When Lightning Crashes

by cloudyclarity23

Mara is a trained Jujutsu sorcerer who left the life after her former institute tried to abuse her curse abilities. She's established a quiet, semi-nomadic life, working in a bakery. The increase in curses she's witnessing may mean it's time to move on once more, but one day she exorcises a curse in front of her blond haired regular, and suddenly she finds herself dragged back into

4. Chapter 4

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Mara was alone in the bed when she awoke, the muted noises of running water sounding through the closed bathroom door. Nanami's side of the bed was still slightly warm from him laying there and Mara scooted herself closer to it, curling on her side under the blanket. She smiled to herself, lingering in the memory of spending the night with Nanami a little longer before fully waking up. She idly wondered what time it was. The room wasn't dark but the light leaking through the curtains was weak. The water shut off, and Mara folded her arms under the pillow, turning her head toward the door. Nanami crept out of the bathroom wearing a towel, straightening as he saw Mara's open eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Mara smiled, shaking her head no. Nanami crossed over to the bed and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "In that case, good morning," He murmured, sliding a hand up her back. She stretched under his touch and sat up. Mara swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed, putting herself eye level with the space just below his navel. She looked up at him from under her lashes, trailing a single finger along the edge of his towel. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Do we have to leave soon?" She asked innocently. Nanami brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We do, if you'd like to start getting ready," his words died off as she nuzzled her lips against the outline of his cock through the towel, grazing her teeth against it teasingly. He leaned his head back and looked back down at her, sliding his hand into her hair at the back of her head as she pulled the towel free of its twist. He was already hardening, and she took the head of his cock into her mouth, slowly sliding it farther in. Mara heard him sigh, running her hands up his thighs until one was gripping the base of his dick. She slid her mouth off of him, rubbing her tongue against the groove at the head as she slowly pumped her hand up and down his length. His hand tightened in her hair as his breathing came deeper, and she slowly placed gentle kisses up the length of his dick, softly sucking each time her lips pulled away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""How can you expect me to go anywhere, when this is all I can think about?" She murmured, dragging her tongue up the underside of his cock before she plunged him into her mouth, taking him as far back into her as she could, hand pumping what she couldn't fit. Nanami groaned, his thumb massaging her head as she worked him. She rolled her tongue over the head, massaging the sensitive underside as her hand stroked up and down. His hips trembled slightly and he started to pull away, but she held fast to him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mara," he sighed her name, "you'll make me come." She looked up at him, grinning lazily. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Good," she dragged her fingertips down the vee of muscles on his lower abdomen, watching him twitch at the touch. "I want you to." She ran her tongue over the glistening tip of his cock, sliding it into her mouth again, moaning against it. He shivered at the sensation of it combined with the feel of her mouth. He dropped his other hand to her shoulder, gripping it as the one in her hair tightened. His hips bucked as his breathing hitched and Mara felt the warmth in the back of her throat. She swallowed against him, slowly sliding her mouth off him. Nanami tilted her head up to him, leaning down to kiss her, tongue gently brushing against hers. "Good morning, again," he murmured against her lips. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Good morning," Mara grinned, laughing softly. Nanami stroked his hand up the side of her jaw, rubbing his thumb over her lips. She opened her mouth, tongue licking against his thumb, and he trailed it down her chin and ran his hand over her throat. She tilted her head up to him as his hand tightened, mouth falling over hers. He kissed her deeply, and Mara pressed her thighs together, rotating her hips slightly as she sought friction. Nanami pulled away from her lips, eyes drifting to legs. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Turn around, and get on your knees," heat flashed through her body as she turned over on the bed, her back to him as she got up on her knees. He ran his hands over her hips before he pulled her back against his chest. "Spread your legs for me," he murmured against her ear. She eased apart on her knees and he slid a hand into her underwear, running a finger down the middle of her. She sucked in a breath, leaning her head back against him. He slowly pushed two fingers inside her as a breathy moan escaped her lips. "You're so wet, darling," he whispered against her cheek, "you can't go out like that." His fingers slid up to her clit and she shuddered against him at the touch. He gently guided her onto her hands and knees, and pulled her underwear down. He gripped her ass with both hands, the thumb of one rubbing over the wetness between her legs. She groaned, spreading her legs farther for him. An appreciative sound rumbled through his chest, and she felt the head of his cock where his thumb had been just a moment before. She groaned, pressing herself back against him. He held her hips, sliding a hand around to the front of her, massaging his fingers over her clit again. She cried out, sliding forward on her hands as she gripped the blanket on the bed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Do you want me to fuck you?" The head of his dick was just barely inside her, she could barely think to form words over the combination of that and his fingers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yes," she whimpered breathily, "please." The hand that wasn't working her held her hip firmly as he slowly plunged into her, groaning as he did. He started pumping into her, fingers massaging her clit, and she instantly felt herself tighten against him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yes," he groaned, "come for me, Mara." She moaned into the bedsheets, release rocketing through her. Nanami held her hips with both hands as he buried himself to the hilt, finding his own release again. He leaned down against her back, kissing her shoulder as he gently pulled back. Mara laid down on her side, waiting for her breathing to even. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""If we're late, it's your fault," she said wryly. Nanami laughed before crossing the room to the dresser. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I beg to differ," He pulled out a pair of boxer-briefs and put them on before donning his pants, "I believe it was you who started this." Mara watched him, lazily rising from the bed and making her way to the bathroom. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, what emare/em we doing today? You said training but I didn't catch a plan." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Gojo asked me to take over for him with Yuji today, there's been some increased curse activity in a section of the city we need to check out." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Anything specific or just people complaining of a creepy feeling?" Mara crossed her arms across her chest, leaning against the door jamb. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Unusual deaths. The bodies of the victims were disfigured by curse energy." Her eyebrows hiked up in surprise. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Wow, sounds serious, you could have just told me to quit fucking around." She said, grinning as she pushed off the door with a shoulder./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yeah, but I was enjoying you fucking around." She laughed, retreating fully into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She was dressed in record time, securing her compacted staff to a belt holster she wore. She followed Nanami into the courtyard dividing the student dormitories from the faculty side. He flicked his arm as he looked at his watch, sighing. "Yuji is late." He said, scanning the space. Mara shrugged. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""At least it wasn't us. Maybe he overslept." Nanami's mouth thinned into a hard line, and Mara bit her lip to keep from smiling. Tardiness was not the way to get on his good side. A commotion broke out at the back of the student dormitories as a one-man tornado came crashing through the door, running full speed for them. Nanami sighed, crossing his arms. "Oh my," Mara murmured, mouth quirking as she struggled to keep from laughing. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm here, sensei!" He galloped toward them and Nanami turned, walking toward the front of the institute where their car waited. Yuji skidded to a stop next to Mara, catching his breath as they followed Nanami. "Hi, I'm Yuji." He stuck out a hand and Mara shook it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mara," she said, releasing his hand. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Are you one of the teachers from the Tokyo institute?" He asked amiably. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mara is a visiting Jujutsu sorcerer and you will treat her with the same respect as your other instructors." Nanami's stern voice carried as he strode ahead of them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So grouchy," she winked. Yuji smiled hesitantly, not daring a response should Nanami hear him. Kiyotaka was waiting in the car for them and Nanami slid in the back seat with Yuji, leaving her to ride shotgun. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Have you gotten to know your way around the institute, Mara-San?" Yuji's bright face popped up in the rearview mirror, and Mara turned slightly in her seat to face him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh, yeah, kind of. Gojo showed me around a bit when I first got here," Nanami flicked her a look from the corner of his eye, "but mostly I've been…er…working with Nanami." She cleared her throat, smiling. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I hadn't seen you before this," he continued, "but the institute grounds are massive." He leaned back in his seat, Nanami smacking his knee with a stack of papers he was perusing as Yuji wandered too far over the invisible divide of the car. He startled, sitting straighter. Mara bit back a grin, Yuji's animated demeanor was adorable. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""True," she said, "I've only run into one of you guys since I've been here."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh! Who?" He asked curiously. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I don't know, really, all he said was 'tuna'," Yuji nodded./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""That's Toge, he doesn't say much." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I gathered." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Well, it's because his curse ability is cursed speech." He explained. Mara raised her eyebrows. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Wow, he must be a good kid." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What makes you say that?" Nanami asked, absently reading over his work. Mara twisted in her seat again to look at them. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Are you kidding? If I had curse speech ability, I would be an absolute menace to society." It was Nanami's turn to raise a brow./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""If a customer started giving me a hard time at the bakery and I had cursed speech ability, BOOM, guess who's literally shitting their pants?" The corner of Nanami's mouth quirked, but quickly stilled as Yuji's lips sputtered as he rocked back in his seat laughing. "Don't tell me that kid doesn't have a heart of gold, or at the very least a rock solid conscience." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I wouldn't give him ideas, if I were you." Nanami warned. Mara laughed and turned back in her seat. Yuji was a chatter box, which Mara could appreciate. It was easy to let someone else talk, especially when they had so much to say. He told her about his grandfather, how he had come to be at Jujutsu Tech by swallowing one of Sukuna's cursed fingers, his friends he'd made at Jujutsu Tech. His affable personality bubbled through the car. She found out they both watched the same anime and she laughed as he enthused over details she hadn't even thought to notice in the show. He was so at odds with what dwelled within him. Yuji was such a vibrant being, she hated he bore the burden of being Sukuna's vessel. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Kiyotaka navigated the way downtown, letting them off a block away from their destination. Nanami informed them two bodies had been reported in an alley behind a small bar, but the state in which they were found is what flagged them for the institute. The scene had been cleared by police, but the cursed energy saturated the place. Mara wrinkled her nose. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""It feels exactly like that last curse in my apartment." She said to no one, stepping over suspicious stains on the pavement. She knelt down where the lingering energy was strongest, laying her hand against the ground. Her fingers tingled where she touched, the energy no more than a faint sting now. She was vaguely aware of Nanami lecturing Yuji about how to sense curse energy and see it. She had never gone out with Haruki like this as a student, she had learned how to recognize curse energy on her own somehow. She listened to Nanami explain to Yuji the nuances of feeling the energy with his own, she had just stumbled upon the feeling by letting her eyes unfocus on the area one day. They followed a trail of energy that lead away from this initial scene but she remained, looking all around the alley. She wondered what the people were doing before they were killed. Were they just taking out the garbage when they were ambushed? Did one person start the task and the other was alerted by a commotion? It wouldn't help anything to dwell on such morbid thoughts, but she couldn't help herself. The curse energy radiating from the ground was strong, stronger maybe than anything she had encountered before to still linger so strongly this long after the user had gone. She grimaced. It was probably going to attract low level curses to the area. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She followed the trail Nanami and Yuji had, leading her into the back of the building, ducking under the police tape wreathed across the doorway and picking her way through the debris of overturned crates of bottles and supplies. They had gone up a set of stairs in the back. The owners of the bar must have lived in the same building. Mara passed through a beaded curtain to the front of the bar. Watery sunlight struggled to filter through the windows casting a gray tone over tables and stools, left over glasses and bottles littering the surfaces in a frozen image of work left undone, waiting for its caretaker. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"A chittering sounded from under one of the chairs, and a small, one-eyed worm of a curse curled its cylindrical body up over the seat. A second frog-like curse made a bleating sound as it crawled over the table to meet the first. Mara's lip curled slightly as she watched them, already gathering to bask in the aftermath of what happened here, incubi thriving off of human misery. She stalked over and gripped them both by their necks, palms flaring as she drained their curse energy and exorcised them. She turned her head toward the sound of feet rushing down stairs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Mara!" Yuji called out. She hurried back through the beaded curtain, staff in hand as Yuji searched for her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What happened?" He whipped around to face her, Nanami calmly descending the stairs he had just come from. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Nanami got a call, there's a veil around a warehouse a few blocks from here." Shit. Was it the same curse who had done this? Mara looked at Nanami./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We should send him back to the school," she said, following him back out the door they'd entered the building through. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""No way! I'm coming," Yuji squawked behind them. Nanami's lips thinned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""There's no time, and he's a training sorcerer." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yeah, emtraining/em," Mara said, "not everyone can just drop a curtain over a place, we have no idea what we're walking into." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I can help," Yuji insisted. Mara spared him an exasperated look./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I know, Yuji," she said more gently, her conversation with Gojo floating up through her mind, "but you shouldn't be put in unnecessary danger." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""He's more skilled than you give him credit for," Nanami cut in, "and he won't always have the benefit of back-up." She sighed her concession. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Is that the Jujutsu Tech method of teaching? Step 1: Fuck Around, Step 2: Find Out?" She held her staff close as they hurried across streets toward the warehouse. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Essentially." He said impassively. Mara rolled her eyes but said nothing. They crossed several blocks until the buildings started to become more interspaced, the warehouse rising before them. It shimmered in Mara's view, the veil enveloping it. An average person wouldn't be able to see it, but the cursed energy radiating off was a beacon to those with curse ability. They stopped within arm's length of the barrier. Mara reached a hand out and laid it against the veil, her hand pushing through as if it were passing under a waterfall. They stepped through and Mara made a conscious effort to stay near Yuji, everything about this place screamed 'wrong' and it put her on edge. Her curse energy crackled along her bones, raising the hairs of her skin. She jumped slightly as Nanami touched the small of her back. "Easy," he murmured, the picture of calm. They entered the building, office doors of the front giving way to open work spaces and machinery. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What are we looking for?" Yuji's soft question bounced off of the equipment surrounding them, an intrusion on the silence. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Whoever made the barrier is a strong curse wielder," Nanami said, "regular people will no longer see or remember this structure so long as it's in place, making it a good option for those who wish to be uninterrupted. Unfortunately, this wasn't sanctioned by any institute in the area, so we can only assume this is curse activity." Ever the teacher, Mara thought. She couldn't see any residuals, the place reeked of curse activity but there was no trail anywhere. She wrinkled her nose. There was definitely a metallic smell floating in the air, growing stronger the farther they walked into the warehouse. She had thought it was just the ambient scent of whatever metal work was done at this warehouse, but it held a sour tang in the undertone. She veered away from Nanami and Yuji to walk around the work tables, emwhat/em was that smell? Her shoe made contact with a wet, fleshy mass. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh my God," she stepped back from the mess of intestines on the floor, hand over her throat as she looked at the bottom half of a person. Yuji and Nanami's hurried steps echoed off the walls as they appeared at her side. Nanami frowned at the remains, his blade at the ready in one hand. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Be on your guard," he said to Yuji, "we have to try to neutralize whatever this is before it escapes to the area around us." They backed away from the carcass. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Take Yuji with you, this place is too big, we'll waste too much time looking if we stick together." Mara said, eyes wandering up into the open space above them. The warehouse had several floors, whatever did this could be anywhere. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Absolutely not." Mara bristled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We don't have time to argue." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm not arguing." Nanami paused his steps and turned to face both of them, "We are dealing with an unknown, probable high-level curse, splitting up covers more ground but increases the likelihood of injury at best and casualty at worst, we are staying together." His tone left no room for negotiation. Mara shook her head but said nothing, falling into line with Yuji. They had reached the back of the warehouse, which let out into a hallway of doors with an elevator to gain access to the upper floors. They checked the doors of the ground hallway, but only found a few more bodies in various states of dismemberment. They began making their way to the stairs and Mara paused, the air suddenly felt oppressive, like it was closing in around her. She opened her mouth to call Nanami back when a giggling laughter rang out through the hall, spiking her ears with its shrillness. She whirled and was faced with a humanoid being, its paper white skin etched with runes and the majority of its face covered in eyes of various sizes. A great, lolling tongue rolled sloppily from its gaping mouth, lined with rows of conical teeth. The curse rushed her, laughing maniacally as it bobbled like it couldn't fully control its motion. Mara slammed her staff into its neck, holding it back from herself before kicking it in the gut. It stumbled and she let her curse energy flow into her staff, preparing to strike, when Yuji came sailing past her. He landed on the curse, stomping it first with his feet as he landed and then with his fists, pummeling until he leapt out of the way of wicked claws slashing for him. Nanami met the curse's talons with his blade before they could reach Yuji, forcing it back. The curse cackled as Nanami's blade slashed into it, his curse energy glowing around him as he attacked. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Yuji made to run at the curse, but Mara snatched his arm. The curse was inflating, energy building from within as she watched it roil up its body, like a live creature fighting to get out. Mara threw up her curse energy around herself, pushing Yuji behind her as the curse ejected a cannon blast of pure energy straight for them. Mara crossed her arms in front of her face, bracing against the force of it plowing into her, pushing her into Yuji. Her energy flared as she absorbed the blast that came in contact with her, rattling down to her bones. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What a prick," she growled, funneling the same energy back into her staff and swinging it around her head, bringing it crashing into the ground before her like an axe. The raw energy ripped through the floor sending shards of tile flying as the wave slammed into the curse. The curse cried out and Nanami was on it again before it had the chance to recover, slashing his blade into the weak points he created. Yuji came behind him, working in tandem to hit just after the other. The curse doubled over itself and rocked back, sending another wild blast of energy in a circle around itself. Nanami and Yuji were knocked back, but Nanami leapt back to his feet, grabbing Yuji's arm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Run!" he commanded, shoving Yuji roughly in front of him and then reaching for Mara. She pushed him in front of her instead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Go! I can cover!" The curse screamed behind her as she pushed Nanami ahead of her, Yuji in the lead as they ran. Heat flared at her back as the curse geared up for another blast, Mara spun to face it just as another flare of energy enveloped her. The curse's energy tore against her as she wrapped her own around it, fighting to absorb it fast enough. If she could hold enough of its own energy, it might drain itself to the point that she could hit it with its own force. The foreign curse energy railed against her as she tried to quell it with her own as she ran, threatening to burst from the inside out. The curse leapt, aiming for Yuji, and Mara grabbed its ankle as it sailed over her, digging her heels in to slow its arc. It pulled her along with it before smacking flat into the floor. Her purple aura flared violet as she drained the energy it was building. A dribble of blood escaped her nose, she was going to have to release this energy soon, it was too much to try to hold on to as it ricocheted around her insides searching for an outlet. The curse whirled on her and sunk its taloned fingers into her arms, roaring at her. Mara held fast to it, gritting her teeth as she let the cursed energy slingshot away from her in a wild arc, right into the curse. The force blew them apart from each other, sending her flying into and over one of the metal work stations, sliding across the floor. Mara struggled to get her feet under her as she felt hands hauling her up by her armpits. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Come on!" Yuji practically dragged her. She saw Nanami striking the curse with blow after blow, his curse energy flaring as he hit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Wait," she breathed, "if we can just work it closer to exhaustion," she stumbled as she tried to stop Yuji pulling her along. "We can exorcise it!" Yuji hauled her up and over his shoulder./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Nanami said to run with you!" He yelled over the din to be heard. Mara pushed herself up to look behind them. Nanami wasn't retreating fast enough, the curse kept coming. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Put me down!" Mara strained against Yuji, crying out as she saw the curse's claws connect with Nanami. She jumped out of his hold, curse energy flaring brighter in her staff as she ran back at the curse. She took a flying leap and landed, slamming her staff onto the head of the curse. She whirled and swung it like a bat as she beat it, forcing it to the ground. Mara jumped onto the curse, straddling it as she dug her hands into its thick neck, pulling more and more of its energy from it. The curse flailed hard and delivered wicked punches to her ribs, almost forcing her to break her hold on the first hit. Mara cried out as the energy flowed into her well of power, pressure building, suffocating. The curse writhed and bucked underneath her, working a leg under her as it launched her off. She crashed into Nanami as he caught her, rocking back into the wall she was heading for. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We have to contain it," he grunted, "we're not going to be able to exorcise it here." He set Mara on unsteady feet as they backed away. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""How do we do that?" She huffed, holding an arm across her ribs. Something definitely felt broken. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We can bury it under the building." He pulled her along with him as they retreated, "Hit the structural points until they collapse, it's likely weak enough that that would either finish it off or at least hold it long enough for us to escape." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Tell Yuji to get out of here then," she began to veer away from him to focus on the opposite side of the building of him, "he can't be back here if we're going to bring it down." Mara felt the curse's energy raging around her own, almost as if they were building the other up. She saw Yuji come back to Nanami out of the corner of her eye, Nanami grabbing his shoulder and pushing him forward, motioning for him to go. Thankfully, Yuji ran. Mara was grateful for his athletic ability, it would be easier to execute the plan if they didn't have to worry so much about him getting hurt. The curse roared its fury behind them, and Mara heard a great, echoing crack as Nanami used his curse energy and landed a hit on the walls of the warehouse. Mara channeled the tempest of excess energy within her into her staff and swung into the wall nearest her, the blast leaving a hole in several walls behind it. What she lacked in Nanami's precision, she could at least make up for in force. Nanami struck again, and there was a threatening rumble through the building. The curse ran at them, focused on Yuji in the distance. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's going for Yuji!" Nanami called out, changing direction and running for the curse. Mara mirrored him, coming from the opposite side. Nanami went high for its head and Mara slid for its legs at the last moment, punching its knee backward with her foot in the wrong direction with all of her incoming force. The curse howled as it went down, both of them rolling away and jumping back up, running for the front of the building as fractured pieces began to fall from the ceiling. The curse lurched after them, running awkwardly on its bent leg, and Nanami took one last shot at the walls around them. It was falling fast as they raced to the outside, but Mara didn't dare waste the instant it would take her to look behind them. Nanami dodged falling debris, chunks of concrete raining down. She could see Yuji just ahead, dancing anxiously from foot to foot as he urged them on. She could no longer hear the curse behind them, and finally they broke free of the tumbling structure, Yuji falling in with them as they cleared the fallout. They didn't stop until they were several yards away from the building and Mara leaned heavily on her knees as her lungs heaved. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Holy," she inhaled, "shit." Nanami watched the rubble, catching his breath. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The veil is gone," he tucked his blade away, "we need to leave." The remnants of the curse's energy pounded against Mara, and she swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. She didn't think she had ever tried to take on so much curse energy, even with as much as she had expended in the warehouse she was still struggling to tame the excess within her. Nanami was on his phone with Kiyotaka and arranging a rendezvous point before they'd fully gotten out of the yard. Mara looked over her shoulder once more, just to be sure she couldn't see the curse rising from the destroyed building. She didn't believe it had been crushed, the best they could hope for with this was to slow it down enough to flee. The sheer power behind that thing had to grade it at a level one. She squinted, slowing her pace as she looked back. She started to reach for Nanami's arm to draw his attention to the figure standing at the edge of the destruction, but the light shifted and changed the figure she was looking at. She was probably just staring at debris. They slowed as the familiar black car pulled up and piled in. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What happened?" Kiyotaka asked as they sped away. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Grade one curse," Nanami answered tersely, "and I think it was trying to get to Yuji." Mara rubbed her hands over her face, teeth vibrating with energy as she clenched them together. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Me?" Yuji asked, blinking widely./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It tried to go specifically for you when Mara or myself would have been closer targets. Someone could be trying to obtain Sukuna's vessel." Realization washed over Yuji's face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It was a trap?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Likely, though we wouldn't have necessarily had a way to know that." Nanami cut him a glance. "It wasn't your fault." Yuji nodded, but said nothing. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Do you have any injuries?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, nothing serious." Yuji said. Nanami fixed him with a hard stare. "I swear, nothing is wrong." He added, holding his hands up in innocence. "But it looks like you're bleeding, sensei." Mara's eyes snapped open as she swiveled to face Nanami. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll see the medic at the institute when we get there." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Like hell," Mara started crawling back from the front seat, "Yuji, switch." She ordered. They awkwardly switched places and Mara zeroed in on the patch of blood blooming across the lower part of his shirt. She unceremoniously pulled the end of his shirt up, examining the laceration. "Hold still." She laid her hand across it, the golden aura of the healing reverse curse ability weaving through her palm. Nanami watched in fascination./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's a different color than your aura?" He asked quietly. Mara nodded. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Because it's not mine." The expenditure of healing his wound took but a momentary edge off. She could still feel the curse's energy fighting her own, sandpaper grating against her very nerves. Her hand shook with the effort to keep from blasting a hole through the fucking car. "Hers must have been golden." Nanami started to lay his hand over hers, but jerked back at the shock of energy radiating from her. He looked from her hand to her face. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Are you sure you're not hurt?" His brow furrowed in suspicion. She pulled her hand back, retreating into the seat as she wrapped her arms around her ribs. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's just a lot of energy," she said, schooling her tone into neutrality. Nanami held her gaze a moment, and every muscle in her body strained to master the tremors that threatened to rack through her. She gave him a weak smile and turned to look out her window, pressing her fist against her mouth as she felt the trickle of blood tickling its way down yet again. She closed her eyes and went through every single mental exercise she had ever learned, willing her own energy to tame the other. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanIt felt like years later when they finally pulled up to the institute. Nanami instructed Yuji to go back to his dormitory and he would handle the report. Mara flung her car door open the instant it stopped and exited the vehicle. The pressure of the curse's energy caused her knees to wobble just enough to trip her, going down on one knee. She could feel the curse energy slowly leaking from her, seeking an exit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Mara! You ok?" Yuji reached a hand under her arm to help her up. He immediately rocked back like he had been stung. "What the…Are you O.K.?" His face scrunched in bewilderment. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Absolutely," she said stiffly, pushing herself up, "I just gotta go do something real quick." She stumbled once before mastering her footing, and Nanami was next to her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Rest up, Itadori." He said as they passed him. He leaned down to Mara's ear as they walked. "You are not 'fine'," /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Tell me something I don't know," she said through clenched teeth, keeping her eyes forward. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Is this a matter of metabolizing? Like last time?" They neared the faculty dorms. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No," she paused as a tremor rocked her to her side, nearly knocking her down, "I think going from absorbing grade four and three curses to trying to absorb a grade one curse was probably one of my larger mistakes." She bit out. The curse energy felt like it was tearing her insides apart. She made it up the small set of stairs to the dormitory door and went down on her hands and knees. "I have to get out of here," she gasped, "I can't get a handle on this." She struggled to get to her feet, falling against the wall next to the door. Nanami instinctively reached for her and she could feel the lightning, raw energy seeping from her and lancing into his hands where he touched her. His jaw tightened as his hold did, but she shook out of his grip. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You can barely stand," /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll be fine, I just have to get far enough out, and I can let it go," Nanami had his phone up to his ear. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I need your help," he said succinctly into the phone. Mara haltingly walked away, toward the line of trees where she might find the path toward the lake. She couldn't remember how far she had run that first day before she ran into it, but hopefully she could make it. She followed a rough path, hugging her arms around herself as it felt like her ribs were trying to turn themselves inside out. She tripped once and caught herself on a tree trunk, but as her hand landed on the bark the tree itself splintered. Mara cried out, shielding her face with an arm. She heard a low whistle next to her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You don't look so good," Gojo said at her shoulder, "hold on." He said, scooping her up in his arms./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Don't!" She started, but Gojo's own curse energy kept her from actually touching him. He flashed her a grin, and suddenly they were in the air above the lake. Mara blinked confusedly. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nanami said you have to get the extra curse energy out that you can't fully absorb. I would let go of the energy mid-drop, if I were you," He absently looked down at the water, "it would probably do the least amount of damage from this height. Do you understand?" Mara only nodded, and then she was free-falling as Gojo released her. Her spine convulsed as she finally relinquished her hold on the curse's energy, and a blinding blast of pure force erupted from her. It thundered across the tops of the trees in all directions, bending the tops of those nearest to the edge of the lake back. Mara let it drain from her as she fell, the surface of the water rushing closer. She twisted onto her back and she could see Gojo above her, mask pulled down to reveal one ice blue eye, visible even from the distance between them, looking around the lake. Surveying damage. She plunged into the dark coolness of the water, sighing her held breath in relief. Maybe he was surprised, she hadn't been able to see well enough to judge. It probably didn't matter now. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"~/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Mara was awake, but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. Everything felt heavy, like something was laying across the entirety of her body, up to her eyelids. She tried to swallow, and found her tongue to be a great, useless behemoth in the desert of her mouth. She pried one eye open and looked at the ceiling. Well, this wasn't the bottom of the lake. She waited for her other senses to catch up, straining her ears for any sound. She rolled her head to the side, and Nanami popped up from a chair. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Mara," he said, kneeling next to her, "you're o.k." He smiled as he laid a hand on her head. She squeaked as she tried to form words, cleared her throat, and tried again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," He huffed a laugh. "What time is it?" Her voice was hoarse. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Today?" He glanced at his watch, "Five o'clock." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What do you mean 'today'?" He was pouring a glass of water from a pitcher next to her bed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You've been unconscious for a day, nearly two, at this point." He held out the water. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Shit." Mara heaved herself into a sitting position, taking the glass and drinking deeply, coughing a bit when she lowered it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It took Gojo a moment to find you in the lake. We were afraid that maybe it had taken too long."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sounds exciting," she gave him a weak smile. "What happened with the curse?" Nanami eased into a sitting position on the bed next to her. She didn't recognize the room they were in. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"There was no confirmation of its status, but we're working on it." She nodded slowly, running a mental check of her body and finding herself just a little sore. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Are you o.k.? And Yuji?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"We're perfectly fine. He's been in here a few times looking for you." Mara made to swing her feet over the side of the bed and paused as Nanami stopped her legs from moving. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You should probably wait for Shoko to see you," Mara narrowed her eyes, "she'll be around shortly."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Who is Shoko? And where are we?" She asked suspiciously. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She's with the institute as a doctor, she has reverse curse healing ability as well and had taken care of you here in the medical wing." Mara blinked. A healer. She wondered if this Shoko woman had seen the mixture of curse auras within her, or if she had figured out how there could be two. Old panic started to rear its head in the back of her mind, the reflexive need to hide herself from others lest they know what she had done. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Did she…" Mara cleared her throat, setting the glass back down on the table by the bed, "Did she say anything, about me? Did she notice the auras?" She unconsciously clenched the blanket resting on her lap. Nanami's eyes dipped down, registering the motion before he looked up at her again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She mentioned there were two, but nothing more." He said carefully. "Why?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She's going to know it's not mine, not fully." Mara brought a hand to her lip, pressing her fingers into it as she worried at it. "I imagine she's going to want to know why." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You don't want to tell her?" Mara dropped her hand from her lip, fixing Nanami with a dead eye look. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You're right, telling a complete stranger that I have two auras because I killed another Jujutsu sorcerer to steal it sounds like a really fun idea." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I imagine if she had questions about it she would have brought them up prior to this." She shouldn't snap at him, he was trying to help her, but the instinct to conceal and run was ingrained in her when it came to this. She tried to quiet her mind and mirror his calm attitude, he seemed confident Shoka wouldn't even bring it up…Mara's eyes sharpened on Nanami./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You already told her." He stilled, and it was all the confirmation she needed. "Oh, my God." She pulled back from him on the bed, he reached for her, but she held a hand up as she scooted off and stood up. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You were right, she saw it when she healed you," Mara ran a hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck, the skin prickling as anger started to set in, "it's not something she had seen before, and she had to be told." Mara squeezed her eyes shut./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She didn't emhave/em to know," /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If we didn't want your records mentioning it, she did." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Records?" She snapped, eyes wide. "emRecords? /emI have spent the better part of a decade trying to erase myself and in one night there's a full report on me floating around?" Mara looked wildly around the room for any evidence of her own clothing. Nanami stood. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It doesn't mention anything other than basic data regarding your status, Mara, it doesn't even mention auras," her head whipped around at his exasperated tone. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, but I bet it mentions my name." She said sharply. "And do you know who would be interested in seeing if the Mara on that record is the same Mara from the Wakkanai institute? Literally any Jujutsu sorcerer with an axe to grind for serving the counsel's justice, or maybe just Haruki himself and his band of merry criminals." She found her clothing in a drawer of the nightstand, stepping into her pants and jumping as she pulled them on. "Which, by the way, having those assholes roll into town while grade one curses are running around sounds like an excellent way to make a bad situation worse." She turned and shucked off the gown someone had put her in, pulling her still dirty shirt on. She felt Nanami's hands on her shoulders and immediately shook him off, pointing a finger at him as she whirled to face him. "Don't you dare." Hurt flashed across his face before it fell back into his standard neutrality. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Mara," he said her name with such concern that she paused momentarily, "you're not in danger here from them or any other sorcerer." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You told my most shameful secret," he flinched as if she had slapped him. "You told my secret and let someone put information about me on a record that anyone with any knowledge about the Jujutsu institutes would be able to find." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Mara, I…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You should have done me a favor and left me at the bottom of the fucking lake." She pushed past him and out the door, looking up and down the hallway before spying an exit sign. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Mara, wait!" Nanami grabbed her arm and she shoved him in the chest with her other hand. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Touch me again and I'll lay you out." His mouth thinned into a hard line and staff looked up from behind their desk. Mara ignored them and walked out of the building, Nanami on her heels. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Where are you going?" Mara didn't recognize the area of the institute they were in and cursed silently. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Home." She said tersely./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You can't go back to your apartment, whoever set the curses there is likely keeping tabs on it."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll tell you what, pal, I am absolutely leaving this institute, and I don't care if I have to have my own personal Fight Club with whatever curse might be hanging out there, I'm not staying here another minute." He reached for her one more time, and she spun with her fist, aiming for his jaw. Nanami caught her punch in his palm, grabbing the wrist of her other hand as she prepared to swing it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Mara, would you emplease/em calm down?" It was just the wrong thing to say. Mara narrowed her eyes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Let me go." She said icily. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You can't just run away every time you get scared." She tried to jerk her hands out of his grasp, but he held tight./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm not scared, you emasshole/em, I'm pissed off." He sighed as he looked down at her, his own anger peeking through. Good, let him be angry. "I trusted you, and you turned me out for what, exactly?" Her voice wobbled, but she refused to cry. Her stomach twisted with hurt and anger, but she couldn't stop her poisonous words, "Did you fill in every detail for her? Did you make sure she put in a note about Haruki just to cover all the bases?" Nanami said nothing as he held her arms, and she jerked them back again, succeeding this time. She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat and turned, walking away. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm sorry, Mara." He said, following her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Great, thanks." She said shortly. She was still far too angry to process the apology. They walked ahead several feet before she shot an irritated look over her shoulder at him. "What are you doing?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You can't go back to your apartment, and certainly not alone." She bristled. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Just stop it," she said through gritted teeth. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I will not let you put yourself in likely danger just because you're pissed off at me." He said evenly. Mara snorted. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You fucked me twice and you think you get to make decisions for me?" He was in front of her faster than she could blink, and she paused at his glacial stare. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm not making decisions for you," he said intently, "I'm trying to help you, because I care about you." He caught her off guard and she blinked, brow furrowing. "I made a mistake, and I'm truly sorry for it, I wasn't even thinking about the implications of Shoka knowing about your auras or creating a record on you, because I honestly thought you were dead or very near to it when we brought you to her." She wanted to rage, but the pleading sincerity in his voice gave her pause. Mara took a breath to respond, but only blew it out, her anger deflating with it. She looked down at her feet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm sorry I called you an asshole." She said quietly. Nanami took a step toward her, hand tentatively raised to touch her shoulder. She stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head into his chest. Nanami's arms slid around her as he hugged her to him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If something comes of Shoka knowing, we'll deal with it," he murmured against the top of her head, "just…don't go." Her heart squeezed at the request and she looked up at Nanami. She stretched up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. He held her to him, softly kissing her as he slid a hand to cradle her face, stroking a thumb along her cheek. "I'm so sorry I hurt you," he whispered against her lips. She gave a small, rueful smile. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm sorry I yelled at you," The side of his mouth quirked up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It was pretty spectacular, I thought you were going to threaten to break your foot off in my ass again." She laughed, and his mouth fell on hers again, lifting her off her feet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Can we go back to the dorm now? I kinda feel like I need to clean up and change after being dunked in a lake and being unconscious for two days." He smiled and nodded, setting her back down as he led them back the way they had come. "How far was it to the road anyway from here?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You wouldn't have hit it from this direction, this just leads into woods for several miles." He said mildly. Mara smacked his arm. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You were just going to let me walk in the wrong direction?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I thought at the least maybe the walk would help your temper." He shrugged, his fingers twining through hers as they walked. Mara rolled her eyes. "I'd like to ask you something, about the training you've had in the past." Her brows raised in question, waiting for him to continue. "Do you feel like you have mastery over your curse ability?" Mara considered his question./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Probably not in the way that you're thinking." She said slowly. "I think we can agree my training at the Wakkanai institute was questionable at best. I was listening to you lecture Yuji, and it was never anything like that with Haruki. I'm starting to realize most things I just kind of stumbled onto. I can wield my ability, but the aftermath of dealing with that level one was disastrous for me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Would you consider training with Gojo?" She looked up at him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Isn't he busy with the first years?" Nanami nodded his head side to side./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"He's busy with many things, but I think he would have a better understanding of your curse ability. If things got out of hand, he would be able to actually touch you if you needed help." Mara tightened her fingers around his. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Whose suggestion was it?" He glanced down at her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Gojo's." He said simply. "With the force of energy you released over the lake, he's…emwe're/em," he corrected, "concerned it could be a risk to either the students here or surrounding people and buildings by your apartment." Mara sighed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Has anyone ever told you you're a little blunt?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sparing your feelings won't help you the next time you encounter a curse that strong." They neared the dormitories./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey, hey, easy there," she placed her hand over her heart in mock hurt and dropped his hand, opening the door to the dorms. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Haruki wasn't wrong in saying you could be a powerful Jujutsu sorcerer," Mara stiffened at the mention of the declaration he had used as an excuse to abuse her. "I think he purposefully left gaps in your training because he was afraid of it, afraid you'd seek retribution one day."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It sounds like something he would do." She conceded, eyes dark. Nanami led them into his dorm. He took a breath to speak and paused, letting it out as he placed his hands in his pockets. Mara raised a brow at the unusually fidgety action. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What?" She asked. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I've been called away on business," Nanami turned to look at her, "I have to leave tomorrow, but you're welcome to use this room as your own." She didn't like the anxious feeling blooming in her chest at this news, she didn't belong here without Nanami. "Or, if you prefer, I had your room more comfortably appointed."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"When will you be back?" Nanami pulled her close, sliding his hands up her arms. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It shouldn't take more than a day, two at most." She nodded, casting her gaze downward. He narrowed his eyes slightly, "What?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nothing, I…" she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, "I don't have a place here without you, I'm not one of you." He caught the hand rubbing her neck and laid it against his chest. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You are right where you're supposed to be, you belong here by your own actions, not by anything I did." She gave a half-hearted smile. He stroked the back of his fingers of his other hand across her cheek, "it's only two days."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You said one." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm preparing you for the worst-case scenario of two." She huffed a laugh and he grinned. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm taking a shower," she declared, pulling away from him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll be waiting." /span/p