A Warm Welcome

It was a beautiful morning that just happened to be ruined by Gojo locking me up in my room because he was going on some mission that "did not involve children." He said that it was not safe for me to be out alone, so he stuffed a bunch of movies in my hands and told me to entertain myself.

I milled around aimlessly in my room before throwing myself on my bed. This is boring. I was about to actually take up Gojo's suggestion when a knock came from the door. I pulled myself up from the bed and opened the door a crack.

"Rey-san, can we come inside?" Yaga asked. I looked the principal up and down and then found an unfamiliar face next to the man. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and wore a black suit. Is she a staff at the school?

"Of course."

I opened the door and showed the two inside. I picked up the movies on the sofa and moved them into a pile on the ground. Gesturing for the two to sit, I plopped down on my bean bag and looked at the two. "So?"

"This is Nitta Akari," Yaga introduced. "She is an auxiliary manager at Tokyo Jujutsu High."

"Nice to meet you, Rey-san." Nitta smiled at me, but she didn't offer to shake hands. Yaga must have told her that I wasn't comfortable with body contact with strangers.

I gave her a short nod before noticing that she was awfully nervous. There were minute beads of sweat forming on her nape and brow. What did Yaga tell her about me to make her so nervous?

I got up, and I saw the young lady stiffen. I frowned internally. It's not like I'm Sukuna. I'm not going to go on a killing spree completely out of the blue. I walked to my small kitchen and returned with three water bottles in hand.

"Don't be nervous, Nitta-san," I said shortly, pushing two bottles across the coffee table. "I don't bite."

She flinched at my words but quickly regained her composure. "Thank you for the water, Rey-san."

"Mm." I turned to Yaga. "Do you need me for something?"

"Ah, just as straight to the point as Satoru said."

Just as Gojo said? I wonder what else my unreliable Master of mine said.

Yaga cleared his throat and leaned forward a little bit. "You've been assigned a mission."

"On the day Gojo-sensei is gone?" I questioned. Can't be a coincidence, now could it?

"You can always reject it, but it won't look good on the school," Yaga responded.

I raised my eyebrow. Does it look like I care?

"Nor on Satoru," Yaga added after seeing my reaction.

Is this a threat? I studied the man for a long moment. "I doubt Gojo-sensei would care."

"Yes, he wouldn't," Yaga sighed. "But you won't be able to avoid these missions forever. Satoru told me about your circumstance, and I understand your position. But, as long as Satoru keeps you in this school, you are considered to be a jujutsu sorcerer. Therefore, you will have to accept a mission someday."

How funny. A curse being a jujutsu sorcerer and doing their dirty work for them. A smile tugged at my lips. But today has been rather boring... "What's the mission?"

Yaga heaved a visible sigh of relief as he opened the water bottle and drank out of it. Was he expecting me to get angry with him for making such a request? What in the world did Gojo tell them about me?

"It's a grade one curse, a straight-forward exorcise mission. It shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?" Yaga informed.

I shook my head. "It's not a problem, but Gojo-sensei will find out about this."

"I'll deal with Satoru. You just need to worry about the mission. Nitta-san will act as your guide since this is your first time. She will tell you the proper procedures and bring you to the location. If you have any questions, you can ask her," Yaga said. "Exorcise the curse and return immediately."

My lips formed a thin line of displeasure as I stood up. "Please watch the way you speak to me, Yaga-san. I may not be Sukuna, but I will not be ordered around by humans. I hope you can keep that in mind."

I felt Yaga's emotions spike at my words before the man forcefully calmed himself. Coughing into his hand, Yaga nodded. "Right, my apologies. I'll be careful next time."

"Thank you." I looked at Nitta and nodded. "Let's go then, Nitta-san."

"Oh! Right this way please, Rey-san." Nitta stood up and led me to the door. I glanced back and found Yaga looking at me. I nodded his way and gave him a small smile. The man gave me a wary nod in return. I wasn't really mad at him, I was mad at the higher-ups for abusing their authority to force me into this mission.

"The car is parked outside of the faculty dormitory, Rey-san. It'll take an hour drive to get to the location, so if you want to bring anything before, I can help you get it now." Nitta offered politely.

"It's fine," I replied as I pulled out my phone. Tapping on the messaging app, I opened up my only chat group and started to type.

Gojo-sensei, I'm going on a mission. I'll send you the location once I get there.

I reread my message twice and tapped the backspace button a couple times to delete the last sentence. I read the message again and nodded to myself in satisfaction. There was no need to trouble Gojo with such a simple task.

I sent the message, and almost immediately another message popped up after it.

What!? Tell me the location now. I'm coming right now.

It's a small mission. Don't come.

If it's a small mission, then tell them to send someone else. Rey, tell me where it is now.

I got into the backseat of the car, and Nitta closed the door behind me. I tapped the side of the phone case as I pondered what I should reply. Eh, I guess I'll have to throw Yaga under the bus. He was the one who said he would take care of it anyways.

Ask Yaga-san. He should know. I sent the message and put my phone away. Nitta turned on the engine, and the car started to move. I leaned into the cushion of the seat and watched the scenery as we drove down the mountain.

Nitta and I stood there awkwardly in the abandoned train station while the wind blew past us quietly. I glanced at the woman, expecting an explanation.

"There should be a curse here!" Nitta hurriedly checked the information on her phone. "A grade one curse manifested here just a day ago. It couldn't have left the area so soon."

I nodded. It was a known fact that curses stay near their birth place. I had also made sure that my collar was concealing my aura to prevent the curse from getting scared away. I knelt down and touched the concrete ground carefully. There were some residual cursed energy left behind though it was too faint to get any valuable information from it.

"Mm?" There were two cursed energy signatures coming toward us. I stood up and squinted vigilantly. They weren't giving off friendly vibes.

"Sorry, but the curse you're looking for we already took care of!" A young man with spiky hair announced, giving us a wave. A shorter, skinnier man with red eyes stopped in front of us. He carefully assessed both of us and nodded once. "Our intel was correct. You guys are late."

I turned to Nitta. I didn't know we were working with others for this mission. Nitta looked just as confused as me. "Rey-san, only you were assigned to take down this curse."

The spiky hair guy laughed. "Oh, we're not here to partner up with you. You've got it wrong." He raised his spear. "We're here to kill a rogue curse."

Killing intent radiated off of them. These guys were serious. It looks like word got leaked that I would be here. Based off of their clothing, they were probably jujutsu sorcerers. And if they were able to took out a grade one curse without leaving any traces behind, they were strong.

"So my first humanoid curse is a little boy, huh? Not as exciting as I thought," the sorcerer with the spear jeered.

"Stay on your guard, Midori. No matter what they look like, curses are mankind's enemies," the red-eyed sorcerer warned. He trained the pistol at my head.

"No! Please wait! He's a-"

I stopped Nitta's words with a small tug on her sleeve. I stepped in front of the young woman and turned the dial on my collar up halfway. "They know what they here for. There's no mistake."

A gunshot rang through the air, and smoke billowed up from the pistol's barrel.

"What are you doing?!" Nitta shouted.

"Since he is a curse, I can't let him walk free," the sorcerer who fired declared. "I'll kill every curse I see. That's a jujutsu sorcerer's job."

"You want to kill me?" I let out a small chuckle and dusted off the front of my new uniform. I was surprised that the sorcerer had fired so decisively. What if I had been a human?

"Rey-san!"

"You're kidding me! He avoided it that close?" Midori whistled in admiration.

I heaved a sigh and let the bullet in my hand fall from my finger. It bounced on the ground twice before rolling to a stop in front of Midori's feet. Gojo had told me to communicate more, and I was seriously hoping to avoid a fight. Looks like I have no choice but to try to reason with these two.

"Do you know Gojo-san? Can you ask him about me?" I asked. "We know each other."

"Y...yes! If you ask Gojo-san, you'll understand that he's not like other curses," Nitta reiterated.

"Gojo...? I knew he was in on this," the red-eyed sorcerer growled. "Step aside, Nitta-san. We're following Tatsuya-sama's special orders." He raised his gun again. "If you continue to interfere, then I will remove you by force."

"Step back, Nitta-san. It's me they want." I put myself between the sorcerers and Nitta. "I can take care of them alone."

"Wow, he looks like a confident one," Midori teased. "Aka, let me fight one on one."

"No. It's not a game. It'll take the two of us to eliminate him once and for all," Aka said.

His words left a sour taste in my mouth. So that was a lie. "The two of you? Is that so?"

On top of a building blocks away, two sorcerers armed with sniper rifles trained their scopes on the train station. The one with caramel hair blinked. "He noticed me? That's impossible."

"Relax, Shiro. He hasn't looked this way yet. He's just bluffing," the other sniper replied.

Back at the train station, Midori chuckled.

"I see. You really are something," Midori praised. "We'll take our time excorsing you!"

The man lunged at me with his spear, the tip pulsing with his cursed energy. He's fast. I jumped backwards, avoiding the spearhead, and pivoted to the left. Midori followed, using his left hand to curve the direction of his blade. I darted behind the sorcerer, and the spear whipped past my body.

Midori stopped after the short exchange and returned to his partner's side.

"Your surprise attacks are too easily commented," I commented.

Midori chuckled, "Really?"

Suddenly, I felt a sting. I raised my hand and touched my neck, noting the stickiness of blood. Hmm, I was sure I avoided that one. What's the trick?

"Only a nick. Maybe going for the neck was too greedy," Midori lamented. "I should have aimed for the legs."

Nitta gasped as she saw Rey get wounded. An unsettling feeling grew in her stomach as she backed away and dialed a number into her phone.

"Hello hello. This is Gojo Satoru." Gojo's voice came from the other end. "What's up, Nitta-san?"

"Gojo-san, please help us! The Bunraku is after Rey!" Nitta cried.

"Yeah, I know." Gojo replied casually, not an ounce of surprise in his voice. "The second-ranked Bunraku team, right?"

"What...?"

"The battle just started, right?" Gojo looked down at the train station from his vantage point on top of a bridge. "Don't worry. You can sit back and watch. With their interesting strategy of using modernized cursed tools, the Bunraku are decent, but they can't beat Rey."

Gojo grinned. "He's extraordinary."

"Watch his movements. He's killed a special grade curse before," Aka reminded as he stepped next to Midori.

"I won't let him get the chance to catch me!" Midori responded, and the two sorcerers engaged.

Midori rushed forward with his spear, thrusting his weapon at Rey's leg. Rey swiftly dodged the attack and ducked underneath Midori's lunge. The curse took the opportunity of Midori's lack of balance to strike the sorcerer off his feet and shot past him.

The boy jumped onto the railroad tracks, and Aka made to reposition himself on the opposite boarding platform. Midori regained his footing and leapt after Rey. He stabbed his spear into the ground, and the ground shattered. Sharp shrapnel burst through the air, and Rey threw himself upwards to avoid the projectiles. Aka darted behind Rey, left hand on the hilt of his sword and pistol in the other.

From behind! Is it the gun or the blade?

Rey reacted decisively, kicking off one of the support pillars, and moved to the right. Aka aimed in Rey's direction and fired. A shadowy gel enveloped Rey's exposed torso and blocked the bullets, leaving the boy unscathed.

Aka's brow furrowed as he recognized the shadowy material to be Rey's cursed technique. "He absorbed my cursed energy?"

Midori slashed down with his spear at Rey's arm. Rey took advantage of the combined momentum from the bullets to push himself just slightly out of Midori's range. Using the flat-side of spear tip as a foothold, Rey launched himself toward the first train platform.

Aka and Midori gave chase with Midori on the vanguard and Aka to the right. Midori attacked with a short series of jabs, but Rey was able to outmaneuver him with his small stature. Rey hopped backwards to exit Midori's attack range when suddenly his opponent backed off.

He's giving space for his partner to fire.

Gunshot sounded, and Rey formed a shield on his right. Three bullets was swallowed by his shadow shield, but the bullets pushed Rey backwards into the enclosed area of the station platform. Aka rushed forward and swung with his sword. The blade shattered Rey's shield, and, at once, a flicker of understanding flashed through Aka's and Midori's eyes.

How fast. They figured out how my shadow technique works. It can only block projectile attacks fused with cursed energy, so he used a blade to neutralize my shield. Was it pure luck or by deduction?

Bullets spat into the wall behind Rey as he was forced to dodge to the right to avoid Aka's continued onslaught. Aka sprung forward again, blade at the ready. Not wanting to deal with the sword user, Rey retreated backwards. Midori smiled and suddenly accelerated from his position.

"He's flanked!" Aka shouted.

Rey assessed the situation quickly: Midori was coming from behind and Aka in front. Rey skidded to a stop. His right and left were all closed off, so he only had one option left. Rey bounded upwards, crashing through the platform ceiling and bursting into the air.

Aka smiled lightly. A flash of light came from the skyrise blocks away, and Rey's head turned a second too late.