DEVOTED
Chapter one — "The one in a million chance"
A GIRL FOLLOWED behind her friend as they roamed the school's campus, attempting to ignore the humid heat of July. (E/c) eyes scanned over the rugby field, briefly landing on an ugly creature sitting atop a goalpost—six legs held onto the pole while its lipless mouth opened, letting out a ghostly groan which went unheard by most people in its vicinity. Letting a scowl etch itself onto her face, (Y/n) muttered to the raven-haired boy beside her, "A grade 2 curse here? Must be because of that cursed object. Let's keep searching, I'd like to go home."
Taking the lead, she walked up a small flight of stairs, coming across a large crowd. Immediately, she tuned out the chatter, opting to focus on the pink-haired boy in the center. He brought his arm back, winding up his throw, before snapping it forward and releasing the ball. Crashing into a soccer goal, the ball left the metal gravely misshapen. (Y/n) hummed, observing the boy some more as he talked to other students, 'That was without cursed energy... Amazing.'
Fushiguro Megumi nudged the girl beside him, snapping her out of her thoughts, "We've spent too much time watching. Let's search over there—" The words left his brain as a strong presence whizzed past him, causing him to call after the source, "Hey you! Huh?! How the heck is he so fast?!"
"Come on, Fushiguro!" (Y/n) said as she chased after the pink-haired boy, leaving Megumi to try to keep up despite her shorter build.
***
Leaning against a wall inside a hospital, (Y/n) and Megumi waited for the pink-haired boy to finish whatever business he had there, "It's already dark out..."
"Yeah... Don't worry, we only need to do one last thing," Megumi paused his words as he walked closer to the pink-haired boy standing at the counter, "Itadori Yuji, correct? We're from Jujutsu High School. We'd like to talk to you."
The three teenagers walked away from the desk to talk in a more private area. Yuji gave the pair a confused look, "Uh, I'm mourning right now."
"Sorry but there's no time. The cursed object you have is extremely dangerous. Hand it over right away."
(Y/n) pulled out her phone, showing a picture of a small wooden box, "This. Do you have it?"
Upon looking at the image, Yuji spoke up, "Oh yeah! I found it. I don't really mind giving it back, but my fellow club members have taken a liking to it. I'd at least like an explanation."
"Nationally, the average number of unexplained deaths and missing persons exceeds 10,000 annually," (Y/n) frowned at her own words, "The majority are the result of negative energy that flows out of people—the result of a curse."
Seeing Yuji's incredulous look, Megumi took over the conversation, "It doesn't matter if you believe us or not! Anyway... Places where crowds gather, like schools or hospitals, are susceptible to receive that energy. Pain, regret, humiliation... The more people dwell on bad memories, the more those places become receptive to those feelings. For that reason, a cursed object is often found at such places as a talisman. The object you found is such an item."
Still confused, Yuji asked, "A talisman? Isn't that a good thing? How's that dangerous?"
"The more evil placed on an object, the more it deflects other curses. Like using poison to fend off poison. After many years, the seal weakens and the talisman essentially changes form. Then it attracts curses and feeds off them. Compared to other cursed objects, the one placed at your school is extremely dangerous and is categorized as special grade. Now, before anyone dies, hand it over," Megumi says, wishing to get this over as Yuji reaches into his pocket.
"Like I said, I don't care," Yuji tossed the box into Megumi's hands who quickly slides it open, "But you better explain that to my friends."
(Y/n) peers over Megumi's hand, gazing into the empty box, "Itadori-san, where are the contents?" (Y/n) says calmly as she stares at the pink-haired boy.
"The occult research club has it."
Sweat slowly began building on (Y/n)'s skin, "And where do the members live?"
"Not sure. Somewhere over in the Izumi District..." Yuji's voice fades and his face becomes unreadable.
"What's wrong?"
"They mentioned something about peeling off the seal tonight at school. Uh... Is that bad?"
"It's not just bad..." Megumi's eyes widened at the news, slowly backing away.
"They'll die! Show us the way back to the school!" (Y/n) frowns, grabbing Yuji and Megumi before rushing out the door, and shoving the pink-haired boy in front of them.
Upon nearing the school, all three teens felt the strong pressure in the atmosphere. (Y/n) hopped over a fence and rushed into the school, leaving Megumi to chase after her, "Dammit, (L/n)! Itadori, stay here!" Megumi climbed over the fence, ignoring Yuji's stubbornness before following his friend into the school.
Entering the school, Megumi saw a curse with multiple eyes, preparing to summon his Divine Dogs, a figure quickly jumped forward, reeling a fist back. The curse was sucked towards (Y/n)'s fist by an unseen force, absorbing its cursed energy. Upon contact with her fist, the curse was sent backward before disappearing completely, exorcised with its own cursed energy. A smirk grew across (Y/n)'s face, "Ah~ It never gets old."
Megumi summoned his Divine Dogs as he and (Y/n) ran further into the school, eventually coming across a large curse holding the club members. (Y/n) scowled at the sight, "It's trying to swallow the members as well as the cursed object! Crap!" The nearby window shattered, revealing a familiar pink-haired boy jumping in.
"Itadori-san!" (Y/n) yelled as Yuji landed a punch on the curse, causing it to release the club members. Taking the opportunity, Yuji grabbed his friends, jumping off the curse before landing in the hallway entrance beside it.
"This is a curse? It's different than I was expecting..." Yuji said, protectively holding the club members.
"Is it now?" Megumi sent his Divine Dogs forward, allowing them to eat the curse as he and (Y/n) walked towards Yuji, "Normally, I'd be pissed, but good job."
"Why are you acting all high and mighty?! And what are those things eating the curse?"
"Those are my shikigami. You can see them? Normally, you can't see curses. Exceptions being when facing death or in special places like this."
"Ohh... Now that you mention it, I've never seen a ghost before," Yuji said, carrying the unconscious girl in his arms.
"You're not scared, huh?"
"Well, I was... You know, people actually die," Yuji said causing a frown to form on (Y/n)'s face, "So I figured, for the people I know, if they die, then I want them to do so in the best way possible," Yuji looked at the conflicted expression on (Y/n)'s face, "I don't get it either."
Responding with only a hum, (Y/n) watched as Yuji bent over to pick up the cursed object from the floor, still holding the unconscious girl on his shoulder, "This is..."
"Special grade cursed object Ryomen Sukuna... Well, part of it anyway. Thank god it didn't get swallowed." (Y/n) muttered the last part, though it was still heard by Yuji.
"Why would anything swallow it? Is it tasty?"
"Don't be stupid. You'd do it to gain stronger cursed energy. Forget it. It's dangerous. Just hand it over," (Y/n) said before she and Yuji got pushed back by Megumi as the ceiling collapsed.
"Run!"
"Fushiguro!" the duo on the floor yelled out. The smoke and dust cleared, revealing Megumi in the hands of a familiar six-legged curse.
Forming a bird with his hands, Megumi attempted to summon another one of his shikigami, "Nue!" His attempt failed as he was thrown against the wall, causing the Divine Dogs to disappear.
"Dammit!" (Y/n) reels her fist back, preparing to send a powerful punch to that curse, but her posture quickly shifts as the lights in the school flickered. Shielding her face with her arms, she feels herself collide with the hard wall, only to crash right through it. Grabbing Megumi mid-air, she cradles his head before landing on the roof of another building, cushioning his fall, "Are you okay?"
"Ugh... I can't think straight..." (Y/n) shifted her gaze from Megumi to the curse storming towards them. Quickly standing up, she zoomed towards it, dodging one of its hands, only to see Yuji land a hit on it from above.
"Huh?! Itadori?!" (Y/n) punches one of the legs in front of her, absorbing some of its cursed energy before being knocked away when it starts swinging its arms, 'It's trying to get the finger from Itadori... There's too much movement. Dammit! Just run away so I can kill this stupid curse without getting whacked by its stupid arms!'
"Itadori-san, run away! A curse can only be killed by another curse. Let me do this!" (Y/n) runs forward again, only to feel the same impact of the curses arm. She lands straight into Megumi, both teens letting out a groan of pain and surprise, "Damn pink head..."
Yuji, trapped in the curse's hand, looks at the two injured teens behind him then to Sukuna's finger. Throwing the finger into the air, Yuji opens his mouth, "All I need is some cursed energy, right?!"
"Idiot! What are you doing?! You'll die!" (Y/n) and Megumi watch as Yuji swallows the finger, "Oh my god." Yuji breaks free from the curse's grasp, leaving it with two missing hands. Jumping off its face, Yuji lands in front of Megumi and (Y/n) who are shocked to see him still standing.
Their eyes widen as they notice two black lines form on his wrist, "Is Yuji..." Megumi's arms wrap around (Y/n) as the curse hurriedly crawls towards them. Yuji raises his hand and the curse disappears, its blood flying into the sky, "the one in a million chance...?" The clouds move out of the way of the moon, shining a light on the pink-haired figure in front of them. A new set of eyes on Yuji's face open, darting towards the two people on the floor as bone-chilling laughter resonates into the night.