Hypnotist show.

It's been two weeks since Keito Kumi joined Jujutsu College, and he was now assigned a mission : patrol the streets of Tokyo for any sign of curses. To his delight, he was assigned Nobara as his team partner.

Speaking of her, the orange-haired beauty was feeling no better than the first time she had seen him. The bags under her eyes, once barely visible, were now much more pronounced. Gojo had suggested that she took a break, but she had stubbornly insisted that she was fine.

Anyways, it made what Keito had in mind much easier. His hands reflexively made a hand-sign that he had extensively used in the past, yet he didn't activate it just yet. There was a time for everything.

Right now, they were walking through the busy streets of Tokyo. Even if she seemed to be dead on her feet, Nobara did her best to spot any abnormalities in Cursed Energy in the surroundings. Keito did as well, though he trailed behind her to get a good look at her rear.

After a few hours of mindlessly patrolling and frustratingly finding nothing, the Sun was high in the sky and Keito suggested that they take a break for now. Nobara readily agreed.

They got something to eat, some fries with burgers, and sat in a park to eat in calm. As Keito took the last bites of his meal, he noticed a commotion on the other side of the park. Many people were gathering around someone, who was standing on a makeshift platform.

"Hey, Nobara."

"Wchat ish it?" She replied with her mouth full.

"Let's go check this out." He gestured towards the scene. She quickly finished her meal and together, they made their way towards the commotion.

"Excuse me, sorry." Keito kept saying as he pushed people out of the way to get closer. Once there was no one blocking their sight anymore, the duo's eyes widened in recognition.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this woman has courageously offered to be my willing participant in this magic trick : Hypnosis!" The overly-enthusiastic voice of the man standing on scene reached their ears.

With a quick check, Nobara confirmed that the man possessed the same amount of Cursed Energy that a non-sorcerer would have. Since there were no signs of sorcery involved, and she didn't believe in hypnosis, she started moving back.

But she felt someone tightly gripping her wrist. She turned around, ready to chew them out/beat them up, but it was only Keito. Puzzled, she removed her hand from his grasp and asked, "What?"

For a brief moment, his eyes twinkled with something that gave her the creeps, but it went away so quickly that she thought she imagined it. "Let's just stay for a bit. I'm curious to see if he will succeed."

Nobara wanted to argue, but the look in his eyes told her he wouldn't change his mind no matter what she said. Anyways, her legs were a bit tired from walking all-morning so she supposed she could take a break, even if nothing would happen.

The man on-stage cleared his throat and held a pendulum in front of the assistant from the public. Nobara noted how bright it was, shining under the sunrays.

"Listen to the sound of my voice. It is calm, soothing and nice to the ears. You just want to listen it, to understand each and every word that comes out of my mouth. You trust my voice."

"Now, look at the pendulum. My voice is telling you to look at the pendulum. Watch it swing from side to side, side to side. It is calming and relaxing to look at the pendulum."

Nobara had to admit, the man knew his job. Wasn't she absolutely convinced that hypnosis wasn't real, she'd be doubting herself by now. Even if his voice was nice, and she was also watching the pendulum, it had obviously nothing to do with being hypnotized.

"When the pendulum swings left, you take a deep, refreshing breath. When it swings right, you let out a slow, revigorating exhale."

Keito watched from the corner of his eyes how Nobara absent-mindedly started breathing and exhaling as the hypnotist had suggested. Truthfully, she was much more suggestible than he had believed.

"Now, keep your eyes on the pendulum. I'll count from 5 to 0, listen slowly and carefully to my voice and do as it says."

"5. My voice soothes you, you feel relaxed and in control."

"4. All your anxieties and worries just slip out of your mind, leaving you with just peace and serennity."

Nobara shuddered, free from that gnawing frustration she had carried for the last two weeks.

"3. My voice makes you peaceful and relaxed. You want to stay peaceful and relaxed. You will listen to my voice."

"2. That relaxation makes you sleepy, you wish to rest. My voice tells you to rest. When I say 0, you will fall into a deep, refeshing slumber."

At this point, Keito noted that both the woman on-stage and Nobara shared the same blank-eyed, hazed over look. He briefly poked her wrist, but she didn't seem to have noticed.

"1. Your limbs feel heavy, too heavy for you to support. You struggle, finding them heavier and heavier by the second as you wish it to stop. Your mind is tired, you want to rest, you need to rest and you will once I count to 0."

"Ze-"

Keito pinched Nobara's wrist, snapping her out of the trance.

"-ro!"

The woman on-stage collapsed into the arms of the hypnotist, and the crowd excitedly whispered among themselves. The man gently sat her down on a chair that was meant for this scenario.

Meanwhile, Nobara furiously wiped the drool that slipped out of her mouth and dribbled on her chin. She saw Keito's amused gaze and nearly punched him, but refrained from doing it with so many people around.

She felt even worse than before. She was dead tired, barely able to stand upright. Probably the after-effects of listening to that con-man on-stage, and his faking assistant. She was simply just bored out of her mind.

"I need to use the restroom." She quickly excused herself, all under Keito's attentive eyes.