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Late night sweeps day away. Bygone stars float overhead while the people below rush to flee inside the comfort of their warm home. However, not everyone was safe within their cage. Curses , invisible to most human eyes, roamed the streets and flawlessly murdered people to satisfy their needs. A 2nd year Jujutsu sorcerer, who went by the name of Toge Inumaki, roamed the streets. His group of Maki and Panda, had split up to hunt the curse that was taking people’s pets. More specifically, cats.
The lights flickered along the sides of the street upon the roof of the lampole, and nocturnal sounds flooded into the night. Inumaki kept his guard up, his purple uniform jacket zipped up and over his mouth as per usual, to not accidentally inflict someone with his cursed technique. His cursed technique, called cursed speech, allowed him to say anything he wanted to a person or animal, or even a thing, and then it would occur. If he wanted someone to stop, he’d speak to stop and the person would freeze upon the spot for a long while. However, the force of that demand filled word would inflict pain back on him, thus why he doesn’t use many words. The only wording filling the vacant spot in his vocabulary were ingredients to Japanese dishes.
“Dried bonito flakes.” he mumbled. There were no signs of any spirit nearby, and nothing unusual appeared to be happening. Nearing the edge of the sidewalk, a light tingling sound was heard. It sounded like a bell. Inumaki’s feet stopped, and he glanced down to his right where there was darkness which flooded his vision. He furrowed his brows. There was a downhill curve to the street, and from there came the ringing. It only became louder and louder. Just then, a new sound appeared from the darkness. Light pitter and pattering of small feet, and then something small and black erupted from the darkness.
It was a black cat, eyes emerald green, and secured around its neck was a pink collar with a silver name tag. A name was probably embedded on it. It sat just outside the darkness of the street, tail slowly swaying in anticipation while its eyes peered up at Inumaki, whose face fell soft. The cat stood up and slowly sashayed towards Inumaki, who crouched down, a smile hidden behind his jacket cover. His finger reached up and pulled down the zipper to reveal his gentle smile. The cat's eyes watched every movement, mewing in interest. Inumaki found a soft spot behind the cat's ears and gently scratched it.
“Tuna and mayo.” his tongue tricked him to say words of happiness through food. He fumbled and stuttered before finally being able to say what he wanted.
“Cat.” The cat showed no interest in his scratching or his words, but its eyes did seem to follow something else. Its eyes swayed back and forth, strictly following the specific movement of Inumaki’s tongue. This cat’s mood suddenly became.. Strange . The cat rejected Inumaki’s hand away, jerking its head back as if he’d hurt it.
“Tuna?” Inumaki suddenly became perplexed. Did he do something wrong to irritate the cat? Or to upset it? The cat suddenly began to meow over and over. Repeating in the same tone of sound. Inumaki flinched at the noise, which kept getting louder and quicker. The cat kept meowing, and the sound was growing irritating. Having enough of the repeated sound, and being put off by it, Inumaki spoke in a firm voice.
“Stop meowing.” Then it stopped. The cat only stared up at him in silence, tilting its head slowly. For the side effect, Inumaki felt a tingle in his tongue.That’s when Inumaki had sensed it, but only for a brief moment. There was a hint of a strong aura, but then it had dispersed as quickly as it had appeared. Inumaki stiffened and his senses were alerted. He sat up trying to get another scent of the power. Where did it go? And where was it going to come from? If it was close, and if it was here, he had to protect the cat from it. Inumaki looked down to see the cat had gone. His eyes darted around him in a panic and there it was: behind him. It was having a staring contest with him now. Inumaki rose a brow, and then it hit him. But a little too late.
The cat leaped towards him in a quick dash, hooking its claws into the skin on the side of his face. This surprise attack made him fall back onto the concrete, and vulnerable. The cat forced his mouth open with his paw, and Inumaki, shocked, had struggled. He couldn’t speak to stop the cat, his tongue was being played with with the cat's claws. Suddenly, the cat stuck its head inside his mouth, causing the bone in his jaw to crack. He groaned in pain as it used its teeth to hook onto his tongue and pull. The cat was so fast, that by the time Inumaki had tried to use his hands to pry it off him, his tongue had been ripped clean off with a hard tug. Inumaki shoved the cat off him, harshly, trying, wanting to scream in pain, but it was all too much. His hands trembled in front of his mouth, which was spurting with bright red blood, dripping from his lips. The cat observed its work by looking at Inumaki who was too stunned to speak. He literally couldn’t. The cat had his tongue hanging in its mouth. With that, the cat lept away. His detached and bleeding tongue was captured in its mouth. Inumaki finally found out who the cursed spirit was. The cat. It was in disguise.
Choking on his own blood, Inumaki clasped his hands over his mouth, trying to stop the bleeding somehow, but it was no use. An itch in his throat caused a biting, muffled scream. Within a short time period, his head began to fuzz over and he became nauseous, losing the feeling in his hands which became numb for seconds on end.
“Toge!” A familiar gruff voice shouted. Wearily turning his head, Inumaki saw Panda, who was quite literally, a panda and could speak. He was a 2nd year Jujutsu sorcerer like him. Inumaki suddenly forgot where he was, the blood loss being too much. It made him lose grip of his mouth and his hands let go, the blood spilling out heavily onto his clothes and onto the paved ground. He rocked back and forth, losing his sight of vision which almost faded to black. Panda gasped, a look of surprise on his face and quickly kneeling down to try and comfort him, almost freezing at the sight.
“Toge! What- What happened? Toge?” Inumaki couldn’t speak, but when he fell over, dead with blood littered all over him, and the lifeless eyes that occupied him, Panda saw it.
His tongue was ripped out, leaving an empty space inside his open mouth which kept pooling up with blood.