pomegranate ink | y. okkotsu

xxiii

a/n: the end is near for pomegranate ink!! there will probably about ten or so chapters after this one (don't hold me to this though) so i'm hoping to get this done soon. in the meantime feel free to reach out to me on tumblr!!

"You really think they're ready for that kind of designation?" Todo said. You and him were sitting across from one another in some cafe or another, each sipping on your own drinks. You nodded.

"Gojo agrees. He's the one who mentioned it, actually, and of course he would never force me to give a recommendation if I didn't believe it was earned, but in my opinion, those seven have definitely earned it," you said.

"The Zenins will have something to say about it," Todo said.

"Since when have either of us ever cared about what the Zenins say?" you said, arching a brow at him. Todo chuckled, taking a bite out of the pastry he had ordered and chewing contemplatively.

"That's true," he said. "Alright, then. I'll trust your judgment as always. When should we go?"

"Later," you said. "The thought of going to headquarters right now is giving me a migraine. Besides, I have some errands to run and things to do in the meanwhile; I just wanted to check in with you and make sure that you were on board with the idea."

"What would you have done if I wasn't?" Todo said.

"I don't really know. Gojo couldn't give his recommendation as he's a teacher, and Yuta's overseas, so he couldn't, either. I suppose we might've had to pay Mei Mei or tried to convince Nanami, but I'm pretty sure Nanami regrets giving us his recommendation, so I doubt he'd do it again," you said.

"What, does he think we're weak or something?" Todo said, clearly fired up at the perceived insult. Immediately, you shook your head.

"No, not at all. He acknowledges our strength — it's just that he feels bad putting so much responsibility on the shoulders of two children, or at least that's the vibe I was getting," you said.

"That does make a bit more sense, but he's being optimistic if he thinks childhood excludes us from the reality of this world," he said.

"It's his viewpoint, so I won't try to argue for or against it," you said. "Worst case, we would've called Kaito."

Todo made a face. "Good thing it didn't come to that."

Kaito Hinode was Tullia's cousin, and the reason she had even come to Japan in the first place. Although he was definitely handsome, and talented enough as a sorcerer, those two qualities were about all he had going for him. He was widely known throughout jujutsu society for being air-headed and scatterbrained, and he was reckless to boot, always somehow ending up in your family's manor getting healed. Though he would definitely give his recommendation if you asked, the higher ups usually did not take him very seriously despite allowing him to be a Grade 1 sorcerer — in fact, the only reason it had been alright that he had been one of the ones to recommend you and Todo was because the other was the levelheaded Nanami, who even the higher ups had a begrudging respect for.

"Exactly," you said. "It's for the best that you agreed to it, especially because now it won't just seem like favoritism or Gojo and I just promoting the people we like for no reason."

"I don't think the higher ups would've thought that either way. Like it or not, recommending your friends for Grade 1 status puts them in more danger, and you aren't the kind of person that would do that unless you were absolutely sure they could handle it. Maybe they wouldn't put it past Gojo, but everyone knows how much you love your friends," Todo said.

"That's true enough," you said.

"What errands are you running today, then?" Todo said. You drew up a mental list of the things you had to do before you responded, already annoyed just at the thought of some of them.