Jujutsu Kaisen: Megumi — Chapter 12 - I Love Watching Women Fight More Than Anything

So it could only end in a fight.

The situation had already come to this.

Megumi looked at Hajime Kashimo, the jujutsu doctor who now knew everything, those eyes of his reflecting a light that saw through all things.

Inwardly, he confirmed it. The worst-case scenario had come to pass.

"Could it really be... that killing Kashimo I is the only option?"

The moment the thought of fighting surged through his mind, Megumi's knuckles clenched involuntarily into a fist again, snapping into that familiar fighting stance in front of his chest.

"W... wait!"

"I never actually wanted to kill the parallel little Kashimo!"

While Megumi was caught in that dilemma,

Without sparing a single moment of grief for Hajime Kashimo's small elephant, the one who rushed straight to the battlefield in the very next second was,

"How dare you treat my little brother like that?"

A graceful silhouette appeared once more at the mouth of the alley.

The backlight made it impossible for anyone to make out the newcomer's features at first; all they could see was a figure whose outline had been traced in gold by the sun.

The person carried an air that was cool and remote, sharpness held in check, yet cold enough to press in from all sides.

The features were indistinct against the glare, yet that quality, so similar to Megumi's, flickered in and out of view amid the interplay of light and shadow.

That silhouette left no room for doubt.

"...Tsumiki."

The one who had come was none other than the iron-willed Tsumiki Fushiguro.

Kashimo I recognized the newcomer immediately. Wariness and hostility bled into their voice.

Their body tensed slightly. Beneath that light-colored jacket, lightning began to stir, blue-white arcs threading silently through the hem.

Kashimo I had instantly entered a combat state.

Didn't Tsumiki just mention me a moment ago?

Megumi puzzled over why Tsumiki had suddenly appeared here. Their gazes met, and Tsumiki quietly winked at him.

The right eyelid dipped and rose in a swift flutter, gone in an instant like the beat of a butterfly's wing.

A signal?

The sudden scene threw Megumi's thoughts into disarray. He pushed the questions down and decided to watch and wait.

Could it be that Tsumiki had come to help him?

"Tsumiki, what are you doing here?"

Kashimo I's words were thick with reproach, more agitated, in fact, than when interrogating Megumi, and far more guarded.

Whatever ambiguity had existed before was gone entirely. Only pure hostility and wariness remained.

Kashimo I's gaze locked hard onto Tsumiki, as though facing a predator more dangerous than themselves.

Tsumiki Fushiguro stepped directly in front of Megumi and drove the Insect Armor, claimed after taking over Yorozu's body, into motion.

The carapace gleamed with a metallic luster in the sunlight, layer upon layer, packed tightly together.

Tsumiki's bearing was composed and confident. Everything well within control.

"Don't worry, Megumi — your big sister will protect you~"

Tsumiki shielded Megumi behind with easy confidence, the voice soft and indulgent.

Then turned, just slightly, and gave him a gentle smile.

"Construction!"

The liquid metal refined from cursed energy surged to life at Tsumiki's command.

Silver cursed-energy fluid poured from Tsumiki's palm like a living thing, splitting and gliding through the air, forming restraining bands that shot straight toward,

Megumi Fushiguro!

Megumi, who had let his guard down entirely, was instantly bound by the liquid metal.

The whole of him was like a gift neatly packaged, swathed tight in silver metal bands.

?

Is this right.

The bands coiled from his shoulders down to his waist, from his waist down to his calves, looping over his chest, threading under his armpits, crossing at his back, binding him so thoroughly he could not move at all.

Wrong!

This binding pose, anyone could see it had no business being serialized in a shonen manga!

The restraints automatically adjusted their tension with each of Megumi's struggles, limiting his range of movement with precise calibration, yet never tight enough to cut into his skin.

"Sis, what are you doing!"

Megumi demanded, only to find the restraining bands pulling tighter with every struggle.

"It's all right, Megumi."

"Leave everything here to your big sister."

"All you have to do is wait for me."

Tsumiki slowly turned around, ran a tongue along both lips, and let a hungry expression surface.

More scorching than before. More dangerous.

Carrying a possessiveness that bordered on greed.

"Megumi is destined to be devoured by his big sister..."

Through that obsessive gaze, the liquid metal restraints tightened once more.

Megumi had a very bad feeling about this.

The name he had carelessly assigned this world upon first arriving: Yandere World.

It was now aimed squarely between his brows.

"No way."

"You're a yandere too!"

"Damn it, incest has no business being serialized in a shonen manga!"

Megumi roared at the top of his lungs, trying to call back even a shred of Tsumiki Fushiguro's reason.

The reply that came back was even more despairing.

"We have no blood relation, you know."

"We can be a pure love story!"

Tsumiki cradled both cheeks in both hands, swaying and twisting, the whole of Tsumiki's being a display of pure obsession.

A waist arched into an exaggerated curve, like the uncontainable turmoil raging inside at that very moment.

Tsumiki's gaze was hazy and intoxicated, pupils slightly dilated, already lost inside the beautiful fantasy Tsumiki had built.

A dazed smile hung at the corner of Tsumiki's mouth, a smile that sent chills down the spine.

"I am the true pure love!"

Kashimo I was not about to be outdone. Both hands fired lightning directly forward, and in an instant the strike lunged straight for Tsumiki Fushiguro.

Wherever the lightning passed, the surrounding air ionized into a sharp, acrid stench.

Tsumiki, clad in the Insect Armor, twisted and sidestepped Kashimo I's thrust.

Light and agile, like dancing on the edge of a blade.

While evading, a right foot stamped hard against the ground, and Tsumiki's body used that force to spin and strike back in a counter.

An iron fist came sweeping in!

Kashimo I rolled with the landing in the same motion, putting distance between them and Tsumiki, and steadied into a new stance.

Two yanderes, tearing savagely at each other over their prey.

"Megumi, while they're tangled up fighting each other — let's run!"

Hajime Kashimo watched the chaos unfolding before him and pumped his fist in satisfaction.

His gaze swept back and forth between Kashimo I and Tsumiki.

Lightning and Insect Armor collided. Sparks and metal fragments scattered in all directions.

They held each other in check, trading blow for blow, and a gloating grin crept to the corner of Hajime Kashimo's mouth.

He turned to look at Megumi, trussed up like a dumpling, and a gleam of hope lit up in his eyes.

"Megumi, I'll cut you loose right now — then we run back to Jujutsu High and ask this world's Satoru Gojo for help!"

Lightning descended. A precise bolt shot from Hajime Kashimo's hand and severed the liquid metal binding Megumi clean through.

Hajime Kashimo immediately grabbed Megumi's hand and prepared to run.

Megumi's opposing force pulled him straight off balance instead.

Hajime Kashimo stumbled, nearly pitching face-first to the ground. He turned back in bewilderment and found Megumi nailed to the spot like a stake.

Just standing there. Motionless. Zero intention of running.

No matter how hard Hajime Kashimo pulled, Megumi did not budge an inch.

"Running away and letting Kashimo I and Tsumiki Fushiguro tear into each other, that passes as one solution, I suppose."

Megumi murmured, his gaze trailing after those two figures weaving through each other in the alley. Then both eyes lit up with a direct, brilliant gleam.

"But that's the thinking of someone with no ambition!"

His voice shot up in pitch.

"I, Megumi, love nothing more than watching women fight!"

The fear of yanderes had long since left his eyes entirely.

In its place was the blazing look he reserved for a great contest.

His breathing quickened with every collision, then held, the whole of him submerged in a state of pure, selfless appreciation.

As though he had forgotten the marks the metal bands had just pressed into his own skin.

Forgotten the cold touch of lightning once pressed against his own spine.

"Mythical Amber Beast vs. Insect Armor."

"This just about qualifies as an appetizer!"

➤ Next: Three-Way Rooftop Battle