The Priestesses' Voice | a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction

10

Eishu Juvenile Detention Centre, Tokyo, 2018

Fushiguro froze in his spot as a new cursed energy began to roll over his shoulders. Noriko's eyes glowed a darkened red as she brought her gaze lazily from Sukuna towards him. A cursed spirit? He couldn't be sure, but whatever it was no longer had the signature static energy of Noriko but a cool, weighted presence. 

'Ah, this going to awkward to explain,' Noriko mused as a heavy presence pressed against the back of her eyes. She gave Fushiguro a curt nod. 'How am I meant to explain this one?'

Her hand finally finished moving and a brilliant white light erupted from her calf - which had previously been turned away from the two. A secondary flesh emerged from her own as a figure stepped forward.

It was a man - donned in traditional robes from the Heian period - with black haired tied in a topknot and two extra sets of eyes, one above where the normal ones should be and below. They were pitch black, and Sukuna watched in interest as he glanced between him and Fushiguro - who was beginning to shake.

"Fushiguro," Noriko called, moving back from Sukuna to stand closer to his rank. The figure followed. "Stop shaking, you know what needs to be done."

Her icy tone cut through the boy and he clenched his fists shut - fighting to quell his fear.

Noriko leapt forward first, moving to the left as her creation drew right, outstretching his pale hands towards Sukuna's host. She turned in the air, balling her hands into fists and bringing a strike to Sukuna's shoulder (she was aiming for some kind of pressure point that might hopefully stunt him). As she did so, Tuschigumo* (the yokai she'd brought into existence) began to shoot forth a bout of energy from his hands as webs began to fire rapidly at the masculine form. Sukuna dodged both attacks, noting their almost perfect team work as they moved in unison to corner him between them.

A thick web wrapped around Sukuna's arm and he stared down at it, noting the dark energy that radiated of it. Noriko, seeing his attention was on the web, gave her creation a sharp look and he pulled the web sharply, dragging Sukuna momentarily off balance. She brought her leg down, aiming a kick onto his right shoulder - where she could sense a knot of cursed energy (meaning he was still healing).

Fushiguro blinked, spotting the clear opening at Sukuna's back. He didn't 100% understand the situation and it was his first time seeing Noriko's ability in action: whatever she had brought forth was stronger than his own Shikigami, but there was the similar dark energy that formed it. Ridding his mind of his questions, he steeled his nerves. He brought his hands into an interlocked bird; Nue burst from his shadow.

Dashing towards the opening, Fushiguro got ready to attack - eyeing the large avian creature flying above him - who, too, was looking for it's own attack. He dove forward, almost giving into his surprise as he landed a harsh kick on Sukuna's middle. Sukuna, however, didn't react, wordlessly swaying in between their attacks as his grin grew.

"I'll leave the heavy hitting to you, Fushiguro," Noriko called, feeling her body becoming heavy. Too much energy expended already, she sighed, glancing over to the yokai she'd summon. He'd last another thirty minutes - nothing longer. Shikishi's energy wouldn't last her long, especially with such a powerful creation out. She should've called Ijichi and asked him to collect Seinaruha for her, not like that coward was doing anything more helpful. Noriko supposed this was really just a wake up call: that she couldn't always just rely on having the upper hand of surprise and the time to plan in combat, or that her opponents would be slower than her.

She was disappointed in herself, and she was sure Shikishi was too.

 The fight was fluid: Noriko boxing him into a corner with the help of her ink-being as Fushiguro took any clean opportunity he could get - that was until Sukuna jumped backwards, putting space between the two as he stared down at his arm.