Beta-reader: Biabialex

WARNING: MENTIONS OF PHYSICAL ABUSE

2000 January 25

Monsters existed everywhere in Japan, or at least, that was what Geto Suguru thought.

They took in different forms, and the more humanoid one becomes, the more powerful they would be. Once, the boy had seen a monster who could hold a conversation, but that did not stop him from swallowing it. Ever since he was aware of it, he had the power to consume and manipulate them. It depended on how strong they were and how far his mental strength could hold them. It was almost an all-powerful power; the only downside was he could hear their whispers in the depths of his mind.

Suguru learned to ignore them, which was something he applauded himself for.

It was a skill he acquired through the years after learning not all people could do what he did. At some point, his parents had to send him to a psychological institution, where he needed to plaster a smiling face all day long to get out. It worked; all the unsuspecting adults thought he was 'healed,' so they let him go. Suguru felt it was not a bad experience overall; most of the people inside were mentally sound except for some isolated situations where they get triggered.

Luckily, he had also acquired some monsters in his inventory. Suguru took note of each of them, but he could never differentiate each voice in his head. For now, there were fifty, and it would be good if he could gain more. The boy already tried to pit each monster with each other. It turned out there was no order they would not follow as long as he absorbed them, which made him name this power as 'manipulation.'

Suguru would still go to school as a part of his façade. However, he could not focus on the lectures with all those monsters whispering to him. It irritated him; the boy never treated them as equal. He treated them like they were his playthings. Nonetheless, they were usable for the greater good, so he decided to keep them. Depending on their usefulness, of course. Visiting nearby places to swallow or kill monsters was also his hobby. Most of the time, he would kill them if they were not powerful enough.

Today was one of those days where he needed to visit one of the pre-schools in the community where he heard there was a ghost sighting. Normal humans would often treat them as 'paranormal activities' since they could not see the monsters themselves, only the physical effect they manifested in their surroundings.

"Okaachan would scold me again," he muttered to himself, annoyed after remembering the last time he went home late.

Suguru only had his mother, whereas his father was in some unknown hell after physically abusing them. That 'man' should be thankful, he never used his power on him, showing his last ounce of respect for him.

Suguru entered the school gates, using his speed to slip through and get inside unnoticed. The guards of monster-infested schools were usually laid back, seeing that no people would dare enter after knowing there were ghosts.

Tucking his loose bang behind his ear, Suguru walked to the most ominous building. He tried to gain information about the place. After a high school student sneaked in to commit suicide, he learned that they could never use the building again. People said that things would fall with anyone moving them. In extreme cases, monsters would even follow people after they went home.

The nine-year-old boy huffed, catching his breath. The building was closed but not locked, so he welcomed himself as he barged inside, holding nothing but his school bag.

The place was empty; there were no chairs or tables, and the only thing left was the drawings of children plastered on the walls and some school announcements. Suguru took his time to walk, thinking it was such a shame a perfectly functioning place had to be left alone. He heard a rustle behind him as his footsteps slowly came to a halt. The boy turned around so quickly that he lost his balance.

Suguru sat on the floor, frozen as a humongous monster with many arms greeted him. Unlike the creatures he had seen before, it was a hideous bundle of compressed corpses, faces of different people covered its skin while the eyes gazed at him curiously. The boy slowly retreated, using his legs as he pushed himself away from it. He dared not breathe too loud. He was scared out of his wits.

The boy gritted his teeth, trying to maintain his composure. He was unsure if he could absorb a huge monster or escape the place alive. Suguru could feel the killing intent from the monster as if it wanted to eat him alive. Nevertheless, he had to try his luck and use his power or die with regrets.

Suguru pushed himself up swiftly, using his tiny body as an advantage and running in the opposite direction of the monster. He could hear it screech from behind him, but he paid it no mind. Continuing to run, he took a sharp turn on one of the hallways, rapidly using his momentum to slide on the tiled floor. The boy found an empty locker in the hallway, whispering a thank you when it opened. He quickly hid inside, feeling the presence of the monster as it got closer.

There were no footsteps, and the only thing he could use to watch its presence was the hole on the locker. Suguru silently observed the hallway when an eye appeared on the spot, blocking his vision. The eye blinked once, then twice, then it released a resounding screech he had to cover his ears for. The locker door burst open, and he saw the monster opposite of him opening its mouth widely.

Suguru braced himself, ready to release all the monsters he acquired over time.

"Eh?" A girl's silhouette appeared, placing herself in between him and the monster. "Wow, you're already this big?"

"Hate….hate..hateful." The monster muttered, its voice uncharacteristically high as it changed its target to the girl.

The girl was unbothered. Suguru even heard her complain about additional work while on vacation, effortlessly dodging the monster's attack. She grabbed him from inside the locker and flung him across the hallway, effectively throwing him outside their fighting range. "Stay there. I'll just finish this off," she ordered him as she returned her attention to her opponent.

Suguru nodded obediently, a little confused about the sudden change of events. What did he just see?

Emi coughed, feeling a little under the weather as she fetched her younger cousin from school. She was back in Tokyo after her father dropped her here as part of her monthly vacation. How the tables had turned. She was supposed to be in her father's province for a trip, and instead, she spent most of her time there, ultimately transferring schools after.

Grabbing the throat medicine in her pocket, she sprayed it inside of her mouth. The temperature never got higher, staying in the lower tenths for the rest of the winter. Sadly, she had to wear layers of clothes, inhibiting her movement. Well, she was off work now; that did not matter. Emi worked her ass off in the previous months. At any rate, she deserved to rest now that she was in Koichi's care.

The girl's aunt moved a few blocks away, closer to the schools, so they would not need to travel far. As the elder cousin and the only one available, her aunt asked her if she could fetch her cousin since it was almost the end of their class. It was no problem for Emi; she could get the kid while waiting for her father.

Emi was about to go back home with her cousin in tow when she felt a large amount of curse energy get stronger in the school's premises. Making a snap decision, she grabbed the little girl, running back home to drop her off. She quickly took off a layer of clothes and rushed back to the preschool to deal with the cursed spirit, swearing a few times in her heart.

She was supposed to be on break, goddamn.

Emi infiltrated the already opened door building and made her way to the third floor, where the energy was more concentrated. Snatching the hair tie on her wrist, Emi tied her hair in a ponytail as she ran through the hallways. What she saw was an estimated grade one curse, fully exposed with all its gory glory. It was floating in the air, some of the body parts attached to it falling on the floor from time to time.

The curse attempted to attack a locker, forcefully opening it from the outside. Emi guessed there was a person inside as she leveled a stern look at the cursed spirit.

"Eh?" Emi was surprised when she came close. The curse was large enough to cover the width of the hallway with its mass. "Wow, you're already this big?"

She examined it closely, it should not be fast, but it should be powerful considering the energy it is emanating. "Hate….hate..hateful."

So it could speak, that made it twice as bothersome. Emi had the urge to ask for higher pay taking into account the things she needed to deal with even on non-working days. The more articulate a cursed spirit was, the more power it had. If the monster decided to reply to her, it must mean it had formed a consciousness good enough to turn into a higher grade curse.

Emi swiftly grabbed the kid (a boy with surprisingly good-looking bangs) and pulled him outside the small space. "Stay there. I'll just finish this off."

The girl turned to face the curse, one hand waving beside her, materializing an invisible hand. With a push, the cursed spirit slammed on the floor with another high-pitched screech. Emi used her cursed technique to vibrate, deforming the monster in the process as she darted to her opponent, grabbing it by the hand and piercing its body. As a result, she had to take care of the gooey mess while using her reversed cursed technique in full power to multiply the organism's particles at the same time.

The cursed spirit exploded, disappearing into thin air.

Emi glanced at the boy, noting he could also see cursed spirits. She assumed he was an average person with a higher than usual cursed energy. Considering no experienced jujutsu sorcerer would fight a curse stronger than them. If there were ever a case like that, they had to report to jujutsu authorities to file a request to either the Jujutsu Tech or its sister school in Kyoto.

"You shouldn't go curse hunting without an experienced sorcerer with you." Emi massaged her shoulder as she approached the boy, who was more or less her age. "Ah, look. I'm supposed to be resting, and now I have to do the paperwork for the cursed spirit," she muttered to herself, removing her hair tie to let her hair fall.

"Curse?" The boy gave her a bright smile as if nothing happened earlier.

Emi decided to ignore his shaking hands, a benefit of the doubt, and replied, "Curses, cursed spirits. Whatever you want to call them. They were reinforced cursed energy from negative human emotions that turned into beings." She peered at the boy under her long lashes, watching his reaction. "I also have to take note of your presence here. What's your name, by the way?"

"Suguru," he introduced politely, holding out his hand to her. "Geto Suguru."

"Ahk." Emi managed to choke on nothing as her attention snapped back to the boy.

She was tired from fighting, and now this boy almost gave her a heart attack? What a cruel world.

2000 February 03

"You can leave your shoes by the door." Emi closed the door as she examined the young Geto in front of her. He sported partially parted bangs tied up at the back; it was like his manga persona's hair, only shorter. The boy was wearing his school uniform and was holding his bag over his shoulders using one hand. "What did your Kaa-san say?"

"She was glad I found a friend that would let me stay over after school," Suguru answered calmly, wearing a broad smile on his face. His small eyes narrowed with this action, forming into slits. The boy threw his backpack at her then removed his school shoes.

Emi caught the bag coolly as she placed it above the nearest desk drawer. "This would be our last meeting since I'm almost finished with your paperwork." In truth, this work could be done by any aide from the Gojo family, but it seemed they overestimated her abilities and decided to throw the bulk of labor at her.

Suguru's hand froze for a moment as he stood straight, maintaining his not-quite-smile, then nodded as a sign he heard her. "Then what would happen to me now, Emi-chan?"

"Either a jujutsu sorcerer would take you under their wing, or you would need to wait until high school to be admitted to Tokyo Jujutsu High." Emi gestured for him to follow her to her room, showing relief in her face since she could finally go back to her father's hometown. "Either way, you should avoid using your technique unless there's a sorcerer or a window nearby."

It had been over a week since the incident where she saved Suguru. Emi had to take care of the report and record all the curses the boy exorcised to give him proper compensation. Unlike outside the city, where large families take care of stray cursed spirits, Tokyo and Kyoto have institutions that manage the crowded places, making it more organized than the countryside. It was a good-paying job, although almost eight out of ten you would be risking your life.

Emi had to ask for Koichi to call the primary school and tell them she was sick to skip school. Her father was not very strict academically; he assumed she needed some mental health break like the teens were raving about these days. It was her last day, and she could send the paperwork to the post office.

"Emi-chan, when did you become a jujutsu sorcerer?" Suguru asked while closing the door behind him, evidently curious about how another world worked while the original one was unaware of it.

"For almost… two years?" Emi stated calmly, playing with the pen in her hands as she watched the boy in her peripheral vision. The answer surprised her as much as it surprised the boy. She never realized how fast the time had gone by, and she could go toe to toe with Satoru now—depending on how willing they were to defeat each other, of course. "Why did you ask?"

"I'm just curious what we get out of this. Is it because we need to save non-sorcerers?" The boy answered cheerfully, closely watching her reaction. He must have noticed it took her some time to respond, so he added, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Yes, and no." Emi shook her head after a moment, profoundly thinking about how to answer a child's question. They were impressionable, after all. "We are here because we save people—in the process—but in the grand scheme of things, it's a job. We get paid to exorcise curses, that's all."

"So we're not here to save them?"

The girl let out a small smile as she continued finishing her report. "If you want to make it sound good, that's the reason you're looking for. To be honest, there will be a time where we will need to choose between the greater good or our selfish desire. Should I save this person, or should I take a break from this job?"

"You should save the person," Suguru answered with conviction as his eyes settled on the girl's face. The boy started to reconsider what he thought to be right was some reason he created himself.

"I don't think so." Emi seemed to see invisible question marks above the boy's head, so she elaborated. "You're not a god, and you can't be everywhere and anywhere at the same time. You can't save everyone. Your moral compass can only do so much. Save them if you see them, but if you don't, don't even bother."

Suguru's pupils shook as he looked down, hiding the frown forming on his face. "But what if I want to save them?"

"Then save them. I'm just telling you what I think. You don't need to follow my beliefs." Emi answered calmly as she leaned on her chair, weariness evident on her face. She could never catch a break ever since she started training under the Gojo family. "You think I'm too harsh? I have no moral compass?"

Suguru burst out laughing as he heard his thoughts come out of her mouth. "You sure are straight-forward."

"That would be pretty hypocritical of you, Suguru-kun. You've never truly smiled in front of me, have you?" The boy's smile faltered at her words. Emi took that as a yes as she continued. "I have a pretty clear bottom line. Those are the people I treasure around me. Other than that, I don't care — scratch that, my motto's pretty much 'if you don't bother me, I won't bother you.' If I dislike you enough, maybe I'll hurt you."

Emi had a pretty clear threshold of the things she thought as right and wrong. For example, serial killing would be a definite no, as well as mass murder. But if there was a good enough reason to do so, perhaps they touched Koichi, Tadashi, or Suguru; blood bath would suddenly sound not that bad. The girl had a pretty firm, non-standard belief. If you touched her family, that was where she drew the line.

"I'm sorry." Suguru began, not showing remorse about being found out of his fake persona. "I didn't know you'd notice."

That was a sorry because he was found out, and not because he was sorry for what he did, what a twisted child. Emi did not think that was bad; he seemed to be the type who would take care of his people, which was oddly like her. But considering he did kill a lot of civilians in the manga—they might not be the same after all. The girl would never result in mass murder—sort of.

What was she thinking? The future Geto was not her problem; what she had before her right now was a ten-year-old boy.

Remembering she asked him for his birth date yesterday, Emi changed the topic unconsciously. "It's your birthday today, right?"

"Yes, Emi-chan," Suguru answered without missing a beat, not happy nor sad about the date. Ever since he was born, it was something they barely celebrated. For him, it was like a typical day.

"Then how old are you now? Ten?" The girl asked out of curiosity, a little shocked he was younger than Satoru. "Then, as a gift, I'll do you a favor for your special day."

Suguru tilted his head, showing tiredness for the first time. "You don't need to." He waved his hand and let out a chuckle.

Emi hummed a song, ignoring the boy's remark. She doubted she would see Suguru again in the future. He would probably stay in Tokyo the majority of the time. As it was, she might as well do him a favor so he could continue his sorcerer life smoothly. The girl could not guarantee that this Suguru would not be the same as the one in the manga. She could only place her bets on his character by giving him a push to the right path.

Now, what would be a good thing to do for him?

2000 March 17

"That's good, Emi-chan!" Satoru gave the girl, who was on the ground, a high five.

The girl grunted as a response, catching her breath as she lay down. Emi insisted on practicing the black flash after doing it on fluke during a fight with Satoru. The boy good-naturedly agreed since he had time to spare, seeing he could already do it on command, unlike a regular jujutsu sorcerer. Doing it once was already a fantastic feat; doing it four times, however, was inhuman.

Emi had done it ten times in a row after exhausting her mental energy. She focused hard on how to do it, letting herself go back to the first time she had done it. Thankfully, she did not need to be this exhausted if she used it again next time since she was already familiar with it. Her head was throbbing in pain, and she could not even provide her limbs the minimum energy to move. Satoru did not hold back at all and goddamnitshewantedtorest because what the fuck had she gotten herself into again?

The girl's mind was in shambles as she felt herself being carried behind the white-haired boy's back. Satoru did not even break a sweat; he could minimize his curse energy use using his Six Eyes. Damn talented people, damn people who were born pretty and way too nice that they would even carry her on their backs.

"Emi-chan, you're wearing that expression again." Satoru moaned wearily, reasonably sure she was cursing someone on her mind once more. "If you curse someone like that, you'd accidentally make a cursed spirit."

"I have no malicious intent," Emi murmured behind him, immediately changing her expression once the boy removed his eyes from her. Jujutsu sorcerers were not only famous for exorcising curses, but they were also notorious for making powerful ones.

Even if sorcerers could not leak cursed energy, they could unconsciously give people theirs.

Being too emotional would unintentionally leak cursed energy, which would create a malicious spirit. That was the reason why jujutsu-shis needed to control their emotions during a fight since it would efficiently lessen their consumption and prevent accidents.

Satoru carried her through the traditional compound, effortlessly transporting her lifeless-like body around. At some point, they bumped into Gojo's family head, who was with her grandfather, taking a stroll. The boy only raised his hand as a greeting, to which his grandfather acknowledged by nodding. Tadashi, on the other hand, seemed a little concerned by her current state.

"Did something happen, Satoru-sama?" The older man gave her a worried look, possibly thinking along the lines of 'she encountered an accident once again,' which was suspiciously happening almost every day now.

"She only exhausted herself, Tadashi-san. Don't worry." Satoru assured them cheerfully, lifting her higher on his back.

Tadashi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he bowed respectfully. The boy seemed to take care of her many times after she found herself bruised left and right. In truth, it should not be a big deal since she could heal herself using the reversed cursed technique. The problem laid on Emi exhausting her power every once in a while, making her prone to injuries. The sudden increase of cursed spirits around the area also did not help, so the two needed to fill in the gaps for the busy jujutsu sorcerers.

They arrived at Satoru's room after a while. He carefully laid her body on his bed as he prepared to apply ointments on her cuts and bruises. Emi weakly followed his movements as he busied himself.

"Ruru," Emi called out loud while staring at the ceiling, arriving at a wild idea in her mind. "You teleport by distorting the space. That means you can also manipulate this dimension."

Satoru casually continued what he was doing, entertaining an injured child's delusion. "Yeah."

"What if—"

"What are you thinking?" The white-haired boy interjected her train of thought as he felt an ominous came over him.

Emi raised one eyebrow, a little irritated she was cut off. "Don't you get it? Spatial manipulation to another dimension. What if instead of having the power of one branch of manipulation, you could actually cover all the power under the umbrella?"

"… that's impossible," he replied after thinking for a moment. "You should stop blurting about useless things." Satoru forcefully closed her eyelids using the palm of his hands. Thinking the topic was absurd, he mentally reminded he could count on the girl to think about impossible things.

"But have you tried?" The now ten-year-old girl pouted, pushing Satoru's hand away as she explained. "I heard that spatial manipulation was under time-and-space manipulation. So I'm asking, what if?" Emi firmly held this belief. There was no way this world was not connected to another one. Because why else would her soul reincarnate in this world?

Emi had no great misapprehensions about going back to her previous world. She already died; all her connections should disappear as well. However, she did not believe Akutami Gege, the mangaka of Jujutsu Kaisen would nerf a character like Gojo Satoru. There should be something more than would meet the eye.

The girl opened her eyes when she did not hear Satoru's reply. He was staring at her face as if deeply thinking about something. "Are you gonna try it?"

"No." The answer was instantaneous. Emi had a déjà vu of all the times she rejected all the boy's requests.

The girl gave up and only rolled her eyes. Emi meekly lay down, thinking about the things she could remember from the story. Unexpectedly, there were only a few. She must have forgotten about them as she grew up. Hopefully, nothing bad should happen soon.

2000 April 01

Emi stared blankly at the battered ten-year-old in front of her, unable to accept this was the same child she met three months ago. Suguru flinched under her gaze but held his ground as he held the door open with an iron grip.

"What the fuck ?" Emi cursed in English; at this point, she did not care if she would let it slip that she was not a child. There was anger in her eyes, closing both fists slowly. She realized why the boy did not want her to close the door—she might reject him. At this thought, the girl was mad mad.

The boy was not wearing his signature smile. Instead, every part of his face was bruised. He was injured beyond recognition but still dragged his poor body in her footsteps. Suguru was not wearing a sling. Instead, he was pulling his broken arm along, and was that his bone?

"Get inside," Emi ordered, trying her best to maintain her expression and avoid bursting out of the doorway. She dragged the boy inside into her room without bothering to ask him to remove his shoes.

It was Emi's first day back in Tokyo since last February; she did not dare to imagine how many hardships Suguru had endured when she was not here.

When they got inside, she quickly applied pressure to his arm then realigned it with the experience of a 35-year-old doctor. The extreme emotions inside her slowly died down as she healed all his injuries with the reverse cursed technique. The only time she sighed in relief was when she pulled the boy up, turned him around, making sure there were no other wounds she could not see.

"Tell me who did this?" Emi's eye twitched as her shoulder slumped in disappointment. No one should be able to do this to a child as physically powerful as Suguru. Not unless—he let that person hurt him. "Did your sperm donor come back?"

The boy was taken aback by what she said, and for the first time in a while, he burst out laughing. "That's one way to put it," he admitted, holding his formerly injured arm with amusement. "He went back to our place, taking refuge from the loan sharks."

From what she had known about Suguru, he had a father who was absent for most of his life. Nevertheless, when he was at home, he and his mother would suffer from domestic abuse. Emi had asked him about it before; he said he did not fight back because of respect and only dared to take the brunt of maltreatment that was supposed to be for his mother.

If Emi had not known about this, she could turn a blind eye and let it be. However, for some reason, it seemed she would be able to sleep properly tonight if she did not resolve it herself—even with her sleeping medication.

"Where do you live?" The girl asked, grabbing her father's bat on the corner of the room.

"Wait. What are you gonna do?" Suguru asked with reluctance, grabbing the girl's shoulder to stop her. He tried to snatch the bat from her, but to no avail.

"You'll see." Emi flicked his forehead rendering him speechless. "I'm gonna vent out my frustration about work."

Geto Yoshiaki held the alcohol bottle in his hand as he slammed the door open. He came from his friend's house, where he asked for help. They rejected him, which made him irritated, relying on alcohol to ease his worries. Recently, many annoyances appeared in his life; most of them were people he owed a significant amount of money to. The man admitted getting addicted to gambling and alcohol, but he had never tried drugs. Although that would be an experience, he would prefer to say no.

"Hey!" The man barked, charging inside the house, appearing in a bad mood. He swayed then eventually fell on the nearby couch. "Bring me some water!"

Yoshiaki's wife shivered in fear as she went to the kitchen to follow his orders. "H-here it is," she meekly said, handing him a glass of water.

The man grumbled and snatched the glass from her briskly, glaring at the blank space in front of him. Yoshiaki did not know why he suffered a loss, but he was sure he would get his money back. If only the bastards that dared to call him their friend would let him borrow money, then he would bring back his loss. Yoshiaki refused to believe he would stay in his wife's small house forever. He was better than this!

Then he would deal with that spawn of satan, which always scared the shit out of him.

Crash!

Yoshiaki sharply turned his head to the source of the sound, losing a little bit of his light-headedness. "Who—"

"An absent father figure, alcoholic, gambling addict—put that all in a box, shake well, and we have Geto Yoshiaki ." A little girl around his son's age entered the living room, dragging a metal bat on the floor. She appeared to be exhausted, a trait he had seen in office workers rather than children. "I have to meet my psychiatrist again on Saturday, and she will definitely hear about this."

The man blinked a couple of times, disbelief evident on his face. His eyes darted beside the girl, where he could see his son pushing his wife inside the room and locking it. "You fucker!" Yoshiaki felt apprehensive, standing up to drag the boy away since it seemed he was aching for a beating.

"Uh, uh, uh." The girl standing a few meters away from him appeared in the air suddenly, swaying the bat near his face. "You know how adult human males caused the majority of the curses? It was either by traumatizing poor girls or leaking negative emotions via their unmanaged childhood trauma."

Crack!

Yoshiaki could feel his skull crack at the force as he lost his composure, crashing on the ground in just a second. The girl continued her monologue, unbothered by his paralyzed body on the floor. "I'm even past the point of being angry. I'm at peace . Can you believe that?"

She swung the bat again, now to his stomach.

Bang!

"Ah, I'm so angry. What to do?" The little girl muttered to herself, unconcerned, as she turned to ask Suguru. "I have no reason to respect this guy. What do you think, should I kill him?"

"I think we should give him to the proper authorities," he replied, standing by the door's room where he locked his unconscious mother in. A smile crept on his face then he continued, "But I'd leave it up to you."

Crack! The girl kicked his arm with a force she never used on a human before.

Yoshiaki groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his arm. He lost consciousness a little while ago, but when he opened his eyes to check, he saw a familiar silhouette of a girl. Anger appeared in his eyes, realizing he was beaten black and blue by a child.

"I would never let you leave this house uninju—"

"You should never let your victim speak, especially if they're known to be assholes. Don't let them disturb your peace." The girl interrupted as she showed irritation on her face. Yoshiaki almost convulsed then and there. She was the one who barged into his house, and she was the one who hurt people!

"I guess that's enough, Emi-chan." Suguru glanced at his father's body on the floor then looked at the yawning ten-year-old girl leaning on the metal bat. "I'll handle it from here."

Suguru watched as Emi finished talking to a jujutsu assistant stationed in Tokyo as she ordered them to cover her tracks. He decided to inflict the same damage that his father did to him and his mother, fully expecting the man to die which would turn him into a criminal. That was why he decided to take the bat from the girl, not wanting to affect innocent people with his problems. But to his surprise, Emi healed Yoshiaki back to full health as if nothing happened to him.

Yoshiaki would be turned over to authorities, and the girl assured him he would serve a lengthy jail sentence.

"Thank you, Emi-chan." Suguru did not smile this time and only looked at her with his slanted eyes. The girl gestured for him not to worry about it. "I would have—endured for a longer time if you did not intervene," he admitted, struggling to find the right words.

"I'm not doing this for you ," she told him as she shook her head. Suguru, who was about to bow as a thank you, stopped himself as his gaze lingered on Emi's face.

As he thought, she never really liked him, did she?

Emi appeared to be tired as she explained. "I told you. I don't like it when someone lays a hand on my people." She was annoyed, thinking about the steps she should take after the boy lost his father.

Suguru froze at her words, then snickered, feeling he was dumb to doubt the girl who saved him twice. "Then I have to thank you, Emi-chan."

"Then just give me less work." He heard her grumble as she sighed, lifting the metal bat over her shoulders.

The boy showed his signature smile, but this time, he knew it was genuine. "I'll try my best."

Geto Suguru

Birthday: February 3, 1990

Hobby: His specialty is martial arts

Favorite food: Zaru soba served on a woven bamboo tray

Least favorite food: None

Cause of stress: Taking in cursed spirits

Innate Technique:

Cursed Spirit Manipulation

Skills:

Great tactical intellect
Immense cursed energy

A/N

Personally, I think Suguru's manga personality was based of First Burn's lyrics (from Hamilton) "Your enemy whispers, so you have to scream." Since mass murderers were not made in a day and I doubt it was only his depression that fueled the non-sorcerer hate. When I look back, his inferiority complex with Gojo should have added fuel to the fire. If Gojo did not exist then maybe he would still be a sorcerer although with a few screws loose.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED AND FAVORITED (you are all the best) SINCE THE FIRST CHAPTER! I'm so hyped up about their pre-teen stage I finished this in one go. Hope you liked it!