ayame's flower realm . JUJUTSU KAISEN

twenty four . discussion

why?

why did she feel that way, when the woman had introduced herself? shouldn't she be glad to meet another user of the blossoming technique?

was it disappointment?

was disappointment the weight that had began to hug onto her?

perhaps she was silently hoping - silently hoping that the sentence 'i am ohashi yuriko' would be said by the woman's mouth. silently hoping that she could meet her grandmother again.

ah, her cool grandmother. she was a precious character in her life, one that helped her through that god awful memory.

...

...'god awful memory'?

"the realm of flowers?" ayame repeated. "i know about the flower spirits, but the realm of the flowers?"

"let us call it the flower realm. it is where the flower spirits dwell."

"... okay. and you're - " ayame's voice cracked, and she cleared her throat," - you're... ohashi kyonoue."

"yes."

"you're - you're not ohashi yuriko?"

the woman paused for a split second. "no."

"are you sure you're not ohashi yuriko?"

"would i really mistake myself for someone else?" kyonoue snapped, her voice slightly rising. "i am kyonoue."

ayame flinched at the tone of her voice, before sinking into her seat, shrinking her body like a child who just got scolded. "right. sorry."

kyonoue sighed, adjusting her voice to a more gentler version. "are you satisfied now, ayame? we've got important matters at hand - namely the strange case of that curtain manipulation."

"well, yeah? what about it?" this time, ayame refused to look at kyonoue in the eyes, and was biting the inside of her cheek. kyonoue dismissed the sudden childish act before continuing,

"has anything like that happened before? anything in that of a similar manner?"

"not that i can think of."

"then think harder, ayame."

ayame groaned and straightened her back. right, this wasn't the time for her to act like a kid. maybe kyonoue had some answers, but she needed questions to go alongside it.

"during my time being a student in jujutsu high, nothing like that has happened before. this was the first time..."

"but what about the time before?"

"...the time before?"

"try to recount your past encounters with cursed spirits. tell me any that stands out."

past encounters...

"well..."

ayame rubbed her chin in deep thought. before jujutsu high, most of the time she would just bump into small spirits that didn't really put up a fight. she barely lifted a finger when she exorcised them. however,

"there was a time. the first time i met gojou-sensei." ayame said. "i didn't feel the cursed spirit's presence at all. but it was crazy strong. me and my friend, - riku - we got sucked into an old building where it was waiting with its domain. well, there was a voice calling out for help, but it was the spirit's doing."

"could you communicate with it at all?"

"yeah, we talked a bit. i don't really remember what we talked about though..."