"So Fukoru. What do you know about cursed energy?" Gojo asked me. We were in one of the classrooms by ourselves while the rest were sparring. It felt like a private tutoring session. I heard other students had them, but I never had a teacher care enough to have one with me.

'Not much.' I wrote.

"I see, but you do know about cursed technique's, correct?"

'I know I have two. Other than that, nothing.'

"Well, I don't think it's as simple as you having two techniques, but I'll get to that in a second. Hmmm. How do I explain this? Oh, you know that you have to charge that phone I gave you for you to use it, right?"

'Yes.'

"Well Cursed Energy is a lot like the electricity that runs through the cord, while the phone serves as a cursed technique that uses the energy to act upon a desired purpose."

'I guess that makes sense.'

"You use cursed energy to increase your physical speed. That is your cursed technique."

'So, is me summoning the blade not a technique?'

"No, it is, but it's not as simple as you think. In short, I don't think it's your technique."

'Not mine?'

"Do you understand the reason as to why you can't speak?" Gojo asked, and I shook my head.

"It's the effect of what we call a 'Heavenly Pact'. A pact forced upon an individual. In exchange for access to that technique, your voice was the toll."

'So, I can't speak because of the heavens? Is there some God that has it out for me?' I thought.

"Fukoru. Can you tell me the connection between the steel and the knife?"

'Oh. The knife belonged to my friend's father. His mother gave them to me when I was younger.' I wrote. Gojo just sat there thinking with his hand on his chin.

"There might be some requirement for being able to summon a weapon, but that's assuming you're capable of summoning anything else. It's getting late. Your new friends are probably done training. Have you gotten any of their numbers yet?"

'No.'

"Well, that's no-good kid. They might be making plans without you. You don't want to be left out, do you?"

'I don't really mind.'

"No, I won't stand for this. Your homework for today is to get the number of all your new friends by the end of the day." Gojo said as he pulled me out of my chair, and pushed me out of the classroom.

'Friends? Are they really my friends?' I thought. I didn't even know how to ask for their numbers, or how they would react.

"You barely suffice as my training dummy. Why would I give you my number?" I imagined Maki saying.

"Why are you asking for my number? Don't tell me that you enjoyed being stepped on." I imagined Usagi saying with a look of disgust.

"Bonito Flakes." I didn't understand why, but I imagined that one hurting the most.

'They're all going to think that I'm a weirdo.' I thought. I sighed as I started making my way to my room.

"Hey! Fukoru!" I heard someone shout from down the hallway. I turned around and saw Usagi walking over to me, and I waved at her.

"How did the class go? You missed a really good sparring session. I almost landed a hit on Maki today."

I gave her a thumbs up.

"Oh, that's right. You can't talk. So, how's this supposed to work?" She asked. I slowly pulled my phone out, and pointed at it.

"You're right. Let me know when you're ready for my number." She told me, and I just stared at my phone.

'How do you add people?' I thought.

"Fukoru, are you ready?" She asked, and I just rubbed the back of my head.

"Do you know how to add people?" I shook my head.

"Give it here." She took the phone from my hand, and started humming to herself as she tapped away.

"There we go! I went ahead and texted myself, so now I have your number too." She handed me back my phone. It now had two contacts. Gojo and Usagi. There was also a picture of a black cat next to her name.

"Alright. Now we just gotta get everyone else your number. Oh, we're planning on going out tonight. We're trying to get everyone together, although Megumi is being a jerk and saying no. Want to come with?" She asked. I was a little too overwhelmed with everything happening that I just nodded my head yes.

"Great! I'll text you when we're leaving. Go ahead and get ready." And then Usagi took off running.

'Wait. I don't know where we're going.' I sighed, and went to my room to get ready.

I got out of the shower, and looked around for something to wear, but when I opened the closet door, it was empty.

'Shit. I don't have anything to wear.' I panicked for a few minutes before I finally decided to text Usagi.

"Hey Usagi. It's Fukoru. I have a slight problem. The only clothes I have to wear is the track suit Gojo gave me.' I set my phone down, expecting her to take some time to respond, but it was almost instant.

'Hmm. That is a problem. Well, we just gotta go clothes shopping then. We have time before we all meet up.' She texted back.

'But I don't have any money to buy clothes.'

'Just make Gojo pay. It's his fault for not giving you more to wear.'

'Make Gojo pay? I've never asked someone else for money before. How am I supposed to ask?' I thought.

'Hey Gojo. It's Fukoru. I was texting Usagi, and she wants to take me clothes shopping.'

'That's great, kid! I knew you could do it! All thanks to my amazing teaching skills.' Gojo responded a few minutes later.

'But you didn't teach me how to communicate with people.' I thought.

'So, let me guess. You need money, is that right?' Gojo texted.

'If you would be so kind.'

'Yeah. It's no problem at all. I'll swing by and give you my card. If you see something you like, don't worry about the price.

'Gojo said he'll swing by my room and give me his card.' I texted Usagi.

'Perfect. I'll head over too.' She responded.

An hour later, we arrived at a fashion store Usagi talked about all the way there. The store was huge with all kinds of brands and styles that I'd never heard of.

"So, what kind of style do you like?" Usagi asked me.

'I don't know. I've only ever worn whatever the schools had lying around.' I texted her.

"Perfect. You're in good hands." Usagi then proceeded to push me across the store, grabbing anything that caught her eye. I tried on so many different combinations of outfits and accessories, which were followed by some "No's", "Doesn't work on you", and a few "Next".

"That's it! That's the one" She finally cheered. I came out wearing a gray t-shirt with a white 'X' on the chest, a white striped undershirt, and black pants. I had a Triforce necklace that Yanagi gave me as a child, and a black facemask that had a crescent moon on it.

'Don't you think it's a bit much?' I texted her.

"No. I think it's perfect. Now come on. We're going straight to the arcade." She grabbed me by the wrist, taking us to pay for the clothes, and we left for the arcade.

We arrived twenty minutes later, and saw Panda, Inumaki, and Maki already there.

"Where's Kugisaki?" Usagi asked.

"She's still trying to drag Megumi here. She shouldn't be much longer." Maki explained, and as if she was summoned, Nobara came bursting through the doors, dragging Megumi by the wrist.

"Okay. We're here now. You can let go." Megumi complained.

"How do I know you won't sneak away?"

"Because you'll just chase me down."

"You're damn right I will." Nobara snapped back at him, and everyone laughed.

"Well now that everyone is here, we can figure out who's paying for who." Maki said.

"Gojo is!" Usagi exclaimed, as she pulled my wallet out of my pocket. She handed the card over to Maki before I could react,

"Perfect. Let's get going everyone." Maki took the card, and walked over to the counter. Inumaki walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Kelp." He gave me a thumbs up, and I reluctantly gave one back.

"Alright Fukoru, let's get going. I'm going to get the biggest prize they've got in this place." Usagi grabbed me by the wrist again, and dragged me along to the counter. After we got our cards, she dragged me from game to game as she tried to find one she couldn't lose at. She would make me play every game, get mad when I would get a higher score than her, then claim she would beat me at the next one. This went on for about thirty minutes, until she gave up, and we sat down at the pizza diner connected to the arcade.

"This is stupid. Why can't I beat you at a single one?" Usagi complained before taking a bite of pizza.

'Sorry, but you don't have to drag me to every game.' I texted her.

"Yes, I do, otherwise you won't do anything. You're just like my little sister."

'You have a sister?'

"Yeah. Her name is Tsuki. She's smart, quiet, and keeps to herself. Our family puts a lot of pressure on her because she's incredibly talented. They call her a 'Child Prodigy'. Say that she'll be the one to make a name for our family. The look in your eyes reminds me of her. They look empty. So, I can't just leave you alone. Besides, you're my friend now. It's only natural to hang out with your friends."

'Friends! That's right. Gojo told me to get everyone's number.' I thought. As if on cue, my phone started ringing. One after another, I kept getting texts. I picked up my phone, and saw that they were from all my classmates.

'Hey newbie. It's Maki.'

'Hey! It's Nobara. Usagi gave me your number. Hope you don't mind.'

'Tuna Mayo.'

"Oh, is everyone texting you now? Can I pick everyone's contact name?" Usagi asked while holding out her hands. I handed her the phone, and she went right to work. I thought about tonight, and she was right. If she hadn't dragged me along, I wouldn't have done anything, just kept to myself while everyone else had fun. I was glad she did though. I hadn't enjoyed myself like that in a long time.

"Hey Fukoru. We're kinda busted." Usagi said, showing me that I got a new text from Gojo.

'Hey kid. Why does it say I have a 25,000¥ charge from an arcade on my card.'

'Shit. That was fast.' I thought.

"I'm sorry Fukoru, but you're gonna have to take the fall on this one. We'll miss you." Usagi pretended to wipe tears away as if I was dying. I spent the rest of my night cursing my luck, and promising I wouldn't let Usagi rope me into anything again.

One Month Later

There I was again, face first in the dirt. I lost track of how many times Maki had put me there.

"Come on, newbie. We're not done until you can land a single hit on me." Maki said.

'Maybe if I lay here, completely still, she'll think I'm dead.' I thought. Then, she immediately wacked me on the ass with the training sword.

"I know you can hear me. Get up."

"You can do it, Fukoru! You got this!" Usagi cheered from the sidelines.

"You haven't been able to hit me either, Usagi. You two might have a better chance if you attack me together." Maki threw an extra training sword at Usagi.

"You're on Maki! Get up Fukoru, time for Formation C!" Usagi yelled.

'Formation C? We never went over any formations.' I thought as I stood up. Without a second thought, Usagi charged at Maki, causing me to panic, and also ran at her. Next thing I knew, we were both face down in the dirt next to each other.

"What the hell was that?" Maki yelled at us.

"Maybe if we lay here, completely still, she'll think we're dead." Usagi whispered to me.

"You kids look rough. Maki isn't holding her punches, is she?" I looked up to see Gojo walking toward us. He walked up to Inumaki, and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You've been requested for a mission. Something about cursed spirits looking like beasts roaming around." Gojo explained, then looked over, and pointed at us.

"And you two are joining him." I sat up, and Usagi jumped to her feet.

"Really! Hell yeah! Finally, it's my time to shine!" Usagi shouted as she pumped her fist into the air.

'A mission? Am I ready for that? All I've been doing since I got here was get my ass kicked.' I thought.

"You two will just be assisting Inumaki, so don't push yourselves too hard." Gojo told us. Usagi then helped me to my feet, and hurried me into the building.

"Come one, Fukoru! We have to get ready."

After she dragged me to my room, I went ahead and changed out of my track suit and into my school uniform. It was all black with a black hood attached. It came in after my first week here, but I hadn't worn it yet. I guess in my head, I hadn't fully adjusted that this was my life now. My hands were shaking as I tried to put it on. I couldn't manage to button it up, and I took some deep breaths to try and calm down, but nothing I did worked. I knew that this was the reason I was learning cursed energy, but the thought of actually using it to fight terrified me to the core. I finally managed to get my uniform on, and I sat down on the bed. My whole body was trembling, and it felt like the room was spinning. After about thirty seconds, I felt too nauseous, ran into the bathroom, and vomited into the toilet.

After that, I heard a knock at my door. I continued trying to calm myself as I made myself look presentable, and opened the door.

"Are you ready to go? You weren't answering your phone when I texted you." Usagi was standing outside my door, full of energy, like she was looking forward to the mission. We couldn't be any more polar opposites if we tried. I nodded my head, and we made our way to where we would meet up with Inumaki.

When we got there, we saw Inumaki standing next to someone in a suit. He had short, black hair, and was wearing glasses. Inumaki waved at us when he saw us.

"Oh good. You two are here. My name is Kiyotaka Ijichi. I'm one of the assistants, and will be supervising your mission today," Ijichi introduced himself, handing us a case file.

"It seems there's been some cursed spirits taking the forms of beasts in Kawaguchi. Inumaki was requested, and Gojo insisted for you two to go, so you can get real life experience. With that being said, you two should make sure you don't get separated from Inumaki, and don't do anything reckless, understand?" Ijichi explained, and it seemed like that last comment was directed at Usagi. We all nodded our heads in response.

"Good. Now, let's get going."

We all got into the car, and made our way to Kawaguchi.