Father

"Hah? I won't call a random guy that I just met 'dad'."

"I never said you could, I just said that I was your father from now on."

Mai and Maki followed him as he went out of the compound. They were nervous as someone who they just meet was now going to adopt them. Their mother could only watch the scene with sad eyes.

Unable to do anything.

Their real father wasn't even here, not caring whether they get bullied or sold. The man didn't even make an effort of coming here and instead opted to go on missions.

They were now left alone, with a stranger that they don't know. Not knowing his motive nor reason.

The twins were now outside the gate of the compound. Arai was busy talking with Nobuaki while they were left alone. Maki held her sister's hand while looking at Arai, she knew that if he wanted to do anything to them then they wouldn't be able to resist.

She may not know who he is but the fact that the leader of the Kukuru Unit respectfully talked to him showed his status.

Maki was about to go to him but was stopped as she felt her sleeve being pulled. There she saw her sister Mai scared as she held her older sister.

"Maki? What's going to happen to us?" Maki could see her trembling. The fear that the clan brought to them was always the same. Bullying, neglect, torturous training and most of all the barrage of threats to them.

But one thing they didn't have to worry about was something new. They knew their routine, the same and the same. Now that they were leaving the Zen'in household, no one could guarantee their safety.

All they had were themselves, with only the hope that their new 'father' wasn't going to kill them.

"Calm down, Mai. If he does something to us, I'll stall him and you run."

"But-"

Maki grabbed her sister by the shoulder with a reassuring smile.

"Mai, I'm the older sister remember. We'll always be there for one another. Didn't we promise each other?" They lifted up her finger and pinky promised. Mai who heard this smiled and hugged her sister.

"Have a good day sir Isao."

"Yeah."

Maki hugged her sister while watching the exchange her new 'father' had with Nobuaki. Her strength was very limited and she knew that if this man wanted to do anything to them. They'd be powerless.

Despite reassuring her own sister, she herself felt nervous but still kept a strong image. The only thing she could hope was that this man wouldn't hurt them. A wish that was very hard to come true.

Arai walked out of the compound and saw the two girls standing in the sideway holding each other and Maki glaring at him. He ignored her glares and entered in the car he came here with.

"Are you going stand there and watch or get in the car?" He sighed and started the car.

Maki clicked her tongue and stood up bringing her sister along. It wasn't like they had a choice. Though he was now parent-in-name, he felt more like a kidnapper. Maki and Mai got in the backseats and strapped on their seatbelts.

With both kids here, Arai drove off.

Maki and Mai looked back to see their previous house now getting smaller and smaller. Though they didn't like it, it was still their home. And they had yet to say goodbye to their mother, the only relative who didn't hurt them.

Now they didn't know whether they'd even be able to see her again.

Looking in the mirror, they could see the cold look on their father. His thoughts unknown to them, the fear they received in the Zen'in clan was already bad their entire life. If their relatives were already this harsh on them, what would this man made them suffer through?

Back at the Zen'in compound, the leader Naobito sat drunkenly at the table with his wine jar still close to him. He gulped down a swig before releasing a burp.

"So... why were you so quiet?"

In his field of vision, there was only one person.

Jinichi Zen'in.

His face displayed his anger but he held it in. Taking the cup of tea on the table, he drank it all in one gulp before he looked down.

"You shouldn't have made a deal with that man. He is dangerous."

"And so are we." Naobito rebuked with a smirk.

"But we don't know anything about him, only some fragment of information. His technique isn't revealed to anyone and what's more is how a semi-second grade became a first grade so easily. From what we gathered, he was stated to be weak and not hold much potential relying on shikigamis for power. But look at him now, he's talking to us as if we're his equal."

Jinichi tried to warn Naobito but he seemed to not care. Still drinking from his jar of wine. As he was about to take a sip, something made him hesitate before he ultimately placed down the jar.

"That's because you made it seem as if we were." Naobito's tone now turned cold, the hint of playfulness now gone.

"The Zen'in family does not encourage defeat nor do we encourage losers to voice out their opinion."

His eyes stared into Jinichi's who averted when hearing the word loser.

"So they should know their place."

Jinichi suddenly stood up aggressively flipping the table that held the food and tea spilling all over the room. His face distorted into one of anger as it looked like he was about to kill the man standing in front of him.

He stood up angrily and stomped the floor while making his way to Naobito.

"And could you have done any better?!" His fist clenched until blood began seeping through.

Naobito calmly drank his wine before wiping out some that spilled from his mouth.

"Yeah, I could of. That's why I'm the Clan Head and you're not. Besides, don't blame me for what happened. It's you who provoked him so you gotta be ready to face the consequences."

They both knew what Naobito referred to and it put shame on both of them but especially on Jinichi as he was the one who received that. Before Arai had come here, he had reached out to Naobito making the deal with him.

To finalize things, Naobito had a meeting with Arai and brought Jinichi as a watcher.

"This contract... is there anything you want to add in?"

"Not in particular."

The two signed the contract and were about to leave but Jinichi stepped in. His domineering presence would make even normal people afraid but to the two it barely made them bat their eye. Naobito who saw this sighed and left the meeting first leaving the two having a stare off.

"What? Want to talk about politics?" Arai said before walking off but just as he was about to go through the door, a hand was placed on his shoulder forcefully.

Jinichi had stopped Arai from going any further.

"I'm here to talk about that attitude of yours. We both know that the Zen'in clan is something too much for you. If you know what's good for you then start by respecting your superiors. That is if you don't want something bad to happen to you."

The threat was valid, the clan had been in power for hundreds of years and it wasn't going to be taken down so easily. But-

"And here I thought you wouldn't be the type to talk about that kind of stuff. Guess I judged a book by its cover and was wrong. You don't look like it but you're a real chatterbox."

Jinichi was about to leave but stopped.

"Besides, you aren't much to look at. Comparing you 'two' is too embarrassing. I guess even siblings each have their own trait."

Arai looked towards Jinichi and saw him turning around. His eyes had blood red veins in them and his fist clenched that he swear could see blood.

"What's his name again?"

Arai's smirk widened as he saw him look like he was about to kill him.

"Right... Toji Zen'in."

That moment sparked the conflict. Jinichi had immediately jumped to Arai while using his cursed technique making images of large fists appearing when he threw punches in the air. Each of those strikes would be able to shatter the concrete without any difficulty.

Arai who was the target of the barrage started making his move. But an odd phenomenon happened, his movements were too good and precise dodging every blow. It was as if every single movement was made to be as efficient in dodging these fists.

Jinichi's eyes widened in astonishment, his strikes were fast and powerful yet this man had dodge them and the distance between them was closing. In all his life as a sorcerer, there had been almost no one who could do that.

Only 2 people have managed to achieve this.

One was Naobito who was the head of the clan boasting the fastest speed in Jujutsu. {AN: Other than Gojo.}

And the other, though he hated to admit it was his brother.

Toji, the man who was ridiculed for having no cursed energy nor technique. The lowest of the low... yet he managed to make all the Zen'in clan fear his strength.

The moment he meet Arai, he felt the similarity between the two. And that was because he couldn't sense any cursed energy in him. An invisible man.

But the arrogant attitude he showed was similar to that of Toji's.

The disregard to a hierarchy.

Jinichi gritted his teeth at that thought, Toji had escape the Zen'in influence by himself even defeating him easily. He would not let another threat to him appear. Not when he could stop it.

'I'll kill him!' This time, he decided that he would kill him. He was not going to hold back.

Fully utilizing his technique, he was now going for the kill.

Arai now in front of him could see the difference in strength to the previous attacks. Still his face looked unfazed as his eyes glowed green. They both were about to go all out.

But just then, Arai sensed something coming towards him and immediately jumped back. The instant he got out, a figure suddenly appeared and held Jinichi in place. When making contact, Jinichi suddenly became frozen and was trapped in an animation frame.

Arai who narrowly dodged that narrowed down his eyes. 'So this is 'his' technique, he's not just fast but was able to freeze someone in place. Kind of like a frame... interesting.'

Naobito was the one responsible for this and he too was mildly surprised. Arai had managed to escape his grasp even when he tried to surprise attack. It felt like he had eyes behind his back and during the whole ordeal with Jinichi, it felt as if he could read all of Jinichi's attacks.

Naobito's instincts warned him of Arai the moment he meet him, just him being here felt wrong as if his existence shouldn't be possible.

Arai had cemented himself as a first grade sorcerer.

"Now now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. I'm sorry for my companion, Isao. Can you forgive him for his blunder? I'll punish him accordingly." Naobito smiled though it seemed so fake that it made Arai irritated.

Reminding him of a past memory, one at a particular village.

Arai shrugged off his thoughts and walked away. "Make sure you control your pets. They're no good if they don't obey." He said before leaving the building.

No matter how strong he was, challenging an entire clan was no easy feat and Arai didn't want to risk anything. He still had a deal with them and needed to gain the girls.

Naobito chuckled seeing Arai's figure slowly disappearing.