12

Seven seas of rhye

"Armin get down!" The blonde quickly did as told when Annie threw her sword towards the transfigured human behind him. The girl immediately dashed and  kicked the other that was coming for them and yanked her sword before finishing the other with a single slice.

Light mist enveloped school grounds were now swarmed with transfigured humans which they were trying to kill off one by one. Though they can sense the enemy coming for them, it was still hard to recognize with all of the mist that clouded their visions.

"Shit! They're everywhere!" Jean was irritated as he tried to pry off the creature that crawled to his shoulder.

Levi observed his surroundings after a transfigured human was sliced into half, it seemed that no matter how many of these creatures they have killed, their numbers were still growing and growing.

"Tch. All of you gather to the roof!" The moment they heard that voice, the squad immediately followed. As they regrouped, they realized just how many those creatures have surrounded them.

"The mist seems thinner up here." Says Hanji, they really seemed to have made a good choice fleeing.

"Yes. However it's only a matter of time until those pests crawl their way up here." Levi bitterly stated.

Pieck turned to the ravenette man."What are we gonna do?"

A loud gun shot echoed from the roof after Sasha used her rifle to hunt the other transfigured humans. "It's only a matter of time before I run out of bullets."

Just when you thought all of it was over, seems like disaster really is everywhere.All these made Jean unwillingly covered his ears as he crouched down.

"Blood Manipulation: Slicing exorcism."

A loud gush of harsh wind echoed on the ground as a numerous creatures dropped down. They were all cut in half. A spinning dark red blade ran over them killing all transfigured humans in it's path.

"Shizue-san!" Sasha was relieved the moment she saw that figure land on the roof.  They couldn't be any more relieved.

"Did you see him?" She ask. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"Who?"

"Patchwork." Shizue looks at them, only to see the clueless look on their faces. That's odd. He made an effort swarming the field with transfigured humans yet....he didn't bother to show up?

"No. Just those.... whatever you call them." Reiner said, since he couldn't recall the term Hanji just said earlier.

Shizue nodded. "I've cleared the path on the North, just-" She didn't manage to finish her words when a cold force struck her off the roof. This caught her by surprise, after all there were no other person in the roof besides them.

Levi was quick as he tried to catch her hand before she could completely fall, but a certain sharp force made a cut through his wrist that made him let go.

"Shizue!"

Hanji's eyes widened when they saw the amount of blood that spilled out of his wrist. "Levi! You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine!" The man hissed and quickly ripped the hem of his sleeve to tie his wound. "Dammit. It's fucking cold."

He cannot go on like this, he needs to go after her, Shizue cannot leave his sight.

Hanji quickly took over aiding Levi's wound as they tried racking their brain on who could've caused this. This wasn't on any of the unregistered cursed spirits that Gojo had warned them about. The only thing there was the curse with branch for eyes and the volcano head. But this, the mist...the weather. We could be dealing with another cursed user.

Shizue roamed around the mist covered surroundings after she stumbled against the terrain. This was no normal mist, that force she felt the moment she got knocked away, it was extremely cold, and not a typical one.

"Shizue Yamada, that's a pretty name." A certain man emerges from the clouds, he had a straight-cut dark pink hair with a distinct patch of white. Though his face looked harmless, his appearance here shown otherwise.

"Such a shame,"

Shizue poured him a nasty glare. His spirit felt so heavy, he was no ordinary cursed user. But if so...what good could he possibly get from killing a bunch of non-sorcerers? Unless, he wasn't.

"What are your intentions here," The girl tightly held the war hammer against her hands, preparing to attack.  For the first time in months, Shizue did not light a cigarette in battle.

Uruha let out a smile as he spread his arms wide, his white colored robe became a bit lose on the middle part of his chest. Shizue couldn't help but notice a gleam.

"Isn't it obvious? We're here for you."

We?

The mist around them became even more thicker as Shizue felt her clothes dampen in the process. This is bad. The girl swung her weapon that cut through the atmosphere and cleared her field of vision.

His pink eyes made contact with hers, he had a very unnerving smile. "Align your allegiance with us, Shizue Yamada, or else I'll kill them."

Uruha was starting to get to her nerve. "Who do you think you are to give me orders?"

The man raised his hand, as if all the droplets emerged from the mist that turns into tiny needles of frost-like blades.

Their guard shot up when another figure emerged from the rooftop, however Mikasa immediately recognized who it was. The ravenette guy from the other day.

The man gave them a nasty glare before acting solely upon the order of his beloved older sister. "Come with me."

They all looked at each other, even Hanji was confused with his tone. They didn't know if he's about to lead them to safety or to their execution. This irritated Noritoshi even more.

"Aneki ordered me to get you guys out of here so can you just?!" He raised his voice.  If it were up to him, he would've left them to back her up. But Noritoshi knew how capable his older sister was, plus he wouldn't hear the end of it if he tries to disobey her.

"Alright, alright no need to-" Hanji's eyes widens when they were about to get the unwell captain but....he suddenly vanished from their sight.

"Wait- Where's Levi?!"

Uruha's chest dropped the moment his eyes fell on his right hand, that was now amputated. A gush of blood poured that stained his white robe. Levi immediately took Shizue by the waist and lifted her as he distanced them from the curse user.

"Levi?! You're in no shape to be here!" Shizue yelled at him, but he paid no attention to it. Levi ignoring her once again seemed to have pissed her off that she snatched his collar. It caught him by surprise.

"Listen to me Levi! You have to le-"

"You imbecile!" Uruha shot a glare at both of them as their surroundings grew even colder.

"Look out!" A powerful cold pressure shot against them. Levi was quick to grab her in order to avoid the thin sharp blades of ice that came their way. It seemed that their argument would have to wait.

"He's a long-range fighter, he won't be able to take both of us at the same time if we close the gap." Levi informed, Shizue immediately got what he had to say.

"I'll take left." She said and both nodded  before they took different routes. Shizue made three separate arrows and shot it at the curse as a distraction before she manifested her main weapon.

Levi swung his sword in his direction the same time that Uruha had to avoid her arrows which nicked his cheek. Their strategy worked as the two continued on with their double assault when all of a sudden, a large mist formed just right above them.

Though it was a double edged sword for Uruha, no one had ever survived this attack before. It will be his win.

"Watch out!" Levi felt a harsh pull against his sleeve when Shizue tried to get them away from the upcoming attack. Impossible. He took those fatal blows on purpose just to prepare for an attack this big.

"It would've been easier if you switched sides, Shizue!" Half of Uruha's face was slowly being enveloped by frost, he cackled maniacally.

Just then, the heavy cloud dropped from above, showering them with sharp  frosted blades and cold air. A wall of blood in the shape of interlaced hands shielded them as Levi held her close.  Shizue's barrier was slowly penetrated as the curse continued to shower them all with blades of death.

The mist slowly cleared out as the injured Uruha tried to make his escape in the course of the battle. Shizue's eyes widen at the sight Levi.

"Levi?" Her voice croaked. Blood gushed out from his mouth. Her chest tightens as she was enveloped buy an overwhelming fear, that immediately turned to anger.

The man only kneeled beside her, he knew his stamina was strong, yet he couldn't bring himself to get up. This wasn't the effect of Uruha's attack, it was his body betraying him because of the consequences of being in this world.

However, Shizue did not know that.

The woman clasped her bloodied hands together as her cursed energy began to make its course. This technique required a lot of strength, truthfully speaking, this was a nasty thing to use. But Shizue cared no longer.

The sorcerer crossed her wrist, a wide range of intertwined blood thread surrounded Uruha. His pupils dilated as the threads bound itself together and even connected above his head. The cage began to move smaller and smaller. He panicked, trying to use his mist to meddle with the blood flow, yet it still failed to weaken it.

It was too late for Uruha to realize that this technique did not mean to capture him,

but to slice him into little pieces.

Levi watched with his one good eye as the cage of death closed, slowly cutting through his skin down to his bone. Even with the use of his cursed technique couldn't have saved him.

The man only closed his eyes as the red liquid splattered against them. Pieces of the opponent's flesh were scattered on the ground. He couldn't even begin to think, what could've possibly happened to Shizue for her to use a technique as gruesome as that, because Shizue back then wouldn't have thought of doing it in the first place.

Did something that drove her to be like this?

or has this always been her?

He couldn't care anymore. All he sees was Shizue, she was alive, she's safe. They both survived. That's all that matters.

The strawberry-blonde clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw the red stain on her uniform. "Dammit! I just washed this."

If only Levi still lived with me, he would've taken care of this. Now I'll have to throw this out.

Shizue did not have enough patience to deal with stains.

Her irritation subsided when something gleamed against her eyes that caught her attention. There it was again. Shizue started walking towards the remains of the man, all of his flesh were cut evenly except for one thing.

"Oi Shizue." Levi managed to stood on his feet when he saw her moving towards the corpse. The girl only signaled him to come close without turning to him. The man had no choice but to follow.

Shizue used a sharp rod with her technique to move the other flesh away from the thing that used to reside at the center of Uruha's chest. It was an antique compass, but it wasn't like any other normal compass, this one reeked with cursed energy.

One thing was for sure.

"I'm not touching that." Shizue said in disgust. Levi only sighed before fishing a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to grab the compass that was covered with blood.

"We need to take this to Shoko."

Half of the people in Jujutsu high who were involved in the incident at the exchange event were placed under Shoko's care including Megumi and Levi. While Shizue talked to her about the cursed object found in Uruha's body, she seemed to inquire a lot about Levi's condition. Yet, no matter how many times she asked, Shoko could never disclose the information.

More specifically, she was asked not to by a certain white-haired sorcerer. With that, Shizue grew impatient and left. Because upon finding out the reason behind that, Shoko knew it was the right move to keep it from her.

Gojo and Hanji arrived and that's when he first caught sight of what Shizue had given to Shoko. Within observation, he could tell it was no ordinary compass. But what concerned him really is why on earth would someone bury a cursed object within their body.

"Hold on," They both turned their heads to the brunette. "The squad said that the ship was enveloped with a thick mist right?"

Gojo nodded. "As far as I can remember, yeah."

"That guy, that was his cursed technique. At the exchange event same occurrence happened. Even Jean said it had the same scent as back then." Hanji informed, making Shoko snap her fingers.

"Then it must be linked to the compass. That cursed user must've brought that ship in this world on purpose to retrieve one of sukuna's fingers using that and his technique." She concluded. Everything was starting to fall in to pieces. They weren't just brought here for no reason, someone did take them.

"So it needs to be linked to a user to activate it?" Gojo asked. That's when the room fell into a deep silence.

"We'll try to figure it out. But for now, I'm not sure." The girl in the lab coat said, when she suddenly remembered something. "By the way.."

"Are we sure about keeping Levi's diagnosis from Shizue?" Both Gojo and Hanji shot glances at her. "I mean, if that was their relationship, don't you think she has the right to know?"

Hanji starts to be filled with small sense of guilt. Though Shizue was one of her treasured friends, they cannot let her go through the same pain twice in their life.

"It's for the best Shoko," says Gojo as he shoved his hands within his pockets. We all know better after what happened with Suguru.

"Besides, it's what Levi wanted. God knows not to get in the way of that."

____

"Levi?" He heard s gentle knock on his  door, indicating whoever's outside wasn't anyone from hid squad. He could tell.

"Come in," Levi was filled with a sense of comfort when he saw it was Shizue. The girl lowered her head as she made her way inside his room.

"Are you...okay?" She ask politely, refusing to meet his eyes. Levi immediately noticed the change in her attitude, as if she was walking on egg shells around him.

"I am now." Levi spoke deeply, his arms remained crossed while on the other hand, Shizue still kept her gaze glued to the ground and fiddled with her fingers.

The man sighed once he figured why she was acting like this. As soon as she heard his response, she made a slow nod.

"Alright." She spoke quietly as she was about to walk out when Levi suddenly pulled her to his chest, making her crash against his body.

Her eyes widened at his actions, a blush crept its way to her cheeks. Shizue tried to get up knowing he could still be sore after the fight but he only held her tighter, letting her sit on his lap. "Levi...."

"Tell me what's going on in that head of yours." He spoke a bit commandingly. Shizue was silent for a moment, her eyes once again found its way to the ground.

"I'm sorry...for your hand, and for getting you in trouble." Levi furrowed his brows and looked down on her face. She was pouting unknowingly.

So that's what's been bothering her?

Levi sighed as he raises his hand, comfortly patting her hair. "You did nothing wrong."

"It was my fault you were hurt, I could've gotten there earlier but-"

"Look, you don't have to worry about me or the others. We can handle ourselves, so stop blaming yourself.  Not everything is in your control and you're not at fault on any of this." He spoke sternly, yet still kept his arms wrapped around her.

Levi didn't like how she was always too harsh on herself. She just killed a guy after he attacked them, if anything, she saved them. But just because of a one small wound on Levi 's hand she was gonna blame herself? He could not let that happen.

Shizue went silent as his words sank inside her mind. She couldn't understand why, but even though his voice was rough and those words were a bit intimidating coming from him, she somehow felt reassured by it.

"When you speak like that you sound a bit scary." She bluntly spoke while her cheeks lazily rest on his chest, this made Levi chuckle a bit.

"Is that so? I'm sorry then,"

"No it's okay. I like it."

______

Noritoshi gasped when an arm suddenly wrapped around his neck while he was sitting on the bench, only to realize that it was it older sister. He immediately frowned when he suddenly inhaled the smoke from her cigarette. "Would you stop that, Aneki."

The girl lightly chuckled and sat beside him, yet her smile never reached her eyes. "I just wanna thank you, Noritoshi. You did a good job."

"I just did what you told me to." The man avoided her gaze. "About Itadori-"

"Forget about it." She said, not wanting him to burden himself with the responsibility for Sukuna's vessel. She knew Noritoshi was ordered to execute Itadori the moment  they found out he was still alive, he acted on what he believed was right. And Shizue had no problem letting him to trust his own judgement.

"Can I ask you a something, aneki?" Shizue only looks at him questioningly with the sudden seriousness in his tone.

"Why are you concerned about what happens to those outlanders? You never do." Not caring about anything or anyone has been one of her strongest suit, it was also one of the things Noritoshi admired about her because it was one trait a jujutsu sorcerer should have. If you let everything, every death, disappearances, curses, burden you in this line of duty, it could lead to your own downfall.

So Noritoshi was confused as to why his older sister had a sudden change of heart.

"To be honest, I've been asking myself the same thing."

Shizue was in deep thought after walking Noritoshi back to his quarters. Countless events filled her mind that she could no longer dictate herself what to feel. What was happening with Levi? Why did the rogue curse users want her? And the cursed object they found?

"Hey panda bought that for all of us!" The loud voice of Connie resonated from the infirmary one where a certain strawberry blonde happen to pass by.

"Sasha come on we're hungry too."

"Can't you just tie her up already..."

Shizue caught sight of the room where other members of the scouts resided, it was a relief that none of them acquired any serious injuries. It somehow amazed her, how these people could still have a positive outlook after what just happened earlier.

"No, no, no! Don't bite! Don't Bi-- AAAH!"

Mikasa caught the sorcerer's figure, her gaze glued towards the squad who was laughing at Connie and Sasha's idiocrasy. Once Shizue's eyes met hers', she slowly waved at her with a friendly smile. The girl could only respond  with a half hearted nod.

A series of memories flashes inside Shizue's mind. Memories, she tried so hard to bury. The ravenette girl couldn't help but notice the emptiness in Shizue's eyes.

Out of all of the questions swirling in her mind, the concern for a certain raven haired man rose above all. Shizue needed to know what they were hiding. Because Shizue knew she wouldn't be able to shut her brain out until she finds those answers.

Shizue raises her head once she felt a presence in front of her, she caught sight of a mint haired female. Mei was ooking at her with an enigmatic smile after acquiring a certain information.

The solution just presented itself on a silver platter.

______