Chapter Text
“So it’s decided!” Miwa exclaims cheerfully while grabbing her friend’s mechanical arm. “Mechamaru and I will scout out the outer perimeter to catch the smaller curses!” The weight of deceit sits heavy on her tongue.
Their base position is a strong one. On the northern side of Tengen’s Veil, the small stronghold made of old wood towers over a verdant hill. Visibility over the nearby wood is pretty good although the hill is nowhere tall enough to overlook the entire arena. The stronghold is sparsely furnished with a couple chairs and a table but it’s more than enough to map out their objective. Miwa steals a look at her phone: 11:58. Soon, the Goodwill Event will officially be underway.
“Yes,” Kamo nods, his eyes resolutely shut, as always. “Todo and I will head for the main target, the second-grade cursed spirit whilst Nishimiya serves as our eyes from the sky. To avoid her getting caught off guard alone, Mai will stay with her. Mechamaru and Miwa will head out to the ruins and exorcise smaller curses in case Todo and I fail at our task.
Mechamaru seems to hesitate an instant and Miwa does her best to avoid displaying her own unease. Nervously, the young woman chases a wisp of Blue hair out of her eyes. The robot’s body isn’t the best at conveying expression; it’s entirely made of wood save for two beady green cameras embedded in its eyesockets. The puppet’s proportions are mostly human although it lacks a neck. Instead, Mechamaru’s head is designed so it can spin 360 degrees with ease. Yet, despite the wood’s absence of reaction, Miwa can tell by the way Muta remains silent indicates that he’s suspicious, or, at the very least, puzzled.
There is a good reason for that confusion; on its face, the strategy suggested by Kamo is a debatable one. Hunting smaller grade cursed spirits from the start rather than gunning straight for the big one as a group implies that Kamo isn’t confident enough in Kyoto’s team to win outright against the grade 2 curse. Their usual plan would be to try and find the grade 2 as a team and, only then, if it proves undefeatable, fall back on eliminating smaller curses. After all, taking out the grade 2 cursed spirit first is an assured victory while the smaller ones are a numbers game. Should the Tokyo school exorcize the big one first, it won’t matter how many smaller curses have been taken out.
“Shouldn’t we focus our energy on the grade 2 spirit as a group?” Mechamaru asks flatly.
Miwa swallows painfully and the small stronghold they’ve been sent to in order to prepare for the Event feels even more confined. It’s taken the lot of them about 90 minutes at a walking pace to make their way here from the location they met the Tokyo students with the crude map they were handed. All over the walls, the Kyoto school banner is plastered. Something about it makes Miwa uneasy. Or maybe that’s just because she hates lying. She’s not a good liar. She’s never been one. “W-well-” she stammers.
“Todo and I can take care of it by ourselves,” Kamo responds smoothly. “Besides, he’s not exactly a team player and I’m concerned that being too numerous might slow us down.”
“You mean to say you consider us liabilities instead of assets,” Mechamaru deadpans.
“What?!” Miwa’s face grows burning hot.. “Of course Kamo-senpai doesn’t-”
“Yes, it is precisely what I mean,” Kamo denies. He cocks his head to the side as if to indicate contrition. “Please, don’t take this the wrong way, Mechamaru. Simply, I believe Todo and I have better chances at getting to our target without having to worry about the rest of you.”
“Rude,” Mai snaps. With a feline grace, she stretches her arms above her head.
“Rude, perhaps. Logical, certainly.”
At the corner of the room, a small rusty speaker starts buzzing incessantly. The sound, loud and sharp, blares through the tense atmosphere and cuts it like a knife three times before Utahime’s voice rings through the old wooden structure. “Attention students! It is now noon and the Event has started!”
Outside, there is not a whisper of wind to coax any of the timid clouds peppering the sky towards the blazing sun. The solar star shines brightly across the near uninterrupted cyan blue and promises little respite from its indomitable heat.
A glare of its light flashes across Mechamaru’s mechanical green eyes while they focus with a high-pitch whirring sound. “I disagree with that assessment,” he says, his mechanical voice gritting with metallic interference. “That being said, I have no interest in arguing with you. When you fail, contact us through the radio so we can help out. Come on, Miwa.” With rapid, rigid steps, Mechamaru descends the steep flight of stairs leading to solid ground.
“Wait-!” Miwa pleads. Despite her word, she follows her friend, hurriedly rushing downwards as well.
When she manages to rejoin with Mechamaru, he’s already several feet down the gravel path leading to the edge of the forest. It’s an ancient one; most of the trees are large and well over à hundred years old given their size. Their heavy leaves shimmer into the smallest wisp of wind and claim the light coming from above as their own, leaving little for the ground below.
“He didn’t mean that,” Miwa offers awkwardly. “Not in a mean way, at least.”
A sharp inhale escapes the microphone lodge in the robot’s mouth. “I’m aware,” Muta responds stiffly. Bitterness latches onto his voice and Miwa’s heart constricts painfully in her chest.
“Muta..”
“In any case…I shouldn’t have made you run like that,” her friend says in a kinder tone. “I’m sorry.”
The warmth and remorse in her friend’s voice catches Miwa by surprise. “Don’t worry about it.” She smiles machinally. “Besides, isn’t it fun that we get to do this together?” She quickly adds.
“...It is.” Mechamaru doesn’t smile; its rigid features won’t allow it to, but Miwa can tell Muta is at the other end of the microphone sputtering through his robot’s mouth. “You’re always so positive, Miwa. It’s…something I really appreciate about you.”
It takes everything for the girl’s expression not to falter. “...Yes…welll…thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The robot taps a small concavity on its right forearm and a wood panel opens to reveal a green plastic display with a bunch of small silver dials underneath. “As you said, let’s have some fun.”
Miwa nods as enthusiastically as she can, knowing her voice would break if she uttered another word.
He’s going to be so disappointed when he learns about what I did.
***
The battle ground consists mostly of forest dotted with small clearings. At the very East lies an ancient temple that has long been forsaken and a deep lake takes up most of the southern area although its origin point seems to be in the middle of the arena. In any case, the most likely scenario is for the grade 2 curse to have been set free in either of the two latter areas. Mimiko’s deduction comes from the following conclusion; since spirits can’t be captured by cameras, the teachers have set the recording equipment to follow the student’s progress across the map. As such, it wouldn’t be intelligent to let a curse endemic to woods free; they could go anywhere and thus would be impossible to surveil adequately. The smart thing to do would be to liberate a curse in the lake or the temple and cover those specific areas with cameras. Of course, it’s not impossible that there is a cave or something of the like unmarked on the map the students have been given. But starting from the obvious is often the smartest option.
As such, the Tokyo students have decided to split into three groups: Mimiko, Panda and Inumaki who are going to the abandoned temple, Nanako, Nobara and Maki who are heading towards the lake and Megumi and Yuji who will be using the fusion of Shiro and Kuro to sniff out a potential third site. On their way, each group is tasked with taking out as many small curses as possible without hindering the primary objective which is to clear out their respective target -or find said target in Yuji and Megumi’s case-.
Mimiko’s lips curl into a small smile. She’s rather proud of the strategy; it’s one that hinges mostly on the mechanics and limitations of the game itself while giving them the best odds of winning. It’s just a shame that not everyone is there to see it in action.
The stone path towards the abandoned temple snakes across the forest’s border and only occasionally dips under the foliage. Moss covers most of the heavy rock slabs, making them slippery and treacherous. Time has melded them into the surrounding soil and there is little doubt in the girl’s mind that the earth will eventually swallow the man-made path into its depths. Mimiko is mindful of that when following the trail: it would be idiotic to twist an ankle now.
It takes a moment for the young woman to realize that the forest has gradually grown quiet.
“Salmon roe,” Inumaki warns. The young man scrunches his purple eyes and reaches for the zipper at the top of his high collar.
Mimiko’s grip tightens over the rope hanging from her well-worn doll’s legs. She has chosen against wrapping the tightly braided fibers around Ropey’s neck. A snapped hyoid bone would not bring abundant good will between Kyoto and Tokyo.
Panda cocks his head towards the edge of the woods where long green grass grows abundant. “There,” the second-year student whispers.
He’s right, Mimiko realizes. The grass is undulating slightly just beneath the canopy as though something massive is slowly slithering its way across the soil. “A cursed spirit?” She whispers.
“Yes!” Panda exclaims happily. He clasps his huge paws together enthusiastically. “Let’s get the first points in!”
“Maybe don’t make so much noi-”
At that very moment, an enormous snake-like entity the length of a car rises from the tall grass. The red and yellow circular hood around its head deploys with a shrill noise and the beast maw splits its face vertically into two perfectly identical halves filled to the brim with tendril-like appendages.
“Tuna tuna!” Inumaki exclaims whilst grabbing the hem of his shirt.
“Sweet!” Panda roars.
Sighing inwardly, Mimiko contemplates whether or not she would have been better off as a third wheel. Nonetheless, she takes a defensive position.
The quicker we finish it off, the faster we can get to our actual target…and win!
***
“Awwww…he’s so cute!” Yuji cooes while shoving both of his hands in the thick fluff at the base of Divine Dog: Totality.
Despite its massive size, the fusion beast falls to the ground with a low-pitched whine and proceeds to roll around to expose his belly.
Megumi clicks his tongue. Invoking Divine Dog: Totality leaves a bittersweet taste in his mouth. When he thought he had lost Shiro for good in the prison, he was inconsolable. The image of his precious shikagami’s severed head embedded in the cement wall like some sort of sick trophy still shakes Megumi awake some night. So, in theory, realizing that he can call a fusion of his two dogs’ souls by his side should be comforting.
It is just a theory, however.
As similar as the two dogs were beneath their thick fluffy hides, Kuro and Shiro used to have slightly different behaviors. Oh they were minute differences, truly. Shiro tended to be more guarded around strangers while Kuro would warm up more easily. Kuro would whine in a very specific pitiful way for treats, tilting his massive black head to the side while Shiro would be more patient but wolf down the food when offered.
Those small differences don’t exist anymore and the one time Megumi tried to summon Kuro alone, the poor thing had spent the whole afternoon sniffing around and whimpering as though looking for its companion. Heartbroken, Megumi had let his grasp on the shadows forming the dog’s body slip away.
He’d been pretty sure he had been subtle about his grief too. Megumi loathes being fussed over. Being treated like something fragile and breakable makes him want to bare his teeth and sink them in the closest available flesh.
It’s Suguru that came to him a few days later. Megumi’s dad had knocked on his bedroom door three times before the teen begrudgingly let him come in. It had been late and the moon, large and gibbous in the night sky, had long since started to cast its silver sheen on the neighbouring mountains. Megumi hadn’t turned on the light fixture in his room at the time, he preferred the soft and moody glow of the stars. Suguru had been careful when he had knocked, deliberate even. Years of living with his dads has taught Megumi that, of his two fathers, Suguru is the more obstinate one. As such, the teen has resigned himself to open his bedroom door.
The book his dad had handed him had been old. Centuries old, even. The uneven, thick leather binding was cracked in places and its pages had been stained yellow by age. No words appeared on its cover or side but, carved deep within the leather, a well-worn symbol had somewhat endured the passage of time; an inverted triangle with a small circle at each of its points.
“You can bring him back,” Suguru has promised. His eyes had been sunken in by fatigue but determined. “He will be different, but he will be back.”
Megumi’s father had been right.
The teen can’t even begin to imagine how long it took to find something so ancient. In the old volume, there had been a great deal of details about the Ten Shadows Technique, namely about the fusions of lost shikigamis. It’s also with Suguru that Megumi has worked relentlessly to call back Shiro from the oblivion it had been cast in.
As he watches Divine Dog: Totality frolic in the long grass with Itadori, it’s difficult not to feel a pang of guilt at his shikigamis having lost their individuality but…they’re here. A small smile graces Megumi’s lips when Itadori yelps; the massive werewolf-like shadow beast has licked him straight across the face.
“Ew!” Itadori laughs. “You’re too big for that, Toty!” He chastised unconvincingly while pulling the shikagami’s massive head into his chest.
“Don’t call him that,” Megumi sighs. “Besides, he’s never going to listen to you if you pet him whilst giving him instructions.”
“But he’s so cute!”
Megumi pauses. With the sun at its zenith, there are little shadows to be found and the open field they’ve walked into is covered in golden high grass swaying lightly in the cool breeze. Divine Dog: Totality is far from what most would consider cute; the shikagami towers well over 7ft tall and stands on its crouched hind legs. Even then, His massive clawed humanoid hands graze the ground. The Divine Dog’s facial features have sharpened into a wolf-like snout full of razor sharp fangs the size of a forearm. Divine Dog: Totality’s fur is thick, coarse, fully black on its back and tail while its legs, chest and the bottom of his face is completely white. Predatory yellow eyes crowned by two crimson triangles are the only colored features gracing the creature’s lanky yet muscular body.
Currently, however, Toty is rolled on its massive back and whimpering to get more belly scratches on a beautiful summer day so he looks…like Megumi’s dogs. His happy, loyal, precious dogs. “He is,” the teen agrees quietly.
***
“Just wait, Todo,” Noritoshi demands as calmly as he can.
He’d hardly call ‘making a b-line for the Tokyo Campus’ starting point’ a plan. Walking around the muddy swamp-like area separating them from it would have been smarter than going through it, if only to avoid the damn mosquitoes. Ironically enough, Nishimiya is a prime target for those pestering little things. It’s a familial thing, apparently. Something in their blood draws the irritating insects. His mother, bless her soul, had chuckled when she first told him.
Noritoshi is not chuckling now.
As if to make things worse, Todo has longer legs than he does. Noritoshi isn’t small at all; he’s taller than most Japanese men but Todo is a beast of his own. By comparison, anyone would appear somewhat out of their depths. The main issue, at the moment, is that Todo’s rapid walking pace forces Nishimiya to somewhat awkwardly jog instead of walking. It’s irritating to no end.
“You didn’t have to come,” Todo points out. “You were warned of my intentions.”
Noritoshi fights the urge to sigh. “I’m coming with you because you tend to veer off course the first chance you get. This is of the utmost importance. There is little chance the Tokyo students will have stayed put and, if they have, they will outnumber us. Ideally, you would have agreed to put on a show and hunt for while Nishimiya locates the Vessel from the sky.”
“I have a mission.” Todo snorts. “I’m not going to dawdle while my true target is out there.”
“It would have been-” Noritoshi feels a migraine starting. It would have been smarter but here they are. “Forget it,” he grumbles. At least, they’re almost out of the swampy area.
Soon, the silhouette of the Tokyo school’s base appears on the horizon. As they get closer, it soon becomes clear that three separate trails lead from it to the surrounding area; two groups of three -namely one with distinctly animal steps that Noritoshi guesses belong to Panda- and a single duo. For a second, Noritoshi pauses then follows the trail belonging to the latter. Luckily for them, the ground isn’t too rocky or dry so it holds imprints fairly well on the discrete pathways carved in the ground.
His reasoning for doing so is quite simple: the imprints are smaller for the trio leaving towards the middle of the area; they likely all belong to girls. As for the other trio, one of its members is probably a girl and the other is Panda. From what Noritoshi has observed Panda and Inumaki are pretty close so that leaves Fushiguro and the Vessel as the duo.
Given how Todo has also started walking towards the golden field spreading West, Noritoshi assumes his companion has reached the same conclusion. Grimly, Noritoshi realizes that a later fraternization with Fushiguro might prove difficult in those circumstances. It’s a shame. As the future leader of the Kamo clan, the responsibility of maintaining good relationships with other clan representatives befalls him.
So far, Noritoshi has made little progress with Yuta, who will likely inherit the Gojo clan and it doesn’t bode well for his relationship with Fushiguro either. It’s not entirely clear whether the boy will claim his Zen’in heritage but he might.
Anyone would be a better candidate for the job than the often drunk Ze’nin Naobito. Except perhaps Zen’in Nayoa. As the son of a mistress, Noritoshi was often taunted by the insufferable misogynistic Zen’in. When Noritoshi takes hold of the Kamo clan’s leadership position, he can build a home for her to come back to. The third-year student’s heart squeezes. Due to her status as a mistress, Katsuki Hana was ousted by the Kamo clan. Yet they had kept him, her son, since Noritoshi displayed à propension for the ancient Blood Manipulation technique known to belong to the ancient family. Sometimes, Noritoshi wishes he'd left with his mother. Hell, he has wanted to. But, she had asked him to learn how to help people with His technique and Noritoshi could never say no to his mother. And today of all data, when he knows he is about to exorcize a dangerous Vessel, Noritoshi is confident he made the right choice to stay where he can make a difference. His only regret is having to lie to Mechamaru about it.
***
“I would like to point out that I wanted the ruins,” Nanako grumbles. “God, I hate nature.”
“You and me both,” Nobara groans.
The walk towards the lake was a short, but very exposed one and Nobara feels the sun hammering down on her face like a burning furnace. What she wouldn’t give for AC.
“We lost at rock-paper-scissors, that’s all there is to it,” Maki sighs. “Besides, it’s so hot, I just might take a quick swim.”
“There’s like a 99% chance something is swimming down there and it just might be the first grade curse,” Nobara objects.
“Knowing auntie Utahime, make it 99.99%,” Nanako acquiesces.
“So?” Maki shrugs. “It would be a win-win in that case: I freshen up and we win the game super easily.”
Nobara grins. “Well, when you put it like that.”
Nanako chuckles. “Love the confidence…and my choice of shoes.” She jumps over a fallen over tree branch in the middle of the narrow road descending towards the lake. White sneakers adorned with delicate gold swirls have been her final pick.
“The one time you actually listen to me, you don’t complain about your feet hurting,” Maki smirks. “Would you look at that.”
“I take it back! I could have worn anything else!”
“Hey! No take backs!”
“Zero take backs,” Nobara adds and lightly bumps her shoulder into Maki’s. “And, I won the bet. I told you she would last more than 15 minutes before talking about her shoes.”
“Wow,” Nanako pouts. “I can’t believe Maki is still losing those kinds of- ”
“Don’t look,” Maki interrupts. “But when I turned my head just now, I think I saw the flying girl at the edge of the woods, almost behind us.”
Unfortunately, the first thing Nobara is inclined to do when someone tells her not to look is…to look.