Destined to Collide - Inumaki Toge

34. The Itadori Yuuji Surprise

A magazine fell smack on the stone floor.

"Why are you all empty-handed!?" Nobara exclaimed in shock over her seemingly too-laidback looking friends. None of them had a bag in their hand, and they all just wore their school uniform.

"Good morning, Nobara-chan," Maguro greeted with a wave of her hand. "What's in those bags? Anything I can eat?"

"Nothing edible! They're half empty!" Nobara exclaimed frustratingly, throwing down her bag pack and look at each of them for an explanation.

Panda felt up to the job. Raising one finger up, the Cursed Doll asks, "What are you doing with all those luggage?"

And it was then, everyone knew Nobara misunderstood the meaning of the 30th Annual Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event that will be held with Kyoto school, not in Kyoto school.

"I won't forgive you, Okkotsu Yuuta!!!" Nobara exclaimed in a rolled up magazine as a megaphone, shouting into the air facing nowhere. The event will only be held in the school that won the event in the previous year, and since Yuuta won at Kyoto last year, the event this year will then be held at Tokyo's grounds instead. That frustrated the country-bumpkin Nobara. "Not that I've ever met you!!"

"That's misdirected anger," Panda mumbled behind Nobara.

Inumaki agreed to it and joins in, "Shake."

"I've never met Okkotsu Yuuta too," Maguro piped up with a smile. "When will he be back?"

"Supposedly end of Summer, or earlier, if he manages to settle the stuff overseas with our other Third Year senior," Maki answered her, still looking over at Nobara screaming in frustration. No wonder the girl was asking about Kyoto stuff and best place to sight see 'later'.

Maki heard footsteps coming up the stone stairs. "Oi," she called to her friends and Nobara to quit yapping into he air. "They're here."

"Oh, look~" Maki's lookalike sister chimed. "It's everyone from Tokyo together."

"In case you're blind, Okkotsu Yuuta is not here," Maguro said under her breath, but making sure she could see her mouth moving. Panda snickered at her reply.

"What is that?" the Kyoto Zenin girl said, twirling her already very short hair for fun. "You went out of your way to greet us? Disgusting."

Maguro begun cracking her knuckles audibly. Inumaki patted her head to appease her. "They do this often. They don't like us, and neither do we to them. The feeling is mutual."

"Well, I find her smile strangely disgusting enough despite having looked at Maki's lovely face everyday," Maguro, again, whispered under her breath in plain sight. And again, Panda snickered. It's refreshing to hear someone other than Maki complaining about the Kyoto students, especially from the perspective of someone new. Yuuta's reaction was a little boring. Last year's event ended so much earlier because Yuuta wanted to go home earlier because the Kyoto students were being their usual annoying self and because Zenin Mai was just annoyingly 'sweet' to him that he just wanted to go back to Tokyo earlier.

So Rika came out and chase them off.

"Okkotsu's not here," Toudou Aoi said, looking over at the newbie girl next to Inumaki Toge. She was cute, and she smiled at him, as if acknowledging him.

"Oh, here's someone who's not blind. Mai should just hire him as her human guide," Maguro pipped up with a smile. Panda looked over at Aoi with interest and imagines Maki holding onto a leash tied to Aoi's neck.

Panda instantly turned green. That went wrong. That image went really, really wrong.

"Shut up," Nobara snapped, annoyed with her ruined plan and misunderstanding of the event. "Hurry up and hand over the cake box, and the yatsuhashi, kudzu noodles, and buckwheat cookies."

That got Maguro's attention in the span of a lightning strike.

"Was it like a courtesy gift? Food gift? Snacks gift? From Kyoto? Oh do you have any of those now? You can pass it to me, I'll hold onto it for the rest of them," Maguro said cheerfully, heart blooming at the sound of food. Inumaki only smiled and thought quietly, foodie.

"Who's that First-Year? Scary~" Nishimiya Momo said, feigning a look of fear at Nobara.

Maguro flashes her a quick look of dislike. Fake-ass bitch.

"Nevermind Okkotsu being absent. Isn't having two First Years a major handicap?"

"Robot! It's a robot!" Nobara and Maguro both reacted at the sight of Mechamaru.

It was then their other Third Year student, Kamo Noritoshi answered, "Age is irrelevant to jujutsu sorcerers. Especially with Fushiguro-kun."

Miwa Kasumi came up to settle the simmering dispute between Kyoto and Tokyo students, and soon after, their teacher, Iori Utahime came up the steps.

"Satoru's late," Panda piped up, and seconds later a loud screeching trolley sound started to get closer and closer.

"Sorry for the wait~" the strongest jujutsu sorcerer twittered happily, appearing excited over the things he's pushing over.

On Kyoto side, both Miwa Kasumi and Iori Utahime gave a very different reaction upon seeing the silver haired man.

"Hey~ I see everyone's together. I was on a business trip overseas. So I will now hand out souvenirs~" Gojo said to them all with a wave of his hand.

Maguro on the other hand, begun bouncing excitedly right where she stood next to Inumaki. In her mind, she already begun to imagine the lovely Jordan Almonds, the chocolate coated dates with inlaid whole almond as the kernel, boxes of Turkish Delights and other lovely sweets in the box.

Inumaki chuckled openly. He couldn't help it. She's projecting the image out all while bouncing happily in excitement.

"Ne ne ne ne ne, Toge-kun," Maguro whispered happily. "It's gonna be it, it's gonna be it! What a box! He needed a trolley to push them! Probably really good stuff in there! Oh, I can't wait!"

After giving out the pink mummies to the Kyoto students sans their teacher, Gojo enthusiastically announces Tokyo student's gift.

"And for everyone from Tokyo, we have this!"

Gojo gestured towards the metal box in front of him. Looks like a jump-scare doll kind of thing – probably an A-class Curse in it.

Nobara gave him a creeped outlook. "Overly excited adults are creepy."

By this time, Maguro already begun to clap her hands and squeal, which added to Gojo's excitement. He flipped open the lid in full on drama style and out popped – Itadori Yuuji.

Alive and well apparently.