DARK RED [ITADORI Y.]

―XLVIII. DUMB LUCK

CHAPTER XLVIII. WHERE IS MY DUMB LUCK NOW?

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"Wakey, wakey,"

I lifted my head, watching a strip of light slip into the room from the door as it began to open. The room then became flooded with light as the door was opened fully. A sorcerer stood at the door, and I saw three other people standing in the hall. The man standing at the was tall, with spikey black hair and sharp, dark eyes. There was a katana that rested at his side, and he was wearing a suit with a tan jacket over it.

He looked somewhat familiar to me. I'm pretty sure I saw him with the second-years a few times. I'd definitely seen him around the school.

"On your feet," He ordered, holding the door open with his foot. "Come over here and I'll fix your hands."

I shifted onto my knees to make it easier to stand up, then shuffled over to him. He began to untie the ropes, but after a moment, he paused.

"You're not gonna be stupid and try to run, are you? I'd hate to tell the Council you were disorderly," He said.

"No."

I felt him finish untying me. I brought my arms around me, feeling the blood rush back to them. I rolled my shoulders around before holding my wrists out. He re-tied them together, but they weren't nearly as tight as they were before. He then grabbed my arm and led me out of the room.

"I'm Kusakabe," He introduced. "I'm the instructor of the second-years. Gojo asked me to bring you."

"Is he in trouble too?" I asked.

"There's a possibility he'll receive a bit of disciplinary action," He replied. "But you have your own problems to worry about."

Kusakabe led me through the hall, the other three sorcerers following behind us. We walked around for about three minutes before we arrived at a set of large oak doors. Kusakabe pushed one of them open, and I immediately jumped at the loudness that came from inside.

The room was set up similarly to a courtroom. There were people on all sides of the room, screaming and arguing with each other. There was a balcony above, where a bunch of other people sat. They were silent. Then, there were the members of the council, concealed behind their paper screens.

Then, my gaze went to the center of the room. Yuuji's hands and arms were tied together with rope lined with seals behind his back, and he had metal cuffs latched around his ankles, chaining him to the floor. He had a piece of cloth wrapped around his head, stuffed into his mouth, gagging him. I could see droplets of blood dotting the floor under him, and when Kusakabe placed me beside him, I could see the damage inflicted on him. His eye was bruised, and there was blood pouring from his nose. There was a gash through his eyebrow, and his eyes were shut. I couldn't tell if he was awake or not.