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The Restaurant: Chapter 3: A Friend in Need
🕑 Added 2024-04-27 00:00:02 +0000 UTCIsekai Restaurant
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 3: A Friend in Need
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- Silas -
I looked at Gojo-san who was looking at Sakura with a serious expression on his face.
She didn’t say anything so I looked back at him and shook my head.
“I just heard you say something quite interesting, Silas-kun. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. We might be able to lend a hand.”
“I… it’s…” I let out a sigh and explained to him the situation.
“Please… you all don’t know him.”
“True. I might not know him but, we will never know if we can succeed if we don’t even try.”
“He is not a human… that man… he is a monster… a demon.”
She stuttered.
“Alright alright no need to get so worked up. It just so happens that I’m somewhat of a monster slayer myself.” Gojo-san said, summoning a red orb on the top of his finger. “So why don’t you tell us something so that we might be able to help you?”
She looked at him with some hope in her eyes but her eyes turned to the same dead ones again.
“Alright. You don’t have to tell us anything. Just hold on a minute.” The guy went outside the door and before we could even count till tell, he returned with a brown haired brown eyed woman. She had a mole under her right eye and was wearing a white lab coat like a doctor.
Well, ‘with’ might not be the correct word to describe it since he was carrying her like a luggage bag. “Alright, introductions first. She is my friend Shoko. She is a doctor. Let her take a look at you first.” He said.
….
I was not the only one confused at the scene.
But the doctor herself was not even fazed. She looked as if she was used to this situation.
Was it not the first time?
That was a scary thought.
Moreover, where was she that he brought her back so fast?
It wasn’t even half a minute.
“Shoko, this is Sakura-chan and this is Silas-kun. She needs help. Please see what she needs and help her out.”
He lay her on the floor and spoke as if it was a normal day to day thing.
The girl stood up and dusted her clothes easily. “You disappear for so long that many people think you were sealed off and now you bring me here, ask me to check her up without even explaining what’s going on… at least this verifies that you are the real Satoru.”
“Alright alright, let’s leave these topics for later.”
“Just like always.” She rolled her eyes and walked up to Sakura-san and then looked at us. “Do you have any spare rooms?”
“Ah yes. Right this way.” I showed them to one of the rooms upstairs and left them.
“So… what’s the situation?” Gojo-san asked me when I got back.
I let out a sigh and explained.
“Did you punch him properly?”
“I think I broke his nose.”
“Good. Next time aim to break his jaw. Let’s add some martial arts to your training too. We don’t know what kind of Innate Technique you might have so it’s better if you master what you can at first. The Martial Arts teachers from Ryozanpaku would be glad to help.”
“Okay. I’ll ask them for some pointers.” I did not deny the suggestion.
At that moment, the door to the Restaurant opened again.
It was a new guy.
He was a tall, lean man with light skin and grey eyes. He had messy and light-blond hair, with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes, and he had chin stubble. He was wearing a dark green samue. Over this, he had a black haori, which sported a white diamond pattern.
Perhaps the most eye-catching things about him were the traditional Japanese wooden sandals and a striped dark green and white bucket hat.
"Ara, was there always a restaurant in this place?" He asked, looking around before taking a seat.
"What would you like to eat, Sir?" I asked, showing him the menu.
He looked at me for a moment and ordered a few dishes.
"Your order will be done in a moment."
I went inside to cook.
During this time, a few other people appeared in the Restaurant.
It was the Ryozanpaku group with both Naruto and Touma.
They placed their orders and started talking among themselves.
A moment later even Nanami-sensei and Principal Yaga entered and I got busy with all their orders.
– Satoru Gojo –
He watched Silas cooking while the rest sat on a table around him.
"We were able to get some information on some fingers of Sukuna. How about on your side?” Yaga-sensei asked.
“That volcano head had some. I chased them to finish them off. Especially that curse, Mahito who was fighting Yuji and Todo. He managed to escape but I got a few others including the volcano head. They had quite a stock.”
“How many?”
He brought a bag from his side and opened it.
“Ten!”
“You got ten fingers!”
“Hahahaha awesome right?”
Just then Touma came to greet him, followed by a young boy and a girl.
“Are these your friends, Nii-san?” The boy asked.
“These are Gojo-san, Principal Masamichi and Nanami-san. They are teachers in the Magic Academy in their world.”
“Magic! Really, can we learn it?” The boy jumped up with a bright look in his eyes. He turned towards them and repeated again. “Can I really learn magic?”
“Naruto, be polite. I’m sorry for him.” The girl beside him bowed.
“It’s fine. Kids are often excited when they find out about this. Reality is not often as fun. Very few people have an aptitude for Jujutsu.”
“I can learn it. I‘m a Ninja and I am going to be a Legendary Master one day dattebayo.” The boy explained at the top of his voice.
He reminded him a lot of one of his students.
Yuji.
“So you are the ninja kid Silas-kun was talking about. I wonder what your world looks like.” He asked.
“It’s awesome ttebayo. Ninja techniques are awesome. I learned a technique in the Academy too. Although that crappy Bunshin Technique is still not good, I made one of my own.”
“Hoh. Can you show us?” He asked.
“Alright then. Be careful. I even won against Kensei-sensei with this technique.”
“Hahahaha, don’t worry. I think I can handle it.”
“Okay then. Here I go.”
The boy made handsigns.
To his surprise, a cloud of smoke burst out around him.
And what appeared in front of them was…
“Naruto! Change back right now.” The blonde girl beside him shouted, embarrassed.
Touma had his eyes covered.
Beside him Nanami and Yaga-sensei were still registering the situation.
“Hahahahahaha that’s an awesome technique.” he gave the boy a thumbs up.
He returned back to his normal form with a huge smile on his face. “See. I’m awesome right. I call this my Sexy Jutsu. I can do even more things.”
He made the same handsigns again and this time he transformed into Gojo himself.
This made him raise an eyebrow.
He pulled up the glasses and looked at the boy and his eyes widened when he looked closer.
“Hahahahaha you are stunned right! I know I’m awesome. So, will you teach me Magic now?”
“Naruto, stop causing trouble.” The girl bowed again. “I am really sorry for my little brother’s behaviour.”
“Don’t worry. It was really interesting to see a new form of Power. To answer his question, I think Naruto-kun might have some insane potential to learn Jujutsu. Dare I say, equal to or surpassing even my own.” he added, making Nanami drop his spoon in shock as he looked up.
“Satoru, are you being serious?” Yaga-sensei asked.
“Yup. In terms of raw potential, he might be the best I have seen yet.”
“Even more than…”
“Yes. But there is a difference, unlike him, Naruto-kun is more like Yuta and Yuji. Not that he is weak himself but with the combined power of both sides… it makes those two look like children.”
“That’s…”
“Is something the matter?” The girl asked. “I’m Miu Furinji by the way.”
“Nothing Miu-chan. We just think Naruto-kun here is extremely suitable for learning Jujutsu. Can we maybe talk to your Guardian?”
“Eh? Ah sure.”
She led them to the table of the martial arts masters on another table and introduced themselves.
“So you are the ones Touma told us about? My name is Hayato Furinji. What can I do for you?”
Yaga-sensei took on the lead and explained to them about the Jujutsu world. Then before deciding anything, they send the children aside.
“Your grandson… is someone with the most potential we have ever seen with Jujutsu. We think if guided well, he could become the best Jujutsu sorcerer ever.”
“Hmm… but from what I can understand, it will also throw him into constant violence and killing, dealing with negative things all the time. I am sorry but I cannot in my right consciousness allow that to happen.” The man replied.
There was no hesitation in his reply and for that he could respect the old man.
“Sir, we only exorcise the curses who are a danger to the human species. And with Naruto’s potential, he can become one of the best, the strongest Jujutsu sorcerer in the whole world. Don’t you think you should give him a chance to explore this side of his?”
“Then we will wait until he is at an age where he can understand the implications of such a thing before pushing him into such a danger. I adopted him, brought him out of the place where he lived before only so that we could provide him with a good life. Doing this is a complete opposite of our intentions and promises made to him.”
He took a deep breath.
“I had heard the story from Silas-kun. The Nine Tailed Fox right?”
“Yes. There was such a being in his world and it left a huge impact on his life. From what we could gather, he was born on the same day as the attack of the fox and many people thought he was the incarnation of the fox itself due to his whisker-like birthmarks. He was discriminated against and treated like a monster by those mindless people and no one did anything to stop them. It’s an unfortunate part of the kid’s life. So please try to understand my decision. We just want him to experience a normal childhood.” Hayato explained.
At this point even Yaga-sensei and Nanami became quiet.
This is where he decided to intervene.
“I respect your intentions.” he said and he was completely sincere. Even Yaga-sensei and Nanami looked at him in confusion. “But there is a saying, ‘the path to hell is paved with good intentions.’”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to say, young man?”
“Please don’t misunderstand my words. I am not trying to insult your intentions. It’s just that you people don’t seem to understand his situation properly. They didn’t treat him like a monster just because he was born on the same day… it was because that monster is sealed inside him.”
….
….
“WHAT!”
Everyone in the room was shaken at the reveal.
“That Nine Tailed Fox… is actually sealed inside your adoptive grandson and they might have known about it. Maybe the one who supposedly defeated it, couldn’t actually defeat it and just sealed it inside a newborn child. The whisker marks might have been an influence of this. That said the seal is strong but I would still suggest that you start him on learning more about his powers. Oh, and keep Touma from touching his stomach under any circumstances. What happens to you all would be a matter of concern later but the kid would probably explode first.”
Hayato looked to his side to a master in a white martial arts uniform who got up and left instantly.
“How sure are you about it? Why should I trust you?”
“I saw it myself. As for trusting me, I can teach him to dive into his consciousness and see the fox for himself. He won’t be harmed.”
The man became quiet and looked down in thought. “I… need some time to think.”
“You don’t need to worry about it. He can stay with you and only come with us to learn about Jujutsu. In fact, he can even learn with Silas-kun if you are uncomfortable leaving him with us.” he offered.
The man closed his eyes. “Will there be any danger to him?”
“Just as much as learning Martial Arts. We have doctors who can even restore lost limbs so you don’t need to worry about any accidental damages. Oh, speak of the Devil, there she is?” He looked at Shoko who was coming towards them with a serious and enraged look on her face.
Oh boy, that’s rare.
Shoko is not someone to get angry so easily.
“Sensei, I request for permission to take action against a Curse User and I want to do it personally.”
Sensei merely raised an eyebrow. “That’s rare. But denied. You are not a fighter.”
“It can be someone else doing the fighting. I just want their lives to end by my hands.” She gritted her teeth hard.
He suddenly remembered what she was called to do. “Is something wrong with Sakura-chan?”
“Those bastards….” She took a deep breath and explained what she had found in her body.
The crest worms and what they could do, the probably soul in the worm near her heart, other things and the signs of years of abuse.
“She didn’t even flinch when I cut open her body to examine the worm. She was so used to pain. They have been torturing her for years… possibly since she was just a kid, maybe even….”
“Was it done by her family?” He asked.
“Yes.”
The faces of everyone in the place darkened. Even more for the Ryozanpaku masters, who were releasing some kind of pressure too.
There were many things they had seen as a Jujutsu sorcerer.
It was a field which messed up someone and that’s why he was fine with Hayato-san wanting to protect his grandson.
But even then, there were things which just crossed the lines.
This event reminded him of some past events.
His fight against and his failure to protect someone.
He took a deep breath.
“The bastard was probably preparing her as a vessel of some kind to occupy her body. I couldn’t even remove the worms because they were tied to some kind of construction in her body, a nerve of some kind and it even extends to her soul. I am not sure if I would hurt her. Moreover, I think if one of them is removed first, others might try to hurt her too, so we need to remove all of them at the same time just to be safe, especially the one in her heart.”
Right at this time, Silas-kun came there with the orders.
“Is something the matter? Is Sakura-chan alright, doctor?”
- Silas -
The whole group looked at me suddenly and I felt odd being stared at by so many people all at once.
“Silas-kun, what can you tell us about Sakura-chan’s circumstances?” the doctor asked.
“Umm? She comes to the Restaurant often but just sits by herself and watches everyone. It’s just that she always looks… so hollow. Her eyes I mean. Today, she came back and she looked even worse so I offered her some food and that’s when that guy came in. He was talking rudely with her so I went to stop him but it turns out that he was her brother. When he grabbed her, I saw that there were bruises, like someone hitting her on her arm so I stopped her. When the guy attacked me, I punched him and threw him back. I think I broke his nose.”
“You should have blasted his head off. Scum like those…” She clenched her fist. “I need to smoke. Is there a place where I can?”
I pointed out towards the door.
“You can smoke after we fix this problem.” Nanami-sensei said.
“What problem?” I asked him.
He sighed and explained the situation and blood drained off of my face.
“With the supernatural side involved, I can see why she didn’t think the police could help her.”
“Do you think anyone could help her?” Principal Masamichi asked.
She shook her head. “No humans. Souls are not an easy thing to mess with. Maybe that Cursed Spirit who made those cursed humans could as their souls were changed but I don’t know of any other. My suggestion is to seal those creatures and then find people who can remove them later.”
At that time, a voice came from behind us.
“Did someone say souls? I might know a thing or two about them?” The man wearing a hat and clogs who was sitting and talking with Naruto all this time spoke and the whole room turned towards him.
“You are?” Principal Masamichi asked.
“Hello, my name is Kisuke Urahara and I am a humble candy shop owner. I just happened to have found out about this Restaurant’s speciality from your talks and these two helpful kids. Pardon me but I just heard that you were concerned about someone’s soul? Coincidentally, I have had some experience working with souls and purging evil spirits myself. Do you mind if I lend a hand?” he asked.
“A candy shop owner? I am sorry but we need specialists for this job. Not anyone with slight knowledge of spirits can help out with surgeries of this level.” The doctor said, slightly irritated.
The guy covered his face with his fan and laughed. “Oh my. I am getting the feeling that I am being underestimated somewhat. Then….how about I prove my skill to you?”
“And how exactly will you do that? What do you want in return?” She asked.
“That gentleman over there has something with souls in that bag of his. How about I use one of them as examples? If it’s just removing the souls from them or purifying them it’s an easy thing to do. As for what I want? Studying that thing and knowing some things about your Jujutsu world would already be enough of a payment.”
I looked at the gentleman, Gojo-san who looked back at him and then just brought what looked like a….
“Is that a finger?”
“A cursed object.” he threw it to the man. “Let’s see what you can do.”
“Here?” The man caught the finger and asked while taking a look at the finger.
“Will this be alright, Silas-kun?” Gojo-san asked me.
I looked at them both. This was literally a matter of Sakura-chan’s life and death.
“Sure. I can take care of any damage here.”
“Great. In that case let me run a few tests on this thing. Still, what a horrible design. A finger, really?” He spoke as he sat down on one of the tables and placed the finger in front of him and placed hand over it.
I could see different types of lights shine from under his hands.
“How interesting. Someone divided a piece of someone’s soul, a twisted and corrupted soul, almost like a hollow in this finger. Was this the body of the original owner?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“That would explain why it could be so easily contained inside. Anyways, I assume that it was designed so that the user could somehow take over other people’s bodies, should they by chance eat one of the fingers. How odd, they should have designed it in an edible shape if they wanted someone to eat a piece. I can’t see someone wanting to swallow someone’s finger whole. But coming back to the story. Once ingested, the soul would take over the host’s body and maybe then it could seek out the rest of the pieces of itself and reform back.”
….
“Alright, it seems you are not a phony after all.” The doctor said, “So, can you exorcise it by removing the soul?”
“Oh yes. That won’t be a problem. Do you want me to do it now?” He asked.
The Jujutsu Academy people looked at each other and nodded.
“Alright.” Principal Masamichi nodded and we watched as he raised his hand.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south, Shakkahō!"
A red orb formed on his palm and struck the finger creating a small explosion.
The finger was obliterated instantly.
“Amazing!” I heard someone whisper.
Was it?
I mean Touma could have touched it and it would have disappeared.
Was there really a need for all that light show?
“So, can I see the patient now?” He asked, looking at the doctor. “By the way, the furniture of this place is really something. There isn’t one scratch on it.”
She nodded.
They both went upstairs to the room where Sakura was staying. This time however Gojo-san followed them as well.
We waited outside for a while. Even the Ryozanpaku teachers stayed there with me, looking worried.
They left the room after a while and Gojo-san gave me a thumbs up. “She’s safe.”
We let out a sigh of relief.
The doctor was still healing her so the next one to come out was Kisuke-san who was carrying a bag with him with something clearly moving inside. “These are some interesting test subjects. It could probably keep me occupied for a while.”
….
Just what kind of Candy Shop owner are you?
Still, I bowed deeply in front of him. “Thank you for helping Sakura-chan.”
“Hahahaha don’t mind. I’m getting something great out of this too. Who would have known that such a magical place existed? Other worlds... I haven’t been so excited in a while.”
A few minutes later the doctor came out and looked at us. “She is completely healed right now and just needs some rest. Let her sleep.”
With that said, we all went down to continue our conversation.
“That was really something, Kisuke-san. Your technique almost felt like a domain of some kind. Bankai, was it?” Gojo-san asked.
“The Reverse Cursed Technique which Miss Doctor over here used was far more impressive. Is it something others can learn too?”
Both of them began to talk with each other like old friends.
“They are getting along together too well for my comfort.” Nanami-sensei whispered.
“Because from what I have seen of the guy, he’s the same as Gojo in terms of personality.” Shoko-san said, walking out of the place while bringing out a pack of cigarettes.
“Sigh… there are more like him in the world or other worlds?”
What came after was Touma destroying the rest of the fingers.
At this, even Kisuke-san looked at the boy dumbfounded.
I got a hefty payment for acting as a middleman.
Another thing happened that day.
Hayato-san talked to me about including Naruto in our Jujutsu training. It seems that Naruto was joining the place as a new student.
He even told me about the supposed special case of Naruto and asked me to take care of him. Apparently, watching the Jujutsu Academy teachers trying so hard to help Sakura-chan earned them his trust.
Finally, with everything taken care of, Gojo-san and Nanami-sensei stayed behind to look over our training.
The doctor Shoko-san also stayed behind to look after Sakura.
“I have talked with Hayato-san and you will be going there for some basic Martial Arts training from tomorrow. Let’s try to see how much your control of the cursed energy has developed.” Nanami-sensei asked as he handed me some exercises to focus on.
Gojo-san on the other hand started working on Naruto.
But first we went outside to awaken his cursed energy.
We used the same method as in my case.
Naruto looked at the sword in his hand excitedly. “Are we going to fight some bad guys or save some princesses? Ohh are we going to fight some monsters?”
The kid jumped around.
“Nope. We first need to learn how to do that. I mean you want to learn cool techniques first, right?” Gojo-san baited.
Poor Naurto nodded his head in excitement.
“Alright. Then first things first. There is a dangerous curse in the sword. First thing we need to do is identify it. Take it in your hand, sit cross legged and concentrate on it.”
He was instructed to basically follow the same steps as me and what resulted at the end of it was a massive surge of Cursed Energy from his body.
The energy was so great that I staggered a few steps back while Nanami-sensei was almost blown away till Gojo-san held his shoulder.
A spectre of an animal appeared around him and slowly took the form of tails as a reddish energy enveloped him. The tails began to rise from one to two and further, the form over a Nine Tailed Fox enveloped the boy.
The energy was immense and I had to shield my face to keep looking forward.
“Gojo, this is too much. I don’t think the barrier will be able to hold much longer if this continues.” Nanami-sensei shouted.
“Hold on. It’s not yet done.” he then looked towards me. “Cover yourself in your Cursed Energy to resist it.”
I did so and sure enough the whole pressure disappeared.
By now the area around us was crumbling down.
The number of tails had reached eight.
Finally, just as the ninth tail was about to emerge, all of a sudden, golden chains burst out of his back and bound the beast suddenly.
“It’s those damned chains again. Are you going to keep me chained even after your death… Kushina.” A demonic sounding voice sounded but another burst of golden light sparked from the other side, completely suppressing it.
What was left were two figures, one with red hair and the other a golden blonde.
“Those are…” I asked, stunned.
“Vengeful Cursed Spirits.” Gojo-san replied. “They were inside Naruto. Sensing their energies, and their similarities to Naruto, I would say that those were probably his parents. Remember Silas-kun, the most potent of the curses are always born out of love. Without love, there will be no hate. Those two were protecting him even now, even after their deaths.”
I looked at the two figures. They looked like monsters.
But even now, they were protecting him.
The scene made me feel extremely emotional.
The entire area calmed down in a while and what was left were only rubbles.
In the middle, Naruto was still sitting down, tears in his eyes but unharmed. The sword in his hand had crumbled.
The kid looked at us and I felt the urge to protect him suddenly. He looked so vulnerable.
I was about to walk forward but Gojo-san held my shoulder and stopped me.
“Don’t be hasty. The two spirits might not like it if you went ahead so quickly.”
And as if to demonstrate, he walked forward but to our surprise, the blonde spirit disappeared from his place, appearing in front of him, slicing down with its sword-like claw.
Gojo-san lifted a finger and stopped it but the shockwave sent the debris flying around.
“Calm down. I don’t mean to harm him.” Gojo-san said as he moved to the side to avoid another attack.
The place he was in was struck by a golden chain, making a small crater in the place.
Gojo-san disappeared from his place and appeared in a different place. To everyone’s surprise though, a chain emerged from under the ground, attacking him.
He dodged to the side but the chain grazed him, creating a scratch on his leg.
“That’s…” Nanami-sensei exclaimed.
“Hoh, now isn’t that interesting? But let’s not fight right now. My student needs me. We can fight each other later on.” Gojo-san disappeared from his place and appeared in front of Naruto.
The two Spirits attacked him but paused when they saw Naruto in his arms, hugging him.
“There there, no need to cry. They are just being protective of you.” He ruffled the kid’s hair gently and then looked at the spirits. “I don’t mean him any harm, so you can relax.” He raised his hand as if in surrender. The spirits didn’t disappear however.
At this time, Naruto chimed in too. “Gojo-sensei is my teacher. He’s not hurting me.”
This finally caused the spirits to stop and finally disappear and Naruto fainted.
“Jeez, talk about overprotective parents.” Gojo-san laughed and he walked towards us.
I quickly opened the door to the Restaurant and led them in.
We let Naruto rest on one of the couches as Shoko-san was called to look over him.
“Seriously, what kind of training were you two doing? It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes yet.” She chided.
“There were… complications.”
“With an eight year old?” She asked.
Gojo-sensei just pointed to his already healed leg. There was still a scratch on his clothes.
Shoko-san paused completely at the sight.
“What happened?”
“An extremely strong Cursed Spirit, even making Sukuna look like a kid in terms of his Cursed Energy and…”
“And?”
“Two Vengeful Cursed Spirits protecting him.”
“Two?” She asked, incredulously.
“Two.” Nanami-sensei nodded. “Seriously, this is way above my pay grade.” he looked at me. “Let’s teach you some theories about Jujutsu.”
I nodded. The incidents of today didn’t leave me wanting to practise anymore.
Miu had come later on with Hayato-sana and took Naruto away. Gojo-san informed him about the case with Naruto.
I too cleaned up after my lessons and retired for the day.
___________________________________x__________________________________
I woke up and prepared for the day.
Around an hour later, Sakura came downstairs with Shoko-san.
“She is fully healed now. All those worms were removed from her body. But I still suggest not letting her go back to those monsters. I will send Satoru to have a talk with them first. Till then make sure that she doesn’t leave this Restaurant. Just in case, Nanami can stay here till then.”
“It’s fine. As long as we are in this place, I can take care of any kind of trouble.”
She looked at me for a moment then nodded. “I hope you understand the meaning of your words because if she falls into the hands of those monsters again, I don’t think she would survive. I will come back later on to check up on her.” She began to leave and that’s when I realised that she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.
“Wait a minute. Let me cook something for you as a token of thanks.”
She waved her hands. “It’s fine. You are also a student of the Tokyo Jujutsu Academy and someone who helped us a lot. This is nothing compared to that.”
“Please. It won’t take much time and I won’t brag but I am a pretty decent cook. Let me treat you once.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Alright.”
I got to work quickly and prepared a feast for her.
While I was doing so, Sakura walked into the kitchen.
I looked at her and she stared back without saying anything. I noticed that her eyes were not as blank as before. She suddenly bowed deeply in front of me.
“Thank you.” She said, her voice choking a bit. She didn’t say anything but didn’t raise her head either.
Last night, they had told me exactly how much she had suffered and what she could have gone through.
It explained the look in her eyes.
So I wanted to help her even if it was just a bit.
“I told you, didn't I, that we’re friends and friends are supposed to help each other. You don’t need to worry. You can stay here as long as you like. If you want, I can talk to Hayato-san and get you admitted to a school in a different world with new identities. You don’t have to go back to that place ever again.” I placed a hand on her head and caressed her.
She looked at me with teary eyes and tried to speak but choked so she just nodded.
I smiled and gave her a half hug and patted her back.
“You know, as great it is to see you two flirting, can you work on my breakfast faster? I still have to go back to school for work.” Shoko-san’s words brought us out of the moment and I smiled abashed at her.
“I will get it done in a moment.” I replied before turning to Sakura. “You should wait with her. I will make something for you too.”
She nodded and followed Shoko-san.
I quickly prepared the meals and served them.
“I heard that you were going to admit her in a school with the Martial Arts girl?” Shoko-san asked.
“If she agrees to.”
“You are an official adult and have taken responsibility for her. That makes you her guardian so I’m asking you.”
“I think it would be a good change of pace for her to experience a normal school life.” I replied.
“Then your thinking is naive.” She scoffed lightly.
I looked at her astonished.
“Don’t misunderstand me. I never said it was bad, just naive. Someone who has gone through things Sakura has gone through rarely if ever gets to have a normal life. First things first, you should teach her how to protect herself.” Shoko-san said as she took a bite of the food. “Oh, this is good. You weren’t bragging about being a good cook.”
“I won’t force her with anything.”
“Then decide it between yourself. I would suggest that she learn Jujutsu. With her situation, I doubt she wouldn’t have some manner of affinity for Jujutsu sorcery.”
I contemplated for a second and looked at Sakura. “What do you want, Sakura?”
She bowed her head slightly and then looked at me. “I will do whatever you want me to do.” She said, resolve shining in her eyes.
“This is your life Sakura.”
“And you have saved it and are still helping me. I trust your judgement.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay then. Let’s learn Jujutsu together. I’ll talk to Principal Masamichi and ask him for a favour.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” Shoko-san said between a bite of her food. “She can start her training when she’s fully stabilised from the shock.”
“Okay.”
The rest of the breakfast was mostly uneventful as Shoko-san left soon after eating, leaving the two of us alone in the Restaurant.
I had the whole day left so I started preparing for the day and Sakura followed me. She sometimes lent a hand despite me asking for her to rest.
At least she was more active than before so I didn’t say anything.
__________________________________x___________________________________
It was evening and time to open the Restaurant again.
This time Sakura was assisting me in arranging things.
Tobio was the first one to come.
He was here to pick up a bento for himself
“Did they find any news about Sae-chan?” I asked.
He shook his head disappointedly.
“Don’t worry. You will find her soon.” I reassured him and patted his shoulder. He left for school soon after.
A few minutes later, the door opened again and the customers from yesterday came in one by one.
The Ryozanpaku Masters, the Jujutsu Academy teachers as well as Kisuke-san all returned.
Hayato-san thanked the teachers from the academy for taking care of Naruto and helping him out.
After serving their orders, we sat together.
Principal Masamichi questioned Sakura about the place she lived and the one who was behind all this.
I placed a hand on her and she explained the basics about her world.
Their world had people called magus who used something called Magecraft.
She was adopted into the family by the head of the family called Zouken Matou who used some kind of ritual to give her the bloodline of their family. One of the main reasons behind this was the fact that the original heir of the family wasn’t born with Magical Circuits, the nerves through which magic flowed and was necessary for one to use Magecraft in their world.
The guy I had punched earlier was the original heir of their family and he held a grudge against her for this.
That said, that Zouken bastard was actually preparing her for some kind of experiment and from what Kisuke-san and the rest had deduced, he was probably planning to make her a vessel to possess her and take over her body.
The things he had put her through was so that he could absorb magic from her to stay alive.
The guy was not even human anymore, as most of his soul was inside the worms. From what Sakura said, there was a pit of worms under the Matou residence, which was the place where he lived.
“This should be enough to qualify him as a curse user, right Sensei?”Gojo-san asked in a very nonchalant voice.
“Are you going to stop if I say no?” Principal sighed.
Gojo-san didn’t answer and for once even Nanami-sensei didn’t say anything.
“Are there any organisations who would take action against this Zouken person if they found out about his actions?”
“I don’t know.” Sakura shook her head.
“If they could then they would have done so earlier. The fact they didn’t means that they either didn’t know anything or didn’t do anything. Either of which is a failure. If left alone, that monster could target someone else. Why are we even discussing all this?” The doctor asked, irritated.
“Because that is a different world. It is outside our jurisdiction.” The Principal argued.
….
“Ah, that solves a lot of things doesn’t it? That means whatever I do there is none of your business then.” Gojo-san got up and dusted his clothes. “I have been really itching to go to other worlds and I owe Shoko one for helping out. Sakura-chan, can you tell me where this Matou residence is in your world?”
He was however not the only one to stand, Kisuke-san stood up too. “I have been quite curious about the magecraft of this world which could manipulate souls too. Can I accompany you? I might be able to help you somewhere.” He asked to which Gojo-san just shrugged.
Sakura however was quiet.
At this, Shoko-san spoke up again. “Don’t be quiet Sakura. If you keep quiet today, there is a chance that that monster would do the same thing to some other unfortunate person.” She urged and finally Sakura looked up and told the address to them and opened the door.
As they were leaving, Shoko-san called out from behind. “Satoru?”
Gojo-san looked back.
“Make it painful.”
“Sure.”
With that said the two people left the Restaurant.
The only reason that the Masters of Ryozanpaku didn’t do so was because they didn’t know anything about magic and could fall into traps.
They however decided to help her out whenever they could.
- Kisuke Urahara -
He looked around the place.
A different word.
He tried to sense the surroundings and sensed many things different from his previous world.
It really was a different world.
Even now, he was finding it hard to believe that the Restaurant had the power to do such an outrageous thing.
Yesterday, when he had suddenly found a dark spot during his routine observation of Karakura town and went to see for himself what was going on there only to discover this wonderful place.
Different worlds.
Completely different power systems.
Curses.
Ninjutsu.
Martial Arts which can manipulate internal energy.
At first he had thought that they were joking but his thoughts were completely shattered when he tried to sense the owner and felt enormous power within him.
The next one to come in his range was that kid, Naruto.
The power inside him… it was unreal.
On listening and observing the people, he found out more about the situation of the Restaurant.
This was a place which connected many worlds together. Most of these people were from different worlds.
His talks with the girl, Miu clarified the situation even more.
And that’s where he heard something interesting in their conversation.
Someone experimenting with a girl and the tortures she had suffered, but the thing which caught his attention the most was the manipulation of the soul being mentioned.
This was something he needed to see.
His senses had already found the traces of some items containing souls of some kind in the bag in the hands of the white haired guy.
And that’s why he decided to work.
If they had some method of affecting the soul, then he needed to know it and prepare for it.
He still didn’t know what kind of place this Restaurant was so it was better to be prepared.
What he had encountered was a unique but rough craftsmanship of someone dividing someone’s soul and making relics to take over other people’s bodies.
The girl whom he assisted in treating was a more interesting case though.
The worms inside her were… revolting.
He was not a saint by any means but there were things even he disliked. One of the reasons he and Mayuri were so different despite having similar hobbies.
But revolted he might be, he did find this technique a more advanced version of the last one.
The worm in the heart contained the soul while the other worms were used to absorb magical energy and feed it back to the user.
She was both a battery as well as a future vessel for that person.
The most interesting thing about the girl however were the nerve-like network inside her body. Magic Circuits she had called those.
How fascinating.
They had some kind of energy flow through them different from Spiritual energy and yet these nerves were intertwined and connected to her soul.
He made sure that he separated the worms without harming them in any way and for that, he used his Bankai.
Even the technique used by the doctor was quite amazing. She might not have noticed it but that thing was also healing her soul to some extent. A very tiny extent but it was there. Which meant it could be improved. So fascinating.
But what was the most stunning thing he saw was probably that boy Touma.
That boy’s power both stunned him as well as sent shivers down his spine.
The only thing even remotely comparable to it was perhaps the Hogyoku.
The entire night of research had given him many insights into the workings of Magic Circuits. He still had to work on the information he had received about curses but they seemed a bit like hollows to him so they might share some common features. He will have to find one for himself to experiment on later.
That’s why when he saw a chance to go to another world, he jumped at the opportunity.
The soul in the worms had been degraded and he wanted to know why such a thing happened. Just what kind of magic could degrade the soul. Also, how was he transferring magic from the worms back to his main body?
Sakura didn’t know much about Magecraft so he wondered if he could get some books for himself while he was there as well.
While he was thinking of these, he detected the same soul signature as the one from the worm and pointed towards the direction. “There. Three kilometres away in that direction.”
Gojo looked at him and then towards the direction and placed a hand on his shoulder.
The next moment, they were facing the gates of an old Japanese style mansion.
….
Movement technique?
No.
It was too fast to be so, not to mention that he would have sensed it.
Spatial Technique.
Spatial Kido and techniques were banned in the Soul Society and were something he hadn’t really delved much into except for opening senkaimon between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo and the Human World.
But it was not this fast.
While he was thinking of this, Gojo made some handsigns and a thin barrier spread over the place.
“Kisuke-san, can I leave it to you to see that no one escapes?” Gojo said while pulling down his glasses and revealing a very unique pair of eyes.
Those eyes had to have some kind of power. Kisuke just knew it as he watched the man look directly towards the ground below the mansion as if seeing through all the ground.
“Oh, sure. They are thirty five metres from our current position, ten metres below the ground.” He offered while making some barriers of his own. His Spiritual senses had already locked on to the signature of the rest of Zouken’s soul. “Just make sure you don’t destroy the books and information too much. Such good research data would be hard to come by.” He said as he made a barrier of his own. “There, now the souls won’t be escaping. By the way, we should make it quick. There was an unusually large signal in this town. We might not want to attract too much attention.”
“Alright then. Get back a little.” He pointed a finger towards the place where Kisuke sensed the soul from and a red orb, similar to Hado Number 31: Shakkahō and it blasted through the ground, creating a hole for them to walk.
“You could have just teleported us, you know?”
“Now now, where’s the fun in that? Moreover, isn’t it a common courtesy to knock the door down when coming in?”
It’s knocking on the door, not knocking down the door.
“You can go and collect whatever you want first. Just don’t get too close to the fight. I will go and do some pest control first.” Gojo said. Kisuke didn’t need another word as he disappeared from his place with a Shunpo.
It was important to save as many books and research papers as he could as fast as he could because Gojo didn’t look like the person to cleanly take care of things.
- Shinji Matou -
Shit!
What the fuck was going on?
He had been thinking that he had hit his head too hard yesterday when he started hearing voices in his head until he was dragged into the presence of one of the ugliest looking guys.
And that’s where he found out what exactly he had eaten.
A finger.
He had eaten a finger of a dead body.
That bastard!
He would make sure that he kicks that bastard in the face when he is brought down and enjoy himself when torturing him.
He would show that bitch that she belonged only to him and no one else and that she couldn’t ever escape from his grasp. He will make her submit to him.
But eating a finger wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that it was cursed.
They had cursed him and now he was stuck with a ghost who was always trying and taking over his body the moment he lost any concentration.
Yesterday, it had tried going back to the Restaurant only to come across a scene where a man in a funny green and white striped hat was destroying his finger.
The spirit had left the control of his body to him the moment he saw the people inside the room and he didn’t dare enter the Restaurant, just watching from outside.
That still didn’t stop the ghost from raging inside his head when he saw his finger being destroyed, swearing to kill each and everyone of them present there.
Shinji had quickly escaped from the area but before he could reach back home and ask his grandfather for help, the ghost had taken over his body and began interrogating him.
He hadn’t been able to leave till the morning when the ghost suddenly left the control of his body back to him.
He didn’t know why but honestly, he didn’t even want to know. All he knew was that he had to reach home first so he quickly ran back towards his home, only to encounter a barrier outside.
What followed was a loud sound of explosion and smoke rising from his house.
He didn’t know what was happening but Shinji had a feeling that he wouldn’t be having good days ahead.
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Author’s Note:
Alright, this chapter took a day or so more than I expected.
I didn’t want to skip on the scenes by just hand waving them and had to plan them in detail.
All of this happened in one evening mostly so not much happened in the chapter in the background.
I thought about Naruto’s birth conditions, the amounts of deaths and negative feelings directed towards him, not to mention Kurama, the self proclaimed living embodiment of hatred sealed inside him as well as his own depressing childhood experiences. The guy was born for Jujutsu and was bound to have insane reserves.
As for the chakra imprints of Kushina and Minato inside him, I thought about introducing them in a unique way in this story.
Vengeful Spirits.
We will know more about them in the later chapters.
For now, wait till the Matous get their due.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.
