That Time When I Fell Down the Stairs and Became a Jujutsu Sorcerer

Chapter 61 - The Shibuya Incident - Part 1

The night had arrived. Shibuya was packed, because of course it was . It was Halloween! No matter how much we'd tried to push the idea to party elsewhere, or even start events in other cities, Shibuya would always be popular. Luckily we'd prepared for this, assuming that it would be impossible to cancel the Halloween party. Ijichi had done his best, but dollar signs affect non-sorcerers just as much as anyone else and to close down Shibuya on Halloween would cost Tokyo quite a bit.

Satoru had said his sweet goodbye, holding me right and saying reassuring things. He was so sure that nothing would go wrong. Absolutely positive that we'd planned for everything that could happen. He was such a sweet man, but his strength often blinded him from reality. It would only take seconds for anyone else to be killed and he hadn't considered it at all. One mistake. One missed sign. That's all it would take to lose someone.

Inside the white domain of the Rope Trick, I paced back and forth endlessly. I couldn't sit down, I couldn't relax, I couldn't focus. My mind was racing with horrible thoughts, dark and twisted ideas of what could go wrong that night. The nice armchair that Satoru had so kindly lifted and placed inside the space for me had gone completely unused, not once had I been able to rest. My back was sore, nearly eight months pregnant, and Yukie felt so heavy and yet I still couldn't even sit down.

I ran my hand over my belly absently as Yukie rolled over, “Sorry baby, Mama is just nervous.” I said out loud.

Satoru had made me swear I'd stay inside the rope trick, made me promise and I agreed. Damn, if I just didn't want to though. I was so tempted to just leave. Just to peek out and check and see. It was nearly over already, my watch said it was almost ten thirty. I was hoping that Suguru would have at least checked in with me, but I also didn't want to interrupt while he was busy or something. Instead I decided it was best just to drive myself insane with worry by myself.

But was it wrong? Something was wrong, wasn't it? It felt wrong. He would have checked on wouldn't he? He was so considerate. He knew I was up here losing my mind. And as if he'd read my mind, the space shivered a little as it began to open.

“S-sarah!” Suguru’s voice called hoarsly as the opening to the rope trick split on the floor, “H-hurry come here.”

The hair on my neck stood on end, immediately nervous at his tone of voice. I knelt down to see him and instantly my stomach dropped. Suguru was horrificly wounded, left leg completely twisted and his left arm gone below the bicep. One of his eyes was gouged by some kind of piercing wound and his mouth was seeping blood from some kind of internal injuries. He looked up at me with his one good eye and reached for my hand and pressing the end of the rope into it.

“Loop. Right now.” He choked out, “Before he f-finds you.”

“Who?” I asked, grasping onto his hand and slowly dropping down from the space, “What happened?”

“Sukun–”

I stared at what was left of Suguru, his head cut clean from his body. My lungs burned as I remembered to breathe, slowly turning to see Sukuna standing beside me. In one hand, he held the prison realm and the other Suguru's head.

He lifted it up and slid his finger along the scar on its forehead and I realized it wasn't Suguru’s head, but Kenjaku . That shouldn't have been possible! He'd made a binding vow with Kenjaku hadn't he? He wasn't supposed to hurt him in return for being made into a cursed object? Had he disobeyed it and just taken the punishment?

Smirking at me, Sukuna grasped my chin hard and yanked my head upwards to look at him, “There you are.” He rumbled, “I see you didn't take my advice and get that brat out as fast as you could. Now they'll die with you.”