Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

We are not the one who's wrong,

what's wrong is this world

Location: H Elementary School- Entrance (Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, & Shoko Ieiri)

"This is a shit shack."

Even the beautifying moon veiled by the darkening clouds would agree with the profanity spit out from the second year, Jujutsu Sorcerer- Gojo Satoru- and that's very rare. From not even fifty meters away, just by looking at the building in front of them- the H Elementary School- the Sorcerers can already feel the creeps. And they have not even stepped over the thick metal chains obstructing their paths. 

The tree branches, enslaved by its weight with its skeleton fingers swaying against the October winds dangling just a few centimeters off the ground, imitating the visible tiny fingernail scratches on the pavement of the concrete base. The once flourished walls cracked-tarnished with molds and vines climbing and spreading like an infectious disease. Satoru figured that the vines would at least make the place look somewhat decent, but it just makes it look like an absolute shit show when it looks like a bunch of hairs sprouted out from the walls.  

"Satoru, language." Geto Suguru commented, hands stuffed inside of his baggy pants. His ebony eyes scanned the environment looking for curse traces. "Just because this school is abandoned for years, it does not make it right to curse in front of what was once a sacred ground for the children."

Satoru scoffed. "Ya mean hell is more like it. I mean, look at it! If it is truly a 'sacred ground,' the building should of at least died prettier than whatever the fuck I am looking at right now. That's just common sense!" 

"That's  your  common sense." Geto countered, feeling a headache already brewing, and they were barely getting started from their supposed assigned mission from their Teacher- Yaga Masamichi. "And besides, isn't this your fault? Shoko and I have not yet said a single word during our walk from your loss against Utahime at the train station while you have the balls to-you know what, never mind, of course, you do." 

"Yeah, a real, big, shitty, idiotic ball." Shoko Ieiri, staying silent the entire forty-five-minute walk, finally unsealed her lips. The first-ever sentence she spoke emits the thin edge of coldness that is ready to use her surgical knife skills that she learned on Youtube on the white-haired gal, who did not take a hint of the underlying anger brewing in her voice.

"Okay, Shoko, now that's uncalled for!" Gojo rebutted. "I'll have you know that my balls are not shitty or idiotic! They're amazing! And for the record, I did not lose! I let her win!" 

Sometimes, Geto forgets who his partner is, which leads to the underlying questions that always irked him: why is his life so miserable?  Oh, right, because of this dickhead next to me.  Geto groaned in frustration, head tilting up towards the sky and just letting a moment of his eyes rest from the migraine that were forming. 

The mission assigned by their teacher Yaga consisted of a simple trip to Kyoto to investigate a series of unsolved killings of high schoolers in the aspect of secluded alleyways. The victims have their skin melted away like they were heavily soaked in by sulfuric acid, peeling away the skin to reveal the supple red flesh that soon meshed and blended into the puddle of liquid. The bones sticking out of the shedding fat, like some sick version of a snowman that someone decided to build. Geto and the others all have seen the photos, and only Shoko managed to stomach the image (while the other two weak boys, as Shoko calls them, were busy throwing up). Yaga mentioned that the culprit behind these killings could be a curse or a curse-user due to the distinct floral patterns spreading onto one of the recent high school girls that met the same fate as the previous one. 

Therefore the assignment was simple. If it is a curse, either have it exorcised or become Geto's dinner (which he begs the former). But if it is a curse-user, immediate execution, no questions asked. 

So here's a million-dollar question: why the hell are they standing in front of a haunting-looking elementary school? The answer to that is very, very simple. 

"Right...." Geto drawls out, rolling his eyes as he is done with his partner's stupidity at this moment. "You let her win in rock paper scissors. Fan-fucking-tastic. A real gentleman of you, Satoru. Never knew you had it in you. You know, if it weren't for ya big mouth, we wouldn't have this amazing opportunity of wandering inside an abandoned school building at a godawful hour, when we could have finished  our original  assignment an hour ago and gone to sleep." 

Due to the mission assignment being in Kyoto, Geto and the others had to take the bullet train that took around three hours to get to their destination. But, because climbing down the mountain while carrying their luggage took more time than expected, they arrived in Kyoto in the latter of the day. And unexpectedly, when arriving, they came across their Kyoto friends-Mei Mei and Utahime-on their way boarding the opposite train as Geto and the others to Nagoya to investigate strange rumors about an H elementary school.

There was an apparent rumor circulating around Nagoya's high schools saying that a strange child appears if you look into a specific mirror in the H elementary school. The tale says that you must never answer 'yes' to the peculiar child's question. And for some unknown reason, the child hates adults. Many of Nagoya's high schoolers challenged those rumors, venturing inside the abandoned building to seek if the ghost whispers were true. However, those who wandered in never came back to see the next rising sun, for their existence vanished with the ghost in the building. 

The assignment that Mei Mei and Utahime are tasked with is to seek if the rumors are accurate since the disappearance of the high schoolers is skyrocketing high before the police have detained the area to prevent further idiotic soul gambling their lives away. Their teacher suspected a curse was at play, but they could only seek the truth themselves with no valid evidence at hand. 

But with the given assignment, the Kyoto Metropolitan High School seems to forget one minor detail. Utahime cannot do haunted houses or anything related to some creepy, abandoned buildings. Therefore the second her chocolate eyes landed on Geto and the others (despite Mei Mei with all her might dragging her sleeves to come inside the train), she instantly believed that God had finally answered her prayers. She bulldozes towards the Tokyo friends and seeks Shoko for comfort. Imagine the Tokyo gal's surprise at a crying princess, and everything goes downhill when Satoru opened his big dumb mouth saying-

( "How utterly pathetic. If I have your mission, I will quickly take down the curse with a snap of my fingers! What's there to be scared of!")

That was the golden opportunity for Utahime to ask for a switch, which led to the uneventful situation of riding to Nagoya for nearly thirty minutes, and their assistant driver was stuck in traffic. So Geto and the others literally had to walk to their destination, which took around an hour to get to the elementary school building. And another fifteen minutes of Satoru complaining and making up excuses for their misfortune while they were just standing there doing nothing. 

Absolutely fucking perfect. 

"You are  soooo  treating us tomorrow for all our meals and entertainment for the next three days." Shoko gritted out, glaring at their white-haired idiot, who still did not get the hint of Shoko's annoyance at the mission switch. 

"No problemo!" Satoru chirped. "My money is unlimited, after all. You guys can spend however much you want!"

"And besides," Satoru continues wiggling his eyebrows as his lips curled into one devious Cheshire grin. "It makes me look like a sugar daddy to you both, ya?" 

God, please save this fool away from me, for I am ready to commit a sin.  Geto sucks in a breath to calm himself, but the stiff smile on his lips says otherwise. While Shoko, on cue, quickly raises her legs to kick Satoru right in his balls but fails just as quickly she gives up with Satoru jumping away from her menacing kicks. Shoko flipped him off as Satoru continued ministering his teasing. 

"Alright, you children, knock it off. Let's quickly get this over with, so I can get  my  beauty sleep. I'm gonna put up a curtain now so-"

"Hey! You there! What are you doing?"

Great, what now?  

His ebony eyes glanced towards the enthusiastic voice brimming with authority and concern and came face to face with a young man in a police uniform with a flashlight grasping on his right hand. Geto raised a brow, thinking that the officer must have been patrolling the area and must have circled back to the front. What luck.

"This property is off-limits. No one is allowed inside, didn't you know?" The guard lowered his flashlight to the ground as he eyed the high schoolers before them with a questioning look. It only took the guard a second before his brow scrunched up together and his face replaced with a disbelieving look of a parent that caught their children doing something inadequate. "Don't tell me that you are one of those students that would come here for a dare since it's haunted. You aren't one of them, are you?" 

Geto opened his lips, thinking of a straight-up lie to cover up their objective. But before he could, Satoru beat him to it. "Yeah, we are. You got a problem?" 

(And with that, ladies and gentlemen, is NOT how you speak to an officer. Don't learn from this fool. )

The officer crossed his arms as he clicked his flashlight shut, watching as the white-haired boy tilted his head nonchalantly to his demeanor. "In a matter of fact, I do, young man. This place is off-limits, and I don't care if you three came here for a dare. You guys are not allowed to go inside. I'm not saying this disrupts your fun, but for your safety."

"Is it because of the recent disappearance of the high schoolers?" Geto probed, hoping to at least gain some intel about the situation they will face. The only clue they have is baseless gossip, so it wouldn't hurt to get some concrete proof from someone with an actual perspective on the situation. "I thought they were just meaningless gossip."

"Look, kid," The officer sighs as the slight phrase makes Geto's eyebrow twitch, and it does not help when Satoru and Shoko snicker behind him. "Meaningless gossip or not, my words stay the same. No one is allowed. I have seen many people like you these days, and seriously it's a pain. Go home to sleep or go to an arcade or something than inside a spooky-looking building. So do us both a favor and run along. I don't want any trouble or calling down your guardians-actually do you mind giving me your guardian's number? I'll have them pick you guys up at the police station."

Geto curse inwardly. Letting their teacher know about the sudden switch of their assignment is not part of the agreement between them and the Kyoto sisters, and it will definitely be a nuisance if their teachers get wind of it. 

"Thank you for your time! We'll be on our way!" Geto hurriedly bid the officer a farewell, eye smiling as he marched away, bypassing two of his friends who stared at him as if he had two heads instead of one. 

"Ha?! Now wait a second here- oi, quit pulling! You're choking me! Suguruuuuuu!"

Shoko stared blankly at the retreating forms of her two former classmates. Then at the officer and back at her classmates, back at the officer, her classmates, and the officer-

"So...the number?"

"Hey! Wait for me! " Shoko runs after her comrade as the officer stares at the retreating forms of the high schoolers, shaking his head as he turns his flashlights on, heading towards the school entrance, thinking the slightest possibility that some other high schoolers managed to sneak in before those students.

"Kids these days, seriously." 

~呪術廻戦 ~

It took an extra ten minutes before Satoru and the others finally bypassed the metal chains lingering at the front entrance of H elementary school, putting up a curtain, and walking inside the hideous school after the coast was clear.

"Holy shit, it's dark! How in the fuck we gonna see anything?" 

True to Satoru's words, the mere sight that greeted the sorcerers was pure darkness, beckoning to come closer with its sweet touches against their bared neck. It sent an irresistible chill down Shoko's spine that she couldn't help but hug herself, nails digging into the sleeve of her uniform and slanting her bodyweight just a bit towards Satoru, who eyed her at the corner of his blue eyes. 

"Awww~" Satoru cooed. "Is m'lady scared-ow!" 

Shoko smiled triumphantly when she pinched Satoru's thigh with her nails. Her eye-closing smile radiates towards the young man. "You were saying?"

Geto eyeing the scene before him with a slight tug on his lips, shaking his head with a fond sigh, pulls out his iPhone, clicks on the flashlight icon. The darkness scrambles away in a hurry, leaving trails of dust that lay thickly like winter's first snow. Still, instead of being a spirit-raising brilliant white, a depressing dirty grey covered the medium-height shoe rack that reached Geto's hip. 

"Won't the guard find us if we used the flashlight?" Shoko asked as Geto took a deliberate step forward, humming to the question.

"Nah, he's too dumb," Satoru answered, reaching inside his pant pocket for his phone, following Suguru's actions. "Besides, if anything, we'll just blame the kiddo over there." 

"Oh, good plan." Shoko agreed.

"Oi!" Geto calls out, getting slightly annoyed by the fact that he was called a kid by an actual kid of the entirety of the Jujutsu world.  What has the world become?  Geto hangs his head low before carefully taking another few steps inside the school entrance, avoiding the rotten wooden laced with rainbows of browns, cascading tiny footprints, and fingerprints towards the inner of the building. 

He eventually steps upon a level, feeling a sudden draft of wind breezing near his ankles.  Wind?  Geto aimed his flashlight to the two opened hallways- his left and right- with every inch of the area the light could not reach, caked in one singular color, black. He then aimed his flashlight in front of him; with each movement he does, the light follows, slowly scrolling up at the large bulletin board, mold with black spots at every speckle of the corners slowly venturing out to devour the rest of the lively green. The edges were caked with dirt. 

Geto aimed his light higher. 

Six tattered papers hang on the board with great patience that even age got better of them. The words were barely eligible, with the ink leaking off and the bottom of the pages torn away. But if Geto has to guess, the papers might be some sort of flyers and list of contacts, judging by the linear numbers and the decay of vibrant colors on the headings. With his other hand, Geto reached over one of the papers and flipped it over. 

Nothing. 

There was nothing in distinct that could provide any valuable resource, sadly. Geto secretly hoped there might be something behind the papers like save me or whatever was engraved. But Lady Luck sure favors no one, huh. 

"Nothing in particular?"

Shoko questioned, standing behind Geto with Satoru roaming his flashlight towards the ceiling, filling his hidden eyes with starks of cracks and mold. Satoru couldn't help but gag. 

"Well," Geto drawls, catching his comrade's interest. " besides the message of, 'please don't leave handprints on the mirror on the eastern staircase' scratch on the board, there's nothing else."

"What?" 

Shoko and Satoru scooted further up to where Geto pointed at the bulletin board, with scratched-up marks of the message imprinted on the greeny mole behind the very torn paper that their friend decided to turn over. The words were cut deep like someone used a relatively durable, sharp tool to carve the message right out. 

"Huh, that's weird," Shoko commented, pointing at the engraved sentence. " This looks like someone deliberately carved it. It doesn't make sense why they would cover it up." 

"Maybe it's related to the rumor." Satoru voiced up. "Remember the information that Utahime gave us?"

"The mirror ghost," Geto answered. "But that does not explain why it is being covered. It could be the police or some other dare takers that wandered in here, but covering this information up does not really make any sense."

"Or, we are just overthinking of a simple answer," Satoru advised, leaning away from the spot, stretching his back with a loud pop, before allowing his eyes to roam at the rest of the papers posted on the board. "Someone just doesn't want people like us to go find what we are looking for and covers it up. As simple as that." 

Geto hummed in agreement before letting go of the paper as it fell right back in its place, covering the message. "Maybe. Well, where to now?" 

Shoko looked to her right and left. She points to the right, hoping that it is the direction that the message has stated where a mirror would appear on the eastern staircase. "Let's go check it out I guess. Much better than just aimlessly wandering in the building. Gojo, go. "

"What? Why me?!"

"Cause, you're our daddy. Daddy gotta protect their babies."

"Oh, now you are admitting that I am your sugar-"

"Stop yapping and get moving," Shoko answered, kicking his long legs to start moving, making the white-haired boy slightly tumble forward towards the direction of the darkness beckoning to come forth. While Geto scarcely wondered if it was too late to go buy a train ticket to Kyoto instead and joined with Utahime and the others rather than suffering from such disturbing roleplays. He groans, knowingly understanding that this is gonna be one heck of a long night. Goodbye, beauty sleep. 

~ 呪術廻戦 ~

The state of the hallway is no better than the classrooms. The dirt-covered ground was damped and wet, littered with pieces of plank wood and mismatches of footprints crisscrossed against one another into a spiral mess. It seems that even the floor got tired of people walking on them that every step the sorcerer took, only shrilling winds greeted them. 

Satoru's eyes roamed from the left, peering into the dark void, caging them inside the school, then to the right, where the classrooms are like warzones with the tables and chairs flipped and tossed chaotically aside. The walls were strangely dented-punctured- deep inside the concrete, making arcs of webs stretches from the mark and battering it across the room. Other classrooms that Satoru looked at have similar features. Expect that one of the classrooms has large animalistic claws covering the chalkboard, nearly destroying the wall itself. Satoru can easily guess that those claws are neither of the work of a human nor some bear that just wandered in. 

Walking down the hallway, the sorcerers finally came across the eastern staircase shrouded with tiny cracks, marking its erosion. 

"This better not break the second I put my foot down." Geto voiced, giving the staircase a slight knock on the side to test its sturdiness before glancing up at the ceiling to see how far the stairs might be leading them. But due to the darkness, he could not see very far, and even the light in his hands did not help. 

Satoru hummed before walking forward towards Geto, grabbing his left hand. His action instantly made ebony eyes connect with his dark sunglasses. He watches in amusement as Geto keeps glancing at their hands and back at him before raising it to their eye level, voicing. "The hell is this?"

"Oh, this?" Satoru cheekily shakes their hands. "I'm helping one of my babies overcome his fear. Don't worry, Daddy here won't let you go."

Geto made a really, really pained expression as he stared at his madman friend immediately when he said those despicable words. It certainly does not help when a sudden flash of light flash before them, with a familiar click. Ebony eyes shot behind him, watching Shoko's gleeful expression hidden behind her phone. Geto, at that moment, can only voice one particular concern: "I better look good in that photo."

"Like husband and wife," Shoko commented. "You two dickheads look spectacular."  

"Now that's kind of fucked up," Geto announced, snickering while he's at it. " If anything, I wouldn't marry this idiot for life. In fact, I will be surprised if there is anybody that will fall for his charm." 

"Excuse you! I am Gojo Satoru!" 

".....And?" Geto raised a brow, ascending the stairs the second his hands were freed.  

Satoru quickly follows along, with Shoko rolling her eyes at her bickering boys. "And nothing! My name alone is enough for anyone to fall in love with me! Men or woman!"

"Say that to Utahime." Shoko chuckled as the sounds of their shoes connecting to the concrete stairs became the comforting background noise to their usual chatter. 

"Blagh! She's just too weak to admit my charms."

"How does that even make any sense?" Geto asked, climbing to the first set of stairs before turning a sharp right corner. The second his shoes connect to the ground, it sings in delight.

"You just don't get it, Suguru." Satoru wiggled his fingers, and Geto somehow feels slightly offended by how this idiotic child is lecturing him- an adult. "Just because she barks at me every second we met, doesn't mean that she dislikes me or anything. It just proves that she loves me!" 

If it weren't for Geto's hands already placed against the stone railing, he was sure about to slip and fall by the utter stupidity that spilled from the moron behind him. "What?" 

As far as Geto remembers, the relationship between Utahime and Satoru has always been oil and water, no thanks to certain someone with their big mouth. Their meeting was something straight out of a Shoujo manga. Fluttering petals from the cherry blossom trees cascading around them, Satoru managed to beat Suguru and Shoko into racing to see who could first reach the Kyoto Metropolitan School. Unexpectedly, Satoru crashed headfirst onto Utahime, who was also running since she was late for her morning class. They were destined to meet. 

But seriously, who says, "wow, you look weak" to a girl the second you laid your eyes on? Not even sorry or helping the poor girl up her feet, Satoru just continued saying, "you should've looked where you were going, kid."

As if Utahime's age and Satoru's were twenty years apart, and continued on his merry way. While Shoko and Suguru have to be the ones apologizing and helping the poor girl. Ever since then, their relationship was sour as a lemon. With each taunt and teasing that Satoru did, Utahime looked like she was about to strangle the boy and even advised Shoko to help her with her perfect murder plan that she even bought a shovel. So, Geto can't really believe that he read the signs wrong....did he?

"I learned that from Shoko, see! She said that if someone yells at you or hits you for no particular reason, that means that person is a tsundere. It's their way of showing their affections!" 

A chuckled is heard as the two footsteps echo with them.

Geto sighs, understanding where his friend's intelligence went. "Shoko, you better not keep feeding crap to this moron here. He'll believe in everything that can stroke his ego. And it's already big as his brain." 

"Now that's just part of my charm, Suguru," Satoru said, flipping his imaginary long hair over his shoulder to the creepy darkness around them of how dashing he is. "You wouldn't understand the privilege of being as cool and handsome as I am." 

"Don't you mean being a dickhead or a moron?" Geto snickered, throwing a side glance at his fellow, which immediately dropped his act into a childish pout when they reached the second floor. Ebony eyes take in the large rectangular mirror placed on his left wall, and the empty space transverses into two cross-section hallways before him. "Oh, guess we're here?" 

Geto stepped away from the staircase and looked directly at the heavily smudged mirror that could not even detail his reflection thoroughly. Smears of dried dirt run downward on the mirror, leaving a heavy stain covering half of Geto's full-body self. 

"Are you serious?" Satoru asked in disbelief, with his foot placed on the last step of the staircase. His head turned towards his left to stare at the sole assignment they were tasked to seek. Along the way, Satoru believed that they were on their way to exorcise a grade curse worthy of his power and attention, given how scared shitless was the Kyoto princess. Not staring at some crappy, dirty mirror. 

"Unless this is not the mirror we're looking for." Geto voiced, tilting his head, as he let his ebony eyes scan every crook of the mirror has to offer. Ebony eyes dragged away from the mirror and sought out their lady friend, who was hiding behind Satoru all the time during their ascension. "What do you think, Sho...ko....?"

The second those same ebony eyes wandered to the staircase entrance, all that greeted him and Satoru was the dusty snow flying around in the air.  

Shoko is not there. 

A sudden cold bucket of water washes over the two sorcerers and is instantly followed by the dread pooling inside both of their stomachs. 

"Oi, where the hell is Shoko?" Geto's voice raised a pitch higher as Satoru quickly descended a few steps of the staircase, looking over the stone railings, with his light guiding his way. 

He tilts his flashlight to the right, twisting as much as his wrist can, as the light cascading down-lower, and lower, and lower- 

"Shit," Satoru cursed under his breath as he aimed his light to the left, leaning his body over the stone railings. The light shines downward as he tries to possibly grasp a streak of black hair, a sound, a shadow, anything- "Shoko!"

But there's nothing. 

Nothing but a cold draft of air tickling his lips, to his cheeks, and slipping under his protective glasses, burning his eyes. 

He closes them.

This is not happening. This is not happening!  Satoru's mind is chanting like a madman. Shoko is not equipped for combat, much less known how to defend herself. With her ability to use the reverse cursed technique, she was precious to the Jujutsu World with one rarity to perform such feat. And it was because she was a gem that Satoru and Suguru- the two strongest sorcerers- would guard her like their lives depended on it. And protect her their ass when she literally disappeared right under their nose! 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The tumble of curses fell from the white-haired sorcerer's lips without any intention to stop. "I-I would have noticed- sense something if she disappeared! I would have!" 

His hand reaches towards his silver locks and starts pulling them uncontrollably. Seeing his partner's distress rolling off, Geto quickly rushes towards his side. 

Until he heard a chuckle. 

His foot was immediately glued to the concrete floor, trapping him in one particular spot with his entire body visible to the mirror. At the corner of his ebony eyes, he glanced at his reflection as his body refused to take action to step away from it. His eyes catch his shadow on the cloudy surface, portraying a vague, shadowy lump swaying in the mirror. 

Wait, swaying?

A cold shiver runs down Geto's spine.  That's not my shadow ... Parting his lips, he called out his friend. "Satoru, you better come and take a look at this." 

"We don't have the time to look at some crappy mirror! Shoko is-"

"Satoru!" 

Whatever protest dies in Satoru's throat, swallowing down his saliva, as he makes his way towards his friends, sparingly glancing one last time down the empty staircase. He growled. "This better be good, you-"

" Hey....am...I...pretty? " 

An unfamiliar,  pitchy voice cuts right through his words as cerulean eyes widen behind his dark sunglasses. A child figure with its lips messily coated in red and vacancy eyes stares right back at the sorcerers with its head crowned with vines spilling out from one side of his visible head.  

"What the fuck-" 

Geto slapped his mouth over Satoru's words.

" Am I...pretty?" The child asked one more time, this time with more firmness, as its mere words suffocate the two strongest sorcerers with their immense presence. As if a hand placed behind their necks, pressuring its delicate cold fingers against their skin, muscles, and bones. 

And squeezed. 

 Satoru and Geto both swallowed this is more than just a simple assignment. As Geto leans towards Satoru close enough for his voice to reach his ear. "Remember the rumor what Utahime told us?"

"...Yeah..."

There was one strict rule about encountering the Ghost child, and that is, one must never answer  YES  to any of the ghost's questions. The silence dread and the Ghost Child shift slightly in the mirror, as if...

As if they were trying to press themselves closer. 

" Am I pretty? " 

"Fu-"

" No. " Geto quickly interjects, feeling the impatience rolling off of the Ghost Child's demeanor in each passing second wasted. 

A beat of silence passed before the odd voice pierced into their ears once more. " If I only had....the red stuff... "

  Red stuff?  Both of the sorcerer's eyes zoned in at the brilliant vermillion color that engulfed the child's mouth. They glanced at each other briefly, silently communicating to each other, before the Ghost Child spoke again. 

" I can't...see well but... Are you...a grownup? " 

A pause.

Geto can only curse himself. He remembers another crucial detail about the Ghost Child: the hatred towards adults. Seeing how the child is asking such a question is probably their height. Often, when Satoru and the others have an outing, they are mistaken as adults despite their minor age when approached by older women. Luckily their school uniform and Shoko's presence saved their virgin asses. 

But not in this case.

Think! What should you say! Think!  Geto chewed on his bottom lip, and before he could even muster up a word, Satoru beat him to it. 

"We're just tallest of our classes. What of it, huh? Got a problem with super tall kids?"

A beat of silence drags on for a full ten seconds before the Ghost Child's lips twist, opening its mouth. " Big people... aren't allowed in school ." 

Clang! 

The mirror cracks. 

" Now...I can't see....No more big people...here ."

Then a sudden shrill of a scream echoes from the other side of the school, drowned by the sound of the loud beatings of their hearts running a thousand miles per hour. But they didn't have the time to catch their breath when the ground suddenly shook, quivering under their weight. Both of the sorcerers held their balance, shouting at the top of their lungs, wondering the same damn question. 

What the hell is going on?!  

Location: H Elementary School- Third Floor Teacher's Room (Shoko Ieiri)

It was the heavy scent of smoke that stirred Shoko awake from her clouded sleep. Her hazel eyes blink slowly, taking in the pixelated images forming in front of her- chairs stacking up against one another sloppily in one corner and tables with always few of its legs hanging in the air scatters on the ground pathetically. 

Hazel eyes blink again.  Where am I....?

Her eyes slide across the damped room, licking her face with tints of sharp coldness from the broken window above her. Her phone upended with her flashlight beaming straight up towards the ceiling with its radiant glow. 

Along with a lumpy shadow swinging back and forth, with tiny peddles of rocks making their way down towards the concrete ground, a few feet away from where Shoko is leaning against a massive black, scorched wall. But that was not all. 

Blood fills her sight. 

The drips of dark purple blood splatter onto the floor like tiny arcs before merging into one puddle. Shoko's eyes blink for the third time before dragging her eyes towards the light. Following it as it goes: 

up, 

up,

up, 

up, 

She held her breath at the sight of an unidentified curse entangled in electrical wires with one of its arms gone, with its blood flowing down from its pale blue body. Some even traveled towards the strange hole embedded in its chest. Its eyes lay on the crown of its head, and its mouth hanging open with drools of blood slipping out. More tiny rocks jump down from floors above, slamming onto the curse's body with no intention of ever waking up. 

Is it dead? Shoko wondered in her mind, not daring to even voice out her words if it might trigger the curse to suddenly comes back to the land of the living. But it seems her worries are unnecessary when she can see the light falls of its chest beating along with its heart.

Shit. It's still alive.

Slowly and very carefully, Shoko lifted her leg upright, placing her heels quietly as possible on the floor-

Clank!

Shoko frozen, eyes instantly darting to the curse who's still unfazed by the surrounding sound. She breathes a sigh of relief. Her eyes glared at her shoes as if she was offended by the sound they made. Her stare lingers, weighting upon a decision before Shoko reaches out her hands and slips her shoes off of her feet.  Fuck it! It's better than dying.  Shoko tries to reassure herself, places her feet covered by the full stockings, and touches the cold ground, unable to protect the shred of coldness caressing her through her clothing. 

Shoko shivers, but her eyes trained on the curse for any movement. She grabbed her shoes and stared at the room in a much clearer mindset than she was before. Yet every three seconds, her eyes would drift to the curse just in case it started to regain its consciousness. 

Even though it is tempting to jump straight out the window, landing it would suck without breaking any bones. And it will be even worse if Shoko gets chased by something. So far, her only exit in the classroom is the single door slightly blocked by three toppled tables blocking her path, and the other is another door in her far left.

Go left or go straight. 

But a question lingers in her mind. What happens if none of these doors are opened? Shoko does not even remember how she got winded up in an abandoned classroom with no meat shield to protect her. Heck, the last thing she remembers was falling as the darkness shrouded around her, eating her whole, and the next thing she came to was a room with a curse. 

Shoko let out a desperate sigh, mentally steels herself, threatening to waste every ounce of Satoru's money whatever she sees for the next three days. Using the wall as leverage to pull herself up, Shoko's feet dig into the tiny rocks, pinching her skin mercilessly. But she managed to hold, glancing at the two exits, ignoring the way her mind is racing a thousand per hour. 

Left or straight. 

Left or straight. 

Left-

A sickly wet cough broke Shoko's train of thought; her eyes froze at the left door, not daring to even turn her head around to see the curse. There was a shifting sound, the electrical wire moving, and the drips of the blood hitting the ground. 

Drip drop

Drip drop

Driiiiip

A chill breathes down Shoko's neck as her fingers clawed onto the scorched wall, no doubt painting her nails in new shades of black.  Please don't be awake. Please don't be awake! 

A groan.

Instantly the warmth of Shoko's blood ceased to exist to be only replaced by the icy fear digging deep into her heart, muscle, and bones. For the curse is waking up. 

Move . Her instincts are screaming at her.  Move. 

A footstep and a sound of bones cracking.

Move...

Another footstep. 

Move...

And another one, inching closer. 

Move!

A breath tickles against her ears as chemicals in her nerves spur into life. Shoko swings her right hand behind her, harsh and fierce-

To only greet her hand missing from her wrist. 

Her hand flew in the air, crimson blood decorates the skies with her agony cries, bending half of her body over to the ground holding her wrist tightly in her other, available hand. 

The curse's ears twitched in glee, clacking before its beady eyes zone in on the sorcerer. It raised its hand smashed onto the Shoko, uncaring about her condition. 

With her last-ditch effort, Shoko finds the strength in her legs and jumps, nearly escaping death. The ground shook, breaking away the last bits of the glass sitting on the window. The floor crumbles in its massive force, dusty cloud covering its eyes. 

She took the chance and ran. 

Shoko crashes and tumbles on the tables blocking her path, rattling on the door handle that just refused to be budged opened, but it did leave a crack on the door itself. Shoko backed away from the door in one quick thinking and shoved her good shoulder against it. 

The door cracked, with bits of wooden pieces fell on top of her silky hair. But Shoko can care less about that and continue to shove for the second time. The third. The fourth.

The dusty clouds dissipate as a strong presence looms over her. And by the fifth shove, the door welcomes in its open arms with a loud bang. The curse's claws arched forward as Shoko dodges just in time to save her neck before running down the dark corridors. Leaving the curse with streaks of midnight hair in its hands. A perfect row of teeth flashes itself as the hair slips away from the curse's claws and onto the floor. 

The hunt is on. 

~ 呪術廻戦 ~ 

It was not the best first aid, but it is better than getting bled to death. Shoko thinks to herself, looking at her makeshift bandage with her school uniform wrapped around her amputated wrist, using the sleeves to tie it tightly even though she already used her reverse curse technique to stop the bleeding. But Shoko is not very proficient at it yet, to say the least. The most she can do is ease pain and bruises whenever Satoru and Suguru get into fistfights. They were the perfect patients to practice, but anything further like cuts, stab wounds, and even amputated arms....that was way out of Shoko's league. 

Shoko head's bang slightly at one of the teacher's desks in one of the classrooms she's hiding under in hopes of being able to catch her breath.  Maybe I shouldn't have slacked off during practice times.  Shoko has only herself to blame for her current situation. For she didn't take her training seriously when her teacher Yaga has frequently told her that she needed to master her techniques in healing shortly for impending danger (and no, bruises and headaches do not count).  

But Shoko never really had a motivation for it. Heck, she does not even care for world peace or the Jujitsu World. Her only reason to be admitted to the Tyoko Metropolitan High School was her valuable asset controlling reverse curse techniques. If it weren't for that, Shoko believes that her family would just sell her out to the society of being a woman. 

After all, women are inferior when it comes to the Jujitsu World. This fucking sucks. Shoko let out a sigh, mumbling to herself as she let her eyes rest for a few moments. "I should have quit when I could."

She had the papers ready to quit her education and seek out the societal, ordinary life that does not include risking lives every day. It's not her thing, and she prefers peace and more lazy work than anything else. But thinking of her current situation, she believes that maybe she will have an everyday life in her next life instead of her family breathing down her neck every time trying to prove her worth to the world. 

An ordinary girly life. She couldn't help by smile at that thought. Wearing a high school uniform, waking up without caring for the world, and going to school. Having to make any work one wishes and even coming home enveloped by a warm hug and smiles. How sweet does that sound?

But the second her hazel eyes are opened, reality hits her back full force. She bangs her head again, groaning at her current dilemma. The most crucial objective is to find her comrades and stay alive. Yet her mind wanders:  What should I do? Going to those two idiots is out of the question when I don't even know where they are. If anything, I'll reencounter the curse, and I don't intend on becoming sushi. 

By the time Shoko hits her head on the desk for the third time, something in the corner of her eye slipped out and hit the ground with a soft thud. Hazel eyes blinked as her eyes adjusted to the foreign object beside her. 

It was a notepad. 

Her eyes trailed up to the area where the notepad was spawning, narrowing her eyes a bit to make out a tiny drawer sliding down like an open tongue. Shoko could not help but raise a brow.  Why is there a notebook kept in the drawer like that? Is it to keep away some secrets?  Her mind swirled, forming many different questions of who's and why's, but none are equally answered. 

Instead, her fingers trailed up to the notepad, holding it in her palm perfectly. The pad covers are entirely worn down, laced with cuts and tatters. Figures that she could not make out the name written on the pad either, given by the darkness encaging her and even with her eyes becoming one of the darkness. 

Shoko bite her inner check. Curiosity surely kills the cat, but Shoko has nothing to do except for waiting and hiding like a coward she is. Besides,, who in the right mind install a secret drawer and have a notepad hidden in plain sight? This can only mean one thing: the H elementary school has a deep, dark secret. And if this can help get rid of the supposed mission assignment and survive through the special grade curse, Shoko is more than delighted to take the chance. 

Taking a deep breath, Shoko carefully pokes her head out, letting her eyes drift to the hallway, inspecting to see if the curse is nearby. She waited for precisely ten seconds before getting out of her hiding spot and scooting to the opposite side of the teacher's desk, fully sitting in front of the little light given to her with the moon shining briefly inside the curtain.

She held the notepad out, narrowing her eyes to make out of the words scribbled onto the cover, but could not see it clearly with the smudginess of the ink. But Shoko did manage to make out the first word: Mrs. 

So, it's a teacher's notepad. Shoko concluded. It made sense, given that the notepad was hidden in the teacher's desk.  But the question is, why does the teacher need a notepad?  But without further ado, Shoko flipped the covers opened, taking in any secrets the lady teacher has to offer:

Day 1: March 1X, 20XX

The Principal has adopted a son- a boy- named XXXX, around the age of 8. As the Principal would say to us in the teacher's room, he was small and exceedingly cute, and he was transferred to my class. I am happy to meet him, and just like the Principal had said, the child was adorable. Even the other classmates-boys and girls- think that he's cute. 

Day 3: March 1X, 20XX

XXXX likes to hang out with the girls more often than the boys. There were times when XXXX would wear skirts and makeup to school. He looks adorable, and the girls like to dolly him up, and he would just smile brightly at them. However, the boys in the classroom did give XXXX weird looks. I fear that he might be a target of bullying due to XXXX's habits. I addressed the issue to the Principle. 

Day 7: March 2X, 20XX

XXXX is staying late at school again. I guess it has to do with the Principle's new tutoring session that he spoke about. The Principle is famous and known worldwide for his high academic degree. But there's something odd going on that I'm not sure if I am just overthinking. Ever since I told the Principle about the issue, XXXX looks....off?

Day 29: April 2X, 20XX

I...heard something in the teacher's room, the left door. It...It might be my imagination since it was late at night and I forgot my phone...But I thought.....I thought I heard a moan or a groan. A child's cry. It only lasted for a second. Since I checked where the voice was coming from, it stopped. There was a shelf, a rug, and a couch. I thought I heard it wrong, but I realized something the more I thought about it. The rug....it wasn't under the couch it originally was. 

Day 34: May XX, 20XX

XXXX is not doing very well. Every time I looked at him, his face was paler than snow, and his body thinner than a toothpick. I even tried to treat him to some food, but all he did was quickly shake his head and run away. He's not playing with the girls anymore, and neither are the boys. He kept staring at the beautifully grown roses in our backyard. Does XXXX like roses? I genuinely hope that XXXX gets better. Maybe I should pick out some roses for him to cheer him up!

Day 45: May 3X, 20XX

There were marks on XXXX's wrist, as I was informed by one of the boys when they were changing for the gym class. I did ask what they looked like, they said that it was dark red, almost looking purple. And they were even mosquito bites on his neck. But it was strange since it has been snowing here for quite some time, so there shouldn't be mosquitos around...is there? 

Day 65: XXXX XX, 20XX

I should have known. I should have known! The tutoring the Principle- oh my goodness! I-I-I.....what should I do? God, someone, please tell me what should I do! The Principle now knows I know what's going on and told me to keep my mouth shut if I don't want to lose my job! But XXXX is- 

Day 70: XXXX XX, 20XX

 I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry...please forgive me-I-

Shoko flipped other pages as the papers' entire content was littered with scribbles of apology before descending into the chicken scratch, making it ineligible to read. Shoko absorbed every detail the dairy gave out as her mind swirled at the secrets revealed to her. 

The Principal, the secret tutoring sessions, and the homeroom teacher, mystery Mrs. Shoko, let out a shuddering sigh at the content. One can easily guess what the Principle was doing to the poor child, but having the Mrs. keep quiet is another thing about the misconducted sexual education the child was getting- the anger and the disgust are just boiling high for Shoko towards the adults. The adults that the students trusted to protect, and the very ones that she-the sorcerers- are risking their lives for!

"Those sack of shit!" Shoko curses out, gripping her hair tightly to hurt. She knows she shouldn't get an emotional high, but now she knows how the rumored H elementary school came to be. It all started with the possibility of the boy's death turning into a cursed spirit, and it's the only explanation to the clues the rumored had. 

The hatred against adults. If the victim of the sexual abuse comes from an adult, it's no wonder the curse hates them.  Fuck, Shoko curses silently, pondering the next plan of her actions, now that she has this information. But what good use will it even do? They are sorcerers, given their job is to eliminate the cursed beings even if they were wrongly accused or suffered from unspeakable acts. Their sole job is to protect the safety of humanity. 

....But it seemed so damn wrong. Shoko does not know what to do now, but only let her head hang, to let the quietness become the blanket of her woes. She stayed there for a full minute before standing up her two feet. Even if she just sits there and curses those disgusting adults to rot, it does not help her situation. She can't stay in the classroom forever either and waiting like a damsel in distress for her boys to come to rescue her. 

She needed to get out of school if she needed to survive. And a bonus if she managed to find the boys (an excellent bonus).

Shoko carefully slides the classroom door open, hoping to get a peek at the situation to ensure she's cleared before venturing out. But the plan was thrown out of the window; what greeted her was something she never ought to see. 

Something was creeping along the hallway. 

It was- rose vines covering every inch and corner of the hallway, and it decorates the space with its signature. Suddenly, a particular phrase from the notebook poked Shoko's mind. 

I wonder if XXXX likes roses. 

"This is the curse's ability?"  No, it wasn't.  Shoko mentally concluded right after, as she took in her surroundings more. "This is his domain." 

A sudden shrill of scream burst into Shoko's ear, as in the distance of the hallway before her, a familiar gal with a police uniform with half of its face covered in some kind of plant dashes right towards her. The part of the officer's face twisted in agony as he continued to scream with all its mighty strength. "Get it off! Get it off! It's eating my face!!!!!" 

Shoko recognized the police officer dashes right past her, uncaring of his surroundings. She calls out after him. "Hey, offic-"

A chuckle. 

A godawful familiar chuckle whispers against her ears, making the back of her hair stand. Danger licks closely to her bared neck, as in one single moment, Shoko jumped forward, dodging the incoming swing of the special curse, as its mere force was able to embed the massive claw marks onto the ground. 

The school trembles in its terror. 

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Shoko exclaimed, running towards the direction where the officer went as the cackling curse smiled in the delight of finding its prey once more. 

Shoko runs as if she has never actually run in the entirety of her life. 

Her feet kissing the rocky paths laid thick of thorny roses, it cuts deep into her clothing to her glass-like skin. It hurts. It really hurt, but Shoko kept persisting, with the curse walking towards her with a satisfying smirk. Shoko kept running straight, turning sharp corners and rattling onto the classroom doors, but none could budge with her strength. She continues to run.

Until she couldn't anymore.

A sharp pain erupted from her right leg, sending her straight to her demise, crashing into the cold welcome of the thorns, piercing every inch of her body. 

Shoko screams. 

But that instantly lit the fire in the curse's nature, hand cradling its face, purring at the sweet agony that its prey had offered. While Shoko bit down her lips till her tongue tasted the foulness of her blood, that she pulled her hands out of the thorns and pushed herself up and fell back down.

The sharp pain from her legs throbs every step she takes. Hazel eyes quickly down, noticing the diagonal tear of stockings and her flesh pulsing open with crimson blood. 

She can't give it. She can't give up until she gives it her all!

Shoko crawls, ignoring the way the sharp thorns prickle against her clothing, penetrating through the silk of her uniform to the sting of her skin. Her chest heaves, and her arms ache, pulling out every time she lands it in a patch of thorns. But she kept going until the pain in her legs finally started to cease; Shoko pulled herself up and bolted with her limping legs once more. The pain eats her away. 

While the curse sways behind her with a smile, beady eyes curiously looking at Shoko's futile attempt. It let Shoko gain some desirable distance before its chest heaved, inhaling with its mouth puffed and- 

Boom!

Something fast flies past Shoko, stopping her dead in the tracks as it hammers one of the classrooms into other oblivion. Dust catches her eyes as Shoko raises her arms to protect her from the incoming blast of cloudly smoke. And in an instant, Shoko felt something fast swinging behind, as she turned bracing for impact- 

She flew crashing into the ends of the hallway as her body dented the walls easily. Blood bubbles its way towards her throat as she lets out a sick cough before gravity does its job, pulling her down towards the stony ground. 

What was that?!  Shoko coughs, again and again, decorating the bare floor with her color. She tries to lift her heavy head, eyes blinking rapidly, as her entire body aches. It's like feeling an incredible force clawing into her intestines and squeezing them, knocking the air out of her body. Her body heaves in and out, in and out, as her body desperately tries to take in oxygen to let her body function. 

And amid the clouds, a silhouette can be seen.

Shit! Shit! Shit!  Shoko curses inwardly.  C'mon, c'mon! Move! Move!

But her body is not listening, as all it can do is gasp for air. Shoko glanced to her left hand, fingers twitched but not moving as the cloud partied ways for the curse, making an entrance with its sly smile plastered on its ugly face. 

It walks towards Shoko. 

Muffling down her screams, Shoko used all her mental strength to overcome the thousands of pains bursting inside of her nerves like popcorn and moved her limbs. She sat up, but not fully up with her butt still glued to the floor, her legs kicked onto the ground to force her body to move. Every step the curse takes is equivalent to Shoko's amount to push her legs, creating minimum distance. 

Until her back finally hits the wall. 

Hazel eyes snapped behind her, and the second she did, a gust of wind blew in her face. She stiffens as she can hear another sound of her heartbeat other than hers, pulsing closely to her. Swallowing, her hazel eyes slowly move towards the front, making contact with the same, hungry beady eyes. 

The curse chortles as it becomes the devil singing in Shoko's ears. And to Shoko, she felt enraged. Was messing with her, chasing her down that fun to the curse, when she had to run like her life depends on it? Was everything she did to survive this funny to this ugly-ass curse? She screams at the creature torturing her. "Is this funny to you ugly asshole!?"

Her chest heaves as she watches the curse's smile frozen in place. Eyes blinking at her. Shoko continues. "You are the weakest, most pathetic curse I have ever encountered in my life!" 

(In reality, this is actually the most potent curse she has encountered.) 

"You think I'm scared of you!?"

(She is scared.)

"I'll have you known that just because I am a girl, that does not mean I am a goddamn pushover!" 

(She is when it comes to the Jujutsu World.) 

"Chasing down a girl is so funny to you that you can't even kill her right?! Now that's downright pathetic! Even a child can do better than that! If I were to die by your ugly hands, I would rather kill myself! This pathetic!"

(You are pathetic)

"You are pathetic!" Shoko heaves in and out as all her emotions run high, oxygen gone. But she couldn't help but smirk when she saw the smirk finally wiped off of the cursed face that morphed into a frown. "You are a coward, you ugly." 

The beady eyes widen, teeth gritted together in anger, annoyance, or even hurt from its pride that it has been damaged by a dying prey before him. It let out a hallowing scream, piercing into the winds of the school, shattering every last glass of the window in the school. Its eyes darted back to Shoko, eyes smoking in overwhelming anger.

"Yeah, fuck you too." Shoko chuckled.

 It raised its hand. 

Ah, goddammit.  Shoko thinks to herself, tilting her head to look at the ceiling, then to the thick curtain covering the luminous pearl. As an image of her, two idiotic boys came to mind bringing in promises to sworn to protect her. Shoko smiled softly as she closed her eyes. " Don't be quick to rush over here, you idiots." 

The claw slashes down. 

Location: H Elementary School- Playground (Gojo Satoru & Geto Suguru)

The blood dyes the skies with its color purple. Satoru does not expect to see something when he hastily dodges the incoming vines aiming for his neck by a so-called Curse Kid in the opened playground.  Heck, did Suguru manage to land a hit? 

Cerulean eyes snapped to his friend heaving as he wiped the sweat away from his forehead and mimicked the same confusion as he. They both heard a holler wrenched out coming from their right side, grabbing all their attention, including the Cursed Kid swaying left and right with its bludged cyclops eyes shifting to the incoming intruder. 

And what a sight it was, when the cloud of smoke clears, revealing an unidentified curse, wailing its single-arm around to free from the grasp of two distinctive wolves with its contrasting colors. 

Black and White fangs sunk deep into its flesh, not letting the curse a single chance to escape.  

Is that a...shikigami?

Cerulean eyes looked up to the fourth floor, where the third party decided to join in the fun. It has only been an hour or so since the separation from Shoko, and they encountered the Cursed Child when they saw the familiar officer running with plants growing out of its head. Satoru and Suguru immediately engaged in combat when they saw the figure of the Cursed Child appearing and managed to drag the battle outside where the sorcerer could freely use the open space. 

Forty minutes passed, and Satoru and Suguru could not even land a single hit on the Cursed Child with the annoying vines striking hard and fast like a whip. It protects the Cursed Child when Satoru tries to attack, coating it with thick blankets of vines, and even Suguru's storage cursed spirits effectively did any damage against the protection. 

Not to mention it was even more challenging when the Cursed Child did attack, controlling every single annoying vine in the school and attacking them in all sorts of directions. Satoru and Suguru were forced to play defense before the third party joined along. But before Satoru could even voice a word, the Ghost Child trembled. " Why...are you..here? " 

What?  Satoru's mind sings questionably at the Curse Child's change of demeanor. It was baffling to see, especially not once the child quiver under the presence of two of the world's strongest sorcerers but rather a wave of silent anger rolls off of the child. To see their target trembling in fear, Satoru has to wonder if there are many more vital things that they have to worry about. 

As Satoru's mind wander, the pale-looking cursed finally detaches from the wolves' claw, kicking the mutt in the face before rushing towards the sorcerer, nails all-out pointing directly at the dazed white-haired boy. 

"Satoru!" Suguru shouted in high alert as his partner snapped out of his daydreams, and the nails itching closer to his sunglasses- 

As a grueling music coming from a flute catches Satoru's ears, with the special grade curse slammed onto the ground mercilessly, like some kind of impeding force crashing it under its heels. The once sunglasses that protect the white-haired boy's eyes are now uncovered to reveal the laboriously engraved words digging into his mind, with his instinct telling him to run. Runaway from the entity before him, that's slowly gliding down with Shoko in its arms, wrapped tightly in a protective form. If Satoru can laugh, he would as it looked like something from a historical drama. A sleek white kimono and black baggy pants to match its style and a perceptible kitsune mask with a cherry blossom flower attached to match its unruly pink hair and a bell on its waist signaling its coming, and a bamboo flute tug between the red waistband of his kimono. 

But that's not all that Satoru can see-feel. 

Beneath the calming nature, as a smile is seen as the entity walks towards Satoru, a mist with silent steps follows his path. Cerulean eyes take it all in, drenching Satoru's heart in a fear that he possibly did not know can even feel so deep in his bones. Everything fades into the abyss, as he made contact with the sun-like eyes striking its core, as if the entity can see his beating heart, and burns him with no hesitation with thousands of souls emerging in the mist. All eyes are only on him. 

Four piercing crimson eyes specifically on him. 

He felt numb.

Satoru does not even register the entity towering over him as he steps on the particular grade curse, making its height taller than Satoru. Its hand stretches out, giving a small, soft smile that did not fit the bloodthirsty curse that oozes out of him, and indeed not the velvety voice that drowns him in complete security under its gaze and tone. 

"I believe she's yours?"

Satoru forgets how to breathe, as his instinct tells him to run. Runaway from this commodity before him. For he is way out of his league.

The entity tilted its head slightly when Satoru did not move to hold his lady. "Um...am I wrong? Is this Miss not your friend?" 

The 'thing' smiles awkwardly, tilting its lips along with the scar near its mouth making it more sinister than it looks, as he retracts the sleeping woman to its embrace. But Suguru, who did not have the power of Six Eyes, quickly corrected. "No, she's ours! She's...our friend." 

"Ah." The thing's lips formed a small 'o', before bypassing Satoru, still in a daze, now walking towards Suguru with its graceful steps. Without the height of the unique curse spirit acting as a stool, the entity was only about a chest height compared to Satoru. In other words, a midget. 

A fuckin' midget. Satoru's mind soars, blinking as he rapidly turns behind him, taking in the picture of Suguru shifting his leg as he awkwardly takes Shoko from the 'thing's' arm. The 'thing' spoke again, clasping its hand together. "Ah, right. Before I forget, here. Don't forget this."

The 'thing' pulled out a hand from his back pocket and handed out to Suguru, whose eyes widened at the mere sight of a slender-looking hand that belonged to a woman. Their woman friend, to be precise. 

"I picked it up when one of my pups found it. I think it belongs to your friend here, so make sure to give it back rightfully to the owner." 

Satoru gaped as Suguru held the hand(?) in his hand and blinked dumbfoundedly at the thing who just tilted its head in confusion. 

"What is it? Is it something wrong?"

A pause. 

"Oh! Is it because you don't know how to stitch it back?" The 'thing' chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of its neck. "Silly me. I forgot how weak some of the sorcerers in this era can be. My bad. Here let me-" 

Whatever words the 'thing' spoke out dies in Satoru's ears cause he thought he heard it wrong. He believed that he heard it wrong because there is absolutely no way this 'thing' called his partner and him-weak! 

Nobody calls them weak!

Not even his stupid father!

Not a single one of his household!

NOT EVEN THE JUJITSU WORLD! 

Gritted his teeth as his veins popped at the corner of his eyes, anger just rolling off of Satoru as he gritted out harshly and coldly. "Oi, you filth! Who the fuck you calling-"

Something blurry of whit-ish blue flies past him, colliding with such force that even the ground trembles in its sheer peer power, even the blast of wind kissing Satoru's face did not stand a chance. 

His tousled white hair sways against the wind before finally settling down on framing his face once more. His cerulean eyes peers, looking at the same special grade curse claws opened towards the 'thing' with only a finger pointing at its way forehead, stopping its full collision, protecting the sorcerers behind him. 

"You just don't learn, do you?" The 'thing' stared down at the curse, and with a single flick of a finger, the curse was sent back, flying past Satoru crashing into the school walls behind him. Cerulean eyes can only blink, snapping his head behind him, watching as the curse flopped down to the ground pathetically. 

It groaned but nevertheless stood up staggeringly. The wolves growled from the curse's opposing side. 

"Boys, " The 'thing' shouted, grabbing the wolf's attention as a smile (not a kind one) surfaces on the thing's lips. "Go get him."

Ravenous eyes snapped back at the curse as the prey itself took an unconscious step back. The wolves circle around their quarry, waiting for a chance to pounce; as the curse's eyes focus on its hunter waiting to strike, 

"Now, let's take a look at your friend here." The 'thing' spoke again, eyes focusing on their sleeping beauty, ignoring how Suguru and Satoru just stared dumbfoundedly at the current situation. The thing outstretched its hand towards Shoko, and instantly Satoru and Suguru's' brain rewired back to action. Suguru took a step back, arms tightening around Shoko with his ebony eyes bored into the entity before him. While Satoru harshly pulls on the thing's wrist, not allowing it to get a single distance closer forcing the thing's eyes to look at him.

Cerulean eyes meet the auburn eyes behind the mask.

"You're not touching her."

The thing blinked behind the two peepholes as Satoru held his ground. It was blazing to see the light emitting from those eyes as his six eyes are just continuously ringing inside of his head to flee. But Satoru does not run. He held his ground, staring down at the midget before him. He is deadset on winning this staring contest. But the 'thing' hummed, eyes widened as it tiptoed, leaning closer to Satoru as it instantly caused the white-haired sorcerer to jerk his head back. 

It chuckled. 

"Now that's interesting." Its breath tickles Satoru's lips, as he can smell some kind of sweetness like red bean paste or sugary dessert off of every word it spoke. But it did not help cover the immense curse energy rolling off of it. "You got six eyes."

"And what's that to you," Satoru growled, refusing to even take another step back, for his pride is at stake. 

"Oh, no, sorry I just-" The thing finally left his space, giving Satoru the room to breathe. "It's been such a long time since I have seen those beautiful eyes."

.......What?

"Oh, but that doesn't mean that you are not attractive in other parts of your weak body. They are just equally beautiful." 

The 'thing' smiled. 

His partner-Suguru- chortled, trying to mask it well-but failed horribly- as he rolled his lips in. And Satoru, for the first time, felt blood rushing to his head. It did not help once that the 'thing' continued. 

"Oh, that's good look for you too."

What look?!  Satoru nearly voiced out too. If it weren't for the 'thing to quickly pulled on the scarlet-faced sorcerer behind him and blocked an incoming rose vine with a flute. Satoru would think for sure thought that he finally met his end. Not that Satoru would ever admit it. 

With their prickling thorn, the rose vines stuck onto the bamboo flute but not barely made any scratch on it. The 'thing' greeted. "Hello to you too, Hanahiko."

" Yuuji-niisama... " 

The thing- Yuuiji- hummed. "How are you? Been well since I last visited?"

Hanahiko stayed silent. 

"Did you like the gifts I brought to you? If you like it, I can come by more often to bring you more. Do you still want your lipsticks red, or do you prefer a different color? I heard that nowadays humans can wear purple, black, blue, or even pink. Do you want to give it a try?"

Hanahiko stayed silent. 

The thing (Satoru refused to call its name) clapped its hand. "Oh! How about a dress? I saw on the papers recently that they have a new trending-"

" Why...are you here...? "

The 'thing' smiled, tilting its head to the side. "Is it wrong for  me  to visit?"

The Cursed Child shudders, eyes glancing towards the floor as if they just got scolded by an adult. But nevertheless, the thing breathes out a sigh, waving its bamboo flute as the rose vines retracts. "I was only here to catch a thief." 

Thief?

Cerulean eyes glanced to the curse rolling on the ground to avoid the biting of the wolves, but it was not successful as splatters of purple blood marked the ground beneath its trembling legs. 

"And I also heard about your recent active activites." The smile stays firm as those auburn eyes burn the Cursed Child to hang its head down even more. "But not that I care, of course."

The cyclops eyes snapped back up. 

"What you do is no matter to me. As long as you don't go overboard with your little game."

" Your...not here to...execute me? "

"Ooo, big words you got there, Hana." The 'thing' amazes by the small structured child's vocabulary. "But no, I'm not."

But the cheerfulness dies quicker than a patch of smoke as the thing continues. "Unless you want me to, given how many  innocent  people you have killed." 

The cyclops stared at the 'thing,' fist-clenching tightly at the hem of his stained white shirt. 

"And I know you know the rules that I have set out for all those under my-"

" But they're bad people! " The child shrieked, and the vines around it thrashed violently. " They don't care about me! What I had to go through every night with that-that- "

"I know."

" No, you don't! No, you don't! " The child continues stomping down on the ground beneath him harshly.  

"Hana."

" You don't know anything! You don't know anything, just like my teacher! She smiles but not know! She-she-she knows but not know! " Silvery tears stained the child's cheek as the waterfall poured out of his single eye down to the rounded cheeks to its chin. The smeared lips wobble, biting down his lips, and shouted loud and clear for anyone to hear. " I was scared! " 

The 'thing' walked towards the child, squatting down to its level, and hugged tightly, arms enveloping the slight figure sobbing away. Satoru and Suguru watch in utter incredulity at the unimaginable. They already know that the mission was difficult given the curse's ability to communicate, but they never expected-

Emotion.

Satoru and Suguru taught at school that curses are malevolent spirits bringing calamity to humanity. Those were the words engraved inside their minds and brains ever since they were born. They are cruel beings, a creature of evil brewed by the negative emotions of society. They bring harm. They cause damage. They kill-

"Satoru." Suguru chides up, walking beside Satoru as he watches the scene unfold, cradling Shoko even more, eyes never once pried away from the crying child. "What does it mean to be a jujutsu sorcerer?" 

The white-haired boy snapped his attention to his friend, not once meeting his eyes, entranced. Satoru opened his lips, eyes snapping away from Suguru and the two cursed spirits. "That is to become the strongest." 

".....Right." Suguru breathes out, as any other words die in his throat, and Satoru does not voice out another expression of his opinion or even ask his friend to elaborate. His ideals stay the same. To become a jujutsu sorcerer is to prove that he is the strongest out of anybody-no questions asked. 

No questions needed to be asked. 

Until Satoru screamed a 'what,' when he felt something brushes against its legs, catching everyone's attention. With its jaw covered in purple goo, the white wolf leans against Satoru's legs, while the contrasting one with the same color coated in its jaw barked happily at Suguru. Both of the sorcerer's eyes wandered to where the wolves were initially feasting on the special grade curse, leaving nothing but a puddle of blood to its making. The white wolves leaned in, grooming themselves on Satoru's legs, smearing the purple blood on its pants. 

"Ew no, get away from me!" Satoru tries to move away from the wolf but only makes it worst when the wolves lean further in, smothering his legs. While the other one wags its tail, barking happily to Suguru as if asking to get a pet. 

"That's interesting." 

Pairs of eyes directed towards the 'thing' walking towards them with the sleeping Cursed Child in its arm. Its hidden eyes directed to them. "My pups seems to favor you."

Its lips stretched into a slight smile, looking reasonably glad for some reason. Right on cue, the white wolf's ears perked, treading towards the entity as it stood in front, lowering its head and spitting out something that Satoru and Suguru cannot somewhat see. 

But whatever it is, it must be disgusting, drenched in wolf's saliva and the blood of the curse. But it peaked at the two sorcerers' interest by the faint curse energy emitted. The entity ruffled the furs of the white wolf, earning a delightful purr, before reaching out to grab whatever it was. "Good boy." 

The wolf barked happily, tail wagging.

"And before I forget," The thing said, motioning towards Suguru, that immediately made the white sorcerer at the edge. "Would you like me to heal your friend's injuries? Given it is my fault that I let the thief get away."

"Damn right it is!" Satoru fireback. "I don't care if you were trying to catch a thief or whatever, but now my friend is injuried, you-"

"Satoru."

Ebony eyes meet cerulean eyes.

Satoru knows what Suguru is pondering. Even though taking a thorough look at Shoko's body, he can already tell how many wounds the poor girl has suffered up till this point. Not to mention the wrist...

Satoru knows that he shouldn't be angry at the thing in front of him when it's not even his fault. It is Satoru's fault for not even noticing Shoko's disappearance-heck if only he didn't open his big dumb mouth, then maybe Shoko wouldn't have suffered the injuries that she has now. 

Satoru is frustrated by himself. 

"Sorry about my friend here. He's a bit....worried. But thank you for your assistance in helping our friend. If you don't mind, we'll gladly take up your offer." Suguru, in his well-mannered self, stated. 

"Your friend is right. I shouldn't have been playing with my food, for that, I am deeply sorry." The entity bowed, holding the Cursed Child in its arm. "How about this? Due to the mistake on my part of dangering your friend, I'll grant you, sorcerers, a favor." 

Satoru couldn't help but scoff. "What are you, a fairy godmother?"

"That should be fairy godfather, to you  weakling ." 

A tick popped Satoru's temple. "Ya know what, fairy godmother, I'll take up the deal. Fight me. "

"Satoru."

"Shut it, Suguru!" The white-haired boy snapped, eyes never leaving eye contact with the midget. "I keep hearing this filth calling us-me- weak. I am not weak! If there is anyone weak, that will be you, curses!" 

Auburn eyes blinked. "....I see. Alright then, I'll entertain you, sorcerer, a bit, under a particular condition." 

"Satoru..."

Satoru ignored the fair sigh exhaling from his partner's lips, glaring at the offending thing that continued to speak. " You will abandon your mission in eliminating Hanahiko." 

"What?" 

"That is my condition."

"Fuck no!" Satoru instantly retaliated, hands throwing and jabbing the entity's chest. "You think that we came here just to walk away emptied handed?!"

"Then the duel is off." 

"That ain't happening, trash." Satoru gritted out, standing forward as he stared it down, and the entity held its gaze before blowing out a sigh. 

"You sorcerers are annoying to the bones. Fine, let's do it this way. If you win, you can complete your mission, and I will not interfere in any way. But if I win, you will leave this area and never come back. You can go report your boss however tale you spring up. I don't care. It does not matter to me as long as your words are kept. Of course, I'll also toss in my previous request from earlier when I win."

"If you win." Satoru corrected. 

"Ah, yes. If I win." The thing smiled all knowingly, and to Satoru, he started to hate that smudged look. 

~ 呪術廻戦  ~

Suguru really should have brought duck-tape wherever he goes when it comes to involving Satoru and his big mindless mouth. Cause he thinks that if he did, everything about this whole situation could be avoided, accepting the (friendly?) curse spirit's help, and be on their merry way. 

But no. He just had to prove to the world how big of an idiot he is when it comes to his wounded pride. Suguru pinched the bridge of his nose, watching as the two contestants over 50 meters away stood at each other. 

The mysterious entity holding his flute, spinning between his fingers, while Satoru cracks his neck, stretching both of his arms over his head. As for Suguru, now in his white-button shirt with his outer school uniform draped over Shoko resting near the Hanahiko spirit as the two wolves guarding them like royal treasure.

"I'll give you thirty minutes." The entity said, "and additional minute of landing a hit on me first."

"Fuck off! I ain't a kid! I don't need a handicap! Ten seconds!"

"Twenty."

"Ten!"

"Fifteen."

"Ten!"

".....You will need more than ten seconds-"

"I said ten you freak! Do you not understand human language?!"

The spinning of the flute came to a daunting stop, as it lightly taps on the kitsune mask, humming. "Fine. Ten seconds."

The smirk on the Satoru's face widen. 

"But I won't attack you."

The smirk fell. "What?!" 

"Ten seconds on trying to land a hit on me, after that, it's my turn." The entity sensing a rebuke from the white tempered sorcerer and quickly added on. "If you don't take this deal, I'll just take my people and my request and go. You will deal with the situation yourself. That is my final offer, sorcerer."

Ebony eyes trailed towards his friend, glued to the spot deciding between his pride or his friend's life. Sadly both Kyoto and Tokyo Metropolitan High School did not have qualified doctors with reversed curse techniques that can heal others efficiently and not to themselves. And even if they have, the problem of having Shoko's wrist cut off will spread fast to their teacher's ears, and he will get wind of the switched assignment.  

The punishment will be severe. 

Suguru swallowed, hoping that Satoru would just take the offer and let his pride be damned. But growing up in a world where praises is all you hear left and right, it will be hard to even let that go, won't it? He watches as Satoru bites down his lips, eyes dilating as he calls out to remind them of their current unfavorable situation. 

"Satoru!" 

Cerulean eyes meet him, and in that instant, the white-haired boy let out a frustrated groan, hand reaching out to pull his hair. "Fine. Fine! Ten seconds!"

Satoru points at him. "But I'll let you know that just because you give me a handicap, that does not make an excuse that I'll beat you!" 

"Of course, sorcerer. " The entity grinned, twirling his bamboo flute once more, as he pointed back at Satoru. "Whenever you are ready." 

The wind breezes as the autumn leave clatter around them in a silent drum. The wolves' huff travels to Suguru's ears, but nevertheless, his eyes trained on the duel before him. Satoru's feet shift against the gravel dirt as the entity remains calm, embracing any challenges remaining his arms open. Even though Suguru is not the one fighting, he can pinpoint some openings that can easily knock the entity unconscious.

Do ten seconds even needed at this point? 

The silence between them dragged on, and finally, Satoru was the first one to make a move. Satoru charged. His hand raised, closing in the distance towards the entity in a single blink of an eye to only swing a right kick aiming at the entity's temple. 

Missed. 

He missed his attack, for the toes of his shoes never connect to the flesh of the cursed spirit. The entity leaned his head back, jumping back, away from the sly sorcerer as he called out. "One."

Satoru chases. 

He throws straight left and right punches, aiming at the entity's head. But never once did either of them connect. The entity, with his hand behind his back along with the flute, tilted his head side to side as he dances away from the approaching distance Satoru has followed. 

The simple cat and mouse game continues; as the entity runs, Satoru chases after him like a madman swinging his arms and legs and throwing in punches. But none worked, as the entity always managed to dodge to slip past Satoru's attack at the right time. 

For the first time in years, Suguru is lost for words. Satoru was losing badly with a handicap. The time ticks to three seconds left, counting up to seven. 

"Stop fuckin' running!" Satoru complained, gritting down his teeth as the entity hopped, skipping a few meters away. 

"Eight." 

Clicking his tongue, Satoru brings forth his hand, expelling as much curse energy needed, cracking the ground beneath him into pieces of rocks levitating around him. 

The entity whistled. "Nine." 

Without much hesitation, the rocks rush towards the entity, crashing one after the other into a big bundle of boulders hollering towards it at maximum speed. 

Satoru smirked as the boulder head-on crashed onto his opponent, leaving only a massive gust of wind exploding at the sorcerers' faces. Suguru covers himself with his arms raised, eyes squinting as tiny rocks and dust suffocate around him. The heat burns. 

"Got him!" Satoru exclaimed as Suguru waves the dusty clouds away from his face, coughing slightly while at it. And to his amazement, the position that the entity has initially been standing in is now covered in a massive pile of rocks on top. If anything, Suguru would believe that the cursed spirit is now buried alive. 

"Ha! Suck it! I told you I only needed-"

"That was very impressive." Satoru froze as he felt a weight behind his back, using him to support its weight. "If I were just any type of curse, that will definitely be the end of me. " 

A chuckle. 

A damn laugh reached towards Satoru's ears. Suguru watches as the entity casually leans on Satoru's back, forcing his body to bend, crossing his arms. The entity continued. "However-"

Satoru swings his arm back in a reaction as the entity disappears before his eyes and Suguru's. The voice echoes in the sorcerer's mind. 

"I'm not just any type of curse."

Before anybody knew-not, even Suguru, who watched the entire duel- Satoru's felt the world tipped. The side of his head smashed onto the ground, with an impending force of a hand latched onto Satoru's face. 

The ground crackles into million cubes, and the school wall shatters. Satoru, unable to process what just happened, glanced up at the being on top of him, who stood up with a smile on its lips. 

"This is my win, sorcerer."

And with that, the entity lifted his leg and smashed at the mighty Gojo Satoru, the world's greatest sorcerer in the Jujutsu World, knocking him out cold.