A young man of about 15 years old sat casually behind a school desk, looking to the side at an older gentleman.
"Come on Inumaki, we should get this wrapped up so I can go home." The middle aged man said while strolling out of the classroom. The man was wearing an average looking suit with a light brown trench coat over it.
The young man, Isamu Inumaki, stood with ease before he began to walk wordlessly through the halls of jujutsu technical school. The boy stood at an above average 5'10, standing just an inch short of Kusakabe, the veteran sorcerer he now followed.
Isamu sported a simple black and white hoodie with simple blue jeans and tennis shoes, he was a bit underdressed in his opinion but he trusted his senior when he said the principal wouldn't care.
That was where they were headed after all, to meet principal Yaga, the man in charge of the jujutsu education in Tokyo. He was also the man that would decide if Inumaki would become a jujutsu sorcerer.
Inumaki and the grade 1 sorcerer walked silently through the halls, Kusakabe simply too lazy to say anything. While Isamu didn't say anything, because, well, he was mute. Inumaki, a curse speech user, didn't talk, or make any noise for that matter.
Curse speech was a cursed technique passed down through the Inumaki clan which allowed its user to command individuals and make them perform or be acted upon by said command.
There was, of course, more to it than that but that's the general idea of his inherited technique. This was why he didn't talk, because he didn't want to harm anyone on accident.
Inumaki looked toward Kusakabe as they exited the main building. Kusakabe was a grade 1 sorcerer, the highest grade one could realistically reach, all while having no cursed technique. This had garnered a lot of respect from Inumaki, to be so powerful purely based on simple barrier techniques and his mastery over the katana was truly impressive.
"When we arrive, it's on you to convince the principal. I don't really know how you'll manage that but if you're going to be a jujutsu sorcerer, you need to learn to figure things out." Kusakabe said as they neared the office of the principal.
Inumaki would've scoffed if he could've, but instead he just rolled his eyes. He knew Kusakabe wasn't helping because he just didn't want to, not because he was teaching Isamu some lesson.
"Don't roll your eyes at me!"
——
Yaga sat cross legged as he waited for Kusakabe and the Inumaki kid to arrive. While he wasn't the biggest fan of waiting, at least it was a good time to sew.
Yaga looked up at the sound of the door knob being twisted and the door pushed open. As the man and the boy walked in, he couldn't help but notice the boy's resemblance to nearly every Inumaki Yaga had seen during his time.
He was taller than the average Inumaki but not by much, he had the signature white hair of the Inumaki, though it was a bit spikier. The young man had two markings on his face, one on each side of the mouth.
A curved line stretched from the edges of the boys mouth upwards towards where dimples would normally be found. The line ended in a circle with a small ring around it. All together, when seen from the front, the boy's mouth resembled the face of a snake.
These marks were a sign nearly everyone in jujutsu sorcery would recognize as the snake eyes of the Inumaki clan, a clan known for their inherited technique.
"Kusakabe, on time as always. Now, why are you here." Yaga said, the second part naturally directed towards the kid.
The Inumaki looked confused for a second and Yaga was about to elaborate, before something seemed to click for the young man. He then pulled out a small note pad and began to write.
'To become a jujutsu sorcerer' he wrote.
Yaga sigh before he responded. "I mean, why do you wish to become one? Why are you pursuing a career as a sorcerer?" Inumaki quickly wrote some more before turning the note pad towards Yaga once more.
'So I can exorcise curses and meet other jujutsu sorcerers.' A vein bulged on Yaga's forehead, this brat didn't get it. But maybe that was a good thing.
Without warning, Yaga grabbed the nearest doll and tossed it at Inumaki as it came to life. To Yaga's surprise, it was kicked away before it was within striking range. This kid had great reaction speeds.
The boy had seen the doll, determined it was a threat, recognized the clear range advantage he had, and capitalized on that advantage by kicking outside of the dolls effective range while it was mid air. The reaction time and decision making speed was very impressive.
Inumaki then followed up on the kick with a palm strike to its mid section, putting most of his weight behind the blow, taking advantage of the difference in weight and size. The doll flew back into a nearby beam, forming small cracks across the wood but not doing much else.
The doll, due to its core taking no real damage, was also left relatively unharmed. That was a clear weak point. The boy was skilled and was plenty fast, but he lacked power.
The doll leaped to the side and rebounded off a beam, only to fly and bounce off another. The doll continued this as it reached its top speed. Isamu's eyes flicked across the room as he was somewhat able to keep track of the cursed corpse.
Once the doll had reached its top speed and it had bounced off its final pillar, it finally went on the offensive.
"Twist."
The cursed corpse suddenly twisted its entire body like it was being wrung out like a wash cloth. Its core was also destroyed in the process, having been crushed by the dolls own insides.
Yaga was impressed by the boy's intelligence more than anything. Sure, he was fast, skilled, and his mastery over his technique was impressive for someone of his age who wasn't even an official sorcerer, but Yaga would have to say that his intelligence was his best trait.
Not only was he able to identify and capitalize off the advantages he had over the doll, but he was also able to identify the dangers the doll posed and had countered it effectively.
He knew the doll could've done some good damage if it hit him, he also knew he couldn't dodge it reliably, having only a 50:50 shot. So instead of taking the risk, he used his technique and its wide and omnidirectional range to catch and kill the cursed corpse before it could do any damage.
"He's good right?" Kusakabe said from the other side of the room, completely unaffected by the technique. Yaga and Kusakabe had of course protected their brains and ears with cursed energy to overcome the technique just incase.
"Quite." Yaga muttered, deep in thought. This brat reminded him of someone, a previous student of his who had a similar intellect.
"You pass, the sorcerer in charge of the first years will come to pick you up from your place of residence tomorrow and get you set up in the dorms, he might be late, just so you know." Yaga said in a slightly less harsh tone, speaking of his strongest and least cooperative student, even if he hadn't taught him much.
——
"Yo!" Saturo Gojo, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of the modern era said.
Inumaki couldn't stop himself from making a face. This guy was Saturo Gojo? Seriously? "Hey… what's with the face?" Gojo said a bit confused.
Inumaki just continued to stare. The strongest, the mightiest sorcerer alive, the most skilled jujutsu mind on the planet, was this dude? Inumaki could barely believe that this goof was the head of the Gojo clan.
"Umm, I'm here to pick you up and introduce you to your new classmates and get you set up on school grounds, so… let's go?" Gojo asked as Inumaki slowly gathered himself. Gojo eventually got a nod and they headed off as Inumaki had plenty of time to gather his stuff considering Gojo was 30 minutes late.
——
Maki leaned back in her chair, kicking her feat up on the desk. She was bored out of her mind. Panda and Toga were stuffing their faces with rice balls while Maki sat, wishing to be anywhere else.
Maki knew she should've slept in, yeah, she was supposed to be here at this time to meet the final first year. But she also knew Gojo was always late, so why didn't she come late too?
Maki was about to say screw it and leave to go do something a bit more productive when the door slid open, much to her relief.
In walked Gojo, along with what looked like Toga's older brother. The sorcerer riding Gojo's coattails was a slightly taller Inumaki with slightly spikier hair.
"Attention students!! You have! A new! Student!" The blindfolded idiot shouted.
"Tuna mayo?" Toga said, directing his words towards his fellow Inumaki, completely ignoring Gojo just like everyone else in the room was. The new Inumaki just tilted his head in confusion, clearly not understanding him.
"Oh yeah, Isamu here can't talk at all, he doesn't just limit his vocabulary, he cuts it off completely. Hey, what's with that?" Gojo explained to the class before questioning Isamu.
Isamu just picked up a piece of chalk off the table and wrote 'binding vow' onto the black board. When he was met with questioning gazes, he elaborated.
'I give up my ability to talk completely except for when I'm using a cursed technique, in exchange, the potency and effectiveness of the techniques I use are increased' he explained, it was actually pretty smart in Maki's opinion.
Curse speech users were already very limited in their vocabulary, and while there was still some value to the few words Toga had, it made sense to completely get rid of words all together when it made you more powerful. Maki would've done something similar if she were in his position.
"This is Toga Inumaki, as you can probably tell, he's a cursed speech user as well." Gojo said as Toga gave a polite nod.
"Kelp." Toga said simply.
"This is Maki, our resident cursed tool user." Gojo continued, Maki too busy sizing Isamu up to respond.
"and that's Panda." Gojo introduced, confusing Isamu with the last one.
"I'm Panda, nice to meetcha." Said the panda.
"Well, how about we all head out to the field and run Isamu through a few test runs, get you all acquainted." Gojo said as they all agreed. Maki walked out, unable to ignore the look the new kid was giving her.
——
During the whole conversation and introduction process, Isamu honded in on one phrase "our resident cursed tool user".
Isamu had been interested in cursed tools for a while now. His main weakness in a fight was his lack of damage output, something a cursed tool could fix, especially if he could convince Kusakabe to teach him a few things. If he had a cursed tool during his fight with that cursed corpse, he wouldn't have had to use his technique.
Inumaki walked up to Maki and tapped her shoulder twice, accidentally sneaking up on her. She responded with an elbow to the stomach, most likely out of instinct. The elbow was meant with a palm, but the blow was more powerful than Inumaki had thought.
His defense was blown through and Inumaki received a jab to the sternum, though slightly less powerful than it would've been without Isamu's defense. Maki spun around in the next second and found Isamu bent over and holding his chest. Maki felt a bit guilty for injuring him within 10 minutes of meeting him, she wouldn't apologize.
"What are you doing sneaking up on me?" Maki said in a cold tone. Isamu recovered from the blow a bit quicker than would've been expected but he was still feeling the pain even after he started penning his response.
'I need to be sneaky, that's the best use for curse speech. Sometimes I do it without thinking, I'm sorry for startling you.' He wrote on his small note pad with a genuinely regretful face, a hint of pain behind it.
Maki sighed before she responded. "Whatever. Why did you to get my attention anyway, I've noticed your weird looks."
'I'm interested in learning how to wield cursed tools, and since you're "our resident cursed tool user" I figured you would be the best to ask.' Isamu wrote with a determined look and a gentle smile.
Maki was a bit taken aback, people rarely asked her for help, and when they did she was always the second or third person they approached. She was surprised he hadn't gone to Gojo for help as despite his general lack of cursed tool usage, he was still better than her, much to her chagrin.
"Why me? Why not go to Gojo for help?" Maki asked, speaking her mind. Isamu just underlined "our resident cursed tool user" as his answer. "You know, Gojo's better than me at wielding cursed tools."
Isamu cocked his head in a clear sign of confusion before writing once more. 'But I want you to teach me.'
"Fine, I'll show you a thing or two but don't expect an easy trip, you're gonna wish you never asked me after I'm done." She agreed with a smirk which promised pain.
"Now come on, we need to catch up." She said, speaking of the others who had continued to the field without them.
——
"Glad you lovebirds decided to join the amazing Saturo Gojo for his masterful teachings, now Isamu, why don't you grab a practice sword and go at it with Maki for a bit so I can get a good grasp of your abilities and prowess, try not to get your ass kicked too much." Gojo said, smiling as Maki and Inumaki finally caught up.
Isamu complied enthusiastically, quickly grabbing a wooden sword before crossing the track and joining Maki on the field.
"For your first lesson, you should probably learn how to imbue your weapon with cursed energy, but since I can't teach you that…" Maki said before instantly snapping into action.
She spun her staff before swiping it low, Inumaki brought his sword down to block the hit but was taken by surprise when the staffs trajectory changed on a dime and rocketed upwards to strike him on the chin. Inumaki saw the attack coming but was too slow to get his sword up in time.
Gojo and Panda laughed as Isamu rubbed his now red chin with the back of his hand.
"You have to be aware of your opponents thoughts, as well as your own. Always assume your opponent is intelligent, so look out for faints, sweeps, and anything else you would use, assuming they also have it in their arsenal." Maki said while spinning her staff casually in one hand.
It was some good advice if Gojo said so himself, speaking of advice.
'Will you teach me how to imbue my weapon with cursed energy?' Inumaki wrote.
"Sure, I don't see why not. Do you know how to imbue your body and fists with cursed energy?" Gojo asked, when met with a nod, he continued. "Well it's a lot like that but with a few extra steps. When you hit something with your cursed energy imbued fist, there are three kinds of cursed energy that go into the punch." Gojo explained.
"One, the cursed energy inside your fist, this comes naturally to most sorcerers and is usually done subconsciously. Two, the cursed energy around your fist, this part increases the toughness of your fist and how hard it hits, this is usually done intentionally and can eventually develop into a sort of muscle memory for a more experienced sorcerer. The third is the cursed energy that is actually sent out into your target, this serves to vastly improve the power of the blow. You following?" Gojo continued.
Inumaki just nodded, showing his intelligence and aptitude for jujutsu once more.
"When you imbue a weapon with cursed energy, you have to replicate all three of these energies. It will be harder to do with a weapon than your fist due to it being further away from your body and innate domain, especially the first kind. So it's best to start with a shorter weapon like a knife and move your way up to a sword and staff. Now, I'll go grab you something." Gojo explained before walking off.
"Hey, you want to spare real quick? Maybe I can teach you a thing or two as well, like learning how to fall correctly." Panda asked Inumaki, having crossing the track. After receiving a nod, they began.
——
"Kusakabe, can you give me a run down of the boy's capabilities? Now that he's been officially taken in as a jujutsu sorcerer." Principal Yaga asked the veteran grade 1 sorcerer.
"Well, I say he's above average. His cursed energy control and the advancement of his cursed energy reinforcement and enhancement are all a good ways above the average first year. As you saw, his strength and power need some work but he makes up for it with excellent reaction times and his speed. So over all, he's above average, with his best trait being his intelligence and his drive to become stronger. If I were to describe it in a sentence… he's the textbook example of a semi-first grade sorcerer." Kusakabe explained with a bit of pride in his voice, even though Yaga knew very little of the boys power was due to his short apprenticeship with Kusakabe.
"Yes, that's about where I would put him as well." Yaga confirmed as he marked the third box on Isamu Inumaki's papers.