Chapter Text
Kento Nanami stood in front of the plain brick building, triple checking the address on the card Satoru Gojo had given him.
When Gojo had said he couldn’t miss it, he’d assumed it would be much more interesting. This little handicrafts shop blended right into the rest of the offices and storefronts in the neighborhood. He could’ve easily walked right past it without sparing so much as a single glance.
But this was it, all right.
He opened the door and was hit by a wave of warm, almost tropical air.
“Welcome in, sir!” said a woman wearing an elaborate maid’s costume. “Do you have an appointment, or are you here to pick up an order? Or perhaps you’re just here to browse?”
“Hello, I’m Kento Nanami. It’s nice to meet you,” he said, performing a full bow to the employee. “I’m here to pick up an order under the name ‘Satoru Gojo.’”
“Oh, yes! The boss is just finishing them up now! Please, have a seat! Make yourself comfortable! I’ll be right back.”
Nanami already regretted agreeing to pick up the first years’ uniforms for Gojo. It figured he’d choose such an odd little shop. Gojo probably sent him here just to have a laugh.
“-ah ha ha! They didn’t think we could meet their deadline but Mine, my dear, you and I are unstoppable! Is this our client now?”
“Yes, boss. This is Nanami-san.”
Nanami was already bent forward in a deep bow. “Hello, I’m Kento Nanami. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Enchanté, Nanami-san. I’m Ayame, dressmaker extraordinaire and owner of this establishment. I see you’ve already met my lovely assistant, Mine.”
Clearly, this Ayame was a deeply unserious person.
“Yes,” Nanami replied, straightening his back.
As Ayame talked, confirming details of the order, Nanami studied him closely. He was an unusual-looking man, to say the least. He had long, flowing white hair, striking yellow eyes, and he wore a long, red military coat.
But what piqued Nanami’s interest most was something else. Something Ayame couldn’t see, of which he probably wasn’t even aware.
Ayame was cursed.
What was more, this curse was unlike any Nanami had ever encountered before. It took the form of a cord wrapped around one of Ayame’s forearms, stretching across the store and unfurling into roughly a dozen strands, each passing through the walls of the shop in slightly different directions. One rope was larger than the rest, as though it were connecting him to the main body of the curse.
If Nanami had to guess, he’d say it was probably a parasitic curse, possibly one that tried to control its host.
And it looked like there were other victims.
“…and it appears Gojo-san prepaid, so unless you’d like to place an order for personal use, and trust me, it’s every dressmaker’s dream to create for such a handsome gentleman as yourself, you should have everything you need.”
“Yes, thank you very much, Ayame-san.” Nanami took the bag with the uniforms from him. He took a final look at the cord binding Ayame’s hand. “Can you do me a favor, Ayame-san?”
“Why, of course!” Ayame answered at once. “At Ayame, we strive to ensure every customer leaves satisfied.”
“Good,” Nanami said. “Please, hold your arm out like this.”
He extended his arm to the side and Ayame mirrored him. Using the section between Ayame’s wrist and the point at which it began coming apart, he divided it into ten segments.
“I must say, Nanami-san, no customer has ever asked such a thing of me, but for a handsome man like you I certainly don’t mind. Are there any other positions you’d like me to assume?”
Nanami ignored Ayame’s wink and struck the curse at the weak point he’d created, only for his hand to pass right through the cord as if it weren’t even there. Puzzled, he tried again, but still wasn’t able to make contact. He attempted to grab the cord, but it was as though it were made of light and air.
“Nanami-san?” Ayame asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Nanami sighed and stepped back. “My apologies, Ayame-san. I… I believed I saw something. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Ah, it was my pleasure. Au revoir! Come back soon!”
“Goodbye.”
That evening, Nanami met up with Gojo at Tokyo JuJutsu High to drop off the uniforms.
“Nanamiiiin!” Gojo exclaimed as soon as he crossed the threshold. “So, what did you think?”
“Think about what?” Nanami demanded. “And here are those uniforms.”
“About the shop! Notice anything strange?”
Gojo grinned and shook his fists excitedly, the paper bag swinging from where it hung on his elbow.
Nanami pinched his forehead. “You knew he was cursed, didn’t you?”
Gojo threw his head back dramatically and draped his arm over his forehead. “You’re no fun, Nanamin.”
“This is your idea of fun?”
Gojo ignored him. “Well, what did you find out? Anything we can use to exorcize it?”
Nanami sighed. “No. I couldn’t even make contact. My technique was useless.”
“Mhm, mhm,” Gojo said. “And…?”
“And… I think there are others.”
“…and???”
“If there’s something you want me to say, just tell me now.”
“You really are no fun.” Gojo slumped onto a bench in the courtyard. “I believe we’re dealing with an unregistered special grade.”
“Yes, that seems accurate.” Nanami glanced at his watch before taking a seat beside Gojo. “Anything else?”
“Itadori saw one of them, too,” Gojo said. “He couldn’t exorcize it, either.”
“I assumed.” Nanami loosened his tie. “What do we do now?”
“We wait for the first years to report back.”
“All ri- wait, what did you do??”
Gojo grinned. “I assigned the mission to those three.”
“They’re not the minimum level-”
“Relax. Their job is just to find out what they can. They’ve been given strict orders not to interfere beyond that.”
“It’s still a special grade!”
“One that didn’t fight back when you tried to exorcize it.”
“Yet.”
“Don’t you know me better than that, Nanamin?” Gojo lifted one edge of his blindfold, his bright blue eye looking right through Nanami. “No one has the right to take youth from the young.”
Nanami relaxed. “So. How do you expect them to do this?”
Gojo lowered his blindfold. “Starting tomorrow, our three will be students at Kaibara High School.”
In another part of the city, Tohru left the Sohma dojo with the weight of the world on her shoulders.
She’d really hoped Kazuma would be able to tell her more about the curse. She didn’t know who else she could possibly ask.
The visit wasn’t a total loss, though. He’d explained the power Akito had over them, and it was comforting to know there was at least one other person who’d fight for Kyo’s freedom when the time came.
The thought of losing Kyo in little more than a year was almost too much for her to bear. When she dwelled on it, the weight on her shoulders grew so heavy she could barely stand on her own two feet.
“Nee-san? Excuse me, nee-san? Are you okay?”
Tohru snapped out of her thoughts. She’d fallen to the ground, and a kind young man was holding a hand out to her.
“Oh, my goodness! I’m so sorry, I must’ve spaced out! How silly of me, I’ll just-”
The young man smiled and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. “No need to apologize. I’m just glad you’re all right!”
“O-oh. Well, thank you very much, o-nii-san!”
This kind stranger had hair that reminded her of Haru; the top was pink, and the underside was a much darker brown. He had deep lines under his eyes— she wondered if he was really as young as she initially thought.
“Oi, Itadori, we gotta go find our apartment.”
For the first time, Tohru noticed two people standing behind Itadori. There was a gloomy-looking boy with spiky black hair who reminded her of Kyo, though she wasn’t quite sure why, and a very cute girl with short brown hair held back by two pins.
As Itadori turned to rejoin his friends, Tohru called out.
“Ah, Itadori…san?”
“Huh?”
“Are… are you moving into the neighborhood?”
Tohru wasn’t sure what came over her, but something was telling her she should make friends with this trio.
“Yeah! How’d you know?”
“Fushiguro just said so, stupid!”
“Ooooh.”
“Please, if you’d like, I can help you find your apartment!”
“Really?”
“Oi, don’t tell a total stranger where we live!”
“Ignore him, he’s always a cranky ol’ coot,” said the girl. “Name’s Kugisaki. The grump over there’s Fushiguro.”
“Oi!”
“Kugisaki-san, Fushiguro-san, Itadori-san, it’s a pleasure to meet you all!”
“What’s your name, nee-san?”
“Ah! I’m so sorry-”
“Hey, Tohru.”
Tohru nearly jumped out of her stockings. “K-K-K-Kyo-kun!”
Kyo stepped in front of her and scowled at the three strangers. “Are those guys giving you a hard time?”
Kugisaki and Fushiguro started whispering to each other excitedly at Kyo’s arrival.
“Hey, you’re the guy from the other day,” said Itadori.
Kyo frowned. “Huh?”
“Yeah, I remember you ‘cause of your hair.”
“Oi. You’re one to talk.”
“Hah, yeah. Mine’s always been like this, though.”
Kyo cocked his head. “Wait. Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh,” said Kyo.
“What, is something wrong with that?”
“No, it’s just- never mind.”
“Kyo-kun,” Tohru said. “These are our new neighbors! They’re moving into a place over by the supermarket!”
“Huh,” Kyo said again. “Aren’t you three a little young to be livin’ alone?”
“Who said we’re living alone?” Fushiguro replied. “You two, let’s go.”
“Tohru-san, Kyo-san, come on!” Itadori called, grinning.
“Stop inviting total strangers to our apartment!”
After they’d found the apartment building and said their goodbyes, Kyo and Tohru headed home.
“I don’t trust them,” Kyo said. “You gotta be more careful around strangers when I’m not there to protect you.”
Tohru frowned. Itadori and Kugisaki had been so nice, and Fushiguro was just a bit awkward, but he wasn’t a bad guy. Why didn’t Kyo trust them?
“Look,” he said, “I’d hate to see you get hurt, okay?”
He turned away as he spoke, but Tohru could still make out that his cheeks were bright red.
He was worried about her.
“Oh, thank you for worrying about me, Kyo-kun!” Tohru exclaimed as tears filled her eyes.
“What!? Why- I mean…” he groaned, his face an even deeper shade of red than before. “Just… c’mon. Let’s go home, you big crybaby.”
“Right!”
Kyo knew it was silly to be so suspicious of three strangers no older than himself, but at least Tohru didn’t press him on it.
Truthfully, they didn’t seem like bad people. No, what worried him was something his hearing, enhanced by the cat spirit, had picked up when Fushiguro and Kugisaki had been whispering.
They knew he was cursed.