"That's fine, personalities are easy to create as you need them. More importantly, what's your type of woman?"
"You don't have to answer him." Megumi groaned.
"Don't listen to him." Todo shot down Megumi's attack on his question. "You do have to answer me! We may end up fighting together and I will need to know the type of person I am working with."
This time Megumi didn't retort, though he did stare up at the sky while seeming to contemplate his life.
I didn't answer immediately, as my brain picked apart the words.
My type of woman?
Since I had started bumbling around here, my focus had gone from getting hold of my senses to fighting in a battle where a single misstep meant death.
While I couldn't say that I was mentally sound, my memories had settled enough to be somewhat perusable.
No.
The more I think about it, the more unclear the answer becomes.
So, if thinking more makes it worse…than just think less.
"A woman that could kill me." Strong. I don't know how much of this was from before, but as I was right now, how I could 'love' someone who wasn't a peer if not an equal? "A pretty face would be icing on the cake."
Both the salary-man and the college student had been suckers for a pretty face.
"Ass or tits?"
"Ass." I said without hesitation. "Though if you said thighs, it might have been a bit closer."
"Hmm." Todo came closer, leaning down slightly to stare into my eyes. The salary man had been tall for Japanese standards, just over six feet, but Todo was taller still. After an oppressive silence, he nodded.
"Not bad." He said, reaching out a hand. "Not my type nor my brother's, but it is respectable! Even bereft of your memories, the heart shines true!"
Poetic. It would have been more so if it was about anything else, but still there was a gravitas to it.
This Todo seemed eccentric, but a friend was a friend in these trying times, so I shook his hand. His grip was firm, but not overly tight.
Sadly, it was at this moment that whatever adrenaline had filled my body decided to take their PTO as the immense strain I had put myself through in the last battle came into play.
All my muscles stung and I stumbled back, falling onto my ass while breathing heavily.
Bulk Up had the potential to cause bodily damage. Luckily, the knowledge of the Technique that came inscribed allowed me to understand that the current damage wasn't to that level, but it was close.
"The fog of battle has dispersed." Todo said. "Rest for a moment. You were a civilian not long ago, your body has not yet adapted to the rigors of sorcerous combat. We can spare a few minutes for you to get your bearings."
He had deduced that fast, but it was true.
Even disregarding Bulk Up, I could feel that neither part of me were particularly extreme athletic. The level of combat I had mustered against the Teke-Teke had stressed this body to the limit for now.
I had flown close to the sun. If I hadn't learned how to focus the Bulk Up on specific body parts to maximize efficiency, then it would be hurting a lot worse right now.
Worse, I still had brain damage. It hadn't been anything overly debilitating so far, but the throbbing headache and random spouts of blood that seemed to drip from my nose were probably something of concern.
"And once we've recovered?"
"Simple." Megumi was the one that answered this time, popping his shoulder and looking at his Divine Dog that was keeping guard while we talked. "We will search for the largest concentrations of Cursed Energy, find our allies, and exorcise any Cursed Spirit we encounter on the way. I'd like to have dropped you off to safety, but it looks like we need every bit of help we can muster."
The idea of just leaving rankled.
Todo didn't retort, so that did seem to be the plan we were going with. I allowed my sensory perception to expand as well. It wasn't overly straining, though it might be redundant. Nevertheless, getting some training in for one of my more valuable abilities couldn't hurt.
A thought occurred to me as I fully comprehended Megumi's words.
"Wouldn't the biggest concentrations of Cursed Energy be…"
"The Cursed Spirits responsible for this?" Megumi didn't look at either of us for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, but that is exactly why. The others will be doing their duty in exorcising curses and trying to contain the Special Grade Disaster Curses. We find the Curses, we find our allies."
It was a rough plan, but we didn't really have a better option now.
At least I could fine tune my Jujutsu knowledge in the meantime.
"What should we call you?" Startling me from my thoughts was, shockingly, Megumi's voice. He had seemed like the type to not initiate any conversation unless forced, but it appeared that people can always surprise you. "I get that you have memory problems, but we should call you something assuming this doesn't resolve itself before our next fight."
"How about Nanashi no Gonbei." Todo suggested, thoroughly unfazed by either Megumi or my incredulous gaze.
"Really?" Megumi asked. "Are you eighty or something?"
'Nanashi no Gonbei' was a Japanese phrase for 'anonymous or unidentified male individual', a John Doe basically. However, it was also used as a joke to downplay someone's importance.
Though Nanashi was a pretty cool name, I didn't feel inclined to take anything from that pun.
"My brother would have laughed." A bro-con?
"I am not Itadori."
"I noticed."
"Hajime Ren." I eventually decided, ending their bickering.
'Hajime' for beginning.
'Ren' for rebirth or lotus.
A name represented a person. Normally, we give our names meaning with our actions and as we get to know people.
My case was different.
I had the memories of two people, but I felt that there would always be a distance between them and me. They made the most of me, but I had already grown into something that was neither and both.
I was in my twenties, twice-over, and once again I started anew.
A new beginning, a rebirth.
Yes, Hajime Ren would do for me.
"Alright then, Hajime." They had stopped bickering for the moment, and we sat in silence for a minute.
Megumi and I had adapted quickly to one another's techniques, but if the future battles really were going to be considerably harder then we needed to understand one another.
The real question was whether I should inform them of my true Cursed Technique, Chaos Gacha.
A part of me wished to keep it a secret, hide it as an ace in the hole for a truly desperate moment.
The other part pointed out how ridiculously complicated it would be to hide.
Shadow Ball could be explained as my Technique and Bulk Up as some sort of extreme reinforcement bolstered by some Binding Vow, but in the future?
What if I pulled something like Fire Manipulation? Or some kind of portal ability? It was a lot of work for a lie that seemed doomed to failure.
Plus, I would be fighting alongside these two and potentially others. Teamwork required a degree of trust that keeping such secrets would get in the way of.
Dealing with the knowledge of 'Jujutsu Kaisen', however spotty, was mind bending enough. No need to add other needless burdens.
"We should probably also discuss our Cursed Techniques right?" First I'd test the water. Revealing one's hand, as a viable battle strategy, suggested that people might also value secrecy regarding their Techniques. If that was the case with these two, I would do the same unless needed.
"A good point." Todo agreed. "My Technique is Boogie Woogie. When I clap my hands, I can swap two things that possess Cursed Energy. Including but not limited to myself or others. I can also choose not to activate the Technique when clapping."
I was new at Jujutsu but that seemed deceptively powerful. Effectively short-range teleportation was absurd with the right set up. The mind games alone, in the hands of an intelligent sorcerer, would be a pain.
It would be bad for me, in particular.
Shadow Ball was fast, but Boogie Woogie would allow Todo to avoid any of my attacks unless I replicated the Shadow Ball Barrage with Megumi and even then I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way to avoid it.
The best option would be to engage in close combat and prevent him from having the opportunity to clap his hands, but even with my improved reinforcement I didn't think my wiry body really could equal the brick house called Todo Aoi.
Todo continued to speak, interrupting Megumi who had opened his mouth either to refuse or to start explaining more about Ten Shadows. Admittedly, I had already heard some of this during the battle but everything towards the end was touch and go from the dual perception altering experience of a Black Flash and then being slammed by a flesh train into the ground.
"Fushiguro's is more well known than he is. The Ten Shadows of the Zenin Clan. Admittedly, the specifics are unknown to me, but the primary ability is ten Shikigami with differing specialties along with some form of shadow manipulation? Or perhaps the shadow manipulation is intricately intertwined with the Shikigami in a manner that I simply haven't been able to understand yet."
Todo was knowledgeable about Jujutsu. No, that wasn't the best description.
He was more engaged with Jujutsu.
Compared to Megumi, who seemed more introverted and seemed to just do as needed, there was an active analysis and breakdown that suggested proactivity.
The kind of man who embraced the profession entirely, a true Jujutsu Sorcerer.
A good person to explain some of the intricacies and advanced concepts of Jujutsu that currently evaded me.
"I think I can elaborate." Megumi drawled, sending a glare that didn't quite dare to be a stare at Todo. "Since it is my Cursed Technique and all. Todo covered most of it, but in order to use the Ten Shadows, I have to set a ritual and kill it in a one-on-one battle to tame the shikigami. I've tamed six of them so far, though one was killed a while back. I still have my Divine Dog, Toad, Nue, Rabbit Escape, and Max Elephant. Each has some particular strengths, like Nue who can fly and use electricity or Rabbit Escape which can replicate itself and swarm enemies."
Rabbit Escape seemed like it would work well with Boogie Woogie. Flooding an area with rabbits with Cursed Energy allowed for Todo to send allies close by or take them out of danger with ease, assuming Megumi could handle so many copies.
"My turn then." I sighed. Thinking about Jujutsu was a lot easier than speaking to people. "Okay. My Cursed Technique is called Chaos Gacha. Like the name suggests, I gain these 'tickets' from certain feats. These tickets can be used by my Technique to pull for rewards. Like other Techniques, skills, innate traits, and even shikigami or cursed tools."
"So was Shadow Ball something you chose to synchronize with me or coincidence?" Megumi asked.
"Coincidence, it was the first Technique I drew." It was a good one though. Without our Shadow Ball Barrage, I don't think we would have taken Teke-Teke down without more injuries and effort.
"A gacha, huh?" Todo said, ignoring our words. He seemed to be deep in thought, stroking his chin like the Thinker statue. "Interesting. I assume there are some restrictions to an ability that powerful? Probably the Technique storage limit and the efficiency of 'swapping'."
I blinked.
"The mind can only store three Cursed Techniques is the common consensus and Okkotsu's Technique seemed to affirm that as well, so yours likely works off a similar mechanic. Holding your original Technique and two others at a time."
Megumi blinked.
"As for swapping, Okkotsu's swapping is based around his Shikigami but since your technique seems superior in terms of generating new Techniques, I assume the drawback in comparison to 'Copy' falls to your ability to switch Techniques mid-combat. Either there is some arbitrary restriction or a time-based restriction."
That was frightening close.
He was perfectly on point regarding the limit of only holding three Techniques at a time including the Gacha, though the potential of a future pull addressing the limitation existed.
As for swapping, Todo had gotten very close. Swapping did have a time-based restriction, where I could change out a Technique every five minutes.
Todo was definitely the person to talk to about Jujutsu.
"Do you happen to have any more of these 'tickets'?" Todo asked. "Now would be as good a time as ever."
I had briefly considered saving the tickets for in combat, so I could try and draw something to help me out of a bad situation without wasting my one swap every five minutes but that was a bad idea, on closer inspection.
While I didn't have any particular weaknesses at the moment, at least nothing glaring like a vampire to sunlight, I still had some obstacles to overcome.
My biggest worry is that if I faced an overwhelmingly faster opponent, they could kill me before I even had the chance to draw a ticket, let alone the time to think of the right combination with a new ability to turn the tables on them.
"A few." I started with the Platinum Ticket.
[Rolling Platinum Ticket][Shadows of Time]
|Elite Technique|
Your shadow is a temporal anomaly, being able to stretch and move independently and even manifest outside of a 2d space to physically interact and attack things. Moreover, whatever your shadow touches gets their time altered, either quickly ageing or getting younger. The stronger a target is, the slower their time is altered.
"Another Technique." I muttered. "Another Shadow based Technique at that."
After a moment of hesitation, I slotted out Bulk Up and slotted in Shadows of Time.
Bulk Up had served me well, especially when joined with Shadow Claw, but I had already strained my body using it and I feared pushing it further would do more harm than good for now.
Shadows of Time also synchronized way too well with Shadow Ball for me to leave it aside. While Techniques gave me an instantaneous run down on their functionality, it was always regarding the main functions and general usage of the technique.
Variations and also synergies between different Techniques?
That was up to me to figure out, a challenge that I relished.
Shadows of Time didn't seem like it would be as directly effective against Cursed Spirits, but what if I used it in conjunction with Shadow Ball? A possible work around.
"Are you sure aren't actually a Zenin?" Megumi asked, raising a brow. I hadn't really asked about that either. Ten Shadows of the Zenin, but Megumi's last name was Fushiguro. Was Zenin a title? Or is it some family that he had bad blood with, literally and figuratively?
Also, I guess I was being a bit familiar with Megumi in my head huh?
"Very interesting." Todo closed his eyes. "It was faint, but I could detect a strange pulse from your Cursed Energy. These 'pulls' themselves don't seem to cost Cursed Energy to be used, but their effects are palpable. Perhaps an inherent restriction that prevents this Technique from having a natural active, offensive form that increases its efficiency? Either way, we will keep the variable nature of your Technique in mind moving forward."
I nodded, though I had already started drawing my remaining tickets.
[Rolling Gold Ticket][Adept Polearm Mastery]
|Rare Skill|
You are very talented at wielding polearms, on the level of a veteran spearman. You are able to effectively wield any polearm such as spears, sickles and halberds with great efficiency and finesse.
Not immediately useful, but it was a skill not a Technique. This meant it didn't take up any slot and if I ever did receive a spear-type Cursed Tool from the Chaos Gacha or from an ally, this could prove useful.
I still had my Gold Choice Ticket, a Silver Ticket, and a Bronze Ticket. So I decided to start from the Bronze and work my way up to the Choice Ticket. Depending on the usefulness of my lower rank pulls, I would chose whichever category could use a pull.
[Rolling Bronze Ticket][Bloodbank]
|Uncommon Trait|
You just keep bleeding and bleeding, your body can hold 10x the amount of blood and regenerate blood 10x faster, don't ask how your body can store that much blood without changing mass or size.[Rolling Silver Ticket][Throwing]
|Uncommon Skill|
You are fairly skilled at throwing a variety of objects with speed and accuracy, being able to land a stone on the head of a target from across the street without trouble.
Both were good. Very good.
Bloodbank was another future investment. If I gained any blood-based abilities, this would boost them to another level. That said, there were some immediate benefits. I didn't have to worry about bleeding out as much as the average person.
Throwing was immensely useful for me, immediately.
My current fighting style revolved around throwing Shadow Balls at my opponent and now it was the mad lob of a random civilian but instead the throw of a prodigious expert, if not some low level of supernatural.
That left one Ticket.
My Gold Choice Ticket.
Currently, I was lacking any proper shikigami (only a Trash familiar, Daisy) or a Cursed Tool.
I decided to leave the shikigami for another day. I would have to be extraordinarily lucky to get a shikigami that matched my fighting style.
A Cursed Tool was tempting, but unless it was a spear it offered a similar issue as the shikigami.
Another category to focus on if it came or when I had some semblance of safety to take less optimal routes of advancement.
Technique was out. I had already slotted in Shadow Ball and Shadows of Time and the chances of getting something more synergistic was very low.
So, Skill or Trait.
Once again, I chose Trait.
Skills were amazingly useful, but they could be learned. Traits were game changers though and this was a Gold Ticket.
[Rolling Gold Choice Ticket: Trait][Magician]
|Rare Trait|
You are a natural-born Magician, making you naturally talented in the mystical arts, allowing you to learn, understand, and develop magic far faster and you have a unique intuition when it comes to matters of magic.
The change was instantaneous.
My Cursed Energy roiled as it literally expanded. Simultaneously, it flowed with greater ease through my body. No longer viscous, but instead as fluid as water.
The major errors and a few minor ones in my reinforcement became clear to me as I instinctively corrected the energy flow.
"Now that was a noticeable one." Megumi said.
"Magician." I answered the unspoken question. "A new Trait. I have a natural talent for Jujutsu."
"You already did, to an extent." Todo pointed out. "A Technique that can modify natural proclivity for sorcery? In what way has it changed you?"
"About what?"
"Whether your new, enhanced talent can match my genius." Todo smiled.
In spite of myself, I found that I was barely holding back a grin either.
So I didn't.
"Maniacs, I am surrounded by maniacs." Megumi sighed, the words that followed were quieter. Almost too quiet for me to hear. "Stay safe, Itadori. Kugisaki."
In an age long passed, a master of Jujutsu once said that wherever Cursed Energy coalesced, disaster followed.
That night, in Shibuya, Cursed Energy continued to mount throughout the city.
And three Disasters prowled.
[The Brain]
"What a troublesome woman." A true Jujutsu sorcerer though, Kenjaku mused. She had defeated the Smallpox Deity with a clever use of her technique. Not something he would ever bother stealing, but he had always been fascinated by the unique ways people found work around their limitations.
"Bird Strike, huh?"
Their Techniques were actually quite similar in function if not form or potency, Bird Manipulation and Cursed Spirit Manipulation. What was stopping him from replicating Bird Strike via Cursed Spirits? Or perhaps some other variation.
"Binding Vows and controlled subjects, huh?" Binding Vows were such a curious phenomenon in the system of Jujutsu. "Would the value of a vow made under the control of a Technique be inherently less than that of a natural one?"
Taking Bird Strike as the example, would a freak natural occurrence where birds suicide bombed their opponent using a Binding Vow (if such a thing were possible) be more powerful than the one Mrs. Mei Mei had employed?
The exact nature of Binding Vows remained a mystery even to Kenjaku himself since properly examining their effect could be difficult.
Did the objective value of what was 'sacrificed' or 'offered' matter more than the significance it held to the user? Or vice versa?
Did specifying the reward that you wish from the Vow decrease the potency compared to leaving it up to the world itself to interpret?
What of failed Binding Vows? If the 'sacrifice' in that instance failed to guarantee a Vow after repeated tries, did the value of the sacrifice lower in the same way that an overconfident fisherman who overprices his catch might be forced to lower the price below the actual value to gain buyers?
Not to mention the curious mystery of what occurs when a Binding Vow between two beings is broken.
Kenjaku had been busy planning the evolution of the human race, but Binding Vows would make for a next topic to focus on if things fell through somehow.
Perhaps he could just ask Sukuna when the time came. That man had an eerily deep understanding of Binding Vows, born from instinct or that worldview of his.
"The Cursed Womb is tracking Lord Sukuna's vessel."
"Uraume, always a pleasure." That was actually a lie. Too dreary and obsessive for his taste. Loyalty didn't mean you had to abandon the rest of your personality. Though maybe it did for Sukuna.
"You leave far too much to chance." Of course. It was more fun that way.
"Don't you feel tired repeating the same arguments again and again?" Kenjaku sighed, shaking his head and wagging his finger. "Very childlike. You should be more mature."
"The Cursed Spirit has most of the Fingers."
"Yes, Jogo does." Do Cursed Spirits truly have sentience? Or is it some crude imitation. The Disaster Curses have personality, but the truest expression of individuality, in Kenjaku's experience, was the ability to grow and change. In that regard, he had considered either Hanami or Mahito the most developed.
The balancing act the world had in place, the one that had shifted so heavily with Gojo Satoru's birth really was fascinating. He had been so tempted to wait a century or two longer before enacting his plans, but the appearance of that man and his progeny had made it impossible to delay.
"Do you really think he is capable enough?" Uraume asked. "If he dies before fulfilling his role…"
"With Gojo Satoru sealed, there are only four people in the world that Jogo has to fear." Kenjaku smiled. "Myself, Sukuna, Okkotsu Yuta, and Tsukumo Yuki. With me an ally and the last two in the wind, he should be more than capable of doing his part."
Though who knows? Miracles happened all the time and Jogo was far too arrogant with those seemingly weaker than himself.
If he messed around too much…
"It'll be fine." Kenjaku eventually decided to say. Even if Sukuna's return to full power was slowed, it would still work out.
It always did, even if he didn't think it at the time.
[Powering On]
"This could be a problem." Maki muttered, her weapon at the ready though she wondered what use she would be. Still, she would give it her all. Her concerns seemed irrelevant as the Domain expanded around them.
"This is bad." Nanami said, though his grip on his weapon and the tension in his shoulders showed just how prepared he was. "Still, we are sorcerers. That is a Cursed Spirit. So we will exorcise it."
"Nah, we are fucked." Naobito took another swing of his drink before tossing the bottle to the side, landing in the waters of the tropical paradise they were standing in. "Still, I'm going out the way I always imagined. Completely hammered."
"Die here, arrogant fake humans!" A swarm of shikigami flung themselves at them. Dodging was impossible, due to the sure-hit of the Domain. Instead, Maki and Nanami focused on reducing the damage as much possible.
Protecting vitals and spreading out.
Still, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.
Naobito, using his Falling Blossom Emotion, had avoided the sure-hit and was trading blows with the Special Grade Cursed Spirit 'Dagon'. Even without the sure-hit, between the shikigami and Dagon's own might, the head of the Zenin was on the back foot.
Their defeat was an inevitability, at this point.
Nanami acknowledged this but continued to move towards Dagon and Naobito. If his death was guaranteed, at least he could help in some way.
Even if they failed to exorcise it, damaging it enough for anyone else to stand a chance was still a more acceptable outcome then dying achieving nothing at all.
Maki was of a similar sentiment as she pushed through and approached the clash between her clan head and Dagon.
"Give up." It ordered. "If you do, your deaths will be far less painful."
"Shut up!" Maki roared, ignoring the bite and claws of the shikigami as she swung her weapon at the Cursed Spirit.
It was a good blow, the angle was tricky, yet it still carried incredible force.
But against a Special Grade, it was meaningless. It bounced off and a casual backhand sent her flying back into a swarm of shikigami was Dagon's attention returned to Naobito, who had used the brief window to regain his breath and prepare himself for another onslaught.
"Then-" Dagon's words were stopped as the Domain shuddered. After a moment, it shook again. This time, the sure-hit effect was gone as Maki and Nanami used the chance to fling off the incessant shikigami and retreat back.
The attack wasn't coming from them or any issue with Dagon, which could only mean one thing.
An attack from the outside.
In the next moment, the Domain shuddered and flickered as the Cursed Spirit hissed in irritation.
It didn't get the opportunity to understand what was going on though, as a rabbit struck it in the face and proceeded to unleash a swarm of attacks onto the confused spirit's face.
Rabbit Escape, Maki remembered this shikigami and there was only one person it could belong to.
Eventually, sense returned and Dagon roared furiously and grabbed the smug rabbit by the ears and flung it to the side as he responded to several more sneak attacking him from behind.
"CEASE!"
"Don't worry." Megumi's voice came first. "That was just an intro, your real prize…is right here."
A clap resounded through the air.
Dagon did not turn in time.
"Shadow Ball."
A massive orb of darkness slammed into the back of the spirit's head and detonated with enough force to blow it off its legs and across the floor. Even Naobito, Nanami, and Maki weren't spared as they were forced to dig their feet or weapons into the ground to avoid falling over.
From the verge of defeat, the glimmer of victory shone brighter than ever.