Chapter Text
Second year: 2006
You feel the gravel dig into the skin on your knees as you struggle to catch your breath. Pulling you out of your daze, you sense a swift kick aiming right towards your head. Gaining just enough energy in your legs, you jump back just in time. It feels like the two of you have been at it for hours, and you’re not sure how much longer you could keep up. Like before, he doesn’t give you a minute to rest, keeping his unrelenting attacks coming. Evading his attacks was all you could really do in your state. His blows are too strong to withhold right now. “You can’t keep avoiding me.” He says with amusement, but you could hear just the slightest bit of annoyance. Trying to put up a good front, “Maybe I’m just trying to wear you out.” You say, smirking, but your heavy breathing isn’t very convincing. “Come on, you know that won’t happen. Just attack me already.” He says, throwing another punch, grazing the tip of your ear as you dodge. You won’t take the bait, clearly seeing he’s trying to goad you into making a mistake.
You can feel the exhaustion in your muscles beginning to catch up with you as your movements become slightly sluggish. Each attack becomes closer and closer calls. Before you could blink, he’s whipping his leg around, aiming for your abdomen. You jump into the air with nowhere else to go, realizing your mistake. As soon as you land, he will hit your center of balance, taking you down. You now have no option but to fight; you prepare to attack. If he was going to take you down, he was coming with. Just as your toes meet the ground, he’s already side-swiping your legs. But you were able to grab hold of his arm, with your other fist reeled back to deliver a blow to his face. He just dodges your punch, but your hold on him is unwavering, bringing him down with you. Hoping to get the jump on him, you take the arm you grabbed and pin it behind his back. You put all your body weight trying to hold him down, but he’s not even struggling against you. Did you finally beat him? A sense of pride begins to bubble in your chest. “I got you,” he plainly says. Before you can even make sense of what he’s saying, he’s already bucked you off him, throwing you to the ground once more.
This time, he’s the one to pin you in place, holding both your arms up as he straddles your abdomen. He’s heavier than he looks. Struggling and failing. Kicking your legs to knock him off. But he won’t budge. He’s got you. Letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in, you finally look up to him with your brows knit together. “Okay! Get off me now!” you yell. Letting all the pent-up rage and irritation burst out. This just delights him more, bringing his face down to yours so close you can feel his breath tickle your skin. “Make me,” he says, refusing to move. His blue eyes burrowing holes through yours, his intense gaze making you squirm. You wanted to escape it. His gaze made you uneasy, feeling your heart begin to race. As if on instinct, your eyes flicker down to his lips and back up to his eyes. His hold falters for a split-second, and you seize this opportunity. Able to release both your arms, you grab him by the collar and punch him square in the jaw. But he doesn’t fall back like you thought he would.
Instead, he just grabs your arms again. Prying your hand from his collar, pining them both backdown. “Ah ah ah, I want you to ask me nicely, Kyouka,” he says. You hated him using your first name. Showing off his toothy grin that makes your stomach turn. “GET THE FUCK OFF!” you yell once again. “Where’s the magic word?” He says in a sing-song voice, tightening his grip on your hands. He always does this when you spar. As soon as he’s pinned you, he begins to humiliate you. Rubbing your defeat in your face even more. Clasping your hands into fists, your nails dig into the skin on your palms. Attempting to avoid his gaze, you turn your head to the side and squeeze your eyes shut. Usually, you never give in, causing someone to step in before anything else happens. But today is different; you’re tired and worn out. Tired of his bullshit. Swallowing your pride, you can’t believe what came out of your mouth. “Please,” you breathily whisper. Your words were almost inaudible if not for the silence between the two of you. You can’t even bother to look back at him, thinking the embarrassment will swallow you whole if you do. You were expecting him to taunt you even more, but to your surprise, he released his grip and was off you.
You were shocked, looking back at him with wide eyes. His expression matched yours. His eyes were blown up wide, peeking over the rim of his glasses. His mouth was slightly ajar. Your shock is quickly replaced with anger, pulling yourself off the ground and storming up to him. Closing the distance, you bring your hand up and slap him. Before he could react, you were already walking away.
You can feel tears building at the rim of your eyes, threatening to spill over, but you wipe them away before they get the chance. You don’t give yourself time to contemplate what happened once you reach your dorm. You just head straight to the bathroom, turning the shower on. Peeling your clothes off along with your shame. You throw them in the direction of your hamper, some making it in. Testing the temperature of the water before hopping in. The water feels like heaven, running down your skin. You feel a slight sting on your knee as the water runs down your leg. You look down to see a substantial gash you haven’t noticed till now. You’ll have to see Shoko tomorrow and ask her to fix it. You close your eyes, letting the water softly pelt your face. You hate him. You feel completely inferior to him, and he knows it. Taking any chance, he gets to remind you that you are. You’ll never be his equal. You’ll always just be nipping at the heels of his greatness. So close, yet so far. You’re strong, but he’s the strongest. You just want to get the jump on him one time. Just once, have him slip up.
After taking your time, finally feeling relaxed and like some of the aches in your limbs have subsided, you get out. You grab a towel and wrap yourself with it. Stepping over to the sink and mirror. You wipe the fog off the mirror until you can clearly see your reflection staring back at you. You still look like shit. Besides the slight flush from the warm shower, you look completely drained. Grabbing your brush, you work the tangles out of your hair, staring back at yourself blankly. Your eyes begin to shift over the features of your face. The tiniest scar goes through your eyebrow, reminding you of that night. It’s barely noticeable now with years of healing, but for you, it is the first thing you always notice about your face. Exiting out of the bathroom, you grab a casual change of clothes. You want to relax, but instead of chilling in your room, you decide to get some fresh air.
You go to the usual spot, hiking up the small hill to sit under your tree. You claimed this spot ever since the first year. Routinely hanging under it, enjoying the view of the sky. You come here to be alone or to sit with your friends, Shoko, Suguru, Utahime, Haibara, and even Nanami sometimes. Although you’re not sure if he enjoys your presence entirely. You usually sit in silence with each other, enjoying the quiet company. The tree gives just the right amount of shade with its sprawling branches. The grass is soft underneath your skin. It feels safe. But, as soon as you make it just over the hill, it’s steep. The peaceful atmosphere it ruined. He’s there, sitting where you sit. In your spot. You’re unsure if the need to protect your territory or the anger from earlier that’s setting you off, but you won’t stand for this. You’re not backing down this time. You march over, ready to berate him and tell him off. But you quickly notice he has his glasses off, and his eyes are closed. Is he sleeping? Or is he just not acknowledging you?
You step even closer, bending down a bit to investigate. His breathing is shallow and slow. You wave your hand in front of him to test. He doesn’t react. He is actually asleep. He looks so peaceful, his hair messily framing his face. His snow-white lashes softly shut. When he’s not talking or being a complete asshole, he looks kind of sweet. You harshly shake your head. What the hell are you even thinking? It’s Gojo.
You’re not sure what to do now. Your earlier resolve dissipates, being replaced with awkwardness. You scratch your head and stand back up. You look around as if searching for some idea but are at a loss. You shake your head, realizing how meek you’re behaving, and gently tap him. He stirs but doesn’t wake. You tap him again, and he just rolls to his side. This time, with a little more force, you give him a little kick to one of his legs. This does the trick as he whips his head to you, eyes wide open now. “What the hell?” He barks. He is clearly angry with you for interrupting his nap. “You’re in my spot.” You say, crossing your arms. He furrows his brows, confusion riddling his face. “Well, are you going to leave?” You say, tapping your foot. Still looking confused. He props himself up slightly, using his back arms to support him. “What the No!” he says, refusing to budge. You press your lips into a tight line and huff. This is your spot, you repeat to yourself. Raising your eyebrows, you say, “Fine, move over!” As he moves, you plop yourself down, somewhat reclaiming your territory.
There’s an awkward silence that hangs above you both. He is too close for comfort right now, shoulders almost brushing against each other. He doesn’t move, but you can’t help it. You shift over slightly, giving yourself just enough space to breathe. He looks over at you, but your eyes are trained on the sky, watching as the sunset begins to change the skies. color. “Hey-umm,” he says, pausing. “What happened earlier- I’m sorr-“You cut him off, just wanting to ignore what happened. “What do you have to be sorry for? We were sparing. You won. Plain and simple.” You say curtly. He pauses, not sure what to say next. “What I’m trying to say is. If I like really hurt you? I guess I’m sorry.” You roll your eyes. This is the last thing you want. For him to pity you. “What makes you think you hurt me, huh?” frustration dripping from your words. “Well, I don’t know. You seemed pretty upset.” “Just forget it! I’m not upset, just tired.” You snap. You’re not sure if the expression on his face is confusion or concern. But you can’t stand to look at him anymore. You turn your head back to the sky, focusing on the shifting clouds. “You know what?” He retorts, “I’m trying to fucking apologies, and you’re just being unreasonable!” You don’t respond this time, continuing to just stare out at the sky. He huffs, annoyed that you were choosing to ignore him. He grabs you by the shoulder, forcing you to face him. As you whipped around, he’s met with your eyes staring daggers at him hopping to drill right through him. “I said drop it!” you say sternly. Your hands dig into the plush grass below you. His hand still rests on your shoulder and it felt like scorching metal upon you. “And get your hand off me.” He just stared back, returning your expression right back to you. His hand refused to move, still resting on your shoulder. If anything his grip became tighter. You try to shake it off but it wont budge. After what felt like forever, he finally breaks your staring contest and removes his strong grip. “Fine,” he says, standing up and storming off.
You’re not sure what it is about Gojo that just infuriates you. He always lingered in the back of your mind. Maybe it’s because everything comes easy to him? Where you and the others have to actually work for it. How can someone just be so blessed? You ask yourself. It was unfair; life was unfair, and he just proved it. You wouldn’t describe yourself as a jealous person until you met Gojo. His existence alone, revealed all your insecurities. Your mentors constantly told you how gifted you were, and you naively believed them. Obviously being part of the sorcerer world you'd heard of Gojo before coming here and were actually excited when you found out you both would attend Tokyo Jujutsu High. Every adult in your life practically told you, you were just below Gojo skill wise. So when coming here you believed you’d have a peer that you could push you and you could do the same in return. But as soon as you met Gojo, you realized just how big that “little” power difference others perceived between the two of you actually was. Within the first year you quickly realized you had nothing to offer him, all you could do was strive to reach his level. Since coming here you've slowly been closing the gap but never quite reaching it. Always just out of your grasp. It didn’t help he was extremely full of himself. Not a minute ounce of humility. He knew he was the strongest and acted like it. Frustrated you throw yourself back onto the ground, lying down. You block out the sun covering your eyes with your arm, pushing all the nasty self deprecating thoughts deep down. And it worked. You let the soft grass cradle and brush your skin. By the time you'd calmed down completely, the sun was almost set, and the air had become a little chillier. Taking this as your cue, you get up, brush any blades of grass off you, and head to the girls’ dorms.
On your way back, you run into Suguru, who is coming from the direction of the track. “Hey,” you cheerfully say. Stopping in your tracks for him to catch up with you. “Hey,” he smiles, taking a towel and wiping the sweat off his brow. “Training?” you already know that answer but decide to initiate a conversation. “Yeah, I’m trying to build up my endurance.” He sighs. “If you want, we could spar together sometime?” You suggested to him. He shakes his head, yes, cracking a smile. “Tired of getting your ass handed to you by Gojo?” He jokingly says. You laugh, but he’s not wrong. “I think you’re just afraid I’ll beat you like last time,” you retort, shrugging your shoulders. He tilts his head and puts his finger to his chin. “If I’m not mistaken, it was a drawl.”, “You can keep telling yourself that. But we both know I beat you fair and square.” You joke, nudging him in the side. You reach the dorms and say farewell. Before turning around, he calls out, “Tomorrow?” You smirk and shake your head. “Ready when you are.” And with that, you wave goodnight.
Suguru was the equal you expected to find in Gojo. You, indeed, were on equal footing with each other, and you both appreciated that about one another. Even though Gojo referred to him and Suguru as “The strongest,” you think Suguru knew, just like you, that wasn’t completely true. Even with your strong, innate technique. Nullification. As it sounds, you are able to nullify your opponent’s cursed technique by slowly siphoning it from them. Draining them from their cursed energy while fighting. It has its limits though. It does have its limits, though. For instance, you have to be able to touch them first, so focusing on hand-to-hand combat was crucial for you. Making it difficult when they were long-ranged fighters. But you’ve got a couple of ways to get around that. You don’t just rely on your nullification technique. One of your family’s inherited techniques, focused stun, is very helpful when fighting long distances. The ability allows the user to shoot focused cursed energy from their fingers like a beam, piercing and momentarily stunning their opponent’s cursed energy. It’s not the strongest technique, but it can be a nifty little trick to close the distance if used correctly. Along with this technique is your family’s other inherited technique, obstruction. It allows the user to focus their cursed energy to deliver blows that momentarily block the circulation of cursed energy in the opponent’s body, almost like halting blood flow. It doesn’t physically leave them incapacitated but hinders the opponent’s ability to summon any cursed energy for a moment.
Even though your technique is formidable against almost any opponent. Guess who your ability is basically ineffective against? Yup! Satoru Gojo. His limitless technique doesn’t allow you to make contact with him. Like he was almost made to spite you. You stare at your ceiling, listening to the hum of your fan and the crickets chirping outside. The cooler nights indicating that summer is slowly turning into fall. You drift off into a restful sleep.