"You four, listen up," Yaga Masamichi called as he walked into the classroom, holding the Mission Department Commission with a solemn expression.
The moment he stepped inside he froze.
Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were pinning Shion Gojo down from both sides, while Shoko Ieiri was drawing little turtle faces all over Shion's cheeks with a pen.
They were laughing like mischief‑loving kids, while Shion looked utterly defeated, like an unwilling bride at her own wedding.
Masamichi Yaga felt his temples throb.
After months of teaching them, he had already figured them out: powerful, conceited, talented, and undeniably problem children.
Gojo Satoru was the first to notice Masamichi Yaga standing in the doorway.
"Huh? When did Yaga‑sensei get here?" he asked casually.
At that, Geto and Shoko quickly snapped into neat posture, pretending to be well‑behaved students.
Shion rubbed his face with a wet towel and grumbled, "Ugh! Seven losses in a row? You guys must've cheated!"
"Shion!"
"Yes, Sensei!"
Shion immediately straightened up.
Masamichi Yaga rubbed his forehead, exhaled heavily, and held up the Commission.
"A new mission. A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit known as Slit‑Mouthed Woman. Intelligence reports she is far stronger than most Grade 1 spirits."
Shion took the Commission and puffed out his chest confidently.
"Don't worry, Sensei, just leave it to us!"
"Don't worry?" Yaga frowned, measuring his words.
"The sewer explosion in Tokyo's Shinjuku district last year — that was caused by you, wasn't it, Shion?"
"Uh…" Shion was speechless.
"Ten months ago, the abandoned toy factory collapsed — Satoru, that was you, right?"
Gojo Satoru shrugged awkwardly.
"Uh… well, it was abandoned anyway, so I thought I'd help tear it down."
"And six months ago, the trouble you caused by releasing a cursed spirit was witnessed by a police officer, who insisted he saw invisible ghosts and was treated as mentally unstable afterward."
Geto gave an awkward but polite smile.
Finally, Masamichi Yaga's gaze fell on Shoko.
"Shoko Ieiri."
Shoko raised her hands.
"Sensei, I don't fight! I'm a healer, this doesn't involve me, right?"
"I know that," Yaga said flatly.
Then his eye twitched.
"But who stole the three bottles of wine I'd been saving?"
Shoko froze, then sheepishly scratched her head with a guilty grin.
Masamichi Yaga let out a long sigh.
"I can see now, every one of you is exceptionally talented."
Shion stared at the ceiling, Geto stared at the floor, Gojo Satoru stared out the window at the sky, and Shoko stared blankly ahead.
The four of them were expert at playing dumb.
"Sigh…" Yaga exhaled like a weary father.
"Complete the mission properly, and don't cause any more trouble for me!"
"Yes, Sensei!" they chorused.
Outside the dorm building, Gojo Shion, Gojo Satoru, and Geto were doing warm‑up stretches.
"It's just one Grade 1 cursed spirit," Satoru said.
"You three can handle it, so I won't bother going in!"
Shoko stood nearby, cigarette in hand, looking a little melancholy.
Her Cursed Technique was the rare Reverse Cursed Technique, capable of restoring life even from the brink of death, but her partners were all so strong that they rarely needed healing.
Most missions ended with them uninjured, or with minor scrapes that vanished before she could even use her power.
At least she could enjoy the downtime.
Shoko clasped her hands together and intoned, "Emerge from the darkness, purer than black, purify all impurity!"
A substance like thick tar rose from the ground, instantly forming a giant square box around the dormitory building.
It acted as a barrier, sealing them inside.
"The barrier is set. Good luck!"
"Let's go!" Shion called, leading the charge into the dark building.
Inside, oppressive cursed energy clung to every wall.
The smell of malevolence was so strong that even the air felt heavy.
Countless low‑level cursed spirits roamed the halls.
The three of them searched floor by floor, but even on the top level, there was no sign of the Slit‑Mouthed Woman.
Shion scratched his head.
"Huh? This mission intel said she'd be here…"
Geto shook his head, serious.
"A Slit‑Mouthed Woman is a unique cursed spirit, far stronger than normal Grade 1. Headquarters wouldn't be wrong about that. Is there anywhere we haven't checked?"
Gojo Satoru suddenly looked up.
"Hey, doesn't this dorm have a basement?"
The three exchanged looks and quickly descended from the top floor.
They found the basement door.
Creak…
Gojo Satoru opened it.
Immediately a wave of wrongness hit them — the air, the space, even the atmosphere felt twisted, like they'd stepped into another world.
Their expressions changed.
"It's a Domain," Geto whispered.
This wasn't a true Domain Expansion, but a simple Domain — a cursed spirit's personal enhancement space formed with its own cursed energy.
It wasn't capable of the guaranteed hit effects of a true domain, but it still enhanced the spirit sharply.
Shion exhaled a quiet breath.
Then the Slit‑Mouthed Woman appeared before them.
Her hair was tangled and wild, and beneath it her face was covered in dozens of eyes staring blankly.
In a voice that sounded cold and hollow, she whispered, "Am… I beautiful?"
"You're ugly!" Satoru replied bluntly.
A scream of rage tore from her throat as she lunged forward, wielding a pair of razor‑sharp scissors.
Despite her speed, her attack came to an abrupt stop inches from Shion and Satoru, unable to advance further.
Then a shallow cut appeared behind Geto's ear, and blood trickled down his neck.
"Tch, Limitless really is convenient," Geto muttered with a smirk, watching Shion and Gojo effortlessly defend without flinching.
"Rainbow Dragon!" Geto called.
A serpentine cursed spirit roared forth, tightening its coils around the Slit‑Mouthed Woman's body.
Shion and Gojo Satoru followed up with a coordinated barrage of strikes.
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!
Shinbu Style: Heart‑Piercer!
The three of them laid into her relentlessly.
After a long exchange, the Slit‑Mouthed Woman collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated.
Geto rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"She was strong for a Grade 1. I think I can tame her."
From his palm, a tiny black vortex appeared and began absorbing the Slit‑Mouthed Woman's essence.
In moments, her corpse shrank into a glowing orb about the size of an egg — this was Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Suguru Geto's unique technique of absorbing defeated spirits into controllable form.
This ability allowed him to summon them later as allies.
"Oh! So this is your cursed technique," Shion said, peering at the orb with genuine curiosity.
Though he knew Geto could manipulate cursed spirits, Shion had never seen it used in battle before.
Geto smiled gently.
"It's basically turning a spirit into something I can keep."
Gojo Satoru suddenly piped up, a mischievous grin on his face.
"So… does it taste bad?" he asked teasingly.
___
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