"Here. This is your next assignment."
Taking the paper being held out to her, Danuja's eyes scanned over the neatly printed out words, not able to help but chuckle.
"A psychiatric hospital, huh? That ain't cliche at all," Danuja mused, giving a shake of her head. "The buildings been shut down for 10 years, but let me guess, people have been entering it and somethin' happens to them the moment they do?"
"Yes. They just disappear without a trace. Word's gotten around that they're being spirited away by the patients that died there after the fire, but this is obviously the work of a curse."
"The curse sounds like a powerful one, too. What grade am I dealin' with?"
"...Possibly a Semi-Grade 1."
"Gotcha. I'll make sure to put a stop it, Utahime-san," Danuja assured the pretty black and purplish haired woman, that stood before her, with a grin. Placing her arms behind the back of her head, her eyes gave a knowing gleam. "Who knows, maybe this will be the day those in charge get their wish and I'll be brutally ripped apart to the point even I can't recover."
A small tick mark forming on the side of Utahime's head, the teacher, dressed similar to a priestess, lifted up a fist that she proceeded to connect directly with the teenagers head.
"What have I told you about talking like that?!"
"Right, right. I keep forgettin' ya don't like hearin' that kinda stuff," Danuja quickly apologized with a wince. "If you could ever land a hit on Gojo sensei, ya might actually do some damage to that pretty face of his, Utahime-san."
Utahime let out an almost childish huff and placed her hands on her hips. "Speaking of that idiot, wasn't he taking Megumi and that new kid to meet the other first year today? Maybe I can have a word with Principal Masamichi about holding off this assignment until tomorrow..."
"Nah. I don't want either of you gettin' in trouble on my account. If I'm supposed to complete the assignment today, that's what I'll do," Danuja voiced, crumpling the paper into a ball and tossing it into her wastebasket. "I'll just meet them if I come back."
At the look Utahime sent her, Danuja waved her hands and retracted her statement. "I meant when I come back! Yep! Definitely when I come back!" Looking down for a moment, Danuja sent her teacher a fairly shy smile. "Ya know, I really am grateful that you've kept an eye on me all this time, Utahime-san. It couldn't have been easy."
A light blush appeared across the older woman's nose. "I-I couldn't very well leave another child in Satoru's care. God only knows what poor Megumi had to put up with dealing with that man..."
Danuja found herself giggling at this. "I think Fushiguro-san is one of the few who can handle sensei the best," She smiled and played with the black choker, that had a little black and gold star attached in the middle, that she wore around her neck. "Itadori and Gojo sensei seem like they've already hit it off. And I think Itadori's optimistic personality will be good for Fushiguro. He needs to lighten up a little."
"Sounds like this Itadori could be a good influence on you as well." Utahime mused with a smile, folding her arms across her chest.
She wasn't sure why, but Danuja could feel her face becoming warmer. "Ah...I-I don't know about that. I should really get going before it gets too late. I'd rather not walk around a creepy place like that at night if I can help it..."
"Just try not to be too reckless this time..."
"I'd say I promise, but I've never been good at keepin' 'em," Danuja admitted, securing the chain scythe she carried through her belt. She paused, her voice growing quieter. "I...will come back. Even if that might be the worst thing I can do."
Utahime pursed her lips when Danuja ran off before more could be said, her features becoming somber when her brown eyes met with the ceiling. "So much for Danuja growing out of that state of mind like you said she would eventually, huh, Satoru...?"
Munching on the strawberry crepe he had purchased, Yuji noticed the other new student, a girl who went by Nobara Kugisaki, was giving Megumi and him a critical stare. And when she looked away with a heavy sigh, Yuji's features sunk. Looks like she didn't much care for Fushiguro or him. A random thought suddenly hit him.
"Oh! Ena's a girl like you! I bet you two would get along!" Itadori randomly exclaimed with a grin.
Nobara rose a brow at this. "What are you talking about? I don't see a girl with you,"
"Eh? Wait, she isn't here?!" Yuji gawked out, starting to wander around the area. He figured maybe Danuja had taken to hiding or got lost in the sights of Harajuku.
"You just now realized that?" Fushiguro muttered, shaking his head since the pink haired male was calling out for the absentee female. A small bead of sweat rolled down his head seeing Itadori even looking inside of a nearby trashcan. "Why would she be in a trash-" Recalling how he once came across Danuja digging in a trash bin and complaining how it was cruel how kids threw away perfectly good toys, even if they were damaged, made his features grow that more apathetic. "Never mind. She might actually be in the trash right now..."
"You're serious?" Kugisaki murmured in both shock and mild disgust. "Just what type of person is this girl?"
Satoru simply chuckled at this. "You'll see soon enough. Ena-chan is dealing with a curse right now, but she'll join us once she's done with her assignment."
"So she was sent on a solo mission again..." Megumi voiced lowly with a deep frown, his words just causing Gojo to give a solemn nod.
Overhearing the conversation, Itadori approached with a frown of his own. "Isn't that kind of dangerous for her to be dealing with something like that alone?"
"Yeah, but Danuja and I usually get sent on assignments like that," Megumi admitted. Noticing Yuji didn't look convinced, he tried to say in a more reassuring manner, "She'll be fine. Danuja is able to handle dangerous situations better than most. We probably have our own stuff to deal with, right?"
Understanding Fushiguro was trying to change the subject, Gojo clapped his hands and gave an enigmatic smile. "Yep! In fact, I have a treat for you kids...We're going to Roppongi!"
"Roppongi?!" Nobara and Yuji practically squealed out together, their eyes shining.
They haven't got a clue Megumi thought with a shake of his head when the two had actually hugged the beaming twenty-eight-year-old happily.
Well, they'd learn how Satoru Gojo worked eventually.
Coughing up a small amount of blood when the spiked foreleg connected with her gut, the force of the attack was a lot more powerful than Danuja realized. She had been sent crashing through the door of one of the old patient rooms where her back connected painfully with the bed.
She struggled to pull her battered and badly bleeding body off the floor, crying out when pain wracked her just from the little bit of exertion she was placing on herself.
"D-damn...Guess I know why there are no bodies. Ya devoured them all, startin' from the head I'm guessin'," Danuja mustered with a weak laugh when the monstrosity came into the room. The curse looked like some mutated praying mantis, and she couldn't help but shiver when its head rotated, and those creepy bulbous compound eyes met hers.
"Can't escape...my dinner..."
Managing to roll and dodge its scythe-like arm before it could pierce straight through her, Danuja was able to remove her right glove before the curse retaliated with another attack that ended up pinning her against the dirty and charred wall. Ever since she arrived, the curse had the advantage. It was capable of camouflaging itself with the area and had unleashed a sneak attack upon her that had placed a nasty gash upon Danuja's back.
It had been toying with her. Guess the creepy bug had finally gotten tired of playing with its food.
"As disgusting being gripped by you is...I was waitin' for ya to get closer..." Danuja voiced with a small smirk when its raptorial forelegs wrapped around her torso, pulling her closer toward it. With its mandible opening, Danuja knew she was about to be eaten alive. That was why she struggled to touch its chest. Her fingers only managed to graze it, but a single touch was all she needed.
A shriek of pain came from the curse. It released the girl and stumbled backwards; its form flailing around when wounds that shouldn't have been there started to form on the curses body. It was almost like watching an invisible force slashing away at the spiritual being.
"It...hurts...Hate you...!"
Its voice might have come out gurgled, yet finding a curse that could form a coherent speech, that wasn't random babble, was rare. That's why doing what she had to did make this a little harder, but Danuja reminded herself that this creature had killed too many innocents to be pitied.
"I bet ya do, buddy. I'm used to being hated, though," Danuja claimed, weapon in hand as she swung the weighted black chain above her head. Whipping it forward, the metal chain wrapped around the curses throat. "Unlike you, I don't enjoy torture. I'll make this quick."
Rushing forward, she used the blade to slice the mantises head clean off, sighing as she watched the severed head roll away while its body slumped to the ground.
"Whelp. Guess the higher ups won't be happy..." Danuja said halfheartedly, running a hand through her longer left bang.
"I see playing the friendly sorcerer hasn't diminished your ability to kill,"
Gasping at the sudden masculine voice, Danuja started to turn around. She ended up shrieking when the curses head went flying straight past her face and out a nearby window. The person had just kicked the head like it was a soccer ball.
"Long time no see, Danuja. Didn't I teach you to not get so easily startled like that?"
"That was just mean, Teach..."
Eight years ago...
The small girl sat in a corner of the crematorium; her legs pulled up to her chest as her tear-filled eyes stared at the wall across from her. She couldn't bear to watch when her father's body was pushed into the cremation chamber, knowing she'd never see him again and he'd soon be nothing more than a pile of ashes and bones.
"Poor girl. So her father was her only family...?"
"Yes. No one has seen the mother in years. She completely abandoned Kisho and Danuja-chan..."
"What a terrible woman! To leave her husband with all the responsibility!"
Placing her hands over her ears, Danuja tried to drown out the voices of her neighbors and those that worked at this depressing facility. How could they say such horrible things about her mother when they didn't even know her? What was worse, she knew they were trying to decide what to do with her.
These people claimed that they were deeply saddened, that they cared. Did they really...?
Feeling a gentle hand being placed on top of her head, Danuja uncovered her ears and peered upwards with watery eyes. A man had sat beside her. She wondered if maybe he was a monk? He was dressed in Buddhist robes, though he looked fairly young.
"Here you are in great pain, and all they can do is gossip. The most they've probably done is give you a little hug and say the usual tired line, 'I'm sorry for your loss'," the man spoke in a derisive, yet saddened tone. "Not that 'monkey's' like them could ever hope to understand you."
"M-monkey's...?" Danuja asked softly, blinking in confusion.
The man chuckled and gave Danuja's head another little pat before he rested both of his hands on his raised-up knee. "It's just one of my little sayings. The truth is, I came here to apologize. Your father died because of one of my colleagues,"
Danuja's eyes widened at this, and she gripped at the black kimono she had been dressed in. "P-papa was tryin' to protect me...He told me to hide in the closest, so I did...I heard him shoutin' "NO!" and then there was this loud blast. There was a man I didn't know who opened the door, but he ran off and papa...papa was..."
Not able to finish that sentence, Danuja ended up letting out a loud sob. This caught the attention of those in the room, and their first instinct was that this strange monk had said or done something to upset the child. There was a lot of shouting, though Danuja wasn't really paying attention to what was being said for she felt herself being lifted up.
"Whatever you do, don't open your eyes," the monk whispered in Danuja's ears.
Doing what the man said, Danuja gripped at his robes hearing what sounded like screams of both fear and pain before the room grew silent, and she felt herself being carried somewhere. Opening her eyes when she was told it was okay to do so, Danuja winced from the bright light that had hit her. She was outside.
"There. It'll be much easier to talk now that we're not in that oppressive room," the raven-haired male said, gently placing the girl down.
"Wh-who are you anyways, mister...?" Danuja asked nervously. If he knew that man who had barged into her house, was he here to hurt her the way that man had her papa...?
"Suguru Geto. You may call me whichever name is easier," the tall and slim male introduced. "The man who killed your father...Sokushi Monsuta, is someone known as a jujutsu sorcerer. He's a person with special abilities who destroy spiritual beings known as curses."
"Curses? I...I don't understand..."
"Normally a curse is formed directly from the negative emotions that flow out of humans, and Sokushi was tracking a rather special curse," Geto's features became more solemn. "Your mother, you see, was that very special curse...One who's been around for a very, very long time. And it seemed she had an ability we didn't even know about...A curse that's able to procreate with humans..."
Danuja didn't like where this was going. "Wh-what are you saying...?"
"Your mother wasn't human, Danuja. That means your only half human. Your part cursed spirit, just like her."
Her eyes dilating, Danuja started to back away from Geto. "N-no! Y-your wrong! My mama couldn't have...have been one of those..."
Pausing, Danuja recalled how she was able to see that horrible worm creature-that she now understood was a curse-when no one else could. How she was certain it was the reason Sachi had died, yet no one believed her and called her crazy or insensitive whenever she tried to bring it up...The way wounds on her body had started to heal faster or if she accidentally touched someone when she was hurt or vice versa, the injuries would change targets.
So, that was why...What made it worse, that Sokushi guy had been there for her because she was like her mother. Her papa had died because of her...
"Shh...Calm down and take a deep breath," Geto uttered, soothingly rubbing at the red and gray haired girl's back when she started to hyperventilate. "None of this is your fault. This was just an unfortunate situation that shouldn't have occurred."
"B-but its because I'm a monster that papa died...!" Danuja said through large gasps once she had managed to calm down a little.
"No, you're not. You're a unique and remarkable little girl that inherited a gift," Geto stated firmly, his hands gripping at the shaking girl's shoulders. "Many people will judge you for it, and unfortunately the majority of them will be jujutsu sorcerers...Yet those without powers like ourselves will be the cruelest judges of who you are. That's why, for now, I'm allowing that school to take you in for the time being."
"S-school...?" Danuja questioned in a drained tone; her eyes having dimmed.
"It pains me to say it, but he'll be able to look after you for the time being better than I could," Geto confessed, not looking all that happy. Standing back up, he placed his hands into his sleeves when he crossed his arms. "That strange man will be able to keep those ancient fools from harming you, at least until you're able to defend yourself."
"Can't I just stay with you...?" Danuja inquired softly. This school sounded dangerous, so why was Geto allowing her to go there?
Suguru gave a sad smile. "At the moment, it's too much of a risk. We're both being sought by them, so it wouldn't be wise to remain together...Though we'll have the chance to speak again soon. I just want you to remember, no matter what that school teaches you, don't take their words to heart. I plan on creating a new world, even one that you'll be accepted in. Just be patient and everything will work out in the end. I'll even help you find your mother."
"Mommy...You...really think you'll find her?" Danuja asked with big eyes.
"I do. And even if he's a fellow sorcerer, I'd be willing to help you get revenge on Sokushi if that's what you wish."
These words made Danuja's heart race. The idea of Geto hurting the man who killed her father oddly had a nice ring to it...yet a small voice in the back of the girl's mind told her that wouldn't be right. Her papa wouldn't want that...But what was it she wanted?
Geto had taken her hand and led her to a bench, instructing her to stay in this spot and not move. He seemed adamant that she didn't go back inside the crematorium, not that Danuja wanted to. It would just mean she wouldn't have her father's remains until someone brought them to her...
It was starting to grow late after Suguru had parted from her, and Danuja rubbed at her suddenly chilled arms. Why hadn't anyone come out yet? Her neighbors said she would be staying with them for a while until someone could find her a nice new home.
"Yo!"
The sudden voice caused Danuja to yelp, and she ended up tumbling off the bench where she sat.
"Sorry, sorry! Didn't expect you'd be that jumpy!" a man with snow white hair, who looked to be in his early twenties, apologized as he grinned down at the pale child. "Looks like I was lucky. I expected you would have been gone now, and I wasn't really looking forward to dealing with your caretakers at their house."
Danuja blinked up at the cheerful sounding man in confusion. "Mr. and Mrs. Abe haven't come out yet..."
A frown forming on the lean male's features, Danuja sat up when he started to make his way into the building. He was gone for some time before coming out with his hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes were covered with dark shades, but Danuja got the feeling something had upset him. She remained innocent to the fact that he had walked into the middle of a bloodbath.
"Was someone else here?"
Danuja looked down. She wasn't certain whether to tell the truth to this stranger.
"It's okay. I won't be mad. I just want to know," He removed his glasses, showing the most beautiful blue eyes Danuja had ever seen. It was like staring into a crystal blue ocean that left her feeling serene and at peace. And his smile was friendly, not scary or hostile.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt? She just wouldn't say his name.
"Y-yes. He left not too long ago...Um, I think he knew you'd be coming for me, and said I should go with ya..."
The man's orbs widened for a brief moment, and he looked a little distant to Danuja as he gazed off at the setting sun. His smile had returned when he placed his sunglasses back on, and he held out a hand for the unfortunate girl before him.
"This will make things easier, then. You'll be safe there, I promise, Ena-chan," At the girl's surprise that he knew her name, the sorcerer chuckled. "You can call me Satoru Gojo. And eventually, I'll be one of your teachers at Jujutsu Tech. So, let's get along, okay~?"