5 "Let's Freely Curse Each Other"
Happy First Birthday Almighty-San!
12/13/2022 - 12/13/2023
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Several Weeks Later
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"And then, I tossed Toge his medicine. And then he was all like, 'Get Crushed!' and then the curse got squeezed like an old juice box!" exclaimed Yuta excitedly, tossing another hot piece of takoyaki in his mouth while Makima sat across from him enjoying the food he brought her.
This was one of the many meetings Makima and Yuta would have about Yuta's progress. Every other afternoon, Yuta would bring the redhead delicious food from the outside world. Mochi, Takoyaki, and all the other delicacies she couldn't enjoy while on her pseudo vacation. Not to directly insult the staff that made the school's food, it's just nothing beats the passion of a street vendor trying their hardest not to be homeless.
"Is it often that the school's informants are wrong about a combat situation?" pondered the redhead, bringing up the unexpected Semi-Grade 1 curse that attacked them.
Yuta scratched his chin in thought. "Well… I didn't ask but, Ijichi-San apologized profusely to us afterwards so I guess it's not so common."
"Hmm, I see," hummed the devil, Yuta looked at her confused. "Oh it's nothing Yuta, just some careful musing that's all," she reassured him with a thin smile. "How's your progress with the sword?"
Yuta lit up to her question. "Yeah! It's going great! Gojo-Sensei taught me how to imbue this sword with Rika's cursed energy," he unsheathed the blade, running his hand along the dull side. "I still need practice, but I'm getting better at it," he finished sheepishly putting the sword back in its holster.
"I'm sure you'll master it in time, just be sure you continue your training both on and off campus okay," she reassured with a shoulder pat. At that moment his phone rang and he quickly rifled through his pocket to pull out his phone.
"Oh man, I forgot we had training today. The time must've really flown by. Sorry Miss Makima, I didn't mean to cut our session short," he apologized sheepishly.
"Just Makima is fine. And I don't mind at all, the whole point of these sessions is to improve you mentally and training does the very same thing but psychically. I hope you use your time well Yuta," she concluded while taking the last bite of her takoyaki.
Yuta gave an excited nod, making his way to the door. "I will! See you again soon!" he shouted as he closed the door behind him. Makima gave a sigh of contentment, disposing and cleaning up the mess they made before resting comfortably on her bed. She established her visual connection with several of the birds around campus ready to observe their training once again.
Most of the time their training consisted of hand to hand combat, cardio, and muscle strength. But what she was truly desired was how she herself could use cursed energy. She hypnotized that if she could achieve it in its most basic state, she could also use her sight and hearing on animals she chose to control.
Yet time and time again, she couldn't manifest it in its most simple form! She replicated their exercises to perfection, yet nothing but wasted time! Was it biology? Trauma? A technique she hasn't found in books or their actions? Whatever it was was driving her mad at how simple children could achieve what she could not!
But… she must keep trying. Without cursed energy even if she could outlive Satoru Gojo, any sorcerer or curse would pummel her like the blinded being she was. So, while she sat peacefully in confinement, research on the first years was her top priority.
Getting over her lack of ability, she eventually found Yuta and perched her living drone high on a leafless tree. He seemed to be having fun with his classmates she mused to herself, time really does have a way to make opposites attract, especially with humans.
A strange sound filled one of her ears, the sound of arguing… high above the ground? From what she could make out, there were about four of them, two men and two teen girls by the tone of their voices. She shifted her vision to the bird that heard the voices and was shocked to see them levitating off nothing. They were just sitting and lying down on air as they descended close to Yuta's group. "Oh wait, that man looks familiar. I've seen him on a bounty book of rouge sorcerers," she mused, her thoughts being interrupted by the sudden alarms and scurrying of staff running to Yuta's location.
The four intruders landed down in front of Yuta and his classmates, with them standing in front of him as his guard. As the four of them climbed out of the mysterious being, Yuta voiced the normally obvious statement "Woah! That's a big bird!". And to that, Makima couldn't have been prouder of him.
"Yuck! Lord Geto is this really Tokyo?" groaned the blond teen gazing at the school. With that simple comment, the pieces snapped together for her. Geto, Suguru Geto is one of the most powerful rouge sorcerers to live. A former acquaintance and rival of Gojo along with being someone she craved to control. For of all this world's confusing functions and jujutsu, his was the most compatible with hers. The ability to control curses weaker than himself.
Is it entirely inferior to her ability, of course? But controlling him would allow her the best chance to not only learn the basics of cursed energy, but maybe even use him to enhance her own abilities of control. From her room, she trembled at the thought of so much power, but not yet, it's too soon. She had to wait for the perfect moment and just had to hope it would come sooner rather than later.
"Nanako, how rude of you," smiled Suguru, moving his sleeves together like a monk.
"Huh? But don't you think so too Master Geto," spoke the second teen, a brunette.
"Hahahaha, not you too Mimiko," laughed the curse user lightly.
Then, it happened before any of either Yuta or the rest of the first years could process it, but she could see it perfectly. Looking closely, she saw Suguru put a tremendous force to push off the ground and fly speedily to Yuta, taking time to hold both his hands. "My name is Geto Suguru. Nice to meet you, Okkotsu," he smiled with that same tone. It was only then they noticed he moved.
"So fast," they all whispered in shock, readying their abilities
"Huh, oh…nice to meet you…?" voiced the confused Yuta.
"Yuta, you possess a truly wonderful power. I believe you should put that power into a great cause," winked Geto with malicious intent. "Tell me, have you ever questioned the state of the world? How unfair it treats people like you?" he let go of his hands and began circling Yuta.
"You see, I have realized this paradox of how the strong must not only protect the weak but must also hide away in a sadistic act to protect them more. It's so deplorable! Unnatural!" he swung his arm across Yuta's shoulder. "It's high time that mankind reconsidered it's strategy for survival don't you think?"
"Uhm, I guess?" stuttered Yuta unsure of himself.
"See you understand! And since you understand, Yuta how about you come with us, and I can make things right for everyone!"
"What do you even need help with?"
"Nothing major really, a simple task with someone of your skillset," Geto leaned in closer to whisper his request into his ear. "Just kill all of those damn non-sorcerer monkeys," he grinned like a conniving cat. "Only then can we create a world that is made for people like us. The strong."
They all stared at him dumbfounded. Is he serious? What's wrong with him? Theses were the types of questions swirling around in the student's minds.
"Oi oi. Suguru, could you do me a huuuuuge favor and stop blabbering on your crazy ideology to my students?" All present looked towards the school to see Gojo standing across from them, a frown prominent on his face.
"Ah, Gojo! Long time no see!" waved a cheerful Geto.
"Enough of the charades man, get away from the kids."
"Oh come now Gojo. I heard all that this year's batch of first years are doing quite well under your tutelage, and now that I'm here I get why. A special grade cursed human, a curse corpse mutation, the descendent of the curse speech users, and…" his gaze glowered at Maki, steeling herself for the words she dreaded to hear again. "The Zenin clan's failure."
"But hey, one dud out of four is still a nice batch, but do yourself a favor and ditch the monkey. She'll only drag your team down," he chuckled loudly. That was until Yuta removed himself from Geto, a disgusted look greeting the man.
"I'm going to say this as nice as I can," spoke Yuta in a menacing tone, "I don't really understand a thing you were talking about. But at this point, I couldn't give a damn anymore. Because no one insults my friend like that!" he finished glaring at the curse user as he walked over to Maki to comfort her.
"Fine. This wasn't about you anyways," grumbled Suguru. He turned towards Gojo and the staff that were coming to stand by him. "Heed my calling sorcerers. I came here not for Yuta, but to declare war on you all," grinning as all present tensed up. "On the night of December 24th me and my followers will commence the Night Parade Of Hundred Demons. I'll even be kind enough to say where we will be rampaging. We'll strike at both Shinjuku and Kyoto simultaneously."
"If you want to stop my two thousand curses from causing hell on earth, try to stop me. I'll be happy to curse each and every one of you!" cackled Geto with his arms outstretched.
"Waaaaaah! Geto, Geto! The store is about to close! You promised we'd stop by there!" whined Nanako while she looked at her phone.
"Easy calm down please. Sigh, honestly Gojo, I don't know how you handle four kids, I can hardly handle two. Hahaha, I guess that's another thing you have over me," he joked as he turned around to walk back to his flying bird curse.
"Geto, did you think we'd just let you leave?""
"Humph, I wouldn't try if I were you." at that instant black smoke expelling curses of all shapes and sizes surrounded the students and blocked the path to Suguru. "I left some gifts for your students. I wonder if they can defend themselves at such close range."
With the Suguru Geto and his followers took off into the sky, the moment she was waiting for. "I need to follow them," she voiced from her cell as her controlled bird trailed behind them, to be sure not to lose sight of that most intriguing of prey.
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Hours Later… At The Geto Estate
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"That's probably what that muscle brain principal is spouting out right now," chuckled Geto to his commanders. "He knows how strong I and our supporters here are and will likely send word to the nearest schools, alumni, maybe even the three great clans if he's desperate enough," calculated the curse user, resting his head on his palm.
"Excuse my rudeness, but you seem quite sure of this plan Master Geto," voiced the big shirtless blonde.
"Sigh, I'll admit it's not foolproof. Even after all your efforts and my planning, we still have only a thirty percent chance of success. Thankfully with you all serving as distractions, the only difference all these sorcerers will make for us is raising the difficulty of your distractions in order for me to claim the queen of curses. The expected time will be only ten minutes after the attack begins, but be ready in case they store a strong sorcerer at the school."
"Yes Lord Geto," they all said in unison.
"Now go, prepare yourselves. All two thousand of my curses are ready for yours to use. Best of luck, and to a better world," he smiled waving them all away. Except… "Nanako. Mimiko. Stay behind for a little bit longer," he asked the two girls as they were about to step out. They glanced at each other, before walking to the rising Suguru.
"What's up Geto?" asked Nanako with turned head.
"Yeah, come on don't-!" Mimiko began, but both were cut off by the embrace of Suguru hugging them tightly.
"Stay safe please," whispered Geto, "Protect each other, even at the cost of the mission you hear," he moved his hands up to massage their heads tenderly. "Every step of this mission will be strenuous and even if it's pulled off to perfection, it would be a hollow victory if either of you died by those monkeys," Nanako felt a single tear fall on her shoulder.
After a while, Suguru let them go, his face seemingly as it had been before. "Don't worry Geto," began Nanako, "We won't let you down," finished Mimiko with a peace sign. With that, the two teens left his room to join the rest of the family.
Suguru took time to stare at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. His mind thinking back to all the good times he had with not only Nanako, Mimiko, and his family, but also the days he spent with Goj-"
"How sad. Where was that malice from earlier?" spoke a mysterious feminine voice.
Geto's heart pounded, as he quickly swung behind him to strike whoever was in range just now. Instead, he found no one, he was alone. He summoned several small curses and then shouted, "Who's there? Show yourself!?"
"Who?" he looked up to the rafters seeing a plump bird perched upon them. The bird, no, the owl was looking down at him, its eyes ringed unnaturally in a yellow glow. "I'm simply a creature of the night here to offer advice to a fellow controller," hooted the owl in a bizarrely human voice.
His heart was still racing at the surprise, but he wouldn't let it show so easily. Seemingly lowering his guard he quipped to the avian, "It's strange to see an owl here so early in the night and in my home nonetheless. We don't often leave our windows open," he glared at the bird.
"Hoot hoot hoot," chuckled the owl, "It was those two surrogate daughters who unknowingly let me in," at that Suguru pinched the bridge of his nose at their carelessness. "But, I have a simple request for you Suguru Geto."
"And that would be?" he asked with a raised brow.
"To cease your attack. Hide your ranks into the shadows of the underworld. And when the time is right, join under me, Hoot!" chirped the owl.
He sneered at the request. "Whoever you are, you are in no position to tell me to stop my attack. This has been planned down to the bone and since you were a winged rat and heard of my plan, you know that with Rika under my control, Gojo stands no chance against me.
"You disappoint me," she interrupted, "You hold yourself up as a man of cunning, yet you blatantly ignore almost all third party aspects. I thought better of you, truly I did."
"I never thought an owl could be disappointed in me," he scoffed turning away. "It doesn't matter if you tell them or not, my plan will work."
The owl ruffled its feathers annoyed, "I had no intention to. You will fall either way,"
Geto opened the door and turned back for the final time. "Then I hope I see you on the battlefield, whoever you are," he concluded with a slam of his door.
"As do I," huffed the owl, it's turning back its original darker eyes. Makima got off of her bed and walked over to her dresser, opening it, she held out an ironed out set of dress shirt and pants. "See you soon…Suguru."
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Hours Later
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"Alright Maki, Yuta. You guys all set!?" asked Gojo excitedly to the two first years.
"No! It's not alright! Why am I stuck in a classroom and not going with Panda and Toge!?" loudly questioned the Zenin.
"Well, we need someone to protect Yuta."
"Protect!? The damn special grade human! This is bullshit and you know it!" glared Maki at Gojo's blind folded eyes.
"Please it's not like-"
"Like what!? That I'm too weak and useless to go out to the front lines! I can't believe you of all people are agreeing with that cursed monster!" she stood on her desk.
"Enough Maki! That's enough!" yelled Gojo, giving pause to Maki's fury. He sighed, he too losing his anger in regret. "I…I don't agree with him. I don't. Your clan wants to keep you safe and I don't have the time nor patience to veto them. I'm sorry Maki," whispered Gojo.
Maki stared at her desk, her eyes dampened. "Fine, just go. I'll, i'll be fine," she breathed out in unsteady breaths. With one last look of regret, Gojo took his leave, leaving only two students in the classroom. Yuta looked at the floor in shame, hearing Maki softly sob on the desk next to him. He didn't know what to do, or how he could make his friend feel better.
"You're curious right?" sobbed Maki, her voice muffled by her face being down on the desk. "Why everyone calls me useless huh? Well for starters, I don't have anything valuable, no cursed energy of my own. Everything I fucking use is imbued cursed energy by someone else and I HATE IT!" she shouted hitting the desk as tears continued to pepper at the wooden frame.
"Are… are you jealous that I can use cursed energy?" he asked sadly.
She took a moment to respond, the only sound being of her sniffling. "No. No not really, you've been through a lot of shit and trauma. I can kind of empathize with you, half the time it feels like we're both cursed," she raised her head to show her red face. It startled her to see Yuta so close to her face.
"I feel the same way too sometimes!" smiled Yuta. "That's why I feel like I can be friends with you easier. Once we got over that first meeting, I feel happy whenever we talk. Whether it's about swords or food, you make everything sound so interesting," Maki's eyes widened. "To be honest I knew you were cursed this whole time, but I don't see you any differently. You still kick my butt in kendo any day of the week. So I don't think that's useless," he smiled purely.
"Y-you."
"Huh?" he was caught off guard by the sudden hug that Maki gave him, he had a hard time breathing due to how strongly she was squeezing him. "Yuta… you're too pure for this jujutsu world," breathed Maki, crying even more tears on his shoulder.
"Woah! Uh, are you okay? You're crying a lot more now," he looked at her confused meeting her wet eyes that contrasted strangely with a warm, lipped smile.
"Pfft, you really dense you know that."
----------------"These Are Different Kinds Of Tears."-------------------
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"Gojo come on we're leaving! Hurry up!" shouted the principal down the hall.
"In a minute sensei!" shouted back the honored one, dashing over to the sealed room. He looked in front, behind, left, and right to check if the coast was clear. Then he hastily removed all the locks and pulled a sealed letter from out of his jacket.
He moved the door open just enough to slip the letter through before dashing back the way he came. "Start the van Sensei!"
"The heck you need to ride with us for?! You can fly!"
" I Know! It'll be fun! I love field trips!" laughed Gojo skipping down the hallway.
Inside the sealing room, the contained Redhead picked up the letter off the floor. Looking at her mirror one last time for any wrinkles in her uniform, she unsealed the letter and read it. She read all the way to the end, and once she did, she had a rare genuine giggle.
"I'm still not used to being bossed around by someone who can actually move their weight around. I'll play your game for now Gojo, I don't mind trying something new,"
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One Hour Later… School Entrance
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Suguru walked through the old gates of his school properly this time, no longer content with simply gazing outside like a dog. If all went smoothly, this would soon be his future headquarters. Men with barely any skill in sorcery approached him, but he swatted them away like flies with merely a wave of his hand.
His plan is working perfectly and will work perfectly. They all bought the bait and left themselves open at the one spot that was most valuable to him, Yuta Okkotsu. Whoever possessed that bird was delusional or naive. He's known Gojo for more than half each other's lives, long enough and close enough to him to call him his brother. So he knew that with the power of Rika and his other special grade curses, they would be powerful enough to restrain and hopefully convince Saturou that this was the new reality, the right one for all of them. If not… that would have to come later, when he was the so called honored one.
Finding his way through the maze of walls was child's play. Rika's cursed energy leaked out in a delicious smell, begging him to consume her, control her. Unfortunately, upon closer approach, the runt of the Zenin made herself known from out of the columns of wall. She scoffed at him, raising her red naginata to oppose his righteous conquest. "Annoying," he groaned massaging his neck, "You're really doing this?"
"So what if I am. Is that a problem, monster?" she growled, getting into a low fighting stance.
He could only laugh at this child's attempt at a comeback, moving his arm in a manner that summoned several large centipedes from the shadows. "I praise you for your willingness to die. Warmups are good for the body!" he shouted excitedly, getting so worked up he summoned the worm curse, the very same one that triggered his growth all those years ago, and pulled out the three section staff 'Playful Cloud'. "Come at me! Monkey in man's clothing!"
Strangely though, before the monkey could run to her death, a silver chain erupted from behind the runt, wrapping around her waist and yanking her back so hard she went airborne. When she landed next to the dispenser of the chain she looked dumbfounded, as if she had never seen this woman before.
"Hey! Who the heck are you!?" shouted the Zenin angrily, trying to pry herself from the chains to no avail.
"Hmm," the redhead pondered for a moment, hand on her chin. "None of your concern," the redhead spoke in a plain tone and smile.
"That doesn't-! Hey! Those are mine! Give'em back!" snarled the useless girl as the woman plucked her glasses right off her face, placing them onto her own face with a still neutral expression.
"You're not a part of this battle anymore Maki," she spoke with a tone of stern authority, "You are simply in the way and unlike you, I can respect the time of a fellow controller, and I will not have you waste mine as well."
The Zenin trembled at her gaze nodding her head quickly which allowed her hips to be released from the chains, allowing her to back away from the still glowering woman. "I only have a single use for you. Retrieve Yuta, I will need him if I don't succeed quickly enough." Maki kept staring at her like a fish, causing the woman the furrow her brow at her. "L E A V E," she bellowed, causing an unforeseen impact that made the weak girl sprint away from the two of them as fast as could.
Now this woman… was interesting!
"Soooo!" he laughed while swinging playful cloud, "You don't look quite as avian as before! Gone for a new look?"
"I haven't, although I can't tell whether it's sarcasm or not since you were enough of an idiot to still go for the queen of this game. So enough of this, I will tell you from personal experience that a fight with Satoru Gojo would not swing in your favor. With or without Rika. End your tantrum and turn yourself in, or I will force you to."
"Why all the pleasantries when you already have your answer?" he aimed his weapon at her, his stance once again set.
"Because as you will soon see, you and I aren't so different. I see a lot of myself in you and I respect your attempt to reach my level," she moved her hands together to help her concentrate.
Geto gritted his teeth, seething at her comment. "Don't be so hasty in your assessments witch." He charged at her with Playful Cloud in tow.
"As do you Suguru Geto," she spoke, aiming a finger pistol at him.
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Record: December 24th, 2017
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This battle that occurred during the Night Parade of 100 Demons would be a pivotal turning point in jujutsu society.
For this would decide who would play second fiddle on the world stage.
This would be a battle between…
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The Strongest Control Sorcerer Of Today
Verus
The Strongest Control Sorcerer In History
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Let's get ready to rumble everyone! Next time is the fight between two excellent manipulators! Let's find out who is worse than the other!
And yes, like I mentioned at the start of the chapter, it's this story's first birthday/anniversary! To be honest the date snuck up on me! I was planning to release this chapter on Christmas Eve but I noticed that today was my child's birthday so I pulled overtime to get this done for you all.
It truly means the world to me that so many people enjoy my story despite my amateurness. I thank every reader reading this from the bottom of my heart. I have so much planned for you all including the drafting of not one but two One Piece X Denji stories(One for Big Mom and One for Kaido)!
But rest assured, although I upload as quickly as a tortoise, I won't be leaving this story for quite a while.
Happy Holidays Everyone! Read On!
