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My whole life I’ve been able to see monsters, or so that's what I decided to call them. Ever since I was little I’ve seen them. They crawled around the room, others stood taller than buildings, some even sat on my mothers shoulder looking down at me.
“What's wrong dear?” I recall my mothers words, looking at the fear in my eyes. I often ran away from her in stores, trying to hide from the terrifying creatures perched on her shoulder.
“There's a monster on your shoulder Mama.” My small voice shook as I watched it sway from side to side, watching my every move.
Her eyes went wide for a moment, wondering why I had lied (or so she thought I had). I was never one to lie to authority figures, especially my mother and she knew that. She’d turn her head from side to side, trying to view the so-called monster.
“There's nothing there y/n.” She would kneel to my level and pat my head, “Let’s get home, I think you need some sleep.” She’d giggle.
Around 6 years old I noticed my mother jumping, like she was scared, when I’d walk up behind her. In school I’d be praised for my unintentional “stealthiness” by teachers, often scaring them when I went to ask a question. They’d claim it was like I was “undetectable” when I walked up to them.
I was also praised for my athleticism, told I should “get into this sport”. In middle school I joined the track team, I was our team's best runner. I even beat all of the highschoolers when I actually tried. I wasn’t a huge sports person, but I continued until my last year of middle school.
My 15th birthday party was the day things changed. I was walking down the streets of Tokyo holding a dozen cupcakes which my mom sent me to pick up from a nearby bakery. I looked to my side, preparing to cross the street, when I spotted another monster. I stepped back from the sidewalk and looked around, trying to spot someone else who saw it as I usually did when this occurred.
As I peered around the street I spotted a boy. He looked around my age, his hair was abnormally white for his age though. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses over his eyes as well, which wasn’t too odd for the summer day. He was staring towards the spot the monster was looming over the city. The man next to him holding a phone to his ear, also looking up.
“Maybe I’m not crazy.” I whispered to myself. I crossed the street, deciding to approach them and ask about the creature and seek out a possible answer.
I tapped the boy's shoulder, “excuse me?” I asked. The boy turned, visibility taken aback.
The man next to him also turned, both facing me with wide eyes
. “How did you do that?” The boy asked, still shocked.
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” I bowed my head, avoiding any eye contact.
“No, how did you avoid the infinity?” He looked at me as if I should know what he meant.
Shit. This guys on crack, isn’t he? I sighed before shaking my head “I should just head out. I didn’t mean to bother you.” I smiled before turning to leave.
As I took a step away a hold grasped onto my arm, knocking the box of sweets out of my arms and onto the pavement. “WHAT THE HELL” I screamed, turning back to the pair.
The boy still held tightly onto my arm, his sunglasses slipping off of his nose revealing his luminescent blue eyes. “What did you want?” He asked.
I glared up at him, looking past to see the creature still standing tall. “Do you see that?” I pointed past him with my free hand.
“The curse?” His head also turned in that direction, “Obviously. You're a curse user aren't you?”
I shook my head, still slightly convinced he was on crack.
“Do you atleast know what that is?” He said, his voice lined with disgust that I didn’t understand.
I shook my head once again.
“You're coming with me.”
I stumbled as he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the car parked beside them.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” I struggled as he locked the doors, scared for my life that a crackhead just kidnapped me.
The older man next to him got into the driver's seat as we drove.
“Listen, this might sound crazy. But it can't be worse than seeing those monsters all the time without explanation, right?” I nodded in agreement, I guess most things didn't sound crazy to me when I am constantly thinking I might be schizophrenic.
The young boy explained “curses”' (or as I called them, monsters.) He mentioned a school for people who could see these curses and harvest “cursed energy”, called sorcerers. They would use this cursed energy to defeat cursed spirits (or exorcise them). He also went into detail about inherited and innate curses, which was a bit confusing to me.
“Do you have any family members that are sorcerers?” He asked.
I thought for a minute before replying, “I mean I don’t know my dad, but my mom definitely isn't.”
“Any other family, grandmas, grandpas, anything?”
I shook my head once again, thinking about the nights I’d hear my mom calling my grandparents worried that my “large imagination” possibly had a medical explanation.
He hummed for a moment, thinking. “Just take her home.” He motioned up to the driver.
I directed the driver to a bus stop two blocks away from my house, still scared they would break into my house and kidnap me (as if they hadn't already kidnapped me once.) I stepped out of the car and grabbed my bag from inside. The boy handed me a card, ‘Jujustu Tech’ labeled on the front. Along with a phone number scribbled on by the boy, “Call me if you want to know more.”
I shut the door behind me, taking a step back before the back window rolled down. “Oh, and I’m Gojo.” He shouted as they drove off.
“He's an odd one, isn't he.” I muttered, jogging back to my house.
“Sorry for taking so long! I dropped the cupcakes and then when I went back I realized I didn’t have any more money, so I just came back here.” I took off my shoes and walked to the kitchen to find my mother.
As I walked into the kitchen I found nothing, but a creature. It stood around 6ft tall, its back hunched over to fit into the small kitchen space. I noticed its mouth was hung open as its eyes gazed around the room. Its arms reached for me as I lunged out of the way.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit” I murmured as I ran out of the house in only my socks. I still had my bag over my shoulder, trying to dig into it to find the card the boy had given me moments before. Once my hand scraped the sharp edge of the card I latched onto it, pulling it to the surface. In one hand I held my phone, the other held the card. I read off the card as best as I can as I put it into my phone, quickly putting my phone to my ear waiting for a response. Even though I was an extremely fast runner, the curse still had a gain on me. I turned as many corners as possible trying to lose it.
“Hello?” A familiar voice came through the phone.
“Hey, I really need your help. A curse is chasing me, I don’t know what to do.” My breath was heavy as I sprinted through the street, dodging oncoming traffic. “I’ll send my location to you. Hold on.”
I took my phone away from my ear, quickly sharing my location.
“Got it, keep running. I’ll get someone to help.”
A buzz sounded as the call ended.