#( me whenever i write a kenjaku post: AND THEY WERE ONE OF THOSE EVIL THEY/THEMS )

[saiakv]

THE SKIN HOLDS MEMORIES.

Hi, I wanted to talk a bit about how I personally want to go about the whole Kenjaku situation, using one of my favorite moments ever ( I know, I'm cheesy ) and my interpretation of it to base the portrayal around. Those are just my own thoughts on the matter. I know a big part of the fandom likes to interpret this under sato/sugu light and that's prevalent here too ( whether platonic or romantic, I mostly refer to it in terms of their bond ) but this post is mostly centered around Kenjaku's POV.

Kenjaku has been through several skins, each with their own unique set of quirks and individualities — shifting into a different body, to them, is like entering a new home for the first time. Some of the rooms are locked at first and their mind enjoys the stimulation that comes from having to envision the right key. The more intricate the soul that inhabited it, the more steep the dwindling hallways of their corpse.

Itadori had been the proverbial 'smooth' one; an easy ride on an easily navigated vessel. Kamo had posed more of a challenge, but his instincts too died quickly after the ancient shaman took over. It is never a battle of wits, after all, seeing as the hosts are long gone by the time their body is stolen. In the past, Kenjaku believed their innate technique is not something that can be resisted, because by the time they are lowered into the vacant cranium, there is no one there to resist it.

This moment surprised Kenjaku to the point of delaying closing the gate. Kenjaku is a schemer who understands the value of timing and wise enough not to underestimate an opponent such as Satoru, so if they were willing to stall that means the fact Geto's hand genuinely put up resistance to the point of bulging veins must have really gotten to them. One could argue that in their infinite knowledge, Kenjaku already knew this to be a possibility, but what I mentioned above about them taking the risk to delay Gojo's seal is, I believe, more indicative of genuine intrigue in a character that is written to be driven by curiosity.

Based on this interpretation of the scene, we can conclude that there is something special about Suguru Geto's body.

In my personal headcanon, I will say nuances of Geto's presence are extant, but very subtle things. It's in the way his body will jolt when a blaring gunshot rips the air or how his heart thuds at times when there's a glimpse of a silver-haired man passing through the crowd. Many psychosomatic symptoms of Geto's depression continue to manifest — and as Kenjaku has always been very particular about tending to their vessels, they had been experiencing them as well. But the experience of it had been oddly guileless until that moment — almost as if Suguru had been hiding within his own body all this time devising his own plan to wait until the timing was right to make a move on the imposter. And that is something Kenjaku could only see happening after this pivotal reaction gave him ( metaphorically ) new lenses to look back on these experiences through. Where they would have initially dismissed this as mere reflex ( and to an extent it was reflexive, because protecting Gojo Satoru was second nature ) a question did form in the back of their mind.

TIDBIT: I headcanon that Kenjaku dismissed Mimiko and Nanako for three reasons: 1. They are not a character that is inherently predisposed to needless violence, ergo would not get anything out of them. 2. They had not necessarily outlived their use yet 3. On a subconscious level, Kenjaku's confidence in puppeteering Suguru's corpse had been shaken a bit by the incident of insubordination. Knowing Suguru's sentiment towards these two, letting them go seemed like the more rational option at this point, as Kenjaku's ultimate goal was far greater than their lives anyway.