Koi No Yokan (gojo x oc)

33. Confessions

December 2013
Two weeks later.

From the moment I arrived, Kei met me with distaste. She liked to complain about the way I approached our investigation, the way I walked beside her, how I spoke too much or didn't speak enough. Most of all, I think she hated the way I persistently dismissed her efforts to get a rise out of me. Every complaint was met with a simple shrug or wave of my hand. Sometimes I'd even agree with her just to change the rhythm of things, say I do think I'm not good at holding conversation, and I should be more rational about our mission.

"Why are you wearing those glasses? They look stupid."

"Satoru gave them to me."

She'd stop talking whenever he came up. Shigeri too. The fact that I had two people she highly valued in the depths of my personal life seemed to rattle her usual agitated cadence. She retracted into herself in these moments, cast her hazel eyes towards the wall or on the floor.

Twelve whole days of this jarring cycle convinced me that she tried to make us clash on purpose. Intentionally making decisions that contended with mine—alternate courses of action, staying in one hotel versus another, even things as simple as ordering coffee in a café.

"That's him," Kei whispered.

Both of us were crouched down behind a crumbled stone wall, eyeing the sickly looking man coming out of the nearest building. An easy suspect linked with the curse user ring and their objective.

"You want to take care of him or should I?"

She scans his lanky frame, so hunched it threatens to tip over. "He seems more your speed. Have at him."

I refrain from reminding her that "my speed" is still the second strongest in the world. I refrain from giving her provocation any thought at all, opting to treat her like a rebellious student. Like it was my job not to lose my patience with her.

Without much effort, he's backed into a corner, completely restrained by Kei's thread while he whimpers and begs for his life.

"Relax," I tell him. "We just want the address for your headquarters. Maybe a list of names of your superiors."

He complies immediately, still weeping at the prospect of losing his life. "Those eyes... He said you'd be coming for us," he snivels. "The Uematsu Special Grade. Please don't kill me—!"

"Who said that?" I'm sharply cut off by his neck snapping under the pressure from the thread. "Kei, wait—"

But even my vision wasn't enough time to stop the reality from occurring. The sharp crack, the spurt of blood that bubbled up from his throat, the way his body jolts before falling down limply on the concrete.

"I wasn't done."

"He already told us everything we needed to know. Besides—" she retracts her thread back into its spool. "It's not like we could let him live anyway. He'd warn all his friends we're coming. They would have gathered everything and relocated by the time we reached them. Then we'd be back to square one."

"We could have hidden him for the time being."

"Where? In our hotel room?"

"Or turned him in to the police."

"This isn't Tokyo—we don't have the resources to do any of that."

"I don't like mindless killing."

"It wasn't mindless," Kei takes on a sarcastic tone, "I thought about it long and hard."

"He might have had a family."

"Then he should have thought of them before becoming a criminal."

Her tone is incredibly harsh, the kind of cold grit perfect for a Jujutsu Sorcerer in my opinion. In some twisted way, I actually admire her detachment.