Divine Born ━━ Jujutsu Kaisen

𝖛𝖎. The Devil Incarnate

06. 

the devil incarnate 

TW: GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF BLOOD AND  PANIC ATTACKS

The most important day yet in Akane's life is nothing but a hazy memory now. 

She was five years old, adorned in her purple kimono with her black hair tied up. Akane still remembers the innocence she saw every time she saw the reflection of her five-year-old self in the mirror. The innocence that is gone now. All Akane sees in the mirror today is pure, raging misery.

It was the day when every member of the Amano blood was present. Dozens from the branch family scattered around the sacred grounds and from the main family- Akito, her mother; Miyu, her cousin; Eiji, her uncle and finally- Amano Ukiyo.

Akane's grandmother was the oldest in what was left of her clan. The strongest too. Amano Ukiyo was an odd woman who barely left her quarters in the estate- Akane hadn't seen her in years. She thought maybe her grandmother was sick- she was an old woman, after all. Not to mention the stitches across her forehead. Akane wondered what injury Ukiyo suffered from to have had a needle poked through her forehead multiple times.

Akane took a deep breath as everyone gathered around her and folded her legs in the centre of the ground. Today, her life will change. Her clan members will pass on half their Cursed Energies to her to activate the power that will help her restore the Amano glory. Akito told her daughter that with their powers, she would be able to do it! Her new powers will lead her to the strongest Cursed Spirit to exist and when she is ready, she will wield the Mikazuki Katana- Amano Mito's own sword that gnashed Ryomen Sukuna's skin- and she will kill that curse. When she does that, her clan will be at the top of the pyramid once more. No one will dare defy the Amano's again.

Akane believed her mother back then. She really, really did. She would be blessed with the red string. She would make her mother proud, and maybe her father wouldn't think of her as a monster anymore. 

Amano Ukiyo took a seat across Akane to start the ritual. She looked at the five-year-old girl, her expression unreadable and then, Akane felt her breath halt with sheer fear when her grandmother's lips curved upward in malicious glee. Her grandmother who was over sixty, with wrinkles adorning her pale face looked younger, as though the person Akane was locking eyes with was not her grandmother. It felt like there was an imposter who took over Ukiyo's body.

That look vanished a second later as the elderly woman started the ritual, her face back to normal, scrunched in concentration. Even as Ukiyo chanted mystery words and Akane floated in the air with Cursed Energy flourishing through her body, she never forgot her grandmother's sinister look. 

═════ ◈ ═════

Akane doesn't understand why an old memory she hasn't thought about for years suddenly crept into her mind, and why now when she is moments away from death. Face-to-face with the Special Grade Curse that looks like a shark, Akane should only be thinking of escaping. 

But she can't. She can't think straight. Akane's heart dropped in a chasm when she saw her red string split into two halves, tying her to another curse that was a womb just a few hours ago. The Cursed Spirit is staring her down as if it's imagining ripping her body in half and that's when she understands why the buried memory of her grandmother came back- it was the same look Ukiyo had given her. A look that should have made Akane realise she was doomed.