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The first time Nobara ‘met’ the King of Curses, it was the second evening after her and Itadori’s first mission together.
She was on her way to the dorms' kitchen, walking calmly but resolutely. It was then that the aforementioned potato-headed new classmate of hers decided to approach her.
He was clearly coming back from the pantry himself, as he had a bag of chips in hand.
I’d say that’s unhealthy at this hour but I did kinda want to get a snack myself, she thought, and decided not to be a hypocrite of all things.
At first it looked like Itadori was about to simply walk past her, but then he tilted his head and turned his eyes up and sideways for a second.
After doing that, he waved his hand at her - grinning as well.
“Yo, Kugisaki! You have a minute?” he asked, way too freaking cheerfully for the late hour.
Nobara’s brow twitched.
At first she just wanted to tell him to fuck off, honestly. She didn’t have the patience to deal with whatever dumbassery he may have had in mind at the moment.
Then, she remembered that he did kinda save her ass during the mission yesterday, and that he didn’t seem to be… that bad overall during their celebratory meal afterwards.
Which meant he could get just a bit of her attention, as a courtesy.
Sighing, she turned to Itadori properly.
“Sure, I have a minute.”
She put a hand on her hip, and waved her other one a bit, tilting her head.
“Just don’t take much longer. I want to enjoy my evening, you know.”
Completely unperturbed by her lack of enthusiasm, Itadori nodded.
“Sure!”
He put the bag of chips on a nearby decorative shelf for now. It looked kinda comical next to the flowers, but he didn’t seem to care about it much.
He paused before saying more, suddenly sheepish. “Though, uh, it’s not exactly me who wants to talk.”
Nobara blinked, straightening up.
She waited for him to continue, raising a questioning brow.
He scratched the back of his head, holding out his hand a bit, palm upwards.
“Well, you know how I’m a ‘Vessel’ and all, right?”
Nobara started to suspect what he was talking about, but let him continue.
“Sooo…” Itadori held his hands together. “It’s Sukuna – he wanted to speak with you, if you ‘weren’t too opposed’. Quote.”
He laughed, just a bit nervously – probably because she narrowed her eyes at him.
What the actual hell could the ‘King of Curses' want to talk with me about?
Nobara sighed, waving at Itadori with both her hands dismissively. “Alright, stop fidgeting.”
She crossed her arms.
“As long as he doesn’t wanna flirt or something, you can tell me what he wanted to say.”
Itadori’s eyes widened for a moment, but then started saying that “Ah, I don’t think so? And he can actually talk himself-“
He didn’t get to finish though, as all of a sudden a whole fucking mouth manifested on his cheek – and one of the weird scars above that opened to reveal an eye!
Nobara’s arms uncrossed from shock, but she managed to not step back.
(‘Holy shit those lines are closed eyes!?’ went through her mind very quickly.)
The eye seemed to be minutely squinted in a frown, and the mouth at first looked to be stuck in a thin, unamused line.
Then, the King of Curses (he can just manifest on Itadori like that!??) finally started speaking.
“I assure you, that is not my intention in the slightest.”
Nobara found herself kinda understanding Sea Urchin Head’s wariness over the topic of the curse, now – that voice was somehow giving her the shivers just by itself!
And the eye, despite being so small, seemed to be looking straight through her freaking soul.
Unphased by the brown-haired teen’s reaction (if he even noticed it) Sukuna continued.
“Although I am not blind and do admit you are a generally aesthetically pleasing human,”
What the hell I wasn’t actually expecting compliments, thought Nobara – it definitely gave her a bit of whiplash from the previous scare.
“-I am neither particularly interested in any sort of relation that may typically involve such a thing as ‘flirting’,”
…Good to know, I guess?
“-nor am I, what was the phrase- Ah, right. Nor am I a ‘cradle robber’.” at that, the curse frowned even more.
He didn’t get to be annoyed in peace though, as Itadori suddenly burst out laughing.
Nobara once again realised that she couldn’t comprehend the potato-head standing before her.
“What the hell’s so funny?” she asked the giggling teen.
“Hmpf.” scoffed the curse, but didn’t elaborate.
Finally, Itadori decided to explain himself.
“Ha, heh, sorry! It’s just that-“ he paused, letting out a little huff of suppressed laughter.
After a while of that, he calmed down enough to continue. “Ok, so, a while ago I – and by extension Sukuna – was watching this- Drama?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment.
“You know, the type that has aaaalllll the possible dramatic plots, and where everyone is somehow involved in eight different family issues?”
Nobara raised an eyebrow. “Sure, I do know those.”
And apparently he watches them sometimes, noted. she thought.
The pink-haired teen continued, waving his hand alongside the words. “Well, at one point there was this plot-point where an older guy wanted to marry this much younger lady.”
He grimaced at that a bit, sticking his tongue out. “I guess they were both adults, but it was kinda weird since their very first meeting was way before that, you know.”
“Hm, yeah. That does sound potentially weird.” admitted Nobara.
Itadori shook his head. “Anyway, the important part is that the lady’s mom called the guy a ‘cradle robber’ at one point, right?”
He huffed again, a suppressed laugh. “And- And Sukuna asked if that referred to like, stealing power-wise promising babies from other Jujutsu clans? Which was apparently a thing? And if yeah, did the series somehow involve Jujutsu in the background?”
He laughed again, before catching himself.
“And I, well, I explained what it actually meant and he was so freaking- Flabbergasted?? It was hilarious!”
The King of Curses once again scoffed. “How was I supposed to know, you absolute child, that humans have come up with such a weird phrasing for such a weird concept?”
He rolled his singular eye. “If you want to make a power play, just slaughter some weaklings - not enter such relations with a brat! Otherwise is incomprehensible logic, truly.”
I’m not so sure if that version is comprehensible either, thought Nobara, grimacing a bit. That whole thing reminded her once again that she was in fact dealing with the rumored ‘Evil King of Curses’.
Itadori spoke up at that, a bit uneasy and no longer as amused.
“Uhh, how about not doing either?” He tried smiling, but it ended up being a bit of a pathetic attempt at it.
The curse didn’t say anything for a moment, then “Perhaps, if one is so soft-hearted. But my point still stands.” was said, weirdly unargumentative.
The red eye turned to once again look at Nobara directly.
“Now, you were the one to say you wish not to waste time so how about I proceed to the real topic – and not a tangent created by a giggly child?”
Nobara blinked, but nodded, crossing her arms once again.
“Yeahh, sure. What is it?” she asked, actually kinda curious.
“Well, as you may or may not be aware, I am capable of observing things from my Vessel’s eyes.”
Creepy! she thought at that.
As if reading her mind, the curse rolled his eye again. “I usually do not bother, but fights and such are most definitely something of interest - even if most times merely a mild one.”
“I guess that makes sense…” she admitted. It must have been kinda boring, being stuck wherever he was stuck.
“That it does. Now, as it happens, I was also a witness to the exorcism which happened yesterday.”
Nobara narrowed her eyes, wondering where this was going.
“And, due to it, I have a query – why is it that you use no bladed weapon?”
The brown-haired teen's eyebrow twitched, again, hearing the question.
Ugh, of course. He probably just wants to act all high and mighty for noticing something obvious.
“I-“ she began saying, but got interrupted.
“Before you interject, do know I am not denying you intelligence – it is a rather clear disservice to your Technique and I would be greatly surprised if you were to have somehow not noticed it. From the little I have managed to observe, it would be an out-of-character misstep.”
There was an odd glint in the curse’s eye, inquisitive and almost angry underneath it.
“Which is precisely why I ask. There must be a reason for it, and I find myself quite curious of the details.”
Nobara scowled. “And what, you expect me to tell you everything about my Technique just like that – and why I don’t use a knife or something?”
She snorted, annoyed at the curse thinking her stupid enough to do that.
“You ‘do not deny me intelligence’ but clearly do. I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
Sukuna didn’t say anything for a few seconds, simply stared at her silently.
(The other teen looked a bit uncomfortable at the sudden shift in the atmosphere, his gaze shifting between his new classmate and somewhere down his cheek.)
Then,
“You needn’t explain your Technique to me, I am already aware of how it works – or, at the very least of what is relevant to my question.”
Nobara was taken aback a bit, but didn’t back down yet.
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, and I’m supposed to believe that?”
The single, red eye stared at her dispassionately for a moment more.
(She wouldn’t admit it, but it was frankly a bit unnerving when he did that.)
After a few more seconds of silence, the curse finally spoke up.
“You are able to cause damage directly to the main body of the recipient via a connection established by a piece of their physical form, mostly at a range. The Technique uses an effigy, specifically a straw doll, as a medium.”
Wow, how observant, thought Nobara, unperturbed so far.
She didn’t get to be smug for long, as the curse was not finished in the slightest.
“From my observation of the exact connection your Cursed Energy creates during it, I do wonder if you couldn’t also perform this ‘Resonance’ by using yourself as one in certain circumstances.”
She blinked. Wait, what-?
“What in fact happens in ‘Resonance’ is no mere physical damage, though – it is clearly a way to attack the soul directly. Which is almost ludicrous, I do hope you are aware.”
Hold on-
“And, I suspect, you are also capable of affecting non-living objects as well – they tend to have something akin to a soul themselves, from what I have found.”
I-
“Wait, they do?” suddenly spoke up Itadori, interrupting both the curse’s speech and Nobara's train of thought.
(He also may or may have not accidentally given Nobara a moment to collect her mind from the freaking dissection of her ability.)
Sukuna didn’t seem too bothered by that, though.
“Why, yes. Although you needn’t worry about killing such things if that was what you were thinking of, you soft brat.”
He huffed.
“The two types of ‘soul’ are vastly different, and only one is usually in any way connected to a consciousness. It is simply a truth of existence that if something holds a physical form, it needs a template beyond it – ergo, a soul.”
The King of Curses seemed to consider something for a moment.
“I shan’t go into detail on it right now, brat, but part of that knowledge is in fact the basis for Reverse Cursed Technique.”
Noticing the pink-haired teen’s confusion, Sukuna huffed. “To educate your ignorant self, it is essentially the power of ‘healing’.”
Nobara was still a bit unsteady from before, but did note how freaking intrigued Itadori looked at the information.
Then, the curse turned his focus back onto the brown-haired (still slightly disturbed) teen again.
“Frankly speaking, that fact makes me believe you would have an easier time trying to learn it, little sorcerer – you are already dealing with souls themselves with complete nonchalance very often, after all.”
He noted Nobara’s weirded out expression, doing the closest thing to a raised eyebrow one could do with only one eye.
“Even if I’m starting to suspect you were, in truth, not fully aware of it.”
Nobara didn’t answer at first, but managed to collect herself.
Then, she simply narrowed her own eyes at him.
(She ignored the roaring from deep inside her mind trying to make her understand that it was a stupid thing to do towards the being so utterly knowledgeable upon Souls before her
– he wasn’t even a whole face, so what was there to fear, after all?)
“Whatever. It’s not like that part is actually relevant to what you wanted to know, so cool it with the all-knowing shtick, alright?”
(What are you doing!?)
The singular eye blinked, looking almost amused at her ‘audacity’.
“Hmm,” he hummed for a moment. “I may even indulge your request this time, little sorcerer.”
Nobara’s brow twitched, hearing the nickname once again.
‘Little sorcerer’ he says, as if he isn't smaller than everything else in this room right now, she thought.
Unaware of her internal jabs, Sukuna continued.
“That is if you answer my question. Why do you have no blade in your arsenal, when it could make using your obviously powerful Technique so much easier?”
The pink-haired Vessel seemed to be interested in her answer too, much to Nobara’s annoyance.
Finally, after sighing, she started to calmly answer.
“Simple, really.”
Then, she stopped being calm – much to Itadori’s obvious surprise and Sukuna’s astonished blink.
“HOW THE HELL WOULD I EVEN USE IT!?” she almost screamed, frustrated.
“I have only two hands, mister Twice-That, and guess what!? I need one to hold my hammer, and one for everything else!”
She shrugged, shaking her head in an almost bewildered manner.
“Not to mention the fact, that it would be clunky to haul something like that around!”
Nobara grit her teeth, swiping her arms out to the sides.
She started pacing a bit, three stunned eyes following her.
“Besides maybe a little itty-bitty knife that wouldn’t even work against curses, anything else would just slow me down and interrupt my flow of action!”
She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “Sure, I could probably get used to a different flow-“
She scowled, finally finishing her thought. “-but all previous points still stand!”
Itadori was about to say something - but she stopped, turned to face the other teen, and didn’t let him.
“And no, something like that lame sword you got from the blindfold-teacher-guy earlier wouldn’t help me at all.” she informed her new classmate, definitely very calmly.
And then, Sukuna finally spoke up.
“Are you absolutely certain of that?” He sounded… Oddly mellow.
Nobara squinted at the eye. “Of course I’m certain, what kind of question even-“
“You are most certainly right in thinking that something like my Vessel’s new weapon would be of no help to you, I do not deny that. But I also do believe that Cursed Tools come in many varieties.” interrupted the curse.
She wanted to interrupt him right back, at first. After a moment though, she decided to listen for a bit more.
If it turned out he had something actually good to say, as it kinda looked like now, she wouldn’t be prideful enough to just deny knowledge.
(If it turned out to be bullshit instead, she would of course react appropriately.)
And so, he continued.
“I assume you had no such resources available to you beforehand, as it seems you are in fact not part of any particularly ‘influential’ Jujutsu clans – but your new teacher, ‘blindfold guy’, ought to have some rather vast connections.”
The curse freaking smiled before he said “What with him being ‘The Strongest’, and such.”
Nobara frowned a bit, thoughtfully.
Not to mention…
“Hm, it seems you have also realised the other important part.” butted in Sukuna.
“Ah,” said the pink-haired student suddenly, seemingly happy to catch something. “Is it about the whole ‘Gojo clan’ thing?”
He seemed kinda sheepish to be intruding, but continued.
“I don’t really know a lot about all those ‘Jujutsu clan’ things yet, but you did kinda mention how it was already around before you got turned into those Fingers, right?”
Nobara’s brow twitched.
‘Got turned into’? This guy really is a novice if he thinks that that was somehow intentional. Well, by anyone other than the evil freaking curse, of course.
Obviously unaware of what was going through her mind, the pink-haired teen looked a bit thoughtful for a moment.
“And how they were one of those clans that probably had to keep a veerry close eye on their kids because of the whole ‘literal cradle-robbing’ thing?”
The curse apparently didn’t mind either the misinterpretation nor interruption, since he simply answered.
“That is right. I truly am quite glad that you have paid attention to both my explanation back then and the ‘recap’ of my first talk with the paintbrush-haired sorcerer.”
Nobara almost choked, hearing that.
Holy shit, his hair DOES look like a paintbrush with that freaking blindfold on! she thought, barely containing a laugh.
Itadori wasn’t so willing to hide his amusement though, as he made one very undignified snort himself.
Sukuna didn’t comment on that, but Nobara could have sworn she saw a small, amused smile appear on the curse’s mouth as well - even if only for a fleeting second.
(It… Didn’t seem to be a cruel type of happiness, oddly enough.)
Before she could wonder if she may have imagined that, the cursed spirit started speaking again.
“And yes, indeed – what I was alluding to was the fact that he is a member, if not the Head, of the Gojo clan.”
He stopped for a moment, musing on that.
“I cannot be certain of their overall power at this time, of course. Yet, considering the fact that your teacher is supposedly ‘the Strongest’ - and none seem to disagree - I do believe they may still hold some sway in the Jujutsu world.”
The curse freaking grinned.
“And, this Gojo Satoru seems to be the caring type.”
Nobara didn’t let it show, but the statement combined with the grin sent a slight shiver down her spine.
(She didn’t want to know how exacty the King of Curses thought of possibly exploiting that fact in the future.)
For some incomprehensible reason, Itadori didn’t seem to be nearly as disturbed as herself.
He really does have something off in that head of his, she thought.
No longer grinning as widely, Sukuna finished his statement.
“Having that in mind, it wouldn’t be remiss of me to presume he’d be willing to find something suitable for a student of his amongst the many Cursed Tools they most definitely harbor.”
He smirked for a moment, before adding one last thing.
“There is clear precedent already, what with my Vessel and his new sharp, curse-cutting toy. One he needn’t have had to ask for, might I add.”
Itadori let out a ‘Huh, you’re right’ at that, but Nobara wasn’t sure what to think of the whole situation.
She narrowed her eyes.
On one hand he’s probably right… But on the other…
“Why are you even telling me this?” she asked, finishing her thought out loud.
She crossed her arms halfway and pointed at the curse’s manifested not-face with an open palm.
“I mean I honestly don’t think that you are also ‘the caring type’, so what’s up with you apparently giving me advice?”
She leaned in a bit, eyes still narrowed in suspicion.
Itadori, though, leaned away - and lessened the distance change in the process so she straightened back, annoyed.
Sukuna didn’t seem to care about their antics, as he simply closed his eye and sighed.
As the red eye once again opened, he looked at the brown-haired teen dispassionately.
“There is no need to be so suspicious, brat number three.”
Nobara almost let her murderous urges win right there, but she persevered and didn’t deck the freaking King of Curses for the nickname. (Look at her go, so composed!)
The little snort from Itadori didn’t help, though.
With not even one visible flicker of the amusement the curse surely felt at her barely contained reaction, he continued.
“I simply despise seeing such ludicrously vast potential being snubbed by something so easily resolved, nothing more.”
He rolled his eye.
“I sincerely hope that Six-Eyed teacher of yours actually delivers upon your request of assistance, if you do make it. Or that he has perhaps even thought of it already.”
He looked almost freaking sad for a moment. “Otherwise, in both cases, I would be rather disappointed in him.”
Nobara could just tell that the other teen found that statement funny again, even if he managed to not laugh this time.
If the curse could have, he would have most probably shrugged here. “I care not whether he would find my disappointment noteworthy, it would exist nonetheless.”
“Now, I do believe both me and my Vessel have taken enough of your time.”
Nobara nodded, reminded of the fact that she was actually freaking going somewhere earlier.
She huffed, mildly annoyed. “You definitely did, but I guess I’ll forgive you this time since it was kinda helpful in the end.”
Both the curse and the other teen blinked, amazed by her turnaround of the atmosphere.
The brown-haired sorcerer swiped her hair, most of her signature confidence clearly returning.
“I’m not surprised you’ve noticed potential in me, only someone really stupid wouldn’t!”
Instead of saying a jab or using some cruel turn of phrase to verbally smack her down (as she kind of expected from his overall vibe) the curse just huffed, amused.
“Then I am glad to have proven myself not a fool, little sorcerer.”
Nobara paused, for just a moment, processing the fact that the freaking King of Curses decided to play along with her.
A smile slowly grew on her face.
“You know, you don’t seem that bad, ‘your Majesty’”
She smiled a bit wider. “For an evil and murderous curse, of course.”
Her classmate decided to butt in, grinning. “Right? You wouldn’t believe how fun watching movies with him is, haha!”
The grin faded, though only slightly. “I mean besides the constant mentions of mass murder and gory stuff, but we’ve been working on it!”
Sukuna rolled his eye. “I have been working on nothing, ya brat.”
He clicked his tongue. “You have simply stopped responding with the proper amounts horror and I got bored, that is all. Enjoy my mercy while it lasts.”
(The curse didn’t even try looking at either teen, almost averting his gaze from them both. Odd.)
The Vessel laughed, a bit nervously but mostly just seemingly conflicted.
“Well, if you say so…”
Nobara wasn’t sure what to think of the exchange exactly, but that seemed odd to her.
Yeah, there’s something more up with that. There is absolutely no way mr. ‘embodiment of evil’ ran out of terrifying imagery before the pink retriever guy somehow stopped being disturbed.
Where that thought was supposed to lead, she didn’t know. But she was definitely going to keep it somewhere in the back of her mind for later.
Suddenly Itadori gasped, wide-eyed.
“Ah shit, about movies – I completely forgot there’s a premiere of an episode I was looking forward to watching that starts in,” he quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time.“-ten minutes!”
“Hey Sukuna, did you say whatever it was you wanted to say to Kugisaki already??” he asked, hurried.
The curse was clearly caught off-guard a little, but answered. “I suppose so, yes-“
Itadori didn’t even wait until Sukuna finished, just interrupted him happily. “Alright great!”
He moved to snatch the bag of chips back off of the shelf, and started walking away in a hurry.
As he sped down the corridor, he turned around for a moment to wave back at Nobara. “Sorry Kugisaki, I’ve gotta go! Thanks for the talk!”
She didn’t even really get to reply, but heard him start talking about ‘Oh yeah, and I gotta show you how I cook sometime! I’m sure it’s like, completely different from back then-‘ before he disappeared.
As Nobara stood there for a moment more, she mused on the whole interaction.
She turned around, and started to once again walk towards the kitchen.
On one hand, the advice isn’t really… Bad.
She narrowed her eyes, stepping into the right corridor.
And sure, Itadori seems not to be all that disturbed by this King of Curses guy.
She looked out the window she passed by, briefly.
Plus, he wasn’t as sinister as I expected him to be.
But…
She remembered Fushiguro visibly tensing a bit at even the mention of the curse.
And their teacher’s weird emphasis on ‘absolutely not letting Sukuna out, even if he asks nicely’ in the warning he told Itadori.
She sighed.
I’ll have to think on it.
Finally, after some time spent deep in thought, Nobara walked into the kitchen.
As she opened up the fridge, she decided that wondering more on what to do with the ‘Good advice coming from Evil’ could wait until tomorrow.
Haah, what the hell is up with these dilemmas lately. First one intelligent curse, then this one…
It has been a few days since Nobara talked with the cursed spirit possessing her classmate.
In the end, she decided to try using his advice, but it took a lot of pondering on it.
As she paced around her room with a bit of nervous energy, she tried not to think too much about the fact that she mayyy have not mentioned where the idea came from, originally.
She wanted to be honest with Gojo-sensei, but… As she talked with him about getting a suitable Cursed Tool, she started to think he might just straight-up reject her idea if she were to bring up the King of Curses – considering his overall wariness of the topic.
She grimaced a bit, remembering how she didn’t even really get a chance to consider fessing up before her teacher skedaddled out of there - which definitely contributed to her not doing it in the end.
[Flashback Start]
“Of course I’ll help out one of my wonderful students, Nobara-chan!” Gojo-sensei probably would have winked here, were he not blindfolded.
“I feel a bit bad about not bringing up something like that earlier, but I also didn’t want to butt in into your already pretty darn complex combat style, you know?”
He clasped his hands over his heart, seemingly tearing up even despite his covered eyes. “To think you already trust me enough to come to me with your problems, my poor heart may not be able to take it!”
Nobara wasn’t sure how to take his antics, but tried not to think too badly of him.
(Actually, she thought it was kinda sweet - though she wouldn’t admit it even with a cursed spirit maw of razor-sharp teeth around her head.)
Her teacher seemed to deflate with his whole body, and sighed.
“Unfortunately, I’m being called for a -” he straightened up and made air quotes with his fingers. “-’business trip' so I may not be able to bring you anything in person.”
He turned away a bit, and held a hand, palm outwards, over his covered eyes in a dramatic gesture.
“To think I won’t be there to watch my student open my carefully-prepared present, oh woe is me – the Strongest yet so unlucky!”
Nobara tried very hard not to palm her own face.
Eventually, the white-haired sorcerer turned back to her and proceeded to talk a bit more seriously.
“Hmm, I think I already have something in mind, actually.”
Nobara blinked.
She didn’t expect the process to be so quick (well, she wasn’t sure if anything suitable would even exist in the first place, so it was a double surprise).
“You do?” she asked, obviously intrigued.
Gojo-sensei smiled. “Yup! Though sadly I’m not 100% sure if it will work for you. It was actually offered to one of your upperclassmen before, but well...” he frowned with one side of his mouth. “The Cursed Tool in question is odd.”
Nobara raised her brow.
Odd? she thought.
Her teacher continued, most probably sensing her confusion. “See, it’s Special Grade!”
Nobara almost choked.
He wants to give me a freaking Special Grade Tool!??
“-buuuut it’s completely useless or less for most people, so it isn’t really seen as that in terms of value, sadly.”
He smiled again. “That does mean no one will bother you about it if I give it to you and it works out, though!”
“Ah.” Nobara paused. “What’s the catch with it being 'useless'?”
Gojo-sensei beamed at her. “Nobara-chan; asking the right questions as always!”
He tilted his head, a finger on the side of his chin.
“Well, we know it’s Special Grade due to the fact that it’s verrry durable even in its ‘dormant’ form, and because of the reliable description we have for what it should be able to do - but no one has ever actually managed to make it do anything!”
Nobara put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes in thought. “Does it need that much skill, or what?”
Her teacher hummed. “I’m pretty sure that is part of it, but nope!”
“The thing is that is apparently chooses the user, under no clear conditions!”
He shrugged. “So unless you’re a ‘chosen one’ by its standards it’ll do nothing, feel ‘off’, or sting you with your own Cursed Energy if you put any into it!”
He shook his head. “The nasty bugger.”
Nobara deflated minutely, but after a moment straightened up and posed with one hand on her hip and the other framing her face.
“Ha! Then let me try it!”
She grinned, determined - sparkles all around her. “If it acts all pissy, I’ll simply force it to aknowledge just how much of a ‘chosen one' I am!”
Gojo-sensei gave her a double thumbs-up. “That’s the spirit!”
Yeah, I know it’ll work out great!
[Flashback End]
I sure hope it does, Past Nobara!
She sighed, and stopped pacing.
Making up her mind, she walked up to the package she was just delivered.
It looked rather suspicious, but was clearly from Gojo-sensei – the fact that it had a note attached to it with a little doodly version of his face drawn on it was an obvious sign.
She smiled down at it a little.
(The fact that he actually went out of his way to get her something like this just because she asked was freaking nice, sue her.)
Nobara took the box, and sat down with it on the side of her bed.
(Maybe it was a more casual setting than unwrapping a Special Grade Cursed Tool deserved, but she wasn’t about to deny herself some comfiness for that kinda stuff.)
Before starting on the package itself, she opened up the note.
|Dear Nobara-chan,
Hi there! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧ Hope the Tool got to you perfectly well, and isn’t currently on fire somehow! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧|
Pf-
|I’ll be brief because blah blah you don’t have the time for this Gojo blah blah; the Tool’s name is “Half-Imaginary Edge of Divine Will”.
(Kinda pompous, I know, but I didn’t come up with it!)
It'll look like just a simple, if well-crafted, handle at first.
That’s just the ‘dormant’ state, though - if someone were to be accepted by it, the handle should supposedly be able to manifest a few different types of blade!
Now, you may be asking; ‘Gojo-sensei you’re so smart and wise but wouldn’t this only resolve my Easy Transport issue?’
First off; thank you for saying something so nice, my awesome student! That I am! ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
Buut answering your question;
As far as we know, it’s actually meant to be a very interesting Tool that allows its user to, if they have enough skill, control it remotely with their Cursed Energy.
A bit like you’re already doing with your Nails, which ought to make that whole thing easier for you to master! (~￣v￣)~
The thing is that it should, at some point, become a completely instinctual type of control – it should slowly get integrated with your specific Cursed Energy signature as you ‘feed’ it with some over time.
Again, a bit like your Nails might become at some point! Not too many obvious gestures, just boom-blam-shablam, everything is covered in punctures, exploded, and cut up!
Baaasically, it’s kinda like giving yourself an additional Cursed Technique~
(Of course assuming the Tool accepts you, but that’s besides the point here, I believe in you! (人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+)|
Holy shit. Just- Holy shit!? thought Nobara, wide eyed.
|Nothing should go too badly if the Tool ends up rejecting you, but do remember to immediately go to Shoko if it does!
(She should be around when this package gets to you, but if not maybe wait until she does return, just to be safe.)
She might get a bit grumpy if it’s late but I know for a fact that she’d be muuuch more annoyed if any of you just went about your night without any treatment!
Anyway˜ have fun, Nobara-chan! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
If it works out I definitely wanna see the Tool in action with my awesome student when I return!
Lots of love,
Your amazing and generous Gojo-sensei! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧|
Nobara rolled her eyes at the last part, huffing in amusement,.
She put the note away to her right for now, since that seemed to be the end of it.
The brown-haired teenager wasn’t sure what to expect as she slowly opened the box, but was almost giddy from anticipation.
When she finally opened the rather decorative lid which was hidden under all the protective paper, she saw…
Literally just a nicely carved piece of wood.
She squinted at it.
Haah??
“I guess he did say it was just going to be a handle but this is kinda…” she reached for it, only slightly nervous.
As she pulled the curved wooden piece out, nothing happened at first.
She waited for a few seconds.
As nothing seemed to change, she then turned it around a few times, examining it.
It looked like something one would find on some kinda fancy kitchen knife, if she had to describe it – not really much of a sword-like finish to it.
“It doesn’t feel… Off, so far.”
Nobara hummed thoughtfully.
She started circulating her Cursed Energy into it, in a similar manner to how she would treat her Nails.
Suddenly, the thing reacted.
(It felt like the opposite of off – almost familiar, as if it was happy to finally meet her.
If she didn’t know any better, she would wonder if one of her own Nails didn’t get transformed by someone to prank her – even if it wasn’t as close to her soul as them.)
The Cursed Energy she flowed into it seemed to pool at the end opposite to herself, and all of a sudden, it had an actual blade!
Nobara blinked, shocked.
She looked at it more closely – the metal, whatever it was, was both shiny and matte, somehow. The blade itself wasn’t very long, and actually curved inwards and in front of her fingers.
It had a few holes on its side, kind of like on a knife made to carve cheeses. She was pretty sure she could close them if needed, though.
After a few moments of examination something struck her.
Wait…
“Is this thing actually a kitchen knife!? A freaking cooking utensil!?”
After Nobara remembered that the tool was supposed to have multiple forms, she calmed down a little – though she was still a bit irked.
(‘A Special Grade Kitchen Knife!? Who the fuck came up with that!?’)
She couldn’t make it float yet, for some freaking reason, but decided to work on it tomorrow – it was getting late and the last thing she’d have wanted was to wake up exhausted.
Despite her initial annoyance, she went to bed with a smile on her face.
Hah! I’m a ge-nu-ine chosen one now, suckas! she thought, drifting off to sleep.
(Sadly, Nobara didn’t get to actually train with the Tool the next day – both she and her two classmates got called in for a mission.
A mission of a way higher skill threshold than any of them held.
A mission that ended up requiring help from a very… Unusual,
and blood-thirsty,
source.)
(Somewhere, in a location unvisited for many years, there was what remained of a beautiful little temple.
Amongst the rubble and ruin, laid a trampled, torn scroll.
A rather large chunk of it seemed to be missing.
Were it whole, it would have told the tale of a Blacksmith Curse User who wished to recreate but a sliver of his God’s essence – to capture a single drop of what His overwhelming power could do.
He despised the Sorcerers who dared to temporarily rid the world of such beautiful terror.
(Oh, he was certain it was merely temporary - such beings are never truly gone, he could almost feel the certainty in the air whenever he thought of it.)
He felt a sheer, boiling hate at the knowledge of the fact that he could never see his God in a form made of flesh for the rest of his lifetime.
The hatred was only abated by his newly thought up project to last what was left of his days.
By fulfilling it, he wished to forge a blade which could hold at least a minute imitation of Ryoumen Sukuna’s ability within it.
Specifically, the one with which He was able to cut down anything and everything He so wished, without even truly needing to move.
Of course, not even the passion of a zealot could possibly recreate something as Divine as that.
What he has created was, indeed, but a pale imitation. Yet, it was a true masterpiece nonetheless - an artificial Technique in spirit.
He ended up calling the Cursed Tool in part ‘Imaginary’, for that was also in part one of his God’s titles.
He did so in hopes of his Deity blessing the blade so obviously made in honour of Him.
(He believed that, being what He was, the King of Curses was merely waiting in the Beyond – influencing the Physical World ought not have been completely out of His reach even there.)
Sadly, or perhaps as ordained by fate itself, the Blacksmith was one with no ability to truly control it upon completion.
As the Blacksmith laid on his deathbed, the only wish on his mind was for the blade to one day be wielded by someone capable of showing its true potential.
Perhaps, even – the wielder could be someone chosen by the Returning God Himself.
Such was his dying wish,
and so,
by Divine Will,
such it happened.)