The first Student

Lonley Christmas

This year Takuma had arranged to meet a girl for Christmas. One of the second years they had met last year as first years. Kento and Schoko both had to work. So y/n had also accepted an order from Yaga. It was a good idea to clean all sorts of buildings. The fact that hardly anyone worked or went to school during Christmas holidays made it easier to cast out curses.

So y/n worked her way through two large office buildings from morning to evening. When she finally finished, she felt drained. Nevertheless, she decided to go out to eat in town. She wanted to at least feel a little bit of the Christmas atmosphere. So she even took it upon herself to venture into one of the crowded KFC stores. She had been standing in line at the checkout for a while when suddenly someone came to stand next to her.

"Hey! Queue jumping is not...", but she stopped when she recognized Gojo. "What are you doing here?"

"KFC? You can't get more basic than that," he commented without answering her. She rolled her eyes and asked again. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you from outside. Took care of a hospital nearby," he replied.

"Your plan to get rid of me isn't really working," she stated and crossed her arms over her chest. He shook his head. "I didn't set out to run into you here."

"Exactly," she replied. He made a contemptuous noise. Then he turned to the screen that showed the available menu. "So, what are we eating?"

"We?", she asked surprised. He tilted his head towards her. "It's Christmas. I can't leave you alone on Christmas too."

"Wow. Lucky me," she muttered sarcastically. "I told you, I'm okay with it."

"Yeah... you keep saying that, but I don't think so," he replied. She snorted disdainfully. In fact, not having him around was okay. Everything was a little less exciting, but okay. She wasn't lonely, either ... Although, she had been alone today. So she smiled at him. "Fine. But you're paying."

Gojo made a grumbling noise, but didn't argue. When they finally had their food, it took a while to even find a place to sit.

"In a fair world, I would have special requests for what I constantly do. And a place to eat would be the minimum," y/n grumbled. Gojo raised his head attentively. "Don't say that!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Don't worry, I didn't mean it like that... How are you?"

"Why?", he seemed confused. She shrugged her shoulders. "We don't talk anymore. So I don't know how you're doing."

"Do you need to know?", he asked back. Y/n sighed. "No, I was just trying to be polite."

"You're never polite," Gojo replied. She shook her head. "Just not when it comes to you."

"So I'm something special," he grinned. Now she took her time with answering. Somehow that statement made her angry, just like his stupid grin. "Yes, you were. Now you're just a self-centered idiot to me."

He seemed briefly surprised. Then he took off the sunglasses he had been wearing until now. "Now you're mad? Yes, I left you alone. But you didn't have to let it happen."

Y/n let out a disdainful laugh. He couldn't be serious. "Oh really? It's my fault for respecting your decision? You're completely delusional. I'm not running after you!"

"Then don't be mad," he replied dryly. She wanted to say something fierce in response. But then she stopped herself and stood up instead. "Enjoy your food. Merry Christmas."

Then she walked towards the exit without another word. When she got outside, the first thing she did was pulling a cigarette out of the pocket of her jacket. But her thoughts were still inside, even as she started walking and got further and further away from the restaurant. Of course it did matter to her that he had just left her alone like that. He had been the closest friend she had ever had. Even if he didn't want to call her a friend. And that was the only reason why she hadn't argued with him about it until now. Because he was so dear to her that she couldn't have done anything but live with his decision. Because his past, Sugurus past was still present. But of course she hated it. Even if she would never say that out loud, she hated it. Because it was his sole decision. She had nothing to do with it. She had just accepted it.

"You don't really want to walk home all by yourself?", she heard quick footsteps following her. But before Gojo reached her, she turned around and started hissing like an angry cat. "Stay away from me! I don't want that. The fact hat it's Christmas won't change your mind, so leave me alone!"

She saw his white eyebrows knit together behind his sunglasses. He wanted to say something, but she wouldn't let him speak. "Either you're always there, or not at all."

Then she turned away and continued walking. But soon she heard footsteps rushing behind her again. This time she didn't turn to him and simply ignored him.

"I will always help you if necessary, like every other students," he said anyway. When she now stopped, she was so close to just punch him. „But I'm not like the other students! We we're close. We were so close that there was a chance of me falling in love with you. And you didn't want that, and that's okay. But I won't hang out with you once in three months and pretend like we were never that close."

„That's... I'm actually sorry", he now said. She nodded. „I know. That's why you're pretending like everything's normal. But it's not. So we won't walk home together..."

Then she left and this time he didn't follow her again.

Juju Stroll
„So how's it going?", Shoko wanted to know. He just shrugged. „Since when are you a fan of small talk?"
„I'm not. I actually had something particular in mind", she replied. Gojo shook his head. „I won't talk about her."
„Sure you won't", Shoko sighed. But then she remembered something else. „Sometimes she may seem to have a lot in common with him, but she's not Suguru. The past won't repeat itself."
He tilted his head. „Can you say that for sure?"
„Of course not, but...", Shoko wanted to say, but Gojo interrupted her. „Exactly."