wasteland, baby! [fushiguro megumi]

29: pandemonium in shibuya

31 october 2018

tokyo metro, shibuya station - near exit 13 (outside the curtain)

8:21pm

third person pov

"nanami!"

as soon as keiko had stumbled a landing in the panic stricken crowd within the main curtain, definitely turning plenty of heads her way, she scrambled around its perimeter, finally catching up to her allocated standby group alongside megumi, nanami and grade two sorcerer, ino takuma.

nanami had noticed the gun in its holster behind her belt, but decided to stay quiet for now.

upon seeing the older blonde for the first time in years, keiko instinctively straightened out her uniform and gave a small bow, before turning to smile at her raven. "i came from inside the curtain, it's absolute chaos but there's no sight of curses or cursed spirits, yet."

"how did you-"

"satoru, everyone inside is screaming for him."

nanami's forehead creased as he curtly shifted his glasses, "so, where is gojo?"

"sensei didn't come with you?" megumi frowned.

keiko shook her head gently, shutting her eyes for a second to retrace the lingering cursed energy remnants she picked up from inside the curtain. turning to face the oozing black barrier, her arm stretched out to reach for the curtain. "he said he'll be here soon, i could head back in and-"

"absolutely not." nanami's voice rang a little louder than he expected, causing keiko to flinch slightly as she retracted her arm and mumbled a soft apology.

the grade one sorcerer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he fished out a small box from his pocket. "we'll stay and wait for instructions, since our only form of communication is through the auxiliary managers. and keiko, before i forget-" he stretched the black velvet box wrapped in a thick lilac satin ribbon towards the girl.

keiko reached out hesitantly, a subtle expression of confusion hanging on her face when she took it from him.

"it's for you, happy birthday." nanami flashed a rare smile, lightly ruffling her burgundy hair. ino and megumi simply stood in silence, expressions collapsed from the amount of affection they had ever seen nanami possess. "you can open it."

pulling apart the lilac ribbon and bundling it up in her hand, keiko lifted the lid carefully to reveal an opal gemstone carved in the shape of a marigold flower with a delicate silver chain hooked on each end.

"this is a beautiful ... necklace?" keiko traced her fingers over the pendants around her neck, turning her head towards megumi who barely had any expression other than his stoic face, but if she were to squint close enough, she could definitely see his cheek muscles twitching just a little.

nanami sighed once again, making sure the corner of his lips were just barely tugged upwards. reaching for the box in keiko's hands, he pulled the little trinket out. "you need not worry, it can be doubled as a bracelet." he reassured as the two teenagers huffed a subtle breath. the older male lifted her tiny wrist, proceeding to wrap the bracelet around gingerly and clasping it before returning her the box.

"thought i'd give it to you now before things really go out of hand inside. i'm sorry you have to deal with this on your birthday." he gestured towards the curtain that the group had forgotten for a moment, before a message pinged on his phone.

8:31pm

gojo satoru has arrived.

9:00pm