Kyandi: And we're back!
Inari: We said we would be.
Kyandi: Yep. This chapter is on the shorter side though.
Inari: Hopefully, we will have another chapter ready for all of you soon.
Kyandi: Yep. I went old fashion with paper and pencil for a long time, so I have a lot written.
Inari: She just needs to type it all up.
Kyandi: Yep. So, everyone, enjoy and review.
Inari: Kyandi-sama does not own Jujutsu Kaisen.
Chapter 6 Brothers
The arrival of Todou and Yuuji surprised Hanami, but didn't particularly worry the curse. It worried Fushiguro though.
"Stop it, Itadori! That guy is too much for -" Fushiguro cut off, coughing.
Todou turned away from Yuuji, carrying Maki over to Fushiguro. "Panda."
Panda appeared then to take Maki from Todou. "Gotcha."
"Carry these two to the other side of the screen. Nishimiya says the screen is a measure against Gojou Satoru, and any of us can go out no problem," Todou told Panda.
"Wait!" Fushiguro wasn't going to allow this. "Even for you -"
"Fushiguro." Yuuji turned to give him a smile. "It's alright. I got Inari. Right, Inari?" Yuuji raised his voice on the last sentence. Water exploded as Inari jumped up from where she had landed, a growl rumbling free of the girl as she yanked lengths of roots from her body. "See? She'll keep an eye on me."
Fushiguro was stunned into silence. Todou called his attention to him. "So you've noticed. Nobody can stop a guy when he starts growing out of his shell. Which is what's happening with Itadori now."
Fushiguro grit his teeth as Panda reached down to pick him up. "I'm gonna kill you if you die again!"
"Then I guess I can't die," Yuuji replied.
Todou's eyes were drawn to Inari as she dragged herself out of the water, shaking the water from her long hair and fur-covered limbs. He didn't question her appearance for even a second. "Hey, Panda. Take her, too."
Panda turned to look at Inari, the girl flashing claws and fangs in a warning snarl. "Uh...I don't think that's gonna happen."
Todou approached Inari, the girl puffing up with a growl. When he stood before her, he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Go. You're hurt."
"No."
"Go, before you get in the way."
"I do not have to, and you cannot order me to do so. I am ranked higher than you."
Todou didn't care much about rank, whether she was or was not ranked higher. Reaching out, he grabbed her by the back of her top, lifting her off her feet to carry her to the river bank. "Fine, whatever, but neither you or I are gonna interfere. Not until he managed to use his Black Flash." Todou sat her down on dry land before turning to Yuuji. "Go that? Until you do that, no matter what happens...I'll just let you die."
"Got it!" Yuuji replied.
Inari shifted into a crouch, tails curling around her. She would be ready to jump in the moment she needed to. She had long since grown numb to the pain of her injuries, a perk of taking on her fox form. Due to the amount of reshaping of her skeleton, her pain receptors shut down. It would all hit her the moment she transformed back, but for now, it was a problem for Future Inari.
"Hey," Yuuji called out to Hanami who had been examining them. "You can talk? There's something I wanna ask. Among your friends...is there a humanoid cursed spirit with a patched-up face?
Just hearing the question rose a growl from Inari, her tails bristling. The reaction made Hanami curious. "What if I say there is?"
Yuuji's attack was instant, water blowing upward as Yuuji sent two chunks of earth flying for Hanami in order to cover him closing in on him. Hanami tried to counter his attack, but Yuuji landed a kick right across the curse's face. Yuuji swung around to follow up the kick with a punch, but Hanami was quick to put space between them. Todou immediately corrected him with a slap across the face that had Inari's head tilting to one side, one fox ear perking up.
"Itadori, my friend," Inari blinked in confusion at the slap. "Anger is an important trigger for a sorcerer. Angering your opponent can make them degrade to a lower level. The opposite is also true. "Anger" can disturb your cursed energy, and you can lose without making use of your true power. Your friend, Fushiguro, was hurt, that girl over there is bleeding as we speak." Yuuji peered past Todou to Inari, taking in the bleeding wounds on her. "And more importantly, they interrupted your honeymoon with me, your best friend. I understand perfectly well that you're boiling with rage."
Inari had to wonder if this guy was sane. He certainly made no sense to her. Not that a lot of people around her did.
"But for you, that anger over flows. Keep it in for now," Todou added, slapping Yuuji again. "Did that rid you of your distractions?"
"Yeah...I'm crystal clear now," Yuuji replied with a smile.
'I will never understand males.'
Inari perked up, her ears twitching on top of her head when Yuuji focused on concentrating to the point that he started to drool. Then he struck. Inari could only describe what happened as space distorting. Todou grinned. "You did it."
'That's the Black Flash?'
The attack shattered Hanami's arm. Inari stood, joining Todou and Yuuji, the three watching as Hanami quickly healed his arm. Yuuji gaped. "It's healing!"
"The body of a cursed spirit is made of cursed energy," Todou explained. "Unlike us, they don't need advanced reversal techniques."
"It is a high grade, as well, meaning that that kind of wound will not do much to truly hurt him," Inari added.
"But we're certainly scraping away its cursed energy, and it's a done deal if we destroy its head," Todou declared. "Now, let's start cooking!"
Inari only stared at the two boys as they struck the same pose. "I am not copying that."
Neither could say anything in reply as Hanami pulled off the tarp that had been covering his left arm and shoulder. The shoulder underneath had a large flower bud on it. A snarl left Inari, her instincts telling her to be careful. She was proven right, the girl leaping straight into the air to avoid the wave of roots that swarmed them. Todou and Yuuji easily avoided them, too. All three landed on the roots as they carried them high into the sky.
"The hell is up with this range?!" Yuuji demanded.
"Don't get scared! It's sacrificing its power and speed!" Todou replied.
Inari's ears twitched. "Do not be so sure! Behind us!"
All three avoided Hanami's attack from behind as he popped out of the roots. Todou and Yuuji landed punches on Hanami while Inari snapped a heavy kick to the spirit's jaw. While not as powerful as Yuuji's earlier hit, each of them dealt damage to Hanami. Todou and Yuuji charged in to attack again, but Inari, thinking ahead, jumped up.
When the roots vanished from beneath the two boys, they were sent plummeting to the ground while Hanami remained standing on a ball of roots. Hanami focused on the two boys, attacking while they were free falling. He was so stunned when they used each other as a springboard to avoid the hit, that he failed to notice Inari as she used a shock wave of released cursed energy to rocket herself at him from above. Inari landed a heavy kick to his head, sending him crashing towards the ground.
"Good one, Inari!" Yuuji called.
The three teenagers barely touched ground before Hanami sent a wave of flowers their way. Inari's foot tapped the ground, the girl jumping back up as those flowers turned into piercing thorns. The boys took a few hits, but were still standing as Inari landed beside them.
"Are you alright, brother?" Yuuji called. "Inari?"
"I am well. You two?" Inari returned.
"No problemo!" Yuuji replied.
"Same here!" Todou added. He was surprised at how well Inari moved, keeping up with him and Yuuji easily, even out maneuvering them. He had a feeling she might adjust quickly to his cursed technique. "Then...I'm gonna unseal my jujutsu technique!"
"Didn't you use that before?" Yuuji asked.
"But I don't have time to explain it right now. I only have one thing to tell you! Both of you! Don't stop! Believe in me!" Todou told them.
"But...that was two things," Inari remarked, expression deadpan.
She didn't wait for an response, jumping back into the fight. Todou and Yuuji followed, Todou realizing too late that Hanami had him with roots wrapped around his ankle. With that grip, Hanami sent Todou flying. When Yuuji turned in surprise, Hanami attacked him. Inari knew Yuuji would be fine. She turned to dart to Todou whose back was flying ever closer to spike. She heard a clap and came to a stop, blinking when it was Hanami that was speared through by the spikes, not Todou. She turned to find Todou standing beside Yuuji, having taken Yuuji's punch that had been meant for Hanami.
"I see," Hanami remarked, speaking Inari's thoughts. "It's simple. And therefore a troublesome technique."
"Yeah, my technique is switching the positions between me and my enemy. Boogie Woogie!"
Inari caught on to his wording, ears perking straight up. "Earlier when your classmates attacked Yuuji...that is -"
Inari cut off when Todou raised a finger to his lips to stop her from finishing her sentence. "Let's finish it off before it can get used to it." Inari and Yuuji nodded, all three charging in. "By the way...clapping my hands activates my technique."
All three jumped in, striking even as Todou switched their positions. Inari adapted quickly, just as Todou thought she would. Hanami had it harder. The three teenagers were all so physically different that the disparity after the switches was huge. It threw him off not knowing if Todou would switch places with one of his comrades or him.
Then Hanami felt it.
The curse took a step, trying to avoid another Black Flash, only to realize that his leg was burning and wouldn't move. The inability to move it allowed Yuuji to land his hit. Hanami stumbled, his other leg starting to burn as well. Yuuji landed another Black Flash. Hanami felt that burning pain move up to his hips just as Yuuji landed another. Hanami buckled down, pulling a fist back to counterattack. It was then that Inari and Todou appeared in his line of sight.
Hanami focused on Todou, sure that he would switch with Yuuji. Hanami was taken off guard when the clap came, but no one switched. "Clapping my hands doesn't necessarily mean I'll use my technique. It's simple, but it really gets you, right?"
Hanami noticed the sicking burn in his gut just before Yuuji landed another Black Flash. He didn't understand what was going on. "What is this burning?" Hanami could barely get his limbs to move.
"Oh, it is finally activating?" Hanami focused in on Inari as she flexed her claws. "My fangs and claws, even in human form, are highly venomous. I have lost track of how many times I used you to sharp my claws." As if Hanami needed another nuisance in this fight. "Oh, and for your information...the venom does not effect me." She remarked as scratched at one fox ear.
First Yuuji's Black Flash, then Todou's switching technique, and now Inari's venom. It made the fight from there difficult. Hanami was forced to use one of his stronger techniques, summoning forth a large, flower-like plant that released smaller versions to strike at the three teenagers.
Inari avoided most of them, Todou switching Yuuji with Hanami to save him. Todou threw his arms up to deflect the seeds, quickly dispersing his cursed energy when he put together why the seeds had latched onto Fushiguro.
At this point, they had moved back down the river to where Maki had dropped her staff. Approaching the water, Todou clapped his hands, switching Yuuji for the staff. With that tool in hand, Todou landed a powerful hit to Hanami's face. The curse retaliated, but Todou dodged. Inari felt a shiver work its way down her spine to her tails when she noticed the amount of cursed energy gathering in the flower on Hanami's shoulder. Yuuji showed back up, Hanami about to fire, when the screen broke.
Inari's eyes went to the sky, picking out Gojou high up in the sky.
'So he finally got through, huh?'
With the arrival of Gojou, came the end of the fight. All it took was one strike for the man to leave a long, deep scar in the earth, Hanami gone from sight. They couldn't even tell if the spirit had been exorcised or not. Inari wasn't too concerned for the time being. With Gojou there, the threat was clear.
Todou and Yuuji turned to Inari as, with a noise of pain, she released her fox form. Her body shrank back to its original size, her hair and eyes reverting to their usual color. The moment the switch was done, she rocked on her feet before collapsing.
The last thing she remembered was Yuuji's concerned call of her name.
END
Kyandi: I couldn't do your transformations.
Inari: You are not very good with pain, are you?
Kyandi: Not really. I mean, I have a high pain threshold, but I still don't handle it very well.
Inari: When you have done it most of your life, you grow somewhat use to it.
Kyandi: I suppose. I still wouldn't like it.
Inari: Nor do I.
Kyandi: Anyway, everyone, enjoy and review.
Inari: We will return as soon as we can.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!