The west wing of Jujutsu High? Yeah, the silence out there hits different. Not the chill, library kind—more like someone slammed a lid on a box and sat on it. The air felt tight, squeezed shut. Like, if you tried to breathe too loudly, the whole place would shush you.
Akashi stood at this fat iron door, tucked under the archives. His spiral brand was glowing under his shirt—barely, just enough to make you itchy if you stared too long. Old sigils everywhere, scratched into the metal in some language that probably predated even Gojo's hairstyle. Right across the middle, a single word pulsed: "Speak." Not, like, "Hey, if you wanna talk, go for it." Nah. It was a straight-up order.
He hovered, hand just above the cursed seal. That damn dream came clawing back—bones for walls, teeth for a ceiling, and a voice that didn't echo so much as curl up inside your skull.
Someone clomped up behind him—Megumi, of course.
"You're not supposed to be here," Megumi said, all deadpan, like he wasn't the one who always ignored rules first.
Akashi didn't even blink. "Neither are you."
Megumi just shrugged like, what else is new? "I figured out something: If Gojo says don't touch it, it's either dangerous or it's got answers. Usually both."
Akashi snorted, a crooked little grin. "Finally, something we agree on."
He slapped his palm against the sigil. Cursed energy crackled, his spiral tattoo flickering to life. The door didn't swing open all normal; it peeled back, slow and gross, like skin coming off bone.
Below Jujutsu High:
Down there, the tunnel was stupid-tight, black stone everywhere, shot through with these rusty gold streaks. Each step down, the cold bit harder. Breath started hanging in the air, and every inch the cursed energy got thicker. Like, you could almost taste it—metallic and mean.
At the bottom? A room just made of bones. Human bones, spirit bones, whatever else they scraped together. Stacked in piles, walls, the works. And right in the middle: a monolith, covered in glyphs, all spirals.
Megumi squinted. "That's not a curse. That's a tomb."
Akashi walked up to it, because of course he did.
The glyphs started lighting up, one after another, like someone pressing buttons in his brain. Then—boom, there's a voice. Not out loud. In his head, coiled up behind his eyes.
"Spiral-bound child… you carry a tongue not yours."
Akashi clenched his jaw. "Who are you?"
The glyphs pulsed, the monolith started bleeding light. Real subtle.
"I am the First Tongue. The one your mother sealed in flesh and birthed into man."
Megumi edged closer. "Akashi—what's it saying?"
But Akashi wasn't answering. He just stared at the top of the monolith, where a spiral brand—just like his—started glowing.
The voice kept going:
"When your mother died… she passed me into you. And when you speak, you speak me."
Akashi stumbled back, breathing hard. "That's not true. My technique—my Domain—that's mine."
"It was. Until you came here."
Bones started shifting, something monstrous wriggling out. It was half curse, half memory—twisted up, old, pissed off. Guardian of the voice, or whatever.
"Prove yourself," the Voice hissed. "Or get swallowed by the Tongue you claim."
Fight Time:
The thing lunged—six arms, bone blades everywhere. Akashi dove low, Dragon Tongue buzzing on his lips.
"REI!"
Crack—the monster's whole left side blew apart. Megumi sicced his wolf shikigami right after, tearing chunks off, but the guardian just grew more limbs. Because, you know, why not.
Akashi's spiral started to burn, hot and wild. His domain was clawing to get out.
"Don't you dare," Megumi barked. "Not in here. We don't even know what this place is."
Akashi didn't hear him. He could taste the syllables, feel them thumping in his chest.
One last word, heavy, molten, almost too much:
"SHUEN."
A half-domain flared out—unstable, gnarly. Spiral Lock. Trapped the curse in its own collapse, like folding origami until it eats itself.
The guardian exploded inward, all bone and spirit sucked into nothing. Silence slammed down, hard.
Then, the tomb reacted.
Glyphs froze. The voice cut off.
And at the bottom of the monolith, a name appeared, clear as day:
Yukari Ryuunosuke.
(Sealed Tongue Vessel: Mother of Akashi)
Akashi dropped to his knees. Not from pain. Just… the weight of it.
Megumi put a hand on his shoulder, awkward.
"She… was the first?"
Akashi nodded, eyes glassy.
"She didn't die because of some random curse. She was the vessel. The seal. The sacrifice."