My turn to help you

Satoru Gojo's faculty office had the same indescribably casual air as the rest of Jujutsu High.

Several desks had been pushed together, with a few open files scattered across them. The whiteboard in the corner was covered in nonsensical doodles, apparently drawn as punishment after Itadori lost a bet with Gojo last time.

The window was half open, and the early autumn breeze made the curtains billow.

Satoru Gojo sat in a swivel chair with his legs crossed. His blindfold covered most of his face, but there was nothing remotely serious about the curve of his lips.

Kugisaki stood before him, clutching the letter.

"Going home?" Satoru Gojo tilted his head. "We're at a crucial stage of your special training, you know."

"Just for a few days. There's something at home I need to take care of." Kugisaki's voice was quieter than usual.

Satoru Gojo didn't answer right away.

He tapped a finger against the desk, slowly, as if deliberately keeping her in suspense.

"Well, I suppose I could give you leave-"

Before he could finish, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded in the hallway.

Creak-

The door swung open.

Rihito stood in the doorway, breathing a little unevenly, as though he had run there.

His gaze landed on Kugisaki first, then swept over the letter in her hand before finally settling on Satoru Gojo. "Mr. Gojo, I'd like to request leave too."

Kugisaki turned, her brows knitting. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going back with you."

Silence hung in the air for two seconds.

"What the hell?"

Kugisaki's surprise gradually gave way to resistance.

She shoved the letter into her pocket, her voice turning stiff. "This is my business. It has nothing to do with you."

"Yes, it does." Rihito's voice was calm, but he didn't step back. "We're teammates, aren't we?"

"So what if we are? I told you, this is my business." Kugisaki raised her voice a little.

Rihito didn't reply.

His gaze lowered to the bag slung over Kugisaki's back.

It was a dark travel bag, its zipper firmly closed, but several sharply defined bulges strained against its sides.

Rihito had seen this bag before. Kugisaki took it on missions, but she had never packed it this full.

The shapes of those bulges.

They were nails. A huge number of nails, probably enough to last through a prolonged battle.

Noticing his gaze, Kugisaki instinctively shifted the bag farther behind her.

"You packed that many nails. That means whatever you're going back to face isn't just 'something minor.'" Rihito lifted his gaze and looked her straight in the eyes.

Kugisaki fell silent, pressing her lips together slightly.

"I don't know what you read in that letter."

"But bringing all that with you means you think you might have to fight someone. Or worse, fight a cursed spirit."

"There's no way I can feel comfortable letting you go alone under those circumstances."

"I don't need you worrying about me," Kugisaki retorted.

"This isn't about whether you need me to worry." Rihito's tone remained even, though he spoke a little faster than usual.

"Back at the Steel Factory, I wouldn't have made it out on my own without everyone there. Have you forgotten what you said to me then?"

Kugisaki's expression softened a fraction.

Back at the Steel Factory, when the deaths of his former classmates had shaken Rihito, Kugisaki had been the first to step forward and pull him out of his self-loathing in the most direct way possible.

Now he was giving those same words back to her.

Just then, Satoru Gojo let out a sudden chuckle.

He hadn't interrupted once. He had simply sat there with his chin resting on the back of his hand, watching their argument as though it were a show.

Only now did he finally speak, taking his time.

"Kugisaki."

Kugisaki turned to look at him.

"This guy usually doesn't say much. If he's talking this much"-Satoru Gojo pointed a finger at Rihito-"that means he's really worried about you."

Kugisaki's expression stiffened.

"Besides, two people going together is safer than one."

"Anyway, I've approved leave for both of you. Just treat it as a two-person mission. At worst, I'll give you extra lessons when you get back. How's that?"

Satoru Gojo leaned back, and his chair creaked.

He made "extra lessons" sound as casual as treating them to dinner.

Kugisaki stayed silent for a long while, then let out a long breath.

"...Do whatever you want."

Rihito watched her, waiting for her to continue.

"But I have one condition." Kugisaki lifted her head, her usual direct gaze returning.

"Once we get to my hometown, you do everything I say. Don't go off doing whatever you want, and don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Also..."

She paused, putting on a fierce expression.

"If it turns out to be nothing serious, you'd better get your ass straight back here!"

Rihito nodded, then suddenly thought of something.

"Should we let Fushiguro know?"

Kugisaki paused, then tugged at her bag strap as though nothing had happened. Her voice grew a little indistinct.

"...One nuisance is more than enough. Let's not bother with that!"

As she spoke, she looked neither at Rihito nor at Satoru Gojo, but at the tree outside the window, its leaves rustling in the wind.

She doesn't want to trouble her teammates, Rihito thought.

He could tell. It wasn't that Kugisaki didn't want to ask Fushiguro; she didn't want to burden him.

Fushiguro already had plenty of missions, along with his own training.

Kugisaki said that "one nuisance is enough," but what she really meant was that Rihito was a nuisance she couldn't shake off.

Fushiguro was different. He didn't have to get dragged into this.

Rihito sighed inwardly, but said nothing about it.

"All right. Then we'll go on our own."

At some point, Satoru Gojo had taken out his phone. He lowered his head and tapped it a few times.

"I've already asked Ijichi to book your tickets. Aren't I such a thoughtful teacher?" He looked up with a dazzling smile.

Kugisaki took a deep breath, as though struggling to keep some emotion in check.

Then she turned, picked up the bag stuffed with nails, and strode toward the door.

She stopped in the doorway.

"Meet me at the school gate in twenty minutes. If you're late, don't expect me to wait."

Having said that, she

walked out without looking back.

Rihito watched her disappear down the hallway.

Satoru Gojo tossed his phone onto the desk and laced his hands behind his head. "You were pretty talkative just now, Rihito," he said conversationally.

Rihito said nothing.

"But that kind of thing works pretty well on her." Satoru Gojo looked at him through his blindfold, his tone turning serious for a rare moment.

"That kid acts like she doesn't care about anything, but she actually takes things to heart more than anyone. Whatever's happening back home, she won't talk about it either because she thinks there's no need, or because..."

"She's afraid of dragging us into it," Rihito finished.

The corner of Satoru Gojo's mouth lifted, an unspoken confirmation.

With nothing else to discuss, Rihito turned to leave.

"Rihito," Satoru Gojo suddenly called.

He swayed gently in his swivel chair.

Rihito stopped.

"You're teammates. Whatever happens, remember that."

"Right," Rihito replied, his voice just as quiet.

Then he stepped out of the office.

The hallway was quiet.

Sunlight slanted through the windows, dividing the floor into alternating patches of light and shadow.

Rihito looked down at his hands.

He remembered Kugisaki standing in front of him at the Steel Factory.

He remembered the wound Tanaka had cut into her shoulder, and how she had rushed over to check on him before she had even finished bandaging it properly.

"This time, it's my turn to help you."