A dark night had fallen over Sendai City. The buildings stood silent under the clouded sky, but something was off—something in the air twisted ever so slightly, like the weight of a secret no one wanted to share.
In a quiet clubroom, laughter echoed.
Yuji Itadori sat with his fellow members of the Occult Research Club, flipping lazily through an old, yellowed book filled with arcane scribbles and questionable diagrams. Across from him, Sasaki held a talisman—an old, wax-sealed object wrapped in dark, decayed cloth. Beside her, Iguchi squinted at the barely legible descriptions, talking about the item like it was a priceless ancient relic.
"You know," Sasaki grinned, "they say this thing has a curse on it. If we unwrap it, a vengeful spirit appears."
Yuji snorted. "If you believe that, I've got a haunted rice cooker to sell you."
They all laughed. Yuji enjoyed these moments—simple, harmless.
Elsewhere, the air cracked.
In the shadows of a rooftop overlooking the school, Fushiguro Megumi crouched like a hunter. His sharp eyes scanned the area. His school uniform clung to him like a second skin, stained from tracking down the source of an ominous, growing curse.
A beeping sound echoed in his ear—a report from Jujutsu High.
"Target located. High probability of a cursed object being unsealed. Energy readings spiking. Possible casualties."
Megumi frowned. He didn't have time to wait for backup. The reading was already escalating.
Down at the school's gate, Yuji was returning, holding a stack of offerings in a plastic bag. He looked up and blinked in surprise at the strange boy standing before him, dressed in all black, with eyes that seemed carved out of ice.
"You Itadori Yuji?" Megumi asked, walking forward.
Yuji nodded slowly. "Yeah… who's asking?"
Megumi didn't waste time. "Where's the cursed object you and your friends found?"
Yuji blinked. "The creepy thing? We gave it to the club president—"
His words trailed off as he noticed the way Megumi's body tensed.
"They unsealed it?"
"I… think they were trying to," Yuji replied.
Megumi immediately turned toward the school. "It's already begun."
Suddenly, the air trembled. A miasma of cursed energy rolled in like a tide, and a grotesque echo could be heard in the distance—a heavy, wet sound, like something slithering just beyond the edge of reality.
"You stay here," Megumi said, already walking toward the building's entrance. "There are curses inside. If you go in there, you'll die."
Yuji stepped back instinctively.
"I'll handle this."
Without waiting for a response, Megumi's shadow rippled unnaturally behind him, and with a sharp hand seal, he dashed into the building alone.
Behind him, the lights of the school flickered erratically.
And then… silence.