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Aoi Todo looked at the special-grade vengeful spirit without a hint of fear in his eyes.
Yuta recognised that as well.
Before this encounter, whenever other people and curses felt Rika's presence, they would be momentarily shocked in fear by the malevolent energy from Rika.
The only exceptions to that were Satoru Gojo and Naoya Zenin, and from what he heard from his friends, those two were people who should not even be put into comparison with normal sorcerers. The two of them were leagues apart and stood at the top of the hierarchy.
Yuta's face turned serious. Rika was out and was very furious at Aoi Todo for hurting him. He needs to make sure that Rika doesn't go out of control, but seeing the look that Todo was giving Rika made him feel like he would not even back down from a fight against her.
'Should I try to hold Rika-chan back? If she goes out of control, then she will hurt a lot of people here.' thought Yuta.
For better or worse, Rika's only objective is to protect Yuta and only manifests when he is in danger. The protecting him part, though, gets kinda brutal. Rika doesn't seem to even listen to his instructions when she is hell-bent on eliminating her target.
"I will kill you for hurting Yuta!" yelled Rika and launched towards Todo.
Todo smirked, seeing the incoming cursed spirit and got ready to battle. He could feel the pressure coming out of the curse, and it told him that he was facing a Special Grade.
Perfect to showcase to everyone how amazing he and his brother were.
He raised his hand and pointed his gauntlet-cursed tool towards Rika.
Cursed energy flowed through them and an instant later-
*BANG*
A bullet was fired from it.
Seeing the incoming attack, Rika easily dodge it.
*CLAP*
But the bullet was not meant to harm the curse in the first place.
Todo appeared beside Rika and, with CE coursing through his body, punched the Special Grade curse with full force.
Rika flew past Yuta, crashing through multiple trees until she got out of sight.
"Now this is more like it!" said Todo and looked at his gauntlets. These were gifted to him by his Big Brother, and since getting them, punching a cursed spirit has never felt any better.
[Brotherly Bond], the name Todo gave to his gauntlets, was a Cursed Tool developed solely for Todo by Naoya and Zankyo. The pair of gauntlets was Grade 1 cursed tools with the added ability to fire off cursed energy bullets on their own, which can be further strengthened by the user's CE as well.
The Cursed Tool itself was quite strong, but in Todo's hands it became an extremely lethal weapon. With these, Todo always has a way to not only hit targets without touching them and from a distance but also something to swap against and make the whole battle even more hectic for his opponents.
Todo's smirk didn't vanish as he fired a bullet at the ground and jumped up in the air.
*CLAP*
Rika appeared directly below Todo as he smashed her head with his fist, making a crater below them and planting her deeper into the ground.
"RIKA-CHAN!!!" yelled Yuta as he ran towards Todo with his katana ready to strike the Grade 1 sorcerer.
*CLAP*
The katana vanished from Yuta's hands, and out of nowhere, a punch landed squarely in his face.
"Yuta!" yelled Rika and rushed towards Yuta to aid him.
But the moment she was about to touch Yuta, his body vanished, and in his place, Aoi Todo appeared and sent her flying once again.
"Tag teaming against me is such a big mistake on your part," said Todo and rushed towards the cursed spirit.
"Big Brother! Watch me as I defeat this Special Grade curse....and Okkotsu," declared Todo.
-----
Naoya and Satoru watched the fights that were going on, ready to jump in on a moment's notice.
"What did you teach that 2nd year who is 1 v/s 2 ing Yuta?" asked Satoru.
"Nothing much. He was already amazing when I started teaching him. Just polished him further," said Naoya.
Truth be told, Naoya was trying to make Aoi move like Minato Namikaze on a battlefield. The gun-gauntlets were for the same reason.
Not to mention, the kid genuinely thought of him as his big brother. If he half hearted in training him, then it would be disrespectful to the boy. He might not have experience with raising brothers, but he will at least try not to be one that Aoi Todo is not proud of.
"Well, your side is not bad as well....though it is Maki, the one I trained, who is wrecking shit up," said Naoya.
With Mai and Aoi busy, Maki had free rein over the battlefield. She had already eliminated Momo and Miwa and was currently engaged in a battle against Mechamaru, who was overwhelming her with numbers.
Noritoshi was also in the Tokyo base but was currently engaged in a fight against Kirara and Panda, and was not able to get a significant opening to take the flag.
Panda was taking care of the melee combat, and Kirara made sure that Noritoshi could not even get close to the flag, no matter what he tried.
"Kirara's technique is annoying as ever," said Naoya.
"No denying that," replied Satoru.
Both the special grades have faced this technique before hand. Satoru was able to break through the technique thanks to his magic eyes, while Naoya simply destroyed everything around him, rendering whatever was stopping him well...destroyed. Kirara complained that using brute force was cheating, so Naoya simply [Frame Dropped] and flicked Kirara, showing that the technique could not stop them no matter what.
Unfortunately for the Kamo heir, he didn't have any mechanism or raw power like the Gojo and Zenin heirs to overcome Kirara's technique. He needs to understand how his technique works to break it, but that too was not that easy while constantly fighting against a Kungfu Panda.
"The only thing we cannot see is the fight between Mai and Kin-chan," said Naoya.
"Domains are pain," said Satoru.
Naoya looked at the man who had the most broken domain of all and gave him a 'you saying that shit' look.
Satoru looked at Naoya, noticing his gaze, and once he realised what Naoya was trying to convey, he posed and gave a handsome smile.
-----
Inside Hakari's Domain:
Hakari was jumping upon the train doors that he manifested in his domain to catch Mai, who was running through the air.
"Oi! Stop running and face me! Running to catch you makes me look like a stalker or criminal of some kind!" yelled Hakari.
"Well, can't complain you really look like one!" yelled Mai as she used her technique to jump on another elastic air trampoline before using it as a sling shot, pulling it back and letting it go once Hakari came in range, sending him flying back.
[Pseudo-Spin]
As if everything didn't happen, Hakari appeared at his spot once again without taking any damage at all.
"Stop hitting me with air!"
"You stop cancelling my hitting you with air!"
Both of them yelled in frustration.
It had been a minute since they started fighting within the domain, and Mai was starting to get annoyed by this delinquent, since no matter how badly she attacked or severely injured this guy, Hakari used his technique to negate everything that happened.
Hakari was starting to get annoyed as well, since the moment the Zenin chick got a chance, she tried to cause lethal damage to end things as soon as possible, making him use his pseudo spins to negate the effect, but also not being able to progress his actual spins to get the jackpot.
Mai fiddled with her utility belt and took a lighter from it that was engraved with cursed inscriptions, just like the card talismans that she uses.
Seeing the lighter Hakari immediately created distance from Mai.
Mai pressed the button, and a spark came out of the lighter.
A moment later, an explosion occurred at the spot where Hakari was standing.
"Stop running and take it like a man!" yelled Mai.
"Stop aiming for my hair and my head! If I take it, I die!" yelled Hakari.
Mai continued igniting the lighter, making explosions all over the terrain and every time Hakari was about to be hit, he had to use a [Pseudo-spin] and restart the turn all over.
Because of constant [Pseudo-spinning], Hakari was not able to complete his second roll even though a minute had passed.
Maki, who had the whole info dump of the game rules, had understood quite a bit that they were currently in a pachinko machine sort of technique, and if the delinquent goes for a jackpot, then he will win a prize. What the prize was, she had no idea, but she had no intention of letting him get the prize anyway. She will knock him out before he can get 3 perfect rolls.
She was close to it once as well, but the gambler [Pseudo-rolled] the chance away.
The pseudo roll not only negated the attack but also took away the CE that was required for it as well, making Mai waste away her limited supply.
However, all was not bad.
Using [Pseudo-rolls], restart the current roll that is going on, making Hakari waste away all his progress and the CE that is required to maintain the domain and start and continue the roll. If she times her attacks, she could effectively make the delinquent be stuck and never be able to land a jackpot, or even complete three rolls. And since then, she has been doing just that. Keeping a track of the spins that are going on in the background and the moment the spin starts to slow down, she bombards lethal attacks on Hakari.
Both of them glared at each other.
At this point, both knew that it was a war of attrition.
Hakari, with his high reserves or Mai, with her efficient technique, who drains faster.
Hakari took a deep breath.
"This is more exhilarating than I initially thought. Oi! What makes you fight this ruthlessly?!" asked Hakari as he summoned a pair of train doors and tried to strike Mai.
Mai, however, activated her Solid-air walls to block the doors.
"Huh? What else? I wanna win," replied Mai.
Hakari manifested even more doors to crush Mai, but all of them were stopped by her solid air wall.
"Win, huh.... why do you wanna win so bad?" asked Hakari in amusement.
Mai used her technique to manifest another solid air wall around the door and used both the walls to trap the doors before crushing them away.
"Reason? Why the heck do I need a reason not to want to lose?" asked Mai.
Hakari widened his eyes a bit.
"Ha..Ha...Hahaha!" Suddenly, Hakari started to laugh out loud.
Mai looked at the delinquent senior, wondering if the guy had lost his final screw.
Though, because of that, Mai lost focus on the spins and the 2nd roll was completed.
As the final roll started, the terrain around them changed.
Seeing the terrain change, Mai panicked and looked towards the rolls.
[6.6. Spinning.]
"What did you tell me your name was?" asked Hakari as he finally stopped laughing.
"...Mai Zenin," replied Mai.
"Mai! I will tell it straight to your face. You do have 'fever'. To aim for a win just for the sake of it. That is 'fever'!" declared Hakari.
"Huh?"
Did the senior really lose his screw? She was just kidding earlier.
Still, there was no time to waste now. They were on the last spin, and the characters from the manga could appear at any moment now.
"I need to end it soon," muttered Mai and took out another card-talisman from her utility belt.
"This will take a lot out of me," muttered Mai.
Hakari didn't move; he wanted to witness the girl's 'fever' to its extreme.
CE seeped out of Mai's body, and a moment later, a large amount of air around her started to move, making the atmosphere inside the domain turbulent.
Within seconds, a miniature yet rapidly spinning tornado was formed.
Now, she does not have a high resevere of CE to make massive tornados from the get go. The best she can do is make miniature versions and make them spin at high speed.
However, once she gets the small one going, she does not need to make much effort after that. She just needs to make sure the conditions are right so that her mini tornado pulls in more and more air until a massive tornado is formed.
And she did just that.
Hakari was witnessing the massive tornado with his domain that had started to pull him in as well.
He could tell that if he got stuck in the tornado, then things were gonna be bad. If he wanted, he could activate the [Pseudo-Spin] once again and negate the whole attack.
But his 'fever' was telling him that his jackpot was about to arrive.
Mai's tornado pulled Hakari in, and the moment Hakari got inside, slashes started to appear all over his body.
Mai's tornado was not just a mass of air; it also contained solidified air masses that were shaped to be blades. Once stuck, it was like being inside a mixer where your body would be slashed from every direction.
'What kind of things do they teach at the Zenin clan?!' thought Hakari as he still felt pain even though his serrated CE was trying to scrape off most of the attacks.
"Just give up!" yelled Mai.
But Hakari didn't reply. He couldn't hear Mai inside the tornado.
Mai looked towards the slots in the background and searched for the manga characters on the platform.
The train was about to arrive.
Hakari, who was inside the tornado, smirked.
Hakari's technique was based on a rom-com manga based on a Pachinko machine, where he gets a massive boost whenever he hits a jackpot.
However, aside from the pachinko rolls, his technique also allowed him to manifest parts of the manga based on the roll situation he was in.
Normally, it is limited to manifesting train doors or platform shutters.
However, in a case that he is 'reaching' his goal, the terrain of the domain changes. The repertoire of manifesting increases.
Mai looked up.
"You've gotta be f*cking kidding me...." cursed Mai.
Above her was a whole damn train that was manifested by Hakari and was heading towards Mai.
She gritted her teeth and begrudgingly stopped fueling her tornado. Her brain capacity was not enough to activate all these things simultaneously.
Multiple layers of solid and elastic air wall appeared above her to slow down the train while she immediately moved away to dodge the attack.
The tornado started to slow down as the fuel for it was stopped, and moments later, a bloody Hakari started falling with a smirk on his face.
The final roll was completed.
[6.6.6]
[Jackpot!]
A song suddenly started to play out, and the domain around them vanished.
Hakari's body, which was quite injured, was immediately brought back to full recovery.
"Alright, time for rou-" yelled Hakari.
"I WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!" interrupted a super angry and super-sized Rika, who came rampaging along with Aoi Todo, who was having a maniacal smile on his face while holding back the claws of the special grade cursed spirit.
Hakari and Mai looked at the incoming disaster and immediately looked back at each other.
Without saying anything, the two of them formed a truce.
"Rika-chan! Stop!" yelled Yuta, who was running behind the cursed spirit.
They have already destroyed most of the match field, but neither Rika nor Todo looked like they were planning to stop.
Thankfully, no one was injured thanks to Naoya and Satoru, who saved the students before they came amidst the attack.
On that note, Naoya and Satoru were walking behind Yuta as if the two were on a casual stroll.
"Calm her down, Yuta. She is out of control," said Satoru.
Yuta looked back at Satoru with an annoyed look.
'I can see that!' mentally yelled Yuta.
"What sort of man are you if you cannot even calm down your girl?" said Naoya.
"It's not time for that, Naoya-san!" yelled Yuta and ran at full speed, trying to catch up to Rika and Todo.
Satoru and Naoya increased their pace as well to catch up to Yuta, but still stayed behind him.
Trying to control Rika's tantrum is Yuta's responsibility, and he needs to learn that soon.
Naoya noticed Mai and Hakari, who were about to come in the curse's path and pointed his finger at them.
"Satoru, I choose you. Save Mai and Kin-chan!" ordered Naoya.
"Satoru used Super Speed!" declared Satoru and teleported near the two and teleported back with them.
"Nice job. Satoru," said Naoya and patted Satoru.
"Hmph. Easy peasy!" said Satoru and did a victory pose.
Yuta, Mai, and Hakari looked at their teachers fooling around at the time of danger and wondered what was wrong with the two of them.
"Onii-chan, won't you stop that thing?" asked Mai.
"That thing belongs to Yuta and is thus his responsibility to control. He needs to learn that. Not to mention, their fight is still going on. Aoi has not given up, and though Yuta said that he gives up, Rika is not responding, so the fight continues. I won't interfere in fights that are not out of hand," said Naoya.
Todo had somehow freed himself, but he was still somewhat injured.
Rika was now charging up CE to blast away everything in her path, and even now, Todo was ready to fight further.
"From what angle does it look like it is not out of hand?!" asked Mai.
"Look at Aoi. Is that the expression of someone who is in danger or ready to give up?" asked Naoya.
All the students looked at Todo. Rather than giving up or just putting up a brave front, the muscled-up Grade 1 was looking...excited.
"OI! TODO!" yelled Mai.
"Huh? WHAT?!" asked Todo back, recognising Mai's voice, but didn't look back at her. Right now, he was focused on the fight.
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL FIGHTING?! Can't you see that thing is clearly out of control! Okkotsu has said that he gives up!" said Mai.
"That's right, Todo-san! I give up! It's your win! Stop provoking Rika-chan any more!" yelled Yuta.
"That doesn't matter!" yelled Todo.
He then took a deep breath.
"I have made a vow to myself. I have vowed that until and unless it is against my master or my big brother, I am not giving up. I will see the fight through to the end until I come out victorious! That is my vow to show my respect to the two people I want to stand by," declared Todo.
"This curse... no, Rika-san has not given up, and neither would I!" declared Todo.
Rika was done charging up her attack, and after pointing towards Todo, she fired her CE-charged blast.
Seeing the blast heading towards him, Todo fired a bullet into the sky.
*CLAP*
The bullets was imediately exchanged by the energy blast.
However, this time the result was not what Todo expected.
Rika, expecting what Todo would do, didn't fire the attack in one go and instead fired two separate blasts.
One was swapped with the bullet while the other was heading straight towards Todo.
"Now, I guess that's enough."
Shadows rose from the ground and immediately formed a shield in front of Todo.
The blast of energy struck the shield, but instead of colliding, the blast seemed to be entering the shadows.
Naoya was standing in front of Todo smacked him hard.
"Ow! Big Brother?!"
"You idiot! Who the hell told you to keep on fighting till you die?!" yelled Naoya and smacked Todo once again.
"Ow! B-But! My vow!"
"F*ck that vow. I need no proving or respect from you. Run away or call for help, you, idiot. What's the point if you die?!" scolded Naoya and struck Todo once again.
Todo blinked his eyes.
Run away.
Ask for help.
...Why didn't he think of that?!
Why did he think it was bad to ask for help from his Big Brother? If he didn't ask for it, doesn't it make it look like he doesn't trust his big brother?
If he dies, won't his big brother be sad and blame himself for his entire life?! What kind of brother leaves behind such a burden for his big brother?!
He was about to cause such big blunders.
Like always, his big brother came to the rescue and opened his eyes.
"Big Brother! I am so sorry! I promise that I will not throw my life away because of my stupid vow!" yelled Todo as tears burst out of his eyes.
He promised himself that he would not give up and fight till he comes out victorious, but that doesn't mean that he cannot ask for help to win the fight. He will not run away.....he will simply run to his big brother to ask his aid in the battle. With both of them on the same side, no one could win against them!
Todo's brain was already imagining the two of them fighting in mighty battles and coming out victorious, after which both of them are embraced by their lovers.
Yes! This is how it should be! A brother doesn't leave their brother behind and die off all alone....until it means getting in harm's way to save their brother. If that were to happen, he would jump in without thinking twice.
While this was going on in Todo's head, Naoya was already standing in front of Rika, who was still firing her CE blast.
"Rika," called Naoya.
"I will kill you for coming in my way."
"You can try, but you will get destroyed, and Yuta will hate that. Look at him. He is already worried for you," said Naoya.
"Huh? Yuta...hate...." said Rika in her broken voice and looked towards Yuta, who was looking worriedly at the whole situation.
Rika stopped her attacks and got back to her normal size.
"Yuta!" called Rika and rushed towards the boy, finally calming down.
Naoya sighed, seeing that the whole thing had finally stopped, and looked towards Todo to tell him that the fight was over.
But the muscle man was on his knees while crying.
"Big Brother! How could you jump in to save me?! Think about your life!!!" yelled Todo.
He was already having a scenario playing in his head.
Naoya looked at him and then decided to let him be for now. He had a feeling that if he interrupted the boy right now, it would be very annoying.
-----
The goodwill event is coming to a wrap.
After this, I will be proceeding with the start of the main JJK story. Is there anything if I am forgetting, or do you guys want to see, do tell/suggest to me.
Also, do stone the fic.