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CHAPTER START---
Lying atop her hotel room bed, wearing only a white robe and a towel on her damp hair, a woman lies on her side while taking careful notes in a small notepad.
In front of her is her laptop, playing the battle between Satoru Gojo and Taiyo Daburu well over the hundredth time.
"I can't be the only one, right?" She pauses the fight as the Domain Expansion shatters and Gojo is sent tumbling across the stone stage. She watches while anxiously running a finger across the scar and stitches on her forehead.
"This must surprise you too, my love. A thousand years of Jujutsu bending the world to protect you, and now, your grand protector himself. The greatest of them all, Satoru Gojo, may have some competition."
She continues the video and lies back in bed, staring up at the ceiling with a satisfied smile.
"After a thousand years of planning, it seems Jujutsu is finally giving me a fair shot at changing things. It's no longer protecting you from change. I really would have paid Toji more if I knew this was going to be the result.
Now it's only a matter of time, my love, Tengen…"
The woman giggles for a moment before slapping a hand over her mouth.
'Damn it, I got so excited I started talking too much.'
She looks around wearily, not sensing any Cursed Energy nearby. Well, none beyond that absurd mass of Cursed Energy a few blocks away.
Going back to the video, after watching the entire thing and taking more notes, and then preparing to restart it, a knock interrupts her.
"Finally," she hops out of bed and saunters over to the door, opening it to greet a woman with a cart of food.
"Goodnight, the room service you ordered is here," the woman shows her the order list, and after confirming, she steps aside for the employee to push the cart inside.
"What time does the hotel bar close?" She asks as the woman carefully sets up her luxurious dinner.
"Tonight, at midnight, Ms. Itadori," the woman glances over to see her guest sitting at the edge of the bed jotting down some notes, and her gaze lingers on the stitches for a moment before going back to her work.
"Good, but I really should focus on my work. I need a bottle of wine. Just one glass. White, not red. Any bottle will do."
"I'll bring it right away, ma'am." The woman presents the food, then bows, ready to leave. "Would you care for anything else tonight?"
"No," she looks out the large windows to a similar hotel a few city blocks away, smiling as her gaze narrows on the large Domain Expansion sphere protruding and consuming the penthouse suite of it. "I think this will be enough to satisfy a thousand years of hunger…"
"Ma'am?"
Kaori snaps out of her musing and gives a hollow smile to the woman. "I'll be fine with just the wine, thank you."
"It's my pleasure, ma'am." The woman politely bows and leaves the room.
Sensing that she's alone, Kaori takes out her phone and makes a call while bringing her food to the bed.
Removing the tray reveals an array of exquisite seafood and vegetables.
"Sir?" a voice asks through the phone.
"Has the Kamo clan made contact with Taiyo Daburu yet?"
"The middleman, Mei Mei, is relaying our message. But we've gotten word that the Zen'In clan has already agreed to a meeting with him in a few days."
"I expect better of you. This is the best you can do when an invaluable asset arrives. Do you want me to reclaim my position at the head of the Kamo Clan so badly?"
"No, Noritoshi, sir," the man pleads. "The Zen'In clan has a gift that he was interested in. We offered valuable Cursed Objects and knowledge, but he refused. It seems he had a Cursed Object in mind from the very start."
"I see. Keep me informed of his interactions with Jujutsu Headquarters and all clans."
"As you command."
Kaori ends the call and tosses her phone onto the bed, angrily spearing a shrimp with her fork.
'So he has a clear agenda. But Jujutsu Headquarters is currently bribing him with Jujutsu Knowledge, just to keep him neutral. If learning Jujutsu is his goal… the Soul Split Katana is likely his goal from the Zen'In clan. When I got close to him, I could tell his Soul, or more likely, his Souls, were strange.
But aside from a very select few people, nobody knows that. Jujutsu Headquarters doesn't know, nor do the clans, aside from Gojo.
The Soul Split Katana would propel his research in that subject decades ahead. But only the major clans know about that, and when Gojo bartered Toji's equipment back to the Zen'In clan in exchange for Megumi, he made a Binding Vow never to share information about that blade.
But there can't possibly be anything else in there, right?'
Kaori retreats into her mind while mechanically eating dinner, barely even tasting her expensive meal while considering the possibilities.
Then, she gives up and flops back onto her bed as the video continues to loop.
Lying on her side, she looks at the Domain Expansion Barrier in the distance and frowns.
'Your agenda is unknown, but the one truth I can bet on is your thirst for Jujutsu Knowledge. And aside from Tengen, nobody comes close to me.
But you are dangerous, so how do I approach you without getting into a messy situation? I can likely kill you. The cost would be great, but it is possible. And it would certainly be messy enough for Satoru Gojo to arrive.
No, you don't seem to share his ideals, nor do you share those of Jujutsu Tech or Headquarters…and clan politics is an annoyance to you.
Powerful alliances aren't what you aim for. Only individual power, right?'
The woman smiles and taps her phone a few times, making a call and instantly connecting to the voicemail.
"Mei Mei, there is someone I'd like to meet. Taiyo Daburu. This isn't the kind of job I usually hire you for, but he interests me, so I'd like you to arrange a sit-down. Contact me when you have an answer. We'll start at the usual finder's fee, but tripled, since he is Special Grade."
Kaori flashes a satisfied smile, then glances at the clock.
'That long?' she frowns, assuming the reply would come during breakfast at this rate. 'How long do they plan to stay in that Hollow Barrier?'
---Elsewhere…
"Approaching one hour," Mei Mei says before locking her phone and adjusting her shades.
Resting it on the blanket beside her, she relaxes on the blanket, enjoying the sound of waves nearby and the sand below her.
Sharing the same blanket, Taiyo is wearing a pair of red shorts and meditating. His mind eased into a comfortable rhythm as the waves gently broke nearby.
He opens his right eye and glances over at Mei Mei, who sees his gaze drink in her perfectly toned and seductive body, barely hidden beneath her pale blue bikini, and she pokes out her tongue at him.
"It takes less Cursed Energy without my Innate Technique," he says.
Mei Mei looks around at the completely deserted beach and city nearby. "That Sure Hit effect of yours is bothersome. I much prefer this version."
"Well, after a few more sessions, I'll have this mastered so we can enjoy entire days at the beach, or wherever we want, from anywhere we wish."
She scoffs. "It's the least you could do, considering we have to sneak around."
"Even if things weren't so…complicated. I'm a celebrity, and you want anonymity—"
"We don't need to go over this again. But a nice restaurant once a week wouldn't be that bad."
"The bounty is gone, so I can leave campus now. We'll have a date night. That is what people call it, right?"
She shrugs. "All I have are money-making appointments or things that waste my time, so that's new to me."
"So which is this?"
"Money-making, obviously. You're the best investment I've ever made. Well, aside from befriending Satoru Gojo, of course. I even offered to marry him once to gain access to the Gojo Clan's wealth…But I never had a chance."
"He probably has good taste then, maybe in kinder women."
She smacks his arm, breaking his concentration for a moment.
"Yeah, I earned that one."
Mei Mei opens her eyes beneath the glasses and looks at the horizon to her left, seeing a sun setting in the distance.
To her right, another sun is setting, and the moment it disappears beneath the horizon.
The Domain Barrier dissipates, returning them both to the private pool of their penthouse suite.
The night sky and a chilly wind replace the midday sun and warm beach atmosphere.
Mei Mei sits up and wraps her arms around him, pressing herself against him to warm up.
"So dramatic," Taiyo says as all the signals that were blocked by the Domain Barrier reach her phone.
She breaks away from him and checks her messages, smiling at the money practically falling into her wallet. "If you don't want to be treated like a space heater, don't be one."
"If it means you're always crawling all over me, I'll suffer through this burden."
Mei Mei rolls her eyes and gets up, sending a quick response to her contact as Taiyo packs their things.
"Pool?" he asks.
"And room service. I'm almost hungry."
"The usual?"
"And something sweet," she says as he carries all their things back toward the room.
As usual, he gives her enough privacy to negotiate with her contacts, and she eagerly does so.
Wringing Kaori Itadori for every cent she can, in exchange for a guaranteed meeting with Taiyo Daburu…
END CHAPTER---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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