A Broken, Once Supposed Fairytale

𓆩𐏑5𓆪

FW: Violence

Instead, the wall shattered. As she slammed her leg into the hard, impenetrable wall, it spread like a disease, cracking upon impact and then spreading throughout the entire wall, turning it into a pile of rubble. Dust rained down as if comets had just collided above her.

In her state of shock, Jiyuu forgot all about the golem. It was about to strike her from behind—

"STOP!"

Geto screamed, and the golem froze up at once. He waved his arm, and the golem vanished.

"Young lady! Are you alright?" fussed Kirai, who was rushing over.

"What just happened?" squeaked Jiyuu. "I–I destroyed the wall—"

"I know," muttered Kirai, brushing some dust off of Jiyuu's clothes. "Confirms my suspicions that it's related to your powers."

"What happened to nee-san?!" cried Yuuri, poking out from behind Kirai. "Is nee-san okay?"

"I'm fine, Yuuri," replied Jiyuu, reaching out to pat her head. She turned to Kirai. "How so?"

"It's another animal," she explained. "It's got good leg strength, so I'd say a horse or a rabbit."

"'Good'? I just wrecked the whole wall!"

"Well, that's true, but your cursed energy multiplies the strength of your attacks, so it's more than a hundred times stronger than an actual horse or rabbit."

"Well, okay, but what now? Are we still gonna continue—"

Out of nowhere, her head started spinning, and her body felt tired and weak. As her vision blurred, she raised her palm and rubbed her face, trying to wake herself so as not to fall asleep. Then, suddenly, her vision became queerly vivid, and her legs started cramping.

"Argh!" groaned Jiyuu, clutching her legs painfully. "Help—I'm getting cramps like mad..."

Just at that moment, Haru returned from fetching her water. She sprinted towards them and gasped.

"Oh no, Jiyuu-chan!" she cried. "What happened, sensei?"

"I'll explain later," replied Kirai quickly. "Right now, it looks like she's in a lot of pain, so we need to get her to Aori." She made a movement to carry Jiyuu, but Haru stopped her.

"Sensei, I'll carry her," she said firmly. Then, twirling and twisting her arms as if dancing the Kagura, she swiftly wove a hammock out of thread made from cursed energy. Kirai carried Jiyuu towards the hammock and placed her comfortably inside. Haru shifted the floating hammock behind her.

"Lead the way, sensei," said Haru.

Kirai walked in front of them, like the leader of a bizarre cult. Jiyuu was seated slouchily in the hammock as Haru manipulated it so that it floated behind her. Geto was marching behind the hammock.

"Sorry for causing you all so much trouble," said Jiyuu apologetically. "I–ow!"

She squeezed her calves as another wave of cramps hit her again.

"Nee-san!" squeaked Yuuri. She rushed to Jiyuu's side and began massaging her calves as she walked.

"It's fine, Jiyuu," reassured Geto from behind. "Don't overexert yourself. Anyway," he continued, shifting his attention to Kirai in front. Do you know why this is happening, sensei?"

"I'm not entirely sure," replied Kirai. "But it should be because she's awakened another part of her powers. I've noted that every time this happens, there's always a bad drawback. Last time, her eye went all mad and she wrecked a whole lot of stuff, so be thankful it's just cramps this time..." she sighed.

There was a moment of silence until Kirai turned at a corner and almost crashed into Gojo.

"Woah there, kid," said Kirai, placing her palm in front of his face.

"Sorry," muttered Gojo irritably. "Don't mind my tone; I'm just pissed. Where are you going?"

Kirai made a smart decision not to question the reason he was pissed. "We're just looking for Aori," she replied.

"Why're you looking for my mother?" Gojo pressed.

Kirai jabbed her thumb behind her, and Gojo averted his attention to the hammock where Jiyuu was. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Always getting into nice business, eh, chicken?" he sneered.

"Nee-san isn't a chicken," said Yuuri, looking innocently stumped.

"Shut the duck up," snapped Jiyuu, glaring nastily at him. "It's not my fault I happen to have powers that get me into so much 'business', alright?"

Gojo scoffed. "Whatever," he yawned. "Mind if I tag along?"

"No—"

"Yes, sure!" said Haru. It nearly sounded like a squeal. Jiyuu almost kicked the hammock in annoyance, but not before another round of cramps hit her.

"Oh no!" wailed Yuuri.

"It's being triggered by him..." groaned Jiyuu.

"What's wrong with her?" Gojo asked Geto.

"Dunno, sensei says it's cause she's awakened another part of her powers," replied Geto lightly.

"Heh. Poor chicken," he sighed mockingly, shaking his head.

"Please just shut up," snarled Jiyuu.

"Yeah, nee-san isn't a chicken," huffed Yuuri.

"Stop bickering, monkeys," called Kirai. "Also, I see Aori already."

The distant figure of Aori Gojo was seen at the end of the hallway. She was talking to the head of the Zen'in Clan, Naobito.

As they slowly neared them, they could faintly hear their conversation.

"Dear madame, I don't see any problem with it..."

"I'm sorry, Zen'in, but I'm afraid I cannot marry my son to this Sumiko girl of yours."

"Your husband said the same thing. Please open your eyes, madame. Don't be narrow-minded like him and see the benefits of this marriage. Don't do everything just following your son's wants—"

"I am very sorry, sir, but it seems you are the narrow-minded one here. Do you not know how bad the reputation of the Zen'in Clan is? I am not so stupid as to follow all of my son's wishes. Do you think I do not know how your clan treats women? My son may not be desirably chivalrous, but I do not wish for him to become Naoya. These are my wishes, Zen'in. Mine."

Naobito's face instantly flushed an ugly, blotchy red, turning his cheeks into a bad mixture of yoghurt and strawberry jam. He raised his hand, preparing to land a hit on her—

"Stop," said Gojo coldly.

They all gasped, and Jiyuu had to do a double take. Gojo, who was supposed to be behind her, had suddenly appeared between Naobito and Aori. He was raising two fingers, and Naobito's arm was frozen mid-air. A bead of sweat trailed down the man's temple.

"Don't lay a finger on my mother, bastard," he seethed, staring predator-like at Naobito with his piercing, ethereal, icy blue eyes.

Naobito shuddered, cold sweat tracks glistening on his neck. Gojo released his invisible hold on him, and he immediately withdrew his arm. He made a brave attempt to intimidate Gojo by improving his stance, but to no avail. He simply looked even more like a dumb, frightened goose.

"You—you—" he stammered loudly. "This is none of your business—"

"I'm sorry, but I'm sure I was mentioned in that conversation," said Gojo, cutting him off. He turned his back to Naobito to face his mother.

"That was rash, Satoru," said Aori, shaking her head.

Gojo didn't notice Naobito about to strike him from behind.

"Hey!" shouted Kirai. She was running towards Naobito to stop him, but she wouldn't make it.

"OW!" screamed Naobito, clutching his eye. Kirai halted in her steps and turned around.

Jiyuu, who was getting more and more annoyed by Naobito, had flicked a drop of her venom at him. And amazingly, it landed right in his eye. Bullseye.

Naobito sprinted away with his tail between his legs.

"I really hope that lasts for you," Jiyuu shouted after him.

"That was awful, Jiyuu!" gasped Haru incredulously. "Why did you do that?"

"That was awesome!" said Kirai. "Good job, young lady!"

"You're a horrible influence as always, Yamazu," laughed Aori.

Gojo scorned. "I could've handled that myself, idiot chicken."

"Nee-san isn't a chicken!"

"Yeah, right," said Jiyuu, rolling her eyes. "Also, don't mind him calling me a chicken, Yuuri. If I'm a chicken, he's a rooster."

"What?!" quipped Gojo. "I am absolutely not a roos—"

"Hush, Satoru. Why are you all here?" Aori asked.

"Oh, yeah," said Geto. "Jiyuu's getting leg cramps."

"Could you help us stop them?" pleaded Kirai.

"Sure. Let me see," replied Aori.

Jiyuu shifted her position in the hammock so that her legs draped down. Aori carefully rubbed her fingers in a few places. After her finger landed on a particular place, she would furrow her eyebrows and move on to another area until, finally, her index finger landed on the side of her left calf.

"Your muscles are off," muttered Aori. "They aren't growing properly."

"What does that mean?" asked Kirai concernedly.

Aori looked a little grim. "After I place the reverse cursed technique on her, the cramps will stop for a while, but please do not overexert her. Training a little by little and slowly raising the difficulty is way better than pressuring intense training on her all at once."

"I see," replied Kirai.

Aori turned back to Jiyuu. A motherly smile danced on her lips, but Jiyuu couldn't shake off a feeling that something was off about that smile.

"Dear, I will make you pass out for a few minutes," said Aori. "In that time, I will place the reverse cursed technique on you. After you wake up, you will feel much better, and your cramps will stop as well. However, remember my words to not overexert yourself, okay?"

Jiyuu nodded. Aori raised her hand to her forehead and gave it a light flick. That light flick made Jiyuu feel lightheaded and tired, so she fell back onto the hammock, which seemed, oddly, much softer and more comfortable at that moment, and passed out.