Temporal Paradox - Suguru Geto x OC

Chapter 7

"Ahahahahaha! First mission and you're already drenched in blood!" Satoru cackled mercilessly, pointing a degrading finger at Torako's disheveled appearance. There wasn't a single hint of worry on his face.

The victim of his mocking raised her brows and chewed on the inside of her cheek. An itchy feeling of humiliation tickled at her heart.

"Please, cut me some slack, Jack Frost. It's my first day."

"Second, actually," Shoko corrected as she motioned for Torako to lean down to her height. Humming, she raked her fingers through the latter's hair, inspecting the many cuts on her scalp.

Torako's mouth twitched and she squinted her eyes. "First... mission."

"Uh huh. Well, who ended up exorcising the curse?"

"Well, I was about to-"

Suguru cut her off, "I did."

Torako immediately straightened up with an embarrassed cough, her hands raising with an indignant frown on her lips. According to Mr Murakami, this look of hers meant that was she trying to come up with excuses to save her pride.

"He stole my spotlight. He was hiding, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump in and cut me off- ow!"

Shoko yanked her back down by the collar, completely disregarding her excuse in favour of healing her head.

"You were too slow, Senior," Suguru chuckled, seemingly pleased with himself.

"Uh huh," she said back dismissively.

But suddenly, as if she had just remembered something important, Torako gasped and fixed her gaze back onto him.

In the car ride back from the mission, Suguru was fiddling with some sort of dark, swirly ball in his hand. One close look at it was enough to conclude that it was not some sort of toy or tool, but rather a kind of object that was made from compacted cursed energy.

Despite the contemplative frown on his face while he held the ball, Torako was itching to bombard him with questions regarding it. It was to be expected from any curious minds, but still, she held her mouth back as the fear of upsetting him lingered.

Although, with Satoru and Shoko's presence, that concern had already evaporated.

'After all, even if the wrong question was asked, then at least, the right people would be there to comfort him, right? Gojo and Ieiri are precisely that right people.'

"What's that ball thing in your pocket, by the way?"

Suguru blinked his eyes before opening his mouth in realisation. He then reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out said ball.

"It's the curse."

Now, it was Torako's turn to blink.

"Y-You mean the curse of Ms Nakamura?"

"Yes."

"The... five-foot-five tall, scrawny, raggedy-looking woman that just gave me a concussion? That ball?"

'Now, I feel even more pathetic,' she thought.

"It's how I absorb curses. I turn them into these balls and swallow them."

Once again, the world of jujutsu proved to be full of surprises. Torako couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, however. Next to Suguru's grandeur technique that allowed him to control curses, hers seemed rather mundane in comparison.