Chapter Seven.
The Monsters Within.
2007.
"She needs to talk to the higher ups, they'll," the muffled voice pauses, "they'll believe her," they say, sounding unsure of themselves.
Whoever they were talking to scoffs, "They just want her dead and she knows it… but I just don't get why she's letting it happen…. I don't get why any of this is happening, there's just no fucking way…"
"I need to call—"
"Don't," the person says, "I'll—" they sigh, "I'll fix this. I'll fix everything…."
Asami hears the door to her dorm room open, darkness encapsulating the room, nothing but dreadful emptiness in her heart.
"Asami…."
"Leave me alone," she weakly whispers, wanting nothing more than to be left alone, "I—" her voice shakes, "I just want to sleep."
"You need to get up," they say, trying their best to be as gentle as possible...trying their best to be as empathetic as they could be.
But they couldn't understand, they would never understand.
"Just leave me alone Satoru," Asami mumbles, staring at the ceiling above her, nothing but a stale dead look in her eyes.
"I can't," he frowns, "Because this isn't you…" he gulps, feeling himself become angry, unsure if it was because of her or just at this whole fucked up situation in general, "So I just can't understand why you're letting this get to you—"
"Shut up," she quietly murmurs, feeling an incoming headache.
"I know you think what you did was wrong, and maybe," he shakes his head, "maybe it was, but what else were you supposed to do? You were going to be killed…"
"Shut up," she repeats, a little louder than the last time.
She understood where he was coming from, she understood his frustrations because she knew he'd never understand how she felt, for his coping mechanisms were much more different than her own. Because Gojou Satoru didn't understand sadness and he didn't understand grief, as he was raised with the expectations to be strong. For Gojou Satoru just wasn't weak.
But he was trying, wasn't he? He was trying to put himself in her shoes, trying to rationalize with her, trying to understand.
But it just wasn't working.
"So you need to get up and fight. You need to fight like never before because—" he furrows his brows, "Because the Asami I know isn't weak, the Asami I know is st—"
"Just SHUT UP!" she yells, now turning to face him, tears brimming her eyes, "shut up," she croaks out, feeling her heart race, "You don't get it Satoru…"
Silence.
"You never will," she bitterly laughs, "I'm not like you Gojou Satoru, I can't be merciless and ruthless when I go berserk, I can't just shove my feelings away and call it a day, I can't shake off grief and loss, I can't—" her eyebrows begin to twitch, "I can't be strong like you because I'm weak," she finally cries, "I-I'm—" her lips quiver, "I'm human. Or at least I was."
Bloodshot eyes stare into icy blue ones, "I was a human who grew up playing with children my age, a little girl who originally didn't know anything about curses and the monsters under the bed being real, a carefree child who was raised to be empathetic and value human life," she sobs, feeling as if she was going insane, "And so," she heaves out a tired breath of air, "And so I guess in that sense I'm just not like you…"
Frowning, he wants to tell her that she's wrong, that he was just as empathetic and caring as her, that he too understood what she was feeling. But he just couldn't. Because if he did then they'd both know he was lying, for Gojou Satoru was born in an authoritarian and traditional family, bestowed with a power sorcerers hadn't seen in over a hundred years. He didn't get to play with kids his age, and he never once got to live in ignorant bliss for he was told of his expectations since day one. Growing up in a household of limitations and rules, he wasn't seen as a child, but nothing more than a weapon, a prized possession if you will.
All in all, he was a product of his environment, a dehumanizing system that only values strength and power. It was who he was… who he is. It was why he valued strength so much because in his world strength meant having worth, it meant being respected. It was why he was always so egotistical and full of himself all the time, unable to understand why he had to look out for the weak. Until he met them.
His friends, his teachers, his girlfriend... his moral compasses.
Yeah, he was still struggling here and there to truly grasp onto the feeling called empathy, but over the years he'd found himself trying to fix his flaws, just like he was trying to now. He didn't want her to feel alone, for he had learned along the way just how much he himself hated it.
But the words just couldn't come out.
"I understand," she mutters, "No … I understood," she scoffs, "that death and loss came with the so called job, that it was something naturally apart of this fucking world, but—but I just never thought—" her voice breaks, "I just never thought that I'd have to sacrifice the core values of who I am for it," she swipes at her eyes, but the tears continue to fall, "I'm a monster," she covers her face with her hands, completely breaking down.
Present Day.
"If I look back, I am lost," Asami mutters to herself, exiting her car, not caring for the dried blood on her face. What she really wanted was to just fall asleep and forget about this night, even if it was temporary. She wanted to sulk and cry in bed like the human being she naturally was, the human being she'd always be.
Turning the key to her apartment, she kicks off her shoes in the darkness before turning on the lights….
This had to be some sick joke.
Looking at her now decorated apartment, Asami feels her heart drop, unable to comprehend what she was seeing in front of her. This was just too much. Too much for a single night. Way too fucking much.
"Asami…" she hears his voice from behind, having forgotten to close the door, not that it'd matter. Either way, she was sure he would've teleported his way inside.
"Where's Yuuji?" she monotonously asks, not bothering to turn around. Because if she did then he'd see the dead look in her eyes, the look of a woman who was both physically and mentally exhausted.
"I'm having him stay at my place for the night," he informs her, "Figured that's what you would've wanted…"
There was a pause in which you could've heard a pin drop.
"He's not mad at you, you know?" Satoru says, trying his best to comfort her, something he had learned how to do over the years, his empathy for others having grown along with him. Enough so that this time around he could say he understood what she was feeling. Because had he done what she had to any of his students and he would've felt the exact same anger, frustration, and disgust Asami was feeling towards herself.
"If anything he kept crying about how he deserved it, about how—" Satoru pauses, unsure if he should continue, "About how he almost left you to die…"
A single teardrop falls from her eye.
"Leave me alone," she weakly whispers, feeling that at this moment, history was repeating itself.
"You—" he hesitates, "You know I can't do that, not when you're like this."
Turning around, bloodshot eyes meet icy blue ones, "Like you haven't before," she spits at him, feeling a shift in her mood, "If it weren't for you," she frowns, "I wouldn't be in this mess. I wouldn't be feeling like a monster," she clenches her jaw.
Seeing his face fall, she feels a pang of guilt, quickly subsiding it with the sudden anger she was feeling, "You just—" her lips quiver, "You just couldn't leave me alone," she heartlessly says, looking around at the decorations around her, flimsily playing with some of them, subtly mocking them, "I was doing just fine…." she shakes her head, unable to comprehend everything that's happened, "I didn't need to be brought back into this world you foolishly love…."
To that he furrows his brows, "I don't love it," he interrupts her, offended by her statement, "I just want to change it."
She scoffs, "Same shit isn't it? To want to change something means you have to care about it in some way, means you have to love it even if you don't want to admit it," she stares at him with an intense spite, "I mean why wouldn't you? In this world you're at the top of the food chain, you get to be constantly reminded that you're—" she tightens her fist, "that you're you. The one and only Gojo Satoru, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer there is," her voice shakes, "Without this so called system you want to fucking change, you wouldn't be—"
"Asami just—" he clenches his jaw, remembering the words of his best friend.
"Are you the strongest because you're Gojou Satoru, or are you Gojou Satoru because you're the strongest?"
"Just be quiet," he quietly pleads to her, "You're tired Asami, I get that—"
"I bet this is all some ego booster for you isn't it?" she laughs ironically, "A way to pat yourself on the back and convince yourself that you're some kind of needed hero," she pauses for a moment, looking at him with nothing but disgust, "God I hate you."
Satoru gulps, trying to ignore the twisting feeling in his heart, reminding himself that Asami was only trying to push him away. That saying things like this was her way of doing so, "You don't mean that Asami," he begins to come closer to her.
Asami laughs, staring at the man she once loved with a crazed expression, clearly going through what seemed to be a mental breakdown, "But I do…" she cold heartedly says, not feeling an ounce of remorse for her words, "I almost killed that kid today," she mutters under her breath, "I had my hands wrapped around his throat like some doll," she emotionlessly states, "and if you hadn't arrived I'm sure I would've done it. I would've killed him."
"No you wouldn't have," Satoru reassures her, knowing that she was going to crack at any moment, "You were in a trance like state because of the curse you encountered in the mirror house," he reminds her, "Yuuji told me everything that happened," he grabs her hand, rubbing small circles on her palm, "It wasn't anyone's fault. Not yours or his. What happened was out of your control, you need to understand that."
Asami begins to shake her head in denial, "Stop lying to me," she grits her teeth, "I'm not that seventeen year old girl anymore that you can just appease with some bullshit lies anymore," she desperately cries out, "You should've left me alone, you should've left me alone," she begins to repeat over and over, her voice breaking, "I was doing so good," she begins to cry, lips quivering as she remembers her life before she returned to Jujutsu High, "But you just had to ask me to come back and I couldn't say no because—"
"Because you love me," Satoru says for her, "and I love you," he gives her a small comforting smile, caressing her cheek with his hand, "I mean look at what I was about to do before this whole night went to complete shit," he nervously laughs, looking at his excessive decor, "Asami you're the furthest thing from a monster," he reassures her, "Though you can be mean, a little rude, and sometimes even a bit standoffish," he notices the offended look on her face, struggling to suppress his laugh, "Beyond the surface, you're also one of, if not the, sweetest and kindest person I've ever met. I mean your duality is what I love about you," he boops her nose, "What happened happened, and we can't change that, but we can talk about it and fix it, but in order to do that you have to allow yourself to be forgiven."
And for a small second he sees Asami's eyes become warm, he sees that she wants to believe in his words, but as quick as the moment was, it ended just as fast, for the cold look in her eyes returned, "I-I can't do this anymore—"
"Asami," he's about to begin, but she's quick to speak over him.
"Satoru I just can't," her voice cracks, "All of this is just too much for me, and I just don't think I can handle that," she sorrowfully says, "Originally I thought I could, but it turns out I can't," tears fall from her eyes, "I quit."
He frowns at her, "Asami please just listen to me—"
"Listen to what?" she whimpers, "To your lies about me being a decent person? When we both know I'm not…"
"But you are," he pauses, "You're my person. My Asami."
"I was," she finally breaks away from him, stepping back, "The doe eyed Asami you knew in high school is long gone Satoru. She died the day she—" she's unable to accept to complete her own sentence, "I'm—" she gulps, "I'm sorry Satoru," she solemnly whispers before heading into her room and locking the door, finally allowing herself to fall in bed and hysterically sob, leaving a frustrated Satoru in the living room.
Sighing, Gojou places his keys onto his kitchen counter, for the first time in a very long time finding himself stressed out.
"Damn it," he silently curses to himself, turning on the lights, "Holy!" he jumps in surprise, a bandaged Yuuji taking him by complete surprise. Catching his breath, Gojou sighs, "Damn I really am stressed," he mutters to himself, usually able to sense any kind of cursed energy in his presence, even low leveled ones.
"Sorry Gojou-sensei," Yuuji says, sadness evident in his voice as he continues eating out of the chocolate ice cream tub.
Grabbing a spoon from the drawer, Gojou decided to join in, taking a seat next to the pink-haired teen, "It's fine," he gives Yuuji a small smile, not wanting to sadden him more by letting him see his sensei stressed out.
"Is Asami-sensei okay?" Yuuji immediately asks, desperately needing to know of her condition.
"She's going to be," Gojou says, eating a spoonful of ice cream, the word "liar" ringing in his head.
Silence.
"I'm—" Gojou sighs, "I'm lying."
Yuuji's face falls, mumbling a small "Oh," in response.
'I can only save those who are already prepared to be saved by others,' Gojou remembers his words to Masamichi years ago, the words still ringing true to this day,
"And Asami just doesn't want to be saved..."
"What was that?" Yuuji asks in confusion, only hearing nothing but a quiet mumble come out of his sensei's mouth.
Gojou shakes his head, "It's nothing, just a random thought," he takes another bite of ice cream, "What are you doing up anyway? You need to be well rested before Shoko can come and heal you."
Yuuji frowns, "Asami-sensei got me into the habit of eating ice cream when I'm sad," he softly chuckles, "we'd usually eat some whenever we finished watching a sad movie."
Gojou murmurs a small, "I see."
Feeling anxious, Yuuji gulps before asking another question, "Does Asami-sensei…" he pauses, feeling his eyes become watery, "Does Asami-sensei hate me?"
And to that Gojou laughs, "Asami could never hate you," he turns to Yuuji, "Asami's an only child you know? And so I think in a sense she's grown to see you as like a younger brother. I mean she's even got the whole protective older sister thing down, don't you think?" he chuckles and Yuuji feels a warm smile begin to form on his face, "And so right now she's feeling…" Gojou tries to find the right word, "disappointed...with herself to say the least."
"I just don't want her to beat herself up for it so much…"
"I tried telling her that, but Asami's a stubborn person," Gojou sighs, shaking his head, "always has been, even when she first had a crush on me," he adds, trying to lighten up the mood.
To this, Yuuji raises a brow, "I could've sworn I've heard Asami say that you had a crush on her first…"
Gojou feels his face redden, "She's a liar."
Staring at the moon, Asami feels the cold breeze of the night sky from the balcony of her apartment, unable to stay asleep, for there was too much on her mind. Damn was she in need of a—
An old wrinkled box from the small table next to her catches her attention, the killing thing that was on her mind magically somehow next to her, along with (what she assumed) was an old lighter, 'I must've forgotten to throw this out,' she thinks to herself, pulling out the one and only cigarette in the pack.
Placing it in between her lips, she finds herself second guessing her next presumed action, that white-haired bastard's voice coming to her mind, 'Those things are bad for you,' is what he'd stupidly say.
"You stupid idiot," she mumbles to herself before throwing the unlit cigarette out and placing the lighter back onto the table. Pushing her hair back, she tries to shove away her depressing thoughts, humming a small tune to herself.
Realizing it wasn't working, she curses at herself for throwing out the damn cigarette, grouchily going back inside.
"Maybe I should start cleaning," she scoffs to herself, studying her decorated apartment while the sweet scent of flowers enters her nose. Picking up the vase of roses, she takes a big whiff of them before wilting them with her cursed energy.
She was being bitter and she knew it, but she just didn't care. This was his fault. If he had never freaking asked her to come back in the first place then she wouldn't be feeling as shitty as she did right now, "You stupid," she focues channeling her cursed energy into her finger tips, "pretty-faced," she begins to slash at the heart shaped balloons with her sharp nails, "bastard!" she finally yells, stuffing coming out the teddy bear she had just placed her hand through.
Huffing to herself, she notes that she's only made more of a mess, causing her to cross her arms and pout like a child. That was until something caught her eye, "Satoru + Asami" is what the scrapbook on the table is titled. Though it was a little messy, it screamed Satoru, his calligraphy skills having its own unique and distinguishable touch to it.
Sitting down on the table, she softly grazes the book with her hand, "And you call me cheesy for keeping all those photo albums," she silently scoffs, pulling out the note that was sticking out of the book.
Dear Asami,
Wow is this cheesy, I don't know how you do it!
Asami rolls her eyes, continuing to read the letter.
Well if all went well then you should be reading this while I'm (handsomely and soundly *wink wink*) sleeping right next to you with the sun shining through the blinds just like how I'd know you want because you're just that much of a dreamy romantic….
Asami accidentally lets a small laugh escape from her lips, "You idiot," she mumbles to herself, able to hear his teasing tone behind the words.
I know exactly what you're thinking, probably something among the lines of "You Idiot!"
She feels her face go red in embarrassment. Was she that predictable?
And no you're not predictable, I just know you well enough by now. You're also probably thinking,"Satoru finding the time to make something like this? No wayyyy,'' but believe it! Just for you Asamiiiiiii ;) I know it may not always seem like it, even back then in high school, but I'm quite the collector of memories myself! And well I thought this would be the perfect occasion to show off what I got and how my craft skills are 10x better than yours.
"Of course they are," Asami rolls her eyes, "You're Gojo Satoru," she sighs, the man always being good at everything he tries, which is why he claims that,"he tries not to get too involved with anything for the sake of the next generation". Honestly she could count the number of times back in high school he'd let her win stupid things like the clown water gun game at the carnival, go kart racing, bowling, and more.
You're the girl I've loved since high school who I somehow still manage to fit with like a puzzle piece even after all these years. I guess you can call it trueeee loveeeee right? Don't roll your eyes too hard now.
Asami smiles to herself, truly a sucker for these kinds of things.
And so to end this off, I love you Asami! I hope you know that this book only covers a fraction of just how much I do. So let's continue making an infinite ( get it ;) infinite cause you know...me….) number of more memories!
Yours Truly,
Gojo Satoru.
A single teardrop lands on the crumpled letter, "Bastard," she mutters, looking at the first picture placed in the book….
May 2005.
"Come on you four, we have to give Asami a tour of Tokyo," Masamichi says, walking ahead of the students and on his way to his parked car.
"So Asami, where are you from?" Shoko asks her new classmate, curious as to where her unique dialect came from.
Thinking of a good answer, Asami hesitates for a moment, "Um…" she pauses, "Well to put it simple I'm from Okayama, but since I've been apart of a travelling circus since I was a kid, I guess you could say I've picked up a bit of everything in terms of dialect," she nervously laughs, noticing the piqued interest in two of her classmates, not caring for the rude third one who seemed to care less.
"A traveling circus? That's so cool," Suguru genuinely says, carrying the injured girl's bags, "What act would you perform?"
"I'm an all around acrobat, but I personally like the aerial hoop," Asami responds.
"So that means you're good at flips and stuff, right?" Shoko asks, and Asami nods.
"Yeah I guess so," she softly chuckles, the four of them now reaching the car.
Opening the door for Asami, Suguru figures that it's obvious that she should take the front seat considering she had a broken leg. Asami must've figured the same for she was about to make her way to the front, that was until a certain white haired person slyly made his way around her and beat her to it.
"Aw thanks Suguru, you shouldn't have," Satoru winks at his best friend before entering the car.
"Satoru," Masamichi grumbles from the driver's seat, not in the mood to make a big deal out of this.
"I'm the tallest person here! My legs need space to breathe!" he pulls the lever that moves the passenger seat more forward, "There? Happy? Now there's space for her in the back," and behind his sunglasses, he rolls his eyes, acting as if he was the one suffering in the predicament.
Clenching her fist, Asami lets out a deep breath of air before making her way to the backseat, 'Don't let him get to you,' she thinks to herself.
"Satoru can be mean sometimes, but trust me, he'll warm up to you in no time," Suguru whispers to the girl, believing that he wasn't being loud enough for Satoru to hear, that was of course until Satoru says something from the front seat.
"Hey don't go lying on my name for her now," Satoru frowns, Masamichi now driving to the secret destination.
Furrowing her brows, this time Asami fails to bite her tongue, the famous temper Satoru would come to know and love getting the best of her, "I didn't want him to," she barks at him, "Trust me it's been made perfectly clear that you're just an asshole."
Suguru and Shoko nervously look at one another, feeling as if they were in a car full of flames.
Satoru lets out a laugh, "Ha, so that little "I'm a shy nice girl" persona of yours just now was a sham?" he turns around from his seat, staring at the puffy eyed girl, "Or are you acting out of character just for me?" he mockingly pouts.
Glaring at the boy, she unexpectedly flashes him the middle finger, not allowing herself to get poked fun at, "No this is me alright, or at least for you," she says, "Get used to it."
Narrowing his eyes at her, Satoru's about to say something in return until Masamichi turns up the radio in the car, "That's enough you two," he says over the music, sighing in the process as he thinks, 'I already have to deal with Satoru and Suguru always getting into it, but at least they're actually friends… but Asami and Satoru, those two seem to clearly detest one another.'
Struggling to hide their laughs, Suguru and Shoko begin to crack up as Satoru glares at the road in front of him, "Two can play at that game," he mutters to himself, the two having silently declared war against one another.
Feeling the car come to a sudden halt, the students look outside to see that they had reached their destination. Shoko, Suguru, and Satoru begin to step out like nothing, but Asami on the other hand was still looking out in shock.
"W-What the—" she begins to stutter, staring at what seemed to be an abandoned building oozing with bad energy, a cold chill running down her spine. Genuinely speaking, she wasn't actually expecting a "tour of Tokyo" but she also wasn't expecting to be outside some haunted building.
"Aw a little scared?" she hears Satoru taunt her, a smug look on his face. God, did she want to punch those sunglasses right off.
Slowly stepping out, she looks at her new sensei, waiting for an explanation, "Humans' fear of abandoned buildings such as this one along with the bad memories they hold in places such as the hospital near here has caused there to be a small outbreak of mid-sized curses, or as we like to call them… Grade 1 curses."
"Grade 1?" Suguru furrows his brows, confused as to what his Sensei was thinking. Weren't new students supposed to be evaluated with Grade 3 curses? Making her attempt to exorcise a Grade 1 from the get go would only kill her...
Ignoring his confused student, Masamichi continues speaking, "I want you to go in and exorcise them, think of it as a field test, trust me, it's not as hard as you think."
Asami's face says it all for her, "Um….." she looks down at her leg, reminding the musclehead of their biggest problem, "I don't know if you've forgotten but…. I'M INJURED!"
Glancing at Shoko, Masamichi motions at her to come forward, "It's time for you to practice," he says to her, and nervously she nods, still learning the ropes of her cursed technique.
"I need you to stay still," Shoko instructs her, taking a deep breath in before raising her hand and attempting to heal her newest classmate.
Slyly looking in curiosity, Satoru can't help but wonder how the red headed circus freak will look like without the cast. Honestly, he didn't really have his hopes up for anything good, but even if he did, what did it matter to him? Weak girls were not his type whatso—
"Woah…" Satoru finds himself whispering under his breath.
"And here you were making fun of her," Suguru nudges his best friend's shoulder, for the girl in front of them was … extremely pretty to say the least.
It seemed that with the reversed cursed technique the cast on both her leg and nose had broken, revealing a very pretty teenage girl who now had a healed nose and perfectly functioning leg. Rolling his eyes, Satoru mumbles a tiny, "Still not my type," making Suguru laugh, the faint pink blush on his cheeks saying otherwise.
Touching her face, Asami's shocked expression speaks volumes, "W-Woah—" a smile forms on her face as she begins to move her leg around like a child.
Looking proud of herself, Shoko smiles, "I'm getting better at this."
"See, now you're healed," Masamichi says, not expecting any more complaints out of the brown eyed girl. So when he sees the excited look on her face return back to one of annoyance, he feels himself sigh, expecting to hear another—
"No way you're actually expecting me to go in there by myself and exorcise what I'm assuming are some hard level curses…"
There it was.
"I don't even know how to use this so-called cursed energy or how to even channel it. Plus, I don't even have a weapon! I mean even if I did, I've never had the need to wield one so how the hell would I know how to use one!"
"You sure do talk a lot! Sensei I say we just take her back where she came from, I mean clearly she doesn't want to be here," Satoru interrupts her, and Asami immediately shoots daggers at the tall boy.
"I'm not saying I don't want to be here, I'm saying—"
Masamichi suddenly pulls out a pouch of small throwing knives along with a leg holster that she could attach to her leg.
Tilting their heads in confusion, all four students are confused as to where the hell he pulled them out from, "Throwing knives?" they all simultaneously ask.
He nods, "You were a part of the circus weren't you? Shouldn't you have some experience with these…"
Asami looks at him with an expression of disbelief, the sound of Satoru snickering only aggravating her more, "I only did acrobatics," she picks up one of the knives, the steel reflecting off the sun,"I wasn't exactly a part of the throwing knives department."
"But surely you have some kind of experience…"
Thinking to herself, Asami recalls a certain memory.
"Careful with that!" a tall man carefully grabs a throwing knife from a 6 year old Asami's hands, its recently sharpened edges a hazard for a child like her.
"But they're so cool Hashimoto-san !" she says, fascinated by the golden handles engraved with small kanji details.
Chuckling, he nods,"They are, aren't they?" he carefully displays one to her, nothing but awe in her eyes, "But you're too young to be carrying them around, at least not without an adult present."
"But you're an adult," she retorts at him.
This makes him laugh, "You're right I am, but if you were to accidentally injure yourself I'd feel at fault, especially since I'm not your parent," he ruffles her hair in the process, "But you can always watch me practice if you'd like, while you wait for your parents at least."
Asami nods, sitting down at a safe distance away from him while he begins to spin the red wheel his female assistant was usually tied to, throwing his knives to the marked Xs'.
"The key is in the wrist Asami," he says while playfully spinning his knives, showing off for his one man audience, "As long as you have the target in mind and fairly decent eyesight then you'll never…." he throws the knife in his right hand, perfectly landing on the x, "miss," he says.
"Woah," Asami grins, still amused by the act despite seeing it every night at the circus,"You sure I can't try? Pleaseeeee," she tries to convince him, but he relents, nodding his head no.
"Sorry Asami, no can do," he continues to throw the rest of his collection, "Maybe when you're old—"
"Hashimoto-san!" a member of the circus staff peeks his head inside the practice curtain, "Think you can lend us a hand really quickly? It's a bit of an emergency…" they nervously say, and Hashimoto nods.
"I'll be right back," he informs Asami, placing his knives onto the table next to him, completely forgetting about the eager child's behavior just earlier.
"Don't do it Asami," she whispers to herself, moving her fingers up and down as a way to distract herself, the need to grab one of the knives and throw it being way too tempting. God was Mr. Hasimoto taking forever!
"Mmm," she begins to squirm in her seat, "I can't!" she gets up and turns the wheel, grabbing one of the knives from his collection and beginning to imitate his spins. Closing one eye, she begins to focus her aim at the red x, copying the way he held them before throwing.
"Deep breath in," she whispers, "Deep breath…" the knife spins as it's thrown, landing perfectly onto the red x, "Out," she grins at her work, this time grabbing more than one knife and beginning to put in work.
Making an X motion with her arms, she tries to mimic his cool moves, the challenge this time being trying to not clash the two knives when thrown at the same time, "1...2….."
"What are you doing young lady!" she hears the familiar voice of her mother yell as the knives leave her hands, a frantic looking Hashimoto right behind her, everything happening in slow motion.
And almost like a pro, the knives perfectly land on where they need to, a practical bullseye from the young girl, "No way…." Hashimoto whispers in disbelief, "That's a move that takes years of experience," he mumbles under his breath.
Grabbing her daughter by the hand, Asami recognizes the look on her mother's face, her furrowed eyebrows running a chill down her spine.
"What did I tell you about touching other people's equipment Asami!" Misaki scolds her rebellious child.
Asami fakes a sad pout, "I didn't mean to…."
Misaki only scoffs, not falling for her act, "Come on young lady, we need to have a talk," she leads her outside, but not before Asami looks at Mr. Hashimoto and mouths a small, "Sorry."
Grabbing the energy-imbued knives, Asami tightens the holster on her leg, surprising those around her with the sudden change in attitude, "I—" she gulps, trying to hide her obvious fear, "I better not die!" she huffs out, "Or else you'll have to face my mother's wrath," she warns her sensei, and to that he nods, a small smile on his face.
"You'll do just fine," he reassures her, explaining and reminding her of what she needed to do in order to exorcise the curse, "And most importantly just follow your instincts," he says, unbeknownst to her, secretly setting her up for failure.
Nodding she sighs, making her way inside the building while Mashamichi sets the curtain up, her classmates finding themselves a seat that gave them a good view of the inside through the large windows, "We should've bought snacks," Satoru yawns, "Anyone wanna bet she'll cry in the first 10 minutes?"
Suguru only shakes his head, a teasing smile on his lips, "You do know we're not in elementary school anymore right? Being mean to your crush isn't exactly the best way to win them over."
Shoko quietly laughs to herself.
Getting defensive, Satoru frowns, "Pft I don't have a crush on her, I just met the girl!" he crosses his arms, "I'm treating her like how I treat everyone …"
"Yeah okay…." Suguru chuckles, "This one's different though, I can tell," he laughs while shrugging his shoulders, "Hey, the least you can do is admit that she's pretty," he says, "especially after laughing in her face like that."
Rolling his eyes, Satoru remains stubbornly silent for a moment, "She's…." her grand reveal from earlier appears in his mind as he remembers how her skin seemed to have a soft glow to it now that she didn't have the bruised bags under her eyes along with how her hair seemed to frame her face in such a way that she almost looked angelic in a sense, and not to mention her upturned nose that looked so …. cute to him. Scowling, he tries to push off the image of her in his mind, but it's no use, "...decent looking…." he begrudgingly mumbles, refusing to give Suguru teasing ammo.
"It's fine," Suguru laughs, placing an arm around his best friend's shoulder, "I'll get it out of you in no time," he smiles, "I think it's about time you have your first kiss, am I right?"
And this time Shoko laughs out loud, Suguru joining in with her.
Satoru roughly pushes his classmate off, "Ha ha ha, very funny," he mutters, regretting how he practically admitted that to Suguru when they first got to know each other, especially now that it was something that came up all the time.
Originally their conversation had started off talking about their upbringings which seemed to be completely different, Satoru growing up in a strict and traditional style environment while Suguru grew up in a more modern and carefree one. And like the teenage boys they are, that led to the "cute girls" and "parties" topic.
So when Satoru admitted that back in his clan, going on "dates" and attending parties wasn't really something he could do or even have time for because of the importance of the Six Eyes and constantly needing to be trained, Suguru was able to put two and two together, the question, "You've never had a girlfriend?" leading to "You haven't had your first kiss?!"
And now they were here, Satoru constantly being reminded all the time that he was still just a kid.
"Will you two shut it," he glares at his snickering friends, "Come on she's about to start," he points at the windows of the warehouse, a frightened Asami looking around.
Humming a small tune to herself, Asami tries to ease her own nerves, waiting for the curses to appear, 'What should I eat after this?' she thinks to herself, 'I'm thinking steak, but sushi sounds good t—'
She suddenly halts in her tracks, staring at the fly head across from her in wonder, her first time seeing a curse since the incident at the circus, "Woah," she whispers, both disgusted and in awe of the thing in front of her.
Slowly pulling out a knife from her holster, she tries not to make too much noise, 'I guess this will act as practice' she thinks to herself, shutting an eye and focusing her aim. Then in the blink of an eye, the fly head is splattered onto the wall, Asami managing to perfectly hit it with her knife.
Smiling to herself, she mentally pats herself on the back, 'Okayyyyy, that was easy' she finds herself tempted to do a small victorious dance, but refrains from doing so as she knew she was being watched.
Confidently pushing her hair back, she can't help but feel smug, "And to think I was scar—"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strong gust of wind pushes Asami forward into the wall, the loud sound of the impact echoing across the walls, "Ow," she groans, clutching her back as she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Looking up, she sees a flying curse hover over her, but unlike the last ones, this one was …. humongous, it's large wings being the source of the strong wind.
Face falling, she quickly gets up, 'These knives aren't going to do anything!' she thinks to herself, beginning to run up the stairs of the building like the coward she was, panic now setting in. 'That thing must be the freaking mother!' she begins to pant for breath, looking for somewhere to hide.
Managing to find herself a place to hide in, she uselessly grabs some empty cardboard boxes to make her hiding spot more effective, unaware that curses could track her using cursed energy. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" she heaves in silence, trying to think of something as her mind has gone blank since the big old fly appeared.
"In situations that cause feelings of anger and fear to arise, it becomes easier to channel and utilize cursed energy, but it also becomes just as unstable and is often hard to control, especially if you don't have proper training. If you can manage to channel just a tiny bit of cursed energy, then you should be fine for today. Actually let's make that your goal."
Remembering Masamichi's instructions, she silently curses the buff man, realizing just how useless the information was. He didn't tell her at all how to channel cursed energy, the man only mentioning where it came from. Was there some kind of spell she was supposed to say? A magic movement with her hands? What the hell was she supposed to do?
"Stupid old man…" she bitterly mumbles, knowing she couldn't hide here all day. 'What to do, what to do…'
"First I need to figure out how many of those curses there are in total…" she thinks out loud, "From there I need to figure out how to channel this so-called cursed energy and kill them…." she says the impossible as if it were some easy task, unaware of the power Grade 1 curses truly held….
"She's been doing nothing but running around for the last hour," Satoru yawns, already wanting to go back to his dorm. Once someone was deemed weak in his mind, there was no changing that. And honestly he couldn't say he was surprised, if anything this was exactly what he expected from her.
"She's trying her best," Suguru says, "This girl hasn't even had any beginner's training Satoru, the fact that she managed to kill a fly head was an accomplishment in itself," he chuckles, trying to defend the girl he'd just met in her absence.
Rolling his eyes, Satoru only slouches in annoyance, "It was a lucky shot…"
Suguru shrugs, "Not everyone is like you Satoru," he pats his friend's back before turning his attention to his sensei, "Anyways, why is Asami being even tested for special grade status sensei?" he asks Masamichi, the question having been on his mind since earlier.
Unwavering his gaze, which was currently focused on the building, Masamichi remains silent for a moment before responding, "That day at the circus, when she threw herself to the stands and I went to go exorcise the curse, I'd seen something that I've never seen before in my career…" he pauses, having piqued his students' curiosity, "I'd seen a scared curse, a curse that looked like it wanted to die… a curse that was seeking death."
They furrow their eyebrows in confusion.
"I don't know what she did or if she was even aware of it, but somehow she got that curse to fear for its own life," he sighs, "not to mention when I went to go visit her at the hospital, there was a … feeling … to the room I can't necessarily describe. It sorta felt like I was dreaming... " he shakes his head, "it wasn't till I left the room that everything became clear again."
"What do you think her technique could be?" one of them asks.
Masamichi frowns, "That's what I'm trying to find out… whatever it is, it's involuntary on her part and clearly isn't something she has set up all the time as you guys haven't sensed it yet. As cruel as it sounds, I need to have her in a position where she fears for her life again, only then will we see what she's made of."
"That's a little … rough … don't you think?" Shoko says, as a first year herself, still unaware of just how sick and twisted the jujutsu world could get.
"She'll thank me in the long run," he says, "If we can find out what it is now, then we can train her and teach her how to control it before the higher ups get their hands on her."
"Well her running around all day isn't going to get us anywhere," Satoru sighs, continuing to watch the girl as she ran up and down the stairs, the number of grade 1 curses that were infesting the building now following her.
"I think she's trying to count them," Suguru manages to infer, noticing how she kept looking back as she ran.
"What good will that do?" Satoru scoffs, "She's being—"
"Woah!" Suguru and Shoko point at the girl who was now doing a series of cartwheels and flips, maneuvering her way out of the tight corner she had run into, effectively even killing two fly heads in the process with her knives.
"Huh?" Satoru further observes her, shocked to say the least at her sudden moves.
"I like her," Suguru laughs, "she's got spunk," he says while Asami continues to run around the building, now grabbing onto objects and using them as vaults for her flips.
"So she can swing around in the air like some monkey, big deal…" Satoru huffs, not a fan of eating his own words. Because maybe, just maybe, she wasn't so weak after all...
"Well she's gotten rid of all the fly heads, now she just needs to find a way to get rid of the big boys," Suguru says, referring to the grade 1 curses, "And quickly too. Looks like they're catching up to her…"
"Oh no…" Shoko murmurs, watching as Asami reaches a dead end.
"It's time," Masamichi mumbles.
Watching the fearful look begin to form on Asami's face, Satoru gulps, suddenly feeling guilty for being so mean, the knife shaking in her trembling hands signalling that she was feeling genuine fear. Hell, she was even beginning to cry….
"Sensei maybe you were wrong…" he catches himself saying out of nowhere, "Clearly she's weak and I can take on those curses without even lifting a finger…"
Suguru smirks, noticing that Satoru's smug attitude was nothing more than a facade this time around, "No, I think she's fine. In fact this is getting funny," Suguru laughs, not actually meaning what he said.
Satoru furrows his brows, shooting his friend a confused look, "What are you doing," he harshly whispers at his friend, "I thought you'd be against this the most!"
Continuing his act, Suguru shoots his friend a confused look, "Come on Satoru, this is funny," he chuckles, "Isn't this what you wanted?"
Narrowing his eyes at his friend, Satoru realizes what he was doing, "Tch," he crosses his arms, "Forget it. This is what I get for looking out for the weak, self-righteous bastard."
Shaking his head, Suguru rolls his eyes, "Feeling regret and empathy isn't a bad thing Satoru…"
"It is for me when I have people like you always—" Satoru suddenly goes silent, eyes widening at what he was seeing, "What the…."
Confused as to why his friend went silent, Suguru turns his attention back to the building, "Holy…" he feels his breath hitch, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. There stood a crazed Asami with her hands out, making a squeezing motion with her fingers as the curses began to scream out in agonizing pain, something they'd never heard before.
"How the hell…." Masamichi mutters under his breath, confused as to what he missed in the blink of an eye.
Satoru shakes his head, "Y-You guys don't see it?"
They all turn their attention to Satoru, who slowly lifts a finger to something near Asami, "Right there," he says in disbelief, unaware that the three of them couldn't see what he was staring at because they didn't have the Six Eyes.
Tilting her head, Asami feigns sadness, pouting as she walks towards the curses, "Sorry," she whispers before clenching her fist, the curses then exploding out of nowhere as she recalls the surge of power she felt only moments before...
"Oh no…" Asami whispers to herself as she notices that she's reached a dead end, the number of curses she attracted in her rampant run around of the building now following closely behind her, "Damn it," she clenches her teeth, a look of worry now on her face.
The unique sound that curses make could be heard from not too far, signalling that they were coming closer and closer to her. Feeling her hands shake, she's unsure of what to do, her little antics of running and doing flips now coming to an end. She now had to face the reality of things.
"Think Asami," she says in panic, growing frustrated with herself. Turning around, she sees one of the curses begin to near her, making a sound that she assumed was to signal to the rest that she was here, "Think God damn it," her voice begins to shake as she places her hands onto her forehead, falling to ground and beginning to rock back and forth.
And soon everything of the past begins to rapidly flash in her mind including the night at the circus, the curses she'd see when she was a child creepily staring at her from afar, the constant begging to her parents to believe her, the distancing of her friends, the whispers she'd hear that she was absolutely crazy, just absolutely everything.
"Leave me alone," she cries as she feels a claw run it's sharp edge against her arm, taunting that it was going to kill her, "Leave me alone," she repeats, feeling like a child once again, the curses then beginning to crowd around her, her death imminent.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yells at the top of her lungs, feeling a sudden surge of power within her, a black misty smoke beginning to form from the ground, paralyzing the curses in complete fear….
"There's no freaking way…" Satoru says in disbelief, "Her cursed technique has to do with our nightmares…" he whispers to himself.
"Come on you three!" Masamichi begins to run towards the building, needing to get to Asami as soon as possible.
Following closely behind their sensei, they quickly run up the stairs to the floor she was on, only to be met with a defensive Asami, "Stay back!" she yells, tears falling from her eyes as she keeps her hands raised.
"Asami…" Masamichi tries to walk towards her, but she throws a knife his way, purposely missing him by just an inch.
"I said stay back!" she angrily screams, "W-What the hell am I? What the fuck did I just do!" she stares at him in furiosity, "You're a fucking liar!"
Masamichi sends a look to both Satoru and Suguru, signalling to them that they need to be ready just in case something happens, for even Masamichi wasn't sure what this girl was capable of, "Asami you need to calm down."
Viciously shaking her head, she pulls two knives from her pouch, her hand shaking as she notices Satoru slowly beginning to make his way towards her, completely disregarding her empty threats.
"You don't want to try me!" she aims her knives at him, not caring for how crazy she looked.
He only chuckles, "Do it," he says, completely taking her by surprise, her face falling in confusion, "I'm being serious. Throw it. I know you want to, probably have been all day," he adds, confident for his own reasons.
"Y-You're bluffing," she stutters, face going red.
"Do it."
Mouth twisting, she throws the knife in her right hand out of impulse, deciding that she was tired of his stupid smug attitude, only to find herself in complete shock when the knife comes to a sudden halt, almost like there was some kind of force stopping it from completely reaching him.
"This is one of my cursed techniques, it's called infinity. It slows things down when things I don't want hitting me attempt to come my way, think of the paradox Achilles and the tortoise. There's an infinite amount of space between me and whatever object I personally choose I don't want touching me," he grabs the knife that was currently in mid-air, "Just like how Masamichi has his technique of cursed corpses, Shoko with her reversed curse technique, and what you'll soon see is Suguru's cursed manipulation technique, you also have your own technique. A very powerful one at that."
Gulping, she avoids eye contact with the white-haired boy, embarrassed by her actions from earlier, "What if I don't like it," she mutters.
"No one's telling you that you have to," he simply says, "There's just going to be certain…" he pauses, "people… who expect you to get it under control, which is why you need training," he explains to her, somewhat understanding the fear she was feeling.
"I—I don't get it…" she says, looking towards Masamichi, "I don't know what I did, or how I did it—"
"And that's fine," Masamichi reassures her, "Shoko here was on the same boat not too long ago," he turns to her, Shoko then giving Asami a kind smile, "We'll figure out the details of your abilities with time, but you need to trust us."
The sound of a knife dropping to the floor echoes across the walls of the room.
"Sorry…" Asami murmurs, referring to her crazed behavior.
"It's…." Masamichi makes a funny face as he recalls just how close the knife was to stabbing him, "fine…"
"So, anyone wanna go for sushi?" Suguru suddenly breaks the awkward silence, "I'll pay," he playfully sings, and Asami's face lights up.
That was until she felt a churning feeling in her stomach, all the adrenaline she had felt moments earlier now coming to reap its consequences as she quickly grabs an empty cardboard box from behind her and begins to puke.
The sound of Satoru's laughter could be heard, "Not her puking!" he pulls out his flip phone, aiming the camera so that it captures both him and her, "Say cheese!" he yells, and Asami sticks out a middle finger while continuing to barf into the box. The day finally coming to its end.
Present Day.
Looking at the picture, Asami almost feels like calling up Satoru and giving her a piece of her mind, the reminder that they weren't exactly on the best terms soon hitting her. Continuing to flip through the pages, she feels her heart warm at the different things she sees, shocked at just how much effort Satoru put into the book.
Sadly, this was something she knew she couldn't destroy with her cursed energy. Because if she did, she knew she'd immediately regret it.
"Stupid idiot," she mutters, closing the book and placing it in her book shelf.
Sighing, she throws herself onto the couch, staring at the ceiling above as she finds herself going through an identity crisis, "You almost killed that boy…" she whispers to herself, "A child…"
"And that would've never happened if you didn't return…" she says, "But what were you supposed to do? Say no to Satoru…"
'Yes you were' she subconsciously thinks.
"Tch, even then, the real world is no place for a sorcerer like me… even if I desperately tried deluding myself into being a part of it…" she runs a hand through her hair, "What to do… what to do…" she sighs, finding herself at a crossroad.
"Face the mirror and accept who I am, or run away and delude myself into being the person I desperately wish I could be…." she softly whispers into nothingness.
A haunting silence fills the air, a decision having silently been made.
A/N:
Omg this was the first chapter where I found myself having actual writer's block, but I think it's because I really wanted to execute this chapter well so I became very picky with certain things. We finally got to see what happened on that Tour of Tokyo, and I hope you guys are sorta able to see the differences in Asami's personality from the past and present. I'd say 2007 Asami was definitely more childish per say or at least that's what I'm trying to show lol. Anyways, let me know what you all thought and please please please leave a fave or a review if you did enjoy this chapter as they're definitely what keeps me going in terms of writing fuel LOL. If you have any theories then feel free to send them in as I'd love to hear em, see you all next time :)