Arc 1: Love is the Pursuit of Ideal Beauty


Chapter 1: Two Worlds


"Now, there's nothing more to wait for."

The force of ones belief.

"There's no need to be afraid."

The straightforward assurance.

The singer repeated the two sentences and ended her piece with, "Show me the colors of your heart."

Her teammate sang, "I'm ready for love."

And the beat dropped.

The people in the room bobbed their head to the beat, joy unfurling from the depths of their heart, becoming susceptable from this very moment for the influence of love, whatever form it currently held sway inside their psyche.

"I'm ready for love."

Indeed. Mari produced the song to elicit this kind of response.

Positive. Hopeful.

Loneliness was a dreadful energy lately. It was high time someone took the task of cleaning the dirty air.

"Wow, that was great!" One of the girls, Rubie of idol group Pinkpunk, exclaimed with a clap of her hands. Her teammates clapped in assent.

"Yes, Mari-sshi's touch really made the song bright and empowering. I feel the urge to go out and look for love!" Lili complimented, her hand on her chest.

Mari smiled, "I'm happy you feel that way. But it wasn't all me. Your voices gave life to the words. Any other group won't pull it off no matter how hard they try."

"We thank you for such praise," Rosie said softly.

"Like I said with all my songs, they choose where they go and I am just the poor servant following where it leads me to."

Sooya joked, "How poetic. Do they go to whom they find worthy, I wonder?"

"Oh, yes, even a beggar on the street can be the recipient of a wandering melody," Mari shared with a straight face.

Sooya laughed while the rest sported looks of mirth.

"That so?" The groups manager muttered. "Then, we hope that one or maybe multiple of your songs will grace us again, Mari-sshi." The manager touched her glasses when she added, "The management will definetly welcome you with open arms."

"Ah, thats too bad though," Mari mournfully replied.

At the groups inquiring gazes, Mari supplied, "I'll be on indefinite break. In fact, this production is my last project."

"No way!" Lili cried while the other three were shocked.

"Are you going somewhere?" Rubie asked.

"Yes." Mari smiled again, projecting an aura of warmth. "To Japan."

Where she never once set foot. Heck, she was born and raised somewhere not even close to Japan. Her branch of the family skedaddled from this country probably since generations back.

"Yet here I am." Mari murmured outside Haneda International Airport, surveying the crowd of relatives and other agents loooking for their foreign charge.

Her eyes caught a placard with her written name on it.

"Jehanne Mari Kamiya."

She passed by it.

"Oi!" The holder of said placard called. She ignored him.

Footsteps soon followed and then a hand grasped her shoulder.

Mari gasped and acted the spooked high schooler's script. "Mister," she stuttered in English, "do I know you?" Her eyes watered. "I came here because of a foreign exchange program."

She looked around and jumped in fright when she saw an airport officer. "Did I break a law or something?" Mari clasped her hands together, "Please don't put me in jail."

The man blanked. "Um." He took a step back and perused her. "Tall, dyed back hair, and gray eyes," he murmured. "Wait, did she dye her hair again?"

"Sorry, I don't speak Japanese. I don't understand you either. Hey mister, since you don't know me and I don't know you let's just part ways. Gotta go, bye!" Mari's barrage further distracted him and she waved with a smile.

"Wait, wait, you are definitely her. That happy-go-lucky smile and that jump step. Yep, yep, Jehanne Mari Kamiya, stop!" The man ran and spread his arms in front of her.

Mari blinked and then chuckled. "A full three minutes," she held three fingers, "that's how long I messed with you, Atsushi-kun." She breathe out a heavy sigh. "A new low even for you."

"People must be so," Mari dragged word, "nice here for you to slack." She made her contempt known with the crisp tsked she uttered.

"Ugh." Atsushi slapped his forehead and looked up the heavens. "I forgot you're like this."

Mari frowned and smacked him in the head. "Honestly, what kind of poison did you drink for you to write my name?" She gestured to the placard with her full name on it. Such blasphemy. "You're supposed to write it full upon gunpoint, you know."

"Why? What's so bad about writing your name?"

It was her turn to be dumbfounded. "Excuse me? Did you lose your IQ after a few years here in Japan?"

Atsushi grumbled. He won't admit how idiotic he sounded.

"Honestly, Atsushi," Mari crossed her arms. She lost her smile and said, "You know names have power."

"It's not like I can do anything to you."

Mari kept her eyes on him. Atsushi visibly tensed.

She shrugged and smiled. "True."

The air cleared.

"I'll let it slide but next time, please, there's no need to write my whole name. I get the gist."

"Yeah, yeah." Atsushi's shoulders relaxed. "Your moodiness never changed," he complained.

"It's a woman's privilege," Mari chirped. "You should try it sometimes." She slung her leather bag and put on her yellow shades.

"What? Acting spoiled?" Atsushi followed behind her.

Mari threw her head back and laughed. Around them, people paused and looked back towards the source of the sound. Atsushi did not mind them nor did he call Mari to attention with the crowd she collected.

Outside the airport, the sun's glaring light seemed to fade and an inviting glow shone. It summoned fond memories of childhood adventures, of hide and seek, chasing, chasing.

The effect only lasted for a minute or the duration of Mari's mirth but anyone who had heard such laughter would still feel its echoes months later, the silent shield from the darkness they might encounter one day.

"Being a woman, Atsushi, a woman," Mari responded with a shake of her head.

Atsushi pursed his lips but did not deign Mari a reply.

When they both sat on his car, Mari blasted Beyoncé's, Run the World on the stereo and jammed with the music. Atsushi was not surprised in the least.

"Endless power, with our love we can devour," Mari sang without a care. "You'll do anything for me."

Mari stared outside the window as she switched from singing along to humming.

"It doesn't look as bad as the reports said," Mari observed while the song played. "Then again, this is their base of operations."

Mari cocked her head at Atsushi. "What do you think?"

Atsushi focused his gaze on the road. "Noble and twisted. The younger generation wants change while the older generation upholds tradition. It's the same push and pull dilemma."

One that would take ages for any progress to flip the status quo. Time they definitely don't have, cliché as it sounds.

"According to Newton's Law of Motion," Mari started, a complete one-eighty from their topic. "For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction."

Atsushi listened with one ear. The car stopped on a red light.

"Our ancestors left this world of jujutsu long ago," Mari began again as they both stared at the passing crowd coming from left and right, "because they believed in another truth."

A man in a suit almost collided with another man.

"Cursed energy."

A teenager passed by briskly, his head down, hood up.

Mari followed the boy with her gaze, "an energy of concentrated negative emotions."

She could hear the agony of his grief, could see the wisps of blue tinging his sorrow. Such burden his heart carried. He had lost someone he loved.

"Is not the only force in existence."

The traffic light turned green.

Atsushi resumed the drive.

"People who grieve can also experience joy, feel admiration in the midst of insecurity," Mari murmured. She watched the boy as he met a girl on the other side. "Will love unabashedly even when their heart wail in anger."

The girl took one look of the boy and immediately rushed into his arms.

"When a person has someone to hold on to, to protect, to care," Mari dropped her eyes away and gazed up front. "Even the meekest is capable of performing miracles."

The song playing on the stereo filled the silence after Mari's speech.

"There can be miracles when you believe.Though hope is frail."

"It's hard to kill," Mari whisper-sang.

Scattered all over the world, their kind operated wholly opposite from the concept of Jujutsu sorcery and its community.

All of them were just a bunch of people who have one special ability than most of the population. The capability to use positive emotions from their surroundings or from within themselves and share it to the world.

Throughout the histories spanning nations and once great empires, her kind's touch never faded. They were called by many names, most notable were those found in the halls of churches, Saints. They who left a mark so overwhelming that the world had to acknowledge their sacrifice.

A precious few, to be honest, whose martyrdom Mari hoped the current generation can do without.

Being the unassuming psychologist, the school's guidance counselor, the beloved idol, the meddling auntie-next-door, or that one friend everyone called for advise. Roles in society Mari highly preferred her people take.

Dying due to self-sacrifice was overrated anyways. Living a long life was far more satisfying.

"Ah," Mari snapped her fingers, "I forgot the unwritten rule of small talk when you first meet your brother after a long while."

"Huh?" Atsushi's brows scrunched.

"The small talk shall commence now." Mari's butt scooted and she half-turned towards Atsushi, "So, how's school?" She beamed.

"Coulda sworn you were being sentimental," Atsushi mumbled under his breath.

"That was PMS talking," Mari confessed without an ounce of shame.

"Fine," Atsushi pretended he never heard Mari's reply. "Tiring, yeah, cuz a lot of 'em don't want to follow my rules so gotta beat the shit out of 'em."

Atsushi scratched his cheek, "Taking action early made my studies bearable since those delinquents don't bully anymore. That nasty syrup," He made a face, "is gone. Eating is bearable again."

Or, Mari retraced her thoughts earlier, you can also restrain those who bully the weak and fear the strong. Overwhelm them with your will and force them not to step out of line.

That role worked too.

"University life agrees with you, eh?" Mari grinned, "Any chance someone's keeping you up all night?"

"Don't meddle--"

"Oooh," Mari cooed, "there is someone! No wonder I saw it twinkling around you." She chuckled.

Atsushi kept his mouth shut. What's the use of denying? Nothing can escape Mari's eyes.

"So? Will you share?" It was a soft enquiry.

"Well," Atsushi began, pink tinting the tips of his ears. "First, she's a badass."

Mari listened quietly. A stark contrast to the talkative her. Mari treated the delicate fragility of emotions with genuine care and honesty. She may mess with whatever subject she fancied at the moment but when it comes to feelings, her ears would always listen and her eyes would always see the deepest truth of the human soul.

"Second, she's a Jujutsu sorcerer."

Mari nodded without any comment. Of course, silently, she thought out of all love stories, Romeo and Juliet was overrated.

And because Mari hated the story of Romeo and Juliet, she vowed Atsushi won't experience the same fate.

But first, she'll have to see this warrior maiden for herself, check if she'd be compatible with Atsushi which Mari doubt it possible. Ten out of ten the chance was close to nil. Her kind were never once compatible with Jujutsu sorcerers.

She crouched and patted the little curse wandering around the road.

"Lonely," the curse uttered.

It was there past the borders of her senses that she noticed the weight of the word. Mari graced it with a soft caress.

The curse froze before it cuddled on her leg. Gradually, it dispersed.

Loneliness was an easy emotion to please. All it required was a presence to acknowledge it.

A companion.

And yet, such a simple demand was difficult to fulfill for many people. Even more ironic was that even amongst the crowd, loneliness prospered. To feel so alone while bodies brushed yours, so touch-starved while a stranger hugged you.

Longing for affection in the throes of ecstasy.

Passion. Lust. Desperation. Release.

Mari opened her eyes and read the neon sign.

"Club Erato."

"Kamiya Mari-sama?" A woman in a tight black pencil skirt and black sheer mesh top greeted her. "Please come this way." On her left ear was a dangling metal rose with thorns.

Mari followed the woman. Her eyes noted the crisscrossed design of her black bra, the matte black tiles but slippery surface, and the pumping lights overhead as the muted sound from the club echoed on the hallway.

"Rei-sama would like to let you know how disappointed he was for missing your appointment tonight," the woman shared. "To make it up to you, anything you want tonight is on the house." They stopped in front of a window room overlooking the dance floor below. Curtains were tied on its corners to reveal a luxurious three-sectioned sofa, a long rectangular center with one small square sofa on each side, and a low table at its center.

Mari laughed and gestured, "how generous of him. All this space." She turned to give the woman a mischievous wink. "I hope he didn't put me here with being alone in mind."

"Oh, he most certainly did." The woman hiked up her skirt, slowly and with an expertise that spoke of years of practice. How erotic.

Her thighs covered with stockings were lusciously thick! If only Mari wasn't set on her preference she would not mind spending the night with the seductress.

The woman pulled the thin device she hid on her inner thighs.

Mari cooed, "the consolation prize!". She clapped her hands and received the substitute of the man she was meant to meet. "By the way, nice ass, goes well with the thighs."

"Thank you for the compliment," the woman bowed. "There is a call button beside the table, please press if you wish to order anything."

"Can I drop down the curtains?" Mari inquired as she entered the room.

Upon the woman's nod, Mari dropped them down with a flick of a hand. The door was the same crystal quality as the rest of the exterior and the cover of the curtains, gauzy they may be, was the only barrier isolating the occupants in the room from the rest of the club goers. The height helped too as the room was located at the uppermost level of the club.

"Thanks, Rose."

Mari saw the burst of surprise behind her. Rei was a close friend of hers. Before Club Erato was established, she was one of his go-to people when he needed an opinion. One of those topics was precisely the use of earrings and how a piece of accessory can expose an individual's personality.

Mari took off her heels and laid her back on the armrest. The tab Rei left behind contained the information Mari requested from him yesterday, a few hours after she arrived in Japan.

In all honesty, Mari wished she never came to Japan. It was not because she abhorred the country, goodness no, but that coming here would increase the chances of encountering with Jujutsu sorcerers.

Her kind did not have a pact of secrecy nor were they a hidden organization. Mari knew for a fact that Jujutsu authority, a few if not all, was aware of their existence.

It was a case of don't mess with us and we won't mess with you.

Out of sight, out of mind, per se.

It worked for generations way back since the beginning of the riff between their ancestors. But, as usual, the changing of times and the development of forces easier defeated together rather than apart, these two polar opposites must come together for humanity to survive.

"Woah! NatGeo material," Mari whistled as she scrolled through the files Rei left with her. "If Rei wasn't a businessman, he'd be a fantastic stalker. Oh, wait, that's creepy. Sorry, Rei. A detective then."

After five minutes.

"This is boring." Mari mused. Talking to yourself was a little...

"Lonely," the curse cried behind the curtain.

Mari locked the device and set it down.

Nightclubs, where people unwind, go wild, and drown their sorrows. No doubt a hotbed of negative emotions.

There was one thing irrevocably true for Mari. She was a slave to her emotions. She cannot live peacefully when all around her people bleed, figuratively speaking, because to ignore their plight would mean lying to herself.

Despite her distaste with self-sacrifice, she herself was wired for such an "heroic" act.

A true conundrum. Alas, this was the nature of a human being.

Mari set an even pace as she traced the curse's route. From the VIP floor where she stayed, down to the second-level semi-private mezzanine, and then she stopped near the bar.

A woman was slumped on the bar top. Invisible from the naked eye were the three curses clinging to her. One curse piggybacked and the other two grasped her legs.

Mari chose the seat beside the inebriated female. She quietly sat, her left fingers drumming along with the beat of the dance floor below. As her neighbor groaned Mari raised a hand and said in English, "what's the house specialty?"

The barista manning the bar recognized the very special guest tonight and had no qualms recommending their top drink.

"I'll take one," Mari and smiled at the wide-eyed woman beside her. "And water for the little miss, yes?"

"Are you American?" The woman leaned forward. She backed away when Mari did not reply. "Sorry, I was surprised to hear fluent English." She looked down, "I guess I just, just miss home."

The curse tightened its hold on her shoulders, causing her to hunch.

"It's okay, sweetie. Struggle is real when you're a foreigner far away from home. Are you a foreign exchange student?"

"Um, yeah."

"Cool. Me too."

"Really? What university?"

The conversation flowed well into midnight with the girl named Lilianne smiling brightly by the end. The weight of homesickness on her shoulders disappeared as the troubles of school performance and daily expenses broke their hold upon her feet.

The two exchanged numbers outside the club as Lilianne rode a taxi back to her apartment. Before the taxi drove away, Lilianne stuck her head out the window. "I'm so happy to meet you Jehanne. Like, really. Our talk helped a lot and that's weird, you know, cuz we were in the club." She chuckled. "Thanks. Like a lot."

"Some days you feel you'll break," Mari pointed at the time on the dashboard. The time was past midnight, "but you made it through another day."

Lilianne mused. "I think I've heard that before."

Mari tilted her head and supplied, "Maybe from Sia's Floating Through Space?"

"Was there a song like that?"

"Yep. It's a great song, I highly recommend!" Mari showed two thumbs up.

Lilianne laughed. "Then I'll listen to it when I get home. Bye, Jehanne."

Mari hummed, "today, baby, remember you're okay. We're all floating through space." She twirled in front of the club.

"Three down and, um, one, two," She counted the weak curses crawling on the building. If she was sober, Mari would have realized how eye-catching her next move was. Unfortunately, any thought of self-preservation escaped her ten alcoholic shots later.

The presence of curses usually don't bother her and from a young age she'd learned to hold her voice when a group of curses could give her a bad session of itchiness on her throat. A good alcohol would blow her effort out of space though.

Mari grinned. "Oh, lookey, three concentrated strands of romance, a thin sprinkle of excitement, a ball of stimulation, I wonder what that is, a drop of despair, and the cherry on top, blissful satisfaction!"

The end result of her mixture was a melody green and airy. Whimsical, yet seductive.

Like a siren's call.

The wind held its breath as Mari opened her mouth to hum.

Jujutsu sorcerers viewed the world under a bland palette, a monochrome of black. Meanwhile, in Mari's eyes and many of her kind, the world was a giant moving canvas and humans were the painters shaping its final design.

A complex work of art, evolving as eons passed, so long as humans continued to exist in this earth.

Empathy, the root of the human soul and the energy from which Mari's kind draws from.

"Aaah," Mari's soft song reverberated, reaching far and wide despite the open space and volume of the sound.

Somewhere down three to four streets, a store's wind chime tingled.

The curses crawling nearby all stilled, enraptured by a song only they could hear and bit by bit, as if surrendering from forces unknown, their bodies shimmered and dispersed into the lightening night sky.

It was as if a holy light ascended the land, returning to heaven after achieving its mission.

The Window observing this unnatural event behind the curtain of his home did a sign of the cross. Old habits die hard even for him who was no longer a man of God and even more so in the face of something inexplicable.

To wake from the land of dreams to pee was clearly a wrong decision. What's worse was it was his first good sleep after a week of sleepless nights. It wasn't a horrible scene to witness in truth but something about those curses finding peace...

"No, salvation," he breathed in awe and then he felt cold.

It was far too different.

"Like the work of a supernatural," Ijichi Kiyotaka reported behind the wheel.

Ijichi's companion sat on the backseat. The man whistled, "what a ghost town. Not a curse in sight." The car was parked on a dark corner of the street. Their only source of illumination was the building a few meters away from their spot.

"Club Erato, huh."

From the rearview mirror, Ijichi's superior cupped his cheek, his lips twisting up in what Ijichi would term the maniac grin. Nothing good came from such a smile despite it transforming his half-hidden face into devastating attractiveness.

"Something or someone exorcised curses and we don't know what or who," His laughter brought shivers down Ijichi's spine.

His hand went up to his blindfold and lifted the edge beneath his left eye, the color of glowing, inhuman blue was reflected on the car's window pane.

"Omoshiroi."


:Writer's Notes:

First, a disclaimer: I do not own the songs appearing here, released or otherwise. I also do not own Jujutsu Kaisen and its characters.

The world of JJK is a beautiful, complex work. I do not have the ability to foresee the future Akutami Gege-sensei plans for it so, in order not to pressure myself, I've created a world that will diverge from this universe. Please be warned.

This work came from one simple question:

"If curse energy is created from negative emotions, then what of positive emotions?"

They say when you have someone to protect, you become stronger.

They say hope sustains you in times of struggle and deep sorrow.

They say nothing is impossible if you have belief, faith.

So, what will Jujutsu Kaisen's world look like if there are people who take strength not from grief, revenge, or hatred but from love of family, friends, lovers, who hope for the future, and who believed that even when the world is cruel, it is still a beautiful world?

I suppose you can say this is a thought experiment but I confess, I am a sucker for happy endings and the current progress of Jujutsu Kaisen just breaks my heart, in a way, this is also a comfort fanfic.

P.S. (whispers) I'm also a Gojo simp.

:The Playlist:

1. Two Worlds - Phil Collins

2. Ready for Love - Blackpink, unreleased song

3. Run the World - Beyoncé

4. When You Believe - Pentatonix version

5. Floating Through Space - Sia

*for the humming, you may check out Lauren Paley on youtube, especially her Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princess version.

:Translations:

(Jap.) Omoshiroi - interesting

:Curiosity Corner:

Did you find this chapter interesting?

• What kind of Gojo Satoru are you expecting to read?