I told you the next one would be out soon, next chapter is probably on the 5th

Daiyousei woke slowly, her eyelids fluttering open, her vision blurry. She mumbles something to herself, feeling strangely warm, and there was a bump sensation as well, like she was moving, but she knew she wasn't walking. Daiyousei shook her head. The last thing she remembered, she and Cirno had–

"Cirno!"

Daiyosei looked around, her head going left and right until she saw her bandaged sister beside her.

"Be careful." A strong unfamiliar voice cut in, dispelling Daiyousei's confusion. "She's still hurt, you shouldn't move her unless it's absolutely necessary."

Daiyousei nodded as her surroundings came into view. The man who was talking to her was the same blonde one who had saved her and Cirno, a moment later she remembered his name was Nanami. She looked around, and shifted in her seat uncomfortably. They were in a car, she had never ridden in one before, only seen them in pictures and on the village's television. She grabbed the seat belt, running a hand across it, she shuddered, thinking of the cage. Daiyousei resisted the urge to take it off as she looked at Cirno's bandaged form.

Her elder twin sister was out cold, her blue hair shielding her eyes and falling against the car door as sur curled in on herself as a series of bandages seeped in red wrapped around her chest. Out her own window, she could see mountains and hills rushing by, an endless canopy of trees under a blanket of night cut through by the car and its headlights on the desolate road. Daiyousei looked back to the front seat, and realized there had been someone, another man, sitting next to Nanami.

"Excuse me, Mister Nanami?"

"Your sister will be fine." He said, not turning to look back at them.

Daiyousei nodded, but before she could ask another question the man next to her seemed to cough into his hand. "Ahem, Nanami."

The student scowled at the aid for a moment, his face twisting with displeasure and venom died on his tongue, before looking back at Daiyousei and sighing. "I know you and your friend–" Daiyousei nodded, not correcting the man, "–have been through a lot, but I need you to answer some questions."

Daiyousei nodded, and the questions began at once: No, she and Cirno didn't know the name of their mama–no, they didn't know their last name–no, they didn't have any family–yes, they were related. Yes, they were running away from the village–because they had been locked up–because the villagers were mad at them. How old were they–nine. Were they both Nine–yes. Twin–Daiyousei said yes again but Nanami narrowed his eyes.

Either way he switched the subject. "Why were they mad at you?" Nanami's voice was soft and measured, trying to console Daiyousei. Her mind couldn't help but go to when the villagers had approached them the same way, right before they were captured.

"Excuse me, Daiyousei?"

She shook her head, screwing her mouth close. She had promised Cirno she wouldn't tell anyone they were sorcerers!

Nanami furrowed his brow, before smoothing his face out into a smile. "Daiyousei, can you and your sister see things other people can't see?"

Daiyousei strengthened her back and shrunk back into her seat, trying to disappear.

"It's okay, you aren't in trouble," Nanami raised a finger, "Can you see this?" The cursed energy that was wrapped around his finger shifted, slithering out and forming the shape of a number '2'.

Daiyousei's eyes winded, she didn't realize you could do that with cursed energy. Nanami took her reaction for confirmation and lowered his hand.

"You see, you're a Jujutsu Sorcerer. A type of person who can see cursed energy, is your sister the same?"

Daiyousei nodded.

"I see, we were called to investigate a series of disappearances. The last thing we were told, the mayor had a culprit, would that culprit be you two?"

"W-we didn't do anything!"

Nanami raised a hand. "I don't think you or your sister did, but we need the full story."

Daiyousei shook her head, then thought about it for a moment. She knew Nanami was a Jujutsu Sorcerer too, but she still didn't know what he did. The mayor called him but here was here to save them. She tilted her head at him, "So, you protect people from bad guys and youkai?"

Daiyousei flinched back into her seat as Nanami's face twisted in a storm of emotions, before settling. "You don't have to worry about that, we'll take care of everything. Now do you have any questions you want to ask?"

Daiyousei nodded. "Where are we going?"

The aid answered for her. "General hospital."

A hospital? Daiyousei had heard of those but she had never been to one, she knew they had a bunch of doctors in them and if Cirno could get healed by one of them she wouldn't have to do it herself. She felt her heart left, but as she saw the look on Nanami's face, she wilted once more.

Nanami looked at him, scowling. Daiyouse brought her legs up to her chest as Cirno mumbled in her sleep.

The ais sighed, looking away. "Hey, don't be mad at me, Iori is fully booked, Narumi's in Kyoto right now, Eientei is too far, and those three upperclass men–" he gestured vaguely out towards the trees, "–Are all taking the special grade exam right now. Miss Okina already decided to take care of the hospital bill as well. There's no Reverse Curse Techniques expert available, and one of those girls of hers has a healing power."

Nanami went rigid at the mention of the name 'Okina', his face contributing before stared straight ahead, not allowing Faiyousei to see his face. Regardless, she retreated further into her seat.

"Is she a bad woman, mister Nanami?"

Nanami didn't say anything, keeping his eyes on the road as Daiyousei felt something creep up her back and worm its way around her heart, constricting her like the seatbelt.

"Hey," as if to respond to something unsaid the aid spoke up, "We need as many Sorcerers as we can get, no need to be picky. Besides, you can sense that blue haired girl's cursed energy, even if she's still a little brat without much output, her reserves are bigger than everyone else in this car combined. Just imagine how strong she'll be, and how many people she could save once she starts eating properly. The New Shadow School will be a great place for her."

Nanami didn't say anything in response, but Daiyousei could feel something change in the air, something in the cursed energy, like someone had sucked out all the air from the room. Beside her Cirno stirred. Daiyousei put a hand on her sister's shoulder and puffed her chest out. She could feel her heart wavering, but if Cirno was asleep that meant she was the big sister now. She'd have to teleport them away so Cirno could heal herself with that 'positive energy' stuff she had used to heal herself after their first escape attempt.

Then they could find that 'Heida' Cirno was looking for.

Daiyousei nodded to herself, holding her arms in an attempt to reassure her. That was when they turned the corner, Daiyousei having to hold herself still, exclaiming as the entire car seemed to tilt. Even Nanami braced himself at the wide turn.

The aid smiled. "Welcome to Tokyo, hope you enjoy the stay."

Daiyousei's eyes winded as the glittering cityscape appeared before them. Towers shot up into the night sky, skyscrapers Daiyousei had never seen in person, stabbing into the sky like a hundred jewel topped spears. She leaned to look out the window, almost pushing her face up against the glass as her eyes went wide. It felt like an eternity and by the time she looked away they had descended down into the Urbanization Control Area surrounding the city, its towers and skyscrapers turning from spears to monoliths, each one glaring down at them with a thousand eyes. Daiyosei clutched her and steeled her resolve, she'd protect her big sister from this Okina person, then they would find Heida.

The clock on the car radio read 10:30 as the aid eased his foot off the gas as they can to a stop in the parking lot. Outside the lampposts seem to flicker, surprising Daiyousei. When she turned back to Nanami, he was wrapping a set of bandages around his hand. The aid looked to him with confusion, but Nanami didn't explain himself, opening the glove box to heft out something that looked like a blunted meat cleaver wrapped in the bandages.

If Daiyousei had gotten a closer look she would have been able to make out the scrawlings on the bandages revealing them to be talismans, or read the words: 'Ninety Degree Meat Market -Kogasa' inscribed on cleaver's handle.

"Mister Nanami!" The aid chided.

Nanami was already out of the car, resting a hand on it as he tested the weight of the cleaver. "Stay in the car. I haven't gotten the chance to test this out."

Cars groaned in the parking lot, a large, four-legged, barrel-and-insect-like youkai revealed itself from between the rows of cars while across from it a spider with the head of a cow matched its bulk.

Nanami cocked his head at it. "Hospitals, graveyards, abandoned buildings. "All of them are a breeding ground for youkai. With those three[/]> gone, there's nothing to keep them down." Nanami's face twisted into a scowl, if he knew it then Okina certainly did.

Daiyousei swallowed her spit and the crushing fear in the back of her throat as she unbuckled herself.

A third youkai emerged, a lumpy mass of black undulating flesh rolling into the street formed by the rows of cars, slime fell off of it as a mass stalk rose from the central mass, revealing the form of a massive leech.

"Ooooohohoho." A woman's voice came from it, "Miss Whiterock didn't tell me there would be sorcerers here."

Nanami narrowed his eyes, "And I didn't expect to find a Grade one youkai here, do you care to do me the courtesy of introducing yourself?" Contrary to her words, his tone was harsh and his face warped by annoyance.

The leech youkai chuckled, "Sorry but you're too young for me, human."

Nanami's face twisted in disgust. Around them the air seemed to grow cold, black clouds gathering in the sky. He remembered the name, she was one of the Disaster Curses who had been alive since the Heian era, he already remembered reports of their former leader's reincarnation, not to mention the fact that of all their numbers the former god Hanami had survived.

"I see you and, Miss Whiterock, was it–?"

The youkai nodded.

In the car the aid was too distracted by the youkai, big and small, emerging from the woodworks, to notice her lowering the window, and grab Cirno. As the adrenaline rushed through her, she felt her sense of distance sharpen, her curse energy spike, and the soreness in her muscles dissipate.

"Right, if you and Miss Iku are going to be so discourteous, then I'll have to introduce myself first." He took a deep breath. "My name is Kento Nanami, I am a half-danish second year student at Jujutsu High and have already risen to be a Grade One; My cursed technique is called Ratio, it allows me to arbitrarily divide any selected area into ten segments, with a weakpointed created at the ratio point of seven-to-three. This statement is part of a binding vow I have made where revealing information about myself and my technique boosts my cursed energy."

The leech-thing seemed to smile. "As if a trick like that'll help you." It's comrades, the ox-headed spider and the barrel-thing laughed along.

The window of the car finished opening and Daiyousei activated her untitled cursed technique.

Nanami disappeared in a flash and cut a youkai in two with his cleaver, landing on the roof of a car with a thud and dodging an attack from the leech. He snapped to see Daiyousei holding Cirno appear in another aisle of the parking lot.

"SORRY MISTER NANAMI!"

He moved to intercept but a web shot by the spider-cow caught onto his cleaver first, forcing him to cut it free with a chop of his hand and giving Daiyousei just enough time to teleport again.

The second time she hit the ground running as she appeared at the edge of the parking lot, wrapped her body in a sheath of cursed energy, and teleported again.

She ran, holding Cirno in her arms as she ducked out of the way of cursed spirits, occasionally teleporting herself to keep out of reach, disappearing into Tokyo's alleyways.

When she was finally too tired to teleport anymore, Daiyousei had found herself standing in a small alley made by a ruined warehouse on one side, and a dilapidated building in the other. She looked at Cirno in her hands, her elder twin sister still sleeping peacefully. For once Daiyousei was happy to be the taller one. Her legs were shaking but she forced herself to walk further, entering through a hole in the warehouse before collapsing against the wall.

She hit the wall with a metal thunk. Daiyousei breathed in and out, tasting the unfamiliar and murky city air as she strained her ears, thankful to make out the beating of her and Cirno's hearts underneath her deep breaths. There was another feeling, Cursed Energy. Much higher then the background levels she had felt out in their village, she felts the hairs on the back of her neck raise as the levels of cursed energy spiked again.

Just what was going on?

Cirno stirred awake as her grip relaxed. She lifted a hand to rub at her eye, trying to clear the blurriness of her vision and properly make out her younger twin sister. "Dai, where..." a wince of pain cut off her statement.

Daiyousei hugged her sister, wrapping her arms around Cirno's neck. She realized a moment too late her eyes were teary again. "It's okay Cirno, I got us away from them, that Okina won't get us."

Cirno didn't even blink before her eyes were fully clear. "Okina?"

Daiyousei nodded. "Mister Nanami isn't a bad person but Miss Okina is and the man in the car was going to take us to her."

Cirno nodded, urgency in her movements sent a hand down to her gut, muttering something under her breath as she pulsed with warmth. Daiyousei held her breath as the claws through areas of her gut filled themselves back up under the bandages.

"Cirno?"

Cirno nodded, jumping out of Daiyosuei's lap and then embracing her in a hug. "I'll take care of you, okay?" Daiyousei hugged her back, and then felt a warm, revealing feeling pulse through her.

When Cirno let go Daiyousei felt more awake and less sore, but there was still an underlying tiredness, and now a gnawing hunger. It took the younger twin sister to realize that her big sister had been crying, beads of tears falling down her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm not very good at Reverse Curse Technique. I can only heal myself really well.

Daiyousei nodded, before Cirno seemed to realize something.

"Oh yeah, I'm not very good at teaching it either, but it's supposed to be like math. When you multiply a negative by a negative you get a positive, turning Cursed Energy into Positive Energy."

Daiyousei didn't think that made any sense. Wasn't a curse still a curse no matter what? Not mentioning she only had a dim idea what 'multiply' meant. Which made her sad, she wished she was as bright as Cirno, who always seemed to have everything naturally come to her.
At that moment, both of their stomachs rumbled.

Cirno frowned, looking at her stomach. "I'm hungry, but we have to hide our traces first so they don't find us."

"Traces?"

"Yeah," Cirno smiled as she saw another opportunity to explain something, "humans and youkai leave behind traces when they use cursed energy, like footprints. Just focus on your cursed energy and look at where you've been." Cirno narrowed her eyes and pointed at the entrance hole. "See?"

Daiyousei's eyes winded as she realized that a series of ethereal foot prints led right up to her. She followed them back, looking through the hole and into the alley where a circle on the ground showed where she arrived after using her Cursed Technique. "Woah."

Cirno jumped out in the alley. "Uh, huh. It's really cool, and you can tell people apart, but that's really hard, but it's easier when someone has a weird type of cursed energy like rough, electric, or poison. Now watch and learn!" She raised her hands, throwing a wave of cursed energy at the ground that blurred the traces.

Daiyousei nodded, once again surprised by her elder twin sister. "Wow, Cirno, how do you know so much?"

Cirno puffed up her chest, smiling proudly. "That's because I'm gonna be the strongest, and don't you forget it?" That wasn't really an answer, but Daiyousei was too nice, and in too much shock to do anything else but nod along. "Now come on, follow me! I feel some familiar traces nearby."

"O-okay!"

Daiyousei followed Cirno as she broke into a sprint, charging through alleyways with reckless abandon as the electric lights of Tokyo shined even into the alley, guiding their way with buzzing twilight. She tried her best, squinting her eyes as she looked in front of Cirno, but no matter what she couldn't see any footprints like they were leaving behind. Slowly without realizing it, the two were traveling to the source of that disruption, closer to the hospital. Then, the smell of cooked meat wafted through the air, hitting Cirno and Daiyousei as they arrived at a four-way alley.

Daiyousei was the first to turn, looking in the opposite direction of the traces Cirno was following. "Cirno, do you smell that?"

Cirno froze, looking torn between whatever traces she was following and the smell of food. It wasn't too long until Daiyousei couldn't hold her back and took a step in the direction of the smell, and in an instant both of them were running that way.

Daiyousei caught up to Cirno and as they turned a corner, Cirno and Daiyousei's vision narrowed and a wall of black descended on them.

The pair stumbled forward, Cirno misstepping, Daiyousei tripping into her. The next thing they knew Cirno had hit hard concrete, followed by Daiyousei bouncing off her and onto the ground.

Daiyousei scrambled onto her knees, Cirno tried to grab onto her but– "Ah!"

"Hey!" But Daiyousei kicked on reflex, her foot hiding it's place against Cirno's face.

"Sorry!" Daiyoise held her hands out to apologize, only to he grabbed by Cirno again as she pulled them closer to each other.

Soon the two sisters found themselves embracing and pressed up against the alley wall, both rising to their feet as carefully as they could.

The darkness that has surrounded them was nearly absolute, with only a small radius around the girls visible as the rest of the world was consumed by pitch black. Daiyousei's ear twitched, she could hear something in the distance, something like singing. She looked back and forth, her eyes trying to pierce the darkness. "Is it that youkai from earlier, has she returned?"

Cirno gathered cursed energy spreading ice along the wall behind them as she summoned another icicle baseball bat. "I don't know, let's keep moving."

They moved carefully, the sisters keeping their back to the wall as Daiyousei took the back and Cirno the front, each carefully scanning the patch of light around them as they navigated the darkness. Then as Cirno looked back to the end of the alley, her eyes lit up.

"Look, Dai!"

Further down the pitch black street, a bright spot cut through the darkness with its buzzing electric light and the scent of cooked meat. Once more, the girls felt something brush up against the backs of their neck.

They practically exploded, breaking out into a spring as fast as their tired legs could career them. Cirno cast her icicle back away, throwing it behind them and leaving it to explode on the alley floor, leaving a patch of ice.

The bright spot loomed closer, becoming a star, and then blinding as they ran into the store, only the vague figure of a woman behind a grill visible to them.

"Hey!" "Help Miss!"

"Oh" As she came into focus, the woman tilted her head and held a hand in front of her mouth in faux surprise. "Helloo~!" The woman said in a sing-song voice, "Just what are you two little morsels doing here?"

Cirno leaned onto the counter, almost spilling onto the grill. "We're being chased by a youkai!"

The woman waved them off, laughing. "Oh dear, well don't worry. I'll fight off any who come in here. But are you girls sure you don't have any other problems?"

Daiyousei shook. "We couldn't see! The night got really dark and the moon disappeared."

The woman tilted her head and laughed. "Hmm, well that sounds like you have night blindness." They woman took two sticks of lamprey from her grill, handing them to the girls. "How about this, they say grilled lamprey and eel is a sure cure!"

Only after devouring their skewers, did Cirno notice the wings coming out of the woman's back. "You're a youkai!"

The woman laughed, her sing-song voice itching something in the back of their brains. "Yep!"

Daiyousei nodded, still unsure of what exactly was going on. "You're nothing like that blonde girl we met before, Miss..."

The lady smiled at her. "My name is Mystia. Now–wait, blond girl? She wouldn't have happened to be wearing black and red, with a Cursed Technique related to Darkness?"

Daiyousei and Cirno stiffened. The look on their faces told her everything she needed to know. "Rumia." She whined. She shook her head. "I'm sorry about that girl, she keeps getting herself killed and then immediately reincarnating. She never learns, but what can you expect from a Grade Four like her."

Cirno snorted, barely holding back a laugh, before snapping to attention. "Grade Four, what's that mean?"

Mystia shrugged. "I don't really know, but it's something Miss Inaba and the Sorcerers keep talking about." She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes as if she's trying to remember something. "I think it's how strong you're supposed to be. Four's the weakest so one has to be the strongest."

Cirno folded her arms, offended somehow. "Just because we lost to a Grade Four doesn't mean we're weak! Besides I bet no one can hold a candle to the real strongest."

Mystia shrugged non-comitially, refusing to argue as she places another skewer of meat on the grill.

Daiyousei tilted her head, once again not entirely understanding what someone was talking about. "So you really are nice youkai?" She was starting to consider that maybe everyone outside of the village was just a weirdo like Cirno.

Mystia nodded. "Exactly and since I'm the nice sort and gave you some grilled eel to cure your night blindness that means you have to pay up!"

Daiyousei frowned, "But miss, we don't have any money."

Mystia froze her wings stretching towards the ceiling as her face twitched. Finally she huffed, putting a hand on her waist as she gestured to the two girls with a skewer. "If you don't have any money to give me, then I might as well eat you up right now!" Mystia stopped her foot against the floor, indignant like as child.

"Hey!" Cirno pointed at her, "You must be the youkai who made us night blind!" Ice and cursed energy were already gathering in the air. Daiyousei backed away, climbing off her stool as the two faced off.

Mystia put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, but you'te the ones trying to dine and dash, so who's really at fault here? Besides I'm a grade three, if you couldn't beat Rumia then you can't beat me!" She punctuated her statement by stabbing at Cirno with a spatula.

Daiyousei wilted. Now she was really regretting leaving Nanami behind, he was probably really worried as well.

Cirno narrowed her eyes, trying to judge if she could beat Mystia and what she could get away with. Then another piece of Jujutsu knowledge came to her ."I know!" the intensity in the air vanished as she extended a hand "How about this, we'll make a Binding Vow?"

Mystia cocked her head, lowering her skewer. "A binding vow?"

Cirno extended her hand and pinky finger to the youkai. "Yep, we promise that if you feed us we'll pay you back in one week's time, and if not we have to do what you say!" Cinro elbowed Daiyousei, prompting her to extend her pinky as well.

Mystia seemed to think on it for a moment, her wings fluttering. "Okay," she extended her hand and the three interlocked their pinkies, after a moment of paused something seemed to change into air and they all sprung into motion.

"Now eat your fill."

The two girls dug into the meat skewers Mystia offered them, devouring seven in total before they had to stop. Now, although full, their stomachs hurt. Daiyousei held her stomach, groaning in pain as Mystia prepared to close up shop, turning off the grill. Cirno joined her, falling into her taller little sister.

Daiyousei looked at her. "Uh, Cirno, what's a Binding Vow?"

"Oh yeah, a Binding Vow is when you make a promise with sorcery, that way Miss Yama makes sure everyone keeps their promise." Her voice trailed off at the end as she dug her head into the crook of Daiyousei's neck.

Daiyousei nodded, not fully understanding what Cirno meant but unable to resist the call of sleep either, even as her stomach hurt. Soon enough her head was resting atop Cirno's, the two sisters precariously balanced on the stools.

Mystia shook her head, looking down at the pair. "humans. Trying to dine and dash then falling asleep in my store like this." she said, shaking her head as if they were the ones who had done something wrong. Either way she opened the door to the back room and carried the two girls inside, ascending a stairwell into her living room. She deposited the girls onto her couch, covering them with a blanket before going to her toom and booting up a computer still had a couple more hours of moonlight before she'd retire for the day.

Outside, Nanami and what few Jujutsu Sorcerers were on hand exorcized the youkai crawling over Tokyo and scoured the city, while Cirno and Daiyousei drifted off to sleep.

"Ahh, looks like it's getting a bit early." Mystia slouched into her gaming chair, smiling to herself as pursued guild chat and had her undead warrior run in a circle. After the girls had gone to sleep she had booted up her new favorite internet addiction, an American game a friend had introduced to her before leaving Japan.

Speaking of that friend, Mystia moused over a private message from her.

>'Mystia, are you okay?'

>'Why wouldn't I be? I've been online all night?'

>'You didn't hear anything?'

>'Any what?'

>'You know, explosions or something???!!!?"
>'There was a terrorist attack in Tokyo! I can't believe you didn't notice?!'
> 'CGR is already absent because his work place got bombed!'

'Is that what that was?' Mysita rolled her chair over to her window, opening the curtains and peeking through the blinds. Outside, a red and grey haze has conquered the skyline of Tokyo. Her wings fluttered, maybe she shouldn't listen to music while gaming anymore? She hopped out of her chair and opened her door a crack, peeping at the two young girls; still peacefully asleep.

She sighed. They couldn't pay off their debt to her if they were dead after all. Although the mention of CGR's work place getting bombed did make her worry, she was pretty sure he was already a big <i>aged</i> by the standards of humans.

>'Mystia?'
>'Msty?'
>'MSITY?!'
>'Are you okay?'

>'Just checking on something'
>'I got some house guests recently'

>'Humans?'

>'Not like I know many youkai here now that you're gone.'

>'I'm just happy you're warming up to them, you're always so cold.'

Mystia cocked her head. She wouldn't exactly call her indebiting those two dine-n-dashers and housing them warming up that much. Although she had to admit, the past her who had met Ms Inaba and Kyouko wouldn't have spared the girls. At the same time she still didn't see anything wrong with what she had done. Either way she wouldn't disarm her friend of her notions.

>'Yeah.'
>'Anyway, what's with this terrorist attack?'

>'Well Shou never tells me anything, but she wants to return to Japan soon. It looks like something big is going down, but...'

Mystia raised an eyebrow, Kyouko had mentioned this 'Shou' person before but she still had no idea who she was.

>'But she never tells you anything?'

>'Yeah.'
>'Well I did hear one name'
>'Kenjaku'

>'Who's that?'

>'Dunno, but the other disciples are getting jumpy...'

>'Disciple? You're not part of a cult? Is that why you left Japan?'

>'Ignore that plz'

Mystia hesitated, if Kyouko really was in trouble she might need to help her. Then again it sounded like a lot of trouble, and it wasn't like the Sorcerers would take a wellness call about a youkai abroad seriously. Mystia nodded to herself and slouched back in her chair; didn't even know where Mystia was. She idly sent a message to CGR–CoolGrandpaRock–for him to get well, then back to Kyouko's blood elf warlock.

>'K'
>'Same time next week, Kyouko?'

>'ARGH!'
>'Well good day Kyouko, signing off.'

Mystia yawned, idly sent an email to Miss Inaba, and turned her computer off. Once more she peered into her living room, seeing the two girls snuggled up next to each other. "Well, at least they're cute for dine-n-dashers."

After that she went back into her room, and fell asleep for the day.

<hr>

"Come on, Dai." Daiyousei shifted on the bed. She shook her head, the last thing she could remember was that everything was cold and hard. Why was she warm? "Dai wake up."

Daiyousei blinked the sleep out of her eyes. "Wah? Cirno..." she looked around, greeted by an unfamiliar room lit by sunlight that peeked through heavy curtains. gray and stained posters she didn't recognize on the wall. They laid on an old leather couch beneath her and her sister, and a blanket thrown over them. "Where are we?"

Cirno rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "We escaped, remember? We're in Tokyo."

Daiyousei blinked, and the entire night came back to them: their flight from their home village, the youkai who attacked them, Mister Nanami, the mention of Okina, her taking Cirno into her arms and fleeing, Mystia and how Daiyousei wanting to get food instead of follow Cirno had forced them to make a deal with the youkai. "Cirno I'm so sorry for almost getting us captured, and I–"

"No!" Cirno clamped her hands down on her sister's face, shutting her up. Daiyousei tried to speak but Cirno interrupted her before she could start. "It's okay Dai, you're still learning!" She let go of Daiyousei and jumped off the couch, sending the blanket sprawling onto the floor."Now come on, if we're gonna pay off our debt we have to find who left the traces I was following yesterday."

Daiyousei nodded meekly and followed her sister, casting a glance towards a clock mounted on the wall reading nine in the morning.

"Now. First off, clothes." Cirno pointed back to the couch, her finger landing on something Daiyousei had overlooked, a series of black T-shirts and hoodies with scary pictures of flames, skeletons, and lightning on them. She looked down at their tattered dresses and shorts would only draw attention to them.

"We'll stand out even more if we don't change."

Daiyousei briefly thought of pointing out it was stealing, but the discomfort of her dirty clothes and the practicality of the situation, overrode her politeness. "And getting washed, I don't like being covered in dirt."

Cirno nodded, wordlessly agreeing with her. Finding the bathroom was a quick affair, there were only three rooms connected to the living room; Mystia's bedroom, a kitchen, and the bathroom. After trading turns in the bath, both girls quickly equipped Mystia's strange t-shirts emblazoned with phrases like 'hell-oh'.
After that the pair raided Mystia's fridge, taking what little she had inside–milk, plain cereal, eggs–Cirno pushed Daiyousei to the table as she made breakfast as she always did.

Daiyousei went along with it despite her worry, only able to pick out two paper plates for the eggs as Crino handled everything else, not wanting to dirty any more of Mystia's dishes. Cirno had always been the one to cook for them, had always been the one to pass up meals for her, and had always been the one taking care of her, even before they became sorcerers. That, had been why Daiyousei grew to be the bigger sister. Yet yesterday all she ended up doing was saving them from the problems she made; if she hadn't been hungry, if she could have stopped that youkai

Cirno hopped out of her chair, bringing Daiyousei's attention back to her as she pulled out a knife. "Now! We need some weapons."

Daiyousei looked between Cirno and her own half-finished plate, "I don't know Cirno, knives are dangerous."

Cirno blew a raspberry at Daiyousei. "They're levers!" She smiled and shook her head as if what she meant was obvious.

"What?"

"Just do what I do," Cirno said, holding out the knife like a sword. "If you circulate your cursed energy around a tool you make it more durable. Tools have a smaller area to apply force, and give you leverage, multiplying output; See?" Cirno picked up her paper plate, threw it into the air, then spun around. She caught the plate mid-air, chopping it into nine pieces before it could hit the floor. "The only problem is the durability, but that's why Cursed Tools exist."

Daiyousei nodded, not understanding much more than the fact that weapons help you hit harder. Although now that she was getting more comfortable–no longer cold, only hurting a little, and now well fed–she had a question she hadn't previously thought of. "Cirno, how do you know so much?"

Cirno smiled brightly, pointing to herself with her thumb. "Because I had the strongest teacher and now I'm your teacher so you have to do what I say."

A seed of doubt lingered in the back of Daiyousei's mind at the mention of a 'teacher', but she didn't feel like she could oppose her big sister. She supposed her answer made good enough sense anyway. "Okay."
Daiyousei quickly finished her eggs after, disposing of her own paper plate in a less dramatic manner, and washed their bowl on her insistence. After that they went back to looting Mystia's house–on Cirno's insistence they could pay her back later. They picked out an old backpack they could store things in.

Once they were done, the impassioned elder twin set her feet apart, and pointed a hand in the air. "Now follow me. We have to follow those traces I felt last night."

The two exited onto the stairwell that led to Mystia's restaurant, making sure to grab a copy of their receipt on the way out.

There was an immediate and noticeable change from the city of yesterday night; the sky had turned pale blue and a deep grey, as an unseasonable cold cold blanket Tokyo. Daiyousei shivered. .
The two continued their journey through ducking through alleyways, avoiding the main thoroughfare. Luckily for them the entire city seemed concerned with something else; red and blue lights flashing, people shouting, others huddled in doors. They carried on until Cirno stopped in her tracks.

She squinted, sweat dripping down her face as it scrunched up in concentration. "I can't see them anymore."

Daiyousei looked over her shoulder, scouring the alley as if Cirno's words or the passage of time would allow her to see what she had missed yesterday. Then a voice cut through the air like a knife.

"You should find what you're looking for right there."

Cirno and Daiyousei jumped, taking defensive positions as they turned to see a woman–a youkai–pointing down one of the four alley ways.

She was tall, and looked youthful–maybe only slightly over twice Cirno and Daiyousei's age–with a pale face, green hair, a pair of glassy green eyes, and a swarm of purple coils surrounding her; all linked to a closed third eye that fixed its attention on Cirno.

The youkai smiled at them and waved. "Hi."

The pair held their ground, as she stood like a statue. The oddest part was, despite clearly being a youkai, neither of them could sense her cursed energy.

The youkai raised a finger to her face, frowning as the coils surrounding her made a heart. "Oh, sorry. Well I'll introduce myself first; I'm Komeiji, Koishi Komeiji. Although my enemies call me Mary Mary, and sometimes the 'Emotionless Eye of Love', but you can just call me Koishi if we're gonna be friends."

Neither of the girls responded.

Koishi, shrugged. "Well you two have fun, just make sure to say hi to Miss Heida for me, okay?" Koishi turned on her heel, her boots clacking against the alleyway.

Cirno sent a hand for one of the knives, trying to discreetly open Daiyousei's backpack when the youkai's back was turned. "How did you know–"

A knife appeared in Koishi's hand, causing the two girls to freeze. "I told you, you can call me Koishi." Her smile stayed fixed. "You still haven't told me your names but I–" she trailed off, her words turning into nothing as she got a far away look in her eyes. The next moment Koishi giggled to herself, "Sorry, but I forgot what I was thinking about. I have some friends to meet so I really can't stay to chat, okay?" As she spoke, both Cirno and Daiyousei were forced to take a step back as the Cursed Energy shrouding Koishi changed, turning into a torrent. "Besides that, would you like someone rooting out all of your secrets?" She reminded Cirno of a buddha statue.

"N-no." She bowed, her sister following her lead a moment later."

Koishi laughed, "Have a good day! And by the way sorry, it's probably my fault you couldn't find what you were looking for." She waved to them. "I'll see you later but I have to meet a friend."

The two girls could only nod and turn down the alley she had pointed them tn. The torrent of cursed energy ceased, and when they looked back, they found themselves questioning if there had ever been a 'Koishi Komeiji' in the first place. The name fled from their minds, leaving an ominous void and a half forgotten encounter. Daiyousei shook off the feeling first, going back to looking for whatever traces Cirno had been following.

The two continued on their quick pace, until Daiyousei was forced to take a breath, overtaken by her sister. As she braced herself against an alley wall, she finally saw the traces they were following.

It was hardly like the footsteps she or Cirno left, more like the wake of a duck in a pond, all the cursed energy rippling along the edges while the path she and Cirno had been following was laid bare, overly still. She felt her heart seize up as Cirno neared a corner, as if whatever had cut a swath through the world itself would turn the corner and eviscerate her sister.

The realization was like being able to see for the first time, and somehow her mind connected it to the woman who they had met, and her third eye that had stared at Cirno so intently.

"Come on Dai, we're getting closer!" Her sister had turned off her heel, cupping her hands together as she yelled for her.

"Right," She gulped, casting those seditious thoughts away, reassuring herself that Cirno knew what she was doing.

Eventually, Cirno slowed down, her steps becoming more deliberate as they arrived at a dead end alley. She knelt, looking into a basement, scouring back and forth,looking for something in particular before standing up. "Dai, can you teleport us through the window?"

"I-I'll try." Daiyousei wrapped her arms around her sister and then looked through the window. She repeated the steps Cirno has taught her, focusing on negative emotions, circulating her cursed energy, concentrating on her cursed technique and intent. She felt something like a tendril reach out towards the window as she calculated the distance between the alley and the basement of the dusty bookstore, but the second that tendril hit the window, she felt her technique fizzle into nothing. She let go of her sister. "Sorry, Cirno."

Cirno nodded and reached out towards Daiyousei with an open palm. Her twin handed her one of the knives, watching as Cirno went to work on the window, applying a mixture of cold and then pressure with the knife until she popped it open. "Teleport us in, he's down there."

"Who?"

"My teacher."

Daiyousei nodded, feeling something coil in her gut at those words. Cirno put her hands on her hips and Daiyousei complied.

The two appeared in the basement with a puff of mist, Cirno immediately let go of her sister, turning on her heel to look at the side of the room she wasn't able to see before.

She held her hands to her mouth in a funnel and called: "Teacher?"

Cirno strained her eyes in worry as she looked at the blank door. She narrowed her eyes, and approached the door, moving slowly as if not to arouse anger or suspicion. Daiyousei stayed behind, frozen on the spot as she shook. She was reminded of before their capture, when they were sneaking around to avoid capture.

Cirno grabbed the door knob. "Hello?"

She opened the door and felt her heart drop.

"Cirno?" Daiyousei went to her sister, peering past her into the storage room packed to the brim with books and boxes.

"No, no, no." Cirno muttered to herself, walking into the room as she quickly descended into panic. She jumped into the mess, tearing boxes aside until she had found her target, a taped over cardboard box she ripped through in the next moment. Inside was a collection of books she tossed aside, revealing a small, finger-sized box resting in the nook between two books. She took it out, holding the box like she'd die if she let go of it.

<hr>

"Nanami?"

The aforementioned Grade One second year student of Jujutsu High blinked the sleep out of his eyes, a brown haired girl wearing a hat came into focus.

"Nanami?"

He ignored Renko's question, shifting to the side on what he realized was a couch. He took a moment to look around the room. It was a small lounge with a chair, table, coffee machine, and some cabinets, with one of Yukari's new 'Chen' shikigami seated at the table. He counted himself lucky that the aid has, probably, saved his life after he evidently collapsed from exhaustion last night. He ignored the Shikigami, more attracted to the smell of fresh coffee than he was tired. Chen ignored him politely as he got himself a cup.

He practically devoured it, holding it to his mouth with both hands before putting it back down on the counter to fill it up again. "Where's Haibara? We were supposed to meet after my mission."
Renko sighed and joined him, pouring herself a cup before dragging him back, with little resistance, to the couch. There, Nanami repeated his question about Haibara.

A Yukari's cut in from behind Chen's mouth: "Still with the Kochiya Clan, there was a misunderstanding with Lady Suwa, but everything is okay."

Nanami rolled his eyes at the mention of the miniature curse god.

Standing across from him and Renko on the couch was Yukari's newest Shikigami.. In contrast to the 'Ran' model of Shikigami he was familiar with, It took the form of a young girl with cat ears and was mass produced. Either way, hearing Yukari's voice come out of her instead of a phone speaker was odd. The thought of her making more of them was odd.

Nanami nodded. "What's the situation?"

Chen waddled a bit closer, her childishness proving an odd contrast with Yukari's voice "The attack last night was coordinated, with multiple members of the youkai terrorist group known as the Disaster Curses attacking major cities; the youkai of Blizzards, Volcanoes, and Forests all have confirmed sightings but the other higher ups from the Disaster Curses–Humanity, Revolution, and Tsunamis–haven't been seen. Hakurei is already on route here, she'll arrive mid-day tomorrow, while Geto and Gojo are intercepting the others."

Both Renko and Nanami could hear Yukari's smile thin on the other end of the line. "And for the two girls you found; Okina already has two of her own girls after them, Satono and Mai. Miss Heida has already sent someone to their village. As such I'll be sending you two after the girls as well."

Nanami looked at Renko; She was notably shorter than him with a slimmer body than most Jujutsu Sorcerers had, average cursed energy, no notable Cursed Technique. Her face was still-soft but the look behind her eyes reminded him of Marsa: a complete willingness to throw herself into the fire. Besides that she was still only a first year, and only a Grade Three, despite <i>those three</i> helping her out. Although he himself would admit that was only due to her lack of field experience.

Yukari continued: "Above all, your mission is to make sure that these girls do not come into contact with Kenjaku or the Disasters."

He nodded. Nanami understood what she meant perfectly: 'eliminate the girls if you have to, recruit them yourselves, prevent them from becoming members of Okina's New Shadow School.' His face contorted in irritation. He hated playing politics, but he hated that parasite Okina and how she had been draining the lifespan of her disciples since the Heian era. Combined with the secret teachings of the New Shadow School, she had ruled her little fiefdom within Jujutsu Society unopposed.

In tandem his mind went over his conversation with the girls, trying to look for anything <i>off</i>. He pushed up his glasses. "There's another issue, about the girls–"

Yukarri nodded with Chen's head. "Yes, we know, they're twins."

"Cirno–the shorter one–her Cursed Technique generates ice."

That caused Yukari to pause, "And the blonde one can teleport, I see..." Rather, it was odd they had different Cursed Techniques in the first place: they were the result of a unique pattern engraved onto a person's frontal lobe. Identical twins always had the same Technique, while fraternal ones were often extremely similar or interlinked somehow. "I suppose they might be non-blood related, but this <i>is</i> curious."

Nanami nodded, not wasting a second as he turned to Renko, "You. <i>those three</i> taught you what Marisa stole from them?

"Yes, but–"

"Good." Yukari smiled with Chen's cute face: "Now Renko, have this." She extended her hand, drawing a length of talismans from the inside of Chen's long sleeves.

Renko hesitated for a second, before taking them. The talismans that were identical to Nanami's reading: 'Folding Talismans, 10M length -Yakumo.' with circuit-like scrawlings written across them.

"Now be careful with those, I don't want you tying yourself up and breaking a leg. They're durable and you can control them with cursed energy. A sudden surge will activate the limited cursed technique I've imbued into them and cause them to constrict and fuse into whatever they touch. Now, there will be a driver outside and–" Nanami was already exiting the room. Yukari rolled Chen's eyes, "Be careful."

Posting this before I go on vacation for a bit, don't worry I already have decent progress on 4, and 6, with less progress on chapter 4.