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Chapter Text

The two students walked side by side down a path. Marisa was a short girl with an odd Gothic Lolita sense of fashion. Her outfit was a blend of witch and maid aesthetics, reminiscent of gothic Lolita fashion, featuring black fabric and frilly white lace that contrasted with the tool belt around her waist. Suguru had a similarly strange sense of fashion, or rather, she infected him with her strangeness. He wore monk's robes, despite not being a monk, and his long, sleek black hair was tied up in a bun. If it were anyone else, it would just be an odd manner of dress combined with his unfitting haircut, and his kind eyes, which made him look like a deceptive, evil monk.

Then, a short distance behind, and in between them, walked Meiling. She was one of the youkai Suguru had control over with his cursed technique, unlike the similarly named Mei Mei, who, despite Marisa's suspicions, was in fact a human. Like the other two, she was also dressed oddly, wearing something that looked like a cross between a qipao and a Red Guard uniform.

"So, you think they're dead?" Marisa asked, trying her best to keep up with Suguru with her short legs.

"They've only been gone for two days, and Mei Mei isn't a pushover." Suguru held a blank expression, utterly focused on the mission, unlike his compatriot.

"But Utahime is?" Meiling asked, smiling.

Suguru held back a sigh as he kept his eyes on their destination. "I didn't mean that; she's very skilled. Although not to Mei Mei's level. Besides, the Sages wouldn't send them on a suicide mission."

"Come on!" Marisa threw her hands in the air. "You know they wouldn't mind me gone! Who's to say they don't feel the same way about them?"

Suguru scanned their surroundings for any pedestrians before silently asking Meiling if anyone was nearby. "Perhaps it's because they haven't blown up the science lab or smithy before? Or maybe it's because they haven't tried to block out the sun?" He hadn't been there himself, and Reimu had never spoken of it, but Suguru had told him what happened, and he had heard second-hand accounts.

"Come on, that was one time, and I was twelve!" Marisa said, pouting like a child, much to Meiling's amusement. "And just because I blow up the lab every so often, doesn't mean my work isn't important. Negative results are just as valuable as positive results!" Marisa punctuated her statement by pumping a fist in the air.

Suguru shook his head. "I'm not the one you should say that to. The fact is, they wouldn't support you even if your master wasn't that person." That was the truth of it; having her master be Rinnosuke, who slaughtered a great clan with an army of youkai, and later to block out the sun, wasn't good for her image. But the Sages, being who they were, didn't like any sort of change in the first place. The morning sun failed to comfort them as a chill breeze sent goosebumps rippling down their skin with eerie familiarity.

"Ugh, I know–" Marisa said, throwing up her hands, "but I won't give up. Even if they try their best to stop me." Suguru nodded and smiled. All of them had tales of sleepless nights where she'd dragged them out of bed to help with her newest experiment.

"If any of us get that chance. There's been a lot of youkai activity lately."

"UGH! I know you think they'd give us a break eventually, with how busy it's been. How many youkai can there even be? You think they'd take the hint already and stay down."

Meiling laughed, "Spoken like a true human, Marisa!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!"

Suguru shook his head. "The most important thing is that the civilians are safe. That's the world the sages protect." He said, rounding back to their previous topic, "But you don't worry. You always have us in your corner." He said–rehearsed–but no less true. It was his way of showing Marisa he cared. She wasn't Reimu or Satoru, and out of all of them, she had the highest aspirations. If one of them was going to get hurt trying to help people, Suguru thought it was her.

Marisa knew what he meant, but as her footsteps echoed across the abandoned path–her shoes against stone–an uncomfortable silence reigned. The slight breeze, the chill against their skin, the tiredness in their bones, the sun in the sky, and how Marisa joined the Jujutsu Society. None of it was good for their mood.

Beside them–their youkai companion–Meiling giggled, trying to let loose the tension in the air. "Aw! So romantic, sir." She batted her eyelashes at him, "Do you think you could talk to me like that one of these days?"

"No."

Meiling laughed, not holding back as her voice echoed through their abandoned surroundings. Marisa rolled her eyes at Meiling's half-hearted flirting, "Whatever, I just don't feel like getting up at four in the morning anymore." Which was the truth of the issue, both of them were just tired.

"Well, we're here," Suguru said, gesturing to the mansion before them. Marisa blinked and took a step back, realizing they had made it to their destination as she looked up.

They had been so engrossed in their conversation that only Suguru had noticed when they arrived at the house. It was an out-of-place, abandoned Victorian-style manor in Hamatusu City. After a string of missing person reports the police couldn't solve, they called in sorcerers, which Jujutsu High had responded to by sending Utahime and Mei Mei. The decrepit manor was a typical haunting spot, with an ominous atmosphere that collected youkai to it near constantly; of course, those youkai had gone missing as well. And the half-open wrought-iron door only increased the sense of foreboding.

"Right, let's get in and do this, team!" Meiling said, knocking open the rusty gate, her smile banishing the ominous atmosphere of the mansion. "Saving the day and rescuing the girls like some real action heroes!" Meiling didn't wait for the other two, practically skipping as she sped ahead of them towards the haunted house.

"She's right, come on, Marisa." Suguru shook his head at her characteristic enthusiasm. "We'll just have to work our way through the current troubles one youkai at a time, then we can rest." Saying nothing more, he walked forward–trailing just behind Meiling as she made her way to the porch.

"Whatever, if it's a big problem, I'll just blow it up again–Reimu and Satoru should have set up the barrier–and there's no problem that firepower can't solve?" As Marisa spoke, she grabbed her mini-hakkero from her tool belt.

Only a little way away from the pair and their current haunted house assignment, Reimu and Satoru sat around a table at a local park, not setting up the barrier. They hadn't seen a reason to put one up so early in the morning and on a school day. Before them, the misty scenery of the park took on an ethereal air as out-of-season fog lay low, all the while flocks of ducks floated across the lake, their quacking and the rustle of the leaves were the only other sounds to accompany the pair of students.

Still, Reimu and Satoru sat quietly. Both were enjoying their moment of reprieve from the constant work that had been taking up so much of their time recently. The warming of the air from the sun, even the musty smell of the lake, was welcoming to their tired minds. These were the other two members of the big four, who stood, maybe not heads, but definitely shoulders above Suguru and Marisa in terms of strength. Satoru was born blessed with the Six Eyes, which gave him unparalleled perception, and the cursed technique, Limitless, which allowed him to manipulate space by realizing mathematical concepts. While Reimu was the last scion of the extinct Hakurei clan, boosting an equally strong cursed technique–Gap–which allowed its wielders to cut through space itself.

Of the two, Satoru looked the most normal–despite his piercing blue eyes, handsome face, and white hair. In contrast, Reimu stood out more because of her clothes–a red and white shrine maiden uniform, cut into a crop top with detached sleeves–contrasting against her simple but ethereal beauty, long black hair, and cold brown–almost black–eyes that hid everything she thought.

As a breeze whisked through the park, the minutes passed in silence, half-asleep, and enjoying their moment of respite.

"Ah, it's a nice morning. Isn't it Reimu?"

"Yes."

They sweated under the spring morning sun, even as the cool morning breeze continued to blow. Yet still, they remained relaxed. Satoru yawned slowly, taking his time as he rested his eyes. However, there was still an odd feeling he couldn't shake. "Reimu, do you feel like we're forgetting something?"

Reimu's instincts told her something was wrong; she and Satoru had probably forgotten about something after parting with Marisa and Suguru two hours ago–but she was tired, and she trusted those two to handle any mess they got into. "If we forgot about it, then it wasn't important."

Satoru gave her an odd look, but said nothing. Reimu sighed, and Satoru nodded. That was something they could both agree on; right now, all they wanted to do was relax. The breeze passed them again, flowing through Reimu's hair.

A beat passed, and then it started. The two of them felt it before they heard it, a slow rumbling. Satoru sighed, and Reimu said nothing as she stood with her purification rod at the ready. Then the animals–squirrels, crows, ducks, and weakling youkai alike–looked out toward the rumbling. Then, finally, the noise and wave of pressure hit them. An explosion echoed through the park, rattling the trees and stunning the few people and animals that remained.

"Marisa."

Reimu's voice was so harsh that Satoru couldn't resist. He cycled cursed energy through his brain, fueling his cursed technique as he rose from the park bench. "I'm guessing that's probably what we forgot about?"

"Let's go already." Reimu could already hear the lecture they'd receive for this blunder.

A deep growl echoed through the crater where the haunted house once was, as the youkai revealed its true form. A massive worm-like thing looked nothing like the house, rearing its ugly form at the two students and Meiling. Despite the hole the mini-hakkero had blasted into its side, it still had some fighting spirit left. Its wound dripped black as its flesh melted away into raw, cursed energy that dissipated on the wind.

On the crater rim, Meiling had revealed her true form, a serpentine dragon form that matched the worm in size even as she coiled protectively around Suguru. While Marisa sat atop her flying broom, a smoke trail left the firing end of her mini-hakkero.

"Meiling, restrain it." Meiling unwound her shelf from around Suguru and tackled the worm, launching them both down into the crater. Suguru followed shortly after, dropping into the crater as Meiling grappled the worm, wrapping her serpentine body around it. Marisa flew down after him, her mini hakkero already holstered.

The worm thrashed back and forth, fruitlessly trying to break free as they approached. Marisa rolled her eyes at it and drew a hexagonal wand from her belt, pointing the firing at the youkai. "Don't kill it," Suguru said. "I want its ability." Marisa relented, holstering the wand as the two reached Meiling and the restrained worm.

Suguru gave her a pointed look, and Meling slammed the worm into the ground, dust and rocks launched into the air. The worm screamed, vomiting blood, digestive fluid, and its victims. Mei Mei and Utahime were the first to hit the ground before an assortment of human skeletons covered them. Suguru and Marisa could still feel their cursed energy circulating through their bodies, so they put them out of mind. When Suguru was just a pace away from the worm, he thrust forward, stabbing a hand into its flesh and activating his cursed technique. The worm screamed for one last time and seized up. Its body dissolved into wispy black fibers that wound themselves into a ball, lying in Suguru's palm. It had a texture like used coffee grounds and a consistency like congealed vomit. Suguru hesitated for a moment while Meiling returned to her human form in a shimmer of black.

Marisa looked away as Suguru took a deep breath, opened his jaw wide, and then ate the youkai in a single bite. It didn't just have the consistency of vomit; it tasted like it, and Suguru resisted gagging as he shoved the black ball down his throat. He could feel it jiggle as it passed his teeth. Its vomit-like flavor and texture coat his tongue as he forces himself to swallow. Finally, the ball passed down his throat.

"Yuck," Meiling stuck out her tongue. "You know you don't have to do that all the time, Lord Suguru?"

"I don't need your commentary, Meiling. It doesn't help."

"That's too bad. I'm gonna feel bad for you, anyway."

Suguru wanted to bite back at her, but he couldn't hold that against her–even if she was a youkai. "Thank you, Meiling." Part of him knew she was equally likely to be manipulating him, but right now, he really didn't care.

There was a beat of silence where Suguru shook his head, trying to fight off his tiredness as he tried to come up with a plan for Utahime and Mei Mei. Then, with a pop, Satoru and Reimu appeared behind Marisa, causing the black-and-white witch to jump in fright.

"I told you two not to sneak up on me!"

"Sorry," Reimu said, her voice flat and near emotionless.

As he saw them appear, Suguru waved up to the pair. "Reimu, Utahime, and Mei Mei need your help."

Reimu nodded and went forward, but it was Meiling who spoke next–"Hi, mister Gojo!"–her voice cutting through the tension in the air.

Satoru smiled widely and earnestly, then he and Reimu vanished again–only for them to appear down in the crater, Satoru offering a hand to Meiling as he spoke. "Hey Dragon-chan, how's it going?"

"I told you to call me Meiling!"

"Ah, but we already have two Meis here," Satoru pointed towards the dying Mei Mei, covered in dead bodies. "A third one will just make it difficult, isn't that right, Dragon-chan?"

"No, Meiling," she corrected, "I know you're simple, Mister Gojo, but please try to–"

The rest tuned the playful Youkai and Sorcerer duo out as they continued with their charade. Reimu had already started walking to Utahime, kneeling to where the girl lay, and placing a hand on her exposed midsection–where the creature's stomach acid had entirely eaten away at her clothes.

Marisa looked away from the crater and at the surroundings. The trees had stopped shaking from the blast, but their leaves floated through the air soundlessly–in fact, the entire scene seemed oddly still, and strangest of all, police sirens. Her eyes dilated, and she realized–"Hey, what happened to the barrier?"

Reimu turned to Marisa: "We forgot."

Marisa, seeing that Reimu and Satoru seemed unbothered, shrugged and put it out of her mind, deciding that: "If those two aren't worried, then it's probably fine."

Suguru choked on his spit, coughing in surprise as he turned to Reimu. He would have said something, but Reimu's non-reaction to his surprise, and her being busy with healing Utahime, stopped him.

It was then that the situation worsened as Marisa had an idea: "Oh! Hey, let me try Mei Mei. I think I finally have this reverse-cursed technique thing down." Suguru sighed, too tired to protest as Marisa hopped towards their gravely injured classmate. He already knew that Satoru wouldn't care.

Reimu gave Marisa the side-eye. They almost always left the healing to her. The only other one of the four who was even passable in reverse-cursed technique was Satoru. Even then, he wasn't as skilled as Reimu.

"Don't worry, I totally got it cracked this time–"Marisa said, pumping a hand in the air as she grabbed a green-tipped wand out of a belt pouch"–And Reimu's here if anything goes wrong. Right?"

"It's just Mei Mei," Reimu said. "I'll keep her alive, but I'm not wasting cursed energy."

Marisa shrugged–She didn't understand the animosity between the two of them–but Reimu's hunches were usually correct, so she decided–like with the police sirens–it was fine. Probably anyway, Reimu was wrong sometimes. "Well, I guess there's always Leiri to mix up any mistakes I make."

Suguru shook his head as Marisa scampered towards the fallen Mei Mei, while Satoru stared on, smiling. As they bickered, they made their way back to Jujutsu High. Despite their bickering, these four students had an unbreakable bond that, when combined with their strength, would earn them the title of the Big Four of Jujutsu High.

Keine slammed her foot into the floor, jolting Marisa awake, while Satoru and Suguru merely turned their attention to the irate teacher. "First, you don't put up a barrier, and–" Keine waved her hands in the air, not even looking at the documents lying on her desk."–then Marisa experimented on Mei Mei!"

Keine Kamishirasawa stood at the front of the room with the words 'secrecy,' 'ethics,' and 'alertness' underlined on the chalkboard behind her. Although none of the students, save Suguru, seemed to take any notice of them. She struck the board with her palm. "What do you four have to say for yourselves?"

Marisa rolled her eyes as she put every ounce of self-control she had into not tapping her feet or fidgeting–that'd only make Keine angrier. "Mei Mei's alive, isn't she?" But of course, she was still going to–unintentionally–anger Keine even further.

"She's crippled from the waist down!" Keine slammed her hands onto the desk, sending papers flying."–Do you know how hard that is going to be for Leiri to fix?"

Marisa rolled her eyes. "Who cares? She's going to fix it anyway. Besides, Reimu doesn't like Mei Mei–and Reimu likes everyone–so she's probably rotten, anyway. No harm, no foul." Suguru covered his face with his hand while Satoru laughed. Beside Marisa, Reimu sat up in her seat, her eyes boring holes into the side of Marisa's skull.

Marisa turned to Reimu and wilted, holding up her hands as if to excuse herself. "Hey!–"

Only for Keine to jump at the opportunity, "Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean it's okay to hurt them! Don't do that again," Keine slammed her ruler against her desk, "and Geto, I paired you with them to rein in their behavior. Just because you're close to them and tired doesn't mean you should allow Marisa to experiment on people." Marisa grit her teeth and folded her arms. She hated it when Keine talked down to them. Suguru nodded, not wanting to argue. "The same goes for you two, Gojo, Hakurei. You're the reason she's here. Take responsibility for her." She spoke to them both, but the one she locked eyes with was Satoru.

Each of them already knew what the other was going to say: Keine was going to bring up their lack of secrecy and caution, then Satoru would dismiss it and non-sorcerers, as he always did. Reimu wouldn't protest being chewed out for her own mistakes, but then Marisa would join in again, inevitably drawing in Reimu and Suguru. Once that had begun, nothing could stop Reimu from coming in against Satoru.

Satoru leaned back in his chair, his perfect smile not faltering for a moment as he and Keine stared each other down. All the while, Reimu shifted uncomfortably and huffed, crossing her arms as she felt a prickling sensation beneath her skin. Everybody heard about the half-youkai who exterminated the Hakurei clan. He had arrived like a storm, and just as fast, he had disappeared until years later when he reappeared with a new student. Unlike the last time, Reimu, Satoru, and a coalition of the clans stopped him and, in doing so, captured Marisa. Satoru and Keine continued their stare-off.

Finally, Satoru spoke. "Me? I was just going along with Reimu here. Besides, it turned out well. Didn't it? Marisa's a shining beacon of Jujutsu Society; without our merciful Reimu, we wouldn't have her." Keine was unimpressed. Unlike Suguru, she only had second-hand accounts to go on, but she didn't believe the version of the story where only Reimu stood up for Marisa.

Keine broke eye contact first, relenting: "You're lucky we're busy right now. Once all this trouble is good and done with, I'll find some punishment for the four of you."

Keine sighed, placing on her desk as she took a deep breath to calm herself down, and spoke again: "I can't entirely blame you. You're just kids, even if you're going to be adults soon. It's the Jujutsu Society; it's me who's failed you." Reimu and Marisa bristled at her comment, while Satoru ignored her. The only one along was Suguru.

"–That said, do you four have any idea what your mission is?"

Satoru and Marisa finally started paying attention, excited at the prospect of a proper fight, something singular they could solve to cease the overactive youkai. While Reimu narrowed her eyes, assurance flickered behind them. "I'm guessing this has to do with all the youkai and sorcerer activity recently?"

"Yes, as all of you–especially Reimu–know, Yukari Yakumo has been a pillar of Jujutsu Society for over a thousand years. It's because of her that people can live their lives freely without the torment of youkai. To preserve this balance, Yukari has arranged a series of sacrifices–vessels–for her to reincarnate into every couple of decades. When this time comes close, youkai become more aggressive. Your mission is this: ensure Yukari reincarnates, and erase her vessel."

Her words lingered in the air for a moment, snuffing out warmth and light. Satoru said nothing. Suguru pursed his lips, thinking. Reimu's eyes were blank for a moment before a black flame of anger ignited behind her eyes. Then, Marisa spoke, leaning forward to brace her elbows against the table. "Erased, huh?"

Five figures sat around a picnic table in an empty field. At its head, a woman–the patron of the group–had a laptop open up before her, showing a video feed of the four students. "So, what do you think?" She had short, black hair swept to one side that hung down just past her ear, piercing eyes, and a vertical scar that ran across her forehead.

"I would rather move sooner than later, Itadori." The first of the assassins spoke up, an old man dressed in a green kimono. Konpaku Youki, the famed sword master of his clan of half-youkai, eternal servants of the Saigyouji estate and its Vengeful Spirit mistress. Even in his old age, and with his scarred body, he stood upright with uncharacteristic vitality for someone his age. Of the four assassins, he was the first to join the team, being an old blade from her first attempt on Maribel's life. As well as the second most well-known. All those years ago, when they first met, it had taken no words for the Mistress of the Saigyouji estate to pledge the Konpaku's blades to her cause; even if they didn't trust each other, they shared one goal here:

The death of Maribel Hearn and the cessation of Yakumo Yukari's reincarnation.

"Does that really matter?" the second youngest said, a youkai with the form of a girl or woman, dressed in green and black with a sun hat to hide her empty, mirror-like eyes. She was Komeiji Koishi, the Emotionless Eye of Love. She joined, last of the four assassins, and was the most unstable, even by the standards of youkai. Unlike the sealed, famous, dead, and powerful youkai from the Heian era, she was almost entirely unknown to Jujutsu Society, besides the words: 'Mary Mary, special grade, extreme danger, uses phones. Little else is known.' Centered on a page of the Youkai Almanac. To Itadori, she was a wondrous but flawed child, a being that had reached close to the realm her master had studied.

The strange girl looked to another of her fellow assassins, a middle-aged man who held a can of beer in one hand. "Right, Uncle?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Please, call me Toji. I'm no one's uncle yet." He said with a laugh, smiling at Koishi. Toji, the shame of the Zenin clan. He was brought on after Youki. The man was a tactical mastermind with a body that resisted all poisons, ailments, and cursed energy. Even better, or more convenient for Itadori, he was also married, drowning in debt, and his wife was dying. All she needed to do was wave a blank check and give him certain assurances, and then he was hers. "But no. We still need to wait. I still have people lined up who'd like to take their bite out of those four."

Youki narrowed his eyes. "I hesitate to think of the cutthroats you could have hired to threaten them. The various youkai attacks have already worn them down. We should strike as soon as they retrieve the girl."

Toji laughed. "Don't worry, I've saved the best for last; these next guys actually have a chance of taking one of them out. "Still not as dangerous as us, but as long as we can keep those kids on their toes and sleeping in shifts, everything's going according to plan."

Youki crossed his arms. "My lady may have requested my presence here among you, butchers and children. But I am still a man of honor, a grandfather, and I aim to sever that girl. We should not draw out our targets' suffering or involve those four. All I need is a moment." The old man drew one of his swords. "Then I will sever the cycle of reincarnation." Youki rested a hand on the hilt of his wakizashi, the Hakurouken, the white tower sword that could sever a soul from the cycle of reincarnation.

"Don't underestimate us youths, old man!" The youngest of the four assassins said. Itadori's smile turned soft as she looked at Medicine Melancholy. She was an orphan taken for her unusual, poisonous, cursed energy. A trait her parents became all too familiar with–for what short time they had–when her ability as a sorcerer awakened. Although she was not as talented as Marisa, Itadori had some pride in Medicine.

"I wasn't. Nor will I." Youki resisted sighing as he looked down at Medicine, trying to deal with her both as a team member and as an annoying child. "Medicine, I am not underestimating you or our enemies, but unlike some," he looked at Itadori, "my goal here is only to sever the girl."

Itadori smiled as Medicine folded her arms and tried to think of something she could say–something to put Youki on the back foot–but couldn't. "Whatever, old man." She crossed her arms and stared back at the screen.

"Still," Toji interjected, "you can't take those four out without our help, and we–" he gestured towards the Itadori, "and our wonderful patron here wants Mayohiga breached. So suck it up, old man, unless of course you're going to kill the girl on your own." Toji and Youki held each other's gaze, neither man backing down, both of them having a hand on their respective swords.

Itadori clapped her hands together as she rose from the picnic table. "Either way, it looks like you four have the situation handled. I trust you will end the reincarnation of Maribel Hearn, once and for all."