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The minivan drove past Jujutsu high's barrier safely, going down the hill and drove past the trees on each side of the road. The weather is nice and the temperature isn't that hot either. The entire minivan was filled with soft music and comfortable silence between the students and their teacher.
"Sensei," Panda was the first to break the silence to which Hinari replied with her usual soft tone. "Yes, Panda?"
"Those Diamond earrings you wore.. that was from Satoru, right?" Panda asked and Hinari nodded.
"Yes, he bought it as a birthday present." She replied, touching the branded earring on her left ear.
"Oh I was right." Panda clapped his hands, "I also remember that he even gave you branded clothes as a souvenir each time he went on a mission trip somewhere."
"Oh.. Yes, he did.." Hinari replied, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I'm still wondering what kind of Souvenir was that? He's filthy rich but with no brain." Maki commented with her usual flat expression.
"Don't say that.. it's rude, Maki." she smiled wryly "But.. to be honest I don't know why he did that either, I told him not to spend too much on me.. at least it has lessened now."
"Because he likes you, sensei." Panda and Maki whispered in chorus while sighing. "Shake." Inumaki mutters while nodding.
"Hm?"
"Nothing." The duo said in chorus and Inumaki nodded again.
Shirazaki-san.. you're too clueless when it comes to things like this.. Ijichi thought to himself while his eyes were still focusing on the road.
Everyone knows that Gojo Satoru has liked her since they were in high school until this day. But Hinari is not sensitive to things like Romantic Relationships.
But Gojo has told everyone not to meddle and tell her, he's just enjoying every moment he spends with her, he's enjoying this slow process because he wants to make her fall in love with him naturally, at the right time and in the right way, that's what he thought.
But it'll be a lie too if she didn't start to feel something is changing inside her whenever Gojo is being so kind to her, giving her snacks, her favorite things, remembering little things about her or even holding her hand whenever they're alone or whenever they went out. But she never even once thinks of it in a romantic way.
"Why don't you just give up?" Megumi spoke as they sat across from each other in the bullet train.
"Hm?~ What do you mean Megumi?"
"Shirazaki-sensei." He sighed, folding his arms across his chest. Hearing that made Gojo chuckled, "Are you Je-"
"Die." Megumi cut his words immediately, making the blindfolded man laugh again.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha~, why should I give up on her? I'm one hell of a stubborn man y'know?" He let out his toothy grin "You sure are fond of her, Megumi."
"I just respect her a lot." he muttered.
"What's the difference?"
"It's a bit different." He muttered, looking away as the image of his older step sister, Tsumiki, came to his view "... I think." He trailed off the last words. Shirazaki-sensei is similar to Tsumiki in almost every way that it's starting to scare me.. scared that I'll lose her one day.
Gojo just stares at his student momentarily before clapping his hand and switching into a cheerful person like he always is. "Megumi, your work once we arrived at Sendai is to retrieve a high grade cursed charm, I'll inform you the place later on~"
"Ugh.." he looked extremely annoyed having to do his teacher's work again and again. I really want to punch him. He thought
With that, the two teachers who went on a mission in a different place along with their students, did their work properly except for Gojo who just slacked off like a king and dumped his work to Megumi as he pleased under the name of making them stronger and out of love. But what he did this time brings a miracle yet disaster at the same time.
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"Gojo-sensei where are you??" Megumi asked through the phone, he didn't bother to conceal his annoyed tone.
"I just received the information about the cursed charm, it's in Sugisawa third high school." Gojo replied from the other side of the line. "What?.. School?" Megumi repeated
"Yep! It's in an instrument shelter to be exact~"
Eyes widened, the young man spoke, "Instrument Shelter?! You're telling me that a high grade cursed charm is being stored in a place like that?? How dumb can they be???"
"Well that's what they told me. I'll hang up, do your best then Megumi!"
And the line was cut off.
Megumi sighed heavily and walked towards the said high school, walking to the backyard of the school and saw the said instrument shelter. He proceeds to open it only to find it empty, "Huh..?"
He widened his eyes and searched for the cursed charm under the instrument shelter, around and even above it but there's nothing there. He dialled Gojo's number right away and he picked up the call seconds later.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"It's not here." He replied.
"Huh??"
"The instrument shelter is empty." He sighed again to which Gojo replied with a laugh. "Seriously?? That's hilarious! Hahaha!"
"I'm seriously going to knock you down, sensei." Megumi replied, iritated but still calm.
"Well, you can't go back until you retrieve it though, good luck megumi~"
And the line was cut off once again.
Tck, let's punch him for real this time. He thought, clicking his tongue.
While Megumi is searching for the missing cursed object, Gojo was casually strolling around the shopping area, keeping his hands and phone inside his pocket but soon he took his phone out again when it vibrates. Staring at the screen-It was a message from Maki. And as soon as he opened it, a gentle smile formed on his face.
She's really pretty. He thought and saved a picture of Hinari who was laughing. He texted her back saying 'thanks' and kept his phone in his pocket again while he continued his hunt for souvenirs and snacks. Hmm.. What should I give her this time? She didn't really like sweets.. oh! But she likes that one~ gonna buy it then~
Earlier this afternoon, Hinari's group finished retrieving Ryomen Sukuna's cursed object-which is a piece of his fingers. Right after that they rested in a Ryokan after retrieving it surprisingly fast because it turns out that the cursed spirit that's been bothering the village is the curse that consumed Sukuna's finger.
After a long exhausting day, they're playing Uno together while laughing when the losers got marked on their faces with lipstick. Moments later Hinari's phone vibrates and she looks at the caller ID.
Gojo-senpai?.. "I'll take the call first, all of you can rest if you want." she said with a smile before walking out of the room and picking up the call, "Hello?"
"Hello Hina! Did I disturb you?" He asked in a cheerful voice. "No, we were just messing around with one another." she chuckles, "Do you need something, Senpai?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to call you."
She smiled softly, staring into the starry night sky. "I see.. oh.. Did you do your job properly, senpai?"
"Yup!" He lied.
She was actually a bit surprised to hear that Gojo is really doing his job properly, "Really?"
"Reeeeaaalllyyyy..!! Oh and by the way where are you now? Seems quiet there." he swiftly changed the topics. "Ah.. We're in Tenryuso, Otaki. Maki, panda and Toge said that they wanted to stay in a ryokan with a private onsen in it." she chuckled softly.
"Oh? Tenryuso, Otaki huh?~ It Must be really nice~"
"Yes, there aren't many curses here either so they could take a break" Hinari replied, her smile never left her lips.
"Hmm~ did the principal give you permission?" He murmured and the line went quiet for a while, causing her to wander a bit. "Senpai?"
"Man.. talking about playing Favourites." She flinched, eyes widened when she heard the overly familiar voice right next to her and his voice created a loud Feedback on the phone as the result of being in a close distance phone call. "G-Gojo-senpai??"
"Yo!" He grinned. ending the call, She looked ay him still with wide eyes. "Did you just.."
"Yup! I warped here. And wow the Ryokan still looks so neat!"
"How? Isn't it quite far from where you are?" She asked, bewildered. "Well~ I've been here before so it's easy to teleport myself here." He grinned
"You.. Really have a very convenient technique, Gojo-senpai..." She smiled wryly and looked around, "By the way, Where is Megumi?"
"Working~" Hinari heard Gojo's answer and she immediately covered her face with her right hand and sighed deeply. "You're really.. unbelievable, senpai."
"Hehe, I just came to give you this." He muttered and handed her the paper bag filled with her favourite heart shaped strawberry flavoured pocky.
To say that she was surprised is an understatement. She looked at him, bewildered. "You warped yourself here just to give me this?... Senpai, you do know that they sell this here.. right?"
"I know~" he grinned. "You know???" She widened her eyes.
"Yeah~ Well it's okay, I also wanted to see you before you return tomorrow!" He patted her head while grinning, "Alright!~ I'll get going, make sure to get enough rest, Hina!"
"O-Oh.. okay, you too." She replied with a minuscule smile and Gojo vanished from her sight in a blink of an eye, back to where he was before meeting her.
She looked at the paper bag and felt something in her chest, she brought her hand to where her heart is and it just felt strange to her. Something that she couldn't grasp. I wonder.. What is this?, she thought.
While she was busy figuring it out, she didn't notice that her students were watching the scene as if it was something straight out of a romance drama.
"Wow, he really warped here just to give her her favorite snack." Maki mutters. "Satoru sure has fallen head over heels for Shirazaki-sensei.." Panda added and Toge nodded in agreement. "Shake."
"But Shirazaki-sensei is not that aware when it comes to things like this, poor Satoru." Panda commented.
"Yeah. But I heard that she's a lot more cheerful now than she was back in her high school days. I think the current one is better." Maki replied. "I'm going to sleep first, good night you two." She added and walked away
"Yup! Have a good sleep, Maki." Panda waved at her and Inumaki did the same.
The next day, Gojo was busy sightseeing, leaving Megumi to deal with the retrieval of one of Sukuna's fingers on Sugisawa Third High School but when evening comes, something unexpected happened that created a miracle and a disaster at the same time.
"Don't move! You're no longer a human!" Megumi said firmly, preparing to strike the pink haired student in front of him.
"Huh?.."
"Under Jujutsu Regulations, Itadori Yuji," Megumi clenched his fist tighter and gritted his teeth. "I will exorcise you as a curse!"
"Wait, Wait! I'm really fine!" The muscular teenager with big light brown eyes and black-pink spiky hair-Itadori Yuji, raised his hands immediately, "Besides, you and I are pretty beat up, let's go to the hospital." He said and the marks on his body started to disappear
I can't tell if the one speaking right now is Itadori or the Cursed Charm..! Dammit! What should I do?! He frowned and was about to summon his shikigami when someone interrupted.
"What's the situation?"
Megumi flinched and turned to his left, "Gojo-sensei?! Why are you here???"
The white haired man raised his right hand and smiled "yo! I wasn't planning on coming, but wow~, you're a mess. I should show this to the Second years." Gojo turned on the flash on his phone as he took Megumi's picture while grinning like a child. "Come on face this way, ahahaha!"
"Ugh.." Megumi covered his face and frowned in annoyance.
Keeping his phone back, Gojo then spoke again, "As expected, The higher-ups wouldn't shut up with a special grade cursed object gone missing. So I stopped by while sightseeing, so? Did you find it?" He asked after sending the pictures to the second years.
Silence. He was greeted by silence as Megumi lowered his head.
"Um.." The high schooler known as Itadori, raised his hand feeling awkward. "Hm?" Gojo turn his head to the lad after hearing his mumbles
"Sorry but, I ate it.."
They were once again, greeted by pure silence.
"... For real?" Gojo said, breaking the silence. "For real." And the two teenagers said at the same time.
Hearing this made Gojo walk closer to the boy and leaned over, smelling the scent only Gojo could understand. He could immediately tell from Itadori's cursed energy without even actually seeing him. "Haha! It really combined with you, That's hilarious." He chuckled and stepped away "Anything off with your body?"
"Oh.. not particularly." He answered
Hearing that, Gojo replied while preparing to do some stretching. "Can you swap out with Sukuna?"
"Sukuna?"
"The cursed charm that you ate."
"Ah.. yeah, I think I can do that."
Gojo then stretched his legs casually as if preparing for a marathon. "Then ten seconds, once the ten seconds are up, come back."
"But.."
"Don't worry," He paused and smirked, "I'm the Strongest." He said and tossed the paper bag to Megumi who was sitting on the ground "Megumi, hold on to this."
He caught it easily and asked, "What is this?"
"Kikufuku, Kikusuian. It's Sendai's speciality and it's super good! I recommend the Zunda and Cream flavor." He grinned.
This person actually went and bought souvenirs! When people were out here dying! Megumi screamed inwardly, wanting to punch his teacher so badly.
"Oh, it's not a souvenir." He smiled, "I'm going to eat it on the bullet train. You know, Kikufuku is not like any other souvenirs where..."
"Behind you!!"
As soon as he said that, the impact of Sukuna's hit caused the dust to float around momentarily. Megumi opened his eyes slowly and widened it when Sukuna was already right in front of him just inches away while Gojo casually sat on his back, clearly mocking the cursed spirit.
"The whipped cream inside is simply exquisite." Gojo finished his sentence and made the cursed spirit annoyed.
Sukuna gritted his teeth and got up, attempting to hit Gojo but to no avail. He is faster in everything, especially when it comes to a fight.
"My student's watching. So I'm going to show off a little." He grinned and pulled Sukuna by his forearm, spinning him around before throwing him into the air after a hit.
He's unbelievably fast?.. no.. that's not it. Sukuna thought and Gojo moved his hand in a simple punching gesture, but his power was enough to send Sukuna backwards far eough to hit the railings.
"For crying out loud.. You Jujutsu Sorcerers are always trouble, no matter what the era is!" He dashed forward and used his curse energy to blow up the place where Gojo was standing. "Though it doesn't mean much to.. me.." he trailed off his words and widened his eyes when he saw Gojo in a perfectly fine condition.
"Seven.. Eight.. Nine.." he grinned "It should be time~"
Just then Itadori's heartbeat caused Sukuna to be immobilised as the host regained his consciousness. Damnit.. again? I can't take over, just who the hell.. is this.. Itadori brat.. Sukuna was pushed back by Itadori without any difficulties and he woke up being himself again. "Oh, was everything okay?" The boy asked, surprising both Gojo and Megumi.
"Oh! I'm shocked." Said the white-haired man as he's lowering his hand, "You can fully control it."
"Yeah But he's really annoying, I can hear his voice in my head." Itadori tapped his head several times in annoyance and Gojo just chuckled at him.
"Haha it's a miracle that's all he's doing." He said and walked closer to Itadori. Tapping his forehead with his index and middle fingers and he falls asleep immediately "oof, he's heavy."
".... What did you do?" Megumi asked.
"Knocked him out. If he isn't possessed by Sukuna when he wakes up, he might have the potential as a vessel. Now here's the question for you~ what should we do to him?"
"Even if he's capable of being a vessel, Jujutsu Regulations will demand for Itadori's execution. However, I don't want to stand by and watch him die." Megumi said with full of determination in his eyes.
"Hmh~ are those your personal feelings?"
"Yes. Please do something about this."
Gojo grinned and carried Yuji like a rice sack. "Now that's a request from my cute student~ leave it to me!" He let out his thumbs, still grinning.
ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʀꜱᴇ ɪ | 02
[A/N]: FULLY EDITED.