Jujutsu Kaisen: False Dawn

Utahime Iori sat in the back seat of the government-issued black car, her fingers curled loosely around the file in her lap. Her eyes followed the buildings sliding past the window, barely processing the scenery. Thoughts twisted behind her calm expression.

"That boy at the shrine…" she murmured in her mind. "His cursed energy was strange. Felt… darker than usual."

It wasn't powerful. In fact, his reservoir was entirely average. But there was a weight to it, like something in it didn't quite belong—or maybe wasn't originally his. Still, he didn't act suspicious. No threat, just… odd.

She glanced back down at the file in her lap.

Cursed object retrieval mission.

That in itself wasn't unusual, but the details? Those were what bothered her.

The file stated that the object had been stolen in transit. Not by a person, but—according to eyewitness absence and spiritual fluctuation logs—by a curse. A sealed object vanishing during transport? That wasn't just careless; it was dangerous. Seals weren't supposed to break unless tampered with. And even if they did, someone should've noticed.

But here she was, riding through Tokyo—Gojo's Tokyo—to an old, rusted water park of all places.

The car slowed to a stop. Her team of five stirred behind her. She shut the file and stepped out into the afternoon haze.

The water park looked like it had died ten years ago. Metal arches rusted into orange-brown streaks. The mascots were sun-bleached ghosts, grinning with chipped teeth. A hollow wind carried the scent of mildew.

She adjusted her sleeves and scanned the area carefully. The cursed object was here. She could feel it. Not strongly—not yet—but the taste of it hung faint in the air.

Behind her, three third-grade student sorcerers stepped out of the car with hushed whispers and shifting nerves. They were followed by two second-grade sorcerers, more experienced, each standing with the quiet steadiness that Utahime appreciated.

"This is supposed to be a learning expedition," she muttered. "Let's hope it stays that way."

The group moved forward, slipping through broken gates and past dried-out fountains. The driver stayed back, lighting a cigarette and watching the street.

No barrier. No sign of hostility. The seal should've held. It had only been a few hours since the disappearance. This should've been clean.

Then Utahime felt it—a ripple. Something twitching within the air like a spasm of cursed pressure.

Her shoulders stiffened.

Still, she said nothing.

The group moved deeper in, between cracked tile walkways and rusted jungle gyms. Then, from above—a flicker of movement.

A weak fish curse, body slick and malformed, dove from a half-broken water slide. Its face was eerily human, its eyes bugging out, its mouth lined with teeth that didn't fit its size.

The students leapt to action. Hesitant, yes, but they struck with coordination.

A flash of cursed energy, a shriek, and it dispersed into cursed mist.

Utahime exhaled slowly. The team relaxed. The tension in the air dulled.

But she wasn't at ease.

Something about that curse… it was a distraction.

They kept walking, tracking the energy trail. It led them to the main dome—the indoor wave pool building. A steel door hung half-open, and stale air leaked out like the breath of a corpse.

She stepped in first, hand raised slightly to signal caution.

And there it was.

The pool was dry—empty concrete, spiderwebbed with cracks. But what stood in the center turned her stomach inside out.

A twisted creature, half-human and half-fish, squatted low. Its body bulged with wet, algae-colored flesh. One of its arms looked like it had once been a human spine. In its mouth was a glowing orb, shrouded in paper seals—ripped, soaked, and half-digested.

Utahime's eyes widened.

She recognized the cursed object.

And it wasn't something they should've sent her to retrieve.

"RUN!" she screamed, her voice echoing like thunder in the cavernous dome.

Her hands moved fast. A huge barrier snapped into place around the wave pool, slicing across the walls in glowing runes.

The team scattered. Behind her, one of the second-grade sorcerers pushed two students out the doorway.

The curse lifted its head.

The seal crumbled in its mouth.

---

Outside the dome, the driver jumped up from his seat as the shimmer of Utahime's barrier surged into the air and vanished into a dome-shaped veil.

He dropped his cigarette and dialed his phone.

"Yes, this is Iori's team. Emergency situation. Barrier deployed. Send backup."

He climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key. The engine rumbled.

Then he waited—watching, worried.

---

Ren sat crouched behind a tree just a few blocks away. He'd followed the car the whole way, steps silent, face half-covered by his hoodie.

He'd seen them enter the park.

He'd seen the rust and rot.

And then he saw it.

The barrier.

A massive dome of cursed energy shimmered into view for just a second before vanishing into invisibility.

Ren's breath caught.

"…It's happening," he whispered.

He focused his cursed energy into his eyes. The barrier was still faintly visible if he concentrated.

"Utahime didn't want it to leave," he murmured. "That means… whatever's in there… it's strong."

His heart beat faster. He had no knowledge of this. No manga memory. No scene like this ever happened.

He didn't know the curse. The object. The risk.

And yet…

The barrier was closing fast.

His instincts screamed at him to run.

But something else screamed louder.

Opportunity.

His foot shifted. His cursed energy pooled instinctively toward his legs.

He ran.

Toward the park.

Toward the dome.

And just as the last seam of the barrier sealed shut, he jumped.

Ren slipped through the veil.

And vanished into cursed silence.

...