Reborn in Jujutsu Kaisen as a Zenin

The morning light filtered through the traditional paper screens of the Zenin compound's guest quarters, casting gentle patterns across the tatami floor.

Indra and Kisara sat facing each other, the intimate space between them filled with unspoken thoughts and considerations.

The messenger had been sent, Shiho Gojo would arrive within the hour, and now they had these final moments to ensure their path forward was truly one they both desired.

"Are you certain?" Indra asked, his deep voice softer than usual. His dark eyes studied Kisara's face with careful attention, searching for any hint of hesitation or discomfort.

"This arrangement isn't necessary for my plans. The Gojo alliance would make certain aspects easier, yes, but your feelings matter more to me than political convenience."

He reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face, the gesture conveying tenderness that his usually stoic demeanor rarely revealed. "I won't proceed if this brings you any pain."

Kisara leaned slightly into his touch, a small smile playing at her lips. "I've had years to consider this possibility, Indra.

Growing up in the Zenin clan, I always knew that political marriages were part of our world." Her eyes met his directly, honest and clear.

"When Satoru spoke so bluntly three days ago, it stirred something in me - I won't deny that. But it wasn't shock or even disapproval. It was simply... recognition of a reality I've long understood."

She took his hand in hers, her fingers interlacing with his much larger ones. "I know where I stand in your heart.

I know that no political arrangement will change what we've built together." Her voice softened further.

"And I know your vision for the world we're creating - one where suffering like what my mother and I endured becomes increasingly rare.

If this alliance helps build that world, how could I object?"

Indra's expression remained serious, but his thumb traced gentle circles on the back of her hand. "The world I seek to build is meant to bring you pleasure, not pain. Even the smallest discomfort to you weighs more heavily than any political advantage."

"This isn't discomfort," Kisara assured him, her voice carrying quiet conviction. "It's pragmatism. The Gojo alliance strengthens our position against the Council of Earth.

It unifies two of Japan's most powerful clans under a single vision. And Shiho herself brings valuable skills and connections." She paused, a hint of amusement entering her expression.

"Besides, I find her rather interesting. Not at all what I expected from Satoru's sister."

A rare, subtle smile touched Indra's lips. "She is... surprising. Her political acumen rivals that of the Higher Ups, yet she maintains a broader vision than most of them." His expression grew more serious again.

"But this arrangement would be more than political. You understand that?"

"I do," Kisara nodded. "And I'm at peace with it. Our world is changing, Indra.

The old structures are failing, and what replaces them will be shaped by choices we make now." She squeezed his hand gently.

"I choose to support the future you're building - in all its aspects."

The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted their conversation.

A servant knelt outside the door, announcing in formal tones, "Shiho Gojo-sama has arrived and awaits your convenience."

"We'll receive her in the main reception room," Indra replied.

As the servant departed, he turned back to Kisara. "Last chance to reconsider."

Kisara stood, smoothing her formal kimono with practiced grace. "I'm certain. Let's not keep her waiting."

The Zenin compound's main reception room embodied traditional Japanese elegance -minimalist yet refined, with carefully selected art pieces and a view of an immaculately maintained garden.

Shiho Gojo knelt in perfect seiza position, her formal attire and composed demeanor betraying none of the anticipation she felt as Indra and Kisara entered.

"Thank you for coming," Indra stated as they took their places across from her. "We've considered your proposal carefully."

Shiho inclined her head slightly, acknowledging his words while maintaining the careful poise she had cultivated throughout her life. "I appreciate the consideration. I understand such decisions require thorough evaluation."

"We've decided to accept," Kisara stated directly, her voice calm and clear. "However, we believe some additional steps would be beneficial before formalizing the arrangement."

Shiho's eyes widened slightly - the only visible indication of her surprise at the straightforward acceptance. "I'm honored by your decision. What additional steps did you have in mind?"

"A period of familiarization," Indra explained. "Before committing fully to such a significant alliance, it would be prudent for the three of us to develop a better understanding of each other beyond political considerations."

"A reasonable approach," Shiho agreed, genuine appreciation in her tone. "Political alliances function best when built on mutual understanding and respect.

I would welcome the opportunity to know you both better."

"Then we are in agreement," Indra nodded. "We'll establish a timeline for-"

"Well, isn't this cozy?" Satoru's voice interrupted as he materialized in the room, floating cross-legged above the tatami.

"My manipulative sister, my little brother, and the Ten Shadows user, all planning the perfect political marriage. How annoying."

Shiho's expression remained carefully neutral despite her brother's sudden appearance. "Satoru. I wasn't aware you were here."

"Clearly," he grinned, though his eyes held an unusual edge. "I came to see what little brother decided about your proposal.

At first, I thought it was hilarious - you trying to worm your way into another power structure since you couldn't control me." His gaze shifted to Indra, his grin fading.

"But it seems you're actually considering it, little brother. I didn't think you'd fall for her act."

"Satoru," Indra's voice carried a warning tone. "This is neither the time nor the place."

"Oh, I think it's exactly the time," Satoru countered, landing lightly on the floor. "Before you tie yourself to someone who's spent her entire life manipulating everyone around her.

You don't know her like I do, little brother. Everything she does has an angle, a calculation. She's been trying to control me since I was born, and when that failed, she just found a new target."

Shiho's composure, maintained through years of political maneuvering and family disappointments, finally cracked. 

Her brother truly hated her she finally realized.

She turned her face slightly away, but not before Indra caught the unmistakable glimmer of tears forming in her eyes - a vulnerability she had never intended to reveal.

"I should go," she said, her voice almost steady as she rose with careful dignity. "This discussion should continue when circumstances are more favorable."

"Running away now that someone's telling the truth?" Satoru pressed, though his own expression had shifted slightly at the unexpected sight of his sister's tears. "That's new for you, Shiho."

"I'm not running," she replied, her back straight as she moved toward the door. "I'm simply recognizing when a conversation has ceased to be productive. Please excuse me."

As she departed, her steps measured and her head held high despite the emotion she was clearly struggling to contain, a heavy silence fell over the room.

Indra rose to his full height, his crimson aura becoming faintly visible as he turned to Satoru. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as his cold fury manifested.

"That," he stated, his voice dangerously quiet, "was unworthy of you."

Satoru's usual playfulness had vanished, replaced by genuine confusion. "You don't know her, little brother. She's spent her entire life-"

"I don't need to have known her for years to recognize what I just witnessed," Indra cut him off.

"A woman who has carried burdens you've never acknowledged, who has managed the political consequences of your actions while you floated above it all,

who came here with a proposal that showed more foresight than most of the Higher Ups have demonstrated."

His eyes fixed on Satoru with unusual intensity. "And you just reduced her to tears with casual cruelty."

"Tears?" Satoru repeated, genuine surprise in his voice. "Shiho doesn't cry. She calculates, she manipulates, she-"

"She feels," Kisara interjected quietly. "Whatever history exists between you, what just happened was genuine pain, not manipulation."

Satoru's expression shifted, the Six Eyes showing him something he hadn't allowed himself to see before. "That's... not possible. She's always been..."

"What you decided she was," Indra finished for him.

"Perhaps it's time you looked at your sister with those Six Eyes of yours and actually saw her, instead of the image you created when you were children."

Satoru stood unusually still, his gaze fixed on the door through which Shiho had departed. "She was really crying?"

"Go," Indra commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Fix what you've broken. Or don't return claiming to be my brother."

For once, Satoru didn't have a flippant response. Without another word, he vanished, the space where he had stood folding in on itself as he teleported away.

Shiho had made it to the compound's outer gardens before her careful composure fully crumbled.

Finding a secluded spot beneath a maple tree, she allowed herself a moment of genuine vulnerability, something she had denied herself for years.

The tears came silently, born of a lifetime of calculated restraint and unacknowledged pain.

"I didn't know you could actually cry," Satoru's voice came from behind her. "I always thought you were too calculated for real emotions."

She quickly wiped her eyes, straightening her posture through sheer force of habit. "What do you want, Satoru?

To further demonstrate your point? I assure you, it's been adequately made."

"You know, for someone with the Six Eyes, I've been pretty blind," he said, floating around to face her.

His usual playful demeanor was absent, replaced by something more thoughtful. "Or maybe just willfully not looking."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, struggling to reconstruct her composed facade.

"You," he replied simply. "I've spent years seeing you as this manipulative witch who just wanted to control everyone. It never occurred to me to ask why."

Shiho's laugh held no humor. "Because it was easier to dismiss me than to understand me. The Six Eyes show you everything except empathy, Satoru."

"Maybe," he acknowledged, surprising her with his candor. "So help me understand now. Why have you spent your life trying to... guide me - as you've always liked to call it?"

The question hung between them, opening a door that had been closed since their childhood confrontation in the garden.

Shiho considered deflecting, returning to the safe territory of formal detachment, but something in her brother's expression - a genuine curiosity she hadn't seen directed at her in years - made her choose honesty instead.

"Because I was terrified," she admitted, the words coming with difficulty after years of careful self-control.

"Not of you, but for you. For our family. For everything I thought would fall apart if you continued on your path without any guidance."

She turned away, looking out over the Zenin gardens. "Do you know what it was like to be the first child - a daughter - in a clan that expected a son?

To have Uncle Ryusei constantly positioning Masaki as the 'proper' heir? To see Father fighting those battles every day?"

"I never thought about it," Satoru admitted. "The clan politics always seemed so... boring."

"They were my entire world," Shiho replied.

"Every day was a calculation, a performance to prove I was worthy despite being born female.

And then you came along - perfect, powerful, everything the clan had hoped for. The Six Eyes and Limitless together, a son to continue the bloodline."

She turned back to face him. "I was relieved, Satoru. Genuinely relieved. The burden shifted from me to you, and I thought I could help you carry it.

Be your advisor, your support. Keep you from making the mistakes that would hurt our family."

"By trying to control me," he stated, though the accusation carried less heat than usual.

"By trying to guide you," she corrected. "You were a child with godlike power and no understanding of consequences.

Every time you dismissed tradition, insulted the Higher Ups, challenged authority - those actions had repercussions. Repercussions that fell on Father, on our clan, and yes, on me."

Her voice cracked slightly. "Do you know who smoothed things over after you called the entire council of Higher Ups 'boring old fossils' to their faces?

Who negotiated the political fallout when you destroyed that historical shrine because a curse happened to be hiding there?

Who spent years rebuilding the alliances you casually shattered with your indifference?"

Satoru's floating stopped, his feet touching the ground in a rare display of seriousness. "You did."

"I did," she confirmed. "Not because I wanted to control you, but because someone had to mitigate the damage.

Because Father was struggling under the weight of it all.

Because despite everything, you're my brother, and I didn't want to see you isolated from the world you seemed determined to alienate."

"And I called you manipulative for it," Satoru said slowly, as if seeing their shared history from a new angle for the first time. "Every time you tried to help, I pushed you away."

"You did," Shiho agreed, a hint of her old composure returning. "And eventually, I stopped trying directly.

I focused on managing the consequences instead, on building the political connections that could protect our family from the worst effects of your... independence."

"Which led you here," Satoru concluded. "To Indra."

"Yes," she acknowledged. "Though not only for political reasons. When he defeated you - taught you something even the Six Eyes couldn't show you - I became genuinely interested.

He accomplished what I never could: making you see beyond your own perspective, even if only briefly."

A moment of silence stretched between them as Satoru processed this revelation. "You've been carrying all of this alone," he finally said. "For years."

"It's what I was trained to do," Shiho replied. "Carry burdens silently, manage problems discreetly, maintain the clan's standing while others enjoyed the freedom of their power."

"I never saw it," Satoru admitted. "Or maybe I didn't want to see it. The Six Eyes show me everything, but apparently I've been choosing what to look at."

"We all have our blind spots," Shiho said, a ghost of a smile touching her lips. "Even the Observer."

Satoru's characteristic grin slowly returned, though tempered with something new - a hint of genuine respect. "So this marriage proposal... it's not just political maneuvering?"

"It's primarily political," she admitted honestly. "But not exclusively. I respect what Indra is building, and I believe I can contribute meaningfully to it.

The alliance makes strategic sense for both our clans in the face of international pressure. But there's also..." she hesitated, unused to discussing personal matters, "...a genuine desire to be part of something meaningful.

Something that might actually change this world for the better.

A- And he's... he's quite handsome too. All those muscles..." She murmers at the end, a blush coloring her face.

"You know he's going to completely reshape the jujutsu world, right?" Satoru asked, deciding that teasing can come later for that last comment.

"Probably overthrow the Higher Ups eventually, rebuild everything from the ground up."

"I'm counting on it," Shiho replied, surprising him with her directness. "The current system is failing.

The Council of Earth is just the most visible symptom of deeper problems. Change is coming whether the old guard accepts it or not."

Satoru studied his sister with new interest. "You're not as boring as I thought."

"And you're not as oblivious as I feared," she countered, a genuine smile finally breaking through her composed exterior. "Though your timing for revelations remains terrible."

"So," Satoru floated upward again, his usual posture returning though his expression remained unusually thoughtful.

"What now? Do I need to go apologize to little brother for interrupting his political marriage negotiations?"

"We both need to return," Shiho replied, straightening her kimono and discreetly wiping away the last traces of tears.

"And yes, apologies are in order. Though perhaps we could approach it as... a new beginning. For both of us."

"A new beginning," Satoru repeated, testing the concept. "Between the manipulative witch and the arrogant brat?"

"Between a brother and sister who might finally understand each other," Shiho corrected, though her tone carried a warmth that had been absent in their interactions for years.

As they made their way back toward the main compound, walking side by side rather than at odds for perhaps the first time since childhood,

Shiho felt a weight lifting that she hadn't fully acknowledged until now.

Whatever came next - whether the alliance with Indra proceeded or not - something fundamental had shifted between her and Satoru.

The Six Eyes had finally seen her, and she had finally allowed herself to be seen.

(Shiho Gojo's physical appearance picture)

------------------------------

(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

So, I finally established Shiho's character. 

Satoru can be quite oblivious sometimes - especially when still keeping something from before his defeat against Indra, the same.

So yeah, do please comment and review how you found it, and I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)