AN: Hey, my adorable bastards, been a while, huh.
I honestly don't know what to say... you know? Life. Adulting. Stuff.
Anyways, I'm back at writing somehow. Prolly just to kill time, you know, not go crazy with all the stuff to worry about in the real world. Might continue, might not. Regarldess...
Your handsome author is back :)
_______________
( Year 2001 )
A couple of months had already passed since Hiroyuki and Senjumaru graduated from Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Time moved strangely after graduation.
Back then, while still studying, every day somehow felt occupied. Missions, training, annoying lectures, clan matters, curse extermination, sparring, and everything in between. Even if one wanted to sit down and relax, something always happened.
Now though...
Things somehow became busier.
"..."
"..."
Inside a dark-colored sedan, silence quietly lingered.
Well, not exactly silence.
Outside the windows, countless car engines hummed in unison. Horns occasionally echoed here and there while people impatiently moved from one lane to another despite the fact that no one was moving anywhere at all.
Traffic.
The absolute bane of civilization.
And unfortunately, Hiroyuki and Senjumaru were currently trapped in the middle of one.
sigh
Hiroyuki let out a long breath while lightly tapping his finger on the steering wheel.
His expression wasn't exactly bad.
Though, to say that he was in a particularly good mood right now would be quite a stretch.
In fact, he was visibly irritated.
Not angry.
Just...
Annoyed.
Who wouldn't be?
Especially after spending nearly half of the day listening to a bunch of old men talk in circles.
Politics.
That alone was enough to give anyone a headache.
Hiroyuki had already learned that lesson the hard way.
Strength alone simply wasn't enough in the Jujutsu World.
No matter how strong one becomes, eventually, there comes a point where fists can no longer solve every problem. At some point, one would inevitably have to deal with the people behind the curtains.
The so-called higher-ups.
Or as Hiroyuki privately preferred to call them...
"Old fools."
People who talk too much.
People who understood too little.
People who somehow still believed that age naturally equals wisdom.
Unfortunately, now that he was no longer just some student and had officially entered adulthood in the Jujutsu World, avoiding them completely wasn't really an option anymore.
Especially not when one carries both influence and power.
"..."
Hiroyuki clicked his tongue quietly after seeing the traffic remain unmoving.
"Tch."
Beside him, Senjumaru, while knitting something, silently observed him for a brief moment.
"..."
"..."
She then slightly tilted her head.
"You seem frustrated."
Hearing that, Hiroyuki gave a helpless laugh.
"Can you blame me?"
"No."
Senjumaru immediately answered.
"..."
"..."
After that, silence returned once again.
The traffic still wasn't moving.
Not even an inch.
Honestly impressive.
Hiroyuki briefly wondered if curses somehow possessed the roads themselves.
At least that would explain something.
"...Ah."
Suddenly, Senjumaru muttered.
Almost as if she had just remembered something.
"I achieved Domain Expansion yesterday."
"..."
Hiroyuki blinked once.
Then twice.
He briefly turned his head toward her.
"...You what?"
Senjumaru maintained her usual calm expression.
"I achieved Domain Expansion yesterday."
She repeated it so casually that one would think she was simply talking about the weather.
"..."
"..."
Hiroyuki stared at her for a second before letting out a short breath through his nose.
Then he lightly shook his head.
"You really are ridiculous."
There wasn't even sarcasm in his voice.
Just genuine amazement.
Even among 'special grades', achieving Domain Expansion at their age wasn't something simple.
Not even close.
Sure, both of them had always been abnormal compared to others.
But even then...
"Congratulations."
Hiroyuki honestly said.
"You worked hard for that."
Senjumaru looked forward quietly.
"...Thank you."
Though her expression barely changed, there was a subtle softness in her tone.
However, a moment later, she shook her head.
"Still nothing compared to you."
"Hmm?"
"You already achieved yours years ago."
Hearing that, Hiroyuki simply laughed weakly.
"That's different."
"Different?"
"Yeah."
His gaze returned to the road.
"I'm a special case."
A short pause.
"I already had... experiences."
Senjumaru remained quiet for a moment.
Then—
"Come to think of it..."
She turned toward him slightly.
"Is this because of your past life?"
"...Yeah."
The answer came naturally.
No hesitation.
No secrecy either.
As if both of them had already spoken about things like this more than once before.
For Hiroyuki, it wasn't exactly a secret.
At some point, Senjumaru simply learned enough things and connected enough dots on her own.
And honestly?
He never really felt the need to hide it from her.
Not that there was much point.
Besides...
It was Senjumaru.
If anyone deserved trust, it was probably her.
"..."
"..."
For a brief moment, only the sound of engines filled the car.
Then Hiroyuki quietly continued.
"In my past life..."
He paused.
"...Near the end."
His grip on the steering wheel unconsciously tightened ever so slightly.
"There was someone I had to kill."
No names.
No grand introduction.
Yet somehow, the atmosphere inside the car subtly shifted.
"The problem was..." Hiroyuki continued, "that reaching him wasn't simple."
"He existed somewhere... weird."
He frowned slightly.
"Imagine a Domain."
"But bigger."
"Much bigger."
"A place that belonged entirely to him."
Senjumaru quietly listened.
No interruptions.
No unnecessary questions.
Just listening.
"The closer I got to the end of that war, the more obvious it became."
"I couldn't beat him normally."
"So I had to improvise."
A short chuckle escaped him.
Though there wasn't much humor in it.
"I ended up developing something similar to a Domain."
Senjumaru blinked once.
"Similar?"
"Mm."
"Not exactly the same."
"But close enough."
"Otherwise, I would've never reached him."
The car finally moved a little.
Only for it to stop again a few seconds later.
Truly tragic.
Hiroyuki sighed.
Then continued.
"The issue wasn't reaching him though."
He paused.
"It was standing in the same place."
"..."
"..."
Senjumaru quietly narrowed her eyes.
"Neutralization."
"Exactly."
Hiroyuki nodded.
"In order to even fight him..."
"I had to overlap my Domain with his."
"A reaction happened."
"Something similar to a Domain Clash."
"Only then..."
He paused briefly.
"...could we finally stand on equal ground."
The atmosphere inside the vehicle gradually grew quieter.
Not uncomfortable.
Just...
Heavy.
Then Hiroyuki suddenly spoke again.
"But."
A pause.
"Do you know something funny?"
Senjumaru turned slightly.
"What?"
Hiroyuki looked outside the windshield.
His expression unreadable.
"The very world we live in..."
"...is technically a Domain itself."
"..."
"..."
"Let's call it Earth's Domain."
Silence.
Then—
Senjumaru's eyes widened slightly.
Almost imperceptibly.
"...Wait."
A brief pause.
"A three-way Domain Clash?"
Hiroyuki slowly nodded.
"...Yeah."
No dramatic expression.
No self-pity.
Just quiet acceptance.
"What do you think happens when something like that occurs?"
Senjumaru said nothing.
Because honestly...
There wasn't much that needed to be said.
Three overwhelming spaces colliding against one another.
The result...
Was obvious.
Outside, traffic finally started moving again.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
But moving nonetheless.
Hiroyuki lightly loosened his grip on the wheel.
Then quietly spoke.
"Hence..."
A small pause.
"...what happened, happened."
No explanations followed.
No justification.
No excuses.
Just that.
Because both of them understood.
He had no choice.
At that point, there truly wasn't one.
If he didn't do it...
Everything would've ended anyway.
But at the same time—
The consequences of that decision still existed.
The collapsing world.
The dying land.
The end of everything.
He wasn't the only reason.
But he certainly wasn't innocent either.
"..."
"..."
Senjumaru quietly stared at him for a moment.
Then—
"You finished the job."
Simple.
Straightforward.
No sugarcoating.
No pity.
Just acknowledgment.
Hiroyuki stared ahead for a second.
Then let out a weak laugh.
"...Yeah."
"I did."
Thankfully.
Before the conversation could sink any deeper—
The familiar gates finally entered view.
Large.
Traditional.
Annoyingly expensive looking.
The Gojo Estate.
"Looks like we're here."
Hiroyuki muttered while steering the car forward.
The gates slowly opened.
And somewhere within that unnecessarily large estate...
A certain white-haired brat was probably already causing trouble.
Or worse.
Waiting.
Knowing Satoru...
Probably both.