Koi No Yokan (gojo x oc)

31. Moving On

It's cold here, inside the abandoned clock tower. Wood creaking beneath my feet, no sound besides the tick of the seconds going by. It means nothing, though. Time doesn't pass here, my body doesn't age. Only cold, empty.

The white glass panes behind the clock arms slowly drip with something crimson. I look more closely, only for the tower to rattle in a thunderous chime. The hour hand has reached twelve, and from its tip hangs Haruki's body.

December 2013
4 years later.

I wake up briskly after that, eyes snapping open, a sweat broken out across my brow. My heart is beating rather quickly. I have to sit up, take a few slow breaths.

Shigeri stirs, reaches out. "Who was it this time?"

I lay back down into his arms, feel him breathe warmly into my side. "Haruki." Another student who died last year. We're used to these nightmares, though. Dead students, family members, friends, all coming back to haunt us in our sleep. The narrative varies, sometimes curses that have left a lasting impression kill them, other times they die at my own hand. At times they are simply there, loitering in my mind, watching me. When there are no nightmares, there's only deep, dark sleep. I find myself craving that more and more these days.

"It's still early," Shigeri says. "Try to sleep some more."

I close my eyes as he tells me, but my mind is already alive. I cannot forget Haruki's face, or any of the others. I stay in my place, awake, until our alarm sounds.

"What do you have for today?" he asks, pulling the top of his uniform over his head.

"Not much." I pull my shoes onto my feet, remembering that last night, I'd found a ring in Shigeri's nightstand while looking for something else. "Yaga wanted to meet in an hour for a mission briefing. After that I might take the kids into the field."

"And after that?"

"After that, nothing."

I feel his arms wrap around my middle, his chin landing above my shoulder. "You'll be free for dinner then?"

My stomach turns. "I should be."

He kisses my cheek. "Good, we'll have a date night."

I can already picture it, Shigeri giving some sort of heartfelt speech, before getting on one knee in the middle of a restaurant. Everyone will start clapping, and I'll want to sink into the floor where no one could find me.

"What's with that sick look on your face?"

I straighten up in my seat. "Nothing, nothing."

"As I was saying," Yaga continues clicking through the mission file on his computer, "Expect to be overseas for some time, maybe two to three weeks. You guys will need to take your time flushing out the curse users."

"'You guys'?"

Yaga sighs. "The higher ups are still weary about your movements. They won't say it outright, but they'll want you monitored, especially considering the distance."

"I've behaved myself for four years."

"You discovered a sixth Sukuna finger last month," Yaga counters. "You're nearing half of the whole, that makes them uneasy. Tsuda-san has volunteered to accompany you."

"Kei?!" I can't contain my disbelief. "She hates me. Why would she volunteer to join me overseas?"

"Perhaps on the off chance that you make a wrong move, she could justify killing you."

I scoff, arms folded above my chest. "As if." I let my head fall back against the back of my chair, sighing largely up at the ceiling. "They should just sentence me already."