Yuji sat in the backseat, arms loosely crossed, staring out the window as buildings zipped past. Despite Gojo's casual tone and the warm afternoon light filtering into the car, an uncomfortable weight clung to him—like something was just slightly off. He hadn't noticed it when they first left Jujutsu High, but now the feeling pressed tighter with every kilometer.
Beside him, Nobara shifted, her fingers tapping an impatient rhythm against her thigh. Her posture was sharp, and though she hadn't said much, the occasional glance she shot toward Yuji made it clear—she felt it too.
"You two look like someone just walked over your graves," Gojo said with a laugh, not looking back from the driver's seat. "First time nerves?"
"Not nerves," Nobara muttered, her tone more serious than usual. "It's the energy. Something's weird. Off."
Yuji nodded slowly. "Yeah… like something's waiting."
Gojo waved it off with one hand. "You're probably just picking up on the ambient cursed energy around Tokyo. City's got more bad vibes than a haunted nightclub."
Neither of them looked convinced.
Gojo, sensing the tension, exhaled a little more seriously. "Listen, cursed energy's like background radiation in this line of work. Sometimes it spikes, sometimes it dips, and sometimes…" He shrugged. "It whispers in your ear for no good reason. Don't let it mess with your head."
Yuji frowned, but said nothing.
"Anyway," Gojo continued, tone flipping back to light and breezy, "I've got a little treat for you two."
Nobara raised an eyebrow. "A treat?"
"Your very first mission."
That got Yuji's attention. "Seriously?"
Gojo nodded, grinning into the rearview mirror. "Yep. Real fieldwork. Nothing crazy, just some cursed spirits acting up in Roppongi. Locals are spooked—missing persons, distorted shadows, lights flickering, that kind of thing. The usual cursed business."
"Wait," Nobara said, leaning forward slightly. "So we're just… going in? Like, now?"
"Now's the perfect time," Gojo said. "You've had your orientation. Time to put theory into practice. Besides…" His grin widened. "You'll be with me."
Yuji blinked. "Then why are we doing the fighting?"
Gojo chuckled. "Because I want to see what you've got. Consider it a warm-up."
"Are these curses dangerous?" Yuji asked, more out of caution than fear.
"Low to mid-grade," Gojo said. "You'll be fine as long as you keep your heads on straight. Plus, there's a cursed object tied to them. That's what we're really after. Probably the source of the activity."
"So it's a retrieval mission," Nobara said.
"Partly. Clean-up and retrieval. Cursed object's probably drawing in weaker spirits like moths to a flame. Your job? Snuff the curses and secure the object. Easy."
Yuji glanced at Nobara, who was already cracking her knuckles. She smirked at him. "Sounds like fun."
Gojo turned the wheel smoothly, guiding the car off the main road and onto a narrower street. "Just don't let your guard down. Curses are like cornered animals when they sense exorcism coming. They'll lash out."
Yuji nodded, his nerves slowly sharpening into something more focused. This wasn't a test anymore. It was real.
"How will we know the cursed object when we see it?" he asked.
"Oh, you'll know," Gojo said, voice a little quieter. "They have a way of making themselves known."
As the car slowed to a stop at the edge of a quiet alleyway, Gojo turned off the engine and looked back at them over his shoulder. "Alright, kids. Time to see what kind of sorcerers you really are."
Yuji took a deep breath and opened the door.
Nobara followed, already pulling out her nails and hammer.
Gojo leaned casually against the car, adjusting his blindfold. "Don't worry. I'll be watching."
Yuji stepped into the alley, the heavy atmosphere of cursed energy thickening like a fog around them. He didn't know what was waiting at the end of that shadowy path, but one thing was certain:
There was no turning back now.
⸻
The cemetery lay quiet, tucked away between apartment blocks and a shuttered temple. Moss-covered stones stretched out in rows, many cracked or leaning, as if the earth had tried to swallow them whole and given up halfway. A thick silence blanketed everything, broken only by the distant hum of traffic and the soft crunch of gravel underfoot.
Yuji and Nobara walked side by side, both alert. Their footsteps echoed with each step deeper into the overgrown graveyard.
"Creepy place," Yuji muttered, scanning the dark corners between headstones.
"Perfect for cursed spirits," Nobara replied, holding her hammer loosely in one hand and a few iron nails in the other. "Let's keep moving."
The cursed energy was stronger here. Even Yuji, who still wasn't used to sensing it, could feel the pressure—like something watching them from behind every grave.
It didn't take long before the first curse appeared.
A small, gangly figure slithered out from behind a toppled monument. Its limbs were too long, its skin stretched thin like worn leather, and its face was a mess of bulging eyes and gaping mouths.
Yuji instinctively stepped forward, but Nobara was faster.
She hurled a nail with practiced ease and swung her hammer in one fluid motion.
CRACK.
The nail pinned the curse's head to the stone behind it, and the spirit twitched once before dissolving into black mist.
Yuji blinked. "Okay, that was cool."
"I know," Nobara said, flicking her hair back. "Don't get left behind, Itadori."
They moved on. Another spirit emerged, this one shaped like a floating cluster of eyes, whispering nonsense into the air. Yuji dashed forward and crushed it with a single punch, the curse popping like rotten fruit.
Several more followed—weak ones, all low-grade. Misshapen things with too many limbs or too few faces. Yuji and Nobara cut through them without much effort, working smoothly even without knowing each other's styles.
The deeper they went, the denser the cursed energy became. It clung to the air like smoke, thick and foul. At the far end of the cemetery, just beneath a twisted tree that had grown through a crumbling shrine, something pulsed with quiet power.
"There it is," Nobara said, nodding toward the source.
Yuji squinted through the gloom. A small wooden box, barely bigger than a shoe, sat on the shrine's broken altar. Thick ropes bound it shut, talismans plastered across the surface.
"That's the cursed object?" he asked.
"Looks like it," Nobara replied, stepping closer. "Let's grab it and—"
Something moved.
The air snapped. A blast of cursed energy struck them like a wave, and before either of them could react, the shadows around the shrine burst open.
A massive, hunched figure landed in front of them with a wet, slapping thud. The ground cracked under its weight.
It was a curse—stronger, denser, and far more grotesque than the others they'd fought. Its body was a shifting mass of tendrils and bulging limbs, its face a permanent scream. One eye stared at them from its shoulder, another from its chest. It radiated bloodlust.
"Grade 3," Nobara hissed, stepping back instinctively.
Yuji clenched his fists, breathing in slow.
The curse let out a shrill, distorted screech and lunged.
Yuji moved first, dodging a whip-like arm and countering with a punch. His fist connected, but the curse barely flinched—it simply absorbed the blow and swung another arm at him, sending him tumbling across the grass.
"Damn, it's tough," Yuji grunted, rolling to his feet.
"Keep it busy!" Nobara shouted. She raised a handful of nails and threw them mid-run. They embedded into the curse's body—and she brought the hammer down.
"Resonance!"
The curse screeched in pain, writhing as the force echoed through its form. But it didn't drop. Instead, it twisted and launched a barbed limb at Nobara, catching her off-guard.
Yuji leapt in, intercepting it just in time. The impact sent a shock through his arm, but he gritted his teeth and held firm.
"Thanks," she muttered, skidding back.
"I've got the muscle," Yuji said. "You've got the brains. Let's finish this."
Together, they advanced again—Yuji drawing the curse's attacks, tanking hits when needed, while Nobara struck its weak points with precise, punishing blows. The fight was rough. The curse was wild and unpredictable, more intelligent than the others. But little by little, they wore it down.
Nobara landed another Resonance, staggering it long enough for Yuji to drive his fist through its chest with a roar.
The curse exploded into black mist, its energy scattering like ash in the wind.
For a moment, the world was silent again.
Yuji stood panting, blood on his knuckles, while Nobara wiped sweat from her brow.
"That was…" he started.
"A pain in the ass," she finished, breathing hard. "But we did it."
Their eyes turned to the cursed object, still resting on the altar.
"Let's get this back to Gojo," Nobara said, sliding her hammer away. "I'm not in the mood for round two."
Yuji nodded. "Same."
They turned, stepping away from the shrine, the weight of the battle settling in behind them—but the mission was far from over.
⸻
By the time Yuji and Nobara stepped out of the cemetery gates, the sky had begun to darken with streaks of orange and violet. Gravel crunched underfoot as they crossed the lot toward the sleek black car parked under a flickering streetlight.
Gojo was lounging in the driver's seat, sunglasses still on, window down, elbow hanging out like he was on vacation.
"Yuuuuji~! Nobaraaaa~!" he sang, grinning ear to ear. "Took your time, huh? I was about to go in and rescue you two!"
Yuji wiped a smear of blood off his chin. "We had it under control."
Nobara scoffed, clearly exhausted. "Would've been a lot faster if you warned us about the Grade 3 surprise party."
Gojo tilted his head innocently. "Grade 3? Oh, you mean that thing I totally knew was there and didn't warn you about? Oops."
Yuji gave him a flat look. "Seriously?"
"What better way to learn than getting your ass kicked a little?" Gojo said, popping the trunk open with a click of the key fob. "Hand over the object."
Nobara tossed the sealed box into the back like it was radioactive, which to be fair, wasn't far off.
As the trunk closed, Yuji leaned against the car and frowned. "Hey… What's with the whole grade thing, anyway? Grade 3… is that strong or weak?"
Gojo raised a finger like a teacher about to start a lecture.
"Ahh, good question! So, in Jujutsu society, curses are ranked from Grade 4 to Grade 1, with 4 being the weakest and 1 being real bad. But it doesn't stop there—above that are Special Grades."
He held up four fingers, then added a fifth for emphasis.
"Think of it like this: Grade 4 is a wooden bat. Grade 3 is a kitchen knife. Grade 2 is a pistol. Grade 1 is a rocket launcher. And Special Grade? That's like a nuke with legs and bad intentions."
Yuji blinked. "…And we just fought the kitchen knife?"
"Yup!" Gojo said cheerfully. "And you didn't die. I'm so proud."
Nobara rolled her eyes. "You enjoy this too much."
"Oh, and," Gojo added, glancing back at Yuji with a smirk, "sorcerers are ranked the same way. We've got Grades 4 to 1, and a few Special Grades. You'll start off at Grade 4 and work your way up or die trying.Oh and a Grade 4 Sorcerer is stronger than a grade 4 Curse, you know, to make sure a Sorcerer of the same grade as a Curse Wins"
"Cool," Yuji said, clearly not sure if that was actually cool.
"Don't worry," Gojo added, "grades aren't everything. Some sorcerers punch way above their level. But it's a good system for knowing what you're getting into… usually."
"Usually?" Nobara repeated with a raised brow.
Gojo winked. "Except when people like me mess with it."
Yuji sighed and climbed into the car. "Of course…"
As the engine purred to life and they pulled away from the cemetery, Yuji stared out the window, still processing.
He'd fought weird things before. He'd eaten a cursed finger. But now the weight of what he was stepping into began to settle.
Dangerous spirits. Power levels. Missions where even one slip could mean death.
And yet, for some reason, a small part of him was excited.
He turned to Nobara. "You think it'll always be like this?"
She leaned back with a smirk. "If it was easy, it'd be boring."
Gojo laughed. "Exactly! Welcome to Jujutsu High, kiddos. Buckle up."
And with that, they drove into the deepening night, unaware that far greater battles awaited them just around the corner.
⸻