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Sixteen Years Prior…
“Oh, look at you…”
Black tipped claws traced featherlight along delicate skin as he leaned in closer to the baby silently sleeping in the crib. Soft downy pink hair covered the babe’s head, with plump round cheeks that made him want to pinch the child awake. So fragile, so weak, so vulnerable…
The boy was so cute that he could just eat him—
The clawed hand pulled away. “Not yet…” he murmured softly. “You're not my Yuuji just yet…”
In a blink, the baby was once more alone, with nothing but moonlight watching him.
Present Day…
This wasn’t the way Yuuji wanted to die.
The finger flew up into the air, spiraling high above his head. Distantly, he could hear Fushiguro shouting at him, telling him not to be stupid, to not do it, but he didn’t really have a choice, did he? This curse already had him in its teeth, and if he did nothing, the curse would be going after Fushiguro next, his Senpais after.
He refused to let that happen, not when he had an option left.
So, it was eat or be eaten.
As the finger descended back down towards him, his arms straining against the curse’s hold, his jaw opened wide while he inwardly prayed that this finger did what Fushiguro said it would. And all he could think of the entire time was, Sorry I couldn’t fulfill your last wish, Gramps…
The finger touched his lips.
And in an instant, it was snatched away.
He blinked, trying to process what had just happened. “…huh?” Head whipping around and seeing the finger nowhere in sight, he shouted, “What?! Where did it go?”
A disjointed laugh floated through the air, seeming to echo and bounce all around, growing in volume as a pressure seemed to settle on his shoulders. Yuuji made eye contact with Fushiguro for just a moment, seeing that his—acquaintance? Friend?—seemed just as confused as him. But before he could say anything, a look of sheer horror spread across Fushiguro’s face, reaching out uselessly while shouting, “Itadori, behind—!”
And all other words were lost as Yuuji felt himself being yanked backwards out of the curse’s mouth by an unbreakable grip, breath knocked from his lungs. He had barely processed the fact that he had been so easily snatched before he found himself flying up, up into the air, wind whipping around him as he remained frozen.
And that demented fucking giggle, no longer echoing, resting just at the shell of his ear. Warm breath and tightening arms around his waist, a bruising grip that made him feel like he might be snapped in half, and all while Yuuji’s head was spinning.
“Now, now, Yuuji-kun…while I find your rashness cute…” Fingers gripped his chin, roughly turning his face to look at the figure behind him, the figure holding him high up in the air, leaving Fushiguro and the curse just as distant specs far below. “I will not be tolerating that pathetic parasite being inside of you this time around…”
Cheeks still being roughly squished by claw tipped fingers, all Yuuji could dumbly think to reply was, “Uh…okay?”
He was met with a fanged grin from the…man? Or pseudo-man, probably a curse if Yuuji were to take into account the six crystalline blue eyes staring unblinkingly back at him, with snow white hair and skin so pale it might as well be translucent, seeming to glow pearlescent in the moonlight. Whoever this was, they were inhumanly beautiful in a way, but definitely leaning towards a version of beauty that screamed deadly.
The grip on his cheeks loosened. “Such a good boy, my Yuuji…”
His cheeks grew warm. “Um…” God, his head was spinning, and this dude was being creepy as hell. He just wanted to get back to Fushiguro—
Fushiguro.
Yuuji started trying to flail in this curse’s grip. “Fushiguro!” Craning his head down as best he can to try in vain to see the injured Fushiguro far below, the original curse advancing on him. “We need to save my Senpais and Fushiguro!”
The fingers tightened once more. “Who cares,” this human-like curse drawled, forcing Yuuji to look at him once more. The crystalline blue eyes had begun to shift and move, flickering as they narrowed in clear irritation. “You barely know him at this point in time. You don’t need him, you have me.”
Yuuji still pulled against his grip, uncaring of how the claws started to prick into his cheeks. “I don’t care! He’s a good person! I have to save him!”
”You would die fighting that thing.”
”But I can’t do nothing!” Yuuji snapped back. “I have to try!”
A frustrated sneer twisted the curse’s face, and oh yeah, Yuuji was right to think that this curse’s beauty seemed deadly. But before he could linger on the fact that he had stupidly pissed off the thing that could drop him from a certainly deadly height, the curse’s face twisted back into a pleased smile. The grin paired with leering eyes was certainly setting Yuuji on edge, however.
”I could save him for you…” the curse cooed, fingers twisting to caress Yuuji’s cheek, inhuman blue eyes glowing impossibly brighter.
Despite the danger prickling along his senses, Yuuji could not help but perk up. “Really?”
”But I would need something in return.”
The tone really should have set off more alarm bells in Yuuji’s head, but he was desperate. “What do you want?”
The claws began to trace along his jaw. ”I’ll do whatever you want, follow whatever order you give, be your weapon to wield, a tool to carve the world into whatever you desire…” The hand drifted to his neck, wrapping firmly around his throat. “And all I ask in return is that you vow to be mine.” The curse’s eyes flashed. “Both in body and soul. We shall never be separated.”
Most would take a pause at this. Would think the demands were too high, that the ask insane to even consider.
But just minutes ago, he had been willing to swallow a thousand year old cursed finger to save a guy he just met.
Yuuji didn’t even hesitate.
”Deal!” Smiling widely, he declared, “Now save them! Save my Senpais and Fushiguro!”
The pressure from before settled along Yuuji’s shoulders, pressing down, down, down until it felt like his very soul was being crushed. “So trusting, so naive…” As Yuuji let out a choked out gasp, his body growing rigid in the curse’s hold, said curse’s grin grew impossibly wide, tipping over into feral as he leaned in, his face just in front of Yuuji’s own. “And this is why you are my favorite, Itadori Yuuji.”
And then the curse let him go.
Megumi felt like he was going to puke as the pressure left as quickly as it came.
He needed to move, to get up, to decide what shikigami would be best to summon, but all he could think about was a mantra of he’s dead he’s dead he’s fucking dead playing on a loop in his head. While he hadn’t known Itadori Yuuji for even an hour, it took little time to know that he was a good person. Stupid and headstrong and incapable of thinking of his own damn safety—
But he was wholly and undeniably good.
And now, he was likely dead or dying to whatever that thing was.
But he didn’t even have time to mourn what was lost or consider the new threat that ripped Yuuji—and likely Sukuna’s finger—away, when the second grade curse was still in front of him. It flailed about wildly, clearly upset that its prey had been stolen from its grasp, until it finally settled back on him.
”Shit.”
Clutching his bruised—or likely, fractured—ribs, he forced himself to his feet, refusing to just lay down and die—
Yuuji’s face flashed into his head, the easy smile he had given Megumi when he declared that he wanted to save people, to give them natural deaths—
Who was he kidding?
Lifting his hands, fingers twisting into fists as he held them out in front of him, he murmured, “Sorry, Tsumiki…I hope you can forgive me.”
The curse roared, rearing back and preparing to strike.
Megumi smiled. “This might not be a natural death, Itadori…but it will sure as hell be a memorable one.“ Finally, the curse began to charge forward as he shouted out, “With this treasure, I summon—!”
The pressure was back.
His words were cut off as a blast of purple, blinding light erupted from the sky and into the curse just paces in front of him. Light, then delayed sound following after, like a lightning strike and thunder, and all he could do was shut his eyes as the blast seemed to blind him even through his eyelids, even through his hands that he futilely used to cover his face. The power rippled all around him, surely killing him in the crossfire, and he couldn’t help but be annoyed that he wasn’t going out on his own terms, but as fucking collateral.
Concrete crumpled beneath him, the school being no match for the pure power radiating from the attack, and while it felt like the world was crumbling for ages, the power virtually evaporated within less than a minute, leaving nothing but collapsing rubble and massive amounts of lingering cursed energy in the aftermath. It wasn’t until the blast was over, his eyes still burning from the light, that he realized that he never felt the sensation of falling.
And he realized exactly who’s over the top power could be behind something like this.
”Damn it, Gojo,“ he rasped out, ears still ringing as he tried not to shift on the platform of infinity. “You couldn’t have gotten here five damn minutes earlier—“
”Dude, what the hell?! You were supposed to save Fushiguro and my Senpais, not nuke them!“
”Calm down, Yuuji-kun! Look, look, he’s fine! The others are safe below! Have faith in me, eh?”
Megumi’s eyes snapped open, blinking the spots in his vision away as the ringing melted away to two familiar voices arguing, figures descending from the sky.
”What do you—Fushiguro!” Yuuji’s voice called out, and Megumi could make out an arm waving wildly at him. “Fushiguro! You're okay! And—wait, are you floating?! How?”
He scowled. “Look at yourself, idiot. And to the idiot holding you, what the fuck where you thinking, Gojo—” Megumi’s gaze had shifted to the man holding Yuuji, ready to chew him out for the excessive display…only to choke on air as realized exactly who was holding Yuuji. Or more specifically—
“Is that anyway to speak to your Sensei, Megumi?~”
Who exactly they were not.
Megumi stared in horror, trying to process what he was seeing. “You aren’t Gojo.”
Two arms wrapped firmly around a confused Yuuji’s waist, the imposter, clad in more traditional attire than Gojo usually wore and bearing clearly inhuman features, shrugged. “Eh, I am, and I am not. I exist, yet I do not exist yet. Are you Gojo Satoru because you are the strongest, or are you the strongest because you are Gojo Satoru?” Face shifting into a wide, unnatural grin, fangs glinting in the low light, he practically cooed, “But I am far stronger than any Gojo Satoru, so how could that pathetic failure ever compare?”
Shifting awkwardly in the imposter’s arms, fingers gripping tightly at the long white sleeves, Yuuji murmured, “Dude, what are you talking about? Who is this Gojo guy?”
”Ah, that would be me!”
Megumi’s head snapped over his shoulder, seeing Gojo, his Gojo, standing on presumably his own infinity just a few feet behind him, several bags hanging off his arm. Already moving to pull off his mask, a show of seriousness that set Megumi’s already frazzled nerves more on edge, Gojo chirped, “Wow, Megumi, you’ve certainly gotten yourself in quite the mess—“
”Good to see you’ve finally shown up!” the imposter chirped back in a sharper tone. “Now, I don’t have to do your work for you!”
Before anyone could ask what he meant, Megumi felt infinity disappear beneath him. He let out a startled shout as he started to fall, only to be snatched by his Gojo near immediately, who had now materialized next to him. His heart was thudding in his chest once more as Gojo tucked him in close, arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Mask discarded and eyes in full view as Megumi looked up at him, Gojo murmured, “Care to give me the rundown?“
”Hey, what the hell, asshole!” Yuuji shouted at the imposter, wiggling in his hold. “I told you not to hurt Fushiguro—!”
”No, no, no!” came the cheerful admonishment, one arm letting go of the hold on Yuuji to pinch his cheek and pull in a teasing way, not caring about the teen’s protests. “You said to save him and those others, and I did! My promise has been fulfilled!” His cheerful smile shifted into something more barbed as his gaze turned to Gojo. “The failure can see to their well being from this point on.”
He could feel Gojo shift beside him. “Failure? Me?”
Head tilting slightly, the imposter shot back, “Do you think I would exist otherwise?”
Gojo’s grip on Megumi tightened.
”Who even are you?” Yuuji asked incredulously, looking between the two. “You look like twins—“
”As if,” both reflexively replied only to scowl at the other.
Yuuji looked disbelieving as he drawled, “Sure…”
Gritting his teeth, Megumi finally called out, “Be careful, Itadori. That’s a curse!”
”Yeah, I figured that with the—“ Not knowing how to word it, Yuuji just gestured to the imposter’s face. Promptly, the imposter dropped his chin into the once more confused Yuuji’s hand, giving him a cheeky grin. “Why are you so weird?” Yuuji asked, completely disregarding the danger he was in.
”Aw, Yuuji-kun! You wound me so!” Holding Yuuji even more tightly, he leaned in towards Yuuji’s ear to say something that even Megumi could not hear, but based on the look on the imposter’s face and the flush on Yuuji’s cheeks, it was not exactly appropriate.
Megumi grimaced. “Gojo, do something.”
”Now, now, Megumi, let’s not be rash,” Gojo chided. “I feel like you want this to end with your little friend not being hurt, am I right?”
Now this had the imposter’s attention. Shooting a sneer towards Gojo, the imposter snapped, “As if you could be trusted with Yuuji’s well being, failure.”
”You keep calling me that,” Gojo countered. “But not explaining anything—“
”What’s to explain?” he scoffed, cursed energy beginning to ripple around him. “You failed, Yuuji spent his dying breath wishing for your return, for you to save them, and now here I am, born to fix your messes. Only, I have no intentions of doing so.” Shifting his head to press his cheek against Yuuji’s, he crooned, “I have what I want, and have no need to do anymore. The reason for my existence is mine, free of that pathetic parasite, and you can fail over and over and over again. Let the world burn for all I care.”
”Uh, I care!” Yuuji chimed in, causing the imposter to frown, still squished against his cheek. “I kind of live in that world—“
”I will keep you safe,” the imposter replied, waving off Yuuji’s concerns.
”—and I don’t exactly want to see anyone else hurt!” Yuuji continued.
”But you don’t need anyone else!” the imposter whined, dropping his face to bury it in Yuuji’s shoulder. “You have me. There is no one better—“
”I mean, have you seen Jennifer Lawrence?”
”…Jennifer Lawrence?!”
”I have a concussion,” Megumi declared, watching as the powerful special grade curse indignantly squawked about his superiority over the American actress. “That or this is a fever dream as I bleed out.”
”No, no. This is very real Megumi,” Gojo replied while Yuuji could be heard shouting, “What do you mean you don’t like her?! It’s Jennifer Lawrence!”
What in the hell had his life become?
Glancing up at Gojo, Megumi bluntly stated, “You’re being pretty calm about this, considering what this thing is.”
Gojo simply shrugged. “Eh, I’m sure we will figure this out. Afterall, I’m not really surprised considering I already knew about his existence.”
“…what?”
Grinning widely as he watched Yuuji proceed to info dump an ungodly amount of facts about Jennifer Lawrence on the now pouting curse, he elaborated. “Yeah, he popped up and traumatized the hell out of Suguru when we were teens before vanishing without a trace.”
“…is he the reason why—“
“Let’s just leave that as a partial reason and not look any further into it. Now then!” Clapping his hands together to garner the bickering pair’s attention, Gojo declared, “Why don’t we continue explanations on the ground and figure out the best way to proceed? Preferably away from the rapidly approaching fire trucks and police, hmm?”
The imposter scowled, beginning to call out what sounded like a denial, only for Yuuji to reply, “Sounds good to me!” A clawed hand swiftly flicked him in the head. “Ouch! What was that for—“
“Stop trusting that failure.”
“But I trust Fushiguro, and he seems to respect this Gojo guy—“
“I have never respected this man in my life,” Megumi flatly responded, sounding more out of reflex than anything. “But he sometimes knows what he’s doing.”
“Aw, Megumi! That almost sounded like a compliment!”
“Please stop talking.”
Yuuji gave them a confused look before shaking his head and continuing. “And besides, I have more reason to trust him than you.”
The imposter gave him an offended look. “But I literally saved Fushiguro like you asked!”
“But you weren’t going to do it originally!”
“But I still did it!”
“Yeah, in exchange for that weird promise—“
“In exchange for what?” Megumi interjected, panic starting to grip him. Now Yuuji was cringing as if realizing he forgot to mention something important, all the while the imposter was grinning ear to ear with a very pleased expression. “Itadori…what did you do?”
”It’s not a big deal,” Yuuji started, clearly dodging the meat of the issue as the curse curled further around him, hunched over Yuuji’s shorter form while tucking his face into the crook of Yuuji’s neck. “He just asked for a weird promise in order to save you and my Senpais—“
”Itadori,” Megumi practically begged, unconsciously trying to move forward only for Gojo to hold him in place on infinity. “What did you do?”
”I—“
”He made a binding vow with me,” the imposter preened, not even bothering to look at them as he spoke. Tilting his face further into Yuuji’s neck, much to the teen’s obvious discomfort, possessive cursed energy practically dripped off of him, pooling around the pair’s feet, as if he were growing excited at his words. “I would become his weapon, his tool, and in exchange, he would be mine.”
Horror settled in Megumi’s gut as what Yuuji had done washed over him. Itadori Yuuji, a teen he barely knew but already knew to be someone wholly and purely good, tied to something like…this. Something corrupted and twisted and beyond reasoning.
Something possibly more powerful than even Gojo could fight, if it truly was born from him.
His fists tightened at his sides, wanting nothing more than to intervene. To spare Yuuji from this fate. Even death would be kinder. But as if reading his thoughts, he was met with six flashing blue irises that glowed in the lowlight, so horribly inhuman. “Both in body and soul. Not even death could separate us.” Giggling with an almost unhinged quality to his tone, he cooed, “Mine, mine, mine, and no one else can touch him or take him away—!“
”Wait, so if you agreed to be my tool, that means I can order you around, right?”
The imposter pulled away at this, standing once more at his towering height and looking down at Yuuji in his arms. Squinting suspiciously at the teen, he hesitantly began, “Yes…” Suddenly grinning impishly, he leaned over, his face less than an inch in front of Yuuji’s own, not allowing the teen to pull away. “Why? Do you have desires you wish of me?”
”Well,” Yuuji began, trying to look unbothered while doing his best to lean back. “Maybe stop trying to provoke Fushiguro and Gojo-san?” The imposter made a disgruntled sound, but Yuuji cut him off. “And those sirens are getting really close—let’s go talk somewhere else?Preferably on the ground where you can’t drop me—“
”I’m not going to drop you!” came the indignant reply.
”Dude, you already dropped me after our deal—“
”But I immediately caught you!”
”But you still dropped me! I thought I was going to die!”
”I’m not going to let you die, especially from something that stupid—“
”Being dropped from hundreds of feet in the air is a valid concern!”
”This is going to be interesting,” Gojo commented, watching the pair bicker like a tennis match.
”Interesting is one way to put it,” Megumi replied in mild discontent as Yuuji wildly began to gesture while yelling about how it was not rational to have serious conversations floating in air, all while the imposter tried explaining the physics of why they were not technically floating.
Gojo began to chuckle as if thinking of a particularly funny joke. “If what they said is true, Yuuji-kun might be shaping up to be another Yuuta, only somehow worse. The higher ups sure are going to be pissed.” Nudging Megumi, Gojo asked, “You seem pretty attached to this kid. If given the choice, would you want to save him?”
He was silent for a beat, before resolutely nodding. “Itadori Yuuji doesn’t deserve to die, or to suffer. So long as he can control the curse and it listens…I think he should be given the chance.”
”Even with the risks?”
Megumi gave him a side eye glance. “Since when have you ever cared about risks so long as you were amused?”
Gojo grinned. “Touché.”
Distantly, he could hear Yuuji shouting, “Why am I even listening to the opinion of someone who doesn’t like Jennifer Lawrence?!”
“Yuuji-kun! Don’t be mean to me! What happened to the Yuuji-kun who idolized me?!”
”I don’t even know you?!”
Below them, police cars had begun to arrive, and vaguely Megumi wondered if he would rather take the risk of being charged with domestic terrorism or listen to these two bicker for another five minutes.
It was going to be a long night.
Gojo had been mentally preparing himself to meet this curse for over a decade, ever since he came down from that death high to find a traumatized Suguru, rambling nonsense about a missing Riko, Toji nothing but a splatter on the concrete a few dozen feet away. He always knew this curse would be a threat, one that would likely be beyond his capabilities. Countless possible scenarios and encounters, almost all of which would end in a very destructive manner, likely with a body count.
He could easily say that none of his scenarios could have prepared him for this outcome.
“Let’s go on vacation!” the curse excitedly declared to the teen still firmly wrapped in its grip. Now that they were on the ground, Gojo could tell more easily how the curse was bigger than himself, practically engulfing Yuuji as it curled around him from behind in a possessive fashion at a height that left even himself having to crane his neck up. Fingers which the skin bled from pale white and translucent into void black tipped claws as if dipping them in ink seemed fond of gripping the teen’s face and forcing him to look at it. “I can have us at the beach in an instant—“
“You promised that we would talk things out with Fushiguro and this Gojo guy,” Yuuji interrupted, completely unbothered by the threat holding onto him.
The curse’s face twisted into a pout. “Do we have to?” Leaning further forward, it pressed its cheek against Yuuji’s, proceeding to rub against the teen like an attention demanding cat. “I just want time with Yuuji-kun…”
“Yeah, we definitely do need to talk,” Yuuji insisted, trying and failing to lean away from the curse’s affection. “Besides, I’m not going on vacation with you. I don’t even know your name!”
“Oh that’s easy,” the curse chirped. “I don’t have one!” After a pause, it turned a narrowed six eyed stare on Gojo. “Well, technically I have one, but I would rather not share with the failure.”
Letting out a sharp grin, Gojo chimed in, “And I would rather not share my name either.”
With a contemplative frown, Yuuji remarked, “Well, you need a name…” Looking at Gojo, Yuuji asked, “You said your name was Gojo Satoru, right?”
With a dramatic flourish, Gojo bowed at the teen. ”At your service, Yuuji-kun!”
The curse proceeded to hiss at him.
He really is like a cat…a feral one, at least. Then, Gojo amended, A feral cat who has one favorite human.
Twisting in the curse’s hold, Yuuji firmly poked its cheek. “Stop that!” Then, with a bright smile he asked, “How about I call you Sato-kun?”
Oh.
Oh dear.
The kid named it.
He could see the gleeful look in the curse’s six eyes, how its aura began to swirl around it. “Sato, Sato…” An almost pleased rumble escaped it, doing nothing to help the cat comparisons. “Sato-kun is perfect, Yuuji-kun!”
”I am not,” Megumi interjected firmly. “Calling a special grade curse Sato-kun.” The name was spat out distastefully, the teen still sulking over the entire situation at Gojo’s side. Which Gojo could understand to a degree, considering Megumi’s little friend had yet to wiggle out of the curse’s demanding grip.
The curse, or Sato-kun, turned an overly wide smile on Megumi. “Of course not! That honor just belongs to dear Yuuji-kun…” Eyes narrowing haughtily, head tilting up in a way to turn its eyes down on Megumi and Gojo, it demanded, “You shall refer to me as Sato-sama.”
”Over my dead body.”
”Is that a request?”
Yuuji immediately began smacking Sato’s arm. “Oi! No threatening them!”
”It was just a harmless question!”
”Yeah, I don’t believe you—“
Sharply clapping his hands together, drawing the attention of the pair, Gojo declared, “Let’s stay on topic you two! Now then…” Tucking his hands casually in his pockets and leaning forward, he asked, “What exactly are your intentions moving forward, Sato?”
The curse clearly looked irritated with Gojo addressing him so casually, but Gojo couldn’t find it within himself to care. It also refused to reply till Yuuji pointedly poked the curse and gave it a look. With a dramatic sigh and talking as if addressing someone stupid, Sato drawled, “Obviously, I intend to care for my Yuuji-kun and enjoy my time with him…” It’s hand began to absently pet Yuuji’s head despite the disgruntled look on the teen’s face. “I won’t let him suffer as you did.”
“Let me suffer?” Yuuji asked, head tilting in a frankly adorable manner. “You keep talking as if you’re from the future.”
The fanged Cheshire grin that spread across Sato’s face tinged on unhinged, the demented giggle slipping out not helping at all. “Oh Yuuji-kun…” it purred, patting Yuuji’s cheek condescendingly. “You’re lucky you’re cute…”
“Oi! What is that supposed to mean?!”
“Itadori is still new to all of this,” Megumi argued for his friend’s defense—and isn’t that something to process. Meeting a curse version of himself and Megumi finding a friend all in the same night. And who said that miracles don’t happen? “Neither of you have explained anything to him, and I barely was able to give a crash course on curses to him before we were chasing after Sukuna’s finger.”
Yuuji perked up. “Oh yeah, that thing!” Smacking Sato’s shoulder behind him, he said, “Give that to Fushiguro!”
“What makes you think I have it?”
Yuuji squinted at the curse. “Are you trying to say someone else got it before you?”
Sato let out a snort. “Fine, fine.” He held up a hand, snapping clawed fingers only for the finger in question to appear in his palm. “I guess I can give it to Megumi-kun so long as you aren’t consuming it—“
“Please do not refer to me so familiarly.”
Snickering, Sato didn’t bother to reply to Megumi before tossing the finger at him. “Try to take care of these. There are people after them…and they are very intent on using Yuuji as the parasite’s vessel.”
Megumi caught the finger with a disgruntled look on his face while Gojo tapped his chin in contemplation. “So, Yuuji-kun has potential as a vessel?”
”More than potential,” Sato snipped back. “Yuuji-kun was made to be Sukuna’s vessel…and even moreso, he has the strength to suppress Sukuna even. The intent was for Yuuji to swallow all the fingers and execute him after to rid the world of Sukuna once and for all but well…plans change.” Clawed fingers were once more petting Yuuji’s head as the curse cooed, “Yuuji’s body can meld with and absorb cursed energy introduced so easily…he could go toe to toe with special grades by the time of the final fight. My Yuuji-kun is just perfect.”
Tilting his head, Gojo asked, “And how far into the future was this final fight?”
Slitted eyes lazily tilted to Gojo. “About six months from now.”
Megumi made a choking sound while Gojo let out a low whistle. “That’s some impressive growth for a Normie…” Gojo quietly uttered to himself, appraising Yuuji carefully.
Yuuji stuck his hand in the air. “What’s this special grade thing you guys keep mentioning?”
”Well its—“
”Boring!~” Sato interrupted loudly, once more grabbing Yuuji’s face, forcefully tilting it up to look at him. “If it's still a no to a vacation, let’s watch a movie!”
Yuuji blinked. “Uh…what movie?”
Sato grinned. “All of them!”
”…is that even possible—“
”Let’s not make a personal challenge to the curse that can seemingly bend time, okay?” Gojo cut in, smiling even as the curse in question glared daggers at him.
”I’m sorry, did you say bend time?!”
Sato sighed. “Yuuji-kun, cuteness will only get you so far in life—“
”Hey! I didn’t think you guys were serious about the ‘from the future’ thing!”
Tutting, Sato drawled, “Oh Yuuji-kun, do you really think I would lie to you?…why are you looking at me with that face—“
”Can you all please focus?” Megumi snapped, and Gojo found himself squeezing the teen’s arm in warning. Seeming to not care, Megumi just turned a glare on him instead. “Figure this out!”
”I’m not a miracle worker, Megumi,” Gojo countered with a humorless laugh.
Snorting, Sato added, “Yeah, don’t have high hopes for the failure—“ Yuuji swiftly reached up to the hand holding his face and pinched the skin. “Hey! That’s not nice—“
”Stop picking fights or I’ll order you not to speak unless asked a question!”
”But—“
“No!” Yuuji snapped, his tone becoming uncharacteristically sharp compared to how it had been up until now. ”If you can’t say anything nice or at the very least civil, don’t say anything at all!”
Sato’s jaw audibly snapped shut.
Oh boy.
Tensing, Gojo carefully watched the curse, watching all the expressions rapidly flickering across its face, watching how the hands around Yuuji’s head tightened ever so slightly, the vein in its neck popping out, jaw clenching—
Then he watched as the curse released Yuuji’s head entirely, arms once more wrapped firmly around his waist and face buried into the boy’s shoulder.
Holy shit, it's pouting.
Mouth moving faster than his common sense, he found himself barking out a near hysterical laugh while blurting out, “Oh god, I wish I could take a picture! This is fucking hilarious!”
A low growl rumbled from the curse while Yuuji let out a tired sigh. “Dude, you aren’t helping.”
His hysterical laughter didn’t lessen, snickering and giggling to himself while Megumi gave him a disgusted look. Trying to cover his mouth and failing, Gojo replied, “S-Sorry, sorry, I just—“ He took a breath only for the laughter to continue. “The Strongest Curse in existence created from the Strongest Sorcerer, unable to do jack shit because a teenager threatened him with a timeout!”
Yuuji’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I wouldn’t call it a timeout—“
”That’s the same shit preschool teachers tell their students!” He crowed gleefully. “I—“ He shook his head. “Oh god, the elders are going to lose their shit—“
”You can’t tell the elders about him.”
Gojo’s laughter finally started to die, looking towards the curse that still kept its face buried in Yuuji’s shoulder. “Oh? And why is that?”
Sato’s hold tightened slightly on Yuuji. “They tried to kill him.”
Gojo waved him off. “I can easily protect—“
”They succeeded in getting him killed.”
Gojo’s brain stuttered to a halt.
”Sent him and Megumi and Nobara into the den of a special grade cursed womb and left them to die, while you were none the wiser…” Sato continued quietly. “The only reason he lived was because of Sukuna bringing him back…because that parasite tricked Yuuji into a vow when he didn’t know the risks.”
Gojo stared. “Like you did.”
Sato hummed, making no attempt to deny the claim. “I want Yuuji safe…” Clawed fingers twisted into Yuuji’s hoodie as the boy silently listened. “I refuse to see him on a morgue slab again.”
Gojo looked atYuuji. “I do not want that either.”
Sato finally looked up at Gojo. “That is the only thing I trust about you. That you would fight for the kids in your care…” A small, cruel smile flickered onto the curse’s face. “That you would die for them.”
Gojo looked back at the curse. “Why don’t we ensure that this time around, no one dies?”
”Oh, someone will die,” Sato countered, seemingly unphased by the way Yuuji’s breath hitched. “You aren’t invincible, oh Honored One…”
”And you are?”
”For him…I’m enough.”
That did little to settle the hammering in Gojo’s chest.
Oh, what hell have I stepped into?
He took a breath. He had options here. None of them good. None of them easy. And frankly... “So…you just plan to take Yuuji-kun and run?”
The one he was choosing made him a complete piece of shit.
”That’s the plan.” Sato’s grip on Yuuji’s hoodie lightened ever so slightly.
Gojo leveled a look at Yuuji as he replied to the curse. “And just leave the rest of us to suffer and die?”
Yuuji’s breath hitched just as Sato shot him with a look that could melt steel. But before the curse could argue, Yuuji spoke. “We have to help them.”
Yeah. Yeah, he was a real piece of shit, playing on a good kid’s soft heart.
Not like that was anything new.
As Yuuji closed up the box with his grandfather’s remains, he tried to think about everything that had happened over the past day.
No, actually, it hadn’t even been a full day, had it? Hard to wrap his head around, almost as hard as to process the time traveling monster curse guy just outside of the cremation room having a staring contest with the guy who he was created from in an alternate timeline...
Damn, his head hurt.
”I’m sorry.”
Yuuji looked up, eyeing Megumi where he tried to stand unobtrusively off to the side. He should have been at a hospital considering everything, but he refused to leave Yuuji's side. Though he offered to stand out in the hall while Yuuji performed funeral rites, Yuuji asked him to in with him. He found himself not minding the other teen's presence.
And part of him just did not want to be alone.
He brushed off the thought as he spoke. “For what?”
Megumi’s seemingly ever present scowl deepened. “For dragging you into this.”
Tilting his head in confusion, Yuuji replied, “I’m fairly certain you didn’t drag me anywhere.”
“I chased after you—“
“Only because I had taken the finger in the first place.”
Megumi grit his teeth. “You were attacked—“
“Because I couldn’t just sit by and let someone fight on their own.” Fingers clutching tightly around the box containing his grandfather’s remains, the only remnants he had of the man who raised him, Yuuji could not help but smile. It probably looked a bit sad, but still. “I made my choice, Fushiguro. Even if I didn’t know the consequences at the time, I wouldn’t change them.”
Megumi snapped his head away, his scowl settling into something sad as well. “You’re an idiot.”
“Maybe.” Then, chuckling to himself, he quipped, “I’m an idiot who gets to see you more often at least!”
It could have been the light, but Yuuji could have sworn that Megumi’s cheeks turned a bit pink at that as his face tucked into the high collar of his uniform.
But as the conversation lulled into a comfortable silence, Yuuji could not help but ask, “Is Sukuna really such a threat?”
Megumi once again was looking at him. “He was. Is…” His hand absently drifted to his pocket where the finger was currently stashed. “We can’t destroy him, not like this. Even Gojo who, despite being an idiot, is the Strongest, can’t put a dent in the talismans.”
“But if he was in a vessel?”
Megumi stared. “…possibly. But Sukuna would likely kill anyone he fought.”
“Yuuji-kun was made to be Sukuna’s vessel…”
Yuuji stared at the pocket. “Unless the vessel could suppress him.”
Megumi said nothing.
Honey gold eyes met forest green. “Hey Fushiguro…can I take another look at that thing?”
He’d already made several dumb choices today.
What was one more?