Toilet-bound Hanako-san

Ch. 13 - A Leap of Faith

"Well that's interesting," Satoru pondered as the three of you gathered in the faculty room Friday morning. You and Suguru went through all of the information Tengen had told you, as well as the conclusion of Suguru being Sengoku reincarnate -- as crazy as that sounded. "So we need to find Kenjaku," he sighed, "not an easy thing to do. Kenjaku usually shows up when they want to."

"But you have the six eyes!" You pointed at Satoru eagerly. At this point, you were trying to convince him to help you with your endeavors.

"So? We find Kenjaku and then basically have to just hope that you don't die when we rip their stitches out?" Satoru snorted. "Yeah, right." You could almost hear how he rolled his eyes from behind the blindfold.

"Please, Satoru," Suguru insisted, hands balled into fists as he stood before his friend, "if we don't do this and Kenjaku decides to abandon her original body, she could randomly drop dead."

Satoru, who was lounging in his desk chair with his feet up, rolled his head over to his best friend. "Suguru, why are all of your issues always so life and death? Why can't it ever be easy with you?"

"So you'll do it, then?" You asked hopefully, hands pressed together in prayer.

Satoru stared at you through his black blindfold, a flat expression on his face before it grew into a smile. "I can't say no to my best friend. Or my best friend's lover."

"Thank you!" You nearly squealed, leaping toward Satoru and wrapping your arms around his neck in a big hug. Satoru fell forward in his chair to balance himself as soon as you lunged.

"Thanks, Satoru," Suguru responded at the same time, staying behind with his hands relaxed in the pockets of his pants.

"Eh, don't mention it," Satoru chuckled as he stood up. "I'll let you know when I find something. In the meantime, you two relax. You need it after this week."

Satoru then excused himself, leaving you and Suguru alone for the weekend. Suguru turned his attention toward you with a gentle smile which you returned.

"So, do you have any ideas of what you'd like to do this weekend?" He asked.

You thought for a moment, looking up toward the ceiling in thought. "Well...Bon is coming up and I've been thinking since I've come back how it would be nice to visit the cemetery."

Suguru chuckled. "Well, if you're here and I'm here, whose spirit exactly are we welcoming back to the human world?"

You scrunched up your face to hide your smile and playfully shoved his shoulder, causing him to lose balance while still chuckling at you.

"Out of respect, you idiot!" You blushed.

"No, no," Suguru took back his words, "it sounds nice, especially before the crowds come next week."

The cemetery was just how you remembered it, each stone carefully carved and surrounded by beautiful foliage. You and Suguru went down a few aisles just to have a nice stroll before finally settling in front of your family's grave.
Behind it were the otoba to which you found the one with your name. You carefully ran your fingers along the wood with tears in your eyes. It was surreal to see. Meanwhile, you began to feel an overwhelming sensation taking over your nerves, causing the hair on your arms to stand on end; you had begun to notice it the minute you set foot in the cemetery.

As soon as Suguru saw your facial expression change, he gently placed a hand on your shoulder. You looked over at him, those tears welling over.

You gave a single pathetic giggle, "I'm dead but I'm still alive." It felt like such a weird thing to say, but it was completely true.

"Well...you're back from the dead," Suguru corrected, somehow hoping that would make you feel differently about the situation, something less negative. You gave him a pained look in return.

"Suguru," your voice shook, "I don't want to die." Suguru's brow furrowed, a look of a bit of horror on his face as you continued speaking. "I can feel them all, Suguru. All of the spirits..." You turned to look at him and gasped at his expression. "What?"

"You're...translucent again," he swallowed hard, regaining his composure. You immediately looked down at your hands in a panic, flipping them in disbelief. "Did you mean to do that?"

"No..." your heart that had begun to race had now began to fade.

"C'mon, we should get you away from here," Suguru began to guide what little physicality you had left away from your family grave.

"Well, what do we have here?" A sudden, eerily familiar voice lowly chuckled in the distance. The two of you snapped around to have a look at who was speaking.

"Guys! I found them!" Satoru made his sudden appearance, porting in front of you still slightly suspended in the air.

"It's...me..." you gasped as you felt the last of your physical form dissipate. Your feet lifted a few inches from the ground.

"Just the face I was hoping to see," the malicious you that stood several meters away began to walk closer. Upon closer inspection, you noticed very deep stitches carved into your former forehead -- the binding vow.

"Kenjaku!" Satoru shouted out, extending his arm and his fingers curled inward.

"Satoru, stop!" Suguru quickly grabbed his forearm before the powerful, purple aura could be released. It quickly flickered out. "We still don't know what could happen to Y/N!"

"I'm so interested," Kenjaku sneered in your direction, "it seems my hunches were entirely correct. If anyone's happy you've returned, it's certainly me."

"Shut up!" You shouted like a child being bullied on the playground, balling up your fists as you began to regain your form using corporealization. But it was no use, it was taking too much of your energy to do so. You weren't sure what was happening, whether it was your inability to focus under stress or something to do with your former body just a few meters away.

"Y/N, aren't you going to ask me why?" Kenjaku pouted, placing their hands on their hips -- technically your hips.

"Why?" You grit your teeth and stared at the evil figure in front of you. Satoru and Suguru stood idly by, prepared for any sudden movement from your adversary.

"I wanted to understand your soul," Kenjaku began simply with another sinister smile. "Your technique is incredibly precious yet so overlooked. Your family should have been grouped in with the three powerful families," they chuckled as if they were mocking you. "You're still here despite having your body stolen from you. No matter how many times you are destroyed, you're capable of returning. Through you, I've been able to discover that jujutsu does indeed transcend death."

They sighed as they finished their explanation and turned their attention to Suguru, still holding that uncanny smile that matched your own. "And Geto, if it isn't the living, breathing proof that reincarnation exists. My, my, you look just like he did all those years ago. Will you fatefully risk your life again this time? It was such a shame I wasn't able to end you right then and there with your precious love back then."

Suguru grit his teeth at Kenjaku's acknowledgement of him. "Y/N," Suguru began while keeping his eyes focused on the form in front of him, his voice low in a whisper. "It's up to you what we do. It's your body."

"And don't get me started on preservation!" Kenjaku chuckled louder than before, continuing on without a care in the world. "Cryogenics wasn't invented until the 60s, so it was a major pain to keep you perfectly preserved. A little discoloration at the fingertips," the held up your blackened fingertips and wiggled them, it looked almost as if they had frostbite, "but overall not bad."

You swallowed hard, your mind made up. "Kill them."

Suguru furrowed his brow even harder, extending his palms to summon a large, worm-like cursed spirit. It emerged from the ground, destroying a few of the gravestones around it as its large mouth swallowed Kenjaku whole. But there's no way it could be that easy.