pomegranate ink | y. okkotsu

ii

"That's good," he said. He seemed genuinely cheered up by this, which you found odd.

"Can you put her away or something? All of her cursed energy is uncomfortable," you said. The boy shrugged.

"I wish I could, but she doesn't ever listen to me. She'll probably leave soon," he said.

"Okay," you said, "I guess I'll just wait here with you until she does."

"Why?" he said. You sighed heavily, sitting down across from him — a safe distance away, to be sure, but the sitting served to put the both of you at ease.

"I've been tasked with retrieving you, you see. Which will be much easier to do without a special-grade curse floating around, trying to kill me," you said.

"Oh. Alright," he said, "Though it might be a while before she goes."

"Tell her to hurry up," you said, confused that he wasn't questioning you a little more, "If you want her victims to survive, at least."

"I can try," he said, furrowing his brow, "Rika, please go away."

There was a garbled cry from the closet; it grated on both your nerves and your ears, but the boy seemed to understand.

"What's the verdict?" you said, raising your eyebrows.

"I don't know," he said, "Hopefully soon."

"Wonderful," you said under your breath, "Well. I suppose we should at least introduce ourselves. I'm Y/N L/N. You can call me Y/N."

"Yuta Okkotsu," he said, sounding nervous, as if introductions were something he was not practiced in, "Yuta. Just Yuta is fine."

"Nice to meet you, Yuta," you said, politely enough that the lie was believable.

"Nice to meet you, too, Miss Y/N," he said. Your face scrunched.

"Um, I think we're the same age, so please don't call me Miss," you said. He ducked his head.

"Sorry, you just look so formal and official in your uniform. It feels odd to think of you as my peer," he said awkwardly.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're probably leagues more powerful than me," you offered, "So you may think of yourself as above me, if you wish."

"N-no!" he said immediately. "I'm not above anyone!"

"I was just joking, relax," you said, amazed at his vehement disagreement. Before he could respond, there was a crackle of static electricity, and then the cursed energy vanished from the room. You let out a sigh of relief, allowing your body to release the tension coiled in every one of your muscles and then springing to your feet. Yuta seemed surprised at the sudden motion but did not try to follow. You ignored him, retrieving your phone and calling Gojo.

"Hello?" he said.

"Gojo! Useless oaf, you can come up here now," you said.

"You've been hanging out with Maki too much. I can't believe my sweet little Y/N is insulting me now!" he said.

"Sorry," you said, out of habit more than anything, "I didn't mean it."

"I was just joking, relax!" he said, hanging up instantly. You made a sour face at the dark screen, not appreciating your own words being thrown back at you — not that Gojo knew he was doing that.

Once Gojo arrived on the scene, things got done very quickly. The boys that had been attacked by the curse, Rika, were sent to be healed by various Reverse Cursed Technique users, including your family. You wondered what your father would think when he found out that you had been instrumental in rescuing them.