what lovers do

chapter 25

 ...You're my only friend and I want to show it to you...

"Look at these!"

Sairi shows the boy a portion of her 'shiny objects' collection excitedly. It is placed inside a small red container alongside a few other toys.

The kids are brought indoors in Sairi's playroom after their senseis go to the main house to meet with the Gojo clan head and discuss an important matter.

....Maybe in another life...

"Have we met before?" the boy asks with an impassive face. There is something in him that makes the adults wonder. Megumi regards him as an adult in the body of a child. Rui is a boy who is pretty mature for his age.

Sairi looks at him and shakes her head, her hair bouncing on her cheeks.

"Noooo,"

Rui's gaze falls at the rocks on her palms and finds nothing special on it. He didn't say a thing and only watched as the little girl plops on the tatami floor and runs her mouth talking about the different colors she can see within the rocks like it's nobody's business. The boy, having been guided by Maki and Megumi, knows better than to interrupt when someone is talking. He stands there, both bemused and uninterested in the rocks.

"You're not shadowy."

Rui blinks. "Huh?"

Sairi blinks back with her doll-like eyes as she can see the faint aura she's starting to see around the sorcerers in their household.

"Daddy, mommy, and sensei have this big shadow around them all the time. It's creepy. Especially Dad! Some people have it too but it's not too shadowy." she says with her high-pitched voice.

"You mean cursed energy?"

"Energy?" Sairi looks up and remembers her mother talking about it. "

Rui sits in front of her on the tatami mat and gazes at the rocks. He can see cursed energy around him despite not having any but Megumi says he's still young to exhibit it. But he cannot see anything like that from the girl's rocks.

"Sairi," Utahime appears from the doorway and pauses. "Rui-kun," she smiles at the children. "it's a good thing Megumi-kun tagged you along with him. Sairi, have you introduced yourself properly to Rui-kun?"

"Yeeees! I showed him my toys." the girl says raising her arms, grinning widely. Behind her is a big box of different toys that her mother always reminds her to put in order. Utahime is a very organized person and she wants her daughter to be responsible for her things at an early age. What she's unaware of is that Sairi is talking about a different kind of toys.

"Good afternoon, Utahime-sensei." the boy addresses the woman in courtesy.

Mio enters carrying a tray of snacks for the children. Rui feels shy to join Sairi's snack time but Utahime urges him kindly and says that they have prepared an extra just for him and that he has nothing to be shy of.

She observes the children as they eat, Sairi mostly takes pieces of strawberries and kiwis while Rui takes polite bites in the sandwich. The more she looks at Rui, the more she feels that she has met him somewhere before. Utahime first met the boy when Megumi brought him to Jujutsu High. Since then, she has the impression that the boy is familiar.

Maybe I'm just thinking too much ...she can guarantee that if Satoru can hear her thoughts, he would say the same thing. Utahime listens as Sairi shows Rui her pop-up books and accompanies the children.