// SURVIVOR'S GUILT // : MAKI ZEN'IN

1.

"Mh~.....I wish to enlist the services of the great Honen, nothing more."

"Then?" Jizo said.

Geto continued on, seemingly anticipating his own words with a smirk; "A contract open to all members present for the capture and recovery of Suoh Yuuya, alive."

"725 million for anyone who brings him to me."

The nine curse users present, Akio included, lurched forward, a money-fueled interest piqued by such an audacious contract.

O-Oi, Sen gawked in shock, That's insane....! That price for one of our own....t-that's unheard of...!

His eyes diverted towards the others present, sporting similar expressions of disbelief, poorly masked behind poker faces crumbling at the thought of the windfall.

Hm...but what does he think....?

It took only a moment, however, for the mercenaries at the table to analyze one another's reactions, and turn right back to the one at the forefront of decisions for the group, and, impatiently, awaited Jizo's acceptance of the-

"No. Out of the question."

"HAH?!"

Sen's jaw slammed into the fine china before him, and the Nunes girls shrieked in unison, slamming their fist against their utensils and sending them wayward to the ground.

"The fuck you say, Jizo...?!" The second-in-command hissed to the Honen leader, "The hell are you doing, turning something like that down...?!"

Slowly, Jizo turned his head towards the man to his side, and, despite the absence of eyes on the leader's black mask, Sen could feel a piercing gaze on him. His grip tensed on the tablecloth, twitching in silence.

"....remember our plans, my friend," Jizo replied, "There remain things to be done, you know this."

Sen relented, digesting the gentle tone of the leader, falling back in his seat, conceding and ending the altercation with a huff.

The leader, steadfast in his composure, leaned forward in his seat, planting his elbows on the table, locking his fingers again.

"I will reiterate this point, to you, Geto, and any who wish to defy my word." Jizo said, a sharp increase of cursed energy unnerving all within the Veil,

"Suoh Yuuya is not, and never will be, negotiable for a contract."

"Oh~," In what seemed to be an impressed expression, the Special-Grade sorcerer prodded with a smile. "And, why may that be, mh~?"

"Simple," The leader replied, shifting from his seat with a sigh and rising to his feet, "Versatility, and survival."

"Oh, do tell, my friend~."

Jizo began to circle the table, the eyes of Honen glued to their plates; the magma atop the  Volcano Curse, both sentient and powerful, bubbled as the leader approached their side of the Veil.

Unsheathing a knife along his waist, and twirling it with his finger, the man known as Jizo spoke.

"Suoh Yuuya is a valuable asset to us, coming through our ranks the moment his technique had manifested. As is custom with all sorcerers born within Jodo's borders, he was trained beneath us by our curse user veterans, and, as he had begun to show a remarkable promise beyond any of his peers, he was....granted, an ultimatum."

Behind the mask, Suguru could tell; his gaze, sly and unreadable, had locked with Jizo's, as the man paused his step.

"At the age of 11, we had him decide between a future of stagnation, or progress; if he defeated his peers in a gauntlet of each and every one and successfully surpassed them, he would be directly promoted into Honen and we would train him personally, as the heir to the empire of curse users we call Jodo; if he failed to impress, or denied this chance, he would simply exist among the rank-and-file of the Jodo guard, never becoming more than a pawn for the elite of two spheres of influence, of sorcerers and humanity."