August 29, 2018, seven in the evening.
Shibuya.
Neon lights still flashed, and billboards still played glamorous images, but the streets had lost their usual bustle. In its place came wave after wave of screams and sobs.
"Hey! What the hell is this thing?"
"Let me out!"
"Move aside! Move aside!"
The streets, malls, and restaurants-every corner was steeped in bewildered panic. The crowds surged aimlessly like headless chickens. Some people fell, some screamed, and some frantically dialed calls that never connected. A black Curtain hung over Shibuya, cutting this sleepless city off completely from the outside world.
Seven forty.
The jujutsu sorcerers entered the Curtain.
"This is an emergency. We have no intelligence, so we can only rely on ourselves." Kento Nanami turned to glance at Yuji Itadori, who stood behind him in a daze. A trace of barely perceptible concern lingered in his eyes.
"Itadori."
"Huh?" Itadori snapped back to his senses, his voice still carrying a hint of tension.
"If anything unexpected happens, head straight to the perimeter and seek Mr. Kusakabe's help." Nanami said nothing more. He simply wound his signature spotted tie around his fist, slowly, one turn after another, pulling the fabric taut between his fingers.
"For the fighting ahead, I suspect my level will be the bare minimum."
With that, he slowly walked into the subway station entrance. The dim lights cast a long shadow behind him, and his footsteps echoed through the deserted passage. Itadori took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and followed close behind.
Other jujutsu sorcerers were providing support in the upper levels, but the area was too vast and their forces too spread out. Until the next wave of reinforcements arrived, Kento Nanami and Yuji Itadori were the only two covering the lower levels.
The subway station, normally