Ten Shadows in the Heian Era

Taira no Takiyasha

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Laying back on a bank of grass, Takiyasha pays half a mind to the sparring taking place in the training field between Ise no Tayū and Minamoto no Yoshiie.

Fights between the two of them are usually pretty even despite Yoshiie still being Grade Two when Tayū is Semi-Grade One. She's not really surprised by it though. Give it a few more months and Yoshiie will be the stronger of the two. He just needs to sharpen his instincts a little bit.

Not that Tayū is weak in anyway, her technique is pretty good, it just lacks the versatility of Yoshiie's ability to spawn portals constantly.

Tayū's technique is called Wakawaka and has its root in poetry, waka literally just being the word for poetry.

There are many types of waka. There's Katauta, which comes in the form of five-seven-seven, the shortest type of waka with only three lines and nineteen syllables. There's the Tanka, the most popular form of poetry that comes in a five-seven-five-seven-seven.

There is also Bussokusekika, which is just a Tanka but with an extra seven on the end and a Sedōka which is the same length but with a different composition.

Finally, there is Chōka, the potentially longest type that can really be as long as you want, so long as it repeats a cycle of five-seven at least once and ends with five-seven-seven.

The way Tayū's technique works is that she picks a type of waka, and then every time she manages to hit her opponent, it pushes her waka forward one syllable, and every time she passes line, she gains a boost to her speed and strength. Then once she has hit them enough times to finish the waka, like nineteen hits for a Katauta, she gains a multiplicative boost dependent on the number of lines.

This makes her technique something of a gamble. She has to decide at the start of the battle how long she can last against her opponent in order to optimise her gains.

If she picks a Katauta, then she might not get enough of a boost to be able to overwhelm her opponent, but if she picks a Sedōka then she might lose before she can achieve the final and most important boost.

It does give her something of an advantage when she fighting against people she has fought before, like Yoshiie, because she will already know how long she can last and how much she can push her technique.

There are of course, other benefits to using a longer waka. Mainly that every time she clears a line her body receives a burst of Positive Energy that can heal most physical damage.

It means that in order to really beat her, you have to do so not only incredibly quickly, but while also making sure she can't hit you with a few quick strikes.

It doesn't matter how light her hits are, so long as they connect it count for the technique. So it's best to go for a finishing blow after she's finished a five hit line so that she needs another seven before she heals again.

Takiyasha knows from experience that it is an incredibly annoying technique, but it is also one of those techniques that become drastically less difficult to deal with once you know the trick.

It makes it the virtual opposite of Yoshiie's technique, Kindred Spirit.

Every swing of his knives, every movement of his hands, all of it leaves invisible 'lines' in the air where they pass, and at any time he can connect two of these 'lines', opening them up and forming a doorway between them.

Knowing the mechanics of his technique does not make it any easier to deal with, because there's no way to know which lines will connect to which. It's very annoying.

Her own technique is more like Yoshiie's in the sense that knowing the mechanics doesn't really make it easier to counter, but hers is still a lot more simple. Not that that is a bad thing, she's still the stronger of the two after all.

Still, it means that the best counter to Yoshiie is speed, while the best counter to Tayū is evasion. Both of their strengths are the opposite's weakness. It makes their spars interesting to watch.

Which is part of why she and Sabishī are just watching instead of sparring themselves, not that Sabishī's grandfather cares that they aren't participating in today's 'lesson', insofar as being told to fight each other counts as a lesson.

Another part of the reason is that they are the complete opposite of the other two when it comes to sparring. Not entertaining at all.

She just sends her Gashadokuro after Sabishī and then her friend has to either keep the Shikigami at bay or allow herself to be defeated. Then it's just a matter of landing a clean hit for her and she wins again.

It's too boring.

And again, it's really not like their Sensei cares, she thinks to herself as she glances to the side, where Kamo-Sensei is sitting, not paying any attention at all to the spar happening in front of them.

Instead, his attention is consumed by a stack of paper and bottle of ink that he is using to make a bunch of Paper Shikigami of various different animals that all keep simply transmuting into ink and falling to stain the grass in front of him further.

She has no idea what he's trying to accomplish, but it's nothing new for him to ignore them all in favour of his own experimentation, so she's used to it.

That said, she really thought he'd be at least a little bit more attentive today, considering the ongoing emergency.

Sugawara no Michizane turning into a Vengeful Cursed Spirit is definitely not something she saw happening. She'd be more worried if she was going to be sent to exorcise him, but she's not, so she doesn't really care that much.

She knows her limits, and Sugawara no Michizane is far above them. The man is a living legend, or is it 'was' now? He is dead but also alive, so she's not sure which tense is right to use.

Either way, it's not her problem.

As if summoned by her thoughts, she notices Kamo-Sensei's head snap up, looking into the distant sky, and a moment later she feels why. The rest of her classmates follow almost in synch, the fight below freezing in place as they all turn their attention to the same direction.

Faintly, only because it is so far away, the unmistakable aura of Sukuna tickles their senses, rapidly getting closer.

However, where that malicious presence used to purely be a source of fear and frustration for her, and the others too, now, there is more to it.

Because now, hidden away behind that blinding aura of hatred, she knows that there is an accompanying force of good that balances it out.

She would still prefer to never be anywhere near Sukuna, but so long as Narauko is there too, it's not as bad. In the months he's been here, Narauko has shown a surprising capability of keeping Sukuna from trying to kill any of them. 

Granted, he mostly does this by fighting Sukuna himself, which is still pretty dangerous for anyone around them, but still. It's a good thing that Tengen-sama is able to easily fix all the broken buildings.

But Narauko has done more than just balance Sukuna out.

He's actually sociable, unlike his fellow Special Grade, so he's spent plenty of time with all of them, either sparring, discussing techniques, or just hanging out.

She hasn't failed to notice how much she and her classmates have improved since he showed up. It feels like every time he spars with them they discover a new facet of their techniques, or manage to push themselves just that much further.

He's inspiring.

Jujutsu is an inherently selfish path. Sorcerers don't really help each other, not if they don't have to. Yet he does. Even accepting that none of them would return the favour.

She doesn't really get it.

It's easy to hate Sukuna, because there is no doubt that Sukuna hates you. Emotions are cyclical like that. So what does that mean for someone who is just so incredibly and blatantly in love with everything he sees?

"That's a nice flush you've got on your cheeks there~, Taira-chan~!" Kamo-Sensei's voice calls out, snapping her from her thoughts as she turn to glare at him. "I wonder what's making you blush~, could it be that you're daydreaming about somehow finding a husband again~?"

"I'm not blushing!" She snaps at him, her mood immediately soured, "And don't talk about me finding a husband as if it's some impossible thing!"

"I am sorry to say, Taira-san, but you are definitely blushing," Tayū says, suddenly standing by her side and idly fixing her forest green hair, the buns having come slightly loose in her spar.

"I am not!" Takiyasha yells back at her.

A gentle nudge on her other side has her turning to face Sabishī, "(¬‿¬)," and immediately regretting it.

"Shut up!"

Out of her classmates, Sabishī is the one she's closest with, and so she naturally is aware of her... type.

She likes country boys, okay!? Stuffy nobles and prideful Sorcerers are just annoying. But she obviously can't marry a country boy, both because she is a noble and a noble doesn't marry commoners, and also because she is a Sorcerer, and she refuses to marry a weakling.

Unfortunately, this means that ever since Narauko has shown up, Sabishī hasn't stopped teasing her about him. 

It's annoying.

"Do you think they faced any troubles?" Yoshiie asks, changing the subject from embarrassing her, something she is grateful for. "It was a Special Grade they were sent to exorcise after all."

"I doubt it," Tayū comments. "A Sorcerer should be able to defeat a Curse of the same grade in the first place, and there is two of them as well."

None of them even considered the thought that they would lose, the question was just more if it was easy or not. After all, it would be best if they are at full strength coming back.

"True," Yoshiie accepts, "But their next mission is not going to be easy. Having to exorcise the Vengeful Cursed Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane right after exorcising a different Special Grade Curse... Even knowing who we are talking about, it still seems a bit much. I can not even imagine anyone succeeding without trouble."

The mood gets a bit sombre when Yoshiie actually says what they are all thinking about. None of them would care even the slightest bit if Sukuna died, but at the same time, they would all miss Narauko if he should perish.

It really is difficult to hate that man. She's never met anyone so willing to help others for no greater reason than simply wanting to.

You certainly wouldn't find anyone in the capital willing to do anything without getting something in return.

"They will probably be fine," she says, studiously ignoring the feeling of Sabishī staring at her, knowing that she is even without a face etched into her blood. "Even if they can't win, I'm pretty sure that there isn't anyone alive better at Reverse Cursed Technique than those two monsters, and there's that deer to consider too. They're pretty difficult to put down."

Her words receive a few nods, and the mood lightens minutely, but...

"Even then," Yoshiie frowns thoughtfully, "It is still Sugawara no Michizane."

He says the name as if it is an explanation in and of itself, and in some ways, it is.

Michizane is The Strongest. He has been for decades, since before all of their births.

Imagine for a moment, if that for the entirety of your life, every time you ever asked who was the best at anything, you were always given the exact same answer.

Who has the most Cursed Energy? Sugawara no Michizane.

Who can control their Cursed Energy the best? Sugawara no Michizane.

Who has the best techniques? Sugawara no Michizane.

Who is The Strongest? Sugawara no Michizane.

It has been her entire life. Everyone's entire life. Even her parents grew up with the same name standing as The Strongest.

So even if intellectually, they know that Sukuna and Narauko should each possess more Cursed Energy than Michizane, it's a difficult thing to accept.

The idea that anyone could beat him? It just doesn't compute. It goes against what they have been taught for their entire lives.

Sugawara no Michizane is The Strongest, that has always just been a fact of life.

And now Narauko has to kill him, all because of stupid politics.

Kami, she really hates politics.

"You kids are so rude~," Kamo-Sensei cuts in, now standing with his tools collected under one arm. "I don't do this a lot, so pay attention, because I am about to teach you something!"

Should you really be admitting that? She thinks to herself, but pays attention anyway.

"Jujutsu is a world of imagination. I know that I have told you this before, but I don't think the lesson has really dug in yet. So pay attention, and you will see."

His piece said, Kamo-Sensei turns away from them to stare at the sky, where a distant dot is steadily growing larger, bringing with it an aura of hatred.

Is that it? She can't help but think to herself, struggling to even find it in herself to be disappointed in her Sensei. It's not like he has ever been that shy about being a useless Sensei.

No more words are said as they wait for the pair of Special Grades to arrive, and soon enough, they do. 

Riding on the back of a truly giant bird with bark coloured feathers and a bone-white mask as a face. Nue, she recalls its name. One of Narauko's Shikigami.

The earth shakes when the Shikigami lands, and a great gust of wind buffers against them, blowing hair and clothes alike before settling down.

"Hey guys!" Narauko calls out to them as he leaps down, seeming to be in an especially good mood.

Behind him, his Shikigami collapses into liquid shadows a moment later, unceremoniously dropping Sukuna to the floor before he could dismount.

However, before Sukuna can even hit the ground, he waves a hand at Narauko who was already hopping forward ahead of time, dodging the cavernous gash that opens in the ground behind him.

Practically skipping, Narauko walks up to their Sensei with a wide grin. "Kamo-Sensei! What did you think of this version of my technique that I left you?"

"It was pretty good," Kamo-Sensei answers with an honest smile he has never given the rest of his students. "Very educational. It revealed a lot to me, so I'm grateful for that. I would say that it is a fully functional, completely original and complete technique, congratulations. Though, I did notice that its capacity is pretty limited, but that can easily be worked around by just sending multiple messages."

"I noticed that too!" Narauko exclaims with stars in his eyes. "I actually had a breakthrough for how to fix it though! Sukuna and I talked about it on the way back, and I think I can extend the capacity to near infinite, I just need some time to calibrate it all and work out the new formula!"

"Ohh~?" Kamo-Sensei's smile grows as he seemingly forgets that they aren't alone right now, ignoring the rest of them in his intrigue. "I did try to modify the technique to fix the issue, but I failed to come up with anything greater than the most minor of improvements of a few extra words. So I gave up on that and started trying to modify other elements of the technique, such as changing the messenger from a butterfly to another animal."

"Ooooh! I actually tried crows and cranes first before settling on butterflies," Narauko admits, also falling too deeply into their conversation to pay attention to anyone around them. "I didn't try any other animals though. Were there any interesting results?"

Kamo-Sensei makes a so-so motion with his free hand. "Symbolism and tradition play very important roles in Jujutsu, so I'm not really surprised that butterflies are what work best for your technique, their symbolism is pretty much perfect for it, possessing freedom, for travel, a connection to the soul, to properly deliver messages, even the idea of transformation fits enough to make it more compatible. Most of the animals I tried were a bust, for example, using a Paper Ox Shikigami, the message could carry a greater load, but it could only go in a straight line, so, useful only if the recipient isn't going to be moving at all."

"That's still pretty good, it could have been used to set up a bunch of relay points across the country, stationary locations designed to receive and send messages between each other and then disseminate them outwards from there, but it doesn't matter anymore, because like I said, capacity isn't an issue anymore."

"So you did. I'd love to hear what solution you came up with, because I really can't see how the butterflies would be able to carry more, not without just using higher quality materials, but that would defeat the purpose of your technique, no?"

"Indeed it would," Narauko nods before grinning up at Kamo-Sensei. "The solution I found was to simply not have the butterfly bear the entire weight of the message for the whole journey. Instead, Sukuna and I figured out a way to basically drop the message into the Shadow Realm and then pick them back up after the journey is finished. It's like if you need to carry a message through a lake with an island in the centre of it. To avoid getting the message wet, you just throw it onto the island, swim up to it, throw it across the rest of the lake and swim over, y'know?"

Kamo-Sensei rubs his chin thoughtfully, his smile growing wider the more he thinks about it. "That is interesting. You really do have such a unique way of thinking, Narauko-kun~. How would you account for the-"

"Ahem!" Takiyasha interrupts, having had enough of just standing by and listening to them talk, making the two blink at her. "You can be all scholarly later. Didn't you have something to tell them, Kamo-Sensei? And what the hell is a Shadow Dimension!"

Both of them shrug helplessly at her shouted question, frustrating her greatly.

"I just noticed that there seems to be some kind of deeper, greater shadow that connects all other shadows together," Narauko answers. "Shadow Dimension is a fitting enough name, and no one has given me a reason to call it anything else yet."

Why is he so casual about discovering a potentially unknown realm? Does he not realise how disconcerting that is? She feels like someone just walked over her grave.

"Well!" Kamo-Sensei claps his hands together, looking between Narauko and Sukuna to make sure he has their attention. "Taira-chan is right. I know you just got back, but you two have been assigned an emergency mission."

Both of their brows raise almost in synchronisation, and she really doesn't get how they can be so alike while being such opposites.

"Can I pass?" Narauko says before Kamo-Sensei can continue. "I really want to get this written down in case I forget it or lose inspiration."

"Unfortunately no, you cannot pass," Kamo-Sensei immediately shuts him down, making his shoulders droop.

"But my technique..." He whines quietly, but doesn't offer an argument either way.

"So what is it?" Sukuna demands, almost looking like he wants to refuse just because he was told he couldn't. It wouldn't surprise her.

Kamo-Sensei shoots them both a big grin. "While you were gone, Sugawara no Michizane was killed and has come back as a Vengeful Cursed Spirit!" He abruptly points dramatically at them as he continues, "Your mission is to join the Sugawara clan and exorcise him!"

The air feels tense as she and her classmates look at them with concern, well, only really Narauko, when the daunting objective of their mission is finally revealed.

Which is why they are all caught so flat footed when neither Narauko nor Sukuna seem to react at all to the mission.

Sukuna looks about the same as always, with maybe a hint of interest coming through his expression, while Narauko just lets out a little sigh. "Fine fine," he says before straightening up and resummoning Nue back where it landed earlier.

What? She thinks to herself. What's with this casual reaction!?

"Oy! This is Sugawara no Michizane we're talking about here," she finds herself saying, getting a look of genuine confusion from Narauko. "You should be more concerned! The Sugawara clan will probably be wiped out entirely by the time you get there!"

"Really?" He asks, seeming rather put out. "That's unfortunate. Does that include Sugawara no Gojo? Our Senior?"

That's not the part you're supposed to be concerned about! She wants to scream at him, feeling like he's just not listening.

"Don't worry, Narauko-kun," Kamo-Sensei says, waving a hand dismissively. "Gojo-kun severed his ties with the Sugawara clan a couple of days ago, and he seems to have spontaneously developed the ability to be incredibly difficult to find~, so he's missing right now."

Narauko sags with relief at that, a feeling she doesn't share, as she hasn't even met this Senior of theirs, but she doesn't care about that.

"Narauko," she says, trying her best to impress upon him how important her words are. "This is Sugawara no Michizane. His Cursed Technique is Natural Order Manipulation, and it's exactly what it sounds like. He's basically a God! If you don't take him seriously, you will die. At least get some Cursed Tools before you leave."

"Natural Order Manipulation?" He asks, smiling lightly as he twists his torso to face Sukuna. "You hear that Sukuna? Sounds pretty interesting, huh? I wonder how his technique defines 'Natural Order'?"

Takiyasha feels her teeth grinding against each other as he continues to just not listen to her. However, right as she opens her mouth to yell at him until he understands, he turns back to her with a gentle smile on his lips that freezes her in place.

"Don't worry, Taira-san. We'll win."

The simple, plain confidence in his answer stumps her, and it takes a second for her to even respond. "How can you be so sure?" She asks, almost demanding, but he just shrugs without a care and gives his answer while turning to catch up to Sukuna.

"I just can't imagine myself losing anymore."

Such a simple sentence, and yet his words reverberate deep within her soul.

Kamo-Sensei's earlier words echo in her mind, and she knows that she understands them. Truly understands.

Jujutsu is a world of imagination.

They lost the moment they pictured themselves losing.

Meanwhile the thought never even crossed Narauko's mind.

"They really are a pair of monsters," she hears Yoshiie mutter to himself, and she can't help but agree.

Even now, she still just can't picture anything but an immediate loss against Michizane.

"The Strongest will always herald the beginning of a new Era," Kamo-Sensei comments. "It's about time."

Shaking her head, Takiyasha snaps herself out of her daze and takes a hurried step forward, noticing that Narauko is already on top of his Shikigami, ready to depart.

"Narauko!" She yells at him, "Catch!"

Grabbing at her side, she unties her sword's sheathe from her clothes and throws it at him, the sword spinning rapidly in the air until it lands right in his palm.

"You better give it back when you're done!" She yells at his surprised face and steps back with a huff when he smiles and nods.

As the two of them fly away, they can vaguely see Narauko waving her sword in front of Sukuna's face while wearing a mocking smile, at least until his arm falls off to a faint cry of complaint before they disappear into the distance.

Standing there, Takiyasha finds that she really, really doesn't want to turn around. She can practically feel four pairs of eyes boring holes into the back of her head.

Unfortunately, she can't just stand there forever, and so, with a deep, steadying breath, she turns around.

Immediately, she wants to kill someone. Preferably four 'someone's.

"Don't." She warns them. "Just. Don't."

Their infuriating smirks don't abate, but regardless, they at least don't immediately start teasing her either. At least, not with words anyway.

Of course, Kamo-Sensei only hesitated for that one moment. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be so bold, Taira-chan~. I know you're desperate to find a husband, but to think you'd go so far as to declare your intentions for the entire world to see~. So romantic~."

"Shut up!" She yells at him, almost on reflex at this point, before his words really click in her mind and her glare turns suspicious. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Somehow, Kamo-Sensei's expression becomes even more smug, and she has to resist the urge to punch him.

"Welllll..." He trails off, tapping his chin with a finger in obviously fake consideration. "Do you really want to know~?"

Her teeth start to hurt from how hard she's gritting them, but she's already done enough shouting for today, so she just grinds out, "Yes. Tell me."

"Hmmmmm~? Are you suuure~?"

Feeling her eye twitching at her shitty Sensei's antics, Takiyasha raises a hand and summons her bell, making Kamo-Sensei hastily back away, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Such a scary face~," he says, one last tease, before straightening into a proper teaching position. "This mission isn't just a simple exorcism, there is quite a lot of politics behind it. In short, the result will decide who holds the power this Era. If the Sugawara clan manage to subdue Michizane by themselves, then, as servants of the Imperial Family, the court will be more favoured to them. However, Sukuna and Narauko are the bids from the Great Clans. If it's them that subdue Michizane, then the court will favour the clans in this era."

"It's a really important moment, one that will shake up the balance of power in the entire nation," he continues. "So when Narauko is seen wielding your sword, it will be taken as you, and by extension the Taira clan, directly showing your support. I'd imagine that a lot of those court nobles will take it as a marriage proposal~. I'm sure your family will be very happy with you staining the reputation of the entire clan by being the one to propose to a commoner, no matter how exceptional he is~."

...She really hates politics.

She's just lending it so he doesn't die! There's nothing more complicated about it.

But her Sensei is right, so now she's going to have to deal with her family breathing down her neck. A Great Clan does not lower itself to others, and being seen offering a proposal, no matter how true the fact of it is, will be taken as the Taira clan lowering itself to Narauko.

Which is double humiliating because the Taira clan already has a Special Grade in her father in the first place.

"Look on the bright side, Taira-chan~," Kamo-Sensei says, and she gets a feeling she won't like what he has to say. "Your clan would only lose more face if, after being confronted about a potential marriage, they went and denied it. That would make them look divided, like they can't even control a single member of the clan. That means your clan will probably push for you and Narauko to get married for real~! Yaaay~!!"

Kami, she really really hates politics.

"You're blushing~."

"Shut up!"

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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

Someone mentioned wanting to see more of Takiyasha so I started this and before I knew it, it was already chapter length.

Also, I've gotten a lot of comments about Mahoraga, so I'll just say here and now, I have plans and they are cool as fuck in my mind, so hopefully they will still be cool on paper. :)