Ultimate Mechamaru Cannon Curse

For example, there were rules.

Do not kill. Everyone was equally weak, so we should help one another. If someone fell, reach out and help them up.

Those hypocritical rules were laid down by gods or people of noble virtue... and even a thousand years later, there would still be do-gooders who dutifully obeyed them. Fools who expected nothing in return and made those rules their creed.

There was always someone like that by my side. Grinning stupidly, casually playing the part of someone who followed the rules.

And he was a nuisance who insisted on forcing that stuff down my throat, too. He would show me how he put it into practice, then turn around and ask, "Well?" With that strange stubbornness of his, saying things like, "Because I'm your big brother," he tried to mold me into his ideal of a kind human being.

I knew it was a pain, but I couldn't refuse him.

But... well, I didn't hate having a partner like that. In fact, his foolish, good-natured, meddlesome ways really had saved me.

"Maybe that's why."

Sometimes, I wanted to shatter that ideal of mine-the person who was always upright, always kind.

Yes. In a situation like this, for instance.

He was kind. His character deserved love and respect more than anyone else's, yet he was facing the threat of death. They spoke the same language, lived in the same world, and should even have had the same enemies... yet the people around him had aimed their blades, guns, and arrowheads at Yuji.

In stark contrast to my partner's kindness, the people around him were irredeemably cruel. Simply rejecting his outstretched hand would have been one thing. But they even showed disgust and wanted to kill Yuji.

"Yuji's special rules never work on enemies."

Then I could break those rules, too, couldn't I?

Hey.

"You esteemed people from Kyoto Jujutsu High?"

After shooting through everyone's dominant hand from up in the tree, I looked down at them.

Their gazes held fear, shock, awe, and all sorts of other emotions. But I offered a wry smile only to the worried gaze coming from one particular direction.

Sure enough, both "strength" and "kindness" were my big brother's specialty.

Yuji Itadori's POV

At the sister-school Goodwill Event, I was forced to face a huge upperclassman named Todo. He beat me senseless, but I held on. Just after I got back up, he asked what kind of women I liked for some reason... and after I answered, he decided I was his best friend.

Then the people from Kyoto Jujutsu High surrounded me.

Whoa, they're out for blood.

"Like moths to a flame, bringing about their own destruction."

I heard my little brother's voice.

"Haruka?"

That was definitely the voice of my partner and little brother, but I couldn't see him anywhere.

I looked up and searched the trees until I finally spotted a head with the same hair color as mine... and it was pretty high up.

"Hey, don't climb that high!!"

Several meters above Mechamaru, who was halfway up the trunk, Haruka lay on a thin branch that looked ready to snap at the slightest movement. It felt like it would break any second. Was he really okay up there?

I completely forgot about Todo in front of me and started moving toward the base of the tree.

"Where are you looking?"

A whirlwind whipped up, and a girl riding a broom shouted overhead.

A sharp gust of wind came at me right after.

"Whoa, crap." I noticed it and barely dodged.

Almost at the same moment, a figure leaped from the tree with inhuman jumping power.

Something like a human silhouette hurtled toward the witch girl.

"Nishimiya!!"

Someone shouted. That was probably the name of the girl being attacked.

But before that, there was a dull snapping sound.

"What can a witch do once her broom's busted?"

High above the ground where we stood, my little brother thrust his blade at the girl and snapped her broom in two.

After kicking the broom apart, Haruka grabbed her collar, and they fell from the sky together. Naturally, he positioned the girl underneath him.

Whether it was because she'd been knocked off her broom or because Haruka had her by the throat, she couldn't use her Cursed Technique to stay airborne and plummeted straight toward the ground.

Oh no. Haruka might get hurt like this, but that girl will definitely die!!

Sure, the people from Kyoto Jujutsu High were trying to kill me, but I didn't want them dead.

Haruka apparently felt differently.

In the instant he pushed her down, I glimpsed his eye, burning with a murderous intent I had never seen before.

No. I don't want him killing anyone.

I took a deep breath and shouted at the two rapidly falling figures.

"Haruka!"

I called his name, my voice carrying a little anger and reproach.

The others, who had been looking up at the girl called Nishimiya with anguished expressions, turned toward me, too.

Then Haruka himself revealed his unbandaged left eye through a gap in his long bangs... and fixed it firmly on me.

After a beat, he deftly pulled the girl upward. Just when I thought he had switched places with her-

"A few broken bones should put you out of the fight."

Taking advantage of her shock and brief attempt to resist, Haruka twisted his body and drove a heavy kick into her. Her body, smaller than mine and even smaller than Haruka's, flew like a kicked ball straight in one direction.

"Kah, hah!"

"Guh!!"

She crashed into Mechamaru halfway up the trunk, and they both fell.

Of course, I quickly jumped out of the way.

"Uh, ah." "Ugh."

They must have landed on vulnerable spots, because they groaned and immediately lost consciousness.

Did that mean two enemies were down...?

For some reason, the other Kyoto Jujutsu High members looked relieved when the two lost consciousness. I frowned slightly at that.

Then something suddenly occurred to me.

Come to think of it, how had Haruka planned to get down?

I jerked my head up and saw my little brother dropping straight toward the ground, headfirst, leisurely going, "Waaah."

The moment I saw that, I sprinted without another word.

"Haruka, you idiot!!!"

Where had those monstrous reflexes from a moment ago gone?

How could you kick a girl?

Don't direct killing intent at people.

I had a mountain of things to lecture him about, but seeing him plummet straight toward the ground left me with nothing to do but run as hard as I could.

No, he'd probably let go of the girl he'd intended to use as a cushion because I'd shouted like I was scolding him. Oh, but using someone else as a cushion wasn't okay, either.

Why was he doing this? Normally, he was so lazy he barely wanted to move. If you couldn't fly, don't jump into the sky.

Ahh, I don't get it!!

My little brother, whose thoughts I couldn't understand at all, fell completely defenseless.

Haruka hitting the ground or me reaching him-which would happen first? It would definitely be the former.

So I jumped, using the momentum of my sprint.

I kicked off the ground, reaching upward for Haruka.

The instant my hand caught not empty air but him, I pulled his body close with all my strength and held him tight.

As a result, I swept Haruka up in my diving leap, and we landed together on my shoulder. Unable to bleed off our momentum, we hit hard and rolled clumsily several times... until we finally stopped against a thick tree root.

"Owww."

I groaned. Haruka trembled slightly in my arms.

Was he crying? Worried, I tried to look at his face.

"Pfft."

A small laugh came from the face pressed against my chest.

He shook in my arms as though he couldn't hold it in, laughter slipping out despite his attempts to hide it.

"What's wrong, Haruka?"

Still lying on the ground, I forgot about scolding him and asked while holding him.

It had been so long since I'd seen him laugh this happily. I felt like I couldn't scold him anymore.

Then my snickering little brother slowly raised his face. His eyes emerged from behind his stubbornly long bangs. One was covered by bandages... while the other narrowed slightly, as though he'd seen something terribly nostalgic.

"Yeah, I remembered something from a long time ago."

What were those copper-colored eyes looking at? Hearing the words "a long time ago" made me remember, too.

"Ohh, you mean when you used to nap in trees all the time and make me search everywhere for you?"

"Yeah. Back then."

Haruka was always lazy, hated hassle, and was clumsy at sports, but climbing trees was the one thing he was good at. As a kid, he especially hated having his naps interrupted. To avoid me, since I was always trying to cling to my little brother even then, he would climb tall trees nearby and sleep there until I found him.

"Every time you found me, Yuji, you'd shout and make me fall."

"So I had to play Pazu every time."

"No, we didn't float down gently like we had a Flying Stone."

"Really? But you're as light as Sheeta."

"You're the only one who could say that with a smile, Yuji."

Haruka looked genuinely happy as he laughed.

I forgot everything else, stroked my little brother, and lifted him up.

"See? Super light."

Maybe it was because I always held him with one arm, or maybe he'd lost weight. His body was so light it hardly seemed like a boy's, and I lifted him easily.

I frowned slightly at that, stood with him in my arms, and spun around once. I couldn't let my little brother see such a troubled expression.

Suspended in the air like an actress in an old romance movie, Haruka spun once and returned to the crook of my arm. That was another nostalgic fragment of something we'd once done together.

"Pfft, yeah. That takes me back."

"Right?"

In my arms, my little brother wore an expression much softer than he had as a child.

With a rare smile on his face, he slipped gently out of my arms.

Then, with a crunch... he planted his feet firmly on the ground and stood in front of me. His back looked small and unreliable, yet he stood without wavering.

"So cool..."

The words slipped out before I could stop them, and I nearly lost myself staring at him.

Haruka's shoulders gave a little jolt, as though startled, and he turned around. His gaze caught my face, and his slightly open mouth curved into a bow... revealing a fearless smile I'd never seen before.

"Why are you getting starstruck over your little brother?

Stand beside me. If I fall asleep halfway through, who's going to pick me up?"

That confident smile was unlike anything I'd seen before. And those words showed he was relying on me.

Clearly, Haruka had undergone a huge change. But if it was a good change, there was no reason for me to interfere.

I answered with an emphatic "Yeah!" and stood beside my partner.

I clenched my fists, reassured that someone beside me could watch my back. Strength welled up naturally.

"Yuji, you take the big guy. He looks like he's got crazy stamina... I can't handle him."

The person my little brother entrusted to me was Todo, the guy I'd already been communicating with through our fists.

"...What about the others?"

Even excluding the two unconscious ones, there were still the girl with the strange hairstyle, the girl with the gun, and that mechanical guy. I glanced beside me to check, wondering if he planned to take them on alone.

"Huh?"

My little brother was already gone.

Only a little cloud of dust remained.

I blinked at that dust.

"Don't look away, Itadori, my best friend!"

Todo was already right in front of me, his fist swinging in for a heavy blow.

"Sorry!!"

I shouted back and threw a punch of my own.

Haruka Itadori's POV

To keep fighting normally, I had to continuously release my Cursed Technique. Unfortunately, after sixteen years of laziness, I couldn't suddenly manage that.

I decided to strengthen my body through "a certain method."

Leaving the big man to Yuji, I kept my Cursed Technique released and rushed the robot who looked like Pepper. Unlike Gojo, he didn't seem able to follow my movements, so I charged without slowing and kicked his hard chin.

"Mechamaru!"

A girl's shout and an approaching presence came from behind me, but the enemy in front took priority.

"If you're going to kill someone, you should be prepared to be killed, right?"

I kicked off the ground and chased the robot, whom I'd sent flying before he even understood what had happened. Smoothly drawing the Inverted Spear of Heaven, I drove it without hesitation into a gap between his body parts.

"!?"

Despite his Pepper-like face, he managed a shocked expression. "Mm-hmm," I hummed, imitating someone, and tore through the exposed cables near his arm joint.

With a crackle, the mechanical arm lost power, and this time I severed it completely from his body.

A few loose parts seemed to fall out, too... but whatever. I had no obligation to pick them up.

Just as I thought that, a dull silver flashed at the edge of my vision.

"Tch."

"Hah!"

The girl who had called out to Pepper earlier swung her sword, her aqua-blue hair streaming behind her. The look she directed at me was less murderous intent... and more pure anger.

I watched the blade's trajectory, dodged at the last possible instant, and kicked her wrist with a nimble flip. I was considering simply finishing her off first.

But the girl settled back into her sword stance.

"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain."

I had no idea what that was, but it looked like an iaido stance.

(I thought the hero in one of Grandpa's old period dramas had taken a stance like that.)

But... iaido was all about speed.

Would my kick hit her first, or would the tip of her blade sever my neck?

"...Wasn't the answer obvious already?"

I wouldn't give her even a second.

With a dull crack, my foot snapped her sword. My next kick immediately drove hard into her flank.

"Gah, hah!"

Feeling my foot sink into her body, I sent her flying.

Yet in that very instant, a fierce light flared in her eyes as she stared behind me.

"?"

"Ultimate Mechamaru Cannon: Cursed Energy Enhanced Form."

A voice rang out. It sounded mechanical.

By the time I turned, the thing was already crouching like a robot in its final form with its jaws wide open, locked onto me.

"Triple Exorcism Cannon."

Light, heat, and wind surged toward me all at once.

"..."

If I took that head-on, I would probably die. It would surely be just like when Kai died: within a second, I would lose my voice and my vision, unable even to feel the searing pain. Back then, all I could do was be protected. I had no way to fight something like this.

But... things were different now, weren't they?

"Tch, you're a mad dog that'll even bite itself."

Hearing my older brother's mocking voice, I grinned too.

(I won't run away with my speed. I'll take it head-on. Watch.)

I raised the Inverted Spear of Heaven high and cleaved through the heat ray.

"...Whew."

In the end, I won.

The mass of cursed energy fired with the force of an artillery shell or missile was caught squarely by the Inverted Spear of Heaven and nullified. I deftly twirled the cursed tool in one hand and looked down at Pepper's wreckage lying at my feet.

Some of his torso and his head had barely survived, but after I had stomped on him and torn him apart... he was no longer capable of fighting.

"That's one down, I guess."

Muttering, I stepped away from the wreckage and tilted my head.

What greeted me were the girl's eyes, wide with shock and awe.

"Wh-why, why... that eye?"

Her voice cracked a little, but following her gaze gave me a rough idea of what she meant.

"Oh... you mean my brother's eye?"

Apparently, the bandage had come loose without my noticing, letting her see it.

Beneath my right eye, which looked like a blazing dawn sky, the crimson eye that wasn't mine curved into a mocking crescent.

I brushed my fingers near it and smiled.

"Just a little contract fee. Nothing to do with you."

"For you, it's all benefit and no downside."

At those heartless words from my brother, I forcefully swallowed the reply, "But when it comes down to it, aren't you the one who spoils me most?" The fingers brushing the corner of my eye quietly left my skin.

This girl probably wasn't a bad kid either, and Yuji had already scolded me for kicking a girl earlier.

Thinking that, I gathered cursed energy in my fingertips.

(...How many times had I seen a face freeze with the fear of being hurt today?)

She was probably frightened, imagining the blow hitting her. Her tightly shut eyelids trembled.

"Haze Strike."

I looked down coldly as she collapsed from the impact piercing her shoulder.

(If you know how frightening it is to be hurt, why would you do something like that to Yuji?)

"...Haah, didn't the great Confucius say it long ago? 'Do not do unto others what you would not want done unto you.'"

"Haruka Itadori, you brat... ever heard of a gigantic boomerang?"

My surprisingly worldly brother had caught me out. I scratched my head with a wry smile.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm going to destroy that rotten world that rejects Yuji.

"I'm not kind enough to follow some lofty rules when dealing with people who want to kill him."

"You're plenty crazy yourself."

Hearing that almost admiring mutter, I answered, "It's not that bad."

(If I'm going to stand against a world that wants to kill Yuji, then unless I become a monster... I'll never be able to protect him.)

My brother gave a derisive snort at my silent monologue.

"Crazy... completely crazy."

Well, after that meaningful conversation with my brother... I had completely lost track of the last one.

They had said so many irritating things when we met by the vending machine earlier. I had intended to finish them off without mercy.

I snapped a branch underfoot and pushed my way through the trees.

"Nobody's here."

Forget enemies; I couldn't even see Yuji.

At some point, the sky had turned pitch-black, and the two people who had been unconscious nearby were gone too.

"Ugh... now I have to walk myself. What a pain."

Besides, how could I see so well when the sky was pitch-black? It was nighttime, yet as bright as day.

I looked up at the night sky, empty of both moon and clouds, and sighed.

"Idiot. This is a Curtain-a barrier."

My brother's mouth appeared at the corner of my eye and told me that.

"Tobari? Is that Hindi again?"

"I don't know anything about that place. What's this about Hindi?

"You got foreign blood in you?"

"No, no, pure Japanese, born in Japan."

"You do, idiot. A Curtain is a pitch-black barrier that can't be seen through from outside... in other words, a thin veil that obstructs perception.

"This one keeps that damned jujutsu sorcerer out, but its settings are pretty lax when it comes to other intruders."

I murmured along as my brother explained everything from start to finish, tracing the pitch-black veil with my gaze.

"By 'that damned jujutsu sorcerer,' do you mean Gojo-sensei?"

"Hmph."

Gojo-sensei had been shut out... which meant this was an attack aimed at Yuji.

Rubbing my head, which was working faster than usual, I thought about what to do next.

"If only I didn't have such a terrible sense of direction."

Anyway, when you didn't understand something, you should "ask your teacher"... right?

I pulled my phone from my back pocket, its Slowpoke charm swinging, and dialed that number.

"Hello, Gojo-sensei?"

-A few minutes later.

I ended the call and tucked the phone back into my rear pocket.

Just then, with a rustling sound, the trees began withering before my eyes. Flowers wilted, blades of grass shriveled, and trees grew thin and dry as though drained of life.

And it was spreading from a particular direction.

"Oh... so you're telling me from over there."

Whether Yuji was hesitant to rely on me, his little brother, or simply too busy fighting, he hadn't called me. That was why I hadn't been able to go to him.

But if Mr. Enemy was telling me, that made things easy.

My facial muscles yielded to my emotions more readily than usual. The corners of my mouth naturally curled upward.

As though trying to restrain my eagerness, I tore away the bandage still hanging loosely over my right eye.

I let that dawn sky show.

"60% Release."

I imagined it as "letting my speed pour out freely."

The enemy was at the end of the trail of withered plants, and Yuji and the others were surely there too, so I needed to hold back a little.

Oh, if the enemy was gaining energy by draining the plants dry... couldn't I just uproot and completely destroy them?

That thought occurred to me 0.01 seconds before I released my cursed technique, and I turned my palm over.

"Haze Strike."

Glancing at the black markings that appeared in an instant, I released my cursed energy.

This was the result.

Forget the trees; even the grass was gone. Fortunately, the ground hadn't been gouged out, but everything above it had withered, as though its life had been shaved away.

"Oh, I overdid it. Isn't Gojo-sensei kind of lousy at giving verbal instructions?"

"Idiot. That was entirely your fault."

I looked into the distance as my brother put me down.

I could see the empty sports field that remained, and farther away, Yuji and the others facing a monster with an abnormally swollen left shoulder. Its power was clearly increasing at an extraordinary rate, probably in preparation for its ultimate finishing move.

"Hey, little brother. Do it."

"Yeah."

I nodded at the command and opened my right eye wide once more.

"...The only thing that can counter a Domain Expansion is another Domain Expansion. And yours, in a sense, is a good matchup for that cursed spirit."

Only one scene filled my vision.

The one and only scene where I had wept, regretted, and been unable to let go...

The dawn sky remembered the sky, the streets, the mountains, the trees, the people, the broken sword, and me, choking on my sobs.

"Domain Expansion: Clear Mirror, Still Water."

My tears no longer flowed for emotion. They weren't proof of weakness.

That single drop fell and spread in an instant... painting everything over with sky and water.

Deep, so deep; narrow, so narrow.

If you tried to take what was precious to me, I would never forgive you.

I would chase you to the ends of hell and sink my sharpened fangs through your throats. Before your claws could reach them, I would crush your hands between my teeth and tear out your throats.

After completely erasing the cursed spirit that seemed to have given Yuji and the others such a hard fight, leaving not even ashes behind, I dispelled my domain.

Then I waved at the blue sky unfolding overhead and the person looking down at me.

"Gojo-sensei, it's over."

The adult who suited that sky so perfectly curled his lips at my words.

"Thanks for the hard work, Samantha~. Let's go have some tea."

Watching Yuji and the others run toward me, and Gojo-sensei descend leisurely from the sky, through my narrowed right eye... I let myself sink into the drowsiness gently washing over me.

(Ahh... I'm exhausted.)

"I wonder if Hanami's safe... is what I was going to say."

A cursed spirit with markings like stitched-together skin stood there.

They had heard that Lord Tengen's attendants were in front of the Tombs of the Star Corridor, but those figures were nowhere to be seen. And although one of their targets had been found, the other was still missing.

"How straaange. I heard it was here, but it's not."

They had gotten the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, but...

Ryomen Sukuna's fingers weren't there.

Had they been hidden because a vessel had appeared?

No, the talismans Geto had planted were definitely reacting to this place.

For some reason, they lay scattered on the ground like scraps of wastepaper, along with the things that had sealed Ryomen Sukuna's fingers.

"It's almost like someone stole them first."

Frowning slightly at that baseless thought, the cursed spirit left Jujutsu High.