Unmatched | ᴍᴀʜɪᴛᴏ

Chapter 9

Stupid Itadori and Kugisaki with their stupid fucking joke. And of course, it had been Gojo's idea. That man was a hazard to society. Literally. But on my way to the training room after dinner, I had already forgiven him. My annoyance toward Itadori and Kugisaki would hold on a little while longer.

Just before I reached my destination, Yuji caught up with me. Damn him for being so fast! I kept walking, so he slowed down to my pace.

"Itadori, I can't talk right now. I'm on my way to see the sensei."

"Oh," he said, and the disappointment in his voice made me want scream at myself to pull myself together. "Can I come by your room later? I want to tell you that I'm sorry."

I hesitated. I knew what could happen if Itadori and I were alone in a room together. Did that make me want to say yes or no?

"Yes," I said after a moment of thought. "Come by later."

His face broke into a smile. Honestly, why couldn't he just let me be mad at him? Why did he have to be so adorable? What was wrong with me that I couldn't even withstand that? It was just a smile!

"But can I just ask you something really quick?"

I sighed. His questions were never a good idea. "Yes," I replied against my better judgment.

"Are you mad at me and Kugisaki?"

I sighed again. "Yes. Right now, I am. I probably won't be after I fight against an indestructible Gojo without the slightest chance of winning."

Itadori smiled again, and before I knew it, he was gone, jogging across the grounds back to the others. I rolled my eyes and opened the door. Gojo was already waiting for me. He turned around to grin at me, and yes, I was indeed not mad at him at all. I sighed when I realized that I had gotten soft.

"Anything wrong?" the sensei asked.

"Oh no, nothing, I only had a very unfortunate encounter this afternoon in a certain bathroom," I said sarcastically.

Gojo's smile widened, and yes, I had 100% forgiven him. The little chit-chat was over faster than it had started. I landed flat on my back but quickly got back on my feet. I didn't know why I was even trying. It wasn't like I could do any sort of damage to him. He was just too damn good. But I did make him lose his footing a few times.

After the two hours of training, Gojo complimented me on that. "You've improved a lot," he said. "You're very controlled with  your cursed energy now."

I was proud to hear that, and also a little cocky. Before I went back to my room, I stopped at the bathroom again to take a quick shower. Dressed in my pajamas and  with my hair up in a ponytail, I went to my room. I was so tired that I contemplated telling Itadori not to come. Of course, I couldn't bring myself to do it. The temptation to see Sukuna was far too strong, but most importantly, I didn't want Yuji to think I was still mad at him. Because I really wasn't. I wasn't even mad at Fushiguro anymore. It was truly curious what a few good punches could do for your anger.

It was really insane to me how well I knew Itadori by now. From his knock alone, I could already imagine what kind of a face he was making, and when the door opened, I smiled to myself when I realized that I had been right. He looked like the most adorable little puppy looking up at you, wagging its tail, wanting to be lifted up. He looked so incredibly sorry and ashamed that even if I were still mad at him, I wouldn't be anymore. Even I didn't have the heart to be annoyed with him anymore. And that meant something because many people had already told me that I didn't have a heart at all.

He closed the door behind himself and then just stood there, looking at me and waiting for my reaction. My face broke into a smile, and I could see his shoulders relaxing. I told him to stop standing there like an idiot and sit down. So he sat down next to me on my bed, his hands in his lap.

"I'm really sorry," he said, and I could tell that he meant it.

I smiled. "You said that."

I could feel him. Sukuna. He was this presence that had gotten too hard for me to ignore sometimes when we were as close as right now. It was weird. Usually, when I looked at Sukuna, I would see only him and not Itadori. But now, I was looking at Itadori and I couldn't stop myself from imagining the second pair of eyes opening and his mouth stretching into an evil grin. I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up, pretending that Sukuna wasn't using Itadori's body.

"Yuji-kun, I have to tell you something," I said before I could change my mind again.

"Hold on, before you say what you have to say..." Yuji turned around and pulled a manga from behind his back. "I know that you're mad at me, so I wanted to give you this. Our joke wasn't funny and I'm really sorry."

I looked down at what he was handing me. Then I looked up at him. "That's your new one," I said in disbelief.

Yuji shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Well, I can always borrow it from you."

I sighed. How could I tell him what I had to tell him? How could I wipe that smile off of his face? How could I break his heart when he was being so nice to me? I couldn't. I didn't know what stopped me. Maybe I wanted to be a better person than that. Maybe it was because he was the first person who had ever been important to me. Whatever it was, it made me keep my mouth shut.

"Do you want to read it now? I still have another one to finish," I suggested.

Itadori and I often sat somewhere together and read our mangas in silence. It was nice to do that with him. I liked it when we did our own thing only in each other's presence. It was nice to have him next to me. Maybe that was why I didn't tell him about Sukuna. Because I didn't want him to stop being next to me.

His smile widened, and he nodded enthusiastically. I handed him his manga back and got up to get mine. We both turned on my bed, so we sat next to each other and leaned our backs against the wall. Itadori opened his book, and I opened mine. I could feel him looking at me, so I turned my head to the side to look back at him. And I saw him. Only him. It was only Yuji. I smiled and looked back down.

"Stop looking at me and read," I grinned.

I heard him breathe out a chuckle, and then he focused on his manga, too. Silence fell. Comfortable silence.

When the sky got so dark that we couldn't read anymore, I closed the blinds and turned on my bedside lamp. Yuji smiled at me again, then wordlessly flicked his page and continued. I grinned and did the same thing.

Hours must have gone by, and Sukuna hadn't shown himself. I didn't know if I was glad or disappointed. I was glad because I could finally be alone with Itadori again without having to worry about Sukuna showing up any minute now. But I was disappointed because I really wanted some answers.

When I could feel my eyelids getting heavy, I tried so hard to stay awake. Two hard-core training sessions with two incredibly skilled sorcerers were really draining. Just when I thought I might nod off, I felt Itadori stiffen  next to me.

"This brat really knows how to make life boring, doesn't he?"

Sukuna's voice snapped me right out of my daze. I looked at him with wide eyes. I hadn't expected him to come. He was grinning at me, of course. I was beginning to think that his deranged grin was just as fixed on his face as Fushiguro's scowl was on his.

I could feel my heartbeat accelerate. For a good reason, yes, but it was rather unnecessary. I didn't want to get flustered every time I saw those four eyes and dark markings. But I was good at not letting my emotions show, even though I didn't know if Sukuna could see through my disguise.

"Now, little lady," Sukuna said, making me wonder if he even knew my real name. "I told you to ask me your questions."

I nodded. This time, I was ready. His hands weren't in my pajamas this time, so I would be able to ask him. Nothing could throw me off track this time.

Or so I thought.