Suddenly, an idea struck me.

I snapped my fingers, "Yuji, I have an idea."

He looked at me with sparkling eyes, "And what would that be?"

I paced back and forth in the dining room, waving my fingers, "If the monster won't come out, then we'll force it to come out."

Yuji clapped his hands, "Miura-sensei, you're so smart!"

I grinned widely at him, "And for that, we should provoke the monster."

He rolled up his sleeves, "I know exactly what you mean!"

Yuji got into a fighting stance and struck the ground, unleashing a Black Flash. The whole ground around us shattered and broke apart.

I shielded myself from the ground with my ice and floated, "Very good, Yuji."

No reaction. Now it's my turn. Since the presence in this environment was dark, I could already guess that the monster might have its own protected area here. I focused on the ground and unleashed a huge ice beam from the earth that shot up towards the sky.

Just as I suspected, the monster had its own protected area around this vicinity. My ice beam broke against the sky. Suddenly, my heart started pounding heavily against my chest, forcing me to my knees, breathing heavily, my eyes widening.

Yuji ran to me and knelt beside me, worried, "Sensei, are you alright?!"

I started sweating, suddenly feeling warm. I nodded my head to reassure him. I winced in pain and trembled. What was this? Why did it happen when I hit his protective barrier and not with Yuji? Another hand appeared on my shoulder. I recognized the presence. I turned in that direction, my eyes widening. I furrowed my brows irritably, propping myself up with a hand on my thigh and trembling with pain. I slapped away the hand on my shoulder and even pushed him away because it was Gojo.

My body felt numb, and I glared at him, teeth clenched, "What are you doing here?"

He looked at me seriously, "To help you."

Help? Again this look in his Eyes

I screamed at him, "But I don't need your help!"

His ocean blue eyes widened, and his mouth slightly ajar.

He scoffed, "Now is not the time to prove your stubbornness."

I approached him, grabbing him by the collar, even though he was about 30 cm taller than me.

I raised my voice, "I said I don't need your help."

He took my hands and looked at me with an admonishing expression, "Miura-"

Yuji watched the argument unfold, concerned, and took a step towards us, "Please, calm down-" but suddenly, a black ground emerged around him, and he fell in.

Gojo and I moved away from each other immediately and yelled in concern, "YUJI!"

The hole disappeared from the ground, and I ran there desperately searching for Yuji.

I turned to Gojo, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't come here, I would have noticed the enemy!"

Gojo grabbed the back of my shirt from behind and yelled at me in frustration, "Are you serious right now?!"

I turned in his grip and threw him over my shoulder. Of course, I knew it wouldn't bother him, and he landed easily on the other side.

He had his back to me and didn't even look at me, "I'm looking for Yuji, and what you're doing doesn't concern me."

His voice sounded disappointed, which only made me angrier.

I was about to insult him, "Do whatever you want, you-" when suddenly, another black hole appeared on the wall of the building behind me, trying to suck me in.

I could feel the monster's soul reaching for my heart. Gojo turned to me in shock and grabbed my hand before the monster could absorb me. His eyes showed concern, even though I had been mean to him. He pulled me into his embrace. He jumped up through the roof and landed outside on the street with me in his arms. He let me go, and dizziness overwhelmed me as blood flowed from my nose.

My vision started to darken, and I fell backward.

In the last moment, I felt him catch me, and he shouted at me in concern, but his voice sounded muffled, "Miuraaaa!"

Everything turned black then.

As I slowly woke up, I realized that I was being carried piggyback by him while he crushed a monster with his infinity.

His voice sounded kind, even too kind, "You're awake."

Even now, he was helping me. He gently set me down as another monster attacked him from the side. He pulled me close to him. With a snap of his fingers, the monster burst, and his infinity protected us from the blood. I wiped the dried blood from under my nose and looked around. We were still here, and the sun was slowly setting. I touched my head where it hurt and turned my back to him, taking deep breaths.

The thing I was about to do would require a lot of strength, and I muttered softly, "Thank you..."

He leaned forward amusedly and cupped his hand to his ear, "I didn't catch that."

I gritted my teeth, and my hands clenched into fists, "Thank you..."

He leaned his face next to mine, his warm breath brushing against me, "What?"

I suddenly shouted, startled, "THANK YOU!"

I jumped away from him and glared at him.

He grinned broadly, "There you go."

I scoffed, "We're done . I want to handle this on my own."

He raised his eyebrows, "Let's make a deal."

"A deal?"

He nodded, "We work together until this is over."

Just the thought made me want to vomit.

I narrowed my eyes, "And why should I agree to that?"

He grinned charmingly, "I helped you, so I want you to agree in return."

I sighed; he was right. I should do him a favor now rather than later.

"Fine, but where's Yuji?"

He pointed downwards.

I looked confused, "Underground?"

He looked up at the sky, "The monster reacts very sensitively to you and mostly targets you."

I crossed my arms questioningly, "Only me?"

"I find that strange too, but we'll deal with that later."