guilty pleasure.

CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK. There was a giant steel monster chasing you through an abandoned building. It was over ten meters tall; its teeth were sharp like a bear trap and its eyes were two shining red lamps. Its every step went CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK. It shook the building, the floor, your jaw; you felt about to spit out your heart. You weren’t fast enough. The monster was going to reach you. It ran after you. CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK—

Wait the fuck up.

You weren’t sleeping.

Your half asleep, half awakened brain was confused, working slowly. There’s no monster! I’m laying in my bed!

But the CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK continued.

You jumped out of bed. Fell on the wooden floor in the process. You felt about to have a heart attack. Your eyes couldn’t distinguish things properly in the dark, your brain didn’t know what the fuck was happening, your hands fiddled with the door handle.

You ran down the corridor. Fushiguro was running downstairs at the same time and almost ran over you like a train with no brakes, but managed to somehow jump over you (that was cool as fuck!! He did it like Spider-Man!!). Mayu, too, ran downstairs after him, her hair disheveled and eyes widened— what the fuck was happening— what was that CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK—

Gojo.

Standing in the middle of the living room.

Beating the back of a pan with a large steel spoon.

He hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on, but your eyes got used to the darkness. You could see he was smiling.

“Took y’all long enough!” He chirped happily.

The three of you stood in front of the stairs in absolute shock.

It seemed that your brains started working in synch.

It was still dark. He was beating a pan with a spoon. He was making CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK.

Absolute hatred spread between you in synch, too.

“What the fuck is wrong with you—?!”

“—It’s four in the morning—“

“—I’m gonna shove this pan up your ass—“

“—What is your problem?!!”

“We’re going to Universal Studios!!”

The three of you shut up in synch, too.

Silence.

Gojo grinned.

“What?” Fushiguro recovered first.

Yeah. Good fucking question.

What?!

“We’re going to Universal Studios!” He repeated with the fattest smile on his face. 

Your brain started to catch up on what he said. You frowned.

“That’s— that’s in Osaka.” 

“Exactly, so you better hurry up!” He looked at his watch. “It’s four in the morning now. Y’all have one hour to get ready. Our train leaves at 6PM, we don’t wanna get late!”

Reality started to sink in. Fushiguro’s shoulders dropped, a tired and angry grimace making its way to his face. Mayu was the opposite: slowly, her eyes widened and you could sense her vibrating in a frequency that could break glass. On a scale of Mayu to Fushiguro, you were somewhere in the middle: not as angry as him, but definitely not that excited, either.

You weren’t planning to go out at all. You wanted to rest. And shit– it was four in the morning; you’d gotten home around ten, went to bed close to midnight… you didn’t sleep at all. 

But Mayu was still vibrating in a frequency that could break glass.

“Are you serious?!” Oh no. That super excited tone. 

“Yeah!” Gojo’s grin got wider, if that was even possible. “Call your friends if you want, Mayu-chan!”

“Really?!” And you almost yelled ‘Really?!’ too, because what?! 

“Yeah! But you gotta be quick with it!”

Mayu went kyaaaaaaaa in such a high pitched tone that you thought for a second that she could, in fact, break glass. She hopped around like a bunny and gave Gojo a quick hug (which made his smile wider. Something that was asleep inside your head woke up real fast seeing that) before running upstairs.

“I gotta call Acchan and Hina-chan! I’ll wear— I don’t know what I’ll wear! I’m showering first!!”

She disappeared again.

Gojo was still smiling. You and Fushiguro weren’t.

“I’m not going.” The teenager by your side stated.

“Bold of you to assume this is a request, Megumi!” He was still smiling. Fushiguro’s frown deepened.

“But—“

“You have one hour, Megumi!” He was still smiling.

Fushiguro wanted to argue. You saw all the insults bubbling inside him. But he gave a look at Gojo’s unwavering posture, heard Mayu running up there— and sighed heavily in defeat.

He brooded his way to his bedroom.

Gojo was still smiling.

It was your turn to sigh and put your hands on your hips. Your body was heavy and tired. Even your limbs felt weak.

He was still fucking smiling.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?” You were very well aware that you sounded like a disappointed mother, as much as you hated it. “You send selfies all the time in the group chat but can’t text that you had a trip planned?”

“It’s ‘cause it wasn’t planned at all!” Gojo shrugged. “Impromptu trips are more fun!”

“It’s four in the morning. There’s nothing fun about this.”

“Come ooooon, Momorin, don’t be boring! You’re spending too much time with Megumi!”

You wanted to beat him to a pulp.

But Mayu had been locked in this house for a month. 

She lost the entire summer break. Classes would restart next Monday. As you heard her speak on the phone with one of her friends up there, how could you simply say no? 

It didn’t excuse the fact that he didn’t tell you anything previously, of course.

You heard the taptaptaptap of Mayu’s feet up there. She popped at the top of the stairs with a towel in hand.

“I want you to give me a hairstyle!!” She spoke so fast that you barely understood it before disappearing towards the bathroom.

You sighed again.

Gojo was still smiling.

“You have 58 minutes!” 

Oh, how you wanted to beat him to a pulp.

Unfortunately, like Fushiguro, you had to settle to sighing in defeat and walking upstairs.

The day would be long.

Fushiguro got ready first, as expected.

He put on an oversized white t-shirt, black jeans and red sneakers. Though he wanted it to look like he didn’t put much effort into his fit, the red headphones that matched his sneakers were a hard sign that he did care. He sat on the couch, brooding, and didn’t take his eyes off his phone.

Mayu chose an oversized black t-shirt (what is it with teenagers and oversized t-shirts?) with some anime boy printed on it, denim shorts and black All Stars. You styled her hair in space buns. After dyeing her hair some days ago, it was a vivid shade of dark green again. You always thought she looked so cute in space buns.

You chose a pre-determined outfit you had already worn before, because you didn’t have time to pick something better. A plain black tank top, high waisted denim shorts, an oversized light striped button-up shirt (who are you to talk about oversized clothes?) that you let open and your good ol’ Adidas. You wouldn’t have time to do something nice in your hair, so you used a navy blue cap to kind of hide it. Silver hoop earrings and thin rings. Just a little eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. Nice, you thought as you looked at yourself in the mirror. It doesn’t even look like I’m about to pass out of exhaustion.

You took your black backpack and ran towards the kitchen.

There were still some cookies. You shoved them in the backpack. Potato chips too. You thought of putting soda there, too, but that would be a stretch. Doritos… was there still time to prepare some quick sandwiches?

“Why are you shoving the entire kitchen into your bag?”

You turned around to face Gojo — and you probably had something witty to say —  but then your eyes landed on him and your brain blacked out like an old Windows computer.

He also changed.

Which was obvious. Duh. Why would he choose to wear his uniform on a trip?

And it’s not like you hadn’t seen him wear a t-shirt before, right? It was light green. Was not oversized for a change. It wasn’t super tight, either, but it felt like his chest wanted to say ‘hello, world!’ anyway. His biceps were saying hi, too. He wore light denim pants. You hadn’t seen him in jeans yet. Or these white Nikes. Another silver watch adorned his right wrist. Instead of the blindfold, the usual black sunglasses.

Gojo was very lowkey with his outfits. But it’s not like he needed to dress anything over the top to look good. 

And he did look very. Very. Good.

“Food in those parks is always super expensive!” You explained while putting the backpack over the counter. Great reaction time!, you complimented yourself. He didn’t notice you gagging at him at all! “We have something here, so we should take it.”

Gojo snorted. “C’mon, Momorin. What kinda guy would I be if I didn’t pay for your food? I invited you all in the first place.”

Ugh. You always forgot the motherfucker was rich. Rich people don’t worry about this type of thing, even if they charge five thousand for a cheeseburger.

You also thought it was kinda hot.

Ahem.

“Yeah, but they’re gonna be hungry anyway. They’ll want to eat on the train.” You put a last chip bag in the backpack. “How long does it take, by the way?”

“Two and a half hours.”

“Great. I’m gonna sleep the entire way.” You put the backpack over one shoulder and made your way towards the living room. “Mayu! Did you find your ID?”

You went through a checklist of necessary items (documents, umbrellas, hoodies if it gets cold, money, pads just in case…) to ignore the other thing you had noticed back in the kitchen.

He was wearing sunglasses. They were dark as fuck. It made it hard to see his eyes under there.

But you noticed.

That little smirk. It was different from his usual sarcastic, disdainful or playful ones. It made you feel funny inside.

Perhaps his brain lagged when he saw you, just like yours did.

It hadn’t occurred to you that Gojo had never seen you wearing anything other than your uniform (and you weren’t allowed to wear makeup, use accessories and your hair had to always be up while at work), ugly pajamas or stay-at-home clothes. Sure. This outfit was casual. But you looked nice. You knew you looked nice.

You hadn’t thought too much about Gojo’s comment right before Aoyagi’s interrogation. I’d never hurt a pretty face like that. Because… well, Gojo was a very sarcastic dude. It felt more like a catchphrase than an actual compliment. And you hadn’t thought too much about how he was hot. He just was. It wasn’t even an opinion, but a fact. Gojo was your guardian in a weird way; you were living under his roof and protection. You were developing some sort of strange friendship along this month of living “together” (‘cause he still was barely home), and it was a relationship you genuinely liked. You liked his presence, and though he could be insufferable, his company was stimulating in a way.

You didn’t want to make things weird.

You were trying to not acknowledge the attraction you felt for him, either.

But that smirk right there put you in a very tricky position, because if the attraction was mutual, then… fuck, then what? What would you do?!

You do nothing, bitch, you scolded yourself. Because it’s five in the fucking morning, you’re going on a trip with a bunch of teenagers, you only had three hours of sleep and you’re not even functioning properly. You might be overthinking. Just focus on what you have to do right now.

Yeah. Alright.

Everyone was ready to go.

Ijichi pulled up in a van and you were kind of shocked. Painfully punctual as always. Fushiguro ran to the passenger seat before anyone could argue; you’d rather let Mayu sit with her friends in the middle row, so you sat on the back of the van.

With Gojo by your side.

Well. There was an empty seat between you, as he sat on the opposite window. 

Not that you cared, because you planned to sleep peacefully anyway.

But your plans were ruined.

Bold of you to assume a van filled with teenage girls would allow you to have some peace. Even if there were just three of them.

The first stop was at Acchan’s house. You liked Acchan; she was the first friend Mayu made as soon as she entered the school two years ago, and they became inseparable. It was very obvious why. They were both loud and when Acchan opened the door to her house they went KYAAAAAAAAA and your ears genuinely hurt. Also, Acchan was cool as fuck. It was so nice to see the gyaru tradition alive and well in this generation. Her hair was a vivid shade of orange now; she wore a pink leopard print shirt, a denim mini skirt and fur gaiters, not to mention a ton of accessories. She made clink clink clink whenever she moved her arms because of the bracelets. You always thought it was cute how she called you nee-chan.

Acchan looked at Fushiguro on the passenger seat and blushed. He spared her a disinterested nod. Then she spotted Gojo — who greeted her cheerfully as usual — and blushed even harder. 

Next stop was at Hina-chan’s house. The shy and very demure class representative. As far as you knew, the friendship between the girls started because Mayu and Acchan protected Hina from bullies. Hina-chan had the opposite personality of the other two, but they ended up “adopting” her anyway. She didn’t have colorful hair or a bunch of accessories, deciding to wear a simple but cute light yellow dress; her dark hair was styled in low pigtails. You also liked Hina-chan because these two girls needed someone more level-headed around them.

Hina-chan looked at Fushiguro and blushed furiously. He spared her a disinterested nod. Then she spotted Gojo — who greeted her cheerfully as usual — and you thought that she was going to pass out.

Heh. Girls will be girls.

And from then on, peace inside the van was ruined.

Even though Hina-chan was the quieter type, it seemed that being with the other two made her vibrate in that same frequency. You couldn’t blame them, honestly; it’d been a month since they’d last seen each other. So you didn’t complain when they cackled like a flock of parrots and kyaaaaa’d and jumped on their seats and took complete control of the radio; because the one real thing that kept them together was their mutual, obsessive love for EXO. They sang every song (each on a different note) and fanchanted every fanchant known to men.

Part of you wanted to kill yourself.

The other part just blacked out anyway.

Huh. Thought a little bit of noise wouldn’t let me sleep? I can sleep anywhere! I am the master sleeper! This is my real technique!

Someone else that had a hidden super powerful technique was Ijichi. That man knew Tokyo like the palm of his hand. He knew every shortcut, every little street; he knew exactly what way to go to avoid heavy traffic and headlights. Most shocking: he didn’t need to look at the GPS at all. Straight up insanity. That is why, against all odds, he managed to get to the train station ten minutes before 6AM.

“You’re not coming with us?” You asked as you jumped out of the van, still groggy after being woken up. That made you kind of sad. Ijichi worked so much. He deserved to go on a little trip every once and a while.

“Oh, no. I have a lot of work to do.” He spared you a polite lip tightened smile and a nod. “I’ll be here to pick you up, though. You have fun!”

You waved him a little goodbye as he maneuvered away from the train station. 

You turned around.

Gojo was already some steps ahead of you. The corners of his lips were down.

“What?” You asked as you joined him.

“Why’d you look sad that he’s not coming?”

You huffed. The girls were already far ahead, with Fushiguro even farther from them. Gojo started following you.

“I thought he was coming too, that’s all. I think he deserves a break. He works too much.”

It was his turn to huff. He crossed his arms. Biceps. “I work a lot, too, but I don’t see you weeping around that I’m not having enough fun.”

You shot him a venomous side eye. “I’m not weeping. And you’re literally coming along.”

“Hmpf. So that’s how it’ll be?”

You rolled your eyes so bad that you almost saw the inside of your skull. “It’s six in the morning. I’m not doing this right now.”

“What’d ya mean–?” But you were already running to reach Fushiguro.

It didn’t take long to board despite everything. How Gojo even managed to get last minute tickets to Osaka was a mystery, especially since classes would restart next week; every family wanted a chance to travel for one last time. Last time you had a trip like that, you had to reserve tickets a week in advance. Made you wonder if the whole “last minute trip” was a lie. But… Gojo had a lot of flaws, and being a liar didn’t feel like one of them.

The seats were in pairs. To Fushiguro’s utmost dismay, Acchan sat by his side (she ran to secure her seat by him, to be honest). Mayu and Hina-chan sat together. And yeah. As expected. The idiot. And he pouted his way into making you cede the seat by the window.

Whatever. It’s not like you were interested in the view anyway. You wanted to sleep.

If he’d allow it, of course. 

The AC was kind of insane inside the train (did they want to refrigerate everyone or what?) so you quickly grabbed your hoodie from the backpack and used it as a blanket. The fact that Gojo wasn’t carrying a bag himself was nuts. Just raw dogging a trip to Osaka. Was he used to buying stuff on the way if he needed something?

You were in the process of lowering the seat when Gojo leaned in your direction out of nowhere.

You froze.

He had dropped his glasses a bit down the bridge of his nose, so you could see his eyes. He was frowning. Why was he so close?

“You have a nose piercing?” He sounded a bit shocked.

Oh.

Okay.

Instinctively, you touched the right side of your nose with your fingertip. You weren’t wearing a piercing (in fact, his remark made you sad; why didn’t you remember to put it on?); it was the first time he noticed the tiny hole.

“Yeah.”

“Why do you never wear one, though?” He leaned away again. Phew.

“Because of work.” You took your phone and looked down on it. “I’d be fired if I stepped on the hospital with a piercing.” 

The simple fact that Remi had her hair dyed blonde was already groundbreaking (and almost too much) for the hospital. The medical field was still very conservative in this aspect. If it were for you, you’d have your whole arm tatted since you were twenty, but dad was like, good luck ever finding a job if you do that. You’ll have a useless diploma for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, he was right.

It was six thirty. The train started to move. You plugged the earphones on it.

The phone he bought you.

You’d already thanked him, of course. You’d already told him that he didn’t need to do it, to which he just brushed it off, as expected. It’s not like receiving a gift like that was bad, but it still made you feel useless anyway. Can’t go anywhere unattended. Can’t do anything without his help. Can’t even buy a goddamn phone.

“Why did you pick the pink one for me?” You asked quietly. Your voice was already low and raspy with sleep.

“‘Cause it’s girly.” He shrugged.

Huh. You should’ve figured he wouldn’t put much thought on it.

Two seconds.

A shiver ran down your spine.

Maybe it was embarrassment. Maybe it made you want to drill the floor and hide there.

You had forgotten that he also saw your memory on that tube TV. He and Aoyagi. He saw the teenage you. He saw your pink Motorola Razr from back then. 

That’s probably why he chose the pink one.

It made you so embarrassed that you decided you were not going to talk anymore.

And surprisingly!!! Like a gift from the gods!! Gojo allowed you to sleep!

No poking or babbling or pulling at your hair. He just left you alone. You put that Soft Rainy Night Distant Thunder Cozy 10 Hour Loop video on Youtube and went unconscious in less than a minute. Uncomfortable seat? Giggling teenagers seated in the front? Nothing could beat your master technique. 

You woke up already in Osaka, as everyone disembarked the train. Your neck hurt, but nothing that some stretching wouldn’t fix.

From then on – hell.

The stations were packed. It seemed that the five kilometer radius that surrounded the park was crowded by the entire population of the country. You should’ve expected it already. The last week after the start of the second semester? Of course it would be packed like that. Of course it would be hell. And of course it would be super hot.

You tried to somehow guide the pack around the crowds. Let’s go to that side. Let’s pick that line. Get your IDs and tickets ready beforehand. Throw this can in the trash, it’s not allowed inside the park. Mayu, if you complain about something again, I’m dragging your ass back to the train. You felt like the insufferable field trip supervisor. It would be nice to get some help, but turns out the other adult in the group wasn’t doing anything (other than paying, of course).

Finally, at 10h30, you were all inside the park. It was already pretty late, considering the gates opened at eight, but oh well.

As soon as you passed by the Universal globe on the square near the entrance, Gojo took his phone from his pocket and yelled “Everyone!!! Let’s take a picture!!!”. He put his arm around Fushiguro’s shoulders, forcing the boy to join (against his will), while you and the girls squeezed yourselves to fit on the screen. His height was so useful for group selfies. He still made it possible to see the globe in the back of the photo.

“Send this on the group chat!” Mayu asked excitedly. Now that you were finally inside, you started to feel excited as well. This was fun, after all. A park! A goddamn break! You were in a place that didn’t include dying patients or the cat that hated your guts!

“We should hurry to Super Mario World!” Acchan said.

“Yeah– we should run there, even with the express tickets, it’ll be hard to get in.” Hina-chan agreed.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go!” Mayu stated.

They were already walking away.

You felt your stomach drop.

“Wait!” Was your instinctive reaction.

The girls stopped to look back at you.

“What?” Mayu asked impatiently.

Shit.

You hadn’t talked this through. Wouldn’t it be safer if everyone was together? Sure, you knew Mayu wanted to enjoy it with her friends, and that didn’t include you. You weren’t offended or anything; to be honest, you didn’t even want to go to the Super Mario attraction in the first place, and there was only so much your brain could take of teenage girl yelling and giggling.

But this was a crowded space.

A dangerous space. 

It’d be better if you went along, right?

“We didn’t agree on a meeting spot yet, Mayu-chan.”

To your utmost surprise, the other adult decided to be useful for once.

You looked up at him. Your worried, hesitant eyes asked for themselves. Are you sure?

Gojo lowered his voice and leaned down a bit so only you could hear it. “She’ll be fine, Momorin. Let her have fun with her friends.”

He was doing that again.

His serenity. His confidence. He wasn’t worried at all… so why would you be?

“Oh. Right.” Mayu and the girls approached again. “We could meet here, right? At the globe?”

You nodded. “Yeah. Right. We meet here at six. Not a minute late, you hear me?”

“Okay.”

“You have everything with you? Your money? The water bottle?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“The phone charger?”

“I got two!” Hina-chan said proudly. “If anyone needs a spare!”

“It’s too sunny today. Use sunscreen every hour. You girls, too.”

“Okay!” 

“You all have my number. Anything happens, you call me right away. Got it?”

“Got it! Alright!”

You nodded like a general. “Okay. You girls have fun.”

“You, too!”

And they were already running away.

You still stood there, hesitating, feeling anxiety eat your insides like maggots. The three were going to disappear from your sight soon. Disappear. The first time she’d be away from you, away from your sight, little Mayu in the middle of this crowd, surrounded by strangers—

“Shouldn’t I give her the anchor?” You were already trying to unclasp the bracelet from your right wrist.

“Why?” Gojo was puzzled.

“‘Cause if anything happens to her– what if something–”

Gojo held your wrist.

It was a calm, soft touch, almost featherlight. His hand was so much bigger than yours. Soft. He prevented you from unclasping the bracelet.

You looked up at him, and you didn’t like how you probably looked fragile at that moment.

“I need anchors for long distance teleportation, Mori.” Not Momorin or Mori-chan. Mori. He was serious, his voice as soft as his touch, eyes calm like a lake. “Mayu’s right there. If anything happens, I won’t need it to get to her. But I won’t need it, because nothing’s gonna happen. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”

Serenity. Confidence. He was so sure of himself.

If he’s not worried, I shouldn’t be.

You gulped and nodded.

Gojo held your wrist for a second longer. A second. His thumb caressed the inner part of your wrist, soft and caring. A second. It lasted a second.

He stepped aside.

“So! Where to next?!” And he was back to his boisterous persona.

You looked around– Fushiguro. God, you had forgotten he was there. He wasn’t paying attention to you, eyes still glued to his phone, and for a moment you were annoyed (we’re in a goddamn park!! Drop this phone, kid!!). You put your hands on your waist. 

“Where d’you wanna go first, Fushiguro-kun?”

It seems he remembered you existed at that moment, too. He finally looked around and shrugged.

“Uh… anywhere is fine by me.”

God. He was not excited at all. Which was a bit sad, if you were going to be honest.

You weren’t sad, in the other hand.

“The girls were smarter than us! If we want to visit Mario World, we should get there fast!” Gojo exclaimed.

“Nah, I’ve visited it already.”

He was visibly taken aback.

If no one was going to pick a destination, you were going to.

“Let’s go to the Flying Dinosaur, then.” You quickly took your phone and opened the park’s map. “That way!”

You started to walk. They followed.

Fushiguro was several steps behind (didn’t want to be seen walking with the adults? Typical teenager) while Gojo did that again, orbiting around you like a crow.

He was doing that other thing again, too.

The corners of his lips were down.

“You’d already been here?” He asked with a strange venomous tone in his voice.

“Yeah. You haven’t?”

“I have. Obviously.” Silence for two seconds. You figured what was coming a second before he spoke. “Did you come here with Ren–?”

“We’re not doing that.”

“Why not? Why don’t you wanna talk about that?”

“Why do you wanna talk about my ex, Gojo?” You glared at him. “Are you interested in him? Do you want his number?”

He huffed. “I’m not into boring people.”

“Then let’s not talk about him!”

“Let me guess…” He held his chin and hummed, completely ignoring your plea. “You did all the couply stuff with him, right? All the boring rides? You didn’t get to go on any coaster, right? That’s why you’re so excited to go.”

There was a kid walking with an ice cream cone by your side. You considered taking it and smashing it against his skull.

Gojo was kind of right, but the truth was even more embarrassing.

…You didn’t go on any cool rollercoaster because Ren had severe motion sickness. And he was scared of heights.

Which. You know. At the time, you thought it was cute, even. But you were excited about the trip to begin with because of the radical rides. Ain’t that the whole point of parks? It was to you, at least.

“And what’s the problem with that?” It was your turn to cross your arms and quirk one eyebrow. “We were a couple. That’s what couples do.”

“You were bored the whole time.”

“You can’t tell that.”

“I can.”

“Why are you so jealous, Gojo?” Right there. The sucker punch in his guts. 

“I ain’t!” He shrugged.

“You freaking are.” You opened an evil smirk. “Oh, I thought jealousy was beyond you. An avoidant guy like you doesn’t have the right to be jealous of anyone.”

The corners of his lips were down again. Like a kid. Like an old man.

“I like to be the best at everything. So today will be more unforgettable than the last time you’ve been here with that guy.” He shrugged.

And didn’t deny it.

He didn’t deny the jealousy part.

It’s nothing, you told yourself. It’s nothing. Don’t think too much about it. It doesn’t mean anything. He likes to tease. That’s just how he is.

Right. Right.

The three of you marched to the Jurassic World attraction.

Lines were huge. Everyone was loud and excited. Having express tickets helped you go to the shorter lines, but those were also too long. I don’t care! I’m going on this ride even if it takes the whole day!

Surprisingly, Gojo wasn’t interested in going on this ride, so you and Fushiguro used him as a walking coat hanger. He carried your bags. Came back from time to time to bring food. Every time he popped up, Gojo was carrying a different type of sweet. Churros, crepes, ice cream–

“Are your check up exams up to date?” You asked when he leaned on the grid that conducted the line by your side again while eating churros.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’m asking myself how can you not have diabetes.” You eyed his churros with a bit of worry. “Or cavities on every tooth.”

Gojo pouted and had the audacity to send the puppy eyes your way. “Oooow. You worried for me, doc? That’s cute. I’m honored!” You saw him passing his tongue over his teeth before opening a big grin. “My teeth are great! My dentist hates me, ‘cause I never spend too much on him with treatments. I don’t need ‘em!”

“I’m thirsty.” Fushiguro said out of the blue, lifting his eyes from the phone. “Can you bring me a water bottle?”

“Wow. Since you were so polite!” Gojo shrugged and walked away with a backpack on each shoulder.

The girls on the line near you eyed him and whispered among themselves again. They did it every time he approached. They spared you quick scared glances, too.

Huh.

“He has reverse cursed energy.”

You looked at Fushiguro with a puzzled expression. His sentence came so out of the blue.

“What?” That term sounded familiar.

“Reverse cursed energy.” He repeated. Fushiguro had his forearms resting over the grid. He watched Gojo go with a slight frown. “Regular cursed energy can’t heal, but the reversal can. Gojo-sensei reverses his cursed energy all the time. It keeps healing his body 24/7.”

“Ooh.” You looked at Gojo’s back, too, as he became smaller and smaller. A little dandelion in the crowd. The reveal was a bit shocking. “So he heals himself from having diabetes all the time?”

“Something like that.”

“Why does he need to heal himself like that?” You couldn’t think of an instance (in the normal world, at least) where this would be necessary.

Fushiguro frowned a little. “It’s because of the Infinity. Keeping it activated all the time is tiring and damages his brain, too. So he has to heal himself constantly to keep it working.”

You wouldn’t mention it out loud, of course, because you knew Fushiguro would hate you forever if you did. But you noticed it there… hidden in his tone. Fushiguro was always full of insults, rolling his eyes at Gojo, showing his disliking towards him… but as he talked about Gojo’s ability, he couldn’t hide that.

Admiration.

Astonishment, even.

It made you smile a little. Fushiguro couldn’t hide everything inside that hard exterior, after all.

“It’s what Ieiri-san does too, right? To heal others?” Fushiguro nodded. That’s where you first heard it – coming from her. You looked at him. “Can you do that, too?”

Fushiguro snorted and shook his head. The line walked, so you walked too. “No. That’s way beyond my current level.”

“But you will learn at some point. Right?”

He scratched his own head. Fushiguro’s hair was so shiny. The shampoo I picked is doing wonders for him! “It’s not something that you learn like that. Most people don’t know how to do it, and those who know can’t really teach it. Like the idiot.” He shrugged again. “Might be impossible for me.”

If it’s something so hard to do… and Gojo did it to himself all the time, twenty four hours a day…

Just how far ahead was Gojo from the rest of jujutsu sorcerers?

After one hour on the line, it was finally your turn. You didn’t get the front seats – to the second row you went – but oh well, can’t have everything. You were giddy, giggling, vibrating with excitement. Fushiguro was quiet, but his eyes were definitely a bit widened.

The thing moved. You felt about to spit out your heart. Yelled at the top of your lungs on the first drop – and, well, the rest of the ride, too. Adrenaline!! This is what I like!! This is my thing!! Fushiguro didn’t scream, but you definitely caught the oooh’s! and ugh’s! coming his way. 

Over a minute later (an hour for a minute. Damn), when the coaster car parked back on its launching spot, you caught him smiling.

It wasn’t a grin. There weren't a lot of teeth showing there. But he was smiling nevertheless. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were still a bit widened, he was out of breath.

You realized that was the first time you ever saw Fushiguro smile. From the moment you met him back in April at the hospital… it was the first time he showed a smile.

That warmed your heart in ways you couldn’t explain.

“That was– that was insane!” You exclaimed, giggling, heaving. He nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah– it was.” It seemed that he realized he was smiling, so he did his best to gulp the chuckles and go back to his nonchalant self. It was cute.

Gojo was waiting for you out there. A backpack on each shoulder.

Wearing your blue cap.

You gave it to him because it’d fly off your head on the rollercoaster. You didn’t expect he’d wear it.

He looked–

Fuck.

He looked great.

You shouldn’t be surprised. Gojo was incapable of looking ugly. But– he looked young. And yes, it was stupid; Gojo didn’t have the appearance of someone older than his actual age, but it was so easy to forget he was only a year older than you. Yes, Gojo acted like a spoiled kid most of the time; simultaneously, he acted like someone older. Like those moments of serenity where he could make you feel safe. Whenever he talked about jujutsu overall. He looked wise in a way a normal twenty seven year old wouldn’t.

Yet, he still was only twenty seven.

Your navy blue cap fit him well. Of course it’d compliment his blue eyes, barely peeking from the dark glasses. He eyed his phone with a playful little smile.

You frowned.

“What you giggling at?” You asked with suspicion.

“Nothing!” He put his phone back in his pocket whilst giving Fushiguro’s backpack back. “Where to next?” 

He absently took the cap from his head and put it back on yours.

Okay. Okay. Mmmh.

You spent the following three hours checking which lines were shorter on the app and running after them. Turns out you managed to go on two other coasters, and just because the Waterworld show started and most people ran there to watch it (none of you were interested). You checked on Mayu every minute. Luckily, she replied the same second you texted, and kept sending photos on the group chat. Gojo did the same. 

After you stopped to eat, Fushiguro excused himself to go to the bathroom. There was a huge Sanrio merch store nearby — and you went there, obviously.

The store was packed. It was hard to even walk in there. Regardless, you went after Kuromi’s merch (Mayu’s favorite), Hello Kitty (Remi’s favorite) and Pompompurin (Aunt Junko’s favorite). Everything was expensive as hell. A keyring will do. 

Your eyes landed on a Cinnamorrol keyring.

An instinctive smile crept up your lips.

“Look! That’s—“

The words retracted inside your mouth. You shut your lips faster than the speed of light.

Gojo leaned down a bit with a confused expression.

“What?”

I’m not gonna say it.

I’m 100% not the first girl to say he looks like Cinnamorrol. Nope. I ain’t doing that.

“Nothing.”

He gave a quick look at the keyrings and then back to you. He smirked. Shit shit shit.

“Hmm… I might have an idea.”

“You know nothing.”

Gojo shrugged, but that smirk was still there. He disappeared inside the store for a second while you still looked at plushies and cute phone cases.

He popped up again out of the blue.

“You know, I thought the bracelet I gave you would be full of charms already!”

You frowned. “Huh?”

He pointed at the bracelet — the anchor. “Ain’t it why you girls like it? To fill it with a bunch of little trinkets?”

Instinctively, you raised your right wrist to eye level. Uh… the bracelet really was made for that. But you were so busy all the time that the thought of decorating it with charms never crossed your mind.

“I’ll have to inaugurate it, then.” Gojo pouted and shook his head theatrically. “Poor me. Always doing everything.”

Gojo took your wrist again.

Swiftly, he hooked a little charm on the bracelet.

A tiny Keroppi. The frog.

He pointed at it and opened a boyish smile.

“That’s you!”

Green. Keroppi is green. Green, like most of the stuff you owned because of the family’s silly tradition. 

Green like his shirt.

You noticed, with your heart pumping to a ridiculous speed, that your overshirt was light blue. His color.

You were wearing his. He was wearing yours.

Shit. Fuck. Your stomach was dropping again, and you weren’t even on a rollercoaster.

Why was this starting to feel like a date?

It wasn’t a date. You don’t take siblings on dates. Right? This wasn’t even about you, it was about Mayu. It was about her having fun after a month of being locked up. You were there just to be The Adult.

Right? 

Right?!

But then there he was— putting stupid cute trinkets on your bracelet, something that reminded him of you, a character that resembled you, wearing your color, wearing your cap and carrying your bag, talking about how “this time” would be “more unforgettable” than when you came here with your ex.

It might mean nothing. Maybe he’s just being nice.

Yeah. That’s it. Uh-hum.

Shit.

Fuck it.

You took the Cinnamorrol watch on the shelf.

It was a plastic one, those worn by kids, digital, white and blue. You for sure weren’t the first girl to do it, but fuck it. Whatever. Whatever!

“That’s you.” You said, smiling.

His smile widened. His cute dimple peeked. Jesus fucking Christ.

A little giggle escaped past his lips. With much ease, he unclasped his Hublot (a freaking Hublot!) and offered his right wrist.

You put the stupid Cinnamorrol watch around his wrist. It was difficult, because his wrist was thicker than a child’s. You had to clasp it on the last hole; still, it was tight. 

He giggled. You giggled. The two of you, blue and green, standing in this crowded Sanrio store, blocking the corridor and an old lady was pissed because she wanted to pass, like two fucking idiots, because somehow this was funny.

And you still had to pay for all this shit.

It took another twenty minutes on the cashier line. Twenty minutes of feeling your neck and cheeks warm because you were giggly and he was, too.

Welp.

Shit.

Fushiguro was waiting on a bench outside. Some girls nearby were eyeing him and blushing, though it seemed that the boy hadn’t even noticed (or cared).

“Let’s go,” you said, stopping in front of him. “We don’t have much longer.”

“Okay.”

He finally lifted his eyes and saw the Badtz-Maru keyring you waved in front of him.

He widened his eyes slightly. “Huh?”

“That’s you.”

You left it on his lap and pretended to not see his ears flushing.

Gojo had already disappeared inside an ice cream parlor. As expected of him. As you walked with Fushiguro a few steps behind, you imagined the little people that made your body function desperately trying to cool down your inner thermostat, shining red of how hot it was, throwing buckets of water on it while it went tsssss. Be normal. Be normal. Be fucking normal. 

He came out of the ice cream parlor holding a large chocolate milkshake with extra chocolate topping, extra whipped cream, and pieces of chocolate mixed. 

“Alrighty!” He said as soon as both you and Fushiguro got close enough. “Now’s my turn to pick the next ride! Come on!”

Well. He really had just been following you, not complaining about the rides you’d decided. You shrugged and went after him.

“D’you wanna go to the Super Mario World now? It’s probably still super crowded.” You said absently, checking the park’s app to see the capacity in real time.

“Nah! Somewhere much more interesting!” He leaned his head down a little, slowing his pace (one kilometer legs) to match yours. “Besides, if you’d already been there with Ren-kun, what’s the point?”

You glared at him. “Oh, you definitely want his number. I don’t have it anymore, but I can ask Remi if you want.”

Gojo giggled in an evil tone you didn’t quite like. “Let’s go! We have to get there before the attraction closes!”

And then he was back to his original fast pace. 

Truth be told – you were already at that point of the day where your legs were starting to hurt real bad from walking so much and standing in lines. The lack of decent sleep was starting to catch up, too. Fortunately, it was already 4PM, so you’d be going home soon… if the girls showed up on time, that is. I’ll kill them all if they don’t.

You took the phone from your pocket and checked on Mayu again. She had sent a selfie a few minutes ago; the three girls pouting in a dramatic way. the lines are so looooong :(. 

you: did you girls eat?

mayu-chan ♡: yeppp

mayu-chan ♡: huge cheeseburger so yummyyy

mayu-chan ♡: acchan hurt her ankle tho

mayu-chan ♡: bc of her boot

you: i put bandaids in your bag

mayu-chan ♡: :O 

mayu-chan ♡: WHAT

you: figured you wouldn’t have noticed

Three minutes later, Mayu sent another pic: Acchan sitting on the floor, smiling, thumbs up, with a bandaid on her right ankle. 

mayu-chan ♡: NEE-CHAN IS THE BEST ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

mayu-chan ♡: …

mayu-chan ♡: i didnt type that

mayu-chan ♡: it was acchan

mayu-chan ♡: ew

You laughed.

“Where are we going?” Fushiguro’s voice brought you back to reality.

You finally put your phone in the back pocket and checked your surroundings. Uh… if you weren’t mistaken, you were going south… near the Harry Potter attractions. So the only place you could be heading to was…

“The haunted house?” 

Gojo looked back and grinned.

“You scared of this type of thing?”

You crossed your arms and shrugged. “Not really.”

It wasn’t a lie. Horror movies aren’t that scary when you’re used to seeing weird fucking creatures lurking every day. It’s strange how the existence of curses was so normalized in your life, even when you didn’t know they were called “curses” or before you even knew they were not imaginary. So… yeah. Sadako from The Ring didn’t compare to the stuff you saw in the hospital.

Huh.

Gojo wouldn’t be scared of this type of thing, either. Would he? He was used to killing these things, right?

Fushiguro groaned like a kid. “Why are we going there?”

“Because it’ll be fun!” Gojo turned around, now walking backwards and gesticulating widely. “Don’t y’all know that the USJ haunted house is known to be the best in the country? The animatronics and costumes are insane! I want to see it with my own eyes!”

Fair.

You just kept walking.

Mayu texted a few more times. Your feet were really starting to hurt. Remi texted too – she had argued with Keito again – and you rolled your eyes before reading everything she was typing. Their relationship was so messy. But you knew Remi liked it that way. Girl was incapable of having a healthy relationship, it felt that she was more of an adrenaline junkie than you were–

“Wait.”

Once again, Fushiguro’s stern voice brought you back to reality.

You looked up from your phone.

First things first.

The surrounding area was empty.

You looked around, confused. The park had been crowded anywhere you went; from squares to bathrooms to stores. Why was it so empty now? What had happened?

The haunted house was just ahead. It was a huge attraction: the size of an actual manor, exactly like those cliche horror movie houses. Two stores, painted to look abandoned; the glass of the windows was cracked, but every window had a black screen so whoever was inside couldn’t see outside. A constant fog of dry ice surrounded the set design. The whole atmosphere was very convincing, to be honest. You felt a shiver in the back of your neck.

Wait.

You stopped walking abruptly. Fushiguro stopped, too.

Wait.

That bad feeling in your gut. It couldn’t be because of the burger you had an hour ago. No, it was different. A feeling you were familiar with. A discomfort. A shiver. Something telling you to turn around and run.

Wait.

Gojo had stopped walking, too. His back faced you. His posture was relaxed.

“I knew it!” Fushiguro was exasperated beside you. You looked at him; the boy was grimacing, taking somehow of a… ready stance? Fight stance? “I knew you wouldn’t have brought everyone here out of nowhere without a reason!”

“What?” Was everything you could mutter childishly.

Fushiguro spared you a quick look before locking eyes on the house ahead again.

“There’s a curse there!”

A curse?

A curse?

What?

Gojo’s back was still facing you. He put his free hand on his hip.

“You know, the haunted house scared people so bad that something real popped in there! What a bummer!” He slurped his milkshake. “The park refused to close it anyway. Said they’d lose too much if they closed during the high season. A bunch of greedy fuckers, right?”

It happened fast.

In a second, he was standing a few steps in front of you.

The next, he was standing behind you.

Gojo pushed you and Fushiguro on the back. The boy almost tripped and fell with the strength of the push; it felt that he was a bit gentler on you, but it still forced you to step ahead.

“Luckily you’re here to solve everything!”

You looked back at him.

What?

With his right hand, Gojo made a quick handsign; index and middle finger pointed up near his chest. He muttered rapidly in a deep voice: “Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.”

Another shiver ran down your spine.

The floor started to take a weird color… no, it wasn’t the floor; you looked up. A translucent dome appeared on top of the house, meters and meters up, slowly making its way down; sunlight trespassed the dome, painting everything in a strange, eerie purplish color. 

You were familiar with this translucent dome and this feeling. The hospital had one of these; the house, too, though they felt slightly different.

A curtain.

What?

Gojo grinned.

“Let’s see…” he checked the watch. The stupid Cinnamorrol plastic watch you had tied on his wrist. “I’d say you have around half an hour to exorcise the curse, aight? We don’t wanna get late to pick up the girls!”

“What do you mean– we?!” You’d never seen Fushiguro this exasperated. “What is she going to do?!”

You hated how you could notice Gojo’s eyes locking on you despite the dark sunglasses. His smirk got more evil.

“I don’t know! She’ll show me!”

What?!

The translucent dome was almost completely down. You realized, feeling your stomach drop, that Gojo stood outside of its protection.

“Someone’s gotta look out for the girls!” He waved goodbye innocently while still smiling like the evilest human being to step on this earth. “Good luck!”

The dome touched the floor, painting everything around the haunted house in purple shades.

You couldn’t see Gojo anymore. 

You couldn’t see anything outside of the barrier.

Your heart raced. Your mouth got dry.

There was a real curse in there. A real curse.

You weren’t scared of curses back then because they didn’t perceive you. It was as if you didn’t exist; so you thought they didn’t exist, too. But curses were real, and there was one inside the house. One so bad that it made your stomach turn. Made you want to run away. 

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

What the fuck?!

Fushiguro was still exasperated. He messed his own hair in annoyance and dropped his backpack on the floor, eyeing the house’s windows with attention and urgency. 

“What– Why–?” Was all you could stupidly mutter, because you were already too nervous to function.

“He always does this!” His hiss sounded so bitter. “Impromptu trip my ass! He just wanted someone to do the job for him!”  

So–

That’s how he got the last minute train tickets? The last minute express passes? He wasn’t just being nice to Mayu? Gojo was working and tricked you all into it?

Your knees were weak.

You wanted to kill him.

You wanted to punch his fucking face. Make him swallow his own sunglasses. What the actual fuck?! He woke you up at four in the morning to make you work for him?! He– he just dropped you to deal with a curse alongside the fourteen year old?!

All that stupid fondness from minutes ago, the butterflies in your stomach you felt inside the Sanrio store– all gone. Gojo Satoru was an asshole. A fucking asshole. And to think for a second, you considered this could be a date. A date?! What kind of date forces you to fight a spiritual creature?!

Fushiguro was still nervous. He looked around rapidly.

“Mori-san, hide in between the bushes. I’ll take care of the curse and we’ll leave.”

You nodded because you didn’t know what else to do. “What if I– leave?”

“You can’t exit a curtain from inside. The curse hasn't noticed us yet. Go hide!”

And for a second, you really were going to hide.

But then you remembered being in between supermarket aisles with him.

I don’t know if you have enough crazy in ya.

Pause.

You stated that you were crazy. That you had a fighting spirit. That you could deal with gore. That you wouldn’t be surprised. That you were a war horse getting used to loud noises.

Gojo was testing you.

Making you have fun, be relaxed, then throwing you in the fire. Taking you by surprise. This wasn’t about him slacking off or making you two do his job; it was about Gojo inspecting you, because you told him you could do it.

And the worst part – you couldn’t complain about his assholery, because you asked for it.

If you simply cowered away in the bushes and let Fushiguro fight the curse alone, he’d never teach you what to do with your technique. You’d have to be defenseless, useless, under their protection until the case was solved – if it ever got solved.

Worse than that.

You tried to ignore the little voice of truth speaking in the back of your mind, but it was impossible.

If you cowered away, Gojo would be disappointed.

And that, for some fucking reason, despite the fact that you still wanted to smack him, was motivation enough.

You tightened your wrists and dropped your own backpack on the floor.

“I’ll follow you.”

Fushiguro was surprised. And confused. And irritated.

“What?”

“I’ll follow you.” You repeated more firmly this time. “He– he said we should take care of it, right? So I’ll help you.” Even though you didn’t know how the fuck you could help him.

Fushiguro was still irritated, and you felt stupid to ask permission to the teenager to participate. Yet, despite the age, he was much more experienced than you. Offering any kind of support would be the best you could do.

He looked at the eerie haunted house again and nodded, groaning with frustration.

“Just– stay close to me. All the time. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Fushiguro ran towards the front doors. You ran after him.

You wanted to vomit.

That feeling— that shiver in the nape of your neck— it had never been worse. As soon as you trespassed the front doors, you knew you were inside the curse’s territory. You’d never felt anything like that before. And not because you were just feeling it, but—

The inside of the manor wasn’t what you were expecting.

A dark place… fake spider webs… fake blood… creepy noises… all the usual decorations you’d find inside a haunted house. And sure, this stuff was there, too.

Under a thick layer of green slime.

That thing— it was everywhere. Bright green like fake radioactive goop from bad sci-fi movies. Dripping from the walls, covering the floor; your shoes were immediately drenched in the strange slime. The floor was ridiculously slippery and you would’ve fallen on your butt if you hadn’t gripped Fushiguro’s forearm in time. Both of you were forced to halt five steps into the house. It was impossible to run.

It smelled of pus.

You were familiar with that smell.

The door closed violently behind you.

Before you could even properly understand what the fuck was happening, Fushiguro’s voice reached your ears.

“Shit—“

He pushed you.

Violently.

You flew to the other side of the corridor. You back hit the wall. Air was knocked off your lungs. The disgusting green slime covered your clothes.

You fell on the floor near the wall — and when you looked up, you understood him.

Fushiguro pushed you out of the way as a flock of something attacked him.

You didn’t know what the fuck you were looking at at first. It looked like… birds? Small, violent birds? They flew around Fushiguro, fast  and  aggressive, in synchronicity. It was as if you were seeing a huge school of fish moving like one body, trying to mislead a predator; except they were attacking Fushiguro instead of defending.

Fushiguro fought back.

His fists were enveloped in that bright blue flame you now understood as cursed energy. He twisted in the air, striking an impressive high kick that was enough to pulverize an entire line of whatever the fuck he was fighting against. As soon as his feet touched the floor again with a loud disgusting splosh, he made a quick hand sign with both hands and yelled Divine Dogs!

The two wolfdogs from before appeared from thin air; they came from the wall behind Fushiguro as if they were made of the shadows themselves. The black one immediately leaped against the unidentified creatures. The white one rushed to your side. You realized with relief that it wasn’t limping anymore.

You put your hand on the wall, trying to find some support to get up again, but it was also slippery and – ew ew ew ew – covered in green goo. It took another attempt of your hand slipping on the wall and your feet sliding as if you were trying to ice skate to get up. By then, Fushiguro had already eliminated the flock.

Your eyes focused on the last strange creature before the black dog bit it, making it disappear in black ashes.

They…

They were tadpoles?

Tadpoles the size of pigeons? 

“Are you okay?” Fushiguro asked, making an effort to approach you. It also looked like he was trying to ice skate on the slippery floor, which made you feel a bit less pathetic. He was barely out of breath. That entire fight, as quick as it was, looked like it took no significant effort.

In all honesty? Hell no. Your back hurt from the strength of his push (a part of you was kinda mad at him), the entire fucking place smelled of pus, and all that goop over your clothes made you want to vomit. Were you going to admit that? Hell no².

“Yeah– I’m–”

You didn’t have time to finish that sentence.

Ploc.

The sound immediately made the two of you shut up.

A wet sound. As if someone squeezed a boiled egg in their hand.

It came from above.

You both looked up at the same time… and you, honest to God, felt about to shit your pants.

Eggs.

Hundreds of eggs.

They covered the entirety of the ceiling. Hundreds and hundred and hundreds of orange eggs; the shells were soft, and a stupid part of you rapidly associated them with Dragon Balls, except Goku didn’t collect Dragon Balls that were covered in disgusting green goop and you were sure those eggs wouldn’t summon Shenlong. 

Ploc.

Your skin crawled in pure disgust as the eggs started to… move. Shake slightly. Ploc.

They were hatching.

One after the other, in a wave.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me–” you cussed under your breath, because of fucking course those eggs had to hatch as soon as you crossed the front doors, of fucking curse the timing would be so accurate–

“Let’s go!” Fushiguro gripped your wrist and ran.

Splosh splosh splosh splosh every step of yours went against the goop covered floor. You rapidly looked back in time to watch new tadpoles hatching from the eggs; they screeched like little rats, like hearing someone scratch glass with a blade, and you almost shrieked, too. Fushiguro was fast (way too fast) despite the slippery floor, his iron grip around your wrist honestly painful. You wouldn’t complain about it, of course, as at least he was doing something.

You two flew upstairs as soon as it appeared just ahead. The second floor was also covered in green goop; your eyes quickly passed by a deactivated animatronic – was that a demon nun? – and a less important part of your brain went yeah, Gojo was right, the animatronics are sick, before Fushiguro dragged you inside the first room he could find and slammed the door shut.

For a moment, the screeching of the tadpoles was muffled. The two dogs stood near the door growling viciously. Fushiguro’s back was against the door.

You looked at each other in shocked silence for two seconds.

Shit.

“Why are there so many of them?” You asked quietly in the hopes the things out there wouldn’t track you. You were used to seeing small curses in the hospital, like the mutant rat, or big curses around the city – but never so many like that. 

“Weaker curses gather together like that to attack.” He said rapidly. Not that it explained a lot, but oh well. “This house is infested.”

“We’ll have to–” You interrupted yourself for a second because we? “We’ll” have? I’m not doing anything relevant!, before continuing; “we’ll have to kill them one by one? There are hundreds out there! And– there are more eggs down the hall!”

“One single attack strong enough should do it.” Fushiguro scratched his own head angrily. “Nue should do it– but this place doesn’t have enough space for him.”

“What is Nue?”

“My shikigami.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a big bird!” He did not have enough patience. “You’ll end up caught in its attack too if you stand too close.”

So you were a hindrance.

Bam! 

Something slammed the door from outside. Some things, in fact, hundreds of small things knocking against the door violently, screeching in a way that made you want to blow up your own eardrums.

Fushiguro kept his back glued against the door. The dogs groaned, their fur bristly, their fangs in full display.

You heard the sound of wood cracking.

A small hole on the door. It was enough for a tadpole to cross it.

Another one followed. And another, and another and another–

A cloud of tadpoles from hell invaded the room.

You shrieked and tried to protect your head with your hands; you walked back on instinct, tripped and fell – there was a bed behind you. A bed? Oh– that was a replica of the bedroom from The Exorcist, right–? There’s no time to notice stupid things! The tadpoles gathered in an organized formation again, a cloud moving as one to attack Fushiguro and his dogs.

You froze on the bed.

Fushiguro fought furiously. He kicked and punched and stomped, each strike taking down dozens of tadpoles at once. The dogs bit and clawed, turning everything they touched to dust. Fushiguro actually knew what he was doing; his each movement had intent, calculated strength, sharpened reflexes that could sense that a little creature was about to bite his nape before it even happened, eyes that could follow their fast movements.

What could you do?

You couldn’t move like that. Not at all. Shit– I did karate when I was, like, seven? Just ‘cause everyone at school did it! I don’t remember a single movement! And yeah, it’s not like you’d never fought in your life before. But gripping hair, slapping faces and kicking someone in the balls didn’t compare to what Fushiguro was doing. 

What is she going to do?!

I don’t know! She’ll show me!

You shrieked.

I don’t know either! I don’t know what I have to do! I don’t know how to help!

“Mori-san–” Fushiguro tried in between strikes. “Mori-s–” A punch. The black dog groaned and bit another tadpole. “Mori-san! Leave this room! I’ll– I’ll summon Nue!”

This cleared your mind for a split second. Whatever the fuck this Nue thing could do, it would end up hurting you. You got off the bed, letting a ridiculous scream escape when a couple of tadpoles glued on your arm – ew ew ew ew!! – before shaking it violently. Fushiguro managed to finish breaking the door with one kick; he and the two dogs offered you an opening.

“Go!!”

You obeyed.

As soon as you jumped through the door, you slipped and fell on your knees, sliding down the corridor. Your were drenched in this disgusting goo – and you hadn’t stopped to think that this could be poisonous or radioactive yet – before somehow getting up and running (splosh splosh splosh) towards the next door you could find.

You entered it and slam the door shut, pressing your back against it.

The room was a replica of the dirty bathroom from SAW 1. No windows in this one.

Shit shit shit shit.

You couldn’t stop shaking. Your hand gripped the door handle like your life depended on it. The noises out there– you could still hear it; the screeching, the barking and groaning, Fushiguro’s grunts, the ploc ploc ploc of more eggs hatching. Shit. Fuck! How could this even be happening?! Ten minutes ago, you were just an ordinary person walking around a thematic park! You just wanted to go on some rollercoasters and buy cute merch! You thought you’d have a normal evening with your sister for once!

You couldn’t function. You couldn’t think. There were hundreds of little curses out there. You couldn’t move. Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Maybe Gojo was right. Maybe I’m not built for this type of thing, because– what can I even do?! I can’t– I can’t even–

Male around 40 years old. 

Civil construction worker. Fell from a height of approximately 4 meters. Unconscious. Brought in by EMS, wearing a cervical collar on a spinal board. Labored breathing. Scalp laceration. Glasgow coma scale: 8.

You gulped.

How long ago that was? A month already? You didn’t remember for sure. You didn’t remember the patient’s name, either. You remembered he had a tattoo. 2010-09-02 ♡ Sana. Sana’s husband, or father, you never knew. The man that came to you while the entire ER team was busy with other cases.

I’ll take the lead. Full trauma protocol. Let’s go— ABCDE.

It was what you said that day.

Only newbie nurses and inexperienced technicians. Yet, you took the lead. You distributed orders in a calm yet firm voice, because you needed to display confidence. You acted quickly because each minute brought death closer to the patient. You intubated him without sparing a second thought, without shaking your hand once. 

Wasn’t it what you did in your everyday life?

Patients on the verge of death. Head traumas, strokes, cardiac arrests, domestic accidents. 

You walked side by side with death every single time you stepped into that hospital. Yet, you never panicked, because panic could mean the end of someone else’s life. The ER team was what stood between life and death, between a good recovery or life changing sequelae. Adrenaline was the air you breathed inside the ER. You lived and thrived off it. 

What was so different from that and what you were experiencing at that moment?

You weren’t someone unfamiliar to working under extreme pressure, the type of pressure a normal person would probably never face in their entire life. The frenetic beeping of a heart monitor; the moment you’d have to get ready to defibrillate a patient knowing every second counted. You could be relaxed in one second, then the next hear the doors of the ER opening, stretcher wheels, paramedics screaming, Tanaka-san rushing the entire team into the red zone. 

You tightened your fist.

Autopilot.

No time for emotions. No time. As if you were running into the red zone. As if there was a patient in a critical condition to be tended.

Except this time, it was yours – and Fushiguro’s – lives on the line.

Your hands stopped shaking.

Fushiguro, the fourteen year old, was still fighting out there. Screeching. Splosh splosh. Ploc ploc.

You have to think.

How can I help him?

Hiding certainly wouldn’t be of much help. But at the same time, you couldn’t fight like him. You’d just end up getting hurt. 

You slapped your own forehead with your palms repeatedly. Think! Think! What can I do? How can I help? 

Something dangling caught your eye.

Keroppi.

The tiny charm Gojo attached to your bracelet. You looked at it, palms still against your forehead.

Tadpoles are baby frogs.

There are hundreds – maybe thousands – of eggs out there. 

You didn’t know how curse biology worked, but if it followed the natural course of things, something gave birth to those eggs. 

Fushiguro was fighting against the babies. Weaker curses attack together. But where was the mom?

That’s it.

You opened the door and ran before the mere possibility of being afraid appeared.

The ceiling above you was infested with eggs, though not all of them were hatching. Fushiguro was keeping the waves of little curses busy, which granted you an advantage. You ran, splosh splosh splosh, tripped on the slippery goop and fell once, got up and kept running. This house isn’t a labyrinth. The visitors are supposed to get scared from room to room, each animatronic and actor pushing them towards the exit.

If your supposition was right, the house had a U format. You entered it from the right; the corridors would lead to the exit on the left. You were praying that this theory was right and that the curse really followed normal biology, because you were supposing the “mom” would be in the central area – the safest one. At least, that’s where queen bees are located inside hives.

You were on the farthest part of the “U”. You took the turn; the corridor opened to the front hall down there, a different part from where you entered, but that was a smaller replica of the entrance hall of the hotel from The Shining. You stopped on the second floor balcony and gripped the railing to steady yourself.

Down there.

In the middle of the hall.

You didn’t know if you were happy or terrified of being right.

There was a mother frog. 

And she was the size of a cow.

The curse was just sitting there, indeed very resemblant of an actual frog; the thing was a bright shade of purple. Mountains of eggs gathered around the curse. You noticed with disgust that almost made you vomit that it was still giving birth; the eggs popped from its back continuously, sliding down its body to form more mountains. There was so much green goop on the floor that it wasn’t possible to know what color the carpet underneath was.

You gripped the railing.

Fushiguro was busy fighting. You couldn’t simply call him. But you couldn’t let that thing alive. There was no guarantee that the tadpoles wouldn’t grow to become giant cow-sized frogs as well. 

You didn’t have a weapon. You didn’t have fighting skills.

But your technique was Extinguisment.

The sole property of your cursed energy was a nullifier. Curses were made of cursed energy.

You didn’t know if the thing was strong; but Gojo’s voice echoed in the back of your mind. I’m trying to fight your cursed energy back, but I just can’t.

Gojo Satoru, sorcerer-teacher-whatever, the strongest person you’d ever met in your goddamn life, couldn’t fight your cursed energy. So that fucking frog down there couldn’t, either.

Autopilot. No time for emotions. Not time for fear.

There was no guarantee that the curse wouldn’t notice you going downstairs.

So you leaped over the railing and jumped.

A part of you thought, if you miscalculate this jump, you’ll fall flat on the floor and fucking die. But this part of you had this thought as you were already halfway down. 

And luckily, you didn’t mismatch the jump.

You fell on the curse’s back.

Gross!! Fucking gross!! You fell on top of the eggs, felt the pressure of your body splashing them. It was slippery and fucking disgusting, it smelled so bad that you refused to breathe through your nose; still, you gripped the curse’s back for dear life, sinking your nails on its skin so you wouldn’t slip out of its back. You tried your best to hug the thing in some sort of sloppy headlock–

The frog screamed.

It wasn’t an animalistic screech. It was a scream. A human woman’s yell. 

It tried to shake you off its back. You gripped even harder. Don’t fall don’t fall don’t fall–

The curse kept screaming, and every second the sound became worse, more desperate, more guttural. The skin on its back was burning. Anywhere your skin touched was becoming blackened. As if you were made of salt. 

Your simple touch was killing it.

Don’t let go! Don’t let go! Don’t let go!!

Screeches. 

You looked over your shoulder for a moment and felt your stomach drop; a new wave of tadpoles flew down to the first floor, getting in formation, ready to defend their mother. There were so many of them that the ceiling became black. 

If there was piss in your bladder, you would’ve pissed your pants right there.

Shit.

Then, the next second–

“Nue!”

You didn’t properly see what happened, both because the curse frog wouldn’t stop shaking, and because whatever unfolded happened behind the cloud of tadpoles. And then you couldn’t see anything at all because a flashlight blinded you. 

The deafening sound of a thunder – so close that you felt your bones and teeth shake.

Electricity. The lightning permeated the entire cloud of curses, spreading from one to another in a chain of pure death; they were pulverized one by one, disappearing in clouds of black ash with a last horrifying screech. And above it… yeah, calling it a big bird was the best way to describe it. The winged creature of copper feathers covered almost the entirety of the ceiling. 

Fushiguro stood on the balcony of the second floor, watching you with widened eyes.

He was right. You didn’t want to imagine what would’ve happened to you if you were close to that electric attack.

The frog was still yelling.

Your grip around it tightened. You looked down at it angrily. “Just die already!!”

Black flames.

It was the third time you witnessed it. Now, you knew it wasn't flames; it was your own cursed energy enveloping the spiritual creature under you. Extinguishing it. 

The curse screamed in agony for one last time.

The next second – a cloud of ashes.

You fell on the ground.

Silence.

Your heart pounded in your ears. You rolled, laying on your back, frozen.

Ash. Ash everywhere. The tadpoles were gone. The eggs were disappearing in ash, too… and the green slime. It was all disintegrating in ash. You lifted your arms to eye level; the goop was vanishing from your body and clothes, too, and suddenly you were dry again, as if none of that even existed in the first place.

Tap tap tap tap. Fushiguro ran downstairs. You sat up.

“Is it over?” You asked in astonishment.

“Yeah.” A thin layer of sweat covered Fushiguro’s forehead. His eyes were widened as if he’d just gotten out of another rollercoaster. 

“Are you hurt?” Your eyes scanned his body rapidly.

“Mori-san, you’re bleeding.”

Huh? 

Oh. Crap.

You immediately got on your fours, startling Fushiguro. 

“I’m not hurt– it’s my fucking nose– it’s bleeding again.” I’m gonna get my clothes dirty!

“Can I help–”

“Yeah, please bring my bag. I dropped outside. There are tissues there.”

Tap tap tap tap tap. Fushiguro ran outside. You kept that stupid position, watching the blood drip from your nose on the carpet. Why is this happening again?

Tap tap tap tap tap. He was back in less than a minute, dropping to his knees beside you, backpack in hand. You muttered a quiet thank you before shoving your hand inside the bag and quickly taking the box of tissues, pressing a bunch against your nose.

You finally sat like a normal person again.

No shivers anymore. Things were looking normal again… no more eerie purple shades. The curtain was lifted.

Fushiguro sat by your side in silence.

You eyed him.

“You fight really fucking well.” Your voice was muffled because of the tissues against your nose. His ears flushed again. Fushiguro scratched the back of his head.

“That was nothing.”

“Nothing? Huh, that makes you sound even more amazing.” You elbowed his side jokingly. “Thanks for saving me from the tadpoles.”

“That was… nothing.” It seemed he didn’t know what else to say. Didn’t know how to deal with compliments. His ears were still flushing, though – and the ghost of a little smile was there in the corner of his lips.

Adrenaline was starting to wear off. Your legs hurt like hell… a spot in your back hurt, too. What the fuck did you just do? Was this place really covered in green slime three minutes ago? Did all that even happen–?

“Congratulations on your first exorcism!”

You looked up.

Gojo was standing by the door.

Leaning on the door frame. One hand was shoved in the front pocket of his pants; the other, still holding the milkshake cup. Relaxed. Nonchalant. As if he hadn’t thrown you two to fight an army of tadpoles from hell. 

His sunglasses were down the bridge of his nose. You could actually see his eyes at that moment.

Locked on you.

There was a little smirk there. Something in his eyes you’d never seen. A… fire. Excitement? He had never looked at you like that before. It made your stomach drop. Made your nape feel warm. 

“Turns out you do have enough crazy in you.”

A goosebump.

It had nothing to do with any curse now, however.

You wanted to smack him.

Slap his fucking face. Kick him on the balls. He tricked you into this, made a perfectly happy day become a nightmare. 

But you knew you had no right to complain.

So you put the cap back on your head, gripped your backpack and got up. Walked up to him at heavy steps. Gojo’s eyes didn’t wander away from you for a second. He was intrigued. He wanted to see what you’d do.

You stopped in front of him.

Snatched the milkshake from his hand and walked away.

Gojo chuckled, but you didn’t look back. No. I need distance from him. I need to breathe.

Not only because you were angry at him. Not even because he was an asshole.

But because – the way he looked at you.

Gojo Satoru, sorcerer-teacher-whatever; the “sheriff” of Jujutsu world. The guy that couldn’t even be touched; who could fly, teleport, warp space to his will. The sorcerer that made grown men shake in fear. 

You impressed that man.

He was happy to see you fight.

And you were angry at yourself, at your own pride, because even though he was a fucking asshole – even though you were angry at him – the fact that you passed his test made you happier than no rollercoaster could ever make you feel.

The milkshake was really good, actually.

You slurped everything on the way. You didn’t even notice you were wandering around a crowded park alone because you were still riding high from adrenaline. Your thoughts ran at 100 km per hour. It felt that your head was about to explode.

You reached the meeting spot first than everyone else. But after so much milkshake, you needed to pee.

You found a bathroom.

It was, as expected, packed. Despite everything, the stall was pretty clean, which was surprising. You pissed. Eyes glued to the floor. It almost felt like those moments when you’re at the club, go to the bathroom and after finally having a moment of silence, you realize that you’re drunk. Except you weren’t drunk. Just batshit insane.

Your fingers were shaking a bit.

I need to smoke.

You were about to open the stall’s door when a group of familiar voices reached your ears. Much louder than everyone else.

You stopped.

“...sooo handsome,” a sigh. “But he didn’t even look at me.”

A groan. “I’m telling you, that guy’s an asshole. Don’t waste your time trying to talk to him.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re lesbian, Mayu.” Acchan insisted. 

“It ain’t why!” Your sister groaned again. “I’m telling you. Fushiguro’s an asshole and boring as hell! You don’t wanna get with a guy like him!”

Acchan giggled. “I like a little challenge. I like when a guy is nonchalant. Right, Hina?”

The quiet girl hummed.

You snorted. Fourteen year old girls talking about a little challenge. What do they even know about that?

“I’m gonna try to sit by his side again,” Acchan continued. “Do you think he prefers more demure girls? Wait–” she gasped. “Maybe you’re his type, Hina!”

“Me? I-I–” the mere possibility of flirting made Hina-chan malfunction.

“I don’t think either of you are his type.” Mayu sounded a bit venomous. Like she knew something neither of them did. Huh.

“No– wait, I know who’s Hina’s type.” Acchan ignored Mayu’s comment. She giggled. “It’s Gojo-san. Right?”

Then the two girls were squealing.

“No offense, Mayu– but he’s so– ugh!” Even Hina-chan couldn’t help but squeal.

“He looks like an idol!” Acchan sighed. “He’s so tall, too, right?! And–”

“Blue eyes!” The two girls kyaaaa’d.

“Seriously, your sister’s my hero, Mayu. I thought Maeda-san was hot, but Gojo-san?! She’s allergic to dating ugly men!”

You froze.

Oh.

Oooh.

You were suddenly very interested in whatever they had to say.

“I already said that they’re not dating, though.” 

“Not even you believe in this, Mayu.”

“They’re not! She would’ve told me if they were.” It was true. You didn’t hide this type of thing from Mayu.

“Oh, please.” Acchan snorted. “Sitting together? Being together all the time? Giggling to each other? He was even taking pictures of her.”

Wait, what? Taking pictures? You didn’t know about that!

Mayu hummed. “...I don’t know, man. My sister’s kinda insane. But I don’t think they have something yet.”

Yet.

Even your sister thought you were a couple.

And all the other people in the park, apparently, judging by how they’d gawk at Gojo and then look at you with fear. 

Carrying your bag. Buying you cute stuff. Giggling and poking you. The way he caressed your wrist in the morning, or the way he looked at you at the haunted house – how he made you feel hot inside–

And then suddenly you were no better than a teenage girl, squealing in silence inside the bathroom stall.

What is happening?!

“Maybe he’s annoying, though,” Hina-chan tried to reason. “We don’t know.”

“He is annoying. But not the bad type.” Mayu giggled. “He’s funny as hell. I like him.”

You felt about to implode.

All those things were true, but the part where this entire trip was a deceive plan was also true. Shit. You were so conflicted. Was that adrenaline’s fault yet? Was it because you hadn’t smoked in hours and were already feeling abstinence?

The girls left the bathroom. You stayed there for three more minutes, trying to cool down.

They were all there in front of the globe when you left.

Acchan was trying to talk to Fushiguro again while it looked like he wanted to kill himself. Hina-chan blushed. Mayu was babbling something with a smiley Gojo. 

You looked at his face and remembered you were angry.

“Where were you?” Mayu asked as soon as you approached.

“Bathroom.” It seemed only Hina-chan understood that implication. Her eyes widened and she blushed harder. “It’s 6PM. We should–”

“The girls want to go on one last ride!” Gojo interrupted.

You hated how he was acting like nothing happened, like you didn’t have a reason to want to kill him. 

As if summoned, the three girls gathered around you with puppy eyes.

“Pleeease, nee-chan!” Acchan begged. “It’s the Waterworld slide! It’s super empty right now!” 

“We’ll just go once!” Mayu begged.

“It’ll be fun!” Hina-chan begged.

Ugh.

You tapped your foot on the floor once. “Fine.”

They kyaaa’d and ran.

You followed.

Keeping a safe distance from Gojo as Fushiguro kept a safe distance from the two of you.

It didn’t take long to enter the Waterworld attractions. They were right; most families were already exiting the park, and as the rides were beginning to close, there weren’t that many people. The girls ran to the line. You weren’t interested in getting wet; Gojo and Fushiguro weren’t either.

You stood on the sidelines, watching as the cart went slowly up and dropped from a height of 15 meters, splashing a ton of water on whoever stood on the bridge. 

None of that felt much real.

You fought a spiritual creature around an hour ago. A dangerous creature who could hurt – maybe kill – all the innocent, clueless people in the park. Yet, there you were; acting like nothing happened. How can someone keep their sanity after all that?

I guess you really have to be crazy in the head.

Minutes later, the three girls approached again – all drenched and laughing. The sun was beginning to set; light posts were beginning to be lit up. The sky was a gorgeous gradient of orange and lilac. 

You stood in the corner and watched as they started to drag Gojo to the bridge.

It was all Mayu’s idea. She had the evil smile of a gremlin. The other girls went along (Hina blushed furiously). Mayu gripped one of his arms, Hina-chan the other, and Acchan pushed him on the back.

He smiled handsomely and tried to say noooo. But he could stop if he wanted; he could free himself from their grip. It felt like watching three kittens pushing a tiger.

Gojo allowed himself to be dragged.

They didn’t let go of their grip. A bunch of other excited people stood on the bridge, anxiously waiting for the cart to drop. Stop moving!! Acchan yelled; You ain’t running away from this one!!, Mayu yelled; What about my hair?! Gojo yelled. 

The cart dropped. A giant wave splashed against the bridge; everyone screamed.

After the CT scan, you should probably do an electrocardiogram; because the way your heart was beating so rapidly couldn’t be normal.

He turned Infinity down to let himself get splashed.

Which… shouldn’t be surprising. If the girls dragged him to that bridge and he came out dry, it would simply make no sense. Yet… there was something in the way Gojo joined their silliness, allowing himself to be wet. He wasn’t too proud to just brush them off. He could have if he wanted.

The girls were laughing and he was, too.

His shirt was drenched, totally glued to his sculpted body. Gojo took his glasses off, laughing, and pushed his hair up with his hand, revealing his forehead; he brushed the strands aggressively, sprinkling water everywhere. His dimples peaked. He blinked several times, dissipating drops from his long lashes.

You could’ve gawked at his – God – insane body; the way the wet shirt framed his chest and abs. But there was something in the way he was smiling, laughing, that tugged at your heart with violence. Such a genuine smile. Innocent, silly.

God.

God.

That was one second before Mayu’s gremlin grin was directed at you.

The girls crossed the bridge running in your direction.

“No–” you stepped back. “Don’t you dare–”

“You can’t be the only one dry! That’s not fair!” 

The girls started to drag you.

Unfortunately, you were not a tiger like Gojo.

You tried to fight back. Your legs hurt too much to put up that much of a fight. The only “help” he offered was swiftly taking your backpack so it wouldn’t get drenched.

The cart went down. You were splashed.

You underestimated how much water that thing would splash; the pressure even made you slide back a bit. Cold. The water whipped your body. You tried to protect your face with your arms, but that didn’t stop water from getting into your nose.

“I fucking hate you—“ you said, slapping Mayu’s arm — but the giggle fit was impossible to hold back. She was laughing too,  and Acchan and Hina-chan and Gojo — Gosh — he was laughing at you, standing on the other side of the bridge while holding your backpack.

Crap.

You couldn’t be angry at him for too long.

You didn’t know if it was pretty privilege. You didn’t know if it was because you genuinely liked him. Maybe not even a romantic type of like. You just… liked him. 

It’s hard to hold a grudge against someone you care for.

You hadn’t even noticed that Fushiguro smartly vanished before the girls could try to drag him to the bridge, too… he was already waiting at the globe, sending you all weirded out glances.

And then, finally, you were all heading to the exit.

It was packed. Lines were huge. Even your socks were wet. Each step went squench squench. Ew. You let go of the cap and tied your hair in a failure attempt of a bun.

Gojo walked by your side quietly.

He had pushed his glasses up his forehead; you didn’t know exactly why. It was working as a headband, pushing his hair up and exposing his forehead.

It was rare to see him like that, without anything covering his face. His lashes were so long. His eyes were so goddamn blue. His entire face – it was so harmonious, so pleasing to look at. 

Ugh.

“That wasn’t my first exorcism.”

He looked down at you with a slightly surprised expression. So blue!! So blue!!

“Huh?”

You refused to look at him, because half of you was still angry.

“At the hospital.” You lowered your voice. There were too many people crumpled trying to exit the park. It felt like being inside Shinjuku Station during rush hours. “The morning that happened. There was a little curse there and I killed it by accident.”

Gojo chuckled, quirking one eyebrow. Shiiit. It was hard to look at him like that, to see his every expression so clearly.

“What do you mean ‘by accident?’”

You shrugged. “I didn’t know if it was my imagination or some wild animal. It was trying to bite my ankles. I tried to shoo it away, but stepped on it and it imploded.”

He laughed again, louder his time; shook his head slowly in disbelief. 

“Maybe it was a wild animal, you know. Maybe you committed an environmental crime.”

“Shut up.” But you couldn’t help but chuckle, too.

Gojo tilted his head to the side and leaned down a little; he was trying to make you look at him. 

“So… you ain’t mad at me anymore?”

“I am mad at you.” The angry glare you sent him was enough of a response. Do you want eye contact? Here’s your eye contact. “You planned all this behind my back like I’m a fucking idiot.”

He pouted and lifted his eyebrows, sending his best puppy eyes. “I don’t think you’re an idiot.”

“Then don’t treat me like one.” It was getting a little too crumpled. You were forced to step closer to him.

Silence.

“But I get it.”

Gojo looked at you again, lifting one questioning eyebrow.

You spared him a grumpy look before locking eyes on Mayu’s back a few steps ahead. 

“Why you did it. I get it. This time.”

He was about to smile. He was about to say something.

Then some fucking idiot pushed you.

You tripped. Your body was smashed against Gojo’s. His hand rested on your shoulder, immediately steadying your position.

Your head whipped in the guy’s direction. 

“Mind where you’re going, asshole!” You growled. 

“Are you stupid? Don’t push people like that,” Gojo growled at the same time as you.

If the guy wanted to fight before, all of his will deflated the moment he looked at the both of you (okay. Maybe Gojo did all the work in scaring him. No one wants to pick a fight with a guy that big). His shoulders shrunk and he stuttered a weak I’m so sorry.

You kept walking.

Gojo’s hand was still around you. Keeping you close to him. 

Your neck started to feel warm again.

He hummed. “You makin’ me feel bad about it now.”

“That’s the point. You should suffer.” You elbowed his waist jokingly. He flinched. It made you wonder… he said touching you made him feel weird. Was he feeling weird at that moment, with his arm around you, hand on your shoulder? What did he mean by ‘weird’? 

Was he feeling his skin getting hot with that contact, too?

Was he feeling his blood boil like yours was?

Did he want to step away?

You didn’t want to step away.

“Aw, come on. Don’t tell me you didn’t have fun.” He was pouting again. His bottom lip was so plump. So naturally pink.

You looked up at him. He’d never been so close.

But you wanted to look into his eyes. It was so rare to see them.

“I did.” You confessed, because it was true. Not just because you went on some rides you wanted to despite the infinite lines; not just because your sister had fun with her friends; not even just because you enjoyed Gojo’s and Fushiguro’s company. But the whole thing at the haunted house. You were scared at first, but then managed to function. You pushed through despite everything. You did something – and you succeeded. Maybe that curse was super weak, maybe it wasn’t impressive or anything. But after a month of being thrown into this world – a month of not knowing what the heck was going on, of not knowing how to deal with your technique – you were useful. You weren’t defenseless.

That was satisfying.

And… maybe the fact that Gojo also looked satisfied with your performance made everything a bit better.

He held the eye contact.

Slowly, everything around you started to feel a bit distant. A bit blurred. As if you weren’t in the crumpled exit of a thematic park with people pushing each other, teenagers yelling and kids crying. 

There was you, and there was him.

There was blue, and there was green.

His touch was getting hotter.

“Did you have fun?” You asked quietly. There was no need to be loud, not when he was this close.

Gojo smirked. His dimple peeked. His teeth were so perfectly aligned. His jawline, so sharp.

“Of course I did.” He scrunched his nose for a moment. “You know it.”

You shrugged innocently. “How would I know?”

He clicked his tongue and tilted his head to the side, sliding his gaze away from you for a second. Just for a second, though. When he looked at you again, his eyes were a bit half lidded. So blue. So blue.

“I could show you.”

Goosebumps crossed your skin.

You weren’t stupid. You knew what he meant.

You knew what that gaze told you. You saw when it traveled down your neck, your collarbones, the tank top that was glued to your body the same way his shirt was glued to his; your wet skin. The strands of hair that were also glued to the sides of your face, even though you did your best to tie your hair. 

You knew what that meant.

The voice of reason in your head was wrong.

The attraction – it was mutual.

This realization made your stomach drop. Your legs feel weaker than they already were.

And in all honesty, if you were a bit more insane, you would’ve ignored the crowd around you. You would’ve tip toed, you would’ve rested your hand on his nape and crashed his lips against yours.

But you were not that insane…

…and you thought he didn’t deserve it. 

Not yet.

You weren’t joking when you said that he should suffer.

It was your turn to tilt your head and fake a thoughtful expression. “I have an idea of how you could show me.”

“Yeah?” Oh fuck. He was so into it.

“Yeah.”

You giggled. He smirked.

Certainly, Gojo didn’t expect that what you meant by that was having dinner at Aunt Junko’s house.

So it was ridiculously funny that, four hours later, you were all sitting around the table in her house after dropping Acchan and Hina-chan back to their respective homes – and Gojo had deflated like a child’s balloon.

You wanted to laugh at his face.

Suffer! You should suffer!!

Aunt Junko greeted you all with hugs and smiles and ooooh my baby girls I missed you so muuuuch and kisses on the cheek. Aunt Junko liked to hug. She hugged Fushiguro, too (and he completely malfunctioned) and went ooooh what a handsome lad!!. Then, she hugged Gojo (and he hugged her back with a handsome smile) and went ooooh you’re so tall!! (she sent you a shocked, knowing look, which you completely ignored). Then, when you dragged Ijichi inside (because he didn’t expect to be invited to begin with), she hugged him too (and he malfunctioned even worse than Fushiguro).

It was already late, but Aunt Junko was a night person, and you knew she wouldn’t mind at all. You wouldn’t lose the opportunity of finally meeting her after so long.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t have anything better to prepare,” Aunt Junko immediately apologized. “I just have a little soba left…”

“It’s fine. We could order pizza,” Mayu proposed.

“Of course not!” You already knew she’d say that. Aunt liked to cook for everybody. “Huh… I could make takoyaki. Do you guys like takoyaki?”

Gojo gasped dramatically. “I loooove takoyaki!”

“It sounds great, Inoue-san,” Ijichi said whilst bowing his head continuously. “If it won’t cause you too much trouble.”

“You can call me Junko, sweetheart. I don’t mind it.” Aunt smiled sweetly. “Huh… I guess I don’t have enough eggs.”

Gojo smacked the back of Fushiguro’s head, making him frown. “Go buy the eggs, Megumi! There’s a konbeni down the street. And bring us soda, too.”

Fushiguro groaned. Still, he obeyed.

From then on, it was a bit of a mess.

Gojo was loud. You should’ve expected he’d get along with aunt (she was a sweetheart and he was surprisingly easy-going when he wanted to). He was even being a bit softer with her… not even using bad language. That was Aunt Junko’s secret technique: making anyone immediately like her. 

There were some unwashed dishes in the sink, and Ijichi immediately ran to take care of it before anyone asked. Mayu was loud, too, as she always was. She rushed to help aunt. Fushiguro came back after a bit with the ingredients. They had a little bit of an argument. Gojo smacked the back of his head again and you elbowed Mayu. They pouted, but brushed it aside.

The kitchen was too small for so many people.

The smell of takoyaki quickly filled the whole place. Aunt made a lot of batter, enough to fill two big bowls, because she always said that “food is never too much”. Well. Gojo had a black hole in his stomach, and Mayu was obsessed with aunt’s takoyaki, so it really was the best choice. Ijichi kept thanking aunt at each little ball he chomped, talking about how the texture was perfect and the seasoning was out of this world. Fushiguro ate in silence. He looked very satisfied.

You ate some, but then the savoury balls reminded you of the eggs from the haunted house and you felt like puking, so you stopped eating.

You sat on the kitchen counter and took aunt’s medicine box.

You read Dr. Ito’s prescriptions and exam results. One by one, you taped the blister packs and medicine boxes, writing the hours and dosages in bold letters, big enough so she could read them.

After aunt was done eating, she sat on the stool by your side.

“The Losartan dosage didn’t change.” You explained to her, putting the pack on her side. “One pill every twelve hours. Then… this one is Amlodipine. You’ll take one pill every night before going to bed.” Once more, you pushed the pack to her side.

“Right.”

“And this one… Hydrochlorothiazide, this one is new. You’ll take one pill by the morning. It’ll make you pee a lot, so never take it at night.”

“Right.”

“Are you still measuring your blood pressure every day?”

“Yes. Every day after lunch. I take notes.” She poked the little notebook inside the medicine book. You took the notebook and read the last pages… her blood pressure was pretty stable last month.

“This is good.” You put the notebook back inside the box. “If you feel anything weird, you tell me right away, ‘kay? And if that Dr. Ito is ever rude to you, let me know, too. I’ll make him lose his license.”

“Stooop that, girl.” Aunt giggled and hugged you sideways, patting your back. “Ugh. What would I do without you, Mocchan?”

You chuckled and hugged her back. 

Your legs hurt, your clothes were damp, you had to work tomorrow. But this was nice. At the end of the day, this was nice.

And you pretended to not see Gojo looking at you from over the counter. The way he was sitting on the table beside Ijichi, munching takoyaki, smiling softly. You didn’t know what that smile meant. You didn’t want to think that he looked endeared the same way he looked weeks ago at Jujutsu High.

You’d think about it later. 

You’d think about how you were so close to kissing him. About how he’d accept it. How he wanted it. You’d think about what all of that meant, about how it’d affect your whole dynamic if you really let that happen.

You’d think about it.

But not now.

Your day started with a nightmare. 

It ended with a day that was, indeed, more unforgettable than the last time you’d been at USJ with Ren.

(Would you ever admit that out loud, though?)

(Hell no.)

He held a piece of paper between his fingers – what he’d been using to tickle your nostril.

“We’re home, Sleeping Beauty.”

You wanted to punch him. Technically you could punch him. But your brain still felt like slime and your body was heavy as if you were trying to swim against a river’s current, so you just rolled your eyes and groaned like a kid.

You got out of the car, being greeted by a chilly breeze. The storm did a good job in dropping the temperature a few degrees. Night had engulfed the city. As streets were still wet, the reflection of the yellowish lamp posts on the concrete was a bit eerie. It was quiet.

You were confused.

“...What time is it?”

“11 PM.” It was Fushiguro who answered while dropping out of the car himself. He didn’t bother lifting his eyes from his phone, however.

You stood still on the sidewalk for a few seconds.

You went to Jujutsu High. Right. Ieiri-san took care of you. You showered there. Took a nap. Then you got in the car again. Took another nap.

Okay. Right.

Fushiguro had already disappeared inside the house. Gojo stood a few steps ahead of you near the entrance, watching you quietly. He wasn’t smiling. 

That sent a slight electric shock through your spine. Maybe because after your short sleep, you were coming back to your senses. The fact that he was still wearing the blindfold made you even more nervous — what could he possibly be thinking of? You blinked several times and looked back at the black sedan that still hadn’t left. You didn’t recognize the driver.

“Ijichi-san?” You asked, not remembering seeing him after entering Jujutsu High.

“Went home for once.” 

“Oh.” Well. He definitely deserved some rest.

He won’t get inside until I get inside, some intelligent part of your brain remarked, so get inside.

Right.

You finally walked toward the gates. When you passed by him, you handed the sunglasses back while muttering a quiet thank you.

You took longer than necessary to take off your shoes and put the slippers on. Wait… those weren’t your shoes. Whose clothes were you wearing to begin with?

Mayu was sitting on the couch. She didn’t bother getting up, but turned around to look at you with wide eyes as soon as you stepped on the living room.

“The hell kinda traffic was that?” She asked with her mouth full of popcorn.

You didn’t reply. Walked on a beeline to the couch and poppled down beside her, leaving a deep tired sigh.

Mayu was sitting with crossed legs, had a huge bowl of popcorn over her lap and an opened Coca-Cola can on the coffee table. The TV was showing some commercials. It was rare to see Mayu out of her room… much like Megumi, she preferred to be locked up. If she decided to watch something in the living room, there should be a reason…

You heard hurried steps behind you. A second later, Gojo threw himself on the couch as well by Mayu’s side. 

“What are we watching?” He asked excitedly while taking a handful of popcorn.

You side eyed him. Gojo had exchanged the blindfold for the sunglasses. The jacket was now unzipped, revealing a simple white t-shirt underneath.

He was relaxed. His tone was casual. 

Way too casual.

Not just him. Fushiguro, too. You heard the sound of the fridge opening back there. None of them seemed too affected by what happened.

It felt as if nothing even happened at all.

“Blood Moon,” Mayu replied whilst drinking Coke. “It’s the season finale.”

You instinctively groaned and threw your head back. The stupid vampire series. She had been talking about the season finale the whole week… so that’s why she decided to watch it on a big screen.

Gojo hummed. “Never heard of this one.”

“You’re not losing much,” you muttered in a tired, grumpy voice. Mayu elbowed your side.

“Then don’t watch it!”

Gojo clapped his hands once as if ready to announce something. He sat upright on the couch and fiddled with the bags he had been carrying around.

“So! Even though the two of you were really mean to me, I decided to buy you souvenirs anyway! Because I’m so nice and forgiving! Please clap!” It looked like there was fog covering your vision. Gojo was so excited… and casual… and bragging about something you weren’t paying attention to. “The specialty of Niigata — sasa dango!”

He gave Mayu a prettily decorated box full of the delicacies. It did look great. She went ooooh and immediately took a picture of it, much to Gojo’s satisfaction.

“And to my alcoholic friend…” He extended a beige box over Mayu towards you. “Niigata’s sake, the best of the best!”

The somewhat still sane part of your brain took the box and analyzed it. There wasn’t a big bottle inside, but the minimalist design of it made you shiver. That looked expensive. 

A part of you knew you should show some more excitement, but your body wouldn’t obey.

“Thank you.” You finally said while still looking at the details of the fancy packaging.

“Megumiiii, come grab yours!” Gojo waved a different box of dango excitedly.

You heard steps behind you. Fushiguro emerged from the kitchen. Without even lifting his gaze from his phone, he mumbled something unintelligible and made his way upstairs.

Both you and Gojo watched him go silently.

You should thank him appropriately. You should check if he was really okay. Well. He seemed more okay than you. Everyone was too okay. Was it normal for them to be involved in shootings like that? Maybe that’s why things didn’t feel too real; Fushiguro’s and Gojo’s reactions to everything seemed too lowkey.

“If he doesn’t want it, you can give it to me.” Mayu shrugged. Gojo thought for two seconds, shrugged, and handed her the second box.

You sunk deeper on the couch. Mayu ate popcorn. Gojo ate popcorn.

“Did you have dinner?” You asked her in a low, tired voice.

“Yep.”

“Popcorn isn’t dinner.”

“In some cases it is.”

“You need to eat real food.” Which made you realize you hadn’t really cooked anything since you moved in. You’d been living off takeout. Dad would scold you so bad if he knew… “Last thing I need in my life right now is seeing you get anemic.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

You didn’t have it in you to argue with her.

Mayu ate popcorn. Gojo ate popcorn.

The screen displayed a red moon and the mysterious orchestral track of the series. Mayu gasped and sat upright, eyes widened.

“It’s on!”

Your half lidded eyes locked on the TV for lack of a better thing to do. An action sequence deep inside the woods. The protagonist – a petite actress with luscious brown hair, wearing a long purple dress – ran around the trees, face full of despair, though there was not a sign of sweat on her face. You frowned.

“Wait. The episode starts like that?”

“It’s not the beginning of the episode! You guys came in the middle of it!” Mayu explained hurriedly without taking her eyes off the screen.

The scene showed other characters running, too. Sloppy transitions. A lot of shaky camera. Cliche sound effects. 

“Is she being chased?” Gojo asked while munching more popcorn.

“No. She’s running after her brother.”

“Why is she wearing this dress?”

“It’s prom night.”

“Hm.” Gojo took more popcorn. His hand was so big that every handful he took was almost half the bowl. “The concept of ‘prom’ is cool. I wish we would’ve had these things around here, too.”

You dropped your eyes for the first time and grabbed your phone from the back pocket. Shit… the screen was too cracked. Having to buy a new phone was among the things you needed the least right now. Does my card even have enough credit right now? My statement closes next week… crap. I’ll have to wait with a broken phone until then.

Mayu shrieked beside you. You looked at the TV again. There was a fight happening.

Gojo pouted and tightened his eyes. “...The VFX is horrible.”

“I told you it was bad.” You muttered.

“And the direction is so bad, too.”

“It looks like it was made in a Youtuber’s basement.”

“Do you know why the camera’s so shaky? It’s because they don’t have good stuntmen and the fight choreography is ass, so the camera shakes around to mask that.”

“Okay! It doesn’t look great!” Mayu interrupted you two in an exasperated tone. “But this isn’t an action series! That’s not even the main theme!”

The two actors on scene stopped to face each other for a moment.

‘If you do this, Theo, you’ll lose her forever,’ the blonde one – the second male lead and second love interest – said.

‘This is beyond me. It’s beyond you. It’s beyond Sabrina,’ the brunette one – the male lead, main love interest and hottest one – said.

Gojo chuckled. Mayu side eyed him furiously. “Okay, okay. I’m not gonna say anything.”

They attacked each other, but the scene transitioned back to the protagonist. ‘Michael!’, she called. ‘Michael, where are you?! Answer me!’

“Yes, dumbass. Scream louder so they can find your brother first.” You muttered.

“Shhh!!” Mayu hissed.

“Why is she after her brother?” Gojo asked.

“Shhhhh!!!” Mayu hissed more aggressively.

‘Sabrina!’

The protagonist’s brother appeared conveniently when they reached a clearing. She ran and hugged him. ‘I have it all figured out,’ Sabrina said. ‘We’ll get you out of here.’

‘Sabrina, you’re ruining your life for me.’

‘You’re my brother. I’ll go to the ends of the Earth for you.’

They hugged again.

‘Michael. It’s over for you.’

A super zoom focused on Sabrina’s shocked face. She turned around to see Theo – the hottest – standing near the clearing, holding a fancy silver pistol.

He aimed at Michael. Sabrina stood in front of her brother with her arms opened.

‘No!!’

Mayu was actually holding her breath.

The scene cut to the secondary cast in a different location doing different things.

“Why does he want to kill her brother?” Gojo asked. Why he was so interested in the series was a mystery.

“You shouldn’t have asked…” you shivered, bracing yourself for Mayu’s lecturing.

Mayu turned her body in his direction slightly.

“So – her brother is a transformed vampire, right? They can’t control their lust for human blood unless they’re wearing a blood ring. But Antonia hid his blood ring during a full moon, so Michael couldn’t control his thirst and ended up killing humans.”

“Who’s Antonia?” It was a bit amazing how he could even understand Mayu’s fast speech.

“The nastiest bitch in the series! She hates Sabrina ‘cause Theo loves her! So Antonia did that to hurt Sabrina. Theo is the vampire prince, he’s a pure blood, and according to the blood court, any vampire that kills a human must be executed…”

“...And he has to kill his girlfriend’s brother now.”

“Exactly!”

“Hmmm.” Gojo nodded slowly with his mouth full of popcorn. “Now I get the drama.”

The secondary plot was over. The scene came back to Sabrina. Mayu sat on the edge of the couch, eyes widened, as if she was about to get shot.

‘Theo, please… you have to believe in me. Michael is innocent!’ Sabrina cried. Tears ran down her cheeks. She was squeezing her face so much to get some emotion out, she could very well be a lemon.

‘I saw it with my own eyes, Sabrina. Michael murdered innocents.’

Gojo chuckled that quiet disdainful chuckle again. “School theater levels of acting.”

Gojo ate popcorn. You ate popcorn.

“Mind you– these characters are supposed to be teenagers.” 

He giggled. “That guy looks like he’s been through divorce twice.”

“Right? No teenager is this hot.”

Gojo huffed cockily. “Talk for yourself. I was always this hot.”

“Can you two shut up?!” Mayu looked on the verge of a panic attack.

Gojo ate popcorn. You ate popcorn.

They still argued. And cried. And squeezed their faces to show some emotion.

“He’s not gonna do it.” You said quietly. “The writers aren’t this brave. He’s gonna let her brother go because he loves her too much… or whatever.”

Gojo thought for two seconds. “I think he’s gonna end up shooting her by mistake. Then the next season will be him finding a way to resurrect her.”

“I don’t think the writers are smart enough to add this, either.”

Mayu slapped your thigh angrily. 

You looked at the screen.

Theo closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he looked determined.

Mayu held her breath.

I was almost kidnapped, you thought. I was in the middle of a shooting, of a massive car wreck, a man sliced a car in half behind me, Ijichi and Fushiguro could’ve died… and now I’m watching the season finale of a trashy teenage vampire series near my sister who’s oblivious to everything as if nothing happened.

Okay. Alright.

‘I am the Blade of the Blood Crown…” He lifted the silver pistol once more. ‘...and I will fulfill my duty.”

Sabrina yelled.

Slow motion.

The sound of a shot. 

You instinctively flinched. A shiver ran down your spine. Your heart beat faster – and that was the most emotion you felt since the incident. 

Gojo side eyed you.

Mayu got up in a jump.

“No!”

Michael gagged. A red stain grew slowly on the left side of his chest. He fell in slow mo. Sabrina ran to her brother in slow mo. She cradled his body in slow mo. The camera panned away from them while she cried in slow mo. A grave, melancholy tune played along with a last outstretched scream.

Black screen.

Ending credits.

“It ends like that?!” Mayu pointed to the TV in complete shock. “The season ends like that?!”

“Turns out the writers were brave enough to do it.” Gojo remarked.

“I can’t– I can’t believe this shit! Michael just fucking dies?!” Mayu immediately grabbed her phone. You saw a glimpse of the screen: #BloodMoonSeasonFinale was trending on Twitter. MICHAEL, THEO and WHAT THE FUCK were all trending, too.

Mayu stomped out of the living room while typing furiously.

You didn’t move. Gojo didn’t move. There was a bowl of popcorn between you now.

Gojo ate more popcorn.

“Well. It’s camp.” He shrugged. 

“Yeah.”

Silence.

More commercials. You stared at the TV blankly. A shooting, you thought again. A car crash. That man almost got me.

You took a little bit of popcorn. A particularly hard corn kernel hurt your teeth. You made a grimace.

A shooting. A car crash.

Fushiguro stayed behind to protect me. The fourteen year old. That talk from earlier today makes me feel pathetic now. 

Gojo ate more popcorn. 

You side eyed him again. He was so okay. Too okay. Why was everyone so okay? Why wasn’t anyone as shocked as you were? Is this really how life went for jujutsu sorcerers? 

He suddenly went huuuuuuuh with a very interested expression. You focused on the TV again. 

‘The answer mankind yet has to answer is, are we really alone in the Universe? Some people are sure that we are not. Today, we’ll dive deep into one of the most mysterious and highly documented cases of UFO activity ever registered. Our investigation takes place in a small, peaceful city in Minas Gerais, Brazil, that became the stage of the biggest enigma in UFO history overnight…’

“Do you believe in aliens?” He asked out of the blue.

You frowned. A shooting. A car crash. He’s asking me about aliens now.

You ate more popcorn.

“I don’t know.” It’s not that you didn’t have an opinion about that, but your brain couldn’t take this kind of conversation at the moment.

“Well, I believe there are aliens.” Funny how he kept talking as if you had asked. “When you look at the size of the Universe, there’s no way there’s nothing else out there.”

“Hmm.”

Popcorn.

Your hands reached for the bowl at the same time.

Your fingers brushed his.

It happened again.

The way he almost flinched. The way his fingers twitched a bit. He played it off cool now, though.

Gojo ate more popcorn. You ate more popcorn.

Oh.

Oooooh.

Now it makes sense.

So… Gojo was untouchable, as far as you could understand. However, your technique could “nullify” his… which meant you could touch him whenever you wanted. 

He’s not used to that. 

You munched quietly. Your eyes were lazily locked on the TV while the documentary progressed, but your mind was elsewhere. Is this untouchable thing of his involuntary? Does he not have any control over it? Is it always “on”? What if it hurts whenever I touch him?

“So…”

Gojo spoke up for the first time in a while. You turned your head to look at him.

He had one of his arms lazily over the sofa back, legs crossed. His arm almost reached you, in fact, but you were still at a considerable distance. He caressed his own hair with the other hand.

You didn’t like his tone.

You didn’t like that face he was making, either.

“Yes?”

“That’s probably not the best time to tell you this, but uh…” Gojo pouted and tilted his head to the side. “About what I said last week. Someone to look into your head. Remember?”

Oh shit. You did not remember. “…Yeah.”

“I booked her for tomorrow. Your day off.” He tapped the couch uncomfortably. “But, you know, we could uh… we could choose another day. She’s gonna be pissed, but nothing that some extra won’t solve—“

“No.” You interrupted him. “It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

Gojo went silent for some seconds. He tilted his head to the side, watching you intently. Again, the fact that you couldn’t really see his eyes behind the dark shades made you nervous.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” His tone was a bit more serious. Lower. You’d like to think that’s how he showed worry.

You took the sake box once more and got up. “I’ll be.”

Being in his presence suddenly became overwhelming. The stupid alien documentary was irritating. You needed air. More specifically — you needed to smoke. So you quickly grabbed a spare pack you had hidden in the kitchen and walked to the back of the garden.

The night was fresh, almost cold. Even though there were a few lamps outside it was still a bit difficult to see. But it was alright. You didn’t really want to see anything.

You sat down near the trees. The grass was still wet. You didn’t mind.

It was so silent. Again, as the walls were high and the trees were tall, it felt that the house was inside a bubble, a parallel world – one that was peaceful and eerie at the same time. 

I should text Ijichi, you thought. I should ask if he’s okay. I should thank him appropriately.

Right.

You took the phone from the back pocket again – but something else caught your attention, something that startled the hell out of you first.

A pair of yellowish eyes in the dark.

But then you blinked a few times and understood what it was. 

“It’s you.” You whispered. 

Fushiguro’s white wolfdog from before… he was sitting there a few meters away in between the trees. You remembered how the dog escorted you… how it launched itself against the attacker, giving you a few seconds to dial Gojo’s number…

“Thank you.” You didn’t know if that thing had a consciousness at all, but it felt appropriate to thank it.

The dog watched you for a few more seconds.

Then it started to approach.

And your heart was shattered in a million pieces.

It was limping.

Its left paw– it couldn’t touch the floor. The dog made its way slowly. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. The dog got hurt protecting me. 

You suddenly remembered Fushiguro’s request from before– “Wait!”

It definitely was intelligent, because it stopped on its tracks before it could get too close.

“I’m sorry, I– I can’t touch you,” you gulped. “It’s dangerous.”

The white dog kept watching you with attention. He wanted pets. The dog wanted pets, and it got hurt because of you, and you couldn’t pet the damn dog because your technique was Extinguishment, and it wasn’t even a real dog – it was a thing made of something Fushiguro didn’t bother explaining, so if you touched it it could simply die.

You looked down, feeling the lump in your throat get worse. You took the lighter. You took the pack. The pack was empty. Not even a fucking cigarette inside– but you were sure there was at least a last cigarette inside, why the fuck did you keep an empty pack in the drawer? And you gulped, and you looked down at the phone, and you opened Ijichi’s contact to text him but half the fucking keyboard wouldn’t work because the screen was shattered and you didn’t have enough credit to buy a new one right away, and there wasn’t a cigarette in the pack, and you slammed the screen with your thumbs angrily trying to write a simple sentence but it didn’t work, and the dog was beside you and the dog got hurt because of you and you wanted to pet the fucking dog–

You hid your face on your knees and sobbed.

You hated crying. You hated it. But it was too much, too fucking much. Fushiguro was acting like nothing happened, Gojo was acting like nothing happened and you had to act like nothing happened for Mayu’s sake. There was no one you could open up to; Fushiguro was a kid and you weren’t that intimate with Gojo… not to mention he’d already been doing too much for you.

This is what everyday life is to them. They’d think I’m being childish for crying. Maybe I am childish.

You sniffed, tried your best to muffle the sobs, hoped no one would hear you or bother you. You stayed there until the tears went away and your legs started to hurt. The white dog didn’t move, either. As silly as it was, you felt that he was offering some emotional support.

When there were no more tears, you took a deep breath and ran to your bedroom to not have to face anyone.

Tomorrow wouldn’t be easy.

But you told Gojo you’d be fine – so you would be fine.

The red tape in Jujutsu High was ridiculous.

They hadn’t asked for your ID before. They did now. Then the receptionist filled a register with your full address, professional occupation, if you had a car license–

“I was literally here yesterday. Is this all necessary?”

“I don’t make the rules, ma’am.” She shrugged. The woman really did not give a damn. “Now– I’ll have to take a picture of you…”

After twenty minutes, she finally gave you an “AUTHORIZED VISITOR” badge that you had to clip on your shirt.

Gojo was unfazed as usual. He got up from the couch and guided you out of the reception hall.

You pointed at the badge angrily. “What the hell was all that for?”

He chuckled. “You’re not a sorcerer, sweetheart. You don’t get a free pass whenever you want.”

“But I’ve been here before!”

“On emergencial circumstances.” He shrugged. “Yaga’s pretty strict about this… and I can’t always ignore the rules, unfortunately.”

The weather was really nice. Yesterday’s storm brought humidity to the air, so it wasn’t super dry anymore, even though it was still hot – thus why you decided to wear a simple tank top with the jeans. Gojo on the other hand was wearing the damn jacket and blindfold as usual. How he dealt with the heat was a mystery, especially because wherever he was talking you was a ten minute walk away from the reception hall. The campus was ridiculously huge… and, as always, empty.

“So… who’s the person that’ll look into my head or whatever that means?” you asked. 

“Hah, you’ll love her! Her name’s Aoyagi Tomiko. She worked as an interrogator for ages before retiring.”

Your stomach twirled. “I’m gonna be interrogated?”

“Not in the ways that you think.” Gojo tilted his head to the side. “And I kinda already warned that the process wouldn’t be nice.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m not complaining.”

“Good! ‘Cause there’s no turning back now.”

Finally, a different building appeared ahead… a simpler one. It didn’t share the impressive traditional architecture from the rest of the school: it looked like a block of concrete almost at the borders of the campus. Also looked abandoned.

An old lady waited outside.

She was tiny. Stood with the help of a cane. She held a pipe lazily at the corner of her lips and wore round glasses. For a second, you felt a shiver – your grandmother had traumatized you from old ladies – but there was a stark difference between Nobuko and her, starting from the attire. Nobuko always wore a plain kimono, while this lady wore brown caqui pants, a colorful patterned haori and a necklace of red beads. Hoop earrings adorned her face. She also had many rings on her fingers and a pretty lilac themed hairpin held her bun. She had a serious – pissed – expression that immediately told you she was no sweet lady.

She looks cool as fuck was your immediate thought.

Aoyagi emitted a sound similar to a groan.

“Aren’t you embarrassed to make an old lady wait?” Oh she was pissed. Her voice was deep and hoarse. 

Gojo held his hands up as if surrendering. “Not my fault this time! Blame Yaga’s stupid bureaucracy!” 

“You already know they’re bureaucratic. You should’ve arrived earlier. I was stuck in the airport for hours but still came on time, know what? ‘Cause I have manners.” She beat the cane on the floor twice to emphasize her displeasure. “This new generation of yours got no manners.”

“Geez! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!”

“‘Course I did. I fucking hate this city and this school.”

“But you do love money.”

“Hmpf. Obviously. Who doesn’t? Now let’s get this over with. My plane back to Okinawa takes off at five.”

The woman finally laid eyes on you with a lot of scrutiny. She quirked one eyebrow. “So you’re the Hosokawa girl.”

“Call me Mori, please.” You bowed respectfully. “Nice to meet you.”

She eyed Gojo with a smug expression. “Now that’s how you greet an elder.” Gojo shrugged with disdain. “Aoyagi Tomiko. Let’s go.”

Aoyagi opened the steel door behind her. It made so much noise that it became clear how rusty it was, making you think the place was abandoned once more. The old lady turned on the lights – and to your surprise, the door led to stairs that went down. That place was a bunker?

Aoyagi was leading the way and, as expected of a 75 year old, going downstairs was a difficult task. You and Gojo followed her slow pace.

“When I heard there was someone new with Extinguishment around, I thought, shit. That hag’s gonna raise hell in the Council because of it.” Aoyagi didn’t even need to specify who was the hag – obviously, your grandmother. “But I see you refuse to go by their name like your mother. Good.”

“Did you know my mother?”

“Of course I knew her.” Aoyagi’s tone became more serious. Sad, even. “Kimiko was a good sorcerer. Such a pity that she retired so early. It’s always sad to see a woman walk away from jujutsu.”

You frowned. “But you just said you like that I don’t go by the Hosokawa name.”

“Disowning your family is one thing. Retiring from jujutsu is something entirely different. We never have enough active sorcerers, let alone women sorcerers. I’ll always regret seeing a woman go.” She looked at you over her shoulder for a moment. “You, for example.”

You quirked one eyebrow. “I was never a sorcerer.”

“Exactly.” Aoyagi huffed. “A technique like yours is rare. Useful. Shouldn’t be in the hands of someone that won’t do anything with it.” Finally, she reached the last step and turned the lights on. “You should’ve been educated here from a young age, not letting all this talent go to waste.”

You tightened your eyes. “That’s not really any of your business, though.”

Aoyagi smirked. “Fair.” She tilted her head to the sides. “Well, you’d probably already be dead. None of the people I grew up with are alive. I just got this old ‘cause my technique isn’t used in combat.”

You let yourself analyze the room… but there wasn’t really anything to see. The place did resemble a bunker as the walls and floor were pure concrete; there were no walls (duh) which made you feel a bit claustrophobic. There was an old couch in the corner, a steel table with two chairs in the middle and a simple rack with a TV. A tube TV… and an old Panasonic VCR. You were a kid the last time you’d seen one of those.

“Sit down.” Aoyagi pointed to one of the chairs. You obeyed, feeling progressively more nervous.

Gojo sat on the table and crossed his arms. It was weird to have both the blindfolded guy and the old lady looking down on you. 

“So, Mori-chan, I’ll have to knock you out.”

You didn’t know what took you off the most – the Mori-chan (he usually called you a sarcastic sweetheart or just Mori, never chan) or the following part.

“Huh?”

“You didn’t explain anything to her?” Aoyagi side eyed him with disgust.

“I’ll do it right now!” He focused on you again. “Remember when I said the property of your cursed energy is a nullifier?”

“...Yes.”

“That means techniques like Aoyagi’s won’t work on you properly unless you’re unconscious. So I’ll have to put you to sleep for a while. Capisce?”

“You’re gonna punch me in the face or something?”

“No!” Gojo giggled. “Of course not. I’d never hurt a pretty face like that. Relax.”

You deliberately decided to ignore that last sentence for your sanity’s sake.

Aoyagi let go of her cane and crossed her arms. Her expression was serious and focused.

“I’m going to look into your memories. It won’t be comfortable. It will hurt. But even so, don’t resist my technique. It’s a mind’s natural mechanism to resist me, even asleep. Yet, the more you resist me, the worse it’ll be, so don’t resist my technique. Did I make myself clear?”

Shit shit shit. I’m getting scared. But Gojo was right – it’s too late to turn back now, and he gave me a chance to say no yesterday.

You nodded. “I understand.”

“Good. Now tell me. What is the exact date of your mother’s death?”

You instinctively tightened your hands. You gulped. Your heartbeat increased.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

“...July 17th, 2007.”

Aoyagi nodded and stepped back for a moment.

Before you could say anything, Gojo’s hand got closer to your head.

“See you in a while.” 

His pointer finger touched your forehead–

Darkness.

From the many techniques Satoru had witnessed in his lifetime, Aoyagi’s was one of the most fascinating ones. He’d seen her in action just a few times before her retirement. This was a golden opportunity to sit down and watch.

So as soon as Mori blacked out, he did just that. Sat on the couch and watched.

Aoyagi made a few handsigns. Her face was set to stone, hardened by concentration. He saw the flow of cursed energy within her condense, take a new direction, change colors – from blue lines to purple lines – as she proceeded with the incantation. Mori’s cursed energy lines, on the other hand, were inert. They weren’t bubbling within her, fighting back any other energy as they usually would. As always, Satoru’s assumption was right. The hag wouldn’t be able to access Mori if she was awake. 

Aoyagi’s curse energy levels peaked. Satoru tightened his eyes a bit, anxious to see the most interesting part of her technique.

The old lady put her right palm over Mori’s chest. The area around it started to glow in purple eerily. Slowly, she retracted her hand – and following the movement, something materialized there, as if she was pulling it out of Mori’s chest.

A simple black VHS tape.

Aoyagi took the tape in her hand and sighed heavily. 

Satoru whistled. “Grandma still got it.”

“Shut the hell up, boy.” She groaned in response, making him giggle. He was impressed, however. Aoyagi’s technique demanded a delicate mastery of curse energy control, and the fact that she could still perform it at such an advanced age without passing out was admirable. 

She analyzed the tape in her hand. Satoru had seen what it looked like when someone resisted her power (most would resist, as they were being interrogated against their will): the tape would come out burnt, damaged. Mori’s was in perfect condition.

The old lady turned the TV and the VCR on. The buzz sounds they made and the clack of buttons was a bit nostalgic.

“Seriously though– a VHS? These things have been outdated for, like, twenty years.” Satoru said as he sat more comfortably, resting his arm over the back of the couch. “You ever heard of a DVD, granny? A Blu-Ray?”

“I’ve been in the business since before you were in your daddy’s ballsack, brat. This is how I like to work and this is how I’ll keep working.” She put the tape inside the VCR and stepped back. “Now be quiet.”

The TV went from static to a blue screen.

Right in the center of it, something simple was written.

17 JUL 2007

► PLAY    ⏮ REWIND 

Aoyagi pressed play on the remote.

Static.

The tape started to roll.

Satoru decided to actually be silent for once.

The video was grainy and a bit glitchy at times. Funnily enough, it did look like a memory. It took him a moment to understand that the video was in the first person POV. Obviously. A memory can’t be seen from outside the body, only through the person’s eyes.

At the left bottom corner, just above the date, the hour appeared: 07:12 A.M. The moment Mori opened her eyes on her bed.

Aoyagi leaned on the steel table. She pressed ⏭. The video advanced at a fast speed with super high pitched sounds and glitchy effects. The hour at the bottom advanced as well.

“We don’t need to watch her get changed or use the bathroom.” The hag had the audacity to send him a disgusted side eye. Satoru felt actually offended.

“I’m not a pervert, granny.”

“All men are perverts.”

She pressed ► again, and the video went back to its original speed. Mori was at the kitchen table taking a piece of bread. Satoru giggled to himself. “Looks like the most uninteresting 1st person game ever.”

Something ran beside her. She took a while to look down, but then she did and Satoru quieted down. A toddler. Shouldn’t be more than four. 

Mayu.

She wore pink overalls and had her hair tied in pigtails, which was funny, because she didn’t have a lot of hair. Her cheeks were dirty with chocolate. Mori told her something in a language he didn’t understand. 

Aoyagi pressed ⏭ again. 

Video sped up. Glitchy screen. High pitched sounds.

“At what time did her mother die?” Aoyagi asked. 

“The accident happened at around 4PM, but she wasn’t too sure.” Satoru could have asked more, but he didn’t want to push her. Especially if there was the danger of her simply giving up in participating in the interrogation.

The old lady pressed ► when the clock on the screen showed exactly 4PM. 

She was in a completely different environment, and it was only comprehensible when she looked up: a department store. Mori’s voice was very clear now. She talked and laughed with people wearing blue polo shirts – a uniform – once again, in a foreign language.

“Turn the subtitles on, granny!” He joked.

“Shhh.”

Aoyagi advanced the video again, but just for a few seconds. Mori was inside the bathroom now with a flip phone between her shoulder and her ear while looking at the mirror.

A tiny smile unconsciously made its way to his lips.

This teenage version of her was funny to look at. She was in that strange middle point in life between looking like a kid and an adult. Her hair was tied in a ponytail; she wore the same blue polo as the others. It was July, during school break; she had a temporary job. There was a mark on the right side of her forehead that clearly indicated she tried to pop a pimple. Her hands were busy searching for something in her bag.

But the main difference between the Mori from now and the teenage girl on the screen was her eyes. They carried that naivety from youth, that special glow that is impossible to retrieve later in life. A glow he saw on himself in the rare times he revisited pictures from his own youth.

To know Satoru would witness the events that took that glow away from her in the following minutes made a strange feeling settle in his stomach.

“Can you come pick me up?” Now that she finally said something he could comprehend, Satoru noticed how her voice also sounded different. More high pitched. A girl. “Yeah, but dad said he’s busy at the hospital. He can’t come.” She pouted. “Mom, it’s raining. Pleeeeease!” After a few seconds, she smiled. “Thank you! I get off at–”

Aoyagi advanced the video before she could finish.

The scene changed. Mori was running in a parking lot. Heavy rain fell over her. She reached a silver car and hopped inside.

“What did I tell you about bringing an umbrella?”

Mori looked at her mother.

Kimiko was an attractive woman. Her hair was short; she wore a simple beige sweatshirt and glasses. She had soft smile wrinkles on the corners of her eyes.

The feeling in his stomach got worse.

Mori looked at the backseats. The baby chair was empty. “Mayu?”

“Left her with her aunt for a while. She was crying too much.”

Mori started babbling something about the plastic bags she had over her lap. Makeup packages. It was in that foreign language again. Though Satoru couldn’t understand a word, he noticed how it sounded much more fluid and natural coming from Mori’s tongue; Kimiko replied with a strong accent. 

The whole scene was so casual. Heartwarming, even.

The strange feeling in Satoru’s stomach got worse.

“We should speak more Japanese around Mayu-chan.” Kimiko said all of sudden. “She’s already starting to forget words. What if she gets an accent?”

“Ew!” Mori giggled. “Aunt Junko would kill us!”

Kimiko shook her head. “Can’t let her forget her roots.”

The car was silent for two seconds.

“You know what wouldn’t let her forget her roots?” There was something acid about Mori’s tone. Something Satoru was quickly getting used to. “Actually going back to Japan.”

Satoru went really, really quiet.

Her mother sighed a deep tired mother’s sigh.

“Mori…”

“You know I’m right.”

“We already had this conversation a thousand times.”

“And I still don’t get why we can’t go back!” Both of them became exasperated pretty quickly. “I’m not talking about moving back forever, but– a week? A week wouldn’t kill! It’s been six years since I last saw Aunt Junko.”

Her mother’s expression now was serious, set to stone, and equally irritated. “You know how things are with your grandmother.”

“For frick’s sake, millions of people live in Kyoto. It’s not like we’ll bump into her at all.”

Kimiko sighed again. “It’s not that easy.”

And unfortunately, Satoru knew it wouldn’t be that easy. He knew the Hosokawa house would know about their arrival immediately. Kimiko understood that.

But why couldn’t she make her daughter understand?

For some seconds, the only audible thing was the incessant pitter patter of rain against the car. 

Oh shit.

Yesterday was raining too, right? And the curse users crashed against the car Mori was in. 

So that’s why she was so shocked. PTSD?

He felt a bit bad. Just a bit.

But something flashed on the screen and Satoru straightened his back. “Hey! Time jumped, didn’t it?”

The clock went from 4:47 PM to 4:49 PM really fast. Two minutes in seconds? Aoyagi hadn’t pressed advance.

“Shhh!” The old lady said anyway, ignoring him.

Mori was babbling something about the makeup on her lap again. She and her mother giggled–

STATIC.

The screen glitched. For seconds that felt eternal, the buzz of static filled the interrogation room.

Satoru was about to ask what happened.

Blue screen.

A new date at the center.

19 JUL 2007

The scene rolled.

Mori sitting, looking down to her lap. She wore a black dress. Her right arm was in a cast.

Sounds were distant. Confusing.

She looked up slowly.

It was a large room. Chairs. Men in black suits, women in black dresses. Low voices. Someone was weeping. 

The sound of her breathing became louder.

Mori looked to her right. There was a woman crouched down to her level. She had a worried expression; her voice was calming. She caressed Mori’s arm. The woman had been crying. Another woman approached, sat by her side, caressed her back, tried to offer a cup of water.

“What…?” She muttered. “What happened?”

Her breathing got louder. She looked around more frenetically. The women tried to calm her.

“Mom?”

Mori’s eyes finally focused on the casket ahead.

Blue screen.

17 JUL 2007

► PLAY    ⏮ REWIND

Neither Satoru or Aoyagi moved for long seconds.

The old woman was the first one to recover. She approached the VCR once more.

“Did you see that? How the minutes jumped?” He got up again. Satoru didn’t have it in him to crack any jokes at the moment. 

“Yeah.” She took the tape out and placed it over the table. He approached to see what the woman was about to do. 

With much care, Aoyagi slowly pulled the film out of the cassette. She brought it closer to her eyes and hummed.

“I knew it.”

“What?”

“When someone has amnesia… suffered memory loss for whatever reason, the film looks patched and damaged. That’s a reflection of how the brain was affected. But look at this.” Aoyagi picked a specific part of the film and brought it closer to Satoru’s eyes; even so, he had to lean down to look closely. “Here. And here.” She showed two more points. “This looks cleanly cut and attached together. This isn’t natural.”

Aoyagi put the tape on the table again and crossed her arms.

“This girl’s memory was erased.”

Shit.

It’s not like the thought didn’t cross Satoru’s mind, but the confirmation of it just raised more questions than answers. 

Who erased her mind? Why did they do it? Did it have any connection to the reason why her powers awakened out of sudden? How was it tied to her mother’s death? Did it have anything to do with the people after her?

What if there was a single person behind all this?

Satoru had an assumption that the answers to all these questions were inside Mori’s brain. Whatever happened between the accident and the funeral… that blank space in her mind had all the answers they needed.

And his assumptions were never wrong.

He crossed his arms. “Can you retrieve these memories, granny?”

The lady tapped her finger on the table. “Hm… it’ll be difficult. Those memories are ten years old. The older a lost memory is, the harder it is to retrieve it… not to mention they were erased with intent, so it might be impossible to get them back.”

He tsked and smirked. “But you’ve been a sorcerer since before I was in my dad’s ballsack, right? I’m sure you’ve dealt with worse.”

“Yes.” Aoyagi looked up at him. “But it’ll cost you. A lot. I won’t get involved in sorcery like that for free.”

“Just fill the check, sweetheart. Money ain’t a problem here.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear.” The smile she opened was a bit scary. Is she related to Mei Mei?

“I…”

Both Satoru and Aoyagi looked back.

Mori was awake.

She hadn’t moved from the chair. Her eyes were glued to the table blankly. She looked… disoriented. In shock. Worse than yesterday.

“Do you still need me for anything?” Her voice was painfully quiet in a way he hadn’t heard before.

Incredibly, Aoyagi’s gaze softened a bit – which seemed to be something impossible to witness.

“No. I already took what I needed.”

“Okay. So I’ll…” she gulped. “I need to smoke.”

Mori got up from the chair. Didn’t look at anyone. Went upstairs in silence.

For the second time that day, Satoru felt a tiny bit bad.

He ignored it, of course.

You should’ve said no.

Yesterday. He gave you a chance to say no. He said he could book Aoyagi for another day. You tried to be tough. You thought whatever was going to happen couldn’t be that bad.

You were wrong.

Your mind hurt. Not your head, your mind — in a way so bizarre that you couldn’t really describe it. You felt when Aoyagi pushed herself into you. You felt her hand (not a physical one— a metaphorical one; you couldn’t even explain with words how that felt) touching your mind, looking into your memories, and you wanted to push her away. You wanted to resist, because whatever she was doing was unnatural. It felt as if you were naked in front of a judging crowd .That woman could see things about you that you barely revisited. That you were ashamed of. 

Even so, the drop of sanity held you back. Don’t resist.

You didn’t fight back.

And then came the worst part.

Having an intruder in your mind was agonizing. 

Hearing your mother’s voice so clearly after ten years was so, so much worse.

You weren’t expecting it’d be like that. You didn’t know that retrieving the memories meant it’d feel like you were going through that again. In one second you were inside a basement with Gojo and Aoyagi; the next second you were sixteen again, leaving your part-time job, excited that you bought a new eyeshadow palette for only ten bucks, embarrassed because the pimple on your forehead was so big, hungry because your lunch was just two onigiri that mom had prepared—

You had to crouch down because you couldn’t breathe.

You even remembered mom’s number. 

Your legs had no strength. Even so, you walked away from the basement; you couldn’t stand the idea of facing anyone in this state. You kind of remembered the route from the first time you’d been on campus. Minutes of frantic walking led you to the same old shrine relatively far away from everything else. 

The railing. The hill. The forest ahead. The sun.

You froze there.

It would be appropriate to cry. Part of you was holding back tears. But your state was so bad that the tears simply did not come. Rendered you empty.

Maybe because you’d already cried so much for mom.

You cried and cried and cried. You screamed for her. You felt as if your heart had been ripped off your chest, as if the most important part of you had died.

But whenever you cried, Mayu cried, too.

Because Mayu was four when mom died.

You lost your mother. She lost her mommy. 

And she kept asking where mommy was. She waited sitting by the front door, thinking mommy would come anytime. She cried at night and crawled up your bed because she missed mommy.

You understood right then and right there that you wouldn’t have time to mourn, because someone so much more fragile than you was suffering.

You understood right then and right there, too, that you had lost your mother; dad had lost his soulmate. He couldn’t properly function for months. He stopped taking care of himself, of his career, of his house, and consequently of you, too. He was numb, and lonely, and nothing no one ever did could ease his pain.

Someone had to get up and do something. So you got up and did something.

Mom wasn’t there for your graduation in high school. She wasn’t there for you to confess that you had lost your virginity. She wasn’t there to celebrate when you got accepted in med school, to comfort you when you went through your first serious breakup, to take pictures of Mayu in her uniform when she started elementary school. She wasn’t there to witness dad receive an honorary award for his career. She wasn’t there when Mayu got her first period. She wasn’t there to help you take care of dad when he got sick. 

You missed her through all of these events. But if you broke, you wouldn’t function. The family wouldn’t function. Mayu was so young; she needed security and stability more than anyone else. For a while, dad helped, too, and you made a great team – but then, suddenly, he became the one that needed help the most. You had to be standing. It had to be you, you, you.

Mom wasn't there to support you anymore.

She hadn’t been around for ten years. 

Of course you still missed her. It’s not possible to get over a death; you just get used to it. You were used to it. You could talk about her now without feeling a lump in your throat. You, in fact, talked about mom with Mayu a lot to keep her alive in Mayu’s mind. Now, when you thought of her, memories of good things came instead of the pain of missing her. 

You were used to it.

But that interrogation – to relive the last moments you had with her; the sound of her voice, the smell of her vanilla hand lotion, the way her car was always a mess, how she drummed her fingers on the wheel or how her voice was a bit hoarse because she’d been a bit sick the last few days; the fact that you argued with her right before she died–

Reliving all that felt like someone pierced a dagger in an old wound. A messier wound this time. Made it bleed and bleed and bleed in a way it hadn’t bled in years.

God.

Your fingers were shaking. You dropped the first cigarette; it fell over the railing down the hill. You took another one. Couldn’t really use the lighter because your thumb was still shaking. You don’t know how long it took to finally light up a single goddamn cigarette.

You stayed there.

Thank God this school is always empty.

One, two, three — you smoked one after the other. The effect nicotine had in your brain was ridiculous. You could imagine the dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine being released in your system, making your heartbeat decrease to a normal rate and your limbs stop shaking. Dad would kill me if he knew how much I smoke. He’d be so disappointed. But at that moment, it didn’t matter. Anything to make you work with some level of sanity. Anything.

I need to work. Mayu depends on me.

I can’t break.

You kept repeating these words like a mantra until they started to make sense. A tourniquet to stanch the mass bleeding. Mayu was the tourniquet. She had always been. 

That is why, when Gojo finally approached in silence after God knows how long, you were feeling like yourself again.

You had your forearms leaning on the railing, the last cigarette of the pack between your index and middle finger. He stood by your left side, copying your position. There was still a very conscious space between you two.

Silence.

“Before you hit me with the oh my God, Gojo, you’re so cruel and insensitive, how did you let that happen to me?...” Holy fuck, you hated how his stupid high pitched impression of your voice made you giggle. You hid your face in your palm like the damn fool you were. “...I warned ya.”

He broke the ice. Simple like that.

You sighed and rubbed your eye with your free hand. “I’m not mad at you.” 

Gojo sighed in relief dramatically and had the audacity to grin. “Really? That’s great! Not nice to have bad blood while living under the same roof, y’know?”

It doesn’t even feel like we live under the same roof, a less important part of your brain noted. You’re never home.

But there wasn’t time to talk about something so trivial.

You need to work. You can’t break.

You took one more drag of the cigarette before starting.

“Whenever I come here, I meet someone that knew my mother.” Your voice was quiet. The breeze almost carried it away. It made Gojo quiet down, too. “Feels like everybody knew she was a sorcerer except for me.”

Another beat of silence. Surprisingly, Gojo didn’t have anything witty to say.

You gulped before continuing.

“Why didn’t she tell me anything?” You didn’t like how your voice sounded. Fragile. You didn’t want to look hopeless in front of him – and you didn’t feel comfortable enough to vent, either. But what other person could you talk to? Who could even begin to comprehend the situation you were in?

Gojo’s expression was serious. Once more, you caught yourself wishing he wasn’t wearing the blindfold. So much of human emotion is in the eyes. Whenever he wore the blindfold, it felt hard to approach him. The breeze played with his hair softly. 

“I bet she was trying to protect you.” It was rare to see him talking like that. Despite the seriousness, his voice was still somehow soft. “...A sorcerer’s life ain’t easy. Especially for women. And, well, you already know how your grandmother is. Maybe she didn’t want you to suffer.”

You weren’t expecting him to say something rational.

You looked down. Tapped your feet on the floor nervously.

“Was that even a good choice, though?” That sentence was spoken so quietly because it was more a thought that you voiced than something you wanted to discuss.

To your surprise, Gojo had something to say.

“Probably not. But that felt more like a mother caring for her kid. And that’s uncommon in the jujutsu world.”

There was… something in the way he said that.

Something you wouldn’t bring up.

It felt a bit personal. It felt a bit bitter.

Gojo looked down for a moment. 

“Well… this is coming ten years late.” His voice softened in a way you hadn’t heard before. He almost sounded sad. Almost. “But I’m sorry that your mother died. I mean it.”

You nodded and avoided his gaze.

More smoke. More breeze. More silence. Don’t break.

You gulped and blinked several times.

“So…” Your firm tone was clear: that topic of the conversation was over. “Can Aoyagi-san undo my amnesia or whatever?”

Gojo pouted. “She’ll work on it. It’s not guaranteed that she can, though. But I trust her. Granny’s still the best at what she does.”

More smoke. More breeze.

“How did she already know about me?”

“You’re her client. Duh.”

“That’s not what I mean. She said that she heard there was someone new with Extinguishment.”

Gojo pouted and hummed. “Let’s say… imagine a small city in the countryside where everybody knows each other, so when the mayor’s daughter gets pregnant at fifteen, everyone immediately knows?” He pointed a finger gun at you. “Jujutsu society is like the little city. And you’re the mayor’s daughter.”

His metaphor was so dumb but so accurate at the same time.

“So you’re all gossipers like that?”

He shrugged. “It’s a small community! And a boring one! Whenever someone new appears, everyone gets curious! And I already told you that, but your technique is super rare! Sorcerers go nuts over rare techniques.”

A shiver ran down your spine. Apparently, there was a whole community of people talking about you. If they were as friendly as your own relatives… Jesus.

You threw the cigarette butt on the floor and pressed your foot on it.

“So… if I’m the mayor’s daughter in this little city… who are you?”

The perfect opportunity to take the focus of the conversation off you. You needed it.

Gojo huffed cockily and crossed his arms.

“I’m the sheriff, of course.”

You quirked an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you were gonna say you were the mayor.”

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t wanna be the mayor. Though the majority of the city would want to vote for me in an election, of course, because I’m so cool and so hot.”

You drummed your fingertips on the steel railing. “But isn’t the mayor the most important person in town?”

“Is he?” Gojo rested his chin on his knuckles. 

“Well. He’s the one that makes the rules.”

“Nah. He follows the rules. He wants to be kept in power, so he pleases the bank owners without giving a damn about the civilians." A tiny smirk appeared on his lips. “The sheriff, though? He does what has to be done, even if it makes him unlikeable, for the town’s sake. And if he’s not there, bandits that live in the canyon nearby attack the city.” He shrugged. “And he walks around strapped and wears a cool hat.”

You chuckled. “When did this become a wild west movie?”

“It’s way cooler to think this way.”

You crossed your arms and tightened your eyes.

“The sheriff doesn’t really need a gun, though. Since he’s untouchable.”

That was where you wanted to get all along. 

Gojo pouted like a kid again. “Huh, I wasn’t imagining myself with Infinity in this scenario. I was just a really good gunman. Like The Man With No Name.”

“This thing of yours is called Infinity?” You gestured towards him rapidly.

“Yeah.”

“How does it work?”

Gojo tilted his head. “Why’d you wanna know? Are you planning to defeat me?”

“Well. I wouldn’t need to know to defeat you, ‘cause my technique nullifies yours.”

He slammed his fist on the railing and pouted like a kid. “Damn! I was outsmarted!”

You giggled and looked to the ground. “So?”

“Hm… you ever heard of the paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise?”

It was your turn to pout in a thoughtful expression. “...I’m trying to remember.”

“Welp. I thought a super smart doctor would know.”

“This is school level algebra. I don’t have eternal memory.” You spotted something on the floor and crouched down.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh! Wait, I remember. Achilles never reaches the tortoise, right? ‘Cause the tortoise has an infinite advantage… or something like that.” 

You got up with a handful of pebbles in hand.

Gojo watched you intently.

He rested his cheek on his palm. A lazy smile appeared on his lips.

He almost looked endeared.

You stepped back four times to create some distance. Chose a pebble and launched it at him.

The pebble stopped centimeters away from his face.

“Ooooh.” You approached two steps to see better. The tiny rock really was just hovering in the air as if something held it back. “So you’re the tortoise? Things don’t reach you because space around you keeps doubling itself infinitely?”

“Turns out you are smart.” 

“Super smart doctor, remember?” You stepped back and launched a pebble again. It stopped near his chest. “Can it block anything?”

“Pretty much.”

Another pebble. “Is it always on?”

“Yep.”

“Even when you sleep?” Another pebble.

“Uh-hum.”

“Wait.” You frowned. “This Infinity thing envelops your body, right?” He nodded. “So do you… like… hover over the mattress? Or any surface you touch?”

Gojo’s little smile widened to the point his dimple appeared. Ugh. “Infinity determines what is a threat or what isn’t. Whatever might cause me harm will be blocked.”

Another pebble. You missed this time; the thing flew past his ear by a long distance. “Sounds like a pain in the ass to do that all the time.”

“It used to be a pain in the ass, but now it’s automatic.” He poked his own head. “Because I’m that great.”

Another pebble. “Can it block bacteria?”

“Yes.”

You were impressed.

“Can it block viruses?”

“Yup.”

You were more impressed.

“So you just don’t get sick?”

“Haven’t had the flu in years.”

One more pebble. Launched more aggressively than the others. “That’s not fair.”

Gojo shrugged. “Not my fault that I was born this great.”

You remembered what Fushiguro said. There’s so many things he’s the only capable of doing in the whole world.

If he’s not there, bandits that live in the canyon nearby attack the city.

The safest place in the world is anywhere he’s at.

Slowly, day by day, you started to understand what they meant more and more.

It should be obvious; you’d seen Gojo warp space at will and fly, completely disregard physics. But you’d seen a guy slash a car in the middle, too. Fushiguro could summon magic animals. There were ways to make someone spontaneously combust with curtains and heal with their bare hands. So, given all that you’d witnessed, it was difficult to understand what made Gojo so special among these aberrations.

Turns out – if he couldn’t even be touched by things as small as microorganisms, what type of attack would be effective against him?

You still didn’t understand a lot about jujutsu overall… but that meant he was essentially invincible.

“Will you stop throwing rocks at me now? Good aim, by the way.”

“Can it block UV light?”

Gojo pursed his lips. “I thought the interrogation was over.”

“I’m just thinking– you’d save a lot of money on sunscreen if it does, right?”

The pebbles that were hovering around him suddenly fell, as if what held them back ceased to exist. He chuckled. Hell, he did look endeared, and you didn’t know exactly why. Gojo liked being the center of attention… did he like that you were so interested in his technique?

“It blocks anything, sweetheart. Anything. Except…”

Gojo pointed his finger at you.

You dropped the last pebble on the floor and cleaned your hands on your pants before approaching.

Your index finger touched his. 

Like the E.T movie.

You didn’t feel anything special; it was just a fingertip against yours. A normal touch. Yet, after everything you’d discovered, this had a new meaning. 

Gojo had a weirdly serene lip tightened smile. Once again – you so wished he wasn’t wearing the blindfold. If you could look into his eyes, maybe you could interpret what that smile meant. 

“It’s funny, ‘cause…” He pressed his lips for a moment. You judged he was paying attention to both of your fingers. His voice got quieter. “I’m trying to fight your cursed energy back, but I just can’t.”

You remembered all the times he flinched away from your touch.

“...Does it hurt?” Your voice got quieter, too, matching his.

Gojo scrunched his nose. “Not really. But it feels weird.”

You looked at your fingers, too. Viruses couldn’t bypass his shield. You could.

“And I’m not even trying anything.” You shrugged and smirked. “Not my fault that I was born this great.”

It was his turn to chuckle at your poor impression of his voice.

You chuckled, too.

You felt your neck getting hot. 

The simple contact of your finger on his. The quieted down voices. How the breeze played with your hairs. How you stood somewhat close.

This felt intimate.

You stepped back and retracted your hand – and the moment went as quickly as it came. 

You looked ahead to the hill and tapped your fists on the railing in a rhythm.

“Well. I really am not trying to do anything. I… I should tell the guys after me that I don’t know how to use the technique, right? I’d be useless to them anyway.”

And yes, you remembered very well how Gojo said there were ways to steal or copy a technique, but you were trying desperately to shift the mood.

Gojo sighed. He turned around for the first time and leaned his back on the railing while crossing his arms. 

“Hm…” He held his chin. “Do you want me to be honest, or do you want me to be nice?”

You frowned. “Huh?”

“I’d rather know before continuing.” You still stared at him with confusion. “I’m trying to be considerate!”

“Be honest.”

“I agree with granny.” Gojo got just a little bit serious. “I think you should have received proper training. Your technique is way too valuable to not just be used. At least, you wouldn’t be in such a defenseless position.”

Shit. You knew he was right. 

Yesterday during the attack – all you could do was run away, letting yourself be guided by Ijichi because you wouldn’t be able to run on your own. You had to be scouted at all times… couldn’t go anywhere unattended… all because you couldn’t protect yourself at all. 

You sighed heavily.

“Yeah… maybe it would’ve made my life easier… if I was a student here.” You looked around for a moment before focusing on him again. “Did you study here?”

“Yep.”

You thought of how huge the campus was, all the impressive buildings, how the place felt so separate from reality. 

“I think I would’ve liked to study here.”

Gojo smiled again.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean– this place is awesome. Never seen anything like this in my life.”

He giggled. “You would’ve been my kouhai, y’know?”

You shivered. “I take it back– thank God I didn’t study here.”

Gojo gripped his jacket over his chest, faking pain. “What?! What do you mean by that?! I was a great senpai, you know! Ask Ijichi!”

“It’s because I know Ijichi-san that I can tell you were a horrible senpai.”

“So he’s been plotting against me behind my back? Traitor.”

“He’s not plotting anything, I just have a working pair of eyes.”

He pouted like a kid again. You giggled again. It was funny. Minutes ago, you were feeling the most agonizing emotional pain a person could feel; now, you were giggling and bantering with the blindfolded guy. Same as yesterday. TV watching after a shooting.

Your life didn’t make any goddamn sense anymore.

But this was nice. This was comfortable.

You could live with that.

A beat of silence.

The railing. The hill. The forest ahead. The sun. Him.

When he spoke again, Gojo’s voice was softer. Quieter.

“Yeah… it would’ve been real nice. If we’d been here together after all.”

You looked at him because, once again, you couldn’t really understand what he meant underneath. Why he sounded nostalgic of all things. What was under the blindfold, the real look in his eyes.

But then the world twirled.

You gripped the railing before you could fall.

You swiped the back of your hand on your nose. It came bloody.

Blood. Blood. Your nose was bleeding again.

“Mori?” Gojo’s voice was close, but suddenly sounded distant– 

Because, out of nowhere, you felt as if your skull was being slammed violently from all sides.

Gojo reaching for you was the last thing you saw before blacking out.

A/N: NOW THE FIC'S COVER FINALLY MAKES SENSE!!!

GOD!! Everything that happens in this chapter is one of the things I thought of before I even started to write this fic. I'm so happy that I finally typed everything out!!

I promised more plot and here it is!! We're slowly making our way in our investigation 🧐

Also-- this is CHAPTER SIX and we FINALLY got somewhat of a little chemistry there?? A little thing?? A little blushing and flustering??? HELLO?????

I'm gonna be like Gojo right now and remind y'all that I warned ya that we'd dig HEAVILY into grief with this fic. Literally one of the main themes because I just like writing about it. So like. Beware!

It's also been really fun to write MC's internal conflict. I am a younger sister myself, so it's been a nice study to imagine how an older sister in her situation would behave. Fellow older siblings, do tell me if things feel accurate up until now ☝️

AS USUAL!! Feedback is MUCH appreciated! Reading comments always make my day!!

Next chapter -- we'll finally see MC and Gojo hanging out in an environment that doesn't involve jujutsu?? Maybe?? I hope so??

You knew he wouldn’t sleep for long — he was never the type to waste time resting — but he had taken the night’s watch anyway, and that took a toll on him. Luffy yawned and told you ‘good night’ before disappearing inside the men’s room.

As if you’d be able to sleep.

Zoro was the first to wake up to switch places with Luffy. He scowled at the cold wind, sent you a surprised look that he tried to hide (had he forgotten about your presence?) and resigned himself to greeting you with a dry nod. The swordsman was clearly not interested in talking. His eyes were full of distrust; Zoro kept stealing glances whenever you moved, watching to see if you’d do anything suspicious. Honestly? From the whole crew, he was the most rational one. Your existence meant danger in ways you couldn’t quite hide. His gut wasn’t exactly incorrect. Perhaps Zoro had Observation Haki, even though he was still unaware of it? You were the same before grandfather started to teach you.

The second to wake up was Sanji. He smoked the first cigarette of the day, sent you a smile and a good morning (a very tired one; he still didn’t have the energy to spin around and shoot hearts in all directions, apparently) and disappeared inside the kitchen to prepare breakfast. You heard him growl “who the hell ate all the damn apples?!” two minutes after walking in. Sanji confronted Zoro about it, who went I didn’t eat your goddamn apples in response between gritted teeth. Sanji didn’t believe him. They argued. Their offenses were very creative. You heard things like pube brows and booger head back to back. (Something in you told you that Sanji already knew Luffy was responsible for eating all the apples, but he was looking for an excuse to start an argument. Oh well.)

The third person to wake up was Nami, who put an end to their fight real quick.

It seems no one in the crew was willing to disobey her, and you could see why. She was ferocious. There was a supernatural flame behind her eyes that shone brightly whenever she got too pissed. She also seemed to use her brain cells more effectively than 70% of the crew, which definitely granted her some respect.

That ferocity was not aimed at you, however, which was a bit surprising. Nami greeted you with a gentle smile and a bright good morning. Despite her complaints from past night, it looked like she had some good sleep: no bags under her eyes at all. She was also in a good mood while eyeing the Eternal Pose pointed towards Jaya.

“I got a feeling we’ll make it there before lunchtime,” she mumbled absently. The breeze was delicate on her copper locks. When sunlight hit her brown irises, they brightened up to be the same color of her hair.

“We got four or five more hours to go.”

Nami frowned. “How do you know?”

Oops.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

“I’ve been to Jaya before.” It was better than lying.

...Five years ago, maybe. The west side of Jaya, Mock Town, was a den of criminals. A lawless land. A target of yours was hidden there… some pirate you didn’t remember the name. Wasn’t that strong or that important. Anyway, you had taken this exact same route to get there.

“Really? Why didn’t you tell us before?”

“You didn’t ask.”

Nami shrugged. “Fair.” She leaned her elbow on the ship’s balustrade, resting her face on her knuckles, and tightened her eyes at you slightly. “So… this researcher job thing makes you travel a lot, I suppose?”

“Yeah.”

“It sounds fun.” She eyed your skirt once again. “And makes a lot of money, I figure.”

“It’s not fun. But… yes. It makes enough.”

Enough was an understatement. Scarpia Family’s safes were more packed than ever as the five of Drachen’s children were fully active, not to mention the associate assassins. Ariadne still had one year to go before she could take commissions on her own. For now, she was still only accompanying the twins and you occasionally.

There was a knot in your stomach.

It was the first time you even thought of Ariadne.

It had been three months since you last saw her. Busy with commissions, busy with training, and going from one extreme of the Grand Line to the other wasn’t exactly fast, even if you took unconventional routes. It’d been quite a while since you even left the New World in the first place… and to think years ago, you’d avoid being at Scarpia Island most of the time. Now, you didn’t really have a choice.

Not that you had any choice about anything. Ever.

Sanji called for breakfast and you were glad to march into the kitchen before Nami could ask more questions.

Freshly baked bread, corn porridge and coffee (hot cocoa for Chopper because he didn’t like coffee. You had no problem with coffee, but decided to drink some of the cocoa too for a change). It was delicious. Sanji kept whining about how he wanted to make a big apple pie but his plans were ruined thanks to someone. Everyone complimented the food. When questioned, Zoro groaned that it was alright. Sanji said he could have the barnacles from the hull for lunch. They argued. The rest ignored.

You remained mostly silent, leaving the kitchen as soon as you finished eating.

They were far from being aggressive or unfriendly with you (well, except for Zoro, even if he was passive aggressive about it). But when Luffy wasn’t there… you felt awkward. Like you stood out. Like you didn’t fit.

Well, it was understandable: they’d been sailing together for months already. Crossing the seas meant being stuck with the same group of people for days, sometimes weeks, without any other human contact. That could really form a bond. It should be nice, you supposed… whenever you crossed the seas, you were surrounded by voiceless butlers that couldn’t really interact with you. There were times when you’d sneak into random ships as well, but even so you’d rather not talk too much to not give a hint about your identity.

That put another sad perspective in front of you.

Even though you knew Luffy for years, they’d already spent much more time with him than you ever did.

Maybe they knew things about Luffy you didn’t. Seen sides of him you hadn’t. You had never witnessed Luffy seriously fight for his life. The monster animals from Mt. Colubo, the criminals from Grey Terminal… they were threats, but there was always a sense of safety in that (at least for you. They didn’t represent you any danger. And even if Luffy would hate to know, you were always ready to intervene if you judged his life would be threatened). His crew, however, must have witnessed it already. Must have fought for his life the same way he must’ve fought for theirs.

It’s like the deep blue ocean touching the ship’s hull created mirages in your eyes.

...How would it be to witness Luffy fighting for real? This Luffy, who got much stronger since three years ago? What expression would he make when facing an enemy equal or stronger than him? Would he get serious? Would he still have fun?

What must he had done to conquer his crew mates’ loyalties? What type of adventures had they already experienced together?

A hole slowly sunk in your chest.

Jealousy isn’t a pleasant feeling at all. But at that moment? You felt it, and it was awful. Not only because the crew already knew Luffy better than you; you were jealous of them all because they could go on adventures without the shadow of a deadly family looming over them.

I could fake my own death like Sanji did. No. Grandfather would end up finding me in a month. The possibility of Crowley hunting Luffy for sport is there, too, even after my presumed death, because he is a demon incarnate—

A cough.

You looked to the left. No one.

You looked down.

Chopper was standing beside you. Not facing you at all, eyeing the ocean instead. He had somewhat of a serious expression.

Chopper hadn’t approached you willingly or even talked to you directly until that point; like Zoro, he was wary of your presence. That immediately spiked your curiosity.

And he was nervous.

He couldn’t hide that well.

“Hey. Here. Take it.” It was a bit funny how that small creature with its baby voice was trying to sound tough.

Chopper lifted his right hand (hand? Paw? Hoof?) in your direction; he was holding something… a small cup with some green liquid inside.

You quirked one eyebrow.

“Thank you… but I don’t really like green tea.”

“It’s a painkiller.”

You froze.

It was impossible to disguise your surprise this time.

Chopper looked up for a second to see the obvious question in your face. His eyes darted down again, as if keeping eye contact overwhelmed him.

He booped his own blue snoot.

“...I can smell pain in you humans. And other things, too. So there’s no use in trying to hide it from me.” He puffed his chest and hardened his voice, once again playing tough.

You instinctively touched your own waist.

It’s true. You’d been completely ignoring the pain with the help of Heavenly Control for quite some time… it wasn’t as bad as it was weeks ago. But it was still there.

“You’re very perceptive.” Chopper shook a bit with your compliment. “But it doesn’t hurt that bad.”

“It’s pain anyway, and pain isn’t nice. My job is to care for everyone’s health on this ship.” He wiggled the cup slightly, starting to sound impatient. “Come on, take it!”

You still hesitated.

You were used to pain… you lived with it just fine. Grandfather discouraged taking painkillers, in fact, because he saw it as a sign of weakness.

It’s pain anyway, and pain isn’t nice.

A smile slowly made its way to your lips.

You took the cup from his (hand? Paw? Hoof? Ugh).

“Thanks. You’re very kind.”

That whole tough persona melted down in half a second.

Chopper squirmed, scratched his foot (foot?! Paw?! Hoof?! Aaarghhh) on the floor, blushed (a creature with a fur coat blushes? How is that even possible?!), tightened his eyes, barely disguised his grin.

“Ayyy, shut up, you asshole! That’s just my job!! Don’t feel special!!”

You giggled.

He was that easy, huh?

You put the cup to your lips. “Be careful, though! It’s very bitter—” You chugged the whole thing in one gulp. “...I guess you don’t mind.”

It did taste horrible, but you managed to swallow it without making a face. You leaned your side on the rail to look at him directly.

“So… you’re the crew’s doctor?”

Chopper itched his nose and made the cutest smug expression you’d ever seen. “Heh… I mean, yeah, I guess I am…! Someone’s gotta take care of these punks!”

That was a bit surprising. You assumed he had joined the crew simply because Luffy thought he was a funny looking guy. So not only was he a talking biped reindeer thing, he was also highly intelligent… more intelligent than most humans, in fact. Not many people are smart enough to study medicine. Ugh. I really want to sketch him.

Your gaze absently wandered to the sea down there again.

...And you remembered something.

A smirk appeared on your lips.

“Say, Dr. Chopper…” he blushed violently upon being called like that. “...would you consider making a deal with me?”

He stepped back with apprehension. “W-W-What do you mean?”

You leaned down to get closer to his eye level.

“You let me study you… and I let you take a ride on the water bike.” His eyes beamed. “What do you say—?”

“Hell yeah!! Let’s go!!” and he was already running down the deck. “I’m ready!!”

He was not ready.

“T-T-T-This is too fast, miss!! I’m gonna fall!!”

You laughed. “Relax, you’re not gonna fall!”

“B-But— AAAAAHHH!!”

Chopper was stuck between being frightened and shaking with excitement, screaming louder than the bike’s roar and the sea. The wind threw your hair back, sprinkled salt water on your face and clothes — and that was a relief, because it was too damn hot. The sun was scorching, there were barely any clouds to block its light. Your stomach dropped with adrenaline. And to think you were so used to riding this bike already, but only now it became fun.

You didn’t really trust Chopper’s ability to hold anything (his arms were too short to surround your waist) so you literally tied him on you with some rope; he sat in front of you to have a good view of wherever you were going, one hand (hand? Paw? Hoof?) holding his hat while the other weakly reached for the center of the handlebars.

“Hahah— this is— this is— too fast!!” His voice was half laughter, half scream of horror.

“That’s why it’s fun!” You weren’t even on maximum speed yet. The sea was pretty calm, it almost felt like riding on a flatland. “You can trust me. I’ve got plenty of experience with this thing!”

Chopper let another uneasy giggle. “Oh, I noticed— WOOOOH!!”

You took a sudden turn left, raising a cloud of water in the process, and laughed at his shock. However, you noticed how he got more used to the speed, the fear being slowly replaced by excitement. Chopper got a little more brave, standing on the bike to better see the view while holding the center of the handlebars for dear life.

“Wooow! Look at that!!” He exclaimed while pointing at something in the water to your right.

You followed his direction and immediately smiled as well upon seeing what he meant: a group of giant, beautiful stingrays soaring the waters right below you; they were two times bigger than the bike.

“There are so many!” Chopper hopped with excitement.

“Yeah.” You from a few years ago would immediately recognize what species of stingray that was… even though you were not as versed in marine biology. This small perception about yourself made you feel a little sad. You were losing bits of the things you enjoyed. There was one thing you still knew, however. If the stingrays were there… “We must be near a coral reef.”

Bullseye. Less than five minutes ahead, the color of the sea became clearer; from deep blue, clear turquoise. The underwater forest was just below you — colorful, bustling with life, extending as far as the eye could see. Some coral structures were so big that they peeked from the water, literal living towers. School of fish swam away as you approached, being scared by the sudden disturbance. You decided to turn the bike off near a shallow pool so they could approach.

Chopper was beaming, squeaking cute noises of amazement. He slid down your leg, holding it for support, and let his paw (hand? Hoof? AAAAARGHH) touch the water; little yellow fishes danced below him.

“I think this is the biggest reef I’ve ever seen!” He hopped slightly and went hohohoho. “The water’s so clear. I bet there’s visibility for fifty meters at least!”

You crossed your arms and opened a lip tightened smile. The calm waves breaking on the reef swayed the bike slightly. “Wanna go for a dive? These pools are pretty shallow. It’s safe here.”

Chopper huffed and looked at you in shock. “Are you crazy?! I can’t swim!”

“Oh.” Yeah, I should’ve figured it wouldn’t be easy for a winter creature to swim… I mean, he is a winter creature, right? “You never learned?”

He definitely thought you were stupid. “I’m a Devil Fruit user!”

You paused.

“Ooooh.”

Now you felt stupid for not figuring it out earlier.

“So… what type of fruit did you eat?”

Chopper hoped on top of the bike again, and when you looked down at him, it really tugged your heartstrings. He’s too cute for his own good. “Hito Hito no Mi.”

The human-human fruit. Of fucking course. Why didn’t I think of that before?!

“So, how will this ‘study’ thing go, miss?”

You chuckled. “No need to call me ‘miss’. Wolfie’s fine. I just want to make a few sketches of you. And ask a few questions.”

He blinked excitedly. “Do you draw well?”

“Kind of.” Been ages since I last held a pen. Maybe I forgot how to. You held the grips again and turned the bike on, immediately scaring the fishes away. “But it’s better to do it somewhere else. We don’t wanna lose sight of the ship.”

“Right!” Chopper turned around to face ahead again. “If this reef’s here, we must be close to the main island already!”

You maneuvered the bike around the reefs slowly, both to not disturb the sea creatures too much and to let Chopper enjoy it a bit longer. He pointed at things he found cool and went waaaa!! all the time. How old was he? Chopper was not only tiny, he kind of acted like a kid… but not an annoying kid, a cute one.

Oh.

Then you were a bit sad again, because you remembered the other kid in your life. Ariadne.

You’d never taken her on a fun trip like this. Sure, you usually broke protocol when she accompanied you, taking her to eat at nice restaurants and buy clothes on good stores, but nothing so carefree like this. Did she even know your liking for nature overall? Had you ever shared your actual interests with her?

No. You hadn’t.

And she was your sister.

Suddenly you weren’t having that much fun anymore.

It didn’t take too long to find the Going Merry again. Nami leaned on the rail to look at you two approaching; Usopp appeared out of nowhere beside her, hopping excitedly.

“There’s a big reef to port!” You screamed louder than the ocean and the bike’s roar. “At least two nautical miles from here. Waters get really shallow!”

Nami nodded and turned around. “Got it! Turn to starboard!”

You heard someone respond with ayeee and took distance from the ship as it maneuvered. Luffy was still nowhere to see. He was that tired, huh?

When the caravel stabilized its route again, you approached it. Usopp was still standing up there near the rail. He was also pretty excited about the bike yesterday…

Well… you were kind of an asshole, making him swallow that much pepper. Would be appropriate to make up for it.

“Wanna come onboard?” You asked after a beat of hesitation.

His face brightened up.

“You serious?!”

“Yeah.”

Chopper hopped excitedly again on his seat. “It’s so fun, Usopp!! Not scary at all!!” Oh, he was trying so hard to convince himself.

Usopp giggled maniacally and ran in circles before finally approaching the rail again. He didn’t jump straight to the bike (it’s what you would’ve done. Or Luffy. Or anyone else in the crew, you figured)… he reached for the stairs. Each step down was a bit uneasy. You got even closer to the ship so he could reach you, a step of distance. He just had to take a small jump.

But Usopp hesitated.

“I— Uh— can you come a bit closer?”

“No.” Of course you couldn’t. You didn’t want to get dragged by the ship’s current.

“Okay. Right. Uh. I’ll— I’ll just—”

“Come on already.”

“Right!”

Usopp closed his eyes before jumping (who the hell closes their eyes before jumping? Did he have the survival instincts of an amoeba?) and he would’ve fallen if you didn’t grab him by the thigh.

“Oof! Ho! Right! I made it! Hehe!”

“That was nice, Usopp!” Chopper threw him a thumbs up (except he didn’t have a thumb, so you supposed that was a thumbs up). You would’ve thought he was being sarcastic if he didn’t have the pure soul of an angel.

You giggled and took distance from the ship once more, keeping the low speed so Usopp could adjust himself.

“Hold on tight.”

You felt Usopp tense up behind you. “Okay!”

He gripped your shoulders.

You finally looked at him from over your shoulder. “Are you serious?”

“W-What?” Usopp was panicking again. “Where else am I supposed to hold?!”

His stupidity was a bit entertaining. You rolled your eyes and huffed while grabbing his wrists and making him hold your waist.

Usopp got more tense.

“O-Oh. Oh. Right. Okay.”

Was he shaking?

That was the guy who had a girlfriend? It didn’t feel like he’d ever breathed too close to one. Usopp kept his hands on each side of your waist, but there was still a huge space between your back and his chest. You couldn’t help but giggle while taking hold of the handlebars again. It was funny because you couldn’t feel any disgusting vibe coming from him; Usopp was just extremely awkward about it.

Huh.

You didn’t feel any goosebumps this time. Like when Luffy held you from behind.

Funny.

Chopper clapped his hands (hands??? Hooves??) and wriggled from side to side. “Let’s go!! Pedal to the metal!!”

“Alright. You asked for it.”

“Hey, what’s the max speed the bike can— WHAT THE FUUUUUCK!!”

Usopp wasn’t afraid to hold you anymore.

He hugged your waist for dear life, in fact.

Your laughter was almost as loud as the bike’s roar and Chopper’s scream.

“Okay, I get it— t-t-t-the max speed really is f-fast!! We can slow down now!!” Usopp stuttered behind you.

“This isn’t the max speed yet.”

“But I get the point!” Usopp made a strange noise that sounded like a squeak. “I just remembered that I have s-s-severe motion sickness—”

His sentence was cut off by a yell of horror when you took a sudden turn left. Chopper yelled along creating an awful symphony that could very well blow up your eardrums.

“Again! Do that again!!” Chopper chanted with a maniacal grin.

“Shut up!! Don’t encourage her!!”

You giggled. “Sit down, Chopper, or you’ll get splashed with water.”

Surprisingly, the little reindeer obeyed. Now that you knew he was a Devil Fruit user, you’d have to be more careful. That didn’t stop you from complying to his request, though, to Usopp’s utmost panic.

Chopper looked up at you with shine in his eyes. “Can we visit the reef again? It’s right ahead, isn’t it?”

“Yep!” You said whilst smiling.

“Wait— ain’t we gonna lose sight of the ship?!” Usopp shrieked. “W-W-What if we lost at sea forever?! We’ll end up dying of thirst and hunger and WE’LL GET SWALLOWED!!”

His last screamed actually ached your eardrums.

“Gosh, don’t freak out like that!” You frowned while massaging your ear. “We won’t lose sight of the ship—”

“N-n-n-no!! You d-d-didn’t get it!!” Usopp was restless behind you. His voice suddenly made him sound like a strangled chicken. “W-W-We’ll get swallowed!!”

“We’re not gonna—”

Usopp gripped both sides of your head from behind and made you look back.

Ten meters away from the bike, the water’s surface was strangely disturbed, warping up in something that looked like a dome. A giant dome. Something big swimming just below the surface, leaving a trail behind it that extended for much longer.

You saw the red eyes staring at the bike under the water.

A giant sea snake.

…Oh.

You were gonna get swallowed.

You faced ahead again and gripped the handlebars at the same moment Chopper spotted the monster and hollered.

“Chopper, hold on tight—”

“WE’RE GONNA DIE!!” He yelled.

“We’re going to—”

“WE’RE GONNA DIE!!” Usopp yelled.

You gave up trying to explain anything.

Adrenaline pumped in your veins. You angled your torso near the handlebars, getting ready for the sudden burst of speed—

None of them were ready when you actually turned the accelerator to the last gear.

The bike roarer louder than ever. Usopp roared as loud as the engine, holding your waist so tight that it started to hurt. The sea snake, attracted by the noise, immediately sped up after you.

Shit. You knew that this could happen despite the Seastone lining of the hull: differently from ships that are much bigger, slower and quieter, barely disturbing the water’s surface and therefore disguising itself with the help of the Seastone lining, the bike was noisy and small — much easier to get a sea beast’s attention. There should be a nest nearby that you hadn’t noticed.

“T-Turn around!!” Usopp shrieked. “W-W-We should head back so Zoro and the others can take care of it—”

“And attract it to the ship? No way!” You looked over your shoulder again to measure how far the sea snake was. It swam after the bike on a beeline, breaking through the waters and creating giant waves on its way. Its looked big enough to swallow you all on a single bite. “We’re going straight ahead!”

Usopp was pale.

“Why the hell are you smiling?!”

Because you had a plan.

“Come on, you fucking sea noodle!!” You screamed at the thing defiantly. “Come get me!!”

Usopp’s eyes bulged so bad that it looked like they’d pop out of his face. “N-No!! She was joking!! Don’t come get us!!”

Chopper shrieked. “You angered it!!”

“You talk to sea creatures?!” It was your turn to eye Chopper with astonishment.

Though you quickly found out that he didn’t have to speak sea noodle language to understand that it was angry. The purple snake broke the ocean’s surface for the first time, opening its giant jaws and growling so loud that it created ripples on the water. The sound must’ve traveled for kilometers.

Usopp made a strange noise behind you.

Chopper gagged.

“Usopp passed out!!”

The arms that surrounded your waist lost strength. You had time to see his eyes rolled to the back, his tongue sticking out flatly, a second before he simply wasn’t holding you anymore.

Shit!

Your right hand flew behind your back to somehow grab him before he could fall; by the speed you were traveling, the chances of him simply dying smashed on the water’s surface was higher than being swallowed by the beast. “Shitshitshitshitshit—” you babbled between gritted teeth. This was not in your plans!

Then, something else that was not in your plans happened.

In a second, Chopper was still a tiny thing looking at his friend’s unconscious form with horror.

The next second, he simply was not a tiny creature anymore.

You had a whiplash trying to understand what the fuck just happened— why there was a tall muscular hairy man sitting on your lap, completely blocking your view. He wrapped his now long arms around Usopp’s body, sandwiching you all in a tight hug, you being the filling in the middle.

You took a quick glance up. Shit, that’s still Chopper— in a humanoid form, yet still frightened.

Okay, I can get shocked later!

“Chopper— I can’t— I can’t see!!” You wiggled around in a weird angle to try to see forward under his armpit.

“Wake up, Usopp!!” His voice was slightly deeper now which was a bit unsettling. “Now’s not the time!!”

“Ugghhhhh…” Usopp moaned.

“It really is not the time!” Because you couldn’t fucking see much beyond the wall of fur sitting on your lap — you could barely breathe smashed against his body. But that wasn’t even the least of your problems.

Chopper in this form got much heavier.

The bike got slower.

The snake continued to approach at a steady speed.

For the first time, you felt apprehension.

You looked up at Chopper, but to do so, half your face was smashed against his chest. “Chwuppuh!! Ghubuhmuchfuhm!!”

He looked down. “What?!”

You managed to lean your head away from his body a little bit, ungluing your face from his chest. “Get tiny again!!”

“But I can’t let Usopp go! He’s still unconscious!!”

“Wake him up! You’re the doctor!”

You saw resolve harden Chopper’s face, which granted you hope that he’d pull some medical trick to quickly wake his friend—

Chopper slapped Usopp’s face.

“Wake up, jerk!!”

Another slap.

“Come on!! Wake up!!”

You leaned to see what was ahead under his armpit again. Your heart thundered in your ribcage; you could sense the beast getting much closer than what would be a safe distance, the deafening noise of the waves it created, the engine of the bike yelling as it took more weight than it should. But your target wasn’t far. Just a little more! Just a little more!

You wouldn’t get there if the extra weight wasn’t gone.

“CHOPPER!!” You yelled at him this time in a tone you weren’t used to, but you were running out of time to try to be considerate. The now big boy shrieked.

“Wake—” Slap. “The—” Slap. “Hell—” Slap. “Up—” Slap. “Already!!”

Usopp’s eyes shot open.

“WAAAAAAHH!!”

And then he was holding your waist again for dear life.

“We’regonnadiewe’regonnadiewe’regonnadiewe’regonna—”

“Chopper!” You called again.

Fwuup!

Chopper’s body shrunk in less than a second. He was back to being a tiny thing again, hugging your neck for dear life.

“It’s gonna get us!!”

No, it freaking won’t.

What you wanted was right ahead. The bike reached its peak speed once more. The giant snake put its head out of the water again, howling in a tone that made your bones shake, its blood thirst so strong you could feel it; Chopper and Usopp screamed in horror. Almost there almost there almost there almost there—

The water had transitioned from deep blue to clear turquoise.

The sea snake, in its blind hunger, didn’t notice the sudden change in depth.

It hit its face against the giant reef head on.

Boom!

The impact created a giant wave all around it, splashed water everywhere; you maneuvered the bike with difficulty, trying to surf on it and not get drowned. It was possible to hear chunks of corals cracking like marble and the white cloud of sand and residue under the water. After the great ripples passed by, you finally stopped the bike and turned it around to see what happened.

The snake stuck its head out of the water. It had its tongue out, its muzzle bleeding and staining the water red; it was obviously dizzy and disoriented, swaying from side to side, each eye looking in a different direction.

Even if it weren’t hurt, the beast was too big to swim over the reef.

You laughed.

“Hah! Fuck you!!” You raised your fist to the air as the victorious adrenaline washed over your body. “You hear that, dumbass?! Yeah— get back down right now!!”

Chopper let go of your neck and sat on your lap. Slowly, he began to giggle as you still shouted insults excitedly.

“Y-Yeah!! Get lost!! You jerk!!” He tried his best to sound tough.

The sea snake moaned sadly and disappeared under the water again.

You giggled at Chopper and lifted your palm to him. “Good job!”

He opened the widest smile you’d ever seen and hopped to high five you. Water had sprinkled his fur, so Chopper was visibly weakened, but he was still too excited to let it affect him. Oh fuck. He really is cute.

“Okay— now I get it.”

You looked back at Usopp for the first time, an adrenaline-driven grin still plastered on your face. He was definitely feeling the adrenaline too, except it tipped to the other side of the scale: the fear side. Just like you, Usopp was wet with salt water (maybe a little less than you, as your body blocked most of the splashes), and perhaps his lips were a bit colorless in a way that shouldn’t be normal. His cheeks were swollen from Chopper’s slaps. His pupils were two black holes. Yeah, he definitely didn’t have as much fun as you did.

“Get what?” you asked while swapping your hand on your face to get rid of water droplets.

“Why Luffy likes you.”

You chuckled and faced ahead again.

Oh.

What did he mean?

Girl, shut up— you know what he means. Of course Luffy likes you. He’s your friend! He wouldn’t be friends with someone he doesn’t like. Yeah. Yeah, that’s exactly what he meant. Obviously. Duh. Right.

You gulped, gripped the handlebars just a little tighter.

Why did his simple statement make your heart race faster than being chased by a sea beast?

You cleaned your throat, turned the bike on again and pretended that thought simply did not exist.

“We should rejoin the others.” You hoped your voice sounded normal.

Chopper pouted but did not complain. Little guy was so frightened at first but really ended up enjoying the high speeds, huh? 

“C-Can we go a little slower now? Please?” Usopp stuttered behind you. Chopper eyed his friend with a teasing smirk you hadn’t seen in him yet.

“What, you scared, Usopp? Coooward!” And it was funny how he sounded exactly like Nami last night. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“Hey, I’m not scared! I have motion sickness, okay?! Also— woooah!!”

He was quick to grip your waist again the moment you made the bike move, even if it was super slow.

Chopper and you exchanged a knowing look. Usopp was utterly offended.

“Is this pose alright?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Silence. “Wait— this one makes me look cooler!”

Chopper puffed his chest, raised his arm up like a general while eyeing you from his side profile.

“Stop moving so much.”

He yelped a bit at your reprimand. “Sorry.”

The pencil didn’t run over the paper with the same ease as it used to — and honestly, it was getting on your nerves. But how else would it be? It’d been years since you seriously sat down to draw anything. And to think back then, it’d take you five minutes to have a realistic sketch ready… now, you were using the eraser much more than you’d like to admit.

The weather was so hot and humid that your clothes ended drying before the ship even approached Jaya’s harbors. As the rest of the crew moved around, getting excited to explore the island that got closer by the minute, you sat down on the deck’s floor to finally sketch Chopper, using some paper and a pencil Nami kindly lent. 

It was nice and quiet. You’d like to enjoy this atmosphere as much as possible before the ship docked, because you knew what Mock Town awaited them. 

“Say, Wolfie—” Usopp, who was still eyeing the water bike down there while leaning on the rail, asked. “How long does it take for the bike to charge?”

You didn’t look up at him, still focused on the clipboard over your legs. “Takes seven hours for a full charge. But usually three is enough for me to go where I want.”

“Hmmmm. The engine is phytoplankton-fueled, right?”

“Yes.”

Chopper gasped. “Do you mean there’s plankton inside the engine?!” 

“Don’t move. But yeah.”

Usopp turned to his little friend, his face brightening with enthusiasm. “The bike is exposed to sunlight so the plankton can photosynthesize, fueling the engine with energy! It’s a very complex and sophisticated method!”

“Oooh.” Chopper nodded. “This is really cool, Wolfie!”

You quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t build it. I just bought it.” Told the engineers to build one for me, actually. 

Usopp turned around to look at the bike again. “If it takes seven hours for a full charge… wow, how many miliamps the plankton tanks have? That’s, like, twice as much as most bikes I’ve seen in magazines!” You decided to not comment, as you didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about. You eyed Usopp.

“You an engineer, Usopp?”

He waved his hand dismissively and lifted his chin in a smug expression. “Oh, engineering is just one of my professions, darling. I’ve got a degree at the prestigious Engineering University of Syrup, you ever heard of it?”

“Nope.”

“Of course you haven’t. Only the top tier minds of the East Blue are able to join!”

Chopper gasped again. “How did you manage to be a pirate and a student at the same time?!”

Usopp tapped his own head. “Brilliant minds like Great Captain Usopp’s can multitask, my young fellow.”

“You’re sooo cool!” 

“Stop moving,” you reprimanded Chopper again whilst chuckling. You couldn’t tell who was stupider. It was endearing, however.

“Wait— so if the engines can move the bike super fast, why can’t we make ships move fast like that, too?” The little guy asked.

You looked down at the clipboard again. “I’m not one of the top tier minds of the East Blue, but as far as I know…” Usopp didn’t get the sarcasm, as he puffed his chest like a rooster, “…the resources to make an engine like that for a bigger vessel are absurd. Just not worth it. It’d also take much longer to charge, so it’d be impractical.”

Usopp hummed and held his chin in a pensive expression. “Yeah, you’re right, but… what if the ship had an engine like this for one-off situations? Something that wouldn’t push the ship all the time, but it could be activated in critical situations… like an escape?”

That was actually very clever. You nodded. “It would have to be an engine fueled by something else, though.”

“Yes.” Usopp frowned slightly. It was like he was visualizing the possibility on the ship’s hull. Despite his much exaggerated antics, it was obvious how this was a topic of his genuine interest. “I wonder how I could implement it on the Merry.”

You stopped sketching for a second.

“This ship?”

“Of course!”

He’s also very delusional. You went back to drawing. “…I don’t want to be mean or anything, but I don’t think this ship could take a renovation like that.”

I don’t think this ship can float to the next island. Because no, you weren’t an engineer nor a shipwright, but you’d been in enough ships in your life to understand that this one was in a horrible state. You hadn’t seen the huge patchings on the hull yesterday, or noticed how the main mast was hanging in an angle that didn’t look right. Yeah, it was funny at first to see that Luffy’s ship was patched up like his clothes used to be when he was little, but now it was a bit worrying.

Yet, you didn’t expect Usopp to get so protective out of nowhere.

“Of course it can!” He crossed his arms. “Merry can take anything! Especially a renovation!”

“Yeah!!” Chopper joined him passionately. “Merry is invincible!!”

You eyed Chopper, and Usopp, and went back to sketching, deciding to keep your pessimism (realism) to yourself.

“Well… you must really value this ship. Right? Since it was a gift from your girlfriend.”

Usopp gagged.

He leaned on the rail for support awkwardly as if his legs stopped working, gripped his onesie where the heart is; his eyes widened, his jaw was dropped.

“M-m-m-my— my what?!”

You paused again.

Now, you and Chopper watched him in silence.

“…Your girlfriend? It’s what Luffy said.”

“He said that?!” Usopp gulped and ran his hand over the bandana on his head. He avoided your gaze, his eyes wandering around the deck as he blinked multiple times. But you saw the exact moment the idea grew on him. He giggled at himself and smirked, suddenly faking a relaxed position. “W-Well— I guess he’s right!” Usopp waved his hand dismissively again. The movement was painfully theatrical. “Yeah. My girlfriend. Exactly.” His voice cracked when he pronounced ‘girlfriend’.

Chopper gasped. “Woooah! Why’d you never said you had a girlfriend, Usopp?!”

Usopp threw his imaginary hair back and puffed his chest even more. “Huh, I have many girlfriends, Chopper. This is just the usual for me.”

The little reindeer frowned. “So you’re a cheater?”

“No!” It was impossible to not laugh at the way Chopper unknowingly broke his demeanor in a second. “I don’t mean that I have many girlfriends at the same time! I-I had many girlfriends. Now I only got Kaya. Yeah. That’s what I meant.”

You focused on the paper again while still chuckling. So he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Luffy just assumed they were dating… judging by Usopp’s reaction, he’s not exactly wrong. Uh. So Luffy reads people well like that, huh? Well— he always did, he just doesn’t show it often. 

The pencil hovered over the paper for an instant.

Can he read me that well?

If so, why does the thought make my stomach turn?

What am I afraid of Luffy seeing in me?

What am I afraid of finding out about myself?

Thinking of the devil—

“What you doin’?”

You shrieked. Maybe because you didn’t notice him approaching, which was unacceptable (grandfather would punish you for this) or because you felt as if you were caught red-handed thinking of him.

Either way, Luffy was leaning down, hands on his knees, to peek at the clipboard from over your shoulder.

He rested his chin there. On your shoulder. 

That wasn’t the first time he did it. He used to do that too when you were kids, and it never bothered you. It didn’t bother you at that moment either.

But your heart was thundering in your ribcage anyway for whatever fucking reason.

Luffy went hmmmmm. It felt that his voice reverberated in your bones.

“I knew you were itching to do your thing with him.” He giggled. “Funny, ain’t he?”

“He’s a very interesting individual.”

“Very interesting individual.” He imitated your voice in a mocking tone. Worst part? He actually sounded like you. Luffy was also great at impersonating people. Usopp laughed, Chopper laughed, you giggled because you couldn’t even pretend to be angry at him.

“Woke up in a good mood?”

“I’m always in a good mood.”

“Can I take a look at the drawing now?” Chopper asked… it looked like his arm was in pain now from being in the same position for so long. Well, he chose that pose. 

“I’m almost finished.” And then you were running the pencil on the paper again. 

Luffy stepped away from you and it felt like you could finally breathe again. You didn’t turn around to see where he was going. Instead, you focused on finishing the sketches… mostly so you could diverge your attention from that other issue.

Until three seagulls fell from the sky and you realized you had much bigger issues ahead.

Chopper yelled.

“AAAAH!! They were shot!!”

“Shot?” Usopp quirked one eyebrow. “I didn’t hear any shot.”

Luffy ran down the deck and crouched near the birds. “Yay! Let’s fry ‘em and eat ‘em!”

Chopper finally let go of his statue position. He quickly grabbed a pair of tweezers and picked a bullet from inside the dead bird.

“Look! I told you!” Nami approached, leaning down to analyze the bullet as well. “Judging by the trajectory they were flying, the shot came from the direction of the island!!”

“The island?” It was Nami’s turn to quirk one eyebrow. She straightened her back and looked at the ship’s bow, protecting her eyes from the sunlight with her hand.

The island was ahead. Yet, it was still a small dot in the distance. It wasn’t possible to distinguish buildings, ports, anything.

“We’re still at least 20 nautical miles away from the island, Chopper. That’s impossible.” Her shoulders relaxed with the certainty of what she meant. 

Usopp leaned on the rail again, relaxing as much as her. “If that was true, what type of vision, weapon and skill this shooter would have, huh?” He shrugged. “These seagulls probably were shot somewhere else but just fell now.”

Chopper pouted as no one seemed to believe him. Luffy took the birds and told Sanji to make them for dinner. To the rest of them, the problem was solved.

Meanwhile, your blood went cold.

You knew a shooter with that much vision, skill and the proper long-distance weapon. Someone who could very well shoot a seagull 20 nautical miles away from it. 

Saqr.

That realization made you forget about everything else — the fun you had earlier with Chopper and Usopp, your eagerness to finish the sketches; your heartbeat quickened for another reason now. It immediately grounded you back to your reality. The life of a Scarpia. 

What if Saqr was in Jaya? What if he followed you? What if he shot these seagulls to send a message? A warning?

You got up, expanded your perception, put all of your senses on high alert, the clipboard now forgotten on the floor. Chopper gasped loudly, eyes gleaming, and took it in his hands.

“That’s awesome!!” 

“What? Lemme see—” Usopp rushed to peek at it too. He gasped as well and smiled. “So you do know how to draw!”

A full body drawing, a side profile portrait, a close-up on his hoof, a few notes around them — your heart wasn’t in it anymore, nor your attention. Each second got the ship closer to Jaya. With each passing second, your heart grew with apprehension. If Saqr really is here, if he really is waiting for me, then he is not alone. He must have informed the main house already. If grandfather comes along… Luffy’s crew is doomed. I can’t let it happen. 

Your suspicions got worse the moment Going Merry docked on Mock Town’s main harbor. 

It was a lawless land, you already knew that; pirates from all around gathered there. Most of them were too small to be worth your attention… but there were at least three presences in the town that burned like torches. Much stronger than the others. Overwhelmingly strong.

At least one of them could be Saqr.

The crew was excited to explore the city. Luffy and Zoro quickly jumped out of the ship, being followed by a worried Nami. For a second, you thought of joining them — but that was an awful idea. You didn’t want to alarm Luffy of the possible danger he was in; Luffy was hard headed. He wouldn’t understand the gravity of the situation. He’d want to fight.

But you still needed to check the city anyway.

That’s when you saw someone else quietly leaving the ship.

You grabbed your bag and ran.

“Do you mind if I accompany you?”

Nico Robin stopped on her tracks.

She turned around. Slowly, her eyes analyzed you; the purple hat she wore cast a mysterious shadow over them. 

The small smile she opened was just as mysterious.

“It’ll be a pleasure.”

Mock Town was as disgusting as ever.

A ridiculous amount of bars, pleasure houses and motels scattered around the city with the type of people you might expect to attend these places. Drunkards, thieves, lowly pirates… they were everywhere. It was similar to Tigerlily Island in a way, except much smaller, much cheaper, with less gold and less protection and less organization… less everything.

Quite frankly, you wouldn’t feel safe to be there as a woman if you weren’t you.

The men howled worse than hungry wolves as you and Robin walked by. It was disgusting. Robin didn’t look bothered in the slightest as if she wasn’t even listening to them. You, on the other hand, were going paranoid.

Saqr might be here. He might be.

Strong presences. There were sounds of fights breaking out here and there which immediately spiked your attention. He might be here. He might.

You and Robin barely spoke at all.

A part of you knew the situation was awkward and knew you were making it worse. Nico Robin herself was a quiet one, from what you could understand; she wasn’t as talkative as the rest of her crew mates, often sitting at lonelier parts of the ship with a book in hands. You usually didn’t speak much either if you weren’t surrounded by the right people. So… it was just you and Robin walking around side by side in silence.

If you weren’t under unimaginable levels of stress, you would’ve let another wave of astonishment wash over you. That was still Nico Robin. Scarpia Family, overall, kept eyes and ears on the most important criminals in the world; it was valuable to have info on everyone, as they might become a target in the future. Other than just killing people, Scarpia was respected in the underworld and requested because they had information about a lot of important people.

Nico Robin was one of them. You didn’t know exactly who was assigned to hunt her… it was ages ago, before you had even been initiated. You didn’t remember who failed and how she managed to escape. But that was impressive by itself. Not many people in this world had been targeted by a Scarpia and lived to tell the next day.

And she was in Luffy’s crew of all people. That was such a bizarre coincidence.

Another explosion somewhere in the city. No one really bothered. Focus. Focus. You have to find whose strong presence is that. 

Robin stopped walking out of nowhere, grounding you back to your surroundings.

You hadn’t realized you were in front of a clothing store.

She analyzed the mannequins in the shop’s window with attention. After maybe ten seconds, she decided that she liked something and walked in.

Not waiting or even glancing at you at all.

Oh.

Okay.

You followed.

The bell at the door rang softly as you opened it. There were only two other clients inside and a saleswoman. Said saleswoman had already approached Robin; you heard as she requested the green dress her size displayed on the window. The short woman ran to get it for her. Actually… she wasn’t even that short, it’s just that Robin was very tall. She was taller than Zoro and Sanji, wasn’t she?

Robin approached a clothes rack and checked them. One after the other. Patiently. Not acknowledging you at all.

You stood on the other side of the rack awkwardly.

Okay.

This is weird.

You stole another glance at her. The Nico Robin looked much younger than you assumed… she had a bounty over her head for the past twenty years, right? Well, she didn’t look over thirty. So… she’d been hunted since she was a kid? What type of crimes could a kid commit? If you weren’t under Scarpia’s anonymity, you’d have been prosecuted for muder from age six, the voice of reason in your head spoke. Yeah. It was right. Who was the first person I killed anyway? Hm… Landon brought him to me as part of the training. Some random guy. Whatever.

Focus!, you reminded yourself again.

Right. Right.

The nearest strong presence was somewhere south. You had to find a way to investigate it… could you convince Robin to come along? Or maybe you could simply go by yourself, as she wasn’t paying attention to you anyway. What were you even doing here in the first place?

You stole another glance at Robin. She was still checking clothes. 

…She was really attractive.

Robin looked like the type of woman who would be plastered in double-page perfume advertisements from News Coo. The type of model who would do fashion shows in Gran Tesoro or some other fancy island. There was something very magnetic in her mysterious cat-like eyes, her aquiline nose, the calm lip tightened smile that constantly adorned her features. She was very feminine in a mature way that kind of reminded you of your mother.

“Won’t you pick anything for yourself?”

You shrieked.

It was the first time she spoke up, once again, not lifting her eyes to you. You were gawking at her, weirdo. She definitely noticed!

You cleaned your throat awkwardly and dropped your gaze. “Oh, no. I’m fine.”

“Really?” Robin quirked one perfect full brow. “I thought your clothes were still damp.”

You touched your skirt on instinct. Well, they kind of are a bit, but as long as I’m still not smelling of wet dog, I don’t mind. “Not really.”

“Hm.”

Five seconds later, she passed two hangers over the rack in your direction.

You looked at the hangers, then at her, then at the hangers. It was the first time Robin looked at you back. It sent a shiver down your spine for some fucking reason.

“What?” You sounded like a fool.

“I think these will look good on you.”

She’s offering the clothes, dumbass. Just take them!

“Oh.”

You took the hangers and analyzed them.

It wasn’t anything too flashy — a stained moss green tank top with a scalloped hem and white ripped jeans shorts. It… wasn’t exactly the type of thing you would go for. But it wasn’t ugly either.

Robin placed a thin silver necklace with a small key  pendant above it. She turned around the rack really fast. She’s very silent, too. A normal person wouldn’t have noticed her coming.

“Hm…” and then she was placing a matching bracelet over the necklace. “This’ll fit.”

Robin eyed you expectantly.

You blinked.

She blinked.

Robin stepped aside.

“The fitting room is in the back.”

Oh.

Oooh.

She wants me to dress them.

And it didn’t feel like a request either. That woman looked like she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Right.” Why the hell were you obeying?! 

You had no idea, but you stepped into the fitting room anyway. You also had no idea how she got your size right without asking. You also had to admit that the outfit she picked did look good — it was fresh and stylish. You usually didn’t wear something so laid-back, but it looked cute anyway.

You also didn’t know why the hell you got flustered when Robin looked at you with approval.

“I knew it’d look good on you.”

“Indeed! You look beautiful!” The short saleswoman complimented, but that was kinda her job.

“…Thank you.” You sound stupid and weak. Stop sounding stupid and weak.

Robin turned around to face another rack. “I was looking for something that would match this skirt,” she pondered out loud. “A tube top would do, I guess… but this one is also pretty.”

You stood there for a while like a fool before you realized she wasn’t asking the saleswoman — she was asking your opinion.

Oooh.

You approached her at fast steps. “The tube top! It matches the skirt,” you didn’t know why the hell you were fiddling with your fingers behind your back nervously. “But the other shirt is cute, too. Just with something else.”

Robin analyzed both hangers and nodded. “I’m taking these to the fitting room.”

The brunette walked with some clothes and disappeared behind the rounded curtain.

You stood on the same spot. Awkwardly. 

Giddy.

Weird.

I’ve never gone shopping with another girl before.

Well… there was Ariadne, but she was a child with a very questionable fashion sense. You’d always seen girls walking around malls holding shopping bags and giving opinions on each other’s clothes. It’s simply not an experience you could share with anyone. Had you ever held a conversation about fashion before? Just with stylists when commissioning a specific piece, maybe. Never like that, in a casual atmosphere.

You started checking the rack. 

Robin picked an outfit for me. And it looks kinda cute.

You didn’t know why the hell you were smiling.

Robin walked out of the fitting room eventually. When she did, you had another skirt in hands.

“This one matches the other shirt. I think.”

Robin looked at it, shrugged and walked inside the fitting room again.

This was nice.

So nice that, for the next hour, you forgot what you were doing there in the city.

You paid for the clothes and left the store wearing them, stopping at another one. You decided to not buy anything else, just accompanying Robin and giving opinions when she asked for them. Turns out Robin was more easy-going than you first assumed. Shop owners really loved her. She spent tons… and in exchange, she got more info about Jaya, even getting a map of the island from a shop owner (who must obviously fell in love with her at first sight).

When you left the third store, reality whipped you in the face.

A cold shiver in the nape of your neck.

You were used to this feeling. Every movement of yours became calculated, mechanical, to not let it show that you had noticed.

You were being watched. Followed.

Robin and you walked side by side. You matched her pace and lit a cigarette in a natural movement.

Shit. I let my guard down. Grandfather would beat me up for this.

The person was skilled in hiding their presence, even more so since the other three strong presences — not to mention Luffy’s and Zoro’s somewhere in the city — overwhelmed their much quieter one. One thing you were sure of: it was not any of your brothers. A true Scarpia wouldn’t allow anyone to notice their presence, even in the slightest. Whoever followed you was skilled, not a master.

Relax your body. Don’t let it show. Don’t look back.

You side eyed Robin.

“So… how’d you guys get the whole idea about an island in the sky?” You asked absently after blowing smoke.

“Have you never heard of it?”

“Not that I remember.”

Robin nodded in a small movement. “We saw a ship fall from the sky.”

Your shocked reaction was genuine. The way she stated such absurdity with a blank face made you wonder if she was messing around. 

“...Are you serious?”

“Yes. You can ask the others later.” Robin shrugged. “The Captain found an old map in the ship wreckage… a map of Skypiea. After that… well… he couldn’t contain his excitement.”

“I figured.” Of course Luffy would go crazy over the mere possibility of an island in the sky existing. However, most people would brush it off as a simple fake map… it was surprising (and heartwarming) that his crew simply decided to go along with his insanity.

They moved. Approaching at slow steps. Don’t look back.

You took another drag and blew the smoke. Your pack was almost finished… you should stop at a bar and buy more.

Robin took a turn and you followed. They’re not looking for a fight. Whoever’s following probably knows they can’t face me. They’ll keep their distance… who are they reporting to?

She was three steps ahead of you.

With the corner of your eye, you saw something strange. A… pink flower petal?

The next second—

You couldn’t move.

The single shopping bag with your damp clothes fell on the floor. The cigarette dropped from your lips. Your heart rate spiked, all of your instincts screamed.

Danger danger danger danger danger.

There were— there were arms holding you. Multiple arms that sprouted from your own body. 

Your legs, your torso, kept your hands tightly behind your back; their grip was of iron, interlocking in strategic places to simply not allow you to move a centimeter. How didn’t I notice this?! What is happening? Is it my pursuer?! But they didn’t feel strong—

You groaned with the struggle of trying to move, but half a second was enough to realize this was not a good idea.

And for the first time, you looked up.

Robin was still three steps ahead. Now, she faced you… her arms were crossed in front of her chest, forming an X.

A single look at her expression was enough to understand everything.

Robin wasn’t smiling softly. Her gaze wasn’t mysterious anymore. No; her intentions were as clear as day now. Quietly ferocious. Her deep blue eyes were as cold as ice and as hard as steel. The shadow cast by her hat made her look menacing.

And you were a fool.

Robin had led you to a dark empty alley and you followed like a fucking fool. She spent the last hour working on you, breaking down your walls until you wouldn’t consider her a threat because you were too focused on someone else. 

You were so certain that Zoro was wary of your presence that you didn’t notice who actually was paying close attention to you in the crew.

You are a Scarpia. Life will never allow you to go shopping like a normal person. You should’ve understood that already.

Robin was a Devil Fruit user. She made those limbs grow from you; no amount of speed would be able to run away from that, because you’d be trying to run from yourself. Simply impossible.

Yet, your first instinct was to fight — control your emotions, don’t panic, think of a strategy, use brute force — but there were two things stopping you from doing so. The first: you were in an awfully dangerous position. The way her limbs were tangled on your body, their steel grip, the positions; if she wanted, she could break your spine in half like a dry stick.

The second… she was Luffy’s crewmate. 

You didn’t want to fight Luffy’s crewmate. Luffy’s friend, regardless of her intentions.

So you breathed in. Breathed out. Calmed your nerves. Dropped your aggression.

And waited.

Robin measured you up and down.

“There are things you can’t hide, no matter how hard you try.” Her voice was quiet, sultry, dangerous. Robin approached slowly. “You make no sound when you walk. You make no sound when you breathe. It’s like being around a ghost. You spot ways out in every room and you stand near them. Your sleep is featherlight because you can’t turn part of your brain off… you were trained not to.”

She towered over you.

You did not break eye contact.

“Since Captain said you’re his friend, I’d rather not fight you. But… you can’t blame me for doing this. Can you?”

Shit.

Robin thinks I’m hunting her.

You didn’t let your shock show; you just kept looking back at her. Robin didn’t expect you to say anything anyway. Two other arms sprouted from you, dropping a few pink petals in their wake, and took your bag.

Your brain yelled NO!!. Still, you didn’t say anything. No aggression. No aggression. I won’t fight Luffy’s friend. I won’t.

Robin’s arms unzipped your bag. One of her hands checked inside it… and took out the single thing no one was supposed to see.

A white mask.

Robin tightened her eyes for a moment. The next, they were widened in an expression you hadn’t seen in her before.

She stepped back.

When she looked at you again, there was something new. Not just ferocity, sagacity and curiosity. Shock. And maybe what you saw deep there was fear.

“You’re the White Wolf?”

Her voice dropped because Robin knew she shouldn’t talk about it out loud. No one talked about it out loud. It was supposed to be a secret. A myth. A fear. A harbinger of death that had never failed to reap their targets.

Your expression did not change.

“I was already sure you were an assassin… but…” Robin looked at the mask then at you again, tightening her eyes. You could see a million possibilities running through her mind. She tilted her head to the side. “I didn’t expect the person that killed Stork was a child.”

You would’ve shrugged if you could. “Your captain defeated a Warlord… we’re the same age.”

“No. This is different.”

Her gaze changed once again. It set to stone. Robin was scared, Robin was astonished, Robin was angry.

Robin thought it was a kill or die situation.

“Robin.” Your voice was quiet, trying to show as much serenity as you could. “I am not hunting you.”

“I don’t believe you.” She took another step back. With each word, she got more emotional; angrier. “I’m not under Baroque Work’s protection anymore. This is the perfect opportunity.”

“If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have let my guard down around you. You have to trust me.”

Somehow, this last sentence made her angrier.

“This is what happened to me the last time I trusted one of your relatives.” Robin turned to her side and lifted her crop top to expose her ribs. 

A scar.

It was old, had almost the same tone of her skin. Came from her last rib all the way under her shirt where you couldn’t see… a strike aimed at her vital organs. An extremely clean cut. 

Extremely familiar.

You had many scars like that over your body, though on you, he wasn’t trying to kill you. Just inflict pain. 

How did Robin escape Scarpia Virgus? 

Why didn’t he chase her to the ends of the world? It wasn’t grandfather’s style to simply let someone live. Robin’s sole existence was a miracle.

She had all the reasons in the world to want to kill you.

…But you weren’t expecting to feel sad about it.

The last hour… walking around with her, shopping, having lighthearted conversations about clothes, nothing too important. The way she picked your outfit with care. How you had fun, a different type of fun than running from a sea beast earlier with the boys, but fun anyway. How you could forget a bit about your true identity, the reality of your family. How nice it was to simply have an older woman around you. Like… like the older sister you never had.

But once again, it was all destroyed because you were you. A Scarpia.

You took a deep breath.

“Robin… I understand—”

“Oh, you don’t.” She cut you off like a sharp knife. “You’re tipping on the other side of the scale, in fact.”

She was right. Fuck. You had to make her understand it, otherwise this woman would try to kill you. “Alright. If you don’t believe me, believe in your captain. He was telling the truth. We’re childhood friends and I came after him.”

“That would be an extremely convenient way to approach.”

You tightened your eyes at her.

“Luffy is the most important person in my life. I would never do anything to harm him; harming you would affect him. I’d rather die than do it.”

You were taken aback by your own words.

Of course… you already knew this for a long time. Yet, it was the first time you stated it out loud to someone else. Just how ridiculously important that straw hat fool was. How he was one of your most precious motivations to keep living, to pursue strength, to pursue freedom. Your best friend. Your one and only.

Your heart ached in a bittersweet way you couldn’t quite comprehend.

Robin watched you in silence for long seconds.

You couldn’t decipher what she was thinking. She looked at the mask a few times, then at you. You tried your best to keep calm and to show no aggression. You weren’t angry at her at all. Were you in her place, you would’ve done far worse already.

So you just waited.

Robin stepped closer once again.

“How can I trust that you won’t denounce me?”

“There’s not a commission over your head at the moment.” A part of you was horrified for exposing family secrets like that, one of the most rigid rules. “We don’t hunt unless commissioned. And I’m not denouncing you to the Government either… for obvious reasons.”

She still hesitated. It seems she was searching for something in you that you didn’t understand.

And maybe she found it.

Robin nodded.

Her hands put the mask inside the bag again, zipped it, and put it back on your shoulder. Slowly, the arms that held you retracted and disappeared in another breeze of pink petals. The pressure of her grasp left your body aching. Another arm took the shopping bag from the floor and handed it to you.

The brunette woman crossed her arms.

“I owe you a cigarette pack, I guess.”

“That’d be nice.” You looked at the unlit cigarette on the floor on instinct.

Robin had a new expression on her face — one you honestly weren’t expecting to see at all… it made her look even younger. Embarrassment.

“...My apologies. I was quite violent.”

You chuckled and shrugged. “No, it’s fine. I would’ve killed me if I was you. You are very kind.”

Robin quirked one eyebrow… the ghost of her signature tiny smile was back. It made you wonder quietly if she wasn’t faking all that for the last hour. Maybe she really was easy-going, maybe she really wanted your silly opinions on clothes. Maybe (not maybe, you did) you’d like to spend more time with her in a relaxed atmosphere.

…Earlier today with Chopper and Usopp… the afternoon with Robin…

Maybe Luffy wasn’t the only one having more people in his orbit. Maybe you could have more people in yours, too. 

It would be really nice.

Robin sighed. “The Captain must be a magnet for troublesome people, huh…”

You huffed. “He is trouble himself!”

The two of you shared a quiet laugh.

You walked out of the alley back to the ugly streets of Mock Town. This problem was solved. 

However. 

You excused yourself for a moment while Robin entered a small restaurant.

There was that other problem to solve. 

And unfortunately for whoever it was… you were not as kind as Robin.

He held you by the arms. You held him by the arms.

“Wolfie!!”

“Luffy!!”

“What the hell are you doing here?! I was just—”

“I was looking for you! I heard an explosion and—”

“—we were buying food and I got lost and—”

“—I didn’t know if I’d find you here but—”

“—how the hell did you end up here?! How did—”

Zzzzzup!

A bullet came flying right by your ear. You leaned your head away in time. It landed on the bell tower’s pillar, cracking the concrete and making debris fly in all directions.

Oh. Right. There’s people shooting at us.

Luffy scowled again — an angry expression this time — and looked at the Marine troopers down there.

“Hey! We’re having a moment here!”

“Climb up the tower!” One of them shouted the orders. “Break the door down and get him!”

Luffy clicked his tongue in annoyance. Without warning, his arm wrapped around your waist like a snake.

“Let’s get outta here!”

Upon feeling his grip, your first instinctive reaction was to fight back. How long had it been since anyone was so close to you? Well… you knew exactly how long ago — three years, since the moment you said goodbye and hugged for the last time. You weren’t used to physical contact (non-violent physical contact, at least) anymore.

But there was the other instinct in you, too. The one you’d tried to suppress for your own sanity.

That was Luffy. You’d never be able to hurt Luffy.

So this time, you suppressed the predominant part of you — the sharp blade. You sheathed it and hid it in the safe with a complicated password in the corner of your mind, the way you used to do when you were a kid.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and grinned back.

Luffy swung the two of you over the roofs, faster than any of the troopers down there could follow. You were used to doing that too with your chain, but his grip was much more accurate than yours (he was using his actual limbs to do that. Of course it’d be easier). You already knew the chill in your stomach whenever you’d sway meters and meters away from the ground... yet, it was the first time that felt exciting.

Finally, he settled over another roof near the shore at a considerable distance from the church. His arm unwrapped, went back to its normal form— and then he was holding both your shoulders and grinning again.

“Wolfiiiiiie!!”

You felt about to explode.

Luffy. Luffy Luffy Luffy. It was Luffy right there in front of you, smiling at you, hopping from feet to feet like an excited bunny, and you were involuntarily hopping in place like a fool too. Since when were you not in complete control of your body? You knew the answer. Since you met him. And it was him again after all this time, despite all of your insecurities, despite all the bad outcomes you had imagined— he didn’t push you away, he didn’t forget you, he wasn’t bothered, he— he—

You allowed yourself to give an actual look at him.

Luffy was the same, except he wasn’t. Sun and salt made him tanner than he’d ever been back in Dawn Island; it made the thin scar under his left eye stand out even more, as it had a much lighter color than his skin. His hair was still messy, but shorter than you remembered… it didn’t look like he chopped the strands by himself. He had an actual haircut now? His baby cheeks were gone, his features were sharper. The straw hat was more battered than you’d ever seen. Luffy wore a red vest that seemed slightly oversized, jeans shorts and… yeah. The sandals hadn’t changed.

He was taller. He didn’t look like a scrawny boy anymore, either. Luffy wasn’t bulk, but the muscles of his arms, shoulders and back were very well defined. Talking about arms — he had new scars over them; most looked pretty recent, still reddish.

But his smile was the exact same. The gleam in his eyes. The warmth that radiated from him, both physically and through haki.

Luffy.

After three years. After all you’d been through. After coming to the point of not thinking of him, of avoiding the memory of his face (and Ace’s, and Makino’s, and Dadan’s, and the landscape of Mt. Colubo) to make everything easier to bear, to ease the ache in your heart.

There he was now.

And only at that moment you realized how you missed his stupidly loud voice — even if it sounded different from what you remembered.

“What are you doing here?!” He was shaking you by the shoulders. You cackled.

“I already said! I was looking for you!”

“But— how? How’d you know I’d be here?!”

“I just guessed that you would end up here to get supplies after leaving Alabasta.”

“How’d you know I was in Alabasta?!”

“You’re famous, Luffy! It was all over the news!”

He giggled like a maniac. It honestly looked like his cheeks would tear apart from the size of that grin.

“Hah! D’you see it? D’you see it?! You saw my bounty?!”

“Yes, I saw it— stop shaking me!” You swatted his hands away, but both of you were still smiling.

Luffy giggled again and put his hands on his hips. “If you saw it, it means Shanks must’ve seen it, too!” A very very very very tiny part of you was just a little irritated that he was thinking of Shanks upon meeting you again after years. But just a tiny part. “Hah, I want to meet him again—” This tiny part of you was about to get bigger when Luffy interrupted himself. His smile faded into a frown. He groaned and crossed his arms. “Wait. This ain’t right.”

“What’s not right?”

He pointed from himself to you. “I was supposed to find you, not the opposite.”

You quirked an eyebrow. “Does it matter?”

“’Course it matters! It was a promise!” He held his chin. “I mean— I thought of finding you, but like— you never told me where you live, and I couldn’t go around asking for you by your name, so, uhhh, you know, it was complicated—”

Another smile slowly crept up on your lips.

Don’t tell Ace my secret or I’ll smack you.

That name was forbidden, even though you decided to share it with him anyway.

He remembered.

You slapped his arm lightly. “Whatever, Luffy. Of course I’d find you first. I’m better than you anyway.” You smirked at him in a teasing way. You had forgotten about this side of you, too.

Luffy scoffed and quirked one eyebrow. “I’m the one with a hundred million over my head!” Now he was smirking in a teasing way, his voice coated with an extra mocking tone. “I bet you’re pretty weak, huh? ‘Cause you ain’t got no bounty on ya.”

“Of course I have no bounty. No one’s supposed to know I exist.”

“Boooo. Loser excuse!”

He stuck his tongue out. You rolled your eyes and laughed.

“Anyway, where’s your crew?”

“Dunno. I lost them.” Luffy was eyeing something in you. Your shoulder? He stood by your side.

“So where’s your ship? Are you docked in the main harbor or— what are you doing?”

Luffy grinned again.

“I’m taller than you.”

He was measuring your shoulders.

You frowned. “No, you’re not.”

“I so am!”

Actually.

It was a bit weird that you didn’t have to look down to meet his eyes anymore.

But— taller? No, no way.

“You’re not taller than me!”

“I am!”

He passed his hand from the top of his head to yours; there was the difference of, like two centimeters. That was enough for him to send you an infuriating look of superiority.

“This hat gives you, like, five centimeters more! Take it off and you’ll see!”

“Huh, what about these freaking boots you wearin’?” He pointed to your feet. “Take ‘em off!”

“I’m not taking my shoes off!”

“Looooooser! You know you’re shorter than me now and don’t want to admit it!”

“Shut up! You’re not taller than—”

Zzzzuuup!

A bullet came flying right between you two.

The troopers appeared from the corner.

“There he is! Shoot him down!”

Instead of showing annoyance, Luffy’s face contorted in the grin of an evil gremlin. Oh. You knew that expression.

He side eyed you. “I bet I can beat more of ‘em than you!”

That awakened something else that had been dormant for the past three years.

Your heart pounded faster. Your fingers tingled with excitement. You untangled the chain from around our hips and twirled the spiked ball, grinning back at him.

“Bet.”

Both of you jumped from the roof and attacked at the same time.

From that point on, those troopers started having a really bad day.

In a normal day, you wouldn’t face Marines unless if your target was one. The family was always very hesitant to accept a commission to hunt a Marine because getting involved with the government could lead to many troubles. So… you decided to not kill them. Just knock them out. Which was very unusual. Your instincts told you to be fast and lethal. Each blow was supposed to strike irreparable, mortal damage.

In a normal day, all of that would be boring, too. These were just regular street troopers, not even a lieutenant among them to offer a real challenge. Your efforts were put to a minimum.

But Luffy was there by your side. Dodging bullets, gomu gomu no mi-ing opponents, sending them flying around with his blows. Laughing maniacally. Toying them. The troopers didn’t offer him much of a challenge either, but nevertheless, Luffy thought all of that was fun.

And he was infectious.

He didn’t fight like you. His movements weren’t surgically precise to end the fight as fast as possible. He twirled, stretched, jumped, hid behind them and then patted them on the shoulder so they could be met with a punch on the face — all the while he laughed, almost beamed, because he was having fun, and you could feel him through observation haki, and you could feel how the troopers were infuriated and scared of him because they had no chance at all.

And then you caught yourself laughing, too, almost too focused on watching him fight than fight yourself. You felt the adrenaline bubbling in your system in a different way than it usually would. Making the chain wrap around opponents was easy like swimming with the current. Was refreshing. And maybe you were just letting yourself be influenced by his feelings, but you found yourself having fun, too.

That was a first.

When the last marine fell, Luffy twirled around to face you.

“How many did you beat?!”

“I wasn’t counting.” Lie. You beat 18. He beat 15. You from years ago would shove this win on his face, but strangely, at that moment, that didn’t matter.

He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, still grinning devilishly. “You were supposed to count, so if you didn’t, it means I won!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you wrapped the chain around your hip again in a fast movement. “There’s more coming. We should leave.”

“You scared of losing again, huh?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sooo scared,” you rolled your eyes, but didn’t even try to hide your smile. “Where’s your ship?”

Luffy hummed and looked down the shore. “It’s on the other side of the island! We should start running!”

“We don’t need to run.” He eyed you with curiosity when you started walking back to the inn where you spent the night. “I can take us there faster.”

Luffy’s eyes were quite literally beaming.

“That’s sooo cool!!”

A part of you already knew (hoped, at least) that he would react like that, but it made you feel giddy anyway.

“C’mon, hop in!”

“But I want to ride it!”

“Nope. You’ll crash it and kill us.”

Luffy whined like a child, but jumped from the pier to sit behind you anyway.

His amazement was justified: there weren’t many water bikes around. Those were way too expensive for most people, and as they couldn’t take anyone too far, kind of impractical. That was a problem the Scarpia engineers solved for you very quickly. Your black motor bike was a singular model in the world: it could work for fifteen hours straight before recharging, and the Seastone lining protected you from any beasts. You could even reach islands at a relatively close distance from each other, though you’d rather not do it if not necessary; the unpredictable weather changes from the Grand Line could drown you in a minute.

You turned the keys on the handlebars and the bike’s engines roared with life. Luffy giggled behind you.

“You sure that your ship is on the other side?” You asked, looking at him from over your shoulder.

“Yeah! We docked it on an islet!” Luffy hopped while still sitting. “Let’s go already!”

You held the grips while smirking. “Hold on tight. I don’t feel like getting my clothes wet to save you.”

He giggled again and wrapped his arms around your waist.

Which, duh. Of course he did. Where else would he hold on tight? Yet, a part of you was caught off guard — the part that forgot that not every physical touch meant violence. This part was probably the responsible for making goosebumps roam your skin, too, because he was glued to your back, his chin casually coming to rest on your shoulder.

It reminded you of that night years ago when you… uh… cuddled.

Whatever whatever whatever.

You ignited the bike and sped through the waters.

“Yaaahoooo!!” Luffy exclaimed.

“Don’t yell in my ear!” Despite your complaint, you were smiling, too — almost hoping you could look back to get a glimpse of his hair being thrown back with the speed.

“This thing go any faster?!”

You were so hoping he would ask that.

As you moved away from the shore, the waves got bigger and bigger. The sounds of the ocean and the bike breaking through it were loud, the cold wind made you shiver. You were nearing the breaker zone. Closer. Closer.

“Hold on tight, Luffy!”

“I am holding tight!”

“Tighter!”

Again, his arms became snakes, both of them turning around your waist multiple times.

You turned the accelerator.

Luffy screamed with the sudden speed. His torso was not glued to you anymore, being propelled centimeters back with the momentum.

Fast fast fast fast fast. You sped on a beeline towards the breaker zone. The waves stood angry, three meters tall. Fast fast fast fast fast—

You caught one of the big ones a moment before it could break; the wave worked as a ramp up. The bike slid on it smoothly, reached its peak— and for three seconds, you were in the air. Your stomach dropped.

Luffy’s scream was louder than the waves breaking.

The bike fell again, splashing water all over you both. He laughed — scandalous, loud, adorable — and you ended up laughing too, blinking the water away from your lashes.

“You okay?!” You looked over your shoulder for a second, worried about the water on him. Turns out he got less wet than you. He wasn’t worried in the slightest.

“Do that again!!”

“I will!” And that wasn’t even just because he was asking — the breaker zone wasn’t over.

You jumped over another big wave, and two more, making Luffy laugh and scream maniacally every time without fail. Finally, you reached the deep waters where the sea was calmer and you could have a good look over the coast and its many harbors. Your legs and boots were wet, but you didn’t care.

Luffy told you where to go. Quite frankly, you didn’t really trust his sense of direction, but he sounded certain enough — and the idea of just speeding with him for a while wasn’t even that bad. You didn’t mind his loud voice, his strong grip on you, the warmth of his body against the cold wind and water. You didn’t mind it, not at all.

Finally, a few islets peeked in the horizon.

“There! There!” He exclaimed excitedly while pointing ahead. They were away from any harbors on the main island. A smart place to dock. You were sure this wasn’t Luffy’s idea.

It didn’t take long to find the ship.

It was a respectable medium-sized caravel with two masts. The figurehead had the form of a very charismatic sheep. The central sail had a giant Jolly Roger painted on it: a skull wearing a straw hat. Straw Hat Pirates, as they were already being called.

The smile that crept up your lips was instinctive.

You anchored the bike near the ship and jumped on board with Luffy’s help.

As soon as you stepped on the ship’s bow, he extended his arms proudly, a big smile plastered on his face.

“Welcome to the Going Merry!”

You rested your hands on your hips and looked around.

First thing you noticed — the figurehead was patched.

You quirked a brow at him and smirked devilishly. “You tried to kill the sheep, Luffy?”

“How’d you know it was me?”

“Who else would’ve done that?”

He didn’t even try to deny it. He didn’t look ashamed, either.

Of course Luffy’s ship would be all patched up. It made so much sense. Very different from the pristine, soulless ships from the family. You looked curiously at what sat atop the main cabin on the opposite side — an orchard with actual tangerine trees? Other than the main sail, their Jolly Roger was proudly displayed from two other flags. One of them was up there at the crow’s nest. You’d have to climb there later to have a good look at the view.

Voices of the past whispered in your ears.

My ship will be huuuuge with, like, two masts and a big crew.

Did Luffy even remember saying that all those years ago?

You looked down at him again.

“This is great, Luffy.”

“Right?!” His smile got even bigger, if that was even possible. But Luffy didn’t really get what you meant, and you wouldn’t try to explain it, but you felt a speck of pride of him. That stupid boy got the ship with two masts he dreamed of. He was on the Grand Line with a respectable bounty over his head.

Maybe you were feeling a tad bit emotional.

He took the straw hat off, letting it hang from the thin string around his neck, and positioned himself by your side.

“Take the boots off!”

That wave of emotion went as quick as it came.

“What?”

“Take ‘em off! I’m taller than you now, I’m sayin’!”

“You’re not!”

“Then prove it!”

That irked you up.

You unzipped the black leather boots and put them aside, straightened your back the best way you could and stood by his side. Shoulder to shoulder.

“See?! I’m taller than—” You stomped on his foot. “Ouch!”

“Stop tip toeing!”

“Ugh, fine!” He finally planted both feet on the floor like a normal person.

The shoulders seemed to be at exactly the same height.

“I’m, like, a little bit taller than you.”

You huffed. “Of course not. I’d say I’m two centimeters taller than you.”

“Tsk. Is your eyesight this bad now, Four Eyes?” There was a spark of something weird in your chest upon hearing the silly nickname for the first time in years. “You’re not taller than me.”

“You’re not taller than me either!”

Luffy groaned and looked ahead.

“Zorooooooo!”

You had already sensed four other presences in the ship before Luffy said anything. Yet, a tiny part of you felt a bit anxious anyway.

A mop of green hair came upstairs slowly.

Tall guy. Muscular. White short-sleeved shirt, black pants and boots, a green haramaki around his waist. Three katanas resting on his hip. His mint green hair was very short, making an interesting contrast with his tanned skin. Three golden earrings on his left ear.

Roronoa Zoro. The Pirate Hunter from the East Blue. He was relatively famous, as far as you knew.

He froze mid-yawn when his puffy eyes landed on you.

You noticed how the hand that was absently resting over one of the katanas gripped around it.

Luffy pointed from himself to you frantically.

“Which of us is taller?!”

Green hair guy looked from him, to you, to him, to you, and then stared at you, a frown slowly taking place on his features.

“...I have a better question.”

“Which of us is taller?!” Luffy pressed.

He gulped. “You two are the same height.” Zoro tilted his head to the side. “Care to explain what’s going o—?”

He was interrupted by a loud gasp.

“Whose water bike is that?!”

Taptaptaptaptap; excited hops on the floorboards down there.

“Where? Where? I wanna see it!” A second voice — very high pitched and childish? There was a child on board? — followed by another loud gasp. “That is sooo cool!!”

“Luuuuffy, are you back?!” Someone was running upstairs. “D’you guys get a water bike—?”

Not that tall guy. Skinny. Brown overalls, a white sash around his hips, an olive plaid bandana over his hair and goggles atop it. Black curly hair, brown skin, and— why was his nose so long?

He froze when his eyes landed on you.

Luffy pointed from himself to you frantically.

“Usopp, which of us is taller?!”

Long nose guy guy looked from him, to you, to him, to you, and then stared at you.

You saw blood disappearing from his face.

He jumped to hide behind green hair guy.

“Zoro, who’s that?! What’s going on?!”

“Get off me.” Zoro groaned and elbowed his head. It made a tuk sound as if he had elbowed an empty coconut.

“Ouch!”

“C’mon, answer the question!” Luffy pressed again, sounding more impatient.

But there was the sound of someone coming upstairs once more — though, this time, it didn’t sound like shoes on wooden boards; it sounded like… hooves?

You found out why very quickly.

A… a tiny creature appeared — and for the first initial seconds, your brain was in shock, as you didn’t know what the fuck you were looking at.Short, round, brown hair covered all of its body; a pair of antlers sat atop its head, the left one was patched. It stood on two feet instead of four. Its eyes were huge and round, its nose was blue. It wore maroon shorts and a pink hat with a white X on it.

“Luffy, Luffy, what is that? Can we ride it—?”

You gasped quietly. “It talks.”

Luffy looked at you with a huge grin. “He talks!”

He froze when his eyes landed on you. His smile immediately vanished. The thing looked from Luffy, to you, to him, to you, and then stared at you.

The little creature — reindeer? — rushed to hide behind Zoro’s leg (“hide” is too strong of a word, as most of his body was still visible) while still eyeing you with distrust. Zoro didn’t mind pushing him away this time.

“W-W-Who is that?” He stuttered in that childish tone that kinda of tugged at your heart.

Luffy patted your back rather aggressively.

“This one’s my friend Wolfie!”

“Nice to meet y’all.” You greeted absently.

“Now which of us is taller?”

Long nose guy — Usopp? — tightened his eyes, not looking that scared anymore, and put his hands on his hips.

“The answer is obvious.” He puffed his chest like a rooster. “I’m taller than the both of you.”

“We ain’t asking!”

A quiet giggle.

The fourth presence was very skilled, as you hadn’t seen the moment she approached, even though you had already sensed her.

A tall woman. She wore a simple white shirt and jeans. She had feline blue eyes, tanned skin, black straight hair with bangs and—holy shit. That’s Nico Robin, isn’t it?! She’s in Luffy’s crew now?!

“I’d say you’re both the exact same height, captain.” Her voice was quiet and soothing… seductive, in a way. Despite her relaxed position, leaning on the ship’s railing, her eyes on you were astute and inquisitive.

Luffy groaned. “All of you are blind! I’m obviously the taller one here!”

Usopp stood beside Luffy, shoulder to shoulder. “Bow down to my superior height!”

Luffy hooked his arm around Usopp’s neck, strangling him. Long nose guy chocked. “Shut up!”

The little creature eyed you, and Luffy, and Usopp, and Zoro, and the ship’s railing, with maximum distrust. “W-W-What about the water b-bike…?”

Zoro wasn’t looking at you anymore. He had a slightly annoyed expression, and clearly wasn’t as relaxed as the other two, but it seems he wasn’t as interested in the situation anymore.

You thought everyone was acting way too casual over the fact that Nico Robin was on the ship. Nico Robin. The woman who’d been successfully running away from the government for decades. The woman that managed to run away from your family for years. Because yes, they’d been paid to hunt her before — and failed. She was very interested in you in the other hand, analyzing you quietly with a mysterious lip tightened smile.

Zoro scratched the back of his head. “Where are the other two?

Luffy let go of Usopp for a moment. “Dunno! I lost them!”

The swordsman groaned. “That fool’s making us waste time here.”

Nico Robin (freaking Nico Robin) eyed you again. “Thank you for bringing our captain back, miss…”

“Wolfie.” You told her while putting your boots back on.

“Why’d you give him a ride, though?” Usopp asked.

It seems Luffy was about to answer the question for you — but he didn’t have the time.

You felt two new presences.

Fast steps approaching.

You knew what was about to happen. You visualized it in your head before it unfolded, and your first instinct was to protect Luffy. But you noticed how he wasn’t caught off guard, he didn’t move to protect himself…

So you just stepped aside and watched when the two newcomers landed a flying kick right on his chest.

Luffy fell on his back.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!!” The guy yelled while stomping him. Repeatedly.

“Why’d you attract the Marines?!” The girl’s eyes were quite literally on fire. “What is your problem?!”

“You put Nami-swan in danger! She could’ve ended up getting hurt or—”

“—we dropped half the shopping bags because of you!! I had found such a cute purse but—”

“—captured!! If that had happened I’d never forgive you!!”

“—I left it behind because of your stupid ass!!”

Luffy didn’t react.

No one reacted, in fact.

The little thing was nervously peeking at the water bike over the railing. Nico Robin seemed amused. Usopp cleaned his goggles on his sash. It looked like Zoro had a headache.

So that was a common occurrence.

You muffled a giggle.

“M-My bad, y’all…” Luffy stuttered, still on the floor, with two huge bumps on his head. He didn’t sound sorry, though.

Robin behind you giggled quietly. “You guys are scaring the guest.”

“Huh? What guest?” The girl quickly found you.

Her short hair was as orange as the tangerines in the orchard. She wore a simple blue tank top and a yellow mini skirt; the Log Pose attached to her wrist could only mean she was the navigator. Her face, shoulders and chest were peppered by light freckles. She looked at you with round, curious eyes.

The guy turned around.

Tall. He wore an elegant double-chested black suit that made you wonder how the hell he was dealing with the heat. His light blonde hair was parted sideways, hiding most of the left side of his face; a cigarette was between his lips. His eyebrow, you noticed, had a strange pattOH MY FUCKING GOD.

It felt like your brain suffered an electric shock.

That’s Ichiji.

No— that’s impossible. What the hell would Ichiji be doing here? Impossible. But— But— that eyebrow. That eyebrow! That jawline! That nose! It’s him except for the—

He spotted you.

You saw the exact moment his blue eyes beamed.

The annoyed scowl immediately vanished. It melted in a wide smile that felt so odd to look at, because that was Ichiji’s face, and you’d never seen Ichiji smile like that.

He gasped.

“A gorgeous lady! Right before my eyes!”

You saw Zoro roll his eyes in the corner and scowl like he had slurped a sour lemon.

“Here goes the clown…”

It was very rare of you to be taken aback by anything — but when the blonde guy went down on one knee in front of you and held your hand, you were very taken aback.

You almost slapped him, in fact. Because that was Ichiji’s face. And you despised the idea of having that guy in a distance smaller than two meters, let alone let him touch you.

But that’s not Ichiji. Right?

“You’ve brightened my day with you presence, milady!” His tone had none of the aggressiveness from two seconds ago when he was beating Luffy to a pulp. He took the cigarette from his lips and planted a soft, quick kiss on the back of your hand. “Sanji, at your service! Enchanté!”

Sanji.

Your brain traced a couple of absurd theories. Does Ichiji have a secret life? Does he wear a blonde wig on his days off? What if he’s undercover, trying to take Luffy down?! But— why would Germa be interested in Luffy anyway? What if it’s not Ichiji? The stupid triplets all look alike after all. This could be Niji or Yonji or—

Or—

Wait a minute.

Ichiji. Niji. Yonji.

Sanji.

Ohhhhhhh.

You had an epiphany that almost made you fall on your back.

It was really hard to not let it show.

Judge had a son that died. They never talked about it. There weren’t monuments on his honor, either. But that was a fact. Everyone in Germa knew.

No. No fucking way.

You noticed that your silence was becoming increasingly awkward.

“Uh… I’m Wolfie.”

“You’re making her introduce herself for the third time,” Zoro whined.

“Shut the fuck up, I ain’t talking to you,” Sanji growled at the swordsman before turning to you again with that silly smile again. “Wolfie-chan! What a beautiful name!”

The way he could change behaviors this quick was a bit unsettling. No— everything he did was unsettling for some reason. You’d learned to hate that face for almost a decade now. The whole thing was weird.

Sanji got up. This time, it was the ginger girl’s turn to step closer, eyeing you with both curiosity and suspicion.

“Sooo… what brings you here?”

Luffy got up in a jump.

In a second, he rushed to your side and draped his arm around your shoulders. There was no sign of pain anymore despite the beat down he just received, being completely replaced by excitement.

“She’s my friend back from Foosha! We’ve known each other for aaaaages!”

Upon hearing this, all of them seemed to drop the suspicion they held up until that moment. They gathered closer. It was a bit overwhelming to have that much attention on you all at once — you were not used to being seen like that. At all. It’d been too long since you socialized for the last time — and yet, a stupid part of you felt happy (flustered?) that Luffy introduced you like that to his crew: as his friend, with excitement.

“Oh, thank God. I thought Luffy had brought us more trouble.” Ginger girl sighed in relief before opening a welcoming smile. “My name’s Nami. Nice to meet you! Where’s your skirt from?”

“I didn’t even know you had friends, Luffy.” Usopp remarked in a teasing tone.

“What’d you mean? ‘Course I had friends!”

“So… you’re from Luffy’s hometown?” Usopp ignored Luffy’s angry scowl and asked.

“Oh, no. I visited him every once in a while.”

“Yeah! She’s from the Ne—” you pinched Luffy’s back where they couldn’t see it. He chocked on his words. “From Loguetown!”

Nami put her hands on her hips. “It’s weird to know Luffy had normal childhood friends! I figured he was always around, like, psychopaths and criminals or something.”

Luffy giggled. “Oh! But Wolfie here’s an a—” you pinched Luffy’s back where they couldn’t see it. He chocked on his words. “Insect hunter!”

“Insect hunter?” The little creature —oh fuck that thing’s unsettling — was suddenly interested.

“A researcher.” You looked down at him. His huge round eyes were kind of adorable after you got used to it. “I catalog animalsand insects.” Which felt stupid to say, since it’d been years since you last cataloged a single ant.

“That’s cool.” He said under his breath with barely hidden amazement. His little voice, once again, tugged at your heartstrings… and maybe a little bit of guilt, too, because that was a big fat lie.

“Why the chain, though?” Zoro directed himself to you for the first time, eyeing the chain around your hips with suspicion.

“Sometimes my researches fight back.” You shrugged. He wasn’t convinced. You didn’t care.

Sanji gripped the fabric of his clothes where his heart was in a dramatic way. “She’s beautiful and smart! I’ve been blessed! Tell me— what’d you wanna eat?!”

The question was so out of the blue that you frowned. “Huh?”

Luffy looked at you. He had stepped aside, now resting his hands on his hips. “You stayin’ with us, right?”

They all looked at you in silence.

Oh fuck.

You planned to meet Luffy, but you knew you couldn’t stay with him for too long. That’d risk their safety.

And yet…

“Where are you guys sailing to?” You asked. Luffy beamed with excitement.

“To the island in the sky!!”

“To the what?”

Ginger girl let a tired sigh past her lips. “We’re sailing to Jaya, actually. We’re trying to find clues on how to get to the sky island.”

Before you could make any remark, she lifted her wrist to your eye level. The Log Pose’s pointer was turned upwards.

Oh. An island in the sky. Okay. Why the fuck not?

You hummed and held your chin. “...Jaya’s a day away from here, isn’t it? I guess I can—”

Luffy didn’t let you finish.

“Yahoooo!! Great! Great! Sanji, make us a lot of food!!”

The blonde pushed Usopp out of the way like he was a bop bag to stand in front of you.

“Wolfie-chan, what’s your favorite dish? I’ll cook anything you want!”

He’s the crew’s cook? There was something so uncanny in seeing Ichiji’s lookalike being the cook. You knew Ichiji (or any of the triplets) would never subject themselves to such an activity.

“Dunno. Anything spicy.”

Sanji clasped his hands together and twirled like a ballerina. He ended up kicking Usopp like he was a bop bag again (you weren’t sure if that was on accident).

“I’ll always admire a woman that can take some pepper!” He pointed two finger guns at you and winked. “Spicy eel it is! You’ll love it!”

“I want meat, too!” Luffy protested.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! You fools can take our supplies from the boat!”

He twirled away. Seriously twirled away. Jumped over the railing down the deck towards the cabin on the other side. Like a ballerina. Were those hearts floating around him?

Wow. Okay.

The three other guys walked over to pick the supplies from the boat down there while the little thing still eyed the water bike. Nico Robin had disappeared. Only ginger girl (Nami?) stayed by your side.

“Is he always like that?” You asked her quietly. She sighed again.

“Always.” She eyed you again. “Seriously though, where’s your skirt from?”

You looked down at it on instinct. It was the first time you wore this one — a plaid pleated mini skirt in red and black. It made the chain around your hips look really cool. The high neck top was pretty simple; sleeveless, considering how hot it was. It matched your boots. The headband over your hair was plaid, too, on the same colors of the skirt. Small silver hoop earrings completed the look.

It wasn’t that elaborate compared to the stuff you’d wear in other occasions, but you still spent some time picking this outfit.

Which made you feel weird about it for the first time.

You weren’t trying to look cute on purpose for Luffy of all people, right? No, of course not. You always put time and effort into your outfits. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Besides, Luffy was the last person on Earth to care about anyone’s clothes. He never did, and it wasn’t different this time.

Right?

Yeah, right.

“I got it in Tigerlily.” You explained while passing your hand over the skirt.

She widened her eyes slightly. “Isn’t it the island of gold?”

“Yeah.” There was no point in lying about this. They’d already seen the water bike, which was an obvious and inexcusable indicative of money.

It seems Nami had that same perception at that moment.

She opened a strange smile and clasped her hands together — and, at that moment, you thought she was scarily similar to Sanji.

“I can’t wait to know more about you, bestie!”

Luffy wasn’t paying attention to you.

Know what? That shouldn’t bother you. It’s normal, right? That was his crew. These were his friends. He had stuff to do. Why would he be stuck with you the entire time? Why’d you expect him to do so? That’d be senseless. Yeah.

But as you watched Luffy, Usopp and Chopper (the tiny creature) drape their arms over each other’s to sing and dance cancan, not batting an eye at you for a second, you felt… weird.

“We need a musician!” Luffy screamed at some point. “As fast as possible!”

“We really do. I can’t stand you people singing in my ear the whole day.” Zoro grumbled. “You sound like dying seagulls.”

“Quit complainin’ and come here, Zoro!” Usopp draped his arm around the swordsman’s shoulders forcefully. “Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest! Yo-ho-hoooo and a bottle of rum!”

“Get off.” He untangled himself and stumbled towards the men’s chambers. “I’m gonna take a nap.”

“Shocking news...” you heard Nami’s sarcastic voice from somewhere behind you.

The trio was unaffected.

“Drink and the devil had done for the rest! Yo-ho-hoooo and a bottle of rum!” They sang enthusiastically. Each of them on a different note.

Okay.

That was not exactly how you had imagined your meeting would go.

A part of you — the sane part — knew exactly why you were feeling this way. Back when you’d go to Dawn Island for your yearly vacations, you’d have Luffy’s exclusive attention. Ace was there too, of course, but you’d always been much closer to Luffy, and the considerable age gap made Ace not want to engage on your child play most of the time. It was just the two of you.

There were six other people to divide his attention now. Which, again, understandable.

Yet, a tiny part of you (the same part that got upset when he mentioned Shanks) mumbled quietly, I thought he’d be happier to see me. I thought he’d pay more attention to me.

The sane part knew that was childish.

The sane part, unfortunately, also knew why. You hated that part. You hated how you were always so aware of your own feelings.

Luffy was your only friend.

He’d always been. He was your motivation to strive strength, to keep going despite the hell you’d been through.

You were Luffy’s friend, but you weren’t his one and only.

You got up from the bench in a jump.

Stop stop stop stop. This isn’t the moment to think about this! You finally met Luffy again! It’s what you wanted, right?! Don’t be a bitch about it!

So you decided to address the elephant in the room to fill your mind.

The island was already but a tiny dot in the distance as the Going Merry sailed away from it. Your water bike was attached to it by ropes, following its direction. The skies were clear, the wind was working on your favor, the sea was calm. Robin stood on the crow’s nest up there. A beautiful day.

You walked towards the kitchen in silence.

Upon opening the door, you were immediately hit by a mix of delicious smells.

All the burners of the stove were being used. Multiple ingredients were organized in different bowls on the counter; faint white smoke filled the room.

Sanji had his back facing you as he stirred one of the pans. He had taken his jacket off, exposing the light blue shirt he wore underneath; the sleeves were rolled up his elbows. He did not notice you entering.

“Excuse me.”

He immediately turned around.

“Welcome, Wolfie-chan!”

The way he smiled so brightly was… uncanny. Ichiji never smiled like that. Or Niji. Or Yonji. Or Reiju.

You approached the table slowly. “Am I bothering you?”

“No, of course not! It’s a pleasure to see you here!” The shocking part is that it didn’t sound like he was lying. You sat down and rested your arms on the table.

You watched as Sanji chopped a big cabbage in swift movements. It was kind of impressive how thinly he was cutting the leaves. He was definitely skilled.

“Must be a pain in the ass to cook for Luffy, huh?” You remarked after a while. Sanji chuckled and looked at you from over his shoulder.

“It is! Dude’s stomach is a bottomless. I gotta worry about the fridge every night.” He focused on the board in front of him again. “It’s rewarding, though. He’ll swallow any recipe I try.”

You tapped your fingertips over the table slowly. “So… you’re a professional chef.”

Sanji sent you another wink from over his shoulder. “I sure am, milady!”

“Since when?”

“Oh, since I was a brat. I was raised in a restaurant, you see. The Baratie, have you heard of it?”

“On the East Blue?”

“Yep!”

“Yes, I’ve heard about it.” You’d dined there a few times, in fact, during your trips towards Dawn Island. The food was pretty good. You rested your cheek on your palm. Sanji’s back faced you. “You’re not from the East Blue, though. Right?”

Sanji didn’t stop cutting. “What makes you think that?”

“You have a little bit of an accent.” Your tone was controlled to sound as much unpretentious as possible. It had been convincing up until then. “Also… enchanté. It’s not something I’ve heard a lot in the East Blue.”

The blonde eyed you from over his shoulder again, looking surprised. He smiled. “Ooh, you have a good ear, Wolfie-chan!” Sanji turned around again. He took a bowl full of red peppers and placed them over the cutting board. “I never really got rid of my accent, right? But most people don’t notice it. You must have traveled a lot!”

“Kind of.” You tapped your fingertips a little bit more frantically. Almost there. “So… where are you from?”

“North Blue.” You froze. “But it’s been so long since I left, it doesn’t even feel like I’m—”

“You’re a Vinsmoke, aren’t you?”

Sanji gagged.

The knife slipped from his hand and fell inside the sink.

He stood there, his back facing you, for long moments. Frozen.

He turned around slowly.

His face was pale.

All the wonder he had shown… the smiles, the façade, all gone. Sanji was serious. Even a bit scared.

He leaned against the counter. You looked at each other in silence.

“How’d you know?” His voice was quiet. Completely different from how he’d been behaving before.

“You look exactly like them.” You matched his tone.

Sanji sighed. For the first time, his eyes avoided yours. He took a dishcloth nearby and cleaned his hands with it.

“...I don’t go by that name anymore, milady.”

Something inside of you relaxed.

“Well, thank God. If you did, I’d have to kill you.”

Sanji let a humorless chuckle past his lips. “And I’d die happily, knowing a beautiful lady took my last breath.” Gosh. He never loses an opportunity. “Are you… well acquainted with them?”

“Much more than I’d like to.” The way you rolled your eyes at the mere mention of the family was instinctive.

“Not a simple insect hunter, then.” He quirked one eyebrow with an inquisitive expression.

“The same way you’re not just a simple cook, either. We all have our baggage.” You shrugged.

Sanji measured you in silence for a while. You saw something new beneath the flirty mask he wore before; sagacity. That serious expression of his, the way he tightened his blue eyes… he looked scarily similar to his brothers like that, so much so that a shiver ran down your spine. Except there was no visible spite. Just curiosity.

“The mysteries of a woman will always fascinate me.” Yeah. He really doesn’t lose an opportunity. You fought to not roll your eyes. Sanji looked down at his hands, busying them with the dishcloth again. “If you were worried about my ties with my ex-family, you don’t need to be. I dislike them much more than you’ll ever do.”

He didn’t even know what you’d been through because of the Vinsmokes, but surprisingly, you didn’t doubt him. The tone of his voice… the way his gaze hardened… that was resentment.

You opened a lip tightened smile.

“You’re free from them, though. I’m happy for you.”

That was an odd thing to say.

On a normal day, you wouldn’t be so weirdly open or supportive towards a guy you knew an hour ago.

But… that resentment of his. It ran deep. Knowing Judge and his children, the sole way Germa worked… you could very well imagine what he’d been through. Why he’d rather be a cook in a newbie captain’s crew than claim his rightful place as a royal. Germa still was one of the most prestigious (and rich) lineages in the whole world, after all.

And yet, you knew none of that came close to freedom.

Maybe you felt a bit jealous of him. No… very jealous. Sanji had what you wanted the most.

But you also felt happy for him anyway.

Sanji opened a genuine smile. Yeah… none of the hell triplets would be able to smile like that.

That was a second before he melted into a puddle.

“Ohhhh! My heart is beating so fast!” He caressed the back of his head and tightened his eyes. The hearts were back. You wondered if they’d poison the food behind him. “What a beautiful smile you showed me! What a kind expression! I feel that I might explode—”

“The food’s gonna burn.”

“Ah.” He turned around in a jump and turned the stove off.

Out there, you noticed the trio had made up a new song.

“SA-N-JI! WE-WANT-FOOD!”

The blonde groaned and rushed to the door, opening it with a loud bam. “Shut up, you all! Food’s ready when it gets ready!!”

You couldn’t help but giggle.

So… Luffy’s crew consisted of Nico Robin, one of the most hunted people in the entire world, and the dead prince of Germa. He had beaten a Warlord and his organization. Oh, and apparently, they were trying to find a way to an island in the sky. All of that before he completed a single year since he’d set sail. Alright.

Why the fuck not?

When dinner got ready, the whole crew reunited in the kitchen — and they were so noisy that it made the place feel small.

You sat on the edge of the large bench; Luffy sat beside you without a second thought, continuously beating a knife and a fork against the table like a fool. Chopper on the opposite side imitated him, which was kind of cute. Sanji placed the pans filled with food over the table, but you noticed how he just bothered to actually make an elaborate plate for you, Nami and Robin.

He placed your plate in front of you last. Not before twirling like a ballerina. How he didn’t drop everything on the floor was a mystery.

“I present you: spicy eel with kimchi and rice! Of course, I made a version without pepper for dear Nami’s delicate taste buds!” He sent her a flying kiss across the table. Nami ignored it.

“Uh, I don’t like spicy food either...” Chopper eyed your ridiculously red plate with worry.

“The no spice version is on the yellow pan. Take it yourself.” Sanji said absently.

Luffy was vibrating beside you. “This looks sooo good, Sanji!! Lemme—”

Sanji whacked the top of his head before he could take a chunk of eel and eat it straight from the pan.

“Let Wolfie-chan eat first!!”

Heh. This brought back a memory.

You quickly took a bite before Luffy could be beaten up again. Sanji eyed your reaction with attention.

Your eyes widened slightly.

The eel was seasoned to perfection; it was soft, almost melting on your tongue.

“This is amazing.”

Sanji blushed and twirled around the table like a spinning top babbling stuff like ooooooooooh she likes my food I knew it I can die in peace tonight whaaaaaaaaat being thoroughly ignored by everyone. The rest of the crew attacked the pans. Luffy ate like an animal. He didn’t even take a second to breathe. You eyed the way Chopper balanced the spoon in his hoof with curiosity. He was very skilled for a creature without an opposable thumb. Would he let me sketch him if I asked? Shit— I don’t have a sketchbook with me.

“Thish ish amashing, Sanchi!” He exclaimed with his mouth full of food.

“Kimchi without pepper looks so boring,” Usopp beside him remarked. “It’s the pepper that makes the thing come to life!”

“First time I agree with you on something.” Sanji stopped spinning for a moment to say that. “Except for Nami-swan!! She can like anything!! She’s always right!!”

“Can you stop don juaning for a second? You make my stomach turn.” Zoro groaned.

“Yeah, vomit it all right now! Who said you were allowed to eat my food anyway?!” Sanji groaned back.

“Huhh?? Whatcha say, shitty cook?!”

“Don’t argue on top of me!” Nami groaned this time — and both of them got really calm after her reprimand.

There was a bottle of hot sauce sitting on the table. You took it and poured over your plate, not really paying attention to it. Chopper has canines? Reindeer don’t have canines. So he’s not a herbivore? Ohhh. His dental arch looks human. Oooohh. What is up with him? I really really really want to study this thing—

Usopp eyed your plate with horror.

You took a bite and eyed him back while munching. “What?”

“Are your taste buds made of steel?”

The spark of something evil and annoying lightened inside of you. Like many other things, it had been dormant.

“It’s not that bad.” You said nonchalantly.

“Huh, I doubt it.”

“No, seriously. It’s not that bad. Sanji didn’t go that hard with the pepper on my plate.” You took a bunch of eel and kimchi on your fork and offered him. “Take a bite.”

You batted your lashes innocently.

To your delight, Usopp was kind of stupid.

He shrugged happily and bit the fork.

A second later, he was coughing and spitting fire.

Luffy cackled with his mouth full, chocked and almost died. Nami punched Usopp’s face away (you’re gonna burn my hair!!), Chopper panicked (a doctor!! He needs a doctor!!), Robin giggled, Zoro quirked one eyebrow, Sanji was too focused on watching Robin smile to care.

The green haired swordsman huffed and crossed his arms. “Can’t take a little bit of pepper, Usopp?”

Long nose guy had his tongue out, smoke coming from his mouth and ears, eyed him angrily. “T-That isn’t spicy! It’s p-p-poison!”

You saw the exact moment the evil spirit possessed Nami too.

She side eyed Zoro with a smirk.

“I bet fifty grand that you can’t take a bite of that plate without drinking water.”

Zoro eyed her back, the corners of his mouth turned downwards. “I ain’t falling for that.”

“Coooooward,” Nami teased. Zoro was unaffected.

“Coooooward,” Usopp teased. Zoro was mildly affected.

“Cooooooward,” Luffy teased. Zoro was very affected.

“Uh, I think Zoro is very brave,” Chopper said timidly.

“Pussy,” Sanji teased.

Zoro was fuming.

He leaned over the table towards you, took a huge piece of your eel and ate it.

Zoro settled back in his place and crossed his arms, chewing.

His face got red.

Scarlet red.

He chewed slower. Sweat covered his forehead.

Nami giggled.

“Give up yet?”

Zoro shook his head. It seems he was unable to speak.

Usopp swayed a cup filled with water in front of his face. “Oooh, this water is so cold right now…”

Zoro avoided eye contact with the cup.

Luffy cackled so bad that he had to hold his stomach. “Zoro’s crying!!”

Green haired guy sent him a deadly glance, but his eyes were in fact teary. Robin giggled.

“I never thought I’d see you cry, Mr. Swordsman. What a rare sight.”

If Zoro could talk, you feel that he would’ve said even you?! Sanji was also giggling devilishly, which worsened the situation.

“Quick, Usopp, grab a camera! We need to capture this fool’s face!”

Zoro got up in a jump with bloodshot eyes and pointed at him accusingly. “If you dare doing that I’ll—”

The moment he opened his mouth, Nami splashed water in it. He went tssssss like piping hot steel being poured in water.

“Yay! I won!” She fisted the air. “You owe me fifty thousand now!”

Zoro was shocked.

“This ain’t right! You cheated!”

They started arguing furiously. Since Zoro took most of your eel, you took a forkful from Luffy’s plate when he wasn’t looking. Luffy looked down at his plate after a while and frowned. “Usopp, why’d you take my food?!”

“The hell? I didn’t do anything!”

“Spit it out! Spit it out!”

Luffy stretched his arms across the table and strangled him. Chopper yelled like a goat. Robin filled her plate with more rice happily. Sanji swayed around her babbling stuff like ooooohhh Robin-chwan likes my food I can die in peace today oh my gooooooooood while being thoroughly ignored by her. Zoro and Nami still argued something about a debt and abusive taxes.

You finished eating in peace.

They were loud. And messy. But the whole atmosphere was so oddly familiar. Reminded you of evenings on Mt. Colubo, of Ace and Dadan cussing at each other, Magura and Dogura trying to ease the situation, Luffy eating most of the food like an animal, the other bandits laughing and drinking sake until they’d pass out.

It made so much sense.

Luffy attracted exactly what he wanted.

And what he attracted, you remarked quietly to yourself, is what made you feel more at home… even if he didn’t know it.

You couldn’t sleep. Which wasn’t surprising at all. When was the last time you actually laid down and slept? Excluding the times when grandfather put you in a coma… never.

You were taught to have a light sleep from birth. One of your earliest memories was of Landon giving your toes electric shocks whenever your sleep got too deep… you were always on high alert. So even though the possibility of Nami attacking you (and succeeding) was close to zero, you still couldn’t relax. Nico Robin was relatively strong. As far as you knew, she was a devil fruit user. The paranoid part of your brain traced courses of action if she decided to attack you. This paranoid part had traced counter attacks for each of the crew members with the little info you had on them. Created the worst possible scenarios.

Yeah. You couldn’t sleep.

And you remembered that you hadn’t smoked since… what? Six in the morning?

That must be why I’m shaking. Why I can’t relax.

Luffy made you forget to smoke. Wow.

You got off the hammock quietly.

The girls’ room was very well organized and clean (opposite to the men’s room… you had peeked at it. It looked like the aftermath of a war zone). Robin and Nami shared a bunk bed, but the room had space for an extra hammock that hung from a trapdoor on the ceiling. It even had a mini bar. The place looked like the chambers of a noble, in fact, which spiked your curiosity to find out how Luffy got his hands on it.

Not bothering to put your boots on, you tiptoed out of the room carrying nothing but a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

You were greeted by pitch black.

As usual, most of the ship’s lamps were turned off for safety. There wasn’t much to see beyond the deck. It was a new moon night… although there were no clouds in the sky, she couldn’t provide any light. To look around meant nothing. It wasn’t possible to distinguish what was sky and what was sea. Even so, the waters sounded calm. The wind blew on the sails’ favor.

You always thought nights like these were relaxing. Nothing but the sound of the waters calmly touching the hull… nothing clear to focus on. It helped turn your turbulent mind off.

Like the fact that you knew your tiny Den Den Mushi would ring eventually. You knew you’d have to report back to the main house. You knew you’d have to go back.

That was one of the reasons why you were nervous, restless. Turbulent. You went after Luffy, you actually found him, but what was the point in the end if you’d have to go back? You weren’t free. You weren’t strong enough, not yet. You didn’t have the forces to push your family away… and they could represent Luffy and his crew danger.

None of them were strong enough to face your family.

The coyote twins… maybe could be easy to win. Urso and Saqr would be a tough challenge, but not invincible. Ariadne was out of question.

But Crowley?

Even worse… grandfather?

You knew what Scarpia Virgus would do if he found out what you were doing. He wouldn’t have mercy. Grandfather had taken you as his pupil; you represented him in a way, and to break the promise (the family rule) would put him to shame. He would not forgive you.

No one in the crew stood a chance. Luffy got much stronger than last time you saw him; he had defeated Crocodile, after all, which was a huge achievement on its own. From what you could sense, Zoro was fairly strong as well, Sanji being a close third. But that didn’t compare to the type of strength that stood on the other side of the Red Line, and that included your family.

You were just being selfish. Running after Luffy on the first opportunity before you could complete your half of the promise.

I’ll get stronger, too. I’ll work hard, okay? So no one will stand in my way.

There was a whole army of people still standing in your way.

You sighed tiredly and put a cigarette between your lips. Shut up, mind. Stop talking. Smoke the damn cigarette and go to sleep.

A loud whistle.

Your head whipped up.

What you saw made your mind simultaneously forget about everything else and work at its full capacity.

Luffy was up there at the crow’s nest, waving at you. Smiling.

Was it embarrassing how you immediately smiled back? Maybe.

You climbed the mast in a heartbeat.

When you got there, he was already sitting with his legs crossed. There was a copper spyglass beside him, a basket with apples and an oil lamp, which was the only reason why you could see him at all. The lamp painted his figure in faint orange shades. He munched one apple peacefully.

A wave of nervousness hit you for some fucking reason. It was the first moment when you were truly alone with Luffy the whole day… the first time in three years. Why’d that make you feel funny inside?

“Your sleep is still pretty shitty, huh?” Luffy remarked.

You chuckled quietly. You never slept that well back then, either.

As it was still a moonless night, there wasn’t much to see up from the crow’s nest. You looked at the flag waving proudly from the mast.

“Who painted the Jolly Roger?” you asked as you lit the cigarette and leaned on the railing.

“Usopp. He paints almost as well as you.” Luffy took one more bite and quirked one eyebrow. “Since when do you smoke?”

You took a puff. “It’s been a while.”

Luffy raised his hand towards you. It took three seconds to understand he was asking for the cigarette.

“Do you smoke?”

“Nah, but I want to try it.”

You shrugged and gave him.

Half a second after he took a puff of it, Luffy started coughing his lungs out. You laughed.

“Argh! T-This one’s even worse then Sanji’s!” He offered the cigarette back. “I don’t know why you people do it!”

“That’s kinda the point.” You were about to put the cigarette back between your lips but hesitated. Huh. He put his lips here. That’s like an indirect kiAAAAAAAH SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. You shook your head and took another puff, ignoring your mind.

Luffy took one more bite of his apple. Completely clueless. As usual.

“So…” you asked after blowing smoke. “How’d you get this ship?”

Luffy swallowed. “Usopp’s girlfriend gave it to us.”

From all the people in the crew, he has a girlfriend? Oookay.

This made you pause.

You had never thought for a single moment in your life that Luffy might be dating someone.

But he might. Right?

It’d been three years, after all. You weren’t kids anymore. What if… hm… he met someone?

That’d be weird. But also totally possible.

What’s the problem if he dates someone? It’s none of your business. It doesn’t change anything in your friendship anyway.

You blew more smoke. “A ship like this is pretty expensive. She’s either a very kind soul or she really loves Usopp.”

Luffy shrugged. “Both, I guess. Pretty girl. She’s kinda low energy, though. Boring as hell. Poor thing.” You choked and started coughing your lungs out. Luffy frowned. “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” You had to turn away for a second.

He called her “pretty girl”.

Never once in your life had you heard Luffy compliment a girl’s appearance.

You felt your entire face and neck burn. What the hell?! I never cared about any of that. He never cared about any of that, either. Or at least I thought so!

This made you feel painfully aware of your own appearance. Shit, you didn’t even look at yourself in the mirror before leaving the room. Do I look like a mess right now? Probably, as the wind threw your hair in all directions. Oh shit— Luffy can totally see under my skirt from this position!! Wait— stop freaking out, dumbass, you’re wearing safety shorts. You always wear safety shorts. Besides, you’ve literally showered with Luffy before, right? Remember that time at the river? Yeah, yeah, right, but— but we were nine back then! We’re not nine anymore!

You plopped down beside him and kept your legs close to your chest.

Luffy was clueless. As usual.

He finished that apple and took another one. For a while, silence reigned. The ocean still sung, the wind pushing the sails hummed… it would be relaxing if you weren’t on the verge of exploding.

You eyed the top of his hat. It had three visible lines now which were sewn back in place.

“What happened to your hat?”

Luffy looked up as if he’d be able to see it. “A guy teared it, but Nami sewed it back.”

Short explanations as usual. If a guy teared his precious hat, you could imagine how furious Luffy must’ve gotten… how serious the situation must’ve been. But opposite to Ace, Luffy was an awful storyteller. He didn’t have the patience to explain anything and he almost never felt like it.

Oh.

That put a sad perspective in front of you.

You were losing huge chunks of Luffy’s life now… things you wouldn’t get to experience. Things he wouldn’t tell you, simply because he didn’t feel like it. Things were pretty stalled back in Goa… he didn’t have much to tell you whenever you visited anyway — and he never even opened up about the important stuff, like how the grandfather he barely ever mentioned was a fucking legend known world-wide.

It… it wasn’t just you and him anymore. There were plenty of other people in his orbit now.

That shouldn’t make you feel sad, but it did.

You blew more smoke and decided to change topics. Something to lift your spirits.

“I met Ace last year.”

Luffy’s eyes gleamed. “Really?! I met him, too!”

The mere mention of his name made both of you get excited. “Already? That’s great! When did you guys meet?”

“In Alabasta!”

You frowned. “The hell he was doing in Alabasta?”

“Ah, something about hunting some guy. Whatever.” Luffy took his hat off, exposing a mess of black hair. The wind just made it messier. “He gave me this!”

Luffy pulled the red hatband slightly to expose a small piece of white paper.

“A Vivre Card…” your eyes widened.

“A what?”

“Vivre Card. It’s a locating device. Points to the location of its owner wherever they are in the world.”

“Ooooh.” He chuckled. “I thought Ace was just a weirdo for giving me a blank piece of paper. Now it makes sense!”

You chuckled, too, as he put the hat back on his head. “He said we should all meet again and beat you up.”

“As if you’d get to beat me up!” Luffy set the apple aside and playfully punched the air near your arm repeatedly as if you were a punching bag. “I’ll kick both of your asses!”

“Oh, please. Don’t make me laugh.” You took the last puff of the cigarette, flicked it away into the ocean and quirked one eyebrow up jokingly. Luffy stuck his tongue out.

Then, he spotted something on your upper arm.

“Hey, you’re full of scars now, huh?”

You froze.

These scars didn’t bother you… not exactly. It’s not like you didn’t have some three years ago. But at that moment… when you were feeling so stupidly self-aware, you caught yourself suddenly wishing you were wearing a long sleeved shirt.

...Scars aren’t typically considered pretty. Or desirable.

Luffy scooted closer. He brought the oil lamp closer to you both, too, and squinted his eyes.

That made your stomach turn.

“How’d you get this one?”

He touched a particular long scar on your upper arm with his index finger. As stupid as it was, the spot he touched heated up.

You looked down at it.

It wasn’t a scar inflicted by grandfather. His cuts were always super clean and straight. So this one was… hm…

“...A guy from Whisky Peak, I guess.” You explained quietly. “He fought with whips.”

“Oooh. You been to Whisky Peak?”

A few times, in fact. Many people were willing to commission the death of some mercenaries. “Yeah.”

Luffy hummed and pointed at another scar; this one was near your shoulder. Another spot of heat. “What about this one?”

This scar was irregular, very smooth. Burn scar. You remembered that one very well, unfortunately. “Training.”

Luffy was unfazed. He looked unfazed, at least.

He pointed to another scar. “This one?”

“Training.”

“This one?”

“Training.”

“This one?”

“...I don’t remember.”

“This?”

“This… this was a gunshot, I guess.”

He held your wrist and brought your hand close to his face.

Luffy wasn’t exactly delicate, but he wasn’t brute either. His hand was calloused, just like yours; his knuckles were clearer than his skin tone, the signs of years and years of punching. He had tiny scars all over them. Your hands were very similar, in a way.

“This one?”

The one he pointed at went all the way from the side of your palm to your forearm. Very irregular. Stork made that one.

“He fought with chainsaws.”

You didn’t exactly like what was going on. You never talked about your commissions with Luffy before. You’d rather keep him apart from work — not because you were ashamed of it, but because Luffy was the good part of your life… work wasn’t. You didn’t want to mix both.

Luffy looked at that scar for a while.

He opened a small smile.

“You’re so cool, Wolfie.”

You were taken aback.

“W-What?”

“Yeah! And you’ve already been to all of these places. Traveling like this now ain’t even a big deal for you, right?”

You crossed your arms protectively.

“It is a big deal for me.”

“How so? You’ve been everywhere!”

“Because we’re doing it together now. So it’s a big deal for me.”

Luffy was taken aback.

Your brain panicked.

“I mean— because I just travel for work, right? And it’s always super boring. You guys— you guys are fun to be around. That’s what I meant.” You avoided his gaze.

For two seconds, there was silence.

He giggled.

“I’m happy that we’re together, too.”

You looked at him again.

Luffy. It almost felt like a mirage to see him sitting by your side, smiling like that, after three years of loneliness. Smiling the way he always did, even if he looked different now. Even if his straw hat was more battered, his childish features were gone, his shoulders were broader, he was a bit taller (still shorter than me! I don’t care what anyone says!!). That smile was the same. The warmth that radiated off it was the same.

And yes, many things had changed. You had changed; you didn’t carry sketchbooks with you anymore, you didn’t paint at any given opportunity; you were an active smoker, more paranoid than you’d ever been, harsher than ever. You weren’t that girl who was passionate about nature anymore. You weren’t at the bottom of the food chain within your family, either.

And Luffy was different. He had a crew now, and despite the antics you had witnessed, these people chose to sail under his leadership on their free will. They respected Luffy as a captain. Luffy wasn’t a small boy with big dreams from a god forsaken corner of the world; he was chasing after his dreams, succeeding, and his power and pride grew accordingly. He had a grit that wasn’t this apparent back then. Yes, he had many more people in his orbit now.

Yet, looking at that smile — a smile you knew so damn well —, you realized that deep down, Luffy hadn’t changed. His core was the same. The circumstances changed, not him.

And him, at his core, was your friend despite everything.

This filled your heart with warmth.

This smile brightened up the moonless night as if he was the sun himself.

You chuckled and pushed his shoulder jokingly.

“You getting emotional, honey?”

“I ain’t the one who got all worked up for being shorty.”

“I’m not shorter than you.”

“Shut up, you are!”

“I freaking ain’t!”

“What a sore loser, Four Eyes!”

“Swear to God— I’m gonna drop you in the ocean.”

“You don’t have the guts.”

“You wanna bet?”

“Yeah, bring it, looooser!”

“Will you two SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!”

Both of you froze.

You got up and looked down.

Nami, with her hair disheveled, puffy face and pajamas, looked up at you two with fire in her eyes.

“Sorry, ma’am.” You said in unison.

Nami tsked. “Can’t even get a good night’s sleep, for fuck’s sake!” She kept mumbling inside the bedroom.

You looked at each other in silence.

It took two seconds for an uncontrollable giggle fit hit you both — and another minute for Nami to threaten your lives again.