Satoru and Wanda sat beneath the sprawling branches of a tree.
The only patch of shade on the wind-swept plateau. The sounds of Illyana complaining about her forehead and Rintrah can be barely heard into the distance.
Rintrah opened a portal then both he and Illyana went inside it, the other side can briefly be seen to be the living room of the Rasputins.
Satoru told them to go on ahead with their plans for the day as he and Wanda stayed on the plateau.
"So," Satoru started, leaning back against the trunk and crossing his long legs. He had removed the blindfold, letting his blue eyes wander over the clouds. "The first prize could have been anything you want — literally anything — and all you're asking for is a chat? If it's something that serious, you didn't have to win something just to get me to listen. I'm always available to hear you out, y'know."
Wanda gave a small, nervous huff, picking at a loose thread on her sleeve. "Maybe I just wanted to make sure you were actually here. You were gone for a long time."
"A month isn't that long," Satoru smiled wryly, stretching his arms behind his head. "Besides, I was busy doing 'Sorcerer Supreme' things. Protecting the world from things looking like nightmares is a very glamorous, yet very unpaid job. I'm basically a high-end janitor for earth."
"The temple felt... different without you," she said softly with her voice becoming low and quiet.
Satoru chuckled. "Different? I bet it was peaceful! I'm sure everyone enjoyed the vacation from my 'annoying' face."
Although the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj now currently hold Satoru in a new light and in high regard, there are a few veterans among them with whom he shares not so fond memories with.
"I didn't," Wanda said.
The bluntness of her words made him pause. He turned his head to look at her silently.
Wanda didn't look away this time. She shifted her position, turning fully toward him until she was staring him dead in the eyes.
The usual reservedness that defined her was gone, replaced by something Satoru wasn't quite familiar with associated with her.
"You're always looking at everything, Satoru," she whispered.
Satoru couldn't help but notice the shift on how she addressed him, but he didn't interrupt, opting to listen instead as he gazed back at her silently.
"...In one of our lessons, you told us that your eyes helps you see things others can't…" she whispered. Her hands were trembling with nervousness but her gaze was steady onto his. "As you gaze into my eyes like this, can you see what I want you to see?"
Satoru blinked, his smile faltering as he felt the shift in the atmosphere. The air around them… he's not dense, he knows what this was now, he knows what she was trying to say now.
"Wanda…"
"I've spent every day for the last month thinking about what I'd say when you got back." she said, her voice gaining strength the more she talked even as her face flushed. I realized that the only reason Kamar-Taj feels like home isn't about learning more about my magic, or the fresh breeze on these mountains…"
"...It's you."
She took a shaky breath and leaned slightly closer into his space.
"I love you, Satoru."
Satoru internally sighed as he kept his gaze at hers which was filled with tenderness and… love.
And, amidst this sudden confession from Wanda that had caught him off-guard, all he could think in his head was:
'Shit.'
…
[ School for the Gifted Youngsters ]
Alexandra Rasputin gently dabbed a cotton ball soaked in cold witch hazel onto the massive purple bump on Illyana's forehead. "You return looking like you wrestled a bear, snezhinka," she murmured, her voice full of motherly concern.
"It wasn't a bear, Mama. It was just training with Gojo," Illyana grumbled, not reacting much to the sting that came from the liquid on contact with her bruise.
Across the kitchen table, Rintrah was having a much more difficult time. His large green fingers were clumsily trying to smear a herbal ointment over the scorched patch of fur on his shoulder.
"Why did he use me as a shield, did he have to do that? He smacked me with your sword and shielded himself from Wanda's hex. Now… look at my fur, huhu." Rintrah grumbled and whined, his tail flicking in irritation.
They made small talk about the new black robes Satoru was wearing and how nice it felt to see him again after a month long of not seeing him.
But as the conversation drifted toward the reconstruction of the temple library that Satoru had enacted for the masters to add, Illyana's voice trailed off.
She leaned back in her chair, ignoring her mother's hand, and stared blankly at nothing in particular.
'What did Wanda want to talk about with Gojo?' she wondered.
The image of Wanda staying behind, looking so resolute and nervous, kept replaying in her mind. They were… kinda like best friends? At least she thought so. But, n that moment on the plateau, a wall had seemed to go up between them without rhyme or reason.
Illyana felt a sudden, sharp tightness in her chest.
It made her breath hitch and her brow furrow into a deep, troubled frown. She reached up and gripped the black pendant Satoru had given her, the cool metal feeling heavy against her skin.
"Illyana? Does it hurt that much?" Alexandra asked, noticing her daughter's expression, pausing her dabbing on her bruise.
"No," Illyana whispered, her eyes still fixed on the air. "It's… I was just thinking of something."
Illyana shook her head, trying to dislodge the image of Wanda and Satoru alone on that cliff and whatever complex emotions were starting to crept up her head.
She forced a small smile and turned her gaze toward her mother. "Where's Piotr anyway, Mama? I thought he'd be here to laugh at my forehead. Which is a relief that he isn't."
Alexandra sighed, setting down the cotton ball and recapping the bottle of witch hazel. She moved to the counter to put the medicine away before turning back with a somber expression.
"Your brother is with his team. That group he's a part of... the X-Men," Alexandra explained, her voice dipping into a worried tone. "They are dealing with a crisis. Apparently, several of their members have fallen ill with a very strange disease."
Illyana sat up straighter, her protective instincts instantly flaring. "A disease? What kind?"
"It's very specific, snezhinka," Alexandra said, stepping closer to her daughter. "Piotr said that, according to the doctors and the Professor, only mutants are being affected. He also said that they traced it back to the source which is, kind of weird…"
"What is it?" Illyana asked curiously. Rintrah also turned to glance at them while still applying some ointment.
"He said the cause was fish oil supplements that were being distributed recently."
Illyana's brow furrowed. "Fish oil?"
"Yes. It sounds ridiculous, I know," Alexandra nodded. "But your brother was very insistent. He told me to tell you under no circumstances are you to take any of those supplements or anything like them. He's worried it might be a targeted attack at mutants."
Rintrah, who had finally finished smearing the green goo on his shoulder, looked up with an inquisitive tilt of his head. "A biological agent targeted specifically at the X-gene? That's either alchemy or very dark science, maybe both?"
Illyana's hand moved instinctively back to the black pendant.
Ever since she'd come back from Limbo, she hated the idea of being targeted for what she was.
"Is Piotr okay?" Illyana asked sharply.
"He's fine for now, but he's staying at the school to help with the quarantine," Alexandra sighed. "He hates being away when you're home, but he said the situation is getting... tense."
Illyana looked at Rintrah. The mention of the X-Men and a targeted disease felt like a far cry from the mystisms of Kamar-Taj, but in this world, somethings are just connected.
Like Rintrah said, it might originate from an alchemist that's trying to do something to mutants, or a mix of both that and science.
She might be overthinking things and it might just be a temporary thing, but it's better safe than sorry.
So… should she and Rintrah report this to Gojo? He's the Sorcerer Supreme after all, he might know what to do.
'Great,' Illyana thought, her jaw tightening. 'A month of peace and now the world is trying to poison mutants. Just another Tuesday.'
She stood up, ignoring the slight dizziness from the bump on her head. "Rintrah, let's go back and inform Gojo about this."
Rintrah nodded and stood up.
Alexandra walked them to the door, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.
"The more help your brother receives, the better," Alexandra said softly. "If your master really can do something about this... then Piotr and the Professor would greatly appreciate it. Be careful, snezhinka."
"Don't worry, Mama. Gojo is good at this kind of things," Illyana replied.
"Indeed," Rintrah added as agreement.
They said their final goodbyes, and Rintrah raised his hands, tracing the air to weave a portal back to the Himalayan plateau. The orange sparks sputtered into a circular rift, revealing the snowy peaks on the other side.
Illyana stepped through first and Rintrah followed a second later, the portal vanishing behind them with a soft hiss.
However, as soon as Rintrah stepped onto the grass of the plateau, he bumped right into Illyana's back.
She had stopped dead in her tracks for whatever reason.
"Illyana?" Rintrah raised a brow, looking down at her, then he saw the look on her face; eyes wide, petrified. "What's wrong…"
His voice died in his throat as he looked up and followed her line of sight.
Beneath the shade of the tree, Wanda was leaning forward with her hands grabbing Satoru's shoulders, and her face was covering his.
They're… kissing.
No, correction… Wanda was… kissing him?
Illyana stared with wide petrified eyes as the tightness in her chest seemed to tighten more, making her forget even how to breathe.
'What the…'
...
[ Author's Notes ]: Show some love to my new Jujutsu Kaisen Fanfiction ⸜(.˃ ᴗ ˂ )⸝♡ — It's called Jujutsu Taihen!
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