Hakari wasn't deaf to the various cries of what he would call his companions. The calls of alarm from the 7th unit, the frantic explanations of the 6th, the roar of lesser shuuki as they moved into battle and died like the fodder they were.
Were he a true member of the Anti-Demon Corps, he would have been incensed to pause and wait for a game plan, a measure of strategy to weigh the odds in their favor against this curse. With Tenka's mobility and power, Sahara's strength, and Yachiho's utility, he could see the four of them trouncing this opposition easily, assisted by the 7th unit and their own harmonious battleplans.
Alas, Hakari was many things. Impatient. Bored. Most importantly, however, was that he was not a true member of the Anti-Demon Corps, he was just a caretaker. He was not beholden to anything in this very moment but the id of his own mind, his own fever, and the ability of his legs to move as he demanded.
As Rairan flew back into the throngs of shuuki that rushed like a rabid mob, out for blood, Hakari followed. The humanoid shuuki caught itself on the heels of his feet, watching as this man pursued him into the heart of his invasion force.
The shuuki, their brawny forms massive and lumbering, filled the space Rairan left from being thrown, swarming the far smaller Hakari.
This did nothing to impede his stride.
Every step in Hakari's gait pounded the dead earth of Mato beneath him. As the shuuki reached him, fist and claws ready, he focused every bit of cursed energy into his skin, to reinforce his body.
Rairan saw as the shuuki broke upon Hakari's body, tearing apart where they touched him. Viscera followed in Hakari's wake as he sprinted towards his quarry. Rairan, gritting his teeth, wordlessly opened his mouth and let a great fireball fly from it.
Only to have a pair of doors close in its path not a foot from Rairan's face. The impact of the attack against the barrier did little but make thick black smoke fill the immediate area, the heat burning through the glass and metal to where Hakari was.
His mask-like face glared through the curtain of smog, looking for the afro haired adversary, but instead felt an impact against the left side of his abdomen, through the armor he wore. He could see clearly how the armor dented and cracked under the blow; the robe the great god of thunder wore being bunched up in the attack like some used napkin.
A fresh wave of rage filled Rairan's veins, and he lifted a mighty fist up, calling upon his birthright. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and destruction fell upon Hakari.
The lightning strike cleared away the smoke with a great gust of wind, showing the blow was crippling. The arm that Hakari had deemed to use to hit Rairan was now severed, the lightning having sheared through meat and bone. The limb was little more than a hand with a bit of wrist and forearm left attached, fumbling through the air.
Hakari's spare hand flashed up, and Rairan saw him close his thumb and index finger in a circle as it passed under the palm of his own severed hand.
"[Domain Expansion: Idle Death Gamble]." Hakari said, grinning up at Rairan as his domain formed around them.
Meanwhile, still within the chalk line of what had been Ginna's barrier, the members of the 6th and 7th units worked together to keep the shuuki away from the noncombatants, namely Nei and Ginna herself. The two girls moved to Tenka at her behest as she made a portal, ready to deliver them to the safety of the 7th unit dorm.
"What about Hakari?!" Kyouka shouted out, causing her fellow chief to pause, even as the silver haired woman had her blade cut through several shuuki bodies. "How did he do that?!"
Tenka gave her a kind smile, attempting to reassure her as she ushered Nei and Ginna through the portal. "I'll explain later, I promise! Just focus on dealing with the shuuki! He will handle the big one with the mask!"
Kyouka took her eyes off of the enemy to send a credulous look to the yellow haired woman, letting Yuuki take over for the moment. "How can you trust him so much?! Hasn't he been with your unit for less than a month?"
"Oh, he has," Tenka said, stepping through the portal herself. "And in that time, he has proven that, if anything, I should bet on him more often."
Within the featureless illusion of the domain, Rairan was struck with an epiphany. Before, he had thought that this reject had been emboldened with power, much like how the other man there had been. While he wouldn't say it aloud, he would admit to himself that he was wrong.
No blessing could give something so complex to someone else other than its user.
"You have…a blessing?" Rairan asked, eyes focused on the now one-armed man as he took the moment of quiet to tuck his hand under his arm to stem the bleeding. "A man has a blessing?""Well, technically, it's more of a curse." Hakari said, hand flicking out from stemming his wound to fire a reserve ball. Its red color flew and caught Rairan unaware, but the blow did nothing, the pachinko ball shattering like glass against the shuuki's skin.
[2, 5, 6]
The numbers rolled, and Hakari grimaced, even as he moved to keep the offensive. Despite having knocked the big bastard around, his attacks hadn't left any visual mark. The only thing Hakari had hurt so far on Rairan had been his armor, and even now in his domain it didn't look like he would be able to do much.
'Is this another Uraume?' He questioned, fist reeling back for a haymaker. 'Am I just running down the clock for the others?'
Rairan lifted his hand, and a beam of electricity fired from it. Hakari sent another pair of doors to close in front of him, dashing to the side of the attack as it ate through the doors before he could see the colors.
[3, 4, 6]
Bitterness coated Hakari's tongue as he slammed his fist back into the spot where he had hit previously. His knuckles popped against the sturdy skin of Rairan, and the humanoid shuuki lowered his arm fast to try and retaliate.
Hakari was knocked back only a step, caught by having his forearm caught in Rairan's grip. He was lifted, like a club, and slammed into the ground in front of his enemy hard enough to bounce, all his focus on keeping the domain open as this blow was followed up by a kick to the chest, sending him flying towards the edge of his domain.
Hakari activated his consecutive effect, feeling the damage from the kick be undone by his domain, but he was still moving too fast. He was out of practice and wasn't sure if he would be able to move his domains coordinates before he broke through his own barrier.
Pointing at Rairan, he sent a pair of doors to close on his neck. It might work and decapitate him, but the true gamble was that he would be able to roll a jackpot, here and now.
[3, 5, 5]
Okay close enough! Hakari used what was left of his energy to form as many pairs of doors behind him as possible, busting through several layers of glass and metal until he finally stopped. Dropping unsteadily to his feet, he could feel the cursed energy constructs that were the glass of his doors digging into his back, the sting of fresh wounds drawing his attention away from his missing arm.
He felt the Riichi mode take effect, and the scenery changed, becoming a train station. Hakari couldn't help the grin that crossed his face as he and Rairan witnessed the practiced scene of a plain, blonde-haired girl standing in front of a train as it beckoned people to board.
"What the…what is this?!" Rairan demanded, turning to look at Hakari, who was holding himself up with sheer excitement.
"That's the last train." He explained, standing up a little straighter as the thrill of the bet filled his veins. "It's the next best thing to a jackpot."
Rairan lifted his hand to send another destructive beam of lightning towards Hakari, but the numbers rolled before he even fired.
[7, 7, 7]
[JACKPOT]
Rairan watched as Hakari's body vanished in the attack, and the domain was broken as it continued forward, carving through a swath of shuuki. The god of thunder lifted his gaze to look upon the battle, at the six other enemies, the singular target amongst them, and his face split into a wide grin.
"Even an exception is little more than a reject!" Rairan bellowed across the field, taking a step forward to continue the battle. What he did not account for was his sight to tilt sideways, knee giving out as he saw, having swept his legs out from him, Hakari grinning widely.
Before Rairan could hit the ground, Hakari spun on his palms and sent a double mule kick into his abdomen, sending him flying backwards.
Rairan hit the ground and rolled, showing a bit of dexterity as he stared in awe at the man who not a moment ago had been down an arm and visibly gassed. Now, he stood there with his limbs and stamina restored, this blue-green energy leeching off of him and into the air as music played from some mystery source.
"How long has it been since my heart beat this hard?" Hakari asked, looking at Rairan with a slightly crazed look. "Since Uraume…six decades? Seven?"
"Do you know how long I waited for this? How long I sat and waited?" Hakari asked rhetorically. "How much I forgot? How much I let slip by?"
"To look back at that stagnation is so shameful." Hakari admitted, tearing what threadbare remains of his shirt and jacket remained off of his body. "To know I abandoned what I was will be something I will never forgive myself for."
"You, Rairan, I owe thanks." Hakari's smile turned kind. "It was because of you, that the rust finally knocked loose. My heart beats again. My fever is back!"
Rairan witnessed the energy lift higher, coiling off of Hakari in great limbs that fell under their own weight, so true that they dented the ground around him as it swelled, his excitement growing.
"DO YOU HEAR THAT? THE MUSIC?!" Hakari bellowed, letting the full flow of his cursed energy out, fully stressing his output. "IT HERALDS THE RETURN OF JUJUTSU!"
Rairan could only gaze in awe, having only seen such denotations of energy from his siblings. "How…you are inferior, only human…there is…" He mumbled, desperate to explain this phenomenon to himself, to ration away this impossibility.
"COME ON, RAIRAN!" Hakari yelled, kicking off the ground to reach his stunned opponent. "TASTE MY FEVER, AND I'LL TASTE YOURS! I'LL SAVOR EVERY MOMENT TILL ONE OF US DIES!"
Working through the Shuuki, powered up by both Kyouka and Himari, Yuuki worked in tandem with Shushu, Sahara, and Yachiho to end the battle as fast as possible.
With the new form, known as Warcloud, at his disposal, he beat back the tide, but his mind was elsewhere.
'Hakari just ran after that humanoid shuuki.' he thought, being pulled by his chain to face a new foe. 'How could he throw his life away like that?' He spared a glance in the initial direction Hakari had somehow launched that shuuki, Rairan. Their space was taken up by a large black dome, opaque in its entirety.
'We'll save you, Hakari.' Yuuki vowed, opening his mouth to unleash a powerful roar, energy flying forward and eviscerating a front of the invasion.
The black dome was blown apart by a beam of energy, and Kyouka's command to be ready to engage.
They couldn't be ready for what they saw.
The humanoid shuuki had spoken and been knocked clear by what could visibly be seen to be Hakari. To far were they to be heard, but they could visibly see the energy stretching to the sky, filling the space around Hakari like a miasma. Music could be heard on the wind, but that took a backseat just to how off everything felt to Yuuki.
He wasn't sure if it was because of his new form, or because of the sheer amount of energy being let out, but Yuuki couldn't fathom just how malevolent it all felt. Even through his changed body's armor like skin he felt goosebumps rise, Himari and Kyouka shifting uncomfortably on his back.
They saw Hakari rush Rairan, and the two traded blows, Hakari visibly breaking his arms as their fists impacted each other. Yet, his arms seemed to fix themselves before he needed to use them again. A half dozen exchanges, and train doors appeared, catching Rairan's limbs in the joints to distract him as Hakari capitalized.
Blood spilled across the ground as Hakari seemed more than willing at this moment to tear himself apart, to break himself on the wheel that was Rairan, but refused to stay broken. Rairan was far slower on counterattacks, dealing with doors that seemed to appear right when he had gotten his arms free, or to knock his head to the side as he prepared to fire something from his mouth.
What Yuuki paid the most attention to, however, was that as this rapid flurry of blows continued, in defiance to reason, Hakari's arms broke less and less, despite not seemingly ceasing in speed or power.
"Damn it!" Kyouka said above him, and it knocked him from his rapture to see that, around them, the shuuki were dead. He looked up at his chief, to see her glaring to the side, and following her gaze he spotted Chief Tenka wiping her hands.
"Ah, it's okay, I picked up the slack." She said easily, giving the three squad 7 members a cheeky smile.
"I'll be sure to show my gratitude to my subordinates…" Kyouka seethed, and both Yuuki and Himari tensed in the understanding that they fucked up badly.
Tenka turned, looking at Hakari. "Oh my, he does seem pretty heated, doesn't he."
"Yeah, how is he able to do all this, Tenka?"
"Oh, he ate a peach."
Yuuki felt his jaw hit the floor, Himari's bouncing off his back and landing beside it.
"That can't be true. No man can gain a blessing." Kyouka retorted.
"I know," Tenka shifted her gaze to the three of them. "I don't think he ate a peach, in all honesty."
"Then what do you plan to do?"
"Go over and help finish up this fight." Tenka opened a portal, stepping through it. "He's had his fun."
Hakari held back his laughter as he and Rairan traded blows. His bones popped and muscle tore and fixed itself as they were subject to the god of thunder's sheer physicality. Yet, Hakari was enjoying himself regardless, steadily upping the flow of cursed energy into his arms and body to lessen the need for his automatic reverse cursed technique.
He may have been a little too into this, however, not noticing Tenka until she had teleported his enemy away, all smiles.
"Hey Hakari." She said, "You can tap out if you want, I can take it from here."
Hakari couldn't wipe the grin from his face. "Like hell! I finally got a fight for this little tournament, I'm gonna enjoy it!"
"You had a fight earlier," Tenka corrected. "You forfeited it."
"Like I would consider that a fight." Hakari quipped back, the both of them looking as Rairan rushed back towards them. "I can't punch through him though. He's too durable."
"Good thing I can bypass it." Tenka said, pulling her gloves on tightly. "I'll send you two up high, and you send him into my attack."
Hakari and Tenka rushed to each side of Rairan, Tenka moving forward faster. As she reached the large, humanoid shuuki, Hakari went to sweep his legs again. Rairan lept, his stocky body turning to send a blow towards Tenka.
She touched him first, and Rairan was sent through a portal, out of sight. Hakari repositioned, and lunged for her, slapping her hand with his as his position changed as well.
Hakari's view shifted suddenly, being not tens of thousands of feet in the air, higher slightly than Rairan. Angling his body, Hakari summoned a pair of doors to close behind him, his feet touching onto them before cursed energy flooded his legs and he fired himself downward, chasing Rairan's form.
Whether from some odd remnant of a connection with Tenka, or maybe it just drifted up on the wind, Hakari heard her speak.
"Ame-no-Mitori."
Beneath the two men, a white ball of force bloomed, ripping up the ground and the bodies of both dead and alive shuuki up into it. Rairan turned to look at Hakari as his fist, reeled back, ready to impact.
As Hakari closed the distance, it seemed like everything in this moment was at a standstill.
The air, crisp, bellowed around him. The fever within him warmed him plenty enough. He sent energy into his fist, having it glow. At this moment, he realized Gojo might have been on to something, about it having something to do with temperature.
The punch was thrown. Energy shifted. Rairan lifted his arms to try and block it.
Somewhere beyond Mato, something turned its eyes to Hakari, and let the gambler experience the greatest jackpot.
The kind that can only manifest when cursed energy is applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit.
The kind that makes one produce black sparks.
"[BLACK FLASH!]" Hakari shouted, the blow pushing Rairan's arms back into his arms hard enough that they seemed to crack like eggshells, and he was thrown into the black hole like object that Tenka had made.
Hakari looked down at his fist as he plummeted to the ground. Nearly a century. The culling games. Never before had Hakari hit a black flash, and as he processed what it felt like to put oneself at 120% of his potential, he felt a hand touch his back before feeling the ground under his knees.
"You okay?" Tenka asked, looking down at him.
Hakari looked up at her, and stood up, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, just…processing all that."
Tenka lifted a hand to block her view. "Maybe you can process that after you get dressed."
Hakari looked down, realizing that Rairan's last big attack hadn't just destroyed his top, but basically all of it. The last few minutes he had been practically naked.
"Yeah, good idea."