They couldn't plan the prank now, she had work to do, writing down each curse that she had seen so far. She gave each one two pages, making categories. Appearance, estimated grade, behavior, known weaknesses. She'd need Geto to help her study them more closely, but she'd like to include attraction, or what drew them to specific people, and cause, what fear they represented.

So, she spent as long as she could writing down the few curses she had seen so far, leaving an open space for a drawing, whenever she could find Riko again. Riko was quite a good artist. She didn't know much about several of them, so she had to leave many spots blank, but at least there was a little organization already. She'd probably run out of room, even if she wrote small, but it was a rough draft.

When she finished with all the curses she could be reasonably familiar with, she crawled off her bed, leaving her shoes and socks behind. She didn't feel like putting them on again right now.

Maybe she could grab some carrots to snack on. It was getting a little old though. She wanted some fruit, grapes, watermelon, cherries, even an apple would be nice. Honeycrisp wasn't even around yet, was it?

Was it?

Food for thought.

Strawberries…

She was so hungry now. Carrots would work, just a little snack to hold her over until dinner.

The cafeteria was empty, presumably everyone was busy and Geto was having a gay crisis in his room. The carrots were gone.

Her day was ruined.

She dropped to her knees, just for the drama of it. Everything was awful, everywhere.

"Are you… alright?" Nanami asked from behind her, and she nodded sadly.

"There's no carrots left."

"Oh. I'll make sure to add it to the list."

"Could you add bananas and shortening?" She asked, not getting up yet.

"Sure?" Nanami said, questioning.

"Thank you."

There was muffled movement behind her, and he leaned over her awkwardly to grab an energy drink. After a few moments, he left, leaving her staring sadly into the bare spot in the fridge.

Eventually, she had to be aware of the electric bill, and let the door swing shut.

Everything was ruined!

She'd just be hungry until dinner.

She got up slowly, dragging her feet as she went outside. Maybe the boys were up from their nap now and would want to play again. Hungrily.

She might be moping a bit.

The movie room was dark, and she didn't need to peek inside to know that those inside were likely fast asleep. Panda snores.

The door slid open nearly silently, and only the movement caught her eye, making her turn. Gojo slipped out on silent feet, not even touching the ground. He'd be scary stealthy.

"Not going to take a nap?" Gojo asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Not right now."

He grinned, suddenly excited, and leaned in too close. Nishinoya pushed at him fruitlessly, trying to make the teen back up, and she didn't miss the baleful look the doll shot at him. He's a protective doll, that's for sure.

"Want to go get a game for your DS now?" He asked, excited, ignoring Nishinoya's waving hand in his face like it wasn't even there.

"Where?" She asked, confused. No way Gojo could drive yet.

He scooped her up and Nishinoya tried hopelessly to stop him, getting pushed neatly aside.

"It's alright, Nishi-kun!" She gasped, and Gojo tossed her alarmingly high in the air, catching her easily again, and Nishinoya pounded his little fists on Gojo's leg, even kicking him at one point.

"Bye bye!" Gojo said over his shoulder, smug as a cat that's got the cream and the school vanished around her as they fell for an eternity and an instant all at once, reappearing in an alleyway and a cacophony of noise as many feral cats scrambled to get away all at once, thumping on trash cans, yowling and hissing at each other, until the alleyway fell quiet.

Gojo was looking around with bewilderment, surprised by the sheer amount of chaos that his appearance caused.

She gasped suddenly, realizing that Nishinoya had been left behind.

"Nishi-kun's gone!"

Gojo rolled his eyes a little.

"You don't need that doll! I'll protect you! Besides, he can't be active around nonsorcerers, so he wouldn't even work here!" Gojo said, waving her worries away like they were irrelevant.

"He'll be upset though!" She argued, but she knew it was pointless. Gojo clearly disliked him, and the feeling appeared to be mutual.

"Don't worry about him, Midori-chan," he reassured, "You'll be safe with me!"

She nodded.

"I don't have shoes on."

He stopped, blinking owlishly at her bare feet.

"Why don't you have shoes on?"

"Took them off. Wasn't expecting to leave the school."

"Want to go back for them, or…?"

"It's fine, as long as you carry me," she agreed, and he nodded, settling her more comfortably on his hip. She didn't want to teleport again like that if she didn't have to.

The game store was a surprisingly large one, more cozy than she had expected Gojo to frequent, but she saw immediately what drew him here, a small coffee shop and bakery combo that he made a beeline for. It might double as a card shop too, by the rows of tables and the Magic the Gathering game being played on one.

"Two usuals!" Gojo said brightly, giving the starstruck employee at the register a blinding grin, deliberately allowing his glasses to fall down his nose to show off his stunning eyes. She could almost feel the pressure that they caused whenever he looked her way without the glasses on.

Apparently, that employee was new, because from the back a woman walked up, an older lady, dark hair graying at the edges, European. She gently shooed off the paralyzed employee in place of ringing in Gojo's order. She moved on to making whatever it was he ordered without even blinking at his flirty grin, and he dropped a large bill on the counter. She took it resignedly and made no effort to make change for him.

Tipping was rude in Japan, wasn't it? Or was that a myth? She didn't put it past Gojo to be intentionally rude, but he could also be being charitable too.

Gojo dragged a plush chair from one side of the table to be directly next to his, swinging her around a bit too roughly and too quickly, making her cling to his arm on reflex until he finally set her down on the chair.

The chair was insanely comfortable. She sank right down, her bare feet not even halfway to the floor.

The older woman dropped two cups on the table with more force than necessary, making her jump like a startled cat at the sudden noise. Gojo's sharp look at the woman had her setting the plates down much more gently, and scurrying back behind the relative safety of the counter.

"It's fine, I'm just jumpy." She said after a moment's pause. Gojo didn't look convinced. Guess he might be a little protective.

Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him interact much with children, besides what little she saw of him and Megumi. Throw in his lingering guilt over 'letting' her get injured, and she wasn't too surprised to see that he was a bit over the top about potential threats.

And what exactly counted as a threat to a four-year-old's safety, mental and physical well-being? She doubted that Gojo knew that himself, so he was being a little over the top. Just wait until he dropped something accidentally behind her and he'd learn how jumpy she really was and hopefully loosen up a little.

Gojo pushed a plate towards her, with a slice of the most decadent, sinfully rich chocolate cake that she had ever seen. It wasn't just devil's food cake, it was the whole nine hells, and she might be drooling over it, just a little. His grin said he knew it too, and he dragged the other plate towards himself eagerly, then paused like he had just realized something. He grabbed her drink for her too from where it had been placed just slightly out of reach.

Hot chocolate. Weird hot chocolate, with whipped cream and chocolate chips, and marshmallows. It… it might actually just be melted chocolate, it was so thick when she dipped a spoon in to scoop the whipped cream off. She offered the spoon of whipped cream to Gojo, who obligingly offered his own mug, his own whipped cream already eaten separately.

Was Gojo getting his revenge on someone? The sugar rush myth was about to be proven real, and he could just drop her right off with whoever he felt like when she started bouncing off the walls.

She wasn't complaining of course, just curious.

Gojo was a chatty eater, of course, and she had to have him repeat questions several times just because she was so focused on her desserts.

The cake was unparallelled, delicious, moist, amazing, and she'd likely be craving it for years to come, just like that one chocolate cake that a classmate's mom had brought from way back in her first kindergarten years, with chunks of chocolate mixed in the frosting.

When she tuned back into Gojo's one sided conversation, he was going on about a trash curse and how he had to rescue a pair of Kyoto students. Whether the cursed spirit was actually a trash curse, or a 'trash' curse was uncertain. Her next bite erased the question from her mind entirely.

The hot chocolate was interesting. The thickness was discomforting. It was chocolatey, and definitely yummy but the texture…

She pushed the mug over to Gojo.

"Don't like it?" He questioned, already sipping from her mug in addition to his. Literally, he was drinking from both, alternating cups. Maybe she shouldn't have given it to him, that much sugar couldn't be good for him.

"Its… a little like drinking tar."

Gojo blinked at her, uncomprehending.

"It's good tasting," she explained, "just the texture is… Bad. Tar. Too thick."

"It's chocolate!" He argued, aghast, and she just shrugged at him.

"Bad chocolate."

"No!" Gojo looked ready to fight her. Not a good look for him, getting ready to throw hands with a four-year-old.

"The cake was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten." She said, throwing out a distraction, and the way he preened, the argument immediately forgotten, made her laugh out loud.

"I'm the one who got the chef hired! Found him on a trip to Italy!"

Right, that was an Italian style hot chocolate. She'd heard about it… somewhere. Some… event that happened in Italy. Paris.

She couldn't remember.

"Something wrong?" Gojo asked, catching the look on her face.

She shook her head wordlessly. Just drawing a blank. Too much sugar at once.

"Ready to look for games now?" He asked, and she nodded, holding her arms up so he could pluck her out of the chair with one hand, the two plates and mugs stacked in the other. It might have been precarious if anyone other than Gojo Satoru was holding it, but the stack of dishes stuck to his hand as if glued together as he waved it around carelessly.

Gojo set the dishes on the counter, accidentally or deliberately ignoring the tub meant for returning dishes and handed them to the starstruck employee before turning away, swinging her around dizzyingly.

He made a beeline to the DS games, clearly familiar with the store. An employee even waved at him, which he ignored. There was no doubt that he saw it, so he must have simply chosen to ignore the man.

Pokémon? Where were the Pokémon games?

No Pokémon! She didn't see any Pokémon games at all!

Fossil Fighters?

Shepherd's crossing 2?

Fucking Mario Cart?

Something familiar?

"There's a dog game?" Gojo said, pointing to it, oblivious to her little breakdown.

"I like the lab one." She mumbled, and his eyes flicked towards her, taking in her undoubtedly negative facial expression.

On the far left, on the bottom shelf there was a Pokémon game of sorts, Pokémon Dash, and she pointed to it more or less blindly.

"Pokémon."

Her hands were shaking suddenly, and instead of grabbing the DS game Gojo sat down, shifting her around so she was curled up into his chest.

She was freezing all of the sudden, and her touch left pale splotches on Gojo's skin, but when she tried to pull away, tried to stop herself from hurting him, he held on.

He was saying something that was being drowned out by her heartbeat pounding in her ears, too fast, too fast, too fast. It ached in her chest, a tightness that didn't belong, from shoulder to shoulder.

It was 2005.

She was alone here.

Everything she grew up with, everything she was old enough to remember wasn't here yet. It would be twenty years until the world caught up with her memories.

Her hands were pressed against his back, like she was trying to hold on, her ear against his neck. His heartbeat was loud in her ears, a barely distinguishable rhythm from her own.

She shouldn't be acting like this.

It was supposed to be fun. He was trying to help her have fun, but she just couldn't stop shaking.

Having a breakdown twice a day was going to get her killed someday.

"Midori, can you tell me what's wrong?" Gojo was asking, but she couldn't get enough air in her lungs to choke out an answer.

What would she even say? The thought that everything she knew was gone made her feel physically ill. Her mother, her father, her sister, who would graduate college before she did. She was gone, that little girl who she had loved and who had grown up beside her. Even if she existed in this world, she would never be her little sister ever again.

She'd lost it somehow.

Crying wasn't usually this painful, but each breath was halfway strangled before it could reach her lungs, sending stabbing pain carving through her chest along with the ache caused by her racing heartbeat.

They fell for a moment, a nauseating swirl of colors and she barely managed to pull away before she was vomiting into a bush. The cake wasn't nearly as good coming back up, and part of her regretted the waste, and the knowledge that she might never be able to appreciate it the same way again.

Gojo was kind enough to wait while she gagged again, pulling her long hair back and to safety. He vanished, reappearing moments later with a bottle of water which he shoved into her hand.

The panic attack still continued, unhindered by the nausea still swirling in her stomach, and her next dry heave was followed by a sob and a ragged inhale. She squeezed her eyes shut just to try and block out the way the colors still swirled, her body swaying. Was the dizziness from the panic attack or her breathing? Did it matter?

She sipped the water, just to wash out the taste, and Gojo combed her hair back with his fingers, tying it back loosely with a hair tie.

Her stomach settled slowly, following along with the panic attack as it subsided. Gojo stayed next to her the whole time, a helpless sort of look on his face that sent a surge of guilt through her.

"Sorry." She whispered, and the rasp in her voice took her by surprise and had Gojo tapping the water in her hand, prompting her to drink. It was soothing, washing away the almost bloody tang in the back of her throat. She wasn't even sure she was really tasting it. There was an uncomfortable burning in her throat though, from the stomach acid.

"Don't apologize." Gojo said back, uncharacteristically serious.

"You know you can say no, right?" He said and she blinked.

"What?" What was he talking about?

"You didn't have to make yourself go today. I'd rather you go because you want to go."

"I did," she insisted, because it was true, "I wanted to go look at games. I- I don't know what happened there. I just-" He hugged her tight, suffocating and reassuring at the same time, and she didn't know whether to pull away or cling to him forever.

"If that ever happens again, just tell me, as soon as you realize. I'll take you straight home, I won't even ask why, just tell me and we're gone." He seemed desperate, distressed, and she had caused that, she'd put that panicked worry and guilt in his eyes.

All she could think to say was "Sorry."

"It's not- It isn't your fault Midori-chan, I pushed you too far too soon, I'm sorry."

He shouldn't be apologizing, like he was the one who'd done something wrong. She was the one who'd ruined his plan. She was old enough that she should have known better, she should have known her own limits. At least, she should have known that her mental state was unpredictable lately, to say the least, and going into a new situation unprepared would be ill-advised.

"It wasn't your fault." She said at last, and he sighed.

"Come on." He said, hauling her up into his arms. She was exhausted, not even bothering to hold onto Gojo in return, just leaning into him. Who knew that panic attacks and crying could be so tiring? Most people, probably.

Gojo brought her to the movie room, now empty of children. She'd missed out on some quality Panda time. Her talk with Geto took priority, but she still regretted missing out on spending time with the boys. Junpei likely would have felt much better had she been present.

"We're taking a nap?" She asked questioningly, and he nodded.

"You are." He agreed.

"We?"

"I've got some stuff to do."

"It can wait. You need a nap too."

That's all it took, Gojo too emotionally wrung out to argue with her. She felt a bit bad using his guilt against him, but Gojo needed the rest just as much as she probably did.

He set her down on the couch and dropped onto the bean bag like a sack of potatoes. She crawled her way over immediately, settling down comfortably on his chest. The weight would either help or make it worse, but he could push her aside easily enough if he felt like it.

She thought he would too for a moment, something heartbreakingly sad on his face as he looked at her, but he just draped an arm around her, so she snuggled into him.

It was peaceful, laying there. They didn't even use a blanket, but she felt warm anyway, eventually stretching out instead of staying curled up.

Gojo wasn't asleep but his glasses were off and placed on the ground next to the bean bag. Risky move, but she was sure he had backups.

Each of his breaths shifted her slightly, a comforting motion. Hearing his heartbeat, calm and steady, was relaxing too.

Falling asleep was just like drifting away.

When she woke up an unknown amount of time later, Nishinoya was snuggled into her side, also on top of Gojo. The doll patted her arm gently, then gestured downwards.

Go back to sleep, the gesture said.

So, she did, drifting off again easily.

The next time she woke, the light outside was still bright, but she still wasn't sure how long it had been. She stayed there anyway.

Things rarely felt worse after a nap, even if she didn't feel too much better. That tightness in her chest, anxiety's hold, was still lingering even if she felt relatively calm now.

Gojo was drooling slightly and snoring obnoxiously due to his position on his back. Even though it was loud, she couldn't help but relax a little, hearing it.

It was like he was telegraphing how alive he was. Silly, she knew, but relaxing all the same. If he was too quiet, she'd have to pay close attention to check and make sure he was still alive.

It was a silly thing to worry about. He was the strongest, along with Geto, and somehow ended up the more stable of the two. He wouldn't die with merely a whisper.

There was a song stuck in her head, the same section on repeat, a tune she couldn't quite place. Peaceful, quiet but so sad it made her heart ache.

She needed something else to focus on, a different song to rid herself of the most depressing song ever that was playing on repeat in her head.

Why did her brain immediately start playing SPECIALZ? It was the opposite of a happy, non-depressing song.

God, nearly all of the music she loved wasn't even out yet! It would make her sad no matter what!

The theme song from Mashle! That'd do it, catchy, upbeat, familiar, staved off panic attacks before! If only she could actually listen to it and not just play it in her head.

She needed her music back. How long until wireless headphones were in fashion? Or even in production?

Uuuggghhhh.

Being in the past sucks.

Nothing was fucking made yet. Music, video games, a goddamn smartphone, anything.

She was getting upset again.

She dropped her head with a huff, curling into Gojo's chest again. He shifted a little, but his snoring resumed, so she hadn't actually woken him up.

Throwing a tantrum like a real four-year-old was oddly tempting. Screaming her little head off also held a certain appeal.

But Gojo was asleep. Gojo deserved to sleep peacefully. She wasn't going to wake him up from a peaceful sleep just because she was irritable.

So instead, she stewed there, budding rage sending her cursed energy into a frenzy. Maybe her tantrum was entirely internal instead, her cursed energy was thrashing about like a crocodile trying to death roll an octopus into submission. Failing, clearly, and making a huge mess besides.

She needed to move before she gave Gojo frostbite.

Crawling away from Gojo was a larger feat than she expected, the teenager clearly the metaphorical octopus. The octopus may actually be the one winning in this metaphorical situation, which changes the meaning dramatically. In that the crocodile was actually trying to get away, not kill the octopus.

She was the crocodile of course.

Gojo clung to her tighter the more that she moved, like quicksand holding her.

She was really using too many metaphors.

One celestial blue eye peeked open, unfocused, but definitely gazing in her general direction. She glared at him, irrationally enraged by the sight.

"What's wrong?" Gojo asked tonelessly, not fully awake yet. Midday naps would do that to ya.

"You're holding on to me. I was trying to move." She told him, trying her best to keep her tone level. He didn't deserve her anger, he was just being a clingy little octopus. He hadn't even been awake, but now he was, because of her.

Gojo let go of her and she got up quickly, leaving the room and shutting the door, consciously forcing herself to move it gently so that she didn't slam it.

Maybe a run would cool her temper. Her cursed energy seemed to agree, and she took a step forward before she could even make a decision to do so. Cursed energy surged through her legs, urging her to move, so she did.

She ran through the building in record time, letting the door slam shut behind her, and thank god it closed instead of swinging back open, or she might have bit the damn thing out of feral rage.

The forest.

She made a beeline for the treeline, leaping clear over a fallen tree, still wet with sap. The sticks and rocky ground bit at her feet, low branches and thorny vines scratching at her ankles and legs, but she ignored it.

Running next to the river sounded fun. She turned in what was likely the right direction, faintly aware of Gojo appearing suddenly beside her, keeping pace easily. Annoying. Her legs were so short.

He didn't say anything, just ran alongside her, so she ignored him for now. She'd talk with him when she's run her feelings out.

The part of the river she reached was different than her usual spot, the dirt rockier, but the current was slow and leisurely. Slowing to a jog helped her keep an eye out for sharp stones, and Gojo slowed to nothing more than a fast rock.

"Something wrong?"

"Just mad for no reason."

"Most things have a reason."

"Well, this doesn't!" She snapped, regretting it immediately and slowed to a walk, giving up on her run.

"Sure sounds like it." Gojo said sarcastically, doing what he does best and being an annoying teenager. She adored him, but he could be irritating when he put his mind to it.

"I'm just having a hard time."

"With what?"

Quit prying, please.

"Everything."

"Anything specific?"

"Everything." She said, waving her hands around. The whole past, nothing she knew being made yet. She'd never had a clear sense of her earliest memories. Her childhood had been blurry at best, so being back in the past was so confusing.

Basics, things that had been there forever, things that had been old, hadn't even been made yet. Her first Pokémon game, Pokémon Heartgold, wasn't made yet. Fossil fighters, shepherd's crossing two, she could understand. Mario Kart? Of all things? Of all the DS games, she would have pegged Mario Kart as one of the eldest.

It wasn't here yet.

She had over ten years until the events that she was most familiar with started happening. Ten years to live and survive. She'd be in her teens by then, if she lived that long. Ten years of school, ten years of this awful fear that she had changed something, something important. Ten years of waiting for Itadori Yuji to eat a cursed finger and change the entire world.

Sakuna had to be defeated, so she couldn't just stop Yuji from becoming a vessel. What she had to do was make sure that Gojo's plan didn't go wrong, that Sakuna never took Yuji over like he did in Shibuya.

She'd have to become a jujutsu sorcerer. Psychology was off the table now, with the fate of the world at stake. She'd never get her degree, all of her years of schooling erased in an instant. Being a jujutsu sorcerer would give her the power she needed not only to survive, but to keep others alive too.

"Stop." Gojo finally ordered, holding a handout to interrupt her stomp along the riverside, the fucking injustice of it all. So many years of schooling, so much money and stress and time, all down the drain just like that.

Something about standing behind him, his arm outstretched to stop her from taking another step, sent a spark of terror through her brain, and she froze in place. Just because she didn't see anything, didn't mean that there was nothing there.

"You can scream if you want. No one's close enough to hear."

She blinked at him, confused and suddenly nervous.

Her silence and expression spoke louder than any words she could think to say, mostly imperfect renditions of Are you threatening me Gojo and What the hell does that mean, and he seemed to realize what he just said.

"I mean," he scrambled to reassure her, "if you want to scream. You aren't going to scare anyone. You're mad. So. If you wanted to yell or…"

"Thanks." She said, nonplussed. He groaned, clearly not saying what he wanted to.

"It's alright. If you want to yell. You won't get in trouble." He tried again.

Ok? She's confused about what exactly led to this conversation. Her blank stare probably gave that away before she could pretend to understand.

"It's- urgh, this sucks!" He growled, irritated, and vanished on the spot.

Alright?

She gets to sulk by the riverside then.

Maybe three minutes into her sulk, Gojo reappears, a stack of glass plates in hand. They were new, just bought even, judging by the receipt that Gojo shoved in his pocket.

He unwrapped the plate, and without further fanfare, hurled it at a tree at full force, shattering it into tiny little shards that disappeared into the undergrowth.

"It's alright to be angry." He said and handed her a plate.

She asked, slowly, "you want me to throw it?"

"Yes. If you want to."

She did not want to throw a plate. It would just make this forest more dangerous than it already was.

"Not really."

Gojo sighed, frustrated.

"What's your thought process here? I don't think I'm understanding what you're saying" She tried, and Gojo sat heavily on a rock.

"When I first enrolled in this school," oh, wow, it was backstory time, "I was perfect."

The disbelief on her face was palpable.

"Really! I was!" He said defensively. Sure.

"I didn't talk back, I didn't disobey, and I barely talked to anyone outside of missions."

That didn't sound like Gojo at all.

"Yaga-sensei walked up to us, maybe two weeks in, and he grabbed Suguru's plate right out from underneath his cup noodles and threw it against the wall. Took a week for him to get all the glass off the floor and out of the wall, it was blocked off for a while, we had to stay away for-. Anyways. Suguru yelled at him for it, saying it was pointless and dangerous. Want to know what happened?"

She nodded.

"Nothing. Yaga agreed with him, apologized, got him a new plate, and that was that. No punishment for shouting at a teacher, nothing for insults. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. So, I asked him why he did it, why he didn't punish Suguru for insubordination."

This was clearly leading somewhere, but she didn't have a clue what it could have to do with her.

"He said it wasn't illegal to be angry. Getting angry over injustice was what kept us human. He told me that he would never lash out at me for being angry. Yaga-sensei wouldn't tolerate infighting, or cruelty, but he swore to never punish us for feeling our emotions."

Oh, now she knew where this was headed.

"The next day, I blasted a building instead of the curse, and all Yaga-sensei did was laugh at me, just like Suguru and Shoko did. It was almost worse than getting hit for it, but when I corrected him for the first time during a lesson he nodded and agreed."

"He's a good man." She said, and Gojo nodded.

"He is. And he won't throw you away for being angry, or scared."

Ah. There it was, the moral to the story.

"I know that." She did. It just... didn't feel like it sometimes. Not because of Yaga, because of her.

"You do," he agreed, and tapped her on the forehead, "up here. But that doesn't mean it's down here." He pointed to her heart.

Ouch. He hit the nail on the head with that.

"Toji nearly killed you. Your memories are gone. There's a seal on your body that no one understands, and a cursed technique you can't control. You can't go a single day without something happening, you have less life experience than most babies, and yet you're enrolled in school already. And your new best friend nearly got his face melted by a bunch of bullies and you had to be the one to rescue him."

She felt cold at the reminder, her cursed energy responding to look for a threat that wasn't there. She was an adult, she could handle herself. Burdening a bunch of teenagers with her emotions would only make their already hard lives even harder. Those things were scary, but in the grand scheme of things, they didn't really matter. Once she told Geto everything he needed to know, she wouldn't be needed either. After that, she could leave and break down all she wanted without bothering anyone.

"You have a right to be angry, or scared, and to cry and scream. No one will blame you, or be angry at you. Yaga-sensei's concerned that you're always so well behaved. You don't ask us to play with you, you don't argue against rules or bedtimes, or showers or anything. He thinks you're too scared to do anything else but try your best to be good and out of the way. He knows just how sassy you can get. But you're so self-sufficient, it's like he could leave you completely alone for a week and find everything in perfect order, lunches packed, schoolwork completed. Junpei-kun would be completely fine too, fed and safe."

Thanks? He looked like that was bad somehow. How was trying her best to be competent and as self-sufficient as her age allowed a bad thing? If she could get a job she would, if only so she didn't have to be a drain on Yaga's finances for quite so long.

"Midori-chan, you don't have to be the adult here. We're all here to help you, and we all want you to feel safe enough to show us how you really feel, not the perfect kid you're trying to be. So, Midori-chan. Throw the plate."

But she did. For Geto, for Junpei, for Panda. For him. She couldn't just let herself be helpless and scared. She wasn't a little kid, unaware of the dangers of the world. Remaining aware and letting everyone see that she could handle herself meant that they wouldn't have to worry so much about her. Their job was thankless and cruel, they didn't need a kid to worry about.

It really mattered to him that much?

Slowly, she raised the plate up, pulling her arm back to throw. It felt bad, actively planning to break something.

She didn't want to. But he was asking her to. Was that the whole point of this long-winded talk that Gojo was giving her?

"I don't want to throw the plate."

He made a rolling sort of gesture with his hand, go on.

"I… I don't have to throw the plate? Is that what this is about? Even though you told me to?"

He made a so-so gesture.

"Somewhat. I'm telling you to be a brat when you feel like it, because it'll make Yaga less worried about actually punishing you when you do something really wrong. You will, don't look at me like that! Yaga-sensei is telling you that you won't be abandoned for being disobedient and to stop taking on responsibilities beyond your age. Suguru just said you should use your psychic attack on me for once, whatever that means."

"He's just so stupid with this one topic, I had to shout at him, and he's still not convinced." She hissed, irritation back in an instant.

Gojo made a see gesture, pleased by her irritation.

"Just like that! If anyone gets too mad at you, just tell me, alright? I'll scare them straight!" He said, almost wagging his metaphorical tail in eagerness. Or tentacle, she guessed. That metaphor really needed to die.

"Thank you."

There was silence for a while, a bit of an awkward one initially, until they settled down. Gojo sat in the dirt next to her, one leg outstretched and the other a rest for his chin as he leaned forward to watch the water. She sat down too, and she could feel Infinity wrap around her, letting her sprawl out comfortably without even touching the dirt, letting her fingers trail in the water without even getting wet. He threw a stick every minute or so, watching it get carried away by the current, even beyond normal eyesight, until he got bored of it and threw another one.

"Satoru-san?"

"Hm?"

"You're in love with Geto-san, right?"

He choked on nothing, coughing and staring like she had just hit him in the face with a fish for absolutely no reason.

"What!" He shrieked, his tone the highest pitch that she had ever heard from him.

"You're in love with Geto-san." She repeated, looking at him with as much 'innocence' as she could manage to pour into her expression. Like it was a fact.

"In love wit-" He stopped suddenly. He looked both dumbstruck and appraising all at once. It looked like he was going back through every interaction he had ever had with Geto in his head and coming to a very unexpected realization.

"You don't have to confess, don't force it. But you might want to drop some hints."

"Hints." Gojo echoed vaguely, still staring blankly off into space. His eyes were wide, shock and confusion warring for dominance in his expression.

"At the very least, let him know that you like guys too, get the ball rolling a little."

"Yeah…" He agreed absently, doubtlessly still lost in thoughts, pouring over every memory.

"You're good at changing the subject." He suddenly said after a few more minutes, a note of accusation in his tone.

"It's a gift." She said, false haughtiness in her tone and wide, sweeping gesture towards herself.

"So, you guys talk about me to each other?"

Gojo froze on the spot, arm cocked back, ready to throw another stick.

"No." He said quickly.

"You do, you just said so! Geto-san, and Yaga-san talked about me with you, either separately or together! What do they say?"

"Secret plans and stuff." Gojo turned away, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.

"Tell me!" She insisted, rolling around to crawl over and lean into him.

"Nope!"

"Please!"

"No."

"Satoru-san!"

"Not gonna tell you, stop asking."

You wanted a brat, Gojo. She had permission now.

"Satoru-nii …" She drawled, and his head snapped up, so fast she winced.

"I want to know what you guys say about me…"

He was wavering, hard. Calling him nii-san was clearly devastatingly effective.

"I'll call you Satoru-nii from now on."

"Deal!" Gojo said quickly, rolling over to lie on his stomach, using his elbows to sit up straighter. She crawled over to face him, like a pair of girls at a sleepover, about to spill some amazing tea. She'd never been to one, but she could imagine.

"Yaga-sensei's worried about you going back to school tomorrow, mostly. He thinks it's too soon, but he doesn't want to make school into a scary thing if you kids don't mind going back."

"It's a valid fear. Junpei might need more time to feel secure here before he goes back to school, it'll probably be too stressful to go so soon."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"How do you feel about going to school tomorrow?"

"Eh. It sucks every day, and Junpei shouldn't even be there, no matter if I go or not. People are too scared of me to bother harassing me too much. Ryu-kun took my seat on Friday, on purpose."

"No way, what'd you do?" Gojo asked, eyes bright, a growing grin on his face. He was a natural tea spiller, and apparently an avid tea drinker too. A true drama lover, no wonder he loved movies. An octo-

Nope, not doing that metaphor again, it was dead, she was killing it right here.

"I took his seat and didn't say a word to him about it."

"Should have punched him."

"Nah, that'd just get him out of school and put me in detention. It was a power move, Satoru-nii."

"Would have been better to establish dominance, like you did on the first day."

"I don't want to be dominant, I just want to be too strong to be worth bothering. I'm already the foreigner, probably even the violent foreigner, but I don't want to be the dangerous foreigner, you know?"

"Want me to do it?"

"No, nii-san, please don't threaten a bunch of preschoolers."

"Well-"

"Don't ask Geto-san to do it either."

"Bu-"

"Or anybody else."

He huffed.

"I know you want to protect me, but it's preschool, nii-san. I'm too independent and well behaved, I can handle this. A bunch of brats can't hurt me in any way that matters."

"Not even a li-"

"No!"

"... anything else cool happen?"

"Well, when Yu-nii smiled at the zoo yesterday, there was a bunch of girls who were all blushing and staring. He didn't notice, but Nanami on the other hand…" She trailed off tellingly.

"No, really? What'd he do?"

"Stepped between them. I'd bet anything that he was glaring too, you know the one-"

"I do! He uses it on me all the time!"

"Scary!" She agreed.

"So scary!" Gojo mock shudders.

"You know that guy, Neko-kun-whatever?" Gojo said suddenly, like he'd just remembered something.

"Yeah!"

"I heard he got sent to Egypt!"

"Egypt?"

"Sato-san was so mad at him for failing, from what I heard, that he wanted to demote him entirely. Getting sent to Egypt is basically a death sentence for promotion. The sorcerers there don't have any actual leader, or documentation, it's a total free for all, curse users and sorcerers alike. Ever since their upper council was wiped out by a special grade, they fractured and went wild. Nothing he does there will be documented enough to allow him to be considered for promotion!"

"Cruelty. Who'd have thought the higher ups were even capable of such a thing." She said sarcastically, and she rolled her eyes so hard she almost saw the back of her skull. Gojo's laugh was far lighter and more real than his usual mocking or prideful laughter.

"You'd think they would actually learn to care sometime. You know I got sent on a special grade mission when I was eight?"

"What the fuck, Satoru-nii!" She said, shocked.

"They claimed it was an accident, a mistaken grade, and I won of course, but my clan gave me nearly the rest of the month off, it was so worth it."

"That's so messed up. Who sends children on missions against special grade curses?"

"You literally fought with the sorcerer killer like two weeks ago, Midori-chan."

"It wasn't like I won, and besides, it was you there with me. And he started it too, when he pushed me down the stairs."

Gojo clicked his tongue and said, "Still fought Toji even though I told you to run away."

She threw her hands in the air.

"Fine, I'm an idiot, I knew that the moment he grabbed me, but I could hardly leave you to fight him alone!"

"I'm a special grade sorcerer. You are a four-year-old girl. One of us stood a much better chance of getting out of there alive."

Fair enough. She hadn't walked into that fight expecting to survive it.

They watched the river flow by for a while longer. She felt better, somehow, like a heavy weight had been taken from her shoulders.

"You'd be a great teacher, Satoru-nii."

He looked surprised and a little confused.

"Sorry. I was just thinking how well you handled that whole," she waved her hands around, "everything. I'm still not really sure how to fix it, but you didn't make me want to punch you at all, and I was ready to bite a door if it got in my way." He laughed at that. Probably didn't know how true it was.

"You're good with kids. Fun, kind, magic eyes so you can find us when we wander off. You'd be a good teacher if you wanted."

He looked surprisingly touched by her sentiment. He hadn't handled that talk perfectly, but he'd done quite well, especially with his social skills. She knew what he had meant, even if she didn't agree or was confused at first, and he even let her make her own decisions according to the lesson, letting her choose to disobey.

Gojo had tried so hard to help her there, even if she didn't really need it. Maybe she should let Yaga try and take care of her a little more, at least to put their minds at ease. And if being a brat with Gojo made him happy, she'd do it gladly. He, Nishinoya, and her could all go prank somebody. Gojo's powers could be amazing.

"Want to prank the higher-ups with me?"

"Eh?"

"Prank the higher-ups. The old guys. You can teleport, I can charm and be distracting, and you're so scary that they would be too afraid to punish us if we get caught!"

"What are you thinking?" Gojo asked, bright and eager. His feral grin was contagious, making her want to bare her teeth in return.

"Contaminate all their food with hot sauce?"

"We could also put bed bugs in their houses!"

"They'd just buy new ones."

Gojo had to concede that. Wasteful old people.

"Give everyone a day off." She said, inspiration hitting like a lightning bolt to the face.

"Is that possible?" Gojo asked, not immediately rejecting it, but still confused.

"Sneak in, impersonate someone, whatever. Just give everyone a day off, so that whenever they do one of their little meetings, no one's there. It's completely harmless, and if you do it and they know it's you, they shouldn't fire anyone. If you can cut off communication too, it'd probably take them forever to fix it. Just change a password, it'd work I bet."

"I knew you could be a brat if you wanted to!" He said, proud and delighted, and a little bit rabid too.

A little bit rabid was really the perfect way to describe that flash of homicide on his face. Lurking beneath the surface, waiting for a chance to surface. Contained, for the most part.

"It's alright to be a brat towards the higher-ups, right?"

"Yes."

She nodded. He'd back her if she got into any trouble. It was freeing, knowing she didn't have to play nice with them. Like the company owner just gave her unbridled permission to talk back to the managers.

"Yaga-sensei told you to stop cursing though."

"I'll get creative." She said, waving the words off.

"Want to go back yet?"

"No. I want to hang out longer with you."

He looked honored by that. He's a cool person, who wouldn't want to hang out with him on the riverside for as long as possible?

They hung around the river for a good hour, splashing, chatting, gossiping.

By the time she felt relaxed enough to go back to the school, a rustling in the bushes had her jumping back in surprise as Nishinoya crawled out.

He was rough looking, dirt-stained, branches and leaves hanging from his arms.

"Nishi-kun, are you alright?" She asked worriedly, hurrying over to the doll to brush him off.

The doll pointed to Gojo, who was still floating leisurely in the water, unconcerned.

The doll drew his paw across his neck slowly, an unmistakable gesture, and suddenly she was the one concerned.

"Nishi-kun, it's alright! Satoru-nii just took me to the store, then I got upset, so he brought me back. I'm the one who ran into the woods, he just followed me." She rushed to assure him, but he pointed to Gojo. A challenge or a threat, she didn't know, but Gojo's expression darkened.

"Want to fight, stuffie?" He asked, cocky and smug. It was a challenge that Nishinoya was happy to take, and he got three steps forward before she managed to grab his arm.

"No! No one's fighting. Satoru-nii, Nishinoya's my friend and my protector while I'm at school, you can't fight him!"

Nishinoya seems to have other ideas. even as Gojo's irritated expression faded. The doll stayed in place though, clinging to her shirt like he was daring Gojo to leave him behind again. She put an arm around Nishinoya, holding onto him too.

"Can we go home now, Satoru-nii?" She asked plaintively, and he nodded quickly, excited to have a task to do. Like a sheepdog, he craved having something useful to do.

He didn't teleport back, instead lifting her and Nishinoya up. He held the doll under his arm, face down, and held her gently by comparison.

"Satoru-nii, be nice to Nishinoya-kun, please!" She said, and finally Gojo held the doll properly, and arm looped around his chest and under his arms. Nishinoya looked like he wished he could bite him, but restrained himself.

They got back in about ten minutes. She missed being taller, the forest looked so different from up high.

Gojo took them right to the cafeteria, which was buzzing with activity, dinner well on its way to being complete. Yu-nii was cooking this time, chef's hat and all, stirring a pot. The smell was divine to her empty stomach, and she was ready to start drooling over it.

Stew, of some sort? Beef, definitely, but peppery smelling too. There was a half-used bag of rice, so either it had rice in it or would be served with rice. A used cutting board was stained orange, someone had chopped carrots.

Definitely some sort of beef stew. And where there was stew, surely there was some bread of some sort…

There! Up in the cabinet, within sight but out of reach, light and fluffy bread, undoubtedly freshly purchased from some bakery.

Gojo had joined Geto at a table, the lovesick fool, and already they were scuffling with each other. Gojo was trying to steal something from him, doubtless.

Stew, stew, she loved stew! Homemade stew, she loved stew.

She was almost bouncing on her feet as she went over to Yu-nii's side, making sure to keep out of his way.

"Yu-nii!" She called when he removed his spoon and handed it over to Nanami, making him look at her before she threw her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

"Hi, Midori-chan!" He said cheerfully, and she grinned up at him. Being in a good mood just felt so much better.

"You're making stew?" She asked, just to be sure that it was actually, and he nodded seriously.

"Do you like stew?" He asked and when she nodded enthusiastically, he smiled in return.

"Want to help? I still have to cut the bread, and Nanami-kun needs a supervisor to make sure he doesn't spill the broth again." The glare he shot at Nanami wasn't deadly exactly, but life-threatening at least.

"Aye aye, sir!" She said, and saluted. It made him giggle, a sound that had Nanami's steady stirring turned into a fumbled stir, scraping the side of the pan and splashing broth out the other side.

"Kento!" Yu-nii chastised, the first name slipping out automatically. Nanami's blush was subtle, and he played it cool well enough, but looking down only gave her a better view. She didn't know if they were in love or if Nanami just had a one-sided crush, but he was being pretty obvious about it, for all that Yu-nii reacted.

"You gotta stir slower. And don't forget the middle!" She told him, dragging a chair over so that she could see the motions that he was making.

By the time Yu-nii finished cutting the bread there was a small crowd, all drawn in by the power of a good stew.

Yu-nii took the pot from the burner, transferring it to a hot pad on a table and smacking Gojo's reaching hand away.

She stood there and watched for a few moments, just to appreciate the sight. Gojo and Geto were laughing at a joke or something that Yaga had made. Nanami was portioning out the stew into bowls, just to get everyone the chance to eat while the two main troublemakers were distracted. Riko and Kuroi were waiting patiently, politely fighting with Yu-nii over who got the first bowl. Riko and Kuroi were winning, pushing the bowl into Yu-nii's hands as Nanami held out another bowl just to stop their fighting. Gojo saw her standing there and waved her over invitingly. Junpei waited patiently at a table, talking with Panda passionately. Talking about a horror movie, without a doubt.

The stew was amazing.

The company was even more so.