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By the time Gojo arrived at the village, it was too late. That seemed to be a common theme these days, especially with a rogue Special Grade sorcerer roaming the country.
Thick clouds of smoke billowed in the air, darkening what should have been a sunny afternoon. Half of the village was utterly destroyed, buildings turned into blackened shells of their former selves, and brick walls chipped and broken. Bits and pieces of homes were scattered throughout the dirty streets – a half-burnt photo album, a broken chair, a lonely but somehow pristine stuffed panda bear – none of it matching. The lives of this village had quite literally gone up in flames.
It wasn’t the fire that was the worst of it though. They could’ve rebuilt the village in time, slowly but surely, with more than a little extra funding from anonymous sources to sweep this attack under the rug. It would have been hard work, but even non-sorcerers could prevail in the face of tragedy.
The curses, on the other hand…
It was nasty work, some of the worst he’d seen so far. Using his Six Eyes, Gojo swept his gaze through the streets, catching multiple cursed energy residuals. The remaining curses weren’t strong, but what they lacked in size and power, they made up with efficiency.
Compared to the destroyed buildings, the bodies that littered the area didn’t look all that bad – save for, you know, being dead. Poison, Gojo noted. Just a little bite from a curse could bring a person down, and there was next to nothing they could do about it. The second they’d received a report of the attack, Gojo teleported himself and Shoko to the area, but even she with her Reverse Curse Technique was left floundering. It didn’t seem like there was anything to be done.
Gojo nudged the dead body of a man with his boot, pushing him onto his back. His expression was blank, almost peaceful, as if he’d simply dropped to the ground and fallen asleep.
At least it wasn’t painful, he supposed. Geto might’ve allowed his curses to ravage this village, but he hadn’t used the more vicious curses in his arsenal to do the job.
“Gojo.”
A sorcerer approached him from behind, though Gojo didn’t move to turn around. He was still considering the dead body, spotting the bite mark on the back of the man’s calf. Such a small thing, weak even. Was it with grace that Geto had used such small curses to deal death blows or was it a sign of mockery?
When Gojo didn’t respond, the sorcerer cleared their throat. “Ah, a few curses remain, but they seem to have gone into hiding now that you’re here.”
“How pathetic.” Gojo fixed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, turning to sweep his gaze. “Nothing stronger than a grade three. Surely you can handle that.”
“Of-Of course.” The sorcerer swallowed. “And then there’s the matter of clean-up. A lot of… There were a lot of casualties…and still more to come. People are still dying. Not everyone bitten by the curses has succumbed to whatever happened to them.”
Gojo fought the urge to grit his teeth, keeping his expression impassive. Wasn’t it obvious to them? Shoko had to know. She even probably knew it was Geto’s doing. While she couldn’t perceive residuals as well as him, her Reverse Curse Technique allowed her to tap into a person’s very being, not just their damaged bodies but also their well of cursed energy. She must’ve figured it out the second she attempted to heal someone – and failed.
However, before Gojo could point it out, something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention – a glimmer of cursed energy he wouldn’t have expected to find here.
“You can take care of that as well,” Gojo informed the sorcerer brusquely. “I’ve got other things to deal with right now.”
“Of course.” The sorcerer bowed, doing their best to probably hide their disgust over Gojo’s callousness, but Gojo didn’t care. There was nothing he could do here. The damage was done, and he had never been good at dealing with the aftermath.
This village was the perfect example of that. It would still be standing if he’d had the guts to kill his best friend a year ago.
As he tramped through the village, Gojo used Infinity to make sure he never actually touched anything, not even the splintered pieces of wood of what had once been a home. For a brief second, he had entertained the idea that he was seeing things, but no, tucked away in the back of the village, closer to the treelines of a wooded area where some lucky people had managed to escape and survive the attack, was one of the few people who brightened his world.
Utahime looked so small on the ground, her legs tucked up underneath her body, her red hakama covered in soot and dirt. Her hair was out of sorts, only one side still wrapped up in a band, the other side hanging over her shoulder. Even her normally pristine white kosode was dirty, with a burnt mark on the sleeve. It was ruined and would have to be thrown away.
She must’ve been one of the first sorcerers to arrive on the scene. Gojo wrinkled his nose at the thought. What was a sorcerer like Utahime doing here? She was too weak to jump into action like that. She wasn’t meant to fight on the frontlines and she certainly wasn’t up to par with someone on Geto’s level. Her only saving grace was her speed. She’d probably taken one look at those poisonous curses and run away from them.
Solo Forbidden Zone might’ve been a uniquely coveted technique when it came to other sorcerers, but Gojo was well aware of the fact that Utahime wasn’t suited for the sorcerer life. She was too panicky, too emotional, too weak, too soft. She wouldn’t survive in this life long if she kept insisting on throwing herself into situations like this. She was lucky when Gojo arrived, his presence scaring off the majority of curses, especially if she was just going to sit down on the ground and…
A gentle hum was carried on the wind, making Gojo freeze on the spot. Was she…singing?
At first, Gojo didn’t register what he was hearing. He knew, objectively, that while Utahime wasn’t a strong sorcerer, she was incredibly good at singing. She had a beautiful voice – the type that could both belt out a powerhouse song at a karaoke bar or tug at the heartstrings with a gut-wrencher that took people’s breath away. People, even non-sorcerers, were always so responsive to her voice, in part due to her cursed energy.
It was a lovely, sweet, tempting thing. Every time Gojo heard her sing, no matter the context, he found something inside of him stirring, though he couldn’t exactly pinpoint the feeling. Sometimes, it was excitement; other times, it felt more along the lines of irritation. Right now, he was simply perplexed, her soft voice washing over him.
However, It was her cursed energy that gave him pause. It was so warm and bright, a total one-eighty from Geto’s and his curse’s residuals. It seemed to pour out of her, not overwhelmingly so like when she used her cursed technique, but it glowed softly around her like a single candle, just enough to keep away the dark.
Gojo didn’t want to admit how much her cursed energy affected him when he let his guard down. It wasn’t strong, he insisted, but it was…something. He didn’t like the way it made his heart skip a beat or how he found himself holding his breath. The fact that he wanted to feel it, craved it even, was enough to keep up Infinity out of a sense of pride.
Utahime was weak. She couldn’t touch him, not unless he allowed it.
Shaking his head at himself, Gojo realized the reason why Utahime’s singing confused him so much, not just because it was out of place, was because it was a lullaby. At first, he didn’t understand, but when he stepped closer to peer over her shoulder, he realized she was cradling a baby in her arms. It wasn’t still so much as limp, its brown eyes struggling to stay open as it gazed up at her.
Struggling to stay alive, judging from the bite mark on one of its chubby arms. It wouldn’t be long before the curse’s poison took its effect and the baby’s life.
Ripping his eyes away from Utahime and the baby, he spotted another dead body nearby. A woman lying on her stomach, one arm outstretched toward the forest and the other curled up underneath her. There was some sort of loose wrap around her body and shoulders as if she’d been carrying something against her chest before she’d fallen. Unlike the other bodies, she had some injuries and blood staining her clothes. She’d put up more of a fight, gaining the attention of the stronger curses.
“You know it’s worthless, right?” Gojo said.
Even though he was standing right behind her, Utahime didn’t respond to him. She didn’t turn around to look at him or even snap at him. Instead, she continued to sing softly, cradling the baby in one arm while she rubbed its belly with a finger. One of its hands was wrapped around her pinky, but the grip was weak even for a child.
“The baby was bit by one of the curses,” Gojo continued. “You can’t do anything to save it. No one can.”
Finally, Utahime hesitated, her singing cut off abruptly. “I know.”
Her voice was so quiet, so small. Gojo shifted irritably on his feet. Could she be any weaker? They had things they needed to do – kill the rest of the curses, find any survivors, track the residuals to see if it led to Geto – and here she was, rocking a baby to its death.
“So? I can see their energy fading. Trying to help is pointless.” Dimmer and dimmer, not just its eyes but also the little light remaining in its body. The only reason he could even see it was because of Utahime, her cursed energy having called the child’s to the surface. “You’re just wasting your cursed energy.”
Utahime suddenly whipped around on Gojo, twisting her head to glare up at him with wet, red-rimmed eyes. He raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the sheer viciousness in her eyes, especially when she’d been singing so sweetly just a minute ago. It wasn’t hatred though or even anger that he saw in them. It was pain, thick and heavy. Despite her gentle voice, she’d been crying as she held the baby in her arms.
So weak, he thought again, frustrated and uncomfortable. People died all the time in their line of work – some bad, some good, some innocent and some not so much. If she was going to lose it and sob over a single person, she would never make it. This life would destroy her and break the good heart she had. That’s what had happened to Geto, after all. In the end, despite his strength, he couldn’t take it either.
“How can you be so cold?” Utahime hissed furiously, more angry tears building in her eyes. “Don’t you care at all?”
Gojo furrowed his brow. “Of course I care, but crying like a baby isn’t going to solve anything. I’ve got more important things to do.”
“Then why don’t you go do them?” Utahime spat.
“What–?”
“This is important too!” Utahime insisted, clutching the baby closer to her chest. “That woman fought with everything in her to try to protect her child, and no, it wasn’t enough, but she still tried. She–” Her voice wavered, her lips trembling, but she carried on. “She was still alive when I found them. She begged me, with the last bit of her strength, to take care of her child, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“But…” Gojo frowned. “You can’t take care of them. They’re dying.”
“I know that, but she didn’t, and I can’t…” Utahime took a deep breath and sat upright, determination flashing in her teary eyes. “I don’t care what you think – if this is a waste of time or energy or it’s above you – but I’m going to sit right here, with this child, until they take their last breath. I’m going to make sure that the last thing they feel is warmth and love because no one – not even someone I can’t save – should have to walk to their deaths alone.”
Gojo was struck still, as if a bolt of cursed energy had zipped up his spine. He stared down at her, in shock and awe. He and Utahime had gotten into it plenty of times over the years. One of his favorite things to do was tease her – about anything, it didn’t matter. He liked the way she’d flush and puff up her cheeks and yell at him, never afraid to back down. Sometimes, she even teased him right back, which delighted him even more.
There was none of that now though. No, this wasn’t teasing. This was anger. And she wasn’t angry at him because of his words about her but because she was protecting this baby, a child she didn’t know and wouldn’t after today. Like a mother, he realized, warm and loving but fiercely protective.
“So even if I can’t change this child’s future, even if I can’t save them,” Utahime whispered shakily, “I’ll hold them until the very end. I’ll make sure their last memory is a good one.”
Gojo blinked, but nothing changed. The glow of her cursed energy, protective and gentle, remained, enveloping not just her but the child. He knew from brief past experiences how pleasant the feel of her cursed energy could be. The curse’s poison didn’t appear to be painful, but the child should’ve still been scared and confused by a stranger holding them, especially after the turmoil its mother had gone through to protect them.
But the baby wasn’t crying. Even though his clothes were stained with blood and he had been in his mother’s arms when she ran away from curses and a burning village and he’d been bitten, he was content to lay in Utahime’s arms, hold her finger, and gaze up at her as the last of his energy faded. He glanced at the dead woman’s face, noting the faint smile on her face. No doubt Utahime had used her cursed energy to soothe her in her last moments well, even if it meant lying to her face.
Happy, if only because they weren’t alone.
Perhaps…if Geto hadn’t been alone…if someone had taken the time to check on him more, to simply sit down with him and talk, to reach out and use whatever they could to help soothe him… Could she have done that for him? Could he? But what could he have done? What could he do now? Nothing. Anything. He didn’t know.
He supposed Utahime didn’t know either. Fixing it wasn’t the point. Simply being there was what mattered. He couldn’t do that for Geto, not now that he was gone, but, maybe…
Closing his eyes, Gojo took a deep breath and then sat down beside Utahime without a word.
When he opened his eyes to peer at her, he found her staring at him, her brow furrowed but her eyes no longer glaring. If anything, she looked confused. It was a cute look on her, one of his favorites, like she was trying to work out a puzzle.
He tilted his head. “What?”
“What are you doing?” she questioned, not angrily. Her body had relaxed somewhat, no longer tense with anger and pain, but she was still holding herself and the baby protectively. He glanced down at the child. They were even dimmer now. It wouldn’t be long. Maybe five minutes, maybe less.
Gojo shrugged. “I’m sitting down.”
“Why?” Utahime asked.
“So you aren’t alone.”
Because she would be alone in a matter of minutes, and she would have to face this death on her own – unless he stayed at her side, just as she had done for this unknown woman and her child.
Realization lit up Utahime’s eyes, and she smiled faintly, her tears not of anger. “Okay.”
Gojo leaned back and rested his palms on the ground behind him, tilting his head back and closing his eyes once more. “You gonna keep singing or what?”
Utahime didn’t respond, but after a moment of silence, she began to sing again. Along with her voice, her cursed energy drifted lazily in the air and laid over them like a soft blanket. He kept his face and body still, but it warmed him from the inside out, pleasant and kind, a far contrast from the cursed energy permeating the air.
He sat beside her, thinking of how, in another life, she would be good at this. A good mother, a loving one, singing their child to sleep, warding any nightmares, caressing them with her cursed energy until they could rest easily again and know things were going to be alright. They would know they would never be alone – because she would be there, always.
It was strange. He’d never considered such things before. Of course, as the head of his clan, he would have to think about things like heirs and the like eventually, but it had never crossed his mind, not when he had the weight of Jujutsu society resting on his shoulders. Besides, who would he even trust to do something like that with? Who could possibly fit that mold?
Who would be strong enough?
Even though it was out of place in the midst of this tragedy, as he listened to Utahime’s song and felt the brush of her cursed energy entangling with his, Gojo smiled for the first time in a while.