"What's your kind of woman, Yuji Itadori!"
"My kind of woman?"
"Yes!"
From my position atop a thick cedar branch, I watched Todo's and Yuji's interaction. The mountain of a man in front of Yuji was asking one of the realest but dumbest questions of all time. Yuji was so stunned that the silence in the surrounding forest was loud. I'll admit I almost gave myself away with a chuckle.
"Um." Itadori pinched his chin, deep in thought. "Tall girls with a big ass... like Jennifer Lawrence."
Swoo~
A gust of wind brushed through the forest, making the leaves dance.
'P-Pfft!'
I held back with everything I could. It hurt suppressing the coming laughter, but it was necessary. The lump in my throat hurt; I really couldn't believe seeing such a serious face. I mean, the anime was good, but seeing it play out for real was so much better!
"MY BEST FRIEND!"
Todo's roar shattered the silence, the sheer volume of it vibrating the cedar branch beneath my feet. The air, which had been heavy with the threat of death, was suddenly replaced by a boiling, brotherly heat.
I watched, paralyzed with a mix of awe and second-hand embarrassment, as the mountain of a man began to sob openly. My Luck A was working overtime just to keep me from slipping from all the self-suppression.
"What is going on..." Itadori muttered. His lips were so easy to read from over here that there was no question in my mind that he said that.
The two went on to do their thing. A part of me hoped that with my appearance, perhaps fate would have shifted, but...
High above, the sky began to bleed ink. The "Black Curtain" was falling. My nerves tensed watching it manifest. Its appearance meant two things: Satoru was effectively out of play for a little while, and the invasion was starting.
Down below, the ground erupted. Thick, gnarled roots burst from the dirt like breaching whales, separating the "Brothers" in a cloud of dust and splinters. The competition was over and had evolved into a hunt.
"Hah~" With a deep breath, I jumped off the branch I was spying from, directly in front of Hanami. The pressure, I had to admit, was nothing like Satoru's. His wasn't all that bad because he was suppressing it, but for the special-grade curse in front of me, its existence was putrid. If I had to compare it to something from Fate or Type-Moon, undoubtedly the Dead Apostles were the first things to come to mind. However, a part of me felt that those things were leagues worse; maybe only Sukuna could rival their disgusting aura.
Hanami stood nearly seven feet tall, a massive mountain of gnarled wood and muscular spirit-flesh. Her head was a smooth, bone-white piece of timber that lacked any human facial features, except for two long, obsidian-black branches jutting forward where eyes should have been.
Her skin had the texture of pale, weathered bark, and dark vine-like markings traced jagged paths across her broad chest and torso. Her arms were strikingly asymmetrical. The right was a solid, dark limb that looked like charred heartwood, while her left was entirely bound in thick, white cloth that hid a massive, bulging shape beneath.
Her eyes never left me as I stood in front of the two brothers.
"Who are you?" Hanami asked. Kenjaku definitely didn't know of me yet, so it wasn't a shocker that Hanami had no information.
"None of your business." I kept a loose stance with my eyes focused.
Yuji, on the other hand, didn't seem to read the atmosphere. "Kye-san? What are you doing here?"
Not looking back towards him, I responded calmly, "I'm here to protect you under Gojo's request... well, forceful intervention, rather, but still."
"Tell me, Brother, who is this man?! He reminds me of Okkotsu!"
"Okkotsu? Well, this is Kye-san, someone that Gojo-sensei knows."
"He has Gojo Satoru's approval? He must—"
Fwo~
Their conversation got cut off. My body reacted as quickly as I could to Hanami's dash. It irked me to no end that I couldn't hear the rest, but it also wasn't that important.
'I need to improve my teleportation...'
Against a special-grade, I couldn't afford to hold anything back. The only issue with my current flash teleporting was that it consumed too much per use, plus the pain that I bore for using it rapidly was too much. A fix to this was simple, but I had no solid framework, at least for now.
"Todo! Assist me with Boogie Woogie! Yuji, join us and give this thing hell!"
I shouted out orders efficiently. The battle was in full force!
Clap!
"Let's do this, brother!"
Clap!
BANG!
Clap! 'This condition... I think I can copy it!'
Todo swapped me out with Yuji, who landed a good hit.
Enhancing my legs, I kicked with all the power I could muster.
"Think again!"
"Shit."
Hanami caught my leg, which was incredibly dangerous.
Clap!
Clap!
"Annoying!"
Hanami launched numerous sharpened roots towards Todo and me, with Yuji still face-to-face with the special-grade.
"BROTHER!"
Watching the "Brothers" fight was like watching a masterclass dance. But as a Magus, I couldn't afford to be distracted. Much like Jujutsu Kaisen, Fate had similar benefits with conditions for spells. Way better than a binding vow and especially when it came to refining magecraft.
'How can I...'
I continued fighting alongside them when swapped in. The feeling of displacement was another unique feeling when compared to all of the teleportation I've experienced so far. My red eyes watched every movement, my body remembering the feelings. Everything was moving rapidly within my head and outside in the battle.
'I understand it.'
Hanami managed to bind Yuji finally, keeping him still. No matter what happened, if I or Todo was swapped in, we would be injured.
Todo clapped in and braced himself, but I couldn't let him get hurt when he's been so helpful.
"Condition: Set."
Snapping with both fingers, my coordinates were replaced with Todo's, while Hanami's position was replaced with a rock behind her. All of it like a glitch in the world with no sign other than the sound of my fingers.
"How..." Hanami's voice was a gravelly rasp, its focus shifting entirely to me. "There was no sign of activation!"
She sounded angry, while a little fearful, in my opinion. But this was to be considered, given that she was right. Only someone who was as attuned as Satoru Gojo, or perhaps the King of Curses as well, could pick up on my uniqueness.
That aside.
'Hahaha~, the strain isn't as bad with a condition as an anchor.'
The snapping of my fingers was effective in solving one problem. The cost was only a bit less; however, the strain was negligible when I activated teleportation with my new snapping condition.