Chapter Text
Monday, March 7th 2011.
Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture.
Yuta sits in the sandbox of a quaint playground in Sendai. It's sunny today, reflecting his jubilant moo. Beyond being ten, an simply spending most days in a state of ignorant childish bliss, it is also Yuta's birthday. Being newly ten, Yuta feels no more awareness of the evil the world holds then any other kid his age. To him, the world is just that, a place he lived, breathed, and got to play with his best friend, Rika Orimoto!
Yuta and Rika have grown to become synonymous with each other. Since meeting that fateful afternoon, while Yuta was stuck with pneumonia at the hospital, he happened to stumble across a girl with sad eyes, so lonely that he couldn’t help but want to make her happy. That day cemented their friendship, and they have been friends since.
Rika’s parents are mysteriously absent from her life; some of the people in the adults’ social circle theorize they were killed by Rika or something equally stupid, but Yuta knows better. Rika wasn’t a bad person, just a bit clingy sometimes. Anyone would be if they lost their parents at such a young age.
Yuta likes to believe it was meant to be, that he and Rika are always going to be together, even when they’re old and wrinkly.
As Rika pointed out, a month after meeting and becoming friends, their last names also started with the same letter, so they’re practically soulmates. Yuta, if he’s being honest, doesn’t know what a soulmate is, but if it makes Rika happy, then he’d play along.
Today, Yuta’s mother is waiting at home like usual, ready to throw Yuta the best birthday surprise ever! As such, Rika is tasked with stalling him at the playground. Yuta is dutifully pretending not to know about his birthday surprise awaiting him at home, but his parents weren’t very bright about how to keep him busy whenever they were planning something.
Yuta loads a handful of sand atop the already climbing sand tower they were making. The plan is to get a bird to land on it and lay eggs in the divot they’d dug at the top. Once a bird fell for their foolproof trap, they’d grab an egg and put it in the incubator Rika got for Christmas this most recent holiday season.
Truly an ingenious scheme worthy of such intelligent individuals.
Another sentence Rika uses that Yuta is completely stumped on.
Pushing himself up to his feet, Yuta prepares to head home, pausing when Rika speaks up first.
“Yuta?”
“Yes, Rika?”
Slowly, the former reaches into the pockets of her sundress and holds out a small box, handing it to Yuta as her soft hands briefly brush against his.
“I got you a gift, look inside.
Slowly, Yuta opens the top of the box, peering inside to stare at the small, unassuming ring placed perfectly in the middle.
“A… A ring?”
“It’s a promise that when we’re older, we’ll get married.”
Yuta isn’t quite sure what exactly that entailed; he knows marriage as simply something you do when you love someone, but not quite the differences between romantic love and platonic love.
He wasn’t going to risk declining or prying further and upsetting Rika, however.
Nodding slowly, he smiles back at Rika, eyes closed in childish gratitude.
“Thank you, Rika. When we’re older, we’ll get married.”
Friday, May 20th, 2016.
Yuta stares petrified at the locker positioned at the right end of the room, eyes wide and trembling.
Why?
Why does this have to happen?
Why does this have to happen to him?
What kind of a monster could he have been in his past life to deserve such- such- such a curse?!
The thing wearing his deceased best friend's voice and mannerisms is slowly rising from the blood like a twisted mockery of an angel lowering itself from the heavens to bring gifts to mortals below. The thought only manages to further sicken him.
Yuta’s ‘angel’ is no blessing. She isn’t here to bring about prosperity or bless him with wisdom worthy of the lives she’d taken. Yuta’s angel is but a demon in disguise, a heartless killer who parades herself as holding Yuta’s safety beyond anything else, while disregarding his wishes and slaughtering anyone who comes too close.
He’s sorry, he really is.
But the hatred, the terrified loathing he feels, is the only thing his petrified mind can grasp onto in the moment.
He didn’t ask for this, didn’t ask to be cursed by a monster, a cruel mimicry of his best friend. Shuddering, Yuta watches the closet slowly slide open, revealing the mangled bodies of what used to be his bullies. Now they couldn’t even be called corpses.
Yuta in no way likes the guys, who would? They’ve made his life miserable after the last incident occurred that fateful winter day.
But no person deserves what they’ve had to live through.
It was horrid, an arm jutting out from the top of the mound and serving as a deranged flagpole, mimicking that of a child’s sandcastle. Brain matter pools at the bottom of the locker, spilling out now that the door isn’t containing it anymore. Higher up the pile, one of their bones protrudes at an unnatural angle, broken and dropping tiny shards of bone into the centerpiece of Rika’s curse creation, a large gaping hole that was clearly the stomach of one of the bullies. Now no more than a pit for the discarded entrails of the horrid shrine to be tossed into.
The worst part wasn’t even the gore; the worst part is the blood.
It’s everywhere, coating everything, dirtying the room with its filth, and seemingly never-ending in its surplus.
Yuta had been forced to watch every second, the way Rika, or the thing that claimed to be her, had dangled death above their heads just out of reach while continuing to further desecrate them. Yuta couldn’t even bullshit himself into believing their last moments were quick; he knows Rika drew out their deaths, letting their suffering drag on until all that was left of their minds was the primal urge to die.
Their bodies are unrecognizable.
Mutilated to the point that Yuta can’t tell where one boy ended and another began. A soft thud followed by a wet splat is the only warning Yuta gets before the eye of the biggest bully, usually the ringleader in their escapades, slides out of the closet and up to Yuta's foot, knocking against it silently.
‘Oh god…’
‘OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod-’
Yuta grips his stomach in a feeble attempt to sedate the churning taking place inside, only managing to worsen the bile rising in his throat as his mouth waters uncontrollably.
He hunches over himself, eyes stinging from the sting of stomach acid hitting the back of his throat as he vomits harshly onto the floor in front of him, blood mixing with the ejected contents of Yuta’s stomach as a sob wracks his frame.
‘Why me?’
Grabbing his chest tightly in a feral attempt to calm his heart, Yuta scrambles to his feet, stumbling out of the room as he tries to breathe,
In and out.
What had Rika done? What had Yuta done? He should've- Could’ve warned them better, done SOMETHING to tell them of the danger they were walking into. He needed to run- to call help, call police, call ANYONE.
In and out.
A foolish part of him believes the boys stuffed in the locker might be savable, that maybe, by sheer willpower alone, doctors might be able to piece together what remained in that horrid closet and fix this. It was stupid, Yuta had clearly seen the lack of any heartbeats or breaths coming from the mutilated chunks. Still, for his own selfish need to cling to hope like a parasite, he would continue to hope.
In and out.
Yuta manages to drag himself outside, stumbling down the steps in the front gate of his crappy public high school, only to immediately trip over his own ankle and roll pathetically to the ground.
A final kick from the universe while he was at his literal lowest. Pulling his knees to his chest, Yuta sobs silently, shoulders shaking with the force of each heave. His uniform is stained with his own vomit and blood. There’s blood everywhere on him, more noticeable now that he’s escaped the red-stained classroom. Under his nails, caked into his hair, smeared across the knees of his pants, Yuta wants to throw up again.
In and out.
By the time he calms himself enough to glance up, he comes face to face with a tall blonde woman staring back casually. As if she hasn’t walked in on what could be the worst moment in Yuta’s life, second only to Rika’s death, that is quickly being challenged for first place, however.
In and out.
In and out.
In and ou-
“Hey! You’re Yuta Okkosu, right?”
Yuta blinks. He must look like a mess; he knows for a fact he looks a mess. He’s covered in blood from his ankles to his knees, his elbows rubbed raw and red from crawling out of the classroom in his panicked escape, his hair is stringy with sweat and gore, and he has bruises from the bullies prior to their deaths scattered along his limbs. Any sane person would run away, or worse, try to attack him. Rightfully so, too, considering the last incident at his school.
“W…what- My- my type?”
The woman, unperturbed, only steps closer, grinning ear to ear like this is a celebratory event, and not Yuta committing murder barely five minutes ago. One could argue that by technicality it was Rika’s doing, and not Yuta, but he’d beg to differ, considering if he’d never been there at all, those poor people wouldn’t be mangled in a closet like twisted Halloween decorations! Sure, he hadn’t used his own hands to crush their bones or pluck out their innards, but he’d watched the whole thing, unable to do anything to protect them.
Guilty by association.
“I’ll take that as a yes, you're gonna answer?”
Yuta trembles, a wave of vengeful energy filling the space. Rika definitely won’t like that. The only thing that ticks off the monster that Yuta is being cursed by more than Yuta being hurt, is anyone showing romantic interest in him. He learned that the hard way after the “incident” of a few months ago.
A classmate, one Yuta, had been trying to avoid for that very reason, asked Yuta out. He’d immediately declined, urging the girl to never speak to him again. If he had it his way? He’d have shipped her across the ocean, far, far away from Rika’s bloody grasp. But it was already too late. By the time Rika calmed down enough to go back to the dark crevice in Yuta’s mind, the girl was no more than a glob of flesh and blood on the pavement of the school tiles. He wasn’t arrested; they had no proof he was related to the murder beyond the fact that the girl planned to ask him out. Either way, any social life Yuta could’ve had after that was basically dead from then on.
Stepping away from the woman, he backs up, eyes wide and panicked.
“Please stop! Rika, she’s not a threat, she doesn’t mean any har-”
The wail of primal rage that he was met with was an indicator enough that Rika couldn’t care less. The air becomes suffocating with both the presence of Rika and Yuta's own terror. He feels like he’s going to throw up. Again.
Yuta didn’t know if he could handle the guilt of two separate occasions of murder in one day. Hell, he’s barely coping with the incident from before. Unfortunately, it’s beginning to look like he lacked a choice in the matter. The vengeful spirit herself appears from thin air, mouth gaping in a screech of primal rage so loud that Yuta has to slap his palms over his ears. He shuts his eyes and braces for the violence he knew was coming, braces for the crunch of skin imploding, the crack of broken bones, anything to indicate how badly Rika has hurt this poor woman. The blonde lady had been weird, yes, but no one deserved to die for it!
Shutting his eyes tighter, Yuta opens his mouth to try feebly to call Rika off, only for a new, more unexpected sound to interrupt him.
A wail of pain? Rika is hurt? How? In all his six years of the curse hovering around him like a leech, never had Yuta seen her hurt. Looking now though, her forehead is caved in, healing quickly, but a bad injury nonetheless. The wound even seems severe enough that Rika opts for weaving angrily around Yuta like a pissed cat, eventually deforming, likely to regroup.
Yuta is dumbfounded, fully, utterly befuddled.
He can tell he looks stupid, covered in grime, blood, vomit, and dirt, jaw hanging open like a broken hinge, eyes wide as saucers. His eyes were so wide in face, the eyebags he sported like an odd fashion statement were almost squished down to slivers of darkness beneath his eyes.
Has this woman managed to destroy Rika?
His first thought is, obviously, how?
Yuta’s second thought is, why?
Yuta doesn’t know what impression he gives people; he wasn’t sure the answer he’d get would be pleasant either, but putting her life on the line to help him seems like an all-around purposeless decision. It isn’t like Yuta can pay her back for this; hell, if he had the ability to repay the many blood debts he owes by now, he’d have done it ages ago. But he can’t. So why did this woman help him?
“How…”
“The names Yuki Tsumuko, mind answering my question?”
Yuta eyes her warily before stepping back. If she’s strong enough to defeat Rika in a singular hit, it’s easy to assume then that she can do the same to him with no sweat. Guaranteed even. Yuta isn’t dumb enough to believe kindness is what could drive a person to face off against a beast like whatever Rika turned into for him. With that in mind, Yuta is beginning to wonder if she’s affiliated with the police or something equally horrible; maybe this whole time she’s only doing this as a way to gather information for his inevitable arrest?-
…“You’re not very talkative, are you?”...
-Or maybe she’s going to kill him next? It’s not like anyone beyond his family will be very interested in tracking down the killer of the boy, the whole city believes to be cursed anyway. She can slaughter him, harvest his organs, and leave without so much as even causing a stir.-
…”Helloooo?”...
-The thought sends a shudder up Yuta’s spine, unconsciously causing him to take another step back warily. Would she really do all this to kill him, though? They’re in front of Yuta’s school too; there are loads of witnesses, which would make just tossing Yuta over her shoulder a difficult thing to do without raising any suspicion. His classmates don’t LIKE him, but even they’d be bound to be concerned if he gets taken by a stranger in broad daylight. Especially while covered in blood and bruised up like he is-
“Hello? Earth to Yuta-kun!”
A tap on his shoulder interrupts Yuta's progressively irrational train of thoughts, jerking him back to the fact that he’d zoned out like an idiot mid-conversation. Well, there goes any credibility he had with this woman.
“U-uhm- yes I'm- I'm sorry. What did you say?”
The woman, what was her name? Yuki Tsu… Tsu…Something. She doesn’t seem very offended by Yuta’s momentary lapse in focus; if anything, she seems amused by him. That’s certainly new. Usually, if people manage to look past his timid personality, the zoning out unsettles them enough to avoid Yuta like the plague. She only shrugs it off and kept going.
“I’m just here to tell you, you’re being executed! Well, going to be, I'm not about to strike down a high schooler outside his school, no matter how much those pigs at the school want me to. Honestly, I think it’s super offensive to…”
Her words fade to static in the back of Yuta’s mind. Executed? He’s sentenced to DEATH?! He knows Japan still does executions, but isn’t he supposed to get a trial?! It seems unfair to just sentence him to death without so much as letting him explain! Then again, he doubts if he went on trial and announced, “he has a demon that slaughters anyone who picks a fight with him, so therefore Yuta can’t be held accountable for the deaths occurring,” will get him anything more than a lifetime trip to a mental institution.
Is it even possible to execute him? He knows Rika will likely try to slaughter his would-be killers for even trying to lay a finger on him; there’s no doubt in his mind that she’d be willing to negate the legal system for him if he keeps him off death row. So is execution even an option?
Refocusing on where the woman is STILL rambling about how Yuta is supposed to be killed in secret, he hesitantly raises his hand.
“E-Excuse me?”
The woman pauses, turning to stare at Yuta properly now. She tips her head to the side casually, like she hadn’t just informed Yuta he’s going to be killed for crimes he has no control over.
“Uhm, well, Ms-”
“Yuki.”
“Ms Yuki-san. I understand this might sound crazy, but it wasn’t me! There’s this monster, or well spirit??? She acts like my best friend who died six years ago, and I KNOW it sounds crazy, but she’s the one who’s been killing all those people!”
Yuki pauses, eyebrows raised not in curiosity, but in thoughtfulness, like she actually believes Yuta’s insane sounding story about a monster.
Maybe he won’t be killed then, if this woman can only just believe that Yuta’s insane words are the truth, maybe he’ll be able to actually live! Perhaps the government can even find a solution to fix Rika! Maybe this will all blow over, and he’ll be able to laugh with Rika while looking back on this crazy situation-
“A spirit… Yes, I'm aware.”
Huh?
Yuta blinks, blinks again. Blinks a third time. impressive how every time Yuta thinks he’s reached the end of his confusion, Yuki manages to make him double-take again. She knows? Then-
“Then uhm…Why am I being executed… exactly?"
Yuki takes a slow, deep breath, reaching up to scratch at her scalp and pursing her lips.
“What do you know about curses, Yuta-kun?”
Yuta really wishes there was a book he can read to get him and Yuki on the same wavelength. This conversation feels like trying to finish a group project across language barriers, with the cost for failure being his life.
“Like… the curses in fairytales and storybooks? From an evil witch?”
Yuki snorts in amusement and shakes her head.
“No, like the kind of curse your little friend got turned into.”
Yuta stiffens, eyes widening in surprise at her words, she knows about-
“Like Rika? You- You know what she is?”
Yuta can’t help the way his tone brightens with a desperate hint of relief.
Yuki stretches her arms, leaning forward and shifting her weight so she can peer down at Yuta.
“How about I tell you about the wonderful world I come from, then, Yuta-kun?”
Yuta hesitates; her tone makes it sound like knowing is something he’ll regret. But the thought of not knowing more about why his childhood best friend is suddenly a beast ruining his life sounds much worse.
Yuki yawns as she watches the two boys spar with each other, casually checking her watch as she simultaneously observes the two in their practice and also drafts an email to Yaga.
Dear Principal Yaga,
Recently, as I’m sure you know, I’ve had the pleasure of coming across the Okkutsu kid and his cursed spirit.
After personally going to see it myself, I can confirm that the curse of Rika Orimoto is at least a special-grade cursed spirit. Despite the general consensus that Yuta Okkutsu be killed, I plan to vouch for him during my upcoming meeting with the higher-ups to see if possible, so that I may have him exempt from his execution. Having someone who’s already trained multiple special-grade sorcerers on my side will make the process much easier.
Sincerely, Yuki Tsumuko.
Sighing, she sets down her laptop, takes a sip of the water bottle she’d grabbed earlier, and furrows her brows, deep in thought.
‘Writing formal stuff sucks.’
In the almost seven years since adding Megumi Fushiguro to her ragtag duo of apprentices, the boy has grown to be physically matched with even Todo, not that Yuki doubted with his father’s genes, the potential was there. It had just been dormant prior to her expert training.
The scrawny twig Yuki brought on her travels, alongside his personification of sunlight older sister is no more. In his place was a young sorcerer now well built and confident in his own capabilities.
Megumi, despite taking on some new muscle over the years, wasn’t as built out as Todo was. Then again, matching Todo in terms of muscle mass is an uphill battle; even Yuki can’t put on the sheer bulk the former has despite them training the same in almost every aspect.
The first month here, Megumi, the poor kid, had been helplessly overwhelmed by Yuki’s older apprentice, Aoi Todo. Todo’s been training under Yuki for about eight years now, traveling place to place alongside her and whatnot. Being her first and intended only apprentice meant he was also leagues ahead of Megumi in terms of strength. Physical and cursed technique-wise.
When the scrawny, standoffish kid first met Todo, glaring up at him with open distaste despite the obvious unsettlement he had with the height differences between them. The latter could benchpress Megumi as a warm-up. Literally, Todo had started his early days training with Megumi doing ‘Brother Bonding morning exercises,’ which consisted mainly of Megumi being used as a literal weight for Todo to exercise with.
Megumi, from sheer will alone, had been determined not to be overwhelmed by Todo for long. Every training regime Yuki gave Megumi, Megumi did double. Every time Todo beat him in a spar, Megumi ran laps around whatever gym or Airbnb they were at currently. The kid had guts that even shocked Yuki at times.
If tenacity were a sport, Megumi could win gold.
Slowly but surely, Megumi has caught up to Todo, then even managed to surpass him in some aspects. With ten shadows thrown into the mix, Megumi’s easily a first-grade, if not weak, special grade sorcerer; at the same time, Todo’s reached upper first grade.
Despite being surpassed, Todo very clearly holds nothing but pride for his self-proclaimed younger brother. Their bond growing to be both wholesome and comical in its own right. Todo, being as bold and forward as his mentor, to a fault sometimes usually leads to Megumi having to be the reasonable one for all three of them.
Then there’s tsumiki.
Despite being plucked from her home and traveling the world for the better part of her life, the girl’s been just as determined, if not more so than Megumi, to make the best of it. While Tsumiki was originally a bit shy despite her kind personality, she’s grown to be able to keep up playfulness wise with the likes of Yuki. Yuki will never admit it, but she enjoys having another girl around. Especially when the two teenage boys under her care got too rambunctious for her liking.
Currently, the two apprentices were going all out, Tsumiki sitting next to Yuki and braiding the latter's hair in silent concentration. This will be Todo’s final spar as Yuki’s apprentice before he begins attending Kyoto Jujutsu High. Yuki is only mildly concerned about how she’ll keep up with Megumi during Todo’s absence; it isn’t as if the former was incapable of training alone, but she doesn’t want the lack of a sparring partner to hinder his development, especially with Megumi nearing special grade.
A sudden nosedive in training could cause him to get sloppy, something Yuki has no tolerance for in her high-intensity training style. She prefers to constantly keep her trainees on their toes.
She thinks back to the kid from earlier today, what was his name? Yuta? He has some crazy potential, if only he could get out of his head.
Yuki has managed to convince the higher-ups to delay his execution with a guarantee that she’d help Yaga oversee his training. Despite his execution not being completely overhauled (yet), she’s permitted to enroll him into Tokyo Jujutsu High.
During their first impromptu meeting, after Yuki had been all but begged by the old men in charge to assist them in this ‘one small assignment,’ she didn’t have time to even consider taking on another kid to mentor; Megumi is already a handful enough with the sheer versatility she’s had to train him to use. That combined with training Todo, who, despite being about to start at Kyoto Jujutsu high, will still need some occasional tips and pointers from her.
As much as she’d wanted to, there simply isn’t enough of her time to go around.
Yuki has no doubt Yaga can handle the kid; he’d trained both Suguru Geto AND Satoru Gojo. Despite the dark turn that class of students took, they’re still strong, smart kids in their own right.
The memory of Suguru Geto and their talk has a subtle grimace trail onto her face.
‘I should’ve known.’
It’s a thought she often grapples with alone, how her ignorant, seemingly hypothetical conversion had involuntarily caused the fall of such a talented young sorcerer. Yuki knows it isn’t completely her fault; looking back, the kid already looked one bad day away from defecting even prior to her. Still, she certainly didn’t help in all but encouraging a grieving teenager that mass genocide was a possible solution.
‘No point beating myself up for it.’
Sighing, Yuki shakes off the train of thought; she can’t change the past.
For all she wants to go back and tell her idiot younger self to shut up, what’s done is done. All she can do now is learn from her mistakes and do better in the future.
Watching Megumi summon Nue, then use the bird-like lightning shikigami to fly overhead right as Todo used boogie-woogie and subsequently get Todo trapped in the claws of Nue, Yuki couldn’t help but grin. The battle IQ the kid has is unmatched.
Some of the feats he’s pulled during their spars have even Yuki wondering how the fuck the squirt managed to think that up. He might not have the physical strength that came from Toji Fushiguro’s heavenly restriction, but he certainly inherited his smarts in any type of fight.
Whether fighting Yuki and Todo at once, going all out using cursed techniques, or having a simple hand-to-hand combat fight, Megumi managed to become comparable to even Yuki.
Clapping, she stands up, tossing her hair over her shoulder and patting Megumi on the shoulder.
“I gotta say, kid, Tricking Todo into trapping himself is something even I wouldn’t think about trying. Good job.”
Megumi glances up at her, nodding slightly in acknowledgment. His standoffish demeanor has remained despite the two bold and VERY loud people he spends every day with. Though now it’s been tinged with the playful jokefulness of his company. The kid even cracks jokes around them now, though it’s usually at one of their expenses. Yuki’s still happy to see him coming out of his shell.
“I’ve been thinking, would it be possible for you to teach me reverse cursed technique?”
Stretching her arms, Yuki ponders the thought. She’d tried teaching Todo, the latter, despite all his attempts (and her perfect teaching), not quite grasping how to invert cursed energy. Yuki doesn’t blame him; very few sorcerers alive today can manage such a thing, but Megumi certainly has the brain to figure it out.
“It’s gonna be tricky, y’know, even Todo couldn’t get it.”
Ignoring the indignant squack from Todo, she continues.
“Even with my help, you might never master it, or risk learning it wrong and destroying yourself.”
Megumi only nods, unperturbed and even seeming more determined than before at the prospect of a challenge.
“I’ll try my best.”
Yuki grins. She’s really grown to love the determination of this kid; he’ll grow to be a good, strong Sorcerer one day.
‘Maybe one day he’ll even be able to replace the recent downfalls of the last batch of sorcerers.’
Ruffling Megumi’s hair, then patting Todo on the back in playful sympathy, Yuki ushered the kids inside for dinner. The sun was setting, and the bugs were starting to bite at her.
‘Only time will tell.’
Incident report.
Date: August 8th, 2017.
Topic: Special grade cursed spirit Rika Orimoto.
Subject(s): Rika Orimoto- Deceased, Yuta Okkotsu.
Status: Student.
Yuta Okkotsu, under the request of special grade sorcerer Yuki Tsumuko, will have his execution order halted unless voted otherwise. Until then, he will learn under principal/teacher Yaga Masamichi alongside the current first years.