Shackled

"Come here." Gojo beckoned with his hand.

I eyed him carefully before I walked over. "What's going on?"

"Stand still, and don't move," Gojo ordered seriously. I obeyed, and Gojo grabbed my wrists in his hand and wrapped a set of chains around them. Then, he spun me around and secured a second length of shackles around my ankles.

"Gojo-sensei?" I called, a hint of worry in my tone. "What are you doing?"

Something wrapped around my head, and my vision went black. I heard Gojo's voice behind me. "This is an order. Do not fight back. Whatever happens next, just know that I'm on your side. Trust me."

I heard the rustling of clothes as two set of footsteps came closer. They weren't Gojo's. I felt hands on me, and I hissed. I tried to move backwards but ended up tripping over the chains and falling to the floor. The same two pair of hands picked me roughly up from the ground, and I was thrown over someone's shoulder. Their shoulder blade bit uncomfortably into my ribs as they started to walk away.

I heard the hum of a car engine the same moment I made out the sweet scent of the night air. The click of the lock on the car's door, and my cheek felt the leather of the car seat abrade against it. Four different set of voices sounded around me.

"Don't be so rough with him." That was Gojo's voice. "I just managed to get him to open up. You're going to scare him."

"Scare it? Good. It should be afraid of us."

"Gojo-san, why do you insist on coming with us? We can always arrange for another car to pick you up."

"Yeah, now, we're all squished in here because of you."

"You guys should be grateful I'm here with you," Gojo exclaimed indignantly. "How do you know if he won't suddenly go berserk and kill you guys before I can step in?"

"With those chains you so kindly put on for us, even a second-grade sorcerer could kill it. There's no need for Gojo-san to worry." That was the second voice.

"You know," Gojo sighed. "You guys could have just told me to meet the higher-ups there. This is too much of a hassle."

"You know that we can't trust you."

"It's not about whether or not you trust me," Gojo replied. "You guys are cutting time out of my weekly raid of Tokyo's night market."

The voices were silent after Gojo's remark. I laid there quietly, wondering what was happening. But whatever is going on, it can't be good.

It took half an hour for the car to reach its destination. Our surroundings were deathly silent as I was dragged out of the car and put back on my original position over a person's shoulder. They walked for close to four minutes before I heard a door slide open.

"Yo!" Gojo announced. "The great Gojo Satoru is back. Aren't you excited to see me? I even brought the curse as you guys asked me to."

I was dropped roughly onto the floor, and I gingerly picked myself up, my side stinging from the rough treatment. My blindfold was removed, and I found myself in a dimly lit room. Individual doors hid the people watching me from sight.

"So this is the special grade curse. How interesting."

"You seem to have treated it quite well during its time of absence, Gojo."

"I know who you are," I growled. "You guys are the one who captured me three years ago."

Thundering steps came from behind me, and someone grabbed me by the neck. I only caught a glimpse of crimson cheeks and a clean-shaven face before I was thrown to the rough bamboo-woven floor. Pain slammed through my face, light splintering my vision. My arms ached as my bound hands kept my joints from properly aligning.

"That is the proper way to speak to the higher-ups," the man snapped.

I hissed, baring my teeth as I twisted my head to look at the man. His obsidian eyes hardened as his grip tightened on my neck. If I could move my arm just a few more centimeters, I could grab his sword and... Immediately, I pushed down those thoughts as I recalled Gojo's words.

"I don't quite understand why you'd force someone to kneel when the purpose of the gesture is to display allegiance and respect." Gojo's words were a bored drawl.

I tried to pivot an eye to the man, but I could only see a pair of black boots against the white floor.

"It's clear that you respect your clan head, but it's a bit unnecessary to put such effort into forcing the curse to have the same opinion. We all know very well he has no respect for us humans. So perhaps your intent is to humiliate him." Gojo paused, and I swore his gaze fell on me. "But I think he's had enough of that."

Understanding the sorcerer's implication, the man grunted and released me. I peeled my cheek from the marble and moved myself into a sitting posture. The chains clattered as I moved, a constant reminder of the position I was in.

"Gojo Satoru, two weeks ago from today, you came into contact with the special grade curse known as Nanashi. Under your interference, Gakuganji failed to apprehend the curse and returned with several lethal injuries."

"That old geezer was asking for it," Gojo interrupted. The voice ignored him and continued to speak.

"One week ago, the special grade curse Nanashi released its power for a total time of 15 seconds and eliminated an unidentified curse user and a grade 1 curse during that window. We allowed Nanashi to stay with you precisely to prevent this type of situation from happening. There will be no excuses, Gojo."

"Well to be honest," Gojo scratched his head, "I wasn't planning on making any."

"Stop your nonsense!" Another voice broke in. "Had Nanashi went on a rampage, an entire city could have been destroyed!"

They are seriously underestimating my ability of destruction.

"I would've risked my life to stop that," Gojo stated. "Besides, there's one thing I can say for sure."

Gojo pointed at me. "We know next to nothing about this curse you call Nanashi. Who is he? What powers does he have? What is his purpose here? You can't control what you don't understand. What we've learn will come from trial and error, so whatever plans you're cooking up in those mind of yours you guys better put on hold."

"Don't forget, Gojo, Nanashi's confinement has only been postponed..." The threat hung silently in the air.

"Well then, let's talk about it," Gojo said.

"It? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play coy, old man." Gojo crossed his arms as he gazed at the shadow through the door. "This is about the Blood Crest Worms in his body. A death-fearing leader like you has to be involved."

"Well, I'll be." The voice sounded livid. "The youth these days don't even know how to speak with respect."

"I don't intend to," Gojo scoffed. "It pisses me off how high and mighty old folks are these days. All you do is sit here and scheme getting older day by day. What a waste of space and resources if I were to be honest."

"How dare you!"

"In the time span of the past three weeks, I was attacked by multiple unknown first and special grade curses," Gojo continued as if he had not heard the interjection.

"I'm sorry to hear that." They didn't sound sorry at all.

"Save it," Gojo spat. "That happens all the time to me. It's like getting flyer handouts on the street."

Gojo paused subtly. "Those curses aren't appearing for no reason. I bet there are more out there on their level. And it's not just enemies. Hakari, Okkotsu, and Todo from your school. The students these days have gotten much stronger. Then there's the Suguru Geto incident from last year as well."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Heh heh, don't you get it?" Gojo laughed loudly. "The wave of power that you guys have been ignoring to maintain your status and in the name of stupid traditions has gotten huge and is approaching. The new generation won't be limited to special grade. If you think I'm the only one who's gonna question your authority, you're gonna be in for a world of hurt, old man!"

"You've got quite the mouth... Gojo Satoru."

"Ohhh, scary." Gojo circled behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. I tensed at his touch. "Do you have anything to prove me wrong, old geezers?"

Silence fell at his words, and Gojo smirked as his words were proven right.

"We can start with this little one right here." Gojo leaned forward and smiled. "You've seen the state Gakuganji ended up in when you tried to use the Demon Nails on him. You guys are afraid, aren't you? You don't have the confidence that you can beat him, don't you?"

The voices were quiet at Gojo's provocation.

"That's why you gave him to me. So if he ever was to go berserk again, he would have to go through me. And if you guys were lucky, we would end up both injured, and then you would remove both of us from the picture. How convenient is that?"

"But unfortunately for you, that didn't happen as you were hoping," Gojo said. "And now you resort to this method because you're afraid that your control over the curse is going to get too weak."

"This isn't what we agreed on, Gojo. You're stepping over the line."

"So what?" Gojo pulled down his glasses, and his gaze slid over each of the shadows. "What if I'm stepping over the line? Does it look like I care?"

"Gojo Satoru, are you planning on siding with that thing? A curse? The enemy of jujutsu sorcerers?" I bristled at the remark. "Or do you plan on betraying the jujutsu society and becoming the second Geto Suguru?"

I felt the hands around my shoulders tighten, and Gojo's fingernails sunk into my flesh. It took a long moment for them to loosen.

"I am not Geto Suguru." Gojo spat out each word like they were poison. "But I'm not one of your pieces on your chessboard. If I'm going to do something, I'll do it my way."

"We cannot agree to your proposal, Gojo. We've already discussed this."

"Don't be so stubborn," Gojo chided. His hands moved down to the shackles on my wrists. I looked up at him with a perplexed gaze, but Gojo wasn't looking at me. "Do I need to give you a demonstration in order to persuade you?"

"What do you think you are doing?" I caught a hint of fear in their voice.

"Say," Gojo mused, his fingers twiddling with the metal linking the cuffs together. "If the special grade curse Nanashi went berserk and killed all the higher-ups before it was exorcised by Gojo Satoru, do you think everyone would believe it? I think it's quite plausible. After all, there will be no witnesses except for me..."

"You are underestimating our strength, Gojo. You don't know what we are capable of."

"No, you are underestimating his strength." Gojo roughly pulled my head up by my hair and used his fingers to slowly caress my face. I let out a small gasp as I tried to ignore the unsettling feeling of his fingertips. "You don't know what he is capable of."

"And you do?" the voice questioned.

"More so than you," Gojo answered. "I'm confident that I'll beat him, but I can't say the same for you."

"Hey, curse." I met his gaze and saw frosty eyes staring back at me though a layer of black. "Why don't you show them a little bit of your power?"

I blinked in hesitation. What?

"I would appreciate it if you cooperate with me." Gojo's fingers that had be playing with my cheek moved downwards and closed around my throat. I took in a sharp breath, deathly aware of his hidden threat.

I nodded minutely, almost so small that if Gojo hadn't been watching me carefully, he wouldn't have noticed. The chains around my limbs started to rattle loudly as the cursed energy within me pressed against them.

"What are you doing, Nanashi!?"

Like the roaring water bursting free from a dam, my power surged through the oppression of the metal and flooded the room with my killing intent. The lights in the room went out, and, in the darkness, the men hiding behind those screen doors saw their deaths. The walls groaned as my aura threatened to spill out past the confines of this room.

"Alright," Gojo's fingers pressed down hard on my throat as he whispered in my ear, "that's good. I think they had enough."

I gave the man another strangled nod as I recalled my power. The candle lights flickered again, and the room was alit once more.

"Point proven?" Gojo jeered.

"Gojo Satoru," the voice growled. "Don't think that you are allowed to do whatever you want in front of us."

"Oh?" Gojo laughed. "You want me to do it again?"

"Wait!" the voice stuttered for a moment before it let out a long sigh. "We'll discuss your proposal one more time."

"Be my guest," Gojo said triumphantly. His fingers twirled the ends of my hair though I did not find it comforting at the slightest. He was different tonight. It was as if I was looking at a stranger. I couldn't get over just how cold and distant he felt right now.

I don't know how much time passed before the voices spoke again.

"We've decided," the voice announced. "We will follow through with your proposal, but we have one condition. It must wear the collar at all times."

"Fine." Gojo untangled his fingers from my hair and stepped forward. "Give it to me now, and I'll put it on him."

"Bring it to him." Someone walked into the room, and something was exchanged hands. I felt cold metal touch my neck and heard the click of a lock. Immediately, I felt my cursed energy go sluggish, and I let out a strangled cry. The feeling was awful as my power was forcefully suppressed to nearly nothing.

"The collar around your neck works as a cursed energy suppressor, and it also hides your aura as a curse," Gojo explained. He tapped the metal lightly. "But most importantly, it prevents you from using Domain Expansion. This will guarantee that you won't be a dangerous threat to us."

"Satisfied?" Gojo asked the higher-ups. "Is there anything else you want to add?"

"Just hurry up, Gojo. You've already got what you wanted."

Gojo let out a chuckle. "Indeed I did." Gojo turned to me, and a cold smile crept onto his face. "It should be working any moment now."

Suddenly, I felt my limbs go limp, and my body slumped to the ground. The sickly feeling in my body gave me my answer. Poison? What poison could have an effect on my body?

Gojo unfolded my body so that I laid flat out the ground.

"There was poison in the glass of water I gave you this afternoon," Gojo revealed. "You didn't even hesitate once before you drank the whole thing. Thank you for being so trusting."

Before I could register his words, Gojo pulled out something that frightened me. There was a long, wriggling sinister-looking worm between his fingertips.

"It's a Crest Worm developed to seize control of your neural pathways. I'm told it can be awfully painful if you fight it. I suggest you take a few deep breaths and try to relax." Gojo caught my expression. "It's a fascinating jujutsu technique, really. Tatsuya developed it from his research on the shikigamis from the Zenin family's Ten Shadows Technique."

Tatsuya? He was in on this? They're working together?

"Wait no!" I said quickly. "You have the collar-"

"That won't do," Gojo said, meeting my eyes. "I need absolute control over you."

I swallowed. I'd never imagined this would be the result. I desperately searched for anything I could possibly say or do that would make him stop. "Please, don't!"

"So you're going to fight." Gojo struck me in the stomach, stifling my last possible defense as my breath left me. Gojo's eyes met mine.

Gojo's jaw clenched, but his gaze remained cold. "Don't give me that look. You are a curse, and I am a sorcerer. I cannot trust you."

I am a curse. You are a sorcerer. There is no trust between us. Those were my words.

My brains whirled, and another frantic sound left my throat as Gojo turned his attention back to the worm. He pried open my mouth.

"It'll be over quickly."

He let go, and the worm entered my mouth.

At first, I only felt the sharp needles of the worm's claws. For a second, I hoped the worm had failed and that this was some kind of miracle.

Then, it hit my brain.

I didn't remember screaming though I heard that someone was. The pain scorched through me, but the feeling that followed was worse. It was a skin-crawlingly feeling. Something had settled in my brain and was now slowly invading every bone and muscle in my body. Then, there was nothing but the burn from the pain. The panic was gone. Everything was gone.