Chapter 7

"Guys follow me, I have some bad news." Nanami said walking into the dojo. Tezuka and Yuji both exchanged questioning looks. The two stood and walked to the edge of the mat, slipped on slippers and followed Nanami to the TV room. They all had gotten in late last night and hadn't had a chance to debrief.

"There was an attack last night at Junpei's residence." Nanami spoke.

"What, when?" Tezuka asked confused. They had been there all night, she didn't remember an attack, though she had fallen asleep half way through the night. When they left, Junpei's apartment, both him and his mother were fine.

"Sometime after you two left, we don't know exactly." Nanami said. "There was a cursed finger at the scene."

"That's impossible, I would've known if there was one of Sukuna's fingers." Yuji stated.

"We think it was planted after you two left." Nanami answered. "Probably by the patched curse user I fought. He's the one who has been injecting people with cursed energy."

"Is Junpei okay?" Tezuka asked.

"Junpei survived, his mom didn't however." Nanami answered. "Her body was found missing from the waist down in her bedroom, no blood anywhere."

"How is that even possible?" Tezuka asked aloud as a pain shot through her chest.

"It has to be a cursed spirit," Yuji said.

She couldn't help but think what Junpei must be going through. His mom was all he had and now she was gone. She knew all to well what that was like.

"We have to find this son of a bitch." Tezuka said looking at the two.

"No, you two are going to stay on Junpei. I will go after the patched curse user." Nanami said.

"Take us with you, we'll be stronger if the three of us go." Yuji spoke.

"No, you are still just children, barely able to handle your own cursed energy. This curse user is powerful enough to even injure me." Nanami said.

"Isn't that exactly why all three of us should go?" Tezuka asked.

"No, I will go with the assistance of a higher level jujutsu sorcerer." Nanami said. "You two need to go find Junpei and find out what he saw."

"We're not just kids," Yuji grumbled. "We've been through some shit too!"

"When you master your own cursed energy then we'll talk about going on more dangerous missions but until then you will do as I say!" Nanami boomed. Then with one last look at the two he walked to the hallway and out of the house.

Tezuka looked at Yuji, his brow knit with frustration and anger. She noticed his fist was balled and the veins popping out of his hand.

"Yuji," she took a step towards him and grabbed his arm.

"I can't believe it," Yuji spoke. "How can he tell us all this and not expect us to go after that monster?"

"Maybe we can use Junpei to find the guy?" Tezuka suggested. "I mean if it is the same guy, then Junpei knows who he is. Maybe Junpei can lead us right to him."

"You're right," Yuji said. "I guess we better suit up."

The two walked up stairs and changed into their uniforms. Then they walked out of the house and towards Junpei's house. People dressed in police uniforms surrounded the area as well as Japanese police cars with their lights flashing. People crowded around the police tape attempting to catch a glimpse of what was happening. Tezuka and Yuji both scanned the crowd not finding Junpei.

"If he's not here he must have gone to the school." Yuji suggested and Tezuka nodded.

"You don't think he's going to do anything crazy?" she asked him as the two began to walk to the school.

"I don't know I guess it just depends on who he blames for all this and what he's willing to do." Yuji said.

Tezuka nodded remembering the pain she felt when her own parents passed. She remembered the trial, wanting nothing but the death penalty for the piece of shit who ran them over. She had been so full of anger and hate. However, even as she watched her parents killer get sentenced to prison it didn't change the fact that her parents were still dead. They were still gone, her family still torn apart.

They reached the high school and all seemed normal. Ordinary students dressed in sharp uniforms walked from similar looking cars to a large building that resembled a gymnasium.

"Awards ceremony," Yuji answered her questioning look.

"You think Junpei came?" she asked.

"We'll just have to wait out here and find out." Yuji said.

"Why can't we go in?" Tezuka asked.

"We're not wearing the right uniform, well stick out like a sore thumb and most likely get kicked out." Yuji said.

"Damn," Tezuka muttered. Japan and their damn school uniforms.

They watched inconspicuously as students crowded into the gym. Then the flow seemed to trickle off, no sign of Junpei.

"Maybe he's running late?" Yuji asked as the two scanned the parking lot.

Out of the corner of her eye Tezuka could see a black dot appear in the sky. As she looked closer she realized this simply wasn't just a black dot. It was a black hole.

"What the hell is that?" Tezuka asked Yuji.

"It looks like someone is trying to put up a veil." Yuji answered calmly snapping out his phone. "We have to call Nanami and get other sorcerers down here."

Tezuka watched him confused at how he could be so calm. There was no way this was normal even here. Yuji dialed Nanami's number and told him about the veil. From what Tezuka could hear it sounded like Nanami didn't want to engage, but with a shared look, Yuji and Tezuka knew engaging was their only option. The same rush she felt on the softball field filled her as they ran into the crowded gymnasium. When they did, Tezuka was amazed at the amount of bodies laying on the floor. Were they dead? Who killed them? How? They were just outside?

Her eyes met the face of every kid that was laying on the floor, all of which looked about her own age. Finally she looked up in horror at Junpei, dressed in all black with his hands in his pockets standing on the stage as a boy just older than her floated in thin air in front of Junpei.

"You have to stop this!" Yuji screamed.

"Stay out of this Jujutsu Sorcerers," Junpei responded, his sunken eyes showed every bit of pain he was feeling. Without a seconds hesitation, Yuji ran after Junpei who dropped the kid then ran behind the stage. Quickly, Tezuka followed. Junpei led them through a door behind the stage leading to a smaller room with a smaller stage. As they chased after him Yuji attempted throwing cursed energy to stop him, however Yuji missed. They then chased him into a hall lined with dark windows.

"Stop running from us!" Yuji exclaimed throwing more cursed energy. As he did, Junpei turned and out of no where a large blue jellyfish appeared in front of Junpei protecting him from the cursed energy.

"What the hell is that?" Tezuka asked.

"A jellyfish Shikigami," Yuji answered.

"What the hell is a shikigami?" Tezuka asked again still confused, though before she could get an answer Junpei lifted his arm and pointed to her. The jellyfish acted in kind, sending a tentacle straight towards Tezuka. She had just enough time to turn her shoulder allowing the tentacle to whizz past her but only barley. It propelled into the classroom window behind her, shattering the glass.

"I'll say it once more, stay out of this." Junpei said angrily.

"It's too late for that," Yuji answered.

"You don't understand," Junpei grumbled holding up his fists. "People aren't worth saving. You overestimate what their lives are worth!" He shot out his fists and the jellyfish's tentacles shot out again though this time all of them hit Yuji, grabbing his body and consuming it in the jellyfish's blue mass. "People's emotions are all a delusion!" Junpei exclaimed.

"You're a hypocrite!" Anger propelled Tezuka forward past the blue mass and straight to Junpei. Her fist glowed with cursed energy as she struck his cheek sending him flying to the ground. "How can you say emotions are just an illusion when anger is all you feel?! You want to get angry and take revenge on the people who killed your mom? Then do it on the right person!" She grabbed Junpei's collar as she climbed on top of him. "You say we overestimate the lives of human beings, did your moms life not mean anything to you!?"

Junpei's face was struck with a new found anger as he grabbed Tezuka's hands and ripped her off of him, hot tears pouring out of his eyes. He jumped up and started running down the hall. Tezuka turned to Yuji, should she help or go after Junpei?

"Go!" Yuji exclaimed as he fought against the jellyfish, his fist and face breaking free from its grasp. Fine, that settles it. She ran after Junpei as he made his way up the stairs.

"You can't do this Junpei! Think of your mother!" she screamed as she attempted to catch up to him.

"I am, that's why I am doing this!" He yelled angrily back at her. Tezuka glanced at the railing and stoop, grabbing the edge of the railing for the stairs just above her. She pulled herself up and stopped at the edge of the stairs in front of Junpei.

"Get out of my way!" he yelled bringing his fist up to strike her. Immediately she ducked under his arm and threw her arms around his chest holding him to her. She knew that fighting him was not going to solve this. Fighting him was just going to fuel his anger and hatred. "Why are you getting in my way?!"

"Because I know what you're going through!" she yelled. "I know what it feels like to have the people you love taken from you!"

Junpei seemed to freeze at these words.

"I know what it's like to be filled with so much anger and frustration!" Tezuka exclaimed tears burning her eyes. "I know what it's like to want to burn the world to the ground."

"Then let me walk away," Junpei said breaking free from her grasp and turning to another set of stairs.

"If you do this you'll be throwing her memory down the drain!" Tezuka exclaimed. "How can you say people's emotions are just delusions when our parents love is all that we have left!" She couldn't help the burning tears from pouring out of her eyes down her face.

"Because if people have hearts with emotions then that means people cursed me and my mom with those hearts!" Junpei yelled back, tears of his own cascading down his face. She watched as sadness poured its remnants over Junpei and he sunk to the ground.

"Not everyone have hearts like you and me," Tezuka said calmly approaching Junpei. "Not everyone sees other people the way we do." She sat on her knees in front of Junpei and grabbed his hands. "If she were hear would you be able to tell her the same thing?"

"No!" Junpei cried out and sunk into Tezuka's shoulder. His tears drenched Tezuka's shirt but she didn't care. Tears of her own stained her face.

"You have to let her memory live on," Tezuka said. "You can't let this anger consume you. You have to fight it, for her." Often she didn't understand why her parents had been taken from her. Why did life have to curse her like this? Why did her parents have to be taken? Why did her family fall apart?

When Tezuka looked up she saw Yuji standing next to her. Had he heard everything she just said? Yuji crouched down next to her, his hand on her back.

"Junpei, come with us," he spoke. "Come with us to Jujutsu Tech, there are good people there. We can fight together to find whoever did this to your mom."

Junpei pulled away from Tezuka and looked at the two. Her tears had subsided and she tried to give Junpei a reassuring smile. However, before he could answer, Tezuka heard tapping footsteps coming from the stairs behind them.

"Who are you?" Yuji asked standing up.

"Nice to meet you," the man answered. He was a taller young looking guy with long blue hair tied in pony tails. He wore long black robes that were ripped on his left side. His skin and face were covered in stitches as if his body had been patched together. "Vessel of Sukuna."

"No!" Junpei exclaimed but it was too late. The man grabbed his left arm and as he did the arm swelled in an unnatural way. His skin crawled as if some kind of beast was moving around underneath it. His hand shot out enlarging to the size of Yuji's body as it grabbed Yuji and pinned him against the wall, its veins crawling and bulging so much Tezuka was confused how the stitches hadn't ripped open yet. How was this guy able to do this to his body?

"Tezuka run!" Yuji exclaimed struggling against the large lump of flesh.

Without thinking, Tezuka grabbed Junpei's hand and took off down the hallway. However it was too late. The man had already grabbed Junpei by the neck and was flooding Junpei's body with cursed energy. She watched in horror as Junpei's eyes bulged out of his sockets, blood dripping from his nose and eyes. His whole body swelling until it was about to pop, turning black and blue. Then he stopped and all that was left was a short blue monster, drool and blood dripping out of its mouth.

"Junpei no I wont fight you!" She screamed as it ran at her. She didn't even know if reasoning with it would work. Was Junpei still in there? He had been turned into the beasts they fought at the movie theatre. No. She wasn't going to kill another innocent human being. Even if it had turned into this monster. The beast ran at her full force, and the two crashed through he window.

Its as if time stopped and played what happened next frame by frame. Tezuka felt the glass break behind her, the force of the beasts weight on her chest. The man dropped Yuji who scrambled to run for her. It was too late, his hand barely missed her foot. She couldn't hear his screams but she could see his mouth moving calling out her name, his eyes reflected terror and his face drained of color. He still held his arm out reaching for her, sweat drenching his body. Gravity took her in its bittersweet grasp pulling her away from him with nothing in the way of stopping it. Farther and farther down she went. Water moved upward in the sky around her as if rain had been falling in reverse. Was she crying? Maybe it was because she knew she was going to die. She was going to hit the ground and flatten like a pancake. She was dead, in this strange world around these strange people. She would never see Zakai again and he would not know what happened to her. Zakai was going to loose another family member. At least, out of all this she finally met someone who cared. Someone who gave her hope in humanity again. Maybe Zakai would actually like Yuji. It was a dream and the last thing she thought before the world turned black.