mamoritai | f. megumi

七

Sometime after Christmas, Momoka found herself standing in the circular track path of Tokyo Jujutsu High, clad in a tracking pants and suit while she blows a warm breath over her knitted mittens covered hands.

"It's a bit too early for us to do endurance training so what we will be doing right now is to focus on your curse energy and maintaining it!" Gojo beams, leading the way to the basement room inside the main building of the school.

"What's the purpose of focusing on my cursed energy?" Momoka asks, follow behind Gojo, hands tucked inside the pockets of her track suit.

"Hm...let's see" Gojo begins to say, tapping his fingers against his chin. "If you were to see Megumi with someone else, would you get mad? Or would you get sad? Or both."

The sudden question thrown at her had her ticketing, picturing Megumi smiling, being happy and holding hands with another girl. All the while she was thinking about it, she felt an undeniable pang in her heart. One that made her feel both uneasy in the hands and feet.

"With the current feeling you are having right now, your raw cursed energy is already flowing and at a certain degree. If we can heighten what you are feeling right now while it is still in it's rawest form, I can guarantee you'll be having an abundant way of it." Gojo explains, taking a glance at Momoka.

"Any questions?"

"Yeah, I do have one next." Momoka replies, looking up at Gojo. "Say if I have an abundance of it, how will I be able to maintain it like you said?"

"You'll see when we get there!" Gojo responded, walking three steps back so he can stand besides Momoka, lowering himself down to whisper in her ear.

"Can you please tell me if you and Megumi are dating now?"

"We aren't like that!"

"Please specify. My claims are different from yours!"

"You don't want to say my name, because you might attach a meaning to it. You're afraid to define someone you're going to lose as a 'friend' or 'girlfriend'."

Momoka sniffled, a big frown formed on her lips as her bloodshot red eyes produced more tears that cascaded down her cheeks. Her face was already half wet due to her crying, but Momoka knows to wipe off the residues and wash her face later. What's more important to her right now was transmitting all the negative feelings she feels into her weapons.

"I saw how you were just yourself, without needing anyone to define you or be around you. I wanted to be like that, too."

Fat globs of tears fell more from her eyes, her heart clenching tightly inside her chest. Sniffing once more, she held her hands on her twin blade katana next.

"Everyone is where they are because of the choice they've made."

Momoka bursted out into a full sob as her heart clenched inside her chest once more. She could no longer see Sakura and Haruki from I Want To Eat Your Pancreas on the television but she relied on her hearing instead.

"Why does this movie remind me of him?!" Momoka sobbed out, holding on her katanas with both hands tightly.

"You mean, Megumi?"

Momoka immediately lets out a scream, the flow of her cursed energy halting. "Since when did you get here?!" She screeched, surprised to see Gojo lounging by the mini snack bar of the basement.