ayame's flower realm . JUJUTSU KAISEN

twenty seven . bucket hat

"we haven't met each other for a few days, but... what is this?"

hakari crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at the black bucket hat in front of him, the words 'I ♡ SORA' written on it, the heart coloured in bright red. the person beneath the hat fiddled with her fingers as she avoided eye contact at all costs.

"what? what do you mean?" ayame asked, her eyes looking everywhere but hakari's face.

the male squinted his eyes.

"what's up with the hat?"

"nothing. i can wear a hat if i wanted to."

"..."

ayame could feel his stare stabbing into her own being, even though she couldn't even see him clearly. well, she was acting suspicious after all, even she knew that.

after the visit to the flower realm, ayame had asked the teachers for a few days off, which they didn't mind giving her since they weren't that busy with cases at the moment. she had been holed up in her room the whole time, and only went out for meals. even then, she made sure no one was around, and ate in her room.

well, someone else would probably do that... if a mark suddenly appeared on their forehead, right?

the morning she woke up, just like himawari said, a mark similar to kyonoue's appeared on ayame's forehead.

she remembered how it burnt so brightly and how scorching hot her forehead felt, as if someone was pressing fresh hot iron onto it. it didn't last only a second - it lasted at least a minute and the hot iron didn't seem to cool down. she had to hold back her scream of pain since it was in the morning, and she remembered how her jaw ached from clenching so hard.

other than that, it looks cool. but she still felt awkward with it.

and... she felt a little bit different than before. maybe it was because she just went through a new kind of pain, but ayame thought that wasn't the case.

her cursed energy core seemed to have changed. at least, she felt like it did. unlike before, she was reaching out to her core in the middle of the sea, except there were strong currents, the water pressure crushed her body, and objects were flying around, obstructing her vision. now, though...

it sat right on her palm.

she could control it like second nature, and it flowed through her body smoothly like a river. so smooth, she's afraid she might even slip.

hakari could see the change.

he was curious, indeed, but if ayame didn't want to tell him yet, then it's alright. he wasn't in a rush.

but why the hell was she wearing a hat?

"did you accidentally shave off your hair something?"

"no, i didn't - "

"oh, you definitely did. you have a bald spot now, don't you?" hakari leaned down to look at ayame, but she pulled her hat down even further. in that moment, hakari took the opportunity to tease her. "why are you being so bashful? i seriously don't care. you're not even pretty in the beginning anyways, what would a bald spot change?"

at that comment, a vein popped in ayame's neck. "you prick - did you really have to say that? i don't have a bald spot, just let me wear my hat."

hakari patted ayame's head, or rather, her hat. roughly, though, to the point where her head was driven downwards from the force. "don't worry, you'll find a guy who will love you even if you have a bald spot."