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Morning came sooner than what Naoya would have liked. With sunlight filtering weakly through the paper screens, faint golden patterns painted across Naoya's futon.
He cracked an eye open, immediately regretting it. His entire body screamed in protest.
"Ugh… I think Toji nii-san broke my spine," he groaned, rolling onto his side. Even that felt like punishment.
The moment he tried to stretch, pain shot through his limbs. His first training session with Toji had left him more bruised than he could count.
A knock came from the other side of the door. "Naoya-sama, the Clan Head requests your presence after breakfast."
"Of course he does…" Naoya muttered, dragging himself out of bed. "Because why would anyone let me rest when I'm dying?"
He went through his morning routine half-conscious, occasionally wincing in pain from slight moevemnt that he inevitable made.
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Breakfast was oddly peaceful. Naobito was reading a report while sipping sake — yes, in the morning — and didn't comment on Naoya's sluggish movements.
Afterward, the two walked together through the clan estate, their steps echoing softly against the wooden floors.
"You look dead," Naobito said without looking up.
"Thanks, I feel dead," Naoya replied dryly.
"Good. That means the training worked."
"I don't see you or others in this much pain. Are you guys not training seriously?" Naoya snorted.
"That's called discipline," Naobito replied, glancing at him with a smirk. "And by the way you're talking, you really lack it."
"…You know, showing some concern wouldn't hurt," Naoya said sarcastically.
"You'll get hurt plenty once you become a jujutsu sorcerer and fight curses. Better get used to pain sooner rather than later."
Naoya blinked. "That logic is very concerning, Father."
Naobito smirked faintly. "Get used to it. Today's banquet isn't going to be any easier. Rest up till then. Don't embarrass yourself — and definitely don't embarrass the clan."
"Hah, like the clan needs my help doing that…" Naoya muttered.
That immediately earned him a glare, making him stiffen up.
"The Zenin clan is one of the most prestigious and influential families in both the Jujutsu world and the common world. Others know better than to get on our bad side. It would be wise for you to learn the same," Naobito said, his tone turning cold.
Naoya gave a small nod.
"Speak."
"Understood," Naoya replied quickly.
Naobito cast one last glare at his son before walking away.
Naoya sighed in relief as soon as his father disappeared from sight.'Close call…' he thought, slowly making his way back to his room.
Once inside, he summoned Frosting and Cupcake from his shadows and cuddled the huge fluffballs, much to their amusement.
"If nothing else, this technique is worth it just for giving me these cuties," he murmured, burying his face in Frosting's soft belly.
Cupcake barked loudly, demanding attention.
Naoya and Frosting turned to see the black wolf lying on his back, belly exposed.
Naoya smiled and gave his belly a few scratches before lying down against the black fur.
____________________
Name: Naoya Zenin
Title: Body Stealer, Possible Zenin Heir
Cursed Technique: Ten Shadows Technique (Active) / Projection Sorcery (Inactive)
Cursed Energy: 655/660
STR: 22 (+2)
DEX: 17 (+4)
VIT: 36 (+1)
INT: 42 (+2)
LUK: 18 (+3)
Extra Points: 1
Achievements:
_____________________
Naoya stared at his stats. He had improved a lot, but somehow the danger around him only seemed to increase.
He looked at his single extra point, wondering where to invest it.
He'd thought about saving them until he reached ten, since that was the limit he could hold at once. But at his current level, saving might cost him his life. Toji had warned him about assassins and unseen threats — if even a single point could make a difference, he'd use it now.
'No matter how I look at it, I should put it in Strength,' he thought. 'That'll help me fight or escape if needed.'
He briefly considered Dexterity, but without weapons or tools, it didn't seem useful yet.
Luck was tempting — it wouldn't show immediate gains, but having Lady Luck on your side could turn battles around. Still, it wasn't something he could train or rely on naturally.
After giving it some more thought he decided to add that point to strength. Slowly but steadily that stat will increase and he believed that he had better survival chances with strength. Once he was strong enough to not die easily then he can focus on luck.
____________________
Name: Naoya Zenin
Title: Body Stealer, Possible Zenin Heir
Cursed Technique: Ten Shadows Technique (Active) / Projection Sorcery (Inactive)
Cursed Energy: 655/660
STR: 23 (+1)
DEX: 17
VIT: 36
INT: 42
LUK: 18
Extra Points: 0
Achievements:
_____________________
After adding the point, Naoya turned off the system and laid back down.
"Cupcake, Frosting, protect me while I'm asleep. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious," he murmured.
The wolves barked in affirmation, turning alert.
Smiling softly, Naoya closed his eyes. The wolves curled closer to him, their warmth a silent promise of protection.
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By evening, the Zenin estate was unrecognizable. Lanterns hung from every archway, servants hurriedly moved trays of food and sake, and the faint sound of shamisen strings echoed across the courtyard.
The Banquet of Shadows — a gathering of the most influential sorcerers and clan heads from Kyoto and Tokyo — was underway.
Naoya stood awkwardly near one of the central pillars, dressed in formal black robes with a golden sash. The outfit was uncomfortable, the collar too tight, and the weight of attention unbearable.
Everywhere he looked, people were whispering.
"That's the boy, isn't he?""They say he awakened two techniques."
Naoya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Great. I'm the freak show attraction.
He tried to maintain a neutral face, scanning the crowd. He recognized some of the Zenin elders — Ogi, Chojuro, Jinichi — along with a few unfamiliar faces from outside clans. One of them, a silver-haired man, was laughing loudly with Naobito.
That must've been a Gojo representative. Because of course, Naobito had invited them.
Along with the man Naoya could also see a child around his age standing with the man looking bored.
'That must be the heir of their clan.' thought Naoya.
While checking out the surroundings, Naoya's eyes met with Naobito's who was now surrounded by a few important looking people.
"Naoya come here." called Naobito.
Naoya wanted to sigh, he was already feeling pressure from the countless gazes upon him, that coupled with his fear of someone out of no where killing him made his stomach hurt.
Still being the 'prodigy of the Zenin clan' Naoya put up a smile on his face.
"This is my son, Naoya," Naobito said. "Naoya, these are the current pillars of the Jujutsu world — the Gojo clan's Masahiro Gojo, the Kamo clan's Shinjiro Kamo, and the Inumaki clan's Arata Inumaki."
"Nice to meet you, Gojo-san, Kamo-san, Inumaki-san. I'm Naoya Zenin," he greeted respectfully.
The three nodded, studying him with curiosity — after all, he was the star of the evening.
"Nice to meet you as well, Naoya-kun. Hey, introduce yourself too," said Masahiro Gojo, nudging the boy beside him.
"Gojo Satoru. Nice to meet you." said Satoru in a bored tone, not at all affected by the glare his father was giving him for the lack luster greeting.
Naobito, for once, felt grateful that his own son wasn't that brazen.
"Naoya, keep Satoru-kun company," Naobito said, gesturing for them to leave.
Satoru glanced at his father for confirmation, and upon receiving a nod, turned back toward Naoya.
"Oh, before I forget — this is for you," Satoru said, handing over a bag.
Naoya took the bag curiously and found a well wrapped gift box inside it.
Surprised by the sudden gift his eyes glimmered in excitement. It was afterall the first gift that he had ever recieved.
The Zenin clan was rich, sure, but warm? Not so much.
Seeing the excited boy, Satoru smiled in content giving a smug smile to his father. It was afterall his idea to take a gift for the kid.
Masahiro coughed and looked away, pretending not to notice.
Naobito, meanwhile, frowned slightly.
'He needs to learn composure' thought Naobito.
The two kids then slowly walked away from their fathers as Naoya looked towards Satoru.
"Thank You for this." said Naoya holding the gift.
"You're welcome. It's a remote-controlled car, by the way."
"What's that?" Naoya asked innocently.
"You don't know R/C cars?" Satoru looked genuinely shocked.
"No."
"Alright, come on! I'll show you," Satoru grinned.
Naoya nodded and led the kid a bit further away from the banquet, though not that far since being in sights of the adults was also important.
Naoya put the box on the ground as both him and Satoru started tearing the gift wrap.
Once out of the wrapping Naoya looked at the box and was amazed. Inside it was a bright red car — almost half Naoya's size.
Seeing that reaction Satoru felt proud of his choice and then started tearing the box. Once the car was out Satoru checked for the batteries before placing the car on the ground and handing the remote to the blond haired guy beside him.
"Here, what do you think happens when you press that?"
"…Um, the car moves?" Naoya said uncertainly.
"...You told me you don't know what it is?" asked Satoru.
"...It's a car. What else would it do?" retorted Naoya back answering with common sense. He didn't know what R/C car was but he knew what a car looked like and what it does.
Looking at the remote in his hands, Naoya instinctively understood what the remote was for and pushed the button forward.
He pressed the button, and the car zoomed forward. Naoya jumped in surprise, eyes wide with childlike wonder.
Satoru chuckled. The two spent a while playing until a loud growl came from Naoya's stomach.
"That was a loud noise." said Gojo in surprise. He had never heard such a loud noise come from someone's stomach.
Naoya laughed sheepishly. With all the servants busy, he'd only managed to eat four servings at lunch — clearly not enough.
"Let's go eat something then." said Naoya in excitement already enjoying Satoru company.
Ding~
A soft chime echoed.
Achievement Unlocked:Make one friend. (+1 point) [Collect]
Naoya surprised by the sudden notification paused for a moment. He made his first friend today. That realization made him smile even more.
Satoru look at Naoya's bright smile for a bit before he smiled back. He liked this boy's company. People interacting with him because of ulterior motives was nothing new to Satoru, so the genuine feeling that he got from Naoya was very refreshing for him.
"Let's go then. Let me see how good Zenin family's cooks are." said Satoru.
"Oh, it's amazing. You'll love it," Naoya promised.
The two boys happily walked back to the banquet area and went straight to the table lined with foods, though in between that Naoya handed the gift that Satoru gave him to a servant and asked them to place it in his room.
The two soon grabbed plates and started filling it with what they like.
.
.
.
"…You sure can eat, Naoya," said Satoru in disbelief looking at the mountain of food piled on Naoya's plate.
Naoya with his mouth full looked at Satoru's plate and snorted. He chewed what he had in his mouth, and picked up some veggies from his plate before putting them in Satoru's.
"Eat your veggies too. Only eating meat and sweets are bad for the body." said Naoya.
"..."
Satoru stared at the green pile and carefully separated the veggies from the meat."I won't," he declared dramatically.
"You should though. Father says that veggies contain power to repel curses and not eating enough of them will attract them more to you." said Naoya.
Satoru's eyes widened. He didn't know that. No wonder his father, mother, and rest of the servants in his house tried so much to make him eat his vegetables.
"...Wait? Why am I worried? I am strong. Let them come." said Gojo realizing who he was before happily eating the food he like.
Naoya looked at Satoru in envy. He too wanted to be that strong that he can dismiss danger like it was nothing.
"What do you usually do all day?" Satoru asked once he'd finished eating.
"Wake up. Train. Breakfast. Train. Lunch. Train. Dinner. Sleep," Naoya answered casually.
"..."
Gojo turned silent after hearing that.
'What do you mean train?' thought Satoru in shock.
Satoru blinked. "Apart from training and eating, what else do you do?"
"...I take a bath and go to toilet as well if that's what you are curious about. Sometimes training time is switched with studying time as well." Naoya said matter-of-factly not thinking much about it, afterall that's all what he did at his home anyway.
"Don't you… play with friends or something?"
Naoya shook his head, "No one close to my age is here in the clan, I also don't have any friends here."
Satoru turned silent. This felt too sad to him.
"I will be your friend!" declared Satoru.
"Hehe, thank you. Let's get along friend." replied Naoya with a smile and extended his hand to shake Satoru's.
Satoru grabbed Naoya's hand and shook it with as much force as he could to convey his feelings.
The two smiled brightly and the continued their conversation.
"What about TV?" asked Satoru.
"What's that?" asked Naoya back.
"A square box with a screen. Video and sound came out of it. You can watch movie and anime in that." explained Gojo to the best of his ability.
"Never seen one. Maybe there's one in another part of the estate. What's anime?"
"…Forget it. What about games?"
"I used to play tag with some servants when I was young." said Naoya.
"You are younger!" Satoru exclaimed.
"What about manga? Before you ask. It's a book with pictures and stories inside it." said Satoru.
"Oh! You mean newpapers and textbooks. We do have those. I can't read properly yet but I like the cartoons that come in the newsparper. Textbooks are boring though" replied Naoya.
Satoru blinked in surprise. Never in his life he had expected that he would meet such a poor soul from a rich family.
That day he finally realized how fortunate he was that he was born in Gojo clan instead of the Zenin clan.
"Naoya. I will invite you sometime to my home. Let's have tons of fun then!!!" said Satoru with a fire buring in his eyes. He promised himself at that moment that he will make sure that his new friend Naoya experiences YOUTH!!!