DISCLAIMER: I do not own Jujutsu Kaisen. No copyright infringement intended.
CAUTION: Just a reminder about the spoilers thing I said in chapter 2. I probably will be using more manga content than I initially intended.
Anyway, please enjoy.
TOKYO JUJUTSU HIGH, 2006
Megumi Zenin watches from a short distance as his mentor overwhelms the young Zenin who challenged him.
Once the girl thrust her spear at Satoru just for it to halt before him, the look on her face told him that she already knew she'd lost. He wondered why she even challenged him to begin with.
Could it be that she didn't know of Infinity? A possibility he finds unlikely.
And even then she still tries whatever tactic she can use, seemingly behaving as if an attack on his blind spot would connect.
Was it stubbornness? Desperation? Or both?
Megumi had always known what it was like to be strong. From that he could infer that the girl wasn't being idiotic. What he was looking at was someone who ignored the disparity in their strengths. That came from a heart that refused to accept defeat once they envisioned victory.
But at the same time the resolve in her eye was already shaken off its foundation.
Megumi ponders if this was internal conflict. Acceptance of the mountain before her while burning with a zeal to win.
However even Megumi himself knows he wouldn't stand a chance against Satoru. And strength was something very natural to him.
He knows that this girl is a Zenin with a Heavenly Restriction . He also knows the scorn and disdain that Zenin clansmen plague each other with. When you're not deemed strong.
He believes that this is a bad habit stemming from wanting to prove to others that you are strong.
The only thing he couldn't figure out was why she felt that way when there were subtle signs that she was actually a monster of an opponent herself. Her stances, the way she moved her feet, the way she held her spear.
Something about this sight creates a disgust deep within.
"So it's stubbornness. Pitiful. Almost pathetic." He quietly says to himself.
To his surprise, the girl stops and stares straight at him. With dormant rage stirring up in her eyes.
"Hey. Over here. Ignoring me will hurt my feelings, y'know." Satoru calls for her attention. Her gaze is fixed on Megumi. "Alright. That's cool. BLUE."
Maki finds herself fallen on the ground and realizes her left leg was crushed to a pulp. Satoru hadn't even moved from his position. But his right arm was outstretched towards her.
The pain begins to flood her mind and she clenches her teeth on her spear, holding back the screams she wanted to release.
"I take it that fire's gone cold, tough girl." Satoru walks to her and bends down to get a close look at her face.
Pure rage as tears well up in her eyes.
"Hmm? You cryin'?" He watches as she begins to find difficulty holding back whimpers of pain. "Hard to believe that she's the same as that bastard."
"Master, let's get moving." Megumi calls out. "She's done for anyway."
"He'll be here any minute." A crooked smile forms on his face. "I feel like ending Okkotsu after I end her. She might turn out to be just like him one day, anyway."
"Like Toji?" Megumi shakes his head. "I hardly believe that. But either way if this girl were find such strength it would actually support our cause."
Megumi feels a heavy ominous cursed energy in the vicinity.
"BLAST AWAY!!!!" Yuta Okkotsu yells into a megaphone conjured and given to him by Rika.
"Hmmph." Gojo looks in his direction as the ground beside him is blown to bits, Yuta's Cursed Speech being deflected by Infinity. "So the star of the show is here."
Megumi notices the marks on the megaphone. "Snake Eyes and Fangs!"
"The Inumaki Clan's Cursed Technique! And it's just as good as the real thing!" Satoru compliments.
Yuta lands and swiftly grabs Maki, taking her to a safe space away from them.
He outputs Reverse Cursed Technique to heal Maki's body. Her pain disappears but the tears she had been fighting finally fall down her cheeks.
"It's okay, Maki."
"Even though he's invincible, I still found a way to look pathetic losing to him."
"I said it's okay." He wipes the tears off her cheeks. "I don't even need to tell you that you're strong."
Rika is behind him muttering to herself while repeating his name.
He gets up to head back to Satoru.
"Yuta. If you die I'll kill you."
"Don't you worry about a thing." He beams her a warm smile. "I've got a long way ahead of me as a sorcerer. I'm not letting that psycho get his way."
Satoru notices Yuta coming back their way. "Megumi, watch the way he fights with Rika Orimoto. It might give you an inspiration with your shikigami."
"Got it."
Yuta lands on the ground, shattering it.
"Heh heh. I love grand entrances." Satoru muses. "Normally I only test the strong to temper them while I cull the weak. But naturally there will always be a few exceptions. I'm not ashamed to say that I don't want anyone being on my level. I definitely think you're heading that way."
Yuta bares his teeth while giving him the ugliest glare.
"Seems you're not up to conversation, so let's get right to it, Okkotsu." Satoru takes off his haori. "Let's give it our all, shall we?"
Yuta draws his sword. Rika rises into the air. "I'LL KILL YOU."
...
HOUSE OF THE CHILDREN OF THE STAR. GRAND COURTYARD — ENTEN (遠天, MEANING DISTANT HEAVENS)
Hello. Naoya Zenin here. Son of Ogi and Tessen Zenin.
I don't have a cursed technique. Or rather, I used to have a cursed technique.
Projection Sorcery. It allowed me to divide a second into 24 frames in which I would act out individual predetermined movements. To others, it looks like super speed. It's a truly marvelous technique.
Unfortunately it was sealed away by a Kamo clansman with Blood Manipulation. At a young age I was ambushed by five Kamo sorcerers and I managed to defeat them all. However one of them used an extension technique on the blood in my head, affecting the part of my brain that manifests my cursed technique. Over the course of days my control over Projection Sorcery deteriorated until it became inactive.
The sorcerer's name was Sagasu Kamo. His extension technique was a secret art he developed and kept secret and it died with him after he was killed by Naobito Zenin as the Kamo sorcerer attempted to ambush him in the comfort of his own home.
These five called themselves the Black Blood Unit and shared a vision against the Zenin clan for their oppression of women. After the death of their leader Sagasu, they went into hiding.
I myself I'm guilty of this as well and I believe it was why this fate befell me.
Losing my cursed technique meant falling from the top and I accepted it completely. But that didn't mean I would feel no anguish.
I took comfort in appreciating the beauty of things that weren't linked to power. Eventually I become fixated in the natural grace and beauty of woman.
I grew up with the mentality that women were always behind men. After experiencing the anguish of those who were forced to freeze in the cold shadows, I began to speak in their favor.
That fixation grew, naturally. Did you know I wrote a book called 'Why Women Deserve More'? Read it, please.
...
As Maki and Megumi take their positions, the rest stare at Naoya.
"Who's this guy?" Yuji asks.
"Remember when I said that I got a new cursed tool for Maki from a guy I know?" Zamen responds. "This is the guy."
"So this guy's a Zenin, just like those two." Choso remarks.
"I may be one by blood, but not by heart." Naoya says. "I prefer if you wouldn't lump me in with those misogynists."
"Misogyny?!" Yuji exclaims. "I knew those guys were jerks but..."
They notice Toge Inumaki in the distance, coming to them.
"Kelp!"
"Kelp?" Zamen and Naoya ask in unison. The others greet him.
"I believe that's a greeting." Dasuke responds to the two. "Whenever I meet up with these guys it's the first thing this guys says to me."
Toge notices Maki and Megumi preparing to fight. He notices Maki is holding a new cursed tool. A sasumata, or forked spear.
Toge also notices that Maki looks especially angry.
"Salmon roe..."
"What does that mean?" Zamen asks.
"I dunno." Dasuke responds.
Yuji responds to Inumaki. "Oh yeah, that's actually his fault." He says, pointing at Zamen.
"Wha...?!"
"The heck did you even say to her to get her all riled up?" Panda asks in an accusatory manner.
"Nothing much!" Zamen defends.
"What DID you say?" Dasuke asks.
"In light of her new powers I was just giving her some motivation."
"Like???" Choso says.
"You know. Stuff she's already all about. Crush the Zenin! You know, all that stuff."
"So you're saying she wants to crush Megumi now?" Panda asks.
"I dunno about that." Maki responds. "But I just might."
Megumi sighs.
"It's just a little sparring anyway. Nothing too serious. She wants to test her new cursed technique and cursed tool against him, right?" Naoya says. "I'm rooting for Maki by the way. Just wanted to let it be known."
"I sincerely hope it's just sparring." Megumi says. "Maki, I hope you know doing anything rash right now won't be the equivalent of getting revenge on Gojo. Nor will it bring Yuta Okkotsu back from the dead."
"I thought I told you I don't like hearing you of all people say that name." Maki responds, pointing the sasumata at him. "Plus, whether or not you die here depends on you. I'm not an inconsiderate person who'd hold back against our leader."
The courtyard goes silent with the heaviness brought about by Maki's words.
"Alright, I'm shutting this down." Choso says. "Some of us are getting way too fired up. Right, Kotsuso?"
Kotsuso, having the facial expression that conveys he couldn't care less about anything that's happening, gets up from the ground and quickly leaves.
Choso goes after him. "Hey! Wait!! Where are you going?!"
"So... They're gone." Zamen comments.
"Too much unnecessary stress going on right now. I'm leaving too." Dasuke says. "Zamen. You're coming with me."
"What? No, I don't want that!" Zamen refuses, with unnecessary volume to his voice. "I wanna watch my girl fight!"
"You're the one who made this mess. I don't want you aggravating it any more."
"Well I know for sure that you're gonna have a lot of unnecessary stress trying to get me to agree with that!"
"Leave him be." Naoya says. "Naturally he's going to want to see Maki's new cursed technique in action."
"Ugh... Fine. That makes sense. You win."
"Yep. I win, Zenin fanboy."
"Tch! You..." Dasuke responds, before putting his fingers into his ears. "LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU."
They all watch him walk around in circles while making that noise.
"Damn, he only does that when he's stressed for real." Zamen remarks.
"As for you, Zamen." Naoya says. "You better keep your promise."
"Of course. You made me take part in a binding vow." Zamen says with exuberance. "I'm definitely not eager to see what happens when you brake one."
"Oh crap she's about to move." Panda comments.
Maki begins taking slow steps towards Megumi. He notices the fiery look in her eyes is the same as the one she had when fighting his former master. Except without the visible doubt she had during that fight.
This time, there wasn't an insurmountable mountain before her. So her eyes seem to tell him that she was going to devour him whole.
"Damn monster." He moves his hands to perform the hand signs for summoning Nue but he's forced to dodge a kunai thrown at his hands. "A hidden weapon?"
He realizes that she intends to not let him summon any shikigami as she runs at him full speed.
The curved forks of her spear are sharp-edged. She thrusts it at him but realizes he had disappeared.
She quickly scans her surroundings and just as quickly Megumi emerges from her shadow.
"Nue."
The masked bird discharges electricity, forcing Maki to move away to create distance. The bird takes to the air with Megumi on it and he dives off, attacking Maki with a sword of his own.
She realizes he's holding the cursed tool Dragon-Bone.
It's a weapon, Juzo Kumiya's masterpiece, that builds up kinetic energy as well as cursed energy and ejects both energies through the three engines on the blade, using the propelling force to increase cutting power.
Normally, the amassed energies dissipate when they aren't used for a while after being generated. But through practice, Megumi realized that submerging items into shadows created a sort of preservative effect.
Maki raises the sasumata horizontally to block his strike.
Megumi grabs the sasumata's pole and sets his weight on it, raising his sword into the air. He starts the engines, shocking Maki. She's also familiar with the weapon, excluding Megumi's recently developed unconventional use of it.
"Don't die." The blade makes a clean slash across her face.
"MAKI!" Yuji yells.
Blood trickles down her face but the huge gash heals immediately. One of the markings on her face disappears.
"Oh?" This strikes Zamen's interest. Having observed Haruta from afar, the wounds he received didn't disappear the same way, as long as it wasn't a serious injury. He ponders if the technique is connected in some way to their battle mentality.
"Mustard leaf!" Toge protests.
"You're good. But that goes without saying." Maki wipes the blood of her face. "And you're not holding back. Good."
The sasumata bursts into blue flames.
"Special Grade Cursed Tool: Ash Splinter."
"Special grade?" Megumi jumps into the air.
Maki grinds the fork across the ground and in the same motion she waves it in his direction.
Nue swoops down and takes him into the air. Just then a wall of flames runs across the ground.
Megumi hangs from Nue's talons as he views the scorched earth below. He could sense her intent to kill and resorts to focus on two shikigami adequate to deal with her. Max Elephant burns through cursed energy so focusing on extinguishing flames she could possibly unleash as often as she wants seemed to be a risky move.
He dispels Nue and lands on the ground. He forms a shadow puppet of a deer.
"Tranquil Deer." The deer shikigami forms from his shadow. "What's up with that, Maki? Don't feel the need to stop me from summoning my shikigami?"
"This cursed tool is a lot more destructive than I thought it'd be." Maki responds. "So I figured it's more effective to just destroy them instead of keeping them away."
Maki sighs and stares at the sky. "Why do I feel so alive right now?"
All she can think about is the possibility of Yuta watching her at this moment.
"Naaaaaah, this lady's crazy." Dasuke remarks.
"The raw emotion... Magnificent." Naoya praises.
"I'm putting a stop to this." Yuji says. "I really don't think she's in a good place right now."
"Caviar..." Toge already begins pulling down a blue scarf that's wrapped around his mouth and neck.
Maki scrapes the sasumata along the ground again, sending a stream of flames towards Megumi.
He forms a shadow puppet of an ox. "Piercing Ox."
The ox shikigami runs through the flames, charging towards Maki.
She stomps on its head in order to stop its charge but she finds herself being pushed back more and more by the second, realizing that the more it moves the faster and more powerful the charge.
She jumps off of it and strikes the horns with her sasumata, unleashing an explosion.
A strike with Ash Splinter initially brings forth an explosion and then there's the powerful blaze afterwards, akin to lighting a fire with flint.
Megumi rushes in from the side and swings Dragon-Bone, engines propelling.
Maki blocks the blade with the pole but tilts it, having the blade slide across instead of cutting through the pole. The edge hits the fork, creating an explosion.
Maki positioned herself to be unscathed from the blast while Megumi, who pulled back the sword but wasn't able to do it completely in time, received burns to his face.
Maki spins around and kicks him in his side.
Waiting for such an opportunity, he grabs her leg and thrusts the sword at her. She moves away at the last second with only a small cut on her side.
Zamen and Megumi notice there's no regeneration, deducing that the stored miracles are used for major injuries that compromise her ability to fight.
The deer shikigami walks up to Megumi and he touches its snout, healing his burns.
"I hope you know I really am holding back."
"What?"
"What kind of leader fights to kill a fellow comrade in a sparring session, Maki?"
Megumi returns Dragon-Bone back into the shadows. "You can see this as me helping you blow off some steam. The slash from earlier wouldn't kill you with your new cursed technique. And I knew you wouldn't be satisfied if I fought aiming to avoid drawing blood. Because you hate me."
"Of course I hate you. You're the extension of Satoru Gojo." Maki's eyes are frigid.
"Maki, that's enough." Yuji calls out.
"Itadori." Zamen cuts in.
"Don't be mistaken, Megumi. You're not my comrade. I'm only allowing you to call yourself my leader because I want to." She raises the sasumata. "And I can decide to end you on a whim. Because I hate you."
"What makes someone the leader is the shape and integrity of their resolve in comparison to everyone else." Megumi puts away the deer and ox. "I want you to show me that your resolve is strong enough to give you the ability to walk over mine. If you can't, then you'll always be beneath me."
"You wretch." Maki unleashes a stream of flames.
"Max Elephant." He summons the shikigami and it unleashes a wave of water that extinguishes the flames.
"That shikigami burns through cursed energy, doesn't it? Keep underestimating me and it will be your cremation."
"Try me." The elephant spews water into the air, creating a small rain.
Maki lets the drops land on her free hand. "I'm not gonna let you use Nue."
"And I believe so." He jumps into the air and Max Elephant spews a geyser at him, sending him high into the sky.
Maki sets Ash Splinter ablaze. She knows that throwing the sasumata at such a distance won't stop him from summoning shikigami but she could hit the shikigami as soon as it was summoned.
Deliberately hitting Nue's mask would create the friction needed for an explosion, and once Megumi hits the ground, she would finish him off.
Megumi brings his hands together and she immediately launches the sasumata. "You're dead."
Instead of forming Nue's sign, he uses that of the rabbits.
"Rabbit Escape!" The dense drove of rabbits envelopes him and cursed tool flies straight through it, destroying most of the rabbits.
Megumi lands in front of her, simultaneously trying to stab her with the kunai she throw at him earlier but she dodges.
He immediately follows up with an upward swing but she catches it in her teeth.
Megumi then senses sharp pain from an open palm slamming full force into his gut, sending back flying a short distance.
The moment he regains his composure he narrowly stops the sasumata from slicing his neck in between the prongs by blocking it with the kunai using both hands. This has him pinned to the ground.
"You trash." Maki says. "This is supposed to be you not holding back?"
"When it comes to cursed techniques, there are many ways to hold back and many ways to go all out. You haven't the slightest idea of the uncontrollable destruction I can unleash."
Megumi, having successfully set his trap, uses a new ability he had just developed and hadn't disclosed to anyone. "Maximum Output. Nue: Breach."
His body unleashes a large field of electricity, its effect being boosted by the water on Maki and their surroundings.
"He can use the power of the shikigami directly?!" Naoya exclaims.
He dispels it and Maki falls to her knees, silent and unresponsive.
Megumi kicks Ash Splinter out of her hand. "Don't get cocky just because I'm the one that asked you to join us. Until you become like Toji Zenin, I deem you nothing but trash."
He moves in for another kick but Yuji blocks his kick with one of his own.
"Enough, Fushiguro. I hate that the both of you are doing this."
"Fushiguro?" Zamen wonders. "Did he always call him that?"
Megumi is somewhat taken aback but then sighs.
"Of course. I'm not exactly having a field day with this either, Itadori."
"Caviar..." Inumaki quietly exclaims, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Hmm..." Zamen hums. Dasuke figures he's about to say something uncalled for.
"Don't you dare..."
"Don't take this the wrong way, Megumi Zenin. But is it okay for the direct one and only disciple of the most fearsome Curse User of all time to be this soft?"
"Dude." Yuji's voice rises slightly with anger.
"Don't get me wrong. Maki's my second most favourite person on the planet after Takada but..." Zamen scratches his temple. "When I saw the two of you duking it out, I thought 'oh well'. The curse of discord is just one of the undeniable fates of a Curse User."
"Yeah... It's so over." Dasuke laments.
"How long have you been a Curse User? Much longer than a newbie like me, right?" Zamen says. "Those who tread down this path submerge themselves into the darkness of the jujutsu world, along with all its curses. A leader among Curse Users tempers his spirit with that darkness. And all those beneath that person move along the path he lays down. By free will or by force. And yet you were not even able to put your heart into this. Satoru Gojo would never."
"Put a sock in it." Yuji snaps back. "We're all here because we share one mind towards the goal we all saw with our eyes individually. I don't give a crap about your curses of a Curse User. Are you saying we should be all about some Squad 11 next Kenpachi crap because we're Curse Users? Not interested. At all."
"Damn, not the Bleach reference..." Panda remarks.
"I'm just saying..." Zamen replies. He then feels Megumi's presence really close and turns to find him at a nose's distance, giving him a glare that seemed to come straight from Megumi's soul.
"Saying what? Give it to me straight."
Zamen stands his ground. "I'm just saying that if you wanna be that soft you should just go to Jujutsu High and make some some buddies."
"You have one second." They both hear Maki and see her staring in their direction with a soullessness in her eyes. Zamen realizes she's directly staring at him. "Move."
Zamen quickly moves away from Megumi.
"Maki?" Yuji calls her name as she slowly stands up. Her facial markings had been reduced to four.
"This must be it..." Maki quietly says to herself.
Ever since the day Yuta Okkotsu was murdered, she had blamed herself partially for the tragedy. She was the only other person on his side that was present and Satoru had reduced her to a bystander by crushing her leg.
Panda and Inumaki had told her countless times that she wasn't responsible in any way, and every time they said that she would see the horrid image of a bloody Yuta staring at her wide-eyed just before Satoru pulverized his chest.
At that moment she wanted to stand up but her body had been rendered unable to fight. And that was what made her so very grateful for her new Cursed Technique, Miracle Manifestation.
She would be given as much as six chances to destroy her enemy before anyone else could take anything else from her.
She breathes a long sigh and looks at her enemy.
Megumi sees the same exact the ugly glare Yuta gave Gojo on his last day.
"I'LL KILL YOU."
"Sleep." Toge activates Cursed Speech. Maki pauses for a second before falling unconscious. Yuji supports her.
"Phew..." Toge sighs.
"Wow. That got real for a minute, right Itadori?" Zamen playfully says, before Dasuke drags him by his ear.
"We're going home, bro... We've pissed Megumi-san off plenty today."
The two leave and Yuji, Panda and Megumi gather around a sleeping Maki, who's giving off a light and peaceful snore. Naoya stands a short distance away.
"I'm mad at the both of you." Yuji quietly says.
"Understandable." Megumi responds. "I actually anticipated everything the moment I decided to recruit her."
"I think we should all accept the truth, now that we've seen her take everything off her chest." Panda says. "It's understandable that you'd recruit her for her latent strength. I know you believed the two of you could come to an understanding. Perhaps you even thought that you could tame her and make her into your soldier. But not one day ever passed by where she didn't think about Yuta."
There's a brief silence. Panda continues.
"I respect you a whole lot, Megumi. So I won't hide it from you. The decision which I've now come to terms with. On the day you and Maki stand against each other as true enemies, if that day ever comes, I'm standing by her side."
"..."
Megumi is silent as he looks over at Toge. The heaviness in the Inumaki's eyes told him that he's the same as Panda.
He looks over at Yuji. "What about you?"
"I'd stand against the both of you." Yuji responds. "But I hope that day never comes."
JUJUTSU NUGGETS: Yuji Itadori and Megumi, then still Fushiguro, had first met in first grade. They were on the way to becoming best friends but one day Megumi was absent from school and they didn't see each other again until Yuji dropped out of high school.
