34

.

Shiki's cursed energy surges.

The sudden absence of a limiter while she is already expelling her cursed energy at maximum output means that there's a veritable explosion that tears through the room as soon as the cursed chains break. Glass casings lining the shelves vibrate and break into a glittering mess of jagged shards. Metal crumples in on itself along harsh indents. Wooden frames and furniture implodes into a shower of pointed splinters.

It takes a moment, before Shiki is able to bring her cursed energy back under proper control again.

Part of her feels oddly… empty, almost. The abrupt loss of a significant amount of cursed energy leaves her a little lightheaded and dizzy, but she considers it an acceptable trade-off in exchange for finally being able to properly use her cursed energy again.

Shiki's first action is to take stock of the ongoing altercation between Kiyohira-sensei and Araya.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the disruptive outburst resulting from her destruction of the cursed tool was one that had ended up interrupting the ongoing battle. Both men were currently situated a slight distance away from each other. The broken frame of a heavy shelf toppled over between them served as a clear indication of just what had ended up separating them.

Araya takes one look at Shiki, free of chains and struggling to sit upright despite the paralysis still afflicting her body, and makes to step towards her. But he is forced to abort his movements after a single step, when Kiyohira-sensei comes at him with a vicious drop-kick.

The ground beneath the man's feet crack from the force of the blow.

A slight frown. Araya blocks Kiyohira-sensei's following strike, then counters with a merciless punch to the center of the other man's chest, striking him directly on the sternum–

But just like the majority of the other blows that he'd landed earlier, it's no use against Kiyohira-sensei's cursed technique. All it does is cause Kiyohira-sensei to bare his teeth in a fierce snarl, before his hand snaps forward. Calloused fingers close roughly over the dark-haired sorcerer's collar with a tightfisted grip, then yank down and slam the man headfirst into the ground.

It's… vaguely reminiscent of what Araya had done to Shiki, in that room filled with poisonous incense.

Blood slowly seeps out over the glass-riddled ground. For a single instant, only the sound of Kiyohira-sensei's harsh panting can be heard through the room.

"… Ah. I see how it is." Despite having been thrown face-down into the hard flooring, Araya's voice is calm –too calm, unnaturally so, despite the pain that he must be in. And yet, the man shows no signs of any such suffering. "So that's how your cursed technique operates."

Kiyohira-sensei's eyes narrow. "You–"

He doesn't get a chance to finish his words.

Without warning, a glowing circular array suddenly appears beneath the fallen sorcerer, instantly expanding outwards. Kiyohira-sensei leaps back –no, is thrown back from the force of… of whatever it is. Going by appearances alone, Shiki would almost call it some type of barrier-work, but… there's something strange about it. She's never heard of any kind of barrier like this. Was it something related to hojutsu, potentially? That didn't seem quite right, though…

Araya slowly draws himself upright again. Beneath his feet, the concentric circles rotate silently, filled with strange inscriptions between each glowing layer that Shiki does not recognize.

More concerningly, however, she has trouble seeing its lines.

The lines of Araya's multilayered technique are oddly muted. Gray and washed out, where Shiki usually sees clear, distinct lines shining brightly. This is a first. Even Sukuna's finger hadn't been quite like this –on that Special Grade cursed object, Shiki simply hadn't been able to see any lines, period. But that wasn't the case here.

It was difficult to discern properly, but there were lines embedded within the glowing circles. Except they flickered and disappeared constantly in a shimmering haze, not unlike static images on a digital screen. The colors were faint and dull in comparison to the gleaming red lines sprawled across everything else in their surroundings.

What is this?

Shiki doesn't know. But under the current circumstances, it certainly couldn't mean anything good.

Kiyohira-sensei's thoughts evidently run along similar lines to Shiki's, because the man is quick to react by lowering himself into a cautious stance upon the strange appearance of these circular arrays. His eyes never drift away once from the sorcerer who'd activated this strange technique. Kiyohira-sensei's hands briefly twitch towards his empty side where he customarily keeps his blade, before halting and curling into fists once more.

Despite being wary and on guard, everything still happens far too quickly.

One moment, Kiyohira-sensei stands there silently. A stalwart, immovable shield. But in the next moment, he is promptly thrown back by a strange whip of mottled white-black light that lashes out from one of the indecipherable inscriptions in the unknown array. 'Thrown' isn't exactly an accurate descriptor in this context, actually; when Kiyohira-sensei tries to block the strange rope-like extension using his body, he's sent flying.

There is a loud thud as the man is literally embedded into the wall on the other side of the room, followed by a wet, wracking cough. Splatters of red drip-drip-drip liberally to the floor.

Something in Shiki's chest twists, and her breath catches in her throat.

"'Inverse' is certainly a useful cursed technique," Araya's voice is calm and collected. He walks forward sedately, the glowing rings around him following the grooves of the broken, uneven ground in tandem to his steps. Gradually, the circles draw back into themselves, and by the time he's standing in front of Kiyohira-sensei, they've disappeared entirely beneath his feet. "Powerful attacks become weak when they hit you, allowing you to easily reduce damage to yourself. But just as the Prisoner's Chains have a limit to the amount of cursed energy that they can contain, there is also a limit to the power of attacks that you can nullify through inverse. If an attack exceeds the amount of force that you can manipulate…"

Ignoring the man's musings, Kiyohira-sensei swings a fist at the other sorcerer, the moment he is close enough. But Araya easily catches the blow, and his fingers curl over Kiyohira-sensei's forearm.

At that moment, there is a single split-second when Shiki experiences a sense of extreme foreboding. She instantly draws on her cursed energy, and scrambles to send it in a wave towards Araya–

"… Then, the result is only to be expected."

Araya's cursed energy rises, sharp and choking as he fends off Shiki's haphazard attack. He does not turn away from Kiyohira-sensei, and his fingers dig down. Beneath his fingertips, there is a crackle of ghostly green-blue light that flickers dangerously as Kiyohira-sensei pushes his cursed technique to its maximum in response to the stress that Araya exerts upon it–

Something breaks. Bursts, in a gory mess of blood and fragmented shards of bone, not unlike the way the cursed chains had ultimately shattered from being overloaded with Shiki's cursed energy mere moments earlier.

An involuntary shout of pain escapes Kiyohira-sensei's throat, before he is able to bite down on it. Blood splatters into the air, as Araya wrenches his hand back, tearing off Kiyohira-sensei's entire arm.

Carelessly, the stone-faced sorcerer discards the mutilated limb in his grip. The bloody lump lands with a wet sound on the floor.

…

Kiyohira-sensei's right arm is gone.

… The entire limb is completely gone. Blood gushes out from the open, gaping wound in a veritable flood. Incessantly, with no end in sight.

Araya overpowered Kiyohira-sensei's cursed technique.

'Inverse' was not a cursed technique unique to the Gojo bloodline. But as far as cursed techniques went, it was one that would be foolish to dismiss merely on basis of its deceptively simple principles. When activated, Inverse allowed for the user to 'invert' the damage of all incoming attacks. Strong attacks become weak, while weak attacks become strong. But as Araya had so ruthlessly pinpointed, there was a maximum ceiling to how much power could actually be reversed by the cursed technique. Its capacity was not limitless.

The technique was a dangerous one if wielded effectively, but it was not without its drawbacks. There were multiple ways of overcoming Inverse once one was aware of the basic details on how it operated. It wasn't entirely shocking that Araya had managed to figure out what Kiyohira-sensei's cursed technique was. What was surprising was the method that the man had chosen to counter her teacher.

Araya opted for the most obvious solution, straightforward and brutal in its simplicity.

More concerningly, it had only taken him an instant to overpower Kiyohira-sensei's cursed technique. The very moment that the man had chosen to stop restricting himself solely to physical combat, and instead brought out the other skills in his repertoire as a sorcerer… Kiyohira-sensei had been unable to defend against him.

Grade One. Or, possibly…

Araya Souren was undoubtedly a Grade One sorcerer, and a powerful one, at that, given the ease with which he had overwhelmed Kiyohira-sensei. Granted, Kiyohira-sensei had not been in a good state coming in to this altercation, but even then… it wasn't as if Kiyohira-sensei was an average Grade One sorcerer. With or without his sword, Kiyohira-sensei was a force to be reckoned with–

Except this all means nothing to Araya, apparently, who merely flicks his wrist in an idle gesture. Thick rivulets of blood splatter across the ground –Kiyohira-sensei's blood. There's no change in the solemn-faced man's countenance, not even triumph or satisfaction. Araya's gaze is cold and clinical as he surveys Kiyohira-sensei, collapsed before him in the bloodstained rubble.

The air is filled with the sound of Kiyohira-sensei's harsh breathing.

… His arm is gone.

Only a gaping hole remains where the limb used to be. The limb itself was now nothing but an unmoving lump of mutilated flesh, strewn across the ground in a splatter of gore.

That's Kiyohira-sensei's sword arm. The thought occurs to her distantly, somewhere in the corner of her mind that still attempts to distract itself through focusing on other things. But it's no use, in the end. Nothing can erase the all-consuming sight of Kiyohira-sensei sprawled out in a pool of his own blood.

Part of her still has trouble registering what she's seeing. Kiyohira-sensei is far from reaching Satoru-niichan's level –most sorcerers all fall far short of Gojo Satoru– but despite that, he's still one of the Gojo Clan's strongest sorcerers. If only he hadn't been affected by the poison, if only he'd had his sword–!

But it's only obvious that neither Araya Souren nor Kamo Matsuhime would leave a weapon by Kiyohira-sensei's side. It's already a miracle that they hadn't chosen to kill him in the first place, even if the obvious signs of human experimentation in this room does not fill Shiki with confidence as to what their plans had most likely been for her teacher.

… There's so much blood.

…

It's… odd. All things considered, Shiki is no stranger to blood. She's encountered many grisly scenes that were far, far worse than what is currently laid out before her eyes. But for some reason, here and now, there's something that stings in her chest, prickling uncomfortably in the back of her throat.

Kiyohira-sensei's lines are increasing. Shiki can see it. The sight is an unwelcome one.

Her hand twitches.

… She still can't move. After all of this, she still can't move. Her body remains paralyzed, despite her commands for it to move, move, move–

Cursed energy swirls around her restlessly in response to her unvoiced agitation.

Araya turns his eyes away from Kiyohira-sensei's downed form. His attention on Shiki is a heavy thing, but the girl forces herself to look back calmly, unflinchingly.

It's good that he's decided to focus on her. If he's looking at her, then… that means he's not looking at Kiyohira-sensei. He won't be hurting Kiyohira-sensei anymore.

Shiki mentally braces herself in preparation for what is to come.

This time, the sorcerer does not approach her as carelessly as he had earlier. Despite still being immobilized, Shiki is no longer fettered by the cursed tool restricting her cursed energy. The broken chains lie in pieces around her in undeniable proof. Cursed energy wells up inside her core, an inferno burning brightly.

Even if she can't move, that doesn't mean she's going down without a fight.

Araya pauses, brows creasing slightly. The man raises his hands in front of himself as if to–

"Get. AWAY!"

… Kiyohira-sensei?!

Her teacher's sole remaining arm suddenly lashes out like a whip, hands closing around Araya's ankle, then yanking the man off-balance. The unexpected motion comes as a complete shock; Shiki had thought that Kiyohira-sensei had ended up passing out by this point, but evidently he was a lot tougher than Shiki ever realized. But even so, Kiyohira-sensei was missing his arm, and there was so much blood…

What is he thinking? His first reaction hadn't been to ascertain his own condition, or even to tie a makeshift tourniquet for himself. Instead, he was still snarling at Araya Souren, undaunted.

… That wasn't good. That wasn't good at all.

Araya is yanked off-balance for a brief moment, taken by surprise, but the man catches himself easily. Twists, and kicks, and Shiki's heart nearly leaps into her throat when Kiyohira-sensei takes it directly in his midsection–

But he'd twisted his body, at the same time. Angled himself, so that the force of the other sorcerer's blow would lend him extra momentum in a desperate leap backwards, and he ends up landing directly beside Shiki in a heavy, graceless tumble.

Blood splatters heavily over her arms, scalding her cheek.

Shiki's cursed energy curls over her teacher protectively before she's even really aware of it. Not unlike the way she'd done so in an attempt to support Iori-sensei, when she'd found the woman had been severely injured in the mountains.

But it's not the same. It's not working. Back then, Iori-sensei had been awake and conscious, and had already been using her own cursed energy to strengthen the constitution of her body. What Shiki had done at the time was mostly along the lines of 'providing additional cursed energy' for her to work with, aside from her own dwindling reserves.

Kiyohira-sensei's state was far worse than Iori-sensei's had been that day. His entire right arm had been torn off. He's losing too much blood. The man hadn't been in a good state going into this fight, and despite supposedly having received an antidote, it was highly likely that he was still suffering from the aftereffects of being poisoned. There's blood trickling out from his mouth –a bitten tongue, or internal injuries? Or perhaps both?

"… Kiyohira-sensei?" Shiki's voice is soft, querying. But her teacher does not respond, which makes something constrict uncomfortably inside her chest as she attempts to meet his eyes, to at least try to convey to him that–

Kiyohira-sensei's eyes are unfocused, and Shiki registers a faint note of alarm. His gaze is glassy and severely unfocused, in a way that suggests he is currently fading in and out. Kiyohira-sensei isn't responding to her –he's not responding to any of Shiki's words anymore. And yet, his body still remains solidly in front of Shiki, interposed between her and the threat that approaches them.

Traumatic injuries. Grievous blood loss. And still he tries to protect her, operating on some nameless instinct that she is unable to put into words.

Shiki can't heal him. She doesn't know how to even generate positive energy, much less use reverse cursed technique. If only Shiki knew how to heal using reverse cursed technique like Shoko-san… no, if only she could–!

'Stasis.'

… Yes. That was the answer, wasn't it?

Kiyohira-sensei's blood is warm beneath her fingertips, while Shiki's mind is awhirl with what she has to do. This is the only solution that she can think of. Back on that mountain with the Special Grade cursed spirit, this was what she'd unknowingly done for Iori-sensei, right? Somehow, Shiki had been able to prevent Iori-sensei's injuries from worsening. Satoru-niichan had conveyed as much in the aftermath, which was what then led to their discussion of Shiki's cursed technique and their subsequent experiments with figuring out the details–

But all of their attempts had been unsuccessful to date. Much to her frustration, Shiki hadn't been able to replicate whatever she had done, not even with her cousin's help on the matter.

Yet with her teacher's blood liberally splattered across her motionless, useless body, Shiki realizes that Kiyohira-sensei is going to die if she doesn't do anything. Successfully using the stasis technique on Kiyohira-sensei is her only choice.

This has to work.

Despite the imminent danger of Araya drawing closer to them every moment, Shiki closes her eyes and concentrates. Narrows down her focus to the concept of 'preservation.' Pushes her cursed energy into the attempt, while simultaneously doing her best to limit it strictly towards activating her technique, rather than cause additional stress to Kiyohira-sensei's body. Her teacher really doesn't need to have his injuries aggravated any further.

… She really doesn't want Kiyohira-sensei to die.

There is a visible glow from Shiki's cursed energy, shining brightly, and–

It–

… It's no use.

…

Shiki tries, tries to enact this 'stasis' effect on Kiyohira-sensei again and again and again, but it's not working. The pool of blood on the ground continues growing steadily, despite her efforts. Kiyohira-sensei's cursed energy falters, flickering like a guttering candle flame. She can sense it fading in a manner that does not inspire any confidence in the man's continued wellbeing.

Something bitter presses in the back of her throat, and Shiki isn't sure if it's from sheer frustration with her own uselessness, or if it's from imminent horror at the realization that Kiyohira-sensei is going to bleed to death and succumb to his injuries right in front of her eyes. Injuries that he had sustained attempting to protect Shiki, instead of escaping on his own.

But there's no changing the truth: Even with the correct tools at her disposal, she can't help Kiyohira-sensei.

"This man," Araya's voice breaks through the silence that had fallen, addressing her. "He's important to you, isn't he?"

"Why state the obvious?" Shiki doesn't look away from her teacher as she responds tonelessly. This does not mean that she's unaware of the other man, though, and the girl flares her cursed energy sharply in warning as he approaches.

Kamo Matsuhime makes a pained sound somewhere off to the side. All the cursed energy thrown about the room couldn't have been good for the woman's injuries, and Shiki wouldn't be surprised if her bones had been re-broken at some point. She couldn't care less about the Kamo woman's wellbeing.

On his part, Araya Souren pauses in his strides. The man comes to a stop right where Shiki's cursed energy had flickered warningly, the edge of an unsheathed knife in the dark.

"Do you want him to live?" he asks her.

Shiki stills.

This time, she flicks her eyes towards him. Araya's expression remains dispassionate, unmoving.

"… What do you mean?"

"Make a binding vow with me," Araya reveals his intentions. "Cooperate with me, and do not resist. Surely you must realize by now that there is no escape for you? On my part, I would prefer not to continue wasting time, or work with a damaged subject. Comply with my instructions, and I will ensure that Gojo Kiyohira lives. This I can promise you as a binding vow"

… This damned sorcerer!

The subtle hints and oddities in this situation finally connect themselves in Shiki's mind. Kamo Matsuhime had been the first person she'd seen, after regaining consciousness in this room. Shiki had broken the woman's bones herself, and yet Kamo Matsuhime had shown up obviously upright and healed, if not completely recovered. This had then led into Araya's words when he'd made his entry. The man confirmed that he was the one to treat her wounds. His careless reveal of being able to use reverse cursed technique on another person –it wasn't a subtle threat of his strength, or of his competence as a sorcerer that Shiki had mistook it to be.

The takeaway was this: Araya Souren could use reverse cursed technique on other people.

And right now, Kiyohira-sensei is dying.

… Was this why her teacher had been kept alive? Even if Kiyohira-sensei hadn't somehow obtained the antidote and attempted to save her on his own, in the circumstance that Shiki proved herself troublesome to deal with… would Araya have…?

"Now is not the time to be indecisive," the man patiently reminds her, still in that same infuriatingly neutral tone. "I am skilled enough with reverse cursed technique to bring back a sorcerer who is on the brink of death. Not one who is already dead."

Shiki hisses, a frustrated sound. If she agrees to this deal, then there's no doubt that would be completely and wholly surrendering herself to Araya's less-than-kind intentions. Once she does that, there would truly be no escape for her.

Pluck your eyes from your skull. Strip your cursed technique from your corpse.

She doubted that was all he had in mind, either. Human experimentation was the Kamo Clan's specialty, right? So removing her cursed technique was probably only the tip of the iceberg, going by his request for a binding vow of obedience. Shiki had zero interest in learning the details of what was involved in the Kamo Clan's research methods when it came to dissecting a sorcerer.

But if she doesn't agree, then… Kiyohira-sensei…

…

Jihei-san was already dead, because of her. Shiki didn't want Kiyohira-sensei to die for her too.

If she didn't agree, then Kiyohira-sensei would most assuredly die. That was not in doubt. He would die, and then Araya and the Kamo Clan would continue to proceed with their plans. With her cursed energy now at her disposal, Shiki would be able to hold the sorcerer off for a while, but… there would only be so much that she could do, when she couldn't even move properly. Unless Satoru-niichan suddenly dropped down out of the sky right this instant, Shiki and Kiyohira-sensei would both be dead in short order at this rate.

So if she agrees, then at the very least, Kiyohira-sensei would be guaranteed to live.

… This was exactly the sort of logic that Araya was banking on from her, wasn't it?

Shiki grits her teeth. There's no good choice here. The very last thing she wants is to play directly into Araya Souren's hands. But at the same time, she really doesn't want Kiyohira-sensei to die.

If only she was still able to do something, if only she wasn't so useless, if only she–!

"I–"

"In the name of Kamo Teruichi, the thirty-second head of the Kamo Clan, I command you to stop!"

Suffice to say, no one expected the boyish voice that suddenly tore through the air out of nowhere. Araya turns with a frown, and Shiki follows the man's gaze–

But it's Kamo Matsuhime who speaks first, before either of them.

"Nobutomo!" A spark of light returns to the lady's eyes, and she struggles to rise to her feet despite her injuries. One of her legs is bent backwards in the completely wrong direction that a leg is supposed to bend in, but somehow the woman appears completely oblivious to the pain. "There you are, my son. Just in time, you must hurry and–"

"Did you not hear what I said, mother?" The boy who steps into the room is tall and dark-haired. To be perfectly honest, in terms of appearances he… resembles his father and clan head more so than he does his mother. But there is an air of similarity between them all the same, including the haughty air with which he makes his entrance and strides over to her, then looks down upon the woman at his feet.

He does not crouch down to help her up, nor does he pass his fallen lady mother her crutches.

Instead, he kicks them away from her.

The crutches make a loud clattering noise as they skitter across the floor, and this, at least, seems to finally snap the woman out of her blind euphoria at her son's arrival.

Kamo Matsuhime blinks, disconcerted, and looks up. "Nobutomo…?"

"Mother," the boy returns flatly. There's a strange, conflicted expression that flits over his face for an instant, almost akin to regret, before it swiftly hardens. "You… do you even realize what you've done?"

"What are you talking about?" Kamo Matsuhime stares at her son, incomprehension written clearly in her demeanor. "This is all for you! For your future as the head of the Kamo Clan–"

"By killing the Gojo Clan's blessed child?" Kamo Nobutomo's eyes flicker towards Shiki briefly, heavy with guilt, before snapping back to focus on his mother. "Have you gone insane? This is utter madness! The Gojo Clan would see us dead a thousand times over for this. You'll be lucky if you don't end up starting the bloodiest feud in the entire history of the Kamo Clan!"

The woman shakes her head. "No, Nobutomo. There's no way that would happen, you're exaggerating. Don't you see? Everything works out perfectly. You even agreed to this, when I informed you that–"

"You told me that there was a way for me to receive a cursed technique. You didn't say that you were planning to do so by kidnapping and murdering Gojo Shiki, bringing down the wrath of Gojo Satoru and the entire Gojo Clan upon the Kamo Clan!" For a moment, the boy's voice gains a scathing edge. He forces himself to stop and take in a deep breath, before continuing to speak in a slightly calmer tone. "Mother, please. You need to stop. It's still not too late to turn back and fix things."

Kamo Matsuhime gives her son an odd look, like she can't believe what she's hearing. The woman tilts her head, glancing towards Shiki, and… smiles.

"You don't understand, Nobutomo," she says, her eyes fixated directly on the younger girl despite her words being directed towards her son. "It's already too late. Take this as a lesson from your mother: Some things, there's no turning back from, once events have already been set in motion. And… there's truly no need for you to worry. Everything will work out, you'll see. I've already made the proper arrangements to ensure that we won't be implicated."

The boy gives his mother a look of complete and utter disbelief. "What are you –won't be implicated? Are you being serious? … Just how much are you looking down on the Gojo Clan? This isn't anything like –like the petty family disputes you keep stirring up, or the internal spats between different houses to take advantage of. That you would even consider such a thing…was it Araya? Was he the one who put such ridiculous ideas into your head?"

Towards the end of his words, Kamo Nobutomo has turned with narrowed eyes towards the sorcerer who regards them both neutrally, not even bothering to hide his disinterest.

"Your mother was the one who approached me," is all Araya has to say on the subject, neatly sidestepping the boy's accusations entirely while simultaneously implying that he was not the party responsible behind any of this. Considering that the man had previously admitted to watching Shiki since she was born, Shiki has her doubts about that.

The sorcerer's gaze returns to the girl lying on the ground. "I reiterate: If you want Gojo Kiyohira to live, then I suggest that you make your decision swiftly. I cannot bring an empty corpse back to life."

Shiki knows that. True resurrection is an impossibility, and something that does not exist in this world.

Beneath her hands, Kiyohira-sensei's blood is warm.

… The man is unconscious, but his last act had been to curl himself protectively in front of her as a physical barrier, as if he could hide Shiki's smaller body beneath his frame and keep her safe that way. Which, he couldn't.

But even so, Shiki–

"You're the one who did this to Gojo Kiyohira?" Kamo Nobutomo's voice sounds from the side, faintly tinged with horror. "Araya Souren, what have you done? In the name of Kamo Teruichi–"

"There is no need to keep repeating your father's name, boy. If you had truly brought this matter to Teruichi's attention, then the Defense Squad would already be here. You still think to save your mother from this, don't you?" The man sighs, shaking his head. "A futile effort. You should've known to expect this result from the very moment you delivered the antidote to Gojo Kiyohira and set him free."

Kamo Matsuhime sucks in a sharp, shocked breath. "Nobutomo, that was you? Why… why would you sabotage us like this? This is all for your future!"

"I don't know what promises he filled your head with, but this harebrained plan isn't going to work. There's no way it will! Even if it does… once the Gojo Clan realizes what occurred, what do you think would happen to the Kamo Clan?"The boy's shoulders tense, and he does not turn back to face his mother. "I… I had to do something."

Even with the bulk of her attention remaining on Kiyohira-sensei through this ongoing drama, Shiki still has enough presence of mind to register that, unexpectedly, Kamo Nobutomo is evidently here to help. That's… a surprise.

She doesn't really remember the older boy from the brief time when she'd met him when she'd been all of six years old, aside from the loathing and disgust that he'd treated his younger half-brother with. The Kamo Clan's bastard heir. However, it would seem that his personality had changed drastically over the years, from a child who would thoughtlessly go along with his mother's plans to force an arranged marriage, to a young man who would openly oppose the woman's decisions.

"Araya," Kamo Nobutomo addresses his clan's sorcerer, raising his voice. "What convinced you to proceed with such madness? Has the Kamo Clan not treated you well over the years? Provided you with the resources that you required, and allowed you access to our hidden archives? Is this how you repay the respect and honor that you were given –by inciting conflict with the Gojo Clan?"

To his credit, the man does not look guilty in the least. "The terms of my employment with the Kamo Clan are clear. I have not violated any of them. As for the Kamo Clan… whether or not the Kamo Clan is able to stand victorious at the end is not my concern."

"You–!"

"Besides," Araya adds, a thoughtful afternote. "You speak as if it is my intention to see ruination upon the Kamo Clan. It is not. That would be Lady Matsuhime, who failed to see the consequences of what lay ahead. Fitting, that the Kamo Clan should reap what it sows."

The Kamo lady's eyes are blown wide. "You –how dare you, you lowly–!"

"Your anger is quite misplaced, Lady Matsuhime."

The woman screeches. "You betrayed me, Araya?"

"Hardly," the man denies. "You speak as if you did not plan to pin the blame for this entire affair on me, so I suppose there is a certain irony –there's no need to look at me like that. Your plans were quite obvious. You did not exactly make any secret of your disdain for me."

"I– you–!"

"Inter-clan politics are quite different from inter-family power plays within the same clan," the man remarks. "Unfortunately, expertise in the latter does not extend to the former. It is only fair that you take responsibility for what you set into motion, even if it was at the instigation of–"

"You two-faced snake!" Kamo Matsuhime hisses self-righteously. "This lady would never harm the Kamo Clan! But as for you –you were serving your own agenda this entire time, weren't you? Despite everything this lady conceded to in your favor? Was the deal that was struck between us not enough for you, greedy sorcerer? This lady only asked for the girl's cursed technique for Nobutomo, and you would be permitted to keep everything else as research material, even her eyes!"

"… Your point?"

"Do you not understand the generosity that this magnanimous lady has shown you?!" The woman animatedly throws out an arm to her side. "Compared to her eyes, the girl's cursed technique is nothing!"

"I disagree," Araya responds flatly. The man also says something else, but Shiki is no longer listening.

Because… inexplicably, for some reason… in this moment, there is part of her mind that latches onto Kamo Matsuhime's impassioned cry. It's not the woman's outrage that gives Shiki pause, but rather the phrasing of the words that the woman had spoken.

Compared to her eyes, the girl's cursed technique is nothing!

Cursed technique. Nothing. The two words repeat themselves in her mind, over and over again. Cursed technique. Nothing.

It's silly, but in this moment, something clicks.

… Shiki thinks she finally gets it, now.

Unbidden, she finds herself recalling a not-so-distant memory of training with Satoru-niichan. Of standing in a grassy training field with her cousin's attention focused on her, while she attempted to get a hold of her ill-defined cursed technique.

Weird, he'd commented at the time. I feel like my eyes are giving me nothing, even though there's clearly something still going on.

'Nothing.'

It's… strange. Really strange. There's no real reason for why this of all things is what her mind suddenly chooses to hyper-focus on, except it is. Because everything makes sense, now. In this moment, with Kiyohira-sensei dying in her arms while Kamo Matsuhime screeches incoherently and Araya closing in–

Shiki feels it, like a solid, visceral motion. She feels herself teetering on the precipice of understanding –and toppling headfirst over the edge.

It's not just 'understanding' or 'comprehension,' even though it could reasonably be construed as such. But it goes far deeper beyond that, down to her very core.

Nothing.

All things with a 'beginning' also have an 'end.' Shiki is empty, but everything in this world also possesses a similar sort of emptiness.

Her eyes allowed her to see the death of things.

However, her cursed technique was not just the 'ability to kill.'

… She knows that. She knows that, and she's always known it, deep down in a way that's undeniable. How could she ever have been so blind to her own nature?

Something inside her settles, oddly calm and at peace despite the imminent danger.

Cursed technique lapse, she remembers Satoru-niichan explaining, is the strengthened form of a cursed technique. You achieve it by operating your cursed technique at a level beyond its base limits, in order to 'overcharge' it. This way, you attain the intensified effect that is different from the base state of your cursed technique.

Before, when Shiki had been trying to figure out her 'stasis' technique under her cousin's watchful eye, she'd been blindly outputting her cursed energy in an attempt to work out what her cursed technique did. But it wasn't supposed to be like that; things simply didn't work that way. It was like… like trying to grasp smoke. Like trying to find a single grain of sand, when sifting through the glittering shores of a beach filled with countless millions upon millions.

But right now, Shiki acts with perfect knowledge of what she is doing. Everything else in the world fades away, as she turns her attention inwards, and concentrates.

Nothing.

Not 'death.' Instead, her cursed technique deals with the concept of 'nothingness.' The reason why Satoru-niichan hadn't observed anything from her, all this time, was because it really was 'nothing.' In its base state, it only made sense that nothing was happening –because, quite literally, nothing was happening at all.

(And at her core, Shiki is empty.)

Shiki carefully molds her cursed energy again, one more time.

… Ever since her experience with 'Black Flash' in that mountain, it's been easier to grasp her cursed energy and manipulate it exactly how she wishes to. Right now, Shiki draws on all ofher remaining cursed energy and brushes her fingers against Kiyohira-sensei's far-larger ones amid the blood on the floor.

Unlike all of her prior attempts, this time she doesn't attempt to concentrate her efforts into applying 'preservation,' or 'stasis.' Because rather than actively bringing forth and applying either concept to the chosen target… it was ensuring that 'nothing' would affect the target, instead.

That was the crux of why all her previous efforts had all ended in miserable failure. How could Shiki possibly create and apply a new, nonexistent trait to something when her cursed technique was one that specifically related to the absence of things?

(Emptiness. More than that, it was–)

A white glow suffuses the air brightly. For the first time, Shiki is consciously aware of herself utilizing this aspect of her abilities. She can feel the flow of her cursed energy fueling the technique itself, whereas before she had only been stumbling around blindly.

But in this moment, everything is crystal clear, and Shiki acts with full knowledge of exactly what she needs to do.

Her cursed energy washes over Kiyohira-sensei. The man doesn't regain consciousness, but his breathing immediately eases. Even though his cursed energy levels remain low, they don't continue flickering so dangerously, instead stabilizing, and Shiki knows even before she draws back her fingertips that she'd succeeded.

So does Araya.

"Foolish," he says, from where he stands directly above her. The man grabs her by her wrist and yanks her upwards; Shiki dangles limply in his grip, a helpless doll. Weakly, her cursed energy snaps out against the man, only to be rebuffed in an instant. "Was this worth it? You only prolong the inevitable."

I really need to ask Satoru-niichan what exercises there are to increase cursed energy capacity. This is the second time in a fairly short time frame that Shiki finds herself running terribly low on cursed energy when she needs it. She can't say that she's terribly enthused by either of her experiences. If there's a third repeat of this in the future, she's going to be very cross.

"Araya! Araya, the blessed child cannot be found dead on Kamo grounds, you need to–!"

"Silence," the man doesn't even bother to turn in their direction. But his words are accompanied by a pointed pulse of cursed energy, and immediately there are twin choked sounds from the Kamos off to the side. Shiki holds zero sympathy for Kamo Matsuhime, but at this point, it's become fairly obvious that she is not the one in charge here. Araya is the one who–

A tremor suddenly runs through the ground, cutting through her thoughts. An earthquake? The unexpected shaking causes the sorcerer holding her to stumble, jostling Shiki by association.

"What…?" That's the only word that the man manages to get out, before there is a loud screech of something in the very walls tearing itself apart.

No, not tearing–

The walls crumble and collapse. Wooden beams and metal poles fall down, dirt and dust showering all five of them in the room. There is another harsh, shuddering rumble, and then–

Suddenly, there is a blast of cool air on her face. Light floods the room. Because the entire ceiling has been ripped off.

Araya makes an irritated sound, and his grip on her forearm tightens to a painful extent. But the pain does not register to Shiki as she stares at the gaping new hole over their heads.

Through the churning mess of slowly-rotating wreckage and debris flying upwards into the air, the sun-lit silhouette of a white-haired man with haunting blue eyes is clearly visible above the smoke.

.

.

Extra.

.

The very instant that Gojo Satoru had stepped foot onto the grounds of the Ukiharu Temple, he'd known that there was something off.

It wasn't the temple itself. At a glance, the temple was nothing but ordinary, complete with standard obfuscation barriers, but only a thorough search would be able to confirm it as such. No, it wasn't anything to do with the temple.

Satoru walks in through the front gates and promptly comes to a dead stop at the unexpected sight of the very last person he'd expected to see here.

"Suguru?"

… His friend looks both exactly the same and completely different from what Satoru remembers, and something inside him aches, even as it simultaneously recoils. For a moment, he feels almost completely numb. Suguru is dressed so weirdly in a monk's outfit –which, what?– and his hair is a lot longer than what Satoru remembers it being, the last time they'd seen each other in Shinjuku as third year students.

… Goddamn, had it really been… five years since they'd last seen each other? And their last conversation with each other… it had been…

Are you the Strongest because you're Gojo Satoru? Or are you Gojo Satoru because you're the Strongest?

Kill me if you want. There's a meaning to that.

Those parting words had haunted him, echoing inside his head. Satoru didn't understand. He didn't understand. Suguru was his best friend –is his best friend, still– but Satoru doesn't understand him.

("Why do other people make no sense?" his cute little cousin had once asked very reasonably. Yeah, about that. Hard the same!)

The only thing that confirms this situation as a coincidence and not an outright trap is the equally startled look on Suguru's face. But that doesn't make this any less suspicious –in fact, he'd say that it makes everything even more so. Satoru has literally been doing his best to follow up on his best friend these past few years, in between the assignments piled on him and his work as the head of his clan, and had nothing to show for it! The closest he'd gotten to was that time when Shiki exorcised a Special Grade curse on that mountain, but he'd been late, and there had been no significant clues that he could pick up.

Then, suddenly, Suguru was right here, standing in front of him. Satoru actually has to blink a few times just to confirm with his Six Eyes that yes, it's Suguru standing here in the flesh, and no, it's not an illusion.

This is real.

"Yo, Satoru," Suguru smiles and gives a small wave, expertly covering up his surprise. Despite the edge of wariness that enters his body language, there is part of him that does appear genuinely pleased to see Satoru.

… Satoru doesn't know what to make of it. How is he supposed to respond?

Yo there yourself, Suguru. You look like you're doing well. How's running a cult turning out for you? Hey, I heard you picked up a pair of kids, too!

Satoru swallows down on those words. "Hah, can't say I expected to see you here, Suguru."

"Well, the same goes for me as well," Suguru admits rather dryly. "I came here intending to see a potential recruit, but I suppose that was a complete lie. Not your doing, I take it?"

Satoru throws him an unimpressed look. "If I knew where you were, I'd come knocking myself, instead of sending some hapless sorcerer to fish you out."

"Hojutsu user, in this case." Suguru corrects absently, and pauses. Satoru hadn't visibly reacted, but something must've given him away –or maybe Suguru is still well-practiced at reading him, even after all these years. "That means something to you, doesn't it? … Ah. Right, this is about Gojo Jihei, I presume? I'm sorry for your loss."

"Not just Jihei." Satoru had liked the man, true, but far more importantly, "This is about Shiki."

His friend's eyes immediately narrow. "… Shiki? How is she involved in this?"

"You really don't know?" Satoru raises an eyebrow. Was that concern he was hearing? Even though he was the one who'd forced her into a binding vow? If it had been anyone other than Suguru who'd done that to her, anyone other than Suguru who Satoru knew would not harm children –children who were sorcerers, anyways, going by his current mindset– he would've eviscerated them.

… Anyways.

Suguru is openly frowning, by the end of the rundown of the situation. "… I see. We've both been played, then."

Satoru rolls his eyes. Yeah, that much is pretty obvious by this point. He doesn't think Mei Mei would lie to him, but unfortunately it was entirely possible that a false trail had been laid using Gojo Kansuke as a smokescreen, in order to bait him to the temple. If Suguru was here, too… then clearly someone wanted Satoru to have a busy day. Satoru is kind of miffed by it, but he can't deny that this plan is effective.

Still. He's here with a task to do, and Satoru fully intends to complete it. His eyes flick over the empty courtyard. Finding Kansuke should only be the work of moments for him, while on the other hand Suguru–

His eyes promptly narrow. "… Oh, are you serious?"

Satoru marches over and slams open a set of sliding doors.

There, in the center of the room –Gojo Kansuke lies sprawled on the ground, motionless, run through with a sword from behind. There's still a slightly startled expression on the fresh corpse's face, almost as if the man couldn't believe that he'd been killed.

Well, tough. Satoru can't say he's sad to see the man dead, but he's a little annoyed that someone got here before him. Moreover, being dead means that Kansuke can't answer any questions, and answers are what they very much need right now.

"What a mess," Suguru comments from behind him, peering past the doorway. "He's the one you're looking for?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Satoru clicks his tongue.

"… Have you considered that someone might be trying to pin this Kansuke's death on you?"

"Does it even matter?" Honestly, Satoru probably would've killed the man anyways, once he got the answers he needed. Shiki had already warned him, once. As far as Satoru was concerned, that was the only warning Kansuke would be given.

"Just a thought," Suguru shrugs. "Gojo Satoru, kinslayer, doesn't have a very good ring to it now, does it?"

"You killed your own parents, Suguru."

His friend makes a careless gesture with his hands. "I told you, I couldn't go around making exceptions for them. They were only monkeys. They're not my true family."

Brrr, how cold. Unlike Satoru, Suguru had spoken fondly of his parents during their school days. He'd loved them. Looking at Suguru right now, though, smiling pleasantly even though he spoke of having killed them with his own two hands… it's a little like looking into a funhouse mirror. Even though the reflection remained recognizable, everything was still distorted beyond measure.

But, the point that he'd brought up…

Infighting within a clan was common, and resulting deaths were only inevitable. But mysterious deaths, ones which happened under unclear circumstances… whispers tended to follow those. Satoru doubted it would be able to shake his position in the Gojo Clan, even though it might cause some people to become restless. He'd probably have a lot of explaining to do once he returned with Kansuke's corpse, though. Still, he couldn't help but have the feeling that he was still missing something…

…

The Kamo Clan.

This was all related to the Kamo Clan, somehow. So why did the Kamo Clan use Kansuke, then kill him and leave him here like this? Simply because he was a leak who'd outlived his usefulness? Because they wanted to keep the Gojo Clan distracted with internal squabbles? Surely they would know that it wouldn't keep Satoru's attention off of them forever, no matter what irritations they stirred up for him to deal with–

Shiki.

For no reason at all, suddenly Satoru finds himself thinking of his adorable little cousin.

Killing Kansuke is a distraction, and gives me more trouble to deal with. Suguru is also a distraction. Araya purposely led Suguru to this temple so I would be preoccupied. Why here, why now?

Araya is targeting Shiki.

The Kamo Clan wants me to be distracted.

It's only a baseless hunch, but instinct has Satoru whipping out his phone and immediately calling Kiyohira, so he can ease his suspicions. Except…

The man doesn't pick up.

Satoru tries this three times in a row, all with the same result, and that's when he knows that something is wrong.

He needs to check on them–

Satoru looks up when a gust of wind brushes past him, only to find Suguru atop a newly-summoned cursed spirit at his side –some kind of four-winged giant pelican with the weirdest beak– and giving him a small wave.

"Let's catch up some other time," his best friend says, and the birdlike cursed spirit spreads all four wings. "See you later, Satoru."

What the hell? No, get back here?!

Frustration wars with grudging amusement: Evidently, Suguru had seen his opportunity to run and taken it, once it became apparent that Satoru had other, pressing issues to deal with on his plate. Between the two of them… Satoru probably could force Suguru into staying, but it would definitely come down to a fight in that case. And that would take time, time that he most likely couldn't afford to waste right now, considering how the setup here was clearly meant to trip Satoru up.

He needs to choose. Either to chase after his best friend, whose form is already rapidly-receding with every passing second but still so close… or to return and check up on whatever the heck his cute little cousin got wrapped up in this time. Because Kiyohira is not the type to flat out ignore his clan head and especially not under the current circumstances.

Satoru pauses for a single, timeless moment, staring silently after Suguru.

"… We are so going to talk about this again," he grumbles under his breath, scowling. "And next time, no running!"

Then, he teleports.

.

.

…

.

EDIT: Currently we are at 2012 in the timeline, and it's been five years since Satoru and Suguru parted ways (2007) instead of four as originally stated. Thank you to the friendly anon over on Tumblr who pointed out the mistake, fixed!