The night before New Year's Eve carried a specific kind of quiet over Jujutsu High.
A peaceful cozy atmosphere that settled into places when most of the people who usually filled them had gone home for the holidays.
The corridors were dim and the training grounds quietly abandoned. The school was almost empty save for the staff that lived there and the four active first years .
Yuta, Maki, Panda, and Inumaki passing the day with the comfortable nothing of people who had nowhere better to be.
Well technically that wasn't right , yuta was planning on going back to America to meet with his friends but the lingering memory of geto's supposed arrival kept him from leaving.
The group were discussing a possible group outing and maybe grabbing a dinner together.
While the others dabbled in casual talk, yuta was completely zoned out still focused on his thoughts.
The 24th of December marked the climax of JJK 0 with geto invading jujutsu high and declaring the beginning of the one hundred demons parade...
Maki standing on the side started at the uncharacteristically quite special grade sorcerer. Six months with yuta okkotsu allowed her to understand him pretty well.
Spacing out for so long meant that yuta was thinking about something pretty important. Whether it was good or not... That's another thing in it's own.
Like a spark thrown into gasoline , an oppressive presence made itself known.
It was Yuta who reacted the fastest to the expected surprise..
The sound of footsteps on solid stone echoed in the air as Suguru Geto walked in like he still lived there.
That was the most unsettling thing about it. No dramatic entrance or eye catching gesture.
Just a tall man in dark robes with long black hair and the calm nostalgic expression of someone returning somewhere familiar after a long trip.
He looked around with the eyes of an expert examining an antique .
A cursed corpse in the shape of a panda, a cursed speech user, and finally he landed on Maki for exactly one second before moving away.
One second that felt more like an insult.
The same tipe glance you give a rock in the side of the road.
Maki who had seen that glance before immediately understood the underlying disregard. Her hand tightened on her naginata.
Geto's eyes settled on Yuta.
"You look younger than the reports suggested," Geto said. His voice was surprisingly pleasant.
"Thanks for the compliment, it's just too sad that I can't say the same thing to you." Yuta nodded with a fake smile that didn't reach his ears
Geto clearly wasn't offended by such a childish insult, other wise what better is he from those monkeys
"Geto Suguru, what brings you here" the young prodigy said with clear calmness.
"You know my name." Geto tilted his head slightly surprised. "That's interesting... Guess I'll have to be honest with you." moving closer to them like it is a casual stroll.
"I came here with a specific purpose. But I find myself curious about you first."
He stopped near the center of the room.
"A boy who was reborn into a cursed existence and chose to make himself useful to a system that has never deserved the people who prop it up."
He waited a second to let his words sink in. "Such a tremendous waste. "
"You could say the same about yourself"
A pause, an uncomfortable silence washed over everyone present there.
"I could actually" Geto agreed surprisingly pleasantly. Yet there was a pressure that cannot be ignored.
Maki was on her feet now. She hadn't decided to stand her body had made the decision without consulting her. Her naginata was already in her hand and aimed directly at the curse user.
Geto's eyes moved to her with that same one-second dismissive glance.
"The Zenin clan's disappointment," he said like it was just a fact not an opinion. "You're here too. How unfortunate for you."
Maki moved to behead geto but Yuta's hand caught her shoulder before she'd taken a full step.
"Go find Gojo-sensei," he muttered quietly "Take Panda and Inumaki with you. Right now."
"I'm not leaving you here with—"
"Maki." His voice didn't rise. But something in it settled the air, his tone held a finality that can't be overlooked. "He came here to talk to me. Not you. Take them and go. Now"
She looked at Geto once more
cataloguing his face into her memories for later then back at Yuta.
"Don't do anything stupid ." she squeezed his hand tightly.
"Me? Never " yuta gave Maki that same arrogant smirk that gojo constantly wore.
She looked at his full of confidence expression before sighing in defeat . Panda and Inumaki shortly followed after her.
The atmosphere was very quiet.
"She has fire" Geto simply noted his observation.
Yuta's lips slowly curved into a dangerous smile. His dark eyes gleaming with a amusement. "She has more than that. But you wouldn't recognize true potential even if it carved your heart out."
Geto sat down on the ground. "Let me ask you something, Yuta. How long are you going to keep doing this?
Propping up an organization run by old men who see you as nothing more than a weapon? Protecting monkeys who will never understand the cost?
Wasting yourself on a world that decided its hierarchy long before you were born into it?"
Geto continued, his voice smooth and philosophical. He spoke of sorcerers dying for those who feared them, of the higher-ups treating Special Grades like tools, of the endless, thankless cycle hidden behind duty and tradition.
Yuta listened with surprising patience, occasionally replying with sharp cutting logic that didn't seem to effect the man at All.
Geto leaned forward slightly his black robe rustling with his movement. "You know what I'm building. You know why. Unlike most in that rotting institution, you have the intelligence to understand that my reasoning is not simply madness dressed up in ideology. A world where the strong are free. Where we no longer have to hide or die for those who can't even perceive the danger. Is that not worth fighting for?"
Yuta as quiet for a long moment. Then he ...
.
.
.
.
.
Laughed?
A small cackle that grown into a full blown laughter. He laughed so hard that tears fell down his face.
" Why do I save them you say? Well because they're still people," he said softly as attempted to wipe his tears. "A child who can't see the curse about to kill them is still a child. I'd rather bleed for something real than build a world on deciding whose lives are worthless."
Geto studied him quietly before deciding to drop off his friendly mask
"You're going to be difficult"
Yuta's grin widened, something feral flashing in his eyes. "I've been told that before."
As the pleasant mask finally slipped away.
"Practical matter, then" Geto said coldly returning to main reason for his arrival"Give me Rika Orimoto."
The shadows stirred violently with his declaration.
Yuta leaned back and let out a low, chilling chuckle. His eyes gleamed with a sadistic delight as he looked at Geto like a predator who had just found worthy prey.
"No" Yuta said, voice dripping with venomous sweetness. "She's mine."
Geto narrowed his eyes clearly not happy with the reply. "She's wasted on a fool like you. A leashed domesticated lion waiting to be freed. Hand her over, and your friends live tonight. Refuse… and I will kill every last one of them."
Yuta slowly rose to his feet. A wicked, bloodthirsty grin spread across his face. Rika surged upward, barely restrained, her single eye burning with evident hatred.clearly geto's words had been Heard by her.
"Oh?" Yuta tilted his head, voice laced with underlying amusement. "You threaten my friends… and think I'll just hand Rika over like a good little dog?"
He took one step forward. The ground trembling under the weight of his cursed energy.
"You really are delusional, Geto. I was almost starting to find you entertaining. Almost..." His grin turned sharp and sadistic
"But now? I'm looking forward to tearing you apart tomorrow. Slowly. Piece by piece. I wonder how long you'll scream before you break and beg me to end it."
Rika let out a low, guttural growl that vibrated through the air and for the first time, Geto's composure visibly faltered.
Satoru Gojo walked in and the atmosphere became suffocating as the three strongest sorcerers of the current generation faced each other.
Gojo looked at Geto who looked back at him. The weight of years of shared history, broken friendship, and opposing ideals pressed down on the space between them like a physical force.
"Suguru..."Gojo muttered, his voice unusually quiet.
"Satoru." Geto replied, just as softly yet he seemed way past their break up.
For a long moment, neither moved. The air grew thicker to the point it would be almost suffocating for normal people.
Two people who had once been closer than anyone else in the world now stood on completely opposite sides of an unbridgeable divide.
"You threatened my students?" Gojo asked what more felt like a statement.
"I made a practical offer"Geto replied calmly dismissing the piercing gaze. "It wasn't accepted as you see."
Gojo's usual playful grin was nowhere to be seen. His Six Eyes glowed faintly as he stared at his former best friend.
Those same godlike eyes that looked down on the world made geto feel how insignificant he is.
"You really intend to go through with this" Gojo asked yet he knew the answer before it would arrive..
"I do."Geto's voice was steady, almost gentle as if he accepted this path and completely embraced it's consequences.
"The world is rotten, Satoru. You know it as well as I do. The monkeys multiply while we bleed for them. The higher-ups sit in their safe little rooms pulling strings. I'm going to change that. I'm going to create a world where sorcerers don't have to hide anymore."
Gojo was silent for a moment.
"And how many people have to die for that world of yours?" he asked.
"As many as it takes."Geto's cold answer was fired without hesitation. "The weak have ruled long enough. It's time for the strong to take their rightful place."
Yuta stood slightly behind Gojo, watching the exchange with cold, predatory eyes, Rika's presence still simmering dangerously like his shadow.
Geto's gaze shifted briefly to Yuta, then back to Gojo.
"You built something here.I'll acknowledge that. The boy is genuinely remarkable. But it won't be enough."
Gojo's expression didn't change. "You keep underestimating people, Suguru. That's always been your flaw."
Geto smiled faintly, almost sadly.
"Tomorrow " he said voice calm and final, as endless curses fluded the space around them
" Let us curse each other to death."
He turned toward the front door, robes shifting quietly.
"The Parade isn't just for Japan. The whole world will feel it simultaneously. Come find me when it begins… and bring Rika. She'll come to me eventually anyway."
As geto walked away slowly yuta manifested Emma. The blade slowly absorbed his energy to replicate the effects of haki.
After a couple of Swift sword slashes that sent energy arcs through the air. All the curse's were swiftly decapitated. .
Yuta stared at the motionless gojo who quietly observed where his best friend had disappeared.
"Why didn't you stop him? "
Yuta who just let his blade back into his shadow glanced at his sensei's back.
You could have done it yourself if you wanted to... And it would be rude of me to make your reunion also your farewell don't you think ?."
"... Thank you Yuta."