Author's Note: The next chapter may take more time due to personal events that require my attention. I hope you enjoy the story and remain patient for the next chapter. Thank you.
Chapter 4
Josefu stepped back, shaking his head. 'Those curses…' Josefu thought angrily, 'Of course, these forces are so tactless that they would tip off Kenjaku!' Enough. We must talk now. Josefu's head perked up, listening intently. What you have done now is collect an adjacent perspective. The first of many that we will supply you. Collect them all, and you will have one of four keys to the exit portal. Josefu's mouth hung open. 'Four?!' Josefu thought, 'Why would you do this and not tell me? You've told me the objectives before!'
We have withheld the information to ensure you produce the most entertaining journey for our domination. 'You know that I will never let that happen!' Josefu brooded. And that is why it will be entertaining. Your struggle to open and locate the portal before we take control will be an intriguing game. If it is any consolation, we will not do anything to hinder you directly or indirectly. 'Ok… But why are you even bringing out these perspectives? You all are omnipresent! What's the point?!' Josefu brooded angrily. We wish to witness your reactions to them, of course. Why else? Josefu grumbled as he turned toward Jujutsu High. Before you move, we must let you know that for every adjacent perspective you collect, the next attack you make afterward will have half power. The more perspectives you collect without attacking, the more weakened hits you accumulate. "Why?!" Josefu bellowed, causing the birds to scatter. It's just an extra challenge for you to work with. After all, if everything is straightforward, it will get boring quickly. Josefu cursed at this blight on his well-being. 'Well, what are the other objectives? Do they have drawbacks, too?' Josefu pondered. You will gain more information on a need-to-know basis. Goodbye for now. 'No! Wait!' Josefu thought worriedly. Yet, the forces left Josefu with his thoughts.
During the following fifteen days, Josefu and Megumi started attending classes together. Megumi's boring personality was something Josefu was more than happy to bounce off of for a spin, using the conversations between him and Megumi to build a rapport with him, trying not to get too close to his sensibilities. During this time, Josefu used his abilities to detect cursed spirits regularly, allowing Megumi to use his ten shadows technique to dispatch the curses quickly. The second and third-year students were dealing with other matters, so Josefu never met them. One day, Josefu and Megumi get a mission with two parts. Megumi will retrieve a cursed object from Sugisawa Third High School, and Josefu will enforce a perimeter so no curses will interfere with Megumi's retrieval.
After arriving and maintaining the perimeter for a time, Josefu heard Megumi yell, "Hey You!" Before Josefu turned, he dodged a sprinting boy. Josefu recognized it was Yuji Itadori, causing his eyes to widen as he saw him run. 'Wow…being able to see this for myself is different when comparing it to the manga…' Josefu pondered. It was afterward that Josefu noticed a shining, blue object on the ground shaped like a piece of a broken mirror. Once Josefu touched it, the forces stopped time and spoke directly to Josefu's mind. Excellent. You have discovered the second of your labors! The blue object before you is a portal shard. One shard will appear at every significant event in this world's narrative, save for the emergence of you-know-what. 'Why him in particular?' Josefu thought. We need his reaction to be slow, natural, and organic to his senses, not sudden and immediate. That abomination will throw a wrench into things if he notices you immediately. 'Do you all fear him?' Josefu pondered. Don't be foolish. We could end him in the time it takes for you to blink. We merely don't want our fun spoiled.
'Ok,' Josefu thought, 'So, what's the downside for this?' If you miss a portal shard and get to the end of the event, we will forcibly reset things back to the start. This process will undo any progress you make in collecting for other objectives during the event, and you will have to relive every part of the event. No one else will remember what happened unless we get into their heads. However, we know how you feel about that. Internalize it as extra motivation to find those shards. After all, you can't sense them. And remember, if you die, we win the game, so don't try dying during these events expecting us to reset them, ok? 'I understand,' Josefu confirmed. Good. Time will continue now. The forces allowed time to flow again and left Josefu alone.
Turning toward the sound of Megumi's yell, Josefu saw Megumi running up to him. "I'm guessing the guy who was running has the object?" Josefu asked, masking the shock of the forces enforcing their new rules. "Yes," Megumi answered, "I can take over from here." "What about my part of the mission?" Josefu asked. "Your part was to provide a perimeter around the school while I grab the seal. Now that the seal is away from the school, you can stop enforcing a perimeter. Besides, you're likely going to have to fight off the cursed that are roaming around." Megumi answered. Josefu retorted, "You sure you don't need backup? We can't go home until we complete the mission." "I'm sure. Still, you'd better stick around in case a curse emerges," Megumi countered.
Megumi left, and three minutes later, Josefu noticed a curse hanging around the school and exorcized it from behind, avoiding a nasty brawl. After looking up from the exorcized spirit, Josefu noticed the movements of a greater curse moving around the school and pursued it. What followed was another fight that Josefu managed to end with his base curse energy due to his prior combat experience. Before coming to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, Josefu had been through multiple wars, conflicts, and harrowing experiences, all of which left lasting scars he worked through and endured to get through the many jumps between dimensions the forces placed him into. The process hardened Josefu's mind and soul, making what curses do on the regular look like child's play compared to the darkest images that danced around Josefu's mindscape.
Later that night, Josefu saw Megumi and Yuji running toward the school and was about to join them when his cursed energy, which he was using to sense curses, picked up yet another curse that was speeding toward the school. The curse was the size of a one-story building and held immense destructive power. The curse stopped two meters from Josefu and bore down on him, smiling as it glared at him. To Joesfu's horror, the curse possessed a purple glow and purple eyes. Meet our little pet. He was a shrimp before we powered him up. The forces chuckled at Josefu's reaction to the sight before him. It will run. You will follow and defeat it, or it will add entry points into this world that will give us an advantage. 'Why are you telling me this?' Josefu pondered. We wanted to make this fair for you so we do not hinder your progress in the game.
The curse ran off, and Josefu ran after it, ending up in Kyoko, where it attempted to ambush Josefu three times, causing Josefu to intuitively know where the curse would appear for the fourth time, causing his Fire Tyrant ability to activate. Josefu manipulated the fire to reinforce his limbs, and just as the curse jumped out, Josefu punched it into oblivion, giving a blank stare as the curse burned. 'Fire Tyrant… The perfect name for this curse I bear,' Josefu reflected. Josefu returned to the school in five minutes. Yet, before he approached Gojo and Megumi, he saw the orbs of an alternate perspective waiting for him. After absorbing the alternative perspective, he saw the events of his exorcism of the forces' pet through the eyes of one of the members of the Kamo family, which stunned them. The Kamo member ran to the Kamo household to tell them what transpired. This conversation would likely travel to the ears of the higher-ups. The actions taken by this man would likely cause the Jujutsu elders to take a greater interest in Josefu in the future, which Josefu despised. Shortly, Josefu saw Gojo and Megumi walking towards him and prepared himself for the conversation.