The Inumaki Clan Prodigy [Jujutsu Kaisen]

"Why is everyone empty handed?!" Nobara shouted in confusion. She ran over to the gathered second years and Megumi with a bag in tow.

"What's with the luggage?" Panda asked instead of answering her question.

"Why? We're going to Kyoto right?" Nobara asked, confusing them all. "A goodwill event in Kyoto…" Nobara trailed off in confusion.

"A goodwill event with Kyoto." Panda corrected. "In Tokyo." Panda further clarified.

"You're kidding meeeee!" Nobara exclaimed.

"That's why our conversations about this were slightly off." Maki observed, not worried or even phased beyond a slight up turn of her lips. Isamu also smiled in humor by Maki's side.

"Yeah." Megumi said with a deadpan face.

"The event is held at the school of the previous year's winner." Panda explained.

"So why'd you go and win idiot?!" Nobara shouted.

"We didn't participate last year since we were still first years. But Isamu got a chance to compete since there weren't enough people and Yuta was abroad." Panda informed.

"Isamu kicked their butts." Maki added proudly. "It was a one sided affair, especially with Hakari there." Maki wouldn't have gone if it was anyone but Isamu competing but since he was, she felt it was her duty to go and support her boyfriend.

"I won't forgive you Isamu!" Nobara yelled as she rushed him. It was all in jest and none of Nobara's attacks were truly meant to injure.

"Hey." Maki said sternly, causing Nobara to cease her offensive and turn to look at her. "They're here." Maki said has she nodded towards some nearby stairs.

"This is the welcome party? Gross." Mai criticized as she walked towards the Tokyo high's team. She was located near the back of the Kyoto group.

Isamu only recognized five of them. One was Mai of course, Maki had spoken of her on occasion and he had, of course, met her when he stopped Todo from fighting Megumi. Then there was Todo, the strongest Kyoto had to offer.

While Todo was the strongest and looked like a gorilla with a top knot, he was much smarter than his appearance would suggest. Isamu had fought him before during last year's event and there for knew his strength first hand.

Two of the others were Momo Nishimiya and Noritoshi Kamo. They were both third years and had participated in the event of the previous year. Isamu hadn't gotten the chance to fight either of them but he knew of their abilities and skill all the same.

Kamo was of above average height and had inherited the black hair of the Kamo clan. His hair was split and tied into two ropes of hair which fell to either side of his face and framed his face. He was the heir of the Kamo clan, one of the 3 great sorcerer families. So, naturally, he was a talented user of the clan's inheritance, their blood manipulation cursed technique.

Momo was decidedly less interesting. She was able to manipulate cursed tools as she willed. In anyone else's hands, it would be a pretty good and useful technique. In the hands of Momo however, it was less than impressive. The best she would do was move her broom around and use it to fly.

Miwa was the final member Isamu was familiar with. She was a student of Kusakabe. Ismau's master had many students but he only dedicated a large amount of time, which for him was about a day out of the week, to his apprentices.

Isamu had seen her around every now and then. Sometimes they passed each other when Miwa was leaving a lesson just as Isamu arrived for his. Isamu didn't know how skilled she was but based on how Kusakabe never really brought her up and how she wasn't an apprentice, Isamu assumed she was lacking.

Kamo was a talented, fast, and deadly fighter, Miwa was probably an average fighter with a few tricks up her sleeve like simple domain, while Momo was a decent scout. Isamu wouldn't mind facing the Kamo clan heir, but that was for later.

One other accompanied the group that was a mystery to Isamu. He looked like a robot. Was he even here? Or was he controlling the puppet with some cursed technique? Maybe it was a cursed tool. Isamu didn't know.

"Shut up and hand over the souvenirs." Nobara said. "Yatsuhashi sweets, kuzukiri noodles, buckwheat cookies..." she listed off.

"Scary." Momo said, clutching her broom while looking at Isamu. She remembered what he'd done last year and she knew that if she ever ran into him this year, she'd give up on the spot.

"Forget about him Momo." The robot said. "Aren't you taking on too much of a handicap? With two first years and all." The hunk of metal continued.

"Age is irrelevant with jujutsu sorcerers, I believe we experienced such a thing with Inumaki last year. This principle is especially true in regard to Megumi, he is a Zen'in after all." Kamo defended.

"Hey now." They all heard from the stairs the Kyoto students had come from. "No fighting. What will I do with you kids? Where's that idiot anyway?" Utahime Iori said. She was a semi-first grade sorcerer who was the student supervisors at Kyoto high. She wore the dress of a shrine maiden and wore a scar covering a decent portion of her face.

"Saturo is late." Panda answered.

"No way that idiot is ever on time." Maki added.

"She didn't even mention his name." Megumi said deadpanned.

"Here I am!" Gojo announced as he bursted onto the seen, practically crashing through the line of Tokyo students. He was pushing a cart of some kind. On its lid was a plastic bag.

"Saturo!" Utahime said with cold irritation.

"Everyone's here I see! I was actually on a business trip overseas." Gojo excused himself. "But fear not, I have not come empty handed. For the Kyoto students…" Gojo built up as he grabbed the bag from the cart and handed out small dolls. The dolls were creepy looking and Isamu didn't mind not receiving one. "Souvenirs! They're tribal charms." Gojo finished.

"And for the Tokyo students!" Gojo said as he turned around to face them.

"Over excited adults are creepy." Nobara voiced. Isamu let out a small burst of air from his nose in humor as Maki smiled at his side.

"It's the dearly departed…" Gojo began before a pink haired kid burst out of the cart Gojo had been rolling around. "Yuji Itadori!!"

——

"Ummm, you know… this could be considered extreme bullying." Yuji said as he held up a hollow picture frame in front of his face, creating the illusion that he was a funeral picture.

"Shut up. You don't move until I tell you to move." Nobara responded, turning her back on the young man.

"Hey now. You heard his explanation. You should forgive him already." Panda defended Yuji, surprising him in the process. Yuji didn't know pandas could talk.

They, all of the members of the Tokyo team, were certainly located in the Tokyo team meeting room. "Salmon Salmon." Toga said to Nobara, also vying for Yuji's forgiveness.

"What?" Yuji said, confused by his words. Megumi, not nearly as mad at Yuji as Nobara was, stepped into explain Toga's, and by extension Isamu's, technique.

"Yuji." Maki called out, grabbing the boys attention after Panda and Megumi were finished explaining Cursed Speech to him. "Give back Slaughter Demon." She said, motioning with her hand to give it back. She was referring to a cursed tool she'd let Yuji borrow through Gojo.

"Gojo has it… the last time I saw it." Yuji said while not being able to meet Maki's eyes. Maki was rather annoyed, she was planning to gift it to Isamu on his upcoming birthday but she might need to reconsider now.

"The team is as we expected, but now we have another person. Should we change strategies?" Maki asked. They'd had a pretty decent plan before Yuji's arrival but due to the short notice, they were unsure where to slot him into their plan.

"Well that would depend on Yuji's specialties." Panda stated while looking towards Yuji questioningly.

"Punch. Kick." Yuji answered simply while raising an arm and a fist.

"We've already got plenty of that." Panda said.

"I don't know what he's been up to recently since he's been dead for a while. But I do know this. If we all fought him without cursed energy, Yuji would beat us." Megumi informed them.

Maki and Isamu shared similar thoughts in that moment. If Megumi was saying that even after fighting Todo, the most powerful fighter when it came to physicality out of all of the participants expected for Yuji apparently, then it had to hold some water.

Isamu walked over to a near by chalk board and picked up one of its sticks. On the board he wrote 'we should send Yuji after Todo. It will free me to go fight someone else and dispatch them quicker than I would Todo. Probably Kamo or the robot.'

Jujutsu tech had originally planned on assigning Isamu to Todo duty due to him being the strongest among the Tokyo students present. If anyone else fought Todo, they'd more than likely lose. But is Isamu fought him, Todo would be the more likely party to lose.

But now that they had another player who Megumi vouched for, they had a candidate for Todo duty. None of them except Yuji to win of course. But if Yuji was able to buy Isamu enough time to take out another large threat somewhere else before helping Yuji finish Todo, Tokyo would be put into a very advantageous position.

Of course, it probably wouldn't go that smoothly but that was the plan Isamu pitched to the team not long after his original message on the chalk board. Everyone agreed for the most part. Isamu got the feeling that Yuji agreed out of ignorance of Todo's power rather than confidence he could win.

——

Isamu laid down on the couch of the meeting room, look up at the ceiling. The others had left to enjoy the small amount of free time they were afforded before the event started. Isamu was spending his time thinking of a way to quickly finish Kamo without killing him.

Kamo was his decided target due to Isamu knowing more about him and his technique than that of the robots. If Isamu was being honest, he held more confidence in beating Todo than Kamo but Todo would be more time consuming.

Kamo was a deadly fighter and he was aware of at least one move in his arsenal that could be the death of Isamu if Kamo was able to get it off. That particular attack did not worry Isamu in this situation however. Kamo probably wouldn't use it because it was so deadly.

Apart from that, Isamu didn't see Kamo's technique as much of a threat. He would be able to simply cut through his attacks or use simple domain to nullify his control over the blood. But that was only in regard to his control over blood outside of his own body.

Isamu knew he could control the blood in his body and make it flow faster. As a result, Kamo would become significantly faster and stronger. That was the part that worried him. If he was too slow and was unable to keep up with Kamo, he might lose.

That got Isamu thinking about using his technique in a similar manner. What if-

"Hey." Maki broke Isamu thoughts with a greeting. She leaned over his prone form, staring into his eyes. Isamu looked at her a bit annoyed but he could not bring himself to be mad at her.

Isamu sat up and tried to turn and throw his legs off the couch but before he could Maki wrapped an arm around Isamu's neck, sat down behind him where his head just was, and pulled his torso back down. In the end, Isamu found himself resting his head on Maki's strong and muscular but somehow soft thighs.

Maki laid a hand on Isamu's chest to prevent him from trying to sit up again, not that Isamu planned on it, while her other hand fell onto his hair as it began to play with it. A wave of calmness washed over his body as all of the tension and stress that were afflicting him seemed to vanish from his body.

"Relax. Stressing about it will only make the task more difficult. Plus, stress makes you age faster and I don't want to be dating an old man in a year." Maki said, lightening Isamu's mood immensely.

Isamu took Maki's advice and rolled onto his side which Maki generously let him do. He turned towards her, now facing her stomach, and let his cheek sink deeper into Maki's creamy thighs. Isamu closed his eyes and for the first time in a long time, didn't think about growing stronger or taking on missions.

It wasn't often that he had this kind of interaction with Maki and he hoped he could do it more. He didn't feel as connected to Maki as he wanted to be, he was always focused on missions or training instead.

Isamu realized something in that moment. There was no use protecting your loved ones if you never stopped to enjoy their company. A wave of guilt and anxiety overcame Isamu in that moment. He felt guilty for neglecting Maki. While he spent a good amount of time with her. He never really spent any of that time with her.

His mind was always somewhere else. On a battlefield battling curses or thinking back on a mission he could've completed faster and better if only he had been stronger. Isamu regretted making Maki go through something like that.

He wished to protect her and give her joy but in the process, he had neglected and probably hurt her. Was he really good for her? Should he just let her go and free her from their relationship so she could find someone else that made her happy?

"Shut up." Maki said, somehow knowing Isamu's thoughts. She always knew what he was thinking. "You're a good boyfriend and I don't disparage your actions. I understand that you're doing it for me and I appreciate it." Maki consoled as she continued to run her fingers through his hair in order to ease his tension.

Isamu just sank his head into her thighs some more as he leaned forward and pressed his head into her stomach. He was too embarrassed to even look at her. Maki, in all her mercy, did not make him.

"I hope you understand that I'll always be here for you. Even if you spend all your time fighting and growing stronger, just know that I will be waiting for you at the end of the day." Maki said as calm as ever. Isamu's eyes began to water as a pit formed in his stomach. "I will always be by your side because I… I love you Isamu."

The feeling that had been gnawing at his insides dissipated right as he heard the last four words of Maki's declaration. That was the first time Maki had said that to him. If he was being honest, it had pained him on a few occasions that Maki had never expressed her love for him even after so long together and he'd be lying if he said it hadn't caused him any listless nights.

But all of that disappeared once Maki finally admitted it. Isamu's feelings of guilt and anxiety and anger at himself were washed away in an instant. Maki loved him? Maki loved him! Excitement, happiness, and love bubbled in him as butterflies performed an air show in his stomach.

"I'm sorry I didn't admit it before and I'll make no excuses. I knew you were hurting but I still refused to admit it. I'm sorry." For the first time in his life, Isamu heard Maki's voice quiver ever so slightly.

Isamu sat up, fighting through Maki's attempts to keep him down. Once he was positioned on his knees and facing Maki, he kissed her. The kiss was deeper than any kiss before it as Maki wrapped her arms around Isamu's neck while he held her body in his hands.

They sat there for a long while, even after they broke the kiss, just holding each other. Each knew they had treated the other poorly and that this conversation was long overdue. Maki and Isamu both felt guilty for their actions and they both hoped the other would give them time to rectify their mistakes.