reinasinfinitevoid

[reinasinfinitevoid]

《TWO》 who needs friends anyway?

The humidity stuck to your skin as you fled the instructional hall, leaving behind faces that - unbeknownst to you - had quickly turned from confusion to concern as they watched you walk away. You had to find the training facility and couldn’t be bothered to take the time to deal with whatever was going through their minds right now.

You knew you shouldn’t even care; it wasn’t like you’d planned to make friends here anyways; past Shoko, of course. You wouldn’t dare let what drove you from Kyoto happen here too, and if that meant keeping everyone at arm’s length and yourself from getting close to anyone ever again, then that’s exactly what you intended to do.

“Reina!”

The sound of your name being called from behind you nearly made you stop, the still unfamiliar voice of one of the boys you’d just met causing your steps to falter slightly before you pushed on.

“Reina!” The voice called again, this time a bit closer - your eyes widening in surprise at his pace despite the stubborn set of your jaw. “I know you can hear me!”

“Please just leave me alone,” you replied listlessly from over your shoulder, your own pace quickening a bit more in hopes of avoiding a public confrontation. You were approaching what looked to be a baseball field attached to a large gymnasium - that has to be where I’m going, you thought to yourself as the pit in your stomach grew larger with each step. And while you’d never been the fastest, at least you had a decent head start on the teenage boy tailing you. Or so you’d thought.

“Come on, Ieiri - could you please just give me a second?” The proximity of the voice behind you made the small hairs on the back of your neck stand up, causing you to swiftly spin around and face him.

“And what good would a second do?” Came your haughty reply, your arms crossing over your torso defensively as your cold gaze met his nearly pleading one.

He looked just as exasperated as he sounded, two pieces of his dark hair now framing his face and haphazardly blowing in the soft autumn breeze. And yet there was this somehow unaffected calm still surrounding him that threatened to pull you closer, despite every fiber of your being anchoring your feet to the ground beneath them in firm protest.

“Listen, Satoru can be a bit… he’s a lot to get used to,” Suguru conceded with a sigh, sliding his hands into his pockets and settling back onto his heels about a yard away from you - eyeing you warily as if you might bolt again.

“A lot to get used to?” You questioned skeptically, one eyebrow arching in disbelief. “More like insufferably arrogant and unreasonably pretentious.”

Suguru choked out a small laugh, clearly dumbfounded at your unfettered criticism of his friend.

“Well, yes - he is both of those things,” he acquiesced while fighting back a telling smirk. “But he’s also a wonderful ally. And still learning, as we all are.”

This made your anger deflate a bit, the disgruntled frown on your face softening slightly as your arms fell to your sides, Suguru's dark eyes watching you intently.

“I'm not here to make friends, Suguru,” you explained guardedly, your apprehension evident in the small pinch between your brows.

The small smirk on his lips widened slightly as his hands went up in a show of mock surrender, wordlessly taunting you in a way that made your stomach somersault ominously.

“That at least doesn't make us enemies, though, hmm?”

A part of you wanted to disagree with him, but there was this hopeful gleam in his eye that threatened to make your stomach flip over again. So, instead, you just rolled your eyes at him, turning to quickly walk away from him again before he could see the way his words affected you.

"Aw, Suguru - don't tell me you scared her off this time," Shoko's playful voice called out from behind you.

"Nah," the raven haired boy answered, smirk still evident in his tone as he watched you walk toward the practical facilities. "I have a feeling we're gonna get along pretty well, actually."

You were out of earshot by the time Satoru’s boisterous lilt responded, far enough that you were unable to make out his teasing words as he threw a casual arm over Suguru's shoulder.

And all the while unaware of the small smile that had crept into the corners of your own mouth as the trio started on the same path you were taking.

[reinasinfinitevoid]

《ONE》 what you should have known then.

You had never once feared Satoru Gojo, though you'd been raised knowing exactly who he was. The One Man Army. The Honored One. The Six Eyes.

But he was nothing like those legends you'd been told when you first met him. You weren't really sure what you'd expected, but it definitely wasn't a gangly 15 year old with a loud mouth and an unruly mop of hair so white it almost glowed.

You'd transferred from Kyoto High at the beginning of your second year - and, unfortunately for you, he had somehow already heard of you. Or of your ability, that is.

"So you're the girl that can co-op other sorcerers' powers," he'd jeered as he circled you in the hall after your first day of classes, looking down at you over the round lenses of his sunglasses. "Seems a bit underhanded to me, if I do say so myself."

You felt your ears slowly start to heat up in familiar shame, quickly squaring your shoulders and pulling your face into a defensive scowl before you opened your mouth to reply.

"Too bad I don't recall anyone asking for your opinion," a deeper voice countered sardonically from over your shoulder, the quiet tone sounding nearly bored at the other boy's antics.

You turned slightly and, not to sound like a cliché romance novel, your breath literally caught in your throat. The boy looking back at you was, quite simply, stunning - long, jet black hair pulled into a sleek bun and a lopsided smirk directed at you that made your knees go a bit weak.

"Apologies on behalf of this oaf," he offered with a playful eye roll as he pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against. He stepped a bit closer to where you were still frozen in place, also towering over you yet somehow less imposing than his blonde counterpart. "I'm Suguru. And that ray of absolute sunshine goes by Satoru.”

“As if some newbie has earned the right to refer to us so comfortably,” Satoru scoffed, his arms folding over his chest in perturbation. “It’s Gojo to you.”

Your mouth dropped open slightly, hardly believing the callous way the boy was speaking to someone he’d just met. You awkwardly adjusted your knapsack on your shoulder, gritting your teeth together as frustrated tears threatened to spill from your eyes.

“Rei!”

Your eyes darted around Satoru’s tall frame at the sound of your nickname, looking through the crowded hall for the one voice you knew in this foreign city.

“Don’t tell me - you’ve barely even introduced yourself to my cousin, but have already somehow put your giant foot in your mouth, huh, Satoru?” Shoko chided the white-haired boy as she threw an arm around your shoulders in welcome, her friend Utahime stopping close behind her.

The shock on Satoru’s previously smug face nearly made you laugh out loud, his mouth now agape and brow creased together in uncertainty.

“Wait, wait, you're Shoko's cousin?!” He exclaimed once her words had a second to sink in, his disbelieving gaze bouncing between the two of you almost comically.

“Oh, stop standing there looking like a stupid guppy,” Utahime chastised with an annoyed huff. “Anyone could tell they're related, they look exactly alike for God's sake!”

“Except for the hair, that is,” Suguru spoke up again, eyes narrowed on the one glaring difference between you and their friend.

It was hard to ignore the two bold chunks of silver that ran through your otherwise plain dark brown, shoulder-length hair; one slightly more pronounced than the other, but both equally confounding for someone your age. You knew it was one of the first things anyone ever noticed about you, and between that and your shockingly green eyes, you weren’t sure which you’d grown to resent more.

“Ah yeah, what’s up with the weird dye-job anyways? Kyoto’s rules must be way more lax than here,” Satoru questioned snidely, long arms crossed over his torso as if he’d called you out on breaking the rules.

“Don’t worry, Gojo, it's not a dye-job. Thanks so much for your concern though,” you reassured him begrudgingly before pushing past him and continuing down the hall to find your next class.

The confusion that had shown on three of the four faces in front of you was one you were well accustomed to by now, but not something you felt like humoring with a new group of peers in the hall of your new school. You knew the “fresh start” couldn’t last forever, but you expected to at least make it one day without having to explain the ins and outs of your cursed technique - or how it affected you.

Shoko had called after you then, but you knew better than to try and convince a group of strangers of anything, especially when they'd already made up their minds. You'd stormed out of the templesque building into the mid-morning sun, not really caring if the door slammed behind you.

And, knowing what you do now, maybe you should have realized then that neither of those two boys would ever leave you alone.

[reinasinfinitevoid]

the beginning.

You couldn't be sure what stood out more from that day.

Was it the hollow knock as it sounded through your suddenly suffocating dormitory? The achingly cold ground under your feet as you mindlessly pulled yourself to the door? Or the haunted resignation in his piercing cerulean gaze that now purposely avoided yours?

You'd forced yourself to open it, swallowing back the sinking feeling in your stomach as your other arm wrapped around you in self-defense, pulling Suguru's oversized hoodie tighter against your athletic frame. And knowing exactly who would be waiting on the other side…

《part one -> 07.03.25》