Itadori Yuuji left Sendai for Tokyo.
His departure was decided rather quickly―too quickly, even, with his grandfather’s recent passing.
However――
If he had one attachment to Sendai, it was most certainly his best friend since middle school, a soft-spoken yet determined girl, with a smile akin to a sunflower.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
“You’re moving to Tokyo?”
“...Yeah, real soon.”
Itadori spoke in a rather weak voice one wouldn’t expect from him. He kept rolling his yakisoba bread between his hands, fidgeting non-stop. In stark contrast, beside him, his friend continued to eat her lunch box, relaxed.
“How soon?”
“...Like, tomorrow.”
Her hand stopped as she turned to look at him. Itadori felt like turning his eyes away, but he knew that if he were to do that, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
“Tomorrow.”
“Yeah, tomorrow.”
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
Itadori had always known that her intuition was, most of the time, eerily on-point.
Even during the incident at school with Fushiguro――
“Sasaki-senpai, Iguchi-senpai, Yuuji-kun, please be careful,” she said, just two days before it happened. Those words came out without any preface: it took a moment for everyone in the room to actually process what she had just said. They were just chilling in the Occult Club room (although she’s actually part of the Tea Ceremony Club) with the two seniors of the club, doing occultically(?) productive activities.
“What’s wrong?” Itadori asked, as he put down the supposedly haunted, antique ouija board they spent all of their meagre club funds on.
“Yeah, that’s a bit too sudden,” Iguchi chimed in.
“Is it one of your ‘gut feeling’ thing?” Sasaki inquired, her voice filled with childlike excitement. After all they’re the occult club, and the girl’s extraordinary intuition certainly piqued her occult sense―which was why she half-forced Itadori to ask the girl to come to the club room whenever she’s free. Who knows if they’d found themselves the perfect research subject?
The girl in question looked down, “I... I think so,” she replied weakly, “Please refrain from doing anything dangerous, okay? Especially you, Itadori-kun.”
Itadori pointed at himself as the two seniors turned their gaze towards him, “You’re being super specific...”
“But you know what, I understand the sentiment,” Iguchi remarked, “He totally looks like he’d jump from a fifteen-story building if it’s to, you know, save a kitten.”
“You’re telling me you don’t do that!?” Itadori looked at Iguchi in disbelief, “I mean, it’s a kitten! Kitten!”
Sasaki sighed, “Just let those two be,” she said, as she moved her gaze from the two who kept on arguing over how far they’d go to save a kitten, “Do you have a... more concrete advice?”
“Concrete?”
“Like, maybe your intuition is like a low-level version of clairvoyance, you know?” She explained, “Who knows if you could level it up so it doesn’t end up as just a vague gut feeling?”
The girl put a hand on her chin, thinking, “Hmm...” she started, “I’m not really sure... But I’ll try to ponder on it at home.”
Sasaki smiled, “Yeah, you do that. By the way, you’re not going to the tea ceremony club activity today?”
“Eh?” She glanced at the wall clock and immediately shouted, “Ah!! It’s already this late...!!”
She immediately tidied up her belongings and left the room after giving a polite good-bye.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
――In the end, the incident happened before she could report on the results of her pondering, but for sure she felt guilty about the incident. Despite the incident being masked as something else altogether (curse explanations don’t really fly in the modern society), she must have felt responsible. After all, she could have done something, like stopping the seniors from doing a visibly, obviously dangerous thing like breaking into the school at night and opening the seal of a visibly, obviously ominous object like Ryomen Sukuna’s finger (although to be fair, at that time they wouldn’t have known it was the finger of the King of the Curses, of all things).
“Though she really shouldn’t beat herself up this much... after all, the seniors are safe now,” Itadori thought, as he briefly observed her features, “...She’s as small as ever.”
Since they first met, Itadori had always thought that she looked pretty. She’s not beautiful in a flashy way, but looking at her makes you feel at peace―especially her smile. Itadori thought that her smile looked kind of magical: it makes your chest feel warm and nice. She’s also humble and kind to others, although Itadori does think that sometimes she really needs to be more assertive. All in all, in the three years he’s known her, she had always been a good friend.
Though, of course it’d be a lie to say that Itadori has never held negative feelings towards her.
Especially when she’d show her warm smile to other guys, he―
“―Yuuji-kun?”
“Huh? Oh!”
His reverie was cut short as the girl looked at him in curiosity.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m super fine!” Itadori made exaggerated gestures to further prove his point, “So―”
“So I asked if your moving has something to do with the incident a few days ago...” She said, her voice lowering with every syllable until Itadori could barely hear the last words. Her voice trembled, and she wouldn’t look at him in the eye.
“...” Itadori hesitated to reply for a short while, “No. I mean yes, but no... I mean,”
The girl looked up to see him, and waited patiently for him to elaborate.
“I... when my grandfather died, I was told to help people. As many as I can,” he started, “And I found it.”
“You found... what?”
“I found the way to do it. I found... something I want to do.”
“And it’s in Tokyo?”
“Yeah.”
The girl paused, thinking. It took her a few seconds to finally look at Itadori straight in the eye, and said, “I understand.”
“I’m really happy for you,” she continued, “I’m glad you’ve found something you want to do.”
Itadori couldn’t avert his eyes from the girl’s sad smile and her glistening eyes.
“But I really wish you’d tell me earlier... stupid Yuuji-kun.”
He couldn’t help but to reach his arms towards her and pull her into a tight embrace.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
Itadori died.
Gojou Satoru’s anger seeped out of him as he walked through the deserted hallways of the technical school.
Everyone who knew Gojou would, in unison, say that he’s a mysterious person. Fundamentally unserious, he always has his trademark frivolous smile on at all times―even when he’s up against a special grade curse, one that a normal sorcerer would call ‘impossible opponents’. Yet, today, just by looking at him you’d be able to feel his rage as it ran through the air, intimidating everyone in sight.
He had just gotten the information of Itadori’s passing from Fushiguro―and the only thing he could think of was, fuck the sorcery world. He’d understood how rotten the higher-ups are firsthand, yet he couldn’t believe that when he’s out finishing a job for them, they’d dare execute their shitty agenda against his cute students.
Only a moment ago he had kicked open a certain office room and retrieved all of Itadori’s belongings that was taken away by the school’s officials―and now he’s on his way to the morgue to see Itadori’s dead body firsthand.
Suddenly an unfamiliar tone rung from the bag he has on his hand, the bag filled with Itadori’s belongings.
“...?”
He rummaged through the bag and fished out a smartphone―certainly Itadori’s―and looked at the screen.
On it was written a caller name―a name unfamiliar to him. Perhaps Itadori’s friend in Sendai?
Gojou weighed on his options. Should he answer the call? Surely the caller would be surprised: after all, it wasn’t their friend on the other end, but an unknown man. Depending on the person, they’d perhaps even call the cops on him. ...That wouldn’t be good.
Yet, he once again looked at the caller tag.
The caller name wasn’t your usual formal name. It was a nickname―a rather cute one to boot―and through the notification panel Gojou noticed that the same person had called over around three times. Must have been someone rather close to Itadori. After another ring, Gojou finally decided to pick up the call whilst continuing on his tracks to the morgue. He slid his thumb over the screen, and after a second of silence――
“...Hello? Yuuji-kun?”
To Gojou’s surprise, a soft feminine voice welcomed him the next moment.
A girl... could she be Itadori’s girlfriend? But he’s never told Gojou anything about leaving behind a significant other in Sendai.
“Hello,” Gojou decided to reply.
“...Eh!?” A surprised voice rang out from the other end, “This is Itadori Yuuji’s number, right?”
“Yeah, yes it is,” Gojou said, “Sorry to surprise. I’m Gojou Satoru, his teacher.”
“Huh!? Teacher!? I-I’m really sorry for my rudeness! But――”
“You know, Yuuji left his phone in the classroom, so I’m about to give it back to him,” He cut in with his usual light-hearted tone, “He’s such a forgetful kid sometimes―”
“―I’m very sorry to interrupt,” her tone turned into a grave one, Gojou noted, “But are you not telling me the truth, Gojou-sensei?”
Gojou stopped walking in surprise.
“...What makes you think that?”
“...” The girl on the other end paused, “I’m sorry for being rude. It’s just that I can feel it.”
“Feel?”
“I don’t know how to explain. It just.... felt like something bad has happened to him. Please, tell me the truth...”
Her voice was weak, desperate, even. Gojou felt his interest piqued: she’s very sharp, too sharp even, for an ordinary person―although it might have been a coincidence. For a mere gut feeling, she sounded very confident and determined. Yet, there’s no way he could tell anyone outside of the school, much less Itadori’s friend back in Sendai, that Itadori has died. Once again he could feel boiling anger rose from the pits of his stomach. Gojou calmed himself down.
“It’s true,” He decided to reply, “He really did left his phone in the classroom. He’s currently out doing some field work, so...”
“...Really?”
She still sounded like she’s not convinced.
“Really!” He said, “You know, maybe he just tripped somewhere.”
“Tripped?”
She sounded genuinely surprised.
“Yeah! Sendai might be different, but you know, tripping is a really huge thing here in Tokyo,” he said, “Everywhere’s full of people, so wherever you trip and fall you’d feel super embarrassed since lots of people will turn to look at you. It’s really, really bad.”
“I... see...?”
“So that’s why, there’s no need to worry.”
“...Okay, thank you very much, Sensei...”
“No problem!”
Gojou was about to cut the call before she said something else.
“Please take care of Yuuji-kun well. He’s a really kind person.”
“...Yeah.”
The girl cut off the call, and Gojou could feel rage seeping out from each and every pore on his body.
If the situation allows, he would really be ripping the necks of those stinky grandpas up top right now. Honestly, fuck them to hell.
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
Itadori was, miraculously, resurrected back to life.
Ryomen Sukuna truly is something, Gojou thought as he led the way towards the underground movie room, where Itadori’s secret training will be held in. To regrow a whole human heart like that.
Some things still feels wrong on his mind, yet since there’s no way to make sure of anything, he decided to keep observing Itadori from now on.
“Gojou-sensei?”
Suddenly, the student beside him called, and Gojou reflexively turned his head towards him.
“What’s up?”
“Do you have my belongings?”
“Ah.”
In the midst of the confusion, he’d forgotten to give the boy his belongings back. He immediately handed the bag still on his hand, as he said, “Here you go.”
“Thanks!”
Gojou observed as Itadori rummaged through the bag. Finally he fished out his smartphone and after unlocking the phone, he immediately tapped the contacts icon on the screen. Itadori scrolled and scrolled until he finally found a rather familiar contact name: it was the girl calling for him some time ago, the one that Gojou spoke to.
Itadori weighed whether or not he should call her. After all, he’s supposed to be dead (and the only people to know his ‘resurrection’ as of now is Ieiri, Ijichi, and Gojou)―he let his fingers glide over the call button before he finally turned at Gojou and asked, “Sensei, can I――”
“Yeah, sure,” He replied, before Itadori could even finish his words. Itadori smiled brightly and tapped on the call button. After he put his phone on his ear, Gojou asked in a teasing tone, “Your girlfriend?”
“Wha-, huh!?” Itadori’s face turned redder by the second, “She’s just――”
However, before he could finish his sentence, it seems that the girl on the other side has picked up the phone. Itadori immediately corrected his posture, called the girl’s name and said, “Uh- umm, hello?”
“...Yuuji-kun?”
“Huh? Yeah, it’s me.” Itadori found it weird that she’d ask such a question. After all, it was his phone number.
Gojou quietly observed the exchange between Itadori and the mysterious girl on the other end of the call. Itadori narrowed his eyes fondly as he talked with her, perhaps unconsciously, showing his pure feelings towards her. You show this kind of expression and you said she’s not your girlfriend? That’s harder to believe, Gojou thought.
“I swear I’m really fine!” Itadori said, “It’s just that I know your intuition must’ve told you something, so I called.”
“...Yeah. What, you called me more than three times already?” Itadori’s eyes widened, “Gojou-sensei picked up the call?”
Itadori immediately turned to look at Gojou, but the latter has already resumed walking, rather innocently, towards their destination. Itadori hurriedly followed after him, still talking on the phone.
“Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah... yeah! Gojou-sensei’s right!” Itadori immediately said, “I fell over on Shibuya Crossing. You know how it’s really crowded there, right? Yeah... It was really embarrassing!”
Itadori followed through Gojou’s white lie. After all, there’s no way he could tell her he had just died. She’d probably pass out from shock.
“You know what, you should visit Tokyo and we’ll have a day out together! I’ll have mastered the ways of the capital by then.” Itadori said, smiling widely, “Yeah, and we’ll have lots of good food. It’ll be fun!”
After a few moments of chattering, Itadori finally cut off the call, despite being a little reluctant. Right after, Itadori turned his head towards Gojou, with confusion clear in his eyes.
“Gojou-sensei, what’s with――”
However, before he managed to finish his question, Gojou cuts in with his usual frivolous smile: “Smoothly making date plans... aren’t you quite the guy, Yuuji?”
Itadori’s face turned deep red in a twinkle.
“D-d-d-d-date!?”
“I mean, what else is it but a date?” Gojou reiterated, “Two people walking ‘round Tokyo just the two of them. That’s literally the text book definition of date.”
“No, but we’re not even dating, so it’s――”
Gojou decided to just let Itadori go on his denial charade without interrupting. Yet again he thought of the rotten hearts of the sorcery world’s higher ups, trying to―and actually succeeding once―arbitrarily extinguish the flames of a youth’s life. Itadori Yuuji’s life―and love life―has just started. There are still a lot of things he’d experience in his lifetime to develop his own sense of self. Gojou swore he won’t let anyone bother his students’ growth.
And now, to protect his students, he has to do his part, too.
Finishing off his thoughts, he stepped down the rather narrow stairs with Itadori following behind him.
“I wonder what I should get for dinner. I guess I’ll go get some cakse from Aigre Douce today.”
· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·
“You know what, you should visit Tokyo and we’ll have a day out together! I’ll have mastered the ways of the capital by then.”
“Day out... together?”
“Yeah, and we’ll have lots of good food. It’ll be fun!”
“...”
“Hello?”
“Oh... Oh, sorry! It’s just that I’m really, really happy.”
“Happy...?”
“...Just by thinking of seeing you again makes my chest feel light...”
“Wh-wha...”
“I really miss spending time with you, Yuuji-kun. I can’t wait. It’s a promise, okay?”
“...Yeah, I miss you too, so much. It’s a promise.”
No comments:
Post a Comment