Satoru walked into the room to see Yuji intensely engaged in the movie yet simultaneously successfully controlling the flow of his Cursed Energy. As the teacher walked towards the student, his line of sight traveled to Rin, who was comfortably sleeping on the couch with her doll. Although I expected Rin to show exponentially fast progress, Yuji's unexpectedly a fast learner too, Satoru observed.
"Yuji!" he called out to his male student. "Wake up Rin."
Yuji shook Rin awake, earning a sleepy moan from her as she sat up. She stared at her teacher for a few seconds before registering his presence. "Oh, Gojo-sensei. Welcome back," she said monotonously and then yawned.
"Good morning, Rin! Now let's get out of here. We're going on a field trip to a high-level Jujutsu battle to learn about Domain Expansion."
Rin scanned the area in confusion. She was no longer in the tiny basement with the couches and the TV but instead in the outdoors—specifically, on top of a lake. They were standing on top of a lake. "Am I still dreaming?" she asked no one in particular. She could not think of any other logical explanations to explain this phenomenon that defied the laws of physics.
Yuji appeared to be just as baffled. "No, we were definitely at school, like, ten seconds ago," he answered.
If the power of time manipulation existed, Rin certainly did not question the possibility of teleportation or their ability to stand on a lake. Or she could still be dreaming.
Rin studied the Cursed Spirit who stood a couple yards away from them. He was strangely passive compared to the one with the scorpion tail she met last week.
"What's with the kids? You gonna use them as shields?" he asked suspiciously.
Rin's jaws dropped at the fact that coherent words were coming out of a Cursed Spirit's mouth. Then she thought about Sukuna. Yes, he was also a Cursed Spirit, but Rin couldn't get that through her brain yet; he still appeared to be merely an arrogant jerk to her, Cursed Spirit or not.
Satoru waved his hand. "No, no, no. They're here for a little lesson."
The Cursed Spirit mocked, "Their presence is going to prove to be liabilities, you fool."
"We'll be fine since…" A smug smile appeared on Satoru's face. "...you're so weak," he almost derided.
The Cursed Spirit exploded in anger (quite literally).
Weak? Yuji and Rin repeated in their minds. Their shivering bodies clearly reflected otherwise. They never experienced anything as frightening as this monster.
"Don't underestimate me, you brat!" the Cursed Spirit threatened.
Instinctively out of fear, Rin clutched the backside of her teacher's shirt as if to tug him away from danger.
Satoru simply pat his two students' heads reassuringly and said, "Don't worry. Just stay close."
I was planning to do that without you telling me too! Rin yelled mentally, clutching his shirt even tighter when the Cursed Spirit triggered his Domain Expansion.
"This is Domain Expansion," the teacher explained, "a form of Cursed Technique that manifests an environment using Cursed Energy. Yuji, the Domain you experienced at the facility was an unfinished one that wasn't manifested using proper Cursed Technique. Rin, you somewhat lack a proper foundation of Cursed Technique, which is why you construct an incomplete Domain. As of now, your Domain proves to be an unstable and dangerous power for you, but it is something you will definitely master in the near future.
"Establishing a Domain requires a ton of Cursed Energy, but it can be worth it since it gives you a buff and provides access to otherwise inaccessible Cursed Technique—sort of how Rin can make certain objects or people in her Domain return to their past states or fast forward to their future states. Also…" A jet of lava accelerated towards Satoru, which he easily deflected while his students were cowering behind him. "Cursed Technique in the Domain will always hit.
"The most effective way to counter Domain Expansion is to expand your own. The more polished of the two will overpower the other."
Rin watched Satoru pull down his blindfold, revealing his breathtaking eyes. Damn, he really is attractive, she thought then shook her head aggressively as if to shake that thought away. Wait, this isn't the time to be marveling at Gojo-sensei's beauty!
"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void."
With a single movement of crossing his fingers, the powerful Jujutsu Sorcerer immediately overwhelmed the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's Domain. And before the two students could register what was happening in their teacher's Domain, Satoru tore off the mountain head from the Cursed Spirit's body.
Suddenly, vegetation aggressively erupted from beneath them. Yuji and Rin reacted too slow to the abrupt change in environment, leaving them defenseless to the enemy's attack.
Yuji yelled, "I'm fine, Sensei! Go after them!"
Rin only blinked as she adjusted to the upside down view, dangling from a sturdy vine that wrapped around her ankle like a keychain. Then the two students screamed as a hideous tree stump seemed to grin at them maliciously.
In response to his students' cries for help, Satoru swiftly defeated the stump, only to result in the Cursed Spirits' escape.
"I want you two to become strong enough to beat that," Satoru said, earning doubtful expressions from his students. It wouldn't be surprising if it took decades to become strong enough to even be able to survive that monster. Yet underneath all the uncertainty and unease, newfound resolve was born within the two. They will become strong enough to beat that.
In mere seconds, Yuji and Rin were back at the basement due to whatever teleportation ability Satoru had.
"I actually have to go now, so I'll see you two tomorrow!" Satoru said quickly then left, leaving his two students to comprehend that they were back in the basement.
"So, uh, I guess we should get back to training," Rin finally said to break the silence. She grabbed her doll that fell face first onto the ground and plopped herself onto the couch.
Yuji mirrored her actions and muttered, "Is watching movies supposed to be training?"
Rin silently agreed; the simple act of controlling the flow of Cursed Energy paled in comparison to the extraordinary battle they experienced only shortly before.
Then a preposterous thought fluttered across her mind: Sukuna could teach her. As if that asshole would teach me, she grudgingly argued against herself. But for Rin, her emotions always won against her logic.
Right now, she had a raging motivation and to quell it, she needed to learn more about Jujutsu.
Or maybe that was simply an excuse to meet him again.
The first thing Rin heard when she entered his Domain was an exasperated sigh. She didn't know it, but she was fortunate to only receive a sigh from Sukuna; if she were anyone else, she would probably be dead. But she was an exception because she would be a useful tool for his future plans. And perhaps she would also prove to be a toy he could play with to escape his boredom. There wasn't much he could do, always suppressed by that annoying brat.
"You again," he muttered unenthusiastically, looking down from atop the mountain of bone at the girl, who was pouting at his remark.
"Why do you talk as if I'm distasteful?" she asked, ashamed.
"Because you lack manners, always intruding without invitation."
Upon realizing that he wasn't wrong, she mouthed an 'oh.' She muttered an apology while looking down at the bloody floor.
Rin suddenly felt a presence directly in front of her, evidenced by a pair of traditional sandals in front of her feet. Before she could look up at Sukuna, she felt his cold fingers jerk her chin upwards instead. She stared at him blankly in confusion at the turn of events.
"How disappointing," he said disapprovingly. "Timid girls are boring."
Flustered and finally snapped out of it, Rin swatted his hand away. "I'm not here to entertain you!"
Sukuna smirked at her robust outburst. "What are you here for then, if not to entertain me?"
"You!" Rin began, ready to rant about his stupid behavior that has always disturbed her composure. "Argh, never mind," she grumbled. Badmouthing him wasn't going to do her any favors. Instead, she asked, "Can you teach me proper Domain Expansion?"
"Huh? You're too inexperienced and weak to even attempt a Domain Expansion," Sukuna retorted, waving his hand to emphasize the impossibility of her request.
"What happens if I actually master Domain Expansion? Could I still visit you in your Innate Domain like this?"
Sukuna snorted in laughter at her ridiculous question. "Are you suggesting that your complete Domain would be more polished than mine? You're a thousand years too early to even worry about that, fool."
"Sorry, I should've known before asking an innocent question to an asshole," Rin muttered sarcastically, resulting in a glare from Sukuna. So this is what "looks can kill" meant. "Sorry," she apologized with a lot more sincerity (or fear). She asked a different question, "So how can I learn Domain Expansion?"
"You still need to learn the basics of your Cursed Technique to even think about that."
"Then can you teach me?"
Sukuna processed her rather unexpected request. As much of a pain it sounded like, it would be beneficial for him to learn more about her Innate Cursed Technique.
"I would," he replied, which was followed by Rin's shocked expression. Then he continued, "But you foolishly depleted too much of your stored Cursed Energy from constructing your unstable Domain. And two times in a single day at that."
"Seriously?! Thanks!" Rin asked joyfully. This was basically Sukuna agreeing to teach her after all. "Well, I gotta go now! I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei!"
And so she disappeared, leaving Sukuna disgruntled about her happiness.
The way her amber eyes lit up, her laugh lines creased at the corner of her eyes, her lips extended upward and revealed her teeth. No one has ever made such a look at him.
Who gave her permission to look at him like that? When was the last time someone looked at him like she did? And why couldn't he forget her expression?