Megumi once again wondered why he found himself doing this. Even entertaining the thought was not something he would have bothered with in another life, and yet, despite his best wishes, he found himself seated in the car, back to the clan grounds, and this time, he wasn't just going to hide in his father's estate. He was going for a will reading.
A will from a man he couldn't find it in himself to care about, and yet here he was anyway, which in a full-circle moment, elbow on the seat rest and face resting in an open palm, he wondered once more why he was doing this, wasting time with it.
A bump on the road, a side effect of a previous fight, caused the car to bounce slightly and made the Shikigami above him grunt in what Megumi was going to assume was annoyance. Mahoraga. That was the reason, deceptively simple as it was. The Shikigami had not spoken since that one moment where he argued against the higher-ups, but he was sufficient enough in using gestures to get his way.
Megumi looked outside, half-heartedly wondering why he had not spotted a single rogue cursed spirit despite how saturated they were in the city, till they entered another pothole that made the resting Shikigami grunt in annoyance again. Of course, like a vast majority of answers recently, it was because of Mahoraga. The Shikigami had obliterated everything in a straight line, and as mad and insatiate with their need to cause death as cursed spirits were, even they learned.
Their journey continued, other than the rare potholes the car kept getting into. That also stopped after Mahoraga shoved the Sword of Extermination straight through the roof and beside Ijichi's head. Since then, the manager had endeavoured to drive better.
The Zenin compound welcomed them with two attendants at the gate. Megumi had a feeling they were there more for Mahoraga than they were for him. They trailed alongside the car, two women dressed in beautiful, patterned kimonos, distant cousins of his, considering the vague resemblance they had to him.
The car came to a final stop in front of Toji's estate, and Megumi got out of the car.
"Welcome back, Megumi-san." One of the two women greeted him with a bow, one that he simply responded to with a nod, before turning to Ijichi, who remained in the driver's seat.
"Thank you once again, Ijichi-san."
"Don't worry about it, Fushiguro-kun. Akari Nitta has been sent to look after your sister, at least till you find a better alternative. Worst-case scenario, we bring her with us back to Jujutsu High, sneak her past the—"
Mahoraga let out a growl that shook the entire car. It was enough to express his disagreement with that plan, and Ijichi had grown familiar enough to know.
"Or we leave her there till we find a better plan." He finished hurriedly, before, with a final nod to Megumi, he waited for a long second as Mahoraga unfolded himself from the roof with unhurried ease, slipping to the ground and cracking his neck to the side, just as the wheel settled above his head. Ijichi, seeing his last passenger was off, immediately drove away, leaving the sorcerer, his Shikigami, and the two attendants alone.
There was a brief moment of silence as they watched the car roar past them. Megumi did not know about the rest, but the only thing running through his head at the moment was Mahoraga's seeming dislike for Tsumiki. The Shikigami did not even try to hide it. It had been obvious in its stance, in the way it acted, and it had been the first clue that something was wrong with his sister.
Mahoraga was on guard against her, and the only other person the scary Shikigami had been wary of was Sukuna. What did that mean? That he saw her as a danger on the same level as Sukuna? Impossible. Or was it? A jaded part of his mind called out as he watched the tail end of the car turn a corner.
He had noticed it as well. Tsumiki had been acting strange. One second, she was the familiar Tsumiki he knew, and the next it was almost like she was a different person. What was it? A side effect of the Culling Game she had been dragged into? Or a side effect of her coma? Megumi's eyes drifted to Mahoraga, who was simply standing still to the side, his head turned to the far distance. He had a feeling Mahoraga knew exactly what was wrong, and yet the Shikigami refused to tell him, but the Shikigami had earned his trust enough for him to ignore whatever it was hiding, at least.
"Megumi-san, you're here for the reading, correct?" an older woman's voice called, and unlike most, her voice only cracked for a split second as she spotted the hulking form of the Divine General.
Megumi stared at her in silence for a moment, blinking in confusion at her features. Thin eyes, black hair tied up in a knot, her resemblance to another person he knew was uncanny, and he was surprised enough that he didn't realize when the words left his lips.
"You look like Maki-senpai."
The woman gave a complicated look, one that spoke of history both good and bad, before nodding in response. "I'm her mother," the woman replied with a faint bow, as her hand instinctively smoothed out the edges of her kimono. "Follow me, please." And they walked after her.
"The will reading will be held in a side hall. The lawyer is already here, as well as Naobito's brothers and his son. It is to be a private affair." She glanced behind at Mahoraga following behind them with thudding footsteps. It was a testament to the craftsmanship of the clan houses that the wooden floorboards beneath them had not collapsed from the Shikigami's weight. "Although I'm certain the presence of the Divine General himself would not be amiss. He is family, after all." She trailed off with one more glance before focusing ahead.
So they knew. Megumi had known it was coming, had even expected it. After all, word had spread. Not of the meeting with the higher-ups, but of the fight against Sukuna. Everyone knew who had held the King of Curses back from utterly decimating Shibuya. The Divine General, Mahoraga. Knowing the Shikigami was a part of his cursed technique, from there it was an easy thing to go through the tomes and old books, track records that spoke about the Zenin inherited technique, and after that, the awe and fear they looked at the Divine General with suddenly made sense.
It was not just about his cursed technique. It was its history, intertwined with the clan as it was. The Shikigami that had killed a Gojo with both the Six Eyes and Limitless. A Shikigami that killed someone on the level of Gojo Satoru and stalemated Ryomen Sukuna. The Eight-Handled Sword, Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga. If the Shikigami knew or cared about this, he didn't show it.
Finally, Maki's mother came to a stop in front of a sliding door, shifting to her knees in a traditional showing of submission that made Megumi frown. She slid the door open and called out in a low voice, "Introducing Fushiguro Zenin, son of Toji Zenin, alongside the Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga."
The assembled people in the room looked at him as he stepped inside to take a place, and he looked back at them.
Mahoraga ducked through the doorway behind him and straightened, and the four assembled people took a careful step back. The room was small, with a single seating mat and a sole bulb hanging above them, and Mahoraga's sheer bulk alone was enough to take up a full half of the room.
Megumi stood in place, knowing Mahoraga's size cast a shadow over him that was no doubt intimidating to the people around him. He looked at them. The most noticeable was a huge man with long black spiky hair that fell over his back and a cropped beard, a revealed chest with the top part of his kimono resting on his hips. His familiar features were twisted into a perpetual apathy that was heightened by the scar on his forehead.
According to what he remembered while going through what Toji had left behind, he was looking at Jinichi Zenin. His uncle.
The next person that caught his attention was a whipcord-slim man in a traditional white kimono and black hakama. He had a sheathed Katana on his hips and a scowl in his aged features as he stared at Megumi with eyes that had black sclera. A rare sorcerous trait, if he remembered his studies well. Those eyes also told him all he needed to know about the man's identity. Ogi Zenin, Naobito's brother and his grand-uncle.
The last person was the youngest of the trio. Messy blonde hair, piercings, and amber cat eyes that stared at him with a startling intensity. Megumi did not need to go through his father's things to know Naoya Zenin. The Zenin clan's prodigy, and the third-fastest sorcerer, according to the rumors.
"Hoh, you really came?"
Naoya said to him, but those amber eyes were focused on the Shikigami behind him.
"I did." Megumi answered him anyway, because he knew Mahoraga wasn't going to. Naoya turned to him and tilted his head like a cat that had spotted a lame bird.
"You don't have it, you know..." Naoya trailed off while eyeing him, and Megumi blinked in confusion because he didn't know what the man was talking about. "That sense of danger and death that Toji-san radiated with his sheer presence. You lack it. Your Shikigami, on the other hand..." Naoya turned his attention back to Mahoraga, and the smile on his face slipped off into something more cautious because he suddenly felt it.
Mahoraga's presence had a certain weight to it, and it could be felt intimately once he focused it on a person, one of the ways he signified he was looking at you. It was a heavy thing Megumi had gotten used to. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the people in the room.
"Thank you for coming, Fushiguro-san." A nasal voice called out, and Megumi turned to the tiny dwarf of a man seated on the ground. He was an older man with spectacles and a neatly pressed suit. "I wasn't sure you would make it, but I'm happy that you did. This concerns you too, after all. Now, if you're all ready, I will start the reading of the late Naobito Zenin's will."
"Get it over with, old man. We already know the result." Naoya called out with a wave.
The small man tilted his glasses to hide his features, then, with a bow, he brought out a file from the envelope beside him.
"This is the last will written by Naobito Zenin hours before his death. I, Furudate, shall now read this will, which he entrusted to me. It was Naobito-sama's wish that I read this will once Ogi Zenin-sama, Jinchi Zenin-sama, Naoya Zenin-sama, and the final individual he added shortly before his death, Megumi Fushiguro-sama, upon hearing of the events in Shibuya, are all gathered together."
Naoya let out a snort, but the man continued.
"If there are no objections, I shall begin." There were none. "First, in accordance with Naobito Zenin's will, Naoya Zenin shall be made the 27th head of the Zenin clan." Naoya grinned. "Second, Naoya Zenin shall inherit all the assets and cursed tools stored in both Jujutsu High and the Zenin clan's forbidden vaults, and shall require agreement from either Ogi or Jinchi-sama before making use of them."
"Tsk." Naoya scowled. "Fine, then."
"However." The old man continued over Naoya in that same droning tone, and Megumi felt something bubbling in his gut. It took him a second to recognize it as... amusement? and another to recognize it was not coming from him but from Mahoraga. The question was why. He glanced back at the Shikigami and noticed its lips twitch.
The old man's next words caused Megumi to focus. "If, for any reason, Satoru Gojo dies or is incapacitated, the pledge and agreement made with Toji Fushiguro would be carried out, and Megumi Fushiguro would be taken into the Zenin clan and appointed as the 27th head of the Zenin clan."
A pin would have sounded like an atomic bomb in the silence that followed, but the lawyer could not care less as he continued.
"And all assets shall be transferred to him. That said, the will reading for Naobito Zenin, 26th clan head of the Zenin clan, has been read. Have a good day, gentlemen."
The sound of cloth ruffling as the lawyer stood up and made his way out was loud. Then Megumi opened his mouth to voice his very vocal disagreement and to relinquish the trap that was the carefully worded chains Naobito had moved to bind him with, but another voice was faster.
"Fuck No."
The voice came from his right. Naoya Zenin was already beside the lawyer, his hand clamping down like a vice on the man's shoulder, enough for the man to let out a little moan of pain. Naoya was fast. So fast that Megumi had not even sensed him move in the slightest. The same could not be said for Mahoraga, who had a vicious grin on his face as he stared at Naoya.
The wheel above his head gave a groan, like it wanted to spin but had not gained the required force to move.
Megumi turned back to Naoya, and the Zenin's face features were twisted like a cat that had just somehow watched a fat, limp mouse scurry away from its clawed grasp.
"Do you really expect us to accept it? Accept a bastard half-breed who doesn't even carry the name as the next head of the Zenin clan? A child who has hardly spent up to a week inside these walls, who shows up to my father's will reading like he was forced to it. You expect us to accept someone who knows nothing about the clan to rule it?"
He was not raising his voice, but he did not need to. The room was quiet enough that Megumi was near certain even people outside could hear him. "This entire thing is a farce. This is Toji's joke, delivered from whatever hole he crawled into to die, and I refuse to—"
"I accept," Megumi said, and Mahoraga acted like he had been waiting for those two words.
Mahoraga's hand lashed out faster than thought in a swing that parted the room in half, the edge of the Sword of Extermination gleaming in the flickering light of the sole bulb. The wind came later, as if the world suddenly realized Mahoraga had moved a second ago.
Megumi blinked and saw that Naoya had made distance, while Ogi had his hand on his sword, and Jinchi was in a boxer's stance. He stared at the slash. Mahoraga had aimed for Naoya, or at least the spot where Naoya's hand had gripped the lawyer's shoulder, but Naoya had slipped away with that same flickering speed that looked more like teleportation. Megumi was reminded that he had the same technique as Naobito Zenin.
Naoya stared at him in surprise.
Megumi returned his surprised gaze with a clear one, like he had planned the whole thing, instead of the truth of the matter. His acceptance had been one born of spite, and Mahoraga's attack had been the Shikigami's own will. Yet it did not change the facts. He had accepted Naobito's will. He was now the 27th clan leader of a clan he could not give two fucks about.
Shit.
"I accept," he said again, to the room this time, to the lawyer and the three other men present. He could hardly take it back now. "If there are no objections."
There was a judging look on the faces of Ogi and Jinchi as they considered his words, while Naoya glared at him.
It was not a short consideration, but he waited through it, hands in his pockets.
Jinchi was the first person to speak.
"Don't know you," he said. He had a peculiar and slow way of speaking. "Don't particularly want to." He paused. "But I know this bastard." A slight movement of his head toward Naoya. "And I've wanted to know him less every year for the past decade."
"Same position," Ogi said. His tone was the tone of someone annoyed by the choices he had to make. "I don't know you, Megumi-san, and I don't trust you. I don't have a particular reason to give you anything." He let out a breath. "But I suppose you're better than the alternative." Those black eyes of his drifted to Mahoraga. "You also have the blood, the peerage, and the cursed technique."
Naoya's expression had gone through several stages. It was currently in a stage that Megumi did not have a name for, but recognized as the stage that preceded violence. From the disposition of the others, he was certain they knew it as well.
"However, I do have a condition," Jinchi said, and for the first time, that mask of apathy was lowered, and there was a fire in his eyes. "If you want to lead this clan, you must prove you can. It should be simple enough for the child with the inherited technique of the Zenin."
Megumi looked at him, aware of the cost he was asking him to pay.
"All of you?" he questioned with a glance.
"Whoever wants to join in," the man said, and the slight shift in his posture made it clear that he personally intended to join in. Megumi saw Naoya's features twist from a death glare to thinking, to a vicious smile as he saw his chance. The lawyer sensed the change in the air.
"If that is all, I will be leaving." The door slid open behind Mahoraga before the man finished his words, Maki's mother no doubt giving him an escape route, and he took it, moving almost as fast as Naoya.
Megumi exhaled once through his nose.
He looked back at Mahoraga, and the Shikigami's massive grin was all the answer he needed. He wanted this, and who was he to deny Mahoraga what he wanted?
"Fine. Pick a date."
"Now!" Naoya screamed, surprising Megumi, and the next moment, the room exploded into violence.