It was a dark and cold night which encompassed the city. The clouds were scarce but a light wind was present, making people's clothes flutter. A few bars and restaurants were still open, their atmosphere bright and inviting. Voices could be made out, laughing or arguing to their own leisure.
No one seemed to noticed to the Curse walking through the streets.
Or rather, no one paid attention to the elderly Mutant who roamed the streets.
Jogo was walking at a slow pace, aimless and thoughtful. His cane clattered against the ground every few steps, his lone eye darting around, attempting to understand what these... Human-curse hybrids were.
He had already understood that, no-on here seemed to be entirely Human. Everyone had something which was unique to themselves, a trait which usually held true in curses.
But even if they had those things, their appearance wasn't always affected.
'...what does that make them...?'
He was referring to... everyone. Including himself.
No instinctual hate. Even the most mutated individuals here were rational and human-like.
No Cursed Energy. Their application of abilities was wholly different to his own. No barriers. No domains.
'I wonder...' Jogo's thought turned to Geto and that goal of his. 'Is this what Geto had envisioned?'
This felt wrong. Jogo wasn't privy to the details of Suguru Geto's plans, but he did know that he wanted to reshape the world for curses.
'No. This could not be it. Geto was a madman, a human nearly turned curse. His goal could not have been something so... harmonious.'
His goal and ambition hadn't been the same as Jogo's. And while Jogo didn't know much about him, he did know this "Suguru Geto" to have been very interested in both Curses... and Humans, although in a scientific sense.
Jogo frowned openly as he considered that. He was well aware that Suguru Geto, was in fact someone else. That piece of information had been revealed during Satoru Gojo's sealing.
He had already suspected something beforehand, given the news of Satoru Gojo's friends death being rather widespread.
But given their "common cause", he had simply not dug into it.
'Bah, not like it matters now.'
With the air's cursed Energy so diluted, he truly didn't see how any Cursed spirit or Jujutsu sorcerer could exist... here or now.
Jogo watched, his expression unchanging how the people shoveled food into theirmouths, like Humans did. His eye slightly twitched as he saw a small human detach her fingers from her hand and float them to another to tap onto their shoulder.
Such an action, yet not a ripple in Cursed Energy.
Jogo kept walking, turning his head away from the restaurants and bars.
-
He walked for long. Restaurants were out of sight and he knew he had reached one of the less savory places of human civilization.
Bars, their entrances messy and shields crooked. The music was loud and so were the conversations. Dark alleys, people inside of them. But simplest of all, a small difference in Cursed Energy, the place simply more negative than the prior place. The Cursed Energy was thicker and the positive Energy simply thinner.
'This is not normal... Humans shouldn't emit positive energy in the first place.'
This was confusing to him. Humans emitting Cursed Energy was normal. Depending on their feelings and lives, they could varying amounts of it.
But now, those happy people in the restaurant had emitted positive energy. Something which Jogo had never felt and witnessed before.
And it mixed, resulting in this... diluted Cursed energy.
He turned into an alley, sensing the Cursed Energy thickening. No more thoughts were involved, simply... instinct.
Then, he heard the screams.
"AAAAAHHH, L-LEAVE ME A-ALONE-MMFFfff!"
Jogo's face remained impassive, as he turned his head towards where the sound came from. His gait did not change in speed as he headed into another alley the sound had emerged from.
'A human woman.'
He saw her. And her captors.
"Hahahah dude, you saw the boobs on this one?"
One's human's voice rang out, his voice filled with excitement.
"Ye-yeah! Wa-it! I-I'll cover her m-mouth... S-She should only open it when we w-want her to. Heheheeh."
"You two, be quiet! We don't need anyone else to try to take her from us. Or worse, some dumbass hero to intervene!"
'Four humans in total.'
Jogo's face remained impassive as he paused for a moment. He didn't really understand what these humans were doing, but that hardly mattered to him, did it?
He walked past their alley, his gait unchanged.
"MMPPF- YOU! PLEase! Call the Hero- mmppf!"
"Wha-? Who you talking to Bitch?! Oi, there's some geezer over there!"
Somehow, the woman had seen him at the entrance of the alley. And by extension, the three human males did the same.
"The fuck you doing here, old man? You looking for trouble?!?"
'...'
Jogo turned around, his expression unchanging. One of the goons stood behind him, his arm sprouting spikes as he held it towards him in a "threatening" gesture.
The woman being pressed into the ground was crying, her eyes wide as she looked at him and struggled to get free.
"P-Please! I-I have money! I'll d-do anything!"
The guys stopped even trying to cover her mouth, instead focusing their attention on Jogo.
Still, one of them kicked her in the sides, knocking the air out of her.
"What? WHAT? YOU GOT A PROBLEM OLD MAN?!?!"
The guy at the front grew increasingly aggressive as he approached. The other guys snickered in the back, seemingly enjoying the spectacle.
'...the human girl said "anything." That should include information.'
"Out of my way."
Jogo's grating voice echoed through the alley and his hand pressed against goon number 1's stomach.
He went up in flames.
The two others immediately stopped snickering as they saw the standing, burning carcasse of their friend.
"Wha-... Eichiro!"
The body fell to the ground. So did the two others, their bodies promptly exploding in a mess of gore as a small insect flew through them at the speed of sound.
"How weak. A single Ember insect, not even detonating."
The Human woman was shaking, her wide eyes still focused on the burning carcasse of her aggressor. She didn't notice the two other bodies falling over themselves, the wall painted red, nor the warm, red liquid covering her body.
Only when her gaze shifted towards the course, did she notice the cracks in the wall, the red color and when she fully turned, the bodies.
"Hah- HAAH. AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Her scream started out ragged as she saw the gore and she shrunk back as the perpetrator, Jogo walked closer to her, his expression as impassive as earlier.
He didn't speak immediately and simply allowed her to scream and cry until she'd stop. He was, frankly rather impatient to start asking, Mahito had once said that making the comfortable was a better way to make humans speak.
'That should hold true for her too.'
And it did. It took Minutes, but her voice broke at a certain point as she simply shrunk back, shivering as she stared at him.
"Girl, listen well." Jogo talked clearly and slowly. "I have questions. And you will answer them."
The girl nodded, her movements frantic. Jogo smiled a bit, exposing his teeth and the girl shrunk back even more.
This, would hopefully help clear up his confusion.
-
CHAPTER END