Split Soul | InuOkko

Chapter 1

The moonlight signified it was time. Yuta pulled his cased swords on his back, before taking a moment to collect his thoughts. It was the same thing every time he was given an assignment. Location, name, grade. The details changed, but what was asked of him stayed the same. He was to take the soul of a fellow jujutsu sorcerer.

He looked down at the small piece of paper with directions, studying the interior layout of the building he would be sneaking into. After memorizing the page, he crumpled it up into a ball and slid the patio door open. He stepped out into the moist summer air, squatting next to a small tin bucket.

He set fire to the directions, watching the flame blaze and dance; casting shadows in the dead of night. He hovered his hand over the flame, as if to check that he could still feel pain. The intense heat only caressed his skin, the numbness of his soul lingered on his fingertips. He stood and took a deep breath before sliding the patio door shut.

With an empty expression, he hopped over the railing down to the first floor of the complex. Silently, he made his way towards the car awaiting him. Headlights turned onto the street before him, and he slipped into the shadows to avoid prying eyes.

Yuta had learned how to blend in with the darkness, how to disappear. Once he reached the car and slipped inside unnoticed, it sped off towards the destination. The details of the assignment played like a slideshow in his mind, but something caught his attention. There was a minor detail that was different from the others, the age of the sorcerer was the youngest yet. He was a few years younger than Yuta himself.

Yuta's once vibrant blue eyes had turned stone gray. Over the years he had become empty, a vessel used to do someone else's bidding. Each name he marked off the list left a scar behind. A constant reminder that he had strayed so far from the path he wished to lead in life, but he carried a small piece of hope with him, Rika.

A haunting reminder of his dark past, he clung to her for support. The car came to an abrupt halt, and the driver held up two fingers. Yuta sighed and reached for his case, securing it to his back as he exited the car.

Yuta watched from the bushes as the car sped away, leaving him stranded. Kill or be killed, the harsh words from Geto played on repeat in his mind. He shook his head and clutched the strap to his case as he ran towards the two-story apartment building.

He scaled the wall to the second story, pausing to quietly open the window. As old as the complex was, he was surprised the window didn't make a sound. Once inside, he was light on his feet as he maneuvered through the silent apartment.

He reached the door, placing his hand gently on the old wood to push it open. He revealed a sleeping young man, his dusty rose hair sticking out from the dark green blanket he was wrapped up in. Yuta steadied his hands before he reached for his katana, holding the crimson tsuka tightly in his hand.

He imbued Rika's cursed energy into the blade, then closed his eyes for a moment to focus. He could hear the quiet breaths of his victim, Yuji Itadori. He matched his breathing, slowing his own heart rate.

Yuta opened his eyes, removing his wakizashi from the case. He held the imbued blade close to his victim, and the second blade just behind his back. He took a step forward, driving the first blade across Yuji's throat. He heard him gasp for air as Rikas curse took effect, paralyzing Yuji in place. He drove the second blade into his heart, hoping he was quick enough to put an end to any suffering he might have caused.

Yuta stood over him, watching as the light left his eyes. He withdrew his blade and cleaned the blood from both before storing them back in the case. Having completed his job, he opened the window above the bed and squatted in the frame, taking a moment to compose himself before he jumped down to the first floor.

Once he made it to the pickup location, he looked back on the open window. The blood-stained curtains had slipped outside of the room, ominously blowing in the wind.

/ / /

As the car pulled up at his apartment, he noticed a card on the seat next to him. He carefully put it on the inside of his jacket and exited the car. He scaled the two-story building to his patio once more, before he slipped inside.

Yuta paused in the kitchen, setting the card down on the counter. He returned to the patio where he sat down, letting his legs dangle between the railing. In the dead of the night, he finally let his emotions surface.

He lit a cigarette, exhaling his heartache into the cold autumn wind. Yuji's honey eyes were embedded in his mind, his fearful dying gaze burned into his memory.

Yuta felt a single tear escape his eye, something he hadn't experienced in a while. He was, crying? This time was different, in so many ways than his previous assignments.

Despite his efforts, Yuta saw no end in sight to when his job would be finished. For every name he marked off the list, it seemed a new one appeared. Geto was merciless, hadn't he suffered enough?

Yuta took a long drag from his cigarette, looking up to the moon. Its radiance illuminated his tears that began to shed from his tired eyes. After so long of being employed by such a man, his soul was still intact. The moonlight would guide him to his freedom, but did he deserve it after what he had done?

Fearing the inevitable of his own demise and sins, he bowed his head in shame. Nights had turned to days; days had turned into years.

Yuta began his journey with Geto when his parents had died. Unknowing to how they passed, Yuta had been taken in by Geto. He accepted his hospitality without batting an eye to his ulterior motives that surfaced after he grew older.

Yuta had Rika growing up, his first love and his last in his mind. They did everything together, until Yuta was sent off to learn the ways of a samurai.

Yuta had no intentions of learning to fight and tried to decline the offer to train with the battle master Sukuna. Instead of listening to his desperate pleas, Geto sent him off on the first flight he could book.

Upon meeting Sukuna, Yuta changed his tune. With high expectations that his master would be as ruthless as his guardian, he was humbled by the genuine attention he was given.

With the training Yuta received from Sukuna before being shipped back, he had a greater understanding for playing his part in the role he had been given. Even if it wasn't something he fully understood, he clung onto the hopes of one day being able to choose his own path in life.

"Yuta?" Rika's voice quietly whispered, something only he could hear.

"I'm okay." Yuta replied, smoke escaping his lips. It floated into the air, disappearing before his eyes. He looked down at the ring on his finger, seeing the gemstone illuminate then fade; a signal that she too would share his pain.