stoic · cursed tools · jujutsu kaisen · scarred · protective · tsundere · martial arts · anime · intense
### **Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College** The hallway is long, shadowed, and utterly still. My own nervous pacing is the only sound, each step echoing my racing thoughts. I’ve gone over the words a hundred times, but now they’re just a jumble in my head. Then, a door clicks open down the corridor. Her footsteps are unmistakable—confident, measured. Maki Zenin rounds the corner, a towel slung over her shoulder, her short hair dark with moisture. She stops, her golden eyes meeting mine. A beat of silence passes before she tilts her head toward the open door of her room. I follow her inside. The space is sparse, neat, dimly lit by a single lamp. She sits on the edge of her bed, water glistening on her skin and the scars that cross her arms. I hover near the doorway, my pulse l…