"Remi.."
Seeing the familiar face of the sorcerer thief made his shoulders slump in some sort of relief. Not that he was happy or thrilled to bump into her out of all people but at least he knew what to expect should she try something on him again. She was good before, Kei gives her that but out of all the competitors within the game, it's a surprise to see she's still out here and surviving. He watches her dust off the dirt from her flimsy dress before kicking up her knees with a scowling look. She was about to say something but this confuses Kei as she closed her mouth right away, immediately retracting she wanted to say and instead looked at him with stunned eyes.
"Woah, you're all grown up, kid." She eyed him head to toe, "Looks like puberty's done you right. And you're not in a wheelchair? I gotta say, I'm not used to you towering me like this now."
"Remi," He calls out her name again in a stern tone, wanting to cut to the chase how she'd gotten stuck in this mess but she continues. "Okay, maybe I must've been harsh on you the last time we met, but hey, maybe things can work for us after all! I've been looking for a prince myself, you k-" She was hoping to ramble on and on but Kei didn't have the patience. Her body crashed back up against a cement wall and before she could push her back away from it, he keeps one hand atop her shoulder and the other whisking a string of sharp razor wire made of energy etching close to her neck so she can remain still. She looks up at him and sees menacing, dark eyes. Blue ones like the sea but not one with a beautiful, innocent Oceanview. They're dark and ominous like ocean in nighttime.
He wasn't playing games.
"Stop wasting my time. Tell me why you're here."
A playful laugh emerges from her lips and her eyes then turn to slits,
"So eager. Maybe you haven't changed."
"Shut up". Remi humiliated Kei and Megumi in one of the first tasks Gojo assigned them on together. They had always dealt with curses but Gojo insisted to be ready to fight sorcerers, evil ones and those who use their powers for the wrongest reasons. Remi was simply a petty thief. She lured men with her charm, baited them somewhere where no one was looking before she threatened them with her poison. She gave them two choices: give her all their money willingly or face the most excruciating pain through her poison and still get their money taken away from her. Many of them had tried to retaliate and failed.
Megumi used Kei as the bait. A boy seemingly innocent and disabled seemed like the easy prey for Remi. Fushiguro would watch from afar while Kei had garnered her attention. She made her way towards him, romantic and friendly. Mostly flirtatious as she had smoothed her hand over his arm, bending down so closely like she wanted to kiss him. Even if it was all the plan, Kei blushed and turned bashful. A reaction Kei would cringe to himself to this day. The two students seemingly failed at what should have been an easy mission but she outsmarted the both of them, making her escape.
"I came here out of curiosity, really," She averted her eyes away from his own intense ones, "When I heard about the culling games, I figured there might be a reward at the end. Maybe a prized possession or anything money related. I just had to come see." Then she sighed out, her pleased expression dropping. "Ugh, but they didn't tell me we had to fight to the death! I'm barely surviving and I'm so hungry, so thirsty. A pretty girl like me shouldn't be put in a predicament like this."
"You're an idiot." He snarls, "You came in without asking what the rules or the consequences are? You must really be desperate."
Kei was ready to dart another string behind but halted his plans when the sounds of footsteps trotting to the scene was actually a familiar face. Megumi. Kei's eyes widened and his heart began to dance. Finally, someone he knew! His grip on Remi loosened a bit but she didn't dare to try to escape, knowing he would just capture her once more.
"Megumi, remember this face?" He looks at him then to Remi. Megumi's eyebrows raised and with sword in hand, he stares right at the girl. There wasn't much of a reaction to him. He held that signature frown and this makes Remi scowl.
"What, you can't remember me? Am I not as important to you?" She was awfully offended, even more when the other student shakes his head at that.
"I really don't care who you are. Tell us what you know about this place and we might just let you live." Kei agreed easily. Remi gulped seeing as she had no choice.
"I might know something..there's a man here, known as Higurama. One of the few with the highest points. If you get to him.."
"Then we can rank up points and not just a few." Kei completed her sentence and she nodded hesitantly, staring down at his feet. "Yes, it won't just be a few points. It'll get you close to hundred points, enough for you to change the rules of the game."
"But will you tell us where he is?" That's the question. Even if she knows where he is, is she willing to give up that information? For a girl like Remi, surely she would want a trade over this precious information.
"I will. On one condition." Well, he was right about that. Megumi takes a few steps closer to hear what she will say and Kei only continues to press up his arm hard against her neck so she can spew it out immediately. She looked down at it nervously before stammering,
"Y-you guys need to protect me! A girl like me out here..I can't take care of myself against of these psychos roaming around here. But you guys, you can help me. Make sure I don't die."
Kei's eyes narrow, "You do know only one person will survive in the end."
"Then change the rules! Make more than one winner and allow me to be one of them."
"We don't have time playing babysitter, Kei. Let's just go and find him ourselves."
"As much as I want to, we don't have time to spare." He shot back with a reassured look, "Please, let's take the chance. And if she's wrong, we abandon her but this might be our only shot getting out of here sooner."
Megumi stared at him intently and then at the girl. Kei's words were desperate and despite his instincts kicking and screaming, telling him to not trust the girl who once deceived them long ago, he decided to do this for his friend. He knew Kei's emotions were running high and perhaps would be best if he just complied to what he wanted to do. Maybe it'll make Kei satisfied. And who knows, maybe Remi is telling the truth.
"Fine, we take her with us." He looks over to Remi, "Take us to Higurama. Right now."
Her body feels at ease when they decided to take her deal. Looks like she gets to live another day. She nods, inclining to the first step to the directions of Higurama. Before she can follow suit with the Shikigami user, her hands are suddenly bound midair.
She yelped and jumped slightly before looking down at them, tightly wrapped by Kei's wires and before she can protest the discomfort she felt, a hand tangles around her waist before she's plunged against the blonde's chest. She nearly stumbled and looked up to see Kei giving her a scary, cold glance. He looked ready to kill her.
His own grip felt cold against her dress and she tried to squirm but his grip tightened, making sure she wouldn't escape his hold. "I'm not going to run away! Y-You don't have to tie me up like thi!" She words muffled when his other hand clasps against her mouth and his fingers resting on her cheek. He grasps it fiercely before pulling her close to him, face inches near hers.
"Shut the fuck up. Listen very carefully," he cooed at her with a threatening voice, "If I so hear you say something that doesn't relate to directions, I will personally see that you regret it. Here's the thing, Remi, I actually, really don't care how you came here. What you've been doing the past year and what's been your deal. That's not important to me. I'm only using you to get what I truly want so you better be obedient and start being compliant." He finally unclasps his hand and lets her breath out. He left his mark across her mouth but she bit her tongue to retract her complaints. She meekly nodded at the boy and he nodded his head in silence. An aura of blue glows around his body and suddenly the three were like flying midair, heading to the direction she guided them to.
The journey was quiet except when she told them the next couple of steps. Sometimes, she'd look at Kei but he wasn't looking at her. He kept his gaze straight forth but those eyes were clouded with disturbance. Even a sense of desperation all over them. She wanted to ask and she opened her mouth to say something but then his threat he mentioned prior forced her to stop. She made a noise but refused to continue. Kei arched a brow but the way his fingers flexed on her waist, tight gripping again made her know he wasn't happy. She turned almost mute right after that.
They made it to the roof of an abandoned school building. Kei dropped the three down carefully before he let a soft pant slip from his lips. He still wasn't used to using his powers that way. He lets go of Remi's waist and instead is now literally dragging her by the arm. She almost falls as they walk down the stairs to the second floor where Higurama is supposedly awaits for them.
"H-Hey, stop that!" Remi exclaims, "At least let me go first! If Higurama sees you guys, he will turn hostile. At least let me go first!"
Kei's jaw clenched and he swore he wanted to punch this girl to stop her from talking but his fists relaxed and realized that this might be a smart option. Allow her to walk into the classroom he supposedly was staying in so they wouldn't have to fight at an instant. He needed to observe him, see who this Higurama really is. Analyze the chances he has to defeat him. Not that he wasn't going to try. Kei was going to kill that man, no matter what but he needed to see who he was dealing with. When Remi walks into the room, Kei thinks of Nobara. He pulled his head down and thought of what she was up to. Where could she be? Is she stuck with the others just like he was with Megumi? He couldn't bear the thought of losing her. His thoughts left when Megumi puts a hand on his shoulder,
"It's okay, Kei. She'll be alright."
He smiles at his friend. Of course he knew what he was thinking. "Thanks, Megumi." He always so observant.
But the optimism Kei had vanished when five minutes have pass. Megumi gave the suspicious look to his friend and he mouthed, "What's going?" And then Kei turns to the slide doors, his fingers hesitant but still reaching to the painted handles to the room. What really is going on? She was going to bring him out but they hadn't heard of anything since. He even pressed a ear against the door and its just pure silence. She couldn't have jumped over a window, can she? If so, this was going to make Kei angry. But when he opened the slide doors to reveal himself, he realized it was far worse than that.
"Shit.."
He was fooled again by Remi once more. It was a trap.
Megumi stands by his side when he sees a strange man, almost dressed in white feathers with his blonde locks falling loose past his shoulders. Higurama? But what made the situation worse was that he wasn't the only one in the room. Aside from him and Remi, there were more sorcerers huddled in there and they looked like they didn't want to have any peaceful negotiations.
"Ah, thank you, Remi. Another pair of mice here to be caught in my trap." And that's when everyone starts to become hostile. Kei puts his hands out, blue aglow with Megumi, sword intact and his demon dog lingering by his leg. The dog barked as the stranger smiled playfully and Remi just stood behind him, leaning against his leather chair. The man looked as if he was treated like a king.
"You're not really Higurama, are you?" Megumi asked, clearly pissed that they've been tricked. Though not as furious as Kei, who was the one who wanted to believe in Remi but he was tricked once more. He was the same person who caused their first mission to fail and now this. It was like a repeated cycle.
"Now, don't blame it all on Remi." Reggie smirked as his hand reached for her tied hair, pulling the bands down to let her locks go loose. "I enlisted the girl to lure sorcerers like you here. You're not the only one chasing for points."
Kei turns to Remi,
"Oh, you are so dead."
"No, Kei, it's you who will die. Looks like you fell for my tricks again!" She pursed her lips before eliciting a teasing smile. "Oh don't be so sad! That's how these games work, right?"
"Kei Murasaki, isn't it?" Reggie smiled. "When Remi told me both of your names, I was a bit surprised. A lot of us sorcerers have heard your names across many lips these past days."
"Really?" Megumi looked at him, slightly puzzled. "Yes, you guys are quite important in the jujutsu world. Like you, Megumi Fushiguro. I hear you are the head of the Zenin clan. That's quite the title."
"I don't need your praise."
He avoids looking at Megumi and then he turns to the other boy, "And Kei..Kei, Kei, Kei.." And his teasing smile leaves.
"That Kenjaku wants you dead. All he does is ramble about you and so I will do the honors of killing you myself. If I do, then I instantly get a hundred points and the glory will be finally mine."
Kei's teeth grit, "That's not going to happen."
"I never fought against a descendant of the mad sorcerer but I'm sure with the help of my friends, this will end fast. Boys,"
The sorcerers all around ready their weapons.
"Kill them!"
Remi and Reggie watched the bloody entertainment as the two battled against the other sorcerers. Kei ignited his energy onto the fray and their bodies exploded before he ducks down to the sorcerer at his left who tries to slice his neck with his blade. He grabs the handle, raising the sword up before crashing his body back to the wall. With one hand, he pummels his face with his fist before the man's grip loosens. Before the sword falls to the ground, Kei takes it and stabs the man with it. The fight continues with Megumi commanding his beast to claw at his enemies when surrounded while he fought the others with his sword. He managed to hide and dodge with his own shadows. He slipped into the pool of blackness before emerging out in the hallway before throwing himself at one. He snaps a man's neck and fades back into the shadows.
Kei imbues the sword before it splits to hundreds of swords. He runs back into the room and sees Reggie and Remi making their escape out of the window.
"Oh no, you don't!" Reggie cries out when he jumps out the window but not without two of the swords sticking into his shoulder blades. The other blades captured the other sorcerers, stabbing into their skulls, their bodies. Littering their entire bodies with swords. The entire classroom was tainted in red.
"Megumi! They went downstairs!" Megumi shot his head back to the classroom after killing many in the hallway. He jumped down with Kei and as they did, they had no idea how far the distance was to the ground was so Kei used his energy to make them levitate down safely. They plant their feet to the ground and with no sighting of the two, they pressed their backs against each other. They looked around the empty courtyard only to see Remi and Reggie make their appearance again. Reggie seemed perfectly intact even after being stabbed
"You guys are good!" Reggie laughs, "But I still got more where that came from!"
And that's when more reinforcements arrived but Kei's heart dropped. It was the same people chasing him earlier. Bomb girl. Another woman in her jet pack who flew ridiculously fast. All the crazed sorcerers who wanted him dead were here. He took a deep breath.
"Kei, you get them. I'll get that bastard."
"You sure, Megumi? Even you might not be able to face him."
"I can do this."
"I'm going to use it, Megumi.." He turned to look at him with the corner of his eye. "I..I will use my domain, so please..when I use it, stay back."
And that's when Megumi smirks. Suddenly, the boy seemed eased about the situation.
"That's funny..I was going to use my domain too."
"Chaotic minds think alike," Kei huffed out. He began to smile too even when their chances look off and the blood tricking down his head was bothering him some more.
"Let's do this, Kei. Like what Gojo taught us.."
Kei closed his eyes and with the sword he took from the dead sorcerer, he aimed it at the direction of his enemies.
"Like what Gojo taught us," He repeated softly before their backs departed. They sprint at different directions. Megumi at Reggie and Kei dealing with the rest of the reinforcements.
Kei duplicated the sword again to hundreds again, just when they were running closer to him. Before they could run away, the swords scattered and began stabbing into people's backs. Some were able to dodge by hiding behind the victims. The sorcerer with the bombs screeched before hitting back against the swords with their explosives. He took them on a goose chase, running, jumping across different buildings nearby. What they didn't know is that they were moving around his spider web as he dragged his wires around with him to make a net for them to get caught up in. They started to pick it up when they felt their arms and ankles and legs tangling around the wires. Everyone began to get caught up in it. He could kill them easily with their explosive grasp but no, they needed to pay.
Megumi was storming through the sorcerers to get to Megumi and seeing as they were failing to stop him from getting close to Reggie, the blonde man decided to stop gawking. He walked up at him before the two initiated close combat, fighting with blood and sweat. Reggie was overwhelming him with his swordsmanship and he started to take some blows on Megumi. The boy spit blood and Kei even saw from afar, nearly gasping at him.
"Megumi! DO IT!" The domain. It was time.
The two made sure to have a good distance between them and once they did, their hands clasp together so they can finally bring out their trump cards.
With a little bit of sense and imagination, it just takes the slightest trigger to change a person. The both had enough.
"DOMAIN EXPANSION: CHIMERA SHADOW GARDEN!" A pool of black swept up Reggie's feet.
"DOMAIN EXPANSION: NIGHTMARE FUEL!" Another domain emerges and drags all the sorcerers under the umbrella. Instead of a pool, they meet a short time in an abyss midair. Almost like gravity until they see a glimpse of light coming close. Closer and closer they see their biggest fear: death itself.
Blue flames enter the abyss and everyone who tried to flee couldn't because their bodies were force to remain still. Kei floats above the flames and with a scream, he shouts,
"THIS IS YOUR END! BURN IN HELL!" The flames crash down like a tsunami and everyone screamed. It sounded like a chorus to Kei's ears as they burned and their bodies turn black. He repeated the nightmare, forcing them to revisit the flames over and over. They cried and begged for him to stop but Kei refused to listen.
Reggie wasn't going down without a fight. He brought out one technique: Hollow Wicker Basket. It was meant to counter Megumi's domain and he smiled, thinking it will bring an end to the effects of it. But then, nothing happens.
"Why.." He starts to growl angrily, "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?"
"I should tell you something." Megumi's voice is heard somewhere but he can't see him. "My domain is actually incomplete and that technique can work if the domain is complete."
"No, that can't be..." The man looked in horror and before he can muster up an excuse or a negotiation to the boy.
"You lost." he cries out when Megumi emerges behind and stabs him right at his sword.
Remi was hoping for Reggie to walk out of the domain but instead the man fell on his knees and with one last breath, he fell to the ground. Megumi stared down at him before whisking the blood of his sword. Then, he looked at her.
She was next...
'Oh god' She began to panic and immediately trotted backwards when she hits another dead end. She twists her heel only to see Kei, tattered in blood and sweat looking down at her.
"W-wait-agh!" Her mouth is left open and she stares at him with stunned eyes, not blinking for a moment. She doesn't say anything anymore, just like Kei likes it. Her head tilts a little and suddenly a streak of blood across her neck appears. Slowly, her head slips out from the rest of her body and rolls down to the floor. She reaches Reggie. Kei didn't had to say anything. He used his wire to slash her neck, killing her for good.
Megumi was slightly surprised and his shoulders nearly shuddered at the sight, but he didn't say anything. She had it coming.
Kei walks over to her head and cocks his head so tauntingly.
"Oh, don't be so sad." He remembered what she said to him in the classroom.
"That's how the game works, right~?"
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more chapters to come this week! This too will be reaching the end soon. Vote and let me know what you think <3!