.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ i hope that someday when i am gone, someone, somewhere, picks my soul up off these pages and thinks, 'i would have loved her' ❞

[ The next JJK book I do will definitely cover more of the series! ]

┏━━━°⌜ 憑拠 ⌟°━━━┓

"Kanada Taichi in Morioka, in June. Shimada Osamu in Yokohama, in August. Yamato Hiroshi in Nagoya, in September." The blond girl who had previously introduced herself as Nitta lists, "These three died in similar circumstances."

"They were stabbed to death by a cursed spirit at the entrances to their apartments, and all of them had filed the same complaint with the property managers several weeks before dying." Nitta continues to explain to the three students in the back seat along with Y/N, who was allowed to sit in the passenger seat due to the backseat only being able to fit three.

"They claimed their auto-locking doors were left wide open. None of the other residents have any idea what could have happened." Nitta elaborates.

"None of the dates or locations match, though. Could the same cursed spirit have killed them all?" Fushiguro wonders, looking down at the computer in his lap.

"Hey, could the cursed spirit be responsible for the doors? Do sensors like those pick up cursed spirits? And they don't show up on cameras and stuff." Itadori wonders with a pensive look on his face.

"Apparently, the cursed spirit made the door operators go crazy, not the sensors." Nitta answers.

"Oh..." Itadori mumbles.

"And as for whether or not the same cursed spirit was behind this..." Nitta trails off for a moment before regaining her voice, "Well, we couldn't be certain from just the residuals."

"After all, a lot of time had already passed. So we tried to track down any connections between the three. We found that all three attended the same middle school for two years." Nitta explains to the four.

"Middle... school?" Y/N whispers to herself, confused, "Why do humans need to separate them if they're all the same thing...?"

"Meaning all three received the same curse, and it activated after time had passed?" Kugisaki theorizes, a hand held to her chin in thought.

"Precisely. That's highly likely." Nitta agrees, glancing into the mirror to look at Kugisaki. "So we're going to that middle school now to question someone the three victims all knew, and I want you four to see what you can find as sorcerers."

"Way to go, Kugisaki!"

"Heh. What'd you expect?"

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"A funeral?" Itadori asks as the five exit the slick black car that was parked so it was obscured by surrounding buildings.

"Is this the home of that acquaintance?" Kugisaki questions, eyes skimming over the people dressed in black gathered outside the building, mournful expressions on their faces.

"Yes, it is..." Nitta trails off as she looks at the people with a frown.

━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━

"Well, this sucks. He died the same way the other three did. He lived with his family, so there was no auto-locking door, but he was killed in front of the entrance. Previously, upon returning home alone, he reported, 'The door was unlocked but it wouldn't open,' to his other family members." Nitta explains as the five walk towards the large school building infront of them.

"I asked his parent, too, but they said said they didn't know what relationship he had with the other three." Nitta adds, the five making their way through the paths of the outside part of the school.

"Well, there goes our only lead..." Nitta mumbles with a disappointed frown.

"Don't worry. Something has to turn up here..." Y/N weakly tries to comfort Nitta, reaching her hand up to pet Nitta's head.

"I sure hope so..." Nitta mumbles in agreement, looking down at the ground gloomily.

"For now, I've secured an appointment with a teacher, so I'm counting on you." Nitta tells the four.

Kugisaki's eyes suddenly start to sparkle as they land on two boy that were loitering outside of the school, one crouched down and wiping the bud of his cigarette against the ground; creating a small collection of ash.

"There's some obvious punks!" Kugisaki exclaims, rushing forward and stopping against one of the support beams that was infront of the students, "Lets beat 'em up and set 'em straight!"

"Hah?" The two turn towards her with menacing glares, disgust on their faces as they look at her along with the other four who had walked over.

The disgust soon shifts to fear and then respect, bowing deeply towards the group, "I-It's good to see you!"

"Heh, look at that. You actually get it." Kugisaki holds a hand to rest against her chin, assuming an elegant expression.

"An aura just pours out, even if you try to hide it." Itadori runs a hand through his soft pink hair.

Y/N laughs into her hand, nearly being able to see the singular brain cell bouncing between the two.

"—We haven't seen you since graduation Fushiguro-san!" The two shout, Itadori and Kugisaki's daydreams literally shattering as they freeze.

"Eh?" Even Y/N was surprised as she turns to look at Fushiguro.

Fushiguro looks away from everyone, face turned to make his expression unreadable, "I... went here... for middle school."

The two immediately turn to attack Fushiguro, like piranhas being able to taste blood in the water.

"That's a surprise, too, but that's not the point!"

"What'd you do?! What did you do in middle school?! No, it would be quicker to ask them!"

"Hey, Idiot A and Idiot B! What did this guy do to you?!"

"We..." The two look up with pale faces, "or rather, every delinquent, gang member, and so on in this area got beaten up by Fushiguro-san."

The two immediately let go of Fushiguro, turning to face him with baffled expressions. Fushiguro doesn't offer a response, only turning to look away again awkwardly.

"...I beat them up." Fushiguro finally answers, confirming their statements.

"Why do you keep talking so stiffly?! Look at me!"

"What are you doing?! Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Hey!" A stern voice cuts into the banter, resulting in all five turning to look at the newcomer.

"Who are you? Students from other schools aren't allowed in here!" An elderly man with pale grey hair shouts, wearing an unattractive blue uniform.

"And who the hell are you?!" Kugisaki demands, pointing at him accusingly.

"Staff member, maybe?" Y/N floats next to Kugisaki, tilting her head at the newcomer, scrutinizing his appearance.

Nitta walks forward infront of the four, holding up her ID, "We have permission to be here."

"Oh, you're the ones?" The elderly man looks the four (due to the fact he couldn't see Y/N) over.

"You're all young." The man observes. "You need to hang your pass around your neck."

"Fushiguro-kun?" The man's eyes widen as he looks at the black-haired member of the group.

"Hello." Fushiguro looks away stiffly, posturing tightening awkwardly.

"He remembers you!" Kugisaki and Itadori tease with large grins.

"So this man's been here a long time?" Nitta guesses.

"Probably." Is what Fushiguro answers, not even glancing at the three, "Takeda-san's a permanent employee."

"Then I leave the rest to you!" Nitta gives Fushiguro a large thumbs up.

━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━

"Kanada, Shimada, Yamato, and Morishita, huh?" Takeda frowns to himself, "I was shocked by their passing, but I guess it's been nearly twenty years since they graduated."

"I remember it like it was yesterday." Takeda raises his gaze from the ground to smile warmly at Fushiguro, "They were problem children in their own right, though not as bad as you. What do you want to know?"

"Strange rumors, dark rumors, connections to bad adults—" Fushiguro lists.

"Hey, problem child!" Itadori and Kugisaki taunt, inching closer to Fushiguro with wide grins.

"—and anything of ill omen." Fushiguro finishes, hitting the two across the head and knocking them away.

"Dark rumors?" Takeda blinks in surprise, "They may have been problem children, but they never went beyond average middle school stuff."

"But wait... ill omen?" Takeda pauses to put a hand on his chin, "Do you mean that tale?"

"About the Yasohachi Bridge bungee jumping?" One of the punks that Y/N still doesn't know the name to asks.

"You're still here, A and B?" Kugisaki asks, leaning towards the two.

"Yasohachi Bridge?" Itadori inquires, looking towards Takeda curiously.

"A notorious suicide spot." Fushiguro answers, drawing everyone's attention towards him, "It's well-known in this area as a haunted location."

"Oh, that's right! Back then, it was all the range among delinquents to bungee jump off Yasohachi Bridge late at night. It was one of those tests of courage." Takeda explains thoughtfully.

"...Humans." Y/N deadpans, unamused. Are they getting dumber throughout the eras?

"What a weird tribe." Kugisaki looks off to the side distastefully.

"I'm surprised there are people dumber than me!" Itadori admits with an airheaded smile.

"What do you use for a cord?" Fushiguro rolls his eyes.

"We didn't do it! I just heard some students from our parents' generation talking about it." One of the punks quickly steps up to defend themselves.

"One day, Kanada and the other three were absent without permission. That wasn't unusual by itself, but when we contacted their families, we learned that those four hadn't come home the day before." Takeda starts to explain.

"It caused a pretty big stir. Then they were found unconscious under the bridge. They got chewed out good, but all four swore up and down they didn't remember a thing."

━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━

"I think that's it." Nitta notices, the five standing out in the parking lot as the sun starts to dip below the horizon, casting a gold flint over the city.

"I've been to Yasohachi Bridge, too." Fushiguro suddenly admits, causing the four to look at him.

"To bungee jump?" Itadori grins at the boy when—

"Ow!"

Itadori holds his head in his hands with a childish pout, rubbing the wound left by Fushiguro.

Y/N snickers, patting Itadori's shoulder sympathetically.

"It's easy for curses to take root in haunted locations, just like in schools, so people from Jujutsu High regularly patrol it." Fushiguro explains.

"There wasn't anything unusual at the time, though. It might be a bit famous, but it's still used as a normal bridge." Fushiguro comments offhandedly.

"We still have to go check it out, though." Kugisaki turns towards Nitta, who nods in agreement.

"Yeah."

"Fushiguro-kun?" Takeda calls, resulting in the five turning towards him. "Sorry, I was curious about something."

"What is it?" Fushiguro asks, turning to fully face the man.

"Tsumiki-kun took awfully good care of you when you were in school. Is she doing well?" Takeda asks with a curious smile.

"...Yes." Fushiguro answers after a moment of silence.

"Who's Tsumiki?" Itadori inquires as he and Kugisaki lean closer towards him, both wanting answers.

"My older sister." Fushiguro answers, closing his eyes.

"What?!" Kugisaki snaps, "You tell us too little about yourself!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Itadori agrees loudly.

Y/N only sweatdrops as she watches the three, floating idly next to Nitta with an exasperated expression.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ 𝐈 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖. 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄. 𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❞