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CHAPTER START---
---May 1st, 2014…
"Have you ever considered, just, not being bad at it?" Kusakabe asks as he's fishing in a river on campus.
Sitting on the cooler, enjoying the midday sun with a single line in the river, he relaxes in a pair of shorts and slippers while occasionally throwing a glance at Taiyo.
Taiyo was wearing a pair of shorts and standing slightly downstream, waist deep in the water as he focuses his Cursed Energy.
"I'm working on that right now. I just need to be more consistent," Taiyo says as he steadies himself and punches the water.
A moment before impact, he releases a small amount of Cursed Energy from his fist, causing massive ripples across the river.
"Too much, you're scaring away the fish," Kusakabe says.
"What fish? The rivers on campus move every day. There aren't any fish in here."
"It's about the principle. Fishing is how men relax. Maybe you should try it."
"I relax by moving, not by sitting still and being half asleep," Taiyo muses as he waits for the water to steady.
"Well, if you want to be able to properly fly, then you'll have to learn how to apply exactly the amount of pressure you need," Kusakabe says. "While you were high on those Black Sparks, you had enough control to fly perfectly, but now you need to learn to do it yourself."
"Yeah well, we can't all be Satoru Gojo," Taiyo says. "My souls resonate so I can intuitively do things, but then I need to reverse engineer them in training. A little patience would be nice."
"Considering what a freak you are, I'm being pretty patient," Kusakabe remarks. "You have access to everything you need, but learning how to bring it out on your own is the tricky part. After you learn to push your efficiency and Cursed Energy control to the limit, you can focus internally on your souls and the spark between them."
"They look like two shaking red spheres," Taiyo says. "But how am I supposed to make them…resonate?"
Kusakabe shrugs, "You're the Special Grade, figure it out."
"Thanks a lot, 'teacher'," Taiyo says as he rolls his eyes.
After the water becomes steady, Taiyo clears his mind and punches the surface, this time putting just enough Cursed Energy into the strike to push against his fist, cushioning the attack and not even causing a ripple on the surface.
"One," Kusakabe says. "When you can manage that ten times in a row, consistently, we can get to training your Innate Technique more."
Taiyo perfectly executes one more punch, not disrupting the water. "Does everyone have to do this?"
"Two, and no, I just have you doing this because your Innate Technique affects your body. For people like, well, almost everyone else, this isn't necessary since their Innate Technique is more like hitting a button or flipping a switch."
Taiyo steadies his mind once more, and punches the water, only to groan when large ripples are sent through the river.
"Back to zero," Kusakabe says.
"So, Gojo has to do this too, right? Since instead of 'on and off', his Limitless can be used at zero or one hundred, and everything in between, like Immolation."
"Exactly, but unlike you, he has the talent to instantly learn things, and the Six Eyes."
Taiyo smiles as he punches the still water again, perfectly controlling his Cursed Energy.
"One," Kusakabe says. "I'm going to get lunch. What do you want?"
"Anything they have ready, it really doesn't matter," Taiyo says as he punches again, not causing a single ripple across the surface.
"Two, but they only count if I see them, so, yeah," Kusakabe says as he gets up and begins walking to the main campus buildings.
---Hours Later…
"Alright, I hate this," Kusakabe says as he looks down at his bleeding knuckles.
Standing across from him is Taiyo, smiling at his teacher after finally getting a grasp of optimizing his Cursed Energy flow.
"Want me to heal it? Then we can go again," Taiyo says.
"How about you heal me, then we never do this again," Kusakabe says as he presents his hands. Taiyo focuses on them, still struggling but thankful for the chance to practice healing others.
"Better?" Taiyo asks as Kusakabe is fully healed.
"Yeah, but I could feel your Reverse Curse Technique shaking," Kusakabe says. "It should be like a calming wave washing over your patient, or yourself."
"Maybe I should ask Shoko for advice on that."
"Yeah, that'd be for the best, since healing others is her specialty after all," Kusakabe says. "The next thing is to keep your Cursed Energy output consistent and constant."
"What?"
"Think about it like this. Every time you fire a beam of heat, or fly, or punch and kick, also when you reinforce your body, that all counts as Cursed Energy output. You can train this a lot, but everyone has a limit. Even if you have infinite Cursed Energy, you can only output so much at once."
"So it's like trying to drain the ocean with a garden hose?"
"Yeah, so when you use enhancement to punch someone who is using reinforcement, the difference in your Cursed Energy output and physical capabilities determines who gets hurt. That's why my hands bleed when we spar now.
To me and most other Grade 1 Sorcerers, you feel like punching a stone wall would for a normal person.
But this makes your offense and defense easy to see. Along with the spark of Cursed Energy in your core. When you activate any technique, people can also sense where the Cursed Energy on your body is. It makes predicting your attacks easy, so people can easily avoid them."
"I see, so to hide that you want me to coat my entire body in it?"
"Exactly," Kusakabe says. "Most people can't do this because we aren't efficient enough and don't have enough Cursed Energy reserves, but you can do this. This makes fighting you a lot harder."
"So it's like wearing armor, got it," Taiyo says.
"That's the idea, armor that enhances your offense as well. After you get comfortable with this, it will be automatic. And the practice will make mastering your Innate Technique a lot easier. Getting familiar with radiating Cursed Energy from every inch of your body will be better since for your Innate Technique, you are the weapon."
"Should I learn this with RCT too?"
"No, trying to regenerate your entire body at once is pointless. It's always better to prioritize the most vital components first, but Shoko can explain more about that."
"Hmm, this gives me a lot to think about," Taiyo muses as he taps his chin, deep in thought.
"Well, I need to go find Yaga, we're going out for drinks," Kusakabe says. "Try not to overdo it with the rest of your training."
"Sure, sure," Taiyo smiles as Kusakabe sighs, knowing that, as always, he'd be going all out in training.
A while later, sitting under the stars in the courtyard of his dormitory, Taiyo is meditating, focusing on his souls and trying to view them, to view himself, and to make them resonate with his whims.
Within himself, he sees two blood-red orbs of energy, shaking and pulsing as they move closer to each other, but before they can touch, they repel each other, sending a painful jolt through his body.
"Fuck," he groans. "Two can never become one, so the resonance can't be them touching…"
"Are you always this oblivious?" a familiar and sere voice asks from behind him.
Taiyo frowns, looking over his shoulder to see Mei Mei leaning against a pillar and scrolling on her phone.
Then he returns to his meditation. "This is becoming an annoying trend."
"Me sneaking up on you?" she asks.
"Beautiful women interrupting my meditation, leave."
"No."
"Then be silent," Taiyo says, only to hear her walking closer and sitting on a boulder to his right, while he's on the ground.
Mei Mei silently observes him, focusing on his Cursed Energy, and noting the difference between his and Gojo's.
While Satoru Gojo was beyond reach, hollow, distant.
Taiyo was brimming with eerie love, a twisted and disgusting type of love she couldn't understand, but it made her uncomfortable.
'What a heinous view of the world you must have! What kind of creature is this man…' Mei Mei thinks as she fake coughs.
Taiyo continues to ignore her, and she fake coughs again.
"Fine, what?" he asks while turning to her.
"How did you explain showing up with my axe to Yaga?" she asks back.
"I didn't have to. I just put it in my room before they saw it."
"So you didn't tell them about our fight…that explains why Shoko was willing to heal me."
"I would have if your people didn't cover up all the damages," Taiyo says. "But I said I wouldn't cause them any problems so long as they stay out of my way, and I figured attacking the person Satoru Gojo said was off limits, would cause a lot of problems."
"Gojo gave you his protection?" Mei Mei asks, and Taiyo recalls that she wasn't inside during their first meeting at his house. "That bastard didn't tell me that. My life was in more danger than I realized."
"Gojo seems to have taken the hint that I don't want to cause any problems," Taiyo says. "I'm sure with those special eyes of his, he knows your axe is in my room."
"He sure does," Mei Mei says as she looks him over, curiously. "You haven't been training with it?"
"I don't plan to use it."
"Then you should sell it," she says. "Things that aren't working to make money, are worthless."
"Does that apply to people too?" Taiyo asks. "And no, it's a trophy, but we can have a rematch for it if you want."
"Especially people," she says. "But the reason I'm here is because the Jujutsu Headquarters higher-ups and Principal Gakuganji released me from the Binding Vow."
"Ahh, so that was who wanted me dead," Taiyo says with a confident smile. "And they unzipped your lips because?"
"Because having a Special Grade that's willing to play their games is invaluable," she says. "They may have some tasks for us occasionally, and believe me, the pay is worth it."
"So their best assassin failed, and they decided to pay me instead. No wonder Gojo hates them," Taiyo scoffs.
"Is that a refusal?"
"No, I'll play along," he says. "Now leave so I can get back to training."
Mei Mei huffs and gets up. "And my axe?"
Taiyo laughs, "Just say when you're ready for the rematch, or get me something equally cool."
Mei Mei narrows her eyes at him. "I don't allow anyone to get between me and my money, and that axe is essential to my missions."
"Then you shouldn't have lost." Taiyo closes his eyes and returns to his meditation as Mei Mei leaves.
An hour later, Taiyo is walking back to his room, ready to shower and get some food before going to bed, only to find that his bedroom door is torn off the hinges.
"She can't be serious…" he mutters while stepping into his room, and sees her battleaxe gone.
Walking over to his desk, he sees her business card waiting for him.
And thus, two of the three people who would destroy the Jujutsu Society, and the world as we know it, have officially begun their partnership…
END CHAPTER---
Discord: discord .gg /eHuxNeZfyS [Come chat with me]
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
You.tube: @KeanuEugene [Giving away all my writing knowledge]