Here it is!!! Da bonus chapter
Check out my new fanfic: Jujutsu Kaisen: What is Life?
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BONUS CHAPTER, will be on hold for a while, as I am will be getting real busy with irl stuff, along with my new fanfic. But don't worry, I will still be updating on a daily basis.
Hope ya understand.
Slice life chapter. Some emotions. And the end of vol 3.
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After school, Akira and Momo walked together as always.
They were on the same route they always took. Past the U.A. gates, down the tree-lined street, through the quiet part of Musutafu where the wealthy estates began to appear behind tall hedges and iron fences.
However, today, the air between them was weird. Neither of them spoke.
Momo was quiet because she was waiting. She didn't know how Akira was feeling after everything that had happened today. Whatever had gone down in Nezu's office that she wasn't allowed to know about. She could see it in his eyes when he walked into class. She was 100 percent sure something had happened. But he hadn't said a word about it, and she wasn't going to push.
She would wait. She was good at that.
Akira, on the other hand, was quiet because he was thinking about everything that happened so far.
The HPSC President sitting across from him, trying to legally kidnap him. National Security Provision 12-B. The barrier-type quirk that stopped his mother's fist.
And then Nezu.
That insane, tea-drinking rat who had risked everything. Years of collected intelligence. All spent in a single move, just to buy him time. Not to win. Just to buy time.
Nezu believed in him. Actually believed in him. Not as a weapon. Not as a tool. But as the person.
Then his mother. Honoka. The woman who tried to punch one of the most powerful people in Japan because she threatened her son. Zero hesitation. Just a fist and green flames and a look that said 'I will burn this entire system down before I let you touch him.'
And the class. His classmates. The people who had watched him sever limbs and cauterize wounds and fight like a demon, and instead of being afraid, they were worried about him. They defended him.
Even after seeing his real side, they still wanted him around.
He hadn't expected that.
He hadn't expected any of it.
Then he looked to his right.
Momo.
This damn girl...
She was walking beside him in silence. She wasn't looking at him. She was giving him space. Letting him think. Being there without demanding anything.
She really didn't push me away.
The thought hit harder than it should have.
This was the day Akira had always dreaded.
No. What he had dreaded was this. The moment where the people around him saw who he really was.... and stayed.
He knew his dream. The Symbol of Fear. He knew what it required. He knew it would be an ugly path, full of brutality. It would be unforgivable in the eyes of many.
For that, he had made a rule. No attachments. No friends. No one close enough to hold him back. No one close enough to get hurt.
But somehow, this girl walked in.
He thought about the first time they met. Back in China, during the Summit. That conversation, where she said she wanted to train with him. He had smiled, nodded, and thought she was being polite. Rich girl making a casual promise she'd forget by the time the plane landed.
But she didn't forget.
She showed up at his gate. 7 AM. Every single day.
When the training started, he pushed her hard. Harder than any reasonable person would push a friend. He thought she would break. He thought she would cry, call him a monster, and leave.
That never happened. She got up. Every single time. She wiped the sweat, fixed her ponytail, and stayed.
When the training ended, he thought that would be the exit. She had learned everything he had to offer. There was no reason to stick around. The transaction was complete.
Yet again, he was proven wrong. She didn't leave. She stuck by his side. Called him every day. Showed up at his door with new techniques she wanted to test and stupid questions about his pipe and whatever new thing Nia had destroyed in the house.
Then USJ happened.
He had finally, purposely, shown her the ugliest part of himself. The part that cuts limbs without hesitation. The part that burned men and watched them scream. The part that did not fight like a warrior, but like a torturer.
He thought for sure that was the end.
And then she looked him in the eye and said, "I don't give a fuck what you do to villains."
She didn't leave. She said he was stuck with her.
Akira looked at her now. Walking beside him. Quiet. Patient. Warm.
Guess I am stuck with you forever.
He started laughing.
A soft, genuine laugh that came from his heart. Somewhere that hadn't made a sound in a very long time.
Momo looked at him, concern in her face.
"Akira? You okay?"
He turned to her.
And smiled.
It wasn't his usual smirk. Not the lazy, half-amused grin he gave when teasing people.
It was real.
A real, honest, warm smile.
Momo's breath caught.
She had seen Akira smile before. Hundreds of times. But this was different. There was something behind it that she couldn't identify. Something soft. Something vulnerable. Something he never showed anyone.
Before she could process it, he reached out.
His hand came up slowly as he placed it on her cheek. He gently brushed a strand of hair from her face.
His fingers were warm. The touch was light, barely there, like he was handling something fragile.
"Nothing, you stupid girl," he said softly. "I'm just glad to have you with me."
Then he pulled his hand back, turned right at the next intersection toward the Shuzenji estate, and walked away.
Momo stood there. Unable to process what had just happened.
MOMO POV:
What?
What?
What?
What?
What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?
Right after Akira turned that corner and disappeared from view, my brain short-circuited.
Like, completely. The whole system crashed. Blue screen. Error 404. Momo.exe has stopped working.
What was that? What am I? What was that smile? I have never seen him smile like that. He's never smiled like that. Not once. Not in all the time I've known him. Did he just say he's glad to have me with him? He touched my cheek. He actually touched my cheek.
That felt...
That felt good.
WAIT. NO. NOOOOOO!!!
I held my face with both hands. I could feel it. The heat. My face was burning.
I was blushing.
I, Yaoyorozu Momo, daughter of the second-wealthiest family in Japan, master of molecular creation, was standing in the middle of a public sidewalk, blushing like a middle schooler because a boy touched her face and said something nice.
Well, to be fair, that boy was Akira.... BUT NO! This is not happening!
I started walking. Fast. Then faster. Then I was running.
I ran past the park. Past the bakery. Past the old lady who always waved at me from her garden.
Sorry, Mrs. Tanaka, can't stop, having a crisis.
The gates of the Yaoyorozu estate came into view.
I sprinted through them. The guards saw me coming and opened the gate just in time. Thank god for well-trained staff.
But they were staring at me. Both of them. Just staring. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the glass of the guard booth as I passed.
My face was the colour of a tomato.
"YOU SAW NOTHING!!!!!" I yelled without stopping.
They nodded quickly and looked away.
I reached the front door. I didn't open it. I kicked it open.
BANG.
The foyer. The staircase. The hallway to safety. My room was upstairs. Twenty seconds away. I could make it. I just had to-
"Hello, dear! Come give me a hu-"
Mom.
No. No no no no no. Not now. Anyone but her. She has a sixth sense for this. She will know.
Before she could complete the hug, I sidestepped her like I was dodging a villain in combat training. Her arms closed on air.
"SORRY, BUSY, HOMEWORK, BYE!" I yelled, already halfway up the stairs.
I heard her voice behind me. "Momo? Honey? Wha-"
I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. If she saw my face, it was over. My life as I knew it would end. She would never let this go. Never. She'd be planning the wedding before dinner.
I reached my room. I opened the door. Slammed it shut. Locked it.
I stood there for one second, breathing hard.
Then I took a running leap onto my bed, buried my face into the pillow, and screamed.
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!"
I lay there, face down, legs kicking the mattress, replaying it over and over again.
That smile. That stupid, unfair, beautiful smile that he had no right to make.
"I'm just glad to have you with me." The sentence repeated in my head.
I screamed into the pillow again.
Just friends. We are JUST FRIENDS. This doesn't mean anything. He was probably just being nice. He had a long day. He almost got arrested.
People say weird things when they're stressed. That's all it was.
Right?
RIGHT?!
I rolled over and stared at the ceiling.
My heart was beating so fast I could hear it in my ears.
"Just friends," I whispered.
It didn't sound convincing. Not even a little.
I grabbed the pillow and put it over my face.
Then a question came into my mind.
"What am I so scared off?"
Back to General POV:
Reika Yaoyorozu stood at the bottom of the grand staircase, her arms still extended from the failed hug attempt.
She blinked..... then blinked again.
"What... was that about?"
She stared at the stairs where her daughter had just sprinted past her at a speed that would have impressed Ingenium or Mirko.
The front door was still open from when Momo kicked it. A small crack ran along the doorframe. Reika made a mental note to get it fixed.
Just then, footsteps approached from behind.
"Reika-sama."
She turned.
One of the estate guards was standing there.
"Oh, hey, Kirito," Reika said, her voice still confused. "Do you know what's wrong with Momo?"
Kirito hesitated. He had been on gate duty when Momo came sprinting through. He had seen everything.
"Well, Reika-sama," he began carefully, "the young miss came running through the gate. She was holding her face with both hands. And she was... very red."
"Red?"
"Yes, ma'am. Her face. It was... extremely red. Like she had been in the sun for several hours."
Reika's eyes started to glint.
That specific glint. The one that Kiyomasa(Momo's father, for those who don't remember) called 'The Warning Sign.' The one that the household staff had learned meant one of two things: either something wonderful was about to happen, or their workload was about to triple.
Kirito saw the glint, and he knew what to do.
"I should get goi-"
Reika's hand landed on his shoulder.
"You're going nowhere, Kirito."
He swallowed. "Understood, Reika-sama."
"Now," Reika said, her breathing getting heavier, her excitement building like a pressure cooker about to blow, "tell me everything. Everything you saw. Start from the beginning. Don't skip a single detail."
"I... I only saw her running through the gate, Reika-sama. I don't know what happened befo -"
"She was red. You said she was red."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And holding her face."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Did she yell something like, 'You saw nothing'?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
Reika's hands were shaking. She was practically vibrating. Pink roses were already starting to bud along her forearms, her quirk responding to her emotional state.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts, found the name, and hit call.
Ring.
Ring.
The call connected.
"Hey, Reik-"
"HONOKA YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"WHA-"
Reika spun toward Kirito, her phone held out in front of her. Rose petals were now actively falling from her arms, scattering across the marble floor.
She pointed at Kirito.
"EXPLAIN. EVERYTHING. YOU. SAW."
Kirito looked at the phone. He looked at Reika. He looked at the rose petals accumulating around his feet.
He thought one thing.
I am cooked.
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With that the end of Volume 3!!!! Hope you enjoyed it😁😁
Plus if you want, you can read up to 7+ because you guys are too fast(10 will be up soon) advanced chapters and support me you can alway join my P@treaon. (Just search up Joe_Mama p@treon on google.)