The Inumaki Clan Prodigy [Jujutsu Kaisen]

A nocking sound rang out through the halls of jujutsu high as Maki tested if Isamu was awake, he wasn't. 

Maki opened the unlocked door and closed it behind her after entering. She then turned on the kitchen light but was careful to keep the other ones off as to not wake up Inumaki. 

She stalked over to his room and cracked the door open a bit. All she say was Isamu laying there on his front, seemingly too tired to even roll over in his sleep. Maki closed the door and walked back to the kitchen and started to pour herself a bowl of cereal to eat while she was waiting for her classmate.

She whipped it up in no time and went over to sit on Inumaki's small couch before setting her bowl on the small coffee table. She ate her breakfast as she flipped through the channel's on Isamu's small TV. While it wasn't provided by the school, semi-first grade sorcerers made a good amount of money so a TV was nothing. 

She knew they weren't going anywhere today, he was far too beat up for that. So she may as well find something to entertain herself while she fulfilled her self-assigned babysitting duties. 

She eventually found something but didn't really pay too much attention to it. She was too busy thinking. Maki struggled to form deep bonds with people. No, it was more that she didn't let herself form deep bonds, mostly so she didn't get a repeat of what happened with her sister. 

But that started to change when Isamu came along. He was smart and silent, two things Maki liked in a person. He was also surprisingly kind and polite. These feelings of fondness had gradually grown over the last few months until she'd started to consider him her best friend. He didn't have much competition to be honest. 

She did consider Panda and Toga her friends, but she wasn't all that close with them. They didn't share many similarities outside of their classes and sorcerer duties. The same could not be said for Isamu however. 

Their nearly daily spars where Maki taught him how to wield a cursed tool correctly, something he'd gotten much better at, were a great past time they shared. They also hung out outside of said spars which Maki very much enjoyed. 

She had a good thing going, and she didn't want to mess it up like she had in the past. Even though she didn't regret her actions in the least, she did regret how it had turned out. 

It was also that thought that'd made her think. She would do the same thing with regard to her sister again if she had to do it again, and if those choices ended with Mai hating her, it was a sacrifice she was willing to take. So should it not be the same thing here? Maki didn't really know. 

——

Isamu woke up with a groan. He laid there for a bit, too content with his current face down position to move. He was about to get up but he realized had no reason to, did he?

Normally he would get up to spar with Maki or to attend whatever lesson Gojo was putting on that day. But this day was different, he had absolutely nothing to do. He even had a reason not to do anything in the shape of "an ice cold demon that will kick your ass" as Panda would put it. 

Said shape soon entered his room, probably hearing his sounds of agony. 

"It's 2:00 pm by the way. I got some take out if you want some." She said, Isamu just looked at her with tired eyes. "Do you need help getting out of bed you big baby?" She said with a light hearted smile. Upon Inumaki's nod, she did just that. 

In a similar scene as the night before, Isamu hobbled along with the help of his best friend. Maki sat him down on the couch, much gentler than the previous night as she know had a much better idea of just how much pain he was in. 

She then plopped down on the couch beside him, grabbing her box of Chinese food and chop sticks before digging in. 

——

8 hours passed as Isamu and Maki relaxed on the couch, Isamu forced to watch whatever Maki put on as he was too sore to even reach for the remote. 

Maki now dragged Isamu up off the couch and back towards his room. He was a bit better now, only needing slight assistance from Maki to get up and to his room. 

"Night Isamu, I'll be back to check on you in the morning. If I still think you're too tired, you'll be forced into another day off." Maki stated before leaving once she received a nod of compensation from Inumaki. 

Isamu sighed, missing both his training and Maki already. 

——

Inumaki was deemed worthy by Maki to be fit for fighting once more, and Gojo wasted no time in getting him back to work once he was. 

"I know, I know. I shouldn't go so hard on him. I'll go a little lighter on him this time." Gojo said as if he'd just been scolded by his mother. Which he kind of had.

"To make sure you do, I'll be watching." Maki said coldly before walking off towards the bleachers, having just finished giving Gojo a piece of her mind. 

'Sorry' Inumaki signed. He was a bit embarrassed by Maki basically scolding their teacher about not going so hard on him. But more than that he was happy someone cared about him enough to help. 

"Don't worry, I don't mind and she is kinda right. Well anyway, let's get on to business." Gojo waved his hand in the air as if to physically distance himself from the topic. 

"Today, I'll be sparing with you. I'll go easy don't worry." Gojo said, directing that last part towards Maki who started glaring daggers at the mention of sparring, knowing what Gojo considered "sparring" was more akin to a one sided beating. If looks could kill Gojo had no doubt Maki would be the strongest instead of him. 

"While straight up sparring does have its advantages, there is a leg up I'll be giving you. I will be simulating that I don't know what your technique is. So I wouldn't protect my ears or brain with cursed energy." Gojo said. 

Inumaki was already forming plans to take full advantage of said leg up. Cursed speech's best use was in stealth attacks. If your opponent knew you had cursed speech, it's easy to counter. But if they don't, you essentially have one free shot at them. So the goal was to make the most of that one free shot. 

"Wait, that won't work will it? You're too strong for Inumaki to command without him facing massive back lash." Maki pointed out, shooting an accusatory look at Gojo. 

That was yet another downside of Cursed Speech. If the difference between you and your opponent was too great, you would face physical back lash. Worst case the opponent isn't affected at all and your throat is destroyed. 

"Yeah yeah, I've thought of that. I'll be limiting my cursed energy reinforcement to a grade 1 level. So don't worry, Inumaki here wouldn't face much back lash." Gojo said, appeasing Maki. "Now, come at me."

Inumaki quickly unsheathed his sword, this time it wasn't wrapped. Its deadly edge flew towards Gojo, which he easily ducked away from. Gojo sprung back up and skillfully grabbed the blade in such a way that he wasn't cut. 

Inumaki launched a palm strike at his mid section before ducking and performing a spinning sweeping kick. Gojo side stepped out of the way of the first attack, generously letting go of the sword. Gojo then met his sweep with a kick of his own. 

Isamu's leg was rebuffed by the counter hit, quickly regaining his feet, he winced at the new pain shooting through his calf. He sprung forward despite it. Swiping diagonally across Gojo chest, trying to at least. 

Gojo stepped to the side and leaned backwards out of the way of the blade. Isamu's momentum carried him further anyway, causing him to rush past Gojo. 

Gojo took advantage of briefly being out of Isamu's line of sight. He rushed at Inumaki and delivered a punch to his side, he would've cracked some ribs if he had hit a little harder. Inumaki nearly collapsed to his knees from the sheer force of the punch. That was yet another weak point for Isamu, his durability. 

While it had gotten better in the last few months, it was still below average. Isamu soldiered through the pain and grabbed a hold of Gojo's still out stretched out arm. 

"Crush!"

Gojo's arm imploded. The skin erupted in bone as it was crushed. Blood sprayed everywhere, including all over Inumaki. Gojo seemed unaffected by the command, at least mentally. 

He calmly struck Isamu in the stomach before kneeing him in the face when his head drooped. Inumaki wasn't knocked out as Gojo held back much more on those two hits compared to the one Isamu's side was subjected to. 

Gojo attempted to heal the arm with his reverse cursed technique, but found that he couldn't. No, he could, it was just significantly harder and slower to. Gojo was surprised and curious. 

"Hey, what'd you do to me? I can barely heal my arm? Maybe an extension technique?" Gojo asked the prone Inumaki. 

"You said you would go easy on him." Maki said judgingly as she walked over to Inumaki. "You ok?" She questioned which he responded to with a nod. 

"Hey, don't ignore me, what'd you do just now?" Gojo pressed, really wanting his arm back. 

'It's a binding vow. In exchange for the command needing to be nonlethal and not being able to use Cursed Speech for 24 hours after using this technique. I gain an unblockable command which is extremely hard to heal, even for reverse cursed technique users on your level. It's meant to be a sorta head start, if I start the fight by destroying your arm which you can't heal, you'll be heavily disadvantaged for the rest of the battle.' Isamu scribbled down on his note pad. 

"That's pretty smart. Though if I were you, I'd use that technique last. Use your free opening with your regular speech, then use your unblockable one. Buying you two free attacks instead of one." Gojo said as Isamu released his binding vow, letting Gojo heal the arm rather easily. 

Isamu nodded, already thinking the same. He already had other techniques in mind he wanted to try out. But he'd just banned himself from cursed speech for the next 24 hours. 

"So, no more techniques for you today huh? Well I guess that means you'll just have to train your martial techniques now." Maki said with a smirk as she leaned over the still prone Isamu. 

Isamu just closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Which honestly wasn't that bad.