Gojo was walking down the hallways of a high school, surrounded by a strange and alarming amount of curses roaming the area, drawn by an abnormal leak of cursed energy. Sensing the magnitude of the curses around him, Gojo let out a low whistle of amazement and covered his eyes again, feeling the intensity of the aura emanating from somewhere within the building.
There were rumors of someone in Sendai with an unusual amount of cursed energy, but at the time, the case had been downplayed. With Makima inside the school, the Ministry of Sorcery was more focused on monitoring her, making sure she didn't try anything suspicious. However, now it seemed this anomaly warranted attention. Gojo smiled to himself as a thought crossed his mind: Isn't this the same city where I met Makima for the first time? He chuckled softly, beginning to piece together the tangled puzzle that was Makima in his mind.
He continued down the hallways while the curses, mostly harmless, floated around and watched him, though the aggressive ones had disappeared almost instantly upon sensing his presence. Since his arrival, he'd already received several reports of people disappearing in the area, which wasn't typical and made the situation even more alarming. Throwing open a classroom door, he found the source of that overflowing energy.
Inside, a boy sat alone, hunched over his desk, with a dull expression and visibly tired eyes. As he looked up, the boy stared at Gojo in confusion, observing the blindfold covering his eyes. A blind man? he wondered to himself, still curious about the strange man who had appeared at the door.
With a relaxed smile, Gojo calmly approached. "Hello, kid," he greeted, watching the boy's reaction with interest. The boy didn't respond immediately but looked at him with cautious, somewhat lost eyes. Gojo quickly assessed him, sensing the dense, uncontrolled energy emanating from him. "My name's Gojo Satoru," Gojo said, leaning slightly, "and let me ask you something... you see them, don't you?" He gestured toward the window, where several harmless curses were watching through the glass.
The boy seemed to shudder at the question, and with evident nervousness, he murmured, "I-I don't know what you're talking about…"
Gojo observed him, a little surprised by the boy's attitude, but he didn't lose his relaxed smile. "Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Maintaining his humor, he reached under one of the desks and grabbed something that was wriggling slowly, pulling out a small curse and bringing it close to the boy's face.
"AH!" the boy yelled, pulling back in fear.
"Haha, yeah, thought so," Gojo laughed, releasing a burst of his energy at the curse, which quickly disintegrated. "Alright, let's start over. What's your name?"
The boy hesitated for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, but then lowered his head and murmured, "Y-Yuta Okkotsu."
Gojo briefly furrowed his brow, trying to recall if the surname Okkotsu sounded familiar, but found nothing in his memory. Still, the name wasn't important; what he had before him was a rare anomaly of cursed energy, something dangerous if not properly controlled.
"Well, Okkotsu," he finally said, a spark of interest glinting in his eyes. "I have an offer for you."
On the grounds of the sorcery school, Makima was staring intently at a boy with dark hair and a weary expression; the boy's eyes revealed a fatigue that seemed to go beyond physical. "Are you still here?" she asked in a low, distant voice, letting the question slip out without offering further context.
The boy in question, Megumi Fushiguro, replied with a grumpy growl as he stretched. "I was left here since yesterday," he replied irritably, visibly annoyed by his situation.
Makima nodded, showing a faint smile. She knew that was one of Gojo's peculiarities. That's the kind of thing Gojo would do, she thought, hiding a spark of amusement behind her impassive expression.
Suddenly, an animated voice broke the silence. "Makima-chan, I'm here! Oh? Am I interrupting something?" It was Kirara, who came by each morning to join her for their routine run. Seeing the situation, Kirara stopped, observing the tension in the air between Makima and Megumi.
Makima barely turned her head toward Kirara and gave a slight nod, signaling that everything was fine, before she started walking again. However, after a few steps, she stopped abruptly. Kirara, who had already taken her first step forward, ended up bumping into Makima's back with a muffled complaint. "Hey! What's going on?" Kirara asked, frowning at her friend's sudden action.
Makima observed Megumi closely, studying him as if considering something very seriously. Megumi felt the discomfort growing, and that look from Makima, which seemed to analyze him in layers, made him even more nervous. The silent evaluation felt almost as if he were transparent to her, unable to hide his thoughts. There's that look again, he thought, noting that every time Makima looked at him that way, he felt a nearly imperceptible impulse to obey.
Finally, Makima's voice broke the silence with an unexpected order. "Run with us," she said, as if it were the most natural decision in the world, though it was clear Megumi had never shown interest in joining them in their runs.
Megumi blinked, somewhat puzzled. He tried to think of an excuse not to run, but at that moment, it was as if his voice refused to form a refusal. "S-sure," he agreed, unsure of why, surprised at his own submission. Perhaps there was something about Makima that made it difficult to say no.
When they started running, Megumi quickly realized he had completely underestimated what it meant to join them. Makima wasn't moving at a casual pace; she was running at a surprising speed, as if pursuing an invisible goal with fierce determination. Kirara, beside her, struggled to keep up, forcing her own pace with evident effort. Megumi, though athletic, felt that this exercise was on another level, and soon he felt fatigue building up in his legs. Still, for some unknown reason, he didn't allow himself to lag behind.
From a window in the building, Rika observed the scene. She frowned as she watched Makima, Kirara, and Megumi moving away. A small pout appeared on her lips; there was something about the ease with which Megumi ran alongside them that bothered her. It was hard to explain, but she felt that her mistress, Makima, was giving special attention to the boy. She made a face of disgust before sighing and returning inside with resignation.
As she entered, Rika headed to the lab, where her teacher awaited with a serene, calm expression. The air was filled with the distinctive smell of disinfectant, and on the table, a covered body lay under a cloth. Seeing the body, Rika frowned in irritation and, almost begrudgingly, put on a mask.
Shoko watched her with a slight smile, amused by her student's reluctance. Although Rika didn't want to be there, her frequent visits to the lab were something Shoko had insisted on, knowing that Rika still had much to learn in the art of healing. And every time she appeared, despite her protests, it became an opportunity to improve her skills.
"It's good to see you here again, Rika," Shoko remarked, keeping her smile. She knew Rika wasn't exactly there willingly, but she was there, and that was enough for Shoko.