"w-what what should we do-?"
Y/n looked down at riko, lips pressed into a thin line. She set the younger girl down, rubbing her back as she eased the phone off of her hands. Gojo leaned over her shoulder, as if hyper-analyzing the photo.
"well theres no clear giveaway for the location..." he side-eyed riko and y/n lightly kicked his shin. "... But theres a very obvious motive"
"quit being mean satoru. Lets just meet up with geto and see what to do from here"
Gojo huffed, placing his hand on the small of y/n's back then placing the other atop riko's head. He started to float, lowering the three of them from the building, soaring around for a moment as until he caught the figure of geto. They reached the ground with a soft thud and the black haired man whipped his turned to face them, sighing in relief.
"thank goodness amanai is okay-"
"geto-san! Do you know where kuroi-san is?"
Y/n hurriedly interjected. Riko looked pale, bitting her nails with worry etched on her face. Geto frowned.
"dont tell me...!" his eyes were narrowed as his brows creased. "she told me to go on without her. I'm sorry, it was my negligence"
"really?"
"i underestimated kuroi-san's value to the enemy"
A silence washed over them as geto hung his head in shame. Y/n sympathetically rubbed her back, allowing the younger girl to wrap her in a hug. Gojo merely leaned against the nearby wall, as if deep in thought.
"the enemy will probably demand for a hostage exchange. For example, to exchange Amanai for miss kuroi, or to threaten us that they would kill miss kuroi if we dont kill amanai"
"But we have amanai here, so we have the upper part in the negotiation" geto muttered. "if we could just decide on the place to meet them, we will find a way"
"you hear that, riko-chan?" y/n gently took riko's clenched fist, using reverse curse energy to heal the little cresents that were dug into her palm. "we'll get kuroi-san back, and once we do, i promise we'll have one heck of a time at the beach!"
"t- the beach?" riko stammered, looking confused as she looked to the two men, who tilted their heads.
"what are you on about l/n-chan?"
Geto sweat-dropped at her words as y/n turned red. She shook her head, looking down.
"oh- uhm, nothing..."
"anyway, amanai should be taken straight to the high school, and we'll have shoko or y/n be her double"
"I will go to the trading sight-!"
Everyone paused, gojo turning to riko with an expression she couldnt quite place. He ran a hand through his tousled white locks, as she continued to speak firmly, keeping eye contact to show just how serious she was. Riko wagged her finger accusingly at the two men, eyeing them suspiciously.
"I still dont trust the two of you, so im going to the trading site myself!"
"ha?" gojo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he grunted. "you brat, this isnt the time for-"
"even if you successfully rescue kuroi, if she cant come back before i merge with master tengen... I... I havent said goodbye to her yet."
Her voice broke as y/n took hold of her hand, rubbing her back sympathetically. Geto watched the exchange with a sigh. It wasnt long until y/n cleared her throat, looking adamant.
"let riko-chan come with us," at her words the white haired male immediately tensed, opening his mouth to argue. "please-! Just, i will take responsibility if anything happens to riko, but please, allow her to see kuroi-san one more time"
