JJK: Binary (Jujutsu Kaisen Fanfiction)

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CHAPTER START---

Sitting in a rooftop cafe in Kyoto, Gojo relaxes in his seat and enjoys his parfait, basking in the sunlight and looking out at the city.

Every table is filled, and at the edge of the rooftop, he's occupying a table for two, and across from him is a beautiful woman, even with the scar across his right cheek, wearing a traditional shrine maiden outfit.

She bites into her cheesecake while glaring at him, all while he seemingly ignores her.

"Are you going to admire my handsome self all day, or will you give me an answer?" Gojo asks. "Not that I mind either way, Utahime."

She sighs. "It's not so easy. Sure, you have the Gojo Clan's vote, but, the Kamo and Zen'In also get a say in selecting the principals of the schools. You were able to force them to accept Yaga, but he was already well respected before becoming your teacher.

Placing me as the head of Kyoto's school just won't work…and honestly, I don't know if I could do the job."

"You're plenty capable of leading and organizing. So I'll have you do that, and I'll do all the dirty work."

"Why the sudden interest in politics, anyway? You've always ignored them until now. Besides, if you want to win them over, you have to show that you're willing to play their game, and there is an obvious way to do that."

Gojo frowns. "Suguru hasn't made any overt moves yet. We're currently coexisting just fine."

"And the missing Registered Special Grade Cursed Spirits?"

He shrugs. "Can't prove it was him."

"Spending time with you is always such a miserable experience…"

"Yet you never refuse."

"Shut up."

They fall into a comfortable silence, and Gojo orders two desserts to go.

"The new era is here," he says to her after the waiter leaves.

"The new era? Do you mean that Daburu kid?"

"Partly," Gojo says. "He's not weak, and one day he'll be strong. But, I've noticed more Cursed Techniques emerging that are intertwined with modern technology. The conservatives hate that, and they'll only get more extreme as things go on."

"You're worried they'll try to 'handle' any children with such techniques to preserve their fading power."

"It's inevitable."

Utahime is disgusted by the idea, as is Gojo. "Me becoming principal will only make them more hateful and aggressive. And the Zen'In clan will never back a woman for the position."

"You have a better idea?"

"Unfortunately, I do," she says. "I'll lean into the conservative faction, and you become a teacher—"

Gojo scoffs. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation here."

"I am serious. Jujutsu Society takes the teacher-student dynamic very seriously, for the good and the bad. Just like if not for your intervention, Yaga likely would have been executed because of Geto. If students are under your care, nobody will touch them.

It's the simplest solution. If you were anyone else, it wouldn't work, but you aren't anyone else. You're Satoru Gojo."

Gojo signs and finishes his dessert. "You, me, Yaga, Shoko, Nanami, Ijichi…not much of an army."

"If it were a fight, you'd be enough, but politics isn't so simple."

"We need more people we can trust to fill the seats, otherwise the delicate system will fall apart."

"I know you have your differences, but—"

"No," he snaps at her, then calms himself. "That woman has caused enough problems, and she's more interested in globetrotting and being a delinquent than helping anyone."

"But she is a Special Grade."

"So is Taiyo, but I don't think he cares enough either way to join us, so it's just me."

"That's always been enough."

"Not always…"

A few minutes later, as they're still chatting, and a thin Japanese young man rushes over to their table with a frantic look on his face.

"Gojo, we have a problem," he says, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, Ijichi, I ordered a dessert for you—"

"It's the conservatives," Ijichi says. "They made a move."

Gojo and Utahime stiffen at those words, then Ichiji takes a deep breath before explaining.

"One of our sources says they sent Taiyo Daburu to eliminate Suguru Geto. We should hurry to intervene."

"Damn it," Utahime grits her teeth and reaches for her purse, ready to head back to Tokyo Campus and get to the bottom of this.

But as she's about to get up, Gojo speaks.

"Sit down and join us, Ijichi," he says, surprising them as he relaxes once more. "To desserts I ordered for you and Yaga will be here in a few minutes, then we'll leave."

"Gojo, didn't you hear him?"

"I did, and I understand better than anyone what's happening, so sit down."

Utahime and Ijichi share a concerned look, then the man pulls up a chair and joins their table.

"They aren't half as smart as they think they are," Gojo says as his friends nervously shift at the table, wanting to go help the student.

"The higher-ups?"

"Bunch of idiots," he says. "Taiyo is strong, but not strong enough to deal with Suguru. They aren't trying to have him eliminate Suguru. They're trying to bait Suguru into killing him. They want to corner me by showing that Suguru is a threat to Jujutsu Society.

That will force me to act, either by ending him, or by showing my hand and turning against them. Both things I'd rather avoid… but they know I'd likely side with maintaining the balance of Jujutsu Society, since the nation depends on it.

But if he kills him and I do neither, they get me in a political move and can remove Yaga from his role as principal, allowing them to control both schools, effectively giving them a monopoly once again."

"A political catch-22," Utahime says. "So why the hell are you still here?"

Gojo shrugs. "Because it doesn't matter."

"I don't think my heart can handle this," Ijichi mutters.

"Taiyo isn't strong enough to handle Surugu, so that possibility doesn't exist. And Surugu won't kill a Jujutsu Sorcerer. The higher-ups have their heads so far up their asses with their black and white world view that they fail to understand one simple possibility.

Just because someone isn't on your side, doesn't mean they want to start a war or kill you. Disgruntled coexistence is what we have with Suguru. He won't risk that. And even if there were no consequences for him, he still wouldn't kill Taiyo."

"How can you be so sure?" Utahime asks.

Gojo gives her a soft, sad smile. "Because I know my friends…"

Minutes later, they're walking out of the building toward their cars, and after parting ways with Utahime, Gojo has Ijichi hold the items as he rests a hand on the man's back.

Using his Innate Technique, he shortens the space between two points in a straight line. His variation of warping allows him to instantly move in any direction.

For most, this would be tedious, but for Satoru Gojo, he can expertly perform the hundreds of observations and calculations to connect dozens of shorted warps faster than anyone else can process, giving the impression of true teleportation.

Thus, within the time it takes Ichiji to blink, they warp into the sky above Kyoto, then over to Tokyo, then down into the Tokyo Jujutsu Campus, appearing in one of the training fields.

"Inform Yaga of what's happening. I'll go check on Taiyo," Gojo says before he disappears once more.

He appears floating above the location Ijichi told him about, and sees a large Curtain around the property.

Even with his Six Eyes mutation, capable of seeing Cursed Energy at the atomic level, he cannot see through a Curtain. Because it acts as one solid wall of energy.

Staring directly at it is like someone shining a high-powered flashlight into the eyes of a regular human.

Gojo senses Geto's Cursed Energy signature and frowns, feeling his friend's fingerprint on the Curtain.

He frowns and warps forward, placing a palm on the Curtain and instantly shattering it, seeing the mansion below.

The destroyed lawn, and the large sphere of Cursed Energy that is a Domain Expansion.

"Ohhh, already?" he removes his blindfold and takes a good look at the Barrier, noticing that it's not a Domain Expansion, but two Domain Expansions clashing.

He cannot see what is happening inside, and has no clue of the state of the combatants, but he can sense Taiyo's Cursed Energy staining the area.

"Kids grow up too fast these days," Gojo frowns as he lands on the ground a few meters from the Barrier, patiently waiting.

Had it been anyone else, he would have instantly intervened. But he understands the kind of person Taiyo is, and more importantly, this is a trial.

Because helping someone in this situation is what would normally be done.

However, Special Grades are exactly that, special, so while the normal consequence would be death—

The Barrier shatters, revealing the smoldering corpse of the Cursed Spirit burning away before it can hit the ground, while Taiyo Daburu falls onto the grass in a pool of his own blood.

Gojo smiles and puts his blindfold back on, walking over with his hands in his pockets.

"Yo!" Gojo leans over to look down at him, standing beside Taiyo.

The boy looks up at Gojo, a mix of excitement and confusion on his face as the adrenaline slowly fades.

Gojo smiles and gives him a thumbs up. "Congratulations, now you really are a Special Grade…"

END CHAPTER---

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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]

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