Chapter 3

The doors of the orphanage were flung open as Takashi came out holding a frying pan. 

"Get away you stinky brat! Get away from Ryusei!" Takashi yelled waving around the pan. 

"Ho-Hold on gramps!" Takana yelled as he held his arms up to protect his face. 

"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" Takana yelled out. 

After a few minutes, the drama settled down as the three sat on chairs facing each other. 

"So you are saying that you want to adopt Ryusei since he might be the son of your late cousin?" Takashi questioned still wary of Takana. 

"Yes, yes" Takana swiftly responded as he opened his bag and took out some papers. 

"hmmm, the dates do match when we found out Ryusei, however, whether he wants to come with you or not is his decision" Takashi stated firmly. 

-[Unique Quest Generated!]- 

-[You are a sorcerer Ryusei! : Follow the Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer Takana Shigure and join Jujutsu High when you are 15 years of age. Rewards: 1000 FP, 5 GP. Failure: Unable to side with Jujutsu Sorcerers during quests]- 

'There are only rewards upon joining...siding with the Jujutsu sorcerers also means I can ask for their help from time to time...I will also learn a lot about curse energy from these guys' Ryusei thought to himself. 

"Alright! I have decided I will follow you!" Ryusei yelled as he pointed at Takana. 

"Good Choice!!" Takana yelled as he and Ryusei shook hands. 

"Are you really sure about this?" Takashi asked Ryusei once again. 

"Yeah...I like living here, I like everyone here but...I also wanna know more about the outside" Ryusei stated with a determined look on his face.

Takashi looked at Ryusei's determined face and a memory flashed in front of his eyes. 

"Dad! I wanna leave to see the big cities!" A girl stated at a much younger-looking Takashi. 

At that moment Ryusei's face seemed to overlap the young girl's. A single tear dropped from Takashi's eyes. 

"Is that so...do as you wish. I will always support you" Takashi responded to both Ryusei and to his daughter. 

----

Ryusei stood outside of the orphanage carrying a small bag of luggage with him. Standing beside him was Takana as the two stood in front of a black car. 

"Ryusei, remeber this well. If you need anything you always have a home at the Fushi's" Takashi stated as he patted Ryusei's head. 

Ryusei silently nodded as head and turned around, facing the car. Tears started to develop in his eyes. After all, chosen or not, strong or weak...Rysei was still just a child who was leaving his first home...forever. 

"Ya know it's okay to cry now," Takana said as he patted Ryusei's head. 

"Or you might just never get the chance" Takana finished as Ryusei let out his tears and hugged Takashi. 

"I will miss you... grandpa!" Ryusei stated clutching on Takashi's shirt. 

"I will miss you too...brat" Takashi responded as the two hugged one last time and Ryusei entered the car. 

"All right kiddo, now that we are alone, I wanna tell you about something," Takana said as he sat beside Ryusei in the backseat. A man wearing a black suit and glasses was in the driver's seat. 

"You remember the freaky shit you fought yesterday night?" Takana questioned. 

"You mean Tsukashi-san?" Ryusei questioned as he wiped away his tears. 

"Tsukashi? the curse had a name?" Takana questioned. 

"That's what the farmer uncle told me it was called," Ryusei responded. 

"So it was that type.." Takana muttered. 

"What do you mean by that?" Ryusei questioned. 

"Let me tell you about the other side," Takana said. 

"The world of Jujutsu can be divided into two major existences, the sorcerers and the cursed spirits." Takana started. 

"Hate, Sorrow, Fear, Malice all these negative emotions give birth to curse energy"

"Sorcerers or not everyone has some curse energy within them. When not trained to use properly this curse energy seeps out the body."

"Here's a pop quiz What do you think happens to this excess curse energy? A, it is lost forever in nature, or B, it clumps together" Takana questioned with a grin on his face.

"It clumps together" Ryusei answered.

"ting ting tingggg! You're right! This excess energy clumps together and then forms cursed spirits"

"Jujutsu Sorcerers control this cursed energy and use it to exorcise these cursed spirits"

"There are three types of cursed spirits, Number 1, Vengeful Cursed Spirit: These are created when humans turn into cursed spirits"

"Number 2, Imaginary Vengeful Cursed Spirit: These are created when people bear negative emotions towards an imaginary existence kinda like the nine-tailed fox spirit"

"So all those urban legends really exist? but in the forms of cursed spirits?" Ryusei questioned.

"well...I am not sure about all, but I do know the famous one really exists" Takana responded.

"So if those urban legends do exist, does that mean beings like Gods also exist in the form of cursed spirits?"

"No not really, when people think of Gods as a being of reverence rarely do they harbor negative emotions towards a deity, but one might just exist" Takana answered.

"And now there is the third and last one, Disease Cursed Spirit: these are pretty self-explanatory, plague and general sickness are concepts constantly cursed by humanity, resulting in powerful disease curses."

"I see, so cursed spirits are classified depending upon their cause of formation" Ryusei concluded.

"Yeah that's a given, There is another way cursed spirits and sorcerers are classified, strength" Takana started in a serious tone.

" The classifications go from grade 4 all the way to grade 1, with grade 4 being the weakest one"

'From grade 4 to 1? That only makes 4 grades not 5' Ryusei thought to himself as he doubted Takana's knowledge.

"I know what you are thinking brat!" Takana explained as if he could hear Ryusei's thoughts. "The final one is Special Grade, there are only a handful of special grade sorcerers in history and less than 5 were born in the last 400 years"

"The sorcerers are graded depending on their ability to exorcize these cursed spirits. A grade 4 sorcerer can easily exorcise a grade 4 cursed spirit"

"I am ranked as a Semi Grade One sorcerer" Takana stated with pride.

"You are currently not even close to being a Grade 4 sorcerer, it's a stroke of luck that you even managed to exorcise a Grade 2 curse," Takana stated. 

"Well it was luck really, my first punch a black lightning appeared that destroyed half of its face" Ryusei stated. 

"A Black Flash? Call it beginner's luck brat because no sorcerer could ever perform a black flash at will" Takana stated. 

"I see..." Ryusei muttered. 

"What ya sulking about?" Takana asked he roughly patted Ryusei's head." You might just be the youngest sorcerer to perform a Black Flash" Takana stated. 

"Anyways, we are not going to take you to Tokyo, you will be living beside Jujutsu High Tokyo," Takana stated. 

"What exactly is Jujutsu Hight?" Ryusei questioned. 

"Well, it's normal you don't know about it" Takana stated. " Jujutsu High is a school/college made specifically for Jujutsu sorcerers like me" 

"Four generations of sorcerers are trained there, I am currently a second-year student," Takana said. 

"You cannot exactly join us right now, since you are about 11 years too young to join."

"You will most likely be living off of Yaga-sensei's salary" Takana stated with a smile on his face. 

"Yaga-sensei?" Ryusei questioned. 

"Yaga-sensei was my first-year teacher. He is a great guy, he knows a lot more about Jujutsu than me" Takana stated. 

"It will be long before we reach our destination, why don't you take a nap?" Takana questioned. 

"I don't know...I don't even know why I am coming with you in the first place..." Ryusei stated. 

"What do you mean?" Takana questioned. 

"The papers you showed...they were false" Ryusei stated. 

"..." Takana's eyes widened for a moment. 

"I know it...after all the date of birth was completely off" Ryusei stated. 

"My real birthday was two days ago after all" Ryusei stated. 

"How did you..."Takana questioned. 

"You just assumed that I was dropped off a week after I was born right?" Ryusei said. "The thing is my biological mother took care of me for 3 months" 

"So what do you wanna do?" Takana asked. 

"..."

"..."

"I wanna...fight" Ryusei declared " Yesterday while I was punching that thing...I felt it in my bones...a rush a state of existence I never thought was possible" 

"I felt happy" Ryusei stated. 

'This brat...he is a born monster' Takana thought to himself a nervous smile on his face. 

"Perhaps it is my destiny to fight those things" Ryusei stated with a grin. 

"I will tell ya something brat" Takana stated. 

"Whatever you do ask yourself if it is worth it or not" 

"You are someone who is born to fight? well bad for ya kiddo I don't believe in destiny" Takana said as he looked at Ryusei with a smirk on his face. 

'So cringe' Ryusei thought to himself as his face shriveled as if he had eaten something very sour. 

"I am not cringe!" Takana yelled. 

"Woah can your jujutsu read minds?" 

"You Brat!"