"Gojo, is this really necessary?"
"What do you mean~?"
"Don't you find it a little ridiculous?"
"Bahaha~, you can't go through life being boring, Kye!"
"I mean truthfully," I started, my voice dropping as a bead of sweat rolled down my temple. The air was getting thicker, charged with the approaching tension of the Kyoto students' arrival. "Do you think me participating in this event is good?"
"Yeah, why not? You look like you need the practice."
He turned his head slightly, the blindfold catching the afternoon sun. Even though I couldn't see his eyes, I felt the sensation of being dissected.
"I, I mean yeah, but you know?"
"No, I don't."
"That smirk doesn't really help your case."
"I don't know what you mean~"
"Yeah… right…"
Satoru gave me a Jujutsu High uniform as my poor suit unfortunately got ruined. It couldn't handle the extensive combat maneuvers and became more useless than rags. This uniform, though, was pretty comfortable and easy to move in. Most importantly, it didn't look all that bad.
"Go get 'em!" Satoru did playful jabs to the air which, with his height, made him look stupid more than anything. If it wasn't for his good looks, somebody would think he was a drug addict.
Walking out of the room, I made my way to the group awaiting their final contestant. It felt weird considering I was about to meet Itadori and a few others for the first time, but I was excited. The giddy smile on my face at what was about to come couldn't be hidden.
…
..
.
"Yo."
"You must be Vancroft-san, right?" Itadori's pronunciation was so bad that I winced.
"Please just call me Kye."
"Sure. Man, you must be good for Sensei to recommend you, though."
"Tch." Megumi clicked his tongue, which was getting aggravating the more I heard it. Nobara took Itadori with an arm around the neck, whispering things about me to him. I couldn't help but feel curious if she really thought I couldn't hear her or if she was doing it on purpose.
"Itadori, you can't mess with this hottie, okay? Okay?!"
"Hottie? I mean, isn't he just wearing contacts and hair dye?"
"Y-you've seen Gojo-sensei and don't think people can look different?!"
"Sorry, you're right, Kugisaki."
Their conversation aside, my eyes focused heavily on Itadori. Rather, Sukuna, who was inside of him. My eyes couldn't pierce into the soul, but knowing the King of Curses was nearby put me on guard. Fortunately, he wasn't in a bad mood or he just didn't consider me worthy of his attention.
'Most of his abilities rely on the concept of cutting… wonder if I could copy it?'
Truthfully, I considered Sukuna's abilities to be mostly sharpness oriented, but for a test run, I specified it more. I mean, most of his abilities deal with cutting or, more accurately, separating.
Wait.
'If it's the concept of separation, I wonder what Yuji's domain really was at the end of the series. There's no way it was just the opposite?'
Anyway.
I wouldn't really know Sukuna's ability until I experienced it firsthand, so there wasn't any point thinking about it. Sharpness, separation, or cutting didn't really matter; I was going to dissect it myself. I couldn't rely on my anime or manga knowledge too much lest I get cocky.
The Fate world, whenever I returned, wouldn't be so kind as to let cockiness slide. Let's look at Unlimited Blade Works Gilgamesh. He got cocky and lost to a faker.
"Hey, the event's starting."
Megumi budged in, snapping us back to reality. The two principals had greeted each other and the event truly started.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"The premise is to exorcise as many curses as possible or exorcise the second-grade somewhere in that forest."
Megumi really had a problem. That wasn't at all what I had asked.
"Basically, Kye-san, those two will go their way and we'll go our way!"
"Kugisaki!? That wasn't the plan at all."
"Boringggg, who cares."
"Tch. Whatever."
"I think…" I looked at the group of three. My instincts doubted that Satoru wanted me to join the group. Something told me that I was a safeguard against any potential threats. As such, "I think I'll move on my own. Good luck on your side."
Fwoo~ I teleported away a short distance, just behind atop a tree in the forest where I could still see the outline of the trio.
'Satoru, I hope I'm understanding you right.'
There was nothing more that he cared for than his students. While he wanted them to get stronger, he didn't want them dead. My appearance definitely had to be another safeguard for him, not that he would admit it.
"I'll follow Yuji," I whispered to no one but myself. A way to focus the rising nerves within. There wasn't any way I wouldn't be nervous considering this was my first serious event.
[You'll do fine, host.]
'Wayfinder? I almost forgot you existed.'
Slowly maneuvering down the tree, I got to the ground and started moving.
[I just wanted to let you know that I've finally recovered 1% of energy.]
'J-just one?'
[Yes.]
[If you wish to speed it up, then I'll need mystical energy. I recommend killing curses, but humans also work if you need.]
'Now, you know I'm not going to do that last part.'
[Even if it was necessary?]
'… There might be exceptions.'
[I guess we'll see in the future.]
[I just wanted to let you know.]
'Thank you. Let me know if anything else changes while you're at it.'
[Noted.]
The red semi-translucent screen vanished from sight as Wayfinder's voice stopped. Megumi and Nobara had left Yuji's side in the midst of our conversation. My entire being got ready and prepared for the incoming enemy.