AN: I've got a quick ask of people who have been enjoying my work! If you have the time and think my fiction deserves it, please leave a review. It really helps optics and promotes my work. But no matter what, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! :)
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"I heard you ran into Yuta yesterday."
"Uh-huh," Kiniro confirmed with a grunt as Satoru walked up behind him, "Uh-huh? That all you have to say?"
"No, but I'm clearly busy with something," Kiniro muttered absent-mindedly as he concentrated on the task in front of him, "Been trying damn near an hour to get these lines right, and I'm almost out of ink."
Satoru glanced over at the stack of discarded paper slips on the floor and smirked, "Usually it's the control of cursed energy that stops people from making their own talismans, but I guess that isn't a problem for you, is it?"
"You know it isn't," Kiniro replied, sticking out his tongue in concentration as he carefully moved his brush across the slip of paper, alternating between fine line work and long solid strokes, "Just one more."
Satoru watched as Kiniro executed a final brushstroke before carefully lifting the brush from the paper and setting it aside to rest. Picking up the completed talisman, Kiniro held it between two of his fingers, and he channeled his cursed energy into the paper.
Kiniro's lips then began muttering under his breath, and with each spoken word, his cursed energy would fluctuate, growing more and more complex.
'A binding vow,' Satoru identified with ease as he realized the fluctuations were restrictions being imposed on the talisman's functionality, 'But what is he trying to create?'
It took Kiniro almost a full minute of incantating before his lips stopped moving, and having watched the entire thing, Satoru could tell that his student had used no small amount of cursed energy, 'Cursed energy that he can't recover on his own…giving it significantly more weight.'
Staring at the talisman in Kiniro's fingers, Satoru could feel that the cursed energy had gained its own unique signature and felt like it was alive. The talisman had also undergone a physical transformation, with the paper turning pitch-black and the ink gaining a pinkish tint.
But Kiniro wasn't finished, as he reached over with his other hand and grabbed what looked to be a gourd. The dried calabash was light tan and perfectly shaped, with a large, spherical bottom topped by a narrow midsection that quickly widened into another, albeit smaller, sphere that tapered into a stem. The gourd had already been turned into a flask, with a leather binding around the midsection and a metal spout set into the stem.
"What do you plan to do with that?" Satoru asked, not bothering to hide his interest.
Kiniro grinned as he moved the talisman and flask closer together, "Just watch."
At first it seemed like nothing would happen, but when less than an inch separated the paper and gourd, there was a flare of cursed energy as the talisman flew out of Kiniro's hand and sealed itself to the side of the flask like iron to a magnet.
In an instant, the flask and talisman levitated into the air as the flask adopted the talisman's pitch-black color, and a dreadful aura began to emanate from the newly birthed cursed tool. Letting it wash over him, Satoru could feel the gourd's hunger. No more than that; it was starved, famished to the point of madness; there was no higher consciousness behind the endless need to consume.
'Can you even call this a cursed tool? It feels far more like a cursed object than anything else. No one in their right mind would even think of touching this thing.' Satoru thought, but before he could vocalize his thoughts, Kiniro grabbed the gourd out of the air.
In an instant the baleful aura came alive and attacked Kiniro who grinned like a madman as the cursed object began to drain his cursed energy reserves, "That's it get your fill."
Satoru watched with wary interest as Kiniro let himself be feasted upon by the gourd whose hunger only seemed to grow and reach new heights instead of diminishing. For ten minutes straight the gourd gorged itself on Kiniro's cursed energy and it became clear that it wouldn't stop until he ran dry.
Satoru was ready to intervene should it ever get to that point but he had underestimated Kiniro's foresight.
"Alright, that's enough," Kiniro muttered as with a thought he cut off the flow of cursed energy funneling into the gourd who protested by blasting it's aura trying to disrupt and weaken Kiniro's control by attacking his soul and mind.
However, Kiniro just smiled and squashed the gourd's efforts like it was a child throwing a temper tantrum, "Fiesty one aren't you? Though I guess I don't have anyone to blame but myself. I named you Gluttony for a reason."
Seeing its efforts squashed so easily, Gluttony's aura fell seemingly pacified for the moment, though Satoru doubted it would remain that way for long.
"I think I can call that a massive success," Kiniro grinned as he tossed the bottle up and down before using the attached cord to secure Gluttony to his hip.
"Success for what?" Satoru criticized, "What's the benefit of having a flask that tries to suck you dry."
"Because the cursed energy inside will ferment, growing more potent with time," Kiniro replied with a satisfied grin, "Whoever consumes the refined cursed energy will receive a powerful boost to all their jujutsu, which will increase with its age. Or in my case, my reserves will grow a lot more than if I had just devoured the cursed energy right from the source."
"So you just basically just made a high-yield savings account for cursed energy," Satoru summarized as he touched his chin pensively.
Kiniro's smile faded, and he cast a sideways glance in Satoru's direction, "Did you need something?"
"I came here to ask you about Yuta," Satoru replied as he leaned against Kiniro's desk again, "What's your assessment?"
"He's strong," Kiniro answered without hesitation as his eyes took on a faraway look, "Stronger than anyone, even yourself, realizes."
Satoru frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
"What's the back story with Rika?" Kiniro asked, ignoring Satoru's question in favor of his own.
"She used to be a close childhood friend of Yuta's; but died in front of him after getting run over by a car," Satoru retold, making Kiniro nod as if he expected it, "After her death, Rika's feelings remained, causing her to curse-"
"Erhhhh!"
Kiniro suddenly interrupted, making a buzzer sound. "You got it wrong."
Satoru didn't say anything as Kiniro held up two fingers and crossed them, "It's the other way around. Yuta cursed Rika into existence, most likely due to the trauma of seeing her die so violently at such a young age. It caused all of his cursed energy to focus on a single ideal and gave birth to a vengeful spirit that uses Rika's soul as a blueprint. This is good for us because, at the core of Rika's identity, is a desire to protect and obey Yuta at all costs. If that thing was fully unleashed, it would probably wipe out half of Japan even with you doing your best to stop it. Then it would wipe out the other half once it manages to kill you."
"Are you exaggerating?" Satoru asked, but his face was completely serious when he said it.
"No, I'm not," Kiniro muttered, "That thing has an infinite amount of cursed energy, not so much that it seems bottomless. I mean truly infinite."
"So that means the only way to exorcise her would be for Yuta to undo the curse that created her to begin with," Satoru stated with a furrow in his brow, "Do you think it would be wise to tell him?"
Kiniro immediately shook his head, "No. Even if I couldn't his soul and read his emotions, it's clear that Yuta is in a fragile mental state. Learning that he's the one responsible for turning his childhood friend into a monster could massively impact his psyche. Which might lead Rika to somehow determine that we're all a threat that needs to be eliminated in order to protect Yuta."
Satoru crossed his arms, "Then what do you suggest?"
"Treat him like a normal student," Kiniro replied, "He's been isolated most of his life due to Rika's presence. Now that curse has suddenly turned into a strength, and there are people who are somewhat like him. Forming those positive connections will loosen the negative feelings that keep Rika bound to him. Hell, with his strength, he might discover the true nature of his curse and undo it on his own."
Satoru smiled and gave a small applause, "You have a talent, you know that. I think you would make an excellent teacher."
"Yeah, but it's much more fun to use my gift to screw around and fuck with people."