Chapter Text
Geto Suguru was everything but impressionable. The jujutsu world taught him to expect anything at any moment. Curses? He could handle them. His goofy best friend, the head of the clan? A piece of cake. Babysitting a girl who was to be a guinea pig to sustain world peace? Well, he was trying to find common ground with the girl just now. But a strange hooded man who stopped a bullet coming from an assassin with what looked like a blood bullet mid-air? It was a bit new for him, so he had to take time to analyze.
Amanai wasn't doing any better than him. Her moping face was replaced by what looked like a mix of shock and confusion.
He had a lot of questions he should be asking, but he didn't know which one to start with, or to whom he should ask them. What was that assassin doing here? And where was Satoru?
Luckily or unluckily? The man who was about to put a bullet in Amanai's head decided to politely start the conversation.
"Man the fuck you are ?" Or not so politly.
The stranger's expression wasn't visible with the hood on. His cursed energy was controlled and steady. He didn't look like he had a huge amount, but Suguru learned it could be tricky sometimes. Strong sorcerers controlled the output of cursed energy. And generally, you'd show less to make the opponent underestimate you.
"Ain't you shameless, old man? Killing an underage girl for what? Money you'd lose on bets?"
The older man scratched his head with his gun. He looked like he was trying to figure out if he knew this man or not.
"Dafuq you know about me ? And those people aren't better, sacrificing the same girl to some deity. For what? World peace? Bad news, the world is rotten anyway.
Suguru understood less and less the more they talked. Good thing the assassin looked as lost as he was from the apparition of the hooded man. Shouldn't they start by stating who they are first? And where they came from?
"Fushiguro, if you don't back down, I'll have no choice but to execute you. I'm past the age of conversation. So choose: walk away right now, go to your kids, live rightfully, or die now."
"Piss off. Use your fists and fight me."
The hooded man sighed. Suguru heard him whisper how he expected this to go that way. He was a bit done getting ignored.
"Where is Satoru?" The question left his mouth.
"Gojo's precious heir? In hell right now, I hope." A sadistic smile drew on the assassin's face. Suguru felt his expression turn into something ugly. He wanted to scream; he wanted to tear this man apart.
"Don't worry, kid, he's alive. Satoru wouldn't go down so easily. He's the strongest, after all," said the hooded man, with what looked like... a nostalgic smile on his face?
It went fast after that. Fushiguro went for the kill directly on the hooded man. What happened afterward was too fast for his eyes to follow. He saw what looked like a black flash being thrown at the older man. They were dodging each other's fists; no one looked like he had a physical advantage. Equal in speed and strength.
Toji separated from the man and jumped to a reasonably safe distance. "You have a heavenly restriction too?"
He couldn't see cursed energy, so he had to ask. The man in front of him was too skilled at fighting, and his body looked buff. No normal human could have that amount of physical strength.
"No, I don't. Let's say I have very good genes thanks to Mommy's planning."
"Shit's getting interesting." With a huge smile, the murderous one, Toji, dove back into the fight.
Meanwhile, Geto decided to take Amanai's hand and lead her down to Tengen; they might be safer there.
"Geto-san, I don't understand..."
He couldn't explain what he couldn’t understand himself. He took the girl in his arms and jumped with her down. He felt Fushiguro's eyes on him. But that moment of inattention apparently cost him a black flash on his face. The strange hooded man was doing a fine job restraining the assassin, so he decided to focus on bringing Amanai to safety. Maybe Tengen had some secret vault or something to hide.
"Suguru Getou." He heard in his head. Who was this, invading his thoughts? "Continue down here with Amanai Riko. Go straight; you'll find me."
"Must be Tengen," he guessed. "Who else?" He was expecting a more masculine voice, but having girls as vessels might do that to someone's voice.
The thing was, how would he explain to Tengen that he wasn't going there to hand over the girl, but to secure her from the two strange men above? Okay, the hooded man looked to be on their side, but there was no real guarantee, so he still had to be careful.
With his train of thought, he finally reached the end. An old woman, or what looked like an old woman mixed with a curse, dressed in all white, was waiting as she told him.
"Geto Suguru. Thank yo—"
"I'm not handing you Amanai-san."
"I understand, and I won't try to convince you. But are you ready to protect the girl from everything that's waiting for her above? Even if I give her up as a vessel, people won't stop coming for her, just in case I change my mind later on." Tengen paused and looked like she was thinking. "You're a jujutsu sorcerer; you understand that you give your life to protect the weak. I don't enjoy taking girls as vessels, and I'm more tired than anyone of eternal life. I'd rather die, but as the only one that can sustain the jujutsu world and barrier, I can't complain. I just do what I have to do. Everyone has a meaning in this life."
All that talk, to Suguru Geto, was boring. He wasn't going to let Amanai Riko die, and that was final.
"You said you won't try to convince me." Amanai remained silent the whole time, tears threatening to come down. She just wanted to know if her maid and Gojo-san were okay.
Tengen just stopped talking. At that moment, the intense curse energy from a moment ago calmed down as if tamed. The next second, the hooded man was next to them.
"Fushiguro's old man sure is a tough one. Reminds me of Maki senpai." He was mumbling more to himself than to them. Then he looked at Tengen, at Amanai, then at Geto.
"Hand over the girl to Tengen, it's for the best, trust me."
"Seriously, no."
"I could kill you too. Your life for all those who will be saved is a small price. Sensei will be a bit sad though and might hate me for this." He looked like he was in internal conflict.
"Man, you say stuff that doesn't make sense to us. Speak Japanese. So, are you killing me now or tomorrow?"
"Can I ask who you are, young man? You weren't mapped in this world until minutes ago."
If Tengen didn't know who this was, no one would. Geto was now interested and turned to the hooded man, who wasn't hooded anymore as he had removed his hood. Scars covered his face, one near his mouth, one between his eyes, which were the most visible. A weak smile played on his face. His eyes were hollowed. He looked young, really not above 30 years old. White hair, like Satoru's, and red eyes—not the usual look.
"Itadori Yuuji, my type of woman is tall with a big butt, and I came from 2086, Tengen-sama."
"Huh?"
Suguru Getou wasn't easily impressionable. He knew that in the jujutsu world, everything was possible. But this man broke every rule established in this world that was theirs.