STRIFE.
( KENTO NANAMI )
written by eleanor

CHAPTER TWO: heavy burdens and the impressions they leave.

"THE REDWOOD INSTITUTE AND its alumni are calling for your expulsion."

Aiya stepped back from the table. The shock was almost entirely undoing. She was meant to be focusing on her cursed technique— harnessing years of unspent cursed energy. An accumulation of all the darkest emotions within her. But, it still wasn't entirely clear what form it was taking yet.

Aiya's interim teacher, Yaga, had instructed her to simply put in more practice and that was precisely what Aiya had planned to do.

Instead, she turned cool eyes on Geto, struggling to feign her indifference. "Kicking me out already?"

  Gojo Satoru shot an empty can of soda in her direction. The aluminum clattered against her head. Aiya hardly flinched, but frowned in his direction. He'd insisted on sitting in to watch her develop her technique, despite her protests.

  "It depends," Gojo shrugged. "With enough pushback, the higher ups might be forced to do something." He hardly seemed phased by the idea, despite having been just as responsible as Geto in urging her to join their school.

  Aiya didn't bother to hide her irritation. "You said I wouldn't have to deal with these kind of things at Jujutsu High." Anxiety began creeping up on her.

  She'd been so prepared to leave behind the past... Aiya wasn't ready to deal with the possibility that the past wasn't yet done with her. Redwood had been hell. She was risking more than just her fortune in leaving.

  Joining Jujutsu society meant sacrificing everything, including her life. Aiya had been prepared for all that— and now she was being told it still wasn't enough. It made something fester in the pit of her stomach. Something like fear.

  Gojo shook his head. "No, what I said was 'Jujutsu society functions separately from the way regular society does.'"

Super helpful.

Aiya whirled on Geto. "So, what does that mean? I'm out? Just like that?" She'd barely laid a finger on Umi for her to be the sole cause. The charges themselves had already been dismissed.

  No, this must have been a result of the investigation— and the subsequent storm it had sent out into the world. It had already been a week since the news broke, hitting media outlets like a wildfire. Beyond Aiya's own record, dozens of others had come forward with their own tales to tell about Redwood Institute. It was worse than anything Aiya could have ever imagined.

  And she was enjoying every second of it.

  "You're not out," another voice spoke.

  Yaga entered the room, with Geto stepping aside to let him in. Aiya watched him carefully. It was an odd thing to regard him as a teacher. In her experience, the more stern they were, the more painful their teachings.

It didn't matter how hard she tried, the Institute and its memory was no distant thing. It was hard to let her apprehension go. So far, Yaga had done nothing to validate her fears, but it was something she found small comfort in.

  "But, from what I hear, the higher ups found their offers... interesting."

Aiya curled her lip in disgust. "Of course. Money fixes everything, right?" Fucking heirs.

"Too bad you don't have any," Gojo teased.

Aiya gave him the finger, all cruelty intentional. "Not all of us can be child prodigies," she sneered.

"Must suck," he pouted, arms crossed along the back of the chair he straddled.

  Gojo Satoru was all long limbs and pretty everything. Handsome— and he carried that information with the same ease as his strength. Aiya could never decide if she hated him for it, or adored him as so many others did.

More than anything, she was intrigued by his power. The capability of savagery in regards to people wasn't lost on her, so she always wondered. If pushed, what degree of destruction was Gojo Satoru capable of?

"I assume there's more," Geto prodded, his words bringing Aiya's attention back to the present.

Yaga looked away from Aiya and she felt her stomach drop. "You won't be facing expulsion, but you are being held back. The higher ups don't want to risk all this lingering attention."

"You won't be allowed to participate in the same regular activities and missions as the students," Yaga continued to explain. Every word was like a blow to the gut. "But, you will be allowed to practice on your own. I will personally ensure you get a handle on the basics, at the very least."

  Aiya was distinctly aware of her nausea. "But, if I don't have a place here as a student, then where am I supposed to go?"

No one would take her in now. The same hands she once slapped away would no longer reach out to help her. Not with kindness in their hearts. She had nothing left to give them— and so that made her useless.

  "In the interim, the school is willing to give you boarding in exchange for menial work." Yaga was visibly uncomfortable now. This hadn't been a decision of his own making.

Aiya knew then, that this was not just about the higher-up's biding their time. She knew enough about punishment to recognize when it was being dolled out. What kind of place had she exchanged Redwood for?

"What the fuck?" Aiya muttered to herself, hands fisting at the fabric of her skirt. She was definitely going to be sick.

Gojo's sharp laughter in the following silence did nothing to help. "What a messed up fairytale," he spoke between heaving laughs. "Almost like a backwards Cinderella."

Geto's tsk of disapproval went ignored by his counterpart. Aiya felt her fingers twitch. A rolling abyss was sweeping through her stomach. A pit of anger she always carried with her.

  "Hey," Gojo spoke lowly, all humour now gone. "If you're going to do it... then do it right."

  Aiya faltered, brow furrowing. She was aware now that she was calling on that anger. Manifesting it into cursed energy. It was hard to turn her focus from wailing on Gojo to the empty soda cans set up across the room. Harder still to hold onto her anger while no longer peering at that smirking face.

  It seemed everyone was always laughing at her— always the one falling behind. She was never one to let go of her resentment, to distance it from her heart. Her body. She thinks about her target and distinctly recalls her first time using a bow.

  Archery had been a mild curiosity. A popular choice amongst the many after-school clubs. Aiya hadn't exactly gone into the ordeal with enthusiasm. Only a longing to fit in. It wasn't until Aiya and their instructor witnessed the extent of her capabilities with an arrow that she began to pursue archery with the same competitive streak so many young athletes shared.

  And then Umi broke two of her fingers with a blow from her meter-stick. Desperate to keep her talents, Aiya chose to give up Archery club in order to heal properly. After the amount of medals she earned, her instructor was more than understanding. But, the fear of never shooting the same had stopped her from picking the bow back up again.

  Aiya couldn't let herself be defeated again.

  "What are you doing?" Yaga asked, watching as the Shimizu girl took up a foreign stance. Her deft fingers curled in some strange signage.

The all felt the shift in the room. The years of anger, self-loathing, and bitterness accumulated all at once. Aiya pulled back her arm and released, envisioning the arcing shot of cursed energy like an arrow. The explosion of an apple in her head manifested instead as a soda can bursting into a shower of orange.

Raw, natural talent. A never-before seen, innate cursed technique. Not quite like physical manifestations of cursed energy, but eerily similar in its impact.

Aiya couldn't stop once she started. She grit her teeth, feeling her stomach curl with another wave of nausea. Her fingers shook, but she forced them to stillness as she aimed and released. Aimed and released.

Every last soda can was toppled by the time she was done. So much rage still left to give. She would've torn right through the wall— screw the higher ups and their charity. The only thing that stopped her was Geto's steadying hand on her shoulder.

  "You're burning too much all at once..." he said. "But, you did good." His smile was kind— and not in the false way so many others were.

  Aiya felt her knees give, but Suguru was there. Arm curling around her. There was something so comforting about his presence. If Aiya were honest, she would tell him that he alone was the reason she left. That it was him who had convinced her to fight back.

  But, she would never utter those words, would never admit to anyone but herself that it was the strength of others that had saved her from a life of misery.

  "So easily riled," Gojo told her, placing a solid flick against her forehead. "Still, it's nice to know you're not entirely useless." That was about as much of a compliment as you were going to get from him.

  "It's good progress," Yaga admitted, eyes on the remnants of the soda cans. "Get stronger, Shimizu. You'll be a graded sorcerer soon."

  With that, Yaga left, but his words were no comfort. Nothing was, not when she'd been so close to leaving Redwood behind. In seconds, Aiya found herself leaning over the nearest garbage can. Heaving up the contents of her stomach.

"It won't be so bad," Geto tried to reassure her. "They might not let you join a class, but we'll still be there to help with Yaga, too."

Gojo gave an audible huff, but didn't argue. Aiya figured it was often like this between them. It hadn't taken long for her to garner a certain understanding of their dynamic. She'd never met two people whose personalities were so starkly differently, yet complimented each other so well.

Geto made Satoru bearable, whereas Gojo made Suguru relaxed.

Aiya pulled herself back and wiped at her mouth. "We'll see how long that lasts," she muttered, leaving the two with that. Aiya couldn't bring herself to be comforted right now. She wasn't an unsympathetic person by any means, but she wasn't equipped with the right responses to other peoples kindness.

The only real emotion she had ever seemed to understand was anger and all its addictive components.

Yaga was right. She needed to get stronger, in all the ways that mattered. Aiya wasn't stupid, she couldn't risk passing up the school's temporary offer. It would be a blow to her pride, but she would work on her technique.

And when she ready to begin, Aiya would give them every reason to regret ever holding her back.

▸

AN: isn't she so angel princess nîcimos coded???? idk i love my girls who are haters... she's very bitter now, but !!!! she will have her growth period.

i don't plan on having super long chapters bc i want to push out content for this (in the right way) and get a grip on the story's timeline and how i want it to progress. i have a decent idea of it, so what i can say is that these early-school-years won't be the focus of the book. there will be MANY more chapters to make up for that. i just wanted a nice background with a steady explanation of her circumstances, yeknow?

it'll also layout the groundwork for her and the other characters dynamics. so count on nanami showing up soon... i cannot leave my husband out of his own story for too long hehehehehehe. i hope you enjoyed!!!! this was more or less a chapter to test the dynamics and my characterization of gojo, geto, and aiya ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️