The light finally turned green, allowing Mina to cross the road. She didn't have a particular idea of where she wanted to go, only going where her feet took her.
Yuuji is dead, and it's all my fault, she thought to herself bitterly. I should never have listened to him. I should have been there to stop him from being forced to call out Sukuna.
These thoughts filled her mind as she walked without seeing.
She'd been walking for nearly an hour when she bumped into someone.
"Watch where you're going," an unruly man sneered after bumping into her.
She looked at him coldly.
She walked away as the man began screaming, his hands clawing at his clothes and skin, gouging and tearing at his own flesh. Others began to scream as blood began to pour uncontrollably from his eyes and mouth before he fell limply to the ground, unmoving.
No one noticed the woman as she walked calmly away from the dying man, a dark aura shrouding her.
No one noticed except a young man dressed in monk's robes, his gaze following her every movement, a smile gracing his lips which pulled back to reveal a sinister grin.
** ** **
"Well, tell me Geto. Was there any real reason to use a precious finger to test Sukuna's strength?" Jogou grumbled. The man called Geto smiled slightly, watching as Mina walked away from the human corpse across the road.
"We'll soon find out it was successful. In more ways than one." Jogou snorted at the unexpected reply.
"Are you still going on about that woman?" the curse complained.
"We did find out a few interesting things," Geto said in reply as they walked down the street, mirroring the woman across the street.
To normal humans, it appeared that the smiling monk was talking to himself, earning him weird looks from passers-by who steered clear of his path.
But that wasn't the only reason they stayed away or found excuses to cross the road as they saw him walk in their direction. Humans have survival instincts ingrained into their souls, and their instincts told them that this man was dangerous.
** ** **
Mina didn't have it in her to feel guilty after her little outburst and continued walking with her head down, thinking about what she should do now.
The rational part of her wanted to detach herself from the Jujutsu Sorcerers and focus on finding the Codex. A month had already passed and she still had no leads. She also wanted to prevent herself from forming any more attachments to people.
She wasn't looking where she was going when she smacked her face into someone's chest. Wincing, she held her nose which stung from the impact.
Glancing up in annoyance, her eyes met a pair of brown eyes and froze.
Something felt off about this man, causing Mina to observe him cautiously. It was then when Mina noticed the three curses surrounding him.
Raising an eyebrow, she turned to the monk, who smiled at her.
"You keep...interesting company," Mina ventured, startled slightly at the glare she was receiving from the volcano-looking curse.
The monk chuckled.
"I guess I do Mina."
She froze, looking at the man guardedly.
"How do you know me?" she demanded, her voice rising. The monk placed a finger on his lips.
"Let's talk over lunch. I for one, am famished."
** ** **
This world is truly strange, Mina thought to herself amusedly as she found herself sitting at a table with the man who introduced himself as Geto, and the three curses who were introduced as Jogou, Hanami and Dagon.
"Care to explain why you are glaring at me volcano head?" she asked curiously, resting her chin on her hands as she stared at him, undaunted. It never failed to surprise her how these curses always appeared in all shapes and sizes. However, she noted that these curses appeared to be able to communicate and have awareness.
Jogou scowled at her and opened his mouth to say something, but Geto cut him off.
"We have an offer for you," Geto began. Mina raised an eyebrow, which he took as an indication to continue.
"Our sources have told us the Jujutsu sorcerers are against you staying alive."
"And how do you know that?"
"They sent you and a bunch of half-trained teenagers after a special grade, they clearly wanted to dispose of both you and Itadori Yuuji. Two birds with one stone."
Part of her was tempted to not believe him, but his words rang true. She remembered Gojou telling her that the higher-ups of the Jujutsu World were suspicious of her. It didn't really surprise her that they wanted her dead.
In fact, she was more offended that they thought they could kill her that easily.
"They're weak and pathetic cowards, nothing new," she muttered. Geto nodded in agreement.
At that moment, a waitress came over to take their order.
"Just water please."
"What's this offer you speak of?" she asked curiously as the waitress left with their orders. Before Geto could reply, Jogou interrupted.
"Why are you even trying to recruit some useless woman?" Jogou growled. That raised Mina's hackled as she hissed at the curse.
"Shut up lava brain, the adults are speaking here," she stuck her tongue out at him. Steam came out of his ears as the temperature of the restaurant rose a few degrees. She rolled her eyes at the display, noting how the waiters wiped their sweating brows, murmuring if the radiators were broken.
"Looks like he's throwing a tantrum. How old is this curse?" she asked curiously. Geto merely sighed at the pair of them.
"As I was trying to say, we want you to join us."
"Yeah no thanks, I have better things to do than involve myself in your little revolution." She got up to leave.
"What if I said I could get you what you want?" Mina froze at that, turning to face him incredulously.
"And what may that be?" she asked pleasantly. Geto smirked.
"A certain...codex?"
"How exactly did you know that?"
"I have my sources."
This seems sketchy as fuck, but this is the only lead I have so far, Mina groaned internally as she scowled at Geto
And what exactly is your plan?"
So Geto told her everything, from getting Sukuna on their side and sealing Gojou Satoru, much to Jogou's chagrin.
Mina snorted.
"You guys are crazy. Firstly, Itadori Yuuji is dead, so that puts a damper on your plans. How amusing."
"Hmm, I wonder about that?" Geto murmured.
"Very well, supposing you get me what I want,' Mina said, not having heard Geto as the temperature of the restaurant rose by another few degrees.
"I'll consider your offer."
They watched her as she left, Geto cocking his head slightly. He wondered what changed about her, wondering if their test had been successful.
"Don't you think it was foolish of you to tell her everything? She could go straight to Gojou Satoru and tell him everything." Jogou's head spurted small droplets of lava in his annoyance, which sizzled as it dropped to the floor.
"She won't."
"And how can you be so sure?"
"She doesn't care enough."
"This is quite the gamble Geto."
"It will pay off. Once we get Mina and Sukuna on our side, everything will be all but assured. Wanting to reverse the current position of humans and curses means little to her as long as we hold up our end of the bargain."
"Humans are made up of lies, so what makes her so trustworthy to you?" Jogou remained irate by this whole situation.
"Maybe it's because she's not human. Well, not entirely."
"Is she half-curse?" Geto shook his head at Jogou's confused expression.
"No, she's something else entirely. Something unknown. And that makes her all the more valuable."
"So what can we do to defeat the jujutsu sorcerers?"
"If you fulfil three conditions before going to war, then you can win."
"And what are these three conditions?"
"The first involves rendering Gojou Satoru incapable of fighting, the second is getting Ryoumen Sukuna and Itadori Yuuji on your side."
"And the third." Jogou pressed.
"And the third is to make sure you are not on the bad side of Mina."
"Impossible! Are you saying she's more powerful than Gojou Satoru and the king of curses?!"
"Not yet, but she will be ready soon. She just needs a push in the right direction."