Chương 19: Post-Mission
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Yaga was sat down in one of the reserved meeting rooms for faculty, glancing over at the report in front of him with a brooding expression on his face. "A cursed womb is one thing, but for it to be imbued with two fingers at once…" He scratched his temple. "I don't get it."
"Me neither." A voice replied, revealing one of the sorcerers who had taken part in the mission. Casually sipping on a cup of coffee. "Do you think it was purposeful?" Yaga looked Kusakabe in the eyes.
"Purposeful? Are you suggesting someone set this up?" The claim seemed pretty outlandish. "Is such a thing even possible?"
"No clue. I'm just saying that an unnatural situation may have an unnatural cause." He removed his peacoat and hung it over one of the chairs. "But, don't you find it a little suspicious that this happened when both Gojo Satoru, and Geto Suguru were unavailable? I know it could just be a coincidence, but even those have limits."
As much as Yaga wanted to refute the claim, he couldn't deny that there was some truth to what he was saying. "Even if we do entertain the idea that someone may have been behind this. What would the point of such an action be? It's not like the cursed spirit was doing anything out of the ordinary."
Kusakabe hummed in thought. "Maybe it was a distraction? A way to call the attention of Jujutsu Tech whilst they did something else?"
Yaga shook his head. "We've already finished our cleanup, and we haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Master Tengen's barriers remain unperturbed as well."
"Well, it's possible that I'm just being paranoid about the whole situation. But with how everything went down, I'm just not sure what to think right now." He leaned back into his chair and chucked a lollipop into his mouth. "What about you? Any wild theories you wanna shoot my way?"
"Nothing has come to my attention just yet." He admitted. "But more importantly, how is he doing?"
The swordsman's expression tensed. "I don't know. All I can say is that you made the right call by having Shoko on standby."
"Let's be honest, I should have done a lot more than that." The stress Yaga was under was evident on his face. "I heard his grandfather is already here?"
"Mhm. We talked briefly when I was on the way out of his room. Right now the kid's still unconscious but his vitals haven't completely plummeted. So there's that." Not an ounce of enthusiasm was shown in his voice, understandably so. "Also I know it doesn't mean much, but try not to beat yourself up about it. At the end of the day we know who's really responsible for the mismanagement of this situation."
Yaga offered no direct response, choosing to steer the conversation instead. "Just out of curiosity, I recall Shoko telling me that your wounds were already healed once she got there. Does that mean—"
"Yeah, I don't really know how or why, but it seems I figured it out during that fight." He channeled a strange form of cursed energy through his fingers.
"I see, that's good." The soon-to-be principal offered a genuine congratulatory smile. But his praise didn't extend beyond that, since now wasn't the best time for such pleasantries. "You're on leave for now by the way, so if you want to go pay him another visit that's fine by me."
Kusakabe got up from seat. "I think I'll do just that. Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Yaga returned his attention to the mountain of paperwork in front of him, and groaned.
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The room remained quiet for the most part. The tranquil silence only interrupted every now and then by the occasional beeps of medical equipment surrounding one of the beds. In which laid the sleeping figure of a youth with disheveled white hair, and closed verdant eyes.
"Is there anything you need? Yamada-sama." In front of his bed was a mature woman wearing a maid outfit, alongside auburn hair tied into a neat bun.
"I'm fine Tamura, thank you." Next to the bed sat an elderly man, donning the same eyes as the child resting beside him. He wore a pair of reading glasses and held a thick sheet of newspaper in his hands. "Any word from his mother and father?"
"I'm afraid not. Would you like me to contact them again?" She asked calmly.
"No need. If they come here only because I tell them to, it won't do him any good." He hid his annoyance. Constantly shifting his eyes between the newspaper and his grandson. "What did the brown-haired girl say again?"
"She said she had done as much as she could for now, and would check up on Ginko every now and then. But beyond that it would mostly be his own efforts that decide whether he pulls through or not." Tamura clarified.
"I see. If you come across her again let her know she has my thanks."
"Understood." Tamura turned around, noticing the sound of footsteps inching closer.
"Oh, I hope I'm not intruding on anything." A man with dark spiky hair wearing a light-colored peacoat approached the doorway.
"It's fine." Yamada reassured him.
"Are you sure? I don't mind coming in at another tim-"
"I said it's fine Kusakabe, just come in already." The patriarch could clearly see the guilt on the older sorcerer's face, but chose not to address it.
"How's his condition?" He stood next to Tamura, watching over his sleeping student.
"He's my grandson, he'll survive." Yamada stated with full confidence. "I heard you were pretty impressive yourself out there?" He raised his brow, internally glad that someone like him was mentoring his grandson.
"It was certainly one of my better performances. But I wouldn't have made it without-"
"I know. There's no need for flattery." Kusakabe flinched a little. "I don't want someone incapable of gauging his own prowess teaching my grandson."
"Y-yes sir." He replied sheepishly. Starting to understand where his students' brashness came from.
"Now then. Tell me what you know about the culprit." He asked out of the blue.
"Culprit…?"
"Don't play dumb, I already read the report." He tapped a sheet of paper placed next to him. "It's pretty obvious that someone set this up."
"Are you saying it's actually possible for someone to have created a cursed womb like this?" Kusakabe found it hard to believe the elderly sorcerer's claims.
"Create? Unlikely. Influence? Maybe." He stated. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they were trying to distract you from something with this, otherwise why else wouldn't they make any effort to control the cursed spirit? Unless they just outright failed of course."
"I also suggested the possibility of this being a distraction. But I still don't have any clue as to what for, there wasn't any foreign residue present, or any major moves made throughout Tokyo."
Yamada sighed. "Well that's for you youngins to figure out isn't it? I'll do what I can from my side, but just make sure you stay vigilant alright?"
"I will." The elder nodded approvingly.
"Good."
This time both Tamura and Kusakabe faced the doorway, hearing the sound of multiple footsteps headed their way.
"Is Ginko alright?" A youth with raven hair tied into a ponytail stepped into the room. Accompanied by one with white-hair wearing a set of polarized shades. Revealed to be his classmates, Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru. "I was informed about the situation, but we were on a mission at the time-"
Kusakabe gestured for him to stop. "Calm down, we know."
Geto's expression eased up as he approached the bed followed by Gojo.
"It was a Special-grade right?" Gojo asked.
"Yeah."
"Interesting, I expected you to be a bit more battered-" He abruptly removed his rounded shades, looking at Kusakabe inquisitively. "I see, that makes a lot more sense. It looks like old dogs can learn new tricks after all."
This was pretty much his own version of "praise".
Gojo's attention turned towards the sound asleep Ginko. "But it seems you're not the only one."
Kusakabe's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" He asked impatiently.
"It's faint but his body appears to be subconsciously trying to repair itself with [Reverse Cursed Technique]. And judging by your expressions, I assume he didn't use it during the fight?" He glanced around the room.
"No, he didn't." The swordsmen confirmed.
"Hm, he probably met the requirements to activate it then, but still lacked just a small extra push in order to get it going. I imagine Shoko's healing was probably that push." He put his shades back on.
"As expected." Yamada failed to hide his grin.
"Then, what exactly does that mean for Ginko?" Kusakabe questioned.
"It means it's only a matter of time before he wakes up. I guess he was a little less weaker than I presumed." Gojo yawned as he stretched his arms. "Let's go get dinner Suguru, the shops are gonna close soon."
"It's already that late?" He bowed politely towards the room's occupants. "It looks like we'll be heading off now, let me know when he wakes up alright?"
"Sure." Kusakabe waved as they both left the room. Turning towards his student with a warmer smile on his face. "After the way he fought, I thought it was strange that he didn't end up awakening something."
"Learning that technique means a lot more to him than it would to the average sorcerer, so it's only natural." Yamada added.
"What do you mean?"
"I won't spoil it, since he'll probably want to show you himself. But just try not to be too surprised if training him from now on becomes too much for you to handle." The patriarch grew a devilish grin, to which Kusakabe could only chuckle nervously.
"R-right."
"Anyways. You seem to be doing a good job of training him thus far so just keep it at." Yamada closed his newspaper and set it aside, hauling himself to his feet as he motioned for Tamura to walk beside him. "And try to keep your eyes peeled during your next mission. After all, it's possible that they weren't aiming for Jujutsu Tech as a whole."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, I find it a bit too convenient that everything led up to the two of you specifically being sent on that mission." Kusakabe shuddered. "They could've been aiming for just you, just my grandson, or the both of you. But to what ends I know not, which is why all you can do for now is stay vigilant."
"Will do." He nodded affirmatively.
"Good." Yamada halted right as he was about to exit the room, looking back at Kusakabe. "By the way, where's the restroom again?"
"Ah, just head down the hall and take a left."
"Much obliged."
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"Well this is new." Ginko thought aloud.
As of now, he found himself standing on some sort of dark-grayish rocky surface that seemed to span as far as the eye could see. Littered with naturally-formed craters and chunks of debris floating weightlessly around him. The sky replaced with vast blackness only interrupted by the presence of small shining white lights every now and then.
"Mr. Fish, ya' here?" He called out, scanning the terrain in an attempt to locate his strange aquatic friend he had encountered previously.
But try as he did, it proved to be a fruitless endeavor.
"Strange." He hummed. "Oh well, might as well test it out again while I'm here." Ginko held out his open palms, channeling his cursed energy seamlessly. "Looks like it still works."
Once again, boredom started to seep into his mind. Forcing an exasperated sigh out his lips as he aimlessly wandered around with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Hold on." He stopped in his tracks. Piecing together the bits of information he could garner from his surroundings. "Isn't this the moon?" Ginko concluded, looking back at the emptiness around him. "Strange, shouldn't I be able to see the earth from here?" But other than a few stars here and there, space turned out to be more barren than it was supposed to be.
"How odd." He scratched his scalp. "I don't think I should be able to breathe here either." He wondered. "Meh, it's probably just my raw amazingness' proving to be too much for the world to handle."
Shrugging off the peculiarity of his predicament, Ginko simply continued to wander, enjoying his newfound ability to leap meters into the air as he explored the nothingness surrounding him.
Until of course, the striking realization hit him.
"I'm hungry."
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As the title suggests, this was basically an interlude chapter. But with some cool reveals obviously.
Next chapter will be more about exploring those reveals and whatnot so look forward to it.
Disc: ZrWk2jqjbV
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