𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄 [JJK x OC]

23: They Fell Like Snow ①

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3rd person

February 3rd, 2006 (6 months before the Star Plasma Incident)

An old camcorder twirled to life, held in the hands of a small girl, and the screen flickered for a second, then another, before finally holding steady video. Hanako smiled, making sure the recording was running before she ran across the school, asking everyone she could find a single question.

Who is Suguru Geto to you?

Utahime appeared on the screen, the young woman rubbing her chin thoughtfully, pondering the question. She stared down at the child, who smiled sincerely, putting the camera close to her face. She was a bit too eager, which was slightly disconcerting to the sorcerer. "Should you really be asking me that?" She grimaced, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, I don't go to school with you all."

"Come onnnn, I need it for the video! Just say the first thing that comes to your mind, Big sis Utahime!" Hanako drawled with a heavy pout. Faced with that innocent look, the girl knew there was no getting out of this.

Besides that, the shrine maiden wore an innocent blush across her cheeks; she was weak to the casual way that the young girl addressed her. Hanako knew that, of course. Utahime couldn't refuse her when asked like this. "Fine..." She drawled, staring at the camera with a pensive gaze.

"Well, I'd say he's a good-hearted and thoughtful guy." She mused, creating an image of the boy in her mind. Though when she pictured him, she couldn't help but imagine the two others who tagged alongside him. Utahime's face scrunched up noticeably, a vein building on her forehead, as she envisioned the trio 'teasing' her as they usually did. "But he constantly lets those two drag him down to their level." She muttered through gritted teeth.

Behind the camera, Hanako giggled, the video wobbling with her movements. Eventually, Utahime sighed, staring straight into the lens before turning away, embarrassed with herself. "Though I guess, compared to those two, Geto isn't that bad." She answered

The video cut for a moment before flickering back to life. This time, the person in the frame was Mei, and when she heard that same question, she smiled coyly. "About Geto?" She hummed, "Well, I'd say above all, he's a hard worker. We're alike in that sense. Not that he isn't a genius in his own right, but... being compared to a savant like Gojo, or even Kamo, can be a bit tiresome. Don't tell those two, but he's definitely my favorite of the bunch. I have my money placed on you, Geto."

Once more, the film flickered, and this time the question was posed by the stern first-year teacher, Yaga. "Geto? Well, he's a good-natured kid with a strong sense of responsibility. That one's got a good head on his shoulders; I don't have to scold him as much as those other two. Compared to all the other students I've had over the years, Geto's special. He'll be an even more splendid jujutsu sorcerer than he already is."

Again and again, the camera cut to more people coming on the screen: the students in the upper years, the staff who worked alongside the sorcerers. One and all were asked that very same question. Each one answered similarly. They extoled the boy's virtues, his kindness, his potential; they compared him to the vaunted prodigies that he stood alongside. All the same, if any had grievances with him, they were trivial, while nearly all that were asked had nothing but praise for the young sorcerer.

Until at last the scenery changed, no longer confined to the halls of the ancient school or the metropolitan streets of Tokyo, but rather to a serene garden near Tokyo High. Blossoms and petals danced on the winds, blooming eternally, irrespective of the seasons. It was a tiny sanctuary, one that the first four years had made themselves, 'a little slice of home for the country girl,' or so Satoru called it at least. On days when there were no missions, nor training, and they couldn't be bothered with the bustle of the city, it wasn't uncommon for them all to gather in that ethereal garden where it seemed that time would never pass.