Kiyotaka and Nanami stood outside the cinema as Nanami asked, "It's a gruesome sight. Are you ready to witness it, Ayanokoji-Kun?"
"I am."
They walked into the cinema as they found the corpses. Kiyotaka had been trained to be intelligent and physically capable. The White Room had moments of cruelty that would cause most to vomit, but even with those hellish standards, Kiyotaka found the scene in front of him particularly disturbing.
"Three victims. All High-School boys. Deformed faces and skulls. Their deaths were likely from increased cranial pressure and respiratory failure due to said deformities."
Nanami looked to him and said, "Spot on. Ayanokoji-Kun."
He looked at Kiyotaka curiously and asked, "Before all of this, were you planning to become a forensic scientist?"
Kiyotaka shook his head, saying, "I've seen enough death and brutality for one lifetime. I'd prefer not to see anymore. It's not that I have a deep aversion to it. It's just unpleasant."
Nanami looked into his eyes, and he could tell he was telling the truth as he thought, 'Just what kind of upbringing did you have?'
Nanami looked back at the corpses and asked, "Can you see it? There is a residual taint of Cursed Energy."
"I can sense it. Let me focus."
Kiyotaka focused his eyes and saw it saying, "I can see it now."
Nanami nodded, saying, "A Sorcerer would usually be able to sense it beforehand."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "I'll keep that in mind from now on", as he thought, 'I need to gather more information.'
He saw a police officer walk as he flagged him down and asked, "Can you hand over a copy of the files of this case to us?"
The officer begrudgingly nodded, saying, "Fine. Give me a second" as he came back with the files.
Nanami seemed to approve of his professionalism, saying, "Let's go. You can read them on the way."
Kiyotaka took the files, thinking, 'Let's see about these files', and walked with Nanami up towards the roof.
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Kiyotaka and Nanami walked up some stairs as Kiyotaka was looking through the files, thinking, 'Depending on their ability to see Cursed Spirits, we have one potential witness caught on camera fleeing the scene.'
Kiyotaka played the feed on his phone, watching it as he said, "That expression on his face. It doesn't look like he's fleeing. More like he's chasing after something."
They came up to the rooftop as Nanami said, "It's likely a Cursed Spirit's doing, but there is a chance that the boy caught on the tapes is the culprit, but identifying him is the police's..."
"There are Curses here."
Kiyotaka said this, having already taken Nanami's advice and made sure to constantly feel for Cursed Energy. Nanami nodded, preparing himself as a Curse was in the corner saying, "La, la, la, lunchbox!"
It turned its head as Nanami looked to Kiyotaka and said, "I'll handle this one. You deal with the other one."
Kiyotaka turned around casually, saying, "Alright," to see another Curse.
"Good detergent."
The Curse said this, and Nanami then said, "If you can't handle it, then ask me to help."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "I should be fine, but if I need help, I'll ask."
Nanami fixed his tie and approached the creature as Kiyotaka, and he began dodging attacks. Nanami moved to the side to dodge, saying, "My Cursed Technique allows me to forcibly create a weak point on any opponent. Seven to Three. Striking the point at that ratio when you draw a line along the target's length causes a critical hit. That allows me to deal a fair amount of damage to those ranked higher than me, and if their cursed energy is weak, I can cut them in two, even with a blunt blade."
Kiyotaka dodged an attack, kicking the Curse off to the side as Nanami asked, "What about your Cursed Technique? Gojo tells me you have one and that your Cursed Energy is just invisible."
Kiyotaka shook his head and said, "I prefer not to use or speak of my technique unless necessary."
Nanami nodded, saying, "That's logically how someone would go about it, but... Jujutsu is different. Revealing one's hand is a pact that increases the effectiveness of one's technique."
"Like this..." says Nanami as suddenly there was an uptick in his Cursed Energy as he sliced through the Curse's legs with ease.
He flicked his blade to get rid of the blood and then said, "That's all from me."
Kiyotaka looked at this and thought, 'It's wrapped up, and he used the back, but it still cleaved through the Curse's legs. Interesting.'
The Curse he was fighting rushed at Kiyotaka, who punched through its chest, saying, "Even if the pact is useful, I won't use it unless necessary. It's a waste to give out that information so easily. Sometimes using my Cursed Energy Trait is enough."
He pulled his arm out. The Curse had not made the reflexive reinforcement that it normally would from seeing an attack infused with Cursed Energy, as Nanami thought, 'Even without Cursed Energy, his physical strength is excellent, matching most Sorcerers. When adding Cursed Energy, he's likely a league above most of them. His Cursed Energy control. Since I can't see it, I can't assess it, but he doesn't seem sloppy in the very least.'
Nanami fixed his glasses and said, "Cautiousness is good. Abusing the vow and overly relying on your Cursed Technique is not a good thing. You're far more sensible than most Sorcerers."
Then Kiyotaka noticed a dental implant in the creature and said, "These things are humans."
Kiyotaka said this as Nanami's eyes widened as he checked the one he was fighting. It was wearing a watch. Nanami took a photo as he looked, and it was completely visible in the photo, thinking, 'Curses don't show up in photos. They really are human.'
Nanami sighed, saying, "This is far worse than I expected."
Nanami looked to Kiyotaka and said, "Don't think of this as your fault, Ayanokoji-kun."
Kiyotaka shook his head and said, "I don't think of it as my fault. If they are human, then..."
Kiyotaka felt a bit disturbed for a second from looking at them before finishing by saying, "... I ended their suffering."
Nanami nodded, saying, "That's right. You ended their suffering. There's not much chance that something like this can be healed. Even if it could, there's almost no chance that their mental state could recover from it."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "Whatever did this is dangerous."
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Kiyotaka and Nanami sat in a room as Nanami was on the phone with Shoko.
"You were right. They're human. No, I guess I should call them former humans. The structure of their bodies was forcibly altered by a Cursed Technique."
Nanami sat down, saying, "If that was all, I would have noticed at the start. The two we fought were full of Cursed Energy, like Cursed Spirits."
"You'll have to ask the culprit about their Cursed Technique to explain that. Though there is evidence that their brain stems were tampered with, most likely to create a state of confusion and impaired consciousness. If they can tamper with the brain, it might be possible for them to modify someone to be able to use Cursed Energy. The relationship between the brain and Cursed Energy is still a black box to us."
Shoko seemed to pause for a moment before asking, "Oh, right, is Ayanokoji listening?"
Kiyotaka responded to her voice, saying, "I am."
"To sum it up, these guys died of shock from having their bodies modified."
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "You don't have to try to spare me from the details. Even if it was a state between life and death, they were alive. I ended their lives. I don't consider it a bad thing due to the state they were in."
"It wasn't your fault. That's all I wanted to get across."
Shoko said this before hanging up.
Nanami looked to Kiyotaka and said, "The residuals were a bluff. A trap to lure us in. Our foe is cunning."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "They either didn't expect us to be that strong, or it was testing us or its own abilities. Either way, it's not good."
Nanami nodded and then said, "It looks like this will take more than moderate effort, so no more holding back."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "I won't hold back on using my Cursed Technique."
Nanami looked to him and asked, "It's not easy for you to get angry on another's behalf, is it?" while thinking, 'Strange. It's not like Gojo to teach people like that.'
Kiyotaka shook his head, saying, "It's not that. I'm just not able to express it. Deep down, I know how disgusting this is. Whatever that thing is that did this needs to be dealt with."
Kiyotaka looked to Nanami and said, "Don't mistake my lack of facial expression for a lack of emotion."
Nanami fixed his glasses, saying, "Then I apologise. Let's prepare."
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Time passed as Nanami and Kiyotaka were in the room discussing their plans. Nanami looked to Kiyotaka, saying, "I've organised the reports from our windows on recent, unnatural deaths, and disappearances. This should help us narrow down the culprit's hideout to some extent."
Ijichi stood beside Nanami, who then said, "While I continue to investigate this matter, I'd like you to go with Ijichi-san and investigate the potential witness."
He pinned the picture to the board, saying, "This is the boy who was at the theatre. Yoshino Junpei. Apparently, he goes to the same school as the victims."
"In that case, an investigation is needed."
Kiyotaka said this as he looked through some files, saying, "He attends Satozakura High School. He lives with his mother. Not exactly the popular type."
Kiyotaka looked to Nanami and said, "If you're going to face the Curse alone, then try not to die."
Nanami looked surprised before saying, "Dying is not something I want to do."
Kiyotaka got up and said, "Let's go, Ijichi-San."
Ijichi nodded as they headed out.
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Kiyotaka sat in the passenger seat as Ijichi drove. They eventually found Junpei.
Ijichi then says, "There he is. It looks like he hasn't attended school for some time."
"The time of the deaths was during school hours, too."
Kiyotaka said this as he looked to Junpei, thinking, 'He hasn't been affected by any kind of Cursed Technique to alter his state of mind. He has more Cursed Energy than any normal person.'
Ijichi then states, "Alright, we're going to release the flyhead when he's in an empty area. If he can't see it, please save him. If he can see it but can't fight back, then again, please save him. We'll question him right after. If he exorcises it, then please restrain him by force. If it's a misunderstanding, we'll apologise later. However, if Yoshino Junpei possesses potential equal to or greater than a Grade 2 Sorcerer, we retreat and meet back up with Nanami-san."
Kiyotaka looked to Ijichi and asked, "Grade 2? I've fought worse. Is there a reason why we don't want to restrain him even if he's a Grade 2-level Sorcerer?"
Ijichi fixed his glasses and then said, "Sorcerers are expected to fight Curses at the same rank as them. This means that a Grade 4 Sorcerer has strength comparable to a Grade 3 Curse and so on."
Kiyotaka nodded, understanding and saying, "If he's comparable to a Grade 2 Sorcerer, then he has strength equal to a Grade 1 Curse. I've never fought something that strong on my own. Even still, I think I'd be able to win as long as my opponent doesn't have an ability that is too difficult to handle."
Ijichi nodded and said, "Nanami-san is simply trying to avoid putting you in danger."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "Very well. I'll respect his wishes."
Eventually, they had to get out of the car before they continued following Junpei.
Kiyotaka held a cage with seals and a curse inside it as he looked at the Curse, thinking, 'It looks practically harmless.'
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Junpei walked down the street as he saw a fatass sitting on some steps, as said fatass sweated from the effort of walking cause he was a fatass, as the fatass called out to Junpei, saying, "Yoshino!"
Junpei looked to the fatass with a face that said [Why is this fatass talking to me?] as said fatass got up, wiping the sweat from his forehead, caused by him being a fatass, as the fatass then asked, "Where were you? You know you shouldn't be skipping school."
Junpei sweated, saying, "Sotomura-Sensei..."
The fatass then asked, "Did you hear? Apparently, Sayama, Nishimuta, and Honda are dead."
The fatass whose name will never be used in this fic due to being a useless human who turned a blind eye to a kid being bullied, with an audacity as large as his waist, asked, "You were friends with them, weren't you?"
Junpei's eyes dilated in disgust as the fatass went on saying, "They spent a lot of time with you when you had no other friends, right? Yet you didn't even attend their funerals... Honestly, what's wrong with you? You should go light some incense for them. I'll even go with you."
Junpei looked at the fatass in such utter disgust, thinking, 'Friends? Me... and them?' as he remembered how the three would beat the shit out of him for fun.
Junpei's vision focused on the man as he thought, 'He's insane.'
The fatass then, urging him to comply, says, "Come on."
Junpei's eyes twitch as he says, "You teachers... You graduate from school and then go to work in schools, so you don't actually experience the real world, do you? That's how we end up with overgrown children like you, isn't it?"
He remembered the bugs he was forced to eat. The cigarettes that burned his skin. The times his abuse was taken lightly and captured on phones. Then he remembered how Mahito had said [I'll sanction you fully].
The fatass, being oblivious as usual. No. Being in denial of the horrible things around him as always, asks, "What are you mumbling about? Did you lose your mind from self-isolation? Just kidding" as the fatass laughs a little.
Junpei makes a hand sign as Kiyotaka grabs his arm, saying, "It's okay to curse people who have wronged you, but don't take it too far", as Junpei looks shocked, jumping back.
Kiyotaka looked to him and asked, "You looked uncomfortable. Are you alright?"
Junpei looked at Kiyotaka's uniform and saw a button, thinking, 'That button... he's a Jujutsu Sorcerer.'
The fatass then interrupted, saying, "Hold on. He and I are talking."
"He doesn't look like he wants to talk to you, though. Who are you?"
The fatass looked annoyed, saying, "I'm a teacher! Who are you? What uniform is that? I'll call up your school!"
"Did you call his home to ask for a meeting?"
The fatass looked confused, asking, "What?"
Kiyotaka looked to him and said, "You're not on school property, and he doesn't want to speak with you. Unless you've arranged for a meeting, this can be filed as harassment."
The fatass looked angry, saying, "You brat!"
"Should I let the police handle this?"
The fatass sweated before saying, "You should come back to school, Yoshino. We'll talk later", before leaving.
Kiyotaka stood there with his hands in his pockets and asked, "How long have you been able to use Cursed Energy, Yoshino-san?"
"Only a few days."
Kiyotaka nodded and said, "I'll say it again. It's okay to curse people who have wronged you, but don't take it too far."
Junpei looked surprised and asked, "What?"
Kiyotaka looked to the fatass walking away and said, "You hated him, right? I'm sure he must have done something to make you hate him. Or maybe something he didn't do?"
Junpei looked away as Kiyotaka said, "Wait a second."
Junpei looked confused as he then saw the fatass's pants fall off as Kiyotaka showed Junpei the belt before throwing it into the bushes. Junpei looked shocked, asking, "Since when did you?!"
The fatass looked around desperately, only to realise his pants were ripped as he began running home in a desperate bid not to be seen. Junpei looked at the scene for a second before laughing as Kiyotaka said, "If you can't hold in your anger, then curse people proportionally to how they curse you. If you do it without getting caught, that's even better."
Junpei looked to Kiyotaka with a smile, saying, "You're weird."
Kiyotaka looked to him and said, "You're the weird one. You're actually laughing at my joke."
Junpei smiled, saying, "Maybe you've just never made a good joke before."
Kiyotaka thought about it before saying, "Well, that could be the case."
Kiyotaka then became serious and said, "Now. Let's go talk somewhere private."
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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