Chapter Six.

Our Truest Selves.

"Everything will go smoothly, everything will go smoothly, everything will go—"

Knock. Knock.

Satoru enters Asami's room, interrupting her ritual like reassurance to herself in the mirror.

"Someone's nervous," he comes up behind her, towering over the crimson-haired woman.

Asami pushes her hair back in stress, grabbing the comb from her dressing table and preparing to do her hair, "I'm not nervous," she pauses, "just…. wary…" and for a moment she makes eye contact with him through the mirror before resuming with what she was doing.

Struggling to do her hair, Satoru notices that she was becoming more and more frustrated by the second, probably a result of how nervous she felt. And so before she could do anything further, Satoru grabs her hair for her, deciding he'd do it for her.

Though he didn't have any particular expertise in the hair field, he figured it wouldn't be too hard to do, and based on how Asami didn't protest against his bold move, she must've appreciated the kind gesture.

Closing her eyes, she relaxes for a moment, noting that Satoru was softly playing with her hair as a way to soothe her, just like old times. No matter how annoying he could be sometimes, Satoru always did know how to comfort her, something she deeply appreciated.

"Thank you Satoru," Asami murmurs, still in a dazed state from the mini-message he was giving her.

Fixing up the messy braid, he smiles, the words "Anything for you," wanting to escape from his lips, but instead he settles for an overly dramatic, "I do this girl thing better than you," along with pretending to file his nails.

Asami sighs, that was Satoru for you.

Stretching her arms, she yawns, "I still don't see why you couldn't go with him on the mission," she glares at Satoru, having preferred training with the other brats than having Yuuji accompany her on a mission.

"Because the elders are becoming suspicious Asami," he reminds her, "I can't train Yuuji too often or else they'll start wondering about my whereabouts, hence why we have to take turns and well the mission given is perfect for a beginner like him!"

"I know, but—"

He places his hands on her shoulders, staring at the brown eyed woman in front of him, "Asami everything will be okay," he reassures her, "you're going to do just fine," he softly chuckles, endeared by her nervous behavior.

Avoiding his gaze, she tries to hide the forming blush on her cheeks, a sign that she was feeling flustered, "As long as he doesn't get in my way," she refers to Yuuji, who was also currently getting himself ready for the mission in Chiba, a 40 minute drive from Tokyo.

"Hey, don't be mean," he boops her nose, knowing her current mean attitude was only a front. And like always, Asami grouchily scrunches her nose in response, "And remember you're only going to retrieve that supposed cursed object and exorcise curses that are considered grade one and below. Nothing higher."

Asami rolls her eyes, "I'm not a child Satoru," she scoffs, "What? You don't think I can handle a special grade?" and just as she's about to remind him of her last mission with the finger bearer, he's quick to nod his head no.

"Oh I know you can," he laughs, "But with Yuji tagging along and us not knowing the exact limitation of your—"

She glares at him, causing him to laugh nervously and change his wording, "It's just best to play it safe," is what he says instead.

"Fine," she huffs, wanting to get the day over with already, "You're cooking tonight," she states, Asami already used to seeing Satoru in her apartment after a long day of work. The two truly were like an old married couple, even if they didn't want to admit it.

"Yaki Udon?" Satoru suggests the meal of the night.

Asami nods, a small smile on her face,"Yaki Udon."

Nervously tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, Asami glances at her rear view mirror for what seemed to be the tenth time in the last 5 minutes.

"A-Asami-san," Ijichi gulps from the backseat, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say, "I-If you want, I can drive," he offers to his superior, who was clearly in distress.

Asami scowls at the man using the rear view mirror, "Tch, and let you drive? I don't think so," she tightens her grip on the steering wheel, now aggravated, "Because then not only do I have to watch your most likely shitty driving, but also watch you fail to maneuver your way around the rest of these shitty drivers," Asami says a little too meanly, not a fan a bad drivers.

It was why she always offered to drive, as one of her other biggest best peeves were horrible drivers, it being something that always made her feel anxious.

"Asami-sensei, don't you think you're being a little too harsh?" Yuuji attempts to laugh off his question from the passenger seat of the car, not wanting to come off as demanding either as he didn't exactly want to get on Asami's bad side before a mission.

The grouchy woman turns her attention to the boy next to her, lighting bolts practically being shot out from her eyes.

"Or maybe you're not," Yuuji nervously chuckles, sending an apologetic stare to the nervous man behind him.

"Hmph," Asami turns on her blinker, switching to the carpool lane.

"So…" Yuuji tries to change topics, "What exactly are we retrieving again?" he asks Asami and Ijichi for the third time today, his memory not being the greatest for things like this.

Before Ijichi could respond, Asami beats him to it, "A cursed object," his silence makes her sigh as she knew he still didn;t understand, "Like Sukuna's finger, so an ancient artifact if you will, it's probably been around for who knows how long," she casually explains, keeping her eyes on her road.

"But what exactly is it?"

Asami shrugs, "We don't know," Yuuji's face becomes one of confusion, "When Megumi went to your old school to retrieve the finger you idiotically swallowed, we had already retrieved some of the other fingers in the past meaning we had a picture. Most of the time we don't have pictures, we just find it using its energy presence, it's why we should expect to see a couple of curses. They tend to be attracted to strong cursed energy."

The young boy nods, now feeling a little nervous for what was to come. What if he made a lethal mistake? What if he had no choice but to let Sukuna take over his body again? Then Asami would be put in danger and she'd probably be kil—

Shaking his head, Yuuji tries to push his worries aside, telling himself that things would go just fine. Asami was a sorcerer, who based on what he'd both seen and heard, was quite skilled. She wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Can you hand me a piece of gum? I should have some in the glove compartment," Asami tells Yuuji, the boy quickly beginning to rummage inside the cramped box, a card falling out when pulling on a certain piece of paper.

Picking up the fallen card, Yuuji's glances at it, his eyes quickly scanning what was on it. He feels his eyes widen at the small ID card, a picture of a young Asami displayed on one corner of the rectangular card, the bolded word "SPECIAL" catching his attention.

"Woah," Yuuji whispers under his breath.

Noticing that she had yet to receive a gum, Asami quickly takes a glance beside her, "Hey!" she frowns, attempting to snatch the card from Yuuji, but because she was driving was ultimately unable to do so.

"Special Grade?" Yuji furrows his brows, "I thought these types of rankings were only for curses?"

Asami glares at Ijichi, "I thought you explained the power rankings to him already."

Drops of sweat fall from his forehead, "I did Asami-san! I even used the idiots' guide for him," the anxious man defends himself.

Sighing, she groans, "It works both ways Yuji. The same rankings we use for curses are the same ones we use for sorcerers, just that special grades are quite rare for both curses and sorcerers. In a way you can think of it as something you're sorta just born into or given the power to be," she begins to turn her steering wheel, the destination nearing, "you can't really work your way up to it, the most a normal sorcerer can naturally progress to be is Grade 1, it's what should be strived for."

"So special grades are rare?"

Asami nods, "Gojou is the only special grade currently employed at Jujutsu High along with a student who is studying abroad."

"And you," Yuuji reminds her, flashing her the outdated ID card from when she was a student at Jujutsu High.

Asami remains silent for a moment.

"I used to be," she says, wanting this conversation to be over, "I'd consider myself more of a Grade 1, and even then that's pushing it," she shrugs, "It doesn't matter though. With the way things have been progressing lately, special grade will be nothing more than an outdated term in the future," Asami looks at Yuuji, reminding him of the power that lied within him, "You teenagers seem to have a knack for growing power," she scoffs, "But I guess that's a good thing, right? Means the world is in good hands," she sarcastically says.

"But why do you consider yourself a Grade 1? If you're born into something wouldn't that mean you can't be taken away from it?" Yuuji asks, holding onto the topic like a dog with a bone.

"Because Yuuji," she's quick to make a lie, "I've been out of the game of exorcising curses for nearly 10 years now, can't you see the date on the ID," she points at the card in his hand, "2007."

Further examining the ID, Yuuji takes a closer look at Asami's appearance while also glancing at her to compare the subtle changes, the most notable one being her hair color, "I didn't know you were a natural redhead," Yuuji softly laughs, finding it hard to believe that the girl in the photo was his Asami-sensei.

Originally a little peeved, Asami realizes that the topic of the conversation had shifted, something she was grateful for, "It's a bit like yours, just with a more reddish undertone," she looks at the boy's hair, its natural salmon pinkish shade being a big old mystery to her, "Who do you get your hair color from?"

"Oh…" Yuuji pauses for a moment, and Asami feels a pang of guilt, worried that she may have accidentally struck a chord. That was until she saw him nonchalantly shrug, "I've never met my mom, and well … I only have a faint memory of my dad," he scratches the back of his neck, "So I'm not really too sure," he nervously laughs, "But it could be from my dad."

"Hm," Asami hums, now wanting to see how this young boy's parents looked like, her curiosity left unsatisfied.

"What about you?" Yuuji asks in return.

"My mom," she simply answers, "actually I think her hair resembled yours more than mine, hers was more on the pinkish side as well," Asami chuckles, "She said she got it from my grandpa, but I never met the dude. In fact I don't think I've ever met anyone on my mom's side," Asami begins to mumble to herself, "Might have to look into it one day."

"And your parents still work at the circus?"

Failing to note that she used past tense when referring to her mother, Yuji feels his heart drop when he hears her say, "My parents are dead.."

"You come back to us alive and healthy, okay?"

The memory of her parting with them her first year of enrollment replays in her mind, her mother's voice echoing in her head. Though it wasn't their last memory with one another, it was the one that always stuck out the most. The one that she always found cruelly ironic.

Asami, already feeling the overwhelming sense of pity in the car, shrugs, "It wasn't anything tragic if that's what you're thinking," she casually says, having gone through her grievances years ago, "It just sorta happened…"

"I'm sorry Asami-sensei… I—I didn't mean…"

Asami shakes her head, "I know you didn't Yuuji," she gives him a small smile, not wanting him to feel bad, "Unexpected things happen sometimes and we have to remind ourselves that our time in this world is only borrowed."

Because nothing in life is promised except death, is what she wants to say, but instead she says, "So let's make the most of it," not wanting the atmosphere in the car to be too dreadful.

Yuuji nods, agreeing with her statement, now looking at the view of their destination, a chill running down his spine.

"An abandoned fair?"

"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure," Ijichi forms the curtain around the chilling area, the sound of abandoned swings creaking only making the atmosphere more creepier than what it already was.

Double checking her knife holsters, she tightens her leather fingerless gloves, this time around wearing tailored black flare plants along with a sports crop top, as she had decided that her usual skirt and blouse outfit just wouldn't do for missions.

"If we're not out of here by..." she glances at the time on her phone, "10PM, then call Satoru," she instructs Ijichi, who nods in understanding. Taking a deep breath, she focuses on tracking the cursed object, "I sense it," she says to Yuuji, signalling to him that it was time to get started, "You ready?"

Yuuji nods, determination now on his face, "I'm ready."

Meanwhile…..

"Gojou-sensei, I still don't think it's right we're sneaking into Asami-sensei's apartment like this," Megumi complains, carrying the heavy bouquet of flowers for her in his hands, both he and Nobara helping their teacher decorate Asami's apartment with a range of different decorations, "We're basically vandalizing it."

You see tonight, Gojou was "confessing" deciding that he'd had enough of their so called game (despite it being him who declared it) and would be willing to put his pride to the side and declare he'd lost. Because it seemed that everyday he was with her, it was only getting harder and harder not to just grab her and kiss her like there was no tomorrow.

Luckily Gojou had already cleaned up anything that hinted of Yuuji's presence in the apartment beforehand, removing the Jennifer Lawrence poster he had stuck onto the walls of the apartment. He even locked the young boy's room so that a certain someone (Nobara) wouldn't go snooping around in nosiness.

"I think it's romantic," Nobara says, setting the giant teddy bear down onto the couch, "Asami will love it," she looks at her white-haired sensei, who was currently setting up the balloons along with hanging some red hearted strings on the ceiling, his height making it easy for him to do so.

"Oh I know she will," he laughs, "She might complain at first butttt," he dramatically sings, "she loves me so it'll work out just fine."

"When is she even coming back?" Megumi asks.

"Well considering she's on a solo mission," Gojou glances at the wall clock, "I'd give it about 2 to 3 hours. You kids will be back at the dorms by then, it is a weekday and all."

Nobara frowns, "But I wanted to see her reaction!" she crosses her arms and pouts like a child, clearly a fan of cheesy things like this.

"You'll hear all about it tomorrow during homeroom!" he grins, giving his student a thumbs up, confident that everything was going to play out perfectly. At least, that's what he thought….

Walking behind Asami, Yuuji focuses on the sound of her heeled ankle boots cautiously clicking onto the concrete floor, using the subtle sound as a way of reminding himself that he wasn't here alone because God was it creepy.

Besides the sound of her boots clicking onto the floor, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of water droplets falling from the abandoned rides, the rain that had poured hours earlier still trying to cling onto life.

Gulping, he stays alert of his surroundings, trying his best not to get caught up in his thoughts. So instead he makes small conversation, "So why do you think this place was abandoned?" he asks the focused woman in front of him, following closely behind her.

Asami subtly rolls her eyes, understanding that the boy was nervous. Hell, she was nervous too, she just couldn't outright show it for she was the "mentor" for today, "Probably wasn't making enough money anymore," she simply says, following her senses to where she believed the cursed object would be, "I just find it interesting how nature always finds its way back," she refers to the rides that had branches wrapped around them, mother nature prevailing once more.

"It's creepy," Yuuji says, saying what was on his mind.

"You're right, it is, so let's try getting out of here as quick as we can," she suddenly stops in front of a house of mirrors, the cursed object most definitely inside the large maze.

Yuuji reads the sign with chipping paint, "Find your truest self," he whispers.

Sighing, Asami frowns, looking around the area, "I can't risk something popping up inside and have you be collateral damage," Asami says her thoughts out loud, almost as if talking to herself, "But I also can't risk you standing outside here by yourself, who knows what'll pop up. Damn it," she mutters, of course the stupid damn object had to be inside some creepy house of mirrors. Of fucking course.

And for the first time, the demon inside Yuuji speaks to Asami, a fanged mouth appearing on Yuuji's cheek, "What are you going to do," it taunts her, finding that things were getting interesting, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, we all know the brat can't fend for himself," Sukuna reminds the two of them of Yuuji's last mission and the ultimate failure it was.

Despite knowing his efforts would be useless, Yuuji still tries to cover his cheek with his hand, "You're a pretty woman, too bad you don't have the the brains to—" Yuuji desperately tries to block the mouth that's reappeared, wanting nothing more than to smack Sukuna.

Asami scowls at the mouth, "Tch, was that supposed to offend me?" she scoffs.

"Someone's feisty," Sukuna continues to mock her, "Once I get control of this brat's body, I should kill you before I kill that boyfriend of yours, it'll make killing him even more pleasing."

She chuckles, "I bet you'd love that, wouldn't you? Too bad you're never getting control of it," she looks at Yuuji, "Right Yuuji?"

Yuji nods, a smile on his face, "Right!" and the mouth on his hand then slowly disappears, but not before parting with a "Just you wait and see," Sukuna's laugh being the last thing heard.

"Come on," Asami begins to go up the stairs, mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

"I-I'm going with you?" Yuuji follows behind, unsure if he heard her correctly. She nods, opening the cage door that led to the inside of the maze.

"The fact that we didn't bump into a single curse outside tells me enough about this place," she pulls out a knife from her thigh holster, "Stay alert, stick close to me, and do not stray away from me!" she commands him, a serious look on her face, "The moment we're separated this mission becomes compromised..." she says, sensing that they were being watched.

And it seemed her suspicions were correct because the moment they stepped in, the caged door behind them slammed shut, the neon lights of the abandoned place then lighting up, "Because we're not alone," she grits her teeth, the sound of broken carnival music playing through the rusty speakers.

Yuuji feels his breath hitch, gulping as he follows Asami through the maze of mirrors, tightly gripping onto the throwing knife she had handed him.

"Say something, talk, or ask me anything," Asami suddenly says, sensing the boy's fear, "Find something that'll subside the fear Yuuji. If you can't then you're not fit to be a jujutsu sorcerer," she adds, knowing that it was hypocritical of her to say it, for she was a coward herself … she'd just become a professional at hiding it, "I understand that you're scared, last time you went on a mission, you were about to be buried 6 feet underneath. But you need to let it go. You're going to be just fine," she reassures him, calmly guiding them through the maze.

Taking in a deep breath, Yuuji tries to calm his rapidly pounding heart, "If there had been a part two to 2105: Plague, how do you think it would've gone? Do you think there would've been a happy ending?"

Asami feels her jaw drop… this is what he wanted to talk about in a place like this?! Of all things? This?! Sighing, she quietly chuckles to herself as she couldn't be too mad. If this was his way of distracting himself then so be it.

"There would've been a …" she pauses, "convincing one…" she says, satisfied with her answer.

"Convincing?"

She nods, "Yeah, something realistic. If people want to interpret it as a sad or happy ending then that's on them," she shrugs, "But I believe the best stories come from the ones with realistic endings, when the writers don't care who lives or dies."

"So do think you would've—"

"Duck!" Asami suddenly yells, Yuuji immediately follows her orders as he sees the knife fly over his head, a flash of purple and black flames signalling that the curse behind him had been exorcised. The sound of a mirror shattering bouncing across the reflections of the maze.

"Grade 2 curse," she mumbles to herself, grabbing a knife from her holster, "Come on let's keep—" she looks around, eyes now widening, "Yuuji?" she calls for him, frantically looking around, "Yuuji?"

"Asami-sensei!" his voice echoes, "I'm lost!" she hears the sound of his fist pounding against a mirror, "And this mirror won't break!"

"Huh?" she whispers, confused because she'd just broken the mirror behind her with her thrown knife. Couching down, she grabs a shard off the floor, intensively studying it, 'Someone's manipulating it with their cursed energy,' she thinks to herself, eyebrows furrowing, "We're in their playing field," she mutters.

"Yuuji!" she yells his name, the sound of his pounding fist coming to a halt, "Stay where you are, okay? I'm going to find you and we're getting the hell out of here. Use that fist technique Gojou taught you if you come across—" and before Asami could even finish her sentence, she feels herself get kicked to a mirror, the metallic scent of her own blood filling her nose.

"Asami-sensei!" she hears Yuji yell.

Groaning, she struggles to get up, "Yuji stay calm!" she yells as she pushes the shards of glass off of her. Getting up, she holds onto her stomach, the deep gash in her stomach causing her breathing to become heavy.

But what Asami didn't know was that Yuuji didn't yell out her name because he was worried for her, but because what he was facing was something that he couldn't believe he was actually seeing with his very own eyes.

"A-Asami-s-sensei," Yuji stutters, the location he was at in the house of mirrors now muted out by the loud music, "W-What are you doing?" he asks, watching a smirking Asami nearing him with a spinning knife in her hands.

"Can't you see?" the reflection in the mirror that was coming closer and closer to him laughs, "I'm going to kill you!" and the last thing Yuuji sees is a knife being thrown at him.

With a hand reaching out in front of her, Asami continues her search for Yuuji, still in shock that whatever threw her to the mirror was nowhere to be found, "Yuuji!" she yells, frustrated by how loud the music was.

"Damn it," she mutters, "I told that idiot to stay near me," she wants to scream at the top of her lungs, "No I told Satoru that he shouldn't have even come here with me," she angrily punches the mirror beside her, frustrated with herself more than anything.

Limping, she struggles to keep focus, "Yuji!" she yells again, refusing to believe that the boy was dead. He wouldn't go down without a fight, that she was sure of.

Squatting, she places a hand to her temple, 'Think Asami, thi—' and before she could complete the thought, something small catches her eye, a golden vintage handheld mirror with a decorative snake wrapped around the handle.

"The cursed object," Asami whispers, hesitantly grabbing the shiny thing, shocked to find that it was reflectionless. Softly grazing her finger across it, she finds herself entranced by the object, something she normally wouldn't be. This had to be a part of the curse….

"You know it's rude to take things that aren't yours," a soft sultry voice says, and Asami immediately breaks away from the trance, getting into a defensive stance with her knife. Turning around, she glares at the woman-like curse in front of her.

Without a second thought, Asami throws her knife to the mirror, not in the mood to ask obvious questions like, "Who are you?" because all she knew was that this had to be the pair of eyes that had been watching Yuuji and her, the ones who got them right where she wanted.

"Aren't you mean," the curly-haired woman chuckles, only transferring herself to a different mirror reflection, "And here I was hoping you'd ask me some questions," she creepily smiles, "I mean I already know everything about you!" her high pitched laugh echoes.

Though Asami outwardly remained stoic, inside she was shocked at how normal looking this curse appeared, like an actual human. And as if already knowing what was running through her head, the curse reaches a hand out of the mirror she was in, her polished manicured hand becoming one that was grotesque and wrinkled.

"Aren't I beautiful," the curse sarcastically says, pulling its hand back into the reflection, shifting the color of her hair from black to red, slowly making her facial features become that of Asami's. And soon not only does the mirror in front of Asami have her reflection, but each and everyone around her does so as well. It's only then that she realizes she's standing in the center of what was a wide circle of tall mirrors.

Each one of the reflections' follow Asami's movement just like any other mirror, except one. That one had to be the curse.

Slowly walking around, the curse walks through mirror to mirror, the sound of heels cracking shards of glass becoming more and more prominent, "Now now," she laughs, "you must be wondering who I am now, right?" she pouts.

Asami scowls, "Where's Yuuji?" she asks, getting straight to the point.

"Oh you mean Sukuna's vessel," the curse corrects her, disgust evident in her voice, "Don't worry he's fine," she chuckles, "maybe a little shaken up though….."

"I'll kill you," Asami states, no sense of emotion in her voice. This only makes the curse laugh.

Raising another knife, the curse is quick to say something, "Oh you don't want to do that," she smiles, "Throw it and it'll only bounce back," she winks, "and considering you're surrounded by mirrors, I don't see you that knife stopping once you throw it."

Asami remains silent.

"I mean you can always use your cursed technique, I'd love to see that," and it's only then that something begins to click in Asami's mind.

'A curse who specializes in reflections…' she thinks to herself, "A curse who can copy what's in the mirror…" she whispers in disbelief, her mind going back to when she threw the knife at the Grade 2 curse, now understanding why Yuuji screamed her name later on. This curse now had her knife throwing abilities in its pocket.

Dropping the mirror in her hand, the glass shatters, "This was never a cursed object…" Asami's eyes widen, "This was your cursed tool."

And soon the curse begins to step out of the mirror, her true appearance beginning to show, "The name's Kagami," she places herself in front of Asami, half of her face being completely flawless while the other was…

"Don't like what you see?" Kagami laughs, running her wrinkled hand across her scarred face, her black curly hair being the only thing that was the same on both sides, for even her body had scars and wrinkles.

"You're hideous," Asami bluntly states, and despite the curse poking fun at its own appearance, hearing the words come out of someone else's mouth seemed to have struck a nerve.

"And whose fault do you think that is," she spits, and Asami only stares at her in silence, waiting for her to explain, "You humans…." she bitterly laughs, "Always with your self loathing and insecurity," she shakes her head, coming closer to Asami, "You see I was born from the hatred humans have for themselves, not each other like someone I know," she mutters the last part, "The insecurities humans like to pick on and get all depressed about, crying themselves to sleep because of how unhappy they are," she fakes her sadness, pouting like a child, "Boo fucking hoo."

Deciding she's had enough of all the talking, Asami lunges at the woman, the curse easily dodging the kick. "I'm the manifestation of what you pathetic humans don't want to accept, the truest self of the monsters that lie within," she begins to walk in circles around Asami, Kagami's reflection in the mirror being that of the beautiful lady Asami saw from earlier, "Unlike you dear, my techniques are just different forms of reality you all refuse to accept," she smirks, "But I guess that's why I find you so interesting. You like to hide behind imaginary things, while I like to show cowards like you the reality," she places a hand to Asami's throat and lifts her up, venom dripping off each word while her yellow colored eyes glow.

Managing to grab a knife from her pouch, Asami's about to stab the woman until she once again feels herself get thrown to a mirror, this time feeling a shard hit the back of her neck. Asami immediately lets out a scream in pain while then coughing out blood.

The sound of heels nearing her makes her quickly get back on her feet, Asami throwing knives to absolutely nothing as Kagami was nowhere to be found.

Frantically looking around, Asami feels as if the walls are closing in, unsure if it was because she was too beaten down or because Kagami was pulling something on her. She had to get out of here and fast or else—

She feels a kick to her face, "I expected you to put up a better fight," Kagami laughs, a sharpened glass shard in her hand, ready to stab it into Asami's throat, "Especially considering the monster you are. I mean for someone who wants to live so bad, you sure aren't putting up the fight for it you child mur—"

Asami lets out a yell of frustration, mustering up any energy she had left to go hand to hand with the curse, "Come on, use your cursed techniques Asami," Kagami taunts, "Wouldn't be the first time you've used it to save your own skin," she grabs Asami by the hair, the glass shard in her hand coming closer and closer.

Asami, feeling her vision becoming blurry, knows she has no more human energy left, the only thing left being her cursed, but no way in hell was she pulling something in here.

Kicking her leg back, Asami manages to escape the curse's grip, trying to catch her breath in the process. She had to think of something, she needed to know that Yuuji was okay, she needed to get them out of here. He was counting on her, for she was his mentor. Dragging her feet, she pitfully tries to find an exit, running away from the curse that was closely behind her.

"Yuji!" she desperately yells, her throat sore from coughing up blood earlier, "Yuuji!" everything was becoming so dizzy... God did she just want to go home already. And as if hearing her prayers, Asami sees an exit, a door that shows the outside world, an ending to this God damn nightmare. But all good things come with consequences.

Kagami appears in front of the door, a sadistic smile on her face, "And so you've found the exit," she taps her foot, studying the pitiful appearance of the bloodied woman in front of her, "But poor Yuuji isn't with you," she fakes a gasp, "What are you going to do?"

Asami feels her heart pound through her chest, tears beginning to well up in her eyes at what she was actually considering, "You walk out this door right now and you get to go back home and live that peaceful life you always wanted. You can go and live in blissful ignorance just like you once were before," Kagami smirks, "But if you do that then you're leaving that handsome young boy with me," she licks her lips, "Not like you mind right? You are a selfish person after all," she pouts, "This wouldn't be your first time sacrificing someone for your own selfish desires."

A single tear falls from Asami's face, words unable to escape from her mouth.

"But stay here and fight like how you should," Kagami scowls and Asami immediately knows what she wants, "and you might just get to save both of your asses."

Asami turns her attention to the mirror beside her, staring at her reflection, "So what's it going to be?" Kagami taunts her, twirling her hair around with her finger.

'Yuuji needs me,' Asami repeats over and over to herself, her memories with Satoru and Yuuji appearing in her mind, "Let's reset this crappy jujutsu world together!" she remembers what Satoru told her and she gulps, for Itadori Yuuji was the symbol of changing that crappy fucking world. "Asami-sensei I think you're an amazing person!" Yuuji's comforting words to her echo in her mind, for the Asami-sensei he knew would never contemplate something like this.

'You stupid brat,' she grits her teeth, reminding herself that Yuuji was nothing more than a boy who wanted to live, a boy who had his own dreams and ambitions for himself.

'But I want to live,' salty tears begin to fall down her face, 'I don't want to die,' she begins to limp towards the door, the smirk on Kagami's face only widening, "Oh you truly are a monster," she whispers to Asami as she nears the door.

"Forgive me…" she whispers, voice shaky, "Yuuji..." she shuts the door, turning to the curse behind her, "You're on."

Panting for breath, Yuuji still finds himself in shock, unable to comprehend that Asami had aimed to kill him. Had she not taught him how to dodge her knives and practice his reflexes, then he was sure she would've actually killed him.

Wiping the blood off his face, he touches the spot where her knife had grazed him. That couldn't have actually been Asami right? But it felt so real…..

"Yuji!" he hears Asami's voice and immediately gets into a defensive position, not realizing that his legs were shaking, the boy obviously struggling to accept that he was going to have to actually fight Asami.

Turning around he faces a bloody Asami, who currently has a worried expression on her face.

Grabbing the knife she gave him from his back pocket, he threatens her, "Don't come any closer!" he demands, and she raises her hands in defense.

"Yuuji, it's me! I swear! I found the exit, we need to get going now!" she frantically says, "The curse that runs this place, she's going to kill us!" her voice breaks, genuine fear in her voice.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he gulps, refusing to put the knife down.

"What do I need to do to prove it to you?" she asks, in a rush to get out of here.

"Um…" Yuuji hesitates, trying to think of a good question, "What movie did you give me a free voucher for when we first met?"

Asami rolls her eyes, "To Catch A Dream," she says as if stating the obvious, then nearing closer to Yuuji.

"Wait no!" he stops her from continuing, "Answer this one instead…" he nervously looks around, his hand shaking, "What's something you refuse to let me use in the apartment?"

"My strawberry body wash," and at her answer Yuuji drops the knife, a smile now on his face.

"Asami-sensei!" he annoyingly hugs her, but almost immediately he realizes something was wrong when….

She hugs him back.

A chill goes down his spine when he hears her whisper into his ear, "You should've known…" and unbeknownst to him her eyes glow yellow, "Better than to trust me," she hisses, grabbing the boy by his hair while letting out a high pitched laugh, "It's not over till I say it is," she swings him around, throwing him to a mirror.

Yuuji quickly gets up and makes a run for it, feeling his heart pounding out of his chest. There was no way…. How the hell could she know that if she wasn't Asami? Feeling his eyes get watery, Yuuji wants nothing more than to believe that it wasn't her, but it had to be. There was no way it wasn't.

Limping his way around, he tries his best to find an exit, a million thoughts running through his mind. What was he going to tell Gojou-sensei? Would he believe him? Why did Asami want to kill him? What was going to happen? How the hell was going to get out of here?

The sound of someone slamming into a mirror catches his attention, and he quickly turns to the source of the noise. And with her eyes widened, Asami begins to hit the plexiglass in front of her, calling out to Yuuji as if her life depended on it, as unbeknownst to Yuuji …. it did.

Looking at her he notes that she looks ten times worse than she did earlier. This time her clothes were torn and drenched in her own blood while the sides of her face were bruised and battered. She looked as if she'd gone crazy.

"Yuuji!" she yells, her voice coming out muffled because of the plexi glass, "Yuuji! We need to go! I managed to get her down, come on we need to go!" she cries, "Break through the glass and help me!"

Staring at his sensei, he stands there in shock, replaying the scene from earlier. This was just another trick of hers. This had to be.

Noticing his lack of movement, she continues to hit at the plexiglass, "Yuuji please!" her voice cracks, truly desperate, "I'm going to die!" she sobs, "I need you!" the tears that had welled up in his eyes fall, feeling disgusted with himself for just staring at her. But Asami was the enemy … she tried to kill him… and Itadori Yuuji didn't want to die. Not at the hands of his teacher. Not at the hands of anyone. He wanted to die peacefully and surrounded by folks.

He needed to leave, he needed to find a way out….

"Yuuji!" she tries to break the glass, too weak to do so, "Please! Save me!" and the sound of something moving on her side of the glass makes her turn around in fear, and it's only then that Yuuji feels his blood run cold. A limping hideous woman grabs Asami by the hair, shoves Asami's face to the plexiglass, and displays her bloodied face to Yuuji.

"So much for saving people," Sukuna's mouth appears, taunting the traumatized boy, "Looks like we're more alike than you think," he chuckles, then disappearing.

Balling up his fist, Yuuji feels his blood boil, angry at himself for doubting Asami, for actually believing that she'd want to hurt him. "I'm so sorry Asami-sensei," he clenches his teeth, and with his cursed energy focused on his fist, breaks the glass in front of him, providing enough of a distraction to get Asami out of the curse's grip.

The curse, Kagami, laughs, "Aw how sweet, saving your teacher after letting her nearly die," she pouts, pointing her finger to the mirror beside her, the reflection showing a beaten up Asami. Kagami then begins to mock Asami's cries for help, "Yuuji! Please, save me!" she laughs, and before she could even continue, Yuuji begins to charge at her, the confident curse only making a fool out of him, throwing him to the ground.

"What are you gonna do, kill me?" she taunts him.

Wiping his face, he slowly begins to get up, refusing to die in a place like this, "No, I'll let Asami-sensei do that," he weakly says before falling back to the ground, completely knocking out.

But before Kagami could even process what was said, the sound of her jaw being cracked catches her by surprise, the next thing she felt was her own body being kicked to the ground…. somewhere there were no mirrors.

"Fun's over!" Asami yells, feeling as if she'd gone completely crazy all while placing her foot to the curse's throat. Lowering her foot, she sees cracks beginning to form on the floor, feeling every wretched breath struggling to escape the mouth of this hideous curse.

Pulling out her Sai knives, she prepares to land the final blow, wanting nothing more than to kill this pathetic curse right here and now. "And may you rot in—"

The sound of fly heads buzzing around her catches Asami by surprise, barely managing to dodge the ambush from the "swarm" of fly heads, which in reality was only a small number. The mirror making it seem as if they were a lot.

Figuring that this was her given opportunity to escape, Kagami quickly gets up, making a run for the exit. "No!" Asami yells, knowing that this opportunity wouldn't come again, not without any more blood and tears that was.

Wanting nothing more than to chase her and finish the job, Asami's attention is immediately brought onto a knocked out Yuuji, finding that his safety required more priority than some wretched curse.

Quickly killing the fly heads with her knives, she grabs Yuuji by the collar and begins to weakly drag him, finally leaving this hell hole of a mirror house. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn't passed out by now. No matter how much her eyes had wanted to just slam shut and relax earlier, she had to make sure this kid was safe.

'God, what time is it?' she thinks to herself, too tired to grab her phone from her pocket.

Finally making her way outside, Asami begins to feel her body go numb, knowing that it was going to give up on her any moment now.

"Just a little bit more" Asami mumbles, dragging the boy across the grass, Ijichi still far away, "A tiny bit more," she whispers, her eyes beginning to close, "Just a—" she finally falls to the grass, her body incapable of doing any more, "Just a tiny bit more," she hums, closing her eyes and allowing the darkness to take over.

"Asami," a soft voice whispers, gently shaking her body to wake her up, "Asami, it's time for breakfast."

Slowly moving around, Asami groans, feeling as if her body was concreted to the bed. She then begins to slowly open her eyes, rubbing them in the process, "Mom?" she feels her stomach drop, her eyes now completely open, "I-Is that really you?"

Her mother runs a hand through her hair, a soft laugh escaping from her lips, "Of course it is Asami," she says.

Still unable to believe what she was seeing, she tries to get up from the bed, her mother quickly stopping her, "You're hurt Asami," she guides her back down, Asami then looking down at her body and seeing the bandages wrapped around her abdomen along with the number of bruises across her arms and legs.

"W-Where am I?" she whispers, "What year is it?" she feels her voice shake, unable to comprehend anything.

"Asami you're back home," her mother looks worried, "You came back to us alive, and soon in no time you'll be healthy," she glances at the plate of breakfast she put on Asami's bed stand, grilled fish and rice, Asami's favorite.

Tears begin to well up in Asami's eyes, "B-But you're d—"

"My poor thing," her mother frowns, "I knew you shouldn't have stayed in that school," she shakes her head, "But you were so in love with that boy…" she scowls, "He promised us that he'd protect you, that he was the strongest… what a liar he was," and Asami immediately knows who's she talking about.

"Where's Satoru?" she asks, "Is he okay?"

Her mother remains silent.

"What year are we in?" Asami asks again, this time wanting a concrete answer.

"The year you became a monster…" and soon her mother's face begins to shift, her features forming into Asami's, an evil smirk on her face.

And before she could even comprehend what was in front of her, Asami felt the grip of hands wrapping themselves around her throat, choking her as she gasped for air.

Clawing her fingers at its hands, she tries to scream for help, feeling her life slipping away as darkness begins to fade in, small ragged gasps of breath escaping her throat.

The grip around her neck becomes tighter, a sadistic look on her counterpart's face, "Die!" it laughs, watching Asami's face become a sickening color, eyes bulging in shock.

'This is the end,' Asami thinks to herself, 'This is the end.'

Groggily waking up, Yuuji hazily begins to remember everything, looking around the small grassy field he was in, the abandoned fair not too far away. The sound of the rides creepily creaking back and forth being the only thing that could be heard.

'Where's Asami-sensei?' he thinks to himself, beginning to panickingly look for her until he ultimately sees that she's only a couple of feet away from him, peacefully sleeping on the grass. Weakly crawling over to her, Yuuji feels a sharp pain in his body, the soreness of being thrown around beginning to kick in.

"I'm so sorry Asami-sensei," he whispers, tears falling down from his face as he studies her bruised appearance, feeling like a complete failure for not saving her when she had asked him. The haunting screams she let out constantly echoing in his mind, reminding him that he really was weak. Something he'd always be.

"You're going to be strong, kid."

God, was she wrong. So fucking wrong.

Attempting to wipe his tears, he begins to sob, his salty tears landing on her face, "I'm so sorry," he repeats again and again, unsure if he'd ever be able to face Asami again, too ashamed with himself for what he had selfishly done, "I thought I could save people, I thought I could give people proper deaths, but—" his voice breaks, "I'm just too weak."

Slowly calming down, he stares at her sleep, waiting for Ijichi to come and find them, too tired to even pull out his phone. For now he just wanted to sit in silence and forget about everything, he wanted to relax.

"Mmm," Asami begins to shift in her sleep, a peaceful smile on her face. Yuuji can't help but wonder what she was dreaming about, "Alive and healthy," she mumbles, eyes still closed.

Thinking she may have been awake, he begins to near her, "What was that Asami-sensei?" he asks, mistakenly assuming that she was talking to him.

Silence.

Her eyebrows begin to rapidly twitch, a frown now on her face as she begins to frantically move in her sleep, "Asami-sensei," Yuuji begins to attempt shaking her awake, noticing that she was in clear distress, "Asami—" Yuuji feels her hands wrap around his neck, her eyes jolting open while her teeth angrily grind against one another as she begins to strangle him.

"Die!" she yells, nothing but hatred in her eyes as Yuuji's eyes bulge in both shock and fear.

"Asami-sensei," he manages to barely breath out, his voice weak and in despair as he tries to push her hands off of him. But she was just too strong.

"You're a monster," she cries out, Yuuji's legs frantically moving around as he tries to escape, his vision beginning to go dark.

"Asami-sensei please," he sobs, every one of his senses heightened as he felt death looming in, "I don't want to die."

"Asami!" a familiar voice yells, pushing Asami off the fearful boy and causing her to roughly land on the ground.

Coughing her lungs out, Asami is awoken from her trance, blood coming out of her mouth 'What the fuck just happened?' she thinks to herself, the sound of someone else coughing grabbing her attention.

She feels her heart stop.

Staring at the young boy coughing, she sees Satoru staring at her with a shocked expression, Ijichi standing right behind him. Silence now filling the air.

Looking down at her shaking hands, tears quickly begin to well up in her eyes.

"I'm—" she whispers, her voice breaking as Satoru begins to come near her. Immediately she steps back, beginning to process everything…. beginning to realize what she had done.

She tried to kill Yuuji.

"Asami," Satoru says, both worry and sadness in his voice. He was disappointed in her, she was sure of it. Because she was a monster.

She looks at the pink-haired boy, who was looking at her with a look of sadness, "I'm so sorry Yuuji," her voice cracks, as the tears begin to fall.

"Asami-sensei," he frowns, immediately understanding that this wasn't her fault, that this had to do something with that curse. Right?

"I—I—" her mouth quivers, "I need to go," she stammers, slowly beginning to walk backwards, continuing to stare at people in front of her.

"Asami!" Satoru calls out for her once she turns around and begins to run, the tragic nightmare that was this mission, coming to its end.

A/N : Whewwww what do you guys think omgggg , I've introduced a new villain so please let me know what y'all think. I had lots of fun writing this chapter as I love this kind of stuff haha, and (spoiler) the next chapter is like all angst between Gojou and Asami so I'm definitely going to have fun with that. What happened this chapter will also tie in to how Yuuji saves Nanami in the future and all that so I'm looking forward to that as well.

Also the outfit I had pictured in mind was Jennie from Blackpink in the "Kill this Love" video so if anyone's curious as to how that looked just give it a quick Google search and it'll be the one where she's wearing white pants haha. I think it's the "perfect" outfit as it's not too flashy or anything, it's actually pretty simple lol. The only reason I'm referencing it is because I felt like when I was describing the outfit it came out too ummm unrealistic (?) but in reality it actually is pretty realistic, I just need to work on describing things better.

Anyways, see you all for the next update ! Thank you to anyone who's been kind enough to leave a review as they always make my day *virtual hug*.