Search for The Unknown

Summary: Some things are like onions, they peel away layer by layer until you get to the core of the truth. Other things are like grenades, they go off with a bang and leave you with a mess on your face.

SEARCH FOR THE UNKNOWN

"Kenjaku-sama, I have some urgent news for you." A humanoid curse slithered out of the shadows and knelt before the chair where Kenjaku was sitting. He lowered his head and spoke in a trembling voice.

"Hmm... What is it?" Kenjaku said, standing up and walking slowly toward the cupboard. He poured himself a glass of wine and took a sip.

"The next Strongest Jujutsu has been decided. It is Gojo Satoru, as expected. He defeated everyone with ease and claimed the title. And the heir of the Zenin clan, the one you were interested in, has been exiled by the head of the clan after losing to him in the final. He is now a fugitive, hunted by his own family. Right now, there are several curse users hired by the Zenin clan members to assassinate the banished heir. They are closing in on his last known location as we speak."

"... I see," Kenjaku said, without any emotion. He continued to drink his wine, occasionally staring at it as he swirled it gently with one hand.

"What shall we do next, Kenjaku-sama?"

"As long as everything goes according to the plan, we shall do nothing. We shall keep an eye on the things that matter to us. The heir of the Zenin clan is not important. He is just a pawn in our game. The real prize is Ryoumen Sukuna, the King of Curses freedom and the Death of Gojo Satoru."

"Of course, Kenjaku-sama. You are always right. But may I ask you a question?"

Kenjaku stopped swirling his wine glass and glared at the humanoid curse. The curse felt a surge of cursed energy from Kenjaku, and he began to tremble with fear.

"...If I were in a bad mood, you would be dead before you finished your question. But right now I am feeling generous, so you may ask me your question. But be careful, it might be. your. last." Kenjaku said, in a cold and menacing tone.

"Thank you for your generosity, Kenjaku-sama. I am grateful for your kindness. I just wanted to know why you didn't send Uraume-sama to keep an eye on Ryoumen-sama?"

"There are several obvious reasons why that would be a stupid idea. But the main reason is that Uraume is too emotionally attached to Sukuna. He might act irrationally toward Itadori family and ruin the plan completely. Besides, I heard that the new Special Grade that I sent a few days ago to watch over Sukuna was killed, probably by Sukuna himself. You know how Sukuna is, he gets annoyed by the slightest mistake. He hates being watched or controlled by anyone. I can tell he doesn't want to be disturbed by us. So we have to give him some time before we try to contact him again. We have to wait for the right moment, when he is ready to hear our offer." Kenjaku explained, sipping his wine.

"Your decision is so wise, Kenjaku-sama. You are the master of strategy and manipulation. Thank you for answering this unworthy question." The humanoid curse said, bowing his head.

"Yes, I am wise. But you are not leaving this room alive."

" What-..."

In a flash, Kenjaku sliced the humanoid curse's head off with a cursed sword. The body of the curse fell to the floor, bleeding a mixture of dark blue and red blood. It was one of Kenjaku's experimental curses that he had been working on for the past 100 years.

He had implanted human brains into cursed corpses, hoping to create the perfect hybrid. But they were all failures, disposable and replaceable.

"Clean this mess." Kenjaku ordered one of his other servant curses, who were hiding in the corners of the room.

**********

She's feeling bored.

She loves her grandpa. He's a kind and gentle person. He's nothing like her other grandfather on her mom's side. Who's always criticizes her for everything she does. He only cares about how well she can fight the 4th grade curses. But her grandpa is different. He smiles warmly and pats her head gently. He lets her do anything around the house. He even lets her watch TV! (How nice of Him!). He says she deserves to have some fun.

It's very peaceful in the village. There are no 4th grade curses here. They are probably too weak to survive in the countryside, possibility due to how little this village produce negative and cursed energy. She can see the view of the big rice fields from the window. They are green and lush. There are no curses hiding like rats.

It's something she's never seen before in her life. She's used to seeing the city of Kyoto. It's full of people and buildings and cars. And it's full of 4th grade curses. They are everywhere. They fly and crawl and slither and creep. They are always trying to cause trouble. They are always trying to hurt people. She sees them every day. She fights them every day. She hates them every day.

But, now she's so bored.

She misses Kyoto. She misses her friend. She's the only one who knows how hard it is to live with her grandfather. She wishes she could write to her. But she can't.

Her mom won't let her. Her mom says it's too dangerous. Her mom says the bad man might find out where she is. Her mom says he might try to attack her. So she has to obey. She has to stay hidden. She has to stay bored.

Right now, she's just staring at the ceiling of the house. She's lying on the sofa in the living room. She's not doing anything. She's not feeling anything. She's just bored. She's bored to death.

"Hime, come here for a second!" her mom called from the front door.

"Yes, Mama!"

When she got to the front door, she saw her grandpa holding two pink-haired babies ( pink hair was a weird hair color, maybe the parents dyed the babies' hair? ), while her mom was getting ready to start the car in the garage.

"Hime, your grandpa and I are going to the city to buy some groceries. So I need you to be a babysitter for a while for these two cute little babies," her mom said with her voice imitating a baby while tickling one of the babies' stomach gently. The baby seemed to like it and laughed at her mom's behavior.

"Whose babies are these?" she asked.

"Our next door neighbor's. They're kind of busy for a moment so they need our help to watch them over for a couple of hours," her mom answered.

"Our help? Is that what you mean by me? "

" Exactly. Besides, I can see how bored you are. Now you won't feel bored again, because they will befriend you."

"Mama, do you realize that they're just babies, not teenagers like me? How can they befriend me?"

"Oh, shush. Yuuji and Sukuna are angels. You're going to be alright."

"One of the babies is literally named after the King of Curses' first name. How is he an angel?! "

"Oh, don't be dramatic, sweetheart. Now be a good girl and watch over them while your grandpa and I go buy some groceries."

Then she watched her mom's car drive away, leaving her with two neighbor's babies in her arms. She saw the one named Yuuji smiling warmly at her while Sukuna slightly glared at her. It was only looking after two neighbor's babies.

How hard could it be?

**********

Kushina is super thankful that the neighbors agreed to babysit Yuuji and Sukuna for a bit.The Hakama outfit kid still out cold and probably in deep sleep in the guest room, resting his body. Jin had to go to work, and finally Wasuke-san said he had some business in the city. Yeah, right. Kushina could tell he was going to hit the slots by the way he dressed up and flashed his cash. He reminded her of Tsunade baa-chan, who always had a gambling addiction. Kushina rolled her eyes.

Even in a different world, some things never change.

Now that she had some peace and quiet, she could finally work on her seal that might take her home. But before she got into the hardcore stuff, she wanted to try something that had been bugging her for a while.

She only had a few special scrolls and a bottle of chakra-infused ink left. Those were the ones she used to make new seals. With such limited resources, she decided to experiment with a regular paper and a pen she found in the living room.

'I should start with the simplest one and see what happens,' Kushina thought.

So she wrote the easiest seal formula she ever learned and used in her entire life. It was the Storage Seal, the one she always had handy on the battlefield. It took her only a few seconds to write it with the pen. So far so good.

Now, for the final step.

" KAI! "

...

...

KABOOMMMM.

*********

"Hey, Kei. I just heard from HR that we might get to leave a few hours early today." Rui said.

"Really?! That's so weird. Why would the boss let us go early?" Keisuke asked.

"Some of the main roads in the city are closed because of a gas leak that cracked the asphalt. They need to fix it, but before they could start, there were a bunch of car accidents caused by the broken road and..."

"And what?"

"And one of the cars that crashed was the boss and his new side chick. They were driving together after hooking up at some hotel."

"HAHA! OMG, that's some serious karma for the boss. But did he survive?"

"Yeah, he's alive-.."

"Aw, dang it!"

"BUT, he broke his spine and damaged his leg nerves. He probably won't be able to walk again, at least for a few years. The side chick, though, she died on the spot before anyone could help her."

"Dude, that's some crazy karma for the boss! I totally think he deserved it after cheating on his wife for so long. Have you seen her? She's so nice! She deserves someone better! But, if the boss is half paralyzed, will he get fired?"

"Probably yes. There's a high chance the boss will lose his job. Maybe by the end of the month, before the company starts looking for a new candidate."

"Do you want to apply for the job?"

"Hell no! Why are you asking me? Why don't you apply for yourself?"

"Fuck no! I'm happy where I am. Sure, the pay is much higher. But I hate how much work I would have to do if I got the job. Too much stress! What about you, Jin-san? Do you want to apply for the job?"

Jin didn't answer Keisuke's question. He was still in a daze, remembering the last night's experience. He saw how big and strong the monstrous creature was that attacked the kid. The kid almost died. Luckily, Kushina easily dealt with the creature and saved the kid with her chakra.

At first, Jin thought of taking the kid to the hospital, seeing how badly injured he was. But then Kushina used her chakra and healed some of the major wounds on the kid's body. Another reason beside that, Jin decided not to go to the hospital was because he didn't want to be questioned by the doctors or the police about how he and Kushina found an unknown kid with injuries. So they decided to bring him back to their home.

"JIN-SAN!"

"Oh?! Urmm. .sorry, Kei. I was lost in thought. What did you say?"

"The boss is resigning soon. You should apply for his position. You have the experience to manage it. You've been doing his work while he was away, claiming he was busy, but he was probably with his latest affair."

"Uh, yeah...about that. I might try it. I really need the money right now."

"Is your dad sick, Jin-san?" Rui asked in a worried voice.

"Well...he's been feeling unwell lately." Jin lied a little. He didn't tell them the real reason he needed money. Not that he didn't trust Keisuke or Rui. He just didn't want anyone to know about his twins and now Kushina, yet.

"I hope your dad gets better soon." Keisuke said while gently patting Jin's left shoulder.

"Thank you. Hey, do you want to go to lunch together at the cafe? There are some dishes I haven't tried yet." Jin said while trying to change the subject from his personal life.

"Oh yeah, I didn't realize it was lunch time already. Sure, I'm in. How about you, Rui?" Keisuke asked. Rui nodded and smiled slightly.

"Great! Let's go there right now!"

**********

He rinsed his hands at the men's bathroom in the café, feeling the cold water on his skin. He had just finished his lunch box meals and café drink he had ordered. As usual, Kushina's food was delicious and drinks were refreshing. He dried his hands with a paper towel. He didn't leave the bathroom right away. He stared at the mirror and saw himself in it.

He looked like a mess.

There were dark circles under his eyes from writing reports all night long. His forehead was creased with stress lines from every time the upper management demanded a revised version of his reports, when there was nothing wrong with his reports in the first place.

He always triple checked them.

His posture was slumped from sitting on the most uncomfortable office chair for nearly 12 hours on the weekdays. He felt terrible.

At least after a few days of eating on time, his cheeks didn't look as hollow as they did a couple of weeks ago.

His mind drifted to his newest discovery. He had seen the monstrous small things that were crawling everywhere for the first time. But they were nothing compared to the monstrous creature that he had seen last night. It was huge, towering over several small buildings in Sendai City. It was terrifying, and it was capable to hurting people.

He felt helpless.

Without Kushina's help, he would have been a sitting duck, watching the creature kill an innocent child right in front of his own eyes. What if those things came to his house and tried to harm his family? What if they attacked his sons? He didn't want to be powerless. He was a father. The head of the family. He had to protect his family. He realized he couldn't rely on Kushina's chakra power forever.

What if she found a way to go back to her world and left him alone?

He needed to get stronger.

He needed to protect his family from those things.

"Are you done, yet?"

He jumped, startled by the sudden voice next to him. He turned and saw Natsuto standing there, looking at him with a curious expression. He hadn't heard him come in. The water was still running from the faucet.

How long had Natsuto been there? He didn't want to think about it. He muttered an apology.

"Oh yeah... I'm so sorry, Natsuto-san," he said, avoiding eye contact with him. There was something about Natsuto that made him uneasy. He quickly made his way to the door, hoping to escape the awkward situation.

"You look stressed out. What's going on?" Natsuto asked, cutting to the chase.

".....I just think about my family's future, that's all." He answered briefly, lying through his teeth. He didn't want to tell Natsuto anything. He reached for the door handle, ready to leave. But before he could open the door and get out, Natsuto said something that chilled him to the bone.

"I know you can see those things too, you know."

"W-what do you mean?" He feigned ignorance, but his voice betrayed his fear. Natsuto rolled his eyes at him.

" Cut. The. Fucking. Bullshit. I know you can see them. Your eyes are always glued to the cafe window, watching them creep closer. You're always on edge, nervous and scared, whenever they're around. You're afraid they'll get inside, but trust me, they can't. This place is as safe as a fucking vault. Nothing can get in here." Natsuto explained, his tone serious and stern. Jin gaped at him, speechless.

How did he know?

Did that mean could he see them too?

"Look, I know you're confused, but I need you to answer me honestly. When did you start seeing those things? Recently or from birth?" Natsuto asked, grabbing Jin's shoulders with his muscular hands and pinning him to the spot.

"R-recently," Jin admitted.

"Did you also recently have feelings of deep hatred towards someone in your life? So much that you wished they would die horribly in different ways?"

"WHAT?! No! I never thought anything like that!"

"Are you sure?" Natsuto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! Absolutely! I mean, I don't like some people, but I don't hate them enough to want them to suffer like that!"

Natsuto stared hard into Jin's eyes, searching for any sign of deception. He found none. Jin was telling the truth.

"Alright, I believe you," Natsuto said, letting go of Jin's shoulders.

"..Thank you for believing me. But, ...why are you asking me that?" Jin asked, rubbing his sore shoulders.

"Well, usually, normal people can't see curses. Those monstrous things. They need to have some deep hatred towards someone, so that their negative energy multiplies and turns into cursed energy. That's how they become able to finally see curses for the first time." Natsuto explained.

"N-negative energy? Cursed energy?! What are you talking about?! I don't understand anything!" Jin said, feeling more confused than ever.

"Look, this place isn't really suitable for us to talk more. There are too many ears around, and my cafe is still full of customers. So I want you to meet me again at the cafe, after you finish your work. I heard from Kei that you guys are leaving early today. So come to my personal office inside the cafe. We'll talk more in detail about curses and everything else you're curious about." Natsuto said, leaving Jin stunned and bewildered by the things he had just learned.

___________________________

So, I am sorry for you guys who's has been give me your lovely comments, but didn't get reply from me. I am been busy doing my work report to my boss. Even i write this chapter at my lunch time. 😂

But I am please to you guys to still give me your lovely comments 🥺. I will forever cherish it and it give me strength to continue this FICS. Okay, that's all from me. Lovely hugs for you guys! You. Are. The. Best! 🤗❤️😘

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