「the curtain stays in the story, and the painting gradually turns yellow
whose wish is hidden in it?」
In the August of 2016, you are classified as a special grade sorcerer.
Never had the higher-ups seen such a technique, one that allowed you to bring illusions to reality, absorb the cursed energy of others to turn it into your own and perceive every soul and spirit in the world with just the use of your eyes. Gojo is more than pleased, but the higher-ups seethe quietly.
That makes four special grade sorcerers, and all four of them refuse to follow the way of the jujutsu world. However, as you are barely 15, they expect the manipulation of your mind to be easy. Gojo warns them otherwise.
"Just because she is an inherently kind person doesn't mean she will turn a blind eye to your true intentions," he smirks. "She can see your souls, after all."
In the November of that same year, a new student is admitted into Jujutsu High, with the name Okkotsu Yuta.
You're silently listening to the conversation between the other three first-years, discussing the new addition. Gojo had told you of him before, albeit very briefly. All you know is that his name is Okkotsu Yuta, and he has been cursed by an aggressive special grade curse.
You pity both him and the curse.
To be cursed is a horrid, horrid, thing, and to be cursed with such an aggressive special grade spirit is truly a most tragic thing. What caused it to happen? What was the reason? Or more importantly, who was the one who cursed him?
"(Y/N)? Are you listening?" Maki calls your name, stopping your train of thought to look to her and the other two.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" You apologised sheepishly. She shakes her head with a sigh, softly flicking the back of your head. You wince slightly, but you know she does it in jest.
"Never mind." The four of you continue forward to your classroom, and for once in his life, Gojo is early.
The classroom is empty, and the four of you take your respective seats. You greet him with a warm 'good morning', and he pats your head.
"Time to introduce the new transfer student!" Gojo shouts comically, and you can practically hear Maki's grimace. You, on the other hand practically light up. So that's where the overwhelming curse energy is coming from. "Everyone, get fired up!! Come on now!"
"He seems pretty moody, doesn't he?" Maki tuts. "Sorry, but no way I'm getting fired up for a guy like that."
"Salmon." Inumaki says in agreement, and Panda is quiet.
"Yay!" You clap, eagerly awaiting his appearance. Gojo turns to you and you can see the tears streaming down his face.
"I knew I could always count on you, (Y/N)-chan!" He cries, before facing the other three where his expression turns into one of defeat. "Ah, well... whatever. Come on in!"
The door slides open, and while everyone else tenses from the curse that hangs itself behind him, you merely greet him kindly.
"I'm Okkotsu Yuta." He introduces himself timidly, and you can see his soul trembling. Your heart aches for him. "Pleased to meet you."
Maki's polearm narrowly misses him by a few centimetres, and you can see his soul trembling even more. The other two have stood up and stand with a wariness you are familiar with.
"Is this some kind of test?" Yuta's eyes shakily look over to the polearm stuck in the board, sweat cascading down his face like a waterfall.
"Hey you." Maki stares at him intensely, and you see how his soul shrinks. "You've been cursed."
Oh dear, looks like they've realised.
"This is a place to study curses. It's no place for cursed people like you." She glares, and Panda snarls on agreement.
"In Japan, the number of people who die mysteriously or go missing is, on average, over 10,000 a year. Most of that... is due to the negative feelings that pour out of humans." Gojo suddenly starts, leaning against the wall in between the windows. "The damage of 'curses'... it also includes the evil acts of shamans."
Yuta turns to him with eyes so wide you're afraid they might just burst out of their sockets.
"The only thing that can oppose a curse is another curse." He continues, almost as if he was simply talking to himself. "Here we study curses in order to exorcise them. This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College."
With the way Yuta's face turns even more panicked, you'd guess that Gojo had failed to inform him about the true nature of the school beforehand. You sigh, shaking your head in disappointment while the other three look at him with contempt clear on their faces. He puts up a hand as if to apologise, but that doesn't quell the sudden stench of cursed energy so pungent even you crinkle your nose slightly.
"Ah, you should hurry up and get away from him." He says as if he just remembered, and the three look at him confused. You stand up from your seat and move next to him, beckoning the rest to quickly come over but alas, they were too slow.
Large, pale, humanoid hands emerge from the blackboard, and Yuta tenses visibly. Its left hand grabs the part of Maki's polearm that was stuck in the hole it created, and a hoarse, feminine voice shakes the room.
"Don't you dare bully..." it rasps, and Yuta's eyes widen.
"Wait! Rika-chan!!" He frantically shouts, but it seemingly doesn't acknowledge his words, instead continuing to get closer and closer to them. You would have helped them, but you are also aware that putting yourself in between may cause more trouble than necessary. Worst case scenario is they are near death and you need to perform reverse curse technique on them, but with Gojo around, you highly doubt he would allow it to get that serious.
"YUTAAAA!!!" It shrieks, and the three of them are mercilessly attacked. In the midst of it, Gojo starts his retelling of the story of Yuta and Rika.
"Six years ago, Yuta and Rika had exchanged promise rings to each other and promised that they would get married in the future. Alas, that very day, Rika was tragically hit by a car and poor Yuta over here witnessed it." Gojo gives an exaggerated sigh at the end of it, and you feel your heart ache for the two of them. A life taken far too soon and another cursed to bear the weight of it... perhaps you could paint him a picture of Rika if he wanted it. "You get the idea. And he was cursed by his beloved Rika-chan. Okkotsu Yuta, everyone! Please make him feel welcomed!"
He shows Yuta off as he was some sort of prize, and the recently attacked first-years groan on frustration. You approach them and activate your reverse curse technique, watching their wounds slowly fade away. They quietly thank you, and you smile apologetically for not helping them beforehand.
"If you attack Yuta... Rika's curse may or may not activate. So anyway... be careful!" Gojo turns to Yuta and stands straighter, putting an arm behind his back while he uses his other to point at them. "The guys, except sweet Yuri-chan over there, are still in a bit of a rebellious phase, so I'll go ahead and give a quick introduction."
"Cursed weapons user: Zenin Maki. She wields special armaments that can exorcise curses." Maki doesn't meet his eyes, staring ahead instead.
"Spell-caster Inumaki Toge. His vocabulary only consists of ingredients used to make rice balls, so good luck having conversations with him." Inumaki holds his hand straight in greeting, saying only one word: 'konbu'.
"Panda."
"I'm Panda. Pleased to meet you." Panda greets.
"And finally, painter (Y/N)!" Gojo grins and you bow politely.
"Nice to meet you, Okkotsu-san. I hope we can get along." You send him a kind smile, and he stumbles over himself bowing back.
"And yep... that's about it." Gojo shrugs. Yuta is pushed into the group of the four of you, and with his addition, you're now a group of 5. "So, from here on out... we'll have 5 people in the first-year class."
"For this afternoon's sorcery training, you'll pair up." Gojo does a few peace signs, but with the way no one in the class was reacting, he stopped. "Toge and Panda, you're one pair. Maki and Yuta, you'll be the other. Yuri-chan, there's a special mission for you from the higher-ups."
Maki makes a face of distaste, voicing out her clear disgust at being paired with him. You pat Maki on the back comfortingly.
"L-let's do our best..." Yuta offers, but he is met with Maki's glare.
"You were bullied, weren't you?" She starts, you wince ever so slightly. Ouch. With the way he started trembling once more, you tried to signal to Maki that she didn't need to continue anymore, but alas, she ignored them.
"I'll assume so with the way you've gone silent. I'd totally pick on you too. I wonder if it's because of the curse... you act like a good person, but it feels fake. It's gross." She sneers, and you're practically begging her to stop. "You're being protected... so why play the victim? I bet you've been passive your whole life, without any goals. Jujutsu High ain't that easy."
"That's enough, Maki." Panda, the true saviour of the day, places his paw on Yuta's shoulder. You turn to Maki and lightly hit her shoulder.
"Katsuobushi!" Inumaki exclaims, and you nod in agreement with him.
"Maki! Don't be so mean!" You frown, before turning to Yuta and bowing a full 90°. Yuta is entranced by you. "I'm so sorry for her behaviour."
"Whatever..." she rolls her eyes.
"Sorry about that," Panda apologises. "She thinks she's good at reading other people."
"...It's fine." he mumbles, and you're all on your separate ways. Maki and Yuta to an elementary school, Panda and Toge to some cemetery and you to a sewer that housed a first grade curse.
You finish your mission rather quickly and easily.
You're brought back earlier than the others, but you catch wind of the fact that Maki was hurt during her mission and almost immediately make your way to the hospital. You're relieved to see that Maki is alright and that Yuta himself harbours no injuries.
You sit next to him on the cushioned bench outside Maki's room, leaning against the wall. He fiddles with his ring, and you quietly play with your brush.
"They said Maki and the kids will be fine." Gojo says casually, as if they didn't have a near death experience. Both you and Yuta exhale sighs of relief.
"Good..." you hear him mumble, and you turn to look at him.
"You don't look too relieved." Gojo points out.
"For the first time... I summoned Rika." He stares at the ring almost curiously.
"I see. That's a step forward then."
"I remembered something..." he trails off, and your interest is piqued. "Maybe Rika's not cursing me...
Maybe I'm the one cursing Rika instead."
"This is just a personal theory, but... love is the most twisted curse of them all." As much as you agree with him, you also refuse it. You want to believe that love is not something that causes curses, but even you know that that's not true, for that is the reality Yuta is facing, and by association, you are as well. The product of a love so deep that it causes the soul to linger even after death... just how much more twisted could this world get?
"Sensei..." suddenly, the tone of his voice has shifted into one of determination, far different than his previous, trembling voice. "I'm going to release Rika-chain's curse... at the Magic Technical School!"
The aura of determination flows out of him uncontrollably, and you're almost blinded by how bright his soul shines. You can't help the smile that makes its way to your face.
"And all of us here will do our best to help." you place a hand on his shoulder, and he turns to look at you. In your eyes, he sees sorrow, sympathy and compassion swirling together. Most of all, he sees faith and belief shining bright, and he knows it's for him.
He is relieved.