Abandoned | Jujutsu Kaisen

Chapter 6

I start asking him questions, "How's your school? Did you eat? Why didn't you visit in so long?" But there are no answers. Then I realize that Hakuto is slumping on me.

"Hakuto?" I ask as I look up at him. I gasp in shock and take a step back in surprise. Hakuto had a pale face, as if all the life has been drained out of him, and his eyes were closed. As I step back, he falls to the ground with a soft thud. His side is bleeding, and there is no mistake that he is dead.

"Why aren't you in his room?!" The door opens and Natsuki shouts as she sees me. Then she shrieks.

"Sh- she killed Hakuto!!" Natsuki cried, anger in her eyes. Confused myself, words don't come out of me.

'It wasn't me. I didn't do this,' I open my mouth to talk but all that comes out is silence.

"Y- You!!" Dad is outraged. He is sure I killed him. I don't blame him for the thought, though. I have Hakuto's blood on my hands, and there was no one else in the house. Even I would have thought I killed him. Except, I didn't.

"Aaaaughhhh!!" Mom rushes at me, her handbag swinging dangerously close to my face. I take small steps backward, scared to say anything. Dad grabs me from the back and pins me to the ground. He starts punching me, and I feel blood trickle out of my nose. I cover my head and curl up into a ball as Dad continues punching and slapping me. Mom and Natsuki joins in, and now I have two more people kicking my back and legs as if I were a sandbag.

"I- it wasn't.. me," I finally manage to say. But they don't hear me, too raged and shocked. Just when I thought I could see Death himself, the beating stops, and I'm left on the floor, helpless. I summon all the energy left in me and drag myself to Hakuto's room. I close the door and I hear the weeping and sobbing begin from the living room. I pull the blanket over my body and cry silently, not wanting to be heard.

The next morning, I feel someone else's presence in the room with me. I open my eyes, expecting Dad with his belt again. But it's not him. It's the old man. I open my mouth to scream, but he blocks my mouth.

"Shut up, they'll hear you," He says. I nod, and he lets go.

"You! Frickin old man, what, how are you here?" I ask, taking a step back, giving him an unwelcoming stare.

"Itami's the name," He says, "I've been here the whole time. Now, thank me," 

"What?" I'm confused. Thank him for what? For ditching me in the mountains?

"I made you happy," He says confidently, "I killed him for you," It takes me a few seconds to comprehend what he just said. He. This old man. Itami. He killed Hakuto? Anger surges through me, and I'm ready to kill him myself. Before I can do that though, his body starts changing, getting further and further away from a human's body. He now looks like a floating eyeball.

"Now you can be happy," He gives me a look, as if he is proud of himself.

"I'm. Not. Happy," I say. How could I be? And how is he a floating eyeball?

"You're... not?" He looks surprised, "Oh...!"

"Ah, I get it. Do I have to kill more?" He asks, "Then you'll be happy, right?" Before I can say anything, he is talking again.

"So who do I kill next? Your mom? or your dad? or... both?"

(603 words)

Yup, the floating eyeball in the cover is Itami. And no, he is not a sidekick.