Welcome! I've been obsessed with this series for a while now and just couldn't shake this idea. Consider this also as my free therapy after catching up to the manga :')

Putting this here just in case but be prepared for the same level of violence and gore that the anime and manga have. Nothing more, nothing less. Take that as you will.

And as always, let me know what you think!

Chapter One

Ninth Hour

The hour hand had just sprung forward, stabbing through the number nine on the clock when the door to the café opened, allowing the roaming night breeze to saunter in on the heels of a high school-aged boy like a shadowy cat.

Rei only got a glimpse of him—tall, dark hair, dark clothes—before she returned her attention to the biology homework in front of her. She tapped the eraser of her pencil at the corner of her mouth, pondering, as the boy seated himself in a booth somewhere behind her. She had just begun scribbling down her answer when a liver-spotted hand came down on the counter with a sharp slap, startling her.

She looked up and met the intense stare of one of the late-night café's owners, Mrs. Tamada. Her graying hair was twisted into a nape at her neck, as sharp and severe as the rest of her. She gestured with her chin to the boy who had just sat down.

"What about him?" Mrs. Tamada demanded. "He seems about your age."

Rei held in her long-suffering sigh. "I didn't get a good look at him."

Mrs. Tamada frowned. "Why not? You won't be young forever, you know. You should find a boyfriend soon."

"Yes, I remember," Rei said pleasantly as she finished writing her answer. "You only remind me every week. And then I remind you that I'm still a first-year in high school and that I don't need a boyfriend."

"It never hurts to start early," Mrs. Tamada said with a shrug. "You've never even gone on a date before."

Rei's cheeks flared as the old woman cackled. "I don't come here to be harassed, just so you know."

"Then go somewhere else."

"You and I both know I can't do that," she said. "You'd go out of business if it weren't for me buying all your overpriced pastries."

Mrs. Tamada snorted. "Take that up with the husband."

Mr. and Mrs. Tamada had owned their small, dingy café for almost thirty years and been married twenty longer. Rei never saw them in the same room, though they both worked at the café; apparently, they hated each other, according to Mrs. Tamada. Rei never knew what to say to that whenever the prickly woman brought it up, so she usually kept her mouth shut. However, Rei was one of their most frequent (and only) customers, having come to the café after school for years as her mother was always working and never home to watch her. Mrs. Tamada had taken pity on the lonely girl and become something of a stern aunt to her during that time. Sometimes she even let Rei take home some of the café's tips when she found out Rei's mom was struggling to pay the bills again.

"Here." Mrs. Tamada filled a glass with water and handed it to Rei. "Go give him this and see if he wants to order anything."

Rei pulled a face. "Must you try and match me with every man that walks in here?"

"Yes," she said without a trace of abashment. "Now, go."

Rei grabbed the water and reluctantly left her seat to venture toward the boy on the other side of the shop. He sat in one of the booths closest to the window, and his eyes were staring out into the dark streets when Rei came up to him and set down the water.

"Good evening," she said. "May I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?"

The boy faced her. His black hair stuck out in all directions like spikes, and his eyes were a deep blue, framed by long lashes and half-lidded in what looked like a combination of exhaustion and boredom. He was rather attractive, she realized with some embarrassment; almost too attractive, despite his odd navy-colored clothes. She wondered if it was some kind of school uniform, for he didn't look any older than she was.

His eyes darted to the gray skirt and black blazer of her own school uniform before he met her gaze again. "Do you work here?"

"No, though I'm here often enough that I ought to." She raised her voice just a little to make sure Mrs. Tamada heard her and grinned when the old woman scoffed. "Anyway, would you like anything else?"

"Coffee, please. Black."

He drummed his fingers on the table, though she sensed his underlying annoyance had nothing to do with her. Despite his impassive face, there was a stiff set to his shoulders that made him appear tensed, coiled, like he was ready for a fight at any moment. Shrugging it off, Rei nodded and went to the coffeepot behind the counter, her biology homework still sitting abandoned where she'd left it.

Mrs. Tamada bustled over as Rei poured the coffee. "Well? Is he well-spoken? Does he have manners? Can you see yourself marrying him one day?"

Rei smiled. "I only asked him if he wanted anything. Hardly a noteworthy conversation." She paused. "Though he's quite cute."

Mrs. Tamada grinned in a way that could only be described as predatory. "Excellent. Watch the floor, will you? I'm going to have a smoke."

Rei nodded, and Mrs. Tamada went to the back of the building. Rei brought the boy's coffee to his table and set it down in front of him with a polite smile.

"One black coffee," she said. "Let me know if there's anything else I can get you."

"Thank you," he said, wrapping one pale, long-fingered hand around the ceramic mug. His gaze shifted past her and one of his eyebrows lifted. "Your clock's broken, by the way."

"What?" She followed his gaze to the clock hanging on the wall above the register. He was right; though she'd seen it strike nine o'clock mere minutes ago, the hands were frozen at precisely the same position. "Huh. Weird. It was working just a bit ago…"

"Well, anyway." He raised the mug to his lips. "Thanks again."

She made to move away before Mrs. Tamada's grin flashed in her mind. She stifled a sigh. She couldn't believe she was actually about to do this. But he was cute…

"If you don't mind me asking, can I have your name?" she asked, swiveling back to face him before she lost her courage.

He blinked, startled, before lowering the mug to the table. "Megumi Fushiguro. And yours?"

"Rei Nagatsuka," she said, raising her hand in an awkward wave. "Nice to meet you. Sorry to bother you."

"It's no bother," he said, and she truly couldn't tell if it was or not due to his utterly neutral tone. "Do you go to school around here?"

"Wakkanai High," she said with a nod. "You?"

"Some private religious school up north," he said, taking another sip from his coffee. "I doubt you've heard of it."

That explained his peculiar uniform, then. "North of Tokyo? You're a long way from home."

"It's for an assignment," he replied, his eyes flicking to the window again.

"Oh. Right." She was going to say more, but at that moment, a shrill ringtone went off. He pulled his smartphone out of his pocket, sighed at whoever's name was on the screen, and looked back at her apologetically. "Sorry. I have to take this. Unfortunately," he added under his breath.

"Of course. It was nice meeting you, Fushiguro," she said with a smile as she stepped away.

He answered his phone as she went back to her seat and her homework, her cheeks warm. She picked up her pencil again and tried to concentrate on the next question, but in the empty café, Fushiguro's voice kept distracting her.

"I followed what you said," he was saying, his tone faintly annoyed. It seemed his irritation from earlier was caused by whoever he was on the phone with. "I found no trace of anything… Yes… No… No, can't be… Did you call to help or to annoy me?" Finally, he sighed. "Fine. I'll retrace my steps. Bye."

She heard the mug settle on the table before Fushiguro called her. "Nagatsuka, right? Sorry, but I have to go. Thanks for the coffee."

He stood, extracting a wallet, and she got to her feet, too.

"You're welcome," she said. She gestured to the phone he'd returned to his pocket. "For your assignment?"

"Yes." He pulled out several yen and held it out to her. "Keep the rest."

"Oh, thank you" —She reached out for the money, her fingers casually bumping against his. In the same moment, every muscle in her body contracted, and her heart jolted like it had received an electric charge— "very much."

She dropped the money as if it had burst into flame. Fushiguro stared at her.

"Er, are you all right?" he asked. "Do I need to call somebody?"

Her heart had begun to beat in double-time. What on earth had just happened to her? Was she having some kind of fit?

"N-no," she stammered. "No, I'm sorry, I'm fine." She bent and scooped up the money. "I'm sorry. I-I don't know what that was. Sorry."

He lingered, his eyes shifting between her and the door. "Are you sure?"

She gave him a forced smile. "Yes. I'm sorry. Thank you again." She waved her hand with the yen. "Good luck on your assignment. Have a nice night."

He finally nodded. "Thank you. It was nice meeting you. Goodnight."

He turned and left without a backward glance. Rei sagged against the table, her hand over her heart.

What was that just now? Her heart rate was slowing, but it was as if she'd touched a metal pole exactly as lightning had struck it. All of her insides had gone haywire at once in that brief instant.

She shook her head. Whatever it was, it had passed. She went back to the counter and dropped the money in the tip jar near the register. Mrs. Tamada still hadn't come back from her smoke break, so Rei gathered her things and shouldered her backpack. She might as well go home. There was really no use in staying longer without any more customers. It was a shame Fushiguro had to leave…

She pushed her way out into the balmy night air and left the café behind, not once noticing the clock that was still stuck at the ninth hour.

The walk from the café to the cramped condo she shared with her mother was a short one, but Rei had dragged her feet the whole way, still unsettled over what had occurred after she'd accidentally touched Fushiguro, so it was nearly ten o'clock by the time she got home, according to the time on her phone.

She unlocked the front door to the old, rundown building, having to put her weight into shoving it open, as the doorjamb often got stuck. She finally managed to wrench it open and walked inside, kicking off her shoes by the entrance before padding into the living room.

"Mom?" she called. "I'm home."

Rei's mother poked her head out of the kitchen with a bright but tired smile. "Rei? Welcome back, dear. Did you eat dinner? I just finished some stew if you'd like some."

Rei entered the kitchen, her stomach growling when she caught the scent of beef stew. "Just a snack or two. I'll eat with you. What time did you get home tonight?"

"Oh, around eight-thirty," she said as she pulled out two bowls and utensils. "Mr. Sawamura let me off a bit early."

Rei nodded, watching her mother shuffle about the ancient kitchen. Several pieces of flooring were missing, and the dull green wallpaper was peeling in places, but with Miyoko Nagatsuka's presence, it seemed far more inviting. They'd only been there about a year, but Rei's mother had done her best to make it feel like a home—a difficult task in the first place, considering Rei and her mother had never lived in one place longer than two years.

"Set the table, please?" her mother asked. "I'll put on some tea for us."

Rei did as she was told, and within ten minutes, she and her mother sat at the chipped wooden table that had miraculously lasted through several moves, their food and tea before them. After saying their thanks, they began to eat.

"You didn't have to cook so late, Mom," Rei said. "You could've texted me and I'd have picked something up for us."

Her mother laughed, pushing a lock of black hair behind her ear. "A mother should cook sometimes. I can't have us wasting away on takeout every night."

"You work enough as it is," Rei said, poking at a piece of beef with her chopsticks. She frowned. "I know you're exhausted when you come home. You should let me cook or something."

She smiled gently. "You don't have to worry about me, Rei. I just want you to focus on yourself. You've been doing so well in school and I don't want to disrupt that. I want you to go far in life. That's all I've ever wanted for you."

Rei set down her bowl, her throat oddly tight. "I know."

Her mother stared at her, a knowing glint in her green eyes—the precise shade of emerald as Rei's own. She avoided her mother's gaze and drank her tea instead.

"I know it's been hard," her mother said, "moving around so much and changing schools. Growing up without a father."

Rei stared at the table, not daring to swallow the tea in her mouth. Her mother never mentioned her father—or lack thereof.

Her mother's eyes turned misty, and her voice wavered. "I just want you to know that I'm so, so proud of you. And I love you very much."

Rei slowly lowered her teacup to the table and swallowed. "Mom? Is everything all right?"

Her mother dabbed at her eyes with a napkin and laughed. "Of course, dear. It's just been a long day. Why don't you go get ready for bed? I'll clean up."

Sensing her mother wanted to be alone, Rei hesitated before getting to her feet. "Okay. 'Night. Love you. See you in the morning."

Her mother only smiled and kissed her forehead before taking the dishes into the kitchen.

When Rei had washed and changed for the night, she crawled into bed and laid on her side, replaying the last few hours in her mind. Meeting Fushiguro, the strange sensation she'd felt, and then the odd conversation she'd just shared with her mother. She couldn't help feeling like it was some sort of goodbye.

Or perhaps she was just finally losing her grip on reality.

She reached over to her nightstand to set her alarm clock before she stopped, her hand hovering above the buttons. The glowing blue numbers peered out at her, trapped at nine o'clock, though she knew for a fact it was almost midnight now.

Some sort of power outage? she wondered. It had to be. There was no other explanation.

She set her alarm and turned over, but the numbers still lingered behind her eyelids as she drifted into sleep.

Megumi was pissed.

After another night of endless wandering and fruitless searching, he was ready to wring Gojo's neck like a wet rag. It was his teacher who had sent him out in the first place with only minimal clues as to where the cursed object he was supposed to find would be, even after Megumi's protestations.

"Southern Tokyo?" he repeated flatly after Gojo had finished speaking. "That's it? That's all I have to go on?"

"Yep," Gojo said, popping the 'p'. It made the muscle in Megumi's jaw twitch. "The auxiliary managers should have more intel soon, but I want to get a head-start on finding this curse."

Megumi still wasn't swayed. "Do you realize how big of a search area that is?"

"Of course I do," Gojo said, leaning back in his obnoxiously expensive chair. His teacher smirked. "I'm your sensei, after all."

"That doesn't even make sense."

Gojo waved him off. "Take your time. Explore the sights. We're not on a time crunch yet."

"Yet?"

Gojo ignored him. "I have errands of my own to take care of, so you'll be on your own. But you're a big boy now, Fushiguro; I'm counting on you."

Megumi shook his head as he shuffled down the empty sidewalk. He was out of the heavy foot traffic areas now; the buildings were darkened and vacant here, and it was silent save for the sounds of the city in the distance. He thought about summoning one of his shikigami so he wouldn't feel so alone, so exposed, but he didn't want to waste any of his cursed energy, just in case.

He kicked a pebble out of his path and cursed Gojo again. Sending him out without any leads? He knew his teacher was unconventional, to say the least, but something about this seemed…off. A cursed object like one of Sukuna's fingers was bound to give off vast amounts of cursed energy, even if the seal on it hadn't worn off yet. Kicking Megumi to the streets blind just seemed irrational.

The pebble he'd kicked had only skittered down the sidewalk. He came upon it again and drew back his foot for another half-hearted kick. The pebble ricocheted off a building and landed in the road. He sighed and kept walking.

Fatigue tugged at his limbs. It felt like a lifetime ago since he'd had that coffee in the late-night café, even though it had only been a few hours, at most. He thought back to the girl who had served him despite not being an employee. He assumed she was a regular from the way she and the owner had been whispering together since he had entered, and his theory had proven correct when she'd approached him while the owner had slipped out the back.

The first thing he had noticed about her was her smile—wide, welcoming, warm. There hadn't been a trace of any underlying falseness or insincerity. She had smiled at him just for the sake of smiling. It had reminded him of Tsumiki.

But she wasn't Tsumiki. Nagatsuka had been her name. Rei Nagatsuka. He frowned when he recalled the moments before he'd left the café. How she'd flinched suddenly and dropped the money, a look of panic and shock coloring her face before she'd seemingly recovered. It had certainly been a strange reaction. Non-sorcerers tended not to notice his cursed energy, and even if she could somehow sense or see cursed energy, nothing about him would have caused that sort of reaction.

Oh, well, he thought as he continued down the sidewalk. It's not my business, anyway. Just have to keep searching for—

He sensed it before he saw it. It was like a black wave of force had rolled over him, prickling the hair all over his body and raising the flesh on his arms. Cursed energy.

He whipped his head toward the west end of the district he wandered and was faced with a column of flickering violet and black shadows, spearing into the night sky like a beacon for curse users. Even from where he stood, he felt the curse as acutely as if he were standing in the midst of it. It was powerful—extremely powerful. He wouldn't be surprised if even regular humans could sense the sudden violence and despair that came off the small building in waves.

He was running toward it before he could think. A curse that strong, that malevolent… Maybe Gojo had been on to something. Maybe one of the fingers just happened to be in the area.

But that would be giving his teacher too much credit. He should have been able to sense a curse like Sukuna's before now. This was sudden, unexpected. Sloppy, even, if the curse or curse user hadn't even bothered to scout the surrounding area for jujutsu sorcerers or other curses. They would have definitely sensed Megumi at this range had they not been careless.

He shook off his doubts for the time being. There was a curse, and he was obligated to at least investigate its source. He didn't necessarily have to exorcise anything tonight.

Though the sudden dread in his chest said otherwise.

He skidded to a stop in front of the building the curse emanated from. He was in a residential area now; the building in front of him was a small, rundown condo, but the curse was stronger now. It made his stomach roil.

Special grade? At least a Grade 1. It's too strong to be anything else.

He clasped his hands together and invoked his own jujutsu. "Divine Dogs."

Two wolves sprung from the shadows and melted to his side, one black as midnight and one white like snow. They shuffled and growled at the cursed energy coming off the building in front of them, and Megumi jerked his chin. "Search."

They bounded forward and took down the front door. Megumi charged in behind them, his hands still raised. His dogs snarled and snapped, leaping up the stairs to the second floor of the home, where the cursed energy was strongest. Someone screamed—a girl. He threw himself up the staircase, not even registering the blood that was beginning to run down the steps like a river of red until he saw the gruesome scene before him.

He took in everything at once: the blood that coated everything, making the carpet soggy beneath his shoes and the walls crimson; the gray-skinned woman with her chest gouged open, her guts and organs spilling out of her as she laid on her back, her sightless green eyes fixed on the ceiling, and the girl hunched over her, screaming, sobbing, trying to fit the woman's insides back in her body; and the curse that loomed over them all, backed into a corner momentarily from the demon dogs' presence.

It was a towering, disgusting thing; even hunched over, its head still brushed the ceiling, a bone-white skull shaped like a hawk's that gleamed even in the dim light, painted with the Kanji symbol for nine. Rags covered the rest of its skeletal body, and beneath the razor-sharp beak protruding from its skull, a fleshy pink tongue tipped like a serrated blade spilled onto the floor like some great python, stained red with the woman's blood.

Grade 1, Megumi thought as he shifted his feet into a fighting stance. But I've never seen one like this before…

"L-leeeaaavvveee," the curse rasped. Its beak didn't move, but it was speaking somehow. "Ju-juuuuu…"

"Divine Dogs," Megumi invoked again. The dogs leaped at the curse, fending it off as he rushed to the girl and what must be the remains of her mother. He gripped the crying girl's shoulder. She couldn't have been much older than him. "Can you stand? You need to leave."

She whirled, her eyes widening in shock at the same time that recognition jolted him. "Fushiguro?"

It was the girl from the café—Rei Nagatsuka. She was covered in blood, holding what looked like a liver—her mother's liver, he realized with a pang. But there was nothing he could do for the woman. She was already dead. He only hoped it had been quick.

"Come on," he said. "You need to go. Get to safety."

She shrank toward her mother's mutilated body. "No! Not without her! My mom—"

"There's nothing you can do for her." He spared a glance to the corner of what had been the mother's room. It was wrecked and was continuing to be demolished as the shikigami threw themselves at the curse, the curse's tongue writhing and jabbing. Megumi feared they would be skewered next if they didn't move. "Nagatsuka, right? Leave. Now."

A shudder wracked her body. "My mom—please—"

"I'll do what I can." She wavered. He met her eyes. "Go."

She pushed herself shakily to her feet. He wanted to point out that she was still holding a human liver, but there was no time. One of the dogs yelped, and Megumi felt the tether between them wobble. He'd have to release the curse on them soon, or they would likely be destroyed. The other curse was just too powerful.

"Fushiguro," she said. Her voice was thick with fear as she edged toward the door behind him. "Y-you can't stay either. You'll die—"

Her words ended in a squelch. The curse's knifed tongue had slipped past the shikigami and Megumi and buried itself in her shoulder. Blood spurted, flecking Megumi's face, and she screamed, dropping the liver as the tongue dragged her toward the curse.

"Back!" Megumi ordered, and the dogs flanked him. One of the curse's skeletal hands reached out and gripped the ends of Nagatsuka's hair, holding her up like a prized beet as she bled and struggled, tears streaming down her face. If it could, Megumi imagined that the curse would be smiling at him at that moment.

"Take…youu," the curse rasped, bringing Nagatsuka within the fold of its rags and ignoring her feeble attempts to fight back. "Baackk…M-Master…"

Megumi brought his hands together again. "Nue!"

The roof of the condo split open as the owl shikigami was summoned with a screech and a flap of its electro-shock wings. Its talons glanced off the curse's skull as the curse took advantage of the new open space and prepared to flee.

Megumi's cursed energy was already stretched thin, but he commanded his shikigami when he met Nagastuka's terrified gaze. "Don't let them escape!"

The Divine Dogs leaped and tackled the curse before it could flee. Nue dove for the curse's skull again, sinking its talons into the curse's empty eye sockets. Megumi rushed the curse, reaching for Nagatsuka.

It doesn't seem interested in killing me! It must just want her!

Megumi ducked under his white hound and grabbed Nagatsuka by her middle. In the chaos, the curse's hold on her hair had disappeared to defend itself, so all that tethered her was the blade of its tongue still shoved through her shoulder. "Nue!"

The shikigami abandoned the curse's skull and swooped low, its beak slicing through the curse's tongue. The curse roared as Nagatsuka dropped into his arms and he rolled away, dragging them both through the blood on the floor and staining them red. At the same time, he released his hold on the Divine Dogs, and they melted into shadow and disappeared. He summoned Nue once more with a shout. "Fly!"

Megumi dragged Nagatsuka's limp form with him onto the shikigami's back before the curse had time to react. "Go!"

Nue shot off into the night. They were already two miles away in seconds. Megumi looked over his shoulder to see if the curse had pursued. The Nagatsuka home flickered with cursed energy for a few more seconds before it dispersed, vanishing into thin air. The curse had broken, or, more likely, retreated for the time being. He glanced down at his blood-soaked clothes and the bleeding girl in front of him. The tongue-blade in her shoulder kept her from bleeding out, but they would have to take it out soon. He thought about taking her to a normal hospital before quickly dispelling that idea. A cursed injury needed jutsu treatment. And if the tongue-blade hadn't disappeared, then the curse itself was still out there somewhere. She would be in danger.

"Set us down," Megumi told the shikigami, and then they were on the ground, in a remote field on someone's private property. There were no lights, so Megumi got out his phone and turned on its flashlight. "Thank you, Nue."

The shikigami was released back into the shadows. Megumi examined Nagatsuka's shoulder, figuring she was unconscious due to her silence and stillness until she spoke.

"What was that thing?" she whispered.

Megumi glanced up. She stared, unseeing, into the surrounding dark, her gaze haunted. He looked away, uncomfortable. That was one of the things he hated most about being a jujutsu sorcerer. That look of horror and trauma that would likely never be healed, not fully.

"A curse," he replied, keeping his voice calm and steady. Presenting the facts. "It attacked your home and injured you."

She trembled in his grasp. "I-it killed…my mom."

A tiny sob escaped her lips. Megumi sat back on his heels. "Yes."

She closed her eyes. "Tell me this is a nightmare. Please. This…this can't be real. This can't be happening."

"I can't do that," he said heavily. "I'm sorry. But I'm taking you somewhere to be healed."

Her voice could've been the wind stirring the long grass and small white flowers surrounding them. "Just let me die."

He hesitated. "I can't do that either."

She said nothing after that. When her head lolled back, he figured she had finally succumbed to unconsciousness. He set down his phone and grabbed the hem of her tattered and bloody nightshirt. "Sorry about this."

He tore off half of the material and wrapped it tightly around the curse's blade sticking out of her arm, stemming what little blood leaked from the wound and securing the weapon it wouldn't move. When that was done, he wiped the fresh blood on the dried blood staining his pants, sighed, and picked up the phone.

Another breeze rustled the grass around them. In the glow of the half-moon, Nagatsuka's bare midriff was barely visible, but he averted his eyes all the same as he dialed the familiar number. His thumb hovered over the last digit when something snagged his gaze again. He turned back to Nagatsuka's prone form.

A long white scar ran vertically from the bottom of her sternum and up, disappearing under the rest of her shirt. It was old, nothing fresh; probably from some heart surgery when she was younger, he decided. Still, something about it kept his attention. It was almost like it shivered with some invisible energy, like the heat waves he'd see coming off the pavement on a hot summer day. Slowly, he reached out and put his fingertip over it, leaving it hovering until the energy coursed through him.

His eyes widened. Cursed energy. It was faint, but it was there. He stared. What was this girl doing with a scar imbued with cursed energy? He pressed down lightly, touching the scar, and was flooded almost immediately with an intensely familiar surge of cursed energy.

Grim, he finished dialing the number and waited.

After three rings, Gojo picked up. "Yes, my favorite pupil?"

Megumi looked down at Rei Nagatsuka and silently apologized to her for what was about to come. "I found something."

"One of the fingers?"

Megumi sighed.

"Worse."

I promise not every chapter will be this heavy. The title is literally a pun. I don't take myself that seriously.

Reviews are always appreciated!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!