18 Cursed Energy Training

Chomping down on red bean paste dorayaki, Gojo and I went down the stairs to a discrete underground basement located near the western side of campus. Gojo had made sure that there was no one around before showing me the place.

Knocking three times on the metal door, Gojo pushed it open, and we were greeted by a very excited Yuuji.

"Gojo-sensei! Rey-kun! You're back!" He hopped around excitedly. "When are we going to start on my special training?"

"Rey-kun got you dorayaki." Gojo stuffed the paper bag into Yuuji's arms. We walked into the nicely, furnished structure complete with a living room, a kitchen, restroom, and a sofa bed.

"Yes! Custard-flavored!" Yuuji exclaimed. "My favorite."

"You can eat later," Gojo chided. "We'll start our first lesson right now." He motioned for Yuuji to come over to the open area behind the living room. I grabbed myself a seat on the sofa and propped myself on the sofa's back to watch what they were doing.

"You're a head above the rest when it comes to close combat, Yuuji," Gojo started. "So what you need to learn right now is how to control your cursed energy, as well as the bare minimum of jujutsu knowledge."

Yuuji had a giddy smile on his face.

"What's up?" Gojo asked.

"Oh, it's just that if I'm gonna learn, I'm glad it's from you," Yuuji said. His tone turned grave. "I'm weak, and I couldn't save anyone. Worse, I almost got Fushiguro killed." His shoulders slumped. "I won't be able to face them as I am now."

Yuuji clenched his fist and looked straight at his teacher. "I want to become strong. Teach me how to become the strongest."

He's grown compared to before. He knows his limits, and he has a clear goal in mind. With this mindset, Gojo won't have to worry about Yuuji's improvement in the near future.

"You've got a keen eye," Gojo replied, a grin on his face.

"You're the one who dubbed yourself the strongest, Gojo-sensei," I cut in blandly. "Yuuji-san doesn't know better."

"That doesn't mean I'm not the strongest, Rey-kun," Gojo argued. "Now, moving on! Please pay attention to those cans over there, thank you."

He pointed at the two soda cans on the shelf next to the wall. The can to the right was suddenly smashed into a flat shape. Then, the can to the left twisted in a counter clockwise direction, and its contents spilled out.

"The first one is with cursed energy," Gojo explained. "The second is with a cursed technique."

Yuuji went up to examine the two cans. His face scrunched up as he inspected their differences. "I see. I don't get it."

"Okay, let's see..." Gojo looked around for something to use as a reference.

"Yuuji-san." The boy turned towards me. I pointed at the television. "Think of cursed energy as electricity and cursed techniques as appliances. Electricity by itself is hard to use, right? That's why people run electricity through appliances for a variety of uses."

"Here, I just fired off pure cursed energy." Gojo gestured at the can to the right then to the left. "Over here, I channeled cursed energy into a cursed technique to activate it and twist the can."

Gojo turned to his student. "Do you know what that means?"

"That means, I'm gonna learn a badass cursed technique!?" Yuuji cried in excitement. I could practically see sparkles coming from his eyes.

"Nope, you can't use cursed techniques," Gojo informed Yuuji.

"HUH!?" Yuuji's figure deflated immediately.

"Setting aside simple shikigami and barriers, cursed techniques are fundamentally etched into your body from the day you're born." Yuuji sunk to the ground, utterly defeated. "So the ability to use cursed techniques is about eighty percent innate talent."

I feel you, Yuuji. Gojo's not exactly giving you any time to recover from the shock.

"You okay?" Gojo asked, finally noticing Yuuji's depressed state.

"I just thought I'd be able to pull off a thunder or fire or a power bomb or something." Yuuji waved his floppy, noodlely arms around. "Man, this sucks! I wanted to pull off a Spirit Gun or Bankai, or Rasengan, or a Dodon Ray!"

"You can still do a power bomb, just like Onita," Gojo tried his best to comfort Yuuji.

That's not helping, Gojo! I groaned internally. Though... I studied the flailing Yuuji on the floor. It's not that you can't use them. It's just you can't use them yet. Eventually, Sukuna's cursed techniques will be engraved into your body. I shook my head. What a lucky kid.

"Let's just ignore what you can't do!" Gojo changed the subject. "We're going to focus on your strengths."

After muttering his last complaint, Yuuji dutifully picked himself back up and paid attention. I went over to Gojo's side.

"We'll apply cursed energy to your physical attacks," Gojo elaborated. "I'm way more scared of savage basic attacks than I am of half-assed cursed techniques."

Oh please. When compared to Gojo's Limitless and Six Eyes, almost every cursed technique is half-assed.

"Like Gojo-sensei said, your talent for close combat is top-notch," I praised. "Not many have the natural sense for fighting. If we refine your fighting style, you'll be strong even without cursed techniques."

"That's right," Gojo agreed. "If even Rey says you're talented, then you're pretty much set!"

"But Gojo-sensei, Rey-kun! I can already do that!" Yuuji informed. "Back then, I somehow managed to get the hang of it."

"Then give it a try." Gojo held up his right hand. "Hit me here."

Not that Yuuji actually can of course.

Yuuji winded up his right arm for his blow. "Don't blame me if you get hurt."

"Just hurry up and do it," Gojo replied. Yuuji struck Gojo's hand at full strength, and the force of the blow made the wind howl. I patted my hair down with a hand.

"That didn't have any cursed energy behind it," Gojo commented.

"Why?" Yuuji cried.

"Negative emotions are the source of cursed energy," Gojo explained. "In the incident you're referring to, you were probably overwhelmed with anger and fear."

"So you have to constantly be flipping out to use cursed energy?" Yuuji deducted. "Now that you mention it, Fushiguro's always a bit snappy."

"No," I answered. "Sorcerers are trained to produce cursed energy using the faintest sparks of emotion. They've also trained on how to not waste cursed energy when emotions are flaring."

"So, Gojo-sensei?" Yuuji asked. "What training did Rey-kun do? I always see him by your side, so he must be very strong right?" Yuuji tapped his cheek as he tried to recall something. "Though come to think about it, I've never seen him fight before. But Fushiguro told me not to mess with him."

"Ahh, about that..." Gojo stalled for a bit of time to think of an answer. "You see, Rey-kun is a special case. He didn't have to do any training. His body is naturally gifted with an unlimited amount of cursed energy, so he's here to learn how to control it." Gojo patted my head. "As for how strong Rey-kun is, even ten of you will be a warmup if Rey gets serious."

"Really!?" Yuuji stared at me. "You don't look that strong though, Rey-kun."

Gojo whacked Yuuji over the head. "Didn't anyone tell you not to judge people of their looks? Don't belittle my Rey-kun like that."

I shrugged and smiled silently at Yuuji's curious gaze.

"Anyways, there are many ways to train for using cursed energy," Gojo said. "I'll be having you do a pretty exhausting one."

"L-Like what?"

"Watching movies!" Gojo announced. He pulled out two whole boxes of movies from under the table. I spotted some familiar ones that were still collecting dust in my room. "Everything from masterpieces to C-grade horror films and terrible French movies. You'll be watching them nonstop as long as you're awake."

"Of course, you won't just be watching them." Gojo held up a bear-like doll with blue punching gloves. "You'll be watching them with this guy."

"What's with the creepy-cute doll?" Yuuji took the doll from Gojo and held it up. I picked up another one that had purple punching gloves.

"Cute? It's a cursed corpse the principal made," Gojo informed.

"Ah, I knew it! It's the same style!" Yuuji exclaimed. "And? I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Don't be hasty, now. You'll see soon." Gojo pointed at me. "That cursed corpse will wake up and attack you if it doesn't receive a consistent flow of energy. Rey is inserting cursed energy right now, so it's sleeping soundly."

As if it was cued, the doll in Yuuji's hands woke up and immediately sucker-punched him. "Ow!"

"Like I just said, we have all kinds of movies here. Heart-throbbers, thrillers, and exciting ones. They'll make you laugh, cry, or feel disgusted." Gojo rummaged through the pile of movies. "Your first goal is to watch an entire movie, from start to finish, without waking it up. This will train you to control the flow of cursed energy under any condition. You don't want to give it too much or too little."

"I have it set to the faint level of energy that you can produce right now." Gojo took the doll from Yuuji and held it up. "But it'll start demanding more over time, so stay frosty."

"I couldn't let it down even if I wanted to." Yuuji took the doll back from Gojo and plopped down on the sofa.

"What do you want to start with? I recommend this one." Gojo held up one he found on the very bottom of the box. "The heroine's annoying, but she dies spectacularly in the end."

Major spoilers, Gojo... I stroked the fur of the doll as my gaze landed on one of the Mission Impossible series. "I think he should start with that one."

"An action one? Sure!" Yuuji put in the disc, and the movie started to roll. Almost immediately the doll woke up and punched Yuuji in the face again.

"Not while I'm drinking cola!" Yuuji complained.

"Don't drink it, then," I rebutted.

"Watching movies is all about chips and cola!" Yuuji insisted.

"I know, right?" Gojo strolled to the back of the room. "Okay, I have some business to deal with. Just keep hanging in there."

"Will this really make me stronger?" Yuuji looked suspiciously at his teacher.

"Of course."

"Oh, right." Gojo recalled. "Did you talk to Sukuna while you were dead?" I immediately turned vigilant.

"Talk?"

"Did he propose any conditions or contracts for fixing your heart?" Gojo asked.

"Oh, I think we did talk about something," Yuuji confirmed. "But I can't remember what it was."

"I see." After watching his student for a few minutes, Gojo signaled for us to leave. I set down my doll and followed Gojo to the exit.

"Oh, come on!" Yuuji's voice rang from the living room.

"Hey, keep the energy flow steady even if you're irritated!" Gojo gave his student one last reminder before we left the underground bunker.

"Do you think Sukuna did something with Yuuji?" Gojo asked me the moment we were outside. He seemed bothered by Yuuji's answer.

"It's highly possible," I answered. "Sukuna doesn't do anything for free." I looked up at Gojo. "Are you going to do something about it?"

"No," Gojo replied. "It's not certain, and it's too risky if we try to force anything. We'll wait and see."

"I understand."

A few moments later, Ichiji pulled up next to us in his car. We got in, and the three of us set off on the mountain path. I leaned onto Gojo's arm as it neared midnight. Sleepy...

"There's still some time before your appointment with the principal," Ichiji said. "Do you want to stop by somewhere?"

"Nah, I'll show up early for a change." Gojo gently stroked my hair as he looked outside the window. Sleep was lulling me in when both Gojo and I stiffened. We both sensed it.

"Stop the car," Gojo ordered.

"Huh? Right here?" Ichiji parked the car on the road, and Gojo got out.

"Rey-kun, you stay in the car. I'll catch up later," Gojo said.

"No, I'm not staying," I insisted. "There's not going to be action in the car." No way I'm letting you have all the fun yourself.

"Fine," Gojo relented. "But you'll only be watching. Deal?"

"Mm." I slid off the seat, and my feet hit the asphalt. I looked around. There wasn't anyone around for miles.

"Go on ahead." Gojo waved at Ichiji.

"A-Are you testing me?" Ichiji stuttered. "You won't hit me if I actually went on ahead, would you?"

"Just what do you think Gojo-sensei is?" I interrupted. Gojo nodded in agreement.

"In that case..." Ichiji hesitated for one second longer and drove off.

"You'll be alright by yourself, right, Rey-kun?" Gojo asked.

I stood off to the side of the road behind Gojo. "Don't worry about me. Go have your fun, Gojo-sensei."

"That's what I like to hear." Gojo turned to face the empty road, a slight smile on his face. I adjusted the metal collar around my neck and turned the dial the highest it would go.

"Now then..."