The tour felt less like seeing a school and more like walking through a ghost town. The cafeteria was utterly silent, its countless tables empty. They even passed dozens of classrooms that were mostly vacant, while a handful held just five students.
Some of their faces looked exhausted and depressed. Maybe because of a mission that involves a powerful cursed spirit or one of their teammates died tragically giving them trauma.
Rumi doesn't mind that everything is quieter than how her last school was, but it was kinda getting on her nerves how there is alot of cursed spirits and there's less sorcerers appearing.
It doesn't make sense why the Zenin, Kamo and freaking Gojo clan had no damn screen time!
Don't even send some teenagers into Jujutsu High who have low cursed energy or don't have any talent to be trained.
Kusakabe doesn't have a cursed technique but is a grade 1 sorcerer, imagine some with no cursed techniques were trained under Satoru Gojo.
Then you have more grade 2 or 1 sorcerers on your side to help out evacuate civilians in the Shibuya incident.
This would've avoided the number of cursed spirits killing so many people every year and there would be many who want to change the system like Gojo wanted early on for the next generation of Jujutsu sorcerers.
Rumi mentally sighs, decided to ignore that thought for now. Because Kenjaku kinda did Gojo and his students a favour by killing some of the old higher-ups in the original story from her past life.
But something else made her curious.
How did Jujutsu High get money when they are secretive about doing their job for exorcising cursed spirits?
Rumi remembered vaguely in Jujutsu Kaisen anime, Yuji and his friends were going inside the building that had a finger bearer while the police were keeping the people out saying there's a gas leak which is a lie.
She spoke to the strongest sorcerer to start up a conversation, wondering if they get their money from the government.
"How does this place get money? you told me during our tour in this place that sorcerers get paid after doing missions.
But since it's so secret to the public, who give the funds in this school."
Gojo still walking hears this question from Rumi answers how they get money.
"It's kinda mix actually, the big sorcerer clans have owned land for centuries and currently some business people are renting land for their companies.
That's another reason how the foundation of jujutsu society but for the operational costs and salaries for doing missions. Yes, there's a formal alliance with the Japanese government."
He glanced at her to see if she was still following.
"They have a dedicated branch that handles the 'unexplainable' incidents and their job is to manage the public information."
He paused, letting the scale of that sink in. "Their job is to make sure those cover stories true. We go in and eliminate the real cause and in return the Japanese government cover our work.
They get to maintain public order and we get funding to keep fighting."
Rumi listened everything what he said and it actually makes sense.
"Let's not drag this out any longer," Gojo announced, clapping his hands together with a finality that echoed in the empty hall.
"There are two people I want you to meet.
Got a good feeling you'll get along with them or at the very least, you won't try to kill each other on sight. That's a win in my book!"
Rumi's mind instantly flashed back to Principal Yaga's words from ten minutes ago A flicker of curiosity cut through her thoughts.
'Could it be them?'
As they approached a classroom door Rumi's nose twitched.
A familiar, acrid scent cut through the air and the smell she recognized is cigarette smoke.
Her enhanced senses, a core part one of her wishes to have physical attributes like toji and combination of her cursed technique Rabbit picked apart the odor instantly.
It brought back a vivid, unwelcome memory of a past life. lying in bed next to a female client she secretly cheats on her girlfriend to earn money would always light up cigarettes without a second thought of someone next to them which she kinda get annoyed.
Gojo came to a halt in front of the door, waving a hand dramatically in front of his nose. "Ugh, again!?"
He opens the door and inside was exactly as Rumi's nose had predicted but what surprises her is the person in front of her.
"This is a place for students not a dive bar. Couldn't you take your bad habits outside?"
The young man with an unnerving gaze, his pitch-black sclera surrounding piercing white irises was lounging backwards in a chair, his boots propped up on another desk.
He took a long, slow drag from a cigarette, the ember glowing brightly and blew a perfect smoke ring directly in Gojo's direction. His expression was one of utter, profound boredom.
[Image here]
"Why should I listen to you, old man?" he drawled, his voice a flat, monotone challenge. "Your girlfriend is a doctor smokes in the operating room and doesn't give a shit, so why should i follow the rules when this school doesn't made her stop smoking."
From the corner of the room, the massive, silent figure leaning against the wall didn't react. The giant in the black hoodie and red mask remained like a statue, his arms crossed over his chest that is so defined his muscles were visible even through the fabric. The smell of smoke clearly didn't register on his list of concerns.
Gojo recoiled as if physically struck, clutching his chest dramatically where his heart would be when the young man called him old.
"Old man?!" he gasped, the word laced with genuine, theatrical horror. "I'm 27 years old! I'm in my prime and she is not my girlfriend! We're friends who have known each other for a very long time and she is not interested! It's a sore subject, thank you very much!"
Rumi just stared this entire scene, her rabbit ears twitches slightly as she tried to process the absurdity unfolding before her. The strongest sorcerer in the world was having a rant about being called old.
'What in the actual hell is this?' she thought, her internal monologue running a mile a minute. 'I don't know if I'm in Jujutsu Kaisen or some messed-up, alternate universe fanfic crossover. '
She squinted her eyes to look at the student smoking while ignoring Gojo's rambling.
'Isn't that Gun Park from Lookism? or some random person looks like him, hopefully it's a second cause he was a dick in the series.'
Her eyes then slid past the dramatic scene to the far wall. And her thoughts screeched to a halt.
Leaning there, silent and immovable as a statue was the other figure. He was taller than anyone else in the room.
His well-built body stretching black hoodie and a tight grey shirt that left little to the imagination about the sculpted abs and pectorals beneath. His entire head was encased in a sleek, featureless red mask, and black fingerless gloves covered his hands, which were crossed over his chest.
[Image here]
'And who... or what is that?' Rumi thought, her instincts immediately sizing him up. 'He looks like if Red Hood and Thragg had a baby and that baby ate bane.
Is he even a student? He looks like a full-grown adult who could bench-press a car. What is going on in this world?'
The student smoking while ignoring Gojo's rambling noticed Rumi's intense gaze fixed on the silent, leaning figure. A smile spread across his face as he looked back at Gojo.
"Well, well," he drawled, blowing smoke. "Who's the pretty girl with the rabbit ears? Don't tell me you've started scouting young girls and forcing them to wear costumes. How disgustingly predictable of you."
Gojo he hold his chest in dramatic anguish. "Why are you saying im sort of stalker?! I wouldn't do that sort of disturbing thing."
Rumi deadpan look at Gojo of hearing this, because he met her while fighting a cursed spirit at night.
How is that not a stalker thing to do? She decided to join in the student joke on Gojo.
"You literally met me in a dark street when I was walking home a week ago" she stated, as if he's a liar. "Isn't that exactly what predators would do, going after a school girl like me?"
It was a critical hit as Gojo physically staggered, clutching his heart as if she'd plunged a dagger into it. "You... you two are ganging up on me!" he wailed, his voice cracking with genuine, if exaggerated, despair.
Was it harsh for her to say these things to jjk beloved character by fans? Yes
But does she apologize for hurting his feelings? Hell no.
The student with the black sclera laughs and the leaning against the wall smoke his head.
let out a sharp, genuine laugh, the smoke from his cigarette swirling with the sound. "Alright, you're not completely useless. What's your name, rabbit-girl and what's with the ears? Are they fake, or is that some fancy cursed tool you're showing off?"
"Rumi Usagiyama," she replied "As for the rabbit ears you're seeing, is actually my Cursed Technique that give me the physical attributes of a rabbit but better.
And the reason why it's on because I have not much trust for this old guy with pretty eyes" she said, jerking a thumb at a still-wounded Gojo who knelt down calling old.
She then turned her gaze fully to him. "What's your name?"
"Ryu Yamazaki." The young man reply her question
The moment the name hit her ears, Rumi's single eye twitches.
'Jeez,' she thought, a cascade of manhwa memories flashing behind her eyes. 'I know his name is not gun park but the last name is freaking Yamazaki. Sigh, I just hope this guy doesn't became a pain in the ass for me.'
Trying to hide her internal termoil, she look at the 6'10" mountain of muscle leaning against the wall.
"And who's the quiet adult looking like red hood?"
The teenager name Ryu smiles when Rumi asks about the other person in this room.
"Him? That's Akira Tokita and don't let the size fool you. He may look like a grown-ass man but he's actually 16 years old, same age as me."
Silence hung in the room for a beat. Rumi looked at the masked figure named Akira Tokita, her brain struggling to reconcile the fact that this was supposedly a teenager.
'I'm definitely in a completely different universe of jujutsu kaisen.'
Gojo took a deep breath, dramatically wiping a non-existent tear from beneath his blindfold. The wounds from their combined verbal assault were clearly still fresh.
"Ahem!" Clapping his hands together with a force that seemed to reset his entire mood. "Alright! Now that everyone's been introduced so... nicely... I think it's time for this brand-new team's first official bonding exercise!"
He showed a dazzling smile. "And what better way to bond than a little field trip to Tokyo? My treat!"
The three of them Rumi, Ryu, and Akira stared at him in unison. It was a look of scepticism.
.....
(2 hours later)
Later, on a bustling pedestrian street in Tokyo people are doing their own thing.
Office workers hurried past, students laughed outside cafes and couples strolled holding hands thinking their love would last forever.
But all normal activity seemed to part around the three figures caught their attention.
First, there was Rumi Usagiyama. Her long white hair and striking crimson eyes drew immediate attention, her dark blue jacket and pants giving her a sharp, athletic look that was both elegant and dangerous.
Walking on her right was Ryu Yamazaki. At 6'4", with a handsome, sharp-featured face and a lean, powerful build accentuated by his black jacket, he carried an air of unapproachable coolness, his hands tucked into his pockets as he ignored the high school girls stares.
And then there was Akira Tokita. He was a giant, a solid 6'10" wall of muscle that made his tight grey shirt and black hoodie look like they were straining at the seams.
The hood was up, but it did nothing to conceal the unsettling, featureless red mask beneath it. His presence made people instinctively step aside not wanting to mess with him.
They came to a stop in front of a small, colorful sweet stall. The elderly man running it looked up, and his friendly smile instantly froze.
"U-um... how can I help you all?" he managed, his voice a nervous squeak.
Rumi's eyes scanned the display completely ignoring the man's terror, they landed on the rows of pastel macarons.
Coffee, matcha, chocolate, strawberry, salted caramel, pistachio and Oreo?
Rumi is definitely going for all flavors of macarons.
"I'll take every flavor you have," she stated, her voice flat and decisive. "And make it four of each for the order."
The old man simply nodded, not daring to question her. He immediately began frantically packing a large carton, his hands trembling as he tried to appease the intimidating trio that had descended upon his peaceful stall.
As he handed the cartons, Rumi pulled out many notes of Yen from her pocket and handed it to the old man.
.....
The trio walked through the less crowded backstreets of Tokyo, Rumi nibbled on a pistachio macaron, Beside her Ryu Yamazaki devoured his macaron whole not caring to enjoy small bites of deserts.
But Rumi's attention was consistently stolen by the giant on her side. Akira Tokita held two cartons in one massive hand, plucking macarons and somehow consuming them with cracks on his red mask split open where his mouth is.
'What kind of cursed tool is it?' Rumi thought as she never seen cursed tools from her past life function like that.
He finished the entire box in under 5 minutes which was very fast to eat the macarons, the red mask reformed the mouth area how it usually look and he crumpled the carton throwing it away on the floor not giving a damn about putting in the trash like Rumi and Ryu did.
'How rude.' she thought.
Their strange stroll ended when they turned a corner and found Satoru Gojo sitting casually on a small brick fence.
Behind him stood an abandoned apartment building, many windows boarded up and its walls stained with grime. An aura of palpable dread seeped from the building.
"Glad you could make it!" Gojo chirped, standing up. "I hope you saved room for the main course." He gestured with his thumb point toward the derelict structure.
"The report says people saw 2 kids went inside this abandoned apartment and haven't come out for a long time.
Some policeman enter this place but haven't come out of there including the kids.
We send some grade 4 sorcerers earlier to investigate this place and hopefully find the kids, but one with a arm missing left arm and right eye made it out alive and reported this place has many Grade 1 cursed spirits.
the jujutsu higher ups called the government to make sure nobody goes inside. So they will send a special squad to go inside to handle the problem."
Rumi's eyes narrowed of Gojo's briefing. "So the 'field trip' was a lie."
"Call it a field trip with a practical exam!" Gojo corrected her. "You three are going in and exorcise the curse spirits also find the kids."
Ryu scoffed, flicking a stray piece of macaron from his jacket. "Finally, something interesting to do."
But Rumi crossed her arms "Why not come us along, wouldn't that also be faster to get this over with."
"A teacher helping his students does make the job faster." Gojo explained, his tone light but his reasoning sharp. "But can't because I would be your back up incase if things go south for you three.
Also i want to see how you three can work together in your first mission as a team."
Rumi studied Gojo's calm face. She knew this would happen.
This was similar method he'd used with Yuji and Nobara in the original story, send two of them to rely on each other when they first meet in a mission to forge a fast bond through shared action.
He was testing if she will get to bond with this Gun Park look alike and red hood cosplayer fast.
A slow smirk spread across her lips.
"Whatever," she said, cracking her neck Rumi activate her curesd technique turning her ears into big rabbit ears. "Just try to keep up, Yamazaki and Tokita."
Without another word, she turned and strode toward the apartment broken entrance, the darkness swallowing her whole.
Ryu shot a final look at Gojo before following her into the gloomy building.
When they're inside gojo look at the carton Akira was holding.
"Alright, time to have my sweets you guys bought with the money i gave you."
Akira gives Gojo the last carton and walks off joining Rumi and Ryu.
Gojo opens it to have some macarons but...
"Eh?"
All Gojo sees is crumbs in the carton and not single one inside.
He heard a loud burp and look at Akira entering the abandoned apartment building, realizing why there's no macarons in the carton he's holding.
"... Oh come on!"
.....
silence that was anything but quiet. The air was thick with the stench of antiseptic, mold, and the unmistakable webs in the corners.
Ryu reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of heavy, silver colored brass knuckles.
As he slid them onto his hands, Rumi's eyes caught the word engraved on them:
DEATH.
"Charming to give a cursed spirit a name," she jokes but Ryu look at her not impressed of the joke.
"We're here to find those kids and kill cursed spirits loola bunny." Ryu replied, his voice carried a hint of sarcasm to her.
Rumi's smile broke and raised an eyebrow from that last comment.
'Did this punk called me a furry?'
She heard a chuckle and look at Akira. Even though his face is hidden in that strange mask she can tell he's smiling.
"I'll search the third floor, Akira takes the second floor and you stay on the first floor search try not to get yourself killed."
Before Rumi could retort, he was already walking up the stairs to the 3rd floor.
Akira and Rumi look at each other for a moment before Akira shrugs his shoulders and heads upstairs leaving her alone.
"Looks like i should start searching."
Rumi said as she go to the hall of many doors.
....
(3rd POV)
It has been 10 minutes and Rumi was getting frustrated of not finding anything in these damn rooms.
She starts to think her time is being wasted going through the first floor because Rumi have rabbit , so she decides to head upstairs and join Akira searching not bothering to continue checking the other rooms.
Suddenly, the air behind her shifted. It wasn't a sound, but a pressure change, a violation of the stagnant atmosphere.
In a single, fluid motion, Rumi turned around and see a floating grotesque mass of organs, all fused together in a lump of fleshy matter except she can't see any heart.
But the most horrifying feature was the dozens of human eyes are infront of its body, all blinking in unsynchronized terror, their pupils fixed on her.
'So it's one of those,' she thought look disgusted of the cursed spirit in front of her.
The fleshy mass of organs shuddered and then shot towards her like a cannonball, moving with shocking speed.
She simply sidestepped the charge, the cursed spirit whistling past her..
Cursed energy, raw and wasteful as a bursting dam, flared around her right fist and swings it.
There was a wet, percussive Splat, followed by a split-second of silence before the spirit violently exploded.
"Well that was disappointing."
Rumi look at the curse remains dissolving to the air as she was about to continue go to the stairs. Untill hears the doors where she haven't checked opened and come out are more cursed spirits.
Some are the same one she killed while others look like those damn lickers from Resident evil but some are bigger, smaller and have another limb attached to their body.
Many growled at her direction and Rumi wasn't scared, she was excited.
"Looks like Ryu made the right choice of letting search in this floor." She use cursed energy to reinforce both arms and legs her smile widen.
She spread her arms and let out a shout of wanting fun.
"Come on!" They all roared and rush towards at the smiling Rumi.
.....
Meanwhile, during the ten minutes Rumi searching in the first floor.
Akira navigated the second-floor hallway. His massive body made the simple task difficult as he had to turn sideways and duck his head to fit through each apartment doorway.
As he approached one of the last doors, he reached for the handle.
THUMP.
Something inside blocked it without hesitation Akira kicked the door open.
Inside, an old shelf lay toppled behind the door. His eyes scanned the room landing on a single, small shoe on the floor.
He bent down picked it up and examined it for a few seconds before his gaze turned toward the wardrobe.
He walked over and opened the door.
Inside there are two young boys huddled together, shaking with fear at the sight of the masked giant looking down at them.
Akira knelt down the floorboards groaning under his weight and reached out a hand to help but the boys flinched back.
He paused, his glowing red eyes focusing on the small fresh cuts on one boy's leg.
Akira reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of band-aids. He prepared two then gently held them out to the boy showing he's not a threat.
The boys hesitated but seeing Akira offering help one grabbed the bandaids. He carefully put them on the other boy cuts.
Akira held out the small shoe he picked up. The boy took it and put it on. As Akira stood up the two boys began to crawl from the wardrobe.
Just as things were going nicely.
A wall exploded as a cursed spirit but bigger lunged through the dust. Its maw opened wide to bite.
Akira didnt flinched and everything seemed slow. His right arm bulged then swung a backfist to the curse spirit.
CRACK.
The creature's jaw broke clean off sailed across the room and hit the wall with a thud. It groaned in pain regenarate a new jaw and charged again blind with rage.
Akira caught its head with both hands. His grip was immense began to squeeze it.
The creature gurgled and screamed. It raked his chest with its claws leaving shallow cuts. Akira ignored them.
The muscles on his body swelled a bit and grew 2 inches taller. The red glow in his mask's eyes burned brighter.
The creature thrashed trying to break free. Its attacks grew weaker feeling its own strength fading with each desperate blow. It let out one final shriek.
*CRUNCH*
Akira crushed its skull then proceeds to rip the creature in two.
Purple blood sprayed over him but it's body dissolved into nothing.
His height went back to his normal 6'10 ft tall self and the cuts on his chest healed leaving no scars on it.
He turned back to the children, they were horrified and started to cry.
Akira knelt down patted their heads gently, then he lifted them both up one under each massive arm and walk out of the room.
The ceiling to his right shattered.
Ryu dropped through the hole landed on the back of a monstrous cursed spirit a tangle of limbs and organs groaning in pain as parts are ripped off.
"Now I'm bored torturing you" Ryu said raised his brass-knuckled fist. "Time to die."
He punched down the spirit exploded into purple mist.
Ryu take out a cigarette and light it up,he looked at Akira holding the whimpering children.
"Good, you found them let's get out of this dump. I can't stand the musty air here."
Akira nodded as he followed Ryu downstairs back to the first floor.
They found Rumi stood over the dissolving remains of the last cursed spirit she killed a smile was on her face.
She looked up saw Ryu, Akira and the two kids he's holding with his arms.
"Looks like you had fun."
Ryu comment as he blows out smoke and Akira took a step back so the boys won't breath it in.
"Well atleast you two found the children still alive, is there any bad injuries on them we need to be aware?"
Akira shook his head. He pointed the one that has bandaids which the message was clear.
Ryu and Rumi exchanged a look The kids were fine but the police and sorcerer Gojo told them about were not.
Something was very off.
"How the hell did you two get through this without a scratch?" Ryu asked the boys.
One of them spoke nervously, rubbing his eyes. "Me and my brother were bored. We wanted to play hide and seek. But the places we know are too easy we thought this place would make the game more fun."
He sniffled and continued. "It was fun for some time but we heard screaming . We saw a man have blood on his uniform was running. He was taken down by something and didn't move, we were so scared what cause it untill monsters start to appear and eat him.
One of them saw us peeking so we ran for ourlived but ore appeared and cornered us.
I don't know why they stopped. They just roared at each other thebsmiled.
One of them led us to the room and gave us these." He held up two crumpled candy bar wrappers that looked. "After it give us chocolate bars and left in the room don't know how long but heard more screaming.
We were so scared we blocked the door not wanting to be the same thing happen to us, then the big man with the scary mask found and helped us."
Akira gave the kid a deadpan look didn't understand why they think he's scary.
The trio exchanged another glance. They didn't need to discuss it. The pieces fit together why they're kept alive.
"Alright," Rumi said. "That's a good enough explanation let's get you home." As they began to walk out, she turned her head back to them told them with a cold voice. "And remember. No more going to places you shouldn't go inside or else next time, nobody will be there to save you. Got it?"
The boys nodded this give Rumi a smile her bunny ears turned back to normal ears. Akira gently put them down and took their hands, leading the way.
.....
As the five of them exited the building, the trio saw Gojo leaning against the car finishing a taiyaki as Ijichi stood beside him.
"Looks like you three had fun," Gojo said as the five of them approached. "And you found the kids safe and sound. Nice work."
Ijichi opened the car door.
"I'll take you two home now," he said gently. "Your parents must be worried sick."
The boys nodded and told him where they lived. They released Akira's hands and walk.
Before climbing into the car, they glanced back at Akira giving them a nod.
They climbed in the car waving goodbye as Ijichi closed the door and drove off.
Gojo and the trio walk as they explain to him what the boys told them which he said this.
"Cursed spirits using kids to lure more people to look for them is terrifying but smart move for them. If we come late, more people would have died including the kids lives. But you three done a successful job preventing that so it's a big win."
Rumi rolled her eyes, how Gojo use a nonchalant tone of this matter but smiled since it was fun and save some people.
Gojo clapped his hands. "I think it's enough talk about that and start going shopping together.
Because we need to buy Akira a new shirt cause he's exposed, don't want one of my students being shirtless when we return to jujutsu high."
Gojo points out Akira bare chest as his shirt was rip apart by his encounter of the cursed spirit he killed.
The four of them walk away and head straight to any nearby shops.
....
End
{Author's note: I know those who read my fanfic want to understand why I haven't upload chapters fast.
I had alot of work to do as a office assistant and use lot of my mental energy to not mess it up. Also have to help other co workers and my boss with paperwork they have trouble to finish.
Plus im married and have kids to look after, don't blame me when i sometime being lazy to write a chapter because I have a family to spend time with.
Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter, tell me if there's any mistakes on it.
Later peace ✌️}