Chapter Text
“Ughhhhhh.”
A loud, drawn-out groan fills the air in Jujutsu High’s communal space. The girl responsible unceremoniously drops her head on the dining table. The two boys sitting beside her don’t groan with her, though they do share in her dissatisfaction as they slump against the table, exhausted.
“Come on, you three. You made it through the day. Eat up.”
Yuta Okkotsu spreads dishes across the table for them: some cooked fish, pickled vegetables, and rice. Maki follows closely and slides some bowls of miso soup for the three of them. Yuta chuckles fondly when his three juniors give their thanks through their exhaustion and eagerly, yet tiredly, pick through their food.
“Normally, you’d set this up yourself, but you three looked so sorry coming back late that we had to help, so be grateful,” Maki says.
“Fank yew for fa food,” Yuji says with a mouthful of rice in his cheeks.
Maki shakes her head.
“Yeah. Sure. Good enough.”
Nobara smacks Yuji across the back (and sends the poor boy into a coughing fit), before smiling sweetly at her.
“Thank you for taking care of us, Maki,” Nobara tells her with an appreciative smile. “We’re grateful for you looking out for us.”
“Hey, he helped, too,” Maki says while jerking a thumb in Yuta’s direction. “Now, what do you say?”
Nobara’s smile morphs into a thin line. She turns to Yuta with a blank expression on her face who nervously waves in response.
“Okkotsu-senpai.”
She looks at him, her singular pupil doubling the force of his two eyes.
Megumi elbows her in between sips of soup.
“…Thank you,” she mumbles inaudibly under her breath.
“No problem,” Yuta says delightedly, much to her chagrin. He takes a seat beside Maki and across from the three of them as they continue eating their dinner.
It was late at night when Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara returned from the field, the three of them looking more worn than usual. Yuta had gone to set up dinner for them when he and Maki watched them trudge through. She found them more entertaining than pitiful like he did, though she did settle on helping out eventually. They watch the three eat their meals with sagging shoulders and heavy heads.
“Rough day?” Yuta has to ask.
They all groan simultaneously.
“I wouldn’t say ‘rough’ exactly,” Megumi grumbles. “More like ‘tedious.’”
“Must have been really annoying if you’re complaining,” Maki points out with a smirk. Megumi rolls his eyes but is too hungry to say anything back.
“Did you guys get hurt?” Yuta frowns.
“Nah, nothing like that,” Yuji says between bites this time. “All our cases were really easy today. There were just a lot of them.”
“Better boring and tedious than life-threatening,” Maki remarks while studying the extensive battle scars on her classmates’ faces. Yuji shrugs reluctantly.
“Sure, sure, I’m not mad that we’re not dying out there,” Yuji clarifies. “But…”
“Why was every mission today at a school?” Nobara bemoans, the root of the issue striking a chord with the two boys beside her. “Middle school in the morning, high school at noon, another high school in the afternoon, another one at night. Seriously, send us to the forests or the mountains at that point, just get me out of the damn classrooms.”
Yuta and Maki share an amused look.
“Schools are primary hotspots for cursed spirit activity,” Maki says. “I thought you all knew this.”
“Oh, we know,” Megumi responds while rubbing his eyes. “It doesn’t make it any less banal after the fourth time in the same day. Especially when there weren’t any life-threatening cases.”
“That’s a good thing, though, right?” Yuta says optimistically, and Megumi concedes with a nod of his head. “Hotspots like schools can get pretty nasty if they aren’t dealt with.”
Nobara is less agreeable if her sigh means anything.
“You know what else is a hotspot for cursed spirits?” she tells him. “Hospitals. Shopping districts. Malls. Restaurants with good food.”
“Um… I don’t know about that last one—”
“Instead, all we got were schools, schools, and more schools.” She shakes her head, lamenting. “What’s wrong with the kids these days?”
The rest of them don’t know how to tell her that they are the kids these days, so they let her wallow.
“School missions can’t be that bad,” Yuta says. He puts a finger to his chin when he thinks about it more. “Well, my very first mission was at a school, and I can’t say that went smoothly. Heh.”
Maki doesn’t share in his laughter, but a nostalgic feeling does tug at her heart.
“We almost died, you know.”
“But we got out okay,” he says with a beaming smile aimed at her. Megumi looks away, and Nobara lets out her tongue in disgust, but Yuji hums curiously.
“Have you two been sent on any missions at a school, recently?” he asks. Yuta thinks about it while Maki tenses immediately.
“No, and I hope it stays that way,” she mumbles. “The last time I can remember was when that idiot sent me to investigate an all-girls school. I had to wear a sailor-style uniform and everything.”
“You did?” Yuta and Nobara ask in harmony, the latter shooting the former an intense glare when she sees him sharing in her excitement. Maki rolls her eyes at both of them.
“What about you, Okkotsu-senpai?” Megumi asks. “When’s the last time you had to handle a school case?”
Yuta hums in deep thought, his palm covering his mouth as he ponders. He doesn’t notice Maki narrowing her eyes and shrinking into herself.
“Hm. I can’t think of any,” he answers, surprised. “I didn’t get sent to much when I first started, and I don’t get sent to many these days.”
“Really?” Yuji says.
Yuta nods, but he furrows his brows and scratches his temple.
“Hmm… oh!” His eyes light up in recollection of something. “Actually, I—”
The three watch the brightness on his expression fade immediately, his excitement turning into hesitancy.
“Oh,” he repeats less enthusiastically. “That mission.”
Maki bumps his elbow into him in hopes of silencing him. Both of them turn away from each other.
“Um… is there a problem?” Nobara asks.
“No, uh—” Yuta shoots a nervous glance at Maki, who scrunches her mouth tightly. “It’s, um. It’s nothing.”
“…You expect us to believe that?” Megumi says blankly while watching his two upperclassmen shift awkwardly in their seats.
Yuta gives her another tentative look. She doesn’t turn to see it, but she can feel it, and she sighs. He figures that’s permission enough.
“I… had a mission at a high school once last year, a bit before I left overseas,” Yuta says. “A joint one.”
The way he keeps looking at Maki and the way she seems eagerly invested in not contributing to the conversation clears up who the “joint” part was with.
“What did you guys do?” Yuji can’t help but ask.
“Nothing,” Maki interjects. “Don’t ask.”
Megumi thinks that should be that, but he’s not surprised when Yuji and Nobara lean forward.
“Well, you can’t not tell us after that,” Nobara says, her intrigue coloring her tone.
“Yeah, you guys don’t tell us much about what you did before we came here,” Yuji adds. “What happened on that mission? Was it bad?”
They’re somewhat expecting Yuta or Maki to tell them off.
They’re surprised when they see a redness coloring both of their faces instead.
Yuta slowly opens his mouth.
“It was…”
Sunday, 28 January 2018, Late Evening
Satoru Gojo’s office is surprisingly quaint. Some would think it would carry some aspect of his eccentricity or haughtiness, but the most one would find is a work desk stacked with paperwork and some chairs scattered around. The circular window of the room does let the starry lights seep into it, the night shining on the two students waiting within. One lounges on her chair and yawns. The other beside her sits attentively, his leg bouncing in anticipation.
“We’ve been in here plenty of times before,” Maki says disinterestedly while tapping away on her phone. “Stop stressing out.”
“Never this late, though,” Yuta says anxiously. “What if we’re in trouble?”
“What possibly for?” she asks, throwing a hand up incredulously.
Yuta taps his chin.
“Well… we celebrated your birthday last week, remember?”
“Yeah?”
“He said to wait for him before we ate the cake, and you guys ate it all before he came.”
“He shouldn’t have been late, then,” she says while remembering the sweet taste of the chocolate on her tongue. “Also, don’t act like you didn’t eat two slices.”
“You made me eat them…” he whimpers while reminiscing on the delicious taste of the vanilla frosting.
Maki rolls her eyes.
“Whatever. You’re worrying over nothing. He hardly scolds us for anything serious, anyway. Especially you, you damn teacher’s pet.”
He chuckles sheepishly at that, his little laugh warming up the room and causing one corner of her mouth to turn up slightly.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t buy him another cake?” Yuta asks.
“I sincerely doubt he cares. I doubt we’re in trouble at all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I bet that idiot is going to burst through that door, yell some stupid shit, and it’s business as usual.”
The door to the room crashes open.
Satoru Gojo poses dramatically at the entrance.
“Your great teacher has finally arrived!” he declares loudly. “Please clap at an appropriate volume!”
He stands at attention as if waiting for applause.
Maki looks at Yuta with a smug, knowing expression. Yuta has to curl his lips inwards to hold back his laugh.
“Inside jokes? No fair. Let me in on it.”
They jump at their teacher, who teleports behind them and leans on their shoulders. Maki attempts to shove him off to no avail, but he eventually relents and pushes off them. He saunters to his desk before taking his seat across from them.
“Now, my two wonderful pupils,” Gojo begins. “Do you know why I called you over here?”
“No,” Maki says bluntly. “You never let us know your reason for anything.”
Gojo turns to Yuta with a pout. Yuta unfortunately shrugs in agreement with Maki.
“Fine, fine.” Gojo rolls his shoulders and his neck before leaning forward. “I actually called you two in here for an urgent matter.”
The atmosphere shifts. Yuta and Maki’s expressions harden.
“A mission?” Yuta asks. Gojo nods.
“Just lead with that next time,” Maki mutters. “And why wait so late to call us, then?”
“This one kind of crept up on us at the last minute, so forgive us,” he explains. “We’ve had people around the clock trying to figure this one out to no avail, so it seems like we’ll have to turn to other methods. That’s where you two come in.”
“‘Other methods?’” Yuta echoes. “Is this case a problem?”
“It’s a bit of a doozy,” Gojo says. “The windows we have investigating can’t seem to find the source, and the problem is starting to get out of hand.”
“Are you unable to find out why, as well, sensei?”
“Sadly, I’ve been preoccupied with other pressing matters lately, and that extends into this upcoming week.”
“You always are,” Maki says.
“A shame, isn’t it?” Gojo asks with a cheeky smile on his face. “Especially since the threat here seems to be growing.”
“And you picked us because…?”
“Because you two are the most fitting for the job,” he responds brightly. “Not including the type of operation we’re conducting, we’re gonna need a cohesive unit here, and you two have been attached at the hip lately on missions.”
Maki narrows her eyes.
“‘Attached’ is an exaggeration,” Maki grumbles.
“We work well together, though, right?” Yuta asks innocently.
Yuta smiles at her for confirmation. Maki avoids turning in his direction.
He tilts his head, confused. She continues to look away.
“Hilarious,” Gojo says under his breath. He claps his hands to recenter their attention. “Anyway, this works out since Maki normally can’t go on a mission of this caliber with her Grade 4 status. But since Yuta here is already back up to Grade 1, and because of my recommendation, the folks in charge have tentatively agreed to approve you two for this.”
Maki frowns at hearing all the hoops and hurdles.
“If the mission is this dangerous, why not send in more experienced sorcerers?”
“Because we’re undermanned and you two are uniquely situated for this operation.” He leans forward more, the air around him turning more and more serious. “Your first years are coming to a close soon, so think of this as a final exam. I had to do a lot of convincing for both of your sakes to get this done. Quite frankly, I’m putting a lot of faith in you two here. I trust both of you won’t die on me after all my efforts, right?”
His smile is both measured and challenging, the one he gives them when he is truly asking them to rise to the occasion.
Yuta and Maki give each other one affirming glance.
“We won’t die. Obviously.”
“We’ll do our best, Gojo-sensei.”
Their teacher leans back in his chair.
“Perfect.” Suddenly, he retrieves two rectangular boxes from beneath his desk. “These items here are essential for your mission. None of our other sorcerers and windows are able to use them effectively like you two will. It’s the reason it’s gotta be both of you.”
Yuta and Maki each receive their parcels. They look at each other, unsure and hesitant, but they steel themselves and open up the packaging.
Yuta takes out a red tie and a blazer.
Maki pulls out a red ribbon and a plaid skirt.
“Um… Gojo-sensei—”
“What the hell are these?”
Maki pulls out an entire uniform set, as does Yuta.
Gojo gleefully stands from his desk.
“You two are going undercover as high school students!” he reveals. “Most of our people investigating are adults who haven’t been able to get a single word out of the kids at the school of interest, so we’re going to need to take more proactive measures!”
Yuta panickedly tries to remember how to tie a tie.
Maki holds herself back from ripping hers to pieces. She notices Gojo walking towards the exit.
“Wait, idiot, hold on—”
“Also, you two have already been enrolled as transfer students by yours truly,” Gojo says. “Make sure to clear up this whole issue within the week. Good luck!”
The door slams shut, leaving them in a room of quiet.
The door quickly opens back up.
“Also, since it’s a school in the city, you two will need to be ready every morning bright and early for the commute. So don’t stay up too late!”
The door slams shut once again.
Yuta and Maki are left with nothing but their new uniforms.
Maki slowly turns to Yuta with wide, irate eyes. He chuckles nervously
“...Maybe it’ll be fun—”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”