I saw that u want to write more for jjk👀 i was thinking for the reader to be ignored by everyone (either intentionally or not) and they are upset at first, but then realized it rlly aint that bad. Like the reader has that "i care but dont" mindset. So for "payback" they decide to ghost everyone and spend the entire day by themselves while everyone is panicking and searching for them.
Or not...😏angst? Up to you! Thanks😼
For music uh... anything that screams i am free and idc abt anyone or life
Synopsis: Running away from school. You needed to be alone for a week.
Warnings/Notes/Tags: Angst, smoking, running away, reader has long hair for plot, implied depression, life crisis, no pairing, did i miss anything
Soundtrack:
- 🎶 Just a Waste: PinkPantheress
- 🎶 Take Me Home: PinkPantheress
- 🎶 Eyes Without A Face: Billy Idol
- 🎶 The Promise: When In Rome
- 🎶 Don't Dream It's Over: Crowded House
- 🎶 Be Like a Woman: Chris Rainbow
- 🎶 Time Moves Slow: BadBadNotGood
- 🎶 Young Dumb & Broke: Khalid
You weren't so sure when it started, but it was clear now that something wasn't right. It gradually spread like a virus among the group, the first being the person you least expected out of everyone.
One day, it all started with Yuji. During his freetime, the boy was always rather preoccupied with his phone. Whether it would be looking at cute cat videos or playing a game, his eyes were locked twenty-four seven on the screen. Yet this didn't mean he was ignorant to other people. He'd pull his attention away for a couple moments, acknowledge the person speaking before going back to his own thing.
You thought he'd do the same as always, but he merely hummed and kept scrolling; not even bothering to look up. You brushed it off, coming up with the thought that he was really invested in his phone, but you received the same action again later. Soon later turned into the next day. Then the next day turned to the day after that. And the day after that turned into the entire week.
You had no luck with the others either. You'd try to engage in a conversation with Megumi, but the stoic teen closed his door in your face many times; even ignoring you as you watched him cook something for himself. He was always rather cut off from everyone naturally, but this was out of the ordinary.
Next was Nobara. Even she, out of all people, started with this habit. Plans of going out to the mall were scraped and texts of the latest hot gossip were no longer existing. It was as if you were denounced from special best ultimate friend status to a mere acquaintance.
Then came the second years with Maki and Panda never even acknowledging your existence as you trained with them, leaving you alone in the work out room in the evening. It even infected Inumaki. Now, the guy was already limited in vocabulary, but no longer did you hear his greeting of ingredients when you saw each other. You only received a neutral stare and a blink.
Last but not least, even Gojo was infected. It all started with a nice bonding game, but due to uneven numbers, he called on you to sit it out; the reason being that the game needed even numbers. So you did and you watched idly as they went on with the game without you. Just like Yuji, the man was addicted to his phone, waving you away when you needed to talk to him; promising to make time later for you, but that time never came.
For a month, it was like you didn't exist. Lunches became a maybe. Movie nights involved six bowls of popcorn, not seven. No one looked your way in training. No one saved you food from when someone would cook in the dorms. No one texted you. And no one talked to you. No matter how many times you tried to talk to someone, they had no interest in it. They were waiting for the conversation to end.
Maybe it was just a phase. Maybe...
The recent mission had everyone beyond exhausted and tired. So much so that it was settled to stop at a place to eat before going back to campus. It was a nice cozy place, a restaurant with many yummy food options. Getting seated wasn't a major issue, even if it meant having to get an extra chair because there was only room for six people, not seven.
The food came quickly and everyone was focused on eating, but even such a simple task felt awkward and heavy, just to you though. The others ate and acted perfectly fine, focusing on their orders and drinks. Light jokes and conversation spread throughout the table, yet none reached you. It truly made you wonder if you had done anything to anyone for them to express this behavior toward you. From what went through your mind, you don’t remember anything. It was so long since you've interacted with anyone and even then, everything was fine.
This was just out of the blue. The thought made your stomach twist and because of the sickening theories, you soon became nauseous. You excused yourself without a word and like you expected, no one looked up.
The restroom was a temporary safe spot as you hacked up the food that barely settled in your stomach in the toilet. After wiping your mouth and flushing the water, you began to think. You thought long and hard as you stared at yourself in the mirror.
When did all of it start? When was the last time Yuji laughed with you at a dumb movie? Or Nobara handing you her bags to carry? Or the last time Gojo gave you stickers and called you his “favorite student”? You couldn’t remember.
Was it you? Your appearance? Did something look off? Was your hair ugly? Did it need to be cut? Did you smell? Did you say something you shouldn’t have? Did they see you differently than before? Should you have worn more makeup? Less? Was it your uniform? Was it too girly? Too boyish? Your personality? Too brash? Too fragile? Too useless?... Did they ever really need you?
Tears flowed down your cheeks before you even knew it. You didn't mean to cry, but the thought of your only friends and teacher ignoring your existence was too much to bear. Without them, you had no one to talk to. You left home a while back and you were certain that your family didn’t want you to return.
So you thought some more. Maybe their reason was justified. Maybe you were just a waste because clearly, they saw something you didn’t. But what do they know? They don’t know the real you.
You wiped away your tears, splashing cold water on your face to calm your eyes.
Yeah, what do they know about you? Do they know how hard you train until you see stars? Or how much you like to dance to trendy music on the radio? Or how all you needed was a sign from the universe to take a break and disappear?
You stepped out the restroom, a newfound feeling of apathy as you strolled past the table where light conversation was now included. You didn't spare them a glance, but someone cared enough to stop you in their tracks.
"Where are you going?" Megumi asked, though he sounded more irritated than anything.
"Someone called," you shrugged, looking over your shoulder then front, "I need to go."
Your response wasn't a good enough answer for the group, but it was good enough to have them think everyone was called. One by one, phones were being taken out and with confusion across the group, they were placed back down. No one had called them.
As soon as you were no longer in view of the window, you ran as fast as you could to the train. You had to be the first one there to the dorms. You couldn't let your plan go to waste and ruin the surprise.
Time passed in a blur between the train, a short run to the campus, and into the dorms. There you packed clothes in a backpack and some snacks in whatever area could fit in a rush.
Putting on the backpack you almost made it out of your room, except something was holding you back. Your phone was still in your hand, glowing in front of your face in the dark. It was a crucial object in your life, one of the many sources for connection. But if there was one thing you needed to do, you needed to disappear.
You threw it on your bed and rushed out the door, never turning back.
The dorms were filled with noise once again. Tired mumbling and slow shuffles were all that could be heard in the hallways. Many voices still lingered, getting in the last joke or gossip before settling into silence.
Everyone passed by your room, not thinking twice about the silence or absence that was in your room. The common goal was to get some rest. One by one, all found their respective rooms and eventually, the only sound was that of doors being opened and closed; however, there was a straggler.
With quiet footsteps, the cursed speech user lingered near your door. He listened with an ear pressed to the wood. He heard nothing, which was expected since the light was out, but it was an unusual silence. A silence that someone would deem abnormal and out of character, almost as if there was no longer a presence of you.
He noticed a crucial detail outside your door. Your shoes were missing, not the ones you use for fighting curses, but the ones you wear on a casual day. They weren’t there on the side of your door. Why wouldn’t they be there at this hour?
The genuine side of him wanted to knock on your door and impede on your privacy for one time just to reassure himself that everything was alright. He couldn't bring himself to do it. A hand was brought to your door before a small whisper left his lips.
The sound of the train leaving the station solidified the meaning of what you just did.
For the last two and a half hours, you spent your time in a bullet train, watching the compact view of Tokyo turn into fields of grass and mountains, and back into the city. This time, you weren't in Tokyo. You were in Osaka, the intercom rang as proof of your travels.
It was late, midnight, and yet you weren't even tired. The adrenaline of running away had yet to wear off and you planned on making the most of it before you became extremely tired.
You weaved through the crowd of people easily, getting out of their way as they were in a rush to catch the last train. Reaching the street was an easy feat, but staring at the night life made you question yourself again. Sure, you had enough money to spend on a nice hotel and treat yourself to some luxury items, but were you even capable of doing it?
You were alone in a city you've never been too. Only traveling on a whim because you felt unseen and unloved. So much so that you felt the need to run away and disappear for a week. So much could happen in so little time.
The thought of the others crossed your mind. Would some even notice your disappearance? Would it be a big deal? Would they miss you?
Either way, it was bound to happen. Whether people tolerated you or not, there was always a lingering thought in the back of your mind that screamed at you to get away. It might even be seen as a favor. People wouldn't have to be awkward or risk having hurt your feelings if they told you to go away, so you did it yourself. At least, they wouldn't have to pretend anymore.
“Are you alone?” A feminine voice interrupted your wandering thoughts.
She was looking out of a car window, her head resting on her arm as he chewed on her lip. Her hair was chaotic, bangs cut short and bleached a pearly white while the rest of her chair varied in color, electric blue and pink with vertical streaks of red. Her face was pretty. Thin brows and dark eyeshadow with piercings on her nose, lips, and ears. Many might say the definition of a rebellious child.
“Are you?” She repeated. “You're a runaway, I can tell. We,” she signaled to the male driver and the second male in the passenger seat as well, “Are too.”
You gave the others a glance over. The driver had long hair, half of it covering the side of his face and wore dark clothing and metal jewelry. The other seemed like an average person, wearing a normal shirt, pants, and baseball cap.
“If I am,” you answered, “What's it to you?”
“Well, we are more than happy to help someone out. Besides, you look around the same age as us! Wouldn't that be fun?-”
You tuned her out the second she started running her mouth about all the fun activities they could do with you. Exploring abandoned parks, gambling, drinking, and wasting time, you only listened to half of it before making up your mind.
You were only here for a week. Sure, you could have fun by yourself, but what's so wrong about wanting to get your adrenaline pumped just a little more. It would be best to make the visit memorable.
Without much thought, you stepped toward the rusty car and tossed your bag inside. The girl cheered and moved her bags aside, letting you sit down next to her in the backseat.
Within seconds, the car was on the move.
“Salmon roe. Mustard leaf,” Inumaki spoke as he grabbed the attention of Maki and Panda as they were lounging in the dorm.
“What? What are you talking about?” Maki questioned, watching as Inumaki scribbled furiously on a sticky note.
“Mustard leaf,” he repeated and showed a very rushed sketch of you.
Panda and Maki stared at it, not exactly sure what Inumaki was trying to say. It was clear he was worried about you, but for what reason, they weren't so sure.
“Something wrong with then?” Maki questioned again.
Inumaki nodded vigorously. “Tuna tuna,” he urged the two to follow him down the hall.
The three ended up in front of your door. Your casual shoes were gone, just as Inumaki saw last night and your uniform boots and slippers were still there. That was the major concern to him.
“Are they sick?” Panda asked, only to receive a shake of a head and arms that crossed each other like an “X”. “Then… they must be out for the day?”
Inumaki hesitated with an answer before ultimately saying, “Bonito flakes.” With various ingredients that made no sense together, he tried desperately to explain to them why he was so concerned. He even used his hands, but his two friends stared at him like he was a nut job.
“Wait, wait, pause,” Maki interrupted him with a hand. “Let me know if this is right. You are worried about them because their shoes are missing. And you know this is concerning because they also weren't there last night, right?”
“Hm,” Panda hummed in thought. “So what you are trying to say is you think they left?”
“There's only one way to test that theory out,” Maki huffed before lifting a fist up.
Her knuckles hit the wooden door furiously and in a fast pace, frightening the two at her side, yet she didn't stop. “Hey! You better open up!” She yelled, continuing the onslaught of knocking. “Are you hiding from us or what?”
“They're not answering,” Panda noticed. “Maybe we should-”
“Open this door before I do!” Maki ordered. “I'll give you three seconds to open it before I bust this door down!”
Both Panda and Inumaki were unsure of this. “Maki, let's think-”
“Three!” Maki cut Panda off, continuing her knocking and preparing her foot on the door. “Two! One-”
Before she could bust open the door, Inumaki very quickly turned the door knob, finding out that it was unlocked. The knocks ceased and so did her yelling and what remained was the sound of silence in your room as they stared at the empty scene.
Very carefully did the three enter. They observed quietly, looking for anything that could give an explanation as to why you weren't in your room. Panda found something, the empty corner in your room where you usually stored a backpack and Inumaki found a drawer half open. Some smacks were left behind. Just as he was about to open a different drawer, Maki called to both their attention.
“I don't think this is normal,” she pointed out. With two fingers, your phone was left dangling in her hold. “It was on the bed, almost dead.”
Hearing this made the three think the worst. They knew it was now a serious matter. You left and they had no idea where you were or if you were even alive.
They knew Gojo had to be notified of the situation.
The lounge was unusually quiet. Nobody sat where they normally did. Instead, everyone had scattered themselves around the room, each waiting in their own way.
Panda was passing time by analyzing everyone in the room. Maki leaned against the wall with her arms crossed so tightly they almost looked painful. Inumaki sat forward on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the entrance. Yuji kept checking his phone every few seconds despite knowing there weren't any new messages. Nobara tapped her foot relentlessly against the floor and Megumi remained still, though his gaze hadn't left the doorway once.
"...How long has it been?" Yuji finally asked.
"Twenty-three minutes," Megumi answered immediately.
Nobara sighed loudly. "They're probably just... mad. Right?"
“It could be possible,” Panda rubbed the back of his neck. "They left their phone. You don't leave your phone behind unless you don't want anyone calling you." That single sentence seemed to make the room colder.
"Or unless they forgot it," Yuji offered, though even he didn't sound convinced.
Maki exhaled through her nose. "No, that’s not it. A bag was packed." Maki's eyes stayed on the floor. "People don't carefully pack and then accidentally forget they're leaving."
Yuji slowly lowered his phone, watching the screen turn dark as no message came up. "Did something happen?"
"We don't know," Panda admitted.
Megumi frowned, his mind creating any possible theories as to why you just up and left. The more he thought about it, he wasn't so sure he had heard anything from you besides that question he asked last night at the restaurant. "...When was the last time anyone actually talked to them?"
The question lingered in the air, everyone going into deep thought as they retraced any conversation with you.
"I... saw them after training yesterday. I asked if they had seen Gojo-sensei and then Gojo showed up,” Yuji answered, a bit hopeful.
"So you didn't actually talk,” Nobara sighed.
One by one, everyone searched their memory. There were small moments in training. Glances being thrown while passing in the hallway. Quick greetings during the day. Asking for help with missions in the afternoon. And borrowing supplies during free days. That was it, nothing else. Nothing that resembled an actual conversation.
Inumaki lowered his head. His fingers curled together in guilt for the fact that he had noticed on many different occasions. The empty seat during breakfast. The untouched snacks you'd always bought and now your shoes disappearing. To the way you'd smiled less every day.
He noticed, but he hadn't been able to explain it.
"...We were busy," Yuji said quietly, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
"Weren't we always?" Megumi replied. Nobody answered because he was right.
The room filled with the uncomfortable realization that none of them actually knew when they'd started drifting away from you. Not on purpose or out of dislike. It had simply happened. Conversations that always get interrupted. Training and missions that would last forever. They had assumed there would always be tomorrow. Until there wasn't.
The sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway. Everyone looked toward the door at once. Gojo stepped inside, unusually lacking his trademark smile. One look at his face made everyone's stomach drop.
Gojo scanned the room before asking one quiet question, "...Has anyone thought of somewhere they'd go?" No one had an answer and the room fell completely silent again. He looked over at every student before speaking, "...I checked the security cameras. They left campus."
Yuji leaned forward. "So they're okay?"
Gojo hesitated. "I know they walked out on their own." The hope in the room only lasted a second. "They left early last night. An hour or so before anyone came back." He looked toward Inumaki, in which the student lowered his eyes, "You were right. The cameras caught them walking through the front gate," Gojo continued, “They had a backpack with them."
"That's it?" Panda asked.
Gojo nodded once, "Just the backpack. No suitcase. No luggage. They weren't carrying anything else."
Megumi frowned, "So… they planned it."
"We checked,” Gojo shook his head. "No one met them at the gate."
"Then where'd they go?" Yuji asked.
"That's the problem." Gojo sighed, "The last camera picked them up leaving the school grounds. After that they disappeared. The city cameras lose them after a few blocks. Whether they changed direction, entered a building, or intentionally avoided surveillance, we don't know."
Nobara stared at the floor, fighting the urge to not think the worst, "So we have..."
"...Nothing," Gojo finished. "No phone, contact, notes, or confirmed destination." He let the words settle before speaking again. "We've already contacted the others. They're checking transportation records, nearby stations, hotels, and reports from other sorcerers."
Yuji swallowed, "...Do you think they are in danger?"
Gojo didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked around the room. "...I don't know." For perhaps the first time since any of them had met him, Satoru Gojo looked genuinely uncertain. "We're treating this as a missing person case until we know otherwise." The weight of those words settled over the room like a blanket.
Nobara slumped in her seat, crossing her arms to provide some comfort in the nerve-wracking situation, “They must be so scared.”
No one spoke after that. The only sound in the lounge was the quiet ticking of the clock as every student replayed the last time they'd seen you, wondering if there had been something they should have noticed before you walked away.
The inside of the old car smelled faintly of laundry detergent and convenience store coffee. Sunlight poured through the windows as the vehicle rolled lazily down the coastal bay on a Tuesday morning, music crackling softly through one half-working speaker.
In response, a hand reached over from the passenger seat, passing a carton of milk. You accepted it with a quiet thanks before tearing open another tiny packet of cornflakes. The three of them had long since abandoned bowls which entails to you being the same. Eating cereal straight from the package while taking turns pouring from the milk carton was somehow easier.
It was only about nine hours since you hopped into their car and within those nine hours, you learned a lot of them.
The girl was Renee. It wasn't her real name, but a cover up for her new identity as she ran away. She came from a rich family, always pushing her to do her best and go onto a higher education. The problem was that it just wasn't for her. Sure, she got great grades, but that was all there was to it.
She didn't see herself tied down to a life of constant schedules, tests, and deadlines. She wanted to be free. In order to do this, she ran away, changed her appearance, and never looked back.
Then came the driver with hair covering half of his face. His name was Kisei, a quiet boy who doesn't care much for anyone besides his close friends and some family. Due to his nature he didn't share a lot, but his main reason for being here was his family.
His father was the head of the house, bossing everyone around to do things for him. His mother was blinded by this behavior, glazing every word and then in turn belittling him and his five younger siblings. Kisei did everything in his power to protect them, but those acts of protection caused him to get kicked out. It wasn't his intention to run away, if it was, he would have taken his siblings with him, but this wasn't the case.
Finally came Lind, a Swedish boy who was far away from home. He came to Japan almost a year ago and has been traveling around the country ever since. His situation was unique. He didn’t know his parents and was in the foster system since birth. From what he remembered and was told, he was a nice child; Never putting up a fight or being disrespectful to others.
But he never found a permanent home. With every home he spent his time in, he never gained the skills to create that emotional and familiar bond with any of his foster parents and siblings. He deemed himself unlovable. The moment he became an adult, he booked a plane trip to Japan and never went back.
Hearing their stories, all of your issues seemed so small and unimportant. It made you feel like an imposter. Here you were, running away for a week because you were being ignored for about a month. That was only half the truth. You couldn't tell them about those hideous curses you see, how you exorcise them until there was nothing left of them besides the ugly memories of their torture to others.
“Plans for today?” You asked, keeping the conversation light at such an early time into the morning.
“Mm… maybe find somewhere to stay for the night. Like an actual hotel,” Renee thought, chewing away at her last spoon of cereal. “Might be low on cash so we might settle for something very low cost.”
Cash was a major problem to the three runaways. They had to spend it carefully and ensure that no cent went to waste for something unnecessary. Thankfully, you could help them out with the money you saved up from Gojo. The man gave you a lot of money, always with the memo of treating yourself to something nice. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to help out.
“I have some money. It might not be a lot, but we can maybe find somewhere nice to stay for a night or two,” you offered, digging into your bag for your wallet and pulling out some cash as proof.
Renee’s eyes bludged out of her head. “That’s so much! How did you get that much?” She questioned rapidly, overjoyed that everyone won’t have to spend another night in the stuffy car. “Actually forget about that question. Kisei, Lind, we have somewhere to stay tonight! Can you believe it?”
Seeing her happiness made you have some reassurance that everything in the end will be more than alright.
Tuesday was filled with worry. It was radiating in every corner of campus and on the faces of everyone. Some expressed it more than others, constant thinking and the constant check on their phones for any updates. Others seemed to have lost focus throughout their daily activities, losing concentration on sparring or accidentally using too much force on an opponent.
The place seemed much quieter too. In the morning, they could no longer hear the muffled tunes coming from your headphones as you got ready for the day. Your voice no longer traveled through the halls as you met up with Nobara, talking about skipping for a day to go to the mall or a cat cafe. Or maybe as you stumbled upon the cursed-speech user, hearing him talk in rice ball ingredients.
The afternoons were much dull too. You no longer accompanied Yuji in search of a water fountain across the entire school when training got too boring. Nor were you there to nag Megumi to summon his twin wolves or complain to Maki when she didn’t let you catch your breath in sparring. No one saw you follow Gojo on a mindless walk as talk about his recent travels, showing off souvenirs and secretly handing you more money on the side. You weren’t even there to share your snacks with Panda.
The evenings were the worst. When the orange light of golden hour shone through the hallways, everyone was greeted with a silence that left one too many questions lingering at the back of their minds. They swore they could hear your voice through the empty halls, humming whatever tune happened to be playing in your headphones and they could see your outline on the walls whenever you stop and appreciate the little things in life.
Your absence created a pause in routine.
Every little space that you were once in became an exhibit of melancholy. All would stop and wonder what went wrong or what could have possibly forced you to leave unannounced. Your room was the threshold for every little thing you’ve ever loved.
Within a day, notes were spread all over your bed; letters of endless apologies and promises of starting anew. Snacks and little figurines of your favorite characters from TV shows cluttered your desk. Post-it notes of doodles, pleas, inside jokes, and quotes were taped on your door and walls of your room, yet none of it was enough to fill the space you left behind.
None of them realized that the silence they mourned now was the same silence that had left you to drown in your thoughts.
They searched your room. They searched the campus. They searched every place you might have gone. But their searches were useless. You were already miles away from home.
Wednesday came and went in a blur. Between shopping bags and crowded streets, Renee somehow managed to convince you to get a change of wardrobe for the duration of your time with the group. It was, in her words, “dire need of saving”. What you expected to be a quick trip shopping for clothes turned out to be a day-long activity of carrying clothing bags, skincare products, makeup, and loads of snacks for the road.
It reminded you of all of the times you and Nobara would go to the mall, having the boys carry all the heavy bags like true gentlemen. She'd dart from store to store with a new idea every five minutes while Yuji and Megumi reluctantly carried the mountain of bags she'd accumulated. Yuji never complained, not really. He'd always laugh it off, insisting he was "getting a workout in," while Megumi muttered under his breath the entire time, somehow ending up carrying the heaviest load anyway.
You smiled to yourself at the memory, then you remembered the look on their faces every time they walked past you over the last few weeks. The conversations that ended before you could join them. The missions you weren't asked to tag along on. The promises of "next time."
The smile didn't last. Those memories were real, too. That's why you were here.
By late Thursday evening, the exhaustion finally caught up to you.
The hotel room was quiet at the late hour. The open curtains gave a nice view of the city and the orange-tinted lights enhanced the relaxing ambiance. The TV served as background noise, a show that had been long forgotten after a couple minutes of having been turned on. Shopping bags were thrown across the floor, most unpacked with products poking out of the bag.
The days had worn you both thin. Renee laid on your bed fiddling around with her phone, posting stories and eating gummies from a bag. You had been staring off into nothing, your mind creating endless possibilities of what those back at Jujutsu High were doing.
The thought of everyone stopping their usual routine to go out and search for you brought an unfamiliar and unwanted feeling in your stomach. It was the feeling of being important, something you weren’t so sure you would have ever felt at any point in your life. For as long as you could remember, you spent most of your life living as the third person; observing the fun rather than being the one experiencing it.
Many times Nobara joked about you being worse than Megumi in social settings. Maki as well, teasing how Inumaki could still speak more than you on the days you weren’t particularly in the mood for talking. Whether they meant it with ill intent or not isn’t the main focus now. Days of your silence turned to weeks. Those weeks led to your disappearance. It wasn’t your responsibility anymore to prove that you were alright. If they wanted answers, they’d have to find out for themselves. Part of you wouldn’t mind it if they weren’t looking for you at all.
The date on the train ticket was scheduled for your return on Saturday night, going from Osaka to Tokyo. The night you left Tokyo, you purchased a round-trip ticket, certain that your mindset would change within six days and you’d find yourself back at school by Sunday morning.
The more you stared at the crumbled ticket, you weren’t so sure of that idea anymore. If you did go back, what would be left for you? Angry students and angry mentors who no longer wanted you to be part of the group and would watch you get hurt during risky missions with no thought of ever helping you? Or emotional friends who were worried every second and every day that passed, taking time out of their day to search in the places you loved to go, leaving heart-felt gifts in your room, and with the newfound need to be at your side in case you ever go missing again?
None of these options sounded good. You’d rather live your life in solitude, be on the run forever with a new identity with no permanent home. For certain, that would be easier than the routine of training, risking your lives, and exorcizing curses.
The faint smell of blueberry and mint began to waft in the room; It brought you out of your stupor. Your eyes soon tracked the remnants of a small cloud of smoke and turning your head to the source, Renee had a small, burning white stick between two fingers. She took occasional smokes of it, busy typing up a storm on her social media and giggling from time to time as she did tricks with the smoke.
She momentarily paused, feeling a pair of eyes on her and put her phone down. A thin trail of smoke emerged from the lit cigarette as she turned her head slightly, putting the cigarette down in embarrassment. “Sorry!” Renee apologized, “I should have asked first. If you don’t like it I can stop.”
“You’re fine,” you shook your head. “I don’t mind.”
With a simple nod of your head and a few extra seconds, she hesitantly brought up the cigarettes up to her lips again. This time, she was a little more considerate with how much smoke she released all at once. They were smaller puffs this time.
Normally, Gojo would have told you to move farther away from anyone who smoked. Even going as far as covering your nose or your head with an empty bag when walking through a street with smoke coming from every open space. Nanami too, guiding you to a safer environment filled with pure oxygen. And others too, like Yuji, by poking fun at the smokers by coughing loudly as you walked past them.
None of them were here to protect you from your own actions.
“Can I have one?” You asked in the silence.
Renee turned her head again, a bit stunned by the proposal. “Are you sure? This is your first, right?”
“I just want to try it,” you reasoned.
She seemed to analyze you for a fib, narrowing her eyes and puckering her lips in thought. With a sigh, she took the small box from her pocket and extended it out to you. “Be careful,” she warned as you took one out, “Go very slow.”
You leaned back against the headboard as you stared at the cigarette in your hands, reading the small label of “blueberry and menthol”. The noise of metal clinking made you look up. With quick hands, you caught the lighter she tossed at you, chuckling at the rather lewd phrase engraved poorly on the metal.
With a click, the small flame ignited. The filter of the cigarette was carefully balanced at the edge of your lips, eyes tracked on how the flame just barely caressed the paper before curls of smoke began to spiral upward. You breathed in lightly, keeping the smoke in your mouth before letting it escape and mix with the cool air of the room.
You tried again this time, letting the cool sensation of the smoke travel down your throat and into your lungs. You suppressed a cough and rather shakily released the smoke from your mouth. The taste and sensation was unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. You found yourself relaxing under the smell and slumped down on the headboard, the cigarette dangling lazily from your lips as you kept on sucking in air.
Tired eyes made it to the ticket resting on your lap, almost forgotten. You picked it up again, the date and locations being the subject that caught you most. Monday night was a promise that you would get better. It was a promise that now, you were sure you were incapable of achieving.
With a quiet click of the lighter, you set the ticket ablaze; little ashes falling on your shirt. That was the only source of reasoning to go back. Now, that is the point of no return.
The next day, Renee had a plan for you.
She had already helped you out tremendously with your clothes and now, it was her job yet again to alter your appearance. Somehow, during the very late hours of Thursday night transitioning to Friday morning, you agreed to let her change up your hair. The process wasn’t easy one bit.
She showed you many reference pictures. Pictures of half bald people, people with asymmetrical cuts, short bangs, long bangs, pixies, and shaggy cuts. None of them seemed appealing to you. Renee then showed you pictures of dyed hair. Balayages, highlights, dip-dyes, ombrés, and single colored hair. None of them spoke to you again.
Irritated yet excited, she took you to the bathroom and prepared every counter and crevice with some kind of tarp. By the looks of it, the tarp was used for hairdying, hence the multitude of colors stained on the plastic. She dug in her many bags for a smaller bag. Once she found it and placed it on the counter, scissors and combs were littered on the sink counter, along with the rainbow of hair dyes waiting to be used.
Renee stood behind you and combed out your hair gently and began the one on one consultation for changing your hair. It was a process you hope to never experience again in life.
Gojo heard the woman talk over the phone. Over the past days, he and the others had been contacting any and every sorcerer possible to hopefully get insight or any update on your existence. Since Tuesday, Gojo barely slept. His mind had been too preoccupied with your disappearance, reviewing camera footage over and over again to try and hypothesize an explanation as to where you went, where you were, and why you left. But, like the others, he was stumped.
His students were growing more and more agitated each day. Some were blaming themselves while others were blaming others. It only caused more tensions within the group and it was only a matter of time before something extreme would take place.
It was the afternoon. Gojo was walking up the stairs of the school while talking to Utahime, coming back from his own investigation.
“I think we found your student,” Utahime said, but a tone of confusion was laced with her words. “But-”
“Where are you?” Gojo paused, only before running up the rest of the stairs. “Are they okay?”
“Gojo,” she called for him to calm himself down. “Something is different. The description you gave us of them changed. It isn’t the same.”
“Isn’t the same how? Where were they last seen?” he questioned, pausing outside the dorm building.
“They might be staying in Osaka, that was where my students saw them. My students also said their hair doesn’t match the description. The hair is cut short and half of the hair is dyed blue. And they also said that they had a nose-”
“Utahime,” Gojo paused, a serious tone interrupting her speculation. “Is it my student or not?’
A sigh was heard before an answer was given. “Yes, Gojo. It’s your student.”
“I’ll be there soon. Keep an eye on them.”
Gojo ended the call before he could hear another word for her. There was a moment of clarity after the call. Utahima just confirmed your existence, but he couldn’t shake off what she just said about your appearance. If it wasn’t you, what else could Gojo do? He couldn’t put a pause in his role for the other when they needed him just as much as you.
What would the others say if it wasn’t you? Would they be mad at him for not trying hard enough? Or would they accept that you are already gone and that there is nothing they can do to get you back?
He moved in and out of the halls before standing in front of a door that did not do a good job of concealing the start of an argument. Gojo could hear Maki point the finger at everyone, on the verge of yelling how no one pays attention to emotions or words these days; exclaiming how none of this would have happened if someone had just paid attention. Megumi spoke up, equally accusing her of the same behavior, if not worse for pushing your limits too far during training.
Gojo stepped into the room before the argument could escalate into a potential fight. The students all had that same look of guilt and anger on their faces. They all looked away from him, not wanting to see their mentor at their most vulnerable.
“We have news.” Gojo spoke to the solemn group. That was enough to have everyone’s faces light up with the possibility of hope. Everyone started talking over each other at once, but Gojo stopped them with the raise of his hand. They stopped immediately. “Utahime’s students had caught an eye on them in Kyoto, but apparently, they changed their appearance.”
“So… would the chances of it being them be slim?” Nobara asked, a grim expression on her face as she did her best to not think about the situation if it wasn’t you.
“You may have your doubts, but I am sure it is them. Hair can only change so much, but the face is still recognizable.”
“What do you mean by hair? They changed their hair?” Yuji asked.
“Yes,” Gojo nodded, about to make his way back to the door. “But that is not important. I need-”
“What do you mean ‘I’?” Maki interrupted. “We’re all going with you.”
“No you’re not. No one is coming with me.” The students began to complain, each making their own valid argument as to why they should go, but Gojo remained firm. He knew it was for the greater good for them to stay here.
“They might panic when they see one of you and go into hiding or run away again. We don't want that. I will bring them back; it is a promise.”
The pirate ship swayed side to side, slowly getting higher and higher as seconds passed by. With every new change in height, a wave of screams burst around you. Someone laughed hysterically. A little boy cried. The woman beside you clutched the safety bar hard enough for her knuckles to turn white.
Your stomach barely shifted. Wind rushed through your newly shortened hair, lifting the blue strands Renee had dyed beneath the natural layers.
Beside you, Renee whooped loud enough to rival everyone else. "Oh, that was sick!" The ship swung back again, climbing even higher. You watched the fair shrink beneath you. The lights blurred together.
The height really wasn't all that high. It was nothing compared to rooftops or to the sky. Or the way your body would sometimes hit the side of an office building after a curse had swatted you away like you weighed nothing. The result ended up being a crack of concrete, the ringing in your ears and blood running down your face before you'd even realized you'd been hurt.
The ship descended and the weightlessness lasted barely a second. Nothing like the awful emptiness of being launched hundreds of feet into the air, desperately wondering if you were about to splatter against the pavement before someone caught you.
Compared to being chased through abandoned buildings by something that wanted to peel your skin off, watching curses tear people apart, and to waking up every morning wondering whether today would be the day you died, this ride was relaxing.
The ship climbed again, slower this time, each creak of the metal stretching the anticipation before it reached its peak. For a heartbeat, it seemed to hover. Sitting on the very end of the row, nothing blocked your view.
The fair unfolded beneath you like a patchwork of color. Tiny figures drifted between rows of glowing booths, weaving around one another in lazy, unpredictable currents. Couples walked hand in hand, children tugged their parents toward impossible-to-win games, teenagers clustered around food stands with paper trays piled high with funnel cake and fries.
Strings of warm bulbs crisscrossed the midway, while the rides flashed in dizzying patterns of reds, blues, and golds. The Ferris wheel turned at an unhurried pace, each gondola catching the light before slipping back into shadow. Even from this height, you could smell the sweetness of caramel and kettle corn carried on the wind.
Sound reached you differently up here. The music from every ride collided into an uneven chorus. A carousel's cheerful organ melody tangled with pounding pop songs from the bumper cars. A game attendant shouted into a microphone while laughter rose and fell beneath it. None of it matched. Together, it became a strange, distant symphony; out of tune, overlapping, almost dreamlike.
You let your gaze wander over the sea of strangers. Hundreds of people with hundreds of ordinary evenings. No one looked over their shoulder expecting a curse to emerge from the crowd. No one scanned rooftops for danger. They argued over prizes, spilled their drinks, laughed too loudly, and worried about tomorrow's homework or work shift instead of whether they'd survive the night.
The ship tipped forward again. The lights stretched into streaks as the world rushed back toward you.
“You seem very unfazed by this!” Renee shouted over the screams of the people, a hand in her hair to stop it from flying in her face. “How bad was the boarding school you went to that you became desensitized to this stuff!?”
The boarding school was a lie you told the group. You couldn’t tell them about how you go to a school where they taught you all of these things about curses, energy, and combat. They'd surely not believe any of it but regardless, it is better to be safe than sorry. They were regular humans after all.
“I’ve seen some stuff,” You answered, loud enough for her to hear over the sound of the wind and the screams.
“Like what?” She leaned in close, very interested in the sudden answer.
You didn’t give into her thoughts, dismissing her question with a shake of your head. It was better to just stay silent. “You don’t wanna know.”
The Ferris wheel moved almost lazily.
Unlike the pirate ship, there was no music blaring through hidden speakers. No violent swings or bursts of adrenaline demanding your attention. Only the soft hum of machinery beneath the steady creak of metal as each gondola climbed higher than the last.
The fair gradually shrank beneath you. The booths became little squares of light. The crowds blended into shifting streams of color. The voices that had seemed deafening only moments ago melted into an indistinct murmur carried upward by the evening breeze.
For the first time all night, there was nothing left to distract either of you. Only the view and the silence.
Renee shifted across from you, almost anxious by the silence. You could tell that she had something on her mind and she was looking for the right to spill. A sigh escaped her lips as she straightened herself out, meeting you eye to eye. Renee shifted in her seat, resting her elbows on her knees as she watched the fair stretch beneath the gondola. The silence between the two of you wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, it felt overdue.
She hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck. "You've been with us for almost a week now. And..." A soft laugh escaped her, "You've been surprisingly easy to get along with."
"What, were you expecting me to be difficult?"
"A little." She grinned. "Most strangers don't let themselves get dragged around by three people they met out of nowhere. My point is..." Her smile gradually faded. "I've been paying attention."
The Ferris wheel creaked as it carried your gondola a little higher.
"You laugh with us,” She counted on her fingers absentmindedly. "You joke around with Lind, you tease Kisei whenever he says something dumb, and you always thank me whenever I do something as simple as handing you a drink." Her gaze drifted back to you. "You seem like you're having fun."
"I know,” There wasn't even a hint of doubt in her voice. "But..." She paused, searching for the right words. "...why do you always seem so distant?"
You blinked, already having an answer to drop the conversation. Renee continued before you could dismiss the question.
"It's hard to explain." She looked back out over the sea of lights. "Sometimes I'll look over at you, and you're smiling. Then, a few seconds later..." She made a small gesture with her hand. "...it's gone. It's like your body's here with us..." she said quietly, "...but part of you is somewhere else."
The gondola rocked gently in the breeze.
"I've noticed it every day,” She glanced back at you, concern softening her features. "It almost feels like there's... this emptiness you carry around." Her voice became quieter still, "And no matter how much fun we're having… it never really leaves."
The words settled over you far heavier than you expected.
Why do you always seem so distant?
Your first instinct was to deny it, to tell her she was imagining things but the words refused to leave. Your gaze slowly drifted away from hers, returning to the city of lights below. The Ferris wheel had nearly reached its highest point, leaving the fair sprawled beneath you like a tiny, glowing world. Children darted between booths. Couples wandered hand in hand. Music floated upward on the evening breeze. You barely saw any of it.
Instead, your mind wandered. Had you really been that distant? You replayed the last several days in your head. The laughter. The jokes. The late-night conversations. Being dragged onto rides you normally would've refused. Eating convenience store snacks on the hotel floor. Watching movies until someone inevitably fell asleep halfway through.
You smiled and laughed. You enjoyed every second of it. ...Hadn't you? The answer didn't come as easily as you expected. It felt less like you had been living those moments and more like you had been watching yourself live them.
Only now, after Renee had pointed it out, did you realize just how detached you'd become.
You run away from the place that had been considered your home. From the people who had become your family, classmates and teachers. You left without saying goodbye. Now you were sitting hundreds of miles away in a Ferris wheel with a stranger you'd only known for a handful of days. And somehow, that hadn't felt strange until now.
The realization hit all at once. Your chest tightened. When had all of this become your reality? Your eyes remained fixed on the lights below, but they were beginning to blur around the edges. You refused to let yourself cry. The silence between you stretched, filled only by the quiet groan of the Ferris wheel as it carried the two of you through the early night sky.
Your lips parted, but nothing came out. You swallowed the lump in your throat, your eyes never leaving the lights below.
"...I don't know." The words were barely audible. "I..." Your voice caught, forcing you to stop. You cleared your throat, trying again, "I'm just… so confused. I don't really know what I'm doing anymore." The admission felt heavier than you expected. You let out a shaky breath through your nose. "My life's..." You searched for a word that could possibly explain it. "...complicated."
It sounded almost laughable. Complicated was far too small a word for everything you'd lived through.
"...And I don't know if it's even worth it." Your voice cracked on the last few words. "To keep living a life that..." You looked down at the fair again, blinking rapidly against the sting in your eyes, "...that I hate."
Your eyes remained fixed on the sea of lights below. The Ferris wheel had reached its peak, leaving the world beneath you looking impossibly small. The laughter of strangers, the music from the rides, and the warm glow of the fair all blended together into something distant and dreamlike. For a moment, you forgot that Renee was sitting across from you, waiting patiently.
"I thought running away would help."
The confession left your mouth before you could stop it. It was so small that it nearly disappeared beneath the gentle creaking of the Ferris wheel and the wind brushing against the gondola.
Renee didn't immediately respond. She simply looked at you and somehow, that silence felt heavier than any question she could have asked because in that moment, she understood that this wasn't just someone who wanted a change of scenery or a temporary escape. This wasn't someone who left because they wanted to start over somewhere new because they didn’t feel loved enough. This was someone who had reached a point where disappearing felt like the only option left.
"I think people talk about fate like it's something beautiful," she finally said.
You stayed quiet, your eyes still focused on the lights below.
"They say everything happens for a reason. That everyone has some path they're meant to follow, and eventually everything will make sense." She paused, thinking carefully about her next words. "But I don't think fate is always kind."
The gondola shifted slightly as it continued its slow movement.
"Some people are born into lives where everything seems to work out for them. They struggle, but somehow they always find their way forward. They fall, and they always have something waiting to catch them. And then there are people who feel like they've been fighting from the moment they were born. People who are forced to carry things they never asked for."
The words settled quietly between you.
"I think humans spend so much of their lives trying to reach something better. We focus on tomorrow because we believe that's where things will finally get easier. We think about the next goal, the next problem, the next thing we need to survive. But while we're always looking ahead, we forget what's right in front of us. We forget the people beside us. We forget to tell them when they matter. We forget to notice when they're struggling because we're too busy trying to handle our own problems."
Her voice became softer, "And sometimes, when something or someone important is gone, we finally realize how much space they took up in our lives."
A painful feeling settled in your chest. The word echoed louder than it should have. Your mind immediately returned to Thursday night. The late night at the hotel. The overconsuming thoughts in your mind. The cigarette between your fingers, the first one you had ever lit. The lighter in your hand as the flame flickered to life.
And the train ticket. Your ticket back to Tokyo. You remembered watching the corner curl and darken as the fire spread across the paper. You remembered feeling almost nothing as your only way home turned into ash.
At the time, you thought it was the right decision. You thought cutting away the last connection to Tokyo would make things easier. You thought if you removed every reminder of the life you hated, maybe the pain would disappear with it. You convinced yourself you didn't want to return. You convinced yourself there was nothing left for you there. But now, sitting hundreds miles away in a city that wasn't yours, surrounded by people you had only known for a few days, you realized how wrong you had been.
The place you left behind wasn't just a school. It was home which housed the people who knew you before you started pretending you were okay. It was Gojo, who always noticed more than he admitted. It was Yuji, who cared too much about everyone around him. It was Megumi, who showed his concern through quiet actions instead of words. It was Nobara, who would never let you forget your worth even when you couldn't see it yourself. It was Maki, Panda, Inumaki, and everyone else who had somehow become your family without you realizing it.
And you left them, without an explanation, a goodbye and not even with a way to reach you. You disappeared and changed your appearance. You cut your hair short. You dyed parts of it blue. You made yourself harder to recognize, harder to find. You erased every trail back to yourself because, at the time, you believed that was what you needed.
But now the thought that haunted you wasn't whether they could find you. It was what they had gone through when they couldn't. Had Gojo blamed himself? Had he searched through every possible explanation until he exhausted himself? Had Yuji wondered if there was something he should have said? Had Nobara been angry because she was hurt? Had Megumi replayed every conversation, trying to figure out where he failed to notice? Had Maki regretted every time she pushed you harder, believing it would make you stronger?
Your throat tightened. You had spent so much time thinking about how much you were hurting that you never considered the pain you left behind. Running away hadn't removed the suffering. It had only handed it to someone else.
Your vision blurred as you looked down at the fair below, desperately trying to keep yourself together. You didn't want Renee to see you cry. You didn't want anyone to see how fragile you actually were, but the realization was too heavy.
"I made them worry," you whispered. Your voice cracked, "I made them think something happened to me."
The thought made your chest ache because you knew what it was like to lose people. You knew what it was like to wonder if someone was safe, if someone was alive, if someone would ever come back. And you had forced that fear onto the people who cared about you.
A tear slipped down your cheek before you could stop it. You quickly looked away, embarrassed, but Renee didn't say anything. She didn't interrupt. She simply let you sit with the truth you had finally admitted to yourself.
"I thought running away would save me," you whispered. The words felt bitter. "I thought if I got far enough away, I wouldn't have to feel like this anymore. But..." You swallowed. "I think I just hurt everyone who meant a lot to me."
And for the first time since leaving Tokyo, you finally understood the difference between escaping a place and escaping your pain. You could run as far as you wanted, but the people you left behind would still be waiting for answers.
And somewhere deep inside, beneath all the fear and exhaustion, there was a part of you that wanted to go back home.
The streets of Osaka were rather busy. People were rushing their departure, quickly paying taxi drivers or hugging family members before they left into the station.
The car came to a complete stop on the sidewalk and ever so slowly did you gather your things and step out of the car. Renee stepped out too, throwing her arms around you in a bone crushing hug.
The night didn’t end up how they expected. After the talk in the Ferris wheel with Renee, you knew you had an obligation to stay here and get better. It wouldn’t be just to leave the country without explaining yourself to your friends who were worried about your absence. Everyone knew it was the right thing to do. You ran away because you were at a weak point in your life, and flying away to a different country wasn’t going to help one bit.
“Call me, okay?” Renee separated from the hug, a tearful expression on her face. “You’re our friend forever and remember to update us okay? Promise?”
“I promise I will,” You nodded, patting the pocket of your jacket where their numbers were written in ink. “Have fun wherever it is you go.”
She thanked you, ignoring the calls from Lind to hurry up and fished you out one last cigarette. She lit it up and happily placed it between your lips. She laughed at her actions, something you couldn’t help but laugh at too.
“Okay! Now, I gotta go!” She ran back to the car, rolling down the window and looking out as she buckled herself up. The car began to roll too fast for her liking and she leaned out the window, waving her hand widely in the air, “Call us! Call us, okay! Update us! We will miss you!”
You watched as their car left. The traces of your three friends were now gone into the night, leaving you with the duty to go back to Tokyo by yourself. That Monday night you arrived, you felt nothing but loneliness and desperate to get away from the troubles of life. The thought of Tokyo and everyone that had to do with it made you sick. You were so certain you never wanted to see them again. But now, you knew you had to make things right. It was the only way to heal yourself and become the best person you could be, even if it meant months of learning.
You blew out that same smoke of Thursday night, blueberry and menthol as you remembered it. It gave a calming sensation in your lungs. Preparing to move, you turned your head only to find someone you dreaded to see.
The cigarette rested between your lips, the smoke slowly curling upward into the air. For a moment, you wondered if exhaustion had finally caught up to you. Maybe you were hallucinating from the sleepless nights, the endless crying, the constant battle between wanting to disappear and wanting someone to notice you were gone.
But he was still there, standing beneath the station lights, surrounded by hundreds of strangers who had no idea that the world had stopped for you at that exact moment.
He wasn’t wearing his usual uniform. No high collar, no blindfold, no expression that screamed he was the strongest. Instead, he wore something simple, a dark jacket, casual pants, and those familiar black sunglasses that hid his eyes from the world.
For a second, you thought he looked angry. Of course he was angry. You left without saying anything. You disappeared from everyone who cared about you. You ignored every call, every message, every attempt to reach you. You made them worry. You made him worry. And now he was standing here, waiting for you.
The cigarette slowly burned between your fingers as you stared at him.
His name left your lips quieter than you intended. He didn’t answer immediately. That was what scared you the most. Gojo Satoru was never quiet. He was always teasing, always smiling, always acting like nothing in the world could hurt him. Even when things were falling apart, he carried himself like he was untouchable.
But right now, he looked tired. The small tension in his shoulders. The way his hands remained buried inside his pockets, almost like he was stopping himself from reaching for you. The way his head tilted slightly, as if he was trying to understand how the person standing in front of him could possibly be the same person he remembered.
Because you weren’t. Not anymore, at least. The person he remembered had always been warm. You smiled too easily. You laughed too loudly. You found beauty in the smallest things, even when life was cruel to you. You were the person who would drag him outside just to look at the sunset because you claimed even the strongest sorcerer needed to remember the sky existed. That person was still there. He knew that, but standing in front of him now was someone who looked like they had fought a war no one else knew about.
Your hair was shorter. Half of it was dyed blue, the color almost painfully bright against the dull station lights. Your face looked sharper, worn down by sleepless nights and mornings spent pretending you were okay. Your eyes, once filled with so much life, were exhausted. Red and swollen like you had cried every tear you had and somehow found more.
His gaze lowered to find the cigarette. For the first time since you saw him, Gojo’s expression changed. Something in his face softened into something that hurt more than anger ever could. Because that was the last thing he expected to see; A cigarette. Something so small and so insignificant. Yet somehow, it felt heavier than anything else.
He remembered every time you came back smelling like smoke because someone nearby had been smoking. He remembered the way he would immediately wrinkle his nose and dramatically wave his hand in front of his face. He would act offended, taking a step away from you. And when you rolled your eyes, he would only grin wider. Sometimes he would throw his jacket over your shoulders. Sometimes he would shove a bag over your head.
You always complained, but you always laughed. That was the part he remembered most. Your laughter. Not the way you looked. Not the way you dressed. Not even the things you said. Your laughter was the sound that reminded him you were still here. And now, you were standing in front of him with smoke leaving your lips. The same smoke he never imagined would come from you.
His heart sank because somewhere along the way, while he was busy fighting curses, protecting people, and carrying the weight of being the strongest, you had become someone who needed protection too. And he didn’t notice. No one noticed.
The realization hurt more than he wanted to admit.
“Am I in trouble?” You questioned with guilt ridden all over your face.
The question pulled him out of his thoughts. Your voice was quiet, almost hesitant, and the guilt written all over your face made something in his chest ache. For a moment, Gojo just looked at you; the person he had been searching for. The same person who was standing in front of him, afraid that the first thing he would do was punish you for leaving.
His expression softened. Slowly, carefully, Gojo took a step forward, then another. He moved like he was approaching something fragile, something that could disappear if he startled it. The usual confidence he carried was nowhere to be seen. There was no teasing remark, no playful smile, no attempt to lighten the situation, only gentleness.
When he finally reached you, he stopped beside you. Equal with you. Not to be seen as a teacher or the strongest. His hand lifted slowly, giving you enough time to pull away if you wanted to, but you didn’t. His palm rested gently on your shoulder; A quiet reminder that he was really there.
“Hey,” he murmured. You looked up at him. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
Your brows furrowed slightly, “But—”
“No,” His voice was soft, but certain, “Don’t worry about being in trouble.” His hand remained on your shoulder as he guided you toward the station entrance. “Right now, that doesn’t matter.”
The crowds moved around the two of you, strangers passing by without knowing the weight of the moment. The train announcements echoed through the station and the world continued, but Gojo stayed beside you.
“What matters,” he continued, his voice quieter now, “is that you’re safe. You’re here. You’re alive.” His grip on your shoulder softened. “That’s what matters.”
And for the first time since you left Tokyo, you weren’t being dragged back. You weren’t being forced to return.
You were simply being guided home.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This may be my first and last update of the month. 💔Recently, I got mildly injured on my dominant hand which is making it hard to do daily things. Also, I am taking summer classes at my university, and it is taking me more time to do assignments than I thought. (why did i decide to become an academic weapon?). BUT DON'T BE AFRAID. I have fics lined up. Both JJK and Gachiakuta. Thanks for reading and apologies. ❤️🩹 Also if I made any mistakes with the pronouns of the reader, please let me know! I intended it to be GN!.
