.
"Seriously, is there really someone from the Gojo Clan working against you?"
… Such a thing would not be outside the realm of possibility, Shiki admits. Even though the Gojo Clan presents a united front for others to see, it would be foolish to take this at face value and assume that the clan is harmonious because of that. No clan is ever truly free of internal conflict; they only differ in the level of severity.
As for the Gojo Clan's involvement here…
Ever since Satoru-niichan had done that large-scale 'cleansing' of traitorous elements within the Gojo Clan when Jihei-san died, most of the Gojo clansmen had gradually fallen in line to his will in the succeeding years that followed. There were still those who disagreed with him, like Elder Takatomi, but none would blatantly disobey or sabotage him. And as a prominent figure who was associated with Gojo Satoru, it was rare for fellow clansmen to actively work against Shiki, too.
But that didn't mean it was something that never happened. Shiki might be useful to the Gojo Clan as a sorcerer, but there were still those who were dissatisfied with her and critical of her for various reasons, ranging from her behavior to her status to the simple fact that she was female. It usually showed itself in things like causing logistical problems for the Tobiume and what not, though. Minor problems that generally neither Shiki nor Satoru-niichan would deal with personally, and matters where they could plausibly claim that the troubles weren't caused purposefully.
To be interfering with Shiki by hiring a curse user like Ogami to erase evidence pointing towards Geto Suguru's trail, though–
Shiki had suspected that there would be sorcery clans interested in helping to cover for Geto-san, but she hadn't expected the Gojo Clan to be one of them. After all, Gojo Satoru was the head of the clan, and everyone knew about the complicated relationship that existed between him and Geto Suguru.
More concerningly, if there was someone within the clan who was in regular contact with Geto-san, then how had they managed to accomplish hiding this from Satoru-niichan?
… And what would be their reason for doing so?
Working against the clan head like this… the only explanation was that they didn't want even a chance of Satoru-niichan reconciling with Geto-san.
Why?
If anything, Satoru-niichan and Geto-san being able to come to an understanding with each other should be a good thing. Unless… unless the fear was that they wouldn't be able to. That there would be no peaceful resolution.
Following that line of thought… perhaps there was someone in the Gojo Clan who feared the fallout that a conflict between the two of them might result in? Who feared the consequences that an altercation between Shiki and Geto-san might bring about?
And therefore, in order to minimize all risks and remove the possibility of this becoming a problem in the first place–
Arrange things such that Shiki does not come even close to Geto-san to begin with.
"I can see why someone from the Gojo Clan might try to sabotage our efforts," Shiki nods and states her thoughts on the matter plainly.
Kobayashi Tamotsu gives her a strange look. "… I thought it was kind of weird earlier, too, but you… don't seem to be surprised that it might be your own clan playing sabotage behind the scenes?"
"Why would I be surprised?"
Ken-jichan coughs lightly and raises his voice as the curse user starts sputtering. "Internal disputes within the Gojo Clan aside, I believe that our first order of business would be confirming Ogami's testimony. Then, keeping to the original plan of identifying and finding the individual who contracted her. Whether they are a Gojo or not… if the perpetrator purposefully wanted Kon Shiu dead in order to obstruct our investigation, then there's a high chance that they're connected to Geto Suguru in some manner."
Because there's no doubt that the timing of Kon Shiu's death right as they arrived had been very coincidental. To the point where it was highly doubtful that the timing was much of a coincidence at all.
… Coincidence or not, though, the man was dead, and looking into the one who'd ordered his death was the lead that they were working off of right now. Shiki isn't very enthused that there is yet another problem that needs to be resolved in order to learn about Geto-san's whereabouts; in all honesty, it's starting to get to the point where it feels like they're being led in roundabout circles.
Finding the Kobayashi brothers led to looking for Kon Shiu turned into hunting down Ogami. And now, it seemed like they needed to branch out into a new investigation to find and identify the one who'd hired Ogami to kill Kon Shiu. After all, the hope was that they would be able to reach Geto Suguru through this mysterious individual manipulating events in the background.
… Shiki is going to be very cross if it turns out that there's yet another intermediary that they'll need to hunt down and go through in order to find Geto-san after this.
She closes her eyes briefly.
So. Ogami claimed that the one who hired her to kill Kon Shiu was a Gojo. Given that the elderly curse user remained adamant about this fact even after taking a binding vow, there was no doubt that she was telling the truth. But it was only her perception of the truth. Although Shiki could see the logic in why there would be fellow clansmen of the Gojo Clan acting against her, that didn't necessarily mean this was actually the case. If there was someone who had impersonated a Gojo before hiring Ogami to kill Kon Shiu…
… something like that wasn't impossible, but it was certainly convoluted. Why go to the extra effort of disguising themselves as a Gojo, specifically?
But no matter the motive behind this… there's no point in overthinking the situation at the moment. Ken-jichan is right. Whether or not the culprit is truly a Gojo or not, the fact remains that this person had contracted Ogami to murder Kon Shiu. The manner in which they'd done so and the timing of the events wasn't something that could be passed off as coincidence. Certainly, it would complicate matters if it really turned out to be a Gojo who'd done this–
But if it really was another Gojo, then that simply meant that they had more to answer for.
"Ojou-sama," Choki enters the room. After the altercation that had gone down in Irifune's home, they'd relocated to one of the Gojo Clan's nearby properties instead. "The granddaughter that Ogami contacted just came by with the 'proof' to verify her claims."
The young man lifts the small wooden box that he's currently holding. There are no sealing strips or anything else covering it. Going by appearances alone, it's just a perfectly normal wooden box, one that's small enough to fit comfortably in the palm of a single hand.
Kobayashi Aoma squints, "So that's the 'proof' that Ogami's client is a Gojo?"
"Supposedly, I guess," Kobayashi Tamotsu eyes the box suspiciously. "… It's not going to turn out to be some sort of trap, is it?"
"I don't sense any cursed energy from it," Ken-jichan hums. "Shiki?"
"I don't sense anything from it, either." Nor do her cursed eyes observe anything overtly unusual in the box's lines, for that matter. "Thank you for bringing it here, Choki."
The assistant bows, and hands the item over to her.
Shiki opens the box.
Then, frowns.
"… What is that?" Kobayashi Aoma's voice is audibly confused. "A badge? Do all Gojos carry badges around with them like a membership card, or something?"
"Pretty sure that sorcery clans don't use ID cards," Kobayashi Tamotsu snorts. "If they do, then I'll eat my hat."
"Bro, you're not wearing a hat right now though?"
The older man closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's a figure of speech."
"They don't carry cards," Ken-jichan interjects into the brothers' exchange, cutting off their nonsensical squabbling. "Shiki, is that…?"
What lies in the center of the box that she'd just opened is a small, thin square of wood. A very specific design had been burned upon it, however –a stylized image of a plum blossom.
… An image that's a perfect match for a certain wooden token that Shiki carries around with her, to be precise. "It's the symbol of the Tobiume."
"The what?" Kobayashi Aoma asks.
"The Tobiume. One of the Gojo Clan's branch families," Shiki explains simply. "And… I am the current head of the Tobiume family."
Kobayashi Tamotsu sucks in a sharp breath, eyes widening, while his brother Aoma blinks rapidly.
"… Wow. Okay, uh, so it's someone from your… branch family who betrayed you?" There is a brief pause, as the young man very visibly takes a long moment to digest the new information. "Okay, yeah, yikes. Very big yikes. That definitely doesn't sound good."
Is it a Tobiume clansman who is acting against her?
Shiki lifts the small square out of the box, holding it up into the air in order to examine it.
If they take the situation at face value, then it certainly seems like there is someone in the Tobiume who is to blame for this. Shiki recognizes the item in her hand as something that's reminiscent of one of the tokens that are used in order to obtain entry to the warehouses that the Gojo Clan stores cursed tools in. It matches up with what Ogami claimed that he client had offered as compensation: Aside from a generous commission fee, they were also promised their choice of a cursed tool from what the clan warehouses had to offer.
However…
Sigils of permission such as the one Shiki was currently looking at were not easily obtainable by the average clansmen. Only those who dealt in jujutsu-relevant matters within the clan were allowed to handle such items to begin with, and for a branch family like the Tobiume, those who were involved in sorcery were even fewer. If it were not for Shiki, then perhaps by this point the Tobiume would no longer be involved in any matters regarding sorcery at all–
But she's starting to digress a bit.
The main point is: The token that Ogami procured here is not something that just any Gojo clansmen can get their hands on. And within the Tobiume, those who are able to get their hands on such a thing are even fewer. Strictly speaking, only two people within the Tobiume branch family possessed the authority to freely access and distribute this particular token.
Shiki herself, and Kiyohira-sensei.
… And Shiki has most certainly never distributed such tokens to anyone before.
Gojo Kiyohira is one of the few within the Gojo Clan who very clearly know what Shiki's plans are. And as both an elder of the Tobiume and Shiki's appointed representative within the Gojo Clan itself, he has no small amount of authority granted to his person. Which would make it extremely easy for him to arrange things on the sly with no one being any the wiser–
But Shiki refuses to believe that this is Kiyohira-sensei's handiwork that she's looking at.
They hadn't started off on the best foot, when Shiki first met him as a young girl who knew precious little about sorcery and the sorcery world as a whole. But even despite the rocky beginning, they'd eventually settled into a comfortable rhythm together. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that Kiyohira-sensei was something of a second father to Shiki at this point.
She has a good idea of the man's character. Kiyohira-sensei can be grouchy and disagreeable at times, but he's not the type of person to go behind her back like this. If he was staunchly against her searching for Geto Suguru, then he would've said so directly to her face and made his stance perfectly clear. And something like hiring a curse user for an assassination? No, Kiyohira-sensei definitely wasn't the kind of person who would do such a thing.
Shiki doesn't believe that Kiyohira-sensei of all people is the one she has to thank for being unable to grasp a solid lead on Geto Suguru.
In her opinion…
Either the token that she's holding in her fingers right now is a fake, or there's someone in the Gojo Clan who circumvented Kiyohira-sensei in order to take action like this. Kiyohira-sensei has been quite busy recently, after all, what with the new influx of arrivals increasing the Tobiume's numbers, and therefore the amount of people that he had a responsibility towards. It's not unthinkable that someone may have taken advantage of his… distraction.
There's also the possibility that the token Ogami received from her unnamed client is a forgery. A very convincing forgery; the seals of branch families within the Gojo Clan are not exactly well-known. Only those among the higher echelons of the jujutsu world would be aware of what they looked like, so for a forgery like this to be made… it could only be by the hands of either someone from the Gojo Clan, or a high-ranked member of another renowned sorcery clan.
Aimless guessing won't lead her anywhere, though.
"We're going to need Kiyohira-sensei's help," Shiki states plainly.
"Who's that?" Kobayashi Aoma asks curiously.
"Gojo Kiyohira, who should be very well-versed with various ongoing matters in the Gojo Clan," Ken-jichan answers in Shiki's stead. "You think he'll be able to discover something using this token as a clue?"
"I need him to help me verify whether this is real or fake," Shiki raises the wooden square in her hand for emphasis, waving it slightly. "If it's real, then we'll need to investigate who took a Tobiume token without alerting either of us. And if it's fake… then, it's still something that Kiyohira-sensei should at least be aware of."
"In case there are more instances of forgeries appearing in the future?" Ken-jichan frowns. "… If Ogami showed up with this, then would she really have been able to obtain a cursed tool from one of the clan warehouses?"
"No," Shiki shakes her head. "The barriers and various other protections in place around important clan premises bar entry to any outsiders. Ogami would not have been able to even come close to a warehouse in the first place… not unless she was accompanied by another Gojo sorcerer."
"So not unless she was accompanied by this 'client' who hired her in the first place, presumably," Ken-jichan purses his lips.
"Something like that," Shiki agrees and tilts the wooden piece between her fingers. "… But I think there's also the possibility that her client wanted her to raise the Gojo Clan's alarm when she came seeking her prize."
"What do you mean?"
"Wouldn't it be convenient?" Shiki studies the plum blossom burned into the wood. It really is such a convincing match to the design that she's familiar with. "The clan keeps close records of what's cataloged in the warehouses. Even a low-ranked cursed tool being removed will be recorded, especially if it's by someone who's not a clan member. So whether Ogami shows up openly or secretly to claim her prize… it doesn't matter. Once she does so, there's no way that the clan won't notice."
"… Hold up, I think I'm starting to get kind of confused here," Kobayashi Aoma scratches his head. "Assuming that the guy who hired Ogami did so because they didn't want to reveal themselves or get implicated, then why would it be 'convenient' for them if Ogami drew attention to herself and got the Gojo Clan focused on this? Won't that just mean they're running the risk of getting themselves revealed? Kinda backwards, isn't it?"
"But they'd still be achieving their goal," Shiki points out.
The curse user blinks rapidly, "Eh?"
"I think I see what you mean," Ken-jichan breaks in. "You're looking at this in terms of their motivations. If we assume that their ultimate goal is to obfuscate Geto Suguru's trail… then, having Ogami reveal herself to the Gojo Clan would be in line with this. Because it uses the possibility of there being a traitor in the Gojo Clan to act as a smokescreen over Geto Suguru. If you want to find another hint of Geto's whereabouts, then you'll need to deal with matters within the Gojo Clan first."
Which is more or less the same as what's been happening so far. Interrogating the Kobayashi brothers turned into searching for Kon Shiu, searching for Kon Shiu turned into finding the man's murderer, and now it seemed like the next item on the list was investigating the Gojo Clan for their culprit assisting Geto Suguru.
Even if it turned out that this individual wasn't actually a member of the Gojo Clan… that there was some relation to the Tobiume wasn't something that Shiki could easily overlook, as the head of the Tobiume branch family.
…
Shiki doesn't like this. The distinct feeling of being led around in circles, of following breadcrumbs laid out in a neat trail. Even if they hadn't specifically searched for Ogami, the curse user would've come to Shiki's attention regardless when she was caught red-handed in the act of taking a cursed tool from the Gojo Clan's warehouses.
If this 'client' had truly wanted to promise Ogami a cursed tool as compensation for the assassination request, then it doesn't make sense for them to have given Ogami a token like this. Either they would have obtained the cursed tool themselves to then give to Ogami, or they would've purchased a cursed tool without touching the clan warehouses.
But giving Ogami the token instead implies that they're allowing the curse to arrive in person to freely select a cursed tool. That's not something that even Shiki, with the position that she holds in the clan, can promise with no one being any the wiser.
Overall, they still lack information to determine what's really going on in this increasingly-convoluted investigation. But there's nothing that they can do about that aside from continuing with the investigation using the clues they've found.
Shiki sighs.
… She certainly hadn't expected her search for Geto Suguru to lead her back to the Gojo clan compound again. But at the very least, it'll be nice to see Kiyohira-sensei again.
.
.
This time, Shiki is the only one to return to the compound, with Choki at her side. The Kobayashi brothers are still curse users, which would make it a little troublesome to bring them along with her, and Ken-jichan had volunteered to remain with them to wait for her while Shiki had a talk with Kiyohira-sensei.
As for what her teacher had to say about things–
"This is fake."
Kiyohira-sensei's eyes are flinty, narrowed in displeasure. There's a scowl on his face as he glares down at the wooden token in his hand, and for a moment it almost seems like he wants to crush it in his palm, before he manages to rein in the impulse.
"The design is a perfect match," Kiyohira-sensei traces the outline of the plum blossom with a large finger. "But the material is wrong. We use mulberry wood for this sort of thing, not plum wood. And the Tobiume's tokens are all accounted for, anyways… not that there were very many to begin with. It's not like the Tobiume have any other active sorcerers aside from you who might make use of this. I've certainly never distributed these tokens to anyone."
How curious, then. But at least it excludes one set of possibilities from her suppositions, if Kiyohira-sensei has confirmed that the token they'd retrieved from Ogami is merely an exceedingly convincing forgery and not the real thing.
The man continues to scrutinize the token with a frown. "Who did you say that this came from again?"
Who's the one that forged this?
"That's what we're trying to find out." Who, indeed. But one thing was not in question: The person who made this was definitely quite familiar with the Gojo Clan, if they could create such a realistic replica like this. "This was given to the curse user Ogami Shiho by her client. The one who contracted her to assassinate Kon Shiu."
Kiyohira-sensei's brows knit together in consternation.
"… How is it that you keep stumbling into complications like this?" The man lifts up a hand and rubs at his forehead, then lets out a long exhale. "Alright. Even though the Tobiume's sigil isn't exactly common knowledge, it's not as if it's a guarded secret. There are a lot of potential suspects if we look at it this way… but there's an easy way to narrow this down."
"Geto Suguru?"
"Geto Suguru," Kiyohira-sensei agrees. "Since the coincidental timing of Kon Shiu's assassination is likely related to your search for him, then the person responsible for this knows that you're looking for Geto. And that definitely isn't a well-known fact in the clan. Most people are under the impression that you're finally taking a break from nonstop training and missions."
There seems to be a pointed note of something that creeps into Kiyohira-sensei's voice in the end, although Shiki can't quite put her finger on what it is. She decides to set aside the thought for later and instead focus on matters at hand.
Namely–
"That means it might be one of the elders behind this, then," Shiki deduces. "Or if it's not one of the Gojo elders, then… maybe someone who learned something from watching the Yagyu Clan, perhaps?"
"Because of the information that the Yagyu Clan provided to us regarding Geto Suguru?" Kiyohira-sensei pauses briefly. "Yes, I suppose that's another possibility. Many parties have been keeping a close eye on the developing situation after you killed two high-ranked Yagyu elders… that doesn't exactly help us narrow down our suspects, though."
Quite the opposite, really.
Shiki points at the fake plum blossom token. "What do you think are the chances that this is the work of someone who's impersonating a Gojo clansman?"
Kiyohira-sensei slants a look at her, arching a thick brow. "You don't think that this is the work of another Gojo?"
"It might be." Shiki wouldn't rule out that possibility so quickly, knowing what she does of the Gojo Clan and the frictions that exist within it. There's a very real chance that it's some elder like Takatomi-sama who was responsible for the mess they were looking at. But at the same time, "We can't say that for certain yet, so other possibilities also need to be taken into account."
Kiyohira-sensei sighs heavily, and grumbles under his breath. "… That curse user you caught couldn't provide any solid leads?"
"Ogami claims that she would be able to recognize the one who hired her if he was standing in front of her, but she was unable to find him through the channels that he used to contract her." So it was another dead end on that front.
"… I'll do what I can," Kiyohira-sensei says. "I'll speak with Daisaku-sama about this, and see what we can do about finding our perpetrator if they're another clansman. And if they're not, then…"
Then that would make things a tad bit more complicated.
"Then I'll use other means to find them." The Tobiume still need Kiyohira-sensei, so it's unreasonable to expect her teacher to be able to assist in the investigation if it turns out that the culprit is not someone within the Gojo Clan.
"Try not to go around killing any other clan elders, please," the man says dryly.
"… I'll try."
"That's all I ask," Kiyohira-sensei rubs his head. "… Moving onto another topic, though. There's something that I need to inform you of: The Shunryu branch family may or may not be requesting a meeting with you at a near point in the future."
Shiki blinks, disconcerted. That's certainly quite the change in subject from the discussion of her recent ongoing investigations. "The Shunryu family?"
Similar to the Tobiume, the Shunryu are another branch family within the Gojo Clan. Unlike the Tobiume and their recent leap in status, however, the Shunryu have a long history of being a fairly well-respected branch family. Although not quite as prominent as the higher-ranked branches, the Shunryu family consistently produces a few sorcerers every generation, and so their position has always remained solidly stable within the clan.
… Shiki doesn't remember interacting with the Shunryu family any more than she did the other branch families, though. So why would they suddenly come looking for her like this?
"Remember what I mentioned last time about Minako bringing her husband and children back to the Tobiume with her after a severe disagreement with her in-laws? And how more of that side of the family just started showing up here afterwards?" Kiyohira-sensei waves a hand exasperatedly. "Well. A good half of the Shunryu branch all live here regularly now, and the Shunryu branch head isn't pleased about it."
If that's the case, then shouldn't the Shunryu head be focusing on how to placate his family if he wants them to come back to him? How is his displeasure relevant to Shiki?
"I'm just warning you ahead of time so you'll know to expect it," Kiyohira-sensei taps his fingers in an impatient rhythm. "Minako's husband, Morikazu, is a Special Grade One sorcerer in the Shunryu branch family. The Shunryu branch will want him back no matter what."
Shiki can see where this is leading. "… They think that we're poaching their Special Grade One?"
"And half the Shunryu branch family, too," Kiyohira-sensei adds. "Which most certainly isn't the case, but it's not like Gojo Morihiko is going to believe that with half the Shunryu branch staying here with the Tobiume."
"Why are so many of the Shunryu here, anyways?" Shiki glances at her teacher. "Just because of their Special Grade One?"
"Not exactly," the man sighs. "It's a little more complicated than that, although Morikazu is related to it all, as someone with no small amount of influence within the Shunryu branch. I'd say that this mess came about because–"
His words are interrupted by a set of sharp knocks at the doorway. Kiyohira-sensei pauses, turning towards it with a slight frown.
"You may enter," he grumbles.
"My apologies for interrupting your discussion." Surprisingly, the one who steps into the room is Choki. Choki, who would know better than to disrupt them for trivial matters. "I-I've just received new information confirming Geto Suguru's current location."
Shiki blinks.
"You what?" Kiyohira-sensei does an incredulous double-take. "You… you found solid information on Geto? Then what's up with this whole–"
The man gestures harshly towards the plum blossom token lying on his desk.
… Shiki can't say that this is what she'd been expecting to hear from Choki. Considering all the trouble that they've had in tracking down Geto Suguru so far, it's quite surprising to suddenly hear that conclusive intel on the curse user's whereabouts has dropped into their laps out of nowhere.
"Explain."
"Certainly, ojou-sama," Choki nods. "As you might already be aware of –during your mission in China, the young guide who led us, Zhang Tong, had several questions for me regarding the intricacies of my work. I remained in contact with him even after we returned to the country. He reached out to me just now, and…"
Choki fiddles with something on his phone, then turns the screen around.
The image shows a bustling street in a foreign country. Colorful, and densely crowded, and it doesn't seem like this picture was taken anywhere in China.
But more importantly–
Among the throng of people in the background, there is a tall man with long black hair, wearing a monk's kasaya. A very familiar man.
"It seems that Geto Suguru is currently in Maharashtra, India."
.
.
Extra.
.
"What's wrong? You look like you're two seconds away from throwing up, for crying out loud."
That's exactly how Zhang Tong feels at the moment.
The young man closes his eyes, forcing himself to suck in a deep breath. Calm down, calm down. He counts to ten, and opens his eyes again.
The visage of dark-haired Sun Yongtai swims into view, wearing a look that's equal parts mystified and irritated.
"Look," the other young man says impatiently, "If you have problems with the way I do things, then you can just say them to my face. Personally, I don't think it's wrong to do a bit of local sightseeing before diving straight into the nitty-gritty of exorcising cursed spirits when you've traveled all the way out into a foreign country."
"That's not it," Zhang Tong manages faintly. "That's not it at all, I promise you."
"Really?" Sun Yongtai eyes him dubiously. "Then what's your problem?"
"This!" Zhang Tong brandishes his phone at the oblivious sorcerer.
"I'm not going to spend the entire day sightseeing, okay?" Sun Yongtai huffs. "Seriously, you're acting like it's a crime to–"
"No, no," Zhang Tong shakes his head rapidly. "This. This. Do you see this person, right here?"
"… Yeah?"
"That," Zhang Tong says, feeling his fingers go numb from how tightly they're clenched around his phone, "Is Geto Suguru."
Gratifyingly enough, Sun Yongtai freezes. "… Are you fucking kidding me."
"I spent time abroad in Japan; I know what Geto Suguru looks like. Trust me, I wish I could joke about this," Zhang Tong responds despairingly.
"What the hell is Geto Suguru doing in India?!" Sun Yongtai's gaze lifts incredulously to stare at Zhang Tong. "I mean, we're here since we've been called in for a mission, but –but this is just–!"
"I… I texted a contact of mine. Who, hopefully, might be able to get us out of this." Zhang Tong considers Suzurigi Choki to be someone halfway between friend and mentor to him at this point, but it's hard to say what the other man thinks of him.
… He's praying that Suzurigi-san will be able to do something about this, though. Because Zhang Tong and Sun Yongtai are most certainly not going to be able to do anything about Geto Suguru.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
"Well," Sun Yongtai says faux-lightly, "Unless you can get another Special Grade sorcerer here fast, I think we might be fucked."
.
.
…
.