Light the Fuse – Chapter 51

Ren didn't flinch. Not even a little.

He sat up straighter, crossed his legs, and looked Gojo dead in the face.

"Fine," he said, voice cool as ice. "I'll do it. I'll come with you."

Gojo's brow lifted—*that easy?*

Ren smiled.

"But I have two conditions."

Gojo didn't speak. He just waited.

Ren leaned forward, lacing his fingers together.

"First, I want access to all the knowledge in that school. Everything. If it exists in the archives, I want to read it."

Gojo blinked.

"And second," Ren continued, his smile widening, "you can't question me about Rika. Not directly. Not indirectly. Not at all."

There was silence.

Gojo's grin twitched.

Ren, behind the grin, was thinking fast.

Gojo's offer was good. Too good, actually. But it canceled out my earlier condition—to get access to all of his* knowledge. Now it's just about the school. Which he can loophole out of anytime.*

Still... whatever. It's all noise. The real goal here is to keep Rika hidden. If I give even a little ground, they'll poke and pry until they figure her out.

And once they know what Rika is, they'll never stop.

In Jujutsu society, sorcerers are just con artists. If you can't hide your cards, you lose. And right now?

Rika is my ace.

Across from him, Gojo tilted his head ever so slightly.

He was smiling too.

Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, Gojo thought. That's what he wants. He's hungry for it. Which is fine. I don't care about that.

But Rika? Rika's a problem.

The higher-ups aren't going to let me drag a special-grade spirit user into the school without some ironclad report. And I haven't exactly given them a reason to trust my judgment lately.

So... do I fight him? Just for the report?

Or do I fight him because... I want to?

Gojo's fingers twitched.

He's like a younger, sharper version of me. No, scratch that—he's colder. Smarter. More guarded. From what I can tell, he's been calculating everything since I walked in.

Then something in Ren's smile shifted.

Gojo narrowed his eyes.

Did he just get more smug?

Wait—did he catch me thinking about Rika?

Ren's fingers tightened just slightly on his knee.

The air got heavier.

Gojo stood.

Casually.

But his presence hit like a storm cloud rolling in.

"Well," Gojo said, his tone light. "Your conditions are funny. Really funny. I accept all of them."

Ren exhaled—*wait, really?*

Gojo grinned wider.

"But there's just one problem…"

His eyes glinted under the blindfold.

"I think..."

His voice dropped.

"You're full of shit."

And then—

WHAM!

Gojo kicked the low wooden table directly at Ren with blinding speed.

Ren's instincts kicked in.

He jumped back, flipping off the mat, narrowly avoiding the table as it shattered against the wall behind him.

Splinters flew.

What the FUCK?!

Ren landed, sliding into a crouch, eyes wide.

This is way out of my calculations!

He's attacking me?? Now?! Why??

This is GOJO!

He shouldn't be doing this! Is he testing me??!

Before he could finish the thought—

Gojo was gone.

Just vanished.

Ren's entire body screamed at him.

Behind you.

He spun.

Cursed energy flooded his arm, and he twisted to backhand whatever was behind him—

WHIFF.

His hand froze in place mid-strike.

Stopped.

Blocked.

By nothing.

By Infinity.

"Gh—!"

Ren gasped.

He jumped back again, feet skidding over the tatami mats.

Gojo was just standing there, smiling, arm raised like he was blocking... without blocking.

Ren's arm trembled. His breath came fast.

"What the hell?!" he shouted. "Do you want to fight or WHAT?!"

Gojo chuckled.

Then... he floated.

Ren's eyes widened as the sorcerer casually rose off the floor, body light as paper.

Ren muttered, "What the fuck? You can fly?"

Gojo's grin was pure chaos.

"I can do more, kid. Come here."

He held out his hand.

And the pull hit.

Hard.

Ren's feet left the ground.

"Shit—"

His body was yanked forward by an invisible force and dragged across the room.

Gojo's voice echoed with mock sweetness. "Let's have a chat, face-to-face—"

"RIKA!"

Ren's voice cracked like a gunshot.

A black rift tore into existence behind him.

And from it—Rika.

Huge. Hulking. Terrifying.

She exploded out of the portal and wrapped her arms around Ren, pulling him back.

Fast.

Gojo's grin faltered for a second.

That's new.

But Ren wasn't done.

He twisted midair.

His fingers curled—Red Stitch launched from his palm, snaking toward the small kitchen.

Wrapped around—

The gas cylinder.

He yanked it toward him—spun—

And hurled it straight at Gojo.

The cylinder flew.

GOJO didn't even blink.

It stopped inches from his face.

Suspended by infinity.

Ren didn't care.

The gas pipe was already loose.

The hiss of leaking gas filled the air.

Ren's hand reached into his pocket—

Pulled out—

A lighter.

Flicked.

And threw it.

The lighter tumbled once—twice—

Click.

Click.

Click.

Spark.

The apartment window shattered outward as Ren, cradled by Rika, shot through it like a bullet.

Behind him—

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!

The apartment exploded in a pillar of smoke and fire.

A cloud rose into the Tokyo sky.

Inside the chaos, Gojo hovered in the smoke, perfectly unharmed, smiling wider than ever.

"Okay," he muttered.

"This just got fun."