Threads of Infinity chapter 15: Shattered Bonds
Tsukasa walked through the alleyways of the city, his mind numb to the world around him. The sun had set, leaving only the cold, indifferent moonlight to cast shadows across the streets. He'd long since stopped caring about the humans who walked these paths, their meaningless lives a blur. But tonight, something caught his attention.
A flicker of cursed energy—a disturbance in the air.
Tsukasa's head turned sharply toward the source. The curse was hiding in the shadows, its aura faint, but unmistakably hostile. It was a level of cursed spirit Tsukasa hadn't bothered with in years—weak, but strong enough to be a nuisance. The curse was massive, its form barely visible through the layers of darkness, like a wraith lingering just out of sight.
Tsukasa's lips curled into a faint, almost bored smirk. Another pawn.
Without a single thought, he extended his hand toward the curse, a twisted version of a greeting. Red exploded from his palm in a pulse of destructive force. The air itself seemed to tear apart as the energy radiated outward, distorting everything in its path.
The curse screamed, its body convulsing in the pressure of Tsukasa's Red. The massive blast of force surged forward with a violent crackle, annihilating anything it touched. Buildings cracked, the ground split, and the curse, unable to withstand the pure, raw force of Tsukasa's technique, was torn apart in an instant.
A crater was left in its wake, a reminder of how little Tsukasa cared for the threats posed by such weak entities. The curse had barely had time to react before it was obliterated.
Tsukasa stood at the edge of the devastation, the glow of Red still flickering around his hand as the smoke and dust slowly settled. His expression was calm, almost apathetic, as he surveyed the wreckage. The remnants of the curse's form were scattered, nothing but debris and the faint trace of cursed energy lingering in the air.
"Pathetic," Tsukasa muttered under his breath, flicking his fingers to dispel the remnants of his cursed energy. He didn't even need to use Blue or Infinity for something like this. The curse had been beneath him, barely worth the time.
As he turned away, his expression darkened. He was growing bored of these trivialities. His mind was already searching for something greater. A new challenge. Power that would make even him feel the thrill of the game.
The cursed world was vast, but he was becoming too strong for it.
As Tsukasa continued through the city, his senses sharpened, more attuned to the faint traces of cursed energy that still lingered in the atmosphere. His hands were relaxed at his sides, his expression vacant, like a hunter waiting for the right prey to reveal itself. The city was still alive with people, but he had stopped seeing them long ago. They were no more than moving obstacles in his path.
But tonight, something changed.
A sorcerer approached from the shadows, his energy a familiar, yet insignificant, presence. The man was older, perhaps in his thirties, but the aura around him screamed desperation and arrogance. Tsukasa didn't need to hear his footsteps or even feel his presence until he was close. The man, sensing something in Tsukasa—perhaps an unfamiliarity or simply Tsukasa's immense aura—decided to make his move.
"I don't know who you are," the sorcerer said, his voice rough but confident, "but you reek of something unnatural. What are you doing here?"
Tsukasa stopped and tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk pulling at his lips. His eyes narrowed, staring down at the sorcerer with an emotionless gaze.
"I'm here because I can be," Tsukasa replied, his tone cold and indifferent. "Does it really matter?"
The sorcerer narrowed his eyes, but his arrogance didn't waver. "I'm a sorcerer of the Kyoto school. I don't care who you think you are. If you don't want trouble, I suggest you leave. Now."
Tsukasa didn't flinch. He didn't feel threatened. The sorcerer's aura was faint—weak—yet it carried a sense of bravado, as if he believed that his title meant something.
"I'll do as I please," Tsukasa said, his voice sharp. "You're nothing but a tool, just another pawn."
The sorcerer's anger flared, and before Tsukasa could blink, he had drawn his weapon, a cursed katana, and swung it toward him. The blade seemed to shimmer with cursed energy, aimed directly at Tsukasa's throat.
But Tsukasa didn't even move. He simply raised his hand, almost lazily, and activated Red.
The intense force of Red rippled from Tsukasa's palm, disintegrating the blade before it could touch him. The wave of destructive energy pushed the sorcerer back, slamming him into a nearby building with a sickening crunch.
Tsukasa walked forward, the smirk on his face barely fading. The sorcerer groaned in pain, struggling to rise. The building behind him was half destroyed, the area around them a crater from the explosion of cursed energy.
"You were saying?" Tsukasa's voice was a mockery of the man's bravado. "What makes you think I care about your school or your pathetic weapon?"
The sorcerer struggled to push himself up, breathing heavily. He managed to get to his knees, his eyes filled with a mix of rage and fear. "You're… you're a monster."
Tsukasa didn't respond right away. Instead, he stood over the sorcerer, his gaze unreadable. "Monster? No. I'm simply above you."
He raised his hand again, this time preparing Red for the final blow, but paused. A look of mild interest crossed his features. "But... why should I waste more energy on you? You're just a stepping stone, nothing more."
The sorcerer, shaking with fear, tried to summon some sort of defense, but Tsukasa could feel the weak, pathetic pulse of cursed energy inside him. It was too late.
With a flick of his wrist, Red ignited once more, obliterating the sorcerer completely in a wave of destructive power. The explosion sent debris flying, but Tsukasa didn't even flinch as it rained down around him.
When the smoke cleared, the only trace of the sorcerer was the small crater where he once stood. Tsukasa turned on his heel, dismissing the encounter as if it had never happened.
"Pathetic," he muttered.
(a month later)
Tsukasa stood at the edge of a narrow alley, his eyes narrowing at the imposing building ahead of him. The structure, guarded and seemingly unremarkable, loomed like an ancient relic, untouched by time. It was a place that carried a heavy air, one that Tsukasa couldn't place but instinctively felt was significant.
It wasn't the building itself that piqued his interest—it was the energies swirling around it.
The first was unmistakable. A vast, almost suffocating presence of cursed energy. Satoru. It clung to the space like a storm cloud ready to burst, and Tsukasa could feel the familiar pulse of it even from a distance. There was no mistaking that aura—his brother, his mentor, the one who had abandoned him but still managed to leave an imprint on his every thought. The weight of it pushed against Tsukasa's chest, an almost suffocating reminder of the past.
But then there was another—less chaotic but no less potent. A presence that, unlike Satoru's unrelenting force, was more controlled, more composed. Tsukasa's eyes narrowed as he strained to discern its exact nature. It was unlike any aura he had felt before—calm, yet sharp, full of quiet power that seemed to rise and fall in waves. It was just as strong, if not more so, than Satoru's.
Tsukasa's heart skipped a beat. His fingers twitched at his sides as his cursed energy surged, responding to the foreign presence. Who is this? Tsukasa thought, eyes flicking over the building again. This other aura was unfamiliar to him, yet it felt almost... complementary to Satoru's.
His first instinct was to approach, to see if he could gauge what was happening inside. He was drawn to it, as if something had tied his fate to this building, to the figures within. But why?
As Tsukasa took another cautious step forward, the aura shifted slightly—becoming clearer, sharper. His instincts were screaming now. This was no ordinary sorcerer. Whoever it was inside, they were powerful.
He paused at the entrance, considering whether to continue. The energy was suffocating, a silent invitation to enter—but also a warning.
The quiet tension in the air told Tsukasa that something important was unfolding. Something tied to the past, to the Gojo clan, and to Satoru. But the unfamiliar presence within this building was like a thread woven into something greater. Tsukasa's eyes glinted with cold curiosity as he took a slow breath. Whoever this was—Satoru's companion or rival—they were important. And he would find out who they were.
Tsukasa stood hidden in the shadows, his eyes fixed on the towering structure before him. His senses were sharp, taking in every minute detail of the surroundings. The building pulsed with energy—an almost sickly mix of sorcerer and curse presence. To Tsukasa, it was all irrelevant. Humans were worthless, their lives insignificant. The only thing that mattered was power.
As he observed, the quiet hum of energy around the building suddenly shifted, catching his attention. From the rooftop, a figure appeared—a girl, standing at the edge of the building. Tsukasa's sharp eyes narrowed, taking in her posture. She was still, her body almost calm as she looked downward.
Without warning, the girl stepped forward and leapt from the roof.
Tsukasa's gaze followed her descent, his expression unchanged. He felt the air shift, the power around him intensify for a brief moment. The girl's fall didn't matter to him—humans didn't matter. Whether she lived or died was meaningless.
Weak. Tsukasa's mind was cold and detached. The idea of a human throwing themselves away so easily was pathetic. He had seen it before, humans clinging to fragile lives only to discard them when things grew too difficult. It wasn't worth a second thought.
But just as he turned away to continue on his path, another presence flared—this one far stronger. It was a burst of cursed energy, and it seemed to move toward the falling girl at incredible speed. Tsukasa didn't flinch.
A man appeared in the air beside her, as if gravity had no hold on him. He landed effortlessly, catching the girl midair, his cursed energy surging with power. The man's aura was sharp, colder than anything Tsukasa had felt before—an unsettling contrast to the girl's weak presence.
The man raised his hand, and with a flick of his fingers, a dark energy rippled from his palm. A large, grotesque cursed spirit with wings materialized, its body a swirling mass of shadows and sharp, jagged edges. The creature's wings stretched out, wide and imposing, and as the girl was gently placed on its back, the spirit flapped them, hovering in the air, stabilizing her descent.
Tsukasa's eyes flicked toward the cursed spirit. It was strong—much stronger than the average curse he had encountered. The air around it twisted, bending under its weight. The power that emanated from the creature was unmistakable. But Tsukasa felt no interest in it. To him, it was just another tool—an object to be used or discarded.
The man, who Tsukasa now noticed had an intense aura, turned toward the girl, who seemed dazed and confused. She was weak—fragile—but the man's energy enveloped her in a way that made Tsukasa's stomach churn. The presence of this man was far too intriguing to ignore. There was something about his energy that felt... familiar, but Tsukasa couldn't place it.
As the cursed spirit's wings beat slowly, Tsukasa watched the scene unfold with a cold detachment. This moment meant nothing to him. The girl, the man, the curse—they were all just pawns in the same useless game. His gaze remained indifferent, the interest in the scene paling in comparison to the relentless hunger for power that consumed him.
The girl was no longer falling. But to Tsukasa, this was only a fleeting distraction. He had no time for weak humans or their fragile lives. He had bigger things to focus on.
Tsukasa's eyes flickered toward the roof of the towering building, where the faintest movement caught his attention. His sharp gaze honed in on a figure—an unmistakable presence that made his pulse quicken, if only for a moment.
Satoru Gojo stood at the edge of the roof, his posture relaxed yet commanding. Even from this distance, Tsukasa could feel the waves of power radiating off of him, like the distant rumble of thunder before a storm. Gojo's presence was unmistakable—intense, electrifying, and far too familiar.
Tsukasa's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening ever so slightly. He hadn't expected to encounter Gojo here, not when he was so far from the Gojo clan. But there was no mistaking that aura. It was him.
Gojo raised his hand and waved, calling out to the man who stood next to the cursed spirit—Suguru Geto, Tsukasa realized with a flash of recognition. Geto stood beside the creature, which hovered with Riko Amanai still unconscious on its back, her frail body limp.
"Hey, Geto!" Gojo's voice carried across the distance, lighthearted but still with an edge that only a best friend would understand. "You really care about humans, huh? Getting a bit too attached, don't you think?"
Geto's gaze remained steady, his expression unreadable. He didn't respond immediately, his focus on the cursed spirit, but Tsukasa could sense the subtle flicker of tension in his aura—the unspoken bond between the two of them. It was more than friendship. There was something deep, something rooted in years of history and shared battles.
Geto slowly turned to face Gojo, his posture relaxed but his cursed energy simmering beneath the surface. His voice, when it came, was cool, yet there was a familiarity to it—one that only came from years of companionship. "You're the last person to talk about attachments," Geto replied with a faint smile, though his eyes remained locked on the girl. "You've always had a habit of dragging people into your chaos."
The two of them stood there for a moment, exchanging a look that Tsukasa could not fully decipher, but the bond between them was clear. Their shared power, their history—it was something Tsukasa could never truly understand, something that felt... foreign.
Tsukasa felt an odd stir in the air. His usual detachment, the cold indifference that defined him, flickered for an instant. But he quickly buried it, pushing his focus back to the scene before him. It didn't matter. None of this did. Humans were insignificant. The only thing that mattered was power.
But watching Gojo and Geto, their effortless communication, the weight of their connection—it reminded Tsukasa of something he'd long discarded. Something he was too reluctant to face. He quickly turned away from the scene, his eyes steely with resolve. There was no room for emotions in his pursuit of strength.
The game was far from over. And Tsukasa would make sure he came out on top.