Chapter Text
It all started with a rumor.
Idle gossip among children that Mimiko and Nanako had picked up during the most recent baseball game at their school.
As much as it pained Suguru to send them to learn among the sea of ignorant monkeys, his girls would benefit more from a rounded education at a well-founded institution than allowing an outsider to enter their home or rely on the others of their growing family to play teacher when they lacked the proper qualifications. There was a social aspect as well, even if they were monkeys, they were monkeys of the same age range as his girls, and it would do them some good to know how to integrate themselves with others. Even if it means playing nice and pretending to care about such mundane activities such as sports or clubs, some of which Suguru swore they held a genuine interest in, even if they won’t admit it to him as if he’d be upset at their enjoyment.
On the contrary, to see them smile and experience all the new opportunities he could afford to offer them was fulfilling in its own right. And if the opposite held true, and they truly were not happy at such a place, or god-forbid some monkey child ever dared lay their hands on his girls, then Suguru would have had them removed on the spot and a proper punishment dealt to those responsible for their distress.
For now, it seemed Mimiko and Nanako were content, and as such, Suguru was as content as he could be in the path he’d chosen.
It was Wednesday night when the rumor that had caught Suguru’s interest first reached his ears.
He was at the dinner table with his girls, Nanako typing away at the screen of her phone, babbling away about the prior afternoon in which she and her sister stayed on their school’s campus after class to observe the baseball game teachers and students alike had been chattering about for some time. Mimiko fiddled with the leftovers on her plate. She listened to her sister’s recap of the events while eyeing her phone in annoyance, aware that the camera Nanako was using to check her face was cause for distraction.
“So, our school is in a baseball league that competes with other schools. And apparently, there is this big rivalry between our school and this other high school… Sugi… Sugisana— Sugisawa! The school’s in Sendai. Everyone was talking about this big game and how we’re going to beat them in the semi-finals again this year, and it’s all supposed to be super exciting— It really wasn’t. I mean the concession stand was ok—”
“Nanako!”
“Yes! I’m getting to it! I’m getting to it!” Nanako sighed and flicked the screen off, still intent on keeping the device in her hand. “Point is, everyone expected the game to be just as one-sided as last year, but nope! The visiting team completely kicked their asses. It’s that hilarious? All that confidence for nothing. It’s like that saying, the one about the chickens.”
Snapping her fingers, Nanako attempted to call forth the idiom she was thinking of. When she came up empty, Suguru thought for a moment and supplied the best guess he had as to what she was referring to.
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch?” The approval on Nanako’s face was enough to know he’d guessed correctly. “I would have to agree with you. One shouldn’t assume the outcome of anything so readily. Understanding the realistic probability of where one’s actions may lead them is not only important for formulating goals, but searching for the best opportunities in which to achieve them.”
“Yeah. That one! Of course, you understood what I meant, Geto-sama.” Nanako beamed both at Suguru’s deduction and herself for coming to the same conclusion about the game.
“Is that all to this story?”
“No! I promise I wouldn’t have wasted your time with just that!”
Suguru would never believe his girls to be a waste of his time. No matter how exhausting his chasing his goals had become, there were no others capable of lighting up his day as they were. He’d let them go one for hours on whatever topic they wished if time and energy permitted it.
“Anyway, the whole reason I’m talking about this baseball game is because of what happened after. I was bored and wanted to try swinging one of those bats around since Mimiko thought they would be too heavy—”
“—They are—”
“—And I overheard the team from Sendai talking about how they were going to pay their respects to the spirit that watched over their game when they returned home. But we didn’t see any cursed spirits powerful enough to do something like that the entire time! Only those annoying pest ones that are always creeping about monkey schools.” Visible disgust flashed across Nanako’s face with her tongue sticking out to further drive the point home. “ Obviously nothing was watching over them, and I wasn’t going to sit there and watch those monkeys keep living in ignorance, so I told them the truth, and you know what they did? They laughed at me!”
Suguru placed a hand over his mouth, unsure if he had the right to smile at the thought of Nanako rushing a sports team with Mimiko in tow to shout at them when it was such a fruitless endeavor. Considering the state they were in now and the fact he’d received no phone call from the school about a fight breaking out on the baseball field, Suguru could only assume the encounter either ended without escalation or his girls had gotten better at hiding their confrontations from the supervision of others. Still, he was curious what the outcome of all that was, thus he bid for Nanako to continue.
“They didn’t believe you?”
“I mean, ok. I guess one of the guys agreed that it was poor word choice, and we settled on their spirit in question blessing them with good luck that day rather than literally being there in person. Their resident spirit lives at their school. They even gave him a name. Yuji-sama.”
“Yuji?” Suguru thought for a moment, mulling over the name in search of any cursed spirits, folklore or urban legends he knew of that correlated with the name to no avail. “The name… I believe holds a benevolent connotation, but I doubt that matters if the ignorant were the ones who bestowed the title.”
“Mimiko doesn’t believe a cursed spirit had anything to do with it.”
“Hey!” Mimiko pulled her stuffed doll closer, hiding behind it as she explained her doubt. “I only suggested that maybe the reason the team did better this year was because they worked hard and practiced a lot more. Our school’s team grew complacent according to their coach’s scolding.”
“But how does that explain the teleporting lucky glove?” The girls turned from their bickering to Suguru, taking the raised eyebrow on his face as a signal to explain what Nanako was referring to. “The day before the game, the team’s pitcher prayed to Yuji-sama to win. Then, right when the team was about to leave on the bus for our school, pitcher-boy discovered he left his lucky glove at home and sulked the whole way there, only for it to appear within his bag just moments before the first inning.”
“And your theory is that this Yuji-sama the team invoked spirited the glove to them and somehow that altered the outcome of their game?”
“Yup! With my social expertise and charisma, I went onto Twitter and Instagram to ask around—”
“—Nanako bullied people through DMs until they responded to her—”
“—And found out there’s this little shrine they leave offerings to. Like snacks, coins and things in exchange for favors or good luck! I couldn’t find any pictures of it though, which is kind of annoying.”
“The food offerings disappear by morning, but someone could be clearing out the shrine before school starts or animals could have gotten to them.” Mimiko added, testing Nanako’s theory against the more obvious explanation. This only served to rile her sister up more, forcing her hand to try harder to prove her suspicion.
With haste, Nanako flickered her finger across the screen while scrolling through her messages until a certain name caught her attention.
“The school has an occult club. It’s mostly about misinformed garbage or superstitious nonsense, but the head of the club was nice enough to get back to me. She wasn’t open to telling me everything about Yuji-sama, but when I asked for proof of the spirit’s influence, she sent me one of the club’s ‘case files.’” No effort was made to hide the sarcasm in Nanako’s voice. But there was enough confidence in the information she’d obtained that she felt the need to share it, happily parting with her cell phone to allow Suguru to hold it in whichever way suited him best to read the text on the screen.
Case 27: Crossroads of Misfortune
Location: North-west street corner of Sugisawa Municipal High School campus.
Incident Record: Summarized for your convenience. Names unaffiliated with the school have been removed.
NOTE: There are numerous small instances of students reporting scraped knees from tripping over the sidewalk or careless drivers brushing past walkers and bicyclists that date back up to May 8th, 2016.
October 29th, 2016 - Head-on collision between two vehicles both turning at the intersection without adhering to the stop sign. Two people were hospitalized. Both recovered with only one receiving a lifelong injury. The ambulance was able to move to and from the scene without issue.
December 18th, 2016 - Drunk driving accident with the incapacitated driver swerving into the telephone pole as the corner. The driver was hospitalized, and the passenger escaped with minimal injuries. Telephone pole repairs were done in the late evening, with one worker receiving a nasty shock while fixing the lines. She was not seriously harmed, and continued working until repairs were done.
February 3rd and 7th, 2017 - Street construction on that corner to replace the manhole cover and clean out the sewer line resulted in several minor injuries, all culminating into a worker experiencing a hit and run as someone spread through the work zone. The driver was never identified. The worker was sent to the hospital and released, unable to continue working for the next three months until he fully recovered.
February 15th, 2017 - Third-year student, Fujihara Keiko, left an offering of taffy candy, a can of peach soda, and three homemade cookies for the spirit known as Yuji-sama in exchange for requesting his help in dispelling that street corner of whatever evil has taken over it. Upon further questioning, we found that her kouhai, Tachibana Hino walks through that intersection daily to get home. The offerings were not present the next following day, and there have been no further incidents on the north-west corner in the following four months since.
Conclusion: Yuji-sama had dispersed the evil spirit or negative energy that had overtaken the area and the street corner is suspected to once again be a safe place to cross. We will continue to monitor the area until six months have passed to be one-hundred percent sure.
Sent by one Sasaki Setsuko.
Suguru read over the report a second time, scrolling through the wall of text slowly to assure himself that he had missed nothing of note.
As far as a summary of events was concerned, the girl’s messages did their job. A simple breakdown of events. Nothing more. From what Suguru could recall during his own time chasing after cursed spirits mission after mission, the consistent string of unfortunate events on this street corner show correlations with other curse related incidents. With a pattern of roughly two months between each major event, he understood why the student would wait to conclude the cause of the incidents had been removed. However, the very caution she used to avoid declaring right away led Suguru to believe that she was just another monkey without the gift of sight, or else she would have been able to determine for herself if that was the case.
Unless the girl was being vague on purpose.
For what reason? Suguru couldn’t say. Not that he was unable to think of one, but because he was unable to pin down one of the dozen or so responses cropping up in his mind to latch onto. Ultimately, he concluded it would be best to wait and see before his own presumptions sought to blind him.
It was not uncommon for cursed spirits to manifest within or near school grounds. It was expected, and often monitored, which made the appearance of this ‘Yuji-sama’ all the more intriguing, if only for the fact that it appears to be a rather recent phenomenon. Any older, and such a name would have fallen into urban legend or spread further amongst the alumni and out to the public. Jujutsu Tech should have also picked up on this by now, and perhaps they already have.
Suguru would have to make sure of their involvement before he dared to humor the idea of treading on Sugisawa’s school grounds to witness this cursed spirit for himself.
“A cursed spirit answering to the whims of a bunch of monkeys. Tamed with cheap convenience store snacks and a couple homemade cookies for good measure.”
Suguru shook his head in disbelief. He then returned Nanako’s cell phone as he stood up from his chair, lifting his empty plate to bring over to the kitchen sink. The twins eagerly did the same, both done with their meals and ready to follow through with their next step of their evening routine.
Nanako took Suguru's right, collecting all the dirty dishes to one side in preparation for being washed. Mimiko naturally fell to his left, pulling out the dry rack and getting a towel ready to dry off any excess water from what Suguru would hand to her, as it was his job to scrub the plates and silverware clean.
He turned on the hot water and let Nanako squirt soap into the basin, chuckling as she smacked her palm against the bottom of the bottle to make sure every last drop got out.
“What are your thoughts on the girl’s report, Mimiko?”
“Me?” Mimiko looked up at Suguru, afraid she’d done something wrong in her prior opinion on the matter.
To ease her mind and coax an honest answer, Suguru continued to keep up the smile which his face had taken a handful of years to get used to.
“Your perspective rarely differs from your sister’s. I’m curious to hear what must be going through your head.”
“Oh.” Mimiko nodded, taking the first of several dishes in her hand to dry. “Well, the girl’s message said that no other incidents happened after February, but maybe it’s because people tend to avoid areas they know are dangerous. If fewer people cross that intersection, then fewer bad things will happen.”
“But that’s boring Mimiko.” Nanako leaned on the back of her heels, poking her head out behind Suguru to shoot an annoyed look at her sister. “Trying to explain everything with ‘rational thinking’ like you’re some monkey—”
“Enough.”
Suguru immediately came to regret raising his voice. Both girls flinched at the sound. Mimiko dropped the plate in her hand, everyone thankful it had fallen into the plastic rack and not the floor at their feet.
Quick to rectify his actions, Suguru shook both hands in the air before grabbing his girls by the shoulders and pulling them close, offering a hug as an apology for the scare.
“We don’t call one another such insults, alright?”
“I’m sorry, Geto-sama.”
“No need for an apology. Just don’t do it again.” Suguru squeezed Nanako tight before letting go and turning his attention to Mimiko. He crouched on the ground, finding himself a little lower than eye level since he used to do this when they were small. “Mimiko, why does the idea of this cursed spirit trouble you?”
Upon noticing Mimiko’s fingers twitch in desperate need of something to hold on to, Suguru was more than happy to provide his hands to fulfill her need for comfort.
“It’s because kind cursed spirits don’t exist. Cursed spirits come from the negative emotions of monkeys, so how can something so bad do something good? It’s all fake. Or if a cursed spirit is responsible, it’s lying to them and that’s worse.” Mimiko lowered her head before letting out another whisper, “I don’t like liars.”
“Me neither.” Suguru agreed as he patted Mimiko on the head. “The world would be so much better if we were all a bit more honest with each other about the state it's in. But, enough about all that, let’s finish cleaning up and get ourselves ready for bed. We’re all in for a long day tomorrow and there’s no worse way to start the day than running late.”
Neither Nanako nor Mimiko objected to his statement, though Suguru swore he heard Nanako mumble something under her breath along the lines of “But you take the longest to get ready, Geto-sama.”
Suguru elected to ignore her comment, happily proceeding to finish their nightly chores and clean the kitchen table down for putting the girls to bed. After wishing them both a good night and closing their bedroom door, Suguru let out a sigh and picked up his cell phone off the kitchen counter where he’d left it some odd hours ago, determined to put his girls first before anyone from his work could ruin their time together.
If it was an emergency, the rest of his family knew where to reach him.
Tired, but not worn out completely, Suguru sauntered over to the glass doors to their apartment’s balcony. Shoving the glass panes aside was only a struggle in his endeavor to avoid making noise that would catch the girl’s attention, but once he was outside and the doors closed beside him, the man was free to do as he pleased.
His action was to fall back into one of the patio chairs. The next was to let out an apologetic groan as he wiped his bangs out of his eyes. Only a dozen or so messages were in need of his immediate review. Many of which could be put off indefinitely if he truly wanted to, but that would defeat the purpose of all the hard work he’d put in over the years.
Still, he wondered if a handful of days off would be so detrimental of a request to make?
Suguru scrolled through his contacts, quick to find who he was looking for: Suda Manami. With how often they spoke, he honestly considered placing a zero in front of her name if it meant keeping it easily accessible. Scrolling through the maze of his growing contact list was becoming quite the chore.
“Geto-sama? For what do I owe the pleasure of this late?”
“How difficult would it be for you to clear my schedule for the next few days—two days at the least? Please don’t pout, I can feel your face contorting through the screen.”
“Geto-sama, you have two very important meetings tomorrow.”
“With whom?” Suguru closed his eyes, resting the back of his neck against the headrest to quell his aching head.
“I know you don’t care to remember the names of monkeys.”
“Then you already know how important those meetings really are to me.” As unbecoming as it was, Suguru was practically pleading with his assistant. “I wish to go out of town for a couple of days. There’s a cursed spirit in Sendai that has piqued my interest. I’ll have Miguel watch over the girls, and if there are any emergencies, I’ll provide the address I’ll be staying at once it's sorted out in case you are in need of me.”
“You haven’t even booked a hotel yet?” Manami was judging him, poking holes through his plans to reveal the impulsive decision-making behind them.
“I was… planning to do it on the way.”
“Honestly, Geto-sama.” Manami sighed. “I can handle the reservations if you tell me the area you’ll be doing business in. It sounds like you’re planning to go alone. Wouldn’t it be better to take one of us with you? Perhaps Toshihisa or Larue could meet you there—”
“There’s really no need. There’s a good chance this cursed spirit may be nothing more than a hoax, but if the rumors are true… I doubt it’s stronger than a fourth grade if children are able to commune with it and keep their lives intact. Perhaps the bound nature of its offering system could make it a higher grade acting under the conditions of a binding vow of some sort…” Suguru waved his hand in the air to no one, embarrassed at how his mind had already gone to wander. “Sorry, I’m already working through this little conundrum aloud. I’ll text you the address of the school I’m investigating. Any hotel close by with a private floor or wing would be preferred, but not absolutely necessary.”
“I’ll see it done. Be sure to call if you require us as well, you know we’ll drop everything to come to you if asked.”
“I know. Have a good rest of your night, Manami.”
“I will as soon as I reschedule these meetings.” She wasn’t bitter, but there was satisfaction to be found in her voice as she yanked on Suguru’s heart with the bit of guilt she could leave him with. It came from a place of concern, as all his family’s actions had, as Suguru played an integral role in keeping them together. “Take care of yourself, Geto-sama.”
No one would dare imagine what would happen if they were to find him absent from their side.
Suguru ended the call and opened his eyes to the late evening sky, confronted with the same constellations that had been in the sky before his conception and will remain there long after he departed from this world.
It was June, wasn’t it? Testing his own memory, Suguru pointed at the stars barely visible from the city wide light pollution and began naming what he could remember as if he was back on the rooftop of the school he’d forsaken.
Polaris was easy to start with. The brightest star in the sky, little could deter it from making its presence known to anyone with a set of functioning eyes. The star was also the tip of the handle to the little dipper, officially known as Ursa Minor. It only made sense to follow up the little bear constellation with its larger brother, Ursa Major. To find the next constellation, one simply needed to… How did that saying go?
“Follow the arc to Arcturus. Come on Suguru, it’s that easy!”
Suguru’s thoughts were invaded by the voice of another, one he’d longed to hear again despite how impossible that was. The memory guided his hand across the sky, landing on the next constellation to catch his interest—Boötes, the herdsman. One could not forget the zodiac constellation of his month either, with Libra’s scales on route to intersect with the meridian in the days to come before Gemini was set to reign over the sky in the month to follow.
Diverting his eyes from the now painful reminder of summer’s past, Suguru tilted the screen of his cell phone toward him and clicked the device back on, opening his search bar to begin research on anything and everything he could find on a ‘Yuji-sama’ that matched his current inquiry.
It wasn’t unheard of for a cursed spirit to become bound to those without sorcery. Fushiguro Toji had managed just fine with the disgusting worm that stored his tools. But such alliances were forged with time and were thought to hold very particular offering gifts to entice such deals to be made. Someone knowledgeable on cursed spirits—or able to interact with them on a level only a sorcerer could—must have been the original intermediary of whatever vow or law is keeping this cursed spirit bound to the school’s offering shrine— If it was bound at all.
That secondary assumption would imply the curse had thought behind its actions. The ability to understand and comprehend human words and perhaps even the ability to communicate back… that would immediately bring this cursed spirit’s classification up to special grade, would it not? On the ground of such an odd manifestation occurring, regardless of its power.
The possibility alone was enough to further demand Suguru’s attention. Another special grade curse to add to his arsenal was not an opportunity he could pass up. As for its abilities and general usefulness in the long term, he’d have to discover that for himself when he reached Sendai. Until then, Suguru was left to ponder in silence.
Yuji-sama… Just what manner of curse are you?