《CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO》
《WARNINGS: NONE》
"THERE ARE A HUNDRED DIFFERENT possibilities that will go about the way that we can free Y/n from the prison realm.”
Gen leaned across the table, taking a sippy cup from Will as he shifted Sora in his arms. She sat in his lap and he lightly bounced his leg up and down as he listened. Sora leaned back against Gen’s chest, looking up at him through her lashes as she drank the juice in the sippy cup.
“But in order to get those one hundred possibilities, we have to get the cube first,” Maylee said. “Which, frankly, will not be easy.”
“No, it won’t be,” Shota said. “Neoma will be guarding that cube with her life. She took a leap of courage and succeeded in sealing her, so now she’s going to be cockier than ever, and she’s not gonna let anyone ruin that.”
“The first thing we need to direct our attention to is Neoma,” Will said. “If we want to know how to kill her, we need to know how she works. We need to know how she thinks, how she acts, what antagonizes her, and what boosts her confidence. Just based on what you’ve told us, Neoma is a manipulative person, and she’ll use any means to get what she wants.”
“She’ll more than likely try and fight head-on now that Y/n is out of the way. She knew that she was outmatched in the very beginning and because the attention was not on her, and she was no longer the most powerful, she began her manipulation,” Maylee said, shooing Melanie back into the living room. “She started with the father, trying to get him to take Y/n and away from her mother so that she could kill her and make it look like an accident. Then to Shota, who she’d convinced that she wasn’t the bad guy. Then to every single person that she could.”
“Neoma has the ability to gain access to everything in someone’s head with a physical touch. And after the first touch, she doesn’t need it anymore, and there is no limit to how many people she can do this to at once,” Shota said, leaning against the counter. “With the information she’s given, she can create a hallucination or illusion, and twist and bend whatever she’s learned.”
“When Neoma touched Y/n in the park, it gave her all the access to what was in her head,” Fushiguro said. “And so she used it against her.”
“Y/n is the strongest person in the entire world,” Gojo said, making everyone look over to where he’d been leaning on the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “But her mental state is wrecked. She can beat anyone in a physical battle, but when her psyche is messed with, it’s game over for her.”
“So what do we do to get her back from Neoma?” Gen asked. “Since all of you shot down my plan, do you have a better one?”
“The only way we’ll be able to stop Neoma is if we mess with her head too,” Kugisaki said, taking Sora into her arms. “She won’t be expecting herself to be mentally tortured.”
“Ok, so how do we expect to do it?” Fushiguro asked.
There was a moment of silence before Itadori spoke up. “Shota.”
“Me?” The older male said.
“You have the strongest bond with Neoma,” He said, facing him. “You knew Neoma before she was like this. She’s never shown any kind of hostility towards you, and when you and Satoru were fighting her, she fled away to avoid fighting you. Every time that you have shown up, Shota, Neoma runs away.”
“She doesn’t want to hurt you,” Gen said, looking at his father.
“If any of us went after her, she’d kill us in an instant,” Kugisaki said, placing Sora onto her hip and the girl grabbed Kugisaki’s ponytail. “However, if you went…”
“That’s a very valid point,” Maylee said, placing a hand on her chin. “And it may work. Of course, we’d never leave you alone, Sho. I believe that Neoma will be too preoccupied with you to even notice we were there.”
“The question isn’t if we think it’ll work,” Said Will, who turned to face the black-haired male. “It’s you.”
“Do you think it’ll work?” Fushiguro asked. “Neoma will focus on you?”
Shota raised a hand up to his face, wiping it over it before running it through his hair. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes.
“This is just a family thing at this point,” He groaned. “Yeah, she’ll focus on me.”
“What do you mean a family thing?” Gen asked.
“Two can play this manipulation game.”
…
“You’re never were good at hide-and-seek,”
The soft taps from Shota’s shoes ceased. His hands remained in the pockets of his sweatpants as he turned to face the woman behind him. The hood remained over his head, leaving tufts of black hair spilling from under it.
“Wasn’t really trying to hide,” He replied. “Not from you, at least.”
Neoma walked forward, taking her hands from her pockets. She wrapped her arms around Shota, hugging him tightly. He didn’t hug back.
“You’re pissed at me,” She muttered.
“You sealed my baby sister in a prison realm for a thousand years knowing she had a baby and a husband, you’ve manipulated me for twenty-something years, you tried to kill Y/n at least a dozen times, and you murdered my mother,” He deadpanned. “I’m very pissed at you, Neoma.”
“I never wanted to hurt you,” She said.
“All you’ve done is hurt me.”
Neoma backed away. “I just wanted to make a world safe for you, Sho. You’re my little brother. I’m supposed to protect you!”
“Well, you did a pretty shitty job of that,” He scoffed. “You ruined everything for me, Neoma.”
“You ruined it for yourself,” She snapped, before realizing what she said. She quickly looked up, an apology spilling from her lips.
“Y’know, I think I made a mistake,” Shota said, shaking his head. “Okaasan was always right about you, Neoma. You’re a piece of shit.”
“Shota!” She exclaimed, as he turned and began to walk away. She ran after him, grabbing his wrist. “Shota, listen to me!”
“I’m done listening to you, Neoma!” He shouted. “Every time I listen to you, something always goes wrong! You told me to trust you, and that you handle Mom, and then you killed her! And then you told me to trust you about Y/n, and you tried to kill her too! Then, you convinced me that everything would be fine and that you would come home fine, and you got yourself killed! I’m so sick of listening to you!”
“Shota--!”
“No!” He yelled, cutting her off. “I don’t care what you have to say! I looked up to you! I respected you, hell, I wanted to be you! You were my idol, Neoma! And look at what you’ve done! You left me alone in everything. You promised that it would always be you and I. You promised that we could work together one day. And you blew that. You lied to me! You tried to kill everyone that you thought wasn’t good enough!”
“Sh-Shota..” Neoma said, her eyes widening.
“I can’t stand you!” He admitted, his hood falling as he raked a hand through his jet-black hair. He took a step forward, making Neoma step back. “You ruined everything for me, Neoma! You’re the reason I couldn’t have a normal relationship with my little sister! You’re the reason she would sit in her room and sob and tremble with fear! You’re the reason she would run to me and hide away from Otousan! You’re the reason he even beat her in the first place! You’re the reason that my nephew is dead! You’re the reason why my son is terrified to even move any more! You’re the reason why Satoru can’t reach Y/n! You’re the reason for it all!”
Neoma’s back pressed against the wall. Shota towered over her, watching her look up at him in pure shock. He glared down at her, gray eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“I fucking loved you, and I trusted you. You were supposed to help me as my older sister, my Nee-san. But to even think that I cried for you when you died? That I cried when Y/n and I found your missing body? That I didn’t even think I could have the courage to be the one to bring you down again?” He scoffed, shaking his head with a small chortle. “That’s so pathetic of me! God!”
“B-Bastard!” Neoma yelled.
Shota caught her fist, slamming his palm into her side before elbowing her under the jaw. He grabbed her by the throat, swiping her feet from under her before slamming her back against the concrete. She kicked her foot up, but Shota easily moved away, his hands falling to his sides.
Neoma spat blood to the side. “I gave you everything! I trained you! I helped you, goddammit! You stupid son of a bitch!” She got to her feet, shadows jumping around her. “What happened to you!? Why are you doing this? I never wanted to hurt you, Shota! I only wanted to protect you!”
Shota pulled the hoodie from over his head. He tossed it to the side, draping it over the guardrail of the street they were on. Neoma felt the heat rise in the air, before the area around them burst into flames. She gasped at the sudden combustion, looking over at Shota. A circle of flames formed around them, trapping them together.
"This ends now," Shota said. "I let what you did to Y/n go for years. But I'm done being forgiving. You fucked with something you shouldn't have. Now, you're going to pay for it."
"She deserves this!" Neoma yelled.
"She doesn't!" He yelled, voice echoing in the air. "And I'm sick of people blaming her!"
"Shota, you don't—"
"FUCK YOU!"
Neoma was startled by the loudness and the hatred in his tone. The flames rose up behind him, forming into the figure of a dragon's head. She stepped back. Shota was shaking with rage, the anger evident on his face.
"Cursed Fire Technique: Dragon's Breath!"
《CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: END》
《IMAGE NOT MINE》
———————
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T SEE/READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT I RECENTLY MADE:
very recently, a good friend of mine came to me with a situation. They were in the middle of writing an Itadori x Reader, but they decided to discontinue it because they didn't have the time nor the motivation to finish it.
We've been friends for a very long time, and they asked me if I wanted to take over the story.
And I said yes.
So when this book is finished (ending is planned around end of September/early October) I will be picking up the Itadori x reader.
They've sent me the chapters and the drafts and allowed me to edit and change it as much as I'd like. I'm going to keep the basic storyline and plot though.
Thank you hcn_eyed for letting me take over your story <3