Maki stirred awake as something seemed to tickle her nose.
The early morning light filtered softly through the curtains, casting a quiet glow across the room as her eyes slowly opened, still heavy with sleep, only for her senses to sharpen almost immediately when she realised she was not in her own bed.
For a brief second, confusion crossed her face before memory caught up, and with it came the awareness of exactly where she was.
The itchiness on her nose spiked as she shifted slightly, hurling something in her nostril.
She backed off with a quick jerk only to find a mop of black locks right in front of her face.
On further observation, she noticed that she was lying right beside Yami.
No, lying next to didn't seem to explain their condition quite clearly, they were completely entangled with each other.
His head was nestled deep into her bosom, hands snaking around her waist, and both of their legs were lapped around each other.
She herself unknowingly had a tight grasp on his back and head with both of her hands which were wrapped around him, as if pulling him closer to her.
No wonder she felt so comfortable, she had a human-sized cushion to snuggle into. The way she was holding onto him, she wouldn't have found it strange that it was her alone who was responsible for both of them ending up in this embarrassing position to begin with.
A rare flash of color spread across her cheeks as she stiffened slightly, her mind processing how she had ended up here after intending to simply leave him to rest, only to have dozed off while sitting beside him. Carefully, almost cautiously, she turned her head to look at him.
He was still asleep.
His breathing was steady and calm, they were snuggling so close that she could feel his heat, his breath, and his heartbeat alone.
His expression was far more relaxed than it had been the night before, as if her presence was giving him reassurance that he was safe, and for a moment, Maki simply watched him, the faint tension in her shoulders easing as she let out a quiet breath of relief.
"…Good, stay just like that," she muttered under her breath.
Slowly, she began to move, carefully untangling herself from him without making too much noise, making sure not to wake him in the process, because the last thing she wanted was to deal with whatever awkward explanation would follow if he opened his eyes right now.
Once free, she stood up, adjusting her posture slightly before glancing back at him one last time, and without really thinking about it, she reached out and gave his hair a small, gentle ruffle, the motion brief but oddly natural.
Then she turned and left the room. The door closed softly behind her.
And the moment it did—The boy in question had his eyes snap open wide.
I stayed still.
Completely still.
Not even daring to shift as I stared at the ceiling, my mind catching up to everything that had just happened.
I had already been awake earlier, long enough to realize that Maki had been lying right next to me, and not just that, but that we had somehow ended up tangled enough in our sleep that moving even slightly would have risked waking her.
Last thing I wished for was to wake up that sadistic woman, let alone having to explain why we both were sleeping together.
To be honest, I still wasn't certain why. Last I remember, I should be in the library, no?
Did I read and come back to my room?
I couldn't recall any of it.
So I stayed. Pretended to sleep.
Because honestly, what else was I supposed to do, get up and leave my own room?
"…Yeah, no," I muttered under my breath, finally letting out a quiet sigh as I pushed myself up slightly, running a hand through my hair as I tried to process the situation.
While it felt very comforting to get snuggled into her like that, I shook my head and questioned once again why this would have happened.
And the answer was only one, I might have fallen asleep in the library and Maki had brought me here. And didn't go back.
That was the most likely explanation.
Sigh… I let out another sigh and ruffled my hair, a dreading feeling creeping in that today's training was going to be extra painful for some reason.
Outside of the room, just as Maki left the room, she didn't seem it necessary to check whether someone was looking.
Unfortunately for both of them, someone was indeed there.
Panda had just turned the corner at the perfect, or perhaps worst, possible time.
He froze, then blinked his panda eyes as Maki stepped out of the new guy's room.
Silence. He let the sadistic woman go first, he was an animal, yes, but he wasn't stupid.
Then slowly, very slowly, his expression began to change.
"…Oh," he said, his voice low and thoughtful.
"OHHHHHHHH…."
-x-
I rushed to do my daily rituals as fast as I could before stuffing my face with whatever was available in the cafeteria before rushing to the training ground. I was late yesterday, I don't intend to repeat that.
The moment I stepped onto the training ground though, I knew something was off.
For once, Maki was already there, standing with her weapon resting against her shoulder like always, yet for some reason, neither of us spoke, and more importantly, neither of us looked directly at each other.
I was a bit too fidgety to calm my racing nerves, and she was trying pretty hard to hide that small blush on her face, seeing my misery.
At least, I hoped she still thought I didn't know what happened.
Every time our gazes even came close to meeting, one of us would look away first, as if silently agreeing to pretend that nothing unusual had happened.
Which only made it worse. Because when we both were intended to meet and train together, yet didn't speak with each other for a better part of a minute after coming face to face, the environment turned extremely awkward on both sides.
I cleared my throat, shifting my stance slightly. "So… we starting?" I asked, trying to sound normal.
"Obviously," she replied, that seemed to finally break the ice between us, though her eyes were still fixed somewhere past my shoulder rather than on me. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you slept properly last night."
I had to muster every bit of self-composure I had to not break out into either a blush or a face which could feel borderline overacting and revealing my real thoughts.
Did she have to bring up sleep in the conversation?
But teasing can go both ways, missy...
"Ah... you can tell." I grinned, ruffling the back of my head with a sheepish smile.
"Actually, I couldn't sleep well after what happened in Shibuya. All sorts of nightmares haunting me in my dreams. But last night was different..." I trailed off, making her stiff.
"Different... how?" she asked, acting like she didn't care.
"Hmm... I can't say exactly, but I felt comfortable. Like someone was there for me, holding me in an embrace. I even dreamed about hugging this beautiful angel in my dream. It was something else, honestly.
If only I could ask God for that feeling once again. It felt so nice, so—"
"Whatever!" She intervened midway.
"You're here to train or what?" she snapped, moving away from me, facing the other way, but I could tell she was trying hard to hide her face.
And indeed she was, Maki was blushing up a storm at this description.
'Me... an angel...' She snorted undignifiedly, though the blush wasn't fading away.
'Idiot...'
The reaction was honestly cute, to see Maki Zenin of all people this frustrated was rare. Part of me wished to push the agenda, but before I could increase the amount of pain I was about to receive at the hands of this sadistic woman just because I found her flustered self cute, someone ruined my plan.
"Akindo!" Someone called.
I turned, spotting one of the assistants from Tokyo Jujutsu High approaching us in a hurry.
"Principal Yaga is calling for you," he said.
Both Maki and I paused at that.
"…Now?" I asked.
"Yes."
I glanced at Maki, who finally looked at me properly for the first time since I arrived, though her expression was just as confused as mine.
"Go," she said after a moment. "Don't keep him waiting."
Honestly, I wasn't about to argue with that.
"Yeah," I muttered, already turning. "I'll be back."
And with that, I left the training ground behind.
When I stepped into Masamichi Yaga's office, the first thing I noticed was how tired he looked.
Not physically, but something deeper, something that showed in the way he sat, the way his gaze lingered for just a moment too long before settling on me.
"You called for me," I said, stepping forward.
"I did," he replied, gesturing for me to sit.
I took the seat, waiting.
For a moment, he didn't say anything, instead studying me in silence before finally speaking.
"I've heard about your training," he said. "And your decision to stay here."
I nodded. "Yeah."
"And you intend to fight," he continued.
"Yes."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "You mean that?"
"I do."
There was no hesitation in my voice.
He leaned back slightly, folding his arms. "Then answer me this," he said. "Why do you want to join Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
I already knew this question mattered. Anime knowledge to the rescue.
Not the words mattered as much as the intent behind them for this particular question.
I took a breath before answering.
"I want to get stronger," I said, my voice steady. "Strong enough that I never end up like I did in Shibuya again."
His gaze sharpened.
"I was helpless," I continued, the memory still clear in my mind. "I ran, I survived, it was horrible honestly. I thought I'll die every second of that night. Even I'm uncertain how I'm alive. I don't wanna be that weak and helpless anymore. Never!"
I clenched my hand slightly.
"And if I get stronger," I added, "then maybe I can stop things like that from happening to others. So no one else has to go through that."
Silence followed.
Yaga didn't respond immediately, his expression unreadable as he seemed to weigh my words, not just what I said, but how I said it.
"…That's not a noble answer," he said after a moment.
"I doubt you wanted a noble answer from me," I replied.
"You're right on that one..."
I didn't say anything after that, just let him glare at me. I stuck with my answer.
He let out a quiet breath before nodding slightly. "Good," he said.
Relief didn't come, though.
Because his expression didn't ease.
"There's something else," he continued.
I straightened slightly.
"The higher-ups have called for me," he said. "And for you."
My brows furrowed. "Me?"
"Yes."
A slight tension settled in my chest. Why me?
What did I do?
"They're aware of you," he added. "What you did in Shibuya. Since you're not a jujutsu sorcerer, they are within their right to declare you a curse user. They haven't done it so far since you have shown no hostile intention and since I spoke up for you. However, it's only so far they can let you recover here. They need to know where your loyalty lies, they wish to assess you."
Assist my ass, they are calling me to show who pulls the strings, it's a f*cking power play move.
Or even worse, they are trying to target me for something. Makes sense since they would at least know that I stood up against a few special grade curses and Sukuna.
'F*ck my life...'
That didn't sound good. Not at all. I'm not even sure what kind of power these higher-ups hold since they never dared to move when Gojo was covering up students like Yuta and Yuji.
Yaga leaned forward slightly, his gaze firm. "Before we go," he said, "I need to know something."
I met his eyes.
"When you stand in front of them," he continued, "will you remain indifferent… or will you stand as a jujutsu sorcerer?"
The question hung in the air.
I understood what he meant.
He was asking me to choose, either join the jujutsu sorcerers and be one with them, effectively not letting them press any charges onto me legally about being a curse user. But that would put me under their command.
Follow their orders and lick their asses...
Even though I didn't know what kind of command structure and authority these higher-ups had, once again the irritation of not reading the manga hit me hard, I at least knew that Gojo was against them, meaning they were bad news.
I exhaled slowly.
"…I'll stand," I said. "As a sorcerer."
Because it was still better than being hunted.
Yaga watched me for a moment longer.
Then he nodded.
"Good," he said quietly.
"You may go..." Yaga nodded.
I sighed, wondering what kind of trouble was in front of me with this impromptu call from the higher-ups.
And then a sharp irritation flashed inside me, I just had enough of this world.
'I hope whatever they have in mind is reasonable, cause if not, then... I too am not feeling very civilised after Shibuya.'
xXx
A/N : Ah, of course the higher up has to put their nose here since Satoru wasn't here anymore. Let see what's they have to say.
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