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Suffice to say, your principal is incredibly irritated. In all fairness, you did expect it.
You had been pulled into his office earlier due to you being clearly out of it during class. Hell, even Fushiguro (upon Itadori’s request when, of course) had asked if you were feeling ok. Naturally, all you said was that you were perfectly fine and you were just… hungry. A poor excuse, especially when you were breathing extra heavy, skipped your usual breakfast with the first and second years, had your head glued to your hand with drowsy eyes, and barely even registered when someone said your name.
That last part was especially detrimental to you a few hours ago, seeing as Principal Yaga had called you out in the class 4 different times to answer a question regarding curtains or veils, and you stayed in that same resting position until Itadori had tapped your shoulder. You jump at the sudden contact and zone back in. Yaga stood there, arms crossed, awaiting your answer. Normally you’d be able to respond to a question like this just fine, part of the reason he even asked you specifically to answer, expecting a know-it-all response from you about this subject in particular.
Nothing.
You stumbled over your words, eyes blurred from the headache making it harder to read the board, got red faced and eventually just stopped trying and went quiet. Yaga gave a light tongue click with a mildly annoyed scowl. Luckily, he was a bit merciful and moved on, but you felt eyes on you. From the briefest head turn you could give you noticed Panda’s sympathetic somber smile, Itadori’s confused look, Maki’s disinterest, Inumaki’s blank expression, all of it felt almost as bad as the sickness.
After class Yaga pulled you into his office. He asked pretty directly:
“(Y/n), you seemed a bit lost during the class today. Is there a reason you couldn’t answer such a straightforward question?” he asked. You could feel a soft glare behind the glasses.
Your initial panicked response was silence, but you decided to make an attempt.
“Uhm… sorry, principal. I’m still getting a grasp on barriers.” Your voice conveyed a poor joke through that statement, and after having students like Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, Masamichi wasn’t one for jokes in worrisome situations. Whether you noticed it or not, he cares about you quite a bit.
“Don’t start that.” he spoke through gritted teeth. “This is the subject you seem to excel in. Even Kusakabe himself complimented you regarding this.” he rebutted, clearly unamused.
At that response, you tentatively avert your gaze to the bottom of the side wall. You’re not sure how to continue this conversation. Your head is pounding, and that damned ear ringing still hasn’t gone away.
It seems Yaga noticed that clearly aching expression as well.
He lets out a gentle sigh, arms crossed at his seat.
“(Y/N) are you sure you’re ok to continue with today’s training. I can write you a pass to go see Shoko or rest in your dorm for the day if needed.”
You really didn’t want to do that. Sickness in sorcerers isn’t very common with cursed energy flowing from the stomach outward. This osmosis of cursed energy allows sorcerers to have significantly stronger resistances to ailments and illnesses due to their bodies processing viruses faster. Should you have such crippling sickness now, your classmates would surely be overly worried for your safety, and that extra attention is the last thing you need.
Then again, it's not like they didn’t just see that whole event just now. Surely, they know something is wrong. They’re likely talking about it right now. Probably about how you aren’t acting like yourself, how you need to eat more, how-
“(Y/N)!”
You jump at the sharp voice. Yaga had been trying to get your focus back. You almost feel ashamed getting distracted so easily, you knew it wasn’t like you. Yaga knew it wasn’t like you.
His expression shifted to something less irritated, more grumpily concerned.
His face drifts slightly downward, that displeased face all the same as before.
“You’re taking the day off.” he says decisively.
You freeze at those words. Was he serious? “W-why?! I already said I’m fin-”
“I won’t repeat myself, (Y/N). Day. Off.” he said through his clenched jaw, masking concern with controlled anger.
The finality in those words was undeniable. You knew there wasn’t much room for argument, so you mumble quietly:
“Yes sir…”
“Good. Now I recommend you go see Shoko regarding this, but if you’re stubborn enough to skip out on a quick treatment, go straight to your dorm.” he said, plainly. “If you’re caught wandering the grounds, I’ll be sure to log it into disciplinary action.:
You tense a bit at that, you yourself can’t discern if that is because of the threat of getting harsh punishment, or the simple thought of Yaga being angry at you.
You nod almost solemnly.
“Right, straight to the dorm.” You pause, pondering a way to try and make this less bothersome to the both of you. “...Sorry about all of-” you pause momentarily, trying to conjure up a word to describe that failure in class today. “-that.”
Yaga mumbles something under his breath, then follows,
“I’m not looking for an apology or excuse, I’m hoping you walk yourself to Shoko rather than your dorm, and contact someone in the building if you need anything, but I know you’re much too stubborn to do so.” he scolded.
While you felt bad enough, he hammered in with that fatherly tone,
“You look pale, (Y/N).”
He wasn’t wrong, you were too stubborn to go see Shoko. You didn’t plan on skipping the day, but most kids would be thrilled at the idea of a teacher, let alone the principal, giving out a free pass to skip all classes for the day, so you try to make the best of it.
“Right… I’ll uh… do that.”
Yaga doesn’t seem convinced but knows there isn’t much point in attempting to discuss this further. Why fuel this redundancy, if you really wanted to see your school doctor, you would.
He grabs a stack of papers from a drawer, likely more work that needs grading, not that it was any of your concern.
“Get some rest (Y/N), I’ll be in contact with Shoko.”
What? Why would he need to do that? Does he not trust you to make a choice on your own? Of course, you didn’t have to go, but he would know for certain and probably be pissed at you.
It seems he noticed the mild panic on your face behind those sunglasses of his. Expression unmoving, he questions,
“Unless that would be a problem?”
You are still immediately at that. You couldn’t give away that you were actively avoiding a doctor’s visit. At your age? Seriously.
“No, it’s nothing.” You pause, “Do you really have to keep contact with her about this? I mean, my doctor’s business is my own, no?”
The principal appears a bit disturbed by that comment.
“When it comes to a sorcerer’s health, most medical information is to be passed to proper authority. This isn’t your average salary man’s workplace, (Y/N). If your health is at risk, it should be common knowledge among staff.” He argues.
You understood this clearly. It made sense, a sorcerer infected or cursed in any way, shape, or form was a danger to not only themselves, but the people around them. Whether that’s the spread of infection or some twisted form of emotional or mind control, it’s an incredible risk the school can’t allow.
After taking a momentary pause to consider, you concede. “I’ll go see her.”
Yaga seems actually a little pleased at this, a final, almost tender sigh escapes his lips.
“Good. However, I’ll still be making sure.” he gestures to the phone on the desk on the left of the tatami mat.
His voice is noticeably softer than before, almost as if he had expected more of a battle but was relieved by your unusual cooperation.
You steady yourself to stand up, watching as your diligent principal grabs his needle and ball of string. He tenses a bit as he watches your slightly struggling, albeit successful, attempt at standing up.
“Can I trust you can walk to the medical quarter on your own?” He asked, voice weighed down with concern.
Hard pass on that inquiry. The idea of the principal holding your hand across the campus due to your inability to walk independently was bound to lead to relentless teasing from both your seniors and same-year classmates.
“Y-yes, you can.” You say, feeling the heat creep up your face.
He simply nods and responds with a gruff hum.
Of course, you couldn’t just shut up and leave there. In the generic ‘brain moving faster than mouth’ fashion, you too quickly continued with:
“You’d care if something bad happened to me, right?”
…
You have never hated yourself for 9 simple words more in your entire life.
Your principal stops his knitting entirely, not even looking up, rather, processing what you had just asked at random.
You feel your eyes widen much farther than they should, trying to backtrack quickly:
“Don’t… answer that. I don’t know what I’m thinking here.” You continue with a nervous laugh. “I think maybe I’m more sick than I thought. I-I should go see Shoko, then-” You hurriedly spoke. Upon a quick turn on your heel, you take a few small steps towards the exit.
“(Y/N).” the voice stops you dead in your tracks with more efficiency than a demand via cursed speech.
You take a deep inhale, turning your head fully.
“...Yes?”
He was looking up now, directly at you. Normally a stare from Masamichi Yaga felt like holes were being drilled through your chest, but this was different. His gaze was almost soft, a bit comforting even.
“Is everything alright?”
That simplistic question was somehow harder to answer than anything he had asked you to even get you enrolled in this damn school. You were second guessing yourself. You thought everything was alright, but upon considering why you even asked him this to begin with, you didn't really know. Not wanting to spiral in front of your principal, coupled with a headache only progressing from these rapid thoughts, you answer,
“Of course, sorry.” You state, far too plain to be believable. “I think I just need to go to sleep or something. It’s been… hard today.”
How else could you put it? You feel too ill to continue this conversation, head splitting as you speak.
Yaga stays there, eyes not visible behind his lenses, but so blatantly still fixed on your pale and stressed face.
“If anything comes up-” he notices your zoning out eyes. “Anything (Y/N), you verbalize it. Are we clear?”
He emphasized those words, clearly to gather your fading attention. Maybe you were more sick than even you thought.
Maybe it was him being mentally drained himself, maybe he assumed you wouldn’t remember him being soft with you anyway, given your current state of wellness. Whatever the reason, he voiced, with a voice noticeably quieter, almost shy, compared to his previous statements, eyes trained back on the needle, as if not capable of not holding eye contact as he spoke it,
“I would care quite a bit.”
You focus your eyes on him just a bit upon hearing that, he clearly felt it as well. You could faintly make out the tinge of red spreading across his face.
You’d never seen it before, the principal, Principal Yaga, blushing? It was hard to even imagine the man flustered at all; let alone it being caused by worry for you? If it weren’t for your blatantly ill state, you’d feel honored.
The gruff man most definitely noticed the weak smile that was slowly reaching across your face. Ending this interaction before he could potentially embarrass himself further,
“Go see Shoko.”
You nod, all that followed that concession was that simple acknowledgment you gave to his other demands,
“Yes, sir.” You spoke, softly.
He didn’t look back up, eyes trained on the needle that wasn’t threading anything, with a blush that refused to leave his now red coated face. You could almost laugh if it didn’t cause such unimaginable pain to your skull. You leave the office, shutting the sliding doors on your way out, stepping incredibly carefully on the stairs. As you slowly made your way to the school infirmary, you had but one thought:
‘I just flustered the principal.’
And that alone made the next hour of constant text messages from Panda asking if you were ok, Yuji questioning what soup he needed to get you, Nobara blowing up your phone for bailing on your shopping trip, and Yuta sending you selfies with you and your classmates as if you were on your deathbed, entirely worth it.
Doctors' visits weren’t entirely the worst.