章 13: Geto Suguru
Remember to join the discord, I put polls and information regarding the future of the story there so it'd be nice if yall could join and give your opinions.
https://discord.gg/ZrWk2jqjbV (Discord Link)
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"Where am I?" Ginko wondered as he found himself in what looked to be an endless void. Finding nothing more than eternal blackness regardless of what direction he looked in. "Why is it… wet?" Furthermore, he could feel the distinct sensation of water under the soles of his feet as he gently tapped them against the watery surface. "Huh, I don't remember being able to stand on water? Neat."
But in spite of the strange circumstance he found himself in, there wasn't an ounce of worry or apprehension in his mind. Everything just felt strangely —natural. As if he was supposed to be here.
"Must be a dream or something." He tucked his arms into the sleeves of his kimono as he aimlessly wandered, constantly turning his head from side to side in an attempt to locate any inklings of light. "A rather boring dream, I must say." He continued.
Ginko cupped his hands around his mouth. "HELLO? ANYONE THERE?" His voice echoed for a solid few breaths, but ultimately was met with no response. "Yup, I'm bored already." He sighed as he sat down on the abyssal ocean beneath him.
"Might as well find a way to entertain myself." Ginko stuck his finger into the water, causing a wave of strong ripples to reverberate throughout it. "At least I can still use my cursed technique here. Not that there's really much for me to use it on…" He clicked his tongue as he allowed his chin to rest on his palm.
"Oh?" All of a sudden, Ginko's intrigue was rekindled by the sight of a blinding white luminescence slowly encroaching upon him. "And who might you be?" Still, his words were left unanswered. "Hello? I'm talking to you dude."
Once it got closer, Ginko noticed that it seemed to take the form of a catfish of some sort, with one eye-shaped black hole on the left side of its face, and the striking absence of one on the other side. "Oi, I'm talking to you buddy."
He could feel the warmth emanating of the creature as it brushed upon him, constantly circling around him with a lingering sense of attachment to Ginko. "So… any plans on telling me what you want?" Again, it offered up no reply. "Looks like you're the silent type." He said in a defeated tone.
"Oh well, if you're not going to do anything entertaining, could you let me out of here already?" He reached his hand out towards the creature, to which it leaned into his touch affectionately, almost like it was his pet. "Is that a yes… or?" And in the blink of an eye, he had found himself awake in the comfort of his own bed.
"I guess it was a yes." He yawned as he shrugged off the strange dream sequence he had just found himself entrapped in. Ginko stretched his arms and legs before getting out of bed, stepping outside the dormitory and basking in the sunlight. "Now then, 'homeroom' I believe is what he called it? Hopefully there'll be some entertainment there."
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"Ginko." A voice called.
"Ginko!" It repeated.
SMACK!
"GINKO! WAKE UP!" The man in question jolted awake at the sensation of his scalp being struck, his eyes darting around from side to side as if he had just been hibernating for a century.
"What's the big idea? I was having a good nap just now." He moaned, looking at the scowling face of his teacher with a listless expression.
"Sensei, I think your chop might have given him memory loss." Gojo chuckled in a fatigued tone, barely able to contain his yawn. "I guess not even the newcomer can endure your boring ass lessons —!"
SMACK!
"Learn to show some respect, Satoru." Yaga admonished his student. "And you as well Ginko, I won't tolerate tardiness in my classes." He folded his arms whilst tapping his foot against the wooden floorboard.
Ginko rolled his eyes. "Is there any point to this? None of what you're talking about has anything to do with Jujutsu." Gojo couldn't help but nod firmly in agreement.
"Tell em —" Gojo flinched as Yaga raised his hand towards him in a threatening manner once more. "Uh, I didn't say anything." His vigor quickly died down.
"Part of your curriculum includes standard academics, so you'll be learning it whether you like it or not. Understood?" As much as Ginko wanted to refute the man, his instinct warned him that doing so would result in yet another pummeling, so he abstained.
"Fiinnneeeee." He moaned, slouching into his desk.
"Good." Yaga reached into his desk, pulling out three files and handing the first two to Ginko and Geto. "With that out of the way, you two will be going on a mission as a pair today, so you make sure you read the document carefully."
"What?" Gojo quickly stood up. "Oi, you can't just break up a pair like that!" He argued.
"It's just for today Satoru, relax." He sighed. "Since he's your classmate it's important that you have a chance to bond with him."
"Then why are you just sending Suguru with him? Send me as well." Gojo pressed further.
"Because you've been assigned a solo mission for today." He placed the last document in front of Gojo. "Now stop whining, you can handle being separated from your boyfriend for a day." Both Geto and Ginko found it hard not to chuckle.
"Tch. I won't forget this!" He snapped as he angrily snatched the document.
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, oh esteemed heir of the Gojo clan." Yaga rolled his eyes as he returned his attention to today's pair. "You guys will be going to Sendai today. A manager has already prepared for you outside." Geto nodded as he looked down at the file.
"Wait, Sendai? Isn't that pretty far from here?" He questioned.
"Got a problem with that?"
"No, not at all." He continued to read through the document in detail, whilst Ginko simply skimmed through it without a care in the world.
—the bodys' of the victims seemed to have been cut from both sides, as if the weapon used were a scissor of some kind. No residuals of body hair, fingerprints, or DNA were found on the scene. However the presence of cursed energy remained potent on the cadavers, believed to be the work of either a curse user or Grade 1 curse at minimum.
"A slicing technique?" Ginko said. "Sounds fun."
"Don't get complacent, the document says —" Yaga attempted to caution his student, but ended up being interrupted.
"That it's a Grade 1 curse at minimum, meaning that we might run into a Special Grade." Of course, that was the part he paid attention to. "Or even a curse user, which I wouldn't mind either. After all, fighting curses can get repetitive every now and then." He didn't even make an attempt to hide his excitement. Conveyed by the shit-eating grin on his face.
Geto paid close attention to his newfound teammate, wanting to get a read on his demeanor before they were put into the field together. "You seem confident. Ginko-san."
"Maybe." He replied flippantly. "Also drop the -san, just Ginko is fine. Suguru." Gojo's eye twitched.
"Suguru." Yaga voiced. "Remind me how many Grade 1 curses you've absorbed up till now?"
"Hmmm." He took a moment to recollect. "I think I should have about 5 of them as of now."
"I see, then this should be a good opportunity to expand your arsenal. Ensure that you make the most out of it alright?" Yaga's words greatly piqued Ginko's intrigue.
"You can absorb curses?" He had never heard of such a technique before.
"Pretty much. My technique is called [Cursed Manipulation]." He demonstrated by raising his hand and quickly summoning and recalling a low level curse he had stored. "What about you? I don't think it'd be a bad thing to know what my teammates' technique is beforehand." He said, assuming that Ginko cared whether someone knew of his technique or not.
"My technique?"
Naturally, Gojo was paying close attention to him as well.
"I don't see why everyone's so interested in it, but it's not like I have a problem with a little bit of show and tell." Ginko threw his eraser up in the air, moving his finger across the air horizontally, effortlessly cutting it in half as it fell to the floor. "It's called [Galebreathe], or wind manipulation if you prefer."
"Interesting. It's got quite the lethal application if I do say so myself." Geto smiled. Noticing that even Gojo was showing mild curiosity in the technique.
But before he could ask any questions of his own, Yaga clapped in order to gather their attention. "You guys can chat all you want along the way, your guy's car is waiting at the north entrance. And Gojo, yours is at the south. Now get going already, you don't have all day."
They each got out of their seats and exited the classroom. But before Ginko could step all the way out, he felt a hand tightly clasp his shoulder.
"If anything happens to Suguru, I'll have your head. Got it?" Gojo warned, causing Ginko's smile to only widen further.
"Heh." Ginko swiftly turned around, bringing his face closer to Gojo's as he looked him in the eyes. "I wouldn't mind throwing down with the supposed chosen one." His words caused Gojo's expression to sour as he walked off to join up with Geto.
"I'm dead serious." He muttered under his breath.
"Something happen with Satoru?" Geto queried once Ginko caught up to him. "The mood seemed a little tense between the two of you."
"No. We were just havin' a little chat." The lie was clear as day to him.
"Is that so? Guess I was worried for nothing." He said calmly as they walked side by side. "By the way, Ginko. I'm just noticing this now but —" He looked downwards. "Why are you barefoot?"
"Oh, it's because I don't know how to put on the strange footwear I was given. It had like these weird strings coming out the top of it and stuff, but I don't really know what they were for."
Geto slowly turned towards him with an astounded expression. "You're not being serious are you?" Ginko simply continued to stare at him. "Oh my god, you're serious." He facepalmed, having understood that he had been paired with a genuine idiot. "If that's the case why not just wear sandals or something?"
"I lost em." He said proudly.
"Of course you did." He sighed, coming to lament his teacher's choice in teammates. "Hey, Ginko."
"Yeah?"
"Why did you join Jujutsu Tech?" He asked, clearly wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Ginko was quick to breathe a sigh of his own. "How many times am I going to have to answer that question?" He said in a miffed tone. "I was told I could get stronger here, so I'm here. That's all there is to it."
"I see." Geto was taken aback by the fact that it didn't seem like Ginko was lying. Then again, one could say he was similar to Gojo in that regard. "Personally I joined because —"
"Don't care." Ginko rudely interrupted, causing Geto to frown. "If you want me to care about something as flimsy as your motives, just show it to me through your Jujutsu. If you use words I'm inevitably bound to forget it anyways." But surprisingly, his interruption didn't seem to be backed by malice, allowing Geto to ease up.
"Very well. But don't come crying to me when you develop an inferiority complex in the wake of my greatness." His smugness earned a genuine chuckle from his classmate.
"That's what I like to hear." Ginko replied, in admiration of his tenacity. "Just remember, it goes both ways."
They continued to share banter and small talk for a good few minutes, only stopping once they had arrived outside the entrance of the institution.
"Hm?" Ginko squinted as he seemed to recognise the figure gradually approaching him. Covering his forehead with his hand as he looked at the sweat-ridden man running his way. "Tanabe? I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."
"I'm glad you remember me, Ginko-san." He bowed courteously, somewhat out of breath. "And it's good to see you again, Geto-san. I trust that you've both already been briefed on your mission?"
"We have." Geto patted Tanabe on the shoulder as he entered the passenger side of the manager's car. "We're going to Sendai right?"
"Indeed." He adjusted his classes as he entered the driver's seat. "It will take a few hours for us to get there, so if you need anything along the way just let me know."
"Sure." Geto pulled out his flip-phone as he looked towards Ginko. "Hey, give me your number."
"Number?" Ginko tilted his head.
"Your phone number obviously. Wait, do you not have a phone or something?"
Still sporting a confused expression on his face, Ginko reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone Mei Mei had bought him. "Uh, Mei bought me one but I forgot how to use it." He scratched his head whilst looking at the device. "Can you do it for me?" He handed it to Geto.
"Are you a country bumpkin or something?" He said in disbelief as he took the phone. "Hold on. Do you even know how to message?" Ginko slowly shook his head. "This is going to be a long day…"
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That's all for this chapter. I know it was shorter than the others but I really couldn't think of anything else to add for this scene.
Also a pretty interesting poll has been decided on the discord, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone uninterested so just join the cord if you wanna have a look.
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