There was no doubt that today was not a good day...
Proof being, he was at a loss for words, a rare occurrence, not knowing what to say to his opposite number in order to rouse him from his torpor. Sitting opposite him, shoulders down, looking dejected, Kali tapped the contents of her plate unconvincingly with the tip of her chopsticks, obviously unmoved by them.
"So, Kali-chan... how do you like this horse?"
The interested party didn't even look up at him, as if defeated, drawing a slight sigh from Gojo, who couldn't help but sympathize with her immeasurable disappointment. The young hybrid had staked so much on the day's events, had gone to so much trouble to attend them and had so hoped to find the object of her quest... And then, in the end, all her efforts were swept away in just a few minutes and even turned against her...
No wonder she was numb with shock...
With a fatherly gesture, the bearer of the sixth eye reached out over the table they were occupying for this late lunch, and gently patted the top of his silent interlocutor's head. Immediately, discreet and restrained, but very present, tears rimmed the European's golden gaze, pinching her heart. Poor thing...
The auction had been a terrible fiasco... And worse, a real trap.
They had left together earlier in the day, bickering amiably (at least from the exorcist's point of view) their way to the clandestine venue where the auction was to take place. The venue was an old disused theater, a little way out of Kumamoto town, an oversized space perfect for gathering lovers of occult relics.
There was a motley fauna that always surprised the snowy-haired man a little, mixing indiscriminately eccentrics who knew of these sales only God knew how, followers of various sects worshipping some occult entity, existing or not, heirs of families of exorcists or hundred-year-old plague masters in search of extra power and many others... All of them had just one thing in common, and that was that they had to participate in such a show: a terribly fat bank account.
Gojo glanced at the young woman, wondering in which category the man who had obviously taken him under his wing, a certain Prasad, could be placed... He seemed an educated man, belonging to both the human and occult worlds, judging by the knowledge he had instilled in his protégée... As well as the almost unlimited means he blindly placed at her disposal. What kind of character could this be? He really would have liked to know. But the young lady divulged very few details about him, perhaps because up until now Satoru had never stopped teasing her, never putting her in a position to confide in him... But hey, he'd find out eventually! He was the persistent type...
"Well then, Kali-chan... Are we going or not?" the S class addressed him in a light tone.
He turned to the almost unrecognizable hybrid standing next to him, who was staring at the building in front of them, obviously subject to an appalling stress that had her frozen in place. An amused smile appeared on the man's lips as he detailed the half-flail's disguise, admiring her success.
Indeed, she was wearing a real-hair wig of a brown so dark it had bluish highlights, camouflaging her autumnal hair in a strict short bob that hardened her features and aged her a little. She had also covered her face with multiple layers of make-up to slightly alter her appearance, falsely hollowing her cheeks and artificially refining her nose. Brown contact lenses hid the gold of her eyes, and she'd even gone to the extreme of bandaging her breasts, crushing their bounty until they were almost flat. The loose, drab and slightly shabby clothes she wore, diametrically opposed to her usual trendy style, brilliantly completed her metamorphosis. Undeniably, it would have been almost impossible to recognize her dressed like this...
He himself had agreed to wear a hairpiece to conceal the recognizable snow of his hair, finding himself now with a long, Venetian-blond mane held back at the nape of his neck in an elegant catogan. Much to the demoness's dismay, he'd refused the matching moustache she'd offered him, even trying to force it onto his face, unsuccessfully of course... But the man had swapped his ever-present headband for a pair of opaque, round-rimmed retro glasses, far more discreet, it must be said. The stratagem was far less advanced than the hybrid's, but still effective...
When Kali had begun her transformation in their hotel room, before handing him the accessories she had obviously intended for him, Gojo had stared at him curiously, raising his eyebrows.
"Prasad's advice." the hybrid had simply evaded, making the professor think that this unknown man was also most astute and far-sighted... Really, he'd have given anything to learn more about him...
"You know..." resumed the chaperone, refocusing on the present moment, "there's nothing to stop us turning back if you don't feel like it..."
"You're joking, right?" replied the young woman, abruptly snapping out of her silence. "I didn't come all this way just to back out! My half of the orb might be there..."
"And would it be so bad if you only kept half of it?" questioned the shaman with a falsely innocent air, eager to learn more about his interlocutor's rare hybrid nature. "Being half-human must have its advantages!"
Kali let out a harsh, mirthless chuckle, staring obstinately at the slowly filling theater as auction time inexorably approached.
"Oh, Gojo... It wouldn't be serious... Just... deadly..." she murmured before starting to walk towards the building, shoving her hands into her pockets to keep them from shaking. The stakes were so high...
"Deadly?" the shaman repeated as he followed in her footsteps, catching up with her in a few long strides, leaning toward her. "Mortal boredom, you mean? Or mortal at all?"
"What does it matter?" the European chuckled, giving her a look heavy with unspoken secrets. "Soon, it'll all be ancient history anyway..."
Satoru let out a deep sigh and straightened up, sweeping his gaze over the few scattered individuals still standing outside the dilapidated building, a hundred meters from them. The hour of the sale was approaching, bringing a certain excitement to him, despite his apparent detachment from the bearer of the shadowy flames. What was going to happen, once they had passed through the tall, gaping doors that seemed to be waiting for them like the mouth of a greedy monster? Would everything go smoothly, without a hitch, without bloodshed? Was Kali really going to get her hands on the rest of his orb? And if she did... What would become of her then? Inwardly, the exorcist prayed he wouldn't have to kill her if he did... He found her endearing, the young, dark flame from the end of the world...
Suddenly, Gojo felt a hand grasp his arm, making him stop in his tracks and snapping him out of his thoughts. He turned back to the hybrid, who continued to stare straight ahead, breathing deeply. Although she was apparently calm, the tension the professor could feel in her fingers, clamped around her skin like a vice, betrayed something else entirely.
"Kali... ?" murmured the S-class, frowning, immediately more alert.
"It's not okay..." She began in a barely audible breath, making him twitch "They're not here... This isn't right..."
"Who's that? Who are you talking about?" The man looked around with a deliberately serene air, yet saw nothing suspicious. What was going on?
"The horsemen... The outposts Prasad usually sends to check that the auctions are safe." she resumed for him alone, forcing him to lean toward her a little.
He came to place a hand on her shoulder to gently turn her towards him so that they were facing each other and came to place his other hand at the hollow of her waist, drawing her a little more into his lap, simulating for outside eyes potentially observing them the beginning of an innocent lover's embrace.
"They're supposed to be out there, with a distinctive sign that changes every time..." explained the half-demoness as she placed her hands on her opposite number's torso, understanding his ruse. "That's how I know I can get there safely... And they're not there..."
"I see..." breathed Gojo as he came to caress the young woman's cheek, leaning in a little more towards her. "And this has never happened before? Couldn't Prasad simply have... not sent any?"
The hybrid let out a brief chuckle, coming to snuggle against him, clenching the thin burgundy fabric of his shirt in her fists, betraying a little of her present feverishness.
"You don't know him... Prasad would a thousand times rather climb Mount Fuji in his wheelchair than let me run the slightest risk... Trust me, Gojo... Something's not right..." she concluded, locking her gaze with his, more than certain of her intuition.
Gojo, for his part, was thinking fast, resting his forehead against the young woman's, looking at her with his infinity eyes over his dark glasses. A trap, eh? The Hindu's protégée seemed terribly certain of her doubts. And he had no reason to question her judgment.
So what to do?
Turning back now would certainly point to them as suspects... But to go in would be tantamount to entering the lion's den, without knowing what really awaited them... Not that the shaman doubted his ability to defeat the enemies they would have to face. But then again, if it was the half-blight they were after, that would immediately designate her as their target. And, if those seeking her were capable of mounting a plan as elaborate as a fake occult auction of this magnitude, they certainly wouldn't be fooled by a disguise, no matter how good...
"Gojo... I don't know what to do..." she whispered from the tip of her lips, the sincere trouble running through her readable even through her contact lenses. What a bummer!
"It's not the best situation in the world, I'll give you that..." He came to rest his chin on the top of his interlocutor's skull, wrapping his arms around her, discreetly glancing towards the theater that had suddenly taken on a sinister air. "If you use your flames, you're toast... If we turn around, we're toast... If we go in and fight, even if we come out victorious, we're toast..."
"What a piece of shit... "Kali drops against his sternum, wringing a smile from him.
"I couldn't have summed it up any better." he laughed, stepping back from her a little, glaring. "Anyway, we'll have to decide to do something..."
"I can always feign discomfort... " pondered the hybrid aloud, a slight smile on his lips. "And you'll be the love-transitioned, panic-stricken boyfriend who hugs me to take me to the hospital?"
The idea drew a slight chuckle from Gojo before he spoke again, serious again. "And the worst thing is, I don't have anything better to offer!"
"And you there! The lovebirds!" A guttural voice called out to them nearby, making them both turn in its direction, on the alert. Unconsciously, Satoru tightened his grip on the young woman he had originally come to chaperone, pinning her against him, ready to act if the situation called for it. They then discovered a tattooed man almost as tall as the shaman, but twice as wide, striding menacingly towards them. "If you'd like to attend the auction, you'll have to get back soon... it's going to com..."
BAM!
A loud bang was suddenly heard, startling the unlikely couple, who stared dumbfounded at the Cerberus facing them, now with a bloody hole in his forehead. As if in slow motion, the body of the ice armor collapsed in on itself, lifeless, before falling limply to the ground...
The S class stood dumbfounded for a brief moment, assimilating this new parameter to their already complex situation... Someone had just shot the hound with a gun?
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
Shots rained down over their heads, all aimed at the entrance to the building and those standing in front of it, knocking down several individuals and creating a complete mess punctuated by shouts and screams. The S-grade exorcist didn't fully understand what was unfolding before his eyes, but one thing was certain... This was the opportunity they needed!
"Kali... Let's get out of here!" He addressed her without waiting another second, grabbing her wrist before running off, dragging her after him. He would have preferred to teleport, but that would undoubtedly have left too much of an occult imprint on the scene, providing a trail for those who had set the trap. No, for now, their legs were their best asset! They made their way into the forest adjacent to the fateful scene they'd left behind, hastening away from it and disappearing from view...
And now... here they were, stripped of their disguise and their good humor, sitting at a station restaurant serving one of the local specialties in continuous service... Before entering the restaurant, the young hybrid had received a phone call from her protector, which had clearly put her over the edge.
She had spoken in a foreign language that Gojo only spoke in part, but he had been able to get the gist of it, not least thanks to the European's more than equivocal gestures. It was Prasad who was calling her to make sure she was safe and sound... For the mysterious gunmen who had enabled them to escape had been sent by him when he had realized that his 'riders' had been shot and that the auction was a trap designed to lure her, precisely... The hybrid hadn't lied about the Hindu's hyper-protective side, and when it came to her, she obviously had several back-up plans already in place in case of need...
Since then, she had withdrawn into a heavy silence, which frustrated the shaman, who was unable to get her out of it despite all his various attempts...
"Kali... Say something..." He tried again in a soft voice. "It's not your fault, you couldn't possibly have known that this sale was bait. Everything seemed normal... well... as normal as clandestine auctions of occult objects can be..."
"You're not going to blame me then...? " she finally dropped in a breath, still not looking at him though.
Gojo immediately straightened up in his seat, glad to have managed to get a few words out of the young woman, reopening the dialogue.
"Blame you for what, Kali-chan?" he questioned, remaining serious despite the slight smile on his lips.
"All these dead..." murmured the interested party in a weak voice "All these dead humans... It's because of me they were slaughtered. Because I was gullible... And because I forced Prasad to intervene on a grand scale to get us out of the mess I'd thrown us into... That was one of the conditions of our 'contract', wasn't it? No humans..."
"The situation is completely different, Kali." He declared as he went to settle back against the back of his seat, crossing his arms. Even though he was a shaman, he'd never been a great believer in the hypocritical delusion that everyone was worth saving... "Here, we were clearly trying to set you up as a lookout. And it was your mentor who had all those people shot, not even you. I don't hold you responsible... And I confess I'm a little surprised that you yourself would care..."
"No... not really... I don't care..." she sighed before finally raising her golden eyes with their slightly tarnished lustre, staring at him with a deeply sullen air. "It's the whole situation that saddens me... I wanted so much to believe..."
"You'll surely have other opportunities, Kali." the snowy-haired man tried to play it down, winking at her. "You're resourceful, I don't doubt you!"
"Just now..." resumed his opposite number, strangely serious. "When I told you that remaining a hybrid would be lethal... Gojo... It was..."
Suddenly a ringing sound was heard, startling the half-demon and cutting him off at the same time. The S-Class reached for his phone, which squawked from his pocket, staring at the screen with his infinity eyes, slightly surprised.
"Aaah... Sorry, Kali, it's the vice principal from Tokyo! I've got to take this! He's the one managing my chicks in my absence, maybe he can't handle them already!" laughed the slightly inconsequential teacher, picking up the call with a nudge. "Ola, Kiyotaka! Are you surviving? We're going home in a bit, Kali and I, so hang in there, whatever the youngsters may have done to you!"
Abruptly, Satoru's smile evaporated from his face as his eyebrows furrowed, obviously alerted by something. Kali stared at him, drained of all her energy, inwardly wondering what kind of news was going to come their way again today, at the height of her depression. Really, she couldn't think of anything worse than being taken for a ride, responsible for a fiasco and the death of an unknown number of Prasad's guards, and realizing that one was the target of predators lurking in the shadows, something the Hindu had often warned her against but never believed until now... What a shitty day, really... it couldn't get any worse...
"WHAT... WHAT?... What do you mean, Yuji is..."
Hearing this first name, the young hybrid was roused from her thoughts, realizing the tension distorting the usually impassive features of the wearer of the 6th eye who had returned to his feet, towering over her with his tall stature. Immediately, a vicious, icy anguish invaded her veins, sweeping away her previous preoccupations. What had happened to the teenager?
"Coming." Gojo then dropped in a white voice she'd never heard him use, cutting short her communication, further magnifying the bad feeling she had.
"Go... Gojo ... What's going on? ... What happened to Yuji?" she asked, feeling ice fill her body as she saw the teenager's sweet, smiling face again, squeezing her heart.
The man answered nothing, even fleeing her gaze as he clenched his hand around his phone until his knuckles turned white. Kali couldn't stand it any longer either, coming to clutch the exorcist's shirt with one hand, at the height of her feverishness.
"Gojo... answer me... Please..." she begged in spite of herself, as if choked by worry.
Gently, as if in fear of her breaking, Satoru came to place a hand on hers, removing his sunglasses before coming to ink his gaze in hers. His gaze, of an almost incongruous blue, like eternal ice through which an ancestral light filtered, his gaze which she saw truly and unobstructedly for the first time and which shone with held-back tears, making her sense the worst ... But ... She was undoubtedly mistaken... She couldn't... She refused to believe it...
"Kali..." began the all-powerful shaman whose voice at this moment was nonetheless scratchy, crushing in anticipation her young heart, which already suspected the terrible words she was about to hear. "Kali... Yuji... Yuji is dead..."
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Word from the author:
Sukuna: Hi microbes, I'm replacing M, she's in an emotional pls with Kali... Frankly, for so little... You're both fragile!
He takes a note out of his pocket: She left me something to tell you, but frankly it's getting on my nerves, so we'll keep it short. Thank you for reading, commenting and voting gnagnagnagnagna... pff that's a pain in the ass! Why do I have to talk to the beggars first? Why don't you give it to the other guy, I've got things to do!
Gojo, trying to console Kali and M, both snuggled up against him, sniffles: Well, I'm pretty busy right now, you see...
Sukuna, pointing an accusing finger at him: Are you enjoying the situation? I can see you trying to steal my shrimp!
Gojo: at the same time, you're not the one who'd bring her any comfort...
Sakuna, smiling perversely: Yes, I can give him about 20 cm of comfort!
Gojo: No shit... and you're proud of yourself too?
Sukuna, crossing his arms over his chest, delighted: VERY!
Gojo, jaded and also shaken by the events of the chapter: Well, I'll take it from here, the other excited one is useless. Not a very cheerful chapter, but necessary! We're all going to get through this and it's going to get better fast, I'm sure of it! I'm going to take care of these two until we meet again in the next chapter, and protect Kali from Sukuna's 'comfort'. Thank you all for following us, even in difficult times... Take care, avoid shady occult auctions and haunted juvenile prisons! See you soon!