CELESTIAL FLOWERS ( s. gojo )

arc iv ━ chapter v. inequality

a r c iv.
❝ you hurt for them, you break for them,
and they break your heart in return. ❞
━━ chapter v. inequality

KAZUKO STARES AT THEIR CLASS ADVISER. He's a tall guy with a shaved head and an intimidating aura that's offset with the plethora of cutesy things he has on his person.

"Nanami still isn't here..." he murmurs to himself. Nanami Kento, their mysterious classmate who had stopped coming to school after his recent mission. Rumor had it that Nanami's bestfriend, another one of their classmates, had died a year prior. The trauma had gotten to him and made him lost any will to continue being a Jujutsu sorcerer.

Kazuko can understand him. If it was Erisu, she doubts she could continue on living.

(Would Erisu feel the same? If it was Kazuko that died, would she have continued living?)

Kazuko clenches her fist.

(She would! She definitely would. She abandoned you that day, left you to those monsters. Didn't turn back and I bet she would have went on with her merry life even if you're six feet under.)

She clenches tighter. It's a good thing she's wearing gloves otherwise her fingernails would be drawing blood.

Yaga-sensei sighs. "It's fine. Kamo and Koyama, the two of you come to my office." Turns towards Hayami. "Uchida, stay here. Someone's here to pick you up."

Kiyoshi smiles when he meets Kazuko's eyes. She tries to muster one, but fails. "I wonder what we're going to do," he says. "Is it finally time for our first mission? I'm excited, but a little scared."

Missions. Dangerous missions like the one Nanami Kento and his bestfriend had taken and had led to the latter's death. Kazuko questions the idea of sending children to missions, but keeps it to herself after recognizing the hypocrisy. Wasn't she a child as well? A child who had been fulfilling a mission ever since she could walk.

"Yaga-sensei, why isn't Hayami coming with us?" Kiyoshi asks and kicks her out of her momentary stupor. She too turns to her teacher as the question roused a tiny bit of curiosity.

"Hayami's an important person to one of the higher ups," he answers. "They want to keep her away from trouble as much as possible. I originally wanted all of you to join as there's no delaying the inevitable where you have to fight curses, but they insisted so an order is an order."

Kiyoshi moves closer and whispers into her ear. "So Hayami's super important, huh? Do you know why, Kazuko?"

She shakes her head and appreciates the fact that when Kiyoshi whispered, he made sure to keep a respectful distance.

"I wonder how hard the mission is if they didn't want to put Hayami into any risks," he says. "I really wanted to go on a mission with her too. Seeing as she's one of us."

One of us. And yet she's treated differently. Kazuko doesn't voice it. If all of them were equals, why were there exceptions? What a faulty system.

Kazuko maintains her silence althroughout the briefing. She made sure to be attentive and take in all the details. For one, she doesn't want to fail and the other, it blocks her mind from the distraction that is the voice in her head.

They are introduced to Utahime Iori, an alumna. She's wearing shrine garbs and Kazuko immediately thinks she's going to get along with this woman. It's the seriousness of her aura and the propriety in her movements. The fact that Utahime will be in charge of them comforts her. She reminds the both of them to be careful and not charge at anything head on unless they're sure they can take it.