A girl sits alone on a bed of straw, surrounded by what could only be called an attempt at a hut of straw. An attempt that falls short and leaves what is simply a cone of straw and sticks leaning against itself, held together by only a light binding of twine.
It can hardly be called a home or even a shack. Just a tent—a poorly made one at that. Wide enough only to fit the length of the girl's legs if she were to sit with her back to one side.
The only sign that this space is one that a girl calls home is the small pile of belongings tucked into one side. A dull, wooden needle. A light, poorly rolled spool of rough cloth. A bowl filled with water. Half of a loaf of bread that is sturdier than the needle and a thin, scratchy blanket.
The near sum total of her belongings.
Her only other belongings are the threadbare sack she wears and what she holds in her hand. A doll. Made of hardened dirt and sheathed in straw as if skin and bones.
With one hand she hols her doll, shaking it slightly as if it speaks. Her other hand she holds across from the doll, her fingers held together and tapping against her thumb as if the hand is a mouth that is responding to the doll.
The girl's mouth opens and closes as she shakes her doll; as she mimes with her hand, but no sound leaves her lips. The conversation remains entirely imagined.
Freaks like her shouldn't speak, after all.
The soft sound of damp earth being disturbed brushes against her ears and the girl immediately acts, tripping over herself to dive for her pile of belongings and hide her doll behind them under her blanket.
It's not normal for freaks to have toys, after all.
Once her doll is hidden, she quickly moves away from the pile and sits against the wall of her cramped home, ankles tucked flush against flesh as she hugs her knees into her cheeks. As if by making herself as small as possible she might turn invisible.
The flap of cloth that serves as the door to her home is not so much pulled open as it is walked through, parting around the figure of a girl even smaller than she is—though neither of them are tall enough to even be mistaken as pubescent—caked in enough dirt that her own filth might appear clean.
"Imōto-chan," the girl greets, her voice soft and low as she watches without uncurling. "What happened to your face?"
The smaller girl doesn't respond until the cloth door fully closes behind her, as if it would do anything to hide their conversation. Her face is as filthy as the rest of her, but unlike the ruined sack of cloth she wears, her face is muddied by both dirt, blood and bruise from numerous small wounds and impacts.
"Old Kei and the hunters didn't catch anything," the filthy girl answers, standing in her spot beyond the door. Her voice is as soft and slow as her sisters, but there is a morose sense of fear to it. An ever so slight waver that would have been missed if not for their familiarity with one another. "They said it was our fault. Old Kei said that it was normal to punish us for Cursing the village with our existence."
"Mm." The girl releases her knees and uncurls, stretching her legs out until they touch the straw on the other side of their hut. The girl parts her legs slightly and pats her thighs, a silent gesture that is followed without comment. "Does it hurt?"
"Mm." Her sister's reply is as simple as her own, coming with a slight nod and nothing else as she moves to sit between her legs and lean back against her chest.
A long silence descends upon their hut, no further words or questions ventured. The girl simply reaches for their meagre belongings and pulls the bowl of water and blanket closer.
Two fingers dip blanket into water while her other hand tilts her sister's head back so that she can get a good look at her face. Several minutes pass in silence as the girl wipes her sister's face clean, gently dabbing at the busted lip and the cuts across her brows and cheeks and jaw; places where skin met bone under duress and found itself wanting.
Every touches of the damp cloth upon a weeping wound manages to draw a small, silent wince or flinch from her sister. Tiny gestures hidden only through practice.
Once her sister's face is cleaned enough to her satisfaction, which is never as much as she would prefer, the girl places the blanket and bowl back where they belong—the size of their home meaning that there is no need to even throw them gently—and returns her attention to her sister.
No more maintenance or care is provided, for the girl knows not what else can be done.
Instead, her arms simply fold themselves around her sister's stomach, her chin rests on her shoulder, and she waits.
Not for anything in particular, there is simply nothing else to do.
Holding her sister close is the only true pleasure she has in life, so the girl makes sure to luxuriate in every moment of their closeness.
Eventually however, that silence is broken. The girl does not know how long it took to break, and she wouldn't be able to measure it if she did for she knows not the units of time, but were it not her sister's voice breaking the silence, then she would have despised the disruption.
"Hey, Nee-chan." The voice is soft, always soft. Carrying that kind of tone one uses when one isn't sure if the listener is asleep or not and doesn't want to wake them if they are.
The girl thinks that that must mean that the previous silence was a long one.
"What?" The girl's own answer comes out muffled against her sister's shoulder.
"Who decides what's normal?"
The girl doesn't know, but she tries to answer anyway. For her sister, she always tries. "Elders, maybe?"
"Then, who decides for them?"
"Hmm... Their elders?"
"So who was the very first one to decide?"
A shrug, one that reverberates through her sister from their closeness. "Nobody, probably."
"Yet everyone still follows it?" Her sister twists her head just barely enough to see on eye.
"Yeah..." The girl realises that she is squeezing her sister too tightly and looses some tension but does not let go. "It's easier to not get in trouble if you do what's normal."
"So it's not that normal is right—" She begins and the girl finishes for her;
"It's just that nobody wants to get yelled at."
A pause follows, long enough that the girl almost thinks the conversation is over.
"But Old Kei yells at us anyway."
The girl isn't sure what those words are supposed to mean here. Why they're relevant. So she just says what she knows. The only truth she's been taught.
"That's normal."
Another pause, this one not nearly so long.
"Something feels off about it."
"What does?" The girl's question is a genuine one.
She doesn't know what her sister is implying. People do what's normal because they don't want to get yelled at, but they aren't people. They are freaks. So it's normal for Old Kei and the others to yell at them.
"I don't know." Her sister's voice blends frustration with confusion and smothers it all under uncertainty and timidity as she curls up in the girl's arms and mutters her final words for the night.
"It just feels off."
///
Narauko (The Proudest Mother of Four((?) Do we count Shikatsumi and Mahoraga?)
///
"Obviously it feels off! Idiot! You're letting the world take too much without keeping anything for yourself!"
Kamo-Sensei pouts at me and then thinks twice and decides to stick his tongue out and make rude noises instead. "It's your fault for explaining it poorly."
His accusation washes off of my back like water as I conspicuously turn to Sukuna beside us and the Simple Domain extending around him.
After giving Kon a Soul, we wound up moving to a bigger garden so that Kon could play around with her newfound sense of self.
The result of that is a little bit aways from where we sit, where Kon is bouncing and prancing around Generous Deer like an overexcited pup, doing her darndest to get a rise out of her elder brother. I even let Shikatsumi out, who has taken to playing Generous Deer's protector. I think he sees the Shikigami as something of a 'superior', or perhaps an elder brother in the respectful sense rather than the familial one.
Generous Deer seems content to be the subject of their energy, simply sitting with a peaceful calm under the shade of a pear tree. It makes sense to me, the differences in their personalities. Generous Deer was 'fathered' by my memories of deer and nature and home, so he acts more like one would expect a deer to anyway and Shikatsumi was already just a deer in the first place, he's just been changed slightly by connecting to me.
Kon got infected by Tamamo however, so she's a lot more 'human'. At least in the sense that a human would rather have something to do with their time than just sit around like animals tend to.
Regardless, once I let the two of them out of my Shadow and Shikatsumi out of my Body, I finished explaining the full process of the Spell system I made. Explaining all of the Binding Vows I made creating Shikatsumi and all the changes I plan to make next time to make the system more accessible and useful.
After that, I remembered that I hadn't told them about Simple Domain. I mean, Kamo-Sensei had seen it during the tournament—before it all went to crap—but apparently he didn't know that I had anything to do with its creation.
That was pretty funny.
Naturally Sukuna only needed to see me use it in order to master it on his own. I can even see the asshole extraordinaire modifying it right now, ad a laugh leaves me unbidden as I realise what I'm looking at.
He heard my words spoken to Kamo-Sensei and now he's making his Simple Domain even more selfish. Instead of laying the Domain over the world, he's using it to actively push the world away.
It's like the difference between covering a garden with a tarp to protect it from the rain and just digging the garden out entirely. Both methods prevent the rain from touching the garden, but only one bothers to actually protect the garden. he's just trying to spite the rain.
I can see the pros and cons of the idea and it certainly has merit. Just more so for Sukuna than me. A Simple Domain like that would probably be detrimental to my Technique. My Shikigami have a lot of overlapping laws and rules after all, changing the state of what they are trying to affect would only confuse matters.
...Dang, I'm going to have to figure it out anyway, else he's going to use his Simple Domain to kick my ass when we fight.
What a dick.
"That's not a fair comparison," Kamo-Sensei grouses, following my gaze to Sukuna. "Besides, I only got it wrong once and you're so quick to yell at me~."
Putting action to words, Kamo-Sensei corrects his application of the Technique and I watch as a Simple Domain springs to life beneath his feet. His is also subtly different to ours, but I think that's more a case of Sensei's application of the Technique being its normal use. Sukuna and I are the odd ones out, me because I can connect Simple Domain to my Technique and Sukuna because he's an ass.
I want to argue Kamo-Sensei's accusation, but he's not really wrong. He got the Technique down on his second try which is still good. It's just the cause of his initial failure that got me a tad wound up. I probably did explain things poorly, because I can't imagine why Kamo-Sensei would ever think to spread his Cursed Energy so generously if not because of my influence.
Rather than a Simple Domain, his initial attempt was more akin to a modified Curtain, only it was a Curtain that enhanced rather than suppressed. A core part of Domain Expansion is that it creates a 'home ground' where the user gets a boost to the effectiveness of their Technique. That knowledge, combined with my poor explanation, resulted in Kamo-Sensei basically taking that 'home ground' facet of the Domain Expansion and implanting it into a Simple Domain such that he was spreading it out freely, giving the world around us the benefit of a Domain's 'home ground' while gaining nothing at all in return.
It's honestly pretty fascinating theoretics, and I'm sure we're all going to talk about it more in-depth when there are no longer more interesting things to talk about. Sukuna probably won't be too interested at first, but that depend entirely on whether he'll think about the applications of inverting the phenomena or if I'll have to point it out to him.
Sukuna sure is a genius, but he has a habit of occasionally lacking in outside-the-box thinking. Not because he is incapable of it, but simply because he doesn't care to try.
I kind of find it cute, is that weird? I just think it's a cute little quirk to have. It's probably weird.
Shrugging the thought away, I clap my hands and send Sukuna a grin when they both turn their attention fully to me.
"I showed you mine, now you gotta show me yours~!" Kamo-Sensei snorts as he dismisses his Simple Domain, but Sukuna just favours me with a dry stare.
"Why do you insist on phrasing things like that?" Sukuna's accusation lacks any heat as he too dismisses his Simple Domain, to which I simply smile and whistle innocently.
"Like what~?"
Sukuna sighs and shakes his head but moves closer to Kamo-Sensei and I before taking a seat on the edge of the walkway surrounding the garden, prompting us to do as much beside him.
Sukuna doesn't bother with an explanation like I would, he simply sees that both our eyes are on him and chooses action over words.
Around his skin, an aura of Cursed Energy comes to life, swirling around him without the chaotic flicker that generally accompanies Cursed Energy. I can practically see the chains of Binding Vows holding his Cursed Energy uniform, though I can't quite make out what the are.
"Domain Amplification." Sukuna states the name of his Technique by way of explanation, as if those two words alone are enough—and in a way, they are. It gives context to my own observations enough to more or less figure out what I'm looking at.
It's somehow similar to Simple Domain, just a natural opposite—the thought is amusing.
Instead of layering an empty Domain over the world, this works by wearing it as an armour. It's probably a bit sturdier than Simple Domain is, but that seems about it. At best, I'd say it makes for an easier to use Hollow Wicker Basket.
Thinking as much, I make an attempt to recreate the Technique, only for Sukuna to immediately spare me a mocking smirk.
I believe... that I may have misinterpreted something.
"Dumbass," Sukuna mocks, Kamo-Sensei joining him in sneering at me purely because he can.
"You literally haven't explained anything, you're even worse than me! How is Kamo-Sensei ever supposed to understand anything at this rate?"
"Oi what are you insulting me for!?"
I find it kind of funny that between the three of us, Sukuna is the least loud. It's odd; you' think it'd be the other way around. Anger is rarely quiet. Hate even less so. Yet is it Sukuna that is least likely to raise his voice amongst us.
Sukuna rolls his eyes but he does actually acquiesce. It'd be pretty unfair to not explain anything after all the talking I've been doing.
"It's not a defensive Technique," he begins, tone droll as if it's some great suffering to have to explain anything. "The idea is to surround yourself with the sure-hit effect of your Domain in order to break through unpassable defences. It's an Anti-Technique Domain. Your turtle or Tengen's Barriers for instance, Doman Amplification should be able to break through them."
"It's a tortoise," I absently correct as I consider his words. An offensive Technique that by all counts and first impressions should be purely defensive...
Yeah, that tracks.
"Domain Amplification," I intone, changing the shape of my failed attempt and feeling as it clicks in place. Absently, as I observe the Technique surrounding me, my thoughts drift to Gojo Isanko né Sugawara.
Wait would it be Gojo né Sugawara Isanko? I guess there probably isn't an answer for how French and Japanese would combine, meaning the answer can be whatever I feel like!
Regardless, I find myself thinking on his Limitless Technique, specifically that impassable Barrier of his. Domain Amplification seems like a Technique invented purely to counter him, which it kind of is in a distant sense.
Though, thinking on it, wouldn't Domain Amplification have gotten through Masakado's Technique? I never actually got to confirm if his Technique extended its protection to within a Domain Expansion or not, but my assumption remains that it did.
Which means my thought at the time that Sukuna would have given up on trying to break through the Technique has been summarily disproven. I really should have known better, but then, some part of me did still expect that he'd find a way through that immunity. I just didn't figure it would have been like this.
Still, the question remains of effectiveness and since Masakado is no more, it is a question likely to remain unanswered. However, even if Masakado would have been immune to Domain Amplification as well, I am nearly certain that Sukuna has invented a way to get through Nagiko's Technique, since hers doesn't extend its protection through to a Domain's sure-hit effect.
It's a little bit mad to think how much my experience with Masakado and later Mahoraga would have differed if I'd just thought to invent this Technique. Would I even have still wound up with what is surely my most potent Shikigami?
"I get it, I get it, I'm a disgrace, no need to keep mocking me." I'm pulled from my thoughts by Kamo-Sensei's half teasing, half serious words and I can't help but blink at him.
"I'm not smiling to mock you, I was just thinking about how much worse my life would have been if I knew this Technique two weeks ago." That fight was the best day of my life, after all. I probably wouldn't have experienced it as I did if I knew this.
"Oh... Tsk, I really am developing a complex because of you two." Kamo-Sensei's muttering is ignored in favour of the simultaneous snort from Sukuna.
Just meeting his eyes is enough for me to understand what he finds so amusing about my words. Kamo-Sensei notices the byplay and favours us with a raised brow, but...
I don't know if I can even explain it. I could tell him how Sukuna is amused because something he did could have unknowingly hurt me had he done it earlier, but that wouldn't even begin to explain his amusement properly, nor why I share in it.
I Love Kamo-Sensei, that much is no secret for I Love easily. I could spend all day naming people and things that I Love and I know that in plenty of cases that Love is returned, such as with Tamamo and I like to think my Sensei Loves me back, and yet...
It's funny, but... sometimes I feel like it's easier to be Loved than understood and I wonder... Which is more precious? The laws of supply and demand would say that understanding is the greater virtue, for in that I have only Sukuna, yet without understanding I would still have everything else while without Love I would have nothing.
So which is more valuable, the most precious thing you possess that you could live without, or the common things that you have in excess yet could not live without? It's like asking if you'd rather have a house or food.
A moment of somewhat awkward silence passes, though only I seem to find it awkward at all as Sukuna remains indifferent and Kamo-Sensei simply shrugs my silence away, turning his focus back to deciphering Domain Amplification.
"Bleh," Kamo-Sensei grumps after a short quiet, shaking away his previous focus and turning eyes back to Sukuna. "I'll figure it out later, you pair of freaks. So what else have you learned? Surely it's not just the one thing when Na-kun had so much~?"
Sukuna scowls but does not fall for our Sensei's bait. Instead, he merely shakes his head and takes a moment to think. I can almost read his mind to see that he's not trying to recall what he's figured out, just trying to decide what he's willing to share.
I'd be more vocal in my complaint of that if I hadn't already concealed the concept of an Open Domain from them. Not to mention how I've spoken nothing about my vast improvement over my Technique.
He seems to decide on his words soon enough. A good thing, as I felt that Kamo-Sensei was getting closer and closer to throwing a rock at him to hurry him along.
"Are either of you familiar with the term, Balance Breaker?"
"Nope!" I immediately answer, turning straight to Kamo-Sensei, only to be surprised by the lack of understanding on his expression.
"Not something I've heard before, no," is Kamo-Sensei's answer.
Huh.
Sukuna seems only slightly less surprised by our Sensei's lack of knowledge.
"What's with these looks? I'm not omniscient."
"Yeah but you're super old."
"Suuuper old."
He scowls at us, but he fails to hide his smile as he does.
"Just get to the damn the damn explaining already," Kamo-Sensei huffs. "Your students are waiting."
Sukuna rolls his eyes again but does oblige.
"I'm not too certain myself," Sukuna admits, "But it seems to be some manner of Forbidden Technique amongst the Principle Clans, specifically among their Sacred Beast's Inheritors. The Himejima woman used it against me—"
"Oh!" I interrupt Sukuna's speech as a sudden memory strikes me, much to his immediate ire, "That reminds me!"
Without waiting for a response, I dig into my shadow and pull out a photo, briefly glancing at it to make sure it's the right one before handing it over to Sukuna.
He takes it with a scowl that rapidly fades into nothing as he actually looks at the image in his hands.
It's Suzaku's funeral. It would have felt too rude to be snapping pictures left right and centre, so I had Nue fly overhead with my camera instead. The result of that lies in Sukuna's hands, a photo taken from the sky right after I rose that phoenix statue in her honour, showing the full breadth of her funeral procession and the thousands of men and woman that came together in mourning.
"Himejima no Suzaku was fun," I state, staring right at Sukuna, though his eyes don't leave the photo. "She was interesting and full of potential. I liked her. So since you killed her so carelessly, I felt that you should have the chance to see the depth of grief you caused."
Sukuna stares for a moment longer before giving a hollow laugh in reply to my words.
"You are such a fucking hypocrite," he says, only now turning to face me wearing a grin that is some unholy mix of approving and hateful and amused. I can only smile at the accusation, knowing the truth of it. To deny it would only be a greater hypocrisy.
"I think she deserves it," I say instead. "Suzaku—"
"Akeno." I blink at Sukuna's interruption and swallow my words as he continues, "Her name is Akeno."
...Oh.
Oh.
Unwittingly, I feel my eyes begin to sting with unshed tears.
I obviously knew that Suzaku is an inherited name and not the one she was born with, but for Sukuna do know that? Even further, for him to correct me on it?
There ca only be so many causes for both of these things, and so simple deduction is enough for me to understand the depth of such a simple sentence.
I want to apologise, but he'd only take any apology as an insult. I want to cry and hug him, but he'd see that as even worse than an insult.
"I see."
"I don't!" Kamo-Sensei interjects with a cheer, one arm raised high as if proud of himself. "So maybe we can get back to the subject at hand?"
I'm kind of glad. I know he is being honest when he says he doesn't understand, but I can also see that he understands enough to know that his silly—rather rude really—interjection is saving us from an awkward silence that I do not know how to navigate.
"As I was saying," Sukuna begins anew, absently depositing the photo in one sleeve, "Balance Breaker is a Forbidden Technique for Sacred Beast Inheritors that seems to function by effectively 'feeding' the user's Innate Technique into their Sacred Beast; like fuel to the flame. The result is a massive boost to capability at a ruinous cost of nearly guaranteed death. Obviously, it's a useless Technique for anyone without a Sacred Beast, but it has given me something to think about. I believe that it is possible for us to 'burn' our Soul in order to more closely 'embody' our Innate Technique."
"I have spent some time thinking on it and have been pondering on whether or not this idea could be used as a sort of apotheosis. Perhaps not to that extent, but at the very least, some manner of forced 'evolution'. Theoretically, if I could set my Soul alight in the correct manner, then it might be possible to spread my Innate Technique out so that it covers the entirety of my Soul instead of the one spot. Sort of like melting two different metals and using their malleable state to fuse them together. The main issue with this thought is the matter of 'cooling' the Soul down afterwards. Not that I am even certain if this will be a benefit at all or simply a boon. I assume you can experiment for me, Kamo?"
Neither Kamo-Sensei nor I respond right away, both of our minds rapidly processing through Sukuna's words and the immense amount of implications within them.
Sure, this isn't a solid Technique like what he shared earlier or what I shared, but Kamo-Sensei asked us to take the role of the Sensei for once, and damn if this isn't an interesting line of thought. Even if it's only theoretics at the moment, it's still fascinating.
What would a Soul look like if it was merged so fully and entirely with a Technique? The curiosity that thought fills me with is almost painful.
A part of me wants to compare this idea with the Spell writ on my chest, but I know it isn't the same. Shikatsumi's Soul is still itself and separated from the Spell it powers. That's not what Sukuna is describing.
Though it also leaves me wondering about the other end. Innate Techniques are stored not just in the Soul but also in the brain. What would a body look like with an Innate Technique spread through every inch of flesh?
Being that this world is one that has not invented MRI scans and such, I doubt anyone else will have the thought. No one else is likely to know about cells and nuclei or about DNA, so to them, the idea of spreading a potion of the brain throughout the body would make no sense. They wouldn't be able to imagine it—an important factor in Jujutsu.
But me? I can easily imagine the portion of the brain that stores Innate Techniques having some unique cell or chain of DNA. I can easily imagine trying to spread that infinitesimally tiny piece of information throughout the body, engraved in every cell.
Whether that would make the Technique stronger or not, I couldn't say. But I'd be almost certain in saying that it'd bring the user closer to their Technique, giving greater control and understand, i possibly at the cost of concentrated potency.
As my thoughts come to a temporary end, I look up to my two best friends, and I face myself a choice.
Both of them are horrible people, I know this. Neither of them will have spared a second thought to the idea of extending Sukuna's hypothesis to the physical world. They lack the core knowledge to do so.
I could keep it to myself. It would give me an advantage over Sukuna for one, but mainly, it would be the right thing to do. Because if I share what I know, then they will both want to learn more. Kamo-Sensei will experiment, and I highly doubt he will concern himself with the willingness of his 'subjects'. Sukuna will be roped in to help him most likely and neither of them will spare even a moment of thought to what suffering they might cause.
But...
Sharing my previous life's knowledge with them will almost certainly cause only suffering to the world without benefiting a single person outside of this garden.
But...
They're my friends.
///
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
Holy shiznits, I woke up today at 6pm, realised I needed to start and finish a chapter by the end of the day if I wanted to avoid going on a hiatus (cuz I dont have any other chapters written) and decided I'd wait 1 hour and then down an energy drink and do what I can (cuz you shouldn't consume caffine too soon after waking)
Now it's 23:51 and I just finished, so dang, not only am I amazing, but I have staved off a hiatus by another week lol.
Also, side note, in this chapter there are a couple moments between sukuna and narauko that are purposefully left vague. I thought about elabourating some more, but i think it's better like this. If you were in kamo's position, the moments I'm referencing wouldn't have made any sense and I'd have elabourated, however, you have meta knowledge, and with that, those moments make enough sense for me to leave it as is.
You're not supposed to be able to easily understand them after all, their relationship is as complex as it is simple. If you feel like you're missing something going on between them, then it probably means that you haven't thought hard enough about it.
also damn that was a lot of theory, I've already forgotten most of what I just wrote. :P tehe