HEART THIEF || JUJUTSU KAISEN

because love grows where my rosemary goes and nobody knows like me.

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is the freedom from fear.

As Naoko tumbled through the sky, the wind screaming in his ears and grappling at his outstretched hands, a smile broke open on his face.

It was exactly like Kaede described. The weight on his chest was easing, his breath came easier, and while it unnerved him, the prospect of shedding his prison of peaceful slavery for dangerous liberty was an exciting one. He was his strongest now, and he knew that no matter what was thrown at him from now on, none of it would compare to the shadows of his past.

"I'm surprised you haven't lost your edge." Gojo commented snarkily as he materialized in Naoko's face and swiped at him.

"Oh please, I'm going easy on you." With a challenge in his smirk, he twisted mid-air just as Gojo's fingers brushed the spot where his torso would've been, and fell through his subspace.

" You're going easy on me?" Gojo scoffed loudly as he placed his hands on his hips and watched Naoko gaze at him lovingly from the roof of a skyscraper.

"Exactly." With an abrupt salute, he dove off the roof and plummeted hundreds of feet through the air like a hunting falcon.

Right before he hit the ground, when Gojo appeared directly below him, he vanished once more.

"Cheater." Gojo rolled his eyes, a grin creeping onto his face as he listened to the sound of Naoko's laugh echo in his chest.

Their perilous game of tag took them high into the clouds, where he found Naoko's lean figure sitting cross-legged on a manta-like curse. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief, but then he spotted the opal eye winking at him from the hollow of Naoko's throat, and irritation seized his body.

"Where'd you get that one?" He asked anyway.

"Why would I tell you that for free?" Naoko flipped him off with a lovely smile.

Gojo tackled him out of the sky, destroying the curse with a single clean punch and sending them both hurtling to the ground. He heard Naoko's startled gasp, and felt him unconsciously tighten his grip around his shoulders, and chuckled.

"How come you were terrified of the sky when you were Yume, but you're perfectly fine now huh? Were you just playing games? You damn puppeteer."

With one hand clamped around his waist and his other gripping Naoko's jaw, he shook the boy like he was a disobedient dog who'd swallowed something bad. Though, Naoko's hand sneakily trailed up the side of his neck and flicked the bottom of his chin, making him bite his tongue with a gasp.

"When do I not play games? You're the one who said I always have a trick up my sleeve." He replied smugly, loving the way Gojo's face briefly contorted into one of irritation. "I mean, what if I'm not really Naoko? What if I'm just another mirage?"

"You're not." Gojo said with equal smugness, resisting the urge to realize how warm and alive Naoko felt. He wanted to melt . "Because I know that part of you wanted to be found, otherwise I would still think you're dead. By the way, you're tagged. I totally got you."

"Did not." Naoko sank his fingers into Gojo's sides and kicked backward when the latter released him with a gasp. He fell out of view, and his upper half reappeared above Gojo's head, to where he planted his palm with a cheeky laugh.

Gojo grabbed his wrist before he could pull back and dragged him downwards, simultaneously using the momentum to push himself up while slamming his open palm down on Naoko's stomach. "Did too!!"

The impact must've been a lot stronger than he intended, because Naoko hit the ground before he could summon a portal. Luckily, he managed to fortify his body with his cursed energy before he could take any real damage. The thick grass clearing met his back with a heavy slam, knocking the air clean out of his lungs, but with it came a breathless laugh as Naoko fell limp and shut his eyes.