In the Ayase family, no one is buried. They are all cremated and their ashes scattered in the nearest mountain, returning them to where they came from. While there is a family grave, it was completely empty. Only a large gravestone marked the area, carrying the names, birth and death dates of members from the years gone past. There was a new addition there, added yesterday.

The name of the former clan head, Akihito Ayase.

The name of Hitomi's father.

Hitomi stared at the gravestone, and the black marble and the gold letters. There was very little space left on it, not that it was needed any longer. When Hitomi died, her name would be the last one that would ever be written on it. The Ayase clan would eventually die with her.

She took in a deep breath, releasing it a second later.

"Goodbye father."

*

Shoko was waiting for her outside her room. Her eyes were not filled with pity and for that Hitomi was grateful. She wasn't sure if she'd handle it well, seeing her friend pitying her.

The second Hitomi walked up to her, Shoko put her arms around her and pulled her into a warm, tight hug. Hitomi hugged her back, equally as tight. She sniffled, letting a few tears drop on Shoko's shoulder. After a few moments had passed, she stepped away, smiling weakly at her friend.

"I wish you could use the Reverse Cursed Technique on grief," Hitomi joked, rubbing the non-existent dust off her hands. "It would make me feel so much better."

"You know, I would love to," Shoko had a very careful smile on her face, as though she was trying to be wary of what she was saying. "But I don't think it would ever be a good idea."

"I know," Hitomi answered, head pressed onto the door of her room. "Listen, I wanted to say something."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"If the boys still pester you, just tell them, okay? I don't have the strength to keep it a secret anymore."

"You sure?"

Hitomi nodded. Shoko grabbed her shoulder and lightly squeezed it. She smiled, again, still weak. "I'm gonna go and wallow in my grief. I'd invite you to join in, but..."

"You don't wanna ruin my mood, girlie. I know," Shoko had a grin on her face. "Don't worry about me. Just rest and leave the idiot duo to me."

"You're the best, Shoko."

"Of course, I am," And because Shoko's hair flip was so dramatic, Hitomi could not help but let out a loud laugh. Her heart also felt distinctly lighter.

Hitomi felt so utterly grateful for Shoko's existence. She really would not be able to cope if Shoko wasn't there for her.

'Thank you, Shoko. Thank you so fucking much.'

Hitomi had barely changed into casual clothes, a simple tank top and black leggings, when there was an incessant knocking on her door. Without a doubt and judging by the cursed energy, it was Gojo and Geto. 'Shoko must have told them,' she thought with a sigh.

She sat down on her bed, yelling out "Come in!"

Hitomi ran her hands through her hair, just as the two boys entered. At least, she looked somewhat presentable. She looked at the boys, both of whom were still dressed in their uniform, looking strangely sweaty. "Oh, hey guys."

For once, Gojo didn't have any humor in his eyes and looked kind of odd, almost expressionless. Geto looked somewhat emotional and sad, almost like his heart had been broken. And he was the first one to speak and the first to sit next to her.

"Shoko told us," He spoke quietly, voice full of sadness. "I'm sorry about your father."

"Yeah," Gojo also sat down next to her, awkwardly patting her back. "Sorry, sweets. You don't deserve this."

"Ha," Hitomi let out a weak laugh. It felt like that was going to become her trademark now. Weak laughter and even weaker smiles. "It's okay. I guess. So she didn't really tell you the full story, did she?"

"Full story? What story?" It was Geto who asked. "Is there something else that happened?"

"Oh boy," Hitomi let out another laugh, this time with the smallest amount of tears in her eyes. "Both of you are going to learn my biggest secret and I'll bet a thousand yen that it'll make you mad. You especially." She quickly glanced at Gojo, who looked at her with confusion.

"What exactly –" Geto started to ask, but she raised a hand to interrupt him.

"Let me finish and then you can talk all you want," Hitomi said. Taking in a deep breath, she began to tell them the same lie she had told Shoko. "My clan, well, not so much a clan now, since it's only me. There was a massacre about forty years ago, when some member took one of the weapons from our vault and went crazy, killing almost all the members of the family and then himself. Except my father. He was the only survivor of the night. I think it really destroyed him. Sometimes, I used to wake up in the middle of the night to hear him scream from his nightmares. I tried to console him as best as I could and yeah. Whatever, before I go off track, let me continue. Years after this happened, I was born. Unfortunately, my mother died after giving birth to me, which I'm not too sad about. Since, you know, I never really knew her," she ended with another laugh, noticing how the two boys sitting with her, had tensed up. She must sound so...horrible to them.

"It was just the two of us there," Hitomi continued. "I was born with a lot of excess cursed energy, and I mean a lot, though it was nowhere near Gojo's level. So my father was forced to train me early and teach me how to control it otherwise it would have killed me and others around me. That's one of the reasons why I mastered Domain Expansion earlier than you guys. My father's cursed technique was practically nothing compared to mine. It was so much weaker than mine and dear old dad didn't like that. He was kind, but I could sense, even as a kid, there was something not so right about him."

She sucked in a deep breath and looked up, staring right into Gojo's glittering blue eyes. "Have you heard of the weapon Kusanagi?"

"Yeah, I have," Gojo said. "All the clans and the upper leadership have been after it for ages. But the Ayase clan never handed it over, just like all of the other weapons they're hiding. It's a very powerful sword that can supposedly steal the cursed energy of the person it's used on, but leaves both the user and that person with a permanent scar."

Now here was the lie she had told. It was a white lie, but a lie nonetheless. She couldn't tell anyone about Izuki, so this was the next best thing. But saying it out loud, to the two boys who were so very powerful, to the two boys who were some of her closest friends; she didn't know how they would react.

"It's not supposedly, not supposedly at all," Hitomi said, looking at her hands and not anywhere else. "My father...he was selfish and self-obsessed. His cursed energy was very minimal and he felt useless because he blamed himself for what happened to the clan. Survivor's guilt, I suppose. But the survivor's guilt made him cruel and angry."

She sucked in a breath. In a way, talking about this was just as traumatizing. Because her father had used Kusanagi to burn Izuki into her, which had only backfired on him later on. She was telling a white lie about the incident, but the pain still affected her. "I was seven. I was just playing in our courtyard that day. And he, um...

A horrible realization struck Gojo, about what Hitomi was telling them. Why she had mentioned a weapon like Kusanagi. "He used it on you," he spoke, sounding extremely angry. "Your father used Kusanagi on you to steal your cursed energy."

"Ding ding ding," Hitomi said, smiling so fakely that it hurt her own self. "There's a scar running across my shoulder blades from that day." She somehow reached behind her back and tapping the cursed spot. "I have hated him since then. But I guess in some ways, the world punished him too because he was cursed that day. And then put in the hospital a few years ago. I'm not really sad that he's gone, I'm just sad that I'm only the only one left of my clan. That's what's been really getting to me -"

"Just how messed up are the clans?" Geto looked and sounded horrified and angry at the same time. He was not from this world originally. He was recruited and brought into it due to his cursed energy. Of course, he wouldn't know the mess that was the clans of Jujutsu society. "People attack their own children? Why-"

Hitomi just shrugged. She felt Gojo's arm around her back, but didn't say a thing. "Clans are a mess."

"A huge fucking mess," Gojo said. Was she imagining it or was he holding onto her a little too tightly? "Like the elders."

Suddenly, Geto pulled into her a hug, his fingers lightly brushing against her bare arms. "I'm so sorry, Hitomi. You deserve so much better than what you got."

Even Gojo hugged her, his arm slipping around her stomach, as he put his head over hers. "Yeah, sweets. You were just a kid. You're my rival and all, but I would have totally kicked your dad's ass if you'd ever asked."

"I should feel bad about disrespecting the dead, but I really don't," Geto said, gently patting her back. Specifically the deep gash she had pointed out on her shoulder blades.

"Don't even think about respecting him," Hitomi said, leaning into the hug which felt so undeniably nice. A hug from her two other best friends. "I didn't. And I never will. And anyways," she let out the smallest of sniffles. "He doesn't matter to me. Not anymore."

"If you cry, I'll pinch your cheeks," Gojo warned, slightly joking. "You're an ugly crier."

"Hey!" Hitomi felt a stab of outrage, but in her heart she knew he was joking. Geto was also slightly shaking his head as the trio pulled away from the hug, unable to believe Gojo's audacity.

"I'm not an ugly crier," She almost pouted, rubbing her eyes. "You don't even know that!"

Gojo snickered, slightly as he pinched one of her cheeks. His other hand still remained on her back, but she didn't really mind.

But it was going to be good.

Hopefully.

Eventually.

It had to be.

Right?

Since the trailer for Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 came out today, here's an update in honor of that. Because season 2 aka Gojo's past is where a major chunk of this book takes place, I am gonna try and be more frequent with updates so you all can enjoy reading the complete arc as the season comes out and cry over SatoSugu with me.

There's actually only one chapter left till we start off with the Hidden Inventory arc aka Gojo's past arc aka SatoSugu angst which also means Hitomi angst hehe.

Till then, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. Comments and votes would be super appreciated <3