"Please calm down and listen. What we are fighting..." Nanami pauses.
The two curses were returned to jujutsu tech, and Ieri was analysing them. She had then phoned Nanami to tell him her discovery.
"They're humans." Ieiri says into the phone.
"No. Maybe it's best to say they're ex-humans. They're the same as the three people in the movie theatre. Their bodies were forcibly contorted with sorcery." Ieiri adds.
"If it's just that, I could have noticed it from the beginning. The two people we were fighting were filled with magical power, just liked cursed spirits." Nanami says.
"That just sounds like an effect of the culprit's technique. There are traces of tampering around the brain stem. Disturbance of consciousness is likely... it was probably to produce a state of confusion. If they were even able to tamper with the brain, it's probably possible to reconstruct a human who can use magical power. Because the relationship between the brain and magical power is still likely a black box - unknown." Ieiri paused.
"Oh right. Are Y/N and Itadori listening?" Ieiri asks through the phone.
"Ah, yeah." Itadori replies.
"Yeah." You add.
"Loosely their cause of death is shock from having their bodies contorted. You two didn't kill them. Don't be mistaken by that." Ieiri says through the phone.
"Yes..." Itadori replies.
"I'm glad..." You add.
"Either way their deaths weigh heavy on me." Itadori says.
"I agree. It weighs heavy on my heart." You add, looking at the ground.
"Even so... this hobby is just too horrible." Itadori adds.
"The remnants themselves were a bluff. We must have been enticed." Nanami says.
"This person is skilled." Itadori says.
"It doesn't look like we'll finish this casually. Let's go all out." Nanami says, standing up.
"Yes." You and Yuji say in unison.
All three of you then met up with Ijichi to discuss the plan.
"We've obtained reports of remnants with the help of a "window". They seem to be linked to recent cases of missing persons and unnatural deaths around the area. With this, we can narrow down the location of the culprit's hideout." Nanami says.
"Alright. We'll just step right in there, right?!" Itadori asks.
"Itadori. There's 3 of us. Although the element of surprise is a good thing, there's still stuff we don't know. We know the person who caused this has a technique that can manipulate the body. But what else?" You say to Yuji.
"No. As Y/N said, there's still some uncertainty. I will continue my investigation so I will give you two a different job. The boy who was in the movie theatre... Yoshino Junpei. It seems he's classmates with the victims. They attend the same school." Nanami pauses.
"The surveillance camera were placed only in the passageway you see on the screen, but... from his appearance, I thought it was unlikely he'd be a curse specialist. However, since he's related to the victims, it's a different story." Nanami adds.
"Curse specialist?" Itadori asks, confused.
"Someone who specialises in curses?" You say, trying to explain to Yuji. But failing.
"A malignant shaman, in other words." Nanami explains.
"Since I've entrusted protocol to Ijichi... I'll leave the investigation into Yoshino Junpei to the three of you." Nanami says as the three of you go to leave.
"I don't know any other assistants besides you, Ijichi." Itadori says, as the three of you go to leave.
"Yeah. He has a point." You add.
"Well, that's inevitable since I'm the only one who knows you're alive." Ijichi counters.
As the three of you go to leave, you notice Ijichi hang back. Itadori hadn't noticed so you hung back as well. Nanami probably gathered that you weren't the reckless type since you've followed orders thus far. And you aren't exactly a "ticking time bomb" like Sukuna.
"It isn't uncertain. You already know, right? The culprit's location that is." Ijichi asks.
"I knew it!" You shout, drawing their attention to you. However, they continued the conversation.
"Of course. If the culprit wanted to, he could've fled the scene without leaving remnants behind. We're being lured in again. Between the risk of going in alone and the risk of bringing Y/N and Itadori. I've chosen the former. Because they're still children." Nanami says.
"Hey! I may be a child, but that in no way means I can't fight. You may not have seen me yet, but trust me when I say you could use all the help that you can get." You say to Nanami.
"Look. I know Itadori is inevitably going to follow me anyway. And you'd probably do the same. But, if you are anything like Yuji, preserve your energy. It may be helpful for you to save your cursed energy until later." Nanami explains to you.
"Nanami-Sensei!" Itadori says, bursting through the door. Unaware of the conversation that just took place.
"Be careful. I forgot to tell you." Itadori says.
"Itadori. I'm not of the teaching profession so please don't call me "Sensei"." Nanami says.
"Then... Nanamin." Itadori replies.
"I'll slap you if you call me that again." Nanami says.
You. Ijichi. And Itadori all headed out and started walking towards Ijichi's car. You had several thoughts running through your mind. Especially what Nanami said when Itadori left the room. Once you had gotten into the car, you all sat down and arrived at a location. Ijichi pulled the car over and parked.
"He's there." Ijichi said.
"Hm? Plain clothes?" Itadori says, leaning into the front of the car.
"It seems like he hasn't been to school in a bit." Ijichi says.
"So, what are we going to do?" Itadori asks, confused.
"Well. I think best case is try and figure out if Junpei is a curse user or not." You say, crossing your left leg over your right.
"We're going to use those." Ijichi says.
"Are they cursed spirits?" Itadori asks.
"They look like a low grade. You know, like they aren't capable of doing harm." You say.
"Fly-heads. They're low-grade ranked below 4th grade. We're gonna have them attack him in a deserted place." Ijichi pauses.
"1. If he's an ordinary person who can't see the curse... please go to his rescue, Itadori and Y/N. 2. If he can see the curse but can't deal with it... rescue him and likewise we'll interrogate him about the events of that day. 3. If he exorcises the fly heads with sorcery... we'll restrain him immediately." Ijichi explains.
"By force?" Itadori asks.
"By force. If it turns out we misjudged the situation, it's fine. We'll apologise later." Ijichi says.
"Ok. So what were to happen then if Junpei can see the curse but pretends that he can't?" You ask in a serious tone.
"Then we can rule it down to him conspiring with someone else." Ijichi answers.
"However... 4. If Yoshino Junpei is potentially a shaman over 2nd grade... we'll retreat at once and join forces with Nanami." Ijichi says.
"If he's 2nd-grade we'd barely be able to handle him." Itadori says.
"You have point, Yuji. I think we could handle him." You add to Itadori's comment.
"You'd be right if he was a cursed spirit." Ijichi says.
"Fushiguro said it last time... usually, if a shaman gets a mission involving a cursed spirit of the same grade. A 2nd-grade shaman is expected to beat a 2nd-grade cursed spirit... which means that a 2nd-grade shaman's true power is close to that of a first-grade cursed spirit." Ijichi explains.
"... Why didn't I know that before now?" Itadori says.
"So 1st-grades like Sukuna and Futsunushi?" You ask Ijichi.
"Futsunushi? The god of conquest?" Ijichi asks.
"Yeah..." You reply.
"Wait. If Futsunushi is considered to be a god, how is she a cursed spirit?" Itadori asks.
"Long story short it's cos she's inside me. And we share control." You explain, before realising that Ijichi didn't know before.
"Shit. I just fucked up, didn't I? Sorry Ijichi, but now you and Gojo are the two adults that know. Me and my stupid mouth." You say.
"Anyway. This is our stop." Ijichi says as he parks the car.
"It feels like a conspiracy... and for some reason, I'm not in the mood for this." You say, leaning back in the seat.
A/N:
The whole way through writing this chapter, I had been writing Ieiri-san's name wrong. It wasn't until I re-edited the chapter that I noticed. 🤦♀️. I had to google her name just to double check if I was writing it correctly.
I just realised as well, the amount of words that my phone autocorrects is hilarious.
Example:
What it should've said - "Yoshino Junpei"
What it autocorrected to - "Yoshino Junko"