The Priestesses' Voice | a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction

06

Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, Tokyo, 2018

"And move your eyes to the left," Shoko Ieiri instructed, shining a bright light into Noriko Kamo's dark eyes. The girl was too tired and emotionally drained to complain about the blinding torchlight or even to insist she was fine. Her hands were draped limply in her lap, and her eyes were dull and unfocused. "Well, you seem to be fine for the most part - we're just looking at some fatigue, psychological and physical stress."

"No issues with the heart?" Gojo Satoru questioned, leaning against the wall of the infirmary, arms folded over his chest. Masamichi Yaga glanced briefly towards him before turning his attention back to his pupil, who sat hunched on the hospital bed. They'd only really met once or twice, but her famed cheery demeanour (there were many comments from various staff on how her attitude was similar to Gojo's, only significantly less irritating) was completely lost from her.

Ieiri picked up the chart from the bedside, flipping through it slightly.

"High blood pressure, some irregularities with the heartbeat, nothing that can't be explained by psychological stress." Both staff members turned quizzically to the white-haired man. He'd told them both nothing, only mentioned that it was something important and should remain confidential.

"It might be something you should look out for," he elaborated, before his usual grin pull at his lips as he caught his co-workers glances, "maybe, it's just a guess~!"

The doctor's eye twitched as she stifled the urge to kill her former classmate.

"Right, I see," she muttered under her breath, jotting down something on her clipboard, "then I'll have Noriko in here in a few days to run some more tests. Other than that she's free to go for the moment."

The girl didn't even blink at the mention at her name, but slipped herself off the bed and onto her feet, treading quietly over to her instructor and principal in the corner of the room. Satoru Gojo eyed her - he couldn't have her lose it now, not with so much potential. 

"I think it's best if Noriko gets something to eat and some substantial rest," he spoke, more to Yaga than Noriko, who nodded weakly either way, "it would probably best if I explain to you, and then we can have a chat with her when she's feeling better." 

Yaga narrowed his eyes at his staff member, briefly glancing over to his student before nodding in agreement. Whatever was going on, it wasn't his position to deepen whatever wounds she had, and Gojo would probably provide a more conclusive, third-party explanation. Turning to leave, Noriko gave them both a brief bow before heading back to her dorm.

Her footsteps were slow and heavy on the floor as she took her time. It was silent - even her heartbeat. Her mind couldn't process much, and her thoughts were all jumbled, but the one thing that was clear was that she really couldn't bare to run into any of her classmates. If anyone saw her so pathetically out-of-order, that careful control she had would shatter and she'd have to build herself up all over again. She needed this. She needed to be in this college. She... just needed to be free from the clan, and their cold, lifeless stares. 

They would quite happily trap her in those shrines - or perhaps, it was her mother who trapped her? Either way, with no education, no grasp on the real world, and no future prospects, she had to take this opportunity to free herself from them. Shuddering, Noriko winced at the thought of being stuck under their thumb - in that damn shrine - for the rest of her life. This was the only way, she reassured herself.

Taking a sharp left, she approached her dorm room, unlocking the door and entering quietly. She shrugged off her bag at the entranceway as the door clicked shut behind her, and kicked off her shoes. Heavy, she thought, her body was so heavy. Noriko threw herself face down onto her bed - secretly hoping the plush duvet would suffocate her - and succumbed to the weight of her newest burden.

Her sleep was unrestful, and full of red. The red of Shikishi's eyes... the heart - her heart - their heart... the blood - theirs - or not hers - or the blood they'd had to scrub off the floor of the shrine when she entered the care of the Saiin. It was half hers, therefore, maybe it was already half Shikishi's at the point. She wasn't sure. 

Her slumber felt like eternity, however, she was drawn out of it an hour later by a knock on her door. She didn't move to answer it - and she didn't need to do so to know who it was. Itadori Yuji had a distinct, almost frantic, knock and she'd slowly learned to recognise it after he'd knocked on her door many times to let her know they were heading to breakfast, or to ask questions about class, or to ask whether she wanted to kick a ball round the track. She obliged most of the time, because he made her feel normal.

Not now, however, nothing could make her feel normal when the soft rug of security had been ripped out from under her feet.

"Gojo-sensei said you weren't feeling well, so I just wanted to let you know that we're all just down the hall if you need anything," there was a silence and then a hushed muttering, "oh, and we took down a Semi-Grade 2 today! It was really gross - uh, Kugisaki wished you could've been there - hey! I'm not annoying."

The voices got distracted, slowly disappearing down the hallway. It'd been their first proper exorcism as a team, and now Noriko was really wishing she'd pushed her abilities down further - perhaps if she hadn't been singled out, she wouldn't have had to feel like this.

It was her first time in her Domain that long. Maybe that's why it'd never happened before. 'It'... who knew what 'it' was. 

She wasn't sure the whole thing had happened, and she would've thought she'd hallucinated it if not for the urgency at which Gojo had pushed her domain back, and the torn white shirt stuffed in her schoolbag. The whiteness peered out of her discarded bag, and she tore her eyes from it - a wave of nausea flowing over her.

[Short chapter, I'm really sorry. But to make up for it, I'll be updating the fic every day this week, rather than just bi-weekly, to catch up with the series. Please vote or comment :) anything is welcome.]