The rain fell in slanting sheets, making Tokyo's neon shine into a watercolor picture of running reds and pale yellows. A small star exploded when each drop hit the alley's broken pavement. Then it joined the turning rivers that ran toward drains that were stopped up. The smell of wet trash and old beer stayed in the narrow passageway, it was so thick it coated the back of Mahito's new throat as he woke up.
His body shook against the cold concrete. His fingers clawed at his chest where the lines of his body should have been. Nothing was there. Unbroken skin stretched over human ribs that went up plus down with breaths that came too fast and too shallow. Rainwater gathered in the hollow of his collarbone. It felt cold against skin that knew no temperature before.
"This is… new."
The words appeared like steam in the cold air. He moved his hands before his face, observing the movement of tendons under the skin that felt wrong. A laugh rose from deep in his stomach, a strange, human noise, but the rhythm was off. The sound stopped when another noise broke the rain's steady fall.
A child whimpered.
A small figure wore a yellow raincoat at the alley's opening. One could just see it through the rain, as it stood against a full dumpster. The boy was seven at most. His large backpack pulled on the ground as he tried to make himself small. Something dark and wet unwound from the shadows in front of him.
The curse moved in a jerky way, like a broken puppet. Its long arms bent strangely as it came forward, it had a face if one could call it that. The features on it shifted and did not stay still. One moment it showed a woman's crying eyes. The next, it became a grinning mouth of sharp teeth. A smell of old meat came from it in waves.
Mahito's new tongue moved out to catch a drop of rain. The taste of city dirt and sour rain hit his mouth. This interested him.
The curse's head turned to him with a wet crack. For a moment, the alley held a perfect stillness. The child felt terror, the curse appeared monstrous, and the other thing was neither human nor curse but something new. Then the moment broke.
The creature moved quickly. Its shape blurred as it crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat. Mahito barely noted the rush of air before claws reached for his face.
The claws stopped inches from his eyes.
The curse shook. Its body moved like a pulled guitar string. Its different eyes rolled wildly as it sniffed the air; it smelled something under the human scent that made its instincts warn it. The creature scrambled back, its limbs flailed along, and then it hit the opposite wall.
The boy stayed still. His small chest rose and fell with quick breaths, as he looked from the curse moving away to the odd young man who suddenly appeared.
Mahito looked at his palms again. He moved his fingers to test them. "I guess I should thank you," he thought, but his voice sounded new to him. "You have helped me test my new abilities."
The curse made a loud sound. Its body shifted, and it prepared to strike again. This time it moved toward the child, acting like a trapped animal, filled with anger. The boy yelled when hands with claws moved to his throat.
Mahito sighed "Rude."
He thrust his hand forward, the fingers spreading like a pianist striking chords. The space between them crackled with cursed energy,
The right hand of the curse was twisted in a violent mid-lunge, the bones snapped loudly as the limb spiraled. The creature was covered in black blood and continued to screech and retreat holding the hurt arm. The boy lost his balance and fell on his back, the yellow raincoat now covered in a dark liquid.
Mhhh, Mahito made a curious sound playing with his experiment. "The resistance's definitely another quality..." He took one more step, letting his bare feet splash in the rainwater, which was now pink from the diluted blood. "Once more, shall we?"
The curse turned, angrily eyeing its wounded arm, which was switching convulsively as it began to choose a new target. The beast's upper body opened very fast, with a howl that was so tremulous that it made Mahito's new teeth thrill, a second mouth was produced from it and a set of sharp-edged teeth could be seen. The skin of the monster shuddered, the new position of the muscles was felt beneath as the creature was getting ready to release a powerful attack.
Mahito was taken aback when the creature attacked. This is definitely not a familiar feeling. Was it excitement? Or maybe anticipation? He touched his heart, putting his new hand over it, and he found it utterly fascinating, the ability to feel the constant pounding beneath his skin. "So this is what a heartbeat feels like huh, fascinating...."
The curse seized the initiative at that moment. The speed and ferocity of the double head's attack showed the ghoul was eager to kill Mahito right there. Simultaneously, as the extra large mouth gaped, a thick black tongue shot out like a whip.
Mahito just turned around and the attack went through the empty space that his face had previously occupied. The tongue, which was attracted to the cursed fire escape, recoiled instead when it failed to stick to it, and the harsh groaning of the metal was heard. Thus, Mahito's other hand was free and he caught the twisted arm of the curse.
"I want to show you something very beautiful," he said in a low voice.
The transformation was initiated by the place of the touch. The flesh of the curse was moving like waves that had just met after the touch, becoming clear as something was changing inside. While the creature's bones were elongating and swarming, it was as if they gained the properties of coral and started poking through the skin in jagged spikes that at once turned into smooth curves. The creature's cries were inordinately high as its mouth opened, its jaw became unhinged, and the face kept on stretching; the features disappeared from it.
The boy, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, made a small, pitiful sound as he watched the curse's body grow outward like a horrifying flower. The ribs became wider and longer, the fingers became one with them, and the space stretched between became the supports. The final figure of the creature was so twisted that one could think it was a macabre glass sculpture- a frozen scream in physical form, in which each agony was visible in the contorted flesh and bones.
The hollows and valleys in the transformed curse trapped the raindrops. They streamed in little trickles along the disfigured lines of the creature before they fell to the wet pavement. It was a nice melody. The transformation was now in the process of being performed and the instrument was a strange band.
He stepped back and looked at his handiwork. "There. Do you not think it looks better now?" Mahito went on to say, as he gave the support more twists. "Even so, I think it could..."
It was the sound of a sword being removed from it's sheath that was distinguished from the overpowering sound of the rain. Mahito felt the cold of the steel barrel being held to his throat. It was cold enough to make the skin on his new body too rough.
"Don't Move."
The man's voice sounded wrecked, with the combination of that and the bag under his eyes it was apparent he hadn't slept in weeks, and he didn't plan on starting now. Mahito could feel the sword trembling at his throat, but it wasn't fear making it shake. No, it was more like there was so much cursed energy jammed in there it was practically humming. Like a live wire, just barely kept in check.
Behind him, someone stomped through rainwater turned red, boots squelching with every step. The sword never left Mahito's neck, not even for a second. When the man finally circled around, Mahito's eyes flicked over him, he couldn't help it, curiosity and all that. Scar splitting one eyebrow, shadows under his eyes that screamed "I've seen some shit," and a Jujutsu High badge peeking out from under his raincoat, wet and sticking to his collar.
The sorcerer shot a look between Mahito and the ugly, twisted curse hunched behind him. His face got even grimmer, which, honestly, was impressive. "What the hell are you?" he spat.
Mahito just grinned, slow and lazy, letting the blade nip at his skin. A bead of blood welled up, then the rain washed it away before it got dramatic. "Funny, I was just wondering that myself."
Right then, the kid in the yellow raincoat, the poor kid, shaking like a leaf; let out this tiny whimper. The sorcerer's head snapped his way, sword arm tight, taking in the whole sad scene: scared kid, raincoat splattered with blood, knuckles white on backpack straps.
"Hey, kid," the sorcerer said, voice tight but gentle, "I need you to run all the way down and stand by the streetlight. Got it?"
The kid bobbed his head, eyes huge and glued to Mahito's face. He turned to bolt but his sneakers betrayed him, sliding out from under him on the wet ground. He hit the pavement, scrambled up before anyone could say a word, and then bolted down the street.
As soon as the kid disappeared, the sorcerer's cursed energy was released at maximum capacity, like, enough to make the average sorceres hair stick up. Mahito barely blinked, but the blade pressed to his throat lit up all chilly blue, buzzing with power. The sorcerer barked out, "Last chance. What are you? Who. Are. You?"
Mahito just stared at the rain dribbling off his latest freakish creation, head cocked cockily like he was listening to some sort of music. The cut on his neck? Already sealing up, flesh crawling back together right under that sword. Mahito even let out a grin. "If I had to say..." he took a little bit of time, feigning contemplation; letting out a little chuckle, "I'm hungry."
The man took his stance, pointing his sword toward Mahito, neon flickering off the deadly edge, and the sorcerer's scowl got even nastier. "Wrong answer."