November 19th, 2018, Aomori colony

  “Domain expansion: womb perfusion.”

  Chiyomi opened her eyes slowly as she heard Kenjaku expand his domain. They let out a lengthy yawn and began to stretch their limbs in an attempt to wake up. The flying fish they had been traveling on was surprisingly comfortable to sleep on; its skin was squishy and made for a comfortable pillow.

  Their eyes wandered up towards the sky as Chiyomi attempted to ascertain the sun’s position in order to get an estimate of what time it could be. After noting it was nearly set, late afternoon was probably the best call. It was a bit hard to see given the giant pillar of skulls floating in the air, but she made do.

  While looking up, her vision was further obscured as they passed under a thin black wall. Turning her head, Chiyomi was able to see the colony's barrier had been erased in a circular manner. A rather small hole in comparison to the barrier's colossal size but large enough for the flying fish she and Kenjaku had mounted to pass through nonetheless.

  “Oh, you’re up? My apologies, I hadn’t intended to wake you,” Kenjaku turned to face Chiyomi, a gentle smile on his face concealing whatever his true emotions on the matter were.

  “Yeah, whatever. Why are you using a domain to enter the colony?”

  Chiyomi let her legs go stiff as she stood up off the ground, stifling another yawn so they could face Kenjaku with an air of alertness.

  “It’s a loophole in the Culling games location system. Kogane locates players not by the specific location but by monitoring what barriers they pass through. Opening a domain and removing that barrier temporarily lets us enter a new colony while making it so Kogane—and more importantly, anyone using rule nine—is none the wiser. I did this when we left Morika as well; you had fallen asleep by then, however.”

  “I thought a technique burns out after a domain, so how is your fish still here? Or were you just lying about that too?” Chiyomi’s eyes narrowed at the smiling man.

  “No, I wasn’t. My cursed spirit manipulation does burn out, but that just means I'm unable to summon new cursed spirits. I can still control the ones already conjured.”

  The totem pole of skulls vanished as Kenjaku finished speaking. With its disappearance, the hole that they had crossed through ceased to be as well. Chiyomi let out a ‘huh’ in acknowledgment as she saw it vanish, her eyes turning back to Kenjaku soon after.

  “So… you can’t use your cursed techniques now.”

  “Nope,” Kenjaku smiled and shrugged as he replied to her question.

  Chiyomi’s eyes lingered on Kenjaku’s appearance. He seemed as relaxed and uncaring as always, his smile piercing through Chiyomi’s thoughts.

  He has to realize I can just—

  “What is it?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You’re staring; something on your mind?” Kenjku tilted his head as he addressed Chiyomi’s gaze.

  “... Are you that confident I won’t try and kill you?”

  Chiyomi crossed her one remaining arm over their chest as she posed her hypothetical. She had no interest in ending his life at the moment; after the merger happened was another matter. While she wouldn’t bother with such an endeavor, it only seemed reasonable from an outside perspective to assume she would.

  Kenjaku was no fool; he wouldn’t overlook the opportunity that arose after his domain was dispelled. Namely how vulnerable he would be. Yet he hadn’t bothered to conceal the truth of this vulnerability from her. In a situation like this, the only options for reasons why were a severe lack of fear or intelligence. Chiyomi had to unfortunately rule out the ladder since Kenjaku’s intellect was one of the few things she held him in high regard. Which meant that he must—

  “Hmmm… I suppose I am. Rather than confidence in an aversion to ending my life, I’d describe it as trusting you completely instead however,” Kenjaku’s face tilted downwards pensively for a few moments. His signature sly smile returned soon after as he looked forward.

  “Pfft. You must be joking,” Chiyomi couldn’t stifle her snort at that sentiment.

  “Not particularly,” Kenjaku responded with an uncharacteristic seriousness in his voice. Such that it made Chiyomi hesitant on her assessment.

  “Trust? You’d really expect me to believe you’d place such a thing in me despite the flimsy agreement we have.”

  “Why not? While I admit our aligned goals are only temporary and I’m sure we’ll be at odds again once the dust settles, but until that point I’m content in placing my full faith in you,” Kenjaku shrugged as he acknowledged their impending separation while still placing faith in her.

  “Trust, bonds, and faith are all inherently fickle things. Each is subjected to the sway of both the situation and the human heart. It is only as strong as a person deems it and will be upheld as much as a person wills it. As such, in this particular situation, I find having faith in you to be a rather understandable notion.”

  “...”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Chiyomi didn’t say anything as he finished. Only staring blankly at Kenjaku as he smiled gently. The venomous words he spoke seeped into her mind, almost making her believe in his twisted logic. A moment before, she was prepared to inwardly admit his words held some merit. A certain realization occurred to her, the thought lingering in silence for a few moments before—

  “Haha, HAHAHA,” Chiyomi covered her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle her laughter. Giving up on the attempt, she let it flow freely after a few moments.

  “What… What are you laughing at?” Kenjaku seemed genuinely confused at her actions. The look on his face was one Chiyomi had rarely if ever seen. She didn’t think to savor his expression as she crouched down in laughter, barely managing to not tumble to the floor.

  Eventually her wild laughter subsided after a few minutes. Chiyomi stood back up to meet Kenjaku’s gaze with tears in her eyes. It was the same puzzled stare he wore when her outburst had begun. The look of bafflement nearly caused Chiyomi to burst out laughing again, but her system had been depleted of such feelings by now. Instead, she wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a small chuckle before speaking.

  “It’s just… My whole life I’ve never been able to understand what went on inside that fucked-up head of yours. Even after you told me everything and we were ‘on the same page.’ I still just felt like there was something about the way your head worked that I couldn’t figure out.”

  “So you’ve found the missing piece to understanding me?”

  “Yeah. I think so,” Chiyomi gave a slight nod as they confirmed their understanding of such a sad puzzle.

  “I see… but why does knowing that make you laugh?” Kenjaku crossed his arms as his eyebrow arched.

  “Because I spent most of my life scared of you, and now that I know how pathetic you are, pfft, It’s funny to think I could ever be,” Chiyomi couldn’t restrain her snort as she voiced the situation aloud.

  “... I’m afraid I don’t follow,” the pitiable man before her tilted his head as he expressed his confusion.

  “You’re probably the most knowledgeable sorcerer in the history of the world. Not just in Jujutsu, but your understanding of people as well. You’ve controlled and manipulated countless things all to reach the point we are at now. Despite all that, you’ve never really connected with anyone, have you? You told me it was the first time you’ve bothered telling everyone the entire story. Even though you have, what lies between us is barely concealed animosity that will reach a boiling point in time. If you want to pretend our relationship is one of trust, that’s fine. But you should know it won’t make you any less lonely.”

  A stiff silence enveloped the two sorcerers as they stared into one another’s eyes. A look of indignation crossing paths with one of mild bewilderment, that look of bewilderment morphing to one of thought soon after—then to one of understanding.

  “Loneliness, huh? I suppose you’re right on that front. Companionship in the sense you’re thinking of is something I became bored of long ago. I don’t feel inclined to seek out the things I’ve grown tired of.”

  “Did you grow tired of them, or did they reject you the same way the person you loved did?”

  “... I suppose you could make a case for both,” Kenjaku turned around and began to look forward.

  It was barely noticeable to Chiyomi, but she could hear the faint note of nostalgia mixed with a hint of sadness. She was tempted to comment on it but decided against it soon after. She didn’t care about Kenjaku’s past, no matter what it might be. Nothing would change the way she felt about him, the way she hated him. It just so happened that he held the key to a much greater objective she was working towards. They could go back to trying to kill one another after the door was unlocked.

  Jumping down from the cursed spirit the two had spent the better part of two days mounting, Chiyomi couldn’t help but feel relieved at being on solid ground again.

  “So then, Ryo… Sukuna and the person who can heal my arm are here?”

  “Sukuna should be; Uruame is unlikely. They had to travel quite a distance to get to the colony where your brother is. That works in our favor, however; you’ll have to get Uruame to heal your arm on your own though.”

  “Why?”

  “Uruame hates me and won’t heal you if I ask,” Kenjaku shrugged as he explained the simplicity of the situation.

  “That so… I think we’ll get along swimmingly then.”

  “I’d imagine you two would.”

  Chiyomi began to descend the staircase in front of her after Kenjaku agreed with her assessment. Only to be stopped as soon as she began with a “wait.”

  “There are two rules I would like to add to the Culling game; I’d like you to add them given your point total.” Kenjaku smiled his annoying smile as he made the request, making Chiyomi want to do anything but add the rules.

  “Well?” Chiyomi raised an eyebrow after he went silent for a dozen or so seconds.

  “The first rule would be preventing the addition of new players to the culling game. The second will be specifying that the game will end after all players except Sugero Geto, Megumi Fushiguro, and you die.”

  ———Huh?

  “Huh?”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Why would you bother adding such pointless rules? Besides, they contradict the rule preventing long-lasting changes to the game, so I can’t add them anyway.” Chiyomi couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as she expressed her confusion over both the why and how of this strange demand.

  “The contradiction with the rule preventing long-lasting changes to the game won’t be an issue. The culling game is only possible because of the four barriers surrounding Japan that Tengen maintains; since I’m in control of them, I can dispel the barriers at any time. Thus a glitch can be made in Kogane’s decision-making, since it will take the route that preserves the culling game the longest.”

  “Alright, that makes… enough sense, but why do you want to add those rules anyway? They seem pointless.”

  “Ah, well, I have two reasons. Though in essence one because the first ties back to the second,” Kenjaku held up his hand and raised his point and ring fingers into the air.

  “Speak them then.”

  “No need to be in such a rush. The first reason is to maintain the fib I told Uruame and Sukuna about when the merger will occur. The second is to make the sorcerers of Jujutsu High believe in the same fib.”

  “You told them the merger begins when the game ends?”

  “Indeed. Did you think I would be foolish enough to tell Sukuna the truth?” Kenjaku leaned in with a smile as he asked.

  “No… I suppose that would be rather stupid,” Admitting to the logic that Sukuna wouldn’t be told the real method, Chiyomi let out a sigh.

  After adding the two rules to the game, the pair began to walk down the stairs in front of them. Descending into what one might call their ‘lair’ though Chiyomi cringed as she used the term.

  The staircase was not overly long; after half a minute or so had passed, they had neared the bottom. Having gotten so close to the bottom, Chiyomi could hear sounds coming from inside the place—more accurately, a sound. One she had long since learned to conflate with him.

  As expected, after she finally did reach the bottom. Sukuna was there to greet them, though greet was the wrong word. It seemed he simply was there by sheer coincidence. Enjoying the masses of flesh that were sprawled before him on a block of ice. She would never understand why he took such pleasure in consuming human flesh.

  The king of curses looked up from his meal as he gave them both a side-eye. His eyes widened ever so slightly as he took another bite. Neither she nor Kenjaku moved under his gaze; instead, they both just stood there motionlessly. He took note of their actions and temporarily ceased his consumption in order to speak.

  “If you want some, go get your own. I’m not fond of sharing.”

  “No, thank you. We're not interested, Sukuna. Is Uruame here?”

  “No, they're yet to return. What do you need from them anyway? I find it hard to believe they’ll cooperate with whatever request you’ll make,” Sukuna’s voice remained level as he expressed his skepticism in Kenjaku’s intentions.

  “It’s not me who’s in need. I may have severed Chiyomi’s arm in a little scuffle we had. Their reverse-cursed technique is needed to repair the injury.”

  “Oh… Didn’t I kill you?” Tilting his head, Sukuna looked towards Chiyomi with confusion. Being the focus of his attention caused Chiyomi to shuffle back a slight step before speaking.

  “No, I was already a cursed object before you killed everyone that day,” Chiyomi explained her survival in a sheepish voice, half believing he’d finish what was started. Thankfully he didn’t seem to care, muttering, “I see,” before walking away.

  Chiyomi let out a sigh of relief after he vanished down one of the corridors. Glancing at Kenjaku soon after.

  “So then… what now?”

  “Simple, really. We wait.” Kenjaku turned and began to travel down his own corridor.

  “For?”

  “For our enemies to unleash their trump card. It won’t be long now; the board is about to flip on its head. Ah… how intriguing,” Declaring so with a slight smile. The devil couldn’t help but look towards the oncoming storm with joy.