AN: Hello, everyone! Here's our favourite cinnamon roll, Inumaki making an appearance. This story is set during Inumaki's first year in Jujutsu High. Please review :)

P.S. We don't know much about the Inumaki clan or Toge's parents so I'm taking a lot of creative liberties with this.


Inumaki Toge considers himself to be strange, or as strange as any cursed speech user from a well-known clan can be. After all, he did create his own vocabulary from only rice ball ingredients – a method of communication he created when not defeating cursed spirits.

Sure, his last name does not command the same air as the Gojo or Zenin clan but this minor detail seems hardly revelant when your inherited cursed technique can inflict damage upon anyone with just the power of your words.

But like the saying goes that some things are too good to be true, such is the case for this powerful technique which also acts as a double-edged sword. Because Toge always gives as good as he got (that's why he's the highest ranking sorcerer in his grade), the rebound and damage to his body, most especially to his throat, is equivalent to how powerful the words he uses in battle.

Inumaki Tojimi, the head of the Inumaki clan and his father, threw a fit when he discovered his son was lumped in the same class as the 'Zenin failure' – Maki and a 'revived animal carcass' – Panda. Tojimi claims that the Inumaki clan shall not be disrespected this way and threatens to pull out Toge from Tokyo Jujutsu High.

It is when Principle Yaga politely reminded him that there are no other first year students who enrolled this year and that the three first year students show promising talent and potential that his father reluctantly allowed him to continue staying in this school, casually mentioning that Gojo Satoru is their sensei seemed to also help a bit.

Toge downs the remainder of cough syrup in his hand as his throat still aches in recollection of their fight with those nasty cursed spirits earlier during the day.

Once empty, he throws the bottle in the nearest bin and immediately positions the scarf around his neck to cover his mouth.

Gojo sent them to the countryside to exorcise curses that was possessing students in the school.

The older white-haired male had been droning on that while yes, "You three possess amazing abilities that I haven't seen in first year students in a long time-and no, Maki, I'm not slacking off or going on vacation while you're all on a mission, so, stop glaring at me!-This is the perfect opportunity for all of you to work on your teamwork," he finishes with a clap of his hands and flashes them with a smile that was just too optimistic even with his blindfold on, to be considered as sincere.

So, when they reach the school and Gojo nonchalantly waves his hand at them with a typical line such as, "See you later and don't get yourselves killed," as Ijichi puts on the veil, Toge knows that even if this is just a test, he needs to be serious.

His thoughts are confirmed as Panda brings his fists up in the air and Maki spins her spear as the three first year students make their way to the building.

Everything should be going according to plan. They were able to exorcise a large group of cursed spirits in the area and eradicated some of the lesser cursed spirits loitering inside the school.

It is until they are outside, on the school grounds that the ground started trembling and almost made the three of them lose their balance when they realize that the test was far from over.

Emerging from the ground, stood a massive deformed cursed spirit with large, beady eyes, gangly arms and legs with a wide mouth exposing rows of eerily human-looking teeth. The spirit was almost as large as the school building.

"Watch out!" Panda screams as the cursed spirit raised its gigantic hand to swat them as though they were flies. The earth erupts with fissures from the blow as the three manage to avoid the attack in time.

"It's huge but it's slow!" Maki exclaims and tries to formulate a plan to quickly eliminate their target.

"Panda, go for its legs! That's its weak spot! Make it trip and I'll blind its eyes while Inumaki, you finish him off!" She shouts and hears Panda speak, "Yosh!" and watches him bump his fists together.

Panda dashes off to the cursed spirit and swifly manages to avoid being stepped on by the grotesque creature as he carefully maneuvers himself under its massive legs.

She gives Inumaki a look to get ready and he simply nods, "Salmon" – of course, he knows what to do.

They both hear the loud thud of the cursed spirit's body as it falls on the ground, bringing with it piles of debris and dust as Panda successfully brought it to its knees.

Maki smirks at the scene. She runs to do her task and turns the spear in her grasp, aiming the blade at the cursed spirit and pierces both its eyes before it even has a chance to recover.

At this, Inumaki lowers his scarf. His cursed speech technique is evident on the circular markings on his cheeks that narrow down to prominent lines that connect to his lips.

His cursed energy begins flowing more freely inside him and it rushes to the roof of his mouth all the way to the tip of his tongue and then, he opens his mouth.

"Disappear," he commands and braces himself for the impact of his words.

The cursed spirit explodes and Toge finishes the job, but he coughs hard. He fishes for the cough syrup inside his pocket and immediately drinks its contents.

At least, they are done.

All the cursed spirits are exorcised and the veil is lifted. And on the other side of the veil, they receive an enthusiastic greeting from Gojo sensei. "You all passed!" he announces happily with a big thumbs up and a smiling Ijichi in tow.

All three of them sigh in exhaustion and decide to call it a day. And this is where Toge finds himself sitting alone on a park bench after emptying the rest of the cough syrup he bought.

He cannot escape the nagging feeling inside him and it's not because of the ache in his throat. Although, that too seems to be demanding his attention as of late but the pain was normal for him. It comes with using his cursed technique.

No, this fleeting feeling comes from something else and it is precisely located on the right side of his chest just below his collarbone where the words of his soulmate is etched on his skin – his soulmate mark.

He occasionally experiences episodes like this in the past, like a gentle nudge to his soul. Though, as quickly as the feeling appears it is gone in a flash and Toge resumes his life and forgets about the light, fluttery feeling in his chest until the mark on his skin reminds him of the same feeling again.

He cannot explain how or why, but as the months passes by, the unspoken connection he has with his soulmate seems more stable than it has ever been before.

In the past, the feeling reminded him of having been woken up from a good dream. The positive feeling remains with you when you wake up but you often don't remember what the dream is about, and as soon as time goes by you won't even remember the feeling the dream gave you and you will carry on with your day as though nothing happened. But this time it's different.

The feeling of the bond never leaves him. His soul sings as though he remembers something important, and it urges him to find his other half. And somehow today, the connection feels stronger so, he follows the source before he loses his chance.

••

It has been nearly a year since the well stopped working and Kagome almost accepts the fact that she is now stuck in the present.

She didn't think there would be significant changes since she was gone but when did she start seeing these evil apparitions? And since when did Tokyo become infested with these vile creatures that not everybody can see?

Sure, she's had her fair share of purifying demons. So, maybe the principle is the same when killing these things? Well, she did successfully purified a few of them like the one who was attached to that sweet, old lady her mom frequently bought oranges from.

Though, Kagome didn't try to let it bother her too much because her mother had instructed her to buy groceries for the day (which is also an excuse to get her out of the house and not let her jump into the well for the umpteen time today).

She is about to enter the store when she stops on her tracks due to a foreign touch. Her gaze trails off to the origin of the touch and her horrified blue eyes fall on the offending body part that is cupped over her left breast and all the blood rushes to Kagome's face.

"P-pervert!" She screams. She's as red as a tomato. She can't believe this actually happened and she tries to glare at this… this boy with the platinum blonde hair and a scarf over his mouth. They don't even know each other and not even Miroku had the guts to suddenly grope a stranger!

"Salmon?" Toge responds and looks at her questioningly as though to say, yes? But why is he being called a pervert? And why is she screaming? Is he the only one who can feel the soulmate bond? But the feeling is coming straight from this girl. He knows this, he is already touching it.

Then, he realizes he has been holding something soft and unexpectedly round in his hand. His lavender eyes carefully follow the source of the soft sensation. He freezes on the spot and immediately turns to a brilliant shade of red. His fingers are cupped over the girl's left breast, that's why she called him a pervert!

"B-bonito flakes!" He protests loudly, shaking his head and the hand attached to her chest accidentally squeezes her breast in the process.

"Kyaaaah!" Kagome is too stunned for words from the sudden pressure on her chest. So, she slaps him across the face as a reflex and thankfully, he finally lets go of her breast.