──── 𝙈𝙀𝘼𝙉𝙒𝙃𝙄𝙇𝙀 𝙉𝘼𝙊𝙆𝙊 𝙒𝘼𝙎 fighting naoya and gojo was fighting off the other third years from kyoto. getou was frantically running through the forest making sure he didn't miss the curse that he needed to kill to end the race. naoko offered to let him use one of her divine dogs so now getou was running after the black dog as it sniffed its way through the forest in search of the curse.
getou continued running through the woods but heard a few steps that were following him. he quickly stopped prepared to fight anyone who approached him. soon he could see the white-haired boy, toru, from the kyoto school.
as toru kept running towards the dark-haired boy, getou quickly sent a grade 3 curse to throw him off. toru didn't yell but panicked on the inside as the curse was so close to him without warning. he quickly changed his position putting himself behind getou.
getou was surprised and easily frightened on how close he got in such a small amount of time. he quickly swung his arm backward in an attempt to hit toru, but he just changed position again. now he could visibly be seen standing on a tree branch above the dark-haired boy.
"it's not gonna work. i'll just teleport every time." toru said leaning against the tree. getou looked up at the white-haired boy. "like hell it won't! just come down here so i can fight you and finish off the grade two curse already."
"you see, i don't want to fight you getou-kun. let's just work together." toru exhorted as he took a seat at the branch looking at the teenage boy that stood below him. "what do you mean?" getou questioned.
"i saw naoko's dog. so, i figured you must be tracking the grade two curse. let's work together to kill so naoko can stop her fight with naoya before it gets out of hand." toru explained.
"why do you want to protect zenin-san so bad?" getou asked again. he thought 'why was zenin naoko so important to him, what makes her so special.'
"she's my best friend....." toru said aloud. it was true but he was holding one small detail out "and i love her." toru whispered to himself so getou couldn't hear him. toru knew she was getting married, and he couldn't do anything about it. he'd like to tell her eventually, but he knew what her response would be. she probably thought of him as nothing more than a brother, a best friend, someone that would always be by her side no matter what.
getou raised a brow as he thought about toru's plan. "fine. but i get the last hit so our school can win."
"ok. i never cared about this stupid race anyways." toru shrugged his shoulders as he got down from the tree. the pair continued to walk through the forest giving themselves a break after all the running and little bit of fighting they did.
the was silent and maybe a little bit awkward so getou striked a conversation. "so how do you know zenin-san?"
"well, i've known naoko since we were five. we met a party that was hosted by the zenin clan." toru explained as they continued to walk. he still remembers the first time they met. she looked cute in her little yukata, but she seemed to not have fun. so toru approached her and then she opened up and started to play with him.
"so, you've known zenin-san almost all your life, huh? she must be special to you." getou implied. he wasn't interested in the sob story but more intrigued as to why he was doing this much for the girl in his class who seemed to not care about anyone, maybe other than shoko.
"yeah she-" toru was interrupted by the large sound that the whole forest could hear. toru was startled and questioned what in the world was happening in the forest. "what the hell was that?"
"it was probably just satoru, he's always making a mess, that big shot." getou didn't make a big deal. going on missions with gojo meant cleaning up after his mess. "satoru?" toru raised his eyebrow in confusion, he'd knew the name from somewhere.
"yea, you probably know him as gojo though. he's always been like that." getou explained shrugging his shoulders while toru sighed replying back "sounds pretty bad for a person who is considered to be the strongest sorcerer of our generation."
getou chuckled as toru's remark before the black dog started howling at the curse that presented itself in front of them. they stopped before getting ready to exorcise it "you ready?" toru asked the dark-haired boy next to him. "of course." getou replied.
────
a few more minutes have passed, and the duo was still fighting off the curse. it looked slightly stronger than a normal grade two, but it wasn't too much a hassle for them. getou sent his grade one curse that he stored allowing it to give off the last hit before the grade two cursed died.
the two boys sighed after the job was done. the whistle could be heard through the speakers signaling that the race was finally over. toru patted naoko's dog giving it a good rub before asking it "can you take us naoko?"
the dog sniffed around before running with the duo following right behind them. they eventually saw naoko sitting by a tree talking with a taller figure who toru couldn't make out. as they got closer toru ran up to naoko giving her a hug.
with wide eyes naoko was certainly surprised to see her friend so soon. "toru?" "are you alright? are you hurt anywhere?" toru searched looking for any cuts before seeing the bandage wrapped along her thigh. "naoya did this, didn't he?" toru asked with a stern look on his face. naoko nodded "but it's ok toru, i think i did much worse to him." she pointed at her brother who was strapped to the trunk of the tree.
toru laughed at the sight of his least favorite classmate strapped to the tree. "i guess that's one way to keep him down." naoko laughed after seeing the boy laugh as well. toru pulled naoko in for another hug "i'm glad you're safe, naoko. i was so worried this entire time." naoko sinked into his embrace as she rested her head buried in his chest.
getou soon caught up with toru seeing his best friend watch the girl and boy converse. he looked at his best friend seeing a slightly jealous look on his face. he knew gojo had feelings for naoko, certainly they weren't that deep, but he was at least interested in the dark-haired girl, and he could see it from a mile away. all that needed to happen was for gojo to realize how he felt. and maybe seeing toru hug and comfort naoko was the solution.
