the eyes and the teeth

A/N: Like I said in the previous chapter, I'm taking liberties with this world. I should be writing meiboukoushi, but here I am stuck and in love with this OC.

Nando Baba - a yokai in the form of an old woman, who hides in dark storerooms

Karajishi Botan - "guardian lion with peony" - a tattoo of a lion with peonies, which represent strength, beauty, and healing

Munewari - "split chest" - a style of tattooing that covers the arms, chest, and back, leaving a strip of bare skin running down the front torso

Akuin Akka - "cause evil, create evil"

Nawatsuki - "prisoner in bonds"

Nine Cuts Mudra - Kuji-in in Chinese, also known as Nine Hand Seals, which are used in exorcism rituals

Takamagahara - "Plain of High Heaven" - in Shinto mythology, refers to the abode of the gods (amatsukami), not equivalent to the Catholic heaven/Heaven

"In jujutsu fights, it's always a matter of who's the bigger monster."

A curse is exorcized and a domain is made. Between that, a funeral is held and a promise is broken.

You meet Tatsuya one afternoon in the spring. Outside your family's temple, he is picking wildflowers at the side of the gates. Those weeds are in full bloom, bright, vivid, and colorful.

"They're pretty." He tells you as he gathers the thin stalks in one hand and pulls them out of the ground with the other. "They're not supposed to grow here, but they're pretty."

You look at him curiously, the broom in your hand shifts and the breeze blows.

"I'm Tatsuya." He says, standing upright, "I just moved here."

He tells you he's from Sapporo, that big bustling city, and that he and his family moved here to Date to live a quieter life closer to his grandparents and closer to the sea.

He cups a hand around his ear and exclaims, "You can hear the waves from here!"

But you've lived here all your life, in your family temple near the sea, and not once have you heard the waves crashing into the shore. You think he's overreacting, that all people from the city act like this because you've seen and heard tourists and temple patrons smile and say it's so good to live by the sea, far away from everything else.

They've never heard what the sea sounds like in a storm, how the water deities clash against each other with each clap of thunder.

"What's your name?"

You tell him your name, even though you think Tatsuya is the same as all city-dwellers that are too fascinated with the quieter towns. They never stay here for long. If anything, Tatsuya is just here for until the summer ends. They're on vacation, and if it were up to you, they should have chosen a smaller town instead, maybe Yakumo or Mori. He can be your friend, but only until the end of summer.

"Can you show me to the beach?"

You look around, there's no one else on the street besides an old lady with a plastic bag of groceries headed home. There's no one with him either, so you ask about his parents, and he tells you they're busy unpacking. You're just finishing this morning chore, sweeping the front of the temple, and no one's calling you from inside so...

"Sure."

You're out the gates and running after him before the broom hits the ground. The road is a straight path to the beach, and you can see the sea melting into the sky at the horizon. It's a sunny day in spring that you decided to throw your cares to the wind, because you're bored of all these chores and you've got nothing else to do and you've always wanted to get out of this temple compound

"Wait for me!"

You hear Tatsuya's laugh, and decide you want him to be your friend.

You pass quiet houses and grassy lots, a small convenience store with a poster for shaved ice–and you make a small promise to buy some on your way home–and reach the shore faster than you thought.

"It's the sea!"

Tatsuya points at the water. The sea shimmers under the sun. You can hear the waves clearly now, as the crash on the shore. You look at your feet, at your worn slippers and think it's not the best for walking on the rocky beach. Then again, this area isn't for swimming, only for sightseeing.

"Is it true?" Tatsuya turns to you, "You can see the Akor-kami here?"

"Akor-kami?" You don't know what he's talking about.

"The big octopus! The really big one!"

You still don't know what he's talking about. You've heard that fishermen sometimes catch octopus in their nets, and your mother would be quick to buy it from them, but nothing about a big one, a really big one.

"I don't... No...?"

He makes a sound of disappointment. "Really?"

"My grandpa told me it lives here."

You start imagining it now, a big octopus coming out of the waves, and laugh. Tatsuya frowns and tells you it's real–he swears it's real and that he's going to offer it something to help heal his sick grandmother.

You sit beside him on the edge of the boardwalk and watch the water beneath your feet.

"What do you think the Akor-kami likes?"

He kicks his feet in the air. "Hmm... What do octopus like?"

You think about fish, clams, and shiny things.

Tatsuya kicks a little too fast, and a slipper falls into the sea.

"You think it likes slippers?"

He smiles and shows his teeth, and you think it's as bright as the sun. He laughs, you laugh, and the waves carry his slipper far and away, maybe into the arms of the waiting Akor-kami. And it's nice, this feeling, this moment.

"Do you like shaved ice, Tatsuya?"

He's your first friend outside of this family, and you want him to stay here forever.

And if Date is a quiet seaside town, Yokohama is a bursting port city. It's filled close to the brim with spiritual energy, and like every other city, the dense population and seaside location makes it a prime "birthing ground" for curses. It's your first time in Yokohama, your sixth time in any big city, and you can clearly see why people would rather live in provincial towns than cramped places like these. Even the cemeteries feel too crowded, close to bursting with spiritual energy.

"Thank you, senpai."

You're out of the cemetery gates, but the atmosphere is just the same. You turn to Satoru, with hands in his pockets, eyes covered by blackout sunglasses.

"And sorry, I just..."

You don't know how to end the apology, it's not purely out of his own kindness that he's accompanied you for the third day in a row. You're here to learn from him, from the "greatest sorcerer of your generation" and not mope around a grave. You're here to end a string of disappearances. You're here to banish a Jorogumo. You're here to avenge Tatsuya's death.

"He wasn't supposed to die."

If the elders were here, they'd tell you to suck up your tears and move on.

"Death comes for us all, whether in the form of the familiar or the strange. Death arrives in its own time, and not our own. It is the only divine thing that exists in our temporal plane."

They'd tell you this is natural, that Tatsuya's death was fated, written in the ancient code of the deities. They'd tell you it was just and right. That it was supposed to happen, like everything else in this world, because it was willed.

"No one is." He nods, "But things like that happen, anyway."

Things like that.

"Life, death, spirits, curses... They just happen." He looks up at the sky and taps a finger on his chin. "You can try and control them, but only try."

You're curious about the use of the word "you", like what he just said didn't apply to him, and the amused and casual tone he used to say it, like it was a truth of the world that should be obvious to everyone. So you ask.

"What about you, senpai?"

And Gojo Satoru, the no-good troublemaker who's too powerful for his own good, smiled like the sun–no, it was brighter than the sun, it was almost blinding.

"I'm not the strongest sorcerer for nothing."

And it's his phrasing that bothers you, like he knows and is sure that he is the strongest sorcerer from all the living generations of sorcerers in Japan, maybe even the whole world. Like you're supposed to know it too, and you do, but it's the way he says it, quick and casual like it's common knowledge–it isn't, at least not yet. Maybe.

But you don't have anything to respond to that, except the sound of verbal affirmation.

"Huh."

Or confusion, whichever reaches his ears.

"But I'm not in the mood to talk about metaphysics right now, so let's go!"

He's strutting into the street before you can catch up. He's tall, taller than a lot of people, so he's stands out like a star in the night sky with his fair skin and pale hair.

"Where are we going, senpai?"

His sunglasses slide down the bridge of his nose, and you now think he's really part-star. His eyes are like crystals, like ice, a pale bright blue that doesn't look real.

You think he can see through you, if he tries. If he wants to.

"Where would a Jorogumo likely be in a city like this?"

Of course.

You think he might be able to read minds too, because he grins with his teeth as you begin to realize it.

The night scene.

"But let's stop by a few places first."

He might have a mission or two of his own here in the city, and maybe you can see for yourself what makes him the strongest sorcerer alive. You're looking forward to these places, at what kind of curses and spirits you'll encounter with him. The elders what you to learn from him, so you will.

But now, outside the cemetery, you can see a gigantic squid-like spirit wrapped around a billboard.

Akor-kami.

You briefly remember the first time you've heard of that word, and how your grandfather scolded you for pronouncing it incorrectly.

"It's Akkorokamui. Say it wrong again and it'll really get mad, and guardian deities are a pain to appease when they are."

You blink at it and wonder what it's looking at, at the tall building across it.

"One rule for sorcerers in the city," Satoru says, "always determine if it's a spirit or a curse."

I know, senpai.

You want to say, but that's one of the reasons you dislike big cities filled with people. It's easier for spirits to become corrupted, and it's faster for curses to manifest into their full forms. You've been trained to act quickly, to reinforce seals months before their expiry and appease spirits before the slightest hint of corruption.

The earlier you act, the better.

Yes, earlier rather than faster. So you and your family have busied themselves with reinforcing seals and stabilizing places of power all over northern Japan. A minor sorcerer line your family may be, they're still respected enough to be allowed to act on their own.

So when you look at the gigantic squid-like spirit, you wonder who or what could manifest a thing.

But Satoru shrugs like he doesn't see it. "If it's harmless, leave it. It'll go away."

He's the strongest, anyway.

So you listen and pay it no mind, but quietly you begin to wonder if that gigantic spirit is a manifestation of Tatsuya's fascination with the Akkorokamui, or Tatsuya himself.

You hope not.

"Akkorokamui."

It's sunset one Saturday that Tatsuya finally pronounces it right. You're both sitting at the boardwalk again, bare feet kicking in the air–you've both learned your lesson not to offer the sea deity any more slippers.

"Yeah."

You watch the waves beneath your feet, at how they sparkle and shimmer in the red-gold light.

"Akkorokamui." Tatsuya says it another time, like he's practicing, like he's memorizing it.

It's been weeks and his grandmother's illness hasn't gone away. They've taken her to the hospital and the doctors prescribed medication and told her to get enough rest, but... Nothing has changed since then. She's still feverish and weak, and she barely speaks, and Tatsuya is heartbroken. You remember how determined he was when he said it, when he stood on the boardwalk and made a promise.

"The Akor-kami can heal her."

And you know it can–she can–because you know she's real and she exists, and your grandfather himself showed you the shrine to the Akkorokamui.

"We make offerings to her every season."

It was a small shrine, hidden in a bamboo grove in your family compound, but it was clean and well-kept and the Akkorokamui's statue was beautiful. It stood among rocks, half-human and half-octopus, and crowned with seashells and holding a basket of fish.

"If your friend seeks her help, then ten baskets of fish would suffice."

And Tatsuya would have done that, you know he would, if his parents believed him, if they believed the myths and the legends as much as he did.

So today, Tatsuya has one basketful of live shellfish, bought by combining your and his summer allowance and a fisherman's good heart. It won't be enough to get the Akkorokamui's aid, let alone her attention. But you hope, you hope that his grandmother would get better, that the medicines start taking effect, that in one way or another, Tatsuya will be happy.

"I pray to you, Akko–Akkorokamui." He claps his hands together, "Please heal my grandmother. She's been sick for a very long time, and you're the only one who can heal her. Please, Akkorokamui. Please heal her."

He picks up the bucket and you help with the other side. You tip it over together, and watch as the shellfish pour into the water.

"Please, Akkorokamui. Please heal her."

You sit back down on the boardwalk and watch the red-orange sky. Tatsuya remains standing, eyes looking intently at the horizon.

"Please, Akkorokamui!" He yells into the sea, "Please heal her!"

And it's sad, that you can see what he will never be able to.

In the distance, a deep-red tentacle comes up from the waves. And then it's followed by several more, until all eight of Akkorokamui's tentacles are visible on the horizon. It's a breathtaking sight, a scary sight, that this beast of the sea deity is real and has made itself known to you. Her tentacles sway in the distance, and you smile. Your grandfather told you about it before:

"She'll let you know if she's heard your prayers by dancing."

And you want to show Tatsuya that she's heard him, that Akkorokamui is going to heal his dear grandmother. His eyes are brimming with tears now.

"She will, Tatsuya." You stand to tell him. "She heard you."

Tatsuya looks at you and cries. "You promise?"

"I promise."

He hugs you tightly, and you hug him back even tighter as you stare in awe at Akkorokamui's tentacles, now glowing a bright golden color, swaying in the wind.

"She's going to get better soon."

A few days later, she did. And she was livelier than she was before, she could walk without the aid of a cane, and she could even jog a little. It was as if she had been cured of every possible ailment she could have, and it's all thanks to–

"It's all thanks to you."

The sight of Tatsuya's smile and the ocean waves will always make you smile.

But that's no longer something you'll get to see, because it's just a memory now. It's a memory you'll struggle to remember later on in life, but you'll try to hold on to as long as you can. It's a memory you'll remember in the important moments, in the mundane moments. It's a memory that will appear to you like a ghost, suddenly and sometimes devastatingly. And it's a memory the elders might rather you forget.

But it's not like it's an especially traumatic or important memory, is it? You have more important and more... intimate memories of Tatsuya.

"It's the little things that you remember, the little things that manage to crack the armor."

They've told you about how certain spirits and curses can manifest or manipulate the memories of those who've fallen into their traps or those who've entered their domains. They are few and far apart, but they exist and they especially like hanging around in places with lots of people.

But you're a sorcerer, not just anybody.

"The next rule for sorcerers in the city…" Satoru stops in front of a store in the shopping district. It's an optical shop, an expensive-looking one. You think he's concerned about your eyes, which is strange enough. You've never shown any difficulty visually.

"I can see fine, senpai."

But he sighs like he's disappointed, like he's pitying you. "And that's the problem."

"Weren't you told that curses don't want to be seen by us sorcerers? Or heard? Or smelled? Or even tasted?"

No. So you shake your head.

"Right. Your family's a bunch of traditionalists."

He steps inside the store before you can say anything else.

"Anyone would think tattoos would mean a liberal mindset, but no."

He continues to chatter as he makes his way through the displays.

"Then again, a lot of you cover up like it's a plague in winter."

And there's reason for it, you want to argue, you wouldn't want cursed spirits to know the tricks up your sleeve.

"You get all those elaborate designs done, and hide it? It doesn't make sense."

And it's only the elders doing it! A lot of us now are–

"If I had that technique, maybe I'd strut around naked all the time."

Well, he isn't entirely wrong. You know a number of people in your family who go to work in nothing but their underwear. And you're... Well, you're close.

"Senpai!"

Still, that was inappropriate.

But he's quick to brush it off, "Anyway, find yourself a pair or two, or three."

You look at the rows and the displays, and can't find anything.

"Or even seven for each day of the week."

You wonder how many he has, and why the strongest sorcerer even needs them.

"How many do you have, senpai?"

It takes him four seconds to answer.

"A lot. I don't know."

Do they often get broken? Smashed? Obliterated? Lost? Eaten?

"They're custom-made, by the way. Special."

Right, because the round frames he's wearing now, you can't even see anything through them. They're completely black. Like they've been painted on. So you scour through the rows and columns, looking for the right one. Something simple, plain, basic, but fashionable.

And then you see it. Round frames with lenses the color of the Akkorokamui's vibrant, red-orange body.

"That one."

And you think he agrees with that choice, because he gives a wolf-whistle and says:

"And you can get it for free if you exorcize the curse in the storeroom."

Was this the first stop? Was this his mission and he's pushing it to you?

"It's a Grade 4 spirit, so it should be a good warmup for the Jorogumo."

Or was this to gage your skills? Was he training you now?

"But I heard it's evolved into a Grade 3, so…"

You look at the pair's price tag. A good warmup indeed.

"I'll get it done, senpai."

He claps his hands.

"Wonderful!"

So you enter the storeroom and see, almost immediately, an old lady in tattered clothing, chewing on pairs of sunglasses. You've heard of this before, the Nando Baba, but they shouldn't be any higher than a Grade 4 since they're practically harmless, so why would this be–

The Nando Baba starts screeching and screaming incoherent words. It leaps towards you, fangs bared and fingers morphed into talons. It's territorial, it's violent, it's out for blood.

And you're quick to push up your sleeve and reveal a full-arm tattoo.

"Karajishi Botan!"

And out leaps the lion from your skin, along with the peonies and the dark black wave. It roars and yells, and opens its jaws to attack the spirit. But the spirit is quick on its feet, like it's not the scurrying old hag in mythology.

The lion lands on your feet and the peonies float above it.

"Ke-kuku-ke-keku..." The Nando Baba chants, folding its hands together.

What's it trying to do?

"…Nando Baba-u…" She continues her chant, splaying her fingers far apart and holding her arms up above her head.

And the pose looks familiar, as if it's trying to–

No!

You shrug off your coat and fully expose your shoulders and chest, which are adorned with a paired tattoo of the wind god Fujin and the thunder god Raijin. You cross your arms and call out the paired images, however minor they are compared to the actual shikigami, and prepare to split apart the Nando Baba's attack.

"...shi!" She finishes chanting, calling forth a dense ball of cursed energy.

"Munewari!"

You reach out with your left hand and lead Fujin's image towards the tips of your fingers. The Nando Baba's attack splits and breaks when it hits. Immediately, you take out a leaf of paper from the notepad on your waist, and face the text towards the Nando Baba.

"Akuin Akka."

The characters lift from the paper and morph into a sharp, straight edge that flies through the room and straight into the Nando Baba's neck, impaling her on the spot.

You take the next piece of paper, and place it above the first.

"Nawatsuki."

The characters morph into a thin rope, and bind the Nando Baba's body tightly. Then you bear your stomach fully, the nine characters written on your skin coming to full view.

The Nine Cuts Mudra, the trump card of your inherited techniques, the end-all-be-all of your family's cursed techniques, a technique in your arsenal of ink-entities that you have yet to master completely. Because in the words of your late grandmother:

"Let all other clans have their techniques and their curses, for we will have Takamagahara."

But if and only if you manage to master the nine seals. Remove all your other tattoos, forget all your other techniques, and focus solely on the nine. And right now, you aren't even close. Right now, you're still reliant on single-sue characters and shikigami. Right now, you're still trying.

"Rin-pyou-tou-sha-kai-jin-retsu-zai-zen."

The characters glow and morph into a whirlpool on your stomach, initiating the sealing ritual. You pull quickly to unfurl the scroll beside the notepad on your waist, and watch the characters jump from the paper and surround the Nando Baba.

"Come warriors, fight as one, ready in formation, line up and take position in front. Destroy!"

The characters close in on the spirit, ignite, and burst into flames. You hear the Nando Baba's screaming, the pained wailing from a curse being exorcized. And as quick as the ignition, the spirit dissipates into the air together with the ink binding it.

It's done.

You look around and think that maybe Munewari wasn't the right counter to her attack, because though the ball has split and you're unscathed, it's not without damage to the stocks in the storeroom. But that's part of the job, anyway, exorcisms aren't all perfect, and your technique definitely needs polishing.

"Well done!"

Satoru's voice comes from behind you–how did he get there?

"I didn't think I'd get to see cursed script in action, but that exorcism is a pass!"

No–when did he get there?

"Thank you, senpai."

"And as promised." He tosses you a small case.

You open it and see the pair you've eyed in the store. You smile to yourself and wear it, thinking you look as cool as him.

"Where to next, senpai?"

A/N: That was fast, especially for me. I don't usually have this much time to write, so I'm making the most of it.