Chapter 35

The next day…

Wasuke was out with his mother and sister Towa. They were getting new clothing since they was out growing their current outfits… with the training he has been doing, he has been tearing his clothing more often than he cares to admit.

His lessons have come a long as well, Kiyoshi goes with him and Towa on their lessons with Sukuna. Despite how difficult he is to work with, he breaks down the concept of using curse energy rather well. He's a little blunt, but doesn't sugar coat things the way parents do.

Something about that makes the lessons stick all the better.

But there was an interesting notion happening. Both he and his sister have control over gravity as a technique, at the same time, Wasuke is good at erasing gravity from an object. Towa on the other hand can increase it, the two have struggled with the other concept but it's a work in progress.

As they were shopping, Wasuke was looking about, but has started to notice curses as of late. Before, he would notice fleeting black smoke, now he is starting to see the curses manifest.

One happened to be targeting a little girl too.

It was a long and twisted looking thing, but he also heard about children going missing in this area.

"You are but children, and yet are entering the world of sorcery. You must be made aware of what occurs around you, know what is curse activity and what isn't." Sukuna said as one of their lessons. He gave examples and went over a newspaper with them.

Despite this day and age, Sukuna is able to read the paper, but pick up on what is said within the print. "Humans are not aware of curses, those that are, are very limited to my understanding in order to keep a population from going insane or falling into a state of decay. That's another lessons for another time. But read what is written, look for key words used to describe a situation, news story or missing persons. There are various words that let you know if it is curse or human activity."

He deciphered that within a day. One of the newspaper clippings he had them read was about children going missing in this shopping district very suddenly. But the stories stopped recently, meaning the curse has been destroyed or biding its time.

It's clear it was biding its time.

After all, it made its move the moment the mother turned her back and released her child. The curse swooped in and grabbed the little girl. It began to float down, when Wasuke used his technique. He can focus on an object and have it levitate just enough off the ground to take notice. In this, he used it on the little girl, just as she began to scream!

In that moment, Wasuke jumped as the curse's head suddenly burst! It turned to black dust and smoke before vanishing. The little girl was dropped and cried but was unharmed.

But, what killed the curse?

Wasuke approached and saw a sewing needle of all things, yet, it was imbued with curse energy.

"Good eyes, child" he heard someone whisper behind him.

Wasuke jumped back as a woman bent down and picked up the needle. She tucked it into her belt and gave a wink.

"Wasuke!"

"Mom!"

His mother was quick to grab him, but she took notice of the woman. "Who are you?"

The woman lowered her head. "I am sorry I didn't mean to startle your child." She raised her head but leaned in and whispered. "I didn't realize how talented he was too… you must be proud."

His mother suddenly backed up and held Wasuke back. She didn't trust this woman the least bit. "I'm Yuko Ozawa…"

#

There was no reaction from this woman who once more, lowered her head. "My name is Yorozu Kashimo… if you like, may we speak outside? My husband is waiting for me out there, and we can sit in a public spot?"

The woman was oddly brash, at the same time. This could be a trap.

Wasuke began to place himself before his mother, before he could speak... "Sure, give us a few minutes please…"

Kiyoshi spoke up.

He was lingering, but he always accompanies mom when she is out with his siblings. It's his rule. At the same time, he was listening in on everything this woman spoke. She only lied about one thing, and that was her name.

Yet the moment this sorcerer's eyes came upon him, she lowered her head. "Thank you for the privilege of your time," she said with great sincerity and left. She did exactly as she said, she waited off to the side where there was a small pavilion where people could sit and eat if needed. But there was an odd man with her… that's her husband?!

"Kiyoshi…" his mother whispered.

"I think we need to hear her out," he said gently. "The fact remains she stopped a curse attack in broad daylight without hesitation… that's not something sorcerers who came after dad would do. Acceptable losses, that little girl would be as good as gone otherwise…"

"Big brother…" Wasuke whispered. "Is she bad?"

"She has only said one lie, and that was her name… and it only vibrated just slightly. So her name is fake, but given this day and age it's understandable…"

"Should we speak with them?" his mother asked.

"I think we should, I'll let you know if they are being truthful."

#

They sat at a table.

Kiyoshi peered at the two sorcerers who were also looking at him with great interest. "This is a little awkward, I admit. But it's not every day we see potential talent like his… she has it too, doesn't she?" the man asked with the odd points in his hair.

Kiyoshi nodded. "They are twins but at the moment parallels of each other." Kiyoshi explained.

Suddenly, he began to look at the twins intensely. His eyes were gentle, but Kiyoshi could tell he was looking for something. "Polar opposites…" he muttered. "I think that the consideration one has to think of here is this. Sorcerers who are twins are a curse in of themselves for the energy is split between them… I don't see that here… meaning what one can do the other should…"

"Sorry, he gets like this when he sees someone working on their methods." Yorozu whispered.

"Are you teachers?" Kiyoshi asked.

"We like to consider ourselves to be… oh right the reason why we are here… ahem!" the man cleared his voice. "I'm sensei Kashimo, I run the school as principal and my wife serves as vice principal. We are wondering if perhaps your children would be interested in enrolling? Here is our card, you can come any time, no call needed. Bring friends if you have friends and all are welcomed. As well, there is a binding vow entrenched into the grounds, no one will harm you when you stand on our grounds." He vowed.

"We are going to be starting up the school again soon, in the next three months we are aiming for our grand opening. Please, consider it. You have wonderful and talented children, we will like to help them reach their greatest potential…"

"Then what?" Kiyoshi asked.

They looked to him oddly. "Then what?" they asked.

"Yeah, before when you were in these schools, they sent you out on missions and what have you. Many died on these so called missions…"

They nodded seriously to this. "That… doesn't happen until the technique is established and we have parental consent." Sensei Kashimo explained. "If any student is on such a venture… they have at least four teachers with them. We take into factor the danger, the elements and the battlegrounds. Students need to learn this, but we are not going to throw them to the wolves in learning to do so!"

He nodded to their words. "Thank you for your time." Yuko said. "I will speak with my husband about this."

The two stood, lowered their heads and thanked them for their time once more. When they were gone, Kiyoshi turned to his mother who appeared rather breathless. "Are you okay mom?"

She nodded. "I just felt as if the air was knocked out of me…"

"They are powerful, they were trying to be mindful of it." Kiyoshi explained. "But mom… they spoke the truth."

She sighed aloud to this, perhaps she doesn't need this stress right now. It's bad enough that the office is demanding Kiyoshi finish his schooling at one point or another.

"Let's go and talk to dad then…" he said.

His mother agreed. "But first, your siblings need new clothing. We do have to hurry up. I don't trust your father too long with a toddler."