Jujutsu Technical Institute was a large complex, hidden high in the hills outside of Tokyo. It was like a step back in time. Whereas the major hero schools and institutions reflected the modern era in which they thrived, Jujutsu Tech was stuck back in the Edo Period. The buildings were made with old bamboo and the roof's were all thatched. There weren't any tiled or concrete pavers or pathways, as everything was etched in either stone or dirt.
It really was kind of a surreal experience, even if the entire compound was rather relaxing.
Izuku was given only two days to recover and gather his bearings at the school before he was hauled out of bed for training.
"You did well the other day," said Sara as she lead him down into the basement of one of the campuses many buildings. "Shuji filled me in on what happened."
"Didn't feel like I did all that well," muttered Izuku. He was still a little shaken by everything that had been happening. It felt like every time he closed his eyes he was seeing one nightmare or another, and those nightmare's didn't leave him during the day either. More than once, Izuku could have sworn that he could feel the blood of the curses still on his flesh.
"Well, you did well for a newbie at any rate," shrugged Sara, "But yeah, you're right. You kinda suck right now."
"Thanks professor," murmured Izuku dejectedly.
"Ah don't worry about it," said Sara, "Everyone sucks when they first start out. Besides, that's what I'm here for!"
"I feel so comforted,"
They reached the bottom of the staircase, and Sara threw open the door. Inside the room was…not what Izuku had been expecting.
"Training around here usually takes on two different flavors," explained Sara. "Either violent, or unconventional."
Izuku gulped, his fingers twitching slightly. "A-and…and w-what'll be todays?"
"No need to look so freaked out kiddo," beamed Sara, "Today's training is gonna be a little flavor of the unconventional variety." She reached into her coat and tossed Izuku a small rubber ball.
"So right now, you've only been able to channel your cursed energy in life or death situations. And even then, you've just been throwing as much as you can without thinking about how or where it gets channelled. In other words, you've been misusing your cursed energy."
"Okay…" said Izuku slowly, looking down at the ball in his hands. "I think I get it. You want me to channel my cursed energy into this ball, right?"
Sara beamed at him, "Bingo, kiddo! It's simple enough, channel your cursed energy into the ball."
Izuku nodded, and did as he was told. It took him a moment, but over the past couple of days he'd been practicing in his dorm room of finding and channeling his cursed energy. He could now at least find it with some relative ease, but grabbing it, controlling it, and directing it was another matter entirely. After about a minute, he managed to pull on his cursed energy and he attempted to throw it into the ball. But it was as Sara had suggested. He didn't have any refinement in how he tried to put the energy into the ball. He just threw some in. But as soon as the cursed energy travelled from Izuku to the ball, he yelped in pain as the ball beeped and a small electrical shock stung at his hand.
Izuku dropped the ball in surprise, as Sara cackled. Izuku glowered at the woman, waving his stinging hand in an attempt to soothe the stinging.
"What the hell was that?" He snapped, "I thought you said this was not the violent option."
"It's not," giggled Sara, "The violent option is you doing this, while trying to fight me." There was a nasty gleam in her eye that Izuku decidedly did not enjoy.
"You should honestly be counting your blessings, I'm being a lot nicer to you than my great-granddad was to me."
"How do you figure?" Izuku grumbled as he reached down and plucked the ball back up from the ground.
"Well, he made me channel cursed energy into a cursed object while watching a movie, and if I didn't focus enough then the cursed object would come to life and beat the ever-loving shit out of me."
"I think I prefer this method."
"I thought that you would," Sara's smile was positively predatory. "But don't worry, sooner or later we'll work you up to something similar. After all, you can't master cursed energy without mastering your emotions."
Izuku frowned, "What does that mean?"
Sara laughed, clearly a little self-conscious. "Oh right…didn't really explain that part, did I?"
"No you did not," sighed Izuku.
"Right, well then, let's correct that." Sara plopped down on the neck of the sofa, her legs kicking out and bouncing against the leather.
"So I know you know that cursed energy runs off your negative emotions. But don't confuse that with meaning that you need to be feeling negative emotions all the time in order to actually use your cursed energy. Just look at Shuji, guy doesn't have a negative bone in his body. Now granted, it's easier to channel your cursed energy when you're scared, or angry, or feeling any negative emotion whatsoever. But when you rely on those emotions to use your cursed energy, you're doing yourself a disservice. You're using more energy than you need, and you're not using it efficiently. I'm sure you've noticed how tired you've been getting after extended use of your cursed energy, right?"
"Yeah," nodded Izuku, "I usually get a migraine and body cramps too,"
Sara nodded, "Which is what happens when you blow through your cursed energy because you're upset. So," she hopped off the couch and bounced over to him. "We just have to teach you how to manage your emotions and not blow through all of your cursed energy in a single punch. Sound good?"
"Not the phrase I'd use."
BREAK
"This game is stupid,"
"You're only saying that because you're bad at it."
"No, I'm saying it's stupid because American card games are stupid."
"Be careful, if my old man hears you call Euchre stupid he might try and kill you himself."
"Well he can try. This game is stupid, and he's stupid for teaching it to you."
Shuji and Kataomoi's voices flowed out of the first-year dorm's rec room and into the hallway. Izuku hesitated for a moment outside the doorway. Part of him, a large part, wanted to walk away. To go to his room and hide. But he also very desperately did not want to be alone anymore at the moment. And while Kataomoi might not have been the kindest person he'd ever met, she was far from outright mean. And Shuji had been bothering him to hang out for the last couple of days.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku turned and pushed open the door to the rec room with his back.
"Hey, Izuku!" Shuji called out to him immediately, smiling and waving exuberantly from the table where he and Kataomoi were sitting. There were a couple bags of half-eaten chips and some drinks amidst the deck of cards in between them.
"You come to join us?"
"Might as well," shrugged Izuku, though he didn't fight the smile on his face as he approached. Shuji just had that effect on people, it was impossible not to smile when he was around.
Shuji's face contorted in sympathy as he saw the ball still in Izuku's hands. "Oh, Sara got you on the ball today?"
"Oh gods, I hated that thing," Kataomoi groaned, glaring at the small ball in Izuku's hands. "How long she making you use that?"
"Every day for the rest of the week," said Izuku as he slid into the booth next to Shuji. "She even wants me doing it while I sleep, which…doesn't seem possible."
Shuji and Kataomoi both grimaced sympathetically.
"You should get it by the second or third day," said Shuji,
"Your body just figures out how to do it on a subconscious level, even while you're sleeping," added Kataomoi.
"Is…is all of the training here this insane?" Asked Izuku warily.
"Yes," said Shuji and Kataomoi as one.
"Things work differently around here," said Kataomoi. "I know it's called a school, but it's not really a school."
"More like a boot camp than anything," nodded Shuji.
"Have we ever even stepped foot inside the classrooms here?" Asked Kataomoi
"I haven't, have you?"
"Nope, never."
"Wait…so then what's the point?" Asked Izuku, confused. "I thought we were here to learn about curses."
"Here, we'll play as we talk." Shuji shuffled up the deck and began dealing out cards. "You ever play Euchre, Izuku?"
"Of course he hasn't," Kataomoi rolled her eyes, "Why would he know some obscure card game from America? The only reason you know is because you're dad's an American."
"I do, actually," said Izuku. "Foreign exchange student from Canada came to my high school a couple years ago. He taught me how to play."
"See," smirked Shuji, "Some of us actually have taste."
Kataomoi rolled her eyes, and kicked out at Shuji under the table, but there was a small smile on her face.
"Getting back on track," said Shuji, as he tossed picked up the trump, "Theoretically, we're supposed to learn as much as we can about curses and how to kill them. But unfortunately, life isn't that simple."
"The fact of the matter-" said Kataomoi, tossing down an off-trump lead. "Is that there aren't enough sorcerers to keep up with all of the curses."
"There have never been that many sorcerers," explained Shuji as Izuku threw down an off-trump Ace. Shouji followed up with a low-numbered trump and took the hand. "But ever since quirks became more and more prevalent in society, the number of sorcerers being born has been declining."
"It's especially bad in the big families," said Kataomoi, her eyes darting over to Izuku for a moment before she turned her attention to shuffling the deck for her turn.
"The big families?" Asked Izuku.
"Gods, they haven't told you anything," grunted Kataomoi in agitation.
"Easy Kata," soothed Shuji, "Not his fault. You know what Sara's like."
Kataomoi flushed again.
"S-sorry…Midoriya," she apologized,
Izuku shrugged it off, "It's fine, so what or who, are the big families?"
"Well, we call them the big three, but really only one of them is "big" these days," said Shuji. as Kataomoi dealt out the next hand. Izuku examined his hand only for a moment, before deciding that the risk was worth it and picked up the right trump.
"The major families are the families who's bloodlines hold some of the most powerful cursed techniques in the country," explained Kataomoi. Izuku Lead with the right trump, hoping to draw out the left and other high trump cards. Izuku took the hand easily.
"Families like the Gojo family and the Kamo family have been at the top of the hierarchy for centuries, even though the Gojo family has never been anywhere near as large as the Kamo."
"Our girl Kataomoi here is a member of the Kamo clan," beamed Shuji enthusiastically, as he placed down his own lead, the left trump. Izuku groaned, and the yelped in shock as his concentration on the ball slipped. His gamble had been not too well though out apparently.
"Her old man married into the family, so she's not considered really a "full member" but she's part of it nonetheless!"
"Shuji," hissed Kataomoi, her eyes darting over to Izuku, a strange sense of apprehension on her features.
"Oh relax," Shuji waved her concern off, "Izuku doesn't even know what the families are, he's not going to give a damn about it."
"I…can't help but feel like I'm missing some context," said Izuku, as Shuji took the second round.
"The older families like the Kamo and the Inumaki have some outdated values when it comes to their family," shrugged Shuji. "My old man married into the Inumaki family, and they all but ignore him and my mom's sisters don't even talk to her any more. Kata here was worried that you'd think of her differently if you knew she was part of the big family."
"That's dumb," said Izuku without thinking. A bad habit he'd been forming since he'd started his training. He didn't consider his words as carefully when his mind was occupied with keeping his flow of cursed energy consistent.
"I'd never treat you differently just because of your family." He frowned as his bold strategy to go big in the early rounds once again proved futile against Shuji. "Especially because I don't know anything about these families."
"Told ya so," sang Shuji smugly as he swept up his third consecutive win.
Kataomoi kicked him under the table, but glanced over at Izuku.
"Thanks…Midoriya. Sorry for being a little cold to you…"
"It's fine," dismissed Izuku, grumbling in frustration as Shuji took a fourth hand. His grumble turned into a yelp as his slip in concentration led to another nasty shock from the ball.
"Anyways, getting back on track." Chuckled Shuji, "The big families in particular have been having trouble. They've been having fewer and fewer kids with cursed energy. Used to be that more than seventy-five percent of all sorcerers in the country came from one of the big families, but these days those numbers are down to fifty percent."
"Which means that they need to be pushing more and more of the students into active combat positions," explained Kataomoi. "So basically, we don't spend any time in the actual classroom, because they need as many bodies out in the country as possible."
"That makes sense I guess," said Izuku thoughtfully, as something that had been bothering him for a while came back to the forefront. "Actually, I have a question."
"Shoot," said Shuji.
"So curses are supposed to be a secret, right?"
"Yes," said Kataomoi, "It's considered a state secret. Punishable by life in prison if exposed without prior ministerial approval."
"So…how do we hide that from the pros? With so many pro heroes looking into any and all deaths and disappearances, surely at least some of them have figured it out."
"The pros are exempt to the rule," said Shuji. "But for exactly the reasons you said, they've been given immunity."
"Each of those pros are given a cursed medallion after they pass through a basic curses seminar in school," said Kataomoi. "The medallion allows them to see curses. Additionally, each hero has access to one of the assistant managers which runs the info up the chain of command."
"Assistant managers, chain of command?" Asked Izuku.
"Gods, you really are a newbie," grunted Kataomoi.
"Lay off him Kata," chucked Shuji as he collected the eighth and final hand for the full sweep. "Remember what you just said. We haven't been able to actually teach him anything, and it's like Sara said, it's up to us to fill in the gaps." He turned his attention back to Izuku.
"So it's like this, there's no official chain of command like the Hero Commission. Instead, all of the organization of the sorcerers and funding for the schools comes from the big families. They instruct the assistant managers, the people we interact with who help us in the field. They run the show and direct the money."
"That…" Izuku began slowly.
"Seems broken?" Laughed Shuji bitterly, "That's because it is. Didn't use to be that way, at least according to Sara, but the old heads call the shots."
"Can we please not talk about this," said Kataomoi meekly.
Shuji flinched, and reached across the table and wrapped his hand over Kataomoi's. She flushed and averted her gaze, but didn't pull her hand away. Izuku couldn't help but smile as he watched the byplay. He'd picked up quickly that there was something going on between them. It was sweet, and Izuku was happy for his friends, assuming there really was something going on there.
"Can…Can I ask you guys a question?" Asked Izuku tenuously.
"That's what we're here for," said Shuji. "What's up?"
"It's…a bit of a personal question,"
Kataomoi's eyes narrowed, "How personal?"
"Let's let Izuku ask before we go jumping down his throat," Shuji turned his attention back to his Izuku, "Go ahead."
Izuku fidgeted, jumping slightly as he was shocked again by the ball.
"Why…why did you guys want to be sorcerers?"
Shuji blinked at him, then cackled. "That's what you wanted to know? That's an easy one." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. He rummaged around for a minute before pulling a small picture free and slid it across the table to Izuku. Curious, Izuku picked up the photo and examined it. It was a family photo, clearly of Shuji and what appeared to be his mother, father, and two younger siblings, a boy and a girl. The boy was about seven and the girl was maybe twelve. His parents were simple and unassuming enough. Shuji shared more characteristics with his father, such as his soft and boyish face, but had his mother's eyes.
"I'm just doing this to help out the family," Shuji shrugged. "There aren't a lot of great ways for a guy without a quirk to make a living, and I guess you could say that it runs in the family. Like I said, mom's side of the family is Inumaki, so jujutsu is in my blood, even if I'm the only one in my family who can use it. Dad got caught up in a fight here in Japan last time they were here"
"Is your mom a sorcerer?"
Shuji shook his head, "Nah, she was born with a quirk. Part of the reason we aren't on good terms with the main family. Doesn't help that she married a normie foreigner either."
"I guess that makes sense," nodded Izuku. He and Shuji turned their attention to Kataomoi. She rolled her eyes as she slouched in her chair, her arms folded over her chest.
"Curses are a disease that need to be excised. That's all it comes down to for me. I have cursed energy, and a cursed technique. That means it's my duty to kill as many curses as possible. Nothing more complicated than that."
Shuji rolled her eyes, and he nudged Izuku with his elbow.
"She's just being humble. She cares about people too much to let the curses get to them." He winked at her, and she flushed crimson, averting her gaze.
Chuckling, Shuji glanced back at Izuku.
"So, what about you Izuku? Why are you a sorcerer? I know you told me, but you never told Kataomoi."
Izuku averted his eyes, flinching as the ball shocked him.
"I wanted to be a pro hero," he admitted, feeling oddly like he were confessing something strangely shameful. "But…well obviously I couldn't. It was all I've ever wanted to be since I was a little kid. So when Sara told me about my power…told me about this school…"
"What?" Snapped Kataomoi, "You thought you could be a hero? Play at being like one of those costumed glamor models? Make some easy money, flash a smile and make women weak at the knees?"
"Woah!" Said Shuji in alarm,
"It's nothing like that," said Izuku quickly, "I-I just wanted to-to help people…to save people like All Might…he was my idol…and I just thought…"
Kataomoi looked like she wanted to say more, but a sharp look from Shuji cut her off before she did anything.
"All right," grunted Shuji, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm beat, and we got an early morning tomorrow. I'm gonna head off to bed."
"I'll go too," said Kataomoi immediately.
"Night guys," said Izuku, waving his free hand as he watched his friends go. He waited a few minutes, just in case they wanted to talk to one another in private. He had a feeling that part of the reason that Kataomoi had been so cold to him so far was because he was "intruding" on her time with Shuji. He was fairly certain that he had interrupted a "date night" but Shuji had been too kind to say anything.
But then there was her bizarre reaction to his reason for being a sorcerer. Surely it wasn't that strange to warrant such a strange reaction. He shook his head, it wasn't worth dwelling over. Maybe she was just having an off day or was still annoyed that Izuku had interrupted her time with Shuji.
Whatever it was, it was her problem, and she'd have to get over it sooner or later. After a few minutes longer, Izuku followed his bed and tried to get some sleep.
Unfortunately, his friends had been quite right when they'd said that sleeping was going to be a challenge. Izuku didn't sleep one bit the first night with the ball. Every time he started to fall asleep, his hold over his cursed energy would slip and he would get shocked awake. It had led to a fairly unproductive following day.
It took him two days before he was able to sleep more than a couple of hours, but he soon had a good enough grasp on channeling his cursed energy that he was able to do it as easily as breathing. After he had mastered that, Sara had decided that it was time for him to up the difficulty. He began watching movies as he trained, and was forced to answer deeply personal and embarrassing questions. Sara had said that it was supposed to master his emotions and keep his cursed energy flow consistent, but Izuku was fairly certain she was just doing it for fun. When she wasn't making fun of him, she was grilling him on the ins and outs of curses. How, for example, some sorcerers compensated for a lack of cursed energy with cursed tools. Items infused with a powerful curse that were capable of exorcizing a curse.
For two weeks, he continued this training. All the while, he was forced to watch and wait as both Shuji and Kataomoi went off in between training sessions and went on missions. Some days they came back looking no worse for wear, but other days, they came back looking like they had been forced through a meat grinder. It came as a surprise to Izuku that he was feeling a little…jealous. After how scared he'd been the first two times he'd gone up against a curse, he would have thought he'd never want to see another one. But he felt oddly disappointed every time that his friends were given an assignment, and he was resigned to more and more grueling training.
He wanted to be out there with them. Wanted to be fighting, wanted to be saving people. He had joined this school because he had thought it was his one chance to be a hero. To save people. Yet here he was, spending day after day in the training facilities, grinding away while his friends did the work he so desperately wanted to do.
Then, on the first day of his third week of training…
He got his wish.
AN: Shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week
All My Love,
LilDB