Chapter 38

Yuuji made his way to the dining hall. There, he found Gojo sitting at a table, playfully kicking his feet as he ate. Eso made sure that it was something tasty to say the least, knowing how fickle a six year old's pallet is.

Yet, Gojo didn't complain at all. "This is amazing!" he proclaimed. "You have to be the best cook I know!" he said to Eso.

He was taken aback by the comment but thanked him for it. "It was my pleasure to cook for you, I am glad you enjoy it."

"Not just enjoy it, it's the best. The food back at home was okay, but this… this is amazing. I would eat your cooking every day until I died!"

Six year olds have no filter whatsoever.

Yuuji snickered to himself as he came a little closer. Gojo turned to face him as he offered him some food. "Wanna bite?" he asked innocently.

Yuuji shook his head politely then showed him he had no teeth.

Gojo giggled. "Hehe, you're all gummy! I understand, sorry you can't eat this, it's really good… can you talk?" he asked.

"Umph" Yuuji said. That had no particular meaning or word spoken, it was just to show how he talked to little Gojo sensei.

"Weird… but cool!" he said with amazement. "Are you becoming something else? I know I shouldn't judge someone by how they look, but I think you are going to become something else, are you?" he asked.

He nodded to him once more.

Gojo gasped. "What is it? Is it a grand sorcerer?" he whispered.

"He's becoming a dragon," Suiryu whispered behind him.

He took a seat next to Gojo, but his eyes were fixated on Yuuji. "A… dragon… he's going… really!?" he asked with utter amazement.

Yuuji nodded.

Yet Gojo's focus solely came on him. "A real dragon… that's incredible… no one has ever become such a thing, no one in my family either. But he's gonna be a dragon!?"

Suiryu nodded to him. "It takes some time, but he gets really big. They say the bigger he gets the more powerful of a dragon he will become… cool huh?"

Gojo nodded with great excitement. "You need to get bigger." He said flat out. It took Yuuji aback a little as he crooked his head to the side. "If you are going to be a dragon, you need to get bigger. If what he says is true, then you need to get REALLY big!" Gojo insisted.

"I don't think he needs help getting fatter."

Yuuji sneered as Geto came into the dining hall. Gojo even glared at him! "He's going to be a dragon! What's your excuse?" he snapped back.

Suddenly, the room froze. "What?"

"You look fat too,"

"I am not fat!"

"Are you wearing that damn robe again from your cult?" Suiryu demanded of him. "Because it does make you look fat."

"It really does" chimed Gojo.

"These are to make me look like a Buddha!" he snapped back.

"Fat" Satoru and Suiryu said at the same time.

"SHUT UP!"

"And you look like a chick!" chimed Toji.

Gojo snickered, but then paused. He turned to Toji and said. "You look like someone I know who was going to sell their own son back to their family that they didn't like… Why would someone do something like that?" he asked.

Suddenly Toji froze. "What…"

"Yeah, they said their son's name was Megumi… they were going to sell him back to a family they didn't like… that doesn't seem smart. Or are they just a bad dad?"

Yuuji froze as he turned to the right side of the room.

Fushiguro stood there, and yet his eyes were fixated on Toji. "Wait… YOU'RE MY FATHER!?" he demanded.

"No, MEGUMI was the one being sold, not you!" Gojo said innocently enough. He finished his meal then pushed the plate to the side. "Can I go play now?" he asked.

Suiryu nodded as he escorted Gojo out.

Yuuji however, remained as Fushiguro stared down Toji Zenin. There were no words spoke, only Fushiguro left in a huff. Toji didn't bother to go after him and left through the opposite exit.

The room fell into an eerie silence.

"To think someone like him had a powerful son like Megumi…" Geto said offhandedly.

Yuuji glared at him but decided to go find Fushiguro.

#

Suiryu brought Gojo to the other kids, ironically enough, these children are his students!

They paused the moment they saw him, he hid himself a little behind Suiryu before stepping out nervously. "Hi…" he said in a meek tone. "Can… can I play with you?"

The kids paused but nodded. "Sure, but no curse technique!" one said adamantly. "We have friends who don't have curse energy and the game has to be fair," she decreed. "If you use it, we won't let you play."

His eyes widened as he nodded to the rules. Suiryu smirked as Gojo got in there and played. He was careful and learned the rules quickly. They were simple games and yet it was leveled out so everyone played as equals.

"Ah, there he is…"

Suiryu paused as Yua began to watch on as well. "He looks like he is having fun…"

"That's an understatement… by the way, he just spilled the beans on Toji. Right in front of Megumi…"

Yua froze, she was stunned to the news and yet sighed aloud. "Great, now we got to make sure those two are cool with each other… Still, why the hell did Toji return with us? I'm still wrapping my head around this."

Suiryu shrugged. "Wish I knew too, I never met him before, but you can't deny his abilities either. Not to mention, you got students here who have the same potential as he does… how did he know if they did or didn't?" he asked curiously.

"Maybe he picked that up off of my aunt?" she said offhandedly.

"Your aunt?"

"Yeah, believe it or not, he started to train after he met her. I knew by his style that my aunt had to have taught him something. She had an eye for this sort of thing…"

He nodded to her. "That takes guts for a sorcerer to acknowledge a human right?"

She snickered.

"What?"

"My aunt had no curse energy," she confessed.

Instantly, Suiryu froze. "What? What do you mean?"

"Despite how strong my family was, nearly half of them didn't have curse energy, however, they could possess the same power as Toji has. Those who didn't have curse energy trained themselves to become that strong. At the same time, none of them were ever scorned or turned away by those who had technique. One great uncle or something like that, tried to do that, but that matter was quickly dealt with."

Curiosity got the better of him now. "I got to know the story of that,"

She snickered once more. "Okay then. Well from what my father told me. A distant relative had a daughter, born with no curse energy however, unbelievable strong. The father wanted to perform an honor killing of her in a sense claiming she was not worthy to be his daughter. You can probably guess he was a sorcerer but not of the Tooru clan but married into it."

"He thought he had the right?" Suiryu demanded. "Then again, that's not uncommon for sorcerers to do."

She nodded. "The thing is, since they went by power, he had to get the blessing of the Tooru family to do it. They gave it on one condition. He defeats a member of the family with no curse energy like his daughter."

He was smiling now, Suiryu already sensed where this story was going.

"And?"

"They brought out a twelve year old girl. In fact, I think that's where my name came from. Anyway, he wanted a fight to the death. The family agreed… it ended in less than a minute. She allowed him to try and strike her down with curse energy, she took one swipe at him and severed his head in two. After that, the family raised the daughter and she became rather powerful herself… my grandmother."

He was surprised by the tale. "Is this part of the reason why your family hid their curse energy?"

She nodded to him. "Anyone in the family who didn't have it wouldn't say they didn't. After all, they could still see curses and destroy them with curse weapons. Because of that, any sorcerers from another clan wouldn't think otherwise that the family wasn't powerful. You see how Geto treats those with no curse energy, calls them names and such. Who would take a Tooru seriously if they weren't seen as a true sorcerer? So, the family kept it hidden and a secret so no one would know other wise."

"Brilliant on their part…" he said with great admiration. "Sorry about what happened to your family."

She nodded. "Looking back at it all, I know Sukuna had his hand in it, but…" she paused.

"But?"

"How could he have planned it that well so far in advance and being sealed?" she asked curiously.

Suiryu considered the notion as well. If he was that methodical, he wouldn't have taken aim at the Tooru family alone, Sukuna would have aimed to take down the three great families in such a manner!

"So you think someone did his dirty work?" she asked.

Yua nodded. "Gojo actually gave me the report when I returned to Japan for the first time with Ryujin, there was something strange found at all members of my clan's house holds. A large slab of salt."

"Salt…" Suiryu muttered. But then he began to remember something. "Wasn't there a method on sealing a curse within salt? I mean, Sukuna had a finger hidden in a salt coffin container right?"

She nodded to him, after all, it was in her possession at the time. "Pink Himalayan salt is known for purification as well as dispelling negative energy and ions in the air… I am trying to remember if my family had used such a method before with curses they couldn't destroy due to lack of power, but contained them in salt until they were able to be dealt with."

"It's not uncommon, but who would have known your family did that?" he asked.

She appeared uncertain to the answer, but at the moment it's not exactly an emergency to find out. Suiryu turned back to the kids and found Gojo got tagged and was now it. He was laughing it up with all the kids and enjoying himself. "You think this is why he acts the way he does? He never had a childhood?" he asked offhandedly.

"No doubt," she replied. "But then again, that part of the curse of being a sorcerer right?"

"Well… we're trying to change that." Suiryu snickered. "I see now how important balance is. Life is unfair for a sorcerer. No matter what power you gain from it, the friends you make or what you do with your abilities… you will never have a normal life."

She nodded in agreement with him. "So… are we still going to train them all to be sorcerers? Or do you think we also teach them other skills just in case they don't want to? Nanami brought this up since he went into office work, but then returned to being a sorcerer a while later."

He paused to consider the notion. Either way, there would be other options for the students. "I think we need to make certain they have options. I understand now that being a sorcerer is not easy for some compared to others. But there are other factors here that may prevent them from having a normal life if they wish to gain it…"

"The jujutsu committee." She said instantly.

He nodded. "Even if they go out into the world to have a normal means of life, with the way they are going to be trained, the committee will find them nearly instantly. Not to mention, we're going to train them better than what they were doing…"

"GOT YOU!" Gojo called.

He had finally tagged every kid. They were all laughing and giggling. "I haven't seen you around here before, what's your name?"

"Satoru!"

"Cool!"

Yua snickered to it all, Suiryu as well. "Well, maybe we might get him to act more maturely after this…" he said.

Yua laughed. "Oh come on, there is no jujutsu in the world that will allow that to happen!"