Blissful Asura's Slumber

Facing the three of them, Tsukasa Hatayama slowly relaxed his tightly knitted brows. He smiled without answering, silently confirming Geto's words.

He really was trying to comprehend that unexplored darkness. It was strange: he knew it existed, yet he simply couldn't grasp it!

Seeing Tsukasa Hatayama nod in confirmation, the three stunned friends could no longer sit still. They all planted their hands on their hips and stared straight at him on the stone steps.

Satoru Gojo struck first. His Six Eyes widened as he grabbed Tsukasa Hatayama by the shoulders and shook him like a madman. "You have to be kidding me! You have to be! Today has to be April Fools' Day!"

Unable to bear watching, Shoko Ieiri spoke up to stop him. "Gojo, April Fools' Day is April first. Today is August tenth."

"And stop shaking him! You're about to turn Hatayama from a genius into an idiot!"

Satoru Gojo stopped. An unshakable gloom settled over his delicate, boyish face. He slumped onto the ground and kicked his feet, questioning his entire existence.

Suguru Geto and Shoko Ieiri exchanged a glance. The shock in their eyes was no less intense than that of the thoroughly crushed Satoru Gojo.

Two domains were simply too unbelievable. Ever since humanity had learned to wield cursed energy, there had never been a precedent for someone possessing two domains.

Now that their best friend had brought it up, it nearly overturned everything they knew and believed. This was even more absurd than extracting cursed techniques and attaching them to Dark Manipulation!

Did Tsukasa's Dark Manipulation have no limits, or was it a cursed technique bestowed by a god?

It was downright inhuman. No wonder that thousand-year-old curse user named Kenjaku wanted to steal Tsukasa's body. Who wouldn't be tempted by a cursed technique with this much potential?

"I..."

Tsukasa Hatayama opened his mouth, then hesitated. In the end, he gave a bitter smile. "I know you all see me as some kind of freak right now."

"But these are things Dark Manipulation gave me. I can't change them. All I can do is reveal it and let its brilliance shine."

When he first learned that he could develop a second domain, he had been even more shocked than the three of them. This was something utterly unprecedented.

To confirm whether it was real, Tsukasa Hatayama had entered his innate domain more than once-the place people commonly called the mental world.

And like Dark Manipulation itself, his innate domain was nothing but barren darkness... no, it was two stretches of endless black.

When he sensed them, these two kinds of darkness felt entirely different.

One was sinister and evil, as though it wanted to destroy the entire world and slash it to pieces. The other was eerily quiet, something he could see but never touch.

"Forget being a freak. You're not even human!"

Suguru Geto could only complain, then added enviously, "I'm seriously convinced God gave you way too many extras when he made you!"

"No, we have to take back the paint he shortchanged us on." The more Suguru Geto spoke, the more frustrated he became. He irritably hooked an arm around Tsukasa Hatayama's neck and pinned him down on the stone steps.

Suguru Geto looked at Satoru Gojo and Shoko Ieiri with a beaming smile. "Satoru, Shoko, Tsukasa's been crushing our spirits since we started school. I've got him pinned, so hurry up and get your revenge! Don't let him off!"

The two froze for a moment, then sat on Tsukasa Hatayama with wicked grins...

"Wait, what are you three doing? Don't take off my uniform!" Tsukasa Hatayama's red eyes widened as he felt more and more of his body exposed to the chilly air.

"Heh heh heh..."

The three snickered sinisterly without a word, each with a clear assignment: one stripped off his clothes, another picked his nose, and the last removed his shoes and tickled the soles of his feet.

In short, they used every dirty trick they could on Tsukasa Hatayama to avenge the blows their egos had suffered over the past two and a half years.

Several minutes later, the three sat on the stone steps looking thoroughly pleased, while Tsukasa Hatayama lay there in nothing but his underwear, biting his lip in silence as the wind swept over him.

Filled with grievance, he closed his eyes and silently accepted the humiliation inflicted by his best friends and classmates. At this point, saying anything more was useless.

"Hey, Tsukasa." In a wonderful mood, Satoru Gojo patted Tsukasa Hatayama's thigh and grinned wickedly. "Nice physique. Slim with your clothes on, muscular with them off. Looks like you keep yourself in pretty strict shape."

"Exactly."

Suguru Geto and Shoko Ieiri chimed in with smiles of agreement. Tsukasa's height and build were perfect; he looked tall, poised, and easy on the eyes.

If their bromance trio were ranked by physique, Tsukasa would definitely come first, followed by Geto, then Satoru Gojo, who looked like a bamboo pole from a distance.

Tsukasa Hatayama irritably pushed Satoru Gojo away. His earlobes flushed as he stood up, covering his SpongeBob SquarePants underwear, and gave them another eyeful while putting his uniform back on.

Once he was dressed, Tsukasa Hatayama looked at the amused trio with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You three had better sleep with your eyes open tonight. Especially you, Satoru Gojo. I'll never forgive you for stripping me!"

Satoru Gojo's smile stiffened. A chill ran down his back, and he shrank behind Suguru Geto. Tsukasa might look serious and proper on the outside, but he was fiendishly devious underneath.

If someone offended him and let their guard down, he would screw them over so badly they would question their entire existence.

Suguru Geto and Shoko Ieiri watched with cheerful smiles. After all, they had only picked his nose and tickled his feet. Their crimes were nowhere near as serious as Satoru Gojo's.

With Tsukasa's cool exterior and warm heart, he might well let their part slide in a moment.

Tsukasa Hatayama snorted and sat on a step below the three to avoid falling victim to them again. Then he propped his cheek on his hand and immersed himself in his still-unexplored cursed technique.

But before he had even warmed his seat, his deskmate Shoko Ieiri's curious voice reached him. "Hatayama, what type is the first domain you figured out?"

As someone who would only ever use Reverse Cursed Technique, Shoko Ieiri could hardly help being curious about all those varied abilities.

Domains, which so few jujutsu sorcerers managed to master even after a lifetime of effort, fascinated her even more.

If she had been strong enough, she would already have knocked Tsukasa Hatayama unconscious and dragged him onto an operating table to dissect him and see how his body was structured.

Then she would have cut open the top of his skull to see what his brain looked like. How could he be so clever that he could recreate manga abilities as matching unusual techniques?

Tsukasa Hatayama slowly came back to his senses and lifted his chin slightly, declaring proudly, "My first domain is an open domain. It's called Blissful Asura's Slumber."

"Why an open domain? Don't you want your domain's sure-kill effect, Tsukasa?"

Before Shoko Ieiri could speak, Satoru Gojo poked his head out from behind Tsukasa Hatayama, then produced a bottle of Jasmine Bitter Tea.

Seeing the drink suddenly appear before him, Tsukasa Hatayama paused. It seemed Satoru had bought it while he was lost in thought.

But remembering how he had just been stripped, he glared fiercely at Satoru Gojo as he accepted it, then continued, "My domain immobilizes people through bliss. It doesn't need the sure-kill effect established by a barrier."

"Bliss?"

Satoru Gojo murmured the word, then pressed, "What exactly does the domain do? Don't tell me it just euthanizes the enemy?"

"I don't think so!"

Suguru Geto interjected with a solemn expression. "If I'm not mistaken, the bliss gives the person about to die one last fleeting dream."

"The real killing blow is the butcher's blade wielded by Tsukasa, the Asura!"

Tsukasa Hatayama smiled without a word and turned an appreciative gaze toward the friend who understood him best. Sure enough, Geto knows me best.

"Tch. Look at you showing off."

Satoru Gojo turned to Suguru Geto and pouted jealously, then looked back at Tsukasa Hatayama in confusion. "You've already opened your domain, so why do you still need to draw your sword and attack yourself? That's not cool at all."

Suguru Geto pressed a hand to his forehead, speechless. "Satoru, do you really not know, or are you playing dumb? Have you forgotten the Asura's slashes from history?"

Satoru Gojo froze, then exclaimed, "By the Asura's slashes, do you mean those ranged slashes used by Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses?"

Tsukasa Hatayama still smiled without speaking, but he gave his slow-witted friend Satoru a look that said he wasn't entirely stupid.

Noticing Tsukasa Hatayama's smile, Suguru Geto nodded solemnly. "It should be that kind of slash. Tsukasa's domain isn't weak at all. In fact, it's so strong that there's practically no answer to it."

"Think about it. While the enemy is lost in bliss, enjoying a fleeting dream, a slash of darkness strikes. Isn't that letting them die without a care in the world?"

Satoru Gojo clicked his tongue in astonishment, offering his own unique interpretation. "So basically, while Geto's sleeping, Tsukasa suddenly takes a slash at you!"

"That's what you mean, right?"

Suguru Geto's mouth twitched. He opened it to curse, but when he saw Satoru's oh-so-brilliant boyish face, he conceded that he was right, half indulgent and half annoyed.