Chapter 28

"Oh I wanted to do that SO BADLY to him… but couldn't bring myself to do it…"

Yuuji was laughing up a storm as the brothers told him what they had wanted to do to the body thief, however none of them could go through with it since they didn't want to hurt him by accident. "We stuck with the dog pile, that was the extent of it… and flesh ball…" Junpei explained.

He was laughing it up with the brothers as Eso put out a wicked meal. Yuuji got to indulge himself for some time and savored every bit of the feast. Yet mid way through there came a knock at the door. Suiryu wondered in but paused to the feast. "Oh… may I join you?"

Eso nodded. "I had a feeling you would be by, there's more in the oven."

"Fuck yeah…" Suiryu said and took a seat.

It was the first family dinner they have really had. Yuuji listened on as Junpei explained their outing into the city. He got the brothers more modern looking clothing and up to speed on various things. "I do have to stop Tanso from trying to turn road kill into familiars…"

Tanso bore a 'what?!' look on his face.

Yuuji snickered to it. "I have to agree with Junpei, hold off on doing that in public," he said gently.

Tanso nodded and yet hung his head. He really does like creating more familiars, and not for battle either. "Did you know he's stopped like twenty hunters in the past few months?" Choso asked. "This forest is prohibited for hunting, yet some humans don't appear to get the message…"

"So Tanso is protecting the forest?" Suiryu asked. "Not a bad way to practice… I'm afraid to ask…" Suiryu said then suddenly trailed off.

Tanso however waved off the comment. "Afraid to ask what?" Yuuji questioned.

The table fell oddly silent. Tanso rolled his eyes as he turned to the front door. Yuuji paused as he looked as well, but was started as to what stood before the window! Ten zombie looking people were standing there!

"What the hell!" he demanded and snapped to his feet. "What are they!?"

"Maggot zombies," Suiryu said rather carelessly as he ate. "People turned into Tanso's familiars in a sense… these assholes were part of a human trafficking ring. Using their curse ability to kidnap women and young girls in broad daylight."

He was still disgusted, yet now he didn't feel bad for what happened to those sorcerers. "So… how long do they keep for?"

Suiryu paused. "Well, so far, he hasn't lost a single familiar other than those that were killed during the war. His curse energy has increased after we learned when he turns a sorcerer… their curse energy diverts to him. Which is odd, I assumed those assholes are dead… yet they are still making curse energy so…"

Yuuji merely nodded before taking his seat once more. "We aren't testing it anymore, don't worry," Junpei vowed. "Besides, Tanso is still trying to control this new ability, coordinating former humans is a little difficult to do."

The table then filled with stories, conversations as well as plans for the next few days. Junpei was excited to help out the brothers as they all expressed different things they wished to accomplish, learn and discover for themselves. Suiryu was laughing it up with Eso when they spoke about the interview they did recently. "Man, I wish they kept some of the other questions in that…" Suiryu said offhandedly.

"Such as?" Yuuji questioned.

"Boxers or briefs." He said with a devious grin. "I was going to say 'nope' and leave it at that!"

"You would too," snickered Eso. "They were asking us various things, one is what scares you… for me nothing really. Except losing my family, but it was too emotional and they didn't put that in."

"I got the creepiest laugh" Junpei said and grinned. "You thought it wasn't creepy?" he demanded of Eso and Tanso.

"You sound like Kechizu! For me that's a good memory and I liked his laugh" Eso explained.

"I stand by my statement when you two said I had the creepier laugh… fuck you!" Suiryu snapped. "Mine is diabolical, not creepy…"

"Unless they catch you in the right light and it depends on what you ARE laughing about," corrected Yuuji.

"You got me there…"

"Anyways, we ought to hang out more often like this." Yuuji said aloud. "I like being with everyone here… it's nice… it feels…"

"Right," chimed Choso.

Yuuji nodded. Here, he wasn't under any pressure to be anyone but himself. At the school though, he always felt as if he were being watched under a microscope. "I… spoke with Gojo sensei recently," Junpei said aloud.

"Oh?" asked the table.

"He wants me to go to the school in a few days. I think he is going to try and get me in…"

"That's great!" cheered Yuuji. "We can finally be classmates!"

Junpei nodded. "I really do want to go back, ever since you told me about the school Yuuji, I've been wanting to see it with my own eyes."

Suiryu paused. "Huh… I guess that does explain some things…" he muttered.

"What do you mean?" Yuuji asked.

"Well, I know for a fact that the sister school is going to be coming by soon, perhaps another good will event or something. But before that, we got a concert to get ready for."

"Oh right that one!" Eso said. "We're going to be playing with three other bands, getting their names out there and all. Suiryu picked them all himself."

"Ooo, sounds like a good concert." Said Junpei. "Guess I am going to need to buff out a little huh?"

"I don't understand why you don't make it permanent" Suiryu muttered.

"I can do that?!"

"Yeah," Suiryu said offhandedly. "All we got to do is have you hang on to the blood in your body for a few months, when you keep your form that way, the changes become irreversible."

The table paused, Junpei was at a loss with what he learned, yet at the same time, he smirked at the notion. "There goes my secret identity" he snickered. "Maybe later, I mean… can I still grow despite being a cursed human?"

Suiryu shrugged his shoulders to it all. "No one has really looked into it, nor has there been many cursed humans to test the theory on. If anything you can try it, give yourself a few years and see if you grow, if not, then do the blood method."

He nodded to the notion. "It would be interesting to see…"

They finished up the meal. Yuuji and Suiryu helped stay to clean up, but then it was time to go back to the school. "See you guys soon enough, thank you for the meal," Suiryu called.

As they walked out, Yuuji felt better and full from the feast. "Say… bro… if I told you I know a place where we could live, would you want to go?" Suiryu asked offhandedly.

He paused to the question. "A place to go?"

"Yeah, no elders or any of that shit, would you want to?"

The question was heavy and yet as much as Yuuji would love the idea, there's just a part of him that couldn't bare the thought of leave the school. "As much as I would want to… I can't for the time being… I feel like I have to stay at the school… at least until I know what happened to me."

He fell silent, but found himself staring at his hands. "You think it's that serious huh?"

"Gojo sensei said he couldn't see what changes occurred, but he knows they have happened. But he can't see how."

Suiryu nodded. "Something more to learn…" he muttered offhandedly. "Well, if the time calls for it. Just so you know, I got a place where we can go."

Yuuji nodded. "It's good to have a backup plan to say the least…" he paused from the walk, which made Suiryu pause. "Suiryu… has something happened to Ryujin?"

He was silent for a moment, but then smirked. "Like anything can happen to a dragon that powerful," he said confidently. "Nah, Ryujin I think just got beaten up as much as you did. Probably resting for the most part."

"You sure?" Yuuji asked as he looked to him seriously.

Suiryu's smile didn't alter. "Positive, a dragon that powerful that took out Sukuna… can't be taken down and out that easily. Just give him time, he'll show himself again."

Yuuji nodded, yet at the same time. Something in his heart tells him otherwise…