A sudden burst of chaos echoes through the building, with loud thumps and shouts coming from the second floor.

Yuuji heads for the stairs without a second glance, and I trail behind him, the blue orb still in my hands. I look down as I follow Yuuji, trying to ignore the pounding in my chest. We reach the top floor, which seems to be completely filled with cursed energy.

"There's a lot of cursed energy up here," I pant. "But I can't tell where it is..."

Yuuji stops in his tracks, listening for more noises. His face is stone cold and serious now, his eyes gazing around like he's waiting for something to happen. I can feel the cursed energy growing in the air, becoming more oppressive with each second. Suddenly, I feel a strong amount of cursed energy coming from the wall.

"Yuuji, you feel that too, right?" I ask softly, glancing at him. He looks at the wall in front of us as if sensing the concentrated build-up of energy too.

"It's on the other side..." he mumbles.

Suddenly, he brought his fist back and swiftly plunged it into the concrete wall with a speed that was too fast for my brain to comprehend. Although at this point, I'm used to Yuuji doing crazy things.

"Huh?" The pink-haired boy starts seemingly feeling around for something on the other side of the wall. "I missed?"

Without hesitating, Yuuji plows into the wall with his body, causing a huge explosion of dust and debris. As the dust clears, I notice a huge hole that leads into the space behind the wall. It's another room! Before us stands another curse. This one is smaller than the other one. It's a light brown color and stands on two legs. It's short and round, with a very hairy body. It has two huge eyes on either side of its face protruding from the hair. It has its teeth bared in a huge, unnerving smile. Beyond the curse is Nobara. The brown-haired girl is standing there with her hands up in surrender. That's when I also noticed that the curse in front of us had a small child in its arms. It grabs the boy by the top of his head and jerks him towards us. It seems as though the curse is using the boy as hostage!

Yuuji quickly cuts the arm that holds the boy's head off, purple blood splattering everywhere. The little boy yelps in fear as he is quickly grabbed by Yuuji by the arm. He pulls the boy towards him into his arms and promptly kicks the curse in the face with his foot. The curse flies back with a cry and lands on its back.

I run to Yuuji's side as he smiles at the boy, "You okay, bud?" The boy looks terrified but nods anyway.

I gasp as I notice the curse standing up and clutching its amputated arm in pain. What's worse is that it begins to faze through the window on the wall next to us!

"It's getting away!" I gasp.

"No, he's not!" Nobara suddenly shouts from the other side of the room. Her tone sounds determined. She turns to me, "Kira! Give me that arm!"

I quickly look to the side and notice the severed arm of the curse next to me. Without hesitating, I run and grab it. "Here!" I toss over the arm, and Nobara catches it swiftly with her left hand. She throws it onto the ground in front of her. She pulls out a small object from her belt and throws it on top of the arm. The object seems to be a doll made of what looked to be straw.

The little boy clings to Yuuji in fear, "A straw doll?" he whimpers.

Yuuji hugs the boy to his chest, even looking a little fearful himself, "Creepy..."

I don't say anything. I just watch in awe as Nobara pulls out a nail and a hammer from her belt. Cursed energy flows through her as she begins to ready herself to hit the nail with her hammer.

"Straw doll technique..." She begins with a serious (and also kinda creepy) look on her face. She drives the nail into the doll with her hammer with immense speed and force, "Resonance!"

We watch as Nobara drives a nail into the straw doll, releasing a huge stream of concentrated cursed energy in the process. The cursed energy swirls through the room. From outside, the curse lets out a shrill shriek, clutching its chest as it begins to fall to the ground. However, before it made it to the ground, it disintegrated into nothing but dust.

And with that, the purple aura is lifted from the building.

Nobara pants as she tries to regain her breath, "We beat it." She looks up to Yuuji, the little boy, and I with a serious look.

Yuuji stands up and walks over to Nobara with the boy by his side, "This is why I told you!" he begins, "I said it's dangerous to go alone and you need to take it seriously!" He scolds the brown-haired girl.

Nobara grits her teeth and walks closer to him, "Except you never said it was dangerous to go alone!" she argues back.

"I—Wait...I didn't?"

"No, you didn't," I giggle in amusement. "You just said she was a roller coaster of emotions"

He whines, "Hey! I thought you were on my side!"

"Nope, she realizes how much of an idiot you are now!" She smirks, "And dude...what have you been eating to be able to punch through walls like that?!" She yells in disbelief as she points at the huge hole in the wall.

Yuuji argues back, "It wasn't reinforced concrete!"

"So?! Most people couldn't punch through that!" She shouts back.

They continue to bicker back and forth, so I take it upon myself to grab the little boy's attention by waving at him with a warm smile. He shyly comes over to me. "Hello there." I smile at him. "You're really brave, you know that?"

"Huh?" The boy looks taken aback.

"You didn't panic at all when the curse snatched you. That's why it doesn't surprise me that you didn't make a sound when my friend saved you." I crouch down in front of him so we're at eye level.

"You're a lot braver than me, you know..." I smile kindly at him.

The boy smiles softly, taking in the comforting words. His little hands clutch his stuffed rabbit toy as he listens to me. I notice a few tears still remaining in the corner of his eyes. "Do you wanna tell me your name?" I ask him gently.

He gives a small pause before looking at me hesitantly. "My name is Haru." He murmurs shyly.

I giggle, "Nice to meet you, Haru. My name is Kira!" I glance down at the stuffed animal in his arms. "Does your bunny have a name too?" I say kindly.

The boy looks down at his stuffed animal and nods, his lips curving into a small smile. "His name is Mr. Bunny." He holds his favorite toy close, rubbing his thumb across the rabbit's ears as his lips curve into a soft smile.

I notice a glimpse of comfort in his eyes and my heart warms. It's nice to see him finally smile after everything that happened. I nod my head encouragingly as I smile at him. "Let's get you back home to your family, Haru," I say as I stand up to my full height, brushing the wrinkles from my skirt. I take his hand gently and lead him through the building to the outside.

We exit the building together and are greeted by the sight of Fushiguro and Gojo standing there waiting for us with their hands in their pockets. The sky had turned from partly cloudy to an orange tint as the sun sets.

Gojo's smile widens as he sees us walking out. "I see we're all safe!" The white-haired man greets us with a smile. Fushiguro remains silent but seems relieved.

I smile brightly, "Yep! Nobara and Yuuji are on their way out. We found this child being held hostage by a curse inside the building, so I was going to take him home!" I smile down at the boy.

Haru looks up at me and grins. "Thanks for saving me!" After a second of hesitation, he lifts his hands up for a hug.

Without hesitation, I kneel and wrap my arms around him, squeezing him tightly in a warm hug. It's so sweet and heartwarming seeing the little boy relieved from what could've been a much worse situation.

Gojo comes up to us looking very pleased, "Kira, why don't you sit out here and wait for the other two?" He says, "Megumi and I will take the kid home."

I agree and happily nod my head. "Alright then." I release the little boy from the hug and take a seat on the concrete stairs at the entrance of the building. I place my chin into my palm and watch as Gojo and Fushiguro walk away with the little boy. I wait patiently for Nobara and Yuuji, watching the sky change colors from day to dusk. A few minutes pass, and the pair finally emerge from the building. The pink-haired teen approaches first, giving me a kind smile before sitting down next to me. Nobara silently sits down on the step a few feet below Yuuji and I. We're all collectively exhausted but also just relieved and ready to put all of this behind us.

Nobara begins to tap her foot impatiently, "Did you guys know I get into a bad mood when I'm hangry?"

"When are you not in a bad mood?" Yuuji mumbles. It was a playful jab, but we both know that Yuuji's words are partially true. We stare at her in amusement as she continues to tap her foot.

I giggle, "I'm hungry too..." I take a deep breath. "Well, this was a crazy day. I can't believe we did that!" I lean back, rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah..." Yuuji mumbles, also sitting back. He's breathing heavily, and he's covered in scratches and bruises from fighting. Yet, we're both still smiling as if nothing had happened.

Nobara scowls and crosses her arms. "Well, I'm starving!" she declares with a growl. "Where are those two?!"

"Hey there!" a familiar voice calls out to us.

"Hm?" Yuuji turns his head to the right, and Nobara and I do the same. Fushiguro and Gojo walk towards us, a wide smile on the white-haired man's face as he waves at the three of us. Fushiguro just looks at us with his usual unimpressed look. "We made sure the kid got home! Now how about we grab some food?" He beams.

Nobara and Yuuji jump up in excitement.

"A nice juicy steak!" Yuuji's mouth waters.

"Sushi!" Nobara beams.

Gojo chuckles and gives them a thumbs up, "Just leave it all to me!" He turns to Fushiguro and I, "You two in?"

I nod and smile widely, "Totally! I'm super hungry!"

Gojo turns to Fushiguro to see what he has to say. It appears that the black-haired boy couldn't care less, though, as he just ignores Gojo by scrolling on his phone.

"Huh?" Gojo seems mildly shocked but quickly recovers. He places his arms around the three of us and ushers us away. "Okay. Let's go." He teases Fushiguro purposely. The black-haired boy gapes in shock as we leave him behind. He rushes to catch up with us as we continue to walk towards the restaurant. As the five of us make our way towards a nearby restaurant, Gojo smiles brightly and leads the group at the front. Fushiguro grumbles slightly, keeping quiet while following behind. But I notice he seems more positive than usual, a slight smile curled in the corner of his lips as he walks.

"Oh...I forgot about my biggest haul of the day," Nobara points at Yuuji as if he were a puppy. "Hey you...fetch my things." She says rudely, but her voice is laced with playfulness.

Yuuji interjects from beside me, "Huh? Why should I do that?" He grumbles. "I thought we were even now..."

"We won thanks to my cursed energy!" The brown-haired girl scoffs. "Got a problem with that?"

"What about my raw strength?" Yuuji argues, "Plus Kira was a total badass today!" He nudges me in the side playfully. I nudge him playfully back, trying to pretend not to blush at the flattery of being acknowledged.

I glance at Gojo, who is cheerfully leading the way, and Fushiguro, who is silently straggling behind. Suddenly, I remember the glowing orb that I stuffed in my pocket earlier. I pull the orb out and walk faster in order to catch up to Gojo.

"Gojo-sensei...?"

"Hm?" He glances over to see me waving him down, and his smile instantly brightens. "What's up, Kira?" He asks in his usual bright voice.

I hold the glowing blue orb up so that he can see it. "Yuuji and I found this back there when we exorcised one of the curses...I was wondering what it is?" I say with a kind smile.

His smile falls instantly and he stops walking, "I see..." He carefully grabs the orb from my hand, "So this was from the curse you exorcised?"

"Yes," I reply. "We found it when we exorcised the curse. Should I have just left it behind?" I tilt my head to the side as I wait for his answer.

Gojo takes an extra moment to glance at the orb, and then back to me. There's an aura to him that was not there before. "I guess I should have told you earlier, but your ability is pretty special compared to normal sorcerers..." My eyebrows furrow in confusion. I was about to speak, but I was interrupted by the sound of Nobara's loud voice.

"Ugh, you guys gonna hurry up?!" Nobara yells from ahead of us, Yuuji and Fushiguro staring at us in confusion.

Gojo looks up at them and smiles, "You guys go ahead, okay?" He waves his hands, "Save us a seat!" he smiles lazily. Yuuji and Fushiguro glance at one another in confusion before following the brown-haired girl to the restaurant. I look from them to Gojo with curiosity.

"So...what about my ability?" I gently prod.

"You have the ability of cursed spirit manipulation. There's not many that have this cursed technique. Basically, you have the ability to control the curse spirits that you exorcise. Instead of exorcising a curse regularly, you can absorb them by consuming orbs like this," He holds up the glowing blue orb. "Once consumed, you can control the very curse that you exorcised. This orb contains the curse's spirit." His voice is filled with an interesting combination of praise and concern at the same time.

"Consume? You mean like...eating it?" I gulp nervously.

"Exactly," He nods. "You consume the cursed spirit's energy and its power becomes yours. The only real downside is that if you consume a very powerful curse, you have to be in complete control. Otherwise, you could end up losing yourself to the curse spirit's influence."

As soon as Gojo speaks those words, I feel my stomach sink. Consume a curse? In order to gain its power? That's how it worked? The concept is horrifying. The idea of consuming a cursed spirit makes me feel slightly queasy.

"What if I lose control?" I ask, my voice trembling just a little.

He stares at me for a moment. "That's why it's so dangerous, and why it's so powerful. Consuming a curse is a slippery slope. You have to completely subjugate it in order to gain its power. Even then, you have to keep your own consciousness intact." He pauses, expression serious. "You must have incredible willpower. And discipline."

He shakes his head, letting out a long, weary breath. "Honestly, I'd rather you not consume it. But... if it's the only way to gain more cursed energy..." He holds the glowing ball up to me, "So? Wanna give it a try?" He gives me a smile.

Consume a curse. It's a horrifying thought. I have to completely subjugate a curse to gain its powers. And I better keep my consciousness intact or else...

"I'll do it." I take the orb from him, squeezing it slightly as I take a deep breath. My eyes narrow in concentration as I prepare to consume the cursed spirit. This could change everything. I open my mouth and slip the orb into my mouth. The first thing that happens is a horribly disgusting taste filling my mouth. I gag. It's the worst thing I've ever tasted. It tastes distinctly like cold vomit. My knees buckle and I fall into a crouched position. I have to force myself to keep it down. I focus on keeping control.

I must control the cursed spirit.

I must control the cursed spirit.

I must control the cursed spirit.

I struggle to swallow the orb. My tongue feels raw and burnt, my heart pounding in my chest. I clench my fists and force myself to keep my composure.

Control yourself.

Control the curse.

Be strong.

I focus on the chant, repeating the words over and over again in my head as I fight the urge to lose myself. And just like that, the orb slips down my throat and I swallow it in one whole movement.

The sound of Gojo's concerned voice breaks me out of my thoughts, "Kira?" he says softly.

My throat burns, even now. The taste of cold vomit still lingers. But there's another feeling, too, a strange sensation that ripples throughout my body.

"D-did I...do it?" I murmur, trying to keep myself from falling to my knees.

Gojo smiles, but his cheerful expression is tinged with worry. "You did it! You successfully consumed the cursed spirit!"

"Is...Is this it?" I ask with a nervous smile. I can feel the orb's cursed energy flowing through my veins. It's like an overwhelming rush of electricity. I'm overwhelmed by my new sensations, and the feeling is intense.

Gojo looks proud. He smiles and nods, "Yes....You did very well." He takes a step towards me and offers his hand. The rush of energy makes me dizzy. Gojo's gaze is intent as if he knows what I'm about to ask.

I take his hand and stand up slowly, staring at the blindfolded man through blurred eyes. "This feels...strange" I murmur, feeling the cursed energy coursing through my veins.

"It'll get better with time," Gojo promises. "You'll learn to control it."

"I hope so... I don't think I could live with myself if I lost myself to madness." I shake my head with a sigh. A part of me is grateful to have inherited this terrifying and powerful ability. But it also comes at a cost...

He smiles gently at that, "But you haven't, and you won't. You're stronger than that." Gojo releases my hand, his grasp light. "It's time I trained you, and I'll start by teaching you how to use that cursed energy."

"You'll train me?" I ask with a surprised smile. This could change everything. "I feel... different. But this is exactly what I've been hoping for!" I say brightly, feeling the rush of cursed energy course through my veins as we start walking toward the restaurant to meet up with the others.

"Mhm!" He grins playfully. "We'll start tomorrow." I nod my head, eager to learn.

"I can't wait to see what you can do with that cursed energy." He chuckles, and the sound comes across as genuine. He seems proud of me. It warms my heart in a way that I wasn't prepared for.

"Your skills will definitely grow now that you have additional curses in your arsenal. But...don't forget that the orb was from a weak curse." He pauses, looking at me with a smile. "You'll need to be careful. You can't afford to lose control of the cursed energy. Especially if you come across a much stronger curse."

"Okay," I murmur nervously, swallowing the butterflies in my stomach. "Just so we're clear...if I lose control, what happens?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.

He doesn't answer right away, but I can tell that my question caused him to tense slightly. The blindfolded man keeps his head facing forward before uttering his next sentence in the most serious and dark tone I've heard from him.

"I won't let that happen."

The seriousness disappears as quickly as it appeared and he turns to me with a playful smile on his face. "So don't worry about it, kay~?" He ruffles my short black hair.

"H-hey!" I say in an indignant tone, swatting at his hand as he ruffles my hair. But it's not enough to dampen my spirits, though. I'm more excited than ever now. "Now I can't wait to become stronger! Even if it's...a little scary..."

His smile seems reassuring, but the seriousness of his reply before lingers behind it. He's obviously trying to keep up his playful façade for me, but I can tell that just the thought of me losing control