TAKE HIS HAND.

"Education is important, but building relationships with your peers is important too! You can say "both" is wrong, but one or the other is far too cruel to the students!" She valued her time at the magic academy, but if she'd never engaged with her peers and made friends then she never would've met Falin!

"you want me to accept your offer, right?" kei speaks after a moments thought. "its customary that we negotiate, but . . ."

she looks like she's getting anxious. maybe it's best to drop the fun. one day kei will have the joy of a demon negotiation, but that day is not today. accompanied by a curt nod, he takes the snack.

"thank you," is how he eventually relents, sifting through his bag before neatly placing it amidst the compartmentalized books and pens. highly organized, it was no doubt that kei greatly preferred his ' ducks in order ', so to speak. "i'll accept it."

at that, he points one finger into the air as if to count. "demon negotiations. if you want a demon to join your side, you offer them something. then, they ask you a specific question. depending on how you respond, they'll join you or react in other ways."

@kanabiveil

Yu's nearly convinced the entire world has gone grey, until he finally spots another person—someone who is decidedly not monochrome, instead entirely a shade of blue. It's probably time to try and find some answers.

he seems quiet. a relief, really. maybe they could discuss the situation at hand with a bit of calmness, rather than the panic ensuing from some others.

" . . . i'm sorry to burden you with this, but only you and i have any form of color. that means we've been handed an advantage, right ?" usually, kei is not one to jump onto others ( metaphorically speaking ! ) so very quickly, and yet . . . well, hes been this way since the whole ordeal happened. "please tell me your experiences."

CURSESMADE. — ISOLA-AFFILIATED, INDIE-FRIENDLY MAHITO OF JUJUTSU KAISEN.

a study in dissonance, flesh and maybe the distress of your favorite monopoly piece being broken (thanks choso!).

Those thoughts would have to wait now though, the princess being brought back to the forefront of her mind at the voice getting her attention. Snow glanced up at the sudden shade, and then back to the hand that was offering it.

" Oh- Why, thank you ! How kind ! " She hesitates for a moment, but gingerly takes the umbrella to free his hand, tilting it more to the side to at least try to offer him some shade as well.

" Please, do let me pay for it, Whatever this, 'iced cream' is. Be it a token of my gratitude, if nothing else ! " Dollars... The princess clicked her tongue as she made sense of the word in her head. She could only assume he was talking about a currency, and even though the only coin she was actually familiar with was Joachimstaler, this place seemed to run off of nothing physical, but from the strange little device she's assuming everyone was given.

with a silent, mental acknowledgement that aogami would be able to pick the flavor next time ( and aogami absolutely would not have a clue on what a flavor would even taste like. ), he turns his attention to snow.

"you don't know what ice cream is?" kei speaks in surprise a moment, though his features betray it. for a day as hot as this, it really was a necessity. "hang on..."

well, they don't use macca here. or yen. or dollars. stardust, wasn't it? something or rather. quickly does he crouch down in the midst of the pathway, certain to not intervene on others paths, and starts peeling coupon upon coupon from his pocket.

"vanilla, strawberry... no, these ones expired..." he hums. "alright. it's a cream that's frozen, and it's smooth. melts apart in your mouth."

ah! there! buy one get one free, soft serve ice cream!

✲ "You look hungry. Do you want these?" It seemed like Marcille was doing a nice thing, offering someone younger than herself a bag of kettlecorn chips coated with cheese that was basically full. But she had bought them, tried them, and didn't like them. She was doing her best to get rid of them without throwing them out since that would be a waste.

usually, kei was the one doing these with demons. offer them things, converse in a certain way that appeals to them the most. then, they joined his team, and happy days! in a way, he himself was a demon, so he supposes it was only a matter of time.

. . . but it was kind of funny, the thought of it. so he plays along. what kind of questions would he ask ? what kind of things would he want someone else to say to have him on their side ? ever so slightly does the boy smile.

"to join you ?" is the first thing he says, eyes resting on the chips. they did look nice . . . maybe this really was the best way to appeal to him. "hmm. . ."

wow, this was pretty exciting! to be on the receiving end of a negotiation for once!

now, this was the part where the demon usually asks a specific question, right? kei pauses, and thinks. what would be his question? should it be a riddle ? or a personality aspect ? it takes him a minute.

"should school be a time where students mess around and get to know each other, or study hard for a prosperous future ?" kei asks. "please don't say a half-hearted answer like 'both'. i won't agree to the negotiation if you do."

"Why do you think that my help will really make it easier to push?" I don't have my full strength here, he wants to say. How could I help?

He slowly stands, the haze around him all in blue. His sharp, sharp eyes catch Kei's own, and blue reflects with blue -- their colors similar and yet so very different. Whatever he's become, this shell and hollow loneliness, is not the blue that belongs to his companion.

it is enough to concern kei more than usual (cursed be the heart that beats for many !). neon blues meet ice, and the eye strain from gojo alone partially makes him wince in contrast to his bolder colors.

"wait," kei speaks. "you're different. a lot different."

he was not the usual chatty self. he was far from the adventurous or daring spirit that lurked about areas he really truly should not.

at that, nahobino paces backwards so to shut the window closed once more. would the usual satoru gojo claim it would be easy ? he hardly knows him well enough. "why?"

it's none of his business, yet, kei cannot help but emulate the inherent kindness tao reserves. the admitted nosiness of yuzuru. the blind faith of dazai, or the caution of yoko. blue as he may be, he was a conglomerate of the hopes and feelings and others - their drives, vested deeply within him. and though they may have disagreed with one another ultimately, they all had the drive to help others.

❝ Oh, jeez... Where could it have gotten off to... ❞ He really should have gained better defenses against stray wind gusts by now. That paper it blew away this time was super important! ❝ I'm dreadfully sorry to bother you, but you haven't seen a paper document floating about, have you? It looks— ❞ The rest of the stack is held up as a show of example, though he makes certain he does so with a firmer grip. ❝ —a lot like these others! ❞

within it, a soggy piece of paper, partially falling apart and ink dripping onto the cement before them.

"it appears your important piece of paper has found itself an unsightly end," aogami speaks, forming beside the boy. "i apologize, but it's entirely unreadable. even i cannot make sense of it."

-- satoru gojo alone is the honored one, remember?

A human weapon, a callous thing to be, blue eyes sharp like the edges of not-yet-bloodied broken glass, it cracks against his palms and grinds into fine dust. Coats his lungs. Sandpaper skin.

He hardly registers the bus breaking down. He hardly registers anything at all; there is blue, bright and blinding blue, iced and frozen and unholy. The voice is through a fog, warped and distorted, too far away to grasp.

"Fixing a bus...?" he asks, and frowns. The idea of helping is usually one he would be excited for, but today he feels the need to curl into himself.

Kei's voice is an echo. He wants to shed this skin of broken glass and join him, but something won't let him. He leans on his hand and looks out the window.

"no," kei speaks, this time with determination. "we can't."

at that, he walks towards gojo. there's a prickle of something - as if he's pushed away, ever so slightly, by forces of gravity beyond his control (not that kei ever reserved any capability in the matter). he ensures he remains a few steps away, so to not crowd the man.

"someone needs our help. we have to give it to them. what if she gets sick from staying out there? it's cold." hands drum on the window, sliding them across so to remove the inner frost. there she stood, still fixing away. she didn't seem distressed, moreso annoyed, but it still was cold. "... i can't push it myself. so i need your help."

it is so……… hot….

Send “📱” For a text conversation between our muses

The boy seems to have a better handle on that, anyway. Instead of worrying about it, he takes a step back from the hole and casually puts his hands behind his head.

"We should probably get each other's names, right? I'm Satoru Gojo."

but yuzuru had taught him that names are precious things. each and every one holds weight, don't they? and though it is merely tradition to address by the last name anyway, kei speaks it with purpose.

"gojo. okay," he nods. "my name... amemura. you can call me nahobino. it's what most people do."

"he appears to be rather unique in abilities, even in this state," aogami mentions. it is only something kei can hear, yes, but heard nonetheless. "it would be wise to get to know him, to an extent."

hand taps on ( his own ! ) ear, and he nods to himself.