Click… click… click.
Kurotsuki Shion sat at his desk, repeatedly pressing his pen as the soft noise filled the quiet room, his gaze fixed on the blank notebook in front of him as if staring long enough would somehow force an answer out of it.
"Now how do I…?"
His thoughts drifted back to the rules written in the Scripture of the end, specifically the part that mentioned he could edit not only others, but himself as well, and that alone opened up far more questions than answers, because what exactly did "editing" even mean in this context? Could he change something as fundamental as his own race, and if he did, would that rewrite his parents as well, or would reality bend itself to justify the change by altering his origin entirely? Would his life story shift accordingly, turning him from a biological child into an adopted one, seamlessly rewriting every interaction to fit that new truth?
And if that happened, what about his memories?
Would they change alongside it, or would he remain aware of the discrepancy?
More importantly, what would happen to him?
The book had warned about the risk of losing his sense of self, but that phrasing felt far too vague for something so dangerous, because did that mean he would simply feel different, or would his ego be overwritten entirely, replacing him with a version of Kurotsuki Shion that had always existed under those new conditions?
"…Yeah, no. I'm not touching that."
He exhaled quietly, leaning back slightly as his grip on the pen tightened.
Every question circled back to the same root problem, cursed energy, cursed techniques, curses themselves, concepts he didn't even understand yet, and experimenting blindly with something like self-editing without that foundation was just pure foolishness.
"Hm… a loophole, then. Something safer… something that won't risk my identity."
There was one.
Shion's eyes shifted back toward the notebook as he flipped to the first page where the instructions had originally been written, only to find that everything had disappeared without a trace, as if it had never been there in the first place, which should have been unsettling, yet instead it confirmed something else for him, his future self wasn't just leaving instructions, he was interacting with the book in a way that went beyond simple writing.
And if that was the case…
Shion closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he opened them again, the world felt slightly sharper, more defined, as a bloodshot red eye manifested, quietly observing the book beneath him with an unnatural clarity, not only that he could see small particles all around him, and the fact that his brain processed much faster than before, at least Eight times.
"…So this is the All-Seeing Eye."
Without wasting time, he summoned the so-called blade, though hesitation still lingered as he glanced down at his hand, unsure of the exact method required to activate it properly.
His gaze flickered toward the clock across the room.
[21:05 PM]
"…Alright."
If he was going to test anything, he needed to confirm how far this "blade" could actually go.
Bracing himself, he focused on the pen in his hand as it began to emit a faint glow before shifting form, its structure bending and compressing until it became a simple knife resting in his grip.
"…Huh?"
That caught him off guard.
He hadn't expected it to morph so easily, and if that was the case…
The object shimmered again, reshaping itself into a black handgun, its weight settling naturally in his palm as if it had always belonged there, prompting him to spin it slightly just to confirm the weight before pulling out the magazine.
"…Empty."
He clicked his tongue.
"It seems bullets aren't considered part of the same entity."
After a moment, he reverted it back into a small cutter knife, his expression shifting into one of quiet focus as he began piecing things together.
"The pen can morph into anything I can imagine, but only as a single entity… unless it's physically connected, but even then, something like a gun without bullets is useless in practice."
He paused briefly, mentally noting that down before exhaling.
"Alright… enough stalling."
This was the real test.
Shion swallowed dryly as his red eye locked onto his left hand, then the blade, his body tensing as he reached for a nearby towel and shoved it into his mouth, biting down hard to brace himself for what he was about to do.
The knife plunged into his hand.
"—MPHMM!"
The pain was immediate and overwhelming, far worse than he had anticipated, but he didn't stop, forcing himself to endure it as the blade shifted back into a pen, his hand trembling violently as he moved to write.
If his future self could send information through the book, then there was no reason he couldn't do the same, just on a very different base.
"At 21:07 PM, Japan Standard Time, within the Scripture of the end, page five will contain a detailed and comprehensive explanation of cursed energy, cursed techniques, their nature, and how to effectively utilize them."
"F—FUCK—!"
He bit down harder on the towel, his entire body shaking as he waited, eyes locked onto the notebook like his life depended on it.
Just a few more seconds.
Just a little longer.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1.
His eyes widened.
The blank page was no longer empty.
Words, countless words flooded the paper in an instant, filling every inch of space available.
A broken smirk spread across his face as sweat dripped down his chin.
"…It worked."
But that satisfaction didn't last long.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
The text was microscopic.
Each word was written so small that even with his vision being eight times enhanced, it was barely legible, crammed together in a way that made reading it feel like trying to see through an optical illusion.
"Shit… I should've specified more pages."
Still, it wasn't a complete failure, and if anything, it confirmed that the technique worked exactly the way he had hoped, it just required more precision to avoid backfiring like this.
Leaning forward, he grabbed another notebook and began copying down whatever he could make out, his injured hand protesting with every movement as pain throbbed relentlessly through it, though he forced himself to continue, he didn't want to waste this chance, and also the fact he didn't want to experience similar pain soon.
Some parts he couldn't read.
Some parts he had to skip.
But he kept going.
"Cursed energy… an energy born from negative emotions leaking out of humans… the primary power source used by jujutsu sorcerers…"
As the words formed on paper, a wave of dizziness began to creep in, subtle at first, then impossible to ignore as his vision swam slightly.
"…Why do I feel so… tired…"
It didn't take long for him to realize.
This wasn't just from the injury.
Materializing knowledge, forcing information into existence had cost him far more cursed energy than he anticipated, whether due to inefficiency, the complexity of the information itself, or both.
And on top of that He was still bleeding.
"…Right. That too."
Clicking his tongue weakly, he reached for the first aid kit nearby and hastily wrapped his hand, the makeshift bandage quickly soaking through as he tightened it just enough to slow the bleeding.
By the time he looked back at the book, the text had already begun to fade, the ink turning faint and translucent, as if the information itself was being reclaimed, leaving behind only what he had managed to preserve.
"…tch… figures."
At that point, the remaining text was too small and too faded to read any further, but despite that, he let out a quiet breath of relief.
Twelve paragraphs, that was how much he managed to salvage.
It wasn't much but it was enough to start with, besides his true goal was testing his cursed technique.
"Ah…"
The exhaustion hit him all at once.
His body gave out as he slumped forward onto the desk, consciousness fading rapidly as the pain, blood loss, and drained energy finally caught up to him.
His last coherent thought was simple.
He really hoped no one walked in on him like this.
---
"Kurotsuki, I said wake up!"
A wrinkled hand tapped against his desk. At first, it was light then it turned into heavy banging, enough to jolt Kurotsuki Shion awake.
"A-ah—sorry, Sensei. I apologize for falling asleep." Shion quickly stood and adjusted his uniform before bowing.
His thoughts, however, were elsewhere.
"Tch, Kurotsuki! You need to maintain your image as a top student, you know! I'm worried about you." Sensei exclaimed proudly.
Shion resisted the urge to click his tongue. Just because he taught him, the man always acted like he was above him.
…I didn't feel that fatigued. And my hand… the stinging pain is mostly gone. Was my body altered because of cursed energy? No… even if it was, reinforcement can't just heal. And I haven't even learned RCT yet…
"Hey, Sensei! Maybe he was jerking off all night and didn't get any sleep!" a blonde boy with a sharp gaze shouted from the back.
Then how…? Was it my future self?
Now that I think about it… maybe I could exploit something like that.
"Ew. Is your humor stuck in fifth grade or something? Boys are so disgusting," a girl beside him scoffed.
But would that cost more cursed energy? I haven't changed anything in the past yet…
"The hell did you just say, Shiina? You wanna–"
Before he could finish, a piece of chalk smacked him square in the forehead, leaving a red mark.
…But what if.. no. That probably wouldn't work.
"OUCH! The hell was that for?!"
An eraser followed immediately, hitting him dead-on again.
"Calm down, Kanzaki. Now is not the time. As I was saying—"
BRRRRING—!
The sharp ringing of the school bell cut through the classroom, snapping Shion out of his thoughts.
Sensei sighed, already turning away. "Whatever. Do whatever you problematic kids want."
He left, and the classroom instantly erupted.
"WOOHOO!"
"HE FORGOT ABOUT THE EXAM!"
Ignoring the noise, Shion stood and made his way toward the door only to feel a hand tap his shoulder.
"Yo, Shion. Seriously, what's up with you, man?" Kanzaki said, puffing out his chest. "You came late, slept in class, and you're injured. If someone's bullying you, just tell me—I've got your back!"
"Don't listen to him, Shion. He lost to a fifth grader yesterday," a girl added, popping food into her mouth with a mischievous grin.
"W-eh?! How do you know that?! I mean.. that's a lie! Totally a lie! Don't listen to her, Shion—"
Kanzaki turned around to argue but Shion was already gone.
"He went to the bathroom earlier," another boy said casually.
"Haa… seriously, what's wrong with him…?" Kanzaki muttered, running a hand through his hair.
---
SPLASH
He was right. For some reason, the injury on his left hand had completely disappeared in just twelve hours.
Shion stared quietly as the bandages slipped off his skin and fell into the sink, the fabric damp and useless. There wasn't even a scar left behind, not a trace of damage, as if the wound had never existed in the first place. His fingers flexed slowly, testing, and yet the result remained the same.
Maybe it really is my future self?
But which future? The one that's about to die… or perhaps one from a day later?
He clicked his tongue under his breath, unable to settle on an answer. Whatever it was, it didn't feel normal.
After drying his hands, Shion stepped out of the restroom, his expression already returning to its usual calm. The hallway buzzed with noise, students moving between classes, laughter and chatter blending into a dull background hum. He ignored all of it, slipping his hands into his pockets as he made his way back toward the classroom.
That was when something caught his attention.
Just barely, at the edge of his vision.
A group of boys had gathered near the cafeteria, five of them forming a loose circle around someone smaller. The one in the middle stood stiffly, shoulders hunched, his entire body trembling as if bracing for something that hadn't come yet.
Shion slowed his steps.
He couldn't make out their words from this distance, but he didn't need to hear them to understand the situation. The tension in the air, Their Stances and posture, the way the boy avoided eye contact while shaking repeatedly it all painted a clear enough picture.
For a brief moment, something stirred in his chest.
An unpleasant familiarity.
Curses, guilt, emotions those were things he understood far better than whatever "jujutsu" was supposed to be. If curses truly existed, then maybe they weren't something distant or abstract. Maybe they were born from scenes exactly like this.
Maybe that was how his own curse started.
"Hey, what the hell are you all doing? Ganging up on one guy?" Shion called out as he approached, his tone laid back yet sharp, naturally as the student council president it was his job to clear this.
The group shifted slightly at his presence.
"Ha? Prez? Good to see you, man," one of them stepped forward with a casual grin that didn't quite hide the sweat forming along his temple. "We're just messing around. Right, Yuta?"
The boy in the center, Yuta flinched at the mention of his name, his lips parting slightly, though no words came out.
Shion's gaze hardened.
"Like hell you are. Come here," he said flatly, grabbing the speaker by the collar and pulling him forward. "It'll be easier to beat you up close."
A few of the others let out awkward laughs, though none of them stepped in.
something felt wrong.
It wasn't obvious at first, just a faint discomfort, Shion's grip loosened slightly as his eyes shifted, scanning the area out of instinct.
Nothing stood out.
No one unusual. No movement.
Until his gaze returned to Yuta.
The moment their eyes aligned, it hit him.
A pressure. Heavy, suffocating, and incomprehensibly dense, crashing into his senses all at once. It wasn't something he could see, not clearly, but his body reacted anyway, every nerve tightening as if screaming at him to back away.
Yuta trembled harder, his voice barely escaping his throat. "N-no… please… don't…"
"Oi, Prez, seriously, we said we're just playing around," another boy muttered, though his voice lacked the same confidence from earlier.
Shion barely heard him.
…What is this?
His instincts flared violently, overriding thought.
He shoved one of the boys aside without warning.
"What the—"
"MOVE!"
Something entered his vision.
A hand, no, something shaped like one, pale and massive, appearing from nowhere as it lunged forward with unnatural speed. Shion's eyes widened, but his body couldn't keep up.
In the next instant, it grabbed him, his entire body was lifted and slammed into the ceiling with overwhelming force.
BAM!
The impact rattled the structure above, dust and small fragments raining down as cracks spread from the point of collision. The air left his lungs in a sharp burst, his vision flickering as pain shot through his back.
Somewhere below, voices erupted into panic.
"[YUUTAAA!]" a distorted voice shrieked, echoing unnaturally through the space.
Shion's fingers twitched against the cracked ceiling as he forced his eyes open, his breathing uneven.
"NOOO!" Yuta screamed in horror.
And as the scream rang out, the pressure in the air surged even further, shion could feel his lungs burning in pain.
---
(A/N: some dipshit decided to crash their motorcycle onto my garage, like dawg if you can't ride it then why ride it???😭)