1 | FOREVER: love won't last

06. selfish

     Over the course of the next few weeks, Kireina was over at the Fushiguro home. Cooking for them, cleaning, taking them to the shops, doing as much as she could with them. And in the short time that they were together, their bond was already so strong.
     Since Megumi was naturally going to receive the Ten Shadows technique—having heard from Naobito— Kireina was teaching him the shadow shapes for his shikigami. He was a very quick learner, which Kireina was glad of. Tsumiki knew about the world of jujutsu now and learned to accept. As long as it keeps everyone safe, she said.
     During school Nanami, Haibara, and Kireina were standing outside of Suzuki's classroom waiting for him to show up. At the same time, Gojo, Geto, and Shoko were walking down the hall heading to their class. Gojo was on the closest side of the first years, but he quickly moved onto the farthest side next to Shoko, who quickly saw what he was doing.
     Sighing, Shoko looked away from Gojo and at Kireina before calling for her, "Hey Zen'in-chan."
     Kireina's attention directed away from what Haibara was talking about and turned around to see Shoko approaching her. "H—Hi," she said nervously, stepping back slightly. Cheeks turning pink, she tripped over her foot and bumped into Nanami, who quickly helped her up.
     "Do you want to hang out later?" Shoko asked, making Kireina stop breathing for a second. "Hello?" Chuckling, Shoko waved a hand in front of Kireina, snapping her back into reality.
     "Oh— Oh, me?" Said Kireina with a nervous chuckle. "I actually uh... I have to um..."
     "She doesn't want to hang with us, it's fine," said Gojo with a monotonous tone. "Can we go now?"
     Kireina now looked up at Gojo with a confused look as Shoko said, "Well, they can all hang with us. How does that sound Nanami, Haibara?"
     "We're not doing anything later," said Haibara, making Kireina face palm and Gojo's mouth part. "Yeah, why not?"
     "Great!" Shoko exclaimed before leaning close into Kireina, whispering, "I'll see you tonight... Dress cute..." She gave her a cheeky smile before leaving off with a dumbstruck Gojo and a laughing Geto.
     Standing still for a minute too long, Nanami tapped onto Kireina's shoulder, but she didn't budge. Haibara laughed watching his friend tense up at Shoko's presence.
     "She smells like minty peaches," said Kireina at a mumble. "And... cigarettes..."
     "Do you have the hots for Ieiri-senpai?" Haibara teased, making Kireina snap out of her stance and shove him lightly.
     After class was over, the three of them headed over to the cafe for lunch. Kireina was worn out by Suzuki's over dramatic lectures as she sat down with her head resting in her arms. That's when she felt a body sit next to her, and she knew it wasn't Nanami nor Haibara since they sat in front of her. Bringing her head up slightly, but still resting down on her arm, she turned her head to see a blushing Gojo Satoru sitting next to her. He smiled at her, making her sit up straight.
"Oh, it's you," she said with a dull voice, bringing a frown to his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean that in a derogatory way..."
Gojo pressed his lips into line, nodding as Shoko sat on the other side of her. This made Kireina jump and lean back onto Gojo, which made him blush furiously. The three on the other side—Geto, Nanami, and Haibara— all rose their brows watching the mess that was in front of them, all tilting their heads slightly.
     Kireina quickly shifted her attention back onto Gojo as to avoid Shoko on her other side. "So, what are you up to these days?"
     Gojo was so baffled with her that he didn't know how to answer. "Uh... I've been— I've been exercising curses—"
     "Interesting! Do you want to go somewhere?"
     Now, his whole face was red, which Kireina didn't care to notice. But Shoko and Geto were covering their mouths, silently cheering on their friend.
     Looking down at the girl's pleading eyes, Gojo started to fumble over his words. Geto had to kick him from under the table to make him stand up.
     "Y— Yeah, let's go," said Gojo, letting Kireina out of her seat and following her out of the cafe.
Not turning back, Kireina walked as far away as she could from the cafeteria hall till she was outside. She eventually reached the fountain near the entrance and sat along the edge, not paying attention to whether or not Gojo was following her.
"This is far," he sighed, sitting beside her and feeling more at ease now. "What'd you need?"
"To get away."
"From what?" Gojo frowned as the realization hit that Kireina didn't bring him out here for him. "Oh..."
"Ieiri-senpai makes me nervous," Kireina chuckled, blushing as she looked away from him. "You get it right?"
"What? Shoko's one of my bestfriends, so I don't know what you mean..."
Kireina shrugged.
"So, you brought me out here because you like Shoko?"
"You don't mind do you? I would've asked Nanami or Haibara but you were the closest person to me..."
"In other words... using me?"
"Using you? What— no— of course not!"
"You asked me to leave with you because you had no one else. I'd call that using."
Kireina was confused on why Gojo cared so much about her asking him out of all people. To her he seemed like the type to not care about that kind of stuff. She didn't know that he likes her, so she didn't understand why it would hurt him like that.
"Well— if a pretty girl came and sat down next to you, wouldn't you get nervous and panic?" Kireina quickly defended herself, standing up and looking down at Gojo, who was still sitting down.
He looked up and stared into her eyes for a moment, making her question why he gave her that look. "Does it look like I'm doing that now?" He said in defense, voice rising a few octaves at his boldness.
"Huh?" She said, head tilting as a brow furrowed and her mouth fell open.
"Do you seriously not know?"
Kireina shook her head, truly confused on why he was so sensitive about this.
     "How selfish could you be?" He continued, and Kireina looked hurt as he waited for an answer. "Whatever," he huffed out, looking away and standing up. Her eyes fell onto him once again, looking this time at his incredible height. "Don't bother coming over later..."
With that, Gojo walked off, leaving Kireina standing there feeling dumb. Hanging out with the 2nd years weren't her first priority, so being uninvited didn't matter to her. Instead, she let out a deep breath and walked back to the dorms.