I stared Ryu down, no matter how much I was playing it off, that last attack really fucking hurt. My body was still smoking slightly, and my whole back felt like it was on fire. But I remained steadfast in glaring at the Pompdour-wearing man.
I channeled my cursed energy and focused, creating a small barrier around me and letting my cursed energy flood the small barrier. It was barely as tall and as wide as I was, but it would serve my purpose for what I was planning.
I focused harder, layering my technique in the barrier, using it to invert the polarity of my cursed energy and create a bubble of positive energy.
It was incredibly taxing, and I felt a third of my reserves vanish, but I felt my injuries vanish alongside it. I kinda thought that might let me cheat out a domain expansion, but no luck.
I dispelled the 'healing pod' I made as soon as my injuries were healed, and I noted Ryu staring at me, surprised. I smirked and couldn't help myself, "What? See something you like?" I called across to him.
"...How are you doing that?" He asked with a tilt of his head, still staring at me with those apathetic, dead eyes.
"Doing what?" I asked, confused.
"Hiding your cursed energy like that," He clarified, "I felt it just now, with that bottomless pool and that absurd output…" His eyes finally gained a glint of excitement. "I ask again, are you my dessert, boy?"
My eye twitched at the 'boy' comment, "Hey Uro…" I said, purposefully ignoring Ryu's words. She snapped her head towards me, "...Dibs."
I vibrated my legs and vanished from where I stood.
I appeared before Ryu, one arm cocked back, and his eyes flew open in shock as he hurriedly tried to cross his arms in front of his chest. He was one step too slow, and I buried my fist in his stomach, cracking space on impact.
Spit spewed from his mouth, and he was sent into the horizon line. I prepared to Aerostep after him, but Uro was fed up with my dibs.
She flew past me and caught up to ragdolled form, slamming his back with a devastating kick that shattered the space to his back, launching him back at me.
I grinned and sent a punch to the man's face as her rocketed at me. His face was bevelled from the impact, skin rippling as he careened down the road and into a small house.
The whole top floor of the house was turned into rubble and debris as he crashed into it. And Uro landed on the ground next to me, crossing her arms and glaring hatefully at me. "What'd I do now?" I asked.
"…I don't care for this 'Dibs,'" she said snidely, glaring into my eyes, "New rule of the faction: No more 'Dibs' effective immediately." She said proudly, raising her nose slightly. A rather awkward gesture given our height differential.
My eyebrows shot up. "And just who gave you the authority to make rules for MY faction?" I asked incredulously.
She stiffened for a moment, confidence fleeting slightly. She tilted her head up snobishly, "As a cofounder of the faction, I should be given more power within–"
She was interrupted by Ryu building up more cursed energy to fire at us. She dashed in front of me, grabbed the sky, and threw her arm out and up.
A bright pink beam of cursed energy shot forward at us, only to be uselessly redirected into the sky.
She threw me another confident smirk over her shoulder, "See? I am very much capable of taking care of this," She said and turned her head back towards Ryu's downed form as he started to rise from his lying position.
She continued, "Besides, how am I supposed to keep up if you keep taking all the points from–"
"He's not points," I corrected with a small groan, and her head snapped back to me, eyebrows raised. I smirked, "You're looking at the newest member of our faction."
Her face turned disgusted, "You want HIM?" She turned her head to the now standing Ryu, then back to me, "You can not be serious."
"As a heart attack," I said and pointed at him, "Can't you feel that? His output is off the charts. He would be a perfect addition to our little group."
"But… But… He's so… Wasteful." She said, sounding positively appalled, "No technique, just a wave of pure energy," she said that like it's a bad thing. "How can you possibly see potential in him?"
"Because we currently lack ANY form of ranged attack," I said seriously, all levity leaving my tone. I took a step forward, standing beside her and smiled down at her, "And besides, sometimes the situation needs a heavy-handed approach."
She still looked unconvinced and more than a bit put off by my idea of a new member, so I decided to throw her a bone. "How about this: I fight him and try to recruit him, but if I lose or he refuses, you can fight and kill him after that. Sound Good?" I proposed
She mulled the thought for a moment, chewing her bottom lip lightly before asking her own question, "Why can't we fight him together?"
My face split into a wide, manic grin, "I was really hoping you asked."
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3rd Person POV (Ryu)
'Are they ever gonna stop flirting?' The pompadour-wearing man thought to himself as he took a drag from his cigarette.
He savored the aftertaste for a moment, 'Seriously, I'm just gonna shoot them again,' and he started to gather more cursed energy into the end of his pompadour. But before he could finish charging his attack, they both simultaneously rushed him.
The silver-haired boy was faster by far, but now that Ryu was prepared for his charge, he was able to redirect the right jab with his own right hand. Ryu then lashed out with his own right jab, but the boy narrowly dodged the blow by moving his head to the left.
He used the shift in his weight to throw a devastating left roundhouse to his liver. Ryu moved his left hand to catch the blow, and Shinji's manic grin widened further. Ryu's eyes narrowed, and he caught–
The same cracking from earlier was heard, and Ryu was catapulted away. 'Damn, even blocking did nothing to dampen that.' He grunted as his now definitely bruised ribs stung as he breathed in.
Then he felt that pink-haired girl fly to intercept him in the air, and suddenly, even though he was moving in the same direction the whole time, the city and his trajectory twisted.
Right back at Shinji.
Who was waiting, right hand cocked back with a translucent white sphere surrounding it. Ryu tried to charge another granite blast, but he was one step too slow, and Shinji's hand buried itself on Ryu's crossed arms.
Space splintered, and he was sent careening right back to Uro, who bent his trajectory right back to Shinji. Ryu's flight was again interrupted, this time by a jumping knee that fractured space again.
Spit flew from Ryu's mouth, and he was sent flying once more towards Uro. But Uro, it seems, had grown fed up with her lack of damage contribution, so she tapped him with both palms and used a thin ice breaker.
Ryu growled as he was sent back at Shinji, who was rising to meet him, and started to charge another blast. This time, he preemptively detonated the ball of cursed energy, rocketing the silver-haired youth back towards the ground.
Ryu turned to engage Uro as she flew towards him. He lashed out with a left straight, and her eyes widened as her hands flew into a makeshift block.
Her hurried block was easily bypassed by his superior reinforcement, but the blow was still redirected away from her.
He instantly made a low-output granite blast and shot toward her at blistering speeds.
She clicked her tongue and threw her arms down, the blast curving downwards. Ryu's eyes narrowed as the recoil of the blast sent him down at an even faster speed. Uro pulled herself to keep up and match his descent.
She charged at him headfirst, cocked her left arm back, and threw a haymaker at Ryu's head. The pompadour-wearing man weaved his head back slightly and grabbed her offending wrist.
He smirked while charging another blast, "You need your hands to do that weird attack-bending thing, right?" Uro's eyes widened as she tried to pull her arm out of his vice-like grip, but it was futile. His grip was simply too strong.
Uro tensed and prepared to use her other hand, worrying about healing any damage her other arm might get later. That was until her gaze shifted, and she relaxed fully, her eyes becoming amused.
A hand landed on Ryu's right shoulder. "Hey," Shinji's bored voice drawled from behind him, and Ryu tensed; a lifetime of instincts flaring wildly all in one moment, "Hands off."
A right hand blurred into his side, and black lightning erupted from the impact.
BLACK FLASH
Ryu flew away, his whole right side felt like it had been crushed under an island, but even as he flew, his face broke into a wide, feral grin. "Looks like I've finally found it." His wide eyes fell on the gray-haired youth standing on a platform of cracked space.
His grin widened further, if that was possible, "NOW SHOW ME HOW GOOD MY DESSERT TASTES YOU TWO!"
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Shinji POV
Everything felt crystal clear. 'Oh, I missed this feeling.' I thought, and my eyes closed slightly in euphoria. I turned to Uro's floating form and asked, "You good?" and she huffed in response.
"Of course I'm 'good'." She said sharply, but a dribble of blood from her nose told a different story. She hurriedly whipped it away, but I had already seen it.
I smirked, "Whatever you say." I turned my gaze onto Ryu, who was still flying up and over a nearby river. I grinned and let myself drop from the sky, the platform of broken space dissipating. "Try to keep up, 'kay?"
I landed on a roof and got into a runner's stance. I vibrated my legs, faster and stronger than I had ever before. I took a deep breath and moved.
The world stretched in front of me into a long, dark tunnel before I took off. The distance between Ryu and me ceased to exist, and I slammed my palm into his face.
Space fractured on impact, and Ryu was catapulted even further, smashing through three tall buildings. I squinted as he turned into a spec in the horizon line before Aerostepping straight towards him, adding onto my already ludicrous speed.
But a huge buildup of energy from his distant form warned me of his oncoming attack.
A series of 8 high-energy beams blasted from his airborne form like a shotgun, all curving straight at me.
The closest one was above me and to the left, and I Aerostepped ahead of it, faster than it could curve backwards, detonating into a high-energy explosion behind me as it impacted the road.
The next one was soaring at me, carving a path through the wide road straight for me. I used Quake with both hands and barrel rolled as I flew over it, still right at Ryu.
The next two were carving through the buildings on my left and right in front of me, aiming to pinch me between them. I Aerostepped faster still, rolling narrowly between the two beams as they exploded only meters behind me.
Another beam was blasting above me, and only then did I realize that the beams, while having already impacted, were still present.
So I was boxed on all sides as another beam shot straight down the center of the street at breakneck speeds, right at me.
I grunted in annoyance. I focused my technique on my right fist as I cocked it back, and the same white translucent sphere as before enveloped my hand, something to worry about another time.
I waited as the beam closed in, and at the last possible moment, unleashed a full-powered punch at the beam.
There was a loud crack and boom as the two attacks met, but my attack easily overpowered it. It was disrupting all of the beams before me and created a shockwave that blasted Ryu even further.
The remaining two beams arced for me, but they were far too slow. I flew at Ryu and felt Uro trying to catch up. That moment of distraction proved enough time for Ryu to gather enough energy for another blast.
I grinned and rushed at him faster.
His grin matched my own, and he pointed at me, presumptively to boost his output.
Too bad I wasn't going to be hit by it.
A huge beam of destruction blasted straight at me.
A quick application of quake from my hands as they pointed upwards carried me just shy of being below the attack.
And another Aerostep was enough to close the distance and grab his ankle with my right hand as I flew by. I spun with his ankle in my grasp and threw him at Uro.
She pulled herself closer to him and slammed both knees into his chest while using a Thin Ice Breaker.
He was sent back flying at me, and I closed the distance faster, having learned from last time. A quick rising elbow to his chin disrupted his momentum enough for me to make another platform of cracked space and lash out with a left straight to his stomach.
His lungs compressed, air leaving his mouth in a violent gasp. I fiented a right jab to his face, and his arms flew into a desperate block in front of his face. My grin became a shark-like smile as I launched a right upper cut through his guard.
His head snapped back, and I launched into a combo. A left hook to his chin, then a right jab to his left shoulder, then a left straight to his nose, followed by a right elbow to his cheek, and finishing off by forcing my right arm under his left arm and knocking his right arm aside, leveling 3 consecutive left hooks to his liver.
I took another breath, feeling my inner resonance, and slammed my left fist into his face with a crushing hook.
BLACK FLASH
He was propelled down with an unyielding force as black lightning emanated from the blow. The already devastated road below exploded outwards into a smoke screen of dust.
I stared down the crash site, a little disappointed. If it were just me against him, it would probably be a pretty hard fight, but together…
The poor guy stood no chance.
That was why I kinda wanted to fight him alone, but ehh I'd rather not alienate Uro.
Speaking of the pink-haired minx, she floated down beside me, also staring at Ryu's downed form. "Are you really sure you want him?" She groaned out, "C'mon, he's not even that strong."
I sighed, "That's because he's fighting 'us' together. Alone, he might actually beat you one-on-one." She looked at me skeptically, "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to prove me wrong when he joins, I'm making spars and training mandatory in the faction."
She stared a second longer before sighing resignedly, "...Fine, but I am NOT going points hunting with him." She said with finality, staring me dead in the eyes.
I smiled, staring her dead in the eyes, "Oh, then I guess it'll have to be you and me hunting together then." I said with equal parts of finality, turning back to Ryu as the smoke finally started to clear.
My eyebrows raised as I saw that he was standing there, barely breathing heavily, with a confident smile on his face.
We locked eyes, and I grinned savegly tensing to charge at him, but I was interrupted by Uro's quiet words of, "...and I'm not living with him either."
I stopped and looked at her from the corner of my eyes, "...Then that can be just us too."
Without any delay, I charged straight for Ryu, but I noticed his arms come up into a familiar hand seal.
My eyes widened, "URO DOMAIN NOW!" I screamed and clasped my hands together in the hand sign for HWB.
Domain Expansion: Insatiable Feast
Domain Expansion: Solitary Sky
The two domains expanded simultaneously, and Hollow Wicker Basket slammed shut over me.
Uro's endless sky stretched behind me, but in front of me was an infinitely long traditional Japanese banquet hall and table, 15 meters wide.
Huge empty plates and silver wear was at every seat, but none of the plates had food on them. The tablecloth was a pristine royal blue with yellow accents, further illuminated by the soft candlelight on the table.
Ryu stood on the far side of the table, already charging a granite blast, pointing straight at me. I didn't waste anytime and let my cursed energy flood the domain to start analyzing the domains' frequencies.
I let my hands drop from the HWB sign; the two conflicting sure-hits should cancel out. My theory was proven correct as I wasn't hit with any sure hit, so I cocked my fist back once more, focusing my technique on it.
"Granite Blast," He intoned to further boost his output, and shot the bright pink beam at me, and I punched forward.
The explosion that resulted from the impact sent me skidding back, fist smoking slightly. I clicked my tongue as I saw him charge forward to close the distance between us.
Frequency stacking snapped back into place, and I reinforced my whole body to the absolute max. He sent a lightning-fast left jab to my face, and I tapped it with my right hand, activating my technique.
His arm shot across his own body, and my right arm ceased the opening with a devastating jab to his bloody nose. He pushed forward regardless, his back leg whipping out into a leg kick.
I checked it with my left leg, and stepped in with a straight to his jaw. His arm came flying up, batting my hand just slightly wide, and his other threw an uppercut to my stomach as he stepped in.
I grunted from the impact of the blow to my ribs, but followed with a right elbow to the side of his head.
He turned his head at the last second to mitigate the impact, but his head still snapped sideways. I feinted another left hook to his face, and he fell for it, his arm coming up in front of his face.
I vibrated my arm, something I was scared to do because I didn't want to kill him, but he was more durable than I thought. And transitioned the hook to his body, landing a crushing blow to his sternum.
Blood sprayed from his mouth as his body crumbled inwards. I sent another upper cut to his chin, and his feet left the ground before I slammed another left hook to his torso.
BLACK FLASH
Black lightning erupted from the blow, and he skipped off the dining table before rolling to a stop, panting and rubbing at his chest where I hit him. Despite that, there was a clear enjoyment in his eyes.
He grinned at me, his pompadour falling slightly, "This…" he started grabbing his comb from his jacket and fixing his hairdo, "IS MY DESSERT!" he screamed in exuberation.
I sweat dropped, 'Yeah sure bro…' I thought before an idea clicked into place: how I was going to recruit Ishigori Ryu.
I glanced at Uro, confused as to why she wasn't helping, only to see her sweating while holding the handisign for her domain. My eyes widened. She was losing the domain clash, and badly by the looks of it.
She locked eyes with me, "Hollow Wicker Basket," she said before forming the sign herself. My eyebrows shot up, and I turned back to Ryu, who was smiling like a lunatic. I moved to form the sign, but it was too late.
The table stretched behind me and overwhelmed the endless sky. A pink beam of cursed energy, far stronger than anything Ryu had made to that point, slammed down on me a second before I made the sign.
I screamed in agony and pried my hands together. The beam made it nearly impossible to move, but I forced my body to make the sign. The beam stopped in an instant, but the damage was already done.
Every part of my body felt like it was on fire, every movement caused my body to scream in protest, and I was sure more than half the bones that were in my body were broken. But I was standing and making the sign.
Ryu started to laugh, charging another beam, but fortunately, exposure to the sure hit of the domain gave me a much better idea of the domain's frequency.
"Extension Technique: Resonance Cascade," I said, and pulsed my technique. Turns out super easy to use your technique with HWB if it doesn't need hand signs.
The domain around us shattered, and the blast Ryu was charging detonated in his face, ruining his hairstyle. He panted heavily, sweat dripping from his exhaustion. "...What the hell are you?" he asked, staring at me hungrily.
A barrier formed around me, and I focused my technique through it, "Your aperitif." I said devisevly, creating a bubble of positive energy around me at the cost of about half of my remaining cursed energy, "and your new leader." I finished.
He let out a short disbelieving laugh, and Uro moved to keep fighting him until I motioned for her to stop. She did so, angrily and glaring at me, but I thought it was nice that she listened. "First: What the hell is an aperitif? Second: What do you mean by my 'new leader'?" He asked.
I was finished healing now, so I banished the barrier, "I'm making a faction," I started looking him dead in the eyes, "So far it's only Uro and me, but I want you to join. Therefore, I am your new leader." I said smugly.
He laughed uproariously, "HAHA… And just what makes you think I'm going to join this faction?" he asked, still chuckling lightly.
"Because I can give you everything you have ever wanted," I said, simply staring him dead in the eyes.
He stopped and stared at me, "...What do you mean?" he asked incredulously.
"Why did you agree to fight in the culling games?" I asked, "Was it because you died with regrets?" I asked, and Uro tensed for a split second.
He stared a second longer, narrowing his eyes before opening his mouth to talk, "...Quite the opposite, I died with zero regrets." He started, and Uro's confusion was palpable beside me, "I had a long, happy life, a beautiful wife, and I was the strongest of my time." He explained, and I had to resist the urge to tell him that Kashimo was alive and WAY stronger.
"But no matter how good my life was, it lacked a certain… aftertaste." He said simply and pulled a cigarette from his jacket pocket, lighting it and taking a drag. "Like these cigarettes, for instance, have a sweet aftertaste; I want something like that for my life." He took another drag and savored the flavor.
"So I fight for that 'dessert', the fight of my life I never got during it, because I was the strongest." He explained, and Uro's confusion beside me grew. "So in a way, you already have given me what I wanted. So thank you, but I will not be joining your faction."
Uro moved, this time to kill the man in front of us, as per our deal, but I grabbed her arm to stop her. She sent a furious look at me, but I held my ground, "I see… Is your appetite truly that limited?" I asked, looking to Ryu as he furrowed his brow.
"You don't want to join because we have given you your dessert, right? And you're happy with that?" I asked, and he nodded, clearly confused, "This is the culling games, the single most violent and power dense 'era' in history. The strongest of every era is present in this game, and you're happy with just one 'dessert'," I asked, working with his metaphor.
"I'm not offering you one great dessert, I'm offering you the chance to indulge yourself on the feast of them in front of you." His eyes opened slightly cigarette hanging slightly. "You asked me what an aperitif was? It's something you open a meal with, it's meant to increase your appetite for the meal in front of you." I took several steps forward.
"You have a whole new life now, you lived your last one eating your meal, don't waste this new one on just one dessert. If gluttony is your sin, then eat until your heart's content." I stopped before him and extended my hand, "That's what I'm building here, an era of 'indulgence', in fighting and in freedom."
"Who are you?" he asked quietly.
"Shinji, Newgate Shinji, and I'm going to be the strongest." I said simply, "And you are?"
"Ryu, Ishigori Ryu, you promise you're gonna make all that you talked about real?" He asked me taking a drag of his cigarette.
"Why do you think I wanna be the strongest?" I asked rhetorically, "So you in?" I asked one final time. If he said no this time, I would let Uro kill him.
"One condition," He said, "One final clash, your strongest attack versus mine, you win, I join, you lose, I don't." He offered.
"Deal," I said and jumped back.
He smiled and started to charge the biggest blast of cursed energy yet, burnout having already faded. He pointed right at me, and I cocked my fist back translucent or forming as I focused, amplifying the vibrations to a point I had never before.
"Granite Blast," He intoned, and my world flashed pink as I threw my fist forward.
Space cracked, and I poured my cursed energy into the blow; the blast wobbled before it ruptured, exploding backwards in a shockwave that slammed into Ryu and leveled the three buildings behind him.
He was sent flying by the blow, and I vibrated my legs, catching up to him an instant. I caught him and activated ground break, slowing to a stop nearly instantly. I checked him over; he was breathing, but he was badly hurt.
I laid him down and made a small bubble of positive energy to heal the worst of his wounds, mainly any internal damage he might have suffered.
I couldn't aim exactly where the energy went, and I couldn't diagnose people, so it was a broad and costly heal, but he was visibly better afterwards.
I sat down and huffed. I was sitting at around 20% of my cursed energy, and that was mainly because I used that healing method before I got the efficiency boosts from those black flashes.
I felt Uro closing in and watched as she descended to the ground in front of me, glaring at the downed body of Ryu. "I don't like him," she said angrily.
I huffed, "Take it out during spars," I said flatly, and stood feeling something on the edge of my senses closing in fast. "Looks like our fight drew some attention," I said, and turned the direction of the unwanted watcher.
A swarm of black bugs rounded the corner, and I groaned in annoyance, 'Of course, he comes after the AOE guy goes down.' I looked hatefully at the oncoming swarm, 'Fucking Kurourushi, I always hated cockaroaches.'
"...You want this one?" I asked Uro hopefully, and she turned to me, disgusted and appalled.
"You may have the 'Dibs' on this one.' She said and floated up, "You are much more suited for bug killing than I."
I groaned as two translucent white spheres enveloped my hands, 'Fuck this life of mine.'
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A/N
Aaaand done wow, sorry that took so long to come out I got LOADED with tests and essays, so I didn't have much time, but I hope you enjoyed.
I hope you liked the Ryu recruitment. I worry that it came off corny, but I didn't know how to write that without working with Ryu's metaphor.
Any who I see all the powerstones and collections I've gotten, and WOW, I just want to say huge thanks on the support, I've really enjoyed working on this so it means alot that you guys enjoy it too.
I also would love to hear your guys' ideas for the next fic idea too, they help me write these stories because they force me to think about new fight scenes and power expansions. But most likely it will be the force in JJK, but with some changes to JJK, same major plot points will occur up until the MC intervenes, but some characters and other things of the verse will be different. In other words, it'll be an AU kind of, but I can make it work, trust.
I hope you enjoyed, have a great night!