Corpse Flowers [Jujutsu Kaisen]

🥀 Chapter Fourteen 🥀

Seiran had stood in surprise when she felt herself swept gently into a pair of arms, her blossom pink eyes turned to look up at the direction of Satoru's face but found it to be stuffed into her shoulder. Her body had stiffened initially but she felt herself begin to relax as she was met with the familiarity of those arms. He held her in a way that was very different from the usual rough-play he would do – it was utterly gentle, yet the hold on her body had been secure and firm.

"... good night,"

Satoru had spoken those words in a strangely stifled voice, yet the sound of those words had been warm. She was not sure what he was thinking but when he had released her from the hug, there was a smile on his face. It was not too wide, but it was brighter than the sight of his snow-white hair under the moonlight. Seiran felt almost self-conscious in front of him.

"Yes... good night..." Seiran replied, feeling uncertain about the situation yet not uncomfortable. She was about to turn to leave but halted, "Ah, right, I forgot the roses in the car, if you could fetch them for me..."

Upon these words, Satoru's face brightened to a degree that seemed almost unnatural and Seiran found her cheeks gaining colour. She hoped against hope that it was just because of the cold breeze of the late night. Satoru happily turned, almost bouncing over to his car to fetch the large bouquet of roses that he had got for her.

"Thank you," Seiran said as she took the bouquet in her arms. She turned her eyes back to him, giving him a smile, hoping it did not look abysmal to the man. "Satoru-Kun,"

"You're always welcome, wifey," Satoru replied with a wink, and while Seiran shook her head at him, she did not say anything in response to it. "I will get you all the flowers in the world!"

"I must head inside now," Seiran responded. "I am sure that Lady Naoki be awaiting my arrival,"

When it was obvious that he could no longer keep Seiran back for more, Satoru gave her a quiet, But Satoru had not left until he had watched Seiran walked into the safety of her estate. Seiran had glanced over her shoulder right as she turned the corner and vanished from his line of sight. She let out a sigh that she did not know she was holding.

That voice had been very warm when it had spoken to her, that embrace had been very warm, that entire presence of Satoru had been very warm. And vestiges of that warmth were somehow persistent on Seiran's cheeks as she made her way to her home in the silence of the night, and she did not understand why. She wondered what the look in those unnaturally blue eyes had been.

Bowing her head gratefully at the attendants as they opened the door for her, Seiran walked into the Genkan where the attendants quickly helped her in exchanging her shoes and taking the bag of her clothes from her. But all the softness had left Seiran's face when she looked ahead and found none other than Lady Naoki standing in her might.

The look on Lady Naoki's weathered face was one Seiran had seen a thousand times before: stern, unyielding, void of warmth. Not once had that woman smiled at her. A familiar bitterness stirred in Seiran's chest at the sight. That ever-disappointed, overbearing presence pressed down on her like a shadow, and in that moment, it felt as if her grandmother's old resentments had never truly died. They lived through Lady Naoki.

"Higanbana-Sama," Lady Naoki said, her voice calm but laced with quiet reproach as her eyes swept over the garments Seiran wore beneath her crimson haori. "May I inquire where you have been at such a late hour?"

"I informed you before I left, Lady Naoki," Seiran responded without much of a care. "I was with Gojo Satoru-Kun at Jujutsu High, we were dealing with the case of Okkotsu Yuuta-Kun. I am sure you must have already heard the rest from your informants,"