(Pov Satoshi)
We had finally arrived at the Kyoto branch, and while the students were sent off to a separate area to rest and prepare, the teachers all met to discuss the upcoming events. The Kyoto teachers meeting us were the usual bunch, consisting of their principal, Gakuganji Yoshinobu, and their main teacher, Iori Utahime. For the Tokyo school, it was Yaga who had become the principal a few years back, Satoru, and me. I usually tried to interact with Utahime with Satoru around, not because I didn't like her, but because she and Satoru had this weird thing, and I look enough like him from behind that she's thrown things at me before assuming I was Satoru.
It might not look it, but she has a surprisingly good throw for how small she is. As we approached them, I also noted that Yuki was missing. She wasn't around all that often, given her own disagreements with the Jujutsu higher-ups, and given that she was also a Special Grade, they couldn't force her, so she usually did her own thing.
As the two principals did the official greeting, the rest of us entered a waiting room area from which we would view the first contest. It was awkward always being some kind of third wheel to whatever Satoru and Utahime had going on. I couldn't tell if they liked each other or hated each other.
"So, Satoshi, I hear you have a large class of first years this time," Utahime said, breaking the tension in the room. "Oh yeah, there's five this time, including the two I told you about," I responded, even if I wasn't their official parent, having been around Maki and Mai for so long and partially raising them, I can't help but feel attached. Also, I like to brag.
As we got comfortable in the room, the two principals joined us, and the event was about to begin in full force. The first day wasn't just a massive battle between the students, but it was instead meant to be a race to exorcise a Grade 2 curse hidden in the forest on school grounds. Though this event tended to descend into both teams trying to beat each other up, especially with hot heads like Hakari and Todo. The two teams entered the forest, and we watched them on the cameras as the students began moving out.
(Pov Maki)
Our team had entered the forest, and the plan was simple. Hakari would go after Todo; those big idiots loved to punch each other. Meanwhile, the rest of us would spread out looking for the curse deeper in the forest. As we spread out, we would cover a certain amount of ground before meeting back up at a nearby river to determine where else we needed to check, assuming no one had found the curse by then.
We split up for the plan, and I was confident that even if we ran into the others, we would be fine unless it became a two-on-one or even a three-on-one. As I ran through the forest, I came upon a handful of lower-grade curses that had been dispersed in the forest as well. They were barely an obstacle, but I got too distracted by them as suddenly a red line had slammed into my shoulder.
As I looked over the direction it came from, I noticed Kamo Noritoshi. I didn't know much about him other than that his technique was the inherited technique of the Kamo clan, Blood Manipulation. It allowed the wielder to manipulate their own blood. The most powerful of these abilities was what had just hit me, piercing blood, and even with my strong body, it had gone right through me.
When I saw him, he was already readying a bow and firing the arrow. I moved to dodge, but the thing followed me, luckily, though it couldn't turn very fast and hit a tree next to me. I could guess how the arrows were moving around like that, but there was no time to check as he readied another one. He was clearly a ranged fighter, so I just had to eliminate his range advantage.
I began running towards his location using the trees as cover against the rain of arrows, and soon, I had gotten close enough to the tree he was in. I used my spear to vault upwards and reach his position faster. Once I was close, I punched at him, aiming for a quick takedown, but he managed to dodge. His eyes were open now, and his right eye had a weird pattern surrounding it. This must have been flowing red scale using his own blood to improve his body, but it had a limit that I could surpass.
The fight became more of a chase as Kamo leapt between the trees, occasionally launching arrows while I chased him down, but he was just fast enough that most of my attacks couldn't land most of them. I was able to hit him a few times, and each hit was devastating. My strength might not be on the level of Satoshi's, but I was still the physically strongest student by far.
Soon enough, though, Kamo landed on the ground and readied himself. I was about to jump down and finish the fight when the alarm sounded. Someone had found the Grade 2 and exorcised it, meaning the round was over. I'd just have to wait for the single battles tomorrow and hope we get each other.