"...Tokyo Jujutsu High isn’t a place for someone like you to just drift through life!"
In the hallway, Maki delivered her final line to Yuta Okkotsu. Judging by the way he looked, every word she had said must have struck straight at his weak points for critical damage.
Panda could not stand watching any longer and spoke up. "Maki, that’s enough!" Toge Inumaki also chimed in, signaling for her to stop. Couldn’t she see their new classmate looked utterly dejected...?
"Got it. You’re so annoying." Maki slung the case containing her weapons over her back and walked ahead.
Panda comforted Yuta. "Sorry. Don’t take it too personally. Sometimes she acts like she understands everyone better than they understand themselves."
Yuta lowered his head. "It’s okay. After all... she’s telling the truth."
Kaito Kamishiro walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "She may not look it, but Maki’s actually very kind to her comrades..."
"Kaito Kamishiro!"
Maki’s furious roar came from up ahead. Kaito hurriedly said his goodbyes. "I’m going to find Gojo. See you guys later!" With a wave, he swiftly made his escape.
...
"This mission is a little unusual. It may involve not only curses, but Curse Users as well. Still, they should be no more than Grade 2 to Grade 1. If you complete it, Kaito, all you’ll need to be promoted to Grade 1 is a recommendation and to pass the assessment."
Satoru Gojo looked completely at ease as he continued, "Besides, your Cursed Technique gives you a major advantage against Curse Users too, so this one’s a solo mission. No problem with that?"
Kaito naturally had no objections. Even becoming a Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer would grant him entirely different privileges. Just the compensation for missions of different grades was on a whole other level.
"I don’t have a problem with it. But I need a Cursed Tool for close combat. Do you have one, Gojo?"
Gojo nodded. "There are some in the school’s Cursed Tool vault. I’ll register one for you later."
Afterward, Kaito received a blade-shaped Cursed Tool, though technically it still belonged to the school. Once he had the mission information, he prepared to set out.
The assistant supervisor assigned to accompany Kaito was Akari Nitta, a pretty woman with shoulder-length golden hair. He did not know her exact age, but she looked quite young, lively, and cute.
The mission was in a small town. It began with the unexplained disappearances of five adult women. The local police had initially investigated the case, but when the final victim was killed, one of the few street cameras happened to capture it.
The bizarre footage had made them seek professional help. Kaito was not particularly surprised. Under normal circumstances, not only were Cursed Spirits invisible to ordinary people, but surveillance cameras and photographic equipment could not record them either.
That sight must have made the police realize this was no ordinary case, prompting them to report it. Once they arrived in town, Akari Nitta briefed Kaito on all the details of the case.
"So [Window] has confirmed traces of curses in town, but since the victims fit such a consistent pattern, they suspect a Curse User may be involved?"
Akari nodded seriously. "Yes."
Kaito rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. Curse Users could be understood as Jujutsu Sorcerers who had "fallen." Most of them committed atrocious acts. For example, the most notorious Curse User at present, Suguru Geto, had once been a Tokyo Jujutsu High student and a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Apparently, he had defected after massacring 112 villagers in a single village. Later, he had even murdered his own non-sorcerer parents. After committing such heinous acts, he had been classified as a Curse User and sentenced to execution.
Yet he seemed to still be alive. As for that man, there appeared to be some history between him and Gojo... They had been classmates, after all.
Pushing aside those scattered thoughts, Kaito focused on the suspicious points of this case: what the five victims had in common.
First, they were all young and beautiful women between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. Second, they had all been killed late at night, and all their bodies bore signs of mutilation. The scenes could only be described as horrific. Even Kaito, who was used to the horrifying and disgusting sights left behind by Cursed Spirits, had nearly been unable to stomach them.
"If the killer is human, then he’s clearly some kind of psychopath. There were no signs that any of the victims had been sexually assaulted. According to the forensic report, they were taken to the crime scenes and tortured while still conscious. Their bodies were badly mutilated, but no parts were missing..."
It was not sexual desire, and the five women had no connections in their daily lives, so it was not revenge either. Was he truly some twisted serial killer who murdered purely to vent his dark urges? And a Curse User, at that!
Based on the current clues, though, if a curse were responsible for the killings, the pattern would not be like this. It was more likely that the victims had all gone to the same place or shared some other common factor.
"Let’s search for traces of curses first."
Kaito and Akari then began investigating the town. Yet after nearly an entire afternoon, aside from several patches of residual Cursed Energy, they found nothing unusual.
Those traces of residual Cursed Energy had nothing in common either, and they were far apart. For the moment, they had no value.
"Could the killer be hiding?" Akari asked. Kaito quickly rejected the idea.
"No. Curse Users like this generally have trouble controlling all the negative emotions that come with Cursed Energy. In a sense, they’re lunatics... though most Jujutsu Sorcerers seem to be a little crazy anyway."
"There have been five victims. The crimes happened almost continuously. Even when the police investigation was at its most intense, the killer never stopped. That means he has to be extremely brazen."
"True. Once people like that gain power beyond ordinary humans—the power to decide whether others live or die—it would be stranger if they didn’t become murderers."
After a moment of silence, Kaito suddenly said, "Ms. Nitta, I have an idea..."
Akari, who had been worrying over how to catch the killer, immediately perked up. "Go ahead!"
Kaito looked her over. She wore a woman’s business suit, had a fairly good figure, and while she was not breathtakingly gorgeous, she was undeniably beautiful by ordinary standards. Her blonde hair was stylish and eye-catching as well.
"You fit the killer’s hunting criteria perfectly: young and beautiful. If you appear alone on the street late at night, then once the hunter sees you, he surely won’t pass up an opportunity like that. Your Cursed Energy isn’t particularly noticeable either, so you won’t draw his suspicion. It’s just..."
Akari considered it for a moment before her expression hardened with determination. "I’m willing to cooperate. If a Curse User is involved, then the sooner we catch him, the fewer people will become victims!"
Kaito nodded. "But you don’t need to worry too much, Ms. Nitta. My Cursed Technique specializes in speed. I’ll keep you within my line of sight. The instant we identify the killer, you only need to distract him for a few seconds, and I can reach your side immediately."
Akari nodded to show she understood, and the two began discussing the detailed plan.
...
Night fell, and there were scarcely any people on the streets. Only drunks, those seeking nightlife, and people whose jobs did not distinguish between night and day might still be walking around.
At that moment, a beautiful blonde woman swayed along the sidewalk. Her fashionable outfit, glamorous makeup, and unsteady, slightly drunken steps made her look as though she had just left a bar after drinking her troubles away.
Late at night, with no one around, a beautiful young woman was walking alone. Naturally, it was not long before someone prowling the night in search of prey, someone with malicious intentions, set his sights on her.
The woman was Akari Nitta. Feigning drunkenness as she walked down the street, she soon heard a man following her from the darkness.
Akari silently wondered whether he was the killer. The approaching footsteps seemed all the more terrifying.
Before long, the man behind her seemed unable to restrain himself any further. He suddenly quickened his pace, and a low, somewhat lecherous voice sounded out. "Miss, are you drunk? Do you need help?"
Though nervous, Akari did not forget her act. Her expression, movements, and tone were exactly those of a drunk woman.
"No... Who are you? If you don’t leave, I’ll... call the police..."
The man followed Akari for some distance longer, but seeing that she was still conscious and might call the police at any time, he gave up on this "prey" and disappeared back into the darkness.
"He didn’t use any cursed method to take away my ability to resist, and he gave up the moment things looked unfavorable. He probably isn’t the killer." Akari calmly reached her conclusion, then continued pretending to head "home."
However, it was not long before Akari heard footsteps behind her once more. She turned and saw it was the same man from before. Apparently, he was unwilling to give up so easily and had come back.
With an important task at hand, Akari naturally did not want to be entangled by an ordinary man who was very likely not the killer. But she had no good solution for the moment. She was posing as an ordinary woman, after all, and there was no telling whether the killer might be watching from the shadows...
So she merely put on a frightened expression and quickened her pace toward the patch of road illuminated by a streetlamp. The man following her also sped up, calling out in an attempt to stop her.
The footsteps drew closer and closer. Just as Akari was considering whether to pretend to abort the mission and deal with him, she suddenly saw a taxi parked by the street ahead. An ordinary middle-aged office worker was getting out of it.
"If I go ask for help, it should scare off that ordinary man behind me." Thinking this, Akari hurried toward it.
The middle-aged office worker had already left, but the taxi had not driven away. Perhaps the driver saw Akari approaching quickly and assumed she wanted a ride.
When she reached the car, the man following her did indeed hesitate and stop advancing. Akari bent slightly, preparing to speak. Yet when she came face-to-face with the driver, she froze. The words that came out of her mouth instead were, "Hello, I need a ride..."
The driver’s face was impossible to make out. Without even asking where she wanted to go, he smiled and said, "Get in, beautiful lady."
The rear door abruptly opened. In a daze, Akari found herself seated in the back. Her thoughts now moved as sluggishly as rusted gears, and her body felt as though it were burdened by a thousand pounds, impossible to move.
"Damn it, he’s the killer!" With the little movement her eyes could still manage, Akari saw the taxi start moving. Something black and unknown seemed to be surging through the old vehicle’s body.
"I can’t call for help. What do I do...?"
She tried desperately to move and notify Kaito, but to no avail. Though she had not given up, all she could do was place her hopes on Kaito noticing that something was wrong.
Judging by the killer’s pattern, she seemed to be safe for the time being. But once they reached the crime scene he had chosen... Looking at the evil smile on the driver’s face in the rearview mirror, one that chilled her to the bone, and recalling the gruesome state of the victims, fear gradually flooded her heart.
Hidden in the shadows, Kaito watched as Akari got into a taxi and shook off the man who had been following her. He had originally planned to call off tonight’s operation if she could not get away from that man.
But Akari had gotten into a taxi... Why would she choose to do that? Moving around in a taxi would make it impossible to lure out the killer... Which left only one explanation: there was something wrong with that taxi.
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