Chapter Text
The sunlight gently kissed your cheeks, as if apologizing for being absent for the past few days. Puddles of water glistened under the swaying sun. It had rained non-stop since the last two weeks, ceasing your outdoor activities. You hated being confined indoors with nothing more to do than attend a few classes here and there. There wasn’t much they could teach you at school since your abilities were passed down through generations and were unique to your family line. None of the teachers could teach you what your mother could but she was a busy woman and she insisted that you graduate from Jujutsu High. It made little sense to you but you would never disappoint anyone close to you, it frightened you to the core if you ever imagined their dull faces.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked with a playful smile.
He would always smile like that without a reason. Maybe he did have one. He was the strongest amongst your batch, even stronger than the seniors at school. No one knew much about him, not even you, his best friend who had known him for more than two years. He didn’t talk much about himself but he would never shut up about useless things.
“Care for some coke?” He sat down next to you.
You nodded and he passed you a can of soda, your fingers touching for a brief second.
The drink felt incredible against your parched throat, especially on a hot day like this.
“You know…,” you started to say something but he looked distracted.
He was searching the school grounds for something. His light hair fluttered softly in the afternoon breeze, falling onto his face. He wore small round sunglasses to keep his eyes partly covered.
A pair of soft hands patted your shoulders, Geto’s tall silhouette formed a shadow over Gojo and you.
“You found us?” Gojo looked amused.
“Where else would you be sitting on a day like this?,” he replied, sitting next to Gojo.
“The weather's so nice today, Suguru” Gojo groaned out, stretching his limbs and falling back on the grass, "I can’t imagine missing out"
“It wasn’t because of you", Geto's gaze was focused on the sky as he replied, "You could go anywhere at any time. Your likings aren’t quite the same as her”
His long hair was loosely tied in a knot. He looked happier today. The dark blue Jujutsu High uniform brought out his deep eyes, they seemed to look a darker shade of brown. As the sun fell on his face, you could see his flushed cheeks and a delicate smile forming at the corner of his lips.
Even if you hadn’t gotten much out of this high school experience here, one thing you’ll always cherish is their friendship. Although they looked like they never got along, they were the kind of people who would never do anything without each other.
Before accidentally sitting next to Geto in one of your classes, days at Jujutsu High were extremely tedious. They would drag along for what felt like eternities with the pangs of loneliness sinking into your heart. But ever since you met these two, the days fly by like sand slipping from your fingers. You wanted to be selfish and keep this time restricted within your palms. They say there are some moments in a person’s life that stay with them for as long as they live. You looked at your two closest friends and your eyes nearly welled up. Yes, this was that moment for you. These days are the most content you’ve ever felt in your life.
_____________________________________________________________________
“I’m sorry. There wasn’t anything else I could've done…,” his voice cracked. He leaned against a wall, trying to support his exhausted body.
You could tell from his tone how shambled he was, but he refused to tell you how he felt.
The day felt like a vortex of destruction. Every second that fell into its core was stained with blood and bad news. Since the morning you could predict that something awful would happen and this time you won’t be able to reverse it.
Time, there wasn’t enough time but there was too much time.
There wasn’t time to save him now but there was going to be too much time being without him now.
Gojo sat on a bench in front of you, with his head hanging low in despair. His body looked like it was going to wither soon. The emotional turbulence within the two of you was apparent in the room. Principal Yaga was standing at the door with worry painted all over his aging face. He looked like he was only physically here while his mind was somewhere else, as if he was contemplating what we should do next?
“Can you forgive me?” Gojo extended his hand towards you in reassurance but your body was paralyzed.
This wasn’t something that he could’ve handled.
Ever since those horrid words had left his mouth, you couldn’t move or decipher how to react. It felt like hours that you had been standing in front of that bench in vexation constricting your throat. How do you even say anything to him right now?
“Satoru, we should go,” Yaga said, shooting him an urgent look.
He let go of your hand and stood up.
“I’m sorry,” he said, without looking back he left.
——————————————
You felt disheveled after you failed your mission. If it had been another minute, you could’ve died but Geto got there in time and got ahold of your body hanging from the cursed spirits fingers. Combat had never been your forte but you convinced yourself otherwise because you wanted to be with Gojo and Geto before going back home for a year.
Your mother’s condition was worsening everyday and there was nothing you could do this time. Now you could finally understand why she had wanted you to go to Jujutsu High. It wasn’t to learn some lousy tricks or how to handle cursed spirits but to make friends and connect with people beyond your orthodox family. Your father would never understand you and your mother knew that. He was invested in his own cursed technique a little too much to give another thought to a daughter who was stronger than him.
“She'll make it", Geto put his arms around your shoulder and drew you in a warm embrace, "Don’t worry."
His hug felt like all the agony was being drained from your body and you could finally cry your heart out.
“Thank you for saving me. I don’t know where my mind was,” you buried your face into his shoulder and sobbed, "I’m sorry". Your hold was tight on him and you felt like he would disappear if you let him go.
He ruffled your hair gently and placed a kiss on your head.
“You can cry all you want right now.", He spoke your name with such softness that you almost forgot why you were crying, "We can talk about everything else later. As long as I’m here, you'll never have to worry"
He smelled like home. There was no other way to describe it. If the fragrance of comfort and love could be encapsulated, it would be Geto.
This was the second time he had saved you in three months. Ever since you heard the news that the family illness had seized your mothers heart, there was nothing else that could bring you faith but the two of them.
“Group hug without me?!” you felt Gojo's arms around you. “There, there"
"You'll never have to cry again long as you have the two of the strongest sorcerers by your side,” he added, rocking the three of you back and forth.
Even though it put your heart at ease a little bit, you knew that something harrowing was waiting for you back home which none of their powers could fight.
Amidst the benign embrace, you took a deep breath.
As long as we have each other, you thought.
——————————————————
Two days passed since Gojo broke the news to you. He was still outside the school campus with principal Yaga, trying to do some damage control. You had more patients than usual with deeply inflicted wounds, some were so vicious that it took you hours to reverse them.
“You called?” Nanami asked, knocking on your office door.
“Have you heard from him?” you asked desperately.
“No. I’m not sure where they are but I know he’s okay,” his voice betrayed him, sounding more unsure than anything.
If Nanami was unassertive, there was an immense chance that what you thought was true.
“Thank you for coming, Nanami.”
“If there is anything else I can do,” he bit his lower lip. His eyes were puffy, like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep for sometime.
“The new job must be pretty hard,” you forced a smile to convince him that you were okay.
Nanami was a simple man. He always preferred getting straight to the point and never bothered for short conversations to fill the holes in your heart.
“I’m sorry,” he waved at you with concern flooding his eyes, "But you know where to find me"
Everyone is sorry, you sighed.
—————————————————
“You know what else we can do?", Gojo put his hands over his head, glancing at the two of you, "Try some mochi!”
“Sounds good to me,” you responded, his enthusiasm for sweet things brought a smile to your face.
“Tokyo is the home to the best & most flavorful sweets,” he sounded overjoyed.
“Let’s not get carried away, Satoru” Geto interrupted sharply, "We're here for a mission"
“Oh, yeah? What's going to happen to the strongest sorcerers, Suguru?” He stuck out his tongue at Geto.
Geto ignored him and kept searching the perimeter for any movement.
Gojo moved closer to Geto, “Now, now, you don’t have to…”
But before Gojo could finish his sentence, a loud cacophonous sound startled the three of you.
An explosion took place in the building behind you.
“And what were you saying?” Geto shot Gojo an annoyed look and made his way to the building.
Over the last year, you had worked very hard to hone your fighting skills against any kind of cursed spirit. Your cursed technique had grown immensely since your mother passed away. After her death the cursed energy she bore was also transferred to you which gave you full protection against any kind of injury.
It would take you a microsecond to heal even fatal wounds on your body and only ten seconds to reverse any kind of damage on the bodies of the people you wanted to aid.
“Stay back for now,” Geto screamed from a far.
You nodded and took a step back. It wasn't unusual for him to order you around and you understood that he did it for your protection. Yet, you found yourself taking a step in his direction.
Sending you on this mission was a gamble by Yaga. If Geto or Gojo endured any wounds in this fight, your cursed energy would protect them from anything too dangerous almost immediately.
But you were given strict orders to only step into a situation in the worst case scenario only. Even if you had learned to counter well, it was still not feasible for you to be on the battlefield.
Especially when working with Geto and Gojo.
“Allow me,” Gojo stood next to Geto, eyeing the cursed spirit and analysing where to begin.
They both nodded at each other and attacked.
“Didn't I warn you that the sweet's place would close at 5?” you laughed at Gojo's disappointment. He had been sulking for the past fifteen minutes.
“Clearly, that cute girl at the station was more important for Satoru,” Geto snickered.
“I already told you,” he protested half heartedly, "I was just trying to help!"
“By almost getting her number?,” you teased.
“Yes, but it's not like I asked,” he said, elbowing you in frustration, "She gave it to me!"
The three of you laughed.
“Let’s go eat something else, though", Geto stuck out his tongue in disgust, "The cursed spirit tasted like crap"
——————————————————-
“There must've been another way,” he sounded anguished, "I could've done something else"
You had never seen him this desolated in all the years you’ve known him.
The birds chirped outside your office window. The evening was setting, painting the sky in honey colors. The mellow sunlight entered your office, casting faintly over Satoru’s hair. He ran his hand over his hair in exasperation; something he would do only when he felt defeated.
When you came back after your mother’s funeral, he would do this so often around you, that you would often break into tears thinking even the strongest man on the planet could feel helpless.
“If there was a way, we would’ve known,” you said, biting your lower lip, trying not to cry.
Every day has started to look dreadful. Every hour left you lamented. Every minute was despicable.
“You should stop blaming yourself,” You couldn’t bear to see his face like this so you avoided his gaze.
There was nothing comforting that you could say or do.
“Maybe,” he said, getting up to leave.
“I guess even the strongest can be defeated,” he left those words hanging between the two of you.
His words felt heavy and suffocating. Like something pushing you farther and farther from him unwillingly. You couldn't move or talk for a moment.
You forced yourself to say something, anything.
“When will you come back this time?” there was a hint of desperation in your voice.
“I don’t know if I can,” it sounded more like an apology than a statement.
“I see,” you nodded in acceptance.
That was the last conversation you had with him.