June of Doom 2026 JJK You'll have to do better than that
Spoilers for the zenin family dynamic and late season 1 where they talk about Mai's limits @juneofdoom
cw: child abuse, neglect, vomit, blood, self harm, discussion of trafficking in end note
Mai laser focused on her trembling hands closed into a fist, her wrists stinging from the strain. Come on, this can’t be it. She silently willed something, anything more to form. Anything other than a peanut sized nugget of steel. Blood ran down her hands as her nails dug into skin, the pinprick pain distant against her exhaustion and pounding heart.
The adults were already threatening to send Maki away for being useless, she had to prove herself. If she could just show she was worth something, maybe she could pull Maki along with her. As long as they were together, it’d all be ok. Blood trickled down her nose as her teeth ground against one another, pouring what little cursed energy she could muster into her technique, but it slipped through her grasp like water through fingers.
Mai collapsed against the table, hands opening to nothing once more. Her breath came in short gasps as she tried to push down the swelling panic.
“Tch, you’ll have to do better than that,” father admonished. “This cannot be all you’re capable of,” he plucked the nugget off the table with a sneer. “Again.”
“Sir, I tried—” Mai bit back a cry as a rod slammed onto her knuckles. She nodded instead, pushing herself back up with shaking arms as exhaustion weighed down her limbs. Closing her eyes, she focused on that ever-present fear, heart racing as she could barely think through the fog. She at least had a technique, she wasn’t cursed with a heavenly pact. But without the cursed energy to fuel it, she’d be cast aside, labeled worthless like her sister. She had to show she was better, was worth keeping.
Even if that meant going where adults talked about in hushed whispers. Where no sorcerer with a respectable technique would think to look. As long as it kept Maki safe, she’d make it work. Spots encroached on her vision even through closed eyes. Mai fought against the dark, blood now steadily flowing down her hands as she tried to drag in enough air while pushing her cursed energy output to its limits.
As she lost the battle, Mai fell forward onto the table once more. She was only distantly aware of father prying open her hands and tsking again.
She had to do better than this.
I was going back and forth on a scene for this when I had the idea for Mai. Because of how well they handled the trafficking in the three families, it's a blessing Mai didn't have more cursed energy output. If she did, she would've been relegated to some sort of production/factory position in making what the zenin clan needed. Techniques are somewhat genetic, so they absolutely have a group for this or have it when they can. Instead, she's useful enough to become the model sorcerer foil to Maki once she leaves to become one. But not so useful that she's locked away for the rest of her life.
