LADY AOKI || JUJUTSU KAISEN

十六

"Sensei! You brought back a cursed spirit!"

A boy exclaimed excitedly, his eyes wide with wariness and wonder. The two stood inside a dimly lit room blanketed with seals, similar to the one he'd been confined within when Gojo Satoru first told him of his inevitable execution. He was tall and well-built, with a face that smiled easily and a head of spiky pink hair. Although it was just the three of them, the walls were close and the small room felt claustrophobic with bodies, shadows looked on broodingly as tiny tongues of flame danced upon their candles.

"I'm curious about something." Gojo sat in the corner, long legs splayed out before him as he leaned forward onto his elbows. "Can Sukuna sense her?"

Anzu lay chained to the floor, elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles wrapped tightly in seals. Her eyes lay shut, but every once in a while her body would convulse and a pool of violet blood would trickle from her lips, hot and acidic. She had lain this way for weeks under Gojo and Ieri Shoko's careful monitoring, unspeaking and devoid of life.

"Which one?" A deeper male's voice echoed through the room, low and wry. A mouth had appeared on the boy's cheek, grinning with delicious malcontent, and for a moment the slits beneath his eyes fluttered.

Gojo smirked. "Which one do you think?"

"Ryomen Sukuna." Anzu's lips suddenly moved, though her eyes remained shut. Her voice was more mature, her tone richer, more echoey, as though it resonated from the depths of her chest, a voice belonging to a far older, ancient entity.

"Yuji, back away please." Gojo quickly rose to his feet, and the boy darted out of the way.

"You sound familiar." Sukuna chuckled darkly, so curious to hear more from this...woman. His tone took a twist, suggesting darker intimacy. "You feel familiar."

"A thousand years can do plenty for one's complexion." Anzu replied curtly, she rolled onto her back, the seals binding her limbs began to pull taught. "Pity you weren't able to maintain yours."

"Sensei this is creepy, they're acting like those old ladies who sit at the park and judge people." Yuji squirmed, but Gojo's stance remained passive, casual, and curious.

"Shut up you stupid boy." Sukuna sneered, but Anzu chuckled. "I like this one, he has cheek."

"Lady, how is she?" Gojo ignored Yuji trying to squash Sukuna away and instead crouched down by the curse's body. "Is she alive?"

"Alive enough. Anzu is a tough little thing." She cooed. "I'm rather disappointed she didn't put up more of a fight against your student there though. I personally could've taken him easily."

A loud tearing noise followed soon after her words, Anzu ripping through her bonds as her body split into two. A cursed spirit rose from her flesh, skin and tendon connected them in flexible webs. One was a true cursed spirit, beautiful but grotesque, the other a girl, her features soft and feminine, eyes shut as she slept deeply.

"Hey stop looking! That's a little girl!" Yuji slapped his face, forcing the second pair of eyes to shut.

"Sukuna's vessel." The cursed woman dipped her head to Yuji respectively and placed a protective hand on Anzu's bare chest, razor sharp talons careful to not break the girl's tender skin. Her body consisted of branches, white flesh, and bare bone that gleamed eerily beneath the candlelight.

"In a sense, she's a bit like you and your situation." Gojo sauntered over to the corner where Shoko had laid a spare white lab coat, and tossed it towards Anzu to cover her nakedness.