The Priestesses' Voice | a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction

15

Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, September 2018

Kento Nanami watched Yuji dash down the stairs - Ijichi following in frantic manner as he tried to catch up with the student. The ex-salaryman adjusted his glasses as he turned to flick off the lights before (rather than leaving the room) walking quietly over to the wide windows. He glanced down at the dim street. It was relatively busy and a long snake of pedestrians slithered down the street at a slow pace. He wasn't much interested in them.

[A/N: I don't like to interrupt the flow of the chapter, but Nanami is mega hot and if you don't agree... well, congrats you don't have daddy issues]

In the alleyway across from the building, a figure stood slouched against the wall. It donned a black raincoat and similar black attire - nothing out of the usual: sweatpants, sneakers, sweatshirt. Their face was obscured by a dark face mask, and the person might have been untraceable... if it weren't for the streetlamps reflecting off the damp, synthetic material of their jacket - or the energy that leaked out from their form.

He'd have to let Gojo know someone was trailing them.

He was about to call it quits for the day until the figure looked up. They met his eyes. He was too far to see the specifics, such as eye colour, but he could tell they were staring at him - catching his attention on purpose. Stepping back from the window, he pulled his own raincoat on and locked the classroom door behind him as he headed down the same steps Ijichi and Yuji had gone down. Keeping his tone brisk, he made a quick descent, stepping out onto the damp street.

The figure had moved from the alleyway and was weaving in between the oncoming human traffic. The blonde kept his eyes trained on the figure - noting that whoever they were stood a couple inches taller than most people they past - and followed his trail.

The pursuit lasted for couple minutes until a crowd of teenagers paused in his way and by the time Nanami had gotten around them, he'd lost track of the sorcerer.

He stood in the damp street, feeling his ears numb with low chatter and footsteps, unlike he felt the familiar energy. Taking a more aggressive response this time, he forced his way through the crowd, ignoring the shouts of bystanders as he did. His eyes trained on an alleyway and he made a mad dash for it - just as the energy swelled to it's peak.

Rounding the corner into the dim recess, he found himself pushed back by a gust of wind and a uncomfortably human scream that rang in his ears. Nanami opened his eyes only to catch a glimpse of a strange serpentine body spiral into the sky. From what he could see, the creature had dark green scales, two auburn wings sprouting from further up its back, and a striped tail with a fan of similar coloured feathers. In the darkness, he couldn't make sense of it's incomprehensible facial features, but did see the outline of a dark beak - and a familiar black shadow perched on it's back.

The fantastical beast* continued it's ascent into the night sky, slowly becoming obscured behind a murky patch of clouds.

Nanami sighed, running his hands briefly though his hair. The sorcerers around him really couldn't stop pissing him off.

[Very, very short chapter, I'm really sorry, but it needed to be in a chapter of its own for the sake of my writing style. Please vote and comment :) it really encourages me to see you guys engaged with the story.]

Author's Notes:

Itsumade: Itsumade are kaichō, or strange birds. They have the face of a human with a pointed beak, and the body of a snake with wings, and terrible claws. Their wingspan is 4.8 meters. Itsumade appear in the night sky during times of trouble—such as plagues and disasters, or flying over battlegrounds where many have died. In particular, they fly over places where there is suffering or death. Itsumade make their first recorded appearance in the Taiheiki, a fictional history of Japan written in the 14th century. According to the Taiheiki, a terrible plague spread during the fall of 1334. The suffering of the plague victims is what summoned the itsumade. Itsumade's name is not written in the Taiheiki; it was added later by Toriyama Sekien. He named this yōkai for its horrible cry of "Itsumademo?" which means, "Until when?".