| Washing Machine Heart ~ Mitski |

I wake up like a light being switched on. Just my eyes open, and the world is visible to me. I do not jerk from the nightmare. I do not scream Nobara's name. I do not sweat.

Well, I sweat a little, but that's only because the temperature is starting to rise and I still have a heavy comforter over me. Wait...

I don't remember putting the comforter on. I throw it off and turn, only to be greeted with another pair of open eyes. With an accompanying smile, they're kinda putting me off.

Ugh!

"Good morning," she says - this girl who Inumaki thinks looks quite a lot like Nobara and that I should go to grief counseling before this gets out of hand. He has too many opinions for a person who pretends he can't speak.

"Good morning," I say, getting up to leave the bed.

"Did you sleep well, Maki-san?" She asks, producing a hand to touch my arm. I flinch inwardly but refuse to show. But my shoulder acts on its own.

I look away, biting my lip to keep it inside and say, rather curtly, "yeah, sure. Thanks for coming over."

I quickly find my trousers and t-shirt on the floor and slip them on. When I turn back to the girl in my bed, I realize she has no intention of leaving.

The sun is out already, streaming through the curtains and casting delicate shadows on the floor beside the bed. I'd love to go for a run but I think she has something else in mind.

She removes the blanket to reveal her body underneath - as expected - then proceeds to tap the bed beside her with a coy half-moon smile curved on her face. She has beautiful caramel skin and inviting curves that I'd love to swipe my tongue over. I'm sure I did all that last night.

"You don't have any classes today?" I ask her. I can't remember which department she's from. Not even her name.

"Only one at ten," she declares, "and it's six. We have four hours. A lot can happen in four hours. Wouldn't you say so, Maki-san?" She giggles. "And, take that top off. I wanna see those scars of yours. You didn't even let me touch them last night."

Oh boy!

All my horniness evaporates. Nobara would have never said that.

I sigh and put on a smile. "As much as I'd like to do that," I lie, "I do have work. Remember, it's the freshers' party tonight. And I'm on the organizing team. So, it'd be great if we could wrap this up now."

She scowls. She has a pretty face and a great body. Unfortunately, I would never see her naked again.

"Call me, Maki-san," I think she says as I shut the door on her face. I do a quick scan of the hall and go about picking up the trash and cleaning the living room. If it can be called a living room.

I live in a small apartment. The front door leads into a space that I have turned into an open kitchen plus a living area. A floor mattress lies against the wall, kinda messy - I'm sure we started making out here. That's usually how it always goes.

I go back to the bedroom, the only spacious room in the apartment. A patio door opens up to the balcony as wide as a ledge over the apartment below and I slide it open to let the warmth flood inside. With my toothbrush in my mouth, I step onto the balcony to greet my plants. I say hi to the Croton, rub my knuckles along the leaves of the Jade, and run my fingers over the fern and the Haworthia. I water them and say a few encouraging words to each of them.

Back in my room, I quickly put on my running clothes and shoes and strap on my sports glasses before heading out. I warm up a little in front of my door, before starting my day for real. The exercise would most surely get those absurd comments out of my head.

Not that I was thinking about it!

My apartment building is only meters away from the expansive campus of Gakuganji University, circling the perimeter of which is enough exercise for a day. I take a left and flash my ID to the guard, who gives me an easy pass.

I cross the Miyazaki Block - this is where today's entrance ceremony and cultural program will be taking place. I run past the library and the academic blocks, and for some reason, I'm drawn to the hostel buildings. I stand in the middle of the two blocks reserved for women, and my senses wander to the yard behind them. I can sense a curse there, albeit a very weak one.

It's weird how Tengen-sama's barrier keeps the stronger curses out, but often fails to prevent the smaller ones from coming in. Well, it's okay! It keeps us in the practice of exorcising.

After having spent four years in the protectiveness of Tokyo Jujutsu High, being out in the open like this can be a little overwhelming. But I'm past that now, and so are my friends.

The idea of this University, although very non-traditional in the world of Jujutsu, came from the most traditional, and conservative person in the community - Gakuganji sensei. He even made sure the University was named after him. Toge, Panda, Yuuta, and I were in our second year at Tokyo Jujutsu High when this was proposed.

When our seniors started participating in underground fight clubs for money, the higher-ups decided to engage jujutsu sorcerers in regular, non-jujutsu education until graduation. To be able to better assimilate into the rest of the society. Like Nanami-san.

Makes total sense to me! Most of the higher-ups in this community are sorcerers with businesses that earn them their positions. Sorcerers like Satoru Gojo, Noritoshi Kamo, and Mai Zenin are from sought-after clans that have businesses to help them get by.

But, what about the sorcerers that come from regular, middle-class, non-jujutsu families? And what about people like me, the delinquent daughters of the aforementioned conservative clans?

A degree would be great for us.

Panda was the one who was totally against the idea. Well, because it was first decided to not send him to college with us. For obvious reasons!

But then he threw a fit. Like the big baby that he is. So, Yaga sensei was forced to transfer his souls into a Ken doll and he now goes by Chang Panda, a student very popular on the campus, among girls and boys.

I sigh, concentrating to locate the stench of the curse. I walk towards the hostel buildings. Breakfast is about to be served in the dining halls and students are loitering in the corridors, and the front yard, among other places. I can see quite a few people doing morning exercises in the yard where I'm sensing the curse. I'd have to take it out carefully, so nobody senses a thing.

I walk further into the yard and look around. When I push the hood off my head, I see it. Shit!

I shouldn't be laughing - if I even remember how to - but this is by far the funniest scene I've witnessed in the last few months. On my left is the curse, a fly head like I assumed, sitting perched on the back of a girl doing pushups on a yoga mat.

"Seventeen... Eighteen... Nineteen..."

I hear her staggered breath very prominently from where I'm standing. She seems very distressed, yet nobody notices her. Maybe I noticed her only because of the curse. When I walk up to her, she finishes her set of 20 and lies flat on her mat, panting.

"Are... Are you okay?" I ask, keeping an eye on the curse goofing around on her lower back.

"Ugh, yes," she replies. Her voice is sweet but strained. "Maybe I overdid the pushups. I can't lift my back anymore. I'll lie here for a while, I guess."

I smile inwardly. "Should I give you a rub or something?" I ask, my eyes trailing down the girl's body.

She's... wow! She's adequately endowed on her behind. I cough, restraining myself from looking inappropriately. "I'm sure I'll be fine," she says, trying to lift herself again, but failing.

"I promise I wouldn't touch you inappropriately," I assure her. I can exorcise the curse without touching her, obviously. This is only to better explain the sudden disappearance of the cause of her distress.

"Umm..." She still fidgets with the idea. "Okay, then. Th- thanks, I guess."

I kneel beside her. I have a cursed energy imbued knife wedged in a thin pocket inside my sleeve.

With one hand, I touch the girl's back, somewhere along her spine, and pretend to give her a rub. And with the other, I whisk the knife out of my sleeve and stab the fly head with it. It bursts into purple goo, which instantly evaporates, and I pocket the knife.

"There, is that better?" I ask, moving my palm over her spine in easy, swiping motions. She tries to lift herself again and succeeds this time.

"Oh," I hear her, her voice clearer this time. "Oh, that's... wow, it's like it's gone."

It is.

She does a little stretch, like a cat, pushing her butt back as much as it could go, before sitting up straight.

She's pretty. In fact, very pretty. She has almond eyes, of a warm brown color which I'm sure glow under the sunlight. "Thanks," she says, smiling, revealing a crooked front tooth that does a thing or two to my heart. She's cute.

"No problem," I say, with a shrug, and start to leave. But she stops me.

"I'm Niji," she says, producing a hand, "Gushiken Niji. Nice to meet you. I'm a freshman in the Genetics department."

Oh!

"I'm Maki, junior in Fine Arts." I introduce myself and wait for her to take the conversation forward. I'm not very good at that, after all.

"Are you from this block? Do you wanna have breakfast together?" She asks. Thankfully.

"I live off-campus," I inform her, standing up, giving her the space to follow, "I just came in for a run around the campus."

"Oh." She sighs as if I've just turned her down.

I quickly say, "but I can have breakfast with you. I... am kinda hungry. Do you wanna eat from the mess, or would you like to head out with me?" Yes, this is me trying to flirt with her. Can she tell?

I hope she can. I'm not gonna see the girl from last night anymore, so it'd be great to fill the void with a fresher.

"I haven't eaten out at all since I've arrived here, so... it'd be pretty cool to head out," she replies with a smile. Is she flirting with me too?

I wait in the yard as she goes upstairs to put her yoga mat away and fetch her ID. When she returns, we make our way off-campus.

"Maki-san!" We hear a loud yell from the other side of the road as we're about to enter the diner I frequent. I sigh and look at my companion. She's easily 5 inches shorter than I am.

"Fret not," I tell her. "It's only my juniors."

We are immediately greeted by an enthusiastic Yuuji and an equally nonchalant Megumi. I wave at them, with little enthusiasm. My chances of getting this girl to sleep with me have not gone down the slightest, but my opportunities for flirting over breakfast have dimmed.

"We were just on a run," Itadori mentions when he notices a non-shaman with me. "No funny business."

"Dude, you realize that makes us sound gay?" Megumi literally hisses at him.

"You two share a one-bedroom flat, you couldn't get any gayer, my guys," I remark, making Niji chuckle. It's such a sweet sound; it makes me stop in my tracks. I look at her with puckered lips, trying hard not to let a smile escape. When she looks back, I look away, pretending to examine the details on the door handle.

"Maki-san, you know I have a mattress in the living room." I hear Megumi's complaint and choose to ignore it.

This girl has all my attention now. It'd be a shame if I don't end up in her dorm room by tonight. It'd be a shame if she ends up being straight.

A bell rattles as the door gives in to my push. The diner is sparsely populated by faces I may have seen on campus. Insignificant faces. They sit at distant tables or the counter, chomping on pancakes, sandwiches, or breakfast cereal. Some of the faces work here, going around collecting orders or utensils, discarding wasted food, or cleaning tables.

We don't take our usual table, which is big enough to accommodate Panda and Toge as well. We take a smaller one, for the four of us and it makes me glad when Niji slides into the same side as me. "So-" I start to speak but Yuuji beats me to it.

"Hi," he says, producing a hand in the freshman's direction, "I'm Yuuji Itadori. My ideal type of woman is Jennifer Lawrence. Nice to meet you."

I have heard his line so many times and never does it fail to feel like a giant capsule going down my throat. Niji is stunned by the forwardness of the introduction and shakily produces her hand to touch his. "I'm Gushiken Niji. My ideal type... of woman is... Cate Blanchett. Nic- nice to meet you."

Fuck yes, she's a lesbian!

Or maybe she's just following Yuuji's lead?

"Do you like women only?" Another very forward, no-respect-to-boundaries question from the pink-haired boy. But thanks to him, I guess. At least it gets cleared out quickly.

"Umm..." Niji gets shy, and I realize it's my responsibility, as the person who brought her here, to defend her. Damn it! I really would have liked to know.

"Hey, let's not..." I start but I'm immediately stopped by a shaky voice.

"Yeah, actually yes," the new girl says. Phew!

"Great," Yuuji laughs and nudges his flatmate to introduce himself.

Grumpily, Megumi states, "I'm Megumi Fushiguro. Umm... I like my partner to have an easygoing, but virtuous personality."

"We're actually related," I state, fumbling in my head to find absolutely anything to tell this pretty girl.

"Oh, really?" She startles, absorbing the information. "Cousins?"

"He's actually the son of my cousin," I inform. "Who's dead, by the way. But yeah, he's actually my nephew. By blood. But we like to go by just Megumi and Maki-san."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Niji does a quick apologetic bow to the boy sitting across the table from her and he just shakes his head.

"Nothing to be sorry about."

Yuuji, either by sensibility or ignorance - I never know with this kid - shifts the conversation to the breakfast we are here for. "What are we ordering?"

"I know what I'm ordering," I quickly say and push the menu to the new girl. "What do you want?"

"Umm..." She looks through the front and turns, perusing all items one by one. She's taking her sweet time. And so am I, looking at her. What a pretty nose! And the plump cheeks.

And so are the others. I can feel the pink retriever's eyes on me and hear Megumi's snarky comments that might come out in a bigger, shaman-only group. "What?" I look up and ask Yuuji, but he only shakes his head, his eyes still sparkling.

"Sorry, sorry," Niji apologizes, looking up. "There are so many things here, I can't choose."

This is where a knight in shining armor steps in. "Would you like me to order for you?" I ask, eliciting a fake cough from my cousin's son. What an annoying kid!

"Sure," she replies with a glowing smile. It's like sunlight: I could bathe in this.

"Any allergies I should know of?" Is this a fetish I have? Not the allergies, the... whole... idea of publicly possessing someone.

"Umm... Mushrooms!"

"Okay." I glance at her and she's looking away, outside at the students running to get to class, professors getting off their commute, and traffic police officers maintaining calm on the street.

I decide to order for her what I usually order for myself - pancakes with maple syrup. And when the food arrives, she eats heartily. Yuuji does his part in being extra friendly and making her comfortable around us, while Megumi is nothing but polite.

"Do you guys not have classes today?" Niji asks, finishing her cup of milk. She doesn't share my love for and dependency on coffee. She says, it is too strong for her and gives her heart palpitations. Little baby!

"We're all part of the organizing team for the Freshers' party tonight," Megumi informs.

"Oh, I see," Niji replies. "I wonder why I haven't seen you around during practice."

My ears perk up. "Practice? Will you be performing something?"

"Umm..." She blushes again. "I... I'm planning to do a ballet performance. Dance of the sugar plum fairy."

"A ballet performance?" I don't know why my voice came out like that - a little squeaky like I didn't believe her - but her face fell.

Both Maki and Niji are people with losses and miseries in their own lives. We'll see more of Niji in the following chapters but, what do you think? Do you like Maki Zenin's fuckgirl personality?

A/n: If you liked this chapter, please consider leaving a vote and commenting about what you liked or what you'd like to see in the next chapters.