Yurui The Cursed One

“Two days?”

Oba’s voice makes me open my eyes. He’s actually looking at me now. I don’t know why, but his dark, cold eyes send a chill running through my body.

“Yes.”

“And they made you Third Officer ?” He asks casually without as much as batting an eye at me.

My stomach twists. I knew that part was going to come up eventually.

“I didn’t exactly—”

“That’s impressive.”

I stop.

“Wait, what ?”

Impressive? That was about the last thing I had expected to hear. I’d already been bracing myself for the cursing and complaining, maybe a pitying look from Maya if I was lucky. Even that felt optimistic. I’d known Maya for all of five minutes. On the other hand, these were her people. If they decided I had no business being here, there was no reason to expect her to take my side. If anything, I should have expected her to join in on the cursing.

Well, assuming there was any cursing to join in with.

Oba slips the knife away.

“Most people here have had their blessings for years. Quite a few have been living with them since childhood.”

Marcus gives a quiet hum of agreement.

Narun keeps his eyes on me.

“Two days, though…”

He glances at Maya, then back at me.

“That must’ve been one hell of a first impression, if they put you in the officer ranks two days after awakening, whatever blessing it is that you’re packing must be pretty damn impressive.”

I watch all three of them, half-expecting at least some annoyance or resentment, but there’s none. If anything, they seem even more interested than before.

Marcus grins. “Okay. Now I really want to see it.”

I blink at him.

“You don’t care?”

His grin gives way to a puzzled frown. “About what?”

I hesitate. Somehow, actually saying it out loud feels considerably more embarrassing than worrying about it in my head.

“That I’ve only had my blessing for two days.”

I already hate where this is going, but there is no graceful way out of it now.

“Why would I care about how long you’ve had your blessing ?” Marcus stares at me.

The genuine confusion on his face somehow makes this more awkward.

Narun seems to catch on before Marcus does. He leans back slightly, studying me with a look that is far too amused for my liking.

“You thought we’d be pissed because you’re inexperienced.”

I say nothing. Mostly because there is no answer I can give that means anything other than yes. I mean, what the hell were they even expecting to answer me here?

Without realizing it, I start tapping my foot against the floor.

Oba stands.

“No need to be nervous. If you were weak, you wouldn’t be here.”

Oh, fuck. He noticed. I really need to get my habit of fidgeting when nervous under control. While I'm not trying to become a secret agent or anything, displaying myself as an open book for everyone to read is not going to do me any favors, especially not in the long run.

“Why aren’t any of you mad ?” I ask, genuinely baffled.

Oba glances down as he slips his hands into his pockets.

“Because joining the security forces while being unqualified is nothing short of an utter suicide.’’ He looks down, ‘‘My predecessor, one of the strongest blessed I had ever known, was on track to climb the ranks in the security forces, many considered him a future vice captain/captain prospect. Barely lasted two months until he got killed on a job.” He grins. “If you were too weak to be here, you’d just get killed off in a couple of days, and then one of us would get the promotion." His grin grows even wider. “You see, It’s a win-win for us no matter how you slice it. Worst case scenario is we get a cool new officer to help carry the squad further up the rankings.“

Narun nods.

“A bloody business this is. It pays well, though.”

“Hear, hear.” Marcus raises a hand in agreement, his bright smile already back.

I swallow.

Fuck. I wish someone had fucking told me before I signed up for this. I thought all I had to do was beat up some peasants, make some evil monologue about how those who defy Miracle Inc. are doomed to perish, and then get a bag of money in return.

Shit, as it turns out, I have just been fast tracked into a job where even fricking prodigies can’t survive a couple of months.

Marcus looks me straight in the eyes.

“So how strong is that transformation of yours?”

I spread my hands.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

For a second, he just stares at me. Then he laughs. Not mockingly, either. If anything, he sounds genuinely amused.

“They really threw you straight into the deep end, huh ?” Narun asks.

Marcus smirks. “Yeah. Blindfolded, with the floaties taken off.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” I reply, trying my best not to sound too annoyed.

Fucking jerk. I know how to swim. Hell, it’s one of my only hobbies, or at least used to be, but that's a story for another time.

“What do you actually know about your blessing?”

I open my mouth.

Then close it again.

That turns out to be a much harder question than it should be.

“I know I can transform. I then grow armor and… Umh, stuff.” I hesitate. “And I know things tend to go very badly once I start losing control.”

Fuck. At this rate, I might actually end up floating somewhere in the deep end for real. Running is still the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a way out of my current predicament, but the prospect of running away grows dimmer and dimmer with each subsequent choice I make. For one, I’m standing right inside Miracle Inc.’s security HQ, surrounded by at least four blessed—two of whom are officers, and I already have an ID card with my name on it. Safe to say I’m in the system now.

At this point, I might genuinely be out of options. All I can really do is go with the flow and hope I don’t drown.

Marcus’s eyebrows rise.

“That’s all you’ve figured out?”

I shift under his stare.

“Not exactly. There are other things.”

“Like?”

I hesitate.

Most of them are either useless, disturbing, or all of the above.

“Nothing I’d call particularly useful,” I say while staring down.

“That pause lasted way too long,” Marcus says, one brow creeping upward as his grin returns. “You hiding something from us, Miss New Girl?”

I glare at Marcus. He only grins back at me, apparently delighted with himself.

Maya takes pity on me and rests a hand on my shoulder.

“She’s had a complicated couple of days.”

Narun gives her a curious look. “How complicated are we talking?”

The smile Maya gives him tells me I am not going to like wherever this conversation eventually ends up.

“I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”

Marcus seems perfectly happy with that answer. His attention shifts toward the door.

“Well, there’s one way to figure some of this out.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “What way?”

He jerks his head toward the door.

“We take you downstairs and see what you can actually do.”

For a moment, I just stare.

“You want me to transform?”

“If you can.” He shrugs. “And if you can’t, then I guess that’s what we practice.”

“You say that like it’s easy.” I give him an annoyed look.

Asshole was really starting to get on my nerves by now.

“I have absolutely no idea whether it’s easy.” Marcus flashes me another grin. “But standing around talking about it probably isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Narun pushes himself to his feet.

“He’s got a point. Even if you can’t transform right away, we can at least run you through the basics.”

By the time I glance toward Oba, he is already making his way to the door, with Narun not far behind him. Apparently the matter has been decided without me.

Maya hangs back with me, one hand resting lightly on my shoulder.

“You up for it?”

For a moment, I’m not sure how to answer, and not because I want to stay behind. If anything, that’s what catches me off guard. A few minutes ago, I had been bracing for resentment. I had walked into their squad with two days of experience and an officer rank I had done absolutely nothing to earn, surrounded by people who had probably spent years proving themselves. Some amount of hostility had seemed inevitable.

Instead, they had welcomed me with open arms. Or as open as it gets, considering I may very well be leaving in a body bag a couple of days from now.

That strange warmth begins creeping into my chest again.

“…Yeah.”

I smooth a hand over the front of my jacket

“Let’s go.”

Maya smiles and grabs my arm.

“Come on.”

Marcus throws the door wide open.

“Hell yeah !” His voice rings out loudly from behind the door.

Narun follows after him, while Oba hangs back to hold the door for me. He says nothing as I pass, only giving me a small nod.

By the time I step into the corridor after them, I realize I am smiling.

I quickly wipe it off my face.

“Looks like you’re one of us now,” Maya whispers.

I could feel the smile stretching across my face again. This time, I didn’t bother hiding it. Some moments deserved a smile.

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