Chapter 21

"Yuuji Itadori, these are my brothers! From oldest to youngest. Shoso but you can call him Sho, Tanso, Sanso, Noranso, Kotsuso, Shouoso, Choso, Eso and lastly… Me!"

Suiryu hung back as Yuuji was introduced to the brothers. Had he been awake sooner, he would see that they are going to be a great help for their war to come.

He would be so proud of what Junpei has managed to do. In the short time he has known him, the determination that has been displaced has been nothing more than inspiring. Perhaps it also explains why the brothers have been working so hard, because the youngest was!

Still, it was an accomplishment even he never thought possible. But there was also something else. Each time he transfigured Junpei, there was something within him that awakened his curse energy. He has yet to truly see what he can do, but perhaps a test of that will need to occur. When Yuuji shook hands with the brothers and said he hoped they would all be able to work together, Suiryu stepped in.

He was silent for the moment, until he hung his head. "I'm sorry about this…" he managed to say. "Yuuji, I…"

"I understand," Yuuji said with a sigh. "But next time, respect what I say!"

He nodded in agreement. "I shall, I won't do this again to you. We just… we need the help. Also Ryujin really wanted them to come to life for a reason…"

Junpei however smiled. "Suiryu, can we show him?" he asked with a grin.

He got the jiffs of his suggestion but nodded. "You remember how Junpei died?"

Yuuji gave him a glare, of course he remembered!

"Right, well now…" Suiryu grabbed Junpei's arm, he tried to transfigure it but then, his hand was repelled!

Yuuji jumped as he saw it and felt the power behind his friend. "It doesn't affect me anymore" he said proudly.

"Junpei… THAT'S AMAZING!" Yuuji cheered.

"We have yet to discover his curse ability, so that we will do tomorrow." Suiryu explained.

Yuuji then paused. "Suiryu, have you been here this whole time?" he asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I did have to leave a few times to do a gig, as well as get food, train the students in Kyoto…"

"He's never been gone for more than three hours a day." Whispered Eso.

"HEY!" he snapped at him. "I didn't want to see anything happen to you guys, who the hell knows what's out there!"

Yuuji snickered. "It's nice to see you get concerned…" he said and giggled once more.

"Shut up Yuuji," he muttered back. "Perhaps I should check on the students tomorrow. If you want to work with Junpei on his curse ability…"

"Sure, I think the others would have want to see how much stronger they have gotten." Yuuji stated.

Today, they relaxed as Yuuji got to know the brothers a little better. He was impressed that Eso could cook as well as he did. However, his explanation was. "These ideas just come to me! As if I have done them before…"

It just made his notion that each of the brothers has a part of Yuuji within them too all the more valid.

#

"STRAW DOLL! RESONATE!"

The domain broke.

Suiryu laid there, stunned to say the least. True to his word, he returned to the school to check up on everyone. In one month, he had them face him one on one.

They all won!

Nobara was particularly proud of herself as she managed to sever Suiryu's hand, from there she knocked him back and used her straw doll on him. She was the last one to go up against him, yet everyone… beat him.

He slowly sat himself up, healed his hand and then l looked to the students who were smiling with pride. "Shit, I leave for a month and you kick my ass… Good job" he stated.

"Wait, we got praised?" demanded Panda.

"Now, we get ready for level two!" he announced.

"Can we go right now?" asked Fushiguro.

He was rather surprised to their question, but he smiled and nodded. "What the hell, why not!" he set up the domain once more, but this time, he made certain they were at the first safe point.

Today was full of surprises.

Suiryu thought for certain that they would have a falling out like at the base of the mountain, yet the longer he stood at the first safe point, the more he realized… they weren't failing.

No one had dropped out of the domain yet. "Are you fucking kidding me…" he muttered.

He waited, and waited and waited, until…

He sensed it.

"You're shitting me…" he ventured up to the second safe point, they were worn out and tried but all of them made it!

"This is unbelievable… you made it here on the first try!" he demanded.

"See… what you miss… in a month?" asked a breathless Fushiguro.

"That or I maybe going too easy on you now…" he said with a twisted grin. "Okay then, let's do it…" he adjusted his device to two. But then, he turned to everyone and restored their energy. They were stunned by the move. "I am only doing that once, since I promised before on the first level, but I never went through with it." He stated. "Now, who wants…"

"Me," said Mika. "I'll go first." Despite having no curse energy, Suiryu managed to restore her stamina and strength along side healing her wounds. He gave a nod to her as she stood at the ready…

#

He was on his back again.

"What the fuck did Satoru teach you in my absence!?" he demanded.

This was the rapid growth he was looking for, yet this was all within a month?

They were smiling victoriously, despite battered and bloodied, they were proud of their accomplishments. "He told us that you told him to focus on our curse energy. Nothing more, nothing less. When he asked him what else we should be doing, he just said curse energy. So, it's all we did for the past month." Nobara explained. "I do admit, I feel a lot stronger than before!"

"Salmon" came Inumaki.

Suiryu sat himself up, but was smiling. Then his evil laughter erupted out of him. "HAHAHAHA! This is IT!" he stated proudly. "THIS is what I was looking for!"

Everyone froze to his sudden outburst of joy. "Uh… you okay?" Panda asked.

"Better than that, I was worried you weren't getting stronger, I see it now. I understand where I went wrong with this!" he stated. "Ah, when you finally see the flaw of a brilliant plan it's almost amusing."

"You're creeping us out…" Megumi muttered.

"My apologies. But I see now where I went wrong. I kept having you run the mountain without properly assessing you. Not to mention, your growth before I even got here… I never took into consideration. I knew how strong everyone was when I arrived and was using that as my base… not Sukuna's power. I was pushing you all, but never saw the fact that you could all take a special grade curse down with ease. I was in such a rush to get you stronger that I failed to see that." He explained.

They froze to him. "Seriously, you are here to improve us aren't you?" asked Mika.

He sighed aloud once more to it all. "Well then, I am tapped out for now, you ran through the second level and defeated me no problem, when I come back we will do the third, but keep at it with your curse energy, Mika, keep improving!" he stated.

As the students walked away, Suiryu paused. "FUSHIGURO!" he shouted. Megumi paused, the two locked eyes as Suiryu said. "You're ready,"