Cursed Guardians - Water9826 - 呪術廻戦 (2024)

Chapter 1: A Curse's Humanity

Chapter Text

He had won.

He had finally won.

Sukuna let out a sigh and let his body relax on top of the warm sand. The beach he was currently resting in was surprisingly tranquil. The waves were calm and the breeze was comforting. Such sensations had nearly been forgotten by the ancient curse. During his destructive rampage, he had paid no attention to the environment around him. He was too focused on killing those wretched sorcerers and any who defied him. Now that he had won, he could appreciate the new world he had created. He’d be the true King of Curses. King of the World.

There was a problem, however.

He was a king with no subjects.

After defeating the limitless user, no one was left to stop Sukuna’s plans to subjugate the entire world. His power had returned to him, restoring his true, godlike form. No vessel needed. Because of the overwhelming surge of power Sukuna received once the white-haired freak was killed, he entered a mindless state. He was so caught up in his own destruction and violence that he didn’t notice who he was destroying. The plan he had concocted for centuries was tossed to the side as he committed a genocide to all forms of life on Earth. There were no humans left to terrorize or curses to dictate.

Even Uraume was not spared of his senseless cruelty. When he had realized that his most loyal assistant was killed by his own hands, it was already too late. Sukuna had slaughtered everything. The plant life had no hope of recovering, any wildlife had been incinerated, and the oceans were empty. Such destruction was not in his plans. Sukuna knew he was seen as an irredeemable monster, a psychotic murderer, a megalomaniac through and through, and the list of titles continues. While Sukuna did agree with most titles, he did not agree with being called mindless or anything that insinuated he was an idiot.

It had taken time to become the curse he was now known as. Sukuna had been human once, a fact he forgot more often than not, which meant that he was not born with his incredible powers. He was patient and persistent in his journey to grow stronger. Eventually, entire villages fell at his hands and his hands alone. With his intellect and abilities, he became a one man army. No one stood a chance against Sukuna. Even his public execution had been planned, convincing the townspeople to burn him at the stake with a piece of wood Sukuna had carved ancient runes into. The runes imbued him with cursed energy as Sukuna perished to the flames, ensuring he would be reborn as a curse.

Sukuna never did anything without a plan. He was strategic and the strongest. The former aspect was often forgotten by his opponents. While the sorcerer with the six eyes technique was born strong, Sukuna was not. He was not an arrogant fool who would deny such a thing as having no weaknesses. Such delusions would make Sukuna more vulnerable. Gojo was born a prodigy, Sukuna made himself a prodigy. His efforts had paid off in the end as he had become the most feared creature in the world.

And yet…

He had acted like a mindless beast until the world he was supposed to rule over became nothing but a hollow husk.

There was nothing Sukuna could do. There was nothing Sukuna could do to reverse it.

This was not part of his plan. He was not supposed to be the only inhabitant of this planet. The desolation he had wrought was too much . Sukuna had gone too far. Such a concept was foreign to the curse, but it was true. No one survived his wrath. He would have to live out the rest of his existence in solitude.

“Are you happy?”

If Sukuna had regular hearing, he would not have heard the weak whisper of the boy next to him. Fortunately, his senses had always been heightened, and his godlike form only served to strengthen his senses even more. Even so, a weight settled in his gut when the boy, who was known for being anything but silent, spoke in such a manner.

Yuuji sat next to the giant entity without an ounce of fear. In fact, there were no emotions that could be detected on the teen’s scarred face. The normally expressive boy had been reduced to a shell of his former self. Itadori had been so quiet that Sukuna momentarily forgot about his existence. He had let the teenager live as a form of revenge. As his vessel, Sukuna learned things about Yuuji that he never wanted to know. Most notably his morals, something that annoyed the curse to no end.

Despite his many years of living, Sukuna had never seen someone as selfless as Itadori Yuuji. He could not remember a single soul who had even a fraction of the boy’s kindness. Above all, the pink-haired teen prioritized the lives of others far more than his own. It infuriated Sukuna to have such an idiotic being as his vessel. At first, Sukuna planned to kill Itadori immediately after regaining his true form. When Sukuna went to end the boy’s life once and for all, he had paused at the broken look in Yuuji’s eyes. Yuuji had been staring at his beloved sensei’s and best friend’s lifeless forms with such agony that Sukuna found himself unable to harm the teen. He had expected Itadori to stand up in a fit of rage and initiate a battle that Sukuna had been craving ever since Yuuji ate his first finger. Nothing of the sort came. Yuuji was kneeling on the bloodied ground with a stream of silent tears flowing down his face. He was in a completely vulnerable position, yet Itadori did not seem to care as he continued to look at Megumi’s and Gojo’s mangled corpses.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” Yuuji spoke so brokenly that his words were nearly indecipherable. He bowed his head until his forehead touched the muddy ground. His arms wrapped around his waist as sobs began to wreck his body. It seemed like Yuuji had no control over the force of his sobbings, which were so strong that his ribs seemed to strain with each heaving breath. Tears and snot started to flow in a nonstop current. Between his sobs, painful whimpers and endless apologies left the boy’s quivering mouth.

Sukuna stood there as if he was paralyzed. The boy he had come to know had been shattered beyond repaired. The boy whose morals were so strong that Sukuna’s own dismantle technique could not slash through. The boy who never backed down from a fight, even if the odds were not in his favor.

The boy who had shown an amount of kindness that Sukuna had never experienced before.

He could not bring himself to kill Itadori Yuuji.

“What?” Sukuna was brought out of his thoughts as he remembered the question Yuuji had whispered to him. A question that Sukuna had no proper response to.

“I asked if you were happy.” Yuuji whispered in the same lifeless tone as before. He continued to look at the waves and the horizon in the distance with a glossed over look in his eyes. His arms were wrapped around his knees, his head sat atop them. “Are you?”

Sukuna, for once, was struck silent. Of all the questions that Yuuji could have asked, this was the one that he would have least predicted. A strange feeling coursed through his chest, moving to wrap around the base of his throat. It was heavy and painful, not allowing him to speak anymore. All he could do in response was glance at Yuuji with confusion clear in his four eyes.

At the curse’s abnormal silence, Yuuji lifted his head to make eye contact with Sukuna. It felt like the first time that Sukuna had seen the teen in years. So much had happened that he felt like centuries had passed. Yuuji’s face seemed wrong to Sukuna. It was covered in scars, along with the rest of his body. When he had forcibly removed himself from Yuuji after consuming the twentieth finger, the teen had suffered immensely. All the tattoos that Sukuna had showed up on Yuuji in the form of thick, ugly scars that caused the teen constant pain despite the scars looking fully healed. The fact that Sukuna had not noticed until now disturbed the curse in a way he did not expect. What troubled the curse even more was that no sad*stic glee had arisen from seeing the damage Sukuna had caused. Instead of pride or smugness, the feeling in Sukuna’s chest and throat got worse. It hurt .

Itadori let out a breathy chuckle, moving to sit with his legs crossed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked such a stupid question. Of course, you wouldn’t ‘dignify it with a response’.” The teen paused. He put his hands in his lap in a desperate attempt to hide their trembling. His head hung low, and he broke eye contact with the stunned curse. “Can I ask another question though? Promise it won’t be as dumb as the first one.”

With no refusal from the powerful curse, Itadori took it as a sign to continue. “All I want to ask is why. Why did you do this? I thought you wanted to kill jujutsu sorcerers and humans…not everything . Why go this far? I..I don’t understand... And above all else…Why haven’t you killed me yet? That’s what frustrates me the most. You killed EVERYONE except for me!” A spark of the fire Yuuji used to have reappeared. He looked back at Sukuna with a fierce glare. However, just as soon as it came, it left. The fire died inside the teen instantly. He looked back down, wrapping his arms around himself. His voice grew wobbly as tears filled his eyes. “ Why? Why haven’t you killed me? Is it to prove some p-point? Because there is no one left to prove it to! I know I failed! I know I’m weak! You killed everyone, and I c-couldn’t protect them! I just want to see my friends again…… Please …… I-I…I don’t want to be here anymore…” The last part broke Yuuji into a fit of agonizing sobs. His hands covered his face while his fingers were pulling harshly on his hair. His body trembled from head to toe. Pleas left his lips, but it was like the boy was speaking gibberish with how unstable his voice was. To make things worse, Yuuji began hyperventilating along with his frantic sobbing. The poor teen could not get in a single breath. It was a sight Sukuna could not stand.

The painful weight constricting his throat and chest suddenly disappeared. Sukuna grasped the folds of his kimono tightly with one of his clawed hands. Before the horrid feeling could return and silence him, Sukuna blurted out his response. “I can’t!”

That seemed to shock Itadori so much that his rapid breathing and sobbing began to slow. It was enough for Yuuji to get the air he needed. Of course, Yuuji was nowhere close to being calm, but at least he was not in danger of passing out. Bloodshot eyes locked onto Sukuna’s with a look so utterly lost and devastated that Sukuna felt his body moving before he could register what exactly he was doing. Four strong arms wrapped around the smaller boy in a secure embrace. Instantly, the sharpness in his throat and chest returned with such an intensity that Sukuna let out an audible gasp. With lack of a better term, Sukuna felt bad . Very bad.

Then it dawned on him.

Sukuna felt bad for Yuuji. The curse that had slaughtered billions felt guilty.

Despite the absurdity of the feeling, Sukuna felt his eyes burn.

As the strange embrace continued, Yuuji’s breathing became normal, and his sobs stopped completely. Tears still leaked from his eyes, which were opened wide in shock. While Sukuna did not enjoy the sensation of his kimono getting wet from the tears and snot, he could not bring himself to reprimand the crying teen. Even as the boy buried his head into Sukuna’s torso in a poor attempt at hiding, the ancient curse found himself not feeling disgusted at the touch.

Meanwhile, Itadori felt absolutely pathetic. He was hugging the curse responsible for the death of his loved ones. Of the world . Sukuna was the sole being responsible for the disappearance of all life on Earth. And he was hugging the entity so tightly as if he was terrified of Sukuna letting go . He probably was terrified. In all honesty, Yuuji could not remember the last time he was embraced in such a way. It felt like he was betraying his friends by clinging onto the curse who killed them. And yet…Yuuji continued to melt further into the warm embrace. It was completely out of character for Sukuna, but Itadori was not in a state to care. He was always a touchy person that had gone most of his life touch starved. Gramps usually yelled at his attempts to hug him as a kid, so Yuuji refrained from hugging his grandpa ever again. Most friends he made in school were from sports and calling them friends was a stretch. The best he would get was an arm around his shoulder or a pat on his back.

Then there was Jujutsu High.

Megumi rarely hugged him. It just wasn’t in the teens' nature. The hugs he did receive were awkward and short. Yuuji enjoyed them, but he would feel terrible if Megumi continually forced himself to hug Yuuji when the introverted boy was uncomfortable with it. Instead of hugs, Megumi showed his affection through threats or brief shoulder pats. The sorcerer would also summon his remaining Divine Dog, named Cocoa by Kugisaki, for Yuuji to pet or his rabbits for Yuuji to hold. Expending his cursed energy in such a way just to make Yuuji happy was more than enough affection for the pink-haired teen.

Nobara hugged him slightly more often than Megumi but not by much. She hugged him tightly and for several minutes after punching him for ‘faking’ his death. She also hugged him after he helped her with her many shopping trips or if he did her hair. He had learned how to style hair because his hair was quite long when he was little due to Gramps constantly forgetting to schedule a haircut. Eventually, Yuuji taught himself how to style and eventually cut it. His skills proved useful in getting Nobara into a good mood or forgiving him whenever he accidentally ruins one of the girl’s clothes. Her hugs were strong and warm just like Nobara herself.

Gojo’s hugs were quite frequent, especially during Yuuji’s time living in the basem*nt. Out of everyone, Gojo and Yuuji had the most in common. He knew his sensei was an experienced sorcerer with an intelligence that Yuuji could never hope to achieve. However, the times where his teacher let himself goof off with Yuuji were the teen’s favorite ones. Because of Gojo’s technique, it meant so much more when Yuuji hugged him. Gojo would willingly turn off his Infinity so Yuuji could embrace him or the other way around. Whenever the older sorcerer hugged him, Yuuji felt extremely cold but secure. It might be due to his technique that Gojo constantly felt like he was made of ice, though Yuuji had never thought to ask. Even so, Yuuji knew he was the safest with Gojo closeby.

Nanami’s hugs were secretly Yuuji’s favorite. They were extremely warm and lasted as long as Yuuji wanted. He knew Gojo would go crazy if he found out that Yuuji favored Nanami in something and not the Infinity user. It was hard not to indulge in Nanami’s hugs, something that Yuuji realized was a privilege that no one else had. When Yuuji had first met the blonde, he had thought that Nanami hated Yuuji’s guts. In fact, it was the opposite. Nanami protected Yuuji with such ferocity that could scare the most powerful of beings. He always reminded Yuuji that fifteen is a child’s age, so he should act like one. He always said how it was an adult’s responsibility to put a child’s life above their own. He said this with such certainty that Yuuji nearly cried every time Nanami said it. Nanimi always prioritized Yuuji’s health and happiness above all else. For instance, after the failed mission to kill the curse with the patchwork face, Nanami had hugged Yuuji when he saw the teen breakdown and blame himself for the death of Junpei and the curse escaping. Ever since, Nanami allowed Yuuji to hug him without complaint. In fact, Nanami would wrap his arms around Yuuji and soothe them down his back. Each time, Yuuji would start crying into Nanami’s chest, resulting in the man humming to Yuuji until the boy felt better.

Gojo was incredibly protective of Yuuji, and the teen saw him as a silly older brother most of the time and a caring parent during quieter times. However, Nanami acted like an attentive father all the time, making it impossible for Yuuji to see him as anything but. Nobara and Megumi were his family as well. They both acted like older siblings that kept him out of danger or younger siblings that always squabbled with each other. Ijichi was caring in his own nervous way, reminding Yuuji of an uncle he’s always wanted but never had. Despite his over the top mannerisms, Yuuji adored Todo as well. Todo had taught him so much and taught him in a way that Yuuji’s thick-headed self could understand. It had taken a while, but Yuuji loved Choso and saw him as his older brother. Choso loved Yuuji as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Learning that both of them were Kenjaku’s biological children was strange, yet it only served to make their bond stronger. He also loved the second years, especially Yuta who had the most soothing voice Yuuji had ever heard. He had even been incredibly fond of Junpei, the boy who he failed to save. Still, the brief time spent with Junpei was full of so much laughter. Junpei’s bright smile was something Yuuji would never forget.

He loved them so much.

He had people that cared about him.

He had friends.

He had family.

He couldn’t imagine his life without them.

Yet he had to.

They were all dead.

They weren’t in his life anymore.

They would never be in his life ever again.

Yuuji let out a soft whimper as he tried to hide himself completely in Sukuna’s embrace. He wanted to be angry. He had every right to be angry at the monster before him. The monster who spared him instead of letting him see his loved ones again. Sukuna was horrible. He had committed such atrocities that were forever burned into Yuuji’s mind. Despite this, no anger came.

There was nothing left inside of Yuuji. He was numb. He was so tired . He didn’t want to fight anymore. There was no point in defending an empty world. There was no one to protect or help.

He just wanted to die already.

His grandpa had wanted him to die surrounded by loved ones. Those were his last words, and Yuuji had done everything he could to honor that request. Having and giving others a proper death became Yuuji’s strongest goals. It was what fueled him to continue on despite the cruel world he was living in. It was what kept a bright smile on his face and hope in his soul.

If Yuuji died now, he would have no loved ones to hold his hand or say comforting words on his deathbed. He would die alone . The one thing that Gramps begged him not to do. It was his last request. Gramps used his last breaths to tell Yuuji to help others and have people surrounding him when he died. Yuuji failed his grandpa. He couldn’t even honor his promise to his grandpa. He never thought he would fail in that of all things. Yuuji was supposed to do everything in his power to keep his promise. But he didn’t.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

The speed that Yuuji used to snap his head to look at Sukuna should have broken his neck. It was like the world had been flipped upside down. Left was right. Up was down. Hot was cold. And Sukuna had apologized .

Sukuna sighed, further surprising the teen. “I’m sorry. I can’t kill you, and I don’t f*cking know why. I just can’t.” The curse’s words were soft and sounded defeated. His four crimson eyes stared at Yuuji with a maelstrom of emotions that the boy had no energy to decipher. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“You didn’t?” Yuuji wanted to rage at that. Out of all the times that Sukuna chooses to be merciful, it was when Yuuji wanted to die the most . He wanted to scream at Sukuna that the curse was lying and that Sukuna did mean to kill off the entire planet. All that Yuuji could manage was a whisper as numbness settled into his soul again.

“No. It was never in my plans to leave this planet devoid of life. I didn’t intend to touch anything outside of Japan either. Jujutsu sorcerers and curses only reside on this island, nowhere else. I had no reason nor want to exterminate all life on Earth.”

“Then why did you do it anyway?”

The emptiness that returned to Yuuji’s features and voice displeased Sukuna. Now that he had identified the guilt that had been suffocating him, Sukuna noticed how said guilt became heavier. “To put it simply, I lost control. Once my true form was regained, the amount of power I gained blinded me to everything besides total destruction.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Regret what exactly?” Sukuna responded carefully. He knew that saying yes to such a vague question would be misleading, and Sukuna had no need to lie.

Yuuji went quiet for a long, long time. His expression remained empty and his dull golden eyes held no hints of what the teen was thinking. A shivering breath left the pink-haired boy and he buried his head into Sukuna’s torso again. “Do you regret not getting to try ice cream?”

At first, the curse was incredibly confused by the odd and seemingly random question. It took him several long moments before a memory resurfaced with such force that Sukuna could not even try to repress it.

Hey, Suku!

Don’t ever call me that again, brat. The f*ck do you want?

I have a question for you, and it’s really really important that you answer it!

Hm. It is quite bold of you to assume that you are worthy enough for your brainless questions to be dignified with a response.

That’s a shame. Well, I’ll go ask Gojo-san because he’ll definitely answer my question ‘cause you-

Ask me the damn question this instant, brat. Don’t you dare call for that insufferable sorcerer.

Okay, I won’t. Now, I have to know, O Lord Sukuna. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

What.

C’mon! I know you have one!

Brat, I have no knowledge of this ‘ice cream’ you are referring to.

Oh yeah, you’re old as sh*t. Well, ice cream is this really awesome dessert that comes in a lot of flavors like chocolate or vanilla. It’s cold and really creamy and perfect for when it’s hot out. The flavors are usually sweet, but I have tried some weird ones that aren’t. I think I tried one that tasted like chicken-

Why are you talking to me about such nonsense?

Because I’m bored, that’s why! We have been in this basem*nt for weeks, and I don’t have my phone anymore!

Tsk. Of course your pathetic mind would grow restless after such a short amount of time.

Hey! You’re still responding to me, so that must mean that you’re bored too.

I am not.

You are. You’ve been much more chatty ever since we started living in the school’s basem*nt. I don’t think there is any harm in learning more about each other.

I will never cease to be amazed by your stupidity, brat.

Rude. BUT! You still haven’t answered my question!

I do not care about such pointless things! I am an immortal curse, food is not necessary for me and hasn’t been for thousands of years!

So you didn’t have any form of dessert when you were alive?

The era that I was born into was horrid. I have no fond memories of it, and if there were any confectionaries, I do not remember the taste of it.

Maybe I can help! What if I make or buy a dessert, and you summon one of your mouth things to eat it!

That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.

You didn’t say no.

……

Yes! I’ll ask Gojo to purchase some ice cream to start off! I bet you are going to get such a bad brain freeze! It’s pretty painful, you know. I think you won’t be able to handle the coldness.

How dare you assume such a thing?! I am not weak! I can handle temperatures so low that it would make your very blood turn to ice!

You’re on!

They would never have that ice cream competition or any other fond talks for that matter. The months they spent in the basem*nt were the most peaceful moments Sukuna had ever experienced. It was shocking how easy those memories faded away once Sukuna gained more and more of his fingers back. Remembering those many talks the two had made Sukuna squeeze Yuuji tighter.

Yuuji hated being alone, so he enjoyed asking Sukuna questions about his life and interests. In the curse’s mind, this was Yuuji’s way of trying to get information to use against Sukuna. When he realized that the simple questions Yuuji asked held no information that would benefit the sorcerers, he interacted with the boy often. No one had ever shown such an interest in Sukuna’s life before. Uraume was more of a loyal assistant than a friend. They never asked him about what his favorite color was or what his favorite type of flower to smell was. Yuuji had done so with such enthusiasm that Sukuna found himself indulging the teen with endless answers. When Yuuji was not asking him a random question, Yuuji would cook for himself and Gojo. The teen was an incredibly talented cook, receiving constant compliments from Gojo and hums of approval from Sukuna. Yuuji always made large portions because of how much Gojo had to eat to sustain his bottomless pit of cursed energy. At the same time, Yuuji made so much so that he could give Sukuna a taste of the meals he created. It was a kind gesture that the curse never anticipated. He was introduced to the world of comforting cuisine and addictive junk food thanks to Yuuji.

At some point, Sukuna had started initiating conversations with Yuuji instead of waiting for the boy to say something. The curse found great joy in making Itadori burst out laughing in the middle of training with Gojo by telling a horrid joke. A majority of the curse’s satisfaction came from embarrassing Yuuji and catching the Six-Eyes sorcerer off guard. However, a small part of him felt a warmth whenever he would see Yuuji’s bright smile and joyful laughter.

It was as if leaving the basem*nt made Sukuna’s fondness for the teen leave as well.

He had never reflected on their time in the basem*nt until now. Sukuna found it easy to toss away the newly formed bond to focus back on his plans to destroy the jujutsu world and regain his full power. Because his plans had failed from his own forthcomings, Sukuna found himself feeling a sense of guilt that had not existed during any of his genocides or attacks.

All his efforts to be the King of Curses again were for naught. While his power and form were restored, the purpose of doing so was gone. He could not rule over subjects that were dead. He could not enjoy a world that was empty. The reason why he had kept holding onto the mortal realm was the hope of being reincarnated and returning to his rightful place as King of Curses. Not allowing himself to die caused Sukuna to be in a strange limbo for thousands of years. He had to spend so many centuries unable to feel the sun on his skin or have anyone but himself to talk to. Sukuna stayed in that horrid limbo, planning what he would do once he was reincarnated, for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to be alive . He had planned to spend the rest of his immortal life enjoying the warmth of the sun, the beauty of the forests, or even the softness of an animal's pelt whilst conquering his enemies.

Sukuna destroyed all that he was looking forward to. After everything that he had done to ensure that he would win, he still lost. The curse was left questioning everything that he had done, repeatedly asking himself if it was worth it or not. No concrete answer came, which was an answer in its own right. Throughout his many years of living, Sukuna had not experienced this amount of uncertainty or doubt in any of his plans. Although, all of his prior plans succeeded. This was the outlier, therefore, Sukuna’s reaction would be different as a result. This utter failure to execute his meticulously prepared plans left Sukuna’s entire being reeling.

He had lost.

He had finally lost.

It was a lie to say he had won. Sukuna was unfamiliar with the concept of losing. He had prided himself on his ability to come out on top no matter who his opponent was. Whenever he saw beings weaker than him, Sukuna felt so disgusted by them that he killed the pathetic creature without hesitation. The weak had no place in this world, in Sukuna’s world. Failure was one with the weak while victory was one with the strong.

Was Sukuna weak, now? The beliefs he had carried for centuries were being turned against him. The weak failed. Sukuna failed. Such a thought only served to further unsettle the curse. The path he had taken led to the death of Uraume, the death of wildlife, the death of all plant life, the death of humans and curses he was supposed to dictate, the death of sorcerers who were the only ones that could give him a worthwhile fight.

There were endless paths Sukuna could have taken, but he chose the one that would end in the most mayhem and death. An intrusive thought wormed its way to the forefront of Sukuna’s scattered min d. What if he did have that ice cream competition with Yuuji?

Once the thought appeared, it did not go away. Images of Yuuji laughing as Sukuna ruffles the teen’s hair. Images of Yuuji and Sukuna having a dramatic debate over who the best character was in a dumb movie franchise. Images of Yuuji hugging Sukuna only to reveal that he had covered the elder with flour. Images of Yuuji and Sukuna trying to push each other into a pool. The pure happiness and warmth the images emitted were so strong that Sukuna felt like he was looking into an alternate timeline that did not exist. Additionally, Sukuna felt like he was intruding on the memories of a real person despite the images being conjured by Sukuna’s own mind.

It was a path that could have existed if Sukuna had altered his plans. He would have simply planned to regain his body, nothing more. He would not have started a worldwide genocide. But what’s done is done. He could not alter the past.

“Sukuna?”

Said curse was broken out of his downward spiral by the boy he was conjuring joyful memories of. The ancient being felt the tiny arms clutching onto him release. Yuuji’s head was bowed, tear droplets staining the smooth sand beneath them. As tears continued to fall onto the sand, it became darker and heavier from the wetness. It was as if the tears were transferring their burden onto the pure white sand below. Itadori fell to his knees, arms hanging limply by his sides. Caught off guard, Sukuna stepped back. It felt like he was a grand tree looking down onto a mere ant. Seeing the boy on the ground while Sukuna’s monstrous form towered over him made his gut twist unpleasantly. In the past, Sukuna had always seen Yuuji’s smaller stature as pathetic. He reveled in the way he loomed over the teen, whether on his throne upon hundreds of skulls or in his larger form. Such feelings did not arise, which frustrated Sukuna slightly. Unfamiliar feelings and thoughts were infecting Sukuna’s cruel nature. It felt as if his very soul, which was supposed to be colder than the dead, was being enveloped in warmth. Warmth that surely didn’t belong to him. Nevertheless, it seemed like Sukuna had no way to reverse the softening of his whole being. The King of Curses knelt on one knee before the boy. While the curse was still much taller than the boy, the sentiment was still present. Kneeling before a sorcerer, a human, a child. It was something no one had managed to achieve from the King of Curses. Sukuna put one of his large, clawed hands on the boy’s impossibly tiny shoulder. “Yuuji.”

Yuuji’s lips wobbled when he heard the curse say his name for the first time. To make things worse, the ancient being said it was such concern that Yuuji wanted to rage and wail at the same time. The warmth of Sukuna’s hand was a stabilizing presence instead of a threatening one. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Itadori desperately wanted the warmth to come from anyone else besides Sukuna. It should be Gojo’s voice, soft with worry, asking him if Yuuji is okay and saying ‘Sensei’s here, Yuuji-kun. I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re with the strongest after all! Don’t worry, okay? You will always be safe with me.’ While Gojo reassures Yuuji, Nanami would envelop the boy in his comforting embrace without saying a word, simply humming a soothing tune and rubbing the poor boy’s trembling back. Megumi and Nobara would practically force Yuuji to take a day off, showing Yuuji how much they cared for him with Nobara painting his nails and Megumi cooking the chicken meatballs Yuuji had taught him so he’d have something warm to eat. Eventually, he would try to sleep, and Choso would enter his room, kneeling next to Yuuji’s bed, and begin to gently card his fingers through Yuuji’s hair to make Itadori’s tossing and turning cease.

That’s what his family would do if they saw Yuuji in his current state. They would show him how much they adored him, letting them reciprocate the love Yuuji so often expressed to them. It would have been so nice. Yuuji would have the void in his heart be filled with the love of the people who meant the most to him. He wouldn’t be alone anymore.

“Yuuji.”

But he was . f*ck, he was alone . He was really alone. Yuuji bit his lip harshly to prevent any more sobs from escaping. All the strength in his limbs had gone, his once unwaverable will to keep going had been ruthlessly shattered as the reality of the situation settled in. Once he saw Gojo and Megumi’s corpses, his will to live died with them. The steady weight of Sukuna’s clawed hand was offering comfort that his pitiful body accepted. He did not have the strength to shove the curse’s hand off or lift his head to glare at the monster. Another hand went in his hair, smoothing his messy hair with soothing strokes. The void within him grew bigger. Choso was supposed to do that. Not him. Not him. NOT. HIM.

“I want to leave…” Yuuji murmured with his broken voice. “Please…”

“I know, Yuuji.” Sukuna felt pain surge through him that was more agonizing than any other injuries the curse had ever experienced. “I know.

“ Please . I want to go. I want to leave! I want to see G-gojo-san and Megumi-mi and No-Nobara and N-N-Nanamin! I want my brothers back! Ch-Choso a-and and Todo a-and Yuta! I want to be with them , Sukuna! Please! I don’t care what you do, just let me die!” Yuuji’s lip split from the amount of force the boy was using to restrain himself. Blood pooled from the deep wound, but Yuuji did not stop with his frantic pleas. “I miss them, Sukuna! I can’t take it anymore! I want to be with them! Let me be with them ! PLEASE!” His last pleas had become shrill as Yuuji’s pleading intensified, his voice cracking from the strain.

The pain within Sukuna was indescribable. Said pain should not exist, but it did. It felt like the pure agony that a father felt for their sick child, unable to help their little one feel better. The hopelessness as the child’s pain grows, and the father has no way of soothing the precious child. The fury the father feels as his child is seen as a lost cause, tossed aside as other sick children are prioritized by parents that can pay better. The father is incredibly young and stands outside the medical hut helplessly. The desperation the father has to heal his ill child, who grows weaker as his pain grows stronger. The horror of seeing his child wail about how much it hurts and how he wants it to stop. The emptiness the young father feels once he feels the sunshine his child emitted fade away. The pure torture the father feels as the healers he travels days to see state that the light of his life, his baby boy, his little tiger was already dead.

‘I’m sorry, Ryomen-san. He has been dead for days. There is nothing we can do.’

‘We know the grief you feel is immense, Ryomen-san, this plague has been hitting the entire valley quite hard.’

‘Ryomen-san, you must let go! That child is infected. We must burn it with the others!’

‘Yuuji is gone, Ryomen!’

Those memories were not his. They couldn’t be his. It should be impossible. Sukuna’s human life was nothing but a blur. He could not remember a single thing besides his last deeds and execution. What came before did not matter in his quest for power. His past was insignificant.

He felt Yuuji lean into his hand that had been stroking his hair unconsciously. Sukuna had not realized he had done such an action. The boy had gone silent again. Somehow, Yuuji’s silence had a sense of finality to it. It was as if the shattered pieces of Yuuji had been further shattered until it had turned into dust. Dust that was blown away by the breeze of the beach, becoming one with the countless grains of white sand.

Sukuna decided to ignore the calamity within his mind and soul. He stopped kneeling to sit on the sand, placing Yuuji on his lap. The boy’s smallness continued to shock the god-like curse. There were no more vengeful, sad*stic thoughts. He didn’t want to use the boy’s vulnerability against him. He didn’t want to harm the boy anymore. The defeat Sukuna had experienced was immense. Once the curse accepted his loss and banished any more violent desires, he felt a strong wave of pure adoration and regret for the broken teen in his arms. The affection he had for Yuuji was so familiar to Sukuna despite the curse never experiencing such an emotion. He often ridiculed the behavior of humans. Deeming their emotions and companionships as pathetic. For the umpteenth time, Sukuna’s own beliefs had turned on him.

Despite seeing himself as above all other beings, Sukuna still experienced the very emotions he had despised. Humans were not supposed to turn into curses the way Sukuna did. Perhaps this was his punishment for going against the rules of nature. The human self he had once forgotten was now returning with a vengeance.

Yuuji’s form was limp for the most part. The only proof that he had not died were his shaky breaths against the curse’s kimono. With his soul being pulled in opposing directions, Sukuna was at a loss of what to do with the boy. He couldn’t bring himself to kill him, yet he also knew how horrid it would be to live on this desolate planet. Sukuna hated both options.

Sukuna could make a third one. There had to be a way for him to start over and undo what he had done. He could create a new world that would not end up the way this world did. Briefly, the images of Sukuna and Yuuji laughing and smiling popped up again. That feeling of the images being memories from a different world. A different time.

In this form, Sukuna had seemingly endless powers. He was a god. As a god, Sukuna should be able to make a new world, a new timeline. If he couldn’t, then Sukuna and Yuuji would be stuck on this miserable planet with no hope of happiness. Happiness. That is what he wanted for Yuuji.

He had to try

“Yuuji. I never got to answer your question earlier. My apologies.” Sukuna kept his voice low since it felt like he would spook the poor boy otherwise. Yuuji did flinch at the curse’s sudden words, but he quickly went back to being limp and motionless. Although, Yuuji did give the slightest nuzzle into Sukuna’s torso, the only source of warmth the boy had left. He used his lower set of hands to hold Yuuji and the upper set to card through his hair and rub his back. As gently as he could, Sukuna placed his chin upon Yuji’s hair. It felt necessary to have as much contact as possible since this would be the last time this world would exist if everything goes right. “I do regret not getting to have that competition with those frozen confectioneries with you.”

Yuuji stiffened the second the words left the curse’s mouth. As Sukuna’s answer was processed in Yuuji’s tired mind, the teen let out a quiet, amused huff. A few tears slipped down Itadori’s already stained cheeks. However, the smallest of smiles made its way onto Yuuji’s scarred face.

“I have lost this battle that I started. I am not delusional enough to say I experience any degree of victory. All my efforts were wasted, and I have only myself to blame. Now, I find myself doubting my prior actions, wondering what could have been if I hadn’t been so power-hungry.” Sukuna felt a twisted grimace appear upon his features at the admittance. “I felt such a sense of contentment during my time spent with you in that dreaded basem*nt. I have not experienced such serenity ever since. I should have realized how much more fulfilling my existence felt when I was not focused on violence and cruelty. That contentment, that serenity, that fulfillment was all due to you, Yuuji. You are truly an incredible boy, and I am ashamed that I never told you that. I am ashamed that it took the destruction of the entire world to see your extraordinary self. The amount of strength and kindness you possess are unmatched compared to the many, many beings I have encountered these past several centuries.”

The more Sukuna spoke, the easier it became for him to speak of his regrets and the apparent love he had always had for the small boy. Sukuna saw the small smile on Yuuji’s face wobble in the attempt to contain his tears. It did not work as more tears fell, but Yuuji’s smile grew a bit wider. Sukuna paused for a moment, considering how he should go about explaining his plan to Yuuji. When he glanced down at the boy, the answer came to him. “I have failed, but I may be able to try again. However, I will not use this chance to redo what I have done. Quite the opposite actually, I want to return this world back to its former glory. I do not think I can make our world the same as it used to be. There will be fundamental changes to everyone because there are always consequences with meddling with time.” He felt Yuuji gasp sharply, starting to shift beneath him. Sukuna lifted his head off the boy, only to be met with Yuuji’s astonished gaze. The once dull color of his eyes brightened, returning to its golden glow. A genuine smile appeared across Sukuna’s lips for the first time in centuries. “If all goes well, you will have a new life with your friends and family again. I can’t guarantee how your new life will go, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are protected and cared for.”

Yuuji’s smile grew even more until it was the same bright smile the teen was known for having. Hope had returned from its once extinguished flames. There was a hint of confusion in Yuuji’s eyes, but it was overshadowed by the sheer joy of possibly getting to be with his loved ones again. Nevertheless, Sukuna noticed the teen’s bewilderment. “I am well aware that such actions are out of character for me. However, I find my soul softening as memories and feelings I had once forgotten resurfaced. I don’t know when in this conversation that this change occurred, but I know I do not feel like the curse I was previously. There are various reasons for this, but I don’t wish to burden you with such information.” Sukuna could feel his power beginning to fade. It was an infinitesimal amount, something that would have almost gone undetected if Sukuna were any less aware. But he was aware. The curse took the feeling as a warning that he was running out of time. If he waited any longer, he would not be able to reform the foundations of time.

“The window of opportunity I have to make such a fundamental change seems to be growing smaller by the minute. It was foolish of me to believe that my true form would last. I am supposed to be dead, afterall.” Sukuna placed a hand on the center of his chest. His soul was both changing its shape and growing weaker. It began to resemble the pitiful souls humans were supposed to have. His time as a curse was truly ending. “We must act quickly if this plan will work.”

To create a new world was completely different than summoning a domain. However, the base concept was similar. Sukuna must create something from nothing. His main priority was to give Yuuji the lives he had lost. His Malevolent Shrine was a physical manifestation of Sukuna’s soul, it became the primary place where Sukuna resided. Each detail that his innate domain had was due to Sukuna’s will and his will alone. If he were to create a world that prioritized Yuuji’s happiness above all else, he would need the boy’s soul. Only Yuuji’s own soul would know what would make the boy feel the safest and happiest. Taking his soul would come at a hefty price.

In other words, he would have to kill Yuuji.

It was laughable that the time where he needed to kill the boy the most was the only time where Sukuna didn’t want to kill him. However, he knew there was no other way. If there was another option, Sukuna did not have enough time to think of one. He released Yuuji from his tight hold. The boy knelt on his knees on the ground, his hands on his laps. Unlike last time, Yuuji did not tremble, and he was smiling. The words Sukuna wanted to say were trapped in his throat. His left hand on his upper set of arms was raised in the air. He felt paralyzed.

Itadori placed his head on Sukuna’s palm. He looked at Sukuna with nothing but gentle acceptance in his golden eyes. The teen nodded at the frozen curse.

Yuuji already knew.

Gathering his fading resolve, Sukuna steeled himself and pressed his palm firmly into the boy’s forehead. He tried to show as much reassurance in his features as possible. The hope of a second chance was too powerful for the both of them to ignore. Sukuna let out a breath and closed his eyes, not knowing that Yuuji had done the same.

There was a moment of silence between them. Yuuji was completely relaxed, looking more at peace than Sukuna had ever seen him before. Sukuna breathed deeply and readied his cursed energy.

With one strike, Itadori Yuuji was no more.

Sukuna caught the boy’s lifeless body. A hole was in the center of his forehead, the wound pouring out rivulets of blood. The teen’s tortured life had met a painless death. Even after killing the boy who had made such an unexpected impact on Sukuna’s damned existence, Sukuna had to do something worse. He needed the teen’s soul, not his body.

Flames began to envelope the corpse of the child Sukuna had made suffer. Unlike his other times setting his enemies ablaze, there were no screams of pain from his victims or laughter from Sukuna. The flames took on the peach color of Yuuji’s hair. Each flick of the flames were caresses to the boy’s scarred body. His flesh wasn’t being melted off in the gruesome way Sukuna was familiar with. Itadori’s limp form simply turned into small sparks of pink light. The brightness the boy was known for was now more literal than metaphorical. Sukuna could not help but smile at that.

Eventually the only thing left of Yuuji were the bright pink sparks. They were formed into a large sphere with several tendrils reaching out. Each tendril had peculiar characteristics. The sparks had taken on different shapes and colors for each item found on a tendril. For instance, one had roses while another had wisps of shadows, both were curled around their chosen tendril in a protective embrace. There was a tendril that was wrapped in spotted fabric. There was a tendril that had blood shielding its entirety along with a purple scarf. The brightest of all the tendrils was one that had black and white rings with blue spots. The rings interlocked with one another, resembling an unbreakable shield. There were many more tendrils that had the oddest of items wrapped around them. A human-shaped earthworm, a pair of glasses with purple frames, a miniature pachinko machine, and even a miniature set of hands that seemed to be clapping.

This boy was truly loved by many. Sukuna could not recognize who each corresponding tendril represented. He had a suspicion that the one with the interlocking rings with eyes belonged to the Six-Eyes sorcerer and the one with the shadow wisps belonged to the Ten-Shadow user. Even though he did know the names of those particular sorcerers, he felt like he was not allowed to speak their names anymore. No matter, he would not need to for this plan to work.

As gently as he could, Sukuna grabbed the soul. Yuuji’s soul was so fragile, and Sukuna was not accustomed to handling such delicate things. Warmth welcomed him the moment he touched the soul. Some of the tendrils backed away while others were in a striking position one would see on an aggressive snake. With his current power level, Sukuna knew he could conjure things with a wave of his hand. Additionally, he had summoned whatever he had wanted in his innate domain. Willing a new world to manifest with the help of Yuuji’s soul was the only method Sukuna had thought of. It had to work. It had to.

“Please f*cking work.” Sukuna murmured to himself. He sunk his hands deeper into the soul, going at a pace that a tortoise could rival. When he felt like he had a stable hold on such an intangible object, he made his bottom set of hands begin to stretch the soul. He gathered cursed energy into each of his four palms. The soul brightened at the additional energy, strength returning to its wavering form. Carefully, Sukuna withdrew his upper set of hands. A crimson outline of Sukuna’s cursed energy surrounded the curse. He lifted the soul into the air.

The sunny beach turned dark and the waves stilled. Yuuji’s soul was bright enough that the sun no longer needed to light the world. Sukuna noticed the darkening of the sky and the stillness of the air. Despite killing all life on Earth, Sukuna still felt like he was being watched. It felt ironic that Yuuji made the world pause instead of Sukuna. What remained of nature all stopped to observe the boy’s soul. Sukuna closed his eyes to concentrate on the boy’s now pulsating soul. He breathed deeply several times until the curse entered a meditative state.

A calmness enveloped Sukuna’s mind, allowing all other thoughts and distractions to fade away. His arms copied the waves of the sea, back and forth and left and right. Each movement caused Yuuji’s soul to grow wider and taller. After copying the motions of the ocean, Sukuna began to have his arms resemble the twirling winds. His lower pair of arms curled upwards to the right and his upperset curled upwards to the left. He would rotate which set of arms moved left or right. This caused the soul to swirl until it resembled a portal. The curse stopped his circular movements once he realized Yuuji’s soul was the appropriate shape. It was time. He brought forth every ounce of power and will he had left. All he had to do was say what he wanted. That is how it always worked.

“Let this world restart. Let life return to its surface. The life I had taken away.” Once the last word left his mouth, Sukuna felt power drain from him rapidly. Unbeknownst to Sukuna, whose eyes were still closed, the markings along his body started to fade.

“Let Yuuji be happy. Let him be protected. Let him be loved in the way he deserves.” Sukuna felt another wave of weakness overcome him. His knees began to slightly tremble. He bit his lip as he forced himself to continue. “I want to be there for him, but I am aware that I have done nothing to deserve a second chance. Let his family and friends have this new chance at life.”

Behind Sukuna, six voids of varying colors manifested. From left to right, the colors of the voids were blue, yellow, black, orange, purple, and red. Mangled limbs began to emerge along with strange clicks and hisses emitting from the voids. Sukuna chose to ignore the noises as he pushed through the weakness spreading to each inch of his body. His bottom pair of eyes disappeared completely. The tattoos he had had ever since he became a curse were vanishing in quick succession. Only the tattoos on his wrists and jawline remained.

“Let everything be born anew. Let a new timeline emerge while this one is forgotten.”

Sukuna’s lower set of arms disappeared. The portal grew bigger, a myriad of colors spread from the center of the soul. Each entity from the voids had now fully escaped.

“Let this world be fit for Yuuji.” The entities entered the portal without hesitation.

Sukuna’s tattoos on his wrists and jaw disappeared.

“Throughout hell and earth, I alone am the disgraced one.” Sukuna had a tiny smirk at his twisting of the infinity-user’s infamous phrase. The trembling that had started in his knees had spread to all areas of his body. He was gasping for breath and sweating buckets as he used the last of his cursed energy into manifesting everything he had requested. The world went dark for the curse as his godly form returned to the body of a human.

No longer was he a towering curse with power that can defeat billions, he was simply an average sized man that lacked extra body parts and tattoos.

And thus, the King of Curses was gone.

Ryomen stood before the portal blazing with light. He opened his honey colored eyes to look fondly into the manifestation of his son’s being. It emitted the warmth his boy held for everyone around him. The environment around the young man started to decay. Violent gusts of winds were pushing him forward, towards the odd portal. Ryomen was never one to ignore a hint, so he walked towards it with a fond smile.

“I can’t wait to see you again, my little tiger.”

Chapter 2: Monkey See Monkey...Don't Do?

Chapter Text

Some say that leaving is harder than staying.

Getou Suguru thought that was a complete pile of sh*t.

Ever since he became a jujutsu sorcerer, Getou has been wanting to run away and never come back. However, he had stayed because he felt some sense of duty to protect innocents from horrific curses. In all honesty, Getou didn’t really care about saving people, but he had no other options besides joining Jujutsu High. To make things worse, his parents would not allow him to even consider a career that was not in sorcery. It was practically a universal rule that anyone with a cursed technique must become a jujutsu sorcerer. A job that only leads to early deaths. A job to protect weak monkeys that are not even grateful for being saved.

The hatred he held for non-sorcerers had always been there from the start. It simply hadn’t been as noticeable. When he was little, he had felt such envy for children that were only expected to run and play. For Getou, he had to learn how to consume curses without throwing up while other kids his age got to eat as many sweets as they wanted. He was forced to consume the most revolting thing on the planet because it was his duty . It was for the ‘greater good’ as he would be the one to save countless lives. Even as a child, Suguru felt no responsibility to save those weaker than him. He only agreed to do so because he thought there were no other things he was allowed to do. The disdain within his very soul grew vaster by the day as he observed how abominable the ‘innocent’ really were. One memory that stood out to Getou, even now, was when he had helped an old man cross the street. The man was cranky and rude, whacking his eleven-year-old self with his wooden cane repeatedly, and yelling at him to ‘hurry the f*ck up’ since cars were beginning to honk at him. Although, it was the old geezer who walked like a broken wind-up toy, not Suguru. After what felt like years, he and the man finally made it to the other side of the street. The old trash bag wrenched his arm from Getou’s gentle hold and walked away, not a single ounce of gratitude given.

He remembered how angry he had felt with the old man’s ungratefulness. All that he could think of when he got back home was how he should have let the man get run over by speeding cars. In fact, he had pictured himself pushing the man into oncoming traffic, causing him to laugh so loudly that his father had yelled at him to be quiet.

After a few years of becoming a proper sorcerer, humanity had yet to impress him. When he left for Tokyo, Getou kept telling himself that he had to save the weak and that Jujutsu High would show him why non-sorcerers are worth saving.

Suguru never got that answer.

During his time as a jujutsu sorcerer, Getou was the one that was kind and patient to all. He had to remind his fellow first-years that they were here to save people. Shoko was uninterested in everything while Gojo saw himself as above everything. Now, as a third-year, Shoko had stopped being so uncaring, but Getou still had to lecture Gojo on the value of the lives of non-sorcerers. All of his lectures to the other teen were nothing but lies. Getou had simply spat out the constant nonsense his parents would teach him about helping the weak and being a ‘hero’. Useless drivel that Suguru never believed in. He could not figure out why he had been so insistent on reminding the infinity-user of why he had to put the lives of the weak before his own.

His short time with Riko and the traumatic encounter with Zenin Toji had been Getou’s breaking point. A young girl was killed because she had been randomly chosen as the new Star Plasma Vessel, a role Riko admitted she hated. She had cried about wanting to live a normal life again, but her life was snuffed out by Toji. The man that still haunted Getou’s dreams. He will never forget the sheer horror he felt when the man stabbed an already exhausted Gojo, who was vulnerable from not sleeping for days, the moment he released his Infinity. Before Getou could retaliate, Gojo insisted that he take Riko to Tengen’s abode and that he would be alright even as blood poured out of his wounds. Getou had listened to his stupid friend, only to have Toji shoot Riko and brag about killing Gojo. The rage that overcame him was indescribable, but it was no use against the sheer might of Toji. When Yaga found him and had Shoko heal his wounds, Getou could only think of Gojo, someone who Getou was dangerously attached to, and how he must have died scared and alone.

Only Gojo didn’t die. When Getou had seen his friend carrying the corpse of the young girl they had both grown fond of, something changed between the both of them. The concern Getou had towards Gojo’s poorly healed wounds was overshadowed by the unease he felt when he saw the void of emptiness that had appeared in Gojo’s eyes. While they were as stunning as always, they carried a hollowness to them. Gojo, who did not know what an inside voice is, softly murmured to Getou about how he could kill everyone in the room and not feel a single thing towards it. His voice was cold and lifeless. It disturbed Getou, but the second his words settled in Suguru’s mind was the moment his distaste for non-sorcerers grew into pure hatred.

There were people in the room, quite a lot, and Suguru had not noticed them. Each person was adorned with white attire and had a bright smile across all their faces. They even had the audacity to start f*cking clapping at the death of an innocent girl. They cheered and praised them, their applause growing deafeningly loud. However, any words those monkeys had to say meant nothing to Getou nor Gojo. Internally, Suguru was screaming at himself to let Gojo kill these worthless lives. Instead, Getou told Gojo not to kill them because a jujutsu sorcerer needed a reason to end someone’s life. Bullsh*t.

He would regret that decision for the rest of his days…

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring

Banana phone!

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring

Banana phone!

I've got this feeling, so appealing-

An annoying song suddenly blasted through Suguru’s room. Instantly, the teen knew who was calling him. Gojo had stolen Getou’s phone one night and put embarrassing ringtones on each of his contacts. The one currently making Getou’s ears bleed was the song Gojo had given Nanami, which was a stark contrast to the younger’s quiet nature. However, his annoyance at Gojo and the noise vanished when the implications of Nanami calling hit him like a truck.

Nanami never called anyone unless it was for something important. Even those calls were few and far between. What disturbed Getou even more was the time Nanami had called. It was three in the morning. The underclassman refused to interact with anyone after a certain time, and three hours past midnight was definitely not in the blonde’s time slot for socialization. Once again, another realization came to Suguru, Nanami had been sent on a mission with Gojo to fight a possible special grade curse. The decision was idiotic, but Yaga had stated that the higher-ups demanded that all new sorcerers get as much field experience as possible. It was a horrendous decision and was out of Yaga’s hands, but the principal had made Gojo swear to protect Nanami at all costs and to retreat the second Nanami’s life was in danger. It was one of the rare moments Gojo was serious, firmly assuring their principal that he would make sure to look after the underclassman.

Had something gone wrong?

The possibility seemed so outlandish that Getou nearly laughed, but his unease only grew. With a heaving breath, he picked up his phone and answered. “Hel-”

“GETOU-SAN! WE NEED YOUR HELP! THE SPECIAL GRADE IS…THE SPECIAL GRADES ARE TOO POWERFUL FOR US TO HANDLE! GOJO-SAN IS REALLY HURT! GET AS MANY REINFORCEMENTS AS YOU CAN! PLEASE, GETOU-SAN! WE NEED-”

Before Nanami could finish, the call ended abruptly with an unholy screech in the background.

f*ck.

f*ck.

f*ck. f*ck. f*ck!

“ f*ck !” Getou pulled on the long strands of his hair, tossing his phone to the ground. Why did the universe hate him so much?! He had been ready to defect from the jujutsu world forever and carry out the plans he had been creating for the past few months. What little belongings he had were packed up. Suguru had been in the middle of checking his more crucial supplies as he would likely be without housing for an indeterminate amount of time. While he did get lost in his thoughts as he packed, Suguru had made the decision to leave long ago.

He was supposed to leave in the next hour. If he ignored Nanami’s terrified pleas, Suguru would make it to his train on time. Getou would leave everyone and everything behind to finally have his plans to rid the world of non-sorcerers become a reality. His classmates would be fine. Nanami was probably exaggerating since it was his first encounter with a special grade. He did not know that Gojo would always come out on top.

But Nanami sounded so scared…

Getou shook his head harshly, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. Nothing would make him stay in this horrible school any longer. Nanami would be fine. Gojo was with him. He would be more than safe with the strongest sorcerer.

Nanami said Gojo was hurt-

“NO. STOP IT. SHUT UP!” Getou snarled to himself and banged his fists against his skull. There was no need to get involved. He was leaving. NOTHING would make him stay. Suguru had enough of being a jujutsu sorcerer. He’d never be one again!

Nanami said special grades. There was more than one.

“HE’LL BE FINE! SHUT UP!” Suguru closed his eyes as he reprimanded himself again. He was LEAVING for f*ck’s sake! This is what he had been preparing for for months!

The screech that he heard before the call ended was utterly demonic.

“I. AM. LEAVING.” Getou was sure he woke someone else up with his yelling. In his current state, the teen could care less.

Nanami reached out to him first, not Yaga or the higher ups. Him.

“STOP IT!”

Nanami didn’t deserve to die.

“STOP!”

He picked up his phone, preparing himself to throw it against the wall or have one of his curses eat it. Before Getou could even move, his phone started blaring a familiar tune.

EL PANADERO CON EL PAN!

*HONK HONK*

EL PANADERO CON EL PAN!

*HONK HONK*

That was Gojo’s ringtone.

Getou’s eyes opened wide in shock. He still held his phone in a vice grip, ready to shatter it against the wall. His arm began to tremble violently, and he could feel his eyes burn. If he answered it, Suguru would miss his train out of Tokyo. If he answered it, Getou might not ever gather enough courage to leave again. All he had to do was click a f*cking button, and he’d never have to think about Jujutsu High again. Never again.

The song continued. The song that he and Satoru sang whenever they finished a particularly exhausting mission. It was a random song they had found one day, and it was a song they would both sing to annoy Shoko or Utahime. Getou had never laughed so hard when Satoru started singing it when Yaga brought a sandwich to class one time.

EL PANADE-

f*ck it. With no further hesitation, Suguru clicked the answer button and pressed the phone against his ear tightly. “Satoru?”

“SUGURU! THANK GOD! WE NEED YOUR HELP!” Gojo’s panicked voice made a pit form inside Getou’s stomach. Throughout all their time together, Suguru never heard Gojo’s voice sound so terrified . He was the strongest. Nothing should be capable of scaring him.

Right?

“What? What happened?!” Dread made its way into Getou’s voice.

“The special grade w-we were sent to exorcize…It’s not normal, Suguru! There are several of them, and I can’t hold them back anymore! I don’t think my Infinity can hold out any longer! One of them is so close to getting through! I…I CAN’T BEAT THEM, SUGURU! I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!”

“Sato-”

“PLEASE. I KNOW Y-YOU’RE NOT FEELING GREAT, BUT I NEED YOU HERE! NANAMI IS GOING TO f*ckING DIE BECAUSE OF ME! LISTEN, W-WE’RE AT AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE IN SENDAI! Y-YOU’LL KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT! JUST HURRY–f*ck! ONE OF THEM IS GETTING THROUGH! PLEASE HURRY-”

That same demonic screech was heard before the call ended. Getou looked at his phone in horror. Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer in the world, was terrified and begging for help with curses that should be a breeze for him to deal with

For the past several weeks, Gojo and Getou had been given their own special missions as Gojo had gotten so powerful that he could handle any grade curse on his own. They had been separated. It used to be that Gojo and Getou were the strongest when they were together. Not just Gojo.

And he was showing more fear than Suguru had ever seen in the normally unshakeable teen.

“Dammit, Satoru!” Getou breathed deeply to calm the whirlwind within his mind. His plans would have to wait. After this, he was leaving and never coming back. No more delays.

With a quick text to Shoko, telling her to alert everyone about the emergency occurring in Sendai and that Gojo and Nanami are in critical danger. He immediately got a response, but he didn’t bother to read it. He tied his hair back and began running through the halls. Once he felt the cold night air against his skin and the scent of dew-covered grass, Getou summoned a curse he had purposely absorbed due to its ability to go at supersonic speeds. It took days to catch, but he eventually succeeded. He had planned to use this curse to take him to the train station across town, but the world hated him. The large, spiked curse waited obediently for its order, sharp teeth drooling and blue fur raised in agitation. Suguru petted its snout and mounted onto the creature's back.

“Go. Go to Sendai.” Suguru commanded firmly. He did not need to speak verbally for the curse to know what he wanted, but he still tended to say his orders out loud.

Instantly, the curse shot off into the sky. It could levitate, which made Getou arrive at his destination even faster. His grasp on the curse’s coarse fur was so tight his knuckles turned white. The speed of the curse made harsh winds cut into Getou’s skin. He could barely breathe, but he refused to stop now that he had gone this far. The closer he got, the worse the unease in his gut became. When Gojo had said he would know it when he sees it, he had thought he would need to look for a while to find the vague location Gojo had given him. However, the Infinity user’s words held truth to them. Cursed energy that Getou had never sensed before washed over him, feeling like he had been doused in ice cold water.

Due to his cursed technique, Getou knew things about curses that would make the most seasoned of sorcerers break. When he absorbed a curse, knowledge of the curse’s previous atrocities and perverted thoughts flooded into Suguru’s mind. He would see the curse’s memories and feel its feelings as if it were his own. Over the years, Getou had figured out which curses would be the grossest to ingest and how to prepare his mind from the onslaught of evil the absorbed curse would wrought.

The cursed energy Getou sensed caused every alarm in his head to start blaring. A mantra of WRONG WRONG WRONG flooded his very being. To call it cursed energy would be a blatant lie. Getou knew the ins and outs of cursed energy more than anybody else. Whatever he was sensing wasn’t supposed to exist.

His curse stopped at the broken doors of the warehouse. Suguru dismissed it, only for his body to freeze at the entrance. The sounds of battle could be heard clearly, he even heard Satoru’s labored breathing and Nanami’s pained grunts. They needed help, and they had both called Suguru for his aid over anyone else. Despite knowing this, Getou’s body refused to move. Besides the sounds of his classmates’ exhaustion, what had caused the teen to become paralyzed was the screech he had heard at the end of both calls. Immediately, he knew that this creature was the cause of the feeling of wrongness.

It’s just a special grade. It’s probably making me hallucinate these strange energy signs. Suguru used rationale to calm his beating heart and frantic mind. Every instinct he had was warning him to not enter, but he was already used to ignoring them. As he reached for the handle of the broken door, an explosion brought the entire warehouse down. He used a curse with several shells on its back to shield himself from the flying debris.

When the smoke cleared, Getou was met face to face with what he could only describe as demonic.

“SUGURU! MOVE!” A bloodied Gojo pushed him out the way before the entity could blast him with a beam of purple energy. Familiar purple energy. Getou’s body had frozen again as the abomination started screeching again. Before it could lay a clawed hand on either of them, Gojo’s Infinity flickered to life. It was the weakest Getou had ever seen it. Gojo was trembling like a leaf in a storm to maintain his greatest defense. His friend’s enchanting eyes locked onto his, fear staining the mosaic of blue within. “My Infinity is gonna break any second, so I’m really f*cking glad you’re here. Listen. Big birdie over there? Looks like he has my technique and his is stronger than mine ever was! And one of his friends snatched Nanamin! Which is really really bad!”

Before Getou could start asking an onslaught of questions, the entity broke through Gojo’s barrier like it was as easy as going through air . Gojo grabbed Getou’s hand, dragging them away from the rampaging beast. They , the supposed strongest , were hiding behind a thick tree that had not been damaged by the blast. Due to Gojo’s superhuman speed, they had put a sizable gap between themselves and the creatures. With the distance, Getou got a better look at the entity and the other entities behind it.

They truly were beings that had spawned right from Hell.

In the center of the ruins of the warehouse stood a group of six nightmarish abominations. Two of them were underneath a large tree, both surrounding an object of some sort protectively. The one that was curled around what looked like a bundle on closer inspection was using its body as a shield. It took on a feline-like appearance with dark purple fur and a dark rectangular stripe on its snout. Each paw was covered in a hard coating of crimson with each wicked claw being just as large and sharp as a sickle. Black spikes shot out of its back like a deadly mane, rattling in an intimidation display. However, what made the spikes truly forebody were the many spheres of condensed blood above them, ready to be shot out at a moment’s notice.

Such a creature to have the Kamo clan’s hereditary technique was mind boggling to Getou, but he could not afford to ponder on such things. His attention was on the bundle the feline was… protecting. Every curse he encountered had never missed the opportunity to attack. While special grades were more unpredictable and intelligent, they were still just as or even more aggressive as weaker curses. These things were in a formation . If the demonic cat wanted to kill them, it would have already shot out the beams from the heavily condensed blood. Instead, it did nothing, not even growling. In fact, the cat was emitting a rumbling purr that could be heard from all sides as it nuzzled the bundle it was wrapped around repeatedly, its attention completely on whatever was inside. An impossibly tiny hand reached from the bundle to touch the feline’s nose before said feline nudged the tiny appendage back into the bundle. When it was seemingly satisfied, the creature snapped its head towards Getou. The hatred and resentment in its dark eyes could not be mistaken for anything else. Somehow, this feline entity that he had never seen before was glaring at him as if he was the most detestable person in existence. It was not the stare of an aggressive entity, this hatred the cat-demon held for him seemed personal.

What the hell were these things?!

Seemingly done with his staring, the creature closest to the feline used its large body to shield the cat and bundle from Getou’s view. Now knowing that an infant was inside, the behavior of these entities made more sense, yet it confused the dark-haired teen at the same time. The aggression being caused by protective instincts was easy to acknowledge, but the thing causing said protective instincts to emerge was too strange to accept. Curses killed humans. Yet these creatures were doing anything but. The canine-like entity that was now preventing Getou from observing the baby and demonic cat any longer was glaring at him as well. To say it was large was an understatement, the beast rivaled a full grown bear in size. It had a heavy coat of light brown fur with black swirls throughout that resembled the stamens of a flower. Additionally, it had a necklace with a rectangular pendant and a white sash wrapped around its back. The accessories were strange, but Getou found himself paling when he saw the beast’s face. Its eyes were boring into his with a calculating look. As if sensing his unease, the monster bared each of its sharp fangs, releasing a rumble that could be felt within the very ground. A skull of an animal Getou did not recognize adorned the beast like a helmet. The skull covered the beast’s large snout up to the top of its head, and it had two massive tusks jutting from the upper jaw with the lower jaw being bisected. Giant fangs protruded from the demon’s real jaws. A red-tinted liquid drooled from the thing’s mouth, burning the ground once contact was made. It was clear that this muscled sharp-toothed beast was the bruiser of the group. One of the last lines of defense if anyone got too close to the bundle.

From what Getou could gather, the entities were in a formation that would prioritize the infant’s safety over anything else. The fact that no attacks came from the group of monsters, proved his theory. None of them wanted to stray far from the tiny being they were guarding. Gojo seemed to notice the pause in attacks as well, the white-haired boy using the time to try healing himself. However, the Infinity user was struggling to cease his shaking hands and heaving chest. His eyes were open wide, the terror inside them had yet to fade.

Getou placed a hand on the trembling teen’s shoulder. His soft touch made Gojo flinch violently, something that the affectionate teen never did. This encounter was making Getou see too many ‘firsts’ for Gojo. He did not like it in the slightest. “Satoru. It’s okay. I think I figured out a way for us to win.”

No response.

Truly disturbed now, Suguru hid Gojo and himself further behind the tree. Their bodies were now completely hidden from the front. With no reaction from the beasts, Getou quickly pushed Gojo into a sitting position and began to examine him. There must be something happening to make Gojo so exhausted and so shaken . Gojo had been working constantly on improving his technique and to have it just break was startling. The first thing he did was check Gojo’s cursed energy levels. If Gojo was truly exhausted and at his limit, his amount of cursed energy would be incredibly low. If his levels were the same, then something was affecting Gojo’s mind instead of his body.

Suguru placed a hand on Gojo’s chest, he closed his eyes and looked for the blinding sun that was Gojo Satoru’s cursed energy. What he found made him wrench his hand as if it was burned.

There was not a single change in Satoru’s energy levels.

While it was in Gojo’s nature to prank Getou, he knew that the wounds on Satoru and his fear induced state were not faked. Furthermore, Gojo would never endanger Nanami and scare the younger to this extent for a joke.

It seemed like one of the creatures had caused powerful hallucinations for Satoru, somehow getting through his Infinity technique. Getou had a feeling he already knew the source of Gojo and Nanami’s terror. The entity with the hellish screech had caused Getou to become paralyzed in fright. Looking back at Gojo, he remembered the teen’s earlier words.

Big birdie over there? Looks like he has my technique and his is stronger than mine ever was!

The special grade w-we were sent to exorcize…It’s not normal, Suguru!

I CAN’T BEAT THEM, SUGURU!

I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!

No other curse had been able to break Gojo in such a way. The expressive teen did not let anything or anyone get under his skin. Even the incident with Toji and Riko hadn’t broken his friend this much. He had used the trauma and grief from the aforementioned incident as motivation to grow stronger. Satoru was not the person to become catatonic in the face of danger. Gojo was the type of person to flirt with or make fun of the deadliest of special grades and laugh at their reactions once they realized they were no match for the strongest.

The closest Getou got to seeing Satoru shut down like this was when one of the elders from the Gojo clan came to visit Jujutsu High. It was for a ‘performance check’ on the young first-year sorcerer. Yaga had announced it during breakfast with a sympathetic glance towards Gojo before leaving as quickly as he came. Gojo nodded and had gone quiet for once and left the table, his food untouched. Shoko and Getou wasted no time in running after him, which was difficult considering Gojo was the fastest being on the planet. They had found him sparring with one of Yaga’s training dolls. The cursed corpses were reinforced with runes and enchanted metals, but they might have been made of paper to Gojo. A sizable army of cursed corpses littered the smoldering ground. In the middle was Gojo, who had not even broken a sweat. The teen had grabbed the next cursed corpse, a giant spiked monster that was several times larger than Gojo, and tackled it to the ground. Satoru started ripping at the fabric of the enchanted cursed corpse, tears of frustration pricking the edges of his eyes. Just as Getou was going to say something, Satoru screamed and tore the plush in half with his hands. He began punching at the cursed corpse, using his cursed energy to burn the doll into ashes. When Gojo had finally realized that he had an audience, he put on his classic annoying grin and made several jokes to make his friends irritated enough to forget what they had seen.

Later that day, Getou and Shoko would see Gojo be tested in various obstacle courses and battles that the Gojo clan elders hand selected for Satoru. The elder observing it all criticized every little thing Gojo did, shaking his head in disappointment each time. Even though Gojo had won in every tournament and completed each obstacle course in record time, it was somehow not good enough for the Gojo clan. At the end of the day, the elder scowled at a tired Gojo. He crowed about the importance of the image of the Gojo clan and how crucial it was for Gojo to be absolutely perfect so no one would ever consider that Gojo Satoru wasn’t the strongest. Satoru had spat on the floor next to the old geezer’s feet and told the elder to f*ck himself with the clipboard he had been using to record his observations. The elder shook his head again. His next words made Shoko, Getou, and even Yaga want to kill the man as painfully as possible.

“I feel so sorry for your mother. She did not deserve to die to birth such a useless mongrel like you. Perhaps the regret of having such a disappointment was what truly killed your father and not his illness. This meeting has been quite eye opening. Thank you for reminding us to never expect anything worthwhile from you, boy.”

With that, the rotten old man left. Gojo had been frozen in place until Shoko had placed a hand on his shoulder with Getou holding Satoru’s hand. They led their fellow first-year student into Shoko’s room. As Shoko went to find her secret stash of candy and soda, Getou had placed Gojo onto her plush bed. Before Getou could let go of Gojo’s hand, the white-haired boy held Suguru’s hand with an ironclad grip. Gojo had muttered something that was too quiet for Getou to understand, but it sounded sad enough for him to lay on the bed with Gojo and hug him. Immediately, Gojo latched onto Getou like a koala and cried into his chest with his lip wobbling violently from the sobs Satoru was refusing to release. When Shoko came back with her goodies, she silently joined the two on the bed and rubbed Gojo’s back in soothing motions. When Gojo stopped crying, he went limp in Getou’s hold, but it was clear that the boy did not want to be let go any time soon. Shoko put on one of the trio’s favorite movies on her phone and passed snacks to each of them. Gojo had not eaten for the entire day, so he got the lionshare of the snacks, eating them quietly as the movie started. The trio would eventually fall asleep and would wake up with Yaga telling them to have a day off. While the three had only known each other for about six months, it was the best day of their entire lives.

It seemed like anything relating to Gojo’s family or his well hidden insecurities got to him the most. Getou let his thoughts mull over in his head before he risked a glance at the demonic entities.

All except one had moved. The cat-thing still had its Piercing Blood attack ready to fire at a moments notice, but it was currently occupied with soothing the now fussy infant. Getou still had no clue on why such creatures would show such care for a baby. Why were they so protective? Where did they come from? Where did the baby come from? Who are the baby’s parents? Was the baby stolen or is it actually an entity like them?

Too many questions and too little time. Getou glanced at two other entities that he hadn’t noticed yet. One seemed to be made entirely out of black sludge and was vaguely shaped like a human with spiky hair. It leaned down and summoned a pair of green dots as eyes. The baby let out a giggle as the shadow monster shaped its strange eyes into various animals. One moment there was a pair of wolves then another there was an elephant. As the baby shrieked with laughter, the cat was able to bundle the baby up again with its head sticking out this time. The eyes of the shadow blob returned and were squinted in the way a regular person’s eyes are when they’re smiling. A rose then dangled in front of the baby, swaying gently. The rose originated from the other creature next to the shadow entity. It resembled a marionette that had its strings snipped with how its head and arms hung limply. The metal creature was wearing a long, dark blue skirt with a long sleeve button up of the same color. A rose bush grew out of the left side of its featureless face. Where an eye should be, there was a blood red rose in full bloom. Each of the thorns along the bush and vines looked like nails. It was jarring to see the greenery of the plants be intertwined with metal nails. Several vines wrapped around the creature’s left arm, following the vines would lead to the rose it was hanging in front of the baby. The puppet-like creature had no real hands or feet. Each limb ended in a sharp point like, well, a nail. The only soft thing on the creature was its ginger hair which was hung to the side due to the limpness of its neck. A happy coo left the baby as the metal being continued to move the rose in soothing motions. In response, a soft trill left the entity even though it lacked a mouth.

Eventually, the baby fell asleep with its watchful guardians surrounding it…Or should it be they? Was the baby a human or something else? These creatures were unsettling, yet Getou found himself utterly fascinated by them. They had intelligence and emotions that he had yet to see in a curse.

Enough intelligence to figure out the only way to make the strongest sorcerer of the modern era turn into a shaking mess.

“Gojo?” Getou turned back to his friend, who had yet to say a word. He felt relieved once he noticed Satoru’s steady breathing and ceased shaking. Even so, Satoru had yet to acknowledge him. Suguru knelt in front of Gojo and was surprised to see that Gojo’s eyes were as wide as they were before. Has he not blinked? Pushing his shock aside, Getou held Gojo’s head in his hands, staring into his eyes for any answers to what was afflicting Gojo. Satoru’s eyes had always been Getou’s favorite thing to look at. They had a clarity one could only find in the purest of waters. Every shade of blue imaginable seemed to be present in Gojo’s eyes. It reminded Getou of the ocean that Riko and Gojo had been messing around in. The sapphires Mei Mei had shown them when she let them look at her collection of gemstones. The sky he, Gojo, and Shoko would spend hours staring at, trying to find the best shaped cloud. To put it simply, Gojo’s blue eyes were enchanting.

They weren’t blue anymore.

“Satoru? Can you hear me?” Getou tried his best to hide the trembling in his voice. The eyes he adored were clouded over, the brilliant blues dulled to a lifeless gray. If it wasn’t for Gojo’s calm breathing and heartbeat, Suguru would have thought his friend had died. He shook all thoughts of death aside to focus on figuring out what was happening to Gojo. As he looked closer, Getou noticed the rapid expanding and shrinking of his pupils. They were pinpricks at one point and completely blown out a second later. Additionally, his eyes were shifting around, likely in an attempt to look in a different direction. The movement was so subtle that Suguru would not have noticed it if he wasn’t so close. This was necessary, so Getou knew better than to start blushing at their proximity. The pink flush on his cheeks proved otherwise . He shook Gojo to try snapping him out of the strange trance he was in. “Gojo! You asked for my help, right? I know how to get us out of here alive. We’ll get Nanami-kun back too.”

“...Nanamin.” Gojo murmured. His pupil became pinpricks for the twentieth time, and the teen began to shake his head repeatedly. “No. Nononono. Stop showing me this…He’s alive…”

“What are you seeing, Satoru?” Getou asked gently. His friend seemed to be breaking out of whatever was plaguing his mind. If he kept prodding, he was sure Gojo would become aware enough to snap out of it.

“I…I don’t know.”

“Can you try describing it?”

“There’s fire…lots of fire…”

“Anything else, Satoru? You’re doing so good so far.”

“A box…A big box…It’s really dark in there…”

“A box? Are you alone in the box?”

“No…Lots of skeletons…”

“Wait-Skeletons?”

“Yeah…They’re all dead…’Cause of me…”

“...Who is dead, Satoru?”

“...Everyone…”

Any other questions Suguru had were ignored as Satoru returned to his catatonic state. He sighed as he let go of Gojo, helping the teen rest against the tree. The bird-like creature Gojo had mentioned was the most concerning of the entities. If the creature really had Gojo’s technique, then all of Japan would be in danger. It seemed impossible for something to have Infinity and Six-eyes without garnering the attention of a single jujutsu sorcerer. More so, Japan was still intact.

Nothing about this situation was right.

Getou stood, clenching his fists. He looked back at Satoru, trapped within his own mind by a monster neither of them knew how to beat. “I’ll be right back, Satoru. Just stay put, okay?” With that, Getou stepped out of the safety of the tree and placed himself in the direct line of vision of the demonic creatures.

Immediately, each being snapped their heads toward him and stiffened. The demonic cat used its long bushy tail to cover the bundle completely, wrapping around the infant. On each side was the shadow monster and the metallic entity, acting as a shield for the two behind them. In front of the pair was the canine-like beast he had seen earlier, snarling at Suguru viciously. Next to the beast was a new creature Suguru had not noticed. It resembled a mummy from the spotted fabric covering its body. The black spots on the fabric were shifting around as a sign of irritation. Its entire left side was made of a black metal of sorts, which had cracks throughout. Within the cracks, a fiery substance was contained. The spotted fabrics around its throat were different from the white of the other bandages. One wrapping was yellow with black spots while the other was blue without any designs. A pair of glasses with yellow lenses were set firmly on its face. A sharp cyan light emitted from the left lens. The light was aimed at Suguru and narrowed in a supposed glare.

“I’m unarmed. I don’t want to fight.” Getou raised his hands in a placating gesture. It was a partial lie, but he was at least telling the truth about not having any physical weapons on him. He concealed his cursed energy as best as he could in case the entities could detect it. Suguru adorned his gentlest smile and voice. “You have one of my friends in a powerful trance and have taken my other friend. I only want their freedom, nothing else. I will leave once I have my friends back. No harm will come to you or the infant you’re guarding.”

There was a chance that the entities could not understand what he was saying. Three of them didn’t have mouths and the other two were more animalistic in appearance. He kept his hands in the air and stayed still. Any sudden movement could make the creatures view him as a threat. Though, they already looked at Getou with such disdain that he was sure that none of them saw him as something remotely positive. He had yet to see the sixth member of their group, the one he needed to speak with the most. Suguru had remembered counting six shapes before Gojo had dragged him away. He did not get to have a good look at the entity responsible for breaking through Gojo’s Infinity, the familiar purple blast, Gojo’s powerful trance, and the bloodcurdling screeches. It was supposed to be bird-like, and the creatures before Getou did not resemble that description.

With each second passed, the tension grew more and more. Sweat formed above Getou’s brow. His other classmates were incapacitated, so he would have to face the monsters alone. He pushed down the overwhelming concern he felt for Nanami, who had yet to see. Gojo said one of them had taken him, but Suguru hadn’t heard any sounds of struggle. Nanami was young, but he was extremely durable and never went down without a fight. To hear nothing made a weight sink to the bottom of Getou’s stomach. If these were curses, Nanami would surely be dead. However, these entities were something else entirely, so there was a chance that Nanami was still alive. There was also a chance that something worse had happened to Nanami. The rising stakes worsened the tense atmosphere.

“ H̷̘̓͆ȩ̵̾͗h̴̻͕͘e̴̗͑̈h̵̨̛̿ͅė̵̮…̶͉͐H̶̗̱̾ǫ̷͠ẃ̶͕ ̸̣̕ȧ̵̖d̷̰̏o̷͉̍r̷̤̖͝à̸̱̙b̶͍͚̀͐l̴͙͒e̸͓̝̒̆ .”

Suguru felt every muscle in his body freeze.

The air suddenly became so cold that Getou could see each of his shaky exhales. A dark fog enveloped the entire area. He knew he needed to protect himself and summon one of his curses if he wanted to live, yet he stayed still. A terror that Getou had never felt before spread throughout each nerve, each cell, each atom of his body. It felt like the doom prey would feel when they accidentally entered the territory of the most powerful predator. They weren't supposed to be there, but they will never get the chance to leave.

He had never felt so powerless.

A clawed hand cupped Getou’s cheek, draining his face of all color at the icy touch. Getou’s knees trembled as he stared into the black abyss in front of him. The hand on his face was pure white like a twisted ivory sculpture.

“Ş̴̧̾̽ǫ̶̎ ̷̼͋͝s̴͉̑ç̷̘̽̍a̸̪͛̑r̴̛̻͑é̷̬̝d̵̟͕̃̕…̶͕̖͋T̶͖̜̽h̸̝͠a̴͍̫͋ť̸ͅ’̷̫̈s̸̺͒ ̵̪͓͋h̶͈͑͆ì̷͔ͅl̴̻̯͛a̷͓̳̓̂r̴͇͠i̵̞͘ö̵̭́̕ṵ̵́s̶͇̅̑!̴̱̪̾”

The voice was incredibly distorted, barely decipherable, and it made Getou forget how to breathe. Its teasing tone was familiar. So familiar. Getou refused to acknowledge the similarities due to the utter wrongness of the voice.

"Ì̵͔t̷̹̽’̴̬̩̇s̵͎͗͐ ̵̺̝̕r̵͎̞͝u̶̹̳̐d̴̫͚̏ȅ̴̫̝ ̶͔̼̓̈́t̶̨́ͅó̷̜͙ ̸̰͖̃͠ī̵̫g̵̦̅͆ͅn̴͇̂͛o̷͔̿r̶̜̃ḙ̸͋͝ ̶̢̹̂s̷̘̎̿ó̸͈m̷̨̀͘e̷̱̿o̴̜͌n̶͔̩͂̂e̶̝̎…̷̟̻̊̊O̸̖̽p̵̞̫̏͘ẻ̶̦̹n̷͔̈ ̷̦͕͌y̶͇͖͛ȯ̸̤͎͐u̷͕̽ȑ̵̡͎ ̸̱́e̴̞̥̒͠ȳ̶͕e̵̢͝ş̸̱̓̈ ̷͈̐͒f̸̟̟̉o̵͎͘ͅr̶̢̈́ ̸̺̓͘ṁ̴̻͝e̸͍̓,̵̹̈̈́ ̴̲̆̊ḧ̶̠̝ṁ̶͎̕?̷̣͆̃”

Despite not noticing when his eyes closed, Getou squeezed his eyes even tighter. The hand was now starting to comb through his hair, releasing the messy bun he had haphazardly made earlier. Its gentle motions only disturbed Suguru further. He wanted to run away. f*ck, he was supposed to be far away from Tokyo! If he hadn’t answered their calls, he would not be in this predicament! Any frustration Suguru could muster was squashed by the terror suffocating him. He now understood why Nanami and Gojo had been so horrified over the phone. The other entities looked like puppies compared to this monstrosity. Its long fingers moved from his hair to his eyelids. Somehow, even more fear pierced through Getou like a spear built from the darkest nightmares of mankind.

“ Y̶̮̑̕ȍ̵̱u̷͇̬̿͠ ̵̱͒̈s̶̰̻̾̇ā̸̮̙i̶̱͐̀ḓ̸̐ ̸͎͒y̴̢̱͠ô̵͕u̷̪̍͝ ̶͇̃̾w̶͔̥͐̇o̴̯̓n̴̹̹̍͝’̴̦̻͝͝t̴̯̭̽̉ ̸̺̓̾h̵̖̃a̷̢͑ṙ̵̲m̵̭̃͜ ̷̧̽̎u̸͚̽š̵̨,̷̩̳͆ ̶̡̟̀s̸̛̗̈́ọ̸́ ̵̙̚I̵͉̺̍̓ ̶̧͓̇w̶̮̮̐́ọ̶͙͐͝n̷̖̋̅’̴͔̱̑t̷̙̍͝ ̴͚̃̌ḧ̴̝́ȃ̶͚͙r̶͈͓̄͝m̴̻̲̋ ̵͈̱̕y̸̠̿o̴̠͊ų̴̾ ̶͕̐͘e̷̘͝ỉ̷̭t̶̘̠͑̄h̴͈͐͑e̸̙̅͛r̶̤͑.̵̨̦̓͋ ̴̘̽̾ͅI̸͚̓ ̸͈̖̀s̷̨̹̈́̐i̸͓͍̐́m̴̲͛p̵̺̈́̊ľ̷̡̐y̵̜̭̔ ̷̤̏w̷͚̯͆͝a̷̢͉̋n̶̠͉͠t̶͚̞͌ ̴͙̤͆t̸͉͔̀ö̸̱̞̌ ̸̞̄t̸̻͗͌a̵̡̓l̷͙̲̾k̴̢͙̅̋ ̶͖̜̈́t̷̯͈͂o̷̲̐͗͜ ̷̻̇ý̸̖ͅo̸̬̦̓̍u̷͓̹͊̚.̶͇̀ͅ ̷̧́́Y̵̪͆õ̸͎̺u̷̳̍ ̵̝͈̅w̵̫̌͝e̸̤̠̅r̸̞͎̓e̷͎̭̽ ̶̥̂ș̴̚o̵̬̬̎͂ ̶̠̻̏͝ě̷̡̄ȃ̶ͅg̷̰͋ͅĕ̶̛͔ṙ̴͉̣̃ ̴͓̈́ͅb̶̙̏͊ẹ̵̩́̇f̸̹̿̈́o̵̫̍͋r̸̗̜̈́ẽ̶̠͕̚,̶͚̍͠ ̸̺̝͒̏ǹ̵͓ọ̷̈́͊?̶͕̈"

If his body hadn’t locked up, Getou would have collapsed by now. The hand moved once more, placing a single claw on his forehead. It traced a line across his forehead, moving back and forth endlessly. While the touch was incredibly gentle, Suguru knew that it would not take much for the claw to draw blood. The claw could probably cut his entire skull in half!

“Ṣ̸̆h̷̒ͅh̸̡̎h̷͍̍.̶̘͗ ̴̼͑Ṇ̵͝ô̸̱ ̶̺̀n̵͒͜e̸͊͜ȩ̷̓d̸͇̎ ̶̧́ț̸̆o̸̫͑ ̷͚͑b̶̝͝ȅ̶͙ ̴̠̒s̷̳͗o̷̳͗ ̷͔͑s̴͈̀č̵̢a̸̠͒r̵̯̋ḙ̷̀d̵͍̋.̴̝́ ̶̜̀Y̵̟̐o̴̜͛u̸͔͆’̸̲́r̷̼̉e̶̙͌ ̵̨͠ȳ̸̭o̴͎͝u̴͎̐!̵̰͑ ̸̼̀Ǹ̷̩Ò̶͇Ṯ̷̓ ̷̨̣̟̟̖̮͕̘͖͑̅̾͐̄͊̈́̔̚ͅh̷̲̞̥̪̠̳͈͖̩̺̤̘̠̓́̈́̃͗̆̒̒͑̚͜ ̵̳̹͙̼̗̦͉̯͖̘͔͒̓̔͝ĩ̵̧̛͖̞͕̬͍̌͒́̋͒͘͝͝ ̶̛́̏͛̈́̽̅͋͛͛́͘̚ͅm̸̮͇̗͇̺͔̩͉̼̬̻̳̾̔̍͛ Ì̷̥ ̵͕̓d̴̥̓ǒ̷̼n̶̤̂’̷̱̀t̵̠̓ ̸̋͜w̴͚̃a̴̻̍n̵͔̍n̸̟̔ā̵͈ ̴̫̓k̴͚̆ī̶̦l̸͉͗l̸̗̅ ̸̜̌y̶̹͝o̸͔̓ù̵̻.̷̨̛ ̸̙̈́J̶̼͛u̵̘͠s̴͙͌t̷̙̿ ̴͖͗o̶̺̿p̷̤̌e̸͙͑ṋ̴̉ ̷̙̚t̵͉̄h̶̓͜o̷̤͘s̷̜̾ẽ̵̮ ̶̘͐e̴͚͆y̷͉͆e̴̗̔s̸̫̋,̴̩̔ ̶̲̍ö̸́ͅk̴̺͊a̸͈͝y̴̬͛?̵̗͒”̶̪͌

At face value, the request was harmless, but Suguru could detect the commanding tone hidden underneath the cheery voice.

With his body screaming at him to not listen to the demonic presence, Getou complied. His eyes hesitantly opened, blinking rapidly to clear the spots from them. He tried looking down, but a cold hand grabbed his chin and tilted it upwards.

“Ţ̴̝̐̀̓h̷͕͕̟͂ḛ̶͍̥̂̅͒r̸͍͈̟͝ę̸̯̓̒ ̷̭͍̱̎̂̆w̵̠͔̣̆e̶̻͇̹͛̕ ̶͈͚̪̽ǧ̴͎̈́̐o̵̖̮̮̿!̴͛̈́ͅ”̶̯̟̤͐"

Getou gasped and tried to step back, but the grip on his jaw was too tight to escape from. He had no choice but to look at the figure that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Eyes. So many eyes stared at him with differing emotions. Suguru could not keep track of the countless eyes boring into him. The hand that had been gripping his face retreating into the black void surrounding them. They looked exactly like Satoru’s. To see those eyes he adored become so twisted and wrong caused a hollowness in his chest. The largest pair of eyes was looking at him with joy and mischief. Said pair moved around unlike the others. It must be attached to the body of the creature hidden within the thick fog. He needed to do something. He had wanted to talk to the sixth entity. He could not stand there like an idiot! Move!

“Ḯ̴͖t̴͖̀’̵̻̓s̶͖̆ ̴̹̽ä̴̻́l̴̡͝r̵̳̓ḯ̶͖g̸͇̓ḩ̸͠t̶̙̒ ̵̲̀t̸̳͐h̵̙̀ä̵̠ẗ̸̗ ̶̱́y̷͙̍o̴͖͒ủ̷͔ ̵̯͒c̵̘̑a̴̠͛n̷̨̽’̴̺̌t̴̜͋ ̷̹͘m̷̗̀o̶̙͘v̷̛̺e̴͍͝.̸̜̊ ̶̳͝N̴͕̔o̷̻͗ ̶̧̒h̶̺͊ṷ̷̎m̷̲̉a̶̰̓n̸̜̽ ̶̟̇c̶̗͂å̴͙n̷̔ͅ,̸̮͒ ̶̘͛w̷̲̿ḧ̷̤́ì̴̠c̷̠̿h̶̥͊ ̷̹͝ĩ̶̼s̵̡̔ ̷̠́ŕ̴̙e̶͉̊a̵̮͒l̵̫͘l̵͚̾y̵̱̕ ̶̩̍b̶̼̓o̴͈͋r̵͚͑ī̷ͅn̶̮͛g̵̗̾!̵̘̔” The glowing blue eyes rolled with annoyance. Quickly, its childish demeanor became serious. Each eye adopted the same seriousness. “ Y̸̹͆o̷̱̿u̶̟̿ ̴̟͠ḓ̴̛o̵͂ͅn̶̗͒’̶̦̿ẗ̵̬ ̶̼̍ạ̸͝ç̷̾ț̶̾u̴͔͂a̴̛͎l̵̻̍l̸̩̂y̵̻͆ ̵̣̚n̶͚̿e̵̱̾e̵̯̾d̶̫͘ ̶͔̆t̴͖̃o̵͓̽ ̸̟͊t̶̼̍a̵͔̽ĺ̷̗k̷̥͗.̴̜͊ ̴̡̈A̷̠͝l̵̖̈́l̵͈͗ ̴̜̊I̷̙̅ ̷̳͗n̶̳͆e̴̮̎è̴̤ḑ̷̚ ̷̥̈y̵͕͆o̷͕̓ṷ̷͝ ̷̰̚t̷̼̄o̶̫̽ ̴͖̓d̴̨͗o̸͉̽ ̶̒͜i̸̍͜s̴̯͋ ̴̮͗l̶͕̄i̷̙͑s̵̨͑t̶̥̂e̶̬͝ǹ̶̲ ̶̲͠ẗ̵̡o̵͙͆ ̸̙̐m̵̡̽e̷̢̾ ̵̨͊a̵̝͋n̵̲͒ḏ̴͝ ̸̳̚k̷̭͠e̶͕͘ḛ̵̓p̷̬̃ ̷̟͐ẙ̷̫o̶̱̿u̷̱͆r̵̨͛ ̶̰͗ě̸̠y̶͈̅é̶͈s̶͇͒ ̷̙̐ö̴̜́p̵̺̈́e̴͕͂n̸̫̍.̷̨́”

“Why?” Getou spat out with more force than intended. His chest heaved as the word left his mouth. Horror overcame him as he realized he’d offended the eldritch horror.

Instead of becoming enraged, a giggle left the creature. “ I̵̪͂ ̸̭̓s̶̀͜h̷͎͝o̵̢͝u̵͇͘l̶̰͊d̶̩̈ ̵̹̅h̶̞̄a̵͇͒v̶͇͋è̴̲ ̵̠̋ḙ̵́x̸̲͂p̸̙͘ḛ̵̈c̵͑͜ṱ̷͗ĕ̷̮d̷͈͝ ̸̦́ý̵͚o̷͔̍u̵̧͠ ̶̧̎t̶͍̎ȍ̴͍ ̸͉͛a̴̳̎s̵̥̐k̸̙̄ ̸͙͐m̸͖͊e̶̛͚ ̸̙͌t̶͎̓h̶̟̏a̷̳̾t̴̩͒.̵̧̏ ̷͚̉S̶̖̈́o̶̘̓ ̵͓̈́c̷̳͂ű̶͜r̸̡̐ì̸̱o̸̼̾ư̶̞s̴̟̅ ̶̰͝l̸̰͝ì̶͙k̶̺̀è̵̺ ̶̙̾a̶͈̐l̷̨̂w̷̭͝a̴̗͌ẙ̴͍s̸̨̈!̵̻̕ ̷̣̾Y̷̧̚o̸͐͜u̶͉͝ ̴͈̀h̶͖͝a̸͎͌v̸̥̿e̶̠̚n̶͉͠’̵̱̋ţ̵̓ ̷͙̋c̷̪͠h̴̙͛a̷̜͠n̷̈́͜g̵̮̀ḛ̴̐d̷̟̂ ̶͎͘.̷̙̿”̴̨̀.

Suguru immediately noticed the odd wording. He continued to push his fear to the side with his need to learn more. “How do you know me? You’ve been talking to me like I’m a long-lost friend or something.”

“ Ṭ̷̦͈͇̹͕̯̜͛̉̍͛̾͝h̶̞̼̪̠̞͕͒a̸͈̮͓̝̾̈́ţ̵̀̈́͋̇’̸͈̔̈̓͛̉̊̀̊̃͊͝ş̷̝̥̤̖̲̮͖̞̠̔̓̏̈́̅̏͊͜͝͠͝ ̷̠̣̞͊̂̚b̸͓̝̻̫̯̼̬̙̳̫̒̒̈́̈́ẻ̸̡̡̗̙̼͍̀̉̈̔̚c̶̹͕̮̥̫͕̠̲̄̿̋́͊̓̍͝͠͠͝ą̴̛̘̝͙̜̯̜̱̰ṵ̷̼̏̋̌͒̾̍̃͆̕͘s̶̠͓̞͔͉̑̏̏̒͘͠e̴̱͈̺̮̜̠̟̞̲͒́̈́͋̉̎͠ ̴̢̱̯̹̩͕̀̂̀̅̓̋̋̀͆̌ͅy̵̭̻̩͆̔̿̒o̶̖̙̟̯͈̻͛̐̈́̉̇̓͘͠ụ̶͖͍͈͇̬̺̲̋́͆͂̅́̉̚ͅ ̷̺̋́̀̏͊́̃̕̚͠a̸̻̖͍̖̤͍͆̈́͑̿̈́͑̄͂͘͝͝ŗ̶̝̰͉͚̗͎̱̻̺̔́̈̈́̀͘ê̴̝̱͙̔̍̓̀͌̈́̿̏̉.̶͚̐̊̇̍̈̇͗͝͝͠”

All the eyes surrounding them disappeared, only the main pair remaining. Two white, spindly limbs stepped out of the shadows with the talons of a bird of prey at the ends. A sharp, hooked beak poked out at the same time, curled into a menacing smile. The beak was ghost white and serrated at the edges. As the creature moved further from the cover of fog, Getou felt his heart stutter as the monster fully revealed itself. White hair sat atop the entity’s head, followed by a black mask that covered its eyes. The mask wrapped around its long neck, ending in two tattered ends. The body of the creature reminded Getou of his rainbow dragon, who had been sliced in half by Toji’s blade. Unlike the curse, the entity’s body was split into five segments that were connected by an invisible force. The head and neck made up the first segment, the second segment was just the front legs, the creature’s lanky torso was the third segment, the back legs were the fourth, and the creature's long, smoky tail made up the last segment. The white hair on its head grew down its body like a fluffy mane, only stopping at the legs and tail. Feathers were mixed with the fur on its back. The feathers were easy to spot with their length and varied between three colors: blue, red, and purple.

The draconic creature was massive and towered over Suguru. Its size dwarfed his rainbow dragon, who was one of Suguru’s largest curses. At this point, Getou was surprised his heart was still beating considering the amount of horror gripping said organ. He should have died from a heart attack by now. His hands trembled violently as he tried to raise them. His death was imminent if he didn’t summon an army of curses. Maybe he could try Maximum Uzumaki-

“A̸̘̔h̷͎̄.̷̇͜ ̸͈͑A̵̦̋h̵̟̕.̴͚͌ ̸̮͊A̶͖̒h̷̡͆.̶̺͂ ̵̘͘Ṉ̵̈́ǒ̵̲n̸̜̔e̵͉̎ ̶̥͝ö̵̧f̸̮͋ ̷͖̇t̸͎̋h̸͕͛a̶̠̓t̷̝͐ ̷̥̉ņ̵͊o̴̧̽w̸̜͗.̷̳͐ ̴̩̓Y̸̥͐ò̵̜u̵͍͆ ̴̙͌s̴̫̓ḁ̷̅i̸̹͠ḍ̶͝ ̴̔ͅy̷̥̐ŏ̶̡u̶̝̅ ̴̝̔w̷̳̓e̸̼̐r̷͈̈́ḛ̶̍ ̸̮̍ù̴͈ǹ̶̟a̸̋͜ř̴̨m̸̧̂e̶̦̚d̶͈̕.̷̦̓ ̵͔̓O̸̬̔r̸̟̒ ̷̣͛w̸̳̏a̷͇͛s̷͇͊ ̷͖̓t̴͍̓h̸̢̕a̷̛̰t̷̬̕.̸̱́a L̷̛͙͍̭̦̝͚̬̪̳̉̑͛̌̓̋̈́͊̀͘ ̷̛̗̙̙̜̹̠̀̉̉̑̃̔̚͜͝ͅͅI̸̧̠̱̹̜̗͕̲̜̬̅̈̎͋̽̅̃͗̀͘͜͝͝ͅ ̵͖̠̻̝̯͙̥̜̈́̓̀̊͠Ḙ̵̡̧̤̗͉̬̻͈͆̂͗͜?̶̢̛̹̩͓̟̫̪͔͓̊̑́̊̈̏̕͜ͅ

Like a peaco*ck displaying its vibrant feathers, the demon’s tail spread out to the fullest. Despite being made of black smoke, the entity could control it perfectly. All the eyes that had disappeared from the void he was in reappeared inside the creature’s tail. While a peaco*ck’s feathers were meant to show off their beauty to impress a female, the unholy abomination’s tail was used to show off the indescribable power it had with each eye promising a painful death. It let out a shriek of laughter, which Getou immediately recognized. It was the same shriek over the phone.

Those shrieks were not made from an infuriated monster.

It was laughing .

Its laughter was familiar. Its white hair. Its cursed energy. Its color scheme. Its voice hidden within the distortion. Its eyes.

No other being was capable of having the same eyes as-

As if a flip was switched, everything now made sense to Getou. The identity of these beings. The reason why they had appeared out of nowhere. The answer to their protectiveness of the infant. It came from an old myth, but the details were too similar to ignore. These creatures were far from cursed spirits or demons.

Getou looked at the creature before him with an entirely new perspective. A smug grin split the sharp beak of the entity. When it spoke next, the distortion was completely gone from its voice. Its voice was clear and undeniably belonged to-

“Yo, Suguru!”

Where a beast had stood, there was now a lanky man with a black blindfold over his eyes. He was littered in deep cuts. There was blood pooling from a large slice in his stomach. His hand was raised in a friendly wave.

Getou couldn’t breathe.

The man smiled.

“Heh. I’ve always wanted to say that.”

Everything turned black.

.

.

.

Yaga knew his life would never be easy as a jujutsu sorcerer. In fact, he was the principal of a damn jujutsu highschool. If anything, he did this to himself. He expected his patience to be tested in every way, he expected to never be able to take a break, and he even expected to become a pseudo-parent to each of his traumatized students.

He did not, however, expect to be woken in the dead of night by Shoko throwing a water bottle at his face.

“WAKE THE f*ck UP!” Shoko then immediately realized her error. “sh*t. I meant to pour water on your face.”

“THE BOTTLE IS NOT EVEN OPEN, SHOKO.” Yaga was wide awake now with a throbbing nose. He pinched his fingers over the bridge of his nose, already sensing an oncoming headache. While the man was angry, he knew that Shoko would not do such a stupid thing without reason. “Explain why you needed to wake me up at this hour. Now.”

“Well, I don’t want to be awake right now either, but Getou texted me saying that there is an emergency going on with Nanami and Gojo, so he went out to help. You know that shouldn’t happen unless something seriously went wrong with their mission in Sendai.” Shoko had her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Unlike Gojo, she knew Getou was not a moron who would do pranks in the middle of the night. Dread was already pooling in her gut.

At her words, Yaga instantly straightened and got up. He adorned a serious expression. If Gojo could not handle the special grade curse, then something truly had gone awry with the mission. What’s more, Nanami was there too. Yaga wanted to bash himself in the head for not fighting against the council more about their reckless decision. Nanami was still grieving heavily for Haibara, a boy who had died far too young. He should not be forced to fight in such a state. Additionally, Yaga knew how stretched thin and stressed Gojo was. After the incident with Toji, he had noticed the changes in Getou and Gojo’s behavior. Getou had become more withdrawn than ever, and Gojo had bags under his eyes that rivaled Shoko’s. Both teens were traumatized, but the council seemed to make it their personal mission to work Gojo to the bone with the nonstop missions.

His frustration at himself had to be put aside as there was something more dire at hand. “I’ll gather reinforcements at once. Shoko, please prepare the infirmary while I’m gone.” He left without waiting for the girl’s response. It was a good thing he had stayed up late since he was still in his uniform. Yaga took his phone out to send various texts and calls to his colleagues. With a pang of guilt, Yaga woke up Ijichi, his young assistant, which caused the teen to yelp in surprise. Ijichi was a timid person, but he still wanted to help the jujutsu world. He became part of the very small staff in Tokyo academy. His superior driving abilities were what Yaga needed right now.

With little words spoken, Ijichi gathered himself and led them to his assigned car. Yaga had taken a moment to gather his most powerful cursed corpses for a possible fight ahead. The car ride was a blur to Yaga. Before he knew it, they had arrived at the site Yaga had sent the young sorcerers to. Gakuganji and his students arrived soon after. The older man had a frown on his face at the abrupt awakening. Two of his students, Mei Mei and Utahime stood next to him. Utahime was trying to rub the sleep from her eyes while Mei had a tight grip on her axe with a tense expression. Being called for an emergency did not happen in jujutsu. What happened more often was the sorcerer being killed before help could be alerted in the first place.

This situation was ringing alarm bells and waving red flags in Yaga’s mind. He ignored them and began walking into the remains of the abandoned warehouse. The forest around the group was relatively unharmed. No fire was leftover from the explosion. What concerned Yaga the most was the lack of any sound. It was too quiet considering who the mission was assigned to.

“Mei Mei, can you use your crows to find the students?” Gakuganji asked. He kept his face neutral, but his tone portrayed his apprehension.

“Of course.” The young woman smiled. She made a small flock of her crows survey the area. Sharing their sight, she could see the debris and bloodstains on the grass. There was no evidence that a battle was occurring with the calmness of the forest. Eventually, one of her crows spotted a large tree with a wide trunk. She focused on it and made the bird look behind the tree. “There they are. Follow me.”

“What conditions are their body’s in?” The question left Yaga’s mouth quickly.

Mei Mei hummed. “The three seem unharmed, but their clothes are damaged and bloodied. Perhaps Gojo-kun used his reverse cursed technique to heal them?”

“If Gojo had been able to heal them, then there would not be a need for calling us here.” He wished that was what had happened, but Yaga knew better than to give himself false hope. Something malicious had hurt his students severely enough to have Gojo incapacitated.

When Mei Mei led them to the young sorcerers, Yaga almost lost his composure. Next to him, Gakuganji was tense at the sight with Utahime hiding behind the elder. Despite her frequent squabbles with Gojo, Utahime did not hate him. Sure, he was annoying but never meant any harm with his teasing of her. New sorcerers were hard to come by with the high fatality rate. Most teenage sorcerers just starting in sorcery often died before they got the chance to learn and grow stronger. Utahime knew that her fellow peers were her only friends that could die at any moment.

Gojo, Nanami, and Getou looked dead.

The trio had been propped up against the tree in a sitting position. Each of their heads hung low as if they had fallen asleep. When Yaga gently tilted Nanami’s head up, ice filled his veins. Nanami’s brown eyes were wide open in a frozen look of fear. As he examined the other teens, he found that they had the same ailment. They were all breathing, thankfully, but they were in a trance that they could not break out of.

Gakuganji and Yaga shared a glance. A curse powerful enough to bypass Gojo’s infinity and put the three sorcerers in this frozen state was still alive. If it had died, the teens would be aware and talking to them. Their cursed energy was at its fullest. ‘Tapped off’ so to speak. It served to greatly confuse the adults. The only sign that a battle had occurred was the tearing of Gojo and Nanami’s clothing and the bloodstains. Tension filled the air as the group observed the teens in varying states of concern. A fight to the death would be among them with the curse capable of harming two of his strongest students to this extent.

No one spoke as each readied their cursed technique or weapon. The curse was reported as a special grade, so they needed to be ready for anything.

The wail of a child shattered the silence.

“Was that a-” Before Yaga could finish, a powerful presence stopped any further words from forming. The energy was unlike anything Yaga had ever felt before. From the shocked look on Gakugaji’s face, the elder sorcerer had not either. Utahime felt Mei Mei’s warm hand squeeze her on her right shoulder. This caused Utahime to realize that she had begun trembling. Mei was the tensest she’s ever seen with her knuckles turning white from the grip on her axe.

In an instant, several entities appeared from the shadows of the trees. Mei Mei suppressed a shiver at the creatures managing to hide from her crows, which had never occurred before. The small group were all frozen once they got a better look at the creatures. They now could see why it was an emergency as these were not curses. The monsters had this sense of wrongness that disturbed the sorcerers to their core.

Six creatures stared at them for a moment before launching into action. A row of nails were shot at them with pinpoint accuracy. Without his battle hardened reflexes, Gakuganji would have died instantly from a nail to the head. He took out his electric guitar strapped to his back and readied his hand to strum the strings. A spotted bandage wrapped around his arm and yanked it so hard he felt his shoulder dislocate. He let out a cry of pain.

“SENSEI!” Utahime tried to go to her elder, but was stopped by a tongue wrapping around her legs. She looked behind her and saw a frog made of black goop restraining her. Her disgust was replaced with fear as the large amphibian began to retract its tongue, pulling her into its mouth. The girl dug her hands into the ground to resist the pull. “MEI MEI! I NEED HELP!”

Said girl snapped her head to the scared voice of her friend. She summoned a crow to pierce the frog’s tongue, cutting it off. As she did so, a nail flew past her face, cutting off a section of her braid. Mei Mei tried to find the creature who was shooting the nails but was interrupted by a wolf biting her in the leg. She shouted in pain as the sharp teeth of the shadow creature tore into her left calf. The girl made several of her crows kill themselves to deliver multiple Bird Strikes to the wolf.

Meanwhile, Yaga had released his cursed corpses to overwhelm the three beings attacking the others. The brief distraction allowed Yaga to see the source of the cry. It was a baby that had two snarling beasts guarding it. The canine-like creature barked, making one of his curses pop in front of him in the midst of charging. A powerful punch from the doll winded Yaga, but he quickly redirected it to the beast. The baby could become a casualty if Yaga didn’t do something. However, his small glance at the terrified infant made several beams of blood pierced through Yaga’s shoulders and thighs. He heard cries of pain. When he looked behind him, he saw the beams had not stopped once stabbing him. They had struck Utahime in the face and Mei Mei in the stomach who were the closest to the trajectory of the attack.

The demonic feline that had shot the condensed blood was growling and spitting at Yaga. It had a murderous rage in its eyes. The beastly canine returned and attempted to bite the man. He tried to dodge, but the prior attack had immobilized him. Once he felt the monstrous teeth make contact with his arm, he felt agony surge through him

Then the baby began to cry. All the creatures stopped their attacks immediately. Yaga fell when the blood piercing him was retracted viciously. Five of the creatures were curling around the infant who had begun wailing. The sixth creature seemed to be made of dark fog and covered its companions with six eyes glaring at the injured sorcerers. His heart sank as the wails of the baby grew louder. He was certain the monsters were about to eat the infant, but he was proven wrong. The cat began purring and the mummy-like entity placed the baby in its lap while using some of its bandages to stroke the baby’s irritated skin soothingly. The canine placed its large head next to the baby and rumbled deeply. The shadow entity and the being made of metal sat beside the distressed child while emitted soft chitters.

It was a display of the concern and love the entities had for the baby. It could not be mistaken for anything else.

As the crying continued, Yaga noticed black markings start to show up on the baby’s smooth skin. Very recognizable markings.

Could it be that-

“sh*t! It was not supposed to happen today!”

A man with pink hair ran past the sorcerer, uncaring of their wounds. He was muscular and wore casual clothing. The bag the man had been holding was thrown to the side as he rushed to the infant. He scooped up the baby and cradled the crying baby close to his chest. His honey-colored eyes were wide with an unreadable emotion as he held the infant. When his gaze locked onto Yaga, who was the closest to the group of monstrosities, the honey of his eyes darkened into crimson. Black smoke enveloped the man quickly. Once it faded, a ten foot entity stood before them. A demon that was the source of nightmares for the eldest of sorcerers, who should have been forgotten. He was only dressed in loose black pants with his tattooed chest on display. His four arms were thick and covered in tattoos. The upper pair was holding the baby more gently than a monster of his might should be able too. A trident was held in the bottom pair of arms which were adorned with thick claws. He looked at the sorcerers with disgust, sneering at them. “How pathetic.”

His voice was a deep rumble that made Yaga and the others shiver in fear. His four crimson eyes continued to look down upon the group. “You pitiful maggots are quite lucky that I have much better things to do than waste my time confronting such weak beings. I will give you a chance to improve, so I can actually have a fight that won’t make me die of boredom. Find me if you wish. Until you do, get stronger so I won’t be this disappointed again. Fail to entertain me, and I will have this world shaped to my liking. You will not be in it. Take that as a warning. The only warning I’ll give.”

The creature that was made of black fog covered the other vile creatures and the curse holding an infant that looked too much like the fallen god. The fog resembled a tornado with its powerful winds. Branches and debris hit the sorcerers in their faces. Once the small twister dissipated, an empty patch of grass met the eyes of the shocked sorcerers.

Three voices came from the tree where the trio had been placed. Gojo, Getou, and Nanami rushed to assist their companions. Their help was almost useless with the trembling of their hands. With effort, the three got Gakuganji, Utahime, and Mei Mei into sitting positions. Yaga stumbled to his students with blood dripping from his wounds. He refused to sit even with how his students pleaded for him to do so. “That was Sukuna.”

Getou nodded his head numbly. He suddenly held Nanami and Gojo tightly in his arms as he whispered. “Those were cursed souls. They’re real. And he…I thought…” His face screwed up in pain before he could finish what he was going to say. Suguru buried his head into Gojo’s hair and shut his eyes tightly. Tears filled the eyes of Satoru at the contact. Satoru nuzzled his head into Suguru’s shoulder as soft cries left the Infinity user, his face hidden by Getou’s long hair. In Getou’s other arm, Nanami was being held by the older teen as if the blonde would disappear. The usually stoic teen leaned his head on Getou’s free shoulder as he gently took Gojo’s trembling hands into his own, holding in his tears with a quivering lip. Nanami closed his eyes once he noticed the stares of the others, a single tear running down his pale face.

Sukuna had been resurrected under the radar of all sorcerers. There had been no reports or sightings of the curse king. He had vanished again after promising death if they disappointed him in any way. The entities accompanying him were cursed souls, a creature only heard of in old myths or around a campfire to spook people. Today, myth became reality. A very very bad reality.

The King of Death was back

f*ck.

Chapter 3: Bath Time and Sad Times

Chapter Text

“I’m going to f*cking murder you, Sukuna.”

“That’d kill you too, dumbass.”

“I don’t care! How could you NOT do the ONE thing I requested of you?!”

“Oi! It ain’t my fault that I didn’t notice!”

“You were supposed to tell me the second you sensed Yuuji’s presence! For f*ck’s sake, you made a binding vow with me!”

“And nothing’s happened to me, right? I didn’t tell you about Yuuji on purpose. I didn’t sense him, so the binding vow wasn’t broken. I did nothing wrong!”

“YOU’RE SUCH A– I JUST– AGH! I HATE YOU!”

“WHAT?! I GOT US BACK HOME, YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH!”

“Yeah, you did get us home, but you want to know what you also did? YOU ALERTED ALL THE JUJUTSU SORCERERS IN JAPAN! YOU PRACTICALLY INVITED THEM TO OUR HOUSE!”

“THEY AREN’T GOING TO COME! HAVEN’T YOU HEARD OF INTIMIDATION TACTICS?! THEY’LL BE TOO BUSY PISSING THEIR PANTS TO EVEN TRY TO FIND US!”

“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL-”

An ear piercing wail made all arguing screech to a halt. Ryomen glared murderously at Sukuna before heading to the baby’s room. The much taller being followed the man with a scowl that was more resemblant of a pout.

-One hour Earlier-

Once Infinite had deposited the group to the requested location, Ryomen had immediately gotten to work on cleaning up his long lost son of any grime he had collected when at the forest with soft baby wipes. The infant whined in pain when Ryomen gently brushed his finger against the dark markings on his chubby face and arms. A million questions flooded the man’s mind, but he ignored all of them due to the teary, golden eyes looking up at him. Ryomen’s heart melted and twisted at the same time at the sight. He soon began to prepare the formula for the hungry infant. The moment the bottle was placed in Yuuji’s mouth, the baby quickly devoured the meal greedily. As the infant drank, his loyal protectors were in a circle, watching him dutifully. At some point, Overtime used one of his wrappings to wipe off the mess of milk from Yuuji’s face due to the baby’s clumsy drinking. It caused the baby to squeal with laughter, causing everyone in the room to soften at the sight. Even Sukuna had to bite his lip in order to hide a smile at the happy squeals.

Once Yuuji had finished his meal and was burped, Ryomen carried the baby to the bathroom to give him a much needed bath. While the wipes had done well to clean off the dirt, a proper, warm bath was needed to help sooth the baby’s irritated skin and get rid of the tiny sticks in his hair. His six guardians had tried to follow them into the bathroom, but Ryomen was quick to scold them. Only Supernova was allowed to enter due to his small size. The cat purred loudly before jumping onto Ryomen’s shoulder. Yuuji made grabbing motions towards the purple feline. Because Supernova had been the first being that the baby saw, the boy had imprinted on Supernova. An undeniably smug look appeared in Supernova’s eyes as he peered at the other guardians while Yuuji’s attention was fully on the cat. Infinite squawked loudly in pure offense, the colorful feathers along his back raised to show just how unhappy he was at Ryomen’s decision. When the draconic creature tried to use his long body to steal Yuuji, Chimera was quick to summon one of his frogs to wrap around Infinite's beak before it could make contact. The dark goop immediately began to stick into the white fur of Infinite’s back, eliciting another affronted squawk.

“Damn, he’s loud. Think we’re going to have trouble with that in the future?” Ryomen raised a brow at Sukuna. Fortunately, the noise did not scare Yuuji in the slightest. In fact, the baby giggled and cooed at the draconic bird amalgamation. This made Infinite shake off the black goop and try to nuzzle the baby’s head, responding with coos and trills of his own. However, a swipe from Supernova’s paw caused the larger creature to whine with disappointment.

“It will definitely be a problem moving forward. That thing cannot live without annoying someone else. He never knows when to shut up. You can chop off his upper half and he’d still be a pain in the ass.” A glare was sent to the dramatic bird, who had used his smoky tail to hit Sukuna in the face. Sukuna suppressed a growl, not noticing that Ryomen was looking at him oddly from his choice of words.

Ryomen sighed, more than used to the ancient curse’s weird phrasing. He adjusted the now wiggling baby in a more secure grip and looked at the other guardians. He was briefed on the names and purposes of the guardians that would accompany Yuuji long ago, but nothing could have prepared him for how strange they looked. Any grievances he would have had disappeared once he heard his son’s happy squeals as Supernova began to groom the small amount of pink hair on Yuuji’s head. The cat was clearly different from the average feline. Not just from his purple fur and spikes, but also his behavior. All the cats Ryomen had interacted with in the past had no qualms with biting or scratching him if he so much as breathed the wrong way. In contrast, Supernova let the baby grab at his tail which most cats would have clawed someone for doing. His purrs were somehow much more soothing than other cats. The purring Supernova was emitting made vibrations go through Ryomen’s body, causing him to unconsciously relax. It had the same effect on Yuuji, so he knew he had to act quickly. Bathing a cranky baby was something Ryomen had no desire to deal with at this time of night.

To his chagrin, the five guardians that weren’t allowed to enter the bathroom were sulking. Boogie and Infinite were the loudest with their complaints, one was howling in pure agony while the other was chirping as pitifully as possible. The rose on Resonance’s left eye wilted at the edges while the green lights on Chimera’s face had dimmed considerably. It was nearly impossible to read Overtime’s body language, so Ryomen paid attention to the looser wrappings around his body. The wrappings were subtly reaching out in the direction of Yuuji. He felt terrible for separating the guardians from their precious ward.

Catching onto Ryomen’s internal dilemma, Sukuna rolled his eyes. “The guardians will not disappear if they are away from Yuuji for five seconds. I suggest you bathe Yuuji now, considering how sleepy the brat is getting.”

“He’s not a brat!” Ryomen responded instantly. Although, he knew that Sukuna was right about Yuuji’s sleepiness. “Just make sure they don’t break in, okay? They can watch by the door if they get too restless.”

“They’re already restless, so that is a given” Sukuna responded with a scoff.

Ryomen shook his head and flipped Sukuna off as he turned to enter the bathroom. The snarl that followed made Ryomen smirk as he closed the door. Big, honey eyes looked at the new space in complete awe. Yuuji was staring at the sink as if it was the eighth wonder of the world. A warmness that Ryomen hadn’t felt in centuries blossomed in his chest at the sight of his precious son’s curiosity. He had waited so long to have Yuuji in his arms again. If he wasn’t careful, he knew that he would be sobbing his heart out at any moment once being reunited with his long-lost son. However, duty calls, and Ryomen could not be bursting into tears while his baby needed him.

The bathroom had long been baby-proofed, so some of Ryomen’s many anxieties could be eased. He first took out a blanket from one of the cupboards and placed the fluffy material on the tile floor. Yuuji giggled when Ryomen booped his nose after placing him on the blanket. It took all of Ryomen’s self control not to cry and not to cradle Yuuji in his arms and never let go. He shook his head again, focusing on getting the supplies needed for the bath. Considering Yuuji’s sensitive marks, Ryomen chose the gentlest products he had. With that sorted, Ryomen knelt on the floor to turn the faucet on the tub. As the water warmed up, the pink-haired man stood and went to the cupboards beneath the sink. To start, he collected the foldable baby tub he’d bought online and placed it to the side. Afterwards, he grabbed three soft towels that had never been used before. Ryomen pointedly ignored the mirror of the sink, knowing just how rough he looked from his eventful day. If someone had warned him that he would be alerted of his son’s presence while buying groceries, causing him to run out of the store with one bag in hand as he forgot the rest of his groceries because he was too busy running down the street with Sukuna screaming directions in his ear, which then led to him looking like an insane person as he shouted at the parasite in his head for all to see, further fueling his determination to get to his son’s location as fast as possible, making him throw up at least four times from the overexertion as he sprinted about ten miles to the forest his son was in, only to find his baby boy wailing in fright and hunger whilst being surrounded by the most powerful and influential sorcerers in the country…then Ryomen would have drank all of Sukuna’s stolen saki until he forgot how to feel feelings.

I should still find the time to steal Sukuna’s saki. He stole it from the finest restaurants in Japan, so stealing it again shouldn’t count as a crime. Not like he can get drunk anyway . His musings were interrupted when a paw incessantly tugged on his pants. Ryomen snapped back to reality, and he was surprised to see Supernova sitting on his leg, nodding his head towards the tub with a disapproving gaze. Somehow, the sharp meow Supernova let out felt like a harsh reprimand. sh*t, I really need to focus. Can parenting skills get rusty after a thousand years?

Ryomen breathed in deeply for a few moments to get his frazzled nerves under control. He placed one towel on the floor where he’d be kneeling, another on the edge of the tub to clean up splashes and bubbles, and the third was resting on the counter of the sink to be used at the end. Luckily, the water was the perfect temperature without Ryomen’s interference. At the same time, Supernova was being used as a living plush toy by a giggling baby. Yuuji was on the cat's fluffy back with a smile. His tiny hands gripped at the fur, and his head was buried into the purple softness. Golden eyes started to flutter as he further burrowed his head in the warmth. Supernova never once growled at the baby, only nudging the boy’s cheek to keep him awake.

When Ryomen turned to place Yuuji in the tub, a snort left his lips to see his adorable son trying to use Supernova as a bed. He gently plucked the baby from Supernova’s back and removed the baby’s diaper and dirty onesie. Part of him was worried that Yuuji would start wailing at the separation, but his fears were put to rest as his boy made grabby hands at Ryomen’s face. The father and son duo had matching smiles that could rival the sun in their brightness.

This time, Ryomen could not stop his tears from flowing when chubby hands grabbed at his nose. Yuuji giggled when Ryomen nuzzled his nose into the baby’s soft grip. Dark honey met golden honey, and Ryomen finally felt complete. One of Yuuji’s hands patted Ryomen’s cheek, coos of shere delight escaping the boy’s lips. His baby boy giggled again and looked back at his crying father. Ryomen let out a watery laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Oh…Hi…Hi, Yuuji … Hi …I’m your Papa, remember? I’m going to take care of you from now on, okay? You already have so many people who will always love you and protect you. You’ll never be alone. You’ll always have someone to dry your tears. You’ll forever have someone to hug you when you’re scared. You’ll always have a roof over your head. You’ll always be warm and cozy. You’ll never have to go hungry ever again. You won’t get sick anymore. I promise.” Memories of a long forgotten plague filled Ryomen’s mind. The helplessness. The pain. The grief. The rage-

Another pat on his face broke Ryomen from his spiraling thoughts. This time, Yuuji was patting his forehead repeatedly. His chubby cheeks were puffed out in pout. The baby looked just as disapproving as Supernova had earlier. Tears of pure joy soon streamed down Ryomen’s face as a much more pleasant memory surfaced.

“No sad, Papa! I hit sad away!”

“Yuuji, hon, you’re hitting me- OW! Stop it, sweetie, you don’t need to- OW! OW! Okay! Okay, the sad is gone! Good job, Yuuji! You can stop hitting Papa’s head now.”

“No!”

“N-No?”

“You still sad! Need more hits!”

“Wait, Yuuji- OW! OW! You’re doing this on purpose- OW!”

A genuine laugh burst from Ryomen’s chest. “I should have expected your lack of tolerance for sadness.” Ryomen kissed Yuuji’s forehead, remembering what he still had to do. He switched to holding Yuuji with one arm and placed the smaller baby tub inside the larger bathtub and waited until the tiny tub was at the appropriate water level. He also placed a stopper in to prevent the surrounding warm water from draining out. After testing the water’s temperature again, the pink-haired man carefully placed Yuuji into the baby tub. In an instant, Supernova jumped onto the rim of the bathtub in order to watch the baby like a hawk. There wasn’t much need to do so because the baby tub was shallow enough that drowning was impossible with Ryomen there. However, it was still nice to have someone care for his son so much.

Yuuji was confused at first from the new sensations, but he quickly relaxed into the warm water. Ryomen got out the baby wash and squeezed it into the water. As he swirled the water with his hand, Yuuji squealed as bubbles appeared. The baby was ecstatic as he slapped his tiny palms into the water. However, Yuuji had always been a boy with excess strength, even as a baby. Soapy water hit Ryomen in his face. He sighed and grabbed the towel on the corner of the bathtub. When he opened his eyes, he was relieved to see that no burn came, proving the gentleness of the baby wash and shampoo. He’d definitely be buying from the brand in the future.

Yuuji wiggled around and splashed some more, even managing to soak Supernova. The attentive cat simply shook his head to rid himself of the water and went back to watching Yuuji. The sight of the purple feline’s droopy, wet fur made Ryomen snicker. Eventually, Yuuji would calm down enough to allow Ryomen to properly wash him without making an ocean out of the bathroom. A mild scent of honey could be detected from the soap and the same was seen in the shampoo.

Maybe I should start calling him little bee. Ryomen thought to himself. With the stripes on Yuuji’s tiny body, it was easy to compare the baby to a bumblebee. However, he could not abandon his favorite nickname of all. The black stripes along his son’s face and body resembled a tiger much more than a bee. “Seems like my tiger cub finally got his stripes, hm?”

As cute as the stripes were, Ryomen knew that it wasn’t normal for a baby to have. There were two stripes on each side of Yuuji's cheeks, six stripes of varying length on his arms, three stripes along the length of each leg, and one circular marking on his chest. What was most concerning was that it was painful if he touched Yuuji’s tattoos. He was hoping the pain was temporary and would go away with time. For now, Ryomen would continue to use the gentlest products for his boy. When he began washing Yuuji’s tattoos, he treated them like they were more fragile than porcelain. Yuuji had initially whined at the touch, causing the spines on Supernova’s back to raise in anger. Fortunately, Ryomen’s face would not get mauled as the tiny whines stopped after a few seconds. On closer inspection, there was a faint outline of redness surrounding each marking. He frowned, but Ryomen knew of the many lotions he had bought specifically tailored towards irritated skin in infants. Turns out his many online shopping sprees in the middle of the night would prove useful.

When it was time for shampoo, Yuuji had splashed most of the water from his tub. Ryomen used a small pitcher attached to the wall on his right to scoop out the warm water surrounding the larger bathtub. It was still warm, so Ryomen gently poured the water into the near empty baby tub. Yuuji squealed with the additional water. Before he could splash Ryomen and Supernova for the umpteenth time, Ryomen plopped a dollop of shampoo on Yuuji’s head. Immediately, the baby cooed and tried to reach for his head. The man and cat both sagged in relief. Not wanting to have the shampoo run down Yuuji’s face, Ryomen used one hand to block Yuuji’s eyes and another to scoop water onto the baby’s head. With great care, Ryomen lathered the shampoo into the pink hair, making sure that every speck of dirt was gone. He had thought that he would need to spend ages removing each tiny splinter and stick from his boy’s hair. It seemed like Supernova had taken care of that when the feline had groomed the baby’s pink-hair earlier. Ryomen looked at the cat, who was still watching his boy with great focus. Thanks to Supernova, the bath would go much faster than Ryomen anticipated. It made sense that the cat would be so attentive according to Sukuna’s brief descriptions of the guardians.

Supernova will be Yuuji’s bodyguard in a sense. His regular form is smaller than the rest, but he is large for a cat. That’s why he can alter the size of his form to fit the situation, so Yuuji can take him anywhere. Supernova is capable of both long range and close range attacks with his blood manipulation technique. He’s the ‘all-in-one’ guardian and will protect Yuuji with his life. I doubt that protection will spread to you or me because that cat does not give a sh*t about what happens to anyone besides Yuuji. He doesn't even seem to care that much about the other guardians. Oh, and before I forget, don’t try petting him either. If you’re not Yuuji and you pet him, the little f*cker will slice your hand off.

For once, Ryomen was grateful to Sukuna. If he hadn’t warned him, Ryomen would have pet the fluffy cat upon seeing Supernova. It was a good thing that Yuuji had shown nothing but happiness towards Ryomen. Any tears would spell his doom.

Yuuji luckily only continued to coo at Ryomen’s gentle ministrations. Once the shampoo was fully washed off, the peach locks were vibrant. Ryomen smiled as he realized that he, Yuuji, and Sukuna all shared the exact shade of pink. Additionally, they all had tattoos of their own. Sukuna had the most, but Ryomen had his fair share as well. He had the same markings on his forehead, nose, cheeks, and shoulders that Sukuna had. He had two black bands on each thigh and two on each calf. The two bands around each of his wrists were the most unique. They were thinner than the other bands on his skin. The top band separated into five lines that spread to his hand and fingers. In fact, the lines even grew onto his nail bed. No amount of filing would rub off the marks, so Ryomen got into the habit of painting his nails with the darkest polishes he could find. The lines would then travel down to the pads of his fingers, forming a perfect square on each one. He had an identical black square on the sole of both feet. All the squares were a symbol of the technique he has. While Sukuna had all the brutality and strength, Ryomen had the firepower so to speak.

“Oi, dumbass! Are you done yet or have you finally succumbed to your stupidity?” Sukuna’s muffled voice broke the peaceful environment. The curse had been relentless in teasing him when Ryomen had continued to puke during his dash to get Yuuji. He kept talking about how Ryomen would die any second with his ‘sh*tty’ endurance.

“Shut up, Sukuna! I thought you had ‘the patience of a god’!”

“I do, but not with these f*cking demons throwing tantrums!” After Sukuna said that, Ryomen heard various whines and scratches coming from the other side of the door. A large claw tried going through the crack under the door with a miserable squawk. Infinite continued his mournful cries until a spotted wrapping yanked his claw from the door.

Seeing as his time was up and not wanting to have Yuuji’s skin get pruny, Ryomen grabbed the towel from the counter and wrapped Yuuji securely. He got out a soft cloth and began to dry Yuuji with it. He would have used a normal towel, but Ryomen was taking no chances in irritating his baby’s sensitive skin. Yuuji was quickly starting to fall asleep, so Ryomen used all his focus to be even more gentle. Behind him, Supernova was grooming himself to rid his fur of the soapy water. The cat went to the door crack and hissed. In response, the very tip of Infinite’s beak poked through. Based on the muffled swears from Sukuna and the sounds of things crashing, Infinite’s large body had knocked several things over in his attempt to peek under the door.

“Looks like our time is up, little tiger. Let’s get you to bed. You’ve had quite the day!” Ryomen carried a now dry Yuuji in his arms wrapped in another towel. The shirt Ryomen had been wearing was so soaked that he had to use the towel he had first bundled Yuuji in to wipe the slippery tile. He took off the wet fabric and threw it in the sink’s basin, too tired to clean the messy bathroom. It was a problem for future Ryomen. Current Ryomen was on his way to passing out like his sleepy son.

Supernova backed away from the door, shrinking in size before jumping on Ryomen’s shoulder again. His smaller form allowed the cat to curl up without having most of its body hanging off. To his relief, Infinite had removed his beak from the door. He took a deep breath in and opened the door and was met with a disaster.

Several vases lay shattered on the floor, spilling dirt everywhere. A few nails had been stabbed into the walls, and there were claw marks along the floor. Some of the paintings on the walls had been knocked over or were covered in slobber. Black goop managed to stain the ceiling. Shreds of spotted fabric also littered the floor. At the center of the mess was a tense Sukuna. He had his four arms crossed, refusing to look at Ryomen. It was clear that the guardians let their anxiety get the best of them, and Sukuna was a horrid babysitter. Before said curse could let a word out, Ryomen raised a hand. Whatever expression Ryomen was adorning was enough to shut Sukuna up and make all the guardians sheepishly back away.

Tomorrow. It’s tomorrow’s problem. That was the mantra running through Ryomen’s head. The only source of solace for the poor man was the weight in his arms. Yuuji was completely knocked out with his tiny head buried in Ryomen’s right shoulder. On his left shoulder, Supernova was purring again with his warm fur tickling Ryomen’s neck. In silence, the others followed the pink-haired man into the nursery.

The nursery was made with love and care. Yuuji’s crib was meticulously carved by a certain curse with a tendency for slashing. Intricate swooping patterns were carved into the wooden crib. Flames outlined the edges of the crib with sharp notches between each flame. On the front of the crib was the symbol on Sukuna and Ryomen’s foreheads. According to the ancient curse, it was actually a rune marked into their skins to offer strength and bravery. He didn’t entirely believe Sukuna, but Ryomen let it slide.

“If anyone messes up the nursery, I am killing every last one of you.” Ryomen whispered to the others as he placed Yuuji on the changing table. Even with the room being so inviting with its beautiful abstract paintings of flowers and tigers, an army of animal plushies, fluffy blankets with matching pillows, and impossibly plush carpet, all the creatures in the room felt like they were facing death itself.

The exhaustion of a single father was not to be messed with.

With the threat in all their heads, the remaining guardians were very careful as they maneuvered around the nursery. Chimera headed towards a dark corner, hiding himself in the shadow with only his green eyes visible. Boogie laid his large body on the side of the carpet in the center of the room, tailing gently wagging. The canine laid his head on his paws and got into a comfortable position to sleep. Resonance was the most cautious, knowing her sharp appendages could do great damage to the room. She sat down on the red rocking chair in another corner and curled up as much as she could. Overtime loosened the wrappings on his body to plop down next to the crib. This allowed him to take up less space. His more solid left side began to glow brighter, heating up the room as Overtime allowed the magma inside his body flow along the cracks of his body. Being the longest and largest, Infinite had the most trouble fitting into the nursery. He chirped in irritation before he saw the stone rafters on the ceiling. The ancient origins of their home had its apparent perks. Infinite trilled softly as he used his lengthy form to reach the rafters that fortunately supported his weight. The high position allowed Infinite to have a bird’s eye view of the room, which was quite fitting for the draconic bird. Infinite let his smokey tail dangle from a gap in the rafters. The tail opened slightly, revealing six eyes that were bright enough to be a nightlight. Each eye was focused on the sleepy baby in Ryomen’s arms, now dawned in a yellow onesie and fresh diaper.

Despite his fatigue, Ryomen’s eyes were bright with happiness as he rocked Yuuji in his arms, patting his back. In seconds, the baby went back to sleep. He had been woken up when his father dressed him and was eager to fall asleep again. Ryomen delicately placed the baby into the crib as if the boy was made of glass. A small, pink blanket was draped over the infant. All the occupants in the room were momentarily frozen as each was immersed in watching the small baby’s rising and falling chest. Supernova shrunk again and curled around the baby, giving Yuuji one last lick.

Eventually, the exhaustion within Ryomen grew too great to handle. His limbs subtly trembled with the effort to remain standing. What broke Ryomen from his slight trance was a notification from his phone. He had left his phone on the changing table when Yuuji had first arrived. Seeing how the baby was in nothing but a bundle and diaper, Ryomen ran to get something to put on his son. The man reluctantly walked away from the crib to see what kind notification would pop up this late at night. He stared at the bright screen for about a minute, his eyes widening the more the information settled in his tired mind.

It was a message from an unknown number.

Congratulations on the reunion! Your odd little family has made quite the impact on Jujutsu society! Word spreads quite fast among sorcerers, you know? You’re the hot topic of discussion! Say hi to Yuuji for me :) -K

The phone shattered in Ryomen’s hand.

Without a word, Ryomen stormed out of the room, harshly grabbing the curse by the door so hard Sukuna felt his arm pop. The guardians were startled by the sudden fury in Ryomen, but they stayed where they were. Yuuji continued to sleep, unaware of the doom upon them.

Ryomen had dragged Sukuna into the living room. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand. His breaths were rapid and harsh. It took a couple minutes for Ryomen to gather the energy to speak. The rage in Ryomen’s eyes overtook the fatigue. His first words to break the tense silence were snarled, sounding more beast than human.

“I’m going to f*cking murder you, Sukuna.”

-Present-

Sukuna was fond of the home they had found.

The place they were currently in used to be an old shrine dedicated to Sukuna. This allowed the massive curse to exist outside of Ryomen’s body. While Sukuna’s form in the shrine was visible, it was not tangible by any means. Ryomen could stick a hand through his form, much to the curse’s displeasure and Ryomen’s amusem*nt. If he reinforced his ghostly body with cursed energy, he would become more solid. However, once the curse was outside the shrine’s given boundaries, there was nothing Sukuna could do to remain corporeal. The only way that Sukuna could return to his physical form was if he used Ryomen to do so. Over the years, the two had developed a give and take method. If Sukuna wanted to take over when Ryomen didn’t want to switch, he would need to do a favor for the man. The same applied for Ryomen if he wanted to take back control. Sukuna could take over the man’s body easily and never give it back, but it was counterintuitive to his goal of keeping Yuuji happy and safe. This goal alo prevented Sukuna from going on a mass murdering rampage as any large-scale attacks from the curse would garner too much attention from the sorcerers.

So much for not alerting the sorcerers.

With how angry Ryomen was at Sukuna, he doubted that the man would allow him to take over any time soon. For now, he would have to be satisfied as being a ghost for the time being. He leaned against the doorframe of the nursery with his four arms crossed over each other. The guardians Sukuna had wished for were just as unruly as he remembered. While the six creatures were dedicated to protecting Yuuji at all costs, they still had no intention of respecting or listening to Sukuna’s orders. In fact, they were all glaring at him from the floor of the nursery. He rolled his eyes and glanced at Ryomen. The tired, pink-haired man was cradling a crying Yuuji, rocking him gently to soothe the child. It wasn’t the cry of a hungry baby or a baby that needed a change. No. It was the cry of a baby in pain. Two other marks had appeared on Yuuji’s face. Marks that made Sukuna tense up considerably.

A mark on the tip of his right eyebrow, splitting it.

A mark on the left corner of his lip.

That’s where Yuuji’s deepest scars used to be.

Sukuna cursed under his breath. The curse was well aware of what he had done in a world that no longer exists. While most of his memories had become foggy, he had a general understanding of his actions, especially of the times he made Yuuji suffer. Ryomen was unaware of what Sukuna had done to the world, and the curse had no plans of ever telling him. This new world was supposed to be completely different but it seemed like there were some ‘stragglers’ that refused to go. Events that could not be erased. People that would not disappear.

He had a feeling he already knew who this ‘K’ was. The random message sounded friendly on surface level, but Sukuna wasn’t an idiot. The hidden threat woven into the amiable text was easy to detect. There was only one person that Sukuna knew who was crazy and powerful enough to mess with Sukuna and not die.

Only time will tell if I actually made things worse . Sukuna looked at the cursed souls surrounding Ryomen as the man continued to comfort the distressed infant, all anger from his previous encounter with Sukuna gone. Due to the nature of their souls, Sukuna knew everything there was to Ryomen. He had originated from the man, afterall. Even so, there were stark differences between the two. Sukuna hated children while Ryomen had an immense soft spot for them. Yuuji didn’t count . Ryomen was impatient while Sukuna was willing to wait decades for a plan of his to come to fruition. Sukuna kept his composure while Ryomen had a temper that would go off at a moment's notice. Ryomen was violent when he needed to be while Sukuna reveled in the bloodshed he caused.

However, there was one thing that both beings could agree on: Protecting Yuuji at all costs .

It was a pathetic goal for one as powerful as him to have, but Sukuna had made peace with it long ago. The curse glanced at the baby, whose wails had turned into soft sniffles, and felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Ryomen was soothing his hand against Yuuji’s tiny back. He was humming a nameless tune with his eyes closed and a soft smile on his usually stressed features. It was likely that Ryomen had not noticed what he was doing as he hated whenever Sukuna caught him doing something ‘weak’. Likely too tired to be aware of his surroundings. Normally, Sukuna would have shouted at Ryomen to startle the high-strung man and laugh at his misery. This time, the curse stayed silent to allow Ryomen time with the boy he had been waiting for for centuries. His beloved son. Sukuna noticed the guardians for the baby gently copying the tune Ryomen was unknowingly humming. There were soft purrs, rumbles, chitters, and trills in the air. The small symphony of sounds began to lull the baby back to sleep.

The sight was utterly domestic.

This was not a place a curse was welcomed in. Sukuna knew that he did not belong among such a peaceful sight, but he was prideful enough to remain where he was by the door. Nothing would force Sukuna to do anything he did not wish to do.

Infinite looked at him.

All the warmth that Sukuna felt had turned to ice. No one aside from Sukuna himself noticed the change in atmosphere, meaning that the annoying entity had targeted him and him alone. The cocoon of adoration and protection had been closed off in order to prevent Sukuna from entering. It wasn’t like the curse had any intentions of entering such a pitiful environment, but it was still irritating to see the obvious attempts at pushing him away. Out of all the guardians Yuuji had, Infinite was the most ‘aware’ so to speak. Each creature was wired to perform a different duty in caring for the boy. They were beings that operated on pure instinct, complex thoughts practically impossible for their fragmented minds. What little remained of their souls aided in their jobs as Yuuji’s protectors, yet it also caused the entities to have leftover feelings towards certain people. All of them showed great disdain for Sukuna, but Infinite’s disdain was different. Of course, the others' dislike of him specifically was more due to a personal instinct than anything else. In contrast, Infinite looked at Sukuna with nothing but clarity in the many blue eyes within his tail.

Stay away.

You’re not wanted here.

Get out.

I’ll kill you if you get any closer.

Those were the messages Infinite was sending Sukuna with nothing but his piercing gaze. The blindfold attached to the creature’s face did not hinder in his staring contest with Sukuna. His tail had more than enough eyes necessary to stare the curse down.

If the sorcerer Infinite originated from was completely aware in that draconic bird form, then Sukuna would not be still standing. Gojo Satoru was currently an eighteen-year-old boy who recently entered his third-year in Jujutsu High. Infinite was not Gojo Satoru, simply the minute remains of a long dead man. While Infinite was the strongest out of the six cursed souls, the creature was also the most intelligent. Sukuna could see the gears in Infinite’s head turning at all times, analyzing any potential threats to Yuuji and his fellow protectors. The bird’s ability to have somewhat coherent thoughts would likely be a pain for Ryomen to deal with in the future. Sukuna had long gotten accustomed to Infinite's infuriating habits.

No matter what form he took, Gojo Satoru would always be a thorn in Sukuna’s side.

With a deep sigh, Sukuna made his way out of the nursery. He did not have the energy to deal with Infinite’s aggression. Ryomen’s exhaustion was caused by the man barely eating, running several miles with no breaks, and the overall stress of today. Sukuna was different. His fatigue was perpetual, something Sukuna had gotten used to over the years. In his previous life, nothing was capable of tiring Sukuna out. He could keep going whilst all his enemies collapsed from exhaustion. No one was powerful enough to challenge Sukuna in a meaningful way. This did not mean that his current strength and cursed energy had been weakened in any way, but his exhaustion had caused Sukuna to ‘settle down’ so to speak. While Sukuna still enjoyed causing mayhem, he did not seek out as many opportunities to do so anymore. In his previous life, Sukuna had hated sitting still and being lazy. Now, Sukuna took naps and meditated often.

He did what he wanted, and Sukuna wanted to relax.

Ryomen would likely ignore him for the rest of the night. Additionally, the curse knew damn well that the stubborn man would refuse to sleep in his own room tonight. Sukuna mentally prepared himself for the crankiness to come since there was no way to get Ryomen to sleep on anything but the nursery floor.

The cool air of the night greeted the curse’s translucent skin. Sukuna could not properly feel the wind as a specter. It felt like a thin barrier was between him and the breeze in this form. He shook his head and continued walking until he saw a great pond in the center of the shrine’s gardens. The pond acted as a well of cursed energy for Sukuna. Whoever had created the shrine clearly dedicated every detail to the King of Death. Sukuna found himself liking this title so much more than his previous one. Crimson, wooden poles surrounded the shrine, a bovine skull on the top of each one. The poles also served as a visual marker for the area Sukuna had to stay within. Anywhere beyond the poles would cause Sukuna to discorporate and be sent back into Ryomen’s body.

Two large torch towers stood on each side of the back entrance of the shrine. The inferno on each tower was contained with a basin of human bones. When Sukuna had first discovered this shrine several years ago, Ryomen had lit the tower with his flames, and he had yet to relight it. It was one of the very very few times Ryomen had managed to impress Sukuna.

His supposed followers had sacrificed countless people in honor of their king. The remains of the sacrifices were buried underneath the ground, in the ashes and structure of the torches, carved into the wooden poles, and placed in the pond Sukuna was sitting in front of. Sukuna had a faint memory of the cults that were created to worship him, mostly done out of fear, which was a massive ego booster. However, Sukuna never paid them any mind, so the curse had been very surprised yet pleased to see a shrine dedicated to him that had remained intact in the modern era. At Ryomen’s many complaints, Sukuna let the human update the interior of the shrine with the technology of the time. It took a long time due to the unique layout of the temple. Stone had been used to build many support beams and even rooms. With Ryomen’s revamping the entire insides, Sukuna had full control over the decorations of the outside. Sukuna changed nothing, much to Ryomen’s displeasure. He only added one thing. Koi.

With the pond already built into the ground, Sukuna simply stole several koi from the many luxurious ponds of rich establishments and homes. Ryomen had yelled at him when he realized that Sukuna had been using his body to take priceless fish away from their owners in the dead of night. The man had said how important those fish must have been and other nonsense that Sukuna ignored. If those fish were so precious, then it shouldn’t have been so easy to pluck each one out of their pond! Sukuna tossed all the fish into the large pond with little care, promptly returning control to Ryomen. Despite wanting to argue with Sukuna about his terrible decisions, Ryomen had to care for the many stressed koi fish. He had always been fond of being a caretaker, so it was easy for him to fall in love with the colorful fish. Eventually, the koi would swarm to Ryomen each time he approached the pond, reminding the man of how his late son would beam at him and run into his arms. On the other hand, it had taken a few weeks for the fish to stop scattering in Sukuna's presence. During those weeks, the fish began to change in appearance. The immense cursed energy inside the pond began affecting the koi. Instead of their vibrant oranges and whites, the fish were either fully black, red, or a mixture of the two. Their fins got longer and more elegant at the price of having spikes emerge from their entire dorsal fin. Ryomen was upset at the change, but the koi’s bright personalities had, at least, remained. They still swarmed to the surface for food, but they now had sharp teeth in their mouths like piranhas. Sukuna preferred the change and began to sit at the pond every night, which he was currently doing.

Sukuna’s form became more solid at the proximity to the pond. It was wide and deep, allowing the fish ample space to swim in. At this hour of the night, the water looked pitch black, but Sukuna had no troubles seeing in the dark. His superior vision allowed the curse to see the depths of the pool. Skulls could be found everywhere beneath the waters. Some of the smaller koi used the skulls as a makeshift cave while the larger fish used the remains of rib cages as hiding places. Many plants in the pond grew out of or around the many bones at the pond’s bottom. It was a human graveyard with aquatic life.

The presence of death would never hinder the growth and birth of life.

How stubborn.

The koi were not very active at this hour, but some swam to the surface to greet the large being observing them. Four fish had come to see him. One was entirely black while the other two were red with varying black patterns. In contrast to the darker fish, there was a pink koi that swam eagerly to the hand Sukuna submerged.

“You’re new, aren’t you?” Sukuna smiled at the small koi. It was fitting that the pond would have a new arrival to match Yuuji’s own arrival. The curse knew the pond had become something akin to the supernatural from the cursed energy of the sacrifices, but he did not care as long as they stayed in the pond. The tiny koi matched the color of Sukuna’s hair. The familiar peach was present in Ryomen’s and Yuuji’s hair. Having pink hair was a shared trait the three had, and Sukuna took pride in their unique hair color. He knew that Ryomen secretly held the same pride. It immediately made the pink koi Sukuna’s favorite. Small pecks tickled Sukuna’s large palm as the smallest koi tried to investigate what the strange object was. It was endearing to see such a young creature be so eager to go near a curse like him. One reason that Sukuna frequented the pond so much was something he would not tell a soul even if he was tortured.

Interacting with the koi helped Sukuna learn how to be gentle.

There were a few accidents where Sukuna was too rough and injured or killed the fish. He used his reverse technique to heal them, which his old self would have guffawed at. Slowly, Sukuna learned how to control the strength of his grip. Now, the curse had no worries of hurting the young koi that was swimming through his fingers. While he did prefer to have claws instead of his blunt nails, it was necessary for the safety of the delicate fish. More importantly, his lack of claws was vital if he wanted to hold Yuuji without cutting the poor baby’s skin. Skin that was already marked up.

Because Sukuna knew he was alone in his shrine that was in the middle of nowhere, Sukuna let his body deflate. Ryomen and the others were too preoccupied with Yuuji, so no one would be coming to see Sukuna any time soon. With solitude came comfort for the curse. He had always preferred being alone than wasting his time with the weak. The koi were his only company, and they could not speak of the troubles plaguing the ancient being. Sukuna caressed the pink koi before retracting his hand. With practiced ease, the man folded his four arms and placed them in his lap. As if knowing that Sukuna would no longer pay attention to them, the small group of koi swam away into the depths of the pond. Without the fish’s movements, the dark water stilled. The combination of the calm waters and bright moon made the pond turn into a makeshift mirror. It was something Sukuna did not appreciate whatsoever.

Seeing his reflection within the dark waters made Sukuna’s features twist into a grimace. In a forgotten world, Sukuna used to have two eyes and one pair of arms. After his planned death, his cursed form reflected the monstrous crimes Sukuna had committed. This was not to say that Sukuna was self conscious or had low self-esteem. Sukuna did not care about his ugliness whatsoever. It was a fact that he was unpleasant to look at. His looks had no effect on his power, so he offered them no further thought. Additionally, he had never had an interest in courting someone and never will. Yorozu was the only person who had wanted him as a suitor, and he met all of her advances with boredom, disgust, and a fatal slash to her heart. His deformities irked him because of the memories that they brought forth.

He had had more than enough time to accept his deformed face and body. However, Sukuna was not delusional enough to say that his unique features were what made him attractive or that he had some ‘hidden beauty’ within. Absolutely not. His two left eyes were a demonic crimson while his two right eyes were a gaudy pink. A wooden slab of sorts had fused into the right side of his skin, causing his right eyes to be more vertical. It was the same wood that Sukuna had carved runes into that would ensure his new life after being burnt alive. Both the wood and his new pink eyes were a harsh reminder of his forgotten origins. While the wood represented his birth as a curse, the pink of his eyes were a symbol of the cause of his death. Itadori Yuuji.

Going against the rules of nature and time had its consequences. Besides the new color of his right eyes, Sukuna had several new tattoos adorning his skin. A thick, black band wrapped around each of his ankles. On the outside of his left leg, a blood red chain that emerged from the band on his ankle marked his skin. The same pattern appeared on the outside of his right leg, but the tattoo was black instead of red. Each of his hands had their own unique mark at the center of his palms. His bottom right hand had Mahoraga’s spinning wheel which had allowed Sukuna to reach new heights in power, his bottom left hand had the outline of the volcano that resided on the head of the cyclops disaster curse he’d fought, his upper right hand had an eye that represented the annoying Six-Eyes user, and his upper left hand had the horizontal stitching pattern that plagued each of Kenjaku’s stolen bodies. It was fitting. The markings on his bottom set of hands were a harsh reminder of the destruction Sukuna had wrought while the markings on his upper set represented the two people that had troubled Sukuna the most.

None of the new markings plagued Sukuna as much as the tattoo on his chest.

A red spider lily seemed to grow out of the center of his chest. The flower was there for all to see since Sukuna refused to cover his top half. It was a simple drawing, but its simplicity only bothered him more. Such a delicate design had no place on his monstrous body. The deep reds of the flower blended perfectly into the blacks of the tattoo’s outlines. Sukuna knew damn well what the stupid flower symbolized. Death and Rebirth. He had no desire to look further into the supposed meanings. From what he had gathered over the past few centuries, this flower was poisonous, often grew or planted in graveyards, and only bloomed for a short period of time during the Autumn Equinox. It was also ugly in Sukuna’s opinion. The crimson of its petals were its only redeeming quality. Everything else was horrendous. The petals themselves were so thin and spindly. It looked like a spider with too many legs had gotten tangled with the shredded remnants of a better flower. However, there was nothing Sukuna could do to remove any of his new markings. He had killed the world, and then started it anew. Sukuna more than deserved the reminders of his misdeeds bashing him on the head for the rest of time.

It was strange to think of his actions as misdeeds. Even now, the regret did not come to Sukuna naturally. He was not a creature made for sympathy or guilt. The only reason that Sukuna looked at some of his prior acts and winced was the effect they had had on Yuuji. At the time, he had laughed at the boy’s misery and went out of his way to torture him. He had taken great pleasure in breaking the child back then.

I’LL DO ANYTHING! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH ME! THIS IS JUST LIKE WHEN YOU FIXED MY HEART! PLEASE HELP JUNPEI!

NO. HAH! YOU’RE MINE! YOUR FUTURE AND EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER POSSESS! YOU DON’T HAVE A SAY IN THIS! YOU’RE HELPLESS! HOW SAD! YOU’RE SO PATHETIC, YOU STUPID BRAT!

Hey, brat. Take a good look.

…Die…Only me…Just me…DIE! DIE! RIGHT NOW! DIE! JUST ME! JUST ME!

Remember when I said…we’d see…something interesting…brat?

…Fushiguro?

SUKUNAAAAAAA!!!! YOU!! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LIVE A NORMAL LIFE?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SPREAD SO MUCH MISERY?!

Well, allow me to ask you this…Why are you so weak? You’re weak, yet you cling to life!

How can a creature that falls apart with one touch say that it always wants to be happy? The helpless have no choice but to swallow the suffering life gives them.

Then let’s see if you can swallow… my suffering.

I miss them, Sukuna! I can’t take it anymore! I want to be with them! Let me be with them! PLEASE !

He had never tortured someone as much as he had tortured Itadori Yuuji. Hell, Sukuna had gone out of his way to hurt Yuuji like it was his sole purpose in life. It was extraordinarily difficult to balance the feelings he has now towards his actions and his feelings he had in the moment of his murderous actions. Now, seeing Yuuji wail in pain from markings that weren’t supposed to be on the baby’s smooth skin, broke something in Sukuna.

Even after everything he had done to give Yuuji a better life, Sukuna had still failed.

Yuuji’s suffering had been too great. Restarting the world was not enough to erase all the trauma the boy was put through. His pain clung onto his infant self, who was supposed to be free of the pain of the past. Considering Yuuji had appeared far sooner than Sukuna expected and the message from an unknown number, the curse knew that there was trouble afoot. A third party had likely inserted themselves to ruin what Sukuna was trying to repair.

Sukuna couldn’t help but dig his nails into the stitching on his upper left hand.

Losing was equivalent to death. It was a belief that Sukuna still held, so this new failure affected the man greatly.

He had thought that all the ‘mushy feelings sh*t’ that he had felt when he had held a sobbing Yuuji was from the reappearance of Ryomen’s soul. In a way, it was from Ryomen. The long buried memories of a man losing his child and the overwhelming fondness for the teen were all Ryomen. In this new world, Sukuna was confident that he would not be subjected to the softness ever again. Once more, the world rightfully hated Sukuna. Emotions that Sukuna still could not place raged in a violent storm inside Sukuna’s mind at all times.

All the times where he had laughed while Yuuji sobbed uncontrollably from a vicious nightmare.All the times where he had relentlessly reminded Yuuji that the boy’s existence only caused pain. All the times where he had screamed within Yuuji’s head about his uselessness and weakness. All the times where he had denied Yuuji’s broken pleas to stop after barraging him with the reasons why the deaths of his loved ones was Yuuji’s fault.

The satisfaction he had when he saw the light in the boy’s eyes fade away.

The glee he had when he saw the smiles the boy was known for disappear.

The pride he had when he saw the unbreakable boy shatter further and further with each death of his loved ones.

He saw the memories of a younger Ryomen playing with a toddler Yuuji, causing the child to squeal with laughter. He saw the memories of the utter adoration Yuuji had shown towards his father and anyone around him. He saw the memories of the agonizing decline of Yuuji as an unknown sickness sapped his light until it was completely extinguished.

Because of Sukuna’s mistakes, Yuuji might have to go through that suffering all over again.

Small ripples agitated the calm surface of the water. The reflection of the massive curse was muddled as more droplets broke the crystalline waters of the pond. Its prior reflectiveness had vanished.

The mind of the being sitting before the pond had vanished as well.

.

.

.

A very, very long time ago

.

.

.

When Sukuna had requested for the rebirth of the world, he did not mean it literally. He imagined that the new timeline would begin the same year Yuuji swallowed his first finger.

It seemed like the world had other plans.

Sukuna had no recollection of when he had ‘appeared’. The best way for him to describe it is the moment he had properly gained consciousness. His first memories were laying on an empty beach with nothing but the clothes on his back. At first, Sukuna was confused as to why he was at an empty beach. After a few seconds, the knowledge of what Sukuna had done and the life he lived prior came rushing to him all at once. Once he remembered, the man had briefly panicked that his attempt at time travel had not worked. This was mainly due to the beach being identical to the one that Sukna had been at during his last moments with Yuuji.

At the thought of the pink-haired boy, Sukuna jumped to his feet, mind frantic, and looked around. Immediately, the curse knew that the world was indeed different. Yuuji was nowhere to be seen, and there were no buildings or roads in sight. The only thing that Sukuna could observe were trees as far as his four eyes could see. However, the grand forests were barren of life. There were no birds chirping in the air or the rustle of animals in the trees. This lack of life made Sukuna remember that he had eliminated all life on Earth. He was confused, though. The plant life had returned, so where was the wildlife?

His question was unfortunately answered in the worst way possible.

A strange creature began to crawl out of the ocean on tiny flippers. Sukuna stared at the fish-like animal with his mouth agape. The thing’s body was long and slender with a wide head that resembled an alligator’s. Thick scales covered the creature, who was slowly emerging from the sea with uncoordinated movements. It was unlike any animal Sukuna had seen before and he had been alive for thousands of years.

It looked like a rough draft of an animal that had escaped before it was finalized. Something one would see in prehistoric times.

…Prehistoric.

“Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO !” Sukuna screamed at the clouds as the realization dawned on him. Surprisingly, the lizard-fish-thing did not react in the slightest to the loud roar Sukuna let out. When Sukuna went to kick the sand in pure frustration, he froze when he saw his foot go through the white particles. The sand showed no hints of being disturbed.

The world had restarted.

He was a ghost again.

The evolution of wildlife had begun.

Over the years, Sukuna would watch the rise and fall of so many species that he could not be bothered to remember. His previous experience being a cursed object for over a thousand years helped immensely in dealing with the excess of time Sukuna had. He had to spend millions of years waiting for the era of humans to come with nothing to do. Going into a dormant state for as long as he could was the only way Sukuna could deal with the waiting without going mad. Sleeping until he was awoken at some point had become his main activity. Time had become a mystery to Sukuna. He would sleep and wake up without knowing how much time had passed. Usually, he was able to keep track by seeing if there were any new creatures or evidence of further evolution.

At the start, Sukuna had used his excess time to explore the beginnings of the young planet. Traveling across the world had been easy due to his abilities remaining intact. His true form was Sukuna in his prime afterall. It was the strongest and the fastest. Sukuna could explore vast lands with his inhuman speed. There was no rush to explore every inch of the world, so Sukuna would only go on these excursions when he felt like it. Most of the land was the same as there were no distinguishing landmarks at the time. He had gotten bored of the plant life and unimpressive wildlife and decided to space out like he did when his soul was split into his twenty fingers without a vessel.

His first ‘nap’ had him awake in an entirely new era. Giant creatures roamed the land with their superior adaptability and strength. Sukuna’s boredom had disappeared as he saw the head of a dinosaur appear over the cliff he had chosen to rest on to eat the leaves off a tree next to him. It was the first time that Sukuna had been truly enamored by an animal. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and crawled to the edge of the cliff to see the dinosaur in its entirety. When he looked down, he saw that the head was attached to an impossibly long neck that belonged to an even bigger body. Other dinosaurs of the same species could be seen feasting on the vibrant leaves of the many trees. Because his presence did not affect his surroundings, he could get as close as he wanted to observe the new creatures. The only reason why Sukuna recognised the massive reptilians as dinosaurs was because Yuuji had been fascinated by all things jurassic as a child. As his vessel, Sukuna was able to see through his memories, something he never told the boy. He had done this as soon as he could to familiarize himself with his vessel while trying to find anything significant about the teen that could work out in Sukuna’s favor. At the time, he had found nothing useful and labeled the boy as a boring waste of space.

Being face to face with the grande creatures made Sukuna see all the reasons why Yuuji had been so intrigued by them. While there were curses he’d seen that could rival the dinosaurs in size, no curse could beat the grace and beauty of the animals. Curses were made from negativity, so their appearance would reflect that. Curses were ugly, vile creatures that were deformed and perverted. The animals before Sukuna were the complete opposite.

It was the first time Sukuna had been fond of a life other than his own.

The slow evolution of the world was making the man experience many firsts.

Sukuna enjoyed studying the fearsome creatures that dominated the land. His favorite specimens were those with intelligence and bloodlust. He would sit and watch packs of tiny dinosaurs overwhelm a much larger opponent, eating them while they were still alive. He found great humor in the small arms of the biggest carnivore of the era. The maddening boredom that had been plaguing him was momentarily cured as Sukuna took the time to learn about each new species. The old curse made up his own names for the many dinosaurs he saw. The faded memories of the book Yuuji loved only served to make Sukuna recognize the basic shape of certain creatures. In his head, Sukuna called every reptilian creature a dinosaur.

For once, Sukuna found himself appreciating nature. Waiting millions of years alone was a punishment, and it was affecting Sukuna more than he anticipated. He had always been indifferent to everyone and everything besides himself. Uraume was the closest Sukuna got to appreciating another’s existence. In the past, Ryomen only valued strength and nothing else. Without strength, one might as well cease to exist. His forced isolation made Sukuna rethink many of his prior beliefs. The only belief that remained unchanged was his belief that losing was equivalent to death. However, said belief only applied to Sukuna. He would never let himself forget his failures that led him to his current predicament.

One day, when Sukuna was watching his favorite specimen, he heard strange noises he had not heard before. The creature Sukuna was looking at was an old, battle-worn triceratops, but Sukuna had named the animals ‘Tri-horns’ in his head. The triceratops snapped its head at the same time Sukuna’s did. Sukuna’s eyes widened as he detected large amounts of cursed energy coming from the bushes. Humans were not supposed to exist yet, right? The man cursed himself for never bothering to learn the history of…well… anything .

Sukuna summoned his trident in his lower right hand, a manic smile on his face at the chance to finally interact with something. There was a tense moment of silence before multiple blurs burst from the bushes and trees. The triceratops snorted and went back to eating its meal of leaves.

Meanwhile, Sukuna’s brain was malfunctioning. Six entities stood before him. They were making direct eye contact with him, meaning that they could see him unlike every other creature. He stood tall with his trident. “Who are you?”

No response came, disappointing filling the old curse. He had hoped that they were capable of speech. Millions of years without talking to anyone was taking its toll, even for an antisocial person like him. Sukuna swallowed his disappointment and began observing each entity. The more he looked, the more distressed he became. There were too many similarities.

A black stripe across a nose.

The muscular physique of a meat-headed gorilla.

Deadly nails and roses.

Spotted fabric and peculiar glasses.

Bright green eyes and shadows.

A blindfold and six blue eyes.

“Goddammit.” Sukuna dematerialized his trident to rub at his temples. He recognized each one because of the brat’s many memories of them.

At the center of the group, a white dragon with bird-like qualities was putting on the most smug expression Sukuna had ever seen. The draconic bird got up and personal to Sukuna, pecking at his head while letting out shrieks of laughter. For the time being, Sukuna allowed it as his mind was still recovering. His stress only grew worse when a familiar voice spoke into his head.

Y̶̮͌o̵̮̎u̴̯̅r̶͙͑ ̶͍̓g̸̠͒ṳ̴̐a̴̙͊r̶͔̅ď̸̘i̴͈̊a̷͙̐n̸̞̽s̵̟̍ ̸̱̍h̶̤͝a̵͖̔v̷̦̚ê̶͈ ̷̣̋ā̵̞r̶̺̓ŗ̸͋ḭ̷́v̷̡͛ȇ̶͍d̸̥̅!̵̧̈́ ̶͈͂I̴͎̾ ̶͔̕c̸̡̿ḁ̷̽n̸͚͑’̸͕̎t̴̊͜ ̵̭̄w̵͍̒a̷͜͝i̵̺̒ẗ̷̳́ ̶̹̍t̷̢̕o̴̫̅ ̷̦͌m̷̦̓a̴̲̎k̷͙͠e̴͙͋ ̸̣̌t̵͇̕h̵̦͌e̴̬͒s̷̛̩e̶̤̍ ̶͓̚n̵̜͐ę̵͘x̷̝͑ț̵͝ ̷̫̚c̶̞̓é̷̲n̶̕͜t̵͖̕u̸̜͗r̷̙̐í̸̩e̵̝͊s̷͇͐ ̶̫͒a̵͍̽b̴̘̐s̶̩̿ò̸͎l̵̩̐ų̵̊t̷̨͊e̶͈̍ ̴̛̳h̵͙͌ë̵̻l̷̬̾l̶̥͂ ̵̼͝f̴̪͂o̸͔͘r̴̗̒ ̵͚͆ỹ̸̼o̴̹̎u̷̗̅,̷̛̭ ̴̰̋S̶̪̕u̷̝͠k̶̥͌ų̷̂~̴̗͛

That stupid bird would keep his promise.

Sukuna would have to endure countless assaults from each entity. The battles often lasted for hours that left each muscle of his throbbing in pain. Sometimes they were individual battles, other times it was six against one. Or three against one. Or two against one. And so on. At first, Sukuna despised the constant battles, but he soon realized that being idle for millions of years had made Sukuna soft. After he realized this, he gladly participated in the battles. It felt incredible to fight again, feel his cursed energy flowing through his veins. As they fought more and more, Sukuna became familiar with each entity’s personality and abilities. Their names had been ingrained into Sukuna’s head the moment he had encountered the beings.

Boogie was a beast in every sense of the word. His thick fur coat could not hide his muscular body whatsoever. He was surprisingly perspective as well. Anytime Sukuna thought he had caught the dog off guard, the beast would bark before he could land a hit. His bark would cause him to switch places with someone with a certain amount of cursed energy. Due to the lack of curses and humans, the only sources of cursed energy were Sukuna or the other guardians. It was disoriented every time his technique took hold. However, each time Sukuna thought he had gotten used to it, Boogie would surprise him with another trick. His most impressive trick was his ability to remove one of the tusks on the second skull on his head. Once dropped, Boogie would imbue it with cursed energy and switch himself or someone of his choice with the tusk. Out of all the guardians, it was the easiest to get along with Boogie. Sukuna and Boogie lived to fight. The canine was always energetic and tended to annoy his other guardians, especially Chimera. Overall, Boogie was a simple yet intelligent creature who fueled Sukuna’s will to battle.

Resonance was unsettling to look at first. Her body moved like a marionette, but was capable of moving at incredible speeds if needed. The sharp ends of her limbs allowed Resonance to stay rooted to the ground, giving her great stability. She was quick to launch a nail at Sukuna or anything that annoyed her. She had awoken Sukuna many times with a barrage of nails aimed at his head. Her nails always hit with deadly accuracy. Sukuna’s reflexes were put to the test each time he engaged with her. Additionally, she could control the direction of a nail until it snatched a part of her opponent. Once gathering the material, she would make the nail return to her, creating a makeshift hammer with her roses and vines to hit the nail into a straw doll she kept hidden within her body. She was as tough as the metal she was made of, but Resonance wasn’t all sharpness and violence. The cursed soul frequented places with loads of flowers, sitting amongst them for hours in a content state.

Supernova rarely interacted with Sukuna outside of battle. He looked at the curse with burning hatred at all times. When attacking, Supernova put effort into making his attacks as painful as possible. His blood manipulation technique was more advanced and deadly than any other Kamo-clan sorcerer Sukuna had ever seen. He wasn’t afraid to get physical, Supernova could grow to the size of a horse and charge at Sukuna with bloodied claws. His spikes could be removed if Supernova had no other choice. During one particularly gruesom battle, Sukuna had lost himself in rage after Supernova managed to cut off two of his arms with his Piercing Bood attack. The cat snarled and spit at Sukuna. He separated his longest spike from his back and shot it directly into Sukuna’s heart. The spike was still attached by a thin strand of blood, but it didn't take away from the force of the attack. It surprised Sukuna to see the cat land such a hit. Of course, Sukuna healed himself, only to see Supernova walking away from the fight with a bored expression. In fact, the cat was practically in a perpetual state of apathy. The only time that Sukuna had ever managed to see emotion on Supernova's features was when he had spied on the cat and saw that the cat was whimpering over several stones. There were ten in total with the three in the middle marked with a bloody paw print. Supernova let out soft whines as he tried his best to nuzzle the rocks. The rock in the very center had a pinkish hue and was the one Supernova was nuzzling the most. No longer wanting to watch the painful sight, Sukuna left with a new perspective on the cat.

Overtime stayed far from Sukuna. Not out of fear, but out of disinterest. The mummy-like creature spent most of his time by Infinite’s side, though it looked like it was often against his will. When not being dragged to places by Infinite, Overtime enjoyed being on the beach Sukuna first woke up at. They had the entire world at their disposal, so Sukuna and the six guardians would travel to the most remote areas. Any place with a beach was favored by Overtime. Though, as long as it was peaceful, Overtime would enjoy it. If the others were intruding on Overtime’s resting spot, he would use his wrappings to constrict whoever had dared disturb him. The most common offender was Infinite. However, the draconic bird would be allowed to stay once he gave Overtime a fruit and didn’t squawk. A few times, Sukuna had caught the often rambunctious bird sleeping in the sand next to Overtime. If anyone could calm the storm that was Infinite, it was Overtime. This ability to calm spread to the other guardians. He was the one that separated squabbles or forced the others to settle down. In turn, the others seemed to respect Overtime the most. Sukuna had even respected the volcanic mummy after engaging him in battle. Despite never seeing him fight, Overtime attacked like a seasoned warrior. His wrapping would lengthen at his request and would be shot out at Sukuna. Despite looking like cloth, Overtime could make his wrapping become as sharp as a blade when in combat. He hit with ferocious strength, speed, and accuracy. When hit by his ratio technique, Sukuna could feel the weak spot being forced to form on his body. When wanting to deliver a stronger attack, Overtime would use his wrappings to form a blunt sword. Each swing carried great power that shook the ground below. Although, if Overtime thought the battle was dragging on for too long, he would stop and go to the nearest secluded area.

Chimera was the second most frequent attacker. It was obvious as to why, considering the person Chimera originated from. Sukuna had always seen the great potential in Fushiguro Megumi. As a cursed soul, the fragments of the ten-shadows user could still be seen within the dark creature. Without any morals to hold him back, Chimera attacked with total abandon. He would summon armies of frogs just to see how much he could overwhelm Sukuna. He would mix up his strategies each time they fought. Chimera enjoyed seeing Sukuna caught off guard and made it his job to startle the curse at any given moment. When Sukuna tried to rest, usually because there was nothing else to do, Chimera often manifested out of the shadows to summon a pool of darkness underneath the curse. The only touch of color Chimera had were his green eyelights. The light would shift into the form of the shikigami Chimera was summoning. Despite the disadvantage it gave Chimera, the shadow monster did not give Sukuna a chance to prepare for the oncoming shikigami. Chimera was perfectly capable of fighting without the help of his shikigami. The fact that Chimera did not need to keep his hands free to maintain his technique, Chimera had no problems barraging Sukuna with blows and strikes. Besides his shikigami, Chimera could summon a pair of tonfas, a sword, and a blade. Each was made of the goopy material that Chimera himself was made of, but it did not take away from the sharpness of the weapons. It was exhilarating to battle Chimera. Sukuna could fight the cursed soul for hours with no victor in sight. The way that their battles usually ended was when Overtime physically dragged Chimera from the area. The mummy would use the magma burning inside the left side of his body to force the shadow creature into giving up.

Infinite, as always, took great care in being as infuriating as possible. While fighting the others was exciting and invigorating, fighting Infinite was more akin to torture. Both Infinite and Sukuna were equal in physical strength and speed, but Infinite had a new advantage that the sorcerer he was based on never had. Gojo Satoru’s Infinite Void was a domain that overloaded the victim with so much information that they were struck frozen and vulnerable. Sukuna remembered the overwhelming sensation well during their fight. However, Infinite used this ability to overload an opponent with information much differently. If Sukuna made eye contact with Infinite, the creature was capable of plaguing the curse with violent hallucinations. If Sukuna made eye contact with the eyes on Infinite’s tail when it was fully spread, the hallucinations given were so vivid that Sukuna would think his real body had been attacked. Infinite could construct the hallucinations he caused to his liking. In other words, Infinite personally created the most horrific images to infect Sukuna’s mind. The hallucinations always contained Yuuji in some way since Infinite wanted to make Sukuna suffer. The need to make Sukuna hurt was an instinct engraved deeply in the feather dragon. It pushed the cursed soul to attack Sukuna the most. He did not give Sukuna hallucinations every time they fought, unknowingly preventing Sukuna from preparing his mind for the onslaught of horror. Most of Infinite’s attacks were petty in nature and meant to annoy Sukuna. Infinite would use his smoky tail to wip Sukuna across the face or use the eyes within to stalk the man. His beak would be used to deliver quick pecks to every inch of exposed skin. There were more than twenty times where Infinite dragged a rabid animal with his claws to throw it at Sukuna. Other times, Infinite would screech loudly when Sukuna tried to nap, not stopping until one of his fellow guardians forced him to. The only proof that Infinite had the capability to be anything but insane was when he interacted with the other guardians. He showed great affection towards Overtime, Chimera, and Resonance. The other two did not appreciate the dragon’s touchiness whatsoever, so Infinite begrudgingly let them be. Though, the bird would still try to mess with them from time to time. Infinite seemed to take pride in how irritating he was.

Eventually, the exhilarating battles and spars grew old. Sukuna had allowed himself to fight each cursed soul as long as he could. He knew he could end the battles in moments, but the curse had been desperate for something to do. Infinite was the only one whose battles Sukuna never tried to drag on. The thrill Sukuna had felt vanished. It seemed the group of cursed souls noticed as their attacks stopped. One day, it became too much for even Sukuna to bear. He turned to the six creatures and spoke with exhaustion clear in his tone.

“I cannot wait another million years like this. It’s mind numbingly boring, and I am sick of such monotony. I am going to rest for as long as I can. Do whatever you wish, I don’t care. Ideally, I do not want to wake up unless it’s finally the Heian Era. Do not bother me until then if you wish to keep your heads.”

Thankfully, the world would give the sleep Sukuna had wished for. The only memories he had of his self-induced hibernation was the smell of smoke in the air, then sudden feeling of everything being ice cold, and the occasional noises from the six creatures who would periodically check on the massive curse. Sukuna did not dream the entire time. It felt like he closed his eyes, got stuck in a void that had no light, noise, smell, or surface, then woke up to a screeching bird.

Sukuna had to listen to the loud squawks until his muddled mind regained its sharpness. Once awake enough, Infinite dragged Sukuna out of the cave he did not remember falling asleep in. Outside of the cave, the other guardians were waiting with excitement clear in their features. When he looked around the place the cave was situated in, he felt a wave of familiarity wash over him. The villages nearby were identical to the ones Sukuna remembered of the Heian Era. More importantly, the cursed energy he senses indicated the birth of sorcerers and curses. Instead of getting to familiarize himself with ancient Japan again, Infinite grabbed Sukuna and tossed him onto his back. Before Sukuna could react, the dragon leaped into the sky with great speed. Like the prior blindfolded maniac, Infinite was able to float. Infinite had grown to his full size, allowing his fellow guardians to fit on his body. Boogie and Supernova were clinging desperately to Infinite’s long neck while Resonance and Overtime were tightly gripping Infinite’s white mane like the reins of a horse. Chimera had simply hidden himself within Sukuna’s shadow. It had happened so fast that it took Sukuna a few minutes to realize what had happened. Eventually, Sukuna began to watch the clouds fly past them. The air was thin, but it was crisp and fresh. It ended much too quickly in Sukuna’s opinion, but Sukuna was immediately distracted by the familiar village they were heading towards.

It was Sukuna’s village when he was a human.

Infinite landed in an empty field to prevent anyone from seeing the cursed souls. Unlike regular curses, cursed souls could be seen by all. At the time, this was unknown to Sukuna as he only knew that animals could see the guardians.

Based on the insistent nudges Infinite was giving Sukuna, the curse knew that something crucial was about to happen. He adorned a stern expression and arrived at the village in the blink of an eye. It was obvious when he was due to the stench of death and sickness in the air. Sukuna walked through his village, looking for his human counterpart. The human that had become Sukuna was long gone in an erased world. The Ryomen of this world was about to reach his point of no return if Sukuna did not act quickly.

It was easy to find Ryomen. No one had ever looked like them with their pink hair, but Ryomen stuck out even more with the tattoos etched onto his skin. That was new, but Sukuna did not dwell on it as he reached the scene that broke Ryomen unfold. It was almost pathetic to see his former self kneeling in the dirt as he begged the village elders and healers to help his boy. The sight of a lifeless Yuuji made Sukuna feel sick. Seeing a child version of the boy he had hurt was horrible, but it was even worse considering the evidence that the child had been dead for at least several days. Ryomen continued his begging like a madman. His grief was so great that Ryomen had become delusional. Sukuna watched silently as the villagers surrounded the suffering young man.

“TAKE THAT INFECTED CORPSE OUT OF THE VILLAGE THIS INSTANT, RYOMEN!”

“THERE IS A PLAGUE. WE DON’T NEED YOUR ROTTEN CHILD MAKING IT WORSE!”

“WE SHOULD GET RID OF BOTH OF THEM. RYOMEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BAD OMEN WITH THOSE MARKINGS!”

“WE SHOULD GET THE JUJUTSU SORCERERS TO EXORCIZE HIM! HE’S CLEARLY NOT A HUMAN! WE WERE FOOLISH TO EVER BELIEVE HE WAS!”

“CURSE!”

“DEMON!”

“MONSTER!”

The crowd quickly turned into a riot of angry villagers too paranoid to see the clearly human man sobbing for help. The Ryomen from Sukuna’s old world was never treated this badly, nor was he so dangerously thin. Then again, this Ryomen had tattoos that old Ryomen never had. Such a supposedly insignificant addition must have caused the young man’s life to become worse than ever before. Sukuna could not interact with any of the humans, so he continued to wait patiently until Ryomen’s cursed energy reached its peak. It had been steadily increasing with each new insult from the villagers.

All it took was a small torch to make Ryomen snap.

A man had thrown a lit torch at Ryomen in an attempt to rid the village of the infectious corpse and the black sheep of the village. In an instant, the rags both Ryomen and Yuuji wore caught on fire. Cruel, sick smiles were present on the elders of the village as screams of agony erupted from the grieving father. With Ryomen set aflame, one of the healers grabbed Yuuji and ran to throw the child into the mass grave pit.

Before the healer could get very far, maniacal laughter made her stop in her tracks. Despite his flesh peeling off and blistering, Ryomen began walking to the healer. It was a gruesome sight. Some of the villagers were already throwing up at the sight and smell of Ryomen’s burning flesh. Sukuna was amazed by the man’s ability to remain standing.

Even though Ryomen could not speak anymore or really see, he smiled wide with bloody cracked lips. The aura of his cursed energy grew potent enough that all the villagers, no matter how old, were left trembling and unable to move. Ryomen raised his arms, seemingly ignoring the layers of skin being burnt off, and mimicked how one would draw a bow and arrow. Sukuna recognized the motion and grinned. The flesh on his hands and fingers were nothing but blood and muscle, but the squares on each fingertip had remained, even without the layer of skin. With gums bleeding and skin peeling, Ryomen spoke with a broken voice.

“F u g a.”

An arrow made out of fire formed between his burning hands, but Ryomen did not waver once. The villagers were still paralyzed in terror as the arrow grew bigger. A myriad of colors could be seen within the flames, it was a beautiful sight. That was until Ryomen released the arrow aimed directly at the healer who had stolen Yuuji.

In less than a second a once thriving village had been reduced to nothing but ash. The charred corpses of the villagers were unrecognizable and the smell was unbearable. Sukuna stood among the destruction, simply admiring Ryomen’s power. His pleased observations were overtaken when the wail of a tortured man filled the air.

This bastard better not be dead. Sukuna ran towards the noise and easily found the source of the cries. Blood pooled from every orifice and inch of Ryomen’s burnt skin. However, the wails were not caused by pain but grief as Ryomen knelt by the incinerated remains of his son. The fire had been so strong that the boy was nothing but bones and ash. Sukuna looked at the horrific sight with an intense sadness he had never felt before. Without a word, the massive curse knelt next to Ryomen and placed a hand on his back. Unlike every other living being he had encountered, Sukuna’s hand did not pass through upon contact. Ryomen jolted at the unexpected touch, his grief-filled screams stopping.

“Your son is going to be okay. I promise.” Sukuna spoke softly at the man, not reacting to the gore underneath his palm. The curse let his reverse cursed technique flow through Ryomen. His skin began to stitch back together, and his bleeding stopped entirely. Considering the extent of the damage to Ryomen, Sukuna took extra care when healing him. Most of his nerve endings had been fried, so Sukuna focused immensely on fixing them without error. After some time of meticulous healing, the only proof that Ryomen had been hurt was the ash on his face and body and the bloodstains.

Ryomen passed out immediately upon becoming fully healed, collapsing against Sukuna. Again, Sukuna’s body remained solid against his human counterpart. Sukuna reached out another hand to scoop up one of the charred bones that had once belonged to a lovable boy. Sukuna felt pain in his chest again, but he refused to break. With even greater care than before, the monstrous being poured as much of his reversed cursed technique into the tiny bone. Eventually, the cracks on the bone disappeared and it regained its ivory color.

Without looking up, Sukuna already knew that the guardians had arrived. They had perfect timing as always. When a beak gently nudged the hand that had Yuuji’s bone fragment, Sukuna raised his gaze.

For the first time, the blindfold that was supposed to be permanently attached to Infinite had disappeared. Six eyes, a pair of three on each side, looked at him imploringly. There was no cheekiness or teasing to be found in Infinite’s gaze. Sukuna nearly refused to give Infinite the last piece of Yuuji, but he then remembered the purpose of the guardians. It was in the name, they protected Yuuji in every sense of the word. He knew how much the people the cursed souls were based on loved Yuuji. They would never wish any harm on the boy. With a great sigh, Sukuna opened his palm to reveal the bone shard. Infinite cooed at the tiny piece and delicately picked up the fragment with his beak. When Infinite turned to walk towards his other guardians, he paused and looked back at Sukuna. There was gratefulness in those eyes and Infinite bowed his head in thanks.

Sukuna would never see the guardians again after that.

It did not matter as he had a new person to focus on. Ryomen would be Sukuna’s proper vessel, but the curse would make sure that the human would stay alive no matter what. He knew in his soul that Yuuji and his guardians would come back, so the boy would need Ryomen. Yuuji needed his father and Ryomen needed his son.

As Sukuna sat in the remains of the village, he made a binding vow with himself that he would never fail the two people who would become his most precious treasures.

Things would be different.

Things would be happier.

.

.

.

Present Time

.

.

“Sukuna.”

“Sukuna.”

“Suuuukuuunaaaa!”

“Dumbass!”

“f*ckface!”

“Uh…Suku?”

In an instant, Sukuna grabbed at the hand poking him and twisted. Ryomen yelped in pain and wrenched his arm from Sukuna’s grip. “I told you to never use that infernal nickname.”

“Well, it woke you up, right?”

A grumble was the only response Sukuna gave. He opened his eyes that he hadn’t realized he closed and was surprised when he saw a sunny sky and fluffy clouds. Sukuna glanced at his left, where Ryomen had been poking him, and guffawed at the outfit the baby in his arms was wearing. Ryomen held Yuuji like the lion cub from the movie Ryomen forced him to watch a few months ago. He looked extremely proud of himself, and Yuuji squealed as his father raised him high in the air.

The baby was wearing a tiger onesie with detachable paws and ears on the hood of the outfit. Yuuji giggled like a hyena as Ryomen bounced him. “He’s finally in his true form.” Ryomen chuckled to himself as he looked at his adorable tiger cub. It was a slightly delirious laugh, and Sukuna saw the reason as to why. The usual bags under Ryomen’s eyes had darkened so much it looked like a bruise. Ryomen desperately needed to sleep, and Sukuna had just woken up from an accidental nap.

Sukuna sighed and raised his two upper arms towards Yuuji. “Give him to me, idiot. You are going to blackout any second now, and I do not wish for Yuuji to sustain an injury so soon after acquiring him.”

There were still many issues to talk about, especially the concerning message Ryomen received, but his sleep deprivation caught the best of him. When Ryomen was about to refuse, his vision started to blur, and he knew it was his body screaming at him to rest. “Fine. Wake me in ten minutes. I’ll make this a test for you.”

“Mhm.”

“I’m serious. Once I come back, there better not be a single hair misplaced on Yuuji’s head.”

“Alright.”

“If there is even a-”

“Ryomen. Go. To. Bed.”

“...Ten minutes.” The pink haired man gave one last glare to Sukuna before walking back towards the house. However, his walk was more of a stagger.

Sukuna rolled his eyes at the stubborn man’s antics. The tiny baby in his lap made any irritation the curse would have felt disappear. Yuuji held one of Sukuna’s fingers with a curious expression. He looked so impossibly small compared to Sukuna. Yuuji’s hands could not even wrap around Sukuna’s finger. Despite the size difference, Yuuji showed not a hint of fear towards the curse. His bright, wide eyes looked at Sukuna with so much happiness. No being had ever looked at Sukuna like that. A warmth blossomed in Sukuna’s chest at the smile Yuuji was giving him. This time, Sukuna relished in the warmth instead of suppressing it.

With great care, Sukuna picked up Yuuji and stood. The baby was small enough to fit in Sukuna’s palm, but there was still no fear from Yuuji. Sukuna breathed in the fresh air. For a moment, he was worried that his form would dissipate, but Yuuji’s presence only strengthened Sukuna’s ability to remain tangible. He couldn’t help but nuzzle his nose into Yuuji’s hair, dislodging the hoodie. Yuuji grabbed at Sukuna’s nose with his chubby hand, and the warmth within the curse grew like a welcoming hearth. The happiness Sukuna felt could not compare to his past life. Doing what he desired and killing who he wanted had never brought Sukuna such a feeling of warmness and joy.

Sukuna’s smile was the brightest it had ever been. He let out a content hum as he held Yuuji close to his chest. The baby responded to his hums with happy coos.

He was happy.

No matter what, Sukuna would make sure that the smile on Yuuji’s face never disappears again.

Chapter 4: My One and Only PART ONE

Chapter Text

There was something truly comforting in a well-made dessert. It was easy to tell that there was clear effort put into the sweet treat. Skill too. Experienced bakers could create the most delicious of foods with the simplest of ingredients. They can make any dessert look beautiful as well, so beautiful it hurts when you have to take a bite. Candy was not as much of a labor of love, but it brought memories of happier times with its burst of sugary flavors. Additionally, it was a great way to get a quick energy boost when your curse technique burns through energy like a steam train. All in all, sweets had never been associated with anything negative.

So why…

“Why am I crying?” Satoru spoke with his mouth full of the pastry he just bit into. He had never been a person with manners. No matter how many times his clan elders or Yaga or even Suguru reprimanded him for his total lack of respect and etiquette, Satoru remained the least polite person on the planet. His tears streamed down his face, causing the teen to taste a slight saltiness when his tears reached his mouth.

“Beats me. I only teared up when I tasted it for the first time.” A man in a blindfold with stark white hair replied as he leaned back in his chair with a grin. He was dressed in a black shirt and white pants. The outfit’s resemblance to the man who had nearly killed Satoru had made the younger boy shiver. When the elder explained why he wore the ensemble, all of Satoru’s worries were mostly put at ease. He was a tall man that made Satoru feel like a toddler in comparison. Scars littered every inch of pale skin visible. It looked like the older one had been put through some shredding machine and lived. Despite his scarred skin, the man didn’t seem to be in any pain as he stretched his broad arms over his head. “You’re just a cry baby.”

Quick to forget the sadness Satoru was feeling, he dropped his fork to slam his hands on the small table. “I am not, old man!”

“Hey! I am not old!”

“Says the man with gray hair.”

“We have the same hair color, kid.”

“Nope. Mine’s more of a snow-white. Your’s is definitely much duller ‘cause you’re old.”

“...I think I finally understand Yaga now.”

“Because you’re both old?”

A lollipop was thrown at Satoru’s face, no Infinity to prevent it from touching. However, the teen didn’t care. It felt nice to be a normal teen with normal teenager capabilities. Even if temporarily, the perpetual weight on Satoru’s shoulders was lifted, and he relaxed further into his own chair. Wiping his eyes with his hand and placing his fork down, Satoru picked up the fallen lollipop and began unwrapping it, only to find that the candy had been broken from the throw. He frowned. “You’re a dick.”

“That makes you one too, little sh*t.”

Gojo Satoru looked at his apparent alternate self with a raised brow. It was hard to believe the man considering he had been a monstrous entity who had terrified Satoru hours ago. Well, it felt like hours had passed, but Satoru had no idea as to how much time had passed in the real world. One moment he was fighting for his life and the next he was at a bakery eating with a man who shared too many similarities with him. While the reprieve from battle was appreciated, Satoru knew that Nanami was still missing and Suguru was likely panicking with him out of commission. When he had first appeared in this strange mindscape, Satoru was horrified to find that all his powers were gone. Even his Six Eyes had disappeared. Before he could panic, the man currently eating with him had popped out of nowhere.

“Kid, I know this is really confusing for you, but I need you to listen to me.”

“I can’t let you leave until I’ve shown you what you needed to see.”

“There’s no need to be scared, little me, you’re with the strongest sorcerer in the world! Gojo Satoru, the original! Just call me Infinite, ‘kay?”

It was quite difficult to believe that Infinite was not who he said he was, but Satoru knew better than to trust anyone’s word besides his own…Or maybe Suguru’s and Shoko’s. Whatever. No one else’s opinion mattered to Satoru. However, this older version of him was hard to ignore. Especially since the man had taken Satoru on a tour of the best bakery he had ever seen. Infinite had shown the teenager this place, which somehow served all of Satoru’s favorite treats. Even the more obscure desserts that Satoru had tried on a whim and loved. For example, the manifested bakery served the strange crunchy, fluffy thing that was covered in powdered sugar that Satoru had tried in a sketchy convenience store a while ago. He did not even know what the treat was, but it appeared in the strange bakery all the same. No one knew about Satoru’s more random sugary finds. Listening to Satoru’s rants about regular desserts was more than enough, so nobody wanted to learn about Satoru’s odder adventures in satiating his infamous sweet tooth.

The evidence was on Infinite’s side, but Satoru was nothing if not stubborn.

Not having his Six Eyes was the main reason as to why Satoru was so hesitant to trust the man. If he had his ability to see the unseeable, Satoru would not have had this many doubts. However, the pastry that Infinite had just given him only proved he was telling the truth even more.

On the outside, the pastry did not look like the perfectly constructed desserts Satoru was used to buying. It was a simple apple pie that had definitely seen better days. The crust was golden brown, but it was quite uneven and lumpy. An attempt at a lattice was on top, asymmetrical and torn in some areas. Despite how rough it looked, the taste of the pie itself could only be described as comforting. The pie was warm like it was just taken out of the oven and was stolen before it could completely cool because someone had gotten tired of waiting. Besides the literal warmth of the pastry, the delicious taste made Satoru delightfully warm inside. It was cheesy to say, but the boy didn’t care. Saturu was someone that could not emit heat of his own. His peers always joked that he could make a snowman shiver or freeze water if he touched it. No matter what he did, his coldness never went away. People would flinch when his cold hands touched them suddenly. He couldn’t provide the comfort his friends gave him. Compared to Satoru, Suguru was a living heater with his constant heat. Whenever Suguru embraced him, Satoru melted into his hold. Satoru could never do the same for his best friend. Or anyone.

But he was warm right now.

The gooeyness of the apple filling caused memories of gentle touches and lullabies to appear. All the spices and sugars mixed wonderfully to produce a taste so comforting that tears spilled from Satoru’s eyes the moment he tried it. While the crust and lattice were not pleasing on the eyes, its buttery flavor made all the tension in Satoru’s body dissipate.

There was an additional element to this pie, however. It was delicious and comforting and so warm…yet there was a sadness that permeated each tiny crumb.

“I’m sorry that you can taste his feelings in the pie. I know he would have hated that, but this place is made of my memories, so I can’t change it.” Infinite sighed and placed his chin on one of his palms. There was an untouched slice in front of the older man with steam gently rising from the fresh pastry.

“He?” Satoru let his surprise show. He did not have his glasses either to shield his expressive eyes, so the teen had all of his reactions on full display.

“Yup. He. I know that Yuna-san had made it for us when we were children, but someone very dear to me tried to replicate it.” A raspiness made its way into Infinite’s voice, revealing how difficult it was for him to talk about this cherished person. The elder cleared his throat and offered a soft smile. “I told him about it one day, but I was surprised that he remembered it…It tasted just like her’s.”

“Yuna-san…” Satoru whispered.

The woman had been his primary caretaker after his parents died. He had been too little to remember the short time his father had been with him before sickness took him. Yuna was part of the staff that specialized in caring for Satoru’s needs as a young boy. The others treated it like a box to be checked, but Yuna treated Satoru with so much love that he had genuinely thought she was his mother. After a harsh scolding from an elder, Satoru stopped trying to call her ‘Mama’ or ‘Kaa-san’ entirely. Still, he adored Yuna and was uncooperative to anyone that was not her. It got to the point that Satoru refused to listen to his tutors during lessons, his martial arts teachers during training, and especially his instructors meant to teach him about everything surrounding jujutsu sorcery. All because they were not the only maternal figure Satoru ever had. Evidently, the elders were not pleased with the little boy’s worsening rebellious behavior and presented the child with an ultimatum. Either he obeyed and behaved like a respectable person or they would never let Satoru see Yuna again. As any five-year-old would when told such upsetting information, Satoru had a complete meltdown and sobbed for his favorite caretaker. Despite the child’s heartbroken wails, the elders treated it like a tantrum from a spoiled brat. They had simply dragged the crying child to his room and ordered that he could not leave until he apologized for his horrid behavior. Unbeknownst to Satoru, the elders had also commanded that all staff, including Yuna, were not allowed to enter Satoru’s room for the rest of the day. If they went into his room, then the elders would see it as treason and offer a punishment fitting for such a crime against the clan. Without anyone to comfort him, Satoru cried and cried and cried until he ran out of tears. He nearly made himself pass out when his sobbing grew into hyperventilating. He wailed for Yuna over and over again, becoming more upset the longer that he was left alone.

At some point, Satoru had fallen asleep on the floor and woke up to see that it was night. The child felt sick to his stomach, dizzy, thirsty, and very hungry. His dried tears and snot were uncomfortable on his face and his head pounded from his breakdown. Satoru tried calling for Yuna one last time and started to cry all over again when she didn’t show up. Before his sobbing could transition into ear piercing wails, a gentle knock stopped him. Yuna had finally appeared with a soothing smile on her face. At the time, Satoru was too young to notice the fear and despair hidden in the woman’s dark brown eyes. All he knew was that she hadn’t abandoned him and immediately ran to hug her legs tightly. Her warmth washed over Satoru’s body as her gentle voice chided him to be more careful. Yuna gently pried Satoru off and revealed the steaming pie she had in her gloved hands. She had two objects in a pocket in her still messy apron. With his focus on the dessert, Satoru stopped crying and smiled widely with his stomach rumbling. He tugged on her apron, and Yuna let out a warm laugh as she sat down. She took off her apron and placed the pie on top of it, taking off her oven mitts to take out a fork and a water bottle she had swiped. Unsurprisingly, Satoru clambered into her lap and begged for his dessert. When the child usually did this, Yuna would remind Satoru that he needs to eat properly. However, she allowed him to sit in her lap, knowing how horrible Satoru’s day was…and how it was her last day with the energetic boy. In her soothing voice, she spoke of how this dessert was from America and that it was her favorite guilty pleasure growing up. The pie itself was gorgeous with its perfect crust and braided lattice. She told Satoru that she wanted to apologize for being so late and that she wanted him to eat however he wanted tonight. Satoru, too happy to be with his caretaker, did not see Yuna’s watery eyes and quivering lips. He agreed and stabbed his fork into the pie unceremoniously, scooping it into his mouth. When he asked if Yuna was going to eat, she shook her head and said this was all for him. It was delicious and made Satoru forget the trauma he had experienced at the callus hands of the elders. The rest of the night, Yuna told stories that made Satoru giggle and sung lullabies until Satoru fell asleep.

When Satoru would wake up, Yuna was gone.

Forever.

Satoru bit his lip to stop it from quivering. He never spoke of his clan for a reason. His disrespect towards the elders and other clan members was very intentional. When Yuna disappeared, Satoru got quieter. At first glance, it seemed like an improvement to the others. They would be proven wrong as Satoru would spend the rest of his childhood being angry and aggressive towards everyone. In fact, the young boy ran away often, ignoring any attempts at punishment with a scowl. When the elders tried threatening him after his twelveth time running away, Satoru threatened them back and told them how they had no right to boss him around. The preteen spoke about how he would kill them without remorse if they tried reprimanding him again. He said how he would make their deaths as slow and painful as possible because that’s what ‘old, useless geezers like you deserve’. With his piercing, murderous gaze, Satoru successfully managed to terrify the elders enough that they left him alone.

He had gotten used to being alone.

After Yuna’s death, the members and staff of the Gojo clan feared Satoru, and Satoru never bothered to change their perception of him. In fact, he threatened them often growing up as his strength grew exponentially by the day. The disconnect that formed between Satoru and any other human being made befriending others impossible. Satoru had to treat the world around him as if it was more fragile than glass. A simple high five from him could break someone’s wrist if Satoru was not careful. It was not worth the effort in Satoru’s opinion to restrict himself at all times if he wanted to play with weaklings. Though, labeling others as weaklings was his immature way of dealing with his lack of friends growing up. In actuality, an aching loneliness permeated every waking moment of his childhood, something Satoru hid with a cheeky smile and even worse personality. Spending most of his time by himself caused Satoru to become an arrogant egomaniac. Who wouldn’t? No one had the power he had. No one could best him in a fight. He was leaps and bounds above his own teachers and sorcerers.

Everything changed when he met Suguru for the first time. As a fellow special grade, Suguru understood Satoru on a level no one else did. He, Suguru, and Shoko were the only first-years and would become quick friends from spending every single day together. Suguru and Shoko spoke to him like a person, not a god to be feared and revered. It did wonders in weakening the god-complex Saturu had begun forming. He had been truly happy with his friends.

Then there was Riko’s death by Toji’s bullet.

Then there was Toji nearly killing Satoru and Suguru.

Then there was the devastating loss of Haibara.

And Satoru had been alone again.

Shoko had become buried in her studies in medicine and healing, so she never had time to do anything anymore. Any time spent with her was short and silent as Shoko smoked countless cigarettes or fell asleep mid-conversation. The following months after the failed Star Plasma mission were a blur for Satoru as he spent many sleepless nights mastering his techniques and being sent on endless missions. He lost count of the amount of nightmares Satoru had. He would wake up screaming more often than not, but nobody came to comfort him. In the past, Suguru would break down Satoru’s door the second the black-haired teen suspected something was wrong. This time, Suguru never came. Suguru rarely spoke after the incident, no matter how hard Satoru tried. It was like talking to a wall. Any words Suguru did say were quiet and empty, nothing like his usual lively and smooth voice. When Haibara died, Nanami had locked himself in his room for days and refused to interact with anyone outside of missions. It was a loss that hit the group hard. Satoru, Shoko, Suguru, Nanami, and Haibara had been a tight-knit group for a long time. Despite this, they spent no time grieving together. Satoru would try to go to Suguru when the grief got too great, but the other was somehow even more unresponsive than before. At that point, Satoru gave up. The higher-ups sent Satoru on more missions with the loss of Haibara and Nanami being ‘unavailable’. Words were not enough to describe the agony that Satoru had felt when he was no longer allowed to be sent on missions with Suguru. He had noticed the decline of his best friend first-hand. Suguru never smiled anymore and his usual neat hair grew tangled and greasy. Even with the presence of his remaining friends, the loneliness that Satoru had thought he had forgotten about crept up behind him like a spider about to entangle its prey.

“Makes you think a lot, huh?” Infinite’s voice broke Satoru out of his whirlwind of thoughts and memories. For a moment, Satoru had genuinely forgotten about what he was doing. With a knowing smile, the scarred man stood up and pointed to the endless land before them. “Now that I’ve let you reminisce for a bit, it’s my turn to walk down memory lane. Come on, I’m on a time limit here.”

Satoru could barely mumble a response before Infinite warped them to an unfamiliar house. It looked like it was straight from a magazine. While decorated, the place held no sense of warmth or coziness. Based on the pristine state of the white couch, carpet, marble, everything , it was obviously not lived in. Infinite towered over Satoru, a feat most could not accomplish with Satoru’s own lengthy limbs, lips pressed into a thin line. Infinite gestured his head to the side that led to the kitchen, expecting Satoru to follow without a word. Which he did. There was a heaviness in the atmosphere that was preventing the chatty teen from saying anything. Once they reached the kitchen, the reason for the heaviness was apparent.

A boy with pink hair was sobbing next to an open oven. He was curled up in a fetal position, his legs being hugged tight by trembling arms while his face was buried into his knees. Still without his six-eyes, Satoru could not pinpoint the nature of the crying boy or the place he was in. Based on Infinite’s earlier words and the blurred edges of the house, this was a memory of his older doppelganger. However, the painful sobs of the boy made any attempts at analysis halt in Satoru’s mind. Upon getting a closer look, Satoru saw the broken remains of an apple pie on the floor. The pan was metal so it was not broken, but the pie itself was damaged. The identity of the ‘he’ Infinite had mentioned earlier clicked. Satoru could see why Infinite had sounded so pained when speaking about the boy. Even Satoru was feeling an ache in his chest as the boy continued to sob uncontrollably. He was younger than Satoru, which made the ache even worse. The warmth of the open oven was overshadowed by the sheer devastation the pink-haired boy was emitting. At first glance, it could be seen as silly for someone to be so broken over dropping a pie. However, Satoru knew better than to assume the boy was crying for that one reason.

Footsteps from behind Infinite and Satoru alerted them of another presence. Infinite was stone-faced with his fists clenched tightly. Glitches seemed to occur in Infinite’s body, reminding Satoru of a faulty video game. However, the new arrival prevented any further questioning. A man that looked exactly like an unscarred Infinite ran into the kitchen. The crying boy did not react to the man’s gentle nudges at all.

“ Yuuji-kun, what’s wrong? We’ve been looking for you all day, and you haven’t responded to anyone’s calls or texts. ” After closing the oven door, the man knelt down in front of the boy, carefully taking the boy’s trembling hands into his own. He kept his movements slow and gentle, treating the younger like a spooked animal. A soft sigh escaped the man as the boy’s cries continued. Eyes identical to Satoru’s own held a mixture of grief, pain, and anger. It was a look that Satoru had had when he had learned of Haibara’s death. Clearly, this boy meant a lot to Satoru’s second look-alike for the man to have such a reaction. Without hesitation, the man embraced the shaking boy, hands soothing over his back. “ We were so worried, Yuuji-kun. You know how dangerous it is to travel alone with Sukuna and Kenjaku out there .”

The name of the most feared entity in the world caused Satoru to jolt. Sukuna was supposed to be a thing of the past, no chance of him ever appearing in the future. Satoru glanced at Infinite again, but could gather nothing from Infinite’s expression. The glitches, however, had gotten more frequent. Satoru ignored the unease in his gut to observe the two on the floor. Besides sharing the same eyes and hair, the man held a similar cadence to Satoru’s voice. It was deeper, but all the other tells were the same. He simply sounded and looked like an older Satoru. On the other hand, Infinite looked more like a broken copy of Gojo Satoru.

Satoru decided to call the man hugging the pink-haired boy Gojo. Infinite had his own name, and no version of Satoru would be left nameless! Additionally, he hated being called Gojo as it made him feel old. Thus, making the name choice perfect for this older version of him! Said version was speaking quietly to the boy, continuing to rub the poor child’s back. Eventually, the sobs turned into sniffles, and Gojo leaned back. Yuuji, which is what Gojo seemed to call him, was reluctant to let go. Gojo held the boy’s hands again to supplement the absence of his hug. As his thumb soothed over smaller ones, Satoru noticed how Yuuji’s hands were covered in scars. The skin of his knuckles was worn and bore heavy scarring. What caught Satoru off guard was the missing pinky on his left hand. Based on the gruesome scars left behind, it was likely that the appendage had been ripped off.

With a worsening feeling of dread building within him, Satoru had no choice but to watch the broken exchanges between Gojo and this ‘Yuuji-kun’ he cared so much about. The words they spoke to each other in comfort had the complete opposite effect on Satoru. Mentions of Sukuna, Megumi, someone named Kenjaku, something happening in Shibuya, the ominous Culling Games, the date December Twenty-Fourth, and so much more that Saturu did not understand. He felt especially sick at the talk about saving Megumi, the little boy Satoru had unofficially adopted last year, from Sukuna’s grasp. Countless apologies flooded from Yuuji’s lips, which were met with gentle reassurances from Gojo. From what Satoru had heard, Gojo was Yuuji’s teacher. It seemed ridiculous to imagine himself as a teacher, but Gojo acted like helping his distressed student was as easy as breathing. The clear adoration and trust Yuuji exhibited for his teacher only disproved Satoru’s doubts.

“Is that why you ran off to this safehouse? To make this for me?”

“...Yeah. Your fight with Sukuna is tomorrow, Sensei, so I wanted to make the pie you told me about. Do something good… But I messed up…”

“Nonsense, Yuuji-kun! Your cooking has always been the best, and I bet your baking is just as good! The pie isn’t unsalvageable! The stuff is still in the pan, so let’s bake that stuff! We wouldn’t want it to go to waste!”

“But Sensei-”

“But nothing! We’re going to bake this pie, it’s gonna be delicious, and then we will go to eat dinner with the others, okay? Choso will probably refuse to let you go for the remainder of the day, but no one is actually mad at you. Everything is going to be alright, Yuuji-kun. Your Sensei will win, and this mess will finally be over. Does that sound good, Yuuji-kun?”

“Yeah…Yeah it does.”

Yuuji uncurled completely and lifted his head. Before Satoru could see any other features besides the boy’s golden-eyes, the surroundings around them disappeared into a void of black. All the dread that had been building up within Satoru reached its peak as he saw the glitching form of Infinite towering over him. His mask was still on, but Satoru could still feel the other’s gaze boring into him.

“Do you finally believe me?” Infinite tilted his head like a curious bird. His arms were behind his back, further increasing Satoru’s unease.

“Huh?” His sudden fear had clouded over Satoru’s more rational mind. He was frantically trying to remember what Infinite was talking about, but his chaotic thoughts offered no answers.

A giggle left Infinite. “Do you finally believe that I’m Gojo Satoru? I’ve made the effort to prove that I am telling the truth. I’ve shown you things that no other soul is supposed to know. I was generous enough to show you a memory of mine to prove that I’m not a mindless curse. It was even a memory that held information that will be useful to you in the future.”

The question unsettled Satoru. It reminded the boy that the pleasant bakery Infinite had shown him and the memories Infinite had resurfaced and shown was not done out of kindness. Taking away his Six Eyes and Limitless technique was not done to give Satoru the reprieve he desperately needed. No. It was all done for Infinite’s benefit alone. He had been foolish to even entertain that such a monster could be his alternate self. His guard had been let down from the painful memories and nostalgic sweets.

This was all an illusion conjured up by a twisted abomination.

Nanami and Suguru still needed him.

“No. I don’t believe you. You were pretty damn convincing, but it wasn’t enough!” Satoru readied his body for a fight, lifting his fists. His powers weren’t back, so Infinite had the advantage in a potential battle. Even so, Satoru was not going to let this monster continue to manipulate him any longer! “You’re not me!”

“Is that your final answer?”

“YES! You’re making me hallucinate because you’re a f*cking monster!”

“Ugh. I knew you were going to be stubborn, but I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. Sorry, kid. I don’t have the time to convince you any further, so we’re gonna do things my way.”

“Wh-”

In a blink, Infinite grabbed Satoru by the throat and lifted him into the air with one hand. His blindfold had vanished, revealing eyes that caused terror to surge through the teen. The grip on his throat was too strong for Satoru to escape from but not tight enough to suffocate. However, Satoru was only capable of extremely shallow and painful breaths, making his remaining strength dissipate. He had no choice but to stare at Infinite’s crazed face. Each glitch that appeared on Infinite’s body revealed the true nature of the creature slowly strangling him. The eyes of Gojo Satoru had always been his most well known feature. Seeing his eyes on this imposter was more unsettling than Satoru wanted to admit. While the striking color was the same, Infinite’s pupils were a cloudy white. It was the cloudiness that marked the end of a life. The eyes of a corpse. Not to mention, there were six of them. The main pair was staring at Satoru like a piece of meat. The upper pair of eyes were completely black while the lower pair was fully clouded over with blood leaking from them. Satoru tried to thrash around to escape, but the appearance of claws stopped him. This was it. This was the monster that had tormented Nanami and made Satoru feel weak for the first time.

“I’ll make this quick. I am the cursed soul of Gojo Satoru, a sorcerer who perished in a world that no longer exists. It’s like resetting a computer. All the information is gone, so you gotta start all over again. Us cursed souls are like some random codes that stuck around. Make sense?” The squeeze to Satoru’s throat did not allow the teen to answer. Infinite’s hand did not budge even with the frantic clawing and thrashing from Satoru. “Codes can get corrupted, though. So corrupted that there is no resemblance to what they were prior to said corruption. That’s a cursed soul. We are what little remains of an erased world. We’re a sliver of a whole. So you can imagine that we’re not all there.” Infinite used his other hand to tap at the side of his head. His crazed expression grew into something dangerous as the grip on Satoru’s throat tightened so suddenly that Satoru’s vision went black for a moment.

When the grip eased, Satoru felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes. Black spots were still in his vision, and his chest was in agony from the lack of oxygen. All of his struggles proved futile in Infinite’s iron grip. His words were swirling in Satoru’s head. While it was there, it wasn’t sinking in yet for him to form a coherent thought about it. Wheezes escaped Satoru’s lips and his hands tried to claw at Infinite for the umpteenth time. His lungs ached, yet his heart was pounding in his ears. Fear surged through Satoru as Infinite suddenly squeezed harder. His grip tightened and tightened and tightened until Satoru could feel his eyes bulge out of his head. The black spots grew, and the ache within his lungs turned into an inferno of pain. His body was screaming at the boy to take a breath, but Satoru’s windpipe was currently being crushed. Tears of pure terror flowed down Satoru’s throat. His mind was blaring alarm bells, telling Satoru that he would die if he did not take a breath. It hurt . Satoru’s chest spasmed with the desperate attempts at taking in a breath. He could not stop his body from trying to get air, causing indescribable agony for the poor boy. f*ck. He was going to die. He was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it this time. Suguru and Nanami still needed him! He couldn’t die! But his brain was fuzzy and his chest hurt too much to care. Satoru felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. His eyes were fluttering and his limbs had gone slack.

Then Satoru was released.

Immediately, Satoru inhaled deeply to get as much air as possible. He held his throat as a coughing fit overwhelmed him. All his prior dignity was shattered as pitiful sobs shook Satoru’s lean frame. His resolve to defeat Infinite was gone. The mere thought of the other made Satoru scramble frantically to create distance. Infinite was staring at Satoru like the teen was an animal in a zoo exhibit. His body had grown long and spindly as Infinite slowly stalked towards Satoru’s retreating form. Even with his slow gait, Infinite reached Satoru once more. When he was close enough, Infinite crouched down and stared at Satoru, who had stopped trying to get away.

“My bad. I lost myself for a bit there. This stable state doesn’t last that long, ya know? That’s why I’m in a bit of a rush.” Infinite grinned at the shaken teen. Sweat covered Satoru’s heaving form, caused by the fear and strain from being strangled. “I intended to show you everything slowly. Ease you into it. But convincing you to believe me took more time and effort than I thought, so you don’t have that luxury anymore.”

“Show me what.” Satoru spat with a raspy voice.

“Everything I suppose.” Infinite sat down with his legs crossed. Though, it looked more like a snake coiling itself up to strike. “We’ve always been the strongest. It’s our burden to bear that cannot be shared with anyone. Afterall, we have something no one else has. Our Six-Eyes are much more powerful than you think. It transcends time. We can perceive something as long as we want and no time would have passed in the real world. Currently, seconds have only passed. Suguru has not realized what is going on. I’ve already shown Nanami what I need him to know and I will soon talk to Suguru. The aftermath of showing you three such things will be much more time consuming in reality than the act of speaking with you in the first place. Don’t worry though! Suguru and Nanami will be alright! I’m not as sure as to what will happen to you, though.”

The mentions of his friends caused Satoru to tense. Is that why Nanami suddenly disappeared? If Infinite had been aggressive and terrifying with Satoru, then who knows how unstable he would be with Suguru. What had Infinite shown Nanami? What information does Infinite need to show him? Satoru gritted his teeth. He was sick of Infinite’s vagueness. “If you’re in such a rush, just spit it out already! I have never been very patient with ugly pieces of sh*t!”

His nasty remark only elicited a laugh from Infinite. “Spicy! I forgot about how bratty I was as a teenager!” In seconds, Infinite’s jovial tone disappeared. His constantly switching moods were disorienting for Satoru, but he knew he was slightly similar in that regard. The air grew impossibly colder as Infinite stood and walked a good distance away. Despite his glitching form, Infinite had no problems with moving. His arms spread wide as the glitches took over his body. Where a man once stood, there was no the same beast that had terrorized Satoru. A shriek of laughter left the beak of the creature as Infinite crawled on all fours to the horrified teen. Somehow, his talons left gouges in the empty void as if he was walking on a real floor. Infinite’s tail spread out to the fullest, countless eyes staring at Satoru with the intensity of a thousand suns.

All of Satoru’s limbs were paralyzed. Despite his desperate desire to run, Satoru could not make a single finger twitch. His body was not listening to his brain's frantic commands.

A distorted voice filled his ears, and Satoru felt his heart stop.

You’ve been a pain to deal with, kid. You’re lucky that I need you alive or else I would have killed you long ago.

Listen. This world is a new, altered copy of an old one. What occurred in the old world we cursed souls are from cannot happen again. This is why I need to show you and your friends certain pieces of information. I’m sorry for attacking you. I’m not supposed to be able to speak or think this clearly in the first place. It’s a secret that you have to keep. My awareness is underestimated, and I’d like to keep it that way. So no telling. Especially Sukuna!

And if you do tell, no one will believe you because I will revert back to a beast the moment I’m done speaking with you boys. This may be the last time I’ll ever get to be lucid again, so you better shut your trap and listen.

I know that you don’t deserve this, but I don’t have any other options. We’re the strongest in every world, kid. I was hoping that you would be able to live a more peaceful life than mine, but the world is a cruel place. Listen very carefully, okay? Sukuna has returned. His allegiances and goals are much more beneficial than before, so I highly suggest gaining his trust. You have the chance that I never did of having a better world, but you will need Sukuna’s help. A much greater evil will emerge, and you will lose without Sukuna. If he thinks for a second that you or the other sorcerers are a threat, then he will kill everyone.

If you are going to listen to anything, listen to this. Sukuna’s sole purpose in life is to protect Itadori Yuuji. It’s my and the other cursed souls' purpose as well. We will not show mercy if Yuuji is harmed by any of you. That is a promise. Got it? Good. Moving on.

As an inheritor of the Six-Eyes and Limitless, your brain is capable of handling vast amounts of information without imploding in on itself. What I showed Nanami and will show Suguru is miniscule compared to what I am going to show you.

You will receive twenty-nine years of information in the span of twenty-nine minutes. The memory I showed you earlier was real, and you will see many memories like it. I don’t care if you don’t believe me anymore. It’s your funeral if you don’t.

If you are idiotic enough to ignore everything I have said, then I will take matters into my own hands to ensure that Yuuji is safe and cared for. Trust me when I say that you do NOT want that to happen. You may be my alternate self, and I do want you to live a good life, but Yuuji’s happiness is my number one priority.

Now, then. Are you ready?

“N-No…” Satoru gasped out. He wasn’t ready. He didn’t want to be ready. Ever . What Infinite had just told him was already frying Satoru’s brain. How the hell would he manage to handle over two decades of information?! Having the constant input of his Six Eyes was one thing, but such vast amounts of data, memories, and whatever else is too much! The past year has been so horrible already. He didn’t want to know anything that Infinite had to show him! So what if he’s the strongest?! He’s just a teenager!

Are you scared?

The strangely gentle tone spooked Satoru. He still could not move, but he was able to grit his teeth in frustration. “I’m not! I don’t want to listen to your bullsh*t!”

It’s not bullsh*t. I know this year has been hard. I went through the same thing, only it got even worse.

“You’re not me for f*ck’s sake!” His angry shout sounded more like a choked sob. A quiet hum came from Infinite in response. Satoru’s head pounded from the stress while his lungs continued to ache fiercely. He hated him. He hated Infinite so much. “JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!”

Suguru was supposed to defect today.

Satoru froze.

This very night, Suguru was supposed to leave Jujutsu High in secret. He was supposed to leave on a train, get assigned a sudden mission to a village whilst on the train, go to the village, and slaughter every civilian in it. Over a hundred died by Suguru’s hand in a single night. This night. If I hadn’t intervened and caused trouble in Sendai, you would have never been sent on this mission with Nanami. Neither of you would have called Suguru. And Suguru would have done the same thing he did in my world. Because I intervened, Suguru is with you instead of that train.

“Suguru was going to…” The teen trailed off before he could finish such a terrible sentence. His desire to defend his best friend was competing with the many worrying signs that Suguru was going down a dark path. Satoru had seen the emptiness within Suguru grow by the day. He noticed Suguru’s lack of scolding when Satoru would say something rude about non-sorcerers. He is aware that with Satoru and Suguru being assigned separate missions, Suguru has spent more time alone than ever before. He has heard Suguru mutter to himself time and time again when the black-haired boy thought he was alone. He remembers Yaga’s concerned eyes when Suguru stopped participating in class. He knew that Suguru had been distancing himself from everyone the day after collecting Riko’s corpse from the Children of the Star facility. Satoru’s denial was completely shattered with his last thought.

The few times that Suguru spoke, it was always about getting rid of the ‘monkeys’.

His mouth went dry at the realization that Infinite was trying to help Satoru. The person who benefited the most from Suguru’s presence is Satoru. Losing Suguru would be too devastating for Satoru to handle. If Infinite, this crazed monster, was telling the truth, then he had to experience the loss of his one and only today.

It’s in the world’s best interest if Suguru does not become a curse user. You’ll need to stop him from such a fate. If you fail and Suguru commits to his plan of massacring all non-sorcerers, then you must do everything you can to keep him alive. His abilities are greatly sought after by an entity named Kenjaku. No matter what, Suguru cannot come under Kenjaku’s control. Kenjaku takes over the body of his victims by switching their brain with their victim’s body. They can mimic the behavior of their victim perfectly and they can copy the cursed technique and cursed energy of the body they inhabit as well. The only way that you can detect Kenjaku’s presence is a scar that appears on the forehead of whoever they’re possessing. The scar looks like stitches.

If all else fails, kill Suguru and make sure to burn his body immediately. Don’t let your feelings get in the way. Having Suguru live is the best choice. I don’t want you to have to go through what I did, so please listen to what I have to say.

Tears burned behind Satoru’s eyes, but he refused to let them out. The images of his future self killing Suguru mercilessly invaded his mind. He didn’t want that to happen.

He would make sure it never happens.

“I’m ready. Show me everything.” Satoru steeled himself for the influx of information. His mind was cycling through the names of the people Infinite had mentioned. Sukuna. Yuuji. Kenjaku. He repeated the names in his head to commit it to memory. “You said we’re the strongest, right? The strongest is supposed to protect the weak. Heh. That’s what Suguru used to tell me.”

And he would be right. Despite what he did in my world, my Suguru always had more sense than me. It’s likely that the overload I’m about to give you will cause a degree of brain damage. It won’t kill you, but it will have an effect on your sanity. Hell, you might be stuck in a mindless state for a few months. In my opinion, as a fellow Gojo Satoru, you’ll wake up in a couple days with some screws permanently loose. You’ll have Suguru to help you, so I see no future problems with your diminished sanity. Sound good?

Satoru let out a wet laugh. He pushed down all his worry and dread with a harsh swallow. The boy smiled widely with a co*cky look in his eyes. “Well, we’ve always been the strongest, not the sanest, right?”

Right! Good attitude to have, kid. I know I’m making you sacrifice a lot and not giving you a choice to say no. You’re still so young. You should be enjoying your youth with your friends.

“Yah don’t say.”

Let me finish brat. It’s likely that Kenjaku is going to be an even bigger threat than before. You’ll see why that’s super bad really soon.

“Ooo! Lucky me!”

I deserve that, I’ll admit. Anyways! I’m sure that Kenjaku will take ten years to stir up trouble like they did before. You’ll have a decade to prepare. Take care of Megumi and keep an eye on Suguru and Nanami. I might even pop in for a visit during those years. Who knows? Maybe I’ll let you see Yuuji.

“To be honest, I do want to meet the kid.” A much more genuine tone made its way into Satoru’s voice.

As would anyone else! Now, I need you to remember not to tell anyone. Use these years to grow stronger and develop a bond with Yuuji. If Yuuji likes you, Sukuna and his vessel Ryomen will…tolerate…you. The higher-ups cannot know about any of this. They won’t believe you and will try to send you to the loony bin anyway. Just talk about it with Suguru and Nanami. Shoko and Yaga are trustworthy, so do as you wish with that. Utahime too. However, you cannot trust Mei Mei or Gakuganji. The old geezer is obvious as to why he’s trustworthy. I can’t remember how Mei Mei is at this age, but the Mei Mei I know only speaks in cash. Maybe try to change that? It’s not a priority but it’ll be a relief for your wallet!

“Huh. Thanks for the tip.”

You’re welcome. And, kid?

“Hm?” Satoru locked eyes with Infinite, who was now centimeters away from his face. The birdlike creature gave the boy a musical trill. The mask around his face disappeared and Satoru saw Infinite’s six eyes again. This time, they were clear, no cloudiness in sight. They each held immense relief and gratitude in them. Satoru took a deep breath, knowing that the banter was over. “So…You gonna do it?”

Infinite cooed in response, getting even closer. He was so close that Satoru could feel the white fur and colorful feathers tickling his chin. The scent of the beast was strange as well. It was like breathing during winter. The air was crisp but it made your nose feel cold. It was an even odder sensation to feel the beast’s fur when Infinite wrapped around Satoru. It was soft and dense with the occupational fluffiness of a feather. Additionally, the outer layer of Infinite’s white fur was cold, yet Satoru could feel the warmth of the bird’s core. It took Satoru a few moments to relax in Infinite’s grip, but he eventually caved in with the lack of attacks on Infinite’s end. It was like being hugged in all directions. Satoru could not help but think of the penguin documentary Megumi had forced him to watch two nights ago. He remembers how Megumi, who was normally grouchy and quiet, lit up as he explained how emperor penguins huddled together to preserve warmth during arctic storms.

Satoru definitely felt like a penguin at that moment.

It was nice.

The tip of Infinite’s sharp beak suddenly pressed against Satoru’s forehead. On instinct, the teen closed his eyes. His thoughts all came to a stop as Satoru solely focused on the warmth on his head. Of all things, Infinite’s beak was the warmest part of the bird’s body. It somehow made Satoru relax even more. Warmth was always good in his mind. Infinite spoke once more within the teen’s mind, his voice much more subdued than before.

You will experience all my pain, all my anger, all my loss within moments.

It’s gonna be agonizing, but you’re strong. Stronger than anyone.

You’ll be shattered, repaired, and shattered again.

But you’ll come out stronger. Stronger than me.

You may feel more alone than ever before after this.

But eventually…

You’ll be happy. So, so happy. I promise you that, kid.

No matter how tough it gets, just remember that everything will turn out amazing in the end.

I know that you’re going to suffer, but I also know that you’re going to be loved. Megumi may not show it now, but he loves you so much, kid. Yuuji has barely been in this world, but I can already see the endless love he’s going to have for you.

Suguru is going to love you if you give him the chance to. Don’t miss that chance.

You’re a good kid. A real good one. Remember that, okay?

Satoru’s Six-Eyes and Limitless technique immediately returned in full force.

Everything turned into a blinding white.

Your life will turn out so much happier and longer than mine could ever hope to be.

__________

The first thought that went through Suguru’s head was simply: OW .

It felt like every inch of his body had been battered and bruised. Even the tips of his fingers ached. Normally, Suguru would try to sleep off any ailments that he had, refusing to go to Shoko more often than not. As a special grade sorcerer, Suguru was strong enough that most curses were not able to place a scratch on him. The only injuries he ever sustained on missions were the occasional bruise or cut. Sore muscles were not a new thing for Suguru, but the aching within him felt different than a strained muscle.

All his energy had been sapped away. Suguru’s body desperately wanted to go back to bed, but his mind was too active and chaotic to allow him any opportunities to rest. Reluctantly, the teen opened his eyes with the grogginess of an elderly man. Once he managed to sit up, Suguru wiped the crust from the corners of his eyes and tugged on his cheeks to further wake up. After a few minutes, Suguru was awake enough to notice the strange room he was in.

He was in the infirmary.

“I see you are awake, Getou-san.”

The quietness of Nanami’s voice caused a jolt of adrenaline to shoot through Suguru. He was startled, sure, but most of his shock came from how beaten Nanami was and the memories that came with his wounds.

Nanami and Satoru’s terrified pleas. A shriek of laughter. Six monstrous entities. Eyes. Too many eyes. A baby. A bloody man with white hair. The existence of cursed s-

In an instant, Suguru jumped from his bed to kneel next to Nanami’s. His legs were too unstable to keep the older teen upright, so his short journey to the younger caused several things to crash. He grasped the white sheets of the infirmary bed tightly. His breathing turned heavy as he bored his tired eyes into Nanami’s surprised ones. Suguru analyzed every part of the blonde’s face. Once he was sure that Nanami was not a hallucination and was actually a living breathing person, he sat back on his heels with a sigh.

Never one to beat around the bush, Nanami broke the silence quite bluntly. “You’ve been unconscious for nearly six days. Yaga-sensei and the higher ups are looking into the entities we encountered on our mission. There has also been a halt on all missions for the three of us until Yaga deems us fully recovered.” His left arm went to rub his injured right arm, which was currently in a sling. The hospital gown he was wearing did little to hide the countless bandages wrapped around the boy. There were more than a few burns across Nanami’s pale skin as well. When the younger noticed Suguru’s staring, he sighed like he had aged ten years. Nanami, someone who made sure to look everyone in the eye, was currently glancing anywhere but at Suguru. In fact, the underclassman was staring at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Gojo-san is currently being held in one of Tengen-sama’s strongest cells. He woke up a day after I did and immediately tried to attack you. I tried to intervene, but he did not hesitate to attack me as well.” Nanami numbly gestured at his injuries.

“Satoru attacked you?” Suguru felt like he was in an alternate dimension. The Satoru he knew would rather live without sweets than live in a world where he hurts the ones he cares about. Moreover, Satoru was disrespectful to the higher-ups, but he was smart enough to play along with their cowardly orders. He was strong enough to get away with his behavior, so to hear that his best friend was imprisoned did not sound real. What’s worse, Tengen’s barrier was being used to contain Satoru and Satoru alone. Those barriers were strong enough to keep all curses in Japan, preventing them from spreading into other countries. The fact that one of those barriers is now holding Satoru like a dog in a pound made white-hot anger flow through Suguru.

“It was done to prevent Gojo-san from killing you.” As if sensing Suguru’s incoming rage, Nanami was quick to respond. Once more, the blonde sighed heavily, his exhaustion evident from the sickly paleness of his sin and the dark bags beneath his eyes. “We were all given hallucinations of some sort by the entity that resembled a draconic bird of prey. Shoko-san said that it’s likely that Gojo-san’s Six-Eyes caused him to experience a much worse hallucination than us, thus causing him to be in an altered state upon waking up.”

“That damn bird.” Suguru snarled beneath his breath. When he tried to remember what the shrieking menace had shown him, Suguru’s head immediately grew fuzzy. It was shocking to hear that Satoru had been restrained for Suguru’s sake, but that was not what was weighing on his mind. What concerned him most was Nanami’s mention of Satoru’s Six-Eyes causing his best friend to suffer intensely. No matter how hard either tried, Satoru could not explain his ability to Suguru and Suguru failed to understand the poor explanations Satoru provided. It was something that could not be put into words, something Suguru hated. To put it simply, Suguru liked knowing things. He refused to be left in the dark about anything, so he often went out of his way to gain any knowledge he lacked on a mission or lesson. This included going to forbidden areas to learn the stories Yaga was forced to omit during teachings.

And Suguru knew just the place to get the knowledge he needed right now.

“Shoko-san warned to not exit the infirmary without her permission.” Nanami said monotonously. Though, the boy did nothing to stop Suguru from shakily exiting the cramped room.

“You got hurt. Satoru’s imprisoned and not acting like himself. I don’t need to know anything else.” While stern, Suguru made sure to keep any anger from his voice. His mind was still reeling, but time was of the essence. He could not afford to waste time being shocked or waiting for Shoko or Yaga to inform him on what happened. Satoru was still in that awful trance, and Suguru did not trust the higher-ups or the Gojo clan elders to not take advantage of his best friend. Every second wasted was a second added to the torture Satoru’s mind was going through. Despite his greasy hair and messy hospital gown, Suguru felt stronger than he has in months. He nodded reassuringly at Nanami. “You need to rest much more than me, Nanami-kun. I’ll take care of things from now on. I apologize for making you take on the work I was supposed to do, I have been weak for far too long. Thank you for carrying that extra burden, but it is now my turn to take it back.”

To anyone else, it would seem that Nanami had not reacted whatsoever to Suguru’s words. However, Suguru had known Nanami long enough that he knew all the tells of the stoic boy’s body. Nanami’s eyes, albeit slightly, had a watery tint to it. His right hand, the hand that Nanami used to carry his blade, twitched. It showed just how much Suguru’s words had meant to him.

The edges of Nanami’s lips twitched up in a ghost of a smile. “Thank you, Getou-san. Though, to me, your strength was not diminished in the least. It was simply redirected to something else.” Nanami returned Suguru’s nod. When the underclassman looked up, there was a knowing spark in his eyes. “Be careful with your studies.”

“I will.”

.

.

.

After stumbling into his room for proper clothes, Suguru found that there was a fresh uniform left for him on his bed. The suitcases he had packed prior were tucked into a corner, which nearly made Suguru pass out from panic. However, he quickly calmed down when he read the note attached to his uniform.

If you’re reading this, then I assume you lost enough brain cells to go after Satoru despite being unconscious for several days. Dumbass.

Here’s one of the uniforms you packed up. You better tell me about those suitcases or else I’ll cut off all your hair and burn it. I’m sure Satoru will help me hold you still. Dumbass.

Satoru’s meant to be the idiot of the group, so do some magic true love gay sh*t to bring him back. I can’t handle more than one dumbass at a time.

Good luck, lover boy.

-Shoko

Suguru had simply pocketed the note, ignoring how his face felt like it was about to burst into flames, and changed into his clean uniform. It was almost pitiful how eager Suguru had been to leave Jujutsu High and the Jujutsu world in general just days ago. Yet, his entire plans had been put to a screeching halt by a loud-mouthed white-haired boy he cared too much about. No one was stopping him from leaving. Hell, Suguru’s suitcases were still fully packed. It’d be easy.

But the thought of leaving now only caused bile to rise in Suguru’s throat.

With one last look at his suitcases and empty room, Suguru made his way to his destination with no further hesitation.

The Catacombs of the Disgraced Ones

Chapter 5: My One and Only PART TWO

Chapter Text

For something that was supposed to be prohibited or off limits, Suguru had always found entering the catacombs the easiest task in the world. Jujutsu sorcerers were so spread thin that the school could only spare a measly five guards to protect Master Tengen, the sole being responsible for the barriers protecting the human world from the jujutsu world. This left everything else unguarded, including the catacombs, which held some of the most infamous texts in jujutsu. Information that can easily be used against them.

To make up for the lack of guards, there were several illusionary buildings across the Tokyo and Kyoto campuses. In Tokyo, the number of fake buildings had drastically increased after the incident with Toji Fushiguro. Besides the misleading structures, talismans and other protective seals had been placed on the entrances to important areas. Most sorcerers could not break the seals, but Suguru was not like most sorcerers.

With a flick of his hand, the bindings covering the wide entrance of the catacombs were cut to ribbons by one of the many curses Suguru had under his control.

Unlike Satoru, Suguru knew how to remain undetected. The higher ups still had no leads as to who had been regularly breaking the seals to the catacombs for the past two years. It was a feat Suguru was quite proud of. He had used his plethora of curses to shred the seals, before promptly killing it. By doing this, Suguru made the elders think that a random curse had tried entering the catacombs, only for the curse to be exorcized by the powerful seals it had broken. The cursed energy signals were enough for the higher ups to not bat an eye at the recurring incidents. It was fitting. When given the choice, the elders would rather focus all their attention on whatever bothered them than anything that could pose an actual threat to the jujutsu world. The catacombs were not a priority for the elders whatsoever, but Suguru could not be upset by that. Afterall, the neglect of the catacombs were what allowed him to enter it many, many times.

This time was no different.

“I always forget how musty this place is.” Suguru clamped a hand over his nose as he descended the carved, stone staircase. While it wasn’t a disgusting smell by any means, it still made the teen shudder and feel nauseous. He had a feeling as to what the scent originated from.

Death.

Suguru was well acquainted with death, considering his line of work. Death did not smell revolting or vile. No. That was the smell of decomposition. Death itself smelled, with lack of a better term, heavy . It was a scent that had a presence to it. Similar to the cleansing, peaceful presence the air has after a storm. It was a scent that made Suguru’s chest tighten and throat close up. There was a barely detectable earthy note to death. It was subtle, but it was enough that Suguru had memorized the distinct smell. It smelt of ancient waters and aging moss. He imagined it smelt of the section of a forest that many find by accident. It’s untouched by man and animal. The clearing is small, only having a small pond and few trees. While the ground is covered by leaves, all the trees are left barren. There is the smallest flow to the pond, causing the leaves on the surface of the murky water to sway back and forth. It was the loneliest part of the woods.

The scent of death permeated every crevice of the catacombs. There was no doubt in Suguru’s mind that these underground tunnels were also used to bury the many corpses of his fellow sorcerers. Jujutsu sorcerers have existed for centuries, so it was highly likely that this labyrinth was also a makeshift gravesite at some point. Suguru did not let that knowledge bother him. He clenched his fists as he continued his journey downwards.

To light the way, Suguru had summoned several jellyfish-like curses that acted as tiny flashlights. No one was meant to be down here, so it didn’t surprise Suguru that not a single torch along the walls of the caverns had been lit.

Despite the many tunnels appearing as he got lower and lower, he paid them no mind. As he journeyed further, the stairs became more cracked and weathered. The first time Suguru had ventured here, he had nearly cracked his skull open due to a massive hole in the stairway. Now, Suguru simply summoned a curse with tree-like roots and walked across the pit without issue. Once Suguru spotted the last steps of the winding staircase, he breathed a sigh of relief. His forehead felt sweaty and his body felt quite sore. Considering he had been unconscious for several days, he knew that it was a foolish idea to strain his body in such a way. Suguru could not be bothered to care.

Finally, his feet met with the floor of the lowest level, the true catacombs. Suguru had to stick his nose into his elbow to breathe in the scent of his shirt. At such a deep level, it was hard to breathe on principle. The smell of dust only served to make things worse. The faint smell of detergent helped Suguru’s chest loosen. After a few moments of adjusting, Suguru raised his head and made his way to the many rotting bookshelves before him. In the years prior, Suguru had taken the time to make a small reading area for himself. In addition, the black-haired boy used his curses to help gather books Suguru found interesting. He had purposely kept his friends out of this hobby of his. While it would be exponentially easier to travel to the catacombs with the help of Satoru’s teleportation abilities, Suguru wanted to keep this place to himself. Shoko and Satoru had never been the studious types, so he knew they would get bored quickly in a pseudo-library like this.

He made a beeline to his personalized corner in the back of the area. The lowest level was full of dusty books and scrolls, nothing else. It was quite smaller than the upper levels Suguru had explored. Even so, it was still a sizable place. Suguru effortlessly made his way through the many winding paths and bookshelves. Once he spotted his corner, Suguru smiled.

It only had a large blanket, a futon, several candles, and one pillow. Next to the sitting area was a neatly stacked pile of books. Suguru plopped onto the futon, not bothering to dust it off with how exhausted his body was. He summoned a tiny flame with the help of a curse that resembled a hybrid of a rock and salamander. He lit the largest candle, sighing in contentment once the smell of vanilla and lavender reached his nose. Suguru made sure to place the lit candle in a place that would not pose a threat to the many flammable objects around him.

Suguru used the elastic band on his wrist to tie his long hair in a messy bun. It was the longest it's ever been, but Suguru enjoyed the look much more than his previous hair style. With his hair out of his face, Suguru sorted through the books until he found the one was looking for.

THE FORGOTTEN HUMANS: CURSED SOULS

By: Itadori Kaori

A sudden shiver overtook Suguru’s body. Now that he had faces to the creatures he thought were nothing but myth, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. When he had read the book the first time, he thought it was an intriguing story, perhaps theory. He did not think much of it. He didn’t think much of the author either. Suguru had thought that the author was just an eccentric sorcerer with too much time on her hands. Considering the apparent truth to her words, Suguru knew he needed to do research on Itadori Kaori. He had never heard of her before, and he had found it strange for such a modern textbook to find its way in an abandoned labyrinth. At the time, he thought it had been placed by the higher ups due to its possibly ludicrous texts. The elders had always censored the textbooks Suguru and his other peers used heavily. It made sense that such a controversial book would be dumped here.

The more he thought about it, the more strange the book’s existence became. Suguru shook his head harshly. He had a purpose for being here. He can’t be sitting for hours trying to solve a mystery he had no knowledge on. Satoru needed him. If Kaori Itadori had anything that could be useful in helping Satoru, Suguru could care less who she was.

Maybe he could multitask.

Suguru summoned a ghostly owl that towered over him, awaiting orders. “Find any texts written by Itadori Kaori or anything relating to cursed souls. If there isn’t either, try to find anything that has pictures of these creatures.” The teen transferred the images of the six creatures to his owl helper. He had absorbed the curse during his first year. It was a curse that had been spotted in the remnants of a burnt library, already having killed seven people who ventured into the remains. It was a clever curse despite being a grade three. He knew that if there were any curses who were fit for the job, it was this owl cursed spirit. “Bring me whatever you find.” With that, he sent the curse on its way.

He sincerely hoped this strange woman had answers.

“Please have something.” Suguru whispered underneath his breath. He made his jellyfish curses gather close so he could see in the dark room. As he opened the textbook, he immediately went to the table of contents. Once he found the most useful pages, he flipped to them.

He was greeted by a crude drawing of the six entities he had encountered that fateful night.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Suguru began to read.

Throughout all of human history, there seems to be a common phenomenon shared by all eras and civilizations. A cave painting (pictured on the upper left) depicts the outlines of six unknown creatures. This painting has been dated to be more than 40,000 years old. These creatures share no resemblance to the animals observed in previously discovered cave paintings. What’s more, these six entities share no resemblance to any animal, extinct or not. This could be seen as a creative drawing of our ancestors and nothing more if it wasn’t for the fact that there are repeated instances of these creatures appearing in paintings across the world.

For instance, a painting from a temple belonging to a young pharaoh in ancient Egypt (pictured on the bottom right) was discovered. The name of the pharaoh has been lost to time, but the paintings along the walls of his tomb depict two of the creatures beside Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead and afterlife. The appearance of the creatures from a cave painting to a painting in a pharaoh's tomb shows that there is significance to these strange beings. Moreover, one of the creatures, a canine with the skull of another creature atop its head, is drawn next to the pharaoh. The pharaoh is seen petting the head of the entity with a smile. The second creature, a dragon with the beak of a bird, is seen behind Anubis, towering over the god. For a revered god like Anubis being overshadowed by an unknown creature, there is a likelihood that these creatures could have been worshiped in a similar regard as to the more well-known Egyptian gods.

Suguru felt like throwing up. It should be impossible! That damn shrieking bird is NOT in that painting! Cursed souls cannot be that old! He began flipping through the chapter frantically.

Sculptures of a woman with roses and spikes have been found alongside the sculptures of the Greek goddess Athena-

Norse mythology depicts a creature made of shadows meant to punish those who it deems malevolent-

Carvings of a cat with spikes have been seen in a multitude of Aztec temples-

“What the f*ck?!” Suguru yelled at the book. He had completely forgotten about the timeline that the author had written to show how the group of entities had been depicted over the past several centuries. When he had read it the first time, he had glossed over most of the details. He wants to slap his younger self for being so ignorant. Quickly, he went back to the table of contents and scanned through the many chapters until he found the section centered around the origins and myths of the creatures.

Suguru was quick to notice the change in the author’s tone. Instead of a neutral, analytical approach, Kaori Itadori wrote with an almost unhinged passion. It was clear that she was writing with her personal feelings instead of using a more educational approach. It became slightly unsettling for Suguru. It truly felt like this woman was speaking to Suguru like he was an old friend, rambling on about her theories as if she was next to him.

These beasts make the oldest of recorded curses seem like newborns in comparison. Their appearance and descriptions over the past several centuries match those of a curse much more than anything natural to this world. However, there is one notable fact that must not be forgotten. Curses have only been able to appear in Japan. There are no other records of curses appearing in other countries or continents. This is due to Master Tengen’s barrier technique. However, the existence of these six beings precedes the existence of Master Tengen. It should be impossible for such a thing to occur. And it is impossible! The six creatures are not curses, but something else entirely!

Curses are born from human emotions. In the stone ages, there were not enough people to create such negativity. Back then, early humans were solely focused on survival. There was not any room to stew in one’s regrets or sadness. Thus, curses did not exist in such times! But these creatures did! It’s marvelous! Delightfully interesting! I’ve taken it upon myself to study the existence of these beings! I’ve named them Cursed Souls!

Based on accounts from the jujutsu sorcerers of the past, these entities exhibited very notable abilities and behaviors. They are not supposed to be on this Earth, yet they are! In straight defiance to the natural order! It’s so exciting!

I believe that they are remnants of a world long forgotten. Souls of people that were not allowed to move on, cursed to roam the lands until they find what will bring them eternal peace. It’s well known that many curses are manifested from the result of a person or sorcerer dying with too many regrets. The connection between death and curses cannot be ignored! Cursed souls are the perfect amalgamation of cursed energy and death. A being of indescribable power being birthed from a death of indescribable agony! It’s inspirational! These beings, based on the many depictions of them throughout ancient times, were revered as gods. The soul has always been an anomaly for us sorcerers to understand. It is not out of the realm of possibilities to say that these souls are from a different time entirely. Perhaps the souls of today originated from the world the cursed souls are from. We are the finalized version of the rough draft the world had to go through to become what it is today.

The techniques each cursed soul has further proves this theory. Cursed techniques are often hereditary. The most powerful clans are quite protective of their techniques and refuse to have their clan members ‘mix’ with others. In spite of this, the revered power of the Six-Eyes and Limitless technique is held by one of these cursed souls based on reports. It’s a supposedly impossible feat. How can such a creature have such a sacred technique? The answer is simple! The creature's soul originates from the Gojo clan! An innate technique like Limitless cannot appear out of nowhere, it must be passed down through genetics. One way or another, whoever the soul belonged to was a member of the Gojo clan. Like a flower regrowing after a fire. Even if the flower was burnt to a crisp, the roots remained and were able to regrow from the destruction. Cursed souls are the flowers that were destroyed in a fire, only to emerge again, stronger, from, the ashes. Sorcerers today are the seeds that were dispersed before the fire began. Away from the destruction, but still originating from the flower that got burned.

Though, there is the possibility that there is an even bigger picture I am missing! The intrigue of cursed souls never ends!

Suguru sincerely wished it did. His head began to pound as Suguru tried to remember what the infuriating bird demon-cursed soul-thing showed him. It was like he wasn’t allowed to remember. Each time he tried to, a white fog would cloud his mind. The author’s ramblings were giving Suguru some much needed insight, but he needed more.

The cursed soul with that damned beak and tail did something to Satoru’s head.

As the teen went to rub his temples, he heard the clacking of talons against the rough floor. The owl curse had appeared with several scrolls in its beak. Suguru felt himself smile at the additional information. “Thank you.” Once he took the scrolls from the wispy owl, it ran off to further investigate the catacombs. Suguru was relieved that there was more information on cursed souls than he thought. After placing the old scrolls next to him, Suguru went back to the increasingly distressing book. He flipped a few pages until he found the mythological section. It seemed this part was entirely based on Japanese mythology of the Heian Era.

The Golden Age of Jujutsu was a time that is remembered by all, fondly or not. In such an era, it would seem obvious that there would be countless reports of these six beings. However, this is not the case. There are only three known reports of cursed souls, all of which occurred during the Heian Era. There have been no sightings or records of these creatures ever since.

Suguru glanced at the three largest scrolls of the bunch. Out of all the books and scrolls he had read in the catacombs, this was by far the oldest piece of literature Suguru had ever found. Carefully placing the more modern textbook on the blanket, Suguru picked up a random scroll of the three. He unraveled it slowly and used two of his jellyfish curses to hold down the edges. It revealed a stained paper with kanji Suguru could barely read. He had once studied ancient Japanese, but was by no means fluent in it.

Brownish-red stains littered the paper, and Suguru was trying his hardest not to think of the implications of having dried blood on a centuries old scroll.

From what he could read, it seemed to be a report from a healer in the Kamo Clan.

PATIENT: Kamo Inoko

Inoko’s brother, Kamo Butaro, described that an unregistered special grade attacked his sister during a mission. Both had been sent to exorcize a grade two curse that had been causing trouble for farmers with peach orchards. These are the details Butaro has shared about the mission. Apparently, farmers in the nearby area reported that many of their trees appeared to have been slashed by something with claws. They can no longer enter the orchard without being killed, and a portion of their peaches are being stolen each day. When one farmer tried to collect a basket of peaches, he was found later that night with several holes through his body and a mauled face. The curse was only targeting peach orchards. All other fruit or vegetable farms were left unharmed. One farmer reported that he had an apple and peach orchard, yet the apple orchard had remained intact.

After hearing the complaints of the farmers, the sorcerer took the case and assigned it to Butaro and Inoko. Upon entering the peach orchard that had been the first to be targeted, both sorcerers felt a presence of a curse much stronger than a grade two. After ten minutes of being inside the orchard, Inoko tried picking up a peach that had fallen onto the ground. The moment her hand made contact, a beam of blood was shot at her hand, slicing it off. It resembled the Piercing Blood manipulation technique of their clan, but it was clearly stronger than both Kamo sorcerer’s own techniques. Butaro stated that the beam of blood was sharp enough to cut not only his sister’s hand, but some of the trees behind them. Butaro stated how he could sense the immense anger the cursed spirit had and decided to apologize. He kept apologizing as he grabbed his sister and retreated. No other attacks followed. At some point, Butaro looked back and saw the cursed spirit’s form. He said that it resembled a large cat, but it had purple fur with a black stripe on its nose. The boy also mentioned that it had several elongated spikes on its back. Each spike had a condensed sphere of blood on top, a clear use of Convergence.

It has been two days since the attack on Inoko, and she has been put into a coma. After being pierced by the curse’s blood, Inoko soon exhibited signs of poisoning. No remedy has worked and neither has reverse cursed technique. Poisons have always been difficult to heal, so the only treatment option available is to treat Inoko’s symptoms and pray that her body can flush out the poison on its own.

When first grade sorcerer Hayashi Daichi and special grade sorcerer Gojo Suki arrived on the scene, the cursed spirit had vanished. The only residual that remained was the blood spattered on the peach Inoko had held.

Suguru had a feeling that the girl hadn’t recovered. Besides the draconic entity, the cat had boggled Suguru’s mind. With how viscously protective the cat was over the infant, he had no doubts that the cat would eliminate any threats to his ward without mercy. The only reason that Suguru could come up with as to why the cat had targeted peach orchards was the color. Even if it was brief, Suguru couldn’t forget the peachy pink of the baby’s hair. Suguru had seen curses obsess over certain things, often the last thing on their mind. It would become where the curse was most frequently spotted at. It could also become the garbled word the curse repeats endlessly. Curses have always been obsessive. A cursed soul was likely to be the same in some regard.

The other two scrolls were similar reports from healers. While the second described a list of casualties at the hands of the cursed soul with spotted wrappings and the cursed soul with roses and nails, the third was a report of the erratic symptoms of a sorcerer after being hit by an unknown curse. The symptoms were familiar to Suguru. And concerning.

• Patient has become incredibly hostile and aggressive.

• Patient exhibits signs of being in intense psychological distress.

• Patient unable to answer basic questions like where they are and what their name is.

• Patient has become increasingly delirious and refuses to eat or drink.

• Patient speaks of being chased and in danger.

• Patient must be restrained at all times.

• Patient shows no signs of improving no matter what treatment.

He felt his breath get stuck in his throat as he scanned the very bottom of the parchment.

• Elders sentenced patient to death after five months of no improvement.

“Those worthless pieces of sh*t.” He snarled. Suguru clenched the weathered paper in his hands, uncaring of the damage he was causing to the ancient scroll. Of course the elders back then would be just as cowardly as the elders they had now. The symptoms of aggression and psychological distress matched what Nanami described. Satoru had attacked Nanami and would have attacked Suguru if the blonde hadn’t intervened. He remembered how terrified Satoru had been when he was under that strange trance that fateful night. If Satoru gets worse, the elders would surely try to execute him after labeling Satoru a danger to jujutsu society.

Suguru felt like throwing up. How the hell was he supposed to heal Satoru if the healers of the past couldn’t do anything?!

The texts were not as useful as Suguru thought. They held no answers! He tugged harshly at his hair in pure frustration. Those were the only reports that existed of the damned things! Suguru bit his lip to keep himself from screaming. He felt his anger surge and did everything possible to get it under control. It doesn’t matter how skilled a sorcerer or healer is, cursed souls were simply on another level of strength apparently. They had no way to defeat them, the only reason the world is still standing is because these creatures were somewhat indifferent to humanity. There were no other reports of attacks, which was a relief, but it was a pain for Suguru. They only got aggressive when Suguru, Satoru, and Nanami seemingly threatened the child. It still made no sense as to why the monstrous entities would go so far just to protect a random baby-

Yuuji is special. Not just special to me. Special to the world. He is the very reason this world exists. Do anything to harm him, and your world will crumble. Though, he won’t be the one to destroy the world. He is the kindest soul in existence. I and the other guardians will be the source of your downfall. You don’t hurt him, and I don’t hurt you.

Itadori Yuuji must be protected at all costs. He is the core of this world’s continued existence. Never forget that.

The scroll dropped from Suguru’s hands with a loud clatter.

That was the voice of that horrid bird. He gripped at his head as it throbbed. Suguru now realized why he could not remember the conversation he had with the entity. He wasn’t allowed to remember until it was actually necessary. Like a locked gate only having a key on certain occasions, but the occasion was at random. Suguru had no idea what to cause a memory to come back, it just would.

Hm .

Itadori Yuuji .

Suguru went to grab the textbook by the author of the strange textbook. Having the same last name could be a coincidence, but something inside Suguru was urging him to not disregard the oddity. He flipped back to where he left off in the textbook. The knowledge of the author and the importance of the baby were a mystery Suguru itched to solve.

But he couldn’t solve it without Satoru.

He wanted to kick himself over the head at getting distracted so easily. Had he become so selfish that he would put aside his best friends suffering for his own curiosities? He had gotten too accustomed to being in his thoughts for days on end. Facing the result of his self imposed isolation made Suguru feel shame pool in his gut. He had pushed Satoru away and was now suffering for it by being useless in helping his closest friend.

Being strong was something Suguru was familiar with. Helping others was also something Suguru had mastered at a young age. He was always the one to lend a helping hand without thought. Yet when his friend needed him the most, Suguru couldn’t lift a finger. Just wallow in his regrets and self-pity. Satoru had always been there for him, in the limitless user’s own unique way. Whether it was making Suguru laugh until he cried or refusing to sleep for days just to protect an innocent girl, Satoru had a kindness that Suguru lacked. Satoru was genuine in his care for others.

Of course, Satoru could be the most annoying person on the planet, but that was not who he truly was. His cheery and often arrogant disposition was a facade that Suguru had seen through immediately. Yet, he had done nothing to rectify that. Satoru would allow Yaga, Shoko, or even Suguru himself to hit him. While the annoyed pushes or smacks to the head were definitely warranted, the fact that Satoru would consciously deactivate his Infinity for their hits to make contact stuck with Suguru. If Satoru was as co*cky as he makes himself appear, then he would have never allowed them to touch him. But he did. Satoru would be the energetic one with a cheeky grin because no one else could keep a smile on their face. A smile that wasn’t fake like Suguru’s. On the roughest of days, Satoru would still be bright, something that used to annoy Suguru. When they had first gotten to know each other, Suguru had thought that Satoru’s blatant disregard for others was the boy’s true feelings. Satoru would complain about how the weak were so annoying, but would still go out of his way to make sure his missions had as little casualties as possible. He would get genuinely upset if one person got severely injured or died. It was a given that people would die in their line of work, but Satoru ignored that. Suguru had accepted it. He had thought Satoru’s want for there to be no casualties was irritating when they went on missions together. At first, Suguru had thought it was Satoru’s attempt to be better than everyone. It wasn’t. The few times that Suguru had seen Satoru’s front disappear were the times where Suguru realized how good Satoru really was. He wanted to be the strongest sorcerer and stop people from dying to curses, but was so terrified of failing that he pretended that he wasn’t human at all more often than not. Satoru felt like a weapon, not a god. He would say he had to be perfect, but Suguru had seen the tears in his crystal blue eyes whenever Satoru said it. Satoru would melt whenever Suguru touched him, as if it was the last piece of affection he would ever receive. Satoru let Suguru cry into his shoulder whenever he needed and would refuse to leave his room whenever Suguru had a nightmare. Suguru had tried to do the same, but it was never enough. Even though Satoru had never said anything about Suguru’s attempts at comfort, Suguru felt like Satoru deserved so much better.

Beneath the glasses and the many, many walls that made up Gojo Satoru, there was a boy that was desperate to be human. That was desperate to be loved and seen as a human. So desperate to be held and praised.

Satoru was the brightest star in Suguru’s galaxy.

There was not any other way to put it. Suguru held a darkness within him that could only be held off by Satoru’s light. Even though Suguru had to remind Satoru of being polite and kind, he knew deep down that Satoru already was. Satoru was respectful and compassionate to those he thought deserved it. Suguru was courteous to all because that was how he was raised. The mannerisms had been carved so deeply into Suguru’s psyche that the teen was not sure what he truly believed.

He was only who his parents and teachers sculpted him into. All of his decisions were based on the teaching drilled into him as a child. His personality often didn’t feel like his own.

The first time that Suguru knew what he truly felt was when he had seen Satoru holding Riko’s corpse while hundreds of people applauded. It was a burning hatred that seared into his soul. Suguru had left behind all of those teachings, becoming an empty husk with no sense of who he was and what to do. Eventually, the words he shared with Tsukumo Yuki ignited something within him. He had been determined to see his plans to the bitter end, but a damned phone call changed everything.

Suguru was doubting himself like never before. Were his only genuine feelings just hatred and anger for non-sorcerers? Was that all he was without the teachings of his elders to guide him?

Could he even help Satoru?

“I don’t know anything.” Suguru put the scrolls and books away to wrap his arms around his knees. For the first time since Riko’s death, Suguru felt well and truly lost. There were too many things happening at once, and Suguru felt paralyzed by it all. Cursed souls exist. He needed to investigate Itadori Kaori. Sukuna was reincarnated without anyone’s knowledge. Satoru was imprisoned while his own mind tortured him. Itadori Yuuji was apparently another vital piece of the puzzle, and Suguru had no idea who he was. The world could crumble at any moment if something happens to that boy.

A loud clatter broke Suguru out of his spiraling thoughts.

Before him was a large scroll wrapped with black twine. Suguru looked up and saw the owl curse staring back at him. There was a sense of finality to the scroll, meaning that the owl’s search had come to an end. In a hoarse whisper, Suguru smiled. “Thank you.” He dismissed the owl with a flick of his wrist.

It was the largest and longest scroll Suguru had ever seen. The thick spindles that held each end of the parchment were made of brass. With great care, Suguru unwrapped the twine and unrolled the ancient paper. The weight of the spindles prevented the parchment from curling in on itself. Once the scroll was fully rolled out, which had taken a while, Suguru stared at the contents it contained.

A grand painting that had become faded from age seemed to stand before the black-haired teen. It was in the style expected from ancient Japanese art. Six familiar figures and two additional ones had been depicted in the painting. It seemed to tell a story. At the beginning of the parchment was a man with pink hair that had been set aflame, holding a toddler that looked to be dead. The words above the painting roughly translated to ‘ The scorned had been punished.’ Suguru felt nauseous as he stared into the despair so clearly drawn into the man’s face. He could almost feel the agony the man was going through the longer he stared. Shaking his head, Suguru read to the next section of the scroll.

The next artwork was the same man kneeling down before a monster with four arms. In the man’s bloody arms was a round orb, which would have been pink if the parchment wasn’t so aged. The large monster had tattoos all over its body, tattoos that Suguru recognized as belonging to Sukuna, the King of Death. Sukuna had become something of legend for sorcerers, believed to be gone for good. Suguru wanted to yell at the skies for the world being so unforgiving. He ignored his frustration to look at the kanji next to the painting. ‘ A deal is made with the King of Death. A soul for a soul. The king wants the body, the soul, of the scorned for the rest of time in return for saving his son’s soul. The scorned makes the deal with the disgraced .’

There was other kanji, but it was too faded for Suguru to read. From the painting alone, Suguru knew that the man had made a binding vow with Sukuna. Deals that involved souls were always binding, considering how vital the material was to a sorcerer’s very being. The next part depicted the six cursed souls that were forever ingrained into Suguru’s mind. In the center of each entity was an orb identical to the one the man had been holding, seemingly being his son’s soul. The cursed souls themselves were grouped together in an almost diamond shape. At the top, the smiling visage of the birdlike entity stared back at him. On the left side were the feline and canine-like cursed souls. On the right were the faceless shadow entity and metallic-rose entity. At the bottom, the long, spotted wrappings of the mummy-like entity acted as a frame for all. The kanji next to the cursed souls was much harder to read, as if the artist was shaking while they wrote. From what he could decipher, it read as follows:

‘The king’s assistants took the son’s soul, splitting it amongst the six of them. Each would hide a piece of the boy’s soul wherever they saw fit. The ashes and bones of the boy were scattered throughout the world as well, acting as the material the demons would use to rebuild the boy when the time was right. The only being who knew the locations of all pieces was the king’s eldest assistant, the Seer of Infinity. A demon more powerful than the king .’

“More powerful than Sukuna?” Suguru whispered to himself. The legacy that Sukuna left behind was an unforgettable one. All tales tell of the immense power Sukuna held. The armies he decimated in one blow. The countless sorcerers who fell at his claws. However, Suguru couldn’t help but look back to the man Sukuna made a deal with. There were no other accounts of this man, and Suguru has no recollection of Yaga mentioning him during lessons. Though, that wasn’t Yaga’s fault. The elders had censored the records of the Heian Era heavily. Suguru had felt like he was trying to complete a puzzle with all the pieces missing. It made sense that people as cowardly as the higher-ups would restrict information, but the information itself seemed to be quite important. If there was an entity more powerful than Sukuna, then shouldn’t all sorcerers know about it? If there was a man who had made a binding vow with SUkuna, why hasn’t there been any mentions of him?

What were the elders trying to hide?

The rest of the scroll looked to be purposely scratched out. Suguru felt his jaw clench so hard his teeth nearly cracked. He couldn’t read any of the Kanji, and the paintings had been blotted out with ink.

“Tsk. Those bastards.” Suguru summoned a curse that took the appearance of a thin carpet with tentacles. At the center of the carpet was a glowing, white light. He made the curse slip underneath the scroll, specifically where the paintings had been blotted out. With a snap of his fingers, the curse lit up. The faint outline of the paintings appeared. The teen smiled in relief. “Thank you, Satoru.”

It was the white-haired teen who had taught Suguru this trick. One time, Shoko had accidentally spilled an experimental mixture on a manga Satoru had been reading. The trio had been in Shoko’s personal lab where she studied medicines and other chemicals. The mixture had stained the manga pages quite badly, but Satoru didn’t show a hint of anger. Suguru thought it was because Satoru was rich enough to buy an entire library’s worth of manga, which was accurate. However, Satoru giggled and raised one of the stained pages in the air, making sure the blinding lights of Shoko’s lab were aimed at the paper. Suguru and Shoko had asked what the other was doing, and Satoru motioned them to come closer. Positioning himself on the ground, Suguru saw that the page of Gojo’s manga had become legible from the fluorescent light. As long as the other boy kept the pages to the brightest angle of light, he could read them.

And so could Suguru. As he commanded the curse to move underneath the scroll, he slowly could see the full paintings. It was a slow process, having to make the curse direct its small light to reveal equally small pieces of the remaining paintings. There were three remaining paintings of the scroll. The first one was a painting of the draconic cursed soul surrounded by what looked like a galaxy of eyes. Around the painting was a cycle of sorts. The start of the cycle was a picture depicting a person making eye contact with the birdlike cursed soul. Next, the person would be marked with an eye on their forehead and collapse and hold their head in agony. Following, they would be shown graphic images to torment their minds. The two next parts of the cycle depicted the person’s hallucinations getting worse and worse. The hallucinations themselves contained a bird the most. On the second to last part of the cycle, the bird seen in the hallucinations appeared on the person’s head, pecking the eye on their forehead. The last part was the eye disappearing along with the images, the person now smiling while holding the bird close. The second painting showed a battle between an army and the man Sukuna had made a vow with. The battle was painted in six stages. First, the army arrived at the throne, which was made of bones, of the man and Sukuna. Second, the army battled the man while Sukuna watched in the shadows, smiling. Third, ten square symbols appear on the man’s hand and he is surrounded by four beams of fire, each appearing to have a different form of matter. Fourth, the charred remains of the army now burn at the man’s feet. Fifth, Sukuna appears next to the man with a hand on his shoulder. Finally, the man is sitting on the throne with the added bones of the army while Sukuna stands behind the man with his four arms ensnaring him. The third and final painting was the man and Sukuna kneeling in front of each other, with one small soul above their heads and another larger soul connecting the two. The six guardians are wrapped around them. Each one has their eyes closed in a deep slumber.

The scroll ended with a drawing of a little boy. It was so faded that Suguru had to practically shove his head against the scroll to see the tiny sketch. The boy was in the grass with his arms wrapped around his knees, looking onto the horizon. The child is leaning against a great peach tree with the outlines of six peaches, however the outlines were not colored in, making it look like the peaches were missing or even stolen. The boy was crying, yet he had a smile, just the slightest upturn of his lips.

There was a clear story being told, but Suguru knew it would take him hours to decipher it. From what he could gather, it was a story of pain, bloodshed, and rebirth. The last picture of the little boy by the barren peach tree made Suguru feel a deep pang of sadness. Could the boy whose soul was given to Sukuna be Itadori Yuuji? Was Yuuji the baby the cursed souls were so committed to protecting? Suguru had a strong inkling that that was the case with Yuuji. Killed too young, but unable to rest with his soul and body being split and hidden away. Forced to wait alone until he was reborn.

Suguru thought about Riko, the girl who was supposed to be lost forever in Tengen without a say in the matter.

With care, Suguru rerolled the scroll and tied the twine around it once more. He knelt by the scroll for a long, long time. He needed to investigate the scroll more, preferably with the help of Yaga and his friends. Additionally, the textbook written by Itadori Kaori still had much to explore. The only reports of the cursed souls needed to be taken as well. However, Suguru only had two arms. He needed something capable of carrying all of this without damaging the fragile scrolls. A personal inventory of sorts.

He knew exactly what curse to use.

He just didn’t want to use it.

“Dammit. The things I do for you, Satoru.” Suguru muttered to himself. He sighed shakily and summoned the curse Toji had once held. The long body of the worm made the black-haired boy shiver in disgust. The memories the worm brought flashed in his mind, and Suguru had to bite his lip to stop from hyperventilating. This was the only curse Suguru had that scared him. He had only absorbed it as an act of petty revenge against Toji, with no intents of ever using it. Suguru felt bile in the back of his throat as the worm wiggled and wrapped against him. With his eyes shut tight, he picked up the first writing he felt, shoving it in the worm's mouth. He did it against and again until the large scroll on the ground was left.

The worm looked at him with its horrid, purple face. Suguru felt its stare and shivered violently. “I hate you. I need you to know that I hate you.” He spat.

The curse didn’t respond.

He sat on the ground and gathered the heavy scroll into his arms. With his eyes still snapped shut, he commanded the worm to start swallowing the scroll. He truly hoped Toji was watching from hell as his supposed servant now worked for the sorcerers he had tried to kill.

Once the worm finished swallowing the scroll, Suguru dismissed it and immediately felt the tension within his body disappear.

He stood to his full height, stretching his arms above his head until he felt multiple things pop. His sore body ached fiercely, but Suguru couldn’t stop now. The last scroll had finally given Suguru what he needed to help Satoru. While the full story within the scroll was yet to be deciphered, a way to free his best friend’s mind had been revealed.

The cycle surrounding the bird-dragon entity. A bird had shown up the most in the person’s hallucinations. The bird then freed the person by breaking the eye attached to the victim’s forehead. Once the eye broke, the person was freed.

Suguru was likely the one showing up the most in Satoru’s hallucinations, accounting for the white-haired boy’s reported attempts at killing him. Perhaps seeing the one tormenting him the most suddenly helping him would break Satoru out of his trance more efficiently. Or perhaps make the hallucinations weaker if the subject of the hallucination is acting in contrast to the contents of said hallucination. Either way, it’d provide an opening of sorts to rid Satoru of his torment.

He would free Satoru. No matter what. Suguru will succeed. There was no need to think of another plan if he fails. Because he won’t fail.

He wouldn’t forgive himself if he failed.

At some point, Shoko had stopped being surprised by the many antics her insane friends got into. Sure, when they first met, Shoko was caught off guard many times by Satoru and Suguru’s high jinks. It didn’t take long for Shoko to become an accomplice herself in their mischief. Now, Satoru could come into her office covered in chicken feathers with Suguru holding a rabid curse like a puppy, and Shoko wouldn’t bat an eye. It sounded like she was exaggerating, but she had seen the chaotic pair do weirder. As innocent as Suguru looked, she knew that it took practically zero convincing from Satoru to make the black-haired boy join in whatever prank the other was conctoing or vice versa. As long as they didn’t target her, Shoko didn’t care. They had tried to prank her once, but then remembered that she is the one with the best snacks and unlimited library of illegally downloaded movies and television shows.

Their antics made her smile.

This, however, did not.

“Do you think Satoru would calm down if we unleashed him in a candy shop or some sh*t?” Shoko spoke around her unlit cigarette. She wasn’t allowed to smoke in Tengen’s corridors, and all her nerves were already fried. Next to her, Yaga sighed heavily, looking like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. In a way, it was.

“No. Despite Satoru’s sweet tooth, I doubt that would be enough to return him to his normal state.” Yaga grumbled, arms crossed. His sunglasses blocked all view of his eyes, but the girl could see how tense her teacher’s body was. “Any attempts at releasing him would be seen as treason to jujutsu society, ending in our executions.”

“Worth a shot.”

“Don’t even think about releasing him, Shoko.”

“What makes you think I’d do something that stupid? That’s Suguru’s job.”

“To be stupid or release Satoru?”

No response.

The girl looked at her teacher. Her teacher looked at her. Tension formed in the air as the elder awaited the younger’s response. Without further hesitation, Shoko met Yaga’s stare head on.

“Both.”

“Shoko.” An exhausted sigh escaped Yaga’s lips, he rubbed his temples to ward off the incoming headache. He took off his sunglasses to start rumbling the bridge of his nose as well. He was so damn tired. These kids. They’ve gotten quite attached to one another. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a group of students willing to go so far for each other. In any other world, this would be a good thing, but it is only seen as something to take advantage of in this cruel world. “Suguru will not be releasing Satoru, the decision is up to the elders.”

“That’s bullsh*t and you know it.” An unexpectedly sharp tone bled its way into Shoko’s normal monotone. Her passive features twisted in a deadly glare and scowl. The cigarette fell from her mouth as she roughly grabbed the collar of Yaga’s shirt. Despite her small stature, the strength of her iron grip could not be ignored. “Stop turning belly up every time the elders are involved in something! They don’t care about you or any of us! They certainly don’t care about Satoru! They’re going to try to execute him the second our backs are turned! Because they’re f*cking COWARDS!”

“Enough, Shoko-”

A violent tremor shook the ground the two stood on. Instantly, Shoko let go of Yaga and snapped her gaze to the source of the tremor. Or, more accurately, the person.

The one causing the building to shake was the one and only Gojo Satoru, bound from head to toe in chains and protective talismans. However, the talismans were there to protect others from Satoru, not Satoru himself.

His arms were crossed behind his back and connected to a long chain on the ceiling, forcing the teen’s arms to be in an extremely uncomfortable position. Each leg had a metal bracelet with spikes on the inside, the chain of the bracelets being built into the floor. A heavy belt of chains wrapped around Satoru’s torso for the sole purpose of making it harder for the boy to move and breathe. His mouth was bound tightly with rope covered in more talismans. A much thicker rope was wrapped around his eyes with enchanted fabrics and talismans sewn into every fiber. The cracked floor next to Satoru’s left foot was the cause of the tremor. Satoru had stomped a hole into the floor due to the loud argument Shoko and Yaga were having. His mindless rage returned instantly, causing the boy to thrash in his bindings like a madman.

Drool pooled from the makeshift gag as Satoru writhed in frenzied outrage. He was trying to go towards where he heard Shoko’s voice, but the bindings were not long enough to allow him anything more than a step. Satoru’s muffled howls and screams made Shoko feel nauseous. One of her closest, goofiest friend’s had been reduced to a rabid animal. More cracks litter the floor as Satoru dug his feet into the stone floors, similar to a raging bull. Despite his attempts, the teen was no closer to being free. Satoru was in the middle of a wide room, so he had no walls to lean against or kick . A barrier was put up in addition to Satoru’s bindings. Neither Shoko nor Yaga could go through. It further made Shoko feel like she was looking at an animal at a zoo exhibit.

“Do you really trust the elders with Satoru?” Shoko whispered, not taking her eyes off of her maddened friend.

“No. I don’t.”

“Do you trust Suguru with Satoru?” She glanced at Yaga, who was stone faced while looking at his former student.

“Absolutely.” Yaga spared a quick glance at Shoko before glancing back at the imprisoned boy.

“Then let him help, sensei. Please.” It was the softest and most vulnerable Yaga had ever heard Shoko. She was normally such a level-headed girl, bordering on apathetic. He felt his doubts wash away at the sheer desperation in her voice. She didn’t show it, but Yaga knew how deeply the teen cared for her peers.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. Yaga nodded firmly. “Alright.”

For the first time in months, Shoko smiled. “Alright.”

The next couple hours were spent with Yaga and Shoko standing guard over Satoru. Neither of them were comfortable enough with leaving the boy in such a vulnerable state on his own. Each watched with increasing sadness as Satoru’s mind and body deteriorated. His feet were bloodied from his constant kicking and stomping. His ankles were ripped to shreds from the spikes of the metal cuffs. A small pool of blood had gathered beneath Satoru as a result. His wrists were rubbed raw from his thrashing, minutes away from becoming as bloody as his ankles. With his arms being forced to be crossed and raised in the air for so long, Satoru had begun trembling from the strain. His arms were covered in angry, red blotches from the uneven blood flow. To make things worse, the pain in his arms had grown so unbearable that the rope covering Satoru’s eyes became soaked in the boy’s tears. His chest heaved with every breath from the chains around his torso. Despite having reverse cursed technique, Satoru was in no state to use it nor remember that he even had it . Shoko felt useless. She was the healer, yet she was not allowed to go inside the barrier and heal Satoru’s wounds.

Sporadically, Satoru would have bursts of energy and start howling and thrashing. It was clear that he was trying to go towards where Shoko and Yaga stood, but couldn’t. Whether it was to attack them or not was unknown. There was one terrifying moment where Satoru tried activating his cursed technique. A blue light showed in his palms and the corridors trembled like a wobbly stack of blocks. Shoko would have yelled at Satoru if it wasn’t for Yaga reminding her that it would not snap Satoru out of his trance. Eventually, Satoru’s energy dropped and the glow went away. He twitched and muffled various things for almost an hour nonstop.

Currently, Satoru had quieted down. His loose white shirt, provided by the lost and found bin the school had, was stained with blood, sweat, and drool. His body was constantly trembling from the muscles being strained for far too long. It looked like his knees would buckle at any minute with how harsh the tremors were. The black pants he wore were too short on his lanky legs and revealed the deep bruising Satoru had given himself by repeatedly kicking at the stone floor. Wheezes escaped the boy’s bound lips. Shoko had no doubt in her mind that his ribs were bruised or even fractured from the tight bindings. Despite his weakened state, she also knew that Satoru was still the strongest in the room. Even with Tengen’s barrier, the miasma cursed energy always held had gotten so thick that Shoko found it hard to breath. It felt like breathing something as volatile as electricity. Her hair as well as Yaga’s had become frizzled from the sheer power within the air. Satoru was still producing cursed energy, likely from his hallucinations causing the boy to think he was in a battle of sorts. However, the cursed energy had nowhere to go due to the talismans and barrier. Moreover, the surplus of energy felt unstable. It reminded Shoko of how Satoru’s technique used to feel when he was a first-year still figuring his powers out. Erratic and ready to ignite at a moment’s notice.

Shoko had decided to sit down after the first half-hour of watching her friend. Fighting off the want to leave and go smoke had taken all of her focus. So much so that she barely registered her phone going off. Yaga had to shake her awake.

“Check your phone. And silence it when you're done.” Yaga mumbled. He patted her shoulder before promptly walking off the opposite side of the room. Neither of them noticed how Satoru’s head tilted towards the sound of Yaga’s shoes clacking against the floor.

Blinking away her weariness, Shoko pulled out her phone, which miraculously still worked underground. It was a text from Suguru.

She shot up like a rocket. Relief flooded her so fast that Shoko blurted out, “It’s Suguru!”

Immediately, a snarl interrupted her mini-celebration. At the name of his supposed best friend, Satoru’s writhing began anew. However, his thrashing was the most violent it's ever been. The air grew thick with power, giving off the scent of ozone. Yaga slapped a hand against his face and groaned. His students were amazing, but stupid.

“sh*t.” Shoko lowered his voice and body. She went back to her phone and read the series of texts Suguru sent her.

curse_gobbler: @lesbianmalpractice i’ve figured out a way to save @xXxlimitlessfirby42069xXx (Today at 6:08 PM)

curse_gobbler: find a way to get him out of that barrier. i need more time to set up some things on my end. (Today at 6:09 PM)

curse_gobbler: try to send him to the arena we use during exchange events. idc how you do it just do it please. if you can’t do that just send him to the surface and i’ll figure it out. it’s best to have him in the forest (Today at 6:11 PM)

curse_gobbler: text me when you free him pls (Today at 6:12 PM.)

curse_gobbler: if you don’t free him, i will literally kill u and kms (Today at 6:12 PM)

lesbianmalpractice: got it. i think talking sh*t about u will work. satoru started f*cking snarling the second he heard ur name. (Today at 6:13 PM)

curse_gobbler: damn. just get him to activate his limitless and i’m sure it’ll be stronger than tengen’s barrier. (Today at 6:14 PM)

lesbianmalpracitice: u think that satoru’s limitless is more powerful than tengen’s barrier? (Today at 6:14 PM)

curse_gobbler: it has to be. otherwise i can’t do sh*t. i’m not going to consider anything other than success. i refuse to. (Today at 6:14 PM)

lesbianmalpractice: you’ll succeed suguru. no one knows satoru like u. and when this is all over, we’ll have a movie marathon and sleep for a week. and change satoru’s stupid username (Today at 6:15 PM)

curse_gobbler: i’m looking forward to it (Today at 6:15 PM)

lesbianmalpractice: i am too (Today at 6:16 PM)

“It’ll work.” Shoko whispered to herself. She put her phone in the pocket of her jacket and went to the very edge of Tengen’s barrier. She was so close that she could feel the energy the barrier was emitting. Like clockwork, Satoru lunged towards her, not going very far. One of the spikes within his ankles bracelets had become wedged deep into the skin, but Satoru showed no signs of pain. With a deep breath, Shoko shouted as loudly as she could. “SUGURU IS STRONGER THAN YOU. I HOPE SUGURU BEATS YOU TO A PULP. SUGURU IS GOING TO STOP YOU. SUGURU IS BETTER! SUGURU! SUGURU! SUGURU IS GOING TO SAVE YOU, SATORU!”

“What are you doing, Shoko?! Do you want him to-”

A shockwave of pure cursed energy caused each sorcerer to crash to the ground. Cracks littered the ground, even outside of Tengen’s barrier. Satoru screamed against his binds, thrashing so hard that Shoko heard several bones crack. The scent of ozone intensified until Shoko felt her nostrils burn. She motioned Yaga to come to her and not the line of fire.

Satoru roared as he jerkled his arms down, causing a sickening snap to fill the air.

He had broken his arms and dislocated his shoulders to have his hands in front of him. Screaming, Satoru pulled his wrists apart until the skin tore. Eventually, the chain connecting the shackles together snapped. With his arms bleeding profusely, Satoru raised his hands to the rope around his mouth and tugged harshly, immediately breaking it in two. Satoru spat the rope out and gasped deep lungfuls of air.

With each breath, the wounds around Satoru began to close. His reversed technique had finally kicked in with the removal of some of the talismans. Satoru tore apart the chains around his torso like paper, screaming while he did so. He broke into a coughing fit with the sudden decrease in pressure on his lungs. In seconds, Satoru recovered and went to the shackles around his heavily damaged ankles. Eachspike was embedded deep into his ankles. With a frustrated snarl, Satoru raised a hand in the air and chopped off his right ankle. Shoko felt herself recoil at the sight, wanting to instinctively go to her friend and slap him beside the head for being so reckless. However, the ankle was fully restored in the blink of an eye. Satoru repeated the same motion with his other ankle. With everything except for his eyes being freed, Satoru took the time to reset his shoulders. He showed no hint of pain. Instead of agonizing screams or whimpers, Satoru’s lips were moving in an apparent conversation with himself. He stopped suddenly and froze, his lips still busy frantically muttering nonsense.

Shoko saw how hard Satoru shook. Healing broken bones and amputated limbs took an indescribable amount of cursed energy. Satoru may have a well of cursed energy deeper than comprehension, but he was still human. He hadn’t drank or eaten in days and had just used massive amounts of cursed energy.

He needed a boost.

“SUGURU IS AT THE SCHOOL, SATORU! HE’S WAITING FOR YOU!”

It was exactly what he needed.

As if a switch had been flicked, Satoru jolted from his prior catatonic state. He locked his covered eyes with Shoko. “ Where. Where is he? ”

His voice was nearly unrecognizable with how raspy it was. It sounded painful, like each syllable was an agony to suffer through. She shook her head to rid herself of her worried thoughts. “He’s in the forest where the exchange event usually takes place! Suguru is waiting for you there, Satoru.” It was clear that the hallucinations were making Satoru see Suguru as some monster to be stopped. Shoko saw how tense Satoru was getting, a viper ready to strike. She backed away and motioned Yaga to do the same. “Yeah. Suguru’s there, Satoru. Suguru is dangerous. He’s already killed people.”

Before she could breathe, Satoru ripped off the rope around his eyes and bore his maddened gaze into Shoko. He banged his fists on the barrier. “WHO?! WHO DID HE KILL?! TELL ME NOW!”

Make him use limitless. Make him stronger than Tengen, even if it’s just for a second. He has to be stronger. He’ll die if he isn’t. She swallowed. “Everyone.”

It was silent for a moment before all hell broke loose. The ground, walls, and ceilings trembled as Satoru began to howl a scream of pure loss and pain. A purple glow was starting to emit from Satoru’s palms. In addition, the barrier shook with effort to contain the boy. It got brighter and brighter as Satoru charged up enough energy to blow up the whole country.

“WE HAVE TO GO.” Yaga shouted, grasping onto Shoko’s arms and running towards a random corridor. She ran alongside him, heart beating rapidly in her chest. The howls of rage echoes in the chambers. Shoko felt her lip wobble as she ran and bit it harsh enough to draw blood.

Thankfully it seemed that Tengen wasn’t upset at them, allowing them to pass through the many doors and pathways. All the while, the entire place shuddered. Debris started falling and the air around her grew hot and thick.

Just as Shoko and Yaga exited the Tombs of the Star Corridor, a violent explosion followed. With his reactivation of Limitless, Gojo Satoru managed to escape Tengen’s barrier. It couldn’t contain Infinite afterall. Moreover, all it takes is a single drop too many to make a container overflow.

Suguru felt his stomach drop the second he heard the explosion in the distance. Both from relief and dread. Relief for Satoru being freed, but dread for what’s to come. When Suguru told Shoko he had a plan, it was a complete lie. At best, he had the torn scraps of a plan that should be over one hundred pages long. For once, he was grateful for his technique allowing him such a large variety of abilities. He would need his adaptability in battle more than anything else.

The air around him grew heavy with what felt like static. Suguru stood his ground as he saw the bushes shake and trees tremble. He made sure his senses were strained to the limit to detect any signs of Satoru. The snap of a twig, the crunch of a leaf, even the scent of ice Satoru’s skin tended to have. Several of his curses were released into the forest, and he waited until he felt one of them be exorcized.

First one down.

Second.

Third.

Fourth. Firth. Sixth. Ninth. Thirteenth. Wait-

“Oh f*ck.” Suguru braced himself as all of his curses were exorcized in moments. He had thought that they would buy him some time, but he had forgotten how powerful Satoru truly was. Especially a Satoru with no restraint. “Please be-”

He didn’t even get to blink before he was tackled into the dirt, a bony knee stabbing into his back.

His curses were all semi-grade one and above. Satoru had defeated them all in less than a minute!

For the first time since meeting the white-haired boy, Suguru truly felt afraid of Gojo Satoru.

“I didn’t take you as the one to hide, Suguru. Sending weak curses after me instead of facing me head on. You’ve sure fallen from grace~” Satoru snarled into Suguru’s ear, his hot breath causing the other to shiver. An ice cold hand wrapped around Suguru’s hair and yanked. “Did you really think I’d let a bastard like you escape a second time? No. Unlike you, I learn from my mistakes.”

Suguru felt like he was about to be scalped with how hard Satoru held his hair. The knee on his back felt more like a knife digging into his spine. Having Satoru talk to him as if he was a monster made Suguru want to curl into a ball and disappear. All the thoughts he had about himself only being capable of hatred and anger reappeared. His eyes watered as Satoru yanked his hair again. He swore he felt something tear. He had been foolish. Suguru had thought that he would be able to handle Satoru, even if it was for a small amount of time. To even assume he was on the same level as Satoru was the most idiotic thing Suguru had ever done. There was no escaping Satoru’s grip.

“You’ve gotten away with far too much, Suguru. I can’t even look at you anymore without wanting to incinerate you into bits and pieces. Not that you deserve such a swift end. I’ll make it slow. Just like how you tortured me for years, I’ll do the same to you.”

The volatile tension in the air grew, and Suguru was suddenly filled with regrets. Even if Satoru was deep into his own tortured mind and hallucinations, Suguru still felt like there was a level of truth to his words. He had fallen from grace. Suguru had started as a reliable, respected sorcerer, the pride and joy of his family. He was molded to be the perfect little soldier, and he fulfilled that role for years. He always kept a polite smile on his face and made sure to be as selfless as possible. Anytime he tried to do something of his own fruition, Suguru would freeze like a glitching computer. He had no thoughts of his own, only the thoughts of what a ‘hero’ would do and how a ‘sorcerer’ should behave. He had eventually come to see the teachings of his elders as law. He believed in them like a dedicated sorcerer should. He helped non-sorcerer's without hesitation. That was what he was told was right. And wasn’t it the right thing to do? Helping someone couldn’t ever be seen as bad, right? His elders didn’t lie about that.

So why does Suguru feel like they did lie to him? They only wanted him to be the best sorcerer he could be, that wasn’t something to hate them for.

But Suguru still did.

He hated his teachers. He hated his parents even more. Suguru was the first sorcerer in his family line, so none of them knew what to do when their son started talking about seeing monsters in the walls. They quickly grew into seeing it as a blessing to be nurtured. His parents spent almost all their money on tutors, barely having enough for housing and food. Family members who he didn’t know existed flocked to Suguru and showered him in presents to further his career as a sorcerer. They sacrificed so much for him, so Suguru should be grateful. It was the fact that he wasn’t that bothered him greatly. His hatred towards his parents grew so intense that he dreamed of killing them multiple times. What kind of person thinks of killing their own parents? Suguru apparently. He was built wrong, malformed and useless. Saying that he’s a monster was not a stretch of the imagination by any means. His dark thoughts had grown this past year, only further proving Suguru’s point.

Maybe he should let Satoru kill him.

Afterall, he was the worst friend in the world. Satoru was friends with an empty shell, and empty shells can’t make a good friend. He just spat out rehearsed lines someone else had told him. Sure, he joked around with Satoru and they had become attached at the hip, but Satoru was friends with the perfect sorcerer Suguru was sculpted as. All of his thoughts and actions were based on those of another. The real Suguru didn’t know anything. What to think. How to feel. Why to continue on. His only true thought was his plan to rid the world of non-sorcerers. It had been the only thing that Suguru had believed in that wasn’t associated with his elder’s teachings in any way. That spoke bounds as to who Suguru truly was. A monster hellbent on killing innocents. That kind of person shouldn’t be Satoru’s friend. Not when Satoru was the most special thing in Suguru’s life. He couldn’t taint someone as pure as Satoru. It didn’t matter that they both had blood on their hands, Satoru’s soul was unstained. Suguru’s was stained by the putrid darkness within him. He had wanted to kill every non-sorcerer with a burning passion. A passion that was his own making. A passion that was just murder. Genocide. That was Suguru. A killing machine.

A monster who still wanted to kill non-sorcerers. The hatred hadn’t gone away, still raging inside him. He hated those monkeys. Even after everything, Suguru couldn’t let his hatred go. Any normal person would. Satoru would. Satoru was the person that took all the blows so no one else would. Satoru was loud, obnoxious, and infuriating. He enjoyed causing mischief and roped Suguru into his plans every time. Satoru reveled in the mayhem he caused, but there was so much more to him. For instance, Satoru would cause Suguru to laugh until his sides hurt and eyes watered without prompt. He would buy Suguru and Shoko the most lavish gifts just because he could, often showing up with decadent desserts and luxurious souvenirs for the two at any time. It didn't need to be their birthday, Satoru would just give Suguru the most expensive hoodie he had ever seen and try to justify his random gift by teasing Suguru about his style or some other weak excuse. Hell, Satoru had gifted Suguru a crystal statue of a dragon that was covered in diamonds and emeralds just because it reminded the boy of Suguru's Rainbow Dragon curse. No one had ever given Suguru gifts like that before. He was used to receiving textbooks and weapons on his birthday or during holidays. It was always about Suguru being a jujutsu sorcerer, not Suguru himself. Satoru, for some impossible reason, cared for Suguru. And Suguru was too selfish to tell Satoru to stop.

Satour was everything to him. Suguru couldn’t imagine his life without Satoru. He was beautiful and absolutely radiant . His one and only.

Yet Suguru was willing to leave him behind.

How many times did Satoru have nightmares of the Toji incident? Of Riko’s assassination and Satoru’s own assassination attempt? Suguru used to hold Satoru and cuddle him every time his closest friend had nightmares or was simply feeling down. He would hold onto Satoru tightly, and the other would hold him even tighter, whispering ‘thank yous’ nonstop. Satoru was someone who grew up without a shred of affection, so he clung to Suguru like a koala whenever he could. How hurt must have Satoru felt when Suguru never showed up to comfort him? f*ck . When was the last time he hugged Satoru? Truly embraced him, not the desperate hug he shared in a half-conscious state with Nanami and Satoru after the disastrous Sendai mission. An actual hug, the ones where no words are shared as Suguru wraps his arms around Satoru’s waist, and Satoru can feel Suguru’s warmth while Suguru can feel the pleasant coolness of Satoru’s ivory skin. The hugs where Satoru nuzzles into the crook of Suguru’s neck with a happy hum, fitting like perfect puzzle pieces against each other. The hugs that last so long that Suguru ends up flopping on his or Satoru’s bed, continuing to hold the other as sleep takes hold of Satoru first while Suguru cards his fingers through impossibly soft snow-white hair before falling asleep himself. The hugs that leave Suguru’s soul so light and whole that it’s physically painful to separate.

He couldn’t remember.

“I’m sorry.” Suguru blurted out, his voice shaky and watery. The second the words left him, it was like the floodgates of Suguru’s soul opened. Tears quickly formed in Suguru’s eyes, streaming down his face in seconds. HIs chest heaved as Suguru began to cry for the first time in over a year. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Satoru. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry -”

He couldn’t stop apologizing to Satoru. There was so much he had done that needed to be rectified. The grip around his hair loosened as Suguru, normally known for being composed and level headed, grew hysterical. His sobbing made his apologies slur together until even he didn’t know what he was saying. He didn’t stop. Even as he felt the dirt beneath his face turn muddy from his tears and snot, he continued to bawl like a toddler. He felt horrible. He felt so lost. He felt guilty and shameful and just badbadbad.

“ ‘M sorry, Satoru.” Suguru sobbed out, his chest aching with how forcefully he said those words. His very soul was aching, and he didn’t know how to make it stop. He was remembering everything all over again. His parents. His teachers. Jujutsu Sorcery. Satoru. Shoko. Yaga Nanami. Riko. Haibara. Toji . Finally, Suguru reached his breaking point. All the trauma and pain he had experienced came down all at once. He began to blubber like a child. “It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have left you! It’s all my fault you got hurt! Riko died ‘cause of me. I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t protect you! And then I left you all alone for months even though I knew how much you were hurting! I ignored you, and I shouldn’t have! I’m sorry, Satoru! I know I’m a monster! I know I’ve caused you so much pain! f*ck, you died for a moment and I wasn’t there! I don’t know how to be there for you anymore, Satoru! I don’t know how to do anything! I’m a f*cking fraud! I’m not a hero! I’m not good like you! You have every right to kill me! I’ll hurt more people if I live, that’s all I’m good at! And I’ve hurt you more than anyone else and I can’t do that! I can’t do this anymore, Satoru, so just do it already! Please -”

“NO!”

The knee on his back and grip on his hair disappeared. It shocked Suguru out of his meltdown, allowing the boy to take a much needed breath. He felt frozen as he breathed in harshly, the air thick with tension. So quiet that Suguru could only hear his own heartbeat and breath.

“Shut up. Shut the hell up this instant!” Satoru shrieked. In said instant, Suguru felt his heart skip a beat at the unhinged tone. It sounded nothing like the Satoru he knew, his voice was completely unrecognizable. Identical to someone deemed deranged or a lunatic.

Silence overcame them once more. Neither moving an inch.

The trembling breaths of Satoru were the only clue as to where the teen was, which was directly behind Suguru. Somehow, Satoru felt far too close and incredibly far away at the same time.

“Be quiet, you bastard… Just shut up. Don’t cry like that…Please not like that! I can’t take it. I can’t either. It’s too much.” Satoru whispered in a terrified plea, a complete shift from his prior cold brutality. The weak murmurs of the white-haired teen paralyzed Suguru. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to…I didn’t… I’m sorry. Come back to me, please…Don’t go…”

Satoru then grew silent for several, tense minutes.

Then Satoru moved.

A few twigs snapped as Satoru walked around a still prone Suguru. He looked down at him, but Suguru noticed the violent shaking of his fists. Satoru, only clad in a dirty shirt and too short pants, had no sunglasses to hide his eyes. The clarity Suguru expected to see was nonexistent. They were foggy and unfocused. His eyelids twitched, and Suguru could see just how unstable Satoru was. His own mind was too exhausted to come up with a plan, energy drained from his outburst. Suguru rose from the floor to his knees, not feeling confident enough to stand.

Satoru inhaled sharply. He glared at Suguru and barked out, “Don’t say that! Don’t you dare say that, you f*cking asshole! Quit throwing yourself a pity party!” The teen then gripped the collar of his shirt tightly and looked at the dirt. His form shook as Satoru’s head twitched. His hands then wrenched to his head and started clawing at his cheeks. Satoru heaved in violent breaths. “Quit acting like him! You’re not him! Right?! Are you him?! But your forehead…It’s not…Is it there?! I can’t remember! sh*t, I can’t remember anything!”

He’s still hallucinating . Suguru remembered with a gasp. His breakdown had left him empty and exhausted. Yet, Suguru had no time to rest. He had to pull himself together and help Satoru. Even so, his mind wasn’t cooperating whatsoever. His body was sapped of all energy, his head pounded, his eyes burned, his stomach ached from both nausea and hunger, and Suguru wanted to curl up in a ball forever. Both his body and mind were useless. It was like trying to tie two broken strings together, only the strings have gotten so weathered and thin that it breaks each time a knot is attempted. Suguru made eye contact with Satoru, feeling like the scum of the earth. “Satoru-”

“Shut up!” Satoru wrenched his body from Suguru like it burned him. He took several steps back with shaking legs. “I’ve heard enough!”

“Satoru, please-”

“BE QUIET!”

In a flash, Satoru was gripping Suguru by the collar of his jacket, holding him high in the air effortlessly. The forest around them seemed to grow quiet as the two stared at each other.

Being so close, Suguru saw how terrible Satoru looked. He had forgotten that he had been comatose for several days while Satoru had been awake the entire time. Satoru had been hallucinating for days . Satoru’s body trembled nonstop, and Suguru noticed how translucent and sickly his skin looked. Blood was stained around his shirt and pants, sweat beaded from his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot. The bags around his cloudy eyes and the slight hollowness of his cheeks meant that Satoru hadn’t slept or eaten since the Sendai mission.

His body is shutting down. He’s going to pass out some time soon. I just have to wait it out. Suguru raised his tired arms to grasp the hand holding his collar. It didn’t budge, but Suguru held onto it tightly. He remembered the cycle the painting showed.

The bird that plagued the victim’s mind the most pecked the victim's forehead, making the eye on their head disappear and freeing the victim.

Pecking.

An idea popped into Suguru's chaotic mind, the most idiotic idea he had ever had. But he had nothing else.

Suguru summoned a curse to drag him back to the ground. The moment its tentacle wrapped around Suguru’s leg and pulled, Satoru jolted in surprise. Once his feet were planted on the ground, Suguru took advantage of Satoru being distracted, wrapping his arms around Satoru’s shoulders. Satoru snapped his head towards Suguru, his cloudy eyes unable to focus. Not allowing Satoru the chance to center himself, he went through with his desperate idea.

He crashed his forehead down on Satoru’s in a brutal headbutt.

The painful snap of both their necks was disorienting, a welt already beginning to form, but Suguru seized the opportunity to free himself from Satoru’s grip. Blood streamed down each of their foreheads, but Satoru was the most affected. He went to grasp his head, dizziness causing Satoru to wobble and sway.

Suguru got into a defensive position, fists ready to retaliate. His eyes frantically searched for an eyeball on Satoru’s head, but he found none. The eyeball must have been symbolic then. That makes things so much harder! I can’t tell if I broke him out of the trance or not! He hissed as the pain in his head intensified. Battling would be impossible with Suguru in such a state.

“What the hell, Suguru?! Why did you do that?! That hurt!”

There it is. The bright voice Satoru was supposed to have. His impulsive idea had worked.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, Satoru! Are you with me now? Can you see me?” Suguru, ignoring his mind’s warning, walked towards Satoru. He had his hands low in a placating gesture. He felt relief, but he still approached with trepidation. Satoru made no moves to attack. In fact, the boy was rubbing the bleeding welt on his forehead with a pout. “Satoru?”

“You’re lucky I can use the Reverse Cursed Technique, or else Shoko would have beat your ass. Damn, your head is like a rock, no wonder you’re so dense sometimes!” Satoru giggled. He looked like the Satoru who Suguru had come to know. With ease, Satoru healed himself and glanced at Suguru with a smirk. However, it faded as quickly as it appeared. Both of Satoru’s arms went limp at his sides. He froze like a statue, boring his eyes into Suguru’s. Disregarding the warning signs, Suguru stepped closer until he was inches apart from his friend. With the most gentleness Suguru could muster, he placed a hand on Satoru’s shoulder with his other hand cupping Satoru’s cheek. The white-haired boy’s head went limp in Suguru’s hold. His trembling grew even stronger, along with Satoru now gasping for breath.

“Satoru!” Suguru wrapped both arms tightly around Satoru’s chest, knowing what to do on instinct alone. One hand rubbed his back in soothing strokes while the other soothes fingers through Satoru’s hair. The movements were smooth and well-practiced. He felt Satoru put all of his weight on Suguru suddenly. Thinking that he had passed out, Suguru leaned back to gaze at Satoru. Only he was still awake. However, the cloudiness of Satoru’s eyes faded more and more. Satoru’s hyperventilating grew into slow, deep breaths.

He was back. Satoru was back.

Then he felt Satoru violenting wrench away.

Satoru stumbled to a random log with his hand covering his mouth. He used the log as support as Satoru began to gag and retch. Because there was no food to throw up, Satoru was left uncontrollably dry-heaving. On autopilot, Suguru went to Satoru and helped get his hair out of his face. It was second nature to be near Satoru, so Suguru ignored the ozone tint of the air to rub Satoru’s back. His mind was so discombobulated that Suguru forgot the delicate circ*mstance he was in.

The sun had begun to set when Satoru stopped retching nothing but stomach acid. Satoru spit on the ground and shakily got up. When Suguru tried to help Satoru stand more stably, he realized that there was more going on with Satoru than Suguru thought. He seemed to be in reality, but his behavior was off-kilter. Satoru pushed Suguru away, the evening sun casting a deep orange glow on the forest and teens. There were no signs of Satoru hallucinating, but Satoru was still acting strange with his wide eyes locking with Satoru’s.

“Are you-”

“You were going to defect and kill all non-sorcerers, right? Get rid of the ‘monkeys’. Killing hundreds of people and your own parents. You were gonna do that, right?”

All of Suguru’s veins turned to ice. “How-”

“Don’t give me any bullsh*t, Suguru. You had a plan to annihilate all non-sorcerers from Japan. I need an answer. No excuses. Did you plan to exterminate non-sorcerers and defect from Jututsu society? Yes or no?”

It felt like Satoru was towering over Suguru, a god looking down upon mere ants. Suguru clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. Was Satoru paying attention when Suguru brokedown? Did he know beforehand? No matter how Satoru obtained the information, he was expecting Suguru to respond. With no doubt or hesitation, Suguru answered. “Yes.”

“Why.”

It took Suguru by surprise to hear Satoru not scream at him or kill him for his plans. He blinked, waiting for any further responses from Satoru, but the teen simply stood stiffly with a piercing gaze. Suguru looked down at the dirt. He scowled at the memories that flooded in. Riko. Toji. The applause. The deafening f*cking applause. “They’re monkeys, Satoru. Their inability to control cursed energy has caused us jujutsu sorcerers to die fighting the curses they create! Jujutsu sorcerers die day in and day out because the monkeys continue to live! That’s all they are, Satoru! What have they ever done for us? Have they died for us?! Have they ever tried returning the favor?! The answer is they haven’t! We die for them . We fight murderous curses constantly for them . We have our comrades slaughtered for them . I have to consume and absorb curses over and over and over again FOR THEM ! AND THEY’RE NOT EVEN GRATEFUL! THEY’RE MONKEYS WHO KNOW NOTHING BUT TO APPLAUSE FOR THEIR OWN STUPIDITY! Listen, Satoru! Without the monkeys, we wouldn’t have to fight curses ever again! This country would be much better off with only jujutsu sorcerers! I hate those monkeys, all they have ever done is be cruel and ungrateful, and I’m not going to be convinced to believe otherwise.” The more Suguru spoke, the more emboldened he became. The hateful passion ignited once more, and Suguru told Satoru the plan he had been cultivating for a year.

It was disturbing to see Suguru go from staying calm to completely melting down to yelling out all of his digressions with humanity. He knew it was wrong of him, but the control of his emotions had vanished. He was a sea of anger, regret, and grief, the waves moving him in all directions with no chance of allowing Suguru to choose where he went. He was unstable. Satoru was unstable. Both boys were in horrible headspaces, only having each other to lean on, not knowing how the suffering within them grew worse and worse.

“You hate non-sorcerers.”

“I do…”

“Non-sorcerers are monkeys that contribute nothing to our world.”

“Yeah. They are monkeys. I can’t see them any other way.”

“...”

“...”

“Was Riko a dumb, drooling monkey that deserves to die?” Satoru asked with an eerily calm voice. His expression was hidden due to the lack of light from the setting sun. He co*cked his head to the side and scoffed. “Would you have killed her yourself if she was still here?”

All of Suguru’s fire went out. He didn’t know the answer to that. Suguru was planning to kill his parents since there were no exceptions in his quest for eradicating monkeys. The thought of killing Riko made bile rise in his throat. Suguru scoffed. “She’s dead, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Quit deflecting Suguru. I need an answer.” Satoru replied coolly. The two best friends looked like they were about to face each other in a battle of the death. Dark orange shined on Suguru’s features while a reddish-orange encased Satoru. A foot apart. Face to face. The Strongest.

While Gojo Satoru had been broken out of his hellish reprieve, his brain was permanently altered. The trance causing him to hallucinate was broken when Getou Suguru made contact with his forehead. He had unknowingly fulfilled a binding vow. In exchange for making the psychic attack exponentially stronger, a way to break it was implemented: the main subject of the hallucinations must make skin to skin contact with the victim head. No one that had suffered under the psychic attack had ever managed to be freed. The first person to break out of the trance was Gojo Satoru. However, there was more to Gojo Satoru’s trance. Unbeknownst to Getou Suguru, Gojo Satoru had been given over two decades of information in the span of a couple days. His brain suffered permanent damage. In an act of pure impulsive and reckless thought, Gojo Satoru made a gamble he would have never made prior to the attack.

“If you tell me that Riko is a monkey who deserves to die, and you mean it whole-heartedly, then I will join you and help eradicate all non-sorcerers. I’ll even make a binding vow that will ensure my loyalty if you have doubts. Just tell me you hate Riko, and I’ll go with you to make your plans become a reality.”

Out of anything that Satoru could have uttered, this was the most unexpected outcome of all. In no world did Suguru imagine that Satoru would agree with him and join him. It should be impossible for someone like Satoru to be willing to do such a thing. A binding vow was a serious matter in all cases, and Satoru just opened himself up to one. Imagining Satoru by his side while they get rid of all monkeys was both a pipedream and Suguru’s worst nightmare. He couldn’t do that to Satoru. He was too good of a person.

Yet he was offering his aid and loyalty. All Satoru needed was Suguru to admit what he truly thinks about Riko, that she is a monkey like the rest of non-sorcerers.

If Suguru admitted such a thing and meant it, then the binding vow would be fulfilled immediately. Satoru would join his side and defect from Jujutsu Society. He could finally leave. His plans were no longer farfetched with someone like Satoru by his-

Someone like Satoru would hate every second.

He couldn’t do that to Satoru. Making Satoru suffer in such a way would be the cruelest thing Suguru had ever done. Satoru meant too much to Suguru. He couldn’t drag Satoru from his place in the stars to the dark hellscape Suguru belonged in.

And to top everything off…

Suguru couldn’t say Riko was a monkey and mean it. It would be a total lie.

Would he have to give up on his plans? He wanted to stay with his friends, but wanted to leave and get rid of the monkeys that caused them to get hurt. Haibara was killed by a curse. A curse spawned from non-sorcerers. His friends would never suffer again if he eradicated the source of all curses.

Riko was a non-sorcerer.

Were there curses that spawned from Riko’s negative emotions?

How many sorcerers were killed by those curses? Should she-

I want to be with everyone longer!

I want to go to all kinds of places with everyone!

I want to see all kinds of things and do more!

Riko loved life and wanted to see all parts of it. She loved life more than anyone he had ever met. She was like the little sister Suguru never had.

Let’s go home, Riko-chan.

Yeah!

But a bullet through her skull snuffed out her light.

What if he was the one holding the gun, seeing her as just another monkey to exterminate?

Non-sorcerers were monkeys. Riko was a non-sorcerer, but was she-

“She’s not.” Suguru gasped out. His eyes immediately began to water. “She didn’t deserve to be killed! All she wanted to do was stay with us and Misato-san! That’s all she wanted, Satoru! But that monkey Toji shot her before she had a chance to live that life! She and Misato-san were the only good non-sorcerers, but they’re dead! There aren’t any other non-sorcerers worth sparing left! Don’t you remember how those monkey’s applauded Riko-chan’s death?! None of them are worth sparing! None!”

“What makes you think a society of sorcerers would be better?!” Satoru snapped back. He grit his teeth in a snarl. “Sorcerers are worse than non-sorcerers! If non-sorcerers are monkeys, then I’m a f*cking monster!”

What?

“Satoru, you are no-” Suguru instantly went to shut down such false claims.

“OF COURSE I AM!” It felt like Suguru had been slapped in the face. Satoru marched over towards Suguru and pushed him. Hard. There was so much force that Suguru was sent slamming into a tree, causing the bark to splinter and crack. Satoru wasn’t finished. His rage was palpable in the air. His eyes seemed to glow with how intensely they glared at the black-haired teen. “I BARELY EVEN TOUCHED YOU, AND YOU WERE SENT SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET! SORCERERS ARE MONSTERS COMPARED TO NON-SORCERERS! AND I’M THE WORST OF THEM ALL. YOU KEEP SAYING HOW NON-SORCERERS ARE MONKEYS, LIKE THEY AREN’T EVEN HUMAN ANYMORE! JUST PESTS TO BE REMOVED! WHAT DOES THAT MAKE ME THEN, HUH?! I’VE KILLED PEOPLE! I’VE HURT PEOPLE! I’M MORE OF A MONSTER THAN ANYONE ELSE! DO YOU KNOW HOW BADLY I WANT TO BE HUMAN?! I DON’T WANT TO BE SOME f*ckING WEAPON! I NEVER ASKED TO BE A SORCERER, AND NON-SORCERERS DON’T CHOOSE TO SPAWN CURSES! I’LL NEVER BE A HUMAN! NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY!”

A blast of pure cursed energy shot from Satoru’s palms. The explosion that followed caused several trees to crash and even more ignite in flames. Tears of utter rage flowed down Satoru’s cheeks. He went to Suguru and yanked him into a standing position. With the sun almost set and the fire spreading, the forest looked to be bathed in crimson. Satoru gestured a sweeping hand towards the growing inferno. He let out a painful laugh.

“This is me, Suguru!” Satoru let Suguru go unceremoniously and spread his arms wide. “In a society where non-sorcerers with no abilities are deemed monkeys, then I can only be this! A monster of pure destruction!” Satoru said cheerily, sending another blast of cursed energy through the forest, causing a crater to be formed where the great trees once stood. “This is me holding back, Suguru! What would I be in your perfect society if I can do this, hm~”

Suguru looked at Satoru in horror. No. The only monster was Suguru. Satoru wasn’t. If he was a monster, then Suguru didn’t know what he would classify at. His body was covered in scrapes with bruises quickly forming. Something had definitely fractured and blood was pouring from the cuts on his skull. Even so, he stood tall. “You’re not a monster! You save people with those powers-”

“I don’t.” Satoru whispered. It was then like all the energy had been sapped out of Satoru. Finally, the dehydration, sleep deprivation, and lack of food caught up to the boy, even someone as powerful as Gojo Satoru. He collapsed into Suguru’s arms, who had instinctively gone to catch him. Satoru’s body couldn't take it anymore. While Satoru remained conscious, he felt the exhaustion within his very bones call for him. He refused to give in. “I don’t save people, Suguru. I never really have. I’m much better at the opposite. sh*t, I had already killed two people before I even turned ten! How wild is that? You know, I killed the puppy I was given for my seventh birthday after one day of having her. I accidentally petted her too hard and snapped her neck. And that was me trying my best to be gentle! That’s me, Suguru. I’m a freak of nature. So…How can you hate non-sorcerers so much if I’m worse?”

The blistering heat of the fire was uncomfortable, but Suguru kept holding Satoru despite the rising temperatures. It was getting harder to breathe with the smoke from the forest fire that had gotten out of control. They needed to move, but Suguru stayed put. He couldn’t move if he tried. He was in a state of utter shock. Processing Satoru’s words was frying Suguru’s brain. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around Satoru seeing himself as anything but incredible. Suguru placed his cheek against Satoru’s soft hair. “I’m sorry, Satoru. You’re not a monster. You’re the complete opposite. You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen, and everything about you makes me feel like I’m in the presence of an angel more often than not.” Suguru let out a small smile when he felt Satoru snort at his words. He ignored the flames as a wave of serenity came over him. It felt like they were in their own bubble of sorts. “To be honest…I don’t know who I am or what I believe anymore. I hate non-sorcerers, but labeling Riko as a monkey would be tarnishing her name. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, Satoru. That’s why I distanced myself for all this time. You were figuring things out while everything around me was unraveling. I didn’t want to drag you down with me. I thought I’d get my sh*t together, but I didn’t. I just got worse.” Suguru tightened his hold on Satoru at that. He had gotten to his lowest, darkest points this past year. No good came out of his self-isolation. “I still don’t know what to do now, but I do know that I’m not leaving you. I want to stay by your side if you’d let me. Maybe we can figure things out together. I found out so much about cursed souls, and we’ll need to be ready for Sukuna. We need to prepare for a lot of things. I’d be a dick and an idiot if I left now. I’m staying. I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore after this, but I’ll still help you and the others in any way I can. I promise, Satoru. I’ll be with you in whatever way you’ll allow me.”

Satoru shifted in his hold, a sign to be let go. Feeling anxiety ice his nerves, Suguru loosened his embrace. He prepared himself for Satoru’s rejection and scorn. He deserved it after all he put Satoru through.

Instead, Satoru didn’t yell. He didn’t look upset whatsoever. He rolled his eyes with such fondness that Suguru felt his cheeks burn far hotter than the flames around them.

He cupped Suguru’s cheeks.

“This is for being an asshole and leaving me alone for a year.”

Satoru slapped him. A red handprint immediately started to form on Suguru’s face. “I deserve that.”

“You do.” Satoru then cupped his cheeks once more. His eyes shone in joy, but Suguru had no clue what was the cause of Satoru’s happiness. Is it because he’ll be free of Suguru? It made sense if so. Suguru was a blight on Satoru’s future. He was horrible and selfish. Bad all around. Someone like him didn’t deserve to be around someone as perfect as-

Satoru pressed his lips against his own.

Oh .

Before Satoru pulled away, Suguru melted into the kiss. Satoru let out a happy hum and wrapped his arms around Suguru’s neck. Neither of them cared about the sweat, blood, and dirt that covered the other. The kiss seemed to last for centuries despite being a few seconds.

“That’s for staying.” Satoru whispered against Suguru’s lips. Both took in some much needed air, faces centimeters apart. “I’m not letting you leave.”

“I’ll hold you to it, Satoru.” He smiled into their next kiss, both of them suddenly insatiable now that they finally had a taste of the other. The months of loneliness and longing were over. Suguru didn’t feel lost anymore. He had Satoru and the others to help guide him down a new path. It would be a slow process, but Suguru wouldn’t be alone for a second of it.

As their kisses got deeper, Suguru felt a hole within his soul, a hole he didn’t even realize he had, fill. He felt complete.

The taste of a curse was vile. Curses taste like a rag used to clean up sh*t and vomit. He was the only person who knew the taste, calling it disgusting would be a massive understatement. No other sorcerer had the misfortune of knowing what a curse tastes like. Suguru had to be trained from a young age to swallow the putrid monsters. Overtime, he’s gotten used to the taste, but it was still as unpleasant as ever.

The taste of Satoru couldn’t be more different.

Kissing Satoru was now Suguru’s favorite thing in the world. He tasted like mint, which made sense considering Satoru was always cold to the touch, and sugar, likely caused by Satoru’s infamous sweet tooth. Minty and sweet. It was Suguru’s new favorite flavor, and he was content if that’s the only thing he tastes for the rest of his life.

When they finally separated, Satoru placed his head in the crook of Suguru’s neck, the white-haired teen’s favorite spot. Suguru could feel Satoru smiling against his neck. “Heh. You like me~”

“Maybe a little.” Suguru smiled in turn.

“So are we boyfriends now? ‘Cause I will kick your ass if you friendzone me.”

A warmth Suguru had never felt before bloomed in his chest. “If that’s what you want, then I’d be happy to start courting you.”

“Pfft. Courting? What is this, the eighteen-hundreds?” Satoru teased. It felt so familiar that Suguru couldn’t help but hold Satoru even closer. The other wiggled until his lanky body was fully seated in Suguru’s lap. “I think we should call ourselves something.”

“Do you not like the term boyfriend? We can label ourselves as partners or something else you’re more comfortable with if that’s the case. I can’t think of the terms beside partner or lover, but I’m sure there are others we can look into.”

“Nah. All those sound fine actually. We can be all of the above, including being best friends because no one is allowed to take that spot. Though, you wanna know what I would love you to use to refer to our awesome new relationship?”

“What? Dumbass and Smartass?”

“The Strongest.”

Suguru felt the warmth in his chest bloom once more. Tears pricked at his eyes, but his smile was so wide his cheeks hurt. “You sure you want to share that title again?”

“Mhm~ It’s lonely at the top, ya’know? You’re the only other person who understands me and can actually stand besides me as an equal. You deserve the title. I won’t let anyone take it away from you.” Satoru felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. “I think I’m going to pass out at this point, so gimme a goodnight kiss.”

“We’ve been together officially for like ten minutes and you’re already that needy?”

“You love it though~”

“Yeah, I do.” Suguru kissed Satoru, fully intending on spoiling the other for the rest of time. A tiny hum came from Satoru as their lips met for the umpteenth time. Said happy hum that Satoru makes when kissed was now one of Suguru’s favorite sounds.

“OH MY GOD.”

Suguru jolted and parted from Satoru, adrenaline coursing through his veins. It seemed like Satoru’s warning of passing out wasn’t a joke, he was unconscious and didn’t react whatsoever to the loud noise. He looked towards the person who yelled and suddenly wanted to curl up and die.

It was Shoko and Yaga.

“When I told you to do magic, true love gay sh*t, I didn’t mean it literally!” Shoko crossed her arms with a huff. “So kissing sleeping beauty was what broke the spell, Mr. Loverboy?”

“Shoko, I am going to strangle you.”

“With what arms?”

“...”

The girl cackled at Suguru’s lack of response. She went towards him and knelt by his side. Her demeanor turned softer. “He’s okay, right?”

Suguru nodded. “Yeah. He hasn’t eaten or slept in days, so his body probably had enough and forced him to rest.”

“Good. He’ll need to take it easy for a while. His cursed energy is all over the place from the lack of food and sleep. Him hallucinating probably contributed to that too.” Shoko looked around the burning forest and whistled. Behind her, Yaga was commanding his army of cursed corpses to put out the fire, swearing like a sailor. “You two sure did a number on the forest. It’s going to take a while for it to grow back…And put it out. Got a firefighter curse?”

“...I actually do.” He ignored her laughs to summon a giant elephant curse. It had several trunks and stood on two dinosaur-like legs. Suguru had found it near an abandoned water canal, emptied out after several people drowned in one night. The curse had been apparently killing any person, mostly delinquents, who tried to explore the canal. He commanded the curse to spray geysers of water over the forest. Each trunk helped extinguish the flames even faster.

Once the fire was fully extinguished, Yaga made his way to Suguru. He crossed his arms and glowered at them through his sunglasses.

“You and Satoru will replant the forest as much as you can after you both are recuperated.”

“Anything else, sensei?”

“You and Satoru will have detention for a month.”

“WHAT?!

“HAH! HAVE FUN IN DETENTION, LOSER!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP, SHOKO!”

“You kids will be the death of me…”

.

.

.

TWO YEARS LATER

.

.

.

“Oi, Suguru!”

“Hm?”

“Have you seen Gumi? We’re playing hide and seek and I can’t find him for the life of me!”

“Nope!” The giggling head of spiky hair proved otherwise, but Suguru said nothing. Nanako and Mimiko, the girls Yaga found in a village two years ago, were brushing and braiding his hair as he lounged on a chair by the pool. His girls wouldn’t be here without Principal Yaga, who he now held a deep appreciation for. Back then, with Suguru, Nanami, and Satoru barred from doing missions until they recovered, Yaga had taken on the brunt of missions for them. When he came back one day with two, terrified girls, Suguru took it upon himself to take care of them, considering that Satoru had his hands full with Megumi and Tsumiki. It had taken a very long time for the girls to trust someone other than Suguru, but they had shown tremendous progress. While they were wary of all adults, the girls had warmed up to Satoru’s kids fairly quickly. The four of them bonded over having idiots adopt them, gossiping about how Suguru couldn’t cook to save his life or how Satoru couldn’t read them bedtime stories without laughing or pointing out the plot holes. According to Megumi, who was the youngest yet had the most… creative insults, Satoru and Suguru were ‘dumber than rocks because they can’t figure out how to make pancakes and I bet rocks can figure it out if they were alive and had hands, and rocks look cool while they look like old people’.

The kids were terrors, but Suguru and Satoru adored them nonetheless. Currently, they were at a beach house that Satoru had bought on a whim one day. It was grand and luxurious, but with too many hiding places for someone as adept at hiding as Megumi. He took hide-and-seek far too seriously, but it was worth it to see the smile on his normally grumpy face. Tsumiki was on his lap, painting Suguru’s nails a bright blue color, and he had no intentions of taking it off afterwards.

“You sound suspicious…” Satoru placed a hand on his hip.

“Whatever do you mean, Satoru? I’m just relaxing with the girls.” Suguru replied with a mischievous smirk. “How long have you been searching?”

“Two hours and thirty one minutes.”

Suguru barked out a laugh from Satoru’s dead-serious tone. He could see the beginnings of genuine anxiety form in Satoru, so he decided to give him a break. “That’s such a shame. I was planning on ordering from that place that sells ginger chicken meatball hotpot. I guess we’ll have to try cooking something her-”

“NO!” Megumi popped his head underneath Suguru’s lounge chair. “Get the ginger!”

Satoru never fully recovered from the cursed soul’s psychic attack. His nerves were always in a state of being shot and frazzled. While Satoru’s personality was still intact, he was much more prone to act irritable and impulsive. He was also forgetful over the simplest of things and would meltdown if someone didn’t help remind him. Suguru would need to talk with Megumi about perhaps easing up when it came to hide-and-seek, considering how disheveled Satoru looked. With a relieved sigh, Satoru walked over and plucked Megumi from his hiding spot. For once, Megumi didn’t try to kick Satoru, letting himself be held. Suguru guessed it was due to how perceptive the little boy was. He likely noticed how stressed out and panicked Satoru was. Visibly relaxing with Megumi in his arms, Satoru finally noticed the makeover the girls were giving Suguru.

“Lookin’ good, Suguru!”

“Of course I look good. I have the best stylists in Japan.” Suguru replied easily. He felt his heart warm when he saw the proud smiles on Nanako and Mimiko’s faces. Tsumiki also shone like the sun with her grin, but she refused to take her focus away from Suguru’s nails.

“Maybe I can get an appointment-”

Before Satoru could finish his sentence, he snapped his head to the sky and placed Megumi on the ground. “Get inside. Now. Stay in your rooms and don’t come out until one of us says so.” His tone left no room for arguments or questions. Tsumiki, the eldest of the group, took Megumi’s hand and nodded at Satoru. She helped the twins to the house, giving the two a thumbs-up of reassurance.

Suguru stood up from his chair, trying to see whatever Satoru was seeing. “What’s going on-”

Once again they were interrupted.

An arrow the size of a person appeared from the sky. Satoru had activated his Infinity, preventing the arrow from falling. With far better control of his technique. Satoru carefully lowered the arrow until it was floating in his palm. When his Six-Eyes detected no hidden threats, Satoru allowed the arrow to make contact with his hand.

“What the hell is that?” Suguru stared at the object in awe. It was made entirely out of metal, covered in intricate carvings that looked to be handmade.

There was a note attached.

Satoru and Suguru glanced at each other. The arrow wasn’t to harm anyone, but send a message. It was quite the unorthodox way to do so. Satoru placed the arrow on the chair Suguru had been relaxing in. The note attached looked to be taken from an ancient scroll. It wasn’t made of paper but papyrus, a material that hadn’t been used in centuries.

The message itself was the oddest of all.

GOJO SATORU AND GETOU SUGURU,

I AM SURE YOU REMEMBER OUR BRIEF MEETING IN SENDAI. OR HAVE AT LEAST HEARD OF MY REAPPEARANCE. REST ASSURED, I DO NOT INTEND ON ATTACKING YOU SORCERERS, HOWEVER ANNOYING YOU CAN BE.

THIS LETTER IS A SUMMONS OF SORTS. REFUSE TO COME, AND I WILL TAKE THAT AS A BLATANT INSULT. I’M NOT ASKING, BUT COMMANDING IT. THERE IS DISCUSSION TO BE HELD ABOUT A THREAT THAT IS ON THE HORIZON. WE HAVE A MUTUAL INTEREST IN PROTECTING WHAT IS OURS, SO I HOPE YOU CAN SEE HOW SERIOUS THE SITUATION IS. THE THREAT GROWS BY THE DAY AND I MUST ADMIT THAT MY MIGHT ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN BATTLING OR GOING TO WAR. MY RESURRECTION WAS HIDDEN BECAUSE I DESIRED IT TO BE SO. MY DESIRE TO FIGHT HAS EBBED. I AM WILLING TO FORM A TRUCE OF SORTS. HOWEVER, MY MERCY WILL ONLY GO SO FAR. DO NOT CROSS ME AND I WILL NOT CROSS YOU.

IN EIGHT YEARS TIME, A CURSE USER AND THEIR ENTOURAGE OF SPECIAL GRADE DISASTER CURSES WILL ARRIVE. THERE ARE DETAILS I CANNOT AND WILL NOT DIVULGE IN. THERE IS RISK TO REVEALING SUCH INFORMATION, AND I WOULD BE A FOOL TO DESCRIBE EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE.

I WILL WAIT FOR ONE FORTNIGHT. COME WHEN THE SUN HAS FRESHLY RISEN. FAIL TO ARRIVE AFTER THIS TIME, AND I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN MYSELF. I ALSO EXPECT YOU NOT TO INFORM YOUR PATHETIC ELDERS ABOUT THIS. THE ONLY OTHER PEOPLE I WILL ALLOW TO COME IS KENTO NANAMI AND IERI SHOKO. ANYONE ELSE WILL BE KILLED ON SIGHT. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING.

BELOW ARE THE DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING SITE.

DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME.

“Sukuna wrote us a letter.” Suguru whispered. The memories of his third-year of high school came flooding back in. “Do you truly believe it's just a summons and not a hidden murder attempt?”

“No. He’s telling the truth.” Satoru said with such certainty that it caught Suguru off guard. He gripped the note in his hand, scanning the directions Sukuna had left. They were vague, but Satoru was familiar with the shrine Sukuna had mentioned. “We’ll have to ask Nanami or something to babysit for a day. I’ll request a day off for the both of us-”

“You are seriously considering going?”

“Duh. What? Are you scared~”

“As if. Let’s meet the asshole.”

“There’s nothing to worry about! Sukuna sounds like he retired from being a genocidal maniac. And we’re the strongest so he doesn’t stand a chance against us.”

“Yeah. We are the strongest.”

“Always will be.”

Chapter 6: Conferences for Dummies

Chapter Text

Yuuji was an odd child.

Of course, Ryomen loved his son more than anything else in the world, there was nothing his son could do that would make Ryomen change his stance on that. Even so, he knew that his baby boy was not normal by human standards. Of course, any child who was reborn from mere ashes after one thousand years could not be entirely human. Ryomen was not human either, but he had thought he would know what to expect with his son. Afterall, he had raised Yuuji until his boy died from illness at the tender age of four. In a way, Yuuji was still the same as he was back then. He was still the bubbly, bright child Ryomen adored.

But there were changes. Very concerning changes.

Any baby would develop separation anxiety for their parents, but Yuuji completely shut down when he was alone. He became so terrified that he would be inconsolable for hours. One of his guardians had to be with him at all times in addition to Ryomen or Sukuna. If he was without either, Yuuji would wail until his voice broke. Babies cried and toddlers threw tantrums. That was to be expected, but Yuuji cried for very different reasons. He would only cry when left alone or, which hurt Ryomen’s very soul to admit, when he had violent nightmares. A baby was supposed to cry when they were hungry, needed a change, or scared. The fact that Yuuji only did one of the three meant that Ryomen had to spend many sleepless nights watching the boy to determine when he was hungry or soiled his diaper. Throughout his infancy, Supernova had become Ryomen’s saving grace. The cat was almost always near Yuuji, either curled around him or watching from a distance. Somehow, Supernova was in tune with Yuuji's needs the most and acted as an alert of sorts for Ryomen. He often woke up Ryomen from a fitful sleep to let him know if Yuuji needed something. The cat had learned to become quite good at charades.

Now, at two-years-old, Ryomen did not have to stay awake for days on end to check on his baby. The boy still had nightmares, but they had become more manageable. There were four different types of nightmares that Yuuji would have. One, the easiest, he would wake up sobbing and would fall back asleep once he, Sukuna, or a guardian held him. Those were normally handled by the guardians, especially Supernova, as they were always ready to comfort the boy. Two, he would be so scared that he would not settle down or go back to sleep unless Ryomen, Sukuna, and all the guardians were in the room. This would cause Ryomen to purchase the largest blankets and pillows he could find, so they could create a giant pillow fort on the couch for everyone to fit. Three, he would only be willing to be near one specific person or guardian depending on the nightmare, which even included him hugging a very non-huggable Resonance as tightly as he could and refusing to let her go for the rest of the night. It had taken the longest to figure out those nightmares. Four, the rarest, he would wake up in a panicked state and would not allow anyone to come near him, including his guardians. Yuuji would flinch at all touch and attempts to speak to him. The only thing that Ryomen and the others could do was keep him company until Yuuji came to his senses himself.

No two-year-old should have so many nightmares.

Ryomen had tried to ask Sukuna about it, but the curse would change the subject immediately. They had been sharing a body for centuries, so Ryomen knew everything about Sukuna. Seeing Sukuna’s obvious attempts at deflecting made alarm bells ring in Ryomen’s mind. He had always known that Sukuna hid things from him, and he had made peace with it long ago. The haunted looks Sukuna would get at the oddest times or the times where he would sense an incredible guilt within the ancient being…It was as worrisome as it was suspicious. However, it did not matter how many times Ryomen would press, Sukuna wouldn’t open up.

This was different. He was hiding something about Yuuji.

“Papa!”

“Yes, hon?” With practiced ease, Ryomen shoved down his thoughts about Sukuna. It wasn’t worth the energy to speculate on something he would never get the answers to. The tiny hands around his leg would always be more important. Yuuji was clinging onto his leg with his smiling face tugging at Ryomen’s heartstrings. “Are you hungry?”

A soft meow answered his question. Yuuji looked sheepish as he buried his face in his father’s leg with an impossibly small nod. Wrapped around his tiny shoulders was an equally tiny Supernova, who was purring into the boy's fluffy, pink hair. Any questions directed towards Yuuji’s wellbeing were always met with the boy going quiet. Another odd thing. Ryomen remembered how his son would never hesitate to tell him if he was hungry, thirsty, or tired. Yuuji back then was never afraid to express himself. The little boy Ryomen had now clammed up at those questions. Yuuji would even look unreasonably guilty whenever Ryomen guessed what he wanted or his guardians pointed it out. As if he was guilty for having basic needs.

No two-year-old should bear so much guilt.

Supernova jumped onto the kitchen counter and pawed at the eggs Ryomen was currently frying, not flinching at all at the heat of the pan. The cat quickly went back to Yuuji and grew in size. He plucked the toddler by the scruff of his onesie, detaching the boy from Ryomen’s legs to allow the man the right to move again. Ryomen knelt down and ruffled Yuuji’s head.

“You good with eggs and bacon for breakfast, Yuuji? I’m sure your Uncle Kuna would love some bacon.” At the mere mention of the curse, the toddler lit up like the sun. He could not figure out why Yuuji was so attached to Sukuna, but he had an inkling that it was due to the many naps Sukuna and Yuuji shared throughout the day. Sukuna had slowed down over the years, becoming almost docile. The cause of this change was the worsening of the chronic fatigue Sukuna seemed to experience day in and day out. Ryomen, for once, had been worried about the curse. However, his concerns were put to rest as he noticed Sukuna becoming much more active and perk up after adopting Yuuji’s napping schedule. Now, Yuuji would take all his naps on his living mattress Sukuna, and the curse would quickly fall asleep with him. It was surprisingly endearing.

“What is this I hear about having fried pork belly?” Four pairs of arms snatched Yuuji up, much to Supernova’s displeasure. Sukuna used his bottom pair of arms to hold the boy with his other hands gesturing towards the pan, ignoring the cat biting his leg. “You might want to make more, Ryomen.”

“And why is that, Sukuna?” Ryomen turned off the stove and slid the cooked egg onto a plate, cutting it up into small pieces. His gaze turned sharp and calculating. He knew exactly what Sukuna was talking about, and had to hold in the anger brewing in his chest. “Is it possible that you invited guests at this hour, even after I specifically told you not to?”

With a cuddly toddler in his arms and a fluffy cat trying to rip a chunk off his leg, Sukuna did not look particularly threatening. His eyes, on the other hand, were just as deadly as ever. He was as upset about this ‘meeting’ as Ryomen was. For the sake of the little boy in his arms, Sukuna kept his tone level. “I sent the message yesterday morning and gave them a fortnight to come. It’s unlikely they will come today, but it is still a possibility.”

“Who coming?” Yuuji patted his chubby hand against Sukuna’s cheek. “Uncle Kuna! Who coming?!” His excited pats soon turned into mild slapping. Despite the harsher hits, Sukuna did not seem to be in any pain. Instead, the curse turned his head so Yuuji’s hand was against his mouth, blowing a raspberry against the chubby appendage. Yuuji squealed and giggled before placing his hand on the wood fused into Sukuna’s face, quickly becoming fascinated by the slab and forgetting the question he had asked.

“Fine then…How many?” Ryomen turned his back on Sukuna, going to the fridge and getting out a carton of eggs and a packet of bacon.

“Two were requested, but I allowed them to bring two more if desired. I named who they can bring, so anyone besides the names I listed will be kil- taken care of. ” Sukuna chose his words very carefully, knowing Yuuji was at the stage of mimicking anything he heard like a parrot. “Expect two, but be prepared for four.”

Ryomen was silent for a moment. It was just like Sukuna to act on his own accord without consulting Ryomen. When Ryomen had gotten the anonymous message on the night he found Yuuji, Sukuna had spoken that he knew who the sender was. A curse user named Kenjaku, someone who had a habit of meddling with the lives of others, especially Sukuna’s. With Yuuji still being an infant, the discussions of Kenjaku were held off for the most part. It was only until last week that Sukuna said that they needed to form an alliance with the sorcerers. Specifically, two of them. Getou Suguru and Gojo Satoru. It was the most information Sukuna ever gave Ryomen, but it still had many details missing. Like the date and time of this very important meeting.

Sukuna told him he would reveal everything at this summons. He said it was because he didn’t want to repeat himself twice, but all that Ryomen cared about were answers. If Kenjaku posed a serious threat against his baby boy, then Ryomen would be willing to do anything to ensure his safety. His own hopes of Sukuna finally revealing the many secrets he had been keeping from Ryomen were put aside. Sukuna would only speak about what was relevant in keeping Yuuji safe, which was enough for Ryomen. His son would always come first.

Doesn’t mean I’m happy with that bastard for putting this on me so suddenly. With a deep sigh, Ryomen nodded. He took out the leftover onigiri he had made with Yuuji yesterday evening. Luckily, there were plenty left, and Ryomen did not need to heat up anything. Placing the container to the side and closing the fridge, the man locked eyes with the curse and spoke in a sickly-sweet voice. “Sukuna-chan? Would you mind helping me prepare breakfast? I’ll need an extra set of hands!”

Immediately, Sukuna felt dread pool in his gut. The honorific was not a sign of endearment. Not even close. It was actually a warning for the assault that was to come. A very fiery assault. With great care, Sukuna set Yuuji down. At the same time, Supernova detached from his leg and corralled Yuuji away from the older two, sending a hiss Sukuna’s way. “We will call you for breakfast! Don’t be late, brat!”

“Okay!”

Once they saw Yuuji go outside, an excited Boogie and Infinite immediately going to greet the boy with slobbery kisses and loud squawks, Sukuna and Ryomen locked eyes. The ancient curse raised a brow. “Would you like me to start running?”

“Very much so.”

“Stop running, Gojo-san!”

“Make me, four-eyes!”

“QUIT CALLING ME THAT, YOU INSUFFERABLE-”

The banter of Nanami and Satoru grew more distant as the blonde chased the other down, the taller giggling like a maniac. Suguru smiled at their antics, glad to see the chaotic dynamic between the two remain unchanged. After graduating, Nanami had immediately left jujutsu society. The man had every right to quit as the higher-ups had only grown more corrupted, which should have been impossible. All the elders were now demanding that the enrollment age into the schools in Tokyo or Kyoto be lowered drastically. They wanted to start training as early as six years old, claiming that they needed to make sure the new generations of sorcerers were more than ‘cannon fodder’. At the meeting where the elders announced this, Nanami walked out the second the words left the elder’s mouth. He ignored the commands to return or the harsh reprimands for being so disrespectful. Nanami was a person who followed the rules, but he knew when said rules were unfair or unjust. Hearing the higher-ups, useless old men who do nothing but sit on their thrones while jujutsu sorcerers die every day, comparing the lives of the fallen to expendable tools made to be thrown away was too much for someone as disciplined as Nanami to handle. The day after the disastrous meeting, Nanami quit. He still kept in contact with Suguru, Satoru, and any who Nanami legitimately respected. It made Suguru happy to see a kind soul like Nanami get away and become a normal member of society.

Suguru would have joined him if it wasn’t for the creatures that forced him to stay. The six creatures that still haunted Suguru’s nightmares. Cursed souls had been given their own category, above special grade. With Yaga’s help, the elders agreed to release a small amount of information about cursed souls to all jujutsu sorcerers. They had wanted to keep the matter hidden, but Yaga managed to convince them otherwise. Two years had passed since that fateful night in Sendai, and there had been no reports of cursed souls or Sukuna. The latter had been kept a secret, the higher-ups could not be persuaded. It infuriated Suguru to see the elders keep such crucial information from their comrades. Sukuna’s mere existence was a sign that trouble was afoot. War even.

Then the curse sent him and Satoru a letter, asking to meet.

While the ancient curse gave them a fortnight to arrive, Suguru and Satoru were ready to leave the next day. After reassuring the kids that everything was alright, they told them that they had a mission out of town and would not be back until tomorrow. Ijichi, bless his soul, had agreed to babysit their horde of gremlins for the entire day. The eighteen-year-old was fortunately treated quite well by the kids, mainly due to the fact that Ijichi was a decent cook and excellent baker. Suguru and Satoru had tried so many different babysitters, and each had resigned within a day. Ijichi was the only one that managed to get on the kids' good sides. However, being seen as a friend and not foe did not mean the kids didn’t terrorize poor Ijichi. They absolutely did. It was just that their antics were not flat out murder attempts like the other babysitters. Suguru remembered this one instance where he and Satoru came back from a mission only to find Ijichi covered in feathers, glitter, and rope. He also looked like he had been electrocuted with his frizzy hair. Needless to say, Ijichi got quite the raise after that.

Suguru hoped the kids behaved themselves as he knew that he would not be equipped to handle four children after this meeting.

He couldn’t help but think of the baby in the bundle, and the boy at the peach tree. Suguru had never forgotten the infant, who would now be around two if he survived.

“You seem to be thinking really hard, man. I think I see steam blowing out of your ears.” Shoko pushed him good naturedly, a lollipop sticking out of her mouth. Her hair had grown longer, and she was trying to stop smoking. She looked healthier overall, but the bags underneath her eyes still refused to fade. “Want to share with the class?”

A snort escaped Suguru’s lips. “We graduated highschool, remember? There’s no class to share my thoughts with.”

“Quit being a smartass.”

“So you admit I’m smart?”

Shoko smacked him beside the head as he cackled. It had been a grueling process, and he still had his bad days or relapses, but Suguru had finally gotten rid of the perfect sorcerer his elders had tried to sculpt him into. He was slowly coming into his own, acting on his own thoughts and his thoughts alone. Some say that Satoru was at fault for ‘corrupting’ a star pupil like Suguru, but that wasn’t the case. Being mischievous and rebellious had always been in Suguru’s nature, he simply repressed those urges for all his life. Satoru had been the one to show Suguru how much fun it was to cause mayhem. He helped Suguru in every way he could. For instance, when Satoru told him he booked an appointment with the tattoo and piercing parlor Suguru had been talking about for years, Suguru wanted to propose on the spot. He had been following the parlor online ever since he got a laptop and phone, talking about it or showing his friends photos of the work they did. And Satoru remembered . Ever since, Suguru had gotten several new piercings and tattoos. Booking appointments was nearly impossible, but Satoru managed it everytime. Satoru always gave Suguru everything and more. The others had it wrong, Satoru made Suguru better .

He sighed. “I was thinking of people. Three people specifically.”

The girl next to him raised a brow. “Is one of them Satoru?”

“Perhaps.”

“You two are disgusting.” Shoko said, already at her limit with the lovebirds that were Suguru and Satoru. It was far too early to deal with their terrible flirting and PDA. She wanted to be in bed, not in the middle of a random forest. “I’ll probably regret asking this, but who are the other two?”

“Sukuna and a baby.” He replied smoothly, putting his hands in his pockets. “He mentioned in his letter that Satoru and I shared a mutual interest in protecting what was ours. We have the girls and Megumi to protect, but I have never heard of Sukuna having a child.”

“Huh…Maybe he is protecting something else? Like a weapon or pet or some sh*t?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it. For someone as prideful as the King of Death, surely it would take quite a lot for him to reach out to us. He must care about this person enough to put down his pride and ask for an alliance with sorcerers.”

“Are you talking about Sukuna?! I want in!” Emerging from a bush, Satoru ran towards the pair. He placed his head on Suguru’s shoulder, vibrating like an excited puppy. Suguru patted the other’s head, sensing how erratic Satoru’s cursed energy had become. Whenever the white-haired man became too emotional or riled up, he would grow manic if Suguru wasn’t there to center him. With the physical contact, Satoru’s aura calmed almost instantly.

Several branches snapped, alerting the sorcerers of a new presence. Fortunately, it was a disgruntled Nanami, with several leaves and twigs in his hair. “Please tell me that we are near the meeting site.”

It was a question all of them were wondering. The directions Sukuna gave were incredibly vague, only mentioning a ‘shrine of malevolence’ deep in a forest in Tokyo. However, Tokyo had countless forests and shrines. However, luck had been on their side for once. Satoru, somehow, knew of the shrine and warped the group to its entrance. Apparently, Satoru had a tendency to run away as a child, so he would find himself in the oddest of places. The shrine was one of them. He told them that he could not teleport them any further due to a barrier of unknown diameter. The solution that Satoru had come up with was walking through the forest until they sensed the barrier or Sukuna sensed their presence.

A chuckle escaped Satoru’s lips. He tapped on the thick, black blindfold covering his eyes, a replacement for his usually tinted sunglasses. “My six-eyes would have been able to find the barrier easily, but Sukuna is apparently sneakier than he looks. There is very little that can hide from my eyes, so whatever Sukuna is using to conceal himself is quite powerful.”

Both Nanami and Suguru repressed a shiver. The cursed soul who had the Gojo clan’s sacred technique had made an impact on everyone. No one could forget the shrieks of laughter and feelings of absolute powerlessness. It went unsaid, but the group knew that the draconic cursed soul was the one responsible for such advanced cloaking. They would have to deal with the demon again .

“So you don’t know how much longer this would take?” Shoko drawled.

“Not at all!” Satoru chirped.

“Remind me why I’m here again? Because I am very tempted to go back to my bed instead of trudge through twigs and mud.”

Suguru bit the piercing on his lip, a new habit of his. Careful to keep his voice low, the man spoke of the thought that had been nagging him this entire trip. “The baby that had been taken by Sukuna and the cursed souls would be two-years-old now. I find it hard to believe that that child would be dead considering how protective the cursed souls were. Children are the most precious treasure one could have, but they’re also extremely vulnerable. Sukuna said he wanted to protect what was his, like me and Satoru. The baby in Sendai must be his or perhaps related to him. Either way, I highly doubt that Sukuna has a regular doctor for the child.”

There was a lull of silence amongst the group. Once Suguru, Nanami, and Satoru fully recovered, Suguru had told them of the scrolls he found in the catacombs. He showed them the story of the man who made a vow with Sukuna and the boy who was at the center of everything. The boy by the peach tree. When Suguru spoke of the boy, Nanami and Satoru shared a knowing gaze with him. They all were told something about Itadori Yuuji, but none could speak about it aloud. If they tried to, they would immediately forget what they were talking about. The information was not meant to be shared.

Beside him, Shoko shook her head with a grin. “Guess I’ll be a pediatrician to five children instead of four.”

“Don’t you mean four goblins?” Satoru smirked.

“Eh, they are little sh*ts to you , not me. That makes them angels in my book.”

For the next several minutes, the group would speak of lighter topics, trying to ignore the heaviness in the air. The further they traveled, the tenser they got. Cursed energy rippled through the air like whips. If they were less experienced sorcerers, they would have been unable to take another step. In addition to the volatile atmosphere, the temperature had dropped significantly. They were supposed to be in the middle of spring, yet snow and ice began to cover the ground. Harsh, freezing winds hit them mercilessly. The air had gotten cold enough that they could see their own breaths, as one would expect when it’s the dead of winter.

Suddenly, a deep thrum filled the air. It could be felt through the icy ground they now stood on. Before any of them could move another muscle, a dark fog began to form before them. It swirled and grew bigger, surrounding the pseudo-tundra in darkness. Nanami reached for the wrapped blade behind his back while Satoru readied himself to use his Hollow Purple technique. As the fog grew denser, Suguru could hear the shrieks and trills of the creature he despised. A long body of white fur and feathers emerged from the fog. Its talons clicked against the ice as it made its way to the group.

Despite the additional years of growth and improvement, Suguru still felt like a kid who was way in over his head. The same terror of the past filled him. It seemed that Satoru and Nanami were in the same situation. Nanami’s hand was frozen on the handle of his blunt sword. Beside him, Satoru became as still as a statue, not even breathing.

“You guys weren’t kidding, this thing is nightmare fuel.” With a shaky breath, Shoko stepped towards the giant entity. Her body appeared relaxed and expression calm as she approached. Satoru looked like he was about to have a heart attack, but then the cursed soul did something that shocked them.

It began to coo at Shoko, using its hooked beak to ruffle her hair. It was nothing like the violent monster that had traumatized the three men and permanently damaged Satoru’s brain after forcing him to have vivid hallucinations for several days. This creature was not violent whatsoever. When Shoko placed a hand on the being’s long neck, the creature melted into it with a pleased chirp. The entity wrapped itself around the young woman and squawked at the three frozen men.

Shoko pet the soft fur of the beast. “I think it wants you to come over here. I bet this creepy fella is our ride to Sukuna’s place.”

Without a word, Nanami, Suguru, and Satoru obeyed and let the beast constrict around them. However, the grip was not meant to strangle, but secure. The most powerful of the cursed souls trilled soothingly as the fog from before wrapped around them. It was what Suguru imagined being inside a tornado felt like. He kept his eyes shut and held onto Satoru’s hand with a death grip, which Satoru reciprocated. The gentle hums and clicks of the beast helped distract the group from the disorienting sensation that came with warping. Satoru’s teleportation abilities were much less nauseating than this, but it thankfully ended quickly.

As the fog cleared, the shrine that they had been trying to find appeared. It was quite large for a shrine, looking more like a temple. Though, it made sense that someone as grande in stature as Sukuna would have a shrine that reflected that aspect. The deep crimsons of the shrine were fitting, but the flower pots certainly weren’t. As they ascended the stone stairs, Suguru noticed the messy, hand made pots on each step. There were some that looked professional and others that looked like a child had made it. No one spoke, but all held curious expressions towards the flower pots.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, they were greeted with two heavy doors. Their monstrous ‘host’ simply slammed through the heavy doors and began to scurry down the hallway. It eventually grew impatient with their gawking stares and scooped all four adults in its beak and ran towards their destination. Its claws clacked against the stone floor as it galloped, emitting excited trills. When they reached an open space, the being deposited them onto the ground.

What they saw was…unexpected.

A man half the size of the ten-foot curse of legend had said curse by the ear, tugging on it like a scolding parent. Neither had noticed their presence, both too busy squabbling to glance at their arrival. The man with pink-hair wrapped his hand around one of the holes created by Sukuna’s ear gauges and pulled . In response, the fearsome King of Death shrieked .

“OW! NOT THE PIERCINGS-AGH- f*ckING HELL- sh*t- QUIT IT!”

“THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING AN INCONSIDERATE PRICK!”

“I AM NOT A- OW f*ck! STOP TUGGING THERE, YOU ASSHOLE!”

“NO!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN- OWOWOWOW! YOU’RE GOING TO TEAR MY f*ckING EAR OFF!”

“GOOD! YOU ARE A sh*t LISTENER ANYWAY!”

“f*ck YOU-”

The pair soon divulged into petty slapping, Sukuna using his extra arms to his advantage as he slapped the other’s hand away from his bleeding ear. In response, the much smaller man bit one of Sukuna’s top hands. It was textbook sibling horseplay, reminding Satoru and Suguru of their own children’s attempts at killing each other. The white-haired man had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh when the pink-haired man wrapped his body around Sukuna like a koala in an attempt at a chokehold. Sukuna turned his body around to get the man off, causing him to make eye contact with his guests. He froze.

Like scruffing a kitten, Sukuna detached the other by the collar of his shirt. He donned an impassive expression and raised his brow. “Stare any longer and I will gouge your eyes out one by one.”

The…’meeting’…had begun.

With the sorcerers arriving far earlier than anticipated, Sukuna could now understand Ryomen’s ire with him. His ear had healed instantly, but it didn’t mean Ryomen’s incessant tugging didn’t hurt like a bitch . It was also quite humiliating to have the sorcerers see him and Ryomen roughhousing. They did it frequently and gruesomely. With Sukuna’s mastery of reversed cursed technique, he could heal himself and any damage Ryomen sustained. It allowed the two to not hold back in their attacks, which also served as a way to relieve stress. Ryomen was a powerhouse in his own right, so Sukuna knew he could handle his own attacks without breaking. Their more petty fights that included tugging on ears or pinching arms were more rare nowadays. With Yuuji, a very impressionable toddler, around, they knew that it would be best that the boy did not pick up his father and uncle’s habits. Speaking of the boy, the commotion from the kitchen alerted him and his guardians. He stood at the entrance to the backyard, holding a daffodil with white, fluffy seeds in his hands. There was nothing but surprise on his chubby face.

Everything came to a standstill.

Sukuna noticed how the new limitless user froze. It was odd to see this younger version of the sorcerer he had battled and detested. When Sukuna thought of the strongest sorcerer of the modern era, he still pictured the original Gojo Satoru, a man of indescribable power and might. It will likely take a while for Sukuna to see this Gojo Satoru as the strongest. The young man clearly was not anywhere near the level his older self was. If Sukuna’s memory served him correctly, then this Gojo Satoru was twenty years old. Two decades on this Earth . With all that Sukuna had seen and experienced, two decades was nothing to the curse. This Gojo was practically an infant compared to Sukuna. However, once the frozen man ripped off his blindfold, it was then that Sukuna remembered that this boy was still a wielder of Limitless and the Six-Eyes, someone not to be underestimated or written off. The eyes of Gojo Satoru were impossible to forget, even after all this time. Sukuna had always imagined that the heavens had placed the skies in Gojo Satoru’s eyes as a blessing of sorts. A direct contrast to Sukuna’s hellish red. The eyes of the Gojo Satoru today were not that of pure, blue skies. No. They were more like a battle between two oceans, one calm and one turbulent. The bright turquoise and cyans of the peaceful waters clashed with the deep navy and royal azures of the raging seas. The waves came together, forming a white sea foam that split the eye in two. In other words, there was more chaos to be found in Gojo Satoru’s eyes than the clarity they were supposed to be known for. It felt… troublesome … And Sukuna knew he likely had a part to play in the darkening of the ‘Honored One’.

As the staring match continued between the adults and curious toddler, Yuuji’s lip began to wobble and his honey-colored eyes teared up. With his little legs, Yuuji toddled over to the group as fast as he could. His sudden movement caused the seeds of the daffodil he was holding to fly away. The flower had always been Yuuji’s favorite. In fact, the boy went to the garden every day to find a daffodil to blow on. There were times where Yuuji would give the white flower to one of his guardians or his father or even Sukuna himself. He insisted that everyone needed a wish and would not take no as an answer. It was an act of pure kindness and innocence. However, the sight of the seeds floating away made Sukuna feel sick. His innocence, the second the sorcerers arrived, had disappeared in moments.

Unbeknownst to the conflict in everyone’s minds, Yuuji continued his journey. However, his onesie combined with the marbled floor caused the little boy to slip. He would have fallen face first if it wasn’t for Infinite lunging forward to use his body to soften the fall. Yuuji patted Infinite, cheeks puffing out. “Where you go?! Nin-Nin! Where you go?!”

In response, Infinite cooed and used his beak to groom the toddler’s messy hair. Yuuji was attached to all of his guardians, so he got incredibly frightened if one of them disappeared without notice. Despite his sharp beak and talons, Infinite looked like an elongated puppy with how he nuzzled Yuuji. Infinite trilled and made clicks into the boy’s body, knowing how ticklish the toddler was to the vibrations. When the squealing child tried to wiggle away, Infinite curled around him. Yuuji was now completely unaware of the stares from the adults in the room as he solely focused on escaping from Infinite’s tickles. Unaware of the heavy expression on the blonde sorcerer's paling face. Unaware of the disturbed way the user of cursed spirit manipulation looked at him. Unaware of the tears beginning to form in a trembling Gojo’s eyes.

Sukuna and Ryomen shared a look. The curse knew that the man would demand answers for the strange reactions of the sorcerers who had supposedly never met Yuuji before. Unbeknownst to Ryomen, they had. Is there a part of their souls that remembers Yuuji? But Getou Suguru was dead and being used by Kenjaku, he never got the chance to meet Yuuji. Did that crazy bastard give the sorcerers information? If so, that would mean Kenjaku is aware of what I’ve done. How would Kenjaku know in the first place? It should be impossible…f*ck, I’m too tired for this sh*t. Sukuna rubbed the bridge of his nose harshly as a wave of fatigue washed over him. Trouble was brewing far sooner than he predicted. As the atmosphere grew more awkward and tense, Ryomen suddenly rushed forward and scooped Yuuji out of Infinite’s coils. Seemingly out of thin air, Supernova jumped from the counter to Ryomen’s shoulder. The purple cat locked its harsh gaze on the strangers in the room.

The pink-haired man brushed his unoccupied shoulder against Sukuna’s. He whispered harshly, though it sounded more like a snarl. “I’m going to get Yuuji dressed and washed up. Deal with the sorcerers or I will do it for you .” With that, Ryomen left the kitchen, the air around him heating up considerably as he went. Infinite scurried after them to soothe a grumpy Yuuji who was hungry and curious of their guests. His chubby hand reached out over Ryomen’s shoulder towards the sorcerers, making grabby motions. Ryomen gently grasped Yuuji’s hand, leveling another piercing glare at the curse.

Sukuna knew that Ryomen’s tolerance for sorcerers was far worse than his own. While Sukuna saw sorcerers as annoyances, save for the few interesting ones that could put up a fight, Ryomen saw them as dirt beneath his feet. The hatred towards sorcerers and all of humanity ran deep within Ryomen. He had fair reason for his distrust and aborrance, but Sukuna needed his corroperance more than anyone. Kenjaku was scheming something far worse than their plan in the previous world, Sukuna could feel it with every fiber of his being. He would not fail again. He would do everything to ensure that he would never have to see that broken look in Yuuji’s eyes ever again. Even if it meant allying himself with sorcerers.

“Did you do something to them?” The calm voice of the woman broke Sukuna out of his stupor. He had forgotten she was there. Ieri Shoko. The skilled healer of the jujutsu sorcerers. He had only seen her through Yuuji’s old memories of her. Always neutral. Even now, the young sorceress looked at him with a bored expression.

“I did not. Though, their reaction to the boy is quite interesting.” Sukuna glanced back at the still frozen men. He frowned. “Sit them down on the couches. I need them to be fully awake for this meeting.”

Shoko nodded. Without a word, she dragged the others to the large couch to the left of the kitchen. The living room was grand and spacious. Many of the walls of the temple had been taken down to allow more space for Sukuna and the guardians to move freely. It was one of the few renovations of the shrine that Sukuna appreciated. The girl pushed the group onto the plush cushions, which seemed to snap the others out of their stupor.

With a gasp, Gojo shot from his seat on the couch. He had yet to replace the blindfold covering his eyes, looking intensely into Sukuna’s. “The kid. Who is that.”

Instead of answering, Sukuna plopped himself on the floor with a considerable distance between him and the sorcerers. With his back against the giant couch, Sukuna had all the sorcerers within his line of sight. The spot also gave Sukuna a way to keep an eye on the ever restless guardians. In the corners of his eyes, Sukuna could see the bright green of Chimera’s eyelights locking onto the sorcerers from the shadow’s spot behind the couch. He could hear the soft rustling of Overtime’s wrappings and the tiny metallic clicks of Resonance’s sharp limbs. Boogie was the only one unaccounted for, but Sukuna knew that the slobbery beast would make his appearance soon enough. Sensing the wariness from the guardians behind him, Sukuna was quick to start damage control. “No need to look so tense, boys. You three look constipated.”

Gojo sputtered, completely caught off guard by Sukuna’s response. His companions shared a similar sentiment, staring at Sukuna like he had grown a second head. Never one to be out-sassed, Gojo rewrapped his blindfold and pointed a slender finger at Sukuna with a pout. “I’m a twenty-year-old man! You’re the one who begged us to come here, so you could at least be bothered to be a good host!”

“Boy, you are not a man by any means.” Sukuna crossed his top pair of arms over his head, his bottom pair settled on his lap. Ignoring the Infinity user’s offended familiar squawk, Sukuna continued. “To answer your initial question, the boy’s name is Yuuji. He is the reason as to why I have requested this meeting.”

“He’s who you want to protect.” Getou’s soft voice replied. It was strange for Sukuna to hear that voice and not think of Kenjaku. However, there was a sincereness in the black-haired man’s tone that could not be replicated by that wretched brain. No matter how long Kenjaku inhabited a body, their acting could never come off as authentic or genuine as their host’s true personality. The utter life in Getou’s brown eyes further reassured Sukuna that he was not talking to a corpse. Getou raised a hand towards the curse. “When you mentioned that you were only interested in protecting what's yours like Satoru and I, you were referring to Yuuji.” It was not asked as a question, but fact.

“Quite the analytical one, aren't you?”

“I have done my fair share of research over the years.”

Sukuna glanced at Getou, not liking the implications of there being information about him to research in the first place. “I am sure that whatever information you have acquired is inaccurate, but you are correct in your assumption about Yuuji. He is…important to me. And there are beings in this world who wish him great harm.”

“What kind of beings?” The blonde sorcerer asked. He had remained quiet ever since the group arrived at the temple. His yellow tinted glasses were identical to the pair that Overtime wore, but his sharp, human eyes could be seen through the glass.

“That’s a discussion to be held somewhere else. Not a living room.” Sukuna deadpanned.

A tense silence overcame the sorcerers and curse. While one party did not want to speak further, the other was racking their brains with what little information Sukuna gave and the countless questions brewing in their minds.

This was going to be a very long day.

If someone were to tell Satoru that he would be having a domestic breakfast with Sukuna, the King of Death, at any point in time, then he would have laughed in their face. Yet here he was, having breakfast with Sukuna.

Albeit it was a very awkward breakfast as they all had to pretend everything was fine for the sake of the hungry toddler. They all had to swallow their tongues, their prides, their questions for the boy. It made the ever-present chaos in Satoru’s head subtly worsen. He showed no sign of pain however, not wanting to worry his already tense friends.

It felt like one wrong step and Ryomen would burn them all alive. Though, his ire was hidden expertly as he fussed over Yuuji, answering the toddler’s babbling with his own. Sukuna, on the other hand, did not seem to be perturbed by their presence. He was the epitome of nonchalance.

To be blunt, Sukuna was not what the legends described him as. Not even close. The stories all sorcerers were told always depicted the curse as a fearsome monster who killed anything and anyone. He was so terrifying that even the dead worshiped him, fearing that he was capable of crossing to their plane and destroying the peace the afterlife was supposed to give them. During the Heian Era, it had become customary to place offerings of great value on top of all gravestones. It was believed that doing so would prevent Sukuna from taking the soul of the dead from the afterlife. Some tales even spoke of Sukuna having an army made out of the souls of the countless people he slaughtered, forcing them to do his bidding for eternity. Even fellow curses were not spared of Sukuna’s wrath. There was a well known legend of a curse that had killed one hundred people in a single night in an attempt to impress Sukuna, only for him to slice the curse into one hundred pieces to show the curse how easy it was to do something that amount of times. He was a walking calamity. The only reason given for Sukuna’s disappearance was that the curse grew bored of killing and returned to the hell he came from. Considering the curse was sitting across from Satoru eating an ungodly amount of bacon, he knew that the last part was bullsh*t. Though, he did not doubt that the legends held some truth to them. Sukuna, relaxed as he was, emitted a dangerous aura. It was not evil per say, just threatening. A warning that any attempts at slighting him would be met with a painfully brutal end. However, the curse before Satoru was not the demonic abomination feared by existence itself all stories described him as.

Especially with how the curse interacted with Yuuji.

When the strange man, whose name was apparently Ryomen after a very awkward introduction, returned with Yuuji in tow, Satoru felt his heart stop and speed up at the same time. To start, Yuuji was absolutely adorable. He had on an orange shirt with a cartoon tiger on front and a pair of dark blue shorts. When Satoru adopted Megumi and Tsumiki, they had long grown out of toddler age. He had never gotten the chance to dress them in adorable baby outfits, and he knew that his youngest would not allow him to try. No. Megumi would try to kill him if Satoru did that. Yuuji would be spoiled to death by Satoru, he could see it now! After meeting the sweet boy, he was determined to set up a visitation schedule with Sukuna and Ryomen. If Sukuna was serious about an alliance, then the curse would surely allow Satoru to spend time with Yuuji. I wonder what would happen if Megumi met Yuuji? Ah! It would be so cute!

As Ryomen began to prepare breakfast for everyone, Sukuna had been the one to place Yuuji in his highchair. The toddler was giggling the entire time Sukuna held him. Even with the boy pulling on Sukuna’s hair or poking his nose, Sukuna looked as unbothered as ever. A monster as feared as Sukuna should have killed the child, but Sukuna looked at Yuuji like the boy was the most precious thing in the world. Though, based on Sukuna’s gruff nature, Satoru doubted the curse would admit such feelings.

Satoru could not figure out why he got such a strong feeling of rightness when he was interacting with the toddler. Nanami and Suguru seemed to feel something as well with how they stared at the boy with curiosity and unexpected fondness. In seconds, Yuuji became something treasured by Satoru. It felt so right to dote on the boy and make him smile. Something inside him told Satoru that the boy more than deserved to be loved and spoiled.

“Go-Go!”

“Yes, Yuuji-kun?” Satoru cooed to the toddler, using all of his self-restraint to not pinch at his chubby, striped cheeks. When Yuuji went to properly meet Satoru and the others, he beamed at all of them and tried his best to say their names. Though, the toddler kept pronouncing the ‘Jo’ in Gojo’s name as a ‘Go’. He did not mind the error whatsoever. It made his heart want to burst at the seams from how precious the little boy was.

Yuuji grabbed an onigiri from the plate on the tray of his high chair and tried to hand it to Satoru. “Nummy!”

“Oh! You want to give me an onigiri, Yuuji-kun?”

“Mhm!”

Dear Lord, I’m going to combust from sheer cuteness! Satoru made sure his squealing was only in his mind. Hopefully. He carefully plucked the rice ball from the toddler’s tiny hand, which looked even smaller compared to his much larger ones. “Thank you, Yuuji-kun! You’re such a nice boy!”

This time, he could not stop himself from pinching one of his chubby cheeks. He was seated right next to the toddler, how could he not pinch his cheeks?! Yuuji squealed from the gentle pinch, his smile even brighter. On the other side of Yuuji, his father glared at Satoru murderously. He ignored Ryomen and bit into the snack. Instead of the savory flavor Satoru expected, he was greeted with an explosion of earthy sweetness on his tongue. It was sweet potato! Satoru had heard that there were sweet fillings for onigiri, but he had never tried it until now! He could also detect some sugar mixed in to add to the sweetness.

“It good?” Yuuji patted his tray excitedly while simultaneously bouncing in his seat. A spotted wrapping from behind the toddler went to calm him. It was the mummy cursed soul, the one that shared several features with Nanami. With his wrappings, the mummy-like entity soothed the fabric over Yuuji’s hair. Eventually, Yuuji stopped bouncing so much, but he was still eagerly waiting for Satoru's response, his chubby hand holding onto one of the wrappings.

“So good, Yuuji-kun! You’re a very good cook!” Satoru hummed happily at the pleasant aftertaste. He went to take another bite, feeling smug since the others did not get to try the wonderful treat. He was definitely Yuuji’s favorite!

Sukuna rumbled a deep laugh. “Yeah. the brat’s already shown a talent for that kinda stuff.” He leant back on his chair, much larger than the others considering the curse’s size. His plate that had been stacked primarily of meat was licked clean. He looked more like a satisfied cat than a genocidal beast. In fact, the actual cat in the room looked far more vicious than Sukuna. The purple-furred feline was perched on Ryomen’s chair while looking at everyone with dark, critical eyes. The only times that the cat would relax was when Yuuji reached to pet him. Any other time, the cat looked ready to maul someone. It was hilarious considering that Sukuna, the one who was supposed to be the violent one, looked ready to fall asleep.

The rest of breakfast was spent in silence. Satoru, Suguru, Nanami, and Shoko had not gotten to eat until now, so they were not going to pass up an offer of free food. Ryomen, despite his wariness of them, was a good cook. The eggs were fluffy, the bacon was crispy, and the onigiri was delicious. His son was already following in his footsteps. Near the end of the meal, Yuuji began to doze off, sleepy from the warm meal. An equally sleepy Sukuna stood up and picked up Yuuji from his high chair. Without a trace of fear towards the four armed curse, Yuuji yawned and nuzzled his head into Sukuna's shoulder, placing a thumb in his mouth.

“I’m going to set Yuuji down for his nap. Take them to the basem*nt, yeah? We’ll have the most privacy there.” Sukuna spoke to Ryomen softly, not wanting to jostle Yuuji awake. He then used his bottom set of hands to gesture towards the several cursed souls scattered throughout the place. “Come on, you bastards. I need all of you to watch him for the next couple hours. And I mean all of you.”

With great reluctance, all the cursed souls followed after Sukuna. It was jarring to see the beasts that had nearly killed him, Suguru, and Nanami act as house pets. Granted, very protective house pets, but pets nonetheless. They were clearly there to protect Yuuji, yet that made Satoru fear for the boy’s safety even more. If Sukuna, the most powerful curse of all time, Ryomen, a man that seemed capable of and willing to burn the world for his son, and six beasts stronger than any special grade were not enough to ward off this threat Sukuna mentioned, then Satoru doubted that his peers could provide any help. Hell, Satoru might not be able to do anything. He had faith in his comrades, but he knew that the threat on the horizon was far above them in power. The fact that Sukuna needed help proved that this threat was on an entirely different level. And Satoru was selfish. He did not want to risk his loved one’s lives fighting a being they could not win against.

The thoughts inside his head began to grow into a flurry of chaos. It felt like his skull was about to explode as his senses overwhelmed him. Satoru had gotten accustomed to the daily sensory overloads, but it did not stop his head from hurting any less. The fierce migraine that had been brewing all morning started to pound at his temples. Too much. Too much information. His six-eyes and mind were giving him too much information!

A much greater evil will emerge, and you will lose without Sukuna.

Long hair. Stitches. Brain. Prison.

We will not show mercy if Yuuji is harmed by any of you.

Pinkpinkpinkpink.

It’s likely that Kenjaku is going to be an even bigger threat than before.

Faker. Faker. Faker. Faker. Faker. Thief. Thief. THIEF.

Take care of Megumi and keep an eye on Suguru and Nanami.

Spiky hair. Tattoos. Stolen. A bloodied man without an arm. A smiling man on the beach.

You will experience all my pain, all my anger, all my loss within moments.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS-

A warm hand encased his cold one.

The familiar warmth of Suguru’s hand helped center Satoru, his boyfriend soothed his thumb over Satoru’s palm. Through trial and error, the two had figured out the best ways to help Satoru through his constant information overloads. It had been a while since Satoru had such a severe episode, even if it was short. This migraine would stick with him for a couple days at best. The thick blindfold around his eyes helped in giving his overworked brain a break.

When he came to his senses, he noticed that everyone was staring at him with concern. Except for one. Ryomen was busy unlocking the heavy door that led to the cellar, cursing beneath his breath.

There was a click and the door seemingly opened on its own. Ryomen glanced at Satoru with an indecipherable look in his tired eyes. It did not contain the wariness or aggression from before, it was something softer than that. Conflicted almost. With a sigh that could rival Nanami’s on a bad day, Ryomen gestured for the others to follow. “This is the staircase that leads to the basem*nt. There’s no artificial light in there, so stick close to me.” With a flick of his tattooed hand, a flame appeared at the center of his palm.

Without further hesitation, the group of sorcerers followed the pink-haired man into the basem*nt. Unknowing of the horrors they were about to uncover.

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“I need to ensure that you sorcerers will not go off and tattle to your pathetic leaders.” A curse with four arms and tattoos spoke in a dark room. He sat at the head of a stone table, which was low to the ground and covered in runes of a language long forgotten. Instead of chairs, there were lush pillows colored a deep crimson. The curse with his grand form sat upon the cold floor, too large for the pillows and uncaring of the hard ground. One hand from his upper set of arms was used to prop the monster’s head on his knee. It was too casual a position considering the topics that were being discussed, but the curse could not be bothered to care.

“Only idiots are actually loyal to those geezers.” A woman sat on the other side of the table with her other companions muttered with a roll of her eyes. Her posture was relaxed but her eyes were as calculating as the other sorcerer’s in the room.

“So you four truly hold no loyalty to them?” A man that resembled the curse asked with a raised brow. He sat to the right of the curse, looking far more tense than anyone else.

“They do not deserve any amount of reverence.” A blonde-haired man spoke with a monotonous voice, yet the way he clenched his fists was an indicator of what the man truly felt. He sat in a perfect seiza, the display of respect to the curse and pink-haired man shocking the other occupants. His tendency to be formal and courteous was apparent even now.

“We have been wronged by the elders far too many times for us to hold any sense of duty to them. There is no need to worry. Whatever is said in this room will stay in this room.” A man with long black hair and a voice of honey talked directly at the curse. His words were nothing but reassuring. Leaning onto the black-haired man was a thinner man that seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Instead of a response, the man with snow-white hair gave the curse a thumbs-up to show his support.

The room fell quiet for several seconds as Sukuna, the curse that had summoned them all, mulled over the information. Eventually, he broke the silence with a firm nod. “Alright. The disdain in your voices is proof enough that you will not reveal anything to those piles of bones.”

Sukuna glanced at the man on his right, Ryomen. Their shared souls allowed them to read each other's minds in a sense. It could be more accurately described as feeling the other's intentions or emotions. Ryomen raised his hand and sent small flames to the candles hung on the wall. He also sent his fire to the various candles that hung from the ceiling of the basem*nt. A gentle orange glow covered the room. With the added light, the sorcerers could see the many weapons and ornaments decorating the walls. There was a bookshelf dedicated to nothing but ancient texts and another filled with nothing but bovine skulls. Another shelf displayed countless kunai, shuriken, and other small projectiles. However, the most interesting objects Sukuna and Ryomen had were the large trident and staff hung on the wall behind them. The trident was made of a dark steel that was covered in runes and symbols. It was taller than the average man, so it was evident that its wielder was the ten-foot curse. The metallic staff, while smaller, seemed to have more attachments. What seemed like an odd kusarigama chain hung from the top of the weapon. However, instead of a sickle at the end of the chain, it was a tobiguchi. The ancient tool meant for fighting fires was being used as a deadly weapon. The tobiguchi was more melted into the chain than cleanly welded, almost like the one who made it did it in seconds. It was an amalgamation of tools into one weapon.

Ryomen had crafted it with his own hands, but he was not going to reveal such information to the sorcerers before them. Simply thinking of the weapon’s creation made shivers run down his spine. He had created it the same night that he lost his son for good and made a deal with Sukuna. In a fit of mindless grief, Ryomen had gone back to the village that ostracized him and took several objects from the burning homes. A chain from the farmer who had used to whip Ryomen with the damn thing when he caught him stealing his crops as a starving boy. A tobiguchi from the corpse of a man who had tried to use it to fight the fire Ryomen had created. A wooden staff that had been used by the eldest healer who had refused to treat his ill son. A coin from each villager who would wave the yen in front of a begging Ryomen, only to tear it away with a mocking smirk. He would use the metal from the yen coins to reinforce the staff. He then welded everything together, using himself as a furnace.

There were many tales of the origins of the weapons and artifacts that surrounded Sukuna and Ryomen, but none were to be told . Not yet.

With a more serious posture, Sukuna cleared his throat and adopted a stony expression. “I’ve summoned you miserable lot here to discuss a threat. Normally, no opponent would be powerful enough to challenge me in such a way. But this is not about me. I would be a fool if I gambled the lives of my kin on the off chance that I would defeat this threat in the blink of an eye.” Sukuna did not catch the look of surprise on Ryomen’s face when the curse inadvertently called Ryomen and Yuuji his family. The four-armed curse continued. “This threat is a curse user named Kenjaku. What they lack in physical power, they make up for in brutal intellect.”

“You mentioned in your letter that this curse user, Kenjaku, was growing stronger and would reappear in eight years.” Suguru, the man with the calm voice and long hair, spoke. His warm brown eyes held a cold and calculating gaze towards the curse’s crimson ones, unblinking. “Why would you give them the chance to grow stronger and not eliminate them now? Eight years is also quite a specific amount of time. How are you so sure Kenjaku will do something then?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with you, sorcerer.” Ryomen stared at Sukuna, trying to piece together why Sukuna would do something so idiotic.

Instead of allowing the curse to speak, another voice spoke up. It was Nanami, the sorcerer with blonde hair and odd glasses. “It is confusing that you are allowing a threat to your family to grow stronger. You know who they are, but you haven’t killed them.”

Satoru, the one who had been leaning against Suguru, added onto the barrage of questions. “How come Kenjaku is waiting for eight years to start their evil plan or whatever? And, like Suguru said, how do you know it’ll happen in eight years? Did Kenjaku tell you or is it just a really good guess?”

Questions were thrown left and right, none of them allowing Sukuna the chance to answer. The only one who had stayed quiet was the sorceress of the group, Shoko. She glanced at Sukuna with a raised brow and shrugged before returning to looking at the chaotic barrage of voices.

With a patience expected of a saint, Sukuna allowed the group to continue their questionnaire until they realized he was not answering any of them. The first to realize was Nanami, who was quick to make the others stop talking. When the silence returned, Sukuna relished in it for a few moments. Making a habit of napping as often as Yuuji was now coming to bite the curse. He truly had no desire to have this meeting, he wanted to sleep for a century, but there was no turning back. They were here, and Sukuna had to deal with that… There must be something here that will make this easier… Sukuna stood from his seat and went to one of the bookcases lining the basem*nt. He scanned through the many books and weapons until he found a glass bottle filled with smoke. Item in one of his bottom set of hands, Sukuna returned and plopped back down on the floor. The others were staring at him expectantly, but Sukuna could not be bothered to explain.

Sukuna used another hand to remove the cork sealing the bottle, causing a loud pop that startled Ryomen in particular. Immediately, the curse unsheathed his claws on his upper left hand to slice a deep cut into the palm of his upper right hand. Blood pooled from the wound as Sukuna clenched his hand tightly. He aimed his wound towards the open bottle. Once the droplets of crimson entered the bottle, a crackle of thunder filled the air. The fog turned red and began to billow out of the bottle and onto the table. There was a coppery smell to the fog and it did not dissipate, growing denser and denser until Sukuna slammed his bloodied hand onto the table. Similar to a magnet attracting iron filings, Sukuna’s blood attracted the thick smog to circle around his hand.

With his head bowed and eyes closed, Sukuna began an incantation. “ Emerge from the darkness, blacker than death. Impurify that which is pure. ”

The crimson fog turned black as it continued to encircle Sukuna’s hand, growing wider and wider with each rotation. Gusts of wind whipped at the faces of the sorcerers, who had all taken defensive positions. Ryomen had a knowing look in his eyes, but his scowl showed the man’s displeasure with what Sukuna was planning. Finally, when the contained hurricane of blood and darkness stopped turning, Sukuna lifted his hand from the table, admiring his work.

What was once a cluttered basem*nt was now an empty void covered in black fog. At the center of it all was Sukuna, who was sitting on the stone table, the only object that hadn’t disappeared. With a flick of his hand, several tendrils of smoke surrounded the four sorcerers. Before the sorcerers had any time to react, the dark fog disappeared, revealing a familiar set of eyes and tattoos.

Each sorcerer now had the same marking Ryomen and Sukuna had on their foreheads and two black bands around their wrists. However, the most startling change was the extra set of eyes on the young adults’ cheeks. Ryomen reluctantly opened his second pair of eyes he preferred to keep hidden. With no explanation from Sukuna, the tension in the room grew worse. The crackle of rising cursed energy made it difficult to breathe, but Sukuna continued to look unperturbed by it all. Even though there were two special grade sorcerers in the area, the curse was not intimidated in the least.

“Drop your defenses, this place is incapable of producing any attacks. It is simply a device that will make visualizing my words easier. I have no desire to waste my time on lengthy descriptions, so this will do it for me.” Sukuna leaned back on his bottom set of hands, the upper set crossed over his tattooed chest. Like a friendly bird, the fog swirled around Sukuna, awaiting his next command.

Satoru was the first to relax. Despite the migraine stabbing viciously at his brain, Satoru was still the most perceptive person in the room. His Six-Eyes had become more of a nuisance in recent times, but it would always be an invaluable asset in Satoru’s arsenal. Even with the additional tattoos and eyes, Satoru could not detect any danger. Though, the sensation of having an extra pair of eyes was quite uncomfortable. He could only see darkness through the second set, leaving him confused as to why Sukuna gave them a seemingly useless addition.

Seeing the wariness in the sorcerer’s eyes, Sukuna finally decided to explain himself. “This fog is known as the Wretched Haze. It is a special grade cursed object that allows the user to construct whatever they desire as long as they have enough cursed energy. By giving it your blood, it can determine if you are worthy of its power or not. Of course, that is not an issue for me.” Sukuna gave a sharp-toothed grin. He pointed at the markings on the group’s faces. “Those markings only exist in this veil and will disappear once I dismiss it. The eyes will allow you to see what I create as the smoke is usually only visible to its wielder. Now, sit down unless you want me to slice you in half.” He flicked his hand and four makeshift pillows were constructed from the smoke. The sorcerers reluctantly sat down while Ryomen remained upright. In silence, Ryomen slunk over to the stone table Sukuna sat upon. He sat with his back against the table and the sorcerers.

With that, Sukuna began constructing a familiar forest. “September of 2007. Sendai. I know that I do not need to explain the significance of this event, correct?” Without waiting for an answer from the sorcerers, Sukuna continued. More smoke was then formed into seven figures at the center of the forest. Six monsters. One infant. “This is when you encountered the cursed souls and Yuuji. It is also when you discovered that I had returned. The issue lies in the fact that this event was supposed to occur in 2018.”

Ryomen jolted at that. He snapped his head towards Sukuna, but the curse was looking elsewhere. Anger boiled in his gut at not being told such concerning information, but Ryomen knew better than to go on a tirade. Sukuna was finally talking . Ryomen had to listen, no matter how frustrated he became at the curse’s horrid communication skills.

“Before any of you ask how I would know such a thing or bring up my knowledge of the timing of Kenjaku’s plans, I have a question for you, cursed manipulator.” Sukuna pointed at Suguru. The long-haired man straightened from his seat on the ground. “You mentioned that you have done your fair share of research. Tell me, sorcerer, what do you know of cursed souls?” As he said this, the smokey forms of the cursed souls separated from the baby, who had now disappeared. The dark fog of the forest shifted into a barren landscape with only a single tree at the center.

“In the text that I read, cursed souls were said to be the remnants of the ‘rough draft’ the Earth had for life.” Suguru spoke calmly. He tried to summon his inventory curse and was relieved when he felt no resistance from the veil. The purple worm wrapped around Suguru’s body and spat out the requested scrolls and textbook. Once in hand, Suguru gave the book to Sukuna, making the textbook look miniscule in the curse’s large palms. He also gestured towards the scrolls, looking pointedly at the largest one. “This is the only information that Jujutsu Society has on cursed souls and you, Sukuna-san. As you can see, there is a stark lack of knowledge. I discovered these texts in the catacombs of Jujutsu High in Tokyo, so this was information most are unaware of. The catacombs are meant to store that which is meant to be forgotten. I already knew of the catacombs prior to the mission in Sendai, and I was familiar with the layout due to my frequent visits there. These scrolls were hidden in the deepest parts of the catacombs. They were clearly not meant to be found. This textbook, while modern, was also amongst the scrolls.”

Several tendrils of smoke took the offered scrolls while Sukuna continued to examine the textbook. The hardcover of the book was polished, but the pages showed signs of use. From the creases, it was evident that this book was read many times over. Sukuna frowned deeply as he saw the various paintings of the guardians across the centuries. Those bastards must have run amok when I was sleeping. It was foolish of me to think that they would stay in one place, especially that damn bird. Despite his frustration, the ramblings of the author were much more concerning than the apparent fact that the guardians had gone on a worldwide tour. Itadori Kaori. Sukuna wanted to scream. He knew through Yuuji’s faded memories that this was the name of his mother. Well, it was more accurately the body of who would have been Yuuji’s mother if Kenjaku had not stolen the woman’s corpse. While he was not surprised that the curse user would do something so disgusting just for the sake of scientific curiosity, it still did not make the bile in his throat disappear. It had been millions of years since Sukuna learned of Yuuji’s ‘creation’, and time had not made the fact easier to accept. However, Sukuna grew more disturbed for a different reason. If Kaori Itadori was alive, then that meant she knew of the cursed souls, but Sukuna highly doubted a normal human would know such things or write in such a deranged manner. No. Kenjaku had likely stolen her body once more. The damned brain was quite picky with who they inhabited. They had to meet a certain criteria. From what Sukuna remembers of his meetings with Kenjaku in a world long gone, the curse user would only inhabit a tall body with black hair, long or short, and pale skin. Additionally, the brain only stole the bodies of sorcerers with powerful techniques. Sukuna could not remember what Kaori’s cursed technique was, but it must have been intriguing enough to catch Kenjaku’s eye. If the Kenjaku of this new world was the same as the old one, then their preferences for bodies had remained the same. Despite the resetting of the world, it seemed like the death of Kaori Itadori was something that could not be erased.

Sukuna felt sick. The detailed descriptions of the cursed souls and the deranged theories pointed to one conclusion. Kenjaku knew . They likely did not know of the origin of this world’s creation, but they had studied the Yuuji’s guardians extensively. He felt the burning gaze of Ryomen locked onto the back of his skull, but Sukuna could not bring himself to look at the man. He purposely kept the textbook out of sight of Ryomen. Besides Kenjaku knowing of the cursed souls Sukuna had created, there was another concerning factor to this disastrous meeting. The Itadori family. Sukuna knew of Ryomen’s hatred of them. Ryomen had never allowed Sukuna to see into his memories, and he never spoke of what the Itadori Clan had done to him. This time, Sukuna was in the dark. All he knew was that Ryomen had slaughtered every Itadori he could find, essentially wiping them out. It was one of the first things Ryomen had done after he had given his soul to Sukuna. They never spoke of it. And Ryomen never explained why he had done such a thing.

He shut the textbook, hiding it within the smoke. He would have to tell Ryomen about the Itadori family’s apparent survival at a later date. A much later date.

“The information is not as inaccurate as I thought.” Sukuna mused, a hand on his chin. He grabbed the largest scroll and unraveled it with the aid of the fog. In silence, he read over the various texts and paintings. He did not recognize the handwriting, which meant that Kenjaku had not written this scroll. Though, Sukuna was not sure if it was better or worse, considering there was an additional party that knew of his origins. “This scroll has truth to it, but there are several errors and misconceptions.”

Sukuna made the smoke figures of the cursed souls stand before him. He grabbed a ball of fog and cupped it in his bottom set of palms. He pressed down on the ball until he felt the pressure reach its maximum. When he opened his hands, a white sphere laid in the center of his palms. With his technique, Sukuna slashed the sphere into several pieces. A piece went into each guardian while the other pieces floated in the air. “The cursed souls do belong to a world long forgotten.” He would not elaborate further. He just couldn’t.

All the sorcerers and Ryomen had stood up and were staring at the bright pieces in both awe and fascination. Satoru had even taken off his blindfold to stare at the lights, his migraine be damned. While Satoru, Nanamo, and Shoko looked at the lights, Suguru was staring at the tree. The extra pieces that floated in the air had settled in the leaves of the tree of fog. Then, the tiny pieces each shifted into the form of a peach. Suguru glanced to see if anyone else noticed what he was seeing and was met with Ryomen’s pained gaze.

“Yuuji had always loved peaches. They were the same color of his hair, and he would tell that to any who mocked him for his unique hair color. He would say the same thing when he was defending me from the villagers ire.” Ryomen spoke quietly as a sad smile made its way across his features. Sukuna was speaking to the other sorcerers about the cursed souls, speaking of their names and abilities, vital information Suguru should listen to. But he could not bring himself to. The grief and anger in Ryomen’s eyes was familiar to Suguru, as he had seen it on his own face when he thought of Riko.

“You speak of him in the past tense, but the boy was as lively as ever when we arrived.” Suguru responded gently, having a sinking feeling of what had happened to the boy. Unlike his own children, Yuuji seemed to be shielded from the horrors of the world, happy and carefree like a child should be. However, Ryomen’s gaze spoke of another story.

Ryomen reached a hand towards one of the peaches made of glowing, white light. He cupped it in his hands as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “Heh. It seems like I still have that habit of speaking about Yuuji. It’s quite a pesky habit, but one I have had for one thousand years.”

Suguru felt his heart sink. The boy at the peach tree, alone and crying, was Yuuji. He had to wait for one-thousand years to be resurrected, and Ryomen had to wait one-thousand years to have his son in his arms again. Before he had Mimiko and Nanako, Suguru had looked down upon the father for not allowing the boy to rest. Now, Suguru understood why Ryomen had gone so far to keep Yuuji alive. If he lost either of his girls or Megumi and Tsumki in such an agonizing way that Ryomen did, Suguru would not have been able to accept their deaths. He would have done anything to give them another chance at life. Suguru looked at Ryomen and asked as respectfully as he could. “How is he here now?”

Ryomen sighed. Despite his body looking like that of a man in his late twenties or early thirties, his dark honey eyes held a maturity to them of a much older individual. While the time in the modern era had changed the way Ryomen dressed and spoke, he could never shake the habits and customs of the era he was truly born in. Sukuna shared a similar sentiment. He and Ryomen had both adapted to the curse words of today, but would mix their conversations or insults with the vernacular of the Heian Era. It was difficult to see the young man in front of him as an adult, and the same went for the other sorcerers. He had lived for over one thousand years, so everyone besides Sukuna looked young to him. There had been a deep wariness and resentment for the sorcerers when Ryomen had first seen them, but it had faded considerably fast. They were just so young, and Ryomen’s paternal instinct had flared. When he saw the way that the sorcerers interacted with Yuuji, he realized that this group of sorcerers were not as horrid as he had assumed. Additionally, it made him realize that Yuuji needed human interaction besides himself. He could not keep the boy in the shrine all his life. Perhaps these humans are worth keeping around. The white-haired one seems particularly attached to Yuuji. He deserves to know what friendship and love feel like from someone other than Sukuna and I or the guardians. With Suguru still patiently waiting for an answer, Ryomen held the peach close to his chest. “He was turned into a cursed object by Sukuna. I’m not sure how Sukuna knows how to do that, but he assured me that Yuuji’s soul would be safe. Sukuna has lived far longer than me, so he was knowledge that no one in this world has.”

Unbeknownst to Ryomen and Suguru, the others had stopped talking to listen to what the pink-haired man was saying. Sukuna also kept quiet, relieved that Ryomen had finally dropped his guard. Whenever Yuuji was the topic of conversation, Ryomen would talk for hours about his beloved son. Ryomen had murdered and hurt like Sukuna had, but they each loved that boy with every fiber of their being. The same care was seeping towards the sorcerers. Ryomen would never admit how worried he was when he saw Satoru’s sensory overload or the fondness he felt when he saw the four interact with Yuuji. It seemed like the four young sorcerers were slowly becoming part of the very, very small group of people Sukuna and Ryomen cared for. Said group used to only include Yuuji, of course, Uraume, who Sukuna secretly hoped reincarnated as he missed their cooking and their company immensely, and Miss Yunnie, the elderly woman in Sendai who made the best desserts and ramen in Japan.

Ryomen’s gaze was still locked on the small peach. “I wanted something special for the object that would hold Yuuji’s soul. I decided on having the pits from multiple peaches be the object of choice. The guardians would also hold a small piece of Yuuji’s soul within themselves for safekeeping and to detect if a person or curse absorbed one of the pits. There were twenty pits in total, each holding a fraction of Yuuji’s soul. I didn’t want to risk a curse or sorcerer stealing a large portion of my son’s soul, so I decided on multiple cursed objects instead of one. That way, Yuuji’s soul would remain safe. Additionally, splitting the soul also meant splitting the cursed energy, which would make it even harder to detect.”

There was a watery look in Ryomen’s eyes as he spoke the last sentence. He turned to the tree once more and whispered shakily. “The guardians took all that was left of Yuuji’s physical body along with their own soul fragments. Sukuna told me that the ashes and bones of my son would be used to construct a body identical to his original one. That way, we would not have to use a vessel to hold my son’s soul. But…something went wrong.” He locked eyes with Sukuna, the anger was still present but it was mostly overtaken by exhaustion.

Sukuna took that as a signal to continue in Ryomen’s place. He slid off of the table and towered over the rest. With several motions from his hands, the glowing lights returned to Sukuna while the lone tree disappeared. Using the fog once more, Sukuna created the silhouette of five people. There was what looked like a man with long hair standing in the center of the other entities. Sukuna made some of the white light take the form of stitches and placed it on the man’s forehead. The other four entities appeared to be curses of some type. There was one that was tree-like, one that was squid-like, one that was a cyclops with a volcano atop its head, and one that looked human if not for the patchwork marks across its body and face. “These are who Kenjaku is working with. Four special grade disaster curses. I may not know their names but I am familiar with their abilities and how destructive they can be.”

With the remaining lights, Sukuna turned them into twenty peach pits of varying sizes. “These are the peach seeds that I sealed Yuuji’s soul within. I planned to release the seals in 2018, but someone managed to unseal it before I could. That someone was Kenjkau. There is no doubt in my mind. They are a curse user with a technique that allows them to swap their brain with any body they desire, essentially giving them immortality. They can also hold onto the techniques of the previous bodies they inhabit and are able to copy their personality and their hosts’s cursed energy. They are the only being who is as knowledgeable of souls like I am.”

Sukuna made six peach pits float into an outstretched palm. “All twenty of the seeds were hidden by the cursed souls, who are Yuuji’s guardians. They have a sliver of Yuuji’s soul within them in order to detect if one of the pits were absorbed, but there has been nothing detected. This would be a good thing if it wasn’t for the fact that-”

“The pits are missing. That’s why Yuuji and the guardians came back ten years too early.” Ryomen finished for him. His eyes were wide at the realization and his body started to shake. He had become so pale he was nearly gray. There was no stopping the feeling of utter betrayal Ryomen felt. Of all things that Sukuna kept hidden, why would he ever keep this from him? He was too distraught to raise his voice any louder than a whisper. “ Why didn’t you tell me? ”

“Because I have no proof to that claim and because I knew you would not rest until all seeds were found. Yuuji was an infant who needed constant attention. He needed his father with him, not on a wild goose chase that might not result in anything.” Ryomen looked shocked and while Sukuna had an apologetic look within his eyes, no apology came verbally. With a surprisingly soft sigh, Sukuna held one of the peach pits close, identical to what Ryomen had done earlier. “If Yuuji was in active danger, then I would have told you immediately. There was no need to tell you back then as Yuuji was perfectly healthy and safe. He has his original body like I planned and his soul is intact-”

“How do you know that?!” Ryomen snapped. “How the hell do you know that his soul is safe?! How the hell do you even know what f*cking Kenjaku is doing?! You still haven't explained sh*t on that end! How to hell do I know you’re not allied with them?!”

“I WOULD NEVER ALLY MYSELF WITH THAT f*ckING DESPICABLE MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU THINK THAT I WOULD DO SUCH A THING AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE TO KEEP YUUJI SAFE?! ” Sukuna roared back, his prior calmness replaced with furious indignation. The claws on his four hands unsheathed completely as he bared his sharp teeth, making the curse resemble the demon the legends depicted him as. Ryomen did not flinch, but the sorcerers around them were on high alert. Sukuna looked away and tried his best to calm down. He took several deep breaths to compose himself. He knew Ryomen had every right to be upset and distrustful, but Sukuna was never a fair person. He was still furious, but this was not the time to snarl and bite. Sukuna rubbed his temples harshly, claws nearly slicing into his skin. He could tell the truth. He should tell the truth.

It would make everything so much easier. They would be able to prepare accordingly, and there would not be any doubt about Sukuna’s intentions. It would help Yuuji. It might save him if he told the truth to everyone.

But then Sukuna would have to reveal why this world existed in the first place.

He would have to reveal what he had done to the innocent boy Ryomen loved so much.

He would have to reveal that he had slaughtered Gojo Satoru in the body of Megumi Fushiguro, the man's adopted son. Yuuji’s best friend.

He would have to reveal everything he did in Shibuya. All the people he murdered and how he had tortured Yuuji with their deaths over and over and over again.

He would have to reveal that he did work with Kenjaku, even if it was temporary.

He would have to reveal how he alone had destroyed the world and everything in it.

He would have to reveal it all .

He couldn’t.

For the first time in centuries, Sukuna cowered away from something.

He was not a good person. Never was.

So he decided to lie.

“The guardians and I both come from the same forgotten world.” Sukuna knew he was lying through his teeth, but he could not retract his words. The false narrative he would need to construct could have some truth to it to make it more realistic and consistent. He would have to keep up his network of lies for the rest of his immortal life. He swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat as he used the fog to create two planets. One Earth was full of life while the other appeared to be a lifeless outline. Sukuna walked towards the empty Earth and began to tell a story tainted with lies. “Life is a complicated thing, so the world needed a couple tries to get it right. However, the souls of the faulty ‘first-drafts’ still remained. The world is in a constant cycle of birth, evolution, and destruction. Nothing was supposed to survive the Earth’s attempt at resetting itself, but souls are stubborn. My soul was strong enough to survive as well as the souls of the guardians. I have seen this world go through several evolutions and extinctions. It seems like life today is the final draft that the Earth is satisfied with. The life I lived before this era of evolution is one I do not remember. The first forms of life were souls, which were small and weak, but still alive. Many events that happened then will occur in the present. The Earth is unpredictable in some areas, but there are always patterns it refuses to let go of. Call it a time loop or perhaps an act of God. I don’t care. There are events that are cemented into the Earth’s very being. They will always happen, no matter what one does to change it. Some events are not as important and can be altered, but the few that are vital to the Earth cannot be prevented or avoided. That is how I know of Kenjaku’s plan. No matter how many times the world is reborn and destroyed, Kenjaku will always be a reprehensible individual. Their plans may change, but their corruption persists. As does their timing.”

Sukuna had created a web of lies that were intertwined with several truths to keep the falsehood from falling apart. His voice was steady and confident as he spoke, causing the others to be inclined to believe him. Ryomen had gone eerily silent. Sukuna could feel the conflict within Ryomen as if it was his own. Eager to change the subject, he released the two planets and focused back on the five figures. “Kenjaku is a being that only acts in their own self-interest and curiosites. They are willing to do the most vile things for the hell of it. If Kenjaku has been studying cursed souls, then I have no doubt that their plans are centered around the guardians and Yuuji. They can imbue cursed objects with the souls of others like I can, so they must have discovered the peach pits and managed to release the seals with one of their own.”

“But you don’t know how many seeds Kenjaku stole?” Ryomen mumbled, his voice empty and dull.

“I don’t.” Sukuna replied truthfully. For once . “However, Yuuji shows no signs of a damaged or incomplete soul, but there is a possibility that the fragments the guardians have within them may be acting as a substitute. I would have to examine Yuuji’s soul to be sure, but the procedure is quite frightening and stressful. Yuuji is too young to understand a thing if we were to do this now, so I advise we wait until he is at least ten to speak to him about this.”

Ryomen nodded. He bit his thumb as he looked in the distance, a habit Ryome had when he was thinking quite hard on something. While the man processed, Sukuna noticed the sorcerers getting closer to the curse. Nanami was the one who addressed the curse first.

“Do you have any seeds in your possession?” Nanami spoke lowly.

“Yes, there are six of them hidden within the shrine.” Sukuna replied carefully.

Nanami bowed his head. “Thank you. That means that there are six less pits to worry about. Fourteen is a more manageable amount than twenty. Do you have any leads as to where the other seeds could have been hidden?”

For a moment, Sukuna just stared at the blonde. He remembered how fond Yuuji was of the man, and how he followed the seven-to-three sorcerer like a lost duckling. At the time, Sukuna had found it pathetic. Now, Sukuna saw why Yuuji had adored Nanami so much. The man, as young as he was, held a sternness to him that was equivalent to an old teacher. However, this strictness was more reassuring than intimidating. It showed that Nanami was reliable and would be an anchor of support that could not be lifted no matter what. The Yuuji of the past was a mess of self-hatred, a savior-complex, and emotional repression. Sukuna had only worsened the young teen’s issues, but Nanami had given the boy a dependable and stable adult to confide in. Nanami was still quite young, but Sukuna could see the man’s determination to aid the child. Sukuna felt a small grin appear on his face. “I may not have any knowledge of the seeds' whereabouts but the guardians do. They should be-”

“-ABLE TO TRAIN YOU!” Ryomen blurted out, interrupting Sukuna for the umpteenth time. A wild look appeared in Ryomen’s eyes. The stress of the day had truly gotten to the man. A stressed Ryomen was a violent Ryomen. Though the violence could be physical, it was often verbal with the man going on very long rants about nonsense.

“Train us?” Satoru tilted his head and scoffed at such an idea. “ We are already fully-trained sorcerers. I don’t think there is much those things can teach us that we don’t already know.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, kid.” Ryomen chirped, his gaze intense as he studied them all. “You’re weak. All four of you. If my son is to be protected. then I will make sure that his human guardians are as strong as his monstrous guardians. I am not going to allow any more sorcerers, so you better be prepared to become a one-man army.”

Satoru, Suguru, and Nanami froze at the man’s words. They were used to Yaga’s intensity during teaching, but Ryomen was on a completely different level than Yaga. When the pink haired man moved towards Nanami, he did it with such speed that it looked like he teleported. The wrapped blade Nanami wielded was now in Ryomen’s hands. “Based on the suit you are wearing, I doubt that you are an active sorcerer. Your skills must never get rusty if you are to protect my son! Hm…Based on your similarities with Overtime, I assume you have his ratio technique. Good. I’ll have him train you until your technique is strong enough to cut through diamonds and precise enough to cut a droplet of water on the head of a pin. Understood?”

The youngest of the four nodded his head, eyes wide behind his glasses. He could tell by the way that Ryomen spoke that this training would be brutal.Additionally, he remembered the cursed soul that had spotted wrappings and similar glasses. He had seen the entity slice a metal beam in half with only one slash of a thin wrapping. Overtime’s slashes were much deadlier than his own. Nanami had nearly gotten his arm cut off when one of Overtime’s wrappings got too close during the Sendai mission. It would be grueling, but Nanami was determined to grow stronger. An innocent child’s life was at stake, and he could not stand idly by and allow the boy to get killed.

“I am not training with that f*cking bird.” Satoru ground out, arms crossed in a childish pout. He was strong enough on his own, and he never wanted to be near the beast again. Ryomen merely smiled. However, it was not warm or reassuring. His smile was like the grin of a beast about to eat its prey whole.

Ryomen had dealt with enough bullsh*t to last a lifetime. He was not going to allow Sukuna to take the reins this time. The man had reached his limit with Sukuna’s secretism. His son will be safe, Ryomen will make sure of that, even if he has to do everything himself. Ryomen was going to do things his way. The limitless user had not activated his infinity, so Ryomen took that chance to grab Satoru by the color of his shirt. The honey of his eyes darkened with unsaid threats and warnings. With an authoritative tone, Ryomen reprimanded Gojo Satoru as if he was a child in timeout. “Young man, you are nowhere near the level of power Infinite has. I know that he is a pain in the ass at best and a deranged monster at worst. But he is the only one that can make you stronger as no one else shares the technique you have. So you will be quiet and accept the training like the mature adult you keep saying you are. Got it?”

Now, Satoru had the same wide-eyed look Nanami had. He was the strongest sorcerer, no one could talk down to him without looking delusional or idiotic. However, Ryomen made Satoru feel like a boy all over again. No one had ever spoken to Satoru like Ryomen did. He was usually yelled at and insulted for his many antics, but Ryomen had not raised his voice. The paternal tone was something Satoru was not familiar with. He had begun to develop it for his own children, but there had never been any form of paternal authority aimed towards Satoru. Ryomen pat Satoru’s head, his incredibly warm palm doing wonders to Satoru’s migraine.

When Ryomen aimed his gaze at Suguru, the long-haired man smiled. “I do not think that any of the guardians will be able to train me. My technique is quite unique so I’m accustomed to practicing on my own-”

“You're training with me.” Ryomen interrupted Suguru. Said man looked like a fish out of water with his wide eyes and open jaw. It reminded him of Yuuji’s face when Ryomen told him that bananas are a type of berry. He could see the troubled mind that Suguru had, it was obvious by the way he held himself and spoke. Ryomen had a feeling that he would be able to relate to the young man on many things. He gently poked at Suguru’s left shoulder. “You have the build of someone that is familiar with hand to hand combat. I may not be able to manipulate cursed spirits, but I know my way around cursed energy and the body. I’ll have you master several forms of martial arts until you don’t need to rely on your curses anymore. When I’m not teaching you how to defeat an opponent with one finger, I will be showing you how to master your cursed energy. To refine and shape it into something truly fitting for a sorcerer like yourself.” Ryomen summoned a flame-like dagger in his palms when speaking about polishing one’s cursed energy.

Seemingly satisfied with his decision, Ryomen nodded to himself and went to sit on top of the stone table. The three male sorcerers were still left in a state of shock. They swore they could feel their muscles growing sore from the mere thought of the training to come.

Shoko smirked at her friends. “Hah! Guess you guys are going to the trenches. I’ll be sure to relax extra hard in your honor.”

Before the three could reply, Sukuna barked out a laugh. “Oh, you are not going to be relaxing in the slightest. You are going to be working just as hard as your little friends.”

“Ah yes, have one of those beasts train the healer with no offensive capabilities.” Shoko drawled sarcastically.

“Oh no, you’re not going to be training with a guardian.” Sukuna relished in the confused look on the young woman’s face. He spread his bottom pair of arms out and used the top set to gesture towards himself. Satoru had a wide grin on his face and began to cackle while Suguru tried his best to stifle a laugh behind his hand. Nanami simply looked surprised. “You will be training with me.”

The lollipop stick Shoko had been chewing on dropped out of her mouth. Her normally neutral expression was replaced with one of shock. She had never trained with her peers. She was the healer for goodness sake! Meant to stay on the sidelines and away from the battlefield! Shoko laughed wearily. “What can the King of Death teach about healing? I have never heard you saving a life in any tale.”

Sukuna’s grin widened. “That is because no one is worthy of my aid. However, my reverse cursed technique has been refined over millions of years of practice, so I know much more than you think, little healer.”

“How advanced? Healing a paper cut?” Shoko had her arms crossed with a scowl on her face.

Another deep laugh burst from Sukuna. His smugness grew even more. “Well, I have been able to regrow limbs in seconds. I have sliced Ryomen to pieces and have been able to heal him completely within moments. I even ripped out his heart and brain and restored it two days later.” It was a grim fact, but Ryomen and Sukuna had made up for that incident. They were very different people in the Heian Era and preferred to simply forget what they had done to each other in those times.

The casual tone Sukuna adopted made it sound like the curse was talking about the weather. Shoko felt an eye twitch. She had never heard of someone managing to bring someone back to life after such an injury. The brain and heart were the most difficult thing to heal, it was nearly impossible to do so. It was more likely that you would cause further damage to the brain or heart when trying to use reverse cursed technique than actually heal the vital organs. Case in point: Satoru’s brain. When Shoko had examined her friend with her technique, Satoru recoiled immediately and began to scream in agony. For the brief second that Shoko was able to touch Satoru’s head, she saw deep cracks littered through his mind. They were markings that would not show up on an actual MRI or CAT scan as the damage was not physical. It was something otherworldly, and Shoko could not do anything to help Satoru. But Sukuna had healed his brain perfectly before. She needed to grow stronger in her own abilities if her friends were going to be putting themselves in more danger than ever before. Taking out a piece of gum from her pocket, Shoko sighed heavily. “Alright. I’ll be your damn apprentice or some sh*t.”

It was reassuring to see the sorcerers readily agree to give their aid without any stipulations. Jujutsu Society was corrupted from the inside out, but it seemed like this small group was part of the minority who truly wanted to help people. Sukuna nor Ryomen fully trusted the sorcerers after the meeting, but they were willing to give them a chance. They were willing to do anything to ensure the light in Yuuji’s eyes never fades away.

Never again.

When Yuuji woke up, he was cold.

He didn’t like being cold.

His Papa and Uncle were always so warm, they were like living blankets!

But Yuuji was cold.

The toddler could not even feel the warmth of Supernova’s fur or the soothing heat of Overtime’s magma. Yuuji felt his heart leap up to his throat. He looked around to see if his Papa or guardians were nearby, and he only found a frozen tundra.

All that the boy could see was white and red. White and red. White and red.

Then he saw gray.

Yuuji looked up from his seat on the snow to the gray figure peering down at him. Instantly, a wave of recognition hit Yuuji. It was the Gray Him! Yuuji stood up, arms close to his chest to preserve warmth. He knew his man. He dreamed of the man in gray every night, but he could never remember the man when he woke up. But when he fell asleep, the sense of familiarity and memories of the previous dream came flooding in.

The man looked like him if he was older, but he also looked so sad. Yuuji had tried to talk to the man, but he never responded to any of Yuuji’s attempts at comfort. When Yuuji would try to hug his leg or arm, the man would not react either. The gray man would just stare or walk away. Yuuji had begun calling him Mr. Gray or Gray Him as the man had never given Yuuji his name. In fact, Mr. Gray never spoke to Yuuji. Not directly, at least. Yuuji would follow Mr. Gray on his walks throughout the dreamworld they were in and listen to the man’s quiet whispers of regret and apologies.

Mr. Gray had the same eye markings that Yuuji did and the same marks on his eyebrow and lip. Though, Mr. Gray’s markings looked much more painful than Yuuji’s. He smiled at Mr. Gray, who had now reached a hand for Yuuji to take. Without hesitation, he did. Mr. Gray’s hand was as cold as the snow they were walking through. As they walked, Yuuji saw the many droplets and pools of red across the pure-white snow. The barren trees were covered in frost as well. At times, Mr. Gray would walk away before Yuuji got the chance to say ‘hi’, but this was the first time Mr. Gray was holding Yuuji’s hand! Not the other way around!

“Are you okay, Mr. Gray?” Yuuji asked with a worried frown on his lips. Papa had always told him that it was okay to be sad, but it was also okay to ask for help.

Instead of responding, Mr. Gray continued to gently tug Yuuji through the tundra, his gray hair and hoodie blowing with the vicious wind. Eventually, they seemed to reach the end of the forest as the trees had disappeared. Where the trees had ended, a deep crater had begun. Yuuji held onto Mr. Grey’s calloused hand tighter. He did not like exploring the crater. It made him really sad and angry when he looked at it, and Yuuji did not know why.

Fortunately, Mr. Gray did not move any further. He released Yuuji’s hand and knelt in front of the little boy. His eyes were as monochrome as the rest of his body, but there was an emotion within that Yuuji could not place. All that he knew was that it made Mr. Gray seems more alive than ever before.

“Mr. Gray?”

A pale hand grasped Yuuji’s once more. For the first time, Mr. Gray spoke to him. His voice was raspy from lack of use, and his tone was lifeless as if he was a machine. He squeezed Yuuji’s hands within himself. He whispered to the boy. “Protect them. All of them.”

“Who?” Yuuji whispered back. Was he talking about Papa and his Uncle Kuna? But they didn’t need protection? They were the strongest people in the universe!

“Keep them safe.” The monochromatic man pleaded. His tone was still dule, but his gray eyes held a desperation deep inside.

It then clicked for Yuuji. The guests Uncle Kuna and Papa had. The people that made Yuuji all fuzzy inside. He liked them a lot! Gojo was really fun and nice, Getou had a very soothing voice, Shoko had given him a lollipop, and Nanami had made him an origami crane! Yuuji nodded passionately. “Okay! I pinky promise!”

The slightest quirk on the corners of Mr. Gray’s lips made Yuuji want to jump and dance. He was smiling! Mr. Gray had initially gone to give Yuuji the pinky on his left hand, but there was only a stump left. Quick to switch hands, Yuuji beamed at Mr. Gray. “Pinky promise!”

Mr. Gray nodded. “Will you protect them?”

“Mhm!” Yuuji nodded his head once more.

After their pinkies interlocked and then separated, Mr. Gray had returned to his normally sad expression. He stood once more. As he did so, the winds from earlier turned into a blizzard. It was the telltale sign that Yuuji was going to wake up. But he didn’t want to go just yet! Mr. Gray had talked to him! He smiled! Yuuji couldn’t leave now!

As the snow grew heavier until Yuuji could no longer see in front of him, Mr. Gray’s voice could be heard over the winds.

“Protect them, even if it costs you your life. They deserve to live…We don’t.”

Yuuji woke up in tears, already forgetting the dream he had had. For the first time, Uncle Kuna was not there when Yuuji woke up from his nap. His lip wobbled as the toddler tried to hold in his cries, but it was no use. Small sobs escaped Yuuji as he grew increasingly more distressed.

Then a warm, fluffy body pressed against his. Supernova was staring at him worriedly, beginning to purr to help soothe the toddler. His sandpaper-like tongue cleaned away the boy’s tears. As his sobs turned into hiccups, Yuuji could feel Overtime’s soft wrappings smooth over his hair. He then felt Boogie give him a slobbery kiss, causing the boy to giggle. At the end of his bed, Resonance and Chimera were emitting soft churrs and clicks to further calm the frightened boy. Chimera had even summoned a rabbit for Yuuji to hold. The toddler looked around for Infinite and found the bird wrapped around the stone rafters. Infinite trilled softly and lowered his long body until his beak was touching Yuuji’s cheek. The draconic bird nuzzled the boy to reassure the toddler that he was there and that Yuuji was not alone. When Infinite returned to the rafters, he left his smoke-like tail hanging below. There were several eyes Infintie summoned within his tail, each acting as a nightlight for Yuuji.

The soft blue glow of his room and the calming lullaby were enough to make Yuuji fall back asleep.

He was safe.

He wasn’t alone.

He was warm.

Chapter 7: FANART!

Chapter Text

Check out @n0bluev!

AMAZING DEPICTION OF INFINITE! I LOVE HIS FUR, HIS MASK AND BANADAGES, HIS FUR, HIS sh*t EATING GRIN! EVERYTHING! LOOK AT THIS FEATHERY MENANCE!

BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK OF CHIMERA! LOOK AT THIS INKY, GOOPY BOI!! HIS DESIGN IS SO INCREDIBLE! I NEVER IMAGINED MY DESCRIPTIONS OF MY SILLY GUYS WOULD EVER COME TO LIFE. AHHH! IT JUST LOOKS SO COOL! HIS EYELIGHTS, HIS GOOP, HIS MYSTERIOUS-NESS, EVERYTHING!

ADORABLE DRAWING OF BABY YUUJI! HE IS SO PRECIOUS AND TINY OH MY GOODNESS! HIS TIGER ONESIE IS AMAZING AND IT IS NOW CANON THAT RYOMEN HAS BOUGHT YUUJI A COLLECTION OF TIGER ONESIES OVER THE YEARS. I LOVE HOW SOFT AND SOOTHING THIS ART IS! YUUJI'S MARKINGS WERE ALSO DONE SO SO WELL! HE'S THE BEST BABY BOI!

AWESOME MEME OF INFINITE AND MEGUMI! THIS SCENE IS DEFINITELY CANON. INFINITE IS AN ANNOYING MENANCE AND HIS TOP TARGETS ARE OVERTIME, SUKUNA, AND OF COURSE CHIMERA! BLOB CHIMERA IS THE BEST AS WELL! I NEED TO INCLUDE HIS BLOB FORM IN MORE CHAPTER!

Thank you once again to @n0bluev for this! It's just *chef's kiss* AMAZING!

Chapter 8: Spikes and Scarves

Chapter Text

It is vital that you retrieve this, Ryomen.

I know.

We cannot let any of those humans get in our way.

Of course not. I’ll kill them if they try to stop me.

Kill them? Heh. The sorcerers won’t like that.

Do you think I care? I can handle their ire. This is far too important.

I agree, but try not to burn the place to the ground.

It’s tempting. All of these people are just worms desperate to consume whatever sh*t is available. I’d be doing them a favor.

Hm. And here I thought you were growing fond of humans.

Never. The four sorcerers we acquainted are the only decent ones. The rest can rot.

There are civilians in this place, Ryomen. We would draw attention to ourselves if there are casualties. It'll be a pain to deal with.

Like I said earlier, I don’t care. If they try to challenge me, then they die. Simple.

I see.

And what of it?

Nothing. It’s just that…Well-

Spit it out.

It just seems that I have severely underestimated your dedication to capitalism.

“Shut up, Sukuna.” Ryomen hissed to himself. He was currently in the supermarket looking for a very special item. It had been sold out for months, but Ryomen refused to go home empty handed today. He would fight tooth and nail for what he desired.

The Limited Edition SPECIALZ DELIGHT: A Ginger and Brown Sugar Ice Cream Swirl With Crunchy Caramel Bits from Cyclop Cat Creamery.

The mere thought of the frozen treat made Ryomen’s mouth water. He shopped almost exclusively online, using a false address so the delivery person would not discover the location of the shrine. For the last several years, Ryomen had everything delivered to a small house a few hours away from their true home. The house had been abandoned long ago, but Ryomen had chosen it due to it being remote, but reachable for regular humans. Due to the multiple barriers and seals Infinite and Sukuna had placed, no one could enter the shrine without permission. If they tried, they would be killed instantly by the powerful wards placed throughout. By using the house, deliveries could be made without the messenger being spontaneously combusted or sliced into a million pieces. Additionally, the house used to belong to a farmer. At first glance, the fact may seem irrelevant, but it wasn’t for Ryomen. He was nothing if not prepared. The house was small, but it was built upon the vast land of a ranch. The farmhouse gave Ryomen the opportunity to use the place as a way to stock up on emergency supplies.

Though, the supplies did not only include food or water. The farm the house was built upon was used to grow crops in case of a sudden apocalypse or if Ryomen had to hide his family away for the next decade. On top of that, Ryomen used the ranch to house cattle, chickens, sheep, and horses. This way, Ryomen would not have to purchase goods like dairy, eggs, or meat, things that expire quickly. That meant fewer trips to the store. And fewer trips to the store meant less humans Ryomen had to interact with. And less humans that interacted with him meant less chance of his family being found and killed .

It was the perfect plan!

Ryomen had grown up on the streets in a village that saw him as nothing but a bad omen. The sensation of his stomach writhing in agony from starvation was more familiar than the warm feeling of a full belly. He was not taking any chances when it came to his son’s life. Yuuji would always have food on his plate and warm clothes on his back.

The man was also no stranger to war. He knew what it was like to have no form of transportation, no form of escaping, during a time of bloodshed and chaos. He had many memories of falling asleep next to the bodies of the fallen as a young boy, pretending to be among the dead so the enemy soldiers would not target him next. When he made the deal with Sukuna, he had finally learned what it was like to be on the other side, to be the one causing the terror and death. From what he had observed as a boy and as a man, being able to retreat was what determined if you lived or died. So. Horses . Ryomen was familiar with horses, often sleeping with the hooved beasts in their stables during the winter because he had no other place to go. The horses Ryomen had now were descended from the original horses Ryomen had ridden into the many battles he waged. They were strong, loyal, and, most importantly, fast. His mind could rest easy knowing that his son would be able to escape if anything were to happen to Ryomen or Japan itself.

And this paranoia did not worsen from the fact that his son was going to be starting public school soon. Nope. Ryomen was completely fine with that.

Liar.

I know.

He was not a trusting person, and he could not afford to be one no matter how many allies he obtained. After the fateful meeting with the sorcerers, Ryomen had taken it upon himself to venture out in search of the peach seeds that held his son’s soul while training the young sorcerers while also raising his precious son while also also having to look after six powerful beasts and one grumpy curse. Needless to say, Ryomen was exhausted, but he did not trust Sukuna to handle things for him. Not anymore. There had been a strain on their relationship after Sukuna had revealed his many secrets at the meeting. For the sake of Yuuji, the boy who loved his father and uncle so much that he could not bear to be without either of them, they had worked things out. They had fought for centuries, so what was one more fight? That was the mindset Ryomen held in order to keep his temper under control. Yuuji should not have to see his loved ones fight. For the following weeks after the meeting, Ryomen and Sukuna tried their best to act civilly or ignore each other as much as they could.

As time passed on, they had begun a ritual of sitting by the pond, neither speaking to the other. They would not talk, scream, or even whisper. They simply basked in the peaceful silence. One night, however, Sukuna looked at the man and broke the quiet they had become accustomed to. Instead of the expected insult or sneer, Sukuna had apologized to Ryomen for what he had done. His normally brash voice was soft and remorseful.

‘I know how special Yuuji is to you, Ryomen. I should not have kept the information of his soul’s whereabouts from you, nor the existence of Kenjaku. I’m…I’m sorry. I should not have assumed it was alright to omit so many things about your son. I thought it would be easier to wait and focus on caring for Yuuji, but I was wrong.’

It had shocked Ryomen to his core when he had heard the curse’s apology. There were several facts about the world. The sky was blue. Ice was cold. Fire was hot. Infinite was annoying. And, the most important fact of all, Sukuna did not apologize . Ryomen had never heard the curse admit he was in the wrong before that night. He had wanted to hate Sukuna, but Ryomen could not bring himself to. Even when he knew that Sukuna was still hiding things from him, Ryomen did not hate him. His trust in him had diminished, that would never return, but he had accepted the apology. Sukuna and Ryomen shared the same body and soul. They could not leave the other even if they tried. Even if neither wanted to admit it, Sukuna and Ryomen were brothers.

The next few years had been much easier than the first with the additional aid of the sorcerers. Even though Ryomen was doing far too much, he was happy to see his son thriving. He would be turning five in a few days, and Ryomen could not ignore that fact any longer. As much as he wanted to stay in the shrine, Ryomen knew he had to go out and purchase the gifts that Yuuji deserved. The boy had even written the shortest wishlist imaginable after Sukuna and Ryomen practically begged him to ask for something. However, most of the requested presents were for other people, but Ryomen knew it would break Yuuji’s heart if he did not respect his son’s wishes. There were only three things that Yuuji wanted for himself, and Ryomen would rather be burned alive again than not get Yuuji exactly what he wished for.

Knowing that the trip to the city would take a while, Ryomen had reluctantly asked the sorcerers to come to the shrine earlier than expected. For the past three years, the sorcerers had developed a training regime that involved them coming to the shrine once a week or once a month if they had too many missions. Not all four could come at the same time due to their differing schedules. Their visitation was timed carefully as to not rouse suspicions from the sorcerer’s elders. Nanami, the supposedly strict and avid rule follower, was the most skilled at sneaking out and deceiving the higher-ups. He came up with an interchanging schedule that his group could use to make the sorcerers’ weekly outings seem innocent. Due to the unexpected timing for today, only one sorcerer could attend. It was surprisingly Gojo, the sorcerer who was the busiest of all, who could take care of Yuuji. However, Ryomen had a feeling that Gojo would have skipped out on any mission just to see Yuuji anyway. The white-haired man adored Yuuji, becoming another uncle that Yuuji loved. The two got along like two peas in a pod.

There was one drawback. Gojo was able to visit, but he had to bring one of his children to the shrine. His adopted son, Fushiguro Megumi, had gotten suspended after a nasty fight in school (a fight he had won) and needed to stay with Gojo. Ryomen was about to refuse until Sukuna urged him to agree. It was strange that Sukuna was so passionate about allowing the older child to visit, but Ryomen had relented and agreed. In the end, the choice was the correct one as Yuuji had squealed and smiled brighter than the sun when he learned that he would be getting to meet a new person.

There was still much to do for his son’s birthday preparations, so Ryomen shook himself out of his thoughts and wheeled his cart towards the frozen dessert section. Ryomen had a bit of a sweet tooth, though not nearly as severe as Gojo’s, and was delighted to see no one in the aisle. It was early after all. Too early for most people to buy ice cream.

The Cyclop Cat Creamery was, in Ryomen’s opinion, the best ice cream manufacturer in the country. Many pints of their ice cream had helped Ryomen get through his worst nights. Nights that involved him watching sh*tty telenovelas or dramatic family comedies on the couch, bundled in a blanket, and crying with a spoon in his mouth. All to distract him from the constant worry and stress he felt. Sometimes, Boogie would join him on the dramas he watched, as long as it featured pop-idol Takada-chan. The man and dog tearing up at each rejection at a sakura tree, each confession at a sakura tree, each break-up in the rain or sakura tree, each desperate sprint through an airport, each admittance of moving away, and even each family member who randomly gets sick. Takada-chan’s movies always had at least one of those events. Though, it was more likely for her films to have all six.

…So, yes. Ryomen consumed quite a lot of ice cream.

At least, Yuuji adored the flavors they had as well. Even Sukuna, who ate meat almost exclusively, was fond of the frozen treats.

Hurry up!

Be quiet! I’m the one who’s paying!

Sukuna grumbled within his mind. Due to the nature of their shared soul, Sukuna could not stay in the shrine when Ryomen left it. He had to stay with Ryomen whenever he went outside their home. It was another reason why Ryomen hated going out in public. The curse would never shut up within his mind, always finding something to complain about. Ryomen received many odd looks when he would respond to the entity in his head, and it took all his self-control to not snap at the humans. He was a single father with too much on his hands. He did not have the energy to deal with the fools who stared at him as if he was insane. Ryomen probably had several screws loose, but he did not enjoy other people thinking that!

The coolness of the freezer aisle helped soothe Ryomen’s nerves. He first picked out Yuuji’s favorite flavors: BLACK FLASH , a dark chocolate ice cream with strawberry and raspberry swirls and LEFT, RIGHT, GOODNIGHT, an ice cream with three separate flavors that included milk chocolate, vanilla bean, and honeycomb. The titles were…odd. But the ice cream was good enough for Ryomen to not care for once.

Buy more.

I plan on buying several pints already.

Good. Make sure you have enough to feed an army.

…

…

I expect you to tell me why.

…

Sukuna.

Fine. The brat and I will be having a competition to see who can consume the most frozen confectionaries.

You mean an ice cream eating contest?

…Yes. It was on his birthday wish list…

Ryomen had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh. To anyone else, including Ryomen himself, Sukuna was the biggest asshole imaginable. Granted, Ryomen was as well, but his usual exhaustion hid his poor temperament. Sukuna was the type of person to push an elderly woman into oncoming traffic just because she asked for help crossing the road. An extreme example, yes, but it was great at showing Sukuna’s violent tendencies and astounding levels of pettiness. However, he was a completely different person with Yuuji. He would deny it constantly, but the curse was incredibly soft when it came to the boy. Ryomen shook his head with a small smile as he grabbed a few more pints. Once Sukuna deemed the amount of ice cream sufficient, Ryomen finally went for the flavor he had been waiting for for months.

At last!

Just as his hand reached for the frozen dessert, another came and snatched the last pint of SPECIALZ DELIGHT before he could blink. It had happened so quickly that Ryomen’s mind needed a few seconds to process what had happened.

OH, THAT f*ckING BITCH! LET ME OUT, RYOMEN! LET ME BEAT HER ASS! I SWEAR TO GOD, I’LL CUT OFF THAT HAND RIGHT NOW! THE f*ckING AUDACITY! STUPID BITCH! GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF sh*t CU-

With practiced ease, Ryomen ignored the unholy screeching within his head. He tried his best to have a pleasant smile on his face as he turned to the thief person. It was a middle-aged woman with streaky blond hair that was cut into a bob. Her makeup was slightly cakey from the excessive powder she likely used. She had several fake gemstones on her rings and bracelets.

The woman looked at Ryomen with a disgusted scowl. “What.”

Sukuna’s creative swears and insults grew louder, causing Ryomen to suppress a grimace. He pointed at the pint the woman was holding. “I was about to grab that, miss. I know it’s the last one, but I’ve been waiting for the restock for months. You see, my son is having a-”

“I grabbed it first. Go find another pint for your son.” She pointed a gaudy pink nail at Ryomen. “I suggest looking at the clearance aisle, you people can’t afford this stuff anyway.”

Stay calm. Stay calm. STAY CALM . Ryomen breathed in deeply, his smile resembling a snarl more than anything else. “It’s for my son’s birthday. Surely, you can let go of the ‘finders keepers’ mentality since you are clearly not a child.”

“I don’t care about your damn spoiled brat of a son! This is mine! Go to some other store!”

“No.” Ryomen gave up on trying to be polite the second the crone insulted his son. The woman looked like she had just sucked on a lemon with how pinched her face got.

“How dare you! Do you know who my husband is! I can have you arrested for this-”

“Do it.” Ryomen said coldly. The woman immediately froze. “I dare you.”

For a few moments, it seemed like the horrid lady was going to give up. However, she got over her brief lapse and scowled harder at Ryomen. “You people have no respect whatsoever! I’m going to call-”

“My people?” Ryomen asked with his fists clenched, already feeling them heat up.

“Yes, you people! You damn activists that dye their hair and act like they're superior to everyone else!” The woman looked more like a tomato with how flushed her face became from anger. She stomped her foot like a child throwing a tantrum. “Leave us good people alone! I’m not giving you anything! Your stupid son can-”

It was as if the very air around them had gone still. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights could not be heard anymore nor the constant buzz of the refrigeration units. Finally, the woman realized the mistake she had just made. Her eyes grew wide with genuine terror as the man in front of her bore his piercing crimson eyes into her. For a second, it seemed like the tattoos beneath his eyes opened. She blinked hard, and the eyes disappeared along with the blood red gaze. Despite being in the freezer aisle, the atmosphere around them grew unbearably hot. This was the first time that anyone had ever scared her this much. Her hands began to shake as the towering figure came closer.

Ryomen snatched the woman by the neck before she could utter a cry of help. He let his palms grow hot enough to burn. “The only reason that you’re still alive is because I have errands to do, so I can’t waste my time tossing your eviscerated corpse to the rats . Though, the rats don’t deserve such rotten meat. Perhaps the maggots would take you. They eat all worthless, putrid garbage after all.”

There was now blood streaming down the horrified woman’s neck as sharp claws pierced into her. She had dropped the pint, the reason for the argument, the second he grabbed her. Her hands pawed uselessly at the iron grip the pink-haired man seemed to have.

“Your behavior is disgusting. If anyone behaves like they are above everyone else, it is you. You’re a rotten woman who no one will miss. I would say you have time to change your ways, but that would be a lie, wench. Now, get out of my sight.” Ryomen unceremoniously dropped the woman who collapsed onto the floor. Her neck was bleeding profusely and part of Ryomen wanted to let the old crone bleed out. However, his common sense kicked in. Leaving a dead body in a public supermarket would come back to bite him. Instead of slitting her through or turning her to ash, Ryomen begrudgingly healed her using his reverse cursed technique. His was not as refined as Sukuna’s, but it would do. After healing her, leaving no scrap of evidence behind, Ryomen picked up the tossed pint. He heard the hysterical sobs from the traumatized woman, but he did not acknowledge her whatsoever.

Well done, Ryomen. Though, your outburst better not have melted our frozen confections!

“Shut up, Sukuna.”

If someone were to ask Satoru about wanting children as a teen, he would have laughed in the questioner’s face and mock the person for such a stupid question. ‘Hell no.’ He’d say. ‘Why would anyone want to take care of snot-nosed brats for the rest of their life?’ He’d jeer.

Well, his younger self could f*ck off.

“Megumiiiiii-chaaaaan~”

“I’m punching you next.” Megumi grouched from the backseat of the car. The eleven-year-old had gotten into a fight with several boys at recess. Based on his minimal injuries, Megumi had won the fight. The boys that had tried to gang-up on his boy were much worse for wear, bearing black eyes and broken noses and scratches that likely came from a protective demon dog. However, Megumi was cradling his right arm and would wince whenever the car went over a bump. There were little to no bruises or scuff marks on Megumi, but Satoru knew better than to ignore the risk of something internal occurring.

After receiving a call from Megumi’s school, he had to ask Ijichi to drive him since it would be jarring if he warped there. The younger man agreed without fuss, sweating profusely as he readied the car. Despite his jittery nature, Ijichi’s skill behind the wheel was unmatched. It was the only time that Ijichi would appear calm and confident. Once they arrived, Satoru had to pretend that he cared for the feelings of the delinquents Megumi had injured and act like he was disappointed in Megumi. It could not be further from the truth, but Satoru needed to be a mature adult in front of the school’s principal. They had given no punishment to the group of boys that had initiated the fight, but had suspended Megumi for two weeks. The parents of the brats that had attacked Megumi tried to lecture Satoru on his parenting skills. He simply smiled at the morons, thanking them for the advice and assuring them that this wouldn’t happen again. If the school had not been the most secure place Satoru could find, he would have ripped those parents and the principal a new one.

When Megumi and Satoru entered the car, the elder immediately burst into giggles. In his mind, Megumi was being punished for something minor. When Satoru was his age, he had done far worse things to others. Though, the fact that Satoru had been homeschooled meant that all his tutors were paid to deal with his preteen-self’s horrid attitude. He could get away with anything, but Megumi was not being taught by a private tutor. He went to a public school, and the school had rules. Perhaps suspension was warranted for the brutal beating Megumi had given the boys…Maybe. He needed the full story. Satoru had been trying to ask Megumi about what happened for the past ten minutes, but the boy refused to answer.

As the scenery of office buildings and shopping districts changed to something far more rural, Megumi perked up considerably. His dark expression faded into one of curiosity. There were hundreds of questions brewing in the boy’s navy eyes.

“Got something on your mind, Megs?” Satoru glanced at the boy.

Megumi huffed stubbornly, a trait he and the twins share. He tried to make his black hair cover his eyes, but it only made the boy look like he was pouting. Eventually, Megumi spoke. “Aren’t you gonna ground me?”

“I don’t think that was the question you wanted to ask.” Satoru teased.

“Just answer, Gojo.” Megumi demanded, though it lacked the normal fire the boy was known for. Despite how hard Megumi tried to appear apathetic or stoic, Gojo could read him like a book. The boy was nervous, likely believing that he was in deep trouble with his adoptive parent. He had a tension in his body that suggested that Megumi was expected to be struck or yelled at. It pained Satoru to see the boy struggle with the trauma his good-for-nothing father gave him. While Megumi never spoke of the first years of his life with Toji, Satoru could tell that it was anything but pretty. It left him with serious issues involving attachment, abandonment, and being more closed off than a clam. It made Satoru want to kill Toji for the second time. And a third. And a fourth-

He shook his head to rid himself of the murderous thoughts. Megumi was still awaiting a response, looking more uneasy than before. With a soft sigh, Satoru turned away, knowing that the boy hated prolonged eye contact. “I’m not mad at you, Megs. I would have done much worse in your shoes, but you showed restraint. You’re a smart kid, so I know that I don’t need to tell you not to do it again. Not because the bastards don’t deserve it, they did if you ask me. You know what you did wrong, and I know you like this school enough that you don’t want to be expelled. The principal is a jerk, sure, but I’ve seen how well the staff and teachers treat you.”

“...You’re really not mad?” Megumi whispered, eyes wide. For once, he acted like the child he was supposed to be, which had become rarer and rarer over the years.

“I’m not, Gumi. Promise.” The white-haired man only used the nickname when Megumi was in deep distress. It showed Megumi that Gojo was being sincere. As the road grew bumpier, made from dirt and not asphalt, Megumi’s curiosity returned.

The preteen’s brow furrowed in the way that it always did when Megumi was thinking hard about something. “Where are we going?”

“Remember the friends that Suguru and I visit every month?”

“Yeah? What about them?”

“We’re going to visit them. They’re pretty reclusive, so that’s why you haven’t met them yet. They’re good people though. It’s thanks to them that Suguru doesn’t burn water when trying to boil it, heh. Anyways, an emergency popped up, and they had to leave immediately. Here’s the thing,” Satoru paused for dramatic effect, raising his index finger. The spiky-haired boy was listening with rapt attention and did not enjoy Satoru’s sudden stop. After several seconds of Megumi’s impatient glare, Satoru continued with a grin. “They have a son, and there was no one else available to take care of him. He’s four, but he’s as sweet as Tsumiki. Well behaved too. I know he is going to love having a new friend. The kid has no friends his age, so be nice to him. He also has… guard dogs that are really protective so do not summon your shikigami unless strictly necessary, ‘kay?”

Silence followed as Megumi processed the information, analyzing every detail Satoru had provided. As the boy got lost in his thoughts, the road got even bumpier. Ijichi had driven this path several times, so he was able to smooth the ride enough for Megumi’s arm to not jostle. Satoru leaned back in the seat, taking out his phone and opening his favorite group chat.

THE STRONGEST BITCHES🤞😎

infinity3435: @everyone

infinity3435: omw to see yujiiiii with megs o(≧∇≦o)

infinity3435: jealous @curse_gobbler ?

curse_gobbler: not particularly.

infinity3435: ur such a liar

curse_gobbler: stfu

infinity3435: make me (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)

lesbianmalpractice: can y’all not be gay for once

infinity3435: nope ｡◕‿◕｡

curse_gobbler: no.

curse_gobbler: are u hom*ophobic shoko?

lesbianmalpractice: only when it comes to you two.

infinity3435: wow ಥ_ಥ

lesbianmalpractice: the more f*cking emoticons you use the more hom*ophobic i’m gonna get

infinity3435: (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

Nanami.Kento: I thought that we established that this group chat was for emergencies only.

infinity3435: it is

infinity3435: telling you guys that i get to hang out with yuuji today while you guys are stuck doing boring sh*t is an emergency

infinity3435: very important info

lesbianmalpractice: ur such a dick

infinity3435: u love me tho (◕‿◕✿)

lesbianmalpractice: not at all

infinity3435: (◕╭╮◕✿)

curse_gobbler: lmao

infinity3435: SUGURU UR SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE

curse_gobbler: says who?

infinity3435: says your loving partner of 84 yrs

curse_gobbler: satoru neither of us are even close to being that old. you need to stop watching titanic so much

Nanami.Kento: Well, Gojo-san does have the white hair most elderly are plagued with. It is possible that he has fooled us all with his age. Perhaps that is why he acts so childish, it’s to throw us off.

infinity3435: NANAMI HOW COULD U? ┗( T﹏T )┛

lesbianmalpractice: HAH

lesbianmalpractice: NANAMI JUST CALLED U A f*ckING GEEZER

infinity3435: u guys are so mean (இ﹏இ`｡)

lesbianmalpractice: ╭∩╮(╹◡╹)

infinity3435: SHOKO

lesbianmalpractice: ─=≡Σᕕ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ

curse_gobbler: (•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)

infinity3435: ALRIGHT QUIT IT

Nanami.Kento: ୧༼ ºل͜º ༽ºل͜º ༽୨༼ ºل͜º ༽╭∩╮

infinity3435: WTF NANAMI

lesbianmalpractice: YES NANAMI

Nanami.Kento: Apologies if I used it incorrectly. I am not accustomed to this type of text.

curse_gobbler: u used it perfectly. couldn’t done it better myself

lesbianmalpractice: ^

lesbianmalpractice: @infinity3435 that’s what u get for shoving the fact that you get to see yuuji in our faces

curse_gobbler: ^

curse_gobbler: i’ve had to exorcize almost thirty curses and now im omw to excorcize more

lesbianmalpractice: and i’ve been at the morgue all day

infinity3435: sucks 4 u

Nanami.Kento: At least, the three of us do not have to spend extra time with Infinite. Even if Yuuji-kun and Megumi-kun are present, Infinite never misses an opportunity to train you. And, frankly, beating the sh*t out of you.

infinity3435: HEY

Nanami.Kento: Now, please stop spamming this messaging forum. I have work to do.

Nanami.Kento: Please tell Yuuji-kun that I said hello.

lesbianmalpractice: goddamn i forgot how brutal nanami could be

cursed_gobbler: mhm

cursed_gobbler: well, i’ll follow nanami’s lead and log off. my train is almost at its stop anyway

lesbianmalpractice: yeah i gotta perform another autopsy soon

lesbianmalpractice: send pics of the little guys satoru

infinity3435: i will

infinity3435: someway or another i’m gonna have megs and yuuji have a photoshoot

curse_gobbler: good luck with that

curse_gobbler: you better send them

infinity3435: you got it shnooku*ms ( ˘ ³˘)♥

curse_gobbler: delete that this instant

infinity3435: no~

“I’m totally gonna start calling him that from now on.” Satoru giggled to himself. He put his phone in his pocket after turning it off. Now, the man could see that they had reached the expansive land of the ranch Ryomen… acquired . Using the rearview mirror, Satoru got to observe Megumi's smile as the boy pressed his face against the window like an excited child. The spiky-haired boy was none the wiser to Satoru’s stare, so he had dropped the indifferent front he tried so hard to keep. It warmed Satoru’s heart whenever Megumi acted like the eleven-year-old boy he was.

Nothing made Megumi come out of his shell as effectively as animals. He watched the herds of cattle and sheep graze calmly on grass like it was the most intriguing thing in the world. The boy would also look at the many chickens across the lot with rapt attention, he had even unbuckled his seatbelt at this point to be as close to the window as possible. Both Ijichi and Satoru looked at Megumi with a fondness that anyone who knew the grumpy child would feel. After a few more minutes of driving, the house at the center of the ranch was visible. Several horses could be seen relaxing or grazing on the untrimmed yard. When the car made its way to the unmarked driveway, the horses made no move to run. The small herd had horses of various breeds and sizes with the largest towering over the car Ijichi was driving. In fact, it was the largest horse Satoru had ever seen. It was a deep, black color with white hair pooling around its hooves. Based on how it dwarfed the other horses, it was well over three meters tall. Based on the familiar crimson markings around its snout and eyes, Ryomen had likely given the horse considerable amounts of cursed energy to make it so large. Despite its imposing size, it did not appear to care about the presence of the newcomers whatsoever while the rest of the herd was watching them curiously. Satoru could not help but be reminded of Sukuna from the giant horse’s laziness.

Whenever Satoru and the others were summoned for training, Infinite would appear before them and warp them to the shrine. He had no idea when or even how the damn bird knew where he, Suguru, Shoko, and Nanami lived. Infinite just did and would give whichever sorcerer he visited a heart attack. Wanting to delay Megumi’s meeting with Infinite as much as possible had led Satoru to request to go to the ranch Ryomen had spoken about. The pink-haired man had been ready to refuse before Sukuna convinced him otherwise, agreeing with Satoru that Megumi should not know what teleporting with Infinite felt like if he didn’t need to. Satoru was fine with warping himself and Megumi to the shrine. The ranch and shrine were over an hour apart, but Satoru could care less. He would deal with the migraine that came after warping a considerable distance easily. Ryomen had allowed Sukuna and Infinite to disable the many wards around the temple’s radius. It would be a temporary hold for Satoru to teleport to the shrine without issue, but the older man warned that the wards would reactivate soon and too not dawdle.

“This is our stop.” Satoru said, unbuckling his seatbelt before stretching his lanky limbs. In the backseat, Megumi was still gaping at the horses in front of them. He gave Ijichi several hundred dollar bills as thanks, causing the younger to sputter and sweat. As an assistant director, Satoru knew that Ijichi was being overworked as much as the most talented sorcerers. There was so little staff that Ijichi had to do the work of at least ten people every day. He was treated with far less respect than sorcerers and expected to do much more work. Because of his younger age, the elders worked Ijichi harder than anyone else, like he was a dog. Yes, Ijichi did not put his life on the line to fight curses, but the higher-ups were giving their best shot at working assistants like Ijichi to death. It pissed off Satoru immensely. If it was not for Suguru, who was ninety-nine percent of his impulse control, he would have happily murdered those in charge of the assistant directors. Ijichi tried to give the money back, but Satoru remained firm. Eventually, he glared at the man. “Take the cash or else .”

It was an empty, vague threat, but it did its job. Ijichi yelped and bowed his head in thanks and accepted the money, blushing furiously. “Thank you, Gojo-san.”

“Don’t mention it. I know the geezers barely pay you a liveable wage. You need it.” Satoru allowed his cheerful front to drop for a moment. The assistant’s eyes were as wide as saucers from the sorcerer’s kind words. Not wanting to dwell on any thoughts involving the elders, Satoru gave his infamous sh*t-eating grin. “You better buy me something with that~”

Ijichi nodded frantically. As Satoru helped Megumi with his things, the tired assistant gave a small, grateful smile towards the older sorcerer before pulling out of the driveway and leaving.

“Your friends are cursed users aren’t they?” Megumi said the second Ijichi’s car was out of sight.

His abrupt words caused Satoru to choke on his own spit. “How did you- I mean- NO. They aren’t. Uh. They’re sorcerers. Good guys. Super duper nice. They’re harmless…” Satoru began to ramble as Megumi gazed at him with an unimpressed look. Dammit. The kid is too smart for his own good. He had planned to tell Megumi the truth in the safety of the shrine, but his cover was already blown. Ijichi had not been told the reasons as to why he had to drive to a random farm, so Satoru could not say anything in the car. It wasn’t that he distrusted Ijichi, he knew the man was loyal to Yaga and his friends far more than the higher-ups. Even so, the less people that knew about Sukuna and the cursed souls meant less chances of being caught. Ryomen would only allow so much information to be spread. Even Yaga was left in the dark as to where his previous students went. Deciding to bite the bullet, Gojo turned towards his son. He held out his hand, which Megumi begrudgingly took, and led him into the house. Two horses walked up to the pair, likely the youngest of the herd. It was a young filly and colt. The filly had a ginger coat, and she was clearly the more dominant of the two. On the other hand, the colt with strawberry blond fur tried to shove his snout into Megumi’s unoccupied hand. As if knowing the hand was injured, the young horse was incredibly gentle, sniffing at the boy’s fingers. The more prideful female did not get as close, but she was interested in whatever Megumi had in his backpack.

Megumi had a small grin on his face as he went to pet the colt’s snout, much to the horse’s delight. “I don’t think a sorcerer would ever live this far out in the country. They’re needed in the city far too much. If a curse user wanted to stay hidden, they’d live in a place like this.” The boy’s deduction was correct. For a moment, Satoru basked in the pride of how intelligent his boy was. It made it impossible to hide things from Megumi, but Satoru could not help but be proud.

“You hit the nail on the head, Megs.” Satoru watched carefully for any signs in Megumi’s posture that would indicate if the boy was fearful of meeting cursed users. When he found nothing, he huffed in amusem*nt and ruffled Megumi’s hair. “You’re such a smart cookie!”

“Quit it!” Megumi snatched the hand in Satoru’s hold to swat at the much taller male. The ginger filly whinnied loudly at the two, almost like she was laughing. “See? Even the horses can see how annoying you are!”

“Oh, the pain! To be betrayed by my own flesh and blood! After all the hours I spent bringing you into the world!” He placed a hand on his forehead in fake agony.

“We aren’t related! And you are not my mom!” Megumi growled with a fierce glare. However, it only made the boy look more like a hissing kitten in Satoru’s eyes.

“So mean!”

They spent a few more moments with the horses until Satoru finally lead Megumi towards the inside of the house. The door hinges creaked loudly from lack of care. There was a scent of dust all around, but the house was relatively clean. The living room they were standing in was mostly barren, save for a ratty couch and worn chairs. Storage containers could be seen in every corner, organized in a system only Ryomen knew. Gojo knew better than to mess with any of the containers.

Megumi had gone quiet again, observing the house.

Eventually, he spoke up. “Your friends don’t live here, do they?”

“They don’t, but no one can disclose the location of their home. I made a binding vow along with the others to not reveal where their place is.” Gojo gestured towards the old home. “This is a middle ground of sorts. It’s safe if others know its location, that’s why Ijichi knew where to go.”

“But if we’re here, then how are we going to get to your friend’s house?” Megumi asked with a frown. The gears in his head were turning as he attempted to figure out the answer. Gojo could practically see the steam coming out of his nose.

Satoru placed a hand on Megumi’s shoulder, kneeling to be at eye level with the boy. “I know you don’t like it, but we’ll be warping there. The place has countless wards and seals installed so no one can enter. It’s temporarily disabled, so we can travel there without issue. Warping is the only way.” At the idea of teleporting, Megumi shuddered. It was so disorientating, many had asked Satoru how he never experienced the effects of his teleportation. However, Satoru did feel the nauseating sensations that came with warping, he had just gotten used to it after years of practice. Besides teleporting, Satoru knew there was something more important to discuss with Megumi. “It won’t be too bad, Megs, I promise. But there is another thing-”

“Is it about the guard dogs you made up?”

“Damn, you're on a roll, kid.” Satoru muttered, mildly impressed. He pretended to not notice how Megumi’s little chest puffed up. With his knees beginning to hurt, Satoru decided to sit down, Megumi following suit. He pulled out his phone and opened a private album of photos that no one was allowed to see. There was even a passcode to the photo album. Satoru held out his arm in invitation, and Megumi climbed into his lap. Any embarrassment he would have felt was ignored for the boy’s need to learn more. Satoru pulled up a photo that he knew Megumi would enjoy. “You’re right, they aren’t guard dogs. Though, they still perform the same purpose of protecting my friend’s son. They’re called cursed souls. I’m sure you’ve heard of them, considering how much you like to sneak into Suguru’s study.”

“It’s his fault he didn’t invest in good locks.” Megumi defended. The preteen shifted his attention to the photo and immediately had to bite his lip to not burst out laughing. It was a picture of Nanami, but it depicted the man in a way Megumi had never seen before. To start, Nanami was not wearing his signature glasses and suit. He had on a loose, blue tank top and black joggers that were covered in sweat and mud. The normally stoic sorcerer had his eyes wide, looking behind him. He looked like he was shouting at someone with how his head turned and mouth opened. His well kempt hair was an utter mess. He was clearly being chased by something. It reminded Megumi of the many silly chase scenes he had seen in the cartoons he watched periodically with Mimiko.

The ones responsible for chasing the blonde were three of the strangest creatures Megumi had ever seen.

It was true that he had snuck into Getou’s study multiple times, but there was not as much information as Megumi hoped. It was mostly boring paperwork that Megumi did not care about. The treasures he did find were more interesting than any nature documentary. Getou had several drawings and notes describing beings called cursed souls. He had wanted to take the papers and read them in his room, but he knew that Getou was as observant as Gojo. He knew there were more details, they just were not in the study. Any items like textbooks or documents were likely hidden within Getou’s inventory curse. Megumi hated the ugly worm. Whenever he got his phone or remote to his television taken away, Getou would put it into the worm for safekeeping. Megumi knew he could not ask Getou about cursed souls without tattling on himself. From what little he managed to read on cursed souls, Megumi knew that they behaved differently from cursed spirits, they were powerful, they were unpredictable, and Getou hated the one that looked like a bird.

He recognized the three cursed souls chasing Nanami from Getou’s sketches. Getou normally enjoyed drawing the many curses he encountered or consumed, so Megumi was not surprised that he would make sketches of these strange entities. One of them was a purple cat that had long, black spikes shooting from its back. It was the closest to catching Nanami, but the cat had a playful expression on its fluffy face. It had no intention of actually attacking Nanami. Behind the cat, there was a behemoth of a dog following with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. Concealing the canine’s face was a skull that could not belong to any animal on earth. To start, The top of the skull was jagged and uneven, as if there used to be horns that had been broken off, and seemingly fused into the dog’s face. It was wide enough to cover the canine’s wide features. Additionally, there were two tusks that curled upwards from the upper jaw. When Megumi saw the bottom jaw, he lost all hope of trying to identify the skull. It was bisected with jagged teeth throughout. It allowed the real mouth of the canine to move freely. Besides the haunting skull and strang fur pattern, it looked like an ordinary dog. A massive one, but still a dog. From the slobber on Nanami’s face, it seemed that the canine had given the blonde many kisses. Megumi’s demon dogs did not produce slobber, so their licks were exponentially less messy. The boy could not help but snicker at the image of Nanami being tackled by an overexcited puppy the size of a bear.

The third creature had no animalistic features whatsoever, a stark contrast to the first two. Megumi turned to Gojo, a question on his lips. Before he could speak, Gojo answered for him.

“The last one looks like Nanami, huh?”

“Yeah. Did it copy Nanami or something?”

“Sort of.” Gojo pointed a finger at the last cursed soul. It had several spotted wrappings reaching towards Nanami. The left side of it looked like it was on fire while the rest of its body resembled a mummy. Its lower half reminded Megumi of a serpent. All the wrappings were identical to the ones Nanami used on his blunt sword. The cursed soul even had an altered version of Nanami’s glasses. When he looked closer, Megumi realized that the creature was wearing a second pair of glasses on top of its head. Likely Nanami’s. Gojo’s voice broke the boy out of his musings. “I’ll tell you everything when we get there, okay? If we wait any longer, the wards are going to reactivate.”

Megumi nodded, hundreds of questions swimming in his mind. He felt Gojo pick him up and instinctually wrapped his arms around the elder’s neck. The boy prepared himself for the unpleasantness that came with warping. Gojo gave the boy a squeeze, a nonverbal warning that he was about to teleport. He closed his eyes.

He felt the world around them shift and change. It felt like going on an elevator that was going too fast yet too slow at the same time. The elevator moved up and down, right and left, everywhere and nowhere.

Then they were somewhere.

“We’re here! You can open your eyes, kid.” Gojo said reassuringly. When the dizziness and nausea faded, Megumi was placed onto the ground.

This wasn’t a house.

It was a temple.

Megumi was about to demand where the hell Gojo had taken him, but was stopped by a pink blur tackling him to the ground. As the boy’s mind processed what had happened, he went to yell at the jerk who slammed into him. However, any anger Megumi had vanished as he locked eyes with his assailant, who was giving him the biggest smile Megumi had ever seen.

The younger pink boy wrapped like a koala around Megumi pulled away for a moment. “Hi! I’m Yuuji! I’m so happy to meet you!!!”

Somehow, Megumi just knew his suspension would not be as bad as he thought.

If he was being honest with himself, Sukuna did not expect Megumi and Yuuji to be nearly as close as they used to be in this world.

He had never been more wrong.

Having Yuuji and Megumi meet was one of the best decisions Sukuna had ever made. Even Ryomen had begrudgingly admitted how grateful he was for Yuuji’s new friend. With a friend that was actually a child and not an adult or ancient curses, Yuuji blossomed. The amount of nightmares that Yuuji had had diminished greatly due to Megumi’s calming presence.

Sukuna had not anticipated the bond between the two to be as strong as it was. Instead of being the same age, Megumi was roughly six years older than Yuuji now. It made sense back then for the two teenagers to befriend each other. Two teens had similar issues to relate to and were capable of having a balanced dynamic. Through Yuuji, Sukuna had seen how much the boys cared for each other. It had been something that Sukuna could take advantage of, and he did . He expected Megumi and Yuuji to be acquaintances at best in this time. Megumi was someone who was aloof and preferred to be alone. He did not seem like the type to be fond of children. He wasn’t.

But he was fond of Yuuji.

Instead of ignoring the younger boy, Megumi had more or less decided that Yuuji was his little brother from now on. He was patient with Yuuji, helping him with preparing for kindergarten. Without any sign of the grouchiness Megumi was known for, he would explain the subject of Yuuji’s lesson in a way the boy could understand. It had been quite difficult for Ryomen when he was teaching Yuuji about reading, writing, and colors. Yuuji became distracted easily, often retreating into his own mind or daydreaming. Ryomen had never had the opportunity to teach Yuuji in things like literacy during their life in the Heian Era. The man had to prioritize on not having Yuuji starve or freeze to death every day. He enjoyed teaching Yuuji in the beginning, but soon realized he was out of his league. Ryomen himself had never been allowed to study in his previous life, learning how to survive instead of how to read. It was Sukuna who had taught Ryomen the basics. However, Sukuna’s teaching style was much less gentle. His tactics involved threatening Ryomen about ‘chopping off your dumbass head if you don’t memorize these damn kanji’. Among other threats of bodily harm or cannibalism. Megumi was the complete opposite. He tutored Yuuji without a hint of difficulty, no threats of eating his student alive whatsoever! Sukuna was slightly envious.

As a result of Megumi’s lessons, Yuuji felt more confident than ever about entering kindergarten.

“Sukuna, are you sure-”

“Yes, Ryomen.”

“But-”

“No.”

“What if I-”

“ NO .”

“You’re a dick”

“Uh-huh.”

For Ryomen’s sake, they had agreed on having Yuuji start kindergarten at age six. The extra year had helped Yuuji be at the level he needed to be for school. If it wasn’t for Megumi’s tutelage, Yuuji would be incredibly behind academically. The many hours Megumi spent with Yuuji made the younger one stick to the preteen like glue. Whenever Megumi visited, Yuuji would follow him around their home like a duckling. Megumi did not seem to mind Yuuji’s clinginess, happily including Yuuji in whatever he was doing. He would talk about what he did at school and his older sisters the most. When he would speak about going to restaurants or shopping trips with his family, the longing in Yuuji’s eyes could be seen as clear as day. The boy had never gotten to know the pleasures childhood had to offer. However, Yuuji did not become angry like Ryomen or Sukuna anticipated. The child had every right to be upset, scream, or through a fit. Even so, Yuuji did not. Yuuji simply became…sad. He would ask a few questions about the outside world to Ryomen or Sukuna and would go quiet after they answered. Yuuji would nod his head before sitting on the backyard porch, Supernova usually settling in his lap.

Sukuna could not stand the ‘kicked-puppy’ look in Yuuji’s eyes any longer. After many arguments that involved flames and blood, Sukuna had forced Ryomen to agree to letting Yuuji visit Megumi’s house for a few hours. Gojo and Getou had enthusiastically agreed, promising that nothing would happen to the boy. The guardians were not pleased at all. Only Supernova could accompany Yuuji due to his ability to shrink. It was impossible to hide away something as large as Infinite. The guardians’ forms were not discreet whatsoever. At least, Supernova could hide away in Yuuji’s backpack or hoodie.

They had needed the boy to leave the temple for a reason. Yuuji’s first day of school was tomorrow, so Sukuna thought that a celebration was in order. It had been Gojo that had suggested a surprise party. The limitless user had bought gaudy decorations and entire boxes of Cyclop Cat Creamery desserts for the party. After seeing the competition Yuuji had had with Sukuna, Gojo demanded another contest. Yuuji had been too exhausted after his eventful birthday to have the ice cream eating competition he wished for. His fifth birthday ended with Sukuna and Yuuji eating their bowls sleepily. At the thought of a proper contest, Yuuji had perked up. Gojo and Yuuji talked endlessly about the competition and what they would do. Their energy was overwhelming to say the least.

“sh*t. I melted one again.” Ryomen grumbled.

“Then let me handle the rest. You need to calm the hell down.” Sukuna responded without looking up from the table he was setting up.

Even though Yuuji would be gone for less than a day, it was still the first time that Yuuji would be leaving the shrine. The boy could not contain his excitement when he was told the news. It was an important milestone for Yuuji. He would be leaving the safety of the shrine. Despite knowing that nothing will happen to Yuuji with the two strongest sorcerers by his side, Ryomen had never felt more terrified in his life. Sukuna had wanted to yell at Ryomen to shut up, but the trembling in Ryomen’s body stopped him.

Their shared soul told Sukuna everything Ryomen was not willing to say.

It wasn’t that Ryomen was a controlling parent and freaking out about his child being out of his grasp. Not at all. Ryomen encouraged Yuuji to make his own decisions and be his own person. He did not want to hold his son back. However, leaving the shrine was different. Ryomen now knew that Kenjaku and the disaster curses were out there. Sure, Kenjaku’s plan would not occur in another few years, but nothing was stopping the curses from harming Yuuji. Kenjaku did not need a plan to hurt his son. The fact that Kenjaku could disguise themselves as anyone in the country without detection made things worse.

Sukuna saw the haunted look in Ryomen’s eyes. He was grasping a pint of ice cream so tightly that the carton had popped. The pain of flames and grief within their soul gave insight into where Ryomen’s mind was. It was the day the Ryomen had been burned alive with his deceased son in his grasp. The son that a healer had tried to take away and toss into a mass grave. The day that Ryomen left his humanity in the ashes of the village that he had once grown up in.

The curse himself had seen the event firsthand. Sukuna had seen the soul-crushing agony Ryomen had felt when he realized that his son was not coming back. That type of pain could not be forgotten. Sukuna could still remember the scent of burning flesh and the sound of guttural howls from a man shattered by the cruelty of the world. Ryomen had never been the same, no one would remain unchanged after such an event. However, Sukuna had seen Ryomen’s normal concern for Yuuji begin to revert to the terror the man had felt centuries ago.

That man would burn the entire world if his son was harmed and not be satisfied even after everything was destroyed.

That man could not return.

“Ryomen, go back inside. Watch your sh*tty television shows with Boogie and cry out the sh*t in your head.” Sukuna did not phrase it as a suggestion, but as an order.

The man jolted at the curse’s sharp words. “What about the-”

“I’ll handle it. Go.” Sukuna spoke tiredly. He pinched the bridge of his nose before rubbing his face with a groan. “Yuuji will be back in an hour. I doubt he wants his father on the verge of a meltdown at a celebration meant for him.”

No rebuttal came from Ryomen. He was hesitant to leave until Boogie gently tugged on Ryomen’s hand with his teeth. The dog whined pleadingly for the man to listen. Ryomen resisted for a few seconds before giving in. He glanced at Sukuna, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than they had been in years. “Thanks, Sukuna.”

“Don’t mention it. Ever .”

“Wasn’t planning to.” The pink-haired man ruffled Boogie’s fluffy mane. Immediately, the dog’s large tail began wagging so quickly that it became a blur. Supernova and Boogie had always been the closest to Ryomen. The purple feline helped Ryomen immensely during Yuuji’s infancy and continued to give his father useful insight on Yuuji’s wellbeing. Whenever Ryomen was overwhelmed after a stressful day or was being haunted by the horrors of his past, Supernova would leave Yuuji’s side, as long as it was safe, to keep the man company. Normally, the breakdowns, anxiety attacks, and other episodes that Ryomen suffered from occurred in the dead of night. Sukuna had no idea how to help, but Supernova somehow did. He would place himself on Ryomen’s chest and begin to purr and knead his paws, allowing Ryomen to pet his silky fur as much as he wanted. Sukuna would always be nearby as silent support, but it was Supernova that did most of the work. Boogie was the one that made Ryomen let loose. The mastiff was the most energetic of the guardians and was one of the few things that can tire an energetic Yuuji out. Especially a Yuuji with a sugar rush . His jovial energy was contagious to Ryomen. When Boogie wasn’t making Ryomen chase him or wrestle, the dog was Ryomen’s movie partner in the sh*tty dramas he watched. Sukuna had caught the two sleeping on the couch after a binge countless times, a puffy eyed Ryomen using a snoring Boogie as a blanket and pillow.

It seemed that the guardians helped more than just Yuuji.

Sukuna knew he would never be the subject of their concern, and he had accepted that. The cursed souls would not attack Sukuna like they did when they had first met, Yuuji would burst into tears if he saw the way Sukuna and the guardians hurt each other. Over the years, the guardians were mostly indifferent towards Sukuna and kept their distance. Infinite would still find new ways to make Sukuna’s days worse, but the bird did not give Sukuna hallucinations anymore. He would take Infinite’s pettiness over his psychic torment any day.

At least, they were useful today. Without Yuuji, the guardians were lost on what to do. They were restless. Even though they had the perfect opportunity to attack Sukuna, they decided to aid him with the party. It was only for Yuuji’s sake. Infinite made it his personal mission to remind Sukuna of their dislike. The draconic bird would peck Sukuna with his sharp beak and then pretend that he had done nothing. Currently, Infinite had his beak shoved into the pint of ice cream Ryomen had dropped. His lengthy body was tangled in part streamers, but the entity did not care enough to remove them. Overtime slapped Infinite, causing him to squawk in offense, before taking the pint. The mummy used his wrappings to clean up the mess Infinite had made of himself. With Overtime occupied with Infinite, the two remaining guardians had to take on his workload. Resonance had placed herself in charge of decorations and would raise a razor-sharp nail threateningly at anyone who tried to interfere. The roses she conjured were quite beautiful, so Sukuna didn’t mind.

“Don’t even think about it.” Sukuna growled.

Chimera had been assisting with the chairs and supplies needed for the competition. However, the inky entity had apparently finished due to the fact that the being was now trying to sick his wretched frogs on Sukuna. Chimera clicked harshly in response, green eyelights narrowing. When his eyelights went to shift into another shikigami, Sukuna growled again. While Infinite was obvious with his hatred, Chimera’s ire with Sukuna was much more subtle. He would summon his frog shikigami the second Sukuna’s back was turned and release the frog the second someone was watching. Chimera’s gama frogs were a pain to deal with. They were not as dangerous as Nue or his demon dogs, but they were annoying. If Chimera was lucky, he would have a frog shoot its tongue directly into Sukuna’s ear. He had been successful a handful of times, and Sukuna remembered each one very well.

A distorted warble came from Chimera as he stared down Sukuna. Eventually, Chimera’s hatred was put aside, knowing that Yuuji would be upset if his uncle was hurt. Despite not having any facial features besides his eyelights, Chimera appeared to be scowling fiercely. He shrunk into his smaller form, a sea-urchin blob of malcontent, and went underneath a table.

This was going to be the longest hour in Sukuna’s life.

.

.

.

.

.

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The crisp air provided by the spring breeze in combination with the warm sun made it the perfect time to eat something cold. Many people were likely partaking in eating their favorite frozen desserts on such a nice day.

One such family was indulging in the need for an ice-cold treat. However, what should have been a relaxing time spent with others had turned into an all out war.

“QUIT CHEATING, SUGURU!” A man with white hair and dark sunglasses barked. It was Gojo Satoru, the person known for his sweet tooth, and he was being beaten by his partner.

Suguru Getou, a sorcerer with a technique that forced him to eat the most vile objects in existence, chuckled. He had just finished his third bowl while Satoru was still on his first. In a sickly sweet voice, Suguru crooned to his boyfriend. “I’m not cheating, darling. You’re just being a sore loser. Even Yuuji is miles ahead of you.”

The boy mentioned perked up from his name being called. His cheeks were full of ice cream, making the child resemble a hamster. Five bowls were stacked next to him and he was already halfway through his sixth. His honey eyes sparkled with glee as he nodded to Suguru, mouth still full. When the boy swallowed, the other adults at the table watched for signs of discomfort, but Yuuji did not even flinch.

“WHAT?! YUUJI-KUN! ARE YOU JUST IMMUNE TO BRAIN FREEZE?!!” Gojo exclaimed with wide eyes.

Instead of seeing who could eat the most ice cream at once, the competition centered around who will get the infamous ‘brain freeze’ that comes with consuming something cold. If the competition had been based on the former, then Gojo would win without question. However, the sorcerer had to take miniscule bites to prevent his head from aching. Gojo Satoru was notorious for many things. Being the strongest sorcerer in the modern era, being the first person in five hundred years to inherit the Six Eyes and Limitless, being the fastest person on the planet, being a skilled mathematician and physicist, among many other things. One of said things was the fact that Gojo Satoru had NO tolerance for frozen sweets. His mind was always running one hundred miles per hour, so his brain was vulnerable to experiencing a brain freeze. It was ridiculously easy to make Gojo have a brain freeze. Due to this, Gojo was trying to eat as slowly as possible to prevent it…But-

“AGH f*ck!”

“Language!”

It didn’t work.

“Gojo! You’re out!” An older boy with black, spiky hair and a megaphone announced from his seat on a lounge chair. Beside him were the first contestants that had lost, Nanami and Shoko. Though, neither person wanted to participate in the contest, so they forfeited after one round. Now, the pair were relaxing on identical lounge chairs the boy was sitting on, a bowl of their preferred flavor in their hands. Each had sunglasses and a matching smirk.

The man in his twenties pouted, but left the ‘podium’. “Fine, but I’m gonna be the announcer! You suck at it, Megs!”

“I do not!” Megumi shouted, holding the megaphone to his chest.

“Yeah! Fushi is the best announcer!” Yuuji defended his friend without hesitation. He pointed his messy spoon at Gojo with a frown. “Don’t be a meanie!”

“See! Yuuji said I’m better, so go away!” Megumi made a shooing motion with his hands.

Gojo shook his head with a frown before disappearing. He reappeared behind Megumi’s chair with a microphone in hand, causing the preteen to seemingly jump out of his skin. Wrapping an arm around his son’s shoulder, Gojo smiled devilishly. “We’ll be a tag team then! I’ll do the cool stuff and you do the boring stuff.”

Knowing that Gojo would not take no as an answer, Megumi just rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Fine.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet, Megs!” Gojo cooed before kissing his son’s cheek with an obnoxious ‘MWAH!’

Megumi looked like he had been stabbed. When he touched his cheek, his pale skin adopted a twinge of green. “You got ice cream on me, you jerk!”

Instead of responding, Gojo just stuck out his tongue cheekily. As Gojo approached the podium that was really two tables stuck together with a cloth on top, he raised the microphone to his lips. When he spoke, he sounded identical to a sports announcer. “Welcome folks to the most intense competition you will ever see! We pitted several champions against each other to determine who has the Toughest Brain in Japan!” He turned to his son with a flourish. “My fellow commentator, Megumi, will inform us on the rules of the game!”

For a moment, Megumi stayed silent while glowering at Gojo. Eventually, he caved in with a sigh and began to speak in a monotone voice. “You have to eat ice cream until the timer runs out or we run out of pints. Whoever gets a brain freeze is out. The person who lasts the longest without getting one is the winner with the thickest head, I guess.”

“Indeed! Let’s look at our leaderboard. Tied for dead last are Nanami and Shoko! Who quit after one round to laze around like old people!” Gojo pointed at the aforementioned forfeiters. Neither reacted to their friend’s overdramatics. However, Shoko flipped the taller one off without looking away from her bowl. After Gojo finished teasing the two, he approached the table. He leaned down to the man sitting next to Yuuji. “It seems that Ryomen is the closest to being out! How are you doing, champ?”

The only answer Gojo got from Ryomen was a groan. His head was pressed against the surface on the table. Beside his head was a bowl of melted ice cream. “Trying to drink it was a mistake.” Ryomen’s muffled voice slurred. His hands were wrapped around his stomach in pain. Groggily, he lifted his head to try eating more, but gave up. “Yeah, I’m done.”

Yuuji patted sticky hands around his father’s broad back. “Papa, you gotta keep going! You can do it!”

“Honey, if Papa keeps going, Papa is going to hurl.” Ryomen said, face still planted on top of the table. However, his words did not placate his son. It had the opposite effect. With determination in his golden eyes, Yuuji shook Ryomen harder. The boy’s inhuman strength accidentally made the entire table shake.

“You can do it, Papa! I believe in you! You’re super duper strong! Your fire powers can just go FWOO and then HYOI! BRAIN FREEZE HAS NOTHING ON THAT, PAPA!” Yuuji said encouragingly. And loudly. Very loudly. “DO FWOO HOI, DAD! FWOO, HYOI!”

From her seat, Shoko cackled. “Kid’s gotta a point! Fwoo, hyoi is the way to go!”

Gojo and Getou sent her a withering glare.

Shoko grinned.

Ryomen groaned. “Yuuji, honey, not so loud. Inside voice-”

“But we’re outside?” The pink-haired boy co*cked his head, confused.

“Then use your Don’t-Make-Papa’s-Ears-Bleed voice.” Ryomen pleaded. He willfully ignored the mocking laughter from the four armed curse next to him.

Finally noticing how terrible his father looked, Yuuji quietened. “Okay, Papa.”

“Thank you, son.”

“Does your tummy hurt?”

“Yes, Yuu.”

“Oh! Do you need the orange tea that you give me when my tummy hurts?”

“Not right now, hun.”

“What about hot cocoa? It makes me feel better because it’s so yummy!”

At the thought of consuming another sweet, Ryomen sprang out of his seat with a hand on his mouth. He breathed deeply for a few moments until his stomach settled. Looking like he had completed a marathon, Ryomen panted. “Papa is gonna join the loser’s spot. Beat your uncle for me, alright?”

Fortunately, his request halted any further questions Yuuji had. Without Ryomen in between them, Yuuji and his uncle could see each other. They locked eyes.

The curse with four arms and similar pink hair bared his sharp teeth in a challenging grin. He had eaten the most out of the group with a tower of bowls wobbling precariously. “So you think you can beat me, brat?”

“Yeah! I’m going to beat you and make you give me piggyback rides every day!” Yuuji replied with the same glint in his eyes that his uncle had. Both were competitive to a fault. “I’m gonna win, Uncle Kuna!”

“That a challenge, brat?” Sukuna leaned towards the boy, his predatory smile growing wider.

“Yeah!”

“Good luck, brat. You’re really going to need it.” Sukuna ruffled Yuuji’s hair, his hand large enough to palm Yuuji’s head.

“Hey! I’m gonna beat you even more ‘cause you did that!”

“You mean lose?”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yeah-huh!”

“Nuh-uh!”

As the uncle and nephew playfully bickered, Gojo slunk to the opposite end of the table. His grip around his microphone tightened as he bore his piercing gaze into a smug curse manipulator. “With Ryomen out of the competition, it seems that we are down to our final three. I wonder who our next loser is.”

Getou smiled like a snake that had just caught its prey. He batted his eyes innocently at Gojo. “May I ask why you’re staring at me in particular, announcer?”

“Because dry ice is next!” Megumi answered before the taller sorcerer could. His bored expression turned malicious. It was a look Getou and Gojo knew well. It was the look their children had before turning into goblins of mischief and mayhem. All the confidence Getou had been feeling vanished as Megumi grinned like the evil miscreant he truly was. “We’re entering the Sudden Death Round!”

The moment the words left Megumi’s mouth, a screech sounded from the leaves of the largest tree in the backyard. Twigs and leaves fell as the creature inside climbed down. Snow white fur, colorful feathers, and a hooked beak twisted in amusem*nt. It was Infinite, the being who loved tricks more than anyone. Infinite’s talons dug into the bark of the tree as he descended vertically. When he reached the soft ground, the draconic bird trotted to Megumi with a pleased trill. The group of cursed souls that Infinite belonged to did not react to his antics. Similar to Shoko and Nanami, the other cursed souls were sound asleep across the land. Two of them, a demonic canine and feline, had smaller bowls of their own that had been licked clean. The larger of the two, Boogie, was laying belly-up with a full stomach and snores. Supernova, the feline, had hopped onto Ryomen’s lap before promptly falling asleep in the perfect imitation of a loaf of bread. Due to not having mouths, Resonance and Chimera watched underneath the shade of a tree. It was up to Infinite to stir up things!

With his beak, Infinite reached into the cooler that Megumi had hidden and procused three bowls of ice cream. Each bowl appeared to be steaming like a boiling pot. However, the vapor was caused by the chunks of dry ice inside the innocuous container. There was only a small scoop in the bowls, small enough that it could be eaten in one bite. Which was exactly what Megumi had intended. Seeing the surprise on his parents’ faces, Megumi revealed his plan. “I knew that Gojo would want to take over the announcer role. That’s why I accepted the role and did it as lifelessly as possible. It would ensure a 100% success rate of Gojo taking my role.”

“We really shouldn’t get on his bad side.” Getou softly uttered to Gojo, who nodded solemnly. However, Megumi had heard him.

“Too late.” Megumi deadpanned.

From his seat at the table, Yuuji raised his hand instinctively, the motion ingrained into him after the many lessons he had had with the preteen. “Fushiguro?”

“Yes, Yuuji?” The older boy replied without a hint of the vengefulness he had shown his parents.

Yuuji spoke in a small voice, curling in on himself. “Am I on your bad side?”

The sharp features of the ravenette softened. Megumi shook his head. “No, you’re not. You can be dumb sometimes, but you’re not stupid.”

While the adults were confused and slightly insulted by his response, Yuuji nodded sagely with complete understanding. “Got it. They’re idiots, but not morons.”

“Exactly.” Megumi nodded in approval. His voice immediately hardened as he looked at the others. “Now. Here’s how Sudden Death works. You have to eat the scoop in one bite and hold it there for at least five seconds. Try to eat it if you can, though I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll probably break your teeth. Anyways. The one who can hold the scoop for the longest wins. Infinite?”

The cursed soul chirped in agreement. Within his durable beak and talons, the ice cold desserts did not injure him. He would place a bowl, fan it with his tail, screech, and repeat. When Infinite reached Yuuji, he cooed instead of shrieking, preening the boy’s mussed hair. The remaining contestants each had differing expressions. Suguru looked at his bowl with apprehension. Sukuna looked at his bowl with mild intrigue. Yuuji looked at his bowl like it was a hero to be admired. The contestants that had lost looked on in anticipation with Gojo cackling at the sweat beading down Suguru’s neck.

Infinite retreated to Megumi’s side and chirped three times. The boy patted the cursed soul on the beak, which Infinite leaned into. Once everyone was settled, Megumi raised his megaphone for the last time. “You will begin eating in…Three…Two…”

Megumi stopped.

The remaining three were as taught as the string on a bow. Copying the technique that Gojo often did to annoy others, Megumi let them stew in the heavy silence. He would have made them wait longer, but Yuuji was actually vibrating with how hard he was trying to stay still. Placing the megaphone down, Megumi cupped his hands over his mouth to yell the loudest anyone had ever heard him. “ONE!”

Instantly, Getou, Sukuna and Yuuji snatched their spoons. They all had a moment of hesitation as they stared at the plain vanilla ball. Deciding to risk it, Getou took the first bite with Sukuna following suit. Yuuji enthusiastically popped the ball in his mouth like a squirrel snatching a nut.

“OWOWOW! NO! THAT HURTS! THAT REALLY HURTS!” Getou spat out the chilled scoop after half a second. His mouth felt numb all over. He thought his gums and upper palate were frostbitten. Somehow, it was so cold that it burned. He could hear triumphant cheers of Satoru and the quiet snickers of his other friends.

Sukuna tried to appear nonchalant with the ice scalding his mouth. He had handled much worse. A little cold could not beat him. He made it to four seconds. The cold became too much, and he spat it out with a painful cough. The curse began using his reverse cursed technique to return blood flow to his numb and tingling mouth. Sukuna had been so distracted by the relief he felt to after being rid of the deadly dessert that he barely heard Ryomen’s worried shouts.

“WAY TO GO YUUJI! NOW, SPIT IT OUT!” Ryomen did not know if he should feel proud or terrified for his son not succumbing to the impossibly cold ice cream. So cold that Yuuji could develop irreversible frostbite. Okay, he was definitely terrified. “YUUJI! SPIT IT OUT! YOU WON!”

Taking Ryomen’s pleas as another challenge, Yuuji shook his head. The little boy went to bite down on the ice cream. He wanted to brag about eating the ball to his uncle, so he did not think twice about the consequences. As his jaw clenched, there was a loud CRACK .

The air went deathly still.

Yuuji finally spat out the ball of ice cream. However, there was a tinge of red to the vanilla. He turned the ball around in his hands and saw his front tooth lodged into it. The boy yanked his tooth out of the scoop, waving it around excitedly to his father. “PAPA! I LOST A TOOTH! CAN WE PUT IT UNDER MY PILLOW?!”

Ryomen gave a shaky thumbs up.

Then he fainted.

“Pencils?”

“Check!”

“Paper?”

“Check!”

“Crayons?”

“Check!”

“Folder?”

“Check!”

“Snacks?”

“Check!”

“Water?”

“Check!”

“Lunch?”

“Check!”

“Supernova?”

“Check!” Yuuji giggled, holding his beloved cat in the air. His Papa was so silly! He carefully placed a shrunken Supernova into his backpack. He gave his father a salute that he had seen in one of the movies Gojo had shown him. “Onii-cat is secured!”

“Then it seems that my little cub is ready for class.” His father sounded happy but sad at the same time. He carded his hand in Yuuji’s hair with a happy-sad face. Saddy? Ha-ad?

Everyone else had given Yuuji hugs and well-wishes yesterday, but not Ryomen. At first, Yuuji thought his Papa was mad at him, but Uncle Kuna told him to not worry. Uncle Kuna said that his Dad was just sad, comparing his feelings to his guardians because they couldn’t come to class with Yuuji.

He loves you, brat. So do your guardians. Don’t you think they’d be bummed if their favorite person was somewhere they couldn’t follow?

His Uncle Kuna was really smart. Fushiguro was smart too, but his uncle just knew things that Yuuji could never understand.

All of the other kids had said their goodbyes except for Yuuji and Ryomen. Yuuji really wanted to go to his class, but his Papa still looked sad-happy! An idea popped into his head, and Yuuji wanted to pump his fist in the air. He stood up on his tiptoes and pressed his forehead against his Papa’s. It was a good thing that his Papa was kneeling. He was too tall!

“I’ll be okay, Papa. I pinky promise!” Yuuji stuck out his pinky.

His Dad blinked several times before the sad-happy just became happy. He linked his larger pinky with Yuuji, a smile on his face. It made Yuuji feel all warm and bubbly inside! He liked it when his Papa smiled.

“Alright, Yuu. It’s a promise.”

“A pinky promise!”

“Yes.” Ryomen kissed the top of Yuuji’s head. “It’s a pinky promise.”

When his father left, Yuuji turned to finally enter his class. It was so colorful! His classmates were running around with toys or drawing on construction paper. He was so excited! Mister Getou had been teaching him how to draw, and Yuuji knew he needed to draw something for each member of his family.

“Hello, little one. I take it you’re my last student?” A sweet voice spoke from behind Yuuji. He turned around and saw his kindergarten teacher. She had dark hair tied back with a pretty yellow headband-scarf thing. It had flowers all over and it matched with her yellow shirt and blue skirt. She had her hand out, waiting for Yuuji to take it. Remembering what Nanami had taught him, Yuuji took her hand and shook it as hard as he could. Doing it harder meant more respect, right?

His teacher laughed. “It’s nice to meet you too, Itadori Yuuji. I’m Miss Kenko and I’ll be your teacher from now on.”

“I can’t wait!” Yuuji squealed. He already wanted to run around, his legs were screaming for it!

“Neither can I.” Miss Kenko said. She smiled at him, and it made Yuuji feel warm again. And cold. The nice lady pointed towards the cubbies. “You can place your backpack over there, little one. There won’t be any need for notes. Today is all about introductions!”

“Okay!” Yuuji couldn’t help but squeal. His first day was going to be cool! Not boring! He ran to place his backpack on a hook and took off his shoes, placing it in the nearest empty cubby. He put on his school shoes and grabbed his crayons. He heard Supernova meow worriedly, so he kept the zipper open. “Miss Kenko said we aren’t doing anything today! You can explore if you want! I love you, Nova! Bye!”

He saw an empty desk and headed towards it. There were four pages from a coloring book, just waiting to be filled! The first page was a volcano with spots, the second page was a forest with lots of roots, the third page was a beach with a big squid, and the fourth page was of a funky-looking cube. Yuuji began coloring in the first page when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“If you need extra coloring pages, let me know.” Miss Kenko smiled at him again.

“I will! I’ll show you when I’m done!”

“That sounds great, Yuuji! I’m looking forward to seeing your skills.” With that, Miss Kenko left as fast as she came. It made sense. There were a lot of other students she had to keep an eye on.

He got so absorbed in his drawing that he completely forgot about the question weighing heavily on his mind.

The surname his father had given him was Ryomen. Ryomen Yuuji.

So…

Who was Itadori?

Chapter 9: The Cogs of a Soldier PART ONE

Chapter Text

Kenjaku had a good memory.

There was no such thing as an insignificant detail to Kenjaku. No. Knowledge was knowledge, and it was this knowledge that had allowed Kenjaku to reach the power that they did. Countless centuries had given them the opportunity to hone in their craft, acquire new knowledge, and create plans for the future chaos they would wring. After so many years, there was nothing that could surprise Kenjaku. It was a driving reason for their countless experiments. They wanted to make something utterly unique. Something to entertain them for the rest of time. However, this search for the exceptional only led them to the mediocre. It did not matter how bizarre their research became, it always ended in Kenjaku’s boredom. The Cursed Wombs had disappointed them. The Disaster Curses had disappointed them. The Culling Games had disappointed them. Itadori Yuuji had disappointed them.

But there was one who never did.

Ryomen Sukuna.

Oh, how they still remember the feeling of awe they felt when they first gazed at Sukuna’s abominable form. The Heian Era had been such an amusing time for them. Just when they thought it couldn’t get better, along came the perfect combination of sorcery and humanity, seemingly dropped into their lap to play with. Kenjaku was an ancient being, far older than Sukuna. Due to this, they relished in being able to watch something like them, too corporeal to be a curse but too monstrous to be a human, decimate hoards of sorcerers as if they were flies. There was nothing similar to Sukuna except for themselves. Kenjaku was enamored by said fact. They had always experimented on other creatures, but they had not gotten around to experimenting on themselves yet. Sukuna provided Kenjaku the perfect opportunity to test out new theories on cursed energy on an entity nearly identical to them. The best part was that Sukuna had no inkling to what they were doing. For how intelligent and cunning Sukuna was, Kenjaku had something he didn’t: A good memory.

It had taken a while until Kenjaku realized why Sukuna’s face seemed familiar. His face was covered in tattoos and deformed after all. However, when Kenjaku analyzed the large being’s features up close, they saw a familiar nose, a familiar eye shape, familiar eyebrows, a familiar jawline, and a very familiar hair color. Their realization washed over them like the waves of a tsunami. It took all their self-control to not burst out in hysterics in order to not wake Sukuna, who was lazily sleeping in the bloodied grounds of a battle he easily won. Sukuna sleeping where Kenjaku could hurt him was not a sign of trust. It was a show of power. By resting his eyes, Sukuna was telling Kenjaku that he knew he could defeat them in his sleep, that he did not view them as a threat to take seriously. It had been thrilling to see his arrogance!

Especially when they remembered a time where Sukuna had been the exact opposite of prideful.

They had a good memory. With this memory, Kenjaku remembered the young man that had been the stain on his prosperous village’s name. He was a scrawny thing that had to sleep in the dirt and eat what scraps he could find. It had been so amusing to watch the pathetic rat scamper about in order to survive. At the time, Tengen had been their close companion. The two of them had appeared side by side the moment jujutsu sorcery had sparked into existence from the dark powers of the Great Vengeful Spirits. Tengen had always been the more cautious one and had admonished them for their poor treatment of others they deemed boring. When they told her of their new pathetic, pink pet, she disapproved greatly. They had wanted to use the boy to experiment with, but Tengen made them refrain from doing so. She was the better fighter of the two, so Kenjaku relented and settled for simply watching the rat until it perished. Tengen’s ire was the last thing Kenjaku wanted to deal with, yet it became more difficult over the years to not put the pest out of his misery. No villager gave the boy any kindness or even pity, often beating him severely if he was caught stealing. Kenjaku watched from afar as the boy became an unruly teenager that grew more ambitious in his crimes. Now, he stole for both survival and revenge. The emaciated child had filled out enough that he towered over the villagers and could retaliate with equal brutality. It was interesting to see the teen become a young man, barely in his second decade of life. Where there used to be fear, there was now a fierce determination to live. No matter how inhospitable his life became, he clung to it with everything he had. He was so weak, yet Kenjaku could not ignore the growing fire within him. The inferno would have been unleashed if it was not for the impossibly stupid mistake the man made. Kenjaku was furious that the entertainment they had received was waning due to the impossibly small infant the man cared for. All creatures needed to reproduce, Kenjaku knew that, but they failed to see why someone like him would bring a child into the world when his existence was hated by all. It had been a mistake, likely with another street urchin like him with rotten sake to further dull their judgment. When the sickly woman died in childbirth, Kenjaku was not surprised. While it did not surprise them, they were…perturbed when the young man wasted all of his limited resources on providing for the baby.

Somehow, the baby survived its first year. Then its second. Then its third.

It died in its fourth year.

Kenjaku had grown the slightest bit fond of the drooling thing, but they did not shed any tears at its death. It had lived for such a short time that Kenjaku did not see it as a human. Just a tiny being of flesh that used to toddle around its father and giggle every time he picked it up. The man had named it Yuuji. Permanence, benevolence, and humanity . The meanings of its name were too significant for something so helpless. However, the death of his child made the inferno that Kenjaku had waited years to see burst from the man. His madness had led to the villagers screaming at him like they used to when he was a defenseless child. With that, Kenjaku was able to finally learn the man’s name.

Ryomen.

What a terrible name. It was more of a title than a name, meaning ‘two faces’. Kenjaku had heard the name before with other two-headed creatures. However, they did not know why a man with one face would be given such a name.

They wanted to find out.

And they did .

After the utter failure the healers did to save his son amongst the plague the village was having, Ryomen had lost his heart and warmth, Yuuji taking it with him. Needless to say, Kenjaku was elated to see his hatred turn into something tangible . If they dropped certain scrolls pertaining to cursed energy, cursed runes, and cursed techniques…well, that was no one’s business except Kenjaku’s own.

Before they could see the power Ryomen fully developed, Kenjaku was called away by Tengen to discuss a serious topic within the lands. Curses were growing stronger as were the sorcerers that would combat them. Namely, the three major clans: the Kamo Clan, the Zenin Clan, and the Gojo Clan. The influx of cursed energy was cause for concern as there was nothing stopping curses from spreading to other parts of the world. Kenjaku wanted cursed energy to envelop the globe. There were so many possibilities with a planet filled with millions! Their insatiable curiosity would be fed with the endless subjects they would have at their disposal. However, their plan to experiment on the world was halted before it could even start by Tengen. She disagreed with Kenjaku’s attitude like she always did, but she went a step further in her attempts to stop them. Instead of lecturing them or giving them a roll of her eyes, Tengen sacrificed her form to become an eternal barrier to keep the cursed energy contained within Japan.

It was appalling to Kenjaku to see an immortal being waste their lives for such an idiotic cause. Kenjaku and Tengen were immortal, they were supposed to keep each other, all of jujutsu, balanced. Kenjaku was a being of chaos while Tengen was a being of harmony. It was her responsibility to reign in Kenjaku’s mayhem with her peace while it was their responsibility to grant excitement into the world with their disorder. Though, no one had been there to tell them what their purposes were. They both assumed them naturally. Tengen was always there to keep Kenjaku in check, and they helped loosen Tengen’s uptight tendencies. With her now being hidden away in the new Tombs of the Star Corridor, Kenjaku had no one to hold them back anymore.

They had been so distracted that their disappointment about not being able to see Ryomen’s true power did not affect them in the slightest. If their memory was not as good as it was, they would have forgotten all about Ryomen.

But they didn’t.

When they realized that Ryomen and Sukuna were one and the same, Kenjaku was excited. To them, Sukuna was a perfect being. Like a beautiful butterfly emerging from an unassuming cocoon, Sukuna had shed his former human self to become the strongest sorcerer in history. There was no sign that Sukuna remembered anything from his original human life, including the son he had adored so much. In fact, Sukuna hated children. Whenever Sukuna would invade villages for his own amusem*nt, he never showed an ounce of compassion for the young lives he was ending. Kenjaku had asked Sukuna if he would ever want a child just to see if there was a sign of the four-armed curse remembering Yuuji.

“Why the hell would I want an annoying, useless brat to care for? They’re a waste of time and effort, pathetic beings who only live due to the pity of others or their mothers. It is disgusting. ”

Kenjaku was delighted .

The King of Curses had lost all of his memories of the weak boy Kenjaku had observed all those years ago. Sukuna knew he had originally been a human, but that was the extent of his memory. It was interesting. So, so interesting . All the suffering and loss Ryomen endured had driven him into becoming such a monster after his death. Kenjaku knew that places with negative memories like battlegrounds or graveyards would bring curses into their world. With Ryomen, the boy had lived a life of misery that was equivalent to the pain a thousand burial sites could bring. So much negativity for such an insignificant being. All of the cursed energy accumulated during Ryomen’s tortured life was the reason Sukuna was as powerful as he was. While they had seen humans live terrible lives and become terrible curses, this was the first time that Kenjaku had seen a human become a curse of such might. To them, Kenjaku saw Sukuna as the Earth’s cautionary tale of what the worst of humanity can create. Just like Kenjaku was born into this world to give Earth the ability to change and excite, Sukuna was formed to punish and warn the humans who had taken the Earth for granted. At least, that was what Kenjaku believed. They were not entirely sure, and that mere fact thrilled them. Sukuna was special. He finally gave Kenjaku the chaos they had been craving.

When Sukuna entered a binding vow with them to become a cursed object, Kenjaku was even more ecstatic. He still had no inkling to his origins, which Kenjaku used to their advantage. Uraume had been rightfully suspicious of Kenjaku’s motives with their plan to reincarnate countless sorcerers and curse users after one thousand years. Even so, Uraume would follow Sukuna like the loyal dog they were. Unlike his loyal servant, Sukuna did not see any reason to be wary of Kenjaku as he believed that he was too powerful for Kenjaku to mess with. In a way, he was right. Kenjaku knew that it would be idiotic to try to engage Sukuna in combat, they only found fighting entertaining for observing the abilities their most recent host carried. However, Kenjaku would always have the upperhand in experience. It was their experience that led them to figuring out how to imbue an object with a soul after all. Sukuna had become increasingly bored of his life in the Heian Era and wanted to plan something new for the sorcerers to deal with. It was a selfish reason done for Sukuna’s own pleasure and amusem*nt, which Kenjaku had always respected about Sukuna. He did whatever he desired.

So Kenjaku fulfilled his wish. Sukuna sliced off all twenty of his fingers for Kenjaku to split his soul into. The binding vow ensured that Kenjaku could not use any of his fingers for their own gain.

The binding vow said nothing about splitting Sukuna’s soul into twenty pieces. Just that his fingers were to be imbued with his soul, which Kenjaku did. They just left two extra portions for themselves. Twenty-two pieces of Sukuna’s soul. The last two were the smallest, mere slivers that would not be detected by any curse of sorcerer. Kenjaku loved the number. Twenty two. A pair of identical numbers. Two twos. Twins.

Oh, how they loved the irony!

Ryomen and Sukuna would be the twins that never met, yet were always together.

Because at the core of Sukuna’s cursed soul, hidden so deep that even Sukuna had not known of its existence, was a human soul that refused to fade away.

With the two slivers of Sukuna’s soul that Kenjaku kept for themselves, one piece was kept within the brain that had become their true form. By doing this, Kenjaku permanently tethered themselves to Sukuna. It was both a contingency plan and an experiment. The other piece was used for a far simpler purpose. Kenjaku released the minute fragment into the world to see if anyone would be born with a piece of Sukuna’s soul.

And someone was. Itadori Jin.

Centuries of research and tests made Kenjaku know everything about souls. They were more vital than any organ, yet most did not know of their existence. Being able to see the shape of one’s soul was impossible for non-sorcerers and a majority of sorcerers. Souls were stubborn things. Whatever shape they took on could not be changed unless the soul itself was forcibly changed. Souls were fragile things. Any damage to it could end up in the death of the being the soul belongs to. Souls were vengeful things. They would not forgive nor forget easily even if the owner of the soul did. Souls were clingy things. It was unnatural for a soul to be in separate pieces, so they would do everything they could to become whole again.

The last fact was what led Kenjaku to meeting Jin.

No matter how miniscule the pieces of Sukuna’s soul Kenjaku and Jin held, they still wished to reunite. It led Kenjaku to stalk the man and wait for the right moment to steal the body of his wife, Kaori. Jin had been so relieved that his wife had miraculously survived the car crash that he did not see the warning signs that something was very wrong with her. Kenjaku was fond of Jin, they really were. He was a loving man who was too kind for his own good. They would always be grateful to him for giving them the perfect opportunity to start the plan they had been concocting for centuries.

The plan had been so close to succeeding. Kenjaku had been so close to seeing the merger of Tengen and humanity come to fruition. It would have been fun!

Yet they had been left disappointed.

By Sukuna.

Kenjaku’s plan had failed.

Because of Sukuna.

No other event had ever caused Kenjaku to feel such disappointment, such shock, such fury, such disgust.

Nothing had surprised Kenjaku so much.

After everything that Sukuna had done, he had thrown it all away in a mindless fit of rage. He destroyed everything . The entire planet was ruined as Sukuna burned it all down and carved through the lands. He was like a god throwing a tantrum because he could not control himself. It was stupid . Kenjaku had never once thought of Sukuna in such a way before.

Then Sukuna did something even stupider.

With the last remaining threads of their consciousness, only able to exist due to the sliver of Sukuna’s soul, Kenjaku witnessed the King of Curses kneel before a broken shell of a boy. Itadori Yuuji. They had named him such for their own amusem*nt . As a joke only they understood. Yet here Sukuna was, embracing and apologizing to Yuuji with a gentleness of a father .

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna gave Yuuji a painless death.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna took Yuuji’s soul to form it into a mass of swirling pink light.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna’s mighty form grew smaller.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna’s infamous tattoos disappeared one by one.

Kenjaku saw as Sukuna’s last wishes went into giving Yuuji a happy life.

Kenjaku saw as Ryomen appeared for the first time in over a thousand years.

Once the last traces of Sukuna’s soul vanished, Kenjaku vanished with him.

Throughout all their years of existence, Kenjaku had never seen someone turn back time to the extent that Sukuna did. He restarted the world. He made the Earth go back millions of years into the past. He had erased everything.

Well, almost.

Kenjaku was still there. They still had a good memory.

And they wanted to try something new .

Instead of going down the same path as they did in their previous life, Kenjaku decided to go down a different route. They kept themselves hidden from Sukuna this time, waiting throughout the years as life evolved from the prehistoric to familiarity.

Seeing how nature changed and improved gave Kenjaku inspiration for future experiments. Survival was the most important goal in nature. To succeed in said goal, one must fight or become extinct. They had never taken the time to observe the normal life Earth had to offer. It had always been boring to them. However, they had nothing better to do until the Heian Era returned. With so much time, Kenjaku realized how even the plants fought for survival, developing increasingly creative ways to thrive. If something was not working, then the plant or animal died. Simple. If something was working, then the plant or animals survived and spread its improved genetics or knowledge to the next generations.

Kenjaku kept to their studies as they were even less corporeal than Sukuna’s ghostly form, biding their time. They were not meant to exist. They were not meant to remember. They didn’t care. If they were nothing more than a tangle of conscious wisps, so be it. Nothing would make them let go of the fraction of life they still had.

Once Kenjaku learned of the beings Sukuna had created, their grip on the last shreds of sentience became unbreakable. Cursed Souls. A completely new species that Sukuna made for the sole purpose of protecting Yuuji. They were so interesting. So new. Finally, something new. Something to cure their boredom once again.

Kenjaku did not make themselves known to the six creatures nor Sukuna once the Heian Era returned. Instead, they decided to find the boy that Sukuna had once been.

He was even more pathetic than before. With stark tattoos on his body, the villagers saw him as a bad omen to be rid of. Kenjaku did not know that Ryomen could be treated even worse than before. Yet he was. Even if he was doing nothing, people went out of their way to harm the apparent demon in their village.

It had been so easy to manipulate the poor soul.

With their last shreds of existence, they found a suitable host from a powerful clan. They were uninterested in the more well known clans like the Gojos or the Zenins. Kenjaku needed a sorcerer with powers that would serve them well in their plan. A plan that had many inspirations from their original one, they still had yet to see the Merger come to fruition. However, there were also many revisions and improvements. To start, Kenjaku decided to make the first step of their plan far earlier. They needed Ryomen for this step, so they made sure their host was as beautiful as she was powerful. Itadori Ren was the host they chose, a stoic woman who held the inherited techniques the Itadori Clan held. As a smaller clan, not many knew of the Itadori’s technique. Kenjaku felt like the Earth was giving them a blessing by having the Itadori Clan have the perfect technique for their plan.

Body Manipulation. This inherited technique allowed an Itadori to directly change the qualities their body had. It could not be used to manipulate the body of another due to it being both taboo and nearly impossible. The most common way this technique manifested was an Itadori sorcerer’s ability to change the way gravity affected their body. It either made their body lighter than a feather or heavier than stone. Itadoris were skilled at seeing their own soul, but they were a humble clan that kept to themselves. It was not knowledge any outsiders knew of. Kenjaku only learned of the true depths of their technique once they inhabited Itadori Ren’s body. The Itadori Clan was unique for another reason besides their technique, their kindness. Everyone in the clan seemed to be genuinely good people, which was unheard of in sorcerer clans. This kindness made Itadoris refuse to use their abilities for cruelty. Luckily for Kenjaku, they had no such morals to hold them back from seeking out the darkest possibilities the Itadori Clan’s technique had to offer. With their prior expertise in souls, Kenjaku learned how to use the reverse of the technique like he did with Itadori Kaori. Instead of just gravity manipulation, Itadori Ren could use her technique to affect her memories by changing certain areas of her brain. It reminded Kenjaku of how the Zenin Clan was known for their Ten Shadow’s Technique, but it was far from the only technique with members having Projection Sorcery. Ren was not the only member with the memory manipulation technique, which Kenjaku used to further their knowledge. It was typically used to make users of this technique incredibly fast learners, able to prevent the memory of whatever they learned from fading. Additionally, it aided them in being more resilient to psychic attacks.

There were so many possibilities for Kenjaku to explore with Itadori Ren’s techniques, but the second reason for choosing her was even more crucial to their plan. Ren was beautiful. With her beauty, Kenjaku used it to attract Ryomen like a bee to a fresh flower. This new world had been far more cruel to Ryomen, so the boy had been desperate for a loving touch. When they had found him, Ryomen had been so shocked that they were being kind to him. Kenjaku was quite amused, but knew better than to break character. Ryomen was in his second decade like he was when he had Yuuji the first time. However, the mother would not be a nameless woman he got drunk with. No. This time, Kenjaku would be the one to have Yuuji. They had done it with Jin, mostly for their own curiosity. Having Yuuji was far more imperative now. It had been a mistake on Kenjaku’s end to not see the potential the boy held. They would never make such an error again.

After getting drunk like he had previously, Ryomen had become a father. While they did want to do new things, Kenjaku still wanted other aspects of time to remain the same. They needed Ryomen to grow extremely attached to Yuuji or else their plan would not work. So they faked their death by exiting their host.

From then on, Kenjaku watched and waited.

They waited and waited and waited and waited until-

“Hello, little one. I take it you’re my last student? ”

It had been a tedious process to become a teacher in such a prestigious school, but it was worth it. In the modern era, they decided to inhabit Kaori Itadori’s body once again. This time, however, they stayed with her for much longer. They also got rid of their dear Jin and old Wasuke to ensure that no one questioned Kaori, who was now a poor widow. As Kaori, Kenjaku decided to explore the world in search of the evidence of the creatures they had longed to study. For years, they traveled across the globe to find every piece of evidence pertaining to cursed souls. Eventually, they wrote a book about it, placing it in the catacombs for someone to read. And they knew that someone would be Getou Suguru. From inhabiting his body and memories, Kenjaku knew that Getou came to the catacombs to study what was meant to be forgotten. In this new world, Getou would likely have the same habit. With their knowledge from traveling, they were able to become a respected scholar in both history and biology. Soon enough, they received several degrees that Kenjaku could care less about. The pieces of papers were only useful in getting Kenjaku into the school Yuuji would attend as a teacher. Ryomen had been so careful to keep Yuuji hidden, but this paranoia was what made him predictable. The only school that Ryomen would ever allow his son to attend would be the one that required each teacher to have multiple degrees and yearly background checks. The only school that Gojo Satoru allowed was his adopted son, Megumi, to attend.

Their theory was proven correct once the little boy entered their classroom. Kenjaku found Yuuji adorable, he was all pink hair and smiles. He looked at them without an ounce of fear. In fact, he had stuck to their side for most of the class. Yuuji was drawn to Kenjaku for a reason. Before Yuuji had originally been born, Kenjaku had given a piece of themselves to the boy in a binding vow. The only thing needed for the binding vow to be fulfilled was Yuuji being born. As long as that occurred, then a piece of Kenjaku’s soul would be sealed within Yuuji. It would allow Kenjaku to be linked to Yuuji like a more unethical version of a normal mother’s intuition. A binding vow between two people needed full consent, but that was boring to Kenjaku. They had not studied for thousands of years about souls, cursed energy, and more to follow the rules and limitations of jujutsu. In other words, Kenjaku cheated their way around a proper binding vow. They were quite proud of themselves for that one! It had been a stroke of brilliance!

While this linking did come with its risks, Kenjaku knew that the benefits outweigh the risks tenfold!

There was so much to do now that another step of their plan was complete. It would be four more years until Mahito would be spawned, which was the main reason as to why Kenjaku kept to the same timing as before. The curse would be imperative later on. Even though they no longer had Getou Suguru’s cursed technique, they had developed something even better after centuries of experimentation.

Science was all about testing new theories, learning from failures, and improving prior methods.

And Kenjaku had always been a scientist.

Walking down a dilapidated block filled with nothing but dried weeds and rotting houses, Kenjaku smiled to themselves. The first day of class had been a success. It felt almost painful to have to return to their home after meeting Yuuji and the cursed soul cleverly hidden within his backpack. The purple cat was quite familiar, and Kenjaku could spot that distinct stripe across the nose anywhere. Besides Sukuna, they were the only other beings in existence who knew of the people that inhabited the world they originally came from. The similarities the six cursed souls had were only evident to Kenjaku and Sukuna.

It would be hilarious to see how their old failure would react to his superior counterpart.

They entered a house that looked just as abandoned as the others. Kenjaku walked through the dirty house, ignoring all the bugs and rodents scattering about, and stopped at a metal door with a large lock. Humming a nameless tune to themselves, Kenjaku took out a key to unlock the door. Nothing but darkness existed outside the threshold. They called into it. “Subject Thirteen?”

After about a minute of waiting, Kenjaku could hear the quick footsteps of his newest project ascending the stairs. A jellyfish-like shikigami floated above their project, illuminating the old staircase with cyan light. The shikigami belonged to their recent experiment, a small boy with dark hair and sad eyes. He trembled as he gazed at Kenjaku. It made a sad*stic delight fill them to see the fear in the boy’s eyes when the children of their class were not scared of them at all. Subject Thirteen was only a few years older than the six-year-olds Kenjaku taught, but he knew better than to start crying or whining for his parents.

Because they were dead.

Kenjaku approached the shaking boy, placing a thumb underneath the eye that was not covered by the child’s messy bangs. They wiped the tears away and cooed at them. “There’s no need for that, remember? I’ve already given you your water portion for the day, and it would be dreadful to deal with you if you dehydrated yourself.” Subject Thirteen nodded obediently at their words, unconsciously leaning into their touch. Pathetic. Humans were truly such needy creatures. Since Kenjaku was in a good mood, they decided to provide the affection his experiment desperately craved. Plucking the pale boy from the floor, Kenjaku carried them on one hip. “Come along. I have much to discuss with you and Subject One!”

Another meek nod. Subject Thirteen kept silent as they descended the staircase, the boy’s shikigami there to light the way. Finally, once they crossed the last step, the underground lab Kenjaku had created greeted them.

As did several others.

“What took you so long?!” Jogo, a curse with the destructive power of a volcano, shouted. Immediately, Subject Thirteen flinched and tried to hide by burying his face in their shoulder. Only to be unceremoniously dropped onto the concrete floor. The volcanic curse looked ready to kill Subject Thirteen, which made the boy squeak and scamper off to another part of the lab. With the experiment gone, Jogo continued his interrogation. “What was so important that you had to drop everything and leave us here for hours?! Neither of your twisted experiments wanted to tell us anything!”

“Because I ordered Subject One and Subject Thirteen not to.” Kenjaku replied simply, sitting down on the large couch the other curses were sitting on. On either side of Jogo was a curse that resembled a tree and another that resembled a squid. Hanami and Dagon. They could not speak, so Jogo needed to do all the talking. They looked at their painted nails with a bored expression. “Is that all you wanted to say, Jogo? Or is there more whining I will have to hear?”

Smoke rose from the volcano molded into Jogo’s head. His singular eye glared at them with malice. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever your ugly head thinks it means!”

“Why you-” Jogo growled in rage. One of his hands glowed with an orange light, intending to blast Kenjaku with a deadly ball of lava. “I’ve had enough of your disrespect, sorcerer! I’ll burn that smug grin off your face!” A wide smile spread across his features, revealing the black teeth he had. The ball of magma and flames made the entire lab start to heat up, but Kenjak felt no fear.

Just as Jogo was about to throw his attack, his hand was cut off by a beam of blood.

Subject One had intervened like Kenjaku knew he would. He was truly the perfected version of what Choso failed to be. He was ruthless, powerful, reliable, and most importantly…

Dark purple eyes gazed at them. “Are you alright, Master?”

He was under their complete control.

“I’m fine! Amazing even! The next step of our plan has been completed, and there is much to do. Subject One?”

“Yes, Master?”

“Go get Subject Thirteen, will you? He’s imperative to the next phase of my plan!”

Kenjaku could not wait to start this phase as it would be far more entertaining than the previous steps.

Infiltration.

How fun!

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The room was both freezing cold and blistering hot. Countless candles acted as the only source of light, their fire causing an uncomfortable heat. In contrast, the atmosphere did not match this warmth whatsoever. Despite the barriers hiding the faces of the elders behind them, their harsh gaze could still be felt easily.

“Yaga. Do you know why you have been summoned here?” A feminine voice spoke from one of the several wooden panels. The disdain in her words was so clear that Yaga could see the scowl the crone had.

Suppressing a sigh, Yaga responded as respectfully as he could. “I have not been informed of any recent issues, ma’am.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t see any issues with your students.” The same voice snapped.

“You’ve always been far too soft on them, Yaga.” Another aged voice rumbled.

My students? For a moment, Yaga was confused as his most recent students were too inexperienced to go on missions. Then the realization hit him, and Yaga could not suppress his frustrated sigh this time. Why is it always those four…

The barrier placed in the center of the room held the only person who Yaga knew the identity behind. Over the years, Gakuganji had become a thorn in Yaga’s side. As the principal of the only other school Jujutsu Society had, Yaga had believed that he would be able to have a rapport with the elderly man. However, Gakuganji was far too close minded and cowardly for Yaga to ever think of befriending. He avoided the other principal as much as he could. One reason was because Yaga simply did not enjoy the man’s company. However, there was another purpose for ignoring Gakuganji like the plague. A much more pressing reason.

Satoru.

After the fateful Sendai mission, all of Yaga’s oldest students changed for the better and for the worst. The easiest example of this was in Satoru. While the once petulant teenager had grown into a competent sorcerer, Satoru had also become far more unstable . The day that Satoru had woken up after the mission was a day that Yaga could never forget. While Nanami and Suguru were still comatose, Satoru had been thrashing and screaming in his slumber. Yaga was the only person who knew the extent of Satoru’s mental deterioration. He had forced Shoko to rest as the girl’s eye bags were dark enough to be bruises. During his nightwatches, Yaga had seen Satoru grow more and more distressed until he had to be restrained by his wrists and ankles. The boy would wake up at random intervals before falling unconscious several seconds later. When Satoru had properly regained consciousness, Nanami had woken up as well. Instead of hearing the annoying quips Satoru was known for, the white-haired teen had silently stared at his surroundings until his cloudy eyes landed on Suguru, who had yet to wake up.

He had never seen the boy so infuriated before. Satoru roared in rage as he lunged for his closest friend, snapping the leather restraints like paper. The heavy miasma that came with Satoru’s cursed energy made it difficult to breathe. A still recovering Nanami had tried to reason with the older teen, but was only met with Satoru attacking him like a feral animal. At that point, Yaga had tackled Satoru before the teen could kill either Nanami or Suguru, causing Satoru to scream nonsense in his teacher’s ears.

“NO! NO! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO KILL HIM! THEY’RE GONNA TAKE HIM! THEY’RE GONNA TAKE SUGURU! LET ME KILL HIM! HE HAS TO DIE!”

With his own wounds sustained from the mission, Yaga struggled to hold onto the lanky teenager. Fortunately, Shoko had arrived just in time to inject Satoru with enough tranquilizer to put an elephant to sleep. Once Satoru went limp, Yaga and Shoko had been at a loss of what to do with him, considering how powerful the teenager was. The answer came to them by Gakuganji, who had been staying at the infirmary to watch over his own students' recovery, storming in. The elder ordered Yaga to give him the unconscious boy, but Yaga had refused immediately. Instead, Yaga followed Gakuganji into Tengen’s Corridors while holding a far too-light Satoru. If it was not for Tengen themselves opening a barrier to contain Satoru, Yaga would have refused to ever force Satoru in such a situation. When Yaga had left temporarily to redo the torn stitches in his stomach, he returned to an awake Satoru banging his head against the invisible barrier. The teen was doing everything in his power to escape while simultaneously screeching about how he would slaughter Gakuganji for something that the elder apparently did.

Satoru had never been fond of authority, but his hatred for Gakuganji was something else entirely. When Satoru had tried to summon Red, the reversal of his technique, Gakuganji and the elders he had notified enchained Satoru as if he was a criminal to be punished. Despite how aggravating the boy could get, Yaga harbored no ill feelings towards Satoru. To see one of his students be so terrified and hurt , all because of the higher-ups' paranoia, made something within Yaga snap. What little respect Yaga did have for the elders disappeared the moment he saw them laughing about finally putting ‘the brat in his place’ and scheming about making Satoru’s imprisonment permanent. How the higher-ups could see a sobbing boy being tortured with hallucinations and only think about keeping Satoru bound like a weapon only meant to be used when needed…It was disgusting. No matter how his wounds throbbed or how exhausted he was, Yaga refused to leave Satoru alone. Shoko would share his sentiments and keep a protective watch on her friend.

The damage Sendai had done to his students manifested in different ways. For Nanami, it was his withdrawal from Jujutsu Tech, only loyal to Yaga himself and his upperclassmen. Despite Yaga’s pleas for Nanami to return as a full-time sorcerer, Nanami refused with an unexpected amount of resentment and anger from the normally stoic blonde. For Shoko, she worked nonstop as one of the only reverse-cursed technique users, studying for her medical license in less than legal ways. While the sorceress had dedicated herself to quit smoking, she still took poor care of herself, putting all her energy into the sorcerers she had to heal. For Suguru, the long-haired teen had stopped being as distant, but he also became obsessed with studying cursed souls, the beings that haunted them all. The compassionate boy who was a role model for his underclassmen now had tattoos and piercings and spoke with barely-hidden disgust about non sorcerers. The elders were quite displeased at Suguru’s new appearance and attitude, their supposedly perfect sorcerer no longer perfect. The long-haired boy had been the happiest that Yaga had ever seen, so he had no opposition towards Suguru’s more rebellious-alternative self. However, Yaga had gotten quite frustrated with Suguru when he tried to pierce one of his cursed corpses for the millionth time.

As always, Satoru was the outlier.

He became stronger, but he also became unstable. If it was not for Suguru calming Satoru down, all the higher-ups would have been killed in a heartbeat. Early into Satoru’s recovery, the teenager would constantly snap at his superiors, even Yaga on occasions. At some point, Suguru had to be by Satoru’s side at all times until the risk of the elder’s being murdered ebbed. Over time, Satoru regained most of his self-control, but was still prone to outbursts if he was overwhelmed or overstimulated. He had abandoned his blacked-out sunglasses to thick, black wrappings that acted as a blindfold. Having his eyes covered to such an extent helped Satoru’s fractured mind immensely. While he would never be as composed as his younger self, Satoru had enough self-awareness that he would leave before he endangered anyone.

Except for Gakuganji.

About six years had passed since the Sendai Mission, and Satoru’s aggression towards Gakuganji had not faded in the slightest. Satoru hated the elder with a passion that Yaga had only seen in Satoru’s love of zunda and cream kikuf*cku. Which was saying something considering how Satoru would go on hour long spiels of how perfect the stuffed mochi was. Hell, Satoru had written an entire thesis about his favorite dessert just because he loved it that much!

So for Gojo to commit to hating Gakuganji as much as he committed to loving kikuf*cku…

Needless to say, Gakuganji was easily the most hated person in Japan.

“The Gojo Clan has expressed their concern about the evolution of Gojo Satoru’s technique. They state that Gojo Satoru is using Limitless and the Six Eyes in ways unbecoming of a member of the Gojo Clan. As the only holder of such techniques, the Gojo Clan are perturbed by Gojo Satoru’s defilement of their clan’s most sacred power.” Gakuganji rumbled behind his barrier. His own resentment towards the younger sorcerer was palpable in his words. There were several sounds of agreement that came from the other elders. “You have the most contact with him, so we expect you to tell us as to why he is acting in such a manner.”

Yaga wanted to bang his head against the wall. This . This is what the higher-ups had summoned him for. They were worried that Satoru was being untraditional with his technique, an ability that had not been seen for over five centuries?! Of course, the ways in which Satoru used his Limitless and Six Eyes would be different from the sorcerers from an entirely different era! With his teeth clenched, Yaga responded. “Satoru’s strength and control over his technique has improved exponentially. I fail to see how this is a problem. Forgive me for asking, but is it not a good thing for Satoru to find new ways to use his Infinity? Jujutsu techniques went through advancements and innovations just like the world around us.”

“That lunatic has no control whatsoever!”

“He is a risk to us all!”

“He is likely the reason behind Getou Suguru’s downfall!”

“And Kento Nanami. He drove that boy away, costing us another sorcerer!”

The voices clashed against each other, saying worse and worse things about their most vital member. Indignation was the only thing Yaga could feel. How dare they. How dare they speak about his students in such a way?! Do they not know what they went through-

Gakuganji’s callous words broke through the chaos. “We have reason to suspect that your former students are conspiring with the King of Death.”

His heart stopped.

It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true.

“What are your sources?” Yaga asked numbly.

“Mei Mei.” Another elder answered, sounding almost smug. “Her services are far easier to acquire now. All we have to do is threaten her crows or her younger brother to make her comply. This is your only warning that we are keeping a close eye on those four sorcerers.”

Just when his disgust at the higher-ups could not become any higher, it skyrocketed with the admission. During the Sendai mission, the cursed soul resembling a feline had shot beams of blood at Yaga, which then went through his torso and onto Mei Mei. Utahime was also slashed, but it was a minor cut across her nose. The older girl was much less fortunate. Her eyes had been injured by the feline’s piercing blood attack. It seemed that the cursed soul could control the toxicity of its blood as Mei Mei suffered from poison while Yaga and Utahime did not. There was no antidote and Shoko could only do so much as a novice healer. Mei Mei would become permanently blinded from the attack, having to use her crows for daily use instead of strictly sorcery. Additionally, her baby brother would be born a few years after the attack. He became the young woman’s guide, always describing the scenery around them. His love for his sister was immense. If she still had her sight, Mei Mei would have taken advantage of that blind adoration. Instead, her little brother aiding her just because he could and not due to any ulterior motives caused Mei Mei to be fond of her sibling. He was useful to her, but he also was the only person that Mei Mei was attached to. In the past, Mei Mei had no ties or loyalties to anyone besides herself and whoever was paying her the most. She still worked as a mercenary, but the higher-ups were now freed from her high rates.

It was not surprising that the elders would use this opportunity to take advantage of Mei Mei’s permanent injury. For years, Mei Mei had been a loose cannon of sorts, someone that the elders had no control over. Even Satoru was obligated to go wherever he was assigned. Now, they had earned Mei Mei’s loyalty through force and fear. Self preservation was as sacred to her as money, so she did not take lightly to threats on her life or Ui Ui’s.

Part of Yaga wanted to be furious at Mei Mei, but he knew better than to question the higher-ups. With one word, they could make someone disappear or be labeled as a traitor. If they felt threatened, then they would do everything in their power to be rid of said threat.

Cowards . Yaga hissed to himself. “Sukuna has not been spotted in years. He disappeared along with the cursed souls. We’re fortunate that we’ve been left in peace for so long.”

“Peace does not exist as long as curses continue to exist. We will enter a war the moment Sukuna reveals himself. He is just biding his time. We cannot afford anymore sorcerers defecting nor betraying us.”

Yaga felt like his mind was going to explode. Defection. Betrayal. Conspiring with the King of Death.

Just what the hell had his students gotten into?!

“ You’re weak. All four of you. If my son is to be protected, then I will make sure that his human guardians are as strong as his monstrous guardians. I am not going to allow any more sorcerers, so you better be prepared to become a one-man army. ”

Ryomen words were far more literal than any of them anticipated.

“YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE CODDLED IN A WAR! EITHER YOU RUN THROUGH THIS COURSE OR I FEED YOUR CORPSES TO THE KOI FISH! NANAMI, YOU’RE UP FIRST!”

Nanami had never received formal training like Satoru or Suguru. Even Shoko had been an apprentice to a reverse curse technique user before he died after a fatal encounter with a special grade curse. They had someone to introduce them to Jujutsu, whether they wanted to know about it or not. At a young age, his upperclassman knew of their cursed techniques. For Nanami, he was not aware of his technique until he was thirteen. It had been a life or death situation with a group of armed robbers threatening to kill him and his family if they called the authorities. At the time, his parents complied with the request, holding his baby sister in their arms while hugging his terrified brothers and sisters. It was a smart decision to make, but Nanami did not view it as one. Not at all. In fact, he can still remember the intense rage he had felt at his parents lack of retaliation. While Nanami had never been an aggressive person, he had always valued the lives of his younger siblings far more than his own. As the eldest sibling, it was his job to look after them when their parents were at work. He had seen how vulnerable children are, how they needed to be protected by the adults. Nanami, in a reckless act befitting of an angry preteen, shouted at the robbers. They wanted to steal the valuables that would help send his siblings to school, and that was unacceptable. His protective fury made him sprint to the kitchen and grab the largest knife he could find. The roaring of his frantic heart deafened him to his parents' pleas to stop. He hadn’t cared. Nanami charged towards the thieves, something within him igniting like an inferno. In a panic, one of the robbers tried to shoot at his family. Before the thief could pull the trigger, Nanami slashed his kitchen knife in the air as if it was as natural as breathing. Despite the blade not making contact, the man still screamed in agony as his arm was sliced off. The other criminals tried to retaliate, but Nanami was already reading another blow. Blue light engulfed him as he dealt the final strikes.

He had killed the entire group.

When Nanami had realized what he had done, he dropped the knife and tried to go towards his family. His siblings cowered away in fear while his father barked at him to step back. It was the first time that Nanami had heard his father raise his voice. After living a life of mundanity and routine, his parents did not know how to handle something new, something different . Neither did Nanami as he had lived the same life of rules and normality. He grew up in a middle class family, lived in a middle class town, took care of his siblings, went to school, participated in sports, did his homework, received high marks on tests, listened to his parents, behaved in a polite manner, and always respected the rules. There was nothing remarkable about Nanami. He was not extraordinary or special like Satoru. He had no larger purpose or goals like Suguru. He could not heal others or be irreplaceable like Shoko. Nanami was prepared to live exactly like his father. Get a job, make money, have a family, and then retire to a foreign country. However, the choice of a normal life was ripped away from him the night he killed several armed robbers without even touching them. After that night, a rift had formed between Nanami and his family that could never be fixed. He became the black sheep of his family, the one that could slice someone into pieces and see ‘demons’. The only person that did not treat him like a ticking time bomb was a boy he had met after running away the same night as the robbery. Nanami could not bear the looks of fear from his family, so he ran from his house until his legs could not move anymore. His frantic sprint had led him to an abandoned park in a completely different side of town. He had always been gifted physically, but Nanami had never thought he could run so far. On numb legs, Nanami sat on a rusty swing, hearing the old chains squeak in protest of his weight. Just as he was about to stand, a voice appeared from behind. It belonged to a boy with brown hair and wide eyes. Haibara.

It was thanks to Haibara that Nanami learned of Jujutsu High. He had to wait a few years until he could apply, so Haibara recommended that he talk to the teachers to learn more about sorcerers. Nanami declined. An actual sorcerer would need a teacher. He was just a kid with a weird slicing ability. Even so, he still kept Haibara’s words of training in mind. Several times a week, they would meet at the park and go to the nearest open field to spar. Nanami often trained alone as he figured out his ratio technique. He practiced until he knew the ins and outs of his technique and cursed energy as a whole. His tool at the time had been the kitchen knife he used on the robbers until Haibara surprised him with a new weapon on his fourteenth birthday. Apparently, Haibara’s father worked for Jujutsu High as a blacksmith, so he crafted a short blunt sword for Nanami. The man had even created a custom-made case and harness to hold the blade and wrapped it in white fabric with black spots for extra protection. It took several weeks until Nanami became accustomed to the new weight of the sword and how to make the most efficient strikes with it. He had never shown his family his abilities, and he had accepted the fact that they would never see him the same way again. In recent years, their relationship had become slightly less strained. Either way, Nanami didn’t care. He would still protect and provide for his family, but he wouldn’t keep himself awake at night from the hurt his family had caused him. It wasn’t worth the energy.

As a sorcerer, Nanami kept this ideal of efficiency over anything else. It allowed him to make life or death decisions without freezing and gave him a level-headedness not seen in his other peers. He had tried to use this mindset when he left Jujutsu High and sorcery all together, working as a salaryman like his father had. The schedules, deadlines, calls, and more mind numbing tasks were easy for him to become accustomed to, but there was something nagging his mind every day he was living ‘normally’.

He had left his upperclassman to fight against six creatures of hell. Entities that had bested Satoru and Suguru, the strongest sorcerers that Jujutsu society had to offer. Beings that haunted him like they haunted his upperclassmen.

After seven months of working a corporate job, Nanami quit to return to his job as a sorcerer. However, there was a key difference in his loyalties than when he had first defected. He refused to work under the corrupted higher-ups. The only people Nanami took orders from were Yaga and his three upperclassmen. If they needed him, he’d be there.

The fateful Sendai mission had made him, Gojo, Getou, and Shoko become closer. In the past, they were a group that were on friendly terms, but each had their preferred person to hang out with. Haibara had been the heart of the group, bringing joy and laughter to them all. When he passed, no one could fill that void. They grew distant until the elders ordered him to accompany Gojo on a mission despite it involving a special grade curse. He had barely started his second year and was completely outmatched when they arrived at the abandoned warehouse. Neither he or Gojo were faring well against the six aggressive entities trying to kill him. With a stroke of luck, Nanami’s phone had not broken after being slammed into the wall by Overtime. He dialed Getou’s number with shaking fingers before he was ensnared by spotted wrappings.

Nanami barely recalled the events of what conspired after being taken. The only memories he had were of being placed surprisingly gently onto a patch of grass. Distant sounds of screeching and shouting were not enough to snap Nanami out of the catatonic state he had adopted. No curse had ever made Nanami freeze. He was known for not hesitating, yet he found himself not able to move a muscle.

That’s when he had felt it.

A puff of breath, as cold as the winds of a blizzard, was felt behind his neck.

The first time that he had gotten a proper look at Infinite was a moment that had caused him countless nightmares. Like a ghost of death, the feathered dragon had loomed over him with a hoard of eyes watching him and several ear piercing shrieks of laughter. Nanami had been completely certain that he would be killed, but he remained unharmed. It had happened so quickly, Infinite appearing to tap his beak against Nanami’s forehead before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, that Nanami had thought he had dreamed it.

He wished it had just been a dream or hallucination.

It wasn’t.

The words Infinite had whispered to him would resurface whenever Nanami least expected it.

“Be selfish. You deserve it.”

“Be angry. You have every right to be.”

Selfish. Angry. Reckless. Those were words that would describe the complete opposite of Nanami. He had always kept his composure and was strategic in battles, but…

“STOP THINKING! ACT! YOU’LL DIE IF YOU DON’T.”

All six of the cursed souls were charging at him at varying speeds. Each had widely different physical builds and abilities. Nanami did not have the time to make a proper plan when he was seconds away from being killed in Ryomen’s intense training. This was the test that would make Ryomen give Nanami, Shoko, Gojo, and Getou his full respect and trust. If any of them failed at whatever task they were given, then Sukuna promised that he would train them personally. Ryomen’s training was already difficult enough. Sukuna’s battle training would likely be impossible since the curse enjoyed messing with them as much as he could. Today was important. Nanami and the others would be tested to their limits. It would show if their four years of constant training was either for naught or worth the blood, sweat, and tears.

Nanami breathed in deeply, allowing all of his thoughts to fade into the back of his mind.

He could only feel the weight of his blade in his hand. He could only smell the dew covered grass beneath his feet. He could only hear the cracking of leaves as the cursed souls ran over them. He could only taste the leftover coffee he had drank and the pancakes Yuuji had made for him. He could only see Overtime lunging at him with a razor sharp wrapping aimed at his neck.

Be selfish.

Be angry.

Be reckless.

It went against everything Nanami believed in, but for Yuuji he would do it.

He’d do anything to protect Yuuji.