We're back! Maybe. I'd like to try and pick up Spaced out again after these couple months. I haven't decided if I want a schedule to publish on, but if I decide I'll post about it. This chapters a bit short, but enjoy the return.
On the Jujutsu High School grounds not late after the Exchange event, Shohei Gojo and Maki Zenin sat across from one another in the campus cafeteria, enjoying a large breakfast and each other's company.
"This stew never gets old," Shohei complimented the staff cooking, sighing into the steaming bowl.
"Stew is always good when it's chilly out," Maki muttered through a mouthful of her own bowl.
They sat only periodically talking, picking through their meal and glancing at each other, smiling.
They themselves would never admit it, but their classmates would blatantly point out that the couple were in a reasonably nauseating honeymoon stage. Their increased affection was a likely reason many Tokyo students haven't been sticking around as Shohei and Maki ate together at lunch and dinner, but all were happy for them. Many of them have ever seen Maki and Sho so happy until with each other.
Shohei and Maki would not leave each other's proximity if in the same room, share love smothering stares in silence, and share their food. Thankfully they were not as unbearable as some new couple's could be, but they were happy and they were not ashamed of showing it. Not that any of their classmates would cross Maki, alone.
As Shohei dished Maki a large piece of beef from his bowl, his phone's alarm rang. Shohei checked and silenced it, cleaning up his part of the table.
"Where are you off too?" Maki inquired, only peeking up from her bowl.
"I'm starting my training with Satoru today," Shohei informed her, wrapping himself in a scarf and JAXA beanie.
"No days off, huh?" Maki said, leaning back and admiring Shohei's work ethic.
"We've had enough off," Shohei said, dipping down to plant a kiss on Maki's head as she continued her meal. "Megumi has started his own with Satoru already. Either way, thanks for joining me for breakfast a little earlier today."
"No problem, hunk," Maki dismissed sarcastically. She waved Shohei out as he braced himself for the slicing, bitter wings of the brisk fall day.
Shohei sped across the open school grounds with his head turtles in his scarf and hands burrowed in his pockets, making his way into the training facility he and Gojo scheduled for the day.
Sho slithered through the weaving halls and made his way into the open space floor in the center of the building. The training area had high ceilings, thick pillars semi-protruding from the walls, and reinforcing seals plastered on the walls to protect the building's integrity.
Amidst the open floor, a cloud white haired man sat with his back to the entrance. His hair gave the impression of a stray cloud rolling across the expansive sky.
"What's the plan for today, Satoru?" Shohei called, his voice echoing through the empty space.
Apparently startled by the boy's appearance, Gojo jolted on the spot and spun around, indignant. His black glasses glared in mock scolding.
"What're you doing sneaking up on people?" Satoru cried, standing and approaching.
"Be real," Shohei scoffed, performing a childhood handshake of theirs. "Nothing surprises you."
"You're right," Satoru chuckled, giving a friendly shove. "Who do you think you get it from?"
"Psh," Shohei scoffed. "How's Megumi's training going? Are we covering any of the same stuff?"
Shohei disrobed from his jacket, scarf, and beanie, and Satoru did the same with his own jacket, revealing each of their athletic wear.
"Pretty rough, but good," the man admitted, shrugging his shoulders but shining a smirk. "You two are covering some similar topics, but I think you'll find your means of training leagues different."
"Well, that's good. You phrased it weird though," Shohei commented. He removed something from his jacket pocket before tossing the clothing to the side and began properly strapping on his cursed tool, Iguana Talon, to his waist.
"It means what it means," Satoru assured. He took his place in the middle of the floor and continued. "Per request, you're training to use a Domain Expansion with me like Fushiguro is, but differently. What I'm getting at is the way we're gonna train here on out may be only possible for you and me to properly learn from."
"Oh?" Shohei hummed.
The teen joined his elder on the floor and began stretching lightly as they talked. Shohei was intimately familiar with the body and what calisthenics and stretching loosened him up best. Calisthenics and yoga were primarily how he spent his time under Gravity Field when training.
"Yes indeed," Gojo confirmed. "Of course, diving right into casting a Domain cold turkey, especially for a student, is absurdly difficult no matter what your grade. Remember, Domain Expansions are the pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery. More detailed and elegant than Maximum techniques, more powerful than any attack, more critical than almost any card you can pull in a fight."
"So my Domain will just invalidate my whole arsenal of techniques, arguably the largest of all the students at both Jujutsu schools?" Shohei said, aware Domains are invaluable, but unimpressed by his teacher's emphasis on them.
"Well of course not," Satoru assured, halting Shohei's dismissive jab. "For example, in your recent fight with the cursed spirit that interrupted the Exchange event," Gojo brought up.
Shohei averted his eyes and wanted to duck his head, but he felt the need to show Satoru that he was ready to move on from that setback and do his best in training.
"Simple domain's will always be handy as long as they're as trained well as any other technique, as a domain expansion overpowering a simple domain's defense is almost unheard of. And you and Todo both happen to know forms of simple domains. The cursed spirit was planning on casting a Domain before I intervened, but," Gojo pointed out, "I believe alongside Todo, you two could have easily dispatched that curse. Heck, if you didn't bother switching to hand to hand combat for so long to match Todo and Itadori and used Gravity Conductor, I bet that thing wouldn't have lasted long enough to reveal its domain."
"Yuji was there," Shohei countered shortly, dismissing Satoru's downplay of the cursed spirit.
"So what if he was?" Gojo asked.
"He would've been caught in the Domain," Sho said. "We would have had to divide our attention on keeping him alive. He has no means of surviving out countering a Domain."
"Maybe so." Gojo pondered briefly. As quick as he went silent, he perked up again and clapped his hands. "Let's begin."
"As you know. A Domain is a barrier, erected by a sorcerer, curse user, or cursed spirit, that plays host to all caught in it. The average Domain today has a rather lethal sure hit technique that will bypass any techniques that would typically defend its user, like my limitless or your Stygian Void. A Domain is also generous enough to give its caster a sizable boost in their stats. In the instance of two opponents casting their Domains simultaneously, the more trained and refined Domain will dominate and win."
"Yes, yes," Shohei dismissed the textbook definition of a Domain. Like any competent sorcerer, Sho knew the common Domain Expansion ins and outs, therefore being distracted by the roaring winds tearing against the windows of the room.
"Not just 'yes, yes' numbnuts," Satoru scolded the body. "You need to know this all by heart. These aren't some cute little game rules you can cheese and break. These are the laws of the jungle that you can and will die by if you take them for granted." Satoru slowly began to step closer and closer to Sho until his startling blue eyes were shining over the brink of his glasses, drilling into Sho's own behind his bangs.
"When it comes to having a strong Domain, it doesn't matter if you're a renowned student at some barren school manipulated by senile old prunes. It doesn't matter if you possess an inherited and innate technique like almost no other. It doesn't matter how wide your Cursed Energy sensing is. If you can't win a Domain clash, and your countermeasures like simple domains fail you, you're nothing to those on the peak of Jujutsu sorcery who've lived and practiced to be the best."
Shohei felt a bone chilling shiver quake through his body as Satoru hammered and hammered his nail on the head, not once breaking his penetrating gaze.
"Do you understand these rules, Shohei Gojo?" Satoru asked, more cold and formal than any conservative higher up he loathed.
"Yes sir!" Sho bellowed, feeling like a cadet being torn down in boot camp.
"Good," Satoru said, beaming a smile as he retreated from Shohei's bubble. "I'm glad you know the severity of it all. Now let me explain how we're gonna get your foot in the door of the strongest sorcerers of this age."
"Now. Your bases are almost entirely covered as we know and this makes you a candidate for my special brewed training session. Your skills that play a key role today are your physical capabilities, despite their relatively rough and sloppy qualities compared to a hand to hand specialist like Itadori or Todo, is rather good and your previous experience of landing a Black Flash expanding your already well versed cursed energy knowledge. You and I will be sparing with no breaks until you land a black flash."
"You're joking," Shohei said, no amusement passing over his face.
"I'd never," Gojo assured.
"But no sorcerer in all of history, including you, has been known to land a black flash on command, when desired, or even when convenient!" Shohei sputtered, now grasping how long this training could take.
"True," Gojo admitted. "But that doesn't matter. You and I only have two days a week to practice since I'm still on missions and am currently training Fushiguro too. Those two days are completely dedicated to you and this training alone until you succeed in the goals for the day. This means, we could just dive into casting Domains, but you also need to round out your physical combat with hand to hand and weapons."
"This way, we get you stronger by putting your Gravity Field in overtime, refine your weapon skills, and clean up your hand to hand. And no day is really wasted like how they could be if we only tried and failed to cast Domains. What the real goal in fighting, however, is to land that black flash so you enter the 'zone' and you can make bigger leaps in progress with your widened eyes to curse energy and we can really capitalize on time."
Shohei ran over his face and through his hair, gathering all his thoughts and trying to visualize the training ahead of him. He dragged his hands over his face, briefly flashing his mismatched eyes, an imitation of a star and black hole.
"Training melee gets so old so fast though," Shohei sighed, taking a fighting stance.
"Cry me a river, Sho," Satoru said. "I'll start off defensive and get more aggressive every day we train, so be prepared to give it your all. If you don't, everyday will get harder and your window to land a black flash possibly gets smaller."
"Let's just start please," Shohei huffed, raising his guard, Iguana Talon in hand.
Satoru gave no response besides raising his own. Both were similar enough that one could decipher that Shohei's was derived from Satoru's, his own flavor and style spliced in.
Shohei took the initiative, glad to capitalize on his kin's admittedly defensive mentality. Shohei lunged with a superman punch and as if the boy's whole momentum meant nothing, Gojo parried and retreated. Shohei pursued with a classic combo of jobs and crossed, and Satoru slipped and ducked them all.
Sho chased and chased, his kicks and swings making no substantial contact. Satoru was more evasive than he was defensive if Sho had anything to say about it. No combo or move closed the distance like Shohei wished.
The fruitless chase of cat and mouse never ceased. Shohei's limbs dragged like an anchor, but he still dogged Satoru's heels. What Gojo didn't dodge like an insistent fly, he parried like it was nothing more than swatting that exact fly that was himself.
For hours upon hours, their combat was nothing more than jab, swat. Kick, retreat. Slash, backstep. Uppercut, lean. Cross hook, step back.
After the first hour of fighting, Shohei only could resume fighting by letting his body take over and letting his mind wander. Not because he was fatigued, but because he was bored. The combat was not challenging him and as it didn't stimulate his brain, it checked out and let his body fail to hit Satoru.
Of course his body was a finely tuned instrument, but to land a black flash without giving one's effort to the strike and implementing their cursed energy in the microscopic moment following, no black flash would spark in that fight.
"That's time!" Satoru halted Shohei mid lethal bicycle kick. The boy had to suspend himself in the middle of the air with his technique, Gravity Conductor, to not shatter his cousin's phone that he foolishly pulled out to stop the ringing timer.
"What time is it?" Shohei asked, landing.
"Ten at night," Gojo said. "We've been sparring for 14 hours."
"Feels like it," Shohei heaved, far spent, beyond winded, and looking like a wreck. Sweat pooled and drenched Shohei's back and pants. His bangs clumped together and clung to his forehead.
Gojo did not so much as have a hair out of place or scrape on his arm. That could have been from the simply ever expanding skill gap between the two of them or Satoru's technique leaving him in mint condition, but Shohei wanted to spare his dignity and assumed it was the latter.
"No reason to keep you into the night when we have training tomorrow. I wouldn't want to rob you of your rest," Gojo rationalized.
"Thank you, I guess," Shohei sighed, flinging Iguana Talon back into its case with exasperation.
"Don't sweat it," Satoru said, chuckling at his own pun, swiping his forehead as if he had been hard at work. "I didn't expect you to land a black flash on the first day. If you did that would have been extraordinary!" Satoru embraced Sho with an arm around his shoulder. In all actuality, I wanted you to not get it the first day, hence why I didn't even let you have the chance to land a direct hit. I need something more from you Sho."
"What do you mean?" Shohei asked.
"I need you to have some aspirations," Satoru said, no joke or pun lingering behind his eyes or lips. "I really need you to set some goals for yourself. Landing a black flash in these sessions is gonna act like a first step for you if you really want to progress at all. It's gonna make you struggle and strive for success, even if it's so small in the big picture."
Satoru sighed, taking back his arm and prowling off to a window off in a corner of the room. The tall man took in whatever the sights were outside the window and turned back to his student.
"I feel a change coming, Shohei," Satoru grimaced. "And not just my theory of the grading system soon to be flipped on its head. Something more than the run of mill cursed spirits getting stronger. The movement and plotting of these special grades that've attacked us more than once doesn't bode well, and there's something more to it that I can't put my finger on."
"You never were really good and mysteries," Shohei weakly chuckled, uncomfortable at Gojo so disturbed by whatever he was thinking. Sho hadn't seen Satoru so stoic but rattled since he lost his best friend twice. Once to his own madness and the second to death at Satoru's own hands.
"Well, it wouldn't phase me if it weren't for you," Satoru said, glancing over his shoulder.
"What?" Shohei muttered.
"Not that I'm saying it's your fault," Satoru quickly corrected, twisting to face him with an apologetic grin. "You're just too important to me, Sho. I can't have shit hitting the fan and you getting caught in it because of me."
Shohei broke eye contact with his cousin, unsure of what to feel. He didn't want to be a hindrance to Satoru, but how do you not weigh down the strongest sorcerer alive.
"Do you know who is to blame when a child is hurt?" Satoru asked.
Shohei shrugged a no.
"Not whatever caused the harm, and not the child," Satoru assured. "The parent of that child. The parent's number one responsibility of that child is to prepare them for the world. Not shield them from it. Not hide them from it. Not hold their hand through it." Satoru strolled back to Shohei and placed his hand back on his shoulder. "I can't be everywhere, and I won't always be with you. I would if I could, but instead I need to equip you to be strong for the both of us."
Shohei held his eye contact with Satoru again, emboldened like he always managed to do when Sho was weary.
Shohei placed his own hand on Satoru's other shoulder and said, "I promise to not be your weakness Satoru."