Hi everyone! Thank you for being patient with me. I was a lot busier than I had hoped, but I managed to write and release this chapter today because of everyone's support. So thank you again!
Italics = Thoughts/Dream/Memories
"words" = Speech
Disclaimer: I do not own Jujutsu Kaisen.
Chapter 9: Her Past - Despair (6 Years Old)
A sharp pain pierced the bottom of her bare feet as she ran in the darkness, but Momoe bit her bottom lip, ignoring it.
Where do I go? Where can I escape? Who can help me?
Such useless questions lingered in her panicked mind, even though no sign of light could be seen in the far distance. The small wooden bridge she used to cross with her mother creaked under her.
Almost there -
But as she had expected, there were no signs of life anywhere around her. The market that used to look so small with her mother now seemed gigantic, overwhelming her with its size.
Can I even hide from it...?
Despite her doubt, a twinge of relief calmed her. "It's better this way." She did not want to pull anyone into her misfortune. "But because it's like this…" She could not afford to rest for too long. Who knew when the monster would appear in front of her - to kill her?
Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness around her. From a distance away, she noted the clothing boutique and the sports store in one lane; on the other side, the hardware store and fruits store. She took a step forward, wincing in pain.
Stopping in front of the clothing store, she turned her foot to check on its injury. "...It doesn't seem too bad." She gritted her teeth; her hand carefully touched the skin of her foot, making sure that nothing bad was sticking out of her wound. Letting a sigh of relief, she muttered under her breath. "But where do I go from here…"
Craaaaack!
"Huh?" Momoe turned towards the source of the noise, only noting the long crack line on the window of the clothing store when it suddenly shattered into millions of pieces. She screamed out of shock, blocking herself from the explosion of broken glass. Before she could process the piercing pain all over her body, the mannequins dashed towards her, reaching out to grab her so she could no longer run away.
An intense shriek ripped out of her. Immediately pushing herself off the ground, her knees skid across the concrete floor as she stumbled to stand back up, leaving behind a small puddle of blood. Harsh, shallow breaths - she could feel each one scratching the inside of her throat.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts - okaa-chan!
It hurts so much…
The sight ahead of her blurred, tears trickling down her cheeks. She could taste the blood in her mouth as she bit the bottom of her lip to stop herself from making too much noise. Her legs almost glued her to the floor as if they were made of lead and yet - AND YET, the frustration she felt - how slow and heavy her body seemed to be - it was like one bad nightmare that she desperately wanted to wake up from.
...Why do I need to keep running? Why do I need to live? Why, why, why, why, WHY?!
She finally came to another clearing. The dark green trees, the grey water fountain, and the brown benches - a burst of strained laughter bubbled up from inside of her.
"Isn't this…" Her raspy voice barely came out.
- the park I wanted to go to with okaa-chan…?
The serene scenery pained her. Even though her surroundings were so quiet, her heart - her mind clashed with one another, screaming and pointing fingers at her - blaming her for her weakness.
It was too much for her to handle.
She looked away from it, choosing to stare at the ground in shame. So suffocating - those thoughts made her hands curl into fists. Her tears soon stained the concrete, one by one.
"Okaa…" She couldn't complete the word.
She was unworthy.
Because what right did she have?
That's right - NONE.
She stole the life of her mother's true daughter, she let her die in the hands of such a disgusting monster, and she couldn't even stop her from crying alone.
She was pathetic.
It didn't matter if she used to be an adult. It didn't matter if she seemed a little more mature than the average child.
She was powerless, and she knew that - and did nothing to change that.
"Ah…" Momoe breathed out, gazing up. The moon's glow dimmed and the stars no longer showed themselves to her, all hiding behind the black blanket that spread across the sky. "Too long… The night."
The trees shook violently in response to her words.
"...It's here." She then casually picked up a wooden tree branch off the floor. "I guess it's done playing with me."
It almost seemed silly - the way she struggled so hard against this monster, the way she desperately tried to escape from it - to live. All of it seemed so trivial in the end.
She apathetically stared at the monster that had materialized in front of her.
"...If I die… will I finally see everyone again?" But instead of imagining what that would have been like, useless chatters bounced around in her mind.
"If I die, will I be able to beg for forgiveness?" Her heart only whispered sweet nothings to her in response.
"If I die…"
At this moment, both her heart and mind stilled, a deafening silence that drowned her - until something fundamental finally cracked inside of her...
WOULD I BE ABLE TO KILL YOU?
Overwhelming rage permeated every fiber of her being. Blood trickled down her fingers as her grip on the stick tightened. Gritting her teeth, she used the last of her strength to run towards the monster.
If I could kill this monster with my own hands -
Momoe struck down at the monster as hard and as fast as possible. Even if it did no apparent damage, as expected, she did not stop.
Even if I die…
Even if it's just one hit - I WANT TO KILL THIS BASTARD!
A flicker - a black and white flare - sparked on the tip of her fingers. Paying no attention to that, she swung once and twice, despite the heaviness and aches in her arms.
"Die, die, die, DIE!" She let out a war cry, clearly seeing the amusement in its eye.
CRACK!
The stick broke in half and in the next second, she suddenly found herself on the floor.
W-what?
The monster developed an arm and held her down. It grinned, clearly enjoying the suffering she was going through.
"Guh-" A sharp pain slammed into her stomach. She gasped for breath, hot tears trickling down her cheeks. Something warm and metallic filled the air.
No…
No.
No, no, no, no, no -
NO!
Momoe grabbed the arm of the monster that kept her down out of desperation. "I won't…" Her vision blurred again. "-let you…" She bit the bottom of her lip as she finally yelled out. "-DO AS YOU PLEASE!" She barely lifted the arm off of her, struggling to pull it away.
She gasped for air again, but this time, the simple act of breathing proved to be harder than before.
No! I can still do this!
I can still kill this monster -
A spark flickered - and this time, she noticed.
And then another.
What… is that?
Suddenly, a huge fire - thick black outlined flames with a pure white core - sprouted from her hands, but it didn't stop there. It only grew larger as time went by.
Before she could process what had just occurred, the monster screeched loudly. Her ears rang uncomfortably, but she ignored it as much as she could because she finally realized - it no longer had the strength from before with its arm even thinning every second.
It's only a matter of time!
The monster suddenly created a new arm, aiming for her head. She grimaced and bit the arm she held up before while still securing it with one of her hands.
"Urgh." Using her only free arm, she caught it in the nick of time, but...
This is bad!
The lack of strength in her arm let it inch towards her slowly but surely.
So she bit the monster harder out of frustration. Even though the pain in her stomach started to go away, she did not want to die, especially after discovering a way to possibly kill this monster.
But who will die first?! Me or this monster?!
The sharp end of its arm finally reached her skin, poking at it. Beads of blood gushed out and slid down to her hair.
Am I too late...?
She shut her eyes hard, unwilling to accept that she would be killed in the next second. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and this time, she sobbed, knowing that the end was near - her end, that is.
"GRWAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The monster suddenly shrieked out in pain.
Momoe flinched before opening her eyes. Shock riddled across her face.
What just happened...?
The monster's arm that once held her down started to fade away into nothingness. The eye that tormented her for hours merely shook in fear. Its gigantic body no longer towered over her as it slowly crumbled away.
It… It's over?
Relief waved over her. She let out a small laugh before flinching again. "Ugh, my body hurts so much…"
But I wonder why the monster disappeared like that.
She turned her head to check out her surroundings one last time and barely noticed the knife that stabbed the ground in the corner of her eyes.
Why… is that there?
Don't tell me a knife was all it took to defeat that thing...
Her eye twitched as she then heard footsteps echoing from a short distance away.
Someone's here. Is it just one person? No, there seem to be two people...
She tried to turn her head to see them, but her energy no longer allowed such an action.
"Well, well, I didn't expect that at all. Did you?" A deep, male voice laughed.
Another male sighed as he spoke with a smooth tone. "Senpai, I don't think this is the time to be saying that."
"Right. Well, we completed today's mission, 100%." The laugh grew louder from the first male.
"Yeah, but that's not the point, senpai!" The second male's exasperated voice groaned. "Argh, what on earth do we do with her?!"
"Heh, isn't that obvious? We need to -" Mumbles quickly merged into indecipherable noises.
W-wait… What are they saying? I can't hear!
The heaviness of her eyelids pulled her consciousness down a little further.
No, please, just a little longer, let me hear -
And then it completely cut off.
She was no longer awake.
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