The first Student

The last year

"April 2014," Gojo called out, throwing his arms in the air as they met in front of the Academy. Y/n looked at him amused. "Why the good mood?"

"I thought you were in a good mood," Gojo replied as they waited for their driver. "Your last year, soon you'll be free."

"That's right, I'll soon be rid of you," y/n grinned and punched him in the shoulder. But she quickly stopped laughing. Her strange dream had been over a quarter of a year ago, and nothing similar had happened since then. Nevertheless, y/ n was more cautious now. She didn't make a point of being closer to Gojo than their friendly relationship allowed.

"You've been a lot quieter than usual," Gojo said suddenly as they settled into the back seat of the car that had now arrived.

"Sorry what?", y/n asked, looking at him confused. Gojo pulled his blindfold up a bit so he could look at her. "Actually, you're quite normal, but you're too normal. Normally you're weird."

"Funny", she exclaimed, feigned amusement. But then she shook her head. "With everything that has happened last year I'm... let's not talk about it."

"But I want to talk about it, that's why I'm asking," Gojo replied. "Besides, I know it has nothing to do with what happened last year. You've only been like this since New Year's Eve."

Now y/n furrowed her eyebrows. "And why would I talk to you? You don't talk to me either."

He laughed, somewhat surprised. "But I'm talking to you right now. Silly you."

"Don't call me silly, I'm not a little girl, I'm not as young as the other students," y/n grumbled. Gojo tilted his head. "Okay, you're a big girl then. But big girls are not afraid to talk about what's on their mind."

"I'm not afraid, I just think it's better if you don't know," y/n explained. Ah... damn it. She probably shouldn't have said that. He wouldn't stop asking now.

Because if she were to explain to him why she was so normal, she would at least have to hint at her dream. Then maybe he would think, she liked him. And she couldn't imagine what that would trigger in him. Because even though he was close to her, she wasn't close to him. She hardly knew anything about him. At least not the important things. She had discovered everything she knew about his inner life over time. And it hadn't really been him who had told her. She had to realize it herself. So this knowledge prevented her from telling him what she thought she felt. Because he wouldn't react well. Gojo would never allow anyone to be close to him. Not since the one person who had been closest to him had left him. Since then, he was nothing but the strongest. And that was all he had. But if she told him he'd think she wanted to be close to him. Which wasn't true. She couldn't imagine anything more exhausting than being closer to him than she already was. Besides, it had just been a dream, just like Takuma had said. People dream about all kinds of things, it didn't mean anything. So there was no need to say anything about it. And if it meant something, talking about it couldn't change anything anyway.

"I disagree, whatever it's about," Gojo contradicted. Y/n sighed. "It's okay, don't worry."

Gojo narrowed his eyes sternly. "I'm your teacher. It's my responsibility to take care of you. Not the other way around."

"So who takes care of you then?", y/n asked bluntly. Somewhat surprised, Gojo laughed as if she had made a bad joke. "No one needs to take care of me. I'm the strongest."

Y/n nodded. "If that's so... You know, I have a lot of other people to talk to. Don't you worry."

"But we are...", but Gojo broke off and turned to the driver. "Stop, we'll walk from here, I know the location."

"What?", y/n really didn't feel like walking, but then still left the car with him. As they stood on the street and the Academy car drove away, she turned to him. "So, what did you want to say?"

"I wanted to say that we...", but again he didn't continue. She crossed her arms. "That we what?"

"We are..." When he broke off again, she had a suspicion.

"Friends?", y/n advised, poking him in the shoulder with her index finger. "You can't even say it. You're so afraid of it."

Gojo slapped her hand away with a snort of disdain. "I'm not afraid."

"Well then you are hurt. Emotionally you are in so much pain," y/n said accusingly. Gojo laughed. "Don't you think I'd know about that?"

"Whatever, can we just get our work done," y/n didn't feel like talking anymore. But she knew she had to accommodate him a little bit. "After that, I'll talk."

"Fine. Let's get going then," Gojo ran off immediately. They hadn't moved from the spot since they had gotten out of the car.

The curse that faced them today was a big one. It was definitely at the upper limit of grade 2, if not already grade 1. The thing felt like a lot of insecurity and shame. An unpleasant feeling. Of course not a problem for Gojo. But since y/n was the student, she had to do most of the work. At least she should learn something. But although she had gotten stronger over the years, she still struggled with her curse technique. She still hated feeling the curses when absorbing their energy. So she ended up with a bleeding nose and a few abrasions on her knees and elbows.

"Good job," Gojo grinned at her and handed her a tissue, which she used to dab the blood from her nose. But he didn't let her take a long breath. "Now talk."

She sighed. The uncertainty and shame she had felt when defeating the curse didn't make it any easier. So she moved a little closer to him. „Okay."

„What's that supposed to be?", he asked. She shrugged before starting to whisper. "I can't say it out loud."

"Okay," now he whispered too, even though she could tell that it was more of a joke to him. She rolled her eyes before looking at him intently. "I can't look you in the eyes either, so leave the blindfold on on."

"Okay," he whispered again. She nodded. Then she straightened her shoulders. "Sometimes, just sometimes... I like you more than it would be appropriate. And I don't like that."

"More than appropriate..." he repeated, then he was silent for a moment. "So... you wanna kiss me?"

"What? No!" she hissed and shook her head. "Not right now. That's only very rarely the case and it's not like I'm in love with you. Only sometimes I worry that it means something. That I maybe I could fall in love with you. But that won't happen."

"Why not?", he wanted to know. She tilted her head. "Because our relationship is one-sided. You know almost everything about me. But I actually hardly know anything about you. That's not an accusation, it's just that a fact."

Now Gojo was silent, so she just kept talking. "That's all. If you ever hold that against me or make jokes about it, I will kill you. You may be the strongest, but I'll find a way."

Then she walked past him without another word, pressed the tissue to her nose again and opened the curtain that they had spread over the location.

Juju Stroll
„How's it going with Nanami?", she asked. Takuma grinned „Amazing, I'm learning so much. And every time I think he can't get cooler he does it again and becomes even better."
„You really have a problem. Boy, you need help. You're obsessed", y/n replied laughing. Takuma looked at her with a cocky grin. „At least I didn't dream about him yet."
„Careful", y/n replied in a warning tone. But Takuma was barley impressed by that. „Or what?"