"Okkotsu Yuta"
The only Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer who is not yet dead or sealed, and arguably the second strongest only after Satoru Gojo himself.
What is one supposed to do when a guy like that comes unannounced and is looking at you colder than my love life?
Running sounded like a good option, because the moment that pressure descended on the street, my instincts screamed at me harder than they had against most curse spirits we had fought these past few days, and even harder than when I fought against Jogo.
This level of pressure was identical to when I faced off against Mahoraga or, dare I say, Sukuna.
I turned my head with reluctance to properly see who had arrived, and my stomach sank almost immediately.
As I doubted, it was him.
The white uniform which only he wore in the entire Jujutsu roster.
The Katana which oozed with so much cursed energy that I didn't even feel like he was holding a sword, but instead had manipulated a sword into existence out of pure cursed energy alone.
It was an absurd amount of cursed energy.
Not as much as Sukuna, I can say that, but unlike Sukuna, I could tell Okkotsu here wasn't very good at holding back his cursed energy. It was radiating like a sun, looking bigger, attracting everyone toward him, making him an obvious target, or an alpha predator around these lands.
And those dead calm eyes. I talked about the eyes, right...? Well, they weren't the eyes of the shy boy I remembered from the JJK 0 movie.
"Yuta... Okkotsu," Yuji muttered beside me, his expression tightening almost instantly.
The man standing across from us looked nothing like the harmless upperclassman Yuji used to describe from his memories. There was no awkwardness in his posture, no uncertainty, no softness. He looked focused, composed, and terrifyingly dangerous, like a blade that had already been unsheathed long before arriving here.
More importantly, the first thing his eyes locked onto wasn't Choso.
It wasn't Naoya either.
It was me and Yuji.
And that was when I knew that trouble had once again found me.
Naoya seemed to realize it too because the moment he sensed Yuta's attention directed toward us, a grin spread across his face as if the situation had suddenly become amusing for him.
"Wait, wait.... I'm not an enemy, I'm on your side actually. Name's Naoya Zenin, I'm here to capture Yuji Itadori as well. We are allies here." Naoya's earlier condescending attitude evaporated faster than his technique as he raised both his hands up in surrender and opted out of Yuta's line of sight.
And only when seeing Yuta wasn't targeting him anymore did he dare to speak again.
"Well, this is convenient," Naoya spoke casually while dusting off his sleeves. "I was wondering how troublesome this was going to get, but if it's you, Okkotsu, then things should be easy enough."
Naoya smirked and pointed lazily toward us.
"That pink-haired brat is Itadori Yuji, Sukuna's vessel, and that unknown curse user is your target too, right? Then how about this, I'll hold back the Death Painting while you deal with the other two however you want." His grin widened slightly. "In exchange, don't immediately report that I found them here. I've got my own business to handle first."
Yuta stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then his eyes slowly moved toward Yuji first.
Then toward me.
And for some reason, that brief look alone felt heavier than most fights I had been through recently. It was the kind of gaze that evaluated danger in an instant.
Then he nodded once.
"Fine."
That single word was enough to break the few seconds of calm we had earned before the atmosphere exploded immediately afterward.
Choso reacted before anyone else could even move.
"Yuji, run!" he barked sharply toward us while snapping his hand forward.
"Piercing Blood!"
The compressed beam of blood erupted through the street like a railgun shot, shredding through the concrete path in a straight line so violently that nearby walls split apart from the pressure alone.
But Yuta was already gone.
By the time the attack crossed the distance, he had already moved out of its path.
'Damn, he is fast.' Choso internally cursed seeing Yuta moving at ridiculous speeds.
"GO!" Yuji shouted toward me, and I knew that I had to keep up this time around or I was a goner.
So we ran instantly.
With everything we had, both Yuji and I ran away from the closely chasing monster named Yuta Okkotsu.
And he was right behind us. It was hard to miss that overwhelming cursed energy of his, honestly, and not tell that he was right on our tail.
The ground cracked beneath our feet as both of us burst forward through the street at full speed while behind us the collision between Naoya and Choso erupted almost immediately.
I heard explosions.
Buildings cracking and blood slicing through the air.
For a second I even wondered whether Choso could handle Naoya. I'm not certain about the younger Zenin's level, but his pops, most likely Naobito, was one tough bastard.
I glanced back for only a second to see what was going on but immediately felt my nerves tighten when I saw Yuta sprinting after us with frightening speed, his movements absurdly efficient without a single wasted motion.
For a non-type, this one was surprisingly fast.
I am starting to hate this all-rounder type now.
"Why is he after us?!" Yuji shouted while leaping over a wrecked car.
"Probably doing the bidding of those elusive higher-ups I keep hearing about. I swear if I survive today, I'm giving them a rude visit later," I grumbled while vaulting over a broken railing beside him.
'But honestly, why are they grouping me with Yuji? What did I do to them?' I complained, God knows how many profanities I had in my mind which I desired to show.
Of all people, did they really have to send Okkotsu of all people?
The only character whose power level was hard to track.
I'm even uncertain whether running away is a better option or if I should face him to end the matter once and for all.
How strong current Yuta Okkotsu was, I had no idea, and that made him even more troublesome.
I looked back once again, only to find that Yuta had closed the distance frighteningly fast. His Katana was out and he was aiming it at the person closest to him, which unfortunately was me.
'Curse you, Akindo. Would it have killed you to keep your body in shape?' I roared internally, feeling my lungs burn from the sudden intense exertion I was putting them through.
The moment Yuta finally caught up to us, the chase ended and the fight began without a single word being exchanged.
And all because my legs refused to move any faster.
One second I was running for my life and the next I saw a sword clad with massive cursed energy rushing toward my face to make a Kit-Kat out of me.
His sword flashed toward my neck the instant he entered range. Fast enough that I almost couldn't react.
I could only thank my abnormally good survival instincts that I barely managed to lean back in time, the blade passing so close to my face that I felt a few strands of hair get cut away.
Unfortunately enough, that killed all the momentum I had built while running and the run came to an abrupt end.
"Seriously, does this guy know anything besides attempted murder?" I complained while desperately jumping backward.
Yuji too came to an abrupt stop in his very impressive run upon seeing me trapped under Yuta's relentless attack and shot forward to my side before Yuta could continue his assault on me.
'Okay... now I know why everyone wants to be your brother. I too am willing. That was such a bro move there, my man.' I almost felt like crying.
Yuji really was a good kid, wasn't he?
His fist slammed toward Yuta's ribs with enough force to shatter concrete.
Yuta blocked it with one arm and with those massive cursed energy reserves he had, he actually managed to tank that monstrous punch from someone like Yuji, arguably a semi-Heavenly Restriction user by how criminally strong his body was.
The impact still pushed him back several steps, but the fact that he managed to stop Yuji's punch with a single arm was ridiculous.
Yuji immediately followed with another punch. However, this time Yuta was more aware of Yuji's strength. I could practically see his mind registering Yuji's ridiculous strength and recalling a certain green-haired girl and the complete beatdown he got from her in his rookie days.
Yuta's answer was simple: cut everything down, and if he couldn't cut it, then squash everything with raw power. His sword moved constantly between offense and defense while his absurd cursed energy reinforcement closed the gap between his lack of physical strength against someone like Yuji.
Even from the sidelines, I could tell the difference. Yuji wasn't a match if this fight continued for long, and I had officially started my shonen journey not even a week ago.
'No wonder they say he is second strongest, only after Gojo. What kind of bloody output is that? Not to mention those monstrous cursed energy reserves.' I grumbled and rushed into the fray. Had to help Yuji.
I rushed in the moment I spotted an opening and threw a punch aimed at Yuta's blind side.
He turned his head right at the moment the punch was about to connect and then his sword came down right at me. He didn't even bother dodging away.
My mind did cosmic levels of calculation about the potential trade between me hitting him with a punch and him cutting me into two.
Yeah...
Even with RCT under my belt, that wasn't worth it, so I had to give up on the attack and twist my body at the last moment to slip away.
The blade sliced through the exact space where my torso had been a fraction of a second earlier.
"Hey, how come we're not using something like a sword, huh...?" I genuinely asked Yuji. Why bother using punches when we could just cut open our enemies with a Katana like Yuta here?
Yuji just shrugged at that. "Used a cursed tool once. Ended up breaking it." Yuji recalled the incident and only later learned that it was actually Maki's weapon.
An uncomfortable feeling washed over him for a second there.
The fight continued like that for several minutes.
Yuji pressured him from the front while I attacked from the sides whenever opportunities appeared. It wasn't elegant, but having two opponents forced Yuta to divide his attention, and that was the only reason we were alive.
Every time his focus shifted toward Yuji, I attacked.
Every time he came after me, Yuji interfered.
And yet I couldn't call this jumping if one man alone was pushing both of us to our absolute limit.
And he hadn't even used his technique yet.
So yes, for a brief moment, the fight almost felt balanced.
Far from the best but manageable, at least until he went ahead and showed why Gege originally planned to make him the protagonist...
Or was it that Bumgumi?
Anyways, out of nowhere, a massive amount of cursed energy suddenly flooded the area.
And before we knew it, both Yuji and I froze under the utterly suffocating feeling of one overwhelmingly powerful Vengeful Curse Spirit manifesting in front of us.
Behind him, something began forming from cursed energy.
A grotesque figure materialized behind him, and I knew who this was.
'Rika.' My eyes widened immediately.
"No way... HOW?"
"You know that curse spirit?" Yuji asked. Panic could almost be heard in his voice.
Only then did I realize that in my shock I had actually ended up shouting that out loud.
Not that anyone could blame me. What was this shit? A soap opera?
Come on, how does he still have Rika? Wasn't she gone?
For a second, my brain outright refused to process what I was seeing.
Until I suddenly recalled something. There was indeed a small scene of Yuta at the end of Season Two of JJK. Rika was shown there, wasn't she...?
One of my hands flew toward my mouth. I couldn't help but curse at myself for forgetting something like that.
"No... but the amount of cursed energy that curse spirit has is almost limitless. Be careful." I spat out upon seeing Yuji was still waiting for an answer with reluctant hesitation.
Running away once again was looking like a very good prospect right now.
'But...'
My eyes roamed from Yuta to Rika, both blocking our path, and I knew that running away would be impossible.
'F*ck my life.'
"You called me, Yuta." Rika spoke in her ghastly tone which sent a chill down my spine.
"Yes, Rika. Can you please hold down one of them for me?" Yuta pointed toward us, no doubt getting annoyed at our joint jumping on him.
"Anything for my Yuta~" Rika yipped like a little schoolgirl in love, which rubbed me in all the wrong ways, especially in that form of hers.
Then her massive hand immediately swung toward us.
Yuji and I scattered in opposite directions as the street exploded beneath the impact.
Dust filled the air.
Concrete shattered under the powerful blow of Rika's palm.
Cars were tossed aside like toys under her strength.
When I finally landed several meters away, my eyes remained fixed on the monstrous figure standing beside Yuta.
"Hey... hey, what kind of man brings his girl to fight with him? Don't you have any shame?" I chided, mostly irritated that I myself didn't have anyone to summon.
'Damn you, Megumi.'
Don't know why, but my irritation toward that bum only increased, even when he had nothing to do with this situation.
Yuta didn't reply.
He was like a machine.
A killing machine, that is.
The balance of the fight had completely collapsed as both he and Curse Spirit Rika rushed at us simultaneously.
But both weren't coming at us aimlessly. Yuta clearly was going after Yuji while he sent Rika after me.
Seeing both rushing at us, my first instinct was to open my Domain, knowing that running away wasn't possible anymore.
If fighting was the only way left to me, I'd go all out no matter who I was fighting, but the thought came with hesitation.
Honestly, killing or no killing, my Domain was good at both. I could simply choose not to kill the enemy and defeat him or her inside my Domain with its innate trait.
That alone gave a huge advantage against fighting anyone.
But I couldn't open my Domain so carelessly now.
Not anymore.
Things were no longer as simple as they used to be.
Ever since Mahoraga became a part of my technique, the cost of using Domain Expansion had skyrocketed to a ridiculous degree.
Just summoning Mahoraga inside my Domain had turned the technique into a cursed energy black hole.
One expansion could easily eat through half of my reserves.
That plus how much energy I had already spent fighting Yuta meant my technique was no longer spammable.
Meaning, I had this one chance to expand my Domain and I had to make it count.
Internally lamenting the time when I was practically spamming this shit in Shibuya, I felt like someone had nerfed my stat screen in disguise of a buff.
And while this was going on, Yuta had already made his move.
Before I could completely make a decision, he called out.
"Rika, hold him down. I'll get the other one." Yuta said while pointing toward me and then turning toward Yuji himself.
Before I even knew it, the giant curse spirit was rushing toward me while Yuta himself dashed after Yuji.
"!!!"
"Wait, you bastard!" I shouted, my hands already on the Domain hand sign, startled seeing both him and Yuji running out of my effective Domain Expansion range.
The two disappeared down another street and just like that, I was left behind with my hands still in the Domain hand sign while irritation rose inside me.
'I should have been faster.' Clenching my teeth, I felt my eye twitching from the indecision I had shown just now.
It was clear.
I was too indecisive right now, not at all like I was back in Shibuya.
"I'm thinking too much, too anxious about making a mistake." Pursing my lips, I recalled the do-or-die feeling from Shibuya and compared it with the current hesitation I felt. Yeah...
That mindset was completely different.
Back then I was already ready to die, which was why there was hardly any hesitation.
Depressing as it was, that state of mind was what brought the strongest version of me out back then.
"I have to catch up to them." I grumbled, already moving after them.
But before I could do so, a figure blocked my path, stopping me mid-motion.
I had almost let it slip out of my mind that she was also here.
I looked at Rika who was menacingly grinning at me and I could only smile helplessly.
'Now how do I get past her?'
Rika too looked at me.
Then a building exploded.
I barely managed to jump away before her fist smashed through the entire structure behind me.
"F*cking hell..." I complained while sprinting across the rooftops.
Rika answered by tearing a chunk of concrete out of a wall and hurling it at me.
I ducked.
The projectile demolished three different buildings behind me.
The next several minutes became the most stressful game of cat and mouse I had experienced in recent memory.
Even worse than when Mahito was on my trail in Shibuya.
At least I could run from him.
Here! There was no running away.
Every time I tried to break past her, she intercepted me.
Every time I changed direction, she was somehow already there.
For such a big girl, she was surprisingly fast on her feet.
Feet!
I blinked and looked down, only to find her lower half was a ghostly trail and nothing more.
'Forget I mentioned that.'
And thus the chase continued.
Me dodging away from her attacks while trying to get past her toward both Yuta and Yuji, and she constantly trying to squish me like a bug on the roadside.
And as time passed, I was getting anxious about both Choso and Yuji.
I believed they both were strong but I had a bad feeling regarding this, especially regarding Yuta going after Yuji.
My boy Yuji was strong but that was Yuta we were talking about.
So I fought with even more vigor to outrun this hopelessly fallen fangirl turned spirit, but to no avail.
She was glued to me like I had stolen Yuta himself.
'Wait... Yuta.'
"Listen, Rika." I shouted suddenly, something suddenly clicking inside my brain.
The curse spirit who was ready to throw another bone-crushing fist at me stopped just before that small mountain-sized fist could fall on me, wearing a confused expression.
"Eh... Yuta told me to stop you, can't stop." she murmured.
'How is that stopping me? That is killing me, you idiotic curse!'
"I know, I know, but listen, this is about your beloved Yuta." I shouted back.
She really stopped at that, letting me speak.
Seeing this, I knew I had her attention.
"Rika, have you ever considered that Yuta might be cheating on you?"
I waited.
There was no outrage or killing intent.
She just stopped there, almost frozen in place.
"LIES... LIAR, YUTA IS MINE. MINE MINE MINE..."
"YOU'RE A LIAR!"
And finally there it was, the outburst.
"I know..." I shouted back before she lost the little rational thinking she had.
"I mean, he did say he loved you and all." I added.
"REALLY...? YUTA SAID HE LOVES ME?!"
One second she was ready to go on a war march and the next she was blushing like a schoolgirl... sigh.
"He did say he loves you."
A big smile appeared on her face, sharp teeth visible as she giggled in that horrifying way only a curse could do.
Or a yandere.
Or both combined into one.
"But..." I trailed off.
"BUT."
She froze again, glaring at me like if my next words weren't to her liking then she didn't care what Yuta had asked her, I was a dead man.
"You know that girl who used to be in his year at Jujutsu High, right? The one named Maki."
The cursed energy around the curse spirit riled up just from hearing Maki's name.
'Jealousy is a b*tch, isn't it...'
"I swear they were always together back when Yuta was studying here in Japan. And now that he's back, he's going to go find her again, you know. Like talking and training together. Looking at each other. Honestly, if I were you, I'd be concerned."
The cursed spirit visibly froze.
That brief daze was my chance.
That was all I needed.
"Think, Rika... Think. Yuta and Maki together. THINK..."
I shouted and immediately bolted while the curse spirit was trapped in her nightmares.
By the time Rika realized what had happened, I was already sprinting down the street at full speed, chasing after the distant trail of cursed energy left behind by both Yuji and Yuta.
Behind me, an enraged scream echoed across the city.
I did not look back.
Some survival instincts are worth listening to, and I listen to all of mine. That's how I'm still here breathing.
So I ran with everything I had until both Yuji and Yuta were visible.
However, the moment I saw them, my motion slowed down as a horrible image came into my vision.
There was Yuta, piercing Yuji's chest cleanly with his sword.
I didn't even know when I came to a halt and saw Yuji's body go limp in front of me.
That was also when Yuta finally spotted me.
And under his distraction, Yuji's body slumped down to the ground, his heart pierced.
A hot feeling of anger bubbled up seeing the boy who had been with me for the last week, helping me survive so far, dropping dead onto the floor.
"You..." I snapped at Yuta with all the righteous anger inside me and brought my hands together into the familiar hand sign.
Yuta's eyes recognised what was happening and widened slightly before his own hands also formed the Domain signs.
Since he too had learned from the lectures of the Honoured One, he knew that the best way to fight against a Domain was to open one's own Domain.
"Die, you bastard," I shouted.
He too got ready, seeing there was no other way, and seeing Rika had finally caught up behind me and entered the effective Domain range.
And thus both of us shouted together.
"Domain Expansion." x2
"Authentic Mutual Love."
"Death Trade."
-x-
A/N : Yeah, tried to show that MC is not always running on the edge, he too can hesitate when it comes to his life. The situation sometimes has to push himself to that level were he becomes a little unhinged.
Also a little back and forth with our favourite curse girl.
Would appreciate stones if you can spare any. Thank you.
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