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"Fool me twice, shame on me."
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Gojo carried the Star Plasma Vessel in his arms as per Geto's instructions while they talked about sending her to the doctor which, in their case, was Shoko. Amanai Riko had yet to regain her consciousness, so the two were unsure where to bring her.
"Shoko said she'll show the girls around the laboratory today. Pretty sure she's around," you finally interrupted. The two indecisive beings would take ages if no one suggested anything specific.
"Oh? Then le-"
SLAP!
In a snap, Amanai Riko had jumped off the still-dazed Gojo's arms and started yelling, "you jerk! If you want to kill someone so badly, start with yourself!"
Both you and Geto were left flabbergasted. Poor Gojo wasn't even able to turn his infinity on. The two of you held back your laughter out of fear that the "slapped-for-the-first-time" Gojo Satoru The Great would get revenge on you later.
Geto tried calming her down in between his chuckles, but Riko pointed at him too, glaring. "Liar! You look like a liar! And what's with those bangs?!"
A great black cloud visored Geto's eyes, but he remained smiling. You couldn't hold it any more and laughed even louder. "Goodness me, calm down both of you."
"And you! Why are you wearing a curtain over your face? You look most suspicious of all!"
Your lips parted, both shocked and irritated. Everyone who saw your face veil were either curious or amazed. No one really told you you looked suspicious. "Oi, what did you say?," you asked in disbelief, looking at the braided girl incredulously.
"Nice, this is my first experience watching a cat fight."
"Pass me the popcorn, yo."
"None, just fries and burgers."
"Pass it anyway."
You just ignored Gojo and Geto, and raised an eyebrow on the equally challenged Riko. She repeated, "I said you look suspicious!"
"Excuse you and your childish headbands?!"
She gasped. "Not my headbands, you unfashionable aunt!"
"Then not my face veil, you ignorant kid!"
The guys just watched, entertaining themselves. Their irritation disappeared seeing how you seemed to have absorbed it all and was getting into an intense verbal debate with the Star Plasma Vessel about accessories.
"Take that headband off." Your most childish part resurfaced as you played a small prank on Riko. The other, however, didn't take it as a joke and tried resisting your cursed speech. She expectedly failed, so you stuck your tongue out victoriously with your nose stuck up on the air.
"What was that, you cheater?!"
"That's what the veil is for, slowpoke!"
"And here I thought she's the most mature out of all of us," Geto commented from the side and whistled.
"It's cute," Gojo subconsciously replied. Geto's head snapped to him, but Gojo didn't seem to realize what he had just said. Geto shook his head in disbelief while chuckling.
So he already found someone that caught his interest, huh?
──❍──
I groaned in irritation as the harsh sunlight touched my skin. Glaring at the girl who was skipping her way to school, I turned to Geto. "She's so rude! I can't believe she called me suspicious just because of my veil! Do I really look like that? Oi, Geto-san, talk to me!"
"You're starting to sound like Satoru, (F/n)-san."
Eh?
Images of the earlier occurrence flashed back to my head, my cheeks heating up at those thoughts. My fingers subconsciously caressed my lips, trying to picture a certain feeling. I closed my eyes and released the breath I didn't know I was holding.
Almost.
Kuroi, the Star Plasma Vessel's caretaker, sat beside me quietly. "Please forgive how my lady acts. You'll see she's a very nice girl once you know her longer."
I gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I can sense she's not a bad person."
"Thank you, Ojou-sama," Kuroi replied with a gentle smile. She gazed at the faraway trees surrounding Amanai's school. It seemed she was thinking about the girl again.
"(F/n)-chaaan! You're here!"
Hearing the familiar voice, I instantly looked up and searched for its owner. Yume dashed to us excitedly with a purple dreamcatcher dangling from her wrist and few colored paper bags on her hands. "I got you something!"
Yume took the dreamcatcher off her wrist and held it up in the air. "Tada! To ward off bad spirits!"
"You mean curses?," I corrected.
"Yes, to ward off curses," she proudly announced. "I made it for you! I made a smaller one for Kotone senpai and Shoko-chan, too!"
"Why not just kill the curses?", I asked with furrowed brows. Yume's smile quickly dropped and she harrumphed away from me, handing Gojo and Geto the other paper bags. "Snacks, everyone!"
Oops, she's sulking.
"Oi, Yume-chan!," I called while giggling. I ran to her and playfully hugged her from the back. "Sorry. Come on, I was just joking!"
"Heh! Joking my foot." She still gave the dreamcatcher to me. My lips lifted into a small smile as my fingertips traced Yume's intricate work.
She always liked giving gifts for no particular reason. Whenever she'd find a new hobby, she would make samples for us as practice, and would always make the biggest or most extravagant ones for me.
I thanked her and promised to hang it on my window later.
"Make sure you do. I didn't sleep just to finish that!"
"Eh? Why didn't you sleep, crazy? You could've just finished it later."
"Because I was excited! I wanted to see your reaction, but you just broke my heart!," she complained.
"Okay, sorry sorry!"
Meanwhile, Kuroi approached Gojo and Geto for the same reason. Geto simply replied that we would allow Amanai to do whatever she wanted since it was a part of our mission. The grateful Kuroi went on about her young lady's family.
"Hey." Geto suddenly called for our attention. "We have to get Riko now. Two of my surveillance spirits have already been exorcised."
We wasted no time after he said that. All of us sprang from our seats and ran to the school grounds to find Amanai. Gojo inquired about her possible location while we attentively scanned every area we passed for a glimpse of her shadow.
"She's taking a music class at this hour," Kuroi informed as we ran. "She should be in the music room or the chapel."
"Satoru and (F/n)-san, you take the chapel", Geto instructed. "Kuroi-san and Yume-san, the music room. I'll head off the two intruders."
"Understood."
Part of me wondered why Geto assigned Gojo and me in one place. It was not very hard to conclude that I could work better with Yume since we were from the same school and were friends. But I just shook the unnecessary thoughts off my head.
The five of us parted ways. As instructed, Gojo and I ran to the chapel while Kuroi and Yume took the opposite direction. We exchanged quick looks before I stepped aside and allowed Gojo to enter first.
"Amanai!" Without warning, the blue-eyed himbo slammed the door open, meeting eye-to-eye with a group of confused and flustered young girls.
Amanai seemed to have turned into a puddle in shock, obviously not appreciating Gojo's presence. "Y-you-!"
"KYAAAAAH!"
"Who is he, Riko-chan? Your boyfriend?!"
"H-he's not! He's my cousin!," the flustered girl quickly denied. She glanced at me pleadingly, but the chaos had already ensued before I could think of a way to help out.
The girls gushed noisily. "Is he a highschooler? He's so tall!"
"Oni-san!"
"Show us your eyes!," screeched another one.
Of course, the idiot would not be happier anywhere more than a place where he'd be glorified for either his inhuman strength or exceptional looks. Or both. He took off his sunglasses and started posing for the girls. "Yo."
Squeals and giggles erupted from the group as they continued teasing Amanai. Some would take the opportunity to steal Gojo's attention. Even one teacher joined, scribbling her number in a small notepad and handing the torn page to him. The girls were all over the place, showering Gojo with compliments especially for his gorgeous blue eyes.
Gojo certainly took advantage of the situation. When he glanced at me and found I wasn't able to control my expression, his lips formed a lopsided grin. I was pretty sure something mischievous was running in his mind when he escaped from the arguing girls and approached me with springy steps.
"You mad?"
I gave him the brightest smile I could muster at the moment. "Couldn't care any less, actually."
"But your tone says otherwise," the white-haired idiot teased. He closed the distance between us with a few steps and pinched my nose. "You sure you're not jealous, (F/n)-chan?"
My smile dropped. I shot him a glare and refused to speak, holding my breath until he released me. I tried pushing his hand away, but he just pinched my nose harder. Knowing he wouldn't be letting go of me anytime soon, I was forced to open my lips and gasp for air.
Gojo chuckled, his thumb and index finger releasing my nose only to cup my cheeks with them. "Cute."
My lips squished into a pout as he pushed my cheeks together. I groaned in annoyance and slapped his arm. Was he experiencing cuteness aggression or something?
"Wet goh ov meee," I complained. Much to my surprise, my voice came out whiney. Instead of the usual authoritative and serious tone I'd use, this one somehow felt more lighthearted. I would never admit that to Gojo, though.
The boyish grin on his lips mellowed as his eyes relaxed, gaze softening and resting on mine. His touch became gentler with the back of his fingers grazing my left cheek. He had his back on the girls, most of them too preoccupied with arguing to notice he was already gone. His broad shoulders and towering height hid his actions from their notice.
I subconsciously found myself leaning towards his touch. My cheek nuzzled against his palm as I kept my gaze on his chest. He scooted closer until air could barely pass us and asked in a softer tone, "So? Is my (F/n)-chan jealous?"
What?
Out of shock, I quickly slapped his hand off and ran out of the chapel, leaving Amanai to Gojo and Gojo to the girls.
──❍──
It certainly was a bad idea to get me paired up with that guy. I didn't know what Geto was thinking. I trusted he had a logical reason behind that pairing, but it seemed being with Gojo fried his braincells to dysfunction.
I shook my head, refusing to argue with my inner voice about what happened inside the chapel. It was the second time something like that had happened and I had no explanation for it.
Deciding to head to the opposite direction and hunt curse users, I ran to Yume and Kuroi. The usually tame girl took her bow and loaded an arrow.
"(F/n), down!"
As if tied to her words, my body dropped and landed on the concrete gracefully with my hands for support. Her arrow pierced through the thin air, straight to the surrounding trees.
"What was that?" Kuroi stood tensely as we stopped at a clearing. She turned to Yume who had another arrow readily equipped on her bow. I held my breath and scanned the area, squinting and highly focused. I could feel a hint of cursed energy around us, but I couldn't tell where exactly it was coming from.
"One," Yume whispered, her arms stretching out a bit more, eyes locked on a target we couldn't see.
"Two..."
And there emerged a beast-like shikigami, running to us at a terribly fast pace.
"Three." Yume calmly exhaled and released the arrow. It pierced straight between the shikigami's eyes causing a sickening sound of cracking skull. Its acceleration stopped midway and it landed before us with a loud thud, causing dust to fly off everywhere.
"Wow." Kuroi and I shared the same expression.
Yume had always had good perception of cursed energy. I never really understood her feelings of inferiority. She was an exceptional sorcerer.
Our eyes darted to the roof, seeing Gojo's running figure. In his hand was Amanai, being dragged like a handbag.
Why the heck is he always so ungentleman?
"Huh?"
A curse user stood just a few meters away from us, eyeing the escaping Gojo and Amanai. He was surely after them and that alerted Kuroi. A dark aura surrounded the protective caretaker as she readied her mop.
Where did that mop come from?!
From the corner of my eye, a brisk shadow passed by, so fast I wouldn't have caught it if I wasn't on high alert.
Another one?
"Yume, assist Kuroi. I have to check on something."
Yume held back my arm, her eyes drowned in worry. "Please don't go alone, it's too dangerous."
"I promise I won't engage in battle and retreat if it turns out to be an enemy," I assured and ran away before she could even respond.
I have a bad feeling about this.
The shadow was too fast chasing after it seemed futile. It was sprightly, disappearing from my sight every turn it takes. The chase went on for nearly five minutes and I was already running out of breath from the intensity of the run. I could barely close in at all.
It suddenly disappeared from my sight, no trace of cursed energy to act as my lead.
Shit. Is it playing with me just to get me tired?
"Why did you follow me?"
My ears immediately picked up the direction of the sound, so I followed it with my sight. A man in black shirt and dangerously gleaming eyes squatted on a large tree branch. "Say, why did you follow me?"
"Who are you?"
"Kid, I still wanna applaud your persistence, so answer before I run out of patience," he demanded. He lacked cursed energy but his aura was rather overwhelming.
"Are you one of them?," I asked after regaining my composure. I took his appearance in, carefully remembering the details in case I face him again some other time. It wasn't that hard to remember as his striking face stood out. His tall muscular build could actually par or maybe even surpass Gojo's attra-
Why the hell am I thinking about that mop in a situation like this?!
"One of who? I'm just here to pick up my daughter but you chased after me. I just ran away," he stated with little to no effort. He grinned and rested his chin on his palm while his elbow stood on his thighs.
"Quit bluffing."
"I'm serious!" He let out a low-toned laugh and smirked. "Can you let me off now, brat?"
"What a terrible dad. You don't even know your daughter's schedule. Class ends at 6." I rolled my eyes in annoyance. What a pathetic excuse. Why do devilishly attractive men keep on pushing my buttons today? First Gojo-
Stop stop. Oh my god, get him out of your mind!
"Come on, just give me some credits for trying."
"At least be accurate when you try."
"How feisty. How about you let me go now, missy?"
"I'm not even holding you captive, old man."
He chuckled. "How would I know you won't shoot me with an arrow like how your friend did?"
Shit.
For sure, he was no way a civilian, but his lack of cursed energy was just too unreasonable for his speed which was far from normal. I wouldn't even catch up to him if I didn't use cursed energy to help me run faster.
Just who is this guy?
"Cat got your tongue, huh? Then I'll be off now. See you soon."
"Don't move."
──❍──
"Don't move."
Fushiguro Toji finally confirmed his theory when cursed speech held his body in a way no other cursed technique could. It was the first time he felt restrained. He couldn't even do anything since your focus was solely on him.
He now had to make sure you weren't there once he takes out Riko. He heard about another threat aside from Gojo Satoru that he had to be wary of.
In terms of strength, you'd be no match for him, but your quick reaction time and battle intelligence were another thing. How you combined cursed speech and other techniques to cover up for your flaws was something he thought highly of.
You and him were partly alike.
He made sure to get you tired and put your guard down by letting you chase him, but you were difficult. Alas, when he had enough of the pointless conversation you two were having, he carried out his plan.
Exactly just as he expected.
As long as both of you were in the vicinity, he wouldn't be able to fight efficiently. To him, you were more of a threat than Gojo Satoru himself.
"(F/n)!!"
With the sudden interruption, you lost your focus, leaving a chance for Toji to break free from your cursed speech and disappear in a blink. He was gone with no trace, like earlier.
"You promised not to fight! Who was that man?," Yume pried. She looked madly worried, and now, she knew she couldn't trust leaving you alone to chase after something.
"He's not a curse user," you managed to mumble through your messy thoughts. He wasn't a curse user, but the way he broke out of your cursed speech at a terrifying rate did not cancel the possibility that he was dangerous.
However, he looked somewhat familiar, like you have met him before or maybe someone who looked like him.
"Nevermind, we have to go back, they got Kuroi!"
You tensed on the spot, partly blaming yourself for leaving them to fend for themselves. "How?"
"It just happened so fast. There were so many of them," Yume rambled, panic-stricken. "I'm so sorry..."
The anger you had for yourself heightened, seeing how Yume was taking all the blame by herself. You knew you had a bigger mistake, but never did she reprove you for it.
You placed your hands on her shoulders, keeping her steady. "Calm down... We'll get her back."
"But why did they take her? They could've killed both of us with their numbers..."
"I think they're taking her hostage in exchange for Amanai," you answered, taking Yume's hand and pulling her back to the supposed meeting place.