Mount Justice
July 21st , 14:49 EDT
"That's all you need?" Black Canary asked me as I showed her an image of what my costume should be on my laptop, inside our little therapy room. A simple pair of pants and a high-necked jacket, both black but tinted purple ever so slightly. At first, I had debated on using sunglasses, but the idea of getting a blindfold was so much fun. So that was what I went with, ultimately—a black blindfold made entirely of cloth. "It does hide your identity, and it is in line with the stealth ethos of the team, but are you sure you want to hobble yourself with the blindfold?"
"It's also for my own sake," I admitted, "My Six Eyes makes concentration a bit difficult, because I can see everything. When I cover them with sunglasses or something, it's easier to focus on what is in front of me."
She frowned and nodded, "You didn't mention any discomfort before."
"It's not discomfort," I said, "It's just a minor annoyance."
"In any case," she said, looking over the illustration I had ripped out from various sources on the internet, "It's not bad. Superboy also didn't want to wear anything overly elaborate, so there's that, too. If you're sure about it, then I can get this requisitioned by tomorrow. Of course, you'll be asked to surrender your measurements—"
I pulled out my phone and sent her a quick e-mail with my measurements. "I made sure to get my uniform fitted every three months. It should still be the same."
"Alright then," she said with a raised eyebrow, "Didn't take you for a fashion enthusiast. No thoughts on a utility belt? Tools you might want to bring on the job?"
I chuckled, "No, not at all."
"Okay," She said, "Lastly—and I know it's a bit early for another session, this is just to touch base and ask how things have gone—have you been getting along with the team?"
"Yeah," I said, "We played a game last night. And I made cookies with Megan this morning. Things are great."
"Oh," she said, wide-eyed. "That's surprising. Good, that's very good."
"Am I good to go on missions yet?" I asked. "You know, I just learned that Superboy is only a few months old. If he gets to go on a mission, then so should I. I have years of experience going on missions."
"Hunting cursed spirits," she said, "And even then, others did the heavy lifting on gathering intelligence and running assist work—you know, things we expect you to do now."
"Same difference," I said, "Superboy is even less experienced."
"You will have to take it up with Batman when the time comes," she said with a helpless shrug, "He is in charge of missions."
"Are we going on a mission soon anyway?" I asked, tapping my foot, "All this sitting around does not feel right to me. Usually, I would have completed ten assignments by now."
"…How hard did they work you, back in jujutsu high?" Black Canary asked me.
"Well, Suguru and I were the strongest," I said, "We were the only special grade jujutsushi, so we were sent to hunt every special grade one and grade one spirits they could throw at us, to reduce chances of casualties and deaths."
"You and your friends were the only ones trusted to complete your assignments perfectly?" Black Canary asked. "And what about this… man that almost killed you? Did they never expect for you to encounter such a person?"
My eyes widened at that.
Those bastards!
"If they did," I said through gritted teeth, "They never told me."
"Gojo, I want you to understand," Black Canary began, "That wasn't right of them. And the Justice League won't repeat that mistake. You are sixteen years old, and a person. Not a weapon."
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"Whatever," I sighed, "I thought you said this wouldn't become another session?"
"I felt like I had to say this," Black Canary said.
Oh my god. She was so overbearing. It didn't make any sense at all. "People are dying," I said with a snort, "And you worry about how I feel. Are you even a real hero?" I chuckled derisively.
"Your feelings are also important," she said. "They are my highest priority."
What, so that she could make sure I was sitting around doing nothing? Her priorities were askew. But then again, this was a comic book world. Nothing made sense here.
"Are we done?" I asked her.
She gave a nod and shut the lid on my computer, handing it back to me. I grabbed it with Blue and let it float in my Infinity field.
"Show-off," she muttered with a fond grin as she got up. "Until next time, Gojo."
"Jaa ne, Canary-chan," I grinned, giving her a wave.
Rather than leave the room along with her, I decided to warp out instead to the Zeta Tube, on my way to a new city.
New York City
July 21st , 15:04 EDT
Zipping around the Zeta Tube was fun. I visited a bookstore in a place called Brooklyn and bought myself a few cooking books from a variety of different cuisines—Japanese, French, Indian and Italian. Those were the only styles I had eaten before. I was interested to learn more about the culture that gave rise to the Shawarma as well, but that could wait for another time.
On a whim, I decided to get a big cardboard box, and then looked for a store that I could buy some gift wrap, sure that Megan would appreciate the whimsy.
I even went to Gotham quickly and picked up my order for a super-tinted pair of circular sunglasses, using them instead of the weakly tinted ones that I already had.
The difference was like night and day. Or day and night as it were. Hah. Immediately, I could feel my general mood of irritation lessening as my eyes stopped taking in all the information in the world at once.
I couldn't do anything about the three-sixty field of view, but stunting my direct line of sight was helpful enough. I didn't need anything more than that.
Then, because I was bored, I started warping atop skyscrapers, pretending to be a superhero.
Still, I couldn't help but feel a bone deep sense of boredom. This world was just… way too boring. I hoped things changed.
I felt a slight sting of guilt at the thought—less boring would only mean more dangerous, and usually it was never me who had to shoulder that risk.
I felt a greater guilt when I thought of what my arrival might mean for this world, as it had meant for my home world—more powerful curses, and greater stakes.
And then I felt really bad as a singular thought began to crystallize—would things get better for the jujutsu world now that I was gone?
I slapped both my cheeks and shook my head, shaking away those stupid and useless thoughts. Roughly none of the pedestrians around me in this busy street in Brooklyn paid me any heed as I did.
And besides, if this world did end up upping the ante because I was here, then I would just crush everything in my way. I was the strongest, after all.
I spent the rest of the day meditating to replenish my cursed energy, as well as minimizing its use--only applying a constant sheen of Infinity to keep myself defended. It was six o' clock when I remembered to get those cooking books for Megan. By that time, I had reached half capacity in cursed energy. I could get the other half after midnight, working for roughly three hours. Then I'd be ready for another week of practicing jujutsu until I needed another such meditation session.
More control... more efficiency.