Capítulo XII- Dia de mujeres con Inumaki Toge

Atsuki and Nobara ate their food peacefully as the busy city people passed by the window. Flashes of colors blended in Atsuki's blurred vision. She had lost focus looking out the window a long while ago, done with her food and waiting for Nobara to finish her drink. They took a lunch break from their shopping. Bags, mostly Nobara's, were hidden underneath the table to keep them from getting in the way of people maneuvering the restaurant.

They were supposed to look for a replacement for Nobara's tracksuit but they ended up roaming the shops and buying more than they were supposed to. Being a jujutsu sorcerer brought them more money than they thought it would and the two girls were happily walking from shop to shop. But not without Nobara making side comments about Mai and her summer uniform.

"I could adjust your uniform or customize you one. I have the same material they use for our uniforms back in my dorm," Atsuki offered.

"Why do you have the material for our uniforms if you don't use it?" she questioned.

"I was forced to wear it in the beginning but Gojou was able to convince Principle Yaga as long as I had the jujutsu button on my uniform."

"Maybe I'll consider creating something cuter." Her eyes widened, "We can try customizing it together."

"That sounds like fun! We have to make sure Gojou knows about it before Principle Yaga says something about it."

"It will have to be after the exchange event." She grinned mischievously, "Maybe we can convince him once we win."

"The universe would be on our side if we can convince him. The amount of stress Gojou gives him could match up to his cursed energy," Atsuki laughed.

Nobara joined in her laughter before taking a sip of her drink. "This is fun. Going out by ourselves without the boys," she rolled her eyes at the mention of them. "All we need is Maki-san. But she doesn't like shopping as we do."

"Once, we went shopping and I took a little too long to look for materials and she was starting to get a little mad. I wasn't surprised because I dragged her with me. Usually, Gojou comes with me but he was out of town."

"Either way, this is nice. I haven't had girl talk in a while."

"Girl talk?"

"Yeah, like things we don't talk about in front of boys. It's usually things they find gross or uninteresting. Like how Fushiguro, ignores our conversations 'cause it doesn't interest him."

"Oh, that's what it's called. I didn't know there was a name for it."

"Speaking of who." Nobara stirred her drink to mix up the diluted water at the top from the ice. "Do you like Fushiguro?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Yeah, even if he seems mad all the time. He's still somebody I like having around. Why? Do you not like him? I thought you did?"

Nobara groaned. "That's not what I meant. I mean do you like him more than a friend."

Her eyes widened and she leaned forward, placing her hands on the table. "As in a crush?" She felt her face heat up. She couldn't hide behind her hair, it was put into two braids. The bangs didn't cover up the marron blush. "What? No."

"Hmm," she hummed. Nobara crossed her arms and leaned back on the booth. "I thought something was going on when I met you guys. I wasn't the only one. I asked Itadori about it a while back and he thought so, too."

"Why would you think that?"

She shrugged, "It's just an observation. You seem to give your attention to him a lot and he doesn't seem like he's irritated by any of your approaches."

"Oh." She paused and quirked an eyebrow, "Now that I think about it. I don't know. I've never looked at somebody that way."

Nobara shot forward, "NEVER!" She didn't care that she brought customers' attention. They took a quick glance at them and went about their day, whispering about her burst. "Not even on someone you saw passing by?"

"It never occurred to me. I was always moving from city to city. That's why I never made friends too. The chances of me seeing them again were low."

"Ah, well, that makes a lot of sense. So, do you like him?"

"I don't know, do I?"

"I can't answer that for you. But I can try to help you figure it up. First off, do you think about Fushiguro a lot?"

"Sometimes. I do see him every day."

"Okay, well, what do you like about him?"

"He's smart, he has a nice face."

"A nice face? Why did you phrase it like that?"

"Let me finish my list. I like how peaceful he is. He's nice."

Atsuki could've laughed at Nobara's baffled face. "Nice? He looks like he slathers oil on seagulls and sets them on fire for fun."

"He's nice to me now. He may seem rude at first, but he hasn't said anything backhanded." Atsuki thought back to last night. She felt safe knowing Megumi will keep her secret. She felt bad for thinking he would ridicule her for being academically behind. Weirdly, it was funny because she was behind and he extended beyond his years.

She asked the next question, "What do you dislike about him?"

Atsuki thought back to her moments with Megumi. She ignored the times she met him before school started and focused on the new ones. Once she had her answer, she said, "I wish he would talk to me more. I think he is though, he's been talking to me more and I really like it."

A knowing grin formed on Nobara's face. "You do like him."

"I thought you said you couldn't tell me."

"I did, but it's also obvious. I mean the way you two interact. How you two are always side by side or how you're always finding ways to touch him-"

"I didn't know I was doing that!" Atsuki covered her eyes with her hands. "Maybe I do like him. What am I gonna do!"

"It's okay, Atsuki, relax. Since you've never faced something like this, I'll let you figure it out on your own. But I'll still help you."

She sighed, getting up from her seat. "Okay. I won't forget that 'cause I think I'll panic if I do."

"I'm sure you'll be okay. Just don't overthink too much about it."

They grabbed their bags under the table. They didn't buy too many things. Surprisingly, the girls kept a budget for their shopping. Atsuki carried two bags meanwhile Nobara carried three if you would count the small third bag. The sun hadn't been as strong today. Of course, you can still feel the summer heat but it was the beginning of July. It wasn't until mid-July and into August, you would be dying of thirst and seeking for any shadow.

"It's almost three. We should head back to where we would meet Ijichi," Atsukinpointed out. She hasn't seen the assistant manager in over a week. She asked about his whereabouts and he responded that there was a shortage of drivers. She thought they'd have Ijichi first because he was the one always driving Gojou.

She huffed at the thought of Gojou being gone. Apparently, he hadn't gone to Africa yet. The stupid higher-ups have been demanding his presence and he had been leaving for missions left and right. She had known about this since he popped up to show them a drawing of the special grades that attacked him. Honestly, she could've given him a few lessons in drawing to make it clearer.

Noticing her pouting look, Nobara questioned, "What's wrong?"

"I'm annoyed with Gojou."

"Who isn't tired of his schemes?" She retorted in a joking manner. Nobara takes her jabs at Gojou but she tones it down when Atsukiis around. She notices how upset it makes her when someone talks badly about their teacher. She probably would too if she was close to him like she was.

A man's voice sang out behind them. They ignored him and continued walking.

"Mostly the higher-ups for hogging him. But he is the strongest sorcerer around. Of course, he's going to be needed especially after he was attacked by those special-grade curses."

"I'm sure he'll be around again. He can take down a curse in less than five seconds. Tracking them or curse users down is what takes the most."

The same man caught up to the fast-walking girls, repeating, "Ladies! Excuse me, Ladies! Excuse me but can I take up some of your time?"

Nobara whipped around, rudely asking, "What do you want?" He wore an ironed-down suit flattering his tan skin and shoes shinier than Atsuki's gold earrings. He had long blond hair and a trimmed beard. "What? If you are looking for someone to be a model then you got the right person."

"Please allow me to explain. Here, my name card." Nobara moved her bags to one hand and accepted the card. Atsuki took a glimpse at it and the man tried to hand her one as well. "Here, for you as well."

Atsuki grimaced, "I'm not being part of the entertainment industry again."

The man pushed the card forward, "Please, we could use someone like you. Is that your natural hair?"

"Yeah, now leave us alone."

"Well, isn't that amazing? With your spunk, we'll make sure to keep your future brighter than a blazing ember.

"No. Don't make me say it again."

The man awkwardly smiled, "I apologize, miss." He gave his attention to Nobara, "Just as what's written on the name card, I'm Tsurube Kaya. I work at the modeling section of H agency."

She quirked an eyebrow, "You're from H agency... in charge of the models?" She looked at the man and the name on the card. Judgemental, she said, "Eh? Are you serious? You're a talent scout?"

"You could consider me a talent scout. I know what I'm doing right now is very disrespectful, but the competition in the modeling world to get talent is fierce. So when I see someone with your qualities, it's like seeing the potential of a diamond that has yet to be polished. Of course, I wanted to find some way to get your time."

Atsuki glanced at her friend who was wondering if she was currently being scammed. "How come I've never heard of your agency? I could look you up, so don't bother wasting your time."

"That's because we're new. We're trying to contest new models by scavenging the cities for girls we believe are cute and energetic. It's the Core Image that our agency is going for the next generation of models and you fulfill the conditions of our agency."

She tapped her chin, "Oh, do I? You have a good eye."

"If you have the time now, I really hope you can take up some of it so I can explain to you some of the ideas my agency has. To me, you are a diamond in the rough. I know you probably have some matters to attend to but if you could just spend a bit of time listening to me, this is all for the sake of your bright future mind you, it will definitely not be of any disadvantage to you."

"Well....well then....since you are so sincere, then I'll hear you out."

"Great! I just know you'll make a smart choice." He gestured to Atsuki, "Your friend could come along too. I see that you have many bags on you and it doesn't seem right to do my explanation on the streets. How about you come with me and let's go over there to have a seat and chat."

Nobara gave her a pleading look to hear the man out. Atsukiscoffed, "Fine."

The man smiled, "Great! Follow me!"

The girls trailed loosely behind the man. Atsukipurposely slowed down to speak to Nobara. "You really believe this guy? He was praising you too hard, like his goddess."

"I don't believe him much. However, he was right about me being a diamond. I just wanna hear what he has to say. If he is telling the truth I'd have to say no."

"What why? I thought you wanted to be scouted?"

"I can't do both, being a Jujutsu sorcerer and a model. It'll be impossible." Atsuki felt bad for her. There wasn't a doubt she would be a great model. Her confidence and attitude would keep her at the top. She wasn't easily influenced when it came to things. She will stick by the things she stands for and it would be difficult to tear her down. Nobara smiled, "Don't look at me like that. I mean you left too."

"I was more rescued by Gojou. I'd have nowhere to go if I left by myself. I probably would've died on my own," she nonchalantly said. Nobara wasn't shocked she said it so simply. It was the truth and everyone knew she was picked up because of what she could do.

"Either way, I'm glad you're here." Nobara pointed to the man ahead of them with her eyebrows, "If he isn't telling the truth and just trying to lure in girls for his twisted fantasies, want to help me rough him up?"

Atsuki mischievously grinned, "That is an offer I can't deny."

Atsuki and Nobara were so caught up in the laughter that they didn't notice two men approaching from behind. He knocked the girls out and dragged them to an empty alleyway.

It took Atsuki two seconds to register what happened. She shot up from the ground and searched for Nobara. However, she knocked heads with Inumaki. He pressed his hand to his head. She ignored the pain hysterically looking for Nobara. The alleyway was empty and her bags were left behind. "Where's Nobara?"

He shrugged, "Bonito Flakes."

"She was with me! And there was this model agency scammer and he took her. Someone came up behind us and they took her. We need to go find her."

Inumaki put a hand on her shoulder and he softened his gaze. She paused for a second and took a deep breath. He was signaling her to calm down. They would never find her if she was wandering Tokyo in distress. "Right, sorry. And sorry about hitting your head."

He sent her a look telling her it was okay. "Mustard leaf."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I may have a concussion but nothing serious." Her eyebrows furrowed, "How did you find me anyway? Why are you here?"

He pointed to the residuals on the floor, "Tuna, Tuna."

"You were sent to find him?"

He nodded, "Salmon."

"Huh, what a coincidence." Atsuki picked up her bag and Nobara's. After training the weight of the six bags was nothing. She set them behind the stacked wood in the corner. "We're coming back for those. Let's go get Nobara back."

"Salmon."

Because of her technique, Atsuki learned more about residuals left behind from curses and curse users. Gojou taught her to have a keen eye for it. It wasn't perfect but she was getting there. Her residuals are harder to pick up than any other sorcerer. It takes an expert to pick up on it. He however had the advantage of the six eyes.

Inumaki followed Atsuki close behind. They didn't want anyone to surprise them out of nowhere again. They couldn't be far from where they were. They're carrying an unconscious 16-year-old girl around Shinjuku. It would raise some eyebrows. Towards the outer skirts of town, Atsuki jumped and hung on a beam connecting two buildings, throwing her body upward. She balanced herself on it and walked to the building. Inumaki climbed the pole on the side of the building to reach her.

They were high up tracing the residuals. They took off in a run, and leaping roof to roof took less time. Weaving through the people tested Atsuki's patience to reach Nobara. The people minded their business pointing where they wanted to go, had earbuds plugged into their ears, or talked to their companions not bothering and looking up at the sorcerers traveling across the rooftops.

The residuals led to the back of a building. They hovered over the entrance checking for anyone settling toward the area. A man walked out of the door and inumaki jumped down before the door could shut. He whispered, "Sleep."

The man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell over. Toge placed a rock to prevent the door from shutting. Atsuki hopped down and assisted him in carrying the man's unconscious body behind a dumpster. She placed her hands on her hips, "Do you have a plan?"

He shook his head, "Bonito flakes."

"Having a hostage situation is going to make this harder. I'll hide us so we won't cause too much trouble. If anything you can put them to sleep if you creep up behind them."

"Salmon." He pointed to the door. The familiar pink glow of Atsuki's cursed energy illuminated the dark alley. She disappeared in his eyes but listened to her footwork. That was able to help him guess where she was at.

She opened the door to the poorly lit room. It was better than having no light and eyesight. Once their vision adjusted to the room, they lurked around the place. Atsuki kept a close distance from inumaki. Her cursed energy couldn't travel far and she needed to see what the room looked like. If not her cursed technique would be useless.

Muffled voices from another drew Atsuki and Toge to it. One was a man's voice, the same one she had refused the offer from. The other seemed deeper but barely verbal. And lastly was Nobara's bored yet sassy-toned voice as she remarked back to her kidnapper.

Atsuki tapped inumaki on the shoulder. She demonstrated her idea to him through a miniature illusion between them. He watched the funky glowing figures prance around the fake stage created to represent the room. She waved her hand through them and a fog of pink smoke was left behind.

She grabbed onto the pipes above her and pulled her legs through to hang herself upside down. Inumaki shoved a shelf and the objects clattered on the ground. The metal shelf made a loud bang against the concrete. The voices in the room stopped.

A minute later a muscular man, near the size of Toudou stomped out of the room. The door shut behind him and Atsuki placed a card to his throat, piercing into his skin. A trail of blood dripped from the wound. "Move and I'll cut you."

The man stood still, his eyes gazing at Atsuki above him. Inumaki crept behind him and said, "Sleep."

He fell forward creating another thud. Atsuki flipped off the pipe landing softly. She dusted her skirt off and fixed it up. Toge moved to the side and Atsuki dropped her cursed technique. Inumaki was visible to anyone's eyes. She opened the door to let him into the talisman-covered room. The man turned around and Nobara took the opportunity to slam her foot down on his. Atsuki jumped up on his shoulders, gripping them with her hands and her legs were in the air. She pushed herself to Nobara's side. She landed behind her and used a card to slice the ropes.

He scoffed, "Damn, circus freak." He quirked an eyebrow at Nobara, "Oh, Kugisaki, you better not attack me. After all, you already told me your techniques. It's called a straw doll cursed skill, right? But your hammer is with me so you should have no way of activating it. Give up already, don't try racking that brain of yours to find some way of getting a-"

"Shut up."

"What did you say?"

She sighed, annoyed, "I can't listen to the words that come out of your mouth anymore. Even the sound of someone puking sounds more melodious." She withdrew the card Tsurube gave her. "His technique is similar to Inumaki-senpai. In order for him to control you, you need to touch one of his phony business cards."

"Kugisaki, didn't I already tell you-"

"We heard the first time," Atsuki groaned. A card appeared in her hand and she wove it between her fingers, "Are we going to take turns knocking him unconscious?"

"We could. But I need to do something first."

Tsurube glanced between the jujutsu sorcerers in fear. He couldn't take down three sorcerers by himself. His technique wasn't strong against them, it barely worked for Nobara. The card slowly fell to the ground. She took the rope she was tied with and turned it into a makeshift doll. She removed her shoe, breaking the small heel.

Rage charged up Nobara's cursed technique, and Atsuki stepped back to watch her friend use her technique against her kidnapper. Her cursed energy infused the heel and it lingered in the air. She could use her technique as long as she had an element to use it on. In this case, it was her heel, shoe, and rope.

Tsurube shouted at her, "Hold it! I said, hold it!"

His commands were useless to Nobara. She fought against his words, using her anger toward him and his comrades for tricking her. She was having a wonderful day off, eating ice cream with Atsuki, and strolling through the mall. It was ruined all because of a man who used girls' dreams to get what he wanted. Sure she shouldn't have accepted his card knowing there was a big chance he was lying, but he shouldn't have been walking around looking for anyone.

"Damn, brat! Didn't I ask you to stop!"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" The shoe slammed against the heel, targeting the paper on the doll as Nobara yelled, "Straw Doll Technique: Renosance!" The card was enflamed with her cursed energy.

The man shouted in agony. The card was connected to him. His fists clenched and made a pathetic escape to the door. Some of the talismans on the wall began to burn. Tsurube fell to his knees and held his mouth. The aggressive coughing scratched up his throat. Blood from his tongue spilled to the floor. They were able to catch a glimpse of the tattooed symbol on his tongue

Nobara walked over to the drawer beside Inumaki and took out her hammer, nails, and straw doll. Atsuki placed her hands on her hips and towered over him. His eyes were shut as his scream was muffled by his own hand. There wasn't a single bone in her body that felt any remorse toward him. Nobara came back holding three nails in between her fingers and her hammer in her hand.

Tsurube shot up, but Atsuki placed her foot on his chest, pushing him back down, "Where do you think you're going?"

Inumaki watched as Atsuki dug her shoe into his chest. He hadn't seen the cruel side of Atsuki before. He had never been put on a mission with her much less fought a curse user with her. He had heard that she didn't care for rotten people because of the way she was treated growing up. He felt her cursed energy rise as she looked down at him. It was a terrifying feeling. Toge stood by Tsurube, saying, "Tuna mayo." He held his hand out and shook his head.

Atsuki glanced at her friend, assuring him, "We're not gonna kill him. We don't want to get in any more trouble with the higher-ups. They didn't say we could kill him, right?"

"Salmon." Toge was only tasked to keep an eye on him.

"Atsuki, can you tie him up with your threads?" Nobara asked.

"Yeah," she pulled the thread made from her cursed energy from her pointer finger. Nobara sat him up and forced his arms behind his back. The thread wrapped around his arms as he squirmed in place. They ignored his painful groans as she tightened them around him. "There."

"Come on, get up," Nobara kicked his leg and hauled him up to his feet. He took the opportunity to push past Inumaki to make another pitiful escape. Two nails rose in the air and Nobara didn't hesitate to hammer them to his ankle. He cried out, collapsing. "Hey, hold it," she mocked him.

"Hey, Toge. Get a hold of Jujutsu High. Let's see what principle Yaga says about turning him in," Atsuki tugged in the thread attached to Tsurube.

Inumaki took out his phone to send a quick text to Principal Yaga. He didn't worry about having to kill the curse user if he had to. I'm this world it was different. If they didn't kill them first, then they'd be the ones dead. However, he didn't want Atsuki and Kugisaki carrying the weight of their first kill. Especially on a day like this. The two girls just wanted to have fun.

When he looked back up, Atsuki and Nobara were with Tsurube chatting with smiles on their faces. He looked defeated on the floor between the two girls listening to their conversation. He was glad that even though their last bit of the day was ruined, they still managed to have smiles on their faces.

Atsuki nearly dropped her assignments in her hands as she raised a hand to knock on Megumi's door. She waited patiently for any footsteps behind the door, gazing down the right hall. Her eyes landed on Yuuji's open door. Curious to see the door open, she took a few steps forward. Megumi was in his room with boxes scattered around. Some had already been sealed shut and some had things sticking out like rolled posters. He didn't own many things and he had only been at jujutsu tech for two weeks before he died.

She stepped into the cold room catching Megumi's attention. "Atsuki? What are you doing here?"

She wiggled her shoulders to bring his attention to her assignments in her arms. He was too wound up sorting Yuuji's things to notice them. "I wanted your help with something but it looks like you're busy."

He straightened himself and shoved a hand in his pocket. "I have time. I've been slowly putting Itadori's things in boxes for the past couple of days." He approached her, "What do you need?"

"It's okay. I can ask somebody else."

Atsuki has gotten a glimpse of Yuuji's room before. There were some clothes piled on the ground, and some appropriate and inappropriate posters hung. The wall. His desk was always messy with the schoolwork Ijichi gave him. His bed was always made. Was it neatly made? No, because he always laid on it but it was made. Now everything was packed into boxes. "You didn't tell anyone you were doing this."

"I figured no one else would do it."

"I could've helped."

"I don't think you would've enjoyed packing away Itadori's room. He's had quite the posters."

"Probably. It was best another boy did it."

"I just finished." He shut the lights off as Atsuki moved to let him pass through the door. He shut the door behind him, asking, "What do you need?"

"Since you're the only one who knows I'm," she whispered, "illiterate."

Megumi shook his head amused as he opened his door, "There's no need to whisper. There's no one around."

"You never know who's listening." Megumi paused to look at her but held back his retort of her being dramatic. "I need your help with something. I have the book and the questions." She set it down on his neatly organized desk with her different colored pens.

He took the questionnaire and quickly read through it. He immediately recognized the title of the book. He hummed, "I've read this before. It's a little vague but I'm pretty sure I can remember if I read some pages." He sat on his bed, opening the book.

Atsuki took the chance to sit on the chair criss-cross. "Can you read out loud?"

"Aren't you the one supposed to be learning."

"I can read that. It just takes some time. I'm already halfway through the book."

"I won't read past that then." He tugged on the ribbon bookmarking where she left off. He recognized those as the ribbons she would weave into her braids or make bows to cover her hair ties. He let the ribbon dangling from the bottom of the book and opened it to the first page.

Atsuki rested her chin on her palm listening to Megumi read. His hair shook as he moved to his head to read from right to left. Not a single stutter fell from his mouth. He read effortlessly and smoothly. She didn't envy that he could. She liked listening to him speak.

Megumi glanced up to make sure she was paying attention and every time he made eye contact with her. He didn't think her attention span would last long. He always sees her get distracted easily during training or doing simple tasks. Once at the markets, she was looking through material and feeling textures. Megumi blinked no more than a second and she was gone. He quickly glanced around to find her. She was three markets down looking at a gold bracelet. Atsuki bought the set of bracelets without hesitation. She only wears them when she's not in missions or training.

"I like it when you read out loud. It sounds nice."

Megumi paused to process what Atsuki said, staring at the book. He never knew what to say to her compliments and always brushed them off. To others, it could mislead them to think he was arrogant, but Atsuki knew he was shying away. She doesn't know why but he always did.

"I'm glad you're listening. The questions aren't gonna answer themselves."

Atsuki smiled and grabbed the purple pen off the desk. Her arm leaned on the smooth wood, reading the first question. He hadn't gone to that part of the book yet. Atsuki peeled her eyes off the questionnaire to Megumi. She listened contently to him, waiting for the answer to be read.

-

This is a chapter from the jujutsu kasien light novels. It's in the second novel and the first chapter where Inumaki tracks down a curse user and Nobara bumps into him. I will be taking concepts from those. I decided that about a week ago lmao

-Aithusa