NOVEL WEB Chapter 372: 124
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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 124: 116: pressure
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.
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zenith of stars
"116: pressure"
.
It doesn't make sense.
Tsumiki exorcised a cursed spirit?
… Perplexing, and thoroughly baffling. It's impossible to exorcise a cursed spirit without using cursed energy to do so, either through usage of one's cursed technique or by wielding cursed tools properly. Tsumiki possesses neither a cursed technique, nor does she have any proficiency utilizing cursed tools. She isn't trained in combat, not like Megumi and Shiki who've been consistently receiving such lessons from childhood.
So it's surprising, when Kiyohira-sensei tells her that Tsumiki was the one who exorcised the curse.
Shiki doesn't say this to be demeaning or dismissive of the other girl; Tsumiki is a dear friend regardless of any perceived shortcomings in this respect. Besides, for someone who is not a sorcerer, lack of combat skill isn't even a 'shortcoming' in the first place.
… However, in this case it bears repeating that Tsumiki is not a sorcerer. Even though she's a sighted individual now, this still doesn't mean that she–
Shiki pauses at the thought.
Perhaps… this was related, somehow? After all, Tsumiki had only recently gained the ability to see cursed spirits through the unknown incident that had placed her into a cursed sleep. If Shiki had not been able to kill the curse, there's no telling how long it would've taken for her to wake up again. And after her reawakening, Tsumiki had gone from being a regular non-sorcerer civilian to being a sighted individual with cursed energy reserves comparable to that of a Window's.
What if the extent of the changes to Tsumiki's body hadn't stopped there?
The more Shiki considers it, the more it seems like a plausible theory to explain how Tsumiki had apparently exorcised a cursed spirit on her own. If Tsumiki's potential for sorcery has been gradually increasing all this time without anyone being any the wiser, then it would not be outside the realm of possibility to consider that she could indeed exorcise a cursed spirit with her newfound abilities.
… Even as outlandish as it sounds.
The truth of the matter is that sorcery is an art that relies largely on innate talent. Abilities that one is born with, and natural aptitude. Hard work is indispensable for one who wishes to become a powerful, well-rounded sorcerer, but that doesn't make innate talent any less important.
A cursed technique is something that an individual is born with. There are rare cases where certain cursed techniques might take up to several years to properly develop and become useful –such as in Kinji's case, for example– but the fact remains that cursed techniques are something that a person naturally possesses from the moment they're born. It's not something that just spontaneously manifests in an individual out of nowhere.
So then, what does this mean for Tsumiki?
For all intents and purposes, 'spontaneously manifested' is a fairly accurate descriptor for what happened to Tsumiki. If Tsumiki had a cursed technique, then it means that both Satoru-niichan and Shiki failed to see it, which was highly unlikely.
This entire situation doesn't make sense.
… The mystery of it, however, is something for Shiki to deliberate on after she has first ascertained Tsumiki's wellbeing for herself first.
"Shiki?! Shouldn't you still be in school right now?"
Shiki ignores the girl's startled exclamation, and swiftly crosses the room to reach her. Tsumiki hastily pushes aside her homework and turns around to sit upright in her chair.
"Um, is this about what happened last night?" Tsumiki asks hesitantly. "I-I don't really know what happened either, it… was…"
The girl trails off into wide-eyed silence when Shiki leans forward to examine her.
Tsumiki's lines are… different. Markedly different. Both from what Shiki remembered of her cursed sleep in the hospital, and from the secondary change after she'd woken up again. But now, in the time that Shiki had returned to the Tokyo school, it was clear that Tsumiki's lines had changed once more–
It's natural for lines to change. Perfectly natural, actually. Few things in this world remain constant and unchanging, after all, and thus it stands to reason that such changes can be observed through the red lines reflected in Shiki's cursed eyes. Yet, the lines don't change significantly without due cause, so what Shiki currently sees in Tsumiki now strikes her as… mildly concerning.
Just what had happened, during the time that she'd been absent from this house?
Tsumiki shifts backwards slightly, as if to inch herself away from Shiki's close scrutiny. "Would you, uh, mind backing up a bit, please? I'm not sure if you're–"
Shiki reaches forward, "Don't move."
Tsumiki's words abruptly cut off with a hitched sound strangling her throat as Shiki grabs her by the shoulder, firmly holding her in place as she leans down for a closer examination.
"S-Shiki?!"
"I said, don't move." Most of these lines, Shiki is able to decipher. But certain lines are odd, and… the overall feeling that Shiki gets from them is quite strange. In fact, the feeling that Shiki is getting from Tsumiki is inexplicably strange in this moment, somehow.
Her hand moves from Tsumiki's shoulder to tracing one of the clusters of glowing lines with a single fingertip. Slow and deliberate, contemplative. Tsumiki shivers, but in this moment her discomfort is not something that Shiki thinks to assuage, because–
Because the closer that Shiki looks, the more she's beginning to realize that–
"What are you guys doing?"
For a moment, Shiki flicks her gaze towards the inner hallway. "Hello, Megumi. You're not in school?"
"If you're not attending your classes, then what makes you think I'd be sitting through classes at school?" Megumi huffs. "As if I'd be able to go through lessons with any peace of mind when Tsumiki just experienced this sort of –Tsumiki!"
The dark-haired girl suddenly lurches forward; their close proximity to each other in this moment means that she nearly ends up knocking her forehead against Shiki's. It's only Shiki's quick reflexes that allows her to catch the other girl and pull her back before both of them end up being victims of each other.
"… Huh?" Tsumiki blinks. One slow blink, then several in rapid succession. After which she promptly flushes in embarrassment, and immediately leans back from Shiki. In her haste, the chair beneath her body ends up being pushed back to the point where it clatters loudly against the wall, not that the girl seems to even notice. "Sorry! Sorry, I-I was just really, really dizzy for a moment, I don't really know why…"
Dizzy? Did this mean that whatever Tsumiki had done to exorcise a cursed spirit left a negative impact on her body? Her situation was already unprecedented enough as things currently stood. There wasn't exactly a point of comparison for what kind of damage or side effects a person might suffer from spontaneously developing a cursed technique.
The closest comparison that Shiki could think of was the Kamo Clan's research into human experimentation, which she'd glimpsed back when the Gojo Clan had seized their research. However, the concerning results of their numerous failed experiments held rather disturbing implications if Tsumiki's situation really ended up being something similar…
Shiki frowns. Glowing lines shift and flicker faintly over Tsumiki's body, as if in direct response to the girl's sudden vertigo.
"A dizzying spell?" Megumi also frowns, and steps closer in concern. Obligingly, Shiki shifts so that there is enough space for the boy to make his way around the table and crouch down beside his sister. "That doesn't sound good. We should get a doctor to take a look at you."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Tsumiki hurriedly waves her hands in front of herself. "I… guess I'm just still a little… disoriented by, um. Everything, really."
"Yeah? I'm not surprised," Megumi mutters, brows furrowed. "You ran into a hostile cursed spirit, I'd be more surprised if you weren't shaken up by it."
Tsumiki flinches. Clearly, her recent experience had been a rather traumatizing one, if that's her reaction to being reminded of it.
Regrettably, however, Shiki is going to have to ask her friend to revisit the traumatizing experience in order to try and make sense of things. "Tsumiki, do you remember what happened?"
"I… sort of," the girl starts slowly. Her eyes drift towards the ground for a moment, before returning to hold Shiki's gaze. "A few of my classmates wanted to do a 'test of courage' by visiting the Yasohachi Bridge. I was invited to go along with them and–"
"You went with them to a haunted spot just because they asked?" Megumi gives his sister a look. The sort of look that very transparently communicates something along the lines of 'Are you crazy?' His reaction is not unwarranted; regular civilians might wander into haunted sites like this simply because they aren't aware of the true risks, but Tsumiki lives with sorcerers and should really know better.
"I didn't think it would actually be dangerous!" Tsumiki protests. "They were planning to sneak out without telling any adults! I just thought it would be better for there to be someone to keep an eye on things."
For all the good it had done her in the end; a cursed spirit wasn't something for a person to simply 'keep an eye on.'
Cursed spirits needed to be exorcised.
… Which Tsumiki had somehow managed to accomplish on her own regardless, though the consequences of her doing so currently still remained unclear.
Megumi rubs his forehead tiredly, a gesture that is almost eerily reminiscent of Kiyohira-sensei for a brief moment. "You could've told an actual adult instead of going in person yourself!"
"I didn't want to ruin their fun." Tsumiki winces almost as soon as she admits to this aloud, evidently having realized how ill-advised this was in retrospect. Megumi folds his arms across his chest and arches an eyebrow at her, thoroughly unimpressed by her reasoning. "We've passed by the bridge plenty of times during the day before, and there never seemed to be anything wrong with it. I didn't realize…"
Tsumiki didn't realize that nighttime would be a different matter entirely. Of course, there was nothing stopping a cursed spirit from deciding to attack during the day. But in general, the vast majority of cursed spirits tended to be far more active during nighttime. Which was quite possibly something related to the primal human fear of darkness, on a certain level.
"Plus, it's not like every single haunted spot is dangerous!"
That's true. However, "I don't think it's the best idea to bet your safety on the chance of a haunted area not being dangerous. And even then, the higher concentration of negativity in such a place isn't something I would recommend actively seeking out."
Tsumiki huffs at Shiki's comment. "I'm not saying that it was a good idea to go to a haunted place for a test of courage. In hindsight, I definitely shouldn't have just gone along with it. I just thought… it was a harmless group activity, someone should keep an eye on things, and in the event that there really was something amiss, at least I'd be able to see that there was something wrong now, and get everyone to leave."
… Ah. Tsumiki is referring to her newfound ability to see cursed spirits. It's starting to make more sense why Tsumiki would take it upon herself to look out for her classmates during their most unwise test of courage. Those who can see cursed spirits are rare, and it's unlikely that any of Tsumiki's teachers would have possessed this ability. Which meant that as far as Tsumiki was aware, she was the only one among her friends who would've been able to realize there was something wrong on the off-chance that the haunted bridge was actually haunted.
Well. Suffice to say, she certainly hadn't been mistaken on that front.
"At the time, I just thought… If I told a teacher, there's no telling if they'd organize something like this on their own again. Except this time, none of them would bother telling me about it," Tsumiki says quietly. "So I thought it would be better if I tagged along."
Megumi sucks in a deep breath. "If you thought it could be dangerous, then why didn't you tell me?"
Beneath the frustration and concern, there's also something in the boy's voice that indicates a faint sense of hurt. Shiki thinks that she can see why; Tsumiki knows that Megumi is training as a sorcerer, so of course it stands to reason that he would be more knowledgeable in these matters. If she'd thought that there was even a chance of curse-related danger, then why wouldn't she–?
"I genuinely didn't think it would turn out to be something dangerous, Megumi!" Tsumiki leans forward, grabbing her brother's hands. Her warm brown eyes are sincere and imploring. "I've been getting used to seeing cursed spirits recently, and the majority of them just… ignore you, as long as you don't agitate them, right? So I thought this would be the same. If there really turned out to be a cursed spirit at the bridge, then I'd just convince everyone to turn back around somehow…"
Except, clearly that was not how things turned out, if the end result was Tsumiki exorcising a cursed spirit.
Shiki exchanges a quick glance with Megumi, whose eyes are wide with dawning horror from Tsumiki's words. She's not sure what her own expression looks like in this moment, but doubtlessly it's not anything particularly pleasant, either.
While it's good that their efforts to help Tsumiki adjust to seeing curses in the world around them has been effective… evidently, it also comes with its downsides. Chiefly in that, in ensuring that Tsumiki will be able to control any reactions of surprise from unexpectedly coming across cursed spirits in her daily life, Tsumiki has begun seeing cursed spirits as normal.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing on its own, except it appears that Tsumiki had been lulled into a false sense of security by all the lower-grade, harmless cursed spirits that they'd been hiding around the house. It had seemed like a good idea to help Tsumiki adjust to seeing cursed spirits in her surroundings. If she was able to hide her surprise, then it would allow her to pass unnoticed as she went about her everyday life. This still held true, except…
For all that there existed relatively harmless cursed spirits who were harmless only because they lacked the power to curse others, the vast majority of cursed spirits in this world were actively destructive and malignant, as entities born of negativity and malice tended to be. Dangerous cursed spirits, however, were most decidedly not the type of cursed spirits that Shiki and the others had used to assist Tsumiki become accustomed to her new circumstances.
This seems to have left Tsumiki with the impression that the average cursed spirit is relatively harmless, somehow. A grave misconception to hold.
"For what it's worth, I'm definitely not doing something like this again, ever." Tsumiki has evidently realized this mistake on her own, thanks to her recent experience. Students sneaking out to a haunted bridge to test their courage at night –there were so many ways that such an activity could go wrong. And what if Tsumiki hadn't conveniently developed the ability to exorcise the hostile cursed spirit that they encountered?
Sure, a local Window might be able to pick up on the oddity in their neighborhood eventually, but it still didn't change the fact that Tsumiki would've been directly exposed to danger when the cursed spirit made its initial appearance. She had been directly exposed to danger, in fact.
"Don't put yourself in danger like this," Megumi tells her.
"I won't, I won't," Tsumiki shakes her head.
Shiki eyes the other girl for a prolonged moment.
"Seriously, I won't! None of this was on purpose! You don't have to look at me like that," Tsumiki makes a huffy, displeased sound.
"… I, too, would also prefer it if you do not involve yourself in dangerous situations." However, Shiki also realizes that this isn't exactly up to her. It's not necessarily Tsumiki's decision to make, either; the girl certainly hadn't intended to go seek out a cursed spirit when she went along with her classmates.
Shiki also finds it worrying that there have already been several instances where Tsumiki has found herself in danger by this point. If this pattern continues…
… if this pattern continues, then it simply means that something needs to be done about it. There are a few different possibilities, but the first and most straightforward one of them would be–
"Tsumiki, are you interested in becoming a sorcerer?" Shiki asks.
The girl's jaw drops open, while her brother whirls on Shiki with narrowed eyes.
"Shiki, what are you saying?" he hisses.
"I'm asking if Tsumiki is interested in sorcery." Tsumiki possesses cursed energy and a cursed technique, now. The potential for learning sorcery is there, unlike how it had been before. Shiki can see it in the changed lines than run across the other girl's body.
There are certain benefits to this. Chiefly, Tsumiki would be able to defend herself if she learned to harness her talents like Megumi and Shiki. And if any future incidents occurred where Tsumiki found herself in danger, she would be able to properly react and retaliate instead of relying on luck or waiting for someone else to arrive on the scene.
However–
Shiki is not blind. She's also very familiar with the other girl from all the years that they've known each other by this point, and Shiki knows that Tsumiki is someone with a kind disposition. The one that might see a person described as soft, the type that results in an individual having an aversion towards blood. It's not something that Shiki understands, even though she's observed such qualities in her friend.
She doesn't think any less of Tsumiki for it. It's simply the way that the other girl is. Admittedly, however, such characteristics in Tsumiki's personality indicates that it's unlikely she would take very well to the violent lifestyle of a sorcerer.
Megumi is evidently of a similar train of thought. He gestures incredulously towards the other girl, "You want Tsumiki to run around fighting and exorcising cursed spirits?!"
"Hey," Tsumiki coughs sharply into her hand. "I know that I'm not really suited for fighting or anything, but that's still rather rude, Megumi!"
"It's also true," the boy grumbles. Then hunches inwards on himself slightly when his sister levels him with a look. "… Sorry."
"Apology accepted," Tsumiki sniffs, and turns back towards Shiki. "What you said, about becoming a sorcerer. I… I don't really know, honestly. I've never thought about becoming a sorcerer, since I… well, y'know. Was always just a regular person."
'Was' being the key word here.
Tsumiki shuffles in her seat. "… Can I get some time to think about this?"
"Take your time, then." But hopefully not too long. It took time to become proficient in utilizing one's abilities, after all. "And let me know once you've decided."
"Tsumiki doesn't have to become a sorcerer, does she?" Megumi asks, leaning forward on the table as he rests an elbow against the surface, chin in hand. "Like, I don't see this as much in the Gojo Clan, but aren't there plenty of people from sorcery clans who aren't sorcerers despite being able to perform sorcery?"
"That's correct," Shiki inclines her head in a slight nod. "Those with the potential to become sorcerers don't necessarily have the right disposition for it. Sorcery clans tend to encourage anyone of their bloodline who shows talent, but it's not always a guaranteed thing."
The Gojo Clan, as one of the Three Great Families and among the most influential of sorcery clans in the modern era, naturally wishes for there to be as many sorcerers as possible among their ranks. The methods taken to encourage clansmen to become sorcerers are generally a mix of tantalizing incentives and social pressures, which has clearly shown itself to be highly effective.
It's how the Tobiume branch family had nearly ended up tearing itself into pieces in order to uphold the honor of the Gojo name and ensure their position within the clan, even when the price was paid in Tobiume blood.
The Gojo Clan cares more about results than the blood that was spilled to pave the way.
"Would it… would it be better if I became a sorcerer?" Tsumiki asks hesitantly.
"It's not about what's 'better,' Tsumiki." Talent is the prerequisite for becoming a sorcerer, but what determines whether or not a person becomes a sorcerer in the end comes down to suitability and resolve. Both qualities are indispensable. Those who lack it generally do not stay sorcerers for long –oftentimes with their careers ending in a rather permanent fashion.
"Shiki is right," Megumi nods. "The low number of sorcerers means that Windows are always on the lookout for recruitment, and we're always going to be needing more sorcerers –but don't let that affect your decision. Unless you're someone like Satoru-san, one person isn't really going to make much of a difference, anyways."
What Megumi says is true. Shiki is quite certain that both of them would prefer for Tsumiki to be safe and happy and alive, rather than dead because Tsumiki stubbornly insisted on doing the 'right thing.' What even defines something as 'right' in the first place to begin with? Is it right for Tsumiki to dive headfirst into the violent lifestyle of a sorcerer, burying her compassion and her kindness, simply because she has somehow developed the potential for sorcery now?
Sorcery should be a choice, not an obligation.
In Shiki's case, she hadn't had much of a choice when she'd been brought into the folds of the Gojo Clan. But even then, it was because she decided that she would be a sorcerer –because she deliberately decided that she wanted the power to not be a burden to those around her and support them in their goals– that saw her dedicating herself in her training as much as she did.
"Tsumiki can also get some basic training without actually being conscripted to become a sorcerer, right?" Megumi asks.
"Yes." Training in sorcery generally relies on one of two routes: Through training provided by a sorcery clan, or through attending one of the two jujutsu schools. In exchange for the training, an individual is generally expected to become a sorcerer to repay their teachings and the investment of resources–
But if anyone attempts to push Tsumiki to become a sorcerer because it's 'only right,' then Shiki will politely request them to rethink their decision on the other end of her sword. For as many people and as many times as it takes, in order for the message to be properly conveyed.
"So we can go with that first for now, right?" Megumi glances towards his sister. "At the very least, she's going to have to learn how to control her cursed energy so we don't get any unintentional accidents."
The boy does not seem particularly enthusiastic about the idea; it's clear that he doesn't enjoy the thought of his gentle sister stepping onto the path of sorcery. In a way, it's considerate, despite also being rather dismissive of Tsumiki's own thoughts on the matter.
… Shiki can't say that Tsumiki appears to be enthusiastic about the prospect of becoming a sorcerer, either. The girl appears to be more pensive than anything else, with a hint of nervous trepidation in her countenance. Which shows that she's taking this seriously, at least.
Personally, Shiki thinks that Megumi has the right idea of things. It is important that someone with a cursed technique learns the basics so that they will at least be able to prevent any unfortunate accidents from happening in the future, even if they don't end up becoming a sorcerer. Fluctuations in an individual's cursed energy is tied to their emotions, which means that those who lack control can be… volatile.
The Gojo Clan has a recorded incident where a blind and deaf boy with water manipulation drowned his younger siblings entirely by accident. If Shiki is remembering this correctly, the individual in question had been a relative on Jihei-san's side of the family…
So: Control is important. When Shiki had been young, the clan had also been concerned that she would end up destroying things that she didn't mean to, given the nature of her own abilities. Shiki is fortunate that she hasn't had any truly regrettable accidents from any losses of control, though this also serves to further prove the importance of control and discipline.
From what Shiki understood of what Kiyohira-sensei had relayed regarding Tsumiki's cursed technique, it wasn't the type of cursed technique that posed an immediate threat to those around her. However, control remained imperative, especially since Tsumiki's cursed technique had rather flashy, obvious indicators in which it–
"Oh, another thing," Megumi jerks slightly as a sudden thought occurs to him. "Shiki, about what happened to Tsumiki. How many people know what happened at the bridge that night?"
"… There was no Curtain, was there?" So Tsumiki exorcising the cursed spirit wouldn't have been hidden to anyone paying proper attention at the time, and… due to their home in Saitama being a half-permanent residence for both Shiki and Satoru-niichan, there were many watchful eyes in the neighborhood. The Gojo Clan would be able to suppress the news so it didn't immediately cause shockwaves throughout the jujutsu world, but…
Tsumiki was a non-sorcerer girl who'd somehow developed a cursed technique and now possessed the potential to become a sorcerer.
There are many people who would be greatly interested in how she managed to achieve such a thing. Which was another reason why Shiki felt that it would be best that Tsumiki learned to control her new abilities, if only as a last line of self-defense.
Hopefully, the brunt of these attentions could be directed towards the Gojo Clan rather than focused on Tsumiki. Shiki makes a mental note to talk to Daisaku-sama about spreading vague rumors about the Gojo Clan making use of the human experimentation research that they'd confiscated from the Kamo Clan. It's a lie of course; those documents are currently still sealed in the depths of the clan's archives, and as far as Shiki knows, no one has braved the risk of Satoru-niichan's ire to request that they be unsealed for wider perusal.
But it would help Tsumiki stay a little safer, if they could spin the story this way. The Kamo Clan, too, would be involved as part of her smokescreen –Shiki will probably have to find an opportunity to discreetly apologize to the Kamo Clan at some point for this.
… Tsumiki suddenly developing a cursed technique like this is not something that Shiki had even thought was possible. It's completely unexpected, and wholly unprecedented, on a magnitude of far greater significance than when she'd gone from being a regular civilian to a sighted individual.
But even so–
"No matter what anyone tries against you, I won't allow them to do as they please," Shiki promises her unaware friend.
"Um," Tsumiki blinks obliviously. "… T-thanks?"
"You're welcome."
.
.
…
.
Author's Notes:
Between preparations for the exchange event, new developments happen on Tsumiki's end! Many implications for this, as you might reasonably expect.
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.
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