.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ even if it is full of love, all a ghost can do is haunt ❞

[ Y/N doesn't like to fight, she's a Special-Grade curse but on the weaker side. In the heian era she could easily defeat 1-4 Grade curses, but struggled against most Special-Grades (though her in her domain will be an exception to that) ]

┏━━━°⌜ 憑拠 ⌟°━━━┓

"Our window verified the curse womb three hours ago." A man in a suit who introduced himself as Ijichi explains to the group of four. "Once ninety percent were successfully evacuated, they made the call to seal off the center. Citizens within a five hundred-meter radius have been evacuated, as well."

"Ijichi-san, question." Itadori raises his hand, "What's a 'window' here?"

"A window is a member of Jujustu High who can see curses. They aren't sorcerers though." Ijichi explains.

"Oh, okay."

"Let's continue." Ijichi turns his direction back towards the center. "Detainee Block two. At present, five detainees remain there with the curse womb. If this curse womb is the type that metamorphoses, we predict it will become a Special-Grade cursed spirit."

Y/N shifts nervously, a sense of foreboding overcoming her as she glances at the center.

Though, what does Special-Grade mean? I know I am one but... Y/N frowns in confusion before huffing out a sigh. Why do sorcerers have to come up with new terms?

"Hey, so... I still don't really understand what 'Special-Grade' means." Itadori admits as the three sweatdrop, looking at the boy unimpressed.

"Then allow me to explain it so even idiot can understand. First, there's Grade Four. A wooden bat is enough for them. Grade Three. If you have a handgun, you can rest easy. Grade Two. It'll be a good call with a shotgun. Grade One. Even a tank may be insufficient. Then there's Special-Grade. Let's say you might be on even footing if you carpet bomb it with cluster bombs." Ijichi explains.

"That's real bad!" Yuji exclaims, eyes widened in shock.

"Normally a jujustu sorcerer on the same Grade as the cursed spirit would take on the mission." Megumi explains, "On a day like today, that would be Gojo-sensei."

"I see... So where is Gojo-sensei?" Itadori asks.

"Away on business." Fushiguro answers bluntly as Itadori looks at him with surprise.

"Huh?"

"He's not someone who should be loitering around at the school in the first place." Fushiguro frowns in disapproval.

"Don't expect any souvenirs. Y/N might get one, but not you!" Gojo had said, waving to Fushiguro who's eye twitched in reply.

"Unfortunately, we're constantly short-handed in this business. You'll often have to undertake missions beyond your power." Ijichi explains to the four as he adjusts his glasses, "The current case, however, is an abnormal one, and most urgent. Do not fight under any circumstances. If you encounter a Special-Grade, your options are to either run or die."

"Please just listen to your fears." Ijichi urges, "Do not forget that your mission here is strictly the verification and rescue of survivors.

"Excuse me!" Someone exclaims from behind them, the five turning to see a citizen being blocked off by security. "Excuse me, where's Tadashi?!"

The woman ignores the security that orders her to get back, "Is Tadashi... Is my son Tadashi all right?!"

"Please step away." Ijichi requests of the woman, "There's a possibility that someone has spread poisonous gas throughout the center. We cannot share anymore details at this time."

"No..." The woman mumbles, sinking to her knees as she holds her head in her hands, "Why? Why is this happening?!"

"...Y/N, Fushiguro, Kugisaki." Itadori faces the three, "We're gonna save them!"

"Mh, yeah..."

"..."

"Of course we are."

━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━

"Be careful." Ijichi warns the four as they make their way into the center, "I'll put up my Veil. Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

Itadori pauses as he looks out, seeing the cloudy sky become a dark blue, akin to that of a night sky. "It's becoming night!"

"It's a Veil." Fushiguro informs shortly before elaborating, "There's a residential area nearby so this barrier conceals us from the outside world."

"That's incredible!" Itadori awes, looking at the sky in amazement.

Fushiguro doesn't spare Itadori a glance, outstretching his hands as he exclaims, "Demon Dogs!"

A shadow forms on the floor before blending together to reveal the familiar white dog, "He'll let us know if the curse gets close."

"Oh, I see!" Itadori walks towards the dog, petting it softly as it lets out a noise almost like a purr, which was odd considering it was a dog. "Good boy, good boy! We're counting on you, okay?"

"He's... cute." Y/N crouches down next to the dog, hesitantly raising her hand to pet it, unsure if it would attack her since she's a curse. Fortunately, it rubbed its head against her hand as Y/N smiles softly at the dog.

Fushiguro sighs, calling over the dog as it walks over to his side, the other three joining him as he pushes the door open.

"Let's go."

Y/N ignores the small chill she felt once she entered the building, pausing at the sight of seemingly endless walls towering over them, a red hue inflicted over the room.

"What is this?" Fushiguro frowns suspiciously, looking over the room.

"This is..." Y/N recognizes what happened immediately, tensing as her eyes dart around.

"Wh-What's going on in here?" Kugisaki also looks around, the tremor in her voice giving away her fear.

"This is a two-story dorm, isn't it?" Itadori asks, looking around the room with widened eyes.

"C-C-Calm down! It's a maisonette." Kugisaki tries to convince herself, doing nothing to calm the panic written over her body language.

No, it's not. Fushiguro thinks, looking at the area with widened eyes, It's the deployment of an Innate Domain due to cursed energy. It's my first time seeing one this big.

Fushiguro suddenly flinches, turning around to face where the door is— or would be if it hadn't disappeared, "Where's the door?!"

The other three turn around, startling when they see the door had disappeared.

"Th-The door's gone!" Itadori exclaims with widened eyes

"How?!" Kugisaki exclaims, pointing at the door in a panic, "We just came in through there, didn't we?!"

"What do we do? Oh, what do we do about this?" The two panic together as Y/N sweatdrops, looking at the two that have clearly lost their marbles.

"It'll be fine." Fushiguro interrupts, making the two pause as they turn their heads towards him confused, "The dog remembers the scent of the entrance."

"Oh, my." The two turn towards Fushiguro before tackling the dog to pet it vigorously, the dog sitting there with it's tongue lolling out of his mouth happily.

"Good boy! Have some jerky! Have all the jerky you want!"

"You are way too calm!" Fushiguro exclaims, eye twitching in annoyance.

"You really are dependable, Fushiguro." Itadori offers with a bright smile, making Fushiguro pause as he watches as Itadori continues to pet the dog. "Thanks to you, we'll be able to rescue people and save ourselves, too."

Fushiguro stays silent before walking away, "Let's keep moving."

The four follow the dog as he makes his way through the hallways, eventually leading them to an open area with normal lighting.

Itadori's eyes widen, freezing at the sight of three people lying against the wall. Two of them were completely mutilated, nothing left but a pile of bones contorted in odd angles. The third had his entire lower body gone, leaving nothing but a pool of blood in its place.

"Atrocious." Itadori comments, kneeling down infront of them, "That's... three people, right?"

Itadori grabs the shirt only one that wasn't just bones, freezing upon seeing it's name tag.

'Okazaki Tadashi'

"Let's take this body back." Itadori recommends to the other three, making them look at Itadori with confusion.

"Huh?"

"It's that woman's son." Itadori explains shortly.

"But..." Kugisaki frowns with uncertainty.

"His face isn't too badly mangled." Itadori explains, looking down at the man, "His mother won't accept it if we tell her he's dead, but we don't have a body."

Itadori was suddenly pulled back by his hood, turning to look at Fushiguro startled. Fushiguro doesn't pay attention to Itadori's expression, simply explaining, "We have to find and verify two more. Leave that body here."

"Quit joking around!" Itadori snaps at the suggestion, "We turned around and the way we got in here was gone! We won't be able to come back for it later!"

"I didn't say to come back for it! I said to leave it behind!" Fushiguro grits his teeth, becoming frustrated, "I have no intention of risking my own life to save someone I had no intention of saving in the first place!"

Itadori pushes himself up, grabbing onto the collar of Fushiguro's uniform, "No intention of saving him? What do you mean?!"

"This is a juvenile detention center. Jujutsu sorcerers are granted access to all information about the scene beforehand. This Okazaki Tadashi hit a little girl on her way home from school while driving without a license. It was his second offense of driving without a license." Fushiguro glares at Itadori who freezes at the information.

"I know you're stuck on saving lots of people and guiding them to proper deaths. But what are you going to do when someone you saved kills someone else in the future!?" Fushiguro's voice neared shouting.

"Then why did you bother saving me?!" Itadori snaps back at him, Fushiguro's eyes narrowing at Itadori's

"Th-That's.. we shouldn't..." Y/N panics, wringing her hands together subconsciously, knowing her words will fall of deaf ears as she looks at the two worriedly.

"Cut it out!" Kugisaki yells at the two, "God, what are you two doing?! You're both idiots! Think about the time and place if you—"

Kugisaki suddenly falls as Y/N flinches in surprise, quickly altering her gravity as she floats just above the ground, barely not falling into the hole that had appeared under her.

Fushiguro's eyes widen in shock at the sight of Kugisaki disappearing. No way! Demon Dog should have sensed the curse! Fushiguro thinks, turning to face where the dog should be only to find its head shoved in the wall with blood splattered around it.

"Itadori! L/N!" Fushiguro calls, the two turning towards him, "We're running! We'll search for Kugisaki la—"

A cold and overwhelming presence appears next to them as the three freeze.

That... has to be the Special-Grade. Y/N's eyes move over to face the curse, a feeling of fear washing over her at the sight.

It's eyes were as open as possible— actually, did it even have eyelids? —and it's skin was mostly a pale white, similar to snow, having four dark black stripes running down it's face. An impossibly wide grin stretched from ear to ear.

Itadori was the first to recover out of the three, grabbing the knife out of its sheathe before swinging it at the curse, blood splaying across the ground.

Oh. Y/N thinks as she stares at Itadori's hand, which lays on the ground surrounded by blood, the knife still held in it.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

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