6 Chapter 6: New Beginnings, Part 2

"It is only a matter of time before I am caught!" I say this while my lungs struggle for air. "Agh!"

Crash.

Some birthday eve this is turning out to be! The one time I try celebrating my birthday in eight years, I make myself a target for the Japanese sorcerers. I hide behind a trash can, covering my face with my knees. A salty liquid stings my flesh as I run a hand over my face. My lungs fall into a steady rhythm in time with my heartbeat.

"Way to go self!" I throw my hands in the air continuing my monologue, "you left residuals and all for what? To ward off attackers!" I shut my trap when the sound of asphalt kicks up from a distance.

Whoever it is, they are waiting for me to come out of my hiding spot. There is a door right behind me, but it opens from the inside. The clicking noises grow louder, and the blood rushing to my ears makes them heat up. I squat low to the ground, holding my fists in front of my body. Clap.

"Long time no see! How is your new girlfriend?"

"She is doing well. Thanks for asking."

I drop my fists and throw my bag onto my back.

"OH. We did not see you there sir." I force the corners of my mouth outwards.

"Don't worry about it! Have a nice day."

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"I assume you three did not find your target. And what happened here?"

"As I stated earlier, Yaga-sensei, we ran into someone who vaguely fit the description provided by the windows. Their trail ends here with these curse users. We assume the target took out the curse users before escaping. Do you mind if I smoke?"

An officer leaves the paramedics and approaches Shoko's group.

"You must be the backup I requested. Here is a rough sketch of the two individuals involved with this incident."

"Let me see this." Spikey hair dude grabs the sketch, looks at it, turns his eyes in my direction, and starts walking.

"Where do you think you are going?" Suguru says through squinted eyes and gritted teeth.

"You know where I am going. Come on, I know where our missing sorcerer is."

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I rock back and forth on my heels, counting backward from ten while exhaling. Every ten seconds, I check my phone, praying for the bus to hurry up! Then I spot them.

An dyed-blond-haired sorcerer with five piercings in his left ear. A dark blond sorcerer who looks disinterested and annoyed. Their pale green eyes make my heart sink.

"What is with the red flannel. and cap?" The sorcerer with dyed-blonde hair asks.

"A reward for outmaneuvering our target. She has nice tastes in clothing."

"Cut the crap, will you. Did you get her identification or not?" The dark blond sorcerer barks.

"I got more than that. Take a look, we have a set of house keys and a pocketknife."

At this point, I am looking at my phone, walking slowly away from the bus stop. I gradually build a wall between my heart, brain, and soul: creating a seal over my cursed energy. The trio of goons heads the same direction as me, unaware of my presence.

December 31, 2006: Someplace in Tokyo, the time is 5:00 pm

I jerk my head up when a passenger sitting next to me gets up. I gently slap my face, sigh, and exit.

"We know you are here. Care to walk and chat?" The civilian asks as the three men stop walking.

I keep my voice steady and clear.

"Surprise, you all caught me. Listen, I am new to this part of town. Do you mind directing me to a public telephone?"

"Tell us your name first, sweetheart, and then we will help you out." This comes from the sorcerer with dyed hair. Half of his teeth glisten under the street light.

"How about you chill out with the pet names. We are not dating, and I am not the flirtatious type." I ball my fist inside my pocket in case things get out of hand.

The second sorcerer starts talking and grabs me by the front of my shirt.

"We asked for your name, now give it to us." He is yelling in my face and trying to get a good look at me. My sunglasses cover my eyes, but I close them tightly.

"You see something you like? Let me go." I kick my feet mid-air, squirming like a worm on a hook. The civilian is within arm's reach.

"Let her go. We need to report back for the clan meeting." The dark-blond sorcerer's look-a-like says. Once my feet touch the ground, he says point-blank, "We will meet again under better circumstances." He winks before catching up with the others.

The corners of my eyes wrinkle as I laugh to myself. "We will meet again, I hope not!" I grab my bag and head off.

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"She is right...here?"

"Is this a joke, Satoru? The woman we are after is not here! Are your Six-Eyes malfunctioning?"

"Hey, that hurt." Satoru clutches his chest and places the back of his hand on his brow. "I am doing my best and would appreciate..."

"Forget it." The black-haired dude sees a new message on his phone and says, "look, we need to get going. Yaga wants an update report, and the Elders want us to investigate a subway incident."

"Grand. Happy New Year to us! You two go on and report to Yaga. I will head over to the subway and see what is up." Shoko says this while fiddling with her lighter.

.........................................

"Thank whoever is watching me from above for this wonderful day!" I say to myself. "Maybe tomorrow you can send more sorcerers straight to my door?"

Screech! "Agh."

"Attention ridders, we apologize for the emergency stop. There is an unidentified object on the tracks. Please remain seated until further instructions are made. Thank you."

"Great! Some curse has started manifesting due to the holiday. Most likely the result of excessive drinking and partying too hard." I close my eyes and take in my surroundings.

Three baby curses are a kilometer ahead, sitting on the tracks. A semi-grade three and two grade four curses. "This is ridiculous!"

Knock, knock. Knock

"Hello? How may I assist you?" The train conductor looks past my shoulder, fixing his eyes on the wall. Small beads of sweat run along his hairline as his pupils slowly dilate.

"Good evening. Would you let me out of the train? I am visiting a friend at the hospital, and this is the closest stop." I am lying through my teeth to get off the train, exorcise the curses, and leave before other sorcerers arrive.

"Sorry. We are not able to let passengers off or on the train at this time. There has been an accident up ahead and we are waiting for the authorities to arrive. Please go back to your seat. Your friend will have to wait." He waves the back of his hand towards me and turns around. I take a deep breath in, and out before returning to my seat.

After five minutes of waiting, I get up and walk to the back of the train. There are not many passengers aboard, so, I sneak off to the emergency exit. Picking the lock is not difficult and I use a little cursed energy to disable the alarm.

The curses are oblivious to my presence while wandering down the tracks. Ten minutes pass before we reach the Shibuya stop: an area with a lot of activity during the night. The sounds of footsteps and laughter tell me the New Year festivities have started.

I veer off the tracks and onto the platform. Time for some fun! I make my way over to the stairs, ducking behind a pillar before the curse can see me. Once I am behind the curse, it turns around and lunges for me. I avoid the attack by stepping backward three times.

"You going to celebrate the New Year, curse? How about we cut a deal?"

I want the curse to leave. The less cursed energy I use, the harder it will be to track me. Three sorcerers are five minutes away. The grade-four curses run into the semi-grade three after I somersault to my left. A black hue outlines my purple eyes causing a gush of wind up the staircase.

"Oh, it is chilly down here. Put your jacket on babe." Some civilian couple as they make their way down the stairs.

"I know where the curses are." Shoko puts her cigarette out while waiting outside.

Time for my curtain call.

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Meanwhile….

"What is the meaning of showing up late for the clan meeting?" The current Zenin head yells.

"We ran into some trouble. The kind of trouble created to obey men."

"You are late to the meeting because of a woman? Sit down and shut your trap."

"She is not just a woman; she is my life partner and the person Jujutsu Tech has been after for a while."

"Enough of your musings, now sit. What are you two looking at? Go back to fixing dinner." Identical twin girls grab each other's hands and run off.

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I make it to the street level of Shibuya and catch Shoko out the corner of my eye. We are on opposite sides of the street.

"If you two hurry downstairs, you will catch up with her." Shoko states with a flat affect.

"Are you not coming with us? Besides, she is standing right over there." Suguru points to the place I was just standing.

"Across the street? I don't see or sense anyone dude. Before you ask, I am using the Six-Eyes…there is nothing there. Come on, we need to clean up the curses, talk with the train conductor, and get back to campus." Satoru cocks an eyebrow and peers over his glasses. His gaze will not move from where I once was.

December 31, 2006: 9:00 pm; Kyoto

I make it safely to my second training ground. With the commotion of New Year's Eve underway, I walk through the back gate of the building unnoticed, slowly chipping away the seal on my cursed energy.

After unpacking my bag, placing the food on a table, and opening Miss Apple's gift, I let my guard down. My purple eyes are not sensing danger or curses. I decide on a quick shower and cup of tea with an apple. My head bobs up and down while my eyes flutter shut.