Chapter 20

Sukuna got a break from filming.

So he took the family out to explore this Hollywood, however he found it rather… strange. "If anything I feel oddly out of place and yet not so much" he muttered to Chusi.

"It's the curses and how they act. Father only knew them by how they acted in Japan, but it's different around the world apparently. No one else had a barrier either to contain the curse energy…" Ryoto said offhandedly. "But this is wrong…"

He peered at his son. "Are you researching this?"

"Indeed father, I know that Japan cannot be the only place in the world that has negative emotions. Yet different lands apparently have found different methods in dealing with curses or the curses themselves act as humans to blend in better. Yet due to the amount of energy, they can manifest themselves differently."

"He's been reading too much…" Sukuna muttered to his wife.

She of course laughed it off. Ryoto has been raiding Kiyoshi's room when he gets home from school. He found all sorts of books and one happened to discuss curse energy from around the world. Not much is knows, but they have information from a few areas. Ryoto only learned about the curses in the States since he is there and saw it with his own eyes, but other places…

"It would be interesting to see, at the same time, they don't react to me at all." Sukuna said offhandedly.

"Father, with all due respect, our power is capped so we don't scare people…" he suddenly paused. Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Ryoto began to wonder away, but Sukuna and Chusi kept close by. He was drawn to this odd store that specialized in 'dark arts' by the looks of it, but, he looked disturbed.

"Boy?" he asked. But looked in the window.

Chusi turned pale, as she appeared sick at the sight. In the window was a wind chime, it appeared to be delicate crystals in the shape of little delicate wings…

He suddenly realized why his wife was so upset.

"Father…" whispered Ryoto. "Those are real."

"Indeed… let's go."

He couldn't explain it, but there was something in him that hated the sight. In fact, within the store, he felt even more pissed off when in fact it shouldn't bother him the least bit. His old self however, would have loved everything within the store knowing… well… Let's just say this. He always had a rule for himself, if it is of no concern to him, he doesn't bother.

Why is he bothering this time?

"Oh welcome! Welcome!" came the shopkeeper. "Have you been here before?"

The tone… his man's tone is strange… Perhaps he is deciding if they are true customers of his.

Sukuna smiled to him and leaned in. "Not THIS store" he said in a hinting tone. It was enough to convey to the man before him that he knows what this place is and could lower his guard a little. "Quite frankly, I've never seen things so… fresh around here. Normally they are in various states of decay…"

The human smiled. "You sir, have a phenomenal eye! We pride ourselves on fresh product, in fact, I am one of the largest distributers in the world of such fine quality products."

Interesting, this human is playing along, and yet, playing it safe. Sukuna paused for a moment before recalling something in his possession. "Any… materials you might be interested in?"

"Hon…" Chusi whispered in a concerned tone.

"HO! I am ALWAYS looking for fresh materials. In fact, I am currently trying to snag a very rare supply at the moment, it's rather time consuming." The shopkeeper explained. He went behind his desk and took out a massive book.

But Sukuna noticed the cover.

'Alchemists' he thought instantly.

They were few and far between in his era, after all the ingredients needed to make one strong item would cost an alchemist their whole lifetime. But it appears the art continues on to this day.

Which explains the book this shopkeeper has.

The pages were thick, nearly the span of Sukuna's hand in his natural form. A mere human wouldn't be able to lift the book if given the chance.

"So, what materials are you offering?"

Sukuna smiled as he went into a bag he carried, using his curse storage, he reached in and took out a handful of orc tusks. When he placed them on the table, the shopkeeper froze.

"Are these…" he quickly inspected them but smiled wickedly. "Oh! They are! Orc tusks are a good material; in fact, it's often sold as ivory. But for us, it's a great material to use!"

So orc tusks are good… Perhaps he will show his true colors when he sees this.

"I do have one other item that is… very, very, very rare," he said offhandedly.

He took out a dragon scale.

He knew he had this human before the scale came completely out of the bag. The human was drooling. "That… that's a… Is that…" his hand trembled towards the scale, but Sukuna knew it won't reach his hands until he gets every bit of information he wants.

"Perhaps, but, I do wish to know the price you are willing to offer. I have a lot more to sell as well, it's just this store seems so very small compared to what is in this bag…" he teased.

He peered back, the human was in a panic as he searched the table behind him. Sukuna took the opportunity to touch the book the human used. Using jujutsu he is able to replicate every word, picture and recipe in that book and recreate it later. It appears to be something of value to the human.

The shopkeeper turned around and gave him a card. "If you have quality goods, we can make it worth your while here. But… how did you obtain that?"

He leaned in and chuckled. "I dabbled… in England for a short while… came across some talented people who collected these sorts of things, but, it is as you say… freshness is the key."

The human smirked. "Oh, I think we can make this worth your while then, we are aware of a small family of mythical beasts that has entered the lands here… such material… if we could get our hands on some of that, I know you could retire a very, wealthy man… what do you say?"

He bore a devious grin. "Well, let's say I'm interested." He took the card and walked out with the family.

Ryoto looked to him with such disappointment. "Father…" he said in a worried tone. "Those things in the store… those were taken by force, weren't they?"

"I don't think any divine creature would be willing to give their wings to make a trinket like that," he said. "But they are not going to be doing that for much longer."

He looked to Ryoto who froze. "You'll stop them!?" he asked in amazement.

"If they know of dragons, they know the knockoff is one… meaning they are aware. I won't let them come after your friends, or you for that matter."

"Me?" he asked with worry.

"If they knew you were friends with dragons, they would use you to get to them. That's why I am going to take care of it later tonight…" he paused and turned to Chusi. "With permission of course."

She was silent, whenever Chusi is silent… it's never a good thing. She looked him in the eyes oddly, as if she herself wasn't all there. "Shibuya them."

He froze to this, but that smirk on his face was quick to appear…