Jujutsu Kaisen: The Forgotten Clan

Chapter 10- Are You Serious?

"Do we have to go after her Suguru? You know I don't deal with moody individuals…especially moody young women."

"Your complaining is not necessary, Satoru. You and I both understand how important it is to bring her to campus today. We have failed twice and, frankly, I don't want a scolding from Yaga. I am certain you don't want to hear it from the Elders, do you?" Suguru talking with Satoru. He is smiling and keeping the atmosphere between them playful.

Satoru lets out an exacerbated sigh before answering Suguru. "She is headed towards the field. I assume she is looking for the Special Grade Cursed object that is buried just beyond the field. There is no need to hurry after her."

"I disagree with…why hello there. How may we assist the two of you?" Suguru cuts his response short when Ayumi and Chiko approach them. Chiko starts speaking first.

"My good friend, Ayumi, and I wanted to welcome you to our campus." He extends his hand out to Suguru, expecting to shake hands with the sorcerer. Suguru looks at Chiko's hand, looks over to Satoru, and dismisses the extended hand.

"We appreciate the warm welcome but are in a rush to catch up with someone." Suguru's response to Chiko. He turns his back to Chiko and Ayumi and starts walking off.

"You mean the moody brat named Lithuila? Good luck taming that one, boys." Ayumi says, his voice laced with contempt and arrogance. Chiko starts laughing. Suguru and Satoru stop walking.

Meanwhile, I am outside mumbling under my breath and ignoring the stares coming from my peers.

"That good for nothing Daikon and her snooty attitude. Too bad she is a civilian…humans that are to be protected by sorcerers. Ha. I would love to see her fend off curses as if her life depended on it."

"As if whose life depended on what?" I hear a voice coming from someplace behind me. It is Norika…again. This time she is with her older brother, an individual just as nasty as Ayumi.

"Are you too afraid to fight your own battles, Norika? You brought your brother here to rough me up, didn't you? What do you plan on doing, Naomi? Punch me in the nose?" I am feeling worked up. Rather than stand idly and miss that chance of getting the object before the other sorcerers, I walk backward while maintaining eye contact with Naomi.

"That depends. Norika, what has this boneheaded, jellyfish done to you?" Naomi and Norika start walking towards me.

"She called me a slut and accused me of cheating on Ayumi. And she beat Ryo to a bloody pulp during gym class!" Her fake hysterics could win her an Oscar Award for Best Actress. We have reached the spot where the cursed object is resting. What Norika and Naomi have not noticed is the curse that has popped up behind them. I will let the curse do as it pleases since it is not attacking.

I address Naomi and Norika.

"I would not stoop so low to call another woman a slut. As for cheating on Ayumi, I am not one to judge how you monitor your love life." The curse is starting to move closer to Norika and Naomi…it is low grade but can still inflict damage to the civilians. Norika continues to shoot her mouth off.

"You think you are a woman, ha. After your 'art is a medium that is not defined by gender' bit from earlier has me thinking otherwise. Naomi, take care of her. I am going to catch up with Ren and Emi. Goodbye Santa-Clara." Naomi removes a knife from his uniform pocket.

Back Inside the Hallway

"Oh, did I say something to annoy you…what is your name?" Ayumi talking to Suguru.

"Suguru. Do you mind repeating for me what you just said?" He turns his face and looks at Ayumi.

"I said good luck controlling the brat named Santa-Clara. I am sure the two of you witnessed her outburst during theater today. Who is she to parade around thinking of herself so highly?"

Suguru does not break eye contact with Ayumi. Satoru gives Suguru a sideways look and a smirk. Something is going on between the two sorcerers that are oblivious to Ayumi and Chiko. Ayumi and Chiko would not stand a chance against Satoru or Suguru. Both sorcerers are aware of this, both civilians are too cocky to care.

"That is quite a mouth you have, Ayumi. Now tell me, is there anything between your ears to help you produce an original thought that does not involve dragging someone's name through the dirt?" Now Suguru has a wide grin on his face. He is working Chiko up y insulting Chiko's perceived intelligence. Ayumi squints his eyes and Chiko steps in between the two.

"Come on now man, we are just telling the truth. My friend and I were being hospitable, and you go and call me stupid? Besides what business do you have whisking Santa-Clara away? It's not like you are her type. Hehe."

A group of students off to the sides has started pointing and mumbling at the fight brewing before their eyes. Suguru decides to not escalate the conversation further but leaves Chiko and Ayumi with a message.

"You are right, my apologies for not accepting your hospitable behavior. By the way, your little plan of hurting Santa-Clara is failing miserably. It seems you, Ayumi, and whomever Santa-Clara is fighting are no match for her. After all, she is someone who can't be controlled." He smiles and walks off.

….

Jujutsu Technical College: Kyoto Branch

"A curse has appeared at Abitha School for Young Minds. Two second-year students are at the campus and so is Santa-Clara." Principle Gakuganji to two Higher-Ups.

"Are we to assume the students are from the Tokyo branch?"

"Correct. The Gojo kid and his friend, Geto are on sight and have eyes on Santa-Clara. I do apologize for the delay with her arrival. Rest assured…" Gakuganji is cut off mid-sentence by a Higher-Up.

"Enough with the excuses. Call another meeting when she arrives."

….

"Is that all you got to protect yourself with, Naomi? A pocketknife?" I avoid Naomi's attack by ducking on the ground and whirling to the left. My eyes are still on the curse, and I have concluded the curse is waiting for the chance to consume the cursed object. This fight with Naomi needs to end soon.

"Hehe, like I would show up to a fight with one weapon." Naomi spins around and manages to trip me. He grazes my leg with a metal rod. I kick him in the arm.

Clink, clank. The metal rod hits the pavement. Crunch! I spin around, blood flowing from my nose as Naomi punches me in the face.

"Agh!" That is all I can say.

"I thought you were a more proficient fighter, Santa-Clara. Are you waiting for someone to come and help you?" He starts running towards me, so I get up and run towards him at the same time. I hold my arms out as if I am going to hug Naomi and at the last minute…I slam him onto the ground. We find ourselves rolling around on the ground in a tug-of-war.

I am trying to disarm the knife from his hand and not get punched in the process. He stabs me in the leg twice before I kick his hand and punch him out. Naomi is not moving but still breathing. The knife is wedged inside my leg.

"Huff, huff. Mind repeating yourself for me. I did not hear you." I get up and sit on the ground. I look over to where the curse was and notice it has moved. A whistle sounding from the distance tells me a teacher has been alerted to the fight happening outside. I remove the knife and toss it towards Naomi.

Within three minutes, I see Madam Daikon, the school guard, Norika, Satoru, and Suguru all heading towards Naomi and me. Madam Daikon, the school guard, and Norika are heading from one direction; Suguru and Satoru are heading towards me in another direction. The curse has reappeared. I see it out of the corner of my eyes. It is holding the cursed object and swallows the object within a second.

"Oh no, you don't. Dispel!" Snaping my fingers, I release a technique, causing the curse to explode and disappear. I grab the object, shove it into my bag, and run off-campus. Before Madam Daikon and company can see me. Satoru and Suguru can trace me by my residuals. Madam Daikon, the school guard, and Norika…who cares about them.

"Mr. Naomi, what is the meaning of this?" Madam Daikon and everyone else has arrived on the scene. Naomi is starting to regain consciousness and sits up.

"Ouch. You little bitch…oh, hey there Madam Daikon and Norika." His cheeks flush with embarrassment after realizing I am not within the vicinity.

"We can explain Madam Daikon, umm, Naomi, what happened here?" Norika says under her breath.

"Norika and Naomi, my office."

"But Madam Daikon, I can't move and there is blood on the ground…" Naomi.

"Norika, help him up. As for the two of you, take Santa-Clara and make sure she does not return to this campus! If you need her records, have a representative from your campus call our main office."

Suguru and Satoru bid their goodbyes and leave campus. Once they are out of earshot, they start talking with each other.

"I am surprised you threatened a civilian, Suguru. Your whole mantra is sorcerers should protect those who are weaker. Not openly engage them in combat."

"Who, says I was engaging Chiko in combat? I was sticking up for a fellow sorcerer who was not able to stand up for herself. Any sign of Santa-Clara?"

Satoru starts laughing under his breath before answering Suguru. "Don't tell Santa-Clara that you were defending her honor. She will rip you to shreds. To answer your question, she is up ahead inside a café. Hurry up."

I run inside a coffee shop four blocks from Abitha and head for the restroom. After checking to make sure nobody is inside, I lock the restroom door.

"Goodness, the stab wound is deeper than I thought. Time for first-aid." I grab some paper towels, run them under the water and clean up my pants. I start running a Reverse-Curse to clean the wound and start healing it."

While putting myself back together, I close my eyes and count backward from ten. It is a calming exercise I picked up a few years ago. After ten seconds, I remove the object from my bag and look at it closely.

"Hmm, you have the same seals as the object my father found eight years ago. Your presence was not as strong, but I finally located you. Now to see what you look like." I carefully break the seal and unwrap a corner of the seal. What I see is a human fingernail.

"Alrighty then, that is all I needed to know. Reverse Curse, stop." I am alerted to Suguru and Satoru's presence. They have walked inside the café and are sitting at a corner table. Satoru is on his phone, Suguru is leaning back in his chair, tipping the chair against the wall.

"How long do you think she will be in the restroom?"

"How should I know, Suguru? I am not a woman! I don't know how long it takes them to get…crud. Did you get a message from Yaga-sensei?"

"Let me see. Yep, he says…for us to hurry up and bring Santa-Clara to campus already. The Elders are losing their patience and be ready to submit the object that was found."

I hear a knock on the bathroom door and a woman saying something.

"Hey, why is the door locked? Hello."

I throw away the bloody paper towels, splash water on my face and wash my hands. I unlock the door and address the woman…

"The bathroom is all yours. Have a nice day!"

I walk over to the table where Suguru and Satoru are seated. Suguru stops leaning against the wall, sits up straight, and seems surprised by my sudden appearance. Satoru lazily turns around and gives me a half-smirk.

"Shall we be off?" I am direct and calm.

"That depends entirely on you. Are you planning to run away from us again or come with us on your own accord? By the way, nice job cursing Naomi." Satoru, starting to act cocky.

"I am standing here on my own accord and have no plans to run off. I will be outside when you two are ready to go." I turn around and head out the door.