almost caught up with the recent chapters on quotev, so expect delays/wait times when it does
Having to witness crazy shit and sometimes do some pesky missions since coming to Tokyo, it felt off whenever you sat in class while Gojo tried to lecture. You already knew most of this because it came quickly to you and was a byproduct of studying. You think anyone who didn't know about curses and cursed energy would much rather learn the history behind it rather than the average information they'd newly learned over the years.
That's why it was almost painful to watch Yuji try to focus.
It had been half an hour, and the guy had taken down two strings of words. Two notes.
One read: Early history of cursed techniques.
The second one read: Basic theory of seals
Actually—those might be headings he put down.
You think Kugisaki at least jotted down something in her notebook.
Now he was making a face.
Okay, this dude was not listening anymore.
Right then.
You should ...tune back to what Gojo was saying...
...
....
.....
"...You're taking notes?"
You grunted quietly as Gojo drew some kanji on the board to demonstrate the more common seal types used in modern jujutsu. You remember that from the last class, so you didn't need to write it down.
"Yeah," you whispered back to Megumi, scooting a little forward to reach your desk better.
Megumi stared for a few more seconds, no doubt confused, but turned his attention back to Gojo going on a tangent about one of his past missions.
It was too painful to watch Yuji not get any of this, so you'd have to help him out in the end. You remember struggling in your old school to secure a spot in the top 50. Sorcery just came naturally to you, so it wouldn't cost you much to write down some notes to pass on to him later.
Before you knew it, you were a little more than two pages, front and back, of notes when Gojo decided to end class. His lectures weren't like typical ones you would have with professors back home, and they weren't very long either. He was more of a practical teacher, in a sense. Now that you thought about it, the whole school was like that. Most of the time, you just had training or got assigned missions.
Your first mission was with Megumi, and only recently had you started to go on solo missions once Gojo deemed you prepared enough. And you thought you would have done another solo mission, but...
"—And [Name] with Nobara."
Kugisaki glanced at you, a hand on her hip and waiting for further instruction from Gojo.
You hoped she didn't tear into you once you were off.
"...So, the assignment is just to eliminate the curses from the area?" You reiterated, mumbling. "Simple enough."
"Mhm," Gojo hummed back, smiling. "And you can report back once you're done. So which location do you want to go to?"
You thought for a few seconds, about to turn to look at Kugisaki for her opinion before she declared your pick.
"We'll take the hotel."
"Alright."
You weren't upset by her choice, sort of indifferent to it. A job was a job, and it's not like you could pick the ones you wanted to do at almost any time.
But you didn't think she'd pick the infamous murder and crime hot spot.
"What?" Yuji whined. "But I wanted to go there!"
Kugisaki crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and turned slightly away from him. "Well, you gotta be faster then! I already staked the hotel as ours."
"Let's trade! C'mon!"
"Nope!"
You reached into your pocket and tugged out your pack of cigarettes, checking how many were still left. Last time you had used one or two on that mission, at the dorms, you usually just lit incense...
"You smoke?"
You closed the paper pack and stuffed it in your pocket again, muttering. "No."
There was confusion on Kugisaki's face, but she couldn't follow up with another question or comment as you bid goodbye to the other three men and led the way to the hotel. Gojo's directions were good enough to get to your location with it. It was in the Tokyo city area, a ward where love hotels and other less raunchy places to rest populated the streets.
Kugisaki was still new to city life, so she would leave it to you to get the two of you there.
"You don't waste time, do you?" She asked as the two of you waited for the train to arrive at the terminal.
You popped open the buttons of your haori, leaving it in its more natural-looking state.
"I have stuff to do later," you said, picturing the tantō you received yesterday sitting underneath your desk and your notes from earlier sitting on the actual surface of it. "I promise I'm not this anxious to go on missions like Fushiguro."
Well, that was a back-handed compliment. You were glad he wasn't there with you; otherwise, he would have given you a face. But it was true; the guy oddly loved to exercise curses whenever he could.
"Is that so..." she mumbled, regarding you quickly out of the corner of her eye but said nothing more.
The train ride to your location wasn't far, only about twenty minutes away, with a transfer to another line. You had gone near the peak of rush hour, so it was cramped in the train cars. You were a little worried that some weird pervert would do something to Kugisaki, so you asked her to wedge herself in front of you so you could stand closer to the pool of men on one side of the car.
"You didn't need to do that," she had said when you finally reached the outside of the station. "I could have dealt with the person if it happened."
You were quiet for a bit but then spoke up.
"You shouldn't need to deal with it. I didn't want you to experience something like that, so it was better to prevent it altogether."
She strangely went quiet after, up until you were looking around for the right building to stroll upon.
"Do you have a girlfriend, [Name]?"
"No," you mumbled. "Why?"
She hummed, intrigued by your answer. "You just seemed to give off the impression that you did. Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No." You glanced at her, wondering why she was asking these questions now. "I've never dated anyone."
"Never?"
"Never."
"I think I got the wrong impression of you," she said, looking away at the cars passing on the street. "Good to know."
You refrained from the need to blink and frown.
"What was...your initial impression of me?"
"A pushy try-hard."
"You're kidding...?"
"Then I thought you were a sad heartthrob like Fushiguro."
"Okay, I think I've heard enough. Don't tell me anymore."
==
The school had been contracted to help clear a curse terrorizing the hotel. Apparently, that specific curse had taken out the rest of the weaker ones that plagued the murder hotel and had taken residence there. It drove away what little business the place had and led to it going out of business. It was eventually bought to be turned into apartments, but the company revamping the area needed the cursed spirit taken care of.
Usually, a job like this would be doable enough for you alone, but Gojo probably thought it was better to go as pairs to dispel curses today.
"You've made it."
You quickly recognized the familiar bespectacled man waiting with a few others at the hotel. Kugisaki wasn't familiar with him, so it was your job to lead formalities.
"Good afternoon, Ijichi-san," you greeted, bowing your head slightly.
He smiled, having warmed up to you the past couple of months. "Good to see you doing well. I'm...sorry about the other day. I would have picked you up if I wasn't so busy..."
You raised a hand in dismissal, "Please don't worry about it. I made it home alright. I understand that your time is limited for availability."
His dark eyes drifted a little way to land on Kugisaki, who stuck close but not enough to be next to you.
"Ah, you must be the new student," he said, bowing toward Kugisaki. "Gojo-san informed me that you would be arriving this week. Nice to meet you. I'm the assistant director at the Tokyo Metropolitan Technical College."
Kugisaki bowed slightly in response, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kugisaki Nobara. Please take care of me."
Seeing her be respectful shouldn't be so much of a shock. Guess the two of you were assuming things about each other then.
"Gojo-san assigned me to keep watch of you on your assignment," Ijichi explained, glancing back at some other sorcerers who had taped up the area near the building. Even from here, you could feel the cursed energy from whatever prowled in that infamous murder hotel. "It has been confirmed there is one main curse inside the building, but there are possibilities that minor curses have survived in there. The client has informed me that numerous accidents have occurred inside the hotel. More specifically, to male and female pairs."
You nodded at the information while Kugisaki asked, "What's our time limit?"
"Preferably, an hour, but there's some room for extra time. However, if you haven't emerged in an hour and a half, I will assume you need assistance or..."
Yeah, there wasn't a need to finish that sentence. The two of you understood what he meant.
You sized up the multi-floor hotel, annoyed by how despite not having any sentience, it seemed to almost look down on you in return.
"We'll be starting our assignment now, then. And we'll make sure to finish on time."
"Good luck to you both."
"Thanks."
The two of you made your way to the hotel entrance, and soon after, a barrier went up behind you. Kugisaki quickly eyed it, giving you the impression that she hadn't seen too many of those before while you took the lead.
The hotel felt more evil stepping inside than when you stood out its doors. The actual interior of the place was ordinary, your average lobby and front desk, but the air practically thickened upon entry.
You grunted quietly in response, brows furrowing while you looked around, and Kugisaki made sure to shut the door behind the two of you. While a cursed spirit could easily break through it, it was better than leaving the doors wide open for it to escape.
"It reeks," you muttered.
Kugisaki walked up beside you, sniffing the air. "Hm? I mean—it doesn't smell that bad. This place could make do with some fragrance sprays or plug-ins, though."
You frowned, spotting the elevator and the short hall next to it.
"That's not what I was talking about..." you mumbled, unsure if she heard you before you picked to make a quick sweep of the first floor.
Kugisaki chose to probe near the reception desk while you checked the hall, finding that the deeper you went, the thicker the residual energy leaked down from the ceiling. So then, the final boss was a few floors up. What a cliché it'd be if it were waiting for you at the top.
You headed back to the lobby where Kugisaki was waiting for you, hammer in hand and propped on her hip. "Took you long enough."
Her comment didn't faze you as you reached the elevator. You pushed the 'up' arrow button and waited quietly for the car to reach you. There was a light chime when the doors opened, and Kugisaki stepped in first and positioned herself to be on the right while you filled in the left. The button panel in this car was on her side, so you prompted her to press one with, "Take your pick."
After a few seconds, she hummed and pressed the third level button. There were seven floors in the building, and given the hotel's thin yet stout architecture, there were only a few rooms on each floor.
As the elevator whirred and hummed, its mechanisms taking you up higher in the car, you reached for your pockets and pulled out your box of cigarettes. You could see Kugisaki's amber eyes spectate your movements as you opened the box and nudged out a cigarette just as you reached your intended floor.
She exited first, and then you followed with an unlit cigarette between your teeth and lips.
"I assume that those involve part of your cursed technique," Kugisaki said after the two of you walked leisurely yet cautiously through the hall. "Since you've said you don't smoke."
You gave a short hum, flicking your lighter open after fishing it out and putting your cigarette box back in your pockets.
"Yeah," you mumbled between your cigarette, "Don't need the actual cigarette to work, but it helps, and it's convenient."
You pressed down on the ignition wheel, and a flame sparked at the center of the lighter. Having done that, you then lit the cigarette until the end caught the flame and burned dark, pulling away when it began to catch smoke, and you gave a shallow inhale, only letting the smoke swish in your mouth before puffing it out.
The smoke billowed out of the cigarette before darkening into a heavy grey and black. Then Famine manifested.
"Hey, girl," you greeted, hoping to butter her up to cooperate around Kugisaki. "I got a job I need you to do. Sniff them out for me, please."
She gave a small chuff before turning to Kugisaki, who looked curiously at her.
"I promise you can have your fair share after Conquest is done," you told her, crouching to pet back her fur on her head, "Just help me out."
Famine made a sound akin to a hum as if she pondered the offer, and you wondered if your proposal was enticing enough. You could have just brought out Conquest for the mission, but Famine was a better tracker than Conquest due to her given nature.
An ellipse of a few more seconds, she huffed, fluffing her tails before elegantly leading ahead.
Once she was a few meters away, sniffing around, Kugisaki mumbled to you. "Is that your shikigami?"
You nodded, following Famine. "Yeah, one of them."
Kugisaki caught up with you, eyes on Famine, leading you deeper into the hall.
"How many do you have?"
"Yipp!"
The two of you looked at the door that Famine barked at. You were about to give her direction before her tails elongated and broke through the door, splintering through it, making you shield your face.
"Famine!" You chastised, seeing her run into the room. "Damn, you...you couldn't wait a few more minutes?!"
You rushed into the room but found that the shikigami had already made quick work of the weaker curses she had sniffed out. Poor things, you felt sympathy for them. She was the ravenous one of the bunch.
As you watched as Famine ate the last remains of the curses, you could practically feel the grimace Kugisaki made as she reached the door to see the final moments.
"Sorry," you apologized to the light-haired brunette, "She sometimes gets ravenous and can't wait."
She glanced at you, "That explains the name, yeah."
You grunted and caught the attention of the fox spirit, making her peek back innocently.
"You can't keep doing this out of the blue," you chastised, seeing her look away quickly.
You felt like you dealt with a toddler sometimes.
"Now, since you've indulged yourself with some...appetizers," you muttered. "Can you tell us where the biggest one is?"
She licked her lips of the curses' blood, humming to herself as if proud of her work, and then catwalked out while sniffing the air.
"What a diva," Kugisaki remarked.
"Tell me about it," you grumbled.
"But I kinda like her for it."
That wasn't all surprising to hear from Kugisaki.
Famine led you back to the hall, sitting down and giving a few more sniffs before she craned her head to look back at you.
She barked six times.
You had called the cliché.
"The top floor..." you mumbled, and Kugisaki looked up at the ceiling. "So, we need to go all the way there... Any more weaker curses?"
Famine wrapped a tail around her neck loosely and barked three times.
Third floor. Alright, that made sense. The minor curses didn't want to get too close to the bigger one.
"Got it," you tapped some ashes from the cigarette onto your hand before tossing it to Famine so she could swallow it up. "You can go now. I'll call you out to eat later...although I shouldn't reward you..."
Famine disgruntledly yipped before she puffed into a plume of grey smoke. You glanced at Kugisaki and then up at the ceiling. Well, now, with hindsight, you could tell the curse was at the very top.
"You could have at least let me pet her," Kugisaki sighed, dismayed that you had gotten rid of Famine so soon. "She looked so cute and fluffy."
You grimaced, "I...don't think she'd let you. Famine doesn't really get along with anyone, be it humans or curses." You were lucky she liked Conquest. Otherwise, it'd make it much harder for you to summon the two out simultaneously.
"What? No way. I'm sure she would have let me!"
"I doubt that."
"Just because she might not like everyone else doesn't mean she wouldn't like me. She didn't make a fuss about me being here."
"Kugisaki..."
You gave up on trying to convince her otherwise, instead focusing your energy on trying to sense the weaker curses. Given how fast Famine took care of some of them, they couldn't be hard to exorcise.
When the two of you reached the next floor, you spread out to eliminate the minor curses. It was almost pitiful how they scurried when you found them hiding around furniture. You didn't even need Conquest to help either, having him sit and stand guard at the door in case one of them tried to flee.
You could hear Kugisaki shouting from a few rooms down, thinking she needed help, but deadpanned when you heard her yelling about how gross the curtains and bed of her room were.
"How can anyone stay in this dump?! You couldn't pay me to get near here!"
It was probably a bad idea to tell her about the pack of condoms you found then. You think this place used to be a love hotel. She would freak out if she knew what some of those questionable stains might be.
You moved away from the room and back into the hall, petting Conquest absentmindedly until Kugisaki emerged from her room, disgust on her face.
"It's going to take more than an exorcism to save this place," she remarked, turning over to spot you, hammer in hand.
Right, that was her cursed tool. You wondered how she used it.
"A dog!"
You knew Megumi must be feeling a disturbance in the force.
"Actually..." you mumbled, watching her make a beeline for Conquest, "He's, uh..."
"You're big!" she grinned, reaching to pet him, which the shikigami let her do, seeming to enjoy the attention. "And so soft! Ah, you have blue highlights at the ends of your fur!" That was actually his mane she was petting, but you don't think she'd listen to you at that moment. "You look like a plush!"
Conquest began to pant like a literal dog, eyes closing out in delight at the scratching and praise you deadpanned at.
And here you were about to correct Kugisaki too...
"Does he have a name?" She asked.
You sighed. "Yeah... It's Conquest."
"Huh?" She peered up, halfway between snuggling her face into your shikigami's neck, who was now wagging his tail insistently, "So it's a whole motif then? Famine, Conquest...you got the other two to complete the set?"
You said nothing because she filleted, grilled, and served you up so easily.
"...And what of it."
Nice one, genius. God, you wished you could phase into the walls sometimes.
"Nothing," Kugisaki hummed, scratching Conquest behind the ear, "It actually suits him. He looks like a Conquest. Right, boy?"
This girl was about to steal away your feline hybrid.
"Okay," you sighed again, reaching over to place a hand on Conquest's big head, "Enough. I know you two are enjoying yourselves here, but we have a job. The last curse is up at the top floor, so we need to make sure we approach with caution and be on alert. It can easily decide to descend floors. It won't care to adhere to any rules."
Kugisaki mumbled something to Conquest before removing herself from him and walking to the elevator.
You glanced at a content Conquest, deadpanning. "What color do you want your collar to be?"
He didn't seem amused by your joke, huffing.
You rolled your eyes, muttering, and followed after Kugisaki. Conquest shortly tagged along, and then you rode the car up to the top floor again.
It was silent, save for the mechanical whirs and hum of the elevator lift. The three of you understood it would not be the brightest to mess around with this curse nearby. Every centimeter closer to your destination gave you a better estimate of the curse's strength. Two sorcerers should be enough to take care of that thing.
"Oi, Kugisaki," you muttered.
"Yeah?" she muttered back.
The elevator slowed to a stop.
"Ijichi-san said that the curse attacked couples, right?"
She gave you a dubious look. "Ha? What are you trying to imply? You're asking me this now?"
The doors opened and chimed.
"I don't mean anything by that, but—the curse might not be able to tell apa—"
"AUUGHH!"
Had you not been already on guard, you would not have had time to move out of the way of the cushioned chair quickly, flung right at the seam where you and Kugisaki once stood.
"I HATE! HATE, HATE, HATE!"
You grunted, spotting the curse at the end of the hall.
It was big, a hulking mass of grey muscle with many eyes and mouths all over its body, each pair of lips stained a bright-blood red and set with two rows of jagged, sharp teeth. It had a mane of long black hair cut in a very choppy fashion, some areas longer than others, while parts were short and haphazardly cut in odd angles. On its sunken-in-like face was a row of four eyes, each one of the four colored eyes that it had on its body. The many sets of eyes were four colors: deep brown, black, red, or green. While not naked, it bared on a tattered gown that was stained with an assortment of reds, browns, and black. Curses didn't adhere to having human anatomy, but this one looked to share a mix of both a male and female build. It stood bipedal and taller than either you or Kugisaki, barely able to stand straight in the hall, given its stature. If you had to guess, it might be around two-hundred centimeters. Gojo was maybe one-eighty-eight or close to that, so this thing put him to shame.
Any average person would do the sensible thing of absolutely getting away from that thing. But unfortunately, the two of you were shamans and had to deal with it. You weren't afraid of it but were sure as hell wouldn't beg to look at it at any time of day. Maybe some of the Dark Souls or Resident Evil animators could see curses. Curses like these were good references for their creatures and monsters.
"It doesn't look so happy about seeing us," Kugisaki quickly took out a handful of nails from her pouch while Conquest pounced in front of you with a loud growl and bark.
You sighed heavily and quickly opened your haori for better movement.
"And I doubt it's happy about seeing us specifically," you stated.
"The hotel mission may be a little trickier depending on which of you gets it! So, keep that in mind."
"...numerous cases of accidents have been occurring inside the hotel. More specifically, to male and female pairs."
Uh-oh, well, you hoped that the hotel owner would have the funds to repair this place once this was all said and done.
"Conquest!" You called him to attention. "Zap it!"
He did so without a moment's notice, charging up a sizable amount of lightning, which you could feel by proxy through the close proximity to him and the air. Kugisaki didn't bat an eye at this or the numb, static-like tingle she must be feeling on her skin and tongue.
It takes only a few seconds for Conquest to charge up, so he had built up enough lightning to direct at the giant curse and gave you and Kugisaki enough time to run out of the elevator. It was a terrible idea to fight in a confined space, where it could get you two cornered in the literal sense. While the hall wasn't much wider, there was still more room. You could move and dodge more freely in the hall than in a cramped elevator car.
The lighting traveled faster than either you or Kugisaki did, which was expected. That gave you enough time to reach the curse while it was busy dealing with the dark lightning.
"You go short, and I go long!" You shouted to Kugisaki, sprinting to get closer to it. She stopped midway in the hall, barking back a "Got it!" while you gathered enough cursed energy to coat you, converging most of it towards your fist.
The curse was barely affected by Conquest's lightning, which you didn't think would do much to it in the first place other than serve as a distraction. It had taken the shock like a champ and became upset when it saw how close you had approached it.
"UGHH!" It cried out, all its eyes snapping to look at you, pushed off the ground to gather more momentum behind your punch. "I HATE MEN! GET AWAY!"
You couldn't even react to its comment, as much to your chagrin, it seemed to sprout an extra arm, more toned and reminiscent of a woman's arm, from its side and grab you by the leg. There was hardly time to react to the sudden surprise, much less formulate a way out. The only thing you could do was swear as it pulled you back; the half-burned cigarette in between your teeth snapped clean and prepared with only a given second before it flung you down into the ground.
While having suffered only minimal damage thanks partly to your coat of cursed energy, you were stunned momentarily among the rubble a floor below. You had landed on the wooden shelves containing several risqué magazines, given by one of the open magazines that fell beside your awkwardly angled legs.
Kugisaki was right. This place was a cesspool, even without the curses.
"UGLY WITCH! I HOPE YOU DIE!"
Oh, she wasn't going to like that.
"What did you just call me?!"
You might have to hurry up out of this mess to come to the rescue of the curse rather than Kugisaki. With a big grunt, you pulled out your arm from the crushed cubicle of the wooden shelf before hauling the rest of your body out.
Conquest was a reliable shikigami and needed minimal direction when you got out of his sight. He could analyze the situation quickly and provide cover for Kugisaki above.
You pondered on your blunder as you pulled yourself out from the wreckage. You'd admit you didn't think it'd have an extra arm pop out like that. Now it left the question, would it have another to complete the set?
It didn't attack you with anything and waited for you to attack it first. It also only just grew its arm and flung you into the floor. It must only be able to attack with its body physically.
You spat out the remains of your cigarette, having nearly swallowed it when you were thrown down and crashed through the floor—shit, you had terrible luck. You'd have to light up another one.
"[Name]! Get your ass up here!"
Hurriedly, you pulled out a new cigarette from your box and shoved it between your teeth, starting to climb up the pile of debris in the room.
"I need a light, Conquest!" You shouted once you reached the top floor again. Conquest zapped a tiny stream of lightning, hitting the butt of your cigarette dead-on and effectively lighting the rolled-up tea and flowers.
Kugisaki spared you a brief glance back before launching a nail at the curse. You watched with equal parts disappointment and annoyance as the nail lodged itself in its body, but then, reminiscent of a child spitting out their least favorite vegetables, ejected the nail, the object falling with a clatter.
"YOU SHOULD JUST DIE! I HATE YOU!" The spirit shrieked after. "I HATE YOU! I HATE SEEING YOU! DON'T BE HAPPY! DIE, AND DON'T BE HAPPY!"
Hold on a minute...this thing just gave you an idea of how to exorcise it. You'd have to put your theory to the test.
With a small sigh, you gathered your voice and called out to Kugisaki.
"My...."
You couldn't believe you were going to do this.
"My...love! Get away from it! You'll get hurt!"
And in comical fashion, Kugisaki and the curse snapped their eyes in disbelief at what you had just said.
"Hah?" Kugisaki grimaced.
Oh, come on...you couldn't be that bad, right?
Whatever—you weren't vying for her attention as you were the curse. Hopefully, it took the bait.
"'M GONNA TEAR YOUR HEAD OFF!"
Well, that answered that.
Wide-eyed that the curse began to sprint towards you, now completely blocking out Kugisaki, you hastily looked around and decided to bust through the wall to outside.
"Kugisaki—the eyes!" you belted before crashing through the wall.
The school would not be happy about your messy work, but you'd pushed that worry into the corner where the least of your concerns were.
You had forgotten how high up you were, having to coat yourself in more cursed energy to soften the impact the landing would have on your legs. As soon as you landed, causing a small crater to form from your fall, you dashed away, glancing back to see the curse landed where you had, deepening the hole.
Immediately after, something zoomed into the curse; this time, it was lodging itself in one of its many eyes, causing it to howl out in pain and whirl around, searching for who had harmed it.
Nice shot, Kugisaki.
You took a slight drag from your cigarette and quickly blew it out. The smoke turned a dark black, and soon the outline of a petite vixen formed before out manifested Famine.
"Change of plans, Famine," you quickly told the kitsune, "You're going to help me restrain this curse. We need to let Kugisaki get clear shots of its eyes."
Famine yipped, letting you know she understood, and then multiplied her tails before shooting them toward the spirit, elongating them as tendrils.
The curse growled at the attempt to grab it, swatting them away violently, causing Famine to flinch.
Knowing she couldn't do it all alone, you dropped your cigarette and extinguished it under your shoe. You hyped yourself mentally as you sprinted towards the curse before pushing yourself off the ground and aiming to land on its back. It was gross to feel some of its eyes moving and looking at you up close while you tried to retrain its arms behind it.
The thing was super strong, so it left you with no choice but to use some of your cursed energy to enhance your strength, allowing you to pin its arms back successfully. But while you had two of its arms in check, the third one was free to try and pry you off.
Luckily, Famine got the telepathic memo to take care of that, wrapping her tails around it and using some of them to pull it toward the ground to anchor it. It worked because it had to take a knee but struggled against both of you.
Kugisaki didn't waste any time, launching a few more nails into its abundance of eyes, making the curse holler and cry out. But this plan was taking too long, and aiming for the eye on its body didn't seem to be doing any more harm to it; than when Kugisaki tried to hit it with her nails on any other part of its body.
"LET....ME GO!" the curse boomed, trying to break out of your and Famine's hold.
"I'm going to run out of nails at this rate!" Kugisaki shouted from the hole you created on the top floor.
You gritted your teeth, tightening your hold on the curse as it tried to buck you away from itself.
"Try...something else then!" You nearly avoided your hands being impaled by the spirit's sharp nails. "A new...angle!"
This curse was becoming a nuisance at this point. If the two of you couldn't figure out a way to exorcise it yourself, you might even let the meathead have a go at this thing. Then it'd learn better to terrorize hotel guests before it was disposed of.
Kugisaki appeared to take a few seconds to think up a new approach and then turned to look at Conquest, who had been idle this whole time beside her.
You could see the shikigami listening before huffing and bouncing off the building.
Whatever these two had in mind, it better be fast.
"I HATE YOU! LET ME GO! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"Shut up!" You couldn't help but yell at it. "You aren't going to do anything!"
It only retaliated a few reiterations of its threats, spewing more hateful rhetoric about you and Kugisaki until Conquest made it over to you and the spirit.
He promptly leaped over you both to grab a mouthful of its hair and pull its head forcefully down that you nearly thought he had decapitated it.
"Perfect, Conquest! Just like that!" Kugisaki praised, grinning at his work before closing an eye and aiming a nail toward the three of you. You didn't doubt Kugisaki's aim, but you sincerely hoped she was a crack shot and didn't clip you intending for her technique to hit the curse.
She slammed her hammer into the head of the nail, sending it flying at the curse, more specifically, at one of the eyes on its face.
It was like the heavens opened on a dark and cloudy day, revealing that the way to exorcise it was through the four eyes on its visage.
"STOP!" The curse roared, nearly deafening you.
"Like hell I am!" Kugisaki responded in turn, launching two more nails into its eyes.
It was a mix of the curse struggling even more desperate to escape and its strength waning, all while its body slowly crumbled away.
Kugisaki delivered the final blow to it with one last nail and finished the job. You didn't have to hold on to the curse anymore as it moaned in despair at its end, crumbling away into nothing.
You coughed and waved away some of its remains, Conquest sneezing loudly at the dust it had evaporated into. Well, there went the feed for your shikigami.
"Finally!" Kugisaki cried out, relieved once the cursed spirit was gone. "I thought we'd never get rid of the damn thing!"
With a sigh, you dusted off yourself and Conquest before looking up at Kugisaki.
"We're done, so you can come down now! I'll be waiting for you at the doors to the front entrance!"
"Will do!"
You looked around at the damage you had inadvertently caused, sighing and shaking your head before you began walking. Famine and Conquest followed, with the smaller shikigami hopping on his back.
"Sorry, you two," you said, absentmindedly petting both when Conquest brushed your leg walking beside you. "No meal this time, but I'll see if I can get you another reward instead."
Conquest gave a tiny sneeze but didn't sound upset, and Famine surprisingly took the news well too. You figured that since she already ate those weaker curses, she was more content with not having anything afterward.
You dismissed them after giving them some small praise, leaving you to walk to the entrance alone. The barrier was still up, so you really had no way of telling how long it had been, leaving you to pull out your phone and check. Three twenty-three...not bad. The two of you had entered the building at around a little past two o'clock.
By the time you had stepped near the hotel's stairs, Kugisaki had walked out the doors, brushing her hair back off any strays.
"You could have warned me that you were going to do that," she said.
You stood idle for a few seconds, letting her get to ground level before you walked towards the group of sorcerers that would be near the hotel. You would have to undo the veil first.
"Do you mean the part where I made us out to be lovers or the breaking through the wall to reach the outside part?" You asked as you touched the barrier before dispelling it to keep walking.
She seemed slightly deadpan, "Both now that you mention it."
You frowned, "Sorry, it was the best idea I had in the spur of the moment. I don't normally work with other sorcerers...I've been mostly doing solo missions. Gojo used to supervise, but he'd just let me do my thing."
She sighed, "No, it's alright. I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. It's not like there's anything between us. This whole assignment was just one big hassle. We could have gotten more warning that the damn curse was hostile towards pretty girls like me."
You thought the curse was more aggressive towards you, but you weren't about to say that out loud. Best not to get on her bad side after all that work.
"I worked up a bit of an appetite," you said as you neared the older sorcerers. "Want to grab something on the way back to campus?"
Kugisaki hummed, closing her eyes and placing a finger underneath her lip in thought. "I do, actually...but what am I in the mood for...?"
You let her think about it for a bit while you thanked Ijichi for his work on erecting the barrier, and apologized, bow and all, for the damage you left behind at the hotel. He waved it off, although you knew part of him dreaded the coming explanation to the owner.
When that was said and done, you and Kugisaki headed for the station, with you knocking out instantly after what you had surmounted at the hotel. Kugisaki woke you up when the train pulled to Tokyo station, as you had to rouse yourself up and walk back on the streets.
"I've decided," she declared as you made your way through the street full of restaurants and shops, "I want bubble tea and bún chả!"
"I'm fine with that so long as I can get a copy of Shonen Jump," you yawned, stifling your mouth with your hand.
"Now to find a Vietnamese restaurant nearby..." Kugisaki pulled out her phone to Google a location while you searched for a konbini.
It took you both less than three minutes to complete your respective tasks, so you headed for the small Vietnamese place she found. It was only a couple minutes of a walk and Kugisaki you ordered, with you asking the cashier for four extra orders. She seemed surprised that you were apathetic to pulling out your wallet and forking out a substantial amount of cash, knowing that you had ordered some food for the others.
"I just don't want anyone to be stealing my food," you told her when she inquired about the extra food.
The wait would be a little while, so you told her to wait for your order, telling her you'd meet her outside the restaurant after acquiring your orders of boba.
She asked for a strawberry matcha and then made sure to hammer that she wanted it with soy rather than whole milk, and you assured her that you'd remember.
You made a mental note of what flavors Megumi and Yuji would like as you walked to a tea shop you passed on your way here, glancing up at the sky and sighing a little to yourself. At least you were done for the day after this.
====
"Finally! You two made it back!"
You couldn't help but feel twenty years older at hearing Gojo's greeting, hoping he wouldn't bother you too much as you were tired from the mission, food gathering, and the trip back.
"Yeah..." you muttered, setting most of the bags on your arms down.
Kugisaki set a small bag of her own and the cup-holder tray with everyone's drinks.
"And you brought back food!" Yuji could be heard running towards the three of you before you saw his familiar toothy grin. "Awesome! And boba too!"
"I'm never being considerate again," you sighed, taking a moment to mourn your empty wallet. "I'm broke now."
Gojo placed a hand on your shoulder reassuringly, "Aw, don't worry, Poyo! Your great sensei will cover the costs! Just let me know how much everything was."
"Wait!" Kugisaki cried out, hurriedly marching up to the tall man. "Then cover my costs too! I bought my own food!"
"Alright—alright," Gojo yielded.
"Fwuah! Strawberry matcha!" Yuji cheered, holding the strawberry matcha milk tea Kugisaki requested.
"Hey–that one's mine!"
"What's all the shouting for..."
"Fushiguro, this one's yours."
"Thank you..."
"Is this one for me? You really shouldn't have, Poyo!"
"Then let me take it back. I'll drink it all right now in front of you."
"Thank you for the drink, [Name]. It's nice of you to include your teacher."
The five of you sat in one of the break rooms, eating your meals and drinking your select beverages. Even though these past few days showed that it'd be rowdy from here on out, you think it was better that way.