WARNING: abuse, misogyny, some death here and there, and Gojo's dwindling mental state. Also, inaccurate portrayal of Michizane. God, I hope Gege never gives us a glimpse of Michizane's personality/background in the manga cuz my portrayal is gonna be SO off.

First update of 2023!! 🥳🥳🥳

THE DAY OF GOJO NO Junichiro's birth should've been a joyous occasion, but instead, it sent a wave of dread amongst the Gojo Clan. Right after the baby—born with a shock of white hair just like his father and brother before him—was pushed out of his mother's womb, he opened his eyes and sent the world into disorder.

His eyes were a vibrant, shing blue, like staring into a pair of blue crystals. He had the Six Eyes, the rare ocular jujutsu inherited within their Clan. Usually this would've been momentous, a day to celebrate, a day to further the pride of Clan, a day where history had been made...

...Except the first-born son, Gojo no Michizane, had already inherited the Six Eyes.

"No two bearers of the Six Eyes can exist at the same time."

That wasn't a rule. It was a simple fact that the universe had decreed. The Six Eyes were always bound to Master Tengen and the Star Plasma Vessel by fate—whenever a merger was ready to happen, the three would always gather.

So what would happen now that there were two?

Junichiro was carefully held in his older brother's arms, his own Six Eyes peering down at him worriedly before glancing up at his father. "What did Tengen-sama say?" He asked in a whisper.

The Lord of the Gojo Clan, Osamu, looked at the newborn baby before diverting his gaze, almost as if he was ashamed. He glanced over at his wife and eldest son before sighing.

"We just received a letter from him," he answered stiffly. "He has no explanation as to how this happened, and even he is lost on what to do next. Something like this... has never happened before."

The Lady of the Clan, Rumiko, gasped. "Then what do we do?" She implored. "My husband, should word spread—"

"—It will not," he interrupted. "I will make sure of it. The only ones who shall know of this are the clan members and nobody else."

"But how will you do that, father?" Their ten year old son inquired.

"I will order everyone to keep silent about his birth; to the outsiders, our second son was born dead. The clan members will keep the truth a secret unless they wish to be executed for high treason. As for the boy," he sneered down at the slumbering newborn. "He will never step foot out of the castle grounds. He will stay within the walls, out of sight and out of mind."

"My Lord, please, you can't do that!" Rumiko immediately protested, making the mistake of grabbing his sleeve. "He is not a prisoner, he is your son!"

Osamu, red faced, reached out to slap his wife across the face. The loud sound was enough to startle Junichiro awake, his wails piercing the tense air once more. Michizane stiffened, cradling his baby brother closer to his chest while he watched his parents with cautious eyes.

"Do not," Osamu snarled. "Ever talk back to me ever again, Rumiko! Learn your place as my wife!"

He smacked her again, and this time it was strong enough to send her to the floor. Shoulders trembling, she lowered her head down and bowed.

"F-forgive me, my lord," she said between shaky breaths. "I did not mean to offend you. I simply worry about our son."

He scoffed, his cold eyes transferring over to Junichiro. "That boy is no son of mine. In fact..." He took an ominous step forward. "I ought to kill it for all the trouble it's given me."

Michizane felt his breath get sapped away. His whole body was beginning to shake now, nails digging into the cloth Junichiro was swaddled in. The baby had yet to stop crying, but Michizane could hardly hear anything but a horrible ringing in his ears.

"NOOO!" Rumiko shrieked, lunging at him on her knees and wrapping her arms around his legs to prevent him from taking another step closer. "Don't hurt him, my lord, please! I'll do anything, just don't touch him!"

"Get off of me, you foolish woman!" He grabbed her by the head to shove her back before delivering a painful kick to her stomach. She let out a cry of agony before curling in on herself.

Osamu started for her again, but Michizane bravely dashed forward and stepped in his way, Junichiro still clutched tightly against his chest.

"Stand aside, Michizane!" He ordered.

He did not move. "Father, stop it! Mother is still recovering from giving bir—"

"—I SAID STAND ASIDE!" He roared.

"D-do as your father says, Michi," Rumiko pleaded weakly, arms wrapped around her bruising stomach. "Go, now!"

Despite being hailed as the next head of the Gojo clan, despite inheriting Limitless and the Six Eyes—two of the most powerful jujutsu in history—Michizane was still a coward.

And because he was such a coward, he obeyed his mother and ran out of the room. His baby brother was wailing in his ears and it was taking all of his self-control to not join in.

"Shh, shh," he tried to hush the baby, rocking him gently in his arms to no avail.

"I'm sorry," Michizane whispered hoarsely, eyes stinging with tears. "Father can be cruel sometimes, but mother will be okay. She always is. As for me... well..."

He tried to put up a brave smile. "I will never part from you, brother. Us bearers of the Six Eyes must stay together, no?"

He stroked the baby's cheek, and finally, Junichiro's cries began to die out into faint sniffles. His eyes began to shut, his older brother's whispers successfully lulling him to sleep despite their father's raging voice growing louder in the background.

Michizane smiled widely at his slumbering face, so young and full of innocence. Trapped inside a castle of horrors, he was determined to protect one of the few good things in his life.

But he wouldn't be able to keep that promise forever.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

There were only three things in this world that ten year old Gojo no Junichiro loved: his mother, his brother, and watching the birds fly away in the sky.

He loved his mother because she was the only good parent that he had. When he thought of her, all he could see were the bright smiles she would make whenever he entered her view, her warm embrace to shield him from his father's rage, and the sweet words she would whisper to combat his father's vicious ones.

He loved his brother for the same reasons he loved his mother. There were times where he envied him, though, for he was the only sibling that was allowed to leave for the 'outside world' as he would dub it, while he was always stuck inside under close guard. His young mind couldn't comprehend the importance of why he needed to remain hidden, all he knew was that he found the drastic difference in treatment unfair.

But nii-chan would always get me wonderful trinkets from his trips outside, Junichiro would think fondly, and the envy would disappear temporarily.

He loved watching the birds fly away because his wild imagination would always picture himself as one, flying away from the Gojo Castle and becoming free like all the other birds. His mother once told him that when baby birds grew old enough, they would leave their nest and the mommy bird behind. If Junichiro was a bird, he would never leave his mother or brother behind!

Compared to the things he loved, his list of things that he hated was rather short, consisting only of his father and the servants that were keeping him confined in his home.

He hated his father for hurting him all the time, he hated how he would be mean to their mother and make her cry, hated how he would always boss his brother around and control his life. In Junichiro's young eyes, his father was sucking the joy out of everyone's lives.

He hated the servants because they were basically his father's lackeys, always tattling whenever he tried to leave the castle, always ordering him around as if they weren't the lesser ones, and always trying to shoo his brother away whenever he tried to play with him. At least the slaves were too scared to even look him in the eye.

And those were the two things he hated most. But now, he was beginning to realize that abandonment left a very bitter taste in his mouth.

That was the third thing he would add to his list.

One early morning, when the skies were still dark, Junichiro was quietly woken up by his now twenty year old brother. The news he gave him made the world almost stand still.

"...What do you mean you're leaving?" Junichiro asked.

Michizane wasn't wearing his usual white blindfold anymore, but even then he couldn't seem to look him in the eye. "I'm leaving for the Heian-kyo*."

The boy frowned. "That's far, nii-chan. When are you coming back?"

He swallowed thickly. "I don't know, Jun. I believe I'll be gone for quite a bit."

"What are you going to do in Heian-kyo?" He asked curiously.

Michizane finally looked at him, a small smile on his face. "I'm not quite sure yet," he replied, strangely pleasant despite the lack of plans. "But I do hope to become a proper poet and scholar."

That made sense. He knew his brother was very intelligent. He loved learning things, especially about Chinese poetry which their mother specialized in. He knew it was always Michizane's dream to be a poet and scholar rather than a violent sorcerer or the next head of the clan like their father constantly pressured him to be.

"Can you take me with you?" He asked, grinning eagerly.

Michizane's smile turned sad. "You know I cannot do that, Jun. I wish I could, but father would never allow it. He would hunt us down just to bring you back."

Junichiro looked down. "I know..."

"Go back to sleep now, Jun. I apologize for waking you up so early." Michizane gently pushed him back down on the bed so he could lay again.

"Will you still be here when I wake up?"

The question made him freeze. "I..." For the second time, he couldn't meet his eyes. "I'm afraid not, Jun. I will be long gone by then."

His face fell. "...Oh..."

"I... I really am sorry," Michizane said, his voice laced with genuine remorse. His eyes kept scanning his face, as if trying desperately to memorize every miniscule feature of his younger brother. "I love you and mother very much, Jun. Do not forget that."

Junichiro's face began to hurt at how widely he was smiling. "I love you too, nii-chan. Come back home soon, okay?"

His brother's smile looked pained. "I'll do my best."

A small yawn escaped Junichiro's lips. He felt his eyes begin to droop closed. Michinzane reached down to smoothen his white locks.

"Goodnight, brother," he whispered before quietly leaving the room, and then, the castle entirely.

A few hours later, Junichiro would wake up to the sound of his father's raucous screaming. Quickly, he threw off his blankets and opened the door to his room. To his surprise, the guards that were usually posted in front of his room were nowhere to be seen. Something like that had never happened before.

Now he was very intrigued as to what was going on. He quietly walked down the hallways, becoming more and more worried when he noticed how... empty everything seemed to be. Usually the castle was always busy, there were always servants or slaves stationed somewhere.

He walked into the opened main room where he found his father yelling at his mother. Quickly, he hid behind the wall and peeked around the corner.

"Where is he?!" Osamu seethed, glaring down at his cowering wife.

"I truly don't know," she insisted. "He never told me anything! I never knew he would do this, my lord!"

His hand struck out, hitting her in the face and sending her down.

"This is all your damn fault! It was always you filling his head with that foolish poetry and now look what he's done! If we don't find him soon, woman, I will give you hell!" He threatened.

"Forgive me, my lord," she sobbed, her voice warbled and pained thanks to the strike he gave her on the jaw.

Osamu growled in frustration and grasped her by the hair. When he yanked her up, she let out a cry.

"No!" Junichiro finally left his cover and dashed towards the scene.

Osamu released her, and Junichiro wrapped his arms around his mother's waist.

"You," Osamu said, narrowing his eyes at his youngest son. "He must have told you something at least. Tell me, boy, where is your brother?"

"Huh?" He said dumbly.

"Your brother! Where is he?!" He demanded. "Surely you must know since he's always talking to you! Did he tell you to keep it a secret?! If you don't tell me now..."

He grabbed him by the front of his yukata and Junichiro could feel his feet lift up from the ground. "H-he went to Heian-kyo!" He squeaked out, terrified.

Osamu dropped him on the floor.

"Heian-kyo..." He muttered under his breath before finally storming away.

Junichiro scrambled to his mother, who was still nursing her injured jaw. He grasped the skirt of her kimono.

"Mother, why is father so angry?" He asked frightfully. "Is nii-chan in trouble? Where is everyone?"

Rumiko answered hesitantly, "He's angry because your brother never told us that he was going to leave. So he sent people out to... find him." She explained delicately. Then she knelt down to his height and whispered, "Now Jun, did he tell you anything else? Did he say why he left or when he'll come back?"

"He... he said he was going to become a poet like you, mother," he replied.

Rumiko closed her eyes, the worry in her features increasing by the second. Being a lady, it was always expected of her to learn the arts, and she especially excelled in poetry. It was an appreciation she passed on to her eldest son, something that her husband didn't quite approve of.

"He doesn't know when he'll return," he continued. "But he said he'll be back soon!"

He finished with a hopeful smile, but all she did was stare sadly at him.

The months dragged on with no sign of Michizane. Junichiro's hope was beginning to dwindle, his hopeful smile starting to dim with every passing day without his brother.

When it marked a whole year of his absence, a letter finally arrived. It came in the form of a scroll. There was a fancy wax stamp at the center with an insignia that Junichiro didn't recognize.

Osamu read it first, growing madder by every second his eyes scanned the words.

After several seconds of waiting, Junichiro felt brave enough to speak. "Is it from nii-chan?" He asked, barely bothering to hide the hope in his tone.

His father scoffed and tossed the scroll his way. "Take a good look at what your beloved brother wrote."

He took the letter and read it, his face beginning to fall.

Dear father,

This will be the last you hear of me. I am only sending this to you now because I felt it necessary to tell you that I am never coming back to that wretched hellhole you call a 'home'. I have decided to take my mother's maiden name and be known as Sugawara no Michizane rather than a Gojo. Therefore, every success that I have made will not come back to you.

I will leave to pursue my own dreams, but I will not abandon my duties as a sorcerer. I will continue exorcising cursed spirits and killing rogue sorcerers who choose to challenge me. But I will not be your heir.

If you send anyone to drag me back home, I will kill them. If you come for me yourself, then I will kill you as well. Even if it results in my own downfall, I do not care. I would rather die than come back to you.

The only regret that I have is leaving mother and Jun behind, but I could not live under your tyranny any longer.

— Sugawara no Michizane

The scroll slipped from his fingers and as it hit the floor, something in his mind began to crack.

His brother... left.

He was never coming back.

He had lied to him. He had abandoned him.

Nii-chan left me, he realized, his brain going fuzzy. He left me. He's a liar, a liar, a liar, liar, liar, LIAR—!

How could he just leave him?! And lie straight to his face about it?! Didn't he know what this would lead to?! He had to have known leaving the clan would send their father to a hellish rage, he had to have known that he would release that rage on him and their mother!

Why couldn't he have brought him and their mother along? Why did he have to leave them?

And then it all clicked.

"Can you take me with you?" He asked, grinning eagerly.

Michizane's smile turned sad. "You know I cannot do that, Jun. I wish I could, but father would never allow it. He would hunt us down just to bring you back."

...So that was why. He was forbidden to leave the castle walls, forbidden to be seen by the public eye. If Michizane brought him along, their father would go to great lengths to drag them back home, and Michizane couldn't risk the added pursuit.

Michizane left him behind so he could selfishly pursue his own desires without having to deal with a little brother that would only drag him down.

You're supposed to love me! He wished he could scream in his face. You don't leave the people you love behind!

He would never forgive him for this.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

Years passed, and Junichiro was fourteen now. True to his word, Michizane had never returned to the Gojo Castle despite the many people their father sent out to hunt him down. Unfortunately, each and every sorcerer he had sent had been killed by Michizane. That surprised no one. He was known as the strongest sorcerer in the world after all, and according to the letters he would occasionally send to Junichiro and their mother, he was now a well-known poet and scholar too.

Good for him. But Junichiro wasn't in the mood for sending him any 'wish you well's. He sat at his desk, his hand moving furiously as he replied to one of his brother's many letters sent to him that, until now, remained unanswered.

Stop sending me letters. I don't care what's happening in your life and I hate how you keep throwing your newfound freedom to my face. You are a coward, Michizane. You abandoned mother and I to face our father's ever-growing wrath. You are no brother of mine. Do not come back. If you truly wish to make it up to us, wrap a noose around your neck and let yourself dangle off the ceiling of your precious new home.

If you ever come back, I will kill you myself.

He had one of the messengers send it to Michizane and after that, he stopped trying to contact him. The letters sent to their mother were beginning to grow scarce afterwards. Either he was trying to slowly distance himself from the family, or he had truly stopped caring for them. Either way, Junichiro didn't care.

But his father did. The longer it took for them to try and convince Michizane to return and reclaim the title as the next Head of the Gojo Clan, the more violent his rage became. Rumiko took the brunt of the beatings since she constantly pleaded for him to leave her elder son alone and focus on raising Junichiro instead, but Osamu wouldn't have it.

His father's desperation to get Michizane back drove Junichiro mad. Sure his heir was gone, but he still had one son left: him. Why was he so determined to have a traitor when his youngest son was still here? A son who, more importantly, had the exact same power as the first one?

At age nineteen, he was already as great as his brother was, or maybe even better! After seamlessly exorcising all the curses trapped in the castle's underground dungeon and defeating all the strong sorcerers in the clan, he was certain that it was enough to impress his father, but all it earned him was the frightened whispers of the clan elders and the further ostracization from the rest of the clan.

Unable to take it, he spent most of his time outside the castle walls. Being stronger now allowed him to easily escape their guards' sights. He would easily dash down the mountains, flitting through the trees and breathing all the fresh, free air, before stopping at the edge of the river.

And that was when he met them. There were two young kids at the other side of the river. One blue-haired and the other pink. They were at the cusp of adulthood, around thirteen or twelve years of age. They looked carefree and happy, it made him wonder if he could ever be like them.

Occasionally, he would find himself watching them obsessively; yearning for their freedom, their happiness, and their innocence. He watched them in secret for a whole year before putting a stop to it, wanting to focus on his training instead.

He was twenty eight years old now; more than a grown man yet still living under the rule of his father. But then one day, his father's dreaded advisor walked into his room.

"Your father has something to discuss with you," the old man, Kei, said stiffly. "It is of utmost importance, so please do not dawdle around and meet with him immediately."

Junichiro perked up. An important meeting? His imagination ran wild; would his father finally disown Michizane and recognize him as the next head of the Clan instead?

"I understand," he said, rising up to his feet. "I'll go to him right away."

The withered old fool narrowed his eyes at him as he walked by, as if not trusting him to follow a simple instruction. Junichiro bit back a scoff as he hurried to his father's quarters.

He stopped once he reached the familiar doors. Taking a deep breath, he straightened up his back before rapping his knuckles against the door.

"Come in," came a deep voice.

He stepped inside the room and bowed. "You asked to see me, father?"

Without a word, Osamu beckoned him forward. Junichiro, who towered over his father and practically everyone else in the clan, felt small as he approached the older man before kneeling down in respect.

"I am plenty aware of your escapades outside of the castle," Osamu began.

Junichiro bit the inside of his cheek. It wasn't like he was trying to keep his ventures a secret, he knew his father's advisor reported every single thing he had done, but could this really be what his father brought him in for? He had already heard countless lectures, he didn't need to hear another one!

"Kei has reported to me that you spend your time exploring the mountain, but the farthest you've ever gone is the Nagara River. Your explorations have caused you to be spotted by outsiders, and troublesome rumors have already spread about your mysterious being."

He glared at him for that, but for once, Junichiro didn't cower.

"However," he continued. "I am... admittedly impressed by your self-control to not go farther than that. It tells me that you've finally matured." He finished with a pleased hum.

"...Thank you, father," he said stiffly.

"I think I can now trust you for this mission."

Junichiro finally looked up. "Mission?"

Osamu nodded. "Yes. Kei was the one who brought the idea up, but I've been hesitant since then since I felt you were much too childish to handle it. But now I believe that I can trust you to stay within the parameters."

"What is this mission, father?" He asked curiously.

"I will allow you to leave the castle, to leave the village even," he said, and Junichiro felt as if all the air had escaped from his lungs. Pure glee began to blossom from his chest, until his father finished the sentence, "You will go to Heian-kyo to retrieve your brother and bring him back home."

That pure glee turned into numbness.

"...What?" He said quietly.

"As you know, I've sent numerous sorcerers before you to the task, but they have fallen at the hands of your brother. Kei brought up a good point; if you were to go to him, Michizane would never hurt you—let alone kill you. You are the key to this, you are my greatest chance of bringing him back."

The cracks in his mind that first appeared due to Michizane's abandonment started to spread out the more his father spoke.

"Why."

Osamu looked at him. "Why what?"

"Why," he repeated through gritted teeth. "Do you continue to want him when you still have me? Father, he has already disowned himself from us! Why try to keep him as the heir when I'm already here! I inherited the same techniques as him, I'm as strong as him now, I—!"

"—Stop talking nonsense, you stupid boy!" Osamu snapped and a small part of Junichiro felt like a little boy again, a foolish, stupid boy like his father always said, and he wanted to flinch and run back to his mother and brother—

But an even bigger part of him felt angry.

"I could never name you as my heir, you know that," Osamu glared at him, the same glare that was used to make him feel small and worthless, the same glare that used to cut deep into his skin. "Nobody even knows you exist and they can't know. If people knew of your existence—that there was another bearer of the Six Eyes then—"

"—Then what," Junichiro's shoulders shook. "You don't even know for sure how people would react!"

Osamu let out a mocking laugh. "And what do you think then, hmm? Do you think the people will celebrate your existence?! Don't be so simple-minded, you fool! Not even Tengen-sama knows what to do with you, and that alone is enough to tell me that you are NOTHING, but a BAD OMEN!" He roared and a tense silence followed afterwards.

Seconds passed, and neither of them spoke. Junichiro continued to stare almost emptily at him.

Osamu cleared his throat and relaxed. "I am doing this to protect you."

"Protect me?" The words came out in a venomous sneer that could rival Osamu's.

Junichiro could feel it, deep in the depths of his mind, his anger was beginning to leak, a hatred so poisonous that it festered deep into his bones and ate away at his core.

"You don't even care about me," he seethed, beginning to rise up to his feet and tower over his father, his tall figure leaving a looming shadow over him. "You think I don't know that you wanted to kill me after I was born?"

"And you're lucky I didn't," Osamu hissed. "Now sit back down."

"No," he said, his blue eyes darkening. "You no longer control me. I'm not scared of you anymore, father. In fact... I've let you live for far too long."

Osamu opened his mouth to say something, but he froze. Suddenly, his body was lifted into the air by an invisible force, and his head began to swell up like a balloon. His cheeks puffed up, his eyes bulged out of their sockets, and his skin began to stretch out to impossible proportions and then—

SPLAT!

His head popped, blood and brains raining down on the room. It sprayed all over Junichiro's pristine white kimono and silky hair. Osamu's body dropped lifelessly to the floor with a loud thud.

Junichiro simply wiped the blood off his face and grinned.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

Several days after killing his father, he was hit with the second most brutal betrayal.

It started out as a happy day at first. Junichiro was all wide grins and hyper giggles amongst a sea of grieving faces. The news of Osamu's death hit everyone hard, and the elders were already scrambling to put everything in order. Since Michizane was gone, they had no choice but to elect him as the pseudo-head of the clan—apparently they were still hoping for a way to bring the elder Gojo back.

Junichiro would've gotten angry at that, but he was just too happy to care. His father was dead! He had never felt so happy before in all his life! He couldn't understand why everyone around him was so saddened by it; Osamu was a dictator! A controlling tyrant! How could they not be happy that he was finally gone?

"Jun..." A soft voice called out to him.

He turned, beaming at the sight of his weary mother. "Mother!" He exclaimed happily, practically skipping to her side. "How are you today, mother? You look beautiful as ever!"

All he received was a rather weak smile that didn't suit her face, but he knew whose fault that was. Osamu's abuse always caused his mother to wither down, but he was gone now so there was nothing for her to be worried about!

"Thank you, my sweet boy," she replied.

"Mother, I'm a man now," he whined childishly.

She chuckled. Since he was far too tall for her to even ruffle his hair, she patted his shoulder instead. "Come walk with me, Jun. I have something I need to talk to you about."

Eagerly hooking his arms with her, they began walking around the castle's overflowing garden. When he was a kid, he remembered when his mother used to take him and Michizane out here to play hide and seek. He didn't realize it back then, but it was actually her way of keeping them out of the house and away from their father. They would 'hide' while he would 'seek' them out and their mother would do her best to keep him away.

"Jun..." She said quietly, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I've noticed that you've been... very happy lately."

He hummed, nodding his head up and down like a puppy. "I've never felt happier, mother!"

"...But why?" She suddenly asked.

He tilted his head.

She turned to him, looking troubled. "Jun, your father just died. He was found murdered in his office. And," she swallowed thickly, her face looking sick. "I saw the body. It... it was not an easy way to go. Does that not... bother you?"

He stared at her as if she was being the weird one. "No? Pfft—why would that bother me? In fact, I should be the one asking you why you're so bothered by it. Come now, mother, smile! Father's gone! You should be happy! He can't hurt you anymore!"

"Jun!" She looked around in a panic. "Jun, you can't just say things like that! Someone could hear you! Everyone in the castle is in a panic after your father's death—we don't even know who killed him. If they hear you say things like this, then they'll start to suspect you—"

"—Let them," he interrupted her, shrugging. "Besides, they wouldn't be wrong anyways. I did kill him."

Rumiko stopped walking, her features contorting into frozen horror as she looked at him.

"You did what?" She whispered.

Junichiro stepped in front of her, his large hands grasping her shoulders as a disturbingly wide grin crawled over his face.

"I killed him," he repeated giddily, sounding like a bragging child. "I wish you were there to see it, mother! I lifted him up in the air and made his head swell up more and more and then POP! His head exploded!"

Rumiko slapped a hand over her mouth, her face drastically paling with every word he said.

"Aren't you proud of me, mother?" He looked at her excitedly, as if he was expecting her to actually praise him for what he had done. "I killed him! I killed him and he can't hurt you or me ever again! Hahahaha~!"

Rumiko stepped back, his hands dropping from her shoulders. Her heart hammered wildly at her chest and her stomach felt like it was doing twists and turns. She felt sick, and scared. A fear greater than what she felt for Osamu.

Even though her husband was gone, his abuse still stayed with their son and it had driven him insane.

Junichiro stopped laughing, staring at her with a pout and narrowed eyes. "Mother... why don't you look happy?"

She quickly forced herself to smile. "I am happy, Jun! I'm so happy!" She cried out, her voice noticeably trembling. She hoped her son didn't catch on. "A-and I'm so proud of you for what you did... Thank you, my son, thank you so much for keeping me safe. I'm so glad he's g-gone..."

His stare continued to pierce her.

Get out, her mind screamed. Get out of there! GET OUT!

"I'm going back inside, alright? I am expected to help prepare the funeral," she said shakily, stumbling back before turning around and speed-walking for the castle.

Junichiro continued to watch her, his piercing stare never wavering. He knew instantly that she was pretending, lying to him just like what Michizane did before. But... but she would never really betray him, right? She was his mother and she loved him... She wouldn't... She wouldn't...

But she did.

It happened at the dead of the night.

He found his mother rushing through the halls of the castle, clutching something against her chest. He was hidden in the shadows, watching her. When she passed by him, he called out to her.

"Where are you going mother?" He asked eerily.

Rumiko skidded to a stop, whirling around. Her face paled when he stepped out of the shadows.

His blue eyes lowered down to the piece of parchment clutched at her chest. "What is that?"

"J-Jun," she stuttered fearfully. "I was just—this is a letter—an invitation for your father's funeral. I was going to have the messengers send it out."

"Give it to me." He demanded.

Her breath hitched. The paper crumpled in her hand. "I... Jun, wait—ARGHHH!"

Her wrist twisted around as if it were a rag being wrung around, the skin mangled and the bones crushed. She dropped to her knees, screaming in agony. The letter flew out of her hand and directly into his.

He opened it and read the contents.

Michizane,

This is your mother. I beg of you to return as fast as you can. Junichiro killed your father, but I fear that he has lost his mind. Something is terribly wrong with him. I'm scared. I've never felt this scared in all my life, not even with your father. Please come back quickly. I fear for my life and your brother's sanity.

He immediately ripped the letter to shreds after finishing it.

"How could you?!" He roared, storming towards her. "You betrayed me!"

"I'm sorry...!" She wept, cradling her deformed wrist. She tried to back away from him. "Please, Jun, forgive me. I was just—just scared!"

"I don't care about that!" He snapped. "You chose him over me—the son that actually stayed with you! Michizane chose to abandon us and here you are, begging for him to come back?! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR YOU?! I KILLED FATHER FOR YOU!"

"You didn't do it for me!" She exclaimed, shrill. "Don't lie to yourself! You've been wanting to kill him for years, Junichiro! You killed him for yourself and no one else!"

At the end of her proclamation, a flurry of footsteps could be heard. People were coming their way.

"I'M OVER HERE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "PLEASE, HELP! IT'S JUN—"

He ripped her head off of her neck.

"Well now you can join him," he hissed, dropping her head to the floor.

He turned around, addressing the growing crowd behind him. The faces of the servants, guards, elders, and even his father's advisor stared at him in pure terror. He glared at them, his eerie blue eyes glinting with malice.

"Spread the news," he ordered. "The second bearer of the Six Eyes is the new head of the Gojo Clan."

The next morning, while Junichiro stepped out of the castle walls to meet with a certain blue haired girl, the word of a second bearer of the Six Eyes flew to the ears of a mysterious man who had scars running across his forehead. 

— author's note —

* Heian-kyo was the official capital of Japan during the Heian Era. It's now known as Kyoto.

Ok so remember how the last chapter ended? Shisui found out Junichiro was watching her while she swam? Well, he just killed his parents before that scene so he's definitely not mentally sound :D RIP Shisui, she's gotta deal with all of his instability 🤭