Artist: ピラ/@pilayamato on Twitter
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You stood there in awkward silence, panicking as the reality hit you: you’re going to be spending 4 years away from your family, with strangers, and graduating as someone who kills spirits for a living.
Suddenly, you felt like passing out.
“Phew... I apologize for the delay. My name is Yoshimori [Y/N], and I live—well, lived—in an apartment in... central... Kyoto. You can call me Yoshi—no, not that... Mori, maybe? Nice to meet everyone.”
Shit, shit, shit.
The first to respond was a girl with blue hair. “As in Yoshi from Mario?” She must’ve been the normal one.
The second was robot-man. He stood up and immediately pointed his hand at you, glowing a blazing shade of orange.
“What the—?!” You pulled back and held out your open palm.
“Mechamaru, stop that!” Iori-sensei jumped in to stop him.
Just then, you felt that spiral in your hands again, and saw the energy twist into your fingers. The rest of class looked on in confusion.
"I had a strange feeling when you entered the classroom," he grunted, "don't tell me nobody else noticed it."
"Now that you mention it, there really is a strange aura about you…" the girl with short hair continued. "What's your innate technique?"
"Hey, don't you think it's rude to ask that from a new student?" the other girl shook her head.
"Settle down, you three. Mechamaru, back in your seat." Iori-sensei rubbed her forehead, "just what will I do with you kids… I'm sorry about this, Yoshimori. You can sit next to Miwa."
"It's alright, Iori-sensei." You scanned between the two girls, hoping not to mix up who this "Miwa" is.
"Miwa, huh?" You mumbled, and the girl with blue hair reacted.
ラッキー！
You sat next to her and showed her a polite smile. She seemed to appreciate it, bowing in response.
"Looks like we have another nice kid in here," the other girl huffed.
"It's okay." Miwa whispered, "she's like this at first; she'll warm up to you eventually."
"Really?" You had a hard time believing that, especially… "What about that robot guy? Mechamaru, was it?"
"Ah, yep. He's an actual robot, as far as I know. He's also a little cold, but he's nice once you get to know him."
"Seems like you're the only nice one so far."
"I'll be in your care."
"Likewise." You two shook hands.
"Alright, alright. Now that we've all gotten our first impression of Yoshimori, it's time for you to do the same. Starting from Mai, please."
"Ugh, fine." Mai got up and bowed—though it looked more like she just slouched. "I'm Zenin Mai. Don't call me by "Zenin," or I'll show you how well I shoot my shots~"
Yikes, so that's why she carries a gun. You wondered how she got one barely into high school. Japan is weird.
"Next up is Mechamaru."
"Mechamaru. Ultimate Mechamaru."
Did he seriously just call himself "Ultimate?" A chuunibyou… Well, that explains everything. Nice to meet you too, Mechamaru.
"Mechamaru, please say something else." Iori sighed.
"Nice to meet you."
He went back to sitting down, refusing to even bow.
"Hah… You know what? It's fine. Last but not least is Miwa."
She stood up and kept a surprisingly calm demeanor. "My name is Miwa Kasumi. I'm poor, so I want to make money by being a Jujutsu sorcerer."
Ah. You forgot Jujutsu sorcery is still a job. You suppose Miwa's just trying to get by.
"And that's everyone in the first year class! We now have 4 kids together—you all seem to be livelier already. Oh, and Yoshimori, before I forget…"
She handed you an ID card for Jujutsu High. It seems like they just used your photo from your middle school profile.
What does "Special Grade 1" mean, though?
"There; now that we're all set, let's begin some practical lessons for today. Yoshimori needs to familiarize himself with field work, so we’ll be going on a trip.”
“Try not to hold us back, okay?” Mai stretched.
“I’ll do my best.”
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The 5 of you arrived after taking the train station to Keage Incline up in Sakyo ward, walking to the supposed location of the curse.
Being at the end of August, cherry blossom petals flurried all across the railways like red drops of rain. The repurposed station sat at the bottom of the incline, now a place for visitors to rest their legs.
Miwa’s eyes sparkled, letting a petal fall into her hands while she ran around. Mai mostly kept her cool, but couldn’t help staring at them regardless.
Oddly enough, Mechamaru was the slowest out of all of us, lagging behind even Iori-sensei. He took time looking down on the tracks.
"Sorry about all the questions, but how does all of this work? How are we supposed to kill a curse?"
"Curses can only be killed by cursed energy. It's what Mechamaru used to try and shoot you." Iori-sensei held up her finger.
"If you look hard enough, you can see the aura of my cursed energy right here."
“Hmm. You’re right. So everyone here can shoot lasers?"
"No," she laughed, "this is raw cursed energy. It's just there with no direction; it only exists."
"Then how did Mechamaru turn it into an Ultra Attack Beam?"
“Ultra Attack Beam?” She mumbled, “isn’t that from Ultraman*?”
“Shuwatch.”
You could feel his glare carve into you already.
"That's called a cursed technique. Let's say cursed energy is… free time. You can spend it however you want; even wasting it can be refreshing. But when you use it to focus on one action, it can be really useful. Focusing your cursed energy a certain way is a cursed technique."
"Ah, so it's like using your time to study so you'll get better marks," you sighed, "I still don't really get it yet, though."
"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Iori-sensei smiled.
"I guess you're right." You stopped, "why are we in a place like this, though? I thought curses would live in shadier places."
"Not necessarily. You know how curses are found in places people dislike? That includes how people saw them in the past."
She showed you an old autopsy report with the location being… Sakyo ward, in a waterway where this place was originally built.
“There was a murder here?”
“Yes, and the curse never subsided. That’s why we have to take care of it.”
She held up two fingers and chanted, “Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.”
As soon as she finished, black ooze dripped over the sky, coating everything in darkness. Everyone drew their weapons and searched around; Mai searched the empty train stop and Miwa scouted ahead of the incline.
“Yoshimori, go with Miwa.” Iori-sensei cleared her throat, “and be careful. Now that the curtains are up, curses will start appearing. Call me if things get out of hand.”
“Yes, ma’am!” You were uneasy, but this feeling was nothing compared to the curse in the museum. You caught up with Miwa and got into a fighting stance.
“Uh… are you okay, Yoshimori?"
"Isn't this how you're supposed to fight?"
"No," she stared at you confused, "you're not supposed to hold your leg up like that, right?"
"You think so?"
"Yeah. That’s not how you fight…"
Sometimes you forget that you're probably the only one here with no combat experience. You lowered your foot; maybe the crane style is just a movie thing.
"By the way, I'm just curious, but… how'd you end up in Jujutsu High?" She took her hand off her blade.
"Ah, about that." You tugged on your collar, "Iori-sensei scouted me out. That's all."
It was already brash of you to tell Iori-sensei about your life story, so maybe you'll hold it off for now.
"Don't worry about it too much. After—"
Before she could finish, you pushed her away from the railway and ran with her by the collar.
The rails split in half, forming a gigantic mound filled with water underneath. It gurgled and spewed out water from inside the cracks, decaying anything that it came into contact with.
"Wha—?!" Miwa looked back at you. "What was that!"
"Sorry," you heaved for air. Having a faster reaction time than your body can keep up is a chore.
"Don't be; you saved my life!"
"What kind of curse… is that!?"
She glanced at the creature and quickly made a conclusion.
"It's a Grade 3!"