The Priestesses' Voice | a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction

17

Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, Tokyo, 2018

Fushiguro was sat on a set of stone steps that lead down to a dirt expanse in the school compound. The sun was bright and hot as it bore down onto his clothed back. Since a couple days ago, Noriko had come back to her usual self. She never attended lessons and spent most of her time doing... something (either in the library or in her room), but she joined them for mealtimes, which was enough to repair the bond between them.

All three hadn't quite healed yet from the ordeal that was Itadori Yuji, but they were getting there. He'd caught a glimpse inside of Noriko's room once or twice and seen that the blood-stained hoodie had been taken down and dealt with - which he guessed was a positive sign (though he wasn't sure about the thousands of sheets of paper pinned to her walls in it's place).

"You're free to go all out Nobara," the dark-haired girl called from the middle of the arena. Noriko was dressed in her usual colourful hooded sweatshirt, however, her signature brush holster was missing from her right leg. Her chosen weapon was clasped loosely in her right hand. After many sparring sessions with Maki Zenin, Fushiguro recognised it as some kind of naginata, but with a curved blade? There were a few talismans tied to the hilt with a red cord and he could feel a steady flow of energy from the blade. 

Nobara spun her hammer in her hand as the two stood in still silence for a second. That was, until the brunette raised her arm and nails levitated in the vague area she gestured to. The pouch around her waist emitted a few quiet 'clinks' as the nails flew out of it - each surrounded with a fiery, blue glow. Noriko dropped down into a crouch, spinning the long pole in her hand as she held it behind herself. The muscles in her legs twitched as her dark eyes remained trained on her classmate, waiting for her to make a move.

It really could've gone either way, Fushiguro mused to himself. 

Noriko was fast - a lot more so than he expected - but her physical strength was lacking and without the help of her brush, her ability to manipulate cursed energy was surprisingly weak. The blade of the bisento* only produced a vague, golden aura, nowhere near the roaring glow around Nobara's tools. However, like with Maki, Nobara's long-distance combat was at a disadvantage against Noriko, who dodged the majority of her nails with ease and forced her back with close-combat... only to find Nobara hit harder than she thought. 

While Noriko could launch perhaps thousands of quick jabs (either with her free hand or the butt of her weapon) at her opponent in a very short space of time, as long as Nobara landed one heavy hit, she could force the girl away. However, this tactic didn't last long, and both girls ended up resuming their original positions - a few yards away from each other in the centre of the pitch. Having shed her hoodie, Noriko's forehead was glistening in a sheen of sweat and her lips were parted. 

Her classmate - while still also exhausted - was mostly fatigued by her energy usage. Nobara couldn't help but wonder how quickly she would've gone down if Noriko had used her technique. Could she even use 'resonance' on the ink creatures? Or would it be doubly effective and hit Noriko as well if she created a bond through the ink? She brushed those thoughts from her head - it wasn't the time. She was running out of stamina; she had to end it soon.

Her grip tightened around a single black strand her hand before dropping it onto the dust and reaching into her uniform top. Grasping a straw doll, she pulled it out into the sunlight, throwing it to the ground as she readied another couple nails. Her pouch was nearly depleted.

She was confident it wouldn't hurt Noriko too bad - beside there wasn't really anything the nurse couldn't fix.

"Resonance: Straw Doll Technique!"