JJK Seven Sinful Curses Chapter 53: Calm Before the Storm (Patreon)

Gakuganji and Utahime were the first to cross the threshold, holding their heads high and walking forward with confidence, and their students following close behind. The air was thick enough to cut with a knife as the two sister schools regarded each other less like siblings and more like the true rivals they were. 

Drinking in the potent emotions filling the air, Kiniro could already tell that the exchange event was going to be an interesting one, ‘Even Megumi is feeling amped up… though that’s probably because Todo had to beat some sense into him during their visit. His fault for giving such a boring answer.’ 

As Kiniro’s thoughts turned to Todo, so did his gaze, and eventually the two made eye contact, causing a broad grin to spread across both of their faces. 

“Brother!” 

In a flash of movement that everyone besides Satoru failed to track, Kiniro appeared in the midst of the Kyoto envoy standing in front of Todo with his arm cocked back. Seeing his attack, Todo replied in kind as he cock his arm back and swung with enough force to stir up the air around him. With an echoing boom, Kiniro and Todo clashed their hands, clasping together as their cursed energy soared and they pulled each other into a brotherly embrace. 

“Someone kill me now,” Maki muttered under her breath as she watched the two idiots grin and laugh. 

“Roe.” Toge replied, making Panada nod, “He’s right; I think it’s nice that they get along so well.” 

“Yo, Todo, I heard about your performance in the night Parade!” Kiniro said with a grin as he took a step back, “You really go BTA on a special grade without your cursed technique?” 

Todo shook his head, but it didn’t dampen his smile in the slightest, “Nah, I had to get my boogie on for that tough bastard. But during the fight, I was finally able to remember what happened during our own encounter.” 

Kiniro’s eyebrows rose, and in an instant his eyes flared as he dove beyond the surface layer of Todo’s being and instead viewed his soul, which had undergone a significant change, “Oh, don’t tell me you-” 

Todo held up a finger to his lips with a smirk, “Brother, don’t go telling my business to everyone else.”

Kiniro held up his hands in surrender, “You’re right, you’re right, my bad, just got excited to see how far you’ve come along as a sorcerer. Speaking of improvement and growth.” 

Kiniro glanced over and grinned at Momo and Kasumi, who regarded him with small smiles, “Congratulations on the promotions. I had high hopes, but I really didn’t expect the two of you to reinvent yourselves so quickly.” 

Kasumi bowed politely at the waist, “We’re glad to hear that you think so highly of us, Kiniro. We have you to thank for opening our eyes and showing us our shortcomings so we may improve upon them.” 

Giving Kasumi a once-over, Kiniro noted how her uniform had changed, her suit and tie replaced by a traditional men’s kimono and robe with her sword Nagi tucked into the sash around her waist. 

However, Kasumi’s physical change was dwarfed by the transformation of her soul and cursed energy, ‘Incredible…so this is what happens when a soul is constantly merged with emptiness. Her cursed energy control and efficiency are off the charts. Even though her capacity hasn’t increased, she’s essentially tripled her effective resource pool by stripping away any excess.’ 

“Yeah, what she said, it was definitely an eye-opening experience,” Momo chimed in, though her eyes never left Kiniro as she sat perfectly balanced on her broom, her legs crossed and hanging over the side. Similar to Kasumi, Momo had changed her attire, though for something far less traditional and conservative. 

Instead of a loose short-sleeved dress, Momo had fully embraced her witch-like aesthetic with a long flowing black robe with red accents along the hems and the slit that ran up along the left side and ended dangerously high up near where her thigh met the curve of her bottom. The top of her robe was similarly enticing, being strapless and leaving a majority of her upper chest exposed along with all of her collar and shoulder area. Meanwhile, her hairstyle had changed as well, going from two thick upright pigtails to a long, elegant braid that trailed down her back and featured several vibrant candy red roses. 

As for Momo’s cursed energy. 

‘It’s almost completely merged with her cursed tool through the use of her innate technique, though that’s not all…her broom is beginning to coalesce a semblance of form due to constantly being exposed to Momo’s soul…it’s probably more accurate to call it a cursed object at this point.’ 

“Momo, looking good girl,” Kiniro said with a grin, “Glad to see that you and Persephone are getting along well.” 

Momo smiled charmingly, “So glad you think so. As for Persephone, I don’t know what I would do without her.” 

Hearing its name, the broom beneath Momo stirred, with its flowering vine bristles slowly writhing against themselves like a nest of snakes. 

‘Definitely a cursed object.’ 

“If introductions are out of the way,” Gakuganji grumbled, frowning at seeing how familiar a majority of his students were with Kiniro, “Let us get along with the event and announce the details of the first competition so the participants may strategize.” 

“Jeeze, what’s the rush? It’s not like anyone has an assassination to plan out, right?” Kiniro asked sarcastically as he glanced over at Gakuganji with a dead stare, reminding everyone from Kyoto that he hadn’t forgotten their particular style of hospitality. 

“Kiniro,” Masamichi said warningly, making Kiniro hold up his hand and slowly back away from the Kyoto envoy, “Fine, fine, I won’t say anymore. Go ahead, take it away. I’ll behave for now.” 

Masamichi groaned but didn’t say anything more and instead started to explain the first event of the exchange: The Spirit Bash Race. 

---

“So who are we assigning to take down the Grade 2 spirit?” 

Megumi asked with a contemplative look in his eyes, “I say that Maki or Yuji with Toge will be more than capable of-” 

“You’re thinking about this the wrong way, Megumi,” Maki corrected as she sat sideways on her chair, Dragon bone resting on the table beside her, “Taking out a second-grade curse is something that any one of us is capable of accomplishing on their own. The real purpose of this event is to test the capabilities of the other school, as the final event always involves some kind of individual matchups. Even if we lose the first event, it’s possible that we can still win overall by performing well in the second event, and the best way to do that is to gather information about our opponents and prepare the best response to their abilities.” 

 Megumi frowned, “So we should be thinking about which of us is the best matchup for the members of their team?” 

“Yes,” Maki confirmed with a nod of their head, “Preferably we’ll choose a lineup that benefits us while putting them at a disadvantage.” 

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Kiniro suddenly interrupted as he walked into the room with a knowing grin on his face, making Maki glare at him suspiciously, “What did you do?” 

“I visited the Kyoto team and told them who to go after,” Kiniro replied casually, instantly drawing the ire of everyone in the room. 

“And why the hell would you go ahead and do a thing like that?!” Nobara asked scathingly as she glared at Kiniro. 

“Because I want to see my investments pay out,” Kiniro answered with a smile as he glanced at Nobara, Yuji, and Megumi. “This is an experience that you three specifically should look forward to, after all you didn’t train for all these months just to take the easy way out of things, right?” 

“Isn’t the purpose of training to make things easier?” Megumi contradicted blankly. 

“No, the purpose of training is to make the previously impossible probable,” Kiniro corrected. “And that won’t happen when things are easy; the three of you right now have been primed with potential, now you just need the right tempering to bring it out.” 

“Is that why you gave us these?” Nobara asked as she hefted the bandaged package Kiniro had revealed just before the Kyoto students arrived. 

“Partially, I also just really needed the practice,” Kiniro answered honestly. “Now are we gonna keep going back and forth or should I tell you guys what to expect from Kyoto?”