Chapter 65

Jujutsu High, Tokyo
10th September, 11:46 JST

I was alone in a world that was finally becoming brighter, becoming better.

At least, that was the feeling that I was tempted to ascribe to my current experience—betterness. There was something about alcohol that just didn’t give the same feeling that things were not only better in the present moment, but would always be better.

The demands borne from the insights I was receiving were tiresome, however. Everything pointed towards a Buddha-like state of being. A state of being without craving, without the poisons that ensured my suffering.

I had nothing against spirituality in concept, but the way it clashed with my desire to make the world a better place could not be understated.

What was this cheap and senseless joy of surface textures and fractal patterns if the world was still filled with people that would sooner see me turned into a broodmare than be a person? A human and not an animal?

I missed alcohol. I suppose I’d have to go back to that once I was done with this little phase of mine. It was hard being considerate.

Four points. Nice.

I liked that number, four. I would stop here and let my classmates rack up their own points. They were all over the place having quite a bit of fun. I enjoyed that for them, like a teacher watching their kids run around during recess, living out their carefree days.

More things should be turned into games. I needed to set up some games for my vassals as well. A Jujutsu sport that didn’t automatically pertain to exorcising curses. Superpowered baseball.

Keeping things consistent would be an issue. Superpowers made sports almost an impossible endeavor, especially if everyone was expected to do their best. Limiting things to Cursed Energy Manipulation alone was the only first step that I had envisioned, but that would lose out on a lot of what made Jujutsu charming—namely how absolutely unpredictable it could be.

Iori Utahime ran into my clearing, saw me fondling the bark of a tree while sitting in seiza position in front of it, and let out a brief shriek.

That shriek figured into some cosmic orchestra, and gave me the impression of some kind of deterministic inevitability. She was always going to scream. She had been destined to do so. With my preternatural senses, I had predicted as much, too.

Perhaps the high was blending with my already quite advanced ability to predict immediate future events?

I stood up and turned towards her. She was tensed like a spring, ready to dart at a moment’s notice. I gave her a smile. “Hi, Iori-senpai.”

I bade Michiko to open a portal to her Timeless Sanctuary, allowing a table with some chairs to appear between us. The table was awkwardly balanced on the forest floor, and so were the chairs, but they would do. I walked up to the chair nearest to me and took a seat.

The table was so nice. Grainy. Flowy.

Everything was so nice. Why wasn’t everything always this nice?

Iori walked up to the chair, fear causing her heart to beat a mile a minute as she regarded me, and the chair, and then me again.

It was nice to sit. I had something against verticality, these days. Perhaps it was my inner pre-human animal that knew that being on all fours was more natural than standing upright? How many mammals were actually bipedal?

Kangaroos and…

Apes, occasionally, but not really as a rule.

“Whatever can I do for you, Hibana-sama?” Iori asked diplomatically as she sat down.

“You can drop the politeness,” I said. It was easier to make that demand known than to subtly hint that she should do that. I had always been a fan of clear communication. “Look at this table,” I said, as I ran a finger over it.

She looked at it.

“It’s nice, right?”

She nodded numbly.

I grinned at her, hopefully in a disarming fashion. Then, I pointed up at a near tree. “That right there is a good tree. I…” I had to stop myself from rambling, but there was so much about that tree that hit the spot. It well and truly worked in a way that few things did, even while I was on drugs. “Why do we cut them down?” I muttered.

“To… to make things out of them,” she said, trying her best to deliver the answer confidently. “We do not dishonor the tree when we use it to build homes or objects for human use, especially if done so in a masterful way.”

I looked at the wooden table, then at the tree in wonder. “I hadn’t even connected that the table was also made of wood.”

Iori blinked. “What…?”

“Nevermind me, Iori-senpai.”

“Pardon, but may I ask—uh, can I ask you why you know about me? What is it that you need from me?”

“I know everyone,” I said simply. “It’s not hard to learn names. And what it is I need from you…” did I need something from her? Why had I put the table down?

It was a reflex. I had welcomed her as company.

“I suppose I simply decided that I wanted some company,” I said. “And you seemed like a nice enough option. It’s hard to meet people in games like these.” I giggled. “You know my name, but I’d like to introduce myself anyway: I’m Hibana Teira, but I strongly prefer to be called by my given name. I despise the idea that a family name should define my identity to such an extent, you know? If you feel the same way, I can call you Utahime if you want.”

“That’s… fine,” she said, in a way that suggested that it clearly wasn’t. She preferred the distance.

“Iori, then,” I smiled wryly. I leaned further into the table, feeling the weight of my own body pressing me downwards. “How are things in your clan? I noticed that the Iori didn’t really want to meet with me.”

“We’re a neutral party,” she said carefully. “We do not take sides in this world. If that is why you wished to speak with me, then I apologize. I cannot speak for my clan.”

“Do you like your clan?”

She swallowed. “Y-yes, of course. Why?”

“I didn’t really like mine very much,” I said. “It’s why I took over. So I could make the clan one that I would have preferred to live in. And because something needed to be done. I…” I grinned warmly. “I think I’ve almost succeeded? So now I need to consider the next step. But there are good times ahead of us. Things are nice, now. Everything is so nice!”

“That’s… nice.”

“Are you going to take over your clan?” I asked.

“No, that’s… I don’t… I cannot speak of this to you. My apologies.”

“We don’t have to talk about clans,” I said. “This isn’t a business meeting. I was just bored.”

She continued fidgeting.

“Fine, fine, I swear this binding vow that I won’t hurt you during this game,” I said. Her eyes widened. “I should have said that sooner. I almost forgot who I was. Can you believe that?”

“Then… do you wish for me to stay by your side?”

“When I say ‘hurt’, I really do mean damaging you in even abstract ways, like bullying you or keeping you my prisoner. Trust me, you’re safe.” I asked Michiko for cake, and a portal opened. Plates clattered on the table, and then some cake on each plate. Then, cutlery. “I even brought food.”

She looked down at the cake in shock and surprise. “Is this… your technique?”

“No, it’s my cursed spirit’s,” I said. “The story behind that is kind of a downer. Do you want to hear it?”

“Ah, no thank you,” she said as she took the fork and then gingerly scooped the three-layered cake with white frosting and cream on it.

Four points. The concept occurred to me randomly, and I smiled. “I think I quite like the number four. What about you? What’s your favorite number?”

Iori opened her mouth to answer the question, then closed it, and then her mouth broke into a grin. She covered her mouth quickly, but couldn’t stop herself from laughing, likely at what her favorite number was.

“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I haven’t thought about such things since I was seven.”

“Can’t you remember what you picked back then?”

She shook her head. “I do still have a favorite color,” she said. “Red has always struck me as so romantic.”

Red, huh?

I looked around. “Not much red in this forest. Though the leaves should soon turn red.”

Iori swallowed her cake and nodded. “Truthfully, I can’t wait to see that.”

“Seasons are just so nice!”

Iori laughed again.

“Chickens!” I exclaimed. Another bipedal animal. Kangaroos, chickens, most birds, really. Or, all birds?

“What?” Iori asked.

000

Eight was a good amount of points, Shoko thought. It was higher than five, at least. Probably above average. She at least hoped that it was. If her math was right, then there were a hundred and fifty points to go around, and the cut-off for winning was for her team to achieve more than seventy-five points.

If all fifteen got at least five points each, that would mean victory. Gojo had probably already taken out the Special Grade by now. He had said that he would do as much. That meant that the remaining fourteen only needed… four points each.

With eight points, Shoko had more than pulled her weight, and would probably pull the weight of some of the class’ slackers. She imagined that Satoshi had likely bitten off more than he could chew, and was licking his wounds in campus.

She could only imagine how many points the likes of Suguru or Ito would accrue.

She didn’t count on Teira to do anything, however.

Teira…

…was beginning to get really fucking annoying, truth be told. This wasn’t an opinion that Shoko held secretly. She had said as much to her best friend’s face. The drugs she liked to take were making her weird, and it was almost like Shoko was losing her best friend, for no reason at all.

Another thing that persistently stuck with Shoko was Teira’s admission that this all was the closest thing she could get to a vacation. It wasn’t right that she had all of these responsibilities. It wasn’t right that at her young age, she wasn’t allowed to be her own person.

And it was making her do all kinds of things to regain that spark of missing childhood. What could Shoko do to fix this? She was hardly able to heal herself the way Teira and Gojo could heal themselves, and healing others was twice as hard. Had she finally reached the end of her potential, and the reason why the likes of Teira and Gojo would even deign to hang with her.

She found yet another Grade Three spirit. This one looked blurry on account of the liquid in her eyes blocking her vision. She blinked that away and ran towards the creature. IT was like a crab with a main body that held one giant eye. Claws stuck out from the side of the giant eye, and it focused on her, snapping the air threateningly.

Once she reached its range, it speared one of its claws towards her. Her instinct led her to step to the side, and attack the limb with a burst of positive energy. The beam was thin and intense enough that it sheared through the chitinous arm. She used her other hand to grab the severed arm and wield it as a weapon.

She thrusted the claw into the creature’s eye, ripping up its cornea.

It then opened up its body to scream, the eye leaning backwards as it did.

She screamed right back. At this point in time, there was nothing she hated more than this cursed spirit. Nothing she hated more than herself for not being able to live up to anyone’s expectations.

She let go of the awkward claw arm and prepared to sever its other arm the same way.

Then each of its legs, one after another, until the creature was rendered harmless. She only used positive energy to cut the monster effectively, but she used only Cursed Energy to kick the absolute shit out of the monster until it finally dissipated, along with all the other purple gore that covered her.

Nine points.

She felt a prickle in her senses. Someone had gotten too close. She turned and squinted to try and make out the newcomer—obviously a person judging by their energy—through the dark forest.

The one who came stumbling out was none other than Satoshi Ren, who had seemingly something of a penchant from getting absolutely ruined beyond reason.

She still remembered the time she had been called into school during the summer holiday to heal him. She hadn’t assumed that it was very serious until she had seen him sitting on the infirmary bed, a glazed look in his eyes.

While getting to work, she had quickly discovered that his body hung by a thread and he had almost died right then and there. She couldn’t imagine that he would have survived if she had been only a minute later.

And yet, all he had for an explanation was that this was ‘training’.

“The hell happened now?” Shoko spat.

“Beat up some guys,” Satoshi replied. “Heal me.”

“And who the hell are you to tell me what to do?” Shoko asked, but in reality, she didn’t see why she shouldn’t. He looked seriously hurt.

She did have her own cursed energy to consider as well, but that had almost come as an afterthought.

“So you won’t heal me?” He growled. “Fine.” He turned to leave.

…He was actually leaving.

Shoko ran up to him and grabbed him by the back of his jacket, pulling him towards her. “Idiot. I’ll heal you.”

She sent an R-ray into his body to check the damages. Bruises and contusions everywhere, and a brain that was fragile as an eggshell, many major blood vessels on the verge of just bursting.

It had been the same the last time she had healed him. His body had been in an incredibly sensitive state, on the verge of shutting down should just one more thing go wrong.

Again? “Do you have a death wish?!”

He growled at her. “It’s not even a big deal. Don’t need your healing.”

“Like hell you don’t! I’m gonna drain myself dry just fixing you up! What the hell, man?”

“Then don’t heal me! Are you stupid?”

She punched him.

In the head.

Entirely by accident. It was a strong punch, and it sent him rolling on the floor. Only a split second later did she realize, with horror, what she had done.

Just as she was about to lunge on top of him and fill his likely hemorrhaging brain with enough Reverse Cursed Technique to possibly prevent brain damage, he just stood up and glared at Shoko. “So you’re just gonna hurt me, instead? You’re a shit healer!”

“How are you still standing?”

“I told you, it’s not a big deal.”

She felt lighter now.

He didn’t need her.

For some reason, she had expected this to sting. It stung that Teira would likely never be in need of Shoko, at least. She wanted to be someone that Teira relied on.

Satoshi not needing to rely on Shoko was another thing entirely. It was freeing.

And it was odd. How?

“Are you using the Reverse Cursed Technique?”

“The hell is that?”

Shoko balled her hands into fists, feeling a sudden burst of rage that usually accompanied being in Satoshi Ren’s vicinity for any given length of time. Her classmates called it the Satoshi Syndrome.

Shoko walked up to Satoshi and put a hand on his forehead to just heal his brain. Something was stopping him from taking that last step into certain death, but she would rather still fix him up even just a little than send him off like this. By just healing the brain’s vessels, she was also getting away with not using too much energy.

“Ah, nice,” Satoshi said. He then stared at her, and sniffed. “I chased off some Kyoto upperclassmen a second ago. You wanna come kick the shit out of them with me?”

Kicking the shit out of her upperclassmen from the sister school?

“I need to punch something, at least,” Shoko muttered. “Fine. Lead the way.”

“Dunno where they are,” Satoshi said. He then looked up. “I think I’ll wait for the stage to get smaller. Then, they’ll be easier to run into.”

“Wow, a good idea from Satoshi Ren,” Shoko said. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me,” Satoshi said.

“What I do know is sort of enough,” Shoko shrugged.

“Fair.”

“How many points did you get?”

“I don’t give a damn about points.”

Shoko rolled her eyes. “But I do. We’re hunting cursed spirits now. And you’ll do it with me because you owe me. Twice now.”

“Fine,” Satoshi scowled.

Wait, just like that?

Shoko withheld her surprise and simply nodded. Of course, he would capitulate. She was Ieiri Shoko. She was a big deal.

It was only natural that even an idiot would recognize that.

A/N: Tuesday evening, a planned power outage completely threw off my groove. Then Eid happened on Wednesday, meaning I had to do family stuff. I basically had the resources to plan accordingly to all these events, but I still let them take me completely by surprise lmao. I'm an idiot.

Fingers crossed for Chapter 66 later on in the evening tho. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed. The focus of the next chapter will be one of the Kyoto first-years!