Kugisaki Nobara found Yuji Itadori sulking on the steps of Anya's apartment building. She really didn't have the energy to keep taking care of people around her, but he just looked so sad like this. It was either help him out now or just shove him down the stairs to give him something to really feel bad about.
"Thanks for carrying that guy up to the apartment," Nobara sighed, plopping down on the step next to Itadori. Yuji just shrugged.
"Sorry you couldn't come in, you were kind of freaking Anya out," She continued, awaiting a verbal response. Itadori just shrugged again. Nobara stood up and placed her foot on Itadori's shoulder and shoved as hard as she could The boy yelped as he rolled down the few steps and landed in a heap on the ground.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, hopping up from the ground rather quickly.
"Oh, so you can talk," Nobara responded sarcastically and made her way down the stairs as well. The first year pouted.
"Well,-" He began and then stopped himself. Nobara swung her fist, but the other first-year ducked just in time, stepping just out of her range.
"Spit it out! I'm done taking care of people today! That girl was a handful," Nobara grumbled, jerking her thumb towards the apartment building. Itadori couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"She doesn't seem that bad," He said, dodging another fist thrown his way.
"She didn't want to go shopping or stay at home. She wanted to go to the park and then we saw this whole ass, first-grade sorcerer, with a curse just floating behind him in the middle of the street. Who just does that? Like they're pets?" Nobara rambled, unable to really censor herself about her shitty day now that she had started. Itadori just smiled, shoving his hands in his pants pockets, and listened to his friend complain about her day. The girl was a little odd, sure, and Sukuna had a weird fascination with her, but she didn't seem all that bad to him.
"Did she do anything that would make the whole Sukuna thing make sense?" Itadori asked. Nobara groaned and shook her head.
"No. Not a damn thing! She was a weird little kid all day, but nothing too weird, you know?" Nobara sighed, waving her hands around as she spoke. "She can see cursed spirits though. That's different. Oh! One of the sorcerers – the redhead! – started chasing after her for some reason. I had to save her like three times from being kidnapped."
"How many sorcerers were there?" Itadori asked casually, looking down at his feet.
"Just two," Nobara responded simply. "But, don't worry about them. 'Gumi and I can handle them. You figure out what the hell is up with that girl tomorrow,"
"I thought you said she wanted nothing to do with me," Itadori whined, frowning. He was hoping to get more information from Kugisaki, making even team up with her to get Megumi on board. There was something that neither of them was telling him and it was really getting under his skin. Usually, they pushed Itadori to be in more missions so that he could learn how to be a sorcerer. Kugisaki often teased him about how his Black Flash was more of a gimmick than an actual technique since he could only do it half of the time. And now, they were both telling him that this fight was none of his business. It got under his skin.
"She'll learn to love you. You both have the same hair color and everything. So much in common," Nobara continued, nudging his shoulder.
"I'm not very good with kids," Itadori tried again. Nobara rolled her eyes and waved for him to follow as they started their walk back to their shitty motel. He almost forgot that they weren't going back to their regular dorms after this. The thought of having to sleep next to Megumi in that ratty pull-out couch made his stomach turn uncomfortably.
