---
"Concentrate, look closer, you may understand your shortcomings and advantages."
---
When Ryu woke up, he was lying on a bench in the training area with Haibara anxiously hovering over him. Nanami sat nearby, his expression thoughtful.
"How long was I out?" Ryu asked, sitting up despite the lingering dizziness.
"About ten minutes," Haibara replied.
"You scared us. Your cursed energy went completely haywire, then just... stopped."
"Technique combination failure," Nanami observed.
"Though the power output before the collapse was... remarkable. Far beyond what a first year should be capable of."
There was something in his tone.
Curiosity? Fear?
"I absorbed a technique from the gambling curse," Ryu said.
"Lucky Gamble.
Maybe that's why my energy felt different."
"Show us," Nanami said immediately.
Ryu hesitated, then activated the new ability. He focused on his left arm, and suddenly felt the technique engage.
In his mind, he could sense a dice rolling, coming up with a result.
'Five.'
Immediately, his left arm felt different, lighter, faster, infused with enhanced cursed energy. The effect was noticeable.
"It's like a temporary enhancement. The strength varies based on... chance, I think."
"Duration?" Nanami asked.
"Five minutes, matching the result. But if I'd rolled a one..." Ryu frowned, understanding.
"I wouldn't be able to use cursed energy in that limb for an hour."
"High risk, high reward," Haibara mused.
"Sounds like the kind of technique a gambling curse would have."
"Indeed." Nanami made notes in a small pad.
"Though I notice you seem to understand its mechanics remarkably quickly."
"Sometimes the knowledge comes with the power," Ryu replied carefully.
"Part of the absorption process."
"Sometimes," Nanami repeated. "But not always?"
"No. Not always."
Before Nanami could probe further, Ryu stood up. "I should head home. The energy backlash left me drained."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Haibara asked, genuine concern in his voice.
"I'm fine. Better than fine, actually."
And it was true.
Despite the failed combination attempt, Ryu felt... satisfied. He'd learned something important about his limits, gained a new ability, and maintained control.
'Progress.'
As he walked home, Ryu reflected on what he'd discovered during the mission. The curse had been genuinely terrified of him, not just as a threat, but as something fundamentally wrong. Something that violated the natural order.
'What am I?'
'And more importantly... do I care?'
---
Deep beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High, in a training chamber most students never knew existed, Makoto squared off against a Grade 4 curse while Elder Yamada watched from a safe distance, casually eating barbecue.
"This is training?" Makoto panted, dodging a swipe from the spider like curse.
"What kind of teacher tells his injured student to fight a monster?"
"The kind who wants you to survive what's coming," Yamada replied around a mouthful of meat.
"Besides, you're not that injured anymore."
"Easy for you to say! You're eating BBQ while I'm--"
The curse lunged, and Makoto reacted. His Cursed technique activated, forming a sword in his hands, iron handle for strength, bronze blade for cutting power. The weapon felt perfect, balanced, deadly.
But as he swung the blade, something unexpected happened. His hand brushed against the curse, and brown patches began to spread across its surface like rust.
Both teacher and student froze, staring in shock.
"What..." Makoto whispered, watching the bronze colored stains spread across the curse's body. The creature itself seemed horrified, examining its changing form with multiple eyes.
"What.....you..... do?" the curse shrieked, its voice filled with violation and terror.
But Makoto was already moving. His sword dissolved, reforming mid throw into a spiked bola that wrapped around the fleeing curse's limbs, the bronze spikes biting deep into flesh that was no longer entirely spiritual.
The curse crashed to the ground, unable to move, unable to escape, its body continuing its slow transformation from cursed energy to something else.
"Bronzification!" Yamada said, his barbecue forgotten.
"You're not just creating matter. You're transforming it."
Makoto smiled, and there was something in the expression that matched his teacher's own wicked grin.
"Nature's balance," he said softly, walking toward the trapped and transforming curse.
The curse's screams echoed through the training chamber as both teacher and student advanced, their shadows long.
'Soon,' Makoto thought as he began to experiment with his new understanding of his power.
---
Several hours later, on the rooftop of a high-rise building in downtown Tokyo, two second year students sat casually after completing their own mission.
The Grade 1 curse they'd just exorcised had left nothing but scorch marks and twisted metal in its wake.
"Another one down," Gojo Satoru said cheerfully, dangling his legs over the building's edge.
"Though I have to say, these Curses are getting boring. Same old speeches, same attack patterns."
"Your standards for entertainment are concerning," Geto Suguru replied dryly, leaning against the rooftop access door.
"Most sorcerers would be grateful for predictable enemies."
"Most sorcerers lack vision. Speaking of which..." Gojo pulled out his phone, scrolling through messages.
"Did you hear about the first year missions today? Apparently our juniors had some interesting encounters."
"Define interesting."
"Well, according to Yaga sensei's preliminary report, one of them completely dominated a Grade 3 gambling curse. Alone. While his teammates watched." Gojo's grin widened behind his sunglasses. "The curse was reportedly 'terrified' before being eliminated."
Geto's expression sharpened with interest. "Which first year?"
"The new student.
Ryu something.
The one with the supposed 'random' technique." Gojo stood up, stretching.
"Though between you and me, I'm starting to think there's nothing random about it."
"Elaborate."
"Think about it, Suguru. Every time this kid encounters a curse, he somehow ends up with exactly the kind of power that's useful in his next situation.
That's not luck."
"Or," Geto said thoughtfully,
"it's something else entirely. Something he's not telling anyone about."
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, the city lights twinkling below them like stars.
Finally, Gojo spoke again. "You know what I think?"
"Enlighten me."
"I think our mysterious first year is going to be very entertaining. The kind of entertaining that changes things." Gojo's smile took on an edge.
"I can't wait to meet him properly."
"Careful, Satoru. Your curiosity has a way of creating complications."
"The best kind." Gojo stood up, preparing to travel back to school.
"Besides, what's the worst that could happen? He's just a first year with an unusual technique."
As they disappeared into the night, neither noticed a small curse that had been listening from the shadows, instructed to gather intelligence on anything unusual happening.
The information it had collected would make for very interesting reactions.
---
Status Update:
Ryu's Development:
- New Technique:
Lucky Gamble - Random cursed energy enhancement/impairment based on dice roll
- Energy Cost: Technique combinations require exponentially more cursed energy
- Risk Assessment: Overextension leads to damage and unconsciousness
Makoto:
- New Ability: Matter Transformation (Bronzification Process)
- Technique Evolution: Creation → Creation + Modification
- Combat Effectiveness: Successfully restrained a Grade 4 curse
- Mental State: Growing
- Training Status: Advanced combat lessions with Elder Yamada
---