That Time When I Fell Down the Stairs and Became a Jujutsu Sorcerer

Chapter 5 - End of Year One

Sitting in the dorm, leaning out of the window in my room I exhaled slowly watching as smoke tendrils danced and curled through the air, graceful and sinuous, like ephemeral serpents seeking freedom from their ashen confines. Their ghostly embrace whispered secrets of fire's passion, weaving tales of chaos and transformation as they pirouetted, leaving a smoky tapestry that briefly adorned the skies with their ethereal artistry.

Satoru was setting up his Xbox in his room and would barg into mine, as usual, soon. I repeated that gift every year since it made him so happy the first time. I could hear him happily singing to himself, even from across the way from the girls' dorm, and I chuckled a little.

Suguru leaned out of the window beside me, taking the joint as I passed it to him. After a long drag he handed it back, exhaling outside into the cold December air. His gray sweater looked soft and I tilted my head as the weed hit me and I got a little lost in the pattern.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly, looking over at me, "You've been smoking a lot lately. Is something bothering you?"

I smiled at him, tapping the ash off the joint, "A bit yeah." I tilted my head a little against the window frame, looking back outside.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He stood up a little, adjusting his legs to lean more comfortably, "You know you can tell me."

I smiled, exhaling before reaching over and flipping his slick black bangs a little with my fingers, "I could tell you, but you'd never believe me. It's absolutely insane."

"To be fair, I eat curses and you heal people with your blood and that guy," he gestured over to Satoru's room, "Controls physical space with his mind." He smirked, his head leaned back, "I don't really think there is anything you can tell me that I wouldn't believe."

"What if I told you this was my fifth time living this year?" I murmured, crossing my arms and trembling a little, "And coming up this spring, I'll find out if I have to do it again."

He narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean by that?"

I laughed a little and smiled sadly at him, "This year has been a really good one too. It would be a real shame to lose it."

Standing up straight he put the joint out on the windowsill and closed the window. Gently brushing my hair out of my face, he guided me over to my bed and sat me down, sitting beside me himself. He hesitated a moment and then turned to face me.

"That's true isn't it." He stated quietly, "You're not messing around, are you."

I shook my head and sighed with relief, "Feels kind of good to admit it, honestly."

He put his hand to his chin, "That… explains a lot actually. It always seemed like you knew me incredibly well despite us just meeting. Every mission you went on too you never made any mistakes. How is this possible?"

I held up my hand, "Satoru is gonna barge in here soon and he's gonna say some stupid shit about us being alone. Let's wait until he's here." I laughed a little, "This will be easier if I just explain it to both of you at the same time."

Sure enough, Satoru slammed the door open and flicked his sunglasses down with a smirk, "Well well well if it isn't you two alone again."

"Satoru." Suguru halted that immediately, "Sit down. Sarah wants to tell us what's been going on."

"Oh?" Satoru stood up straight and then walked over to sit next to me, "So you're finally gonna admit something is up, right?"

I sighed and began to explain. I don't know if it was the weed or just the relief of being able to talk about it, but I found myself softly crying. I told them about the loops, all the things we'd done together and the deaths. As the story went on I could see them exchanging glances but never once did they laugh or even question me. Without even going into the fact that this wasn't my world, I felt like this was enough for now.