Chapter Twenty-Three.
Jealousy.
"The keen edge of my envy was like flint, a spark away from fire." — Madeline Miller.
March 20, 2006.
Cracking her neck from side to side, Asami stares at her opponent with a sly smile on her face, getting into her fighting stance as she waits for the signal to begin, "You're looking a little scared," she taunts them.
"Me? Scared? In your dreams!" they playfully shout from where they stand, getting into position as well, "Don't go crying when you—"
The airhorn suddenly goes off.
Wasting no time, Asami immediately lunges towards Suguru, her wooden throwing-knife clashing with his bamboo staff, competitive smiles on their faces as they try to fight for dominance.
Grabbing a second unsharpened knife from her leg holster, the redhead uses her free hand to try and slash him from below, scowling when she sees him block it with ease. Eyes widening when she sees his stick coming her way, Asami quickly ducks, countering his attack with a kick of her own.
Taking hold of her ankle, Suguru attempts to throw her onto the ground, but Asami, who was already thinking one step ahead, swings her other leg, successfully kicking him in the face.
Landing a couple of feet away from her, Suguru quickly gets back on his feet, creating a fanning motion with his bamboo stick in order to redirect the knives that were coming his way.
Flipping her way over to him, Asami uses her flexibility to her advantage, dodging things that seemed impossible not to miss. Still, even though she was doing a good job at dodging everything, it didn't mean that it was an easy task either.
Fact is, Suguru was an extremely skilled martial-artist, Asami having seen him practice on off-days. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, not only did he have more experience than her, but he also knew how to think quickly on his feet.
If Asami knew how to dodge, then Suguru knew how to attack. If Asami was attacking from the left, then he was going at her from the right. If she was swinging, then he was ducking. Not only that, but the two were quite the intellects, as they both knew how to read and analyze different situations, manipulating them to their advantage. They were like a push and a pull, truly the perfect opponents for one another.
Trying to keep up with the movements of his stick, Asami finds herself getting dizzy at his extraordinary level of speed, his rapid movements truly something to be in awe of. As a result, she begins to mistake his left hand for his right, giving him the perfect opportunity to strike at her.
Gasping when she sees his right fist only inches away from her, Asami successfully blocks the attack by crossing her forearms, unaware that it was exactly what he wanted her to do. Using his left foot, Suguru harshly kicks her in the abdomen, causing her to bend forward in pain. Quickly passing the staff from his left hand to his right, Suguru then uppercuts her with the tip of the stick, sending her flying back.
Now in the air, Asami knows that she's in danger, 'I have to get rid of that damn staff,' she thinks to herself.
Running towards her, Suguru comes to a sudden stop, eyes widening when he sees her land in a bent-arm planche position. It was a move that not even he could do, as it required an incredible amount of strength and balance. Of course, for a gymnast like Asami, it was a piece of cake.
Elevating herself into a handstand position, Asami slightly tilts back before completely throwing herself forward, launching multiple knives as she tumbles towards him, executing a number of handsprings and somersaults.
Unable to keep track with all of her knives, Suguru finds himself wincing when he feels them scrape against the sleeves of his shirt. Though they weren't sharp enough to penetrate, the amount of force Asami was using to throw them was almost superhuman, the knives acting as an extension for her fists. When it came to projectile weaponry, Asami had truly mastered the art form that was knife-throwing, hardly ever missing a target.
Aware that he was in trouble, Suguru struggles to defend himself, 'I have to get rid of those stupid knives,' he thinks to himself, grunting when his staff clashes with her wooden knife once more, the two now at a standstill.
"I have to say, you're not bad," Suguru smirks, genuinely impressed by the fight she was putting up, as she was consistently keeping him on his toes.
"Tch," Asami scoffs, pressing her knife further against his staff, splinters slowly beginning to appear, "You're right, I'm better," she grins, successfully snapping it in half before sweeping her foot under him, making him fall to the ground.
Panicking when he sees her knife coming towards him, Suguru immediately rolls over to the side, in the process, kicking the wooden knife out of her hands. Knowing she didn't have time to go and get it, Asami quickly reaches for her pouch, eyebrows furrowing when she doesn't feel anything, clearly dumbfounded, "What the—"
"Looking for this?" Suguru mockingly dangles the pouch in his hands, having gotten up from the floor. Tossing it far into the forest, he also throws his staff to the side, sending her a clear message.
Chuckling under her breath, Asami's fingers begin to get clammy, "I see," she hums, getting into her fighting stance.
"You ready?" he asks, cracking his knuckles one by one.
"Born ready."
Meanwhile, from afar, Masamichi and Shoko watch the intense spar with looks of wonder on their faces. It was clear that the two were having the time of their lives battling with each other, their fighting styles complementing one another.
Satoru, on the other hand, watches the fight with a look of "boredom" on his face, apathetic to the whole thing, "I still don't get why you're having them do this Masamichi," he mutters, forgetting to add the honorific. As a result, he receives a glare from his sensei.
"Because it's a part of my evaluation."
Satoru scoffs, "Evaluation for what?"
"My end of the year evaluation," Masamichi says, keeping his gaze on the fight in front of him as he carefully observes his students' every move.
"Tch," Satoru pouts like a nagging child, "You haven't evaluated me!"
Sighing, Masamichi begrudgingly turns to Satoru, "And how do you know I haven't?"
"Because you haven't scheduled me for a single spar!" he complains, wanting to show off his own set of skills.
"Because you're our best fighter, meaning you beat everyone with ease. Unless you can find me someone who'll actually provide you with some real competition, then I see no point in scheduling you for one," Masamichi explains, turning his attention back to the spar.
Knowing he had a point, Satoru quietly groans to himself, recalling the number of times he's beaten Asami and Suguru. In fact, it was probably why they were having so much fun right now sparring with each other. With this, there was an actual competition, an actual chance to win. Still, it wasn't his fault that his six eyes gave him a natural advantage!
Crossing his arms in annoyance, Satoru tries to think of someone he can spar with, "Yeah, well….." he gulps, no one really coming to mind, "I'm sure Shoko can put up a good fight! Isn't that right, Shoko?" he idiotically grins.
The healer simply rolls her eyes, "Don't be stupid," is all she says.
"Don't be stupid," he childishly mimics her, mumbling a string of curses under his breath.
"Satoru, just because I haven't seen you spar with anyone, doesn't mean I haven't evaluated you," Masamichi says, sensing his student's frustration, even understanding it, "Do you not remember our one-on-one training session two weeks ago?"
"Well yeah, but—"
"And you remember what I told you, right?"
Satoru sighs, "Yeah…"
March 6, 2006.
"You're going to have to give me tougher puppets than this, Masamichi-sensei!" Satoru laughs, using his energy-imbued fists to destroy the last of his sensei's cursed corpses.
Standing in the middle of the forest, Satoru waits for his sensei to reappear, exuding nothing but pure cockiness. Not only did he defeat over twenty of the old man's puppets, but he did it in under 4 minutes of the allotted 10.
Appearing from the trees, Masamichi slowly walks towards the boy, sporting his usual look of grumpiness, "And so you've finished…"
"Yup," Satoru smugly grins, "Easy as pie."
"Or so you think!"
Eyes widening when he senses a surge of cursed energy, Satoru immediately forms a hand symbol, "Cursed Technique: Lapse…."
"Satoru, don't—"
"BLUE!"
Demolishing the trees behind him, Satoru stares at his work in wonder, "Haha! It actually came out this time! Nice!" he grins, patting himself on the back before turning to an upset Masamichi.
"Did you really have to use that technique to destroy a single cursed corpse?" he asks, clearly agitated.
"Ummm…" Satoru pretends to think long and hard, "Yes? I was ambushed!" he says, acting like it was the most obvious thing in the world for him to do.
"I don't see why you were surprised. I told you there were going to be twenty-one puppets in total. Does that mean you weren't keeping count while you were destroying them?"
Satoru rolls his eyes, making a dismissive motion with his hand, "I exorcised it, didn't I? Isn't that all that matters?" he casually shrugs, not wanting to admit that he had lost count mid-way through the training course.
"Mm…." Masamichi hums, as something was clearly now bothering him.
"Oh come on, Masamichi! Don't—" Satoru quickly backtracks when he sees the glare on his face, "Masamichi-sensei," he corrects himself before continuing, "Don't be like that! Look, if you want, I'll go and talk with the higher ups about my little um…. art demonstration, so that you won't have—"
"It's not about that Satoru, it's about—" Masamichi sighs, deciding to keep his observations to himself, "Look, next time, just be more careful, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before," the teenage boy softly chuckles, "Anywaysssss, so what'd you think?" he asks, referring to his rundown of the course.
"Well, ignoring the damage you did, I have to say …. " Masamichi pauses, recalling Satoru's swift movements on the field along with the improvement of his cursed techniques, "I'm impressed."
Grinning from ear to ear, Satoru's unable to hide his excitement, "Really?"
"You've practically mastered your teleportation technique and have incorporated it with your fighting style. Same goes for your blue technique. Before you'd practically pass out after using it, but it seems that you're able to manipulate your cursed energy much more accurately now, while also creating a bigger field of attraction close to yourself."
"Hehe," Satoru makes a smug face.
"At this rate, you'll be unstoppable in no time."
Present Day.
"I've seen what you're capable of, Satoru. Don't worry," Masamichi reassures the young boy, giving him a sincere look.
Exhaling in defeat, Satoru ultimately decides to back down before continuing to watch the fight with a bitter look in his eyes.
"Haha! You're going to have to be quicker than that," Suguru laughs while blocking Asami's punch, easily predicting her moves.
Pursing her lips in frustration, the redhead tries to land a spinning kick on him, only to end up getting herself thrown across the field, "Damn it," she huffs, having no time to think as she sees Suguru's fist coming towards her.
Struggling to defend herself, Asami finds herself getting attacked from both sides of her body, Suguru successfully landing multiple palm strikes on her pressure points. Hit by a wave of sudden soreness, Asami knows that she has to end this spar soon, or else he'd be the one walking away as victor.
Meanwhile, Suguru increases the pressure of his hits, 'If I can get her off balance, then this fight is mine,' he thinks to himself, knowing that the key to her fighting style was all in the balance. Beginning to lose stamina, Suguru, just like Asami, knows that he has to end this soon, refusing to let her beat him.
Waiting for some kind of opening, the two go back and forth with each other, anxious to not make a mistake. Going in for a kick, Suguru and Asami manage to hit one another at the same time…
'This is my chance!' they both think, aware that it was now or never. Mustering up any last bit of strength they had, the two go in for the final blow, ready to end this spar once and for all, until…
They completely miss.
Not only that, but they also foolishly trip on their own two feet as well.
Mid-way through falling, the two comically tilt their heads in confusion while making an, "Eh?" face. Soon, they find themselves on the grass, unable to get up as their bodies have completely given up on them.
So much for having a winner.
Slowly glancing at each other, Suguru and Asami blink at each other in surprise, their minds still processing what had just happened. Feeling the corners of their lips twitch upward, the two suddenly burst into laughter, clutching onto their stomachs as tears form in the corners of their eyes, faces having gone red out of embarrassment.
"Now that was hilarious!" Asami giggles.
"Hey, you should've seen your face when you were—"
A shadow suddenly looms over them.
With their laughter immediately dying down, the two look up to see a grinning Satoru.
"Now wasn't that an amazing spar!" he says, helping Asami get up from the ground, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been taught pretty well," he winks at her, knowing that aside from the hand to hand specialists at the school, he was a big reason as to why her combat skills were so sharp.
Softly chuckling at his enthusiasm, Asami nods, "Well, I have had some decent teachers," she playfully winks back at him.
Rolling his eyes, Satoru pouts, "Decent?"
"Mmm," she pretends to think hard, "I meant tremendous," she laughs, clearly head over heels for him.
"That's more like it."
Meanwhile, Suguru groans beside them, not because he was annoyed by their flirtatious banter (well … partially), but because his body felt like it was being stepped on by several elephants. He was definitely going to need a hot bath after this.
"Need a hand?"
Staring at Satoru's hand for a slight second, Suguru hesitantly accepts the offer, feeling slightly suspicious. The reason for this was that it simply wasn't like Satoru to be so … polite.
Helping his best friend get up, Satoru playfully pats him on the back while squeezing his hand just a little too hard, "I have to say, I always expectedyou to fight like a shikigami user, but it seems like martial arts truly is your thing."
"Tch," Satoru scoffs, biting his tongue as he chooses to ignore the backhanded compliment just this once, "Thanks…"
"No problem. Maybe, in time, you'll finally be able to beat me," Satoru smirks, clearly looking to agitate the curse manipulation user, almost as if asking for a fight.
But before Suguru could fall into his trap, Masamichi was already at the scene. Next to him, stood Shoko, who was ready to heal the bruises on her friends' arms.
"So it looks like you two are at a draw," he says, glancing at Suguru and Asami.
Nodding, one of them says, "Looks like it."
"You two fought well, you should be proud of yourselves," Masamichi adds, genuinely impressed by his students' skills. With this spar, there was no doubt in his mind that they'd become strong and well-disciplined jujutsu sorcerers.
Smiling, Asami and Suguru give each other a high five, unaware that behind them, the green eyed monster had made its return.
March 21, 2006.
9:50 AM.
"Seriously, where the hell did you learn how to hit pressure points like that? For a moment there, I thought I was going to fall limp!"
"Martial arts really makes you learn about human anatomy. As long as you know where they're at, it's not too difficult. The real hard part is getting an opponent to let you press onto them, which I have to say, you were making quite difficult. I know you have your circus background and all, but seriously, a bent-arm planche? Do you know how much core strength you have to possess in order to do that? Just seeing it made me feel sore."
Resting his head against the palm of his hand, Satoru side-eyes the conversation that was going on next to him, feeling his blood boil as he listens to Suguru and Asami talk about yesterday's spar. That's because in his head, what he was currently hearing was….
"Oh Suguru! You're so much better than Satoru, doing all those martial arts moves that make you look so handsome! If only my loser boyfriend could be like you!"
"Don't worry, it's never too late to ditch that nobody! Now let's ride off into the sunset and never look back!"
Feeling his right eye twitch, Satoru clenches his jaw in an effort to control his growing jealousy. Honestly, he didn't get it. Why were they making such a big deal out of a simple spar? It wasn't like there was some grand prize for winning! It ended in a freaking tie! Who the hell wants to talk about a spar that ended in a tie! Bo-ring!
'He's trying to steal your woman! Can't you see that!' the little devil in his ear hisses at him.
'That's not true and you know it. They're just friends who are discussing their spar. Yes, they're a little excited, but why wouldn't they be? After you, they're the best fighters in the school. You're the trio of special grade sorcerers at Jujutsu High!' the angel appears on his shoulder, trying its best to alleviate his jealousy.
'Tch, think about it, Satoru! Those two are perfect for eachother! Soon, they'll realize it and leave you to sulk by yourself!'
Frowning, Satoru gulps, unable to ignore that twisting feeling in his stomach. It was true. Whether they realized it or not, Suguru and Asami had a lot in common. For starters, they both had normal childhoods unlike him, having been raised with two regular parents under a loving household. They were both scouted by the school after being ostracized for their special-grade techniques, and were highly-intellectual. Not only that, but they both had a strong sense of justice and fairness while also being extremely compassionate, possessing a kind of empathy that Satoru simply didn't have.
In the end, they were perfect for eachother. Truly a match made in heaven.
'Don't listen to him, Satoru. If Asami liked him, don't you think she'd be with him? But guess what, she's not! She's with you! She likes you! The jokes that she always laughs at all come from y—' the angel is soon interrupted by….
"Hahahaha!" Asami attempts to stifle her laugh by covering her mouth, finding whatever joke Suguru had just told to be hilarious.
Pupils constricting, Satoru stares at the sight of a laughing Asami in shock, for the first time, finding the sound to be … infuriating.
Grinning from ear to ear, Suguru continues to tell his story, "And then I said—"
"Tch, since when did you become such a comedian?" Satoru grouchily interrupts, finally joining in on their little conversation.
Turning to him, Suguru furrows his eyebrows in confusion, believing that perhaps he had heard him wrong, "What was that?"
Rolling his eyes, Satoru scoffs, "I said, since when did you become such a—"
KR-RUK.
Sliding the classroom door, Masamichi enters with his usual scowl, placing a stack of papers onto his podium, "I'm glad to see that everyone's already in their seats today," he says, as he would usually catch the teens doing something disruptive.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, can we just get on with today's lesson?" Satoru grouchily huffs, resulting in him receiving several glares from his classmates.
Clearly, someone was in a grumpy mood today.
Accustomed to the boy's rude behavior, Masamichi chooses to ignore him just this once, too tired from all of yesterday's paperwork, "There won't be a lesson today," he announces, causing everyone's eyebrows to raise in curiosity.
"Instead, I will be assigning the first solo mission of this year. Think of it as an end of the school year reward, as well as a way to greet the upcoming school year."
"W-What?" the students all stare at him in wonder.
"Fact is, the transition from group missions to solo missions must start at some point, and I think now is the perfect time. Especially considering that minus Shoko, you're a class of special-grade sorcerers. That's why I've been doing these evaluations for the past couple of weeks. Though they acted as progress updates, I secretly wanted to know who'd be capable of handling a solo mission. And after weeks of observing you all, I have finally reached a decision."
Everyone's ears perk up.
"This student I have chosen has shown remarkable progress throughout the year. They think quickly on their feet and can handle anything that's thrown at them. Not only are they strong, but they're iron-willed as well. They're everything one would hope to find in a jujutsu sorcerer…"
Obnoxiously coughing, Satoru prepares to get up from his seat, as it was obvious that the person Masamichi had chosen was him. Hell, even Suguru, Asami, and Shoko were looking at him, clearly expecting it to go to him. So imagine everyone's surprise when a different name comes out of Masamichi's mouth…
"Asami, congratulations. You'll be going on your first solo mission tomorrow morning."
And just like that, all hell breaks loose.
"WHAT?!" Satoru's jaw hits the floor, "B-But—"
Meanwhile, Asami stares at Masamichi in a state of complete shock, unable to believe what she had just heard, "W-Why me, Masamichi-sensei?" she stutters.
And for a small second, Masamichi smiles, amused by her reaction. Of course, the smile on his lips quickly goes away, returning to its usual frown, "I just explained why. You're strong Asami, and I know that you can handle this mission I have planned for you."
Looking down at her desk, Masamichi's words repeat in her head over and over again, 'Remarkable. Can handle anything that's thrown at them. Strong. Iron-willed. They're everything one would hope to find in a jujutsu sorcerer.'
Gulping, Asami feels the corner of her lips twitch upward, eyes glossy as she looks up, "Thank you Masamichi-sensei. I—" she pauses, still trying to process everything, "I won't fail you. I promise!"
Nodding, Masamichi grabs his stack of papers, "Well that's all for today. I'll fill you in on the details of the mission sometime later. Rather than that, enjoy your guys' day," he says, leaving the students to themselves.
"Congratulations Asami!" Suguru and Shoko quickly high-five the girl, genuinely happy for her, "So, how do you feel?"
Slowly blinking, Asami grins from ear to ear, "I-I don't know! Amazing! Accomplished! Like I'm on top of the world!" she gets up from her seat, turning to her boyfriend, who was still in shock himself.
"Isn't this great?!" she squeals, throwing herself onto him as she pulls him into a tight hug, unable to contain her excitement.
"Y-Yeah," he gulps, feigning his enthusiasm, "Of course! Congrats…."
Pulling away from the hug, Asami gives him one of the biggest smiles he's ever seen, "I just can't believe it," she says, too thrilled to even notice his awkwardness.
"Me neither," he hums, thankful that she couldn't see his eyes, as they told a completely different story, "Me neither….."
1:10PM
Walking down the hallway, Satoru frantically looks for Masamichi's office, still in disbelief over his decision. No way would he choose Asami over him. There was just no way. He had to be playing favorites …. right?
Standing outside his door, Satoru doesn't bother to knock before entering, wanting, no, needing some answers.
Looking up at the door, Masamichi scowls when he sees Satoru, beginning to get fed up with his rude behavior, "Is there something I can help you with Sa—"
"You know why I'm here."
Taking a deep breath in, Masamichi immediately sighs, "Take a seat."
Stomping over to the chair, Satoru dramatically plops down, "I don't get it Masamichi! Why—"
The man loudly grunts.
"Masamichi-sensei," Satoru corrects himself before continuing with his rant, "Why would you choose Asami over me? I mean seriously, two weeks ago you were telling me how impressed you were with my progress, that I'd be unstoppable. Hell, just yesterday you said that you had seen what I was capable of! So then I just don't get why I wasn't picked?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Masamichi looks up at the boy, "Are you done?"
Satoru crosses his arms, "Yes," he huffs.
"Good. Satoru, I want you to think back to our training session two weeks ago and I want you to ask yourself, did I do everything in my power to make sure that practice-course went as smoothly as possible?"
Taken back by the question, Satoru frowns, "Yeah, I did."
"Did you really?"
Satoru gulps, "Y-Yeah," he pouts, thinking back on the training session. He was confident in the way he moved, he was strong, and most importantly, he was fast.
And almost as if he could read his mind, Masamichi adds, "Satoru, smoothly does not mean fast."
The memory of him destroying part of the forest then appears in his mind. As a result, he finds himself getting defensive, "I destroyed the corpses, didn't I? Isn't that all that matters?"
Masamichi shakes his head, recalling that this was exactly what Satoru had said that day he had called him out. The only difference was that this time, Masamichi had an answer for him, "No, it's not. I told you before the course began that there were going to be 21 corpses in total. You chose to ignore that. As a result, you were caught by surprise and ended up destroying a forest. Something you could've avoided doing had you just listened and counted."
"..."
"Even then, you used a technique that you had no logical reason to execute. A simple slash at the corpse using a fist would have sufficed, but for some reason, you felt the need to go all out."
"That's not true…"
"But it is. Satoru, I didn't give the mission to Asami because she's stronger than you, I gave it to her because she's not as sloppy as you."
Offended by his statement, Satoru scowls, "I'm not sloppy!"
"Yes, you are. Not only that, but you forget things and you like to act impulsively. You never stop and think, how can I be one step ahead? How can I make this easier for myself?"
Clenching his fist, Satoru tries to refute his claim, "That's just not true Masamichi-sensei! There's been several times where I've been careful! For example, the night at the ball! If I wanted to, I could've destroyed that building when I was stuck inside, but I didn't! Or how about the escort mission where Dalma attacked us! I didn't use my blue technique until Asami told me to!"
Softly chuckling, Masamichi gives Satoru a tiny smile, "I wonder why that is Satoru. Tell me, what's the common factor in all of those situations?"
The hardened look in Satoru's eyes soon softens, "Asami…" he whispers.
"When it comes to her, you seem to be extra careful, not that it's a bad thing. In fact, I applaud you for it. It means that you care for something so much that you're willing to stop and think. She's precious to you. I understand that," he says, the image of his fiance appearing in his mind.
With a faint blush appearing on his cheeks, Satoru remains silent.
"But what about when she's not there? What about those missions you've gone on with Suguru? The ones where you've forgotten a curtain or you left a cursed object behind on accident? What about those?" Masamichi asks, Satoru's reaction to the question acting as his answer.
"Okay, so I'm a little impulsive and forgetful…."
"And that's fine. It's completely fine Satoru. You're still a first year student, so I don't expect you to be perfect, but I also can't risk people getting caught in the crossfire of your carelessness. Do you know why I can't?"
Satoru quietly hums.
"Because I don't want you regretting it one day. Look, I know you think I chose Asami because she's my so-called favorite, but Satoru, you have to understand that you've always been the student that I've understood the most. And I meant it when I said that in time, you'll be unstoppable. But right now is not that time. I've seen her train, I've seen how hard she works, and I've seen her push herself to her absolute limit. And each and every time, she bounces back."
"I see," Satoru whispers, a faint chuckle escaping from his lips, "Does that mean I was never in the running?"
"Hm?"
"Suguru and Asami's spar. That was the final test wasn't it? It was always between them two, right?"
This time, it was Masamichi's turn to remain silent. If only the man knew that his silence would only add fuel to the fire that was already burning within his student.
Getting up from his seat, Satoru prepares to leave, "I still don't think she should go on the mission," he says, wanting to fight it one last time, "It's too dangerous for her."
"Are you really sure that's the reason why you don't want her going?"
Avoiding his sensei's gaze, Satoru nods, "Yes."
"Because to me it sounds a lot like you're jealous."
Eyes widening, Satoru struggles to speak, "T-that's not true. W-Why would I—I-I should get going!" he suddenly announces, practically running out the room.
What the hell was Masamichi saying? Why would he be jealous of his own girlfriend?! He should be excited! He should be happy for her! So then ….
Why wasn't he?
7:50PM
"God, I'm so nervous! I still can't believe Masamichi-sensei chose me! What if I mess up? I really can't afford that!" Asami paces back and forth in Satoru's room, having rambled about her upcoming mission for the past two hours.
If Satoru wasn't already annoyed, then he sure was now, "Babe, you're gonna do great," he nonchalantly hums, obnoxiously chewing on some gum as he tries to finish his science homework. At this point, his responses to her worries were robotic and aloof.
"I don't know," she sighs, clearly feeling anxious and in dire need of some genuine support, "I really hope everything goes as planned. God, I knew he should've picked you."
'Tell me about it,' Satoru thinks to himself, that bitter feeling slowly beginning to return as she continues to ramble on.
"I mean seriously, you definitely would've been the better choice! Your six eyes are an anomaly in our world! You're fast! You're strong! You can sense all kinds of cursed energy! I still don't get why he didn't choose you ins—"
SNAP!
The pencil in Satoru's hand suddenly breaks, causing Asami to go dead silent.
Realizing what he had just done, Satoru blinks in surprise, "I um, I must've applied too much pressure," he nervously laughs, awkwardly grabbing another pencil.
"Oh," she laughs along with him, unaware that he was a pot waiting to reach its boiling point, "Well as I was saying, I really—"
"Asami," he interrupts her, unsure of how much more he could listen to, "I'm really tired," he says, giving her a small smile as he turns off his desk lamp.
Lowering her gaze, Asami nods in understanding, secretly frowning to herself when she glances at the clock. It was barely going to be eight. Was she really that annoying?
Trying to play it cool, Asami gives him a smile of her own, "Oh….okay then. I should go to bed as well. I have to get up early anyway."
Sensing her sadness, Satoru quickly apologizes, "I'm sorry babe, I've just had a really long day and—"
"N-No, it's fine," she immediately tries to reassure him, forcing a laugh out, "I know I've been babbling on for hours now! I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?" she walks over to him and gives him a soft kiss on the cheek, quietly wishing him a goodnight.
Watching her walk out the door, Satoru suddenly gets hit by a wave of guilt. He was being unfair to her and he knew it. It wasn't like she was the one who told Masamichi to pick her. Nor was it her fault that she was an exemplary student. Ready to go after her, Satoru slowly turns the knob of his door until…
"If it isn't Mrs. Solo Mission!"
And at the sound of his next door neighbor's voice, Satoru finds himself gripping onto his doorknob like never before, the veins on his hands protruding as any sense of guilt he feels completely vanishes.
"Oh hey!" she greets him, in Satoru's ears, sounding a little too excited, "What are you doing out here?"
Voices sounding muffled, Satoru presses his ear against the door.
"Just coming back from a late-night workout. What about you?" Suguru teasingly asks, clearly aware of why she was here.
Meanwhile, Satoru shudders, picturing a sweaty post-workout Suguru standing outside, 'I should kill him.' he thinks to himself. Instead, he chooses to continue listening, wanting to hear Asami's answer.
"Oh well you know…" she chuckles, most likely blushing, "Just rambling to Satoru about tomorrow's mission."
At the mention of himself, Satoru crosses his arms in satisfaction, expecting it to deter Suguru from continuing with the conversation, 'Hmph.'
"Ah, I see. So … how are you feeling?"
'Eh?' Satoru pouts.
"If I'm being honest, I'm pretty nervous," she says, still feeling on the edge.
As a result, Suguru laughs, "Why? You're gonna do great!"
Satoru feels his heart drop. Though they were the exact same words that he had said to Asami earlier, it's the way Suguru says them that makes all the difference. Unlike him, Suguru was genuinely comforting her.
"I think you're forgetting that you almost beat me in our spar. Not only that, but you were the one who defeated the Enchantress of the West, Aiuchi Yua. And based on what Satoru tells me, you also helped defeat Dalma Black! Asami, you're a special grade sorceress for a reason, so start acting like it," Suguru says, once again, making Asami laugh.
"Thanks, I really needed to hear that! Well I should get going, 'night Suguru."
"Goodnight Asami, and good luck on tomorrow's mission."
Hearing the door to Suguru's room shut, Satoru stares at the wall in front of him with a blank look on his face, feeling as if he was losing his mind.
March 22, 2006.
9:00AM.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in," Asami says, currently counting her throwing knives as she prepares to tie her pouch around her leg.
"Getting ready I see."
Turning around, Asami smiles when she sees Masamichi, "I have to be prepared for anything," she says, packing extra knives.
"It's just a grade 2 curse. Nothing you haven't exorcised before," Masamichi reminds her, causing Asami to shake her head in response.
"Still, you never know what can happen," she hums. Of course, she didn't want to jinx herself, but realistically, she knew that things could always take a turn for the worse.
Smiling at her readiness for action, Masamichi can't help but feel a sense of pride when staring at her. Who would've thought that frightened little girl in her hospital bed, who had no idea what this world of curses was, would become this strong in such little time? Though in his mind she would always be that timid little girl, even he had to admit that Asami had grown well beyond his expectations.
For that reason, he wanted to give her a gift before her departure. A gift that not only did she earn, but was rightfully hers.
"Asami."
"Yes Masamichi-se—Hm?" Asami furrows her eyebrows, confused as to why he was now holding what looked to be an ancient box, "Is that for me?" she asks.
He nods, signaling at her to open it.
Hesitantly removing its lid, Asami lets out a faint gasp when she sees what's inside, a golden light suddenly reflecting off of her eyes. Slowly grabbing the items, Asami quietly observes the two golden sai knives in her hands, immediately recognizing them.
"T-These are—"
"Aiuchi Yua's special-grade sai knives," Masamichi says for her, "The ones you used that night at the ball. I managed to pick them up before the higher ups could retrieve them."
"B-but why—"
"Because they belong to you, Asami. Not to me, not to the higher ups, only to you," he states.
"Die in peace," Asami whispers, reading the kanji engraved on the handles of the knives before looking back up, "Thank you Masamichi-sensei."
10:00AM.
"I think that's everything," Hitomi crosses the final checkbox on her clipboard before looking up at Asami, "I'll wait for you in the car," she whispers to her, knowing the girl wanted to say her goodbyes.
Exhaling deeply, Asami smiles at her friends, "I guess this is it," she says, now standing in front of them.
"Still feeling nervous?" Shoko asks, as Asami had come knocking on her door last night talking about how she couldn't sleep.
"Just a bit," Asami answers truthfully, "But I'm sure that once I'm there, I'll be fine," she chuckles.
"Why wouldn't you be? You're Asami," Shoko says, making her next-door neighbor smile. From there, the two embrace in what could be considered a rare hug.
Pulling away, Asami then turns to Suguru, playfully rolling her eyes when she sees the smirk on his face, "Have something to say?"
He shrugs, "Nah, just that you better come back with an interesting story to tell."
Grinning in a smug manner, Asami laughs, "You bet I will," the two failing to notice that they were being viciously glared at.
Scowling as he watches them say good bye to each other, Satoru deep down knows that he's overthinking things, but he just couldn't help it. With every interaction between the two, he was becoming more and more paranoid.
Crossing his arms, Satoru prepares to say something, "Are you guys do—"
But before he could even bother finishing his sentence, Satoru feels a pair of arms wrap around his torso. Looking down, Satoru can't help but softly smile when he sees Asami burying her head into his chest.
"Aren't you being affectionate," he chuckles, "You're acting like you're never going to see me again."
"Well of course I am, but still, it's always better to be safe than sorry," she hums, loosening her grip as she looks up at him, ready to place a gentle kiss on his cheek until…
Faces reddening, Shoko and Suguru's eyes widen when they see Satoru pull Asami in for a kiss that's unlike any other, having absolutely no shame whatsoever.
"Well … that's one way to say goodbye…." Shoko awkwardly says, gulping as she tries to cover her eyes.
Pulling away from the kiss, Asami blinks at her boyfriend in surprise, clearly flustered as a lopsided grin appears on her face, "W-What was that for?"
"What? I can't kiss my girlfriend?" he slyly glances at Suguru, unable to mask his look of triumph. As a result, Suguru furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"Of course you can, it's just that you um… caught me by surprise," Asami laughs, still blushing at their raunchy display of affection, "Well I should get going," she says, realizing that she was taking quite a while to say her goodbyes.
"If all goes well, I'll see you guys later tonight!" she enters the car, giving her friends one final wave goodbye before starting her journey to….
Sendai City.
Report:
March 2006.
Miyagi Prefecture.
Sendai City.
In northeast Sendai, several abnormal deaths have recently occurred at a local college campus. Windows sanctioned by Jujutsu High were able to confirm that the curse thought to be responsible was at most a grade 2. Special-grade sorceress, Okada Asami, was set to exorcise said curse. But on that day, something unexpected occurred...
2:05PM
Looking out the car window, Asami quietly observes the passing buildings, her eyes full of wonder as she takes in the view. Though Sendai City was one of Japan's most modernized cities, it was also one of the very few that combined modern urban facilities in a natural green environment. For that reason, amongst the Japanese, Sendai City is known as the city of trees, its streets being filled with a number of plants and trees.
"Never been here before?" Hitomi asks, noticing the look of awe on Asami's face.
"Surprisingly, no," Asami chuckles, "You'd think that with me being in the circus and all that I'd be familiar with all of Japan, but, nope. This is my first time here."
"Really? How come?"
Asami sighs, "Honestly, I don't know. Now that I really think about it, whenever Sendai would come up on our schedule, somethingwould always happen that in the end would prevent us from ever performing here. For example, my mother getting sick, equipment somehow getting lost or broken, and a whole lot of other things," she laughs, recalling a certain memory as the car reaches a stop light.
"One time, we were only minutes away from arriving and out of nowhere, my mom suddenly got a really bad allergy attack. Something about the trees and—"
With the teenage girl having suddenly gone silent, Hitomi quickly glances at her with a worried look in her eyes, "Asami? Did something happen?" she asks, as the red head was now intensely staring at something.
Slowly blinking, Asami's gaze remains on a baseball poster located next to a bus stop, recognizing the logo from somewhere…
"Because what you have isn't a real family! Don't you understand that, J—"
"AH!"
Asami's nervous state of mind causes her to carelessly tug at the strings too hard. As a result, her body gets pushed back due to the sheer amount of force used. A back which had been facing the door of the trailer….
With her pants now ripped, the small, red headed girl hesitantly looks up as she feels the burning stare of her mother. Beside her, stood a tall, handsome man wearing a burgundy logoed baseball cap and glasses, who physically looked almost nothing like her.
"Young lady, what are you doing here? You should be at the show right now!"
"I-I'm sorry mom, i-it's just—"
"You needed help putting this on," is what he had said, from there, giving her a warm, close-eyed smile.
"The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Sendai City's very own baseball team…" Asami quietly whispers to herself, feeling her blood run cold as she thinks of that very same memory she had just been talking about…
June 1996.
"Sen-dai City! Sen-dai City! Sen-dai City!" a six year old Asami repeatedly shouts in the backseat of her family's car, clearly excited to arrive in an all new city.
Laughing at his daughter's excitement, Tsuyoshi begins to sing along with her, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he sways his head from side to side, "Sen-dai City! Sen-dai City! Sen-dai City!"
Meanwhile, Misaki simply feigns a laugh, seeming visibly anxious as she tries to sing along with them.
"Are you ready to see the city of trees, Asami?!" Tsuyoshi asks as he passes by the forty kilometers sign, meaning there was only about 30 minutes left of their roadtrip.
"Yes, I am!" Asami screams, flashing her father a toothy grin from the rear view mirror.
"Hopefully the circus crew finished setting camp already," he hums, frowning when he glances at his wife, having noticed the look of discomfort on her face, "Is everything okay sweetie?" he asks, understandably worried.
Gulping, Misaki tries to nod her head, "Y-Yeah, it's just—" she places a hand over her mouth, frantically motioning at her husband to pull over.
Doing as told, Tsuyoshi quickly pulls over to the side, grimacing when he hears her vomit.
"You must be car si—"
"N-No, it's the trees," she says, eyes watery as she clutches onto her chest, finding it extremely hard to breathe, "Zelkova trees. Sendai City is covered in them."
Tsuyoshi furrows his eyebrows, "You're allergic?" he asks, clearly taken by surprise.
She nods, "Always have been. Usually I can handle being around one or two, but a whole city of them? It's too much."
Sighing, Tsuyoshi runs a hand through his hair, "And you're only mentioning this now Misaki? We could've bought you some kind of allergy pill or—"
"You think I didn't take one before coming here?" she interrupts him, quickly going on the defense, "It's not my fault my allergies are strong."
Sensing that she was getting upset, Tsuyoshi ultimately decides to back down, not wanting to fight in front of Asami, "Okay, it's fine," he sighs once more, knowing he had no other option but to cancel the trip, "I just need to get to a landline so I can call the crew and let them know that we're not going to be making it to—"
"Wait, but why?" Asami immediately whines, pouting as she crosses her arms, "I really wanted to see the city of trees! Everyone at school is always talking about how pretty it looks!"
"I know Asami, and I promise you that one day we'll go and see it, but right now your mom is feeling under the weather, meaning it's important that we get home as soon as possible," he gives her a small smile, hoping she'd understand.
Glancing at her mother, the young girl frowns when she sees how pale she is, realizing that she was in pain, "Okay…" Asami mumbles, lowering her gaze in disappointment.
"Thank you Asami," Misaki whispers, unable to look her daughter in the eye as Tsuyoshi turns the car around. Instead, she keeps her gaze on the city that was slowly fading into the distance, staring at it with what could only be described as a longing look in her eyes.
Something which doesn't go unnoticed by the young Asami.
Present Day.
Placing a hand to her temple, Asami winces as her head begins to pound like never before, 'Could it be…' she thinks to herself, quickly shaking her head, 'It can't …. It just can't…. Mom said it herself….'
"Look, I'm sorry for always avoiding the topic, but you have to understand that—"
"And what about your brother?"
"Hm? Brother?"
"Yeah, don't you have a brother?
"A brother?"
"Yes, a brother."
"Oh, I wish! Maybe then, your grandpa wouldn't have had such a short temper! A part of me always did believe that he originally wanted a son…Then again, I was a bit of a spoiled brat growing up, so I don't know if I would've been able to handle sharing the spotlight. Not to mention, I probably would've had to share my room with them."
Feeling as if her head was going to explode, Asami tries to make sense of everything. At this point she wasn't sure what to believe, as her little dream was beginning to seem a lot more like a forgotten memory. Not only that, but Asami could no longer deny that something in her mother had changed.
That's because when looking back at her childhood, Asami could remember her mother having a temper and being secretive about her past, whereas now she was open and even joking about it. The only thing was that Asami couldn't exactly pinpoint when this change had occurred. Perhaps it was around the time of her dream, back when she was twelve?
Trying to remember that period in her life, Asami frowns when all she sees is nothing but a big blur. Why couldn't she remember anything? All she knew was that one day she woke up and things were different.
Beginning to grow frustrated with herself, Asami clenches her fists, "Damn it," she mutters to herself. She thought she had let go of this, and that she was going to live in blissful ignorance. But how could she when all the signs were pointing to a bigger mystery?
'Stop it Asami, just stop—'
"Asami, is everything okay?" Hitomi's voice suddenly brings Asami back to reality.
Gulping, Asami hesitantly nods, "Yeah, everything's fine," she feigns an awkward laugh, "Just zoned out for a bit."
"Ah, I see. Well we're almost there," Hitomi says, reminding Asami of why she was even here to begin with.
She had a mission to complete, meaning everything else was just going to have to wait.
2:20PM
Stepping out the car, Asami stretches her arms over her head before looking at the view in front of her, a confused look appearing on her face,"I thought this mission was supposed to be at a college campus?" she asks, turning to Hitomi.
Nervously scratching the back of her neck, Hitomi blushes, "Well it is, but uhhh….. I didn't want to pay for campus parking," she whispers, pointing at the campus which was only a couple of streets down.
Making a funny face, Asami waves her arms in the air, "YOU DIDN'T WANT TO PAY FOR PARKING?!" she yells, not caring for the passing pedestrians who were now staring at them.
"Well, the school doesn't exactly include parking and gas in their funds. Nor do they include car maintenance…" Hitomi pouts, beginning to stray off topic.
"Hitomi-san."
"Oh, right. Point is, the school doesn't exactly pay us much and they're already cheap as it is, so why not save ourselves some money and …. WALK!" Hitomi grins, giving Asami a big thumbs up.
Groaning to herself, Asami mumbles a quick, "Fine," crossing her arms in annoyance as she begins to walk.
"T-Thank you Okada-san!" Hitomi dramatically begins to cry, "You don't know how much this means to me!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the red head rolls her eyes, patiently waiting for the crosswalk signal to change, "I swear, you auxiliary managers need to unionize and demand for better pay."
Continuing to walk, Hitomi attempts to explain their situation,"We've tried but—"
"Woah!" Asami suddenly bumps into something, causing her to trip on her own two feet. Knees scraping against the floor, Asami winces as she quickly gets up, ready to give a piece of her mind to whoever it was that bumped into her until….
"Hm?" she turns to see a small kid wearing a baseball cap and uniform, who had also fallen to the ground.
Annoyance immediately turning into remorse, Asami prepares to apologize, "I'm s—"
"Hey! Tell the young lady you're sorry." a gruff voice commands at the boy, grumpily nudging at him.
Looking up, Asami sees who she assumed was the young boy's grandfather.
Patting his knees, the young boy does as told, "I'm sorry!" he sheepishly says, giving Asami a toothy grin.
Endeared by the young boy's appearance, Asami shakes her head before crouching down, "Don't be, I wasn't watching where I was going," she chuckles, giving him a close eyed smile of her own.
From there, a faint gasp could be heard escaping from the old man's lips.
"Hm?" Asami glances at him, wondering what had him in such a state of shock, "Is everything okay?"
"I-I-I—"
BEEP! BEEP!
Jumping at the sound of a car horn, Asami goes red in embarrassment, completely forgetting that they were in the middle of the street.
"GAH! I should get going," she stands up, patting the young boy's head, "Sorry for bumping into you!" she apologizes once more, politely bowing before running off.
Meanwhile, the young boy's grandfather continues to stare at Asami from afar, not caring for the cars that were honking at him.
He recognized that smile. How could he not?
It was the exact same smile of his daughter, Misaki.
"Looks like we're here," Asami stares at the building in front of her with her hands at her hips, unsure if the bubbly feeling in her stomach was nervousness or excitement.
"Looks like it," Hitomi double checks her clipboard, re-reading the mission summary, "Well, right here it says that the curse should be located at the west wing of the building. Our windows stated that it has a special ability to crawl, so you should be extra wary of your surroundings."
Nodding, Asami gives Hitomi a quick thumbs up, "Sounds good."
"Are you ready?" Hitomi asks, secretly feeling nervous for the girl as well.
Softly sighing, Asami nods once more, "Let's get this mission started."
"Okay," Hitomi says, making a hand symbol, "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
Watching day turn into night, Asami chuckles when she sees how large the curtain is, "A little excessive, don't you think?"
As a result, Hitomi blushes in embarrassment, "I-it's better to be safe than sorry, y-you know sometimes the higher ups make us pay for the damages you kids make!"
Laughing, Asami makes a yapping motion with her hand, "I get it Hitomi-san, you're broke," she jokingly says, causing the woman to comedically go red in anger.
"I'M NOT—"
"I'll see you when I'm done with this mission, okay?" Asami interrupts her before she can even bother defending herself, already heading towards the building, "By the way…."
The red head turns around one final time, giving the silver haired woman a genuine small smile, "Thank you, Hitomi-san."
Blinking in surprise, the woman quickly becomes flustered, "F-For?"
"Everything," Asami chuckles, saying it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I know us first years can be a handful sometimes and that we don't usually show our appreciation for you auxiliary managers, but trust me, we truly are grateful for everything you guys do."
Unable to hide the forming smile on her face, Hitomi simply bows at Asami, her action speaking much louder than words.
Waving goodbye, Asami enters the building, ready to complete her mission.
A mission that would change her life forever.
3:00PM
Stabbing her knife into another low-leveled curse, Asami gruesomely gouges its eyes out, raising her total kill count of the day to twelve. Sighing as she walks down the hallway of the humanities building, Asami can't help but feel like something was wrong. She'd been walking around the building for the past half hour only to come across a number of grade three and four curses.
'The report said I was supposed to come across a grade two curse, so then where the hell is it?'Asami scowls, casually slicing through another curse, 'Not only that, but low level curses like these wouldn't be around here if there wasn't something worth of power to them. Tch, not unless they were planted—'
Ring. Ring.
Pulling out her phone, Asami frowns when she sees the Caller ID, "Hello?"
"Asami!" Hitomi quickly begins to ramble, "IwasmakingsurethatallthesurroundingbuildingswereevacuatedandasIwascheckingeveryroomIcameacrosssomeweirdartifact—"
"Woah, woah, woah," Asami quickly interrupts her, "Hitomi-san, slow down, I can hardly understand a word you're saying." she says, eyebrows furrowing in concern.
Taking a deep breath in, Hitomi repeats herself once more, "I said, I was making sure that all the surrounding buildings were evacuated and as I was checking every room, I came across some weird artifact. Now, my sense for cursed energy has never been the sharpest, but something tells me that this item is special."
"Well, what is it?"
"What's what?"
"The artifact."
"—"
"I see…" Asami hums, "Well, send me your location and I'll get going over there. By the way, this second grade curse is nowhere to be found here, nor do I sense it. I have to say, something is off about this mission and I just don't know—"
Click.
"Hm?" Asami frowns, confused as to why she suddenly clicked. Shaking her head, Asami mutters a string of curses to herself, her head beginning to pound as she makes her way down the stairs. It isn't until she steps out the building and sees the dulling curtain that confusion quickly turns into panic…
"Oh no," she whispers to herself, knowing that Hitomi was in definite danger, 'Damn it, damn it, damn it!' she runs as fast as she can, her whole body filling with dread as she desperately looks for any sign of Hitomi's cursed energy.
By now, the curtain was completely gone, meaning there was a high chance that Hitomi was…
'No, don't think like that,' Asami clenches her jaw, making her way inside some kind of science building, "HITOMI-SAN!" she immediately yells out, frantically looking for any signs of the woman.
Running down the hall, Asami feels her heart drop when she sees a trail of blood along with the woman's flip phone, "No, no, no," she begins to breathe heavily, quickly following the trail which leads her to an empty gymnasium, unaware that what she was about to walk in on was going to change everything about this mission.
Opening the doors to the gym, everything seems to play in slow motion.
From the curse munching on her limbs, to it spitting her head out like she was some piece of meat.
Watching it roll in front of her, Asami's fingers begin to tremble as she stares into Hitomi's lifeless eyes, the fresh warm blood still dripping from the slice on her neck. Biting her lower lip, Asami tries to fight the welling tears in her eyes when she notices Hitomi's tear stained cheeks. She had been crying. In her final moments of life, Hitomi had been crying.
Fear.
That was Hitomi's final emotion before death.
"H-Hitomi-san…"
Asami calls out to her, hoping for some kind of miracle. Instead, all she's met with is an eerie silence. Allowing her tears to roll down her cheeks, Asami shuts her eyes in anguish…
"T-Tanaka-sensei…"
She painfully remembers that night, hoping this was all some kind of nightmare, that she'd wake up in bed, panting for breath, oblivious to the world around her. But the fact is, this was her reality, and there was nothing she could do to change it. The only thing she could do was…
"Fight," Asami whispers to herself, forcing herself to look up as she pulls out a throwing knife from her holster, staring at the grade 2 curse she was always meant to exorcise, her resolve stronger than ever, "I'm going to kill—"
The words remain in her throat.
Feeling her heart drop to her stomach, Asami finds herself unable to move, her body completely paralyzed with nothing but fear.
This energy presence.
This thirst for blood.
This murderous intent.
Where the hell did it come from? What was this feeling in her stomach? What happened? Why was there such a spike in its cursed energy?
With her left foot twitching, Asami knows she has to run, but she just couldn't. Not when she knew that she had no chance against this curse. Watching the curse grow in size, Asami instinctively takes a step back, finally getting an answer to her questions…
This was pure evil.
This was death.
Meanwhile, back in Tokyo….
"I expect you three to get this job done as efficiently and as smoothly as possible, it's of the utmost importance!"
Staring at their sensei with annoyed looks on their faces, Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko grumpily hold onto the cleaning supplies in their hands, the buff man having tasked them with the job of cleaning his office. The only reason they agreed was because he was offering extra credit points for any class of their choosing. Not only that, but a certain someone was hoping to get some kind of progress update on Asami's mission, wanting to make sure that everything was going good.
"That means I don't want to see a single speck of dirt on these frames," Masamichi grabs a glass teddy bear from one of his shelves, " I also expect my collectables to be treated with—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it, Masamichi-sensei. So ….. any word on Asami?"
That certain someone was none other than Satoru himself.
Of course, that's not to say Suguru and Shoko weren't curious as well. They just weren't as blunt about it, nor as rude. Then again, who could blame the boy? Though he wouldn't admit it, he was definitely worried. That's because no matter how skilled Asami was, even he knew that anything could happen.
Sighing, Masamichi simply glares at the boy, deciding to overlook the interruption just this once, "I already told you Satoru, I won't have an update for you until the mission is done and over with. I understand that you're w—"
Ring. Ring.
"Hm?" Masamichi glances down at his phone, which was currently on his desk.
At the same time, Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko nosily stretch their necks out in order to get a good look at the front screen, eyes immediately lighting up when they see the Caller ID that reads, "Okada Asami."
"She must be done!" Satoru grins, ready to grab the phone until…
"Ow!" he quickly retracts his hand back, Masamichi having smacked it.
Quickly grabbing the phone, Masamichi feels his heart begin to thump at a rapid pace, now in a state of unease as he quietly gulps, 'Hitomi should be the one calling, not Asami…' he thinks to himself, trying to keep a straight face for his students.
But as soon as he picks up the call, any effort to hide his panic is long gone.
That's because as soon as he answers, the sound of Asami yelling fills his ears.
"MASAMICHI-SENSEI!" she pants for breath,"T-THE MISSION, I-IT'S GONE WRONG!"
In the background, he could hear the sound of a crumbling building, as well as an extremely loud screech.
"What do you mean it's gone wrong?!" he clutches onto his phone, suddenly getting up from his seat.
Meanwhile, Satoru, Shoko, and Suguru all do the same, Satoru being more vocal than the rest.
"Is everything okay?" he frowns, stomach now churning as he walks towards his sensei, desperately needing some kind of answer, "Masamichi-sensei—"
"Asami, I need you to slow down! Where's Hitomi?" Masamichi tries to get her to calm down, his blood going cold when he hears Asami say…
"S-She's dead," she chokes out a sob, "I-I don't know what happened! This curse! It's like it's…."
He hears the sound of her footsteps, realizing she was running from something.
"IT'S A SPECIAL GRADE!"
"Special grade?!"
"Special grade!" the students repeat after their sensei, staring at him with wide eyes.
Feeling his heart drop to the bottomless pits of his stomach, Satoru finds it hard to breathe, ready to snatch the phone away from his sensei's hands, "What the hell is going on over there?!" he yells, his mind now racing with a number of different thoughts and scenarios.
"But it was supposed to be a grade 2!" Masamichi continues to talk to Asami on the phone, trying to get to the bottom of things as quickly as he can.
"And it was, but i-it ate something! It ate something a-and it got big, and now it's out of c-control and I don't know w-what to do Masamichi-sensei!" her voice trembles with fear, as she was clearly having a panic attack.
At her response, Masamichi scowls, "Ate something?" he immediately rummages through the stacks of papers on his desk, frantically looking for his copy of the mission report as he mutters several curses to himself, "Nowhere on there did it say something about a damn cursed object!"
"Hitomi had found it! I-I don't know how or where, but she did! She found it and it ate her and it left her head—"
"What did the curse eat, Asami?"
"A-And now she's dead and I don't know what to do—"
"Asami I need you to tell me what the curse ate."
"It all happened so quickly and—"
"TELL ME WHAT IT ATE ASAMI!"
"Well, what is it?"
"What's what?"
"The artifact."
"It's some kind of finger. A really ugly one. It was in some box, but there wasn't any engraving or wrapping."
"I see…"
"A FINGER, IT ATE A FINGER!" Asami yells, remembering her phone call with Hitomi.
And just like that, the world stops.
"A-A finger?" Masamichi holds onto the corner of his desk, unable to keep his balance as everything begins to click, his body now covered in goosebumps.
Satoru, who was close enough to hear, finds himself at a loss for words, 'Impossible…' he stares at the wall with a blank look on his face, thinking back to the books he read as a child. There was just no way….
"Shoko, I need you to go to the higher ups and tell them to dispatch any nearby sorcerers to that university!" Masamichi quickly gets over his shock, knowing time is now of the essence.
Sensing his urgency, Shoko immediately does as told, running out the door as if her life depended on it.
"W-What's going on?" Asami continues to hide behind a pillar, her heart now thumping out of her chest as she tries to make sense of everything.
"Asami, I need you to get out of there, NOW!"
"I-I'm trying! What's so special about this damn finger anyway?!" she asks the million dollar question, unaware that the answer would change the course of things for years to come.
Gulping, Masamichi hardens his gaze, "That finger belongs to Sukuna."
"What the hell is a Sukuna?"
A/N:
Eeeek! Thoughts? Opinions? I don't have much to say this week except that I have made a VERY big mistake in this story. After re-reading JJK and doing some extra research, it turns out that Gojo couldn't use red AT ALL until his fight with Toji. That's because in order to do the technique, he requires the positive energy that comes from the reversed cursed technique (something he doesn't get until he's near death). I assumed that because Gojo said "it didn't work this time" in Chapter 69 that he had done it before in the past, just that it doesn't come out whenever he wants it to. Darn.
I'm debating whether to go back and change the chapters where he's seen using it (which is funny because I just talked about not retconning anything) but the other part of me is like, "Eh, too late now." Especially considering his fight with Toji is only 5 months from now (story-wise). What do you guys think I should do? Note, if I go back to change it, it's not exactly a hard thing for me to do, as I'll just switch it with blue and make a mention that his red technique is something he's theorized that he can do, as shown in Chapter 69. I just know it's gonna bother me if I don't make it canon-compliant, gah! Again, what do you guys think I should do?
Also, hopefully I didn't make Geto and Asami seem too flirty. I tried to make it clear throughout the chapter that Asami really does only like Gojo, and Geto only sees Asami as a friend. Remember, Gojo is extremely paranoid so he's going to make friendly exchanges seem like flirty ones.
Lastly, what do you guys think will happen to Asami? What do you think about Gojo and his growing jealousy? Do you think he's being rational? Do you think he has a right to be jealous? Next chapter picks up where we left off! See y'all then!