chapters 2 to 23 r unedited. this fic needs some serious editing(?) given how long ago i wrote but also the fact that i haven't actually seen jjk. pls be patient w me as i try to edit it :] i apologise for cringey writing, crude grammar mistakes etc.

NEED TO GET THIS SHIT OUT OF MY HEAD

BEFORE I FLIP THIS ON MYSELF INSTEAD

OK,

There is a voice that does not use words.

And it sits there, in your head, an echo within an echo. Left behind by a bad curse, magic that surpasses the words it is entombed in. It's spiraling across mauve skies outside your house, infecting clouds the same way a devil desecrates a temple. And how empty it does feel, like the space between the tongue and the top of one's mouth before they shriek. How silent. How painful, to agonise without solace because no one hears, no one understands. No one wants to.

Stories of the supernatural are abundant in a society engulfed in moral terror and tragedy. You hear them all the time, tales of the ghosts caught on the verge of mania, stranded in the plane as they are trapped with humanity. Silhouetted murderers gasping for the light as they hollow themselves out behind closed caskets under dusk and dawn.

It's been instilled into you about the wonders behind the figureheads of each folklore, why magic is so devilish as it dances on sinners' palms. You can't say you're an intensely devoted person when it comes to understanding the secrets of the occult but you've watched too many Buzzfeed Unsolved episodes to do your head in.

Curses remind you of spellbound tortures of medieval times and more. It intrigues you how the aura of darkness can manifest itself so cunningly, with such poignant venom spitting between their teeth. Your mother reminds you of that, a tongue holding so many lies at once, you wonder where the truth starts and where the false promises end.

She wasn't exactly a bad person, per se, maybe misunderstood.

Then again, it's a bit too late to tell that straight to her face when she's buried six feet underground. You use that neologism too much to reiterate the position of your deceased parent, but you vividly remember watching Father bury her ashes on the top of a hill overlooking the town.

You sigh, kicking your feet as you walk to school; your head is tilting slightly side to side as your lips open and close to outline the words of the song. It's a drowsily quiet morning but you're joining the Occult Club at your high school since the Anime Club disbanded the week before (All it took was one photo from the club president and you don't even want to say the rest).

Upon entering the place known as 'Miyashiro Prefectural Sugisawa Third High School' (the biggest mouthful in the history of mouthfuls), the world unravels before your eyes.

A glimmering brilliance eclipses the sky as you brush shoulders with other students while heading indoors. If you were correct - you had to ask a few people around - then the Occult Phenomenon Research Club had just started.

To be honest, it just felt right to go there.

Your dad would probably murder you on the spot if he found out you were planning to join; the two of you began to grow distant after your mother's passing. He never quite believed the demonic auras that somehow only you could see.

Well, you see, a curse had murdered your mother.

And somehow, no one cared. No one believed you. And the best thing? You're trapped with seeing all these terrifying things but not being terrified, just tired of being alive at this point.

There's so much hate in this world and you can feel it.

You only know Iguchi-senpai from the Occult Phenomenon Research Club, mainly because when you jumped at your own shadow one day last fall, he was the only person who believed your vision. And, Itadori Yuuji, you guess.

You haven't had many interactions with him though, only seen him around the school from the corner of your eye. He had exceptional physical abilities, and sometimes, when a lesson finished early or class coincided with P.E, you'd see him flinging a discus a million miles away.

With a deep breath, you knock lightly on the door to the club room.

Naturally, no one responds.

When you open the door anyway, the room is submerged in complete darkness, except for a flickering candle at the centre of a wooden desk. The faces of the three members of the Occult Club are illuminated in the breath of black surrounding them.

"Are you sure, Sasaki-senpai Iguchi-senpai?" Someone asked ominously.

You blink. Wait... do they not... see me?

Sasaki and Iguchi, two second years, you believe, both have their eyes pressed shut. And you turn your head to see Itadori Yuuji; his face bears the determination of a thousand soldiers in battle.

If you could, you would let the world fall away right there at his feet. There's something about him that makes you like him more than most. What it was, you hadn't yet pinpointed, merely admiring him from afar.

"Okay, here we go!"

Everyone opened their eyes with beaming smiles on their faces. Itadori, Sasaki and Iguchi had their index finger on a black pebble on some white paper.

"Spirits, spirits!" Itadori grins widely; you can see how beautifully his lips curve in the darkness. "Please tell us which creature is the council president just barely weaker than?!"

Upon hearing his question to the supernatural, you stifle the loudest laugh you've ever come up with.

That laugh becomes even harder to hold when the letters spell out 'Ku-ri-o-ne', as in sea angel.

The three burst into uncontrollable laughter which lasts for only a few seconds before it is disturbed.

The door to the club swings open brashly and the Council President has a rather furious expression on his face.

"Occult club!" He yells, flickering on the lights. He blanks, "Wait! Who are you?" He narrows his eyes, a thin finger is pointed at you.

Your legs shake as you muster a response, "Oh! Well... uh... I'm really sorry I was hoping to... join the Occult Club and I didn't want... to disturb the ritual." You finish flatly, scratching the back of your head with embarrassment.

Your face must be the colour of beetroot as you feel how flushed your cheeks are in the moment.

"A new member? Yosh!" Itadori punches the air with a smile; he then casually rests his arm on the top of the chair he was sitting on. "Hey, Plankton President! What's up?"

Unperturbed, the Council President slams down a piece of paper on the desk that the three are huddled over. You come nearer to look, spotting the words at the top of the page.

"As you were previously informed," He folds his arms sternly, "a research club with no real activities must forfeit its club room. So vacate this room at once!"

"But I just got here!" You splutter, waving your hands frantically. You have to curse your luck for that.

Unsurprisingly, Itadori seems unfazed. "You shouldn't underestimate our members, President." How can he look so relaxed when his club is about to be shut down?!

Sasaki stands up and pulls out Mysterious File #9 from the bookshelf. Your eyes linger on the cluster of files, intrigue fluttering in thoughts.

So much...

There must be hundreds of books all stacked on the shelves. This is where you can find explanations, reasons why the supernatural and the occult exist and all the who's and what and how and why.

It takes so much self-control not to let yourself get sidetracked and absorbed into this; if you had the chance, you would stay in this room for hours to comb through each book.

Learning the truth of the occult is like kindling the burnt out fire in the skulls of the dead. It's fair to say it's an attractive necromantic thought, that everyone will think about curses and hexes and bad magic at least once in their lifetime.

Sometimes one thought is all you need to be consumed by it. Devoured whole and spat out with omens dripping between teeth.

"What is that?" The Council President asks; there's not even a hint of interest in his tone, just complete weariness.

For a split second you see the wide grins on Itadori and Sasaki's face.

"You know about our rugby field being closed off, right?" She inquires.

Her dark blue eyes gleam with uncontrollable fascination. You like how they have so much depth to them, being the colour of a quiet lake at midnight, holding foreboding secrets and more.

"Oh yeah," You murmur, "Didn't some of the students who fell ill become hospitalised?"

Sasaki points a finger, "Don't you think that's strange? We're talking about tough rugby players here!"

"Mm," You nod, finally starting to understand it.

"Truth is, the players said they started hearing mysterious sounds and voices right before they fell ill."

Interesting, you lift your head, attention having been caught.

Sasaki continues, a grim but somehow delightful expression on her porcelain face, "That's when we found this newspaper article from thirty years ago. It talks about the disappearance of Yoshida-San, who worked with the construction company. It mentions that he was last sighted here at Sugisawa Third High School during construction."

A shiver runs down your spine, maybe that's why school always had such a poisonous aura; someone had likely died here. No wonder this place was a feeding ground for haunts and demons.

The Council President pushed up his glasses on the ridge of his nose, an irked expression unfurling on his face. You would argue that the Occult Club almost had him intrigued.

"Yoshida-san was struggling to make ends meet, so he turned to loan sharks and then those organisations were after him!" Sasaki explains, "Which means the whole disaster at the rugby field was caused by the vengeful spirit of Yoshida-san who's buried there!"

She twirled on the spot, punching the air with glee. Iguchi and Itadori supported her by doing jazz hands on the sides, rather comically.

"No, it was caused by ticks," The Council President corrects her, much to your disappointment.

Sasaki-senpai almost had you convinced there. Almost. Hell, who were you kidding? You don't doubt her words at all. The supernatural hides behind every shadow on every corner of the earth.

"So what!" Itadori whines, tapping the book's spine against the table's surface. "The occult club is trying to uncover occult activity, so it's still a proper club activity report!"

"This isn't some kid's game!" Council President ( or Mr. Annoying Glasses as you were mentally dubbing him ) didn't budge in his judgement.

"Besides," He continues, frustration stinging on his tongue, "The biggest problem is you, Itadori Yuuji!"

Wait, hold up, what?

Itadori has the blankest expression you've ever seen. You could probably draw all over it.

"You're registered with track and field, not the occult club. So, this club doesn't even have the three members required for any club!"

"H-hey," You speak up, "I wanna join. Doesn't that make it three?"

Mr. Annoying Glasses has eyes like daggers when he turns to look at you. "[Last Name] [First Name], you can't be registered for the Occult Club until the Anime Club hand in their club disbandment form next Wednesday."

Fuck, you bite your lip. Oh well, you tried. That's gotta be worth something at least.

Itadori's expression changes into one of dumbfoundedness; he has his hand up with his finger pointing confusedly at himself. "Huh?"

"Itadori..." Sasaki and Iguchi grumble, cursing their friend's forgetfulness.

"No, I know I wrote down the occult club," Itadori pleads.

Part of you is inclined to believe that; you've noticed a pearled sincerity combing the iris around Itadori's eyes. He seems so kind-hearted it makes you tongue-tied just being next to him.

"I rewrote it!" Someone exclaims and you can feel your heart drop. Because you know that voice. It's Coach Takegi, the track and field coach, but also, the P.E teacher.

Your face pales.

This is the same guy who made you run 20 laps yesterday around the court just for daydreaming. Like come on, you didn't think he'd catch you admiring a pretty butterfly.

"Itadori, we need you so we can conquer the nationals!"

So... A teacher more problematic than the students turns up...

"Give it a rest!" Itadori's palms ball into fists as he sighs, "How many times do I have to tell you I refuse?"

"You can't!"

"Why can't I?!"

You blink, "Takegi-sensei, if I ran 20 more laps for you, would you let him stay in the Occult Club?"

Takegi narrows his eyes; they are the colour of the spaces between thousands of star on a dark night. It's an unsettling, unkind black. "30 laps. I'm not some demon but Itadori, if you can beat me, then I'll give up on you."

You freeze, did I just get stuck with running 30 laps?

Sasaki-senpai mellowingly pats your back as you lower your head in misery.

"Come on!" Takegi roars, "Let's settle it fair and square on the track!"

"Now, that's interesting!" Itadori smiles without a care in the world, grinning with his teeth visible. "You're on!"

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

You can't believe what an eventful day you've had

First, you ran 30 laps around the school court, with Itadori running the final 10 laps with you as moral support.

Second, Itadori completely obliterated every ounce of confidence in Takegi's veins. You'd been so stunned at his prowess that you couldn't speak for up to ten minutes afterwards.

I mean, he did leave a dent in the metal poles of the football goal.

And finally, as you had gone to fill up your water bottle, you saw a person not wearing the school uniform and wandering the rugby field.

Aka a ghost.

But he looked real enough so you told the school office about it.

You're sitting on one of the school benches when Itadori walks over and joins you. Even he's not in the school uniform but in a yellow hooded jacket one of those trendy high-cuffed black trousers.

It fits him well, somehow reflective of well... him.

"Ah, [L/n]-san!" He's been smiling all today; Itadori fills up the space next to you. "Have you drank enough water?"

You find a weak smile making it's way onto your face, "Yeah... have you?"

"Oh, I'm fine," He laughs, "I don't need water. I'm just glad the Occult Club won't be disbanding anymore."

You stifle a laugh just remembering how Takegi-sensei was as pale as a sheet when Itadori beat him in discus.

"Oh, about the Occult Club... I hope you're ok if I want to join. I don't know if there are any requirements but..."

Itadori turns and looks at you, and you can feel iridescent warmth somehow. "There's no requirements, but it's cool that you want to join. Now I have another one to protect when we go to haunted places."

"I can hold my own," You laugh bittersweetly.

"Oh shoot! Can you do me a favour?" Your new-found friend asks after looking at the school clock on the building wall.

After lightly nodding, you watch him pull out a small engraved box from his school bag.

"If you're free today, you can come to our club meeting after school. Sasaki-senpai and Iguchi-senpai want to investigate a talisman we found yesterday. So can you take this over to the room for them? I would do it but I have to be somewhere."

"Sure," You accept his request politely, and take the box from his hands.

But in that moment, everything changes.

There is a voice that does not use words, but that does not make it any less powerful. There are eyes tucked away behind other eyes, watching the chaos unfold. There is power that rests out of reach for the hungry, and battle scars ready to reopen.

And there is one being that is every man, every god, every curse. The birth of death and more. And that is the voice that strikes in the most perilous moment, without even using any words.

All it takes is one voice. One that isn't even yours.