The Third First Year

"The train bound for Shibuya and Shinagawa is now arriving on track one. For your safety, please stand behind the yellow line."

Gojo and I were expected to meet up with Megumi and Yuuji outside the train station to pick up the third first-year at in the afternoon, but someone decided to go on a detour to buy some popsicles. So we ended up ten minutes late when I spotted the two teenagers bickering on the street.

"Sorry for the wait," Gojo called, waving his hand to greet his students. He chomped down on the mango popsicle in his other hand. "Oh? I see, your uniform made it in time."

"Yep, it's a perfect fit," Yuuji nodded. "Though it's slightly different from Fushiguro's." He tugged at the red material around his neck. "It's got a hood, for one."

"That's because uniforms can be customized upon request," Gojo explained. "I took the liberty of putting in a custom order for you."

"Well, whatever, I guess." It didn't seem like Yuuji really cared too much about the extra addition. I thought it looked nice on him.

"Be careful. He has a habit of doing stuff like that," Megumi warned. "More importantly, why are we meeting up in Harajuku?"

"Because it's what she asked for," Gojo replied.

Oh? I turned my head to the right. Someone with cursed energy was over there. I tugged Gojo's sleeve and pointed. "Is that her?"

"Looks like she's arrived!" Gojo exclaimed. The four of us walked in the direction I pointed to find the third first-year student.

"Hey, you," a young girl dressed in a familiar blue-colored uniform called to a man in a green suit. "What about me?"

"Huh?" the man asked, slightly intimidated by the girl's brash actions.

"For the modeling gig, duh. I'm asking what you think about me," the girl explained. "Eh, what the hell? Don't run from me! Come out and say it!"

"Hey! Over here!" Gojo shouted from across the street. The girl heard him, and her expression brightened. She came over and inspected the four of us.

"What's with the blindfold?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. "And what's a kid doing here?"

"Actually, at second glance, he looks kinda cute," she commented, stooping closer for a closer look. "How old are you, kid?"

"Ten," I replied.

"You're pretty short for a ten year-old," she said.

I shrugged. "Doesn't really matter to me."

"Okay, from the top please," Gojo said, interrupting our conversation. He gestured at the girl to introduce herself.

"The name's Kugisaki Nobara." She put a hand on her hip. "You should feel honored, boys. You get to hang out with a woman like me."

"I'm Itadori Yuuji. I'm from Sendai," Yuuji said.

"Fushiguro Megumi," Megumi stated shortly.

Nobara narrowed her eyes as she silently assessed her classmates. He looks like a potato. He's definitely the type that ate his own boogers as a kid. And just his name? I can't stand high-and-mighty dudes.

I watched as her eyebrow twitched slightly before she sighed. "Why does it always have to be me?"

"She took one look and sighed," Yuuji complained. He was slightly offended by the girl's reaction.

Gojo paid no mind as he placed a hand on my head. "This is Rey-kun. He's a little shy around strangers, so be nice to him, Nobara-chan."

The girl knelt down in front of me to look me in the eye. "You look like a good kid." She pointed a thumb at Megumi and Itadori. "Don't let them lead you astray."

"I won't," I responded. "Plus, Yuuji-san is too dumb to lead me astray."

"Hey!"

Nobara laughed. "You have a point. I like you, kid."

"Are we going somewhere from here?" Megumi asked impatiently. He looked a little bit ticked off by Nobara's comment.

"We do have all three of you together. Not to mention, two of you are from the countryside," Gojo said. "So of course we're going on a tour of Tokyo!"

"Tokyo! Tokyo! Tokyo!" Yuuji and Nobara screamed in excitement. "We love Tokyo!"

Megumi and I stood there silently, pretending that we didn't know the two knuckleheads making a fool of themselves in public. I was surprised that Nobara shared the same energy as Yuuji right after she was emitting disdainful emotions towards him just a moment ago.

"TDL! I want to go to TDL!" Nobara suggested.

"Idiot! TDL's in Chiba!" Yuuji argued back as both of them fawned over Gojo for his support. "Hey, let's go to Chinatown!"

"Chinatown's in Yokohama!" Nobara retorted.

"Yokohama's part of Tokyo!" Yuuji shouted. "Don't you know that? Look at a map!"

"The hell?! Quit bullshitting!"

"I will now announce our destination!" Gojo said. Yuuji and Nobara both went down on one knee as they waited for their teacher to reveal the location. My eyebrow twitched at the scene. Those two definitely had something wrong with their brains.

"ROPPONGI!"

"Roppongi!" Yuuji and Nobara echoed the name in joy as they imagined the popular tourist destination's nightlife and attractions. The happiness they radiated was nearly overwhelming, so I popped open a popsicle to cool myself off.

"Roppongi?" Yuuji and Nobara cried in dismay. They gaped at the run-down, abandoned building at the end of the dark alleyway. It gave off eerie vibes like those in the ghost stories.

"There's a curse here," Megumi explained. I could tell that he was secretly delighted to see their disappointed expressions.

"You liar!" Nobara shouted at her new teacher. She definitely was not pleased by the certain turn of events.

"This isn't even Roppongi!" Yuuji added.

"You're toying with us country folk!" Nobara fumed.

"There's a big cemetery nearby." Gojo ignored their complaints. "The double whammy of that and an abandoned building brought out a curse."

"So they really do pop up more often around graves?" Yuuji asked.

"It's not the cemetery," I answered. "It's people's fear of cemeteries."

"Oh, it was the same for schools too, wasn't it?" Yuuji continued.

Nobara stepped between Yuuji and I. "Hold up. He didn't even know that yet?"

"To be honest..." Megumi gave Nobara a brief summary on Yuuji's situation. Her face turned from surprise to disgust in a split second.

"He swallowed a special-grade cursed object?! Gross! Unbelievable!" Nobara retched. "That's so unsanitary and disgusting! No way, no way, no way, no way!"

"What?!" Yuuji defended himself.

Megumi placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm with her on this one."

Gojo clapped his hands for their attention. "I wanna know what you guys are capable of. Just think of this as a field test." The two finally calmed down to pay attention to the matter at hand. "Nobara, Yuuji. The two of you will go in and exorcise the curse inside that building."

"Wait, I thought only curses could exorcise curses? I can't use any jujutsu yet," Yuuji asked.

"You're basically half a curse already. There's cursed energy flowing through you." Gojo gave him a thumbs up. "Though controlling that energy isn't something you can learn overnight, so use this." Gojo gave him a dull knife wrapped in cloth. "It's the cursed tool, Slaughter Demon. It's a weapon imbued with cursed energy. It'll work on curses too."

"Pathetic," Nobara scoffed as she pulled out her own cursed tools and headed into the building.

"Oh, one more thing," Gojo called after Yuuji. "Don't let Sukuna out. If you use him, you'll get rid of all the curses nearby in a flash, but you'll also drag everyone around into it."

I nodded. Yup, definitely don't let Sukuna out. There's no telling if he goes out of control.

"Got it. I won't let Sukuna out," Yuuji promised.

"Go on now," Gojo waved away the teenager. Yuuji ran off to the building, and I made to follow him.

"Hold on, Rey-kun," Gojo said. I stopped and turned around. "Those two can handle it. You don't need to go."

"What about Sukuna?" I said. Don't we need someone to look after Yuuji in case something happened?

"That's true. But the one we're testing this time is Nobara," Gojo revealed. We sat down on one of the benches across from the building to wait for the two to complete their mission.

"You see, Rey-kun, humans are not natural born killers," Gojo explained. "That Yuuji guy, he's missing a few up here." He tapped his head. "These things that come after him take the forms of bizarre-looking creatures. And he doesn't hesitate in killing them at all."

"And it's not like he's been familiar with curses like you for a long time," Gojo added. "This guy used to be a normal high schooler until recently."

I nodded. Though I didn't really relate, I could see what Gojo was getting at.

"Plenty of jujutsu sorcerers, even talented ones, give up in frustration because they can't conquer their fear or disgust." Gojo turned to me. "You've seen it before, haven't you?"

Yes, I have. Too many times.

"So today I wanna see how crazy she can get." Gojo smiled. "Not everyone can become a competent jujutsu sorcerer."

"But Kugisaki is experienced, right?" Megumi cut in. "Little late for that now, isn't it?"

"Curses are born from human minds. Their strength and numbers grow in proportion to the population," Gojo answered. "Do you think Nobara understands that compared to the countryside, curses in Tokyo are on a whole other level?"

"It's not the amount of cursed energy they have," I continued. "It's their cunning. Curses that have intelligence often force cruel choices upon the sorcerer, usually where the weight of human lives hangs in the balance. Curses feed off of those dark emotions that come from their hate and guilt."

I touched the grocery bag filled with juice bottles. "The feeling is like the first mouthful of a refreshing sweet juice after a run on a hot day. Your negative emotions taste so good that it's addicting. Most curses will do anything to recreate that feeling."

"I see," Megumi responded. He looked at me strangely. "And do you have those feelings?"

"Megumi," Gojo said, his voice a little sharp. "You don't have to answer that, Rey."

"It's okay," I said. I wrung open a bottle of juice and let the liquid run down my throat. "All curses feel that way, it's part of their nature. But I know how to control it and use it to my advantage." Plus, I'm not a normal curse anyways.

A cursed energy signature flickered out in the building. "I'm not stupid enough to let that drive take control of me."

"So, Gojo-sensei, when do you plan on telling them?" Megumi asked. He didn't comment further on the previous subject.

"Telling them what?" Gojo pretended that he didn't know what Megumi was asking about.

"Rey being a curse obviously," Megumi said. "Even with the collar suppressing his aura, you can't hide it from them forever."

"Ahhh!" Gojo stretched his arms. "I haven't decided yet actually. We'll see how things go and just go with the flow I guess. Plus, Rey-kun is so adorable! I'm sure they won't freak out about it."

Both Megumi and I deadpanned at Gojo's response. Did he seriously just say go with the flow? I'm reconsidering if I should get myself a new guardian. He's not reliable at all!

"Oh?" Gojo looked up. "It's over soon." A curse with brown fur, green limbs, and a squashed face leapt out of the building. Megumi stood up, prepared to exorcise it. I flicked an lazy glance at it. Just barely grade three.

"Hold on." Gojo stopped Megumi from summoning his shikigami. I felt a cursed technique activate inside the building. The only one in there who could use a cursed technique was Nobara.

As the curse fell through the air, large black nails burst out of its body. I shuddered involuntarily as the nails reminded me of the Cursed Demon Nails. The curse disappeared before it reached the ground. Nobara had exorcised it.

"Nice, she's plenty crazy alright," Gojo praised happily. A couple moments later, Nobara and Yuuji filed out of the building with a small boy in their arms.

"We won," Nobara stated smugly. I handed the boy a juice bottle. He gave me a quizzical stare before accepting it.

"After we make sure the kid gets home, shall we go grab some grub?" Gojo suggested.

"Steak!" Yuuji answered.

"Sushi!" Nobara cried.

"Leave it to me!" Gojo promised. "How about you, Rey-kun and Megumi?"

Megumi ignored the man, and I gave the manner some thought. "Sushi." Nobara offered me a high-five for my support which I politely returned.

"Sushi, huh? Guess we can go to the usual place in Ginza," Gojo said.

"Ginza, yahoo!" Nobara pumped her fist in the air.

"I want revolving sushi!" Yuuji objected.

The child cringed at the loudness from the two bickering. I turned my attention to the poor boy, sensing fear radiating off of him. "Are you okay?"

"Revolving sushi is its own thing! Like how instant noodles is totally different from regular noodles!"

The boy looked at me and nodded slightly. He seemed to be more at ease talking to someone of his age. I pulled out a lollipop that I had been saving from my pocket and offered it to the boy. "Do you want my candy?"

"Sushi's just a meal, but revolving sushi's a leisure activity! Like a theme park! Or TDL!"

"Here, the strawberry one tastes the best." I put the lollipop into the boy's hand. When my hand made contact with the boy, I discretely sucked away the negative emotions inside of him. The boy's face grew rosier, and his body relaxed unconsciously.

"Thank you," the boy said. I nodded and went back to Gojo's side.

"My favorite is Sushi Go, but I'd go with Splendid Sushi for someone's first time," Gojo offered his opinion.

"You get it, sensei!" Yuuji cried happily after finally receiving some support.

"Hey, no one's said we're going yet," Nobara tried to make a last attempt to persuade the group.

"Kugisaki, listen closely. At Splendid Sushi, the sushi comes to you on a bullet train!" Yuuji informed jubilantly.

"What!?"

Yuuji hailed down a taxi on the side of the road. "Driver, this girl's never had revolving sushi before. Take us to the Splendid Sushi with the huge-ass parking lot along the interstate!"

"Don't forget we're dropping off the kid first!"