Hakari in Chained Soldier

[Hakari POV]

Hakari hadn't expected that where he was being brought was going to look like such a normal building, if a little old fashioned. A three-story dormitory building, one that seemed to have a barrier around it that was exuding positive energy. 

'Whoever put this up has to be on par with Ijichi' He thought, flanked by the two girls who had come to "help him". They led him to their bath area, where he was asked to clean himself of the curses' blood. As he was left alone, he took the time to check himself out in the mirror. His hair wasn't dyed anymore, or styled into his afro. It looked more like what it was before he got suspended, but he didn't look that old. If he had to guess, he was probably in his twenties, minimum. Absently, his hand lifted up to touch his face again, as if making sure it was true. 

"This has to be a technique…" He muttered, moving to begin stripping for the bath. "The cost for a binding vow to revert seventy years of aging would be…" Way too much. The natural conclusion is that he got affected by someone's technique and left…wherever he was. He paused, however, when he made to take off a ring. A flash of memories came to him. Kirara had gotten them matching bands after the Shinjuku incident. They said it was to commemorate their success, but he had worn it more because it was a gift from them instead of feeling accomplished. 

Taking the ring off and entering the shower, Hakari turned on the water, stuck in his own thoughts. Even after so much time, the battle with Sukuna was a sour sequence of events. He didn't lament his spot in it; someone had to keep Uraume from helping that monster. It was a necessary move to maximize their chances of winning, and he was the most likely one to keep up with the ice wielder that they could spare. 

That didn't mean he liked how it ended. While the casualties were small, and he didn't doubt that Gojo and Kashimo died fulfilled, it still stung to bury them. It was still hard to know that even with all his skill and training, the most he had ever been was a diversion. Hakari turned off the water, running his hands through his hair. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he stepped out of the shower, moving towards the bath. 

Stepping into the open-air bath, Hakari leaned against the rim of the basin, sinking into the water and letting out a breath, trying to enjoy the relaxing moment. His thoughts, however, spun back to where they were. Uraume had been the most difficult fight of his career as a sorcerer, but the most unfulfilling. It wasn't that he couldn't find a strong fight, but that nothing posed as much of a threat since. Every battle he was in after Uraume was either a spar or a curse that couldn't keep up. He'd go months, even years, between uses of his domain, and his fever had cooled off long before Kirara had gotten sick. 

He leaned his head back, stretching his neck and having it tap down against the ground just outside of the bath, and took a deep breath, letting the steam of the bath fill his lungs. He was proud to be considered one of the strongest, to have led Yuta and Yuji by example, and to be a part of an era of stability. That should have been enough. It wasn't. He wanted to be more than a diversion. He wanted to have crushed Uraume and moved on to help fight Sukuna. 

With a lurch, he bent forward, plunging into the bath and holding his breath, a final resort to push these depressing ass thoughts out of his head. 

'Get back home, check in with the schools, see who I gotta thank, and then get back to doing jujutsu work' He thought, making a checklist of things to do. It all should be relatively easy, those two girls were semi-grade 2's, maybe even fully grade 2, so they should be able to get him back where he needed to go. This was all one big mess of paperwork, but it'll pass. 

As Hakari's lungs began to burn from lack of air, his senses caught their signatures nearby. Where they were was…an interesting fact. 

'Are they peaking on me?' He questioned, lifting his head up out of the water and letting his gaze shift over to see the two of them sliding behind a support that held up part of the dorm, hiding themselves too late. He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. Hakari knew that he wasn't the worst looking dude out there, his experience in relationships made that more than evident. So, he didn't mind if they were peaking, truthfully. Just meant he still looked good. Deciding he was done with the bath, he left it, moving back inside to get dressed in a plain robe they offered him. As he finished tightening the robe, there was a knock at the door.

'Oh, such a coincidence.' He internally teased, sliding the door open to see the short, blue haired girl with a haughty look, but he could still see the slight blush she had.

"Follow me," She commanded, turning and walking briskly away, not letting him say anything. He did as she told though, and followed along behind her. A brief walk, less than a few minutes, and they stopped at an unmarked door. 

"Just wait in here until the chief gets back." She said with a stern voice. "And don't even think about doing anything!" she finished, a finger lifting to jab into his chest like a fleshy little dagger. Hakari waved it off as easily as it happened, helping himself into the room and closing the door behind him without so much of a word to his fellow sorcerer. He could hear her frustration through the door at his rudeness, but he ignored it in favor of looking around what seemed to be an office. 

Lavish, with a large wooden desk on the far side of the room and a small seating area closer to the door, the walls were filled with tasteful art or, in the case of the wall on his left, a bookcase filled with what seemed to be books on all manner of subjects. One book did catch his eye however. 

"Modern History: Mato and How It Changed Everything." Hakari said, sliding the book from the shelf and flipping it open. He hadn't heard of whatever Mato was, but maybe that was what they decided to call the Culling Games. Give some nice, easy name to that whole situation. He fanned the pages to the beginning, and began skimming, seeing if he was right. The skimming very quickly became rereading, flipping pages, double checking, triple checking, before he closed the book with a thud. 

'None of this makes sense.' He thought, fanning the pages again, looking for anything he knew would have been written down. The Shibuya Incident, the Shinjuku fight, the Culling Games, none of it was present. Jujutsu was known to the world, it couldn't be hidden anymore, but this book didn't even bother bringing it up. It only went as far back as 2020 with the discovery of Mato. 

Hakaris mind flashed back to the curses he had defeated, and he remembered how they hadn't immediately broken down into cursed energy. He had been focused more on trying, and failing, to kick his fever back into gear, so he hadn't paid much attention. 

'Could it be that this place is Mato?' He questioned, flipping through the book, looking for information he could use. A description of Mato? Okay, so that's where he was, for sure. Which meant the curses were actually something called Shuuki. Hakari continued to skim the book for information. Peaches, and their unique property of giving powers only to girls. Hakari could slowly begin to understand his situation.

"This feels like something Brenard would have written." Hakari muttered, putting the book back on the shelf. A few minutes of reading and he had been able to piece things together. This was probably a place for the Anti-Demon Corps to sleep in. They ate things called peaches that gave them abilities similar to cursed techniques. He was, effectively, in hell right now. 

'First things first, I cannot let them know the truth about jujutsu' He didn't want to be seen as crazy, he wouldn't be able to get anywhere but a psych ward. 'We lie, get back to the normal world, and…become a professional pachinko player? Something.' As he racked his head for a better game plan, the door opened, and a soft voice made itself known behind him.

"Hello," she said, and when he turned, he saw a woman dressed in that same military uniform, with the yellow tassels on the shoulders, the tunic-like clothing she wore was navy blue. Her hair was mostly blonde, but the light caught it at odd angles, making some of it on the top nearly white, and other places almost a lime green."I'm Tenka Izumo, Chief of the 6th unit of the Anti-Demon Corps." 

"Hakari Kinji," He greeted her with his own name. "May I ask why I am here?"

"My Vice Chief Yachiho Azuma reported that you had fought off several shuuki, even killing them." Tenka explained, closing the door behind her and moving over to her desk. "I wanted to confirm this statement. I don't think she would lie to me, but this is a unique circumstance." 

"Oh," Hakari said, voice deflated as her tone gave off the feeling that she had made up her mind about this as is. "Yeah, it's true." 

"Oh?" She turned, a smile on her face as she questioned him. "Do you have such sufficient self defense? Sahara mentioned seeing a shuuki cut in half." 

Hakari was quickly seeing that he didn't have much to say, so he said the first thing he could think of. 

"I ate a peach." He said quickly, and by her gaze narrowing, he felt he may have said something wrong. 

"Not possible." She returned, moving closer to him. "Men aren't given the opportunity to eat peaches, much less utilize them."

Hakari's lies flowed easily. "I ate one after entering Mato. I got attacked by the shuuki after." 

Tenka stood close to Hakari, nothing but confidence. "What's your power then?"

"I play pachinko."

"Pachinko?"

"Yep."

"You're very calm for being a first in human history."

"What can I say?" Hakari asked rhetorically, shrugging his shoulders. "I roll with the punches."

Tenka gave a warm smile at his words, and stepped back to the door, opening it. "Please, follow me Hakari. I wanna see for myself how you can cut something in half by…'playing pachinko'. First hand, if possible."

The tone in her voice did drive Hakari to raise an eyebrow at her. "You…wanna fight?" He asked, clarifying for his own sake. 

"Oh no, you'd lose." Tenka corrected with a slight giggle. "Just a spar should be enough."

Hakari frowned but followed her out of the office, lips pursed in thought. Original plan could still work. Throw the fight, don't use any cursed energy, and just say he was lying about him eating a peach, which was true. They'll admonish him, but he will get to go back to the normal world and be free to do as he wanted. 

Yet, in his heart, he wanted to try. He could feel this chief's power, so close to him, and he didn't doubt for a moment that she was special grade. He didn't know if there were curses back home, or if their place was taken here by shuuki, but that didn't matter to him right now. That warm up against them had been the bare minimum for getting his fever back, a burning ember in his gut that with every step built in his excitement. When they stepped outside, it was into a generally barren patch of the yard, only special in the sense that it was the only place not seemingly cared for, left to be a field of dust. 

"We can spar here, Hakari." Tenka said, smiling as she turned to look at the man who had beaten shuuki. She stood relaxed, only a few feet from him. "Do whatever you need to do, you won't hurt me."

Hakari looked back at her, then his gaze slid off to the side where the two others were standing, the brunette Sahara leaning on the blue haired Yachiho as she dozed. 

"...They need to be here?" He asked, attention returning to their chief.

"Oh don't mind them, they're curious." She explained easily, waving a hand for emphasis. "They won't think of you any different after this, of that I'm sure."

Hakari let his mind dig for an answer to his problem. Throw the fight or not. He weighed the pros and cons, trying to pick the best choice, but he decided to do what he did best. He bet on himself. 

"Alright, Chief Tenka Izumo." He said, lifting his hands in front of his chest. His left was open and flat, palm facing up. His right made a circle with his index and thumb, the other digits flattened out as he put it above his left. Hakari channeled his energy the same way he had dozens of times before, the ravages of time no longer inhibiting the peak of jujutsu.

"[Domain Expansion: Idle Death Gamble]."