𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑫𝑶𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃

MIKAZUKI'S EXPRESSION SHIFTED FROM HER PREVIOUSLY AMUSED STATE TO A COLD STARE, muscles tightening under her skin as she felt a wave of power rush to the surface, the gold around her turning into shimmering rain. For a moment, the stranger did nothing but watch, taking in the beauty of the image in front of him. In that moment, Mikazuki was the true heiress to the Kinzoku clan, the righteous fury behind those golden eyes of hers reminding him of a powerful sorceress who had lived long ago.

Kinzoku Mikazuki truly was her father's daughter – and just like Asahi, there was murder in her eyes.

"Who are you?" Mikazuki asked, her tone soft and sharp at the same time, the question leaving little to no room for refusal.

The air between the two quieted, but the man refused to relent. He had come here for one purpose only, and now that his goal stood in front of him in all her glory, there were only a handful of loose threads to pull from. The stranger tugged down on the hood, hiding his face inside of the shadows before staring back at Mikazuki with an amused smirk on his face.

"Fight me and find out, Kinzoku Mikazuki."

Mikazuki looked down, biting the tip of her tongue before the gold around her shifted again, melting the daggers she'd previously created into a long staff that fell directly into her open palm. The sorceress didn't take much longer to react, taking the staff and running towards the stranger while the mass of gold around her turned into sharp needled that flew towards him as well. The stranger dodged, watching as the needles crashed against the wall behind him before melting back and pouring down on him once again. Meanwhile, Mikazuki finally got close enough, pushing the staff into his chest and backing him against a wall.

The hooded man quickly pulled the nodachi in front of him, the blade of the sword clashing against the staff. The man huffed, pushing himself off the wall with enough force to shove Mikazuki back. The sorceress stumbled on the gravel but was quick to pull herself up again, blocking the blade just as it crashed down on her. Mikazuki kneeled on the ground, using the strength of her gold to thrust back and strike the man in the chest with the full force of her Eternity behind it. The golden staff clapped against his face, the sound of bones shattering nearly sickening even as Mikazuki got back up.

The man growled, touching his face as he felt the shattered cheekbone under his skin.

"You're quite skilled." The stranger confessed, spitting a mixture of saliva and blood on the ground before fixing his bone using a reversed Curse technique.

The bones snapped back together once again while Mikazuki simply groaned, her golden eyes filled with disdain as she watched him pull himself back together again using the Cursed energy he carried within. Just as she'd suspected, the man was clearly a sorcerer – and a skilled one at that. The stranger chuckled, turning to face Mikazuki as his expression darkened, already knowing that his next words would shatter whatever momentary peace had settled between the two.

"Good to know ten years in exile haven't changed that about you."

Mikazuki's expression fell the moment the words left his mouth, a cold sensation filling her veins as the reality set in. This man was no stranger – she'd known it since the first moment he laid eyes on her, that dark alleyway where she knew she was being followed. Still, even as her blood turned cold, Mikazuki was not ready to face the truth, which is why instead of continuing to listen to the ramblings of a crazy man, the sorceress pulled out the staff once again.

Good to know ten years in exile haven't changed that about you. Her mind kept on playing that single sentence, the horror of what it meant slowly creeping in, but Mikazuki continued to ignore it, unwilling to acknowledge what she'd known for a while now. The sorceress ran towards him, but the stranger was quick to move away, twisting the blade and watching as the staff collided with the sword once again. Mikazuki watched the man's face, the shadows hiding everything aside for those small beady purple eyes – the eyes of someone she used to know.