Please, leave a stain on this vast emptiness

Chapter 8

When Tsumi finally puts down the book he is reading, the small clock by his bedside indicates that it is already past midnight, he frowns at that.

Having his room next to the dormitory building entryway means that if he pays attention, he can tell when someone is coming in by the sound of the entrance doors sliding open.

Hearing nothing for the past few hours mean that Megumi is still not back from his retrieval mission. Going to Sendai to retrieve an item and then return back to Tokyo would take about five hours at most, for him to have departed at 6pm and has yet to return, something must have happened.

Fishing his phone out of his uniform trousers, Tsumi stifles a yawn before dialling, he is staying up way too late for his body's liking. After patiently waiting for the ringtone to be cut off by a click, he groggily starts asking while rubbing his eyes: "Still on the mission?"

The male on the other side of the line does not sound too happy: "The darn thing's missing."

The information jolts Tsumi's mind wide awake: "The special grade cursed object?"

"What else could it be." The voice sighs deeply: "Anyway, Gojō-sensei says I'm not allowed to come back until I find it."

Tsumi has half a mind to hunt Gojō down in the dead of night: "Any clues to its current whereabouts right now?"

"No." Another frustrated sigh: "But this is a better response than the one I got earlier."

"Better response?" Tsumi asks but immediately understand: "Ah, you reported this to Gojō-sensei."

"He suggested that it took a nighttime stroll."

"... He is not taking this very seriously is he?"

"He thinks that this is all very hilarious." Even beyond a phone screen Tsumi can detect Megumi's murderous undertone as he grits out the sentence: "He is treating the whole situation like a joke."

"But I'd be really scared if he isn't." Becuse it would mean the situation maybe out of control. Tsumi nervously sweats at the thought: "Maybe pick this back up tomorrow morning? It's so late now and I doubt anything immediate can be done about the turn of events."

By noon of the next day Tsumi phones yet again, gingerly he asks: "How is it going?"

"Badly." The male on the other end of the line sounds even more frustrated than last night: "This is my fifth round around the campus, the presence is too strong to pinpoint."

"Campus? As in a school?"

"As in a school, the cursed object was apparently stored inside an instrument shelter in a corner of Miyashiro Prefectural Sugisawa Third High School." A loud tune of Westminster Chime begins echoing in the background, cutting the male off from his explanation: "Have to go now, lesson time is starting for the school, I might be able to pick something up this time after the flow of students stop."

"Right, I'll help think of something too in the meantime, good luck." Tsumi hangs up and looks over his shoulder, behind him the second-years are getting ready to leave the school as well, if they are going on a mission too he hopes it goes much smoother than Megumi's.

Turning his head back and looking up to the sky, Tsumi begins processing the key information Megumi has given over their phone call. An instrument shelter in a corner of Sugisawa Third High School, it is probably provided for the students' extracurricular activities, so teachers would not bother to approach it, never mind touching the thing, so it might have been a curious student who opened the shelter and took the cursed object.

Possibly a reckless, troublemaking student... Oh no.

Tsumi's pupils dialate as realization strike him, snapping his head down he promptly searches up 'Where is Tokyo Shinkansen Station?', 'Instructions on how to ride the Shinkansen?', 'Which Shinkansen line connects Tokyo and Sendai?' on his phone.

It is afternoon by the time Tsumi arrives in Sendai, and by the time he finally locates Sugisawa Third High School, it is deep into the night.

Even though his classmates have been dragging him out of Jujutsu Tech constantly for him to slowly adapt to the level of negative energy of Tokyo City, he still is not used to continuous absorption for too long, on his journey he has already absorbed too many from the streets, the plazas, the train stations...

So when he approaches the high school his whole body twitches at the familiar sensation of wanting to vomit something out. Not only because of the various negative energy the school is emitting, but also because of the overwhelming miasma of wrathful, sinster cursed energy.

A presence this strong can only be an ill omen. Gripping his mantelet, he gulps and hastens his pace.

Sprinting closer, he sees the back of a tall male with pastel-pink hair loitering by the school gates.

Is he a student of this school? Got to evacuate him. Tsumi thinks as he calls out: "You there, what are you doing here this late? It's dark out, you should go home."

"Ah!" The tall male turns around to face him: "I can't, my senpai are in trouble, a guy told me to wait here before going in just now but..."

"Would that guy's name be Fushiguro Megumi?" Stopping in front of the male, Tsumi hunch over as he lightly pants.

"Huh, you know the guy? Oh yeah, now that I can see under your cloak you two are wearing similar clothes..."

"Right..." Tsumi murmurs as he turns to the locked school gates and jumps, barely managing to grasp the top because of his short stature, then he realizes he has little strength in his arms to hoist himself over: "... I'm terribly sorry, but could you lend me a shoulder please?"

After the male carefully guides him back on the ground at the other side of the gates Tsumi takes off sprinting again, calling out to behind him: "Sorry that we don't have time for introductions or explanations, but please stay away from this building."

Running into the building he immediately hear howls which he identifies as one of Megumi's Gyokuken from above, rushing to the stairs he begins to ascend, hearing the pandemonium of animal growling, curse taunting, window smashing, walls breaking getting closer and closer. This is really bad, curse that idiot teacher.

When Tsumi arrives on the fourth floor his legs are burning with seething pain, so heavy it feels like molten lead is poured in tons. Breathing sporadically inbetween coughs because of his dry throat, he looks into the devastated hallway and sees two fainted student lying on the floor, not far from them is a giant hole on the wall, draught pouring in, bringing along the commotion of chaos outside. Quickly he throws his mantelet over the two as he rushes pass them to look outside the hole.

He is startled to see the male he has definitely told to stay put by the gates to be on the skybridge alongside Megumi and a massive curse, even more shocked to see him swallowing a mummified finger radiating tremendous cursed energy.

This just went from bad to worst.