Fics I Read 2.0

FanFiction.Net

Just In

Community

Forum

V

More

zenith of stars by XxZuiliu

Anime » Jujutsu Kaisen Rated: T, English, Adventure & Drama, OC, Gojo S., Words: 783k+, Favs: 2k+, Follows: 3k+, Published: Jun 18, 2022 Updated: Jul 25

1,779Chapter 123: 115: surface

Title: zenith of stars

Rating: T

Summary: "It's not the Six Eyes," they said. So then, the question is –what is it? [OC, Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!OC, AU]

Warnings: N/A.

AN at bottom.

.

zenith of stars

"115: surface"

.

"Gojo-san! Gojo-san, may I have a moment of your time, please?"

Shiki pauses, and turns around at the call of her name.

It's been quite some time since she'd last seen Ichinose Kiichi, one of the Tokyo students who'd inadvertently been wrapped up in the incident involving Araya Souren last year. Their last encounter would've been… sometime before Shiki's suspension, at least. She doesn't recall it, exactly.

This would be the first time that she's seeing him again this year. Which is unsurprising; fourth year students are more or less treated as full-fledged sorcerers in preparation for their imminent graduation, and Ichinose is the sole remaining fourth year student of his class. From what Shiki knows, Ichinose has been kept quite busy ever since the school year started.

So what brings him back to the Tokyo school all of a sudden?

They're… friendly acquaintances, Shiki supposes. She isn't close with Ichinose Kiichi the same way she is with her own classmates, but overall he's made a decent enough impression. Aside from the fact that he'd stood aside when Kinji had been detained in Kyoto during last year's exchange event, but considering the boy's own position then, it's not something he can be fully blamed for. Shiki might not have been pleased with it, but she understands the logic well enough.

All of which is to say–

Shiki is not on such friendly terms with Ichinose that he would approach her for a social call. This means that the boy has deliberately sought her out, then.

Why?

"Hello, Ichinose-san," Shiki greets politely. Why are you here? "… How unexpected to see you here."

"Ah, yeah, I guess 'unexpected' is certainly a way of putting it. They really do keep fourth year students busy," the boy laughs and instinctively smiles disarmingly at her.

… Shiki patiently waits for her upperclassman to continue speaking and get to the point.

Ichinose twitches slightly, smile dropping. "Um… I wanted to ask you about something I heard recently, Gojo-san."

"What is it?"

"It's about the exchange event." Dark eyes watch her carefully. "I heard that you petitioned to bring the Special Grade first year along?"

Not exactly. If it weren't for the higher ups' stubborn insistence on the Gojo Clan's 'insufficient methods' of 'containing the Special Grade,' then this wouldn't have even occurred to Shiki as an idea in the first place.

"Yes," is what Shiki says instead. 'Petition' is… certainly a way of interpreting what Shiki had proposed during that particular meeting. To be honest, she's still rather surprised that the higher ups have not sent anyone else to correct the 'agreement' that had been reached. It's not something that she would've expected–

"Seriously?" Ichinose rears back, clearly startled. "I thought that was unfounded rumors! Why would you…?"

Shiki tilts her head at the faint note of something almost accusatory beneath the blatant shock in those words. "Why would I what?"

"Why would you–" Ichinose catches himself in the middle of his words, and raises a hand to cough into it. "I… apologize, I honestly didn't mean to be rude about this. I was just surprised. I thought Aikawa-chan was blowing things out of proportion when she was telling me about this, but then I heard the same thing from Nozomu-san. That you were pushing for that Special Grade first year to be included in this year's exchange event."

"And why would that be a problem?" Shiki asks him.

The older boy casts a puzzled look towards her. "Because… the exchange event is a way for students to advertise themselves? Show off their abilities? So they can get better opportunities once they graduate as full-fledged sorcerers?"

Ah, Shiki sees what the problem is. What Ichinose says is true; aside from 'cultivating closer relations' between the two sister jujutsu schools, the purpose of the exchange event is also to act as a stage for students to display their skills to the larger jujutsu world. For clan sorcerers to show off the strength of their budding new talents… and, indeed, for genuinely talented students lacking the same connections to make their name known.

"It looks like favoritism." For Shiki to specifically insist on including Okkotsu Yuta, it looks like a heavy-handed attempt at flaunting the Gojo Clan's influence that also negatively affects other students wanting to put up a strong performance in the spotlight.

"It does, yes." Ichinose looks relieved that he doesn't have to state those words himself, likely because he does not wish to offend her. "I… know we're not really close with each other so this might sound a bit weird, but… the rumors bothered me a bit when I heard them. I thought it all just sounded pretty uncharacteristic, I guess? So…"

It must've bothered him quite a bit, then, if he would specifically make time in his busy schedule to find Shiki and speak with her in person just for this. Perhaps because Ichinose felt sympathy for the ordinary students who would be devastated by the prospect of facing a Special Grade during the exchange event? After all, Ichinose Kiichi was a fourth year student; he wouldn't even be competing himself this year.

Was he acting on Aikawa's behalf, then? That was a distinct possibility. The two of them had always seemed to be rather friendly with each other from what Shiki remembered. Even as a third year student, it wasn't uncommon to see her tagging along on Ichinose's lower-ranked missions. Whether Ichinose had brought her along because he truly enjoyed her company or because he felt sorry for the girl who'd lost her classmate was something that only the boy himself could answer.

None of that has anything to do with Shiki, though.

"I am responsible for involving Okkotsu Yuta in this year's exchange event." Even though Shiki would argue that she doesn't fully bear responsibility –the higher ups, given their prolonged silence to date, clearly also approve of Okkotsu's participation this time. But this does not change the fact that she was the one who had initially put forth the possibility and argued for it to happen; in this sense, Shiki is very much the one responsible for this situation.

"… Oh," Ichinose says, short and awkward.

Curious. For someone accusing a stronger sorcerer of abusing their status and influence to bend the rules and include a first year student in an inter-school event intended for second and third years, Shiki would've expected awkwardness to be something well beyond him. And it's a bit too late for the boy to be having second thoughts like this and feeling awkward over it, anyways, given what he'd already conveyed to her.

Personally, Shiki does not see any issue with utilizing her status to her advantage. At the end of the day, the Gojo Clan's influence is a tool just like any other, and tools are only useful when they're actually used, as Satoru-niichan so often likes to remind her.

If Shiki did not hold the position within the Gojo Clan that she did, if she were not blessed with a powerful cursed technique and cursed eyes, then there's little chance that her words would hold any weight against the higher ups' forceful decisions anyways.

That being said, it's not as if this is the first time that a clan sorcerer like Shiki has challenged the higher ups, either. Satoru-niichan does so far more constantly than she does. This also isn't exactly something exclusive to the Gojo Clan; even the Zenin Clan is known to be at odds with the higher ups in the Jujutsu Headquarters over certain decisions that they make.

Although… that's not something that has been happening as often in recent times. Likely in relation to their growing influence in the administration, seizing the gaps left behind by the Kamo Clan's decline. Something which is only natural, perhaps; hard-headed conservatives forming the core of the dominant conservative faction would undoubtedly fight tooth and nail against falling beneath the Gojo Clan's banner. Which left only the Zenin Clan to turn towards, as the last of the Three Great Families now that the Kamo Clan was in a difficult position.

It would be prudent to keep an eye on the Zenin Clan's new developments. From the perspective of the higher ups in the Jujutsu Headquarters, Shiki was a difficult asset that needed to be kept in line –so smearing her already-questionable reputation with accusations of 'abuse of authority' and 'favoritism' was something that might be construed as a warning from them, if Shiki thinks about it this way. But more importantly, from the perspective of the Zenin Clan…

Wouldn't it be a good thing for them, if the new heir of the Gojo Clan was rumored to be such an inadequate individual? With the Kamo Clan fallen and the Gojo Clan so very clearly arrogant, given that both the clan head and clan heir of the Gojo Clan were publicly known to challenge the higher ups' methods… didn't that mean that the Zenin Clan was the only reasonable option to turn to?

The thoughts flit silently through Shiki's mind. Something to inquire with Daisaku-sama about, perhaps, the next time she returns to the clan compound. It's quite possible that there are other factors that she's overlooking here. Although, this does explain why the higher ups have not sent anyone to correct the results of Minamoto-san's meeting with her.

This guesswork is something that Shiki keeps to herself for now. She doubts that Ichinose sought her out for a crash course on jujutsu politics; in his own words, he'd simply been concerned about the rumors that Shiki was the one pushing for a Special Grade sorcerer to be included in this year's exchange event.

"Can I… would it be alright if I ask why?" Ichinose asks hesitantly, after a prolonged silence. "A Special Grade sorcerer isn't going to find themselves short of any career opportunities. And, it's a little unfair for regular students to compete against a Special Grade, isn't it? But you're not the type of person to do things like this for no reason."

He's correct, it's not for no reason. Shiki finds it rather unfair that the higher ups think that sealing is an appropriate way to bring Okkotsu Yuta under their control.

"It's an unusual situation," she tells him. "Long story short, it's… intimidation, in a manner of speaking. And a test for Okkotsu-san himself. So the higher ups will think twice about attempting to seal him."

Ichinose's jaw drops open. "Wait a second, the higher ups want to seal him?!"

Shiki isn't surprised that this tidbit of information had failed to make its way into the rumors that were circulating right now. It falls in line with what she suspects about the higher ups' –and by extension, perhaps also the Zenin Clan's– motives in going along with the plan of having Okkotsu make an appearance in the exchange event. If rumors are being spread like this with the intent to paint her in a negative light, then of course it would make sense for them to exclude their own questionable involvement in the situation.

"Sealing a Special Grade sorcerer is… insane, really," Ichinose murmurs faintly, eyes wide. "I didn't even realize that was a thing they could do."

"They won't." And if they insisted on doing so, then Shiki would be putting her foot down. It would not be the first time that she killed a higher up, either, as they seem to have so conveniently forgotten.

"What does sealing Okkotsu Yuta have to do with placing him in this year's exchange event, though?" Ichinose continues to ask.

"An opportunity."

The older boy blinks rapidly in confusion. "I… don't really follow."

"That's fine." Ichinose isn't involved in this situation, anyways. The only other Tokyo student that this really affects would be Aikawa Ruri, the school's only third year student this year. Since the exchange event is intended for second and third year students, Aikawa will be a participant this year alongside Shiki and her own classmates, and Okkotsu-san.

Aikawa never liked her very much, so Shiki suspects that there will be minimal coordination from the other girl's end. Then again, the exchange event is a 'team event' on paper… so some level of coordination was still necessary, probably.

Come to think of it, has Aikawa introduced herself to the new first year students yet?

… Both Inumaki Toge and Zenin Maki were from sorcery clans. Okkotsu Yuta was a Special Grade sorcerer. Given Aikawa's issues with unequal status and preferential treatment due to things like 'bloodline' and 'talent,' Shiki guesses that the other girl would not have been in any hurry to introduce herself to her new underclassmen.

She'll have to remember to ask the first year students. Aikawa might not be lacking when it comes to sorcery talent, but it's only polite to at least have basic introductions and coordinating plans done before the exchange event dawns upon them.

"Shiki, there you are!" Kinji's voice suddenly calls out from the other end of the open hallway. "C'mon, Kirara told me to fetch you. We're going to be late for –Ichinose?"

"Hey there, Hakari," Ichinose raises his hand in a friendly little wave towards the other boy, smiling slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Startled expression disappearing swiftly, Kinji leans forward and squints at the dark-haired fourth year. "And what did you want with Shiki?"

Ichinose's smile gains a hint of something a little exasperated. "It's not what you think, you don't have to look at me so suspiciously like that. I just heard some concerning rumors recently, so…"

"About Okkotsu Yuta?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, thought so," Kinji snorts. "Still cleaning up after Aikawa?"

"I'm not cleaning up after her," Ichinose instantly denies. "And it's not completely because of Aikawa, alright? Some of the sorcerers I've been working with have been saying stuff that sounded pretty bizarre to me, so I guess I just… wanted to find peace of mind, or something like that."

"What for?" Less than stellar rumors involving Shiki didn't seem like something that Ichinose would be concerned about. It made more sense for him to be concerned about Aikawa instead of Shiki, actually.

"I know I'm not a very good senpai or anything –not that you guys even seem to need one, or anything– but at the very least, I'm still the oldest Tokyo student," Ichinose sighs. "So… it's perfectly normal for me to be concerned about stuff affecting the Tokyo school, isn't it?"

"I guess I can see that," Kinji finally lets up on his suspicious look. "Have you already gotten your 'peace of mind' here, then?"

"… Sort of." A slight pause, where Ichinose casts a quick, furtive glance in Shiki's direction. "Are… are things going south with the higher ups again this year?"

"My dude, I don't know if you've noticed yet, but things are always going south where the higher ups are involved," Kinji deadpans.

Ichinose snorts, a sudden sound that sounds halfway between a startled cough and hastily-stifled laughter. "I'm sorry?"

"You heard me," Kinji rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "I'm just speaking from personal experience."

"I… guess I can't argue with that." Evidently, Ichinose has also recalled how the last exchange event went, where Kinji had been locked up by the higher ups for the 'crime' of unexpectedly using a Domain Expansion during the tournament round against his opponent. Granted, if Kinji was not Shiki's classmate, perhaps the treatment that he received from the higher ups would've been different–

–or perhaps not? The conservatives had a very traditional outlook on what jujutsu was supposed to be, and Kinji's cursed technique was undoubtedly a non-traditional technique that did not neatly align with their views. Supposing that Shiki had not attended the Tokyo school, and knowing what she does of Kinji's temperament… it's only inevitable that he would come into conflict with the higher ups in some manner, at some point.

"Good luck in the exchange event this year," Ichinose tells them. "… Admittedly, I feel like I should probably be saying this to the Kyoto students instead."

This time, it's Kinji's turn to laugh. Instead of the half-aborted laughter that Ichinose had done earlier, though, Kinji's laughter is openly unabashed.

"Yeah, Kyoto's gonna be out of luck this year," Kinji declares confidently. "If the higher ups didn't pull what they did last year, then we would've won last year, too."

Shiki hadn't really thought too much about it before, but it makes sense that Kinji –and perhaps Kirara as well– would be affected by their loss to the Kyoto school during the last exchange event. The Tokyo school had been the victors, technically speaking. If it weren't for Kinji being forcibly withdrawn from the event over his Domain Expansion of all things, then naturally the Tokyo school would be declared victorious based upon their performance.

The same thing certainly wouldn't be repeating itself this year.

Shiki does not have any particular feelings of competitiveness towards winning a school event, but she does have feelings about heavy-handed interference from the higher ups. If they try to pull something similar again this year with Okkotsu, or with anyone else… it's not something that Shiki will permit to pass quietly.

"Try not to terrify the Kyoto students too much, please?" Ichinose smiles. The words are friendly and lighthearted, yet for some reason Shiki gets the feeling that the boy is being completely serious with his words. "It's supposed to be a Goodwill Event."

"Tell that to the higher ups," Kinji clicks his tongue. "Y'know, if they actually wanted a Goodwill Event, something like a vacation trip or team exercise would make more sense instead of having the students beat each other up, wouldn't it?"

Perhaps. Except, "The main purpose of the event isn't improving the relations between the sister schools."

"Yeah, and I'm saying that's a shame," Kinji nods wisely. "Do you think the school would ever pay for a class trip? A class vacation? Even if it's not an inter-school one?"

Shiki tilts her head, confused by the strange turn in conversation. Ichinose, too, appears to be rather perplexed by where Kinji is taking this, before realization dawns in his eyes and turns his expression into something exasperated instead.

"Hakari, if the school doesn't even offer a real summer vacation to its students, then what makes you think they're going to pay for something like a class vacation?"

"Hey, it's just a thought," Kinji grins. "You know how people with normal jobs take time off from work to go on vacations every now and then, right? Sorcerers should have the same thing! All this constant high-stakes high-stress thing going on has got to be unhealthy. Gotta unwind and relax."

And yet the imbalance in the ratio of sorcerers to cursed spirits means that sorcerers are always working tirelessly to exorcise as many as possible. Taking vacations is not at all forbidden, but it certainly tends to be… discouraged, in light of the severely lacking manpower. And the higher-ranked the sorcerer, the tighter and more rigid their schedule becomes when it comes to missions. Even Satoru-niichan is no exception, in this regard.

Ichinose shakes his head with a wry smile. "It's a nice thought, but I don't think your proposal is going to gain any traction."

"How will you know if you don't even try?" Kinji counters. Then, steps forward and claps the other boy on the shoulder. "You should be a little more attentive to this, especially seeing as you're going to be an official sorcerer next year. If sorcery is your job, then you gotta make sure that you're squeezing what benefits you can out of it! Petitioning for better benefits, too! Vacation days and paid time off is important, y'know. For working sorcerers more than students."

Ichinose blinks numbly. "… You have a point."

"'Course I do."

Shiki watches her classmate continue to derail the conversation with the fourth year student, and can't help but wonder if he's been in touch with Mei-san recently. Some of the points that he raises sound a bit familiar to her.

.

.

"So! The exchange event."

After parting ways with Ichinose, Kinji brought her to Kirara –and after a brief discussion between the three of them, here they are.

Currently, all of the second and first year students are standing on the school's grassy field together. On one side, Shiki stands to Kinji's left while Kirara is on the right. To the other side, Okkotsu Yuta fidgets slightly from where he's standing between Inumaki Toge and Zenin Maki. Panda is sprawled on his side on the grass behind them, looking for all intents and purposes like he's sunning himself. Shiki would know; she's observed the same indolent behavior in Mi-chan far too many times to count.

"Yes, the exchange event," Maki-san drawls. "The exchange event that only Okkotsu here is attending, mind you, so why are the rest of us here right now?"

"The sun is pretty nice today," Panda pipes up from behind her. Which, unfortunately, earns him a sharp little kick in the side, courtesy of Maki-san who hasn't even bothered turning around to perform the action.

"Okaka," Inumaki-san side-eyes the tall girl, faintly reprimanding as Panda groans exaggeratedly behind her.

"I didn't even kick him that hard!" Maki-san protests, and pokes Panda with the blunt end of the training staff that she's holding. "Stop pretending, you doofus."

"I'm injured–"

"You're a ridiculous drama queen, is what you are."

"… So, the exchange event," Kinji claps his hands together again, valiantly attempting to recapture the first year students' attention. "Even though Okkotsu is going to be the only one of you guys actively participating this year, that doesn't mean we can't help the rest of you guys with your training, too."

Maki-san squints. "… 'We?'"

"We," Kinji nods. "I know Shiki has been sparring with all of you guys, but she's only one person and it's helpful to spar against different people for more experience. Plus, we also get to work on something else with more people: Teamwork!"

Kinji pauses dramatically, only to be met with complete silence. After a beat, Kirara claps supportively, hiding a small smile.

"Thanks, Kirara," Kinji pretends to wipe away a sad tear from his eyes. Maki-san looks to be half a heartbeat away from rolling her eyes at his antics. "As I was saying –with more people in a training exercise together, we're going to get cracking on teamwork."

Traditionally, the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event is a competition that takes place over two days, with the first day featuring a team competition while the second day consists of individual fights between competing students. So the first day allows for students to assist each other, and synergy between classmates is highlighted in particular.

Hence, the idea that Kinji and Kirara had proposed: Team-building exercises.

For all that the three of them are classmates who are each familiar with the other's fighting habits, there's a difference between friendly sparring with each other and fighting together to achieve a common goal, against a common enemy. Even though they've gone on missions together, Shiki and her classmates tend to use a divide-and-conquer approach rather than actually fighting together as a team.

To be more precise, Kinji and Kirara are practiced in fighting with each other –to a greater extent than they are with Shiki, at least.

Their situation is more or less a natural result of their circumstances; the large disparity in skill that they'd started out with meant that most of the missions that Shiki took were separate from her classmates', so there wasn't exactly any opportunity to improve 'teamwork' on that front. Also, all three of them were close-range fighters –Kirara's cursed technique made her a suitable mid-range combatant as well, but there was still a limited area in around her where her cursed technique would take effect, which was a hard restriction on her range.

So, while there might be a little more leeway where Kirara is involved, if Shiki and Kinji happened to fight the same target simultaneously, it's more likely than not that they would get in each other's way.

The easiest way to avoid this would simply be to split up and avoid the issue from the start.

However, there have been occasions in the past where the team competition on the first day turned out to be group battles of Tokyo students fighting Kyoto students. Collectively, at the same time.

Thus, in the interest of minimizing avoidable accidents and reducing risks in a chaotic melee: Teamwork training.

… Which is something that's quite new to Shiki, to be honest. Most sorcerers take missions alone due to lacking personnel, which means fighting alone. From the very beginning, Shiki's own training with the Gojo Clan had consisted of learning how to stand and fight on her own. The supervised missions that she'd initially been sent on had consisted of observers who would watch her complete her missions, instead of actively assisting her in battle.

Her training had emphasized fighting alone.

So something like this is… new.

Shiki finds herself rather curious as to what this would be like. It's likely to be chaotic, particularly in the beginning, so perhaps–

"–some friendly fire is gonna be unavoidable at the start, but luckily we have Ieiri-sensei to cover our backs," Kinji makes a thumbs up gesture in front of himself. "So as long as we're careful about how we–"

Inopportune as it is, Shiki's cell phone starts ringing in the middle of Kinji's words.

"My apologies," Shiki says in response to the utterly betrayed look that her classmate gives her.

"You know you can turn off your phone when we're in the middle of a training session, right?" he asks flatly. "Or at least silence it?"

"Silence?" Shiki doesn't think she's ever seen Kinji kill his cell phone for a training session before… no, that doesn't even make sense. Cell phones are supposed to be used for a long time, not destroyed at a whim simply because a person doesn't want to be interrupted by their ringtone. Besides, wasn't the entire point of a ringtone in the first place to inform the user when someone else was looking for them?

"You don't know how to silence your phone?" Kirara blinks, "Here, I can–"

"That's alright," Shiki says politely, taking a small step back away from her classmates. She looks down at the glowing notification of her incoming call, and pauses.

Kiyohira-sensei?

"… I'll need to take this call. Apologies."

Kinji sighs. "Yeah, okay, do what you need to, ojou-sama."

Kiyohira-sensei, like Shiki, isn't too well-practiced with using electronics. It's usually Botan or Mutsuo who passes along his messages to Choki, who then delivers them to Shiki, if there's something that's time-sensitive that they can't say in person.

"Hello, Kiyohira-sensei," she greets.

The other end of the line crackles, and then the gravelly voice of her old teacher comes across. "Shiki. Yasohachi Bridge –there was a cursed spirit that attacked."

Shiki blinks.

That… she understands what her teacher is saying, that there's a cursed spirit that attacked this 'Yasohachi Bridge,' but she doesn't see how that's related to her, or why Kiyohira-sensei sounds so terse about it as he informs her of this fact.

"Is it a Special Grade cursed spirit?" she asks.

A sharp exhale. "No, and thank gods it's not. I don't know if Tsumiki would've survived otherwise."

Shiki's grip tightens on her phone, "Tsumiki was there?"

"Yes. It was a schoolchildren thing, something about a silly test of courage at a local haunted spot –no, that's not what's important right now," Kiyohira-sensei abruptly changes his words mid-sentence. "Shiki, are you still in the Tokyo school?"

"Yes." Why is he asking her this? "Kiyohira-sensei, the cursed spirit–"

"It's not an issue anymore. Tsumiki is safe, and the situation has already been resolved," Kiyohira-sensei finally catches on to her concerns. "There's no need for you to be concerned about that… although you do need to return home, as quickly as possible."

Kiyohira-sensei sounds unusually grave, serious. Why? If the situation has already been resolved as he says, then shouldn't he be–

"… Tsumiki was the one who exorcised the curse."

.

.

…

.

Author's Notes:

Plans for the exchange event are proceeding apace all around for multiple parties. The Kyoto exchange event will be fun this year!

Yes, Tsumiki indeed exorcised a cursed spirit. This is not a drill, Tsumiki exorcised a curse. Which means! Fun times ahead of us on this front as well. Tsumiki appearance coming up soon!

We have a Discord! Please feel free to join if you'd like to chat about the fic with other friends. The link is on my Tumblr (which you can find on my profile), which also includes extra tidbits and AUs, Q&A, update notifications, etc.

« First « Prev Ch 123 of 126 Next »

Review

Jump:

Share: Email . Facebook . Twitter

Story: Follow Favorite

Author: Follow Favorite

Contrast: Dark . Light

Font: Small . Medium . Large . XL

Twitter . Help . Sign Up . Cookies . Privacy . Terms of Service