As the day ended and night began to wrap the city in darkness we left for the train to Yokohama. I had a friend there who had agreed to loan us her car. I had neglected to mention that Kento would be driving. I had never gotten a license, preferring the usually more stress-free life as a commuter. She'd promised to just leave the fob on the top of her front tire. Kento had joked about stealing a motorcycle, but it had sounded a little too close to an admission of guilt.

We gathered some soda cans and stuffed his pockets and my purse with them. Kento said I could use them for target practice during the train ride. This late there was bound to be empty, or close enough, cars where I could continue training. I was starting to get used to feeling Rio's feelings. Now he's annoyed, but also I could feel a tickle of pride. It was almost as if he knew I could do this, I could be trained to be something so different from what I'd become. I loved being an EMT, I'd wanted to heal since I was a child. I wondered if that was why Rio had never trained me or even hinted that I could use this power for anything else. Or was it for some other reason all together? I had a nasty worry that Rio's motives were less than pure in this regard as well.

After buying a ticket for Nanami, we boarded the train, finding that the cars were nearly all deserted. We took seats together, "All right, let's set these cans up in the seats across, and you watch me carefully while churning your energy."

We set up the cans and I let my power spiral through me, "Okay."

Kento did nothing and for a second I thought that he was trying to teach me some super deep lesson. I opened my mouth to ask what the deal was when two of the cans twisted with a loud crunch. "Did you catch that? Just focus your energy and reach out to one of the twisted cans."

I felt my brow furrow as I concentrated on the can closest to me. I stretched out my fingers and willed the rope to touch the can.

"It's not like the rope anymore, Tori." Rio spoke softly through my mind, "Now it's like a hand or fingers that you control. Tell your fingers to flick the can."

I changed my mental image and the can I'd focused on trembled and fell. "Oh! I did it!"

Rio's pride swelled as Kento smiled at me, "That's great. You manipulated your cursed energy." I started to complain, "Don't give me grief, these are the words I know. Now I asked you to touch the twisted cans because they'd already been crushed by my cursed energy. This can help guide your first touch." I nodded and he continued, "Now, the twist is a technique. It's only called a technique because you have to do more than just allow your energy to flow. This time, think about crushing the can."

"This is like when you got drunk and challenged Momo-chan to that arm wrestling contest." Rio said, a hint of his earlier annoyance in his voice, but now tempered with his usual gentle cajoling tone. "It's more than holding hands and slamming the arm down. Think about how you'd use your fingers to crush a can."

Crushing a can is applying strength to a downward motion or a twist. My energy always felt like it was spiraling anyway. So I pictured the can twisting and a loud crunch made me open my eyes. The can was little more than an aluminum coaster. I directed a questioning look at Kento who was staring at my results.

"That was..." He blinked, rubbing his hands together, "You really gave that can something to think about."

"Was it too much? Should I have tried softer?"

"No. No, hard is good. I knew you had potential, I can feel it especially now. Did Rio talk you through it?"

I nodded, "When I need to do something, it helps to visualize it. Swimming, piano.." I gave him a wink, "Or saving some guy can all have a visualized outcome. Same with a can. Or winning an arm-wrestling contest against a loud-mouthed brat." I chuckled, Rio's help was invaluable, he'd known me for a very long time.

"Arm wrestling? You really are all kinds of talented." He echoed my soft laugh, "Visualization is very helpful for learning how to be an effective Jujutsu Sorcerer. Since you already have more than enough aptitude for this, go ahead and crush all the cans and put them in the recycle bin."

I was able to replicate the feat faster, first on the untouched cans, and then squashing the pre-twisted cans. I gathered them up and deposited them before reclaiming my seat.

"I was expecting that this wouldn't go so quickly." Kento said as I seated myself, "It usually takes at least a day or two for a new student to master touching the target."

"Maybe it's because I've used my abilities before? I already knew a bit about forming it and I have Rio's help. He's been alive for over two hundred years."

"He'd know. I was serious though. I really do think you have a talent for this. I wouldn't want you to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer, though. Rio is right that they're not great. They're a tool, and not even a really nicely calibrated one most of the time. You deserve better."

"Don't you? You mentioned trying to quit before."

"I was very disillusioned by the time I graduated high school." He sighed, leaning back in his seat. "I know we do good work, I just thought my life was better spent in the business world. My parents are executives. I thought that's what I was meant for, too."

"It's not the worst thing I can think of."

He smiled again, "It sucked. Really. I hated it. More than I hated being a Sorcerer. But now…"

I frowned, he was dead to them, now. He was already facing some serious legal hurdles, even if he left Japan and started over somewhere else. I felt sorry for him, "I will help however I can."

"I wish that we'd never met." I flinched and he put a steady hand on my knee, "Not like that, Tori. I wish we had met in a bar over smokes and drinks. That I could have taken you home and made love to you. You could see how talented I can be without the threat of dying. Again."

"Smoking is really bad for you. We can definitely get drinks, though. I'd like that." I gave him a warm smile, and trapped his hand under both of mine, "You will absolutely not die while I'm around, I promise you that. Not until you're gray and wrinkled, and have melanoma from vacationing in Malaysia."

"Will you make love to me?"

"It will be sloppy and glorious."

He gave me a low, breathy laugh and I couldn't stop the blush from flaming up my neck. "It's a date."

He turned his eyes away toward the window, and we spent the rest of the train ride in actual companionable silence. I was so glad that the elephant was out of the way. I watched him study the night as it sped by. It was as if by making the statement that we would end up in each other's arms, even just once, had broken the glass. He looked relaxed for the moment, so I closed my eyes, and leaned against him. Whatever else happened tonight, I could be happy and content for twenty more minutes.

We picked up the car without incident, and Kento gunned the engine, making a good start on the half-hour car ride to Tokyo. He talked to me about the cursed spirits, and I told him what I knew, which was -unsurprisingly- not much. Rio was quiet, though I could now feel what I could only name as sulking from him.

When driving like the devil was following you, you get places a lot faster than you thought. Tokyo was a veritable ghost town after the evacuation. Parking, which is usually a little bit of a nightmare, was so easy as to give me an intensely uncomfortable feeling. I got out staring around in an arc just to see Kento reach into his inside coat pocket and pull out an odd pair of sunglasses, pushing them into his nose with two practiced fingers.

I raised my brows at him and he scanned the area like I had been before answering, "They're amber-tinted, safe to wear even driving at night. They keep curses, which aren't too bright normally, from noticing my line of sight." He took off at a brisk walk, "Also they're useful in making things contrast better. You might try them sometime."

"Right," I muttered, I was feeling that oily feeling again. "I…," I took a step back pointing, and Kento followed my sight line. "Don't tell me…" My stomach churned uncertainly as I belatedly whipped up my power.

"I want to watch him work," Rio interjected, scaring me enough to make me jump.

A shape straight from a nightmare lumbered aimlessly on the other side of the street. I'd been warned that there were probably large curses wandering around. Kento had said there had to be, or there would be no reason for an evacuation. This was no simple spirit. I felt fear prickle my skin like a shock of cold water.

Kento simply stood. He didn't look like he was doing anything but surveying the thing. Then he simply wasn't there. He dashed forward like a shot, his long legs devouring the space between us and the curse in seconds. His hands were out held in a classic strike position, and I felt the surge of his power as the blobby creature reacted. It tried to turn, but Kento was faster than it by far. With a strike to the right, the curse's arm-tendril fell away in a spray of… I am going to hope that it isn't blood.

I rushed forward to join him, "Stay back! I got this!" Kento barked loudly. He wasn't even out of breath. If this is what he meant by combat training, then no. I had no idea. I am well-muscled from my job toting humans around, rolling drunks and people who're too sick or injured to help themselves. I'd spent nearly my whole school life on the swim team in spring, and then whatever I felt like doing for the rest of the year. I'm strong, and in the water, I'm fast, but Kento seemed on a different level.

Rio whistled low in my mind, "His innate technique is nice. I think he sees a spot…" We both watched Kento's other hand whip forward opening a hole the size of a big dog in the curse, making it bellow in terror and maybe pain, "Yes. I'll have to ask him what he does. We'll try and figure out what you can do. Is there a light nearby?"

I couldn't answer him, I was mesmerized watching Kento dismember this thing. His movements were fast, precise, and devastating. Where he struck, there was either an awful wound or a missing body part. Kento backed up a couple of steps, starting toward it again to nail it in a spin kick that opened its earlier belly wound to split the curse like an overripe melon. It burst apart, and I had to swallow a couple of times to keep from losing my dinner.

He walked back, his hands covered in curse ectoplasm, his trousers and shoes doused with it. He had no new smile to reassure me, "I need to clean up. We have to walk a couple of blocks to get to the station. There may be surveillance."

"I could check the car? Maybe Yashida has some stuff we can use to disguise your face." I walked over to the trunk and Kento popped it with a beep from the key fob. "We need to find a light."

"Isn't the trunk light good enough?"

My mind must be on a different planet. I nodded, feeling my face warm in embarrassment. I wasn't going to be any help, was I? I stood straight and studied how the light fell. I stooped, putting my hand under the bulb, twisting them until I could discern a shadow. I quickly formed the shadow I was supposed to make, "Rio, the Mischievous Demon."

Kento watched in fascination, our roles now reversed, to watch Rio form from the pool of dark. Rio is stunning in person. Glossy black wings like the most well-endowed raven, long inky locks that matched the shifting shadows of his wings which he was flexing for me now. His over-long nose even looked right on him. I gave him a slow clap while Kento turned his head, trying to hide the appreciation that had to be written on his face. Rio tugged on his kimono, making the whole thing fall straight and proud, just like him.

"Glad you wanted to put on a show this time," I joked quietly. "Unfortunately, I really do have to find a hat or something."

"A towel would be dandy. I am going to stink. Curses can track by scent. Some of them can, anyway."

I found a fluffy car blanket, "It's the closest thing to a towel. We'll have to detail the car and wash all this stuff before we get it back to her." I pulled out a bright, too-busy scarf that made Rio wince. It was horrible with its lime and red checkers, "Sorry. It even smells like a trunk. It's the best she's got."

Kento took the blanket, wiping off his hands and exposed skin before going after his shoes. He made a half-hearted swipe at the pants, "I never realized just how clean my weapon helps keep me." He held out a hand, "Here. Holy shit, this thing's awful." He folded then looped the scarf around his hair. The blonde hair was probably a dead giveaway when added to the height and ability. We were all now ready as we could be.

"Keep your eyes open." He put his hands on my shoulders, holding them in a tight grip, "You said you can sense my potential?" I nodded, "Good. Keep your senses open. Rio? Can you bring up the rear?"

"Of course." Rio did a quick visual check. "Can you extend a personal curtain?"

"No?" Kento looked shocked, " Is that possible?"

"It used to be, but like all things, personal ability plays a big part in how good you are at anything. Lead on." Rio's wings flicked in an avian gesture of dismissal. "Let's walk quickly and I can disrupt the cameras, I think."

I only had a minute to think about Rio's abilities. When would the ability to scramble electronics be added to a Spirit's bag of tricks? I'd been six when we met, and cameras were everywhere, even twenty years ago. I suppose it was a necessary thing to learn, even for a Tengu who never left his mountain. I followed Kento's back, my eyes darting around us. Then I realized that the oily feeling was my warning mechanism.

"Kento!" I stopped, looking around wildly, now, "I think I figured out at least one of my abilities."

"I feel it, too." He gave me a tight smile, "Chill out; if it's watching, it knows it's been spotted. They're not always bright, but that doesn't mean that they can't be clever from time to time. Or that we haven't run into a higher grade curse. They're not dumb at all."

"Check your four," Rio prompted in a low voice. "It's moving toward us."

"What the hell does that even mean?" I threw my arms up into the air, "Four?"

Kento turned toward me again, "Think of a clock. Straight is twelve. Ninety degrees right is three. Behind you is six and to the left is nine. It's a descriptive way to communicate. What do you think, Rio?"

Rio's mouth drew down as his eyes shifted to the right, "Higher level then the last one. We can take it together." He faced me, "Please just stay right here."

I nodded, and they both moved like yesterday's wind. A curse that had a vaguely fish-like appearance slimed around a corner making bubbling noises and flashing arm length teeth. I backed up a step, but Kento took his stance and Rio did something I had never heard of before. He leaned down, speaking too softly for me to hear, though Kento was openly staring at him. He put out his hand, and from a pool of dark not unlike the one Rio appears from, the rounded head of some sort of weapon appeared.

With a yank, Rio had it out, and the soft clang of metal rings and tiny bells made the fish-curse turn a bulging eye in their direction. Kento resumed his stance, and Rio set his feet. As one they pivoted to bring their weapons to bear. Kento's hands and Rio's chiming stave moved together to strike.

"Activate your full power, Sorcerer!"

Kento struck, and hard scales resounded. "When I see things that I can hit at a ratio of 7:10…" Kento struck again and the scales cracked, making the fish-demon gurgle in distress. "It always results in critical damage."

"Fascinating!"

Rio slammed the butt of his staff into the hole Kento had opened, making the curse flop and twist to bring its teeth on them. It snapped, the remnants of its earlier meal still grotesquely wedged between its teeth. Bits of jeans and colorful cloth made me send up a prayer for those lost souls. Blood flecked the scales ringing the slick jaw. I wisely remained quiet.

In between dodging the counters made by the beast, they fought hard. The men were now chopping and hammering in a gory rhythm. When a scale fell, fountains of ichor bloomed. Soon it was obvious that the curse was outmatched, and it displayed enough intelligence to try and escape. Then I saw another fantastic thing: Rio tucked his staff under his arm and pressed two hands into the mutilated hide. A hiss and fire popped and burned along the curse, and it twisted in agony, the noises it was making were less fish and more high-pitched whining. Then, nothing. It disintegrated as Rio drew his hands back, wiping them on the leg of his suit.

"A Tengu specific ability?" Kento asked the question on the tip of my tongue. He was bent over, massaging his knuckles.

Rio nodded, panting for a second in the aftermath. "Yes. I haven't cut loose in a long time." He glanced at me, his face now filled with shame, "I would never know this feeling again, Tori, had I the ability to keep you safe."

"No one has that ability, Rio," I said gently. "No one can keep another safe for their whole life. It just robs that person of freedom."

Kento nodded sadly, "I thought I could do that too, Rio. A long time ago. It never stops hurting, but.." Rio turned away, holding his staff out before himself. Kento wisely changed the subject, "I'm glad you were able to retrieve your weapon. What's it called?"

"A shakujō," Rio answered in surprise, "I was given one when I became a warrior."

"All the touchy feely dude-bonding out of the way?" I interrupted, "I have some questions. They come in levels? And why did you explain your hits to Rio when he asked you to go full power? Plus, you said that there's probably large curses around, but we found two in twenty steps!"

Rio and Kento exchanged looks, making me frown at both of them.

"Come on," Kento grabbed my hand. "I will try to explain, but being a Jujutsu Sorcerer is more than kicking ass and getting your ass kicked. First off, they are rated on a level system. Think of it like a video game; if you're dropped in the middle of the game, there's a mix of opponents, some are weak like the blob curse we got first. I'd say Mister Fish-guts was easily two levels above. Of course there's bosses; like the patchwork curse."

Rio nodded along, "If we keep running into them, you should try and feel how strong they are. I am positive you'll be good at it."

"Next," Kento stopped and gestured at himself, "By saying what I can do, I increase the power of what I can do. We call it 'Showing Your Cards'. If you want to train, you'll figure out what you can do, and be able to buff yourself. Finally, the number is surprising; and I can feel even more. Though I can also feel another Sorcerer. They must be patrolling near the station."

"You didn't answer her question. There are a bunch more than there should be."

Kento heaved a sigh, "A Curse User, his name is Geto. He's got a strange ability. He can control and store curses. Big or small, malevolent or benign, it didn't seem to make a difference. When I was going to school with him, he could carry hundreds. Then he got stronger when he turned his back on…" Kento's mouth drew down to a snarl, "He turned his back on humanity. Not just the Sorcerer world, but he hated people. He was a real piece of shit. My friend, Satoru, said he died. Then a few months back said he thought he felt his presence. If Geto is alive in some form, he wouldn't care about setting his curses on Tokyo. He's done it before."

Rio looked horrified, and God knew I was. But that was something I didn't have time to worry about any more. "The Sorcerer?"

"As for that Sorcerer out there, they seem very strong." Kento shook his head at my questioning glance, "I'm not really that great at identification, but there's only a few that tip the scales this much." He paused, looking at our group, "Rio, for the time being, you have to get into the station and wait for us. Can you go without being seen?"

Rio nodded, "I can teleport short distances. As long as there isn't a curtain forbidding that sort of thing."

"Like the one that night."

I frowned up at him and he tucked my hair behind my ear, "I'll see you in a couple of minutes, alright?"

Kento stood next to me, his hideous scarf/tie combo competing with the curses for making me queasy. Rio popped out of our plane and I took a deep breath, "Now what?"

"Since I don't know if it's bad or not, you're going to run ahead toward the station. Just say the first thing that comes into your mind when you see them." He nodded, "Just go and if it's safe for me I'll make myself known. If I don't, say whatever you have to to get away. I will follow and we'll try another way in."

"You owe me."

"I always pay my debts." He touched my hair as well and smiled, "Go on."

I took off at a fast jog. I didn't want to look too guilty; I thought just by the state of my clothes and the undoubtedly wild look in my eyes, I'd look lost and harassed. Just a little to the side, I saw a teen dressed in white walking around the station entrance. I kept going, and he looked up to follow my progress.

I shouted, "It's a kid," before skidding to a stop as the teen whipped fully toward me with a long, wickedly sharp katana held in a rock-steady grip.

"Thought I felt you coming over here, Nanami-sensei." His large, dark eyes searched behind me, "Did you know you're dead?"


AN/ I actually looked up what amber-tinted glasses are good for. Combat! LOL

Partially beta'd part not. It looks good to me!

If you wanna comment, and see if we can get more readers, I really wouldn't mind!