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The sterile scent of the hospital permeated everything. It settled into your pores the longer you stayed. It itched along Yorozu’s new skin. Begging to unleash her curse energy. Instead, she accepted the little cup of medicine from the nurse who came by her room with a gentle grin that the nurse returned. They always did. The same pleasantness she directed to the physical therapist that came by her room every day. She was improving so quickly they would say. A one-of-a-kind miracle. Yorozu would shyly insist that it was nothing special. The real challenge was holding back from acting like she wasn’t completely physically capable the moment she awoke. The atrophy having been burned away as her first task in her new body. This gift.
Today, she had a guest. One that only made himself known whenever it befit him. Not that he would have ever asked her opinion. Never ask her. He only saw what he wanted to see. And she was happy to feed that delusion. The nurse that usually came to escort her wheeled her down the hallway to the visitor area.
“Hi Megumi,” Yorozu greeted as they arrived at the couch he always sat at when he visited. She let a tinge of worry seep into her voice, “Is everything okay? You’re not working too hard, are you?”
“No,” the ten-shadow user stood up, “Just wanted to see you before my comrades and I got serious.” The sorcerer went to leave and with a practiced amount of desperation, Yorozu caught the edge of his sleeve. “Wait!” The blank annoyance from Megumi was met by her own passive smile. “Why don’t we have some tea before you go? You’re always rushing off.” She was ready for him to brush it off. Say he doesn’t have time for it. The boy considered her proposition for once. Look at him actually being a modicum of considerate. A true miracle. He broke eye contact, “Yeah, okay.”
There was a small kitchen nearby for guests and residents alike to refresh themselves. Megumi went about getting said tea ready while her nurse wheeled her over to a nearby table. All the while, she wore a positively radiant smile. If only there was a mirror nearby. She would love to see it herself.
“AH,” Yorozu yelped as she quickly pulled the cup away just as Tsumiki would in her eagerness. Burning the tip of her tongue in the process.
“Let it cool,” Megumi chastised her like he had any right to.
“Sorry,” she replied with a pull of her shoulders like she was in the wrong. The crease in the boy’s brow smoothed out and they drank their tea in calm silence.
Earl grey. The one Megumi defaulted to. If he actually had a brain, he would have picked hibiscus for her since of the two of them, Tsumiki had actually enjoyed tea. But that would imply he knew the first thing about his sister. It was asking too much of him to remember her favorite. That info was preciously stashed in her mental list concerning the girl.
Being reincarnated into a new body. A new life. None of her family around to say she’s being unlady like or to bug her about putting on some clothes. Seeing him again. Those were what she had to look forward to in the modern era. Instead, she was stuck inside a comatose body with only the memories of the previous occupant to entertain herself while she waited for her time to come. She’d play her part in whatever Kenjaku had planned, but only if she got to see her love again. She couldn’t care less about anything else.
At first, she had looked at the girl’s memories both out of boredom and curiosity. What she found was memory after memory of her, Tsumiki, being too kind, too considerate to others who would never return it. It was revolting after the first couple ones that she shoved them all to the back of her mind to collect dust. It was hard to tell how much time passed, but she did eventually get bored enough trapped in the mental space to browse through them again. It wasn’t nearly as bad the second time. But her eye caught on something. An offhanded exchange between Tsumiki and some girl Yorozu didn’t care enough to learn the name of in an almost empty classroom. The few who lingered were obviously trying to pretend they weren't eavesdropping. The two were having an argument. A one-sided one at that from how calm Tsumiki was compared to the fire of her friend. The friend just as passionate sneered as she stated with her whole chest, “You don’t know a damn thing about hardship. Everyone likes you, so get off your high horse already.” An easy provocation. But Tsumiki’s facial expression didn’t shift, her gentle tone didn’t change, which just made the other progressively angrier until she stormed out. But Yorozu didn’t care about any of that. Being inside Tsumiki’s mind, she saw that nothing on the outside had changed, but she felt that flash of blistering, white hot anger at that comment. Simmering under the surface after she had tried to push that festering emotion out of the way. The flecks of self-guilt directed towards feeling that way about her supposed friend. It wasn’t enough to completely let go of that rage. The friendship eventually dying out quietly.
That was what piqued Yorozu’s interest. Memories that weren’t hers were no long brushed through as a boring way to pass the time. She dug into the feelings underneath the niceties. The ugly feelings that Tsumiki tried to hide away from others successfully, but never able to escape them herself. They were everywhere once she was aware of them. No one asking her opinion on whether she wanted to move into the Gojo home. The people around her that never asked how she was doing or what she ever wanted. The small, tight pit of resentment sitting in her stomach that steadily built up over time. For her friends. Her mother. Her father. Her guardian, Gojo Satoru. And the one she felt the guiltiest of all for: her own brother. Megumi.
When Yorozu finally opened her eyes to modern world, she knew Tsumiki on a level that went past being personal. Those beautiful dark brown eyes that met her in the mirror. The silky dark hair that would shine brilliantly if only she had access to better hair products. She couldn’t bring herself to change anything physically about this body she inhabited. She felt... protective of it. When was the last time a person had completely fascinated her to this degree? Yorozu knew her. No one else could claim that. It also led to her pondering over more things concerning her as her hospital stay extended.
Tsumiki… How long were you going to hold onto those feelings? Would you ever acknowledge them? Or would you simply resign yourself to always being an afterthought?
The thoughts swirled in her mind on lazy days. Yorozu considered the impossible on some of those days. One where she could have provoked the girl enough to act on the feelings she desperately wished would disappear. Where they shared a body. Where they had separate bodies. All impossible of course, but it was a nice thought to pass the time. The reflection in the mirror wasn’t her own, but the face she saw was one she had grown fond of.
“Alright, I’ve got to go,” Megumi had taken away the mugs once they finished and stopped by her on his way to leave, “Next time, we’ll have everything fixed.”
“I know you will,” Yorozu had to speak up a bit as the boy had already started for the exit. Turning her back on her. Making decisions for her yet again. She crossed her arms over her torso in a self-hug. It settled her own bitter resentment that had been bubbling the entire interaction. Tsumiki’s body being the gift that was for her, and only her. A gift for her will.
Yorozu would play her part. Be the good sister that her brother, Megumi, had believed her to be. Pretending to be Tsumiki was the easiest thing in the world. Fun, even. After all, Yorozu knew her in ways no one else would. Not that they would have cared to try. Let them think everything is fine. Because when she betrayed them, that look of devastation would be all the more satisfying. Retribution for having to compartmentalize herself. No, not just for her. It was our retribution. A parting gift for the girl that could never act on her real feelings.