WHAT IF. MAI ZENIN

❥ side mission

"Ah, Kei Murasaki." The old man kept his tight lip with hands crossed behind his back. "What brings you here to Kyoto?"

"Kei came here to accompany me." Gojo spoke for his student.

"It's also because I'm here to see Mai. Is she nearby?" Kei blurted with desperation in his voice. Gojo looked startled by his question. He did not want the elder to know why he was really here. Gakunganji's eyebrows rose in amusement and gave a small smile.

"Oh, the Zenin girl? Yes, she must be at the courtyard with the other students. I believe she and the second-years are on their lunch period."

"Thank you, sir." Kei bowed politely. "Sensei, is it okay if I catch up with you later?"

"Yeah, Kei. Be careful, you hear me?" And the boy was off. The two older men watched him go with a moment of silence before the principal started to speak up.

"Those two have spent a lot of time with each other, haven't they?" He mused. Gojo turned his heel and looked at him sternly behind the blindfold.

"Stay out of this." Gojo scoffed. "They're just kids hanging out together. Nothing more."

"He did sound worried though." Gakunganji continues. "Especially that Mai girl seems to be so fixated on him these days."

"How would you know?"

"I'm close to the Zenin family, Gojo. Of course, I keep tabs on what their youngest is up to."

"You're spying on her?!" Mai wasn't even his student but he voiced his aggression for he felt it was the wrong thing to do. Poor girl can't even have her privacy.

"I'm just saying, if those two become a match, I have no choice but to tell her family. Murasaki is a gifted boy and surely he'd benefit the family if he were to marry her."

"He's just a teenager." Gojo retorted. "Let the boy live his life."

"This is for the sake of the jujutsu world. But your selfishness wouldn't know anything about that, correct?"

Gojo grunts at the man. He made many sacrifices, one of them being the toughest was when he put down his own best friend. There was no way in hell he was going to let Kei be put into an arranged marriage.

-

Momo and Miwa ate on the lunch benches with Mai. Momo was munching on her sandwich and her eyes diverted from her lunch, only to see a silhouette approaching. The moment she saw Kei coming over to them, she immediately nudged her blue-hair friend.

"Shut up. Miwa, Miwa, look over there!" Momo harshly whispered at Miwa who almost chokes on an apple slice. Her eyes widened and looked at the desired destination. No way, she thought.

"Mai, behind you. I think someone's come to talk to you." She whispered enough for her to hear. She turned around in her hunched position and she froze right away.

"Kei..what are you doing here?"

"I know I'm the last person you want to talk to right now, but I have to apologize for what happened two days ago."

Mai looked back at her friends who nudged her to go speak to him privately. She gulped to herself before getting off the bench. She took Kei to a shady spot.

"Mai, I'm really sorry I made you uncomfortable that day. You were right, I was stupid. I should have asked you how you felt when Nobara wanted to come with us."