Overcast skies loomed above Jujutsu High, a quiet weight pressing down on the air. The four stood near the front gate—Riku, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara—waiting with various shades of boredom and curiosity stretched across their faces. Riku stood with his hands in his pockets, his eyes half-lidded in mild annoyance. Yuji leaned against the wall, chewing gum. Megumi stared at nothing, silent as usual. Nobara twirled a hammer between her fingers, heels clicking against the pavement.
The silence cracked with the sound of footsteps.
Gojo Satoru strolled into view, whistling softly as if the sky wasn't threatening to pour rain and they weren't gathered for yet another mission. His blindfold was in place, white hair tousled by the breeze.
"Good morning, my wonderful underlings," he grinned.
Riku tilted his head. "You dragged us all the way out here just for a grand entrance?"
Gojo shrugged. "What can I say? I like a little drama. Now listen up. This one's not your usual pest-extermination mission. We've got something messier."
"Messier how?" Nobara asked, adjusting the grip on her hammer.
Gojo's voice lowered, still playful but edged with seriousness. "Out by the ruins of an old mountain temple—somewhere between abandoned and haunted—there's been a cursed outbreak. Sorcerers sent in either came back broken or didn't come back at all. One of them was barely coherent, but kept saying the curse spoke."
Yuji furrowed his brow. "You mean it talks?"
"Fluent," Gojo confirmed. "The higher-ups think it's Special Grade. I think they're right. So I'm sending in my best experimental team."
"You mean us," Megumi said flatly.
Riku sighed. "This your idea of testing teamwork again?"
Gojo pointed a finger at Riku with a grin. "Exactly. And let's be honest—you've been itching to show off again."
The four exchanged glances.
Riku cracked his neck. "Fine. Let's go see what kind of 'special' we're dealing with."
The forest surrounding the ruins was dense, the air cold despite the season. Trees twisted away from the temple ruins as if recoiling from something inside. The structure itself sagged in the middle, rotting wood and half-sunken stones crumbling under nature's relentless assault.
"This is charming," Nobara muttered. "Looks like it wants to eat us."
Riku scanned the area, cursed energy humming quietly beneath his skin. "Something's definitely here."
Megumi nodded. "Let's split. Nobara and Yuji, go left. Riku, you're with me."
"Try not to die," Riku added dryly.
They moved into the ruin's interior. The temple's halls creaked as if whispering secrets to themselves. Lanterns long extinguished swayed in still air. Something about the place made Riku's skin crawl.
Then it began.
A scream. Human. High-pitched. Then silence.
The walls distorted like melting wax. Shadows elongated. Wood twisted.
Riku and Megumi turned, but it was too late. The curse emerged from the shadows—twisted flesh, bone spikes protruding from its arms, four eyes stacked wrong, voice hissing like gas leaking from a broken pipe.
"Back!" Megumi called, summoning Divine Dogs.
The curse didn't hesitate. It lunged.
Riku flashed forward—no cursed technique, just raw speed and Haki. His arm shimmered and he slammed his fist into the curse's gut. It wheezed, but didn't fall. Instead, it slithered backwards and laughed.
"You... I remember your soul," it said in a gurgling whisper. "Not from this side."
Riku's brow furrowed. "The hell are you talking about?"
The curse's grin stretched too wide. "You don't belong here, outsider."
More movement. Behind them, Yuji and Nobara burst through broken doors.
"Two more!" Yuji shouted. "They were hiding!"
From opposite hallways, two more grotesque curses slithered out—similar shape, different deformities. One dragged multiple limbs behind it. The other had a face that kept shifting between human and beast.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Nobara growled.
"Riku," Megumi said sharply.
"I got it."
Riku stepped forward, his cursed energy flaring.
"Mirrorbound Domain: Reflection Shatter."
The temple groaned as space cracked like glass. A mirror landscape expanded across the walls, reflecting the room into distorted fragments. Echoes of the curses appeared in every surface, flickering half-seconds ahead and behind.
One curse lunged—its arm tore through the air.
Echo Delay.
Riku moved, appearing behind it in the reflection. He slammed a palm against its spine. The impact ricocheted, warping gravity and crushing the creature to the floor.
The second tried to flank him—Riku twisted, sweeping it with a gravity-reflected leg kick, sending it crashing through a support beam.
Screeches echoed off the mirrored walls.
"His domain…" Megumi whispered, shielding his eyes. "It's reacting to their attacks…"
"They're being countered before they even land," Nobara murmured, stunned.
The lead curse staggered forward, coughing blood. "You... really don't belong here…"
"I'm not here for conversation," Riku said coldly. "But you just confirmed something important."
He stepped forward.
The curse opened its jaws and screamed. Symbols flared. The walls cracked again.
Then—nothing.
Its body exploded into cursed mist, shredded from the inside out by the lingering echo.
As the domain faded, the three curses were gone—reduced to pulp and mist. Only their voices lingered like an oil-slick echo.
Yuji stepped back. "They said you don't belong here… What the hell does that mean?"
Riku didn't answer. He just stared at the empty space where the lead curse had been, jaw tense.
Outside, Gojo watched from the trees, arms crossed casually as the last wisps of cursed energy faded into the wind.
He adjusted his blindfold slightly, lips curving into a faint, thoughtful smile.
"…That went better than expected," he murmured.
Then, without another word, he turned and disappeared into the forest, his steps as light as ever.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to take a break but then I get ideas and I feel like I need to write them down and before I know it I'm making another chapter but for real this time good bye and enjoy if you see any mistakes let me know.