Chapter Text
The Kyoto Goodwill Event was in full swing, the tension thick enough to cut with a blade. Yuji, Junpei, Nobara, Megumi, and June stood together, panting, their bodies slick with sweat after their latest bout. Across the battlefield, the Kyoto students huddled in frustration, their glares sharp with rivalry.
Then came the first tremor.
A low, guttural rumble silenced the field. The ground quaked beneath them, and the distant treeline snapped like brittle twigs.
Then she emerged.
A towering figure stepped forward, her movements unnervingly graceful for something so monstrous. Hanami.
The cursed spirit’s form twisted unnaturally, bark-like flesh shifting as if breathing. The weight of her presence was suffocating, a tidal wave of cursed energy crashing over the students. Her voice, eerily serene, slithered into their ears like a lullaby of death.
“Humans… always building. Always destroying. Perhaps it’s time you understand the beauty of rot.” The students eschange confused looks, save Megumi
Megumi’s eyes widened. “Special Grade.” He stepped forward instinctively, calling forth his Shikigami. “Stay together!”
Nobara gritted her teeth, fingers curling around her hammer. “This isn’t good.”
Hanami didn’t wait. Vines shot forward like whips, carving through the air. The students scattered, debris exploding in their wake. The field was no longer an arena—it had become a warzone.
Yuji ducked under a lash of thorns, his fists clenching. “We need a plan—fast!”
June twirled her staff, the cursed energy pulsing at its core. “Whatever that plan is, it better not involve dying!”
They fought—dodging, countering, barely keeping up with the relentless spirit. Hanami was overwhelming, each attack more devastating than the last. The air thickened with cursed energy, crackling like static on their skin.
Then, the ground trembled again.
A soft hum rose from beneath them, glowing veins of cursed energy threading through the earth.
Megumi’s sharp gaze darted downward. “What now?!”
Before anyone could react, the web of energy surged, collapsing the ground beneath them.
Yuji barely had time to shout before the world swallowed them whole.
They hit the ground hard.
Mud splattered as Yuji groaned, pushing himself up from the damp earth. The air was thick, humid—and wrong.
Moonlight barely cut through the dense canopy of gnarled trees, their twisted forms writhing like frozen corpses. The silence wasn’t empty; it pressed against their ears, smothering every breath.
Megumi was the first to recover. “Is everyone okay?”
Yuji wiped his face, blinking at the eerie surroundings. “Define ‘okay.’”
Nobara stood, groaning. “If I get eaten by some weird forest monster, I’m haunting all of you.”
June grimaces.
Junpei shivered, gripping his staff tightly. “This place… it feels different.”
June held out her staff, its faint glow casting ghostly shadows. “Whatever brought us here isn’t done with us yet.”
A rustle from the undergrowth froze them in place. Something was watching.
Megumi’s eyes narrowed. “Stay close.”
They trudged through the thick underbrush, their senses sharp. Every creak of the trees, every whisper of the wind—it all felt alive.
Then, they found it.
A massive, twitching corpse lay sprawled across the ground. Its spider-like form had been torn apart, its legs twisted at unnatural angles.
Nobara's face twisted in disgust, her voice barely above a whisper. “What the hell did that?!”
Megumi crouched, inspecting the remains. “Whatever it was… it’s still nearby.”
Nobara punches Megumi "Don't touch that thing Fushiguro!" Before the boy could react they all heard a rustle.
A shadow shifted in the trees, silent as death.
And they weren’t the only ones being hunted.
Elsewhere…
Adaeze Maina shivered as she and Yuta Okkotsu carefully navigated through the eerie landscape.
“This place is cursed,” she muttered, arms hugging herself against the unnatural chill. “Not just with energy—everything about it feels… off. And how did we even get here? Weren't we training in Kenya just a while a...whoa!” The girl almost fell on a spider demon corpse, it's legs still twitching like a dead cockroach.
Yuta’s grip tightened on his katana. “Stay close. I feel like something’s watching us.”
A snap of a twig made Adaeze whirl around, her cursed dolls materializing with a low hum, floating idly. “Did you hear that?”
Yuta barely had time to nod before-he was gone.
Vanished.
Adaeze’s heart hammered against her ribs. “Yuta?!”
Nothing. Just the whisper of the wind.
She turned, hands raised defensively—and collided with a tall figure.
The gleam of a blade flashed in the dim light, its owner’s voice cold and sharp. “Stay where you are.”
Adaeze blinked up at the stranger. He was clad in black, his sharp gaze piercing beneath his damp bangs.
She raised her hands. “Whoa, chill out, sword guy! I’m not here to cause trouble.”
The man’s expression didn’t waver. “Who are you? And what are you doing on this mountain?”
Adaeze swallowed hard. “Adaeze Maina. I fight curses, not demons. I'm a Jujutsu sorcerer”
The man studied her carefully. “A sorcerer?”
“Yeah,” she said slowly, eyeing his stance. “And you’re… what? Demon hunter? Samurai? Either way, I’d really appreciate not being sliced in half.”
His grip on the blade didn’t ease immediately.
“Stay close,” he finally said. “This mountain doesn’t care what you’re fighting.It will kill you all the same.”
Back with the students, the forest seemed to close in around them, the air growing heavier.
Yuji exhaled, fists clenching. “I don’t like this.”
Megumi’s expression was grim. “We need to move. Now.”
A low growl rumbled through the trees.
And then the hunt began.