The Priestesses' Voice | a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction

11

Tokyo, 2018

Satoru Gojo stood in the rain, eyeing an enclave a few yards away from him. It was made from the rubble of a building - the walls had crumpled inwards from some harsh impact, leaving a large hole in the side of the building. The surrounding walls were barely staying together and he could see some wiring hanging down among the entrance. 

Noriko rested on the edge of it, her feet planted firmly into the wet ground as she sat on the floor, slumping so her head was hanging in the rain. Her arms were sprawled out over her knees and her hands had grown almost papery white in the rain. She didn't move as the heavy droplets hit her, and he wondered if she was also dead.

The body of Itadori Yuji was laid carefully beside of her - out of the rain and Noriko's ink-stained hoodie was tucked gently under his head. Now, while two dead students didn't cause any reactions, the makeshift pillow under the clearly dead boy did. It stung deep in his chest and he felt guilty - he didn't know why. Possibly because he could've prevented this?

He took a few steps forward, noting the empty cavity in Yuji's chest. His footsteps broke Noriko out of her thoughts and she raised her head to stare at her sensei, her black hair was completely saturated and it was heavy as it plastered to her neck and down her back. 

"How's Fushiguro?" She asked, reaching behind her with slovenly movements as she reached for her schoolbag. It'd been left somewhere to the entrance to juvenile centre where she first ran into Sukuna, but had been returned by the Tsuchigumo she'd summoned. He'd made it all the way back to the school - much to the horror of many teachers who didn't expect a huge spider yokai to return with Fushiguro - and all the way back to that spot, before promptly disappearing once he'd located his creator. 

"He's alive and being treated at the college, along with Nobara," Gojo explained, offering her hand as she tried to push herself up. She failed, stumbling out of exhaustion, and then finally took his hand. She didn't have enough energy to even lift her bag onto her shoulder, so just resorted to dragging it behind her as she and Gojo made her way to Ijichi's car. Staff bustled past her to retrieve the body.

"That's good," she mused, ignoring Ijichi's wince as she slumped into the car, weakly pulling the door closed behind her. It was only then she realised that not only was she drenched, but covered in mud and blood. "They're aware, right?"

"That Yuji is gone?" Noriko nodded as Ijichi started the car and they begun the semi-short drive back into Tokyo and the college. 

"They have some idea - Fushiguro thought you would be dead too," Gojo explained, offering her a handful of plastic-wrapped candy from his pocket. She took it gratefully, hands shaking in exhaustion as she unwrapped them. "The principal is considering adjusting your rank - up to a Grade 1."

"Well, tell him not to - I was considerably useless, if Sukuna hadn't been more interested in playing, rather than getting rid of me, I would've been dead the moment I entered the district," Gojo chuckled, eyeing Ijichi carefully. He'd have to intervene if Noriko brought up anything to do with Shikishi. He hadn't yet informed the higher ups yet. "I need to get faster - no, its more like I need to just get better at everything."

"You can explain to me the details of the combat later and I can help guide you," he offered, popping his own sweets into his mouth. "The Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event is coming up soon - you'll be able to get plenty of experience against other sorcerers."

He was interrupted by a groan.

"No, I have to get better by then." She insisted, eyebrows furrowing into a scowl as she folded her arms across her chest. "The Kamo Clan is closely tied to the Kyoto School and the heir attends. I swore to myself I'd kick his ass when I next saw him."

Gojo chuckled.

"I see, well, if you're that determined surely you'll be able to improve. My students really are the best~!" Gojo plastered on a smile. He'd lost Yuji and Sukuna, but he could possibly just work with Megumi and Noriko. He had been able to sense the remnants of her Domain at the sight, which was a very pleasing development. "How about your heart?"

"Feels fine. It was a little painful at one point, but I think that was just the idea of Yuji and Megumi dying in one day," she shrugged, turning her gaze out the window. Gojo hummed next to her, nodding, as the car fell into a soft, natural silence.

The moment the car reached the college, Noriko was rushed off to the infirmary to see Ieri, who gave her the fiercest scowl she'd ever seen, as she stepped through the doors - trailing mud and grit behind her. Ijichi had been sent off by Gojo to tend to the admin aspect and to make sure Yuji's body got into the morgue. 

"Miss. Kamo, you have a heart condition! You cannot go running off to fight Special Grades!" She snapped, offering the girl a towel and rushing her over to a bed. It was empty, Noriko noted, which meant Fushiguro had been discharged already. It was a relief - both him being okay and not having to see him knowing Yuji was dead. 

"Well, I'm still alive," she cheered, slumping down onto the bed and letting the doctor prod her with various needles and apply patches to her skin. She took a stethoscope, instruction Noriko to undo her first few buttons, and pressed the cool metal against her chest. Satoru Gojo stood in the corner of the room, completely silent as Ieiri performed her examination. A few minutes passed and Ieiri finally removed her stethoscope, wide eyed.

"W-we'll need to hook you up to an EGC," she muttered, plastering another set of silicone patched onto Noriko's chest - which were wired up to the heartrate monitor. It was all over the place. "What in the world...?"

"Is there an issue?" Gojo called over, moving across the white room to peer at the monitor. He had seen enough heartrates to know that what was showing on the screen really wasn't normal.

"There's... you see this tall line, that's ventricular depolarization, but it's happening twice... and then the ventricular repolarization and atrial depolarization are happening... but they're doubled. It's all in the right order, but there's two. I thought I heard... an echo... but..." Ieiri trailed off, shooting Gojo a concerned look. Noriko remained suspiciously silent.

"Have you seen this before?" He queried, settling his gaze on Noriko - who avoided it.

"No, this isn't possible, unless someone had two hearts," she joked sarcastically, but winced back at the heavy silence. Her gaze darted between a rather solemn Gojo and a sheepish-looking student - suddenly coming to the conclusion that she didn't really want to understand what was going on here. She could sense it would get her in trouble.

"I see, that's fine then. Ignore it, and cancel her appointment at the local hospital - it's being sorted already," Gojo instructed, turning to leave the infirmary. "Oh, and, please can you let me know when Miss. Kamo is well again? We should probably go over the details of the fight."

The door shut behind him with a click.

"So, I don't have to take that medication anymore?" Ieiri shot her a stare.

"No, but you'll still have to take precautions. I don't understand what is going on, but it isn't healthy."