By the time I stepped out of Masamichi Yaga's office, the weight of that conversation still lingered in my chest, though not in a way that slowed my steps, because if anything, it only made things clearer.
Trouble had once more come chasing my shadow, and here I had almost started to feel relaxed.
Sigh…
'I have to get strong. Like, so strong that ordinary people no longer think winning against me is a possibility. Like how it was for both Sukuna and Gojo. Perhaps only then will my troubles stop.'
Shaking my head, I marched back toward the training ground. I found that the earlier awkwardness from the morning had already started to fade from my mind.
When I arrived, Maki was already waiting. She didn't ask why I had been called. Not even a glance that questioned it.
Instead, she simply tilted her head slightly and said, "You done?"
"Yeah,"
"Then stop standing around," she added, already shifting into stance. "We're wasting time."
"Yes… ma'am."
And just like that, everything returned to normal.
Training resumed, and just like before, it was brutal, though this time there was a clear difference, because while Maki still overwhelmed me in every exchange, still tore through my defenses and punished every mistake I made, she didn't push me all the way to the brink like she had yesterday.
I noticed it halfway through.
"You're holding back," I said between breaths after getting thrown to the ground yet again.
"I'm not," she replied immediately.
"You are," I insisted, pushing myself back up. "Yesterday you would've kept going."
She clicked her tongue, adjusting her grip. "And then you'd pass out again."
I blinked.
"…So you admit you're a sadistic woman."
"I admit nothing," she shot back flatly. "I just don't feel like dragging your unconscious body around again."
There was a pause.
"…That was you?" I asked, keeping my tone as neutral as possible, carefully avoiding any mention of what I had actually seen when I woke up.
On the other hand, it all but confirmed that she was the one who brought me back to my room.
She snorted, looking away slightly. "Who else do you think did it, idiot?"
I nodded slowly, pretending that was all I needed to know, even though my mind very deliberately avoided recalling the image of waking up entangled with her.
Good times…
"Thanks," I said with a bit of hesitation. It was a bit embarrassing to be carried back by a girl to my room because I passed out.
Sigh…
She didn't respond, but I caught the faint shift in her posture.
Training ended by evening.
For once, I wasn't completely destroyed beyond movement, which was probably intentional on her part, though I didn't say anything about it as we left the training ground together.
For once, I was not a masochist like most would believe I would be because of the kind of torture I put myself through. If possible, I would rather not train at all. Who would like breaking bones and swollen muscles by the end of the day?
Certainly not me.
I had to so I could live in the future.
Anyways, the only reason I was enduring that hellish torture she called training every day was because I was afraid she'd just refuse to train me at all if I were to whine about its difficulty.
So, if she was so graciously putting me in a slightly easier mode, then I certainly wouldn't be complaining about it. Far from it.
Just as I thought she'd be on her way while I could make a quick trip to the library and find those books again, she called out, making me doze out of my thoughts.
"I'm heading to eat," she said.
"Same," I replied immediately, not that I was hungry, but because she caught me off guard and I muttered that out loud before I realized it.
Not following that response would have been such a pain. 'Damn mouth, why can't you stay shut at times…'
Maki didn't say anything in return, just looked at me funny by the way I was making a pained expression.
We ended up sitting across from each other with trays of food, the atmosphere quieter than usual but not uncomfortable, and after a few moments of eating in silence, I finally spoke.
"Yaga called me because of the higher-ups," I said.
Even I'm not sure why I mentioned that; perhaps I needed someone else's input in this matter, or maybe I was starving for normal human interaction which didn't border on violence and gore.
And that also got a reaction out of her.
Her expression darkened almost instantly, her chopsticks pausing mid-air.
"…Figures," she muttered.
"They want to meet me," I continued. "Apparently, I don't have a choice."
Her jaw tightened slightly. "Believe me, you're not the first one." She snorted rather unladylike.
I leaned back a little. "They that bad?"
She let out a dry laugh. "Bad isn't how you describe those old fogies. Those rotten bastards are the reason the jujutsu society is so corrupted in the first place. Don't call them bad, call them parasites."
Her gaze sharpened as she looked at me. "Just be careful," she added. "Those people don't care about you, your intentions, or what you did in Shibuya. They only care about control. If they can't use you, then they most likely will try to break you."
I listened quietly. All suspicious boxes from earlier were checking out.
I was in for a ride, wasn't I?
And a ride which I definitely wouldn't like, by the looks of things and Maki's face.
"My promotion got delayed because the Zenin clan didn't want it," she continued, her tone turning colder. "Not because I wasn't qualified, but because it didn't suit them."
I frowned slightly.
"And who do you think is corrupted enough to do as one of the big sorcerer clans demands from them…" Maki scowled.
I blinked, recalling that was indeed mentioned in the anime, and I never thought about it. Of course, the Zenin clan must have sway with those higher-ups if they could stop Maki's promotion.
Once again explaining how corrupt the organization of jujutsu sorcerers might be.
"And then there's Okkotsu," she added. "He was a student from my year, currently studying outside. They ordered his execution once."
I paused. It was obvious that anyone would ask why? But I already knew and didn't wish to waste time, so I skipped that entire talk, letting her speak.
"They also did the same for Itadori," she finished.
"…Yeah, I heard about him from Nobara and Megumi," I replied while nodding.
"Every time something like that happens," she said, her grip tightening slightly, "they're involved."
I nodded slowly. "Got it. Magical version of corrupt politicians."
There wasn't much else to say about that.
The conversation drifted after that, moving onto lighter topics, and eventually back to something more immediate.
"You still planning to hit the library after this?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "Need to understand more about barriers, domains, binding vows… all of it."
She snorted, as if I was wasting my time, which most likely could be the case, since I had no idea what was in those books yet, whether I'll find anything useful in them or if it was all nonsense.
I'll only know when I read them.
There was a brief pause before I spoke again.
"…You were the one who carried me yesterday," I asked, keeping my tone casual, deliberately steering away from anything that could expose what actually happened this morning.
She rolled her eyes. "We already went over this."
"I know," I said. "Just… asking why you bothered."
That made her pause.
For a moment, she didn't answer, instead looking off to the side before letting out a small breath.
"Don't overthink it," she said at first. "I just didn't want my punching bag getting sick."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" I asked.
She clicked her tongue. "What, you want something sentimental?"
"…Kinda expected it at this point," I admitted.
She glared at me briefly before looking away again.
"…You're annoying," she muttered.
I kind of prided myself on that achievement, actually.
Then, after a moment, her expression shifted slightly.
"…You remind me of someone," she said.
I blinked. I reminded her of someone? Who?
"Myself," she added after a pause. "And… my sister. At least when we were little."
That caught my attention.
"Your sister, you're talking about Mai, correct?" I asked.
She nodded faintly, her gaze distant now, while I wondered what was similar between this sadistic woman and that inefficient bum of a sister of hers.
"The Zenin clan wasn't exactly kind to girls," she continued, her voice steady but carrying an edge.
And I didn't need my mental knowledge to know how important this talk was to her; I could tell by a simple glance at her face.
"Bullying, starving, looking down on us, you name it. Those bastards only care how strong one is and what is there between someone's legs," she said with so much anger that I almost felt anxious for my own safety.
Her grip tightened slightly around her chopsticks to the point they finally gave up and snapped into two.
"As you know, both my sister and I are twins. We were already being looked down on because of that. But then neither of us developed any powerful curse technique either.
I, for once, don't even have enough cursed energy to see cursed spirits without these glasses." She paused while pointing to her glasses.
"And Mai lacks sufficient cursed energy to use her technique correctly either…"
"That's why I left," she said. "Came to Tokyo Jujutsu High to get stronger, and decided I'd either take over the clan… or destroy it for what it has done to me and my sister over the years."
I let out a slow breath. I knew most of it, but hearing it from her mouth made it even worse.
"Sigh…" Maki midway let go of her chopsticks and covered her face with her palm.
"Why am I even saying all this to you?" she muttered to herself but wasn't quite able to keep that just to herself.
After a small pause where the girl herself needed some breathing room to figure out why she said those things she hardly told anyone, I finally spoke, seeing the conversation stalled.
"I guess we all need someone to listen to us every so often when keeping things to ourselves gets harder," I said with a solemn look on my face.
"I can't say I understand your feelings or the pain you suffered. For someone who don't even have a family to know what pain given by said family is like, there is no one to expect anything of me, so I technically can't make anyone disappointed for not matching their expectations.
Still, I appreciate you telling me that. It just reminded me that I'm not the only one with problems." I gave a helpless smile towards her, to which she just snorted, though this time a bit more gently.
She looked at her hand briefly before clenching it.
"I won't tell anyone," I said before she could even open her mouth. She looked at me a bit strangely, but no one could blame me.
With the intensity she was looking at her palm, and how much she had already tortured me in training, I didn't wish to see what she was capable of when she really meant to do it.
"Unlike me, who wished to get stronger, Mai felt it was fine to be as we were. She didn't wish to improve. She just wished to live a normal life," she continued.
I seriously thought she was done.
"She blames me for leaving her behind," Maki said with a solemn tone.
I just listened, knowing I couldn't do anything for her besides listening her heart out.
Maybe she felt open to saying her story to me because I showed my own vulnerable side to her.
Guess even the iron-clad soldiers like her have a human heart… huh!
"And that's because of you," she added.
I blinked, realizing I had tuned her out while thinking to myself. What did she say before this?
I shook my head. "No, that's—"
"Don't," she cut me off. "I know what changed."
I fell silent. If you know, then enlighten me as well. I just want to know what we are talking about now.
She exhaled slowly, leaning back slightly, and for a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then suddenly—
"…Wait," she suddenly paused, her eyes snapping toward me, something sharp and urgent forming in her expression.
I felt like that boyfriend who was ignoring his girlfriend on the call for the last hour, only for her to suddenly ask something related to whatever she was babbling on about in the middle of their call.
'Aka…'
Completely f*cked up…
"The way you helped me," she said quickly, "what you did… with my body, my energy—"
I felt a slight tension build.
That's some serious allegation without proper context, girl…
"…Can you do that for Mai?" she asked.
I don't know, I have no idea why, but when she asked me that, my mind went back to kissing her and having my face nuzzled up to her bosom.
Do the same to Mai…
"Why are you smiling like that?" She glared at me.
"Nothing… noting. Just getting lost in your voice. Did anyone tell you you have a really pleasant voice…" I shook my head and pulled some excuse out of my ass. Somehow!
She blinked at me, and then put her face on her hand in support against the table and looked away.
"J-just tell me what I asked you, idiot. Do you think you can help Mai?"
And there it was again, Maki Zenin herself, flustered.
'How cute.'
xXx
A/N : You know what, I just realised, that writing somewhat of a bigger chapter as long as the topic permits is not the real issue, the real issue is when I write fighting scene.
Unlike normal conversations or monologue, I realised why I need more time writing fights, cause I have to visualised them, especially in this fic since there are a lot of things I have to keep in mind before writing anything. All the rules of techniques and limitations of jujutsu, all that shit.
I more or less constantly was able to deliver around 2k word chapter since preparation arc started. Basically after Shibuya. But I'm afraid when fighting resume, the length will go back down again if I wished to keep the fight accurate.
Would appreciate stones if you can spare any. Thank you.
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