Kaede and Maki watch as Panda and Yuta duel —well, it was mostly Panda throwing Yuta all over and Inumaki had gone to a mission.
"Care to repeat that?" Maki blinks. Once more. And a third time as she tried to think if she heard it right.
"Please don't make me repeat myself,Maki." She watched Kaede tilt her head, face slightly covered by strands of hair and flushed with color, she nervously plays with her fingers as she pouts. "I-I think I harbor romantic affection for Yuta..."
"So that means... You like that bean sprout?"
Kaede nods at her question as she brings her hands to cover her face. Maki knew that already but never in a million years, did she think Kaede would speak it into existence. The girl was private and almost never really talks about her feeling at all! So the fact that she was sitting here, telling Mail she likes Yuta romantically made her feel almost honored.
Kaede separates her fingers as she peeks through, still not revealing her blushing face. "Calling him bean sprout is rude, Maki."
Ignoring the warm feeling inside her of her friend opening up to, Maki smirks. "Sure thing, mrs. bean sprout." Maki laughs at Kaede's reaction as steam almost comes out of her head from all her blushing.
Maki reaches out and removes Kaede's hands from her face as she smile, no longer teasing simply curious. "So what made you realize you liked him?" She briefly looks over to see how the training was going and sighs in relief to see the boys were paying no attention to her.
"The way he speaks is just so nice, always so soft and gentle. Also the way he looks at me, Maki— Yuta really looks at me as if I am something more than simply to look at; I don't exactly know how to explain but I feel as if I'm simply precious. I feel seen." Kaede's voice was so low, almost like a whisper; Maki thinks she looks so adorable right now. "Just thinking about all the remaining time— years to come being in his presence has me smiling so much, it feels wrong."
Maki lets out a whistle as she leans back, smiling. She didn't know what has been going on when it's was just the two of them but it would be an understatement to tell Maki was impressed.
"Every time I think back on moments shared with him, it warms me as if I have been stuffed with pure joy." Kaede looks over, her face was slightly unsure. "I think I've surrendered myself completely—all of me to him, Maki. I don't know how to act in-front of him? I've ever felt that way for someone before..."
Maki smiles as she raises her hands and places it on top of her head; gently rubbing it as if to comfort the girl. Maki wasn't familiar to such feelings but still then Kaede confided her and that was enough. "So are you going to confess?"
"Confess?" Kaede blinks, her voice slightly high. "Why would I confess?"
Maki blinks back at her, equally confused. "Isn't that what people do? If you like someone, you confess and if they accept you start to date..." Her voice lost confidence in herself as Kaede continued to look confused with every word.
"Why would he ever like me back?" Kaede said, but the tone she said it breaks Maki's heart a little. It was as if she wasn't ever expecting 'anyone' would like her. There was no hurt laced with it, simply familiarity with such course of action.
"I-"
"Kaede and Yuta—!"
A new voice interrupts the on going conversation. They turn to look to find a familiar tall, white haired man waving at a distance. "You've got yourselves a mission."
Kaede turns to look at Yuta who also looks back at her. Eye contact. The girl looks away just as quick which makes Yuta flatter. Did she just avoid his gaze?
The duo walks to Gojo who had a wide smile on his face. "Yuta-Kaede pair, Shino is waiting for you guys. He'll brief you on the situation so go ahead. I'll come check up on you guys once I'm done with my mission as well."
The pair nods as they make their way to the classroom, both to get their weapons. Yuta gulps as he looks over to Kaede nervously and as if sensing his gaze, she looks over and smiles at him, bringing her hands up to his head she gently tousled his hair. "Don't worry too much."
"No i-it's not... I'm not worried." Yuta squeaks out. More than worried, his mind was hung up on the fact that Kaede broke away from a gaze they shared. Call him dramatic or whatever but she wasn't the type to do that at all; inwardly, something was coiling away in the teenager.
"Gojo-sensei will also be joining us so I don't think we have to worry too much." Kaede says. Just the presence of the white haired man was enough to make her feel at ease in such cases, the strongest sorcerer of their generation.
"Was sensei always this strong?" Yuta asks as they grab their weapons and head to where the window, Shino was waiting.
"Of course. It is said that simply with his birth, the balance between the sorcerer and curses shifted." Yuta finds new found respect for his teacher, he already knew Gojo was amazing but hearing it with such wording was fascinating. "Having someone as strong as that on our side is really...comforting in a way."
Yuta nods. "He is really on a different league huh?"
"What do you mean?" Kaede says as she looks over at him. She finally looked at him. "You're a special grade too,Yuta. You too are on a league on its own."
Yuta feels almost shy at how much trust Kaede seemed to have in him— his potential; but in a way makes him happy to see that she sees him in such a light. Before he reacts, Kaede speaks up. "Shino-San is already waiting so let's hurry."
The pair is taken to a village, houses shared a traditional Japanese look made of wood and sloped roofs; all surrounded by small paddy fields nearby. The nearby trees all had a shade of reds and yellows, some completely bare; a natural reminder of the season. Kaede thinks the scenery is beautiful but something about the way the villagers were acting, was unsettling. The people were peeking over but with a large distance in between them.
Shino comes out of the car as he clears his voice grabbing the attention of both. "The curse is suspected to be a second grade but we can't be so sure..."
Yuta gulp, his brain finally clicks at realization. If the mission sent two people, one where Kaede was sent it most likely meant that she—Kaede despite being strong needed support. Something about that was slightly made him wary.
Shino looks around. "The victims have all died the same way... A black mass appears on their body before it burst..." kaede mentally winches at the graphic description. "There have been 7 deaths so far with all of them ranging from toddlers to teenagers...All of these deaths have left the village with only 2 children left."
Yuta lets out an audible exhale, visibly shaken. "Oh my god..."
"There isn't much information on it so if you do think the curse is above your level." Shino explains as he forms his hands to a symbol, a veil was being put up. "Please leave immediately."
Kaede nods, she places a hand on Yuta's tense shoulder in hopes he relaxes. "That's why Gojo-sensei will be joining us later." He was going to be a back-up just incase something goes south.
"Yes." Shino speaks. "Good luck."
—————
The two of them decided the first thing they should be doing is going around and ask questions, find any clues on how or what the curse could be. But it proved to be difficult; the villagers were wary and a bit too withdrawn. Everything that had been going on has been too much; some grieving, some angry but all scared.
People watched from a distance, eyes were on them but if you were to try and find the source they would look away. The air was so tense, Yuta could almost feel his joints stiffening.
"Are you okay, Yuta?"
His dear friend's voice break him away from his thoughts. He turns to look at Kaede who had her eye brows furrowed, concern plastered non her face.
"I'm fine, Kaede-san." Yuta says in a low voice as he steels his heart for what is to come. He can't let himself burden Kaede like this.
"You can take a break if you want." Kaede says, as she looks over to a bench below a tree. "I can understand if it's overwhelming."
Yuta shakes his head. "N-no. Let's keep working so we can help the villagers first." His eyes rose to meet hers, she had a smile on her face now followed by a nod.
Kaede sighs as another knock on the residence goes unanswered. They would like to do some one-on-one interviews but as soon as they got close, the villagers would run away or knocks would be ignored. "No luck again."
"Let's not lose hope, there is still that one left." Yuta tugs gently on Kaede's cuff as he points at remaining house. They turn around as they go to another house, this one a bit further from the rest of the houses. it was secluded with a tree overhead.
*knock knock*
They wait.
*knock kno-*
To their surprise , the door opens revealing as small child, a little girl wearing slightly dirty blue yukata boasting patterns of morning glory. But that wasn't what grabbed their attention; the girl's face was flushed as she breaths in heavily.
"Are you okay-" Before Kaede could complete the question,the girl seemed to sway slightly as she then falls forward. Thankfully Kaede manages to bend and reach out for the young girl in her arms.
"Yuta..." Kaede calls out as she looks at him, voice laced with concern. "She burning up."
Yuta bites the inside of his cheeks, he panics. "Oh no...Should we take her to the nearest hospital- ah... That's still hours away though."
"I think Shino-san must have aid kit with him." Kaede says she brings up the kid,raised up in her arms as she walks inside the house. She turns to him. "Can you fetch that for me? We can see how she responds to the medication first..."
Yuta nods, as then proceeds to turn and runs as fast as he can to the window, waiting in the car. Thank god, there was a kit at hand. Shino, the window, was busy on a call with a higher up when Yuta came plus having to rummage through the luggages took a while to find.
Once acquired, he rushed back to the house. Yuta pants as he finally opens the door, he finds the younger girl on a futon with her eyes closed and breathing heavy. Kaede sits beside her with a concerned look, her hands on the bridge of her nose.
Noticing Yuta by the door, Kaede breathes out as if she had been holding it in. "Yuta... I don't know what's going on." On a closer look, he finds the girl had been stripped off her yukata, and now in a t-shirt and shorts.
Yuta gulps.
Her bare skin was marked. It was dark and all over her body; if his eyes weren't bugging out it seemed as if that mark was spreading little by little. "W-what's that?"
Kaede shakes her head. "I'm not sure... But I think it's the curse that has been affecting the village..."
Yuta let's out a shaky breath as his fist clench. He is then reminded that he had been holding onto the aid kit so he walks over to Kaede and out stretches it towards here. "Here Kaede-san."
Kaede nods as reaches out to grab the kit. "Thank you-"
"Don't touch Yuta!!"
In an instant, Rika manifested herself as she brings out her claws and shoves Kaede onto the wall, knocking the air out of her. Yuta blinks confused for a second as if not registering what the hell was going on. "Rika-chan! Stop this, what are you doing?"
Yuta liked to think Rika wasn't much of a danger anymore, with thorough training under the supervision of Gojo he was able to tame her. Gone were the days he felt like he was a walking hazard, with a dangerous watch guard who would even gaze at him the wrong way. So why was that same Rika doing this— pinning Kaede to the wall, blocking her air path.
Yuta's eyes go cold.
He sounds almost convincingly calm when he says, "Rika...Kaede is someone very precious to me. Let her go." His voice begins to rise in pitch. He seems suddenly on the verge of breakdown; that it was his fault that Kaede was getting hurt.
But Rika is unmoved.
Yuta says nothing. Looking at Rika. He bites the inside of his cheeks in frustration until Kaede's eyes seem to be loosing focus, she was losing consciousness from the lack of air flow. "Now!"
The once shrieking voice lets out a confused sound as Rika looks over to Yuta. "B-but Yutaaa." Her claws were retrieved which makes Kaede fall to the ground, coughing as she holds her throat. She goes back to Yuta, there was tears flowing down her face as she cries out to Yuta, begging for forgiveness.
"She is cursed and it would spread to you..." Rika cries.
"W-what?"
Kaede eyes widen as she stands on her two feet, and removes her uniform jacket and checks around her arms. When she finds nothing there, sh turns her body around and lifts her shirt slight.
Yuta shriek slightly, Rika already de manifested, as he sees Kaede's action; face heating up. He brings his hands up to cover his face as he noticed Kaede turn around.
"Yuta..."
Her calling his name, makes him peep out between the crack of his fingers and almost immediately his breath hitched as his eyes widen in fear. A dark small mark had formed on her lower abdomen as similar to the girl who is laying on the ground, breathing heavy.
Kaede let's go of the material of the shirt as she bites the inside of her cheeks. "Sorry Yuta. I was careless." Her eyes darken. "I didn't think I would be vulnerable to this curse too."
"No Kaede-san, it isn't your fault." Yuta says in a soft voice. "We should have been more careful." We have to find the cure soon!
"Yuta, let's split up for now." Kaede says as she takes hold of her katana, eyes darkened. "You look around the village, while I go around the periphery for clues."
Yuta gulps but his eyes light up with determination— he'll make sure that Kaede is alright by the end of the day. "Got it-"
"-onee-chan...."
They both turn to the source of the voice, the little girl who was finally awake but still looking weak as if she would collapse at any given time. Her pupils shake as she looks at Kaede. "I'm sorry... because of me, you're going to die."
Yuta felt his heart drop and his body freeze. "Huh...?"
The girl who now had tears filled eyes, her moth wobbles slightly. "My sister died yesterday to the same curse..." Poor kid, her voice was shaking. "Within a day or two from the mark appearing, no one lives... I'm sorry."
Kaede stills for a second as if trying to process this information, before she gets the forgotten aid kit on the floor and picks it up. She takes a capsule from the kit and to the girl.
"Here, take this. This medicine will help lower your fever." Kaede gives it to the girl who nods, but still wary for any contact between them.
"Don't worry." Kaede smiles as she brings her hands to wipe the tears from the girls face. "Now that I'm also cursed, I can hold you without any problem..."
Yuta feels as if he his heart had been split; why does someone as kind as Kaede always have to go through these... his heart is heavy with something he don't even know how to describe, worry? Scared? Fear that he'd lose Kaede? The ache in his chest has grown stronger, more painful and his breathing heavy, disoriented.
His thoughts break as he sees Kaede turn to him, their eyes looks into each others.
"You'll be fine and I,too will be fine." Despite the words being said to the girl, it was as if Kaede was saying to console Yuta too...