The first time Miura Asae met Yaga was under a special circumstance that could be understandable if she was kind of unresponsive.

"You're Miura Asae, correct?" The man asked.

Waiting for an answer but the silence was too long for his liking, Yaga decided to look away from the paper in his hand to the small figure in front of him. According to information in the paper, this girl had to be at least ten but a ten-year-old was not supposed to be this small no matter how little they eat.

Sighing internally, Yaga regarded the girl thoughtfully. She was a bit too pale and a bit too thin for a normal healthy child. His instinct told him some things were seriously wrong with the way she carried herself. Those dark eyebags proved that this kid didn't sleep enough, and her eyes were far too empty to be a functional one.

"Sorry, it was rude of me for not introducing myself first." As the girl still stared at him blankly, Yaga sighed quietly. "I'm Yaga Masamichi, the headmaster of Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. Today I am here because you'll be put under my supervision from now on. The college will be your new home." After all, they marked her as a special grade sorcerer, but the information was not enough for him to have a full grasp of her abilities. Therefore, it seemed like a lot would have to wait until they arrived safely at the college.

The girl, Asae, slowly looked at the stranger whose name was Yaga Masamichi then looked down at her two small hands. Suddenly, she was surrounded by bloody walls and those uncomfortable voices filled her mind which sounded a lot like her dead mother.

Right, her mother, she was deaddeaddeaddeadeaddeadeadead. And why was she? Because she was killed by her unlucky child who would soon be charged for murder. Such tragedy occurred in the middle of this modernized world. A mocking smirk tugged at her lips. Before Asae could comprehend the situation she was in, her breathing quickened. When she belatedly realized she was slowly losing control of herself, Masamichi, the strange man, was already on his knees in front of her. Then, he tried to calm her down with his surprisingly gentle voice, and it worked like a charm.

"Miura Asae, repeat after me okay? Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out." Slowly and steadily, he guided Asae through the breathing exercise, which he always used for those who had a panic attack.

Because normally, those younger sorcerers he worked with usually developed these kinds of mental illnesses. It had nothing to do with being a coward or brave. It was just sometimes, curses could be difficult to deal with so traumas, stresses, and depressions in his line of work were everyday things and no one deemed it a big deal at all.

Asae listened to the gentle voice guiding her through the dark tunnel that she always had to walk alone in those back few years. She used to have a lot of injuries all over her body that she couldn't sleep at night; she used to think that her mother, at some points, had to love her so much to give her this power; she used to be too terrified to cry out loud because she feared that once her mother caught noises of her, she would be hurt by those scary creatures which were cherished by her mother. And then, that day came. When she was aware of her action, her hand was already holding a still-beating heart. Asae had taken her mother's life.

Oh, maybe her mother used to love Asae a lot, maybe her mother used to be a caring woman with a heart as big as the ocean, maybe her mother used to have a warm smile like the embrace of the sunshine. Yet, there was nothing left for Miura Asae, there was nothing left for the girl who was born on the day of her father's death. Like a bad fortune, she was cursed by her mother ever since she was born. Just then, Asae discerned she had an extremely long life ahead, a cursed life. What a cruel joke this world put her in.

After calming down enough, Asae began to truly look at the man in front of her. Don't get her wrong, she might be an emotionally and socially stunted child due to her situation, but she still could judge a person based on their facial muscle movements and actions alone. Fortunately, this man could be passed as okayish in her opinion. And so Asae, while still couldn't let her guard down yet, she wished to know more about the man. After all, she had to live with him until she was legally an adult.

"Nice to meet you, Yaga-san." Asae bowed at him. "Thanks for helping me out."

"No problem, it's nothing you should deal with alone and I'm glad I can lend you a hand." Masamichi softened his tone of voice. Then, he slowly stood up to make sure the girl could see his action clearly and felt safe enough.

Asae nodded in return. She had nothing to say more so she chose to observe the man instead. Yaga Masamichi sure was a big man with sunglasses and a mustache. If she was a normal child, these things would likely scare her. Then again, to Asae, he was nothing but a kind man who gave her something, if she dared to say, hope after these lonely and painful sleepless nights. She didn't believe Masamichi yet, maybe he was kind to her because of her cursed technique (she recalled her mother was really proud of it).

Nevertheless, based on his words, she was an orphan who had been put under his care, there was no way out for her anymore. Also, he seemed to be stronger than her at the moment, so Asae wasn't too confident about her winning chance if she went against him. In the end, she could only hope the man didn't have ill-intention toward her.

Turns out, Asae was allowed to live in the college's facility and for convenient reasons, Masamichi would also stay there so he could train and supervise her at the same time. Plus, in case she couldn't control her cursed energy, he would be there to save the day.

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The only thing Asae could be grateful to her mother for was that she never neglected Asae's studying. In fact, Asae had been given an advanced education. Even Masamichi was surprised by her enormous knowledge about everything from basic to higher grounds. Thus, after giving her a synthesis test of knowledge from elementary level to high school level, the man decided to teach her how to use cursed energy properly.

As a child who had been training with her mother since such a young age, Asae had never been aware of her situation or surroundings. Given that those attacks from cursed creatures of her mother's hurt too much, if she dared to put her mind into something else, she might not be sane anymore. Hence, her body took lessons to heart then moved on autopilot instead. That could satisfy the woman but when Masamichi learned about it, he looked at her seriously.

"Being unaware amidst a fight against cursed spirits is a death wish."

Thus for three years, he trained Asae to be more attuned with her movements. He urged her to make quick decisions whether to use this technique or that technique. Eventually, her body and her mind could move in sync like a well-oiled machine. Along with battle awareness training was the progress of learning more about her abilities. Fortunately or unfortunately, Asae also had her mother's ability which meant she could create those cursed creatures. Together with her self-healing ability, Asae was officially considered a true special grade sorcerer. One night, after completing a mission with Masamichi, she told him that she might be able to summon her territory. Instantly, his expression changed. It was enough for her to swear not to tell anyone about it.

(Somehow, Asae had a feeling that after the territory talk, Masamichi might have some ideas about the cause of her mother's death.)

One time, Masamichi had compared the pureness of her cursed energy with a boy called Satoru. He was said to be the Gojo's heir, one of the three biggest clans in the Jujutsu world. However, she didn't care too much about that because she didn't want anything to do with humans anymore. After what Asae had been through, she learned that humans would break those who were the closest to them. The more love you gave, the more hurt you gained. Her mother had already done too much damage to her. Therefore, she would like to think that emotions could never reach her.

Asae was pleased with her state of emotional stunt because the less she felt, the better. Masamichi would be her only special person because after four years of living, eating, and training with the man, she realized that this might be what a family felt like. Warm and safe.

Times flew like arrows, the day Asae became a high school student had come.

It was still early in the morning, but the brunette already dripped in sweat. Ever since Masamichi started training her, Asae kept a habit of running all the way around the college's yard every morning. Then, she would do her morning routine exercises such as practicing with cursed weapons created by her cursed energy, doing push-ups with only one hand each round, etc.

Those things helped Asae hone her skills even more because nothing could last forever. The same went for her abilities. Thus, being a special grade sorcerer didn't make Asae neglect her training. Rather, seeing her very long life ahead, she decided that being powerful was one of the important things that could keep her freedom untouched.

During these four years under Masamichi's supervision, Asae had learned plenty of things and it included the elders, clans' politics, and the cruel reality of the Jujutsu world. Sorcerers were only humans who could exorcize cursed spirits, they were no heroes. Therefore, Asae could tell the Jujutsu world would soon be perished by their failures.

Humans besides Masamichi were troublesome. Based on her knowledge, the existence of the Jujutsu world could last this long because of human emotions. To be exact, all of these cursed energies and cursed spirits were born from human negative emotions. She was curious what would happen if humans were emotionally stunted like her?

No, that was wrong because Asae could use cursed energy which meant her negative emotions still exist somewhere in the depth of her mind. She understood that a majority of humans weren't emotionless, and she wasn't an exception. Then, Asae wondered why curses didn't appear in the animal world, too? That would be hilarious if her tomorrow mission was to exorcize some pig or chicken's cursed spirits. Well, all her attention right now was to get stronger and stronger. Until this cursed world perished in ashes, she couldn't afford to be weak.

Deeply in thoughts, Asae ignored the white hair guy sitting on the tree who was watching her ever since she began doing her push-ups. Physically, Asae was a bit short and small in comparison with those her age. Her short hair was cut in a pixie bob style and was soaked in sweat. Like the majority Japanese population, she has a healthy light skin tone, her cat-like eyes were colored violet and when the sunlight was reflected in them, they became a stunning shade of purple like the amethyst. Though, sadly, they lacked vitality in themselves.

After finishing the push-ups, Asae jogged to her dorm and had breakfast, then changed into her uniform to get ready for her first day of high school. Honestly, she couldn't care less about who was watching her a moment ago. Because in the scope of her lens, she only cared about power. And coincidentally, once Asae sensed his watchful eyes she immediately noticed his formidable cursed energy.

Gojo Satoru truly was an interesting peer. His cursed energy despite not being used directly on her, Asae could still feel their heaviness and thickness, a sign for powerful cursed energy. Honestly, in Satoru's case, she couldn't think any more of him than a big fish surrounded by its prey. That must be hard for him to associate with other people, she mused. As for Asae, she didn't need any more obstacles in communication other than her anti-social behavior that Masamichi had always been concerned about.

Step by step, Asae headed to the classroom that Masamichi had informed her about before. At first, she was against the idea of attending the classes considering her knowledge was enough to graduate. However, Masamichi told her it was the elders' orders. Asae wasn't stupid. Those old coots wanted the Gojo's heir to learn a way to neutralize her during his time here. After all, her cursed techniques were too powerful if she ever lost control of herself. Therefore, Gojo Satoru would be a collar that they put on her neck in the future. What a joke.

Standing in front of the classroom door, she sighed quietly. At least, this was better than those times she had to deal with several people when going on missions with Masamichi. This time, they were just high schoolers like her so nothing could be worse. Furthermore, her knowledge was far from what they could learn in this class so she would have all the time to do her things, such as meditation, heavy training, and going on missions.

From now on, she had to face more than one person every day till the end of her third year. Hopefully, they would be tolerable and less troublesome. All in all, she couldn't let Masamichi down when he had been patient with her social anxiety and social stunt for four years.

Opening the door, there were four sets of eyes on her. Asae, whose numb emotions only got vaguely better after being mentored by Masamichi, didn't care so much. As she entered the classroom, her eyes were on Masamichi instantly, asking his opinion like a good student she should be.

"Good morning, Asae. We're going to introduce ourselves so why don't you go first?" His tone of voice after all these years taking care of Asae had gotten a slight fondness whenever directed at her. No one would notice it if they didn't listen closely.

"Good morning, Yaga-sensei." Asae calmly nodded to the man before turning to face the class.

"Hello everyone, I'm Miura Asae. My cursed technique is Create Cursed Technique which lets me create cursed creatures and weapons," This made the black hair guy suddenly look up at her. While Asae didn't understand what was the big deal there, she also didn't mind much and smoothly continued her introduction.

"I can also use Reverse Technique to heal myself. And no, I can't heal anyone besides myself so we still need our healer here." Asae briefly glanced at the other girl in the room, making the girl smile faintly at her.

After all, building a good relationship with that healer was the best option for her situation. Seeing as Asae could already heal herself, being friends with the girl would be less bothersome than those two boys who were eyeing her curiously.

Someone used to say, teenagers were a pain in the ass especially if it combined with their hormones and mood swings, that would be a huge trouble in her standard. Asae sighed internally after finishing her introduction. Then, she quickly beelined to the seat at the end of the room. Then again, Masamichi's subtle gaze told her otherwise. Defeatedly, she moved to the place next to the healer girl. As if on cue, once she sat down, Masamichi asked the healer girl to walk up and introduce herself.

"Well, hello everyone. I'm Ieiri Shoko," She sounded nonchalant. "My cursed technique is the Reverse Cursed Technique. Basically, I can use Reverse Technique for healing, so that means I'll be the healer here." Shoko looked directly at Asae with a friendly smile, those sleepy brown eyes began melting into a warm gaze that made the corner of Asae's lips twitch up slightly. Given that she didn't know how to smile properly, instead of an awkward creepy smile, Asae decided to convey it through her dead eyes as much as she could.

Fortunately, Shoko seemed to work out the meaning since her face became even brighter than before and that was a good sign for Asae's imminent friendship with the healer. When Shoko came back and sat down beside her, the black-haired was the next to deliver his introduction.

"Good morning everyone, I'm Suguru Geto. My Cursed Spirit Manipulation Technique allows me to control cursed spirits, nice to meet you." The boy then smiled with his eyes closed.

Finally, it was the turn of the white-haired who had been sleeping from the beginning of the class. She knew he was faking it due to the way his breathing was too slow and his body was far too stiff to be in a state of sleep. Asae didn't know his reason but she was certain he was doing it to piss Masamichi off since the man was the most patient person she'd ever met. By the way, she was a bit curious about whether he could irritate the man or not.

"Satoru, go up here and introduce yourself."

As though he didn't hear anything, the guy still sat there, unmoving. Asae wondered what was the cause of this behavior from him. She thought about those watchful eyes from her morning exercises. Seeing as Asae had a fair share of dealing with brats when going on missions with Masamichi, she could spot a brat if she saw one, and Gojo Satoru was nothing of a brat. Certainly, the Gojo's heir couldn't be one if anything Masamichi told her was true, she stared at the white-haired thoughtfully.

"Gojo Satoru, can you hear me?" Masamichi with his calm personality used the book in his hand to hit on the guy's head, which made him fakely wake up from his fake beauty sleep.

"Oh, hey hello, Yaga-sensei, what happened?" Satoru gave Masamichi his lopsided smile as if he was really the clueless one there. Masamichi, blessing his big heart, only sighed once and signaled for the guy to stand up and finish his introduction quickly.

"Hey everyoneeee," He said lazily. "I'm Gojo Satoru, my cursed technique is Limitless which means I can manipulate space at an atomic level, that's all." Satoru saluted them and then made his way back to his seat.

Shaking his head helplessly, Masamichi went back to the board and picked up chalk. Then, he started writing something on it. Knowing what the man was going to say, Asae closed her eyes to meditate, oblivious to Ieiri's curious glance.