18.The Origin Of Obedience 1

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"In June, Morioka, Taichi Kanada, in August, Yokohama, Osamu Shimada, and in September, Nagoya, Hiroshi Yamato. These three died under the same circumstances, stabbed to death at the entrances to their respective apartments. Also, all three had recently complained to building management that the auto-lock on the automatic doors was unlocked. However, none of the other residents noticed," Akari said.

All the first year, was sitting in the car listening to what Akari said.

"But all the dates and locations are different, did they really get killed by the same cursed spirit?" Sasori, who sat in the front, asked

"Does the door issue have anything to do with the cursed spirit?" Itadori asked, "Would a cursed spirit even trip a door sensor?" He said

"It's not the door sensor, the door operator was influenced by the cursed spirit and went crazy." Akari answered

"Right... Operator?" Itadori said

"It's hard to confirm from the crime scenes whether or not it's the same cursed spirit." Akari answered Sasori's question, "So we investigated, trying to find a common thread that connected all three. What we learned was they all went to the same junior high for two years." She added

"So, the three of them got the same curse, and then it manifested after all these years," Nobara said.

Itadori looks amazed at Nobara.

"Yep, there's a good chance that's the case." Akari replied, "We're on our way to talk to a classmate who knew all three, I'd like you four to observe as Jujutsu Sorcerer." She said

"Nice Kugisaki!" Itadori said

"Of course!" Nobara replied

While Megumi was stuck in the middle.

They arrive at what is supposed to be the home where the classmate lives, but they see a board that says Morishita Family Funeral.

"A funeral..." Itadori said

"This is where the classmate lives?" Nobara asked

"Yeah, but..." Akari replied.

Akari then finds out what happened.

After Akari finds out what happened, they decide to go to the school that the victim went to.

-Saitama Urami East Junior High-

"This ain't good, seems like he died the same way as the other three. He lived with his parents, but there's no auto-lock, and he was killed in front of the entrance. He claimed that even though the door was unlocked, it wouldn't open, or so the family says" Akari said, "His parents aren't sure whether he had a relationship with the other three... Oh well... That was our only lead." Akari sighed

"No problemo! There's gotta be something at this school," Itadori said.

After they walked around the school, they found two students who were smoking.

"Oh! We've got some punks over there, let's teach them some discipline and beat them up," Nobara said, pointing her finger at the students.

"Why?" Itadori said.

The two students looked annoyed when they heard this, but when they looked in Nobara's direction, their eyes widened.

"HELLO! Sorry for not greeting you properly!" Both of the students said while bowing

"Heh... That's more like it," Nobara said smugly.

"One's aura... Is hard to hide, huh?" Itadori also said this in the same tone as Nobara.

"I don't think they say that to both of you," Sasori said.

Sasori looked at Megumi and said,

"Don't you go to this scho-"

"We haven't seen you since graduation, Fushiguro-san." The students cut him off.

After they said that, Itadori and Nobara were shocked and turned their heads around, staring at Megumi, who avoided everyone's stare.

"My... Junior High... Here" Megumi said, still not looking at them.

Itadori and Nobara walk toward Megumi, pushing Sasori out of the way.

"Hey!" Sasori said.

"What the heck!" Nobara grabs Megumi's face to make him look at her.

"What?! What's going on?!" Itadori also grabbed Megumi's head. "Wait, we should just ask them," Itadori said.

"Hey! Idiot A and idiot B" Nobara called the students, "What did this guy do to you?" She asked

"To us...? Nah, half the punks in this area have been beaten to a pulp by Fushiguro-san!" He said this while scratching his head.

Itadori and Nobara turn their heads, looking at Megumi, who again avoids everyone's stare.

"....Beaten...Pulp" Megumi said

"Why can't you talk all of a sudden?" Nobara said while grabbing his face again.

"What?! What's going on?!" Itadori also grabbed Megumi's head again.

A middle-aged man appears and starts shouting.

"HEY! Who are you guy!" He asked, "Are you from a different school? You can't come in here?"

"Who the hell are you?!" Nobara shouts back.

"Obviously one of the school staff," Itadori said.

Akari walks towards the man, explaining their visit.

"We have a permit," Akari said, showing the permit.

"Oh, it's you guys. But you're all so young," He said.

The man then looked at Megumi.

"Is that you, Fushiguro?" He asked

"Hello" Megumi greets the man shyly.

'He's notorious' Nobara and Itadori thought

"Has this person been at this school a long time?" Akari asked Megumi

"Probably Takeda-san is a part-time worker around here," Megumi replied.

"Then I'll leave it to you!" Akari said with a thumbs up

'Abandoning your duties..' Sasori thought

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"We're here," Akari said, "Koinokuchi Canyon, Yasohachi Bridge."

"When you make contact with the cursed spirit, I'll lower the curtain," she added.

--------

All four of them just waited on the bridge.

"Yaaaawn~"

"Um.... Where exactly is this curse supposed to be?" Itadori asked

They decide to go to a nearby convenience store.

"We couldn't even feel any traces of the curse," Sasori said while unwrapping his onigiri.

"For real? Does that mean this is a lost cause and we have to start over?" Akari asked

"We can't waste too much time," Itadori said.

"Why?" Akari asked

"This famous paranormal spot, right? There maybe a lot of others out there who are cursed, and we're looking at a 100 percent death rate, we can't afford to let more people die." Itadori answered

"True" Nobara agrees

"Ah! They were into bungee jumping, right? Maybe it has something to do with the act of jumping?" Akari said

"We already tested that theory with Itadori," Sasori replied.

"What?! You mean with that plastic cord?!" Akari remembers Itadori holding a plastic cord.

"Hey! There you are!" Someone yelled at them.

"Fushiguro-san!" Someone with a bicycle and a girl with him said

"Who's that again?" Nobara asked Itadori

"Fushiguro is his senpai, don't you remember picking on him?" Itadori said

"Glad I found ya! Weren't you talking about Yasohachi Bridge?!" He said

"Fujima?" Megumi is confused about why he's here.

The girl behind Fujima bows to them.

"?" Itadori/Sasori/Nobara looked at Megumi.

"Classmate," Megumi said

"This is my older sister," Fujima said, introducing the girl behind him.

"I'm glad you still remember me..." The girl said

"I was telling my sister about how I saw you yesterday," Fujima said.

"Um... I saw that Morishita family had a funeral ceremony. My brother was telling me about how you guys are investigating Morishita and the bridge. I thought maybe it was a coincidence," she said nervously.

Akari walked behind them and put a finger to her mouth.

'No curse talk, got it?'

"What do you mean?" Megumi asked

"I mean that there's a connection between Morishita's death and the bridge," she replied.

"It's irrelevant, it's just a coi-"

But the girl cut him off before he finished.

"I... During my second year of Junior High.... I went to Yasohachi Bridge at night!"

'Yikes!' Nobara thought

"Anything weird going on at home these days? Maybe something only you find odd?" Akari asked them

"Our home is also the local neighborhood store, and for whatever reason, and this only happens to me when I come home, the automatic door is wide open. My mom and dad say it's nothing, but.... there's definitely something in there! I've been so scared, then I heard about Fushiguro and I remembered about the bridge." She answered

"When did you start noticing the door?" Akari asks calmly

"A week ago, it happened about every other day," she replied.

'We still have time' Sasori thought.

'All four of the victims died at least two weeks after reporting the strange events' Megumi thought.

"It's not like you went to Yasohachi Bridge alone that night, did you?" Nobara asked, "Do you remember who was with you?" she added

"So... does that mean there's a connection?" The girl asked nervously:

"Just the door! But it's not related to Morishita's death! I just got Fushiguro and the others to help me do some research for a college report! No worries!" Akari is trying to calm her down.

"But I want to talk to as many people as possible, so can you tell me who was with you?" Akari asked

The girl looked relieved after Akari said that.

"I went with two upperclassmen from my club, oh yeah, Fushiguro." She then looked at Megumi. "Tsumiki-san was with me!" She said

'Tsumiki is....' Itadori thought

'Megumi older sister' Sasori thought.

Megumi quickly regained his composure and said

"Okay, I guess I'll ask her about it."

After both of them are leaving

Itadori sees Megumi visibly shaken at the mention of her sister.

"Fushiguro!" Itadori called him

But he got no answer.

Itadori then taps his shoulder.

"Fushiguro! Snap out of it!" Itadori said, "First, we've gotta check if she's okay, right?!"

That snapped Megumi out of his daze.

"I'm fine.... Sorry, I'll be right back," Megumi said.

Megumi then walks to make a phone call.

Megumi called and explained the situation to Ijichi.

"Understood, we'll have a bodyguard with Tsumiki-san." Ijichi said, "However, we only have Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers available at the moment."

"Grade 2..." Megumi thought that wasn't enough.

"If we have more cursed victims than estimated, we may have to reevaluate what rank we classify the curse. It's likely that the mission was assigned with Itadori and Sasori's recent growth in mind, if it seems to be getting more dangerous, even Grade 2 may not be enough... Personaly, I recommend that you retreat, that includes all of you," Ijichi said.

'What now? Should I go back by myself? No, it's a dangerous mission, even with the four of us. I can't let those three handle it by themselves. Gojo-sensei returns next week, should we try when he's back? No! The problem is, there's a time limit!' Megumi thought

"...."

After finishing the call with Ijichi, Megumi walks towards his friends.

"Why were you talking to Ijichi-san?" Nobara asked him

"Is your sister okay?" Sasori asked

"She's fine," Megumi answered, "Anyway, the mission is more dangerous now, so it's being given to other sorcerers, you guys can go home."

"?"

"?"

"?"

"You guys? What about you, Fushiguro?" Itadori

Megumi just pushed Itadori into the car.

"I'll be right behind you after I see Takede-san. Now go!" Megumi said

Then the three of them were in the car leaving Fushiguro.

-The Bridge-

Megumi walks down to the bridge alone.

'It's impossible to continuously expand a domain endowed with a cursed technique.... which makes this domain incomplete, like the one we saw at the detention center' Megumi thought, 'There's no need for a curtain this time around'

Megumi then kept walking until he was almost directly under the bridge.

"I told you he gonna be like this," Sasori said.

Out of nowhere, three of them appeared behind them.

"He never told us anything about himself," Nobara said.

"That's right" Itadori agree

Megumi sighs after hearing them.

"You didn't even notice us until now, you must be really freaked out," Nobara said.

"We're not saying you've gotta tell us everything, but you can at least depend on us! We're your friends!" Itadori said to him:

"Nod~"

"Nod~"

Sasori nod

Megumi then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes, he started to explain it.

"Tsumiki is still asleep, This Yasohachi Bridge curse will only appear in front of the cursed victims, and since she can't give us any information, we don't know when she'll be killed."

"That's why I... want to exorcise it now!" Megumi said, "But it's true that the mission is more danger-"

"Yeah Yeah" Nobara cut him off.

"Let's go," Sasori said.

"You should have told us from the start," Itadori said.

A small smile appeared on Megumi's face.

The four of them keep walking, following the river.

'At night, down below, and one more thing, there might be a river in the village, crossing a river and barriers. Just that act alone has significant meaning in Jujutsu' Megumi thought

And after they cross the river, they immediately enter an innate domain.

A cursed spirit is seen

"There it is!" Itadori said

"This could be fun!" Nobara said, pulling out his hammer.

Out of nowhere, another cursed spirit appeared behind them.

"Guh?"

"What's this? Somebody's already here? The cursed spirit said

"Sasori, this is something else, right?" Itadori asked

"Yeah..." Sasori replied.

"You guys focus on that one," Itadori said, pointing to the cursed spirit behind them.

"This one's mine!" Itadori spoke, a cursed energy enveloping his fist.

"Whaaat? You gonna play with meee?" The cursed spirit said