Qian nervously held her breath as she carefully aligned the petri dish into her field-of-view under the microscope situated before her. She rolled her shoulders back before opening a package containing a single syringe, inserting the needle into the test tube beside her to draw up the fluid.
In the dish contained the cursed user's- what was her name, Hinamori?- cells. Now contained inside the barrel of the syringe was Satoru's blood. If the cursed user reacted to his blood, then that proves her theory that the woman was not actually a cursed user, and that she's somehow obtaining cursed energy from some other source that is not her own.
Even more so, if the cells react and take on Satoru's cursed energy, that means something else is giving her power.
Another question was: who is she?Qian had tried running the sample through Japan's DNA database, but unfortunately, no hits came up. Either she had never committed a crime before, or her genetic composition may have been affected by the cursed energy she now wielded. Either way, her identity remains a mystery.
But her powers maybe finally won't. With bated breath, she gently pushed the plunger, allowing a drop of blood to fall into the dish, keeping her eyes fixated inside the microscope lens. Instantly, the dish begins glowing from the cells soaking up and radiating cursed energy.
However, within seconds, the iridescent light furrowed her brow. I knew it.
She immediately flips open her notebook, jotting down her observations. Based on how quickly it faded, the cells must be needing a consistent source of energy like… a battery providing electricity.
She paused and released a sigh. But what sort of source would that be? How is that even possible?
Suddenly, her pocket starts buzzing and she pulls out her phone, seeing a call pop up on the screen. She quickly swiped the green button. "H-Hi, Principal Yaga?"
"Qian?" His voice was solemn, and an alarm immediately sounded in the back of her mind at his tone. Something was wrong. "I need you to come to my office- it's your family. Nobody's hurt but- "
Her eyes widened in shock. A million questions began to form on her tongue, his voice drowned out by terrifying memories of the corpses scattered around her during the aftermath of a cursed spirit attack. Except this time, the desecrated faces were of her mother, father, and… brother. She quickly swallowed them and jumped from her seat. "O-Of course, I am on my way."
"No rush, before you panic, everything is-"
But she had already hung up. She frantically placed her samples in the fridge, grabbed her bag and rushed up the steps. Please let them be okay, I… She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling them burn as she raced across the courtyard. I never even got a chance to talk… to hear their voices once more, to apologize to Nii-san for-
"You want her to move? … to the United States?"
Yi-lang sighed, knowing that her son would react this way. She gently folded her hands on the surface of the dinner table, before raising her chin to face him. "They told us they need your father and I to wrap up some things, and we can't leave you behind-."
"Qian literally is finally having her life back together." Zeng crossed his arms, glancing between his parents. His father's face was stern as the twenty-one year old gave an incredulous shrug, in complete disbelief at his parents. "After being hospitalized for an entire year, missing out on school, her friends… she's finally becoming happy again and you want to take that away from her."
Unbeknownst to the three of them, little Qian was seated on the staircase, hugging her knees to her chest with tiny arms.
"It's not like we had a choice, Zeng." Chase grunted, running a hand over his worn face in frustration. "That was the deal we had made. If they call, we have to answer. And you have university, so just stay in this house and take care of it until-"
But Zeng shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "No, she stays too."
Yi-lang massaged her temples. Her son had always been stubborn, but this was ridiculous. "And who will care for her? We're not that wealthy to be able to afford a nanny-"
"I will." Chase and Yi-lang faltered, their eyes wide as they turned back to face their son. Qian shot her head up as well, craning her neck to gape at her older brother. She expected him to burst out laughing, crack his usual wry grin, joke around like he normally would. However, his face was devoid of any humor as he shrugged his shoulders, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'll do it."
"Son…" Chase gave a dry laugh, leaning forward on the table with his elbows. "I don't think you understand how difficult it is to raise a child-"
"She's eleven, Dad." Zeng met his father's doubtful stare with a resolute one of his own. "She's not a baby, I think I can manage."
"You're sure about this, Zeng?" Yi-lang knotted her fingers together over her lap nervously. "With school, and everything, I don't know-"
"I juggled part-time work, volunteering at the soup kitchen, and studying in high school… all while still landing valedictorian." Zeng stood from his seat. "I can manage just fine."
His father's expression remained skeptical. "Still… I-"
"And that's that." Zeng pushed his chair back, rising to his feet. "Well, this was a lovely chat. I'm off to bed and I'll… see you both tomorrow."
As he walked around the table, he turned the corner and began to take the stairs.
"N-Nii-san, do you mean it?" Snapping his head up so quickly, his neck made a protesting crack. He blinked at his little sister above him. "Y-You don't have to do that for me."
"I mean, yeah, of course I do Qi." He took a couple steps up and squeezed himself between her and the railing.
"B-But why?" She gazed up at him with wide tearful eyes. He gave his classic lopsided smile.
"'Cuz you're my sister." Zeng placed his arm over his shoulder, squeezing her tightly to his side. "And I'm always going to do what's best for you."
And even after her parents left, she never wanted for anything. Her brother would give her money, help cook and clean, and even tutor her when she struggled with classes. She never actually truly told him how grateful she was for him… and now- If anything were to happen to him…
Minutes later, she rounded the corner and reached Masamichi's office. She didn't bother knocking as she swung open the door, her panicked eyes searching around the room, her eyes immediately locking onto her parents, who were seated in front of the principal's desk, and her brother, who was standing beside them.
"N-Nii-san, Mom, Da-" The three of them whipped their heads around upon hearing her voice, all of them staring at Qian with a mixture of relief and joy.
"My little girl." Chase stood so fast his chair fell back onto the floor. Yi-lang gasped as she also rose to her feet, clutching her hand tightly against her chest. Zeng took two steps forward and hugged his sister tightly around her shoulders.
"Jesus, you're okay." He sighed into her hair as their parents joined their embrace.
Qian immediately returned the gesture, breathing a huge, shaky breath. "I-I'm so glad you guys are safe… I-I thought-." She peered up at them as hot tears poured down her cheeks. "I-I thought I'd never see you again and a-apologize"
Zeng tried to pull back as he regarded her in remorse. "No, Qian, we should've-"
But she tightened her grip as she took a shaky breath. "I-I'm sorry I ran away. I was just so mad, I should've come back sooner but-"
"Shh, sweetie, we're sorry for not telling you the truth." Yi-lang brushed her daughter's hair back, smiling softly. "You are an adult now and we should've been honest with you."
"But we did it to protect you." Zeng interjected, squeezing her shoulder. "You may disagree with our methods but… all of it was our way of protecting you."
Qian nodded, burying her face back into her brother's shoulder. "I-I understand, I'm willing to listen now."
For a moment, the room was silent besides the sniffles courtesy of Qian and her mother. Finally, there was an awkward cough and Qian immediately straightened, whipping her neck towards the source and blushing in embarrassment upon seeing Masamichi seated at his desk and Toshinori standing beside him with his arms crossed. As the principal cleared his throat, Toshinori simply grinned, patting his old mentor hard on the back.
"Just ignore him, he's clearly not used to any sort of affection." He winked as the older man rose from his chair.
"P-Principal Yaga!" Qian leapt back from her family, bowing profusely. "I-I'm so sorry for this inappropriate behavior, I-I just- you mentioned they weren't hurt but I assumed the worst-"
"No, no need to apologize." He waved his hand dismissively as Chase took a step forward, pulling the chair up from the ground and dusting the cushions off, before seating himself back down before him.
"Something did happen, but we're alright." Chase nodded his head towards the open seat beside him and Qian glanced at her mother, who gestured for her to take her place.
"W-What's wrong?" She cautiously sank into the chair, her eyes flickering between her family members as Zeng ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Qian… remember Hayato?" Her eyes widened as she stared up at her brother.
The hairs on the back of her neck began to prick as her heart began to race. Her best friend… could he be- "Y-Yes, why?"
"He's…" He took a moment to choose his words carefully. "...alive."
All the air left her lungs as a cold chill emanated throughout her entire body. She slowly rose to her feet, her face draining of color. "H-He is?" She took a step forward, and another, as though in a hypnotic trance. Memories of the fire, the scorching heat as she stared helplessly at the inferno that destroyed his house, her neighborhood. All those years of blaming herself for her own weakness, for not helping him more when she could've, the survivor's guilt… she clutched the front of her brother's shirt. "I-Is he okay?"
Her brother narrowed his eyes at her obvious concern. He held her hands, gently prying them off of his collar. "Qian, he was stalking our house. He tried to attack me. He's not who you think he is. He never was."
She blinked, his stern voice shaking her back to reality. "W-What do you mean?"
"He was there, watching us." Zeng explained as his brows furrowed, recalling the events from the day prior. "And when I caught him, he attacked us by summoning these leaves…"
"W-Wait…" She took a step back as she swallowed thickly, placing a palm against her pounding head from the influx of information. "H-He's a cursed user-?"
"You've always been such a kind girl, Qian." She turned her head to face her mother, who rubbed her arms, as if trying to warm herself from a sudden icy draft breezing through the office window. "You always did your best to help others but… that boy…" Yi-lang shuddered. "He had potent, cursed energy repressed inside him."
"W-Wait, was… was that why you always told me not to get close to him?" She glanced between her parents. They refused to meet her gaze as Chase nodded solemnly.
Qian shook her head in denial. "B-But he never hurt me, he was always nice to me…"
"Maybe in a way, he was, but- he seemed… troubled." Chase stroked his beard pensively. "I don't know what exactly was his situation at home but, his parents should've enrolled him in Jujutsu's schooling much sooner." He folded his arms across his chest, looking off to the side as he ruminated. "If it was something that they just didn't know existed, that would've been a different story. But I've left mail, phone calls, emails, everything; I even tried speaking to them personally, waiting for them to exit their house and talk to them… but they always gave me a cold shoulder or ignored me."
No. There's no way. Qian shook her head once more, swallowing the dry lump in her throat. "H-He was just in a lot of pain-"
"Qian, I understand your compassion but…" Yi-lang took a breath. "To tell you the truth, that boy developed an unhealthy obsession for you, to the point that he placed a curse on you and… you almost died."
Qian snapped her gaze towards her mother, her father, and then her brother. "I-I did?"
The former nodded. "A plant-like parasitic cursed spirit- it had you wrapped around in vines. You fell unconscious and, over time, it completely depleted what little cursed energy you were born with and… almost killed you. We had to get involved with the association to save you, sweetie."
Her blood pounding in her ears, she collapsed in her chair, staring at no particular spot on the carpeted floor as her blurry memories all suddenly began to clear, her mind floundering and surging to piece everything together with this newfound knowledge. She thought back to that day…
"What do you know?!" He roared, pinning her to the ground. "You know NOTHING. NOTHING ABOUT THEM."
She remembered the fire, then her parents returning home, then…
She blinked. That's right…
"I-I remember, sleeping for a while.." She mused out loud, cradling her head as she recalled her parents' relieved expressions when she woke up in the hospital. "Y-You guys say I fell and hit my head. I-I didn't understand why both of you were-" She ran a hand over her face. "N-Now it all makes sense."
"Regardless, they should've all perished in that fire." Zeng crossed his arms. "Ma, Pa, you were out of town but now that I think back on it… I don't think that was a normal fire… even with their protective gear, a lot of firemen were burned alive from getting close."
"No, it is most definitely not." Chase grunted in agreement. "Especially if Honshoji is involved, there was no way that was an accident."
"Honshoji? The cursed spirit of Time?" They turned to look at Masamichi, who had taken off his glasses, his eyes flickering to the right to glare at his student.
Toshinori shrugged defensively. "Hey, I described him to you, I told you who I saw."
"And what good would a crappy description of 'he had white hair and a 'dope-ass-looking robe' do?" The man groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he exhaled in exasperation. "If you paid ANY attention to what I taught you, you'd be able to know who he was." He jerked a thumb to his old classmate. "Good thing Tomioka and his wife were there or else we would've lost a good lead."
Qian's ears perked up at the unfamiliar name. "W-Who's Honshoji?" She interjected curiously. Masamichi grumbled under his breath once more at his old student, who held his hands up defensively before turning to the girl. "The cursed spirit of Time. Probably one of the most prominent cursed spirits throughout history." He folded his hands on his desk, regarding her with a contemplative shine in his eye. "What is the number one thing that people fear?"
Qian tilted her head quizzically. "Um…"
"And he's not talking about something like spiders, heights, or bugs." Toshinori gave her a wink as Masamichi rolled his eyes.
She took a moment to broaden her mind, thinking back to her passion, why she decided to want to work in medicine…
"...death?" She whispered inadvertently.
"Close." Masamichi's response caused her to turn back towards the man. "Humans have always feared death, but it was the concept of time that terrified people, how limited it is and how little we have."
Toshinori gave a soft whistle in awe as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, leaning back against the wall. "So it's an understatement to say he's pretty powerful."
"And for some reason, he must have revived Hayato- probably for some sick, twisted agenda." Zeng muttered.
"Or just for amusement." Chase countered as he ran a hand through his thick graying hair. "The spirit of Time has always been known to randomly meddle in human affairs for fun."
Qian turned her gaze back to the floor. "D-Do you think he could be related to these plant spirits that have been appearing? Could-" She gulped, part of her not wanting to even utter the next words coming out of her mouth. "C-Could he be… involved in all this?"
"That's what we're not sure about." Suddenly a covered medicine cup was thrust into her vision, a crimson fluid was held inside. "But hopefully you can find out."
"I-Is this his blood?" She snapped her gaze up at her brother. Toshinori nodded from the side.
"When your brother knocked him out, we were able to get a sample of his blood. I mentioned to your family that if his power involves summoning leaves, he could very well be related to the plant spirits one way or another." He gave her a thumbs up. "Hopefully you'll be able to figure something out with this."
"I-I will." Qian bobbed her head up and down earnestly, before glancing back down at the cup in her hands with a solemn expression. She swallowed nervously.
Please, don't let it be true.