Your Life As A Tokyo Jujutsu High Background Student

Chapter 32 - You are safe. You are loved. You are home.

Life continued as usual at the illustrious Tokyo Jujutsu High, where studying felt more like medieval torture and training made one pray for a swift, merciful death. Between getting the literal shit beaten out of them and cramming archaic curseology into their limited brain capacity, the first years found themselves charged with various missions of the "poke the bear with a stick" variety.

Their latest assignment had shipped their asses all the way out to bumfuck nowhere – the dreary, desolate plains of Koinokuchi Canyon. You vaguely recalled there was some well-known haunted spot called Yasohachi Bridge in that general area. Headquarters often dispatched sorcerers over there for routine check-ups and investigations. So this shouldn't be too dangerous of a mission. Except, oh wait, there had been a banging crop of suspicious deaths popping up lately, adding a lovely blood-soaked ribbon to the canyon's aesthetic. Fantastic.

Still, you refused to dwell too much on the potential dangers. It was just part of the jujutsu sorcerer gig – the flaming hoop any sorcerer had to jump through on the regular. Because in your world, the next perilous mission was never too far away.

At least this time around, the three headache-inducing gremlins had become quite powerhouses thanks to Maki's hellish regimens. They'd be able to hold their own and watch each other's ass, you attempted to reassure yourself between mentally scoffing.

For your part, you had your own first-grade trial assignments to attend to. Ever since that assignment where some higher-up (read: Gakuganji) had sicced a first-grade curse on your ass, Nanami had been breathing down your neck like a hawk. You hadn't told him about that particular incident, but you supposed words tended to get around, especially for someone of his high rank.

Even though Nanami hadn't chewed you out yet, every time he looked at you, you could practically hear the stern lecture already. That trademark furrow formed between his brows as he leveled you with a disappointed glare usually reserved for your most impulsive antics. "Dammit, Spices, do you have a death wish or something?" he'd growl with exasperated concern. These days his sharp gaze felt more like a leash than a security blanket. Not that you'd dare voice your complaints around. If he wanted to keep his unhinged, danger-magnet of a junior on a tight leash, you weren't exactly in a position to argue.

You were ambling back from yet another nice and comfy trial assignment spent milking the High Council's budget with Nanami when Megumi's call lit up your phone. Figuring he wanted to ask what kind of treats you'd like them to bring back, you swiped to answer with a smile.

Except Megumi's voice on the other end didn't carry its usual air of mild disgruntlement at the universe's existence. Instead, you could sense a thin edge of fear slicing through his demeanor as he tried to keep his shit halfway composed. Tsumiki was likely marked by the curse they were investigating over in Asscrack Canyon, and given her current state, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone anything if that curse decided to slither up and collect its due.

Without a shred of hesitation, you were sprinting toward the hospital, feet pounding against the pavement with urgency. Tsumiki needed you, and that was all that mattered in that moment.

The sterile scent of the hospital hit your nostrils as you burst through the doors with all the elegance of a drunk rhinoceros, startling several nurses and orderlies as you barreled down the corridors. Luckily, when you staggered into Tsumiki's room, she appeared as peaceful as the first time you'd visited a couple weeks back. Her cursed energy flow remained calm and undisturbed. The curse hadn't reached her. Yet.

Settling into the chair beside her bed, you allowed your racing heart to steady, your grip tightening around your bow as you attuned every strained sense to your surroundings. You took note of every creak, every subtle shift in the air current, analyzing even the faintest trace of ambient cursed energy.