room before she could take a shower in peace.
It certainly was… illuminating.
She stopped to look in the mirror as she got undressed from the ratty clothes that she was wearing, and somehow it was surprising when a child's face stared back. She looked somewhat like herself, golden brown hair and light skin, always so much lighter than her sister and mother, but the angular shape of her face, her startlingly colored silver eyes, were nothing like her past self.
She was actually quite a pretty child, the way her long tangled hair framed her face, the soulful looking eyes in such a striking color. She had always wanted in her youth to have different colored eyes, red, yellow, or silver, and it seemed like she had gotten her wish. Her eyes were practically reflective, they shone like they were made of metal. Would they make her look cold, as she grew up, or would they be as expressive as she hoped?
Along her stomach, though, up through about mid-chest, was a tangle of tattooed lines, fully healed, forming an unreadable tangle of symbols, like some type of runescript.
It started like from the corners of a square, four lines of writing began, like four people had taken pens to her skin at the same time, moving inwards towards the center. On her back, as she turned to look, more symbols were written, mirroring the front, though the runes did not match. In the same place, on both sides of her, a tattooed circle cut off the runes, left empty.
What was she, a notepad? Who the hell tattoos a four-year-old? Yakuza? It's ominous as hell, that's what it was.
She got into the shower and proceeded to spend the next hour scrubbing ridiculous amounts of dirt and blood out of her hair and off her skin. She didn't know whose soap she had borrowed, Riko having brought it over before she entered, but they were likely going to regret it.
She left that shower a new wo- child, a new child. She didn't even have to shave. That was at least one positive to all this, no periods for a few years. Got to look on the bright side. The tattoos unfortunately, did not scrub off, no matter how hard she tried.
Riko was waiting anxiously outside the door when she finally staggered out wrapped in a towel taller than she was, steam billowing out behind her. Riko held out a nightgown to her, likely one of her own given its size and she quickly shooed the teen right out of her room. She might be a child, but she still had to have some sort of modesty.
The fabric was incredibly soft against her skin, having to be tied on the shoulder to give her a proper neckline. Her fashion sense had always leaned towards heavily modest. Showing her collarbones was borderline risqué for her, let alone a V-neck.
Sue her, she liked to dress in a way that made her feel comfortable. She shuddered slightly at the memory of her co-worker trying to convince her to tell him about her "traumatic past", insisting that there must be a reason for her reluctance to show off her assets. She might be in a new body, but she still held a grudge towards that guy.
She opened the door to a swarm of people, toys and small snacks in hand to plop on the table next to her bed and was promptly kidnapped. They dragged her over to an empty room, in a completely different dorm building, converted to a movie room, pieces of couches and beanbags and cushions covering the floor, more blankets strewn about than there were people.
Gojo appeared with a stack of movies in hand, the pile quickly torn apart the minute that Haibara got a good look at them. The final choices, all identified as "kid friendly", was laid before her like an offering to a god, bows and drama and all, and she held her head up regally as she chose Howl's Moving Castle. Dear god, she could watch it in Japanese and actually understand it. All of the anime she could watch without the need for subtitles.
Popcorn was popped, Haibara making three runs to and from the microwave just to get enough popcorn for everyone, drinks were cracked open, a melon ramune shoved into her hand. A lollipop, forgotten in the pockets of her ratty clothing, was gifted to Gojo in exchange for the choice of seats, a couch section turned up on end to make a tall perch, the only way she could to see over all the tall people's heads.
She didn't miss the worry that fell over Riko's face occasionally as they watched, undoubtedly remembering her kidnapped parental figure. She couldn't remember the woman's name, but her face never left her memory. It hadn't taken long, from what she remembered, for them to reach and rescue the woman, and she doubted that they would be here enjoying themselves if she was under threat anytime soon. It was late in the evening, having been sunset when they arrived. They would likely leave to rescue her in the morning. Which meant she had two days to figure out how the hell a four-year-old kid was going to prevent Toji Fushiguro from killing Riko and traumatizing Gojo and Geto for life.
No biggie.
Ideally, she could stop Toji from damn near killing Gojo, but… what if he never learned reverse cursed technique? It was definitely horrifically traumatizing, but if whatever happened afterwards could be handled then… maybe? He had been pretty unstable when he killed Toji. Weighing it, was the character development worth the trauma?
Now it was crystal clear.
No way in hell was she going to sit there and let that happen to him, reverse cursed technique or not.
The main question was what she was capable of to actually prevent it. Pretend to be able to see the future?
Nah, she'd be assassinated before the week was out. Sexism, the need for power, even curses getting wind of what she knew, and she'd be dead like that.
Run up and kick the man where the sun doesn't shine? Maybe, if she wanted to get punted into the upper atmosphere.
Run to Yaga about seeing a strange man on campus of Toji's description? Perhaps, but would Yaga be enough to tip the scales? What would she do when she was questioned?
Try and get Geto and Gojo to fight Toji together while Riko ran away? Could work, assuming she could convince the two boys. Which meant that Gojo had to get over his ego and know that he couldn't handle Toji alone.
Let them separate, and run into Geto shouting about Gojo being in danger, about a knife that can cut through his infinity?
Hmm… She was jolted out of her reminiscing by the very annoyance that was foiling most of her planning, Gojo himself.
"Awfully thoughtful face while watching an old lady clean a bathroom. Planning your future career there?" Gojo said, poking her hard in the cheek.
"Howl-san reminds me of you, Gojo-san." She said brightly, earning several drawn out Oooos from the crowd. Geto took the opportunity for insults in an instant, an opportunity that was pounced on by everyone else present. He really was arrogant if this many people were ready to insult him, even if playfully.
"You are really cool like him!" She continued, just to see his face brighten up and the delighted smile on his face. Geto groaned softly, arms falling limp at his sides in disappointment. She felt bad for Gojo, getting dogpiled like that, even if he did need to learn how much arrogance was too much.
"But you seem kinda flaky too." She ended, and he protested immediately, despite the chorus of agreement that followed.
"You just met me, how could you even tell?" He accused, face way too close to hers in the casual way of someone who never quite learned about boundaries.
"Your face!" Was all she replied, a grin tugging at her lips as she focused back on the screen where Howl… turned into slime? She could never claim to make complete sense of the plot of Howl's Moving Castle, even in Japanese. The magic system made absolutely no sense.
She was slumped over, halfway asleep by the time the movie ended, Sophie and Howl happily together, finally. Someone with gentle hands lifted her up, cradled her against their chest and carried her carefully to her room before tucking her into bed.
A gentle hand ruffling her hair was the last thing she felt before she fell asleep.
When she woke up in the morning, Riko, Gojo, and Geto were gone.