The first Student

A Stranger

Y/n completed the first assignment after her return alone. Both Takuma and Gojo had their own missions to complete. But she quickly sensed that something was different today. She was somehow agitated and unable to concentrate during the fight. So the curse that stood in front of her managed to scratch her a few times with his claws. When she finally defeated the beast, she was pretty exhausted. In fact, she was so exhausted that she started crying. She had felt the cursed energy of the curse. Loss had been its cause. As if she hadn't had enough of that.

Sniffling, she stumbled through the streets of Tokyo. It was another one of those moments where she was reluctant to go back to the Academy. So she dabbed the tears from her cheeks and sat down at a small snack bar. She stared blankly, waiting for her food.

"Excuse me, hello Miss?", someone suddenly came into her field of vision. The blonde young man from the next table. He looked a little older than y/n. She looked at him in surprise. "Yes?"

"I don't mean to be intrusive, but are they okay? You have bleeding scratches on your face," he explained. Y/n nodded... as if she didn't know that. Nevertheless, she had to quickly think of an explanation. "Yes, I'm... a zookeeper."

Then she looked the young man up and down. "You must have a good job. You're well dressed, it's a nice suit."

"You probably don't enjoy their job much," the blonde now speculated. Y/n shook her head. "No, not today. Actually, I thought it was stupid at the beginning. But my parents wanted... My parents are dead now."

When tears came back to y/n's eyes, the young man looked a bit helpless.

"I'm sorry," he said at some point and patted her somewhat awkwardly on the shoulder. She shook her head. "You don't have to be sorry. You can't change anything about it. I don't want to ruin your mood."

"It's already ruined anyway," replied the blonde. Y/n looked at him in surprise. "Oh why..."

She paused because at that moment her food was brought to the table. Then she turned back to the young man. "Why are you in a bad mood?"

"Because my job isn't really my dream job either," said the blonde. But then he waved it off. "But of course that can't be compared to the loss you're struggling with."

Y/n shrugged. "Everyone has their own burden to bear. If you want to talk about it, go ahead. By the way, I am..."

"Stop! I have an idea," the young man interrupted her before she could say her name. "Don't tell me your name. Let's stay strangers. Let's treat this like a therapy session."

At first y/n raised a critical eyebrow. But then she nodded and the young man began to talk. "I'm an employee in a company, I make rich people richer and poor people poorer."

"That sounds terrible," y/n admitted and put some of her noodles to her mouth. The young man nodded. "It's not nice. In fact, I went to a school that prepared me for a completely different life. But that wasn't really my thing either. But now I'm really considering going back to my old life. At least I can do something good there."

Y/n nodded. "Doing good is always nice. But I also do good things and don't think it's nice."

"So where do we find beauty in our lives?", the young man asked the crucial question. Y/n sighed, but then she honestly thought about it. "I tried to find beauty in other people. I dated some guys. But it didn't really work."

"I dream about going to Malaysia," the blonde said. Now y/n smiled. "That actually sounds nice."

"Mhm, but right now it's just a dream," the young man then said. But y/n shook her head. "You shouldn't see it like that, it can definitely come true."

"And you can still find the right partner," the guy replied. But y/n shook her head again. "But I don't want to be dependent on anyone."

"Good attitude," nodded the young man.

When y/n had finished eating, the young man pulled out his wallet. She immediately shook her head. "What are you doing?"

But he waved it off. "I have to pay for mine anyway. Also you've had a difficult day."

"Thank you, that's very nice," y/n smiled. When they stepped outside the door of the snack bar, the young man was still rummaging in his bag. Then he handed y/n a pack of tissues. "In case you have to cry again. "

Y/n grabbed the tissues and smiled. "Thank you very much. But I think I won't cry anymore after this nice encounter. Oh... you really should go back to your old live. You are good at doing good."

The young man gave her no answer. He just nodded at her with a small smile. Then they parted ways. When y/n got back to the Academy, Gojo met her in the hallway. He held his phone to his ear.

"Successful mission?", he then asked after hanging up. Y/n shrugged her shoulders. "Yes."

"That doesn't sound very believable," Gojo replied, looking at her scratched face. She really didn't feel like telling him that she had burst into tears in the middle of the city earlier. So y/n quickly changed the subject. "What are you up to?"

"You'll be happy, we're getting reinforcement," Gojo explained and grinned. Y/n looked at him questioningly. "A new student?"

Gojo shook his head and grinned even wider. "A new teacher. Actually it's not a new one, I know him from my school days. I was thinking about him taking over Takuma. Then it's the two of us again."

"Oh no," y/n whined immediately. "Why?"

"Why not?", Gojo asked, although of course he knew exactly what she meant. Y/n snorted. "I need Takuma, otherwise I can't stand you."

Gojo made an indignant sound. "You're the most ungrateful brat I've ever come across."

Now it was y/n who grinned and gave him a cheeky wink. "And yet you still want to give me private lessons."

Juju Stroll
„Zookeeper", he repeated whispering while walking home. He knew she wasn't a Zookeeper. He had sensed her energy. But he could tell from her reaction, that she didn't knew he was a Sorcerer too. She probably was a student at the Academy, although she wasn't much younger than him.