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"For the last damn time, I'm not heeding the call of those old bastards, I'm not their little toy" I firmly state as I exhale smoke from my mouth
"I do deeply apologize, Mr.Emori, but I'm afraid that you need to at least-" I cut the representative off, putting my phone back into my pocket and tilting my head back as I take another drag of my cigarette as I sigh to myself.
"The higher ups again?" A familiar voice calls from behind me
Turning my head back, I of course see Sazuku walking up to me with that usual soft expression of her's.
"Who else...?" I stomp out my cigarette as I turn to her.
She gives me a soft smile, reaching up to fix some strands of my hair.
"What was it this time?" She tries to lighten the mood a bit for me
"Something about that Gojo kid, I didn't stay on the line enough to really hear what it was" I shrug
She frowns a bit at what the request could be, "Ah, well the higher ups have been real uppity ever since the...incident with Geto Suguru..." she says, trying not to think about it too much
"They wholeheartedly believe that Gojo will turn next considering the two were...close, to say the least" I tilt my head back to lay it against the wall behind me.
There's a short silence between the two of us, only filled by the distant noise of people chattering and car engines buzzing.
"Well, I only hope that they actually let me retire already! I'm already working things out with them to be able the retire after this year..." she hollowly laughs a bit to herself; she then reaches over to me and ruffles my hair like a kid a bit, "Cause unlike them, I'm happy with letting the next generation take my place" she softly smiles at me.
"Yeah...It's rare for a sorcerer to be able to retire, I'm glad you're one of them..." I go to take out another cigarette from my pack, but it's quickly snatched from my hand.
"Hey, keep smoking so much and you'll croak before I do!" She gives me a stern look before laughing a bit, pocketing the pack in her work bag, "Come on, the bus is all fueled up and ready to go!" She nods her head to the bus as she starts walking ahead of me
Without another word, I just roll my eyes as I fix my hair, following behind her back to the bus...
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The bus pulls up a block away from the abandoned studio, Ms.Morimoto stands up as the bus comes to a stop, turning around and clapping her hands to gather the attention of her students.
"Alright, class! One, two, three, eyes on me please!" She waits for a moment for mainly Ritsu to settle down so that she can speak, "Alright! The purpose for this side trip will only be visual for you three! You are not to interfere with the exorcism in any way shape or form, understand!" As she says that, she mainly looks over at Ritsu, clearly specifically talking about him.
"Yeah! Yeah! Whatever!" He scoffs and slumps in his seat more.
"Good! Now, as you're watching, I want all three of you to take notes! Take your notebooks and write down how you could improve your one skills by watching me fight a 1st grade" she hands all three of them colorful notebooks and pencils, "I WILL be collecting these for extra credit at the end, so at least try to write something down" she once again mainly looks at Ritsu as she says that.
"STOP LOOKING AT ME, OLD HAG! I'LL DO IT!" He shouts in defense as he snatches the notebook from her.
"Great! Now everyone get into a single file line and follow the leader!" She instructs as everyone steps out of the bus.
As the students follow behind Ms.Morimoto, Kouji walks a bit ahead in order to scout out the building and set up a curtain.
"Wait!" Kouji is stopped just before he's about time activate the curtain, "It's good for the students to practice activating their curtains since it's arguably one of the most important skills a sorcerer needs" Ms.Morimoto explains to him
"This is a grade one Cursed Spirit, we can't afford to have a shoddy curtain." He bluntly says as he activates his curtain, covering the entire building and then across the street just in case
"Oh come on, Kouji! It's good practice for the kids!" She pouts and crosses her arms, pursing her lips at him angrily
He just rolls his eyes and follows behind the four of them as they make their way inside the building. As soon as they enter, Kouji instantly feels an almost familiar chill in the air, the same feeling he once got many years ago when he was still just a student...
As they work their way deeper into the building, the tension gets even stronger in the air, to the point where even the students are starting to feel it. Yuzuka is shaking like a twig in a rainstorm, a cold sweat drenching her body as she mumbles to herself to try and keep herself sane.
Climbing the stairs feels like stepping through mud, the intense weight of this cursed energy making it hard to walk as they all slowly rise to the second floor.
"I-I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Yuzuka cries but Kouji quickly covers her mouth to shut her up
"Quiet! Do you want the whole block to hear you?!" Kouji hisses at her
Tears are already flowing down her face as she doesn't even push back, knowing that she won't be able to hold her voice back. They continue walking up the stairs, Kouji's hand continuing to cover her mouth as they go.
As soon as they arrive on the second floor, they're immediately greeted with what seems to be a cocoon in the middle of the dilapidated room, an intense presence clearly indicating that this is the target.
"Sazuku...I don't like this..." Kouji holds his arm out and steps in front of the students to stand next to her, not keeping his eyes off of the cocoon.
She's silent for a moment before she sets down her work back, she reaches down and pulls out two almost comically large war hammers out of it somehow.
"Just stay back here with the students, I'll try to make this quick" she responds, her face changing into a more serious one
Kouji nods and keeps his arm held out like a barrier for the students as they watch their teacher step forward towards the cocoon. The silence is palpable, mixing in with the air to make an unholy concoction. Setting one of the hammers down, she holds one in both hands and slowly reels it back before swinging it with all of her might at the cocoon. But just as the hammer is about to connect, a hand shoots out of the fleshy skin and snaps the hammer by its body, causing the head to thump onto the floor as Ms.Morimoto jumps back.
The cocoon begins to shake and wiggle, being awoken by their presence as multiple hands shoot out of its body...
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I immediately activate my Cursed Technique, blocking any sort of technique it has from activating just in case. Suddenly, a thick neck-like appendage spurts out of the large mass, its flesh splitting open to reveal a large eye staring us down.
As soon as that eye opens, a strange almost calming aura is mixed into the air, nearly putting me off guard.
"Kouji, the report was wrong; this isn't a first grade!" Sazuku exclaims as she pushes back near me
"I knew something felt off...Of course we run into a damn special grade" I click my teeth as I pull out my combat knife, my breath shaky as it's been years since I've last ran into a special grade curse...
She then looks back to the students and gives them a gentle smile.
"Change of plans, kids! I'm gonna need each of you to evacuate the building immediately!" She tries to rush them out, which immediately works with Yuzuka as there's almost a comical dust outline from where she was standing to due to how fast she ran away
"What?! Hell no! I can take some lame blob on easy!" Ritsu argues back but is quickly shut down
"Ritsu Gushiken. Leave." She sternly orders him
Being unable to retort he just scoffs as Andy puts a hand on his shoulder, ushering him out, leaving just the two of us with the special grade.
"I feel like they should've stayed considering your curse-" she cuts me off immediately
"Out of the question, I won't risk my student's life just because it'll make this fight a little bit easier." She firmly states as she gets into a fighting stance with her remaining hammer
"Fine...Keep it busy while I search for an opening, let's get this over with quickly" I respond
Without any need for more words, the two of us rush in together, splitting off to attempt to pincer attack it. The Cursed Spirit focuses its large eye on Sazuku, following her movements perfectly as it blocks and deflects her blows, using its multiple hands as fodder to block as more and more just continue to sprout out.
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:Sazuku Morimoto, a long time teacher at the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. She's been a teacher to a good chunk of the most skilled modern day sorcerers out there currently, including being Gojo Satoru's teacher in his first year.
Her Cursed Technique, Role Model, is a passive technique which allows her to gain more strength whenever she's in the presence of those who see her as a role model, with the boost increasing the more people there are in her presence who see her as a role model, giving very specific but nearly infinite potential.
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"Dammit, I can't spot any other possible weak point on this thing" I think as I dodge an onslaught of projectile arms that are ripped off its body and tossed at my by its other arms
I loudly whistle for Sazuku and I to regroup for a moment, ducking out into the hallway as I peek my head out in order to keep staring at it.
"I can't get a good hit on it, it can't even move but it's like an impervious wall" Sazuku says as she catches her breath for a moment
"My eyes are starting to kill me, I haven't even able to blink even once since it awakened" I respond, looking all over its body for a potential weak point still, "The only way I can imagine us winning against this thing is if we can get its eye, that's it's only part that's unprotected" I strategize with her
"It's growing in size as well, look underneath it" she points out to me
Looking at the floor through my peripheral vision, I see it slowly start to crack and crumble underneath the massive blob.
"Great, if that thing busts through the building, I'll lose sight of it and who knows what'll happen..." I respond, my mind racing on how we can end this quickly
"All we can guess at this point is that it's eye is its weakness, so I want you to go around and try to run up it's back and stab it directly in its eye while I distract it" she lays out her plan for me
"The hands will be a problem, they seem to almost have a somewhat mind of their own..." I trial off, trying to think of an alternate strategy but not being able to, "But alright, but stay cautious" j say to her
"Just for the trouble, I'll buy you a new pack of cigarettes right after this" she softly laughs
With a nod, the two of us rush back into the room and Sazuku immediately starts running up to the front of it, garnering its main attention as the giant eye follows her every movement perfectly. I dash around the back, my eyes starting to heavily sting from being unable to blink. But I have to push through nonetheless, I cut my way through an onslaught of arms and hands, dashing up along the Cursed Spirit's back as I reach its neck area.
But just as I'm about to pull its head back to reveal its eye to me, suddenly my leg is pulled out from underneath me, causing my action to delay for just a moment. The recoil of being pulled back causes my body to instinctively blink since I've been forcing my eyes to stay open for so long; panic shoots through my body as I rush to reset my Cursed Technique.
"Just one second! Just one second is all I need!" I think, my mind racing as I scramble back up, reaching my hand out towards its head...
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As soon as Kouji's eyes close, that calming presence in the air increases tenfold, two hands jet out of the Cursed Spirit's mass and grab Sazuku's head, leaning in to stare its giant eye directly into her eyes. She tries to swing her hammer but her arm stops and she remains motionless, her eyes glaze over as her face drops, her mouth turning into a thin line.
The world around her begins to shape and melt, a warm, embracing feeling washing over her body as her vision fades...
She opens her eyes again, finding herself in a classroom. She looks out into the rows of students and as if almost natural to her, she smiles and starts teaching them. After what feels like only moments, the bell rings and the clamoring class of students all stand up and leave, wishing her goodbyes and some even hugging her. Once the conglomerate of students leave, she sits down behind her desk and smiles to herself. The warm light of the evening shining into her classroom as she starts to grade papers.
"Truly the perfect life..." she thinks to herself
Just then, there's a knock on her classroom door.
"Come in!" She happily calls out, expecting it to be a student come to ask her some questions
But as the door opens, her eyes widen and she rises from her seat at who it is. In steps three people, one of them being Kouji and the other two his classmates and friends from so long ago.
"Oh my! Looks who's all come to visit little old me" she smiles as she quickly walks over to the three of them
"Oh hush now, miss. At least I actually stay in regular contact with you, unlike these two!" The girl laughs at her male classmates
"Unfair! I've been hella busy kicking ass and climbing the ranks!" The second boy laughs as well, reaching in to hug his teacher
Kouji remains silent however, looking at her with a mixed face of sadness and worry. Ms.Morimoto gently cups his face, brushing the hair from his eyes.
"It'll be okay" she gives him a gentle smile as she looks into his eyes...
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I rush my eyes open and quickly look back up, though before I can activate my Cursed Technique, my eyes widen as I see Sazuku gently cupping the eye of the Cursed Spirit.
"I leave them to you" Is all I can hear her say
It's as if time itself slows down in this moment...and for just one single second...I hesitate. I watch as the Cursed Spirit twists her neck all the way around, instantly killing her on the spot as she drops to the floor with a thud. I'm frozen in time as my heart nearly stops.
I'm thrown off the back of the cursed spirit, nearly breaking through a wall as I fall to the floor. My head hits the floor first, nearly instantly knocking myself out as I lie there limply, the last thing I see being the Cursed Spirit forcing its way out of the building and into the city before everything goes dark.....
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:Kouji Emori, a first grade sorcerer with little tolerance for messing around. He's a very versatile sorcerer due to his technique, shining even brighter when he's among a team.
His cursed technique, Cursed Eyes, allows him to cancel out any curse technique from being used, whether that be by a cursed spirit or another sorcerer, just by looking at them. And so long as he doesn't blink and keeps his opponent within his range of vision, they'll be left unable to use their cursed technique. However, if he does find himself needing to blink, he must keep his eyes closed for at least once second before he can reactivate his technique, leaving him vulnerable to blinding based attacks.
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My eyes shoot open as I sit up, frantically looking around at my surroundings. My breathing slowly calms down as I find myself just in a recovery room at the school. I sigh and lay my head back against the wall, reaching over to the bedside table for my pack of cigarettes. As I take one out and light my lighter, my mind flashes back to what happened during that fight...The sound of her neck being snapped echoing throughout my mind on loop.
"Sorcerers die every day...It's to be...expected..." I try to assure myself
Suddenly the flame from my lighter is extinguished, silent tears running down my face as I just sit there. I set my lighter and cigarette to the side, tucking in my legs and putting my head on my knees.
And I cry...
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