MAIDEN OF STRINGS ❪ okkotsu yūta ❫

SEVEN: A WAR DECLARED AND A PAST OPENED.

Akemi walks beside Toge, both of them sharing deadpan expressions as Panda and Maki argue about something. It's every day that their two friends manage to find a topic to protest each over, and the fiery atmosphere between them warms them in the cool chill of the breeze. It's their usual reaction to the two bickering sorcerers, except it's missing someone. She glances back, tsks at Yūta staring up at the cloudy sky with a quizzical expression on his face, one that morphs into worry. "Yūta! Come on!" he starts, looking back at them.

"What's wrong, Yūta?"

"Well, I just think I got a bad premonition," they stare at him blankly before turning around. At this time, they're used to Yūta overthinking things, with how superstitious, anxious and suspicious he is. 'The Three 'Ous'', Toge nicknamed him and the First Years loved bringing up that title whenever Yūta got all fidgety and nervous like he is now.

"You're imagining it,"

"Yup, definitely overthinking things,"

"Bonito flakes," Yūta flails around as they speed up, turning his gaze away from the sky and towards the friends leaving him behind.

"Wait- guys! Wait up," Akemi slows down as he runs to catch up with them, his shoes scuffing against the ground.

"I hate to tell you this Yūta, but your ability to sense Cursed Energy sucks," the boy pouts at Panda's words, and Akemi knocks their shoulders together comfortingly. He lightens up at it, making her cheeks turn pink at the grateful smile he sends her. Panda snickers knowingly, and Akemi kicks at him, prompting a game the four of them like to call 'kick-and-chase'. They slow down when they hear the fluttering of wings, staring up at the sky to see something flying towards them. "Huh. Maybe you were right, Yūta," it can't be anything other than a Curse, resembling a giant seagull, except it has four, spindly wings instead of two. Its beak lowers as it settles down with one final snap of its wings, beady eyes peering down at them.

"Sorry, birdbrain, but you're in the wrong nest," Maki states, drawing out her tool with a flick of her wrist.

"I've never seen that kind of Curse before," Panda comments, and Akemi stares at the people who come out of the bird's beak as it opens its mouth obediently. A tall man stands, gazing over at the school with scrutinizing eyes, a faint smile on his face as he tilts his head and takes it all in.

"Wow, this place hasn't changed at all," he's dressed in a long, black yukata, a gold-coloured kasaya adorning it. His dark hair is half slicked up in a short bun, the rest of it hanging freely down his back, inky like the night sky. The energy rolling off him is potent, negative in a way similar to Curses, and it sets Akemi on edge. A girl lets out a noise of disgust, her brown eyes narrowed as she looks around at the school with a crinkled nose.

"Yuck. Getō-san, please tell me this isn't what Tokyo looks like. It's like we're out in the sticks," another girl bearing a resemblance to her scolds her in a light voice, making her scowl. "Woah, it's a panda!" her voice goes high-pitched with excitement, making them all frown.

"And who are you supposed to be? Get off the school grounds before Yūta makes you!" the boy whips around to face his friends with wide eyes as they agree with Panda's statement, hands gripping onto his katana holder tightly. Akemi blinks and watches as the man swoops in to clutch Yūta's hands in his own. She can feel the wind his movement brings brush against her cheek and her fingers twitch in response. Whoever this man, he's fast, just as quick as Gojō is.

"Nice to meet you, Okkotsu Yūta. My name is Getō Suguru," he introduces himself placidly, and the First Years only have one thought in their mind; 'he's fast'. Yūta looks unnerved but tries to be polite, staring at the man with confused eyes as he tries to place how this stranger knows who he is.