"I'M CALLING THE POLICE," THE boy said bluntly, already pulling out his phone.

Gojo dropped his napkin in feigned shock. "Eh? What for?"

"For being a child predator," he deadpanned.

The white haired man let out an over-dramatic gasp. "I am not! I'm simply eating out with one of my cute little students!"

The boy—Megumi—scoffed. "Pervert."

"Come sit with us, Gumi-chan," Gojo motioned.

Rather than waiting for a response, the man actually reached out to grab the edge of Megumi's sleeve, tugging him forward and nearly sending him toppling over the short fence surrounding the shop.

"Alright, alright, fine!" Megumi sneered, yanking his arm free. He hopped the fence with ease and plopped on a free chair between them, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Hime-chan, this is Fushiguro Megumi, my beloved son—"

"—You're not my dad," Megumi said flatly.

"He's going through his rebellious phase right now," he whispered to her, and she nodded in understanding.

She read a lot about kids undergoing their rebellious phases from the books her father gave her. They usually ended up dead.

"And Megumi, this is Uchiumi Mizuhime. She's one of my students at Tokyo Jujutsu High so consider her your senpai."

Mizuhime let out her own gasp, stars in her eyes. "You're going to join Jujutsu High soon? Oooh, that would make you my kohai!" She had never had a kohai before!

The younger boy just grunted.

"Megumi, I've decided to give extra training lessons to Hime-chan so she can catch up with the rest of her peers. She isn't quite used to fighting against curses yet. You don't mind training alongside her, do you?" Gojo asked, poking the boy's cheek.

Megumi swatted his hand away. "It's fine."

"Sensei, you're letting me train with your son? I-is that a good idea? I don't want to get in the way..." She trailed off.

"I'm not his son," Megumi told her bluntly. "Please don't ever call me that. And I told you it's fine. I don't care either way. Just know that he's a terrible teacher so I doubt you'll learn much from him."

"Megumi, you're breaking your dear daddy's heart," Gojo sniffled, placing a hand over his chest.

He shuddered. "Stop calling yourself that."

Mizuhime quietly giggled to herself as she watched the two banter (or well, playfully in Gojo's part). She doubted Megumi and Gojo had any biological relationship—they had absolutely zero similarities, plus, Megumi was a teenager just a year younger than her. Gojo would've had to become a father at a very young age. They still had a pretty cute familial relationship though!

When the day of their first training session came, Mizuhime was surprised to find the younger boy already waiting for her at one of the unused dojos deep within the campus. He was dressed in his workout clothes and was in the middle of stretching when she walked in.

"I didn't think you'd get here so soon, Fushiguro-kun," Mizuhime commented as she placed her things to the side of the room.

"Ijichi comes to my school to pick me up," he explained, and at her confused look at the unknown name, he added, "Ijichi's the assistant director here. He went to school with Gojo."

"Ah," she nodded.

Things fell silent again, and she sweatdropped. She had a feeling Megumi wasn't one for talking. Or just being social in general.

But still, at least the silence wasn't too awkward. While waiting for Gojo to arrive, Megumi resumed his stretches while Mizuhime explored the wonders of her new phone. Earlier this morning, she had excitedly showed everyone the new device and happily exchanged numbers with them. Since then, her phone had been buzzing with text messages and she even learned what a 'meme' was!

(Though she had no idea how Panda was able to text given that he had paws instead of hands.)

Maki-chan 😎:
Yo whats number 7 for the math hw

Inumaki 🤐:
Not telling

Panda 🐼:
Lol he's just saying that cuz he doesn't know either

The answer is fourteen!
Also, what does 'Lol' mean?

Maki-chan 😎:
Why do u keep texting in proper grammar 😭
And thx!

Inumaki 🤐:
'Lol' means 'laugh out loud' 😂
By the way 'thx' is a shorter way of saying 'thanks'

Am I texting wrong?

Maki-chan 😎:
U text like a boomer writing a letter during the war era 💀💀💀

I... don't know what that means...

Inumaki 🤐:
When u guys r done with the math, send pics pls

Panda 🐼:
No 💖

ill probs finish l8 cuz im getting xtra lessons after skool
Did I text that right :D

Panda 🐼: 
Were so proud of u 🥺

Inumaki 🤐:
👏👏👏

Maki-chan 😎:
Whoa wait
Extra lessons?!?!?!? 🤮

More training :(
I'm not that good at fighting off curses, so I need extra training to catch up with the rest of you guys.
I'll also be training with Gojo-sensei's son!

Maki-chan 😎:
His WHAT

Inumaki 🤐:
h u h

Panda 🐼:
Someone allowed him to reproduce?

Unfortunately, before she could go on to explain any further, Megumi let out a huff of annoyance which caused her to look away from her phone.

"When the hell is that moron gonna get here?" Megumi grunted. "He's late again."

"Maybe he got caught up with work?" She suggested. "Grading papers and whatnot."

He snorted. "You give him too much credit. That dumbass is probably out buying that junk again."

"How dare you!" Gojo cried out as he teleported in the center of the room, his sudden entrance making the kids jump. "Kikufuku is not junk!"

Megumi's gaze darted down to the paper bag in his hand, recognizing the familiar bakery logo on the front and rolled his eyes. He had been right.

"Let's get started already," Megumi monotoned, sending the older man an irked look. "We're now eleven minutes behind."

Gojo waved him off. "Alright, alright, gather around children."

Mizuhime tucked her phone back into her bag and stood before him with Megumi at her side.

"I've decided..." He began, putting a pause in his words for a dramatic effect that had Megumi rolling his eyes in annoyance. "To have you guys duke it out!"

Mizuhime blinked in confusion. Megumi stared.

"What." The latter said.

"No, no, trust me, I've thought it all through—"

"—You haven't thought shit—mmfh!"

Gojo smushed his hand against Megumi's mouth to silence him, and Mizuhime inched away a bit, feeling as if an explosion would be coming soon.

"I've thought it all through," Gojo repeated with a proud smile. "And it works! Megumi, you're too offensive—literally and figuratively. You always love to attack people so your defensive skills are slightly lacking. Hime-chan, you're not used to going on the offensive, so I'm going to have you use your Cursed Technique to attack Gumi-chan here while he tries to defend himself. Oh, and to make this easier on you, I won't have him use his Cursed Technique."

Megumi finally managed to pry his hand off his mouth, and the ferocity on his face made it look like he was about to bite the man's fingers off as well.

Luckily, Gojo whipped his hand back, laughing good-naturedly. "Try not to bite me, Gumi-chan, I haven't gotten my tetanus shot yet!"

"You're an idiot," he spat. "Also, you do realize you basically just called her weak right? All these years and you still lack any tact..."

Gojo's face fell—dramatically, as everything always is with him. "I would never call Hime-chan weak!" He cried out, yanking the girl to him and hugging her close like she was his prized teddy bear. If the sensation of her chest being squished against his made him feel anything, he definitely wasn't going to comment on it. "I meant that she's delicate. I was the one who rescued her from her terrible situation back home, like a knight saving his princess from the locked tower! And gosh Gumi—she's never even been outside until I came into the picture...!" Cue another sigh. "I only want the best for her."

"...You are such a drama queen," Megumi rolled his eyes, his impatience rising. "Alright, fine, whatever. Let's just get on with this already. Senpai, are you ready?"

Mizuhime had to pry herself free from Gojo, who was still weeping to himself about the 'young and disadvantaged youths he was surrounded with'.

She glanced over to her bag, where two water bottles laid beside it. She looked back to Megumi, her Cursed Technique already activating, and nodded.

With a swish of her hand, the liquid inside her water bottles broke free and tried to slash at him from behind.

"Water—?" She heard him mutter to himself, momentarily taken aback by her chosen attacks.

Not like it mattered. Five minutes into the fight, and she could tell very quickly that he was way above her level in terms of combat. Heck, he could probably take on her classmates with ease (though she wasn't sure about Maki).

While she and Megumi were 'duking it out', Gojo sat on the sidelines, munching on his recently bought kikufuku. In the corner of her eyes, she swore she saw him holding her phone with his other hand, his fingers scrolling through the notifications on the screen.

(Were teachers allowed to do that? She had no clue, but was too distracted to care.)

When none of her hits were getting to him, she went to her last resort: "Water Slicer!"

A wave of watery blades came at him, and much to her absolute awe, he was able to dodge every single one of them. He moved with fluidity, almost as if he was made out of water himself. A tilt of his head there, a shift from his legs here, every part of his body moved effortlessly to dodge the little scythes that came at him. His reflexes were amazing!

It took her a second to realize that she was gawking at him comically before she snapped out of it and tried again. This time, she tried a bigger attack.

The closest body of water was the pool, and it was all the way on the other side of the campus. It would take her too long to summon, so instead, she focused on condensing the moisture in the air to create her own water source.

Miniature droplets formed around the room before they sharpened into a point. Megumi was now surrounded by a bunch of watery little needles.

(This was something she had done numerous times before when she was designing her own clothes and she had run out of pins to tack the fabric down. This would be her first time using it to pin an actual person.)

With a push of her hand, the needles flew to the target. There would be too many for him to dodge and they were practically covering every inch of the room! She was certain she got him now—

Until he melted into the shadows underneath him.

Her face fell. "HUH?!"

Gojo choked on his own laughter.

Megumi returned, his body ascending from the shadows like a demon stepping out of hell. His black eyes made contact with hers and her face reddened.

"You cheater!" She cried out, storming towards him. "You cheated! Cheated! I was going to get you back there!"

"You can't blame me," he shrugged, scratching the back of his head in an almost sheepish manner. "You were gonna turn me into a living pincushion."

"It was just gonna splash harmlessly on you!" She wailed. "You cheaterrr!"

"Oh Megumi," Gojo snickered. "I'm so disappointed in you. How unsportsman-like."

He glared at him, "How was I supposed to know she wasn't actually gonna try and prick me with a thousand water needles?"

"Again!" Mizuhime demanded, determined to land at least one hit on him. "...Please?"

Megumi looked at her pleading face, and then looked away, his ears turning noticeably pink.

"You heard the girl, Gumi-chan," Gojo said through a mouthful of kikufuku.

In the end, they had about eight more sessions until Mizuhime finally landed a hit on him. Out of desperation, she used his own sweat against him and formed a lasso that tied itself around his body. Physically, it didn't hurt, but emotionally, it was enough to wound his pride because ew. His sweat? Really?

Gojo was congratulating them both once the session was over. Megumi, who was still restrained by a lasso made by his own sweat, glowered at him from his spot on the floor. Mizuhime was on her hands and knees across from him, close to passing out.

"Let's go again!" Gojo suggested.

"NO!" Megumi and Mizuhime shouted.

"Hahaha, I was just kidding anyways," he teased. "It's close to dinner time after all. Because I'm such a good sensei, I'll buy a meal for you guys. What do you want?"

Megumi shrugged and glanced over to his senpai. "You choose."

"Um... sushi?" She said.

"Kikufuku it is!" Gojo nodded and promptly teleported away.

Mizuhime was too tired to protest. She finally allowed herself to gracelessly lay on the ground in a starfish position, staring up at the ceiling.

"Oi, senpai," Megumi called out to her. "Can you let me go now? This is getting kinda gross." He gestured to the lasso tied around him.

"Oh, right, sorry." With a wave of her hand, the lasso lost its shape, the collected sweat now falling down on his lap, arms, and staining his sweatpants.

"..."

"I am so sorry."

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

The training sessions went on for the next few weeks. Mizuhime was proud to say that she had made some progress: she was noticeably more comfortable going on the offensive, her attacks were faster, and, as Gojo stated, she was 'resourceful' (clearly referencing the time she had used Megumi's own sweat against him).

She was by no means on par with Megumi or any of classmates, but she liked to think the gap between them was slowly inching its way close.

It was a Sunday now, one of the rare days where she would have a break from school and training, so she was determined not to waste her only free day.

So she decided to do just that by shopping. Back then, clothes would always be given to her or she would make her own as a hobby. She had never actually realized until now how fun it was to shop for her own clothes. Malls were a new thing for her too. At first, the huge and loud building had initially scared her off, but after a few trips to the mall with her friends, she learned to love it.

While walking around, she spotted a familiar face sitting outside of Auntie Anne's.

"Gumi?!" She beamed excitedly, approaching him. She had gotten used to calling him by Gojo's favorite nickname, much to the younger boy's embarrassment.

He grimaced, a natural reaction to whenever he heard that name.

"Senpai," he greeted her boredly.

"It's so good to see you!" She squealed, plopping down across from him and setting her shopping bags down so she could reach out to pinch his cheek.

"We just saw each other yesterday," he deadpanned, not bothering to swat her hand away. He learned it was better to just let her do whatever she wanted.

"Sorry," she apologized, giggling as she retracted her hand away. "I've just never had a kohai before, so I always get happy whenever I see your face."

Speaking of his face, it was now a bright shade of red. "Y-you idiot...!" He hissed under his breath. "Don't say things like that...! Do you not get embarrassed?!"

She blinked. "Huh? What did I say wrong?"

He slumped against his chair, hiding his face behind his hand as he facepalmed. "You're just as tactless and dumb as Gojo..." A perfect pair of idiots, he inwardly snorted. "Speaking of him, you'll be alone tomorrow."

"Hmm?"

"I won't be there in tomorrow's training session," he clarified. "I'll be... visiting someone, so you're stuck with that moron."

She pouted. "You're so mean to your sensei~"

"And you're too nice to him," he rolled his eyes. "Listen, Gojo's the biggest dumbass I know, but he's also the strongest one which makes for a bad combination. Even worse, he's self-centered."

"Ummm..." Where was he going with this? This seemed more like an I-hate-Gojo rant.

"He's a shit teacher too," he added. "Because of how strong he is, he lacks an understanding of peoples' limits. His empty head would conjure up an idea for a training method and it would seem sane to him, but completely outrageous to everyone else."

She recalled the time Maki nearly had an aneurysm when he sent them to a 'crackhouse' (she still didn't know what that meant) and wondered if that was what Megumi was talking about.

Megumi leaned forward, his face serious. "Since I'll be gone tomorrow, I won't be there to keep that moron from forcing you to do anything suicidal. Just..." he sighed heavily, before locking eyes with her once more. "Just try to stand your ground, alright?"

Mizuhime did nothing, her eyes glued to his face.

Megumi moved back. "Oi," he muttered. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

A huge smile crawled over her face, hearts dancing in her eyes. "You're such a sweet kohai!" She gushed, clasping her hands together as she gazed adoringly at him.

"You—!" He slapped a hand over his forehead, scowling. "Did you even listen to a single thing I just said?!"

"Of course I did! That's why I called you sweet!" She beamed. "You have such a grumpy exterior, but deep down, you're actually very kind and cute! You know..." Her giddy look was replaced by a wistful smile, a sudden longing coming to her, but she didn't know why. "You kind of remind me of someone..."

He raised a brow. "Who?"

There was a name on the tip of her tongue, but frustratingly enough, it just wouldn't come out.

"I don't know..."

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

"Hime-chaaaan~!" Gojo happily sang as he teleported into the dojo where she was patiently waiting for him.

"Hi, sensei!" She chirped.

"Since Megumi's absence, I decided to change my plans for today's training session..." He began.

Please don't tell me I have to spar against you now... She thought nervously.

"...I'm going to have you fight against a Third Grade curse!" He finished.

She stared at him in horror.

Was this what Megumi meant?!

"Sensei..." She gulped audibly. "I don't think I'm ready for that—"

"—Let's go!" He cut her off, grabbing her hand and teleporting themselves away.

They appeared at the edge of a riverbank. The cold breeze made her shiver. She was still in her workout clothes which consisted of a simple shirt and a pair of shorts.

Another gulp. "S-sensei, I really don't think—"

There was a distorted screech and she quickly whipped her head to the side. Over at the nearby woods, she could see a curse. It was gripping the trunk of a tree with its arm and leg, a pair of beady yellow eyes glaring at her.

"The forest is scary...!"

It let out another screech from it's wide mouth, showing off endless rows of sharp teeth, before lunging at her without wasting another second. There was a ripping sound as a pair of leathery wings burst from its back, allowing it to reach her faster.

She swatted her arm out, water from the river rising up to attack the curse, but in the midst of her panic, she had forgotten to put any actual power behind her attack and the water just splashed harmlessly on the curse's skin.

She internally cursed and dodged to the side, wincing when she felt its talons scrape against the side of her bicep.

Focus! She scolded herself, but her heart was pounding too quickly and the sound of blood rushing through her veins was almost deafening. She had no idea where Gojo had gone, but a part of her wanted to scream for help.

"Water Whip!" She cried out, sticking her hand out. Water wrapped itself around her hand, elongating into a long-ranged whip. It was the same lasso move she had used on Megumi, except this time, she had more water to work with.

With a grunt, she lashed her arm out and struck the curse on the side, sending it crashing back to the treeline.

"Ooh, nice one! But not quite enough!" She heard Gojo comment from somewhere... above? She looked up. The guy was somehow standing in mid-air.

She looked ahead of her and bit back a whimper. The curse was getting back up. It looked a bit winded and it definitely sustained some damage from her attack, but like Gojo said, it wasn't enough.

She was about to do Water Slicer in hopes to finish it off, but suddenly there was another sound. A roar this time, and it wasn't coming from the curse in front of her.

It took her a second too long to sense the second curse approaching her. She whirled around, her eyes widening when she saw it. It was a lot larger than the first one, more reptilian and lizard-like with murky green scales, hollow eye sockets, and two pairs of horns sticking out of it's head.

It was speeding towards her too fast for her mind to register but then—

In the next second, she felt like she had suddenly found herself too close to a blast zone. The cries of the curses could barely be heard as a large BOOM was heard. She had no idea what had just happened—dust and dirt blocking her vision—but she was certain the curses had been exorcised by the impact alone.

"Ah, I hadn't expected that second arrival," Gojo's voice could be heard. His figure finally appeared, walking towards her while his hand blew away all the dust and dirt in the air. "Sorry about that. Are you okay, Hime?"

The dust cloud finally dispersed, and the first thing Mizuhime noticed was the lack of blindfold. She was now staring directly into his crystalline blue eyes...

...And she had never felt so terrified in all her life.

"Hime?" He called out to her, frowning. "Hime-chan?"

He walked closer and she took a step back. She couldn't look away from his eyes, her gaze glued to them as a horrible, cold feeling seized her soul.

The fear was too much for her to handle. It gripped her so hard she couldn't breathe and soon enough, she was blacking out.

His voice was the last thing she heard. "Hime...? Hime! HIME!"

— author's note —

Water Whip: Mizuhime can create a whip-like structure made ​​of water, usually being an extension of her own hand. It has a tremendous range and is often used as a long-distance attack against a single opponent. It can attack with great speed, flexibility and pressure, and seems to be used like a whip.

Okay, so... I feel like Megumi is actually lowkey quick to like ppl (not romantically, I mean in general). As you all know, he favors 'good people' and hates 'bad' ones. So going off on this, I actually feel like if he were to meet a good person (kind, happy, upbeat, and sweet) he'll be a lot more favorable towards them but won't completely outwardly show it until they get closer. Even with strangers, probably! I wouldn't be surprised if he saw a complete stranger do a random act of kindness and just think "oh that guy's nice, I like them".

Of course, since he's tsun he definitely won't show that he likes them. He'll like them in his head but outside he'll just be "ugh another person 🙄". It'll take some time for him to be more open about his feelings. Man has an image to keep after all

Also, I know he's able to like... shadow travel (not like Nico di Angelo tho) in a way, but I can't remember if that's a skill he's always had or if he just learned it before that arc where he and Yuji went after Hakari...