When you arrived at your room, you were given a very old looking key attached to a small piece of wood by a tarnished metal chain. Opening the door, you were met with a traditional looking Ryokan bedroom, with an entry area, tatami mats, traditional Japanese bathroom, and an old cast-iron fireplace. A small flame had already been lit inside, and a metal placard on the side gave instructions on how to safely use it. A window overlooked the small town, which appeared very old-fashioned with low traditional roofs filling the view.
You unpacked your belongings and changed your blouse to a sweater, grabbing your coat and a scarf before going downstairs to meet Nanami.
When you arrived, he was sitting in the lounge with his foot propped up on one knee, a local newspaper in his hands as he read with an emotionless expression. You thought he looked very businessman-like in his dapper suit and tie, and could see his weapon holster that was strapped to his torso underneath.
Nanami looked up from what he was reading, and spoke plainly. "There was another incident this morning." You nodded, sad that yet another person was hurt. You pulled some folded up papers out of your pocket, carefully reading off of them.
"Not only is the rate of incidents accelerating, but the data that Gojo-Sensei gave me says that the temperature variation of this town is deviating more and more compared to the surrounding area, and the area of effect is spreading. The temperature here is 10 degrees centigrade colder than the surrounding four towns, which in turn are 5 degrees colder than the towns further out." You continued to spout empirical data. "The deviation of this region's average annual temperature is increasing, too. In January it averaged 2 degrees colder than the average January in the past 50 years, but now it's 18 degrees colder than the April average." You explained.
"This was already available in the case papers," Nanami replied after patiently listening through your long ramble.
"Well, that's why I decided to bring this!" You picked a digital thermometer out of your pocket. You tapped on the screen of the small outdoor thermometer, and numbers flashed until a warm 21 degrees celsius showed up on the screen.
"If the curse is the source of the cold, we'll be able to find it by going in whichever direction is colder." You explained.
Nanami raised his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised at your sharp thinking. Sorcerers usually follow curses by detecting cursed energy alone, but you thought of a way that could be much more efficient.
"Oh, but I already know where we should head. When I looked out the window, I noticed the most snow had accumulated on rooftops on the east side of town." You added. Nanami raised his eyebrows even further, the hint of a smirk appearing on his lips.
"The incident this morning happened on the east side," Nanami added. You nodded, understanding that this confirmed your suspicion.
As you walked towards that side of town, the air began to chill even more. The late afternoon sun began to sink across the sky, making its warmth less and less intense.
"Having winter last this long would suck," You sighed, kicking a clump of snow from the sidewalk and watching it crumble into flakes on the road.
"It depends how much you enjoy summer," Nanami responded. You smiled, knowing that summer was his favorite season.
You soon arrived at the scene of the last incident, where a local was shoveling piles of fresh snow over older snow that was stained a sickening red. Nanami went over to question the resident for any new information, while you took out your thermometer and held it up as you walked in wide circles around the area. You determined that you needed to head northeast, but that was towards the edge of the town and you knew there was a thick mountainous forest at its edge.
When Nanami finished, you informed him of this discovery and the both of you continued cautiously towards that area, with senses on high alert. You still didn't detect any excess cursed energy in the air, even as you reached the edge of town.
"It's going to get dark soon." Nanami warned, wanting to head back for the night.
"We'll be quick then." You replied, striding through the drifts of snow in your jeans that quickly grew soggy at the bottom. Nanami stepped after you, disappointed but not surprised at your enthusiasm.
It wasn't far into the woods when both of you felt cursed energy in the air. It was toxic cursed energy, and Nanami quickly grabbed your shoulder to prevent you from continuing onwards.
"You can't go any further. The cursed energy is tainted." Nanami explained. You grinned, realizing Nanami didn't understand just how quickly you learned with Gojo.
"Don't worry, I've been training myself to not breathe in cursed energy." You replied proudly.
"And what if you lose focus, or get knocked unconscious?" Nanami questioned you sternly, not wanting you to go any further.
"Then, that's my problem to deal with. This is my promotion mission, so I'm going to give my best." You turned, brushing off Nanami's grip and continuing to hike up the mountain. Nanami stood still, bewildered, but after a few moments he hurried to catch up since he couldn't risk falling too far behind you.
It wasn't much further when you discovered a cave which emanated this toxic energy. It was so concentrated that you had to steady your lungs before stepping into it. However, Nanami stopped you at the entrance.
"We should really go back," Nanami suggested. "It's dark, and curses are more active at night."
"We don't know the status of the curse yet, if we can't handle it now then we can come back tomorrow. For all we know, this could be something unrelated and low-grade." You tried to convince him that it was fine, but Nanami was having none of it. An icy gust of wind came from the cave, proving to you that there was something unnatural inside.
"Come on, we're going home." Nanami tugged on your arm. He didn't want you to encounter any curses, even though you two were sent here in order to fight them.
You were about to give in, thinking of the warm Kaiseki meal and futon waiting for you at the hotel, when you felt tainted cursed energy ripple on your lips. It was so faint, that only you noticed this disturbance and had the time to prepare.
You shoved Nanami to the side away from the cave entrance, and used your backwards momentum to roll yourself away. It left you not even a second to prepare before a cloaked figure dashed out of the entrance and let out an ear-piercing screech. Its entire figure was covered in a black tattered cloak that also shielded its face, and you could only see blades on the bottom of its heavy traditional winter boots.
Nanami instantly got up and took out his weapon, ready to quickly exorcise the enemy.
"No, Nanami!" You called. "I've got this!" Nanami reluctantly lowered his weapon, keeping his grip tight and his eyes trained on the figure. He couldn't believe that he was letting you fight on your own, and was coiled and ready to jump in the second you could be in trouble.
You jumped into action, rounding up to your enemy and getting into a fighting stance. You knew you couldn't steal any cursed energy, so you had to be efficient. The figure itself emanated a lot of tainted cursed energy, but it didn't quite feel as dangerous as the accidental tier 2 you had defeated a couple days ago. Still, you knew to be on your toes, since this would be a close fight.
Nanami watched apprehensively as you exchanged blows with the cursed spirit. You dashed quickly and your techniques were efficient, and it looked like you were gaining the advantage as you pushed him further down the sloped forest floor. Although Nanami was anxious about the fight, he was proud of you for handling it so well.
You, on the other hand, were terrified. You kept a careful gauge of your cursed energy, and used techniques methodically, but every now and then you would catch a glimpse of multiple eyes under its hood.
Cursed spirits with many eyes frightened you, ever since the event at the coffee shop. They seemed uncanny as they all aligned to pinpoint a target, always watching. You sometimes had nightmares about the cursed spirit on the street lamp, which you only convinced Nanami to get rid of a couple months ago.
Your fear allowed the cursed spirit to temporarily get the advantage of you, latching onto your scarf and pulling it tight around your neck. You quickly counteracted this by spinning as quickly as you could, allowing it to undo your scarf and fall backwards. You leaped towards it and hit it with a cursed technique that stemmed from your elbow.
The spirit screeched in pain, grabbing you and rolling down the hill. The cloak was torn off in the scuffle, which revealed a sickly colored human figure, covered from head to toe in eyes. It wore mundane modern clothes, and both you and Nanami realized that this was a human.
In your shock, you hesitated and that allowed the cursed human to wrap its fingers around your neck. It squeezed its hands tighter and lifted you off of the ground, digging its nails into your delicate skin and drawing blood.
'That's it, I'm killing it.' Nanami thought to himself as he ran down to intervene before anything bad could happen.
However, you acted before he could get there. You raised both palms to use a new technique. Several months ago you learned you could do this while practicing with Gojou, and it wasn't until this life-or-death situation that you instinctively used this to save yourself.
"Twist" you choked out, radiating cursed energy from one palm while simultaneously drawing cursed energy into the other. The human's head began to spin more and more rapidly, and detached in a swift and powerful arc, spewing black viscous blood all over the snow and onto your face.
Nanami was stunned. You had just defeated a cursed human completely on your own, and he stood still as you laid face down in the snow and coughed, rubbing the sickening blood from your face as you took long, raspy breaths. He wanted to comfort you, to carry you back home and make sure you were alright, but you steadied yourself on your own. Sighing, you sat up and leaned back to look at the darkening sky as snowflakes began to fall from above.
"That was disgusting." You said. "I hate curses with many eyes." Nanami let out a breathy chuckle under his breath, as he extended a hand down to you to help you up.
"You have no clue how dangerous that was," Nanami spoke up. Walking alongside him, you bent down to pick up your scarf as you headed back into town.
"I still want dinner though." You said. Nanami couldn't control the laughter that came out of his mouth next.
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lol the reader really is a badassssss~~