𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 • 𝖩𝗎𝗃𝗎𝗍𝗌𝗎 𝗄𝖺𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗇

𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅

I was born into the world of jujutsu sorcerers-a place where strength is measured by cursed energy, where power defines your worth. My older brother, Suguru Geto, was a rising star in Jujutsu High, the kind of sorcerer everyone admired. He was kind, protective, and held the belief that sorcerers were meant to protect the weak. Our parents weren't sorcerers, but they understood the nature of our world. Suguru always made it clear that even without cursed energy, they were still our family. That's what I believed, too.

Growing up, even tho I was much younger, I was inseparable from Suguru and his friends-Satoru Gojo, Shoko Ieiri, Kento Nanami, and Yu Haibara. Gojo, with his ridiculous arrogance and teasing demeanor, was like an older brother I didn't ask for but somehow needed. Shoko was the steady presence in the group, her sharp wit and cool demeanor a constant. And Haibara, sweet Haibara, was the first one to ever make me laugh when I felt the weight of our world on my shoulders. Then there was Nanami, i wasn't as close to him as the others but he was a nice quiet presence to be around when everything was loud.

But then, things began to change, a failed mission. Suguru started to question everything-the lives he saved, the jujutsu society, the people who couldn't even see the curses he fought. It all started around that failed mission where Riko Amanai was killed. Gojo and Suguru were supposed to protect her, to ensure that she became a vessel for Tengen-sama. But when that didn't go their way, when Gojo couldn't protect her, I saw the shift in Suguru begin. He was angry, frustrated with the jujutsu world, and it only worsened after that.

He still smiled when he was with me, but I could see the cracks forming. I would pull him aside after a mission, offering to go out with him for food or a sweet treat-anything to make him feel better. But he'd just shake his head, saying he was tired, too exhausted to go out. I didn't realize at the time that he was slipping away from me, slipping away from all of us.

The day Suguru snapped is burned into my memory.

I was fourteen, just beginning to understand the harsh reality of what it meant to be a jujutsu sorcerer. I knew I had cursed energy somewhere deepdown, but it was undetectable, almost nonexistent, and I hadn't learned to use it yet nor i ever wanted to, i liked my school and my day to day life. Suguru never pressured me, never made me feel like I was less for it. But then, everything changed.

I was at school, like any normal day. My life had been a delicate balance-straddling the line between the normal world and the sorcerer world. I thought I could live in both. But when Suguru came to visit me that day, I could feel the shift in the air. He was different-colder, distant, with a hollow look in his eyes.

"Ayame." he said, his voice low and emotionless. "You're too young for me to know. You don't even show signs that you have cursed energy, but I can't deem you useless, yet."

His words were like a slap in the face. I stared at him, my heart pounding, tears welling in my eyes. "What are you talking about, Suguru? I thought... I thought you didn't care if I had cursed energy. You always said-"

He cut me off, his gaze hardening. "Things have changed. I've changed. This world... it's not what you think. People without cursed energy are nothing but cattle. We shouldn't be protecting them."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What are you saying? What happened to you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, broken. I ran after him, grabbing his arm, my voice cracking with emotion. "I thought you loved me for who I am, that you'd protect me with your life, isn't that what you always said? You're all I ever had, you're supposed to be the older brother that will be here no matter the circumstances, that I will always rely on."

He stopped for a moment, looking down at me with something that almost resembled regret and disgust. But then it was gone, replaced by cold indifference. "Love won't change anything, Ayame. You'll understand one day, well depending on how you turn out."