It was finally the sister goodwill event, and I felt like dying because I wasn't pumped to participate despite the harsh training we received from the 2nd years. My body and eyes were extremely tired because I couldn't sleep at all. The daunting event wouldn't ease my mind. I tried counting sheep or watching videos, but it only made me want to stay up rather than sleep. Dark bags covered my eyes as a result from my sleepless night.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Megumi asked, taking notice of me leaning against him for body support. He didn't flinch or stiffen; he's used to this.
"I'm just so tired!" I yawned, turning my face to suffocate in his jacket. Probably this will help me to sleep because I'm not seeing daylight and I'm not breathing easily.
"Kana, stay awake." Megumi grabbed my shoulders and forcefully pushed me away so I wouldn't do that again. "You can sleep later." He patted my left cheek as it vibrated from his light pats.
"Why is everyone empty-handed?!" Everyone present turned around to see Kugisaki with her luggage as if she's going on a vacation. "I thought we're going to Kyoto!" A big disbelief slapped her face.
"I wish! But no, they're coming to us." I said, doing some body stretches to wake me up. I cracked every joint in my body and safely pulled my muscles. This felt great. Now I'm somewhat awake and a little bit energized.
Then Maki explained to Kugisaki how the Kyoto kids had to come to Tokyo. As per usual, Kugisaki was mad because she thought she would be traveling. Suddenly I also have the urge to travel too... I'll bring Kugisaki along with me instead of Megumi. This can be a girl's hangout day! It'll be a great idea if Kugisaki agrees with me. We can travel around Japan as we skip school and sorcery duties. It's not like the boys will need us during missions. They can handle it on their own.
Grabbing Kugisaki's hands in mine, I smiled brightly at her as I showed my white teeth. "Why don't we go on a vacation after this sister event?! It can be me, you, and Maki! And... I'll find a way for sensei to lend me his card too." I wiggled my brow at her, and Kugisaki grinned deviously like she's on board now.
"I like your thinking!" She nodded her head in approval. "Let me know how it goes before we actually plan it."
"Alright!" It won't be too hard to sway Gojo. He really likes me and cherishes me as his 'niece', so there's no way he can't deny my request. If I can compromise or persuade him in any shape or form, I know I can have my ways with him. Also, he has the tendency to spoil me whenever I'm forced to join him during his meetings. It's not a bad thing because I get something out of the trip in return. That 'uncle' of mine makes bank, so it won't hurt to borrow some cash from him.
The next thing we all knew, the Kyoto students came walking in. Their presences were grand as their competitive lion-like eyes glanced over to us especially Mai. They wanted to win this as much as we did too. There was no way us Tokyo students were going to lose when we trained very hard for this day.
On the other hand, Utahime sighed, being disappointed as always towards our missing teacher, Gojo. "So where's that idiot?"
I felt bad for Utahime because she has to deal with Gojo's antics whenever I'm accompanying him. I don't know why but he really loved to get underneath everyone's skins. He's like a mosquito that everyone's trying to kill but can't kill because they're too late when they want to smack the life out of it. Gojo knew how to evade in a snap with his skilled abilities.
"Satoru's late," Panda expressed his concern.
Then Maki replied, "No way that idiot is ever on time."
"She didn't even mention his name," Megumi commented.
"Nope, he's never on time. Trust me... I'm always there when he brings me to his meetings. We're either thirty minutes to an hour late. This is nothing new. He loves to be the center of attention." Just when I said that, Gojo came rushing in with a cart in his hands. The wheels rolled against the cement ground as he loudly announced his presence like always.
"I am here!" Gojo proudly hollered.
Instantly like a disconnected wire found its way to connect, I remembered Itadori messaging me about making his appearance at the goodwill event! Glancing over at Kugisaki and Megumi, a small smile formed on my lips as I knew they were going to be excited to see him again. They don't know what's coming to hit them! Although I've seen Itadori, I can still feel my anticipation building up because today was his moment to shine saying that nothing can stop him from rising from the ashes. His appearance won't disappoint anyone.
As Gojo rambled on about being late as he finished giving out souvenirs to the Kyoto students, he finally turned to us and announced the biggest gift to us all: Itadori. "And for the Tokyo kids!!"
A wide grin pulled my cheeks apart, waiting for him to reveal Itadori.
Megumi noticed my beaming aura outshining everyone's sullen mood from an overly excited adult. "Why are you so happy?" His blue eyes looked down at me, casting me the same old poker face.
"Oh, you'll see!" I giggled, watching him shake his head in pure confusion as he let it go. That poker face of his will disappear once Gojo pulls the lid and commands Itadori to jump out to surprise everyone.
Baaaam!
The lid of the cart opened, and Itadori happily screamed out his revival. "It's the dearly departed Itadori Yuji!!"
However, not everyone was impressed by Itadori's appearance at all. No one was making his homecoming warm and jovial, and a depressed look took over Itadori's face as he cracked from their cold response. His downcasted expression tugged at my heart. Despite this mundane welcome party, I clapped and cheered for Itadori's magnificent return. I'll be that supporting friend to uplift his spirit. "Woohoo! Our best member is back in the flesh! Now give me a hug!" Just when I opened my arms and took a step forward to Itadori in the box, Megumi pulled the collar of my shirt. "Ack!" I choked out, stumbling back into Megumi's chest.
"So you knew he was back?" Cranking my neck back, I spotted a not-so-happy Megumi glaring at me. It's supposed to be the other way around... But sadly, Megumi wasn't passing the vibe check. How can he act like this when Itadori self-sacrificed himself during their mission while I was away?! He should be crying with tears! I would too if I hadn't met him earlier.
A bead of sweat rolled down from my face as I knew I was caught red handed. Megumi can't stay mad at me forever for hiding this from him. "Ah..." I scratched my cheek with my pointer finger. "For a while...so yes..." I admit in guilt.
After Itadori's reunion and informing him about the 2nd years, we were in a traditional Japanese house to discuss our plans to win this event. Poor Itadori had to hold a photo frame as his punishment.
"Come on, don't do him like that." I snatched the frame out of Itadori's hand and tossed it to the side. "He probably had his reasons to stay 'dead' for a while. Just let him be!" I rubbed Itadori's shoulder to comfort him since nobody wanted to be nice to him except me.
"Wow, I see only Kana cares about me...!" Itadori sulked for a few seconds before switching up once everyone began strategizing.
While they were talking, I stepped out to collect some rocks in case I'm unable to use my weapon. I'm also glad that my health was back to normal again. It would've been bad if it was at the other side of the scale. I don't think I'd be able to partake in this event, nor let anyone see my deteriorating physical features. Only Itadori knew my condition since he saw it. I can never let Megumi know about this. It'll only scare him about my fated future. I can already imagine Megumi sitting beside my bed as if I'm on my deathbed, but in reality I was really ill. He will never be the same person again; he'll be more protective of me.
"Oh, Kana," Turning around, I spotted Yuji skipping over to me with his hands in his pockets. "How's your health?"
What a coincidence! It's like he read my mind. Itadori's such a caring person. "It's good now. There's nothing to worry about! How's coping?" I never got to ask him this until now. Junpei's sudden death wasn't an easy event to swallow. We both failed to protect him. I was too late to aid Itadori; I'm not sure what happened on his end either.
A wavering expression took over his upbeat face as his eyes darkened and his breathing steadied. "I'm... I'm never going to forget it. I'm still going to kill him for doing that to Junpei." Itadori's voice vibrated in vengeance as he should. That cursed spirit used and killed Junpei to hurt Itadori; however, it may be true, but it also strengthened Itadori's judgments and fire to fight.
"Kill him for me too then," I don't know if I'll have a chance to encounter patchy face. It was just a coincidence that me and Junpei were friends which led me to meet the cursed spirit.
Once our meeting time was over, both teams had to rush out to exorcise all cursed spirits. While Itadori handled Todo, I also split from the group as well.
"Okay, I'm heading out!" I called, turning back at them for the last time. I don't know how long it'll take for me to slay the cursed spirits, but I hope it's not too long either. I just have to beat everyone to the punch.
But in spite of that, Megumi obviously didn't want me to part. He's going to make up excuses to prevent this from happening. "No, it's dangerous to go by yourself. Why don't I go with you—"
"Fushiguro, why do you sound like her mother?" Kugisaki groaned in disgust like she viewed us being lovey dovey even though it's him being an overprotective person.
Maki placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned at him. "Come on, Kana is a reliable and strong person. You need to put some trust into her! Now leave her be." Maki came to my rescue and took Megumi away from me. This made my heart swell knowing that these girls had my back.
In another part of the big forest filled with cursed spirits, I killed off weak ones left and right. It felt weird how we had weak spirits that were grade 3 or under. I really thought the staff would want to challenge us. However something didn't feel right at all. The air felt so thin as the wind whispered that an awful event was going to occur.
Quickly, I felt an immense aura coming from behind, and I turned around to spot a semi 1 grade cursed spirit's head rolling off the ground. "There's no one here but me..." I muttered to myself. As long as I've been hunting by myself, my peers or the enemy hasn't jumped out. "Who are you?" I loudly questioned, confronting the thing with abundant cursed energy.
The dark purple wavelength extended as it stepped out from the trees, and out appeared was a powerful cursed spirit with branches coming out from its eyes as their height was pretty tall. Blinking twice, I recalled a picture drawn by sensei. It looked just like that creature in front of me but more meaner looking. Gojo has the tendency to draw cursed spirits in a friendlier fashion. "So this is the unregistered cursed spirit that sensei mentioned a while ago. I know I asked for a challenge but not from an unregistered cursed spirit!" I gritted my teeth in dismay. I'm not sure if the teachers were able to capture this unregister creature or not, but if they did, I really wished they told us beforehand. Unless... This place has been infiltrated?!
Whipping out my phone as I backed away from the unregistered spirit, I needed to retreat until I got some type of confirmation from Gojo himself. This lying teacher will owe me a lot. Dialing Gojo's phone number, I waited for him to answer.
Ring ring ring
"Hello! It's your best—" I didn't want to hear his long introduction about who he was when I already knew him!
"Remember that unregistered cursed you fought earlier?!" I panted, running away from the creature as it began chasing after me. "Did you bring it here?!" My voice filled with dread as I didn't know if I should wait for reinforcement or not. "Sensei, I—" Suddenly, the phone which was in my hand a second ago was now shot to the ground. The speed of this special cursed spirit was no joke. This caused the hair on my skin to rise in neither fear or surprise. It just blew my mind away even though special class spirits weren't a thing to be taken lightly of. Looking at my shattered phone, I didn't have a chance to say any final words to Gojo. My phone was badly broken so I'm going to convince my sweet and caring uncle to buy me another one.
"Stop it, foolish child. I was told not to bring harm to you."
"Huh?!" The spirit can talk, and I can understand it?! What's up with these cursed spirits trying to talk to me...? I won't lie that it's oddly fascinating, however, it's going to die anyways. But what's more interesting was that someone told it not to hurt me? Who would command such a thing? Am I supposed to be happy that everyone else in this place will die and I'm exempt from it? This doesn't make any sense. "But... I thought all cursed spirits wanted to kill sorcerers?"
"I was especially told not to. If you want to live step aside—"
Shiiinggg!
I whipped out my scythe, stopping the creature from leaving this area. "I don't know why you're here, but I'm not going to let you kill my friends. You're going to have to get through me first." Turning my wrist as the blade faced the creature, I was about to attack when it began talking about nature and the environment.
"All I want is to protect this planet. The forest, the sea, the sky... They're all crying from the tragedies they've withstood. We can no longer live in peace with humans."
My brows shot up from this turning situation. Why am I always encountering philosophical special grade curses? I didn't know I had this type of power to attract them when I didn't want to. "I meaaaaaan... You're not wrong." I couldn't disagree with his statement. Humans are garbage. All we do is kill the environment until it becomes a wasteland. The sea is polluted, breathing oxygen will no longer be safe because of air pollution, and trees are getting cut for houses or industries. "We take things for granted." This was the first time that I ever agreed with a cursed spirit....because it's a topic that some humans do care about.
"They know that there are humans who care for the planet. But how useful is mere compassion?"
"Wow, I am astonished." I didn't mean to get off topic with this special grade, but he was really making sense here. "Become prime minister and—wait no." I shook my head from getting a bit too deep with this creature. "Your plan is to kill all humans which I want to agree because humanity is shit, but I have to disagree because there are innocent lives who are born into this world and face these environmental issues. You can kill the rest—" Damnnit, I didn't mean to encourage this spirit to go on a rampage and kill humans... Why am I having a lovely conversation with this creature in the first place?!
"So you agree that all humans must die in order to keep this planet thriving?"
I should've shut up about my opinion and fought him. This debate won't get anywhere because he's a cursed spirit and I'm human. We won't see eye to eye unless I said 'screw this world, let's destroy humanity!' "Sir environmentalist, there's no way you can eradicate humans because there will always be evolution... I don't want to get too deep and analytical of how science works, so I'm going to have to exorcise you. This conversation has come to a close!"
My battle with him began.