Chapter Text
8 AM - 9 AM
The walk to school is nice, loud but nice. Yuji and Kugisaki continued to bicker the whole way back.
I wasn’t really listening much. I had recalled a memory about a while ago when Gojo had passed, I received a letter. I asked the others and so did they.
Yuji said he wouldn’t open it unless he was in a situation where he had to. I’m not sure if he expected some kind of wisdom, but… I doubt he’d get anything too important other than some words to cheer him up. Kugisaki and I hadn’t opened mine yet either. I planned to open it with Yuji, but never found the chance to do so.
“Oi, Megumi, you listenin’? Oi!” Kugisaki snaps me back. I’ve been zoning out a lot since coming to school. It’s likely because I hadn’t slept tonight.
“Yeah?”
“Goodness, you zone out like it’s a job!” She says. “What’re you thinking about so hard, huh?”
I glance over at her past Yuji. “Remember those letters Gojo-sensei gave us?”
“Ooooh! Yeah, I do, we should open them.” She said.
Yuji spoke up. “Don’t we have training right now though? We’re gonna be late.”
“Fiiiiiine! We can train a bit, but we’re opening those letters today.”
He quickly dodges his head to the left, away from my kick. He places his hands on the grass-covered floor, pushing himself up and using his legs to kick off the abundance of bunnies attacking him, sending them flying off before melting back into their shadows.
I use this as an opening to direct my punch at his upside-down figure, straight into the space between his ribs and hips on his side. My punch is dulled by the cursed energy that had been quickly relocated to block and protect.
Yuji quickly recovers, standing straight. I clench my hand into a fist, embedding it with just enough cursed energy to hit without causing any actual damage. Before I could use a shadow to fall into and hit, he tackled me down, swiftly flipping me on my stomach and pressing his knee to my back.
His hand was holding my arm to my back and the order to the grass, my cheek pressed hard on the ground, my breath heavy.
I could technically escape this easily; I could just fall into the shadow below me and attack against him, but I don’t.
“I win!” He says breathily, pushing himself up and pulling me along with him. “That’s two on one!”
I rub my cheek, sighing as I do. Yuji drags me to sit at one of the benches near the outside vending machines, grabbing a towel and wiping it over his face. I take my water bottle, one that I left here while we fought — and drank some. The heavy and cold gulps washing my dry-throat clean.
“Can I try that?” Yuji asks, his eyes practically drilling holes into my face.
I close the cap of the bottle, my face turning to his. His face was flushed and sweaty from the training; the towel did help a bit but it always shocked me how quickly he’d turn red at the smallest touch from the sun. “It’s just water, I don’t usually put anything in it.”
“Really? You always drink it like it’s some holy thing. I just assumed you really liked it because it was some drink you liked.”
“I do not.” I retort. “And next time put some sunscreen on, your face looks like a chili pepper.”
“My face is perfectly fine!” He bites back.
Before I could speak up again, Kugisaki comes out from behind Yuji and slaps the back of his head.
“Oi! You two! I got the letters.” Her hand quickly recoils and wipes aggressively on the back of Yuji’s shirt. “Ewww! You’re sweaty as fuck! You two seriously trained?!”
“Duh we did!” Yuji exclaimed back.
“Fucking nerds…” Kugisaki rolled her eyes.
My eyes fall into her hand, three envelopes. Three small ‘Satoru’ signatures with a stupid-looking pair of sunglasses drawn. It was his thing, he’d have it on practically every sheet of paper he’d ever written in — even though he doesn’t wear sunglasses anymore.
“Did you go through our rooms to find that?” I say, a bit angry at the thought of my room being searched.
“Yes. Got a problem with that, jerk?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Well fucking deal with it then. You had me in a frog once.”
“To save your life.” I retort.
She rolls her eyes. “Doesn’t matter. Just take the damn letter and get on with it.”
I snatch the paper with my name on it from her hand harshly.
Sensing the tension, Yuji spoke. His tone a forced excitement. “W-we should open them now!” He tried.
Kugisaki glared at him, already tearing the stamp open to take the paper out. Her eyes directed themselves toward the paper, her furrowed brows softening slightly before rising in quiet shock.
“Oh…”
“What’d he write?” Yuji asks, genuine curiosity in his voice.
A small smile is drawn onto her face, warm and gentle. It was beautiful if I were being honest with myself — the smile a rare sight when it comes to her.
“Nothin’…” She mutters quietly.
“Well don’t just go smiling like that and expect us not to get curious.” Yuji says.
Kugisaki rolls her eyes. “He found my friend’s locations. I’m not even sure how he knew I knew them.” A pause, her gaze softening as it reaches ours. “I’m glad though.”
“Mine just says he’s sad I’ll probably get executed…” Yuji grumbles.
“At least he’s worried.” Kugisaki comforts — barely.
I had already started opening mine by the time he finished reading his, my eyes skimming over the words. Gojo’s handwriting had always been one to admire; there was no denying he was good at basically everything he did — and this was one of those things.
His letter to me was likely the longest compared to the others. Taking up the entire page in just writing, and leaving one small doodle at the very bottom.
“To my dearest Megumi.
Though I hope you receive this letter once you’ve grown old enough to join me, I’m careful enough to know that with how much the world has changed after Sukuna’s appearance, I likely won’t live very long after writing this.
Though I’m not here with you, I wish you the best in finding what you need. I know you’re easy to let down, but for my sake keep your head up. Find a lover if that’s what you need. Find a place to stay at. Don’t mourn me for too long and look after your friends. Especially Itadori and Kugisaki.
Oh, and one last thing.
I’m sorry, Gumi-bear.
- Sincerely, your dad (the strongest, ikik).”
My dampened eyes are quickly forgotten when a smile warms my face. A soft chuckle escaping my confined throat.
“Seriously? You? Laughing?” Yuji says, confused and peeking over my shoulder.
“What’d he say?” Kugisaki asked, leaning over from where she stood.
I fold the paper back into the envelope, pocketing it. “Just told me to look after you two.” I say, wiping off a tear that threatened to fall, burning the inner lids of my eye. “How about we do something fun?”
“Like what?” Yuji asks.
“Oh, I know! I saw this ad for quad biking a while ago. We could book something for like, half an hour?” Kugisaki says. “They also have a canoeing service, and like… five other things.”
“We’re allowed to book this late?” I ask.
“I think they’re empty anyways.” She says.
“Makes sense then.” I look over at Yuji. “You okay with quad biking?”
“I’ve never done it before. I don’t think I’d mind trying it with you guys.” Yuji says, his hand lightly running over my own, too subtle for Kugisaki to notice.
“Get up then, dumbasses. We don’t exactly have anything we need to bring.”
It’s 8:59 AM.