Chapter Text
“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Panda said as soon as they exited the car.
Yane stood before the metal gate of the neighbouring prefecture’s junior high, marvelling at the number of buildings on the other side and the open space between each building. This wasn’t the kind of mission that could be finished within a day. There were at least as many buildings here as there were available in Tokyo Jujutsu High, but while the buildings in their school were usually one-to-two-story tall, the ones here doubled that height.
Just how many students were they housing? she pondered. With this many people gathered, especially children, cursed energy was bound to be abundant.
Yane winced. Already a few cursed spirits were flying over their heads. It was barely that late into the afternoon but the atmosphere overflowed with them. What exactly had gone on in this place to make it this way? Even Yuji’s school hadn’t been this bad and that school housed Sukuna’s finger.
“The school is closed for three days,” Ijichi explained as he handed Maki a tablet. “From our side, we’re using safety inspection as an excuse to operate. You’ll find all the information on the tablet.”
He continued as their group gathered. “We noted rumours of students dabbling in the occult, but nothing substantial came out. Before they temporarily locked the school down there was a school festival,” he said. “Things were fine in the morning but once everyone assembled for the traditional dance…”
Maki flipped through the images of newspaper clippings. “Triple suicide! A warning on mental health within the prefecture’s prestigious private academic establishment” said the title.
Ijichi pushed up his glasses. “Our informant from the area mentioned a sudden increase in the number of cursed spirits over the past twenty-four hours–”
“That sounds like there might be a Sukuna finger kept here or there within this ground,” Yane suggested but Ijichi looked unconvinced. He didn’t refute her comment, however.
“We’ve done our homework on their history, and nothing about the school suggested there might be a Special grade cursed object in there…” Ijichi rested his chin on his fist. “However, you’re right. We should be careful in case anything happens.”
“It’s not like we could make a run for it if the mission changes,” Maki argued. “We’ll just have to do our best. There are four of us anyway.”
Yane frowned. She wouldn’t mind a dangerous mission, but not if could potentially involve Sukuna. Maki and the others hadn’t met Sukuna yet. Even as a single, withering finger, he was powerful enough to overpower her and Megumi.
Inumaki nodded, “Salmon. Spicy Cod Roe. Kelp, kelp.” His hand rested on Yane’s shoulder, both reassuring and confident.
“You’re right,” Maki nodded at him before turning to check with Panda and Yane. “Splitting into two teams might be good. Helps cover more ground.”
“I’ll go with Maki,” Yane suggested, waiting for any objection or suggestion. When none came, they did a light stretching session before signalling Ijichi.
The assistant nodded. “Good luck to you all,” he said, casting the familiar Veil. They waved to him and jumped over the gate. Yane’s heart raced when the shadow of the Veil cast over their head and blended into the ground.
It’s been a while , she thought, quietly inhaled.
*
Once inside, Yane veered off to the back with Maki, yelling a “See you later” to Panda and Inumaki as though they were standing on two sides of a soccer field. She unclutched the rope dart, swinging it as the two of them walked and taking out as many cursed spirits with it as possible within her reach. Maki followed, exterminating her share as she spun her trusty naginata.
“Come to think of it,” she said. “I haven’t gotten the Slaughter Demon back yet.”
Yane paled, “Didn’t I return it half a year ago already?”
Maki nodded, swiping a cursed spirit’s body across the air before stabbing it and twisting the blade. “You did,” she said. “But Satoru borrowed it again.”
Yane stood by her, head tilted. “Gojo-sensei? The strongest sorcerer alive? He needs a weapon?”
Maki shrugged. “Who knows what he’s thinking? As long as that idiot returns it. Although I’m fine either way. If he breaks it, he pays for it.”
Yane chuckled. “Fair enough.”
She gave Maki a smile when Maki held open the building’s door. As expected of a private school. If there weren’t so many cursed spirits, it would be a place worthy of envy with its high ceiling, simple grey tiled and beige-white walls. Yane felt the surface of the shoeboxes, surprised by the smooth cut and high-quality wood. She turned to Maki. “Do you reckon we can walk inside with our shoes?”
Maki—nonchalant as she had always been—was already in the hallways, naginata across her shoulders, outdoor shoes a stark difference against the tiles. She turned around, flipping the naginata from its position to around her waist and between her grip. “Did you say something?” she flicked her chin.
Yane shook her head with a chortle, “Nope. Nothing at all.”
They went through each classroom methodically, exorcising everything they could see. After every floor, Yane activated Echolocation for one last check before they proceeded. It wasn’t difficult work but there was quite a bit to get done. No wonder they needed all the second years on a single mission.
This seemed exactly the type of mission for Inumaki though. Her heart sunk at the thought of him, and her hand went to the first-aid pocket on her belt where a reserved bottle of cough medicine lay. Yane touched the ring under the collar of her uniform dress shirt. It felt warm to the touch, unlike the metal material from which it was made.
“Toge’s parents must have liked you a lot,” Maki spoke once they reached the rooftop of the first building. “You didn’t return last night.”
Yane smiled and walked the length of the rooftop, looking for anything like the Stevenson screen at Yuji’s school while Maki scanned the horizon from the ledge. “They’re nice people,” she said and returned when nothing resembling a cursed object could be found. “Definitely cannot be pushed around though. Still, I didn’t expect it to turn into a betrothal so quickly, but this way I’ll be safe.”
Maki flinched. “A what?”
“Huh?” Yane tilted her head. Maki’s expression turned impossible to decipher, like something between disapproval and shock. “A betrothal,” she repeated, taking a few steps backwards once she sensed trouble. “Didn’t you and Panda-kun agree for me to go to Inumaki-kun’s house?”
Maki left her post, approaching Yane with the urgency she had only seen during training. “Go there, yes,” she said. “Get married… That’s a different thing, Yane.” Her eyes glazed with concern. “Toge is a good friend but marrying into his house means a lot of things. Some of them will follow you for the rest of your life.”
“I know—”
“Do you?” Maki’s eyes were flashing dangerously. Darkness grew in them, as though drawing memories from a distant past.
A few quiet seconds passed before Yane held her breath with realisation. As a woman from the Zen’ins, there must have been plenty of times talks of marriage came up for Maki. Even though she had left her clan, they had done everything in their power to keep her as a grade-four sorcerer. The Zen’in family was powerful. That same power was often used to oppress others: women, children, outcasts. Maki had been all of those things. Still, if Yane’s meeting with Naoya and the clan head had been any indication, Maki was useful to them how Yane had been a worthy investment in their eyes. It wasn’t surprising she would react this way.
But there are different kinds of strength and Yane couldn’t deny what she saw in Akari. Maybe that could be something she could finally show Maki. Yane took her hands. She met Maki’s eyes as she spoke.
“I do know, Maki. This is what I want.”
Maki’s hold tightened in Yane’s hands. The way her eyes searched for something with Yane, the way they shook ever so lightly in the setting sun made Yane’s chest ache. Every time she saw Maki, she felt what it was like to be loved by a sister.
“Okay,” Maki said at last with a weary smile. “I trust you.”
Yane grinned. “And I trust you. If anything happens, you’d tear the whole jujutsu world down just to rescue me. My knight in shining armour.”
“Damn right,” Maki laughed, ruffling Yane’s hair in a few playful swipes. “Let’s go to the next building. We’ll finish up quickly and settle down for some food. I heard the school kept a fully equipped kitchen in the cafeteria. We could use that.”
Yane nodded. She skipped after her friend, wondering what kind of food would be available in the fridge of a school like this. She would never turn down a chance to have a meal with Maki again. From the look of it, the problem with this place might only be the quantity of the curse spirits, not their level. “Would be nice if they had eggs and ketchup,” Yane said, checking her phone for the time. “We can make omelette rice together.”
Maki chuckled. “It’s not a picnic trip, you know.”
“I do,” Yane said. “But it’s been a while since we’re in a place as nice as this. Might as well make it count.”
“I guess so,” said Maki.
Her pace increased towards the building to their left and Yane followed, swinging the rope dart to clear the path. The afternoon turned into the evening by the time she and Maki finished half of their section. They were lucky none of the cursed spirits they found devoured their fellow curses and grew stronger. With the sheer number available, should they start attacking and absorbing one another chaos would soon follow. That would put quite a dampener on such a good day.
Yane took off the cap and clipped it to her belt. Summer was harsher this year it seemed. Even in her summer uniform, Yane was stuffy and out of breath from just moving around. She wiped off the sweat with her jacket’s sleeve and turned to Maki. “Isn’t this year a bit too hot?”
Maki unbuttoned her jacket and sat down on the nearby chair. They were in the cafeteria now, waiting for the boys to arrive. Yane shuffled through the matte red fridge in the room, surprised to see the wide range of available ingredients besides egg and ketchup. They could easily cook an entire feast with the ingredients before her.
“Not really,” said Maki. “I’m used to it.”
Yane laughed, offering her a fresh cucumber. “I envy you. It’s too hot for me. Maybe I could get away with wearing a tank top instead of a dress shirt for summer uniform.”
“Just ditch the bomber jacket for a vest jacket,” said Maki as she chewed on the vegetable. The crunches in the bite made the stuffy heat feel less unbearable.
Yane shook her head. “No. I think I’ll keep the jacket for now. Gojo-sensei did put a lot of thought into the design after all.” She could hear Maki’s audible scoff echoing through the room.
“You’re probably the only one who thought so,” Maki said. Yane laughed off her attitude. She and Satoru must have been sworn enemies in their past lives.
Yane drummed her thumb on the fridge handle as she went through the list of dishes they could make with the ingredients. She hummed and turned to Maki. “Do you want to wait until the boys get here before we make something to eat?”
Maki glanced over at the wall clock, “Let’s wait.”
Yane nodded and joined her at the cutting table with two cans of Coca-Cola. No matter how much she looked at it, this school was too luxurious. Everything was beautiful and in place. Everything was sparkling like that magazine Yane had frivolously picked up from the convenience store. It was a world far too removed from her own. Just like how the cursed spirits were never part of the non-sorcerers’ lives until at least one of them lost their life to those curses. It would seem the non-sorcerers truly needed people with the capability to fight and protect their daily lives. Without sorcerers, even something as beautiful as this school would continue to experience tragedy after tragedy.
“Being sorcerers really is important work, huh?” Yane mumbled to herself.
The door behind her creaked open and she turned around, greeted by Inumaki and Panda both looking worn out from their area of the mission as well. Panda looked worse out of the two of them given that Inumaki took off his jacket but Panda had to stick with his fur. Still , Yane thought. It’s fascinating that a cursed corpse can feel temperature. Her heart tightened when she realised it might have been better had she and Maki made some food to welcome them back.
Yane slipped the cough medicine out of her pocket and placed it on the table, in front of Inumaki before giving Panda a quick smile. “You guys hungry?”
“Salmon,” Inumaki croaked as he sprayed the cough medicine into his mouth.
Yane hung her jacket on the chair next to his and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. She took out a few eggs from the fridge along with spring onions and some tomatoes. Inumaki joined her at the sink, washing four cups of rice while Yane prepared the eggs. It wasn’t as though they were at the dormitory. A simple and fulfilling meal should be prioritised.
“The three kids that killed themselves,” Maki started as Yane beat the eggs. “What are the chances they were also participating in the occult stuff?”
A low hum came from Panda. “Almost a hundred, isn’t it?” he said.
Yane kept an ear on their conversation as she moved from the eggs to finely chop the spring onion. She handed the cutting board and knife to Inumaki so he could clean them before slicing the tomatoes. She whipped the onion with the egg, adding salt and pepper before speaking, back still turned to Maki and Panda. “What do you reckon they did? Hanako-san?”
“Kokkuri-san?” Panda added. “We checked the toilets on our side. Nothing that would resemble the cursed energy level of Hanako-san.”
Inumaki cut the tomatoes into hefty slices, arranging them nicely on a white ceramic plate. He moved to the fridge and took out a lettuce head, a brown onion, and a yellow capsicum. As the rhythmic tap of the knife on the cutting board became the background noise for the conversation and the lettuce groaned under the force of the blade, Yane continued their discussion. “Nothing noticeable about the cursed spirits in our area that would suggest Kokkuri-san either. But it is worrisome that so many cursed spirits were gathering. Anything higher than a ‘level three’?”
“Fish flakes,” said Inumaki. “Salmon Roe, caviar. Spicy Cod Roe.”
“You missed a building?” Maki raised an eyebrow.
“Fish flakes!”
Maki rolled her eyes at his protest, “Fine, a storage room.”
“Locked,” Panda added and Maki slapped his arm.
“Fine, a locked storage room. Happy?”
“But it is strange they kept it locked when the rest of the school is opened for us,” Yane interjected, greasing the pan. “What are the chances we’d find the reason for this sudden surge of energy Ijichi-san mentioned?”
Maki grinned and glanced over at her naginata. “Almost a hundred I’m willing to bet.”
Yane flicked a drop of the beaten eggs onto the pan, pleased to see the liquid solidify with a small sizzle. She added the mixture and flipped the edge, rolling it up before adding more liquid into the pan. Once the rolled eggs were done, she transferred them to the plate and cut them into equal parts. The plate’s ceramic made a soft clack on the wooden table where Yane placed it. Inumaki added his plate of mixed vegetable salad and Yane helped him carry the rice to Panda and Maki.
“Let’s check out the storage room after this,” she suggested as they sat down. The faster they could finish the job, the more time they would have to rest. Frankly speaking, Yane was looking for a good nap on her bed and if luck permits, some lazy time to make up for the stress from the previous week. “Thank you for the food,” she said and reached for the bright red tomato slice on the side of the salad.
Ijichi must be having his meal too. He seemed the type to eat on time.
Yane smiled, picturing them returning to the dorm along the sunrise. Even though they blocked off the school for three days, the students of this place must also be eager to return to their friends and teachers. The faster she and the rest of the group finish the job, the quicker those students can return to their daily lives. All of them could return to peace, like now, like her mission with Nanami. It had been a while since Yane felt this safety again.
She mused and took a piece of the omelette. It would be nice to support Nanami on another mission. There might be a thing or two she could learn from someone disciplined like him. All in all, he was simply pleasant to be around… in comparison to other adults she knew. Even so, she would never say that in front of Satoru.
*
“Ahhhh. It does seem fishy,” Maki said as she looked upon the building.
The campus’s lamps kept the path between each building well-lit; but for the storage room, only the dim halo of the streetlamp outside illuminated it, casting an eerie background on what was already a suspicious location. Yane frowned. This felt a bit too similar to Yuji’s school.
Inumaki held up his phone. The flashlight glared off the metal chain over a rather rusty lock. How strange it was that something supposedly so rusty had a brand-new-looking chain.
“I’d say we hit the jackpot,” Maki added. Yane followed her comment, nodding as she examined the storage room’s uninviting outer appearance. It seemed time and weather hadn’t been kind to the structure, leaving the green paint in a perpetual shade of brown.
They won’t request compensation if we break down the doors, right? She activated Echolocation. The building’s shape appeared, enveloped by the usual grimy dark cursed energy of cursed spirits.
“Yep.” Yane turned to her friends. “No doubt about it. It’s like the whole place is made up of cursed energy.”
“Caviar,” Inumaki said.
Yane held her arm before him, blocking him off. “No,” she said. “I think you and Panda-kun should stay outside… in case we need backup. Maki and I will take care of it.”
“Fish flakes!”
“I’m with Yane this time.” Maki spun the naginata. “We don’t know what’s ahead. It’s barely a building anyway.”
Unconvinced but unable to retort, Inumaki stepped over to Panda as Maki took her stance in front of the storage room. Yane sent him an apologetic smile and held up her ring, “I’ll be careful.” She readied the bow and waited for Maki.
The door rattled as Maki sent a kick at it. Night breeze brushed on their skin, sending a strange chill as Maki knocked on the door with another kick and the lock broke in half, falling to the ground. Yane fell into steps by her, bow strung as Maki pushed the door open.
Light flushed the room when Maki flipped on the switch. Yane frowned as soon as her gaze met the interior. “Is that… blood? Like human blood?”
“Hard to tell,” Maki approached the wall filled with dark brown lines. Those crooked streaks made up word after word, painted onto each other, over each other.
Yane squinted, trying to trace the words with her fingers. “Ka…gome?”
“It’s the children's song,” Maki explained. “That must have been what they were doing. Rich kids have too much time on their hands. Especially when they don’t know the first thing about the trouble a careless ritual could bring.”
Yane frowned. So far, she had seen curses arise from haunted houses, abandoned hotels, and even ordinary people simply going about their daily lives. The only one she ever saw of ignorant invocation of cursed spirits was in Sendai. And Yane thought she would never forget that until the day she died.
Now, there was one right close by to them.
Was this some test of courage going around in this school? Even the Occult Club in Yuji’s school only stumbled upon Sukuna’s finger, not intentionally seeking it out for any purpose. The thoughtless ritual these junior high students performed felt too powerful for it to be something as innocent as children’s foolish dabbling. “Panda-kun, Inumaki-kun,” she turned to the boys. Their figure showed darkly under the backlight of the lamps. “This might be worth a more thorough investigation from the school.”
“Salmon,” Inumaki said.
Yane walked to one corner of the room, examining the residual candle wax. Lighting candles and drawing words with blood, these kids really had gotten the atmosphere down to a tee. She turned to Maki. “Should we try the ritual too? I saw the energy but not the cursed spirit itself. Maybe it needs a trigger?”
Maki nodded and inhaled. She breathed out and, on her exhale, started the song. “Bird in the cage, bird in the cage. When, oh when will it come out? In the evening of the dawn. The crane and turtle slipped, they slipped. Who—”
“Who is behind you now?”
A different, distorted voice echoed through the room. Yane snapped back, catching a glimpse of terror in Inumaki’s eyes before the doors slammed shut. The air changed in an instant. Pressure sprung from the ground as it rippled.
She pulled the bowstring, aiming at the cursed spirit.
The light went out and she heard a resounding “OPEN!” from the other side of the doors. Gust rushed past her as the doors imploded, throwing themselves against the wall on her left. Moonlight filled the room and Yane released the arrow. It zipped towards the cursed spirit, drawing a painful wail.
The cursed spirit sprinted through the opening, launching at Panda and Inumaki. They took their stance, Panda readying his fist.
Yane ripped the rope dart from her belt. She threw the blade towards the cursed spirit. The rope wrapped around the spirit’s arm, pulling its attack back. The accursed thing showed itself fully in the night, standing two stories tall compared to the building next to it. It gurgled in disfigured form, resembling a grouching willow tree with clothes.
“Who is behind you now?” Its head twisted around, red, bloody eyes staring at Yane and Maki.
“That’s one ugly mug,” Maki said, rushing towards it with her naginata. The long, flowing hair of the spirit whipped towards her like tree roots, interwoven in the air.
“Scatter!” Inumaki ordered and the hair shredded itself before it could reach Maki.
The spirit roared, “Who is behind you now!?”
It swung an arm towards Inumaki, but Panda was fast. He landed a hit on its wrist, pushing the attack backwards. Even so, the spirit didn’t falter. Panda’s attack didn’t even seem to affect it.
“Shit,” Maki spat. “No response, huh?”
“We’ve gotten a big one this time, Maki,” Yane said. “We’re lucky there’s four of us here right now. Seriously. Gojo-sensei and his unreasonable missions.”
“So? What’s the plan?” Panda yelled from the front of the spirit as he kept blocking its attack. Inumaki stood next to him, downing the whole bottle of medicine.
Yane hissed. Her ideal morning was looking dicey now. Something must be done quickly. “I haven’t processed anything that big before,” she muttered. “It’ll take a day or two at least.”
“Processed? What do you mean?” Maki turned to her. “Yane, what are you trying to do?”
She mentally calculated the amount of energy needed. A bit more than what she was comfortable with but it was either that or facing a dangerous cursed spirit conjured by people’s morbid fascination. Last she faced something like that, she and Megumi nearly died. This one won’t even be close to Sukuna , she told herself.
“I’ll explain later.” Yane took a big breath and shouted. “I can take the spirit! But no promise about my status after!”
“What? No!” Maki said as she blocked an attack from the spirit and returned it with a slash. “You are not doing whatever crazy thing you had in mind.”
“I’ve got practice,” Yane argued. “I can—”
The rest of her words were cut short by the sudden loss of footing. Yane felt herself sliding across the air before diving towards the concrete tiles of the campus yard. She broke her fall and let go of the rope dart, rolling on the ground to lessen the impact.
“Yane!”
“I’m fine!” She yelled back at Maki but the sting on the side of her face suggested ‘fine’ was somewhat relative. She made for the spirit but the dull pain on her rib startled her into a halt.
The spirit swiped its arm, lifting Maki and Panda in its fist. Yane sent two arrows towards its wrist before it could swing her friends like they were mere skipping rocks. A scream escaped the spirit as it let go. Maki dug her naginata into its flesh as she slid down to the ground. Panda took a spin in the air and landed on his feet.
“Mustard leaf!?” Inumaki yelled, standing too close to the spirit’s freakishly long claws on its feet for Yane’s liking. He had his eyes on the spirit, but his attention was definitely on Yane. The longer the fight drew out, the harder for them to exorcise it. They couldn’t just let it escape the Veil either or do damage to the school’s structure for that matter. Worse… if it escaped and hurt someone outside.
Yane gritted her teeth and rushed towards her friends. “Trust me!” She shouted. “I’m not going to die!”
“Fish flakes!”
“That’s not the point, you idiot!” Maki shouted at the same time.
“We can’t just fight it ‘til morning!” Yane retorted. “I’ll visit Ieiri-san as soon as we’re done!”
Maki drove the naginata into the spirit's left foot. It launched an attack at her but missed and Maki grabbed the end of Yane’s rope dart, twisting it around her arm and holding it down.
“Fine!” She shouted.
Yane nodded. “Inumaki-kun, command the spirit to stop moving. Panda-kun, protect me if the spirit tries to attack during my processing.”
With their confirmation, Yane darted forward, jumping over the cursed spirit’s flailing arm when Inumaki shouted at it to stop moving. She reached the spirit’s leg, slamming her hands onto it as she drove Yahiro’s energy through its slimy skin. From the way it screeched, Yane could tell the plan was working. Inumaki’s Cursed Speech had kept it in place and Maki’s effort to incapacitate one of its limbs made it easier for the energy to spread and cover the spirit’s body.
Yane watched the cursed spirit shrink as the energy enveloped it, breaking it down and directing it back into her body. As the foreign energy flowed in, her knees buckled. The new energy was heavy and prickling. It burned while it travelled, heating Yane from the tips of her fingers to her arms, throat, and then downward. It was as though she was the one being processed instead.
“I knew it! You—” Maki rushed forward, catching Yane and then scooping Yane into her arms. “Come on, we’re heading back.”
Yane chuckled. All strength melted away from her. She settled in Maki’s hold and groaned when the right side of her rib pressed against Maki’s palm.
“What?” Maki frowned.
“I pissed you off huh?” Yane tried to smile. “Sorry.”
“Don’t do things you’ll have to apologise for then, idiot.”
She snorted, “Okay.”
“I’m making that blindfold idiot clear your mission tomorrow—”
“I’ll be fine tomorrow—”
Maki glared, “Wonder who was it that said it would take one to two days.”
Yane groaned. “I was hoping you didn’t hear that.”
They reached the car in haste. Ijichi barely needed to look at them. He opened the door stepping to the side to let Maki through. Yane let her lower her into the back seat.
“Are you gonna stay still tomorrow or should I complain to Toge?” It didn’t sound like a joke when Maki said it.
Inumaki approached at his name, holding the rope dart in his arms, and looking eager to check on Yane. His face was indecipherable. Not quite in pain, but not quite normal. Yane paled. Her hand moved to the ring. The rings will act like a beacon to inform you about each other’s location and condition. Satoru’s words rang in her mind. Yane turned to Maki, “I’ll be in my bed and resting, ma’am.”
“Good,” Maki smirked and ruffled her hair. “If you recover fast, I’ll get you some Häagen-Dazs tomorrow.”
Yane held out her pinky and Maki locked her pinky as well. “Promise?”
Maki nodded. “Promise. Toge will be paying for that anyway.”
“Fish flakes!” Inumaki protested to all of their laughter and Yane leaned on his shoulder, allowing herself to drift off when Ijichi started the car. It wasn’t quite the homecoming she had expected, but they all made it out safely. Two days weren’t a big price to pay all things considered.
She felt Inumaki’s hand on hers and gave a small squeeze.
She was home again. Things were fine. Not perfect, but good enough for her to be content.