Chapitre 18: 18. Jujutsu High and the Higher Ups
(A/N: Oh, and you thought I asked for your opinion on my updated schedule. I will still be off for a while, no one can stop meeee.
Also this chapter is longer than usual so enjoy it. That much is enough for compensation, right?)
________________________________
The four of them returned to Tokyo's Jujutsu High without any trouble. They found themselves standing in front of the forest but that was just an illusion created by Tengen's barrier.
Along the way, Veilhem and Makima were always under the vigilant eyes of Geto. But that couldn't be said with Gojo as he had lost his interest and acted like a goofball.
The moment they entered the barrier, they were greeted with the sight of a tall man with a muscular frame and tan skin. He had two straight lines wrapped around his head. It was none other than the principle of this Jujutsu High, Yaga Masamichi.
He was standing with his army of Cursed Corpses.
"Why are you here?" He asked, his expression was serious and watchful.
"Aren't we being detained here?" Asked Veilhem as he was curious about how this meeting would end.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I doubt if these two could bring you back without a fight and by the look of it, you are here for a reason." Yaga replied, staring at the two without budging. His stance was clear; he wouldn't back down without a proper answer.
To this, Veilhem hadn't answered yet. He noticed Gojo and Geto were on alert, as if any wrong move could lead to a battle.
That was why they led the couple inside the barrier as this was their home field. Two unknown individuals without records suddenly appeared and took care of a Special Grade Curse. Who wouldn't find that suspicious?
"A smartass aren't we?" Veilhem commented.
Makima poked her head out of Veilhem's back as she stared at Yaga and a calculative smile formed on her face.
"Veilhem-san, you can leave this to me." Makima placed her hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. The redhead dropped her cigarette's butt on the ground and extinguished the embers by stomping on it.
"It is true that we are here for a reason as you say. However, it's an opportunity for us to meet the Higher Ups as we have an offer to make." She explained, her ever eerie eyes fixated on Yaga, the school principal.
He felt something off in her talk but decided not to chase it. After all, they were still being captured until the Higher Ups said otherwise. For now, he would treat them like Curse Users.
Yaga led the way to the containment room and asked the two to follow the procedure. Surprisingly, they didn't offer any resistance. This put Yaga even more on guard as he felt something was terribly wrong.
Inside the room, Veilhem and Makima was tied on the chair with several talismans stick on them. It was a self-contained room full of those talismans, with a few dimly lit candles illuminating the darkness presented in the room.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Veilhem commented as he entertained himself by looking at the scribble on the talismans. It exuded an unknown power to him, however, it had some related to the faith-based incantations in his world.
This intrigued him even more as he had learnt some of them back in the days to defeat the Lords.
"Of course, Veilhem-san. We are currently operating illegally without proper identity. This is a good opportunity to get those paperwork procedures to maneuver and blend into this sorcerer world. Who knows, perhaps I can find an unexpected yet interesting discovery." Makima smiled at him. Her expression was perfect, and she looked as if she was enjoying herself. But Veilhem noticed she seemed a little stiff.
"Don't give me that face. I know you are quite irritated by this detained thing but this is your scheme so bare with it." He shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"Sometimes I wonder if you can read my mind, Veilhem-san. But yes, I felt a little irritated when these talismans were attached onto my body. It made me feel… disgusted?" Makima tilted her head, unsure of what this feeling meant. Her eyes darted to the side cutely as she chatted with Veilhem.
She leaned her head onto his shoulder as she waited in her boredom. On the side, Veilhem was confined by the chain, and Makima had now joined in as well. To be honest, he could break through all of this but he didn't want to cause a ruckus.
"You are lucky that you're cute." He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I know right?" Makima puffed a laugh.
Suddenly, the room was lit up by a sudden light cascading from the door. Standing there was a white-haired sorcerer in a black uniform and his signature shades.
He walked in and placed a chair in front of them before sitting down with his hand placed over the back of the chair.
"Alright lovebirds, I will cut to the chase and get straight to the point." Gojo interrupted their chat with an easy-going tone. His facial expression was relaxed with a hint of amusement.
"What are you guys?" He repeated the same question he asked when he first met them. Silence stretched between them until Veilhem decided to break the ice.
"Human?" Veilhem replied shortly, waiting for the latter to do something about it.
"Better not lying in front of me. My eyes can see a lot of things and when I said 'a lot', I meant a whole lot." Gojo tapped the corner of his eyes. His cheerful tone was still there but there was a ting of seriousness in it.
"You could see me as Undead? Or Unkindled now I presume." Veilhem answered truthfully, seeing no use in hiding it anymore. This could serve as a distraction away from Makima as well due to her nature being a devil. He learned that Devil was being labeled as bad in his world so if he could get a reaction out of this teen here, Makima would know how to do the rest.
However, what he didn't expect was that Gojo didn't seem to be bothered by it and even… looked fascinating about it?
"Like those zombies in the movies? That sound… awesome!"
A rage erupted in him instantly.
"Fuck no! That is just outright slander!" He growled as he remembered the film he watched several days ago. Undead was portrayed as mindless beasts acting on their hunger and instinct in an apocalypse world.
"Alright zombie man, whatever you say. You are quite interesting." Gojo laughed at him out loud. To Veilhem, it felt like a disgrace so much so that he even wanted to stop the act and give him a beating but he knew that wouldn't happen because of the Infinity Gojo possessed.
"Fuck you." Veilhem sighed. He noticed that dealing with Gojo would be a lost cause.
'Note to self to find something that can bypass Infinity to give him a proper beating.' Veilhem thought as he saw that punchable guy still laughing at him.
"Alright alright, let's get into business shall we?" His easy going tone was replaced with a more serious one as he locked his gaze onto both of them.
"I'm here to convey the message from the Higher Ups. They wanted to meet you both but we also need some insurance so how about one will stay here under my eyes while the other meets those old geezers?" Gojo spoke but his demeanor stated differently when it came to the Higher Ups. It felt like he disliked even mentioning them.
"So… who is gonna volunteer?" His eyes darted from Veilhem to Makima.
They looked at each other and Makima decided to speak up. After all, she was more suitable for this kind of job.
"Then I shall be the one to meet those Higher Ups."
"Alright so zombie man will stay here with me." As he said so, Gojo placed his hand on her shoulder and they disappeared from his sight.
"Damn he even got teleportation. What a pain in the ass." Veilhem muttered under his breath.
As soon as he spoke those words, Gojo appeared back in the room.
"Miss me already, zombie man?"
"Urghhh. Fuck me…"
______
On Makima's side.
She was currently sitting in a room with six curtains surrounding her while still being restrained. Behind each of them was a silhouette indicating they were some important people that she wasn't allowed to see.
"So, what do you have to offer Curse User?" An old male voice came from one of the curtains.
"To start this off, can you be a gentleman and release this shackle that is binding me?" She smiled as her gaze locked onto the one who was in front of her. An eerie silence immediately filled the room but Makima still looked as calm as ever.
"Where do you think you are to make such a demand?!" He spatted out, his voice boomed with a fit of anger to the audacity of this Curse User.
"It seems we have some misunderstanding here I presume." Makima cocked her head to the side, the serene smile always remained on that red lips of her. However, those mesmerizing ringed eyes said otherwise.
Before any of them could say anything by such an incredulous act and the fact that it managed to get on their nerves, the Higher Up that she was looking at started moving. He stood in front of her in a daze as if he didn't even know what he was doing.
"What are you doing?!" One of the unaffected shouted but that proved to no avail as the one Makima was looking at started unchaining her.
"Stop that madness." Another one of them yelled and soon, panic had spread throughout the Higher Ups.
The uneasiness in the room escalated even more. They didn't know what that was. She hadn't used any Cursed Energy; She didn't use any Cursed Energy at all, she simply demanded it out of nowhere, and one of them was affected.
They were presented here with the position of the one that had the upper hand but by the look of it, this situation was all under Makima's grasp. The role of the hunter and the prey had been reversed.
"Thank you, you are such a great help, my puppy." Makima put her face up close to the Higher Up that was under her influence and whispered. She massaged her wrist and stretched her arms a bit before putting them behind her back.
"Yes, Lady Makima, it's been a pleasure to me as well." His old and wrinkled face turned a bit red at her compliments as if he was a young boy trying to court her.
'As expected, humans are always so easy to predict.' Makima thought but suddenly a silhouette appeared in her mind. He acted as though he always cared and pampered her but she knew that stemmed from his duty and guilt. Seriously, who felt guilty for a Devil like her? It was the first time she had experienced it. To that, he was indeed a strange man.
'Well, maybe not that easy.' a genuine smile tucked on her lips before it was replaced by a cunning and calculative smile.
The Higher Ups found themselves in an unfavorable position. They were respected sorcerers in their younger days and had some tricks under their sleeves.
But that didn't mean Makima didn't have her own tricks. Besides, they weren't close to each other. Their ambition to gain more power and control the jujutsu world was more important than the rest.
If any of them died then the others would have more room to act on their accord. That was how politics worked and Makima knew this like the back of her hand.
"Now, shall we get into the real deal?" she asked the remaining five. Her expression was serene if one didn't look closely, but her eyes were always calculating. Their expressions were foul and filled with anger, but they knew the best action was to comply with her 'deal.'
Someday, they'd pay her back for the humiliation they had suffered today sooner or later.
Seeing this, a dispassionate light flashed through her eyes but disappeared as quickly as it came.
That day, a deal between Makima and the Higher Ups was struck with its content only known within the involved party.
Makima and Veilhem had successfully become part of the jujutsu world.
_____
Back to Veilhem's side.
Veilhem had initially thought that dealing with Gojo would be a hassle, but he was wrong. Gojo turned out to be a pretty chill guy when he wasn't fighting, and Veilhem learned that Gojo was a movie fan, much like himself.
They spent the whole time talking about movies and scenes like true brothers, even though they had just met hours ago. Though Gojo's child-like demeanor and arrogance were somewhat unbearable, he was otherwise easy to get along with.
Suddenly, the knob of the containment room twisted slightly. A click was heard, and the door opened.
"Let's go, Veilhem-san. You are now an official teacher here."
Behind the door stood Makima with her usual expression. She gazed at the two, raised her hand, and showed them two ID cards. She slightly raised her chin and stared down at them with her captivating ringed eyes, playing with the cards in her hand.
Seeing that he no longer needed to stay, Veilhem released himself from the shackles like it was wet paper. The talismans weren't enough to hold him as he shrugged them off effortlessly.
However, Gojo didn't seem fazed at all, as if he already knew the restraints couldn't bind the knight.
"Thank you, Makima." He took the card from Makima's hand and inspected it carefully.
[Grade 1 Sorcerer]
"We will meet again soon, Gojo. Don't die out there." He waved off his new friend and walked off with Makima.
"Care for yourself, you old fossil." Gojo retorted back but ultimately, he waved him back.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone