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Up in the mountains, nestled between giant trees was a compound with a traditional grandeur.
Unknown to the ignorant and quirked individuals of the world, this building housed a group of people that practices techniques that predate quirks.
They roamed in the time when the sun sets, only showing themselves to the heroes that left the comfort of the light. A mystical society that only a few had the privilege to know.
These people didn't have quirks, they had cursed techniques, they didn't have villains, they had curses and curse users and they live far more horrifically than their quirked counterparts could ever fathom.
They are called Jujutsu Sorcerers and their job is to exorcise curses before they bring harm to humans.
One sorcerer, the strongest, was currently walking into the main building. He vanished at the entrance and barely a second later reappeared in one of the upper rooms of the building.
Young, White haired and blindfolded, the sorcerer stood in front of an older man surrounded by plushies.
The man's name is Gojo Satoru and the person he's talking to is the principal of Tokyo Jujutsu high.
Neither of them knew that this meeting and subsequent events paved the way to a formal contract between the Jujutsu sorcerers and the heroes.
" We have a problem. " Satoru declared to the room.
The old man grimaced.
" Grade two curse, on the girl and several grade two's and three's wandering near her house. Too many curses attracted to one ordinary place. "
The Principal sighed, pulling the report book toward him. He picked up the ink pen while one of the stuffed toys surrounding him stood on its legs and walked to the nearest shelf.
Satoru watched the toy as the principal wrote down the order for a new mission.
" Did you know that something like this was going to happen? "
Satoru smiled at that, slowly tilting his head to stare out the window, " I wouldn't be the strongest if I don't predict something like this once in a while. " He replied gloatingly.
Principle hummed.
" Why them? "
Satoru frowned, thinking about the information he had found, " I found something out, recently."
" And why are you asking for a week? "
" I have a suspicion. "
" So you sent that child to snoop around. "
At that Satoru laughed, he collected the completed and outstretched order , not that he needed it but technicalities.
" Don't worry ", he reassured him, walking to the door wavin the form, " That child has been taught by the great teacher Gojo Satoru after all."
An annoyed sigh followed him out.
Satoru pretended to not hear it.
Megumi cursed his teacher out for the umpteenth time.
He had gone for out of city missions, but this was stupid.
He doesn't have the energy to go and interact with hero loving people. And definitely not live in a city filled with too many heroes.
Walking around with skin tight, colorful suits, entertaining their adoring fans, arresting pickpockets and calling it a day while hiding under the umbrella of that man who calls himself the " Symbol of peace".
Even Gojo sensei wasn't arrogant enough to take on the responsibilities of a country on his shoulders, and he is literally invincible.
Megumi sighed and leaned his head against the window, face scrunching up in distaste when the car passed another billboard of a hero.
" That's Hawks, the number three hero, he's quite charming and the one on that detergent commercial is wash, no one knows if that's a costume or if it's his real face. "
Megumi looked out the window at the billboard in question, Nitta San moving on to explain about another hero.
Megumi noticed that compared to the outskirts, the city had a large number of mutant quirks. The only mutant quirks he has seen was when he accompanied Gojo sensei in one of his missions, the victim had deer horns and another had scales on her elbows.
These ones though have full fledged animal bodies and other features, some even having objects for body parts.
They probably have no cursed energy but visually they look too much like curses, and that's putting him on edge.
As they rounded another road and drifted into the ongoing traffic, Megumi's attention was caught by a gigantic screen perched on a shop front.
It was broadcasting the visuals of a flashy fight happening inside a stadium. Even Megumi, with his limited knowledge of heroics knows what's being shown.
And about that.
" Isn't the victim a UA student? " He asked Nitta San, who seemed surprised about him starting a conversation.
" Ah yes, she's a recommended student. Her father runs a very successful business for support items."
" Hmmm"
" Did you see this year's sports festival, I think she fought? "
" No, I didn't "
" You could watch it. You may have to stay near her, you know, strike up conversations and everything. " Nitta San's reflection on the mirror looked encouraging. He ignored it.
" I will ask the routine questions " He said as he took out a tablet and pulled up Herotube, looking up her name and typing it in.
" Yes you should, but you could also talk to her, she's the same age as you " Nitta San sounded very encouraging, he wondered if Gojo sensei ordered her to annoy him.
He found the video, though the views are much lesser then the other ones and it's less than a minute.
It's… bad. She got defeated in mere seconds and it's clear that she had no combat ability, which is… .
Aren't they heroes?
He clicked on the next video, which seemed longer than a minute.
This one was slightly better, the green haired one knows hand to hand combat while the purple haired one went out in just one move.
Maki San would have an aneurysm if she saw this.
And how did the green haired kid break out of whatever control that was, or maybe he was faking. But he came close to the edge..
But megumi doesn't have time to figure out how hero brains work.
He scrolled down the list of videos, searching for the girl's name.
He didn't find one but there's a thumbnail with the girl and her team in a weird stance that was vaguely similar to him. He glanced at the title beside the video, UA cavalry battle full in hd.
Cavalry battle, the games they played in middle school, though nobody wanted to team up with him and Tsumiki was angry with him.
He stopped that thought right there. Ignoring the slight tightening of his chest, he focused on the mission.
They have left the main road, now moving along a heavily walled imposing road. Megumi could see the tops of trees behind the wall, he guessed that the estate must be bigger than his school grounds.
Ding
He picked up the tab, an alert already flashing bright red at him, Ijichi sans face popping up near a voice note.
" Second grade curse, spike in cursed energy near the girl. Third floor, second window. "
" Fushiguro kun, the main road to the house is just around that corner, " Nitta San pointed.
" Understood "
The car screeched to a stop near the turning point, and Megumi slid down the seat and was out of the car in no time. He ran to the big gates, where security was already appearing. Calling to the shadows, he summoned Nue and flew up, hearing the shouts of the security and Nitta san's loud good luck.
Megumi willed Nue to go faster, thinking about the video that he just saw. Her quirk is impressive but despite the endless ways with which she can use it, she limited herself for some reason.
Megumi is frankly reminded of himself before the Yasohachi bridge attack.
But she's weak, really weak and if they are late, she will be dead.
Tsumiki and Itadori's faces flashed in his mind and Megumi is not going to let another innocent person get hurt or worse.
Not again.
Shame
Guilt
Anger
Confusion
She wrote down the words, fingers shaking. A fortnight ago she wouldn't have named them, too caught up in her classwork, trying so hard to catch up to her peers, so that she can finally say she is worthy enough for that precious seat in class.
She was doing her best, even after her lackluster internship. Studying for her tests, helping others to study, inviting them to her home ( taking pleasure in their need for her, on their dependence), ignoring her classmates who only talked about her body, going beyond everyday.
But it's still not enough.
She's not enough.
All her efforts were as flimsy as the shield that cost her that match.
That made her dad ever more distant.
Her shoulders hunched down, one hand gripping her hair, she muffled her tears into the other, refusing to glance at the mirror, to witness her desolate state.
She had tried, keeping them all to herself, she tried to be as strong as her classmates, all of them enjoying their lives, studying to become heroes as happily as they could be.
She had concealed her emotions, always conjuring a smiling face every time her thoughts had led her down a negative path. Reciting the lesson she had learned from school, negativity is something that shouldn't belong to a hero.
She had succeeded in that lesson.
Drudging forward, every single day.
Until now.
She had cataloged it in her diary, the first signs of weariness, her losing sleep, the nightmares, waking up with phantom hands all over her body.
The symptoms increased, until Jirou had started asking her what's wrong?, until the girls started sharing looks, until he started making crude remarks, until even her teachers had taken notice.
One phone call was all it took to bring down the perfect daughter in her parents eyes.
A week of her going to school, reassuring everyone around her, even Kendo san, loudly saying the mantra of I'm fine, until even Midoriya san looked at her in disbelief.
Her performance dropped.
Her parents' love, her parents' need for her dwindled.
But the symptoms increased.
Until they manifested as a physical weight around her, trapping her in a perpetual cycle of pain and suffering.
Until her parents, stiff faced with disapproval, had called physicians for her.
Matters only became worse after that.
The physicians found nothing wrong with her, she was perfectly healthy. No diseases, therefore no reason to be stressed.
Her parents talked about her, not even pretending to lower their voices.
" What's wrong with her then? "
" I don't know, dear, maybe the course work must be getting to her. "
" Course work, is this how she's going to act as a hero? Don't forget it was because of your insistence that I agreed to her dreams, but if this goes on then I will remove her from that school. "
" Yes, dear. "
She refused to talk to her mother, when she had come up. An act of defiance that only increased the weight.
Two more days passed like that, the feelings overflowing and affecting everyone.
She had collapsed in the living room, unable to breath with groping hands all over her body.
Her mother screamed. And it was only then that she started to hear the word.
Curse .
Her maid, the one who suggested it, explained to her father.
She had heard about them before, the stories.
She and her father had rejected them, both more inclined to hear about the wonders of the sciences, of the discoveries that helped mankind, of heroic tales of innovation.
They had no time for the folktales of a bygone era.
But the weight on her shoulders was real, the wounds on her mothers body, appearing out of nowhere, was horrifically real.
Her father had looked at her in disgust. Not daring to believe that his perfect daughter was defiled by imperfections, he still allowed the maid to make calls.
A handful of servants were allowed to know the details and the rest were sent home earlier in the week.
And this morning, a tired man with sunken cheekbones appeared in her home, took one look at her and said that she and the house were cursed.
Momo Yaoyorozou was cursed.
She's attracting more curses.
She had a monstrous thing on her shoulder, something that couldn't be destroyed nor harmed by quirks, something that was strong enough to hurt her physically but not intelligent enough to plan an attack or speak, and that they know people who can help.
Her parents dismissed her, and they left for their study, whitefaced, with the man in tow.
And she had run to the library, the weight fluctuating in every step.
And now she was here, trapped in her negative thoughts.
She raised her head and stared at the strewn around books on the table.
The knowledge was limited, only bits and pieces here and there, accompanied by footnotes that revealed nothing.
The only thing she learned is that curses are everywhere, invincible and dangerous.
And that quirks have no effect on them.
After going through several books , she learned that they were present in large quantities in cities, which led her to deduce that it was something to do with their proximity to humans.
And their negative connotation could mean that they feast on humans or their emotions. Which is what led her to write her emotions down.
Shame
Guilt
Anger
Confusion
Which of these created this monster. Which of this made all her troubles to be known to everyone, which of these created more curses?.
Which of these, according to the sunken cheeked man, attracted more and more curses to their house.
Why was she the one who was cursed?
Why is she so weak that such egregious beings were created from her?
How can she be a hero if she is cursed?
The weight increased with each of her thoughts.
The phantom feeling of hands increased, her instincts warning her of danger.
Trembling hands reached into the folds of her dress, closing around the bat she created.
Her throat started constricting.
She couldn't breathe, gasping for breath she stood up, clawing at the rigid weight around her throat.
Choking, she ran to the door and started pounding on it, swinging the bat to and fro, fighting against the black dots appearing in her vision.
The bat was wrenched out of her hand, a slight second of relief before the air cut off, her vision blurred, pain overtaking everything as she fell to the floor.
Her senses dulling, a pounding pain reverberating in her head, she raised her chin to the door, extending a hand..
And there right in front of her was the curse, a hellish green thing with rows of teeth and a slimy body, it's hands wrapped around her throat.
The thing laughed, a jarring voice that reached her through intervals, a long red tongue swishing , the hands tightening around her throat.
She watched with horror and pain as the tongue elongated, coming to rest between her breasts, the big mowing teeth coming closer and closer… …
The weight disappeared.
She gasped.
Her chest heaved.
Taking in great bursts of air, she could feel the pain on her throat and the tears in her eyes.
Her hands came up, one hand grasping her chest while the other went to her throat.
She gasped and turned to her side, she could feel the floor vibrating under her.
It was calming.
She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds.
…
" H.. "
" Hey"
" Yaoyorozu "
" Hey "
" You are fine now"
" Hey"
She didn't recognise the voice.
But it was calming.
It's …
Safe…
" Don't die on me now "
No, she's not dead.
" You need to stay conscious. Okay. Listen to my voice and open your eyes, slowly. Hey, wake up"
Okay
She breathed in.
It hurt.
But she breathed in.
And slowly opened her eyes.
Green, soft green eyes met hers.
A quiet sigh reached her.
The eyes moved.
" Okay, I am going to move you, all right. "
Gentle hands on her shoulders.
She was hoisted up, her back resting on something soft.
The green eyes came back, watching her closely, " Ok, you're safe now, I am Fushiguro, I am a jujutsu sorcerer and I exorcised the curse. "
Curse
Curse
Giant tongue
Teeth
Slimy hands
Her hands came up to her throat, nails clawing at the sudden excruciating pain that erupted there, the sights of the curse plaguing her mind.
Hands touched her.
And she flinched away, curling onto herself, breathing rapidly, her body enveloping in pain.
Hands touching her.
The jeering laughter of the crowd.
She could hear them, it rallied around her.
The pity.
She could see.
That's the only thing she saw.
A curse.
She's a curse.
" Momo, dear, it's me "
That voice.
" Momo, it's okay "
Her mother.
" Momo, it's okay, I am here"
A soft finger touched her, but she didn't flinch away, she could recognise that touch anywhere.
She turned around, throwing herself at warm arms.
She cried.
Her throat hurt.
She cried with rasping, heaving breaths, distorted sounds coming out of her.
The next time momo woke up, mother was still by her side.
******
Record
Tuesday, 10th June
Place : Yaoyorozou estate
Grade : Second grade curse
Status : Exorcised.
Assigned sorcerer : Fushiguro Megumi
Assigned manager : Akari Nitta
Victim : Yaoyorozu Momo.
Status : Alive
***