Chapter Five: Interschool Competition Arc I
At the cafe
It was morning and the team (Haruki Kanzaki, Toma Mikage, Sayuri Amagiri and Jūzō Kurozama) were at the cafe unwinding and chilling.
"So, Jūzō, what did Himuro Sensei show you?, What kind of business did you have with her?,"Sayuri asked
"Um, it was just a special graded curse excorcizing, nothing else,"he said with hands rubbing the back of his head.
"A curse?, Special Grade?, Why didn't she take us?,"Sayuri asked angrily.
"Honestly, I don't know,"he replied
"It's because she wanted to show you something new, didn't she show you something new?,"toma asked.
"Uh, yeah, she did,"
"But why didn't she take me,"Sayuri asked angrily
"Because, she expects you to know things because you grew up in the city and probably have a little knowledge of things pertaining to the world of sorcery,"Haruki said.
"But Jūzō has no knowledge of the world of sorcery,"he added.
"By the way, where are you from Jūzō?,"toma asked.
He paused and didn't say anything for a while. He just stared at the tea that was on his table.
"Jūzō?, Jūzō!,"Sayuri called
"What?,"he asked
"You didn't answer, where are you from?,"
"Well, I'm from a village deep in the forest, it doesn't really have a name but it was thriving...until that night,"he said hands clenching the cup with rage.
"What night?,"Haruki asked
He sighed then replied.
"One night, I after a fun time withy sister and our friends, we went inside to have dinner, my mother had just prepared the best meal of the century, varieties of meal, my favorite. But before we could even taste it, it happened, the demons attacked our Village, our house was wiped out by the demons, my mother was dead, body torn halfway under the rubbles of our house. My sister was not responding, she was bleeding from her head, and my father was eaten alive in front of my eyes,"
The team gasped.
"Then how did you survive it?,"Sayuri asked
"If I tell them my limbs grew back and I had transformed into a six eyed, six armed curse, they would kill me immediately,"Jūzō thought to himself
"I don't know,"he said
"I just attacked. That was when I knew I had the slice and dice technique, and I managed to survive, but before I left, I found Akira, my sister's name sake, she was just a little girl and I couldn't leave her alone there, it was too dangerous. So we decided to he'd to the coty to find a place to live. I accidentally bumped into Himuro Sensei and she took me to Majutsu High for some reason, so I thought of staying here and fighting the demons and curses and as well have a place to live. My whole village was wiped out, only two survived in all of the community. That day, I lost my parents, sister, village and humanity, I wish I was strong that time, none of this would have happened,"he said slamming the cup on the table.
"None of this was your fault,"Sayuri said.
"She's right Jūzō, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger,"Haruki stated.
"Look at yourself now, you are stronger, isn't that right,"Toma added
"But not as muscular as me,"Haruki playfully added.
The team laughed at the joke
Suddenly,
"For a bunch of third grades, you guys are well balanced in this curse wreaked world,"said a female voice.
It was Nao Okabe, a first year student.
Along her stood other students.
"Who are you and how did you find us?,"Sayuri said.
"We are you Seniors and Ms. Sae told us you'll be here, there's gonna be an Interschool Competition between Majutsu High of Tokyo and Kyoto, it will be taking place in Shibuya,"Nao explained.
"Anyways, I'll introduce ourselves to you guys, I am Nao Okabe, a sand manipulation Sorceress, and these are:
Aiko Sakamoto
Technique: Emotional Echo (感響術, Kankyōjutsu)
We are first grade sorcerors.
These is:
Ren Hoshikawa (蓮 星川)
— Technique: Sword Technique
Sora Aizawa (空 相沢)
— Technique: Wind Technique
They are second grades, we already know who you guys are so there's no need for introduction,"Nao said.
"We heard you guys are pretty strong, especially you Jūzō, you've caught Ms. Sae's eyes. Weldone,"Sora Aizawa said.
"Come on, we have training to do, the tournament will take place two days from now,"Nao ordered
The group looked at theirselves for a minute and went along with them.
AT MAJUTSU HIGH
The group were on the training ground ready to train
"Okay third grade, let's see what you can do again us. You'll face us one by one so we can know if you can survive against the Majutsu High of Kyoto Japan,"Nao said.
"They are vicious and cunning, it's going to take more than strength to beat them," he added.
"It's a tournament that will decide which school is the best, and at the end, if you're lucky, you will be promoted to either the next class or even higher,"Aiko said.
"And how does it work?,"Toma asked
"There will be two contestants from each team, but the third grade will have three/four contestants because they are new and still learning, the first school to capture the flag and return it to their base wins and also, the more curses you kill, the more chance you have to be promoted, so you have to be strong,"Nao replied
"Let's see what you can do, first Haruki and Sora Aizawa, fire versus wind,"she added.
"How did you know my name?,"he asked stepping up to the training ground.
"Ms. Sae told is alot about you all, especially you Jūzō, let's see if you can handle it,"she replied eyes fixed on Jūzō
Sora stepped up ready to fight, fans in her hands ready to fight.
She stood in her fighting stance.
Haruki attacked first blasting fireballs from all directions.
Sora dodged them all easily.
"Ha!, You missed,"sore scoffed.
"Did I?,"haurki asked.
With a wave of his hands, the fireball turned heading towards her again but Sora was ready, with swift movements from her fans, she wiped the fireballs away with winds that came from the fans as she swiped them.
"You are smart, I give you that,"she said
"And you are fast,"Haruki replied.
The two continued with flurry of attacks, she attacked, he dodged it. He struck, she dodged it. The others watched with interest.
"She's sure strong, I guess that's why she's a first grade sorceroress, what do you think Jūzō?, Huhn?,"Sayuri asked
Meanwhile, Jūzō was thinking in his head
"A tournament huhn?, I must be strong and not give up, I'll try my best, for myself and Akira. It's good she followed Himuro Sensei, she will learn well from her,"
"Juzo?, Jūzō!,"Sayuri said
"What?,".
"What are you always thinking about?, It's alright if you miss your family, I as well come from a family where my dad physically abuses my mother, o couldn't do anything to help but watch and cry. One night, she hunged herself, she was dead. My dad didn't care, he started abusing me since I was the only child and I hated him. One day,I....killed....him when he was beating me,"tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke.
"Then I ran away and was found by a lovely family who adopted me, since then, I had a new family, a younger sister and two young brother's with one elder bro. Another day, I decided to leave and come to Majutsu High, making an oath to never let anyone be mean to me, that's why I'm always grumpy. That day I left was the day we met.
Jūzō, don't let anything let you down, your family are watching you, and they love you, cheer up okay,"she added
"Thanks, I'm sorry about your mother, she must have loved you alot,"he replied
"Yh,"
He put his hand across her shoulder comforting her, she put her head on his shoulder and watched the fight.