Chapter Text
The morning sun filtered through the blinds. It was bright for winter; thousands of dust specks could be seen dancing in the rays. Silver eyes slowly opened to this greeting. The owner of those eyes, Mikage Sennozomi, raised her head whispering, “Today’s the day.” A long lock of silky black hair rolled off her shoulder as she sat up and stretched.
There was a lot to be done so she got up and stirred the master. She followed him to the closet and leaned back against the frame as he selected his finest robes. Her silhouette shapely with her hands pressed between the wall and her back. Her lips curled in a subtle smile. Revenge would come at nightfall.
“I want you to stay here this evening, Mikage,” her master, Suguru Geto, said as he pulled his selected clothes towards him.
Her eyes grew wide with anxiety. Her head turned to face him. “But I-”
“I can’t risk anyone learning of your technique. It’s always good to have backup plans,” he explained in a smooth voice as he dressed, “So in case of that 1% chance that things don’t work out for us, I will scout to see how to best utilize you for our contingencies.” He strode over to her and lifted her chin between his forefinger and thumb. “So just stay here and work on that fake online presence you have until I return.”
“Yes…” She begrudgingly bowed her head in compliance.
But he did not return. Not that night when their plans of the Night Parade failed. Not for a while. But eventually he did. And he started on that contingency plan. And fail safes for that plan. He had made new alliances and she saw his plans for the upcoming Halloween. Finally he came to her with her mission.
Geto seemed a bit different when he had come back, a little more than the stitches in his head. But Mikage felt that familiarity she knew of him since she was 10, or at least glimpses of it throughout her briefing. The way his hand twitched a little as he looked at the picture of Satoru Gojo on the screen. “He poses a threat, I need him out of the way…” but then the air changed as he ordered, “Eliminate him.”
Mikage bowed with her hands to her side. “Yes, sir.”
“...If you are able to. That isn’t the main priority and we have plans for him if you can’t get that far.” He clicks some buttons to change the intel on the screen. “At the very least, remove this player from the board. If you can do at least this much for me then our chances will increase exponentially. And if you survive that, then see if you can get Satoru too.”
Mikage felt confused, but did not say anything. Before the Night Parade, Geto would hate to see the waste of such a talented sorcerer. But now she was assigned to assassinate two of them. The mission also seemed insignificant. What difference would it make when the whole Jujutsu world came down crumbling anyway? But orders were orders. Geto had the master plan.
He helped her get past Tengen’s barrier and she went on in search of her targets. She found the primary one, walking down the forested path with two others. She called forth her cursed technique and silently followed the trio until she could catch her target alone. It was a while, but finally the group dispersed.
She shot from the branch she was hiding on straight for him, knife in hand. But he sensed her presence and turned to see her coming, sidestepping to avoid the hit in the same motion. She skidded across the dirt to stop her velocity and stood up, slowly turning to face him.
“Toge Inumaki, prepare to die!”
Toge tilted his head to the side as he sized her up. “Kelp?”
“Kelp yourself!” she sneered as she dashed back towards him.
Again, he sidestepped as she passed by, failing to land a hit again. This appeared to aggravate her and he only scratched his head. She ran at him three more times, ending under the branch she had started at, having practically ran a five-point star around him. Already she was panting, a sweat worked up despite her clothes being lighter than Toge’s uniform. He continued to look at her in unexpressed confusion.
This time, she jolted with the intention of stopping where he stood instead of the extra force she previously exerted. Her arm crossed in front of her ready to stab his heart, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled it straight up. Toe to toe, he could see he had an inch of an advantage over her, making her extend to her tiptoes as he held her wrist high. Their eyes gazed at each other, determined silver meeting curious violet. She lingered in this position for a moment, allowing the skin contact of his hand to her wrist as she analyzed why he hadn’t fallen yet.
It’s not taking effect on him… Mikage thought. His jacket collar must be blocking the bulk of it. I need to get him to open it up. The intel in his file mentioned he was a Cursed Speech User. If I can get him to use his cursed speech…
Her hand dropped the knife and her legs pulled up, letting gravity pull her hand through Toge’s grasp. Landing in a crouch, she extended her leg to sideswipe him. But he bent his knees and hopped backwards, doing a backflip away from her. She grabbed the fallen knife while still circling around and spun after him as she raised herself back up.
Relentlessly, she kept attacking as he kept dodging. The air in the vicinity started to feel thick like soup. The smell and taste of it could penetrate the senses with its charge.
Eventually, Toge set her up so when she came at him and he dodged, her knife got lodged in a tree. She tried to pull it out, but he didn’t give her time, swinging a kick to her gut. She had to either let the knife go or take the hit and she chose the former.
Now like a declawed cat, Mikage grew more aggressive as she lunged at Toge, hands first. This time he blocked, redirecting her momentum instead of dodging. Quickly she turned and striked again and again. It felt like a predictable pattern until she grabbed his blocking wrist and twisted it away as her outer fist swung in. She hit the side of his face, the back of her hand grazing past his temple as he stayed firm.
She swung again and again, her onslaught seemingly directed towards his upper face. Her hits were actually making contact now which led Toge to wonder if using the knife had thrown her off balance from what she was used to or if she did not intend to hurt him and held back before. But the way she bit her bottom lip in determination, so hard it threatened to bleed, made an alluring curve that Toge couldn’t take his eyes off of.
Watching her, it seemed like a dance the way her body twisted and bent. Captivated by the intensity of her actions, his eyes were glued to her. He thought he had been doing good staying up with his training, but he could feel his heart pound harder in his chest as this dance drew on. He didn’t think he was exerting himself at all, but it did seem to be getting hot in his uniform.
They circled around the area numerous times and even if her punches didn’t hurt, he did have to give her points for sheer endurance. He decided to block one of her punches with his palm, his fingers curling over her fist after it made contact. Her breath hitched as he held her hand in this manner. But the tips of his fingers noticed how smooth her skin was. These were not the hands of a fighter. He was ready to end this.
He put up his other hand in a signal for her to stop fighting, that her efforts are futile. But she refused, hopping backwards and slipping her hand out of his grasp once again. He sighed, scratching the back of his head. How much longer was she going to do this? The way she straightened up could mean she was done attacking, but he pinched the zipper on top of his collar just in case. For a moment, they stared at each other in a standstill; deep and labored pants to catch their breaths filled the air.
Finally Mikage moved, reaching up to the bun her hair was tied in and squeezed the clip to pull it off. Smooth and shiny locks cascaded down her back as she shook her bun out.
“Do you know the original story of Snow White? There’s a part about a comb with poisoned teeth.” She unhooked the sides from each other and held one in each hand; the teeth like extensions of her nails as she posed like a panther about to strike. “The teeth on these are like that. One scratch from them and you won’t last five minutes.”
She sprinted towards him, ready to strike, but he opened his collar finally exposing the lower half of his face as he yelled, “Stop!”
Sound waves reverberated from his mouth and encompassed Mikage, short circuiting her movements, freezing her in place.
The fight was over.