// SURVIVOR'S GUILT // : MAKI ZEN'IN

2.

"Ahh~, thanks for comin' out with me, Maki-chan~!"

"Kgh, again, quit it with the -chan stuff!"

As the two teenagers walked through the stony pathways of Jujutsu High that very same evening, Suoh's everlasting grin remained on his cheeks as Maki only grimaced at the honorifics he was pulling on her.

Golden light shone through the towering mountain peaks onto the Jujutsu campus, and a pleasant breeze, the remnants of spring, Maki presumed, kept them in high spirits as they walked back towards the dorms after spending some time out on an unofficial tour of the place. Of course, prior to their walk back, Maki had to take the boy she had hit in the face over to Shoko for a brief looking-over, just to ensure that he hadn't had his nose fractured by the force of the gummies colliding with his face.

By the time Suoh had gotten some ice for the welt smack-dab in the middle of his face from Maki's unintentional assault-by-gummy-packet, the Zenin girl herself had grown famished as well; longing for her stay indoors with her junk food was not enough to ward off Suoh's advances, however, as he continued to push her to-

"Go get food with me! Come on, it's no fun to pick at my plate on my own, you know!"

Sitting out on the steps of the medical facility, Suoh had leaned over towards her side with a pout.

O-Oi, too close!

Maki lurched back with a shocked expression, holding her arm up in a guard from Suoh.

"J-Jeez, do I really need to?! You can go with Panda and Toge, no?"

"Hmph, but you're already here!"

"Just call them! That's what your damn phone is for!"

"Nuh-uh, way too much work!"

"A-Ah-! Too close, moron!"

The door of the building slipped open, and out stepped Shoko Ieri, designated medic and renowned drunkard of Jujutsu High, sake bottle in hand.

"Oh?" All three looked towards the other, with the brunette breaking out into a grin.

"Eh~? Am I interrupting something~?" She said, smirking at the Yuuya boy practically tumbling over the Zenin girl.

"GEH- NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!" With one fierce shove, Maki knocked Suoh away onto his back with a thud, hiding her reddened cheeks behind the back of her hand.

Suoh sat back up in a butterfly pose without much issue, and locked eyes with Shoko.

"Hey, great timing, Shoko-sensei. Help me out, would ya?"

The seaweed boy pointed over in Maki's direction, and, breaking out into another grin, he said, "Convince her to go get some food with me!"

Suoh's bluntness practically knocked her into orbit with its stupefying nature.

D-Don't say that to her, you nitwit...! Are you trying to make her think we're da- e-erm, something?!

Just as she feared, Shoko's mischievous smirk only grew in size.

"Aw~, come on, Maki-san," the brunette chuckled, "He's an honest boy, wouldn't hurt to give him a chance, hm~?"

Maki sat there with a stupefied look, grimacing at the amused smirk on Shoko's face, and Suoh rocking side to side with his hands holding his ankles.

Both of you, utter morons.....! She groaned in her head.

Coupled with pleading eyes that he was oddly adept at performing and an uncanny level of stubbornness, and Maki eventually gave in with a sigh.