𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 | y.itadori x reader

14.

The exchange event was going to be held over two days and the first event that you were all going to do was the "wacky cursed spirit exorcism race". The rules were simple, the first team to exorcise the second-grade cursed spirit released in the designated area wins. Several other third-grade and lower cursed spirits would also be released in the designated area as well and if a winner is not decided by sundown, the team that exorcises the most wins. You were welcome to also sabotage the other team but you had to remember you were all on the same team to exorcise the curses. Your father was explaining the rules as you all stood in front of him, he sounded excited which made you smile a little- you like it when he was happy about something. But the only thing was that he was restraining gojo. "Be certain to not kill other competitors or injure them beyond recovery." He added whilst Gojo was tapping his back as if to tell him to stop holding him in that position. 
"That's it, you're all dismissed until the event commences at noon!" He finished, letting go of Gojo who now was panting with his hands on his knees. 

You all then walked to a designated area to have a group meeting, whilst you were walking you saw Itadori moving to walk by your side and you sighed, trying to walk a bit faster just to see him catching up to you. "So...you missed me?" He finally spoke after an awkward moment of silence, everyone was a little ahead so they couldn't hear you talking to one another. A blush spread out on your cheeks and you hid your face so that he couldn't see it. 
"Uh-n-no!" You stammered, shaking your head quickly. His face fell into a pout and you smiled a little. 
"Aw, well I missed you!" He said cheerily, without a slither of embarrassment. You did a double take and tried to ignore the warm feeling that spread throughout your chest. 
"Shut up idiot." You replied, hitting his arm just for him to chuckle. You smiled and turned to face him, trying to think of a way to get back at him for embarrassing you. He looked down at you with a cheeky smile but it quickly faded away when you said the following words. "I-I couldn't eat breakfast for days because you weren't there with me, so don't ever pull any dumb shit like that again!" You spat, walking quickly forwards and leaving him behind. It was the first time you had ever spoken truly about how you felt and it ended up embarrassing you more than it did Yuji. 

Itadori on the other hand was just standing there, he had stopped walking completely. You couldn't eat breakfast because he wasn't there with you? He tried  to think of what that could possibly mean, yes, he was a bit slow but this made him do a double take. He then ran up to you and picked you up, spinning you around on the spot. When he did so you let out a little cry of surprise and tried to get out of his grip at the feeling of his hands on your waist- you couldn't deny that you liked the feeling but right now you were trying to be angry with him. 

Everyone turned around to see what all the commotion was about just to see Itadori spinning you around, with you trying frantically to get out of his hold on you. "Put me down you idiot!" You squirmed. Maki made a little 'aww' sound and this made you doubly embarrassed. 
"I promise I'll eat breakfast with you every day from now on!" Yuji exclaimed, finally putting you down on your two feet. You felt a little dizzy but straightened yourself up and brushed down your clothes. 
"You better." You mumbled to yourself before walking to join the others. Nobara looked at you with a little smirk on her face, whilst Megumi didn't even look at  you. 

Megumi was jealous, he wanted to spin you around like that, he wanted to spend time with you and he wanted you to look at him and smile at him like you did with Yuji. Nobara elbowed him and gave him a little wink but he brushed her off and walked into the building where they'd all have the meeting.

--- 

"Depending on how you look at it, this could be considered extreme bullying." Yuji said as he held up the funeral photo frame, where the photo of the deceased usually would be. Everyone had made him sit down and put his face in the frame, as a punishment for not telling them he was still alive. 
"Shut up and stay like that for a while." Nobara said, turning around so that she wasn't facing him. She was just as angry as we all were, well except for the second years who didn't really know him very well. 
"Now, now, you heard his explanation. Cut him some slack." Panda said, trying to empathise with Yuji, who had a sad expression on his face. 

At the sound of Panda talking, he turned to you with a confused look on his face, "Hey, the panda talked."
"Salmon, Salmon." Added Inumaki, who was standing slightly behind Yuji. 
"What?" 
"Inumaki is a cursed speech user, Cursed speech is a technique that amplifies the power and compulsion of words, he limits his vocabulary to keep other people safe." Megumi explained, he still hadn't spoken a word to you since your conversation this morning. You had tried several times to say something to him but he had just brushed you off and it was starting to annoy you. 
"So if he told someone to go die, they'd actually die? That's really powerful." Yuji said curiously, with his mouth slightly agape, Inumaki turned to him with wide eyes. You chuckled and nodded and then turned back to the rest of the group.  
"It's nothing that convenient. It's all case by case, depending on their difference in strength." Panda explained. 
"If he uses powerful words, he's hit with massive feedback. Worst case, it could affect him." You added, earning a nod from Panda. 
"Limiting his vocabulary is a way for Toge to protect himself as well." Panda finished, with a little sigh. 

They carried on talking about one another, before Nobara turned to you with an unimpressed face, you could tell she wasn't to happy about what was going on but secretly relieved that Yuji was alright. "Blabbing on about other people's techniques..."
"It's fine." You said, with a little smile. 
"Toge's isn't that kind of technique anyways." Maki added, we all turned towards her, "More importantly, Yuji...Give me back slaughter demon. You borrowed it from Satoru, right?" She said, walking towards Itadori with her hand extended. 

Yuji blinked a couple of times, as if he were in thought, despite having a thoughtless expression plastered on his features. He then suddenly had a worried expression on his face before saying, "Gojo-sensei...has it."
"Tsk, that blindfolded dumbass." Maki said, crossing her arms over her chest angrily. 

"So, what's the plan." You asked, taking a step forward so you were standing above Yuji, he looked up at you and gave you a small cheeky smile, to which you replied with a little 'tsk'. He then stood up to his feet and put down the damned pictured frame and stood next to you as Maki began speaking. 
"The group battle format is what we expected, but we have another member now, Do we change strategies, there's not much time now." 
"Bonito Flakes." Toge replied. 
"Well that depends on Yuji. What can you do?" Panda said, making us all turn to where he was sitting. 
"Punch, Kick-"
"We have enough of that..." Panda trailed off, sounding not too impressed. Yuji let out a little 'huhhhh' while Megumi stretched out his hands. 
"I don't know what he's been doing since he's been dead, but if everyone from Tokyo and Kyoto fought him at once without cursed energy...Itadori would win." He said with a serious look in his eyes. You widened yours at the sound of Megumi actually praising Yuji, which was something he'd never done previously. 

Everyone widened their eyes and let out a little 'oooh', Maki suddenly looked very interested in Yuji, more than she was before. You smirked and looked in Yuji's direction, he was smiling proudly, you knew that Megumi meant every word he said. 

After the meeting was over you all walked back outside to get ready for the first event, Itadori as usual wouldn't leave your side so you began chatting to him about what to expect in the event and the people you would be going up against- the conversation was light but he seemed interested in your every word. You realised it was nice to have someone to talk to so much. 

"Itadori." Megumi called out, walking towards the two of you, "You ok?" He asked, with his usual monotone voice. 
"Yeah, sounds like I've got a big role, but I'll manage."
"I'm not talking about that, something happened right?" 
"Huh? Nothing happened." Itadori said smiling, you could tell instantly that he was lying, it was like a gut feeling. There was a moment of silence and then Yuji started scratching his head awkwardly, "Okay, it did. But it's true that I'm fine. In fact because of what happened, I don't want to lose to anyone." 
"Ok, I don't really want to lose either." Megumi replied, walking past the two of us without showing any emotion. 
"What do you mean 'really'? You already got sent rolling around once." Nobara said, looking back at Megumi. You chuckled and started walking towards them, glancing back to look at Yuji who was speeding up so that he could catch up to you. 
"Let's overwhelm them and thoroughly trounce them!" You said, throwing your fist up in the air with a glowing smile on your face. In reality you couldn't be more excited for the event that was about to happen. 

Itadori looked at you with your glowing smile and felt his heart beat faster, he had missed looking at your face, your smile and seeing you trying to encourage the others was a new side he hadn't seen before, but it wanted to make him know more about you. He ran up in front of you where everyone had stopped walking and crouched down, "In that case, let's win!" He exclaimed with an excited smile on his face. His excitement was cut short when Maki kicked him in the back, making him topple forwards. 
"What are you doing taking the lead?" She scoffed, standing back up straight as she held her fighting weapon. 

You let out a laugh as you watched him get back on to his feet, that was probably one of the funniest moments you had experienced in the past few weeks. Itadori and Megumi snapped their heads in your direction at the sound of your laugh, it was a sweet melodic thing that they had never heard before, all you had really done was chuckle so hearing you laugh was something new to them. 

Megumi looked at you with wide eyes, in all the years he had known you, he had never heard you laugh and all of a sudden there you were laughing your ass off over something stupid. He let a tiny smile break out on his face but Itadori was beaming, he was thinking how at just the sound of your laugh he'd fallen for you again. 

When he got up to his feet he walked by your side, you wiped a tear from your eye because of how much you had laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder to hold yourself up. At the feeling of your hand on his shoulder Yuji got an instant burst of confidence and mustered up the courage to say:  

"Your laugh is cute." He whispered, leaning in next to your ear so only you could hear.