Kamo no Yasunori rises from his futon with a yawn. He stretches his arms over his head and lets out a satisfied groan.
With half bleary eyes, he rises and goes through the usual motions until he finds himself sitting on his balcony, watching the world pass them by below.
A steaming cup is set in front of him, and he lets out a sigh once he sips the warm tea.
Abruptly, and without any cause, Yasunori starts to smile, and then he starts to laugh. Chuckling to himself in the silence of his room.
"He really couldn't help himself," Yasunori mutters with amusement. "Gigaku on the Imperial Palace. Hilarious~. He really underestimated himself huh?"
Yasunori understands the Curiosity that Narauko feels. After all, he suffers much the same affliction. The only difference is that Yasunori is experienced enough to have learnt some restraint.
He has all the time in the world to explore his Curiosities, after all.
Still, can admit that he is looking forward to hearing Narauko recount his little adventure.
He normally doesn't really care for second-hand accountings. He prefers to experience things himself. Most people are rather dim after all, so he can't trust them to be at all accurate to the minutia.
But for some reason, he doesn't mind listening to Narauko share his stories at all. The little monster just brings a certain energy to their conversations that he always seems to enjoy them.
It does help that he can empathise with Narauko. They both share the same Curse after all, even if they might differ sometimes on what exactly they are Curious about.
He enjoys his conversations with Sukuna too. That other little monster might not care about most things, but he is always willing to have a fun conversation about Cursed Techniques.
Really, the chances of two existences like them being born at the same time are astronomically low. Well, he has some theories regarding that anyway.
Either way, those two are endlessly amusing.
Every Jujutsu Sorcerer, or not even just Sorcerers really. Humans in general. When a human is given power, they almost always strive for more. Not always to an incredible degree, but there is always a desire for progression.
Stagnation doesn't suit the nature of humanity.
This is especially prevalent on the supernatural side of the world. Everyone is always striving to be greater. Pushing and pushing themselves, chasing ever greater heights.
It's like fighting against the flow of a mountain river. A Sorcerer starts on flat ground with a tepid flow. But as they walk, the river flows faster. It becomes harder and harder to keep pushing against it.
Eventually they will reach the mountain. Yasunori likens this to the end of one's potential. Almost nobody ever unlocks the entirety of their potential. Truly reaching that peak is all but impossible.
After all, the farther one goes, the greater the incline and the faster the current. It will soon reach the point where every step takes more effort than every other step behind it combined.
To keep with the metaphor, most people would only get about halfway to the peak of the mountain in their best moment. One could say that merely reaching the mountain at all is when one graduates from being an apprentice into being able to rely on themself.
And then you have that pair of monsters.
For them, the river is flowing backwards. For anyone else, this would be a boon. They would simply allow the current to take them to the peak.
But Sukuna and Narauko?
They are still fighting that current.
They are just pushing in the opposite direction. Instead of pushing themselves to become stronger, they are trying to resist that fate.
All because they want to keep playing around.
It's hilarious.
A distortion of Cursed Energy appears beneath him and he glances down to see a butterfly fly out of his shadow. Normally he would be more concerned about Cursed Energy randomly appearing around him, but he's starting to get familiar with the feeling of Narauko's Technique.
The butterfly lands on his shoulder, and he immediately feels a familiar Cursed Energy enter him.
"Speak of the Devil," he mutters.
Kamo-Sensei, the message starts. Hypothetically. If I were lost... What do? Hypothetically of course. Please pretend that this is not hypothetical and send your answer urgently, as if I were truly lost, instead of merely hypothetically lost.
Side note. Does the flying castle have anti-scrying defences? Follow up question, why is the flying castle immune to my compass Spell?
Also fuck you for that bet.
"Hahahaha!" Yasunori slaps a palm on the banister in amusement. "He's so stupid~! Hahaha~!"
Still, Yasunori finds himself at a crossroads.
On one hand, he can do nothing and leave Narauko to find his own way without help. But then he might not be able to see him do the Gigaku dance. Narauko will do it regardless thanks to the Vow, but nothing in the Vow specifies that Yasunori has to be present, and he doesn't want to miss out on it.
On the other hand, he can ride a Shikigami outside the building's barriers so that Narauko can track him. This way he will definitely be able to witness the dance, but he won't be able to laugh at the thought of Narauko trudging around the mountains, lost.
Then again, Narauko will probably just head straight to the capital if he does that. He doesn't think it would be a good idea to leave Narauko to arrive at the capital without a minder. The kid would probably end up a fugitive before the day is over.
After all, there are plenty of scum living in the capital, and most of them are nobles and merchants that enjoy abusing their power. They certainly wouldn't enjoy some happy-go-lucky brat poking his nose in their business.
So, he supposes the real question is whether it would be funnier for Narauko to end up a fugitive, or to watch him do a Gigaku in the Imperial Palace?
.....It's tough.
The Higher Ups still don't really understand how much stronger Sukuna and Narauko are compared to everyone else. Or at least, they haven't really internalised it.
So the face they'd make once they finally realise it, only after making Narauko a fugitive, would be hilarious. Like throwing away an heirloom vase only to later learn that it was full of gold.
"Haaah," he sighs, knowing he will take the less funny option.
In the end, the deciding factor was simply that he knows how upset Narauko would be if he missed out on what's coming.
"You're a bad influence, Narauko-kun," he mutters with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Since when did I consider the feelings of others?"
///
Narauko
///
It's the morning after I beat up a woman and a child and I'm feeling pretty good.
The Yuki-onna let me sleep the night in one of their unoccupied houses. The Kappas offered too, but they sleep half submerged in water, and that didn't sound too comfortable.
I mean, the Yuki-onna place was pretty cold, but that problem was easily solved by simply having Ice Bear lie on top of me as I slept. So fluffy and warm~.
I find it pretty interesting though, how unfit for human habitation both of their respective villages are. It's cool to see the differences. Hammers home the fact that they really are alien species, not just like, catgirls in anime or whatever that were basically just humans with extra features.
These are Yōkai. Not fetishized humans. They have different cultures, feeding habits, breeding habits, social habits. They are simply not human at all.
It's beautiful. I love it so much. I love how we can still talk, still connect with one another despite being so different. I love that I can still laugh with a being that sees the world through a completely foreign lens.
I just love that we are all still just people. Humans, Yōkai, maybe even the Kami above. We all see the world so differently. We all have such wildly different values. Yet we can still sit down together and talk. Bond. Laugh.
"I don't get it Na-kun!" A high-pitched, bratty voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
I'm sitting against a tree outside of the Yuki-onna's village entrance, with a local deer resting its head on my lap that I have been petting mindlessly.
Sitting on the grass a short distance in front of me is little Reiti. She returned some time in the morning, and she seemed sad to hear that I was leaving.
So I 'offhandedly' mentioned that I need to wait for my Sensei to get back to me, and she jumped at the opportunity to wait with me.
Of course, that meant that Setsura is here too, leaning against a tree behind her sister like the cool and aloof big sis that she is.
"You have to hold it tight," I say to Reiti. To prove my words, I decide to show her again. "Look."
Lifting my hand off of the deer's head, I pluck another blade of grass from the floor and hold it between the knuckles of both my thumbs, making sure the blade is pulled tight.
I show her so that she can get a good look and then I bring my thumbs to my mouth, take a deep breath, and blow.
Like before, a sound kind of like a high pitched cricket call fills the forest and Reiti giggles, because kids are precious like that.
"Okay okay! My turn!" She exclaims, as excitable as ever.
This time, when she mimics me she does it right, and a gasp of pure, childish delight leaves her. I can only smile as I watch the way her face lights up. The way her eyes widen and how she stares at her own hands as if they are the most wonderful treasure in the world.
I need to stop spending time around kids. I'm seriously going to end up being a father at this rate. That's scary~. I'm so young~. And Sukuna would be a shit godfather.
Well... I actually pause at that thought.
My brows furrow. I think... Why does that actually not sound as bad as it should? For some reason, I actually kind of feel like he wouldn't be that bad of a godfather.
Sukuna is a piece of shit that hates everyone and loves killing and causing suffering.
Yet I can't imagine a world in which he would ever purposefully bring harm to my children.
Huh.
Weird.
Shaking the thought away, I turn my attention to Setsura. "Do you want to try?"
She doesn't give me a very flattering look at my question.
I feel like people get too caught up in the idea of something being 'beneath them' sometimes. The reason kids are always so much happier than adults is because they just don't think about stuff like that. They just do what they want and enjoy whatever they find fun.
I feel like adults who refuse to do childish things only really do so out of peer pressure or principle. I think that those adults that allow themselves to play with Legos, or play tag with their friends, or get in water fights. I feel like those are the people who end up the happiest, even though are judged poorly and called childish or immature.
Is being mature really such a great thing if it comes at the cost of happiness?
Thinking that, I grab another blade of grass and wave it at Setsura.
"Come on~. Do it~." Keep waving the blade of grass at her, smiling childishly all the while, causing Reiti to giggle off to the side. "Do it, do it, do it~."
"Ugh fine!" She snaps at me, taking one large step closer and snatching the blade out of my hand.
I just smile.
She isn't a child and it isn't complicated, so she quickly brings the grass up to her mouth, blows on it and makes the noise.
Predictably, she doesn't feel anything moving from it. I mean, even in a world with actual magic, it's still pretty cool to see magic tricks. Because with the ability to sense Cursed Energy being used, it makes the tricks even more impressive, because you know that it is not just some spell you're unaware of, but just an actual, mortal trick.
Not that this is really a magic trick, but the point stands.
Now, immediately after fulfilling my request, Setsura pulls the grass away to give me a deadpan stare to show how unamused she is.
Still, I just smile back. Because sometimes you don't have to like an activity to enjoy it.
A second later, her attention is pulled away from me when Reiti starts giggling once more. I don't turn away though. I just watch as Setsura's features soften, a beautiful smile growing on her lips as she watches her little sister laugh.
Sometimes the smiles of others is enough to make any boring activity become a precious memory.
Setsura tenses, turning back to me seemingly only after noticing her own actions. She doesn't say anything, and I don't either. But her eyes tell a story all on their own.
I smile and bring my own blade of grass back up to my mouth, and a moment later, she does too. All the while, little Reiti just giggles and giggles.
I luxuriate in the moment.
Yeah, I might have preferred it if I was weaker and could actually enjoy fighting properly. But for moments like this? I think its worth it to be strong.
It's nice. Like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulder, or at least lessened.
It's not like I'm a battle maniac or anything, I just want to stretch myself, to actually find my limits and test them.
But this? This moment?
Well... I still want to stretch. But I think I could content myself with this alone.
All too soon, I feel my shadow fluctuate and hold out a hand for the Black Butterfly to land on.
My expression immediately falls flat when the sound of mocking laughter echoes through my mind.
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha~! Hahaha~! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha~!
My brow twitches when the laughter keeps seeming to stop only to pick back up again.
I get it....
Hahahahahahahahaha~! Aha~! Ahahaha~!
I get it....
Ahahahahaaaa~! Phew, what a laugh. I will go outside the barrier, Narauko-kun. Just use your spell on me and hurry up so I can laugh at you to your face~.
...Is it too late to change my mind? I could probably get Kiyohara-san to guide me instead.
Haaaah, whatever. I'll just dangle some interesting Jujutsu theory in front of his face and distract him.
The thought makes me smile. Yes, you think your mocking can overcome my Curiosity? No! I tell you no! I will ask so many questions that you won't even be able to speak! Muahahaha!
"Narauko-san?" Setsura's voice pulls me out of my delusion. "You are very expressive." What a polite way to insult me. "Is it time now?"
"Yup," I gently pry the deer's head off of my lap and climb to my feet. "My Sensei is going to give me directions, I just need to fly there."
I look over to see the two sisters sitting on the floor and looking up at me. Well, Setsura is looking at me. Reiti is looking at the floor and failing to hide her sniffles.
Kami, kids get attached so fast. It's easier to say goodbye to people that hate you.
Setsura nods her head and rises to her feet, flicking the blade of grass she was using away as she does so. Her face doesn't betray any emotion, but I don't fail to notice the way her eyes briefly flicker to Reiti.
"How do you intend to travel?" Setsura asks. "My understanding is that your destination is rather a great distance away."
"Yeah," I noncommittedly answer. A second later and I finally turn away from Reiti to face Setsura properly. "Well, I have two options."
My plan was just to use Nue and to try to overcharge its Technique enough to maybe fly as fast as lightning. Or at least faster than normal anyway.
A sigh leaves me and I plop back down on my ass.
"I'm going to invent teleportation."
Setsura blinks at me.
"Teleportation is hardly something new," she says before pausing and pursing her lips, considering her own words. "Well, I suppose for humans it is."
"You can teleport?"
She snorts. "No, not personally. But teleportation is how we travel if we want to visit another clan of Yuki-onna for instance. Some Yōkai are more capable of it, and I hear that some foreigners are especially proficient."
"But we lowly humans are the exception?" I make sure to keep my tone light enough to know that I'm joking and not seriously trying to insinuate anything by calling myself lowly.
"Cursed Energy is not very conductive to teleportation," she answers, and she sighs when she sees my intrigued expression. I get the feeling she might already be growing a bit tired of my Curiosity. "You know the difference between Cursed Energy and Youki?"
"It was explained to me that Youki is basically a combination of Cursed Energy and neutral Ki."
"That is close enough to true," she confirms with a dip of her head. "Cursed Energy is purely spiritual, while Youki has a physical quality to it too. This makes Youki 'sturdier' than Cursed Energy. Cursed Energy is simply too ephemeral for teleportation. It does not hold together so well."
"So you think it's impossible for a Sorcerer to use Cursed Energy to teleport?" I obviously would disagree, because I'm awesome like that. Worst case, Kamo-Sensei, Sukuna and I brainstorming together could solve any problem. Of that, I am confident.
"Over any respectable distance? Yes. It is. Of course, there are exceptions to be made when Innate Techniques are involved, and theoretically it is probably possible for humanity to develop some manner of Barrier Technique that could function as a portal. I would not hold my breath on that though."
"Huh. Good thing I was planning to use my Technique then."
"Your Technique?" She raises a sceptical brow. "What does Ten Shadows have to do with teleportation?"
"Escape Rabbit," I intone, and as a demonstration, I send one rabbit to run a small distance away. Then, I drop another rabbit in my own shadow and we both watch as it emerges from the distant rabbit's shadow.
"I can move through my own shadow with impunity, and every one of my Shikigami are just extensions of my shadow. Thus, I am capable of teleporting by using them as waystones. I do not have any Shikigami with my Sensei though."
As we talk and since I have already summoned them, I send some rabbits to pile up on Reiti. Who's mood can't be lifted by a massive pile of warm fluffy bodies drowning them?
"If you do not have any 'waystones' then how do you intend to teleport to him?" I'm not entirely sure if Setsura is genuinely curious, gathering information, or just making conversation.
Whichever it is doesn't really matter to me really.
"Well that is easy," I say as I start writing my compass Spell's script on the air with my Cursed Energy. "I am not the only one with a shadow, right? Kamo no Yasunori."
The Spell flares to life, pointing me in my Sensei's direction without trouble.
"Are you saying that you can travel through any shadow you desire?" Setsura asks, probably concerned about the security concerns such an ability would have.
"Nah, I would probably die if I tried," I answer without a care, causing her eyes to widen, which makes me chuckle. "I would show you, but apparently it is impossible for anyone but me to see anything in my shadow. One moment."
Leaning back into the tree behind me, I allow the upper half of my body to fall into my shadow.
It looks no different to normal, except that my growing hoard of stuff continues to grow. None of it is in anyway useful in a practical sense. It's not like I have a super magical sword of plus four sharpness hidden away in here. Though I do have that poorly made katana I got gifted a while back.
Instead of anything useful, my shadow is filled with even greater treasures. A bunch of plants and cool rocks and shit. Hibana included now, because living ice flowers are cool. Heh, pun.
Shaking my head, I move past that and use my ability to manipulate the environment of my shadow to bring myself closer to its edge.
I noted before that the way I perceive shadows down here is as giant dark pillars that hold the real world, or I suppose just the Human Realm? Up above some other dimension that I still haven't been able to see inside, even if my Black Butterfly Technique makes use of it.
I'm jealous of my own Technique. How embarrassing~.
I have also noted how the space between the towering pillars appears to be some kind of hostile Void that destroys everything it touches. Hence why I told Setsura that I'd probably die if I tried traversing carelessly. The Void would tear me apart.
The only thing that stops it from destroying every 'pillar' is this strange membrane that surrounds every shadow. I'm still not entirely certain as the the exact nature of this membrane and how it is able to survive contact with the Void.
My best guess is that the membrane itself is somehow representative of the physical aspect of the shadows in the real world. Kind of like a projection. The Void can't cut through the shadows because the shadows exist in the real world where the Void does not.
It's complicated. The human mind isn't really made for understanding non-Euclidean space, so I struggle to even think about it sometimes.
I'm straying from the point.
Every shadow is a pillar and I can not travel between shadows because the Void is in the way. However, I can travel through the shadows of my Shikigami, because their shadows do not connect with the shadow realm below. Instead, the branch of off my own 'pillar' and into the real world, thus providing a bridge.
With only that, one might give up on being able to access other people's shadows. But I have already done that before. Because the concept of 'space' doesn't obey the same laws down here as it does in the Human Realm.
Which is to say that if two shadows are overlapping in the Human Realm, then down here they are also touching. The two 'pillars' never actually mingle, they don't overlap, but they do exist in the same 'space' regardless.
This allows me to move into another's shadow, because the membrane of their pillar is directly touching my own. With no risk of annihilation via Void, it's not even difficult to break through that membrane. It's only sturdy when in contact with the Void, kind of like custard. I saw a video of someone running on a pool of custard once, because it becomes hard only when enough pressure is applied.
It's a similar principle here.
Now, with all of that being considered, the only thing left to do is extend my 'pillar' through the Void until it overlaps with whatever shadow I want to connect to.
The problem with that comes from the fact that the Void destroys literally everything. Including, apparently, my very senses. Sight, sound, whatever the ability to sense supernatural stuff is called. It all fuzzes out almost immediately in the Void.
So then the problem becomes a matter of navigation.
I smile as I turn to face a specific direction, feeling my compass Spell continuing to point me to Kamo-Sensei.
It also helps that I am incredibly familiar with Kamo-Sensei's presence, otherwise I might not even be able to do this much.
I once likened my Black Butterfly's ability to find its target as looking up at the night sky. The endless darkness of space would be the endless shadows and bodies of the world, while each radiant star would be a soul.
And now, here, with the help of the compass Spell giving me a direction and my own familiarity with the target, I am able to just barely make out the fuzzy imprint of Kamo-Sensei's soul in the distance.
Now it's just a matter of connecting my own 'pillar' with his.
If someone showed you a rock, and then threw it onto a beach full of similar rocks, would you be able to find it? Probably not. What if you spend your entire life with this rock in your presence? With that much familiarity, you could probably pick it apart from the others, even if it would be difficult.
I can tell which shadow reflects my Sensei's soul.
It's made all the more obvious that the laws of space aren't Euclidean here once I start moving a branch of my 'pillar' towards Kamo-Sensei's. It takes a surprisingly small amount of time to reach it.
I smile.
Cracking my neck at the imagined feeling of effort, I pull myself back out of my shadow and send Setsura a self-satisfied smile.
"Looks like it's time for me to go then," I say, enjoying the surprise on her face.
"Already? It has barely been a few minutes, how could you have already invented a new use of your Technique to teleport? That does not make any sense. If it was that easy, surely you should have already been capable of it?"
I chuckle at that and wave the thought away. "I am the kind of man to prefer the journey to the destination. If I teleported everywhere, then I would never see the world. I wouldn't have ever met you two. I have never needed to be anywhere with any real urgency before, so I never really bothered to think about it."
She shakes her head ruefully. "You truly are a strange human, Narauko-san."
"Thank you very much, Setsura-chan," I beam back at her.
"D-do you really have to go?" Reiti's small voice pulls our attention and makes my smile dip a little bit.
I step closer to her, dismissing Escape Rabbit as I drop to one knee in front of her.
"Don't worry, Yukihime, I'll be back every decade at the very least, and I just invented teleportation so I can come back whenever I have the free time. Besides, I taught you the Black Butterfly Technique didn't I? We can talk whenever you want."
I ruffle her hair and she finally looks up enough to meet my eyes, even though her bottom lip is still trembling.
A moment later and I have a crying child wrapping her arms around my neck. I try my best to comfort her by patting her back, but ultimately all I can do is let her tire herself out. There's nothing wrong with crying. Like I told the old man that one time.
"I-I-I don't w-want you to g-go," she whispers into my neck, hiccupping slightly.
"I know," I whisper back, rubbing circles on her back. There's really nothing else I can say. I could apologise, but that would feel insincere. It's my choice after all, to keep moving forward selfishly, no matter who I leave behind. "I know."
Eventually, she seems to tire herself out so much that she actually falls asleep. I honestly thought it was a myth that kids could do that. I don't remember ever feeling particularly sleepy after a good cry.
Letting out a sigh, I scoop the brat up and turn to Setsura.
"Look at this cool bug I found," I whisper, deadpan, while offering Reiti to her sister, who takes the brat into her own arms with an amused exhale.
She doesn't say anything back, which leaves us in a slightly awkward silence, so I simply give that deer one last wave and prepare to leave.
"Well, I'll be going now."
"Wait," Setsura interrupts me right as I am about to fall into my shadow, and I look up to see her giving me a complicated look. Then she just nods. "Thank you."
An amused exhale leaves my nose and I smirk at her. "You're welcome. I had fun." I send her a two fingered wave. "Later."
I'm already falling through my shadow when she responds, so I never hear the hesitantly spoken reply.
"Later."
///
Kamo no Yasunori
///
Sitting on the back of a large, bird-like Shikigami, Yasunori takes a sip of his tea. This Shikigami is big enough to hold a desk and chair, which he is making use of to work on some Barrier Techniques. Mostly just refining things that he can find, improving efficiency.
He sometimes wonders if there will ever be an end. A 'perfect' Barrier that he can no longer find any way to refine. He rather doubts it, but the thought is interesting enough to consider.
He probably has a couple of hours before Nue appears in the distance by his estimates. He is very much looking forward to poking fun at Narauko for getting lost.
"Boo!"
Yasunori jumps out of his seat, a startled shout leaving his throat that immediately results in him sputtering and choking on his tea.
He crashes into his table and spins around, still choking, and readies to attack, only to stop when he sees Narauko rolling on the Shikigami's back, laughing his guts up.
Yasunori takes a moment to get his coughing under control before he manages to find his words.
"...What the fuck?"
"HAHAHA! I TELEPORTED!" Narauko wheezes, "HAHA YOUR FACE! HAHAHAHA!!"
Since when could he teleport? Yasunori thinks, before a wry smile grows on his face as he remembers who he is thinking about and the answer becomes clear. Probably since about two minutes ago.
Narauko continues to laugh, and after a moment, Yasunori joins him. It's hard not to, Narauko's laugh is infectious.
And so they simply laugh.
///
Nurarihyon
///
Inside of a natural hot spring at the base of a volcano, Nurarihyon walks, his feet steady despite the steam being thick enough to block vision.
"Too steamy," he complains, waving a hand in front of his face.
Jorōgumo behind him doesn't respond either way, merely keeping her pace even with his own and one step behind. With a sigh, he continues walking. His path is circuitous as he walks the edges of all the springs, winding his way through the rock and water until eventually a humanoid figure appears in the fog.
Nurarihyon doesn't smile at this. Instead, his lips twist in disgust for only a moment before he supresses the natural reaction and returns his expression to impassivity.
Truthfully, he doesn't really want to be here, but alas, necessity compels us. There is nothing he is not willing to do for the sake of all Yōkai. Even the ones that despise him.
They are all kin in the end.
A few steps later and the wall of steam finally abates enough for him to get a clear view of the man, the thing, he is here to meet.
Though the figure could have been mistaken as a human when silhouetted through the fog, that thought couldn't be father from the truth.
Their grey skin is the least standout feature. What calls his attention more immediately is the single large eye glaring at him, as well as the literal volcano the being has at the top of his head. It's even leaking magma.
The figure doesn't have ears, instead only having a pair of strange brown cork like things. They're wearing a red cloak with black spots over a black kimono and are small and hunched like an old man, though it doesn't have anything covering its feet.
It don't say anything for a moment, merely watching him emerge from the fog, each of them studying one another with equal intensity.
Eventually, it is them who breaks the silence.
"You took your time arriving, Yōkai. Are you mocking me?"
Nurarihyon very carefully doesn't give his honest answer to that question. He can barely stop from rolling his eyes at the blatant aggression in their tone.
"Complications arose and I found myself delayed," he responds instead, internally musing how he went from trying to deal with ice straight to the opposite extreme. "I am here now, and nothing of value has been lost by my delay, Curse."
"Your delay has cost my time and patience," the Curse responds, his voice full of barely restrained violence.
This is why he hates dealing with Curses. Even when they are almost sentient like this one, they're always still so annoying. Damn ghosts thinking that they're alive just because they can talk like everyone else. They're almost as bad as the damn monkeys. Pisses him off.
Nurarihyon fails to supress his sneer this time. "As I said, nothing of value has been lost."
The reaction is immediate as the temperature rapidly starts to rise. Enough that he hears Jorōgumo behind him faintly gasp. He knows that she is unharmed and that her response was more out of surprise than anything, but it still leaves him feeling pissed off.
"Oy. I'll burn you to death. You didn't come here just to insult me did you?!"
It's only by remembering the importance of what he's doing here that Nurarihyon refrains from lashing out. So instead, despite wanting to kill this Curse in front of him, he takes a deep breath and lets it out.
"No. I did not. I simply despise you, and thus failed to refrain from insulting you. Forgive me. I am here to discuss a matter of cooperation."
That his apology is insincere is blatant to all present, but no one comments. The feeling is mutual after all.
"Cooperation?" The Curse echoes. As much as he would like to say that it simply doesn't understand the word, he does know that it is at least smart enough to figure out what they would cooperate about, but is probing for more exacting details.
It's not like they have a lot in common. The only thing that could connect them in cooperation is a matter against humans. This is a Curse borne of humanity after all.
"Indeed. There are evolving circumstances. I am sure you are aware of the power that this era of humanity wields. Even a new-born Curse like you should be able to feel it. Our goals align. You are a Curse, so humanity is your natural enemy, while my goal is the elimination of every Special Grade Sorcerer alive. I already have plans in motion to this effect. If you would be willing to follow my instructions, then my goal would be much easier to achieve."
His words even have the benefit of almost being true. This Curse certainly isn't weak. It isn't quite Ultimate-class like him, but it is close. More to the point though, Nurarihyon would much rather risk the lives of some Curse than that of a good Yōkai.
"And beyond that?" The Curse asks. "What do you intend to do once the Special Grades are all dead?"
"Nothing. Humanity has never been a true threat to what I hold dear. It is only the Special Grades that concern me. I do not care about the rest."
"And if I wanted to keep pushing. Would you interfere?"
"Speak plainly, Curse."
"Jogo!" The Curse abruptly yells. "My name is Jogo!"
Nurarihyon suppresses a sneer. Really, this thing gives itself a name as if that will make it any less pathetic. Still, for an irrational thing like this, he really shouldn't speak too honestly if he wants it to do what he wants.
"Is that so? Well then, Jogo. What is your goal?"
"I will wipe out all of the so-called humans and bring about an age of Curses! We, as the true face of humanity will stand in their place!"
What a pathetic goal, Nurarihyon thinks to himself, full of contempt. But he doesn't let it show. In the end, it doesn't really matter what the Curse wants to do, so long as it goes along with his own plans.
"A dangerous goal to pursue. Are you sure you can survive it?"
"It does not matter if I am the one left smiling in the wasteland one hundred years from now. So long as Curses can live as people, that is all that matters."
Hm. He can almost respect the resolve in Jogo's eye. It's a good thing, he supposes. With a force of personality so strong, Jogo shouldn't find any trouble rallying the rest of the Curses strong enough to think to his cause.
"Very well then, you will not face any obstruction from me in this. I truly do not care about the fate of humanity. But surely you know that you cannot achieve this goal of yours? Not as you are anyway."
The Curse doesn't answer, but the expression it makes is answer enough and Nurarihyon smiles, knowing that he has succeeded.
"Agree to follow my lead until there are no more Special Grade Sorcerers, and I will give you the tools that you need to win."
"I do not need tools, I am strong enough," the Curse returns, and Nurarihyon almost pities its simple-mindedness.
"You are not." The Curse immediately glares at him. "But you could be."
"Stop prattling on and get to the point!"
"Alright, alright. I assume you know Domain Expansion?" He asks, getting a hesitant nod of the head, and Nurarihyon grins wickedly at the thought of the chaos that what he is about to do will cause. "Good. But if you want to be able to face the Special Grades of this era, you will need to learn two things to survive, both of which I am happy to teach you. The first is your Maximum, and the second is called Hollow Wicker Basket."
Now he just needs to get back to the Shiroiwa clan to see if this Setsura that he has heard about will join him. He heard that some men from the Principle Clans were heading to Shiroiwa clan territory not long ago, so he thinks he should be able to convince her.
It always amuses him how the Principle Clan's own actions make it so much easier for him to gather allies against them.
It's all coming together.
///
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
So what do we got? Some fluff, some power theory and some nura scheming. I wonder if any of these things are going to have consequences.
Probably not right? Surely.
Y'know, I had literally not a single plan to include properly sapient disaster curses like jogo and the rest (jogo will be the only one of those 4 that I use) but literally one person left a comment asking about them and then like the next day I wrote that nura scene.
So now I've got to make even more characters to add to the already chaotic cast that is only going to grow even more in the coming chapters.
I really must hate myself lmao. Some day I'm going to write a story with like 6 characters in it total. Now that I think about it, I could probably do that with some survival-esque thing where most characters are mindless monsters or something. Maybe a cultivation story lol.
Anywho, it's been like 20 days or something which sucks. I feel like I've forgotten how to write and I don't know why or what is wrong with me. The best I can do is blame the fact that I've been reading a couple translated novels recently and it's fucking with my brian.
That or it's just the stress about the fact that homelessness is still not necessarily off the table. However, debt is sneaking its way onto the table. Luckily, my mum knows a guy with money who'll prolly be cool with giving a 0% interest loan, so there's that I guess...
Man, idk, I just wanna write but I feel like I've forgotten how to, and I dont know what I've forgotten. :(
In other news, I've been wanting to change the title of this fic for a while. The current title was originally supposed to be a placeholder name in the first place. I just thought what it'd be called if I saw this fic on webnovel and went with it lol. I have 0 ideas tho, so if you got any ideas feel free to share.
I also still have a Patreon with 5 extra chappies in it, just sayin :P