WARNING : I am not a native speaker. One of my reasons to re-write this fict is because I want to practice my English even just a little. So, read it with a grain of salt and please enjoy yourself.
—OoOoO—
Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami
Oregairu by Wataru Watari & Ponkan8
Genre : Supernatural, Action, Freindship, Slice of Life, and Little Bit Romance
Summary : Not the romantic comedy of youth that he experienced, not the quiet and normal life of youth he had. He never missed his day-to-day cursing his strange and annoying life. He is Hikigaya Hachiman and this is all his complaints as a jujutsu sorcerer.
Chapter 18: Yukinoshita Haruno's Fate Part I
—OoOoO—
Wednesday, 27th of June, 2018
The promised day had arrived. That meant this was the last day Hachiman would have the privilege of getting involved with Yukinoshita Haruno's life.
He smiled bitterly. The various things he did together with Haruno left an imprint on his mind more strongly than he expected. He remained adamant in his opinion that Haruno was a terrible, troublesome woman and spending the day with her was really exhausting. However, that didn't mean everything he had been through with her was just bad things.
Hachiman couldn't help but acknowledge that a new colour left by Haruno was enough to leave an indelible mark on his life. Her twisted nature was indeed troublesome, but her dynamic could provide fresh air in his stuffy life.
Deep in his heart, Hachiman did regret that this day would come. However, he had no other choice. It was indeed short journey between them, but it was one of the best experiences he had. At the last junction that connected their paths, Hachiman hoped that everything would end in the best way.
"That damn gorilla is late," Hachiman grumbled.
Today, Hachiman rushed straight to Narita City after spending a few minutes on formalities in the clubroom. Since Yukino understood Hachiman's situation after exchanging words last Monday—of course, he didn't say a word about jujutsu stuff—she allowed him not to participate in the volunteer club activities today.
Around half past three in the afternoon, Hachiman departed from Sobu High, walking toward Image Station. From there, he took a train on the Sobu Line and got off at Sakura Station in Narita City. Then he switched to Narita Line until finally, he arrived at this place, Shisui Station.
This wasn't his appointment place with Haruno, but his place with Maki. Before meeting Haruno, he still had to do a briefing with Maki to discuss what scenarios might occur and how they could handle them.
Their appointment time was 4:15 pm, but now it was 4:16 pm. That meant Maki was one minute late!
Hachiman currently wore the summer uniform of Sobu High, complete with the school bag he still carried. So, Maki shouldn't be difficult to find him in front of the station.
And yes, only a few seconds later, Hachiman saw the figure of a girl with a ponytail that irritated his eyes. The girl was wearing a uniform that was very familiar to him, the Tokyo Jujutsu Tech uniform. However, her hairstyle was slightly different from his memory.
In the past, Maki combed her bangs to the side. Now she had her bangs flat in front. In addition, for a year, Maki closed her eyes to practice her other four senses with the help of binding vows. Now the blindfolds had been removed, and she wore glasses as usual.
"I was wondering what you'd be like after a few months, but it disappoints me to see you're doing well, Hachiman."
"You are right. I'm also a little disappointed that no one has stitched up that despicable mouth of yours until now."
Maki smirked at him.
"Isn't your mouth getting more rotten? Or maybe it's your eyes? Nah. Actually, everything on you looks rotten, to be honest."
Hachiman smiled faintly and replied, "Really? Isn't that great? If you multiply negative by negative, the result will be positive. Meaning, I am filled with good things, right?"
"What a strange confidence. Are you sure you're not Satoru's son?" Maki replied while fixing the weapon bag on her shoulder.
Suddenly a twitch appeared on his temple. Maki, who realized that, laughed amusedly.
The conversation between these two teenagers may be looked like a dialogue when two eternal enemies face each other. However, believe me, Hachiman and Maki were not like that. Well, they both declared that they hated each other. Still, after seeing this closeness, you wouldn't deny that these two had a closer relationship than best friends but fiercer than eternal enemies.
"Forget it. So, what do you want me to do right now?" asked Maki
"As I explained on the phone yesterday, I need your help to keep an eye on us from a safe distance out of sight."
Yesterday, Hachiman had time to tell Maki about the problem that was bothering him. Of course, he didn't tell her about his date with Haruno and only said that there was a clubmate's sister who was obsessed with the supernatural world.
Hachiman said that he couldn't ignore it, as this was a Yukinoshita, whose father was one of the VVIPs of the national cabinet who had the right of protection from the association and was the older sister of a clubmate. Of course, that excuse was bullshit. In fact, the reason Hachiman accompanied Haruno today was purely out of concern.
However, he certainly couldn't have said that in front of Maki, or else she would have mocked him for an entire year.
"So, you want me to keep an eye on them while you play it safe and hide your identity?"
Hachiman nodded and replied, "If there is anything, I evacuated them first and will knock them unconscious if needed. After that, then I will go to your place."
"I still do not understand. Seriously, why don't you just watch her from afar instead? Besides, how dangerous is this place?" asked Maki.
"I want you to be near us so that if something goes wrong, I can evacuate them immediately. As for the level of danger, there is no confirmation. A few months ago, an urban legend appeared in the tunnel, but there was no strong cursed spirit activity upon investigation."
Maki sighed at that explanation.
"Then why bother asking other people for help?"
"Better to be on guard than sorry, right?"
Maki knew that wasn't the real reason. She had known Hachiman for more than a year, and she knew, as long as it wasn't a special grade cursed spirit, Hachiman would have no trouble dealing with it. Hell, she didn't even know how strong Hachiman had grown now.
The last information she heard was that Hachiman had managed to kill a jujutsu sorcerer from China, whose strength was considered at first grade's peak.
So, with those considerations in mind, Hachiman couldn't have had any trouble if his main objective was to secure the Yukinoshita family's eldest daughter. In other words, there was a hidden reason behind his words.
"You didn't call me here because you needed help, did you?" Maki asked straightforwardly, "You asked for my help because you were afraid that your identity would be exposed. This Yukinoshita, you don't want her to know your identity not because you want to restrict her from the world of jujutsu, but because you're just afraid that she thinks of you as a terrible creature, right?"
Hachiman was silent for a moment after hearing the ponytail-haired girl's deduction. Maki's statement really hit the mark. He repeatedly denied reality and thought Haruno's safety was his first priority. However, as Maki said. If that was what Hachiman wanted, he could do it without the help of others.
In other words, he worried about Haruno, but that wasn't why he asked Maki for help.
He had seen how his father, a mere mortal, left the family. His father was afraid because all his family members were cursed energy users. He was afraid because he would have to coexist with the cursed spirits as an ordinary human being. He was also scared when he saw his two children had monster-like abilities.
That bitter experience with his father was now deeply rooted in Hachiman's heart. From there, he realized that ordinary humans were not destined to be with jujutsu sorcerers. Ordinary humans shouldn't meet at the same intersection as jujutsu sorcerers. Ordinary humans should not share their fate with these cursed humans.
At first, Hachiman didn't want to get involved with Haruno because Haruno was troublesome. However, right now, he didn't want to get involved with Haruno because that was the nature of ordinary humans and jujutsu sorcerers. If he had to choose, he wanted to be remembered as an ordinary human by Haruno in the end rather than a terrible sorcerer.
"Shut up. If you don't want to help, just leave. I won't force you," said Hachiman
Maki looked at the boy carefully. She realized that this guy before her was a complicated creature. Like any other sorcerer, she knew that Hachiman had his own problems too. And as a friend who share a fate as a cursed exterminator, Maki knew what she had to say.
"Leave you? How could I just pass up an opportunity where you would owe me something?" Maki replied with a smirk on her face.
—OoOoO—
Six people of each different stature were now gathered in front of a tunnel mouth that looked abandoned for a long time. Three girls in their 20 were the most conspicuous among the five people.
From the very end was Nogizaka Chika. She was a long black-haired Youtuber with 400k subscribers. The girl, who was familiarly called Nogichi, wore a jumper that looked bigger than her body and short jeans, which were only 15 cm long above the knee.
At the other end was Ayase Aya, a girl with short hair that only reached up to her neck. The girl didn't pay much attention to her appearance. She was just wearing a tracksuit and pants, which were all blue. Although not the person who created this YouTube account in the first place, Ayase was one of the people who contributed to growing this account.
Meanwhile, in the middle, the centre of all attention was Yukinoshita Haruno. The girl wore light grey tight denim pants with a few rips adorning her thighs. Meanwhile, she also wore a short-sleeved turquoise shirt, which was a little big in size and had two buttons on the collar.
The rest, the three boys who followed them, were the crew Nogizaka Chika brought with her whenever she was going to record.
"It's 4:40 pm, can your friend come on time, Yukinoshita-san?" asked Nogizaka.
"He's definitely coming, don't worry."
"But I still can't believe you're going to be on this record. What's more, you brought someone too," Ayase said, "Is he the same guy who came with you at the seminar yesterday, Yukinosohita-san?"
Haruno laughed softly and gracefully at the words of her classmate.
"That's how it is. He quite likes horror stuff, but you might find it hard to frighten him."
"I'm a little curious about this guy. I mean, you two being alone all the time on campus last Saturday, made almost one faculty go crazy, you know?"
This time it was Nogizaka who spoke.
"Yes. I saw a lot of people giving the guy a murderous look," Ayase added.
Haruno was also aware of the rumours circulating around the campus about her. She was caught spending time on campus with a guy, invited various reactions from other students. Most thought that Yukinoshita Haruno had finally found a new boyfriend after a long time, while others were envious of the person with Haruno.
Usually, Haruno would feel uncomfortable with such gossip. However, she turned out to be enjoying the gossip more than she thought. The reason was that the frequency of boys looking for face to her was drastically reduced, and that made Haruno relieved. She might sound like a ruthless woman who took advantage of the situation. However, she felt that there was no disadvantage between her and Hachiman, the main reason being that Hachiman was not a student of Chiba University.
So, there was no desire for Haruno to clear up the misunderstanding, at least not until Hachiman himself requested it.
"By the way, how about we go inside the tunnel one more time to check on the sets we've installed?" Nogizaka offered to her crew.
Haruno raised an eyebrow and asked, "Didn't you say you did it an hour ago?"
Nogizaka nodded. She understood the question because Haruno was new to the industry.
"Sometimes, the set that was already installed wouldn't work while we were recording. In fact, it is not uncommon for a property to fall due to being blown by the wind or something. So, we'll have to do double work if we don't check it before recording."
Haruno nodded understandingly at the explanation. She then looked at the mouth of the tunnel, staring deep into the tunnel's darkness.
Actually, this tunnel was not abandoned for a special reason. This tunnel was a road that went around the hills and the only road that connected the cities of Narita and Tomisato in the past. However, after the roads began to be built massively after the 2nd World War, the old roads began to be abandoned a lot.
After the path that cut through the hills and directly connected Narita Town and Tomisato with a much shorter distance, the existence of this tunnel began to be gradually abandoned. Not to mention the rapidly growing effect of public transportation in Japan.
"If you think about it, our last video was like that too, right?" complained Ayase while pouting her mouth.
"Hahahaha," laughed Nogizaka in response, "Who would have thought that one of the cameras we installed on the tree would be taken by a crow at that time?"
Haruno listened to the conversation carefully. She also realized they had to work extra to get videos with a limited crew and as natural angles as possible. Regular workloads were not the only thing they faced. They also still had to ensure repeatedly that the set of recording locations was in perfect condition.
"Relax, Yukinoshita-san. We've checked this place many times, and there's nothing out of the ordinary, I swear," said Nogizaka.
"Yes. but this place has a completely different atmosphere, anyway," Ayase chimed in, "Ah, I didn't mean to scare you. I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that. It's just, that this place really feels scarier than any location we've been to."
Haruno smiled kindly at that explanation. She would probably agree that ghosts didn't exist if it was her old self. If it was her old self, Haruno couldn't be in this place with all this bullshit. However, after witnessing with her own eyes the events on the masquerade party at that night, Haruno was forced to accept the concepts she thought were mere fairy tales.
"Well, this tunnel has gotten less and less frequent after World War 2, though. So, it's only natural that the atmosphere is this gloomy," Haruno replied,
The eyes of the shoulder-length short hair girl once again turned to stare deep into the dark tunnel.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with checking again. Okay, I am in," continued Haruno with her decision.
Nogizaka, who was the leader of this project, clapped her hands several times to get the attention of the rest of her crew.
"Okay. We'll go in one more time before shooting later. This is the last rehearsal. So, make sure everything is in order, okay? We'll be inside for five to ten minutes, after which we head out to meet Yukinoshita-san's boyfriend."
The brief instructions were heard clearly, so no questions were asked.
Finally, the group of six walked into the tunnel. As the group leader, Nogizaka was in the front row and next to her was Ayase, who was walking parallel. Behind the two of them was Haruno. The other three guys walked a little further back and wide to inspect the corners of the tunnel.
In the dark and damp atmosphere of the tunnel, two flashlights became the lighting they currently had. So that their feet did not stumble or slip, they walked at a fairly slow and careful pace.
Haruno actually wanted to ask something. However, she was quite aware that the people here were doing their own thing. As a guest who was allowed to browse without complicated conditions, Haruno realized that this was not the place to start a chat.
They had already walked quite a distance into the tunnel. No one had measured exactly how far they walked, but it seemed to be around 110 meters.
Nogizaka, walking in the front along with Ayase, stopped in her tracks and breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing her stop made the people behind her stop too.
Nogizaka turned around and faced her comrades, "Phew I'm glad there is no problem at all."
Hearing that, everyone—except Haruno—breathed a sigh of relief and began to express their own opinions. Most were discussing how the recording procession would be.
"This looks a lot more normal than I thought," Haruno commented.
Ayase turned to the girl with a half disbelieving looked.
"Is that true? I mean, I know ghosts don't exist, but don't you think this place is too … something?"
To be honest, something like this wasn't enough to frighten Haruno. After seeing a thick wall suddenly crushed with nothing hitting it at the masquerade, Haruno didn't think this empty haunted place was scary.
"Well, I've been in a place that really scared me, anyway," Haruno replied, remembering the night of the masquerade.
"Oh, can you take us there, Yukinoshita-san?" asked Nogizaka enthusiastically.
Haruno laughed bitterly at that question. However, before she could answer, one of the crews of men behind her preceded.
"Uh, what is this?" he said after picking up something from the asphalt.
The man beside him approached and observed the object he was picking up.
"What's this? A doll? Is it made of leather?"
The third man took the object from the first man without asking permission and observed it.
"Isn't it shaped like a shrivelled human?"
The discovery of something that attracted the interest of the girls. However, now that they remembered that they had to go out to meet suspected Haruno's boyfriend, who might be coming soon, they had to hold back their curiosity.
Nogizaka clapped her hands again, calling for the attention of the rest of her crew.
"Okay. I want to see that thing too, but we have to get out now. We'll rest for a while and then—."
Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly got hit by something from her side. It was extremely fast and made a loud thud when Nogizaka was got hit by the unknown.
It took them a few seconds to process what really happened. Until Haruno broke the silence.
"Flashlight. Pointed the flashlight at Nogizaka-san went away."
One of the men obeyed what Haruno said.
There, they all witnessed a terrifying creature. A creature with two bent legs and four hands on each side.
Their gazes turned to two smooth white feet still complete with shoes, which were now under the strange creature.
"Nogizaka-san?!" Haruno said a little loudly.
However, there was no answer at all. Instead of getting an answer from the girl, it was the strange creature who turned its head.
They could now see clearly the front of the creature. The mouth was full of irregular fangs, there was only one ear, and the hair was only one line down the middle. Ugly was the softest thing they could say to represent the creature.
And what's worse, in its mouth full of fangs, the creature was seen chewing something with long black hairs and flowing fresh blood.
They all knew that. The hairstyle in the mouth made it clear that it was Nogizaka's head cut. The creature had eaten the contents of the girl's head!
"SmARt. I wANt tO Be A SMarT kiD."
Ayase, who witnessed that, immediately vomited the contents of her stomach. Meanwhile, Haruno quickly grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her.
"Run."
Haruno whispered softly, which only the group of humans could hear. However, before they could run, the man holding something picked up from the asphalt earlier suddenly felt something strange in his hand.
"Uh, what? What's with this thing?"
He looked at the thing that began to swell violently here and there quickly and randomly. Frightened, he threw it on the ground.
Unfortunately, the object immediately turned into a creature like a bony human with an oval head like a fish. The creature that had just changed from a shrivelled doll devoured and hit the man who threw it away and fell to the ground.
"AAARGH!"
That loud scream stirred all of Haruno's nerves. This time she didn't care about anything anymore. All she could think of was pulling Ayase out of here as quickly as possible.
"RUN!"
The two remaining men ran after Haruno from behind. However, the creature that ate Nogizaka's brain dashed on one of the men. He couldn't dodge it because it was so fast in his eyes. He got overwhelmed by the strength. The only thing he could do was close his eyes, hoping that this was just a bad dream.
Unfortunately, the reality wasn't that sweet, and he felt excruciating pain as the sharp fangs pierced his skull and began eating his brain.
Haruno, couldn't run properly because she ran while pulling Ayase. She was overtaken by the only man in their group.
However, suddenly from the ceiling of the tunnel, another creature dropped right above the man. This time the creature has one eye, with a head facing backwards, and an anus that forms something like a large, sharp spear.
As the creature plunged directly above the only remaining man, his body was torn from head to groin and split in two with a rough cut.
'What the fuck are they? I didn't think the ghosts would be this brutal.'
Haruno believes in supernatural beings after what she experienced two weeks ago. However, she didn't think the ghosts would be like the ghosts in Hollywood movies, which would prey on random humans. She believed in Japanese mythology, such as Youkai, Oni, or Ayakashi, that attacked people under certain conditions.
Haruno had even re-learnt a lot about the mythologies in Japan and found out why humans were attacked by them. And in this tunnel exploration, Haruno was sure that she and her friends had not violated any taboos.
The other two creatures that appeared last were still playing with the corpses they had just killed. While the brain eater began to monitor its new prey. Its eyes locked onto Haruno. With an above-average speed, the creature shot toward her.
"i WaNT To bE … sMaRT!"
Because of that scream, Haruno knew that something was after her. At this rate, continuing to run would only end in vain.
Therefore, Haruno pulled Ayase's arm with all her strength and threw the girl at random. With short preparations, Haruno mounted her fighting stance. With good intuition, she twisted her body and legs for a spinning hook kick.
The kick hit the side of the creature's jaw. If the opponent was a normal human, it was a kick that would instantly knock down the opponent. However, this time the opponent was a creature she had never even seen.
Yes, the kick made the creature stagger to the side, but it wasn't anything fatal. However, Haruno didn't plan to stop there. Haruno again took square steps. She turned around again, using the momentum and then launched a powerful spinning back kick.
Unfortunately, Haruno's leg was caught, and with a less power, Haruno was thrown by that creature.
Not giving Haruno time to recover, the creature immediately sped up and pinned down Haruno's body. She still had time to hold the head of the creature about to eat it.
'Ugh, what the fuck with this strength?'
Unfortunately, Haruno's physical strength could not withstand the creature's physical strength. Her mouth grimaced in pain, the muscles in her hands tightened, and the veins in her neck seemed to enlarge. Beads of sweat began to fall. All the muscles in her body felt like screaming in pain because they couldn't stand the weight anymore. Her bones seemed to be breaking at any moment.
Haruno was scared. She wanted to cry and scream as loud as she could. However, she refused to give up. Surrender was a word that had never even crossed her mind.
Unfortunately, passion alone would not be enough to keep you in the world of jujutsu. Talent and strength in jujutsu sorcery were the main requirements that could guarantee your safety in this world. And Haruno didn't have it at all.
The creature's mouth drew closer to Haruno's head, and the woman was powerless. Most humans would probably turn their heads to the side, close their eyes, or maybe both.
However, Haruno refused to do that. If indeed she was going to die here, she would accept the death with open eyes. She didn't want to took her eyes off, because that would only show her regret. Yes, Haruno didn't regret it at all. Instead, she felt satisfied, knowing that there were still many things she couldn't easily do in the world.
Even when the God of Death's scythe was about to cut off her head, the fire in Yukinoshita Haruno's eyes would never be extinguished.
Crash!
Blood splattered everywhere after the sharp object pierced the head and almost rained down on her beautiful face. However, it was neither Haruno's blood nor her head. That was the head of the creature!
The sharp object shot quickly and strongly. So strong, that the creature's body was pushed up several meters. Haruno's eyes widened in surprise. She turned her head to the side, in the direction where the creature was.
'Spear? No, it's a naginata.'
Haruno saw a naginata with a long reddish-brown hilt with white fur separating the blade from the hilt.
She then saw a silhouette darting, jumping, past her. Because it was dark, Haruno's vision wasn't very clear, but she was sure it was a silhouette of a woman with her hair in a ponytail.
Haruno, who was lying down now, got up and sat down. She wanted to thank her, but just as she was about to say those words, a thumping sound not far from her side interrupted.
Haruno reflexively looked toward the source of the voice. There she discovered that a strange creature had a long sharp tip on its ass and had been buried into the tunnel wall. The culprit was a man who carried Ayase on his shoulders like a sack of rice.
The lack of lighting was again a hindrance to Haruno. However, it was a fairly familiar silhouette in Haruno's eyes.
"This is why I told you not to go to a place like this, Haruno-san."
"Hikigaya-kun?" Haruno muttered.
Hachiman walked slowly toward her with Ayase on his shoulder. However, if the lighting in this place was a little better, Haruno might be able to see how Hachiman was holding back his disgusted expression.
"Uuh, damn. Why does this girl smell like rotten eggs?" Hachiman complained.
Yes, Haruno couldn't see his disgusted expression, but she could clearly feel that there was a strong disdain in his words.
"Hikigaya-kun, be careful. There's one more—."
"I know," Hachiman cut in quickly, "The one with the fish head, right? I already dealt with it when it was about to attack your friend."
Hachiman put the unconscious Ayase by Haruno's side. Actually, he was in a dilemma. His plan to hide his identity had gone awry. He didn't want his identity as a jujutsu sorcerer to be exposed. However, he had no other choice at this time.
"Hachiman, this thing didn't disappear."
Maki's short words caught his attention again. He didn't just reply but scanned the two creatures he had just defeated. And as she had said, not a single one had disappeared.
"What? How could that be?"
"Even the special grades will disappear once they are exorcised. In other words, these things are not cursed spirits," Maki replied as she walked closer to Hachiman and Haruno.
Haruno actually wanted to ask something. No, she wanted to ask a lot of things. There were many questions lined up in her head right now. However, she couldn't calm down due to the adrenaline and had trouble getting the words out properly.
Hachiman lifted his head toward the tunnel's ceiling after he sensed something.
"They are coming."
Maki nodded slowly. She let go of her weapon bag—with one more weapon on it—and placed it near Haruno. Meanwhile, her right hand now tightened its grip on her naginata.
"What the hell with that amount? 40? No, their number might be up to 50," said Maki.
Hachiman stared at the swarm of creatures with a sharp gaze. He then glanced at Haruno, whose body was still shaking.
"Haruno-san, step aside against the wall and don't make any loud noises or movements that attract attention. They are all within my illusion range. So, as long as you don't do anything sudden, they won't notice you."
'Range, what?'
Haruno wanted to ask that. However, she realized that this was not the right time. Her senses were still functioning properly, and they told her to obey the boy's orders.
Meanwhile, Hachiman and Maki, who saw that the two victims had already secured, stared at the crowd of strange creatures they thought were not cursed spirits.
"Hey, when was the last time we worked together? Just the two of us I mean," asked Maki.
"When Geto Suguru humiliated us so easily, and I hate that memory. Why?" Hachiman replied with an annoyed grin.
"Want to rewrite that damn memory?"
He smiled at the question.
"Sounds good."
With no more words spoken, Hachiman and Maki could understand each other's. Their minds were both synchronized to one goal. Their intentions fused into the same ambition. The gazes were straight to the same direction. And with exhalation from the mouth, which was vaguely like exhaling steam, they shot off at the same pace.
If you put a mediocre sorcerer into the same group as Okkotsu Yuta, it was obvious that it would automatically become a strong team. Regardless of the person, if they were on the same team as Yuta, that team would be strong.
However, a strong team did not mean a solid team. If you were on a team with Yuta, what made the team strong was Yuta himself, not the complementary abilities of the members. The team would fall apart when one of the members was too strong. If one of his members was too weak, he would only become a burden. Even if their average strength was the same, keeping them balanced was not always possible.
Basically, a solid team was a team where every member could be in harmony. A solid team was a team whose members could cover their respective shortcomings.
Of the many teams in this generation, more specifically, the duo in this generation, Hachiman and Maki was one of the best.
Maki and Hachiman moved at a synchronized pace. They constantly ran toward the crowd of strange creatures they didn't think were cursed spirits. Meanwhile, on the other hand, dozens of creatures who saw the two teenagers rush also had the same enthusiasm to attack them. They moved wildly, but their goal was the same, eat Hachiman and Maki.
As the two camps drew closer to only seven meters apart, Maki and Hachiman simultaneously stomped their feet on the ground vigorously to increase friction and reduce their speed drastically. Gray smoke came out along with their rubbing feet.
Meanwhile, the front row of the group of strange creatures was excited to see the two teenagers whose speed was reduced. Maki and Hachiman, who reduced their speed, and a group of strange creatures that increased their speed cut the distance drastically.
Finally, less than two meters away, Maki and Hachiman completely stopped while the strange creatures jumped forward and tried to lunge at them. Unfortunately, Hachiman and Maki swiftly jumped a few meters back, so the attacks of the strange creatures did not hit them.
Because the strange creatures didn't move in a proper rhythm and relied solely on instinct, they were now overlapping irregularly as they were about to lunge at Hachiman and Maki. Seeing that their opponents were at a disadvantage—irregularly overlapping—Hachiman and Maki ran, circling them from two different sides.
When they initially knew that the enemies were ahead in the darkness, they would be surprised to find enemies suddenly appearing on both sides. This was the point that the two teenagers were aiming for.
Maki pointed her naginata aside and ran as fast as she could. The blade pointed to the side and, carried at high speed, succeeded in slashing the strange creatures standing on the outer side. Some would immediately die from being hit in the head, but two or three survived by not being slashed at a vital part
This movement may be looked simple and did not show beautiful choreography. However, when fighting a much larger number of opponents, effectiveness was far more important than choreography. And this was what Maki did.
On the other hand, Hachiman mounted his stance and struck the side jaw of a strange creature with a cursed energy reinforcement punch. Hachiman, whose cursed energy felt disgusting and coupled with a punch aimed at the opponent's jaw, knocked out most of his targets in one hit. However, there was a creature that was twice as large as their normal size, making it difficult to hit its jaw.
Hachiman jumped back to take a stance. Then he picked up a leftover marble that he had brought to school. He ran and simultaneously flicked a marble which he had imbued with the cursed energy. The marble shot quickly toward the creature's head, and the creature reflexively directed its hand to protect its head.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Hachiman slid through the gap in its legs. He then kicked the left knee from behind. The kick made the body sway with its left knee resting on the ground. After being at least slightly equal in height, Hachiman grabbed the side of the creature's head and pushed it aside. There, already Hachiman's knee was about to greet the jaw.
The hard knee that crushed the creature's jaw ended its life.
'Witnessing they can be defeated this way, are they really not cursed spirits?'
Even though he had witnessed that they did not disappear when they were killed, Hachiman was still reluctant to admit that they were not cursed spirits. He still wanted to assume that they were a new type of cursed spirit that might not disappear immediately after being exorcised.
However, if there was such a thing, it must be an extremely powerful cursed spirit. So, a punch that struck the jaw and made the brain shaken won't be enough to exorcise them. Unfortunately, after Hachiman tried that method and found that they could be defeated that way, Hachiman had to accept the fact that these creatures were not cursed spirits.
"If they are not cursed spirits, what these damn creatures are?" cursed Hachiman, who was annoyed.
Anyway, one of the reasons why Hachiman did not use his knife was because the knife was broken when he fought Quanxi, and he still didn't buy the new one.
Hachiman continued to hit a weird creature using a punch amplified with cursed energy. It wasn't a punch with full force. It was just a punch with enough force to fly the creature toward Maki.
She, who received a dispatch from Hachiman, swung her naginata diagonally upwards, splitting the side of the creature's head. Seeing that three more shipments were coming in sequence, Maki turned her body 360 degrees and swung horizontally. The strange creature had its chest wide open and splashed a lot of blood.
With a pause of less than a second, Maki swung her weapon diagonally sideways to rip the stomach of the second strange creature. She then thrusted the tip of the hilt into the third strange creature's mouth and crushed its throat.
The two teenagers continued to dance to a coherent rhythm in the dark. The impactful sounds of the naginata's slashes and punches became the music that accompanied their dance. If this was an orchestra stage, what Hachiman and Maki present was the perfect symphonic mix.
When Hachiman stopped his steps, about four strange creatures were already attacking him simultaneously behind him. Seeing this, Maki threw her naginata at Hachiman. The boy caught it well. Without the slightest lag, he turned 180 degrees while slashing at the naginata diagonally, which inflicted gaping wounds on each of the four creatures' stomachs.
Rotate 180 degrees and swing the naginata diagonally. That means there was a force on the naginata called the centripetal and centrifugal force. When Hachiman released his grip on the hilt, the centripetal force collapsed, and the naginata flew to the right, following the direction of the centrifugal force.
Meanwhile, on his right—four meters away—was already Maki with a minus tempo, half a second faster than the naginata Hachiman released. So that when she caught the naginata, she had mounted her stance, and all that mattered was slashing the naginata's eyes diagonally to more than 90 degrees.
The surprise attack managed to kill five strange creatures—that wanted to attack her—with ease.
Maki and Hachiman then approached, with a lot of blood sticking to their bodies.
"How many have you killed?" asked Maki.
"20."
Maki smirked and replied, "22. So, I'm the winner."
The corners of Hachiman's brows twitched instantly at Maki's one-sided statement.
"The four you killed were because I sent them to you. Technically you only get 18 and you lose."
"And you kill four using my weapon, didn't you? So, I'm still the winner," Maki replied with a shrug.
"We're still not done, though."
The remaining eight strange creatures showed their doubts seeing how solidly the two of them worked together. The common sense of these creatures was dead, but their instincts were still functioning.
On the other hand, Haruno stared in amazement at the action she witnessed. Haruno had at least three black belts in martial arts, judo, kickboxing and taekwondo. She had watched sumo or MMA several times. However, none of the fights she had ever seen was as impressive as the two teenagers' fight.
Their fight was like in a movie. However, their fight did not contain the choreography that had been prepared by the crew, but a fight that came purely from pure fighting ability, combined with intuition and experience.
'Those strange creatures are even stronger than humans, but Hikigaya-kun and that girl can defeat them easily. What the hell are they?'
Haruno, deep in thought, didn't realize that the manhole beside her had opened. A pale white hand that was flexible like a snake came out from the hole as if there was no malice.
Haruno didn't notice. Meanwhile, Hachiman, who noticed an unknown cursed energy activity, and Maki, who felt an unpleasant feeling, immediately turned to face Haruno.
Haruno wondered why the two teenagers suddenly turned around with a panicked expression. However, without waiting for even a second, Haruno got the answer. A pale white hand caught both her ankles. No, it couldn't be said one hand anymore. The arm was indeed one, but it then gave off two branches, forming two hands.
"AARGH!"
Haruno shouted loudly and fell to the ground. Hachiman immediately darted to Haruno's place. However, the girl had already been dragged into the sewer without resistance.
Without a second thought, Hachiman immediately jumped into the sewer, leaving Maki, who still had to face the them alone.
—OoOoO—
This place was dark, as if nothing circulated in it. There were no words to describe this place other than emptiness. This place seem to have no ground, but strangely, you could stand here without difficulty.
And Hikigaya Hachiman, landing smoothly inside this unfamiliar place,
There were no drains, musty smells, and nothing to indicate that this place was an underground culvert.
Hachiman had a bad feeling about this, which he hoped would not come true. He looked up, seeing the hole he had entered. Surprisingly, there was no hole there. Everything was covered again by this boundless darkness.
'Innate domain? Seeing that there is no weird sensation on my body, this means that it is still incomplete Domain Expansion.'
Hachiman again cursed his fate to be involved in the fight inside the domain. The last time he was trapped, he was almost finished off by Hijikata Toshizo.
Hachiman sensed something with strong cursed energy from behind. When he turned around, he found a cursed spirit with the form of a flawless human.
The cursed spirit with long lakeshore blue hair had several stitches running across its face. On the right side of his face, there was a stitch from top to bottom, which goes through his right eye, and a diagonal stitch across his nose. The cursed spirit also appeared to have two distinct irises, one grey and the other pale blue.
"Humans are strange creatures, aren't they? They keep coming to this place even though they know it's a haunted tunnel," said the cursed spirit, "Well, I don't mind anyway, because I get a lot of experimental material."
Hachiman's expression hardened when he saw the cursed spirit. He was angry not because of what the cursed spirit had said. Hachiman was angry purely because of what he was seeing right now.
The cursed spirit's hand was currently gripping the head of a woman. The woman fell limply on her knees. Her hair fell down while her head was gripped by the creature. Haruno's pupils were currently shrinking and shaking, as if her brain was in a state of intense shock. Her mouth was gaping so that some saliva dripped from it.
—To Be Continued—
Author Note: After the last three slow chapters, now the plot moves forward again. to be honest, i write this chapter in hurry, especially in the fight scene, so i don't have time to double check. i hope the quality won't drop and if you find some mistakes, please do let me know.
Here, I would like to say this is a big reason why the previous two chapters focused on developing Haruno and Hachiman's relationship.
As I've said several times in previous author notes, Haruno is not just heroine for fanservice. She also plays an important role as a plot device to connect the Oregairu verse with the Jujutsu verse, which I think can't be contested by other available characters right now (exclude Hiratsuka, Iroha, and Komachi). The one who can do it must be a crazy (by jujutsu standards), have a big influence on every character in Oregairu, and have wide connections. And that character is Haruno.
I already mentioned it in chapter 15, though. The person Hayama likes is Haruno (a reference from LN: Another route, aka Yui's route). And Miura liked Hayama. And in Hayama's group, there is other characters like Ebina, Tobe, Yamato, and Ouka.
Haruno is Yukino's sister, and Yui is Yukino's friend. On the other hand, Shiromeguri admired and attached to Haruno. During the cultural festival in September, Sagami became one of Haruno's admirers. Overall, Haruno could be considered an honorary alumnus at Sobu High School.
In the high society, Haruno's father is a member of parliament, and her family has a business empire based in Chiba.
This shows how broad Haruno's connections are. The connection is not only linear to one person or to one group but to various circles. In other words, if Haruno's position was shaken, then the other parties connected to Haruno (either directly or indirectly) would also be shaken.
That way, by bringing Haruno into the Jujutsu verse, almost every major element in the Oregairu verse would also be included. However, to do that, I had to build a relationship between Hachiman and Haruno first so that Hachiman could have the motivation to interfere in Haruno's affairs.
Just in case you don't remember Maki's appearance in this fict, she used to wear a blindfold. You can check chapter 1 (or chapter 2 if you count the prologue).
Well, for the villains in this chapter, those who follow jujutsu can already guess, right? You also know what a strange creature that can't disappear after being killed by the cursed energy is, right? If you guys don't follow Jujutsu Kaisen and don't know who or what they are, don't worry, it will be answered in the next chapter.
Anyway, i am sorry i can't answer the reviews one by one as usual. this week and maybe next weeks are kinda hectic to me. but don't worry, i've read all the reviews and i am glad to have readers like you guys. and thank you for those who answer my question on last announcement.
So, what do you think about this chapter? And thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. Please leave your review for this chapter because your review is my encouragement. See you in the next chapter and stay safe.