We have two dead students.
That's it. No explanation. No reasoning. Just a simple incoming text from Yaga that there are two dead students and he needs to get his ass back to meet with the other faculty members. If it were Yuji - again - Shoko would have said something, so he can cross that out. Actually, if it were any of his students, she would have reached out to him first.
Or Shoko doesn't know either.
He doesn't need this kind of crap today or any day. Despite the outward persona he puts up, losing a student or coworker does not get easier.
Satoru walks into the building and travels down the stairs to the hidden room as instructed. Yaga. Utahime. Gakuganji. Just those three, huh? The stench hits him first like an old forgotten friend that you secretly wished would stay away forever, wrapping its arms around you and forcing you to stay still and enjoy the abuse. And because he's Gojo Satoru, the strongest, the goof, he tilts his head back and announces his entrance with a simple, "Yo."
"It's Mechamaru and Miwa," Utahime says, with tears clinging to her lashes, fighting so desperately to stay put. Gakuganji's face sinks in, nearly disappearing behind the mass of wrinkles and moles. Even his body slouches forward with the weight of this new discovery.
It doesn't make any sense why someone would go after Mechamaru, of all people. "Thought his body was too fucked up to move." Did someone follow Miwa here? It's a damn shame. So young - both of them - and their lives are gone just like that.
"Don't be rude," Utahime hisses. Satoru chews on the inside of his cheek. She's emotional. He gets it. He was pretty pissed off too when the higher-ups sent his students on a suicide mission, but surely, they wouldn't have done the same thing here. No. Gakuganji is too solemn for this. If this was a call from the higher-ups, then he wasn't in on it. Satoru stares at the way Mechamaru's body is draped over Miwa's like he was attempting to protect her. Miwa's blue hair is caked with blood and woven into Mechamaru's dark hair.
Someone took the time to arrange them like that. Deplorable.
Yaga hums, walks forward towards the pod with all the wires. "He shouldn't have been able to move," Yaga says. "Whoever did this could have done so from over there. Unless they really went through the effort to move him after the fact."
"This was a fight," Satoru says, pointing to the burns on the floor. "Shouldn't his other body be around here? He could have gotten into something he couldn't handle." For someone with such a long-range curse technique, it doesn't make sense for Mechamaru to lift a finger in a fight. Unless the fight took place somewhere else and they took his other body out.
But that doesn't explain why Miwa is here or how he was able to move. His body should be a lot frailer. Why else would they hook him up to all those wires in an undisclosed building?
"What are you talking about? He was handicapped. He's never even been outside. How the heck could he have gotten into anything?"
"Sounds like a good enough reason to make a deal he shouldn't have," Satoru quips. "I'm not saying it was him, but he's the only one that really had the motivation to do it. You say he's handicapped, but this looks like he could move his limbs just fine. Maybe Miwa made the deal then for him. Who knows, she could have felt sorry for him." Satoru doesn't know much about Miwa, just that she asked for a picture with him and she seemed like a sweet girl.
"Stop slandering my students!" Utahime tosses her cup at him. It stays there suspended in the air. One would think that she would have learned by now that she can't hit him. Satoru shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets. It's not slander. He's just going through all the different scenarios. Utahime is too close to this. Too emotional to see with a clear head these deaths do not make sense. Someone targeted them, but why?
"Enough, both of you," Yaga says. He rubs his temple. "He may have been a student of yours, Utahime, but we need to consider all possibilities. For someone who can't - shouldn't have been able to move, it is odd that he specifically was targeted." Yaga exhales, his large shoulders dropping with every passing moment. "And Miwa here is not one to be targeted. From what I know, she's friends with everyone."
"Then we look into the members of his clan. I don't appreciate the implication that he caused the attack at the exchange." Utahime glares at him.
"Whatever you say," Satoru replies. "Even though both of them were incapacitated when the school was attacked. I find that a little odd." Satoru throws up his hands in a bid for peace. There is no point in going back and forth with her. She's too choked up in her grief at the loss of her students and he gets that. Hell, Yuji wasn't his student for very long when the higher-ups targeted him, and back then he seriously entertained just wiping them all out and starting from scratch.
Maybe he should still do that?
Nah, Gome-chan would get all frowny with him and say that mass murder is not the answer. Even though sometimes, starting from scratch is the best method. Ah, but that would make him like everyone else. Throwing his strength around instead of focusing on changing the mindset of his fellow sorcerers through non-violent means.
Sometimes it's more work being the good guy.
"No thoughts or comments that you would like to share with everyone?" he asks, directing his question at Gakuganji. Utahime may not want to hear it from him or Yaga, but surely coming from Gakuganji she'll see that they aren't ganging up on her or trying to slander her students, but trying to sort this out.
"This is all Sukuna's fault," the old man rasps out. "Because we allow Yuji to continue to live with that thing inside of him, more curses are getting bolder. Curse users are coming out of nowhere. Attacking the school. Targeting our students. They see us as weak for allowing Yuji to live. This could have been prevented if we had taken Yuji out."
Mass murder is calling his name, whispering in his ear how sweet it would be to just knock Gakuganji and every old fart out. He ignores it and shoves that part of him down to the abyss.
"This has nothing to do with Yuji. I think you are forgetting how hard he fought at the exchange event to protect everyone." Satoru gestures to the bodies. "What happened here has nothing to do with Yuji."
"Then it must be because of that fiancé of yours. Ever since she and Yuji showed up, things have been getting worse."
Okay, so demons have gotten bolder, but honestly, the majority of them he has dealt with have turned out to be allies.
"W-wait," Utahime calls out, "I do believe Sukuna being alive is giving hope to some of the more intelligent curses, but I don't think Kagome-san is a part of this."
"Let's not point fingers just yet. We need to dive into what makes these two a target," Yaga interjects. "I'll call for them to be transported to Shoko. She'll be able to tell us the time and cause of death." Yaga pulls out his phone and calls for transport.
Satoru's phone buzzes in his pocket. It's Gome-chan. He steps away to answer the call. The fresh air is a welcome reprieve from the stench in that room. When he gets off the phone with her, his heart is heavy. His mind is a jumbled mess right now. His emotions are all tangled up, and he doesn't even know where or how to sort out this mess. Utahime steps next to him and doesn't speak until Yaga and Gakuganji leave and get in their respective vehicles.
The real crime is that Gakuganji still has a license.
"Sorry," Utahime says after a long stretch of silence. The scar across her face is more prominent today. "I know you were just going through the steps."
"Don't worry about it. That's how we get to the bottom of this. We question everything. We work through the evidence we have and get them the justice they deserve." Rain begins to fall. Just a couple of droplets for now. It'll probably start pouring soon. Satoru leans against the building. Not that the rain bothers him, but he doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that the rain isn't touching him.
"I don't know why Gakuganji has it out for Kagome-san, but it would be best to keep her away from all of this until everything blows over."
"Thanks for the advice, but I can protect Kagome just fine. It's Gakuganji that should be worried about Kagome coming after him. She's pretty strong."
"I have no idea what she sees in you."
"Me neither," Shippo says, stepping out from... where the hell did he come from? Satoru sighs. "And yah, I finished the mission. Next time, make them worth my time." Shippo sniffs the air. "Smells like death."
"You can smell that all the way from here?" Utahime asks. Her face flushes. Satoru's lips curl back. Really? She likes Shippo? Her whole demeanor changes. Heck, she doesn't even question who Shippo is.
Gross.
"Hmm, yeah. But I don't mean coming from down there. More like a dead person left this building." Shippo gives Utahime a quizzical stare.
"You don't mean..." Satoru leans forward and cups his hand around his lips. "Zombies!" he shouts. Utahime jumps and then fumes. She throws a punch, but of course, because she never learns, it does not land.
"Unbelievable! This is no time for games. I'll deal with you later. "She stomps past them. The rain falls harder and Satoru just knows she's cursing him out under her breath. Once Utahime is nothing but a blur in a sea of people, Shippo speaks up.
"Who was that?" Shippo leans against the building. His green eyes sparkle with mischief and Satoru wonders why this demon is so determined to be attached to him. The others just act like he doesn't exist, but not Shippo.
"Utahime. Another jujutsu teacher for the Kyoto school." What he would like to know, is how he got stuck with staying here until someone could come transport the bodies over to Shoko. His body is wound up with tension. Kagome asked him to pick her up after work, which tells him that whatever happened at the shop is going to tick him off.
"Cute," Shippo says, whistling. "Bring her around sometime. Seems like InuYasha's type."
"Did you tell him that Kagome is with me? Because he showed up with flowers and expectations." It's a miracle that he didn't rip his fucking head off for those comments last night.
"No shit?" Shippo chuckles. "You should have called me. I would have brought popcorn. But I was serious about that dead smell. Sesshomaru's nose would have been better in this case - dog and all, but it smells like a dead person walked in this building and left out too."
"I was kidding about the zombies," Satoru says. Dear whichever god that is listening. No zombies. Not even for Halloween. Thanks.
"I mean, they kind of exist. Not in the whole rawr rawr let me eat your brains, but like hey let me get a piece of your soul. Ask Kagome sometime. She went a long ass time with just half a soul." A car pulls up and Shippo kicks off the building and pulls out his umbrella. "Looks like that's my cue to leave. I'll stop by for dinner. I deserve food for taking on all your missions."
"You take on a few, not all of them," Satoru calls out after him. A thought pops in his mind. "Hey! Shippo." Shippo turns around and huffs. Satoru nods at his coworkers and Ijichi before walking over to Shippo. He grabs the umbrella and holds it over both of them.
"You don't even need the umbrella," Shippo grumbles. "What do you want?"
"Be honest with me. There is no such thing as dragons, right?"
"You mean mom didn't tell you about A-un?" Shippo shakes his head. "I shouldn't say this, but I kind of like you."
"Gee thanks."
"Don't mention it. But anywho, Sesshomaru's got this egg that he plans on giving to the kiddo when he's born. If I were you. I'd work on repairing your family estate. Might be a little difficult to explain a dragon in the backyard."
Is he serious? There's a boom, followed by people screaming. The hell was that? Satoru drops the umbrella and turns around. It came from behind them. They push past the people and head towards the source.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
The building has crumbled over. There's smoke. Luckily, none of the pedestrians appear to be harmed. Ijichi shakes and cries when he sees Satoru. "Gojo-san! The building collapsed on them."
"Shippo," Satoru says, removing his blindfold. "I need you to go pick up Kagome and take her home."
"You think someone is after her?"
"I'd rather not risk it. Ijichi, call Yaga and Gakuganji. Tell them to turn around and get back here."
Two dead students and a couple injured or possibly dead sorcerers. Someone is trying to take them out. So much for getting off early today.
A/N: Thank you everyone for your support! No main story update next week, but I'll pop in and do a side story (or two). Stay healthy and safe!
