"Congratulations!" Kogane buzzed in Reina's ear.
She startled awake, it appeared to already be crack of dawn.
"What?" She gasped.
"You survived the night! You are among 50 players! New rules have been added, would you like to see?"
She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, grumbling, "Sure..."
Some names stood out.
Yuuji and Angel. Angel still had 70 points, Yuuji had one. They were located in different colonies, new data altogether. So that meant the other users could see her special elimination status and her location. Fuck.
"Kogane." Reina started.
"Yes player."
"How long ago was it made for our locations to be available?"
"The rule was added about one hour ago."
"Ugh. Which colony is the least populated?"
"The northernmost. But I must remind you that you must score points in order to not be eliminated."
"I'm a bug like you Kogane, I'm sure I could skirt that system." Reina hopped out to of bed, sauntering over to the blinds, no single sign of life in sight. She inspected the abandoned closet, finding something more comfortable than oversized scrubs. A t-shirt, jacket, and jeans. She paused to admire the closet, there were beautiful designer clothes in this penthouse. Too bad she couldn't wear them.
Reina walked through empty streets with Kogane. Observing her reflections in the lifeless storefronts. The shops were still full of stock. She was deep in thought. Her footsteps and Kogane's buzzing were solely audible.
She thought back to her political theory courses. She didn't really pay attention to them, since they weren't related to her degree.
"Dictatorship." She muttered, "He's eliminating the strong ones with the promise of curses dominating the world through this game. There's no way this game'll work. He wants to rule. This game is convoluted. It just doesn't make sense. Every rule seems to make this a death sentence, no matter if you win this game."
She glanced over to Kogane, expecting some debate. Of course, Kogane continued to buzz as it followed her.
"Of course." She rolled her eyes, what would a bug know? This thing had no ability to divulge in political discourse. Neither Reina, as she would like to admit.
But her thoughts continued, "I wonder if Kenjaku's kid is rigged to win this game?"
...
Mieko became conscious of the light in her eyes. A flashlight, she sputtered in reaction, jolting away from whatever was manipulating her eyelids.
"The fuck?" She breathed.
Those two young girls stood over her.
"She's alive, like you wanted." The blond said, a lolly stuffed in her mouth.
"It seems the text to Tsukumo didn't prompt her to leave Tengen's side to join the culling game." Uraume commented, leaning against a wall.
"Guess love can't trump saving the weak..."
"Maybe we can get intel from her? She seemed to frequent curse user clubs." The dark haired girl added.
"Like fuck I'll talk." Mieko interjected. Her head pounded. These curse users appeared to be at least Reina's level, too strong for Mieko to attempt purification. Her powers were simply farts in the wind.
"So you have info?"
"Not really. Yuki could care less about me right now, she's trying to save the world from you morons. Eliminating humans is the dumbest thing a curse could do. It's a tree cutting off its own roots."
"You've got it all wrong, miss wannabe. Merging humanity with Tengen will create an evolved human."
"Curse users only exist out of human invention, it is not the natural way of going about things. This will only deplete the world of its power and lead to mass elimination of the very beings you're trying to create."
"What the hell do you mean?"
"Your powers are finite. For it's in its manipulation wherein it can sustain itself. For that you need all parts. Humans ground, curses negative, and blessings positive. It can't grow in the way you want it to." Mieko would never think to be spouting Priestly concepts to those she perceived as enemies.
"Bullshit."
"Whoever's trying to play God right now, whoever you bow to, is simply inundated in all things wrong. They're drowning in a completely fabricated reality. Curses and humans were never gods to begin with, and bowing to them is the dumbest thing you could possibly-"
Slap.
"This woman is mad. But I'm sure you'd make a delicious meal for Sukuna when he fully awakes, her spirit has some rare tendrils I've not seen in a soul for hundreds of years. A delicacy master would enjoy."
The girls gave one another a side eye, mouthing "ew."
A tear nursed Mieko's reddened cheek. The world was ending as she knew it, and her being proxy to those who were trying to stop it was simply not enough.
...
Reina was bored. There wasn't anyone with the acute sense required to sniff out a priest in hiding. She was stuck in this area, too tired to walk or teleport anywhere. She felt apathy rule over her body again, knowing she had much larger goals. Her spirit overwhelmed with all things... well, this. She just wanted to sleep. She desperately wanted to swipe this Kogane thing out of the way.
She found an abandoned market with fruits and vegetables still somewhat fresh. As she entered, the sound of shuffling scattered the air. Her senses shot up. How many days was she in this colony again? 4? 5?
She picked up a tomato, observing a cockroach crawl around it. She had no reaction. It was a curse, quickly swatting it away with an activated hand. It dissipated in golden dust. Reina felt her fingers numb and tingle in response to the purification. It had no memories or events associated with it. It was purely manufactured.
Curses could in theory make other curses from thin air, it took a special ability to do so. One that Kenjaku owned. Usually it required a vessel, but this was completely vessel-less, empty. Easy to purify.
Reina didn't fully grasp that knowledge, and stunned, she ran away. Was she losing her humanity?
It was a close call, as more cockroaches appeared, scampering about. They climbed the windows of the store until it turned into blackness. A horrifying insect-like curse appeared, its energy- horrifying. Reina watched from meters away, as it attracted its bugs towards it in a centrifuge-like manner. And it shot towards the south, where most of the players were. It didn't notice Reina standing there at all. Trailing behind that horizontal tornado of bugs was another Kogane, barely keeping up.
"That thing's a player?"
It left behind a market of now-rotten fruit.
It didn't even notice her.
Reina felt a pull towards the thing. Either from vitriol over the rotten fruit or the desire to eliminate at least one thing that could get her points without consequences.
Kogane buzzed, "it just awoke, Dharuv's been killed by Yuta Okkotsu."
"The player with the most points who's puppets I've been dodging?"
"Yes."
"No wonder I haven't seen them in a bit." She said, in reference to the puppets.
Feeling foolish, she followed the cockroach curse. Enhanced by her energy, she kept pace with what felt like lightening pace. As Reina stealthily brought a blessed hand to what felt like it's core, she realized she put herself right into the fire. She hid as soon as she could, feeling the sudden dread caused by the sensation of being close to so much cursed energy.
A young man with kind tired eyes and a katana faced the curse. At first glance, nothing out of the ordinary. His energy, however- massive. It felt familiar, like Gojo's. Gojo mentioned at one point his young cousin also having great potential. So this was him.
She frowned, she hadn't thought of the white haired buffoon in days. 'Twas a nice vacation for the mind.
As cockroach thing brought up two swords and the kid braced for a fight. Reina decided this was out of her hands, and turned toward a stadium. A large curse guarded the building. So she couldn't hide there.
The battle between the boy and the curse lasted all but 1 minute. The boy a clear victor, as Reina felt the pressure of what felt like... inauthentic cursed energy dissipate.
And here she was hoping to score some points.
She then felt a distortion of more energy in the atmosphere. Almost as though the sky and clouds shifted.
The curse guarding the stadium disappeared. Her intuition told her to run in there.
Right she was, dozens of innocent people, non users- trapped in this game of violence crouched in response to the distortion. They cowered at the sight of Reina, who seemed unaffected by the game so far.
Suddenly, the crowd started to murmur. They glared at her suspiciously.
"She's worth 100 points!" A voice yelled.
The sound of metal sheathing was the last thing she heard before feeling intense pressure at her side. She'd been attacked by cursed users, but never a regular human.
"Kill her! Then we can make a rule to get out of here." Another one chanted from the crowd.
She brought up a shield made from blessings, it surrounded her like a dome. No one else could penetrate. This spell was different from the glass she normally summoned. It sizzled and cracked with conflicting powers, her curses and blessings- both on her side wanting to protect.
The shield was translucent, and spectators watched her stumble to the ground as she nursed her side. It was her left. What was on the left? Spleen, bowel? Maybe if they nicked her abdominal aorta if the knife was deep enough. She felt in her hands- the blood pulsing, as it seeped through her fingers, unable to fully keep pressure.
"Idiots..." she muttered under her breath.
But were they, really? In theory, this was a great way to escape battle royale.
She let go of her side momentarily. Tearing her jacket apart with her remaining strength, using strips as a tourniquet. Dizzily, she kept tightly tying more fabric around her waist. And more. And more. She kept going robotically. It was the only thing she could focus on.
People watched in awe of what seemed to be a magical being fight for her life like a cockroach not entirely stamped out.
Reina was a nurse. But she wasn't a magic nurse.
Her breathing sped up, likely due to blood loss and her dropping pressures. The pain immense. She pulled a baggie of mixed drugs from her pocket, and recognized the opiates, pulling them out like a kid sorting the marshmallows out of lucky charms.
The spectators watched in anticipation, she could feel them waiting on her death.
She swallowed the pills, and curled into a ball on the astroturf, closing her eyes. Some men in desperation charged toward the dome, and tried to break it, only to meet with a charge of energy, keeping them aback.
They chanted "die!" and even the kids joined.
She lost consciousness. Feeling a sudden coolness from the crown.
The din of the chanting gone, the distorted sky disappeared, and Reina opened groggy eyes to near complete darkness outside of a few visible stars and the sliver of the moon.
She was still alive.
But to her horror, the crowd all massacred. Body parts everywhere. She was still trapped in the dome, and sluggish from her injury.
The air was so off. Not because of the dismemberment, but something else. She suddenly felt it, beady glowing eyes watching her from above.
"A new player so late in the game. 80 points for all these people." Kogane buzzed.
"The minute they wanted me dead was when they all became players?"
"At the chanting." Kogane replied.
"Their dark will to have me dead, mixed with desperation- that's the curse behind me, no?"
Kogane simply kept buzzing.
She refused to turn around. She felt it already- the curse and all it's whispers of desperation, desire to kill.
"I- I can't purify this." She trembled and sniffled, holding back tears.
In some way, the death of 80 people was at her hands, all because she unconsciously chose to survive. That meant this curse was also hers.
She wasn't meant for this, she wasn't a killer. She barely made it as a nurse.
The thing crouched over her and the dome, watching intently, waiting for the shield to dispel. One trouble- Reina didn't know how to undo this one.
It was a waiting game. She felt it would lead to her death inevitably.
...
Gojo felt a sharp pain to his left side. He never felt pain, none excruciating at least. The pain of battle was exhilarating, not miserable.
He came to a conclusion quickly, Reina was in trouble. And if Reina was in trouble, so was he.
Grandmother smirked, "you should've never kissed her."
"What do you mean?"
"It solidified the dependence on one another's souls."
"So if she was killed, I wouldn't have died?"
"No, you still would've died, just wouldn't feel it, y'know."
"Explains how I felt the doom but not the pain of her sepsis." He sighed, tightly nursing his side. In all fairness, she was in black latex, it was tight. There was a blush... of course, all ominous signs of future regret if he had the right eye taking the wheel. It just had to be the one eyed snake at the time. And to his absolute defense, he then replied; "It would've been great to get some lessons on once-in-10000-years-lost-ancient-prophetic-bonds." He said, dripping with sarcasm.
"That pain is no good, I'll tell you that."
He frowned, "I figured, is there any way to figure out what's going on?"
"I... I can't reach any of the children," she lamented, peeling an apple in her hands. The grip on her jewelled knife tightened.
Gojo grew impatient, and the pain intensified, "fuck!" He winced. He guarded his side, and then felt wetness. He inspected his hand, bright red blood.
Immediately, he attempted reversed curse technique to heal himself, but the wound wouldn't budge.
"You shouldn't have kissed her." She said again, finding extra linens in a cabinet and helped Gojo tie them around his midriff to stop the bleeding.
"She's severely injured. And I'm stuck here with you."
"Shouldn't have been such a cavalier asshole, thinking you could just do everything yourself." She said, almost singing it.
"Coulda'-shoulda'-woulda'," he quipped, wincing.
...
Outside the domes, in a warehouse at an unknown location, Mieko hummed a song while hogtied like a sausage. The quiet din of her voice irritated the blonde standing guard over her.
Her teenaged warden played simple games over her phone. The screen suddenly cracked, the snapping of the glass caused the girl to drop her device. She dove down to retrieve her phone.
Mieko kept humming.
The girl swore, trying to turn on the device. Her knuckles went white from firmly pressing the on/off button. She huffed and puffed, holding back tears.
Mieko started singing quietly, "...and we'll all return to the warmth of under the sun." She became quiet, her mind flooded with scenes of a poor girl getting cyber bullied.
The teen stood up, limp, "it's gone. I don't feel it. I can't... I've disappointed Lord Geto... I'm not worthy anymore."
Mieko continued to hum.
"Would you shut up!" The girl snapped, kicking Mieko in the head. It was weak however.
"What's so special about this Geto guy anyway?"
"He was gonna bring us into a new age!"
"You felt like you didn't belong when you were a non curse user, didn't you?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"I understand a whole lot more than you think." Mieko pandered, looking down on the cool concrete that nursed her cheek.
"Shut up, your lover ain't even coming to save you, I'm still better off!" Tears welled and dripped down her face.
"I don't need saving." Mieko said quietly. All the sudden, she didn't feel so restricted anymore- The ropes loosened. But she stayed put watching the girl have her meltdown.
...
There are stages in which the human body enters before death. For the individual involved, it's more or less about the senses. All the palliative care lessons now an experience. Her vision was hazy, she could feel her eyes dry and glazing over. She bet her skin was pale and grey like the dying she often cared for. She could feel her body twitch in response to the failure of her organs. It was painful.
The most intact sense, her hearing. She heard muffled screeches of the curse that circled her dome. It was louder than she remembered.
She fell asleep upon feeling that curse's presence mysteriously vanish. The sharp sound of shattering glass next, and then panicked voices of young men.
For Yuuta, Megumi, and Yuuji, they silently stood over the so called "100 pointer". Yuuji intercepted Megumi's initial lurch toward finishing the near dead woman.
Bickering erupted between the two. Yuuta scoffed. This woman was familiar. He intuited that she was a good guy. And so, he coaxed whatever reversed curse energy he could muster after so many battles.
Her breathing slowed and became deeper, no more rattling, her eyelids shut completely, and most importantly, the deep gash on her side disappeared.
Yuuta's actions put an end to the bickering between Megumi and Yuuji. They both watched Yuuta's healing technique absolutely gob-smacked. He requested his manifested curse, Rika to carry Reina in its giant arms. It immediately obliged.
"She's important to Gojo. That's why she's 100 points." Yuuta finally determined.
It was him who was supposed to watch over her the night she appeared suddenly at the academy. Only this time, he wouldn't fail.
The next conundrum: How to get out of this game.
...
Grandmother placed another cool cloth on Gojo's waxy, pale forehead. He appeared as though struggling for dear life, jaggedly breathing. The ancient priestess never saw such a fateful bond so strong. She knew Gojo for only so long but he felt like family. His condition worsening meant her grandchild's untimely death.
Heartbroken, she turned to the only thing she felt was certain- her prayers. As she clasped her hands together, Gojo let out a gasp, his upper body shooting up from supine. Color returned to his cheeks.
"I'm not in pain anymore."
Grandmother hadn't even begun praying. She stumbled towards Gojo, inspecting the part of his abdomen that was afflicted.
"Amazing..." she muttered.
...
Reina's fall from grace continued, feeling her head bob up and down, and squeezed, as though in a sleeping bag much too tight. A pounding headache too. If she opened her eyes even the slightest it would amplify the headache.
It was a true migraine, she surprised her captors by vomiting all over Rika's grip. Rika stopped moving forward, she felt disrespected.
The three boys peered over to see Rika in it's stillness.
"Our baby..." it groaned, "Yuuta- our baby is sick!"
The two other roughed up boys finally found a moment to laugh.
Reina opened her eyes, widening in bewilderment. The sick barely came in contact with her shirt, thankfully.
Discomfort spread across Yuuta's face, "She can't possibly be our baby, can you please clean your hand?"
Rika obliged, gently putting Reina down, shaking its giant hands of the vomit.
A certain stillness laid over Reina, she glanced at the three boys. They all looked roughed up too. She focused most on Yuuji, as Sukuna's presence now felt thinly veiled compared to well secured just about a year ago.
"So..." The dark haired boy in Gojo's uniform started, Megumi, "are you gonna tell us why you're worth 100 points?"
"You three are Gojo's students?" She asked back.
"What does that matter? Who are you and why are you worth 100 even though your score is 0?"
"I pissed someone off, seems like." She said, scratching the back of her head trying to be as vague as possible.
"You owe us a better explanation, without Yuuta, you wouldn't have survived."
"I'm a system glitch- if you will."
"How so?"
"I've been able to unlink a few of those awakened curse users and send them out of the dome. Obviously game master has no control other than to find a way to exterminate-"
"You can help her!" Megumi interrupted.
"Told ya' not to kill her." Yuuta gloated.
"Help who?"
"Megumi's sister got cursed, fell into a coma, and now's a player in the game."
"You want me to..."
"Yes."
"Do you know-"
"Around here according to Kogane."
"How convenient. Still alive?"
Megumi frowned, "she's got 70 points." The thought of his gentle, pragmatic sister being a killer- he couldn't fathom.
Sukuna's presence wafted around her, making her feel like a moth to a flame- burning cedar. It corroded her from the inside but the drive to dispel him kept her going, made her want to approach closer and closer. But he wasn't complete, nearly there. It wasn't yet time. That was ever frustrating.
The four searched and searched, finding no sign of life. Kogane still showed her as a viable player.
Then Reina came across a room, it felt ever so slightly off. The door opened on its own, and she stepped back in hesitation. A wash of black spilled out the door enveloped her surroundings.
She was in front of a screen.
And forced to sit in a chair.