Ataraxia 平静 | Gojo Satoru

-'๑'-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒-'๑'-

"KUGISAKI!!!"

A deafening crash echoed as Itadori Yuji burst through a window, followed by a colossal, raging curse the size of a large car.

Debris and stone rained down, smashing into the abandoned building's second floor. The brown-haired girl swiftly dodged a falling chunk of concrete, her eyes fixed on the collapsing scene.

"I know, I know!" she yelled, tossing a handful of nails into the air before bringing her hammer down on them with a resounding slam. They streaked through the air in tendrils of blue light, embedding directly into the curse's mangled head.

"Hey!" Yuji shouted disheartenedly as they narrowly missed him. He already looked quite roughed up.

Nobara simply shrugged, flicking her hair to the side as the boy landed, his knees singing.

"Casualties," she tossed out, earning a disapproving scowl from the pink-haired boy.

The curse's disintegrating body hit the ground with a grotesque sound.

I observed their back-and-forth banter like it was prime-time television, perched atop an adjacent building.

"That girl's got quite the ego," I mused more to myself, resting my head on my fist and dangling my feet over the edge.

"Reminds me of someone," Gojo snorted from somewhere behind me.

I'd almost forgotten about his presence.

I scoffed a bitter laugh. "You did not just say that."

He raised an eyebrow in feigned confusion when I turned my head to look at him.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked innocently.

"You should not be discussing egos. You're the most arrogant, stubborn, egotistical person I've ever met. You have the biggest ego known to mankind. Your ego is the original ego," I explained matter-of-factly.

He grinned, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I love seeing you so passionate about something."

My eyes rolled involuntarily. "You're utterly insufferable."

"You mean sexy?" he teased with an invisible wink.

"I mean insufferable. Absolutely, horribly obnoxious."

He sauntered over to sit next to me on the edge of the roof, his familiar scent tempting my senses. I took it as my cue to stand up and create some distance between us.

"Ya know, I read somewhere that women tend to get feisty when they have a crush," he drawled, ignoring my annoyed stare. "Are you flirting with me, Yue-chan~?" he chimed.

My words momentarily got stuck in my throat, stunned by his absurdity, as he watched Nobara chasing after Yuji with her hammer raised high.

"There's something seriously undiagnosed about you," I remarked, and he chuckled lightly.

"Gojo-sensei!" Kugisaki called, propping a hand on her hip beside a whining Itadori, now sporting two visible bumps on his head. "I can't sense any more cursed energy, can we go now? I want to sleep," she drawled.

I stole a glance in her direction and scanned ahead at the wrecked building, now splattered in tar-like liquid. We'd been here for at least a couple of hours.

Where was Megumi?

I phased out their chatter, focusing on my sense of smell, sniffing the air for any trace of the boy's whereabouts.

Curse blood, metal, Gojo's cologne, mold—no sign of Fushiguro's scent. My eyebrows furrowed with newfound worry. He'd been here not long ago, fighting off a pack of low-grade curses.