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THE COLD CRISP September air bit at Ise’s cheeks, turning them a soft shade of pink, uncharacteristic but seeming to soften her typically sharp features. Her mask preserved some of the heat around her face; her lips, nose, and cheeks, however, were still exposed to the bitterness of the autumnal elements.
Ise’s mask was rather different from the majority of others she had seen worn by her family. The reason? She wasn’t exactly sure, yet she still preferred it to theirs, seeing it as unique. It covered her whole face, bar her nose and mouth. Where her eyes were, it was just transparent enough to see through without exposing them. Her outfit was similar - tighter and covering the entirety of her, bar her fingers. In all honesty, it made her look rather cool - ninja-like while on missions. Ise’s younger sister seemed to love it and would commend her older sister whenever she put it on, which would make Ise love it more than she already did.
Sitting on the edge of a building, one leg up so that she could rest her arm and head against it, Ise’s nightly patrol was rather uneventful, not exactly unusual but equally as boring. Night patrol was never fun, and she hated being on it, but it also got her out of her house, so she took wins where she could get them. Whenever she was on night patrol, she’d often have to keep her eye out for any sorcerers, especially those who knew who she was, wanting to avoid as much trouble as possible. It was always a game of cat and mouse when she was spotted, having to get away as quickly as she could, and honestly it was tiring - she loathed it, but the circumstances were far out of her control.
Having to deal with her family’s messes was nothing new to Ise, being brutally honest it was usually her job to do so, simply because she was the only one that didn’t have such a short fuse. Ise was treated as a voice of reason by a lot of her close companions, mostly her family, she was level headed and low energy, meaning that she couldn’t ever really be bothered to get into conflicts or arguments with people. It was a gift, more than her natural curse powers, especially considering that being difficult to deal with, short tempered and argumentative were all traits her family was infamous for: part of the reason she was in the situation she was in.
Glancing down to the watch on her wrist, Ise fought against the yawn crawling up the back of her throat, eventually giving in, leaning her head back and resting like that for a second. Her eyes flitted shut for a brief second, the chill in the air slowly becoming more comforting with every passing second. The longer Ise was out for, the less she felt the chill, which would help the night pass quicker, another thing she was grateful for. Despite her inherent hatred for being out at night, there were bonuses, the quietness was tranquil, enough to take her mind off of anything that had happened in the day, and other than when she was asleep, the only time she could truly relax and feel at peace. There were no sounds at night, everything and everyone was asleep, of course bar the odd owl, bat or bug noise was expected, but they made the ambience of the night that bit more authentic. Feeling her eyes begin to close, Ise leant her head on her leg once more, allowing her head to lull to the sound of the wind, hoping to catch even a sliver of sleep.
With everything that was going on, from relentless training with her parents, to her dubious night time patrols, and even having to resolve tension between her family members, she barely had time to herself, so quiet nights like this often allowed that relief of tension, a release in her spine that had her sighing in luxury, a rarity to people like her.
Though, her comfort didn’t last long, a collection of voices startling her awake. With her heart pounding against her ribcage, she sat completely upright, no longer finding herself with the luxury of comfort in her hands. Her eyes carefully scanned the area, trying to spot whoever had interrupted the peace of the night. Having to jump down from her perch on the building, Ise slunk around the tree line, the voices getting closer, slowly but surely. Eventually, after finding a thick-trunked tree to hide behind, the maroon haired girl peered forwards spotting the backs of 3 individuals: one girl and two boys, all around her age. Despite her proximity, Ise couldn’t quite get what they were saying: something about curses. Judging by their uniforms, she could easily guess that they were students of the nearby Jujutsu High, however that was about all she could guess upon first impression. Hoping to try and get a smidgen closer to the clearing where they were standing, she moved forwards, hoping to make it to the tree just in front of her, however she didn’t expect to break a stick that was in front of her, alerting the trio.
“Fuck” she mumbled, having to scramble up the tree and hope that they mistook her for an animal, since there could’ve been foxes or anything of the sorts in the area.
Wrapping her hair up around and into a tight bun, holding it in place with her hand, Ise held her breath, letting only increments of air leave her lips at a time. She wasn't sure why she was scared, it wasn't exactly like they would pose any serious threat to her, she was well trained and strong enough to fend for herself, but she was both outnumbered and had absolutely no idea what their strengths were, or if they were even truly Jujutsu sorcerers. Looking down, she found herself inches away from where the black haired boy was looking, now glad she held her hair and didn't let it fall down. It didn't take long for him to move, and the three voices get quieter, allowing Ise to let out a sigh of relief. That was far too close than she’d ever let herself get before, and as close as she’d ever like to be again. Her mind had never prepared far enough for the possibility of capture, and for someone typically so prepared for things like these, she was visibly shaken by the close shave.
–
“There’s someone out there,” Megumi remarked, looking out of the window with his eyes trained on the tree line, brows knitted together in a mixture of confusion, anger and bafflement.
Yuuri and Nobara hummed, looking back in confusion at their ‘leader’ ( a title he gave to himself and the two just didn’t have the energy to argue against it ).
“Don’t be such a paranoid wuss, Fushiguro.” chortled Nobara, walking over and patting him on the back, smiling at him politely, however a hint of her typical condescending tone was prevalent even through such a simple act. “You’re probably just picking up some cursed energy from whatever it is we’ve come for here.”
“Maybe.” he trailed off, exhaling as he slowly moved away from the window - eyes still lingering on the trees. It was then that the figure, whom he had previously thought he’d seen, decided to quickly bolt from the trees. He grunted in frustration, as quietly as he could to not attract the attention of the other two, who were currently bickering over something stupid, most likely over who was fastest, a continuing debate from the drive over there. “Do you two ever get along?” he droned, hands stuffed into his pockets.
There was never a time that Megumi didn’t have a scowl on his face, it was his default setting ( a common phrase used by Yuuji that Megumi had grown to hate ). He didn’t mind this, it added to the aura he had, and reputation he had spent the majority of his life building. There had been many times that Yuuji and Nobara had tried to make him smile, and whilst they did have their brief moments of hilarity, they weren’t enough to shake the fact that they were more annoying than they were funny. To be honest, he didn’t really mind it, over the last year he had really grown to love the two, though he would never admit that to them; plus, it was better than having to work with people he absolutely hated.
“What even is this building? It’s pretty remote here, there isn’t a graveyard or anything nearby.” Yuuji turned to Megumi, who raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
“I’m not entirely sure, I just know that there was an attack from a curse here, and that’s all that we’re here for. We can investigate on our way.”
–
“Yeah, I don’t know if they saw me or not.” Ise sighed, peeling back her mask and throwing it over her shoulder, holding her phone to her ear with her other hand. Her hand brushed against the trees that she walked past, her fingertips being scratched by the rough, dry bark, hardened by the harsh summer that had just passed. On the other end of the phone, her younger sister spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake anyone up.
Ise’s sister, Hokama Aikiko, was 13 and her sister’s biggest supporter. Knowing her own unhappiness living at home, Ise took it upon herself to ensure that Aikiko never felt the same and had a level of support that Ise never had. Negativity in life was the one thing their family valued, it allowed their powers to flourish and grow. However, the more miserable you were, the more you were treated as a weapon. It was one of main reasons for how Ise had turned out, her life was filled with benign treated like a weapon, a defence mechanism for them to use at will, and because of this - she was strong, her cursed energy beyond the understanding of any in the Hokama clan, and that was something that could be the downfall of them, and even her if she didn’t learn to keep it under control.
“Well, if they saw you, they’d probably have gone after you. So, I think you’re safe, Ise.” Ise rolled her eyes, allowing her sister to continue on. “Are you coming home? I don’t want mum to start latching onto the idea that you’re leaving without them knowing. They’ll kill you.”
“I know, I know.” Ise sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. “I’ll be home soon, within the next hour. I just need to check on something and then I’ll be home. Sleep, Aikiko, you stress too much over me.”
“As long as you keep going out in the middle of the night I’ll worry about you,” Aikiko lightly scolded, letting out a small chuckle. “But, if you say so, I’ll go to sleep. Goodnight, Ise.”
“Goodnight, Aikiko. Sleep well.”
With the phone call ending, Ise pushed her phone back into the tight pocket in her suit and continued to weave between the trees. Despite her sister’s reassurance, Ise couldn’t help but feel like she’d been spotted, and like there were eyes lingering on her. That feeling wasn’t one she gained often, and that meant that she had to pay attention to it. Slowly grabbing her mask from its resting place on her shoulder and putting it back on, Ise secured its position, flicking back her hair and picking out any bits that found themselves trapped in the fabric of her mask. She hated when her hair got stuck in the rim of her mask, it tugged on her scalp, and whilst she typically had a strong pain tolerance, there was something about the motion that would send a shiver of pain tracing its way down her spine. A small hiss was all that came from her whilst sorting herself out, the closest she’d gotten to getting hurt all night.
“Maybe Aikiko was right, maybe I should just go home.” she sighed, looking down at her shoes, before turning back around. That eerie feeling still followed her, its hand on her shoulder and trying to keep her from turning around, but Ise fought against that pressure and just turned around. A small feeling of relief washed over her as she turned to see nothing, nothing other than more trees, a few plants and the rest was shrouded in darkness. She wasn’t aware of how long she’d been out, every time she’d been on her phone, the thought to check the time was never present, and checking her watch wasn’t a common occurrence, it was more there for decoration and would only ever look at it if it was right in front of her face, such as when she was leaning her head and arm on her leg on the building.
As she walked back in the direction she came from, Ise laughed at her paranoia, how silly she’d been to have thought someone would have found her. Laughing to herself, Ise just continued to walk, her head lowered.
“I knew I saw someone in the treeline,” a dull voice came from behind Ise, startling her. She jumped slightly, quickly assuming a defensive position. She was in no position to do anything with or to the figure in front of her, and so she looked from side to side, trying to find an opening for a quick escape. “I assume you’re here for one of us? Or better yet, you’re the cause of that curse back there.”
Ise just stood in the same position, silent as her gaze focused on the figure in front of her. There was no mistaking, he was one of the three that had interrupted her almost-nap, for that she held a slight grudge, however not one big enough to engage - not when she had to get home: she’d much rather be seen as a coward in the eyes of a stranger than feel the wrath of her family for disobeying them.
Tilting her head, Ise could sense that she’d made him confused - after all he couldn’t see the cogs turning in her eyes, nor could he read her mind. With that, a quick sprint was all Ise could do, a foolish and cowardly move. Exercising her powers wasn’t on the cards, not somewhere close to two others that would outnumber her. The first thing she was taught when it came to her combat training, do not engage with enemies without knowing their abilities - it could be fatal: today was the first time she had to put this saying to the test.
–
“She ran?” Nobara huffed, placing her hands on her hips as they all sat in the convenience store. Now changed out of their uniforms, the three appeared to be normal teenagers, clearly out far too late, but normal nonetheless. “Weird. I mean, if it was Yuuji I’d understand, he’s scary when he’s fighting, you’re just a grump.”
Shrugging, Megumi ignored the little dig at the end of Nobara’s remark, sighing deeply as he thought back to the moment in the treeline yesterday. He still had no idea who she was, or what her intentions were near the site of the cursed object, and it just continue to baffle him. If she had any sort of intention to go about harming them, then why didn't she follow them in? When he came up to her in the forest, she was going the opposite way - almost as if she had no interest at all, he couldn't see her eyes but he could sense that she had a sort of urgency in them that wanted to be anywhere but around him: odd. Megumi had never seen her, or anyone like her, before, and it just added to the confusion…