LADY AOKI || JUJUTSU KAISEN

三十一

Mahito bounded down the street like a happy puppy, his eyes shining fervently in the light of the festival taking place around them. He had a small paper bag of snacks on him, which he devoured hungrily as the three of them watched a group of dancers twirl about in the open street, the firelight illuminating their graceful figures.

Geto smiled in nostalgic content, tucking both hands into his large sleeves while Choso looked on with a bland, unimpressed expression. The festival lit up the sky and filled the air with the sounds of laughter, music, and oil crackling as vendors readied their food.

"Look over there." Mahito pointed mischievously to his right, where a group of teens watched the performances. There stood a tall girl with rectangular glasses and long dark green hair pulled back into a ponytail, a panda, a stylish girl with a hammer at her belt and others: the students of Jujutsu High.

Choso stared discreetly, focusing on the shorter girl who chattered happily to a boy with spiky pink hair. Her back was turned to him and buried amongst her peers, but he noted long dark hair tied back with a simple silk ribbon the colour of spring. She had flowers sprouting out of her temple, a pair of large pink blossoms the size of his palm, and she carried with her a little blue travel backpack. She glanced over her shoulder, sensing someone watching her, but her eyes skated right over him.

"We should head out then, we still have work to do." Geto was saying, already making his casual getaway as Mahito tugged on Choso's sleeve. 

"They have a curse with them." He said, referring to Anzu.

"Anzu is a- special case." Geto gave a coy smile. 

The three travelled in silence, Choso unsociable to start with and Geto ignoring Mahito as the latter talked to his heart's content. The sorcerer sighed inwardly, if Mahito had managed to get Anzu on their side, he wouldn't be here, on the train to Aokigahara to seek out a certain cursed tool that once belonged to Aozora Akinori, the last heir of his powerful but short-lived sorcerer family.

Finding had been a long and strenuous process, considering the fact that it was a special grade and how curious humans and secret loyalists have kept it just out of Geto's reach throughout the years. He needed it though, to ensure his plan would not be disrupted. Anzu was a dumb and naive child in his eyes, he wasn't worried about her getting her hands on it, but if Okkotsu or (God forbid) that Zenin girl got a hold of it, then he would have issues.

The forest was pitch dark, unable to be illuminated by even the vast fires that burned in the nearest towns. Geto summoned a curse large enough for them to stand upon and the three of them soared deep over the trees and into the mountainous region where the Aozora family residence lay undisturbed. It wasn't easy to spot, especially from above, as the very walls were imbedded in seals to ward off intruders and conceal itself from curious eyes. 

Though, over the past hundred years without anyone like Master Tengen to maintain the barriers, some had managed to gain entrance. Geto noted the starkly human bones littered at the entrance of the massive gates, remnants of intruders.

"Woah." Mahito breathed, taking in the impressive sight of the vast weed-ridden courtyard, the dead gardens, and the looming main house that casted a shadow large enough to swallow them whole.

"We're not alone." Choso said, noting the eerie third presence that seemed to breath down their necks. 

"Of course not." Geto replied calmly, his eyes tracking a shadow that seemed to slither into the house upon noticing them. "The people of this house were massacred, and while its owners were sorcerers, their maids and servants were not. I would be surprised if we didn't find a curse  or two here."