One and Only

Ch. 5 Homesick

  I sat in Yaga's office, my leg bounced with the amount of anxiety that rushed through my body. Yaga read the report that the Auxiliary Agent had turned in. My hands got clamy from the thoughts that swam through my head.
  "I only have this report for now. Iori is to send me hers once she's out of the hospital, and I would like for you to send me an official one as well," Yaga paused. "But for now, I'd like for you to give me a summarized version; what happened?"
  I gave my report to Yaga as he requested, leaving out the smaller details.
  Yaga leaned back into his chair.
  "After reassessing the amount of cursed energy that you and Iori fought, the elders concluded that what the two of you fought was a semi-first grade." My eyes went wide. We fought a semi-first?
  "As you know, I'm not allowed to recommend you for a promotion since I'm your instructor.." he trailed off, making me lean closer to the desk. "I can, however, give a suggestion to some other sorcerers to take a look at this file, and maybe even have you go with them on their missions to get a better grasp of your power." I nearly jumped out of my chair. Did Yaga really just say there was a chance for me to get promoted??
  "I'm sorry if I'm being eager.. but, would you be able to tell me what grade I could be considered if given a promotion?" I hurriedly asked.
  "At least a Second grade, I wouldn't be surprised if they bumped you up to semi-first." My jaw went slack.
  "Thank you, Sensei." I bounced on the balls of my feet, ready to race down to the dorms to call Dazai and Tatsuya to tell them about the news.
  "Not a problem. I don't want to keep you for more than you need to be here. So, you're dismissed." I gave the man a bow before I bolted to my dorm. As I was about to turn the corner to the first years rooms, Gojo came into view.
  "Woah there Sonic. Where are you running off to?" He said as he stood right in the middle of the hall, blocking my way.
  "Back to the dorms."
  "Aw c'mon, give me a little more than that." I shuffled on my feet. Part of me wanting to keep the vagueness between us, and the other part wanting to boast about what Yaga just told me. I chose the latter.
  "Yaga is going to recommend me to other sorcerers, he thinks I can rank up if I go on another 2 or 3 missions with 1st Grade Sorcerers." Satoru gave a mild look of surprise.
  "Is that right? Huh," he stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked around me. Something I've noticed he does often. "Well, hope you can prove me wrong."

  4 months had already passed since I started attending the jujutsu college. I went on a few more missions with other sorcerers and I was promoted to Second Grade. Gojo stopped teasing me about being a Third Grade, but nothing else.
  Today, I was getting ready to go on a mission with Gojo, Suguru, and Shoko. I tied up my hair, threw on my boots, grabbed my weapons case and slung it over my shoulder before I ran out of the dorm. I met up with Shoko out by the car, followed by a yawning Gojo and calm Suguru.
  "Looks like we're all ready to go." Shoko noted.
  "Let's hurry and get this over with, I was planning on rewatching the Worm Human movies." Gojo said through another yawn.
  "You've seen those movies like 12 times already, why do you want to rewatch them again?" Suguru commented.
  "Always something new to catch through every sitting!" Gojo stated excitedly.
  Shoko was the first in the car. The Driver, Amane Yuzuru, was loading up some supplies we were to take with us.
  "Hng!?" We all turned to see Amane struggle with my bag. "Mai-san, what do you have in here!?" She choked out as she yanked the case towards her.
  "Oh, that's my staff." I said, nonchalantly.
  "But why is it so heavy??!" She gritted her teeth as she tried to load it into the trunk. Suguru took it out of her arms and loaded it for her.
  "It is actually pretty heavy, aren't staffs supposed to be like, what, 1 or 2 pounds?" He asked, looking over at me.
  "Oh, that one was made specifically for me. It's not just made out of wood. The core rod is made out of steel, with another layer of titanium to keep from breaking during impacts, and then a final layer of polished wood. Plus some fun curse technique stuff to add to the weight for a better impact." I explained.
  "2 types of metal? Wouldn't that be too heavy to swing around?" Gojo asked as he ducked into the car. I just shrugged.
  "It was heavy for me when I was kid, but I don't think it's all that heavy anymore."
  This was my first mission with all of my fellow first years again. We all took on different assignments whenever we were bored or wanted to test our abilities. Well, except for Shoko. She preferred less.. physically strenuous missions. I wasn't sure how everyone improved since 4 months ago.
  "The Windows reported that the location is out in the mountains, there have been numerous hikers and campers who have gone missing over the course of the last 12 years." Shoko explained. "There have been sorcers who have gone before to exorcise the curse, but none of them have been able to get to the main curse since it always managed to escape."
  "Which prefecture are we heading to?" I asked.
  "The most recent sighting is out in the Yamanashi Prefecture, near Yamanakako." My eyes lit up at the mention of Yamanakako, it was my hometown. Maybe I would be able to visit Himeko and Mafuyu..?
  "Since we're headed towards Yamanakako, does that mean we'll be going into Mikuni-san?" I continued the discussion.
  "Oh? Have you been there before, Mai-san?" Amane asked. I let out a small laugh.
  "Something like that."
  "The curse we're after was last reported as a Second Grade, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's gotten stronger since then." Shoko continued. "We'll also be fighting some other Third to Second Grade Curses that are wandering through the forest." Shoko finished.
  "Maybe this won't be too boring then." Gojo laughed out, as he leaned back into his seat.
  "We should still have our guards up, who knows what we'll find." Suguru chimed in.
 
  The car came to a steady stop in front of the mountain trail. The area had already been blocked off from civilians and campers had been evacuated.
  "I should've brought different shoes.." Shoko complained as she stared up the trail, leading into a thick forest. I gave her a sympathetic smile, but I also mentally cursed myself for not wearing insoles. I had some gnarly blisters for the next few days.
  Suguru let out a low whistle as he looked at the map.
  "Apparently the regular hiking trail is about 3 hours long, so we're more than likely doubling that today." He commented.
  "Now I'm glad I decided to pack extra supplies for everyone." Amane replied, taking out 4 rucksacks.
  "There should be plenty of water and food for you guys." Amane said as she began to set up the veil. Since the area that we were all going to be in was much larger than normal, the Windows had set up seals to help build a much larger area for the veil to fall over.
  "Heh, it's actually like we're going on a class hike," Suguru commented as he slipped on the rucksack.
  "I hope we never have to do that. I'd rather sit in my room," Shoko said as she began to walk towards the trail.
  "Aw, come on! I bet it'd be fun." I said as I pulled the rucksack over my weapons case. "Maybe we should take a little trip, I think it'd be good."
  "I'm with Mai-chan. Being at the college all the time gets boring." Gojo said as he threw an arm over my shoulder. "Maybe we can all go watch a movie or something!"
  "That's all you ever do," I said as I picked his arm off.
  "True, but it's more fun with others," he replied while stuffing his hands in his pockets.
  I've started being a bit more civil with Gojo, he wasn't the worst person in the world when he actually tried to have a conversation with me. I found myself missing him at times. I was so used to him barging into my dorm and bragging about a mission he just completed that I ended up indulging him. He would tell me about how he's been refining his reversal and amplification techniques, about the sweets he comes across, and about how weak the Curses he exorcised were. I even return the favor, I tell him about my missions, the Curses, and sometimes I just complain about how I feel like I'm not getting enough challenging opponents. I wouldn't say we've gotten close, but I've definitely warmed up to him.
  "I say we split up in teams of 2," Suguru suggested, "that way we can cover more ground and meet up somewhere close to the middle and circle back together." He held out a pamphlet of the trail to each of us.
  "I call Mai!" Gojo yelled out, with his hand raised. The 3 of us stared at him in surprise.
  "Why me?" I asked.
  "I wanna get to know you better, and also see how strong you are."
  "Oh.. well, alright." I replied while shuffling from one foot to the other.
  Suguru and Shoko knew what Gojo was doing, he'd often pout about not being able to see or talk to me whenever I'm out on a mission. He's also made comments about how well he gets along with the other 2, but not with me.