𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 || 𝐉𝐔𝐉𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐔 𝐊𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐍

Chapter 5: Nobara Kugisaki

"Why are there only three first years?" Mina asked Megumi as they leaned against the railing, waiting for the other first year.

"Yeah, isn't three too few?" Yuuji added.

"Have you ever met anyone who could see curses before?" Megumi asked. Yuuji shook his head while Mina just shrugged in response.

"That just goes to show how small a minority jujutsu sorcerers are. Technically you are also a first year," he reminded her. She snorted.

"No I'm not, I won't even be around for a whole year anyway," she said, causing Megumi and Yuuji's heads to snap towards her in confusion.

** ** **

Gojou had just arrived at the station when he spotted the trio talking. His ears pricked up as he listened in on their conversation, pausing a safe distance away so he wouldn't be seen.

** ** **

"What do you mean?" Megumi demanded. Mina looked towards the sky, looking strangely sad.

"Right now, it's March, so I have..." she trailed off as she did the math.

"I have six months to find the first piece of the codex in this world and leave," she finished.

"Codex?" Yuuji looked at her blankly. She cursed internally. She accidentally let it slip what she was looking for. Groaning at her stupidity, Mina declined to look at them, choosing instead to scan her gaze over the passers-by.

"There is something in this world that doesn't belong here. It belongs to me, and I need to find it before they do," she said, refusing to look at them both as she craned her neck around looking to see if she would be able to spot who they were waiting for.

If she's as crazy as this lot, I'm sure she'll stand out, Mina thought humorously.

"Who's they?" Megumi demanded, his fists clenching in his pocket. Mina chuckled darkly.

"Your worst nightmare's come to life."

Both Megumi and Yuuji shuddered involuntarily at the dark glint in Mina's eyes as she stared into the distance, lost in her thoughts.

** ** **

"Sorry for the wait," Gojou said, walking over to where they were standing.

"This codex," he began casually, causing Mina to flinch.

"Do you happen to know what it looks like?" he finished, watching her carefully. Mina shook her head, scowling at the fact that he had been eavesdropping.

"No, but I should be able to sense it if it's nearby," she clarified. Gojou nodded thoughtfully.

In truth, he had a vague idea of what she might be talking about.

Several months prior whilst on a mission, he stumbled across what he assumed was a special grade cursed object. It appeared to be the first part of a book, where, upon touching it, people had dropped dead in an instant, appearing to have burned to death from the inside out.

A troublesome cursed object indeed.

Lest to say, transporting it to jujutsu tech proved to be tricky, they'd had to place hundreds of seals on it, and even then, the power that oozed off the book crackled in the air around it, drawing curses and curse users alike to its deadly power. He decided to keep this information to himself for now.

Gojou suddenly realised something was terribly wrong.

"Mina, why aren't you wearing your uniform like Yuuji," he demanded.

"I told you I am not wearing anything other than my own clothes," she said, ignoring him as he pouted.

"Why?" he whined like a child, causing Megumi to cringe in embarrassment.

"Because wearing the jujutsu tech uniform would mean that I belong here, which I don't," she said coldly.

He tactfully decided to drop the subject.

** ** **

It was at that moment a young woman with short light-brown hair appeared in front of them.

"Nobara Kugisaki, 17 years old. Nice to meet you," she said, looking them all up and down. Her lips pursed as if she wasn't keen on what she saw. This annoyed Mina slightly, but she let it slide. She was trying not to kill anyone. Not at the moment.

"I'm Itadori Yuuji, 18 years old. I'm from Sendai," he said cheerfully.
"Fushiguro Megumi, 18 years old," Megumi said. Mina just looked at her, noting a hammer in her back pocket with curiosity. Megumi nudged her.

"Oh, hi," she said half-heartedly.

"Mina. just Mina, 24 years old." Yuuji gaped at her.

"Wow Mina, you're old," he said, earning himself a slap on the head from Mina.

"Are you a first year?" Nobara asked her. She shook her head.

"She's a special case, she just needs a little training," Gojou interjected, cutting off whatever Mina was about to say.

"Are we going somewhere from here?" Megumi asked. Gojou chuckled.

"Well, we do have all four of you together, and 3 of you are new here, so of course we are going on a tour of Tokyo!" he said. Nobara and Yuuji looked delighted. Mina merely sighed, seeing this whole trip as a waste of her time. Megumi just looked bored.

Half an hour later they stood outside an old abandoned building which gave off waves of what she now knew to be cursed energy. She stifled a chuckle at Yuuji and Nobara's cries of betrayal.

"There's a curse here," Megumi noted.

"No shit," she muttered, earning a glare from him.

She was only half listening as they spoke about graveyards and abandoned buildings and people's fears resulting in a curse.

"Nobara, Yuuji, you two go exorcise the curse inside that building," Gojou said, handing Yuuji something he called a cursed weapon and warning him not to let Sukuna out.

"Why didn't you send Megumi and I in there as well?" Mina asked him curiously. Gojou tapped his nose.

"Megumi is still recovering and I have already seen a bit of what you are capable of," he replied. She always felt unnerved when he turned to face her, primarily because of the fact that she couldn't see his eyes, and also because of the blatant amount of power he radiated.

She'd seen first-hand how his immature and upbeat attitude flipped to a serious one, so the man was one to be wary of. His attitude only disguised how powerful and dangerous he was.

She sat down next to Megumi, leaning against the brick wall and closing her eyes as she waited for Yuuji and Nobara to re-emerge.

** ** **

They emerged an hour later with the malevolent cursed energy gone and a kid no more than 8 years old in Yuuji's arms.

They dropped him off near his house as Gojou turned to us.

"Dinner is on me," he smiled, brandishing his credit card. Yuuji and Nobara began debating where to go for dinner as Gojou tossed the card to Megumi.

"We'll catch up with you guys," he said, draping an arm around Mina's shoulders casually. Mina frowned.

"Why? Where are we going?" she demanded. The others looked on curiously.

"Mina has a little test to do, that's all."