What things would have looked like...

Intro: A new beginning; The change that started it all

When Suguru was told he'd be going remote, he didn't think they'd mean some far away village 3 days away.

The mission sounds easy enough. Go to the village, find the curse and leave. Apparently, no other sorcerers were available except for Gojo, whom the higher-ups opted in favor of keeping closer to the metropolitan area of Japan.

At least it will be quick. He might actually get back before the end of the week. That'd be nice for a change.

Suguru gets caught off guard by a sudden bump in the road, making him jump up slightly. He feels his man bun hit the car and the chocolates and card Gojo gave him fall back to the bottom of the bag.

Oh yeah, that's right. Gojo gave him those chocolates and card. According to him, someone gave him the chocolates and card to Gojo to give to the closest person to him. Who does that?

Suguru does have to admit he is kind of curious what is written inside of the card. He can't detect any cursed energy from the card or chocolate, so he's at least willing to open the card to see what it says.

The envelope containing the card is a nice white squared and stamped envelope. The card inside feels about as thick as a regular birthday card. He uses one of his nails to open the top of the envelope and pulls out the card.

The card has a print of a cat wearing the same type of glasses as Gojo on it with the text "Happy Birthday" written on top. It was, in fact, not Suguru's birthday. The cat was kind of cute though. He opened the card and read what was written inside.

"Dear Suguru,

I know you haven't been feeling your best lately. I know how you feel. I also know how recent events at school has got you questioning a lot of things. Let's leave school, it will be best for the both of us. Just like me, Riko's death affected me more than you might be realising.

I couldn't bear to tell you this personally. It would get too confusing.

I added some chocolate. Please don't eat it all before you arrive at the village. This is VERY important.

Please Suguru, let's leave Jujutsu High.

To say this card confused Suguru would be about the biggest understatement made in the 21st century.

Though the handwriting doesn't compare to Gojo's, it seems to be written from his perspective. However, Gojo didn't know about the village mission, so how could he have written about it?

Did he lie about his movie plans to not seem suspicious? Did he even write this letter? It must have been him. Riko's death was mostly covered up by the school counsil.

He never really thought Gojo was struggling as much as him on an emotional front. He never let it show. He thought that he was miles behind Gojo in terms of mental well-being. Seeing new juniors die over and over again has taken a toll on his mind, verging on the edge of it being too big of a burden to carry for himself.

Maybe Gojo is right. He probably should leave Jujutsu high for a while. He hasn't quite had the opportunity to process his classmates' deaths well. Maybe this will make him feel better. Feel less guilty for not being able to protect them.

The weight of his conscious resting on his shoulders would temporarily be lifted by the sudden decline of movement in the car. Suguru looked outside and saw a small village on the right-hand side of the car.

"Any idea on the type of curse in the village?" Suguru asked his informant and taxi driver.

"The type is unknown. It's why the council wanted a grade 1 or higher sorcerer to come."