Chapter Text
The lights turn on, illuminating a lavish room that somehow feels dark. A tall figure walks by and throws bandages on the ground as he is walking by toward the large bed. Once he is by the bed he plops down with a sigh. But his rest is short-lived by a harsh vibration in his pocket. He already knows if he picks up the call he is not going to be able to rest tonight. If he had emotions like normal people, it would be sad that anytime he gets any calls it's most certainly going to be someone who wants something from him. But he's the strongest so he has to pick up the call. It's not like he has anything to do other than sleep. So he pulled the phone from his pants pocket and without even looking at who was calling him, he answered the phone.
"Where is it and what is its grade? Anything less than grade one don’t bother asking me to exorcise." Gojo commanded.
"We have intel that there are several grade one and special grades near the mountains of Morioka. We can not confirm more details as we only received a distress signal from someone unknown." Ichigi spoke.
"Distress signal from someone unknown? You expect me to use my precious time to go investigate something. That should be your job."
"I apologize for the inconvenience. But we don't have any sorcerers near that area. And the location is far enough that you are the only one who can get to the area quickly." Ichigi tries to explain. Hoping Gojo would understand. He doesn't want to feel the wrath of either Gojo or the upper brass.
"Yea. I am not interested. Send someone else." Gojo said in a bored tone. As he is about to hang up.
"Gojo-san, please! You are the only one who can get to the area on time to save people" Ichigi pleaded.
"You don't have any hard evidence to confirm if there is any curse. As far as I know, someone's probably playing a prank on you. And going there would just waste my time." Gojo is starting to get impatient.
Ichigi didn't know what to do. Honestly, he doesn't know why the top brass only use him to deliver assignments to Gojo. He kept racking his brain for a reply until an idea came. "You wouldn't be wasting time going there even if there's no curse."
Now, an interested Gojo asked, "How so?"
Being cautious Ichigi tries "I heard Morioka has a cafe that sells a very popular mochi. Apparently, the flavor of the mochi is a well-kept secret. You might like it."
"Ichigi, are you bribing me with mochi?" Gojo asked in a serious tone. A tone that always gave Ichigi the chills.
"No..." Ichigi said thinking he might be dead.
"Well, it worked! I will check out the area. But you should prepare for your funeral if you lied about mochi." Gojo now cheerful. Although, the cheerful tone only made Ichigi more scared.
"I will text the address to both places right away."
With Ichigi's word, the call finally ended. And within the same minute, two text notifications appeared on Gojo's phone. With a quick look at the curse's locations, Gojo got up and walked over to the abandoned bandages on the floor. He thought about whether he should pick up new bandages. But that seems like too much work. It's going to be a long trip and he can't wait to try the new mochi. So he picked up already used bandages and wrapped them around his eye. Double checking the tightness of the bandages disappeared from the room.
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It was dark and dreary on the mountain. The heavy rain didn't help the mood of the area. Deep within the mountain, a lonely figure can be seen hiding in the gaping hole of a tall tree. The figure's small body shivered in the cold. This time of year is not a good time to be out in the mountains. The village people feared the mountains even during summer with its glorious daylight, so they would think anyone is crazy to go to the mountains at night at the height of the rainy season. If asked any villagers why they feared the mountains, they couldn't answer definitely. No one knows what resides in the mountain. It had been an unspoken rule in the village that no one enters the mountains. Rare tourists who wants to visit the mountains, the villagers tries to warn them to not go into the mountains. But never looked for them when they always disappeared into the mountains. No one knows what's in the mountains but no one dares to find out. Village people have always been smart about this kind of thing.
"So what am I doing on this mountain..." the small figure thought as she shivered. She kept a look out for any source of light in the distance. Unsurprisingly, never saw any. Instead of a source of light, the figure heard a source of darkness. The figure shivered more.
“They are coming. I am not done yet. I need more time!” The figured thought
The figure picked up a small radio. The figure didn’t know what will happen once the radio is used, but this is the last hope.
Amidst the heavy rain, a low static sound can be heard.
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“It's terrible weather out here” is the first thing Gojo thought upon landing in the middle of nowhere. At least it feels like the middle of nowhere. If Ichigi sent the wrong location he will pay for it. “The mochi better be worth it.”
Gojo can’t feel any curse energy in this area. But he feels the presence of something. He pulled out the phone map to see exactly where he was.
“Hmm.. seems like I am near a village. Might find who sent the distress signal there.” Gojo thought as he teleported to the village.
The village seems dark and too quiet. As Gojo looks around he can’t find any life in the village. But there are clear signs of people living here. Without hesitation he bursts open a nearby house door and walks inside. No human is seen but he sees soup in a pot that’s starting to go bad.
“There must have been people living here a few days ago. So where are they now? It’s like they just vanished. Sounds like curses work to me. But why can’t I feel the curse? Could it have gone somewhere else?” Gojo pondered as he walked out of the house.
“Time to change my perspective!” Gojo thought as he teleported high up in the sky.
“It’s hard to see because of the rain. But I guess I don’t need to see with regular vision.” Gojo thought as he unwrapped the bandages around his eyes. Revealing his bright blue eyes. Which seems like the only source of brightness on this dreary day. Within minutes of looking over the area from a higher point of view, Gojo saw some curse energy deep into the forest. The curse energy seems too low and pure to be a special grade curse.
“So there are people left in this village. Let alone a sorcerer. Guess I am in luck!” With this though Gojo headed towards the mystery sorcerer.
As Gojo appeared close to the “sorcerer” he immediately saw two nails coming toward him. He didn’t try to dodge them as they were regular nails will be stopped by his infinite barrier. And the nails did stopped in front of his heart.
“You have good aim. I would be dead if I was a normal person. But you know it’s rude to throw things at a strang…” Gojo didn’t get to finish as he felt curse energy envelope the two nails and broke through his barrier. When that happened he also felt a small amount of curse entering his body. It’s hard to explain but it’s like the mysterious sorcerer's curse energy is resonating in his body. Gojo was shocked for a moment. Though the curse energy was weak and didn’t harm him, it still affected him. No one has broken through his infinite barrier let alone left a lasting effect other than Toji.
Gojo was amused. Who is this person? To break the strongest barrier. Recovering from his mini shock, Gojo immediately looked around to see where the sorcerer was. He saw a small figure weaving through the trees. Probably to hide for another surprise attack. The mystery sorcerer was so small that his naked eye could have missed the figure. Good thing he has his six eyes. Gojo effortlessly got behind the figure and grabbed the figure by the caller of the T-shirt the sorcerer was wearing.
The figure finally spoke, “ Let me go you stupid old man.” Struggling to get out of Gojo’s hold.
Gojo finally got a good look at the figure. The mysterious sorcerer turns out to be a little girl no more than 10 years old. She has short brown hair with a strong demeanor.
Shocked yet again Gojo spoke “Who are you calling old? brat. I will have you know I am only 20 years old.”
“I don’t care! You have white hair and a horrible personality. So in my book you are old. Now let go of me old man before I shove nails into eyes.” Threatened the little girl.
“Such disrespect from a little girl.” Gojo faking offense.
“But I can’t let you go until you tell me who you are and what’s going on here.” Gojo explained.
“Why should I have to say anything to a creepy old man like you!” The girl exclaimed as she tried to get out something from her pouch. But Gojo realized that she was trying to get out nails. So he immediately grabbed her wrist and held it back.
“It’s not safe for a brat like you to handle sharp objects. How do you know how to use it? Why are you here alone in the forest?” Gojo asked seriously this time. But the girl remained silent. With a sigh Gojo thought for a moment.
“Hold on tight and try not to move too much.” Gojo didn’t give the girl time to process what he said and disappeared with the girl. Only the sound of rain now accompanies the mountains.