A LITTLE DEATH | Jujutsu Kaisen

16

The ride to her hometown, which she somewhat visited about a month ago, was nerve wrecking. Not only because the Sacred Sakura was endangered, but also that there was no longer an excuse to avoid any sort of contact with the clan. Sure Miko would be there, but knowing her, she would find any reason to bring attention to the female, just because she could and probably enjoyed people struggle. The last time she had contact with her own mother, was when Gojo randomly showed up at the estate, talked with some officials and then told her that she doesn't need to live there, and that was about 4 years ago. She did obviously visit Yae from time to time, to either update her on something or came across a riddle in her path. But visiting the estate or even saying a hello to anyone related to the clan, she avoided that at all cost during these past 4 years. 

"Miko. How is the Sakura?" the teen age girl spoke into her phone, waiting for a response. "The attacks have calmed down at the moment, the medics are trying to see if there is anything wrong with the tree" she finally heard the update from the older woman. "do you know what caused this sudden spike in curses? As far as I know, there is always at least 2 or 3, third grades wandering around the entire prefecture." she pondered. "we haven't figured that out yet, some are saying that the clan if falling apart, causing the tree to do the exact same.." the woman's voice echoed through the phone. "last time I checked, the clan is the same as ever." the girl sighed. "oh? you visited?" the woman chuckled. "I haven't. Gojo just sometimes has meetings with them." she replied dryly, making the pink haired woman to burst out laughing. "I'm almost at Fujikawaguchiko, will probably arrive in 20 minutes." Fuyuko spoke again, breaking the laughter of the older woman on the phone. "I'll call you if anything happens, but I think it's gonna remain quiet for a bit longer." Miko spoke calmly, staring down from the large mountain as if on the look out for any more attackers. "good to know. See you in a bit." just as she was about to hang up, the shrine Guji spoke up again. "Your mother is here by the way, so I hope that you were hoping to avoid her yet again." "It's a serious matter, I would actually be concerned if she wasn't there." she sighed, looking out of the window of the car, the shrine already in sight. and soon enough the sound of the call ending engulfed the car. "we have exactly 15 more minutes left." The manager spoke up, noting that the call has finished. "I thought that it would be 20... regardless, that's good. Is there any short cuts?" she pondered, turning her attention to Tanaka. "I should be the one asking you." he chuckled. "fair enough... I don't want to risk us getting lost, so I'll just stay quiet." the purple eyed girl joked, knowing that she wasn't allowed to leave the city as a child, so any past memories of this place would be utterly useless. 

"Raiden, someone's calling you." the male's voice broke the girl out of her trance, that she didn't even realize she was in. "huh? oh! I didn't realize." she mumbled, searching for her phone in her bag. "we have about 2 more minutes." he notified the female, which she quickly dismissed finally finding her phone. "Megumi...? hello?" she questioned, picking up her phone. "why weren't you answering?" his sigh could be heard from the other end of the phone. "sorry, didn't realize you were calling. Did something happen? or did you miss me too much?" she joked, her eyes scouring her surroundings. "no. Did you guys figure out why the curses are being attracted to the tree yet?" he questioned urgently. "not that I'm aware off... I'm only arriving in like a few minutes, I still need to get to the shrine as well. Why?" she asked, intrigued in the conversation. "I was telling Kugisaki and Itadori about the mission and Kugisaki thought of a reason." he spoke. "where you guys that bored that you started playing detective? anyways get to the point." the girl replied as the car came to a stop. Quickly leaving the car with her messenger bag she bid the manager goodbye before rushing towards the shrine. "continue." this time she spoke in urgency. "right. she- GIVE ME BACK THE PHONE DAMNIT!" "FUYUKO!!! After Fushiguro told us the story of the mission, I was thinking about it and though 'what could cause such large attraction to curses?' and only one thing came to mind. Sukuna's finger! Someone must have planted it somewhere in the tree! I don't know what exactly is the tree and what is going on, but from what Fushiguro said it's a large talisman and Sukuna's fingers are sometimes used as talismans!" the ginger girl rambled through the phone. The dark haired girl thought about it, chewing the idea in her brain. "you're right about the sukuna's fingers being used as talisman, but how many fingers would you need to plant to protect an entire prefecture? It does make sense, it could be that the tree holds a finger or a few more. I don't know the exact history of the tree, but I'll let someone know. Both theories work well. Thank you, Kugisaki." she thanked, now running faster towards the peak. "No problem girl! Stay safe!!!" and with that she hung up. "damn it! Yae's lessons about the history of this damn tree are actually needed!" she cursed her younger self for not paying attention to when Miko would steal her away to lecture her about the history about many things, the tree being included. Now more determined to getting to the top to the mountain, she ran as fast as she could. After a good 10 minutes of running up hill, she made it to the top. Shrine maidens greeting her quickly before rushing to do their own thing in a panic. "Kuzu, Where is Lady Yae?" she grabbed the closest priestess, questioning her immediately. "Last time I saw her, she was at the tree with Lady Ei." she spoke rushed before running off. "damn it, I was hoping she was busy with the commissionaire."  the girl cussed before rushing towards the center of the shrine. 

"Miko!" the dark haired girl called out to the Guji, who stood examining the tree's condition. "Fuyuko. I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up" she smiled. "Miko! I think I know why the curses are attacking the tree!" she huffed, finally stopping after what seemed to be a never ending marathon. "do tell." her interest was piqued with just that. "I'm gonna be honest, I didn't listen to your lectures back then so please pardon me. Sukuna's finger. It's either that it was planted eons ago with this tree as a talisman or it was planted recently, attracting curses." the Raiden girl managed to get out. "hm... you're onto something. I'll have to go with someone planting the finger recently though, as, as far as I know, even 5 fingers as a talisman, won't cover even half of the prefecture." she smiled. "It's hard to tell if it's actually inside with all the sorcerers and curses around... but it's possible" the pink haired woman hummed, looking over at the tree. "we just need to figure out where it was planted." "digging around everywhere would be pointless." an all to familiar voice spoke up, stealing the attention of both Miko and Fuyuko. "Fuyuko. Good to see that you didn't end up like your brother." a tall woman, with long dark purple hair and a mirrored face of Fuyuko came into view, slowly but confidently walking over to the two females. "Yeah, you can thank Gojo taking me away, for that" she stared, not moving a muscle. "are you blaming me for what happened?" the woman stated coldly. "I don't know, you figure it out." the teenage girl smiled sweetly. "you have gotten stronger. Though I can't help but notice that a part of your soul is missing." Raiden Ei, acknowledged, deciding to ignore the girl's previous remark. "I assume Miko helped you with that." she eyed the Guji who just smiled innocently. "ye it's crazy. There's this cursed spirit that can change the shape of your soul you know... the fight was crazy" the girl lied, inventing some sort of bull shit, knowing that her mother wouldn't believe a word she was saying. "right..." was all she said before turning to Miko. "glad that the family reunion went well, but we have more serious things to attend to" the pink haired Shrine Maiden smiled deviously.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!