𝘾𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 | Jujutsu Kaisen

𝟳 | Beginning Of The End

Hayate continued to talk, mouth moving as he preached, but all that reached Tetsuro was the sound of static and a blade cracking through bone.

She stood on shaking legs, knife cradled like a lifeline in her aching hands, and tuned to her father who had fallen silent and was now staring at her with an odd look in his eye. Neither of them said anything as they stood. A breeze swept through the courtyard they stood in and ripped up a new wave of metallic scent that had the girls eyes water and mouth filling with the tangy sharpness of bile yet she refused to look away from the man across from her. Even as the ache from her wrists burned up past her elbows, she held the knife tight.

"Testu-" Hayate cooed softly before the sky above him shuddered.

There was silence through the compound, all eyes cast to the sky.

Slowly, Hayates one blue eye widened as he watched as a shockwave rippled over the shroud, like a hammer had struck it. The ripple wavered out from the epicentre of where It had been hit, each wave getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely and the sky was once more smooth and bright. A picturesque show of a soft summer evening.

Tetsuro took her chance.

Once again, her fingers locked around the handle of the knife and she lunged for her fathers exposed back. Her steps were quick, blood stained yukata catching under her feet, but her steps were agile and long as she gripped the blade with two hands. Hayates gaze was fixated on the still sky, back wide open and arms raised. She could almost see it, the knife sticking out through his ribs, the rivulets of red that would stain her hands and linger in the crackers of her knuckles. She could almost taste it.

A floor board creaked beneath her foot.

The back of Hayates hand struck against her cheek as he span around, one of his rings tearing through the soft flesh under her right eye. Tetsuro yelped like a wounded dog, collapsing on her side, before she scrambled up and swiped at his legs with a feral snarl. Hayate stepped out of the way of each strike easily before landing a swift and solid kick on her stomach that had the girl retching and gasping for breath. Lost in her search for oxygen,  Hayate yanked the knife from her grip and threw it somewhere in the destroyed garden.

"You little-" He sneered down at her, anger rising along with the red in his cheeks, before he took a fortifying breath and simply glared down at her in disappointment "Why must you be difficult?"

Tetra could barley lift her head from where it rested against the harsh wood of the engawa "F-fuck...you"

"All this has been built for you yet you squander it on selfish dreams and fantasies ,yet I continue to be lenient and -" Hayate tried to remain calm as he gestured to the space around, trying to emphasise what he meant, before simply turning away from his still heaving daughter to face the garden.

Not a second later, the sky split open.

Both father and daughter watched in shock as the specialised shroud Hayate created crumbled like dust, slivers of the filmy black shroud falling to the ground like thick plumes of ash. Hayate stared while Tetsuro was struck with the feeling of dread and clarity. 'This is what those in Pompeii must of felt as those thick black ash clouds moved in' was the only thing that bounced around her skull. Her demented train of thought was cut short as a scream of panic rose through the compound like a tsunami and shattered the shocked silence that had encompassed it.