The right side of her body remained human, but Qian's entire left side was fibrous with thick stalks of thorns twisting around each other. Her glasses had disappeared and her dark hair fell onto her face, almost concealing her glowing-red left eye. A gaping hole was torn through the left side of her ribcage, though it was quickly sealed closed by the tendrils wrapped tightly around each other. Her right shoulder, however, had a deep gash; blood trickled down her fingers and dripped onto the pavement. She roared, revealing a row of razor-sharp fangs, before retracting her monstrous arm viciously, revealing a grotesquely sharpened spear, the thorns at the tip ripping off bits of tissue and muscle fiber.
The woman screamed in pain before she threw the girl off of her with one of her vines. She scrambled to her feet, gripping her open chest, as she tried to run away.
"I can't… what- what is she?!" She spluttered as she leapt over the rubble, looking behind her in terror. "I need to get away for my healing to start-"
However, Qian immediately dropped down in front of her, releasing another deafening roar. The woman stumbled back, her eyes wide in terror.
"No- NO!" She shrieked, falling on her back. She raised her arms in fear.
Suddenly the two sorcerers jumped in between them, facing Qian.
"Qian STOP!" Nobara yelled, holding her hands up defensively. "You can't kill her, we need to ask her questions!"
Qian snarled, shaking her head violently. "MUST…DESTROY…"
"She's already down! You defeated her, everything's okay now!" Yuji cried, cautiously outstretching his palm while taking a few cautious steps forward.
However, the movement caused Qian to snap her gaze on him, rearing her head back, she rushed forward with a violent screech, her monstrous arm flying forward with the thorns aimed directly at Yuji's face.
"ITADORI!" Nobara cried before suddenly, the movement stopped. Yuji fearfully glanced at the girl, only to see Qian's right eye well in tears, her body trembling as she desperately clutched the deformity with her good hand.
"R-Run!" She hoarsely cried. "I-I can't… hold it… much longer!"
She shrunk back with a scream as she covered her face with her right hand in pain.
"Qian!" Nobara shouted but before she could reach her, a body flew in between them, throwing his fist deep into the girl's stomach.
Qian croaked in pain before doubling over, falling on top of the man's arm.
"Well. Look at me, having impeccable timing today." Satoru drawled, carefully lowering the unconscious girl onto the ground.
"Gojo-sensei!" The two students shouted in relief, running up towards their teacher.
"Where have you been?!" Nobara whined, throwing punches at the man's back in anger.
"I was stuck in a plant ball." He grinned upon seeing the two's perplexed faces. "I'll explain later. Now then-" He turned to the cursed user who was attempting to escape by crawling on the ground.
In two quick strides, he stomped on the pavement before her, halting her movements. She slowly raised her head, trembling with trepidation.
He coldly stared down at her. "I'm going to need you to come with us-"
Suddenly, there was a sound of shattering glass and they looked up to see the veil burst open.
Faster than they could blink, a flurry of leaves swooped down to envelop the woman, forcing Satoru to leap back.
"What the-" Yuji yelped in surprise upon seeing the mass fly back into the sky. The three of them craned their necks to see a young man holding her in his arms, a wooden mask covering his face.
"Kurofiru-sama…" The woman murmured in relief, before turning away in shame. "I-I failed, I'm sorry."
"Save your strength." He stated firmly. He peered down at the three sorcerers, glancing at the unconscious girl beside them. His golden irises flickered briefly as he narrowed his eyes upon seeing her face, before he disappeared into the night sky.
"Hey! Get back here!" Yuji shouted, to no avail. He punched the ground. "Damn it."
Satoru grinned darkly as he stared at the empty sky. "Interesting."
"Sensei." He turned to see Nobara kneeling beside Qian, whose body appeared back to normal. She had shrugged off her uniform jacket to cover the girl.
He frowned and walked over, bending down to check her pressure point.
"It's faint but… she'll be fine." He muttered, turning his head to look around. "Where's Megumi?"
"Over here!" Yuji called, running over to where the boy laid and reaching down to heave him over his shoulder. "He's unconscious but alive."
Satoru nodded and lifted the girl in his arms. "Let's head back- there's a lot we need to figure out."
—-
"She WHAT?!"
Satoru grimaced as Shoko's screeching voice pierced his eardrums through the receiver on his cell phone. He sighed, pressing his thumb down on the side of the device to lower the volume, before returning it close to his ear.
"I said: she transformed into this..monster…thing. Well, partially." Satoru explained. "Does she have some hidden cursed technique that I don't know about?"
"Ugh…I told her it was way too dangerous. I can't believe she used it."
"Used what?" He heard her sigh before frowning. "Shoko, what have you guys been doing?"
There was a pause before she finally spoke. "Qian was able to isolate some cells from whatever remained of the bodies we've been analyzing. She was only able to collect a small volume, and really only tested it on a single mouse model but… she must've injected herself with it."
"What the fuck?!" He rubbed his face in annoyance. "Why would she do such a stupid thing?"
"She didn't have a choice." The man tilted his head to see Megumi by the doorway, his shoulder and leg wrapped in bandages.
His teacher regarded him solemnly. "What do you mean? Also, you shouldn't be moving around."
The boy ignored his request and limped over to sit on the couch across from him. Satoru placed his phone down on the table between them and pressed the speaker icon.
"She said she would only use it if she had to." Shoko interjected on the other end. "What in the world happened?"
"I was about to die." Megumi stated firmly. Satoru gritted his teeth as Megumi recounted the events that occurred earlier in the night.
"Sensei was trapped, and Itadori and Kugisaki were occupied." He gripped his thigh with his good hand, squeezing it in frustration. "I was cornered. She did what she could to save me."
"Yeah but she could've killed you all." Satoru growled, raking a hand through his hair. "What the hell was she thinking?"
"Satoru, cut her some slack." The doctor's voice was stern. "You pressured her into this, you were constantly beating her down by telling her how she was weak and a burden."
Satoru glared at the phone, as if his old classmate was there. "I was only telling the truth."
"No, you were being selfish and egotistical." Shoko retorted.
"Still doesn't excuse how dangerous she was." Satoru argued, crossing his arms. "She was out of control."
"She wasn't though. She stopped herself." He raised his head to see Yuji standing by the door.
The man frowned. "You shouldn't be on your feet."
"Yeah well, there's a lot we need to discuss." The pink-haired boy replied, plopping down next to Megumi, who flinched from the sudden movement. "Ow."
"Sorry." Yuji mumbled, raising his legs to cross them together on the cushions.
"Yuji, what did you say?" Shoko prodded.
"She did attack me, and was about to do some serious damage… but then she stopped herself, told me to run." He clarified, scratching his bandaged cheek. "It was definitely scary, but she was strong."
Satoru pinched the bridge of his nose before releasing a sigh. "Alright. Well, let's go over what happened. You guys said she brought out three of those plant spirits at once?"
Yuji nodded. "I think they were the same ones that we've been encountering for the past few months."
"And it looks like that cursed user was able to control them, or at least they obeyed her orders. Which could mean that Qian's theory was right, they were created by someone and that person has to be the woman we fought." Megumi cupped his chin in thought. "But then, who was that guy who saved her?"
Satoru sighed. "Too many questions, with too little answers." He turned to his phone. "Shoko, you should probably get a team here to clean up the mess. I presume you want to keep the bodies?"
"Yes, and will do. I'll be there tomorrow." She then hung up.
The sorcerer turned to the teens. "Let's get some sleep. We all need it." He then noticed the bandages on both their bodies.
"Wait, how did you guys get treated?" He asked. "Did Adalaine call for a doctor?"
"Hm? Nah, she went to bed after helping that old guy to his room." Yuji chirped. "Qian did. She's fixing up Nobara right now."
Satoru's eyes practically bulged out of his skull. "She's doing what?!"