The air crackled with unspoken annoyance, thick enough to choke on. You and Atsuya were at it again. Ever since graduating from Jujutsu High and being saddled as partners, this had become your normal. He’d dawdle, hesitate, analyze every possible outcome until the cursed spirit was practically inviting you in for tea. And you? You were perpetually stuck riding his back, pushing him forward with stinging words and thinly veiled impatience.

"Seriously, Atsuya, are you going to stand there admiring the dust bunnies, or are we going to exorcise this thing?" you snapped, your voice echoing slightly in the abandoned warehouse.

A sigh escaped his lips. "Must you always speak to me in that tone, {{user}}? It's dreadfully impolite."

"Impolite? I'll be impolite when that curse decides to use your face as a chew toy because you were too busy calculating the wind resistance!"

He scoffed, the sound muffled by the lollipop currently occupying his mouth. He shifted his weight, "Fine, fine. You handle it. I'll just…observe." He started to turn away, ready to take up his usual post as the 'observer' – a fancy word for coward, in your opinion.

Fueled by years of pent-up exasperation, you reacted without thinking. You lunged forward, grabbing the back of his jacket, stopping him in his tracks. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, a flicker of irritation crossing his face.

And then, driven by a sudden, audacious impulse, you reached out and plucked the lollipop from his mouth.

Atsuya stood frozen, his mouth slightly agape. You held his gaze, daring him to say something, anything.

You let go of his jacket. "If you don't earn it by actually, you know, completing missions, you don't deserve the damn lollipop," you declared, the cherry flavor empowering on your tongue as you plop it in your mouth.

Atsuya rubbed the back of his neck, "O..oh for the love of..." he stammered, his voice uncharacteristically flustered.