DISCLAIMER:
I do NOT own the Oregairu and Jujutsu Kaisen series as they are respectfully owned by the creators and studios.
July, 7:18 PM In a certain hospital room
A girl with long black hair wearing a hospital gown opened her eyes.
Her vision was clouded, and her body felt heavy, as if she was asleep for a few days.
She looked around and noticed she was in a hospital.
She wondered why she was in such a place until her mind flashed.
Yukinoshita Yukino thought about the events that happened on the night of that party. It was enjoyable for her. So many moments to treasure with everyone having fun, especially her boyfriend. However, the abandoned middle school was the only memory that kept coming to her mind. At first, it was nothing serious. She didn't feel the eerie atmosphere since she wasn't superstitious, nor did she believe in anything paranormal, and so she wasn't scared like the other three girls. However, only one made her fear for what was true or not. Her denial of the paranormal had shaken from that one specific moment before she and the group were knocked out by supposed "troublemakers". When Yukino followed Hachiman to that classroom, she saw the space around him became distorted, and shattered into something else entirely. Before she could even see clearly what happened, she felt her body flying back and then crashed into the glass window with her back. With fading consciousness, she saw the door sliding close all by itself.
"That's right... The party, that school building, and... No, that could be a hallucination, couldn't it? It all seemed so unbelievable to me, yet the memory feels too real to be an illusion. What happened to Hikigaya-kun after that?... Where is he?"
"Mmpph... Where...?" A familiar voice reached Yukino's ears, and so she raised her head to see Yuigahama Yui on the farthest side of the room scratching her eyes and looked around. "... Eh?"
"Yuigahama-sa- Ggh!" Yukino called out her name, but she suddenly had a splitting headache.
"Yukinon..." Yui did the same, but her voice sounded tired since she just woke up. They heard the door sliding open, and a nurse entered the room with a clipboard in hand.
"Oh, dear. You two are awake." The nurse approached Yui first, and then Yukino. "You need to lie down. You haven't fully recovered yet."
"H... How long have I... have we been?" Yukino tried to ask, and the nurse immediately understood what her question was.
"You've been unconscious for three days." The nurse answered.
"Three days?" Yukino was shocked to hear that, as well as Yui. After the nurse checked their condition, identified they were in perfect health for now, and left the room, The two conscious girls just lied down in their own hospital beds in silence. Yui slowly caressed the bandage wrapped around her head, still in bewilderment of their current situation. The same with Yukino as her mind kept coming back to that memory. "Yuigahama-san?"
"Hmm? Can't sleep too?" Yui asked while still caressing the bandage.
"Yes, it is... difficult to process where we currently are."
"I know... We were just hanging out and went in that place for laughs and now we're like this... Yukinon..."
"Yes?"
"Can we still go to Okinawa?"
"... Of course. Something like this is not enough to ruin this season."
"I guess you're right, hehe."
"Yuigahama-san?"
"What?"
"During... that haunted school... moments before we were unconscious, did you see anything... strange?"
"Strange?... I don't know. The last thing I saw was Hikki going in that classroom."
"You... saw nothing else?"
"No... Why? Is there something...?"
"Nevermind, it must be my imagination. Let's sleep. We need to rest so we could get back up quickly to travel to Okinawa."
"Okay, good night."
"Good night." The room fell silent. Yui fell asleep while the other two girls were still unconscious. Aside from the beeping sounds from the vital sign monitors. it was peaceful. However, Yukino couldn't fall to slumber. The specific sight of that memory weighed heavily on her mind. "It's not real... Is it?... Hachiman...?"
The Unseen World Of Curses Part 3
Resolve
7:30 PM
Two boys were watching a movie on the television while sitting on the couch. One was eating chips while the other just watched the movie in silence. Itadori Yuji grabbed more chips and then drank a can of soda. As the movie transitioned to a thrilling and suspenseful scene, the two watchers leaned closer at the edge of their seats... until.
"Bwwggawgh!" Yuji's cursed corpse woke up and punched him in the face, forcing him to spill the drink in his mouth, and coughed. He fell on the floor while caressing his cheek.
"I told you drinking is a bad idea." Hikigaya Hachiman said with a sigh.
"But you... can't enjoy... a movie without chips and drinks!" Yuji argued while coughing.
"I get your point, but you're going to make a mess. I'm not cleaning that up."
"It's fine! A small price to pay to have a good movie-watching experience!"
"I don't think it's an enjoyable experience when it involves being punched by a living plushy. Nothing will change if you don't eat and drink while watching a movie."
"Dumbass! it's tradition! No, a way of life! Do you watch a movie in a theater without popcorns and soda?!"
"Of course I do, but sometimes I don't."
"Whaaaat?! You're an insult to the movie industry!"
"How am I suddenly became an insult to an entire industry?" Hachiman argued in a deadpan tone as Yuji sat back on his spot and grabbed his cursed corpse. "I don't buy popcorn in theaters when it's near lunch or dinner time. It'll ruin my appetite later on."
"You get popcorn no matter what. Isn't it better to satisfy both your eyes and stomach? And, like, what if the movie you're watching is boring? You gotta occupy yourself with something!"
"No matter how boring the movie is, it'll still occupy your time. Besides, your argument now doesn't apply here since we're not in theaters."
"Doesn't matter. Respect the way of life, dude!" After that argument, they watched the movie in silence and Yuji once again drank the can of soda, only for the cursed corpse to once again punch him at the same spot in the face. He fell from the couch and coughed out the drink in his mouth.
"Can't you just drink before and after the movie?"
"Never!" Yuji answered loudly with his fist raised in the air.
"You two are already getting along, huh?" Satoru commented while watching the two argue. "Well, I have some business to deal with, so you two just keep hanging in there."
"Will this really make me stronger?" Yuji asked while holding the small bear just far away from him since it was still awake trying to punch him again.
"Believe it or not, it works. It's really not what you expect as training," Hachiman commented while looking at his Kangaroo-san before going back to watch the movie.
"Seriously?" Yuji asked for confirmation in curiosity while standing back up.
"By the way, Yuji," As Satoru put one foot on a wooden tread, he called out to Yuji before climbing the stairs. "Did you talk to Sukuna while you were dead?"
"Talk?" Yuji looked up at the ceiling in thought.
"When he fixed your heart, did he propose any conditions or contracts?"
"Oh, I think we did talk about something... But I can't remember what it was."
"I see. Well, that's all. See ya." Satoru said while climbing the stairs and waved. Yuji waved back in response and went back to watching the movie that was supposedly nearing its end. Hachiman wondered what that discussion was about. He noticed the blindfolded sorcerer's goodbye was a little forced with his usual cheerfulness. Obviously, he could tell it was serious just from their topic on the spiky pink-haired boy sitting right next to him apparently died once and somehow he was still here with full color in his skin. But the scale of their situation could be even larger than what he could imagine because of Satoru's deep and alarming tone. Or perhaps he was overthinking it.
"You... died?" Hachiman asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh... well, yeah. I was on a mission with my two other friends, and then this cursed spirit showed up who was way too strong for us. This and that happened, and I died." Yuji answered so nonchalantly as if it wasn't something important.
"So, uhh, how did it feel?"
"Feel what?"
"Dying?"
"Hmm~." Yuji held his chin in thought. "I don't know. I just died and then here I am, alive and kicking."
"Oh..." The pair went back to watching the television, only to see the end credits rolling in the screen. And so, they talked about which movie they should watch next until Yuji suggested. "
How about this? 'Best Kid'."
"Best Kid? That sounds like a family-friendly movie."
"Well, the point of the training is to watch all kinds of movies while pouring cursed energy to these cute toys."
"These are cute?" Hachiman thought while looking at the kangaroo cursed corpse. "What kind of toys did you play with when you were a kid?"
"So, it doesn't matter, let's watch it." Yuji said and inserted the DVD in the player. He looked at the cover and thought about something. "This movie looks kinda familiar..."
"Oi, Itadori. You're blocking the screen."
"Oh, right," Yuji went back to his seat, and they both watched in silence while pouring cursed energy to their cursed corpses. After the first fifteen minutes of the movie, his eyes narrowed as if he noticed something odd about what they were watching, and after another minute, he shouted. "AAAAHH! Isn't this Karate Kid?! (1)"
"Karate what?"
Two hours and seven minutes later
10:00 PM
"In my opinion, it wasn't a good movie. Or rather, I can't say an opinion because this guy kept giving out hints of spoilers of the movie." Hachiman thought while glaring at Yuji, who covered his mouth with his hand.
"I'm sorry." Yuji apologized with a muffled voice, having an expression of guilt in his face. The only response he could give to the apology was nothing but a deep sigh.
"After all that argument about a 'good movie-watching experience', you just have to be that one guy that is a prime example of the' worst movie-watching experience'." Hachiman grabbed a dvd case and looked at the cover for a few moments in contemplation until he decided to insert the disk in the dvd player.
"What are we watching?" Yuji asked with guilt still visible in his expression and still covering his mouth.
"A movie titled 'Bus Man'. It could be a comedy but I don't know." Hachiman said and Yuji only nodded in silence as a response. They watched the one in a half-hour movie and as the credits rolled, Hachiman scratched the back of his head. The jokes and comedic moments didn't land for him either because he thought it just wasn't funny, or his lack of understanding in western humor. But, one thing that confused him the most was from start to finish, the movie didn't fulfill a certain aspect. "Why is it called 'Bus Man' when there's no correlation to buses at all?"
"I don't know, but the movie was kinda funny," Yuji said while raising both arms to stretch. "Maybe it's like Karate Kid? Changed title?"
"I guess so... Why was it called 'Best Kid' anyway?"
"... Offensive?"
"How the hell is it offensive when it's a Japanese martial art?" Hachiman asked as Yuji was fiddling with his phone.
"Hmm.. Here it is!"
"What is it?"
" That 'Bus Man' movie's actual title is the main character." Yuji said while showing him what he searched through his phone from the internet.
"Napoleon Dynamite? At least that makes more sense. (1)" Hachiman said with shrugged shoulders. After talking to each other for a few minutes, they watched another movie and Hachiman noticed something throughout their movie marathon. "So far, we've been doing well."
"Hm?"
"Our cursed corpses."
"Oh, yeah! I sorta forgot about it. We're getting the hang of it, huh?"
"I guess so. Let's hope we'll get through the night without getting more bruises." Hachiman said, and they all watched in silence. The movie was titled "Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring", and after almost four hours, they were so focused on the movie, they didn't hear Satoru coming down the wooden stairs. He stared at the pair's backs and was impressed by the results of their training.
"Wow, Yuji learns surprisingly quick. A lot quicker than Hachiman," Satoru then focused on the dead fish-eyed boy. "But, learning to control cursed energy well in four straight days is impressive too."
"POOOOGG!" Satoru shouted, which shocked the two movie watchers and turned around to look at him with eyes widened.
"Gojo-sensei?!" Yuji said.
"What the hell?" Hachiman's expression changed into a deadpan stare. "Don't scare people like that."
"Talking to them doesn't cause a problem, either... But..." Satoru leaned closer to look at Hachiman with their faces inches close to each other.
"What?" Hachiman tried to lean away from him, but the blindfolded sorcerer kept getting closer.
"Him being able to control cursed energy confirms there's no cursed object or a cursed user involved here. He is born with cursed energy. The question is: How come none of us have ever found him? Is this some kind of 'late bloomer' thing where he developed strong cursed energy years later? That's impossible unless he was trained, but when I asked him, he seemed to be telling the truth. Regardless, looks like we can increase both Yuji's and Hachiman's output quickly and move on to the next step," Satoru stood straight and walked to the stairs. "You two- nah. Yuji, come with me. We're heading out. You stay here, Hachiman."
"Eh?" Both students were confused and looked at each other for a second, then looked back at him.
"It's an extracurricular lesson, come on." Satoru's answer only confused them more, but Yuji shrugged his shoulders and complied.
"Wait, why can't I come with you?" Hachiman couldn't help but asked. It wasn't much out of envy, just pure curiosity.
Oh... nah. You're crazy, but not crazy enough for this lesson." Satoru answered with a grin, grabbed Yuji, and they disappeared.
"What does that mean?" Hachiman thought, trying to decipher the meaning behind the blindfolded sorcerer's words, but to no avail. He just sighed and looked at the time on his phone and realized how late the night was. "Two o'clock in the morning. I need to sleep.
Next day
Day 5 of training
9:00 AM
"Same routine, different day." Hachiman mumbled while yawning and stretching. He stood up and noticed his cursed corpse wasn't on the desk. As he wondered where it was, he received a text message from Satoru.
"Do your routine, then come to the training room. Go for 6 km run, and 70 reps."
"Seriously? A training like this would kill a person..." He said while changing his attire. It was true. The muscles, joints, and bones would sore and would cause injuries if one would continue to exercise for days straight without proper rest and sustained injuries all over the body. However, in this Jujutsu world, such consequences would pose little concern, since there was a person with special healing abilities. Common sense in exercise and other things may not apply in this kind of world. As he wore a plain black t-shirt and dark blue jogging pants, he turned on the treadmill Satoru gave to him so he could do his workout here instead of outdoors. Why Satoru did this was a mystery. Hachiman speculated that something serious happened that made Satoru resorted to this, or perhaps there was a next stage to this training. Whatever the case, Hachiman went along with it and finished the routine within forty minutes. After taking a thirty minute-break, he changed his shirt to a new one with the same color and went to the training room. When he opened the door, the first thing he saw was Yuji lying prone on the floor, appeared to be unconscious, and Satoru who was sitting on top of his back in his casual attire.
"Yo!" Satoru said cheerfully, as if there was nothing weird going on.
"Uuhh... Yeah. So, what's all this?" Hachiman asked with pure confusion in his voice.
"Next stage: Combat training!" Satoru said while jumping out of Yuji and posed a boxing stance.
"... What?"
"Combat training!"
"No, I heard you the first time. Just what do you mean by that?"
"It definitely sounds like that!" Satoru's answer made the dead fish-eyed boy sigh and glared at the white-haired sorcerer.
"Didn't we agree I won't become a sorcerer?"
"Yeah, what about it? This is self-defense, Hachiman. It's not a building, or a landmark, it's a city that turned into a hotspot of curses. And that city is YOUR home. Chances of you encountering one there is a lot higher than normal. And unlike infections, curses will appear just as unpredictable, but not as quickly noticeable since...you know, invisible by a lot of people. Once you bump into one, you can't expect one of our sorcerers to come to your rescue all the time."
"That... makes sense..."
"Besides, don't you think you'd be a badass. Like, come on! Powers? Cool swords? Huh? Huh?" Satoru persisted while elbowing Hachiman's right arm, which annoyed the latter. What the white-haired sorcerer said did make sense. Satoru did also say to him three days ago that curse activities wouldn't decline quickly, and of course, there was that mystery as to why he had such strong cursed energy. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like normality in his life was slowly slipping away.
"It feels like it's inevitable for me... to go down this path. It makes me wonder if my life was predetermined as a tragic misfortune from birth," Hachiman thought and squatted still while looking down. "What are the chances I'm gonna die, or bumping into a curse even scarier than that thing days ago? It should be rare. It's gotta be. But does that mean other curses aren't life-threatening? No... What's the right answer here?"
"PTSD?" Satoru asked while approaching him.
"Yeah, probably." Hachiman answered rather quickly and nonchalantly. It was true. The memory of that night still haunted him, no matter how many days passed. He stood up slowly and waited for his legs to stop trembling. After five seconds, he punched his right knee to force himself to stop displaying fear.
"Well, that's understandable. It's not your fault... well, until proven otherwise. But, Hachiman..." Satoru touched Hachiman's forehead with his index finger. "When something changes in your life, the only thing to do is move forward. How you're gonna do that depends on you. Are you just gonna run, or face it head-on? One thing's for sure: Don't you dare ignore it. Don't think that things will go back to the way it was. After all, a curse is a part of humans. We curse others or curse ourselves. That's the truth of this damn world. Now... stand straight."
"... Okay," Hachiman complied. Somehow his legs stopped trembling after the white-haired sorcerer said in a serious and low tone. It was like he was reminded that his life wasn't predetermined, and so he felt relief. He admitted it was strange, but it brought a sense of closure. The nightmare would still linger in his mind for a while, but not as strong as before. Satoru tossed a "bokken" (wooden sword) to him and he caught it.
"In terms of physical prowess, you're pretty average. Well, you got a lot of stamina, I give you that, but that's not enough. So, you gotta use a weapon you're comfortable with."
"And my choice is a katana?"
"Uhuh! Now, as a cute little Japanese yourself, you don't need me to explain about katanas, right?"
"Aside from how to wield it properly, then no."
"Nice! Your personal trainer should be here any minute no-" Before Satoru could finish his sentence, the double door was pulled open and revealed a man with spiky hair wearing a white button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a dark blue tie, black pants, and leather shoes. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the three people in the room.
"... Shit..."
"You're finally here! What's up, Kusakabe!" Satoru waved, suddenly teleported next to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Damn, you're sweaty as hell right now."
"Gojo, I didn't sign up for this..." Kusakabe complained, hiding his regret and pretended to be stoic. However, Hachiman noticed how he was avoiding his gaze towards the former and Yuji. "You said I'm teaching a curious kid who wants to know swordsmanship."
"Hachiman, how old are you?" Satoru asked.
"17, but I'll be 18 next month." Hachiman answered.
"See? He's still technically a kid."
"Just a month away from being a young adult doesn't make any difference to me," Kusakabe turned around and pulled Satoru with him and whispered. "Besides, you didn't tell me this 'kid' is HIM! And is that Sukuna's vessel? How the he-"
"Don't ask too many questions, man!" Satoru whispered back with more enthusiasm. "Just remember the deal, alright?"
"Right... the deal. Like hell I'm gonna go along with this! If the higher-ups find out that I'm helping those two, That's pretty much the end of me! But... the deal is... sort of appealing. A one week off at work and a million yen. Recently, missions keep piling up, especially regarding to Chiba. I could really need a break. Am I gonna risk my life just for a week of vacation? That sounds stupid. I don't wanna die for a reason like that... Shit, my arms are kinda sore from using my katana. I could really use a massage... Fuck it, I'm sure Gojo will do something if this gets out. He's the strongest, after all. Yeah... " Kusakabe closed his eyes and contemplated the dilemma until he opened them with an answer. "Alright, as long as you keep your end of the bargain."
"A man keeps his promise." Satoru said while patting his back to reassure him. "Alright, Hachiman, this is your new personal trainer, Kusakabe Atsuya! I previously asked a different pal of mine to take the role, but he was too busy in Chiba, so the only gloomy sorcerer who wields a weapon besides him is this guy right here."
"I don't look gloomy," Atsuya denied his statement and sighed. "Well, pleasure meeting you."
"Oh, yes. Please to meet you." Hachiman said with a nod. And now the new training had begun. Kusakabe was given a bokken and while Satoru and Yuji were sparring in hand-to-hand combat, Atsuya twirled his arms for a moment to stretch and stared at his trainee from head to toe.
"So, are you any good with this?" He asked.
"No."
"No marital art experience of any kind?"
"Not much."
"Okay, let's see... Try attacking me." Atsuya said while pointing the bokken towards Hachiman. "Attack me in any way you want. We can do something from there. Imbue that with cursed energy."
"Okay, then." Hachiman agreed and posed a fighting stance. His left foot was slightly behind the right with the left heel slightly raised, both feet were parallel, the hips were straight forward, shoulders were relaxed, and his spine was perpendicular to the floor. He could feel his center of gravity between both feet. He held the bokken in front of the waist, with the tip of the weapon pointed at Atsuya's throat. He imbued the wooden sword in cursed energy perfectly.
"The most basic kendo stance, huh? Well, that's what most kids would use since it's common to see in media. But, unlike them who would imitate it for fun and in amateurish form, this guy did it right. Good grip and aim, nice posture, and good concentration. Does he really not have experience or did he lie?" Atsuya analyzed him in his mind. "Overall, decent stance. And he imbued the wooden sword with cursed energy pretty fast, too. Heh, interesting."
"As I said earlier, I have zero experience. I'm just using all of my otaku knowledge from light novels, manga, and anime. I especially have to thank Holyland for this. (2)" Hachiman thought as he took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Try to hit me." Atsuya provoked. Hachiman raised the wooden sword and swung it down to Atsuya's head. An obvious attack was of course blocked as his new personal trainer effortlessly raised his own bokken. A second after, he aimed for his right wrist which surprised Atsuya, but the latter moved his own bokken down slightly, and pointed it upward while blocking the attack. Not only did he block Hachiman's strike, but also prepared himself to strike his head. Despite its quick movement, Hachiman could still guard against it. They attacked and blocked each other three more times before Atsuya began to notice Hachiman's flaws in fighting. After feeling content of what he understood, Atsuya ended the sparring with a strike to Hachiman's left side, the right cheek, and when he raised his bokken for Hachiman to notice, he kicked his gut. The boy held his stomach, but the pain was too much, so he knelt on the floor.
"What the hell... Cheap move." He said between grunts.
"I said 'attack me in any way you want'. Does that mean using just your weapon?" Atsuya argued with a grin.
"Smartass..." Hachiman slowly stood up while caressing his stomach.
"Still, going for the head first? Pretty ruthless, aren't you?"
"'in any way you want', remember?"
"Heh, you did well at the first two strikes, but after following up with more attacks, your movements became more and more sloppy. We're gonna work on that, but not through kendo. Although kendo involves quick and deadly strikes, in a battle like jujutsu fights and curses, you need to move your entire body just as much as swinging a sword. Get ready."
"Right."
...
11:00 AM - Second sparring. While Hachiman was desperately hitting him, Atsuya lectured while blocking.
"Don't be too desperate. A fight isn't a non-stop barrage of attacks. It's alright to fall back and straightened your posture again." Atsuya said while dodging a downward swing from Hachiman.
"Right." Hachiman followed what his trainer lectured, and the moment he stepped back, Atsuya tried to strike his left arm. However, the student reacted in time and blocked it, but not the follow-up strike on the right side of his face.
"Not a bad reaction, but you lowered your guard while relaxing. Retreating doesn't mean rest. Every second counts in battle. Again!"
"Right!"
11:35 AM - swinging the sword one hundred times. Atsuya told him that his grip loosened sometimes from either attacking or defending whenever he felt like being pushed back, and that the cursed energy in the wooden sword would often weaken. So, Hachiman was instructed to swing the bokken a hundred times.
12:00 PM - Lunch
"Heheheh, not bad for a teacher, Kusakabe!" Satoru complimented while eating a sandwich.
"I'm just telling him what he did wrong and add pointers. He just learns quick." Atsuya said and drank a bottle of water. "Meanwhile, you're doing... sorta well with the vessel."
"Ow... Ow..." Yuji caressed his cheek while struggling to sit on the floor.
"Gojo-san roughed you up, huh?" Hachiman said and took a bite of his yakisoba bread.
"Yeah... No mercy at all." Yuji said and bit his hotdog sandwich. He spoke while chewing. "Ash fo you, yo doen pwetty koot. Ashome. (As for you, you're doing pretty good. Awesome.)"
"I do not understand a word you said."
"Keep dat owp, ad yo can be a samwai an de. (Keep that up, and you can be a samurai one day.)" Satoru said while chewing as well.
"You too. Stop talking with your mouth full." Hachiman said with a twitched eye and Satoru swallowed the contents in his mouth.
"Yes, Daaadd~. Pfft! Anyway, three days of sword training is not enough, obviously. You wanna extend your stay in the 'fitness camp'? I'm sure your family will be convinced with an easy excuse." Satoru suggested, which made Hachiman think about his options. After thinking in silence for a few seconds, Satoru interrupted his thoughts. "Alright, leave it to me!"
"Eh? I haven't said anything yet."
"Nah, you're easy to read, so don't bother. If that's the case... then the training will be even harder from here on out." The white-haired sorcerer's grin made Hachiman feel uneasy. Whatever he was planning, the boy could tell it wouldn't be good. Atsuya and Yuuji also felt the same.
12:40 PM - Practicing Kata. It refers to a detailed pattern of martial art movements. There are several katas in swordsmanship and in other martial arts, but the main purpose is the same: to understand and value the movement and principals of the martial art. It is primarily practiced solo, but it shouldn't be misunderstood as an alternative method of training. Think of practicing Kata the same as reading the first chapter of a book. It serves as an introduction to the true purpose of martial art. Kata is not used for combat per se, but for understanding how a martial artist moves FOR certain techniques that is used for combat.
Atsuya suggested this so whenever he would leave for missions, Hachiman could practice by himself. (Again, Kata is not an alternative training method, but like an exercise.)
"Your footing is off on that one! Do it all over again!" Atsuya said, after noticing the student's mistake.
"Sorry!" Hachiman apologized and did the movement pattern all over again.
Six hours later
6:45 PM In Hachiman's bedroom
The dead fish-eyed boy repeated three katas for hours until nighttime, exhausting himself until he could barely move to perform a simple chore.
Doing a Kata is massively different from any other exercise because instead of repetition of one movement, it is repetition of choreographed patterns of movements. An instructor can spar all day long while barely breaking a sweat, but if he/she performed a kata, the instructor will breathe heavily from absolute exhaustion.
Hachiman just went straight to bed and wanted to sleep until he heard his phone beeping and vibrating under the pillow.
"Oh, I forgot my phone... That's not good." He turned on the screen and saw Komachi's name under the number. He answered the call and the first thing he heard was a shout once again.
"ONII-CHAN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TAKING SO LONG!" Komachi shouted in anger.
"Sorry, I was so busy with the trai-.. workout that I left my phone in my bedroom." Hachiman apologized, and he heard a sigh from his little sister.
"Geez, have you learned nothing from calling or texting Yuki-nee at all?" She asked in a disappointed tone.
"I learned that it is a tiring task for my fingers when texting, and sometimes it is incredibly distracting when someone suddenly calls me while I was doing something."
"But it was worth it, right?"
"As long as it's my adorable sister and wonderful girlfriend, then yes."
"Romantic and creepy, that's onii-chan alright."
"How is she and the others?"
"Oh, Yuki-nee and Yui-san woke up first last night."
"Really?!" Hachiman asked in bewilderment.
"Yeah, and then today everyone else woke up, too. But Yuki-nee and Miura-san still have headaches. Haruno-san told us they're staying in the hospital for seven more days for a full recovery."
"That's good..." Hachiman said with a sigh of relief. "That's good..."
"So, how's the workout?"
"Hell."
"Yup, that's the answer I expected, as always. So, how's Gojo-san!? Is he doing good? Does he have six packs?"
"Oi, shouldn't you be worried about your older hardworking brother more than a stranger who you only know about is his irritatingly handsome face?"
"Eh? Did you say something, Onii-chan? I got a selfie of me and Gojo-san before you guys left, and like, he is just so-"
"Okay, I'm going to sleep now. The workout really took everything in me so yeah."
"Oh, okay then," Komachi said and before the older brother hung up... "Onii-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"Good luck with your workout!" And then she hung up.
"... Well, I got to try my best again tomorrow..."
Next Day
Day 6 of training
7:00 AM - The usual morning routine: All 30 reps, no kilometer run.
7:15 AM - Light breakfast
7:40 AM - one hundred sword swings with the bokken.
8:00 AM - Practicing the same Katas yesterday but with Atsuya as his partner
10:00 AM - Sparring
12:30 PM - Lunch
1:10 PM - More sparring
4:25 PM - Solo Kata practice
7:00 PM - Rest
Two days later,
6:03 AM
It had been eight days since he trained on this campus. It was supposed to be today for him to leave and reunite with his family, friends, and his lover. However, Satoru had other plans.
"Make sure you wake up early! And here! You're gonna need this." Satoru said with a menacing grin and laugh.
"Am I going to... exorcise a curse?" Hachiman mumbled to himself while staring at the sheathed katana given by the blindfolded sorcerer. He was currently outside, walking in the middle of the forest to a specific destination. His attire comprised a black T-shirt with two white stripes in the center, black jogging pants, and white sneakers. He followed what he read on the small paper and after walking further for twenty seconds, he saw the place. It was a large traditional Japanese three-storey mansion with a vast garden, and two large one-storey infrastructures all surrounded in a quadrilateral wall with "kawara" on top. "Is this Gojo-san's place?"
"I wish! This place is really fancy, huh?" Satoru suddenly appeared behind him.
"What the-!"
"Come in! Come in! I'll give you a tour!" The blindfolded sorcerer said as he pushed Hachiman into the mansion after they removed their shoes. From one room to another, Satoru just slid open the doors, gave a brief explanation, and then moved on. After going through all the floors and the garden, they sat on the floor in a tatami room. "So, how do you like this place?"
"Honestly, it's amazing," Hachiman admitted, but then his face became serious. "What's the deal here?"
"Hmm?"
"What's the reason for showing me this place? And to give me a katana too? Is this a test?"
"Heh, you catch on quick," Satoru said with a smile, and they then heard a voice that didn't sound human. The fusuma slid open to reveal a maroon, humanoid cursed spirit with only an eye on each side of its head, and its arms seemed detached from the body, but they were floating next to each side as if it was attached to it. "Hachiman, exorcise that curse."
"Is that it?" Hachiman stood up, drew his katana, and faced the cursed spirit. "I feel weirdly calm. Is this how it feels like? To achieve something that'll remove your fears from challenges? My mind still goes back to that night. That damn fly monster is just on another level. But, I'm not afraid... I feel at peace oddly enough..."
"Such focus..." Satoru thought while analyzing Hachiman's current mental state. "I expected him to freak out, but he's calmer than I thought. A workout does a lot of things to a man, after all."
Hachiman held the katana firmly with both hands with the blade pointing at the cursed spirit's throat. They were several feet apart, and the first to initiate was the curse itself as it ran. Its arms flew away and circled around him. As the curse swung a left roundhouse kick, the arms flew towards him; one from behind, and one coming to his right side. The best action he responded with was rolling sideways. It sounded ridiculous, but he did dodge the kick, and the two flying arms. He didn't waste a second as he stood up and sliced the left flying arm coming towards him, guarded against another kick, and finished the curse by decapitating its head. The curse disappeared along with the right arm before it flew towards his face.
"Now that's quick work, but that's just a third grade. Still impressive though." Satoru clapped as an applause to Hachiman's accomplishment. However, Hachiman didn't lower the katana and glared at the blindfolded sorcerer.
"It's not over, isn't it?" Hachiman asked with a gulp.
"No, it's not. Here," Satoru gave him a small material.
"Is this... an earpiece?" Hachiman asked while staring at the earpiece. When he raised his head, Satoru was nowhere in the room anymore. Suddenly, dread filled his mind and looked around the room, anticipating more curses appearing while putting the earpiece on his right right ear. "Hello? Gojo-san?!"
"Hiii~! You can pretty much guess what the test is by now. It's best to talk like this with earpieces since I think it'd be a little hard for you to fight while holding the phone to your ear." The moment Satoru said that through the earpiece, the sky slowly descended to darkness even though it was still daytime.
"Gojo-san told me about this. This is a veil!" Hachiman thought as he watched the sky turned to night. He heard more voices of cursed spirits, not just in the room, but everywhere.
"You will stay here for three days. Kill as many cursed spirits as you like, but more will keep coming. There are two safe zones in this mansion: One in the basement, and the other in a room of the highest floor of the mansion. All of them lasts for eight hours until it attracts curses than repelling them. Water and food is available in your new mansion that lasts for only a day. If you survive after three nights, you can go home and reunite with everyone you care about."
"Are you crazy?!" Hachiman said while walking back outside to the garden. "I haven't fought a single curse yet!"
"But you did exorcise one just now, and before that, and you punched a giant curse at that abandoned middle school too, remember?"
"That was all just a fluke! Strokes of luck! You can't expect me to-"
"Really? Hmm... then, I guess that's it, huh? How about this, if you can last for 24 hours there, a professional jujutsu sorcerer will go there to help you exorcise all the curses."
"That... doesn't sound ba-"
"But are you sure about this?"
"What do you mean?"
"You see, all of our best sorcerers are busy somewhere doing their jobs. Things are getting crazy this year. One unpredictable mess to another. So the only person I can send to your aid is just a fourth-grade sorcerer, that means the lowest rank if you didn't know."
"Then, what about you?! You help me and-"
"Weeelll~, you see... I'm not here anymore."
"What?!" Hachiman shouted and cursed spirits came out of that tatami room. He stepped back the more they approached him.
"I actually got a mission overseas today, so right now I'm watching you from afar through special surveillance. I can't help you."
"Are you fucking serious!?"
"Now, now. At least you'll get help?"
"Help?! You call 'sending the weakest sorcerer' help?! Whoever that guy is, he's not coming here!"
"Eh? Why? Are you worried about a stranger than yourself? That's really weeeiiird~! Shouldn't you be prioritizing getting back to your loved ones~?"
"..."
"Hachiman, there may be a chance I can get back over there as fast as I can since I'm the best, after all. But, this misssion is very important. If I abandon it, there will be consequences."
"I can't rely on a weak sorcerer. He'll die for nothing!"
"The sorcerer will die for you. Isn't that noble?"
"Who would die for a trash like me..." Hachiman said as his mind slowly returning to its self-depreciating thoughts. He chuckled. "I'm the guy who cursed an entire city, remember? Or at least, make a lot of curses there stronger. What's so noble of saving someone like me?"
"Well, that's depressing. So what are you gonna do?"
"Just get me out of here and stop this..."
"Sorry, I'm not there anymore. Besides, this is part of your responsibility, too."
"Huh?"
"You wanna know where we got those cursed spirits?"
"... Don't tell me..."
"Mhm! They're all from Chiba! Surprised they're that many, huh?"
"You're lying... "
"I wish I was, Hachiman. Things are getting more chaotic in Chiba. If you can't do this, that means you can't protect those close to you from curses. Worst case scenario: You're gonna watch them die."
"Fine."
"Hm?"
"... I'll play your game, Gojo," He declared while glaring at the cursed spirits surrounding him. "I'll do it, alright? And don't send help. I won't let someone else die for a person not worth dying for."
"Selfless and depressing. Alright, then good luck! I'll give you some lessons while you're there surviving."
"How very 'helpful," The conversation ended as he now began to focus on the curses surrounding him in the garden. He took a deep breath and pointed the blade at them. "This isn't really a selfless act. When you look at it the other way, I'm acting selfishly. Have you ever have the thought of doing something selfish and cruel, but you can't because you're afraid? Not afraid of what will happen to others, but what will happen to yourself? That is it. In the end, I'm afraid of what will happen to me after I chose to seek help from a sorcerer who'll surely be killed the moment the person enters this place. I'm only concerned about myself."
"CaKE..." A cursed spirit spoke.
"Or maybe that's selflessness in the end? I don't know, I don't care..." A cursed spirit twice as tall as him walked towards him along with two four-legged curses behind him. He didn't try to analyze its full appearance. All he ever saw was there were arms, legs, and a neck begging to be cut. The tall curse attempted to grab him with both hands, but he ducked to evade and then cut its hands in quick succession. He jumped and cut its head, easily exorcising the curse. The other two behind him charged next. Hachiman turned around while leaning to the side to dodge the curse pouncing to him and then exorcising the other with a downward swing to its face. That curse's face split in half. The previous four-legged curse pounced once again, and he just raised his left arm. The curse bit the arm with its human teeth, but he didn't seem to be affected. The curse appeared to be in shock and looked at Hachiman, who was grinning menacingly. While the curse was still biting his arm, he slammed it to the ground and stabbed its head without hesitation. "I can't run away from this. I have to save Chiba from the curse I inflicted intentionally or not. I refuse to die here!"
"Whoo! Look at him go!" Satoru said while watching the monitors.
"You're very cruel to your new student, Gojo." Mei Mei said with a hand on her chin. "This looks more like torture than training. But, I couldn't care less. You will give me the payment, correct?"
"Yeah, yeah. Ten billion yen for using your cursed technique. Don't you think you have enough money to buy anything now?"
"There is no such thing as too much money," She said and looked at Atsuya sitting from far away, watching the surveillance with an indifferent expression. However, both she and Satoru knew he was worried about the boy. "Don't be so worried, Kusakabe-kun. At best, the boy may lose a few limbs."
"I'm not worried. Now that my work is done, he has nothing to do with me anymore." Atsuya said with crossed arms. He didn't want to admit, but it was a nice experience teaching someone he was good at. However...
"Now I press X to douuubtt~!" Satoru sang with a cheeky smile. "You had fun training him. It was all over your face every time."
"Shut up. I'd rather not grow attach to kids with death as their future," Atsuya argued. "Being a jujutsu sorcerer is a tragedy for most people to the point it's the occupation's meaning."
"Yeah, I can agree with you on that. But look," Satoru pointed at the monitors showing Hachiman in the narrow hallway of the second floor running from the cursed spirits. Strangely, he was smiling. After entering the room and closed the fusuma door, the curses followed him and broke in through the door. Hachiman, who was leaning against the wall next to the door, jumped past and exorcised some curses that noticed him while the others who just looked around the room noticed him escaping. As he ran down the hallway, four large serpent-like curses phased through the wall and could block his path. And so, the only best action was that he jumped out of the window. Two large flying humanoid curses with bird wings and claws as feet flew up towards him. Hachiman sliced one of them in half, but the other grabbed his right arm with its tail and lifted him up higher than the mansion building. Because the flying curse pulled him with his right arm where he held the katana, he couldn't use it, so he held it with his left hand and cut the tail. He crashed through the kawara roof and fell into the kitchen. Without thought, he grabbed a loaf of bread on the table and drank a glass of water from the faucet before walking out.
"He seems to be having fun on his own." Mei Mei said with a chuckle.
"Heheh, see? He's following everything what you taught him- oh, that's a clumsy swing, but at least he exorcised it- and that looks terrible," Satoru said when he watched Hachiman making mistakes in his sword swings such as his footwork and more which caused him to get hit by the curses' attacks. "Well, it's really too optimistic for us to think he can move like a normal swordsman. But. he's doing his job, though!"
"Gojo, what's your game here?" Atsuya asked while glaring at the blindfolded sorcerer.
"Hmm?"
"You lied to him about having a mission overseas, trapped him in a place filled with curses that you lied about coming from Chiba, and you expect him to survive on his own? I thought you were training him to control cursed energy, not to turn him into a jujutsu sorcerer."
"Atsuya, do you know what I've learned these past several days?"
"... What?"
"The higher-ups aren't a bunch of fools flocking in the dark room, they're a pile of shit that needs to be cleaned up and thrown in one body bag," Satoru said with his voice growing more angry. "Some of those old geezers just followed tradition because it's the only thing they know to operate in, while other shitheads just want to hold on to power in borrowed time. They want stagnation, but you know that's impossible. But, they're stupid enough to even go to extreme length to kill a boy. I became a teacher so I could guide a new generation of sorcerers into a more progressive and brighter path. But... I get the feeling it's not enough. What if that fails? Who will I depend on to brighten the future of sorcerers?"
"... Him?" Atsuya pointed at the boy on the monitor while glaring at the blindfolded sorcerer. "I know you're not dumb enough to put such a heavy burden on a single kid."
"Of course not. He's just the first step. You know sorcerers aren't just in Jujutsu Tech, right? Whether they're curse users or sorcerers from another country, a lot of them operate outside of our jujutsu laws, outside of the old geezers' eyes. What I need is people I can trust that work in the dark, unseen and uncontrollable by those fools so in case my goal falls apart or it never even achieves, a Plan B will exist."
"And what is your Plan B with him and others?"
"Kill those old fuckers and anyone who supports them," Satoru's plan left Atsuya in shock while Mei Mei just stared at the former with an unreadable expression. Satoru's tone suddenly came back to being playful. "Oh, please don't tell anyone."
"Pay me an extra million and I'll consider it." Mei Mei said with a smile and watched the monitors.
"Fiiine~! Geez, you need to find a different passion in life, Mei-san. Men don't like women who are too greedy, you know?"
"What I do in life is none of your concern, now is it, Gojo?"
"I don't want to take part in your plans, Gojo," Atsuya sighed. "But, if something happens to that kid-"
"Who do you think I am? Hachiman won't die, at least not that easily. You're sounding like an overprotective dad. You two bonded in just four days?"
"Shut up..." And with that, the three sorcerers just watched Hachiman struggled fighting some curses. After a few seconds, Atsuya spoke. "You remember the deal, right?"
"Why does no one trust me?"
"Because you're Gojo Satoru." Atsuya and Mei Mei answered in sync.
"Okay, that confirms the deal is guaranteed. Okinawa beach, here I come!" Atsuya said while secretly clenching his hand into a fist.
"That hurts, you know?... By the way, I don't remember you teaching him enhancing physical capabilities using cursed energy." Satoru commented as he and the other two sorcerers noticed how Hachiman moved faster and stronger than an average athlete. They almost forgot that he fell from 100 feet but still managed to move well as if nothing happened.
"I thought you taught him that." Atsuya said while blinking, just as confused as Satoru.
"Did he learn that by watching Yuji and I spar?" Satoru thought, impressed by the boy's abilities.
Hours later
12:00 PM
Hachiman managed to escape from the cursed spirits' chase by hiding under the stairs. It was dark, and the space was so small, he needed to sit to fit under the stairs. He took this opportunity to rest and eat the loaf of bread quickly. He only took five bites and tied the plastic bag closed to save it for later.
"It's only afternoon and I'm already reaching my limit. I'm almost out of breath and running low on cursed energy. Okay... Okay... Let's look at my current situation. I'll be trapped in a mansion full of curses for three days. I only have one day's worth of food and water, two safe zones that last for eight hours, and a katana. What I need to figure out is which safe zone I should pick for today and how to get as much water to hydrate myself. Bath and food are not really that important. This loaf of bread is fine. I doubt I can cook while defending myself from curses. I need to get something to hold water. My injuries... My body hurts from taking those hits and from that fall earlier. If I didn't learn to amplify my body with cursed energy, I would've died a hundred times over."
Hachiman removed his shirt and checked his injuries. Most of them were bruises and minor cuts that didn't cause any concern. They hurt, but he could still move.
"Which safe zone should I take first? There is the basement and a room somewhere on the mansion's third floor. I wanted to find that room, but the entire second floor has too many cursed spirits to get past. And when I was being lifted by that flying curse, I swear I saw more of them on the third floor through an open window. The basement looks like the best option... but there's the issue of what happens after the safe zone times out. The basement has no escape route. I'll be trapped in the basement and get killed. Which is it... That's it!"
Hachiman heard that inhuman voice and saw the head of an orange cursed spirit, followed by three other different curses. Hachiman rolled out of the small space, grabbing his katana, and exorcised all of them quickly. He then heard the voices of other curses from upstairs, along with the footsteps.
"They found me!" He thought and ran away shirtless. "I only got thirty minutes of rest. My cursed energy is only recovered a little. I need to preserve more. Are there any places to hide?"
"Helloo~" Satoru called through the earpiece.
"Gojo?"
"Looking good! You survived over five hours in the mansion!"
"If you're going to give me a lesson now, make it quick and useful!" Hachiman said as he heard the curses chasing behind him.
"Well... I was gonna teach you about enhancing your body with cursed energy, but you figured that out unexpectedly... Let's see..."
"Please, think fast!"
"Oh, how about Atsuya-chan teach you one of his moves!"
"What?" Hachiman heard Atsuya in the background.
"Wait, Kusakabe-sensei is with you on that mission?"
"Yeah! The mission needed more than one sorcerer for some weird reason," Satoru lied. "Anyway, here ya go!"
"Hold o-" Atsuya wanted to refuse, but Satoru already gave him the earpiece. After clearing his throat, Atsuya put the earpiece in his right ear and spoke to the student. "Uh... Okay, uhm... Okay, listen carefully. What I'm about to tell you is a technique from the New Shadow Style. You know Iaijutsu, right?"
"Yeah... That means I need the scabbard... Which I left in that room!" Hachiman said while going outside and entered the wide one-storey building. After sliding open several fusuma doors, he finally found the specific tatami room and saw the scabbard. In no time, he grabbed the scabbard and realized everything was silent. He stood still for a few seconds until he sat on the mat to listen. "Alright, I got it."
"Yeah, I see that. Now, this technique is called 'Quick Draw. It's a New Shadow Style technique that applies cursed energy and iaijutsu. Basically, by covering the blade with cursed energy while it's sheathed, you will draw the blade faster than normal."
"Okay..." Hachiman sheathed the katana and poured his cursed energy into the blade.
"Now, you're gonna think you can do iaijutsu just because you watched a lot of shows that do that..."
"Shit, he read my mind," Hachiman said with a stoic expression. "When there's an anime that involves swords, there's bound to be an iaijutsu master who just slightly draws the blade, quickly sheathed it back and then the enemies just got decapitated. Who wouldn't want to try that? An uncultured swine?"
"Doing Iai is not that easy, and doing the Batto is even harder if you have zero experience." Atsuya explained.
"Hm?" Hachiman heard footsteps behind a fusuma door, and so he stood up on guard.
"Okay, okay. Listen, hold your katana to your hip."
"Right." Hachiman followed his instructions as he heard an inhuman voice.
"Put your left thumb on the guard. Now when you draw, turn the katana to the side and pull the sheath back to fully draw the blade. All that in one go, understand?"
"Yes!" Hachiman adjusted his right foot forward, then took a deep breath to prepare for the technique. Suddenly, it was silent. The curse stopped speaking and walking. Strangely, he saw a faint of cursed energy floating right in front of his face. It was hard to notice, but he did. He wondered what it was, but he immediately understood what the curse was about to do.
"hApPY BiRTHDAY!" The curse shouted as it appeared in front of him and this close to stab his face with its sharp claws. Without delay, he attacked.
"New Shadow Style: Quick Draw!" In a quick blurry motion of his arm, the curse's claws stopped just an inch close to his face, and its head was cut in half. The curse was fast but unfortunately for the spirit, he was faster. He successfully utilized the technique, but that didn't mean he mastered it completely. When he drew the katana, his right arm actually flung back with his grip on the weapon still firm. It was as if something stronger than him forcefully pulled his arm the moment he drew the blade. Not only that, his left thumb was slightly cut from the draw. "Aw! Aw! Aw! My arm...!"
"That's pretty much expected. You're not adjusted to the sudden change in speed that reaches superhuman levels." Atsuya said. "Right now, when you use the technique, it'll be like you're shooting with a gun that has the worst recoil."
"I-I see..." Hachiman said with a strange expression that Atsuya noticed.
"What's wrong? Does your arm hurt that badly?"
"N-No, it's fine..." Hachiman said while gulping. "I can't... I can't show how excited I am. This technique is like one of the most favorite moves in Otaku 101! Pull yourself together, Hikigaya Hachiman! You're over with your chuunibyou phase, right?!"
"This will be pretty useful. Thank you, Kusakabe-sensei." After calming himself within a second, he thanked him.
"N-No problem..." Atsuya responded with embarrassment displayed by the tone of his voice.
"Hey, how come he called you 'sensei' but not me?" Satoru asked.
"Why don't you recall the embarrassment you put him through during his training." Atsuya argued.
"Ah, he told you?"
"All of it, really. He really has it rough."
"I must admit, it's very impressive how he learns so quickly." Mei Mei said while watching. "And I thought Okkotsu and that third year are the only prodigies."
"Heheheh, that's why I put him in this extreme test," Satoru began to explain while patting his own forehead with an index finger. "Did you know that adrenaline helps you in improve memory and cognitive functions?"
"Well, yeah. That's why we think faster on our feet since we fought curses." Atsuya said.
"Well, I expected him to remember the lessons, but for him to do it on the first try... Heheheheh..." Satoru chuckled and grinned. "Hikigaya Hachiman, just what are you exactly? When we visit your home, your family's completely normal, as well as those close to you. There's nothing out of the ordinary in your overall background either. Are you really just a boy born with pure talent?"
Hours later
10:00 PM
Hachiman yawned. He hid back under the same stairs in the afternoon and he never wished to fall asleep in his entire life.
"Oh, it's my shirt," Hachiman grabbed the shirt and wore it again. "It's not like curses are in all the rooms and corners. They're just wandering around. Some can find me by sensing my cursed energy while others just have different behaviors. Just every second count to recover as much cursed energy as possible. Alright... Let's do this plan."
Hachiman got out of that tight space and went outside. With cursed energy, he jumped to the roof of the one-storey building and waited. After a few seconds, cursed spirits came out of the mansion, the other one-storey building, and some phased through the roof he was standing on.
"There you are..." He looked up and saw the same flying cursed spirit that lifted him up earlier with its tail. He focused his cursed energy to his legs and jumped as high as he could, hoping to reach the flying curse. Fortunately, the flying curse noticed him and so it flew down to attack with its claws. He used Quick draw to cut its feet in one swing, let go of the scabbard, and grabbed its right footless leg. He held the katana with his mouth and climbed on top of the curse. He pulled its long hair to force the curse to fly up, but they struggled for a moment until they crashed into a window at the third floor. The room was nothing but fusuma doors on three sides and four curses. It wasn't purely luck that he crashed into the room with few curses. While he was standing in the roof earlier, he also concentrated to sense the cursed energy in the third floor and tried to find which room had the least curses and very near to the safe room at the same time. What was considered lucky was how he crashed into the room with all the struggles in riding the flying curse.
He didn't waste time and slid open the fusuma door to his right and entered the safe zone. The safe zone was a room full of talisman attached everywhere from the walls to the ceiling. After feeling safe, he dropped to the floor, set the alarm with his phone, and tried to sleep.
"I keep wandering if I really did curse the entire city. The things I hate about Chiba are generally complains and nothing more. Overall, I love the city. What could be the extent of negative emotion? No... Maybe curses are born through concept as well... If so, that would make sense on my part since there's a lot of things I hated in the past that are either subsided or just faded entirely: Society, the concept of youth, social standards, even small ones like work and all... Even my own loneliness that I accepted as an ideal way of life. I don't know... I'm going to sleep."
Next day
6:05 AM
The alarm on his phone woke him up. His eyes felt heavy to lift, but he opened them to notice the talismans on the ceiling were glowing red. It took him no time to realize what that meant, and it caused him to be fully awake. He grabbed the katana, went out of the room, and jumped out of the window seconds after so many cursed spirits came to the former safe zone, and one jumped out to catch him. While in mid-air, the curse stretched its tongue like a frog and tried to whip him. He noticed the tongue coming towards him like a whip, but it was too late as it hit his right side, which sent him crashing to the roof of the one-storey building and fell into the middle of the garden. He resisted the pain as hard as he could and stood up. He found the scabbard being tossed around by two ten feet tall red curses that looked like obese children. He swung the blade to the curse's left side and then the other to its throat. He caught the scabbard, sheathed the katana, and prepared himself to draw.
"New Shadow Style: Quick Draw!" Once again, in one quick blurry motion of his arm, he jumped and drew the blade. The curse with the cut to the side had its head decapitated while the other with its throat slit had a cut shallow cut in its head. Hachiman clicked his tongue in frustration and exorcised the curse by cutting its arms. He twirled his right arm because of the pain from using the technique.
"It's gonna take a while to get used to the technique. At least I avoided cutting my thumb this time. Wait, what if I..." Before he could finish his thoughts, the same cursed spirit that whipped him with its tongue landed behind him in the garden. They stared at each other for a moment before they attacked.
"He's becoming even sharper than yesterday," Satoru said, and bit a toast with butter. He spoke while chewing. "At dis wate, he can dehen hmsef fom a-y cussed shpiwit ash lung ash ish nah fas or shpecial grade. (At this rate, he can defend himself from any cursed spirit as long as it's not a first or special grade.)"
"I don't understand what you just said," Atsuya said with sweat dripping down his temple as he drank a cup of coffee. "You're being too optimistic if you think he'll be a proper sorcerer in just two weeks."
"True, but the primary goal of this test is for him to develop a knack for exorcising curses. This also tests his other abilities like quick thinking, survivability, and forming strategies." He, Atsuya, and Mei Mei watched the screen as Hachiman struggled against a black skinny humanoid curse with its eyes floating out of its eye sockets. They were both five meters away from each other in the narrow hallway full of cracks on the walls, the ceiling, and floor. Hachiman closed the distance and swung the blade to its neck. In a second, the curse leaned back to dodge the swing, and tried to punch him to his left cheek, but Hachiman followed up his attack with a kick to its right leg. The attack was so strong with cursed energy, the leg snapped and purple blood came out. He finished the fight with a downward swing that split the curse's head wide. Hachiman relaxed with a deep breath and walked back to grab the scabbard he dropped and walked to his destination.
However, in a blink, the scene changed. He was still in the same hallway, but something was different. He was on his knees, holding his stomach. He felt pain in his left cheek and left arm as if someone punched him there. He looked up to see the same black, cursed spirit still standing and in a punching stance.
"What the hell just happened?" He asked himself in his thoughts. "I swear I did exorcise this thing. I remember it clearly: How I kick its leg and split its head."
"You're probably wandering what happened, Hachiman." Satoru spoke through the earpiece. "If you can exorcise it, I'll tell you because this is important once you face these kinds of enemies."
"Okay..." Hachiman raised one knee as the curse swung a left kick. He raised the blade to guard in time, and cut the cursed spirit's body in half. He stood up and waited for a few seconds before, in one blink, the scene changed once again. This time he was on the floor, leaning on a cracked wall. He felt dizzy and pain in his head. He saw the cursed spirit with its left leg lifted and the katana on the floor. The curse thrust a right kick to his face, in which he raised his arms to guard. He successfully blocked the kick... is what he thought happened, but once he blinked again, he was in another room lying on his back with pain spreading in his entire face. "Can he... change the events every time I blink? That's a crazy power."
"OnLy mE!" The cursed spirit spoke. Hachiman stood up and became fully cautious. He just stared at the curse without blinking and attacked. He swung a right haymaker, which the curse leaned its body to the side to dodge. While it was still leaning, he kicked its head up, but the curse's appearance made him underestimate the spirit's physical capabilities as it endured that kick and threw a punch at his stomach. He blocked it in time, but the punch sent him crashing to the wall with his back. He didn't give up. Hachiman stood up once again to fight, this time with a smirk. He walked towards the curse as it just stood still in a fighting stance. He grabbed and threw a chair at the curse, which it just dodged effortlessly. However, less than a second after that, Hachiman closed the distance and punched straight to its face. Nothing changed. The curse didn't use its power for some reason and just took the blow.
"I get it now," He mumbled as he went passed the curse and went out of the room through the hole in the wall. He grabbed his katana and scabbard and sheathed the blade. "Every time I blink, it's a trigger to activate your power. Easy enough."
"OnNLly..." The black, cursed spirit wasn't alone this time. Five curses phased through the floor, ceiling, and walls and three went to the black curse's side and other behind it.
"More of you, huh? Good, I want to test this out." He prepared himself to do the Quick Draw technique once again, but there was a difference. His right arm and legs were bursting with cursed energy, and after inhaling deeply, he attacked.
"New Shadow Style: Obscuring Stream of Malice!" In one fast blur, he was right behind the curses and at the same time, their heads were already decapitated.
"... Did he just create his own sword technique?" Atsuya asked in bewilderment after witnessing Hachiman's action.
"Why yes, yes he did. But, not without its drawbacks. It cost a lot more cursed energy than Quick Draw." Satoru said as they noticed Hachiman's legs and right arm shaking. "And that, too. Hello~? Hachiman?"
"Yeah?" Hachiman spoke through the earpiece.
"So, what you experienced earlier was something called a cursed technique. It's a lot different from using just raw cursed energy. If cursed energy is like electricity, cursed techniques are home appliances that use cursed energy to fuel them. Cursed energy can be used as a blunt force, or to reinforce the body, but doing those things isn't defined as cursed techniques. Instead, cursed techniques flow cursed energy into them to carry out a specific function, granting the user a special ability. Cursed spirits and sorcerers possess one."
"So, I can have one too, right?"
"Probably not. Sorcerers already have cursed techniques when they were already born. The chances of someone having a cursed technique this late in the game is little to none."
"Greaatt~."
"Hey, look on the bright side: you got to learn some cool sword techniques. Huh? Huh?"
"I guess..." The three sorcerers noticed how the boy was clutching his right arm and struggled to even make a single step forward. He sat on the floor and rest, taking deep breaths to resist the pain as much as he could. Little did he know he would struggle even more as time went on in this test.
Next Day
10:00 AM
It was basically a game of 'hide and seek'. He felt like he exorcised more than a hundred curses. However, this time, he was hiding and running away from curses more than confronting them. It was because he was beyond exhausted. The only saving grace was what little cursed energy he recovered from the short rests while hiding. Last night, he rested in the only safe zone left, which was in the basement. As he expected, escape was incredibly difficult as the moment he woke up and the talismans glowed red, curses were already surrounding him and crowded the room. It took almost every ounce of his cursed energy, three uses of his new sword technique, even more injuries, and the usual game of hide and seek with all of his willpower to escape the curses. The cost? Too much for him that he wanted to just sleep through the entire day. His body was now at its limit. While he could amplify his physical prowess with cursed energy, that didn't mean his muscles wouldn't snap from this much battle. Right now, he was back in the same tatami room, lying on the floor on his back.
"You still alive?" Satoru asked.
"... Get me out of here..." Hachiman whispered between exhausted breaths.
"It's the last day. You don't think you can make it?"
"No... I'm sorry..." Hachiman apologized with tears in his eyes. He was full of himself. It was too much of a challenge for him to take on. He wanted to be the one to exorcise all the curses because they were all from Chiba (Again, that was a lie from Satoru to get him motivated to do this test.), but he couldn't take another minute anymore. It was as if he was in a perpetual night of horrors because of the veil. He failed. Tears were in his eyes, but he held them back from falling to his cheeks.
"Alright, I'll send som-"
"No, I know you're fucking here somewhere." Hachiman unlocked his phone, stood up, and showed the screen to a crow standing on a small branch of a tree. "There's no phone signal, which is weird because there was still reception here two days ago, but that was before you put the veil. How come there's no signal and we can somehow talk to each other by earpiece that has nothing special in it? No cursed energy or anything. And this crow right here? It's way too strange for crows to be here and not even flying. This is surveillance isn't it? A shikigami? I don't care, just come out."
"Alright, I'm here," Satoru suddenly appeared in the room as the veil melted, letting the sun illuminate the mansion. "Sorry, Hachiman. I guess it's too much for you, huh?"
"No, it's just..." Hachiman struggled to sit up and bit his lower lip. "I'm still got ways to go, that's all..."
"No, you did enough. Your current level is fine as it is."
"It's not!" Hachiman shouted. "It's not fine If I can't kill all of them!"
"Hachiman, remember. Your priority in this training is to control cursed energy and learn self-defense. S-E-L-F-D-E-F-E-N-S-E. You're talking as if you rather want to go exorcising curses like a sorcerer, than just go with your normal life with skills to defend yourself when you bump into a curse."
"..." At that moment, Hachiman was bewildered. Somehow, his wish changed from returning to his normal life to cleaning up curses in the city. His mind was a little like a sorcerer's. "I... I..."
"It's okay. You're too tired to think straight. Just get some res-"
"I've made up my mind..." Hachiman stood up and stared at the blindfolded sorcerer with determination in his eyes."I... want to be a jujutsu sorcerer."
"... You serious?" Satoru asked with bewilderment clear in his voice.
"Yeah. The way I am right now... I won't remove the curse I inflict on my city like this. I need to learn more, and get stronger. And I don't want my family, my friends, HER... to go through the same way I did. Please," Hachiman bowed. "Let me enroll in Jujutsu Tech!"
"I see... In that case," Satoru put a hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled at him. Suddenly, he stabbed through Hachiman's stomach with his fist.
"Ggh!" Hachiman vomitted blood and consciousness began to fade. "W-Why...?"
"Congratulations, Hikigaya Hachiman. You're now a sorcerer.
1) For some reason, Japan changed the title of some western movies. Karate Kid is changed into Best Kid, Napoleon Dynamite is changed into Bus Man. I don't know the reason, really. I asked some movie enthusiasts and they didn't seem to know as well.
2) Holyland is a martial arts manga. I highly recommend it. It's really good.
So this chapter is a lot longer than I intended it to be.
And as you can tell near the end, I rushed the mansion game just to get to a new arc. Still, what do you guys think? Atsuya being his mentor and all. The series didn't explore his character much nor give him enough spotlight so I can't exactly say I nailed his personality. Initially, I thought of having Nanami as his mentor but something doesn't click with me when I wrote him as such. I thought his abilities doesn't match well with 8man's needs of learning jujutsu combat, at least that's how I feel.
What do you guys think of 8man learning New Shadow Style? I think it makes sense since I don't want him to just gain cursed technique so early in the story, but I still want him to be capable of fighting in other ways.
Please leave your opinions in the reviews as they will help me make this story better.