Discord: discord .gg /eHuxNeZfyS [Come chat with me]
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
You.tube: @KeanuEugene [Giving away all my writing knowledge]
CHAPTER START---
"Okay, this is definitely not worth the pay. I need to get out of here," Mei Mei says as she's in the dirt, on her knees, staring at her aching hands, desperately trying to keep herself stable against the ground.
To her surprise, her arms were still there, her entire body was aching from that Black Flash, but, her arms, she couldn't feel them at all.
'Adrenaline is keeping me numb, but I'll need a long vacation after this…assuming I survive this.'
Sensing a surge of Cursed Energy, more than she sensed from his defensive burst, but now far better contained, she looks over at the 15-story building between her and her target.
"What's he—" Mei Mei's eyes widen as she grabs her battle axe and runs to the side.
A blood-red beam of heat hits her previous locations and follows her across the property, destroying the ground and melting everything while cutting the building in two.
Mei Mei raises her battleaxe and focuses on Taiyo's Cursed Energy signature as it slowly moves through the building.
As it does so, the Curtain above them, which is hiding them from the outside world, shatters.
The previous attack had reached it and only barely touched it, overwhelming the Cursed Energy of the Manager and revealing their fight.
"Are you that idiotic?" Mei Mei asks as she sees Taiyo walk through the building into the backyard, his entire arm regenerated. "This much collateral damage, and exposing us to the human world, you've gone too far."
Taiyo just stands there, as if trying to understand what she's saying.
Mei Mei gives a disappointed sigh and walks over to the middle of the backyard, gesturing to the building behind her as she looks at Taiyo, not daring to look away from him.
"You could have hit one of the surrounding buildings and hurt people," she says. "Let's just call this off before we cause more problems."
Taiyo looks disgusted at her suggestion. "Why would I care about that?"
"Wh—" before Mei Mei could ask what he meant by that, Taiyo was already in front of her, faster than she could react.
His Black Flash deepened his understanding of Jujutsu along with Cursed Energy, and now he was eclipsing her in all but battle experience and training.
And now her worst fear had been realized, the fear born from witnessing Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo demolish all who stood against them.
She was now fighting a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Pouring half of her remaining Cursed Energy into reinforcing her body and battleaxe, she barely moves it to block his punch with the handle, and immediately feels both her shoulders dislocate as she's launched through the wall behind her, through the building across the street, and into the street on the other side of it.
Mei Mei rolls to a stop in the street, still not letting go of her precious battleaxe.
She senses his Cursed Energy moving upward, but is slightly distracted when looking through the hole her body made in the building in front of her.
Through it, she could see the first building they fought at collapsing, shaking the entire area as all 15 stories crumbled into rubble.
'He really doesn't care. Missions of this grade don't necessitate the surrounding buildings being evacuated. His ability to sense Cursed Energy is too weak to sense regular people, so he thinks these buildings are still filled with people.
Luckily, we cleared them in preparation for this potential conflict, but still, so reckless. No wonder the higher-ups think he needs to die.'
Mei Mei slams her left shoulder into the ground to reset it, then forces herself to stand, realizing what kind of creature she's fighting.
Her battleaxe trembles in her one good hand as she considers their surroundings, where to lead him, how far he's likely willing to go, and how she can survive this.
Because even Satoru Gojo, for all his power, confidence, and arrogance, would never fight like this, where humans could be hurt or Jujutsu could be revealed.
Mei Mei feels another burst of Cursed Energy, and leaps a few meters to the side as a beam of heat cuts through the building between them and hits her previous location.
She readies her battleaxe again, but this time Taiyo barrels through the building, punching a third hole in it, directly through the 10th floor of this 20-story building.
Mei Mei saw him fly, not leap or bounce around in the air, but using his Innate Technique in his palms, he was flying directly toward her.
'The Black Flash raised his efficiency this much?!' was all she had the time to question before he landed in front of her, cratering and melting the road.
In a flash, Taiyo was in front of Mei Mei, before she could do anything to defend herself, launching a perfect uppercut to her head.
'I should have gotten paid more for this crap,' was her only thought while pushing every drop of Cursed Energy she could muster into reinforcing her body.
As his fist connects, his understanding of Jujutsu is heightened once more.
BLACK FLASH!
The sparks of black are the last thing Mei Mei sees before she's punched through every floor of a ten-story building and erupts through the roof.
---20 Minutes Later…
Waking up facedown on concrete, Mei Mei groans and feels immense pain all across her body, forcing herself to roll over only to wince as she leans on her dislocated shoulder.
Her clothes were torn and tattered, stained with her blood, as was her pale blue hair that chaotically spread across the floor.
Understanding what was going on, she forced herself to sit up, easing the pressure on her shoulder, but seeing that one of her legs was broken, along with one of her arms, she decided not to move for now.
"Had a good nap?" Taiyo asks, calling her attention over to him.
He was sitting with his back to her, feet over the side of the rooftop, her battleaxe slung over his shoulder.
"You didn't kill me," Mei Mei says. "Jujutsu is about blood and flesh. If you don't want to kill your enemies, you won't live long."
"I've killed before," Taiyo states. "But I figured since you showed me such love, I'd show you gratitude. Besides, you showed me how to heal others with RCT, so I figured fixing your face was the least I could do. Otherwise, you'd be a waste of pretty."
"I didn't know you could heal others."
"I couldn't, but two Black Flashes can change a person," Taiyo says. "I feel like a completely different animal now, all thanks to you."
"So that's why you're letting me live?"
"Partly," Taiyo spins around to face her, smiling gently as he speaks. "Tell the 'totally not Gakuganji and Jujutsu headquarters' that sent you, that so long as they don't try crap like this again, we won't have a problem. I really don't mind playing along with them so long as they don't try to stop me from mastering Jujutsu."
"So you needed a messenger," Mei Mei pushes herself up with one arm, leaning against the wall. "I don't suppose you can heal my leg, too."
"You're alive after trying to cut my head off, don't push it," Taiyo says. "Anyway, hopefully, we never see each other again. Tell your client what I said, and that, unlike Gojo, I really don't mind making a mess."
"I noticed." She looked over at the hole in the rooftop she erupted out of, and the building across from them, which was currently on fire.
And beyond it, the 15-story building that was now a pile of rubble.
"I'll make sure they get your message."
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Taiyo says as he stands on the wall and turns around.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asks as he's about to step off the roof.
He looks back over his shoulder at her.
"My axe?" she says, gesturing to the battleaxe on his shoulder.
Looking at her expectant expression, Taiyo gives her a genuine laugh.
"You're funny," he says before stepping off the building and dropping to the street below.
Sensing him walking away, Mei Mei looks down at her broken leg and frowns. She then turns to the wall and slams her shoulder against it, popping it back into place with a pained grunt before reaching into her pocket.
"Of course," she mutters while looking at her broken phone, then limps over to the stairwell of this building.
While Mei Mei is dealing with her own problems, Taiyo walks over to where the Manager is waiting while she's talking on the phone, looking genuinely terrified as she reports all the excessive destruction.
"Hey," he calls out, and the woman turns around to see him standing there with Mei Mei's axe in his hand.
The woman immediately drops her phone and backs away, falling to the floor and staring up at him fearfully.
"I—" She immediately shuts her mouth, remembering the Binding Vow she made.
"I don't care," Taiyo says. "You're driving me back to my school, now," he says before getting in the car.
"B-but, that's all the way in Tokyo…" she stutters while getting up, still shaking.
"Then quit wasting time and start driving," he says before relaxing into the back seat.
END CHAPTER---
Discord: discord .gg /eHuxNeZfyS [Come chat with me]
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
You.tube: @KeanuEugene [Giving away all my writing knowledge]