Chapter Text
It’s clear Ijichi wasn’t lying about what they were going up against. A short wave of cursed energy hit Yuji’s senses, a reoccurring phenomenon about every 3 minutes or so since the trio began their descent. Not only did the strange shockwaves— curse-waves?— muddle his senses, they seriously reeked.
On his left, Kugisaki scrunched her nose up in disgust, her steps stuttering. “You boys better not slow me down. I need this mission over ASAP because I seriously cannot handle this stench another second.” She ended her spiel with a huff, stomping ahead of the two with a much quicker pace.
Yuji let out an exasperated sigh. Typically, he’d find himself the most optimistic of the three on missions… but man was he exhausted. Fushiguro would call him dramatic, but who knew outrunning Todo, his… Brother? Friend? Would be such a strenuous task. That guy arguably had the stamina of a special grade sorcerer, if not more.
In his sulking, Yuji barely registered they’d arrived at the warehouse. What knocked him out of his state of thought was a powerful force of cursed energy behind him, about to hit him right on the back of his head— No, wait— That’s just Fushiguro. He let out a yelp, clutching his head as he whirled around to face said perpetrator, who’s fist was still raised midair.
“Are we going in or not?” Fushiguro huffed, barely sparing him a second glance before making his way inside. Yuji felt his gaze travel to the back of the other’s head. Navy black hair blended into the night like ink spilt onto asphalt, dripping into the crevices on the road to create an ebony canvas. He forced himself to tear his gaze away.
“If i’m already gonna get beat up by a curse might as well be beat up by my own friend.” Yuji said petulantly, raising his voice on the last two words for dramatic affect, only to be met by an annoyed ‘Shut up!’ from Kugisaki. He let out a long, drawn out sigh before jogging to catch up with the two.
Upon entering the warehouse, Yuji was grateful for the rusted gaps in the ceiling allowing the night sky to seep through. He’d take what little moonlight he can, fighting curses in the dark was probably somewhere in his “top-10 scariest things to encounter”. To put that into perspective, number one is dropping Kugisaki’s shopping bags and having to face her wrath. Yuji felt an involuntary shiver go up his spine at the thought.
They fanned out across the first room, searching for any clues to the curse's whereabouts. Kugisaki took the left, toppling dusty crates and plywood. To Yuji's right, Fushiguro's divine dog Kuro materialized from the shadows, sniffing the area. With a shrug, Yuji set about his own investigation.
He found it peculiar that he couldn't sense any cursed energy at all. Even stranger, the horrible lingering odor had vanished. He was sure the others had noticed this too. Could one of the curse's techniques allow it to conceal its energy? But that didn't explain the shockwaves—as Yuji had dubbed them. Squinting in the darkness, he spotted a large double door hidden behind a rusty ladder. With a quick shove, the ladder clattered to the ground. Yuji reached forward to finally tug the door open.
A high pitched scream broke the silence. Yuji whipped around, having forgotten the ladder, and raced to the noise’s source. He skidded to a stop as soon as the scene came into view. Fushiguro had his blade wielded, flanked by Kuro, but his body language was relaxed as though there wasn’t any actual danger. When Yuji turned his gaze towards Kugisaki he felt his own shoulders drop in exasperation.
“Don’t just stand there! There was a huge ass spider on my shoe and now it’s gone. I swear to god i’m gonna hammer every damn bug into the wall until I find that—“
Kugisaki was cut short into a yelp when the whole building began shaking. Yuji was grateful he skipped breakfast when that horrible odor returned tenfold. He clasped his hand over his mouth and planted his feet into the ground, the aura of cursed energy enveloping the three of them reminded Yuji of the curse at the detention center. Something he did not want to be reminded of.
It was over like it had never started. Yuji opened his eyes, which he didn’t recall closing, and took in his surroundings. Fushiguro had managed to steady himself by keeping one hand on Kuro, but more unfortunately, whatever he had eaten prior was now on the floor beside him. At least no one had to clean it up, considering the building was abandoned. Kugisaki, on the other hand, was keeled over a crate, gagging and clutching her hammer in one hand.
“We need,” Fushiguro huffed from his left, “We need to exorcise that thing now.”
Like a lightbulb appeared above his head, Yuji suddenly remembered where he was before Kugisaki’s moment. “I found a pair of double doors earlier, maybe it’ll lead us to the main area of the warehouse. I bet that’s where that curse is hiding.” Not waiting for a response, Yuji turned on his heel and arrived back at the collapsed ladder and set of doors. He jiggled the handles, but they were either locked or barricaded by something on the other side. He felt a presence on his right, noticing Fushiguro was getting into position to forcibly barge the door down.
Yuji watched as the other boy slammed into the center of the two doors, they cracked open about an inch, but didn’t budge any further.
Kugisaki motioned to the door exasperatedly, “Jeez, can you two hurry it up? We have, like… 2 minutes before that gross smell happens again.” She paused to give Fushiguro, who was nursing his now bruised shoulder, a disgusted once over. “And I do not want to be near Fushiguro when it comes around again.”
Yuji laughed, ignoring the glare Fushiguro sent his and Kugisaki’s way. “Let me handle this.” He flexed his arm, likely earning something along the lines of an eye roll from the two, before slamming his fist into the door. Yuji didn’t mind showing off his strength every now and then, he was practically super human after all.
The door swung open, the handles hitting the walls causing a synchronized slam to fill the otherwise silent room. What appeared to be blocking the door was a bunch of miscellaneous items you’d find in a warehouse, including another rusty ladder. Yuji coughed into his sleeve, the dust ruining his once epic show of physical prowess.
However, when the dust settled it was revealed to them a completely empty, but massive, storage room. Concrete stretched out in front of them about the size of a large school gymnasium. Large (mostly intact) windows stretched across the vast ceiling, filtering in bouts of moonlight. When he turned his gaze to Fushiguro to boast about knocking down the door in one hit, he was left speechless.
Who knew an abandoned warehouse could capture such unwavering beauty? Moonlit shapes of blue were strewn across Megumi’s pale features. The elegant crescent of his nose, chasing rose tinted lips that now had a bluish sheen. Yuji’s eyes trailed to the latter’s, taking in full lashes that framed emerald eyes, now a tame ocean blue—
“Is there something on my face?” Slender fingers interrupted his train of thought as they raised self consciously to his cheek, blocking Yuji’s line of sight. Fushiguro continued to eye him questionably.
Yuji felt his face heat up from the embarrassment of being caught. Much to his own displeasure, he tore his gaze from Fushiguro’s face. Choosing instead to bring a hand behind his nape, a nervous habit he’s developed, “No, sorry man. Just lost in thought.” He chuckled.
‘Lost in thought’ wasn’t technically incorrect. It’s completely normal to admire your friend’s features, especially when said friend deserved to be plastered as the face of Vogue. Of course that didn’t mean he admired Kugisaki’s features— Not that’s she’s ugly— But she’s a girl. Therefore it’d be weird. Therefore nothing wrong with how he was looking at Fushiguro. Therefore his internal jury concludes he is an innocent man.
Yuji swore he heard a mocking chuckle in the back of his mind. Fuck off, Sukuna!
Kugisaki stomped over to the two just as Fushiguro opened his mouth to speak. “Can someone explain to me how the hell we’re gonna exorcise a curse we can’t even see?” She gestured to the barren room with her hammer, the pink heart reflecting pale starlight. “I’m seriously scared i’m gonna barf when the next wave of cursed energy or whatever comes back.” She snapped, eyeing the room warily as she spoke. As if that would cause the curse to show itself.
Yuji scratched his chin, glancing around. “This is kinda weird, i’m not sensing any cursed energy.”
Fushiguro hummed in agreement, “Kuro isn’t picking anything up.”
Kugisaki glared them down. “Fushiguro!” She barked, “you’re supposed to be the smart one, figure it out!”
“We need more time to investigate, id say we’ve been here for less than 10 minutes,” He retorted, “You’re too impatient.”
“Well then, investigate harder!”
Yuji searched the warehouse with his eyes, their bickering fading into background noise. A sliver of movement caught his eye and Yuji swears he almost broke his neck with how fast he turned his head to look.
Nothing.
He’s probably just seeing things, this warehouse has shaken him up quite a bit after all, especially after that fit Kugisaki threw—
“Look out!” Yuji barely had time to register the voice was being directed towards him before he was haphazardly knocked into. The wind was knocked out of him and Yuji rolled ungraciously on the ground before planting his feet and skidding to a stop.
Catching his breath, Yuji ripped his gaze from the ground to the scene developing before him, that’s when it hit him. Fushiguro was the one who yelled at Yuji because the curse was right behind him. He was also the one who knocked him out of the way of said curse.
As if on cue with his thoughts, the amount of sickening cursed energy that filled the room became near suffocating. And next came that horribly familiar odor, except now it was much clearer what it was.
The scent of blood, and rotting flesh.
The wall the double door was attached to crumbled as the curse made its appearance, and it was ugly.
Greenish brown limbs sprouted from a grotesque circular body that took Yuji a solid 2 seconds to figure out. The curse’s abhorrent body— or more accurately, body’s— was made up of human corpses. Some manipulated to look like very long arms, and in the grasp of one of these arms was Fushiguro, held right above where Yuji was standing mere seconds ago.
Shit. Did he seriously push me out of the way to sacrifice himself? Yuji thought with a grimace. To be fair, it did sound like a very Fushiguro-esc thing to do, but that didn’t help the situation.
The curse stumbled on its ‘legs’, the corpses making up its stubby feet making a horrible squelching sound. Now Yuji was extremely grateful he skipped breakfast. Clutching his nose, Yuji whipped around and made eye contact with Kugisaki, who was clutching the hammer in one hand and a handful of nails in the other. A familiar determined look was sketched across her face.
“Kugisaki- Try to get ahold of one of the corpses!” Yuji ducked out of the way just as an arm swung out to grab him. The ground shook as the arm grazed the concrete behind him. “We can end this fight quickly if you—!“
“Yeah, yeah, I know my own damn technique.” Kugisaki shouted back through gritted teeth, landing a few nails on the mass of corpses that made up the center body.
Yuji nodded, taking on a defensive position and focusing on dodging as he surveyed the situation. The curse wasn’t stupid, that’s for sure. It had around nine arms, Yuji counted while weaving through the curse’s attacks. Five in the back, four in the front. Two of the five in the back were occupied. One was fending off Kuro who Fushiguro thankfully hadn’t withdrawn, and the other was no longer holding Fushiguro in its grasp. Instead, it had him pinned to the ground. From Yuji’s perspective all he could see was Fushiguro’s legs, kicking at the curse. Yuji deducted that his upper body is likely completely compromised, otherwise he’d have summoned another shikigami or a weapon.
Yuji swept himself to the floor, instead of kicking the arm attacking himself he grabbed on. With a quick twist of his entire body he managed to dislodge the very end of the arm and both he and it fell to the ground. Yuji cringed at the blood now coating his uniform and hands.
Now that he’s able to get a better look, Yuji noticed something— A very disturbing something. Yes, the arm was made of human corpses, but they were merged together, likely overtime. Like mixing two different colors of play dough. With that, a realization hit him. He jerked his head back up, eyes immediately finding his target.
To Yuji’s dismay, Kuro was in bad shape. A few loosened corpses littered the area around the shikigami, but Yuji doubted the creature would be able to keep it up much longer. He then spotted Fushiguro, or more accurately, his legs, which had stopped kicking.
Yuji felt his blood run cold. Please, Fushiguro, just hang in a little longer.
He felt a presence to his left, too quick to be able to defend in time, Yuji grabbed the mashed chunk of corpses he previously tore off and flipped around, using it as a shield. Just in time did one of the curse’s arms make contact with the meat shield, and not Yuji. He was flung across the room, body wracking painfully against the wall. Bruised, however the corpse took most of the impact.
Upon landing, he noticed Kugisaki not far to him on his left.
“Kugisaki!” He shouted, beckoning, his voice almost cracking from the sudden change in volume. “Use your technique!” Yuji set the corpse down, he wasn’t at his limit yet, only having played defence so far. Kugisaki looked worse for wear, however. Likely running out of nails, too.
She whipped around to face Yuji, blood dripping from her forehead. She quickly shot a nail in an incoming arm, half of it exploding off from the impact, then raced over to Yuji, dodging two arms in the process and throwing the straw doll disjointedly on the corpse.
Yuji took a stance protectively in front of her and the corpse as seven arms poised to attack, aimed right at the two of them.
“Resonance!” Yuji heard the familiar term shouted over his shoulder.
Yet the arms didn’t stop their descent— seemingly unaffected. Huh?
Why didn’t her technique work? Shouldn’t the curse be compromised now? Will Fushiguro be okay? Yuji’s thoughts ran amock as a trickle of sweat beaded down his forehead.
“Damn it— Itadori!” He turned around, Kugisaki’s wild gaze directed at him. “I should’ve realized—“ She cursed to herself, “This is just a random human corpse, that’s why resonance wouldn’t affect the main body!” Kugisaki shouted, clutching her hammer closer to her chest. She wielded four new nails in her remaining hand. “We need to push past the arms, then create an opening to the actual curse itself.”
Without waiting for a response from Yuji, Kugisaki leapt past him, ducking and rolling past the barrage of arms coming their way. Without anymore hesitation, Yuji did the same, feeling the room shake where the arms attacking them hit the ground. The curses incoherent warbling filled his ears, and Yuji was barely surviving breathing in the horrible odor.
He noticed an arm sneaking on Kugisaki’s left and wasted no time in leaping forward, wrapping an arm around her waist and rushing out of the way. Yuji quickly let go once they were in the clear, now sheltered behind a stack of crates and flush against the wall.
“We have maybe one minute before that curse finds us.” Kugisaki managed to get out between gasps of air. “Where’s Fushiguro? You didn’t get a chance to free him?” She demanded, her steely gaze pinning Yuji.
He felt his face scrunch up in guilt. “No, Im— I’m pretty sure the curse is trying to make him one of the corpses, like, apart of the arm.”
He watched her eyebrows shoot up, then furrow in thought. “Shit, and we can’t even gauge how much time we have,” She hurriedly spoke, quickly turning her body to fully face Yuji. “New plan. We save Fushiguro and get the hell out of here. Forget exorcising that curse, we’ll have to call for backup—“
Just as she finished her sentence, one of the gruesome arms shot out between them, crushing the crates and sending splinters of wood across the floor. Yuji whipped around, clenching his fist and slamming it into the attacking limb. With a splatter of blood, it retreated back to the main body. He watched Kugisaki take the chance to run closer to the center of the curse— likely as a distraction for Yuji.
Yuji quickly found himself wrestling with two arms on either side of him, and with a twist of his torso both ends snapped in two. He lifted his fist to land a solid punch on at least one of the arms, and easily managed to make his mark. The constant influx of new attacks was wearing on Yuji, yet he let adrenaline push him on.
The victory was short lived as three more arms quickly replaced them. Itadori dodged two by rolling on the ground, then leapt up on top of the third with newfound strength.
Yuji raced along the top of the arm, even as it swung wildly in an attempt to dislodge him. All he had to do was run across the top of the curse and Fushiguro should be right there, on the floor, when he jumped down. Itadori’s body ached and his fists were likely bleeding— but he was determined.
So determined, too determined in his haste that he made a vital mistake.
Fushiguro had always been the smartest of the trio, that was a given. Anyone outside their group could tell probably from looks alone. Fushiguro was a sharp guy, calculated yet quick with it. If he wasn’t compromised, he probably would’ve pointed out their previous flaw: that resonance wouldn’t have worked before they concluded with the plan. He also would’ve made sure to keep his eyes on not only the curse, but his teammates at all times.
Because when an arm came swinging at Yuji’s face from the side he moved on instinct. His fist moving quicker than his mind or his vision, even when he caught a glimpse of those familiar, honeydew eyes. That mess of black hair he desperately wished he could run his fingers through. Fushiguro, still in the arm’s grasp.
Yuji’s eyes widened, his fist still raised, hurtling towards the dead center of his best friend’s face.
When Yuji was so sure this couldn’t have been any worse, he felt an all too familiar sensation crawling up his spine, and an intense burst of cursed energy. That familiar streak of red and black as his fist made contact.
—
“If you die again, I’ll kill you myself!” Fushiguro’s voice rang out behind him. Yuji heard rustling and a few mutters of disdain as Panda carried both Fushiguro and Maki away from the cursed spirit.
Fushiguro must be way out of it to say something that Yuji-Level stupid.
He turned around, chuckling lightly and stretching out his shoulder, “Guess i’d better not die, then.” With new determination, Yuji focused on the task at hand. Hanami. Disaster curse. Exorcise.
“I’m not gonna lift a finger to help you,” Todo’s voice boomed from his right. He stepped past Yuji onto the shore. “You know that, right Itadori?”
“Not until you land a black flash.”
“If you can’t land a black flash,” Yuji listened intently,. “Then i’ll just watch you die.”
—
Yuji had landed eight consecutive black flashes against Hanami that day, something he proudly stands by. Feeling that rush of cursed energy one after another was probably one of the most impressive things Yuji had ever done. However, right now, he felt very, very, far from impressive.
The spasms of black and red ignited his vision, as if a firework was enveloped in his fist and all it needed to blow was skin on skin. A fist to a face.
A large crack sounded.
Yuji was going to make Todo pay for ever teaching him black flash.
Yuji cursed loudly, watching helplessly as the arm erupted from the punch, being flung fiercely into the wall. Large cracks sprung out from under the concrete, pieces tumbling out of place onto the ground. A few fractures made their way up to the ceiling, causing a small section of it to cave in. Chips of crystal glass rained down on the mess of rubble and corpses.
The entire warehouse shook from the impact, enough for Yuji to loose his footing on the arm he had been climbing on. As he fell with a yelp he took in the sight of the arm that had Fushiguro in its clutches, most of it a mess of gore and blood on the wall, but some crushed under the rubble. Fushiguro might be under that rubble.
Yuji had to fight off the arms taking opportunity of his disadvantage midair, which proved difficult. He awkwardly landed on top of one, kicking it with a burst of cursed energy to quicken his descent. Eventually he landed on his feet, albeit clumsily, and without second thought Yuji raced to the rubble. He could’ve swore he heard Kugisaki say something in the back, but the incoherent screeching of the curse blocked her voice off.
“Keep fighting off the curse the best you can, Kugisaki!” He really, really hoped she could hear him shouting, “I’m going to retrieve Fushiguro and then we’re getting the hell out of here!”
Yuji’s heart raced and he thought desperately. Please, Fushiguro, be okay.
He was certain even a black flash wouldn’t be enough to kill Fushiguro, on a normal day. However he had definitely been weakened by the curse and Kuro was nowhere in sight. Meaning Fushiguro dispelled the shikigami or it was destroyed. He hoped for his friend’s sake it wasn’t the latter.
Yuji punched through multiple rocks, blood dripping down his hands as his skin was torn at the knuckles, uncaring of the mess or any noise he was making. He was putting all his trust into Kugisaki to fend for herself, which probably wasn’t a good idea, but Yuji is running off pure adrenaline right now.
With a final heave, a large mound of arbitrary rocks were out of his way and he found the remaining mangled heap of the corpse arm. Yuji’s breath quickened and he swore he could feel his heartbeat in his throat, that or he was going to throw up out of fear.
Just as he caught sight of familiar navy-black tufts.
He reached forward, grasping at whatever he could get ahold of in the dark mess of rubble and guts until he felt their uniform fabric graze his fingers. Yuji frustratingly pushed rocks and plywood out of his way, grabbing onto the material while shouting aimlessly, “Fushiguro—! Fushiguro are you—?” What he finally pulled forward was an unsightly mess. But it was him.
Yuji flinched as a deafening wail filled the warehouse, and a crash sounded opposite of where they were situated. When he focused his gaze on the other boy’s face, head now situated in Yuji’s lap, he froze. Fushiguro’s face was, to put it simply, a mess of blood and grime. Yuji could hardly distinct where his eyes or nose were. The warm, crimson liquid beginning to spill onto his hands quickly brought him back to reality.
I did this. My own damn black flash. Yuji cursed inwardly, a pool of guilt forming in the coldest depths of his stomach. Please don’t die, Megumi.
The thought made his heart stutter and Yuji quickly started wiping most of the blood of with his sleeve, hands shaking unhelpfully. “Shit— Shit Fushiguro can you talk? Can you hear me?” Yuji’s voice shook as he pawed at the other’s neck, feeling around until he found the pulse point, something Shoko taught him.
You can’t die.
When he found purchase he tensed up. Waiting to feel the thrum of his pulse.
Ba-bump. Bump. Ba-bump.
There it was. Faint, but present.
Yuji let out a strangled noise of relief. Something twisted between a laugh and a cry of relief. He quickly clutched the boy closer to his chest. That’s when he noticed it. And once more had Yuji thought his heart stopped beating. Along the left side of Fushiguro’s face— No, his entire torso as well— Were pieces of the corpse that had grotesquely attached to his body while in the curse’s grasp. It was unpleasant and bloody— Yuji felt another wave of red, hot regret and shame crawl up his spine. Regret at not moving faster. Ashamed that it was Fushiguro in this predicament— and not him.
Yuji’s shoulder’s untensed the slightest bit at his next realization, the few seconds of realization before impact had lessened the blow on Fushiguro and directed it to the corpses attached to him. Hell, he’ll take any win he can get.
Yuji focused back to the situation on hand. Kugisaki. Without much thought he lifted Fushiguro’s limp body into his arms. He placed one arm under Fushiguro’s knees, the other enveloping the boy’s back and clutching him to his chest firmly. He felt the warmth of blood quickly spill out and stick to his jacket, quickly seeping through to his hoodie.
Yuji raced out of the rubble, clinging to Fushiguro like a lifeline. He instantly caught sight of Kugisaki just as she was struck in the arm. Her hammer skid across the ground. “Kugisaki! We need to go now!” Yuji barely kept his voice from cracking as he raced towards the exit.
A few arms wildly swung at his direction but Yuji was quick enough to dodge, running to leap through a broken window to get outside. Yuji knew Kugisaki would be trailing behind, even while carrying a person Yuji’s speed is near unmatched. However his mind was zeroed in on saving Fushiguro. Kugisaki will have to catch up herself.
With his heart thrumming wildly in his chest, Yuji skid to a stop at the edge of the road, now a good distance from the wreckage. It had gotten darker out, the moonlight now fainter as it illuminated the roads, but the streetlights provided more than enough. Thankfully nobody should be outside this time of night to interfere. Yuji carefully laid Fushiguro on the sidewalk, noticing the absurd amount of blood that streamed in the ground’s crevices.
Yuji bit the inside of his cheek. Under the streetlamp his wounds were significantly worse. Likely the worse state he’d ever seen his friend in.
And it’s all my fault, damnit.
Yuji quickly realized there was no time to sulk. He made haste in tearing his own sleeve apart, using the makeshift pieces to clear away the blood and dirt. Kugisaki should have better materials in her bags, but this’ll do for now.
Yuji, however, had no clue on what to do about the pieces of foreign flesh clinging to his friend’s body. They didn’t look like tumors, exactly, and the small bloody pieces blended in with the other injuries on Fushiguro’s face.
He barely registered the sound of footsteps behind him until Kugisaki started speaking.
“I seriously can’t believe you’d leave me back there to fend for myself.” She snapped, although her words didn’t have the usual bite to them. “Damn. He looks like shit.”
Yuji clenched his fists, tearing his gaze away from Fushiguro’s mangled face to meet Kugisaki’s eyes.
Before he got a chance to respond Kugisaki spoke up again. “I called Ijichi. He’ll… He’ll be here soon.” Her voice sounded small. “I saw that black flash.”
Yuji averted his gaze, now to the sky which was a dark blue, closer to black. It reminded him of Fushiguro’s hair.
“Did you do that to him?” Kugisaki spoke softly, for once, “If you did, y’know it’s not your fault. That curse… I think it was a special grade or a grade 1. Not what we were told.”
Yuji tasted metal, he’d accidentally bitten his tongue.
After a few seconds of silence, Kugisaki sighed and sat shoulder to shoulder with him on the sidewalk. Yuji felt himself tense at the contact, but he didn’t move away. Neither of them said anything more for a while, instead decided to clean up as much blood as possible.
When his face came into view through the blood, Yuji had to force himself to keep looking. The once gorgeous arch that made up his nose was shattered, in fact there were large splotches of bruising starting from the center of his face and nose, spiraling outwards. Even after their attempts to clean it up, the blood seemed to ooze out endlessly. Fushiguro’s right eye was leaking blood from a gash underneath the socket. The upper bow of his lip was busted and equally bruised as his face, leaking blood. Yuji couldn’t look any longer.
Tearing his gaze from Fushiguro, Yuji took this time to look at Kugisaki’s wounds as well. Her left calf had a large gash down the side, and there were bruises dotting her pale face. Based off the blood coating her uniform there’s likely a few more minor injuries hidden from view. Yuji felt a new wave of guilt and shame wash over himself. His own wounds— Minimal is an understatement for them. Minor bruising and cutting was, frankly, the worst of it. All because Fushiguro had saved him, he probably hadn’t even meant for either of them caught. The curse was just too quick.
Yuji watched Kugisaki’s hands drop from Fushiguro’s hair, where she had attempted to get some of the knots and dried blood out. “I know that look. Stop overthinking things.” He felt a light jab in his shoulder. “I’m serious. Fushiguro is gonna be pissed if he finds out you were moping around blaming yourself.”
“I know.”