ch 5

Mai pov

I sighed as I looked at Momiji lying down on the bed wrapped in bandages...

Again.

Although this time, I can't tell her off.We didn't expect the curses to suddenly attack the south part of the clan building.

Did the barrier break?

I looked at Momiji as she stayed asleep still unconscious. Bandages wrapped her bloody body and left leg adding to the already obvious bandage on her head.

She looks like a mummy...

This idiot...

I pursed my lip as I went out of the room.

I've tried to avoid it but she's been acting strange.

Momiji...

No matter how much I hate to admit it although I do..

I love my stupid little sister..

Although she was...

Stupid and cowardly.

Foolishly clinging to Oto-sama without realizing how much he hates us....

Cowardly enough to bawl at the sight of a curse or other people aside from us...

Cowardly enough to fear her own crows even if it was her cursed technique...

Oto-sama found her embarrassing.....even more so than Maki who didn't have cursed energy or the ability to be a sorcerer.

Despite having the ability to be a sorcerer, Momiji had a uselessly weak technique that barely passed as support.

I didn't have the talent to be a sorcerer either but sometimes I found her the most pitiful.

I never understood it. She always seemed as if something was tormenting her.

That's how cowardly she was..

Even before she started to act strange, Momiji seemed to have trouble controlling her emotions to the point that Oto-sama decided to shun her even more than he already does.

Before the idiot jumped off a tree, I watched as her mental state took a turn for the worse.

And I was powerless to stop it..

But now?

Dumb scaredy cat Momiji was using her crows to an extent I've never seen before.

She used to scream at the sight of them but to think she was able to use them nearly perfectly on me.

Although Crow Manipulation wasn't that difficult of a technique and Oto-sama did force her to practice and train it even if she bawled her eyes out the whole time.

Well she was desperate enough to be aknowledged by Oto-sama to suck it up anyway in the first place.

Asides from that I've never seen her use her cursed technique. It's weird that she's using it so naturally now.

Almost as if she didn't fear her own crows to begin with.

'Po-ppo-Ppo0 '

I heard through the hall as I ran squinting my eyes.

Not only that, Momiji's longer bawling at the sight of them.

Running towards the shoji door to hide from the curse, I took a sigh of relief.

"Is she good?"

Startled, I found Maki looking at me sitting on the table munching on some leftover Dango.

"Does looking like a mummy sound good to you?"

I told her sarcastically as I sat down beside her.

"If she's alive, that's good enough."

She said still chewing as I took a bit from her bowl.

"Hah... Okaa-sama would throw a fit if those things left a scar..."

I ranted about my thoughts as I remembered Momiji's mangled leg.

"She already threw a fit. Lucky Momiji, she was unconscious."

Maki replied groaning as she remembered last night.

It would've been nice if she was worried about Momiji's injury but she just entered the room to scold an unconscious person about the scarring.

"When do you think she'll wake up?"

I asked Maki as I looked outside the room to the open shoji that was showing the garden.

"Dunno....but I think she'll manage.."

She said. Although with the look on her face, I could almost hear the unspoken 'I think'.

"Let's play outside. We don't have to be cooped up here because Momiji keeps doing something stupid."

Maki said as she stood and walked towards the open shoji.

"You sure, Maki-nee? What about Momiji?"

I asked her as I went closer to her.

"Let's forget about her for just a bit. It's been two months of all 'Momiji did something stupid' now we have to deal with it.I'm giving her an earful once she wakes up."

Maki said looking a bit irritated as she slightly raised her clenched fist.

I ended up chuckling.

She's right, forgetting this for a short while wouldn't be too bad.

I've already been worried sick for two months. I don't want to get grey hair earlier than I should.

"Alright, let's just hope she doesn't throw a tantrum if she wakes up alone."

I said as I sped outside.

"Hey! wait for me!"

I heard her shout at the distance quickly catching up.

Later after playing, looking at the sunset gazing at the bridge...

I sat down on a warm sunbathed rock as the shadows began to stretch out.

Hearing the black birds cawing around at the distance, I think....

Momiji has woken up.

"Mai, let's go home. It's getting late now."

Maki said as she ran ahead and I nodded but as I began to follow her...

'Are y-you ho-...ho-....'

...'A-a-are y-you ho-..ho-..'

The curse's voice rang through my ears as it looked at me.....

As it layed beside me at the bridge.

I froze. Its thin body looked emaciated gazing at me creepily as I felt the dim cursed energy lurk in the air.

I heard Maki call my name through the silent fear.

"What's the matter? Hurry up!"

She said not noticing the feeling of cursed energy or seeing the curse on the bridge.

"What is it? we'll get into trouble again if we're late."

She complained nonchalantly unaware of the fear creeping in my nerves.

I pursed my lips as I felt my body trembling.

"Again?"

Maki sighed figuring it out as she took my hand.

My fear began to melt off as she ran pulling me away from the bridge.

"Come on, close your eyes. Can't see it then it's not there. We need to check on Momiji."

She told me as we ran home.

Sometimes I wish I was the one who didn't see curses...

I had no desire to be a sorcerer.

I couldn't handle the feeling of cursed energy or seeing curses.

I was a coward...

I hated to admit it but in that aspect I'm similar to Momiji.

Maki-nee is so much stronger than both of us...

Had she had cursed energy.....maybe even Oto-sama would've come to aknowledge her the way Momiji always wanted...

Maybe it was because she couldn't see it but...

Even if Maki could see curses, I know nothing would've changed about her...

if she had cursed energy....she would've been the most talented sorcerer out of us..

Momiji might be worse off than me with her instability and cowardice but I've never been a talented sorcerer myself anyway..

Worse off than me...

"Jankenpon!"

I heard someone's voice echo through the halls.

Maki let go of my hand as she walked towards our room.

My breath hitched...

It was faint but I could sense cursed energy nearby...

"Akideshou! Jankenpon!"

I heard the voice echo realizing that wherever it was..... it's emanating faint cursed energy...

I slowly found out as I walked the halls...

it was coming from our room...

Maki walking ahead me casually slid the doors being unable to perceive it...

"Jankenpon!"

I found my eyes looking at a familiar dark haired girl grinning ear to ear emanating cursed energy...

Momiji...

'Caw!~'

The sound of crows reverberated through the room as I felt the winds as they flew inside in a small horde.

In front of her was a plush sized trembling curse being forced to play jankenpon as the crows guarded around her.

As the the tiny curse began to lose, the crows violently put it away as they brought the next contender.

Noticing that, I ended up looking around the room that was littered in weak curses being held by the beak of Momiji's crows.

"Oi! MOMIJI!!"

Maki yelled casual irritation ringing in her voice.

"If you want to smell like your stupid crows.....DO IT BY YOURSELF!"

Maki shouted as she raged chasing away Momiji's crows out the shoji door not noticing the curses they littered and carried out the room...

'Cowardly....stupid...'

'Worse off than me..'

I started to realize the truth before my eyes...

Is this really Momiji Zenin?..

(Momiji pov, a few moments earlier...)

I woke up to the feel of the futon as pain weighed in on my body.

What happened last night....?

"Argh-...! "

I tried standing up unconsciously pulling on my injuries as I fell back down from the searing pain.

"What the-....."

I gasped at myself still groaning from the sudden pain similar to being torn apart?..

I don't remember being this battered up...

In the sense of dejavu, I looked to the mirror at my reflection. I was wrapped in bandages head to toe.

I opened my yukata and found my chest down to my abdomen bandaged and bloody.

Even my twisted leg was healing better than my chest injury...

Dammit....I can't move...

But I don't remember getting this hurt?...

In curiosity despite hesitation because of the sight of blood, I took off the upper part of my yukata and unwrapped the bandages.

The smell of drying blood and strong medicine wafted in the air making my nose scrunch.

It didn't exactly smell pleasant. That in itself is a testament to how bad the wound under it was.

In my reflection was a girl with a large bloody gash twisted from her shoulder to her abdomen almost as if she had been crushed?...

Putting my fingers gently on the deep wound, I sensed cursed energy seeping from it...

Oddly enough.....I was pretty sure it wasn't from a curse.

Not even another person...

This was my own cursed energy emanating from my wound. Slowly tracing it with my hands, I had a realization crackling in my head as I felt my breath hitch.

This wound....

Was formed in the same way I crushed that crow to kill that curse...

Not only that, I had several other wounds probably a reflection of my crows.

I was right at that moment. I was one with my crows.

I pulled my yukata lower to see even more deep gashes.

As they became an extension of my body, I became an extension of them....

Every wound they had was also mine....

I can't believe I even survived....

Not only that....I felt the sensation of bile rising slowly in my throat as I retched.

I feel dizzy....it doesn't seem only from the major blood loss...

My cursed energy's down to an eighth.

I could hardly feel my cursed energy at all..

I can hardly feel my crows the way I did that night.

It honestly felt a little naked. The way that it felt like this was my only body after knowing what it feels to be near completely one with them.

I decided to test it out as I mustered all my energy to call a crow.

I was starting to feel woozy as if my blood was running dry but in a feeling of relief I heard a caw outside the shoji.

It opened the door with a twig in its beak seeming to realize I couldn't do it myself.

I sighed in relief. Well, atleast it doesn't seem like they're completely gone.

I was worried. I felt several of them die last night and it was made worse that perhaps because of my lack of cursed energy at the moment I could hardly feel them.

"Come here."

I told it as I fixed my yukata while cradling my head that started to feel like it was being torn apart again.

It stopped flying and walked on the floor as it cawed calling two other crows.

I smiled a bit. It seems that they're trying to be gentle because of my injuries.

They stepped towards me carefully in a sense comparable to playing follow the leader as they sat in front of my bed.

One of them strayed by the path as it pecked on the shoji door leading to the garden.

I heard another caw pecking outside as it flapped its wings

The bird pecked the door open as I saw a fourth crow flying with a large paper in its beak.

The others cawed again as the fourth crow flew towards me gently dropping the object it held

In closer inspection, I noticed it was a calendar. Not just that, this is Okaa-sama's calendar. I pursed my lips a bit concerned.

It urged me to read.

I, despite my confusion picked it up as my crows began to relax.

Okaa-sama tended to put a check on the date every day to keep track of important events in the clan.

Looking at the half full chart, my eyes widened in shock as I felt my hands shake.

The date today was June 25th.

That night when I nearly got killed by the curse was May 31st.

I was out for nearly a month.

"Dammit!...."

I swore as I threw the calendar across the room. I was unconscious for that long??

"Gah!-"

I flinch as I accidentally overexerted my injuries as I heard them caw in flurrying panick.

"I'm good.Calm down."

I spouted at them still processing the information as my head still felt a bit woozy.

Dammit....I feel like I drank one to many drinks...

I haven't even reached alcoholic age!

I sighed as I noticed a crow peck somewhere near the table at a bento box.

"Yes, much appreciated."

I replied to it as the crow pushed it off the table carefully.The others beginning to help get it to me.

Dropping the box at my outstretched hand, they began to quietly watch me.

Opening the bento, I found a cold meal made of rice, fish and a few veggies.

It seems it was prepared beforehand quite a while ago.

Grabbing the chopsticks the bird gave me, I gobbled the rice infront of me as my stomach conveniently began to growl.

Well, being out for nearly a month, I suppose it's no surprise that I'm basically famished.

Thinking of it...

I picked off a portion of the fish handing it to my crows as they cawed in delight.

"Did you guys get Mai to safety?"

I asked them putting some veggies in my mouth.

From their caw, I suppose that meant she was safe.

"That curse that night what happened to it? Did you guys handle it?"

I asked them again picking off a few veggies for them.

'Caw!~'

"I don't understand what you're saying."

I replied to it sipping the water one of them handed me.

Crap...

"I don't have enough cursed energy to understand you through our link don't I?"

I groaned as the birds looked at me in what I could translate was exasperation.

One of them flew out as the others watched it go.

"What's that one up to?"

I told them but they just looked at it each other and replied in what I think is a shrug.

I can't believe I'm talking to crows like this...

Had anyone saw me, they'll probably think that I've lost it.

The crow returned to my room carrying three tiny curses by its beak and two claws.

It cawed in an attention commanding cough as it began its little charades.

It lined the tiny curses in a straight row.

It began pecking the first curse violently as it began stomping it down as the curse wailed.

The crow then threw that curse to his companions then looking to me in eyes seeking approval.

"I see you guys handled that curse just fine. Good work. What sort of curse even was that thing?"

It cawed in pride as I talked to it.

The crow took the curse he was bullying back into the line with the other curses as it walked through the three like an army general in an array of soldiers.

I could guess it's trying to say something but I wasn't exactly getting it.

I told it that honestly as it sighed.

It began to peck the three curses in a straight line a bit harshly opening its wings in what I could've imagined someone angrily signing their act in charades.

One of the other crows pushed the crow into the row and flew probably trying to get something too.

When it returned, It carried a piece of ripped parchment.

I should really should teach them not to grab things that might get us in trouble.

It handed me the paper.

It was a newspaper.

"What am I gonna do with this?"

I told the crow as it repeatedly pecked at a particular word.

It read...

'Grade.'

"Grade. What about it?"

I said as the crow cawed in delight.

The bird did the same as the first walking like a general to his row of soldiers.

Noticing I didn't get it yet, One crow spread its wings jumping around in the form of a 'U'.

"Hmmm... strength?"

I replied as it jumped in joy.

Affirmative.

"Curse grade?"

I asked as all four crows seemed to caw in affirmation.

Odd...to think these guys know about that..

Well crows are smart creatures then again.

The crow pushed the other crow from the row and began to point to the line.

"3?"

The crows looked amongst each other but then cawed as they nodded their heads.

I heard something crackle in my mind as my rejoicing crows didn't notice my twitching gaze.

They then put one of them back in the row and pointed again.

The puzzle pieces began to form as I watched the delight.

I figured out what they were saying.

"THAT DAMN GOLIATH WAS BARELY A GRADE 3 CURSE!?"

I yelled as I notice them falter but hesitantly nod.

I felt my wounds complain again but I ignored whilst processing the information.

That curse that nearly ended my life wasn't even hardly a grade 3 and I was barely able to kill it off.

What about real grade 3 curses and higher?

Heck, what about the sorcerers that kill those grade 3 curses for a living that also live in my house and won't hesitate to kill me.

I really am at the bottom of the food chain....

I sighed to myself.

"I'm bored."

I blurted out cradling my headache as my crows looked at each other.

They put one the the curses, Fly heads, if I recall in front of me.

....

For some odd reason...

I ended up finding myself playing Jankenpon with curses threatened by my crows glaring at them like Yakuza.

Maki wasn't happy about the mess and the crow smell as she says after she returned.

I'm never bringing my crows to my room again....

"GAH! MAKI-NEE I DIDN'T MEAN TO!!"

....

(??? pov)

I was looking afar at the three little girls quarrelling in their room through my shikigami.

That girl was severely wounded that time.... I'm glad she survived. The state she was in last time, I nearly thought she would die.

Last month, the barrier to the southern clan house of the Zenin suddenly was destroyed after a special grade was exorcised near its borders.

The special grade was formed from a nearby mountain making all the curses run down and somehow they seemed to have been attracted by the cursed energy in the clan house.

It was perfect timing. Gojo Satoru from what I've heard exorcised that curse but the impact seems to have caused a bit of damage to surround areas.

I was then deployed to help out in the commotion. The southern building was where the non-sorcerer members where housed.

It was an unfortunate accident.

My partner was still out cold from our excursion that morning but I was given a temporary partner and to act for them as a proctor to see if he's capable enough to get into Tokyo technical Institute.

He was a bit new to Jujutsu but he wasn't half bad.

The curse that day was huge but by it's cursed energy it was just barely a grade 3.

It was a perfect test for him.

He could've gotten it handled but I didn't expect the injured girl I patched up to exorcise the curse first.

Maybe it's because that guy already gave a few good blows, but I'm not dumb enough not to see that the killing blow was done by that kid.

My guess had it not been for the girl he would've handled it for around 30 minutes.

It was unexpected that a kid was able to finish it in one.

It did make the poor guy fail his entrance test into Jujutsu high though.

Either way...clan sorcerers sure are different from us civilian ones.

To think that girl, rough guess probably around 7 years old was able to crush that curse with that much power.

Today, I decided to visit her. My partner coincidentally was called home by his parents so I couldn't seem to get a mission.

Bored with the free time I happened to remember her.

"Hi, have you seen a little girl with dark green hair? Around this tall! probably still a little hurt from the southern building attack."

I said to a passing clan member sweeping the yard.

"You'll have to be specific. There's way too many kids here with that description."

She said.

I heard it faintly that night but...

"I think her name uhhhh....."

I tried remembering the faint name I heard before I saw the dying kid.

"Ah! Momiji!"

I delighted finally remembering.

"Momiji?... Ougi-sama's third daughter?.."

I noticed the woman's face suddenly turn to disgust but still nodded.

"Why are you looking for that disgraceful brat? Ugh, Nevermind. Ougi-sama's daughters live in the east of the southern clan building. Now leave me alone."

She replied then returning to sweeping the yard ignoring me.

Disgrace?...

I thought as I walked away.

Arriving at where she said, I found the three girls... only to be stopped by a presence behind me.

"Who are you?"

The man wearing a long ponytail asked me sternly holding my shoulder.

By his cursed energy, this guy seems to be an elite sorcerer....

I felt a cold sweat run down my head.

"O-oh! I'm from Jujutsu High!..."

I said nervously but that only made his grip on my shoulder tighten.

"What business does Jujutsu High have with our clan?"

He told me as he glared making my nerves rattle as his cursed energy began to lurk dimming the atmosphere.

"I-I'm not here on official business. At the accident on the southern clan house, I was able to save a little girl. I just wanted to check on her. She seemed pretty badly injured."

I reasoned as I began sweating profusely.

"Is that so?"

Suddenly he let go off my shoulder, the animosity was still there but he lightened the cursed energy he was exerting.

"And looking at you...You saved that useless child, didn't you?"

He said looking at the little girl, Momiji as I've come to know, in spite.

"D-do you know her? Momiji-chan I mean?"

I couldn't help but ask as he sighed in sense of remembering a mistake.

"She is unfortunately my daughter. The most useless out of an already regretfully useless three."

He said in a dark tone.

"Useless?"

I ended up giving that question.

"The first doesn't have cursed energy and therefore cannot be a sorcerer. The second has cursed energy and a technique but it was weak enough to compare to the first."

He explained coldly which I found odd. He's their father isn't he?

To think that he'd have this much animosity towards his own children.

"And the girl you saved, the third. Has a useless technique and a cowardly desposition. A stupid child. Far greater a disgrace than even the first and far more talentless than the second. "

He added in voice nearly growling.

"Talentless? That girl? From what I've seen that night, I don't think so?"

I replied unconsciously as I covered my mouth .

The man glared at me once more with a raised brow.

If I don't explain, this guy might kill me...

"That night, I was proctoring an entry test to Jujutsu high for Haru-san."

I told him reminiscing on that night.

"You're a teacher at the institute?"

He asked me.

"O-oh, no. There was a lack of teachers! I was just acting as proxy. I'm still a student too."

I explained.

"When I was proctoring for Haru-san, we encountered a really large curse. It would've been a perfect test for Haru-san. It was a curse in between grade 4 and 3."

I continued while watching the little girl play as the clear memory of that day resurfaced.

"Haru-san could've been able to handle it in half an hour but that child despite her injuries did it in one minute."

I said as I remembered the crows storming the halls violently as I stumbled over.

"That girl filled the hall with crows. And...crushed the curse with her bare hands. For ordinary sorcerers like us this isn't much of a feat."

I narrated as I reminisceced on the cursed energy booming through the halls and her violent savage eyes.

"But....for a child at that age...if anyone else saw it....Momiji-chan has a talent for jujutsu. Not to mention, her cursed energy that night..."

I spoke as the image of a bloody dying girl gazed at that curse like a raging lifeless predator with only the instinct to kill and nothing else.

The way that her cursed energy exploded in a sensation that had she been a few years older..

Well..

"It was absolutely frightening....."

I confessed slightly feeling cold to the chest.

Had she been a few years older...

Had her cursed energy been more refined and sharpened....

she might've been able to murder me...

Right at that moment, I knew Momiji was weaker than me but I saw a glimpse of a sorcerer that could've been...

I saw a vision of an older version of her murdering thousands with that budding power mercilessly...

"Believe it or not. Perhaps many people can't see it right now. But that girl would grow into a frightening sorcerer."

I said finally as I felt my nerves shiver at the slow scene of her fondling her crows with that sadistic smile flashing before my eyes.

"Is that so...."

The man replied walking away.

Shaking off my thoughts, I watched that guy fade into the distance.

I clenched the confectioneries I put in my bag for the kids as I walked towards them.

"Hi!"

I greeted them. They gazed at me in suspicion but as I locked eyes with that budding predator she gaped.

It seems she recognized me.

"Good thing you're all better Momiji-chan! You three, do you like Dango?"

I said cheerfully forcing myself to ignore the trembling sensation with my conversation with their father just a moment ago.

Looking at my little offering, I noticed their eyes beam as one of them took the box excitedly.

I felt one of Momiji's crows pull me towards them as I began to chuckle despite the shiver of remembering the way she used her crows that night.

I ended up making a few friends this day....

I left that building late in the afternoon. The triplets waving me goodbye...

Little did I know about the mysterious figure watching us.