Mirror Eyes & Bright Blue Skies | Jujutsu Kaisen

Epilogue 3/3

I love you

The words played on repeat in the background of Ikuko's thoughts like a broken record stuck on one line in a chorus. The words she wanted to say jumbled and tumbled and knotted together as she scanned the trees around her, waiting and watching for the sunlight that filtered through the leaves to strike a head of startlingly white hair.

Gojo Satoru, the most powerful jujutsu sorcerer, a perpetual sweets lover, and also the man she had fallen in love with.

Ikuko had asked Gojo to meet her here, in this park, the place they had first met. He had saved her all those months ago. He had saved her life, but more than that he had saved her future. The Ikuko who cowered from curses, who plastered false smiles to her lips, who distanced herself from others in hopes of protecting them... That Ikuko hadn't died that day, even though she should have, and then, over the months that Ikuko had grown in ways she never could have imagined. She joined this school that taught her how to fight and how to use cursed energy. She gained the courage to face the curse in the hospital and exorcise it. She made friends. She became close to Gojo... She reconciled with her parents before her father was stolen from her by a curse user.

And then that Ikuko had broken.

But Gojo saved her again. Put an arm around her. Held her back from the destruction she had been hell-bent on walking into. That reckless, playful, white-haired man who'd pulled her into a bright world... he was always there for her.

Ikuko knew she loved Gojo, and she knew now that she had to tell him, even if he didn't feel the same. She couldn't move on until she'd told him.

But really, Ikuko, she thought, snorting to herself, isn't this too much?

She picked at the skirt of the green dress she wore, the same dress she and Maki had picked out on their shopping trip. Up until this point, Ikuko hadn't found many occasions to wear it. She didn't usually wear dresses. Despite this, her brain had decided that now, when she was going to confess her love to one of her closest friends, would be a perfect time to wear it. Never mind how over-the-top it felt to her.

But... I do feel pretty in it. I wonder what Satoru will think?

Suddenly, from behind her, a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Don't you look stunning today, Iku-chan."

The words, whispered so close to her ear, caused Ikuko's face to heat as she whirled around to face the white-haired perpetrator.

She huffed, "How come you still manage to sneak up on me, Sato-kun? It's not fair."

Although she feigned indignation, truthfully, Ikuko felt her chest swell with happiness and her heart flutter at the sight of Gojo. His hair was down, his blindfold exchanged for a pair of sunglasses, and he'd dressed up—short-sleeved, tan button-up with a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath; a pair of green slacks with a black belt; and a pair of white canvas slides to finish it off.

It was probably too hopeful of a thought, likely to end in greater heartache, but Ikuko couldn't help but wonder, Did he dress up for me?

---

Gojo watched Ikuko from a distance, carefully hidden behind a tree. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, and it scared him. Why? What did he have to fear from this woman, this barely blossomed sorcerer whose power could never rival his own?

Though he asked the question, Gojo already knew the answer. The danger Ikuko posed had nothing to do with physical power. His aloofness... his inability to address that day... that kiss... his feelings... He'd denied them too much for too long, and now he was afraid that it was too late, that he had lost the first person he had ever wanted.