Notes: 'Crime' and Punishment.

Chapter 2

12 Years Ago

"I will absolutely not marry my daughter to a fool!" a deep voice thundered. "Even if that fool will be the strongest mage in hundreds of years!"

"Lord Katsu, I apologize most wholeheartedly for my son's attire. He's going through a phase and-"

"Going through a phase?" came the horrified tone of a woman. "He is sixteen years old! An adult! If this is the kind of behavior you have come to expect from him, I don't even want to know when it will change. Come, Karen, lest this foolishness rub off on you by association."

The speaker rose gracefully from her kneeling positions on the zabuton, as did her daughter, Karen. The two bowed politely, if stiffly, before exiting the room.

The man had a few more rude comments to add before leaving though. "Don't expect me to keep quiet about the disrespect my family and I experienced here! What in Sukuna's name is wrong with your son? Blah blah blah blah blah."

By this point, Gojo Satoru had tuned out the man's voice. Though to irk the man so much he swore by the name of Ryomen Sukuna; that was a new one. This might have been his most successful sabotage yet! Though his lips very nearly twitched, wanting to smirk, he kept a straight face. The scolding from Lord Katsu, a mage directly connected to the Kamo Clan, might be over but next would come his parents and the elders of the Gojo Clan.

After the Kamos were safely out of earshot, Gojo Satoshi turned to eye his son, who was seated slightly behind him and his wife. Inwardly, Satoru sighed. Now it begins.

Except it didn't. His father rose, blue sparks flickering at his fingertips for a brief moment, the only visible sign of his anger, before he turned to walk over to the shoji door on the far end of the room, sliding it open and stepping through. His mother followed respectfully a few steps behind him, eyes downcast. She did not enter the room but instead knelt outside it as her husband slid the door closed behind him. Satoru debated leaving the room - the kimono he wore was way too small, the obi tied too tight, and he really would prefer to change out of it sooner rather than later.

The voice of one of the clan elders, Gojo Ryuji, in the other room stopped him in his tracks. "Satoshi, do you have no means of controlling your son? This is the seventh marriage meeting he has made a fool of our family in!"

Satoru quietly scooted across the room toward where his mother knelt by the door his father had gone through until he could hear more clearly. Turns out his parents were in trouble on behalf of him. His conscience felt only a slight tick. He was closing in on seventeen and his family's attempts to marry him quickly in hopes of him passing on his exceptional abilities would only increase as he aged. While saying a simple 'no' would suffice to an extent, pulling stunts like the one he had today spread rumors. Rumors that despite his power, he was a head-case and would not make a suitable husband for the daughter of any self-respecting family.

The Zen'in Clan had only taken one insult before even their branch families were forbidden from sitting in marriage meetings with him. The Kamo Clan was harder to chase away, as their head had given no such order. Still, his parents and the Gojo elders had recently begun searching outside the clans for candidates, and that would mean even more of these tedious meetings coming his way soon.

"Lady Saori and I have done our best, elders," came the reply of his father. "But he is not someone who can be forced to do anything at this point as you well know. Perhaps it would be best to give these meetings a rest for a while. Let him cool down and reconsider his options. I am not yet so old I cannot continue to lead this clan. He has time yet to change his ways."

"But the Zen'in will continue to have favoritism in all things as long as they control the kingship." This statement came from Elder Sota.

"Satoru is our family's best chance at kingship in two hundred years, but not our only chance," said Elder Takeo. "There is another option. If the boy chooses to walk his own path, then so be it. It is past time we washed our hands of this matter. Seven meetings sabotaged, another ten he failed to show up to. The past two years have been a disaster."

Elder Shigeo spoke next. "I believe you are correct, Elder Takeo. There is nothing we can do about Satoru's bull-headedness but wait for him to outgrow it. He need not be named clan head until his father's death, which gods willing will be many years from now. As for the kingship, he lacks the levelheadedness as well as the ambition for such an office. Honestly," he said more softly, as though he thought that would prevent Satoru from overhearing on the other side of the screen, "Heavens help us if the boy does become king. Thankfully, our family has another option. I would urge you all to consider it."

The final elder, Yoshio, then spoke. "Consider it we will. Still, the boy must be punished somehow. We must speak with Masamichi and find something suitable."

As the elders continued their schemes and arguments, Gojo Saori turned to face her son. "Satoru, you understand your position don't you? Why do you insist on acting out like this?" she whispered, so the elders and clan head could continue their conversation uninterrupted.

Satoru folded his arms. "I want to enjoy life for a bit. Is that so much to ask?"

"I know the burdens your father and the elders place on you seem like a lot, but you are the most powerful mage born in over four hundred years. They expect great things from you because of it."

Satoru gazed at her over the dark spectacles he wore. "And what about you mother? What are your expectations for me? To become the greatest mage of all time? To carry the burdens of our entire clan and follow all the dictates given to me by lesser mages like the elders?"

Instead of looking down and away like he expected, his mother reached up a hand to touch the side of his face. "I want you to be happy, Satoru," she whispered. "I cannot imagine the pressure of the burden you bear, but surely you would do good for the people of this nation as their king. I know you have great kindness within you."

Feeling slightly ashamed, Satoru reached for his mother's hand, removing it from his face but holding it between both of his own larger hands in his lap. "And are you happy, mother?" His mother had married his father at sixteen, as was expected of a woman born into the Gojo family. Though she was an unremarkable mage from a Gojo branch family, she had been born with the white hair and hazel eyes characteristic of the main branch, and thus it was obvious for her family to match her with the young future clan head. The coloring was the marker noted for the Limitless and Six Eyes magic after all. After bearing Gojo Satoshi a son with both of the powerful innate magics, her position as his first and only wife was secure despite her failure to bear any further children. His mother did not reply, her face remaining a calm mask.

The rest of the meeting passed in a blur, but Satoru remained holding his mother's hand, giving it a slight squeeze and then letting go before he rose to leave, finally allowed to do so by the elders.

As he rounded the corner near his personal rooms, he was unsurprised to see the form of his best friend leaning against the corner post. "That was one long meeting. I take it you got another tongue-lashing from-" Geto Suguru immediately cut off what he was saying when he took in Satoru's pink kimono with floral patterning. "Is that Sho's kimono?"

Satoru nodded, picking at the obi as he sought to free himself from the constricting fabric, entering his rooms. "You should have seen the expressions on those Kamos' faces! Old Katsu even swore by Sukuna's name! I'll have to thank Shoko tomorrow." He stepped behind a screen to change into his own kimono and sighed as he slipped on the properly-fitting clothes. "Super uncomfortable, but so worth it!"

Suguru sighed and put a hand to his head. "Seriously? She was in on this? She needs to stop enabling you with these kinds of things."

"Oh, so I should just bow my head and marry one of the women my family wants me to? No thanks, I'll enjoy my life a bit more before settling down, thank you very much." Falling into their familiar banter was a welcome change from the confliction he had felt on the walk back to his rooms. It wasn't the elders' conversation or his family's 'humiliation' at his actions, but rather his mother's words and then silence that had affected him.

"Marriage isn't the end of the world, it's the beginning of a new life with a partner."

"Easy for you to say. When's the wedding?"

Suguru shrugged. "Ask the elders. They will probably set it for within the coming year."

Unlike Satoru, he had not put up a fuss and run endless pranks when it came to marriage. He and Ieiri Shoko had met when Satoru was escorting her around the Gojo compound's gardens per his father's orders while he met with her parents to discuss a marriage between the two. Satoru had been sullen, not wanting to speak a word to her as if it were her fault their parents were trying to arrange a marriage between them. It was then that Suguru had stepped in and become her gentlemanly escort while Satoru trailed behind the two, hands shoved deep in his kimono sleeves.

The Ieiris were happy enough to find one of the only S-rank mages in the kingdom to marry their daughter. Even if Geto Suguru did not carry the Gojo name, he was practically a Gojo, having grown up with Satoru in the main family compound since his powers were discovered at the age of six. It never seemed to bother him that his parents, farmers in a remote village in the kingdom, had practically sold him off for the tidy profit offered to them by the Gojo Clan; it was not at all uncommon for such things to be done.

"You're no fun," Satoru pouted, folding Shoko's kimono to return to her tomorrow and setting it aside. "I'd just say 'no' if I could, but the first few times I tried that, the girls still kept following me around with a lovestruck look in their eyes. I'm just too handsome for my own good," he said with a slight smirk which then shifted to a frown as he continued. "Besides, they don't have much say in the matter. It's a much better strategy to insult their family if I want them gone for good."

His best friend smacked one hand to his forehead, familiar with the arrogance of the Six Eyes bearer. "You might as well pick that back up. Yaga-sensei has already been informed of your insolence to the elders and called a meeting. Shoko, Kento, and Yu will all be there too." Suguru turned his back on Satoru and headed toward the outskirts of the main Gojo compound, where the group's schooling usually took place.

Satoru snatched the borrowed kimono back up and followed after him. This was, in fact, a bad thing.

Upon arriving in the classroom (he and Suguru were the last), Satoru was already getting a look of absolute disgust from Nanami Kento and a frown from the usually cheerful Haibara Yu. At least Ieiri Shoko gave him a smirk as he set her kimono on her desk and whispered his thanks before kneeling in his own spot next to Suguru.

Yaga Masamichi entered the room and glowered over the class. "You can all thank Satoru for this. At the insistence of the Gojo Clan elders, I have thought up a suitable punishment. You will each write a sixty centimeter essay on one of the mage-kings of the past and what you admire about them. The essay is due at the end of the week. AND NO GIANT FONT SATORU!"

Satoru scratched his head sheepishly. Last time he had been given such an assignment - something about former Gojo Clan heads and their deeds instead of mage-kings - he had written very little, very largely. It was childish but satisfying, and he hadn't even been punished for it since technically he had followed all the rules. If it wasn't such work to count kanji on a scroll, he had no doubt Yaga-sensei would do so and make a required character count for such assignments.

After a bit more of a lecture on what he was looking for in the essay, Yaga-sensei dismissed Shoko, Kento, and Yu to the clan archives to begin research on their chosen mage-kings. Satoru and Suguru were to remain behind for a bit longer. "It seems the clan has decided to give you a taste of freedom to see if you will enjoy it as much as you think you will, Satoru."

Satoru tilted his head to one side, looking at his sensei through his dark lenses. "Oh?"

"You and Suguru are being assigned a posting for the next few months in Karuori village to the north. You will patrol the area and protect the people there from any demon or monster incursions."

Satoru sat up straight. "Really? That's great!" He could hardly wait to leave the stuffy Gojo complex. It would be his fifth long-term assignment as well, and the other four had been in cities where magical crimes committed by rogue mages or influenced by magical artifacts were quite often more of a problem than demons or monsters.

He and Suguru were the strongest, and their powers were jealously guarded by the Gojo Clan. They tended to only be dispatched when large threats were scouted approaching. It usually took them longer to travel there and back than to take care of the actual threat. He could already imagine the fun he would have, fighting off threats day and night, having to be constantly on alert for danger at all times. And Suguru would be there as well!

Yaga-sensei smiled. Suguru noticed, but Satoru wasn't paying attention. "Now Satoru, you won't be leaving until after you hand in that essay at the end of the week, so I suggest you and Suguru join your friends in the archives."

Suguru nodded in assent. Satoru bounded to his feet and shot out the door, not even waiting for his best friend. "I've never seen him in such a rush to complete an essay before," Suguru commented to Yaga-sensei as he left. "He even left his blank scroll for the assignment here. I'll bring it to him."

xXxXx

"I'm kinda scared," Yu whispered to Kento.

"Of Satoru?" scoffed Kento. "He's too immature to be scary, even if he does have the Six Eyes and Limitless."

"Actually, I'm scared too," whispered Shoko, crouching in a rather unladylike way to see through the partially cracked sliding door to the archives. Yu, Kento, and Suguru each peered higher up through the door crack, so she was left crouching for the lower view.

The object of their study was one Gojo Satoru, mage-lights glowing around his head to illuminate several old books and scrolls being held open without paperweights. Satoru was likely using his powers to do so. The four of them had called it quits over an hour prior, and after getting some dinner from the kitchens with still no sign of Satoru joining them, they had returned, assuming he had fallen asleep in the archives of boredom. Instead, they had found him hard at work, jotting down notes on a spare scroll, the one for his essay still blank.

"I'm just recycling my essay about Sugawara no Michizane from last year," Yu admitted.

"Me too," said Kento, the second-most studious next to Suguru.

"Same," drawled Shoko from the floor.

Suguru scoffed. "Am I the only one writing something original?"

"Yes," all three responded monotonously. They didn't see the point in doing a ton of extra work for Satoru's punishment. Yaga and the elders tended to punish the whole group for Satoru's bad behavior in hopes that they would bully him into stopping. So far, the tactic had yet to work.

"To be honest, even I am a touch concerned. But let's cease our spying for now. It's late. I need some sleep before jujutsu training tomorrow morning, and I'm sure you all do as well." Suguru removed his eye from the crack in the door and headed to his rooms, the others scattering to theirs as well.

xXxXx

Satoru continued his work for another hour after hearing his friends whispering at the door before falling asleep at his table in the archives. He was fifteen minutes late to jujutsu training the next day, having to run back to his room to get his white uniform and belt.

The following two days of the week continued in the same way - the five mages huddled in the archives after jujutsu, magic, and history lessons, each working on their essays. Kento, Yu, and Shoko sat at the same table as their essays were all so similar, sharing notes with each other. Suguru sat at another table with his own pile of books, writing in his scroll meticulously. Satoru sat at a back corner table continuing his apparently top secret work, the subject of which he would not breathe a word of to anyone, not even Suguru.

By the time the end of the week rolled around and the five of them were assembled in their history classroom with Yaga-sensei, three sixty centimeter, one sixty-five centimeter, and one seventy-five centimeter scroll sat on his desk.

Satoru stopped beaming to shoot an irritated look at Suguru, the owner of the seventy-five centimeter scroll. Even when he went over-the-top for the first time ever with his own sixty-five centimeter compilation, his best friend had still outdone him. By this point, Satoru's four friends were all dying of curiosity as to what could have occupied him for so long and to such an extent. He usually did the bare minimum, if even that, to comply with Yaga-sensei's written assignments.

Even Yaga Masamichi himself raised an eyebrow upon seeing Satoru's name on the sixty-five centimeter scroll. "I see you all met the requirements," he said after glancing at them briefly to make sure no one had written in giant kanji. "I look forward to reading these and seeing what you all came up with. Class dismissed." Everyone but Satoru left. "Yes, Satoru?"

"Sensei, what about my and Suguru's mission to Karuori village? Are we leaving tomorrow?"

Yaga raised an eyebrow. "What made you think that?"

"Well, you said Suguru and I were leaving after our essays were completed." Satoru fiddled a bit with the hem of his kimono sleeve.

"I see," Yaga said, gathering up the five scrolls and heading for the door. "I never said you would be leaving immediately though. After all, I need to grade these essays, and that will take a few days. You'll be leaving early next week. Hold your horses until then."

Running in what he knew his fellow clansmen would consider a very undignified manner for a future clan head down the outdoor walkways between separate buildings of the compound, Satoru soon caught up to Suguru. "Suguru, Yaga-sensei said we won't get to leave for Karuori until next week. He's reading our essays first."

Suguru raised an eyebrow. "You thought he'd just let you run off without reading your essay first? Not a chance."

The two chatted and walked a bit longer before Suguru excused himself to spend some time with Shoko, who wouldn't be going with the two on their mission next week. She was seldom allowed off the Gojo estate by her father, and then it was only to go into the city with a full escort. Satoru, with nothing better to do, kicked at the gravel on the path back to his own rooms. Not for the first time, he was starting to wonder if the metaphorical path he was walking down would lead to a life of solitude. For the very first time, that thought began to bother him just a little bit.

"Ah shoot, I forgot to tell Suguru about what the elders said," he said out loud to himself as he walked. It had been the better part of a week and yet he still had not told his friend what he suspected they had in the works. Oh well, he would remember to tell him sooner or later.

Notes: Glasses date back to as early as 1530 in Japan

Jujutsu - early form of judo as it is called today