She took her shower quickly, leaving yesterday's clothes on the ground in the corner to wash sometime later. It was still jarring to catch a glimpse of the seal on her stomach, a glimpse of ink in the corner of her eye that was constantly striking, drawing her eyes. Just looking in the mirror, staring into silvery eyes that weren't anything remotely similar to her own, was distressing enough.
Good thing she was so cute, it would really help her get away with all the stunts she was gonna have to pull to keep everyone safe. Even if looking at herself was sickening.
It was fine.
She dried off and dressed as fast as she could. There wasn't a clock in her room, so she had no real way to tell the time or know when she needed to leave. Yaga would probably rush her if needed, but she didn't want to be reliant on him just to get to school on time. She needed to establish a routine, preferably one with at least ten minutes' leeway, if not twenty.
Punctuality was important.
Yaga was busy talking with another adult, a tall man who she had seen occasionally from a distance and had promptly run away from. It wasn't that she didn't trust the other school staff members… but basically, it was. She didn't know what to expect from them like she did everyone else, which was scary. The teacher and her classmates were all a little scary, but at the very least they were all non-sorcerers, which meant she would have an advantage if they tried anything. An advantage that she wouldn't have around the other teachers.
The cafeteria was empty this early in the morning, so she bee-lined right for the fridge to grab a bonito-flake onigiri. She was the type of person who could easily eat the same thing every day, at least for breakfast. Onigiri wasn't too strange of a breakfast option, was it?
It was delicious, that's for sure. She even grabbed a bag of carrots to bring a little more nutritional value to her meal.
She set up outside, in view of the training ground, right next to the robot. What would they name the thing? Maybe Lance, or perhaps Shiro would be better, if Junpei agreed. They wouldn't even know it was a Voltron reference until several years later.
Was the original Voltron a Japanese anime?
The sun was just rising, leaving the sky a pretty color, from what little she could see through the trees. Nishinoya was next to her, looking quite peaceful, so hopefully Yaga would be able to find them through him, if needed.
She took her time eating, savoring each bite of Onigiri, until the sun was fully above the horizon, maybe twenty minutes if she guessed.
Grabbing all of her stuff and putting her shoes on took another fifteen, along with brushing her hair and hunting down a hairband from the two that Riko had lent her at some point while they played outside.
When she went back outside, Yaga was still talking with the man, so she just sat down in the cafeteria to wait.
Gojo wandered in at some point, looking badgered and harassed, and upon seeing her he scooped her up and sat down on the bench with her in his arms, and he proceeded to take up the entire bench by draping himself over it, legs hanging over the one end and his back leaning on the arm of the bench, and held her above him by the waist with both arms, like he was holding up a stuffed animal or a cute cat.
"Midori-chan," He started, drawing her name out in a complaining way, "Everyone's being mean to me!"
He paused, like he was waiting for her to answer.
"Why?" she asked, probably too sarcastically to be taken as genuine, but he continued anyway.
"They hate me! All it took was a little bit of property damage and now they're all being mean!" He complained, waving his arms, and subsequently her, around as he did so.
"What did you damage?" She asked, instead of the sympathy he was clearly searching for.
"It was already damaged, I wasn't making it any worse!" He defended, recoiling at the accusation.
"What did you damage?" She asked more firmly.
"I dug a hole!" He said defensively, like he hadn't done anything wrong.
So, it was Gojo who made the hole! Her suspicion about the hole's origins was right! That made a little more sense, that he would use an already damaged area to practice his cursed technique. Was he trying to get as deep as he could?
"A very, very deep hole?" She pressed, staring down at him.
A pause.
"How'd you know?" He asked, holding her a little lower to peer at her suspiciously, like he actually needed the reduced distance. Where'd he learn that from, she wondered. Naturally, his six eyes were always on, an extra few inches didn't mean much. Fascinating that he did it anyway. Maybe whoever raised him had bad eyesight, or maybe it was ingrained in spite of his exceptional vision. Like the panda who makes a strained face when breaking bamboo because its human caretaker made the same face when they broke it. Nature vs Nurture, the age-old question.
"Junpei-kun and I found a super, super deep hole. We explored it, and we found an old beaten-up robot on the bottom! Yaga-san agreed to help us learn how to fix it up!" She said excitedly, and she saw his face drop a little, an expression of disgust flickering over his face before he smothered it behind a mask of innocence.
"A robot. Really." He said, but his words were stilted and there was a strained look on his face that he couldn't entirely hide.
"Yeah! It's so cool!" She said, enthused, and he was struggling to hide his disgust.
"If you wanted a puppet like that, you could have just asked!" He said grandly, surging right back to enthusiastic in a flash.
"Eh?"
"I'll get you guys a good one to play with!" He said happily, waving her around.
She tilted her head, adopting a look of picture-perfect confusion on her face.
"We want to fix that one! It's special because we found it!" She said, and yep, his face definitely went a bit sour. He didn't like the robot, clearly. Was he the reason it was down there in the first place?
"It'll take forever though," He groaned, his tone complaining, "Don't you want something you can play with now? It'll be perfect! That ratty old thing won't be in working condition for a long time, if ever. You'll be much better off getting a new one!"
She shook her head more firmly.
"Junpei-kun wants to fix it up together. It'll be good life experience!" She responded, keeping her enthusiasm.
Gojo rolled his eyes.
"You're four, the only good life experience you should be getting is going to school and making friends. There's no way that you guys can fix that thing, it'll fall apart if you try!"
What did he have against this robot? Did it kill his entire family or something?
"Do you not like that robot for some reason?" She asked, and clearly, she hit the nail on the head, as he recoiled slightly, another look of distaste on her face.
"It's old and it's shoddy work! I don't want you kids to get tinnitus or something trying to fix a lost cause." He said, a bit disparaging. Really, the lack of faith might have upset a normal kid.
"You don't like it! Why?" She pressed, and he looked away immediately. He had yet to set her down yet either, she was having this conversation while dangling in the air like a house cat enduring the affections of a child.
"It's a wreck! It's pure scrap metal!" He said defensively.
"Why?" She insisted, and he finally tugged her close, hugging her to him like a stuffed animal.
"There's no reason! Why are you so curious?" He said, deflecting.
"I don't know a lot! I have to learn everything I can!" She replied brightly, and he seemed to realize just how true it was in a flash, and he hugged her tighter for a few moments.
"Does it have to be that one in particular? I can find you a better one." He tried one last time, and he finally seems to be accepting for now, if grudgingly.
"We found it together. Maybe we'll fail, but at least we want to try." She finished, and the heavy sigh he let out spelled her victory in this argument, at least for a little while.
She was pretty comfy actually, cuddled against Gojo, who didn't seem too likely to be moving soon. Yaga would find them when he was ready to leave.
Maybe ten minutes later, Gojo was completely relaxed where he lay. His eyes had slid shut, and he was breathing deeply and evenly despite her weight on his chest, one arm still slung over her torso to keep her from sliding off of him accidentally.
She was actually disappointed when the door opened, but when a woman with white hair stepped through, she froze on the spot.
"I think your sister is here." She said bluntly, drawing both white haired people's eyes to her.
Mei-Mei seemed bemused by her current position, aggressively cuddled by a special grade sorcerer.
"Ah, Mei-Mei! This is Midori-chan!" Gojo greeted, sitting up while cradling her to his chest. Not the most dignified first impression.
Another woman, who she recognized immediately as Utahime, entered too, distracted by her phone, oblivious to the three sets of eyes that immediately focused on her right until she looked up and froze.
"Hello." She greeted, a little warily, just to break the tension as Utahime stared at her in moderate horror.
"Gojo-san, you have a kid!" She exclaimed in horror, pointing at her. Wasn't that rude in Japan?
"I birthed her from my own body!" Gojo immediately confirmed with a mischievous grin, making Utahime's look of horror worsen. He cradled her against his chest in a motherly way, and she curled right up into him. Past her may have disliked hugs and general physical touch, but new her truly appreciated some good cuddles.
She could make this so much better.
"Dad, is Papa gonna be here soon?" She asked, intentionally making her tone more childish than usual, and Gojo's shit-eating grin grew even bigger as Utahime's horror only grew, her eyes rapidly flicking back and forth between her and Gojo, like she was trying to figure out the logistics. It was interesting that her first reaction was automatic belief in their story, despite the conflicting facts.
Yaga entered finally, walking fast.
"Time to go to school." He called urgently, and she squirmed out of Gojo's arms. She felt cold now, sadly.
"Papa's finally ready!" She said cheerfully, making Yaga double-take, which was the final nail in the coffin for Utahime as she spun on the spot to gaze at Yaga in horror. She looked rapidly back and forth between Gojo, who patted his stomach suggestively, and Yaga, who didn't have a clue what was going on.
"I'm ready Papa!" She exclaimed happily, taking his hand and leaving Utahime's shattered worldview behind, waving goodbye to Gojo, who blew her a kiss.
"Not that I mind it, but what brought this on?" Yaga asked as they left.
"Gojo-san was messing with that brown haired girl, and I was his accomplice!" She said, making Yaga huff a little, rolling his eyes to the heavens.
"There's two of you now, is there?" He said heavily, not really expecting an answer, and she nodded cheerfully.
They made it to school just in time, and she power-walked to her class, making it inside just before the bell rang.
Ito-sensei's lips were pressed tight as the lady spotted her, but she didn't say anything, so she counted it as a win. Hopefully she would be able to find common ground with the lady, or she would realize that beefing with a four-year-old really only reflected badly on her, not Midori.
She sat down in the same spot as last time, and surprisingly enough was left more or less alone throughout the lessons. More handwriting, more basic math, Kanji.
Preschool was so boring. She needed to become a book kid, so she could read during class. She could branch out some, read more than just fantasy novels.
Snack time came and went, and no one bothered her, luckily. Ryu-kun and Kyo-kun were huddled together, and whenever she glanced over, they shifted defensively. Kyo was sporting a black eye and some spectacular bruising, which she did feel a little bad about. Nothing she could do now but not hurt him any further and hopefully they both would leave her alone.
The time crawled by, and Ito-sensei got after her several times for her lack of focus. She stared out the window more often than not, for lack of anything better to do.
Maybe she could skip a few grades, be homeschooled for a while until she reached highschool age.
Maybe not.
She wouldn't want to get labeled as a prodigy for being ahead of her class. The nail that stands out gets hammered down, as they say. And in this world, she would have enough willing to kill her without adding to it.
The point was, preschool was going to drive her insane. And she was only on her second day.
When recess was called, she was the first out the door, and she was on the hunt for Junpei.
Both of them were Class A's, though he was a 3, meaning he was in his third year in Preschool. He would be graduating this year, and she was just starting, meaning that she only got one year with him before he moved on to elementary, or whatever it was called here. Once she got to elementary, she didn't know how long they would be together before he moved on. She had to make this time count.
Class A's got recess at the same time, regardless of level, so all she had to do was find him and they could hang out.
Finding him was the main difficulty. It wasn't hard to find the older kids, and she even asked around, but they seemed weirdly elitist? Sort of dismissing her. Was there a strong grade level superiority here that she didn't know about? Still, none of them were willing to tell her where Junpei was, which was a Problem.
The third-year teachers were also useless, mostly gently urging her to play with her level.
Was she going to have to start shouting Junpei's name until he showed up?
She just wandered the hallways mostly, overhearing boring lessons, searching every corner and calling out Junpei's name.
Recess was half an hour, or so she believed, and she had spent at least twenty minutes fruitlessly searching for Junpei. She was gonna glue their hands together by the time she found him.
A few minutes later she had to admit defeat for now. She could try again at lunch, maybe.
How did she get back to class again?
She needed a damn map.
There was a teacher hurrying to class, a dark haired and slightly frazzled man, and when she called out to him, he almost kept going, before stopping resignedly. His suit was pale blue, and despite being slightly stressed, none of it turned into irritation when facing her.
"I don't know how to get back to class." She said simply, and he huffed a sigh.
"Class?" He asked sharply.
"1-A. Ito-sensei." She replied quickly, and he nodded briskly, gesturing for her to follow, leading her down the maze of hallways and right to her classroom door, surprisingly enough.
"Thank you, Sensei!" She called as he left just as quickly as he came, and a small hand wave was his only acknowledgment.
Blunt, to the point, no patronizing or kid-gloves. She liked that guy. Wonder what grade he taught.
She re-entered the classroom, again just in time for the bell to ring. Timeliness was not one of her virtues it seems.
Class continued without any fanfare, moving on to some art class, mainly focused on naming colors and drawing shapes.
She doodled a Gojo on her paper, taking off the blindfold and replacing it with blocky sunglasses. Difficult to do with crayons, but the white made it recognizable.
She continued to doodle as the class wore on, and Ito-sensei didn't bother to continue disciplining her for her inattention. Probably figured if she was drawing then she wasn't punching other kids, which was good enough.
Lunch time couldn't come sooner, and they headed down to the cafeteria in one group. There was a noticeable space around her, like no one wanted to risk getting too close.
She took up a table in the back corner, which immediately emptied, the few students who had been going to sit moving their supplies away.
She waited idly, more or less twiddling her thumbs as she watched the other students file in. Every class A was released at the same time, and they had only been a few turns away. Junpei's class likely wasn't here yet.
A greasy-looking man with short black hair, who would likely have been handsome if he had better skincare, led Class 3-A in and she stood, craning her head to get a good look, and finally she spotted Junpei, trailing at the back of the pack. He looked tired, a sort of hopelessness written in the set of his shoulders and the trudging way that he walked. No child's eyes should hold that type of look, like there was nothing to look forward to anymore. She hated that look the moment she saw it.
She waved wildly, drawing his attention, and patted the table invitingly. Junpei's face lit up at the invitation, and she was relieved to see it, the way his back straightened, and his eyes had a spark of life in them once again.
He raced over, apparently bringing his own lunch just like she did, sitting down right next to her. She slung her arms around him in a tight hug, and while he flinched back at first, he quickly leaned into it, drinking in affection like he had been starved of it. When she pulled back, she stayed pressed right up against him, their legs touching, arms bumping into each other as they started pulling their lunches out.
It wasn't surprising to see Junpei's wonderful, astounding meal of two slices of salami and a dusty juice box. Literally dusty too, his hand leaving a visible print in it.
Her packet of carrots and one of her two onigiri was handed to him without a word, and as he paused in surprise, she snatched one of his salamis.
"Trade?" She asked belatedly, a piece of salami hanging from her fork. He nodded anyway, and she took a hesitant bite, scrunching up her face at the taste. Definitely spoiled. She took a napkin and spat the piece out.
"Don't eat it." She warned him, taking a small collapsible cup from her bento box and tearing open her own juice box, pouring out what was probably about half the box and placing the cup in front of Junpei. He was staring down at his own meal in horror, and the guilt that was creeping in on his face was not welcome.
"I'm sharing because I want to share with my friend, Junpei-kun." She said simply, and he seemed struck by that, either the thought that they were friends or that she would want to share for no other reason than sharing.
"Thank you." He said softly, and from the way his voice broke he was clearly on the verge of tears.
"Was that guy your Sensei? Does he know about the bullying?" She asked after they had finished their onigiri (she loved onigiri) and started working on splitting the carrots as evenly as possible. He looked alarmed by her questions, rushing to answer her.
"Sensei knows! He just thinks it would be best if we handle it ourselves! Social skills." He said, his voice raised in pitch due to his panic, and that really spelled out how effective that teacher was.
"There was a black-haired dude who led me back to class after I got lost searching for you, "She started, and Junpei's eyes widened a little at her admission that she had looked for him, "He was sort of stressed, and stern, but he wasn't mean at all. Do you know who that could be?"
Junpei thought for a moment, clearly trying hard to correlate her description with his memories of the staff.
"Maybe Mori-sensei? He teaches…" his voice lowered, conspiratorial, "delinquents. The kids who get into trouble all the time. They lump everyone together, from all grades and hand them to him, and he supervises the classes or even just teaches subjects himself if there isn't a willing volunteer. He's really scary."
Hmm. Was it bad that that sounded even better than Ito-sensei's boring lessons and her classmates? If Junpei and her could get put in that class, then…
No, it could damage Junpei's future prospects. She would undoubtedly go to a Jujutsu school, he may well not. If he was put in a disciplinary class, then he might not be able to find and be accepted into a good highschool.
Still, that class being a punishment wasn't as much of a deterrent as it probably should have been for her. She had already been the straight-a, teacher's pet student. Delinquent could be fun, especially when she no longer cared about being liked by her classmates at all.
"When will you be able to come back?" She asked finally, after they finished their shared meal. He seemed startled, like she hadn't made it clear that they were actually friends.
"Um. I have to ask my mom sometime?" He answered uncertainly. She nodded in response and for a while they sat there, in surprisingly comfortable silence.
No one bothered them, mostly giving them and their table a decent-sized space. She was idly watching the trees outside swaying in the wind, the occasional leaf drifting down. Nanami had kindly informed her a few days ago that it was in fact summertime, nearing fall, not spring like she had thought. She had missed summer break unfortunately, but her favorite season was coming up! Winter could end up being her favorite though, depending on how her new cold-resistant body handled the cold outside. Did it snow in Tokyo?
The bell rang, making her jump in surprise, but she hugged Junpei goodbye quickly, snatching his spoiled salami and dusty juice box when he tried to grab it and run it over to the trash, waving him off.
"At recess next time, meet me at the swings alright?" She asked, and he nodded in confirmation before running off to rejoin his class as they packed their lunches up.
She enjoyed dumping the spoiled meat, and made a note to politely ask Yaga if he could include enough food for Junpei too. He wasn't the type of man to let a kid go hungry, even if he was already caring for one child.
Ito-sensei was waiting irritably, so she trotted over, getting a tut of disapproval for her efforts from Ito for her tardiness. The lady led the way and again she was surrounded by a bubble, no one brave enough to get too close.
Class, predictably, was boring, and not even another snack break could pull her out of her boredom. Ito-sensei dropped a stack of papers on her desk, twice as thick as the rest of the class and she glanced over it idly.
Homework.
She pulled out a pencil as the lecture continued, working though the math problems, calligraphy, and other small works easily enough. Ito-sensei snapped at her a few times for not paying attention but was quickly silenced when she answered the question on the board with ease. She had proved that she knew the material, so why should she pay attention?
Finishing the stack was sadly the end of her time waster, leaving her to idly stare out the window yet again, listening with half an ear as her sensei blathered on about something or other. The wind sure was blowing. Maybe a summer storm was on its way?
She was thinking about the weather, she really was bored.
That paper that she had been doodling on was still there, so she started drawing more little Gojos all over the paper, hanging off a ledge, eating a little ice cream cone, holding a little knife. They were cute. She tried to draw a little Suguru, but the only one she knew how to draw was him in a monk outfit, and that version of him would never exist in this world if she had any say in it. She tried to add details, but it just ended up looking messy. She put another little Gojo there, with a pencil like he had been the one to try and draw Suguru, just to make it look purposeful.
The bell rang suddenly, making her head snap up from where she was drawing a little dragonscale design on a square of her paper.
Did she actually make it? Did she really make it through a whole day of school?
She started to stand uncertainly, watching the other students around her, who were also starting to pack up.
Several people then started grabbing brooms and dustpans. She grabbed one too, and she watched as people started cleaning the classroom up. Interesting.
She started sweeping, starting from one corner of the room and gathering dust and debris into a nice pile, leaving it for the others with dust pans to sweep up. It wasn't the largest room and as others started packing up the desks it got easier, those who weren't busy getting out of her way quickly.
Sweeping was honestly her favorite clean up job, and she handled a broom nearly as well as her past life, despite her much shorter stature. The brooms were child-sized, which helped greatly.
The floor was practically sparkling clean by the time she was finished, most of the other students putting their brooms away at the realization that she was doing the entire floor, one brave kid with a dustpan giving her his help.
After cleaning, they were dismissed, and she almost ran to the principal's office after dropping off her stack of homework on Ito-sensei's drop off basket, hoping to see Junpei waiting for a ride, but she had no such luck today.
Yaga was waiting patiently outside, a large space between him and the many parents waiting to collect their kids. He didn't seem too bothered, and a small smile appeared on his face as he spotted her.
She trotted up to him happily, taking his hand as he offered it. Sorcerers really liked physical touch it seemed like. They were always so willing to touch her, hug her, hold her hand, pat her head. It was wonderful of course, she was hardly complaining. She'd have thought that they might have more reservations, but even Nanami was willing to cuddle, if only while he was still half-asleep. Physical affection was important for young children too, which meant it was even better for her developing brain.
She was buckled back in the car safety seat, and the drive home was appealingly quiet, giving her the chance to shut her eyes and relax. Who knew being bored could leave her so tense.
What felt like moments later, she was blinking her eyes open as Yaga unbuckled her, and was picked up gently, cradled in one of his arms like a baby, letting her head rest on his shoulder.
"Have a good day?" He finally asked as he hefted her backpack onto his other shoulder, heading somewhere that she didn't bother to try and figure out.
"It was fine. Nothing major happened. I saw Junpei at lunch," She was interrupted by a long yawn before continuing "His lunch was terrible, so I split mine with him. Could I bring him some extra food tomorrow?"
"Of course." Yaga answered softly, and he opened the door. She didn't bother opening her eyes to look and see where they were going. He set something down with a thump. Her backpack, probably.
Yaga was still walking somewhere, and she heard someone coo faintly. Not nearly obnoxious enough to be Gojo.
She was laid gently on the couch, right on someone's lap, and she curled into them happily. More snuggles, perfect. Who it was was of no specific concern to her, but when she peeked her eyes open a little, she saw Riko. The girl looked exhausted. Hopefully she wasn't pushing herself too hard, whatever she was working on.
Riko wrapped her arms around her, and she held on just as tightly. It was nice to see Riko again, she had been a little worried when she couldn't find her recently.
Being here with her now was a balm over that particular anxiety. Now if only the rest of the things she was anxious about could be eased so simply.
She woke up sometime later, as Riko had to get up from her nap. She was still yawning but otherwise felt much better thanks to her extra rest.
"Have a good day at school?" Riko asked after sitting upright.
"It was boring, but fine. Not much happened. I saw my new friend though," She answered after a moment, and Riko lit up at her final sentence.
"You made a friend, Midori-chan?" She asked in excitement, turning to face her fully on the couch.
"His name is Junpei, and he's six. His mom isn't a very good mom, and he's being bullied, but he's really nice and smart, and I want to help him out!" She said in a rush, making Riko blink a little, but smile anyway.
"That sounds wonderful, Midori-chan! If you ever need someone else to play with you guys, you can always ask me, alright?" Riko said kindly, and the lovely smile on her face had Midori want to curl right up against her again.
Still, Riko stood, and she followed, following her bleary-eyed, out of the movie room. The movie room was clearly the absolute best place to take naps.
Riko offered her hand with a little giggle at her owlish expression, blinking in the bright light from the windows.
They walked over to Yaga's classroom, which was surprisingly full. All three grade levels were there, listening to Yaga lecture loudly about something to do with a veil, and Riko led her to the back of the room to a pair of empty desks.
Apparently, they were attending the lesson. Riko sat down after making sure Midori could climb into the chair, watching Yaga with interest. Was Riko interested in becoming a sorcerer?
Yaga was currently talking about the importance of chanting when raising a veil. Most of them probably already knew this, judging by the variously bored looks on everyone's faces. Gojo in particular was staring blankly at the ceiling and hadn't even looked over when they entered. He failed to put up a veil once, right? Just before they were assigned the Riko mission. Must be the first time that the students were all together at the same time since then.
It hadn't even been two weeks yet, right? Time was just crawling by at a snail's pace. Events just kept happening without a pause. Hopefully things would settle down soon, but with jujutsu sorcerers, the chance was quite low.
Slowly, she started to wake up a little more, and Yaga's voice drew her right into the lesson. It might be an unnecessary review for them, but it was new to her.
"How'd the chant get created?" She asked after raising her hand at a lull in the flow of information.
Yaga tilted his head a little. He seemed surprised at the question, but after a moment's thought he answered.
"Tengen-sama created the chant as a way of standardization. The call, 'emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure', is in itself a definition of what you want the curtain to do. The final sentence ensures that the curtain doesn't end until the curse has been exorcized, in other words, the area was purified. The call to darkness is more than just a call upon the individual's cursed energy, but also a call for whatever is inside to be obscured by darkness and so hidden from non-sorcerers. Your intent can change the effects of the veil, and most veils that are lowered by sorcerers will not end unless the intended conditions are met. Typically, this means when all cursed spirits inside the veil have been exorcized. If Tengen-sama was not aiding in every veil's creation, as is true outside of Japan, the curtain would be much less powerful. Veils that are created without the correct chant are not assisted by Tengen-sama, and so extremely vulnerable to being destroyed by the cursed spirit that you intended to trap."
Wow.
She loved loredumps, but it sure was a lot of information at once.
"I need a notebook." She finally said slowly, and Gojo threw his at her like a frisbee, making her duck under her desk as it went flying at her.
God forbid she asked for a pencil next.
Yu-nii tossed one at her lightly, and it landed nicely on her desk with a clatter.
She wrote in English, because it was easier for her poor brain to handle right now, and Riko leaned over to watch curiously. Knowing what she wanted to write and yet having the words come out wrong, but also right simultaneously made her head hurt. She knew kanji, knew all sorts of different writing, but she didn't at the same time.
'Using the correct chant 'Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure', allows for the veil to be much stronger, thanks to that asshole.' she wrote carefully, and Riko giggled after reading the last bit. At least she didn't scold her for the language.
Yaga continued after a moment, once she finished writing, and he clearly noticed her use of English.
It'd be nice to be able to learn to make a veil sometime. Maybe after the lesson Yaga could be willing to help supervise her first attempt. If she could figure out how to make one without using that guy's assistance, it would be awesome.
Petty?
Perhaps.
It was good to have goals.
The lesson went on for about half an hour, and Yaga was mostly listing variations in intent and how they could affect veils for the first part, before changing to a lecture what situation would be best to use a veil. Every time they ran into a cursed spirit in a public place, basically.
By the time Yaga wrapped up his lesson, even her head hurt from the sheer number of situations that a veil was needed, and its intricacy. When to use extra energy to keep non-sorcerers out, how your own desires change energy usage. There was a difference if you wanted to keep them out because you desired their safety, and if you just didn't want them to get in your way. Energy usage varied, because keeping people out of the way was far different than keeping people safe, so sometimes the higher-ups pick based upon a sorcerer's temperament.
Sounded like a load of bull to her, but what did she know?
"Dismissed!" Yaga said sharply, and everyone got to their feet instantly.
A hand wrapped around her waist, yanking her right out of her seat and she let out a squeak as Gojo snatched her from her chair and ran, making it out of the door before anyone else could so much as move to rescue her.
This again, apparently.
Now, though, she could defend herself.
She grabbed a handful of cursed energy, then another, carving out almost thirty percent of her cursed energy within a second, and her skin went from comfortable cool to ice cold in seconds. She pulled her cursed energy to the surface and her skin frosted over instantly. One quick struggle and she slipped free of his grasp, skidding in circles on her knees on the floor.
Geto was there in front of her defensively, and Yu-nii and Nanami flanked him, watching for counter attacks. Mei-Mei, Utahime, and Ieiri were watching from the sidelines. Riko joined Gojo. Seemed like this was a team event.
"Mei-Mei, Utahime, join Gojo!" Yaga barked out, taking charge of organizing this sudden game.
"No injuries. If Midori-chan so much as gets a bruise, everyone is taking civilian defense classes for the next month. Ieiri-san is the referee, if she stops a fight, that fight is over. Everyone resets." Yaga finished, the rules now set.
"No property damage, don't break any windows or doors. Midori, try to stay inside the school. If thirty minutes go by and you stay on the school grounds, you win. Geto's team, get Midori to the courtyard in front of the stairway, Gojo's team, carry her past the northern edge of the forest to win." Yaga said, laying out the terms of victory, before grinning. It was not a nice smile.
"I'm on Midori's team." He declared, and two dolls that she hadn't seen before launched themselves at both teams, knocking them away and clearing the way for Geto to launch his curses at the remaining two.
She scrambled to her feet and Nishinoya was there, getting in the way of various reaching hands and letting her slip free. She pushed cursed energy to her feet, letting it pool out, icing over the ground as she took off down a hallway, and three more dolls appeared, one peeling away from the pack and leading her down various halls, the others body blocking the students, its flailing limbs making someone let out loud curse as they presumably were struck hard.
Maybe the morgue? Might be too obvious.
Gojo was in front of her again, unhindered by the ice, reaching for her arm, and it was pure instinct to throw up her hands, cursed energy leaving through her feet and flowing along the ground to surge upwards at her gesture, forming into an ice wall that blocked his hand, and Nishinoya threw itself at Gojo.
A wolf curse lunged for her heel, nipping at her shoes, and she stumbled away as a crow flew right in front of her, exploding in a poof of feathers that had the wolf howling, clawing at its snout, then vanishing as Geto withdrew it.
It was replaced moments later with the most horrific version of the Pillsbury doughboy that she had ever thought could actually exist, which was definitely not an improvement. The curse knocked several others out of the way, and she took advantage of the confusion to lunge out of the window that Nishinoya helpfully opened for her, sending all of her cursed energy to her legs as she landed and went straight into a flat out run.
She made it across the courtyard before Riko spotted her, calling out to her teammates and pointing in her direction. Riko leapt right through one window, stumbling a bit on her landing, but she ran surprisingly fast, and was halfway across by the time anyone else had made it past the windows. Nishinoya slammed one window shut on Geto's head, and he growled audibly in frustration, shoving the doll away roughly.
The door was surprisingly heavy to open, not a part of the school that she had been to before, and she threw her weight against it to force it shut, finding the deadbolt and slamming it down as the door rattled.
She trotted down the hallways, heading inwards, away from the windows where the students could spot her. Gojo could likely spot her easily either way.
That was an idea.
She tucked her cursed energy away neatly, going past her normal resting place, leaving herself completely empty of cursed energy. It was a new discomfort, an absence that she had long since been accustomed to forgetting.
The air was frightfully warm without her normal chill, and she could feel a bit of sweat on her skin already. Being hot sucks, even if it was mostly due to being so accustomed to being cold. She hated it already, but as long as it threw Gojo's team off it was worth it. When she had first been practicing, she hadn't been completely empty, she just hadn't used it. Having all of her cursed energy put away was distressing.
She felt sluggish, without her cursed energy to aid her muscles. It was like having the wind at her back, lightening her limbs, smoothing out her movements, and suddenly that wind was gone, leaving her heavy and awkward.
Jogging was surprisingly tiring, and the sweat on her brow from the heat was awful, but she kept at it doggedly, dodging down random hallways, poking her head into various rooms. It seemed to be more or less a storage facility.
How long had it been? Maybe ten minutes?
Her next right turn led her out of the building, surprisingly enough, and she kept going, too nervous about Geto's ability to track her to turn back now. She didn't have a clue where she was. The outskirts of the school, clearly.
She needed somewhere to hide, badly.
There was a barn-looking building on the far side of the area, nearly at the edge of the forest, and she jogged over, slipping through the door as quietly as possible, pushing it shut with a soft click. Something cold made her shiver in spite of the general heat outside, oddly comforting.
A storage shed of some sort, definitely. There were hundreds of weird objects, jars filled with small shapes, weapons, boxes wrapped in talismans.
She shouldn't be in here. It felt like there were hundreds of eyes, all staring down at her, at the little girl who dared walk into the lion's den. The cold wasn't so friendly anymore.
She turned back towards the door, feeling weirdly out of it. It was like she was staring down at herself, like playing a video game.
And for several seconds she just.
Stood there.
Stop it.
She dropped into a crouch, holding her head in her hands. And grabbed blindly at a handful of her cursed energy, making her whole body jolt like she had been shocked, but in a good way, chasing away some of that foreign cold with her own.
She felt. Better. But oddly untethered, like multiple people were tugging at her at once, pulling her in ten different directions at once, and she fought to stay centered.
Her head hurt at the pressure. Nothing she could think of gave her a genuine reason to get up from where she was crouched, like the moment she stood she would only be a bigger target.
The room was dead silent, and she couldn't hear anything from outside it.
Was this the special grade item storage? Was Choso in one of those jars? He did turn 'good' eventually, right?
Sukuna's fingers were probably here too. No wonder the atmosphere had been so oppressive, if those things were in here. Having no cursed energy as a barrier probably made it that much worse.
She just sat there for a while, turning to face away from the door, tugging a little more cursed energy free just for the added security of it, easing that pressure a little more. Doubtful it would go away entirely, but it sure was better than none.
The tugging slowed in intensity, and gradually faded the longer she sat there, like the cursed objects were giving up as they realized that she wasn't as weak as they had first thought. Still, they watched, a pack of lions waiting for her to stumble.
It felt daring to sit down entirely and inch her way backwards along the floor, inelegant, but the best way that she could think of to actually move without turning her back on them, or trying to stand too tall.
Something was laughing at her, she could tell. They were watching her, doubtlessly delighted by her terror.
She reached the door and twisted the handle over her shoulder, crawling out of the building and letting the door shut, pushing it shut fully with one foot, and the sight of Nishinoya looking down on her was more comforting than it was scary after that particular scare.
Breathing was harder now, once the tension of the whole situation ended, it left her body feeling wrung out and her anxiety like a live wire, each thought colored by its current.
That was scary. She really, really needed someone to take her on a tour through the school, and tell her exactly where she should not go. Sure, she probably should have recognized the shed, but still. If she hadn't recognized the situation, she could have easily ended up possessed or just killed outright by one of the many cursed objects in there.
Could cursed objects possess non-sorcerers by just being in close quarters? They had had a strong effect on her, distressingly so.
Who knows what they could have done? Cursed objects were supposed to be mostly sealed, but Sukuna's finger was a different story. If he had been trying to take over her body, could he have done it?
What if she had been stuck there, so weighed down by the pressure given off by the cursed objects that she didn't even dare try to move? How long would it have taken for the students to find her?
She could have been trapped there for hours. Plenty of time for the cursed objects to squirm their way in.
Would she even have left as herself?
Nishinoya laid on top of her. Surprisingly heavy.
His weight on her chest forced her breathing to slow, needing more intentional movement than her normal easy breathing. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but the black that was edging her vision and the ringing in her ears said it had been inches from making her pass out from hyperventilation.
Her whole body was trembling violently, and she wrapped her arms around Nishinoya carefully. He was surprisingly soft. Had he been this soft before, or had Yaga been working on him recently? When he was first been assigned to watch her, he wasn't the most responsive. He'd pull her out of the water if he was scared of drowning, but he hadn't struck her as quite the type to try and calm her down from a panic attack.
They stayed there for a while, until a loud roar drew her attention. Was that Geto's dragon?
Nishinoya tugged her up and she stood shakily, following him as unsteadily as a newborn deer as the doll led her towards the source of the noise. Thank god Yaga had apparently given him a good sense of direction. Maybe she could find him a watch too, and he could keep the time for her instead of her terrible guessing skills.
The moment she laid eyes on Yaga she burst into tears on the spot, and he swept her into his arms with a reassuring sound.
"Are you hurt?" He asked quickly, and she shook her head quickly, just bringing her arms up to wrap around his neck and cling tightly to him.
She was so reliant on Yaga, in spite of her initial resolve to avoid being too troublesome. The moment something scary happened she went crawling right to the nearest person and cried like a child.
She wasn't a little kid. 22 years of living couldn't be erased just like that, and she shouldn't be acting like this, making everything so much harder for everyone.
Pathetic.
Yaga was holding her protectively, shooing off several concerned students.
"What happened?"
She just wanted to sit in a dark room under a blanket and cry.
"Found a shed to hide in. Creepy. Left." She explained shortly, and her stupid body was still shaking like a leaf.
"Ieiri-san!" Yaga called out, making her flail a little in spite of his firm hold on her. Her shaking worsened as the doctor approached. Yaga's arms had to hurt, she was so cold to the touch, but she couldn't stop it, cursed energy straining for some sort of defense and only swirling around fruitlessly.
Her breath was shaky, a soft whine building in her throat when Ieiri reached out to touch her, but that dreaded boiling sensation didn't appear, only the familiar sensation of Ieiri's diagnosis technique, searching quickly for anything that was out of order. The ache in her head faded, and Ieiri withdrew quickly, taking several steps away.
"She's fine. Slightly dehydrated, had a bit of residual pain from the effects of strong targeted cursed energy. I fixed the pain, but I don't have any water on me." Ieiri reported, and her voice was surprisingly soft. Probably trying to avoid scaring her as much as possible. She appreciated the effort, but irrational fears weren't so easily avoided.
"You don't have to tell me not to go in there again." She whispered softly, once Ieiri was at a safe distance, rejoining the students, and judging by her reaction she was immediately assaulted by a barrage of questions.
"I'm relieved that you're safe." Yaga said after a long pause. The other students had bunched together, most of their eyes on Gojo for some reason.
Could he lipread from a distance?
"I think Gojo-san is spying on us." She said carefully, enunciating her words clearly, and Gojo definitely jolted a little, looking away innocently along with the other students. Yaga just sighed.
"They were worried. Gojo-san specifically likely feels bad for starting the game that led to you there." Yaga answered kindly, his back still to his students to give her a little more privacy.
"Wasn't his fault. None of us knew, and I was trying to hide from him specifically. Shouldn't have gone in without any cursed energy, I wouldn't have been so badly affected." She responded, a bit numbly. She had just woken up like an hour ago but all she wanted to do was take another nap and hope she felt better when she woke up.
It took several minutes for the trembling to stop, and for her breathing to ease into an acceptable rhythm, and the occasional tremor still made her leg twitch by the time she had calmed down enough to pull away from Yaga. She scrubbed tears off of her face with the back of her hand.
Crybaby.
Why the heck did she judge herself for crying but comforted Junpei? Self-hatred, that was why.
Being a kid again was wreaking absolute havoc on her emotional regulation. It was a fact, not something to be ashamed of. It was most definitely wearing on the others though, trying to keep her content. She always felt so helpless when other people cried, hugging them was just about all that she could do. It must suck for everyone.
"Want to go to your room for a while until dinner?" Yaga asked, interrupting her thoughts. She nodded fervently. That was exactly what she wanted to do.
Yaga didn't even take her over to the other students, carrying her straight to her room.
She beelined for her bed the moment he left, quietly assuring that he would get her at dinner time, throwing herself on it without even bothering to take off her shoes.
She needed a map, honestly.
Rather than sit on her bed and vegetate, she grabbed one of her books and started reading, leisurely slowly.
Choso was really cool, but cursed objects were terrifying honestly. Being around Gojo and Geto was one thing, but aggressive special grade objects were in their own league, even if Gojo was more powerful.
They had wanted to hurt her in any way possible.
Someone knocked on her door softly, making her groan. How long had she been lying here?
She dragged herself out of bed, opening the door and blinking in surprise when she saw Riko and Kuroi standing there, not Yaga like she had expected.
"We wanted to ask if you needed anything." Kuroi said kindly, taking the lead.
"Even if you just need help putting your hair up!" Riko jumped in to say. That didn't sound half-bad, getting her long hair off of her neck. She wasn't hot per-say, but it felt like some of that sweat was still clinging to her skin, leaving her feeling sticky.
She nodded eventually, and the two girls entered quickly, Riko immediately taking a seat on her messy bed, taking a hairbrush from Kuroi. Kuroi kept a hairbrush in her purse, apparently, and several hair ties. She was still unloading, taking out hair spray, and she just had a realization that she might be biting off more than she might be willing to chew. Riko pulled her up onto the bed too quickly for her to protest though.
Getting her hair brushed was much more relaxing than she remembered. Riko brushed for a while, far past the point when all the tangles were removed, just for the sake of comfort. She wouldn't complain.
They messed with her hair for a while, putting it up several times in different hairstyles, which she vetoed each time. Hairstyles and shoes, those were her two biggest sensitive spots. It was a ponytail, a bun, a braid or down, typically, whether her mother agreed or not. Pigtails, lopsided ponytails, unstable buns, French or side braids were unacceptable.
"Maybe just a bun?" She offered finally when Kuroi pulled her hair back into the third tiny ponytail of many planned ones. What they intended she didn't know, and she didn't really want to either.
Koroi made a disappointed noise, but complied after a moment, rooting through her purse for something.
Riko pulled her hair back and was doing something to twirl it into a bun shape, and Kuroi made a victorious noise, handing something to Riko.
A hairpin of some sort maybe? Not a claw clip like she was used to, which definitely made the hairstyle iffy at best, but when Riko let go her hair was held securely.
She shook her head a little and was startled by the faint jingle of bells at the movement, something thumping softly against her head and then her ear.
"Bells?" She asked curiously, looking around the room for a mirror.
"It's a hair clip with two bells hanging from it. Silver, just like your eyes. And the top has a snowflake on it! Perfect for you, Midori-chan!" Kuroi said happily, the woman looking satisfied as she climbed slowly out of Riko's lap and walked over to the mirror.
Just like Kuroi had said, her hair was pulled back in a bun, secured by a… hair stick? Whatever the name was, with a delicate silvery snowflake on the top, and two small bells, about the size of a fingernail, dangled from the stick, on the right side of her head. Each movement made them chime softly.
The bells were high quality. She had gotten bells before, but never ones with quite this clarity of sound. Even small movements caused a soft noise.
She loved it.
"Awesome." She whispered, looking at herself in the mirror.
Riko cheered behind her, and the sound of the two of them high fiving made her giggle a little.
Maybe she could do a little editing.
"Could you pull a little bit out?" She asked Riko, beckoning her over to the mirror, and she had a mischievous grin on her face when she came over.
"Understood!" She said, pulling one little strand out, and she nodded, satisfied. Gojo would laugh his ass off, but she wouldn't mind. Riko already was, her hand covering her mouth to smother the noise.
"Want to show everybody?" Riko asked after she finished looking at herself in the mirror, jingling the bells purposefully just to hear them ring.
She nodded. Their distraction plan had worked. Even just nodding was thrilling, just to hear the pleasant noise. She nodded a little more, and the sound made both girls jingle.
They left her room quickly, and she bounced a little as she walked, and she couldn't hide the bright smile on her face. She loved bells. Once she had gone to a renaissance faire and the only thing that she actually bought there were three handmade bells. She'd carried one in her purse until the end.
That certainly was an unpleasant thought.
She shook herself a little, just trying to focus. She had a new hairstyle to show off. Hopefully Riko knew what she was signing up for, doing her hair for her. She was going to want this every day.
They guided her to the cafeteria, not that she really needed it. She was just focusing so hard on the jingling that she made one wrong turn, that's all, and loyal Nishinoya was there to steer her back on course even. It wasn't like this area was new to her.
Yaga was the first person to see her, blinking at the sight. No one here had really seen her with her hair up since she first got here. Where had that clip gone again? Had she put it in the drawer and forgotten about it?
She did a little spin for him, letting the bell jingle and he smiled gently, likely in response to her own joy rather than any fondness for the sound of the bells. Ito-sensei was gonna get tired of it real quick.
"Riko-san and Kuroi-san did my hair!" She said happily, bounding over to him, and he immediately took the chance to ruffle it, because of course, showing off a hairstyle was an open invitation to ruffle it.
She grumbled about it, but he was gentle enough not to mess her hair up too badly.
"It looks wonderful. Dinner will be in about twenty minutes. As far as I know, most of my students, past and present, are out at the training grounds, beating each other up right before they eat." Yaga said, which was definitely as good as a request from him. It wasn't any good to go from fighting to eating within minutes, everyone was already wound up.
Were Utahime and Mei-Mei graduated? She thought that they were still students still. That explained why she hadn't seen them recently, if they were full-fledged sorcerers.
"I'll be back!" She called out, running right for the door in spite of Yaga's shout for her to slow down. Riko was running after her, and the chiming of the bells only made her want to run faster.
She made it to the training grounds in record time, skidding to a stop in awe at the fight going on between Yu-nii and some of Geto's curses.
He could move, leaping between each attack, dodging like he was an airbender, deflecting what he couldn't dodge with nothing but his forearm and fist, batting limbs and claws away.
Most of the others had stopped fighting. Nanami and Mei-Mei had been fighting, it looked like, from the fallen crows scattered around him. Geto and Gojo were standing close together, and Gojo was leaning heavily against Geto, both watching Yu-nii's fight with interest. Utahime was chatting with Ieiri on the sidelines, her arms flying wildly as she gestured her way through some story. A cigarette hung from between Ieiri's lips, on the verge of falling entirely due to her focus on Utahime.
Yu-nii dodged one attack, right into another, but this time he didn't deflect at all, instead leaping into the curse, a spider like one, and drawing his fist back to deal a devastating blow.
It flashed black somehow, like a spark of darkness followed his fist and Gojo whooped as Yu-nii sped up, leaping right over the curse to hit it hard with his heel in a vicious kick.
The spider-curse flattened, fading into a shadowy puddle, and the other curse was lunging for him. This time he ducked underneath, the hulking ghostly curse floundering to follow him with his agility.
One foot hooked around the back of the curses knee and it fell, leaving Yu-nii the room he needed to leap over the curse and drive his fist down, all of the strength in his shoulder propelling his fist right through the curse's eye, more than elbow deep, and she watched in amazement as the curse didn't even get recalled like the other, just dissolved away.
Gojo slapped Yu-nii on the back, as he stood shakily, and Nanami was right next to him now too, ready to steady him if needed. Ieiri cheered for him, and Geto stood there for a few seconds, blinking at the remains of his exorcized cursed spirit.
"That was awesome, Yu-nii!" She shouted finally, bounding up to him like an excited puppy. He seemed startled to see her, his eyes flicking to his gore covered arm, despite the way it was fading away.
"Your hair!" Gojo shouted, pointing as if he had just noticed.
"Riko did it!" She replied, jumping a little to show off the bells. Yu-nii smiled, walking around her to admire her new accessory, and by the time he circled back around most of the gore covering his arm was gone, a few smears and his hidden hand indicating he likely took the chance to wipe as much of it as he could away.
"So cute, Midori-chan!" Gojo complimented, pulling out his phone to take a picture of her. She froze for a second, undoubtedly looking like a deer in the headlights, but by the time she realized she should probably smile he was done, cooing over the picture like she had put on her brightest smile.
Ugh, he was going to have so much blackmail on her by the time she hit highschool. He'd probably be her teacher too.
"She looks like Geto-san." Nanami commented, and Gojo and Yu-nii seemed to register it too, all glancing back to said boy, who was just walking over alongside Ieiri and Utahime. Geto looked up for a second, a slightly uncertain look crossing his face upon realizing that so many people were looking at him.
His eyes fell on her and widened, before a slightly smug grin appeared on his face.
"I guess we know her favorite." He said smugly, and he opened Pandora's box right there, as Gojo squawked of outrage, and Yu-nii's instant denial caused a commotion.
"I'm her favorite nii-san!" Yu-nii insisted, and Gojo swept her up in his arms, cradling her close.
"I carried you in my body for nine months, how could you do this to your beloved Father?" He wailed, and she rolled her eyes a little. He took a bit and ran with it, really.
"Well Dad, you can't be my favorite nii-san and my favorite Dad as well!" She retorted, and he brightened in an instant, spinning her around dizzyingly.
"I will throw up." She said warningly, and he wisely set her down safely on the ground.
Geto walked closer, leaning over to observe her new hairstyle curiously.
"You picked a wonderful hairstyle, Midori-chan." He said delightedly which made Nanami scoff a little, not that he had any arguments, not with that hairstyle.
She grabbed his hand happily, swinging her arm back and first like a child would.
"Yaga-san wants everyone to get ready for dinner please. It should be in about fifteen minutes or so." She announced to the students. He hadn't said so, but that exasperation in his tone said everything he needed to.
The girls had no qualms about it, not wanting to get involved in the boy's arguments, and Nanami took his escape too. He'd grow out of his teenage distaste for children soon, or she'd grow up enough to be tolerable.
She hung onto Geto's hand, slowing him down as Gojo and Yu-nii raced for the honors of… saving her a seat next to them? Those boys would turn anything into a competition.
"We're in this together, right Geto-san?" She said softly when the boys were out of earshot. He made a soft confused noise, looking down at her.
"The future. We're gonna fight it together." She clarified, flicking the little strand of hair that hung down over her face, much longer than his, but the meaning was clear enough.
She trusted him. To fight with her, to help her, and most importantly to believe her. He wasn't her beloved older brother, a safe father figure, a guardian, a friend.
They were partners in this fight.
"Yeah. We will fight it." he said, and something in his tone was firm, uncompromising.
Suguru Geto was a principled man, one who believed in justice, in fighting against wrongdoings. That was why he became a jujutsu sorcerer, and it was why he had become a curse user.
That future that they were destined for was wrong. It wasn't fair, it wasn't just, it just wasn't right. Maybe they wouldn't make much of a difference, maybe they would. Every breath that Riko took was proof that the fight itself had a purpose.
"Secret team?" She asked and she held her clenched hand out, a wordless offer.
He laughed softly, bumping his fist with hers, and she mimed an explosion, before holding a finger in front of her mouth, a shushing gesture.
"Secret team." He confirmed, and the edges of his eyes crinkled a little due to the genuine smile on his face, just like her eyes did.
"I don't ever want Mei-Mei-san to babysit me." She said bluntly, and he froze on the spot, the concern on his face plain as day. If she trusted him and not Mei-Mei, what actions could she have taken?
"She had some… interesting interactions with her younger brother in the future. Nothing happened yet as far as I know! He might not even be born yet! And I can't judge based on what she might do, but I'm just not sure… how to prevent it." She scrambled to assure him, but he didn't seem to be particularly comforted, more like horrified.
"I'll make sure of it." He promised, looking a bit ill. She just totally wrecked their relationship, didn't she?
"Cool. Great." She said awkwardly, and he sighed a little, picking her up so that she was cradled in one arm. Rather than stare up at him, she looked away, towards the weeds that lined the buildings.
"Is there anyone else you are nervous about?" He asked rather than pry more.
"Not that I can think of. Nanami-san is amazing, but I know he doesn't like me much yet. Oh! I want to research how to get shikigami someday! If I ask Yaga, could I say that you told me about them?" She asked eagerly, turning to face him.
He laughed softly at the sudden turn of the conversation but nodded.
They were silent after that, only the soft chiming of the bells making much noticeable noise.
"Do you know what's for dinner?" She asked curiously.
"Some sort of grilled fish meal, I think.?" He said thoughtfully. She made a face. Bonito flake onigiri were one thing, but whole grilled fish?
"Do you think Yaga-san would let me eat onigiri if I don't like dinner?" She asked, more rhetorical than a genuine question, and he laughed again. She could hear Yu-nii and Gojo squabbling faintly from the cafeteria.
"Maybe. You should ask." He replied.
They entered the room and Geto took a seat, placing her in the seat next to him, effectively ending the boys' fight by uniting them against him.
Yaga was passing out grilled fish, on skewers, and she eyed it warily.
It still had eyes.
"Could I just have onigiri?" She asked Yaga as he placed a skewer on a plate in front of her.
"You had onigiri for lunch." He said, chastising.
"For breakfast too." She replied, and he paused, surprised.
"Why did you have Onigiri for breakfast?" He asked, confused.
"You were busy. I like onigiri. So, I ate one. I had carrots too." She said simply. What about this was confusing him?
"I left a plate for you on the counter." He answered.
Ah.
"I didn't see it. Sorry." She said with a shrug. Couldn't change it now, nor did she really regret it.
"You can't eat just onigiri." He said with exasperation.
"I totally could though." She said, only in her head. Her face said it all though, and he sighed.
"Eat your fish." He instructed finally.
Urgh. The things she ate for the sake of keeping the peace.
Geto had cut off the head for her during their mild argument, and was working on removing the bones, so she guessed it was edible now. The head was put on Gojo's plate, who stabbed it with a chopstick and got to work on it. She looked away, unable to stand the fish's blank, accusing stare.
"Thank you, Momma." She said happily once the bones were carefully removed and the flesh from the fish piled neatly on the plate.
Geto choked on his bite of food. As did Gojo across the table. A few seats down, someone else coughed violently. Probably Utahime.
Ah, the power of titles.