STIGMA, Jujutsu Kaisen

two

CHAPTER TWO, 二

THE PHOTOS Ijichi had shown Gojo was rather inaccurate to say the very least, his own memory and observations from afar were more useful than the blurred picture. 

The woman that leant over the rails, standing beside him now, was not the woman in the picture Ijichi showed him.

The girl that left was now a woman.

A woman he barely recognised.

Gojo lowered his sunglasses and studied her as she was transfixed by the water in front of them. Her porcelain skin looked translucent under the moonlight; dark circles marked their claim underneath her sullen eyes though the softness that framed features before remained.

How she looked from afar told a completely different story to how she looked now, right up close to him. Everything that he once knew about Hoshiko seemed to dissipate in an instant. Gojo no longer knew Hoshiko anymore.

She grew up, as did he.

Yet even though everything about Hoshiko seemed to have changed, her gravitating aurora did not. She still possessed that eccentric beauty she always had. She wasn't beautiful in a way where it would make everyone turn their head. The beauty she held... it was inexplicable, something you could never quite describe.

Hoshiko finally diverted her gaze and glanced at Gojo who quickly and rather smoothly, pushed his glasses up, covering his eyes.

One glance of her black irises expressed a lifetime of struggle and hardship she had never been able to communicate in words alone.

Gojo held her gaze.

A few moments passed with a soft breeze.

Then, what happened next caught Gojo off guard.

Hoshiko smiled and it was like being transported back five years ago when they were still kids. 

Kids who knew nothing. 

And once again, Gojo was looking at Hoshiko from five years ago. Only it wasn't. Because that Hoshiko was long dead.

Gojo forced a breath out. To think that the rumours held some degree of factuality was scarcely incredible to him but nevertheless, he remained sceptical. He knew better than anyone that looks were deceiving.

"It's been a while, Gojo," she whispered.

"I think what you really mean to say is that you've missed seeing my handsome face."

She chuckled softly, a real chuckle. She shook her head. "You're still the same Gojo from high school."

No, that's where you're mistaken, he thought.

Hoshiko laid her eyes back onto the water. She let out a soft sigh. "What do you want, Gojo?"

"Eh? Who said I want something?"

Hoshiko raised her eyebrows and nodded. "You always want something," she replied monotonously.

"Heh. You're so funny, Kurosawa-chan!"

Hoshiko turned around so now that facing him, her eyes fixated on him. "So, why are you here, Gojo? Was my message not obvious enough? Or perhaps you've forgotten?"

He flinched ever so slightly at her words. He remembered her words too well. The memory of that day burned deep in his mind. Even if he wanted to forget it, he couldn't. "You're not one to beat around the bush are you, Kurosawa-chan? Well, there is a favour I wanted to ask. Wait, actually, more like a proposition."