Izumo

A couple of days after the tournaments end. The group had finally made it back to Japan.

A large complex of buildings that could only be described as luxurious, surrounded the giant water fountain of a stone tiger.

As the group entered one of the massive buildings Omo quickly helped book everyone in before, they went into their rooms to change out of their Comabt outfits. Akumu picked out something basic: greyish-green shorts and a purple shirt. As per usual the silver bracelet was still stuck on his right arm.

As he walked into the lobby, he found Ken and Taori who were sat down talking together. Taori wore a blood-red scarf, complimented with red fleece and black jeans, while Ken wore a plain grey tracksuit.

Upon seeing Akumu, Kenji asked him, "Are you going to be okay? You realise it's almost winter right?"

Akumu hadn't noticed until Kenji asked him this question. He couldn't feel the cold of the approaching winter. Even in Russia the coldest country, he had never once noticed its astoundingly low temperatures.

He reassured Kenji with the statement, "I'm fine. If it keeps up, I will get it checked out at the hospital."

That was when Akumu noticed the long object that Taori kept hidden behind her back. Akumu asked her, "What's that you're carrying behind you?"

Taori responded, "My katana of course."

"Are we allowed to bring weapons here?", Akumu asked.

Kenji then told him, "We are the top 10 ranked students of Jujutsu Tech. We are allowed to act officially as Jujutsu sorcerers even without official licensing."

This was new knowledge that Akumu was being made aware of. Then does that mean when Akumu fought Senjuro, he broke the law?? As the two spoke, Taori and Akumu suddenly jumped. Akumu then asked,

"Did you guys feel that?"

Taori responded, "I think we are being watched."

Before the two acted on impulse they heard a familiar childish voice shouting towards them. It was Hikaru who was followed by, Yumeno. Hikaru wore a pair of knit woolly orange gloves, followed by a matching black and orange puffy jacket as well as a woolly hat. Yumeno on the other hand wore a black leather jacket, as well as ripped jeans and black sneakers.

The three looked at Hikaru stunned before Kenji asked him, "It's still a bit too warm to be wearing that many layers Hikaru..."

He quickly defended himself, "The weather is unpredictable, you never know when it will get too cold."

He had not realised that he wore so many layers that he struggled to achieve basic tasks that even a normally dressed person could do.

The group argued against Hikaru, as Omo eventually caught up. He was dressed even more bizarrely than Akumu, and Hikaru as he came wearing a partly unbuttoned, summer shirt, while sporting brown shorts, and flip-flops.

He then shouted, "You all should get outta here and do something. I'm gonna go hang out somewhere with some friends that live nearby. If you need anything you guys should already have my number."

As he walked away into the distance, the group proposed what they wanted to do. Hikaru shouted, "Let's go to the hot springs later. It's famous for giving this place its' 5-star review."

Taori suddenly grabbed Kenjis' arm before running off in a random direction. The group wondered where they went but they just assumed that they had made prior plans to go out beforehand.

Yumeno excitedly shouted, "Let's go shopping then!" 

A couple of hours later

As the three, walked across Izumos city square, Hikaru was forced by Yumeno to carry all of her shopping.

On the way back Hikaru decided to start a new conversation, "Have you guys heard about the victory paladins?"

"No one cares about that super-hero vigilantism stuff Hikaru.", Yumeno declared. But stubbornly Akumu asked, "Who are they?"

Hikaru suddenly got excited like a dog, while shouting, "They're like, those American power ranges but waaaaaayyyy cooler. They are based in Osaka, and they don't just fight cursed spirits but help people in their ordinary lives, Like helping old people cross the street, or save a cat stuck in a tree."

 Yumeno frustratingly states, "I bet you have all of their merchandise don't you."

He started to get even more excited as he shouted, "I only have the Victory Ranger Red merch because he is my favourite one. I have all of his anniversary shirts, his signature Victory blaster, the Victory Red Ranger cap, all of the Victory Red Ranger figures, some of the Victory Ranger costumes, a figure of his Victory Red Ranger red dragon bike, and the rare Victory Red Ranger Shield that he's only ever used once before!"

As he continued to Yap, Yumeno shouted, "Of all the hobbies you could obsess over you picked the Victory Rangers, and the red one out of all of them??"

"Then who was I supposed to pick??", He asked.

She then states confidently, "The Yellow one obviously, she is so fierce and is merciless with her enemies."

"Are you kidding me?? The Red Victory Ranger is wayyyyyy cooler and he is stronger too!", He shouts back.

As the two argued about which Victory Ranger was the coolest, they began to draw the public's attention with their bickering. Akumu tried to calm them down but his efforts were in vain. Eventually, he took refuge in a random antique shop.

As the two continued to walk down without him, they eventually reached back to the hotel. That was when Yumeno asked Hikaru,

"Where has Akumu gone?"

Akumu had stumbled into an old-looking shop. On the walls and displays laid a variety of clean-looking as well as ancient rusting weapons that waited for a new user. Strangely among all the bladed and blunt weapons, there was a single silver pistol that hid among them.

The display gallery was long, as Akumu stood at the entrance. All the way at the other end of the room was a countertop with a cashier register. Behind the register, however, was one small old-looking man who looked to be in his early to late 40's. he wore a green apron that hid away his yellow T-shirt, an beige jeans. As Akumu approached him he decided to ask,

"What is this place?"

The old man then bickered at him, "Did you not read the sign or something?"

He explained that he just walked in here to escape some trouble that was being caused outside. The old man sighed heavily before explaining, "This is Takeshis'. We don't really sell anything specific, if you ask for it then we probably have it."

Akumu then asked, "What with the weapons then?"

The old man began to panic a little. This was the first time in 8 years that anyone had walked into his shop, nevertheless asked him about his abnormal collection of weapons. He then responded,

"These are just some family heirlooms and treasures that I collected over the years. My family used to come from a line of warriors but after all this Jujutsu and Sorcerery nonsense appeared 100 years ago, all these weapons were retired in favour, of the cursed tools. Now they are just sitting here collecting dust."

Akumu tried to sense the cursed energy in the weapons, but he felt nothing. The Old man was telling the truth.

The Old man then asked Akumu, "You a Jujutsu Sorcerer?"

Akumu responded, "Yeah we are here on break."

The Old man was confused as he asked, "We?"

"I'm here with some friends.", Akumu said.

Then suddenly the phone in his pocket began to ring violently. Akumu quickly picked up only to hear the sound of Hagone violently shouting,

"IF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE QUICKLY THEN THE HOT SPRINGS WILL CHANGE OVER TO THEM WOMENS TURN SOON. AFTER THAT THEY CLOSE FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!"

Sighing Akumu apologised, "Sorry, I have to get back to my hotel Mr Takeshi. See you tomorrow? I wanna hear more about the stories behind these weapons."

Takeshi then shouted at Akumu as he left, "MAKE SURE YOU BUY SOMETHING NEXT TIME."

As Akumu left, the old man picked up a photo that he had hidden underneath the counter. It was a picture of a much younger-looking man with equally grey hair standing next to what looked like an 11-year-old boy. He then said softly,

"He would have been your age if you were still alive. He is just as curious about this store too."