Yo! I'm about to go on a trip for the weekend, so I won't see shit until after I get back. Hope you like it and I didn't make any mistakes because I don't really wanna go through it again. As I'm writing this, I have 7 hours until my flight, I haven't slept, and it's 1 in the morning. Tomorrow is gonna be a lot of fun. Update: that shit was not fun at all.
GIMME POWER STONES TO SNORT IN THE AIRPORT BATHROOM!!! GONNA BE OUT OF MY MIND ON THE PLANE!!!
Enjoy the chapter!
...
"Welcome home, and it seems you've brought guests."
Maki and Mai blinked in astonishment when they saw Tsumiki's kind smile as they walked through the door into her, Megumi, and Yuta's apartment.
Half of the walk back involved Gojo teasing Yuta, and the other half involved both Yuta and Megumi complaining at Gojo for not teleporting them back; they still did not want to find out what they meant by that.
Because of this, the twins weren't very optimistic about the only other girl they would be living with, but thankfully, she seemed to be just a normal girl.
Tsumiki smiled at them before frowning at Yuta and her brother while crossing her arms, sending chills up both of their spines.
"Megumi, Yuta, why aren't you introducing these two to me?" She asked in a no-nonsense tone, making the two break out in a cold sweat. Yuta spoke up quickly with a nervous laugh as he motioned to the twins before either of them could do it themselves.
"Haha, this is Maki, and next to her is her twin sister Mai. They're going to be living with us from now on." Yuta said, still sweating bullets.
They all ignored Gojo, who was watching the show in the background with a bucket of popcorn and 3-D glasses over the bandages covering his eyes.
When Tsumiki heard that, her smile returned brighter than before. From how defensive and on edge the two were, along with how, before the other three left, they said they were going to the 'Zenin Clan,' it wasn't hard for Tsumiki to put the basic situation together. So, to help calm their nerves and put them at ease, she politely introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you two. I'm Tsumiki Fushiguro, Megumi's older sister and the only one who is any good at cooking in this house." She said as she sent a pointed look to the three men, who all avoided eye contact with her when she looked over.
The twins saw this and couldn't help but smile in amusement as they watched the interaction. They both looked at Tsumiki with thankful expressions, with Maki being the one to speak up.
"Nice to meet you too, and thank you for having us." She said, with her sister nodding along, both of them knowing very well that Tsumiki was the only one who took care of this place.
Maki wouldn't normally be someone to give out thanks so easily, but she figured she could be cut a bit of slack with the day she's had so far.
After the first dinner of Maki and Mai's lives, where they didn't need to worry about anything except for how good the food was, Gojo left, saying that he had to go talk to someone who could have another cool 'Cursed Technique' for Yuta. The twins had no idea how to react when the man just blinked out of existence.
After a quick, silent conversation, Yuta, Tsumiki, and Megumi cleared the table and either went to the kitchen to do the dishes or went to their room, leaving the Maki and Mai alone for the first time since they left the 'Zenin Clan'.
They both sat silently for a few minutes before Mai was the one to speak up.
"Are we really free? Do we really never have to go back there?" She whispered to herself in disbelief, making her sister look at her in concern before her eyes hardened in resolve and determination.
"We are, and I'll make sure it stays this way."
.
.
Yuta was walking around downtown Tokyo, lost in his thoughts about what he was going to get from the store for Tsumiki to cook, when he heard a panicked voice coming from the car that just pulled up next to him.
"Okkotsu-san, you're already 30 minutes late for your meeting with the Higher-Ups!! What happened?!"
Yuta turned and smiled when he saw the familiar face of Ijichi Kiyotaka, the assistant manager his sensei had introduced him to after they came back from the 'Zenin Clan'. Ijichi was a tall man with mid-length black hair and glasses, dressed in a black suit and tie, and he was looking at Yuta very worried.
"I'm going grocery shopping," Yuta said with a smile, making the man sigh in resignation.
*SIGH*
"This is the first time you meet with the Higher-Ups, so you have to make a good impression. One that will be very hard to make since we are late, so please get in the car!!" The man said, trying to get the 13-year-old to understand.
"It's fine, Ijichi-san. Gojo-sensei told me how much trouble these guys have caused him, so they can wait a bit for us." Yuta said as he recalled his conversation with Gojo-sensei when they got home from the 'Zenin Clan' as he got into the car.
"Yuta."
Yuta blinked and turned toward Gojo with a confused head tilt when he heard his serious voice. He just finished changing in his room to get ready for his shopping trip before this annoying meeting, but since Gojo-sensei looked so serious, he decided he would listen first.
"I know you'll be fine. I think you could probably beat all of the Higher-Ups and elders at once, but they are all some sly bastards." Gojo warned his student, who was still a bit confused.
"So, the guys that are technically our bosses are "sly bastards" and they might try to do something to me?" Yuta asked in clarification, getting a nod in response, but the teenager was still confused.
Yuta walked toward the door the white-haired man was leaning on, prompting the man to go back into the hallway and walk with the teen on his way out.
Megumi was the only one home after the three girls went shopping with Gojo's card, and everyone else in the 'Gojo Clan' reveres and fears Satoru like a god, so they didn't worry about who would hear them.
"You said they learned about me from the 'Zenin Clan', right?" Yuta asked, getting a raised eyebrow and a nod from Gojo, prompting Yuta to continue.
"I've literally trained at 'Jujutsu High' multiple times, how have they never found out about me?" Yuta asked in bewilderment, getting a smile from his teacher. They both completely ignored the clan members and servants, clearing the way for them as if they were parting the Red Sea.
"Because they are dumb as bricks," Gojo said, getting a laugh from his student. They both stopped as they reached the front door before Gojo answered seriously.
"The real answer is that they knew I took in another kid like I did with Megumi and Tsumiki, but that's all they know for sure since everyone at 'Jujutsu High' who have met you are all people I trust and I've asked them not to mention you until you are strong enough. After all, we all knew it wouldn't take very long." Gojo praised with a cheeky smile, making Yuta smile at him.
Before Yuta could thank him for his confidence in him, Gojo's smile turned mischievous as he continued.
"It's a good thing they didn't find out about you when Rika was still around, or else they would've probably had you executed. Too bad I can't just kill them because that would just make different idiots replace them instead of making change." Gojo said in a happy tone that didn't match his words at all.
Yuta stopped walking and just stared at his sensei's back as the man turned around and walked back toward the house with his mischievous smile still on his face.
'Gojo-sensei can be pretty scary sometimes...' He thought to himself before he shook his head and started following after him.
'Even so, if these guys make Gojo-sensei consider doing something like that, they must really suck. I'm gonna see how fast I can make them mad.'
Yuta smiled before looking out the window, only to realize they were stopped, and Ijichi was staring at him, making Yuta laugh nervously.
"Hehe, sorry about that. I was zoned out." Yuta apologized, to which the man just shook his head.
"It's alright. Trust me, when Gojo-san told me he trained you, I expected you to be a lot, well, more like Gojo-san." Ijichi said, making Yuta sweat-drop.
"Is that a good or a bad thing?" The teen asked, and the look on the man's face was all he needed to see that Ijichi was thanking every god he believed in he wasn't a Gojo Jr.
After that, Ijichi opened the door to the car and got out, prompting Yuta to do the same. Once they got out, Yuta saw nothing. It was like Ijichi parked in a huge box with nothing inside it and no light except for what was coming off of the car that was now off.
Yuta tilted his head in confusion and looked at the nervous Ijichi, who looked at him with a pleading look that increased his confusion.
"Please do your best not to anger the Higher-Ups when you go in there. They won't ignore you being disrespectful just because you're under Gojo-sans protection." Ijichi said, making Yuta raise an eyebrow at him.
"Sensei's protection? Who said I need protection?" Yuta asked Ijichi with a confused head tilt, making the man look at him in horror.
"What has Gojo-san been teaching you?…" The window muttered in horror, making Yuta laugh.
"Hahaha, he taught me to be confident in my strength through experience. If I can take a punch from Gojo-sensei while he's using his 'Lapse: Blue' and still be able to fight, there aren't many who can fight evenly with me, let alone beat me." Yuta said confidently before staring at Ijichi in a deadpan.
Before Ijichi could tell him how reckless he was being, Yuta held his hand up to stop him. When Yuta saw Ijichi stop himself from talking, he nodded and continued.
"I'm not saying this because I'm cocky. I'm saying this because one day I know I'll be the Strongest, so why would I let some old guys I've never met boss me around?" Yuta asked, to which the man just sighed tiredly in response.
*SIGH*
"So, are you going to tell me why we are in some kind of massive empty box?" Yuta asked in a tone that made Ijichi sweat a bit before he shook that off and explained something completely different than what Yuta asked about.
"This is the entrance to 'Jujutsu Headquarters', which is not to be confused with 'Jujutsu High', which most 'Jujutsu Sorcerers' utilize as a base of operations. 'Jujutsu Headquarters' has direct control over the 'Jujutsu Highs' in both Tokyo and Kyoto, and the Principal of each campus is selected by headquarters based on recommendations from the Big Three clans," Ijichi explained as he started walking seemingly nowhere, baffling Yuta.
*SIGH*
Yuta sighed in resignation when he saw how Ijichi just kept walking in the darkness, seemingly knowing which way to go and still not answering his question. After looking at him for a second, he reluctantly followed behind him.
"While requests for promotions go through 'Jujutsu High', 'Jujutsu Sorcerer' grades are certified and adjusted by 'Jujutsu Headquarters' by established standards. Any sorcerer who wishes to retire will be un-graded and must receive the approval of 'Jujutsu Headquarters'." Ijichi continued, not noticing Yuta had tuned him out.
"'Jujutsu Headquarters' monitors all investigations and missions involving jujutsu-related threats. Upon discovering danger, sorcerers must report it to their chain of command, which will eventually reach the Higher-Ups. 'Jujutsu Headquarters' may impose one or more disciplinary actions upon a sorcerer who fails to follow the chain of command or violates the rules." He finished, strongly hinting at the end that Yuta should do his best to avoid these punishments.
Yuta started listening at the end when he realized he was about to finish, but Ijichi spoke again before he could.
"Oh, to answer your question from earlier, we are inside a 'Barrier' with some kind of 'Binding Vow' that allows those on the outside to look in but those on the inside to be unable to look out." He explained, making Yuta sweat-drop as a large door with two 'Jujutsu Sorcerers' guarding it came into view.
"So, if I just break the 'Barrier', I'd see all the stuff they don't want me to see?" Yuta said as they came up to the door, making the two 'Jujutsu Sorcerers' at the door glare at him, and Ijichi looked at the two in a panic.
Yuta didn't slow his walking speed at all. He ignored the two completely, making their glares worse, and Ijichi looked at them apologetically.
Yuta opened the door and saw that it led to another dark room, making him roll his eyes.
'At least this one has a little bit of light.' He thought to himself as he walked a few steps into the middle of the door and noticed Ijichi stopping by the door just after entering.
When he got to the middle of the room, the lights turned on above him as six large shoji doors appeared, circling him with a different silhouette behind each one.
"Yuta Okkotsu, for what reason are you so unreasonably late? We don't have time to sit around and wait for you?" A voice behind the door in front of Yuta said, making the teenager deadpan at the door.
"Yeah, can we just skip this part?" Yuta asked without a care in the world, confusing all of the Higher-Ups.
"What exactly do you mean?" A voice to Yuta's left said, so he glanced at that door before staring up at the ceiling.
"Stop trying to act like the big scary boss. It's just wasting everybody's time. Gojo-sensei told me you guys mess with him all the time, so I don't like you guys. You guys can't control Gojo-sensei, so you want to try and control me. Just say what you want to say." Yuta said before looking up and zoning out, which none of the angry Higher-Ups noticed as they were too focused on what he said.
"Watch your tone, Okkotsu. You should know by now who we are and what we represent, so you should be careful of what you say and how you act." The same voice sounded in an angry tone. Too bad for him, Yuta wasn't listening at all.
'I wonder what Tsumiki-san is making for dinner tonight? Oh, she told me to go shopping, didn't she?' Yuta thought to himself as he tuned out the annoying elder as the guy kept going on and on.
"...and that is why you need to cut off your ties with Satoru Gojo." This is what Yuta heard when he tuned back in after realizing he couldn't remember what Tsumiki told him to get.
Before Yuta could say that would never happen no matter what they said, another one of the elders beat him to it.
"That is completely unnecessary. If he is an ally, someone of his potential should be trained by the one who could help him the most, which is Satoru. If he is an enemy, there should be no problem with eliminating him." The voice behind Yuta said, causing him to assume this guy was from the 'Gojo Clan'.
'He's also an idiot because he said Gojo-sensei would kill me if I was an enemy. No, if I was your enemy, I'm pretty sure Gojo-sensei would kill all of YOU.' Yuta thought to himself as he shook his head in disbelief.
The man's words also caused another one of the Higher-Ups to scoff in annoyance and speak up against him.
*SCOFF*
"Of course, you would say that it would be for your benefit, after all." The voice behind the door in front of Yuta said, causing the one behind him to start shouting and confirming Yuta's guess.
"What are you trying to imply?!"
"Don't play coy, you know exactly what I mean!!"
*SIGH*
Yuta's eyebrow twitched in annoyance before sighing in resignation and going back to zoning out the conversation.
After a few minutes of arguing, all of the Higher-Ups noticed Yuta completely ignoring what was being said. While some, like the elder of the 'Zenin Clan', found his behavior hilarious for daring to act like this because he was also zoning out, most found it unbelievably insulting.
While the elders discussed the nuances of politics, Yuta stared at the non-existent ceiling, completely zoned out.
'What was I supposed to get again? If I asked Ijichi-san to take me to the store after this, would he take me? I bet I could make one of these guys mad enough to attack me with his 'Cursed Technique' so I can copy it.'
*SLAM*
What sounded like a cane being slammed down onto a wooden floor silenced the political bickering and interrupted Yuta's daydreaming, much to his annoyance.
"I believe it's time to focus back on Okkotsu's new responsibilities, is it not?" The voice of an older man sounded from behind the same Shoji the slamming sound came from.
"Well, let us cut right to the chase, shall we? Even though we already know the answer, can you copy 'Cursed Techniques'?" Another voice sounded from Yuta's left, making him l
glance at that door before nodding in confirmation as a faint, mischievous smirk grew on his face.
"Yeah, I can copy 'Cursed Techniques'. So, what about you all? Mind letting me copy a few of yours? Could use some more, after all." He said, making the room grow frosty as everyone else was clearly unamused by Yuta's sarcasm.
"This is no place for jokes, Okkotsu." A voice from one of the screens snapped, cold and indignant. Another elder spoke up in a sharp tone.
"You misunderstand your position here. You stand before the highest authority in the 'Jujutsu' world. Have some respect." They said firmly, making Yuta roll his eyes.
"If you want me to 'respect' you, you have to you deserve it." His words caused an elder to his left to scoff audibly, clearly reaching the end of his patience.
*SCOFF*
"Enough of this insolence! If you intend to wield the power you were given responsibly, then make a 'Binding Vow' saying you will always follow this council's orders—and that you will sever all ties with Satoru Gojo." Yuta looked at the door that the voice came from incredulously.
"What? There's no way in hell I would ever do that. How dumb do you think I am? I wouldn't even do one of those things." Yuta asked rhetorically as he shook his head and held his forehead in disbelief, unable to process how these idiots think. This was not received well by the group he was surrounded by.
"Remember, Okkotsu. We hold the authority here. Your life and position are in our hands. If you wish to stay within our ranks, you will submit." Yuta heard a voice from behind him sneer, making him sigh in annoyance.
*SIGH*
"Gojo-sensei said you'd say something like that, so I'll say this."
*FWOOOM*
Every single one of the elders gripped their chairs harshly enough to turn their knuckles white when they felt Yuta's 'Cursed Energy'. Yuta's intense presence seemed to press against the room itself, suffocating them in their seats.
After a few seconds, the teenager's calm voice cut through the room like a razor.
"I'm fine with fighting Special Grade curses to limit the number of people who get hurt or die," he said evenly as he glared at the one who said he should make that stupid 'Binding Vow' before he continued.
"But I'm nobody's lapdog, and I won't be put on a leash." Yuta's words lingered in the heavy silence that followed, his eyes narrowing slightly. He took a glance at each silhouette behind every door that was surrounding him.
"If you insist on trying to control me, you can find out firsthand why Gojo-sensei says I have the potential to surpass him."
After a few seconds of silence, the elder who told Yuta that "he will submit" finally spoke up with a wavering voice.
"We—ah, yes. We… have reports," he began, clearing his throat in a futile attempt to hide his shaken tone.
"Reports of a suspected 'Special Grade' curse sighting outside Shinjuku. It would be an ideal opportunity to… demonstrate your skills."
Yuta blinked, his entire expression shifting in a heartbeat as he broke into a bright smile, almost disarmingly cheerful given the circumstances.
"Okay, I'll go do that then!!" he chirped, his demeanor completely relaxed now as if he hadn't just threatened the lives of the most powerful decision-makers in the 'Jujutsu' Society.
Right before he walked out the door, he turned around with his bright smile still on his face.
"Oh yeah, do you guys have that ID thingy that says I'm a 'Special Grade'? Gojo-sensei said you guys would give me one." Yuta said with an innocent look on his face that made all of the Higher-Ups sweat-drop. The one that was in front of Yuta when he was still in the middle spoke up.
"It will be delivered to your residence when it is printed." The voice said, making Yuta smile again.
"Okay. Thanks!!" He said with a beaming smile as he turned around and marched out the door with Ijichi right behind him.
The elders stared at him, jaws slightly slackened as they processed the abrupt shift from lethal intimidation to sunny and nice. Yuta gave a polite nod to Ijichi, who stood anxiously by the door, and together they walked out.
Once outside and out of the Higher-Ups' view, Yuta let out a deep sigh, his shoulders sagging slightly.
*SIGH*
"That went so much worse than I thought it would… Those guys suck..." he muttered under his breath, rubbing his temples.
"I hope Tsumiki is making something good for dinner…"