Mirror Eyes & Bright Blue Skies | Jujutsu Kaisen

ⅩⅤⅠⅠⅠ. Roots pt. 2

Ikuko and Yuta crept quietly down the stairs, ears straining for the footsteps just ahead of them, their only hope of gaining access to where they needed to go. The further they descended, the thicker the roots grew until they were having to pick their steps carefully so as not to touch the cursed things. Ahead, they heard the footsteps pause. Ikuko stopped, held her breath, and hoped that the nurse hadn't changed his mind about going to the basement. To her relief, after a few seconds, she heard the nurse curse, specifically curse at the flight of stairs and the unreliable elevator, before continuing down.

Once he reached the door, they would have to act fast. They stopped halfway down the last flight of stairs and listened for the man to reach the bottom. Ikuko held up her hand and looked at Yuta. He nodded. As soon as the telltale beep of the door pinged up the stairwell, Yuta hopped silently up onto the handrail, perched there, looking down, and waited.

Click.

Creaaaaaak.

The hiss of shoes scraping against concrete, the rustle and scrape of cloth against the door.

Creaaaa-

Yuta launched himself down into the darkness, and Ikuko rushed to the rails after him, leaning over to watch his progress. She watched as the black-haired boy landed, held her breath as he launched himself toward the rapidly closing door.

Heart pounding, Ikuko hurried down the stairs.

"Caught it with centimeters to spare," Yuta whispered once she'd reached the bottom, a hesitant smile on his face. The smile dropped a moment later, "I still don't think we should do this. There are too many people here that we could be putting in danger."

Yuta had a point. It was dangerous. Yet, after a moment's hesitation, staring at the door, she shook her head, "There wasn't anyone near its main body when I checked. It seems largely sedentary, as thinly spread as it is, and that combined with the fact that, when I was connected to it, it felt... animalistic, not sentient or even analytical, I think that if we attack its main body, it should focus on us, only lash out at us."

"That's a lot of 'should's and 'seem's. Nishimura-san, I know you're scared for your mother, but we can't have uncertainties when it comes to people's lives."

Her mother...? Yes, that was part of it... but she'd noted the curse's non-aggression, and she trusted in Ieri-san's judgment and Gojo's promise; both had seen this curse and neither seemed to have thought it an immediate threat, as evidenced by the fact that the curse was still here.

"I know, I know," Ikuko said, thinking.

Why wouldn't she let it go? Leave it to professionals? She asked herself, but she already knew why. It's that same feeling one gets when they've just taken a specialized class, say, cooking. As soon as an opportunity arises for them to put their newfound knowledge to the test, a feeling of excitement and confidence overwhelms them, driving them to either take over the preparation of a meal or correct someone about cooking technique mid conversation. Weeks of training with Gojo had given her this confidence, this excitement, this need to prove herself. This curse had given her that opportunity.

Ikuko took a deep breath, then released it slowly, "If..." she started, hesitated, then continued, "If the situation gets out of control, I have a technique that will finish the curse instantly."

Putting as much steel behind her eyes as she could, she turned and met Yuta's gaze with her own. He had to believe her without question. If he questioned her about her technique, she knew she would tell him, and when she did, he would call the mission off immediately.