So for those who saw my tumblr post concerning the ao3 tagging for this fic, I've decided to tag Tsunami as 'dead dove' on ao3! Nothing's really changing though, I'm not gonna be introducing any new elements to this fic. I just realized that I probably should've tagged it as 'dead dove' at the very beginning so I'm just now fixing that mistake, sorry everyone!

Also, this is such a short chapter. I'm so sorry 😭😭 Honestly, I haven't really decided what my word limit should be. It used to be 3k+ but it gradually grew bigger but I definitely cannot handle doing 6k+ for every fucking chapter 💀💀 Writing the Shisui Arc really tired me out 

THE TOKYO KIDS STOOD AT the edge of the forest, waiting for the game to start.

"We're starting in one minute," Gojo's voice said through the speakers stationed around campus. "Now, let's hear a few words of well-appreciated encouragement from Utahime Iori-sensei."

The poor woman probably wasn't expecting that because everyone could hear her exclaim. "H-huh?! Uh... um, some degree of injury will be unavoidable but, um... now and then, help each other out... or something..."

"Public speaking is not her thing," Nobara muttered.

"Time's up!" Gojo interrupted.

"Hey! Gojo, you little...!"

"Now, let the sister school exchange event... begin!"

Immediately, they began running. Megumi quickly summoned his Divine Dog who ran ahead of them, sniffing the air for any cursed spirits nearby.

"Where do you think the cursed spirit boss is?" Yuji asked.

"It was probably unleashed halfway between both schools," Panda guessed. "But it's not just going to sit still. Plus, there's still the other cursed spirits we need to find."

"Done." Mizuhime suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"It's done. There were cursed spirits that were stationed several feet from the lake—I exorcised them just now." She clarified.

Yuji looked at her in awe. "No way, that's so cool, senpai! So you were able to control the lake water from all the way over here?"

She smiled a bit. "I'm able to control any source of water as long as it's not too far."

"Cool!"

"Nice work, senpai!" Nobara grinned, high-fiving her mid-run. "That should give us a nice headstart with a few points!"

"This is going well so far!" Maki exclaimed. "Alright, next step. At the time we agreed upon, we'll split up into the Megumi squad and the Panda squad for scouting. We'll be counting on you after that, Yuji.

"Yeah!"

The Divine Dog began barking, turning to the side to lead them away from their original path. Up ahead, a creepy looking arachnid curse hung from its web.

"Where are you going?" It said in its creepy voice.

"That's small fry," Panda said dismissively.

Maki rushed forward with her naginata polearm at the ready, but Megumi caught the way his Divine Dog suddenly looked to the side, alert.

"Senpai, stop!" He warned.

Maki skidded to a halt just in time. Not even a second later, there was a powerful gust of wind, and the trees over at the side were suddenly flung forward as Todo barreled through them. The force alone was enough to destroy the curse.

Todo grinned menacingly at them. "Great! You're all here! Come at me all together!"

Mizuhime glanced over at Yuji who nodded in understanding. This was his time to shine. He darted forward and leaped up to Todo's height before grabbing his head and slamming his knee to his face.

"Scatter!" Maki ordered, and everyone began to split up, leaving Yuji behind to deal with Todo as planned.

Panda, Toge, and Nobara ran one way while Mizuhime, Megumi, and Maki ran the other. The blue haired girl couldn't help but grin giddily. Things were going according to plan. Now all they needed was for Yuji to buy them enough time while they hunted the rest of the cursed spirits. She had full hope in his skills that he could even take Todo down.

But then her grid faded away when she caught sight of Momo floating overhead. Despite being right under her, she was more focused on flying back to where Yuji was. She then sensed several people surrounding him.

Before she could call out on it, Megumi suddenly stuttered to a stop. "Wait."

The girls stopped alongside him.

"My Divine Dog sensed huge amounts of cursed energy back there," Megumi stated, glancing to the direction they just came from.

"You mean that's where the target is?" Maki asked.

"No, unless the second grade is especially cunning, my Divine Dog would have noticed it."

"I just saw Nishimiya fly back there," Mizuhime spoke up, worried. "I think the Kyoto students are grouping up... back to where Yuji is."

His face darkened. "They're trying to kill him, aren't they?"

"...It's possible." Maki said. "The higher-ups were responsible for sending you guys on that suicide mission in hopes he would get killed after all..."

"And Gakuganji-san certainly didn't look happy to see him alive," Mizuhime continued. "He probably ordered his students to assassinate him. But... but do you really think they would go through with it? I mean... ordering kids to kill kids is a bit much, don't you think?"

Maki snorted. "Oh trust me, Hime, there's nothing the higher-ups won't make us do. Besides, they probably don't see Itadori as a human anymore since he's Sukuna's vessel. They probably believe it's better off to have him killed. It wouldn't feel any different from exorcising a curse to them. Even normal jujutsu sorcerers can easily blur that line."

Megumi flinched at that. "We need to go back."

"We will," Maki agreed. "There's no point in winning or losing the exchange event if your friend dies."

Before they could head back, Mizuhime's phone rang in her pocket. She whipped it out.

"Is it Itadori?" Megumi stepped closer to look at the screen.

"No, it's Nobara-chan."

"Put it on speaker phone," Maki ordered.

Mizuhime did as she was told and Nobara's loud voice could be heard loud and clear: "SENPAI! The Kyoto shits are trying to kill our idiot!"

"Yeah we figured," Megumi replied dryly. "We're on our way back right now."

"Was that Fushiguro?! TELL HIM TO ANSWER HIS DAMN PHONE FOR ONCE IN A WHILE!"

Maki scowled at him, "You seriously do need to check your phone more often."

"Just because I'm not chronically online like this moron is—"

"—I HEARD THAT, ASSHOLE!" There was a sound of struggle on the other side of the line and suddenly Panda was the one speaking to them. "Sorry about that you guys. Anyways, Nobara and I are gonna check on him to make sure he's okay. We just sent Toge away to hunt for the other curses."

Megumi nodded. "Alright," he then turned to the bluenette. "Senpai, you should regroup with Inumaki-senpai to look for the curses with him. I'll send the Divine Dog to go with you. Maki-senpai and I will regroup with the others to make sure that Itadori's safe."

Mizuhime's eyes widened. "What? No! I-I want to help protect him too...!"

Winning the event no longer mattered to her at this point. Especially not after learning that the Kyoto kids didn't see Yuji as a human being, but as a curse to be exterminated. She didn't want to just sit back and let him die again! Of course she trusted her friends to keep him safe, but she wanted to help them too for that added reassurance!

Megumi placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. Maki raised a brow at the action. She wasn't used to seeing him be so touchy with anyone.

"We'll keep him safe," he vowed. "And I'll make sure to call you once it's done."

She looked at him skeptically. "You barely use your phone."

"I'll make sure to use it this time, promise."

"...Fine," she sighed in defeat, but offered them a weak smile. "Stay safe, you two."

They parted ways. Megumi's Divine Dog pawed out her leg, his tongue sticking out and his tail wagging excitedly. It brought a smile to her lips.

"Aww, you're so cute," she couldn't help but coo. "I'll get you treats after this, okay? But first we gotta go hunt some curses. Can you take me to Inumaki-san, hmm?"

He barked in response and began running a certain direction. Mizuhime easily chased after him, mentally praying that everything would be okay. Even if Yuji managed to survive today, that still left tomorrow. The next day would be the individual battles. She wouldn't be surprised if the matching was rigged to have Yuji go against Todo again in order to have him killed.

One thing at a time, she reminded herself. I need to worry about today first. The others will be fine.

"Inumaki-san!" She called out when she spotted him. The Divine Dog leaped over a bush and landed right at the boy's feet.

"Kelp," he greeted them, reaching down to pat the dog on the head.

"Have you gotten any curses yet?" She asked.

He nodded, "Salmon. Mustard leaf, tuna mayo." Translation: I got some. I think it'll be beneficial for us to split up to take the rest out faster.

"You're right," she agreed. "The Kyoto kids are all so focused on Yuji that they're completely neglecting the purpose of this race. This'll end in no time."

Speaking of them made the worry creep back in, but she pushed it aside. Yuji could handle Todo just fine. The only other Kyoto students that posed somewhat of a threat were Mechamaru and Noritoshi, but Panda and Megumi were probably battling them already (the matching made strategic sense). The other students... well, she didn't think they were much to fret about (no offense, of course).

"Tuna mayo." Toge added, gesturing to the dog. Translation: I'll take the Divine Dog with me. You're better at sensing cursed energy than I am, so you won't need him.

"Alright. You go left and I go right?" She suggested.

"Salmon."

And after that particularly riveting discussion, they split up. Mizuhime came across a few more cursed spirits, but they were pretty low-leveled so she managed to exercise them with extreme ease. After killing a fifth one, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

It was a text message from Megumi.

Gumi-chan 🥺:
Itadori's ok
Fighting kamo rn
He's annoying

Glad you're okay though! 🥰

She smiled in relief before tucking her phone away.

Everything was going fine.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

In the observing room with all the faculty, things were not going fine. The screens showcasing the entire event (courtesy to Mei Mei's ravens) were still going on live, revealing the two teams going head-to-head. Despite the lack of volume, it didn't take rocket science for everyone to figure out what was going on outside.

"Oh, Gakugaaaaaanji~" Gojo sang with a dangerous edge to his voice. "Is it just me or are you making your students assassinate one of my own?"

"..." The elderly principal remained silent.

Utahime glanced nervously between the two men. Mei Mei sat back and enjoyed the show. Yaga wished he had brought alcohol with him.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not mad!" Gojo lied, flashing the elderly man a bright smile. "In fact, I'm flattered! You sent all six of your kids to go after just one of mine! I see it as a compliment towards my teaching!"

Finally, he got a response.

Gakuganji clicked his tongue in annoyance. "That's quite the accusation, Gojo. Learn to speak to your elders with more respect, won't you?"

He shrugged. "What's the point when they're already one foot in the grave anyhow?"

Utahime quickly cleared her throat and rose to her feet before any arguments could erupt. "Miwa fell asleep. I'm heading out real quick." She excused, motioning to one of the screens that was showing her blue haired student slumbering away on the ground after a phone call from Inumaki.

Gojo turned to her. "Huh?"

"I can't leave her in the woods with cursed spirits wandering around, right?"

Gakuganji thought back to the semi-first grade cursed spirit he secretly released into the forest. While its main target was Yuji, there was a good chance it could come across Miwa in her vulnerable position and finish her off. It wouldn't be good to have one of his own students die.

"That's true," he agreed, stroking his beard. "I'm worried about Miwa. Go to her quickly."

Utahime nodded.

Everyone resumed watching. Most eyes were on the fight between the students, but Gojo had his eyes focused on the screen centered on Mizuhime. So far, he was seeing nothing amiss. But then something caught his eye.

"Hey..." He said slowly, leaning forward to peer closer at the screen. "Is that... a cloud following her?"

Suddenly, two things happened at once: all the TVs blacked out and the talismans representing the remaining cursed spirits burst red, scorching the walls. Utahime, who was nearby the latter, jumped back.

"Wha—the game's over? And they all burned red?"

"That's odd," Mei Mei noted. "My crows didn't see anything."

Gojo hummed, "I'd love to say Great Teacher Gojo's students exorcised them all, but..."

"The charms will burn red for unregistered cursed energy." Yaga stated.

"You think it's an outsider? Some invader?" Utahime questioned.

"Does this mean Tengen-sama's barrier isn't functioning?" Mei Mei wondered aloud.

"Whether it's an outsider or not, something unexpected is happening all the same." Gakuganji said.

Yaga stood up. "I'm going to Tengen-sama. Satoru and Principal Gakuganji, please protect the students. Mei, you stay here and identify the locations of the students. Stay in constant contact with the other two."

"Fully understood." Mei Mei nodded before adding with a smirk, "I look forward to the bonus."

Gojo clapped his hands together like a master calling forth his dog. "Come on, gramps! Time for a walk! You just finished your lunch, didn't you?"

"Let's hurry," Utahime said urgently.

Everyone who needed to leave rushed out of the room. Gojo dashed across rooftops while Utahime and Gakuganji stayed on the ground. Up ahead, he could see a curtain lowering over the battlefield where the students were at. A curtain that none of them definitely didn't authorize.

"Gojo! You go on ahead before the curtain comes down!" Utahime shouted.

"No, not happening."

"Huh?!"

"It's complete already! They prioritized its effect on cursed techniques over its visual effect. They're good," he had to admit. He jumped off the last roof and passed through the torii gates where the edge of the curtain was.

"Well, now that it's down, I just need to break it."

He placed his palm on the surface only for the curtain to reject him immediately. There was a shock of black and Gojo pulled his smoking hand away. He stared down at his palm in confusion.

"Hey..." Utahime called out, tense. "Why are you being kept out, while I'm able to enter?"

Gojo turned to her. Her entire arm was able to go through the barrier. If his guess was right, the same should go for Gakuganji as well.

"I get it now," he smiled. "Utahime, Gramps, you go on ahead. This curtain is a barrier that allows all others to go in and out in return for denying Gojo Satoru entry."

But if they were able to use a barrier to keep a specific person out, then they definitely weren't someone to underestimate.

"They must have quite the skilled curse user," he mused. "That, and they have a degree of intel on us. Go on, get moving. I don't know what their goal is, but we lose if even one of us dies."

Utahime and Gakuganji turned to each other and nodded. The former was the first to step through the curtain, followed by the latter.

That just left Gojo outside. Despite the situation at hand, he couldn't help but think back to that peculiar cloud he spotted stalking Mizuhime...

Worry knotted his stomach.

He was pretty sure he saw streaks of lightning too.

━━━━━━･❪ 💧 ❫ ･━━━━━━

Mizuhime knew she shouldn't have been so optimistic. It all started with a phone call from Megumi and everything just went downhill from there.

"Gumi?" She said to the phone.

"Senpai!" For some odd reason, she could hear a lot of noise in the background. Like buildings were being destroyed. "—under attack—! Special Grade cursed spirit—infiltration—run and—!"

She frowned, barely able to understand what he was saying. The audio became staticky in mid-sentence. "Megumi, I can't hear what you're saying, are you guys okay?"

All she got in reply was incoherent babble and static. And then, the call was cut.

"What the...?" As she stared down at her screen in confusion, she suddenly saw something above her through the reflection. She craned her neck up, spying a black curtain coming down all around the forest.

Well that would certainly explain the lack of reception, but why was there a curtain in the first place?

She frowned. "What is going on—"

—BOOM!

Mizuhime sensed it before she saw it. Just before the attack could hit, she jumped back. Lightning struck the ground she once stood on, and when the impact hit, a blinding light flashed through the area.

She had to close her eyes and bring her arms up to shield herself from it, but the air now smelled heavily of ozone.

Oh SHIT! She internally cursed. What was that?! A cursed spirit? A curse user?! They're skilled enough to suppress their cursed energy! And they're a lightning user too?! Oh god, not this again!

When all the dust and rubble cleared out, she looked up where a massive dark cloud loomed over a good section of the forest where she was at. She could see lightning streaks thundering. At the very middle was a single large eye, glaring down at her.

"Almost got you..." He said, his voice deep and rumbling just like a storm waiting to happen. His form lowered, slowly descending from the skies and to the ground. Rather than looking like a blob, it began to shape itself into something more humanoid: he was several feet taller than her, had a pair of arms, a tail for a leg, and the creepy blue eye remained at the center of his head. Blue lightning arced through his body.

Now that he was revealed, he no longer had any need to hide his cursed energy. Mizuhime shivered when she sensed it. It was unlike anything she had ever felt.

"You're a Special Grade, aren't you...?" She breathed out.

This is a fucking nightmare.

"Ranto." He introduced himself. "I'm an ancient curse born from the fear of storms. I heard your father is famous for the storms he makes."

And just how did he know who her father was? And who she was? She thought back to the curtain. A curse user had to have done that. Was this an organized attack between curse users and cursed spirits? But why would they work together?

"I would've preferred to go against him..." He continued. "At least then he would be more at my level. But alas... you will have to do."

A blue lightning bolt came her way, but she side-stepped and countered with her own attack.

Clouds are made out of water droplets or ice crystals floating in the sky, she thought to herself. With a wave of her hand, Ranto's cloudy body condensed further into water and flew towards her. Now he was left with a floating eye.

Surely without a body he can't do anything, right? She hoped.

Spoke too soon. A burst of blue shot out from its pupil and Mizuhime had to dive out of the way. An electric wave spread through the field, making her shudder at the prickly sensation.

Lightning. He just shot out lightning from his eyeball.

It obviously wasn't going to be easy fighting a Special Grade but she didn't expect it to be as ridiculous as this! Lightning vision? Really? Not even her short fight against Geto was this outrageous!

Ranto didn't even give her any time to recover. The second the dust cleared well enough, his eye took aim on her and began shooting more lightning strikes her way. She quickly flitted through the trees, flinching with every combustion she heard behind her.

In her peripherals, she could see Ranto's cloudy body quickly reforming around his eye.

His eye acts as the core, she surmised. The rest of his body must be protecting it. If I destroy the eye, he'll be exorcised!

With gritted teeth, she darted to his direction.

"Water Needle!" A giant bullet of water barrelled towards him, large enough to engulf him whole. The last time she had used this move was against Mahito and while it had no effect on him, she practically demolished a school building.

The attack blasted him back as well as destroying a bunch of surrounding trees. To her relief, the heavy stench of ozone seemed to disappear, replaced by the aroma of pure water.

When Water Needle dispersed, the battleground was soaked in water. Ranto's lone eye laid on the grass, the storm clouds surrounding his body nowhere to be found. The second she saw the flawless surface of his eye, she knew he was doomed.

Mizuhime took a step back. "Oh no..."

His eye opened and floated back up. Within seconds, the storm clouds were back, reforming his limbs and shielding his eye.

His eye is too strong! She realized, dodging the next lightning attack.

Quickly, she slammed her hand on the grass and absorbed all the water from it before launching it back to the eye. Not a dent. She used as many techniques as she could while dodging his incoming lightning but nothing would work against it.

She was running out of attacks. She managed to destroy the curse's limbs multiple times already, but his core was the problem. As long as the eye of the storm was still intact, he could regenerate those limbs with ease. She tried chipping away at it, but none of her attacks would work. It was too strong.

But that didn't mean she was all out of ideas.

"Take notes, melons!" Sukuna barked. "This is the most supreme ability of any jujutsu user. This is an advanced barrier technique, but you're being taught by me so I'm not worried about your capabilities. You should be grateful, if it were up to that white rat, you probably wouldn't be able to do even a Simple Domain."

Mizuhime sighed, but he had a point. A Simple Domain was, according to Sukuna, 'a domain for the weak'. It was a barrier technique where the user could erect a small barrier around themselves to protect them from enemy Domain Expansions. She doubted Gojo would bother teaching her that, no matter how easy it was.

"After you do it, you and anyone around you will be taken to a... pocket dimension if you will," he continued to explain. "It'll manifest your Innate Domain, your cursed technique will be amplified, and any attack you make is unavoidable." He finished with a wicked smirk.

"What will my Innate Domain look like?" She asked. Sukuna's Innate Domain was a corrupted Buddhist shrine which fit his personality quite well. What would hers look like? Could she design it herself? She hoped there was a shark!

"You won't know until you manifest it," he answered with a shrug. "It's probably something stupid though so don't get your hopes up."

He casually dodged the bull skull she lobbed at his face.

"Now listen, this is a high-risk high-reward move. Constructing the environment within it takes a lot of cursed energy. Once your barrier is broken or you let it down yourself, you won't be able to fight anymore. Don't try to use any techniques afterwards, melons, you might end up hurting yourself instead so don't be stupid."

"Okay," she grinned.

Despite the warnings, she couldn't help but feel a little excited. This was one of the strongest techniques a sorcerer could perform. If you could master it, you were already considered more than exceptional. Back in the Heian Era almost every sorcerer she knew knew how to do it. But in today's modern era of sorcery, it was considered extremely rare and not even grade 1 sorcerers could attempt it.

"But how do I do it?" She asked eagerly. "I mean, I've seen my brothers do it before during practice. They have to do these hand signs and say the name... how would I know what to do?"

"It's all instinct, melons. You'll know what to do and say once it's time." Was his super vague answer.

She deadpanned, "Can you stop calling me that?"

"Depends, can you stop calling me by that dreadful nickname?" He sneered back.

"No."

"Then no." He smiled 'sweetly'. "Now get to practicing, melons!"

She grumbled in annoyance under her breath, but when she turned around she felt a hard smack on her rump and squealed.

"Ow! You jerk! That hurt!"

"I'm not hearing any practicing, melons!"

It was a completely suicidal move. Sukuna had warned her that she would be completely depleted afterwards—whether it failed or not. But honestly, she didn't care. It was suicidal, so what? She was willing to take the risk and honestly, she was pretty excited for it.

When the last of her attacks failed, water splashing uselessly to the ground, she looked at Ranto and grinned.

"Your eye is a lot tougher than I thought," she commended him.

"Giving up already?" He asked, unimpressed.

She chuckled. "Oh, no. I hope you can swim though!"

Instantly, water appeared all around them, caging them in one large aquatic sphere. The storm clouds that made up Ranto's body dispersed in the water, leaving his glowing core left to float around. Before she could give him the chance to shock her, she spoke.

"Your core is full of air," she said through the water, a wild grin plastered onto her face. "So let's see how it fares in the bottom of the ocean!"

Her hands moved with grace. Both palms faced out. Her right hand turned downward into the varada mudra hand sign. Her left hand stayed up into the abhaya mudra hand sign.

"Domain Expansion: The Kill Zone." 

— author's note —

I suck at fight scenes 😩😩 Like, I can imagine it perfectly in my head, but writing it out is the problem! There are certain moves I can't describe that easily and I struggle between putting too much details or too little details 😭 I wanna write fight scenes like how it looks in action films/shows but it's soooo hard trying to describe the moves they're making without making it too wordy and UGH 😩😩 I can't do it

Anyways, yes MIZUHIME HAS A DOMAIN EXPANSION!!! LET'S ALL SAY "THANK YOU" TO SUKUNA 👏👏👏 I know if he could see her now, he'd be so proud 🥹

I love the amount of thought Gege put into the domain expansion and hand signs for the characters! Kyle Anime Scouter from Twitter explains it better, but basically some the hand signs come from certain Buddhist gods which the characters represent:

Okay now back to Hime's. It took me a while, but her hand signs (varada mudra [symbolizing: compassion, charity, sincerity, giving, and forgiveness] & abhaya mudra [symbolizing: safety, protection, peace, and reassurance]) represent the goddess Indrani:

Pay attention to the bottom two hands. That's what the hand signs look like. In most of her artwork, she's shown using those hand gestures.

Also, here's some more stuff about her:

I was gonna pick a water deity but Indrani fit her more tbh 😂 Like "Indrani was desired by all" is so much like Mizuhime being a yandere magnet. Also, Indrani is Indra's wife and Gojo represents him so yeah 💀

Next chapter will have the full explanation for her Domain Expansion so stay tuned! (It's an incomplete domain tho since she's still starting out so don't get too excited).