Chapter 22 - Series of Death

A man could be seen talking on the phone as he tried to open the door. A girl was standing behind him.

"The door...it won't open." He complained, unbeknownst to the curse behind them.

"Ahhhhhh!"

The girl screamed when the curse piecred the man's neck with its hands.

Her chest was also pierced by the bloody hand afterwards.

Another screech followed as blood spurted out of the girl's body and the girl fell down lifelessly.

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"...were five victims. Their cause of death is the same. They were killed by a cursed spirit in front of their apartment entrance. There was an exception, that is a couple died instead of dying alone in front of the door. But they complained about the same thing to the management before their death. The auto-lock door is not functioning. But the other residents didn't have this problem, " the assistant said as she drove the car.

In the passenger seats, Yuji, Junpei, Nobara and Megumi sat. Obviously, they were sent to investigate this series of death.

"The dates and locations are different. Could this be done by the same cursed spirit?" Megumi wondered.

"But I thought curses can't be seen in camera. Sensors shouldn't be able to sense curses, right?" Junpei asked.

"That's what I thought too." Itadori agreed.

"It's not the sensor, but it seems like the cursed spirit affected the door operator system." The assistant replied.

"We can't determine if this was done by the same cursed spirit based on the residuals because the incidents happened a while back. So, we hope you can find something as Jujutsu sorcerers." The assistant continued.

"So, we have to investigate if this is done by the same cursed spirit?" Junpei asked.

"I just remembered this is your first mission, Yoshino-kun. Yes, you have to investigate this case and exorcise the responsible cursed spirit as soon as possible." She answered.

"I see. But what if the cursed spirit is out of the range we could handle?" Junpei asked.

"Then, we normally ask for reinforcement or simply let a higher-grade Jujutsu sorcerer handle the case. But, we're usually short-staffed so we have to handle higher grade curses, sometimes." Megumi replied.

"Yeah, there was one time four of us had to deal with a special grade curse in Juvenile detention centre because there were no Grade 1 Jujutsu sorcerers," Nobara said.

"I don't think that one counts, tho. Nakamura was the one who exorcised that curse, after all." Itadori said.

"Whatever. Usually, Grade 1 Jujutsu sorcerers are dispatched to deal with Grade 1 curses and sometimes special grade curses. Because special grade Jujutsu sorceres are considered anomalies in Jujutsu world." Nobara said.

"I still wish Nakamura's here. Wouldn't it be nice if five of us could go to missions together?" Itadori said.

"I thought she went to her hometown for a week." Megumi frowned.

"She did. But a week is over and we didn't hear anything from her." Nobara rolled her eyes.

"Maybe something came up and she is late?"

Before Itadori could continue, the car stopped as they reached their destination. It was a acquaintance of the three victims. However, as they got off the car and walked towards the house, they saw a funeral.

"So, he's also dead.." Junpei stated.

"Yeah, there goes our lead..." The assistant sighed.

"What should we do now?" Itadori asked.

"We'll have to go and investigate to the school they went to. Four of them went to the same school." The assistant replied.

Just as they were about to get onto the car, the assistant's phone rang.

"Hai?"

"I heard from Gojo sensei that my classmates are investigating a series of death. Can I join too?"

Sachiko's voice could be heard over the phone.

"It's...."

"Please just tell me where you are and I'll join you." Sachiko said.

"This....." The assistant hestitated for a while, but she said anyway, "Alright, I'll send you the address, Nakamura san."

"Thanks." Sachiko replied.

After hanging up, the assistant sent Sachiko the address of the school they were heading to.

"Your classmate called me and said she is joining you." She said.

"Huh? Nakamura's joining? I thought she wasn't in Tokyo yet." Itadori frowned.

"I don't know about the specifics." The assistant shook her head before they could ask anything.

"Alright. It's not a bad thing she joins us." Itadori said to himself.

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An hour later, they waited in front of the school.

"We don't even know where she is. Why can't we go inside first?" Nobara complained.

"Nakamura doesn't have visitor pass so we have to wait for her here." The assistant said.

"Tsk." Nobara rolled her eyes.

A few minutes later, Sachiko arrived. She was wearing her usual uniform but her hair was a bit messy and eyes were a bit red as if she had cried.

"Nakamura? Did something happen?" Junpei asked in concern.

"Someone passed away. She was like my sister.." She replied with a bitter smile.

'If someone close to her passed away, what is she doing here?' Megumi frowned.