dauntless

The doors to the underground chamber open, and light filters in, throwing the scene below in stark relief. The pressure from the concentrated cursed energy suddenly lifts, escaping through the exit. 

Megumi looks over her shoulder, blinking to adjust to the sudden onslaught of light. Three figures appear on the stair landing.

Satoru-san and her prospects. 

Megumi wipes her face.  

She is drenched in the blood of her enemies. It congeals in her hair, weighs down her clothes, splatters with every step of her shoes, and slowly drips from her chin, fingertips, hair, and clothes. 

It's a heinous sight; she revels in it.

Shiro and Kuro rip into the flesh of a cooling carcass. The gluttonous beasts drag their prizes away to feast in peace. The body joins its unlucky brethren. The shadows gurgle and pop as they absorb the slow-melting cocktail of tissue, muscle, bone, and viscera. 

She upholds her end of the contract. Her shikigami are fed intravenously, a feast laid at their feet. 

The shadows are deep, dark, and lovely.

"Me-gu-mi!" She shouts excitedly, "You've been holding out on me!"

Megumi trudges up the steps, the blood will soon disappear and all that will be left is sweat, dirt, and blood. It's curious, under the muck and the mire, who is man? Who is the monster? How does one differentiate one from the other? Megumi has killed in self-defense, but one day, it will be by directive. Will that make her any better than the creatures she kills? What is a human life compared to a curse? Is there a scale that weighs the weight of a human life? Is it based on morality? Their actions, beliefs, attitudes, and rhetoric?

"Not at all," Megumi demurs. "I'm pushing myself; I'm curious and hungry like you taught me to be." Satoru-san is used flattery; many people think she's cocky and braggadocious. But is it boasting when it's true? Facts are statements supported by evidence and proven results. Facts are what Megumi speaks. 

"Did you figure out the solution to your problem?"

Shikigami are tools, but Megumi is fond of her shikigami, much to the consternation of her teachers. When Megumi found out her shikigami are absorbed by the others once they are destroyed, she was appalled. Satoru-san quirked a brow at her complaint and told her to find a solution; her variant of Ten Shadows is not held to the same mandates as its predecessor. 

So she did.

"Un, I wondered if the quality of my shadows changed in my domain expansion. I tried replicating it based on theory, but experiencing it gave me more insight. I need to experiment more with the protean quality of my shadows."

"I think you mastered it," Satoru-san says with assurance.

Megumi shakes her head, "The doublegangers are inconsistent. I'll duplicate myself and try and replicate the results with my shikigami."    

Satoru-san grins like a loon, but her recruits appear disgusted, impressed, and intimidated. One is better at hiding their emotions, but the other two twins are more emotive; they'll need to fix that. 

"I expect nothing less from my brilliant Megumi!" Warmth fills her, and her burgeoning omega instincts latch onto that word. My. Belonging, association, mine, possession. She's almost embarrassed, but that reaction is becoming more and more apparent. Megumi ignores it. Satoru-san claps her hands together, "This is Fushiguro Megumi!" She points to one of her prospects, "This is Muira Risa; she's a Higashibōjō cousin; that's Maeda Ren and Yuu."

Ah, twins.

Two halves of a soul, an omen, a taboo.

The Maeda clan is known for their twins, though they seldom have a propensity for jujutsu; when it occurs, they engage in the game of Darwinism. 

One cannot live while the other survives. One cannot thrive if the other does not die.

Through death, a twin becomes complete and unlocks glorious potential.

Megumi bows shallowly in greeting.

The Maeda created a ritual to stave off the taint of twins, a more humane approach to a bloody conclusion. 

It still results in the death of a sibling, a child, a grandchild, a cousin. 

Megumi is grateful the coin landed on its head, and Maeda Futaba and Ninako are ordinary and spared of this heavy burden.

"Ano, Gojo-dono, will we have to fight Fushiguro-san as a test?" Muira Risa asks charily.

"Yeah, two of you," Satoru-san says cheerfully.

The Maeda twins tense.