synflux | [ closed ] they say it's genetic, they say he can't help it,

Entry tags:

jujutsu kaisen: geto suguru

[ closed ] they say it's genetic, they say he can't help it,

WHO: Geto Suguru, Hikaru Indo
WHAT: Just a friendly chat between the monstrous.
WHERE: Tea shop.
WHEN: Backdated Jan 31st.
WARNINGS: None as of yet, but will update if need be.

( He gets there early. In fact, he cheats. The curses are faster than public transport and he wants to choose their seating carefully - not too crowded that if the entity kicks off there'll be a bloodbath, and not too close to the door he can flee when Geto isn't looking. So he's perusing the menu when the door gives a jaunty little jingle, and he looks up to see ... just a boy.

Oh, he can sense his wild energy. It sets the hair at the back of his neck rising, a deeply troubled wariness he can feel in the pit of his stomach. That's concerning enough. But there are no stitches on his forehead, and nothing really beyond the unease that would give him away. For a moment Geto's expression remains carefully blank, then he fixes on his best mask, lifts a lazy hand to summon the boy closer. )

Satoru told me you prefer Hikaru-san. ( As he takes a seat. ) My apologies. I haven't ordered. I wasn't sure what you would like.

( Or if he even can. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[This time, this and only this time, Hikaru isn't telling Midoriya where he's going. He told him once, and that was good enough. But if he tells him he's going to meet a sorcerer, he's sure that his impromptu big brother-type would insist on being there. In reality, he wishes he was. Hikaru doesn't like feeling as open as he does as he walks through the streets.

He wonders who knows that he passes, who saw, who does or doesn't want to fight it out and not be like Suguru Geto. It's infuriating and it makes him have to breathe and take a moment so he doesn't lose control on the way over.

Opening the door he studies the inhabitance, and when the man's arm lifts, Hikaru steps over. He doesn't know just how obvious he is to sorcerers, and with his true form dampened inside his cozy resting place, he sits on the opposite side of the table. He notes it isn't close to the door and he's no strategist, but it's fair. Keep him centralized.

Yep, just a boy. A boy sitting at a table, totally fine and totally a boy. Not a meat-mech piloting entity.]

Ah? Just Hikaru's fine, Sensei.

[Normally he throws honourifics out of the way, but it seems... something seems like he shouldn't in this moment. And, he assumes that Geto is a teacher of some sort, so his assumption is Sensei for the moment.]

Before we say much else... Gojo-sensei said someone did somethin' real bad, that's far as he went n' that's as far as I need t'know. I don't--

[He looks around, making sure that no one else is really able to hear them, just background in the way.]

I'm stayin' right where I'm at. No interest in no one or nothin' else as far as that goes.

( Sensei makes his lips twitch, but Hikaru keeps talking and Geto thinks he can follow along. Or at least, he's trying. )

So quick to jump into things, Hikaru-san. ( He's keeping the honorific, sorry kid. ) I assume you mean when he told you someone defiled my corpse.

( It is light, airy in a way he doesn't really feel. He skirts around the issue of Kenjaku most days. Sometimes he is simply furious that his death allowed it, sometimes he hates the monster itself. But more often than not it is himself that he blames. A weapon used against his very best friend. )

I need tea, even if you don't. ( And it's right on back to the appearance. His fingers sweep over the touchpad where they can order, nails painted a light shimmering blue. He taps away, glancing up once. ) I can't tell if it's something you're uninterested in or if you think I might try to throw it in your face. I promised you wouldn't be hurt.

[This is Yoshiki's world, better when he handles it than when Hikaru does. Kid gloves versus bull in a china shop. It sounds like 'Hikaru-san' is going to be a thing and the entity says nothing to stop him. If that's what it is, that's what it is.

Because of the topic, he only nods his head, even if it makes his hang a little to the idea of someone defiling it. He was invited by Hikaru, begged, but sometimes he wonders if he's no better after thinking about someone else in the opposite situation.

He opens his mouth, but Tea Is The Topic. Well, in Geto's defense, he didn't answer because it's not something he thought was actually why they were there. It seems they are and he'll take the break of it.]

I can drink tea, just I don't exactly know much about it. Tea's tea. I'm just like anyone else.

Tea's tea.

( Is it an agreement? Who knows. He orders something mild either way, because he's trying to be ... considerate. ) I think difficult conversations are better over a drink, and you don't look old enough for sake.

( Is he a teenager? Or is the spirit much older? )

You should know Satoru allowed me to read your entire conversation, so whatever you spoke about I know now. He believed it was easier than trying to explain anything to me. And he's right in that it is a difficult subject matter. But not in the way he really thinks. I'm already dead. Why should I care what happens to my body? ( He doesn't deserve to rest easy. ) I'm only angry that it was used by something else, and that it hurt the people I love. That is not quite the case with you.

( His gaze narrows. )

Were you really asked?

[Hikaru nods his head. Tea's tea. He does have to turn on some of the body's systems to drink, but he does it all the same. Hikaru, the entity, has never really thought about that since drinking wasn't really on his plate at home.]

Hikaru isn't. If I'm following human laws, I am. But tea's better.

[He'll give Geto the information he wants, as long as there's no reason to over-stress. If he does, he'll gladly leave to save Geto the fallout. His eyes do finally find their mark on Geto's face when confronted with the knowledge that everything he had told Gojo privately wasn't so private. A summation is what he thought might have happened, but once the initial concern wears through him, he gives a small sigh of relief that at least whatever's being asked isn't hard to answer.

The most important part first.]

Mhm. He knew he was dyin' on that mountain. He didn't want Yoshiki t'be alone. When I came up on him, he was already good as gone. As he was leavin' I took over with that promise that he asked. I'd take his place and stay by Yoshiki's side. Healed him up, figured out how t' move his legs n' arms. Got up n' went home.

[The same story as told by the Entity, it's to confirm validation right? To see him stay it himself? So he will. So he did. He takes a deeper breath in and lets it out, nodding his head.]

That's that. I don't know if I did the right thing, but when I'm with Yoshiki it feels like I did. Or when I was. He's probably worried sick.

[Hikaru keeps his eyes trained on Geto's.]

Whoever did that to ya, doesn't matter if yer dead. Dead's just another way of existin', Sensei. If it were me, I'd be pissed too.

Edited (Thank you phone but I'd like my icons.) 2026-02-01 13:46 (UTC)

So you're older than your vessel?

( The question comes as mild as he can make it, like they're discussing the weather. From what he has heard, and read, and now seen, there is a specific kind of flightiness to the entity that he hadn't anticipated. He wonders if it's an affectation. )

May I ask how old?

( Because unfortunately Megumi has three father figures, and there's something unsettling about two of Satoru's brood shacking up with ancient beings. ) As for doing the right thing, is that what moved you to accept? Pity? Sympathy?

[Hikaru nods his head. Older, but his lips sort of move to one side as he thinks about the answer.]

Rounded up? [His hands turn palms up as he tries to weigh out the question, and the answer comes as almost a question itself.] Three hundred? T'me time isn't important, fer humans it is so it's something like that.

[The tips of his fingers hit the table quietly as he considers the next question. He's holding onto the edge of it while he thinks. He's not sure this is the answer Geto is looking for, but it's the answer. ]

I don't think so. He made the request, I happened t'be wanderin' on that side of the mountain. I didn't understand pity or sympathy until recently, at least I think I do. Hik-- Indo-san has a lot of complex emotions I never had. What made me do it, though... It could've been sacrifice fer all I know, he was dyin' up there after all. One minute I was outside, next I accepted and the rest is as it is.

( Three hundred.

He lets that sit for a moment, disquiet. A serving robot glides closer, and Geto is glad for the opportunity to take the tea, the cups, hands steady when he pours both of them. When they're alone again he nudges one closer to Hikaru with the tips of his fingers. )

So it was luck. Or happenstance. It just is, and there's no rhyme nor reason to it. There was no saving the vessel? You couldn't have helped him either way? ( Megumi surely knows all of this, and has accepted it. Satoru knows too. It is only Geto now who feels the flicker of distrust at the back of his thoughts. ) Do you enjoy it? Being 'human'?

[Hikaru only understands the things in front of him in the moment, but it's not hard to read the idea that the answer isn't sitting well. That does and doesn't matter. The tea gets glanced at, and he won't be rude and not drink it either. Obviously it's not something stupid like poisoned.

Hikaru's hands pull it closer, and Geto is right. The drink in his hands is more grounding even if he takes a tiny drink of it before readjusting his hands around it and settling it in front of him. The sudden influx of questions tells Hikaru he's not incorrect about Geto not being thrilled, but no one was thrilled who found out. Not here or home.

...As for Megumi. He hasn't had this talk with him. Midoriya, Gojo and Geto know. They're the only ones.]

I did help him, Sensei. I took up his request, whatever reason it was. I didn't kill him, he tripped and fell on his way up the mountain. He died right after his plea. [The rest, another, generally easier question.] Mhm... I do. It's sometimes real confusin' but I like it. I like goin' out with people, like sittin' with them, playin' games. I like bikes, n' sports, movies. Watermelon's fun ta eat. Quietly layin' in my room with Yoshiki, or readin' manga at his house. I like spendin' time with Megumi, pettin' the dog, watchin' him when everyone fights Kaiju. I like goin' to Midoriya-sensei's place and eatin' whatever he makes that day. That's likin' being human right?

[No really... is that what liking being human is?]

Edited 2026-02-01 14:36 (UTC)

( The list is a simple one.

Geto watches Hikaru list it out with his head tipped to one side, eyes a little fathomless. He sounds like a teenager with hobbies like that. Company, books, games, sports, food. No rending of flesh or sinking of teeth. He lifts his teacup, lets himself think by taking a sip. There are still questions, and still things he would prefer to know, but his shoulders loosen a fraction.

If anyone at this table were more likely to decide to go on a killing spree from glance alone, well, it isn't Hikaru. )

All right. ( A barely there sigh. ) You said watching Megumi fight the kaiju. Can you not?

[All the things Geto feels are fair reactions, and Hikaru wouldn't have said otherwise. Distancing himself from emotions sometimes allows him a view no one really has, and it's been hard to distinguish things because of it. A double edged blade.

He nods his head, he does watch Megumi fight.] Yeah, I like seein' him fight. He's real good at it, like a manga character.

[The entity helped Bakugo once. He may not be able to compel things thanks to LILITH, but there are other things he can do. But shakes his head when asked.]

I can fight, not coordinated fightin'. But if I fight, people will see. If I fight with my body, I might break bones. Can heal 'em, but people might notice I wasn't reactin' to a broken arm in the right way.

You're not the only inhuman Outsider here.

( Pitched just low enough to be private. ) Surely LILITH has offered you some kind of cloaking? The natives cannot see when I use my curses, so would it not be the same for you?

( A pause. )

Or is it the rest of us you're worried about?

[The observation of his status still makes him look side to side out of habit more than necessity, and he pulls the tea up to his lips. Geto's questions are an easy answer, and by the time Hikaru is quietly sipping that tea again, he is looking back at Geto without saying anything.

The answer on his face is 'yes'.

He finishes his drink of tea and nods. It's a tiny nod, something only to confirm. While he might not say anything, it's the answer Geto is looking for. Geto answered his own question.]

Hm.

( That does give him pause. He doesn't know the entity very well, so he cannot guess as to the motivation for it. But it does sit a little strangely. Surely they want people to be working at their very best, and that includes their strongest. )

If the Outsiders can stomach Godzilla, then they can probably handle whatever it is you do.

( Says the man who has active beef with various members of the teams thanks to their skills. )

Especially if it has an effect on your fighting.

[He does other things to make up for it, search and rescue, works in the medical tents and of course he's out there, looking for opportunities that keep him safe that he can make physical contact with something.

Stomaching him is something people can't do.]

It's embarrassin' too, y'know?

[His eyebrows pull together and he tries to vocalize the issue.]

It's like...

[He gestures, slow enough, toward Geto's clothes. This is not at all the same, but it's the only thing he can pull from Hikaru's memories as to what it'd involve in the very barest.]

How come yer not naked when ya fight? It'd be better fer movement, wouldn't it?

( Considering he used to wear more layers than this to fight -.

He'd liked the art of it though. A vain man, with vain affectations. )

Mm, maybe. ( Still, the comparison perplexes him. ) So you're ashamed of your true form? It would be unsettling for others to see? Can you not fight without it? Or does it take effort to try and keep it under wraps and therefore your fighting suffers?

[~~If you've got it, flaunt it.~~ Less that Geto needs less clothes and more it's the most close idea that he had to try to explain. Hikaru is quiet for the next set of questions, considering them carefully. He isn't sure he's proud of what it looks like, it upsets Yoshiki and so that upsets him, too.]

Think people really don't like what they see when they see me, [Not it.] n' usually if it happens, it's because I'm losin' control. It's just... it's not any good.

[He's not sure he should be saying all this but it might be saving Hikaru's body and his own un-life in the long run.]

I can fight with the body, it's just fragile and Hikaru wasn't a fighter, that's why when Sensei was fightin' people fer fun I wanted t'get stronger, too. It's no more than wearin' clothes, like I said. It's ruinin' Hikaru, or bein' found out. Little late for the second part, I guess.

All right, I think I see now.

( The body is weak. Not through any fault of the entity itself, but it is poorly housed. ) The thing that took my corpse only did so because of what I could do. My technique is innate, like it's as much of my body as the marrow in my bones. But you did not have a choice in the matter, because you did not intend to own one.

( It - no, it's easier if Geto uses he - he had said he was old, but he gets the feeling this is new. It isn't something Hikaru is used to. )

Could you let your true form out without harming the ...

( In this, he falters. It's one thing to call himself a corpse. It's another to do so to Hikaru. )

Would you lose the form if you did?

[Hikaru had been meaning to ask, but also Gojo made it clear the subject was touchy, now if it's for Geto or not that it's the most touchy, or Gojo himself? That Hikaru couldn't tell.

There's another question he had been meaning to ask, but he's not sure the right time, even if it might be in that moment.

The careful way that Geto speaks around the topic of a corpse is actually very kind. Hikaru won't forget it, either. Learning that someone took a body because it furthered an agenda, knowing what he knows now, he can even more understand why people were concerned that had already had it happen.]

Would I lose Hikaru?

[It's rhetorical, but at the same time, he wonders if there's limits now that he's thinking about it.]

Prob'ly not. I can do pretty much anything I want to him within human capability. I could probably make him work toward being able to move faster, more easily. He's been through a lot of trauma already that I've had t'heal back from. Nothin' kills me outright so far, but if I wanna just be a human, I can't do that luggin' around a broken arm for a week while it heals normally. I've never tried healin' multiple parts've him either over and over again in quick succession.

[He lifts his head to show off a small mark around his neck, gesturing to it with a finger. He's had to heal some crazy things and that isn't the worst of it.

Also. No, Hikaru, it takes longer than a week for an arm, but he thinks that's enough time before he would've just healed it. He turns his eyes upward, off the tea he's been studying as if it had the answers in the tiny, stray leaves at the bottom. Further he hates explaining in two person terms, but it's the only way to differentiate without using Indo-san and that is also his name. It's what Gojo wants so he lets that happen.]

I gotta ask, sensei. What happens if you were t'eat me? 'Cause I know what happens if I ate'cha and I don't want to, but I can't put a finger on what happens t'me if it were the other way around. Or Hikaru.

You would be under my control.

( It's easier to focus on the question, it gives him time to assess the rest too. )

You have met Megumi's shikigami, correct? It is something similar. Only when I consume a curse it becomes a part of me. We call it Cursed Spirit Manipulation. Mine do not act independently beyond doing what I command. If you were a normal curse, and I absorbed you, then I could summon you to do my bidding. Your skills would be mine. I would use them to my own advantage.

( He pauses, mouth twitching. )

That's not my reason for these questions though. It has been a long time since I last had to swallow a curse down, and I don't intend to start again. ( Maybe if he were desperate. But by that point everyone he cared about would be gone. He has to hope they don't come to that. ) So showing someone your true form would not harm the vessel?

( He takes another sip of tea, and then -. )

May I see?

[Hikaru nods his head when he's asked about Kon. He knows the dogs and some of the other animals. The explanation actually doesn't sound so bad, the only problem would be his host not getting home. Losing agency of himself, though, that sounds not so great, just some copy of himsel-- Ah. That's ironic.

Hikaru prepares himself to speak on t he first part, but the idea of just showing himself off? He's even embarrassed in front of Midoriya sometimes. He's quiet and unsure for a moment, but the cat is out of the bag. Even if he trusted Gojo to keep his secret, the moment he told him more people found out or at least one person. Of whom could've killed him which the situation is fair but he sure isn't certain what to do. The trust is there, but the last time he trusted someone himself with his secret...]

Not here. Somewhere else. It doesn't hurt me any t'show anyone, just might hurt everyone else if I show them. It can end up leaving a stain on yer body.

[Well not a stain, but it's good enough.]

A stain?

( Sorry, but that does catch his attention. He lifts his tea again, lips pursed in thought. )

Psychological? Or a physical one?

[Geto is right to question it, it's something that he and anyone else that comes in contact with the entity has to hope doesn't happen to them. Both participants.]

Both.

[Easy enough answer.]

It's called gettin' mixed.

[He's prompted into tea again by his conversational partner reminding him it exists in his hands for more than being warm.]

Chances are ya lose yerself and yer humanity if it's too long, if I lose control or anythin' else. It's dangerous. It's why Megumi doesn't know. It's why I won't touch him.

[Wait hang on.]

Why I won't touch him, it's safe if it's Hikaru. Like oven mitts.

Surely LILITH would not risk her other soldiers like that. Are you sure it hasn't been tampered with? She has done the same with others' powers, maybe it goes to reason she'd leash yours a little too.

( He doesn't particularly want to risk it, but if it came down to him testing it out or risking Megumi he'd choose himself. )

So it doesn't happen in this form, but it can. How often do you "lose control"?

[Just as much, Hikaru echoes what Geto is thinking.]

Dunno. Findin' out means takin' risks.

[The other question is just as fair as the rest.]

At home more often, here still often just not as much as at home. If it's manageable, I take small Kaiju jobs, if it isn't, I hide in my room or find somethin' else t'distract me from it. Yoshiki's the only one that brings me out of it real easy.

[And Midoriya. But he refuses at this moment to say his name.]

All right, so we formulate a plan first. It is possible to bring you back around, so if there's anything that specifically works perhaps you should tell someone. Satoru, if not me.

( Because Geto is aware he's here as something of a threat. It doesn't matter what he says, he has been known to choose poorly. They've told Hikaru that. So he must believe it. )

Megumi's a good boy. ( It sounds like a non-sequitur. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. He's learnt enough about the entity as a problem, now he wants to focus on something else. ) He seems capable, and he seems tough. He's a good sorcerer. But he's been through a lot.

( It isn't hard to miss the protective nature there. Even if Geto still does not think it's allowed, it makes itself known. )

If you like him like you say you do then it might be more helpful if you started relying on people who could aid you in protecting those you care about. Avoidance might seem like the best track, but LILITH and the rifts do tend to find ways to circumvent our best intentions. You might not have a choice in how you act.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ closed ] they say it's genetic, they say he can't help it,

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

mmmmmild spoilers in a IYKYK way, vaguely stated.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject