A/N- There is a scene where a notably angry character grabs and pins Midori and pulls up her shirt to look at her tattoos and does touch them, where Midori is definitely scared and really freaked out, despite deflecting with humor. Nothing happens, and he certainly doesn't mean anything sexual about it, but it is there and it's better to have warning if you are sensitive to those situations. If she said a word about it, he probably would have let her go immediately, but she'd rather not fight him without a reason to beyond discomfort. She was just wildly uncomfortable about it.

I added asterisks * just before and after the scene, for anyone who wants to skip, the context should be pretty clear, so you shouldn't miss much. I might be being overly sensitive, but better to have an unnecessary warning for most than a surprise trigger for someone.

There was something about back-to-school shopping that was oddly special.

Sure, it meant that school was coming, and soon, but she got to pick out so many supplies and cool little items! She was four, school was an event that was gonna happen, like it or not. She could at least try and enjoy it.

Very few of her favorite animes were out yet, so she mostly targeted Pokémon. It was popular for a reason, so it wasn't particularly suspicious that she liked it on the spot. The word spread to the other students quickly, and she was sure she would soon be swamped in various Pokémon themed stationery and other items.

Yaga proved to be quite an effective guardian so far, waking her up at just after dawn to drive her to a mall and led her straight to the nearest clothing store. There were so many choices, and more clothing styles than she knew what to do with. She probably tried on twenty different outfits before finding a style she liked, and proceeded to grab five different colors of the same outfit. She would be an anime character who always wore more or less the same thing every day if it meant not having to try on more clothes.

It made her feel terribly guilty to be spending so much of his money, even though he assured her that it hardly dented his savings. Maybe Jujutsu sorcerer teachers weren't quite as underpaid as normal teachers. He probably got hazard pay just for teaching Gojo.

Then they hit the stationary store, and she went halfway feral tearing through the rows and rows of notebooks, pencils, and other school supplies. Pokémon was her main goal, but various pretty horse related designs were also acceptable. The sight of a Kakashi themed notebook made her grin and she grabbed it, trotting up to Yaga from where he stood uncomfortably in front of a very pink aisle. He was quite a big man, and noticeably out of place with his darker clothes and generally intimidating aura. Kids and parents would stop and go down an aisle in order to avoid passing by him, and he clearly noticed, trying hard to stay out of the way.

"It's Gojo-san!" She proclaimed to him, utterly delighted as she showed him the picture of Kakashi printed on the notebook. He burst out laughing at the sight, immediately taking it from her hands and putting it safely in the basket with the other four notebooks she had chosen.

Mechanical pencils and crayons were easy to find, and Yaga didn't even need puppy-dog eyes to be convinced to buy her some super cheap pull apart novelty erasers. A panda bear was her first choice, followed by a tiger and a cheeseburger. A container of glue and a glue-stick, a few animal themed folders, scissors, and a pack of paper completed most of the list.

They went on to a larger store, looking for backpacks, and she fell in love with a My Neighbor Totoro themed backpack with a matching pencil case, despite not knowing the movie, and their next trip was to the video store to buy a DVD of the movie to watch later.

The next trip was her most dreaded, the shoe store, her arch enemy. Her mother had told her that the dentist was an easier trip than shoe shopping, and Midori honestly agreed.

Sandals were out, she had always hated them. Boots would be too hot. Tennis-shoes were the way to go, but Yaga also wanted her to get some nicer shoes in case she needed more formal attire. He promised to take her to get fitted for a nicer outfit as well later, but needed to schedule it. A kimono maybe?

She didn't know what counted as formal-wear for kids in Japan, but she really wasn't looking forward to it. Maybe she could get a sakura themed one, like the one the main character of My Happy Marriage had worn. That was the only real way that she would ever be convinced to wear an outfit like that.

She was gonna have to wait like two decades for season two to come out.

Five pairs of tennis-shoes later and both of them were tired and frustrated. He was trying to understand, but he clearly was not entirely prepared for the pickiness of a young child. He didn't understand why that pair of shoes that was slightly too small was considered decent and the other that looked just like it and seemed to fit perfectly was completely unacceptable.

It slid down her heel when she walked! And the blue one was too narrow across the center of her foot. Obviously.

The seventh pair was finally acceptable, to the relief of them both, tight enough around the heel to satisfy her but not so small she would outgrow it in months. It was pink, even, a lovely pale color that was pleasing to the eye. Yaga paid for it with a sigh of relief. She didn't like shoe shopping any more than he did, and they both rushed out of there.

The final store, to both of their relief, was the bookstore. She wandered around, not recognizing most of the books there. There weren't many in English, but she did find the manga section while Yaga was ordering a coffee. Inuyasha was one she recognized, and she quickly grabbed the first book to settle down and start reading. She hadn't gotten very far in her anime or manga reading of the series, so it wouldn't take much reading. She was halfway through the first book by the time Yaga found her again, sitting on a bench just outside of the aisle.

She left that store with the next five volumes and finished the first one on the drive back. Ah, childhood speed reading, welcome back. One moment she could finish a book a day, the next she hasn't read anything but fanfiction for months.

Yaga helped her carry her school supplies and clothes to her room, telling her that lunch would be in about half an hour if she would please come after putting stuff away. She agreed and was left alone shortly.

It had been a day, and it wasn't even lunch time yet.

Yu-nii had woken her up before sunrise to say goodbye, as he and Nanami were going on a mission. She might have cried a bit, moderately panicked, and Yu-nii promised profusely that he would be coming back as quickly as possible.

Gojo was off as well, on a solo mission. Geto was still here as far as she knew, but she hadn't caught sight of him yet. Riko and Kuroi hadn't been awake yet when Yaga and her had had breakfast, but they might be up and about now.

Folding her clothes and putting them away in her dresser didn't take very long, so instead she packed her backpack with all her school supplies with what time she had left, and headed off to lunch.

Yaga had cooked some rice and heated up a few frozen stir fry vegetables, which was easily the fanciest meal she had eaten so far since she woke up that day. She made sure to tell him so too but winced a little at the sad look that crossed his face. She'd done a great job at killing the mood, apparently.

After lunch was over, he walked her over to an empty classroom, and her curse lessons began.

No cursed energy was used, because they hadn't tested how it affected her yet. But he taught her how to identify various common varieties of curses on sight. Flyheads, Longlegs, Spidermites, all mostly harmless varieties of curses. Of course, mostly harmless wasn't completely harmless, but even a simple punch would likely be able to exorcize them.

Most of those under level 4 curses were basically specific breeds. Fears of bugs, for the most part, harmless but scary. As the levels increased, curses became more unique and specific. The Spidermites were nothing like level 2 cursed spirit spiders that popped up now and again. Those were usually either in response to or drawn to severe long-lasting phobias. It wasn't known yet whether curses were created or merely attracted by fears like that.

Basically, if there was someone in the world who was afraid of it, there was probably a cursed spirit resembling it too, somewhere. Legend, or other things, which have been feared for a long time typically developed into special grades, while more general common fears, like bugs, were more common, but not usually as strong. There wasn't often special grade insect cursed spirits, because it was too general of a fear. If one specific insect somehow terrorized the neighborhood somewhere and became a local legend, then the conditions were made for a higher-grade cursed spirit to be created. It was all fascinating to be honest, and she watched with rapt attention as he explained, using diagrams, drawings done on the chalkboard, and handed out copied down examples from old books he had read before.

He was an awesome teacher. He wasn't a very fun one, not like Yu-nii had been, but he knew how to make the lesson engaging enough for her to not lose interest. Yaga called the lesson to a close some three hours later, and just a glance at the clock was a shock. If those types of lessons were what she could look forward to, then bring it on.

Dinner was more rice with fried and breaded pork. She wasn't sure if that was called katsudon or not, but probably. Geto, Riko, and Kuroi all joined, but none of the others were back from their missions yet.

Geto looked much less present without Gojo and Ieiri there, often staring off into space, lost in thought. Riko would prod him occasionally if he'd been staring for too long, making him jolt in surprise.

He had missed the catalyst event of Riko's death, but that didn't mean a storm wasn't still brewing in his head. Did he even want to be a Jujutsu sorcerer? Maybe after she wormed her way in, she could advise him to retire. That special grade sorcerer, what's her name, Yuki? Something like that. She was known as a slacker, refusing missions. Could Geto maybe join her in her research to try and stop the creation of curses? She could be strong enough to force the higher ups to give him a little breathing room, if she was willing to do so.

The get Geto adopted by Miss Yuki plan was a definite possibility. Maybe she needed an intern or something, and curse manipulation could be invaluable for her experiments. That lady who brought people back from the dead was around somewhere too, maybe they could hire her to bring back Toji under controlled circumstances and at least 100 miles away from her. Yuki had wanted him for a test subject, right? But was Yuki even a good choice? She wouldn't look after his mental health at all.

Dinner was finished and she was turned loose to play outside until dusk, under the supervision of one of Yaga's cursed corpses. It was an orange teddy bear type doll, probably supposed to be cute, but the proportions were all off, and combined with the wide ever-present smile stitched on its face it just ended up firmly on the creepy side of the scale. When she passed it the ball, it passed the ball back, so it was better than playing alone though.

The day passed, and the next one was much more uneventful. Without shopping, she went to class with Yaga for another three hours, this time for mathematics, and he was suitably impressed by her skills. It had been a long time since simple addition and multiplication were impressive.

He increased the difficulty several times, stopping at highschool level algebra, which she couldn't quite remember without prompting, and got to work enlightening her. She honestly thought she had more time until she had to relearn this, so it was a little disheartening. Yaga was quite relaxed with her though, not pushing her too hard.

After class she was free to play, and Riko joined her this time, Kuroi needing to chat with Yaga. They dove into the woods immediately, cursed corpse not far behind.

"What do you want to do, Midori-chan?" Riko asked, bending over so that she wasn't looming over her so much.

"Play sorcerer?" She offered, and Riko nodded enthusiastically.

Riko and her played as jujutsu sorcerers, though Riko turned out to be secretly evil, the cursed corpse and a very suspicious rock shaped vaguely like a skull playing as cursed spirit and object, respectively.

Tragedies, betrayals, and heartfelt scenes were acted out, and Midori was on the verge of defeat before a sudden change of heart by curse user Riko won the day, and the cursed corpse was knocked over by the branches that they wielded gently as swords. But then, the cursed object came alive and started running away down the hill (Riko kicked the rock accidentally and it started rolling away), and all three of them chased it, the cursed corpse finally landing a killing blow and actually cracking the rock in two.

It was nearly lunch time when the two of them trudged their way out of the forest, covered in dirt and leaves. Midori carried the two halves of the suspicious rock, watching the way they looked in the sunlight. It was an igneous rock of some sort, black with lots of air bubbles.

And it was the perfect way to restart her rock collection. Sure, all twenty years of her rock collection was wiped from existence, but at least…

That wasn't leading anywhere good.

Her shower was quick and refreshing, and it was a delight to be able to change into her own clean clothes.

She left the two halves of the skull shaped rock on her dresser, the first of many.

Being the only kid in the area was kind of boring. Maybe Gojo was out there, adopting Megumi and his sister right now. Maybe he'd set up a playdate.

A girl could dream. Lunch was leftover rice, overheated in the microwave so much as to be slightly burned. Sure, Ieiri could probably save her from whatever illness she might get from reheated rice, but she would prefer not to get sick in the first place.

Yaga and Geto were both busy, still having to do classes. Riko was probably too tired to play right now, and she had already promised not to practice with her cursed energy until given permission. She didn't want to get herself labeled as untrustworthy. She would be a polite and obedient child, so that the times that she actually needed to disobey would be strategic. The better she acted, the less restrictions she would have in place.

So, she wandered the forest, cursed corpse companion always a few steps behind. She found the river again, much slower and wider than when she had crossed it, and spent a bit of time splashing around, hunting for pretty river stones. One was a lovely dark igneous stone, worn smooth from the water, which went straight from the river and into her pocket. Granite and andesite were also quite common, and she stuck a few prettier samples into her pockets as well.

A shifting rock and a kick to another one spelled her downfall and she went face down under the water with a splash, no part of her left dry.

Guess she was swimming now. Her clothes were already all wet anyway.

She climbed to her feet, took her collected rocks out of her pockets and left them on one of the stones lining the river before crouching down and splashing into the water again. It wasn't deep enough to swim properly, but she could crawl-swim like a turtle, and that was good enough. The water was clean and quite clear, so she kept an eye out as she swam around. It was fun to fight against the current, occasionally pushing against larger rocks to give herself a boost.

After a while she sat up, the water coming up to about mid chest at this part of the river, the current gentle, and just dug around in the pebbles, searching for anything interesting. She found a few coins, and she took those over to the pile of stones she had created, making a little treasure pile.

The cursed corpse was just watching from the shorelines, but when the current overwhelmed her momentarily as she hit a deeper area, flipping her over backwards and making her flail around wildly, it rushed in, putting her back upright before withdrawing back to the shoreline, dripping wet.

"Thank you!" She told it with a little wave, but it didn't respond. Hopefully it knew.

About thirty minutes into her treasure hunt, she struck gold. Not literally of course, but it might as well have. A kunai was halfway buried in the river, as if it had been thrown at someone but missed its target.

That thing was coming home with her, without a doubt. She would bet on some unlucky student having lost a few during one of the sister school events.

Ninja time. Nin nin.

It was a little rusty from the river water, but no pitting yet. A bit of elbow grease and sharpening should grind it off and leave the blade good as new.

She kept her prize clutched in one hand and wandered over to her treasure pile, tucking the dried coins and river stones in her pocket.

A problem popped into her head as she finished, looking around.

How exactly did she get back to Jujutsu High from here?

"Do you know the way back?" She asked the cursed corpse.

It didn't respond. She waited a few moments to see if it would do anything, and when it failed to move her shoulders slumped. So much for trying to be the ideal child, getting lost in the woods the moment she was left alone.

She would definitely be able to find her way back. She had found the entrance before after all, just by circling around. It didn't sound very fun though, not while sopping wet.

She picked a direction and started walking. If she hit the barrier, reasonably, she should be able to find the school, assuming that the center of the barrier was on the school. She just had to follow the barrier, identify how it curved and in which direction, then move inwards. Simple enough, if time consuming. Too bad she didn't have a phone and couldn't just call them. If all else failed, she could follow the barrier completely and find the stairway with the arches again.

About an hour's walk later, and she still hadn't hit the barrier. She was uncomfortably deep in the forest now, the undergrowth getting thicker. She must have gotten unlucky and picked the direction that was the furthest away from the barrier.

Another fifteen minutes had her really worried now. Really, she had been walking for miles.

Sometime around the two-hour mark, nearing dusk, she had to concede that she really was lost. Why the hell hadn't she hit the barrier yet? It hadn't taken this long to reach the barrier last time, and that was starting from the school, not the river!

That cursed corpse was still walking behind her, steady as ever, so at least she wasn't alone, but it was pretty creepy in the middle of the forest.

She clutched her rusty kunai closer, as if she actually knew how to use it. Pointy end gets jabbed into the soft spots of her enemy, right?

"I'm really lost, could you help me out?" She asked the cursed corpse, not for the first time. As always, it remained unmoved.

Well on her way to the three-hour mark, the sun well and truly set, something changed in the forest. It wasn't the barrier. There was something distinct about what it felt like. Suddenly, the protection of the barrier seemed a lot less secure.

The insects were silent.

Well fuck.

She found the biggest tree in the vicinity, immediately swarming up it like a terrified monkey, and hid herself carefully among the thick leaves. If she weighed even a little bit more it probably wouldn't have been secure enough, but being small had its perks.

The damn cursed corpse was just sitting beside it, marking her location pretty clearly. Couldn't it hide too? At least she still had her kunai.

The time crawled by. The insects never picked back up, and it was just her and her uneasy breathing. She really wasn't built for this anticipation. Her cursed energy was flooding her system, making everything much colder, and she shivered in her still damp clothes, trying desperately to keep still.

The first curse to enter her sight was vaguely canine, in the way that many curses were vaguely human. It had the four legs that it needed, but it had at least eight paws, in various places, two of its legs ending in nubs. Its teeth were overgrown and there were far too many. Eight eyes glanced about, all independently, and she froze as one seemed to meet her eyes, too scared to let the breath out as it drifted away.

Her scattered brain played memories of a book series she had read as a kid, as the main character locked eyes with some evil being. Don't glance away, don't drop her eyes, because it can cause a tiny imperceptible movement that would give her away.

It sniffed at the ground, wandering back and forth.

The sound of wingbeats drew her attention, and she didn't dare so much as look up, too frightened she would catch the dog curse's eyes. It grew closer, and she felt her cursed energy start to leak from her numb fingertips, even as she tried desperately to keep it in.

The dog curse was sniffing the tree, jolting backwards in surprise as it bumped into the cursed corpse, all its mangy fur standing on end as it sniffed it carefully, then it tilted back its head and let out a horrific sort of screaming howl, and trees and branches cracked as whatever it was that was flying finally attempted a landing.

She took a flying leap as the cacophony of sounds masked her own noises, reaching the branches of a nearby tree with a terrifying lurch in her stomach and she scrambled to hide herself before the noise settled down, hiding her pale face in the bark so that it wouldn't give her away. The kunai dropped to the ground somewhere, lost as she dropped it mid leap. It would really suck to give herself away because she stabbed herself.

It was silent for a while, and there was a soft thump as if something had hit the ground. Then footsteps. They stopped near the first tree, and then she heard someone let out an irritated sigh.

A person?

The sound of someone climbing up the first tree just about made her heart stop, but she refused to lift her head in case she would meet the eyes of whoever was looking for her. The person made a confused sound.

"You said you found her." He said, facing away from her, sounding accusing, and her body just about melted on the spot as she finally dared to take a trembling breath.

"Geto-san?" She dared to call out, her voice wobbly. She lifted her head from the tree branch, looking his way, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking away.

"Midori-chan, you are quite far from home." The man said, his tone deceptively mild as he sat in the tree, and she slowly climbed down from her tree as he did the same. He was mad.

"Where the hell did you think you were going?" He asked finally as her feet reached the ground and she stood upright safely. He was definitely mad, probably thought she was trying to run away for nefarious reasons and one look at his distrustful face confirmed it.

All the air she was taking in felt like it got sucked right back out, leaving her breathless as she locked eyes with the angry special grade sorcerer. The one who would go on and murder hundreds of people and try to kill highschool students.

No pressure, she was technically in the right. Getting lost wasn't a sin.

She would explain herself first, about going into the forest to play and finding a river, then not being able to find her way back home. About trying to find the edge of the barrier that she just hadn't hit yet, then finding her way back using that. She hadn't done anything wrong.

But, this talk was not gonna be about simply getting lost in the forest. It was a confrontation long in the making. He didn't trust her.

It was understandable. She had popped up out of nowhere, a kid with amnesia (technically true because she had no idea what the first four years of her life had been like) and immediately gotten attached to Riko, who was under a constant threat of the bounty over her head. Sure, that had ended, but who's to say she didn't have any ulterior motive about getting close to Gojo?

She didn't think he honestly believed that she herself meant any harm to the others. But criminals and curse users were not above using children to get what they want, and he likely couldn't discount that she might be a pawn to one of them, so he felt the best thing to do would be to keep an eye on her. What four-year-old might actually be able to comprehend the plots that they might think up, let alone know how to express that enough to warn others?

Just what did the runes on her stomach and her back mean? Yaga knew about them, according to Ieiri, but no one had discussed anything about it with her. For all she knew, she very well could be an unknowing threat, or simply a spy. A bomb even, printed on her stomach by curse users who just saw her as a tool to bring down Jujutsu High or a specific target. Someone had put that seal on her for a reason, good or bad. She didn't think she would be lucky enough for it to be a good one.

He was staring at her, unblinking. He was probably plotting his words just as carefully as she was. He was out of it, during lunchtime. Worried over Gojo, or something else was bothering him. It wasn't hard to believe that that thing might be her, especially now that Yaga had agreed to be her guardian.

He might purposefully specialize in thinking of things that others did not, trying to think of the possibilities in order to better protect those he loved. He was intelligent, moderately morally compromised, and he loved his fellow sorcerers dearly. Those who threatened that were only obstacles to be removed.

"I got lost after playing in the river," She started, her words faint. Not a strong start, her anxiety was getting to her.

"So, you just picked a direction and hoped?" He questioned roughly, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"I thought I would hit the edge of the shield thing."

"So, you know about the barrier?" He asked, no triumph in his voice, but his lips quirked upwards into a quick barely noticeable smile. He thought he caught her with knowledge she shouldn't have. She would have to pick her words very carefully.

"The shield thing? I ran into it when I went looking for Riko-san." She explained, and her voice gained a bit more strength, "It's sort of circular I think, and surrounds the school? It's pretty scary to leave it so I just circled around until I found the stairway."

He did not seem impressed by her explanation, but it was at least mostly true, and he was smart enough to recognize that she at least appeared to be truthful.

"Why?"

Wasn't that the golden question?

Before she had the chance to second guess herself, because she might curse herself for it later, she spoke.

"I had a bad dream." She started to explain slowly, and his face expressed so much disbelief she almost laughed.

"That man killed Gojo-san in my dream. Then Kuroi, then Riko. You were pretty hurt too, and your dragon spirit died." Her voice was emotional as she spoke, and her voice sped up like she was trying to rip the words out of her throat all at once, just so she could stop talking.

"Prophetic dreams, that's what you are going with?" He said, his voice scathing. He didn't believe her in the slightest. Too bad she had a lot of future knowledge, and she knew how to use it, even if it hurt.

"Yu-nii is going to die soon." She whispered, and her voice cracked at the end. She was such a crybaby. But it made Geto freeze in place for an instant, and that boiling, protective rage went cold, and that was enough.

"Yu-nii and Nanami-san get sent out to fight a curse but it was too strong! And Yu-nii isn't willing to run away, he won't leave the people who are in danger behind. So, he dies."

"You're just trying-" He starts to stay, his face tense with rage, and she doesn't let him finish. Maybe she was deflecting a bit, but that didn't mean she wasn't right.

"Toji has two children. He should have told Gojo-san about them before he died. The boy's name is Megumi, and he has the Ten Shadows technique. The daughter is not a sorcerer. I can't remember her name right now, but I know her face."

He was thinking, clearly. Eventually, he pulled out his phone, dialing a number without looking away from her. Someone answered loudly, making him flinch a little and her along with him.

"Satoru." He said and the way his voice softened despite the rage that had colored his voice moments ago was sickeningly sweet. She smiled a little bit, despite her anxiety, and the noise on the other end died down.

"Did Toji have children?" He asked finally, and slowly, after a stunned silence, the voice on the other side of the phone responded.

"What is the boy's name?" Geto asked, as though dreading the answer. When Gojo answered softly, he sighed, then hung up, snapping the flip phone closed.

"Did Toji hire you?" He asked first, harshly but also uncertain, not quite believing in it himself and she scoffed, making a slicing gesture at her throat and finishing the gesture over her right eye, making him wince a little.

"How do you know about them then?" He asked, more out of denial than asking her an actual question.

"I don't know dates or anything. It's like I dream, and bad things happen in them, but it seems so real, I can't believe that it wasn't true. Gojo-san was going to die fighting Toji, and he was going to kill Riko, and hurt you! When I woke up I was really scared and sure that something bad was going to happen, so I went to look for wherever you guys were supposed to be in my dream, and then you guys were there and I had to do something -" She broke off as her throat seemed to close up, fear and the urge to cry making her voice shaky. He shook his head, refusing her answer.

Come on, what else could she do to make him believe her? She might not have dreamed it, but she knew what was going to happen. He could kill her here if he didn't believe her, and she wouldn't be able to do a thing to fight back.

"You have an ice technique, not a prophetic one. Those techniques have been stamped out a long time ago. It makes no sense for you to have this ability, so there must be another reason!" He was shouting by the end of it and she cringed backwards at the noise. He seemed to notice and visibly took a deep breath to settle himself. He was not handling this very well.

"There are runes or something on my stomach, a-and my back too. Yaga-s- sen-sensei and Ieiri-san don't recognize them. Maybe that-" What she was trying to stammer out was interrupted as he grabbed her, practically throwing her to the ground and pulling her shirt up to take a look for himself.

Way to not look like a creep, Geto, pinning little kids to the ground to look under their shirts. Good thing she knew him well enough to know that he was definitely not that type of mentally ill to be worried about that.

It was actually really scary, being pinned to the ground by someone so much stronger than her. She could literally do nothing to push him away or get him to stop. Can't freak out right now though. Really, really, really not the time.

He traced his fingers along the edges of the runes, his eyes scarily analytical. Could he even see anything? It was so dark outside. Some cursed energy magic probably.

She really didn't like it when people touched her in certain places, anywhere that was usually covered by clothing really, she never had. One of the reasons she never wanted a boyfriend or girlfriend, because they would expect to be suddenly allowed to touch her in places that others couldn't.

The staticky feeling that Geto's fingers caused was uncomfortable, making her cursed energy roil to life, buzzing around the seal and her stomach like a disturbed wasp's nest, dropping her temperature like a stone.

The way his eyes narrowed when her temperature dropped was intimidating, but he only watched suspiciously, and her cursed energy didn't lash out at all, thankfully. Her hands were trembling though, and she couldn't really find a place to put them that was safe, yet unthreatening. Letting them lie there in the dirt felt like giving up, though, so they hovered there uncertainly.

He'd make for a scary mad scientist. Or a really creepy doctor. A Geto fangirl would probably kill to be in her position right now.

Don't freak out.

It would just make everything worse.

Eventually, he shifted himself off of her, letting himself thump into the grass next to her, still lying on the ground.

"Do you know what they do?" She asked hopefully, and he shook his head with a groan, his hands coming up to tangle in his hair.

No, bad habits, do not pull your own hair dude. She flipped herself over, curling up against his side, struck by his warmth, and surprisingly enough he let her. Now to get him to open up a little bit.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"It isn't your fault. You're just a kid." He sounded like a wreck, dejected, ashamed. Let it out dude, the therapy kid was here. She loved hugs even, as long as there was a barrier. Good to know that his suspicion had been reduced at least.

She threw her arms around him, laying halfway on top of his chest, making his hands leave his hair, reflexively trying to protect his stomach, and she met his eyes sympathetically. His eyes softened slightly when they met hers and he slowly let his hand settle down on her head.

"Riko didn't die. Yu-nii can still be saved as long as something changes." She told him gently.

He just sighed.

"Gojo died fighting Toji?" He asked questioningly, just staring upwards blankly. Don't space out Geto, she needs you to listen right now.

"Only temporarily," she said, making his eyes flick towards her, "He learned the reversed curse technique thingy just in time, but he went a bit crazy afterwards. Wanted to slaughter the entire cult thingy, but you convinced him not to."

She side-eyed him for a moment, considering. Better rip the Band-Aid off right now than have another talk later.

"And after Yu-nii died, you kind of slaughtered a whole town of over a hundred people."

He let out the world's most insincere laugh, hands coming up to cover his face, bitterness and disgust coloring his tone as he spoke.

"So, I am destined to become a curse user." He seemed resigned, silently accepting like he was accepting a death sentence, which was not a good response to that right now.

She shook her head violently, pushing herself up to her elbows to stare down at him.

"No! It isn't destiny, because Riko is still alive, and Yu-nii will live and you will be able to stop that before it even starts! There's two sorcerer twin girls, I think their names are Mimiko and Nanako or something, they are being abused by someone, being kept in cages. I don't know how long it's been happening, but you could stop it early, maybe even before it happens at all! That's what triggered you to lash out, the straw that broke the camel's back!"

Her speech, for all the passion in her voice, didn't seem to be getting through to him. He clasped his hands together, fingers tightening with bruising force around his own wrists. Don't do that, hurting yourself was not a good stress response. God, he needed therapy. Or helpful coping skills. Maybe she could teach him to bake. Was anyone allergic to peanut butter?

"I don't know anything yet about what's going to happen after that, but all you need to end that future is to not kill a bunch of people!" She insisted.

He laughed at that, a full-bodied shudder that went through him. She patted him lightly on the shoulder to get his attention off his hands, because she could see his thumb pressing harder against the pulse point of his other wrist.

"Is that all?" He said wryly.

Oop, there it was, she hit a button. Clearly, not killing people was something that he struggled with a bit, mentally.

"Yep!" She refused to be negative about this. He hasn't done it yet, so of course there was still hope.

The conversation stalled from there, Geto unwilling to say more for now, but he let his hands drop down to his side and eventually she rolled off of him, laying on her back to stare upwards towards the nearly full moon.

"Do you… think about killing people a lot?" She eventually ventured to ask, and she felt his body get tense.

"No!" He said, far too quickly, with far too much alarm in his voice. She looked at him with an even gaze, no judgment. He looked frightened, and he was too young, too good, had too much to look forward to to be looking like that.

"It's alright. I already told you, even Gojo had to be convinced not to kill a whole crowd of people after Riko died. You aren't alone in this situation, and I won't judge you for it." She said, soothing and gentle.

They stayed there for a while, just watching clouds drift over the moon.

"Yes…" he breathed softly, finally, and something about that admission was heartbreaking. What was his childhood like, his earlier school years, to make him so desperate for a quick and permanent solution to his problems?

Killing a curse meant he didn't have to eat it, after all. How many times has Gojo saved a strong curse for Geto to eat, wishing desperately to help his friend get stronger, while Geto wished so strongly that he had just killed it for him instead?

Just kill it, just kill it, just kill him, just kill them all so that it can stop. The curses, the higher ups, all the nonsorcerers from whom curses were made from. Poor boy, he probably was convinced that he was a terrible person for wanting his problems to go away, in the most permanent way possible.

"That's probably something you should talk to Yaga-sensei, or Ieiri-san, or a licensed therapist about, Geto-san" She informed him frankly, and he laughed suddenly, so hard he had to sit upright just to breathe. Then he was back on the ground, rolling over onto his stomach and hoisting himself onto his elbows to look at her from higher up without looming over her.

"You are a weird kid, Midori-chan" he said, and that amusement made her relax a little.

"How many kids do you know?" She challenged, and he tilted his head, conceding her point.

"I doubt many other kids have more memories of the future than they do of their past." She pointed out, and he laughed again.

"Fair point."

"Seriously though, Geto-san, intrusive thoughts like that are definitely not that uncommon. It's scary, but given your occupation, it's not exactly unexpected." She insisted, and he looked at her in bewilderment.

"Do you grow up to be a psychologist or something?" He sounded like he was genuinely asking too.

"I haven't actually seen my future at all yet." She admitted. It was true, after all, she could get assassinated tomorrow and wouldn't have a clue.

"You joined Satoru's fight with Toji without knowing at all what would happen?" He asked, incredulous.

"Well Gojo was about to die? So I had to do something." She shrugged, like it hadn't been absolutely terrifying. Play it cool, this is his unofficial therapy session, not hers.

It was darker than it had been before. She looked upwards, seeing that dark clouds had started to overtake the moonlight.

"We should get back to school before this storm hits." Geto said, climbing to his feet, brushing his clothing off. His curses and the cursed corpse all waited, watching idly, and Geto dismissed the canine curse, leading her over to the dragon. He picked up the cursed corpse, loading it onto the dragon's back.

She paused before walking over to the dragon's side.

"Please don't tell anyone else yet." She asked Geto softly, making him glance over.

"I know about the higher ups. Just a little bit, but it's enough. I don't want the word to get out yet. If they knew I had knowledge of the future…'' She let herself trail off, because Geto was nodding.

"I won't tell anyone unless it seems completely necessary" He agreed.

Good enough.

"But you should tell Yaga-sensei. He approves all missions for the students. If he thinks any mission given to Haibara-san and Nanami-san is suspicious, he could veto it unless there are no other options." Not good enough.

Her disbelief was audible without a word needed.

He conceded her point.

"You," she started, emphasizing her first word," could express your doubts about initial power rankings and how they are calculated and request that he keep an eye on it. Then if he has any doubts, he could prepare Gojo as backup. He's going to learn to teleport sometime soon I think, if he hasn't already."

He nodded after a moment, accepting it, at least for now, then did a double take as he finally digested her last sentence. Yeah dude, Gojo Satoru was overpowered. Because he's Gojo Satoru, of course.

"Ready to leave?" He asked, dismissing his confusion for now.

She was, at first, but as he bent down to lift her onto the dragon's back, she remembered something.

Her kunai!

"My kunai! I dropped it when I jumped to the other tree!"

"Where did you get a kunai?" Geto asked, alarmed as she started searching the ground between the two trees.

"I found it in the river!" She informed him cheerfully. He sighed as she continued searching, eventually wandering over to help, finding it for her buried deep in a bush and handing it over.

"I will be very disappointed if you stab me." He told her pointedly, and she nodded quickly, obediently holding the dull blade of the knife in her hands and he immediately snatched it from her with a pointed look.

"Don't stab yourself either!" He instructed firmly, emphasizing each word with a wave of the kunai, before handing the blade back by the handle, watching carefully to make sure she grabbed it properly.

He hoisted her up, climbing atop the dragon right behind her. He wrapped one arm around her, holding her securely. Even though his arm covered her seal, that uncomfortable static feeling didn't return.

Slowly, she realized that she was actually riding a fucking dragon.

"Geto-san?" She said as the dragon prepared to take off, and he made a questioning hum.

"This is awesome!" She said, twisting to look up at him and giving him a bright grin.

As the first few sprinkles of rain started falling from the sky, the dragon took flight. If she whooped with joy in the biting winds and freezing rain like the little girl she now was, only Geto and the dragon were close enough to hear.