JJK: Binary (Jujutsu Kaisen Fanfiction)

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---

---July 13th, 2014…

"I didn't think the 'Special' in your ranking meant that you're retarded! What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you realize how much shit you've just kicked up?!" Principal Yaga slams his fist onto his desk as he tosses the newspaper onto it.

The man gets up from his chair, pacing back and forth behind his desk while Taiyo and Kusakabe awkwardly stand there.

The newspaper slides over to them, and they see '37 Killed and dozens injured in gas explosion at Sendai hotel restaurant!' on the front page.

"They attacked me. I was cornered. I had no choice," Taiyo says.

Principal Yaga points an accusing finger at him. "Bullshit! I looked at the cameras before we scrubbed the footage. You didn't give a damn about civilians."

Taiyo sighs. "It's already been handled. Why are we still talking about this?"

"Because Jujutsu Sorcerers protect people by handling Curse Users and exorcising Cursed Spirits. We don't go around bombing hotels!"

"It wasn't the entire hotel, just the top floor."

"That's not the point!" Yaga runs a hand through his hair and huffs, collapsing back into his chair.

A tense moment passes before Yaga speaks again.

"This doesn't just reflect poorly on you, Taiyo," he says. "The political situation between us, Kyoto, the clans, and the higher-ups is difficult enough. We don't need you going around giving them things to throw in our face!

Besides, think about Kusakabe. In the Jujutsu world, students reflect teachers, sharing the good and the bad. You know better than to go around risking the public learning about us like this. Special Grades carry a lot of responsibility, you need to understand that as soon as possible, before you do something we can't cover up."

Kusakabe sighs. "He understands it perfectly, he just doesn't care. Honestly, Yaga, you should have stuck this kid with Gojo, at least that way they can't go after his teacher when things like this happen in the future."

Taiyo scoffs. "He can't teach well enough, and being trained by the person I aim to beat isn't a smart move."

"Again, not the point," Yaga grumbles out.

Taiyo throws his hands up in surrender. "I still don't see what the big deal is. They were just civilians. They don't even have Cursed Energy. Who cares?"

"Their families care," Kusakabe snaps at him. "That's who cares. That's who we're protecting. And if you reveal Cursed Energy, or worse, Curse Spirits, the fear and hate they have will grow and make Cursed Spirits even stronger."

"And we're permanently short-staffed," Principal Yaga says. "Don't mess with the delicate system we have. You may not like it, but it keeps everyone safer."

"I'm always careful when exorcising Cursed Spirits…mostly. This time people attacked me in a crowded restaurant, that's all."

Yaga looks toward Kusakabe. "Control your student."

The man shrugs, "Special Grades will be Special Grades. It's not like he doesn't understand the consequences, he just doesn't care."

"Tch. Taiyo, you're dismissed. Don't leave campus without permission, especially not until this assassin nonsense is cleared up."

"Got it," Taiyo turns around and strolls out of the room, already forgetting everything they told him to do.

As the door closes behind him, Principal Yaga relaxes and gestures for Kusakabe to sit across from him, which the man does.

"So, how did the mission go?"

"We exorcised the Cursed Spirit. It had an incomplete Domain Expansion, nothing he couldn't handle alone."

"Damn it. Why are the most capable ones always so rowdy?"

"Gojo was similar enough, and now he's fallen into line. It just takes time for them to understand the system."

"If he keeps pulling stunts like these, we may not have time. He has no care for keeping Cursed Energy hidden, and that's a problem we can't ignore."

"What are you saying?"

"That if this keeps happening, eventually, someone from up high will give an ultimatum."

"And?"

"And I won't be able to disagree if his behavior doesn't change."

Kusakabe frowns. "He already knows that, but like I said, he just doesn't care. The only people we have who can kill him are Yuki and Gojo, and Gojo won't let her kill him, so Taiyo is safe for now. And it would take a lot for Gojo to kill a kid."

"Is there any chance he'll mellow out before this gets worse?"

Kusakabe reaches into his coat and takes out a lollipop, carefully unwrapping it. "Nope. He likes being on stage competing against people, and he sees restrictions as what they are, anchors against progress. Doubt he'll ever really give a damn about the rules as we know them."

"And the assassins?"

"Still no clue. No open bounty was out, so someone with a lot of money wants Taiyo gone, immediately."

"He should stay on campus until that's resolved. The higher-ups are looking into that bounty as we speak."

"Do you really believe that?"

"It wasn't them," Yaga says. "They already have Gojo standing against them. They don't want to push Taiyo toward him.

"Well, that just leaves everyone else," Kusakabe pops the candy into his mouth. "But he won't listen about staying on campus. If anything, this whole bounty thing just makes him want to go out more.

He likes fighting strong people. He likes learning Jujutsu. He likes improving. A constant stream of people to test himself against is basically what he enjoyed about the Olympics. But as his teacher, I can glue myself to him for a while, just until it's over."

"Thank you. And hopefully him killing these last few assassins will send enough of a message that others shouldn't bother trying."

"Doubt it. Money has always encouraged people to throw away their lives." Kusakabe sighs. "This is why I didn't want a Special Grade student. After seeing you pulling your hair out over Gojo and Geto, no thanks."

"Suguru Geto," Principal Yaga mutters. "Do you think—"

"No. Taiyo wants competition, as many people as possible. And he wants more Jujutsu. Geto's plan would cause too much imbalance in the world. Killing all humans in Japan would stop Cursed Spirits, but it would also stop Jujutsu.

99% of all people who release Cursed Energy are Japanese, and the same goes for those who can use Cursed Energy. Taiyo wants to increase the total number, not decrease it. If anything, you should be worried about him trying to chase skirts to increase the population personally."

"Me? You're his teacher, you worry about that."

"He only listens to me for Jujutsu, I might as well be talking to a wall with everything else."

"Luckily, the only thing he's interested in chasing right now is Gojo. He doesn't seem to care about anything else."

"What do you expect? It's Satoru Gojo, everyone focuses on him."

Principal Yaga nods. "Yeah, I've made that mistake myself…"

---Hours Later…

"I don't understand why you don't see the problem," Ino says as he throws a handful of pebbles at Taiyo.

He and Panda were sitting in the shade under a tree while Taiyo was standing on a small pond with his eyes closed, using Cursed Energy to stabilize himself atop the water.

Sensing the Cursed Energy-infused rocks, he moves in a blur, not lifting his feet as his hands catch them all, dropping them in the grass in front of him.

"Is everyone going to lecture me about this crap today?" Taiyo asks.

"You killed forty people," Ino says as he throws another handful of pebbles from his large pile, and Taiyo catches them all.

"Thirty-seven."

"That doesn't make it better." Ino throws another pile of pebbles, and Taiyo catches him, still not opening his eyes. "As your senior, it's my responsibility to help you follow the correct path."

"Yeah, well, as a Special Grade it's my right to ignore whatever I want. Because in Jujutsu, power is everything."

Ino glares at him, but Panda nods in agreement. "Yeah, but you shouldn't stress Dad so much."

Panda takes a handful of pebbles from his pile, infuses them with Cursed Energy, and launches them at Taiyo.

He easily catches them all.

"He's old. His old man heart can't take it," Panda says.

"Principal Yaga isn't that old. He's like forty."

"Super old," Panda throws another handful of stones. "That's like two full Panda lives! He won't last much longer if you stress him out like that."

Ino looks at Panda, genuinely concerned. "You do know you aren't a real panda, right?"

"Panda is a panda!"

Ino rolls his eyes and throws more pebbles at Taiyo. "Am I the only one out of us three concerned about Taiyo killing like a hundred people?"

"Thirty-seven," Taiyo grumbles.

"Accidents happen," Panda says. "He was defending himself from assassins. If a few hundred people die for Panda's friend to live, that's sad, but Panda likes his friends."

"It was only thirty-seven!" Taiyo yells, and is ignored as Ino responds.

"I just don't think a Jujutsu Sorcerer should kill a hundred people just to save himself. Especially a Special Grade. Why are we even helping you control your Cursed Energy if you explode like a bomb whenever you fight?"

"I did it to check who was an assassin. Only the Curse Users could handle it."

"Mr. Nanami would have just lured them outside or back to his room, then captured them there. You should be more like Nanami-Sensei."

"Yeah, he's cool," Panda says as they both throw rocks at Taiyo. "Be more like Mr. Nanami."

While giving an annoyed look, he releases a small wave of heat that melts the rocks, all without him moving, preventing them from reaching him.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," he grumbles. "Now, I've got two months until I fight Gojo, so can you please take this more seriously?"

Ino and Panda share a mischievous look while filling both their hands with pebbles.

"Just remember, you asked for this…"

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]