WARNING: Manipulative, gaslighting, and patronizing Yuta trying to pressure Mizuhime into ditching her sorcerer career. Some misogyny here and there. Megumi's a bit of a meanie too, and Mahito's... well, Mahito 💀

"SERIOUSLY?!" MAKI COCKED HER HEAD back and scoffed.

Mizuhime nodded. "Yeah. Yuta told papa what happened and papa told me to stop hanging around you because you were a 'bad influence'."

"Are you gonna listen to him?" Maki asked quietly. She knew that Mizuhime was a stickler for the rules, especially if those rules were set by control freak of a father.

Her answer surprised her: "No," Mizuhime said firmly. "His rule is stupid."

Maki couldn't help but smile at her words. The Mizuhime from last year would've obeyed her father's orders in a heartbeat no matter how much she disagreed with it. But now, hearing Mizuhime dismiss his demands and even call it stupid made Maki want to yell 'hallelujah!' at the skies.

Because finally the girl was starting to leave from her father's overbearing control. Sure she might not be fully aware of the abuse he put her through, but baby steps of course. Maki was just relieved that she was beginning to gain a rebellious spirit and the power to think for herself.

"Besides," the bluenette added. "You didn't do anything wrong—you helped me! I can't believe papa's more upset with that than the fact that Yuta and I di-did... you know." She mumbled shyly.

"And the fact that Yuta could've knocked you up," Maki said dryly. "I still can't believe what happened..."

Mizuhime frowned. "Me neither... I tried to talk to him about it, but he just told me that the pills were bad so I shouldn't take them again."

Maki almost stopped walking. "What?"

"Yeah. He's been trying to get me to do... you know, that with him again, but after what happened, I'm just not comfortable anymore." She said quietly. "I don't want to go through that scare again, especially since he refuses to wear any protection or let me take a contraceptive afterwards."

"What the fuck?" Maki muttered, in utter disbelief. "Does he actually want you to get pregnant or something? What the fuck is he thinking?"

Mizuhime just shrugged, looking absolutely miserable. "I don't know, but he's been scaring me with how... pushy he's been."

"He's pressuring you. Don't give in," Maki told her firmly. "I just can't believe how Yuta's been acting. I never would've thought he would be like this..."

"He used to be so shy and timid, but he's been bolder now," Mizuhime said, a small smile appearing on her lips that quickly dropped. "I'm glad that he's so confident in himself, but I just wish he would just... listen to me, you know?"

Maki nodded, "Yeah, I get you. He's trying to push your boundaries, but no means no."

"Ooooh, 'no means no'? That's a nice saying! Do you mind if I use that later?" Mizuhime's eyes shined.

"...Dude, that's already—ugh, forget it," the taller girl sighed in defeat when they finally reached the rest of their friends, aside from the first years.

Speaking of them...

"Where are the first years?" Panda asked as he looked around the forest they were trekking through.

"On errands," Maki answered calmly.

"Bonito flakes," Inumaki said.

"Will they be okay?" Panda asked.

Mizuhime furrowed her brows in concern. "Why wouldn't they be okay...?"

"Isn't today the day Kyoto's principal comes?" Panda reminded them. "To go over the exchange event."

"Tuna," Inumaki frowned.

"Satoru's fighting with the higher-ups because they arranged for the first years to get dispatched on that special-grade case, right? And the principal of Kyoto is one of those higher-ups, isn't he? So if they run into each other..." He trailed off.

Mizuhime frowned. She had almost forgotten about that. Her father had once told her that the Kyoto campus was something that she should avoid unless she wanted to be turned into one of the higher-ups' dogs. Because it was stationed in the capital of Jujutsu, the Kyoto school was far more stricter and convservative than the Tokyo one. All the 'ass-kissers' chose to go there—Gojo's words, not hers.

Had Yuta or Yuji been sent there instead of here, they would've been executed without hesitation.

"The first year they were targeting, Itadori, is dead." Maki stated. "I doubt he has any plans to do anything about the other two. Besides, the old man from Kyoto won't cause a scene in broad daylight."

"Salmon," Inumaki agreed.

But Panda wasn't convinced. "An instructor might have his position to worry about, but that's not the case for the students."

Maki suddenly stopped. "Are you saying Mai is coming?"

"It's just a guess." Panda shrugged. "Students aren't necessary for a meeting. But still... they love harassing us, right? Both Todo and Mai."

Mizuhime grimaced. She had nothing against the Kyoto kids personally, but their school principal was weird and kind of close-minded. Plus, the last time there was a meeting, Maki's little sister, Mai, tried to pick a fight with her for no particular reason which resulted in Mizuhime torpedo-ing her into a lake—all in the name of self-defense, of course.

As for Todo... well, she never really got a chance to meet him. She wondered what he was like though... All she knew was that Yuta really wanted her to avoid him.

"Out of everyone in the Kyoto school, you need to avoid Todo at all costs," Yuta insisted with utmost seriousness, grabbing her by the shoulders to make intense eye contact.

"Uh... why?"

"Because... um... he's a pervert!" He exclaimed, nodding his head up and down. "A huge pervert! Biggest pervert I know! I don't want him to try and pull something on you, so please try to stay out of his radar."

Mizuhime gasped, "Oh wow, he sounds bad! Thank you for telling me this, Yuta-kun! I'll make sure to stay away from him!"

His shoulders sank in relief. "Good."

At the other side of the school, Megumi was having his own encounter with the aforementioned pervert.

"I'm only here to see if these guys are fit to take Okkotsu's place." Todo said, tossing his jacket aside to stand before Megumi and Nobara. "That's all I want to know."

Megumi tensed up at the mention of his name. Okkotsu. Of fucking course. He just couldn't go a day without having to hear his name being thrown around.

"Fushiguro!" Todo called out to him. "What kind of woman is your type?"

What.

"Depending on your answer, I'll beat you half to death right here," Todo growled, ripping his shirt off. That was unnecessary in Megumi's opinion. "And drag Okkotsu, or at least the third years out to the exchange event. By the way, my type is a tall woman with a big ass!"

"Why do I have to talk about my taste in women with a guy I just met?" He questioned, wondering why the universe always put him in the dumbest situations. He already had to deal with Mai's bitchiness about Itadori's death and now this bullshit too?

"He's right. That's a tall hurdle for an antisocial guy," Nobara unhelpfully chimed in.

"You be quiet," he scowled. "This is confusing enough already. You'll just make it more complicated."

"Kyoto, third year, Todo Aoi. Introduction over. Now we're friends." Todo said.

Megumi sighed through his nose. Even for an introvert like him, he knew that wasn't the proper way to make friends.

"Hurry up and answer!" Todo demanded. "If you prefer men, that's fine too. A person's fetishes reflect everything about them. And I hate boring men. The exchange event is where my soul can be free as blood boils and flesh clashes. Who knows what I might do if my last exchange event ends up boring me?"

Why is everyone so dramatic? Megumi lamented.

"Hey, aren't the Jujutsu High schools four-year schools?" Nobara whispered to him, ignoring Todo.

"Only third years and under can join the exchange event," he explained tiresomely.

"Ah..."

"As a show of kindness, I'll let you off only half-dead right now," Todo continued on. "Answer me, Fushiguro. What kind of woman is your type?"

Megumi, for the hundredth time that day, sighed heavily. He might as well just give him an answer so he could leave him alone afterwards. But he needed to make sure he gave the older guy a satisfactory reply or else a fight would break out. It was two against two, but he had no idea how strong the other guy was and Nobara was currently unarmed.

What's my type? He wondered, and images of Mizuhime and surprisingly enough, Itadori Yuji, came to mind. Mizuhime and Yuji... they were completely different, but they had one thing in common...

They're both idiots, he concluded in despair. Which makes me moronsexual. I hate myself.

But there was no way he was going to announce that he was attracted to stupid people out loud, so he came up with the second-closest answer: "I don't have a particular preference. As long as they have an unshakable character, I won't ask for more."

Nobara hummed in satisfaction. Even Mai seemed to approve.

"Not a bad answer," the former said. "If you had said something like 'big boobs', I'd have killed you."

Todo didn't share the sentiment. Tears of disappointment were dripping down his scarred face.

"I knew it," he whispered melodramatically. "You're boring, Fushiguro."

...Should he have gone with the 'moronsexual' shit instead?

With tears still streaming down his face, Todo ran at him. Megumi only had enough time to bring his arms up to protect himself when he was suddenly flying back, crashing straight into the ground.

He heard Nobara call out his name, before it suddenly stopped. No doubt Mai was dealing with her.

Megumi shook it off, sitting up on his knees as Todo approached him, still crying.

"I knew at first glance that you were a boring guy," Todo said sadly as he got closer. "But you shouldn't judge a person by their looks, right? So I went out of my way to ask you, but you just trampled on my kindness."

"Is your brain as pineapple as your head?" Megumi had to ask, bewildered by what was going on. All this because of his type?

But then something struck him. Todo Aoi... was this the same Todo from last year's terror attack from Geto? The same one that single-handedly killed five First Grade cursed spirits and a Special Grade?

While there were several First Grade sorcerers capable of beating Special Grades, one particular rumor he heard was that Todo did it all without a Cursed Technique.

He rose to his feet. "I heard you don't use Cursed Techniques," he went straight to the point.

"Huh? Oh, that rumor's false." Todo said dismissively. "I used them against the Special Grade."

But not the First Grades. Wonderful.

"That's good to hear," he said through gritted teeth as he put his hands in position. "Nue, plus Gama! Bottomless Well."

The shadows around him rose to the surface. Winged frogs spawned around the area, one even clutching at him from behind.

Todo simply cracked his neck. But not even a second later, he was gone and the frogs were flying as a blur blew past them. Megumi couldn't even blink as a pair of large bulky arms grabbed at him from behind.

He's that fast?!

"Flimsy and shallow..." Todo growled. "Both your body and your taste in women!" He heaved the boy up into the air and bent his back over as he slammed Megumi into the ground, head-first.

Blood coated his head. Megumi was vaguely aware of the weight around his waist being gone, and quickly spotted Todo up in the air, getting ready to pummel him once more. He flipped over and dodged the attack, but dust and rubble blocked his vision once Todo crashed down.

Todo recovered quickly and came at him with a flurry of punches.

Damn it! He cursed, trying fruitlessly to block the hits. Over and over again, he would end up getting punched in the face. His power is insane!

Todo grabbed him by the face and brutally smashed his head against a wooden structure. He could feel it cave in from the force, and Megumi was pretty sure Todo could actually crush his skull with his bare hand.

"I'm not finished yet!" Todo exclaimed, forcing his head through the wooden frame and speeding through the whole building, continuously bashing Megumi's head through the beams.

He launched themselves in the air and finally released the boy, but not before pulling his fist back for a final punch.

"You've always been so boring!" He shouted, his fist flying forward only to get restrained by a long purple tongue from one of the winged frogs.

It yanked him back down to the ground and he was soon wrapped up with more tongues. Todo ripped through them with ease.

Megumi landed back down just as Todo managed to rip through the last frog.

"I barely feel any intention to fight," the younger boy grunted as he slowly rose up. "I've been holding back, and you're so proud? If you're going to assist like that, then I'll show you."

Holding back was always the problem with him. He held back his affections for Mizuhime which allowed Yuta to snatch her away. He held back against his fights which allowed him to get treated like a ragdoll in almost every fight he had been in. He always tried to remain perfectly in control, but lately, he's been wanting nothing more than to finally let loose.

His words brought a feral grin to Todo's face. "Bring it!"

They lunged at each other.

"Sierra!" A familiar voice rang.

A powerful jet of steaming hot water shot past Megumi and body-slammed right into Todo, sending him skidding back a good distance. The attack didn't look like it hurt him much, but Todo hissed at his bright red, boiling arms.

The column of hot water solidified into shape. Mizuhime.

"What the hell is this?!" The blue haired girl uncharacteristically cursed. She glared at Todo, who gaped dumbly at her. "Stay away from my kohai!"

Todo didn't respond right away. He pointed a trembling finger at her. "You... you're—"

"—Gumi!" She ignored him and rushed to Megumi's side. "Gumi-chan, are you okay?"

She tried to tenderly grab his arm, but he ripped himself away. "I'm fine," he said snappishly.

There she went again with that kohai bullshit. Kohai, kohai, kohai. Fuck, she even protected him like he was some weak little boy! If only she had shown up a few minutes later when he went all out, then maybe she would finally see him as a man and not some kid she needed to shield!

"Nice shot, Hime!" Panda cheered as he and Inumaki arrived at the scene.

"Salmon!"

"YOU!" Todo screamed, still jabbing a finger at Mizuhime's direction. "You're Okkotsu's girlfriend!"

"Fiance, actually," she corrected. Megumi tensed up beside her.

"THAT LUCKY BASTARD!" He cried out, throwing his head back. "I've seen the half-naked picture of you on Okkotsu's phone, but you look even better in real life! Quick! Tell me, what are your body measurements?"

She stared at him. "Wait... what half-naked picture of me?"

Inumaki and Panda began coughing loudly and the latter was quick to change the subject, "Why are you here, Todo? Why can't you just wait until the exchange event? Go on home or I'll start screaming!"

Mizuhime stiffened. Todo? This was the pervert Yuta warned her about?!

"You don't have to tell me to go home," Todo scoffed before smirking down at Megumi. "Looks like I won't be bored the whole time. Give Okkotsu a message for me: 'You take part, too'."

Megumi bristled. If someone mentioned that guy one more time, he was gonna blow up.

"I panda. I no understand human speech," Panda replied.

Mizuhime sighed. "Yuta will be returning to Africa by the end of the week. He won't be here for the event, so please just leave already."

Todo frowned. "Is that so? I heard he was back though..."

"For a two week break, but he's not here currently. He's..." Bonding with my father... "Elsewhere."

He sighed in disappointment. "I see... how unfortunate. I'll be taking my leave now then. Fushiguro, you better not bore me again when the time comes."

He turned around and left. He headed over to where Nobara and Mai were, and Maki was probably already there to deal with whatever trouble her younger sister was trying to spew.

"Gumi..." Mizuhime mumbled quietly, scanning the blood pouring down his head worryingly. "Do you need help going to Shoko-san?"

"I told you I'm fine," he said a little too forcefully as he got back up on his feet.

Panda frowned at his attitude. "Hey now, Hime's just trying to check if you're okay."

"I'm fine. I don't need to go see Shoko," he repeated as blood continued to drip down to the ground. He was purposely avoiding looking at Mizuhime's direction. "I'm gonna go check on Kugisaki."

He walked away tensely, a dark look on his face.

"Mustard leaf?" Inumaki asked Mizuhime in concern.

She bit her cheek. "Ah, Gumi-chan is..."

"A kohai...?! Is that all you'll ever see me as?" His words echoed in her head.

She let out a sad sigh, "I think he's just embarrassed that we had to see him in that state."

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

Summer vacation was creeping closer, and Mizuhime had no idea what to do. She didn't want to go back home because of her father, but she didn't want to stay on campus either because of Gojo and Megumi. She could spend her vacation traveling around and staying at hotels (and she knew she could afford to do so), but she had absolutely zero idea on how to go about doing that. Reserving a hotel room? Traveling around foreign places? She knew the whole process would just stress her out.

Speaking of problems...

Mizuhime sucked in a breath when she spotted Yuta walking around the campus, head turning around as if to look for something. Or someone in this case. She would've ran for it the second they locked eyes, but something made her pause.

His cheek... there was a violent red mark on his cheek, as if he had been slapped.

"Hime!" He called out to her and that was when she finally turned around and high-tailed it.

"Wha—! Why are you running?!" He shouted in confusion, which was then followed by the sound of pounding footsteps. Dread pooled in her stomach; he was chasing after her.

"Leave me alone!" She bit out, turning a corner. She was getting closer to the dorms now.

As she rushed to her safe haven, she could feel the familiar sting of tears in her eyes. She recalled how Yuta blew up on her after Maki and Nobara took her to get the morning after pill, and how he tried to pressure her into sex after that. How he brushed off her fears of what had happened, treating her as if she was some silly little girl who didn't know any better and even going so far as to forbid her from taking those pills again.

Yuta must have heard the anguish in her voice because now he was panicking.

"Y-you're crying?! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell! Hime, wait!"

That's not why I'm crying! She wanted to scream, his words breaking the dam holding the tears back.

"Wait!" He scrambled behind her. "Baby—baby, wait! I'm sorry! I-I don't know what's wrong, but I'll make it better, I promise!"

She finally reached the dormitory building and hurried to her room. She was rapidly wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her jacket, hands feeling all numb and tingly. "Leave me alone," she said weakly, voice shaking.

"I can't just do that! Something's clearly bothering you! Just tell me, please! I'll fix it!" He pleaded. "Is someone hurting you? Is it the missions? Is it—"

"—God, Yuta, it's you!" She finally blew up, whirling around to give him a teary-eyed glare that made him skid to a stop. "You're hurting me, so please just leave me alone!"

With Yuta stunned silent, she used that chance to get to her dorm and angrily opened the door. She tried to step in, but Yuta quickly grasped her wrist to keep her from entering.

"Let go!" She growled in frustration, trying to wrench herself free.

"Don't be like this," he was begging her, his own tears streaming down his face. "W-what did I do wrong? I'm sorry, baby, please, I'm so sorry, just tell me and I'll—"

"—Let me go, Yuta!" Her voice raised.

He tightened his hold. "No! I want you to talk to me! Tell me what I did wrong so I can make it all better again!"

She tried to push against him, but managed to get part of her body through the doorway. This made him more desperate to hold her wrist tighter and pull her to him.

"Don't be like this," he said, his own voice laced with anguish. "Please. I love you!"

"Get away from me!" She grunted, trying to pull her wrist away.

His sorrowful face turned into a stern frown. "...You know what?" Rather than trying to pull her, he shoved her through the doorway and into her dorm room. Then, he stepped inside and locked the door behind him.

Mizuhime stepped back, feeling like a cornered animal as he blocked the door.

"You're being really rude, you know," he told her firmly. "I'm trying to help you, but you're misbehaving."

She didn't know how he always did it, but as usual, it only took him a few words to make her feel like some sort of child again. It was patronizing and humiliating.

He raised a brow as her silence continued. "Well? Come on, tell me what's wrong? Why are you so upset with me?"

She stared at him in disbelief. "You... you seriously don't even know?" Her blood began to boil. "Yuta, you could've gotten me pregnant! Maki and Kugisaki-san had to tell me all about protection and while I don't blame you for forgetting, the way you reacted afterwards is what upset me! You—you were angry even though my friends were just trying to help me! You even went and told my father about this and now he wants me to stay away from them!"

His frown deepened, and his next words shocked her: "This is why you're so upset?"

"OF COURSE THIS IS WHY I'M SO FUCKING UPSET!" She screamed.

"Stop that," he said seriously. "You know I don't like it when you use those filthy words."

"What is wrong with you?" She couldn't believe how uncaring he was about this.

"There's nothing wrong with me, you're the one overreacting," he said gently, looking at her in concern. Mizuhime felt almost dizzy, heart pounding in her chest. He looked at her as if she was crazy, and with the onslaught of emotions heaving within her, she was beginning to feel crazy too.

Yuta slowly began to walk to her, and her body immediately tensed up. When all he did was wrap his arms around her body to pull her close, she tried to relax herself.

"You're confused," he cooed gently. "You're so inexperienced when it comes to the real world, and it doesn't help that these girls are putting the wrong thoughts in your head."

She shook her head. "No, they were trying to help me."

"Perhaps they were," he hummed. He walked over to one of the chairs around the dining table and sat down, pulling Mizuhime onto his lap and holding her close. "Look, I guess it was wrong of me to get so angry with them. They were trying to help you, but their attempts were rather... misguided."

"Misguided?" She frowned.

He began playing with her hair. "They prevented you from having a baby because they thought it was what you needed, but they were wrong."

"I don't need a baby," she tried to say.

"And why do you think that?"

"Yuta..." She said slowly. "I'm sixteen, you're seventeen. I might be clueless to how the world works, but even I know that we are way too young to have a baby."

He shook his head. "You're wrong."

"No, I'm not. If I get pregnant, I would have to leave the school!"

"And what's so bad about that? So what if you can't attend the school anymore? So what if you can't be a sorcerer anymore? That sounds like a win to me—this world is too corrupt and dangerous for you! You would make a better wife and mother than a sorcerer."

"Yuta—"

"—Your mother had no issue with doing this," he cut her off, and she froze. "She and dad got married when she was sixteen. They were teenagers, just like us. She was a sorcerer too, but she stopped in order to fulfill her duties as a proper wife and mother. Look at how happy she is now. Do you think she was wrong to do that?"

She began to falter. "No..." In fact, her mother was always smiling peacefully, looking perfectly serene despite a few bumps here and there. Maybe... maybe Yuta had a point?

He smiled, "See, honey?" He said, feeling like the issue was all resolved now. His hand started to trail up her skirt. Without another word, his other hand grasped the back of her head, pushing her lips against his into a sloppy, needy kiss.

"God I missed you," he muttered, hot breath fanning her face when he lightly pulled away. He quickly latched his lips onto the column of her neck, yanking at her hair to give him easier access.

Mizuhime felt herself mewl in pleasure, legs instinctively squeezing themselves shut. But she could feel Yuta's hand forcing its way through, his fingers prodding against her clothed entrance.

"Yuta, no, not now," she murmured, turning her head away while her hands grabbed at his wrist.

He tensed up underneath her. "What?"

"I-I'm not ready to do that again," she said nervously.

He frowned at her reluctance, but flashed her an angelic smile. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "I'll take care of you."

She quickly got off his lap before he could make another move. "No means no, Yuta." She recited Maki's words.

His mouth fell slightly ajar, "Wha—who taught you that phrase?!"

"I found it off the internet," she lied, not wanting to throw her friend under the bus. "Let's not do this right now, okay?"

"Hime," he chuckled nervously. "I'm leaving for Africa tomorrow. We might not see each other in a while—"

"—So we should go on a date!" She suggested with a forced bright smile. Yuta's insistence to have sex with her was suspicious, and she had a feeling that she should avoid doing the deed with him as much as possible.

He smiled lightly, "Oh... yeah, a date would be nice."

"Great," she gave him a strained grin. "Just give me some time to change out of these clothes."

"Sure. And Hime?"

"Hmm?"

He reached out to grab her hand, thumb delicately brushing over the precious jewel of her engagement ring. "You still love me, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Yuta." She replied nervously, feeling too scared to say anything else but that.

He gave her a chaste kiss on the lips before pulling away. Mizuhime hoped he would leave the room so she could get ready, but he stayed right there so she had to get dressed in the bathroom instead (even though he promised that he would look away).

Now that she was all good to go, Yuta smiled, wrapped an arm around her waist, and led her out of the dorm. As they stepped out of the room, Mizuhime immediately caught sight of a pair of green eyes.

Her blood ran cold.

Megumi.

Oh no, she thought, spying the hateful glare the younger boy was shooting her fiance before he walked off. Did he see us?! Did he hear us?!

"Something wrong, sweetie?" Yuta asked, glancing off at the direction she was gaping at.

"Er, nothing," she squeaked. She had no idea if Megumi saw Yuta chasing after her or if he was able to hear their argument from behind doors, but she was certain that he knew something.

"By the way..." She spoke up, wanting to change the subject. "What happened to your face?"

He stiffened, the large hand he had placed in the small of her back tensing up. "Oh, this," he said with a false lightness. "Your mother and I had a little... disagreement."

"What?"

"It was nothing. She was just upset about something. I managed to calm her down." He smiled at her.

She didn't smile back. Ice ran through her veins. Her mother was not a violent person. In fact, she had never once seen her become physical with anyone; she was practically the epitome of calmness. She must have been absolutely furious with him to have actually hit him.

Strangely enough, she felt more worried about her mother than Yuta, the boy who had gotten hit.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

The date went surprisingly well, but not well enough to shake off her concerns about their... rather disturbing conversation about the future. Plus, there was Megumi too, but she wasn't too worried about that. Sure he might have seen or heard something between her and Yuta, but it wasn't anything too pressing at least.

The next day, she took Yuta to the airport. Watching his plane fly away from behind the window actually felt like a weight lifting off her shoulders... It made her feel a tad bit guilty too for thinking that, but she couldn't deny that the oppressive tension in the air was gone now.

Rather than heading back to campus, she took a taxi and went straight to Shinjuku to go shopping. It was completely unnecessary since she literally went shopping with Nobara and Maki just a while ago, but she was desperate to get her mind off of her relationship with Yuta.

Unfortunately for her, the universe decided to distract her in another way.

The taxi drove off after she shut the door, and just as she was about to step on to the sidewalk, she heard a funny voice.

"Oooh! How nice!"

She paused.

...Huh?

She looked around, but all she saw were other people walking around the streets and paying her no mind. Was she hearing things?

"Down here," the voice cooed.

She blinked and looked down on the ground. At first she saw nothing, just a dark grey pavement. But then she spotted a flash of color behind the sewer drain on the side of the curb she was standing before. She tilted her head and saw the most oddest looking man staring back at her... inside the sewer drain.

It was an older man with long greyish-blue hair and heterochromatic eyes—one was blue and the other was grey—and the weirdest thing about him was the multitude of stitches around his skin, as if he was a living doll that was sewn together.

"Hello there," he smiled at her.

She quickly averted her gaze, not wanting to talk to some weirdo in the sewers.

Plus, he felt like a curse, but at the same time, he looked so human.

"Come on now," he complained, lips turned down into a pout. "I know you can see me."

"Um, sorry but my friends told me not to talk to strangers," she squeaked. And by 'friends', she meant Megumi, Maki, and Yuta who each gave her a very lengthy lecture about stranger danger.

"We don't need to be strangers, we can be friends! My name is Mahito," he chirped.

"..."

"Awww, still not gonna say anything?" He whined. "Well that's fine, I guess. I just wanted to compliment you on how interesting your soul is. It makes me wonder... are you aware that you're being chained down?"

She finally turned to look at him, confusion written all over her features. "Huh?" My soul?

He giggled, his mix-matched eyes gleaming sadistically.

"I've never seen anything quite like it. If you were to get hurt, would one of them come running to save you?" He said thoughtfully, his hand reaching out of the drain.

She stumbled back, at first thinking that he was trying to grab her, but he opened his palm and that was when she saw these small, clay-like objects in his hand. Suddenly, they began to shake and lunged at her as if they had a mind of their own. She hurried back, letting out a panicked shriek as they began to enlarge in size, turning into grotesque beasts.

Cursed spirits?! She thought, bringing a hand up to attack until she was interrupted by a series of horrified screams. The civilians walking around were pointing their fingers at the monsters, and all hell broke loose.

How are they even able to see it?! She freaked. Non-sorcerers shouldn't be able to see a cursed spirit, so how?!

There was no time to worry about that though; right now, she had to find a way to get everyone to leave the street so she could deal with the curses without any distractions. Fortunately for her, there were a bunch of bright red fire hydrants stationed around so she immediately willed them to explode, water gushing out like a geyser. Somehow, that seemed to shock the non-sorcerers more than the appearance of the curses, and they quickly high-tailed it out of there to find a dry shelter.

"Hey! Are you still there?" She called out, glancing to the drain only to find Mahito gone.

That just left her with the cursed spirits then. Fine by her.

Mizuhime narrowed her eyes at the creatures. For some odd reason, they looked to be wearing a few accessories like wrist watches, necklaces, and whatnot. How peculiar... why were a bunch of curses wearing human accessories?

But now wasn't the time to worry about that. She readied herself to release her new favorite attack, one she knew would exorcise these guys in an instant. She grinned excitedly, oblivious to the figure desperately yelling at her to stop.

"Water Nebula!"

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

Yuji looked up curiously when he heard a bunch of screaming, followed by what sounded like a stampede heading his way.

"Whoa!" He had to step out of the way as a huge group of people came barrelling by, screaming their lungs out about water and monsters or whatever.

He glanced back at the sprinting crowd, brows furrowed in confusion. "I wonder where they're running off to? Was a celebrity spotted here? Oh! What if it's Jennifer Lawrence?!"

Just when he was about to actually join them, Sukuna's mouth appeared on his cheek. "Idiot. Are you deaf? Didn't you hear what those morons were shrieking about?"

"Something... about a monster...?" Yuji's eyes widened in realization. "A cursed spirit?!"

"They mentioned water too," Sukuna added. "That must be melons. Go to her."

Yuji didn't even have any time to point out Sukuna's obvious worry for the girl because the second he realized someone could be in danger, he was sprinting towards the direction the terrified crowd came from.

The once busy streets were completely deserted the more he ran and soon enough, he spotted a familiar blue haired girl battling against the spirits with ease.

He knew that nobody else was supposed to know that he was alive, but all the secrecy came flying out the window once he realized that she wasn't fighting against cursed spirits, but transfigured humans instead.

"No—!" He choked. If he let her kill them, she would be devastated once she knew who they really were. "Senpai, don't—"

"—Water Nebula!" She shouted, and the water gushing from the fire hydrants moved together as two waves, forming a helix and blasting against the cursed spirits with a deadly force that killed them in an instant.

The two torrents pierced through their bodies effortlessly, blood spurting from the wounds. The transfigured humans fell lifelessly to the ground, but didn't dissipate much to the girl's confusion.

"Oh wow!" She squealed to herself. "I can't believe that move really took them out in an instant! But why are their bodies still here...?"

"Senpai..." Yuji croaked out. How was he going to tell her that she had just killed a bunch of humans?

Mizuhime whipped her head around, eyes widening when she saw him well and alive. "I-Itadori-san?!"

( BONUS! )

Sanyu was shaking.

She could feel her control slipping away, her mask of calmness crumbling before her very fingers as she struggled to hide her anger.

Yuta had... tried to impregnate her daughter. He had pulled the same stunt Susanoo had done to her. The maca root tea, having sex right after it—he even took advantage of her daughter's naivety and never informed her of the proper protection.

Sanyu's life had been ruined the second she met Susanoo, but her pregnancy and marriage to him was the thing that put the proverbial nail in the coffin. The thought of her sweet daughter going through the same thing she went through made her sick with fear and rage.

Naturally, she tried her best not to show it. She kept her mouth shut when she saw the two teens being served that dreaded tea, she remained perfectly serene when their marriage was arranged, and she didn't once try to speak out about it to her god-awful husband. She knew it was pointless anyways.

But having to listen to her daughter sob through the home phone about what the boy had done and how terrified she had been had put a crack to her composure.

Seeing the source of her daughter's pain finally made her snap. He was just there, walking around the mansion as if he already owned it, a happy smile on his face like he wasn't the one trying to destroy her daughter's life.

"You." Her voice came out as a nasty snarl, a tone she hadn't used in years.

Yuta stopped, blinking innocently at her as if nothing was amiss. "Uchiumi-san?" He said with polite confusion.

Without another word, she stormed over to him and slapped him across the face, the sound resonating throughout the empty hallway.

Yuta's face had turned from the impact, his dark blue eyes wide with astonishment and even hurt. Slowly, he cradled his reddening cheek, staring at her with watery eyes. "Wh—what—?"

"You disgust me," she sneered, chest heaving with wrath. "I thought you would be good enough for my daughter, but you're just as fucked up as my monster of a husband."

His lips trembled. "U-Uchiumi-sa—"

"—SHUT UP!" She shrieked, uncaring about the volume. "I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE LIKE YOU! YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN EXECUTED, YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A SICK TWISTED FREAK AND MY DAUGHTER'S BETTER OFF WITH YOU DEAD!"

Yuta opened his mouth to speak, but his attention was suddenly directed to something behind her.

She grabbed at his dark hair, causing him to cry out in pain as her nails dug into his scalp. "You're a demented little boy, that's all you ever are. You touch my daughter with your filthy hands and I'll—"

"—SANYU!" A voice barked, and her whole body responded with fear.

She whirled around, fingers still entangled in Yuta's hair, her face paling when she caught sight of her husband and several narrow-eyed servants heading towards them.

She released Yuta, but Susanoo's hand shot out like lightning and grabbed her by the throat. He slammed her against the wall, pushing her upwards so her feet would dangle in the air.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Susanoo roared, thunder booming in the skies.

Behind him, Yuta was beside himself with worry, eyes wide with fear and apprehension. "Wait," he begged. "Wait, dad, don't—!"

Yuta's pleas went ignored as Susanoo tighetend his grasp around her neck. She gasped for air, hands desperately trying to pry herself free.

"S-Su—" She rasped.

With an angry cry, he threw her to the side, and her body crashed against the floor. She sobbed loudly, her whole body trembling as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Take her to the room!" She heard Susanoo demand. "She needs to be reeducated again!"

"NO!" She shrieked, scrambling to her hands and knees. She lowered her head into a bow, her voice shrill as she continued to bed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, honey, I—"

"—BE QUIET!" He snapped, and she hastily slapped her hands over her mouth in a futile attempt to hold back her cries. He turned to the servants, "Get her out of here already! I won't tolerate this insolence!"

He stormed away afterwards, and Yuta rushed after him. Sanyu had no idea what the boy was saying, too busy thrashing around and screaming at the top of her lungs as she was dragged away. 

— author's note —

Yaaaaaay, Mizuhime just killed her first humans! 🥳🥳 I'm sure Sukuna's beaming with pride rn since he knew VERY WELL how deadly Water Nebula would be! What a great teacher 😍

Before I get to the memes, here's the first fanart for this series by higoroku:

She's done fanarts for my previous books as well, ily 💖💖💖

Yuta trying to apologize:

How the creepy Mahito encounter should've went: