'Starting right now, I'm ditching work. I've been working at this job for nearly a year now. I quit my last job at a café in Kyoto because of that young couple surrounded by a chilling aura. I thought that would be the last time I ever felt so terrified that I would die by simply approaching customers but it's happened again except this time it's much worse.' The waiter nervously gulped while looking at one of the tables in the restaurant from the corner of his eye.
'My friend recommended me this restaurant to work at so I packed my bags and moved to Tokyo. I've always had a strong sense of responsibility. I've been saving up my earnings so I can send my four younger sisters to college. But even I can't fight my survival instinct. If I go near that table, I might actually die this time.' The waiter snuck another glance at the table. A man with long black hair dressed in monk attire sat alone at the restaurant table. He hadn't ordered a single thing since he entered. Visibly, it was only the man sitting at the table but the waiter strangely felt three other menacing presences at the table just like that menacing presence with the nice couple back at the café last time. He couldn't see them but he felt something was there...more like some things. Chills ran up his spine and he bit his tongue from the urge to shriek out of fear.
"Gojo Satoru...I wonder if we could kill him if we joined forces" Jogo mumbled in thought.
"Either he'll flutter outside of your grasp or, worst case scenario, you all get exorcised." Pseudo-Geto responded coolly.
"What about his daughter? Doesn't he have a daughter? Why don't we use her as a hostage?" Jogo asked, recalling how the dark-haired human before him had previously mentioned something about Gojo Satoru having a daughter. Pseudo-Geto chuckled.
"If she didn't exorcise you all then her boyfriend and father would. There would be no room for negotiation."
"It would be a three against three fight if it's just us. We can just isolate her somehow." Jogo replied matter-of-factly. Pseudo-Geto smiled at Jogo's arrogant words.
'What an overconfident fool..'
"I never said they would work together as a team" Pseudo-Geto replied cheerily to conceal his mocking tone from the cursed spirit across from him.
"What?" Jogo narrowed his eye at Pseudo-Geto. What was he trying to say here?
"You see, even one of them alone is enough to exorcise you all." Pseudo-Geto smirked at the visible anger on Jogo's face upon hearing those words. Even cursed spirits were upset when their egos were bruised. How amusing.
"Perhaps there is an inkling of a possibility that you somehow manage to get ahold of her...that is....if she were still alive" Jogo's eyes widened.
"His daughter's dead?" Jogo asked in surprise. Pseudo-Geto nodded his head.
"My source informed me that she has already passed so your plan, even if it somehow succeeded, would never work. I would, instead, recommend sealing Gojo Satoru rather than killing him.
"Sealing? Do you have a way to?" Jogo asked in confusion. Pseudo-Geto gave the cursed spirit a coy smile.
"We'll use the special grade cursed object - Prison Realm."
Megumi stared at the single ant crawling on the stone ground. He wondered what it would be like to live like an ant. Maybe ants didn't feel so much guilt over not being strong enough to keep their comrades from dying. He heard the sound of footsteps before someone plopped down next to him on the stairs.
'Kugisaki..'
"What did he say to you?" Nobara asked. Megumi turned his head slightly to look at the orange-haired girl who was staring off into the distance.
"He said...to live a long life" Megumi responded, recounting the last words his deceased classmate had said to him.
"Live a long life? Doesn't really mean much if you go and die yourself" Nobara mumbled.
"Is this your first time losing a partner?" She asked, looking at Megumi from the corner of her orange eyes.
"First time for one my age" Megumi responded. He'd seen his fair share of people dying in the hands of cursed spirits but this one was more haunting. It was too similar to what happened last year.
"Huh? You seem to be taking it pretty well considering..." Nobara trailed off at the end but Megumi knew what she was getting at.
"You too"
"Of course, I only knew him for about two weeks"
"I'm not some simple woman who breaks down bawling when a guy I barely know dies" He watched Nobara bite her quivering lip. Her face was shrouded by her short-orange hair. He could hear the waver in her voice but chose to pretend he was unaware. Megumi turned his head back to look at the ant on the ground.
"It's hot, huh?" He said, changing the subject.
"Yea...wonder if it's time for summer uniforms" Nobara mumbled in response. The two heard the sound of footsteps approaching them.
"What's this?" Megumi and Nobara looked up to see the speaker.
'Zen'in senpai...'
"You're looking more glum than usual, Megumi." Maki said, staring down at Megumi and Nobara. She was dressed in a tracksuit, probably for training, and clutched a naginata in her hand. Maki raised an eyebrow at the depressing mood surrounding the two first-years.
"This a wake or something?" She asked.
"Zen'in-senpai" Megumi said in greeting.
"Don't call me by my last name!" Maki scowled.
"Maki! Maki!" Maki turned at the sound of Panda calling her name. His head was peeking out from a statue he was hiding behind with Toge.
"I'm talking here" Maki said, annoyed by the interruption.
"Y-You actually don't know why they're so down?!" Panda asked in disbelief. Maki raised an eyebrow and looked at her friends in confusion.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Someone really did die yesterday! One of the first-year boys!" Panda hissed.
"Bonito flakes" Maki stiffened and her glasses almost fell off her nose from how quickly her jaw dropped.
"You should've told me sooner! Now I look like some heartless, cold-blooded demon!" Maki shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at her friends. Now she felt like an asshole.
"That's exactly what you are, y'know?" Panda shouted back in response.
"Tuna mayo."
"You're supposed to make me feel better!" Maki shouted angrily, waving her hands in the air in frustration. She missed Hiyori. At least Hiyori would've offered her some form of comfort, unlike these two menaces.
"Who are they?" Nobara asked, watching Maki shout angrily at Panda and Toge.
"Our second-year upperclassmen." Megumi replied.
"You have to be kinder to your underclassmen. What would Hiyori think?" Panda lectured Maki who let out a "hmph".
"There's more to kindness than being soft on them" Maki mumbled.
"Zen'in-senpai is the best of all the students at wielding cursed tools." Megumi said, introducing his relative to Nobara.
"Mentaiko" Toge said.
"That's the Cursed speech user, Inumaki-senpai. He can only speak in onigiri ingredients." Toge nodded in greeting.
"She's a bit softer when Hiyori or Yuta's around though." Panda commented with a snicker while scratching his cheek.
"Panda-senpai." Nobara stared at Panda in a mixture of confusion and surprise. One of the upperclassmen was a...talking panda? What.
"There's Okkotsu-senpai but he's overseas right now." Megumi said, naming the dark-haired male who had easily earned his respect for climbing all the way to special grade from fourth grade within the span of three months.
"You're not adding more to the panda named Panda?" Nobara asked only to receive no response regarding Panda. 'Am I supposed to just take it in stride that there's a panda named Panda? What?'
"Okkotsu-senpai's one of the only ones I can openly respect. He takes things seriously." Megumi continued, ignoring Nobara's question. You never questioned why Panda was Panda. You just accepted it. Maki, Toge, and Panda exchanged disbelieving looks.
'Serious huh...'
—
Maki, Toge, and Panda watched their raven-haired friend from a distance. They exchanged wary looks as his dark blue eyes practically bored holes into the porcelain cup he nursed in his rough hands. The dull, murky brown color of his coffee was a mirror of just how dull his life was without his girlfriend here with him. He sighed for the nth time like a dramatic, depressed main character from one of those cheesy shojo animes he watched to feel something back when he wasn't in a happy relationship with the girl of his dreams. Yuta sighed again, this time far louder, causing a vein to pop out on Maki's forehead. His back was hunched sadly like an abandoned puppy.
"How long has it been?" Maki asked, looking at Yuta who looked like he had a literal gloom cloud following him around. She wrinkled her nose at his attitude. She understood missing Hiyori because who wouldn't miss Hiyori but this was a bit too far. She could see how Yuta and Satoru were related even if it was distantly. They were both so fucking dramatic.
"Six days" Panda responded.
"Shake" Toge took a bite of his toast and frowned at the taste of the store-brought jam that paled in comparison to Hiyori's sweet homemade jam. He missed Hiyori too. This sucked.
"His depressing mood is making my coffee taste bad" Maki muttered before taking a sip of her own coffee.
"Well this is the first time Hiyori has gone on a multi-day mission since they started dating. He's probably Hiyori-deprived" Panda said, recalling how Yuta was almost always with Hiyori where ever she went like a lost puppy after the two of them started officially dating. It made the cursed puppet wonder if Yuta had separation anxiety like an actual puppy.
"I'm back!" Yuta's head shot up immediately and the gloom cloud vanished just as quickly. His friends watched his dark blue eyes light up at the sight of who was at the kitchen door. His mood perked up like a switch had just been flipped in his head. He resembled a puppy whose tail was wagging from pure delight over his owner being back.
"That mission took longer than expected" Hiyori sighed, massaging her forehead in an attempt to ease the headache she had from lack of sleep. She leaned against the doorway in an oversized blue shirt that looked oddly familiar and pair of black shorts. It was obvious that she was fresh out of the shower by the airy way her blow-dried hair cascaded over her shoulders.
"Welcome back" Panda said, trying his best to fight back what Maki labeled his creepy grin upon the realization that the shirt did indeed look familiar....because Yuta had worn it before. Hiyori wasn't the type to buy such a plain shirt for herself but Yuta was. The shirt's color was slightly fading from being in the wash too many times meaning it was by no means new either.
"Tuna mayo"
"You look exhausted." Maki pointed out, noticing her best friend's extremely dark eye bags. They almost rivaled Yuta's eye bags. Almost. That kid's eyebags were dark.
"Couldn't sleep on the plane back because I had to finish my report. Tsuki ran off the moment we got back." Hiyori replied, recalling how her familiar had practically jumped out of the plane the moment the doors opened.
"Do you want tea? Coffee? Are you hungry?" Yuta asked, examining Hiyori's form to see if she had any injuries.
Hiyori shook her head and tiredly leaned against him. Yuta immediately wrapped his arms around her. He smiled, a light blush coating his cheeks. He missed her. A lot.
His heart warmed and happiness bubbled in his chest at the sight of his dear girlfriend in his shirt. She was practically drowning in the shirt that was even slightly oversized on him when he wore it. She was so cute. He wanted to hold her tight and steal kisses from her lips to make up for all days he couldn't but held himself back because they were still in front of their friends.
Speaking of their friends, the other three first years sweat-dropped at how fast Yuta had gotten to Hiyori's side. They didn't even see him get up from his chair much less make his way to Hiyori. He was by her side in an instant.
"I missed you" Hiyori murmured, resting her head against the crook of his shoulder. Her eyelids were growing heavy and she was starting to doze off.
"I missed you too" He replied softly with a dopey smile on his face. There were imaginary flowers around him of how happy he was. He nuzzled his nose against her cheek and took a whiff of her scent which immediately calmed his overly excited heart.
"Gross. Right in front of my coffee too" Maki said, sticking her tongue out in mock disgust. Hiyori chuckled weakly and Yuta stiffened before his face heated up. He had gotten so lost in Hiyori's smile and touch that he forgot they weren't alone.
"You should get some sleep. It's a Saturday anyway so we don't have class" Panda said to Hiyori who was already half asleep against Yuta.
"Shake" Toge said in agreement.
"That sounds like a good idea....I'll go get some sleep...." Hiyori said while stifling a yawn with one hand. She pulled away from Yuta, much to his displeasure, and stretched her arms.
"With Yuta?" Panda asked with a snicker, wiggling his brows at Yuta. Yuta's face burned a brighter red.
"If he wants" Hiyori mumbled tiredly, already walking in the direction of her dorm room. The remaining first-years watched Yuta process her words before he ran after her without even a bit of hesitation. They had never seen him run so fast before.
—
Maybe it was because of how well they knew Yuta but the second-years couldn't possibly imagine him as someone tough and serious like the person Megumi respected. They had witnessed the times their friend acted like a lovesick puppy whenever he was around Hiyori. The times his dark blue eyes would trail after Hiyori while waiting for her to notice him and give him a hug. That time he had turned fifty shades of red when they had caught him and Hiyori kissing. The heart eyes he would look at her with when she did something as simple as smile or laugh.
Yea, they really didn't see it. Not one bit.
"Okkotsu...the special grade you mentioned before?" Nobara asked. She had thought he would be a third-year but he was only a second-year and already a special grade?
'Wait...that's only four. Who's the fifth second-year?' She recalled Satoru mentioning there were five first-years last year but Megumi had only listed four so far.
"So that's four...who's the fifth?" Megumi looked up and he did his best to stop the corner of his lips from twitching up in a smile but he couldn't hide the hint of fondness in his eyes at the thought of the fifth second year.
"That's Gojo-senpai" He responded, thinking about the white-haired girl who was the epitome of a real-life angel. She was the reason why Megumi chose a sword as the cursed tool he always carried around with him though it wasn't a katana. Nobara's eyes widened in shock and she almost choked on her spit.
"The Shinigami of Curses went to this school?!" Nobara shouted in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. Not only did the Shinigami of Curses go to this school, she was only a second year. Nobara had always thought the Shinigami of Curses was a lot older since who would expect a high schooler to hold such a title?
"Huh, been a while since I've heard someone use that title to address Hiyori." Maki commented. Panda shrugged.
"Well, that's cause she's not around anymore" Panda replied.
"Takana"
"Also, Megumi, how many times do I have to tell you, it's Tsukuyo not Gojo. Don't associate her with that blindfolded dumbass so much" Maki said. Panda snickered.
"You'll have to excuse her, she really misses Hiyori." Panda said causing Maki to scowl.
"Wait...why are all of you all speaking of her so casually? Are none of you scared of her?" Nobara asked.
"Huh?" Maki said, her naginata blade only inches away from Panda's head. Panda had managed to stop it with his paws before he got hit.
"Why would we be? It's Hiyori." Maki said.
"Shake shake" Toge nodded in agreement.
"Not only is she the grim reaper of curses, but she's also the strongest female sorcerer in the world. It's said that her gaze alone can exorcise a cursed spirit and make even the toughest shrivel in despair. She can decimate armies of curses without a hitch. Anyone who dares to challenge her is never seen again. Some say that these challengers are eaten by a big demon kitsune under her control" Nobara muttered like she was telling a scary urban legend. The second-years stared at her in confusion.
Were they talking about the same person here?
—
"Hiyori, what are you...doing?" Maki asked, staring at her best friend who lay sprawled out on the fluffy white carpet in her dorm room. The other first-years had come to find their friend since she had disappeared for a couple of hours only to find her in this position.
"Becoming one with the ground..." Hiyori replied casually, not at all understanding what was wrong with her current state.
"I get that but...why is Yuta on top of you?" Hiyori looked away from the ceiling and turned to look at Maki who had an incredulous expression on her face. Her brows knitted with annoyance and her nose scrunched over the blatant public display of affection.
"Hm?" Hiyori looked down at Yuta who was fast asleep atop her with his head resting on her chest. She gently combed her fingers through his messy black hair. It was getting longer now that spring was fast approaching.
"Cause his insomnia's been getting worse lately and this position seems to help him fall asleep really fast. He snores really softly, you can barely hear it, it's cute." Hiyori replied just as Yuta unconsciously nuzzled his face into her chest.
"So you're just gonna lay here until he wakes up?" Panda asked while Toge made sure to snap a quick photo to use to tease Yuta with later. "Wouldn't moving to your bed be more comfortable?"
"Yea, it's not like you can't carry him with the help of your cursed energy. He's still a beansprout even if he is strong now." Maki added. Hiyori chuckled quietly so as to not accidentally wake Yuta up even though it probably wouldn't have mattered considering how soundly he was sleeping.
"Uh...I tried. But my entire body is asleep. I can't feel my legs anymore." Hiyori replied with a sheepish smile. "Yuta is...really heavy even though he doesn't seem like it"
"It's cause you've been feeding him too much." Maki retorted, shaking her head over how much Hiyori spoiled her boyfriend with all her delicious tarts, cakes, bento boxes, and whatever new recipe she was testing out.
"But Maki you eat more than h—" Maki whacked Panda before he could finish his sentence. So what if she ate more? All of the first-years were incredibly willing guinea pigs for whatever Hiyori decided to cook up in the kitchen. If she wasn't a jujutsu sorcerer, Maki was pretty sure her friend could've easily opened up a popular restaurant or something in the future.
"Have I? Now that you mention it, his cheeks have gotten softer and chubbier" Hiyori murmured with a lovestruck smile over how adorable Yuta was. She just wanted to pepper kisses all over his lovable face. The thought of how red his face would probably flush from all the affection made her bite her tongue to stifle her giggle.
Even though he didn't outright say it, she could tell he was really affection and touch-starved from years of social seclusion. Whenever they were alone, he'd cling to her and give her sad puppy eyes whenever she didn't shower him with enough affection, or moved away from him to do something, because he was too shy to voice his needs in fear of being a nuisance for being so clingy...as if he would ever be a nuisance to her.
"You know, I thought he was cheesy but you're even cheesier than him." Maki dead-panned, earning a laugh from Hiyori. "So are you sure you're okay with staying like that? We can help you lift him onto the bed so you can go do something else."
"I don't want to accidentally wake him. It's not like laying here for a couple of hours will hinder my work. I already finished all the paperwork for my mission reports. Besides, Yuta's really warm."
"Warm?" Panda asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Yea....he's like my sun" Hiyori replied with a close-eyed smile while affectionately stroking the back of Yuta's head. His hair was surprisingly soft even though it looked spiky. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head just as he shifted slightly in his sleep.
"Takana" Toge said, wrinkling his nose in mock disgust.
"So you don't need anything right?" Maki asked, just making sure for the last time before they left Hiyori and Yuta alone.
"Actually...could you guys get me some water...? I haven't drunk anything in hours. I meant to text to ask but I couldn't reach my phone" Her friends sweat-dropped and Maki shook her head in dismay.
—
The second-years were really starting to wonder what their underclassmen were talking about. Hiyori and Yuta were definitely strong but neither were exactly tough and scary...unless they were mad. That was a whole different situation altogether. Just what kind of stories were spreading around about Hiyori? They tried to imagine their extremely calm-natured, kind classmate in the light that Nobara described her in. Maki covered her mouth with the back of her hand to contain her laughter at the thought of it.
Well whatever, stories were stories. No point in entertaining them.
"Anyways, please forgive us for that" Panda said, changing the subject, bowing his head in apology.
"Are you all just going to not say anything?" Nobara asked, wondering why none of them said anything about the story she just told. First the Panda thing and now this?
"The truth is, we'd like you to participate in the Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event." Panda continued. Nobara looked at him in confusion with a raised eyebrow.
"Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event? What's that?" Nobara asked, turning to Megumi with the expectation that he would have an answer for her.
"It's a get-together with the other Jujutsu school in Kyoto." Megumi explained. He looked up at his senpais. "Though, isn't that event mainly for second and third-years?"
"And those stupid third-years are suspended now" Maki explained. "So you need to participate besides it's not like there haven't been first-years who participated before." Panda nodded his head in agreement with Maki's words.
"Last year, Hiyori and Yuta participated so there's no solid rule stating first-years aren't allowed" The cursed puppet added, recalling the overwhelming victory by team Tokyo Tech last year thanks to the two special grades.
"So what do you do?" Nobara asked, trying to think of what could possibly be done at a sister exchange event. Was this like a sports festival or something?
"Smash Bros.? If it's the Wii version then I won't lose. I'll meteor smash so you can't come back" She said sinisterly.
"Then let's make a 3-man team."
" The exchange event has the principals of the Tokyo and Kyoto schools each propose a form of competition to be held for an entire day over the course of two days." Panda explained with a shrug. "But that's just how it is on paper"
"Every year, the first day is team battles and the second day is individual battles."
"Shake" Toge said in agreement.
"Individual and team battles?" Nobara mumbled, trying to process what Panda said. What did that mean? Her brown eyes widened. 'Wait...don't tell me...'
"Wait, we're fighting?! Against other jujutsu sorcerers?!" She realized in shock. Maki grinned.
"Yea, it's a jujutsu battle where anything but killing goes" The dark-haired girl said excitedly with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes. She was already itching to battle others to near death. Now that Hiyori wasn't around, there wasn't anyone that she could truly thrillingly fight. Yuta was gone too.
"We'll train you up well so you won't get killed" Panda said.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" He punched the air with his fists in excitement. Nobara's eyes widened and she raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Wait, do you have time for that? I thought we were short on jujutsu sorcerers." She asked. Didn't the upperclassmen have more important things to do than train for a regular old-school event? There was always a shortage of jujutsu sorcerers but the quantity difference between the cursed spirits and sorcerers had greatly increased during the past year with an overwhelming amount of stronger cursed spirits appearing around Japan, especially in Tokyo.
"That's a good question. For now, we are. The glum emotions people harbor from late winter through spring cast an outburst of curses in early summer so that's our busy season." Panda replied.
"Sometimes we're busy all year long but things should be settling down soon" Maki added.
"Huh..."
"So, you'll do it right?" Maki asked.
"You just had a partner die on you, after all." To anyone normal, Maki's words would've been offensive but it only sparked a flame of determination in Megumi and Nobara's hearts. They clenched their fists at the memory of their cheery former classmate.
"Yeah!" Megumi and Nobara replied without hesitation. They weren't going to ever be that weak in the face of a strong foe. There was no way they were going to let something like what happened to Yuji happen again and in order to do that...
"I have to get stronger. I'll do anything to achieve that."
Jujutsu Scroll
Yuta scrunched his eyebrows in concentration while smashing the buttons of his game controller. His eyes stared intently at the television screen where his character was currently trying to dodge all of Maki's attacks. Right now, it wasn't looking so bright for him.
"Okaka" Toge mumbled while watching the intense Super Smash Bros game between Yuta and Maki. Yuta was definitely going to lose at this rate but it wasn't really his fault since he never played Super Smash Bros before unlike Maki. Yuta never had the chance to play video games with friends like all the other kids in school cause he had well...no friends, or any human connection for that matter, until this year.
"You're doing this wrong. Try this combo since you're playing Pikachu" Yuta heard Hiyori murmur before he felt her press against his back. He blushed when she placed her hands atop his to guide him. He tilted his head to the side to see Hiyori, resting her chin on his shoulder, focused on the television screen and his heartbeat quickened from how close she was before he looked back at the screen bashfully. Sure enough, the entire tide of the fight had changed now as Hiyori sent Maki's character falling into the void for the second time.
"Just use an up-throw-down special combo for now since you're still getting used to a game. Like this, see?" Yuta felt Hiyori press down on certain controls over his fingers and tried his best to remember exactly which fingers she pressed down on while watching his Pikachu attack Maki. The heat in his cheeks made no move to cool down, especially considering how he could feel Hiyori's breath against his ear. It sent a delightful shiver up his spine that he tried his best to stifle by focusing his attention on the game.
"You're basically playing for him now" Maki said in annoyance as her character got K.Oed once again by Yuta's Pikachu.
"I'm just trying to teach him the game so there's at least a fair chance" Hiyori replied.
"So you press this button then this button. Maki's pretty bad at defense in this game so use that to your advantage. Don't let her just keep attacking you over and over." Hiyori whispered into his ear so Maki didn't hear.
"Got it?"
"Y-Yea" Yuta replied, voice cracking slightly as he leaned back against Hiyori. Toge and Panda wasted no time snapping photos at different angles of the two first-years.