"-at's like saying that water is your favourite flavour. Kermit is stale. He has no depth. He's nothing more than a businessman. A slave to the big man. Jeez, I'm gonna have to educate you, Meg."

If it hadn't been for the fact that Itadori was walking between us, Megumi likely would have punched me square in the face. I would have been deserving of it, but it didn't mean I wanted it to happen. There were very few people deserving of the honour of punching me in the face, and he hadn't proven himself yet.

"Gojo said it's probably a semi second grade curse, so shouldn't be too much trouble." Nobara stated confidently, tossing her hammer up into the air and catching it with ease.
"Don't trust everything he says so haphazardly. He may be a decent teacher, but he prefers students learn the hard way..." Megumi muttered, scanning the hallway in front of us as we walked.

The exuberant teacher had sent us in on our own at the gate of the nursery, seemingly confident in our abilities. I was sure we'd be fine, but I planned on leaving any fighting to the others. Sure, I knew I had cursed energy, but I had only ever fought once, and I hadn't been completely conscious.

Itadori paused to peer into one of the rooms, and when I peeped over his shoulder a chill rushed down my spine. Once colourful drawings had lost all vibrancy, and an assortment of toys and dolls scattered the floor and shelving.

"Nope. Nuh uh. This reeks of C-Grade Zamazon Lime Video horror flick. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not about to get gutted by a little girl singing Ring Around the Rosie." I turned to leave, but Megumi seized me by the scruff, forcing me to tag along behind them.
"You're supposed to be the adult here. Act like it."

Ew. No.

Groaning, I begrudgingly fell back into step with him, knowing that I didn't really have a choice in the matter. If I dipped out, Nanami would have scolded me until my ears bled. Not to mention the possibility of execution, which also wasn't all too great.

"Maybe we should split up? This place isn't all that big, but we'll probably find it quicker." Nobara suggested, and it took a lot of strength not to screech that we were about to break one of the first horror movie rules.
"Probably a good idea. You and Itado-"

It's in the playroom. I can sense it.

"Wait. It's here." Smooshing my hand over Megumi's mouth to shut him up, I walked back towards the room we had passed, stopping in the doorway and taking a deep breath. I didn't like little kids in general, or their stuff, but I really had to suck it up.

It's in here alright, but where?

I can't keep doing all the work. Find and deal with it yourself. You have access to my power.

I thought we were a team...

Muttering under my breath, I stepped into the room, feeling the others trailing close behind me. Despite feeling a little like a human shield, I continued on, eyeing every single item in case they sprung to life with murderous intentions.

"You're right. I feel a presence..." Megumi murmured, moving to inspect a cabinet by the window. I just kind of stood there as everybody else set to work, not wanting to be the poor fool to find the curse we were looking for.

I wasn't exactly what one would call a coward. I just wasn't confident with my offensive skills, at least not yet.
"If a doll starts walking around singing You've Got a Friend In Me, I'm going to piss and shit and puke..." I muttered, nudging a stack of blocks to make it topple over.

"Ugh, delightful..." Nobara cringed at my statement, but I was sticking by it. Toy Story was a horror movie, and I would die on that Pixar sponsored hill.
"Uh, guys? I think I found a lead..." Itadori called out, and we all moved over to the cupboard he had opened. Inside, instead of supplies, was a deep, dark, oozing tunnel.

"Ew, it domained all over the place..." Shuddering, I chose to stick to the back of the group as we moved onward. Whatever coated the walls and floor had the consistency of aged phlegm, and it smelled thrice as rancid. I could hardly contain my gagging.

Semi second grade my ass. This is at least a semi first...Y'all are fucked.

That's the spirit!

"Guys, I think this might be a little over semi second...Maybe we sho-" I paused as I looked up, right into the back of Itadori's neck, where I saw that familiar eyeball peeking back at me over the high collar of his jacket. "Didn't your mother teach you it was rude to stare, Sukuna?"

The salmon-haired boy spun around, hoping to put a stop to his curse, but it just reformed upon his cheek.

"Didn't your mother teach you to shut up? Oh, wait, she couldn't, because she was too busy with my co-"

I couldn't help but snort when Itadori smacked himself in the face, unphased by Sukuna's vile attempt at a retort.
"S..sorry! Not my fault, I swear! I'm sure your mother is a lovely woman!"

Chuckling, I moved to walk beside him, nudging him playfully with my elbow.
"She really wasn't, but no harm done. Anyway, for real, I think this curse is way above our level. I'd rather not die tonight."

Megumi, who fronted our little scouting group, came to a halt, so we followed suit. That was when we heard it. Now that our boots weren't squelching in the sludge, there was a strange, pitchy clicking noise up ahead. One that really tried to set off my fight or flight.

Yep. Semi Grade One. You're gonna have fun with this.

Or, I dunno...you could help?!

Nah. You've got access to my techniques. It's about time you learnt to use them.

"Divine dogs." I broke myself out of my internal conversation to find Megumi messing around with his hands, but my attention was quickly taken by the two large dogs that seemed to form from the gelatinous ground. Immediately, they began to snarl, hackles rising to warn of an impending threat.

The clicking grew louder, and whatever it was that we were hunting began to move closer. Instinctively, I hid behind Itadori.
"Get ready. Whatever this is is gonna be pretty big..." Nobara muttered, pulling out a hammer and an assortment of nails.

Waiting for it to come to us, I stared intensely into the shadows, my fists tightening around the material of Itadori's clothing as something began to appear.
"Oh dear God..."

I wasn't exactly sure what kind of insect had eleven legs, but it was almost roach-like in appearance, every movement letting off an unsettling rattle. It's bottom jaw hung low and wide, revealing pin-esque teeth and a gaping chasm of drool and darkness. Despite my detest for bugs, that wasn't what freaked me out the most.

"WHY IS IT A FUCKING FURBY?!" I shrieked, stumbling backwards and landing ass-first into the goop. I could handle clowns. I was alright with snakes. But Furbies? Nobody in their right mind could cope with a Furby, let alone one with the body of a deformed cockroach. 

"Ạ̶͋y̶̛̗-̶͍̔ţ̸̏a̶̬̅ẏ̸̫..."

Nope. I'd rather die.

Well, you will if you just sit there. Just do what Nanami told you to do.

It seemed as though I was the only person not doing anything as the others attacked the curse. I could barely keep up with demon dogs, nails and punches flying every which way, and I wanted to stay as far as possible away from the abomination that fought back. It was ridiculously fast, which made it all the more terrifying, and it kept speaking words that made no sense.

"Ȁ̴̱h̶̞̍-̵̪͌t̴͔͘a̴̝̐h̵͙̔!"

Nope. Nuh uh. I'm gonna sink into the gunk. Tell Nanami I was the one who subbed to Danny Devi-toes OnlyFans with his credit card.

He knows already, and if you die, I die too, you moron! Stand up!

Much to my dismay, my body moved somewhat on its own, propelled by Eikirei's will. Once on my feet, another round of dread kicked in, but this time I couldn't run.

Listen, brat. I'm not about to look like a fool, especially not in front of that cursed jester, Sukuna, so here's what you're gonna do. Switch, then focus on the...whatever the hell that is.

Deciding to give her, or myself, the benefit of the doubt, I did as I was instructed, wincing at the sensation of my throat opening up into a second mouth.

Good girl. Now, open wide and say Jigger Infestation.

What the heck is a jigger?

Just do it.

I knew the kinds of techniques Eikirei had specialised in when she had walked the earth, so I wasn't excited to try them out for myself. Still, I followed her command, taking a deep breath.
"J..Jigger Infestation..?!"

Suddenly, as though I had been housing them within my own body, thousands of tiny, brown bugs began to stream out of my second mouth. I could feel each and every one of them, and watched as they jumped in unison towards the Furbish Curse.

Fleas. Hundreds of thousands of millions of fleas.

"What the hell are those?!" Nobara cried out, diving out of the way before they could get too close to her. I was petrified as I watched the fleas begin to swarm over the cursed creature, but I was still hyper aware of Megumi, who had directed his dogs to focus on me.

I couldn't really blame him. Using Eikirei's form I did look like a threat, but hopefully there would be time to explain after the real threat was taken care of.

"B̴̙̖͐̈́̇͜õ̶̱̳͝h̶͈̣̓̇̃-̷̭͚͕̦͌ͅb̴̰̎a̴̢̙̟̟͝y̷̼̓!̶͔̘̟̉̿͘ͅ"

The cursed spirit screeched in its horrific voice, writhing and twisting as the fleas began their attack. Thick, purple blood began to ooze as they buried into what I supposed was flesh. Into its eyes, it's mouth, every inch of it was falling victim to the infestation.

"D̸͉̘̬̈ạ̸͍̥̣̭̍̆̈́̑̕h̴̺͖̽͑͝-̵̢͇̩̩̏́͗͜b̵̢͕͇̲̈́͐o̴͚̺̍͛̄ͅh̴̫͗̀̊́-̷̛̜̥̖͗̾̉b̸̢̖̗̰̞̊̈́̐̋ä̴̱̜̟̙͎h̵̡̛̺̗̼͐͒͊!̸̛͈̻̦̎̑̍̓ ̸̞̞͖̙̉B̵̘͈͆̌̈́̐ͅo̸͚͗̓̈́͝ǫ̴͕̪̼̥͋!̷͇̻͍̬̰̀͆ ̸̢͍̥̯̝̀̆͝"

It honestly didn't take long for the curse to begin evaporating, finally exorcised, but it felt like a lifetime watching it. Between furbies and bugs, I couldn't decide which I hated more, and it only irked me more knowing that the latter had spawned from my body.

"Holy shit...That was awesome!" Itadori broke the silence as the fleas began to disappear, one by one, turning to me all bright eyed and wowed. Our companions, on the other hand, still seemed to be on the offensive.

Aw, look at them. All scared and shit. I love it.

"E..easy, guys...It's still me. You don't have to pierce me with nails or set the dogs on me or anything..." I raised my hands in surrender, being extra careful not to make any sudden moves until I was positive they knew I was harmless.

Nobara seemed to be the first to let her guard down, slowly lowering her weapon, but Megumi was much less willing to trust, which didn't come as much of a surprise.

"You...have a big scary mouth...on your neck..." She pointed out, moving just a little closer to study me, and I nodded, lowering my hands.
"Yep, but please don't stick your hand in there like Gojo did. It's got a bitch of a gag reflex."

After hearing me mention Gojo in such a casual manner, Megumi finally seemed to trust me, relaxing his form, which had an effect on his dogs, too.
"Sounds like something he would do. You can explain later, but right now, we need to see if these kids are still alive. Come on."

Nodding, I willed myself to switch back, but once the change was complete I felt a wave of exhaustion kick in, holding out my hand and motioning for Itadori to come closer.
"What's up, (Y/N)? You look like you're about to puke." He pointed out, and I shook my head, having to squint to even partially see him properly.

"Uh...nope...but scooch a little closer, man. I'm...gonna pass out now...night..." I felt myself begin to drop, but thankfully the boy was close enough to catch me, my head falling against his shoulder. I felt sick, and beyond exhausted, but I did manage to catch something before I completely lost consciousness. The slightest tickle against my cheek, close to my mouth, and coarse, whispered words.

"You're as breathtaking as the last night I saw you..."

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
***Furbies, man. They suck. (And yes I used legit Furbish)

I lost all hope for this chapter, if I'm honest. School Holidays have started, and I got called into work today after very little sleep. Exhaustion is my core personality trait now. But hey, I'll be able to afford to splurge and buy myself a Gojo noodle stopper when I get paid xD

I have also been pre-writing the mature content for this story. I may just add in a little bonus romp, as a special treat :3 I wonder who it could be...

Next Time: Needy***