The group separated by the dorms, with Nobara moving towards the girls' dorm. She was surprised when, instead of following after the boys, Keisuke followed her instead.
"Oi, the hell are you doing, huh? I know for a fact that this is the way to the girls' dorm. You got a secret that no one knows about?" Nobara sarcastically asked him, crossing her arms and refusing to let him pass.
Keisuke sighed, "Yeah, I know this is the way to the girls' dorms. But you know what else this leads to?"
"What?"
"The infirmary."
"Eh? The infirmary? What, did you stub your foot while standing around?"
"No, I'm going to the infirmary to get my medication." Keisuke answered stiffly, already feeling sleep kicking in. He tends to get quite grumpy when he's feeling sleepy.
"Oh…" Nobara blinks, a bit taken aback, "...well, you could have said so, y'know?" She said, huffing a bit and stepping aside to let him pass, which he did without a backward glance, "What are the medications for?" She asked curiously.
"To help me sleep." Keisuke replied flatly, without glancing back, "I have nightmares and when they're particularly intense, I tend to set things on fire. The principal would be upset if I set fire to the school's property." Then he turned around and gave her a dramatically scary look, "Unless you want me to set you on fire?" He chuckled like a psycho, "I would— yow!" He cried out in pain when she smacked him on his head, "I was kidding!"
"No, really?" Nobara rolled her eyes, "Just go, dumbass. Jeez, here I was thinking you were the normal one in the group."
"Normal? Me? Nah. Normal's lame." Keisuke replied, "Oh, shit, I gotta go. Shoko-san will be mad if I'm late. Later, Kugisaki! Good night!"
Nobara stared at his figure as he trailed away before shrugging and going to her own rooms.
Keisuke sighed as he entered the infirmary before pausing, "Oh, Maki-senpai, Toge-senpai." He greeted them both, a bit surprised to see them both. The two seniors looked up at the sound of his voice, and waved.
"Kelp." The second year boy raised a hand in greeting.
"Keisuke." Maki greeted him, "What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Medication." He grunted, sitting down on a nearby bed as he waited for Shoko-san to come by, "What about you guys?"
"Injury." Maki replied flatly, "Toge and I injured ourselves. I broke my foot and Toge broke his wrist."
"Mustard Leaf." Toge said, pointing to the cast around his wrist, "Tuna."
"Eh? Those are oddly specific." Keisuke said, leaning back lazily.
"Salmon. Mustard Leaf. Pollock Roe. Tuna Mayo. Tuna Mayo" Toge said, looking very miffed. Maki scowled herself, glaring at her broken foot in irritation.
"Panda-senpai fell on you 'cause he tripped?" Keisuke deadpanned before snickering at them both, "That's lame—I mean, how unfortunate." He said innocently when Maki glared at him suspiciously. Shoko walks in just then.
"Ah, Keisuke. Here for your medication?" Shoko said, already readying everything needed.
"Nope, I'm here to gaze at your beautiful face. I don't see it very often, y'know?" Keisuke said with a bright grin as the woman chuckled, shaking her head.
Maki and Toge watched as the woman expertly gave him his medication using a syringe. Keisuke laid back on his bed, his eyes quickly turning hazy. The Eyes of the Specter turned dim, a far cry from the burning red-colored orbs that they usually were.
Maki blinked when she saw the cursed energy that radiated off his eyes disappear, "Huh? I didn't know you could turn off his eyes." She commented.
"Salmon." Toge agreed, also noticing the way all of his massive cursed energy practically disappear.
"Not unless we Nullify them." Shoko answered them, "The medication I use for him is unique. It can neutralize cursed energy. He can't use his eyes when he's asleep."
Toge stared at his underclassman with sympathy. Having to constantly rely on medication to ensure that he wouldn't harm those around him with his powers reminded him of himself, the way he used onigiri ingredients to protect those around him from his cursed speech.
Maki still remembered the time when he had set his dorm room on fire. It was only thanks to Gojo, who was quick enough to notice it, that no one was harmed. Since then, Keisuke had refused to sleep unless there were reassurances that he wouldn't harm anyone. After three days of refusing to sleep, Shoko came up with her medication method.
Poor fella.
"You two should get some sleep. Don't worry about him, he won't set you guys on fire. He'll be in too deep of a sleep to even wake you." Shoko said.
"Bonito Flakes." Toge protested, frowning.
"We don't care about that." Maki said, rolling her eyes at the woman, who smiled kindly before leaving, "Poor guy." Maki remarked.
"Salmon." Toge said, looking at his favorite underclassman with pity.
The next day, Keisuke and the rest of his peers were in the car with Ijichi, on their way to a Detention Center where a cursed womb had appeared. The curse was expected to be a Special Grade, which worried him.
"The official reason we have given visitors… well, what little have gathered, was that there is a gas leak." Ijichi said as they waited outside the Detention Center to be briefed on the situation, "Our windows have confirmed that there is a Special Grade presence in this Detention Center."
"Ijichi-san!" Yuji interrupted, raising his hand like a child.
"A window is someone who can see curses but can't use any techniques. In essence, they perform reconnaissance, and let us know when and where we need to send Jujutsu Sorcerers to exorcise curses." Keisuke explained gruffly before Yuji could even ask his question.
"Eh? How'd you know that was what I was going to ask?" Yuji looked at him with round eyes.
"Lucky guess." Keisuke replied.
"A-anyway, as I said, there is a Special Grade curse in the detention center. If you, by any chance, encounter it, please run. Under no circumstances are you to engage in combat with it." Ijichi explained, looking at them with as much sternness as he could muster. Which wasn't much. They didn't even twitch, which made him twitch instead.
"Seems a bit too much, sending First Years on a Special Grade case." Megumi remarked, furrowing his brows.
"They probably sensed our auras. They could tell we're way more powerful than our ages imply." Nobara said cockily, as she and Yuji grinned at each other.
"Nah, more like there's no one else. The Third Years are suspended, and the Second Years just went on a mission earlier today. We're the only ones left." Keisuke destroyed their moment with a yawn, "Anyway, let's—"
"Tadashi! Where's my son?! Please tell me he's okay!" A middle-aged woman cried nearby. All four teens looked over at her. Ijichi sighed.
"She seems like a visitor." He mumbled, walking over to her, "I'm sorry, ma'am. But there has been a gas leak, we cannot let you in."
The woman's eyes widened in horror, "O-oh god, please tell me my son is alright! His name is Tadashi, he's inside—"
"I'm sorry, ma'am. We don't know, nor can we say for sure." Ijichi replied, and Keisuke looked away as the woman began to sob, singing to her knees.
Yuji looked at her with sympathy, his own heart clenching at the thought of the pain she must be in. He turned around and met the eyes of his classmates, "You three… we're going to save them. All of them!" He said, his eyes burning in determination.
"Of course!" Nobara said with a grin.
"Hm." Megumi said, nodding.
"Yep." Keisuke said, lazily, hiding his own inner turmoil at the sound of the woman's sobs. If the curse is a Special Grade…
Nah, it'll be fine.
Not really, but being positive is never a bad thing, unless you're being tested for an STD.
Anyway.
"I'm going to lower the curtain, please be careful and if you do indeed run into the Special Grade, do not engage." Ijichi warned them, to which they all nodded, "Very well. Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
"Woah! It's turning dark!" Yuji gasped.
"It's because of the curtain. There's a residential area nearby, so it protects them and prevents us from being seen by them." Megumi explained, then he made a handsign, "Demon Dog!"
The white demon dog appeared out of the shadows, without its dark counterpart. Keisuke rubbed its head, "Good boy! You'll warn us when the curse gets too close, won't you?" He said, grinning as he hugged the adorable big doggo.
The demon dog barked happily as Megumi sighed, "Keisuke, please, we have things to do." He said, exasperated, though there was fondness in his tone.
"Right, right." Keisuke rolled his eyes.
As soon as they entered the building, though, they gasped in surprise at the appearance. Looks like a rundown alley in a shady part of the town… Keisuke thought with a frown.
"Keisuke?" Megumi turned to him, silently asking him to check it out with his eyes.
"W-what's going on? This is supposed to be a two-story dorm, right?" Yuji stuttered as Keisuke walked ahead, his red-colored eyes glowing in the dark.
"C-calm down, it's a maisonette. Asagi, what are you doing?" She asked, her orange eyes looking at him in surprise as he walked ahead of them.
"Hmm…" He didn't reply, scanning the area and the cursed energy lingering over the surface closely with his Cursed Sensor, "...yeah, this is an innate domain." He said flatly.
"Guys…" Yuji's voice cracked comically, "Where's the door?"
"Hah?!" Nobara whirled around with wide eyes, "Wait, isn't that where we came from?" She said, frantically pointing at the door, to which the boy nodded jerkily.
"Ah, what do we do? What do we do, indeed?" The two performed some kind of weird ritual where they walked in circles, making strange gestures with their hands.
Keisuke blinked before snorting, stopping them both by grabbing their collars, "Calm down, you guys. I can still see the entrance with my eyes." He said, pointing to his glowing eyes.
"They're kinda freaky." Nobara remarked, her fear seemingly disappearing.
"Hey!"
"My demon dog also remembers the entrance." Megumi interrupted.
After a moment of Keisuke, Nobara, and Yuji freaked out over how amazing the beautiful snowy white dog is, with Keisuke proclaiming that it is a snow wolf inhabited by the souls of a thousand noble samurais. Yuji proclaiming him as the gooddest of all good boys, and Nobara feeding him some jerky that she somehow had.
"Let's get a move on." Megumi growls, gritting his teeth, "You guys are way too calm about this." He muttered, though the quiet surroundings made it so that the other three could hear him clear as day. Though I guess Keisuke is just playing it cool… He thought as he gazed over at the boy.
"Fushiguro! You're so dependable, you too, Keisuke!" Yuji gave the lad a thumbs up, that caused him to pause before looking away.
"Thanks." Keisuke said, rolling his shoulders, "I can't sense the Special Grade, though. I'd say that it's probably hiding its presence. Kugisaki-chan, Yuji, you two might want to ready yourselves." He said lightly.
He's so calm, how? Were Nobara and Yuji's thoughts as they glanced at their classmate, who extended his chain spear and readied himself. Nobara pulled out her hammer, a few nails in her other hand, while Yuji pulled out Slaughter Demon.
Keisuke was, in fact, not calm. He was panicking at the thought of fighting a Special Grade, especially one that could cast its own innate domain. Outwardly, he kept his lazy face, walking with a hunched figure. His eyes tensely roaming about were the only signs of his distress.
Simply put, he was not a stranger to being out of his league, but showing fear was just going to make it worse and cause him to do stupid things.
The four walked forward tensely, the white demon dog moving ahead of them. Once they got to the roof, they noticed the bodies of the detainees that couldn't be evacuated. Keisuke and Nobara grimaced at the sight, while Yuji walked towards the bodies jerkily, his eyes wide. Megumi stood there stonily, though his eyes held sympathy for the deceased.
"Horrible." Nobara said, her face turning slightly green.
"I still can't sense the Special Grade." Keisuke mumbled, finally showing some of his wariness.
"There's only one Special Grade, though. Do you see any other curses?" Nobara asked him quietly, turning to him.
"Some flyheads that are hiding, but y'know… flyheads." He said, shrugging.
"Hiding? Those things are annoying as fuck, but they're also stupidly brave. They don't hide." Nobara commented, furrowing her brows.
"I don't think they're hiding from us…" He replied. They exchanged concerned looks that disappeared when they heard Yuji's voice.
"Hey… let's take this body back." He said firmly.
"Excuse me?" Megumi spoke up, confused.
"It's that woman's son, Tadashi… his body isn't mangled like the rest, it's still recognizable. It should be enough to get that woman closure, at least." Yuji said reasonably.
Sadly, Keisuke didn't see it that way, "We have no time for that." He said flatly, all traces of laziness gone.
"Huh?" Yuji looked at him wide-eyed.
"We still have to find and verify two more. Leave it." Megumi said stonily.
"Quit joking! We turned around and there was no door! If we leave it here, we won't be able to find it again." Yuji said, his eyes narrowing.
"I didn't say we come back for it. I said we'll leave it behind." Megumi said coldly.
"What?! How can you be so cold-hearted?!" Yuji demanded.
"Why the hell should I risk my life for the corpse of someone who I had no intention of saving in the first place?"
"No intention of saving?!"
"If you've read the file given before debriefing, then you would know the details of this place and the people in it! Okazaki Tadashi hit a little girl on her way home from school while driving without a licence. That was his second offence. I know you want to save people and guide them to their proper deaths, but what will happen if you save someone and they go on to kill someone else?!" Megumi demands, losing his patience with Yuji's stubbornness.
"Then why the fuck did you save me?!"
"Stop it! You guys, I swear—" Nobara gasped when she felt herself falling downwards. Keisuke turned around sharply to see her being swallowed into a black hole that appeared beneath her. He extended his chain and tried to grab her, but felt himself falling downwards as well.
"Keisuke!" He heard both boys yell.
"I'll be fine!" He yelled as he continued to fall. He grunted as he landed, successfully managing to avoid falling on his back by rolling forward. He heard a groan behind him and turned around. Nobara was sitting up, her hand on her back, wincing in pain.
"Kugisaki." He instantly moved over to her, "Are you okay?" He grasped her shoulder, helping her up.
"Yeah…" She grunted out, "What the hell just happened? Dammit, it's too dark."
Keisuke stood up once he made sure she was okay and raised extended his hand in front of him, palm up. A glowing blue fireball appeared in his hands, illuminating their surroundings, "We must be in a completely different part of the building." He commented.
"It looks completely different from the area we entered from." Nobara agreed, readying her hammer, "You see any curses around?"
Keisuke looked around, his eyes glowing, "Oh… shit." He said, looking up.
Nobara followed his line of sight and groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me." She complained.
Above them were many faces and eyes, laughing like some kind of lame-ass 50s comedy show audio background, "How are there so many?" She growled.
Keisuke readied his chain spear as he stood back-to-back with her, "We must really be famous. Those two dorks only got the Special Grade to deal with." he said casually, though his shoulders were tense.
"Obviously. It's 'cause I'm with ya." Nobara said, smirking. So these are just small fry…
"This should be easy for us." Let's finish this quickly so we can help those two.
"Let's play a game. The one who exorcises the most curses treats the other to dinner." You bet.
"Is that a proposal?" Keisuke grinned flirtatiously as he rotated his spear around his body, "Here they come! Cursed Technique: Death Spin!" He yelled, jumping up by applying cursed energy to his feet.
His chain spear exorcised three of the four curses that flew towards him. They looked like overgrown flyheads. Just as the last one flew towards him, it got reckt by a nail embedding itself into its head. He shot his chain spear towards Nobara, who didn't even bother dodging as it flew past her head, instead focusing on the curses behind Keisuke.
Keisuke's chain spear embedded itself into a large curse's body. Third Grade, he thought idly. He grinned savagely, as the chain spear lit up with blue flames, making it scream in agony, "Feel pain." He growled as the flames turned a bright crimson, the stench of burned flesh filling the air as the cursed got exorcised.
Nobara threw up three nails and slammed them with perfect accuracy into three curses behind him, "Hairpin!" She yelled, and the ensuing explosion exorcised two curses that were in the proximity.
"They just keep on coming!" Keisuke yelled, frustrated.
"I did say there are too many!" She yelled back, "Hairpin!" She snapped her fingers and some of the nails that Keisuke had thought were due to her missing her target exploded, taking out several more.
"There's a Second Grade curse around, stick close!"
"I can handle myself against that!" She yelled, ducking and slamming her hammer into the head of a smaller curse.
"Kugisaki—" Keisuke was cut off when Nobara yelped. He turned around and saw that she was being grabbed by a large curse, who was holding her up by her feet, her skirt falling down— NO! NOT THE FUCKING TIME!
"Cursed Technique: Fireball!" Keisuke yelled, forming a handsign. The surrounding air turned to steam as a massive fireball formed in front of his chest and slammed into the back of the curse.
Keisuke grabbed Nobara using his chain spear before she could fall and pulled her towards him, catching her successfully and setting her down.
Nobara suddenly pushed him away just as a massive fist slammed into the ground between them. Both turned to see a large curse with fists each the size of Nobara and drool escaping its mouth. Gross. Thought both clean freaks.
"I got the one behind me, take care of this one." Nobara ordered as they once again stood back-to-back.
"Tch, who are ya giving orders to?" Keisuke grumbled, but obligingly rushed towards the 'boxer' curse, he had decided to call it. Its punches carried a lot of weight, and it wobbled too much, which, combined with its massive frame, made him feel like he was trying to hit a wobbling jello, "Alright, motherfucker. Ya wanna rumba?"
"Cursed Technique: Fireball!" A fireball as large as Keisuke himself was dodged by the boxer curse with a speed that had more to do with its wobbly frame than any actual speed. He jumped up to dodge the massive fist that would have crushed him, but it seems like this one was a cunning little fucker. It tried to grab him with its other hand, but he encased his fist in flames, punching it away and using cursed energy to propel him back as it growled.
He used his chain to strike and tear away at its lower body before performing a perfect backflip, only to be successfully backhanded, causing him to fall nearly ten feet. He groaned, and dazedly threw his chain spear at it, which it grabbed. He encased it in flames, and it screamed in pain, before angrily pulling him towards it using the chain. Not this again. It rotated him in the air like it was a toddler with a yoyo and tossed him into a wall, which dented as he impacted. He pulled him back before slamming him into another wall. Then it raised him up and finally managed to land a punch on him, letting his chain go as he slammed down into the ground.
"This… is not pog…" He panted, feeling the air knocked out of his lungs at the impact. Unfortunately, Nobara wasn't doing better. He knew this, how? Well, quite simply. She herself was tossed into him. Both teens grunted at the impact.
"Ah, for a short girl, you're really heavy…" Keisuke joked, wincing as he felt blood trickling down the back of his neck.
Nobara grunted, "W-who're you calling heavy…?" She growled, her face was covered in dirt and a bit of blood was on her lip, "Well… at least I got the small ones… Hairpin!" She yelled, and a massive explosion rocked the area, and he heard several small shrieks, indicating that she had indeed taken care of the smaller curses.
"…I have a plan." Keisuke said, narrowing his eyes, "I'm gonna need your help, though." He said.
Nobara turned to look at him, and after a moment, grinned bloodily, "I don't have that many, so make 'em count." She told him.
"'Course!" He chirped, grinning back. Nobara grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards her. She wobbled on her feet, and he idly noted that her ankle looked twisted. He grabbed her and jumped up onto a platform above them. Keisuke placed Nobara far enough away from the range of the boxer curse and ran towards it.
The curse swiped at him. He ducked. Left. Right. Left again, jump back. He shot his chain again that changed trajectory just as the curse was about to gleefully grab it again and managed to lodge itself into its chest, but not too deep. Keisuke grinned darkly, "On your knees." He growled, the chain suddenly erupting in flames that turned from blue to crimson real fucking fast. The boxer howled in pain, dropping to its knees.
Then he chuckled darkly, "That all you got? For such a massive being, you are… pretty pathetic, aren't you?" He taunted it, looking down at it from his high ground.
Now, he had an opening. Using cursed energy to jump up, leaving a small crater underneath his feet, he made a handsign, "Look out down below! He yelled as he dived downwards towards the curse's mouth.
He daringly allowed himself to get swallowed.
Outside, Nobara watched dazedly as Keisuke willingly let himself get swallowed by the curse.
It seemed quite confused for a second there, before it realized what happened and grinned an ugly grin at Nobara. She simply sighed, standing up and deadpanning at it, fearlessly. Her eyes narrowed when it pulled its massive fist back, ready to strike her down…
A flaming fist shot through its stomach.
Once again, the curse stood there, quite confused at the sudden pain in its abdomen. Then it actually sunk in, and it began to thrash around. The hole expanded as the flames spread, and through it stepped Keisuke, blood pouring out of a cut on his forehead. He walked through the hole and then turned around and shot his chain spear at it again, wrapping it around its body.
The curse let out an inhuman wail of pain as the chain erupted in crimson flames, digging into its flesh, melting it and causing it to pour onto the floor.
Then Nobara snapped her fingers, "Hairpin." She said, smirking.
The curse exploded from the inside.
Keisuke stood there, cool as can be, as body parts rained around him. When the adrenaline would wear off, he would regret standing there for badass effect instead of taking it easy.
But for now, we'll let him have his moment.
Well, his and Nobara's since it was their combined effort that killed it. (For those wondering what happened, Nobara gave him several of her nails when he grabbed her and jumped up onto the platform. When he got swallowed, he struck several of the nails inside it before exiting out by Fire Punching out of its stomach.)
Nobara got down from the platform and swayed in place, "Damn…" she groaned, cradling her head. He examined her head and saw that she was bleeding slightly.
"You got slammed on your head too, huh?" He asked, wincing as the adrenaline indeed wore off. His entire body felt sore after being slammed into walls.
"Landed right on it." She grunted.
"Kugisaki! Keisuke!" They heard Megumi's voice before they saw him with a black demon dog, running towards them urgently with a panicked look on his face.
"Megumi, everything alright? Where's Yuji?" Keisuke asked promptly. Nothing much could scare his friend like this.
"We need to leave. Now." Megumi said firmly, "Itadori is engaging the Special Grade. Once we're all out of the building, he'll switch with Sukuna." He said, grimacing at the plan.
"What?!" Keisuke and Nobara demanded, the latter winced, "You're serious?" She hissed.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Megumi growled, "Let's go!"
As both boys made to run, Nobara hissed in pain, "Keisuke, my ankle's twisted." She said, ignoring her pride for now to ask for help.
Megumi helped Nobara out by summoning his frog shikigami. It carried Nobara in its mouth, much to the girl's disgust.
Keisuke himself felt his back protest once again. This is the second time a curse has grabbed my chain and tossed me about. I really need to find a defense against that… He thought, panting. Dammit, there's no way this is it. Yuji's gonna switch with Sukuna… he hasn't had trouble suppressing it before, but… I got a bad feeling…
When the finally reached Ijichi, the man looked like he was about to have a heart attack. His face pale and his body trembling, "Oh, my goodness! Kugisaki-san, Asagi-san!" He cried out, helping the boys out by grasping Nobara and helping her inside the care.
"Keisuke, you go too." Megumi said, only to be met with a head shake.
"I'm not leavin' you here, 'gumi. I have a bad feeling about this… let's just hope I'm wrong. Ijichi-san, take care of Nobara. Get her to a hospital." Keisuke said to the man.
"Also, extend the radius of the curtain. And, if you can, bring a Second Grade or above sorcerer as soon as you can." Megumi added, reluctantly accepting Keisuke's answer.
"I shall be back as soon as I can." Ijichi said, though his tone implied that he'd rather not.
"You'd be killed." Keisuke said coldly, "Just fucking go, man. Megumi and I will take care of… whatever's gonna happen."
"R-right." Ijichi stuttered, wide-eyed, "Please be careful!"
Megumi instructed his demon dog to howl as loud as it could as the man left with the car, Keisuke managed to ignore the pain enough to stand upright. There was silence for several minutes as both boys stood in the rain, looking in the direction of the detention center. Megumi took a deep breath, "Since when are you and Kugisaki on a first name basis?" He asked casually, or at least tried to come off as casual.
Keisuke knew what he was trying to do and appreciated the effort. He grinned at him weakly, "Why? You jealous, my urchin?" He teased.
He huffed, "As if. I'm just curious." He said, averting his eyes.
"You know me, Megumi. I'm not much for formalities. Last names are way too formal for me, y'know?" Keisuke replied.
"I do." He said softly, "Keisuke," he waited until the boy turned to him, "I'm glad you're my friend."
"We're not going to die, Megumi." He said calmly.
"Maybe not, but I'm letting you know anyway." Megumi replied flatly.
The curtain then chose to disappear, making them both look up in surprise, "The curtain fell…" Keisuke mumbled.
"The Special Grade must be exorcised…" Megumi finished for him, "Then… Itadori—"
"Sorry, he's not coming back." Keisuke and Megumi both stiffened when they heard the voice that definitely was not Yuji. It was a voice that they had both heard before, and wouldn't have minded if they had never heard it again.
It was Sukuna. He had taken over Yuji's body and was grinning at them viciously.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Gosh, I never quite realize