DARK RED [ITADORI Y.]

―XLI. HOOK

CHAPTER XLI. YOU'RE OFF THE HOOK.

__________________________________

Before we could get all the way back to the cabin, we were stopped by an older woman. She wasn't quite the same age as my grandfather was, but she was up there.

She was carrying a tote bag over her shoulder and seemed a little shy as she caught our attention. Yuuji's hand tightened around mine when he heard her call out to us. She brought her bag closer to her and asked if we could help her.

"This is a bit embarrassing to ask," She chuckled nervously. "But I lost my keys around here, and I'm supposed to pick my grandson up soon. Would you mind helping me look for them?"

Before I could respond, Yuuji was speaking. And his answer surprised me a bit.

"Sorry, I wish we could, but we're a little busy at the moment."

He tugged me along as he walked past her. I glanced back at her, watching her face turn into a scowl. She began to kick around in the sand. I turned my attention back to Yuuji.

"She was just an old lady," I mumbled. "I didn't see any harm in helping her."

"Trust me, it's not that I didn't want to help her," Yuuji replied, pulling me away from the shack, and heading toward the bridge that led into the center of town. "The old lady wasn't the problem."

Yuuji stood in front of a magazine rack, plucking one from the top shelf. I did the same with one from the middle, thankful that my dark sunglasses would conceal my flickering gaze. Finally, I spotted the two sorcerers about two blocks away.

"Do we call Gojo?" I asked, flipping through the pages.

"If they get too close," He mumbled. "They haven't recognized us yet. They're trying to find us in case the hearing goes wrong. As soon as word gets out, they'll come after us."

"We should get out of the city," I said.

"As much as that seems like the right choice, it's not," He said, replacing his magazine, before holding his hand out to me. "We need to wait for Gojo to tell us what to do. We can't leave here unless they attack us."

"Well, this is gonna be a lovely day," I sighed. "Hopefully Gojo gets this done quickly, and we can get the hell out of this place."

But, with our luck, and our teacher, we did not get done quickly. We spent hours wandering through stores, aware of the two men that had continuously been trailing after us. They even sat and had lunch in the same place Yuuji and I did.

"You know, I was never a fan of coconut before this," I said, swirling my spoon through the curry. "Or shrimp."

"That so?" Yuuji smiled a little.

"Here try some,"

I held the spoon to Yuuji, and he took it from my hand, popping the curry into his mouth. He nodded in approval, then coughed after a moment.

"That's spicy. Oh, I wasn't expecting it to be spicy. Why didn't you tell me it was spicy?" I could only laugh as Yuuji chugged his cup of tea, then the glass of water off to the side. I giggled at his expressions and sat back in the booth, a smile lingering on my lips.

However, our moods quickly shifted when we saw the two sorcerers rise from their chairs. We hadn't been paying much attention to them so as to not draw attention to ourselves, and that caused us to miss the phone call they'd gotten. They walked towards our table, making us both sit up in alarm. They each made eye contact with us, and Yuuji began to rise from the booth, but paused.

"Now, what do we have here? Jones, Kinten, good to see you again. How'd you two do on the reinstatement exam?"

I felt the breath I didn't know I'd been holding release. Gojo leaned against our table, folding his arms over his chest. They glared at Gojo.

"Oh, my," Gojo faked a shocked expression, raising his hand to his mouth. "You weren't—no, you guys know better than that!"

"Gojo-san," The first man said. "These are dangerous—"

"They look so dangerous while they're eating lunch and laughing," The white-haired male deadpanned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were stalking after my students like a predator. But you two know better than that."

"Demons are what they are," The second spat.

"Children," Gojo corrected, rising to his full height, and towering over both men. "Children are what they are. And if you wish to disagree, go ahead and go to the council about it. They'll then redirect you to me, and...well...you won't like what I'll do."

"The council—"

"The council made their decision," Gojo cut him off. "And like good little grade 1s, you're gonna listen to them. L/n Y/n and Itadori Yuuji's executions have been overlooked. No one is executing them, and no one is going to touch them."

The two sorcerers took a step back, their gazes flicking away from the special grade. Gojo chuckled, shaking his head as he slipped both hands into his pockets. His lips curled into a grin, and I could only imagine the glare in his eyes hidden behind his blindfold.

"Don't let me catch you around any of my students. You won't enjoy the outcome," He hummed. "Now get the fuck away from here."

The sorcerers remained in their place, however, when Gojo quirked a brow at them and removed a hand from his pocket, they turned. I watched them leave through the front door, disappearing into the crowd of people. When their images were gone and we could no longer see nor hear them, Gojo turned to us, clapping his hands together.

"Congratulations, you two," He chirped. "You're off the hook."

"You really convinced them?" Yuuji asked. "They're not executing us?"

"You're both safe from the sorcerers," Gojo confirmed, dropping into a squat beside our table, picking an extra fork up before grabbing the plate of curry. "But, it's on the condition that both of you are to be watched 24/7 for the next six months. If you can keep from switching then you'll be out of their minds for good. But if you do..."

Gojo didn't have to finish. We both knew what he was going to say next.

"Can I go home now?" I asked. "To my parents?"

"Yeah," Gojo said around a mouthful. "I'll take you there."

"Are you coming with me, Yuuji?" I asked.

To my surprise, he shook his head. "I think I'm gonna stay at the school. I want to talk about something with Okkotsu-senpai."

"Lucky for you, he's in town again," Our teacher placed the food down and rose to his feet. "But I don't know for how long. So let's get going."

[Chapter XLI. End]
[Image does not belong to me]