Getting woken up just before dawn wasn't the best way to wake up, but falling asleep before sunset tended to alleviate that particular gripe. She'd still gripe about it, but it wasn't that bad.
Yaga's clear anticipation, excitement dare she say, dare she hope, also did wonders for chasing her sleepiness away.
Panda?
Please be taking her to meet Panda.
He led her somewhere new through the school, farther towards the office buildings than she usually went, then beyond, into the forest beyond them. It was a different direction than she usually went to enter the forest, so she stuck closely to him. Nishinoya was at her heels, so she wouldn't get lost, but she didn't want to get separated from Yaga either.
Yaga walked fast, almost uncomfortably so, undeniably eager to get to his destination. She didn't mind the quick pace, but Nishinoya was struggling to keep up a bit.
He wouldn't mind if she carried him, would he?
She knelt down, picking the cursed corpse up easily, much to his surprise. She had to trot to catch up to Yaga, who stopped to wait for her, and the sight of her carrying Nishinoya made his expression soften.
"Nishinoya-san's really cool, Yaga-san. Did you really make him?" She asked, curious. How did cursed corpses get made? Was it a type of enchantment, a seal, or a pact of some sort?
"I did," Yaga agreed, somewhat proud, "I made him specifically to be a protector for you. He's come quite far since then, I would think."
He really has, hasn't he? Nishinoya had shown some real initiative recently, comforting her from nightmares, leading her home, and otherwise acting like a living being. She appreciated it, but it certainly led to some questions. Was Nishinoya going to end up turning into someone like Panda sometime?
"Nishinoya-kun is really cool!" She said enthusiastically, and she could feel the embarrassment in the way the doll hung from her arms. Yaga laughed too, loud and brighter than the predawn light.
The forest only got quieter, eerily so, and she was nearly walking on Yaga's heels to stick close, Nishinoya bristling with every unexpected sound. Yaga was confident, unbothered, so clearly, he knew exactly where he was going.
The environment changed from old growth forest to bamboo forest startlingly quickly, and they stopped by a house of some sort, clearly built by hand. It was made of bamboo, miss-cut chunks torn out, nails sticking out at odd places.
Outside the house, playing with a ball, biting at it with sharp teeth and small growls, was a baby panda.
"Panda!" She said, before Yaga could even say a word to introduce them.
"Yes. Midori-chan, this is Panda-kun. Please be nice to each other." Yaga said, before stepping out of the way. Nishinoya scrambled down out of her arms too, giving them some space.
"Hi!" was all that she could think to say. He was so cute. Fluffy beyond belief, there was no plush that could compare.
"Hello. It is nice to meet you." Panda replied, oddly formal.
She tilted her head, a little confused, and Panda echoed the movement.
"My name's Midori."
"My name is Panda."
Still formal sounding. She needed to break the ice, just to get rid of this awkwardness.
"You're really fluffy!"
"Yes, I am." He agreed, affable and blank all at once. Would Nishinoya sound like that, if he could talk?
"I'm not sure what to talk about." She admitted, and Panda just looked at her unblinking. She looked to Yaga for help, but he just made a go on type of gesture.
Maybe animal sounds would be better, communication-wise, if he was so formal in English. Or Japanese, she guessed.
"Mrrr?" She hummed, a curious cat-like noise. She'd had a phase as a child, one she had never really grown out of. A cat phase. She had still meowed occasionally, both as a response to a cat and as a general communication skill, until the day she died. Vividly, she could remember her mother scolding her for meowing at a worker, saying that they would think something was wrong with her.
Jokes on her mother though, because there had been. Being a freaking weirdo, even as an adult.
She had several different tones that changed the meaning, surprise, questioning, offended, and could purr if she tried hard enough, enough to make her cat react. It was just another way that she communicated with her family, especially her sister. Her dad would meow back at her sometimes, and her sister had understood well enough. If she was upset or distressed, or just in pain, a growl or a hiss would express her emotions faster and more clearly than words ever could, and she wouldn't get in trouble for cursing either.
She was a weirdo, she knew that well enough. Animal noises just made more sense somehow. You could be born in Atlantis and know that a growl and bared teeth meant anger, a head tilt and puzzled expression meant confusion. Meowing was basically like that. When she struggled to communicate with words as a kid, cat noises were simply simpler to convey the basics of what she wanted to say. It just stuck, unlike clicking like a dolphin had.
In retrospect, it should have been glaringly obvious as a kid that she had some sort of developmental disorder. She might have never gotten a diagnosis, she was too good at school for many people to care about her oddities, but she certainly had been a character as a child. Her dad had told her himself that he thought she was likely autistic. Why he'd never done anything with those suspicions, she didn't know. Would it have helped her? Would she have had real friends in her teens, not just classmates, who she could talk to without feeling like she was failing a test somehow every time?
Panda echoed the noise after a moment's digestion.
Communication. There was no finesse or formality to cat noises. You just used intonation. And Panda was confused.
She took a step closer, and her next noise was nothing more than a rumble in her throat, inviting, curious.
Panda's head tilted, digesting the noise, analyzing the tone. He made a noise of curiosity.
She dropped into a crouch, for all the world a play bow, and Panda copied in an instant, on all fours, tense and ready to move, just like an excited dog would.
He lunged, a playful leap towards her, and she turned and ran a short ways. Panda pursued, swiping at her heels, and she whipped around, bowling him over before sprinting away again.
Panda was a quick little kid, and persistent. He growled, fierce and adorable as he moved, like a dog while playing roughly. Yaga was bemused, especially when she climbed up his legs, his arm steady enough to allow her to climb up to his shoulders, but Panda could climb too, so she leapt from Yaga's shoulders as he braced himself obligingly, reaching a low hanging tree branch and dragging herself up.
Panda followed, Yaga even holding out a hand to give him a better launchpad. She saw who was the favorite here.
She clawed her way up the scraggly tree, growing badly among the tall bamboo, blocking out the sunlight. When Panda reached her, one paw out to swipe and finally get a hand on her, she jumped, cursed energy and Yaga both cushioning her fall.
Yaga didn't have a moment to breathe, because Panda was jumping too, a ball of fuzz and determination, making Yaga lunge to catch him.
"Tag!" She said, tapping Panda on the nose, and he growled irritably, chasing after her once again.
She did have to let him catch her at least once, just to keep their little game going. The ice was well and truly broken now, so there wasn't any real reason to continue the game besides it simply being fun. Panda was too fluffy to be threatening, so being chased by him lacked that usual primal terror that always ruined games tag for her as she got older.
Faking a stumble did the trick, though the hole really did catch her by surprise. She just didn't allow her cursed energy to save her, not putting her hands up to catch herself in time and she smacked painfully into a bamboo… stalk? Trunk? Whatever it was called. Was it actually a tree, or just a tall plant?
Still, Panda wasted no time pouncing on her, and wrestling her down with extraordinary strength, growling all the while. Yaga was waiting anxiously not even a foot away as she kicked Panda over her shoulder, like he was scared their playfight would turn sour. It was oddly reassuring, knowing that if either of them went too far he would intervene.
Panda bit her on the arm, stomping into her ribs painfully, and she growled, rolling herself like an alligator to get him to let go, and the moment he did so, she launched the very aerodynamically shaped kid into the air like a particularly fuzzy soccer ball.
Of course, he kicked off a bamboo ste- trun-, the bamboo thingy, and drop-kicked her on the side of the head, hurling her to the ground with a loud thud that echoed in her ears for several seconds until her vision returned.
Oh, she was dizzy now, the ground swirling to her eyes, vision edged with black. Her ears were ringing.
Panda hit hard!
There was still a smile pasted on her face though, mildly deranged giggles escaping her mouth even as she dragged herself back to her feet to face Panda, who took a fighting stance. She used to play basketball with some highschool students, despite having absolutely no experience, and her opponents had always been weirded out by her constant giggling as she fought for the ball. She was the same way while playing soccer. Probably just a way to let out nervousness due to close contact with others, along with just having fun playing in general, needing to express it.
Panda's leap and her defense was interrupted as Yaga snatched Panda out of the air, propping the kid against his hip as he took her head in his hand, turning her head this way and that.
"You're bleeding," he said, worried, and Panda went limp in his arms, turning to look at her more closely. She didn't feel much pain, but the worry on his face was enough to know she probably looked pretty beat up.
"Good game!" She told Panda as Yaga manhandled her worriedly, looking for the source of the bleeding. Her head, clearly, from smacking into the ground. Head wounds bleed a lot.
"Want to be friends now?" She asked, just to be direct. Panda seemed like he would appreciate that.
"Why?" He asked, instead of answering.
"Fun. I liked playing with you. Becoming friends means that we promise to play with and help each other." He looked doubtful.
"It is not a legally binding agreement and can be ended at will by either party."
Panda seemed to be considering it now. Yaga looked resigned, even with only the lower half of his face in fuzzy view, clearly devastated by their excellent communication skills, that he could never hope to match. He made a slight sound, considering. Probably found wherever the bleeding was coming from.
Please say yes.
"I agree." Panda said, and she would have jumped for joy if she wouldn't have headbutted Yaga in the nose.
"Panda-kun, want to play again later? I can bring my Aniki."
"Aniki?"
"My older brother-"
"Adoptive! Temporarily!" Yaga said, much too quickly and too forcefully.
Yaga chimed in quickly at the deadpan look that Panda sent him. More children? That look said, a thousand-word essay in a single glance.
"My older brother, Junpei! He's really nice, but he's been bullied a lot so he's really nervous. How old are you?"
"Five."
"So, he'd be your Aniki too! And you would also be my-"
"Nii-san, Midori, it would be nii-san. Or onii-san, if you want to be more respectful." Yaga corrected finally.
"Whatever." She said, waving the correction off, and Yaga sighed heavily.
"You sound like you're part of the Yakuza." He grumbled, distraught.
"Thanks!" She said brightly. She talked like she was in a gang, apparently.
"Not a compliment."
"I know."
"So- um this Junpei-kun is my onii-san?" Panda asked Yaga hesitantly.
"You've confused him now, Midori." Yaga said, very much in a see what you just did type of tone, gestures and all.
"Good. He needs socialization and information gathering skills. What will he do when he's old enough to vote?"
Yaga stared at her, bewildered.
"He's in the middle of the woods, Yaga-san! How much social interaction does he get? He needs to loosen up a little, get some words wrong, and eventually be able to do it on purpose! Like I do!"
"On purpose?" He challenged, doubtful.
"Not yet … But I will. I just need a little more." She waved her hands descriptively, not even bothering to finish.
"I see." Yaga said, and he definitely didn't. She would figure out how to learn, sometime. Just had to be at the right time and figure out how to turn off her auto-translate. Learning Japanese words from anime just didn't really cut it for allowing her to intentionally pick the right ones.
It would be fine.
"So, Panda-onii-san. Onii-san… whatever, want to go play more?"
"No! You are going to visit Shoko!" Yaga said firmly, and his firm hold on the back of her neck, like a cat holding their kitten's scruff, was the only thing keeping her from running away screaming.
Her expression said everything she needed to say though, along with an uneasy whine that slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"Is Shoko really bad?" Panda asked worriedly, and Yaga sighed even harder.
"No. She is an excellent doctor, Midori-chan just has an issue with doctors. Doctors are usually not scary and are vital to keeping everyone healthy."
Shameless lies.
Doctors were totally scary, not in the least the cost! Forty dollars just for a single visit, and that was with excellent insurance! Good luck if you didn't have any at all. Have a difficult to diagnose condition? Have fun going to twenty different appointments, forty dollars a visit, not even including testing!
God, American healthcare sucks.
"Why are you scared of doctors?" Panda asked.
Hmmm. How much should she say?
"I got really hurt and Ieiri-san had to heal me too fast, so it hurt a lot. I was already really scared, so I transferred that fear over to Ieiri."
That was a decent enough analysis. It got rid of the whole 'I've died before' bit, with whatever trauma accompanied that, but got the basics.
"So why are you still afraid?"
"Fears don't really work like that. It could go away on its own, or I can try and get through it on my own by making myself hang out around her. Forced proximity hasn't been very effective so far though."
Panda repeated the words forced proximity to himself, and she could almost see it being added to his internal dictionary. What a cute little baby, learning new words every day! She knew lots of curses, she got the feeling he would enjoy them once he loosened up a little.
"Come on." Yaga interrupted, hauling her up into the air with an arm hooked around her ribs, and she grunted, sore from Panda's kick. He readjusted quickly, bracing her against his hip and an arm around her back, keeping her upright and contained.
She wasn't going to run away.
Maybe just the other direction.
"Can I meet my onii-san?" Panda asked boldly and Yaga paused, uncertain.
"Please? I want to hang out with Panda more!" Midori added, tilting her head a little to add to the effects of her pleading eyes.
Yaga sighed yet again, defeated, and Panda scrambled up Yaga's leg, making the man hiss in pain, leaning away.
Panda balanced on Yaga's shoulder, unstable. She reached out to lift him from his perch carefully, cradling him like she would a cat in her arms, supporting his legs with her stomach and arm. It was a little silly, but she got to cuddle Panda, so she really didn't care.
"I could just hold him like you." Yaga said, and she shook her head quickly.
"I have to hug my new brother! Bonding!"
She could see him give up, an aura that emanated from the defeated slump of his shoulders, more than an actual sound. Panda squirmed around curiously in her arms, nearly slipping and digging his little claws into her arm to catch himself. She had to freeze in place so that she didn't flinch away and drop him entirely.
Yaga started walking, and Nishinoya followed closely.
"Do you like being pet?" She asked after a few minutes, after Panda had settled down comfortably in her arms.
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Behind the ears mostly. Under the chin is also pleasant."
He was so polite, it was unnatural, especially given his age! She was one to talk, really, but it was enough to be a little unnerving. She'd deal with it, because she was probably pretty unnerving herself, when she didn't think to censor herself.
"May I pet you, Panda-onii-san?" She needed a better name for him. Would he accept just being called Panda?
"You may." He agreed, ears twitching around to give her his full attention, and she wasted no time scratching gently behind his ears. Panda leaned into her touch, rubbing his head against her hands like a cat would until he remembered himself and settled back down.
They broke out of the treeline about the time she started getting more woozy than she was dizzy, making Yaga speed up, not quite a jog so much as a speed walk to the infirmary.
Ieiri was present, working on a thick sheet of paperwork attached to a clipboard, and when she looked up to see Yaga carrying Midori, blood dripping down her face, she leapt to her feet.
"What happened?" Ieiri asked, brows furrowed, and Yaga's quick explanation was enough distraction for Ieiri to heal her in a short burst, there and gone in an instant, washing all her pain and fuzziness away with it.
And with it followed her sudden awareness of just how close Ieiri was. Yaga did a good job of pretending her temperature didn't plummet, but Panda whirled around, bewildered by the suddenly freezing cold hands still scratching behind his ears like a stress doll. She didn't pull away from Ieiri, and the teenager stood stock still, clearly very aware of it herself.
"I have an ice technique." She told Panda as an explanation, and he nodded immediately, accepting without question.
She wasn't going to freak out. Ieiri had just helped her for goodness sake. A concussion would have sucked to deal with.
Ieiri and Yaga talked about inane things for several minutes before Yaga carefully set her and Panda down, waving them off to play. Nicely, with no more injuries.
There was a sense of accomplishment that came with running away from the infirmary with her metaphorical tail between her legs, hands trembling violently. She hadn't made Ieiri or Yaga leave early. Sure, she hadn't exactly done anything but make painfully long eye contact with Panda, but she hadn't escaped until she was sent away. It was progress at the very least.
Panda seemed adrift without Yaga there to guide him. Junpei was probably up by now. Maybe breakfast? She'd skipped it, too early to eat when they left, so she could always grab an onigiri. Did Panda like onigiri? She should ask.
"Do you like onigiri, Onii-san?"
Panda thought for a few moments.
"What's onigiri?"
"Food. It's a triangle shaped ball of rice with fillings. There's a lot of fillings too. Want to try one?"
"I will try." He agreed.
"Yay!" She cheered, and he blinked at her, dark eyes clearly bewildered.
They went straight to the cafeteria. When she poked her head in, Junpei was indeed inside, watching Yu-nii and Nanami converse. Whatever they were talking about, both boys were engrossed, leaning in towards each other, completely focused on what the other was saying.
"Did you eat yet?" She asked, poking Junpei lightly on the shoulder to get his attention. He looked towards her and jumped upon spotting Panda, his butt completely leaving the bench he was sitting on and banging his knees on the underside of the table. Both Haibara and Nanami stopped talking, both turning to look, and Junpei's face went beet red quickly.
She stepped between Junpei and the two first-years, to give him a little relief.
"This is Panda, he's my new Onii-san," she said, gesturing to Panda, "Onii-san, this is Junpei, my Aniki."
Junpei's blush worsened when she called him Aniki, his embarrassment only getting worse. Too bad for him, she had claimed him already, there was no getting out of it. He was her Aniki, until the whole damn world learned to treat him a little better.
"Nice to meet you." Panda said, and Junpei stuttered before managing to echo the sentiment.
"And you too!"
"Did you eat yet?" She asked again, and he blinked before scrambling to answer.
"Yes!"
"Alright. Want to play with us after we eat breakfast?"
"Oh. Yeah?" Junpei said, confused but agreeable. How long had it been since he had two people to play with?
"Yu-nii! Nanami-san! Want to play with us after breakfast?" She called as she grabbed two of her onigiri. Still decently stocked.
"No, thank you." Nanami answered bluntly.
"I can't, I promised Kento-kun that we would work on a project after this." Yu-nii answered, clearly disappointed.
"We can do it later." Nanami said, catching his classmate's disappointment, but Yu-nii shook his head.
"No! Always keep your promises! Even if they say you don't have to, it pays to keep your promises anyways. Being known as reliable means that people can trust you if they need help or have problems, when they might not be willing to trust other people. So, make sure to only make promises that you can keep, alright?"
The children nodded as one. Great moral lesson opportunity Yu-nii. He saw his chance and took it. She could respect that.
But it still meant he wouldn't be able to play with them.
They left as a group, and she handed Panda an onigiri. He ate it, but didn't seem to enjoy it too much. Some part of her wrote it off as a waste of a perfectly good onigiri, but at least he had had the chance to try the world's greatest food.
"What do you guys want to play? We could go out in the woods, play in the river, or play around here and hope to snag more players."
The boys seemed indecisive. Panda was indifferent, and Junpei anxious.
"Want me to pick?"
"Yes please!" Junpei said, taking his chance, and Panda nodded. Good enough.
"Let's play at the training grounds. Maybe if anyone shows up, we can drag them into a game!"
Junpei nodded, and Panda seemed unbothered by it at the very least.
The training grounds were empty, sadly, but that ball that Gojo had hit her with repeatedly was still there, so she grabbed it. She might still be a little salty about that.
"Monkey in the middle! Junpei," she tossed him the ball," get the ball to Panda without letting me get it. Panda, do the same. Whoever loses the ball has to trade places with me."
The boys nodded and Junpei's first pass went awry immediately. She let it pass with a level look, and Panda trotted up to get it.
His pass went wild too.
"Does no one play with a normal ball anymore?" She asked hypothetically.
"Sorry…" Junpei apologized, but she waved him off.
"It's alright. Here. We'll do a few drills so you can get a feel for it. Junpei, stand here, Panda stand here."
She organized a simple drill, just passing back and forth from a slowly increasing distance. Once they master that, she would have both of them practicing passing to a moving target of varying speeds. Upon mastery, monkey in the middle should be child's-play for both of them.
Because it was.
Child's-play.
Was she taking this too seriously or pushing them too hard? She enjoyed running drills like this, because she enjoyed playing soccer. They may not. She didn't want to come off as bossy, even if she was the boss in this little play session, for pure lack of participation.
Was Junpei having fun? He looked focused, already about five feet from Panda. Every three successful passes meant both of them took a step backwards. Two missed passes meant that one of them took a step forward. Simple enough to teach them longer incidents without going too far too fast.
Panda seemed to be focused as well, clearly putting effort in to perform well. It was intimidating Junpei though, because it meant most of the mistakes were from his end, with Panda's recovery passes and Junpei's occasional lucky one pushing them into longer distances too fast.
"Reset!" She called, and Junpei's face was relieved as they returned to being only a short distance from each other.
"Get to your max comfortable distance and then we can play again, alright Junpei? You'll learn as you play, don't worry about it!"
Junpei nodded, though the tension didn't leave his shoulders.
They played through a second round of the drill, and Junpei at least had a bit more confidence up close, though his long passes could clearly use some work. That was probably enough drills for the day though.
"Well done," she praised, making sure to look at Junpei, "ready to play?"
Both boys nodded.
Junpei fumbled his first pass again, anxiety making his run up unsteady, but she let Panda reach it.
She intercepted Panda's pass, too slow to reach Junpei before she did, and waved Panda to take her place. He looked a bit surprised to have lost. Junpei might be the oldest, but he was also the least confident, she wasn't going to fuck up his first pass of the game.
Passing to Junpei was easy enough, though his receiving skills were lacking, and the ball bounced back her way. She sprinted forward, beating Panda's slow trot, kicking the ball back to Junpei and getting his scrambled rebound too. Definitely some receiving drills for Junpei sometime, should he show an interest.
Junpei's last pass went too far, and Panda reached the ball moments before she did, putting Junpei in the middle now. She'd purposefully trade out with him in a few minutes if he stayed in too long.
They played for probably the better part of an hour before stopping, switching about half an hour into the game to throwing the ball with their hands, which Junpei was much better at. Panda spent a long amount of time locked in the middle, simply because his hands weren't really made to catch balls as well as a human could. The game only ended when the ball popped on Panda's claws.
"Don't worry too much about it," she reassured the dismayed kid, patting him on the back, "It was impressive how long you were able to keep going."
What now?
The ball was gone, and she was honestly running out of ideas. Did they like to play pretend yet? A little stick dueling?
The sound of someone walking up was her saving grace as she (metaphorically) sweated under the combined gaze of both boys.
But turning to see a stranger wasn't much better.
Actually, has she seen this guy before?
Oh.
That plain blonde guy! From the day of the trial! She truly did not remember his name, in the slightest. Nekoma, or something similar. Vaguely.
"What are you doing here?" She asked harshly, making Junpei whirl around and Panda's head snap up from where he had been staring dejectedly at the lump of plastic that used to be a ball still impaled on his claws.
"Sorry!" The man said automatically, anxious as Nishinoya prowled over from the sidelines to stand protectively in front of them, his eyes locked on Neko dude the entire time.
"I was asked to come and get you, Midori-san," he said with a nervous bow, "Sato-sama wishes to speak with you privately."
Seriously?
"No." She said simply, and the man actually had the audacity to look surprised.
"Dude, this is like, how to get kidnapped 101. Approaching a group of kids without a single adult present? You couldn't honestly get more suspicious than this. Ask Yaga-san if you want even the slightest chance of compliance out of me. And asking me to go alone? You know how that sounds, right?"
She was in disbelief. Was Neko really this stupid?
"Look, Neko-kun this is-"
"It's actually Nakam-"
"Neko-kun. You. Could. Not. Be. More suspicious than you are now. You're actually sweating right now." She emphasized each slow word with a sharp clap that made the man flinch. She ended with her hands pressed together, pointed towards him to emphasize her point. She spread her hands, a 'see?' sort of gesture.
"She's right, you know!" A voice called, and a slow grin crept its way onto her face.
"Geto-sama!" Neko said with alarm, spinning and bowing deeply in pure reflex.
Geto was already right behind him, so close that Neko's head nearly touched Geto's shoes with his deep, panicked bow.
"Did you hear everything?" She asked, and Geto nodded.
"I did," he agreed, light and mild, "what business does a man like Sato have with a four-year-old girl?"
For all that his words lacked bite, Neko still went pale when Geto smiled, eyes closed and completely calm.
"I- I don't know, I'm- I'm just the messenger!" Neko scrambled to say. He was terrified, and Geto took a step even closer, invading the man's personal space.
"Unfortunately, Yaga-sensei is a more traditional man. Nothing like students these days, wouldn't you agree?" There was a threat in those words, his affable smile vanishing like it never had been at all. Less tolerant of bullshit politics, he didn't say. More willing to lash out if provoked.
"Sato-san must use official channels if he wishes to speak in any capacity to Midori-chan. We all would be quite displeased if something happened and no one knew where she was, after all, or if anything bad happened during her visit! Official requests are the best way to make sure that everything is in order, and no one would get blamed if something happened. After all, Neko-kun, you don't have the protection of a clan. If anything happened, a car accident, a cursed spirit attack, or a kidnapping, you would take all the blame! I've seen executions for far lesser crimes than bloodline theft." Geto's tone was easy and light, nearly singsong at the end. Yet, it was definitely a warning to the man, playful and teasing or not.
Neko went pale at Geto's final words, his hands starting to tremble, and the intake of breath from Panda said that that probably had far greater meaning than she cared to consider.
"Of course, Geto-sama! I- I didn't realize. That- um," his voice was trembling, his stutter worsening until Geto took another step forward. There were inches between them, and Geto was almost a full head taller than the man.
"It would be best that you leave. I'll have one of my curses escort you off of school grounds!" And with that, Geto summoned a special grade curse, the woman with the too long mouth, long black hair obscuring most of her face, staring at the ground.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" She asked, and Geto held a finger in front of Neko's lips, even brushing against them, making the man freeze before he could answer automatically. Gay panic, without a doubt, because scary Geto was pretty Geto. She might be asexual, four years old, and think of him as a mentally unstable older brother, but she had eyes.
All that needed to happen next was for Gojo to show up and her matchmaking attempts would be unneeded.
"Don't answer her, and she won't be able to hurt you. You won't be able to hurt anybody else either in case you thought to try it."
OH, THERE HE WAS!
Gojo looked poleaxed, glasses literally hitting the ground in front of him without Gojo moving a single muscle to catch them. He'd been walking with purpose, expression full of rage, but upon spotting Geto he had stopped dead in his tracks.
"Well?" Geto challenged, one eyebrow raised.
"Hai!" The panicked man said, stumbling back a few steps, and the cursed spirit followed. He made another deep bow, nearly brushing Geto's shoes again, before taking several steps away.
Then he spotted Gojo, and what little color he had left drained away.
"Gojo-sama!" He yelped, bowing just as deeply as he had to Geto, and kept walking quickly. Gojo let him pass without a word, too busy fighting his gay panic and reddening face to make an attempt at harassing Neko like he normally would.
The cursed spirit was on Neko's heels the whole way, making him walk uncomfortably fast, not quite running so much as fleeing.
"Thank you, Geto-san!" She said brightly, and the teen blinked, his vicious, angry expression fading to something gentler.
"Of course. Are you alright?" He asked, softening his tone enough that she relaxed, the tension leaving her shoulders. She hadn't been scared so much as tense, ready to run or fight at a moment's notice. She was lucky that Neko had been such a pushover, and that Geto had arrived so quickly.
Everything was fine now.
She leaned into Geto's legs, and he rested a hand on her head. Her hair was still down and had gotten in her way while she was playing. Maybe he could put it up for her if she had time to grab her hairstick.
"I'm alright. Who's Sato?"
Gojo was still staring at Geto, not poleaxed so much as awed.
"One of the higher-ups. Firmly against Yaga-sensei. I'm not surprised he tried to contact you, just to try and worm his way in. He won't try again unofficially, and Yaga will never let them see you alone, but other higher-ups might."
"Politics suck." She said, empathetically, and Geto patted her one more time before moving away, waving down Gojo.
"Are you guys ok?" She asked, and Junpei slunk forward, shamefaced.
"Don't feel bad, Aniki," she said reassuringly, "I don't expect you to fight my battles for me. I've met Neko before, he doesn't like me, but he wasn't anywhere near the most dangerous person that they could have sent."
"I just stood there though." Junpei whispered, disappointed in himself. It hurt her heart to see. He was only six years old, he shouldn't be feeling guilty for freezing when a threatening adult appeared. Six years old was too young to be worrying about fighting for others.
"You aren't a coward, Aniki, you're six years old. It's ok if you're scared of full-blown adults, and staying put and avoiding attention was the best thing for you to do. He shouldn't have done that at all, especially without Yaga. Onii-san, the same goes for you too. If things had come to violence, we all should have run away, not tried to fight him."
Junpei nodded eventually, still looking downcast, so she hugged him tightly. It took a few moments, but he hugged her back.
"I have cursed energy, and a cursed technique. Of the both of us, I had the best chance of surviving getting attacked by a jujutsu sorcerer. I don't know if I could have won, but I had the best survival chance, and he was targeting me too. If you could get away and let Yaga or anyone else know what was happening, you could have made a huge difference, without fighting at all. Don't beat yourself about not knowing what to do in a confrontation like this. It wasn't your fault."
Yaga appeared suddenly, a flurry of motion as the door flew open.
"Never a dull moment, is there Midori-chan?" He asked rhetorically, exasperated but relieved.
"Apparently not." She agreed, a little sheepish. It wasn't like it was her fault, but it was definitely keeping everyone on their toes.
"He was sent by Sato, who wanted to arrange a private meeting with Midori-chan."
Seeing Yaga angry felt unnatural. He was always so careful and calm around her, she forgot that Yaga tended to be a little hotheaded. Right now though, he was pissed, an audible growl escaping through gritted teeth. He looked like he had half a mind to track Neko down and punch him. He was just the messenger, but he could easily have turned kidnapper too.
"I'm alright, Yaga-san, but Aniki feels bad about freezing instead of taking action. I'm not sure about Onii-san." The betrayed look that Junpei shoots at her makes her grin a little guiltily, and Yaga's attention immediately turns to him. Better Junpei than her.
Geto and Gojo were talking, heads leaned too close together, nearly touching. A faint blush still lingered on Gojo's fair skin, but he controlled himself well. They were sickeningly sweet, without even realizing it.
She wanted to lie down and take a nap. She didn't want to think about politics and power plays, or bloodline theft.
Was her cursed technique a result of one of Midori's ancestors? She was American, she knew, and American sorcery was never really explored much. New York City must be hell in this world, if Tokyo had so many people and cursed spirits.
Did Midori have a clan? Somehow, she had been abandoned or orphaned, and no one had come running to claim her. Surely, if bloodline theft was a big deal, someone would have come and collected her, to take her back to America if for nothing else. Japan had strong Jujutsu sorcerers, and she doubted that the American ones wanted to allow more techniques to be under Japanese control.
On the other hand, she wasn't the only ice technique user in existence. Uraume used ice technique too, or a version of it. She definitely didn't have their looks either. He'd used frost breath too, like she had. But she had no idea how long they had been around for, when Kenkaju brought them back to life.
Was Kenkaju the right name? Or was it Ken jaku?
One of the two, definitely. At least she finally remembered the dude's name, for the most part.
Jaku or kaju? Did it even matter? Not really, but it bothered her that she couldn't quite remember. Had his name even been mentioned in the anime yet or had she just gotten so many spoilers that she got used to it?
Yaga finished with Junpei, so she turned and jogged over to Gojo and Geto, attaching herself to Geto's leg.
"Geto-san was so cool, Satoru-san! It was like watching a tiger stare down a kitten!" She praised, and Gojo's blush worsened at the reminder.
"It was nothing." Geto brushed the compliment off.
Yaga called her name, and she clung to Geto's leg tighter. Oh no. Not right now, she was handling it right now.
"I'm fine. He doesn't need to worry." She insisted, staring up at Geto.
"He's still going to be worried though. What's this about?" Geto asked, slightly concerned.
"I don't want to cry again, and if he asks me if I'm ok, I'm going to cry. I will. It will just happen, for no real reason. Please save me." She begged, clutching onto his stupid parachute pant legs.
Geto bent down suddenly, more to her level. He wasn't.
"Are you ok, Midori-chan?" He asked, gentle in that awful kind way, the type that always got her choked up for no reason at all. There wasn't anything to cry about. Neko hadn't even been scary, he'd been more freaked out than she had! He was just a dude who had chased her through the empty school once, when she couldn't find anybody. And hidden in a bathroom for hours.
"Traitor." She managed to gasp out, but her voice was already breaking, and she slumped against his leg in defeat. Kid emotions were so volatile, it really sucked. She cried what, a few times a month before? Now it was a near daily occurrence.
He hugged her, of course, because he had no mercy on her emotions and a hand brushed through her hair. She was sobbing into his shoulder now getting his uniform wet, and her hands were shaking violently as she held his uniform as tightly as possible, clinging to him.
Yaga was slower to approach with the situation already handled, heading to check on Panda instead. She could see it over Geto's shoulder as he lifted her up. Gojo was watching a little awkwardly, not quite sure if he should leave, or stay standing there, or try and help in some way.
"It wasn't even scary. He didn't try to get too close, and Nishinoya was there, and I knew all I would have to do was scream and someone would come and save me."
"He's the man who chased you, right?" Gojo asked suddenly, like he had just realized it himself. She nodded.
"Stupid fu- jerks. What sort of power play is that? Sending the same person who chased a kid to bring an unofficial invitation? They knew better, they just wanted to scare you. Probably hoped you would be too scared to refuse." Gojo snarled, narrowly avoiding cursing at Geto's sharp disapproving look.
"Fuck them." She said, her voice still tearful from crying, just for the sight of both boys' faces. It made her giggle, at least a little bit, the wild-eyed horror.
"Who taught you to say that?" Yaga asked sharply, the disapproval clear in his tone. The way he looked at Geto and Gojo, who both quailed a little under his rage, promised punishment.
"I already knew it." She admitted to him, saving Gojo and Geto from their impending tongue lashing from Yaga.
"Well, please don't use it, alright?" Yaga asked, much more gently, and both boys relaxed a little, relieved.
"Yes, sir!" She agreed, saluting him seriously.
Finally, she had stopped crying, her voice stabilizing somewhat. She'd cry at the drop of a hat, so at least it didn't last for too long before she could pull herself back together.
"Next time, if," the deadly look on his face promised that if there was a second time, no one would be willing for there to be a third, "that happens again, please go straight to the infirmary. There's a way to lock the doors so that it keeps unauthorized sorcerers out. I'll show it to you and Junpei-kun later."
She nodded, laying her head back on Geto's shoulder tiredly. It was still morning, and already she was exhausted.
"Want to take a nap again?" Geto asked softly, and she nodded into his shoulder.
"Do Panda-kun and Junpei-kun want to come?" She mumbled, her voice muffled by her refusal to pull away from Geto's shoulder.
He didn't answer, but Gojo walked past, and Geto headed for the school. It was much cooler inside, in absence of the warmth of the sun, and it made her shiver more than before.
She might not have been trembling earlier due to crying so much as the cold, she realized. It was strange how normal it was now for her to be cold.
"Are there any other sorcerers who we should be worried about?" He asked, once they were alone in the barren hallways.
"There's the evil brain guy. His name's either Ken jaku or Ken kaju. One of the two. He puts his brain in dead bodies and takes them over, technique and all. I don't think he took over Toji the other time, his body got too badly damaged. Hopefully that was true this time around. I don't know who he is right now, but I know he took over a woman. Kaori? Or something similar. Her last name was Itadori. He won't be getting his next body anytime soon either."
"Who?" He asked.
Oh. She never told him. He was looking at her as the silence grew, and her wide-eyed look wasn't doing her any favors in the looking innocent department.
"Midori," he said warningly, "is there something you forgot to tell me about?"
"Maybe." She said, wilting a little under his gaze.
"It was… you?"
She hadn't intended for it to be a question, but her pitch rose at the end anyway.
Geto stopped dead in his tracks, a quick intake of breath that she could only hear because she was so close.
"You died, and he wants… I don't really know what he wants, actually, but he was working with special grade curses and they all wanted to bring down Gojo-san, though it was his plan that they used. They had a cursed object, the Prison Realm, that they used to seal him and wreak havoc. They, and Sukuna, destroyed a very large chunk of Shibuya. Very large. Kenny used your body to take Gojo by surprise, so that they could seal him, and the other sorcerers didn't manage to rescue him in time before he was fully sealed."
"They used my body against him?" Geto asked, disbelieving, hurt, and outraged all at the same time, all fighting for control over his expression.
"Sorry. Yeah. You did fight Kenny though. You tried to strangle yourself- well him, I guess. It didn't last long, but you fought back without even knowing there was anything to fight back against. Protecting Gojo was muscle memory, your soul wasn't even present, your brain wasn't even present."
"Besides, it won't happen this time." She said confidently, looking him in the eyes. He looked pained now, shaken.
"I've already changed things. Riko survived this time, and I won't let you go down the same path, so don't even worry about that. The biggest worry is who Kenny will choose if he can't get you, or if he targets you in an attempt to kill you and use your body. When I start my curse notebook, which I was hoping you could help with, I'll write down everything I know about the special grade curses and give them to you. If you can capture one with your technique, it would completely change the variables and get rid of one of the curses that fight Gojo later."
Geto didn't look particularly assured, but he took her offering like a lifeline.
"What type of curses?" He asked, completely focused as he started moving again.
"Hanimi, Hanami or something similar, a special grade nature curse, white skin, stripes, covers one arm, has branches that poke out of her eyes. Speaks backwards, but you can understand her anyway. Has a rose growing in her shoulder, and she can absorb the lifeforce of surrounding plants and feed it to the rose, which she can use to attack. She can make large vines and these spore things that feed off of cursed energy, so when you defend with cursed energy, they worm their way in. She's weak at the branches that poke out of her eyes, and Gojo ripped them right out and blasted her to bits with only Infinity. She's lower risk, for a special grade at least."
"Then there's Jogo, a volcano cursed spirit, whose head looks like Mount Fuji. He's a huge threat, and I don't know much about him. The three fights that I've seen so far from him were all where he was hopelessly outclassed, but he was instrumental in Sukuna's release. Has a domain explains-oh! Hanami has a thing where she can sap a person's will to fight, a field of flowers. Jogo caused a huge amount of destruction in his final fight and killed a lot of people. He can do all sorts of volcano stuff.
"Dagon, a buff fish guy, he gets beat up by Toji," Geto's head snapped over to her, alarmed, "an old medium lady brought him back to life but he was so strong he escaped her control and kept going after killing her, he kills himself after seeing his son and learning his last name- it- it's a long story, ok? I'll tell you later, Dagon has a beach domain expansion, with lots of shikigami, mostly fish. Nanami, Megumi, that old Zenin guy, and Maki all had a hard time, and Megumi was about to make sacrificial play #1017, so if you can take them out you could help the kids a lot and give Nanami a fighting chance against Jogo."
"The largest threat is Mahito, the human curse. He can manipulate souls, using Idle Transfiguration. If you are unaware of your own soul, and he gets a hand on you, it's game over. He was young though, he might not even be around yet. If you get your chance to absorb any of them, choose Mahito, without hesitation. His domain expansion, Self-Embodiment of Perfection, makes his Idle Transfiguration completely unavoidable. Kenny purposely pitted him against Itadori in hopes that he would grow stronger, and when he did, Kenny absorbed him using your technique. I… I don't really know what he did with it, I didn't understand it, but he used it to affect huge amounts of people at once, I think. He had multiple people eat cursed objects somehow, and I think he wanted to turn them into sorcerers somehow? I don't know why yet. I think that's most of the major things. Mahito really needs to die though, he kills Junpei and Nanami, and several other people."
"Junpei?" Geto repeats, startled by her blase attitude about it. Sure, she hated Mahito still, but Junpei's whole situation has changed by now. He has a friend, one who won't let people walk all over him, and a support system in the form of adoption into Jujutsu High's deadly little family. He couldn't be safer.
Probably.
Definitely.
"Nanami too, even though he was already severely injured thanks to Jogo. I'm pretty sure he takes out Todo's hand too? Which sucks, because Todo is easily one of the coolest sorcerers who I've seen! And he's like, I don't know, a few years older than me right now, and I just know he's just going to grow up into a super cool sorcerer! He saved Itadori multiple times and stopped him from just giving up on the spot after what Sukuna did." She might be fangirling a bit, but in her defense, Todo was so cool! And of all the spoilers she got on the future of Jujutsu Kaisen, Todo's death had not been one, which is more than she can say for most people. A semi-safe character to declare her favorite without the emotional devastation of Itadori's whole… everything bad that happened to him.
They finally arrived in front of the movie room, after nearly fifteen minutes of wandering around blindly.
Right. They were going to take a nap. Like she could go to sleep now.
"Probably won't be able to take a nap anymore." She advised him slowly.
"You will." He assured, refocusing on the situation intensely. Like it was life or death to get her to sleep. He might actually consider her getting some sleep as a high priority, due to her 'prophetic dreams'. Isekai was just too out there for her to actually admit to, and came with a whole host of other problems, not in the least what happened to the real Midori.
She was just as much of a body snatcher as Kenjaku was. The thought made something clench in her chest, a pang in her heart that didn't go away.
That's right. She didn't deserve to just sit here and take naps, when she stole the body of a four-year-old girl. Who knew where Midori was now? Was she dead, suppressed, or had she merged with her somehow? The thought was sickening.
"I want to start my notebook now, while it's fresh." She insisted instead, and Geto paused, about to sit down on the couch.
She had to keep working hard. Midori couldn't have lost everything for nothing.
"Are you sure?" He asked, brows furrowed. Worried.
"Yeah!" She said, forcing some enthusiasm into her voice. It fell a little flat, and the uncertainty on his face didn't waver.
"Please."
The softness of her voice finally broke through, and he sighed, leaving the room slowly. Gojo was leading Panda and Junpei too, and the confusion on his face as they left without a word almost had her change her mind. Almost.
Geto's mouth was moving soundlessly, not even facing Gojo, but when she peeked over his shoulder, Gojo nodded, looking back towards the two other kids and saying something, squatting down to get more on their level.
They were out of sight before she could say a word, and she slumped against Geto's shoulder.
Why could things be great one second and then feel so terrible the next?
She wasn't sure if kid emotions were to blame this time, or if it was just her, making a big deal out of nothing like she always did.
She was just so tired sometimes, trying to put so much effort into everything. It felt like sometimes she was sitting on a knife's edge, the blade cutting into her feet as she was trying to keep her balance while making sure Geto didn't fall either. It wasn't a fair position for either of them, he needed someone qualified who he could respect as a fellow adult.
"Are you sure you don't want a nap?" Geto asked again, and she shook her head. They were outside of her room, so she squirmed out of his hold, opening the door for him, an invitation for him to come inside.
She had a good number of notebooks, thanks to her shopping trip, though they were a bit childish for her to consider for her official one. A rainbow unicorn notebook was the chosen sacrifice, as the one that anyone searching her room would believe was the least likely to have important information in it.
Geto sat on the bed next to her, touchingly careful about getting her blanket dirty, smoothing over the creases. She had just leapt up, kicking her shoes off to sit comfortably.
She wrote out what information she knew about the special grade curses first, including Choso and his brothers this time.
"Choso might end up being a non-issue, depending on several factors. Itadori is his actual biological brother as far as I know, due to Kenny. He took over Itadori's mother before she was pregnant and was the one who gave birth to him. Choso was the eldest Cursed Death Painting thingy and initially worked with Kenny until he realized that Itadori was his brother and turned on Kenny. He ends up working with sorcerers due to wanting to help Itadori. My information that far into the future is pretty sparse though. Ideally, Choso and his brothers would be kept in line if they end up incarnated, by Itadori."
"You think he would be capable of being a good person, even as a curse?"
"I do. I think he actually falls in love with Yuki? I'm a bit scattered on the details."
"Even romances?" Geto said amusedly, laughing softly.
"You're one to talk!" She snapped back, making him wince a little.
"Please do something about that, it's getting unbearable. Like, really really unbearable. Did you see his face earlier?"
"I don't deserve him." Geto said distantly, and the longing on his face was disgusting.
"Really." She said bluntly.
"My dude," she said, emphatically, "he literally fell asleep on top of us. Gojo Satoru, of all people, user of Infinity, the Six eyes, the 'honored one'. Are you blind? He was deeply asleep, I had to call his name like ten times! He trusts you implicitly, it's literally a fact, even when he's asleep. The way he looked at you that day? There is no heterosexual explanation for that. Y'all were about to kiss. There's nothing bad about that at all!"
Geto was bewildered by her suddenly tearing into his love-life, and she was probably not acting her age, but really, get it together Geto!
"Please, Geto-san, just do something. Either break his heart into tiny little pieces or let him put it in your hands. He'd give his heart to you if you only asked for it, and I know that he wouldn't judge you for anything that you struggle with. Of everyone here, wouldn't he be the best person to actually understand what you are going through? He's so ridiculously strong, you think he never has to fight the urge to bulldoze through his problems in the most permanent way possible? He'd understand, he really would! Even when you turned curse user, he still loved you. Even at the end, he never cursed you for what you did. Even when Kenny took your body, even when his Six-Eyes saw Geto Suguru, his heart knew that it wasn't you standing there in front of him."
She was breathing a little hard, too passionate for Geto to handle, and he stood up abruptly, pacing the floor.
"I don't deserve that! He's the heir to the whole Gojo clan, that's a big deal. He has to have heirs too, and I can't give that to him!"
Alright, that's enough.
"He's already going to adopt some kids! Megumi and Tsumiki, both of them are his, regardless of blood. If he wanted kids of his own, don't you think he could find a way? He's Gojo Satoru! He could slaughter the entire country faster than twenty nukes could!"
"He's Gojo Satoru, and that's why he deserves better than a psychotic nobody!" Geto snarled, angry and hurt, and an absolute idiot!
"You're not a nobody! Nobody is a nobody! You're one of three special grades in Japan! Three! That's insane! You're kind, and sweet, and gentle, and it always makes me want to cry to think about how things could have turned out, because you didn't deserve for that to happen to you. You didn't deserve to be violated like that even after death, after Gojo loved you so much that he refused to allow your body to be cremated, to be wielded as nothing more than a tool to jab into Gojo's weak point. You didn't deserve any of that! Having a mental illness doesn't make you worthless, you're not so special that you're somehow the only actually worthless person in the whole fucking universe. Gojo chooses who he loves, you should feel so honored that he saw you as someone worth loving!"
She was shouting by the end of it, standing on her bed to be able to look him in the eyes, and poor Geto looked like he was about to cry.
"It doesn't matter, because it will never happen." He finally whispered.
"Why not try? What's the worst thing that could happen?" She said, calming her voice.
"Rejection. Rage. Disgust!"
She shook her head.
"I'll get him to admit it," She declared suddenly, then pointed at him, "and if I do, you have to ask him on a date!"
"Wh- What?"
"Too late, the bet has been made."
"I didn't agree!" He protested sharply.
"You don't have to," she said, smug as a bug, "if you hear him confess you will either way!
"He won't!" He called, turning to leave finally.
"Wait up," she yelled, and when he turned, she threw the notebook to him, major entries finished, "study it, learn it, memorize it. And he will! I promise!"
"No, he won't!" Geto cried through the door as he left, because he was in denial, clearly. And he had to get the last word, because he was a competitive idiot as well.
"He will." She said to herself. Nishinoya was staring at the door and slowly turned to look at her.
"You won't spill any of this to Yaga, right?" She asked, suddenly anxious.
He shook his head, making a zipper motion over his stitched mouth, and she giggled in spite of herself.
Truly the world's best guardian deity.
"Want to help me match-make?" She asked, mostly rhetorically, but the doll nodded.
When she blinked, startled by the answer, Nishinoya pointed, one stitched paw held out towards her desk.
A notebook maybe? She pulled it down, setting it on the chair so it was more on his level, and he grasped a pencil awkwardly between his two paws.
"Stupid," He wrote "Idiots."
He could write?
Nishinoya could write?
"You can write?" She asked numbly, dumbfounded. He paused, looking at the pencil in his paws.
"No."
He put the pencil down suddenly, and she was left standing there dumbly as he resumed his guard duty, like he hadn't just blown her mind.
"Do you have a real name that I should use?" She asked, just to respect his apparent sapience.
He shook his head.
"So…"
He still looked at the door.
"Want to prank the ever-loving daylights out of Gojo? Make him think you're possessed?"
Nishinoya's head turned slowly towards her.
He nodded.