──── 𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙀 morgue, the halls were dark, but nothing that naoko wasn't used to. she came here after a long mission for two reasons. one, to run some tests on a cursed object that she stumbled upon her mission. and two, to see her best friend, shoko.
naoko knocked on the office door, taking the knob before opening, "knock, knock." seeing shoko sit at her desk smoking, the brunette put out her cigarette with her eyes wide open from the surprise.
standing up from her seat she hugged her old friend from high school. "yo nao-chan!" hugging her back naoko smiled, "surprise! my god i haven't seen in you forever, shoko!" it had been a few months since she had seen her friend, but they still kept in contact. work was always keeping them busy, but they always tried to make an effort to see each other a few times a year at least.
naoko pulled away from the hug taking a look at the brunette. they were now in their 20s and they had changed quite a bit from high school. taking the brown locks in her hand naoko exclaimed, "look at your hair! it's grown so much since the last time i saw you."
shoko had changed a lot in appearance. she had long hair which suited her matured face much better. she had dark under eyes, probably due to the lack of sleep the job gave her. though one thing that didn't change despite her depressing job was her bright personality she had around naoko. she was probably the only person she could be this excited around.
taking her own hair into her hands she brushed through them, "yea, i've been trying to grow it long recently." naoko sat in one of the multiple chairs in her office. "so what brings you here, other than to see me, of course." shoko asked.
"here." naoko tossed a plastic container holding the mysterious cursed item she had never seen before. "i just need to run some tests on this. can you do that, please?" putting her hands together, naoko pleaded shoko as she nodded her head to her request.
putting a label on the bottle, shoko multitasked moving some stuff around her office. "so how have you been doing? it's been a few months since i last saw you." naoko followed her around the room with her eyes.
sitting back in the chair naoko sighed, "eh, nothing much really. missions here and there. the clan though has been keeping me quite busy, it's really hard to manage the clan and be out for missions often." she explained as shoko sat back in her chair, giving naoko a cup of instant coffee from across her desk.
taking a sip from her own drink she asked, "so when are you officially becoming head?" naoko sighed once again. "when i get married. if i can find someone to marry that is. my father wants me find someone i can have children with before i become the head. it's really dumb."
piquing shoko's interest, she asked about her love life, "so you've been dating then?" naoko shook her head waving her hand in denial, "no definitely not. i've just been on a few meetings here and there. though no one has really caught my attention. they're either too snobby and cocky or just absolute trash like my brother."
groaning as she spread out across the chair, naoko exclaimed in frustration, "at this point it'll take me ten years before i find someone to marry..." placing her head on the desk now. naoko sighed for the third time.
"why not just ask gojo to marry you, i'm sure he'd say yes." shoko suggested and naoko's head shot up. she thought shoko was playing with her like she always did, "haha very funny, shoko." naoko said with a serious face, hoping her friend was really joking and not actually being serious, "we broke up more than a year ago, i'm sure we've both moved on already."
"i mean, i don't see gojo all that much but i know he isn't seeing anyone." naoko was growing suspicious by the second. "is this satoru's way of telling me that i should get back with him, through you?"
"no i'm just genuinely curious if you would get back together with him. maybe you just needed space or time to heal from, y'know?"
"space for a year and a half? that's way too long." naoko deadpanned at her friend's remark, "besides, it's not even like i see him to even think about him, let alone thinking of getting back together with him."
"would you get back together with him if you saw him more?"
naoko paused, "no." she coldly said but truth is she didn't know. maybe? no. she shouldn't. well maybe... it was driving naoko insane just thinking about it. her mind was spiraling. she didn't need to be thinking about this right now. about him. she worked so hard to get over him and shoko was tearing it down with one conversation. "ok enough talk about him."
shoko stood up from her seat and headed towards the door, "alright, smoke break?" she held up the cigarette box as naoko followed behind shoko through the halls of the morgue. "you know i don't smoke." naoko said.
"that's right. well, wanna go out for lunch, then?" putting away the cigs in her pocket she asked and naoko agreed on lunch. "oh, how about tomorrow? i'm off work tomorrow." the brunette asked again wanting to spend more time with her friend.
naoko tapped her mouth, thinking of her schedule, "hmm. oh i have a meeting tomorrow. a special grade meeting, it was requested by tsukumo yuki." the name sparked curiosity in shoko. she'd never heard of that name before, "who's that?"
opening the main doors the morgue, the two women stood outside as shoko smoked one cigarette while they were talking. "never met her. but she's one of the four special grades." naoko explained.
"gojo and getou gonna be there too?" shoko questioned. naoko had already texted getou about this, "getou's going, he said that satoru had an overseas mission though when i asked if he was going."
"say hi to getou for me." naoko nodded her head at shoko's request.
