JUJUTSU KAISEN: The Zero Cursed Energy Sorcerer

CHAPTER 1: THE THING IN THE BACKROOM

The curse's hand wrapped around Tonji's throat.

He couldn't breathe. The thing's fingers felt like wet plastic bags filled with broken glass. They squeezed tighter, and Tonji's vision started turning gray at the edges.

"Stock room needs checking," his manager had said twenty minutes ago. "Before you clock out."

Tonji should've said no. Should've told Mr. Yamada to check his own damn stock room. But he needed this job. Needed the money for Hana's school fees and Mom's... well, Mom's bottles.

The lights above blinked. Once. Twice. Then they started strobing like a broken disco ball.

That's when Tonji saw it.

The thing hiding behind the boxes of instant ramen wasn't supposed to exist. It had too many arms. Maybe six, maybe eight, Tonji couldn't count while his brain was screaming at him to run. The arms stuck out from a body made of crumpled shopping bags and receipts. Old price tags dangled from its skin like diseased flesh.

Its face was the worst part.

Dozens of angry customer faces were mashed together into one horrible expression. A woman's scowl. A man's furious eyes. A teenager's sneer. All of them twisted into something that looked at Tonji like he owed them money.

The temperature in the stock room dropped. Tonji could see his breath now, little white clouds in the freezing air. The smell hit him next. Rotting food mixed with old cigarettes and something sour that made his stomach flip.

"What the hell?" Tonji whispered.

The thing tilted its head. Then it smiled with a mouth full of coins instead of teeth.

Tonji had seen things like this before. His whole life, he'd seen them. Shadows that moved wrong. Faces in the walls. Creatures that nobody else noticed. He'd learned to ignore them. Learned to pretend they weren't real.

His stepfather used to say he had an overactive imagination. His mother said he needed more sleep. The school counselor suggested he was stressed.

But this thing wasn't imagination. It was solid. Real. And it was reaching for him with hands made of stolen merchandise.

Tonji grabbed a metal shelf for balance and backed up. "Stay away from me!"

The curse lunged.

Its shopping-bag body moved faster than anything that size should move. One second it was by the ramen boxes. The next second its hand was around Tonji's throat, lifting him off the ground.

Tonji kicked. His shoes hit the thing's body, but it felt like kicking a bag of wet sand. Nothing happened. The curse just squeezed harder.

Black spots danced in Tonji's vision. His hands clawed at the thing's arm, trying to pull it away. No good. It was too strong.

This is it, Tonji thought. I'm gonna die in a convenience store stock room. Hana's gonna find out her big brother got killed by a monster made of garbage.

The stock room door slammed open.

A man stepped inside. He wore a tan suit that looked expensive, even though it was wrinkled. Rectangular goggles covered his eyes. His blonde hair was neat, styled back like a businessman's.

He looked at the curse holding Tonji. Then he looked at his watch.

"I'm off the clock," the man said. His voice was calm, tired. "But I suppose ten minutes won't hurt."

He pulled off his spotted tie.

The curse dropped Tonji and turned toward the new arrival. Tonji hit the floor hard, gasping for air. His throat burned. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't work.

The man wrapped his tie around his fist. "Ratio Technique."

He moved.

One second he was standing by the door. The next second his fist hit the curse right in the center of its body. Tonji heard a sound like breaking glass mixed with tearing paper.

The curse screamed. It sounded like a thousand angry customers all yelling at once.

The man hit it again. His fist struck a different spot this time. Tonji could swear he saw a glowing line appear on the curse's body right before the punch landed. Another scream. More tearing sounds.

Three more hits. Each one faster than the last. Each one making the curse fall apart a little more.

On the fifth punch, the curse exploded.

Black mist burst out from where its body used to be. The mist smelled like spoiled milk. It hung in the air for a moment, then disappeared like it was never there.

Tonji stared. The man unwrapped his tie from his fist and put it back on. He fixed the knot like he'd just finished a normal business meeting.

"You can see curses," the man said. He walked over and extended his hand to help Tonji up. "Interesting."

Tonji took the hand. His legs were shaky. "What... what the hell was that thing?"

"A Grade 3 curse. Born from accumulated negative emotions. Customer frustration, theft guilt, workplace stress. It formed in this store because of all the bad feelings people bring here." The man studied Tonji with eyes that seemed to see right through him. "My name is Nanami Kento. I'm a jujutsu sorcerer."

"A what?"

"Someone who fights curses. Supernatural creatures created by human negative emotions." Nanami tilted his head slightly. "You're... unusual."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Tonji's voice came out rough. His throat still hurt from where the curse had grabbed him.

"No, you don't understand." Nanami pulled out a small device from his pocket. It looked like a compass, but the needle spun in weird circles. He pointed it at Tonji. The needle didn't move at all. It just hung there, dead.

"You have zero cursed energy," Nanami said. His tone was surprised now, not calm anymore. "Not weak energy. Not minimal energy. Absolutely nothing. That's..." He paused. "That's extraordinarily rare."

Tonji wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Is that bad?"

"In my twenty years doing this job, I've encountered perhaps three people with your condition. You're invisible to the jujutsu world's detection systems. Most sorcerers would walk right past you without knowing you exist."

"But I can see them." Tonji gestured to where the curse had been. "I can see those things. I've always been able to see them."

Nanami's expression changed. He looked at Tonji like he was a puzzle that didn't make sense. "People with zero cursed energy can't perceive curses. It's a fundamental rule."

"Well, I'm breaking it, I guess."

"Indeed." Nanami reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a business card. He held it out to Tonji. "You're in danger. Curses will keep targeting you. You can see them, which means they can see you. Without cursed energy to defend yourself, you're prey."

Tonji took the card. It read: NANAMI KENTO - JUJUTSU SORCERER - AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION.

"I don't want to be involved in this," Tonji said. "I just want to work my job, take care of my family, and pretend those things don't exist."

"Denial won't protect you." Nanami adjusted his goggles. "Or your family. Think about it. If you can see curses, others in your family might be able to as well."

Tonji's stomach dropped. "My sister..."

"Exactly." Nanami turned toward the door. "My number is on the card. Call me when you're ready to face reality. Or don't call me, and wait for the next curse to attack. Your choice."

He walked out, leaving Tonji alone in the stock room.

Tonji looked at the card in his hand. His fingers were shaking. He shoved the card in his pocket and finished his shift on autopilot. Cleaned the counters. Restocked the shelves. Smiled at customers.

All while thinking about the thing that had tried to kill him.

At midnight, Tonji locked up the store and started the walk home. Tokyo at night was different than Tokyo during the day. Fewer people. More shadows. The neon signs made everything look red and blue and wrong.

Tonji turned into an alley shortcut he'd used a hundred times before.

He made it three steps before he saw them.

Three curses were feeding on a group of salary men slumped against the alley wall. The curses looked like giant leeches with human faces. They attached to the men's backs, draining something Tonji couldn't see.

One curse looked up. It noticed Tonji watching.

It smiled.

Tonji ran. His heart hammered in his chest. Behind him, he heard wet sliding sounds. The curses chasing him.

He burst out of the alley onto a main street. People everywhere. Normal people who couldn't see what Tonji saw. He kept running until his lungs burned and his legs ached.

When he finally stopped, he was blocks away. He looked back. Nothing following him. But he knew the truth now.

Nanami was right. He couldn't pretend anymore. The monsters were real, and they could kill him.

Tonji pulled out his phone and stared at Nanami's business card.

He didn't call. Not yet. First, he needed to talk to Hana.