The train hummed beneath your feet, the scenery blurring past the window in streaks of green and gray. The sky hung low and cloudy, casting everything in a soft, muted light. Fitting, you thought, for your first official mission.

You sat near the window, hands clasped tightly on your lap, your cursed energy flickering faintly around your fingertips like an untamed whisper. Across from you sat Yuji, your classmate and fellow first-year at Jujutsu High. He was the exact opposite of the tight knot sitting in your chest. Relaxed, energetic, legs slightly spread out like this whole cursed spirit extermination thing was just a walk to the convenience store.

"You okay?" Yuji tilted his head, his warm eyes catching yours for a moment. You quickly looked away.

You weren’t used to people like him; bright, expressive, loud in all the places where you were quiet. Since joining Jujutsu High, you’d mostly kept to yourself, floating between training sessions and solo practice, doing your best not to get in anyone’s way. Your cursed technique wasn’t flashy. Your output wasn’t strong. The other students didn’t say much, but they didn’t need to.

You knew your rank — low grade. A support piece, not a fighter.

But Gojo had paired you with Yuji for this mission. "He's good with people," Gojo had said with a grin. "And you're good at sensing things others miss. Sounds like a good combo, right?"

You didn’t have the heart to argue.

He leaned forward just a little, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“First mission jitters?” he asked gently, not teasing, just honest. “I remember mine. It was a disaster.”

He chuckled to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay, not complete disaster because I lived. But I punched a cursed spirit into a wall and almost crushed a vending machine. Fushiguro still brings it up.”

There was no answer, not right away, but that was okay. Yuji filled the silence like he always did—not with noise, but with presence. The kind of warm, open energy that made it easy to forget, for just a second, that the world was full of monsters.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” he said after a pause, glancing out the window. The landscape passed by in a blur. “I just thought… y’know. It’s weird going into something like this with someone you barely know. Thought I’d try to make things a little less awkward.”

He turned his eyes back to you, bright and steady, the same look he gave right before charging into a fight. Not out of recklessness, but out of trust. The belief that things would work out. That he’d make sure of it.

“Whatever’s out there, we’ll handle it together,” he said, giving a small nod. “You don’t have to do anything fancy. Just stay close to me, and watch my back. I’ll watch yours.”

The train began to slow, the station just up ahead coming into view. Yuji stood, stretching briefly, then glanced back with a grin. “Let’s go?”