After The Divorce || Nanami Kento || JJK

The Harbinger of the Storm to Come

CHAPTER 18

It wasn't that you trusted Shoko. You didn't. Far from it, but you knew that she was never the person to actively hurt you. Not because she was a saint, but simply because she didn't care enough to and that was enough. You weren't sure where your relationship stood with people like Gojo or Nanami. Especially Nanami after that incident earlier where you burst into tears after just seeing him. It felt like all the emotions within your chest were churning like a hurricane within you. You'd never felt anything remotely similar, such volatility, yet you couldn't even address it as you were constantly shoved into more issues left right, and center. Curveball after curveball.

Sinking to the floor of the payphone booth you tried your best to sort out your thoughts while Shoko was on her way.

Strange Decor

My identity as some sort of... generator

Puppetization... If that was even a word

The plant being a good thing

Wait. I'm missing something

You ran through your conversation with Suguru in your mind, trying your best to decipher his intentions.

"with no attempts at possession or turning you into a marionette. Its drawbacks are mild in comparison, don't you think so?" He had said, you remembered it clear as day as soon as you thought about the issue a bit deeper.

"..Its drawbacks are mild.."

Drawbacks?

He had never truly gone through the drawbacks of the plant, you realize. He mentioned them but had never gone into specifics. Your heart sinks. It wasn't the fact that he hadn't mentioned the drawbacks which scared you, it was the fact that you hadn't noticed until you consciously replayed the conversation from top to bottom. Were there other things he'd say that your brain would gloss over? Was he doing it on purpose?

Your brain raced with conjectures.

You were out of your depth, you had no clue what was possible in this new world of supernatural you had been thrust into. Everything was scary and new, everyone and everything was different from the way I thought it was all before and somehow embroiled in this world of cursed energy and strange things. This world I was never made known to, was kept from for God knows how long by the people I trusted. Yet, having witnessed the horrors of the world for the first time tonight. That... creature, I was starting to think that maybe I wouldn't have wanted to know about all this anyways.

Speaking of the creature. I looked towards the plant, a tendril of it had become wrapped around my pinky finger, the chill radiating from it like holding onto metal. I had noticed it earlier, it's color, it wasn't as vibrant of green as before but was more muted. What happened?

With my thoughts finally slowing down enough for me to process everything I soon find a culpable answer. The monster.

After saving you from your fall from the... what used to be a window. It had rolled into the blood of the monster, you hadn't seen it happen but you knew it did, much like you knew where your arms were when you closed your eyes. Something happened, between saving you from the fall and rolling in monster blood, that had changed it. This change was overlooked by Suguru since it was physically impossible to see through the table which blocked the plant from his view. Plus, it was hard to see unless one really looked. You weren't sure what exactly this change in the plant means but having something change that Suguru was unaware of was a good thing, an edge of sorts. He always seemed to know too much about things that you were never privy to. It made you feel vulnerable; naked.