"Okkotsu."

"You'll get caught.."

He mutters to Y/N, his eyes on the now irritated Geto.

'He's sacrificing himself to remove the limits on the curse power!' the curse user grits his teeth, now preparing to attack using his own curses and tornado.

No one told him this fight was about to be his last. Though no one also told him that only a few hours after he looses, his body would..

..Belong to someone else.

"So that's how it is!" he exclaims, "Damn womanizer!"

Y/N rolls their eyes. Okkotsu's a nervous wreck of a teenager- they doubt that this boy can pull anyone. With the obvious exception of Rika, of course.

'Plus he's technically..married? engaged? Or is that a promise ring?' they thought.

A ball of energy begins to form on Rika's mouth. This is going to get nasty.

"How rude." Okkotsu says, "This is pure love."

Geto replies.

"Yeah, and i'm the side of justice."

And just like that, Y/N looses consciousness once again.

The explosion was too large, and considering that the two first years were standing directly below Rika, it wasn't impossible that they were caught in the crossfire.

'This is it.' they thought as they were knocked back by the explosion. Y/N didn't know if it was from Geto or Rika, but in that moment, they were ready to accept their fate.

How would they survive something like that?

They felt bad for not being able to say their goodbyes to Kamei.

Y/N felt bad for not having the chance to tell Inumaki the little crush they had on him, felt bad for not being able to see if Maki and Panda are still alright, and-

"Yuta?!"

"Y/N!"

"Takana!"

The first year slowly opens their eyes, seeing Inumaki on his knees and desperately shaking them awake.

Once the boy sees them finally regaining their consciousness, he's quick to pull their them up using all of his strength, hugging them tightly.

"Wait, Y/N's awake!" Panda says, relieved, "But Yuta's not!"

Maki turns to her classmates, seeing Inumaki's arms around Y/N's body. She sighs out of relief-one of them is awake.

Y/N chuckles, adjusting their body so that Inumaki can properly embrace them. They sit up, wrapping their arms around the boy.

"Hey." they call, "Are you okay?"

Inumaki nods, rubbing their back, "Takana."

Y/N hums as a response, now pulling away to look at the boy with a small smile. Both of them looked tired and beaten up. A trail of dried blood is on the corner of Inumaki's mouth, yet even he was also smiling from underneath the collar that was covering his mouth.

Though events and stuff like these happens often because he's a sorcerer, Inumaki didn't think he'd be so terrified to see Y/N's unconcious body laying on the ground-they mean a lot to him and loosing them would hurt a lot.

Specially not when he hasn't had a proper conversation with them.

"Hey, Yuta! Are you okay?!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Yuta!"

Y/N and Inumaki turn to the other unconcious first year that was laying on his back.

"..Guys."

Okkotsu suddenly sits up, eyes wide. The last thing he remembered was his head hitting something after unleashing a large attack.

"Your wounds.. Maki, Inumaki, Hokori..! Ahh! Panda, your arm didn't heal?!"

He looked like he was going to tear up. Y/N huffs. Doesn't the boy notice the stuffing coming out from Panda's missing arm? Yaga would gladly stitch that together.

"Calm down. We're doing better than you." Maki says, a smile on her face.

"I can fix my arm later, unlike these three." Panda reassures the boy, "Thanks for helping us."

Just as they thought the whole ordeal was over..

"Yuuuuta."

Y/N takes her eyes off Okkotsu, now looking over their shoulder. There they see Rika, waiting patiently for who they assume is Okkotsu. Well, why would the curse still be here?

"Sorry, Rika. Kept you waiting, huh?"

Okkotsu says, standing up. The other first years follows him, curious as to why he was approaching Rika.

"What is it, Yuta?" panda ask.

The boy sweatdrops, and Y/N clicks the roof of their tongue. Only the two of them, including Geto, knew what happened and what Okkotsu had to do before the explosion.

"Uhm.. In exchange for lending me her power, i kinda promised Rika i'd go to the same place as her."

"What?!"

Y/N then scoffs, "Damn womanizer."

Okkotsu lets out a chuckle, and that only adds confusion to the others. Is this going to be an inside joke now? Geto is definitely more than welcomed to be the clown.

"But doesn't that mean you have to die?!"

"What were you thinking, moron?!"

Y/N watches as Maki pulls Okkotsu's collar as he was about to get closer to Rika who's still waiting for the boy.

They sigh,

"Don't you all get it? She loves him. Why'd she want him to die?"

Now it's clear. For Y/N, Rika's intentions are pure and they doubt the curse would actually make Okkotsu take his own life after saving him from a situation where he was about to die.

Suddenly, the special grade curse in front of them begins to crumble to reveal a young girl.

"Eh.. Rika?"

Okkotsu's eyes widen.

"Congratulations. Dispelling complete."

A man appears from the hole on the wall that was previously made by Panda when him and Inumaki arrived at the college earlier.

"Who..?"

"It's the good looking guy. Gojo Satoru." the man deadpans, in disbelief as his own students didn't even recognized him.

Well, who in this college has striking blue eyes that he usually covers with bandages and has white hair?! It's Gojo!

"That theory you had, Yuta. I thought it was interesting, so i ordered for an investigation of your ancestries." Gojo says, "And then, lo and behold!"

The man forms a peace signs with his hands, a smile on his face.

"You were a descendant of sugawara-no-michizane! Meaning you're a distant relative of mine!"

Y/N's eyes slightly widen,

"What?!" they say along with panda and Maki. This is a pleasant surprise.

"Eh? Who?" the clueless boy would ask.

"One of the three greatest japanese cursed spirits."

"A super big time shaman."

"Tuna."

Okkotsu chuckles, seeing his classmates moving away from him. Even he didn't know the person Gojo's referring to.

"You were right, Yuta. Rika didn't curse you-you were the one who cursed her." Gojo says.

He has a point. Okkotsu, he remembers when he was younger, was denying Rika's death and didn't want her to die just yet. It resulted to her coming back as a vengeful curse who harmed everyone that tried to hurt Okkotsu.

"The one who established the curse just revoked the master and servant status. If the curse doesn't desire to lay any punishment, then the dispel is complete." Gojo adds.

"And you can tell just by looking at her."

Y/N and the others could see that. Rika is no longer taking the form of the grotesque curse that she was once. She's now her. Her true form.

Okkotsu then began to tear up, a frown on his face. He goes on his knees, eyes meeting Rika's.

"So it was my fault.." he mutters.

"Making Rika take that form, hurting a lot of people. Because Geto aimed for me, a lot of people died.. I almost killed Hokori..!" he holds his head in his hands, as if he was going to go crazy.

"It's all.. My fault!"

Rika, who now decides to move, walks over to the boy who's currently breaking down. She embraces him,

"Thank you, Yuta."

Hearing her voice surprised the boy. He still continued to cry.

"For giving me time.. For always being beside me.. During these six years, i've been happier than when i was alive."

Rika pulls away, placing a hand on Okkotsu's cheek. She kept her smile even if it was time for her to finally rest.

"Bye bye. Be well. Don't come over here too fast, okay?"

She backs away from the boy with a closed eyed smile, her body now beginning to slowly fade away.

Okkotsu cracks a smile.

"Okay.."

"See you."

"is Kamei alright?"

Cold and cozy. Two things to describe the weather right now; it was the right temperature to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and to cuddle with the person you love.

A few days had passed since Rika was finally dispelled. You, Maki, Panda, and Inumaki were waiting for Okkotsu. Though it's winter, the five of you still needed to train.

You scroll through your phone, and Inumaki, who stood beside you, takes a peek. You don't mind.

You show Maki a picture and message your cousin had sent you on the day of the incident, a small smile on your face.

Maki squints,

"Mai's fine.. I saved kamo.. Not much curses.."

The girl reads, eyes then moving to the image attached to the message; it was Kamei posing with a peace sign with a few of her classmates from the Kyoto college. A girl with blonde hair and a.. Is that a robot? They all seemed to be bruised yet still managed to pose for the camera. It was a success!

"She's doing great." Maki says, "Glad she's safe."

You nod. Inumaki grabs your arm, inching closer to you.

"Do you not have a single jacket?" you ask the boy, heat slowly rising to your cheeks due to how close he is.

"Okaka.."

Panda grins, knowing that Inumaki was doing this on purpose. Just like how the boy did when he bought you chocolates.

You sigh, taking off the scarf around your neck, leaving you with only a jacket. You turn to Inumaki, carefully wrapping the warm piece of cloth around him.

Inumaki shows you a close eyed smile, and you avoide eye contact. Maki playfully rolls her eyes, and Panda covers his mouth to avoid laughing.

'Ah.. He's so adorable.'

The four of you then hears a pair of footsteps coming from the set of stairs in front of you, you then turn to see both Okkotsu and Gojo.

You take a deep breath,

"Yuta! How long are you gonna make us wait?"

"Let's go!" Maki calls for him. She has her hands on her hips, impatiently tapping her feet on the snow covered ground.

Okkotsu, on the other hand, has a smile on his face. The weather may be cold, but his heart felt warm while he looks at his group of friends. Maki waiting, Panda already playing with snow, then both Inumaki and Y/N looking through their phone.

His time as a sorcerer has been rough. Specially since he struggled to gain Y/N's respect for a couple of months. He entered the school with no goal, no passion, and nothing to keep him motivated.

Though it seems like he has already found his purpose to live.

To keep those he love safe.

'..Thank you'