Hi guys, author here! Please share your thoughts in the comments and reviews. And if you like it, don't forget to drop some stones — they're a great motivator!
-----
The group of four who were on a run were joined by Naoya, who was sitting with them in the cafe and was having his meal.
He hadn't had his lunch because he had been called by the HQ, so he was feeling quite hungry and, as usual, his appetite shocked the new acquaintances.
"What the hell is wrong with him? Where does all that food go? Seeing his muscles and veins, how can he maintain such a physique?!" whispered Riko.
"Oi, Amanai! I am noticing the hot gazes that you have been giving my Naoya. Take your thirsty eyes off him!" hissed Satoru.
"H-Huh? N-No, I am not! I do admit he looks a bit cool, but I am not looking at him!!! Tell him, Kuroi!" stammered Riko.
"Yes. She only passed some glances at Zenin-sama for a bit."
"Kuroi!!!!"
"I knew it!!! Let me tell you!!! Naoya has no interest in brats like you!!! She only goes after onee-sans and milfs with curvy bod-"
Before Satoru could finish, Naoya pulled his ear, stopping his friend, turned kidnapper, from speaking further.
"Why the hell are you spouting nonsense here? Control yourself, you criminal who kidnaps middle school girls," said Naoya.
"Hey, we are not people who kidnap school girls, it was fo-" said Suguru, trying to defend themselves.
"Yeah! We also kidnapped a maid onee-san. Can't you see Kuroi-san sitting there?" said Satoru.
Geto looked at the idiot who was making the situation even worse and was wondering if he should tape his mouth.
Riko looked at Satoru and facepalmed.
Kuroi just gave an awkward laugh at the situation.
Naoya looked at Satoru, who was looking genuinely proud of pointing out Naoya's mistake.
He sighed and let go of Satoru's ear. He was not even in the mood to argue.
After he focused back on the meal, Geto suddenly asked something he had been curious about for a while.
"...Naoya."
"Hm?"
"How did you come to know about the Star Plasma Vessel and the whole situation...more importantly, how did you find us?" asked Geto seriously and got ready to put up a fight if needed.
Naoya finished the pasta that he was eating and looked straight at Geto.
The atmosphere suddenly got tense, seeing the tension between the two of them. Kuroi and Riko were not familiar with Naoya, and considering the situation the two were in, they could not blindly trust anyone.
Satoru was the most conflicted on the matter. He wholeheartedly trusted Naoya, but the point Geto rose was something that could not be ignored.
"Don't make your intentions to fight so clear. If I had wanted to fight you or take the Star Plasma Vessel with me, neither you nor Satoru would have been able to stop me," replied Naoya in a serious tone as well.
The two continued to glare at each other, but with each passing second, Geto's instincts warned him not to engage rang louder and louder.
"Naoya..." called Satoru, feeling a bit uncertain.
Hearing his voice, Naoya stopped glaring and smiled at Satoru.
"Don't worry, I am not here to fight. I got to know about the Star Plasma Vessel because the HQ called me earlier to detain you two who kidnapped her and bring Amanai back for the merger."
As he said, the situation turned tense once again, and Riko and Kuroi got ready to fight and run.
Seeing that there was some misunderstanding, Naoya raised his hand, trying to reassure them.
"Don't worry, I am not following their orders. As for finding Satoru, well, my Satoru senses just told me where he was," said Naoya with a smile.
In reality, Satoru was already marked as a target by Snow, the tigress shikigami, who could mark her prey and track them wherever they were, no matter how far they were.
"Hmph! You guys are suspecting my dude too much! He and I are connected by the string of fate, of course, he will find me!" said Satoru and tightly hugged Naoya. He, too, knew how Naoya found him, but he was not one to give away Naoya's techniques and effects to other people.
"As Satoru said," said Naoya and tried to push Satoru away, but the guy used [Blue] to stick to Naoya.
"...That's it, now get away from me. You are being creepy now."
"Nope. You are my fated person. I am not letting go," replied Satoru with an innocent smile.
"Move away!"
"No!!!"
The two started struggling once again, with both of them trying to make the other give up.
Geto and the other two looked at them bickering like brats and wondered if this guy really was an enemy or not.
-----
After Naoya was done with his meal, he stood up and stretched his body.
"Well, let's get going. Follow me, you all," said Naoya and gestured for them to follow him.
"Okay," replied Satoru and stood up as well.
"Wait a minute. Where are you taking us?" asked Geto.
"You guys are on the run, right? I am just trying to help with that," said Naoya.
"How? You didn't answer my question. Where are you taking us? I am sorry, but this whole situation seems too coincidental to be true, and I believe that you are helping us," said Geto.
Riko and Kuroi looked between the two of them, unable to decide who was the one is right.
Suddenly, in the midst of all that tension, a resounding clap echoed.
"You guys are now pissing me off!" snapped Satoru and turned towards Naoya.
"Naoya, are you helping us?" asked Satoru straightforwardly.
"I am,"
"Then that's the end of it," said Satoru and looked at the other three.
"He is on our side. So just stop suspecting him!"
"...You are going to believe in him just by that. Satoru, I know that you and he go a long way back, but the whole matter around Amanai and us is far too serious for us to be that accepting of anyone. I, too, don't want to suspect Naoya, but the stakes here are too high for even Naoya to openly support us," replied Suguru.
"Suguru-"
"Let me be frank with you all here. You all seem to be believing that I am either on your side or on the HQ's side. I am on neither," said Naoya, interrupting them.
The four of them looked at Naoya and blinked in confusion, not understanding what Naoya meant by that.
"The only thing that I care about in the whole mess that you all have gotten yourselves into is making sure that Satoru is not affected at all. Believe it or not, the path that you two have taken has made sure that none of you is going to live a normal life. You all will be constantly on the run. Now, I am someone who cares about the status quo of the world too, but when you drag someone I care about into a mess like this, then I have no choice but to make sure that he is fine," said Naoya and looked at Satoru.
*BONK!*
"If you were going to cause such an issue with the HQ, you should have at least told me so that I could have thought of better ways. Idiot," chided Naoya and karate chopped his head.
Hearing the reality of their situation from Naoya, the group of four looked down in frustration.
"Whatever your intentions might be, you need to think things through rationally first. Not everything in the world can be done by brute forcing your way through," said Naoya.
"What would you have done if you were in our situation? Amanai does not want to undergo the merger and go back to her normal life and enjoy it. She has people she cares for and wants to spend time with them. We also had the permission from Master Tengen to follow through with this if she were to change her mind before the merging," said Geto.
Naoya looked him in the eye and asked a simple question.
"Can she go back to her normal life now?"
Geto was about to answer, but stopped. He wanted to say yes, but he could not say it. Constant threats from HQ, Time Vessel Association, and curse users who will come after them.
Geto's fists clenched in frustration, and he looked down once again.
Riko's eyes started to tremble as her body started to quiver a bit.
Kuroi saw that and hugged her tightly, trying to calm her.
Even Gojo didn't dare speak confidently in such a scenario.
"You ask what I would have done differently? There are many ways I could have done things, but all those ideas are pointless now since you all acted impulsively. So, now when I am trying to straighten things out for all of you, don't be a b*tch and do what I tell you all to do," said Naoya.
In the midst of that depressing feeling, the four of them looked up at Naoya once again, this time with their eyes widened in surprise.
"You have a way out?"
"Of course I do. Who do you think I am? I have more brain cells than you, you dumb son," said Naoya and shrugged his shoulders.
"...I love you, Daddy!!!!" cheered Satoru and jumped on Naoya, hugging him tightly.
Naoya, though [Frame Dropped] through him, letting Satoru fall on the floor.
"You really have a solution?" asked Riko
"I do. So don't waste away this chance and follow me. Alright?" replied Naoya with a reassuring smile.
Riko nodded sheepishly, seeing that Naoya gave a gentle pat on her head.
"Don't worry. I am more reliable than these two idiots," said Naoya.
"Hehe. I will believe that."
"Huh? Who are you calling an idiot?" complained Geto.
"Amanai! Get away from Naoya!" complained Satoru.
"Bleh!!!" replied Naoya and Riko simultaneously and stuck their tongues out, taunting the two Tokyo sorcerers even more.
-----
After he was done persuading the four of them to follow, Naoya and the gang were flying on top of Shenron, the [Rainbow Dragon].
Satoru was telling Naoya about the things that they did during the three days they were on the mission, the enemies they fought, the fun things they did, etc.
Geto and the girls were silently listening to the two of them chatting while they rested on the dragon's back.
They have been on the edge constantly during the mission, and now they were finally getting some time to relax. Unconsciously, they all felt a bit relieved with Naoya's presence.
Naoya, who was sitting on top of Shenron's head, looked towards the ground and sighed.
They were at the location, and now it was time to move forward with the mission.
He looked towards Satoru and the rest and stood up.
"Satoru," called Naoya.
"Hm?"
"It will hurt, I apologise in advance," said Naoya, and without any warning, stabbed the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] in Satoru's foot.
"Huh?" muttered Satoru in shock. It took him a while to register what had just happened.
Before he could do anything, shadows erupted out of Naoya and tightly restrained Satoru.
"Satoru!!!" yelled Geto, but before he could act, the shadows restrained him, Kuroi and Riko too.
"Naoya, what is the meaning of this?!?!?!" asked Satoru in anger.
However, Naoya didn't say anything.
Shenron started descending, and a moment later, Satoru and the rest of them realised where they were.
"Here's the Star Plasma Vessel," said Naoya, jumped off the dragon and landed in front of a large group of people.
They were now in the perimeter of Tokyo Jujutsu High, and around them were the higher-ups whom Naoya had met earlier. Though some of them looked quite battered up with bruises and swollen eyes.
"Good job, Naoya Zenin," said the oldest of the group.
"Save your praises. Now finish your end of the deal," replied Naoya coldly.
The higher-ups looked at Naoya with slight anger because of his brazen attitude.
Before meeting Satoru and the others, Naoya paid a visit to the Higher-ups once more and asked them to drop the charges on Satoru and Suguru if he brought back the vessel.
Many obviously disagreed, and only after Naoya 'kindly' persuaded those higher-ups, which was the reason for many of them looking quite battered, did they unanimously agree to drop the charges on Satoru and Suguru.
The higher-ups who were beaten by Naoya didn't want to consent and argue once again, but the dragon behind Naoya growled at them, and that was enough for them to lower their gazes.
"...*Sigh* The charges against the sorcerers Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto are hereby null and void. Is that alright?"
"Thank you. Nice doing business with you," replied Naoya with a smile.
Satoru and Suguru looked at Naoya with their eyes widened in shock. They couldn't believe what they saw.
Because of the [Inverted Spear of Heaven], Satoru could not use his techniques, but still tried to struggle out of the restraints, though he was unsuccessful.
Suguru, though, was free to use his [Cursed Spirit Manipulation], but the moment he tried to summon a spirit, the shadows around him stretched forward and restrained the spirits too.
The [Solid Shadows]'s durability was too much for any of them to break free from, and Naoya could make countless restraints to get hold of the spirits.
The two sorcerers were too powerless in this situation.
"IS THIS HOW YOU ARE GOING TO DEAL WITH THE SITUATION!!!" yelled Geto.
"Naoya! What are you doing?! Making a deal with these old coots and handing Amanai to them!!! What the hell is wrong with you!!" yelled Satoru.
But even after that, Naoya didn't say anything.
He simply looked towards the higher-ups.
"I will deliver her to Master Tengen."
"We can take her to them."
"Master Tengen specifically asked me to bring her. They are disappointed in you all for ignoring their orders and have told me to inform you all that you will all face consequences in the future. Once this matter is over, be ready to face some punishment," said Naoya with a smirk.
Hearing that statement, almost all the higher-ups' eyes widened in shock.
Master Tengen had given clear instructions that they would follow Riko Amanai's will regarding the merger, and if, after reaching the [Tombs of the Star Corridor], she were to change her mind regarding the merger, then they would not proceed with the merger.
Yet, despite that, they decided to ignore their will and have Naoya Zenin be involved to bring back the vessel and mess with the fate of the world.
"Next time, try to follow the orders. Well, not that I care about you all. Enjoy the punishment," said Naoya and walked away with the Amanai and the others.
On the way, the entire time, the four of them kept yelling at Naoya, but the Zenin remained silent. Not saying a word to them.
On the way, he even killed some of the cursed spirits that Geto tried to attack him with, making Geto angrier with him.
Once they were in the elevator to Tengen's place, Riko stopped yelling and lowered her head.
She was about to cry, but suddenly a shadowy fist emerged from their restraints and smacked each of them.
"How the hell can you all yell so much!!!! Seriously, how annoying can you all be!!!!" yelled Naoya, finally speaking to them.
"Huh?" muttered all of them, not understanding on what moral ground Naoya was yelling at them.
The elevator finally stopped, and they arrived at the [Tombs of the Star Corridor].
Though it looked quite different from what it looked like in the morning.
It was destroyed quite a bit. There were clear signs of battle there.
"Tengen-sama! I am here! Come out now, or I will break more barriers!" yelled Naoya out loud.
"Stop it, you hateful kid with that damn brat Kagenori's technique. Just come here," called Tengen, appearing in the corridor through a barrier gate.
"Thank you for cooperating, Tengen-sama," said Naoya with a smile and flung his arm around Tengen.
"Get away from me," said Tengen and shoved Naoya away.
"Aww, don't be angry with me," asked Naoya.
"You!!!"
Tengen glared at Naoya, who simply smiled.
Satoru and the rest of the onlookers looked at the scene, and all of them had the same thought.
'What the hell is going on here?!!!!'