บท 160: Chapter 149
Geto Suguru did not like Zenin Toji.
Rather than dislike, it was more that he had no reason to like him. To Geto, Toji was a man without a conscience, a former sorcerer killer who had murdered sorcerers, and not a particularly good teacher or parent.
If it weren't for Zoro, Zenin Toji would have been the worst kind of human being. That was Geto Suguru's assessment of him.
Still, today Geto couldn't help but think,
It's a good thing Zenin Toji wasn't the one who found this first.
Creeeak.
Geto Suguru opened the door of a private storage unit in Tokyo, a location reached by piecing together the thinnest of clues. Cold air rushed over him, and as the light poured in, Geto took in the sight inside the storage unit.
"…What is this?"
What on earth is this?
A woman's corpse lay in a transparent glass case, dressed in a white dress. Her black hair was sticking out, and she had the peaceful expression of a young woman in her twenties, as if she were simply asleep.
But it wasn't just one corpse; the storage unit was filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of similar bodies.
The strange thing was that all the corpses had their skulls opened and their brains missing. Additionally, all but a few had their hearts surgically removed, leaving gaping holes in their chests. The few that still had hearts showed scars around their chests, as if something had been transplanted.
Geto stepped closer to the nearest woman's corpse, his steps shaky. He touched the glass case, as if to stroke her hair.
Geto recognized this hair. How could he not? It was the one distinctive feature on Megumi's face that was different from her father's.
No matter how much you combed it, this characteristic spiky hair wouldn't stay down.
So, Geto swallowed the rising bile.
'This must be…'
Zenin Toji's deceased wife, and Zoro and Megumi's mother.
Gojo, who had been searching another building, also entered the storage unit.
"…What is this?"
Gojo's face contorted. He threw off his sunglasses and scanned the storage unit with a grim expression.
What Geto Suguru immediately recognized, Gojo, with his keen eyes, also instantly realized. He, too, knew right away whose bodies these were.
With the power of his Six Eyes, Gojo provided information that Geto hadn't noticed.
"These aren't ordinary corpses. They were created using necromancy."
Zenin Toji wasn't a sorcerer, but he had extensive knowledge of jujutsu. Naturally, he was aware of the possibility that his deceased wife's body could be used for jujutsu purposes. Therefore, he had her body cremated and placed the ashes in an urn, which he then interred.
'Usually, that would be enough.'
However, Kenjaku had stolen those ashes and used necromancy to graft Chie's flesh onto other bodies, over and over again.
"And it wasn't just necromancy."
Traces of various techniques, including flesh regeneration, were evident. All sorts of tricks had been used to make the bodies resemble her as closely as possible in life.
"…Why would he do this?"
"To switch bodies, I'd guess. She was Toji's wife and Zoro's mother. He probably thought they wouldn't be able to fight properly."
Gojo's eyes turned cold as he recalled the image of the bisected brain.
'I thought it was strange that the brain had teeth.'
At the time, it had been difficult to determine exactly what technique had been used.
'When I examined it, it was already split in half and dead.'
Naturally, there was no cursed energy. No matter how exceptional his Six Eyes were, he couldn't properly identify the techniques used on a body that had lost its cursed energy.
But seeing this made it clear.
"That guy, his brain was the main body after all."
"Brain?"
"He must have been the kind of curse user who could swap out his brain with a corpse's brain and use that corpse's cursed energy and techniques."
That's why he could use necromancy by taking over a necromancer's body and use the technique for moving people by taking over the assistant director's body. He must have taken over countless other corpses as well.
'He was preparing to switch to this body next.'
Feeling the rising disgust, Satoru dry heaved.
Listening to Gojo, Geto inevitably raised a question.
"Then why didn't he use this body when he fought Zoro?"
This woman is a non-sorcerer. It's a body that wouldn't have much advantage except in fights against Zoro and Toji. Naturally, he should have used it against Zoro, but why didn't he?
'There are so many of them, not just a few.'
In response to that question, Gojo replied as if it were obvious.
"Because he failed to completely reanimate the body."
"…?"
"Look, Suguru. There are so many of them, but most of them don't have hearts."
It's not just missing; it's as if it was gouged out. He wouldn't have intentionally made the bodies like this for his use, so it means they were like this from the start of the reanimation.
Creating so many bodies wasn't because he intended to make many, but because he kept failing to reanimate a perfect body.
"The few that have hearts show slight differences in the cursed energy of the heart and the body. It means they transplanted another person's heart."
"…Why couldn't he reanimate the heart? He managed to recreate other body parts."
"Hmm. I'm not sure about that either."
Gojo scratched his head.
It might have been because the ashes used as a medium were not suitable material for proper necromancy, or…
'There might have been some sort of jujutsu constraint.'
Satoru stopped thinking about it there. That wasn't what mattered right now.
"What should we do, Suguru?"
Should we burn them all? Gojo asked Geto seriously.
Suguru looked down at the woman's corpse. Megumi's face overlapped with hers. He clenched his fist tightly.
The curse user who did this was dead. Zoro won the fight against that guy, and Toji had split his head perfectly in half as he tried to flee in a critical state.
'And they said they used the special curse tool, Heavenly Restriction, to forcibly cancel any active techniques, so he couldn't escape using any technique.'
The split brain itself was checked multiple times by Satoru and Shoko to ensure it was dead.
…Whatever the case, these corpses wouldn't be used for their original intended purpose anymore.
So they could have dealt with it themselves without informing Zoro or Toji. Using Gojo's technique to cleanly destroy the facility and the bodies, then summoning a fire-breathing curse to burn the remains and scatter the ashes to the wind, was entirely feasible.
"…We should tell them."
"Is that the right thing to do?"
Suguru almost answered Gojo's question with a yes, but the words caught in his throat.
'Is this the right thing?'
Wouldn't it be more considerate and right not to inform them?
Still, Geto Suguru slowly shared his thoughts with his friend.
"I believe those two… have the right to know."
"Do they?"
"Without knowing, they can't move forward."
With anger, mourning, and what comes after.
Maybe, or rather, quite likely, those two had already said goodbye to this person once. Even so.
Gojo asked no further and nodded. Then he took out his phone and called Zoro.
Meanwhile, Geto searched the storage unit, found a pile of cloth, and covered all but the cleanest corpse. He believed they didn't need to see all of it, even if they had the right to know.
Gojo helped Geto in silence. When they finished, they sat side by side in front of the storage unit, waiting quietly for the two to arrive.
Before long, the two appeared in the distance. Or rather, one was walking.
Geto squinted his eyes. Like a baby kangaroo in its mother's pouch, Zoro was snugly wrapped in a large sling tied around Toji's waist, swaying as they moved.
Gojo chuckled, and Zoro's face turned red.
"It wasn't my idea. It was Dad's."
Something about losing his way if his feet touched the ground. Zoro sighed as he spoke.
Under normal circumstances, Geto would have laughed. But this wasn't a normal situation, so Suguru couldn't laugh.
Zoro noticed this too.
"It must be serious if you're not even laughing at this."
"…Yes."
"But you still called us."
"I thought it was something you needed to know."
"You seem hesitant."
"…Honestly, I'm still not sure."
Is this really the right thing? Or is it just going to cause more pain?
"If you and your dad decide to turn back now, I won't stop you."
Maybe that would be for the best. Geto said.
Still squirming in the sling, Zoro snorted.
"You called us because you thought we should see it, right?"
"…Yes."
"If you think we should, then we should."
Geto is someone who constantly searches for the right path. If he thought they should see it, there must be a reason.
Zoro looked at Toji. Toji nodded as well.
Then, together, they opened the door.
...
When Zoro opened the door and saw Chie's body in the glass case, his reaction was unexpectedly calm. It wasn't the first time he had seen the body of someone precious to him.
…It wasn't the first time he had encountered a face he thought he'd never see again.
Zoro had somewhat anticipated this scene. Satoru had mentioned something about a body on the phone, and the only person who had died around Zoro in this life was Chie.
What first arose in Zoro's heart was not anger or sorrow.
It was more of… a difficult-to-name ambiguous feeling.
'This is…'
The face.
Mother's face.
Of course, as time passes, the face of a deceased person loses its color. No matter how much time you spent with them, the moment of their death fixes their face in your memory.
'And then it slowly fades.'
Even if you recall it through dreams or memories, it's different from continuously seeing a living person.
Chie was the same.
Zoro stared at Chie without blinking. The parts that had faded regained color and became vivid again.
Then, he felt a tremor.
It was Toji's tremor.
"...!"
The moment he realized this, it was as if cold water had been thrown on Zoro, and he came to his senses. He remembered whose sling he was in.
"Dad."
Toji's body was collapsing. His right knee buckled, and his upper body leaned towards the ground.
Zoro jumped out of the sling. He tried to get under Toji's shoulder to support him.
He would have, if he hadn't heard Toji's faint voice by his ear.
"I'm fine."
I'm fine.
Zoro didn't support him but held Toji's hand instead. It was colder than usual.
Toji lifted his head. Before his eyes could focus again on Chie's body, Zoro moved to block his view.
"Are you really okay?"
It's Mom. At those words, Toji let out a dry laugh.
"Zoro, that's not 'Chie'."
It's a fake that someone dressed up to look convincing. It can't be the same. It's not the body but the soul that matters.
Only now, after years of not being able to fully accept it, Zenin Toji acknowledged it completely.
"Chie is dead."
"...."
"Your mother, that person…"
Is dead. Toji couldn't say more.
—Plop.
Somewhere, a drop of water fell.
Zoro thought it had fallen from Toji's eye and wiped his eyes. But his eyes were dry. Instead, his pupils were dilated, as if very surprised.
"Son, are you…"
Crying?
Plop, plop.
Two more drops fell on Zoro's arm. Feeling the warm sensation, Zoro wiped under his own eyes with his finger. His fingers came away wet.
…What?
"Why is this happening?"
Zoro hadn't cried when Chie died, nor at her funeral. It wasn't that he hadn't accepted her death back then. So why now, all of a sudden?
Toji pulled Zoro into a tight embrace. Eventually, even a term of endearment he hadn't used since Zoro was born slipped out.
"It's okay, my dear."
It's okay to cry. It's only natural. That's how it should be.
"…It's okay."
Toji's voice was heavy with emotion. Tears formed in his green eyes too.
It's okay, it's okay. Toji repeated those words like a mantra. It's okay to be sad. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be angry.
Despite all that, we will…
"…We will be okay."
...
[Author's Note]
Vote with your power stones, it motivates me to keep posting chapters.
If you're interested, you can read 20 advance chapters on my Patréon.
patréon.com/fumiaki
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