Chapter 6 Geto Suguru
Satoru didn't want to admit it but the fact that a person suddenly appeared out of thin air did startle him. A little.
Just a little.
After all, he was the strongest sorcerer. He could also appear out of thin air.
So it'd be embarrassing for him to admit he got spooked by someone else doing the same thing.
That, however, wasn't the only reason why he was startled.
Assuming the presence he sensed at Hiyori's residence last night was indeed this "Yato" person, then it should be logical to assume that Satoru wouldn't be able to see him even if he appeared right in front of him.
Yet, before Satoru could even utter a single word after the other end picked up the phone, a young man dressed in a tracksuit appeared right before him, falling perfectly onto the chair in the center of the Execution Room.
Yato (assuming this was Yato) stared at Satoru with a strange expression while Satoru examined his appearance.
Dark hair, navy tracksuit, faded blue scarf, and brown boots, just as described by the witnesses at the restaurant. His height and young face gave off the impression that he was in his late teens or early twenties, but Satoru knew better than to assume someone's age based on their appearance alone.
The young man also had cat-like blue eyes that seemed to glow in this dimly lighted room. It could just be the lights, but that didn't explain why Yuji's and Yuta's eyes didn't also glow (maybe because they had darker eye colors?)
Nothing about his appearance betrayed his identity. Even with his Six Eyes, Satoru couldn't see through this man's true nature. His eyes were constantly feeding him information on the world around him. As long as a thing or a being had an existence, his eyes would be able to extract the information they retained.
However, his Six Eyes couldn't gather any information on the being before him.
Almost as if Yato didn't exist.
But that wouldn't make any sense. All things had an existence. Humans, Curses, tangible objects, dead bodies, souls, and even cursed energy all had an existence and therefore retained information. Only beings who didn't exist in this world could go unnoticed by his Six Eyes.
Unless…
"...and reliable Delivery God!"
A higher being who transcended the boundaries of this reality.
In other words.
A God.
Six Eyes had unparalleled powers in this world, but it was still limited to beings who only existed in this physical realm. It had to be grounded in reality.
It'd make perfect sense if his Six Eyes couldn't sense the existence of Gods.
"Hello there, Yato," Satoru said, trying to keep his voice leveled despite the crazy conclusion he had just come to. "Have a seat. I think it's about time we have a talk."
Yato glanced at him warily, his round pupils narrowing into slits and making his eyes look even more like that of a cat's. He snapped his phone shut and sat down gingerly, his gaze never leaving Satoru's face.
It was a little ironic how he was being so cautious despite being a God (assuming Satoru's speculation was correct). Out of the two of them, Satoru should be the one to proceed cautiously. Not only because he knew close to nothing about Yato because he couldn't rely on his Six Eyes for this, but he also didn't know this God's motives.
He didn't know if the seals in this room could restrain Gods, and he also didn't know if his Limitless abilities could cause any damage to Gods.
What use was overpowered abilities if they couldn't damage beings who didn't exist?
"–be of assistance to you?" Yato suddenly said. When Satoru didn't respond, because, what the heck?, he repeated, "How can I be of assistance to you?"
His first question wasn't "Who are you" or "How did you know my name/number", but "How can I be of assistance to you"?
Satoru scratched his head.
Did he fail to get the point across? What did Yato think the seals on the walls were for? Decorations?
Unless Yato already knew who Satoru was and how he could have gotten Yato's name and number?
Confused, Satoru asked, "Have we met before?"
"Surely not."
"Because you're acting like you know who I am."
"Do I have to know who you are to want to help you?"
"Aren't you curious how I got your number?"
Yato rolled his eyes and leaned back on his seat. "Dude, I literally write my name and number on every surface I come across. Yes, including the walls in your own clan, FYI. If not because my marker ran out of ink, I'd want to write it on these walls, too." He made a vague gesture to the walls covered in seals.
Satoru: "..."
The more Yato talked, the less Satoru believed he was a God.
"Well, I'm a busy guy, so spare me the small talk and just tell me what you need my help with," Yato crossed his arms and said haughtily.
"The thing is, I don't know if you're the right person for this job." Satoru leaned forward, uncrossing his legs to put his elbows on his knees. "I'm looking for this person." He pulled out his phone and showed Yato a picture of Suguru from his younger days.
Yato showed no visible reaction.
"His name is Geto Suguru. This is him ten years ago. He hasn't changed much, but now he has his hair down and wears a Gojo-kesa. The people we asked said something very curious. Do you know what they said?" Satoru continued without waiting for an answer. "They said they aren't sure if the witness who saw him was one individual or two. I've already talked to one of the witnesses, a girl who goes by the name Iki Hiyori. She absolutely refused to reveal any information about the other witness named Yato. Isn't that interesting?"
"So you want my help finding Geto."
Satoru grinned. This was the confirmation he needed. "That's right! But before I can ask you for help, I need to know if you can be trusted. How come you can turn invisible? Are you a cursed spirit? Do I have to kill you?"
Of course Yato wasn't a cursed spirit. Satoru knew that. He just wanted to gauge Yato's reaction.
"What's a cursed spirit?" There was no way a God wouldn't know what a cursed spirit was. Satoru was about to call him out when Yato continued, "You mean those creatures that feed off the darkness in people's hearts? We call them 'Ayakashi'."
"Ayakashi." Satoru tested the word out. It felt fitting for these accursed creatures. "Yeah, that. Are you one, or are you not one?"
"I'm sure you know that already so let's stop beating around the bush." Yato's demeanor changed all of a sudden and he jumped up, planted a foot on the chair, pointed a thumb at his chest, and proclaimed proudly, "I'm the fast, affordable, and reliable Delivery God! Yato, at your service! I can fulfill any wish of yours for just–" he thrust out a palm, "this much!"
"Five…-hundred thousand yen?" Satoru guessed. No, that was way too cheap. It had to be more. He corrected himself. "Five million yen?"
Five million, he could afford. As the Gojo clan head, Satoru had access to way more money than this.
Yato shook his head and pointed down.
"Fifty…thousand yen?"
Yato shook his head.
"Five…thousand?"
When Yato still shook his head, Satoru's voice trembled as he stuttered out, "F-Five…hundred?"
But reality was often way more disappointing.
Yato thrust out his palm again, eyes glinting with delight as he exclaimed, "Five yen! Five yen is all I charge for a single request!"
Satoru: "..."
You GOD to be kidding me!
Five minutes later, Gojo was 5 yen short and the wine bottle in Yato's jacket was 3.75 grams heavier. It may not be a lot, but it was a big step forward for Yato! Keep up the grind and sooner or later he'd be able to afford his own shrine and build his harem of female Shinki! That old bastard Tenjin would finally have no leverage over Yato!
"If you're usually invisible to humans, how come I can see you now?"
"It's not that I'm invisible. Unlike Ayakashi, who can't be seen unless you have enough 'cursed energy', as you guys call it," this was something Yato learned from Geto's memories, "We Gods can be seen by anyone, but our presence is so small that humans usually overlook us. Think of it like this. You're at a restaurant eating with your head down. Without looking up, you might think there are three waiters busying around. But when you look, there are actually four waiters. That fourth waiter is like us Gods. Their presence is too small to be sensed by humans so they're often ignored, but that doesn't mean they aren't there."
"So the reason why I can see you now is because I'm actually paying attention to you."
"Yup! A waiter would ignore me when I go to a restaurant. But if I, for example, grab their shoulders to force them to notice me, then they'd be able to see me."
"What if I had physically bumped into you last night? Would I have noticed you?"
"What?"
"What?" Gojo pursed his lips. "Was it not you I sensed last night?"
…Shit!
Yato put the pieces together a moment too late. It'd be suspicious if he lied about it now, so he tried to brush it off casually. "No, that must have been my Shinki. Shinki means God's weapon, by the way. It's not important. So what were you saying about this guy you want me to find?"
The pause Gojo took before responding was a bit too long and unnerving for Yato, but thankfully he didn't bring up last night again.
Gojo's request was, as expected, to find out who this Fake Geto was.
He knew he had killed Geto with his own hands; he made sure of that, so there was absolutely no way the Geto walking around was the same Geto he knew from ten years ago.
Yato just so happened to be investigating the exact same issue, so Gojo's request couldn't have come at a better time.
Smirking, Yato crossed his arms and said coolly, "Someone who can take over dead bodies… Hm, from what I know, only one sorcerer is capable of such a thing. He goes by the name 'Kenjaku' and all his victims have stitches across their foreheads." Probably. He wasn't too sure on that last part. But Gojo didn't need to know that.
Yato couldn't find out more about Kenjaku, but surely Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer, the Gojo clan head, the man who knew Jujutsu society way better than Yato did, would know where to look to find "Kenjaku".
The name "Kenjaku" didn't seem to ring a bell for Gojo, but he said he'd take a look when he had time. In the meantime, he'd like to keep in contact with Yato in case anything else comes up.
Usually, Yato would delete his client's number after the request was completed. But considering he also needed to rely on Gojo to find out more about Kenjaku, he decided to act like keeping in touch with his clients post-request was a completely normal thing he always did and added Gojo onto his contact list.
After their conversation, Gojo led Yato out of the room and into a courtyard where a group of students were gathered. Three of the five were familiar faces Yato had seen in Geto's memories.
There was the Zenin girl, Panda, the cursed speech boy, and two other kids he had never seen before.
The boy had hair so spiky Yato wouldn't be surprised if it could pierce through concrete, and the girl looked like she ate something nasty, though Yato had a feeling that was just how she usually looked.
All five kids turned to look at Gojo when they came to the courtyard.
All except one.
The cursed speech user was staring directly at Yato, his eyebrows raised to show his surprise at a stranger's presence within the Jujutsu barrier.
Gojo must have sensed the boy's gaze wasn't on him, but he didn't introduce Yato and make his presence known to the others.
Perhaps even he, with his frivolous attitude like he didn't give a shit about anything, knew some things should be kept a secret.
Like things that concerned the existence of Gods.
"Gojo-sensei," some of the kids greeted.
Except the girl with the resting bitch face said "Sensei", the cursed speech boy said "Konbu", and the Zenin girl said, "Why are you here?"
"Look who it is! It's my wonderful students!" Gojo clasped his hands together. "Are you guys training for the Goodwill event?"
While Gojo talked excitedly with his students about some upcoming competition, Yato pulled out his phone while walking away from the group. He had no more business here, and, frankly speaking, he'd prefer to not get too involved with the Jujutsu sorcerers if possible. He already overstepped his boundaries by taking in Geto as a Shinki and revealing the existence of Gods to Gojo Satoru; he needed to rein it in a little.
He flipped open his phone and saw that he had one new message from Hiyori.
It was a message from last night. He was so tired that he completely forgot to check his phone.
Please don't tell me something happened to Natsune.
Finding out about their name wasn't the only way for a Shinki to regain their memories. Seeing someone they once held dearly to their heart could also act as a catalyst in awakening their past.
Yato didn't know what kind of effect seeing Gojo would have on Natsune, so he clicked on the message and nervously read the text.
It was at this exact moment that he heard two pairs of footsteps coming closer.
[-named Gojo Satoru came to ask us about what happened at the restaurant.]
The footsteps were too familiar to be anyone else's.
[-and he told us to meet him at a place called…um…Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School tomorrow morning.]
"Yato!"
Yato's heart sank and jumped to his throat simultaneously.
He looked up at the speed of one inch of his field of vision per second, trying to drag out the inevitable as much as possible, but his gaze still settled on Hiyori and Natsune way too early for his comfort.
"H-Hey. You're h-h-here," Yato stammered. His neck felt too stiff to turn, and his back was burnt by the penetrating gaze that was piercing through him.
Yes, through him.
Because he was not the target of that gaze.
It was Natsune.
"T-T-Tuna tuna!"
The cursed speech boy's cry made Yato flinch. He turned his head slowly, trying to avoid the inevitable once again. But he knew it was already too late. This encounter had been set in stone since last night when he decided to go to sleep without checking his phone. He had to come up with something. Something quick.
"What's wrong?" Panda asked.
Even the Zenin girl, who appeared so fearless in Geto's memories, looked a bit startled as well.
"Tuna tuna! Mentaiko!" The cursed speech boy pointed at Natsune and made crazy hand gestures, trying to convey his thoughts. Fortunately, no one could understand him.
"Her?" The Zenin girl pointed at Hiyori. "What's wrong with her?"
"Okaka!" The cursed speech boy shook his head frantically.
"Toge, what did you see?"
Instead of answering her question, Toge pulled down the zipper of his jacket to reveal his mouth and the tattoos on either side of his lips as he took on a battle stance.
The other students looked alarmed, even Gojo glanced at Yato with suspicion (Yato couldn't see it but he could feel it.) Panda raised his fists, Zenin girl unsheathed her weapon, crazy-hair boy made a dog hand shadow, and the girl who always looked mad pulled out a…hammer?
"Yato, w-what's going on?"
"Hiyori! Sorry I couldn't return your call last night. Everything's good now. I've already talked it out with Gojo so there's no need for you to be here." Yato ran up to her and began pushing her away. "You can leave now. Don't you have school today? You shouldn't miss any more classes. Hurry and go to school. I'll see you later. Bye!"
Hiyori looked confused but she was a smart girl. She knew he needed her gone for some reason, and she knew he'd explain to her later when they were alone.
So instead of demanding an explanation from him, Hiyori immediately grabbed Natsune's hand and left the Jujutsu grounds.
The heavy atmosphere didn't get any better with Natsune gone.
Yato turned around, his face stoic.
"What did you see?"
This time, it was Gojo who asked.
Toge pulled out his phone and typed out a sentence at lightning fast speed. He still warily glanced at Yato and the direction Natsune disappeared off to, but with Natsune gone, he clearly looked less anxious.
When he turned his phone around, the text read:
[Geto was just there, standing right next to that girl.]
AN: There's no particular reason why Toge specifically can see Gods and Shinki other than the fact that it'd be funny if the only person who can see Geto is the one who can't speak xD