Once again, Choki proves that he is truly efficient with his work.
Shiki methodically looks through the numerous documents that her assistant has brought to her, thoughtful.
… Perhaps unsurprisingly, further investigation into 'Inoue Himari' and 'Emoto' does not reveal any connection between the two individuals. Looking into the cursed technique that had allowed Inoue to take on Emoto's appearance and use the man's abilities, on the other hand, proves to be rather more fruitful.
Shiki had suspected that this might be the case. Sorcery clans are meticulous when it comes to keeping genealogical records, but there are still details that easily get lost between the cracks, especially in smaller clans that aren't quite as diligent in keeping track of their family trees. Records of cursed techniques, on the other hand, are always being closely maintained and updated near-obsessively.
Families like the Gojo Clan take this a step further. They keep track of not only their own cursed techniques, but also any notable techniques of other lineages. Such as the Zenin Clan's Ten Shadows, for example… although the high amount of detail on that particular cursed technique in the Gojo Clan's library is a slight outlier compared to the norm. It makes sense, though, given the historical incident where the Gojo and Zenin clan heads at the time –a Six Eyes and Limitless user and a Ten Shadows user, respectively– had dueled to death in front of the aristocracy.
Of course the Gojo Clan would be keeping careful notes on the Ten Shadows, after that debacle. There was no doubt that the Zenin Clan kept their own records on the Gojo Clan's Six Eyes and Limitless, too.
Regardless–
Cursed techniques, and sorcery clans that keep exacting records of them.
Growing up in the Gojo Clan, Shiki has also been taught about various techniques of other sorcery clans in order to broaden her perspective and improve her understanding of the jujutsu world. From what she recalls, there are precious few cursed techniques that allow a person to mimic the abilities of another sorcerer. Shape-shifting, too, is also quite an uncommon ability.
Going through all the documents piled atop her desk here reveals only one cursed technique that matches both specifications:
'Seance.'
There are a wide variety of cursed techniques that exist in the world, with all manner of esoteric abilities. But even among them, the Seance Technique is unique. Because if the records of its capabilities are to be believed, then… it's possibly the closest cursed technique there is to 'resurrection.'
… Of course, as far as Shiki is aware, there does not actually exist any technique that accomplishes true resurrection. And in this, the Seance Technique is no different.
The technique doesn't really bring a deceased individual back to life. Nor does it actually summon the soul of the deceased, either.
Instead, Seance temporarily 'overlays' the living host with 'information' from the deceased in question, in a highly accurate approximation that makes it merely seem as if the dead came back to life again.
The origins of the Seance Technique can be traced to a specific line of priests and priestesses in Kyoto. For a time, they had been greatly honored and respected for their ability to enable communion with the dead… before the particulars of their lauded technique were revealed. Before it became known that it wasn't just information pertaining to the soul that they could access, but also information pertaining to the body.
There's a marked difference here. Information of the soul encapsulates things like personal memories and behavioral patterns of a deceased individual. But that wasn't all that the users of Seance could mimic –those with the technique could also choose to summon and wear the deceased's blood and flesh as their own, if they so desired to.
And the most crucial part of all of this: Seance was a cursed technique also effective on sorcerers.
… It was no surprise, then, that this particular line of priests ended up being swiftly absorbed into a larger sorcery clan once others learned about their cursed technique.
Unfortunately –or fortunately, perhaps, depending on the perspective– it became apparent over time that there were extreme difficulties with Seance being inherited by descendants. Then a sharp decline to their already-dwindling numbers during the turmoil of the Sengoku period, coupled with a lack of sorcerers being born in several consecutive generations, became fatal blows that saw the sorcery clan becoming fully defunct by the Edo period.
… But even though the clan name had died out long before the modern day and age, evidently the Seance Technique hadn't died out along with it.
Shiki reaches out and picks up one of the other papers containing sparse information on active curse users.
Ogami Shiho. An eighty-five year old woman, who was both a curse user and distant descendant of the aforementioned defunct clan. The only one in this day and age who was confirmed to possess the Seance Technique.
In that case…
If what Shiki had witnessed at work back in Kon Shiu's office was really the Seance Technique, then it was all but confirmed that Ogami was the one behind the attack. Shiki is mildly surprised that the higher ups are apparently content to let someone with a technique like Seance run around unchecked as a curse user. She would've thought that they would be highly interested in having someone like her become one of the sorcerers under their command. Perhaps the higher ups had made overtures to the woman in the past, and simply failed to reach an agreement?
Well, none of that has nothing to do with Shiki at the moment.
Bearing all of this in mind… in all likelihood, Ogami was the one who'd set up an ambush for Shiki in Kon Shiu's office. Most recorded cases of Seance had the sorcerer using their own body as a medium to channel the deceased, but there were also instances where others were used as vessels. Shiki guesses that Inoue Himari had been used as a vessel for Ogami to summon Emoto into.
As for the woman's motivations…
Shiki quietly taps her fingers against the lacquered wood of the desk in front of her, lowering her gaze in thought.
There are multiple possibilities that come to mind explaining Ogami's involvement. Perhaps the elderly curse user had killed Kon Shiu simply because she was hired to do so by a third party. Geto Suguru himself, maybe? There was also the chance that Ogami was another one of Geto-san's allies, and had simply decided to take matters into her own hands to clean up loose ends. Or was her act of murdering Kon Shiu due to a personal vendetta?
… No, the last one was unlikely. The timing of how it had matched so well with Shiki's arrival in Kon Shiu's office was far too coincidental for the two events to be completely unrelated.
Shiki sighs.
"You should take a break."
There is a soft clunk, as a steaming cup of tea is set down upon her desk. Shiki glances up just in time to see her uncle straightening and taking a sip from his own cup of tea.
"You've been going through these reports for quite a while," Ken-jichan says to her. "Take a break. It's not good to be reading for too long, you'll strain your eyes that way."
Shiki doesn't think she's been reading for that long, but she can recognize that her uncle is concerned for her. She sets down the reports compliantly and reaches for the tea cup sitting on her desk.
"Thank you for the tea." Shiki raises it to her lips, blowing slightly before taking a small sip.
"It's no trouble." Ken-jichan watches her for a moment, then crosses the room to take a seat on the couch by the left. "… Geto Suguru isn't an easy man to find. It's a difficult task that you've embarked on; setbacks are only to be expected."
Shiki blinks, surprised by the statement that seems to come out of nowhere.
… Does he think she's frustrated?
She's not, really. Certainly, Shiki is mildly put-out that the search for Geto Suguru is becoming more convoluted with every step forward that they take, but she had known from the start that this wouldn't be an easy task. If it were, then Satoru-niichan would've found Geto-san himself already a long time ago.
Patience, she knows, is invaluable. A sorcerer who cannot curb their impulses and temper themselves in face of external influences is not much of a sorcerer at all.
"I know, Ken-jichan," Shiki nods. "I'm not frustrated by the problems we're running into, even as unexpected as they are."
"You've spent half the day going through all of these documents."
That's because a sizable portion of the information that she'd requested –particularly the documentation in regards to the Gojo Clan's records on cursed techniques– is 'restricted information,' so Shiki is the only one who is permitted to access it. Which is rather unfortunate, because when it comes to paperwork, Choki is far more efficient than she is.
But Choki has sworn binding vows of loyalty to the Gojo Clan, ones which result in him only being able to ferry restricted information to her instead of being able to read it himself.
Inconvenient.
"It's important information," is all Shiki has to say for herself. Ken-jichan seems to be under the impression that Shiki is rushing to read through everything, so as to continue with searching for Geto-san as swiftly as possible. While it's true that Shiki is doing this for the sake of their investigation, she doesn't think that she's being hasty about it… "I've already finished going through most of it. Have you heard about 'Seance' before?"
Ken-jichan's brows furrow slightly, "… Communing with the dead?"
That's a 'no,' she takes it.
"It's a cursed technique that summons the 'information' of a person who died," Shiki explains. "From what I found in the records, it's a close match to what we witnessed in Kon Shiu's office. I think it's the cursed technique that was used on Inoue."
She then proceeds to inform her uncle of the other details of what she'd pieced together from the information that Choki had compiled for her.
"Ogami…" Ken-jichan frowns slightly. "I'm not familiar with that name. With a cursed technique like that, it sounds like she could be quite a troublesome opponent."
Shiki hadn't been familiar with that name, either, before her investigation into the topic at hand.
"I don't know the particulars of how Seance works, but there are probably stringent conditions or other requirements associated with a technique like that." And if Ogami were able to summon as many dead servants as she wished, then she wouldn't have remained as a nameless curse user all these years. "We'll deal with it as it comes."
Her uncle glances up at those words, "You plan to look for Ogami now?"
"The Kobayashi brothers weren't able to provide anything else useful, were they?" Nothing substantial aside from rumors, at least. For now, it seemed that Ogami was their best lead towards either finding the third party interfering with their attempts to find Geto-san, or perhaps finding Geto-san himself directly.
"No. As harsh as it sounds, it really does seem like they were only used to run errands and other miscellaneous tasks for Geto's organization," Ken-jichan confirms. "Although… they did express that they would like to remain with us for the time being."
Shiki pauses. That's surprising. "They didn't express any desire to leave?"
"… I think the sight we came upon in Kon Shiu's office must've shaken them." Ken-jichan looks at Shiki for a long moment, then sighs. "In the beginning, they didn't want to get involved, but now that they are involved… I think they most likely fear following in Kon Shiu's footsteps. It's safer for them to remain with us, instead of going their own separate way here."
Shiki supposed that she could see the logic behind that. Even though she'd threatened the Kobayashi brothers into cooperating with her in the beginning, it wasn't as if she'd actually intended to kill them. In contrast, there was no telling if whoever had sent Ogami after Kon Shiu would be interested in killing off the Kobayashi brothers or not. So if the two of them remained with Shiki and Ken-jichan, then there was a certain measure of protection in that, simply from proximity alone.
… If the search for Ogami does not go well, then maybe Shiki could try using the Kobayashi brothers as bait? See if she could draw out anyone targeting them, and continue the investigation from there.
There is suddenly a loud sneeze in the hallway outside; Shiki and Ken-jichan both look towards the doorway simultaneously.
"Sorry, s'cuse me…" Kobayashi Aoma rubs sheepishly at his nose, "For some reason, I just felt really, really cold all of a sudden…"
"Aoma-san," Ken-jichan greets, raises an eyebrow at the curse user, "Was there something that you needed?"
"Uh, sorta. I…" The man uncomfortably shuffles his feet at the attention he's receiving from both Shiki and her uncle. "I kinda… was wondering if it would be okay for my brother and I to head out for a bit? W-we're not planning to run or anything! It's just… well, we need to do a bit of shopping."
Shopping?
Shiki tilts her head confusedly. "Is it something that you cannot ask the serving staff here to provide?"
"I don't think the hotel staff works like that, do they?" Kobayashi Aoma responds. "Like, you can't exactly ask them to go out and do your shopping for you."
Shiki looks towards her uncle for clarification.
"This hotel that we're currently staying in is one of the businesses owned by the Gojo Clan," Ken-jichan explains. "For regular guests, perhaps not, but… certain exceptions are made for members of the clan and their guests."
"… Thought we were hostages and prisoners more than guests," the curse user raises a hand to scratch awkwardly at his chin. "So it feels a little awkward to ask people around here for help with stuff, y'know."
"I understand," Ken-jichan nods. "I apologize for the oversight. And to clarify, although you and your brother were… recruited under duress, neither Shiki nor I see the two of you as prisoners. Technically, you and your brother would be private contractors working with us, since we've already agreed that both of you will be compensated for your efforts."
"Oh, right, I guess there's also that." Kobayashi Aoma blinks, clearly having forgotten that little detail. "But… that's just for helping you guys find Kon Shiu, right? And Kon Shiu is, well. Um."
Dead.
"You still helped us find him," Ken-jichan points out. "And… it's partially our fault that you and your brother may be endangered going forward. The least we could do is accommodate the two of you while we're still figuring out where to go from here."
"… Huh. You're actually kinda reasonable for a sorcerer, aren't you?" The curse user blinks at Ken-jichan. "I mean… I'm definitely not going to turn down someone who's paying for food and lodging for free, but I don't know how useful my brother and I will be from here."
"I don't expect either of you to fight for us. Like I said, you can think of this as part of your compensation," Ken-jichan shakes his head. "Speaking of which, how is your brother doing?"
"He's still asleep right now. I think… the past few days were probably pretty hard on him. He liked Kon Shiu, too, so…" Kobayashi Aoma shrugs helplessly.
"My condolences."
"Nah, it's not like we were ever close close with the guy," the curse user mumbles. "It's just… that looked like an awful way to go. Kon Shiu didn't deserve that."
Shiki observes the man for a moment. Although Kobayashi Aoma had not thrown up upon seeing Kon Shiu's dismembered corpse like his brother had… he hadn't reacted very well to the bloody sight, either. There's still an ashen pallor to his face, even now. A forced edge to the casual demeanor that he's putting on.
"Anyways, though!" Kobayashi Aoma straightens by the doorway, "About the shopping thing –my brother and I need some new clothes since the ones we were wearing got kinda… bloodied. Um, I'd rather not bother the serving staff with something like this. Kinda don't want to end up with a set of those super fancy traditional outfits, either, so. Yeah."
Shiki glances down at her own kimono, a warm yellow-patterned print instead of the darker hue of the jujutsu school. What's wrong with traditional clothes?
"N-no, not that there's anything wrong with what you're wearing!" The curse user hastily waves his hands in front of himself. Shiki had probably been a little too obvious with her movements just now… "It just… feels weird, for a guy like me, y'know? I don't pull off the look half as well as you do, like a real clan princess."
"… Thank you?" Was that a compliment or an insult, actually?
"You're welcome!" Kobayashi Aoma's smile is just slightly too wide, indicating nervousness. "Your kimonos are great on you, and you definitely wear that clan sorcerer look well."
"'Clan sorcerer look?'"
"… You're kidding, right?" The curse user stares at her. "It's usually only people from clans who wear traditional getups all the time. And… well. It's pretty clear that you're a Gojo. White hair and cursed blue eyes, just like Gojo Satoru. The rest is kinda obvious from there, right?"
Now that Shiki thinks about it… Kobayashi Aoma and his brother had instantly recognized her when they first saw her, hadn't they?
Ordinarily, her appearance isn't something that Shiki pays too much attention to. But… if she's discreetly going after curse users, then perhaps it would be more convenient if she doesn't look like a quintessential clan sorcerer?
Tsumiki had also told Shiki to liven up her wardrobe choices before, too, except it's something that she'd never really gotten around to…
Shiki makes a mental note of her friend's foresight.
She turns around towards her uncle for a second opinion, "Ken-jichan, do you think I need new clothes, too?"
Unlike Shiki, Ken-jichan does not dress himself in traditional attire during the day-to-day. His current outfit consists of a crisp beige-colored shirt and dark blue dress pants. It reminds Shiki a bit of the business-casual attire that most assistant managers wear, somewhat, although it's less stiff and far more colorful than the standard black and white ensemble.
… Ken-jichan's attire would not turn any heads walking down the street. Shiki, on the other hand, usually receives several curious looks from passerby when she's out and about. For the most part, she'd straightforwardly assumed that it was because of her unusual coloration, rather than the way she dressed.
"I don't see why not," her uncle tells her with a faint smile. "Are you sure you'll be able to find your way around a store without Tsumiki?"
… Not really.
"Maybe I should ask Choki to find something for me," Shiki ponders as she sets down her empty tea cup.
Reaching towards the documents stacked on her desk, however, results in a pointed cough from her uncle.
"You've already been working at this for far too long," Ken-jichan says with finality. "Take a break, Shiki."
Shiki looks towards her empty tea cup. "… But I just did?"
"An actual break," Ken-jichan stresses. "You and Satoru, I swear… even if you look up to him, there are certain habits of his that you shouldn't adopt. Like that nonstop workaholic attitude of his. If he didn't have his reverse cursed technique, he'd be working himself into an early grave like that."
Shiki opens her mouth to remind her uncle that she, too, is capable of using reverse cursed technique to heal herself, only to pause and think better of it when Ken-jichan gives her a look.
"You've always taken your work seriously, Shiki," her uncle says, "A little too seriously, I'd say, and that's not healthy. When was the last time that you did anything unrelated to sorcery?"
Shiki considers the question for a moment. "I… think Tsumiki mentioned something about scheduling a day out? Except then the whole incident with Okkotsu-san came up, and we never got around to it."
Ken-jichan reaches up with a hand and rubs his forehead tiredly. Then, he inhales deeply.
"After all of this," he says slowly, "You should take some time to yourself. Spend some time with the Fushiguro siblings, too; there's only so much that phone calls and text messages do compared to spending time together in person. For now, though…"
Ken-jichan approaches her desk again, and this time reaches forward and gently tugs Shiki to her feet. Shiki gamely allows this to happen even despite her growing confusion at her uncle's unusual actions.
"Go shopping," Ken-jichan tells her.
There's a strange 'snrk' sound by the doorway; Shiki doesn't know what Kobayashi Aoma finds so amusing about this situation, but she gets the feeling that this stifled laugh is something that came about at her expense.
"Are you quite done?" Shiki slants a sideways look at the curse user.
The laughter instantly cuts off into strangled coughing as Kobayashi Aoma chokes, which she finds slightly more mollifying.
.
.
In general, finding curse users is harder than finding cursed spirits.
The reasons for this are obvious: Unlike cursed spirits, whose main instinct is to wreak havoc and destruction around them, curse users are intelligent humans who understand the importance of discretion. It's also far easier for a curse user to hide from a Window's eyes than it is for cursed spirits to do the same.
All of which is to say, Shiki is fully prepared for it to take some time to pinpoint Ogami Shiho's whereabouts. Because this time they do not have any information conveniently provided for them on the curse user. Not like the previous situation where information on the Kobayashi brothers had been helpfully handed over to them by the Yagyu Clan–
But clearly, she'd underestimated Choki. As it turns out, this isn't something that she needed to be concerned about at all.
Utilizing the documents that they'd uncovered in Kon Shiu's office, Choki was swiftly able to find several of Kon Shiu's contacts throughout the jujutsu world. From there, he was then able to make contact with several of them. Shiki does not know the particulars of how he'd carried out those negotiations, but the results of Choki's efforts soon become clear.
Although he did not find out where Ogami was, exactly, he did find out about the next job that Ogami had accepted:
An assassination request to kill Irifune Minato.
"Who?"
"Irifune Minato is an illegitimate child of the Naniwa Clan," Choki answers. "I am uncertain of why he's being targeted, seeing as he has neither inherited a cursed technique nor possesses the ability to see cursed spirits, but I suspect that it may have something to do with the unstable situation within the Naniwa Clan recently."
Unstable situation?
Ah.
It takes a moment, but Shiki recalls the information from last week's reports easily enough. Naniwa Torikai, one of the higher ups in Jujutsu Headquarters and a venerated elder of the Naniwa Clan, had collapsed while going about his duties the other day. This had been subsequently followed by news of the elderly man being ill, causing many members of the Naniwa Clan to be promptly summoned back to the clan on short notice.
It seems that Naniwa Torikai must hold a not-inconsiderable position of influence within his own clan, for his collapse to be a matter of such grave import. What did the Naniwa clan head think about this, though? … Or perhaps, maybe they viewed Naniwa Torikai's sickness as an opportunity?
Shiki is unsympathetic towards Naniwa Torikai and internal affairs of the Naniwa Clan. She still hasn't forgotten how Naniwa Torikai was one of the higher ups who had gotten Kinji locked up for using a Domain Expansion during the Kyoto exchange event.
"I will continue looking into the reason why Irifune is being targeted," Choki says, "But in any case, it hasn't been long since this request passed into Ogami's hands. While Ogami's whereabouts are difficult to pin down, it's far easier to find someone who is, for all intents and purposes, a regular civilian despite their connections."
"So in the meantime, following Irifune might actually turn out to be a faster way of finding Ogami." Shiki sees where this is leading.
It seems that they have their next task in this investigation, then.
After being updated on the situation, Ken-jichan also agrees that this is a viable method of finding Ogami. However…
"It would be prudent to contact Irifune first, wouldn't it?" Ken-jichan says. "If he's the one being targeted, and we're essentially using him as 'bait' to find Ogami here… then it's something that he should at least know about."
Irifune Minato might be a civilian living a normal life and working a normal job that's blessedly free of sorcery-related activities, but there are signs of contact between him and the Naniwa Clan. Even though it appears that he isn't involved in the jujutsu world himself, he's likely not wholly unaware of the 'family business' and what it entails.
Shiki can see why Ken-jichan would wish to inform Irifune of the imminent threat to his life, but… there's no telling if Irifune is already being watched by others –such as Ogami Shiho.
Making contact with Irifune out of the blue might alert anyone keeping a close eye on the man. Or, if Irifune's behavior changes due to knowing about the threat to his life, then that might also alert Ogami to the fact that there was something wrong. And if Ogami decides against continuing with her assassination attempt because of this, and retreats without ever revealing herself…
It's a cold-blooded way of thinking, perhaps. Practical and rational, but cold-blooded. Shiki is also cognizant of the fact that it's a similar way of thinking that led her to decide to kill the Yagyu elders.
Consequences, and the message that one's action or inaction would send.
And… she's also aware that Ken-jichan does not approve of what she did back then. So how would he react if she were to voice these thoughts to him? Would he acknowledge her reasoning for Irifune to remain ignorant, or would he see this as something that's wrong to do?
Shiki wants to ask, but she also doesn't want Ken-jichan to get upset at her. His attitude towards her has finally turned warmer again these days, and…
And ordinarily, Shiki isn't one to care much about what other people think about her. But this is Ken-jichan, and she… can't help but care. There's no particular reason or rationale to it. Shiki cares about what Ken-jichan thinks, and she doesn't want him to be upset with her.
Even if it means potentially missing a lead that could lead you a step closer to Geto Suguru? Didn't you want to find Geto-san for Satoru-niichan's sake?
…
In the end, though, all of this is a moot point.
Acrid black smoke billows out of the building that's supposedly Irifune's workplace, and Shiki can see tongues of flickering flames licking at the window frames. Traveling to Irifune's hometown hadn't taken long, but she can't say that this is what she'd expected to arrive to. Looking at the current situation, it's only a matter of time before the fire will engulf the building in full.
There is already a small crowd of evacuees gathered in front of the building, but…
Kobayashi Aoma lets out a low whistle, "Wanna bet if Irifune made it out or not?"
"No bet," Kobayashi Tamotsu responds, frowning. "An unexpected accident like this would be a very convenient way of explaining an untimely demise, wouldn't it?"
It would… except it's also a very eye-catching incident, isn't it?
"I'll go take a look inside." Since this isn't a jujustu-related incident –not obviously, at least– this means that there aren't any Curtains or other precautions in place from local Windows that Shiki can count on. This means that she'll need to be discreet, and careful. "The two of you should stay with Choki."
Ken-jichan isn't here with them right now. Her uncle had departed to visit Irifune's home and speak with him about the impending danger to his life, while Shiki decided to scope out other parts of the city first, including the man's workplace. The evening hour means that the man should have gone home from work already, but judging by the number of employees in front of the building… had they been working late overtime hours, perhaps?
There's a chance that Irifune isn't here. But…
Shiki sighs.
… Strictly speaking, sorcerers aren't to interfere with matters outside their purview, and the foremost duty of a sorcerer is only to exorcise cursed spirits. If a secondary duty had to be added to this, then it would be subduing curse users who threatened the safety and livelihoods of others. None of this has anything to do with firefighting or rescuing civilians from fires.
But given what she knows about the situation, the fire burning in this building might very well have been caused by Ogami. So that makes it something tangentially related to jujutsu, doesn't it? Therefore, it's not unreasonable for Shiki to head in and investigate –preferable before the fire department arrives on the scene.
"Wait, you're just going to walk into the fire like that?" Kobayashi Aoma calls out after her.
"… Yes?" Shiki is confused about what the curse user is referring to for a moment, but realizes why he's staring strangely soon enough.
She glances down at herself. Instead of wearing a traditional outfit that has been specially-treated to be more durable and resistant to damage through clan spells, her current attire consists of a recently store-bought ensemble that adheres much more closely to normal 'street style.' She'd told the shop assistant that she wanted to completely change her appearance, and the woman had more than delivered on her request.
A red leather jacket over a loose undershirt, and a pair of black cargo pants with an assortment of straps and buckles attached to it. There is also a black baseball cap that now sits snugly atop her head, hiding her eye-catching hair color after Shiki has pinned it into a bun.
It's quite a drastic change from her usual outfit. Choki had glanced up at her and promptly fumbled the stack of papers in his hands after Shiki walked out from the store with her new look, satisfied that she no longer looked like an obvious sorcerer on sight.
But even though these new clothes look sturdier than her usual kimonos, this could not be further from the truth. Unlike Shiki's kimonos, these have not been specially treated for defense and durability.
Kobayashi Aoma's worries are understandable in this respect.
But, there's nothing for him to worry about on that front.
"… Is your cursed technique being fireproof or something?"
"Or something," Shiki affirms, and turns to head into the burning building.
.
.
Extra.
.
"Please wait a moment, Nanami-san."
"I apologize for the intrusion," Nanami Kento automatically responds. The young woman who'd welcomed him into the Irifune household smiles politely, and heads into an adjacent room to call her husband, Irifune Minato.
…
… Kento knows that Shiki has her reservations about him directly making contact with Irifune like this. She hadn't spoken up about it, though. He doesn't know if it's because she thought things through herself and decided that Irifune deserved to know what was going on, or if she now felt uncomfortable speaking up about her true thoughts around him.
Kento most definitely hadn't intended for things between them to devolve to the point where his niece was no longer comfortable speaking openly with him. They needed to address this, before things got any worse.
Shiki… has always been the sort of child who didn't want to cause trouble for others. Which might be due to the unspoken trauma of her childhood experiences, but–
No. He shouldn't be thinking about things this way.
We really need to talk about everything sometime. There's a distinct irony in Shiki hunting down Geto Suguru so the curse user could have a talk with Satoru, while also pointedly not talking about her own problems with Kento.
At this point, he's more or less resigned to the fact that he and his niece share decidedly different perspectives and worldviews, the value of human lives included. But there is value and weight to the lives of others, and Kento… just wants to be sure that his niece still remembers that. Hopes that she will consider more than just benefits and drawbacks when she's placed into a similar situation in the future.
… The Gojo Clan has succeeded in turning Shiki into a powerful sorcerer, just like they had Gojo Satoru before her. However, just like Gojo Satoru… it seems that they've failed to stress a few crucial things to her growing up all the same.
Kento knows that he doesn't have any room to place the blame squarely at the Gojo Clan's feet. It's not as if he was there for his niece during her formative years. He'd tried to be, but it was impossible to balance that with being a sorcerer at the same time. And Kento knew that he needed to be a powerful sorcerer if he wanted any chance of being able to protect his niece in the future.
But now, it seems that he really should've–
There's a loud clatter in one of the rooms down along the hallway, followed by the sound of a harsh scuffle.
"Izumi? What are you doing?!"
Kento frowns, and rises to his feet. He crosses the hallway in the blink of an eye, foregoing any worries of being rude in face of the strange commotion, and throws open the door–
It's locked.
Kento curls his hand into a fist, and breaks down the door with a single blow.
But the sight that greets him–
Irifune is easily recognizable; Kento knows what the man looks like from the photos in the dossier that Choki had provided. But unlike the smiling image in his profile, the young man is currently pale-faced, and wide-eyed in terror. His fingers are white with pressure from where they are tightly gripped around his wife's wrists.
… His wife, who currently sits solidly atop the upper half of Irifune's body from where the man has been knocked to the ground. His wife who is still doing her level best to drive a long, gleaming dagger down into his head.
There's already a bleeding gash on Irifune's arm, blood dripping down onto the carpet beneath them, leaving no doubt as to what the loud disturbance earlier had resulted in.
Kento moves instantly, leg rising into a kick to knock the woman aside–
–and there is definitely a loud crack as his foot strikes a heavy body. But… the blow does not connect with the woman attempting to murder her husband on the ground. Instead, it solidly hits someone who'd dropped down from the ceiling; Kento had been too distracted by the sight in front of them to immediately notice the third person on the scene.
The unexpected new man tumbles to the side, but scrambles up and launches himself at Kento again before he's even fully regained his balance.
Slow.
Kento yanks the man by his collar, then brings him down, raising and slamming his knee into the other man's solar plexus simultaneously. The man chokes, paralyzed, and Kento tightens his grip on him. Then promptly turns on his heel, bodily swinging the man around, and proceeds to throw him into the woman who's still doing her level best to murder Irifune.
She lets out a startled cry as she's roughly knocked aside when her accomplice slams into her.
"Are you alright, Irifune-san?" Kento spares a brief moment to check on the downed man bleeding on the ground.
"I-I don't…" Irifune's voice shakes, his entire body trembling in shock as he slowly pushes up on his elbows. "Izumi… why…?"
Why, indeed?
Kento turns towards the two attackers… and, with a sinking feeling, witnesses the woman's face melting. Youthful features liquefy and reform into aged, wrinkled ones. Within only a scant few moments, the one standing up from the ground is no longer Irifune's wife, but instead an aged old grandmother.
An aged old grandmother who's shrouded in a not-inconsiderable amount of cursed energy.
"Hmm. So the boy is this important to the Naniwas, is he? Enough that they would send a Grade One sorcerer to protect him?" Slowly, the old woman begins turning the string of prayer beads in her hands. "… It seems that I must resort to drastic measures, then. Protect me, my beloved grandson."
"Yes, Granny." Expressionlessly, the young man who'd ambushed Kento unprompted also rises to his feet, and raises his fists into a fighting stance as he faces him.
"You're Ogami." There's no doubt about it. Kento narrows his eyes at the curse users, his voice icy. "I would advise you to surrender."
His words go wholly ignored. Ogami bows her head and hunches over, but there's no mistaking her posture for submission –rather, Kento can sense her cursed energy gathering in her body, and the woman is rapidly muttering something indecipherable in a low murmur.
Incantations?
… Whatever she's up to, Kento doesn't intend to allow her to do as she pleases.
He rushes forward, intending to knock the old woman out and be done with it all–
But her grandson rushes forward, too, steadfastly blocking his way.
This young man…
He isn't a particularly skilled fighter, but he's durable. And he keeps getting back up, no matter how many times Kento puts him down. Kento didn't come into this with the express intention of killing anyone, and if at all possible, he doesn't want to.
Not only do they need to get all the information that they can from these curse users… personally, Kento doesn't wish to kill anyone. His hands are far from clean, but killing is something that Kento would prefer to refrain from as much as necessary. Because it's easy for sorcerers to kill… and killing is a slippery slope that he has no desire to go down upon.
So Kento doesn't pull out his cloth-wrapped knife. Only uses his fists, and mercilessly knocks down the opponent getting in his way.
Soon, the young man lies in a brutalized heap on the ground. But…
Even bloodied and beaten, he still flings his broken body at Kento, crawling back even when he's knocked aside, even grabbing Kento by the ankles in an effort to prevent him from heading to Ogami when he's unable to stand anymore.
Kento can recognize that this young man is dedicated to his grandmother. But that doesn't stop him from shaking off the young man's grip, because Kento still needs to–
Ogami's chanting stops.
The string of prayer beads finally falls still in her hands. Her cursed energy spikes–
–not in herself, but instead in the young man lying beneath Kento's feet?
"It is done." The old woman's eyes fly open, flinty black eyes glittering victoriously. "Answer my summons, Zenin Toji."
.
.
…
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