DISCLAIMER:
I do NOT own the Oregairu and Jujutsu Kaisen series as they are respectfully owned by the creators and studios.
"This is troublesome." The voice of a man echoed through the narrow corridor. Each step was imbued with caution. It was thanks to the window wall on his right side that the moonlight could illuminate the dark corridor. After three more steps, he heard voices that sounded distorted and broken. The voices didn't sound like they belong to humans, as well as the stomps that went with them. The man took a deep breath and without a hint of fear, he walked forward until he saw what he had been looking for. "There you are."
"O... VeR... tiME? ... So... TiREd!" The creature said as if it was struggling to speak. It appeared to be a purple four-legged creature with the two front legs looked like those of a dog while the back legs looked like those of a pig. Its head only comprising an enormous mouth that a human could fit in, and its eyes were as large as a human head and appeared to be tired with the black bags under them. The creature's long neck had grey arms twisted and wrapped around it with two long strands of chains made of small and thin bones attached to each side of the collar-like twisted arms. On top of its back appeared to be the upper half of a human, but its skin was purple and had no head or a neck. The center of its chest had one eye in the size of a fist. Though it appeared to be riding the four-legged creature, the bottom portion of the human-like upper body was attached to the four-legged creature's back as if they merged. The headless upper body held and wrapped the bone-made chains around its hands. "TIreD... tIREd..."
"I agree that overtime is quite tiring," The man said while gripping a weapon. He was a tall, well-built man with light-brown hair styled with a neat part. His attire was a business suit that comprised a blue dress shirt underneath a tan blazer with matching slacks, a yellow necktie with splattered black dot pattern design, and light shoes. His weapon was a small blunt sword wrapped in a cloth with the same pattern design as his necktie. He also wore sunglasses that didn't have arms that wrap around the ears. He looked at his wristwatch to see the time, removed his necktie and wrapped it around his right fist. "So allow me to finish my job as quickly as possible so I can rest."
"TIRED!" The headless creature pulled the chains, prompting the four-legged monster to charge at the man. Because of the narrow space and the large size of the monster, he had no choice but to face its charge head-on. It was faster than the normal human eye could see, but the man was able to react in time against the monster. He swung the cloth-covered blade, and he successfully cut the four-legged creature's head and the human-like upper body's right arm. The moment they passed by each other, the man saw more monsters heading his way. They looked like humans of both genders, but the two differences that separated them from normal humans were that these creatures in front of him had pure white skin and their faces were deformed. One was a man-like monster that had its nose bent sideways and its left eye was higher than the right eye. The other had a figure of a woman, and the right side of its mouth was stretched. Then there was one with wrinkles and its cheeks were saggy. These humanoid monsters were just walking towards him with a straight posture and almost showed no signs of hostility.
"More of them..." The man in the business suit mumbled as he focused on fighting those humanoid monsters and struck first. When he swung his blunt sword at one of them, it immediately became a blur, blocked the swing and punched his right chest in the blink of an eye. Its punch pushed him back, but he didn't appear to be hurt. He watched as the humanoid monsters continued to walk towards him at the same pace. "They seem to attack when I either attack them or enter their proximity. Like they're using simple domain. Either way, with this many cursed spirits and such reflexes, the stacks are against me. There is also that other cursed spirit..."
"OOOVVEERRRTTIIIIMEEE!" The centaur-like cursed spirit shouted while moving away from him and regenerating its right arm.
"Cutting its head is not a fatal attack. I assume damaging the upper body should exorcise it." The man thought as the cursed spirit removed the bone-made chains from his hands and spun them. It swung the chain like a whip, aiming at the man's head, but he dodged it in time and ran towards the cursed spirit while dodging three more whip attacks. Despite the narrow space, the cursed spirit could still swing the chains, grazing the concrete wall and shattering the glass window wall without losing the strength of the attack. After sidestepping another whip attack and knocking away one more with his weapon, he finally closed the distance between them as the cursed spirit was within his close range. But suddenly, a long, large spine came out of the four-legged spirit's beheaded neck like a living creature and stretched towards him. He blocked the thrust attack with his weapon while being pushed back. He struggled, but managed to redirect the spine away. However, he was near two white, humanoid cursed spirits from each of his side. After noticing this, he raised both arms and hardened his body to defend against a fast synchronized punch from each side and jumped forward to move away from the humanoid spirits, though not before being grazed in the head by one of their roundhouse kicks. The stretching spine wrapped around his left wrist and pulled him towards the cursed centaur spirit. The upper body let go of the chain and threw a right haymaker when the man was pulled close enough. The man in the business suit did the same and so they clashed fist. However, he won as the spirit's entire right hand exploded upon contact. He then punched the eye at the center of its chest, which caused the upper body to explode into pieces as the cursed centaur spirit disappeared, meaning that he successfully exorcised it. "If you kept pushing me towards those humanoid cursed spirits with that stretching spinal cord, the tables would have turned to your favor. I'm glad that you lack intelligence so I could exorcise you faster."
"Wo00ooRRrRkk..." One of the white, humanoid cursed spirit spoke.
"Now, these cursed spirits are the most troublesome," The man in business suit thought. "Their cursed energy is equal to mine, but their speed and reflexes in attacking someone near them are the genuine issue. I need to lure them and-"
"Kaichi!" Another man behind the group of humanoid cursed spirits shouted as one's head was pierced by what appeared to be a horn. The man in the business suit saw the person wearing a ski-mask, a wide-collared black sweatshirt, and matching black pants tucked into his high-topped sneakers. The man wearing the ski-mask summoned the same horn and fired at another humanoid spirit that was approaching him.
"Ino..." The man in the business suit spoke.
"Are you alright, Nanami?!" The man named Ino asked while firing another horn.
"Yes, don't engage in close combat with these cursed spirits. They have blinding reflexes and powerful strikes."
"Okay!" Ino accepted his advice and fired one more.
"As for me..." Nanami turned around as he heard footsteps. Another cursed spirit came out of the end of the corridor. This time, its skin was red, twice as tall as him, its right arm was muscular while its left arm was very skinny, and its face was sad with tears in its eyes.
"SigN PApERs...?" The red cursed spirit spoke and Nanami remained silent as he walked forward while it followed suit. Slowly, they closed the distance as if they were in a standoff. He raised his cloth-covered blade in front while the red cursed spirit raised both fists in front to strike a boxing stance. After five steps closer, the cursed spirit struck first with a quick left jab in the face, and Nanami blocked it with the flat portion of his weapon due to his reflexes. The red spirit continued its left jabs at him. They were too fast for him to evade some jabs, and so he prioritized in guarding his face with the blunt sword and hardening his body with cursed energy to endure them. Nanami felt the punches received in his abdomen and arms, and while he was standing his ground, he noticed something about the red cursed spirit.
"Cursed energy is building up in its other fist. The curse might try to throw a straight right. That will be my opportunity." As soon as Nanami thought that, the cursed spirit threw a straight right, and he turned sideways to evade. When its fist passed him, The force of the punch was so strong, it shattered the glass window wall and blew away the white humanoid cursed spirits along with Ino. he swung down his weapon at the cursed spirit's right arm and the limb exploded in half. He threw a straight right at the red cursed spirit's chest which caused his fist to sink into its flesh until the punch blew a hole through it. In a desperate attempt, the curse tried to throw a left haymaker, but Nanami cut off its right leg with the blunt weapon, and perhaps because of the hole in its chest, the speed of swinging its left arm was slower than before. Nanami ended the fight by jumping towards the cursed spirit to hit its face with a right haymaker which sent the spirit crashing through the concrete wall and into an office, breaking the chairs and desks from its tumble. After lying on the ground with its head splattered into nothing, the red cursed spirit disappeared, successfully exorcised.
"That's the last of them," Ino said while walking towards him and lifted the ski-mask to reveal his cheerful grin. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I received several bruises and I am incredibly exhausted, but overall, I'm fine," Nanami answered and then the pair walked side by side on the corridor.
"But this is strange," Ino said while holding his own chin. "In a mere two weeks, ten incidents with one or more semi-first to first grade curses occurred in this city. And now, this one makes it the eleventh."
"Curse activities are increasing here since last year at an unnatural rate. Not only that, curses are also appearing more recently somewhere in the prefecture. It's like an infection with this city being the hotspot of curses," Nanami said while cleaning his sunglasses with a cloth.
"This could be the work of a curse user, or a cursed object. Possibly both," Ino commented. "This city is too peaceful to have this many curses."
"Don't underestimate human complexity, Ino. Even the kindest person can bear emotions such as grief and anger to a humongous degree. In any case, we must investigate this situation before it escalates even further. Let's head back to Jujutsu Tech."
"Right... By the way, about what I said an hour ago-"
"I told you, have someone else recommend you."
"But it wouldn't be right if it isn't you, Nanami!"
The Unseen World Of Curses: Part 1
The Discovery
Early July, 3:45 pm
The sun shined at those below it with the blue sky together, completing the essence of daytime. Trees and all gifts from nature received more life than ever. The city was busy as usual, maintaining the functions of society and lifestyle by contributing to the economy with businesses and practicing social interactions and culture. To many people, daytime in this particular season was perfect for playing outside and enjoy what was shown by the sunlight. However, there were some who changed their minds on seeing the positive side of the season.
"So... Hot..." A young girl voiced out her complain in an exhausted low tone. While this season was a time to have tropical and sunny vacations, travel to various places, and the most freedom to do anything, summer was the hottest season of the world where people must use conventional means such as air conditioners to defend themselves against the insufferable heat. The young girl wore a white buttoned shirt, a loosened red ribbon tie, and a plaid skirt. Her medium-length black hair was tied in a ponytail to feel more air while wiping the sweat on her forehead and neck.
"Summer break... Please, come..." Another girl said her struggle with the heat. She wore the same attire as the other one and had shoulder-length bobbed brown hair that was also tied in a ponytail for the same reason. The brown-haired girl pulled out a notebook from her bag and used it to fan herself. It did help in lessening the heat, but it was still unbearable by her standards. The two girls sat next to each other at a table with the intention of waiting for the three main members of the club to return, but every second felt like hours to them the longer they waited in the intense heat. "Where... are they...?"
"Onii-chan should arrive by now..." The short black-haired girl answered while pulling out her own notebook to imitate the brown-haired girl's action. "Yui-san is in the restroom. Yuki-nee is obviously with Onii-chan..."
"Oi, Rice-chan. Since when did you start calling her that?"
"About a week ago. We grew really close trashing Onii-chan every time he's doing something stupid. For a month, she helped household chores every time during her visits in our house. It's like we have an older sister in the family. Like, there was that one time when she cooked curry for us and it was so good! Onii-chan said it was the best curry, but I know that's from bias because that's his obligation as her boyfriend. The next time I cook curry, he'll bounce right back to siscon mode."
"So she's now visiting Senpai's house after he visited hers. What a happy relationshiiip~" The brown-haired girl stretched the last syllable in a bored tone with forced cheerfulness. She wasn't bored because the conversation didn't interest her. The true reason behind that expression was to hide her jealousy, though if one who knew her well saw her, he or she could see through the facade.
"It really is, but they still haven't done the next thing that's very important between boyfriend and girlfriend..." The girl nicknamed Rice-chan crossed her arms together with a serious expression on her face.
"And what's that?" The brown-haired girl asked while leaning back on the chair and staring at the ceiling.
"Isn't it obvious, Iroha-senpai? Those two haven't-" Before she could finish her answer, the door sliding open caught their attention as they saw one senior student they'd been waiting for. The student was a beautiful girl with blue eyes, and long black hair that had two red ribbons adorning it just above her shoulders. Her attire was exactly the same as the two girls in the room wearing. Rice-chan's eyes brightened from seeing the senior student while the brown-haired girl named Iroha looked what was behind the long black-haired girl. "Yuki-nee!"
"What took so long, Yukinon-senpai?" Iroha asked.
"We're back. We had some complications along the way..." The girl named Yukino apologized while entering the room with someone following behind her. The person was a boy with medium-short black hair and dead fish-eyes. His attire consisted of a white, short-sleeved collar shirt, and black pants. He was carrying an electric pedestal fan and placed it in the room's side, facing them.
"Now where's the outlet to plug this thing?" The boy asked with an exhausted look and sweat all over his face.
"Over there, Hiki... Hachiman." Yukino answered with red cheeks while sitting at the table across the two girls.
"Yaaayyy~! The wind scepter that will bring salvation." Rice-chan said with a weary smile.
"Plug the fan. Huurryyy~!" Iroha said with the same expression.
"Give me a sec. And don't look at this as some blessed legendary artifact, Komachi, though I share the same feeling."The boy named Hachiman said in a low tone while approaching the wall outlet with the plug in hand.
"Please shut up and do iiiit~, Senpaaaaiiii~..."
"Onii-chaaaaaann~..." The two young girls growled their impatience together. hachiman wanted to say a word to them, but decided against it since he figured it would further annoy them after having them tolerate the summer heat for so long, and he didn't have enough brain capacity to come up with anything because of that heat.
"I'm back~. Ah! Finally, the fan!" A girl with peach-colored, shoulder-length hair entered the room. " I thought I was gonna die in the hallway. It's way too hot! Hikki, turn it on!"
"And here we go..." Hachiman pressed the button on the pole, and the plastic fan blades started spinning until it emitted air. "Much better, especially after passing the final exam."
"I barely passed," The peach-haired girl said in a gloomy tone and then in distress. "If I got one more question wrong, my summer would be mostly supplementary classes!"
"Another miracle from the airhead herself," Hachiman commented while sitting next to Yukino and closed his eyes to rest and savor the cool breeze from the fan. "I seriously thought you'd be screwed this time."
"Don't say that to Yui-senpai, stupid Onii-chan." His little sister named Komachi said while leaning forward to the fan to feel the wind more.
"What do you mean, 'miracle'?! All of that is because of my hard work!" The peach-haired girl named Yui argued with her chest raised, proud of her own accomplishment.
"True, you should appreciate that Yuigahama-san managed to achieve a low yet passable result despite spending hours late struggling ONE subject in our study group session," Yukino said while nodding with a twitching eyebrow. "Yes, we should be glad after that effort, tolerance, and insanity, she was able to pass with THAT result."
"Y-Yukinon, are you mad?! You're mad, aren't you?!" Yui stood up, went to Yukino, and then bent both knees to her side, begging for forgiveness while hugging her. "I'm sorry! But Japanese literature is so not in my alley! Every time I see that test paper, all the words look like some ancient code or something, and it's like I have to de... dehydrate?!"
"You mean decipher?" Hachiman corrected her.
"Yeah! Yeah! That! I'll make it up to you, Yukinon! A-Ah, how about we go to that cat cafe near the district?! My treat!"
"I am not mad, Yuigahama-san. I am happy you've succeeded in the exam..." Yukino reassured while caressing Yui's head. "Now going back to that cafe you spoke of earlier."
"Yukinoooon~? Once again, you let her go too easily the moment she mentioned cats," Hachiman thought while putting his black T-shirt in his school bag. "We really need to fix that pesky frisky love of cats before everyone will take advantage of it."
"Was the heat too much for you that you need to get the T-shirt off?" Komachi asked after noticing the fabric of clothing he held in the bag.
"Yukino... shita and I found that damn fan in the storage room. That's why we took so long and almost got ourselves a heat stroke." Hachiman answered.
"Eh? I swear I put the fan somewhere in the student council room." Iroha stared at the ceiling, trying to remember if she was right.
"Well, we couldn't find it there, and then the vice president told us where it really was, so we went and get it."
"After finding it, Hikiclumsy-kun accidentally bumped into a mountain of scraps, and so we tidied them before leaving." Yukino explained with him.
"Hmmm~? Is that really it~?" Komachi smirked and stared with narrowed eyes at the couple. "Or maybe you two were making out in a dark corner?!"
"Hah?" The couple flinched when Komachi stood up, slammed the table and looked at them with a gleam in her eyes.
"I believe in Rice-chan's reason more than yours, Senpai," Iroha said and looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "Boys like you would take any chance to do things with a girl like Yukinon-senpai. Pervert."
"Nothing like that happened. We're telling the truth." Hachiman immediately denied their assumptions while blushing.
"T-That's right. It's too shameless to do so in school." Yukino said while clearing her throat with red cheeks to regain composure.
"Heeeh~?" Both Iroha and Komachi continued to pierce the couple with their doubtful stares and teasing smug. While two pairs were arguing, Yui was the only person who was silent throughout the entire conversation. Despite maintaining her friendship with Yukino and could still spend time at the Service Club for one last year, the peach-haired girl's feelings for Hachiman still hadn't waned even after months had passed since they started dating. The more she listened to their antics and romantic experience, the more painful her heart ached. Regardless, this was the best possible outcome she could imagine realistically. And the only thing she could do to remedy the heartbreak was to move on, but that proved to be extremely difficult. What became a simple crush grew into genuine affection and love for the boy who saved her dog. It was her first time to experience romance... And it ended in the way only he could do.
...
"I'll be able to do this better someday. I think the day will come when I can properly convey my feeling and properly respond to other's feelings without bending words and logic to do it... But, you don't have to wait for that."
...
That was basically a rejection on his part. A rejection that only he knew how and fit for someone who couldn't convey the right words. It was cryptic and indirect, but Yui understood the message well. He made his choice.
She lost.
"-that dumb! I can get higher grades!" Iroha's shout interrupted Yui's train of thought as the peach-haired girl realized the conversation changed. Iroha was glaring with puffy cheeks at Hachiman because of whatever words he said that offended her.
"What's your rank in the exam?" He asked with indifference and crossed his arms together.
"Uuuhh... Uhm..." From that question, Iroha became silent and stuttering, which caused all the Service Club members to stare at her until she answered softly. "... 195th."
"Below average, huh?" Hachiman said with a sigh of disappointment.
"That doesn't mean anything! You know what they say about quantitative data. They're easy to become obsolete." Iroha rebutted with a ridiculous argument.
"We're talking about test results and academic ranks, not about doing quantitative research. And quantitative data becomes obsolete through time and changes," Hachiman argued back. "and if I remember right, the rankings were published very recently. About a week ago or so."
"W-Well, I'm busy working in the student council as president, so my hands are all tied up, Senpai~!" Iroha said with her strength to oppose slowly dwindle from not thinking of a good argument (or an excuse) as to why her grades were low. She pretended to be on the verge of tears and appear exhausted, but it was proven to be ineffective as Hachiman just stared at her with a deadpanned look.
"That fault still lies in you, Isshiki-san," This time, Yukino stepped in to shut down her excuse. "You should have adjusted your daily schedule after becoming the student council president. Concerns of studying is already a tedious work for many students, and you have to carry both that and the responsibilities as president, which we can now all see that you lack the ability to handle both at the same time. This is your second year of being student council president, so you must have a proper schedule organizing your activities at this point."
"Ggh!" Iroha failed to think of anything to to defend herself. The only thing she did as a response was sitting down, drawing circles on the table with her index finger, and stared down, too embarrassed to look at the couple in the eye.
"Well, let's calm down," Yui tried to calm the conversation. "I mean, she really is busy with student council work and probably some of the work might sometimes come at her out of nowhere. It's not like things will go as you wanted, y'know?"
"Then how is she able to get some free time to visit us?" Hachiman's question destroyed Yui's defense to Iroha in one second.
"Well... It's not like she failed the first semester, did she?" Yui asked nervously.
"Isshiki passed by the skin of her teeth. What's problematic is that she performed it worse than you, so yeah..."
"Eeehh?! That's the problem!?" Yui pouted and stood up to give him a barrage of weak punches. "Is something considered bad now if it's worse than me?!"
"What are you talking about? You are basically our measurement unit of airheadedness," Hachiman said while raising his arm to block some of her punches, but he cared little for her antic since those punches weren't painful. "Think of it as giving a name to level one and two. Level one is the lowest in the airhead department, and the highest level on that is the 'Level Yui'."
"I'm a level now!?" Yui's anger grew that she began pinching his sides, cheeks, and ears in which Hachiman defended himself from her attacks.
"That's enough, you two," Yukino ordered them and they complied immediately. Yui went back to her seat as Yukino looked at the brown-haired girl with a serious expression. "I do see that your duties in the student council are affecting your grades. Before becoming president, your grades ranges from average to above average, but after that, it became a steady downward slope. Time and management are the key elements to even your effort to specific tasks."
"And the perfect start is finding what time and day should you empty the slots to insert your main priorities there." Hachiman spoke.
"Indeed. For example, your bedtime. Your sleep should at least be seven or six hours depending on what school activities you were given such as homeworks or studying for an exam."
"Between eleven o'clock and midnight is probably one of the best time to sleep, at least that's what I think since my nightly routine is like that. I can still spend the free time I have at night and sleep at the appropriate time to get a proper rest."
"Next is to see what activities are unnecessary to your schedule. Activities that are unrelated to studying such as-"
"T-These two are acting like two teachers scolding me! No, they're acting like my parents. NO! Like parents working as teachers scolding me!" Iroha thought while the couple in the room was still lecturing her. Yui noticed how fake the brown-haired girl's smile which told her that Iroha was either uncomfortable or was plain annoyed by their "parenting".
"Okay! Let's forget about school!" Yui said while raising her hand up to gain their attention. "It's almost summer break! You guys have any plans?"
"Rest." Hachiman answered immediately.
"Do summer homework." Yukino followed.
"Go out on dates."
"Perhaps going to the pool or a beach."
"And have Yukinoshita join on a trip to visit our grandparents."
"That's quick! You already planned all that?!" Yui asked in bewilderment at the reveal of their summer plans.
"Onii-chan and Yuki-nee talked about it during one of her visits to our house," Komachi answered for them with a grin. "Believe me, they wrote down a lot of stuff in their summer 'to-do' list than what they told us."
"Heeehh~? So you're planning to go to the beach? Just the two of you?" Iroha asked while looking at them with narrowed eyes.
"Of course not. We were thinking of inviting you all to a beach resort in Okinawa." Yukino answered.
"OKINAWA?!" The three girls shouted in shock at the couple. Hachiman flinched and covered his ears from their loud voices, while Yukino didn't seem to be fazed by it.
"Yes, Onee-san offered to join her to stay in a beach resort in Okinawa for three days. I thought it would be great if you all come with us."
"I'm so in!" Yui accepted the invitation while quickly standing up in excitement.
"Can I really come with you guys?!" Iroha asked with a gleam in her eyes and Yukino nodded in confirmation.
"As expected of Yuki-nee!" Komachi said with a thumbs-up. All the girls in the clubroom excitedly talked about the trip and then about other activities that they could do together during summer break.
"There is so much to look forward to," Yukino said with a smile. "Obviously, there are beaches known for having white sand, crystal clear water, and coral reefs. Of course, the resort we will be staying is world-class, so you can all expect the luxurious accommodation with great service. However, there is more in Okinawa than that: There is also the Shurijo Castle which is a wonderful tourist site located in Naha; There are several islands such as Kourijima which is a small island located about one kilometer away from the northeast of the main island and can only be entered through the Kouri Bridge; The cuisine in Okinawa is very different compared to the typical cuisine we have accustomed to-"
"She's going Yukipidea mode again," Hachiman thought while smiling and shaking his head to his girlfriend's excitement. He stood up and went to the door. "I'm buying juice. Do you all want something?"
"Green tea!" Komachi answered.
"Melon soda!" Yui followed suit.
"Dr. Pepper, please!" Iroha injected her request as Hachiman opened the door.
"Green tea for me as well." Yukino was the last to answer. With a nod, he left the room before the girls went back to their conversations about Okinawa. While walking in the empty and hot hallway to reach the vending machine, he noticed something small far in a staircase. It appeared to be some sort of object or creature with more than two eyes, and its skin was beige. Hachiman narrowed his eyes to see what it was, but he couldn't make out. And so, he rushed toward the staircase to look up and saw nothing but the sun shining through the window.
"I thought I saw something... Was it my imagination?"
Meanwhile
Somewhere in an old abandoned building.
"What the hell is this?" A woman voiced out her anger with a click of her tongue as she swung a naginata at a cursed spirit that looked like a blue bulldog with only one eye on its forehead. She decapitated the cursed spirit's head with the naginata and proceeded to cut another cursed spirit. The girl had black eyes and long black hair tied into a ponytail with bangs over the left side of her face, and she sported a pair of glasses. Her attire consisted of a black, long sleeve jacket with a pin on the left side engraved with what appeared to be a crest or logo, a matching skirt, and leggings. "Just when we're about to head home after completing another mission here in Chiba, there's more?"
"Curses are really appearing left and right in this city," A panda talked in a male voice while punching a humanoid cursed spirit with a pair of spider legs. "It's a good thing we only encountered one first grade. We're nearly at our limit."
"Salmon roe." A boy said while glaring at a swarm of cursed spirits coming from the double door. He had medium-length straight platinum blonde hair and strange tattoos on his tongue and both sides of his mouth. He also wore the same jacket as the girl with glasses, but the difference was that it had a high collar tailored into it that could cover his mouth and wore pants. With a deep breath, he shouted. "Explode!"
"Please tell me this is the last of them?" The girl asked after watching the cursed spirits in front of the boy exploded violently. She and the boy were sweating because of the summer heat, and the exhaustion from exorcising curses pushed their limit. The trio waited silently for something to happen, such as more cursed spirits appearing, but fortunately nothing happened after twenty seconds of waiting. All three breathe a sigh of relief as the girl lowered her weapon. The boy zipped up his collar closed to cover his mouth, and the talking panda lied prone on the floor.
"Tuna mayo..." The boy said between exhausted breaths.
"Alright, let's get out of here already," The girl said while wiping the sweat on her cheek and they followed her, leaving the building under the night sky. There was a black van parked in front of the building and coming out of the driver's seat was a woman with neck-length blonde hair and wore a black long-sleeved jacket over a white button-down shirt and red tie, black pants and black shoes.
"Good work~..." The blonde woman said to them as the night sky melted into daylight with the sun shining down on them.
"Why can't your veil change the temperature," The girl with glasses complained while entering the vehicle and unbuttoned her collar. "At least make our work more comfortable and cooler for the season."
"I'm sorry, but please bear with it. Since all of you are exhausted, we'll head back to Jujutsu Tech." The blonde woman said and entered the driver's seat. The boy sat on the backseat next to the girl with glasses while the talking panda entered the back compartment of the van, completely occupying its space.
"Four missions in a row in one day. Something is strange about this city." The panda commented.
"Furikake, pickled plum." The boy said as the blonde woman turned on the engine and drove the vehicle away from the building.
"I don't know about that," The girl said to the boy. "Nanami-san requested an investigation a month ago, and there's still no progress. The only thing we along with other jujutsu sorcerers have been doing was cleaning up curses from wherever they appear not just in this city, but other places in Chiba."
"The higher-ups are considering sending only first-grade sorcerers to look into this since more and more semi-first grade curses are appearing," The blonde woman explained. "A few sorcerers in the Zenin clan are the first to take part in the investigation."
"Tch, of course they are." The girl with glasses clicked her tongue in irritation.
"Tuna mayo." The boy spoke.
"Yeah, there's obviously a source behind all this," The panda said while scratching his belly. "Maybe the humans living here are so miserable, they just hate on the first thing they see? That could be a possibility, y'know? Since humans are dumb."
"And, what? You want us to kill everyone in Chiba?" The girl with glasses asked.
"Meh," The panda's only response was shrugging his shoulders in indifference. "I'm just joking."
"If it's one or a group of curse users, we all need to solve this quickly. But my guts are telling me that the source might be too small for us to notice."
Hours later
7:00 PM, In a certain household
Hachiman's little sister sat on the couch reading a magazine while yawning. She wasn't necessarily focused on reading, but more of what had transpired in the Service Club. They were given two requests: One was from a second-year female student. She requested help for her arts and crafts club about her clubmates' recent behavior. The other was a minor one from the "Blademaster General" himself named Zaimokusa, who wanted them to review his draft for another novel. Komachi was tasked to focus on the second-year student's issue, since it was more serious than reading scraps of paper Hachiman and Yukino would eventually throw in the trash.
"Hmm... so the three second-year students started skipping the club a week ago," Komachi thought while flipping to a new page of the magazine. "All three are girls, and only one of them told the reason she skipped, which is visiting a relative in a hospital. Meanwhile, the two other senpais just left and went home after their classes ended. When the client asked them, their only answer is 'I'm busy with something so I need to go home early'. No details and gave her the cold shoulder... Since it was a week ago-"
"I'm home~..." Komachi heard the deadpan voice of her older brother along with the front door of the house opening and closing. After removing his outdoor shoes, Hachiman entered the living room, threw his school bag on the couch, and approached the refrigerator.
"Welcome back~! How was your date?" His little sister asked while reading the magazine.
"Great, as always," Hachiman answered in a tone as if it was just a daily routine for him. "How about you? Did you figure something out from that girl's request?"
"A little, yeah. I can't believe you leave this job to me..." Komachi said and kicked his side when he sat on the far side of the couch.
"Well, you are the club president now," Hachiman said before drinking a glass of water. "You need to learn how to take the mantle."
"But do I have to do this BY. MY. SELF?" Komachi asked angrily while kicking him three times.
"I mean, Yukinoshita once worked on requests by herself before I was forced to join the club, so take it from her. And besides..." Hachiman zipped open his schoolbag and pulled out a stack of paper. "Zaimokuza's request won't take long. I'll be done trashing yet another draft tomorrow and the help you with the arts and crafts club issue."
"Okay, but I already got a clue of what the second years' issue were. And I bet you and Yuki-nee noticed it too."
"Yes, yes, we did. And also Yuigahama."
"Didn't you just mocked her for being an airhead?"
"She's smart when it comes to these kinds of issues."
"Huh... So, give me more details about the date."
"There really isn't much to tell. We just went to a cafe, watched a movie, and walked in a park." Hachiman said while leaning back on the couch.
"Hmm~? At night?"
"Nothing happened if that's what you're thinking."
"Geez, you got to make the move, Onii-chan!" Komachi said and closed the magazine to discuss the topic. "Do you two even hold hands?"
"Of course we do. We do it a lot in our dates."
"Then a kiss? Lip-to-lip?"
"Not... really."
"Onii-chan, it's almost four months since you started dating her."
"Five, we started dating in March."
"Look, the fact is that you two have been dating for a while now, and you're both still all lovey-dovey. So, you're all set to do the 'ABCs of Love'!"
"The... ABCs?" When he repeated that in the tone of a question, Komachi stood up and walked left and right repeatedly in front of him with hands behind her back.
"In Japan of 1980s, the term 'ABC' was often used as a euphemistic metaphor for the degree of intimacy achieved in intimate encounters or relationships between lovers," She explained as if she was lecturing a student. "Of the many kinds of couples, the meaning between them differs depending on the depth of the relationship. The ABCs are one barometer to measure that dept."
"A) Kissing: Self-explanatory
B) Skin contact: The capability to feel one's partner and caress her without losing comfortability.
And finally, C... Well, you know where I'm going with this, right? Onii-chan?"
"R-Right..."
"You and Yuki-nee are only beginners- no, even less than that! You two are children! Children who grew and BECAME beginners that hasn't decided to run the ABC course! You two are still struggling to even call each other's first names! If nothing happens within this summer, the feeling of stagnation will be noticeable in your relationship."
"Look, I know what you're trying to say, but we're fine with the way things are now." Hachiman argued. "There's no need for us to rush things because we're new to this unknown area called 'dating'. We want to familiarize with it before knowing we are comfortable enough to do more things that couples do. Calling us children when it comes to dating is an understatement. We're people outside the normie zone. So, just let us do at our own pace, alright?"
"I guess that's fair, but I just wanna say you two have to kiss at some point, understand?!" Komachi asked while pointing a finger close to his face.
"Clearly."
"Okay!" And with that, Komachi sat back in her spot and grabbed the magazine to read. "... But you guys kiss on the cheek, right?"
"Quite often, yeah."
"That's my Onii-chan!" Komachi said with a thumbs-up. Hachiman's phone rang, and so he looked at the screen to see who was calling him.
"Yukinoshita..." He mumbled, and his little sister smirked when she heard him. He picked up the phone and greeted while standing up to leave the living room. "Hello? Yeah... About Zaimokuza's draft?"
"Remember, A-B-C!" She whispered.
"Oh, shut up." He moved his phone away from his face and whispered back while grabbing the school bag. After climbing upstairs, he entered his bedroom and sat on the office chair, helping his girlfriend on the phone about Zaimokuza's confusing and infuriating work of literature. Although he had improved with his writing, Zaimokuza still used a few difficult kanji in several sentences despite not having any meaning or purpose to do so at all. Fortunately, the draft was the shortest Zaimokuza had written, and so the couple made quick work with the review and began talking about their earlier date. "I told you, I didn't freak out when that psychopath just jumped on the heroine. I find it ridiculous how he was able to survive that fall and it distracted me from the feeling of terror."
"I see. So I perhaps misunderstood the yelp and the sudden squeeze of my hand when that scene occurred." Yukino teased in which he grumbled.
"Y-Yeah, yeah you did." Hachiman said, failing to hide his embarrassment in his voice. "Overall, the movie didn't make any sense. Just clips of nonsense bashed together into a one-hour video with a lot of screaming."
"Yes, the characters are quite dull, and the lightning was off at some scenes," Yukino said on the phone. "Even so, it did a wonderful job to be what is set to be."
"What? To be proof that creativity in film making is dead?"
"To fulfill the genre of a horror film. Evidence: My dear boyfriend being scared to several scenes."
"Okay, to be fair, a lot of those scenes you're referring to are jumpscares. Technically, I wasn't scared but just surprised, which is how jumpscares work. They make you scream, but that doesn't necessarily mean out of horror but on the element of surprise. What fits the criteria of horror is letting the audience feel the same feeling of fear as the characters. "
"That is true. So does that mean you admit that you 'freaked out' when that-"
"Yes, I freaked out when that psychopath jumped, okay?" Hachiman admitted, which made her chuckle through the phone.
"You don't have to sound angry at admitting it."
"Speaking of angry, you were mad at Yuigahama for almost failing the end-of-semester test."
"Is it strange for me to be that disappointed?"
"To the point that you complain about it in front of her? Pretty much. You only criticize her grades and what went wrong with her progress. Did something happen between you two?"
"Not... really," Yukino answered hesitantly. "It wasn't supposed to be a study group session, but our last study date. Yuigahama-san just suddenly asked us for help since she was struggling with certain subjects."
"Well, it is unexpected, but this is Yuigahama we're talking about. Disappointing, yes. Something to be frustrated about? Not really."
"Is that so? You're really not frustrated you couldn't see my teacher outfit again?"
"Ggh!"
...
Weeks ago. In a certain mansion.
Hachiman was standing in front of a door with a backpack, waiting for someone to tell him to enter the room behind it. This wasn't his first time visiting the luxurious household of the Yukinoshita family. His first visit was when he was invited by Yukino's mother for dinner. The other previous times were part of their study dates to pass the midterms and then here for the final exam. However, no matter how many times he visited, the mansion still took his breath away. It was as if he entered a different country for him. As of now, he stood still, waiting. His girlfriend told him she was preparing for something that could help them study.
Hachiman wore a denim shirt over a white T-shirt, a pair of chinos and suede loafers. His sister was the one who picked his attire because he lacked the fashion sense. Komachi wanted him to always keep his appearance be clean and presentable in front of Yukino's family, and Hachiman wholeheartedly agreed. He didn't want to embarrass himself as Yukino's boyfriend.
After a few more seconds of waiting, his girlfriend finally called him behind the door.
"Hiki-... H-Hachiman, you can come in," Yukino said nervously, which made him arched an eyebrow, confused by her voice. She was already accustomed to him being in her bedroom, so he wondered why the sudden change. Imagination stirred within his mind, thinking whatever possibility would happen once he opened this door in front of him. From something bizarre to something... perverted. He shook his head to remove such perverted thoughts. Out of all the possibilities, something such as pervertedness would be next to zero. He steeled himself by taking a deep breath and then opened the door. He entered the room, but Yukino was nowhere to be found. While looking left and right, the door suddenly closed, and Hachiman turned around to see a sight he never thought was possible to witness.
It was his beautiful girlfriend, but she was wearing a white dress shirt, a short black pencil skirt and black stockings. She also sported a pair of glasses.
"... Eh?" Hachiman was dumbfounded by what he was staring. "W-What's with the..."
"T-Throughout our study dates, you s-still haven't made progress in mathematics," Yukino explained with a blush, and approached her boyfriend slowly, nervously, and put both of her hands on his chests. "So for this study session, I will have to teach you with everything I have."
"..." Silence filled the room and stretched long. Hachiman didn't know what to say. He was completely frozen. The longer the silence stretched, the more red Yukino's face grew. With lips shivering and hands clutching his shirt, she broke first.
"Say something already! Idiot!" Yukino shouted while leaning her head on his chest to hide her red face.
"I d-don't really know what to say. W-Where did you even get that idea?"
"I... read it from a website..."
"What kind of website is that?"
"T-That doesn't matter, right?" She punched his chest and glared at him with teary eyes. "What do you even plan on doing once you know, anyway?"
"I want to express my gratitude to it for making you wear this outfit. Whether through the comments or donations." He said it so straightforward, she was shocked at that he didn't feel shame or embarrassed.
...
"Well... It's not like I won't get to see that again," Hachiman said while scratching his one of his blushing cheeks. "There's the second semester after all."
"I'll consider it," Yukino said with a sigh. "After all, I have now discovered that you have a glasses fetish."
"No, I don't. What kind of assumption is that?"
"Assumption? No, I saw how you stared at that woman earlier when we walked out of the movie theater."
"Wait, are you talking about...?"
...
Few hours ago, outside of a movie theater.
Hachiman and Yukino just left the theatre and talked about how bad the movie was. While he was drinking and listening to her criticism, he saw an old lady walking with a crutch, but what caught his attention was the mysterious creature around her neck. It looked like a white centipede with a head of a human baby. He looked around as everyone just went by their day as if there was nothing strange was present here. He also saw another terrifying creature just walking along with the crowd. It was a humanoid dark red creature with long black fingernails and only a few strands of hair on its head. Its lips were torn off and its eyeholes were empty, no eyeball.
What was going on? Couldn't they see these.. things? Or maybe he was hallucinating?
Hachiman closed his eyes and shook his head, hoping those creatures disappeared to make him believe they were all in his mind. When he opened his eyes, the centipede creature was gone, and he breathe a sigh of relief. As for the red humanoid monster...
Its throat was slit as purple blood spilled out of it until the red creature disappeared. The woman walked passed it had long black ponytail and wore a jacket with a matching skirt, a pair of leggings and sported glasses. What was in her right hand was a blade, but he wasn't sure from this distance. The girl with the glasses was accompanied by a boy with platinum blonde hair, and wore the same jacket as hers, only its collar was higher and he wore matching pants. They both carried large paper bags of restaurant takeout and went inside a black van whose driver was a blonde woman who was shouting at them about something.
"...-food like this in Tokyo! What's the point of buying it now?!"
"The sooner we eat the better," The girl with glasses argued while going in the backseat. "Besides, I got your favorite special katsu curry."
"Thanks!" The blonde woman's anger dissipated immediately and took the paper bag.
"Tuna." The boy spoke.
...
"I assume that silence means 'yes'?" Yukino asked, and Hachiman heard tapping on the other side of the call. She was angry.
"Now, why is it that your first assumption of that is that I have a 'glasses fetish'?" Hachiman argued. "You could've just think that I know that woman."
"Well, do you?"
"No."
"Then you're staring at a girl you've never even met with your dead-fish perverted eyes," Her voice became sharp and the tapping sound got faster. "I shouldn't be surprised. This is Hikicreepy-kun I'm referring."
"Now, hold on! I wasn't even staring at JUST her. It's just that I've never seen their uniforms before!" Hachiman convinced her with fear growing within him, afraid of Yukino's jealousy.
"Their uniforms were new to me... Perhaps they were from a different prefecture?"
"Yeah, probably. I heard the lady shouted 'Tokyo' at them or something, so their school must've been there. Were they on a field trip or something?"
"Ara, curious to know where that woman might be? She is quite beautiful now that I remember her face."
"No, it's just general curiosity. Look, I need to go. There's something I have to work on." Hachiman said while scratching the back of his head.
"Is that so? It can't be helped then. Go on, indulge in your fantasies of that girl." Yukino said with growing anger.
"Again, that's not- Whatever, I'll see you tomorrow." That was his last exchange before ending the call. He wished to calm her anger, but his mind was still wandering elsewhere. Once he laid on his bed, he thought about the mysterious, possibly supernatural creatures he had seen. "Am I hallucinating? Yeah, that could be it. I'm just too tired, that's all... But, they looked too real to not be. And that girl... killed that thing... Stop, Just stop right there, Hikigaya Hachiman. Studying for the test took a toll on your twisted brain, that's all. Just need rest and everything is normal again... Maybe I need medical help."
And so, an entire week had passed since then, and the third day of summer began.
July, 10:00 PM. At a bus stop.
Hachiman was sitting at a bus stop and his attire consisted of a short-sleeve denim shirt over a white T-shirt, brown shorts, and white sneakers. After days of nothing extraordinary besides his date yesterday with Yukino, he forgot about that strange occurrence and thought about it as just the imagination of from his tired mind... was what he wanted to happen, but the memory never buried itself at all. Every time he went outside the house, he expected a monster to appear out of nowhere in whatever shape or form. He was afraid, but he didn't show it in his expression. He'd always look around left, right, and behind, waiting for even a single sign of the supernatural to occur. Fortunately, there was none. He should feel fortunate of that, and yet the morbid curiosity he had for the unknown existence of a possible paranormal activity made him feel disappointed instead.
"Were those things ghosts? Spirits? Demons? I keep telling myself I was just being crazy, but they look too real for me. What I saw at school and then outside the theatre... are monsters I saw with my own eyes. What do they do? Just strolling around wherever they please, unseen by everyone? Of course not. If it were the case, then why did that girl kill them? Was it for good intentions? Who am I kidding? It's definitely for good intentions. While that centipede creature wrapped around that old lady's neck, she had difficulty breathing, and when it was gone, she felt relaxed. It looked like that girl is part of some group. Don't tell me this is a Shonen manga where some secret organization exists against the paranormal. That would be cool, cringe, or just plain dangerous. Then-"
"Hachiman?" THe voice of his girlfriend stopped his thoughts, and he looked to his left and saw her appearance with a small leather bag. Yukino's attire consisted of a dark blue sleeveless ruffle blouse, skinny white jeans with buttons, and black flat shoes. "You're quite early."
"I could say the same to you," He said while standing up from the seat. "Are you that excited over what kind of plan Tobe has in mind?"
"He invited us for a reason, and here of all places," She said with a hand on her chin. "I'm quite interested as to what plans he has in store for us considering the person we are referring to is THAT Tobe."
"Hmm~? You're curious, huh?" Hachiman asked with slight jealousy in his emotion, but he tried his best to hide it. However, Yukino noticed how his left eye twitched when he said that and how low his voice was.
"My word, are you truly jealous of him, of all people?"
"I do not know what you're talking about." He denied her claim while putting his hands in his pocket shorts and averted his gaze from her. She chuckled at her boyfriend's expression before leaning closer to him and kissed his cheek.
"Does that confirm my love for you?"
"...Yeah... You know that sounds terribly cheesy, right?"
"Well~, Well~, Weelll~. Look who showed up first!" The familiar male voice reached their ears, and so they turned around to see a man with dyed-orange long hair slicked with a black hairband and wearing a retro male striped shirt over a white T-shirt, and a pair of jeans. He was accompanied by three other people with the only noteworthy person was the familiar blonde man wearing a red with white striped shirt, chinos, and sneakers with black and yellow design. The man with orange hair grinned at the couple. "If it isn't the number one awkward lovers in Sobu!"
"Since when did we get a title like that, Tobe?" Hachiman asked in a deadpan tone.
"Just now! By yours truly! Besides, you gained a lot of attention if you two haven't heard or noticed the gossips." Tobe said while pointing at them with both index fingers.
"From the looks of it, we kinda interrupted a moment, didn't we?" The blonde asked.
"N-No..." Hachiman denied while averting his gaze from his girlfriend.
"I do not understand what you mean, Hayama-kun..." Yukino did the same. Both had red cheeks.
"Heheh! We didn't mean to, sorry," Tobe apologized with a laugh. "But don't worry! With my awesome plan, you two will get the moment alone."
"Just what is this plan you're on about?" Hachiman asked.
"Secret! Not until the other girls arrive!" Once Tobe said that, they heard the sounds of footsteps.
"Talk about timing from us!" Yui said cheerfully. She wore a black T-shirt, denim shorts, and blue sneakers.
"Heeh~? Did the couple arrive first?" Ebina said while adjusting her glasses. Her attire consisted of a white floral crop top, high-waisted jeans, and leather flat shoes. "Talk about couple goals."
"It's not school time anymore, you lovebirds," Miura said with arms crossed together. She was wearing a long-sleeve denim shirt, black leather shorts, and turquoise sandals. "You two can be fashionably late like we do. But, whatever. So what is this gathering all about, Tobe?"
"Hnhnhn! First, you follow me," Tobe said and walked ahead of them. None of them questioned it and just complied. He led them to a karaoke booth and after entering the booth and ordered their drinks, Tobe finally revealed to them. "Welcome everybody to the 'First Annual 2-F Alpha Group Summer Celebration'!"
"... What?" Hachiman, Yukino, Yui, and Miura asked simultaneously with a mix of confusion and bewilderment.
"You already lost me. Can you explain in detail?" Hachiman asked while scratching his ear.
"Tobe thought it would be a good idea for us to have a 'celebration' of sorts this early summer," Hayama explained for his friend. "I don't know about that 'Alpha Group' he's on about."
"Eh? But aren't we?" Tobe asked. "We were the main spotlight in class 2-F, or probably in the entire second year. This is to celebrate our comradery we formed through the past hardships!"
"I don't remember being in that spotlight." Hachiman said.
"You are, though! Well, not in a good way, but you still became our best bro, Hikitani-kun!" The orange-haired boy said enthusiastically while wrapping his right arm around the dead fish-eyed teenager. "Yukinoshita-san is part of the group too!"
"I wasn't in 2-F last year." Yukino tried to correct him.
"You helped us a lot last year," Ebina rebutted. "So, that's makes you part of the 'Alpha Group'."
"Right?! Right?!" Tobe said while pointing at Ebina. "I tried calling Totsuka, but he said he already got other plans."
"And Sakisaki said on the call she has family plans, too." Ebina said while pulling out her phone from her pocket.
"Aren't you all invited to Okinawa? We can just do the celebration there." Hachiman argued to Tobe.
"Well, it's just that," The orange-haired boy tried to explain while scratching the back of his head. "This is gonna be our last year in high school. And after we graduate, I don't think we could see each other again."
"You're thinking too much, Tobe," Ooka said and patted Tobe's back to reassure him. "We're best friends. Besides, you're way too loud for us to forget you."
"Oi!" Tobe lightly punched Ooka's arm, and they both laughed. "Yeah, it's not like we won't see each other again, but I don't want to meet each other in the future with hazy memories and all that. I want to have really special memories, y'know? Ones that'll live on even after that future. I guess what I'm saying is I wanna be in a special place in your hearts or whatever cheesy lines I'm making up."
"And I thought Miura is the only one among the clique who worries about that," Hachiman thought deeply and stared at his own glass drink. "Someone like Tobe is supposed to be a ridiculously loud, carefree, and annoying dumbass who never thinks about things too deeply. But, no. Even he is scared about that... Scared his relationships with them aren't as genuine as he thought. He wants moments like these to be cherished. To influence us into our future."
"That's really deep there, Tobe. Even for you," Yamato commented. "Alright. If that's what you want, then let's do it."
"Same here." Ooka agreed.
"Just so you know," Hachiman spoke, which gained everyone's attention. "I don't sing."
"Don't be such a killjoy, Hikio," Miura said in an irritated tone. "Look, you can sing at least once with your girl, is that alright with you."
"I can't sing. I'm not even a music person. The only songs I can sing are the PreCure intros! It's not embarrassing enough on that fact, singing with Yukinoshita is even worse! On the flip side, I'm sure to remember this event, but not in a good way." Hachiman looked at his girlfriend, who sat next to him in on the sofa. She was fiddling her long black hair as if she was excited about this. With a twitching left eye, he surrendered. "Alright, fine. Just once."
And with that, the First Annual 2-F Alpha Group Summer Celebration had started. A mixture of fun moments and embarrassing moments (most of them were from the couple). They sang to their hearts' content, and after singing several songs in karaoke, Tobe led them to various places to entertain themselves. The next place they went was a bowling center. After that, they ate at a restaurant to rest. The food they ordered was delicious, ranging from meat to side dishes such as fish and vegetables. After emptying their plates, Tobe lead them to one last place before ending the event.
"Where are you taking us now?" Miura asked while walking with the group.
"The grand finale, I think." Ebina guessed.
"It's a surprise." Tobe answered with a grin.
"Are you okay, Hikigaya-kun?" Yukino asked her boyfriend while everyone was talking to each other. She noticed his demeanor turned strange.
"Yeah... Yeah..." Hachiman answered, but failed to reassure her. "I know this direction. Please tell me we're not going where I think we're going... No, we'll just go past it. That's it. Just... relax... and-"
"And here we are!" Tobe shouted, and everyone looked at the last place to end the event. It appeared to be a school building, and the longer Hachiman stared at the building, the larger the feeling of anxiety grew in him. However, that feeling of anxiety was mixed with confusion after he realized something about that school. It looked abandoned. "This is the grand finale!"
"An... old abandoned school?" Yui said in a form of a question. "Is there a secret base? Or is that haunted?"
"Ding! Ding! Ding! That's right! Apparently, this school was haunted two years ago," Tobe explained as his grin became more menacing. "The teachers who once worked here said they kept getting into simple to dangerous accidents, and some saw scary ghosts sitting on the student chairs of those who were absent. It got so out of hand, the middle school students and newly hired teachers saw them as crazy. Even the principal said he saw a monster sitting in his chair whenever he left his office. After that, the school closed."
"U-Uhm... And we're here because...?" Yui asked with her voice trembling in fear.
"We're going in there, take pictures and videos until we reach the rooftop!" Tobe declared loudly.
"That has gotta be the worst way to end this party." Miura said, disagreeing with the idea. "What if my hair gets all messed up from dust?"
"You can just wash it with warm water. It is such a little thing to worry about." Yukino answered.
"Oh, look at you, Ms. genius. Of course you don't worry about that since you don't have a sense of good hairstyle." Miura argued.
"I don't see you having a pleasant hair," Yukino fired back. "I must admit, the blonde hair shines to you well, which is the only thing that is shining for you."
"Why, you-"
"Okay! Who's gonna take the lead!" Yui shouted a question to stop them from fighting.
"Pfft, of course I'm taking the lead," Tobe answered while pointing a thumb to himself.
"I doubt this is a good idea," Hachiman argued for several reasons. "The fact that it was just two years ago since that whole incident happened means it's not safe to do it now."
"Getting cold feet?" Tobe teased while lightly elbowing the dead fish-eyed teenager. "Totsuka told us how scared you were in that haunted house in Kyoto."
"Tobe, maybe we should go somewhere else, or just call it a night." Hayama said, agreeing with Hachiman's point.
"Eh? Why? This is gonna be thrilling!" Ooka said enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Besides, I heard that other people sneaked into this 'haunted school' and nothing happened to them," Yamato said, going to Tobe's side. "So pretty much those teachers were just having issues."
"I'm in!" Ebina said while raising her right hand to participate.
"Nice! I know you have the taste for the thrill, Ebina-san!" Tobe gave her a thumbs-up. After arguing back and forth, the group agreed to follow Tobe and entered the "haunted middle school". The front gate was broken, so it was easy going in. From the dusty lockers to the eerie corridors and empty classrooms, they explored the school while taking pictures and videos filled with ridiculous antics from Tobe and the others. Hachiman was waiting for it, anticipating for the supernatural to occur. He was even more confused at this point. Was he afraid? Curious? Both? From what he had gathered in witnessing the entire unordinary scene, the ghosts may have been dangerous unless the girl with glasses who killed them had evil intentions. And yet, there was this thrill dwelling inside of him.
Researchers largely understood human curiosity as being linked to learning and information seeking. It was the desire to understand that drove humanity to improve and take risks. Hachiman was no different. Once he saw something different from what he had seen so far in his life, especially something outside the boundaries of normality and common sense, it became an immediate desire. Of course, there was the option of ignoring all of it and move forward. If he would choose between risking himself to learn the unknown, and escape to the blissful and safe ignorance, he'd gladly choose the latter. Along with the growing curiosity, the fear of danger grew as well. He wasn't insane thinking about it. Hachiman would argue this thought process was one of several basic human instincts and conscience.
"Hellloooo~!" Tobe shouted in excitement while he and the group climbed upstairs. "Ghosts, where you at?!"
"Nice, you must've scared the ghosts with your loud voice." Ooka teased and they laughed. They reached the second floor and split up to explore the classrooms and areas. Hachiman just stood in front of the door of a certain classroom without moving a muscle. He lost all awareness of his surroundings. It was as if this door in front of him was the only thing existed in the world. All the sounds were silenced within his mind, and his vision primarily focused on every inch of detail of the door.
"Hiki-...Hikiga-... Hachiman?" Suddenly, the voice of his girlfriend snapped him out of the trance. He slowly turned his head to look at her, pretending to be indifferent as always. "Are you okay? You've been acting strange since we crossed that highway earlier."
"Yeah, I'm-... Honestly, no," Hachiman admitted while everyone else was busy minding their own business. Miura, Ebina, and Yui heard strange sounds behind a door of a science laboratory. Ebina gulped, slowly slid the door open, and the human anatomy model jumped and screamed.
"KYAAAAAA!" The three girls screamed in horror and hugged each other for comfort.
"Pfft! HAHAHAHA!" Tobe laughed at their reaction, which caused the blonde girl to pinch and punch him.
"You dumbass!" Miura shouted with Yui and Ebina scolding and hitting him. The rest of the boys laughed.
"What are you looking at?" Yukino asked while the others were occupied by their antics. She looked at the door to the classroom and wondered.
"This was my class back then..." Hachiman answered while continuing to stare at the sign.
"Your class?... You mean you were a student in this middle school?"
"Yeah. I didn't know it's now abandoned. It's weird seeing this place in its current state." He said. "Did Orimoto know about this? She definitely did since she's with all the other former middle school classmates in Kaihin Sougou High School. How come she didn't tell me about this? Did the thought never cross in her mind?"
"Seriously?!" Tobe asked as the group approached the couple. "I didn't know you enrolled here. Ah, is that why you didn't want to do this? It must've been painful seeing your old middle school like this."
"It... kinda is..." Hachiman answered. "But it's nothing, really. My middle school days were quite forgettable."
"Hmm?" Tobe wondered what the dead fish-eyed teenager meant. He noticed how Yui looked worried along with Yukino, and somehow he was able to understand at least the smallest tip of the iceberg of Hachiman's circumstances. With a hand on his chin, he thought for a moment until he snapped his fingers. "Aaalllriiight! Let's get in and see if there's a ghost around!"
"I don't think there would even be one," Hayama spoke. "Besides, do you think they'll even show up?"
"Well, we'll make them show up. Even if it means trashing the entire room."
"Eh?! T-That doesn't sound like a good idea." Yui said, unsure of her friend's suggestion.
"It's fine. Not like we're gonna be in trouble for messing around," Tobe then looked at Hachiman with a thumbs-up. "Let's put more fun memories in this room, alright?"
"Is he...? No, this is Tobe we're talking about. I'm sure he didn't mean any of that for me," Hachiman sighed and slid open the door. "Just don't break anything."
"No promises!" Tobe answered back.
"This guy, I swear..." Hachiman thought while entering the room. "It's not like I haven't moved on from the past. This school just brings up painful memories. That's how it is for everyone. There will always be a certain stimulus via an object, or a particular event that will spark those memories buried in your mind. Emotions can be a part of that as well... Great, now I'm having cold feet about this. Maybe I shoul-, What.. the-?"
He was so lost in thought, he didn't realize the classroom changed into a vast open area. The chairs and desks were floating in the air, and the ceiling of the room was much higher than usual. Dust seemed to gather in the air to shape and form into spheres. There were staircases leading to various doors and windows. All the stairs led up somewhere in the seemingly endless top. He looked around and saw no one, not even the group.
"Could this really be..." He thought as the strength of his legs waned, and so he sat on the floor. Eight striplights floated around him in a circle and illuminated him. He then heard a laugh from something that didn't sound human. The doors and windows at the top of the surrounding stairs opened on its own and what came out were strange, yellow humanoid creatures with no faces and only mouths. They were crawling down the staircases with their hands because their lower halves were stuck on chairs. The moment one finally reached the ground, a floating school desk flew towards it and crashed. The desk dragged the creature despite its flesh ripping apart from grazing against the ground. All other humanoid creatures and desks followed suit and gathered in one spot in front of him. The purple blood trails they left disappeared, and they gathered into a mountain pile of yellow flesh and furniture in whole and in pieces. The mountain molded together and formed into one gigantic monster.
The giant monster's appearance was that of a massive, yellow, deformed fly with the legs of a human. Some of its legs were massive arms and had four huge human mouths with insect mandibles inside as their teeth instead of normal teeth. The wing veins looked like bones and the fly monster's black and orange abdomen looked more of a polygon shape. Hachiman froze, afraid the monster would kill him if he moved. Or perhaps he felt like it was futile to run, anyway.
"It's a dream, right? It's got to be..." He thought as his breathing became more erratic, denying the situation he was in as reality. "I'm really just went insane. That's just it! Damn, I should've slept more. Or maybe this is a mental issue? I think I need medica-"
His thoughts were interrupted by a desk flying into his stomach. He tumbled back and stood on all-fours while clutching his stomach and coughing.
"LAme..." The monster's upper left mouth spoke with an inhuman voice.
"CrEepY..." Its upper right mouth spoke as well, while the two lower mouths laughed with many voices. The monster raised its large index finger and touched his head carefully. It then hit his face with a swing of that index finger as he tumbled back once again from that force. He struggled to stand up with his trembling legs and broken nose and teeth as he spat and lost blood from them. He noticed the torture wasn't finished as a few desks flew towards him. He rolled away from the first as it crashed into the ground with wood shattering. With adrenaline coursing through his body, he stood up and jumped away from the second desk, and then several thumbtacks flew in the air and pierced his right foot.
"GAAAAAHHH!" He fell once again as its foot bled from the thumbtacks. He didn't have time to scream in agony as he rolled on the floor to evade another desk moving towards him. In all-fours, Hachiman crawled away from the monster while it was laughing and insulting him.
"wEAk."
"l0SeR."
"DIsGUst!Ng."
"You're... the last person to call me disgusting..." Hachiman said while breathing heavily from the pain and exhaustion. "I waited to see one and there it is. Now... I'm.. dead... I should've... been more persuasive... to convince Tobe to not come here..."
"IdiOT."
"WORthLesS."
"I'm gonna die... by a fly that keeps... talking shit to me..." He tried crawling away from the monster again, but flying desk fell to his back. "AAGGH!... Oh, right... what happened to the others...? They're not in... the same situation as I am... right? Oi, you stupid fly... You better not hurt them..."
"WeAK." The monster said and hit him with its index finger again. He was sent flying into a staircase with his back, which caused him to not move a single muscle. Vision became clouded and he couldn't let out his voice.
"Literally drew the shortest straws in life. It's ridiculous how things could end so abruptly and unexpectedly," While hearing the hysterical laughter from the gigantic nightmare, he slowly stood up despite the injuries he received and laughed along with the monster. The monster lowered its head to lean closer to him as they kept laughing.
"What a cruel joke. Minutes ago, I was just going along with a brainless loudmouth's nonsense, and now I'm about to be tortured and killed by some fly monster. Heh... heheheh... That is so bat, it's hilarious," He stood straight while staring down. "And it has to be here, of all places."
"DIe."
"diE."
"D!E."
"Yeah, yeah. Just kill me already, you disgusting bug freak..." As he accepted his demise, the monster's lower right mouth opened and leaned closer to devour him with the mandibles inside it moved eagerly. However, its left giant hand grabbed its lower right chin to close the mouth, and then the right leg stretched to kick the left arm. It was as if the monster was fighting itself to decide which mouths should eat him. Hachiman just watched with no emotion, just waiting for his inevitable fate to happen already while memories flashed within his mind. This middle school was the place that turned him into the cynical and stoic loner. This building was where it all started, and he moved on. But now, this would be where it all ends. "Pfft, as if..."
"Heaah?" The monster must've heard his mumble since it stopped attacking itself. Hachiman slowly walked forward, fully ignoring the excruciating pain in his entire body while wiping the blood off his nose, but his nose continued to bleed. As he repeatedly spat blood from his mouth, Hachiman went under the chin of the monster's left lower mouth. He clenched his right fist and glared up at the monster as the floating striplights still around him flickered until they turned off. Full of desperation and anger, he threw a right uppercut and surprisingly, the monster's chin flung upward and the mouth's lower teeth (mandibles) shattered as purple blood splattered and coughed. At the same time, a door from the top of a set of stairs was cracking until it broke for three people to jump down into this mysterious place.
"An incomplete domain expansion." A man with sunglasses spoke. He only wore a blue dress shirt, and he had his right hand wrapped in his yellow necktie.
"Salmon, tuna mayo." The boy said while pointing at Hachiman lying on the ground.
"A victim... Hm?" Nanami noticed the giant fly monster's injury. "Did this young man injure that cursed spirit? It may be as powerful as a special grade. No, this young man's cursed energy is too strong for a normal civilian. But, why is it leaking like he never learns to control it?"
"I know you have many questions, Nanami-san, but I'm sure they will be answered once we deal with the cursed spirit." A woman wielding a large battle-axe spoke to him. She had long blue-tinted silver hair normally styled into two braids, one that covered her face and the other hanged behind her head down past her shoulders. She wore a dark purple bodysuit with a skirt attached, pants underneath that covered her legs and tucked into boots.
"My apologies, Mei-san. We will exorcise the curse now." Nanami declared as the fly monster flapped its wings so fast, it created a powerful gust of wind that the three sorcerers needed to cover their faces. When they noticed the giant cursed spirit flying until it was too high for them to reach, Nanami spoke to the boy.
"Inumaki-kun."
"Fall down!" The boy named Inumaki used his power and the flying cursed spirit's wings stopped and so it plummeted into the ground. The use of his power caused Inumaki to cough. Nanami and Mei ran towards the fallen monster with weapons held firm. Hachiman just watched with dwindling consciousness as Nanami threw a right punch at the cursed spirit's huge, left arthropod eye and it exploded with purple blood splattering everywhere. Inumaki kneeled next to Hachiman to check his current state.
"Mustard leaf." Inumaki said to hang in there, but of course, Hachiman didn't understand the meaning behind.
"What a crazy... dream..."
Finally! It's here.
The first chapter of the first ever Oregairu x Jujutsu Kaisen crossover.
And yes, it's as cliche and cringe as it gets in this introduction.
Well, I just wanna get the premise out of the way to get into the good stuff.
So, first thing's first: I didn't read Oregairu Shin which is supposed to be a short sequel (?) after the original, so what the Oregairu characters now are a little bit of mix with my vision of what would be like after the original LN/anime ended.
The next thing I wanna mention to you all is that there will be a sort of "canon divergence" (?)... if that's the right term? Like, there will be changes in the JJK story to merge well with the Oregairu crossover. Basically, this is a story of what happens if the Oregairu characters are in the JJK world. There will be original arcs that are far away from the JJK storyline but won't change the direction of source material's existing arcs since it will be centered around 8man and the others. What I mean by that is there will be arcs that tell a separate storyline from the JJK story. This is just so I won't catch up with the JJK manga since it's not finished and the Culling Game arc just started and still setting up its characters.
So, overall, what do you all think?
Does this work? Or should I have done it differently? Leave a review to comment.
Thank you for reading this fanfic. Please leave a review as your opinions will be helpful for making this story better.