CastAway

Chapter 8

Gojo called after us to 'have fun' while Itadori and I opened the door. We walked through an empty garage to the first floor of the building. Itadori started to look around while Kugisaki and I headed for the stairs.

"What a pain in my ass. I come all the way to Tokyo and I still have to deal with dumb curses." Kugisaki grumbled while we headed for the second floor.

"You enrolled at a jujutsu school, what else would you expect?" I snapped back at her.

"Huh? You didn't come here to exorcise them?" Itadori asked while he followed us up the stairs.

"Let's save some time. We should split up. I'll start from the top and investigate floor by floor. You two start from the bottom. Let's knock this out and grab some sushi in Ginza" Kugisaki was too cocky. It kinda reminded me of Gojo, but at least Gojo had the skills to back up his attitude.

"Hold on a minute. Let's take this seriously. Curses are dangerous, you know." When Itadori finished speaking, Kugisaki moved to kick him but I caught her ankle before she connected.

"I don't wanna hear it from someone who last week was a clueless normie!" She yelled at him when I dropped her ankle. "Now get moving!"

"You're an out of control roller coaster of emotions today!" Itadori yelled back at her as she started moving upstairs.

"This is why girls don't like you!" She responded, yelling loud enough for us to hear.

"How do you know they don't like me, huh?! Are you even popular enough to talk? Bitch." Itadori started by shouting back at her, but grumbled the last bit.

"I'll start on the second floor and work up. When you clear this one, go to the third." I told Itadori then followed Kugisaki up the stairs.

I texted Gojo to not call me by my full name while climbing the stairs. Only my birth family called me Calliope and I wasn't on the best of terms with them. So far, my classmates had only called me by my last name. If Gojo stopped, they ought to do the same

I walked through the building, searching for the unmistakable feeling of cursed energy. I could feel cursed energy coming from all around, though it was strongest to my right. I silently went into a room with an open door, the room where the energy was coming from.

I couldn't see a curse, but that didn't mean there wasn't one. I closed my eyes and focused on the energy of the room. The moment I opened my eyes and turned to face the far right corner, a curse the size of a large dog emerged from where the walls met and attacked me. It had four legs, but it seemed to be able to walk on two if need be.

I dodged the attack and jumped as it charged at me again. Wrapping my arms around the curse's neck, I felt for the cursed energy fueling it. The curse bucked in my grasp, knocking me onto my back. I used the new position to trap it with my legs and held the struggling curse to my chest.

With one arm across what resembled its neck, I locked my wrist in my elbow and pulled. My back arched, hips and shoulders digging into the concrete beneath me. Warm liquid spilled down my arms and face as I separated the curse's head from its body.

Chest rising and falling as I caught my breath, I pushed myself up and continued to the fourth floor where Kugisaki should be. I ran into a room just in time to see something brown and furry jump out of the building. I ran after it and pulled out the katana at the same time. I twisted in the air as I fell, swinging the blade so it cut the curse in half.

I instinctively released my wings from where I kept them tucked under my skin moments before crashing into the ground. My auburn wings unfurled, catching the air and slowing my descent. I landed gracefully on my feet and tucked my wings back in while sheathing the cursed weapon.