GLASS SHOES. 0
0-3 LOVE BOMB
EP 31
_ _ _
REPORT
NOVEMBER XX, 2016
Due to the severity of the situation, Gojo Satoru (Special Grade) has been sent to help safely transport the cursed human, Okkotsu Yuta, due to hosting the Special Grade vengeful spirit, Orimoto Rika, "Queen of Curses".
It's autumn. The leaves slowly caramelise and wither the greenery of her school grounds. The wind's gently rake her ears and braids. Her footsteps synchronised with her friends' as they began to discuss about their science projects and complain about tuition they have to power through. All of it is incredibly mundane. She doesn't mind though.
"See you tomorrow, Kinoshita-san!" She only waved towards them in the distance as they turned a corner out of view.
Her phone blared vividly, causing the brunette to stop beside the road as she checked who was calling her. 코죠 사토루.
That's odd, she arched her brow. Why would he call her? Thus she immediately clicked onto the green button and placed the phone at her ear.
>"Hello?"<
/"Rina-chan!"/
/"I'm glad you picked up the phone call"/
>"What's wrong?"<
>"Don't you usually ask my sister if my help is necessary?"<
/"Runa-chan's busy today with her presentation so I'll deal with her later!"/
/"Please make your way back to school okay?"/
/"I'll be picking you up and then we can discuss the details."/
>"Fine."<
The girl trekked back to the school gates and a familiar black sedan greeted her. Immediately, she opened the car door and entered inside. Greeted by the bandaged teacher of her sister, she replied curtly to the two.
"Good afternoon, Gojo-san and Ijichi-san."
"How was school?"
"The kanji's starting to get a bit harder to read but it's alright," noticing the relief in the driver's eyes from the rear-view mirror, her eyes then turned towards the man next to her, with his unbandaged eyes and practically opaque sunglasses. "What's going on today?"
"We've been sent to retrieve a high schooler who managed to gravely injure 4 people due to bullying," Ijichi handed the girl a tablet with information on the issue. In particular, it seems they weren't the first people on this case based on how many pictures and the files of witness statements there were. 'Some Grade 2 sorcerers were already injured--a Grade 1 too,' feeling tense by this even though she didn't recognise any of them.
"Why isn't Yuri-eonni on this case?"
"She's too busy this week."
"Are you assuming I'm the next best person to help?"
"You could say so but it's mostly to keep you safe."
After glossing over the information of the student, Ijichi began to park the car around a two storey apartment complex on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Upon closer inspection or just exiting the car, the entire building was filled to the brim with uneasiness. Cursed energy pooled potently causing her to grasp onto her head and wince at the nauseating aura.
"Marina-sama!" An annoyingly posh voice erupted from thin air in worry, burying her uneasiness instantly. "You mustn't make a ruckus for the suitors to help you!" Cried the being next to her, worried for her only to pause as she looked over towards the man himself held with intrigue.
"Gojo-san," unable to fathom the student's mind behind this, she only watched the tall man continue forward. "Do you remember which door to go to?"
"Yep. Prepare yourself," warning the girl who walked right behind him. "You'll be the main enforcer of cooperation!"
Right. The tablet had accounts that the cursed spirit manifested itself if one was too close to the student. Based on the 3 dudes in the locker, there wasn't a limit to the being's brutality.
"Caspian," she alerted the ragged doll-like frog. "Would you mind summoning the peacekeeper we met last month to help out?"
"Promptly or on cue?"
"On cue."
As they reached closer to the residence of the person they were to retrieve, she could sense the already unbearable atmosphere from behind the door if she wasn't aided by her godfather.
Pressing the doorbell thrice, the two were greeted by the sound of a door chain pulled as a particular baggy eye peered through the small gap.
"Hello, are you perhaps officers?"
The short brunette signalled her godfather as Gojo began to strike the conversation.
"Okkotsu Yuta, I presume?" He remarked. "I've been sent by the JIB to inspect your residence again."
"The JIB?" he muttered reluctantly. "They've already checked my apartment this month. The person last time said there wasn't anything wrong."
'Shit.'
"You mean another inspector? I'm sure they told you that the board planned to make another inspection rather soon," the white-haired man improvised. "Would it be alright if I made a quick check?"
"I'm sorry but I can't allow it."
'Caspian! Where's the Peacekeeper!?' She bit her cheek.
"Is there something wrong? If there is we can schedule another time if that's preferable."
"No... not that," he murmured. "You just don't look like a JIB inspector. You even brought a school girl with you..." which clearly pierced the man's ego.
Comically, Gojo pinched the bridge of his nose, impersonating his overworked junior. "I work part-time as a babysitter and my schedules overlapped today," he sighed. "Sorry for the inconvenience," taking out his company card to show legitimacy.
"My apologies, Marina-sama," the frog whispered to her ear. "The peacekeeper was on guard just past the border. It took some time to relay the message. They'll be here soon."
The student's eye seemed to empathise with his remark, succumbing to the man's ad-lib charm. Immediately, the door was opened wide for the two to enter, which revealed a slightly scrawny and sleep-deprived teen with relatively light bruises on his arms. "Please come in," he murmured, avoiding their figures as the two entered the apartment.
Gojo Satoru's plan for retrieving the boy was rather lax:
Initiate contact with Okkotsu Yuta so they can temporarily neutralise the powerful cursed spirit that was latched onto him and improvise the rest!
Ignore the last part if you want but the man checked most of the rooms with relative ease so she really didn't know how he was gonna do it. She watched as he walked up to the last room and... he struggled to open it?
"Okkotsu-san? Has this door always been like this?" The door knob rattled obnoxiously at his interest. The teen explained the doorknob to be rather... hard to budge with force, slowly walking closer to the door. He pulled onto the doorknob before twisting it into a push forward, revealing an empty room.
Unbeknownst to the poor boy, the white-haired man had crept closer behind him before uttering, "Thank you."
This gesture, had frightened him much to his horror as he froze up as a large bone pale claw surfaced from the door."Don't sTARtLe YuUUTAaa!" the being gnarled towards him, "Rika-chan!"
'Rika-chan'? Confusion filled her nauseated thoughts as a frog sprung towards the baggy shirt-wearing teen, as the clawed fingers of the cursed spirit were 'repelled' if you get what I mean.
"HaaaaAGHh?!"
"Rika-chan, please," He attempted to dissuade the spirit from acts of hostility towards the inspector and the school girl. "They haven't done anything wrong," this didn't work as a first attempt, as claws still slashed and clashed with Gojo's Infinity. "BUT the man..."
"Rika-chan."
"FINE."
Disappearing. This seemed to make the boy's knees weak, as he held onto his chest. 'That's... that's never happened before,' he told himself. Rika-chan's never listens to his words before.
"Who... are you?" Looking up towards the white-haired man. "How did you.."
The man only pointed towards the girl he was babysitting beside him before crouching down to his level. "I know you may not believe it but the government thinks you're dangerous because of 'Rika', would you mind following us?" Promptly handing over an envelope mockup he made. "We've already notified your parents about where you'll be, you don't need to worry."
Numbed by this confrontation, he simply hummed in agreement. Following the two into the black sedan before being flicked unconscious in the backseat.
Rina began wondering a few things as they silently drove back to the entrance of Jujutsu High. She was only dragged along because The Peacekeeper, who was still latched onto the sleeping teen, had the ability to decrease the chances of violent behaviour within humans or cursed spirits. The two adults only explained why they were retrieving him. He was dangerous. That alone should be enough of a reason to do so. But it felt rather impromptu. Her inclusion in particular. Plus it's not like Jujutsu High's Campus allows strangers and specifically cursed humans to roam around freely. That was just plain risky.
"So," she began; "where's he going?"
A long pause occurred by Gojo as Ijichi only gazed knowingly from the mirror. The casual man propped up his hand against the window before staring out the window rather glum.
"We're taking him to the containment facility."
_ _ _
Months pass by with this knowledge, and she feels sort of guilty. "I wonder if they killed him already," she murmured to herself, gazing up at the bright cerulean sky. Would that mean she helped execute a random teenager? Her sister's never dealt with curse users or cursed humans before either, unable to draw advice from her.
"Why the long face, Mari-chan?"
"Thought about something sad," as an arm was slung around her shoulder on their way to her school. The lemony chiffon fabric from the older girl's bow fluttered with their steps. "But it's your graduation!"
"Can you stop acting so happy," the shorter girl mumbled as they passed the gates. "It's embarrassing," noticing the eyes of parents and other students on the two as they waltzed towards the gymnasium.
This journey gets interrupted though by a call tucked in her pocket. Picking up the call, surprise filled her voice, "Today, Jo-san? I told you and Yaga-sensei that I'd postpone my schedule for today... Fine." And just like that, she hung up.
"Yuri-eonni," held an uncomfortable expression as her lips twitched in unease. "That was Gojo-san, right? Are you not going to head there straight away?"
Assumptive of the girl's reactions, the girl wearing a yellow dress with a matching soft bow tied around her neck her huffed. "I'm supposed to be attending your graduation ceremony. I already promised your sister." Muting her phone as she tucked it back in.
Hesitancy presented in the younger's voice, "still," holding her hand in a fist above her chest. "If it's Gojo-san then it must b—"
"—Gojo-san's not the type to care too much as long as it happens," She reassured the girl wearing her uniform, blazer and all. "Plus he knows it's your graduation today, so it sucks for him to say so—Today's Seo Mari's graduation and I'm going to attend it!" her attitude helped the short girl form a small smile.
"Yeah."
Within the next 2 hours, the graduation ceremony at Aohama Junior High for the Class of 2017 was filled with typical joys and such. Alas, it was tiresome to stand out in a crowd of parents and adults as a mere 'high schooler' attending a graduation. Along with that came the occasional whispers and gushes; "Have you seen the pretty girl in yellow? She looks about our age." Another one wondered, "Maybe she's an alumni? M-maybe we should ask which high school she goes to."
It wasn't like she could convincingly strike up a conversation about going to the officially named, 'Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College' or what it has been called thus far: 'Tokyo Jujutsu High' just next month infront of them. There were a variety of reasons, the main one was to do with the secrecy of curses and cursed spirits. The world in general was barred from normal humans. For their safety and sanity.
Soon enough, within the limited circle of friends, a boy gets chosen to ask her. "Cheer up, the worst you're gonna get is a blunt 'No'."
"Eonniiii you should really head back to campus!" the braided girl nearly shrieked at her, trying to hold back Yuri, who was dead set on getting a graduation picture to send to her sister with her phone and digital camera. "It takes an hour to head back by car! And then it's a long trek afterwards!" she reasoned.
"No can do, Mari-chan!"
"W-wae—"
"Um, excuse—"
"Would you mind taking a picture for us?" Her radiance made the boy gladly comply, taking a few pictures of Ma Yuri and Seo Mari by the school's garden. Utilising her phone first before being instructed on the usage of the Can0n camera she owned. They were almost like sisters, he thought. Both smiling with occasional petals from cherry blossoms appearing in the pictures. Seo Mari clutched her graduation certificate with her hesitant smile before bursting one in pure cringe at the brunette's antics. It was refreshing for the stranger boy. He didn't know who the graduating girl was, even though they were part of the same batch of graduates.
"Thank you so much, I hope your next school is nice!" leaving no room for the boy to speak as she yanked the shorter girl without a hitch. "Mari-chan, let's head back!"
The boy sighed as did the other ones part of his group of friends. What a missed opportunity.
_ _ _
"Thank you for making time for me, Yuri-eonni," she bowed slightly as the two were at the campus entrance. "You should really find Gojo-san..."
"Alrighty, I'll see you in a while then!" waving back comically before running off through the campus; into the forest. Her face morphed displeased.
What a headache, she cursed to herself. 'There better be a good reason I have to go there,' stepping into a building with multiple barriers installed swiftly within an hour. Hanging out casually was the blind-folded sorcerer who casually greeted her.
"Glad you could make it!" he told her as they began to walk.
"What did I miss? Since you wanted me to join your meeting with the higher ups but I didn't."
The man then began to recount his meeting within a court of posts and hidden figures covered by partitions and occasional veils. Within the incandescently lit room, disappointment echoed in his words, "A complete cover up and secret execution?"
It was ridiculous. Even if the boy, who was only 16, consented. None of them knew if he'd cursed others to death, his parting would only waste the efforts of some of their higher-ranked jujutsu sorcerers. As a result, the man concluded and convinced them to allow the cursed teen to be taken under Jujutsu High.
"But what does this have to do with my involvement?"
That was simple. "I propose Ma Yuri to oversee Okkotsu Yuta attending Jujutsu High."
"BLASPHEMY!"
"Ma Yuri's incapable of watching over someone! Let alone a cursed human!"
Confusion riddled her face as his impersonations of the old men. "Who is Okkotsu Yuta again?"
"You know the time I picked up Rina-chan in November?"
"Oh that one," a more familiar image appeared in her head. "He's going to attend Jujutsu High?" Looking over to Gojo for confirmation with intrigue.
"Indeed. By attending Jujutsu High, Okkotsu Yuta will foster better control over his curse which can help the Jujutsu World than harm it," he quipped.
"Ma Yuri's a good example for him to follow, plus they will be in the same year. It'd be better to get familiar with someone before attending," adding his final reasons. Thus the higher ups at the meeting begrudgingly complied with this and the meeting ended.
He scratched his head as they stopped walking distances away from the room, "So how was her graduation?"
"She's shy as always. You called just before the ceremony started, so I had to hang up."
"You always keep promises don't you?" To which she only hummed back. "Ready to meet him?"
"Sure!" she chimed along, as the two marched down towards the secret room. It's been a while since someone's being released from a containment facility.
_ _ _
"S-STAY AWAY FROM YUTA!!"
"But Rika-san, I wanted to talk to you!" walking closer to the large hand with a hidden blade in hand, all hunger hidden but maybe as a result, Orimoto cowered behind Okkotsu, covering herself from the curious girl.
"Yuri-san, I think you're scaring Rika-chan," Okkotsu managed to
"Nonsense! I don't want to kill Rika in the slightest!" she somewhat lied through her teeth as she got closer to the two. Didn't she basically imply that she had thought of it? The boy was unease as she swooped around only for the vengeful cursed spirit to move away.
"YUUUUTAA... MAKE HER GO AWAY!!"
Confusing both of them with a few side steps, she aimed her blade at the cursed spirit only to miss and head straight for the poor boy's head. An ear-blowing skreech rumbled through the room they're in and Yuri was thrown across, "DON'T--HURT YUUTAAA!!"
Her back dented the wall filled with talismans, she hissed briefly whilst refooting herself. Majority of the talismans used within the dimly lit room only kept cursed spirits within it as it's much easier to reflect cursed energy that to absorb cursed energy. Catastrophically concerning for those rare hazardous cases like today, parrying the vengeful cursed spirit with equal force.
Okkotsu, having just barely seen the light of day in months, felt concerned about the girl's safety as the eye-bandaged man continued to watch in amusement. This worrisome look didn't go unnoticed.
"Don't worry," he chuckled to the boy, "you're in good hands."
Orimoto Rika had disappeared from the brunette in a yellow. Unexpectedly, she dramaticized with hushed sniffles to her phone, "I didn't get to fight a special grade vengeful cursed spirit," wiping away imaginary tears. "She left me."
Not a single gushing wound was present on her limbs with this.
And personally, I wonder how the phone hasn't broken yet.
_ _ _
A/N:
Just so that people are prepared mentally:
Seo Mari = Marina-sama = Kinoshita Rina = Kero Rina.
I'll leave that as is.
Yayyy! We're starting this. I kinda rewrote the first half outta boredom and editted the rest. This time, I'll be using the new schedule feature wattpad's made because I'll probably be busy for Saturday. I'll see how it works and might continue using it if it works well.
I'm also too lazy to correct all the times I mentioned cursed spirit instead of vengeful cursed spirit (there's a big difference I guess) but I'll ignore it for now.