Chapter 5

"You two reek of booze"

They managed to find their way back to the valley as they have dubbed it, yet awaiting them was Choso who stood there with his arms crossed and was rather annoyed. "Do you have and idea how worried I was!" he protested to them.

Suiryu shied away, Gojo was trying to stay on his feet and not throw up… despite having doing so twice already. "We… drank a little too much… just a little…" Suiryu said and whispered the last part oddly. "But… it was just a test… I… I haven't really been drunk before…"

"Well aware." Choso muttered and sighed aloud. "You two better sleep it off, I doubt you are going to be doing much today anyways…" he said. The two merely nodded as they stumbled back to their rooms. Suiryu fell half way and was dragging himself along the ground before passing out without ever reaching his room. Gojo was the same way, he stopped to vomit a short time after Suiryu hit the ground… fortunately he wasn't sick on Suiryu.

There was little choice in the matter, Choso retrieved his sibling and took him to his room and laid him down to rest.

When he went to get Gojo, he found Megumi already trying to drag his teacher to his room. "Sensei, this is getting ridiculous…"

"Leave him be, he did this in order to cheer up Suiryu,"

Megumi paused as he dropped Gojo to the ground in shock. "What?"

"Despite his state, I am still connected to Suiryu, after all, he is my brother is he not?" Choso asked but gave a small smile. "I do believe we are both aware that Gojo does not drink… and yet he did so since Suiryu needed someone to speak to. His tongue became looser as he was able to speak his truth. For that, let's cut Satoru a break, shall we?"

Megumi sighed but nodded in agreement. "Very well then."

"Let me assist you," The two of them carried Gojo back to his room, Megumi took over as he positioned him on his side and left a bucket just in case. When they left, Choso double checked on Suiryu and made certain to mimic what Megumi did. When settled he left the room and sighed aloud. "Well, perhaps that will calm him down for a while anyways…"

"So, Suiryu isn't feeling like himself?"

"How do I explain this…" Choso paused to consider his words. "It's taking what made you useful and important to those around you taken away. Right now, he's in a state where he believes he is no longer useful to anyone. Taking into consideration with what happened… he believes those who died are on his hands."

"Shit, that's how Itadori would have reacted… minus the drinking."

Choso nodded. "Little brother is still asleep right now, what he did to save Suiryu took a lot out of him… I don't know when he will wake up again,"

"Who has him now?"

"Sho." He simply stated. "He was determined to be the one to look after him, he's very proud of what Yuuji accomplished, so am I."

Megumi nodded, he peered about the place oddly enough and said. "So, what do we do now?"

"I think we need to guide those who wish to join us, how to determine that though…"

"I think I can handle it, I'll take to the shadows and see if I can help those who want to get here… I'll be back in a while okay?"

Choso nodded. "Be safe," With that, Megumi vanished into his own shadow. Choso sighed aloud as he tried to think of what to do next. He wanted to go out and gather all of little brother's friends, however, he isn't certain who can be trusted right now, and with the state that everyone is in, it would be hard to judge too.

Perhaps the better notion is to see and ensure those under their care are well and prepared in case if war comes…

#

"AGAIN!" Junpei shouted to the brothers. "We need to do this again!"

They were run ragged, even Eso was amazed as to where he was getting his energy from. "Junpei, I understand you want to be stronger, but, this is a little much isn't it?" he asked.

There has been a fire in his eyes. Junpei has been training non stop ever since they arrived, and yet, he has been pushing the brothers to do the same unless they were looking after Yuuji. "I have to agree with Eso, why all the fuss?" asked Sanso. "We're in a safe place now, aren't we?"

Junpei paused and then said. "We are, but for how long?"

Instantly, the brothers paused. "What do you mean?" questioned Noranso.

He looked at his brothers oddly and then said. "We have not taken into factor everything that has happened to us. This was the first time ANY of us saw Sukuna up close and personal, isn't it?"

The brothers paused as Eso nodded. "To think we were going to help bring HIM back… in a sense, I am glad I died before becoming part of that plan…" he muttered.

"Brothers, listen to me. We are not done with that bastard. Despite what has happened, you heard Suiryu say that there are other methods for him to return, as well, Suiryu can't help us anymore. We're on our own. Yuuji is in a weakened state. Even now he is passed out from pushing himself so hard. So I say this, we have to get better. We have to be stronger. For we are going to be the only line of defense when it comes to our home!"

They were rendered silent. Tanso stepped forward and suddenly stood next to Junpei and gave a nod in agreement. Eso looked to the others and nodded as well. "You're right… but there also has to be balance too," Eso explained. "I will train with you and the others, but we also can't push ourselves too much, for what happens if we are needed but overworked ourselves?" he asked.

Junpei paused, he turned to Tanso and nodded in agreement as well. He sighed aloud but understood. "I just… I just want to be sure I am strong enough to protect our family, Yuuji and his friends…" he said offhandedly.

Eso nodded in agreement. "So do we, but there is only so much one can accomplish in a day. We should assess the area and see what we can do in the mean time, who knows how long we will have to stay here… As well, there is that OTHER issue we need to discuss…"

The brothers nodded, they haven't forgotten about Kusozu to say the least. In fact, going into hiding timed out perfectly in a sense. As of two months ago, the death paintings were disbanding due to the incident, it didn't help matters that it was aired online live before millions. Junpei shuttered at the notion, the world saw him when he pushed himself too hard and began to disfigure. Eso was stunned that he did such a thing to save the humans, despite what would happen to him and 'image' in a sense.

He didn't regret it, he only wished he acted a lot sooner to save more lives.

"So what do we do then?" Junpei asked. "What should be our main focus here?"

"Food for one." Eso explained. "I notices the fields and crops that are already growing, I just don't know what they are."

"Leave that to me, I'll be able to let you know what's what" said Sanso.

"We ought to see if perhaps we can hunt here too, we will need meat." Said Kotsuso.

"Good idea," Junpei announced.

'I'll look about with my familiars outside. I will have a survey of the land in about two hours' Tanso said with the words etched on his skin.

As the brothers separated. Eso paused as Junpei sighed aloud. He stayed behind since he knew the youngest had a lot more on his mind than what he was saying. "Okay, what's bothering you?" Eso said aloud.

Junpei paused to him, yet gave in. "We're not ready for this," he said. "Suiryu doesn't have his jujutsu anymore. Itadori is a baby dragon and if he goes overboard in using what jujutsu or strength he has, he's out for God knows how long. Gojo sensei can only do so much… I know everyone else is working on getting stronger, yet at the same time… we have to rely on ourselves to keep us safe… Kusozu was a huge wakeup call for me… Sukuna was a kick in the balls!" he said but shook his head. "To think… Yuuji kept a monster like that in him, suppressed for as long as he could… how the hell did he do it?"

Eso had to agree, after seeing Suiryu struggle to wrangle Sukuna. He recalled his fight with Yuuji from a few years back. He was possessed then and yet, kept that demon sorcerer under wraps. "You would have to ask him, Yuuji is a very strong brother." He said.

"Still, it just raises the bar on us too, we couldn't stop Kusozu, both times. And he's not even on Sukuna's level yet…"

"He is, perhaps 14 fingers worth almost, but there is a limit to his power too, he absorbs what he takes in but it doesn't last or linger unless he is trying to take someone close to him in blood relations… us," Eso explained. "I felt that when he tried to absorb me."

Junpei nodded, but then appeared startled. "That's why…" he whispered.

"What is?"

"Why Kechizu didn't reincarnate… why he had me go in his place! He was strong enough for the process, he told me after I had my little… break down if you will and wanting to be Kechizu. He spoke to me, and said he wouldn't be able to protect you guys as well as I could… I also remember before we even confronted him… Kechizu knew of this older brother… he was preparing a countermeasure for him even in his state…"

Eso paused to consider the notion. "We had no real idea of the outside world after our… births in a sense, but… he was the last of us, perhaps he did know or sense Kusozu before being sealed away… if that's true… little brother is far smarter than what I gave him credit for… Then again, you are rather smart yourself aren't you?" he snickered.

Junpei smirked but shook his head. "That's all him, he must have known. And knew Kusozu wouldn't get what he wanted since I am not a full blood brother. Which was why he was forcing me to my brink, to become more like Kechizu…" he began to pause and consider something. Sometimes Eso doesn't quite understand his little brother's logic, and it's a good thing too. Junpei thinks outside of the box, as well as improbably ideas. But he nodded his head on the notion to this. "Anyway, let's see what we have here, I'll help you in the kitchen…"