Art by めざ/Meza on Pixiv
————————————————————
The battles were coming to an end as more and more curses were exorcized by sorcerers, clearing out the shrine gates and roads of the Fushimi ward.
You and Todo-senpai were watching over a certain part of the city, exorcizing minor stray curses.
But one thing refused to go down.
Its presence was masked by all the Grade 1's and hundreds of other curses. But now... you'd be a fool not to notice it.
A Special Grade.
Its body was covered in cuts, slashes, and stab wounds. Reeking of iron, it raised its hand to summon blades of many shapes and sizes. These blades of pure cursed energy sliced through everything in its path; relentlessly slicing at both of you.
You weren't able to do anything. You tried to move, help Todo-senpai, anything.
But you couldn't. For a second time, you were left helpless by your own fear.
"Yoshimori! Get it together!" Todo-senpai's voice.
You can't.
You were back at the museum again.
Alone with the same sight of Kinuko's death. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. You didn't care what was happening to you.
Kinuko needs help right now!
"WAIT! DON'T MOVE!" Your mouth uttered for what felt like the thousandth time. Your heart was still beating fast, and you stood there motionless.
It was disgusting.
You just want to leave. You don't want this. You never did.
You felt a slight pain in your foot. Was that from the cursed spirit? You don't know.
What do you do? You got this nagging feeling that you have to save her. You have to.
But why? You don't remember. How would you even save her? You can't move, remember?
"You know, [Y/N]-kun," Kinuko's head spoke. It was dangling by a stretch of skin, stooping near the floor. "I think my parents are really cool."
"Stop..."
"I don't really know myself..." She bent down to you, "I guess it has something to do with the whole "breaking free from the cycle" thing."
"Stop... talking—!"
"Yup!" She laughed, "anyway, um, I have some good and some bad news."
"SHUT UP!! I KNOW THIS ISN'T REAL! THIS IS ALL IN MY HEAD!!" You started breathing rapidly. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!?"
"I HATE BEING WORTHLESS!" Your mind flashed to Miwa. "Do... Do you have any—any idea how I passed out when my friend was in danger!?"
"Do you have any idea how I've almost died for nothing?!" Your mind flashed to Mechamaru. "I wasn't fast enough! I wasn't strong enough!"
"I put my classmates in bigger danger than any friend should!" The Tengu incident. "People keep telling me how I resemble a criminal!"
"They're better off without me..." Iori-sensei... Principal Gakuganji... "I thought I've gotten stronger. That I've gotten better... But because of you..."
You looked up to see Kinuko still standing there motionless. It seems she's stopped for now.
"BECAUSE OF YOU, I—!!"
You lowered your hand.
...
"Ehe. I guess that's true." She shuffled towards a display stand.
Looks like there wasn't a point to that rant, after all.
"I just hope more people can turn out as lucky as I am."
...
Lucky..?
"Lucky, huh?"
You thought about it. There was a struggle, but you managed to remember some of them.
"Kinuko, did you know? About Higuchi-kun and Kaname-san? I said curses only appear around things people don't like, and Kaname said something like, "so... Higuchi-kun?" You laughed. "I wonder how they're doing right now."
"And when Iori-sensei invited me to join Jujutsu Tech, she forgot I had parents waiting for me at home. Do the students here just... not have parents?"
"Oh, and when I passed out because of you, Miwa bought me coffee. She's the nicest girl in the entire school. I... I like her a lot. She's also poor, just like you."
"And Mechamaru, that chuunibyou. He's still as edgy as he was when I first got here."
You thought to Mai and cringed, "Mai... she's just cold. But she's not all bad. Maybe just a little bit." Your breathing started to stabilize.
"You know, I had a pretty good time at Jujutsu Tech. I managed to keep you down and suppress my fears, for the most part."
"All those bad times... Your death, the danger I live in now, leaving my family and friends behind. I can't say I was as lucky as you could've hoped." You scratched your head.
"But I can't say I was unlucky, either."
You felt a sting in your eye.
"[Y/N]—? Are you alright?"
"Yeah..." You wiped it. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"My friends have been helping me deal with it, too. I can handle a knife again. I hate it. Not you, Kinuko, but this... curse. I hate that. But I think I'll be alright, sooner or later."
"Why? Are... you o—BRRF!" She started bleeding from the mouth again.
"I hate you. I might have to live with you haunting me for the rest of my life. At best, I can keep you deep inside me; forget about all of this."
"I can't get rid of you. I never will."
You straightened your back. "But "breaking free from the cycle" needs time anyway, doesn't it?"
"This is your fault..." She groaned, gurgling out spews of blood from the clump on her throat.
"And so I'll take it slow. Whether it takes a year, ten, or a hundred..."
"This is all your fault!" Her voice distorted.
"I'll keep going until I'm just like you: lucky." Mai. Miwa. Mechamaru.
"ALL YOUR FAULT!! ALL YOUR FAULT!!" Kinuko's head morphed into that of the curse's.
"One step at a time." Iori-sensei. Principal Gakuganji.
Reduced to incoherent babbling, the curse lunged at you. You pointed your hand at it and closed your eyes.
Kamo-senpai. Nishimiya-senpai. Todo-senpai.
"これからもよろしくお願いします。"
————————————————————
You opened your eyes to see a giant crater burrowing through hundreds of meters of land in front of you. Todo-senpai was standing beside you, surprised.
"Welcome back."
"What... happened to the curse?"
"See for yourself." He chuckled. "For a second there, it almost looked like Gojo's Purple."
"What?"
"Don't get too cocky, though. You just had that much inside you. It was a big ol' blast of pure cursed energy."
"I don't get it, but..." You felt woozy again. "It's over, right?"
Miwa caught up to you. "Yoshimori, there you a—?!" Her jaw dropped. "What the heck is that?!"
Todo-senpai wiggled his hands and threw them back. "Bwoosh."
"... Seriously? Yoshimori, are you okay?"
"Oh, hey, Miwa. Yeah, I'm fi..." You stumbled.
"Woah!" She caught you, "no, you're not fine at all... I'll take you to Iori-sensei."
"Thanks."
She lugged your arm over her, walking slowly so as to not drag you on debris. You felt the world going darker as you went along.
"Ngh..." Soon after, you fell asleep on Miwa's shoulder.
"Wha—Hey! Hang in there! Don't walk into the light!" She held on tighter.
"Miwa..."
"Hmm?"
"Thank you..."
"Eh? For what?" she glanced at you.
...
"... Hehe. Just be sure to come back to us."