𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙍𝙊𝙇 ꩜ 𝘑𝘑𝘒

˗ˏˋ 十七

GOODWILL EVENT: BEGIN; DAY ONE!

𖦹

"T-MINUS ONE MINUTE UNTIL WE BEGIN!"

You stretch in anxious preparation, popping your knuckles and clearing your throat. Luckily for you, you just figured out you can mouth the activation words for your technique, which makes your place in this plan much more secure. Your nerves and lack of confidence may betray you, but for the success of your teammates, you hope not.

As Iori says some encouraging words over the intercom, Fushiguro readies his hands to summon his shikigami. His black dog gets summoned first- what happened to his white one?- and Nue appears not long after. Per the sea urchin's request, you linger at Nue's side in wait for his signal. With one more stretch, the buzzer rings out.

Let the fight begin.

"Where do you think the master curse will be located?"

"Probably somewhere in the center, so no team has an advantage..." you respond to your salmon-haired junior, fixing your hair.

"Remember, at the signal, we separate into our designated groups," Maki reminds gently. "Yuji, you do your thing!"

Fushiguro's wolf detects something up ahead as your group proceeds, most likely a curse. Coming up on it, it appears to be a grade-three spider-like curse. You ready your hands to shoot it.

'Stop, it's a trap. Someone's approaching.'

"Stop!" You and Fushiguro warn Maki simultaneously, and she skids to a stop right before the curse is crushed out of the air by the shirtless guy you saw a little while ago. The aura he emanates is terrifying, and you dread the thought of what would happen to Maki if she didn't stop when you told her to.

"Good! Everyone's here!" he yells, smiling like a maniac. You take a tentative step back. "Let's have you all come at me at once!!" He cracks his knuckles and his smile gets impossibly wider.

Itadori takes his turn, running up and kneeing Topknot in the face, hard. He sends a signal to Maki, who then yells the signal.

"Split up!"

You hop onto Nue's back, adjusting yourself in between its wings as you ascend to the sky. So far, everything's going according to plan.

Fushiguro gave you full control over where to go with Nue, who you want to keep an eye on is completely up to you. Gently grabbing Nue's scruff, you start to steer toward Maki's group.

'Stay here,' the voice tells you once more, 'they may plan an ambush. Remember to trust your gut feelings.'

You shake your head, guiding Nue back to hover over Itadori. You survey his fight with Topknot, just as confused as him when Topknot starts crying.

"Yeah, keep going straight." A voice in the distance catches the attention of both of you, and Nue dives into a nearby tree for cover. "Just so you know, Todo's there." The person gets closer as they sigh, gliding past on a broom. She quickly does a U-turn, heading in another direction. "Mm, you're right..."

Below, Itadori gets ambushed. You sense it before he does, readying your hands to make a slingshot (as it's one of your quieter techniques). Adjusting yourself to have a better view of below, you shoot an arrow out of the sky heading towards Itadori's head. The quiet sound of loading a gun enters your ears.