YOU, ME, US [ okkotsu yuuta x reader ]

04: WITH THE UNCERTAINTY

"Get... away...!" a guttural voice yells.

A large, humanoid curse looms over you. It has a plethora of eyes and wrinkles etched onto its head, as well as four arms that each have their own walking cane. There's a pure, unadulterated hatred that manifests within the irises of the curse's eyes, its pupils following your every movement, desperate for vengeance.

If you had to guess, you'd say that this curse is a manifestation of the generations of people who once lived on this land, the spirit of the elderly couple who fought so hard, for so long.

All for naught.

Maybe I should let the curse live, you think, watching it approach you slowly. Its steps are clumsy and uncoordinated, relying wholly on its four walking canes. Guilt ravishes your being, your heart beginning to ache at the sight of the curse stumbling, incoherent mumbles escaping its droopy, wrinkled lips.

The curse is barely a grade one, with the way it limps as if it were about to give up any second. You wonder who labeled this curse, who made it seem so dangerous that it had to be you who exorcised it.

Maybe the most dangerous thing about it is its story, its history. Maybe the higher-ups decided to send you, a junior high student, because they thought you didn't have the mental capacity to comprehend the truth behind this curse, behind this property.

Maybe the most dangerous thing about this mission is the fact that it leaves you unsure of yourself, unsure of your duty which was so obvious before.

Amidst its slurred sentences, you can make out one thing: "Our home."

Your fingers reach for the darts in your pocket.

Jujutsu sorcerers are people who must protect mankind from the atrocities of the world.

Sorrow engulfs you, drowns you with every waking breath. You never wanted to become a Jujutsu sorcerer, never wanted to have to choose between sides and what you believe is right or wrong. You're only fourteen; how can you be expected to save the world?

But you've decided you're not going to pick and choose who, or what, you save. You're just going to save. No matter what. And maybe you'll change. Maybe, when you grow older, when you learn more about yourself, when you discover parts of life that have been left untouched, you'll change. Maybe, when you grow older, you'll pick and choose who you save, when and how you're going to save.

Maybe, it never really matters at all. Maybe, all that counts is the intention, the fact that you've tried, at the very least, to save. It doesn't matter who or what, all that matters is that you do.

Channeling cursed energy into the tip of your fingers, it rushes down to the darts in your grip, surging with newfound power. You hold the dart up to eye-level, squinting as you aim it at the mouth of the curse, its chapped lips opening and closing with every inaudible word it says.

You shoot. When the dart enters the curse's mouth, it spasms and screeches, tears escaping the ducts of its many eyes as it shouts various profanities and words you can barely distinguish. The curse sobs and sobs, its entire body racked with agony as it trembles, its four walking canes doing nothing to support the weight of its misery.

"Please...!" the curse begs, falling to the ground. It spasms some more, some of its eyes beginning to close. Now, the curse looks up at you with tear-ridden eyes, its wrinkled face worn by the tides of time. It stares at you with its remaining eyes, pleading you to give it a chance, to let its legacy survive.

Fiddling with the depths of your pockets, you find another dart.

"My cursed technique allows me to tranquilize cursed spirits by imbuing my own cursed energy into them," you say, activating a Binding Vow. Foam begins to froth out of the curse's wilting mouth, its remaining eyes coming to stare at you with glazed irises, its sobs falling silent as you stare at it from above.