Nothing Special

Weird / Atmosphere

Ever since Satoru and Suguru had returned from their assignment, they had been acting different. The normally loud and argumentative boys had gotten quiet and serious. They cooped themselves up in their rooms or the indoor training rooms.

Many wondered when they last had a breath of fresh air.

No one could blame them, though.

Not after everything they had been through with their previous mission. You'd heard bits and pieces at school, even beyond in the Jujutsu community. Shoko simply told you that the plasma vessel they wanted to keep alive had died and they seemed to blame themselves. Nanami and Yu had given you the details that they were given about the mission, but everyone knew that everything went wrong last minute.

The real gruesome details, no one seemed to know.

For a while, everything felt weird.

Shoko sat in between the boys, who weren't bickering about sorcery like they did everyday, but instead seemed to have a cold distance between them.

Yaga taught the first quiet class he'd been in since the first period on the first day of school, before the boys had gotten to know each other.

When you waited behind Satoru for some chips from the vending machine, you weren't met with the usual chat that he'd always start with you.

What was more shocking was that Getou wasn't anywhere near you, waiting for Satoru to get whatever drink he wanted for the day.

Nanami was floored when Satoru asked him to practice with him- and Yu was as well when Getou asked the same of him. The two of them had came knocking on your door to tell you about it, and it had resulted in a long night of trying to figure out what went wrong.

People were bound to fail missions; sure, this might've been a new lesson to the special grades, but it wasn't life changing enough to completely change the atmosphere at Jujutsu Tech.

Then Yu had brought up that they were protecting a kid. A middle schooler. Someone not much younger than you. And that child had died. Under their watch.

So now you understood.

Shoko started to talk to them again, and of course the boys wouldn't ignore her when she spoke to them (on the rare occasion that she did). Sure they weren't as lively as they usually were, but even Yaga felt relief to hear some noise during class.

Nanami and Yu sparred with Satoru and Suguru inside at first, but convinced them to do some outdoor training on nice days. The sunshine probably helped elevate their moves. Making comments about each other's fighting skills is what got them to talk again.

You wished you could say that you did more.

But you bought Satoru the drink he'd want today before he could even tell you. Satoru gaped, and Suguru smiled for the first time in a while as he watched.

That small gesture coupled with the actions of Shoko, Nanami, Yu and Yaga helped a lot as well.

None of this was even near normal.

But there was hope that things could go back to the way they were.

If only hope was enough.