"If you stare into the abyss long enough... it eventually remembers your name."
—Some Spiral Order weirdo, probably
Kyoto — Spiral Chapel, Down Where Rats Fear to Go
Way below Kyoto's busted-up 12th sector, past the subway where even ghosts get lost, something's waking up.
There's this spiral symbol on the floor, glowing just enough to make you question your sanity, while a bunch of cloaked cultists kneeling like they're waiting for the world's creepiest communion.
Right in the middle? Some woman. Or, hell, something that's only pretending to be a woman. Shrine silks, but they're all stained up with black, cursed gunk.
She lifts her head I'm not even sure if she's got a face under there — and croaks out:
"The vessel's awake. So the Abyss cracked open, too."
And then at the center something black, old, reeking of something awful — starts to glow.
A voice boils up, no mouth, no lips, just pure hatred.
Sound that will rips your bones.
"Ryuu...nosu...ke."
Tokyo — Jujutsu High, Training Field 3
Akashi's already sweating before the fight even starts. Drops running down his spine, his breath short and sharp.
Across from him stands Fushiguro Megumi, shadow wolf already prowling at his feet.
Megumi grunts, "You good, Akashi? You look like a zombie."
Akashi tries to smirk, but it's paper-thin.
"Oh, you care now?"
Megumi rolls his eyes. "Nah. Just don't wanna beat you if you're half-dead there is No fun in that."
Nobara's sitting on the field's edge, swinging her leg,watching like she's at a half-decent movie.
"If you idiots burnh the grass again, I'm leaving."
Akashi shrugs. "That was a controlled burn."
Megumi snorts. "Gojo-sensei nearly lost his pants."
Akashi mutters, "Still he'll say that was an accident."
They laughed, but it's that thin, jittery kind.
Meanwhile, Akashi? He's hearing voices.. Not the 'I need sleep' kind but like the 'get your ass underground' kind.
"Come back. Come down. The dragon must descend."
He grits his teeth so hard that ahe almost cracked a molar.
Later — Jujutsu High Dorms
Akashi's flat on his futon, eyes stuck open, watching the ceiling like it might blink back.
That voice from Kyoto's underground? Still there.
It's not a bad dream. It's a summoning.
He's supposed to be the Dragon Tongue master, right? Unshakable and all that.
Except now he's scared.
Yeah. Scared, for real.
Elsewhere — Spiral Cult Weirdo HQ
One of those masked Spiral Order creeps is reading their something or whatever.
"Namazu no Kami... The Great Catfish... old-school ancestor to dragon blood."
Nearby, a statue's leaking cursed sludge. Tail twitching, claws scraping the stone.
"He's back."
"And he's gonna crack the Abyss open again."
Next Day — Principal Yaga's Office
Yaga's leaning over a table full of piled blueprints and talismans.
Gojo, Nanami, Utahime, Akashi the whole crew's there.
Yaga jabs his fat finger at a spot on the map.
"Spiral marks under Kyoto Station. Someone's sneaking down the routes that Tengen sealed off centuries ago."
Nanami, arms folded, looking grumpy as ever:
"They're not just trespassing. They're building something."
Utahime frowns. "A domain expansion?"
Akashi steps in. "Nah. Way Older. It's a coffin. A living coffin."
Gojo whistles. "Well, guess we gotta bust it open before they do."
Akashi shakes his head.
"Not we. Me."
Everyone stops.
He says, "I heard it. It called me. Not Sukuna. Not Tengen. Me."
Mission Brief — Akashi's Solo Dive
Gojo's gotta tag along, just in case things go sideways (which, let's be honest, they always do).
Now Akashi's job: sneak in, peep the Spiral weirdness, and get out alive.
He's getting ready and the dragon glyphs on his back starting lighting up, like someone plugged him in a socket...
He can now hold the dragon form for three minutes, give or take. MMA and Muay Thai muscle memory locked and loaded up, just in case fists have to fly.
Nobara catches him right outside the barrier.
"Don't die, dumbass."
He grins. "Not till I owe you that strawberry soda."
She blushes, tries to look mad.
"You better not forget."
He doesn't look back.
Kyoto's Underbelly — Spiral Descent
Crossing the last barrier, the air goes thick it might tastes like ash and old bones.
Stone turns to bone under his feet.
Light comes from dead spirits, not torches. Their eyes burn right through him.
He walked. Time's gone. Space is off its rocker.
And, smack in the middle: a gate.
Dragon Tongue, old and mean, carved into it:
"Abandon the form. Embrace the flame. Speak in roars."
The change hits. Scales went up his arms, eyes slit, voice dropping into something primal.
He steps through.
And, well — the Abyss is waiting. And this time, it's got something to say.