Kevin the Bored
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Shibuya Omake: Close.
🕑 Added 2025-04-24 00:47:42 +0000 UTCJust a heads up. I originally wanted this omake to be like 3 chapters long, which it kinda now is. However, I was assuming that it would end by 3, with narauko bringing jjk to a swift end.
So, spoiler, there is no Narauko/Sukuna fight yet. However, if it's any consolation, the idea I have in mind for their fight is cool af imo, and I think literally no one has even been close to guessing what I've got planned :)
(I'm going back to the main story now Zarak, don't yell at me)
///
Zen'in no Narauko
///
The world burns under our feet, giant monoliths of architecture falling around us, and we don't notice any of it. Too busy laughing. It feels so good to be able to laugh together again.
I wipe a tear from my eye as our chuckles die down, turning to Sukuna by my side, our arms over each other's shoulders, and I just smile.
I'm just so happy right now.
"Don't stare," he grouches at me, but he is still smiling. "It's creepy."
"Sorry sorry~," I step back waving my arms in mock surrender. "I was just noticing all the differences with your new face."
Sukuna's face twitches and his stance begins to radiate a slight amount of awkwardness.
"Hm?" The strange reaction has me paying more attention, and after a moment of looking deeper, I notice something odd. "....No way."
Sukuna averts his eyes and I feel a Cheshire grin grow on my face. I try to say something mocking, but I barely get through the first syllable before bursting back out into laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!! Y-y-you- HAHAHAHA!!" My legs fail me but even as I fall to the ground, I don't forget to point at him alongside my laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA!! YOU'RE TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A TEENAGER!!! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Tsk," Sukuna glares down at me. "I have my own plans," he says, and for a moment, a strange, almost tender look crosses his face before fading so fast I'm not sure I imagined it. "I'll soon be free."
I reign in my laughter at his words, though I can't hide my smile or my amusement. "Eh~? For real? That's great! We can fight when you're free then~. It'll be fun~. My bones feel so rusty."
Sukuna raises a brow at me. "It'll be a few minutes before the brat can take control. So why wait?"
I roll my eyes at him. "Because then when you lose you'll still think you could have won if you were at one hundred percent. I'm not giving you any excuses! Hmph!"
"Oy, that was one time and you know I would have won."
"Excuses~ excuses~, just face the fact that you weren't the better man."
"I was Cursed!" Sukuna raises his voice, sounding honestly offended. "That fucker's Technique was still active! I definitely would have won!"
"Nuh uh, I wasn't at my best either, you have no excuse."
"You weren't- You were only missing one Shikigami! That's completely different!"
"Excuses~."
He scowls at me, and for a second I'm wondering if I'm going to have to dodge a Dismantle. But then the anger all fades away and he just chuckles, shaking his head.
In the brief silence that follows, we both note the quiet sound of heavy breathing and share a puzzled look before turning as one to the side.
There, Uraume is still kneeling, staring up at us and I barely manage to glimpse a flushed face and heavy panting before her head snaps down and she studies the floor in interest.
Sukuna and I meet puzzled looks again.
///
Meanwhile, in Uraume's mind
///
"Excuses~," Narauko-sama mocks, leaving Sukuna-sama full of wrath.
"You want to talk excuses?" Sukuna-sama threatens, his voice husky and low, before he dashes forward, tackling Narauko-sama to the floor and straddling over him.
With their faces mere inches apart, Sukuna-sama holds Narauko-sama's hands above his head and whispers, "Then see if you can make any excuses for this."
"S-Sukuna, w-what are you doing!" Narauko-sama whimpers when Sukuna-sama's hand other hand moves down, parting Narauko-sama's kimono and exposing the rugged muscles beneath.
"I'm doing whatever I want," Sukuna-sama whispers, his own kimono coming apart.
"Sukuna~."
"Narauko~."
///
Back in the real world
///
Sukuna shrugs and I share the sentiment. Uraume did used to space out sometimes back in the day, we never quite figured out why. I always just assumed it had something to do with how he used to struggle to control his Technique.
Like some wires in his brain just fizzing out sometimes.
"Why are you even alive?" He asks after a moment of silence, and he adds more context when I only raise a brow at him. "I thought you didn't want to extend your life too much."
"I didn't," I agree, scowling off at the distance. "But Kenjaku-Sensei has always been a disrespectful ass. Some hag summoned me earlier with a Seance Technique."
Sukuna's brows scrunch and he raises a brow at me. "That brain didn't have any intention of summoning you. At least, not that I knew anyway. You're right that he could have just changed his mind at the last minute or something."
I shrug. "Well, it doesn't really matter now that I'm here. I'm not just going to kill myself. What about you? What are you going to do now?"
Sukuna gains a ponderous look before holding out his palm and studying it for a moment.
"I'll probably open my Domain," he says, causing my brows to raise, before closing his eyes and sending his Cursed Energy out. A moment later, his eyes snap open and glare at me. What did I do? "Oy. Where are all the humans?"
Oh, that.
"I evacuated them so you wouldn't kill them."
"Tch. Whatever, I killed plenty while playing with that Curse."
"Why do you even want to kill people? You don't normally go out of your way this much."
He smiles. It isn't a good smile this time. "It's a punishment for this brat. He pisses me off."
"You're such an asshole~," I laugh, slapping his chest with the back of my hand.
He just smirks at me.
"And you? Off to save more humans and then what?"
My smile turns wry at the fact that he already knows what I'm going to be doing immediately after this. "I don't know, there's a lot I want to do. My Shikigami should be finishing up with pulling out all the humans except for those on the fifth floor. So I guess I'll head down there, see if I can find this Gojo Satoru guy. Apparently he's got Limitless and Six Eyes, can you believe it? They're calling him The Strongest."
Sukuna huffs. "He's not bad," he says, which is basically as close to a compliment as one can expect from Sukuna. "This era of trash is holding him back. He would have done well back in the day."
"Now I wanna meet him even more. I'm sure Isanko's spirit is happy."
"Who the fuck is Isanko?" Sukuna asks, recoiling in confusion.
"Isanko. Gojo Isanko," I repeat, my voice as dry as my expression. "Our upperclassman? He had the Limitless Technique?"
"Oh, that guy."
"Why do you only remember people when I say their Technique?"
"Because often times, that is the only thing of note about them. Why do you remember so many names?"
"No, you don't get to do that. It's normal to remember people's names. I'm the normal one here. You don't get to turn this back on me."
Sukuna turns away and mimes a theatrical yawn. "Boring. Aren't you going to do anything for yourself?"
"I'm not even dedicating one whole day to helping people right now, don't be obtuse. But yeah, I wanna check out my clan. It's apparently still standing, so I wanna see what my descendants are like. See if I can even recognise them. I also want to eat something, holy crap I am so hungry right now. Uraume! Do you have any food? That isn't people?"
Uraume takes a second to respond. She doesn't look up and I hear her swallow first. "I do not, Narauko-sama."
"Shame. Well I- Huh?" I close my eyes and move my sight to Divine Dog's just in time to see its body wither and die, dispelling not a moment later.
"My Shikigami just died," I inform Sukuna and Uraume before the method of its death clicks in my head and I remember. "Holy crap was that the Smallpox Deity? That thing is active again? Man~ what an insult. Did it feel weaker to you?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to know, dumbass. I can't see."
"Oh right," I chuckle sheepishly. "Well, it was fun catching up, but I'm gonna go check on that before it can spread any diseases. We'll catch up properly once your free?"
"Of course," Sukuna agrees. "Let's see if you can still make excuses then."
Uraume lets out a small whine, but we ignore that.
"Later," I say before falling backwards and into my shadow.
"Later."
///
Mei Mei
///
Mei Mei isn't one to take her eyes off of her opponents. It's bad business to not keep track of any volatile assets.
However, Geto, or whatever trick is playing as Geto, had just left her with this Curse when she heard the rapid staccato of approaching steps.
Considering the steps did not sound human and what Geto's Inherited Technique is, she assumed that it would have been another Curse.
Then she saw a werewolf running right at her.
"Fushiguro-kun?" She asked, noticing the similarities between this Shikigami and his own. It made her smile. "It seems your asset potential has just increased~."
And then the world around her changed as the Curse opened its Domain.
Almost immediately, the Shikigami got trapped in a coffin, buried under a rock and died.
"I take it back."
In the end though, the Curse wasn't that strong. It definitely wasn't the Smallpox Deity as Geto implied. That said, she is currently wondering if it is even worth it to keep going with the injuries she sustained killing it.
She can still fight, but she would much rather be at full health before fighting against a Curse Manipulation user. After all, her own life is far more valuable than even a favour of debt owed by Gojo Satoru.
Malaysia sounds nice right about now.
"Ui Ui."
"Yes! Nee-sama!"
She opens her mouth to respond, but it is not her voice that answers him.
"Damn that is one killer axe."
She snaps to attention, spinning around and readying her axe at the unexpected voice. She doesn't recognise who she sees, though he resembles what she remembers of Zen'in Toji.
His stance is neutral, but that doesn't mean much, just that close quarters will probably favour her. But then, it would have anyway. She can't tell how strong he is however. His Cursed Energy is like how Satoru described the plant Curse. It blends in.
"Why thank you," she says instead of any of that. "But don't you think it's rather rude to sneak up on a lady like that?"
"Ah, sorry," he scratches the back of his head. "It's a recurring accusation, but my Cursed Energy is just like that, I'm not trying to be particularly sneaky. Regardless, was there a Disease Cure around here a minute ago? Seemed kinda like a weak Smallpox Deity?"
"Hm~? Was that wolf Shikigami yours?" She didn't expect that.
"Yup. Wasn't expecting a Domain, or really even much fighting, so it got taken out right away. I'm Narauko by the way, nice to meet you."
Her eyes widen a touch.
Narauko?
A Shikigami that resembled a more powerful version of Fushiguro-kun's. A Sorcerer bringing back the dead and wearing their skin. A real, dedicated effort to resurrect Sukuna that might still work.
It's plausable.
"Zen'in, I presume?" She asks, making him blink.
"Yeah?" A beat passes before realisation seems to strike him and his face lights up. "Oh! Do you recognise me? Am I super cool? I don't mind signing something. 'Killer axe, approved by Zen'in no Narauko.' I could write that write into the wood. It wood surely boost its value. See what I did there? Gosh I can't believe the world survived for one thousand years without my impeccable wit."
Well, he certainly acts within her experiences of The Strongest.
"Perhaps later," she says. He isn't wrong about a signature like that being valuable, so she's definitely going to hold him to it. "First I believe it would be important to be clear about what side you are on? I'd hate to have to kill a legend~."
"Hah! I like you, you're fun. I agree though, clarity is important. Unfortunately, I'm not really on anyone's side. I'm kind of just a victim here, resurrected without consent, so rude. Right now I'm on the side that's not killing everyone and is trying to save Gojo Satoru. You?"
"It appears we are on the same side then, how delightful~."
"Holy crap," he follows up on her words before she can continue. "Do you have to say everything so sensually? It's really distracting."
"Hey!" Ui Ui cuts in, glaring at Narauko. "Do not say such things about Nee-sama!"
"Oy, I have one thousand years worth of pent up-" Narauko's offended diatribe cuts off once he seems to really take in Ui Ui's small form. "You know what never mind kid, my bad."
"Ufufufufu, one thousand years is a long time~," she teases him, finding great amusement in the way his eyes flicker between herself and Ui Ui. He clearly wants to say something back but doesn't seem to want to do so in front of a child.
How considerate.
"Well, it's not all bad," he says instead after a moment, perking up slightly. "I've already eaten cookies and met some old friends by chance. Speaking of, I'm really hungry right now, so can we wrap this up so I can grab some food? You would not believe how bland food was back in the day compared to what you've got now. I'm so jealous~."
She can only think of a very small number of 'old friends' that he could have possibly met, and most don't come with good implications. So she chooses to simply ignore that for now.
His long term allegiance is questionable at best, but it does seem like he is on their side right now, and Mei Mei has never been one to waste an asset.
"Agreed~. I would also like to see Ieiri-chan sooner than later."
As she says that, he notices the diseased skin on the edge of her arm. "If this Ieiri is a healer, then you don't have to bother, I can just heal you here."
"You can use Reverse Cursed Technique on others?"
"Naturally," he rolls his eyes at her. "Who do you think I am?"
She chuckles at the casual brag. But if he truly is the King of Sorcerers come back from the dead in their time of need, then she supposes he deserves a little bit of arrogance.
"In that case, we can continue. The Sorcerer who I believe might be the mastermind behind all of this should be further down the line."
She doesn't miss the way his eyes light up at the mention of the mastermind. She is immediately suspicious, but saying anything likely wouldn't do any good.
Little does she know, Narauko would have answered any of her questions with complete honesty. He is, after all, Zen'in no Narauko. Judging him by the standards of normal Sorcerers is a fool's errand.
Mei Mei has seen Ieiri work plenty of times, including on herself. So even if Ieiri's expression rarely changes, she has always noticed the effort her kōhai puts in when she heals others.
She is also aware that greater wounds take some time to heal properly. An affliction like what she has been left with is one such injury that she would imagine taking some time to heal.
So she feels that she is perfectly justified in her stupification when Narauko simply taps her on the shoulder and the infected skin immediately disappears. As well as every other injury, minor or not, including what she believes to be old microfractures and her general, if minor, exhaustion.
As a matter of fact, she has quite literally never felt better.
Narauko snorts and pokes her on the nose, snapping her back to reality. "I said it already, didn't I? I am Zen'in no Narauko." In that moment, she finds his cocky smirk incredibly attractive. "Now c'mon, let's go."
She shakes her head but follows along, quickly catching up. She also notices the way Ui Ui is pouting and glaring at Narauko's back.
So amusing.
"I must say, I am curious how you came to be involved in this whole mess, Narauko-kun~," she says after a moment of silent walking, and she chuckles at the shiver that visibly trails down Narauko's spine at her sultry tone.
"Damnit woman, that's not fair. You're going to get the wrong idea at this rate."
"Do you not find me attractive~?" She asks, getting the stink eye over his shoulder in response.
"That's not what I meant at all," he says before that cocky smirk of his returns. "I'm just normally much more composed~. I've only just woke up you know? I feel like a fish on land right now."
"Ufufufufu, my apologies then~. And my question~?"
"Hm? Oh, right. Well, I'm not really certain on all the details, but some hag used a Seance Technique to steal my body from me and give it to her grandson, so I kicked his Soul out of my body and put myself back and killed her. Now I only half understand what's going on, but a lot of innocents are getting caught up in whatever it is so my priority right now is just making sure they're all okay."
"Hmm~? How lucky for us~," she murmurs, smirking when her purposefully sultry tone garners another reaction from him. "Ufufufu~."
In the end, it's better if he has a positive view of her should he turn into an enemy.
After all, her most valuable asset is herself. She would switch sides the moment it seemed like her side was really going to lose.
A diversified portfolio is a safe portfolio.
Unfortunately, by the time they arrive at the right platform, they see that they have been beaten to the punch.
"Todo Aoi and Nitta Arata," she says, as much to introduce herself as for the benefit of her temporary companion.
"Mei-san!" Nitta exclaims when they turn to see her, his relief palpable.
It's understandable really. He is rather weak after all. It's commendable that he's even managed to come this far despite that.
"Mei-san," Todo also greets her, noticing Narauko but not commenting.
He trusts her judgement and allegiance. How nice.
"Gojo-san is not here. We only just arrived, but it seems we were too late. We need to change our mindset. Saving Gojo Satoru can no longer be our priority. Instead, we should think about just doing as much damage to the enemy as possible while protecting our comrades."
"That sounds pretty reasonable," Narauko comments. "I like your hair by the way, it seems very cared for."
"Of course! A good appearance is the first step to getting Takada-chan to notice me!!"
"Err... Right."
"Um," Nitta hesitantly interrupts. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
Narauko opens his mouth to answer, but this time she interrupts him. "Independent contractor," she answers for him, not wanting to waste time listening to the alternative. She's known Gojo Satoru long enough to know how long such introductions can take. "What are you two going to do now?"
"My brother is likely somewhere around here, I am going to find him. And you?"
In lieu of answer herself, she turns to Narauko, who blinks at suddenly being the centre of attention.
"Oh, well I'm going to start sending all these people to safety. The people underground here are the only ones left."
"I am going to be sticking with him. Ui Ui's Technique will be useful for evacuations."
Narauko gives her a look that says he can clearly tell she's bullshitting, but he doesn't say anything. The truth is a lot simpler. Narauko is strong. She's decided that she doesn't really want to fight Geto by herself after all. So she'd rather be with someone strong that she can use as a shield.
"Very well," Todo says with a nod. "Come Nitta-san, let's go find my brother!"
"Y-yes!"
The three of them watch as Nitta hurries to catch up to Todo, and Narauko waits for them to disappear up the stairs before turning a raised brow in her direction.
"I did not Technically lie~," she says into the silence, and he smirks at her unrepentant tone.
"No, but you already assume that Ui Ui-kun's Technique, whatever it is, is redundant here, right?"
"Do you hate that I lie~?"
"Gah! Stop that!" Narauko spins on his heel and stomps away, grumbling to himself.
She watches him go with a chuckle, and observes with interest as he comes to a stop in the centre of the platform. A moment later, his shadow spreads out to cover the entire platform, except for where she and Ui Ui stand.
Then, as one, every civilian present falls into the shadow like it is water.
"I'm sending them to a park to the North," Narauko says in the face of her curiosity. "C'mon, there's more people this way. Oh that reminds me, do you have any idea what's up with those homunculus things? They're like if a Cursed Spirit and a human had a child, super weird."
The transfigured humans?
"A Special Grade Curse with a patchwork face has a Technique that supposedly manipulates Souls," she answers, watching the way Narauko's attention snaps back to her, brows raised in surprise at such a Technique. "They aren't homunculi. Just humans that have been transfigured."
"For real?" She nods. "Damn. Reverse Cursed Technique probably won't even be able to fix them if they're being twisted down to the Soul. What a disgusting ability~. Well, mine's still better."
She's counting on it.
A short walk and another group of civilians dropped into Narauko's shadow, and they pause when the ground shakes. Both of them turn to face the source of the commotion, but neither rush to act.
"Sounds like things are still hectic," Narauko says.
"Are you going to go over?" She asks, genuinely curious.
He shakes his head. "Nah, things seem to be more or less in hand over there. That Todo guy is pretty good, they'll probably still be alive by the time we're done grabbing all the people here. We can go help out then. The Hero has got to appear fashionably late y'know?"
"Ufufu~, Todo-kun is rather competent. But with your Technique, surely it would be no trouble to both help them while staying our course~?"
Truthfully, she doesn't really care about his answer. She is just testing his boundaries. She wants to know how he will react to criticism or correction. Many powerful Sorcerers despise being questioned after all.
"Haha, of course~," he waves away her words, and she's glad that he seems to truly not be as conceited as one would expect of a powerful, ancient Sorcerer. "But they are Jujutsu Sorcerers too, right? Fight or die. That is the fate of our kind. We shouldn't hold their hand too much, or they will never grow. Have a little faith."
What an outdated mindset, she thinks. Not that there isn't any truth to it.
Still, despite his words, a bunny rabbit does still crawl out of his collar and sprint off in the direction of the clash.
"So, uh, Mei-chan?" Narauko pauses his thought, turning to her. "You never actually introduced yourself."
"Oh~? My apologies then, Narauko-kun~," his brow twitches at the continued tone and she smiles just a tad wider. "My name is Mei Mei, I am a Grade One Sorcerer. Nice to meet you~."
He shakes his head and sighs. "You're going to make me say something stupid at this rate. Well, Mei-chan, I have some questions about this new world I've found myself in, if you don't mind?"
"Ask away~, I might even answer~."
He takes a moment to take a deep breath and exhale before responding. Something she takes great amusement in.
"Alright, first question." She straightens slightly at the severe expression he regards her with. "Does sushi taste good yet?"
She's so caught off guard by the question that she halts on the spot, staring at him with a deadpan, blank look. "Huh?"
"Sushi," he repeats, as if that word is in any way important right now. "They only recently figured to use vinegar to make it taste less terrible last I checked. But I saw potential in the humble sushi. So I need to know if it's good yet."
"...I take it back. I'm not answering any questions."
"No backsies!" He immediately rebuts with a cheeky grin.
"I forgot to mention my consulting fees," she returns to him. "I charge one million Yen for every question."
"Meh, that's probably not a lot right? I have no idea. I can pay you in favours. How much does a full heal go for these days?"
"Ufufu~, I'm sure your Zen'in clan can cover my fees~."
Getting an in to the Zen'in clan's wealth was not something she expected to happen today, or ever, but she's not going to complain about the opportunity. It seems very low risk and high reward.
A brief silence follows where they merely meet eyes and do not speak. Then Narauko's grin returns. "So, sushi?"
She chuckles. "Yes. Sushi is good now."
///
Zen'in no Narauko
///
By the time the last civilian has been sent out of Shibuya, the commotion I've been feeling has moved outside, some distance away.
There were a lot of transfigured humans around, but none of them are at all strong, and Reverse Cursed Technique doesn't do anything for them. So we just killed them and moved on. Giving them some peace is all we can really do.
There's only really one thing to deal with before heading over to check things out, and that's the two people left underground.
One of them is Nitta-kun, and the other is some brown-haired girl that he's carrying on his back. Looking at them through the eyes of one of my bunnies, I see that her face is all kinds of fucked up. So she could probably do with some healing.
"Welp, that's the last of them," I say to Mei Mei, brushing my hands together with a job well done.
"My~, such a hard worker~," She says in response, and I have to close my eyes and count down from ten to keep my blood where it should be.
This woman is insufferable. Even with her weird haircut, she is way too sexy. I haven't gotten laid in a thousand years, I am not in the right mind to be dealing with this crap.
"Shall we go save our juniors now, Hero~?"
Jesus fuck even her voice. It's so not fair. And I'm still fucking starving.
This sucks~.
"Naturally," I say instead. "Come here and I'll bring us closer."
"Oh~? If you want to be closer, you don't have to be shy to admit it~."
This woman.
"If you keep talking like that," I turn to her, glaring threateningly, "I will marry you and give you a happy, fulfilling life full of family and love. Don't test me woman."
"Ufufu~, what an interesting threat~," she taunts, stepping closer to me without breaking eye contact.
In response, I step even closer and wrap an arm around her waist to pull her against me, allowing me to lean my mouth next to her ear. "If I threatened to beat you up, you could have called my bluff. I prefer my threats to have substance to them. Keep talking like that, and one day you will wake up in my bed as my wife and think to yourself, 'When did I fall in love?'"
Stepping back before her little brother can implode, I smirk at the slight glaze to her eyes. She quickly snaps out of it, but I can see that she has taken my threat seriously.
She doesn't say anything, so I manipulate my shadow and pull us all into it, coming out of my rabbit's shadow a moment later, to the obvious surprise of Nitta-kun.
"Mei-san!?" He exclaims, almost dropping his load, but managing to keep a hold of her.
"Nitta-kun. How is Kugisaki-chan?" Mei Mei asks, and I note with a smug smile that her tone has lost its sultry edge.
It seems she took my threat to heart indeed. Good. Though it's kind of a shame. I wouldn't have minded following through with it.
"N-not good, Mei-san. I've done what I can with my Technique but..."
"Don't worry about it," I say as I walk closer. "I'm the best healer there is."
I don't wait for him to say anything before simply placing my palm on this Kugisaki's drooped head and pulling on Generous Deer to pump her full of Positive Energy.
Almost immediately she gasps awake and almost throws herself off of Nitta-kun's back in a blind panic.
Interestingly, I note that her one eye is still missing and looking kind of fucked up. It can only be a result of that patchwork Curse Mei Mei mentioned.
Looking at it, I could probably heal her all the way with some time and dedicated effort. She isn't like those transfigured humans. They have been twisted so completely that any attempt to fix them would be no different to just creating an entirely new person.
In other words, because I have no idea what their Souls are supposed to look like, I can't really put them back together. But this girl is mostly fine, so I'd just need to twist a small part back into place and she can be fixed, ego intact.
"Itadori!!" A yell from the panicking teen brings me out of my thoughts to note that she is picking herself up from the ground now.
Another shaking of the ground gets our attention. We really don't have time for this.
"Hey kid," I say, cutting through the girl's mania by infusing some Cursed Energy into my voice at the right frequency to be impossible to ignore. A neat trick Kenjaku-Sensei taught me. "If your friend is still alive then I will save him, don't worry. But right now, you need to evacuate, sorry."
I can see right away that she won't agree. I get the feeling that she's probably the type to charge into danger even after being explicitly told by people stronger than her that she shouldn't. So when I drop her in my shadow, I decide to send her where I've been sending most of the Sorcerers.
Seriously, kids always think they know better than their elders. In Jujutsu, all that does is get them killed and traumatise their friends.
Ah well, that's why we elders are supposed to look after them.
"None of my Shikigami are by the commotion, so we're going to have to walk. Feel free to take the lead," I finish by glancing down at her backside, and she just laughs at the insinuation, strutting away with a sway to her hips.
Damnit. I said something stupid anyway.
As we walk, I turn my senses to the distance at the commotion that only seems to be growing.
There are quite a few people over there now. Does nobody understand what a cordon is?
"Hm?"
Mei Mei turns to me when I stop walking. "Is something the matter?"
My brows furrow as I try to figure that out. I just got a feeling. Not a moment later and I figure out why when a massive amount of Cursed Energy appears in the distance.
Shit, someone is about to die.
This is why we listen to cordons, people!
"Sorry," I say to Mei Mei before throwing both her and her brother in my shadow and moving, as fast as I can.
Which is pretty fast.
I only have a moment to take in the situation. The surroundings have been cleared somewhat just thanks to the fighting, but it appears to be the remains of some wide street.
The source of the Cursed Energy is some guy in monk's robes, and he's throwing the attack at some blue-haired girl that really doesn't seem strong enough to warrant that kind of attack.
Additionally, there are two more girls, a Miko woman and some blonde brat on a broom for some reason, that are moving to defend the blue-haired girl.
There is also Sukuna's vessel with some Kamo looking guy behind him and some other guy in a white and purple robe standing off to the side.
I can also feel another Sorcerer nearby, and in the sky is- Is that Nue? The fu- Oh right.
Still, there's no time to react to any of that, so instead I simply strain my legs as much as possible, ignore the air trying to resist me, and I move.
I appear in front of the kid with barely any time to do anything, certainly not enough time for any incantations.
Luckily, I don't need them.
A thought alone brings my shadow rising up in front of me, forming a wedge that faces the attack. At the same time, from my shadow emerges a shell like a crystalline mirror, shining like the most pure of diamonds.
The attack hits and drowns out all sound with a roar of pure power, but it doesn't touch us. Instead, it is split down the middle, annihilating everything either side of me but leaving everything in a V shaped cone behind me unharmed.
"If you come out, it will be pointless!" The blonde brat behind me yells as the dust settles, and I turn around pointing to myself, but she wasn't talking to me.
"I didn't have any choice okay!?" The Miko shouts back.
She has a cool scar.
My eyes leave the pair and glance over the destruction wrought by that attack before falling back on the blue-haired girl. Shaking my head, I turn back to face the monk guy through the fading dust and I give him a thumbs down.
"Was that really necessary?" I ask, pulling Mei Mei and her brother out of my shadow as I speak. "Total overkill."
"Mei-san!?"
I hear the girls behind me all start speaking to one another, but all of it fades into nothing when the billowing dust clears enough for me to see how the monk's eyes slowly start to widen.
A moment later, I join him, as the dust clears enough for me to see a line of sutures crossing his forehead.
I feel my expression immediately change as I throw away all previous thoughts and throw my hands into the air, smiling wide.
"Sensei~!!" I exclaim, skipping closer to him.
"Narauko!?!" I almost recoil in surprise at his response and the shrill, high pitched note of genuine shock in his voice.
Of all the responses I was expecting, none of them involved his mouth hanging open as wide as his eyes and him looking at me like I just came back from the dead or something.
"What's with that face? Did you think I wouldn't come and yell at you for bringing me back to life even though I declined? Disrespectful asshole."
Behind me, I hear Mei Mei being asked who I am and how I'm involved in this, but I ignore that in favour of hearing Kenny's excuses.
"I..." He takes a second to gather his voice. "You said you wanted to stay mortal. I respected that. I had no intention of bringing you back."
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
"...For real?" I ask after an awkward moment.
"Super for real," he nods his head, mostly recovered from his shock but still staring at me with a mixture of emotions. "Seriously how the hell are you alive?"
I shrug. "Some hag with a Seance Technique."
I can't be bothered to go through the whole explanation again.
"Ogami?" He mutters before his lips stretch into a grin. He always looks so pleased when he gets surprised. "So she had a trump card like that tucked away, huh?"
"Apparently," I shrug, before my expression lights up again. "Anyway! Sensei~!!" I yell once more, diving forward with my arms spread wide.
He doesn't move and I wrap him tight when he catches me. "It's been so long~!"
He chuckles and pats my back, all without cutting my arms off, Sukuna you asshole.
Then we are rudely interrupted.
"KAMO NORITOSHI!!!" The guy standing alone shouts, and it's only when I see him looking at me that I realise who he's talking to.
Stepping back from out hug, I turn back to my Sensei. "You're wearing a Kamo again?"
"What?" The blonde brat's voice cuts through, interrupting Kenjaku-Sensei's response, and I look over to see what they have to say. "What does that mean?"
"The stain of the Kamo family," the cool Miko answers. "The most evil Sorcerer in history."
Her words have me turning to send Kenjaku-Sensei a dry look, to which he sticks his tongue out at me.
"The hell did you do this time, Kamo-Sensei?" I ask, exasperated.
"That was over a hundred years ago, this body is called Geto Suguru," he says to me, before turning to the various assembled Sorcerers. "Kamo Noritoshi is just one of my many names. Call me what you like."
I jump up after him, raising a hand in the air like a student in school. "His name is Kenjaku! You can just call him Kenny though!"
Kenny glares at me, but I know he's amused.
"How dare you," we turn our attention at the same time to the growling voice trudging closer, "Try to make me kill my little brother Itadori!!"
Hey, that's the name of that girl's friend. I wonder which one he is.
Wait a minute.
There are only two guys present whose names I don't know, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a Kamo, which only leaves Sukuna's vessel.
This guy is related to Sukuna's vessel then? They look nothing alike.
Before he can get too close, Uraume appears.
My Hero~! I'm going to tease her later.
"Step aside," she says. "Don't make me wait too long."
You go Uraume! Slay! Is that a thing? Do people say that? Holy crap I am so out of touch. I'm also still hungry.
Ugh, why did I think that? Now the feeling is just amplified.
"Ken-Sensei," I whisper while the big brother guy gives a deranged rant about being the big brother, "Do you have any snacks?"
He raises his brows at me and purses his lips in thought. A second later, he lights up. "I actually might," he says before twisting to start patting himself down.
Big bro guy shoots a Piercing Blood at us, but Uraume catches it, because I guess she's just cool like that and dodging is for losers.
"Here," Kenny says, and I look back to see him holding out a box of something. I have no idea what it is because the characters that make up its name are foreign to me. But the picture has what looks like bread sticks with chocolate on them, so I happily accept.
"Thanks!" I say before abruptly having to jump away to avoid a sweeping beam of blood.
Looking at the scene, it seems that the big brother guy is focused on Kenny, so I send my teacher a solemn bow. "That ain't my problem. Good luck Sensei."
Opening the box of sweets, I start strolling back to Mei Mei. I almost collapse on the first bite, letting out a probably too lewd moan at the taste.
"Oh my god this is so fucking good~!"
By the time I am close enough to talk with Mei Mei, the rest of the Sorcerers present have already loosely gathered around her. Kenny and the brother guy meanwhile are now fighting in the sky.
"Yo! Mei-chan! What's this say?" I ask, pointing at the name on the box.
"It says Pocky, Narauko-kun~."
I narrow my eyes at her tone, and she gulps and averts her eyes.
"Wait, who are you?" The blonde brat asks.
"His name's Narauko," Sukuna's vessel responds before I can, glaring at me. So scary~. "He's friends with Sukuna. They talked earlier."
"Nuh uh~, we're not just friends!" I rebuke, "We are best friends! Don't worry though, I still disagree with pretty much everything he says. We're equal opposites. I am him and he is me, but we never agree."
Sukuna's vessel reacts weirdly to my words. I couldn't begin to guess why, so I just keep talking. "Oh, by the way, there was this girl called Kugisaki who mentioned you. I figure you'll be happy to hear that she's all well and good? I healed her up, though she'll need a follow up for the eye."
He must have really cared for her. His relief is palpable.
"Narauko-kun," Mei Mei picks up the conversation. "We believe the man you call Kenjaku is currently holding the Prison Realm-"
"For real!?" I interrupt her, turning to look up at Kenny flying on some manta looking Curse in the sky. "He's dragging that monk's corpse around? First he's throwing around a Smallpox Deity lookalike and now this? Seriously no respect at all in that guy. Sorry, you were saying?"
"With Gojo Satoru sealed inside," Mei Mei continues as if I really said nothing. "We are going to try and get him back. Are you going to stop us?"
"Huh? Nah, I don't really have a horse in this race so to speak. I'm gonna go help that Todo guy. I can see him bleeding out over there." I'm still trying to decide what I want to do right now. I've only been back like less than an hour, I'm still getting my bearings.
I don't know what side to take. I need some time to think about what I want my future to look like.
Thinking as much, I start walking passed them with another piece of pocky in my mouth.
"I'll be back in minute!" I call back to Uraume, tilting my head enough to meet her eyes. "Don't kill any them! We both know they aren't a threat to you."
Well, except for Mei Mei, but I get the feeling that she's not the type to put everything on the line when her life isn't even actually in any danger.
I whistle a tune to myself as I walk away, mostly ignoring the sounds of battle.
Kenny explained his plan to me back then. The Culling Game and its purpose. Now I'm just wondering what I should do about it. It's tough.
On the one hand, like Kenny, I am really curious. I want to see it too. But I don't so much like the whole culling aspect. Seems a bit gauche to me, and completely unnecessary.
That said, from what I can gather, it seems that Jujutsu is hidden in this day and age. I don't really like that. I think Jujutsu should be known and spread far and wide.
So, ultimately, the question I have to answer is; What kind of future do I want?
A future where everyone on the planet is aware of Cursed Energy. A future where one's birth isn't the dictate of their potential, of their very lives. A future where anyone who is as fascinated by Jujutsu as my friends and I can pursue it without limits imposed on them by birth.
I just...
I just want to avoid the future I spend my entire life haunted by. A future of dull, bleak monotony. A future where hopes and dreams are crushed under corporate gears. A future where your life is meaningless because only a fraction of a fraction of the population are truly free.
I pause as the thought crystalises an idea in my mind.
"Yeah, I think that's the answer," I mutter as I reach Todo and crouch to heal him. "A world of freedom. Where your effort can actually mean something. A world where there is a reason to try. A reason to wake up. To dedicate yourself. A world that has an escape from that endless, crushing, boredom."
I would have liked to have lived in such a world the first time around. Maybe then I could have been proud of who I was, instead of only feeling disgust at the pathetic man I used to be.
Heh, Kenny's gonna be maaad~. Well, probably not. So long as the result is sufficiently interesting and unexpected, he'll probably be happy.
"Haaah, I'm glad I got a moment to think," I mutter.
I feel a lot lighter now that I've had the time to sort my thoughts.
Turning my attention back to Todo, I keep him from waking up as I observe his hands.
All the other wounds are gone, but his hands are still messed up looking. One of them is a hell of a lot worse than the other, and I think he must have cut it off himself to stop whatever was happening from spreading.
The work of that Curse I assume. I wonder where it is? I really want to see Soul Manipulation in action. That's such an absurd Technique to have.
Whatever.
One thing this has confirmed though, is that even if I regenerate the entire limb with Cursed Energy, the effects of Soul Manipulation linger.
Not unexpected.
"Generous Deer," I intone, and my favourite Shikigami's head pokes out of my shadow between my legs. "Let's see if we can fix this, eh?"
It's weird.
Healing a flesh wound is a simple thing, but that's mostly because the Soul exists as a template. So you just let the Reverse Cursed Technique run over the body and remake it in the shape of the Soul.
But what about if the Soul of his hands are what is hurt?
"Could I do the reverse? 'Wound' his hands by making them look normal, and then 'Heal' his Soul based on the template of his hands?."
Theoretically that should work, but I'd need a way to manipulate his flesh first. It shouldn't bee too tough to make a Technique that can do that, but it'll take some time. Too much to do it right now.
With that in mind, I simply drop Todo in my shadow and leave him to the Sorcerers in the park for now. I'll look into it more later.
For now, someone powerful has just showed up so I think it's time to return to the party.
"The next stage for humans is to detach from Cursed Energy," I faintly hear a woman's voice say in the distance, and I immediately disagree with her.
"Wrong, it's about optimising Cursed Energy," Kenny says back.
Which is when I burst onto the scene, dropping from the sky and bouncing to my feet with my fists on my hips.
"You're both wrong!" I exclaim with a smile. "It's about uniting with our Curses!"
The woman is a tall, attractive blonde wearing a strange mix of a Chinese martial arts top and jeans. It kind of works really well. Huh. There's also a weird Shikigami floating around that looks like an eel skeleton.
The woman turns to make a face at Sukuna's vessel as if Kenny and I both said something unreasonable.
"No, I don't understand any of those," Sukuna's vessel admits, making me snort.
"So," the woman says, facing me. "Who are you?"
"Heh heh, you really wanna know?" I ask, tilting my head to smile down at her. I don't wait for an answer. "This one before you is the sexy, awesome, magnanimous Zen'in no Narauko!! Back from the dead! Feel free to praise me~!"
"For real!?" The woman exclaims, turning back to Sukuna's vessel for confirmation and back to us when he nods.
"I thought that when Zen'in Toji died twelve years ago," Kenny says, getting my attention with my name. "That the detachment plan was abandoned?"
Eh? Have these two been scheming together? Poor woman.
"I've discussed this with you," the woman begins before pausing. "Well, never mind. Let's go back to the origin. Besides, your plan has a major flaw. Compared to Japan, there are far fewer Sorcerers and Cursed Spirits abroad. Tengen's barrier will be indispensable for the optimisation plan."
Good to know Tengen is still going strong. I feel like this chick is probably missing some information though. It doesn't sound like Kenny to leave a major flaw in his plans.
"If you want to use Tengen, then only people in this country can optimise Cursed Energy and become Sorcerers. Cursed Energy will almost be monopolised by Japan. And for the another countries, not one of them in the world will remain silent. Living humans will become energy sources. It's easy to imagine what kind of misfortune would happen, isn't it?"
Didn't I see a movie like that once? Black Tower or something? Was that even the plot? I have no idea. I can't even remember what happens, her words just randomly reminded me of it.
The woman lets out a sigh. "That's not the ideal world I have depicted."
Kenny just chuckles at her. "So what?"
"As expected of Sensei," I mutter, "He has no respect at all."
Kenny snorts at me before turning his attention back to the woman. "Our goals were different from the start. What I pursue is not a world without Cursed Spirits, nor a peaceful world. Non-Sorcerers, Sorcerers, Cursed Spirits. All of these are a possibility. A possibility of the human as a form of Cursed Energy."
He brings a hand up to his face for examination, and the depth to his expression makes me incredibly sad. Because I can see the pain in his gaze. A look that speaks of centuries spent lamenting, searching for an answer he can't find.
"But a human's potential should be more than this. I have also tried to bring that possibility myself. But that doesn't work."
I'm sorry, Kenjaku-Sensei. You've really been alone all this time, haven't you?
"What I have created," he continues, heedless of my thoughts. "Is ultimately limited by my own possibilities. The answer is always the entity with a black glow amidst chaos. Do you understand?" His gaze falls on me, and when our eyes meet, I want to cry at the sheer loneliness I see. "What I should create, is chaos that cannot be controlled by me."
I try to speak, to say something, but I can't. What could I even say? I chose to stay behind. It was my choice. I should have... I should have realised. I'm sorry.
"The Cursed Technique has been extracted," he says, causing the woman to gasp and turn to Sukuna's vessel.
"There should be a Cursed Spirit called Mahito, right?! The one that has the Cursed Technique to manipulate Souls?!"
"He just swallowed him," is the simple response.
"Seriously!?"
Damn, did I miss out? As if my mood wasn't already bad enough right now.
Kenny crouches down and lays his palm on the ground. I don't do anything to stop him.
"Idle Transfiguration."
Woah, lightshow. With his words, a giant purple symbol of some kind rises from the ground to hover in the air.
People continue to talk, but I tune them out, observing the floating symbol. It seems to me that's its just a focus to use a Technique over great distances.
Considering the Technique involved, he's probably making a bunch of Sorcerers or something. That sounds like something he'd do.
A sigh leaves me.
I'll have to make it up to him somehow. Hopefully my vision of the future will be interesting enough to satiate him.
And this time... This time I'll try and stick around.
I'm snapped out of my self pity by the sound of waves, and I look over to see all of Uraume's ice disappearing.
"Uraume!" I exclaim when she falls to one knee.
"Poison?" She spits the word out right as I slide to a knee by her side.
With one hand on her back and the other on her head, I pull her into a hug. "It's okay Uraume, let me handle it."
Poison can be difficult, but it's nothing Generous Deer can't handle.
"T-thank you, Narauko-sama."
"I haven't finished speaking yet," Kenny says, sounding annoyed at the others who were saying something or other. He doesn't look at me. "The Cursed Objects I gave to those people are the remnants of Sorcerers I've made contracts with since a thousand years ago. But it's not just Sorcerers that have made contracts with me. Even though those contracts had already expired when I acquired this body."
Uraume and I both stand as Kenny's Cursed Energy flares.
"This is the world of the future," he declares, really sounding like a villain.
And then he goes one step further and summons forth a metric fuck tonne of Curses under a cloud of darkness. I guess that's what he meant when he said it's not just Sorcerers he's made contracts with. This is kind of insane.
"Goodbye, Itadori Yuji," Kenny says, holding out the Prison Realm for all to see.
He's having too much fun playing the bad guy.
But then, he finally looks at me, and I don't know what to say.
"It's beginning once again," he softly murmurs to me. "The Golden Age of Sorcery. The Heian Period is about to return. Later, Narauko."
And then he turns and he leaves and I do not follow him.
A thousand memories fly through my mind. Memories of the Heian Period. Of the fun we three had together.
I remember once when Tengen mentioned how much those small few years had changed him.
I should have noticed.
I should have realised how much those years meant to you.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to leave you alone.
Forgive me.
///
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
Aaaand fin!
Now I just have to do the fuckin culling games too :( It can never be simple with me.
Also, I really didn't expect this to have such a sad ending lmao. But I was watching the jjk eps, and I realised that Kenny seems really sad when he's doing his speech.
It made me think that maybe the whole culling game thing is just because he is an immortal who has spent 1000 bored out of his mind with only memories of the last time he felt alive. He just wants the world to go back to how it used to be. It made me think of adults feeling melancholic about the times when we were just kids doing stupid crap with our friends without a concern in the world.
So yeah, Shibuya arc over. The omake will continue into the culling game at some point, idk if it'll be any time soon tho since I'll need to reread the manga.
Comments
Ethan Prince
Hey man this is awesome! I’m really loving the base story and this omake series as well. Honestly the thing I want to see most is just narauko interacting with modern day characters especially gojo. And hey people will always yap about things. Don’t let people that aren’t creating tell you that your creation is flawed. They don’t know anything about it. Or to paraphrase sukuna, why should the opinions of the weak(people that aren’t creating content gold) matter. Keep up the great work!
Lucy Edwards
where did you get the idea that this narauko didn't explore the world? He lived for over a century and very much did explore the world. He just didn't find anything interesting beyond the mundane stuff
crispysoup
I'm sorry but i have to ask is this the same narauko? Cause your telling me the guy who killed an entire village because he was curious, and also curious about having a school experience of all things, wasn't the least bit curious about what it was like to live that long? Not curious about what was out there out side of japan even if there weren't many cursed spirits or sorcerers your telling me he wouldn't have gone to explore? I'm sorry its just kinda baffling because the guys secondary Curse is Curiosity (the first being Love if there even is such a thing as having a secondary Curse.) I would've imagined he come up with an idea to make an island just off japans coast into a cullings games arena that was started as a test of Strength which turned into a Tournament to see who was the strongest, like store the losers souls with a barrier so they don't die completely heal the body and stuff the soul back in and have them go about their day after a winner is decided and then erase thier memories of the game and its revive factor so it can happen all over again (entering the island means they agree to the games terms) do you know how much cursed energy they would get if they did it this way?
JustaDude
I may or may not have subbed just for this omake. Can't wait to see how the higher ups try to swing this in their favor. Gonna have to go back and read the main story.
Lucy Edwards
Did I ever say that Narauko can't tame Mahoraga?
Zzasicker
ayo nice work, but this makes me wonder, if megumins mahoraga is that strong despite him being a bum/adverage then how fking strong is the mc's mahoraga, no fking wonder he couldnt tame him xD
