Edited by absolem 3
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Yūta
Yūta warily stared at his mother's boyfriend.
It was bright and early in the morning—before breakfast—and Mama had opened the door to Satoru Gojō. Satoru had paper sacks full of freshly baked bread that was still warm and steaming.
Satoru cheerily handed the bags to Yūta who reluctantly accepted it.
At least I got my bread, thought Yūta, digging out a coconut bun and biting into it. Mmm. Bread.
Satoru grinned. "Peace?"
Okay, getting kidnapped wasn't the best but I got a lot of bread out of it so I'll call it a wash.
It wasn't the most fun—okay, that was an understatement. It was rude. Hella rude. The man ruined perfectly good bread just to romance Yūta's mom.
Yūta was glad Satoru didn't turn out to be some crazy villain, or something, but it was still an unpleasant experience.
And, in hindsight, kind of disappointing.
He'd heard a lot of great adventures started with a kidnapping. Or at least with his mom it did. Her favorite was when she was reversed-summoned into a ninth-circle of hell. She said Yūta was too young to know the details, but it was a wild ride through and through.
Yūta really wanted his first kidnapping to, at the very least, be as crazy.
Instead, what did he get?
A smug pretty boy trying to get to his mom.
Ugh.
So rude.
Although Yūta had to admit it was nice of the man to go out of his way to repay Yūta with bread. He didn't have to, and the fact that he did so anyway meant a lot to Yūta. Not only did Satoru replace the fallen bread, he went out and got more than what Yūta had originally purchased.
Yūta was willing to forgive the lame kidnapping as long as Satoru was going to put an effort into making amends.
It helped, Yūta had to inwardly admit, that his mom seemed to like him. The boy could not recall in recent memory Mama being wrong about someone. Her intuition was as sharp as her kitchen knives.
"Peace," Yūta agreed, offering Satoru the coconut bun he had taken a bite out of.
Satoru accepted it with a dramatic bow. "So kind of you."
Yūta shrugged. "I'm not so petty a person to hold a grudge against a man who brings me good bread." Yūta adjusted his grip on his bag. "But if you ever kidnap me again, I will seek vengeance."
Especially if I don't wake up in a ninth circle of hell or somewhere equally fun.
"Duly noted." Satoru grinned. "On the subject, however, I couldn't help but notice you've got a talent for using Cursed energy."
Yūta blandly repeated, "Cursed energy?"
"Spiritual energy, dearest," Mama said from the kitchen. Yūta could hear the stove-top fire crackling to life as she placed a cast iron skillet over top of it. "Specifically for the spirits–"
"What's your point?" Yūta warily asked.
"I want you to attend my school," he said. "You've got potential."
"I have potential for a lot of things. In case you haven't noticed, I'm something of a prodigy," Yūta said with a shrug.
"That's right baby," Mama cheered as she cracked eggs into a cast iron. "You do whatever you want."
"Family love is truly amazing to witness," said Satoru, not missing a beat, "however, it would be in your best interest to attend as well. You already have a powerful presence, and if you continue to keep Cursed Spirits by your side you'll naturally draw my society's attention. It would be best if you joined, rather than be marked as a risk."
If Yūta had a free hand, he would have rubbed tiredly at his dark blue eyes. "I'm not interested in joining such a shady practice."
Satoru made a comically disappointed face. It was too exaggerated to be real. He pressed, "Not even a little bit?"
"It doesn't sound like fun, and no offense, but I doubt your school could teach me anything Mama can't."
Satoru tapped his chin. He drawled out, "Ah. So you plan to stay under her wing indefinitely?"
"Well, no…"
"Then shouldn't you take this chance to gain knowledge elsewhere?" Satoru reasoned. "It may not be as… enticing… as getting to spend the day with Lilly—"
"Oh, you," Mama giggled, which elicited a grin from Satoru and a tired sigh from Yūta.
"—but I assure you long term, it's for the best. Unless you plan to live in a separate dimension for most of your life like Lilly."
Yūta pursed his lips. "Fine. I'll give your school a shot. If it's a waste of time, I'll drop out."
Satoru clapped his hands together, beaming. "You're gonna love it. Maybe."
"We'll see," was all Yūta said. He shifted his weight around. "Wanna join us for breakfast?"
"I will never say no to free food. Especially made by Lilly."
"At least you have good taste," said Yūta. "Hey, side note."
"Mm-hmm?"
"If you ever do kidnap me again, can you try to make it a little more exciting?"
"I promise," Satoru assured him.
"Great, thanks."
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Lilly
Satoru left after breakfast. He was, apparently, already late going to his class to teach but didn't want to miss out on the food.
Yūta helped clean up the dishes. Lilly had enchanted her kitchen to wash, dry, and put away the dishes whenever they were placed in the sink. Any time she had access to her magic, cleaning spells were a basic necessity.
She loved to cook and bake. It was something that was consistent in all of her lives, yet the hassle of cleaning up afterward was always an unwelcomed headache.
When she lived in the Food Wars-verse she was constantly staying up late to clean up after herself. Her genuine disdain for doing dishes was so powerful in that life she almost fully awakened her memories to access her magic just to clean dishes. Thankfully her wife, Eri, made it much more bearable when they did them together.
Ah, the warm memories of the two of them laughing over making sudsy mustaches…
Eri would always be her favorite tsundere wife.
Lilly almost felt bad for snatching her from the protagonist, but well… heh. Sucked for him, huh?
Yūta and Lilly placed the dishes in the sink. Yūta quietly watched the magic swirl around it as water and soap rubbed itself on the dishes. From his shadows, Kurai slowly emerged and crawled his way onto his shoulders. The spirit took the shape of a tiny black bird with four glowing blue eyes. That was not Kurai's true form, however it was the appearance Kurai preferred to use when not in Yūta's shadows. Similar to how Tora enjoyed his time as a fat cat, and Ame shifted between something human and a wagasa.
Yūta gently pet Kurai. "Mama, do you think I'll like the school?"
"Hard to say, sweet pea," said Lilly. "I hope you do. I hope you'll be able to make friends there."
Yūta hadn't made any strong connections with his peers. He had superficial friends—the kind that he could get along with at school, but would never willingly meet up with outside it. Lilly was happy he grew so attached to Yūji, yet she could not help hoping he'd find more connections.
She knew it could be lonely to only love one person.
She wished for her children to have many connections. Good, bad, and everything in between. Perhaps he'd have an easier time bonding with other Jujutsu Sorcerers than normal humans.
Lilly hoped, at the very least, he would be able to make good memories there.
"Mn… I think I'm going to go fishing. Be back after dark."
"Okay. Take care, baby."
"I will."
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Yūji came in through the front door later that afternoon. Yūta had not returned home, yet, so it was only Lilly. The pink-haired boy came into the room, and placed his backpack on the table. "Hi Auntie."
"Hello. Yūta's not home yet."
"Yeah, he texted me. I guess he's going to start a new school?"
"Mm-hmm." Lilly had been painting in the living room. She stood up from her stool and stretched her back. "It'll be a place for him to learn more about using his abilities."
"Like with Uncle Tōji?"
Tōji had made some off-handed comments about his past while training Yūta and Yūji. Lilly's heart thumped in her chest. She hoped that Satoru's class wouldn't be anything like Tōji's childhood. She couldn't imagine the old soul inside Satoru would inflict such abuse, but every life was different…
Lilly hesitantly said, "Similar, maybe. Are you staying over this weekend?"
"Mm-hmm." Yūji approached the painting Lilly was working on. "That looks terrible."
She smiled. "Thank you. It's not done."
"I would hope not, otherwise I'd have to disagree with Yūta about you being good at everything," Yūji teased with a warm smile.
"Cheeky boy," Lilly chided. She placed her brushes in the dirty water jar. "We've got a few hours until dinner. Is there something you want to do?"
"Um… can I learn… can I learn that stuff, too?" Yūji sheepishly asked.
Lilly considered his request.
Tōji had mentioned that Yūji was progressing well in his training. The pink haired teenager had an innate talent for physical activities, more specifically hand-to-hand combat. He had impressive reflexes that more than made up for his lack of experience. Tōji was reluctant to praise anyone, and yet he admitted that Yūji had some "scary potential."
Lilly felt in her gut that it was due to Yūji's status as the Protagonist™.
She wondered if Yūji was already supposed to be trained before the start of the story? That would rare for stories, so she doubted it…
So what happens if he is trained? What happens if he is strong?
"Well baby… I guess you know enough I can teach you a couple of things," she said. "You still want to learn levitating?"
"Hell yeah!"
"First gotta learn to walk on air, then we can do full body levitation," she said. "It's not that hard. You should have it down in a year."
"C'mon gimme more credit than that, Auntie."
Lilly smiled. "A year is actually very good, my dear. Aside from that, I'll teach you one another thing. Do you want combat, utility—"
"Combat," he immediately said. "Something really cool!"
"Something really cool," she echoed in amusement. "Okay, what's your favorite color?"
"Red."
"Good answer. Fire, lightning, or blood?" She asked.
"Uh?"
"Yūta's shown an inclination to shadow, lightning, and wind-based moves. He prefers aerial fights," Lilly explained. "However, in the beginning you should only focus on one area. You chose red, therefore: fire, lightning, or blood?"
Yūji sat down on the grass. "Hmm… It'd be awesome if we could be lightning brothers."
"Kann ich dich jetzt adoptieren?" Lilly asked excitedly.
"What?"
"What?"
Yūji cocked his head. "What does that mean?"
Lilly smiled. "Don't worry about it, chéri. What would you like to learn?"
"Hmmm…. Fire would be sick as hell, but blood sounds really epic too. Gah, I can't pick," Yūji cried out, scratching his head.
"You can learn all of it if you're talented enough—which I'm sure you are—but you should really focus on one area first," Lilly encouraged. "You don't need to sacrifice one to learn the other."
"Yeah, but everyone knows that when the hero picks a first move that's like their signature move."
Lilly giggled. "Yes, you're right."
"Yūta looks completely awesome with his wings and lightning attacks. When I think of Yūta I immediately think of him in the sky, throwing down lightning attacks. I don't think about his shadow-steps or the wind-scythes. Auntie, when you think of me, what do you think would fit me best?"
"Well," she said. "Fire is flashier, certainly, but you'll have to work twice as hard if you're in a bad environment for it. On the other hand, blood is something you'll have a cap on… unless you want to learn necromancy and steal blood from others."
"Ew."
Lilly shrugged. "It's a matter of your comfort level."
"Blood definitely seems awesome, but… Okay, I choose fire. For now."
"Fire it is," she said. "You'll need to get your immunities sorted out first."
"Immunity?"
"Of course," said Lilly. "A normal human body couldn't touch lightning. How do you think Yūta became able to?"
"Uhhh…"
"You'll have to sacrifice a wee bit of your humanity, darling. Are you okay to do that?"
"Sure," he said.
"Good. I've already hunted for the parts, so I'll make you the stew now. Eat all of it. It'll hurt… a lot… but you have to finish it, okay?"
Yūji frowned. "What exactly am I going to be eating?"
"Dragon organs," she said. "Specifically from the Red Dragonflight. Along with some magma wyrms. I'll do the best I can to make it taste nice, but… well, you're eating it to change a core factor of your biology. It's not going to be pleasant. Not to worry though. I'll be with you every step of the way. Just have faith in me, okay?"
"I do," he said. "Thanks, Auntie."
"You are most welcome, chéri."
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Immunity.
Yūta and Yūji were clearly destined to play a role in the Story of that world. They were naturally powerful, talented, and Yūji had the Protagonist Pink hair.
Lilly wasn't sure what the Story was, but she was starting to get a good idea of what was to come.
Yūji would become a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Due to his unique energy he would become the vessel of some kind of Cursed Spirit. Lilly would bet her entire stash of Brewfest booze that it was an Ancient Evil™ that the Jujutsu Society could never hope to destroy.
That Ancient Evil™ would be wanted by Evil Group™ for nefarious reasons. Lilly didn't have enough information to guess their ultimate goal. Could be anything from world domination to destroy all of humanity because evil blah blah blah.
She knew Yūji had to be the main character, but whether her Yūta was originally on the same side as him was up for debate. Yūta had the backstory of a protagonist, or antagonist.
Hell.
The boy she healed a few years ago had the backstory of an antagonist as well.
Maybe there would be no evil group now?
Gosh it'd been so long since she was reincarnated into a slice-of-life genre. That'd be such a great change of pace.
Or, ooooh or josei or shōjo!
Although next life she remembered she hoped she'd go into a wuxia. She was itching for some bromances. Maybe some hot demon cultists fighting the heaven warriors. That'd be nice. She needed to stock up on her collection of eye-candies.
Yūji hopped from one foot to the other in the kitchen. She found it absolutely adorable how he was simultaneously terrified and elated. His expressions flip-flopped between giddy excitement at gaining immunity, and impending horror at what he was going to be digesting.
After Yūji had picked out what he wanted to learn, Lilly decided to start brewing the concoction to grant him immunity. She asked Yūji to put away her art supplies while she summoned her mini cauldron and got to work.
They were about an hour into the creation when they were joined by another.
"Hello!" sung a cheerful voice as the door swung open to reveal Satoru Gojō. Lilly glanced at the clock, realizing it was evening now. She guessed Satoru must have finished teaching that day. She was happy he was using her blessing to visit her so frequently now. She wondered if perhaps she should prepare a room for him as well? "Wow, it smells like shit in here."
Lilly laughed. "Yeah, dragon guts tend to stink up the place."
"Do I really have to eat this?" Yūji whispered, horrified at how the potion was turning out.
"Yes," said Lilly. "By the way, Yūji this is Satoru. Satoru this is my other child, Yūji."
"Hello, other child," said Satoru.
"Hello, Mr. Kidnapper," Yūji politely returned.
Satoru grinned. "Cute kids. I've got a brat myself, you know. Looks to be about your age, Yūji."
"If he's a brat, I don't want to meet him," Yūji said seriously.
"He's a good kid at heart."
The cauldron bubbled, a small burst of flame spewing out. Yūji and Satoru turned to look at the abnormal creation. Satoru was amused by Lilly's nonchalance, whereas Yūji was becoming increasingly concerned at what he was about to eat. The coral haired boy nervously asked again, "All of it?"
"Lick it clean," Lilly confirmed.
"Did Yūta have to eat something like this?"
"Similar," she said. "He had to eat thunderbird hearts raw."
Yūji blanched. "Raw?! What about Uncle Tōji?"
Satoru silently mouthed, Tōji?
Lilly decided she'd much rather see them have a face-to-face reunion than give Satoru a heads up about him. She wondered what kind of face he'd make when he realized she had resurrected the man who nearly killed him. She'd never seen Satoru particularly angry before. That'd be funny.
Or maybe hot.
Either way win-win.
Deciding not to answer Satoru's inquiry, she side-stepped the matter.
"You do not want to know what he ate," Lilly stressed. Tōji had requested something that would allow him to breathe underwater, or through toxic fumes. Underwater required digesting sea serpent embryos, but for the best immunity against a variety of toxic gases, Lilly fed him infected membranes from irradiated imps. Just thinking about the sludge he had chugged made Lilly physically nauseous. How he managed to gulp it down in one go was beyond her.
Satoru hopped onto the counter, sitting cross-legged as he watched Lilly stir the pot. "Is this how you punish them? Force them to eat some strange, possibly dangerous stew?"
Lilly smiled. "No, no. My punishments are nowhere near as dull as that, please give me some credit."
"—Dull?"
"You don't want to know," Yūji whispered, a far-away look in his gaze.
"I think I very much do," Satoru disagreed. "You know I'm a teacher, I might be able to learn a thing or two."
"Well," said Lilly, "punishing your wards is different from punishing your students."
"You know, technically, I'm not your ward," Yūji pointed out. "Yet I still get punished like Yūta."
"Your grandfather gave me permission to do as I see fit with you," Lilly dismissed. "Und wenn er stirbt, während du minderjährig bist, ich werde dich beanspruchen."
Yūji made a face. "I didn't understand that, would you translate?"
"Oh, look at that, the potion's almost done!" Lilly said, ignoring his request. Yūji cringed. "Get your bowl ready, dear boy."
"Hahaha, that smells horrible," Satoru laughed. Although his eyes were covered by bandages, Lilly imagined they were sparkling in sadistic amusement.
"Geh."
Lilly dumped the sludgy potion into a stone bowl and handed it to Yūji.
Yūji took a deep breath, then tilted the bowl back to slurp the potion as fast as humanely possible. His entire face turned bright red from the heat. Steam poured out of his ears at such quick speed it whistled. When he set the bowl down, he woozily tried to stand up, then crumpled to his knees.
Satoru and Lilly were quick to catch him. Satoru carried him over to the couch. Yūji groaned and clutched at his stomach. Yūji whined, "I feel like I ate the sun."
"Not wholly wrong, baby," Lilly said sympathetically, gently brushing his bangs out of his face. "Don't worry, the worst of it will pass in the next few hours. Not even a full movie's length."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Blech," Yūji grumbled, curling into a fetal position as he clutched his gut. Lilly pulled a blanket over him then turned on the T.V. to play a movie for him. She wished she could offer a pain-reliever. She couldn't since the very nature of the potion was to adjust his biology, and adding anything numbing could be damaging to him.
Lilly was an experienced healer, yet as she confirmed when bringing Tōji back to life there were limitations to what she could do. The potion she gave Yūji was high-level and none of the ingredients came naturally to that world, so undoing any ill effects from it would be costly.
In that world, it would be easier for her to bring someone back from the dead, than heal mutations caused by high-tiered magical potions.
She wondered if the being that created the tear between Life and Death—the thing that caused Cursed Spirits—was from that world, or was it a visitor like her?
Did it anticipate her presence?
Did it anticipate a story?
She hadn't encountered anything powerful enough to do such a thing, and it made her anxious. She knew a story was coming, and her lack of knowledge about it was… unpleasant.
Satoru squatted beside the moaning Yūji. "You know he's got some power, too."
"No," Lilly rejected. "I'm training him now. You can train him when I'm done."
"Promise?"
"If he agrees, then yes," said Lilly. "For now, leave him be. He needs to get adjusted."
Satoru bowed. "I heed your orders, dear lady."
Lilly flicked his forehead. "I doubt that. You're the ornery type."
"Maybe a little bit." Satoru hopped back up. Lilly sat on the edge of the couch, gently running her fingers through Yūji's hair. Yūji squirmed on the couch, shifting around as he crawled forward to rest his head on her lap. It made Lilly smile endearingly down at him.
Yūji was rarely sick, and if he was feeling poor he was reluctant to show it.
"Aww," said Satoru. "I wish my brat did that."
"Sucks for you," mumbled Yūji.
"Haha, I don't want to hear that from the boy who chugged some very questionable gunk."
"It was not gunk," Lilly defended. "It was a potion."
"It looked disgusting."
"It tasted so bad," Yūji whispered, traumatized as he recalled the memory.
Lilly patted his cheek. "Yes…"
Tora hopped onto Yūji. The nekomata curled into a tight ball as he laid atop Yūji. Lilly wasn't surprised to find Tora cuddling with Yūji since Yūji had essentially turned into a squishy heater.
Satoru didn't react to the Cursed Spirit's presence—he likely could sense every Spirit in the house. Lilly was surprised by his lack of reaction. She knew he could tell what Tora was. She knew he had to have felt Kurai by Yūta's side.
As far as she was aware, the Jujutsu Sorcerers destroyed all Cursed Spirits they came in contact with.
Satoru sat on the ottoman. He and Lilly were silent for several minutes until Yūji's breathing evened out and it was clear he had fallen asleep. Lilly wiped away the sweat from his forehead.
Sleep well, dear boy, she thought. If he was lucky, he'd stay asleep through the worst of it. She used her other hand to scratch behind Tora's ears.
"You know it really shouldn't surprise me that you have Special Grade Cursed Spirits as pets," Satoru flippantly commented.
"Uh-huh."
"And speaking of spirits… so that thing attached to Yūta—?"
"Kurai?" Lilly asked. "Yes, Yūta raised him."
"Wow," said Satoru. "Were you training him to be a Sorcerer or something?"
"That wasn't really my intention. Kurai was a little experiment," she said with a shrug.
"Little," Satoru repeated in amusement. "It's Special Grade. More than that, it's Special Grade with an asterisk."
"Special Grade*?" Lilly laughed. "I suppose Kurai is a little stronger than Tora and Ame, but I didn't think it was that noticeable. He seems very normal."
"Most Sorcerers only encounter a few Special Grades in their life, and you've raised three," said Satoru. "I don't think your definition of normal can be trusted."
"Ah. You might have me there. Will Kurai be an issue when Yūta attends?"
"Nah. I already have him all set up. The other kids might get a little nervous around him, but I'm sure he'll be fine."
Lilly smiled.
Gosh, I wonder what his first day will be like?
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Bonus:
Lilly whistled a merry tune as she pulled out a hunting knife from one of the kitchen drawers.
Yūta noticed and recognized it right away. He raised an eyebrow. "Going hunting, Mama?"
"Taking Yūji hunting, dearest. He wants to train now."
Yūta winced. "Oh."
"Don't worry, dear," Lilly said with a smile. "I've a good feeling about him. I don't think he'll be as upset as you were."
"I was a child then."
"Oh baby. You still are a child."
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Translations:
Yūji sat down on the grass. "Hmm… It'd be awesome if we could be lightning brothers."
"I can adopt you now?" Lilly asked excitedly.
"What?"
"What?"
.
"You know, technically, I'm not your ward," Yūji pointed out. "Yet I still get punished like Yūta."
"Your grandfather gave me permission to do as I see fit with you," Lilly dismissed. "And if he dies while you're a minor, I'll claim you."
Yūji made a face. "I didn't understand that, would you translate?"
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
I'm back. :)
Also the manga's kind fucked up, huh?
Answer: With Aizen as my prisoner, I'm painfully screwed. Maybe less so if it's Ulquiorra or Grimmjow.
Question: If you were kidnapped, where would you want to be kidnapped to?
Reviews are love!