ayame's flower realm . JUJUTSU KAISEN

eighteen . breeeaaaak!

"what are these... square things?"

"...it's my technique. my newest addition. freesias."

hakari crossed his arms and leaned on ayame's chair. his eyes observed the triplet of flowers that were floating around the room - in other words, ayame's technique. they reminded him of... strangely, little puppies playing around except they're flying."newest? where'd they come from?"

"..." ayame held out a hand, and one of the flowers landed on it, 'standing' with one of the sticks that were sticking out of its body. "...dunno. they just... appeared, i guess..."

hakari threw a glance at ayame, though he kept his mouth shut from asking anymore questions. ayame's brown eyes were looking at the flower spirit in front of her, with something unexplainable gleaming in her eyes.

--

"you're kidding me! but the curtain looks fine?!" nitta akari's voice shot through the speakers of ayame's phone. "let me try - huh?! i can't pass through..."

"i've been telling you, nitta-san... the thing's like a brick wall. except i can't break it down..."

"how did this even happen? i'm sure i did the curtain the same as always..."

'it's because there's someone else,' was what ayame wanted to say but akari would definitely freak out, and she didn't want that. who knows what nitta might do to ensure her safety - she definitely didn't want gojou to come and save her, because there was a huge chance he wouldn't let her live this down.

instead,"...let's just wait it out. i don't mind."

"a-are you sure, ohashi-chan? look, i'll try to figure it out, okay? please bare with me!"

"wait, first please calm down - "

click.

ayame watched as her phone screen turned black, showing her reflection.

damn, she looked like shxt. as always.

...well, whatever. ayame could care less about her appearance right now. the only thing she needed to think about was to find a way to get out of the curtain. thankfully, she already had a rough idea.

the curtain had two evident cursed energy mixed into them. nitta's and an unknown energy.

if she could track down the unknown's source, then,

"b - bbbbreaaak."

pitter, patter.

"brreak everyth - you. iiii will brreak me."

slowly turning around, the corner of ayame's mouth tugged upwards. sweat rolled down from her forehead, mixing with the dust and blood on her cheeks. she narrowed her eyes.

'guess it came to me instead.'

in front of her was what seemed to be a blue - dark blue with purple spots...? - ape, standing with its mouth hanging open, saliva dripping from it. the whole body was deformed, from fingers that were curled outwards, to dark bumps that looked bruises. its head...

its head seemed bigger than its torso. there weren't any eyes visible, as the flesh had become swollen to the point of looking like its brain was outside. white veins ran through its whole body.

"bbbbreeeeaaaak...!"

yes, yes. that was the source, alright. the energy matched with the one in the curtain. ayame lowered herself into a proper battle stance, spreading her feet apart and planted them into the ground.