Thank you all for the comments! I love reading your thoughts on my story, it helps me see new perspectives I might consider placing. Here's another chapter, I hope you enjoy it!
The day had been a true odyssey. His tired steps echoed on the floor as he entered his home, a mix of relief and exhaustion completely enveloping him.
"Home, sweet home!" he exclaimed with a sigh as he shed his coat onto the couch, feeling the weight of the day slowly dissipating.
The kitchen became his instant refuge, where the comforting aroma of green tea greeted him with open arms. With an elegant gesture, he prepared a cup, letting the hot steam caress his face.
"Green tea, my faithful companion in all battles!" he murmured to himself, taking a sip with evident satisfaction. The comforting sweetness of the tea was like music to his senses. With each sip, he felt the tension slowly fading from his shoulders, replaced by a sense of peace and serenity. The night stretched out before him, full of promises of rest and renewal. He deserved it, in his opinion.
He went to sit on his luxurious one-seater sofa, the small fortune was worth it.
"Ah! I needed this," he expressed, reclining completely.
Watching the movement of the tree leaves through the window, he let his thoughts drift to the events that had led him to his current state.
Another student had died today…
Several hours earlier
He was in the city of Natori on a mission to exorcise a Category 1 curse, with great potential to escalate to a special grade if it continued to strengthen. Although it's not as if the man with bandages over his eyes cared whether the creature increased its power or not; he might as well have been fighting a child with a slingshot, and even that would have been more fun.
After finishing, completely bored following a disappointing battle, he planned to browse the stalls of the local market in search of a delicious breakfast until he received a call from Ijichi asking for help. He sighed reluctantly. What can you do?
The place was a town in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, not far from where Gojo himself was, perhaps that's why Ijichi called him; he was one of the few who usually knew where his missions were sent, although most of the time it was because the white-haired sorcerer used him as a personal driver.
And the best part, the place wasn't far from the bakery where they sell the best dangos you could ever taste! Perhaps his goal of a sweet breakfast was not yet aborted.
The assistant told him that the call for help was from a student, who had been sent alone to exorcise a curse of the same rank, but apparently things had gotten complicated.
It was lucky that he knew the place and the distance. Satoru wasted no time and teleported nearby.
Upon arrival, he recognized Yusuke's signature and what was a second-grade curse, the rank of the student.
Before reaching where he felt the battle was taking place, a sensation stopped him abruptly. In a narrow alley, one street before the battle site, there were two bodies lying. One was quite obviously dead, and the other had his eyes open towards him, blood coming out of his mouth. But the gaze of the most powerful sorcerer was not fixed on such a common sight. No, he was watching a point beyond the bleeding bodies; anyone else would see nothing but darkness. But the eyes with which he had been blessed showed him something else.
'Him...? Why would he be here?' Gojo stared for a few more seconds, denoting his bewilderment.
The bad feeling churned in his chest, along with painful memories of a past era filled with adventures and camaraderie. But he wouldn't gain anything by standing there like an idiot; he had a student to help.
About to turn away and leave, he heard again the gurgling of the person lying on the cold cement floor.
He turned to notice that the person was still looking at him, desperation evident in their bloodshot eyes, tears mingling with the blood from the cuts on their forehead.
'fuck'
It didn't matter. He couldn't care less; the person would die now or in a few moments. He could feel the residual cursed energy of the creature within them, and even if he expelled it, it wouldn't matter because he couldn't heal them like Shoko would. They were doomed. He still had a student to try to save anyway.
So why wasn't he moving? Why was he still looking?
"Tsk..." A grimace of annoyance formed on his face.
He didn't know what possessed him or what he felt to do what he did. Pity? Sympathy? Feelings he typically associated with civilians, comrades, or students who were too weak to defend themselves.
With a frustrated sigh, he dialed the emergency number for non-sorcerers and tossed his phone by the person, hoping they would come anyway even though he hadn't said anything. He didn't care about losing the phone; it was an old model anyway.
He quickly entered through the gate of what was an abandoned house, already hearing the sounds of battle coming from what must be the backyard; luckily, the place was quite far from any other residence.
Yusuke was soaked in blood, with cuts and holes piercing his entire torso. He lay unconscious as he was lifted by a curse about two and a half meters tall, ash gray with blade-like arms, explaining the cuts. It had antenna-like eyes and a deformed mouth full of sharp teeth.
With a swift motion, he severed the creature's arms to make it release the young man. Emitting a piercing, super annoying shriek, it turned towards Gojo to analyze him. The curse wasn't foolish, much to his annoyance. It must have categorized him as a threat too great for itself (which was correct), and in what was surely its cursed technique, it dissolved into a puddle of a rather disgusting substance—ew—and slid through a large hole likely caused by its struggle with Yusuke.
He didn't have time to pursue it; he grabbed the student and, mentally calculating the distance precisely, prepared himself, with the body battered in his arms, to return to the school.
A second later, he disappeared only to reappear several meters above the school. Quickly, he went to the emergency wing where he could always find Shoko. Today was no exception.
She barely glanced at him before instructing him to lay the body on the table and start using the reverse cursed technique to heal the badly injured sorcerer.
After an hour, during which Gojo was searching for the elusive curse—it wasn't even that strong; its technique just allowed it to escape easily, but that wasn't enough to escape from Gojo—he cornered and killed it in no time.
He returned to the school just as Shoko emerged from the operating room with a haggard and heavy expression. A glance was enough to know that the teenager didn't make it.
Ito Yusuke was a second-year student, average in height and with a lanky appearance. He was a second-grade sorcerer. His technique consisted of manipulating a shadow emanating from his body, trapping his opponents and sucking their life energy as if they were some sort of magical battery, gradually weakening them.
The technique was strong, yes, but to keep powerful enemies under control, considerable mental fortitude was needed.
Yusuke, foolish and fearful, did not precisely have a mind of steel.
If it had been up to Gojo, he would have classified him as a lower grade; after all, no matter how powerful your innate ability was, in this profession, one needed to be mentally strong to survive. if you were a little crazy, even better.
He hadn't had any sentimental bond with Yusuke beyond that of student and teacher. His death didn't represent a significant loss to him, but it could have been avoided.
Kusakabe took care of the body burning process and notifying the family. He didn't envy him; it wasn't something fun to do. Even the man, with his eternally tired appearance, was clearly sorry for losing a student. But Gojo could also see the annoyance behind his disinterested facade and didn't blame him. Satoru felt the same.
Yusuke shouldn't have gone alone. Despite his rank and cursed ritual, the boy barely had the ability to face even a category 2 curse. If Gojo had been his teacher last year, he would have shamelessly kept him at school. It would have been a hassle to worry about whether he would die or not, which ended up happening.
Of course, things like these weren't something that the stupid superiors cared about. They only saw what the bearer's technique could do, and they based everything on that. That's why the now dead young sorcerer's rank was unjustified. They didn't even send a damn assistant.
' those damn old geezers …' He understood that they were always short of staff, but did it serve any purpose to promote someone who wasn't prepared if they were going to die in the end? They ended up increasing the problem.
'It would be so easy to just kill them.' It was a recurring and tempting thought in his head with white hair.
Satoru couldn't wait for those old asses to stop existing. That's why he became a teacher, to change the backward mentality of jujutsu society. Achieving his goal through force would be pointless; they wouldn't be loyal to him and would only provoke fear. He would change everything starting with the younger generation.
With those who survived, of course. For that, he needed strong allies because, in the end, no matter how strong or fast he was, he couldn't be everywhere at once.
"What a drag…" he thought wearily.
He returned to the school and went to the break room, avoiding students or colleagues and hoping that the annoyance would pass. Especially the unease of his discovery.
He hadn't mentioned that Suguru was at the scene. He preferred to keep that information to himself for now, at least to try to understand why he was there. What was he looking for? He knew enough about his former colleague to know that he wouldn't seek to kill a young shaman just because. And he didn't need a curse to kill two civilians. What was he up to?
So many thoughts were giving him a headache.
Heard a noise and turned to see what caused it; it was the television, he hadn't even realized it was on. Maybe a bit of news would calm him down. Watching civilians with their silly problems was amusing. Perhaps he could catch a glimpse of the cute TBS reporter.
Turning up the volume, he listened to the typical news: rising prices of basic groceries "Couldn't they work harder and buy it?" Robberies and assaults "Boring," car accident with a couple injured, "romantic," an attack on two people...
The latter caught his interest; it was from Yusuke's battle. Apparently, they found the two civilians.
"This morning, a neighborhood in Sendai was the scene of an attack on two individuals who were walking peacefully when they were assaulted by one or more unknown persons who fled the scene. There are no clues about the culprits of the critical condition in which the victims, both men, were found gravely injured in an alley, with no signs of struggle around."
'They omitted the part about the abandoned house. The assistants must have taken care of hiding everything. Poor Ijichi, he has a tedious job. I wonder if he found my phone?' It was Gojo's thought, excited to get his cell phone back. He had several spare parts but he was too lazy to look for them.
The reporter continued with the news.
"Thanks to the prompt response of the ambulances, alerted by an anonymous call, they managed to be transported to the hospital. Tragically, one of them arrived dead. However, the other individual, identified as Susuki Takashi, has managed to survive after hours of surgery and is out of danger. The investigation continues to clarify the details of this incident in progress…"
He stopped listening, feeling confused. How? Is he still alive? That wasn't possible. He saw his wounds himself; they were too deep, and the cursed energy of the creature was still there, which was deadly for a non-sorcerer. That couldn't have been removed by civilian doctors.
'Was it Suguru?' He quickly dismissed that idea. His old friend would never waste time trying to save beings he considered inferior.
Maybe there was just a shaman at the hospital who decided to be a good Samaritan? It could be... but shamans weren't known for being particularly empathetic with strangers.
Maybe he had a relative in the jujutsu society? But if that were the case, I don't think there would have been time for him to get to the hospital, remove the residual energy, and then be operated on.
His wounds were deep; even without the cursed energy in his body, he doubted they could have saved him. But he also didn't know how far they had advanced in traditional healing techniques.
Satoru made the call with the sole purpose of finding their bodies quickly, preventing them from rotting for who knows how long. So far, he didn't understand why he did it. Guilt for his ex-friend's actions? It's one thing for people to die from naturally created curses; it's their time to die and that's it. But he was pretty sure that the curse was placed by Suguru, with some kind of purpose, and the civilians were simply collateral damage.
'Am I getting soft?' was the fleeting thought that crossed his mind.
He continued watching the news, ending up channel surfing as he couldn't find anything interesting. The annoyance at the death due to the negligence of the superiors, the feeling of missing out on something with the issue of the surviving man, and the actions of his treacherous ex-friend didn't disappear. Fed up, he turned off the silly device and reclined on the uncomfortable sofa, letting his head fall completely backward.
He stayed like that for a few minutes until he ended up getting up abruptly.
"Fine! I'll go investigate, I have nothing else to do anyway," decided the white-haired man. He needed a distraction.
And... a bit of dango wouldn't hurt either.
He walked calmly down the main street, bustling with cars going back and forth. He had put on his glasses since he would be coming to a place with civilians, and he was already annoyed at being perceived as blind when he wore his bandages. 'He didn't need anyone's pity, least of all theirs.'
He really fancied some dango; the irritation just wouldn't leave him.
Upon arriving at the shop, he entered, drawing the gazes of the few people inside. He didn't blame them; he was very handsome.
Approaching the counter and being served by a distracted young man who couldn't stop looking towards the corner, he ordered the house specialty. He was greatly surprised when they told him they were out, that they had sold the last ones to the person before him.
'Damn it, today is not my day.' He wanted his damn dango.
Looking around, he spotted the thief, a girl with pink hair? Seriously? What kind of trends were there these days? It didn't matter; in fact, it was better. He could use his charms to get what he wanted; it almost always worked, and someone who dyes their hair pink clearly wanted attention.
Approaching her, he observed her studying something on her phone while eating her dango. He asked if he could sit down, and in slow motion, she raised her pink head, as if she didn't even want to look at him. Huh.
When she finally looked at him, he was met with striking green eyes, big and bright. He had never seen eyes with that shade before.
He kept looking at her and then around her. Gojo understood the question in her eyes, but he didn't care.
Before she could refuse, he sat down, noticing the annoyance in her gaze. 'Well, we're both in the same boat.'
Satoru began his typical flirtation, "Are you from around here?" "I've never seen you before" "I would remember you" although the last two were true, he doubted he would forget someone as colorful as her.
The woman responded curtly, showing no clear desire to talk. That bothered him; he usually didn't have problems with civilian women when it came to flirting, some were easier than others, but they always fell for it. But now, he really wished it were easy; he didn't feel like wasting much time.
The accumulation of everything that had happened made it impossible for Gojo to prevent some of his annoyance from reflecting in his comment about the dango theft, even though he wanted it to sound amusing. Damn it. He hoped she wouldn't get upset and just leave with her dessert.
She didn't; in fact, she seemed surprised and confused, and ended up offering him the sweet he craved. Hallelujah! In the end, it wasn't as difficult as he expected. But it irked him to know that the reason he had to do this was because the idiotic the idiotic who serves couldn't control his hormones. Courtesy of the house, sure.
I couldn't blame him too much though., he couldn't figure out how the girl managed to pull off those colors. An exotic beauty indeed.
Delighting in his treat, the shaman decided that, since he was here, he might as well satisfy his curiosity. He asked if her hair was natural and surprisingly, it was. Wow. Genetics were strange.
If Satoru had a daughter like her, he would definitely give her a name related to her color. It was a rule. And he set out to guess it himself.
It only took him 4 attempts, and although he boasted about it, it stung his pride when she told him he could have guessed it on the first try. After analyzing it better, she was right. Pink, Sakura, was obvious.
He couldn't leave without having regained his honor; he was Gojo Satoru, damn it.
He suggested another game that she seemed reluctant to accept, so he quickly made it more interesting. He wouldn't leave until she saw how cool it was. Besides, he was already having fun.
Sakura ended up accepting and even joining in. Satoru didn't expect it, as he could tell she was eager to leave. But it made it more interesting.
He began to analyze her carefully, noticing her tired appearance and comfortable clothing. Analyzing everything, and what she had already said, he formed his theory aloud, watching her eyes widen.
'Now he had her.'
His theory turned out to be almost correct. It had to be a joke. He lost. What was happening to him today? His mind wasn't at 100%. The incidents with Yusuke and Suguru affected him more than he thought. From the beginning, he should have expected her to be a nurse; she looked young, and studying medicine took years. Not everyone could be like Shoko.
The worst part was that she was mostly right. He was a teacher, but he wasn't just that.
He was already resigning himself to leaving without regaining his pride. The great Gojo had fallen.
He was surprised that she only wanted to know his name. He didn't usually give his real name to potential conquests, but I guess earned it, and one thing he always did was keep his word, even if it was theatrical about it.
He watched her leave afterward, as he had noticed wanted to do from the start. What a peculiar woman.
His dango was supposed to relax him, but the annoyance returned when he remembered his missed opportunity. When he asked about Sugisawa Hospital, he didn't expect a show of sympathy; it bewildered him and ended up changing the subject.
He forgot that civilians were more empathetic. He shouldn't have expected the typical indifference characteristic of his former teammate, even though he would have preferred it. Gojo didn't like people feeling sorry for him. But he missed a valuable opportunity to gather information from someone who works at the hospital where the victim was operated on.
God, it wasn't his day.
He arrived at General Hospital after his terrible attempt at flirting. He would never tell his kids about it.
Standing in front of the imposing facade, he watched people come and go. The presence of cursed energy in the place was stronger and more oppressive, typical of places like these. Although, in this case, it wasn't as much compared to other hospitals he had visited. Not even the presence of tiny curses was as prominent. Strange.
He didn't sense the presence of any shamans.
"I suppose I'll have to go in" he muttered to himself. With his hands in his pockets, he began to casually make his way to the entrance of the building.
The smell of disinfectant permeated the air. The cold, white light of the place enveloped him immediately. The atmosphere was tense, charged with a mixture of fear, hope, and resignation. Gojo felt the gaze of the people around him doctors in white coats, patients in gray gowns, family members with worried faces.
How could Shoko enjoy being in places like this? He would never understand.
'Let's see...Where will it be?' He looked around for any signs indicating where the recovery rooms were. There.
He climbed to the first floor and began to walk down the corridors. The sound of footsteps on the linoleum floor echoed in the hallway, creating a monotonous rhythm that was only broken by the distant crying of a child or the occasional beep of some medical device.
He didn't miss the admiring glances from some nurses. They were all rewarded with a mischievous smile.
The longer it took to find what he wanted, the stranger everything became. Even if he was in a place where cursed energy abounded, he should be able to find it. He was the best sensor, and nothing escaped his eyes.
Finally, he felt it. Room 113. He only sensed the presence of one person inside. Good.
Entering the small room, he was greeted by the beeping of the heart monitor. On the bed lay the person he had seen just a few hours earlier, on the brink of death. They had a normal and unremarkable appearance but noticeably more alive.
He approached until he stood next to the bed and observed more closely. The meager trace he had sensed was there, much clearer now.
"Well, well... how interesting," a smile formed on the lips of the special-grade sorcerer.
There was positive cursed energy.
So, it wasn't just any shaman who cured this person. Gojo looked at the face of the man lying there. Who was he? Did he have contacts or relatives in the elite of jujutsu? He looked completely normal and was entirely a civilian.
And who cured him? He didn't recognize the signature, there was barely one. Whoever it was, they were very skilled in their control.
Was it a doctor? It could be, without anyone noticing it would have removed the residual cursed energy and then proceeded with the operation. Although he could have cured him completely, he must have wanted to save face. That would also explain the use of positive curse energy, which would remove the curse much faster.
But that would mean he works here, so...
Why didn't he sense them? Why is there no trace anywhere except for Takashi's? Do they not work here and just came to remove the cursed energy?
It was all very strange.
He was back at the hospital reception, with more questions than answers.
Amidst his musings, he heard someone calling him, or rather, the name he usually invents for his dates. Shimura Tenko.
He turned to see a blonde nurse approaching. Ah, was this his date? The woman who canceled it. What did Sakura say her name was? Arumi... Ah, Ayumi, yes.
He had truly forgotten about the date, only recalling it because of the message she had sent canceling it. He hadn't lied when he told Sakura it was a painful memory. Nobody cancels on him, especially someone he barely remembered.
The girl greeted him effusively, apologizing again for canceling and mistakenly thinking he was here for her to arrange another date. 'Sure, like I would stoop so low.'
But upon second thought, maybe this could work to his advantage.
He decided not to correct her, letting her believe what she thought, and she ended up blushing and nervous, clearly happy for his attention. 'At least someone was.' Remembering the escape of the girl with pretty green eyes.
It was a back and forth of flirting, giggles, and winks. In the end, they agreed on another date, which he had to mentally note down because he hadn't brought another phone. At least now he had a reason to remember it.
All done, he headed for the exit, listening to the enthusiastic nurse's stuttering goodbyes. A final scan of his surroundings revealed the same as when he arrived: Nothing.
Now
A satisfied groan escaped his throat as he settled into a corner of the couch, seeking the perfect position to rest.
He slurped the last of his sweet tea, feeling the warm liquid trickle down his throat.
"Ah, delightful," he exclaimed happily.
His eyes turned toward the window. The trees, now dark silhouettes against the starry sky, swayed gently in the night breeze. The leaves, a dark green that almost turned black under the moonlight, whispered among themselves, creating a soothing melody.
His thoughts drifted again from the deceased student to his recent and interesting... discovery?
Investigating how the victim survived had been a mere whim, a simple distraction. His plan was just to confirm what he had theorized, like giving himself a pat on the back. It was supposed to end when he was in front of the hospital and felt the presence trail of the shaman. He hadn't even planned to pursue or find out who it was, he didn't care.
But everything changed when he saw the positive cursed energy and found no traces of the carrier. Did his cursed technique allow him to hide even from their eyes? If so, were in the hospital when you were there? Gojo couldn't help but laugh. The excitement of meeting someone like that surged in his chest, finally pushing aside the bothersome feelings.
The fact that the person could use the reverse curse technique already made him skilled, and being able to use it on others made him intriguing.
Satoru couldn't understand how someone like that had been hidden for so long. Even as an independent sorcerer, rumors spread quickly in jujutsu society circles.
If he couldn't find them with his ability, then he would have to resort to other methods.
He had several trusted private detectives. Plus, Nurse Harumi or whatever her name is, the girl might have useful information on any suspicious people who have entered the hospital.
There was another person out there capable of healing others. The witches, the school, and its students would need someone like that. Shoko couldn't handle all the demand, not even Director Yaga's panda had as many bags under his eyes as her.
Yes, an ally with that ability would be very good.
He finished his tea, savoring every last sweet drop of his heavenly drink. Gojo's thoughts returned to his other former colleague. So far, he didn't know what Suguru's business was in those places, would he... be recruiting people?
He couldn't help but think everything was related. Could it be possible that he was also looking for the person he himself was now looking for? Maybe they knew each other and had a confrontation? Is that why the unknown sorcerer ended up saving the civilian?
So many questions.
"It seems I'll be busy for a while," said Satoru, his lips curling upward. His words echoing in the stillness of his solitary living room.