"(Y/n)! Come on now! Rest is just as important as training. You need to find some peace within, instead of torture twenty four seven" Master Gojo raises her arms and lazily brings them back down as she slouches.
"Rest? How come? The only way to improve is to keep practicing and training.. no?" I tilt my head, confused at the jolly woman.
"Well, let's just say your rest is the training. Sound any better?" She wiggles her eyebrows.
"I guess" I scratch the back of my head, feeling an extreme rush of confusion, which isn't normal at all.
"It's not normal, I understand. I'll be here to help you experience the new, and better things in life" She jumps into her couch and sighs. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" She smacks the couch at her side. Why did she even do that?
"Okay.." I walk and sit in my best posture. I watch as Master Gojo sits lazily, slouching and pointing the remote to the tv without effort.
"Relax, you must be tired of keeping a pose for so long!" Master Gojo gently pushes me so that my back would lay on the back of the couch.
"It's not that tiring" I shrug, looking towards the tv.
"Whatever you say Zero" She giggles, playing something.
"This isn't a documentary.. What is it?" I narrow my eyes at the tv, seeing the screen black. It soon shows a moutain and stars, with the words "Paramount" plastered on it all.
"No, listen" She says.
As the screen goes black again music begins to play, it was beautiful and it made me feel so calm.
"I believe in America.." A man shows up on the screen, the light was dim, and it only showed noticeable features. His eyes were glossy, and his expression showed of somewhat sadness. He has a regular moustache, ending at the edges of his lips.
"America's made my fortune and I raised my daughter in American fashion. I gave her freedom, but I taught her never to dishonour her family. She found a boyfriend, not an Italian. She went to the movies with him, she stayed out late, I didn't protest..." He spoke with expressions on his face. His eyebrows would raise and furrow at times.
"What is this?" I turn to her, she simply shakes her head and points to the screen.
"Two months ago, he took her for a drive with another boyfriend. Made her drink whiskey and then, they tried to take advantage of her. She resisted, she kept her honour, so they beat her, like an animal" His voice had turned more of a growl as he said "animal", as if it had hurt him to say it.
"When I went to the hospital, her nose was a'broken. Her jaw was a'shattered, held together by wire. She couldn't even weep because of the pain. But I wept. Why did I weep? She was the light of my life -- beautiful girl. Now she will never be beautiful again" The man became emotional, he coughs and I look again to Master Gojo.
"Master, is there any reason to watch this? Or did you choose this specifically" I ask her, watching as she pauses the film.
"This movie is called The Godfather. You have faced the mafia, on multiple events. This movie is about the mafia... When this man talked about his daughter, many parents can relate to him" She says, speaking as if she, herself, could relate.
I tilt my head and furrow my eyebrows "Parents? Do I have that?" She sighs and looks away for a moment.
"Everyone does.. Some are fortunate to still have them. You can have siblings, those can also be the light in your life. Hopefully teaching you better ways to life, instead of some.. some, rando.." She seemed emotional, but she tried her hardest to conceal it. She hated the idea of someone other than a sibling or parent to guide a child.
"Do I have siblings?" I ask her, catching her off guard once again.
"You do.. yes" She plays the movie again "There is someone who cares for you greatly, even if you don't think it" She sighs, but this time is a shaky exhale.
Flashback End...
"What's the schedule for today G-.. Gojo... sensei" Oddly, I pause at the thought of his name.
"Hm? Nothing!" Gojo smiles to me and Itadori, soon noticing me in deep thought.
Gojo.. Why does the name seem so different all of a sudden. I know his name from somewhere.
"Nothing? How come?" I finally speak, trying to ignore the stare I get from both males.
"Rest is just as important as training" Gojo smiles and pats my shoulder.
"Oh, I heard that from somewhere" I take a deep breath, and continue thinking.
"Are you alright?" Itadori places his hand on my shoulder, but I almost don't realize.
"Always" I force a smile and look to the both of them.
"Anything you guys would like to do?" Gojo clasps his hands together and grins.
"Well.. Would we even be able to do much? You wouldn't want to risk anyone seeing us" Itadori says and I nod, agreeing.
"Pfft! That's impossible, I'm the master of disguise, and I can guarantee I'm not the only one" Gojo nudges me, causing me to flinch. "Y- Yeah!" I nervously laugh and scratch the back of my head.
"Alright then, where to?" Itadori crosses his arms and pushes me by the slightest, wanting me to choose.
"W- what? Why me?" I look to him. "I don't know much about 'going out'" I say with my fingers gesturing to a quotation.
"Well, there's a lot we can do in one day, why don't we start with the mall?" Gojo brings his arm around my shoulder and smiles down at me.
"The mall... Okay" I fill with a slight nervousness, due to the fact I know I will be overwhelmed by the amount of people.
The mall is the place where a great number of people will go and do their shopping. I mean, I heard there's online shopping now, you simply click a few buttons on the computer and bam, your items are at your place within days.
I mean, it's a nice place for friends to hang out. I'll get to experience that today.
We get into the car and I accidentally head to the driver's seat. I pivot and laugh to myself, it was out of pure instinct. I was not only a killing machine, but I could have been in fast and furious.
"Go ahead" Gojo stuffs his hands in his pockets and tilts his head towards the door I was going to
open.
"W- what?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"Go ahead, drive" He takes passenger and I slowly get into driver's.
"Heh? Why can't I drive?!" Itadori whines and I stifle a laugh.
"Are you a trained assassin?" Gojo looks back to the boy who sits alone in the middle.
"No" He slouches.
"Lighten up, Itadori" I turn on the car and begin to drive.
Gojo leads me where to go "It's fine, you can drive as fast as you'd like" Gojo says, trying to make me loosen up"
"You sure?" I look to him, easily turning and passing other cars.
"I wanna see how well you can drive" He smirks, then look back to the road.
"Fine then" I immediately begin speeding, and Itadori gets excited.
Gojo tells me his turns last second as we reach intersections, but it's only because he's pushing me to drift "If you want it, just ask" I shrug, and soon reach another turn.
"Make this turn, and leave the marks on the road" Gojo sits up, ready to watch me pull the hand break.
My hands slide and slow and my feet easily change between break and accelerator. Itadori screams while Gojo laughs.
I grin and smoothly straighten out into the next road. "We have arrived" I park and we all move forward due to the sudden stop.
I look back to Itadori who's out of breath. Both myself and Gojo laugh at the boy and soon exit the car.
"Who would have known I'd be in Tokyo, shopping like a normal person" I look up at the mall and sigh as we walk towards it.
I wouldn't have, I just hope you're thoughts don't annoy me when we head inside.
"They will" I say, shaking my head slowly.
"Who will?" Itadori looks to me.
"Nothing" I sigh.
"It's probably Tsukiyomi, plotting to ruin the day or something" Gojo giggles.
"That's a good idea" Ryoumen speaks at the side of Itadori's face.
"Oh my god" I shake my head and massage my temple.
"Now, Gojo, you've given us ideas" Nariko also speaks at the side of my face.
"Like you guys can even do anything" I slap my own face and walk into the mall.
That is correct, but I'll think of something.
Whatever Nariko.
I get extremely overwhelmed by the amount of people in this mall. It's not a lot to someone who regularly shops, but I feel my breaths shorten and my pulse quicken.
"You okay?" Itadori says quietly, nudging me at my side.
"Yeah... Show me what's so great about the mall" I smile up at him, pushing away my thoughts.
"Okay!" He takes my hand, pulling me in stores.
We go to multiple stores, trying new things and buying a few on the way. Gojo especially wanted me to try on sun glasses oddly.
We stand in a store filled with tons of sun glasses. Gojo tries a few, and he hands me three. "Try em, they remind me of someone you possibly resemble" He says, gesturing to one in specific.
The glasses are a more lightweight and narrow pair. I fill with ideas, the glasses had interested me, but also put me on a state of deep thought.
"You like em? My brother gave them to me.. Well, I say brother, but he was my cousin"
"Your cousin? Was? What happened?"
"Oh, hah! Nothing, we haven't talked in a while. He lives in Japan. I left"
"Oh.. He must have been a great guy for you to like him"
"He was the best"
"Did you choose these for a specific reason?" I look up at the man, who looks down at me, only with his eyes.
He takes the glasses and puts them in me, he takes a look at pauses to think "What makes you think that?" He tilts his head.
"Forget about it" I turn and look in the mirror, examining the way I look. I felt like her, she was my role model, and I feel powerful.
"Okay..." He looks at me through the mirror and places his hands on my shoulders from behind. "How do you like these?" He asks.
"They.. They are nice" I sigh, taking them off.
"Great, they're yours" He smiles.
"Th-.. Thank you... Gojo" I smile up at him, and he does the same, grinning like someone from my past.
"Gojo.. Gojo" I look into his blue eyes through his sunglasses.
"You have my attention, you don't need to call my name multiple times" Gojo chuckles.
"Can I talk to you later?.. In private?" I look deeply into his eyes, still in thought.
"Yeah, of course"
One Hour Later...
"Arcade time!" Itadori skips away into the distance, going towards the arcade.
"What did you want to talk about?" Gojo looks at me, with an eyebrow raised.
"You know exactly what" I look up at him, speaking with a slight casual but stern tone.
He sighs, looking up at the sky, then back down at me. He takes a pause and soon takes a deep breath "How is she?" He holds a weak smile, waiting for the response he's possibly been waiting for years.
"It's you... you're the cousin" My voice trembles, memories of her death play in my head.
"She always calls me 'ru, and treated me like an older brother. Minus the arguments" He looks into the horizon, smiling. "How was she? The last time you saw her" He looks back down at me.
"Gojo.." I feel my eyes well up with tears.
"(Y/n).. What is it?" He holds my shoulders, speaking softly and trying to be the most gentle he could be.
"Gojo" My voice turns more high pitched, I look away, furrowing my eyes brows and losing my composure. "It was all my... f- fault" I exhale and it gets hard to speak.
"No, no, no... listen, none of it was. Come here" He pulls me into a hug, losing his breath as well. He sniffles, holding me tighter, oddly making me feel safe, and comforted. "I'm here now. Never hesitate to talk" Gojo slowly rubs his hand around my back.
I finally bring my arms around his torso, holding him tight and letting it out.
"Is she... gone? For good?" Gojo hesitates with his question.
I nod, then immediately hear a shaky exhale. "Okay.." He takes a deep breath and lets me go, looking to me with his hand holding my shoulder.
"We can talk some more later.. let's go before Yuji starts getting impatient" He gives me a weak smile.