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The night wind blows slowly, the stars adorn the dark night sky and the moon emits its light brightly. as Gojo takes Itadori who is still asleep with them, they decide to ask Ijichi to take them back to Jujutsu High instead of riding the bullet train to avoid attracting more attention.
"By the way, Megumi. You should treat your wounds by the time we get back. I'm sure Hina would freak out if she saw you in that state." Gojo chuckles as he puts Itadori on the front seat while he and Megumi get inside the back passenger seat.
"You don't have to tell me, I'm planning on seeing Shoko-san after this right away if she's not busy." he sighed
"Let's just pray that Hina's asleep by the time we get there." Gojo chuckled.
But fate says the other way around.
Eyes widened, the fair-haired lady ran towards her student with eyes filled with worries. "Megumi?! What happened to you?!"
"Aaaand.. she's wide awake." Gojo chuckled once again. Megumi sighed in defeat, "I'm fine, it's not that serious sensei.."
"Who did this to you?" She frowned and saw Itadori in the front passenger seat. "Was it that boy? Did you get into a fight??"
Hearing the change in her tone, Megumi flinched and answered immediately. "No Sensei, it's just a second grade curse. He's not at fault."
"Calm down Hina, we need to treat his wounds first okay?"
"But Shoko-senpai is not here at the moment.." Hinari replied, furrowing her eyebrows. "Really?? Megumi, can you treat your wounds by yourself for now? We should take this boy to the isolation room soon."
"Isolation room?.. why?" She asked
"Because he ate Sukuna's finger.." Megumi mutter in a low voice, "... to save me."
Silence greets them. Only the sound of crickets could be heard for a moment.
"... Are you serious?"
"Yes." Him and Gojo answered in chorus, making her sighed. "Alright, go treat your wounds Megumi.. I'll follow Gojo-senpai."
"Yes, Sensei.." he muttered and walked away, glancing at Itadori one last time before completely out of sight.
The look of worry was still visible on her face and Gojo patted her head like he always did, just to calm her down. "Megumi will be fine, Hina. He's trained to deal with that kind of minor injury, remember?"
"I know.." she sighed "but I'm really worried.."
"Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I'll keep Megumi and the other students safe. I'll try my best so that no one's going to die." Again, that is.. "Okay!~ then, shall we go to the Isolation room?"
"Okay, let's go."
The two then went to the Isolation room where Gojo once detained Okkotsu Yuta when he first came to Jujutsu High. After Gojo talked with the Higher-ups he went back and explained what happened to Hinari while he's tying the sleeping boy to a chair and she helped him by using her Cursed Technique; Cursed Chains as a backup if the one who woke up later turns out to be the well known curse spirit; Ryomen Sukuna.
"So this boy, Itadori Yuji-kun, has the potential of being Sukuna's vessel?.."
"Yeah, but that'll be confirmed if the one who woke up is himself and not Sukuna." Gojo mutter and turned the chair so that he can place his arms on top of it "The higher-ups sure are noisy." he chuckles
"I see.." she mutter
Somehow she felt uneasy the moment she knew that the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, had been incarnated. And the Vessel potential is right in front of her.
'If this boy wakes up and the one who appears is Sukuna, it'll be dangerous, Hinari.' She heard one of her Shikigami's voice that had been with her since she was little, the female white-furred fox with nine tails, Zenko.
I know but after hearing Gojo-senpai's story, Megumi wanted to save this boy no matter what and I don't want to make him feel awful if I don't help. It's the first time he asked for something from us. She replied while staring at Itadori's back and waiting for him to wake up.
'He's a potential danger and he will be executed. What's the difference?.. should I do it for you?' She asked with a gentle voice and Hinari mentally chuckled before responding; Haha.. no need, Zenko. Everything will be fine.
After a brief silence, Zenko finally spoke again. 'Well, Summon me when you need me.'
I will. She replied with a small smile and saw Gojo smiling at her as well. "What's wrong Senpai?"
"Are you conversing with your Shikigami on whether or not you should kill this boy now?" He asked, knowing what happened most likely.
"Ah.. yes, she did ask me about that to which I refused." She smiled wryly
"Because it's Megumi's wish right? I understand, but I've tried my best to talk with the higher-ups about it minutes ago. As you already know."
"Those Geezers demanded for him to be executed." She frowned "especially that coward Gakuganji." She clenched her fist when she mentioned his name
He knows exactly what happened to her back then so Gojo just gets up and walks towards her, holding her hand to ease her anger. "It'll be fine. Trust me, I have a plan in mind."
Will it be okay though?.. She thought to herself and nodded. Gojo went back to his seat and she glanced at Itadori who started to move a little.
"Oh? He's awake." Gojo mutters, smirking.
"Ugh.." Itadori grunted and fluttered his eyes open to see Gojo who sat on the chair across from him.
"Good morning~" Gojo greeted, "Which You are you now?"
"... you are.." he mutter in a hoarse voice
"Gojo Satoru. The beauty behind you there, yes right there~, is Shirazaki Hinari." He said and she smiled at Itadori "We're teachers in charge of the students in Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School." Gojo explained shortly
"Jujutsu... Fushiguro.." he widened his eyes slowly in realization "Senpa-agh!! W-What the hell is this..??"
"Oh.. please don't move too much, the more you try to struggle, the tighter my Binding Chains will be." Hinari muttered, leaning her back against the wall with arms across her chest and a small smile on her face.
He glanced at the black-red chains binding him, "Binding Chains..? No, Wait! There's no time!!! Where's Fushiguro and My seniors?! Are they all right?!"
"You're in no place to worry about others.. Itadori Yuji." Gojo smirked, "Your Covert Execution has been decided."
And so Gojo explained what happened to Itadori once again about how he said that he will help Itadori from the execution.
"With that, allow me to repeat.." Gojo moved his hands from right to left and grinned, "You're being Executed."
"Eh?.. What you just explained to me, Doesn't match with this situation though.."
"Nah.. I really did my best, you know? An Execution is an Execution~ but I got your sentence suspended."
"Suspended? You mean it won't happen right away?"
"Yup. I'll explain from the beginning." He muttered and took out one of Sukuna's fingers "This is the same as the cursed charm that you ate. There are twenty in total. Six of these are in our possession."
"Twenty? Ah you mean Fingers and Toes?" Itadori asked. "No, Sukuna has four arms." Hinari said after being silent the whole time.
"Four??" Itadori widened his eyes in surprise
"Yup." Gojo mutters and tossed the finger upwards, when it falls right in front of him, he uses his curse energy to blow it towards the wall but the finger is perfectly fine, unlike the wall.
"As you can see, we can't destroy them." Gojo said and got up from his chair, walked toward the wall and pulled the finger from it, "That's how powerful the curse is. Hm it even made a hole here.." he muttered
"And unfortunately, the curse is getting stronger by the day.." Hinari mutters gazing at Sukuna's Finger.
"Exactly. With the Current numbers of Sorcerers and The seals of Modern Day Jujutsu Sorcerers won't be enough to control it. That's where you come in." Gojo pointed his index finger at Itadori.
"Me?.."
"Meaning, if you die, the curse inside you will also die." Hinari moved her gaze to Itadori, furrowing her eyebrows "I know this sounds harsh and cruel.."
"Haha, our Elders are a bunch of cowards, you see. They're making a huge fuss telling us to kill you right now. But it'll be a waste, right?"
"A waste?"
"Yup, there's no guarantee that we'll find someone else who is capable of handling Sukuna within our lifetime. That's why I made a proposal.."
Is it the plan he had in mind?.. Hinari thought and kept quiet, listening to what Gojo is about to say.
"If we're going to kill you anyway, why not kill you after you've absorbed all Sukuna's pieces? And the Elders accepted. So you have two choices, You can Die right now or you can die after you've absorbed all of Sukuna's fingers."
"Do you think it'll be fine?" Hinari started a conversation as the two walked to the teacher dormitories. "Hm... don't worry, it'll be fine since they agreed to my proposal. Even if they don't, their opinions don't matter anyways."
"I don't know but I feel uneasy." She muttered and stopped walking. "Especially for that old man, judging from the past events I don't think he'll simply agree to your proposal, Senpai."
Gojo stopped walking and turn around to face her, she lowered her eyelids as memories of the past events flashed before her eyes again. The smell of blood, the gruesome scene that she will never forget for the rest of her life.
Her thoughts were cut off when Gojo pulled her into his embrace. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden hug she received, his hand stroking her head gently, comforting her like he did back then or whenever she felt uneasy.
"Don't think about it anymore. Don't open up the wounds you've tried so hard to heal, Hinari.." He said in a very gentle voice that he rarely uses.
She nodded and clutched his shirt while burying her head on his clothed chest, she felt her heartbeat beating a bit faster and for unknown reasons, she felt really comfortable being embraced by him. "I wonder what it is.." she whispered in a really tiny voice.
"Hm? Did you say something?" He asked again with a very gentle voice, still stroking her head gently. She shook her head slightly, "No.. nothing."
"I see.." he muttered and smiled "can we stay like this a bit longer?" He asked softly and she nodded.
The wind blew their hair and clothing in sync, Gojo still embraced her and stroked her head gently. Silence grew between them but it wasn't an awkward one, rather, they were enjoying being in each other's embrace for a good moment.
"Your hair is really soft," he mutters, breaking the silence.
She chuckles "really?"
"Yup..!" He said in a cheerful voice and she giggled, "Senpai.."
"Yes?"
"I have one question.."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I'm still wondering.." she paused and looked up at him, "how can you actually see..?"
Gojo paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Hahahahaha! We're having a little moment here and that's what you're curious about?" He laughed but still didn't want to let her go.
She blinked her eyes twice, "well I can't help but ask you that tho.. I think you've mentioned it once but.. I forgot.."
He kept on laughing and moved away from her. Watching his reaction, she laughed a little too and had already forgotten about the past events she recalled moments ago.
"Oh by the way I'll be taking Yuji to Yaga-sensei tomorrow after we all went back to his house." He said, fixing his blindfold.
"Ah, he'll attend this school too, I almost forgot about that."
"Yep. I've already customized his uniform too~" Upon hearing the word Customize, Hinari furrowed her eyebrows while smiling. "I remember you did the same thing to my uniform.."
"I guess it's a hobby?" He grinned and the two walked back to the dorm while having a pleasant conversation before parting to their own rooms, which are right next to each other.
As soon as Hinari was inside her room, she stripped off her clothing and went to the bathroom. Unlike the student's dormitories, Teacher's dormitories are equipped with larger private bathrooms in their own room. Their rooms are also twice bigger than the student's so it's pretty spacious for a dorm room. The only teachers who live in the dormitory are Gojo and Hinari. The rest of them mostly have their own houses.
Taking a quick hot shower to ease her muscles so that she'll get a better sleep, she let the water run down her whole body while she kept on thinking about Gojo's behaviour these past few months. It'a really normal to see him being intentionally or unintentionally flirty but she has only realized his actions toward her these past few months somehow hit differently and she started to feel something is changing inside her.
"Seriously.. what is wrong with me.."
'What is troubling you, Hinari?'
"Ah Zenko.. Nothing, It's just.. I think my heart can't seem to work properly.." The fair-haired lady frowned.
'Why do you think that way?'
Hinari brings her hand to her chest, muttering, "Sometimes when I'm around him, my heart beats in a rather abnormal way.. Am I sick? Do I need to see Shoko-senpai?.."
'And who is this 'he' are you referring to?'
"Gojo-senpai.." she replied and Zenko stayed silent, "Zenko?"
'..... It must be just because you are exhausted, you should rest, Hinari.'
The slight pause confused her but she didn't push it any further. With a smile, she answered; "You're right, I think I'm just exhausted.."
'Get some rest, you worked hard today.' Zenko replied and Hinari nodded, stretching her body before stepping out of the shower box then stopped in front of the foggy mirror, wiping it with her hand and looking at her own reflections.
She lowered her eyelids staring at the faint halfmoon-shaped mark on the right side of her chest right under her collarbone and the old scars on her body. She touched her unique silver diamond key pendant and moved her hand to her neck where an old scar remains.
But before she could recall the past events of her life, Zenko came out in the form of an amber eyes nine-tailed white fox the size of a brown grizzly bear. Snuggling her head to Hinari's cheek, the fair-haired lady giggled feeling ticklish.
Zenko is not just an ordinary Shikigami in Hinari's possession because she could speak, think and converse properly. She's been with Hinari for as long as, Hinari, herself could remember and has been protecting her ever since.
"Thank you, Zenko.."
The smoke coming out of the crematorium filled the morning sky in Sendai. Three people sat on the bench near the building in silence before Gojo spoke,
"Who passed away?"
"My Grandpa. Although he was like a Father to me." Itadori answered. "I see, sorry it happened at a time like that." Gojo replied
"My deepest condolences, Yuji-kun.." Hinari muttered, feeling sympathy.
Itadori smiled subtly, "Thank you.."
"So, have you decided what you want to do?" Gojo asked again.
"Are casualties like these from the curses pretty common?" The young boy asked. "This time was a rather exceptional case. But in terms of damage, it happens all the time." Hinari replied.
"If someone encounters a curse and they die normally then it's fine. Finding a body that's all ripped apart, as long as it was found then it's still fine." Gojo said
Hinari nodded and looked at the shuddering Itadori, "If you plan to find Sukuna's fingers, then you're going to witness gruesome scenes, Yuji-kun. Being a sorcerer isn't that easy.."
"Yup~ we can't guarantee that you won't end up that way yourself." Gojo added and smiled subtly, "Well~ Choose your own Hell."
Itadori went silent and the three walked inside the crematorium, to get the remaining bones of Itadori's grandfather.
-"You're a strong kid, so help others."
Itadori lowered his eyelids recalling his grandfather's words before he passed away. The young man clenched his fist and began to keep the remaining bones inside the big jar. "If all of Sukuna's parts gone, will the number of people killed by the curses decrease a little?"
Gojo smiled, "Of course."
"Hmm.. do you still have that finger?" Itadori asked and Gojo nodded, handing him one of the fingers as the former gladly took it. "Looking at it again, it's pretty disgusting." Itadori mutter
Gojo took a step backwards and watch in silence along with Hinari but they're on alert the moment Itadori swallowed the second finger.
Now then, that's the second one. Meaning A tenth of Sukuna's strength, what's going to happen?~ Gojo smirked and moved his left hand while his other hand blocked the door, ready to kill Itadori on the spot if he failed to control Sukuna this time and the same goes for Hinari.
She felt slightly nervous and somehow the uneasiness washed all over her. Itadori began to breathe heavily, head lowered.
Soon after he laughed, "Hah.. hahaha! Bleghhhh gross!! So gross that it makes me laugh."
"Oh.." Hinari genuinely felt amazed and surprised at the same time.
Heh. It's settled then. It's not just a physical tolerance, he can control himself against Sukuna without issue. What an outstanding talent.. one we've been waiting for a thousand years. Gojo thought and snickered while mumbling, "That's one hell of a talent."
"Hm? What's wrong?" Itadori looked at Gojo, tilting his head slightly. "Nah, nothing. This means you've steeled your resolve?" Gojo asked.
"Not at all. I'm still wondering why I have to be executed. But I can't just do nothing about this curse, that last request is gonna be a pain in the ass." He sighed
"Then?" Gojo smirked, waiting for the answer he most likely knew of.
"I'll eat every part of Sukuna. I don't care about the rest, I've already decided how I'm going to die anyway."
Hearing that made the blindfolded man grinned "Nice! I don't dislike people like you. Sounds like fun hell awaits us." He said and turned his heels towards the door "Remember to pack your bags by the end of the day~"
"Huh? Are we going somewhere??"
Hinari nodded and pressed the button to open the sliding door. Once it opened, Megumi stood there wearing bandages around his forehead.
"Tokyo." The raven haired young man said. Itadori's expression brightened when he saw him, "Fushiguro!! You look perfectly fine!"
"You think so after seeing this???" He frowned
"Ah.. so you're not okay.."
Hinari chuckles when she watch them and Gojo looked happy when he saw her smiling. "Their friendship will be beautiful.." she muttered and Gojo nodded, couldn't agree more.
"You're going to be like me from now on. And you're going to transfer to the same High School for Jujutsu Sorcerers I attend." Megumi explained briefly to the confused boy.
"Tokyo prefectural Jujutsu High School." Hinari said gently, her smile didn't leave her lips. "Yeah~ ah and by the way, you're the third member in first year~" Gojo smiled.
"So Few!!"
ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʀꜱᴇ ɪ | 03
[A/N]: FULLY EDITED.