Chapter 80: Subduing the Death Paintings, the Exorcism That Never Happened
"Is this... human skin?"
Kechizu stared at his own hands as they trembled in front of him.
The sensation beneath his fingertips was real.
Warm.
Alive.
Not the cold, corrupted flesh of a curse. Not the warped shell of a vessel twisted by malice and blood. Real skin. Human skin.
The whispering in his ears was gone.
That ceaseless, centuries long murmur of curses that had gnawed at his mind since the day he became aware of himself had vanished without a trace. The hunger that had clung to him like instinct. The inferiority buried in his bones. The ugly impulse to devour, to destroy, to live like a beast simply because that was all the world had ever allowed him to be.
All of it had faded with the golden light.
He was still covered in wounds. His body still ached. Blood still stained his clothes.
But what ran through him now was no longer poison.
It was blood.
Hot blood.
Human blood.
"Brother..."
The call came from behind him, small and uncertain.
Kechizu spun around so quickly he nearly stumbled.
Eso stood there, staring at his own body with the same disbelief.
He was still slightly hunched, still awkward, still far from handsome. But the grotesque frog like distortion was gone. His limbs were properly formed. His face, though plain and bruised, was that of a human boy. Even his eyes had changed. The violent murk inside them had lifted, replaced by a simple, naked confusion that made him look strangely young.
"Eso..."
Kechizu's throat tightened.
His eyes reddened at once.
As Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, they had never been given the right to choose what they were. From the moment they existed, they had already been defined by others.
Curses.
Abominations.
Failures.
Monsters sealed away in darkness for a hundred and fifty years, then dragged back into the world by Kenjaku and used like disposable tools.
All they had ever really wanted was painfully simple.
Not to be separated.
To remain brothers.
To go on living as something, anything, together.
Even if it meant killing.
Even if it meant becoming the very curses the world feared.
And yet the man standing under the moonlight had changed everything with a single stroke.
Not by killing them.
But by pulling them back.
Kechizu dropped to his knees before Yami once more, his forehead pressing hard against the mud soaked ground. His voice shook so badly it was almost falling apart.
"Why?"
The word came out ragged.
"We killed people. We were curses. We tried to kill your companions just now."
His fingers dug into the dirt.
"Do people like us... really deserve to keep living?"
The forest fell quiet.
The wind moved through the leaves overhead, soft and dry, the only sound left after battle. Nobara and Yuji stood a short distance away in silence, both still trying to process what they had just witnessed.
Yami did not answer immediately.
He lowered his eyes and calmly wiped Shiranui clean with a fold of cloth. Under the moonlight, the black blade reflected a cold, restrained gleam. In those red eyes, the trembling brothers were mirrored with perfect clarity.
At last, he sheathed the sword.
Click.
"The right to live is not something others hand to you," he said.
His voice was quiet, but every word landed with weight.
"If you think you do not deserve it, then spend the rest of your lives proving otherwise."
He looked at the two brothers, one kneeling, one still standing in a daze.
"Use these bodies to feel sunlight. To feel pain. To protect the weak."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"Do not go back to living like beasts who only know how to bare their fangs to survive."
Kechizu's shoulders trembled.
Eso stared at Yami like he was trying to understand every word, even if part of him still could not keep up.
Yami paused, then turned his eyes toward the distant darkness beyond the forest.
Toward Tokyo.
"And besides," he said, "you still have an older brother waiting for you."
Kechizu jerked his head up.
His pupils contracted violently.
"An older brother...?"
Then realization struck him like lightning.
"Big Brother Choso?!"
Among the Death Paintings, the one they revered most was Choso. The eldest. The one who would protect his younger brothers even if it meant fighting the entire world. The one who, in their minds, had always been the closest thing to a true family head.
Yami gave a small nod.
"He is looking for you."
Kechizu's breathing caught.
"Even if he is confused right now, even if someone is feeding him lies, blood ties do not disappear so easily."
Hope lit in the brothers' eyes so suddenly it almost looked painful.
For beings who had spent their whole existence sealed away, used, and discarded, hope was a dangerous thing. Too bright. Too fragile.
But it was there.
"We want to find him!"
Kechizu pushed himself halfway up in excitement, only to freeze as a new fear overtook him.
Then his face went pale.
"But... Kenjaku."
He clenched his fists.
"Big Brother is still tied to that bastard. If we show ourselves now, won't we only drag him into more danger?"
There was more.
They both knew it.
Even if their bodies had been purified, the Jujutsu world would never see them as human. On paper, in reports, in the eyes of the Higher Ups, they would still be what they had always been.
Special Grade cursed object vessels.
Targets for extermination.
If they surfaced now, death would come for them long before any reunion could happen.
Yami seemed to have expected the concern already.
"Which is why you need to disappear for a while."
He reached into his pocket and took out a folded note. An address and contact name were written inside.
One of Mei Mei's hidden safe houses.
That woman would do nearly anything if the price was right, but once she accepted money, she also delivered results with terrifying reliability. And when it came to hiding people, few were better.
Yami extended the note.
"Go here."
Kechizu took it with both hands as if it weighed more than steel.
"I've already arranged for someone to receive you," Yami said. "Until the time is right, do not reveal who you are. Do not try to contact Choso on your own."
His voice remained calm.
"When the moment comes, I'll let you brothers meet again."
For the first time since the fight ended, a thin line of killing intent appeared in his eyes.
Cold.
Precise.
"And then we'll settle accounts with the one who played with your lives."
Kechizu's hands shook so badly the note rustled audibly between his fingers.
Once again, he slammed his forehead into the ground.
"Lord Yami!"
His voice cracked with emotion.
"From today on, our lives belong to you! Even if we have to climb a mountain of blades or throw ourselves into a sea of fire, we will never forget this grace!"
Yami cut him off with a small lift of his hand.
"I have no use for people throwing their lives away for me."
Kechizu fell silent at once.
Yami looked down at them, moonlight catching the edges of his dark hair and the line of the scabbard at his waist.
"The next time I see you," he said, "stand as men."
No grand speech followed.
No declaration.
Just that.
Stand as men.
Stand beneath the sun.
That was enough.
Yami turned away and walked back toward Yuji and Nobara, who were still standing there in a shared state of disbelief.
"Let's go," he said. "We're done here."
Yuji scratched the back of his head, expression caught somewhere between amazement and total confusion.
"Uh... Yami senpai."
He glanced at the two brothers, then back at Yami.
"So... what happens now?"
"Simple," Yami said. "They were exorcised."
Nobara stared at him.
Then at the very alive pair kneeling in the mud.
Then back at him.
"What?"
Her voice rose.
"They're obviously still right there!"
Yami stopped walking and turned his head slightly. There was the faintest trace of amusement in his red eyes.
"Kugisaki."
He looked at her once, meaningfully.
"What exactly did you see?"
Nobara froze.
The answer leaped to her lips at first. Two naked guys who should definitely not still be here.
Then she met his gaze and understood.
It was not a trick.
It was not a misunderstanding.
It was an answer.
A choice.
A lie shared between companions.
Nobara inhaled once, slow and deep. Then she slid the hammer back into place at her waist and clicked her tongue.
"Tch."
She rolled her eyes dramatically.
"What else would I have seen?"
She gestured lazily toward the battlefield.
"Nothing but cursed residue all over the ground."
Then she stretched her sore arm and groaned.
"This mission was disgusting. I'm covered in sweat and poison. When we get back, I'm making Gojo sensei buy us an expensive meal."
Yuji blinked.
Then the understanding finally reached him too.
His whole face lit up.
"Right!"
He snapped both thumbs up.
"Completely exorcised! Nothing left at all!"
Yami looked at the two of them for a moment, and the corner of his mouth lifted just slightly.
"Good."
He turned back toward the path leading to the cavern.
"Megumi's still waiting."
The next day, a report concerning the Yasohachi Bridge Special Grade Cursed Spirit Incident reached the Higher Ups.
Its contents were clear.
The Special Grade curse had been exorcised by Megumi Fushiguro in solo combat.
The two Special Grade cursed object vessels, identified as members of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, had been completely destroyed by Yami. No remains were left at the scene.
Some of the Higher Ups expressed doubt, naturally.
There were no bodies.
No fragments.
No verifiable physical proof beyond residue and witness statements.
But the problem was that the name on the report was Yami.
The man whose Breathing Technique had already left enough people sleepless. The man whose black blade was rumored to burn curses so thoroughly that not even ash remained. Under those circumstances, "nothing left behind" suddenly felt less suspicious and more horrifyingly plausible.
And with Gojo applying pressure from one side and Yami's growing reputation pressing from the other, even those rotten old conservatives chose silence over interference.
No one was eager to test how sharp Shiranui really was.
Especially not after rumors spread that the blade could even cut through a barrier infused with Sukuna's finger.
For Yami, this was only one small move in a much larger game.
Every fate he changed, every person he pulled back from the edge, would matter later.
He knew that much.
What he did not know yet was how far the consequences of this one act would spread.
One week later, inside a secure apartment hidden deep in Tokyo, Mei Mei sat with one leg crossed over the other and watched the newest transfer settle into her account.
The number was large.
Very large.
Large enough to make even her smile soften at the edges.
"Yami kun really is generous."
Her tone was light, almost affectionate.
Then she turned her head toward the sofa.
Kechizu and Eso sat there wearing modern clothes that still looked unfamiliar on them. Both kept their backs too straight, hands resting too carefully on their knees, like they were terrified of staining anything in the room just by existing.
Mei Mei studied them with a sharp, appraising gaze.
There was no pity there.
Only interest.
Deep, calculated interest.
"To turn Special Grade cursed object vessels into humans..."
She swirled the wine in her glass, watching the red liquid catch the city lights beyond the window.
"If the Jujutsu world ever learned that ability existed, the whole balance of power would collapse overnight."
She smiled and drank.
"What a terrifying man."
Outside, Tokyo's night glittered with its usual false peace. Towers shone. Cars moved. People laughed in places that believed themselves safe.
But beneath all that brightness, the undercurrent was already deepening.
Halloween was less than two months away.
And when that night arrived, everything would change.
.....
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