Shono City, Mirror World
"Oof!" Masachika was thrown forward and rolled across the street, followed by Yuji and Chisaki.
"Damn, Ace is really rough when he's in a hurry," Masachika grumbled, holding his waist. He stood up then froze at the sight in front of him.
Shono City was still there. The buildings, the streetlights, even the parked cars. But everything felt… wrong. Store signs were reversed, and the atmosphere was cold, hollow, filled with a constant low hum.
"Where… are we?" Yuji got up, eyes wide as he stared at the grayish sky. "We got thrown into a mirror, right?!"
Chisaki touched a streetlamp, her hand trembling. "Everything feels real, but…"
Masachika walked toward a boutique window. He narrowed his eyes, then his expression stiffened. "Yuji! Sarashina-senpai! Over here! Look at this!"
They rushed over. But instead of seeing their reflections, the glass showed the real Shono City. There, they could see Calibur's dark purple silhouette surrounded by Jogo's massive flames.
"That's Akashi-senpai! He's fighting! We have to help him!" Yuji shouted.
"But how? We don't even know where we are!" Chisaki replied.
Yuji clenched his fist and punched the glass as hard as he could.
BAM!
The glass cracked then instantly repaired itself. He tried again, this time with cursed energy, but the result was the same.
"It's useless, Itadori-kun. I think all we can do now is wait," Masachika said.
"Ah! Someone's coming!" Chisaki pointed at the glass, showing Buster's arrival.
"Who's that?" Yuji asked.
"No idea, but he seems pretty familiar with Ace-kun," Chisaki replied.
"Are you blind? That huge sword it's obviously Ogami-sensei," Masachika said.
"Eh?! That's Ogami-sensei?! That's so cool! I want one too! Do only high-ranking members get cool armor like that?" Yuji exclaimed.
"Now's not the time for that, Itadori-kun. We should be worried. Even with Ogami-sensei here, Ace-kun doesn't have to fight three enemies alone anymore, but they're still outnumbered," Chisaki said.
"I don't think we need to worry. Look," Masachika pointed.
They saw a giant snake devouring strange creatures, Buster fighting two enemies with ease, and Ace even though slightly pressured still holding the advantage.
"Did Akashi-kun summon that snake?" Chisaki asked.
"Yeah… looks like he still has a lot of secrets," Masachika replied.
"Ah, they stopped," Yuji said.
"Looks like those things are planning something," Masachika added.
They watched as the one-eyed creature brought its hands together, just like Buster. The horned one summoned wood to attack, but Calibur cut it down
Then suddenly, the glass only showed a black circle.
"What happened?!" Chisaki shouted.
"I don't know either!" Yuji replied.
"Guess we can't see anything anymore. Let's rest for a bit," Masachika said, sitting down and leaning against the glass.
"Kuze-kun, how can you stay so calm at a time like this?!" Chisaki asked.
"Well… what else can we do? We can't do anything. And they're professionals. They're used to this. All we can do is trust them," Masachika replied.
"…I guess you're right." Chisaki sat down, and Yuji followed.
As they rested, a voice suddenly spoke.
"Done resting?"
It was Ace, already out of his Calibur armor.
"Wah! You scared me, senpai!" Yuji protested.
"What happened, Ace? What about those monsters?" Masachika asked.
"They got away… If you have more questions, later. Come on, Ogami-sensei is waiting," Ace replied.
They stood up and followed Ace through the glass back to the real world.
When they stepped out, they saw Ogami on the phone.
"Ogami-sensei!" Yuji called.
Ogami put his phone into his jacket pocket and turned toward them. "Looks like you're all fine."
"Yeah, thanks to Ace," Masachika replied.
"So what do we do now?" Chisaki asked.
"Hm? Obviously, we go home. You still have class tomorrow," Ogami said as he walked off.
"What about the civilians we secured? Even if we erased their memories, won't they panic if they all wake up in the same place?" Masachika asked.
"That's the cleanup crew's job," Ogami replied.
"Cleanup crew?" Yuji asked.
"They handle the aftermath and the civilians."
They returned to where the car was parked and prepared to leave.
On the way back, Yuji finally asked, "Akashi-senpai, where did you actually send us?"
Ace, sitting in the front seat, turned around. "Hm? Oh, you could call it the Mirror World."
"Mirror World?" Yuji repeated.
"Basically, a world inside mirrors," Ace replied.
"I see!" Yuji said, hitting his fist into his palm.
"I've got a question too, Ogami-sensei," Masachika raised his hand.
"Go ahead," Ogami said while driving.
"Those monsters you fought… were they curses?"
"Yeah. More specifically, special-grade curses. Looks like they slipped past the jujutsu sorcerers' radar."
"Are we going to hunt them?" Chisaki asked.
Ogami raised his hand and shook his index finger. "No. That's the jujutsu sorcerers' job."
"Why not us?" Yuji asked.
"Because we don't have enough people," Ogami replied.
"I see… one more question," Masachika said.
"Go ahead."
"That black sphere earlier… was that a Domain Expansion?"
"100 points for you, Masachika."
"So those curses used Domain Expansion too?" Chisaki asked.
"Yeah. Even the Grade 1 curses you fought used it but it wasn't complete," Ace added.
Suddenly
SCREECH!
Ogami slammed the brakes.
"Why, Ogami-sensei?!" Yuji asked.
Ogami slowly turned to Ace with an annoyed expression. "What?"
Ace immediately covered his mouth.
"You… made them fight Grade 1 curses?!" Ogami said in a low voice.
"B-But jujutsu high students also fight curses stronger than their level…" Ace defended himself.
"Yeah. And that's why their death rate is high," Ogami replied.
"Um… teehee." Ace lightly tapped his head and stuck out his tongue.
"…" They all stared at him.
Feeling their gaze, Ace coughed awkwardly. "Ahem… Ogami-sensei, why are we still stopped? If we take too long, it'll be morning."
Ogami resumed driving.
From the back seat
"Ace, please don't do that unless you're a cute girl," Masachika said.
"That was disgusting, Akashi-kun," Chisaki added.
"Senpai… please don't ever do that in front of me again," Yuji said.
Ace could only cry inside.
'You guys are so mean… I just saved you… System, was that really that bad?'
[Honestly, Host… that was cringe. I suggest you don't do it again.]
'You're just like them!'
[You cannot deny the truth.]
The ride home continued with everyone chatting except Ace, who sat quietly with his head down.
---
When ace got home, Ace opened the door.
"I'm home… everyone asleep already?"
He checked the time. 1 AM.
Just as he was about to rest, his phoneconnected to his mini satellite rang.
"…Ugh."
He connected it to his laptop and checked.
Three spacecraft appeared on the screen:
One entering Earth's atmosphere.
One hovering outside, camouflaged.
One already landed.
'System, which one is the most dangerous?'
[The one outside the atmosphere.]
'Why?'
[Unlike the others, it carries five aliens. They are Power Sphere hunters.]
'Oh, what other information is there?'
[You should remember the Power Sphere hunter squad known as Tengkota.]
'Oh. Tengkota… I remember. That means their target is Malaysia… So this is the start of Movie 1, huh… Should I interfere?…Probably not. Even if this is real now, not just a show… Yuji still got involved in the Curse Womb event despite not being Sukuna's vessel anymore… But letting elementary school kids fight aliens that can create black holes doesn't sit right with me.'
Footsteps came from behind.
"Ace… you're not asleep yet?" Lala said, rubbing her eyes.
Ace smiled. "Just a bit longer."
She sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Let's sleep. It's late."
"Alright, I'm done. Let's go."
They headed to Ace's room.
'System, send the info about the remaining two aliens directly to my brain.'
[Understood.]
In the morning, Ace went through his usual routine waking Lala up, doing a bit of stretching, eating, showering, getting dressed, and heading to school together with Lala and Asia.
When he arrived in class, Ace saw Masachika looking exhausted, resting his head on the desk.
"Yo, Masachika, are you okay?" Ace asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Masachika slowly turned his head to look at him. "Oh, Ace… I'm just tired."
"Didn't you sleep?" Ace asked as he sat down.
"I couldn't," Masachika replied.
Alya, who was sitting beside him, spoke with a slightly worried tone. "He's been like that for a while. Can you help him, Ace?"
Ace reached into his bag, took out a piece of candy, and handed it to Masachika.
"Hm? What's this, Ace?" Masachika asked.
"Candy. You'll feel more refreshed, just try it."
Masachika took it, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. The moment it melted, he felt a sudden change his drowsiness
vanished, replaced by a surge of energy.
"What kind of candy is this?"
"No idea. I found it at home," Ace replied casually.
"What?! You gave me candy with an unknown origin?!" Masachika protested.
Ace laughed. "Relax, idiot, I'm kidding. Lala's been trying to make energy-restoring candy, and that one's her creation."
"Isn't that worse? That basically makes me a test subject."
"That's harsh. Lala worked hard on it, and you still say that," Ace said, leaning toward Lala and whispering, "Lala, pretend to be sad."
Lala covered her face and made a fake sobbing sound. "Look, Masachika, you made Lala sad…"
"…You do realize I can hear you telling her to pretend, right?"
Ace, Lala, and Alya chuckled, while Masachika just stared at them.
Soon, the bell rang, and the students returned to their seats. Ogami entered the classroom.
"Alright, today we have a new student."
Whispers spread across the room until Ogami raised his hand. "Settle down. Jewelria-san, you may come in."
The new student walked in a boy with white hair, with the lower back part dyed black.
"Hello everyone, my name is Ren Elsie Jewelria."
Ace closed his eyes and thought,
This is going to be annoying… and exhausting.
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Hey! hey! I'm back, Sorry for not updating for the past two months, I've been really busy. I also have a lot of projects, so the update schedule isn't fixed.