Chapter 4 The Strongest Sorcerer
The frown on Satoru's face deepened with each punch Yuji received from the Cursed Doll. The current record was getting punched twice during the Avatar movie, yet it hadn't even been thirty minutes and Yuji had already nodded off three times. Satoru had personally hand-picked all these movies just for the kid so he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
"Not enjoying this movie?"
Yuji rubbed his sore jaw while angling his head to look at Satoru.
"It's not that I'm not enjoying it. I love romance movies but not the La La Land kind."
"What kind of romance movies do you like?"
"The Fly!"*
Satoru's eyes twitched behind his blindfold.
"I wouldn't call that a romance movie."
"What? Okay I know it has some horror elements but the theme is undeniably…LOVE!" Yuji exclaimed and pumped up a fist, quickly putting it back onto the Cursed Doll's head when it stirred from its slumber. "It shows how physical change can have an effect on the way you think and view love. Seth's love became irrational and obsessive after he became a fly, while Ronnie's love is all about acceptance and forgiveness. It may be a horror movie but you can't deny the underlying theme of love. A movie doesn't have to be all lovey-dovey and loud with its message for it to be a romance movie. After all, real love is quiet and invisible."
"You know a surprising amount about this topic." Real love is quiet and invisible, huh? Satoru rubbed his chin. "Have you ever been in love, Yuji?"
"Eh?" Yuji chuckled sheepishly and scratched his cheek. "I haven't… And I don't think I ever would, since I'm going to die anyway."
There was this morbid resolve in the way he said that. Not a resolve to live his life to the fullest, but a resolve to die. It didn't befit a teenager who had yet to see everything the world had to offer.
"Some might mistake assimilation for death, as you do, but there's a big difference! My will, my heart, my soul will continue to live on after the assimilation!"
The words of another teenager who was just as determined to die whispered in Satoru's mind.
She was chosen as a sacrifice for the Jujutsu world, and therefore was forced to come to terms with her fate by convincing herself that death wasn't the end of her existence. Yet, as if fate was playing a joke on her, it turned out that her death didn't even matter, because there was another sacrifice who could take on the role. Rika died for nothing.
Teenagers… Kids… They shouldn't be dragged into this mess. They shouldn't be the determining factor in the fate of the rest of humanity. It was messed up, cruel, evil. It wasn't the kind of thing they, the self-proclaimed good guys and protectors of the non-sorcerers, should be doing.
The Jujutsu world needed a reset. A well-deserved purge of all the corruption and bygone traditions within it. But Satoru couldn't do that. No matter how much he wanted to just kill all those old bastards on top, simply removing them from the equation wasn't going to solve the problem. He'd just end up like any other Curse User and be feared by those he was trying to protect. (Like Suguru.) Killing was never the answer, at least not for something so grand-scaled as this.
He had to change the Jujutsu world from within. He had to teach and raise the next generation of sorcerers well and cleanse the corruption slowly and steadily.
So how could he, who was trying to protect these kids, just stand by and watch Yuji be executed?
Satoru wanted to tell Yuji he wouldn't have to die, that Satoru wouldn't let him die, but he couldn't make a promise he wasn't a hundred percent sure he could uphold. He was the Strongest, but he wasn't omnipotent. He couldn't watch Yuji 24/7 and protect him from all harm.
Words stood at the tip of his tongue but Satoru held back what he really wanted to say, forcing himself to swallow the promise and opting for: "It's exactly because of that that you should treasure the time you have left. We Jujutsu sorcerers could die at any moment, so you should make the most of it and live a life with as little regrets as possible."
"But how do I do that?" Yuji cocked his head to the side. "Regret always happens after what's done is already done. How do you prevent that beforehand?"
"By staying true to yourself. Every time you have to make a choice, you choose the option you'll regret the least."
Every mission he took was a choice he deliberately made. He chose to accept solo missions. He chose to leave Suguru alone by himself when he needed Satoru the most. He chose to ignore the growing fatigue evident on Suguru's face with each passing day.
And it was precisely because of his ignorance, his stupid decisions, that Suguru had no one to rely on and ended up breaking down in the middle of nowhere, finally fed up with the Jujutsu world's bullshit.
"Everything you do is a choice, be it deliberate or unintentional. You picking this particular movie to watch, you deciding to have this conversation with me, or you forgetting about this Cursed Doll and getting sucker-punched."
As soon as Satoru finished saying that, Yuji got punched in the face by the Cursed Doll.
"Ack! Sensei! It's your fault for distracting me!"
"See what I mean? You gotta pay more attention, Yuji. If you don't, some choices will be made for you, and you won't always like the end result." Satoru paused. "Perhaps it's a good idea you don't plan on falling in love. Love can make you illogical and lead you to make bad decisions. It gives you an additional weakness and makes you vulnerable, and you wouldn't want that when you're putting your life on the line for this job."
The Cursed Doll had fallen asleep again after Yuji soothed it with his cursed energy.
"Sensei, you also seem to know a lot about this topic. Have you been in love?" Yuji wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Haha, love? I don't know about that." Satoru cackled, but the laughter didn't reach his eyes. It sounded empty, felt empty, just like he was. Suguru's death robbed a piece of his heart, and since then nothing he did could fill up that void. "I wonder if it's love. Or something more twisted…like a curse?"
Yuji stared blankly at him.
Well, Satoru didn't blame him. The kid was too young to understand love and regrets anyway.
He watched Yuji for a little while longer before stepping away from the wall and heading towards the door. He had just received a text message from Ijichi.
"Well then, I have stuff to do, so keep it up okay?"
Yuji gave a quick nod and went back to his movies while hugging the Cursed Doll and trying not to fall asleep again.
.
.
"How many died?" was the first thing Satoru asked upon entering Ijichi's car.
"Everyone in the restaurant who was present at the time, except two…or three."
"Two or three?"
"One of the employees sensed something was wrong so he quit his job right before the flames erupted. He said he saw the whole thing from outside the window as did a few passersby. Some said a girl managed to run out of the restaurant unscathed, while others said the girl was with a young man. So we aren't sure if it's two or three."
"Hmm… Could this guy be a cursed spirit?"
"We aren't sure… There are no cameras nearby so our only reliable witness is…"
"The girl who was present throughout the incident. She's the only one who watched everything go down and managed to survive in the middle of it. If she's with him, then she would know where to find him and who he is. Find me her address. I'm paying her a visit after my appointment with the principal."
For someone who claimed to be a God, Yato certainly didn't act like one. He picked a random spirit off the street and decided to trust them with everything before even getting to know them first. It hadn't even been that long since Natsune started following the guy around and he had already been given over a dozen opportunities to assassinate him.
On the first night after naming Natsune, Yato fell asleep right beside him, exposing his back to this new Shinki who was practically a stranger to him. And even after Natsune stole his money and manipulated him, he still didn't lock the door when he slept. He only hugged his coin bottle tighter against his chest, and ended up waking up the next morning with the bottle on the floor after having slipped away from his grip during the night.
And now, Yato was, once again, being way too trusting of Natsune by leaving him with his close friends, inviting him into their home, and even letting him stay with the girl who he knew Natsune didn't particularly like.
Natsune didn't like being treated this way. Having so much trust placed on him and being treated with so much kindness felt disgusting, like bugs wiggling and gnawing their way inside, trying to touch his heart, trying to make him feel things.
The monkey girl currently yapping about some trivial topic trying to engage him in a conversation as if they were buddy-buddies who knew each other for years also didn't help make him feel any better.
Natsune curled his fingers into a fist.
Why did he feel this way?
Why couldn't he remember anything from his past?
Who was he?
"So…since Yato's still not back, you'll be spending the night at my house."
Natsune was quiet the entire walk to Hiyori's house. It was kinda unnerving. Hiyori still wasn't sure what to make out of this tall Shinki. He seemed…nice? Sorta? At least he stopped calling her a "monkey" after the first day. But he also hadn't really attempted to initiate a conversation with her. She'd ask him something and he'd respond but he never asked her anything.
"You have a spare bed?"
Hiyori jumped, not expecting him to respond. "Y-Yes, we do! My brother's overseas so his room is empty. We've already changed the sheets so it's clean," she explained quickly, knowing he would probably complain about the "monkey smell" if she left out that fact.
"Okay then."
Hiyori sighed in relief.
"Yato didn't tell you what exactly he's doing?"
Hiyori's breath hitched
"N-No! He just said it's um G-God stuff, and told me not to worry."
"Hmm… Alright then."
They were almost at the train station when Natsune suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes zeroing in on a flower he had stepped on. The flower was a beautiful white daisy with smooth pedals and a round yellow pistil, but it was squashed under his shoe, the pedals gradually turning brown, wrinkling and withering.
A large hand gripping her arm was the only warning Hiyori got before she was yanked to the side, causing her to stumble into Natsune.
"Issen!" Natsune drew a horizontal line with his index and middle fingers, creating some sort of thin, transparent barrier that rose from the ground before them.
Hiyori held her breath, afraid that anything she said or did would ruin whatever he was trying to do.
When nothing happened after ten whole seconds, she gingerly opened her mouth to speak.
"Um… Is everything alright?"
Natsune stared at the withered flower for a moment longer before turning his gaze away and continued walking.
"It's nothing. Let's go."
Hiyori didn't know him well enough to prod, so she accepted his refusal to tell her the truth and made her way into the station, Natsune trailing behind her as she bought them two tickets and got on the train.
By the time they arrived at her house, night had already fallen.
"Here, put this on." Hiyori unlocked the front door and quickly handed him a pair of slippers before her parents could come out and see her talking to herself.
"Hiyori, you're back!" Her father stumbled out of the living room with a can of beer in hand. "Look who's here?"
For a second Hiyori thought he meant Natsune and was even about to step in front of him to block him from the view, but then an unfamiliar man stepped out of the living room after her father. He was a tall man, even a bit taller than Natsune, with snow white hair and crystal blue eyes.
"Who–"
"Your teacher's here to bring you your homework! He said you're absent today cause you fainted on your way to school? Didn't I tell you to take a break if you still aren't feeling well? A car accident can leave many nasty side effects. You need to be more careful with your health and–"
"Okay dad I get it I get it!" When her father was in his 'doctor mode', he wasn't getting out of it unless she pulled him out herself. "Let's go to my room…S-Sensei."
Usually Hiyori would never invite a stranger into her room, but recent events had completely changed how she viewed the world. Strange phenomenons were occurring one after another, and she'd bet next month's allowance that this man had something to do the whole Gods and Shinki and Ayakashi stuff!
Satoru's Six Eyes was telling him that the girl was just a normal girl with no cursed energy whatsoever, so the fact that she managed to come out of that restaurant unscathed must mean the boy was the one with the powers.
But something else wasn't right.
The moment the girl walked past him to lead him to her room, he felt…something. Just something. He couldn't quite put a finger on it. It felt like the kind of chill you'd feel at a cemetery, goosebumps rising on your skin when a cursed spirit was secretly watching you, and a sense of familiarity when you met a middle school classmate but couldn't remember their name.
Could it be this mysterious guy? If he was a cursed spirit, how come Satoru couldn't see him? And if he wasn't a cursed spirit, what was he?
His Six Eyes wasn't sensing anything, so either his intuition was wrong, or this thing was strong enough to fool even his Six Eyes.
Interesting.
"Hiyori-chan, do you have a boyfriend?" Satoru leaned forward to breathe down her neck as soon as her bedroom door closed behind him.
The girl jumped. Satoru hid a snicker.
"W-W-Why are you asking me that!?"
"Who's the guy I saw you with the other day? Is he your boyfriend?"
"Th-That's none of your business. And Yato isn't my boyfriend. He's just…a friend."
"Oh~? So his name is Yato, huh?" Satoru sat down on her chair and gestured at her bed. "Don't be shy, sit. Make yourself at home."
The sight of Hiyori's face reddening like a swollen balloon reminded Satoru once again why he loved to press people's buttons: It's just too goddamn fun!
"Who are you anyway? How do you know me and why are you asking all these questions?" Hiyori asked after sitting down on the edge of her bed as if she was ready to run at the first sign of danger.
Satoru smirked, exclaiming proudly, "First year teacher at Jujutsu High. Gojo Satoru, at your service!"
Hiyori's jaw dropped. "So you really are a teacher!" Just not MY teacher, was left unsaid.
"Is it that surprising that I'm a teacher?" Satoru pulled out his shades and put them on, as if his eccentricity wasn't unconvincing enough already.
"No… I mean, yes, a little."
"So, tell me more about this Yato. Who is he?"
"I told you. Yato is just a friend. I don't know how you heard about him but there's really nothing special about h– Ahhh!" Hiyori yelped and fell backward onto her bed when a Fly Head flew out from behind Gojo and zoomed into her face. "W-Why's an Ayakashi here!?"
Bingo.
"You can see Cursed Spirits."
"C-Cursed what?"
The smile that crawled onto Satoru's face was enough to make every sentient cursed spirit in the vicinity scurry on sight.
"Let me ask you again, Iki Hiyori."
Satoru pulled the Fly Head back by its wings and narrowed his eyes at Hiyori, his voice taking on a colder, more commanding tone.
"Who is Yato?"
Gojo Satoru.
Something felt off with this name.
Natsune couldn't quite put a finger on it. Perhaps he had heard of it before, but he couldn't even remember anything from his past life, let alone a name that could have been mentioned in passing. Regardless of whether this name played any vital role in his past life, there had to be something wrong with this name (or with him) to make him feel this way, to feel these things.
Things that didn't make sense.
Like the sting in the back of his eyes, the ache in his heart, and the knot forming in his chest.
The mere sight of these crystal blue eyes punched his breath out of him.
Natsune clenched the fabric of his pants as he stared at Gojo, at those eyes, at the entire galaxy that seemed to be contained within. And he couldn't help but be mesmerized, lost in that sea of stars, sinking into the bed and swimming in clouds, letting out the tension in his body without him even realizing while his heart ran rampant in his chest.
It was almost as if his body was instinctively responding to this man, despite no longer having a physical body. Like a muscle memory or something.
This man, Gojo Satoru, whoever he was, had to be important in some way.
Did he know this man?
Did this man know him?
What was their relationship like?
Who was Gojo Satoru?
And most importantly…
Who am I?
Yato nearly lost his footing against a loose roof tile when he felt his heart picking up pace and air refusing to enter his lungs. It wasn't a feeling that came from himself, but rather it came from the connection that tied him to Natsune. His Shinki was the one feeling like this, but for what?
He glanced at the sky. The Sun had already disappeared below the horizon, casting a dark shadow over the world and signaling to creatures from the Far Shore that it was their time to run amok.
He didn't know how lenient Hiyori's parents were with her, but they most likely wouldn't allow her to stay the night at an unspecified friend's house. And since Hiyori was the type of girl who always kept her promise, she probably decided to bring Natsune with her to spend the night at her house.
I swear to God, Natsune! You better not have any inappropriate thoughts about Hiyori!
Yato was a God. He may be a poor, homeless God who dressed like a teenage boy and behaved like a prepubescent boy, but he was still a God nonetheless.
He entrusted his identity, his secrets with Hiyori, so she couldn't just betray him and expose him to this complete stranger just because she was under pressure.
But Natsune, on the other hand, or more specifically, the fake Natsune, Hiyori had no issue with exposing him to Gojo.
After secretly eying Natsune for ages, he finally got the hint and stood up from her bed, making his way to the door.
"What are you looking at?"
Gojo's cold voice jerked Hiyori's head back immediately. She shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes, and said, "N-Nothing. I'm not looking at anything."
Natsune closed the door gently on his way out, so gently that Hiyori couldn't even hear the sound of it closing. And since Natsune was a Shinki, his presence couldn't be sensed or seen by human beings, so him opening and closing the door shouldn't have been sensed by Gojo either.
But when the door closed inaudibly, Gojo snapped his head back so fast Hiyori nearly got spooked into slipping off of the edge of her bed.
The look that flashed across his face held so much raw emotion that Hiyori flinched at the pain that shot through her heart at the mere sight of it. As a naturally empathetic person, she found it incredibly easy to resonate with others and feel their pain through their expressions. The thought that Gojo might have known Natsune before he died and became a Shinki briefly surfaced in her mind, but it escaped her grasp before she could entertain it.
The look vanished behind Gojo's shades as he fixed them to sit snugly on the bridge of his nose, but a frown remained on his face as Hiyori began explaining what she saw at the restaurant, and it deepened when she got to the part about Fake Natsune.
"The man it was talking to has long black hair with a part of it tied into a high bun. He was also wearing some kind of monk outfit that's in dark blue and yellow-and-green patterns—"
The temperature in the room pummeled, the atmosphere thick and heavy with…something. Something that Hiyori couldn't discern, but it sent chills up her spine and seized her by the throat, both as a threat and as a warning.
Do not speak.
She didn't even dare stare at his eyes after his shades slid down slightly to reveal his dilated pupils. They'd expanded so much they nearly filled his entire irises, as if the malice lurking within him had emerged and perfused the blue that made up who he was with darkness. Being stared at by those eyes made her feel like the things that he kept locked away were about to emanate and pounce on her, blaming her for awakening them, for speaking out of turn.
Speak only when I permit you.
Hiyori instinctively subverted her gaze, staring at her hands instead and suppressing a shiver. She knew the intensity in his eyes, that hatred, or anger, or something, wasn't directed at her, but it still terrified her. This man who looked like a typical pretty boy gave off an aura that he was anything but. Spending so much time with Yato who was also stronger than he looked had helped her realize at least this much.
The silence that followed made the situation even more unnerving. Hiyori was so nervous she didn't even dare to breathe. It wasn't until her face reddened from holding her breath for so long that the oppressive aura in the room was suddenly lifted and Gojo broke out into a laugh.
"Scared you, didn't I? Bwahahahaha!"
Hiyori gripped the hem of her skirt and gritted her teeth. She felt like she had just been toyed with, but she couldn't muster up the courage to retort because she didn't know this man as well as she did Yato. If it was Yato pulling a prank like this on her, she'd have taught him a lesson by now.
But this man, Gojo Satoru, wasn't like Yato. He may also be terrifyingly strong while behaving like an obnoxious overgrown baby, Hiyori could tell that there was this darkness clinging to him. Yato clearly had a dark past as well, but the way he acted made her believe that he had already moved on from it.
Hiyori would choose to piss off Yato any day over Gojo Satoru.
"Haha, you're shaking like a leaf! Am I that scary?" Gojo laughed even louder while pointing a finger at her.
Hiyori's lips trembled as her entire form shook like a leaf. Not from fear, however, but from rage.
"If this conversation is over, then please leave my house!"
AN: Geto telling Gojo to curse him at the end and Gojo saying theres no curse more twisted than love…like…AM I THE ONLY ONE READING TOO MUCH INTO THIS?
*The Fly (1986): a scientist gets fused with a fly and slowly turns into a gigantic fly. It's one of my favorite movies to date cuz of how disgusting it is lol.