Chapter 21
At jujutsu tech.
There was silence.
The elders, hidden behind now silk screens glared at their own grandsons who had failed the mission. "They were trapped, like fish in a barrel and yet… you return EMPTY HANDED!"
They couldn't bring themselves to speak of their failure, they didn't have an excuse that would be good enough. The fact that four people appeared in black clothing managed to turn the ties would be nothing more than embarrassing. But, something did happen. Something… they couldn't explain either.
"Grandfather… we have no excuse for what has happened. I know most of my men have vanished after a black fog came from the mountains, I swear to you though. I heard the voice of Sukuna shouting at us to get out of his village… that was when the fog had trapped everyone within it and then…"
"Why did you survive?!"
"I was… I was outside of the village before it occurred. We had an issue, the curse corpses of the student in Kyoto, they… they turned on us!"
Suddenly, the elders were silent. "How?"
"We don't know!" Mosu protested. "Grandfather, I swear to you! I would never have let these curse corpses fall into the hands of our enemies, none of them have the capability of controlling them let alone that many! We had a hard enough time doing so!"
The silence was deafening, the elders said nothing more but sighed. "So be it, you lot, work on your techniques. And do so now, I want to see improvement to make up for this short coming!"
They nodded and left shortly after.
The moment their grandsons were gone, the silk blinds lowered. They peered at each other and nodded in agreement. "If it's to be done right, we need to do it ourselves, correct?"
"Yes, but we're simply too old now aren't we?"
But then, smiles came over their faces. "Yes, but… not for long."
Despite the loss, the elders were not yet deterred by it. Instead, they saw this as an opportunity to make their grandchildren work harder than ever before to perfect the techniques infused into their souls. Once they reach a level that the elders are satisfied with… they will take things from there…
#
Back at the domain…
"How the fuck did that get in there!?"
Suiryu had opted to go through his curse storage space, or an item box that Junpei like to call it. Yet inside, there were things not even Suiryu remembers putting in there! He was confused by it all but decided to keep quite about it, still… a dead body was new to him!
Not to mention that asshole Kenjaku somehow made his way in there… if he told the brothers no doubt they would be begging him to torture the bastard. A part of him wanted to allow such an event to happen, but then again… if that bastard managed to break free and escape, he wouldn't live it down!
So silence is the best answer for the time being!
After, Suiryu turned towards the mirror. He was alone in his room to inspect himself over. His curse energy is back and yet, it was far greater than it was before. "I swear, I feel like I am at full power or something…" he muttered. The curse marks returned, that's a given. His body wasn't breaking down or feeling weak anymore either. He had sparred with Mika a short while ago and took her to task! He was pleased with himself, and yet, at the same time, he came to understand how powerful she truly was.
"If any Zenin member is alive here and now and aims to insult you for having no curse energy. I'll beat the shit out of them… if you don't beat me to the punch!" he decreed to her.
She was taken aback, but smirked. "What's with that attitude, I know you had respect for me, but this is on a different level."
He smirked to her. "You handing me my ass time and time again when I was human, showed me how blessed I am with curse energy. It shows me how blessed you are without it."
He meant every word of it too. Mika was still stunned by it, but smiled. "Thanks," she said offhandedly. "You're not so bad yourself."
Suddenly, it grew rather awkward. Suiryu could pick up on it too, yet. Mika sighed aloud. "I don't think I am interested in Nobara the same way I was before."
Suiryu paused. "Really? What changed?"
"Everything," she said and began to stare at her sword. "After losing Mia, I did what I vowed I would do, end the Zenin clan. But now that it's done, I still wonder what to do with myself. I think me being with Nobara was just… just something I never would have been able to do otherwise had I stayed with my clan. They would never allow such a thing to happen, even male relatives who were… were never permitted to express themselves that way. I was able to. And I think it's not for me,"
Suiryu kept silent as she spoke, yet, when it was all said and done, she peered over at him. Was she looking for something? "What?" he asked.
"I thought you would be grinning like a cat that ate the canary. I am saying I am not interested in Nobara…"
"I heard you," he said as gently as he could. "But I don't know if you have spoken to her about this yet. Like hell I am going to say anything, and I am not some asshole that will swoop in and try to snag her the moment you two call it off."
She was taken aback by his tone. "So you're happy, but not over joyed."
"I am," he said and smirked to her. "But also, as I said, I am not an asshole that would prey on her when she has broken up with someone. I'll let her come to me. If she wants me," he said the last part rather quietly. But he also forgot, she has heavenly restrictions now.
Mika forced a smile. "I think she would be stupid to not take you,"
Suiryu froze, he turned and stared at her with great confusion. "Huh?"
"I saw the real Suiryu… back when Sukuna took over you… despite the fact Itadori could wrangle him in, you didn't have that luxury. But still, you tried to, with every fiber of your being to try and suppress him. It just made things a lot more clearer to us, Suiryu Itadori is a true Itadori."
He couldn't speak.
How could he after she said that. But Mika merely smiled and said. "We'll keep sparring if you don't mind. I can't get rusty, also don't be afraid to put a little more curse behind your strikes. I can take it now."
He merely nodded.
Still, Suiryu felt he has just been acknowledged. And it felt amazing…
