~ Narrator POV ~
School was canceled because of the declaration of war Suguru Geto announced.
Yuta Okkotsu sat in an empty classroom staring at the equally empty blackboard.
The door opened and Seiji entered. He was trying to find a place to hide from Maki because lately she's been restless due to Geto's declaration and the fact that she was bored.
"Oh, I didn't know someone else was hiding from Maki, I'll leave." Seiji was about to leave when Yuta stopped him.
"Wait!"
"Hmm?" Seiji turned around and saw that Yuta was also kind of restless, after all today was December 24th. So Seiji closed the classroom door and made his way to the seat next to Yuta.
"Are you anxious about Maki catching us? You should know that if Maki catches us we're cooked." Seiji said, looking at the blackboard thinking if he should draw anything.
"It's not Maki I'm worried about…" Yuta said a little down, but then he was always like this so Seiji didn't really notice the difference.
"Ah, you're worried about the night parade of a hundred demons?" Seiji said the whole name making Yuta sweatdrop but answer nonetheless.
"Yeah I'm a bit worried and I feel like it's my fault." He said
Seiji raised an eyebrow at this, "How so?" He asked before finally deciding to get up and draw something on the blackboard, what he didn't know.
Yuta didn't look up from his slumped position and said, "The reason Geto started this is because he wants me and by extension, Rika…" He paused.
Seiji hummed, half listening, half trying to decide what to draw.
"I feel like if I had not met Rika- no, had I not been born. Everything would be fine right now. My friends wouldn't have to fight in a war against a maniac that wants to massacre all non-sorcerers." Yuta finished.
Seiji paused for a moment mid drawing and turned to Yuta for a moment before turning back, "You want my opinion?" He asked.
When he heard a soft hum of confirmation from Yuta he sighed, running his free hand through his hair.
"As a regular teenage boy, I can tell where you're coming from. I briefly felt like that when Ai was stabbed, 'Why did it have to be her and not me.', 'If I had never met her would she still be alive.' Those were the thoughts I had when I found her body." He paused for a moment, the memory of Ai's deceased body on the ground flashing in his mind.
"But one thing I learned when becoming a sorcerer is that thoughts like those are useless in the end. Cursed spirits and people like Suguru Geto don't care about how teenage boys like us feel at the moment. The only thing we can do is fight and grow stronger to protect those we cherish." He said before turning around and smirking at Yuta.
"That's why I can't be bothered to be worried about Geto and his declaration, the only thing I can do now is grow stronger and ensure my friends and family are protected." He finished.
Yuta was staring at Seiji in fascination, 'He's right…I can't afford to be depressed because of something that happened in the past. What I can do now is grow stronger and protect my friends.' He thought, determination shining in his eyes.
"Eh, you look like you just had a realization. Did what I say touch deep inside you?" Seiji teased but Yuta didn't get the innuendo and abruptly stood up, startling Seijia a bit.
"You're right. Right now I can't afford to think about what if's." Then he raised his fist towards Seiji. "That's why I'm gonna grow stronger, even stronger than you, Seiji." He said, smiling widely.
Seiji's eyes widened, he recognized and understood this gesture. Then he chuckled and that chuckle soon turned into a full blown laugh, not of mockery but out of a kind of friendliness.
Seiji returned the gesture and bumped his fist with Yuta's. "Sure, but don't expect me to just sit and wait for you to catch up." He said with a smirk.
Yuta returned the smirk, "I wouldn't dream of it."
Just then the two sorcerers known as Seiji Fujiwara and Yuta Okkotsu acknowledge each other as rivals.
"!!!"
"A curtain!" Yuta exclaimed.
Suddenly both Seiji and Yuta became alert and looked at the window and above Jujutsu High a black like goop began forming over. Seiji knew who it was, it was Suguru Geto.
Then he remembered that Maki was still out there, "Yuta! I'm gonna go see what's going on! You go and find Maki!" Seiji didn't even give Yuta any time to respond before he jumped out of the window towards the direction he felt Geto's cursed energy.
"Eh! Ah! Wait, Seiji!" Yuta called out but it was too late, Seiji was already too far to hear him. So he decided to do what Seiji told him to do, "Find Maki." He planned to hurry and find Maki so that they could help Seiji.
As Seiji was running towards the spot he felt Geto, his eyes caught a blank sheet of paper floating through the air, a sudden idea formed in his mind.
~
Geto stood at the spot he erupted the barrier with a smile, he could feel Seiji coming towards him at a fast pace. It didn't take long before Seiji landed right in front of him.
"Here we go with that rude attitude of yours." Seiji said with a smirk, one that Geto returned.
"I think we're way past caring whether one is rude to the other." He said.
"Haha, yeah, I guess you're right. We're also past pleasantries so why don't we get right to it." Seiji said before holding up a handsign making Geto tense a bit.
A barrier, not unlike a domain, formed 50 meters around them.
'A domain expansion? No, it doesn't have a cursed technique imbued into it. It's an empty domain made to keep the both of us in!' Geto thought about looking around the barrier.
"You've probably noticed it by now, I can't use a domain expansion just yet. But that's not my intention here. You see my cursed technique is quite tricky and hard to get used to so allies will only get in my way rather than help." Seiji explained.
"You really think you're gonna beat me?" Geto gave a cocky smirk as he summoned multiple cursed spirits behind him.
Seiji gave his own cocky smirk as Ai appeared behind him, holding her technique turned into a katana Magatsumi.
The curses rushed at Seiji only for them to jump back in freight at the sight of…a field of flowers suddenly appearing, then a sheathed katana rose from out of the flowers, it was Rivers of Blood.
"Mou~ Why are you all jumping away from my field of flowers? Aren't they beautiful?" Ai said with a pout looking at the cursed spirits that cautiously looked at the field of flowers and insects.
Seiji chuckled at her, "It's fine, Ai. After all they're curses so it's reasonable why they can't appreciate beauty."
Ai hummed and nodded agreeing with him.
"Now then, sorry for the wait, shall we get started? Curse user." Seiji got into his usual Iai stance.
"Now look at who's being rude." Geto said, pulling out a three sectioned staff from a worm-like curse.
Now that the banter was over with. Seiji's face turned serious as he regarded Ai. "Ai, take care of the curses while I'm fighting Suguru Geto." He said and Ai raised her hand cheerfully.
"Okay!~"
With that the two disappeared in a burst of speed, with Seiji appearing behind Geto and Ai slicing through two of the curses.
Geto managed to block with the small chain that was holding the three sectioned staff together. 'He's fast! faster than he was a week ago.' Geto thought as he jumped back…staright into the flower fields.
His eyes widened when he felt his cursed energy suddenly start being absorbed quicker than it should, 'The flowers!?' He jumped again landing on the nearby building.
Seiji didn't let it up; he chased Geto up on the building intending to go for a kick only for it to be blocked by Geto.
"Despite standing on top of the food chain, humans began to envision even higher beings, thereby creating "Gods." It's laughable isn't it? Considering Jujutsu sorcerers like us already exist." Geto said as they were in a deadlock.
Suddenly Seiji felt a small surge of cursed energy and caught the movement under Geto's feet.
'Shit!' Seiji thought as he tried to hurry and jump back only for a small octopus like cursed spirit jumped out and tried to latch itself onto him.
Seiji turned his attention to the curse and cut it in half before it could fully latch on to him, it wasn't even a second when Seiji turned his attention to deal with the curse but that was all Geto needed.
The end part of the three sectioned staff known as playful cloud smacked him across the face breaking his jaw and stunning him a bit before another end slammed into his stomach full force knocking the wind and spit out of him, along with cracking a few ribs.
Seiji was sent into a building opposite them.
"After all, monkeys don't want to admit a superior being physically exists." Geto finished looking at the hole Seiji made.
Seiji walked out of the dust and there was steam coming out of his cheek, the one that had been broken by Geto. During the weeks before the war, Seiji had finally figured out the Reverse Curse Technique!
Geto saw this and smirked, "Reverse cursed technique…" He said towards Seiji.
Seiji rubbed his cheek making sure there was no pain or irritation then he glared up at Geto. "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much? You've been going on and on 'monkey's this' 'superior being that'. You sound like a kid that's figuring out just how cruel the real world is."
Geto didn't say anything, just looking down and smirking at Seiji. Then he chuckled, "You're missing the point Seiji." Not even caring if Seiji being called by his first name bothered him.
Seiji smirked and offered a mocking bow, "Oh then Enlighten me bhudda."
"Gladly. What I seek isn't enlightenment, but esotericism. The weak bury the strong because of sheer numbers. There's mistreatment too. The pompous faces of monkeys make me want to vomit." He finished.
"Is that so?" Seiji said, smiling slightly.
Geto didn't lose his overconfident smirk, "Yes that's very much s-" his eyes widened and he looked up. Above him Ai was coming in hot.
He raised playful cloud to block the overhead strike attempt by Ai, though they did fall through the roof of the building he was on, knocking up dirt, dust, and debris flying everywhere.
"!!!" That was when he noticed around Ai's hand was a pair of dragon fly wings.
"Dragonfly."
Geto was sent flying through multiple of the buildings trapped within the barrier. Seiji hawked him down using his technique to shift gravity giving him a boost in speed.
Once he got into range he did a quickdraw, the strike rang true as a spurt of blood through the air but… "Tch, too shallow." Seiji clicked his tongue.
Geto had managed to reinforce his entire body more than before to minimize the damage he would've taken.
After crashing into the last building, Geto laid there for a second staring at the ceiling wondering just what exactly was Ai's cursed technique. Then he dodged out of the way as Seiji came down trying to behead him.
Geto retaliated with a kick to which Seiji countered and gave a wide swing with his Katana.
Geto summoned a curse to take the hit for him, making Seiji once again click his teeth.
Ai appeared behind Geto aiming low for his legs.
Geto jumped the swing and while still in the air went for an axe kick, only for Seiji to use his technique and shift gravity leaving himself and Ai unaffected by the shift.
Geto fell flat on his back to the wall that now imitated the floor. Seiji ran after him intending to cut Geto's off only for Geto to push himself off the wall/slash floor.
Seiji wasn't deterred, he shifted gravity again, disorienting Geto once more.
'Now it's time to pile on him! I'm gonna keep shifting gravity to keep you from thinking straight!' Seiji thought as he once again went for a swing only for a hoard of grade 3 spirits to shield Geto.
At that moment despite the two being enemies aiming to kill each other they shared one thought, 'What an annoying technique.'
It didn't take long for Seiji and Ai to cut down all the curses Geto had unleashed. They both turned to find that Geto had 2 curses beside him, each one having more cursed energy than all the others he unleashed combined.
Seiji clicked his tongue, "Your technique is annoying. All you ever do is hide behind curses." He expressed.
Geto ignored Seiji for the moment and looked down at his chest, where Seiji had gotten a good cut in, it was shallow he had made sure of it when he focused on reinforcing the part that was gonna be cut last minute. The cut shouldn't be bleeding, and even if it had it would've long since stopped by now.
'So why?' He thought to himself then his eyes widened and landed on the oddly looking katana in Seiji's hand.
Seiji saw this and held up the blade smirking. "Looks like you finally noticed, allow me to introduce Rivers of Blood Katana. The more you get cut by this blade the more you'll continuously bleed until it eventually builds up and…" Seiji made a wet noise indicating what'll happen to it.
Geto looked at the blade with interest, then he looked at Seiji, "The Kamo would go crazy if they heard about a blade like that." He snickered.
"So I've heard…Ai." Seiji decided he would finally start taking this seriously and Geto, feeling the change in Seiji got serious as well, he was waiting to see Seiji and Ai's next move before he ordered the curses what to do.
"Got it~"
Once again flowers grew all around them but they stopped just short of touching Geto or his curses.
'This again? No matter I'll just have me and my curses stay away from…!" Geto paused his thoughts, it all happened too fast. The once small flowers grew into large plant-like tentacles that intertwined and raced towards them at extremely fast speeds.
Geto and one of the special grade curses jumped back just in time as a tendril drilled into the spot they were just in while the other reacted too slowly and was drilled straight through from top to bottom.
'Is this her technique?' Geto asked as he looked at the spot he was previously in and was now drilled into.
More tendrils chased them and Seiji was surfing one of them, the one that was aiming for Geto. Geto readied a playful cloud ready for Seiji only for gravity to shift knocking off his balance.
The plant seemed to gain new speed at Geto's imbalance and dove straight towards him.
"Tch." Geto clicked his tongue, then he used a playful cloud to whack away the plant once it got into range. Once one part of the three sectioned staff touched the tendril, it turned into ice trapping that section of the staff within.
Geto looked shocked, 'What?! His vengeful spirits cursed technique is connected to the flower field and that sword she has, so how-! It's his!' He thought realization dawned on him.
But he had realized too late, in that very instant when playful cloud was trapped Seiji, who was riding on the tendril disappeared in a burst of speed, so fast that even Geto could no longer keep up.
'He's even faster than before!!' He let go of playful cloud and tried to hurriedly turn around to the spot he felt Seiji's curse energy but it was too late. By the time he fully turned, Seiji was already resheathing his sword.
The next moment Geto felt lighter on his right side. He looked down and, "Ah…" his arm from the elbow down had been cut off, then blood, lots of it started dripping on the ground painting the concrete red.
"You know, I have to thank you." Seiji started, he turned around to see that Geto was staring at his arm a few feet away from him on the ground, Geto then turned his attention to him.
"Oh? and why is that?" Geto said calmly like he didn't just get his arm sliced off.
"Because of you, my refinement in curse energy control has shot through the roof. I guess you pushed me to evolve during battle, nothing no other cursed spirit or one of my classmates has done, so congratulations are in order." Seiji said.
Geto stared at Seiji with this dumbfounded look for a moment before he broke into laughter, not historical, not maniacal, but genuine laughter. That through Seiji in for a loop, he didn't expect this type of reaction.
"Sorry, sorry. But you just remind me so much of Satoru when he was your age. Pfft-" Geto said, wiping tears from his eyes.
Seiji's face didn't change, he merely stared at Geto without a change in expression. "You know you're gonna die soon, right? That cut won't stop bleeding, along with the fact that you're in Ai's flower field, which not only absorbs your cursed energy but also your vitality… you feel it right?"
Geto did feel it. Along with his cursed energy he felt himself growing physically weaker with each passing second. There was also the fact that he couldn't physically move an inch.
Looking down he saw what appeared to be a black spider web-like painting under his feet. 'Probably planted earlier by the spirit using her technique.' He surmised.
Seiji continued, "Unless you have someone that can heal you and reattach that limb, or you can heal yourself, you're already dead. And since you haven't healed that cut on your chest the second option is out, and there's no way I'm letting the first option happen. I suggest you give up and let yourself die peacefully." He suggested.
Geto's smirk was back putting Seiji on edge, he had a feeling he knew what Geto was about to do.
"Nah. Curse Manipulation Technique: Maximum Uzumaki." Above Geto formed a spiraling mass of 4,461 cursed spirits formed into one. "Like it? It's 4,461 cursed spirits combined into one beautiful swirling mass, and it's about to hit you."
Seiji clenched his jaw, he knew this was going to happen…but he hoped it wouldn't. Taking rivers of blood and dropping into the field of flowers. Yes, he discovered it could be used as a sort of inventory like Ten Shadows.
Then slowly a new katana rose up in front of him, it was that same sword that Ai had been using, Magatsumi. He got into the Iai stance ready to use one of the more destructive techniques of Magatsumi, Butterfly.
A bead of sweat dropped down his forehead, not out of nervousness of Geto's maximum technique, but because the collateral damage using Butterfly would cause, it'd take years to pay off the destruction even with his special grade salary.
His eyes widened briefly and then he relaxed.
"You know there's something that's always bugged me about your whole plan." Seiji began.
"Oh? Tell me what is bugging you, maybe before you die I can relieve your soul a little." Usually Geto would ignore the 'final words' of his enemies but was interested in what Seiji had to say about his plan.
"All this time, the only thing I've ever heard you mention were humans and sorcerers, what about cursed spirits? Where do they fit in your plan?" Seiji asked, genuinely curious.
Getom stayed quiet for a minute before speaking, "I'll keep this nice and short since I know you're stalling for time, waiting for my cursed energy and vitality to be drained."
"They don't fit into my plan, when I get rid of all the monkeys fewer and fewer cursed spirits will show up. The ones that do will either be extremely weak or extremely strong." Geto explained.
Seiji just nodded then a smirk, one that could match Geto's smirk formed on his lips, "I see… well you were kinda right about the part of me stalling, not because I wanted the vitality or cursed energy drained out of you though."
As he said that Ai quickly rose from her field of flowers, Magatsumi aimed at his back, exactly where his heart should be. A set of massive rings formed around the hilt of Magatsumi.
"!!!" Geto tried to turn around but with Spider still active he couldn't move an inch, so as a last ditch effort he was about to launch Uzumaki at Seiji, hoping that if he could kill Seiji, Ai would go mad and kill the other students as well.
"Huh?" Geto said dumbfoundedly.
Gravity shifted, the world flipped upside and Seiji, his target, was falling while smirking at him. That's when Geto realized Seiji had used his cursed technique making him the only one to be affected by it, while he and Ai were completely unaffected.
"Bee." Ai chanted and a fist sized hole appeared in Geto's chest, you could see cleanly through him, his heart was missing, pierced by Ai's technique.
The light in Geto's eyes disappeared and Uzumaki soon began to destabilize, with Geto dead it couldn't maintain shape and 4,461 cursed spirits condensed into one soon exploded.
Gravity shifted back and the barrier Seiji made fell…only for Seiji to have to dodge a true love beam from Yuta and Rika.
"Yuta what the hell!" Seiji screamed out after dodging the beam.
"Ah! Seiji you're alive!" Yuta exclaimed happily, not even acknowledging the fact that he had almost just killed Seiji himself.
Seiji's eyebrow twitched, "Why you- huh?" Then he noticed Rika, she had her eye open. 'So he took my advice then…'
Back when Seiji was making his way to Geto he spotted a paper gliding in the air, he made a quick stop to write something down for Yuta for when he eventually arrived to help take down Geto.
The note was along the lines of, "I may not make it in this fight against Suguru Geto. So Yuta what I want you to do to ensure the survival of our friends is give Rika your everything. When the barrier drops I want you to use your strongest attack and hit Getos with it!"
He may have exaggerated him not making it but hey, it worked right?
Maki then walked up to something, "Is this him?" She asked, looking at the half burnt corpse of Suguru Geto. The reason why he wasn't completely destroyed was because Seiji had let everyone be affected by his technique and yes that included Geto.
Ai had released her spider web when she used bee on him.
"Yeah… also Yuta you may wanna take care of that." Seiji said pointing at Rika who looked like she was breaking apart.
"Ahhh! Rika!" Yuta rushed over to Rika, only for Rika, the real Rika to appear out of the crumbling vengeful spirit version of her.
Of course Yuta got emotional.
"Yo!" Emerging was Panda who looked a tad bit beat up.
"Kelp." While Toge looked relatively fine.
"Hm." Seiji felt a presence appear beside him and he already knew who that presence belonged to.
There Gojo Satoru stood looking at his one and only best friend's corpse. Seiji didn't say anything, not comfort, or guilt, or even a greeting. He turned his attention back to Yuta and Rika's bitter sweet short reunion, while Yuta was being teased by Panda, Toge, and Maki in front of Rika.
~ Seiji Fujiwara POV ~
"Man, it's snowing this early?" I remarked, it was the beginning of November, but I wasn't complaining after all I love the winter. 'Today I just wanna take a break, no training, no research, just spend my days with Ai and my friends.'
"Heyyyy, Seiji!"
I heard my name being called from behind, and walking towards me were Gojo and Yuta. After that incident Gojo went back to his old self, he wasn't the type to hold grudges, not that he blamed me for Geto's death anyway.
"Yo!" I waved my hand.
"Did you know me and Yuta are really distant relatives~!" Gojo said in his usual Gojo fashion.
"Really? Am I a distant relative?" I asked jokingly, even though I knew I wasn't. Though his answer was a bit… more than what I was expecting.
"Nope~! In fact the family you're from and the family we're from were mortal enemies." Gojo said cheerfully.
"Huh?" That was all I could get out because the answer stumped me.
"Yup!"
Yuta only laughed nervously, then he straightened up like he remembered something, "Oh yeah, Seiji what about Ai?"
I raised an eyebrow, "What about Ai?"
"I mean, I freed Rika from her curse by giving her everything. So what about Ai? Have you figured out a way to free her?" He asked.
"Not yet." And that was true, I didn't have an answer to Ai's problem yet, even though we've gotten close over the last few months she still held some stuff close to her heart.
So without knowing the full scope of her life I couldn't free Ai from her curse.
"I see." Yuta said he seemed to accept that answer but Gojo didn't but he stayed quiet and that unnerved me more than I would like to admit.
"Seiji! Yuta! Hurry!" I looked up and there stood my other classmates all waiting for us.
Yuta jogged up to them and I walked a few paces behind, only for Maki to slow down and match my pace. She didn't say anything but continued matching my pace while listening to Panda tell Yuta something and Yuta laughing.
I smiled a bit, this will be one of the very few peaceful moments in this world, so I'll enjoy them while they last.
~ Narrator POV ~
~ Timeskip: 1 year ~
"We're here." A voice said as a car pulled up in front of a cemetery.
"Alright, wait here. I'll be out in a minute or two." Another recognizable voice said, it was a male and it was speaking to the first voice. "You ready, Ai?"
"Yup!"
The car door opened and out stepped Seiji Fujiwara, nothing significant has changed over a year with the sole exception being the necklace hanging around his neck.
Another person stepped out of the vehicle, it was Ai. Much like Seiji nothing changed, she had a ring on her ring finger.
"Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure." Seiji changed and a curtain began forming around the cemetery. "Alright now that that's done, let's get what we came for and get out of here." He said as he began walking.
Ai walked behind him slightly looking around the cemetery with boredom, "Are you sure it's here?" She asked.
"Mhm, I'm sure. After all, my technique has never let me down yet." Seiji said as he pulled out a sealed object.
It was Sukuna's fingers.
~
Chapter End.
Finally done with the JJK 0 arc, honestly I hate writing fight scenes, so I hope I did somewhat decent with this. I mean the majority of this chapter is just fighting.
Anyway, I want you guys to suggest the next world and the member he should invite from said world, I was thinking chainsaw man or Fate Stay/Night or Zero.
Don't worry JJK is nowhere near done yet, just wanna have options for when it's done.
Also expect the Frieren fic soon! Probably be out next week.