Even though summer was fast approaching, a shivering, cold wind still swept across the rooftop.
"Chisa-chan, let's break up."
The man she thought she could entrust her life to was abandoning her without a second thought for another girl.
Staring at their intertwined hands, Chisa Inoue didn't know how to process what she was feeling. A rasping sound squeezed out of her parched throat—a question trembling with the threat of tears. "Then what was I to you...? Did you forget everything you said before?"
Raising a hand to wipe the moisture from the corner of her eye, she tried to fix her expression, but the suddenness of the breakup was too much to bear. As her hand brushed her face, more tears fell. "Why her?"
The man before her seemed like a completely different person. The gentleness and care he once showed had vanished entirely. He remained unmoved by the tears of the woman he had once cherished. "Sorry, but she... she just has too much to offer."
What he couldn't see was the cursed energy radiating from the girl in front of him, thickening until it was almost tangible.
"Is it because of money? You haven't even graduated high school, and you've already turned into this."
"I don't blame you, but you need to understand," Chisa Inoue said, her voice eerily calm as she addressed the other girl with her final words. "If he can abandon me for money today, he'll do the same to you tomorrow."
Without a moment's hesitation, Chisa Inoue turned and leapt from the edge of the roof.
"Why is it so cold...?"
Yuta Okkotsu walked through the hallway. A gust of chilling wind swept past, and the cold, combined with his own fear, sent him shrinking back into a corner. "And the atmosphere is terrifying."
Clack... Clack...Clatter-clatter-clatter—
Two distinct sets of footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor. Yuta looked up to see a very tall but incredibly thin man, likely in his late twenties, sprinting toward him.
Following behind those frantic steps were the slow, deliberate footfalls of a horrifying female cursed spirit. She wore an orange sweater drenched in blood, and her red high heels clicked elegantly against the floor as she advanced, step by step.
"Run!" the man shouted as he fled. Noticing a living soul in the hallway, he performed a series of movements as fluid as water. Without sacrificing a single ounce of speed, he scooped Yuta up with one arm, tucked him under his armpit like a football, and bolted downstairs without looking back.
"Yuta..." Rika manifested for a split second, but at Yuta's internal urge, she immediately vanished back into the shadows.
The female cursed spirit flinched, intimidated by the brief flare of Rika's massive cursed energy. She stopped in her tracks, watching their retreating backs with a hint of wariness.
But soon, she resumed her elegant pace, following them. "Scumbags... die... all of you..."
Because the man's movements were so lightning-fast, Yuta didn't even have time to react before he found himself in a "man-on-man" carrying situation. "What's going on?!"
"No idea." The man ran faster and faster until they slammed into the black Curtain. Only then did he set Yuta down. He glanced back at the school building; the curse hadn't emerged yet. "That thing moves slowly. We can take a breather for a second."
"Seishe Tanaka. That's my name."
Yuta stood up and shook the man's hand. "Yuta Okkotsu."
He took a closer look at this Tanaka-kun. The man had the physical build of a world-class athlete, yet his squinting eyes gave off a perpetually sleepy, listless vibe.
Moreover, despite the situation, Yuta saw no trace of panic on his face. "You can see the Curtain and the curse... are you a sorcerer too?"
"A what-cerer?"
"A jujutsu sorcerer."
"Jujutsu what?"
"Sorcerer."
"Saucerer?"
"Sor-cer-er!"
Tanaka saw the veins bulging on the kid's forehead and laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry. My hearing isn't great. 'Jujutsu' something? Never heard of it. I'm a photographer by trade."
"What?!" Yuta stared at him, doubting the man's identity. "Then why can you run so fast? And you're so strong... I thought you were a professional athlete or something."
"Close enough. I'm a sports photographer. To catch the perfect shot, being faster than the champions is a basic requirement, isn't it? As for the strength... well, you look a bit malnourished. You weigh about the same as my camera gear; I'm used to it."
"What kind of basic requirement is that?! I've never heard of such a thing!" Yuta's face went flat with disbelief.
"Speaking of which, what are these 'Curses' and 'Curtains'?" Tanaka asked. He was still facing the building, his body looking relaxed, but Yuta didn't doubt for a second that the moment the curse appeared, the man would scoop him up and hit Olympic-sprint speeds again.
"I see, so you're a 'Window' then? The curse is that thing from before. As for the Curtain..." To be honest, Yuta hadn't fully mastered barrier techniques himself, so he couldn't explain the high-level theory. "It's basically like a dome that traps the curse inside."
"You're just a student and you know so much? Subarashii."
"I'm not a student of this school." Yuta felt the ripple of cursed energy approaching. He discarded his scabbard and gripped his katana with both hands, coating the blade in cursed energy. "I'm a jujutsu sorcerer sent specifically to solve this. Leave the rest to me."
Tanaka took a step back and looked at Yuta, unconvinced. "Your hands are shaking, kid. Are you sure about this?"
"I... I'll be fine." Yuta tried to give him a reassuring smile, but the expression looked more like he was about to burst into tears. "I'm a professional."
Clack... Clack...
The cursed spirit that was once Chisa-chan emerged from the main entrance of the school building. She moved toward them with a rhythmic, stilted gait, muttering under her breath: "Scumbags... all scumbags must die."
"Here it comes!" Although he had been terrified just moments ago, the second the battle began, Yuta felt a strange surge of calm. Cursed energy reinforced his blade and his body. When the distance closed to less than ten meters, he lunged forward, swinging his cursed tool. She's slow. I can win this!
Regardless of how a curse was born, to Yuta Okkotsu, it was simply a target that had to be killed. He felt no pity. He knew that the more human a curse looked, the higher its intelligence and grade—this one was likely a Grade 1 or even a Special Grade.
Like a cold reaping machine, he swung his blade in a ruthless arc aimed at her neck.
But Chisa was far faster than he had anticipated. Travel speed and combat speed were two entirely different things. She tilted her upper body slightly to the right, evading Yuta's strike. Simultaneously, her right hand formed a sharp, beak-like shape with her fingers, lunging for Yuta's chest.
Black fingernails... is it poisonous? Yuta exerted his strength, carving a perfect arc with the sword as he instantly switched from a standard grip to a reverse grip. The downward-pointing blade barely managed to parry the claw.
"Again!" Just as Yuta was preparing his next move, a stone whistled through the air. The curse was momentarily distracted by the sound and turned her head—it was Tanaka, who had gathered a pile of rubble in the distance and was pelting her.
But Tanaka was an ordinary human. The stones carried no cursed energy and could do no damage. The rock, thrown with impressive speed and power, passed right through her head.
A sneer flickered across Chisa's blood-stained face. A moment later, the smile froze.
Squelch!
The sound of a blade entering flesh rang out. Yuta had seized the split-second distraction. With an upward diagonal slash, his blade bit into her waist, nearly cleaving her in two.
But as a cursed spirit, her body wasn't as fragile as a human's. She simply flooded the wound with cursed energy, stitching her severed torso back together.
Just as the blade was about to pierce her shoulder, she reached out with her right hand and gripped it tightly. The sword's momentum ground to a dead halt.
"Crap..." Yuta realized he was in trouble the moment she grabbed the steel. Just as he feared, even though he had reinforced his body and tool with cursed energy, the curse could still destroy his weapon with pure physical force. The struggle lasted only a second before the tip of his blade was crushed in her grip.
Yuta managed to yank the remaining half of the blade out of her body, only to see the curse's fist flying toward his face. He ducked by instinct, barely evading the blow, and swung his broken sword at her shins.
It seemed like a clever counter, but in terms of reaction time, speed, and power, Yuta was completely outclassed. The curse adjusted her stance instantly and planted her right foot firmly into Yuta's chest, sending him flying.
Thud!
The heel of a shoe, sliced off by Yuta's blade, fell to the ground. Its sharp echo sounded exceptionally clear in the empty schoolyard.
Chisa-chan paused, looking down. The high heel on her right foot was gone, leaving it a flat shoe.
After a brief moment of thought, she realized her shoes were actually hindering her. She reached down and pulled both of them off.
"?" When Chisa looked up, the area was empty. She glanced around and picked a direction at random. Without her shoes, her speed was significantly higher than before; in the blink of an eye, she vanished from the spot.
"You should probably take a break."
Even Tanaka, who knew nothing of fighting, could see the massive gap in strength. In the moment Yuta was kicked away, Tanaka had already prepared his escape route. Before Yuta even hit the ground, Tanaka had scooped him up again and dashed back into the building.
"I'm going to die... I'm no match for her." Released from the combat trance, Yuta reverted to the frail, weak-willed boy he had always been. It was as if the person who had just fought the curse was someone else entirely. He looked at the man, who still had that sleepy, half-awake expression, and couldn't help but ask: "Tanaka-san, aren't you afraid?"
"Fear is a useless emotion." Tanaka's voice was still thick with listlessness, as if death were a minor inconvenience. "Your bosses are pretty irresponsible, aren't they? Sending a kid like you to handle this. I'll be sure to file a complaint when I get to Hell."
Seishe Tanaka set Yuta down in the corner of a classroom. "I'll ask, just in case... do you have any secret moves? Something that can actually kill that thing?"
"..." Yuta desperately wanted to say yes, but according to Gojo-sensei, the price of summoning Rika was his own execution. He thought he had the resolve to face death, but now that the moment was here, he hesitated. His time at Jujutsu High had been truly happy; he had met so many interesting people. This world was actually beautiful.
"Well, I'll go lead her away. You take some time to think about it—whether you want to risk your life to kill her, or just run away." Before Yuta could answer, Seishe Tanaka gave him a small smile and turned to leave. As he reached the door, he gave a lazy wave. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. A kid shouldn't have to carry a burden like this."