Chapter Text
You know," Shoko called over her shoulder, "some of us are actually here to study."
Ever since meeting Nobara, Geto barely gave Shoko a moment alone. It was like he thought if he took his eyes off of her, Shoko might disappear forever— even though she kept telling him Nobara couldn't do that, and wouldn't if she could. Every time Shoko gave Nobara control of an eye or a limb, his eyes wouldn't leave her. It was ridiculous. When Shoko went to buy straws and nails for Nobara's technique, he was ready to jump out of his skin. He'd acted like the hand Nobara controlled could strike at any moment.
She had to admit: it was a little funny. Here he was, some special-grade who could kill Shoko if he really intended to— scared of a ghost the same age as him.
As she'd learned long before, if Geto went somewhere, Gojo followed. If Nobara talked through Shoko, he would pretend not to be there. He was particularly good at going silent when Nobara would ask to talk to Fushiguro. Shoko would answer all of Geto's questions about the situation, but there were more he was clearly avoiding thinking about. He didn't even seem to understand the timelines diverging. How could Gojo not konw? Wasn't he on speaking terms with Fushiguro?
Shoko had gone to the library to study with Arai. Geto followed her, Gojo followed him, and along with Gojo came a headache for her. Geto was capable of sitting quietly and studying with her. It wouldn't have been much of a disruption. The two of them together, though? They'd always argue, or throw a ball around, or find some other way to be distracting (and a little obnoxious).
Normally, Shoko thought it was entertaining. The two of them were often funny, and with how subdued her personality could be, the energy was nice. They never acted like she was weird. Even when they were doing bits, they managed to at least pretend whatever she was adding was interesting. They were fun to watch, and she felt included. That didn't change the fact that them being lost in their own little world was inconvenient. Especially now of all times, with her test was inching closer and closer.
(She was supposed to become a doctor after she finished training to become a sorcerer. Maybe if her cursed energy wasn't so weird, she would've been able to fight curses like everyone else.
Instead, her fate was to heal people. To constantly pour her energy into other sorcerers, again and again, but not be able to help protect them in the moment. At the end, after healing them however many times, she'd get the joy of processing their bodies. Fun, right?)
"Boo," Gojo replied. Always so helpful, wasn't he? He stuck his tongue out. "We're not even in your way."
"It's distracting." It really was. Seriously, they did not need to be doing… some sort of paper airplane competition with their curse techniques? They hadn't hit her and her flashcards, not yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. "Come on, hit me," she asked Arai.
The second-year swallowed, and flipped to the next one. She focused on the academic part of school more than any of them had to— Shoko had a feeling that it was some kind of coping mechanism, but she wasn't totally sure what it was for. The shadowy tendrils danced just under her skin, and Shoko couldn't stop her eyes from tracing them. If Arai would just let her try to stick in a needle and take one out, even once—
"Um," Arai started, her voice half a whisper. "Lysosomes?"
"Janitor and kill switch."
A quick nod. Her eyes jumped up to Gojo and Geto, right behind Shoko. Arai curled into herself a little more while moving the card to the back. "What are— uh, what are ribosomes made of?"
"RNA."
"What, um, do the ribosomes do?"
"Create proteins from mRNA." Arai moved that card to the back. When another airplane veered sideways, right into a bookcase, Shoko let her head fall. This was hopeless, wasn't it?
"Is he ever gonna grow up?" she muttered. Arai let out a tiny snort. Nobara, on the other hand, just confirmed that he wouldn't.
(…She really hope Nobara wasn't making some dark comment.)
"Ieiri-san, you wound me!" Gojo called towards her. He let a hand fall over his heart and leaned back in Geto's direction, who stuck out a single arm halfheartedly.
"So? I'll just heal it."
"Regardless!" He began walking towards Shoko's table, Geto on his heels. So much for studying. "Betrayed, by my own fellow first-year…"
Geto flicked the back of his head. "Not like she's wrong." His gaze drifted to Arai. "Speaking of first years, did you guys have to meet with the Gojo clan? Like we do with the Zenin?"
"What?" Her head tilted to the side a little. "Uh— no? It's… maybe him?" She made a tiny gesture in Gojo's direction. He just frowned, either not knowing or not caring about Arai's discomfort. For a moment, it seemed like worry flickered over Gojo's face. Shoko must've imagined it. Gojo didn't worry about stuff like this.
"They're testing me," Gojo repeated. A slight frown on his lips. "Aren't they? So that when he picks which school for that little shit, of all people—"
"They're testing all of us," Geto corrected.
"No, this is about that kid reaching admissions age next year— Zenin Naoya, I think?" Gojo hopped onto the table next to Shoko's. "Ten shadows is probably showing up soon, with everything going on, and they're all looking for it."
"Fushiguro?" Nobara asked, suddenly interested. "You have to let me out at that meeting. Please, I have so many questions, I need to figure out where Maki and Mai are. I need to find out how much they know about Fushiguro, Shoko—"
"Alright, alright," Shoko whispered. Arai's eyes flicked to her mouth, eyes furrowing in a silent question. When Shoko met her eyes, she glanced down, hunching her shoulders again.
"It's been decades since it appeared," Geto frowned. "Why are you so sure?"
"Tengen is about to assimilate," Gojo listed. "I'm around, with both the six eyes and limitless. When the balance shifts one way the other hereditary techniques start popping up."
"Like ten shadows," Shoko echoed. "And the Kamo clan's new member, right?"
"Yeah."
"What?" Nobara asked. "Do you mean 'new' as in born? The next user of blood manipulation is Kamo Noritoshi, who should be around six or seven. Or— not the cursed wombs, right?" Shoko hadn't seen her nervous before. Maybe, whoever it was, they'd die soon? (Shoko really didn't want to believe that.)
"Blood manipulation isn't like six-eyes or ten shadows, right?" Shoko asked, her gaze on Gojo. He was frowning, and it almost looked like there was black creeping into the whites of one of his eyes. Was…
No. It wasn't possible. She knew how much it creeped Gojo out to have someone there. She was seeing things.
"I think so. It's just rare," Geto commented.
"I don't buy it," Nobara huffed. "My grandma would've mentioned it. She told me that Noritoshi was the only one, I don't…" she seemed more frustrated than anything. "Unless they…" Dread pooled out of Shoko's neck. Could Nobara just calm down?
Knowing someone might die just gave Shoko another chance to fix them, right? At the same time, Nobara shouldn't know some of what she knew, and she also didn't know things that she thought she did. There were more inconsistencies than Shoko had expected. How much had she messed with the timeline? Was someone else involved?
Not Sukuna, right? Shoko doubted she could fight him, not yet.
"Anyway, Naobito is hoping it's not the twins," Gojo finished. Much too casually. "He wants the next clan head to surpass the others, so now he's finally invested in schools, I guess." He shrugged. "None of it matters, right? Just clan politics."
"If it's just politics, why can't I stay in my dorm? Do I really need to—"
"Yes," Nobara and Geto insisted simultaneously. Nobara's voice had a edge of desperation. Geto was just agreeing with her: clan politics were dumb, and he would rather stay home."
"Ugh," she groaned. "This sucks. Gojo, you owe me."
"Me? When it's Yaga-sensei—"
"She has a point," Geto relented. "Come on, we can at least let them study. Digimon is coming on soon."
The moment they had left, Arai leaned in. A tiny grown lay on her face— the one that meant she was thinking. "Did you see Gojo's eyes?"
"Yeah," she agreed.
Arai took a shaky breath. "I'm not… You understand this stuff best, do you…" By now, her voice had crept into a whisper. "I'm not infecting him, am I?"
"No?" Shoko frowned. "Your technique requires you to touch someone, and the shadows move." She wanted to experiment with it so bad. "You never go near him."
"What do you think it was?"
Shoko shrugged. "A curse, maybe."
Arai didn't buy it. She didn't protest, though. Arai wasn't one for arguing.
"Yeah, sure." Not a lie. Technically. She had a suspicion, but even if she could tell Arai, even if she wanted to? It's sound too insane. "But like, I'm sure it's just normal Gojo shit."
"Yeah," Arai nodded. The worry didn't leave her eyes, but at least her mouth had moved back to biology. She started shuffling the flashcards again.