22 Sanctuary

(Kiryu's POV)

"So....Satoru's been sealed..." I said as I sat in my seat, "This is fucking terrible timing.....that godamned moron...." 

"Can you blame him?" Shoko asked, "This....thing...Kenjaku...was wearing Geto's face." 

"Exactly why he's a damn moron." I said seriously, "He never should've killed him. He should've let me do it." 

We were all in my estate, taking sanctuary from the aftermath of the Shibuya incident. There was an abundance of Cursed Spirits that had emerged these last couple of days. Kenjaku, the one that was possessing Geto's body, had began an event that would cause some trouble. 

Multiple cities had been surrounded by veils and were dubbed as Colonies, locations for some sort of game. 

According to my sources, Sorcerers from the past have been reincarnated into modern people's bodies. 

Whatever it is that Kenjaku is planning, he needs Satoru out of the picture for him to see it through. He was serious when he didn't want to risk fighting both Yuki and I at once. 

Now, I was in my home with Megumi, Maki, Itadori Yuji, and Panda. They were sitting down on some couches across the room. 

"Don't be like that." Shoko said, "Don't forget, your little mishap caused Geto to even begin that attack." 

"I know." I said seriously, "That's why I wanted to do it myself." 

"This is not good..." I heard Uta said, "The higher ups in Jujutsu High have dubbed Satoru as a criminal and any attempt to unseal him will be punished by death." 

"Fuck them." I said, "I'll deal with them myself." 

I stood up and walked past Uta and Shoko who were sitting on some chairs and made my way to the kids. 

"Kiryu-san...." Megumi said with a frown, "I....." 

"Shut up, kid." I said, "Whatever guilt you're feeling, get rid of it. It's not your fault. And it ain't your fault either, Itadori." 

I looked at Sukuna's Vessel, it was my first time meeting him in person. He had a serious look on his face, one that had seen some shit. 

Maki nudged him with her elbow, "Hey." She told him, "KIryu-san is talking to you." 

"Eh?" He said looking up, "W-What? Oh.....S-Sure...." 

I crouched down and looked at him in the eyes, "I'm gonna kill you." I said seriously, "Just you wait." 

"What?" he said with surprise

"I don't think he means you, Yuji." Megumi told him

"Oh, you mean Sukuna." Yuji said, "T-That's...." 

"Get some rest." I said while straightening up, "You all need it. As for you, Maki, we gotta talk." 

"No need." She said standing up, "I'll do it." 

I raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?" I said

She gave me a serious look, "I heard of my father's plan on selling me to you in exchange for Megumi." She said, "I'm willing to do it." 

"Whoa." Megumi said, "What are you talking about?" 

I shook my head, "Out of the question." I said, "I wasn't going to bring that up. I was going to say how I was gonna use your uncle as a bargaining chip against your clan, but what.....what the hell is wrong with you?" 

I looked at her, she was filled with scars from her battle in Shibuya, her hair was cut shorter. She looked wayyy different than I remembered her. 

"I was only thinking of a way to be safe from the Zenin Clan's attempt on our lives if Naobito dies." She said, "If I were to be your bride, that puts me under your protection. Things have changed drastically, with Gojo-sensei sealed, the balance of this world will go out of porportion." 

"Don't give me that crap." I said, "What made you think I was gonna marry you? I'm getting married, make no mistake, but not to a little girl. I can always adopt you as a sister or something if you want my protection. I have this idiot as a surrogate nephew. And as for this one, yea, him too, fuck it why not?" 

I pointed at Megumi and Yuji who were merely blinking in awe. 

"I see." She said, "I guess...." 

I sighed and turned around, "Balance of the world, my ass. Everyone looks at Satoru and thinks of him as a god.....Please....what about me? Just cause I don't do much doesn't mean I can handle all of this...You're too busy looking at one Gojo and you don't notice the other one making moves. Hey, Itadori!" 

"Y-Yes?" He said

I looked back at him,

"Want to see Nanami?"

************************************************

"What is this?" Shoko asked me, "Kiryu...." 

"This feeling....are all these Cursed Tools?" Uta said

We were in a large cavern-like room underneath my estate, I had several of my servants running around and tending to massive torches that were lit up with cursed energy-infused flames. I was walking down the stairs that lead to this massive room, followed by my babes and the kids. 

I nodded, "Something like that..." I said, "You've heard of the Doppelganger Ritual, right?" 

"The old Cursed Tool power?" Shoko said, "I've heard stories of them." 

I stopped at the middle of the room and looked at the massive circles drawn on the ground with several bodybags laid in the middle. 

"The Doppelganger Ritual was a sequence used back during Sukuna's time to create meat doppelgangers made from Human sacrifices to combat the King of Curses." I looked over at Yuji, "Remember that, Your Majesty?" 

Yuji frowned, "H-He's quite quiet today...." He said, "Something about you, I feel...." 

Megumi and Maki seemed a bit uncomfortable, I could tell. 

"Anyways." I continued, "I combined the Ritual with another powerful cursed technique and used it to create body doubles that'll switch out at the very last second. I used it on Nanami, Kugisaki Nobara, Zenin Naobito, and Aoi Todo. Those were the only body doubles that were activated. I had body doubles prepared for you lot as well, but fortunately, they weren't needed." 

"You used the Doppelganger Ritual for that?" Uta asked, "Since when?! How did you know they would be in danger?" 

"I had a feeling." I said as I crouched down in front of one of the circles

"Wait?" Yuji said, "Brother Todo didn't die...." 

"He didn't, but he suffered a permanent injury caused by the patchface right?" I said, "One that couldn't be healed. After the fight, he passed out right? At that moment, he was swapped, the one who received the permanent injury was the doppelganger. It's really hard to explain, but it's several binding vows in placed. In exchange for saving their lives, they are to be stored in these circles for a while until their souls and cursed energy are completely replenished. That doesn't mean that they will be good to go right away, though. They might have some serious fatigue and all. A good cost for surviving all that shit." 

Yuji walked over to me, "S-So, Kugisaki and Nanamin are...." He said with his voice cracking

I gave him a smile, "Yea, they're alive." I said, "The only mistake I made was not using the Ritual on Satoru, it could've been a doppelganger in that prison realm instead of him. That was my mistake, I never anticipated Kenjaku taking Geto's body. It makes sense, though....why he would attack me and mess with my memory." 

"His strategic intelligence is no joke." Utahime said, "He knew you were capable of messing with his plans, you and Satoru. And his best way to deal with you is by keeping you away as long as possible.....enough time to seal Satoru....but ..."

"Now you're onto him..." Shoko said, "And I can only imagine that he has a plan to deal with you." 

I straightened up and patted Yuji on the chest, "This fucker here." I said, "Or the one inside him. He plans on sicking Sukuna on me." 

"What are you gonna do about that?" Megumi asked, "Knowing you, you might want to imprison Yuji until you've dealt with Kenjaku." 

"Not a bad plan." I said as I placed my hand on my chin, "But nah, I plan on fighting him after all. Not before I devise a plan....Originally, I wanted to stay as far away from Itadori so Sukuna doesn't come in contact with me, but if push comes to shove, Kenjaku will interact with him regardless one way or the other. He will tell Sukuna of my Cursed Technique and he'll learn how to counter me." 

"You don't sound worried about that." Maki said

"I'm not." I said, "He can know it all he wants, it won't change a thing. He's a Curse." 

"Curses hate my power."