Baku flies down to my side. I wrap my hands around him, well I try to, Baku is a big boy. I probably don't even get one eighth of his total circumference. Where my palms do land though, I begin to scratch.
"Who's a good boy, you are, oh yes you are," I say in a slightly higher pitch than my normal voice.
Baku rattles slightly as a guttural yet ethereal, low frequency growl of delight escapes him. The sound vibrates through my chest, a sensation I've grown to love over the years. People think having a giant whale shikigami is all about combat and intimidation. They're wrong. It's about the cuddles.
After a few minutes of petting him, scratching that spot right behind his left pectoral fin that always makes him purr like some oversized cat, I stop and turn to the dead man.
I had caved in his chest cavity. His lungs had probably collapsed. His heart had burst. And it was all done with jujutsu, so no chance of coming back as a curse. A clean death, if you could call it that. The higher-ups always stressed that part. Kill them with cursed energy or they might come back as a curse. Can't have that. Though sometimes I wonder if the curse versions would be more interesting to fight.
Still. Astro Boy.
"I should rewatch it," I mutter aloud, pushing my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose. "I hear there's a new one coming out, that takes a lot of inspiration from Astro Boy called Pluto. What do you say Baku, wanna watch some Pluto?"
He grunts, which I take as a yes. Baku has never said no to anime night. Then again, Baku has never said no to anything I've suggested. Loyal to a fault, that one. Sometimes I wonder if he actually enjoys the shows or if he just likes the lights. Either way, company is company.
"Well then go on boy, eat him. Just take the cursed energy though, we'll have to show the body to the higher-ups. Man, that's stupid. Photos are a thing now."
Baku listens to my commands as he flies over to the dead curse user, his tail left tail fin almost hits me as he flies past. Opening his mouth and swallowing him all at once, Baku's cursed energy amount flares slightly as he processes the meal.
I close my eyes, feeling the shift in Baku's reserves. The numbers tick up in my mind
"Semi grade 1, huh. We made back what we lost so that's good."
However it was pretty close, I got pretty carried away in the last manipulation.
"I really should work more on managing cursed energy output and control," I continue, reaching up to scratch Baku's underside. His skin is cold to the touch, always has been. Like pressing your hand against water... or the dead, I like to think it more as the former. "We don't wanna lose too much of your cursed energy now do we, Baku?"
He shrills in reply, a sound so adorable, I want to scratch him again, but before I can my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I fish it out and answer without looking at who it is. Could be the principal. Could be Todo. Could be a telemarketer. Life is full of mysteries.
"Hello, Toki Tsukumo here. If you wish to hear about my top ten anime list press 1. If you wish to give me a mission press 2. If you wish to hear me sing press 3. If you -"
"Toki!" an old voice yells in my ear. "I know you're there! Stop doing this!"
Ah. Principal Yoshinobu. The only old man who had the same taste in music as me, he was pretty annoying in everything else.
I stay quiet, letting the silence stretch. Until.
"If you wish -"
"Toki!"
"Fine, fine, what do you want principal?" I relent, leaning against Baku's side.
"How is your execution going?"
I turn my head to the side, so as to look at Baku's stomach where the body is resting. Yeah, I'd say it went pretty well.
"Just finished, why do you ask? You're not going to put me on another mission are you?" I straighten up, my voice rising with indignation. "Look, mom doesn't go out on missions but that doesn't mean you can push her workload on me, you understand! I'm a young soul! I need my free time! I have anime to watch! Games to play! A social life to pretend I have!"
Baku shrills at my side, his massive form shifting in solidarity.
"You hear that? Baku needs free time too!"
A sigh comes through the phone. I can practically see Yoshinobu pinching the bridge of his nose, losing a little more of his hair, wait he was bald, I guess beard hair could count as hair.
"I'm not going to send you on a mission. Just come back quickly. We'd like to see the body."
I pump my fist into the air at that. Free time. Hell yeah! Maybe I can go with Todo to a Takada event too! I heard she's doing a meet and greet in Shibuya next week. Todo's been talking about it non-stop. Brother's dedication to his idol is inspiring.
I cough in my mind, trying not to sound too excited when I respond.
"No problem. On my way to Tokyo Jujutsu High now."
I cancel the call and jump onto Baku, placing my phone in my pocket. Settling into my usual spot, right between his dorsal fins where there's a natural indent that fits my body perfectly, I cross my legs as Baku takes off into the air.
The ascent is smooth. Baku knows my preferences by now. Though I still remember the first few times I flew on top of him, almost died way more times than I'd like to admit. The buildings become toys, the people become ants, and here I feel like I'm on top of the world.
Because technically, I am.
Thankfully flight takes almost none of Baku's cursed energy or I'd have lost the coolest way to move around. Can you imagine? Having a giant whale shikigami and being forced to walk everywhere? Criminal. Absolutely criminal.
I pat Baku's head as we move through the clouds, the humidity drenching my clothes slightly. The moisture clings to my hair, my coat, seeping through to my skin. But as we speed up, the water fails to stick, blown away by the wind of our passage. I pull my hair back, falling completely on my back as I do so, staring up at the sky above us.
The clouds part around Baku like he's Moses and they're the Red Sea. Poetic, really. I should write that down somewhere.
"Maybe I should make another binding vow, don't you think, Baku?" I muse aloud. The wind carries my words away, but Baku hears everything I say. "But would that break the one I already have placed? That would suck. Eh, better not to test it. We have enough cursed energy don't we."
Baku groans, a sound that reverberates through his entire body and into mine.
"If only we saw Gojo-senpai more. He's such a good source of cursed energy."
Not that I'd ever take any from him without permission. That would be rude. And also probably impossible given his Infinity. And also against one of the conditions. But a boy can dream about all that cursed energy just floating around.
"Then again so would mom, but she's away. Wonder where she went. Africa? I hear they have a few jujutsu sorcerers there. Do you think she's asking lions what their type of lioness is? Would be very on brand for her."
Mom's always been weird. Special grade sorcerer, former star plasma vessel, world traveler, certified nightmare for anything cursed. And my mother. Still haven't figured out how that last one happened. Genetics are weird too.
I can't think about it for too long, we arrive. Tokyo Jujutsu High comes into view. Baku begins his descent, my hand finds grip on one of Baku's fins, and down we go.
I keep my mouth closed, and reinforce myself as little as need be with cursed energy. The ground rushes up to meet us, but Baku's landing is feather-soft. Barely a tremor.
Show off.
I jump off him and Baku disappears in a swirling pattern of blue and dark pink. I always wonder what he goes and what he does. Sleep probably. Or maybe he has a whole whale social life I don't know about. Whale parties. Whale gossip. Whale drama.
I begin to walk across Jujutsu High, going down the levels, greeting cursed sorcerers along the way. A wave here, a nod there.
Finally I stand in front of the door of where the higher-ups are, probably brooding behind their panels, thinking they are all mysterious and cool. I've always found it funny.
I turn the knob and pull. It doesn't open.
"Eh," is all I say. Must be stuck. Damn old buildings.
I put in more cursed energy. The door rattles. Still doesn't budge. I add more. And more. And more.
The wood rattles violently now, even the barriers surrounding the room inside start to shake.
"Open the door," I almost yell. "I want to be done with this already."
Graciously the door heeds my request. It swings open, and I immediately stop using cursed energy. Someone else is holding the doorknob from the other side.
White hair. Bandages over his eyes. A smile that could either mean he's happy to see you or he's about to ruin your entire life.
"Gojo-senpai!" I exclaim.
"Toki?" Gojo asks back, that smile widening into a grin. "How's it going? Are you giving gramps some trouble in your first year? I sure hope so!"
"You know it." I match his energy, Gojo had actually been one of the greater constants of my life, which made me dislike the fact that I had been placed in Kyoto Jujutsu High instead of Tokyo, then again I am with Todo since I was stationed in Kyoto so I guess it all balances out. "Can you believe he sent me on a solo mission against a semi-grade one curse user who killed three people?"
"Oh scary," Gojo says, bringing up his hand to his mouth as he shivers.
"It really was. I'm telling you, those people have it out for me because of mom."
"Old geezers is what they all are."
"You are the only person who gets it, Gojo-senpai."
He nods, multiple times in a row, like a bobblehead. It's ridiculous. It's also exactly why I like him.
"So how come you're here?" I ask, genuinely curious now. "I thought you didn't like going on execution missions?"
"I don't," he says, his voice dropping to something resembling seriousness for half a second before he jabs me with his elbow. "But this was a special case, ha get it. I had to be called in."
Now I was interested. Really interested. Gojo-senpai was the strongest sorcerer of the modern age. Possibly any age, if you could believe it. And I did.
For him to be called in, they probably lost a few grade two sorcerers. Maybe even grade one.
"What's it about?"
"A particularly powerful vengeful curse. I'm surprised you can't feel it from here. They wanted me to kill the boy who's cursed," he pauses, his smile turning into something sharper, "but I convinced them otherwise with my excellent dialogue skills. I'm actually going down to meet the boy now. Wanna come with?"
I scratch the back of my head, genuinely torn. On one hand, seeing what kind of curse could warrant Gojo-senpai's involvement sounds fascinating. On the other hand, the higher-ups are waiting, and as much as I like to push buttons, keeping them waiting too long is a headache I don't need.
"You know I'd love to, Gojo-senpai, but my own meeting comes first."
"You're getting boring, Toki," Gojo replies back as he begins to walk away, waving bye at me over his shoulder. His white hair sways from side to side.
Boring? Me? Impossible. I was a delight to be around. I was the life of every party I attended.
Okay, maybe I didn't attend many parties. But if I did, I would be the life of them. Probably.
I shake those thoughts away before walking into the room, closing the door behind me as I do so. The darkness swallows me immediately. There is almost no light except for the lanterns at the edges and behind each panel.
"You guys really like dramatics, don't ya." My voice echoes in the chamber. "But hey, who am I to judge. The world is a stage, and the stage is a world of entertainment. If this turns you on, I'm not gonna judge."
"Toki!"
A voice yells from behind a panel at my eight o'clock. Principal Yoshinobu, right on cue.
"Principal, I just said I don't judge. No need to shout."
Another man behind a different panel sighs before saying, "Just show us the curse user."
I sigh myself, thankful to be done with it. Then I snap my fingers. Baku's head appears at my right in a dark blue and pink swirl of cursed energy. I keep the rest of his body incorporeal, no need to wreck their precious chamber with his full size. Baku's mouth opens. His tongue sticks out, and rolling out of it is the man of the occasion.
I look at the red that mats his chest. The concave crater where his sternum used to be. The frozen expression of.. I'm not sure what expression that is, befuddled? Yeah, let's go with befuddled.
Still caving in someone's chest cavity isn't pretty. Maybe I should get a cursed tool if only to finish these people off in a more humane way. I can store it in Baku for easy access. That sounds like a good idea. Should probably put that on my to-do list.
"- ki! Toki!"
"Oh yeah, sorry, I spaced out for a second there." I blink, refocusing on the room. "We're done right?"
"Indeed, everything is in accordance."
We fall into silence. Awkward.
"So do I just leave the body here? Do you want me to put it back in Baku?" I gesture vaguely at the corpse. "Would have to figure out where to dump it though. Having a dead body inside Baku forever is disgusting."
"Just leave it," another voice behind a panel says. Clipped. Probably has a stick up his ass.
Baku disappears in a swirl of dark blue and pink, retreating back to wherever he goes. I give the room one last look, and take my own leave.
But as I walk down the halls, my footsteps echoing against stone and wood, I can't help but think of something.
Gojo-senpai said it was a particularly strong vengeful spirit.
If I had Baku absorb its cursed energy, Baku's own amount would most likely get a lot bigger. More fuel for the tank.
After all I only have one hundred, and forty-eight times Gojo- senpai's amount left.