If there is one thing that Suguru Geto hates, it is non-sorcerers. Ugly weak humans with no regards to how their disgusting lack of control over their cursed energy affects everyone around them. The worst part is that these humans breed like fucking roaches and no matter how many of these insects he has killed, more just seem to sprout up. Nearly as numerous as the number of curses they create.
It does not surprise him that this shrine, Higurashi, is filled with non-sorcerers as well, which is a damn shame, since they specialize in warding off evil spirits. The fucking audacity of them when they are the ones that are causing their customers to be plagued with more curses than the ones they came in to get rid of.
Scammers.
Especially the older man with his beady eyes, short beard, and hunched back. The old man should fall over and die. He thinks perhaps he should help the old man along. It would be the nice thing for him to do. His good deed for the month, if you will. Getting rid of scammers who only cause the curse problem to grow even more out of control.
The sun begins to set. He hopes to wrap this up in time for dinner with the family. The twins have been pestering him about trying out a new restaurant.
"What's the play?" Suda asks, stepping to his side with her notebook in hand. She looks around the shrine, surveying like the good attendant she is. Her hair is pulled into a taunt bun. Her purple dress is pristine, not a speck of blood on it.
Good, he thinks, she did not have to dirty herself during her mission. He knows how much it pains her to get such disgusting blood on her. Sometimes a little blood is unavoidable, hence why he makes sure to always keep a bottle of sanitizer on him in cases where a sink is too far away.
"This would make an excellent base to suit our needs. Gets decent traffic daily and they have a house on the property. I need you to work on the backend. Set it up so no one is suspicious of the change of ownership." He slants his eyes at the younger man, a family member, Geto deduces, from the way the younger man helps the older one.
"Did you two need something? The shrine is closed now." The young man approaches with a serene smile on his face. Geto's lips twitch with the urge to frown, but he pushes through and plasters an equally easy going smile on his face. It would not do to let his true feelings show. At least not yet. There is much that needs to be done. Geto tilts his head towards Suda, who nods and turns away to set up the curtain.
"I've been having a bit of a problem here lately," he replies, the same easy smile on his face as a small curse (nothing too powerful) slithers up his shoulders and readies itself for his command to strike, "you see, I came here last week and I was given a charm to help with this shoulder ache, but the ache is worse." Geto rolls his arms, faking a pained look as he steps closer to the young man. "Higurashi-san said to come back if the pain does not go away. Would you be able to assist me?" Geto looks over his shoulder and sighs. For an old man, Higurashi moves fast.
"Oh," the younger man says, his smile falters. Even blind mouses know when they are in the presence of a predator. "I'm afraid we do not have any charms on us at the moment since the shrine is closed. Perhaps you can stop by tomorrow when we are open again? Gramps will want to sit down with you if you have time to discuss a better remedy." The man rambles on, a bead of sweat drips down his brow.
The curse on Geto's shoulder leaps as the curtain is laid and lands on the man's shoulders, wrapping its arms around his neck. The man turns all shades of colors even as he struggles to get the words out.
"Just tell him that Sota told you to stop by for a consultation." Sota wheezes and pulls at his neck collar. "I think I'm coming down with something myself. So, if you would please excuse–" the words die as the curse cuts off his circulation. This time, Geto allows the smile on his face to broaden with glee at the misery of yet another disgusting monkey wilting away as they should.
If only he could rid the world of these non-sorcerers and leave only the strongest alive. Ah! What a wonderful world that would be! Nothing but sorcerers and in the end, there would be no more curses. No more misery. A joyous day that would be. Geto knows he has his work cut out for him. He ponders on how to move as the man - Sota- falls to the ground with an interesting shade of purple tinting his face.
Suda steps back into his line of view. She glances down at the corpse and claps her hands. "Amazing," she praises, "Now we won't have to clean up any of their blood."
"Yes, but this monkey breathed in the same air as me." Geto sighs and stuffs his hands into his sleeves. "Take inventory and note anything important about the property. I have an appointment with Higurashi-san and the woman." Geto hums as he walks towards the house.
Should he play the freaked-out role from seeing Sota collapse in front of him? Hm? perhaps. Or maybe he should just get it over with and be done with the situation. His body trembles with excitement. No, he should savor this. Savor killing this scammer and his enabling caretaker (or is it his daughter?). Hm. It does not truly matter, he supposes, who the woman is, since she is of monkey blood like the old man.
Geto decides to summon a semi-grade one curse, a bit overkill for the assignment, but the death will be glorious indeed. It would not do to have every person on this shrine die from an apparent choking hazard. No, there needs to be some jazz to it. Something to spice it up just because. Even if it makes Suda's job a little harder.
He bangs on the door, frantically, and yells out, "Someone help! This young man has fallen over! Please help!"
It is too bad he is not getting this on camera. Maybe next time. It would be a nice way to relax at the end of the day and review footage of how to rid the world of one non-sorcerer at a time. Even the professional baseball players review footage of their last games to see how they can improve. Geto is no different, he reasons.
The door opens and a woman with a short bob stands in front of him. Her face is alarmed. The curse energy leaks out of her like a faucet. Disgusting, filthy creature, she is. His lips threaten to curl up in a snarl at how the cursed energy continues to pour out of her. Geto is not sure what is worse. Those with no control over their cursed energy or those that have none. Both need to be eliminated.
"Who is hurt?" she questions, stepping outside, trying to glance around him, but Geto is a tall man. Not taller than his old friend, Satoru Gojo, but tall none the less. "Are you okay?"
"Daughter! Step away from that man!" Higurashi-san rushes forward with a sutra in hand. Geto's eyebrows shoot up. Oh? So, the old man has some sense to him yet. Interesting. The semi-grade one curse behind him giggles with glee at the feast before it. Come to think of it, that younger man seemed to be aware of the trouble he was in, though he continued to aid Geto despite the curse wrapping its arms around his neck. Now Higurashi-san is brandishing a sutra at him instead of trying to figure out the situation.
Hmm. The old man is more spiritually aware than he gave him credit for.
Nevertheless, playtime is over too quickly and he should just rid them of this world. No need to go back and forth.
"What are you doing?" the woman scolds as Higurashi-san throws a sutra at him. It lands on his chest, but sits there like the piece of paper it is. Frauds. Geto sighs and crooks his finger. The semi-grade curse with its four arms shoots out and grabs the woman's arms and legs. It stretches her apart, slowly, drawing out the sweet screams of one who does not deserve to live.
A beautiful symphony. He wipes a tear from his eye. Oh, never mind, that was just a speck of blood.
Ugh. He'll have to disinfect their bathroom before he can wash this blood off of him.
Higurashi cries out and throws more sutras his way, but they do nothing but stick to his clothes. What's the point? Geto wonders. Clearly, Higurashi-san is delusional. No wonder he thought his charms actually did something. Why, this old man truly believes that he has some kind of gift. For him, Geto will make an exception. Geto leaps over the mess of blood and limbs and lands in front of Higurashi-san. The older man's lips wobble with anger even as the tears stream down his face and get lost in the wrinkles.
"I understand it is not your fault, Higurashi-san." He smiles placatingly. "You were simply born weak. Useless. But fear not, your death will bring about a new age. You will help fulfill my cause, so take pride in that."
"You demon!"
Geto snarls and bashes Higurashi-san's face in with Playful Cloud. More blood splatters on his clothes and he is utterly repulsed.
"How dare you call me a demon, you vermin," he hisses at the corpse. If Higurashi-san had any sense of self-preservation, he would have dropped to his knees and begged Geto to spare him. To offer himself up for the greater humanity. But he did not, because like all monkeys, he was warped in his way of thinking and created more curses than alleviate those in need. "What a hard task I have been burdened with."
Geto freezes at the spike of energy. Energy he does not recognize. The curtain is still in place, so how did someone get in? Suda knows to ensure that no one gets in and no one gets out. He rolls his eyes and walks back out of the house. Geto nearly loses it as he steps in the pool of blood. Just great. Now his sandals are bloody and he'll have to scrub those too.
This is turning into a long day. Suda greets him near the wellhouse, but he waves her off. Whatever this is, he will handle it. Suda bows and hurries away from the area. How odd that the energy would be coming from the well house. At least this means Suda did not let him down with the curtain, but how did they both miss this energy? It does not feel cursed at all.
A woman with long black hair, even longer legs, and a short green skirt appears from the well house. On her shoulder is a quiver. He blinks at how quickly she readies her bow. So, she is the source of energy, then. But how did she hide out in the well house without him detecting her?
"Who are you!" She aims at him, her voice stern. Geto presses a hand over his heart.
What the fuck?
Is he attracted to a monkey?
He wants to recoil in disgust, but his body moves on its own, bypassing the logical side of him.
"The people," he pauses, "they've been hurt." His voice wavers deliberately as the semi-grade one curse slithers over, now that it is done mutilating the corpses even more. The woman's eyes widen and she shoots the arrow. The hairs on Geto's neck stand up as the energy whips past him, leaving behind a purifying feeling in the atmosphere. His curse turns to dust with one hit. Geto wets his lips and turns to where the dust lies. "What did you do?"
"I purified it." She lowers her bow and walks over to him. "Take me to the people." Her voice leaves no room for argument.
Purified it? How should he play this? She exorcised a semi-grade one with ease. One hit.
"Amazing. Even I would have had a hard time fighting that curse," he says, lying through his teeth. "I suspect it is the reason for the destruction. I came here to speak with Higurashi-san about his charms." He motions for her to follow him.
"Is Gramps hurt?" She speeds up, her eyes darting around. This close, he can smell the scent of honey and lilies. He leans towards her and then pulls himself back. "What are you?"
"Human."
"No. Your energy is dark. Negative. Almost like it is cursed. Have you been cursed?"
He ponders on this. Not a sorcerer then, he reasons. And yet, she did not flinch at the sight of the semi-grade one. She was not afraid. More importantly, she does not seem to be afraid of him.
"I am a sorcerer. I use the cursed energy I have to exorcise the cursed spirits." He steps back as they approach what remains of the woman and Higurashi-san. "I'm afraid I was too late." Geto lets out a big gasp.
"Mom! Gramps!" She rushes forward and then turns to him with distrust in her eyes. "You said they were hurt."
Geto feigns a look of unease. "They were beat up when I saw them. I was able to exorcise the curse that did this." He puts his hands up. "I'm deeply sorry, Miss. It must have happened in the moment I went to investigate the energy coming from the well. I was not aware that it was more than one curse at work here."
"Kagome," she says, clenching her fist around the bow. "I should have never left."
"Kagome-san, if you are not a sorcerer, then what are you?"
She wipes at her tears, but more follow. "A priestess. And just Kagome." Kagome blinks rapidly, not focusing on any one thing. "The wards must have fallen or gramps must have..." she trails off and stands with shaky legs.
A priestess with actual holy powers. His mind is made up.
"Kagome." He sinks to a squat in front of her. His face is earnest and filled with warmth. For once, in front of someone that is not a sorcerer, he does not have to fake it. "Please aid me in ridding this world of these curses, so someone else does not have the same fate as your family." He holds out a hand. She stares at his hand and sniffs back the next wave of tears.
"I don't even know who you are."
"Geto Suguru. But you can call me whatever you want." His smile is light, but inside his mind is warring with itself. If she does not agree to join him, then he might have to kill her before people like Satoru catch wind of her, and what a tragedy that would be.
"Okay, I'll help you." She ignores his hand and gazes back at the remains of her family.
Geto clenches his jaw, more upset at how his heart breaks at her refusal to touch him.
Clearly, the stench of monkey blood on him is clouding his senses.
"Welcome to the family, Kagome."
A/N: I saw the trailer for JJK Season 2 and my brain was like: write that enemies to lovers fic now! No Satoru in this chapter, but Kagome and Satoru are endgame. Andddd don't worry, I'm working on the next chapter for How To Tame :)
