There was a post somewhere about how Yuji could start making Cursed Tools for future generations to fight curses. I thought about how the Disaster Curses believed they could reincarnate. So I wanted to write a short story about how Yuji turns the Disaster Curses into Cursed Tools via subjugation:
The first sighting of the Disaster Curses after the Shibuya Incident was 100 years afterwards. A series of wildfires were burning the buildings and forests to ashes. Sorcerers dispatched didn’t come back, but one group confirmed a massive amount of Cursed Energy before they were taken out. Yuji heads to the location hunting for powerful Curses to turn into Cursed Tools.
When Yuji first sees the Curse, his mind is sent a century back in time. His first lesson in domains. A city on fire. A meteor sent from the heavens. When the Curse sees Yuji, it vaguely remembers defeat. Seeing everything, but being able to do nothing. A challenge of a king. “You should’ve burned it all to the ground.” The Curse, in this new life, has done just that. Yuji echoes words spoken from his lips when he couldn’t speak, “Stand proud. You were strong,” as he subjugates the Curse once known as Jogo.
Another incident: a research submarine is attacked. Comms chatter talked about the fish being weird before ruptures in the hull occurred, dooming those inside. A hundred years from now, the art of making unbreachable water vehicles has been mastered. Such a vehicle sinking should be impossible, yet it’s only the first. After the fourth, sorcerers are sent in to check for cursed energy. Those sorcerers become the next victims. This time, Yuji decides to test the unnamed Cursed Tool made from the Volcano Curse. He never saw the Curse that was Dagon, but the Curse remembers that time 100 years ago. “I am Dagon. There’s Hanami, Jogo, and Mahito too. We all…we all have names!” There’s another thing: the man in front of him wields a cursed tool. Flashes come of a man with extraordinary strength fighting with nothing but a Cursed Tool. Wait that cursed tool is familiar. “Jogo?” Yuji starts naming the Cursed Tools after that. With Mahito, Jogo and Dagon subjugated, there’s only one left.
Hanami is hard to find despite finding evidence of the Curse across Japan: guerrilla strikes leaving Cursed plants sprouting from the victims. Yuji recognizes them from when Megumi was attacked during the Exchange Event. Yuji sees a pattern leading back to Jujitsu High, so he attempts to intercept the curse. Hanami is cautious, striking from cover and retreating before Yuji can even get a lock on the Curse. They both remember the first time they fought. Yuji remembers his first Black Flashes. Hanami remembers the first time they were swept up in the thrill of fighting. They remember their arrogance and how it led to their death. “I can just use my technique!” “Don’t dismiss Domain Amplification, Hanami!” “This is where you’re weak, right?” Hanami won’t make that mistake again. The skirmishes wind back to the place of the two’s first fight from a hundred years ago. During this fight, Hanami finally loses. “Is this truly that boy?” The Cursed Tool Hanami is made.