The sun beat down on their necks as they rushed put of the pool, and into the school. It wasnt long until they reached the entrance, running side by side into the corridors. Gojo's brows was furrowed in frustration, turning to kuroi.

"where's amanai?"

"shes taking a music class at his hour. She should be in the music room or the chapel"

"chapel?"

Y/n raised her brows with curiosity, tilting her head.

"they take the class wherever the teacher wants"

"... Eh-?"

"this is a mission school"

"oh, i see"

They took a sharp turn, the creak of floorboards resounding from their frantic footsteps. Y/n struggled to keep up to their pace, lagging behind with kuroi as the two men took the lead. Geto looked to her, gesturing to gojo.

"Satoru, l/n-chan, go to the chapel. kuroi-san go to the music room, and ill deal with the two perpetrators"

"understood"

After that the four of then split up, geto running in the other direction while the rest went straight. An irk mark formed on gojo's face as he thought about riko's absurd and stubborn requests. She would've at least been safer had y/n gone with her, but still, she just couldnt be deterred.

They split up yet again, kuroi taking the path to the music room, while y/n and gojo went towards the chapel. He rushed towards it, y/n tailing after him and gasping as he pushed the doors open. The students inside stopped singing, eyes darting to the white haired intruder infront of them.

"amanai! ...hm?"

All of them let out a collective squeal, riko looking mortified at the whole ordeal. They didnt even notice y/n who stood awkwardly to the side, everyone too busy gawking at gojo. The girls stared at riko with raised eyebrows.

"riko, who is he? Your boyfriend?"

"no! Hes my cousin-"

"not bad, riko!"

"is he a high school student? Hes so tall~!"

"oneesan! Take off your sunglasses"

Y/n frowned, her disgruntled expression deepening as he complied and started posing. She wasnt one to feel jealousy, but it was like they were trapped in a lion's den and gojo was happy to be food. The girls flocked even closer to him and she pouted, watching with disdain.

"hes so handsome!"

"such long eye-lashes!"

"why are your eyes blue?"

"strike a pose please!"

"DONE GET TO CARRIED AWAY!"

Riko barked at her classmates, visibly annoyed. Suddenly, the teacher stepped forward, clapping her hands. She looked stern, uniform neat and hair slicked back into a tidy ponytail.

"thats enough, everyone quiet down"

"arent you interested in him too miss?"

"you are!"

She didnt even acknowledge them as she walked towards gojo who had put his glasses back on. Y/n turned away at this point. She was boiling, but they had to get this done. With all the ruckus she was able to sneak towards riko, lips pressed into a thin line.

"even if youre a family member, you cant just enter"

"sorry about that, its an emergency you see"

The teacher pulled a notepad from her pocket, hurriedly scribbling something down before hand it to gojo.

"THATS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE-!"

He stared at it, eyes narrowing before he put his hand up. A coy smile was drawn on his face as he stepped back, rubbing the back of his head. Gojo looked proud as he spoke,

"no thank you, i already have a wonderful girlfriend"

"... EH-?!"

"actually shes right-" he looked around him, tilting his head at y/n's disappearance. "where did she go?"

The students started to quarrel, the teacher looking disappointed as she sighed. Gojo scanned the room, catching sight of the two figures running in the distance. He reaches them with ease, elbowing y/n lightly.

"its a lively school isnt it?"

Y/n doesnt respond, clenching her jaw and turning away from him. Gojo raised his brows at her demeanor, gesturing to the building. She nods, still not facing him and caries riko on her back, jumping onto the rooftops.

"oof-!"

"sorry riko-chan.. Was i too rough?"

"its alright, its better than having that white haired idiot carry me"

"whats up with the two of you?"

Y/n ignored him once more. He didnt press further, and the journey was pretty quiet, only the whistle of air reverberated in their ears as they jumped house to house. Truth be told, all this strenuous jumping was starting to bruise her feet. They ended up on a building rooftop, gojo picking up a call from geto.

"someone offered a bounty of 30 million yen for killing amanai?"

"yes, its a limited time bounty. It's on an underground website for curse users. The deadline is 11am the day after tomorrow"

"I see"

Riko shuffled on y/n's back, and she adjusted the younger girl into a more comfortable position. They looked around at the men surrounding them, riko looking uneasy.

"two... Three... Four people. They all look the same; are they shikigami?"

"Geez, jujutsu sorcerers are always short handed, youre welcome to join if youre looking for a job old man"

"no thanks, just hand the kid over to us..." another replica arose from shadows, his one eye scanned over y/n, "maybe the pretty lady too, and ill let you go scratch-free"

"oh?"

gojo's gaze hardened and he put his hand forward, the two men (one from behind and one from infront) came rushing forward, bashing against each other brutally. He didnt stop until they were bloodied, and even then he kept going until y/n gagged, turning away so riko didnt have to see such a sight.

"t- the shikigamis arent disappearing-"

"those arent shikigamis riko-chan, theyre clones. I believe its a curse technique that can summon up to five clones including the original one"

Riko nodded, tensing as she sound of gojo breaking in the man's nose.

"hmph, im a little annoyed now"

His tone was icy, almost parallel to his cold blue eyes. Y/n sighed. She knew why he was like this, of course. And she grew more frustrated as she felt her resolve against him soften. 'grr... Im supposed to be mad at him. No matter, im going to continue being mad anyway'

"getting blood on your clothes is quite troublesome. Ne, y/n-chan, think i can get the stain off?"

She finally turned to face him after askjng riko to close her eyes. The scene was sickening, gojo's once pristine face splattered with red. He wiped it off with the back of his hand, sighing. His blue eyes glinted dangerously through his shades.

"he should be able to chose which one would be the original at any time. Not a bad trick. Still, why are you so weak though? I just dont get it"

Y/n gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder, waiting patiently for him soften and let down his infinity. Her fingers rubbed against his bloodied shoulder, riko squirming slightly.

"hm? Thats interesting" gojo mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "so the clones cant be summoned temporarily after they are destroyed?"

"how do you know my cursed technique?"

The voice came from the building infront of them. If y/n squinted she could see one of the men there, looking down. Gojo only grinned, fangs flashing momentarily as he pulled down his shades, exposing his piercing blue eyes.

"Unfortunately, i have very sharp eyes"

Y/n tilted her head as he placed a hand on her back. Gojo leaned closer to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as riko grunted, fake gagging and staring at him with disgust. He ignored her, smiling softly at y/n.

"cover your head, darling"

Riko tenses as gojo presses a hand to her back and they start floating. She covers her head, y/n choosing to protect hers with cursed energy instead. He started to rise, a smile on his face as he raised his hand, the building shattering in response as he flew closer, debris spraying in every direction.

The man doubled back, watching with wide eyes as he started to levitate as well, gojo's hand facing towards the perpetrators. It was in a hand sign y/n was vaguely familiar with. Two fingers pointing upwards while the rest were curled. Y/n looked back at riko, who seened to be blubbering about something. She only sighed, using her one hand to cover riko's eyes.

"this is the divergence of infinity: Cursed technique reversal, red"

Bright, red light shone brightly from the tips of his fingers. Previously, gojo had only been able to have a taste of the reversal cursed technique when she was in his body. Y/n beamed at the sight, a sense of pride washing over her as the energy emanating from his fingertips grew stronger...

Until it stopped completely. He was so close yet... Y/n tilted her head. He had done the first step properly, having gathered the negative cursed energy in his body. But he cancelled it out instead of multiplying it by itself, effectively nullifying the technique. Gojo punched the man in the face, looking towards y/n with a proud grin.

"I failed!"

You can count on gojo to be the only person to be proud to fail anyway.

The objects started to fall, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Riko flinched, instinctively covering her head. Gojo had set them down at this point, looking down at his hands as if studying it.

"i thought for sure that would work"

"it seems the strongest sorcerer still has a lot to learn"

"its because you wont teach me"

"I did-!"

Y/n grumbled, glaring at him. She did, she really did try. But she understood like it was clearwater. The concept was so easy to understand and replicate. For her at least. Shoko was kindly demonstrating with hand gestures. But for her it was like breathing. Second nature almost. She could use the reverse curse technique subconsciously, while sleeping, eating; probably even while still in a coma.

"whats wrong with this guy?" Riko muttered, looking exasperated as she stared at gojo with some sort of contempt. Y/n laughed, shaking her head with a smile. "oh kuroi is calling"

"really? What did she-"

Y/n eyes widened as riko's expression dropped, fear easily identified in her dark blue orbs. She shakily held up the phone as gojo turned towards the two of them, raising his brows.

"kuroi is..."

On her phone was a picture fo her caretaker tied up, brows furrowed as she fought against her bonds. Her mouth was gagged and her hands were bound behind her back. She seemed to be in a concrete room. Y/n frowned, eyes narrowing at the picture.

"Kuroi's been kidnapped!"