I passed the time laying down by focusing on increasing my vibration, because apparently it was helping me recover freakishly fast. I had a theory on why too. Vibrations were weird in that if one vibration interacts with another one of three things can happen:
Option A: The vibrations do nothing to each other, they just coexist.
Option B: The vibrations hurt each other and lower boths' frequency.
Option C: The vibrations combine and add onto one another increasing the magnitude of the vibrations.
My guess was that by trying to match my cursed energy vibration with the vibration of my very soul, I was adding the vibrations together.
This "Overclocked" my cursed energy production and let me regen it far faster than I should be able to.
Which gave me another idea.
If my cursed energy was vibrations, then the leak should be vibrations trying to disperse into the environment. What if I could redirect them back into myself instead?
I focused, trying to visualize the leak not as something escaping but as something echoing. Like how sound bounces around in a large cave, unable to escape.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then—
The effect hit like a tuning fork finding resonance.
The leak was lessened dramatically, still very much present and leaking cursed energy all over the place, but way lower than before.
"Okay now what the fuck." I heard Shoko grumble, probably feeling the sudden decrease in my leaking cursed energy. I cracked open my eyes and turned my head in her direction.
"What?" I asked, feigning confusion, and she let out a long sigh before changing the subject.
"What's your name kid?" She asked almost softly, tending to a patient without the use of RCT.
"Shinji, Newgate Shinji." I responded, blinking and noting how easy it was to keep my cursed energy leak down after visualizing it that way. Jujutsu was all about imagination afterall.
"Well Shinji," She finished bandaging the man's sternum, "What got you on my medical table?" She asked, sounding entirely uncarring and bored. That was until I saw a light bulb go off above her head and she turned to me with hope in her eyes and asked, "Also do you have any cigarettes?"
I sweat dropped, "I don't smoke." Or at least I don't think I did, I had no clue what the other guy in this body did.
"Tsk," She clicked her tongue in annoyance and looked like I had just told her that Christmas was canceled this year, "You didn't answer my question."
Oh, I guess I hadn't, "I was fighting this really strong lava curse, he beat the shit out of me and lit me on fire." I answered honestly and left out the part of me running for my life.
She didn't need to know that tid bit.
"Oh, how interesting." Really? Because I have never heard someone sound less interested actually. "So do you have cigarettes?" Oh, that was the question I hadn't answered.
I sweat dropped again, this woman really had a smoking problem, "No." I answered, feeling a little bad, she was having a rough night.
"Tsk," She clicked her tongue again, and went back to her many patients.
"…"
"…"
"…"
The silence was awkward and lingering now.
"Sooooo, you uhh come here often?" I asked lamely, wincing at the question I just asked her. She turned her head slightly towards me, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye and I could swear her lips were twitching in amusement.
"I try not to make a habit of coming to nearly destroyed cities, so no." She answered, before continuing, "Plus the higher ups really don't like me leaving jujutsu high since I'm such an asset." She finished in the same dry tone as before, effectively killing all momentum this conversation might have gained.
"Well that sucks, you ever think about running from it." I asked genuinely curious, Gege had never expanded on how the higher ups' treatment of Shoko affected her aside from her tiredness.
"All the time," She answered not pausing in her work in the slightest, "But I like to help people and they pay pretty good so it's a win-win."
My response died in my throat as I felt Sukuna's presense suddenly increase in magnitude and I snapped my head that direction. Just in time to see part of the city skyline vanish, turned to dust before I could blink.
Then an unholy sound and a massive eruption of fire that dominated the horizon line, bathing the city in a yellow orange hue.
'Guess mahoraga is dead' I thought before realizing, 'Wait that means the next place he's coming is—' My eyes widened and I tunred to warn Shoko, "SHO—"
It was too late.
My hair stood on end, goosebumps cascading over my skin and my cursed energy whined in fright.
There stood Yuji Itadori in his jujutsu high outfit and a red hoodie underneath, carrying an unconscious Megumi Fushiguro.
Except this wasn't Yuji at all, the tattoos and extra set of eyes on his face made sure of that distinction. No this was someone far, far worse than Jogo or Mahito or even Kenjaku.
Ryomen Sukuna stood before us, staring right at me.
"Oh?" He dropped Megumi, "How interesting." His voice was a deep baritone with a slight unnatural reverb to it.
Every fiber of my being told me to run for my life, but I was paralyzed and I knew that if I ran I was dead because of the disrespect alone.
"I've never met a sorcerer who's cursed energy vibrates, and the rate you're regaining your cursed energy is also strange." He continued staring straight into my very soul, and no one present was brave enough to interrupt him.
"Tsk, the brats about to wake up." He looked at me like a movie he was going to miss, and sweat dripped down my face in absolute horror.
His expression shifted again, into a manic grin, "I have an idea, let's see what you can do with that unique cursed energy of yours." He vanished, I didn't even see him move. My reinforcement flared as he appeared beside me, grabbing my by the throat and running.
The city-scape became a grey blur as he rushed away from the camp.
I clawed at the hand choking me, desperately trying to pry it off.
It didn't budge, so I pumped more into my hands.
He laughed as the pressure on my throat lessened, "You really are interesting, brat."
We landed on the edge of the huge crater he just made, and he dropped me. I gasped raggedly as breath flooded back to my lungs like a life line. "Listen well brat." His voice was dead serious and it was all I could do to not shit my pants right there.
"For the rest of tonight you will fight alongside this—" He gestured to his own body, "—brat and show me what you can do, you've piqued my interest, do not waste it. Understand?" I nodded, and his malicious grin returned in full force.
"Good because if you don't the next time I take over this brats body, I'll kill you first." He finished, and all hope of running vanished because at any given point he could just pop enchain and I die.
Full stop there was no way I could possibly run from Sukuna as I was. 'I need to get stronger, damn I wish I had more time to train before I was thrown headfirst into Shibuya of all fucking places.'
He turned back to the wreckage, "Kid, just savor it." He said at last and his grin and tattoos faded, the extra set of eyes closing and going, somewhere. The malevolent presence dissipating alongside them, replaced by a lost broken teenager.
Yuji's eyes and mouth opened, trembling hands flying up to grip his face.
He dropped to his knees and vomited, heaving, desperate breaths tearing out of him.
His left hand dragged along the road, skin ripping, blood smearing across the asphalt.
"Die," he whispered to himself.
I froze.
Then—
"Only I should die."
His voice cracked, raw and ugly.
"ONLY I SHOULD DIE!"
He slammed both hands into the ground, shoulders shaking. The sound he made didn't even sound human.
I moved before I thought about it.
I grabbed his shoulder.
"Yuji."
He didn't respond.
"Stop."
He turned his head slowly. His eyes were red, unfocused, hollow in a way that made my chest tighten.
For a second, it felt like he was looking through me—like he was waiting for permission to disappear.
"You can't stay here," I said quietly.
His lips trembled.
"If you stop now," I continued voice steeling, "then this is where everything ends."
He stared at me.
"All of it," I said. "Everyone Sukuna killed. Everything you survived. It all just… stops."
His breathing hitched.
"I'm not saying you're wrong to want it to end," I said. "Anyone would."
I tightened my grip on his shoulder.
"But if you don't move… then this is the only future they get."
Silence.
Yuji swallowed.
Slowly—painfully—he pushed himself to his feet.
"…Yeah," he said.
Just that.
"I have to keep fighting."
He just turned and started walking.
I followed.
"We should hurry Yuji, there are people who need help." He nodded and started to run towards the entrance to the Shibuya station, the same thousand yard stare set on his face.
The reason for my rush was that I really wanted to save Nanami. He was one of my favorite characters in the show and my death saddened me, plus Yuji has had enough character development for the night.
We rushed around the next corner seeing a sloo of curses, but in the center there was a man, half burnt. The unburnt side revealed a tall muscular, handsome man with short blond hair and kind eyes.
Kento Nanami
He turned our direction, and I saw Mahito moving to close the gap between him and Nanami. I didn't think Yuji was already moving too by punching the nearest curse, but I was faster and my eyes were on the real prize.
I aerostepped and reinforced my legs to the max, inwardly marveling at how much better both were with the increase in my efficiency.
I blurred forwards a dull humming emanating from me—which was also new and probably a product of the stronger vibrtions—as I moved faster than I ever have.
I reached Nanami before Mahito, but my plan was never to grab Nanami at this speed; it might injure him too much. Instead I shot past him and Mahito's eyes widened in recognition, before I slammed my fist into mahito's chest, space cracking on impact.
I toned down the output of my technique—I didn't want to collapse the subway afterall—but he still went flying, far out of reach of Nanami.
I skidded to a stop, backhanding a curse to my left and it exploded even without using my technique. It was weak, don't know how weak, still have no clue what level of cursed energy corresponded with what grade.
I turned to Nanami, "Nanami," his tired gaze fell on me, his brow furrowing at his lack of recognition, "leave the rest of it to us. Take a vacation, you deserve it." I told him with a soft smile staring dead into his eyes. His own widened before they closed and his own smile adorned his face.
"Okay," He said walking towards Yuji who was clearing a path with his signature: Left right goodnight. "Itadori," Yuji's head snapped towards him, "I leave the rest to you," He walked past him placing his good hand on his shoulder, "Thank you."
Yuji's eyes widened, opening his mouth to say something, but Nanami had already walked past him. His traumatized expression eased, if only a hair.
I turned my attention back at Mahito just in time to see him stand up from my punch, totally unharmed.
"Oh hiya Yuji-kun, Quake boy, its so great to see you," He yelled out in a sing-song esque tone nearly skipping towards me and Yuji who walked to my side having cleared the remaining curses in the station.
Suddenly he reached behind himself, then pulled his hand from out behind his back. In his hand was what looked like a human face inscribed on an oddly shaped pebel.
"But I really only want to talk to Yuji-kun right now so, Bye Bye." He said still with that manic grin. "Soul Multiplicity: Body Repel" He intoned like it was the weather.
The pebble in his hand exploded forwards at ludicrous speeds, transforming into a large grotesque human worm; its jaw opened wide aiming to swallow me whole.
I gripped the top and bottom jaws, stopping them from clamping down on me and digging my feet into the station floor.
I slid back a couple meters, before another Mahito emerged from the throat of the human-worm thing with a blade for an arm extending towards my neck.
I let the upper jaw clamp down half way, dropping my body in turn. The blade clanged against and broke through the teeth of the human-worm cutting through the air where my head used to be.
I let my hand fully drop from the top and bottom jaws, and they clamped down on the Mahito in front of me. I pivoted on the ball of my right foot and threw an uppercut to the Mahito clone's midsection. I landed and it's chest caved inwards tilting upwards.
I pivoted again on the same foot, this time throwing my entire weight into a left straight and gambling a low output technique punch to the same spot I had just caved in.
The mahito in front of me and the transfigured human both exploded from the point of contact backward. Purple and crimson blood spraying along the walls and ceiling of the station.
"Sorry, but I'm kinda under oath to fight with him tonight so that's not going to be possible." Mahito apparently did not expect me to dispatch his clone if the look on his face was anything to go by.
"Well," he said after a second of silence in the station, his grin becoming strained. "You're annoying"
.
.
.
A/N
Aaaaaaaand done a little shorter than the last couple, but the next chapter, or the chapter after that, will be the final chapter in Shibuya. I know you might be slightly put off with how much of Shibuya I skipped, but I could not think about how I could reasonably explain him having more and it just doesn't work. He's too new too inefficient to justify prongued fights after all the fighting and the vow to live Jogo so yeah.
I had a little trouble with the Yuji and Nanami scenes, but I hope you liked them.
Thank you for reading, and let me know anything I can do to improve. Have a great night, I'm going to bed.
Thank you all