A Young Girl's Ten Shadows

By Special FX and Icura

~o~

Chapter 15: The First Match

~o~

Naobito Zenin made his way over the last step of the stone path. What stretched out before him was the temple-like gates and a school that was both a mixture of traditional and modern aesthetics, as if it could not decide on which to be.

The time that he took to transverse it was more symbolic than anything else, like a tourist. Especially since it was the first time in a long time since he had stepped foot into one of jujutsu society's public educational institutions. Why? There was simply no need to since those two schools were primarily for those who had potential as sorcerers but had no other means for further progression. After all, if they were left to themselves, they would simply become feed for wayward curses.

In that sense, this institution was a charity, similar to those government-sponsored organizations for the homeless. Nothing was expected of the participants except to not prove a detriment to those who were their betters.

"Welcome, Zenin-sama." Standing in front of the gates, a well-dressed man in a suit bowed respectfully. "Please follow me."

"Hmph."

As the man dutifully led him across a large bridge and into the school grounds along the stone path, Naobito simply looked around. At a glance, it was familiar in some ways and unfamiliar in others. Various different buildings and amenities were scattered across the school grounds, some having been built in what used to be empty spaces or fields. Despite that, it held a level of extravagance that didn't used to be here.

He supposed that the extravagance was one of the ways they appealed to the lower classes that they catered to.

It was extremely rare for a member from a high ranking clan to attend one of these jujutsu schools. There was simply no point; the higher ranking clans all had their own way of fostering the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers. The unique and specialized training of their bloodline could not be entrusted to outsiders.

Despite that, Tanya choosing to attend Tokyo Jujutsu High did not come to him as a surprise. The moment that the Gojo brat made his intentions clear, it became a given. There were risks letting her attend, but the concessions that he had been given by Jujutsu Headquarters far exceeded those reservations.

What had surprised him was the decision of his youngest to attend this school. Despite his misgivings, Naoya had shown some interesting growth as of late, but as talented as he was, it all paled in comparison to ones who had been blessed at birth by the gods. That realization should come to the boy now rather than in the future when it would be far more detrimental to the clan.

"This way, please, Zenin-sama."

He allowed the jujutsu high manager to usher him to his seat in the outdoor arena. It wasn't much to look at as it was mainly composed of rows upon rows of fold-up chairs on a hill overlooking a large open area. That was to be expected, however, since this was the first time they had ever received spectators for their yearly school event. That was, if this were a regular school. Was their funds and manpower this pitiful to not be able to construct something better? Even if the time was short, the Kukuru Unit of his Zenin clan could have done a far better job than this, especially considering who had come today.

Just from looking around, he could see high-ranking members of the Kamo clan and the Gojo clan. Higher up on a hill to the north, he could see many of the higher-ups that had traveled from jujutsu headquarters came to spectate as well. There were even an assortment of jujutsu sorcerers—alumni from the schools—who had shown up to watch. Only the most notable of them were the ones that he recognized.

Even then, more and more people began to show up.

"Brother. I see that you have arrived early."

Ogi took a seat in the empty seat next to him while the rest of the clan elders filled in the rest of the row.

"Ogi," he simply greeted before taking out his bottle and drinking. "I see that you've brought the rest of the clan."

"The Zenin clan must make its presence known if the Gojo and the Kamo clans are here."

"Hmph." Naobito didn't disagree with that. "What are you scheming, Ogi?"

"I have no idea what you are referring to, brother." Ogi crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the arena.

Naobito just sneered in response.

"The matchups. You had them fixed so Tanya would face off against Naoya, didn't you?"

"Of course not. It was simply a coincidence."

"Hah. You would rather even have Naoya as the next head as long as she wasn't?"

"Not only is she a woman, but she's a foreigner as well." Ogi shook his head venomously. "That can only end in disaster."

"Are you a prophet now?"

"I don't need to be one to see the obvious outcome. Being willfully blind will not change the reality."

"Hmph." Speaking with Ogi always made him want to drink hard liquor, an urge that Naobito immediately indulged in.

He hated snakes like his brother. If you desire something, take it with your own two hands! Don't hide and slither away in the shadows, fight! Cowards and weaklings, the lot of them. His brother had always coveted his seat and despised his way of doing things so it wasn't a surprise; just an annoyance.

Like an annoying bug that needed to be squashed.

Ogi was simply lucky that they were bound by blood, otherwise he would have killed him thrice over by now. It wasn't hard to see what he was planning. Ogi and his supporters were traditionalists to their core and despised Tanya's existence. No doubt he had been in his youngest son's ear about taking his 'rightful place' as heir. Ogi wanted to show the rest of the clan elders that weren't on his side that Naoya deserved to be the next head over Tanya through this match.

It was an absolutely foolish plan, but what else could he expect from this fool of a brother?

He took another long drink from his bottle.

Naoya was talented and if Tanya had not existed, he would have been the obvious choice for his heir, but the jujutsu world was not a fair one. One's potential as a sorcerer was determined at birth and no amount of hard work could ever eclipse innate talent.

The Gojo brat was a prime example of that.

~o~

The chosen battlefield wasn't an arena or anything fancy like what Suguru had been expecting. Instead, it was simply a very large empty field, probably this size in order to ensure that collateral damage didn't reach the spectators—and there were a lot of them. There were some who he had heard about like Tanya and Satoru's clans, but the rest were unknown to him.

Though, to be fair, they probably didn't know about him either.

Most of the people here came because of Satoru and Tanya. They were up and coming powerhouses from two of the three biggest clans in jujutsu society so it made sense that special attention would be paid to them, regardless if it was positive or negative. He would be lying if he said it didn't irk him a bit to be nothing more than an afterthought, but having been teammates with them for as long as he had, he learned to deal with it.

Still, Suguru firmly believed that he would eventually catch up to their level. In just this year alone, he had improved by leaps and bounds. During missions, he was just barely keeping up with those two, and a lot of that could be attributed to Tanya and her harsh training methods. Though personally, unlike Shoko, he didn't particularly mind. If he did, he wouldn't have become a jujutsu sorcerer.

"Sheeeesh. Looks like all the old fogies came out today." Satoru made a face as he adjusted his sunglasses. "Shouldn't they have something better to do than watch some kids beat each other up?"

"They're here because of you, Satoru." Tanya glared at him. "There are a lot of important people in attendance so please, for once, don't make a scene."

"Who, me?" Satoru playfully pointed at himself. "I'd never do that."

Tanya simply glared at him harder while Satoru laughed. Shoko gave him a knowing look while he chuckled in response. Those two always bickered like a married couple. It was obvious to everyone that they were infatuated with each other, but they could just never be honest—to both themselves and each other. Even just watching it was as tiring as it was repetitive.

However, pushing them together probably had its own issues.

The balance between the major clans could be disrupted. There was a basis for marriage alliances, but never between two individuals who could be considered equally powerful figures within their respective clans. Traditionally, one of them would enter the other's household, but in this case, which clan would willingly give one up? Any decision could have severe repercussions for either side. When it came to their clans, Satoru wasn't one to care about the consequences of his actions, but Tanya on the other hand…

Perhaps that was why they never moved beyond this endless cycle of playful jabs and unresolved tension. For all their stubbornness and posturing, their reality was a simple one. Tanya had spent her whole life upholding the weight of her clan's expectations. Every step, every choice had to be measured, calculated. Satoru was the opposite. Reckless and defiant, a storm that refused to be contained, but he was always more considerate when it came to her.

That was probably why their relationship remained stagnant despite knowing each other for so long. The best case scenario for them and their clans would probably be something like neutral grounds—with neither side obtaining the other—but that would require breaking away from the traditions that jujutsu society held stringently to. That wasn't likely to happen either which just brought everything back full circle to their current situation.

Indeed, it was a mess. Their relationship was destined for much hardship in the future.

"Would the first two combatants please come forward?" One of the Kyoto managers loudly requested through a megaphone, catching everyone's attention.

"Guess that's my cue," Suguru said as he cracked his neck a bit.

"Good luck, Suguru," Tanya simply remarked. "I'm sure you'll do well."

"Luck? He doesn't need luck. Suguru's pretty strong so it'll be a cake walk," Satoru arrogantly declared. "Let's go for the 3-0 sweep!"

Shoko gave him a lazy thumbs up. "Go get 'em."

Suguru just smiled in response to his friends' encouragement before he began making his way to the arena.

From the other side, his opponent—a tall woman with long white hair and a cool grin on her face—was already waiting for him. A massive axe was lazily resting over her shoulder as she watched him walk toward the center of the field where she was currently standing.

"The first match will be between Mei Mei and Suguru Geto!" The manager announced through his megaphone.

"You know, I was a bit curious about how my technique would fare against Satoru Gojo, but I don't mind getting an easy payday either," Mei Mei casually remarked. "So sorry, Geto-kun, but I'll have to crush you today."

Suguru simply regarded her with a faint smirk. "It's good to be confident."

"Let the match begin!"

As soon as the manager's words finished leaving his mouth, Suguru raised his hand forward. A rush of cursed energy formed pitch black portals in front of him as a surge of curses sprang forth. It was a midnight tide of grotesque creatures consisting of twisted amalgamations of claws, eyes, and writhing limbs, recombined in elucidation arrangements that defied logic and reason.

"Cursed Spirit Manipulation?" Mei Mei's lips curled into a wicked grin. "The Tokyo branch is just full of surprises this year, isn't it?"

Her eyes darted back and forth—as if counting—before she casually spun the end of her axe with the same cool smile on her face. Her cursed energy spiked and in one fluid motion, she spun forward, her axe slicing through the air with lethal precision. The first curse lunged, a massive thing with a maw like a bear trap. Mei Mei sidestepped gracefully, her blade carving through its head in a single arc before disintegrating it into a cloud of black smoke.

The rest of the horde fared no better. Her movements were effortless, smooth as silk. Each step that she took, her axe followed behind as an extension of her will, parting the nocturne sea.

"Is this all?" Amidst the collapsing particles of malicious curses, Mei Mei slowly and surely made steady progress, even as more products of negative emotion swarmed around her, filling in the gaps that came with each swing of her axe.

Standing behind the portals that constantly churned out more and more curses, Suguru kept his eyes focused on his opponent, analyzing her every move. Unfortunately, despite what many might think, his supply of curses was finite so his time to continue this barrage was limited.

"Hmm. Seems this won't be easy," Suguru dryly said before he released even more curses from his supply.

"Did you really think you could tire me out?" Mei Mei asked, unbothered as she continued to mow his curses down. "Such cheap tactics."

"Quantity has a quality of its own."

As the curses continued to rush forward. Mei Mei's movements became sharper, faster—a blur of motion as she weaved through the onslaught. Realizing the futility, the horde of curses changed tactics by pouncing all at once, piling onto her and on top of one another to entrap her.

However, several flashes of steel appeared through even the bodies of the curses in mid-air, just a moment before they separated apart into pieces. Through the cloud of fading curses, Mei Mei charged toward him with a manic grin despite a thin gash on her shoulder.

"What a waste," Suguru murmured, even though he had half expected as much. Despite his words, there was a smirk on his lips. Indeed, there was a purpose to his wasteful spending. It was to implant the notion that he only fought like a typical shikigami user—that he was uncomfortable with close quarters combat.

The moment that Mei Mei came within striking range, Suguru launched himself forward in a burst of speed, getting close enough that she couldn't complete her swing.

"Wha—" Before Mei Mei could finish her word, Suguru's fist smashed into her cheek, snapping her head to the side.

Grabbing her shoulders, he slammed his knee into her abdomen, causing her to reflexively bend forward from the blow. Clasping his hands together, he brought them down on the back of her head, sending her to the dirt.

"If you hadn't underestimated me, I would have been the one on the ground," Suguru said as a portal appeared beside the woman and octopus tentacles sprang up to imprison her. "Something to remember for next time."

"Why not this time?"

Suguru barely managed to dodge to the side in time as something black flew through the space he was in, ripping a small chunk out of his side. That projectile crashed into the ground and splattered across it in a spurt of blood, gore, and feathers.

"A bird?"

"No, a crow." Her voice hadn't come from the ground.

Clenching his side, Suguru quickly backed away from Mei Mei who had—in that short time span—risen to her feet in the midst of severed tentacles. The head of her axe had been driven into the portal, and he could feel that his connection to the octopus curse had already been cut. She pulled her axe out, its steel head stained with black ink that was already dissipating. Then she smiled, even as a small trail of blood dripped down from her hairline, staining both her silver hair and pale skin in a sliver of crimson.

"My crows."

In the skies above them, a murder of crows gathered, blocking the sun at times and casting shadows down below.

"I won't be caught off-guard again," Suguru merely said in response.

"Does that matter?" Mei Mei's eyes glinted as she idly swung her axe and began walking toward him. "You won't win either way."

"Nobody knows that until the end."

"No, I already know." Mei Mei slid her foot forward into a runner's stance. "It ends with me being paid."

The murder of crows dived down toward them like a stream of ink falling from the skies. However, before they could get far, a portal erupted between its target destination and a dragon head snapped out, its jaws and teeth ripping through the black waterfall. The rest of the rainbow dragon's body slithered out, resembling the snake-like dragon of eastern lore. Despite not having wings, it flew through the air and snapped at the crows again. The crows purposefully crashed into the dragon in suicidal charges, splattering themselves across the white scales.

Despite that, there was no sign of any wounds, and the dragon didn't even flinch as it continued to devour the crows.

However, the conflict in the sky was a far-off occurrence to those on the ground as they were engaged in their own war. The moment that Suguru's fingers began to move, Mei Mei closed the distance between them. He didn't have a chance to think about it as her weapon slashed horizontally, aimed to slice through his midsection, but he twisted away at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the blade. Mei Mei instantly pivoted, already pressing the attack. She dropped low and swept her axe toward his legs.

He jumped, avoiding the blade as it slashed through the ground, kicking up grass and dirt.

Mei Mei abandoned her weapon mid-motion, dropping it so she wouldn't have to wind up again and tried to kick him in the ribs while he was mid-air. He blocked it with his forearm just in time, the impact making his muscles tense. The resulting impact sent him flying through the air before he rotated his body and planted his feet, skidding across the ground.

The first thought that came to his mind was that she's strong. It almost felt like when Tanya would spar with him. Barely finishing his thought, Mei Mei was already back on top of him in an instant. He threw out a punch in response, but she evaded it and grabbed his wrist, twisting sharply to unbalance him.

Suguru staggered a bit and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "How troublesome."

A pulse of cursed energy erupted from within him, and Mei Mei jumped back just in time as a shockwave tore through the air. A massive curse behind him—one of his stronger ones— lashed out, one enormous claw swiping down to crush her. Mei Mei spun sideways, narrowly avoiding the impact as the ground exploded with dirt flying in every direction. A crow suddenly cawed from the skies before it dive bombed straight toward his curse, blasting through its head before crashing into the ground.

"...so it got through?" Suguru mumbled aloud, mostly to himself. While his rainbow dragon was dominating the skies, it was still only one curse; it couldn't handle the multitudes of crows that kept flocking above them, despite his dragon continuously shredding them asunder.

"Black Bird Manipulation. It's my cursed technique, you see," Mei Mei said aloud as more crows began to fly directly above her. A few feathers rained down on her as she continued her explanation. "It lets me imbue cursed energy into crows and control them. I can even share vision with them if necessary."

Suguru frowned in response.

"So even if I were to hide, you'd find me?"

Mei Mei's smile grew wider.

"Yes, exactly. I'm glad that you're so quick on the uptake, Geto-kun," Mei Mei praised. "Crows are quite weak, but by forcing them into a binding vow with their life as the trade-off…" She gestured at the crow corpse on the ground along with the dissipating curse. "They can become quite dangerous, wouldn't you say?"

"..."

She was revealing her hand to him. A binding vow that increased one's cursed energy in exchange for revealing the inner workings of their cursed technique. A sorcerer would only do that if push came to shove. He had only known her for a few minutes, but it was enough to get a sense of her priorities. The most likely reason for her to do this…

"How much did those crows cost?"

Mei Mei's smile slightly faltered.

"There are too many crows for the local ecosystem to handle, and it doesn't seem likely that you are creating shikigami. That means you must have brought them here or raised them yourself. Either way, it must have been expensive."

While the vast majority was occupying the rainbow dragon's attention, more and more crows were slipping through, orbiting around her airspace as if she were their queen. Suguru resisted the urge to take an instinctive step back.

"However, losses of this scale have to have their limits. As long as I stall for time, it'll be your loss, whether you win or lose. Regardless, you still have to win to recoup at least some of that cost, correct?"

Mei Mei finally frowned.

"I didn't think that I would have to use this technique on anyone other than Gojo-kun or Zenin-chan so I'm impressed," Mei Mei said. "It's unfortunate, but you are right; I have a big payday riding on me winning this match so…do try not to die, Geto-kun."

The cursed energy in every single crow in the vicinity suddenly spiked, just before they all flew at him in a wave of black feathers. With no time to worry about what he should and shouldn't use now, Suguru held both his hands out and activated his cursed technique, letting loose the remaining cursed spirits in his collection.

~o~

Mei Mei didn't originally plan on participating in this year's goodwill event. It was a two day long event and was ultimately going to be a colossal waste of time in the end. Everyone in jujutsu society knew who Satoru Gojo was at this point and how it was going to end. Even if Kyoto managed to rack up enough points in the individual matches, it was obvious that Satoru Gojo was going to single handedly end whatever team matches they were going to have. And if not him, the Tokyo school still had the jewel of the Zenin clan on their side as well.

She had better uses for her time than participating in an event that everyone already knew the ending of. Such as taking on more jobs to see the numbers in her bank account go up. Truly, there was no better feeling in the world than counting one's own money and seeing it grow over time. It was even better when she had the physical bills in her hands. The weight of the money was satisfying—not just in the literal sense, but in what it represented.

Power. Influence. Freedom.

Money was a wonderful thing. Having money ensured that no one could dictate her choices. She could pick any of the jobs she wanted, protect whoever she chose to protect, and walk away whenever she wanted to. Money was honest—it never pretends to be something it's not. It doesn't betray, doesn't change its mind, and doesn't make empty promises. And unlike loyalty and the fickle nature of people, money was consistent.

Although, perhaps the best of all, was that money always came back to those who knew how to earn it.

In the end, Mei Mei only decided to participate in this year's Goodwill Event because of money. The Kyoto bigwigs had made her an offer, and she had accepted it. A simple transaction between two parties that both wanted different things. She didn't have to accept the offer, but she chose to.

And therein laid the true beauty of money.

Mei Mei watched as her crows crashed into the horde of curses emerging from Suguru Geto's cursed technique. It didn't matter how much cannon fodder Suguru rolled out; anything below a grade-1 curse wouldn't stand a chance. Her crows pierced through the swarm of curses like bullets, tearing through them effortlessly, leaving nothing but dissipating cursed energy in their path even as the birds themselves splintered and broke apart.

Before Suguru could react, Mei Mei charged into the fray. Sharing her vision with the crows that were in the midst of combat, her axe swung at strange angles, curving around her birds and slicing through the curses with lethal precision. To those watching her, it seemed more like her body was following the momentum of her battle axe rather than the other way around, spinning and rotating in the air like a top with her weapon and limbs lashing out.

Suguru tried to step back, raising his arm, but it was too late.

Mei Mei's foot slammed into him with terrifying force, sending a shockwave rippling through the air. The boy staggered, his composure momentarily broken. However, she didn't allow him a chance to recover. She swung her axe sharply down into his shoulder, but just before the blade could break skin, the axe stopped in place. Using her free hand, she brushed her fingers across his neck in a caress and leaned in close to his ear.

"Yield."

There was a brief beat of silence before Suguru Geto resignedly exhaled and closed his eyes.

"I forfeit."

Mei Mei just smiled in response.

Victory was always satisfying, sure, but the payment at the end?

That was what truly made it worth her time and effort.

~o~

Authors' Note:

Icura: The hiatus was my fault. I accept full responsibility for my sudden and violent writer's block.

SFX: Back from the dead for real this time.