𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎 | ᶦᵗᵃᵈᵒʳᶦ ʸᵘʲᶦ

¹⁵

it was a nice and warm summer day in tokyo. katsumi was sitting on the railing, her eyes closed as she basked in the warm sun. next to her were fushiguro and the second-years; inumaki, zenin and panda.

''huh? why is everyone empty-handed?!'' nobara's voice cut through the silence. the said girl appeared in front of the group with luggage next to her. katsumi opened her eyes, her turquoise eyes landing on nobara's confused form.

''why do you have luggage?'' panda asked the ginger.

''why?! we're going to kyoto, right?'' nobara stopped for a second, staring at panda. ''it's an exchange event in kyoto...''

a small giggle escaped katsumi's lips. the girl jumped down from the railing and stretched her arms over her head. she heard a satisfying crack coming from her shoulders, making her let out a sigh of relief.

''they're here'' maki announced, making all tokyo students avert their attention towards the group that was approaching them.

''is this a welcome party? gross.'' zenin mai commented, rolling her eyes.

''i don't see okkotsu.'' a tall and buff male spoke up from the back of the group and katsumi recognized him as tōdō aoi, kyoto's third-year student.

nobara huffed in annoyance, motioning at them with her hand. ''shut up and hand over the souvenirs; yatsuhashi sweets, kuzukiri noodles, buckwheat noodles...''

''salmon''

''what? you hungry?'' tōdō deadpanned.

''now, no need to waste energy with them, nobara'' katsumi walked up from behind nobara, putting a hand on the said girl's shoulder. ''you gotta save that energy to beat them~''

nishimiya momo shuddered at the two first-years, more specifically at katsumi who had a big grin on her lips. ''scary~''

''forget about okkotsu'' a mechanic voice spoke up. mechamaru's robot eyes looked at the three first-years. ''aren't you taking too much of a handicap with three first-years?''

''age is irrelevant with jujutsu sorcerers'' kamo noritoshi added. ''especially with fushiguro, he's a zenin after all. the same goes with miyazawa, she's already a grade one sorcerer''

katsumi's nose wrinkled in distaste at the mention of her mother's side of the family. ''the last time i checked, kamo, it said hamasaki on my birth certificate, not miyazawa.''

''hey,now. no fighting'' a new voice interrupted the group. everyone turned towards the back where iori utahime was walking towards them. the teacher let out a sigh, shaking her head. ''what will i do with you kids? and where's that idiot?''

katsumi stayed silent, her mind going back to her teacher. the said man had informed her of being late as he was preparing a big surprise. katsumi had tried talking gojō and itadori out of the former's ridiculous idea, but it all went to waste, and the only thing left was to sit by and watch.

''here i am!'' an all too familiar voice yelled out in excitement. katsumi's head turned towards gojō and she facepalmed. the teacher was pulling a metal box and was handing out tribal charms to the kyoto students.

''and for the tokyo kids!!''

the blondish girl could only watch as itadori jumped out of the metal box, a big boyish grin gracing his lips. ''it's the dearly departed itadori yūji!!''

nobara and fushiguro paled, staring at itadori in shock. the said boy's face fell in disappointment and he turned towards katsumi, his eyes screaming for help. the blonde girl raised her hands in a surrender motion, shrugging her shoulders and mouthing 'i told you so'.

''don't you think this is a bit too harsh?''

katsumi held back her giggles at the scene in front of her. itadori was on his knees, holding a picture frame used for funerals, while fushiguro and nobara avoided his eyes.

''just shut up and sit there.''

''c'mon, he explained himself. you should just forgive him already.'' panda shrugged. itadori glanced up at panda, his brows furrowed in confusion. ''it talks!''

''salmon, salmon.'' inumaki agreed, his voice coming up muffled from behind his vest. itadori's head whirled towards the silver-haired boy, a literal question mark appearing above his head. ''what?''

katsumi summoned her petals, making them grab itadori's frame from his hands and put it on a nearby table. the boy nodded in thanks and looked back at fushiguro who was explaining to him what inumaki's cursed technique was.

''it's all in the past now, what matters is that he's once again with us'' katsumi tried to calm nobara. the ginger-haired girl turned towards katsumi, her eyebrow raised.

''you knew?!''

katsumi gave a lopsided grin, scratching the back of her neck. ''oh my would you look at the time i think it's time to–''

''you knew that he was alive?!''

''i'm sorry! i found out on accident and gojō sensei made me swear not to tell anyone!''