𝐎𝐍𝐄, the shibuya incident

I'M SO SORRY! I wanted to post this chapter a lot earlier, but Wattpad was bullying me by replacing random letters in my fics with question marks (I was also distracted with Baldur's Gate 3 LOL)! I tried to fix it, but it just added more question marks, so I tried to wait it out, but I didn't think it'd take so long so I decided to just post anyway cuz I've kept you guys waiting for SO long.

If the question marks show up in this chapter and make certain parts of it unreadable, then please read it in Quotev or Ao3! The links to my accounts are on my bio!

Also I noticed some ppl on Wattpad got confused when Ryujin was put in chapter zero and didn't know who he was... he's Shisui's brother (you guys at least know who Shisui is right? Right...??? 🥺) and he was introduced in the flashback arc I made.


OCTOBER 31, 2018.

8:20 PM. Meiji Jingu Stadium
Shinjuku, Tokyo

MIZUHIME WANTED TO GET ATTACKED, only because she was hoping the curses would get rid of Naoya for her.

They were instructed to stay outside of the entrance of Meiji Jingu Stadium, but after five minutes of waiting, Naoya was already complaining about standing around and decided that he wanted to wait inside the comfort of the building instead.

"It's chilly outside!" Was what he had said.

Not that she would get it. After years of swimming in the frigid waters of the sea, cold temperatures didn't really affect her much.

She sighed, bored out of her mind as she leaned against a wall. There were regular civilians all around her, laughing and smiling to themselves as they talked about the latest game or whatever. So far, no cursed spirits had come by, but she wouldn't be surprised if some had completely passed by them since they were inside the building instead of outside like they were supposed to be.

"You sure you don't want one? I can go back and buy you a drink if you'd like," Naoya offered generously. He was standing beside her with a Starbucks drink in hand. Knowing him, he probably gave the barista a long list of instructions to follow just to be an asshole.

"No thanks," she replied.

He shrugged and muttered a "suit yourself" before taking another sip of his frappuccino.

If he was so cold, then why buy a cold drink? She wondered to herself, before pushing the thought to the back of her head.

Once again, she directed her stare out the glass wall. It gave her a view of the streets outside and so far, nothing was amiss.

Well, until she saw an inky black dome appearing at the distance. She pushed herself off the wall, high on alert.

"Zenin-san," she called out to him. "Someone just put down a curtain."

"Hmm, yes, I see that," he said, clearly disinterested. "Ignore it. It's probably someone on our side."

"The closest group is Team Mei Mei who are currently situated in Aoyama Cemetery which is from the other direction," she pointed out. "This has to be one of the curse users."

All Naoya did was hum in acknowledgement while she sent a text to one of the managers to inform them of the new curtain. As she waited for a response, he moved closer to her.

"You're taking this so seriously, Mizuhime-chan," Naoya chuckled.

"I'm just hoping to get promoted, Zenin-san," she responded, a practiced and polite smile etched onto her face.

"But... what's the point?"

She turned to him, "Hmm?"

Suddenly Naoya didn't look so friendly anymore. Sure he was still smiling, but the edges of his lips seemed sharper, more cutting and dangerous. She stiffened when he threw an arm over her shoulders.

"Aren't you getting married to Okkotsu-san? He'll be turning seventeen soon, and once that happens, the two of you will wed. What's the point of getting a promotion if you're just going to become his housewife anyway?"

His words entered through one ear and went out the other. She could smell him. His cologne. It was an expensive brand that she recognized all too quickly. It was the same one Gojo liked to wear. The same one he wore that day. She could feel tears stinging her eyes at the memory.

He saw the tear slipping from one eye and simpered in faux-sympathy. "Oh, Mizuhime-chan," he cooed. "Don't cry, my dear. Being a wife suits you far more than a—"

"—Don't touch me," she said, her tone suddenly becoming harsh.

It only served to amuse him. "Oh? What a rude mouth you have. Don't tell me my unfeminine cousin managed to corrupt you—" A shadow loomed over his head from behind. Before he could whirl around to see what it was, a large watery hand grabbed him by the top of his head.

"MMRGH?!" There was a loud crash as Naoya was dragged into a restroom, the entrance smashing into pieces in the process.

Mizuhime strolled into the women's restroom, listening to the sounds of drowned struggling. She went to the stall with the door that had been blasted open, unable to hold back a smirk when she saw what was happening: Naoya on his knees, toilet water shaped into arms embracing his head while forcefully dunking him in the toilet.

This was probably the closest Naoya had ever gotten to a mother's hug.

"I'll head over to the station, Zenin-san," she said, though it was doubtful he could even hear her with his head underwater and all. "I'll see you later. Or not. You should just go home."

Naoya let out a muffled shriek, trying in vain to push his head out of the toilet. If he was smart, he would've used his cursed energy to break the toilet to free himself rather than try to pull out. She snorted in derision, leaving the building and decided to let him be someone else's problem.

She hurried over to the direction of the curtain. After running around two kilometers, she finally got to it. According to Google Maps, the curtain was surrounding the Meiji-Jingu-Mae Station.

"It's the Meiji-Jingu-Mae Station," she informed one of the managers on the phone. "This particular curtain traps the civilians in, but I tested it out and it looks like sorcerers are able to enter. Should I proceed?"

"Uchiumi-san, Zenin Naoya is in charge of you for this mission, correct? May I speak to him?" The female manager asked.

"He's in the bathroom," she answered. It wasn't really a lie anyways. "So should I—we, proceed into the curtain or should we remain on standby?"

"Once Zenin returns, the two of you may come in. There's a chance there could be another curtain within this one, so please inform me if that's the case. Also, I'll be dispatching the closest group to come in to assist you."

That would be Yuji's group, she thought in relief. She felt far more comfortable working with Yuji than Naoya.

Pocketing her phone, she stepped through the curtain and was immediately bombarded by the terrified screams of hundreds of people running around in pure panic. They were being chased around by weak looking cursed spirits.

"Hey! Hey!" A man dressed in a Halloween costume grabbed her arm. "How did you get in here? Do you know how to get out?!"

She wrenched her arm free. "I can't—"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. These cursed spirits... No, she was wrong. They weren't cursed spirits. These grotesque creatures were wearing teared up clothes and accessories. Some were still carrying bags full of candy. They were transfigured humans.

Mahito, she realized, eyes hardening. Where is he?

She ignored the frantic man beside her and went to action, killing as many of transfigured humans as she could while making sure not to kill anyone else in the process.

She couldn't risk using big attacks, only small, very precise ones. Water was fluid and she could easily bend it to her will, but even then it was hard to avoid hitting someone what with all these people shoving past her to get away.

What confused her the most was how none of the transfigured humans even tried to fight back. She was clearly at a disadvantage, prioritizing the safety of the other civilians, but they mostly just ignored her even as she cut their numbers short. Instead of piling on her like they would've been, they focused on chasing people around.

What are they doing? She frowned.

"Everyone get in!" Someone screamed, ushering people into the station. They scrambled for the escalator and staircase, shoving and pushing their way to get down.

And then it all clicked in her head. Mahito wasn't controlling the transfigured humans to kill them, but to herd them deeper into the station.

"Wait! Don't go in there!" She called out, but her voice couldn't be heard through all the chaos. More people shoved passed her as the transfigured humans chased them underground.

"Shit...!" She cursed, running after them.

━━━━━━・❪ 🩸 ❫ ・━━━━━━

8:39 PM. Aoyama Cemetery
Minato, Tokyo

"I get the reasoning but there has to be something we can do!" Yuji protested. "We can go as backup!"

"Yeah. That's why we're heading to Shibuya." Mei Mei replied, casually sitting on someone's gravestone. Yuji sent a mental apology to whoever 'Kitagawa Ayase' was.

He perked up. "Oh, we are?"

"Sheesh... making you go as backup," Ui Ui was irked for his sister's sake. "Who does Gojo Satoru think he is?"

"You can't think of him as a normal guy." Mei Mei said.

"You're not a normal lady either.

"Oh, Ui Ui. You're so cute~"

Yuji watched in disturbed silence as Mei Mei pulled her little brother closer, placing a finger under his chin.

"You don't really think that!" Ui Ui exclaimed, pouting. "What you love isn't family... You're more interested in using your family for employment."

"Heh heh... you're quite the smart one. I love that about you."

"Aw..." The kid blushed.

What the fuck. Yuji thought. Fortunately, he didn't have to witness whatever... that was any further because Mei Mei's phone began to ring. He watched silently as Mei Mei conversed shortly with whoever was on the other end. There was a satisfied look on her face when she hung up.

"Itadori," she began. "We're changing course. Another curtain like the one in Shibuya just appeared at the Meiji-Jingu-Mae Station. We're heading there. We're gonna run, so keep up okay?"

Not that it was any problem for him. He kept up with them even without needing cursed energy.

"You said it was at Meiji-Jingu-Mae Station, right? I think Hime-senpai's nearby!" He exclaimed.

Mei Mei nodded, "Yes. Apparently she was the one who made the alert about it. She and Zenin have already been given permission to enter, so we'll be joining them soon."

"Awesome!" He had never really worked together with Mizuhime during a mission before, so he was actually a little excited about this.

They stopped just outside of the curtain where a manager stood by, waiting for them. She already had a diagram of their situation drawn out on paper: a rectangle which represented a platform, and two circles surrounding it.

"This is the curtain that's surrounding the station and trapping civilians. According to Uchiumi, there's a second curtain inside on the Fukutoshin Line Platform that's keeping jujutsu sorcerers out. Between the two curtains is the cursed spirit or curse user who cast the curtains." She relayed the information Mizuhime had given her.

"Between? Not at the platform?" Mei Mei asked.

"Uchiumi believes that whoever it is is taking the risk of leaving the curtain alone. She couldn't find them, but she did find two assistant managers that had been killed," she grimaced. "Also, there's more..."

"What?" Mei Mei raised a brow.

"Uchiumi reported that there were transfigured humans between the curtains," she answered, uncomfortable at the mention of them. "For some reason, they seemed to be more concerned with luring the civilians into the second curtain."

"The curtain that she can't go through," Mei Mei finished.

The manager nodded.

"How suspicious..." The older woman smiled.

"Where's senpai now?" Yuji demanded. He tried not to show it, but he was anxious. There was a good chance that Mahito was in that station with her and unlike him, she did not have a second soul inhabiting her body to protect her from his Cursed Technique.

"She's still in there as far as I know," the manager answered. "Uchiumi said she was going to try and kill the remaining transfigured humans, but some of them have already crossed through the second curtain with the civilians. If you do manage to run into her, can you ask her what happened to Zenin? He's supposed to be watching over her, but she's the only one making contact with me while no one's getting anything from him."

"Trust me, no word from Zenin Naoya is a good thing," Mei Mei snorted in amusement before turning to Yuji. "Let's head out, Itadori."

They entered the curtain. It was eerily quiet, but Yuji could see the tell-tale signs of a fight. Everything was a mess: pieces of people's Halloween costumes on the ground, the glass windows surrounding the underground entrance were shattered, and there were puddles of water probably from Mizuhime's technique. Most concerning were the splatters of blood here and there—hopefully not Mizuhime's.

Yuji wanted to jump down there right away, but Mei Mei made him wait as she summoned a bunch of crows to fly down instead.

"What're we doing?! We gotta hurry!" He said impatiently.

"Shh!" Ui Ui glared at him. "My sister is currently sharing vision with the crows. It takes a lot of concentration so be quiet."

"It's fine actually. You can talk," Mei Mei murmured, eyes shut as her birds scanned the underground.

"She said it's okay," Yuji said.

"My goodness, sister!"

After some time, Mei Mei finally opened her eyes. "Hm... I think I got it now. Itadori. Would you rather kill a bunch of weak transfigured humans... or exorcise one strong cursed spirit? Well, I bet you'd want the latter."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Did you see Hime-senpai?"

"Unfortunately, no," she replied, and his shoulders sank. "The transfigured humans are roaming around and attacking civilians at B4F. Your friend is probably there, preoccupied with fighting them off while simultaneously trying to protect a group of panicked humans. The rest of them are probably on B5F on the Fukutoshin Line Platform, as Uchiumi said."

"You're not sure?"

"The crows I used are imbued with cursed energy. They couldn't get to B5F. It appears to be part of the plan to funnel civilians further down. And my crows were taken out between B1F and B2F. Whoever activated the curtain is there." She stated. "Maybe they're there to kill any civilians who go up. Or it could have something to do with the curtains' constraints. We can't be sure why B5F was specifically chosen as the point of separation either."

"He's there, right?" Yuji said, stone-faced. He pointed down the steps leading to the underground. "He's down there. Mahito."

"...I'm not sure. The crows were taken out before I could confirm patchface. But the fact that there are transfigured humans means he's probably there. We'll have to split up and find a way to get rid of the curtain. Your friend will take care of the situation with the humans, if it's not too late. Best case scenario, when we see each other again, the curtain will have lifted, freeing the civilians, and we'll have figured out the objective of whoever's at B5F."

"Don't worry, Mei. I'm done with losing." Yuji said with determination as he took the first few steps down.

━━━━━━・❪ 🩸 ❫ ・━━━━━━

8:40 PM. Tokyo Metro Shibuya Station

Fukutoshin Line Platform B5F

Three unregistered Special Grade curses, Gojo hummed to himself as he looked over each one. He recognized only two of them. The Hanami curse who attacked his kids during the Goodwill Event and the Mount Fuji guy he used as a dummy for Yuji's training. The third one was the most human looking curse he had ever seen; a tall, dark haired man with purple eyes and... were those Prada boots he was wearing?

He's got style, he had to admit.

"What's wrong?" He challenged them, striding forward. Neither Hanami or Jogo moved. The third curse stayed hiding amongst the crowd, watching on boredly. "Weren't you the ones who told me not to run away?"

Jogo made the first move. He started for a punch, but Gojo knocked the hand aside and grabbed his arm just in time to duck down for Hanami's kick.

"Ready... steady..." And with a sickening crunch, Jogo's arm was ripped off entirely.

Hanami went for him again, but Gojo used the severed arm to block his attack before chasing after a fleeing Jogo. His arm was already regenerating back, but the shorter curse looked way too nervous to return to offense.

He deactivated his limitless cursed technique! Hanami realized. He decided to stop concentrating on his cursed technique since the number of people is starting to thin out... does he plan to just use cursed energy and keep this fight confined to close quarters? But if that's the case, there's no point in getting the crowd involved anymore. All I need to do is...

He readied himself to use his cursed technique, but Jogo realized what was going on and screamed, "DON'T DEACTIVATE YOUR AMPLIFICATION! HANAMI!"

Gojo whirled around to face Hanami, his expression full of sadistic glee. He was on him in an instant, feet planted on his chest while he used the branches coming out of his eyes to keep him up.

"Someone told me that this is your weak point." He yanked at the branches, blood gushing out of the spirit's eye sockets. The enemy collapsed, blood continuing to spurt out of the empty holes. "Thought so. You can't use amplification and your innate technique at the same time."

The third curse finally decided to join in just a few minutes too late. A stream of blood was shot at him, but Gojo's Infinity had already been activated by then.

Gojo analyzed him. Wait, that guy's not a cursed spirit. I bet he's a Cursed Womb: Death Painting. He's annoying, but he doesn't seem to be as proactive as these two. He can wait.

BWOOM! He was brought back to attention by the two curses ramming into his Infinity. He watched, devoid of expression as they pushed fruitlessly against the invisible barrier he erected around himself.

He locked eyes with Jogo, a desperate single eye meeting cold blue ones.

"You sure about that? If you try to neutralize my technique with your amplification then I'll counter by strengthening my cursed technique. This useless tree over here," he jerked his chin over to Hanami, whose eyes have yet to heal. "Might not be up to the challenge right now."

Jogo paled, "Wha—!"

Without hesitating, Gojo strengthened up his Infinity. The barrier was now crushing Hanami against the wall. He applied more force, grinning madly as the wall cracked behind Hanami's body the more he was mercilessly pressed against it.

In a panic, Jogo pulled away from the barrier and directed a flaming hand at the crowd of unknowing humans. "GOJO SATORU! OVER HERE!"

Gojo didn't let up. Immediately, he applied a hundred times more force and—

BOOM! Hanami exploded all over the wall, his remains getting everywhere but never touching Gojo.

"Next."

Jogo did what was probably the smartest thing anyone would do: he ran.

He dashed through the platform, shoving bodies out of the way as he struggled to control his panicked, heavy breathing. Gojo hurried after him, a dark look in his eyes that could make any curse shiver in fear.

He couldn't think straight anymore. Sure he knew going after the strongest was going to be tough, but after witnessing Hanami's death all signs of courage drained from his body. He was beginning to believe that Geto had led them to their deaths.

"CHOSO!" He screeched. "I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF IF YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO HELP!"

"Yeah, yeah," came the man's reply. He sounded way too calm in the midst of what was probably going to be a massacre.

He shot a series of blood arrows. One managed to pierce through a random human's head, but none touched their intended target.

Gojo watched everything go on in irritation. Everyone seemed to be avoiding him now, probably believing that he was somehow the cause of all these deaths. They didn't realize that avoiding him was only going to get them killed easier.

Not that it was necessarily a bad thing for him...

If their numbers keep dwindling and the space opens up, then I'll get a chance to spot volcano head. I won't be able to lure him out anymore by deactivating my technique. I already revealed my hand about destroying them up close too. It'd be bad if he coordinated with the cursed womb and unleashed a special attack on a crowd. Sorry... I won't be able to save everyone.

"But I promise to exorcise them in return."

He made chase once more.

Jogo fled, running around the platform. He seemed to take up using a hit-and-run tactic: he would attack Gojo close up, and then flee back to the crowd. Meanwhile, Choso remained in the distance, attacking only when Gojo was about to counter Jogo.

It was a shitty tactic, but that was now the least of his concerns.

A loud screech sound could be heard. It was the sound of metal running against metal. The train was coming. For some odd reason, Jogo looked relieved.

"It's here!" He cried out.

"The train!" Someone shouted. He hastily shoved everyone out of the way to get to the doors first. "Outta the way! Lemme on! Mo—"

He froze once he got to the front. His eyes widened in horror; pressed against the door's were the faces of monsters. There was a familiar ding and the doors opened. The transfigured humans spilled out. One of them got a hearty chomp on the man's head.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"What're they thinking?!" Gojo watched incredulously as chaos struck. The transfigured humans continued to pour out by the dozens. Since they weren't cursed spirits, everyone could see them. They ran back, some stumbling over one another as the monsters attacked them.

"Jogooo!" The last to come skipping out of the train was Mahito. "Mm... fresh air... full of fear! Maybe we should let a few humans survive. On the weekends, we'll let them loose in the forest and hunt them."

Jogo, now calmer since reinforcements had arrived, asked, "Can I burn down the forest?"

"Hanami would be upset!"

"Hanami's dead."

"For real...?"

Meanwhile, Gojo looked around in bewilderment. He didn't know what was going on anymore. What was their plan here? Had they gone crazy? Whittling down the number of humans was not to their advantage!

Mahito surfed towards him, riding on a transfigured human which propelled him to Gojo. He slammed his fist forward, but it struck his Infinity instead.

He laughed gleefully. "Haha! I really can't hit you!"

Gojo knew who this guy was and immediately punched him back, sending him flying towards a group of humans who were forcefully transformed upon contact.

Mahito grinned, a horrible and cruel grin. "Let me share one thing I find so disgusting about humans... there's so many of them."

The atrium that was once closed off by Hanami's weeds was now open. Hundreds of humans fell through the massive hole, crashing to the ground. The first to reach the ground landed with sick SPLATS, followed by hundreds more of humans that piled upon one another and clogged up the whole room.

Just what were these guys doing? Were they planning to dump everybody in Shibuya down here?!

Jogo watched in satisfaction as Gojo stood by, letting everyone run around him. He was eerily still, his expression unreadable but Jogo knew what was going on in his head.

Unlike Yuji, Gojo was capable of being cold-hearted. He was willing to make certain sacrifices in order to exorcise them. However, now that the casualties were mounting and more lives were at stake, he must've been nearing the limit of what he was willing to sacrifice.

Jogo knew they got him now. His only option was to cast a domain; it would kill them, but not without killing everyone else. It was too big of a risk. Gojo could save everyone outside of the domain, plus everyone not down here in the fifth-floor basement, but there was no way he would do it. His concept of sacrifice was limited to the humans who were killed by curses, not ones killed by himself.

I'll make you think and agonize! Jogo was just about to let out a victorious laugh until Gojo did something that made all the curses freeze.

Mahito's wild grin fell. "You serious?"

Gojo lifted up his hand, revealing one finger curled around the other. "Domain Expansion: Infinite Void."

Unbeknownst to the curses, he knew exactly what they were trying to do. They wanted to push him into a corner, thinking that he wouldn't use his Domain Expansion since it would kill everyone as well.

However, he already perfected the best time duration to release his Domain Expansion without killing anyone. He had successfully performed this act just a few days ago: the day he used his Domain Expansion for 0.2 seconds on his own student, Uchiumi Mizuhime.

It lasted only 0.2 seconds, but to everyone who had been trapped, it felt like forever. The whole room went still, curses, civilians, and transfigured humans alike all stood transfixed, minds blank and overloaded with information at the same time.

Gojo moved as fast as sound. With just his bare hands, he slaughtered every monster in his way, blood and guts gushing all over the room. In just 299 seconds, he managed to annihilate approximately a thousand transfigured humans within the Fukutoshin Line.

He ripped off the heads of the last two transfigured humans and that was when he noticed it. The creepy box that was left on the blood-stained ground.

"Prison Realm: Gate Open."

Gojo reeled back; the cube burst open, revealing a large eye surrounded by a stretched-out layer of skin and muscle. He could see himself in the reflection of the iris, his face blocked off by the pupil.

Shit! He thought, whirling around, ready to run away, but then he heard his voice.

"Yo! Satoru!"

He froze, his head snapping back. That voice... There was no way. There was just no way...

But standing before him was Geto Suguru, the man he had killed with his own hands just last year. His Six Eyes scanned him, taking note of every detail on Geto's face and body and trying to look for flaws, for any indication that the person before him wasn't real.

The stitches, his mind screamed. The stitches! Geto never had stitches like that running across his forehead. That was it. The only imperfection he could find, but everything else was... him.

Three years of memories flooded his brain. Meeting Geto for the first time, the first kiss they shared, their fated mission to protect the Star Plasma Vessel... It was all Geto, Geto, Geto. He was so transfixed that he didn't even realize that the Prison Realm had split apart and attached itself to him. Soon enough, he was trapped. It was a pitiful sight, the strongest man in the world, weakened by love.

"C'mon now, Satoru. Are you letting your mind wander during a fight?" Geto—the fake, the real deal, his mind couldn't seem to keep sane—chided.

Gojo strained against his bindings. It was no use. His cursed energy felt nonexistent and he couldn't move at all. He was completely trapped.

"Who are you?" He demanded, unable to hide the anger in his voice.

The imposter's smile widened. "Geto Suguru, of course. Did you forget? How sad."

Gojo's chest was heaving up and down. He couldn't control his emotions. He wanted to blow up, he wanted to destroy everything, he wanted to rip out of his own skin. "Your body... and even your cursed energy... My Six Eyes tell me you're Geto Suguru, but my soul knows otherwise! Hurry up and answer! Who the hell are you?!"

Finally, the imposter laughed. He reached up to his head and in a sickening moment, undid the stitches keeping his forehead together. "Yeesh! How'd you know?" He laughed joyfully, pulling the top of his skull away to reveal the grotesque brain resting inside him. There was a pair of teeth at the front and the juices from his brain were dripping down his face.

Gojo growled under his breath, trying to pull at his restraints. He wanted nothing more than to run up there and stop the man from messing with Geto's body any further than he had already done.

"Still don't recognize me, do you?" He grinned. "Ah, not that I could blame you. We met so long ago, after all. But I must say... I do miss seeing that look of pure devastation on your face..."

Gojo had always been unlucky when it came to love. He knew that best. After all, he was the one that caused the first tragedy. He still remembered the agony in Gojo's expression when Shisui's blood dirtied the river.

And now here he was, in the body of his second lover and relishing the pain in Gojo's face once more.

"How... are you doing this...?" He seethed.

"It's a cursed technique that allows me to hop between bodies by switching brains," he explained. "Of course, it lets me use this body's innate techniques as well. I coveted his cursed manipulation and these exact circumstances." And then here came the killing blow: "You didn't have Ieri Shoko personally get rid of Geto Suguru's body, did you?"

Understanding dawned on Gojo. He knew at once that this was all his fault. Even though he was the one who dealt the final killing blow, he couldn't bring himself to have the body cremated. He let it remain as it was, and because of that, this parasite was able to use him.

Yuta's words from so long ago came back to haunt him: Love was the most twisted curse of them all.

"You're only considerate during such awkward moments," the imposter went on, sewing his head back effortlessly. "Thanks to that, I was able to obtain this body without much trouble. But don't worry. The seal will be over soon enough. In a hundred... no, maybe a thousand years. You know, you're stronger than before. But now you're in the way of my plans."

Gojo let out a harsh laugh. "Hah! You don't remember? Before that body was killed by me. Remember who beat it up?"

"Okkotsu Yuta, huh?" The imposter looked unimpressed. "I don't really get what everyone sees in him. His ability to copy cursed techniques. And his boundless cursed energy. Both are the result of him having to detain his loved one's soul. Sorry to say, but Okkotsu Yuta can't become the next Gojo Satoru."

Around this time, people were beginning to snap back into focus. Choso's eyes were blinking, Jogo's body swayed, and Mahito was conscious enough to wipe away his drool with a trembling hand.

The imposter gave Gojo one last smile. "Good night, Gojo Satoru. Let us meet again in the new world."

Gojo smiled back, bitter, anguished, and angry. "Yeah, maybe it's good night for me. But it's about time for you to wake up. How are you gonna let yourself get used like that, Suguru?"

It was as if his words awakened something in the host body. The imposter's hand snapped upwards, fingers wrapped tightly around his throat. He managed to choke out a laugh. "Hahaha! No way! This is a first for me!"

Mahito came jogging by. "Getooo..."

"Mahito... Look." He turned, hand still clasped around his throat. "You theorized that the soul came before the body, but the body is the soul and the soul is the body. Otherwise, this phenomenon, or the fact that the host body's memories are retained, can't be explained."

"Does it have to be the same for everyone? Considering our cursed techniques, you and I practically live different worlds," Mahito commented.

"So, techniques dictate our worlds, huh?" The fake chuckled, forcing his hand to release his neck. "I like that. It's poetic."

"Heeey! Let's just get this over with. This is nauseating. I'm not enjoying looking at you two either." Gojo complained, scowling at them.

The fake smiled. "I'm enjoying the view myself, but I suppose you're right. Can't risk something happening. Gate Close."

The cube closed itself, sealing Gojo within it. At last, the strongest sorcerer was taken down.

While his enemies in the outside world celebrated their victory, Gojo remained trapped in the Prison Realm, surrounded by blood-thirsty skeletons that couldn't touch him.

"Crap. I messed up," he said. "This will definitely cause trouble."

(Understatement of the century.)

"Whatever," Gojo grinned, reclining back. "It'll be fine. I have faith in everyone."

━━━━━━・❪ 🩸 ❫ ・━━━━━━

9:25 PM. Between Meiji-Jingu-Mae and Shibuya

Mizuhime burst out of the curtain, eyes wide with panic.

I don't like this...! Weren't there supposed to be reinforcements?! Where is everyone?! I failed, I failed!

She tried her best to stop the civilians from running to the second curtain, but hardly any of them listened to her (not that they could, everything was too loud). In the end, she ended up stuck with a smaller group of humans that got separated from the bigger crowd.

It wasn't easy trying to protect them while also trying to protect herself from the transfigured humans. They kept hiding behind her or getting in the way, too slow to react to any attacks that they would accidentally step into.

"I'm telling you, it's a trap!" She remembered yelling at the group. "Don't go in there!"

"Then where the hell do we go?!" One shrieked, tears streaming down their scared face. "We can't go back up, the only way is down!"

"No, don't—!" But it was useless. Another horde of transfigured humans came at them and the civilians scrambled like bowling pins. They rushed down the stairs, their backs disappearing behind the inky curtain where she couldn't follow them.

She didn't know what was going to happen to them on the last floor, but she knew it wasn't anything good.

She failed to protect the civilians and she failed to take the curtain down. She wondered if things would've been different if she had brought Naoya along...

She grasped the edge of the street lamp, her shaky hand reaching into her pocket and pulling out her cellphone. She was just about to contact one of the managers until someone called out to her:

"Senpai!"

She whirled around, finding Megumi, Ino, and Nanami running over to her.

"You're okay!" Megumi breathed out in relief.

"Uchiumi, where's Zenin? Isn't he supposed to be watching you?" Nanami asked.

"He's—" Before she could say anything, the sound of Yuji's voice echoed from the sky:

"NA! NA! MIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

Yuji?! She thought in bewilderment, her head snapping upwards. He was so loud, the entire city could probably hear him.

"NANAMIN, ARE YOU THEEEEEERE? GOJO-SENSEI HAS BEEN SEALED!"

She nearly dropped her phone in shock.

"Sealed?!" Megumi's face turned pale.

Nanami's back straightened at once. "You three, change of plans," he said, already heading in the direction of Yuji's voice. The three of them rushed after him.

The atmosphere took a nose-dive. The air had already been tense before, but at the news of Gojo's ensealment, a sudden heaviness permeated the area. A promise of doom to come.

"We must join Itadori at once," Nanami said promptly. "If Gojo's really been sealed... it's all over. For all humans in this country." 

— author's note —

Omg hiiii 💖 I missed you guys 🥰

Here's the first chapter of the second book! We're getting right into the action (and the trauma) so I hope you enjoy 💖

I also got more fanart! These are from artsyaubray98

Now, onto the first meme of the book:

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top