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"IT REALLY IS YOU."
She turned around in an instant, her eyes widening slightly at the boy who stood before her. He had grown a lot - which went without saying - but she certainly wasn't expecting him to have become this handsome.
"You knew I was coming?"
"The moment you entered the school grounds." He responded.
"I didn't think you'd keep this, could you be a sentimental type?" She teased, waving the piece of paper in her hands whilst flashing a smirk. Still; she was somewhat confused. She had been repressing her spirit energy, how could he have known?
"It's not every day a kid Shinigami comes to play with you in the forest. No one believes me to this day, that's my only proof and it isn't very convincing." He chuckled slightly, "As if you're still wearing that lame ass get-up. You need a new outfit."
Yachiru's eyebrow twitched aggresively, experiencing a moment of deja-vu. "I happen to think I look cute, but what is with those ridiculous glasses? Can you even see through those?" She retorted, knowing fully well her teasing insult was not as strong as his.
"Sure as hell can't. Don't even need to." He had definitely grown into a cocky bastard. Oh how she wanted to scream at him already, how dare he get one over on her!
"FIGHT ME THEN IDIOT." She yelled, holding her fists up in an offensive stance.
"Don't be stupid, I'm not gunna fight you." He said, his lips turning upwards into a grin.
"What's that supposed to mean huh?! Are you saying I'm weak?!"
"You really are dumb." He leaned over and flicked her forehead, laughing when her face seized up. "I was suggesting the opposite."
"That's more like it. Also, there are two people outside." Yachiru pointed to the door with her index finger.
"A pair of eavesdroppers. Come on in guys, don't be shy."
As if on cue, the door opened slowly to reveal two sheepish looking teenagers - who Yachiru now assumed to be Satoru's friends.
"We're sorry for listening in Gojo! I heard a female voice and just had to know!" Her voice was light and soothing, and quite mature at that given she was only a teenager.
"Same here. Aren't you gunna introduce us? You're a bad host." The male then spoke, his appearance catching Yachiru slightly off guard - probably a buddhist.
She stood there quietly, waiting for her old friend to speak up.
Satoru was grinning like a madman, "Remember when you guys said I was bullshitting about the Shinigami I met as a kid?-..."
The other male cut him off, looking at the female next to him and then back at Satoru, "Yeah, we still don't believe you."
"But don't you sense something off about her, Geto? I'm Ieri Shoko by the way, and this is Geto Suguru." Shoko spoke, walking further into Satoru's room.
"My name is Kurotsuki Yachiru!" She said, a wide smile playing on her face. Not only had she managed to reunite with her old friend, but she had made two more!
"There is something off about you. Are you really a Shinigami? I expected them to be... more scary looking." Geto inspected her face and attire, deciding she did look quite odd in terms of what she wore.
"Is this more convincing?" She asked, pulling out the bone mask from her side and placing it on her face. Satoru recognised it as being similar to the mask worn by the man who had collected Yachiru from his home all those years ago, and he wondered what it could symbolise for a moment. Her mask resembled a deformed, flat skull. Huge, wide teeth...red markings around the eyes and forehead, and two large horns poking out at the top.
"Not really." Satoru laughed, making Yachiru pull another face at him once again.
"I'm supposed to wear this any time I enter the human world," She said, removing it from her face and placing it back on her hip. "But it makes my face super sweaty and I don't like it."
After a brief silence, the room was quickly filled with laughter. Yachiru gazed at the trio with a confused expression on her face, wondering what was so funny about what she said. "I don't understand." She looked at Satoru for answers, but he wasn't the one to deliver them.
"That just sounded so human." The raven haired boy spoke up once again, partially not buying Satoru's claims about this mysterious girl. "You're making it more difficult to believe."
"Oh! Well thank you." She gave him a closed eye smile.
"I don't think he meant it as a compliment..." Satoru whispered as if the other two couldn't hear him, in an attempt to wind up both Geto and Yachiru.
"Why wouldn't it be a compliment?" Her smile didn't dwindle as her eyes cast to the floor for a second, "Humans are wonderful creatures! Yes indeed, I think I love humans!" She yelled, her excitement getting the better of her for a moment.
It was silent, as the three other people in the room watched her small outburst. It was confusing for a few reasons; they weren't used to other supernatural entities being friendly, and her existence herself as a supposed Shinigami. Of course, they had been taught about their existence in their first year at Jujutsu Tech, but this is not what they were expecting from one.
In a way, they were right not to. Yachiru was a one of a kind, and while other Shinigami shared similar sympathies, they were few and far between. Most viewed all humans as weak, unable to look after themselves - they were a job, and this included Jujutsu Sorcerers.
"Are you staying this time?" Satoru asked, silently hoping that she would. Her presence made things more interesting - she was from a whole different world after all.
"Heh..." The noise left her mouth, her mind quickly trying to come up with an answer. "I'm not sure! They could come get me at any time, I'm a bit of a rule breaker you see. It'll probably take them a little longer to find me, since I'm not anywhere near my spawning point." She grinned.
"So where are you gunna stay?" Shoko asked, slight concern within her tone. Her aura was that of a maternal one - something Yachiru recognised but was not entirely used to.
"Stay? What do you mean?"
"Like where will you sleep?! It's dark out now, surely you're not thinking of sleeping outside." Shoko's voice became more imminent, her concern for someone she hardly knew coming off quite strong. Satoru smiled slightly at the display before him, somehow knowing that Yachiru would appreciate such a kind gesture.
"There are shrines all over the city, I can stay in one of those! I came here on my own accord, I knew what I was getting myself into." Yachiru reassured, not wanting to be a burden on her new acquaintances almost immediately after having met them.
"You're either way too polite or way too dense. She's insinuating that you stay here." Geto then spoke, shutting his eyes and placing his arms in their opposing sleeves.
She glanced over at Satoru, as if silently asking for permission.
"You can stay here by all means but I'll have to insist you bunk with me!" He latched onto her much smaller frame dramatically, feeling her flinch instinctively at the sudden contact before she pried him off of her.
Before she could respond, Shoko did. "No, she can stay in my room. You're a pervert, Gojo."
"No. She stays with me." He was much more firm this time, indicating that there were to be no questions asked. After receiving two questioning looks from his classmates, he scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Haha I mean, Yachiru was my first ever friend. It's only normal for me to want to catch up with her, right? Aaaand with that being said, you two can go away now." He shut his door in their face, not wanting to deal with them any more.
Her analysis of him so far hadn't amounted to much. He had clearly grown into being an overconfident smug asshole, a contrast to the reserved, slightly shy little boy she had met all those years ago. She supposed it was probably a positive thing; perhaps his confidence wasn't completely unfounded.
"Satoru." She said, looking towards her new host.
"Yes?"
"What's a pervert?"
He really tried not to laugh, he was hoping they'd be able to have a serious conversation now that those two had gone. His smirk betrayed him, a chuckle turning into a full throttled laugh. "A pervert is a sexual deviant." He explained.
"Oh, I would hope you are not one of those." She stuck her nose up at him, sticking her tongue out slightly.
Satoru began digging through his drawers, finding something appropriate for Yachiru to wear for bed. He didn't want anything that showed skin, he wouldn't purposefully pick that for her. He settled on a long sleeve t-shirt and some baggy sweatpants, throwing them in her direction and watching as she caught them with ease.
"What is this for?"
"They're pyjamas. We can get comfy and then catch up." He explained, pulling the spare futon out a cabinet and setting it up on the floor.
"Pyjamas? I usually sleep naked. Won't we get too warm?" She asked innocently, although the barely visible smirk on her face proved that she knew what she was doing.
"I don't wanna see you naked, I bet you look like an ironing board." Her face exploded into a dark red, both infuriated and humiliated by his words as she began to once again hurl insults in his general direction.
"Go outside while I get changed then."
And he did just that. Like the gentleman Gojo Satoru really was, he exited the room and stood outside his door as he waited for Yachiru to get dressed, entering when she gave him a light shout to signal that she was ready.
The clothes completely drowned her, but she still looked cute. That's what he thought, at least. The outfit didn't show anything off at all, perhaps a slight catch of her stomach or hipbones when she stretched her arms up every now and again. To him, she was ethereal. Something out of this world, that had chosen to grace him and only him.
"I've got a mission over the next few days, so your timing couldn't be worse." He said, getting under the covers of his own bed as Yachiru mimicked his actions with her make-shift futon.
"It's not like you can stop me from following you." It came off much more forward than the young girl had intended it too, a scowl setting on her face in attempt to draw attention away from her blushing cheeks.
"I was hoping you'd say that." He turned the lamp off, leaving the two in complete darkness.
For a while, they continued to talk. Satoru informed Yachiru of his journey in becoming a sorcerer, leaving out many details concerning his childhood. In return, Yachiru confided in him about her recent disillusionment of Yomi and the politics of Shinigami. It was mid way through her exacerbating her wish to be human that she fell asleep, ocean eyes watching her as her face softened and mind drifted off to elsewhere. He wondered if Shinigami dreamt, he wondered if this time, she would stay with him forever. There were so many things he wanted to ask, but for now he too would have to submit to slumber.
A/N: