Maki froze for a second as Kiniro's morbid question lacked the usual flippant and humorous tone that made him such a nuisance to interact with. Instead, his voice came off as cold and calculating, as if he had already taken the step necessary to accomplish such a ludicrous idea.
"I'm honestly tempted to encourage you to try," Maki muttered after overcoming her brief moment of shock, "You'd be dead the moment you walked through the gates, and even if you somehow managed to escape with your life, you'd be branded a curse user and hunted down for the rest of your life."
"Probably, which is why I don't plan to do it anytime soon," Kiniro replied casually as if he wasn't discussing a genocide, "When the time comes, though, I'll give you a heads up and ask you if there's anyone you want me to spare."
Maki rolled her eyes, "Get out of my room before I punch you in the face."
"You sure you don't want a study buddy?" Kiniro asked with a grin, only for Maki's hand to audibly close into a fist as her bones and ligaments audibly creaked, "I'll see myself out."
---
"Worthless."
The statement was punctuated by a flash of cyan flames that cut through the prostrating man, who only had a split second to realize his fate had been sealed before his body erupted into a small pyre.
"Ogi!" Naobito glared at his brother, who sat back on his knees while smoothly returning his sword to its scabbard, "There was no need."
"As if he would live to see tomorrow," Ogi replied in an apathetic tone, "There was a reason we had the rest of the team swear binding vows. The clan cannot risk becoming implicated in this manner."
"It will also serve as a reminder to the rest of the Kukuru regarding the price of failure," Jinichi added with a disapproving glare aimed at the still-burning remnants on the floor, "To think that a team of five could be so easily dispatched by a student…"
A dismissive scoff followed Jinichi's statement, "You're giving them too much credit. They're nobodies without techniques. No matter how well they're trained, they're next to worthless against any competent sorcerer."
"That walking calamity has only been a sorcerer for a week," Ogi stressed as he sent a disdainful glare in Naoya's direction, "We may have just very well lost our only chance at eliminating him without engaging in a true life or death battle."
Naoya frowned, "Don't tell me that anyone here truly believed that this hastily concocted mission would result in success. The only realistic goal was to get a better idea of his capabilities and behavior. In that regard, I would say it was a complete success."
"But what can we do with this information?" Jinichi muttered as he leaned against this fist, "All we've confirmed is that he's a prodigy and that his ability to perceive and control cursed energy is approaching the level of Saturo Gojo. Additionally, his cursed technique seems like a nightmare to deal with, and we've only seen a small glimpse of its true capabilities. All evidence points to him becoming a fully fledged special grade if he's given time to fully realize his potential."
"Of that there is no doubt," Naoya nodded before a calculating smile crossed his lips, "But that is only a concern if we make him an enemy."
"I don't know what your definition of an enemy is, but I believe that attempted assassination is a universally hostile action," Jinichi muttered apathetically. "I don't think we can just take this back."
"We don't have to take back anything," Naoya continued to explain, "There are no traces leading back to us, and even if Saturo suspects our involvement, he can't act without risking a complete collapse of Jujutsu Society. At most, he can tell Kiniro to be wary and keep a close eye on him personally."
"Get to the point, boy!" Naobito grunted as he took a swig from the gourd strapped to his waist.
Naoya bristled at his father's admonishment, but reluctantly did as he was told. "Talented as he is, Kiniro is still just a teenage boy, one who grew up in a very sheltered environment and is bound to be oblivious when it comes to certain matters. No boy ever forgets the first girl to ever show him interest."
"Surely you're not suggesting what I think you are," Ogi asked with a sour expression, finding the entire proposal extremely distasteful, "Surely Gojo would see through such a plot right away."
"Of course he will, but that doesn't matter. Any effort he takes to separate his protegee from his first love will only serve to bring them together even more."
"It could work, but there's a greater chance at failure than success," Jinichi critiqued while scratching the stubble on his chin, "Though, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but there's little downside to giving it a try, even in the worst case scenario, if our plot is completely discovered, it doesn't give Gojo enough justification to move against us for simply trying to foster a positive relationship with someone who is undoubtedly going to be one of the strongest scorceers in the modern era."
"Strongest is a bit overzealous, but you have the right idea," Naoya agreed before glancing at his Naobito, whose cheeks were now visibly flushed, "What do you think, Father?"
Naobito grinned, "Why not? It seems better than just sitting around waiting for this little shit to become the modern equivalent of The King of Curses. Only question is, who the hell are we going to use a honeypot?"
The room was silent for a moment before Ogi raised his head and spoke, "I believe that there is an obvious candidate for such a task, my daughter."
"Maki?" Naobito's brow furrowed only for Ogi to shake his head, "No, Mai. It will take a bit of doing, but I believe it won't be impossible to arrange for their meeting."
"Oh, that's right, I forgot you had twins," Naobito chuckled as he took another drink from his gourd, "She'll finally manage to be of use to the clan."
"It will take some doing, but I'm sure that given the right instructions she'll be able to pull of an acceptable performance," Ogi said somewhat reluctantly, "Though again she'll be dealing with a blood thirsty sociopath who seems mentally unstable. He may not even act like a regular person."
---
"This is the worst."
Kiniro had a permanent scowl on his face as he crawled on his hands and knees, a brush in hand, scrubbing the tile floor, trying in vain to get the grout free of stains. "I should have just gone and pickpocketed a bunch of people."
"What was that?!"
Kiniro flinched as Saturo suddenly spoke up from the bathroom doorway, leaning against the wall and staring at Kiniro with a merciless gaze. "N-nothing."
"Oh, really? Because for a moment it sounded like you were muttering something. And if that was the case, then I'd have no choice but to add on toilet duty to your list of chores."
All Kiniro could do was shake his head and scrub even harder, "There's no need to do that, I'm working hard, see!"
Saturo smirked and crossed his arms, "Good, then you'll be able to earn some pocket money for yourself…that is, after you pay me back for those three pastries you stole from me."
"What?!" Kiniro spun around and stared at Saturo with wide eyes, "You're not still upset about that, are you? It's been three days!"
"Yes, I'm still upset about it. Those pastries cost me 15,000 yen," Saturo replied calmly, but his words only served to stress Kiniro out even more.
"15,000 yen! That's enough to buy like a hundred burgers, they didn't even taste that good!" Kiniro exclaimed, only for a dangerous aura to erupt from Saturo as he glared at Kiniro, "Well, I wouldn't know that, would I? Considering that someone stole and ate all of them!"
"Well then, go buy some more! Aren't you a leader of one of the big three clans?! Surely you have enough money to buy every last pastry and Tokyo if you wanted to!" Kiniro spat back, unwilling to back down, "Besides, it'll take me like half a month to pay you back, considering how little you're paying me."
"You should be happy that I'm paying you at all!" Saturo crossed his arms and stood his ground, "Besides, it's not about the money, it's the principle of it. You need to learn that stealing is wrong."
Kiniro rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, this is definitely gonna teach me accountability, because I'm definitely the kind of person who reflects on the consequences of their actions."
"Mhh, and just like that, my dear disciple, you've earned yourself toilet duty," Saturo replied with a gloating smile as Kiniro froze and his eyebrow twitched, "