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Jujutsu Kaisen: Galebreathe

作者: Iguana32

章 1: Ginko Kyofu

Never really written a Jujutsu Kaisen Fanfic before so I'm interested to see where this goes.

https://discord.gg/ZrWk2jqjbV (Discord Link)

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Kyofu Estate, December 5th 2000.

"Ginko!" A voice called out, followed by the sound of feet hurriedly tapping against the wooden floor in what seemed like a panic, "Ginko! Where are you!?" The woman called out once more, scurrying around the household whilst donning her maid attire, clearly desperate to locate the figure in question as shown by the beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.

'Why must that child insist on being as slippery as an eel!? Yamada-sama will have my head on a pike if I don't find him soon!' She was a woman by the name of Tamura Kazue, the current maid of the Kyofu family, and more importantly the person currently in charge of finding a boy by the name of Ginko Kyofu.

A boy who insisted on skipping his grandfathers compulsory training sessions, in favor of apparently forcing Tamura to play what was probably the most high-stakes game of hide and seek ever known to man.

'I swear, once I get my hands on that brat I'm going to wring him by the neck!' obviously she had to keep such thoughts to herself, lest she wanted to lose the privilege of having her hands remain attached to her body.

To her dismay, despite Ginko having never trained in anything stealth related, he had somehow mastered the art of avoiding anything work-related as if he had been doing so for centuries. He was pretty much the embodiment of a needle in a haystack when he wanted to be.

"For Pete's sake Ginko! I know you can hear me!" members of the Kyofu family were usually born with exceptional senses, something which was probably enabling Ginko to avoid Tamura like the plague.

Time continued to dwindle as she continued her tireless search, her feet only coming to a halt as she approached the ornate garden located at the back of the estate.

"GINKO!" Her eyes laid upon the sight of a child no taller than her waist, with the signature snow-colored hair of a Kyofu.

Despite Tamura's yell, he continued to listlessly stare into a pond filled with a bustling array of vividly colored Koi fish, as if the sight of them drowned out any an all sound around him.

"Huh?" In an exceedingly delayed manner, Ginko turned his head towards Tamura's boiling figure, staring at her with his deep-emerald pupils.

Somehow, he appeared capable of sporting an expression of innocence despite knowing full well that he had hidden from her on purpose.

In fact, if it weren't for his airheaded personality causing him to divert his attention to the fish below him, Tamura would've probably wasted a whole hour simply trying to locate his whereabouts.

"Don't huh me young man!" She stomped over towards him, firmly grasping him by the wrist as she started to drag him alongside her, "You know full well how your grandfather gets when you try to evade him!" She admonished, reluctant to give him so much as an inch of wiggle room.

"Ehhhhh? But he always makes me train..." he said in a half asleep tone, "I don't *yawn* wanna train."

"Well too bad, because training's your responsibility," Ginko breathed an exasperated groan as he let his body go limp, forcing Tamura to pull his full weight in an act of petty rebellion. Unfortunately for him, Ginko's miniature stature was nothing to someone of her strength. "Maybe if you actually respected his wishes for once, he'd let you have some free time of your own. But no, you just have to insist on acting like a spoiled brat don't you?"

Ginko rolled his eyes as he clicked his tongue, "Sure sure."

'More importantly, I wouldn't have to waste my own down time constantly brining you to your grandfather!'

Eventually, Tamura stopped in front of a folding door, swallowing a nervous gulp before raising her hand towards it, "Yamada-sama, I've brought him." She knocked as a brief, gut-wrenching silence followed. Her expression tightening as she patiently awaited a response from the other end.

'Heh, the geezer probably fell asleep or something,' Ginko grinned internally.

"Good work, send him in," An aged, raspy voice replied from the other end. Killing any remnants of relief that had built up within Ginko.

'Damnit.'

Tamura carefully pushed the door open, revealing the sight of an elderly man with slicked back hair, the same color as Ginko's and similarly verdant pupils accompanied by a moss colored kimono hung around his shoulders, "Leave us." Tamura nodded, leaving the two to their endeavors as Ginko reluctantly entered the room.

'Welp, here we go again,' Ginko lamented.

"Ginko."

"What?"

"You are turning 11 tomorrow are you not?" Yamada motioned for Ginko to approach him, to which the latter obliged, "Don't you think it's about time you ceased these childish antics? I believe I've humored your behavior long enough." With his thoughts masked by his unmoving face, the patriarch poured himself a cup of his tea as his attention seemed affixed to the cutlery in front of him.

"Maybe if you didn't torture me every time you called, I'd come of my own volition," Yamada chuckled, shaking his head as he took a sip.

"I'm making sure you're prepared for the real world so that it doesn't swallow you whole when you have to weather it on your own two feet. Is that what your definition of torture is?"

Ginko scoffed, "There you go again with your 'real world' rant, maybe if you'd actually let me step out of these walls for once I'd actually have a clue what it is you're talking about!"

"Is that so?" Yamada hummed to himself as he scratched his chin, "I see, perhaps you have a point."

WHOOSH!

Without warning, Yamada threw a small piece of wood towards Ginko, with such speed and intensity that one would imagine the throw had been preformed by a professional Pitcher.

Yet strangely enough, Ginko's face hardly seemed perturbed.

Ginko planted his feet as he swiftly swung his arm forwards, holding his palm out in what looked like the shape of a sword.

The room was quickly engulfed in a fierce gale as a crescent of wind shot forth from his hand, cleaving the wooden chunk in two before it could strike him square in the face.

"That was dirty old man."

"As is the world," Yamada gingerly walked over and picked up the now two pieces of wood, examining them with precise scrutiny. "Do you see this?" He questioned, holding the pieces to Ginko's face, proceeding to point towards the rigid cuts made on their edges. "There is no uniformity in your cuts, your technique is nothing but sloppy," In an instant, the pieces of wood crumbled into numerous perfectly shaped cubes which fell onto the floor. "This is how it's supposed to look," The air carried a single wooden cube towards Ginko, which he grabbed in between his fingers. An unavoidable sense of awe swelling within him as the cube seemed smoother than a cue ball. "Your attacks should be neat and tidy, something you seem to comprehend very little about."

What Yamada had just used was the innate cursed technique known as [Galebreathe] that he had inherited from his father. [Galebreathe] in essence was the ability to command the element of wind, as displayed by Ginko whom was the only other living member of the Kyofu clan to have inherited it. Hence why Yamada himself had taken to nurturing him personally, rather than Ginko's mother or father.

"That ain't fair, you've been doing this for decades. Obviously you're better than me," the patriarch let out a chortle as he shot a sly look Ginko's way.

"Making excuses are we? Hardly a mindset befitting someone who insists on seeing the real world, wouldn't you agree?" He smiled as he tucked his hands into the sleeves of his kimono, "Perhaps if you actually put a little effort into training your technique wouldn't be so lackluster. I'm well aware you used up at least 30% of your reserves just to preform that basic slash, when it shouldn't even cost you 1%."

Yamada's harsh assessment cut like a knife through butter, instilling both a sense of annoyance and lacking in Ginko.

'However, it's a hell of a lot better than what I was able to do at your age. If I can just fix that frustratingly indifferent mindset of yours, this family might actually have a future after I've passed on.' Truth be told, Ginko's father wasn't all that bad in Yamada's eyes, however his prowess seemed to have peaked after becoming a Second Grade Sorcerer. Sure there was a slim possibility of him becoming Semi-First Grade, but even that still wasn't enough for the role of patriarch to Yamada. 'If it weren't for the birth of that damn Gojo clan freak, I'd have a lot more time to nurture you, but whether I like it or not the world moves on.'

Yamada was simply too old to wait for a possibility more talented Kyofu child to be born, Ginko was his only option. If the Kyofu clan couldn't raise a promising enough Sorcerer before he passed away to carry on the mantle, that was it.

Their lineage would lose an irreparable amount of importance to the figureheads of the Jujutsu world, and its support would shatter into a million pieces.

Therefore, despite Ginko not being a fan of it, Yamada had ensured he be trained day after day ever since he awakened his technique at the age of six, but training alone wasn't enough, Ginko needed the right mentality.

One that would actually push him towards filling the shoes the patriarch would eventually leave behind, and one that would sustain the roof sheltering the members of the Kyofu clan from the dreaded fate of obscurity.

He needed to want to better himself, to want to fill his grandfathers shoes, and most importantly to truly assume the mindset of a Jujutsu Sorcerer. All things that were a lot easier said than done for a child his age, but necessary nonetheless.

Luckily, Ginko had successfully inherited the prized technique of the Kyofu clan, which made guiding him significantly easier for Yamada. Having someone more experienced than you with the exact same technique as a mentor was an extremely valuable boon to be blessed with.

There was no question about it, he was the Kyofu's only possible future.

"Ginko, why don't you make me a deal with me?"

"A deal?" Ginko repeated with admitted skepticism.

"How about this, if you start attending my training sessions punctually, I'll bring you to see an actual Cursed Spirit," Yamada grinned inwardly as he watched Ginko's expression turn awestricken.

'Don't go thinking I've forgotten how to play ball just because I'm old brat.'

"Old man," Ginko spoke with warranted hesitation, "You aren't pulling my leg right?"

"Nope, if you can prove to me that you can do that for at least a week. I promise I'll take you to go see one up close," Though an airhead, Ginko wasn't an idiot by any stretch of the imagination. He could quite easily discern a blatant lie, which was rather impressive for someone his age. "However, if you decide to return to being tardy after that, I won't allow you to step out these walls until you're 18, so don't even think about it."

Ginko tensed as he imagined being under house arrest as a grown man, a future he had little intention of realizing.

But at the same time, his desire to see the outside world with his own eyes, alongside the chance to actually face a Cursed Spirit himself burned hot. It was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.

"All I have to do is show up on time right?" He reaffirmed.

"Mhm," Ginko pursed his lips together momentarily before making his verdict.

"Alright, I'll do it. But don't you dare go back on your word!" Yamada allowed his grin to be made visible as he ruffled Ginko's hair.

"I wouldn't dream of it," no matter what he had to do, he would ensure Ginko would grow up to be strong.

Strong enough to bear the burden of his title.