Abduction [Pre-Arc]

Despite being young in this day and age, A boy like Haji stood out in this day and age. His unique blend of modern and traditional dress contrasted heavily against the light copper flesh and magenta loc'd hair. Obviously, he was an outsider, only made worse by his trademark mop, which remained snug against his shoulder. Despite the flood of disgusted or confused looks, his eyes were glued to his phone, tuning out the roar of the train cars as they sped across the tracks. Swiping through pages of posts and information, he had found a small lead. A place called "The Playground". There was no exact location as of yet, just a name and a general location. It had to be one of the many warehouses near Tokyo bay, right? Through a few more posts, some giving specific shipyards and one of the districts was all he needed to cut down on the junk information. Though beyond the general location, the rest was nothing that could be confirmed. All he knew was that people of various professions had gone missing. Dockworkers, gang bangers & yakuza. It was more than enough to warrant his attention.
"Sheesh, Couldn't I have gotten any more info than that? Tch...Full speed ahead then huh uncle?"

He takes a chomp out of a mochi. A breakfast treat. Then guzzles down a hot tea.

The Ota Ward was his location of choice. There were the most complaints and stories about this area due to its higher influx of shady dealings. In his mind, the more bad deals and violence that occurs in a single place, the more negativity. The more negativity and more curses manifest. Any sorcerer would agree that was sound knowledge. The sudden screech of the tracks marked his stop. He would rise from his seat and exit the station, getting many the same stares and looks he had all day.  The date is July 3rd at 8:42 PM,  The sun was just now sinking beyond the horizon and UV rays were intense yet waning.  
Alright. Now we just need to narrow down which set of warehouses to check. I may also need to throw up a curtain. How annoying..." Haji uttered out loud.
Heading west he came upon an old junkyard of sorts. The smell of old oil and rusted metal struck the nostrils like a gong. Everything here had this rustic look that couldn't be ignored. Almost right away, the overbearing sense of negative began to captivate him, like a fish on a hook it pulled him toward it. Step by step. Behind the first set of warehouses was the final building, furthest to the back. Some days or weeks prior, there were faint trails from vehicles, but many of the old vehicles and scrap metal were the most rusted here. It was clear that this was the oldest section in the entire area. "I found it. Thank you Jesus lawd!" he complains. He would survey the grounds for a few minutes, making sure no one was hanging around outside or anywhere obvious. As far as he could tell, it was empty. Good he thought, that made things somewhat easier for him. His arms lift, his index and middle fingers joining together. They would swipe a corner off the edge of his mop in an instant. Then, his voice spoke out, uttering the phrase.
"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure." (Yami yori idete yami yori kuroku sono kegare o misogiharae)
He would slam the tag into the ground, as a flush of cursed energy escaped into the tag, up above, a dark veil would cascade around the entire area. For one so young to be capable of calling forth the curtain was noteworthy in of itself. He hoped no one would sneak their way in, realizing he had no one else around to monitor the perimeter such as a manager. There wasn't anything more than the curtain itself to rely on. Another inconvenience he would have loved to avoid. Ah well... What could be done with so few hands?

---

He kneels in front of the vehicle tracks leading into the area. Right away he comes across empty shell casings. Clear signs of armed struggle. He had to have been on the right track. He would take his first few steps forward, continuing until the dingy and roofless warehouse lead deeper into the old facility. Old offices, conveyor belts. storage rooms. Each bulletin board told a different story of dates passed. Every smudge or smear was a sign of the changing times. There was an old map that had some sections faded which were more than enough. It included what was above ground, as well as the general floor plan of what was beneath and the exists. He snapped a picture on his phone and proceeded onward. Not bothering to shut the doors behind him, he finds himself in a long hallway. The patter of his steps is met with the usual dampness of an underground passage. The air was stale and stagnant, as it should be. A shiver traveled up his spine, though he walked as though nothing bothered him. He could not get a good sense of the area. Darkness oozed about the very walls of this place. Yet, mop in hand he proceeded onward with fearless bravado. He thought out loud, gripping the handle of his mop. His first plan of action was to search for more clues. An old note. Some files. Evidence of anything other than human stupidity. But where to look amongst all this junk? He had hoped he would make it back for the New students to arrive. He truly wanted to be a part of the event. Haji would have to work hard and remain diligent. Onward into the musk of The Playground he went.
Just what darkness would he find here in this place?

He retraces the image of the first wing on the map, careful to scan his surroundings and mark out various landmarks. That stack of boxes by the old forklift. That graffiti tag on the wall. Whichever seemed to work best and stick out the most. A store of sulfur coasted across the air. With each step further the amalgam of smell became more and more intrusive. The oppressive force around the walls became that more pungent,
And yet...
The boy carried onward without a stall, or hinder in his stride. In a way, it was a shame he had become so accustomed to such sights. For as he came upon the deceased vessel, overgrowth sprouted from his maw, his expression was one of contention. As if he had accepted things like this would and were going to happen. But in no way was he pleased with it. He stood a few feet away from the body, just in case . With another tear, a talisman was formed. "Inu!" A small black and green dog with plant matter sprouted out of the talisman, prompting Haji to snap another talisman off. He never once took attention off from the space around him.

"I need a sample Inu, get to it."
The shinigami scurries over and searches the man's corpse, looking for anything useful, a wallet, a chain. He observes the tag on his ear,  Test subject...? His mind began flooding with visions of some sort of mastermind mad scientist. Would a curse need to mark its subjects with things like this? Could that mean a Rogue curse user?. His mind wondered with tact, focused on his surroundings while analyzing the data present before him. He'd tossed another tag out behind him.

"Hayate! Sweep the perimeter for me. Find anything useful bring it back to me. The first sign of trouble you get back to me."
The spirit springs off without a word, headed for one particular section of the center wing. It would scurry through the various boxes and abandoned area looking for anything shiny or useful. Maybe there were more bodies. Or something of that nature. The space this shikigami occupied was not too far away from where Haji was, or where he would end up in the next few moments.

By now, the miniature dog would have done its duty, taking a piece of the plant matter into its body along with bringing back a few diff pieces of gear. What it found was one of those weird clip wallets YouTubers promote all the time, alongside a small bundle of yen and a membership card to a gym somewhere in the city.  This was clearly a young man, late teens, and early 20s. But his age was mostly irrelevant for now. Hajime would tap the handle of his mop on the ground, releasing cursed energy into the bristles which brought them to life. Immediate, they sprang out and began to wrap the deceased man like a mummy. He folded his hand up as if in prayer and uttered a simple term.
"In the end, begins anew, Ashe" Thus, the task was complete & the body would be immersed in long sheets of talisman. It would do well for an autopsy later. Maybe they could even bring the body to the poor man's family.
The small Inu Shikigami scurried up his clothing and sat comfortably on his shoulder. Haji continued onward.  Scanning the ID and other items he gained from the corpse. He could do this by peering into the Shikigami's various mouths, every so often scanning the walls for their various messages. ...The man in white...? Could it be a scientist type? Lab coat? Or a rich tycoon? White suit? Either way, it sounds like a drag. Could the light be these blood eyes people have been talking about? I need more context..."

Hajime then stumbled upon a large center room with high windows and long since dormant machinery. He was definitely at the right place. When he was done with the middle wing, he would more than likely go east first, then back west. It was best assumed that down would bring him directly to the source of the issue. Dark things happen underground. Swamp monster. Lizard-man. Gray aliens. All the theories said most the same thing. Curses were a poor exception. They too often stuck to the shadows and struck out best at the weak, but if this were a series of events brought on by a human? Well...That was another problem in its entirety. "There must be over 120 victims already. Damn. This is already bad then. What could that be over there..."

Before entering the West Wing by using the Sun Key, he would have spotted white graffiti on the ground that said "THE NAKAITEN WILL RETURN AND EVERYTHING WILL BURN," now what in the world did that mean? Was Nakaiten a person, place, or thing? Hajime could have written it off as anything, or he could keep some suspicion because the name sounded like it came from the old world.

The presence of this curse was already mighty, and Hajime should have been able to infer it was powerful, but he wouldn't know to a full extent, let alone its abilities, or if it had any at all. Another thing about this opponent was it was difficult to read on a surface level due to how the head was structured. Before Hajime could completely ready himself, a powerful scream in the form of a transparent orb festered and erupted like a gale of bladed wind from the left side of him. Not only did blades of compressed wind release from the screaming orb to cut into his flesh; the screams were also enough to numb his eardrums which would disrupt his hearing by lowering it, significantly (3 post duration) which would force him to rely on other methods. The fact he had no knowledge of the enemy, it should have worked, and if it did, it was enough for him not to fall for the same pronged attack again. The screams were enough to reach the entire room as well, so what would Hajime do now? Because even dodging would not be a viable option in the grand scheme of things. Coming in contact with one of its many techniques wasn't enough to infer anything logical either. Considering Hajime's roster, he had a few shikigami to choose from.

This was only the beginning, the wealth of clues he was about to find in the western wing was immense.

The driest of expressions carved its way onto his face, as his investigation lead him to a large sealed door. There were few things worse than backtracking when going the wrong way. The large elaborate door was a bit much for such an abandoned factory. Just how long had it been here? He grits his teeth at the realization of such an annoying gimmick as a riddle. He would thank himself for sending Hayate out moments before.


The Miniature curse scurries about, through the factory, sticking close to the shadows as it maneuvers. The enticing shingle of a left-behind object catches his attention, much like a moth to a flame. He scans the area from the right and left, then dashes on out and grabs the key in its hand, hanging it around his arm like a band. The critter scans the environment once more and then conjures a small back square, stepping through. He appears right on the opposite shoulder of Hajime. Lab Coat or white suit, they had been at this a while. And they had bread...this was definitely the mark of a group of humans. Cursed users definitely.
He observes the key handed to him, marked with the symbol of the sun. A sigh escapes him and he turns in the opposite direction. Along the way, the boy crouches and observes the white graffiti. More words and phrases are thrown about, almost deliberately. Who would leave this? Like a series of breadcrumbs, he could do nothing more than follow it.
"Nakaiten... Is that some sort of monsters like loch ness or bigfoot? This really is all over the place."

---

JAKU PLAYGROUND: OLD FACTORY - WESTERN WING


Onward he marched into the western wing, the sun key fitting the western door without riddles or problems of any type. Who would leave the key lying around? Did something disrupt the happenings here? More and more questions found their way into his mind. His nose scrunched at the smell of bbq. It hung against the air with pungency. He steps forward a number of paces and observes with intent. There were bodies everywhere, yet unlike the body outside, there was no identifying these. He would not wrap them. Their bodies oozing cursed energy. It was anything like the norm. It was then that the energy within these bodies began to move, the doors slammed shut as harsh energy encapsulated the exits. His eye scrutinizes the curse above him, its humanoid features. The flow of energy around it. This thing had something different about it. That alone made him reluctant to move without some sort of plan of action. He readied himself His mop handle gripped tightly in his hand, energy flowing in and throughout it.
And then...
S C R E E E E E E E E E E C H H H H

Disruption from the left. The only sign he had was a sudden swell of cursed energy.  Out of instinct, the strands of his mop wrapped around his left side. This would have two effects, buffering the blow enough to avoid direct injury and muffling the sound on the left side. Because of the dynamics of sound, it would reverberate off the walls and the environment and bombard him on the right. A distinct ring formed in his ear, as the other side held more of a muffle. The blades of wind collided with the talismans on his map, sending Hajime flying toward the right about a meter or so.
"DAMN...!"
His voice calls out with vigor "NINPO!!"

In an instant his cursed energy spikes, in a rush, the triplet shikigami takes center stage. It kicks off its master shoulders upward into a black square that forms just over its head.
Hajime does all he can to recover, his feet colliding with the ground with a slide as he attempted to stall his momentum. Above its head,  some three and a half feet a black square opens up, And for a moment there is nothing, then, a triple-pronged spear jet out, attempting to piece the curse right through the skull. Even if it had missed, that was fine as within the same breath, a horizontal chop was likely to swipe through from right to left.
With half his hearing blocked, it felt as though a flashbang had gone off but he had one earplug on. He was inconvenienced, maybe even somewhat thrown off, but still in the game.
Some sort of loud screech. That's annoying as shit. Hopefully, Ninpo can buy me some time, If I hadn't had the mop on me that could have been much worse. I don't know what that was but I'm going to have to get in close to put it down. Or overwhelm it with Shikigami...
Shaken, but still firm, Hajime readies his energy once more, His hand forming a hand sign. His mop right in his right hand, the strands curled upward around his left side leaving gaps for his eyes to see, though he could perceive through the Shikigami currently in play.  Whatever the case was...
Haji The Summoner, would not fall.

No one from the Tokyo Technical College knew about this sight either, so the danger level of Jaku's Playground was still unknown, but as soon as Hajime's report came in, that would be given a ruling by the proper authorities. When Hajime crossed through the western doors, he gave an eye to the burned bodies on the ground that released cursed energy. He was foolish to write it off 'as the norm'  when it was not, and the fact he didn't draw an obvious conclusion yet meant he couldn't juggle too many thoughts when he was in battle or when it was about to transpire; Hajime only displayed he enough focus to rely on tactical things at the time. This was not to discredit his current thinking because anybody would be hyper-focus on their safety right now, especially with an attack such as this one. Hopefully, he wouldn't forget this crucial piece of information in his report because this wouldn't be the last time he found an oddity related to it. 

Location JAKU PLAYGROUND: OLD FACTORY - WESTERN WING


The triplet Shikigami's spear ejects as intended, the spear itself missing the curse by a minor turn of the head. The spear continues onward, its entire length collapsing into the metal walkway below. Sharp enough to pierce just a few inches into the old steel, the ax follows just a moment later, met with a block by the curses left arm, the power behind this blow lightly embedding the edge of the blade into its arm, maybe a few centimeters or so, not nearly enough to be of any true value. By now, the curses full body had yet to eject from the portal, yet its arms and legs had. At the peak of the axes swing, the curse would see the shikigami's arms begin pass the boundaries of the portal. The image of this final object, a solid mace with spikes protruding broke through and behind it, the peering eyes of the triplet Shiki. With haste, it countered the use of cursed energy with cursed energy of its own, projecting the force around their entire form. Still mid-air, there was little to keep them rooted beyond the spear now in place, but the mace was swung downward regardless, with force. With a power yell now being projecting, the area was now awash with harsh noise accompanied by a powerful force of energy projected to keep the shikigami at bay. With a little assistance, the portal itself shifts upward without having the shikigami move, removing Ninpo manually at the moment of the initial clash. This black square closes in an instant coalescing into a single focal point revealing its full body as it braves the screaming head-on. This was done to make room for a separate counter.

Behind this curse, a new blacks square spawns itself in just under a second. Mid scream. Beyond it, a purple streak, small and swift escapes. This portal was just about 4 feet back, allowing Hayate to blitz out as a bullet struck from its chamber. In an attempt to knock the curse off-balance, Hayate's hands take a swipe for the back of this beasts knee's, each digit filed into a fine claw. This was enough for now.

And what of Haji himself? Having summoned Ninpo, he was on the move, regardless of the state of his hearing. He had suddenly removed himself from view, sprinting behind one of the center walls down on the factory floor. Taking the long way he continued to gather energy. What remained in his place of origin was a single talisman that remained on the ground. There's something else to this curse. What are these charred bodies for? Why have they fed it energy? There's no way I have time to investigate this.
He rounds the first corner with a slide, then presses onward. Being behind a wall, he had spared himself the problem of dealing with the direct nature of the curses screech. He places a second Talisman down just as he rounds this corner and sprints forward another few feet. Both the curse and his shikigami are an approximate 9 meters away, including the space taken into account for elevation. If Hayate and Ninpo were to the front and back of the fresh curse (from left to right) then Haji was at the curses front. Thankfully it had turned to face the triplets, who by now were braving the shockwave with their own cursed energy. The powerful force was met with immediate resistance causing a clash against the spiked mace. Would the curse maintain its scream to keep the triplets at bay, or would it turn its attention to Haji or Hayate? Had it pressed onward, it was likely to reject the shinigami with the force of its screech, however, should it need to turn its attention, it would give Ninpo the opening it needed to carry on with a new strike. Hajime continued to gather his cursed energy, with two talismans in hand he prepares himself for the final phase of his plan. He does not yet stop moving, keeping his mop close, he dashes forward at a moderate pace allowing the scene to play out before him as to take in as much visual stock of the situation as possible. The image of the cursed energy siphoning from the bodies flashed in his mind. Was this process still occurring? Hajime would have to put his investigation on hold just to make sure he made it back alive to report.