《CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE》
《WARNINGS: NONE》
"AH, WE'RE SO LATE!"
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,”
“We were supposed to be there four hours ago! Hurry!”
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m sure it’ll be FINE--DON’T YANK ON ME!”
“C’mon! We don’t have time to goof around!”
A red-haired woman grabbed onto the wrist of a blonde man. His eyes went wide as she yanked him forward, running along the street. He groaned loudly, tossing his head back.
“You promised to let me sleep in!”
“Things happen!” She yelled back. “We gotta get to the square and make sure they aren’t recognized by anyone!”
“I can’t believe you!”
“Get over it!”
She pulled him up to her side, lacing her hand into his. He grabbed the back of her hood to keep her from running across the street, letting the flurry of cars pass by. The woman bounced in her spot, looking both ways before running across the street again.
Arriving in the center of the town, they were met with a crowded sight. People were already crowded in the square, dressed in bright, frilly clothing for the upcoming festival. She jumped up and down, trying to peer over the mass of people.
“Ugh! How hard is it to find him?!” She yelled in frustration, jumping onto a bench. The man sighed, slipping a hand into the pocket of his coat.
“He looks like a giant Q-tip,” He said, scratching his chin. “It shouldn’t be that hard to find him in this crowd--”
“I found him!” She exclaimed, grabbing the man’s shoulders as she jumped from the bench, already running forward.
“Wah--! Hold on a minute! Don’t just run off like that, idiot!” He yelled, running after her. She paused to grab his hand before pulling him through the mass of people. A flurry of apologies left his lips as they pushed through the crowd, weaving between men and women.
“Satoru!” The woman chirped, her face lighting up at the sight of the white-haired male. “Shota!”
The two males turned at the sound of her chipper voice. She broke through the mass of people, slowing her pace as she approached. Her coat stopped swaying, red hair falling to frame her tan face. Brown eyes gleamed at their faces. The blonde man who’d she drug along sighed as she let go of him. He raised a scarred hand to rub the back of his neck, yawning tiredly.
“M..Maylee?” The black-haired man said in surprise. “Will?”
“It’s so good to see you both again!” The woman said, jumping up to hook her arms around their shoulders, bringing them down to her height. “I’ve missed you so much! It’s been way too long since you’ve all come to see us!”
“Y/n sent a letter a few months ago telling us about your daughter,” Will said, smiling. “Congratulations, by the way.”
“Oh, yes!” Maylee said, jumping back. “Where is she? I can’t wait to tell her all about Melanie!”
However, her bubbliness began to die down. After looking at the face of the two males, they both knew that Y/n had not accompanied them this trip. Maylee gave a knowing look.
“Oh...I see,” Will said. “So she was the one to be sealed, then?”
“Yeah,” Gojo said quietly. “We were hoping you could help us hide out here, away from Japan.”
“Of course,” Maylee nodded. “We’ve heard bits and pieces of what’s going on, so we have a small understanding.”
“Did you bring your students along?” Will asked.
“They’re here,” Shota said. “Reluctantly, but they’re all here.”
“Well, gather them up,” Will said. “We’ll get you somewhere safe.”
“I’ll get the van,” Maylee said, turning to run back through the crowd.
“I’m sorry to have to do this to you, Will,” Gojo sighed.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” The blonde said. “Your family is in danger, Satoru. You helped me when mine was in danger, and I’m gonna help you.”
…
“Melanie, please pick your toys up! We have guests!”
“Sorry, Mommy!”
Gojo watched as a brunette girl ran past him, skipping around to pick her discarded toys from the ground. Will stopped abruptly in the doorway leading from the kitchen to the living room as she ran past, carrying the bundle of toys in her arms. He shook his head at her, placing a tray of glasses on the coffee table.
“Sorry about her,” He said, sitting down in the chair. “Melanie is really energetic like Maylee.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Kugisaki smiled politely. “She’s a little cutie.”
“So...who exactly are you guys?” Itadori asked, raising an eyebrow. Fushiguro and Kugisaki both slapped him in the back of the head before forcing it down, bowing their heads.
“We’re very sorry for his behavior,” Fushiguro said.
“He’s not normally like this,” Kugisaki said, rubbing the back of her head. “He’s just a little moody lately, and we’re all a little cranky from the long flight.”
“No, no!” Will said, waving his hands. “I completely understand! You guys were just kinda thrown in the van without really knowing who we were or where you were going. It was rude of us to not introduce ourselves.”
“Melanie! Shoes, out of the hall!”
“Kay, kay!”
“I’m Will Carten,” He introduced. “The loud bimbo is my wife, Maylee, and the girl is our three-year-old daughter, Melanie. Maylee and I went to Tokyo Jujutsu High and were a year above Satoru and Y/n. While they were mostly stationed in Japan or Korea, Maylee and I were sent all over the world. We did a lot of missions together once we had graduated from high school, so we’ve worked together a fair amount of time. The last time we saw each other was in Paris a few years ago. We were assigned to find and exorcise a curse user who’d been taking different forms. And...just recently we were informed about Shibuya and the events leading after. We...didn’t know that Y/n was the one to be sealed.”
“I was sealed originally,” Gojo said, extending his legs out. “But Yuuta had gotten a piece of the Black Rope that was just big enough to break through the back entrance. After that, it was destroyed.”
“So Y/n was sealed after?” Maylee asked, sitting on the arm of the chair that Will resided in.
“She was sealed four days ago,” Shota said.
“If you guys are sorcerers, how did you not know about this?” Kugisaki asked. “The news was everywhere. It’s why we had to flee from Japan.”
“We’re not active sorcerers anymore,” Will explained, looking down at the girl who ran up to him, crawling into his lap in the chair.
“When we had Melanie, we both agreed to quit as sorcerers,” Maylee said, facing the teens. “We had enough saved up to move out of the country, and we agreed to settle here in Thailand, where I was born.”
“The only way we hear about the Jujutsu world is if we’re told by someone inside,” Will said. “Y/n and Satoru sent postcards and letters, or would occasionally call if something had happened. We were informed about Shibuya by Principal Yaga himself.”
“We were asked to come in and provide our aid, but we were too worried about leaving Melanie behind and...we thought you could handle it, Satoru. I see now that maybe we should have gone to help out,” Maylee said, almost guiltily.
“You put your family first,” Shota said. “Which was more important than anything. I’m starting to learn that now.”
“We want to help out in any way that we can,” Will said, standing up. “But before you tell us anything, let us protect you. The Jujutsu Council is no doubt sending a worldwide message to all sorcerers to execute you all. I’m going to put a cloak around us. We won’t be visible unless I want us to be, and all of our cursed energy will be masked.”
“You helped us when we were in deep trouble,” Maylee said, smiling softly as her husband walked away. “It’s time we repaid that to you.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Gojo breathed. Maylee placed a hand on his head as he bowed to her.
“You can thank us by getting Y/n and yourselves out alive.”
《CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: END》
《IMAGE NOT MINE》
My professor: why did you take my anatomy and physiology course?
Me, who took the class to describe gore and blood flow better in my horror shorts, knowing my major is in journalism: med school