Archive of Our Own

Gojo Satoru, The Strongest Sorcerer, the first user of both the Limitless and the Six Eyes in the past one hundred years, teacher in charge of the first year students at Jujutsu Technical College, was known far and wide as a person who will protect and prioritize youth at the cost of going against traditions without a second thought. It's a thing that started when he himself was still a student. While a young, sixteen year old Gojo Satoru had trouble imagining why the strong must adhere to the sensibilities of the weak, as someone who'd never experienced a proper childhood, he still tried his best to give others in similar situations to his own at least a taste of it.

The world had a chance to witness this for the first time when Amanai Riko, the Star Plasma Vessel, was put in his and his best friend's care. For all that it had ended in tragedy, Gojo Satoru had, for those two days she'd spent in her care, tried his best to give her one last chance to be just a normal child.

He'd been ready to fight Master Tengen for her, too, should she decide that she did not want to merge with the ancient sorcerer and instead wanted to live out her life like a normal person. It never came to that, because her life had been cut short far too soon, and that only solidified that no one has the right to take the pleasures of youth from children.

It's why, ultimately, he'd decided to seek out his one-time killer's, Fushiguro (nee Zen'in) Toji's, son that the man had told him about on his literal last breathes, despite having been hesitant to get involved at all due to his own experiences with the man. He hadn't wanted any messy feelings getting involved, but after the jujutsu world broke his best friend, Satoru had needed a distraction, as well as a starting point for his plan to change the jujutsu world by making new sorcerers stronger, because it was not enough if he alone was strong. He'll always be The Strongest, but it is never good to let the fate of the world lean on only one, single pillar. His goal is to make many, many pillars, even if none can be as strong as him, so in the case if he should ever buckle, there will be others who can take his place by sharing the burden.

His first stop ended up being Fushiguro Megumi. (And his sister, Tsumiki, by default, because they were the cutest, most adorable package deal Satoru has ever had the pleasure to see.) He stopped his sale to the Zen'in family, took custody of him as his legal guardian, ensured financial support for him and his sister and protection from the greedy fools of his father's old family. Megumi would have to become a jujutsu sorcerer when he's old enough, but until then, he can live a relatively normal life.

Satoru made sure of it.

Megumi went to school. He could attend any extracurricular activities he wanted. Satoru bought him books, games, toys, took him to fairs and festivals, museums and plays and movies. He encouraged him to make friends, but Megumi has always been a bit of a lone wolf, until he entered Jujutsu Tech and made friends there. And as much as Satoru wished himself to be only a source of childhood wonders for Megumi - not that Megumi was ever childish, but Satoru did manage to make him have some fun, which was a win in his books - he also hd to train Megumi, to teach him how to use his Ten Shadows, how to tame new shikigami and control them. The Divine Dogs were gorgeous and friendly enough, but Satoru knew Megumi would need more than them to defend himself in the future.

(Tsumiki was much easier to please and take care of. She was friendly and open and wished to live a normal life, even if she'd learned to see curses from spending so much time around someone like Satoru, who always inevitably attracted some idiotic curse which had followed his powerful energy signature. Satoru hated how she was a victim of some fucked up curse that put her in a coma and made Megumi even gloomier than he ever was before.)

Satoru had to keep an extra sharp eye on Megumi following Tsumiki's inexplainable coma, so he started dragging him around on missions. But Megumi tried to do too much, too fast, so Satoru had to bench him when he started sleeping less than a few hours a week. He'd just knock him out and go out on his missions alone.

It's on one of those that he overheard from a fellow sorcerer that a cursed kid was going to be secretly executed because he bears a special grade vengeful spirit that he has absolutely no control over and was involved in an incident with four other boys. Curious and enraged when he found out how young one Okkotsu Yuta was, how devastatingly lonely and scared and out of place he felt, Satoru sought him out, convinced him to live and try to find the strength to seek out connections with other people before he threatened those old bastards at the top of jujutsu society into compliance.

And so he now had a second kid whose life he was responsible for, another student who needed guidance perhaps more in being a proper kid than just jujutsu training.

Okkotsu Yuta was shy, a bit socially awkward, frightened, perhaps, above all else. Anxious. And lonely. So very, very lonely. He'd instilled it upon himself, for fear of his cursed companion, one Omorito Rika, would harm any potential friends he makes if he can't keep her under control. What very few see is the fact that, for six years now, Okkotsu has managed to keep Rika from killing anyone. Yes, injuries have been sustained by those who bullied Yuta, but Rika has never once killed a person. That kind of control over such a powerful special grade cursed spirit was very rare. Not even someone with Curse Manipulation like Geto Suguru would be able to so easily control a cursed spirit of that strength like that. Okkotsu Yuta was talented and everyone refused to see it, let alone admit it.

So Satoru saw to it that Yuta learns how to control the curse he bears until Yuta is ready to release his childhood friend and sweetheart from the curse he had accidentally bestowed upon her. First, he registered him as a student at Jujutsu Tech, made sure he found companionship with his other students and together, taught the four of them how to fight and survive as future jujutsu sorcerers. The others needed a bit of time to get used to timid, 'normie' Yuta and he needed just as much time to stop being scared of them, of his own shadow shifting from the corner of his eye. They trained together, went on missions together, learned together, grew together. They developed inside jokes, they grew comfortable around each other to the point that Yuta eventually learned how to understand Inumaki Toge's particular speech patterns.

Yuta grew so fast before Satoru's eyes that it honestly warmed and astonished him at the same time. Yuta deserved his special grade status, Rika or not. He had the raw talent and the determination to keep at the top of the jujutsu food chain. Satoru kept the higher-ups in line when they tried to bark despite them having no bite. Satoru oversaw most of Yuta's missions.

It amazed him, really, how Yuta so often looked to him for guidance, even when he got used to how things are done. Megumi didn't do that. Megumi wanted to prove that he can be independent and strong on his own. Satoru let him, standing to the side and interfering only if the boy asked or if he judged it was something Megumi can't handle on his own. Yuta, though, even when he had confidence in what he was doing, always made sure Gojo was observing and seemed to seek out his approval, even if it was done unconsciously. Yuta had a deep-seeded trust in him Satoru could not explain that he had had to work for years to develop with Megumi. He rewarded it with trust returned in equal measure and watched how Yuta became all the more confident in his own skills for it, growing into his special grade status within less than a year of training and studying under Satoru.

It's why it was only Yuta that Satoru could entrust a mission as important as finding the other piece of the Black Rope, the only other item in existence capable of disrupting his techniques besides the Inverted Spear of Heaven which he'd already dealt with. Yuta, in the short time that he'd been involved in their world, had come to understand intimately how important anything involving someone like Satoru is and had promised he'd find it.

To see him off at the airport - with that Miguel fellow he didn't exactly trust but Yuta could take care of himself, Rika or no Rika - was bittersweet.

As was sending Megumi off to his first missions alone not to long after.

That mission resulted in Sukuna incarnating in a compatible host, who happens to be Megumi's age and an innocent, good kid who'd only wanted to protect Megumi.

So now Satoru had yet another student whose life dangled from his fingertips. And this one, unlike the other two, he wasn't sure if he could properly protect. Itadori Yuuji had been a complete 'normie', even more so than Yuta or even Tsumiki, seeing his first time seeing a curse was the night he and Megumi almost died at the hands of a grade two curse that had had a jump on them while it was trying to absorb one of Ryoumen Sukuna's Fingers. The night ended with Itadroi being Sukuna's vessel. He had some control over Sukuna. It wasn't just that his body was immune to the poison that was Sukuna's curse energy. He was really a one in a thousand years type of talent, as no one has been able to actually house the King of Curses before, not since his defeat back in the Heian era, after hundreds of sorcerers lost their lives in the battles against him.

The higher-ups were even more set on Yuuji's execution than they ever were on Suguru's or even Yuta's, back when he still had Rika, the dubbed 'Queen of Curses' for the amount of power she possessed. Yuuji would not be able to 'dispel' Sukuna, would not be able to separate himself from the curse for the sake of his own salvation. And even if it was possible - which it wasn't, as their souls were now intertwined - the higher-ups would not want someone with that sort of talent left alive, least of all in Satoru's care.

Satoru had to threaten them again, this time going as far as releasing a fair amount of his power to be felt just to make them back off, but, in the end, all he could manage was to postpone Yuuji's execution indefinitely. He had no doubt that, should something ever happen to him, they will go after Yuuji immediately, mercilessly.

The situation was only made more complicated on Satoru's side because both he and Megumi had quickly become fond of the boy. He was actually Megumi's first ever friend, soon joined by Kugisaki Nobara. Sure, Megumi was friendly with the current second years - including Yuta, who was the only one Megumi openly respected of his senpais - and might actually be friends with Toge, but that came during them training him and Nobara for their first Good Will event. Yuuji had been Megumi's first friend. He had also been Megumi's first trully selfish wish since Satoru offered to stop his sale to the Zen'in and he was also Megumi's first taste of responsibility, because the boy felt it was because of his request that Satoru saved Yuuji's life, even if only for the time being.

The truth was that Satoru would have saved Itadori anyway. Itadori Yuuji was just so bright and innocent, he reminded Satoru an awful lot of the very first child who had ever been put in his care, the very first vessel he had been responsible for. He'd not been able to save Amanai Riko, but he had been able to save Okkotsu Yuta. Satoru planed on saving Itadori Yuuji, too, who was just as innocent, just as young, just as brave, just as bright and friendly and warm. Satoru swore to himself that he would find a way to deal with Sukuna before Yuuji's so-called inevitable execution came a knocking.

In the meantime, he slowly introduced Yuuji to the world of jujutsu.

Too slowly.

For a few hours - for far too long - Itadori Yuuji was another Amanai Riko and Satoru could do nothing but shake with rage and shame and grief. For Yuuji, a young, innocent life lost because of the higher-ups greed, narrow-mindedness, pride and cowardice. For Megumi, who far too young had to experience what it was like to lose a close friend. For Nobara, too, who had just allowed herself to welcome Yuuji into her life and heart, too. Even for himself, for he had lost a student who had relied on him and whom he had wanted to watch grow.

Then Yuuji pulled a Gojo Satoru and just ... healed and sat up, completely fine. Satoru knew it was Sukuna's doing. Satoru also knew to keep an eye out for any mischief on Sukuna's end, because there's no way Sukuna hadn't tried to get his way one way or another. Yuuji may be oblivious to it, but Satoru was not. So he kept an eye out, both for Sukuna and for Yuuji.

And he trained Yuuji, like he'd trained Megumi, like he'd trained Yuta. And while Yuuji could get a bit frustrated or somewhat annoyed with him - like Megumi - he also still looked at Satoru with the same soul-deep trust and awe as Yuta had, looking to him for guidance, hanging on to his every word when he was teaching him something even if half of it flew right over his head. Like the other two, Yuuji was also a very quick study and also seemed to do best with a hands-on approach. He was, by far, the best combatant of the three, but he lacked Yuta's sheer power or Megumi's fine control. Nothing he can't make up for with his determination and unbreakable spirit. (He'd broken once. He refused to break again. Satoru liked him all the more for it.)

It took two months of training, missions and about a week of heartbreak before Satoru deemed Yuuji ready to go back to 'the world of the living' and he watched over Yuuji as he made more friends - more allies who will stand by him when those fools come to try and execute him, whol will follow Satoru's lead when he stands between them and Yuuji and condemn them for their traditionalist and conservative ways, for dooming a child whose only sin is wanting to help others and ignorance in what one action had set into motion - as he became stronger, as he learned one more thing that will help him stay alive for even one day longer. He watched as Yuuji learned to take off the rose-colored glasses and look at the world of jujutsu for what it was, as he lost naivety to the way others can hurt him.

Megumi had never had a chance at that naivety. He couldn't have, given who his father was, what his life must have been like before Satoru stepped in. (He remembered a small apartment just barely kept together, clean and warm enough for two kids who should have never been left to try to fend for themselves in this cold, cruel world, curses or no curses.)

Yuta had also not had a chance to linger in such naivety for long. He knew love and loss and grief and fear for almost as many years as he was alive. Loneliness and despaire and guilt were as much his companions as Rika was. (He remembered a candle-lit room covered in suppression seals and talismans and a twisted knife and a lack of light and will to go on in far too young eyes.)

In a way, all three of his most notable students were similar while aslo being so completely different that Satoru had to adjust to them, especially when he dealt with one right after the other. He'd train with Yuuji in the morning, usually have lunch with him and then he'd help Megumi's hand to hand combat skills in the afternoon. After dinner with his charge, he'd call Yuta to check on him and spend at least an hour on the phone or in a video call with Yuta until Miguel got tired of hearing his voice and Yuta had to hang up with many apologies, promises to hear from him again soon with any news or just an update on how he's doing and even more goodbyes and goodnights and apologies for keeping him up that late anyway. Then, in the morning, he'd repeat the previous day. He actually feared getting a whiplash the first day of this new 'arrangement'. Yuuji was sunny and loud and outgoing. Megumi is a bit gloomy by nature, quiet and adorably grumpy but not unwelcoming. Yuta was quiet and reserved but sunny and slowly gaining confidence. He'll never be Yuuji level of sunniness but he'd surpassed Nobara and Toge.

They were so different and yet so similar. Their lives had, or still do, depend on Satoru and it is a big, heavy responsibility he tries his best to deal with and not freak out over.

Gojo Satoru, the bearer of the Six Eyes and Limitless, was not meant to be a caregiver or a teacher. He knew where he lacked as both.

He was meant to be a weapon of mass destruction to be used against the curses and curse users and any other threat that endangered the jujutsu world. He knew he did that flawlessly.

And yet, these three students, above all other kids he'd ever interacted with, saw him as just a man who was kind enough to help them when no one else could or would.

They had a special place in his heart.

And it was obvious.

00000

"What's with all the excitement?" Nobara asked some days after she and her two classmates had exorcised three special grade curses all on their own, receiving various injuries that were still in various states of healing. Apparently, even reversed curse technique can only do so much and Ieiri Shoko had been pissed enough with them all nearly dying and ending up on the table in her morgue that she refused to heal their smaller cuts and bruises so they can learn their lesson through discomfort and unconventional but not deadly pain.

"Excitement?" Echoed their resident ancient curse vessel, Yuuji tilting his head in confusion.

"Yeah. Gojo-sensei seemed to be in a good mood this morning when I bumped into him in the common room," the girl continued, taking a sip of her canned iced tea.

"Satoru is always in a good mood," countered Panda disinterestedly. Toge nodded beside him in agreement.

"No, like, not one of his obnoxiously good moods, but in an actual good mood. Like, there was this small smile on his face that actually had my heart skipping a beat. I nearly hurled afterwards."

Maki snorted, clearly amused. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Despite every other unforgivable trait that guy possesses, no one can deny he'd been blessed with good looks. Hell, I've heard rumors curses simp for him." Nobara was not overly reassured by those words, but she and Yuuji were definitely intrigued.

"Well, I guess his eyes are pretty," the pink haired boy had to agree. "I couldn't believe them when I first saw them."

"I don't see what's so special about how they look. Panda eyes are cuter."

Everyone ignored Panda's comment.

"Anyway, Fushiguro, do you maybe know why Gojo-sensei would be excited?" Yuuji asked the up till then silent Megumi, who looked up from his phone to arch an eyebrow at them, silently asking why they thought he of all people would know. "Come on! We all know Gojo-sensei tells you what he's up to the most!"

"Yeah, he always makes sure to tell you when he's going somewhere and usually where he's going, too," added Nobara, making Megumi sigh.

"That's a leftover habit from when Tsumiki and I were younger and din't trust him when he used to reassure us that he won't leave us like everyone else. I'd actually much prefer it if he stopped spamming my phone."

"Liar," chorused the two. "You loved the pictures he sent you from the top of the Eiffel Tower!"

"Not the point. Anyways, no, I don't know what could have him in such a great mood so early in the morning. Usually, when it's his day off, he tries to catch up on some sleep instead of relying only on reverse curse techniques to keep his mind fresh and his body energized."

"I wonder what it could be," mused Panda, just as Principal Yaga walked in. So they asked him.

"Satoru's good mood?" Echoed the man. "Oh. Okkotsu-kun is coming back. He should be home by the end of the week."

"Tuna mayo?" Came the excited - rice ball ingredient-ed - question from Toge while the other second years and even Megumi perked up, the cursed speech user most notably so.

Masamichi huffed in amusement. "Yeah, he finished whatever mission it was Satoru had sent him on successfully and so he's coming back. I was just informed by Satoru myself. He didn't say when Okkotsu will board a plane, but he'll definitely be back before the weekend. Make sure to welcome back your schoolmate, okay? I think Satoru may be planning a welcome party, anyway, so make sure to enjoy yourselves within reasonable boundaries." With that, the Principal went about his own business, leaving the students to speculate about what they'd just heard.

"I guess that does explain his good mood," commented Maki with a hum. "Yuta's always been Satoru's favorite, after all."

Itadori, in the middle of trying to understand the story Toge was patiently telling and retelling to him, froze, turning amber eyes towards his female senpai. "Eh?"

Similarly, Megumi, curiously enough, had also frozen for no apparent reason in the middle of explaining to Nobara how he'd been introduced to the currently youngest special grade sorcerer last year.

"Yeah, Satoru really does play favorites with Yuta, doesn't he? I guess it's kind of cute," Panda mused, clearly not registering the sudden tension filling the two younger boys. "You know, Yuta's been in a pretty similar pickle as you, Yuuji. He was bound to a really powerful special grade curse, Rika, who was even nicknamed as the 'Queen of Curses' until he released her last year. He would have been executed on sight had Satoru not stepped in and enrolled him to the school."

"I wasn't aware there was anyone else like me," Yuuji replied, not knowing what else to say or even feel at the moment.

A mouth formed on his cheek and a single red eye blinked open. Sukuna released a huff. "Queen of Curses, you say? That's a lofty title. Can this curse really live up to it, hmm? I'll have to test this brat myself."

"Are you deaf? Rika's been released. She's not a cursed spirit any longer and her soul is hopefully resting in whatever afterlife exists," Maki sneered at the King of Curses, earning herself a sneer right back. "Besides, out of all the special grades, cursed spirits or sorcerers, Yuta is the closest one to stand on equal ground as Satoru. He's got a long way to go to actually do it, but his raw cursed energy is actually more than Satoru possesses."

"He's stronger than Gojo-sensei!?" Asks Yuuji in a screech, feeling scandalized.

"Strength is relative," Megumi interrupted to explain before Nobara or Maki can berate Yuuji for his noise levels. He was more immune to it due to having been essentially raised by Gojo and thus not having a single truly quiet moment in his life. (Except when he sits by his sister's bedside in her suffocatingly white hospital room, but he'd rather not dwell on that. Ever.) "While having big reserves of curse energy is always desirable, the ability to control them in the most efficient and effective way is preferable. Gojo-sensei has abnormal amounts of curse energy by anyone's standards with a control that no one else can achieve. Okkotsu-senpai could train his whole life and he would still not be able to beat Gojo-sensei in a competition of endurance simply because Gojo-sensei naturally spends infinitesimal amounts of cursed energy for even the strongest and most draining of his techniques. Gojo-sensei would never be able to run out. Add on to that that Gojo-sensei is literally untouchable, can literally see and sense for miles, has stronger techniques and more experience than any sorcerer can ever hope to accumulate and Gojo-sensei lives up to his title as The Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer."

"That's not even mentioning how knowledgeable he is of all this shit," Maki added, for once not sounding mocking of the white haired man. "Yuta is a newbie, even after a year of being a sorcerer. He may be a special grade but he still has much to learn. And as a special grade, only Satoru is really qualified to teach him."

"Is Okkotsu-senpai strong enough to beat Sukuna? Gojo-sensei said he could even if Sukuna had all twenty Fingers-"

"As if that fool could ever beat me, let alone some knockoff brat!"

"Satoru is The Strongest," Panda said with a panda equivalent of a shrug. "We don't actually know his limits because no one's ever pushed him to or beyond them."

"And we don't know Yuta's limits, either, since he lost Rika, but he's been able to practically singlehandedly defeat the students from Kyoto last year during the Good Will event," finished off Maki, standing up from where she'd been lounging with Nobara. "Well, I'm off to prepare my best blades so I can use them on Yuta as soon as he sets foot on any training field."

"Mustard leaf, seaseme," commented Toge as he also stood up, Panda going after him to help him with picking out some welcome back snacks, even if their teacher will probably go overboard with them if he was indeed already planning a party.

Left alone, Nobara and Yuuji turned to Megumi. They kept asking the Ten Shadows user about their returning senpai and Megumi did his best to answer. Usually, he would brush them off if they ever got this noisy, but he was honestly humoring them only because it kept his mind from straying to something Maki had said.

00000

It shouldn't really bother him or even surprise him, if he's honest, but it did. It kept bothering him throughout the day until he found himself sleeplessly staring up at his ceiling at 2am in his room, the words still running through his head. Okkotsu-senpai may not be a ray of sunshine, but he wasn't as sullen by the time he left for adventures and missions overseas as when Gojo-sensei had first brought him to Jujutsu Tech and he was kind and always happy to see Gojo-sensei. Whereas Megumi had spent years telling Gojo he was either a pain, a nausience or an annoyance. Or all three.

Satoru's favorite ...

Favorite what? Favorite student? Favorite kid he'd saved from an unsavory fate? Favorite pupil? Favorite ward? Because, despite Okkotsu and Yuuji probably not being aware of it, the second Jujutsu Tech and the higher-ups found out about them and the second their execution orders were approved and then postponed indefinitely by works of Gojo-sensei, he'd become their legal guardian. They were both orphans, anyway. (Just like Megumi and Tsumiki.)

He honestly wasn't sure which one would bother him the most. Because he was so used to the idea of having, like, 70% of Gojo-sensei's undivided attention growing up that he can't be certain how he would react to having to share. He did just fine with Kugisaki and Itadori and the second years and anyone else who came by needing The Strongest Sorcerer for one thing or another, but in the light of Zen'in-senpai's words ...

Perhaps what bothered him the most was the thought of Okkotsu-senpai bejng Gojo-sensei's favorite ward. That ... That would actually hurt, because wasn't Megumi and the near decade they've spent together enough? Megumi had suffered through Gojo-sensei learning to cook - it took him only a week before he reached a pretty decent level of skill, perfect as he was in everything - and he'd been the one having to grow up with all of his peers' parents either scoffing or fawning over his young and handsome, often tardy guardian. He's the one who had had to haul double his weight in chocolates for valentines day because his classmates always gave him some for himself and some for his 'hot dad', which had been disturbing to hear, by the way. (Tsumiki had to haul her own fair share, too, because Megumi could carry only so much and he hadn't always had as much shikigami as he has today.)

Megumi had been Gojo Satoru's first, and for quite a while only, student. Didn't that count?

Didn't it count that, on a few rare occasions, when he'd been sick or feverish or scared out of his mind or tired to the bone, he'd called him Satoru-nii?

He found no sleep that night, wondering if his own standoffish behavior had alienated him enough from his guardian that Gojo-sensei had searched for a replacement and found someone better to call his 'most precious pupil'.

00000

In the room just next door, Itadori Yuuji was also having trouble falling asleep, and for once it wasn't his unwanted tenant's fault.

Ever since he became a student at Jujutsu Tech, heck , practically ever since he'd seen his first curse, Gojo-sensei and Megumi had been the ones there for him, explaining things to him, helping him how they could. Others came later, too, of course, and he made plenty of friends. Hell, the students here at Jujutsu Tech actually acted more like a family than Yuuji had ever had a chance to experience and it always left him so warm inside. Just a couple of months in and Itadori Yuuji recognized that for pretty much his whole life, he'd been lonely and he'd been touch-starved.

Don't get him wrong. His grandfather had done his best in raising him and Yuuji still loved him to bits and missed him every day. It didn't hurt like Junpei's death still does, because his grandpa had died peacefully, with someone who loved him by his side, a natural, good death, a death that no one could stop because that's how it's meant to happen. But his grandfather hadn't been the most affectionate man. He'd been a bit bitter, plenty salty, always just that bit distant that had Yuuji wondering if it is even okay to ask for a hug when he'd been younger.

He has no real memories of his parents. His grandfather said he looked a lot like his father. He'd had no siblings and rare few true friends growing up, just classmates and schoolmates and playmates who liked how atlethic he was, what he could do, how brave and bold he could act. He wasn't popular, exactly, because he was too bright for many people, too dumb for some, too intuitive for others. There was always something.

And then he met these people, all just that little bit crazy, like himself, and he learned what true acceptance was.

He wondered if he'd latched onto Gojo-sensei specifically the way he had because he'd never had a parental figure in his life. Or a sibling. He knew that's why he tolerated how weird Todo could get. He was a nice guy but he had an overactive imagination that had him distorting his own memories until he was convinced he and Yuuji had spent years together when they'd literally only exchanged all of five to ten sentences when he'd decided on that. In a similar manner, Gojo-sensei often acted like a sort of parental figure and Yuuji honestly wasn't sure how he should act about that.

Gojo-sensei was his teacher, but he'd had other teachers, too, and none of them had been as invested as Gojo-sensei. It's not even the whole Sukuna thing. Gojo-sensei rarely brought the curse up unless it was strictly necessary. He always saw Yuuji first.

Gojo-sensei was also his mentor, but so was Nanamin, for that one truly hellish mission they've had together. Don't get him wrong, he really liked the man, but Nanamin, while protective, didn't give off the same 'I'll kill for you' vibe that Gojo-sensei wore like a favorite coat. Ultimately, despite them understanding each other better by the time the mission finally came to an end, he and Nanamin still weren't all that compatible. He just clicked with Gojo-sensei better.

Gojo-sensei was also his friend, along with those other things. He cared for Yuuji's wellbeing and wanted to make sure he's taking care of himself, that he's happy. That he's enjoying his youth and his life, however short or long it might end up being.

Gojo-sensei was his savior and protector and something else, too, which Yuuji couldn't quite grasp, but that was okay. Because the one thing Gojo-sensei refused to be was his executioner. Yuuji knew that Gojo-sensei was intent on not letting him die if he can help it. Yuuji didn't want the man to live with regret if it turned out he can't. He didn't want to be one of Gojo-sensei's regrets.

Especially if Gojo-sensei had managed to save a boy from a similar situation as himself.

So, in truth, Yuuji didn't know what his exact relationship with Gojo-sensei was, but the teasing, the worry, the care, it was all almost familial. Like how Gojo-sensei treated Fushiguro, which made sense for the two of them, since Gojo-sensei had apparently raised the shikigami user. It didn't make sense for Yuuji, but he was also kind of selfish and wasn't going to question it because he basked in it and didn't want it to stop, ever.

He wasn't sure how their relationship might change now that this Okkotsu-senpai was coming back. A student whom, according to Maki-senpai, Gojo-sensei clearly and obviously favored. Hell, he wasn't sure how the revelation of Okkotsu-senpai's relationship with Gojo-sensei reflected Yuuji's position in the man's life, given their circumstances were nearly identical. A 'Queen of Curses' and the King of Curses, their vessels, two innocent lives that only Gojo Satoru could save. Did Yuuji remind his teacher of his favorite student and that's why Gojo-sensei couldn't, in good counscience, let him die?

Did Okkotsu-senpai spend night after night binging as many movies as he possibly could, occasionally with the white haired man at his side, to get control over his curse energy? Did he know Gojo-sensei could cook but often was too busy to? Did Gojo-sensei let him cook for them instead? Did he know that Gojo-senei would eat any sweet, even if it was salty licorice? (Yuuji had been frightened when he watched Gojo-sensei eat a whole pack of those things, saying that the initial salty and bitter taste only made the caramel-sweetness all the more intense and that they were supposedly good for your health. Yuuji did not care. Gojo-sensei was trully The Strongest if he could eat those things so casually!) Did he know Gojo-sensei's life was so messy that gore in splatter films was funny rather than disturbing? Did he know what Gojo-sensei's Domain Extension looked like? Did he know Gojo-sensei was initially a cat person but became a dog lover when Fushiguro got his Divine Dogs?

For some reason he can't even begin to understand, he feels ... inadequate, suddenly. Like he wasn't enough.

Stories of Okkotsu-senpai depicted him as a former 'normie' who learned to control his immense power in less than a year of studying and training under Gojo-sensei, and while Yuuji had made progress, he wasn't all that much stronger than when he started out.

He could still all too easily lose control to Sukuna.

He could still hurt his friends.

He could still force Gojo-sensei's hand and make him live out the rest of his life in regret for having to execute his own student.

With Okkotsu-senapi coming back, Yuuji realized he was scared that Gojo-sensei will stop smiling at him like he always does, will stop draping himself over Yuuji without a care in the world, would stop the casual touches and affection, would drop his newfound habit of having dinner with Yuuji whenever neither of them were busy, with Kugisaki and Fushiguro being roped in to join them, be it at the dorms or out at some restaurant.

He was scared that Gojo-sensei will look at his star pupil and see how much better he was than Yuuji and just ... drop him as anything else but a student and a burden he'd placed upon himself and his consciousness.

And that fear kept him up all night.

Because, honestly, Yuuji had foolishly thought he was Gojo-sensei's favorite.

And he feared the moment when he will be proven wrong.

00000

"You two look like shit," commented Nobara when she saw her two classmates the next morning, both of them with a can of coffee in hand and dark circles under their eyes. "Hey, you didn't stay up and do something fun without me, did you?" She asked indignantly and the two boys just blinked at her.

"Huh?" Came Megumi's oh so intelligent answer.

Yuuji looked like he had fallen asleep, standing and with his eyes open.

Sukuna manifested a mouth and eye when his vessel said nothing. "I don't know about Fushiguro Megumi, but this brat was having an existential crisis that drove me to insomnia. I do not have many pleasures in this accursed confinement. I do not appreciate my sleep being interfered with, too."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Sukuna! No one fucking cares!" Yuuji suddenly snapped, making the curse's and the other two first years' jaws all reach the floor with how much they were gawping. Yuuji just gulped down his canned coffee like a shot and crumbled the empty can in his hand, carelessly throwing it into the closest trash can.

Interestingly enough, Sukuna didn't get pissed. In fact, if anything, a grin spread on his manifested mouth and he looked almost proud and pleased.

Yuuji didn't have enough energy to give a shit and neither did Megumi.

Nobara, too, was impressed that Yuuji had grown a spine against his parasite. "Wow. Well, whatever's happening to you, keep it up, Itadori, and we'll never have to worry about fuckass again!"

"That attitude will definitely help you against the higher-ups, too," Maki said as she and the other second years approached. Panda and Toge seemed to be too busy gawping at Yuuji to say anything, clearly surprised that the literal ray of sunshine incarnated could say something like that. "Didn't know you had it in you. My level of respect for you just went up," the Zen'in girl said with a grin.

Yuuji blinked at her, now a bit more awake as the caffeine finally kicked in. "Well, of course I have it in me. I live with fucking Sukuna in my head 24/7 and there are days when he just. Won't. Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

The King of Curses snorts. "Please, brat. You asked me, practically begged me to teach you how to cuss so you can show off your new potty mouth the next time you see that pathetic patchface weakling curse."

The pink haired boy just shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

"Or," Megumi finally spoke up, having just observed everything as he tried to drown in his coffee. "You could just, you know ... Let Sukuna fuck him up, if you're that spiteful. Or Gojo-sensei. Yeah, give him to Gojo-sensei after a meeting with the elders. He's downright feral at those times. Like, it's a slaughter fest. It's odly nice to vitness."

Now it was everyone's turn to gawk at Megumi, who just finished up his coffee and moved on to a Monster drink no one had seen him purchase and hide in his shadow until then. He casually opened it and chugged the whole thing like a pro, giving a polite little burp before crushing the can against his head and throwing it into the waste basket.

"It's always the quiet ones," murmured Sukuna in horrified awe and for once, they all just agreed because what the fuck!?

"But I want to be the one to kill him," Yuuji all but whines, having somehow recovered first despite being the most shocked.

Maki makes a face. "You take way too much after Satoru. The both of you."

Somehow, if at all possible, the two boys' moods turn even sourer than when Nobara had first found them this morning. "Ooookay, that's creepy. What the hell crawled up your asses last night and died?"

"My self respect."

"A crusty old man and his fucking waxed, bad-manicured, ugglyass, disgusting fingers."

Both girls made seriously disgusted faces at the latter response while Panda and Toge looked rather concerned with Megumi's. Sukuna went on a rant about the insults thrown at himself that everyone ignored, honestly a lot more concerned about this uncharacteristic moody-teenager behaviour that you'd never usually see from the brightest ray of sunshine the jujutsu world has ever had the honor to see and the most level-headed and sane Zen'in the world has ever produced, even if he refused to be tied to the Zen'in in any fucking way.

Before anyone could say anything more on it, though, a familiar voice reached their ears from across the courtyard. "Oi~! Good morning~!" Gojo Satoru came into view, waving his hand excitedly like a child and all but skipping across the field like Christmas had just come early, taking up the distance at almost alarming speeds it was actually impressive. "It's so great to see my precious student again~!"

Yuuji and Megumi perked up at this and the pink haired boy brightened up, bringing up a hand to wave at the man and almost yelled out a greeting of his own when Gojo barreled right past the group and promptly glomped someone else. Someone with dark hair and pants but a white shirt and shoes. Someone who was male, judging by the shy but clearly happy laugh they let out when the tall sorcerer all but cuddled them.

Someone whom Megumi and the second years recognized as Okkotsu Yuta, who was now hugging Gojo back. Much to the disgust of the approaching Yaga and the tall, slim African man in a weird puffy hat that came up behind the second year special grade student.

"Alright, Satoru, you can smother your student in your suffocating affections later. Okkotsu needs to give a report-"

"Nonsense!" Cuts in Satoru in his usual happy manner, pretending to be oblivious to the tension coming in waves from the yet unnamed man and the building exasperated anger Yaga was directing at him. "Yuta needs to rest up first! He's had a long flight, you know~! Those can be so rough and boring and long! Some food will help and he has to go and greet his classmates now that he's back! Maki-chan would surely skin us both alive if I were to let something keep Yuta from having some free time for his friends." The last was delivered in a slightly sharper tone that had Yaga pursing his lips but conceding, knowing that there would be no fighting Satoru on the rights and needs of the youth. "Splendid~! Come, Yuta! I need to introduce you to my new first years! They're just the cutest bunch!"

Nobara and Yuuji sized up the teen now walking towards them with their teacher's arm still draped over his shoulder while Megumi just gave a respectful nod in greeting. The second years detached Satoru from their classmate so they can greet him properly, which for Toge and Panda was a hug but for Maki was whacking the swordsman over the head with the flat of the blade of her pole weapon and berating him for still having shit reflexes.

And while Yuuji and Megumi were tense for their own reasons, Nobara was still indignant about the Good Will Event. "Oi! You, Okkotsu Yuta! How dare you win last year's Good Will Event and prevent me from seeing the wonders of Kyoto!?"

Not used to the particular energy and explosiveness of Kugisaki Nobara, Yuta took a hesitant step away from the girl, cautious of the finger jabbing threateningly in his direction.

Sukuna scoffed. "And this guy's a special grade? How pathetic." He went ignored.

Gojo clapped his hands as if to gather everyone's attention before placing a hand on Yuta's shoulder. "Alright, everyone, let's make these official introductions sweet and memorable~! Megumi, you and Yuta already know each other, so Yuuji, Nobara, meet Okkotsu Yuta, your senpai~! And Yuta, these are your cute kouhais, Kugisaki Nobara and Itadori Yuuji~!" Sukuna cleared his throath, making Yuta jump in surprise before his eyes widened comically. "Oh, and that's Sukuna."

"That's King of Curses to you, bastard."

"But don't mind him. He's still miffed that a highschooler with zero jujutsu training can keep him suppressed most of the time."

"You insolent little shit! I'll gauge your eyes out when I get control of your-" Yuuji slapped a hand over the mouth on his cheek and gave a tired, put-upon sigh.

"Sorry about that. I didn't sleep well last night and he's been popping out more often than usual to bitch about how he hadn't slept either, as if anyone cares!" He yelled the last part when another mouth appeared on his other cheek, making Sukuna huff in indignant outrage. The students just all rolled their eyes while Yuta gawked. Gojo laughed.

"Oh. Yeah, I think I understand now why you made that request, Gojo-sensei," Yuta said and Yuuji stiffened slightly, almost imperceptibly, because besides himself and Fushiguro, he's yet to hear another student call the man 'Gojo-sensei'. They all called him by his first name and Kugisaki often used either his last name or his title if she wasn't calling him some verious of idiot.

Usually, to call someone by their first name indicates familiarity, trust and a level of comfort and comradeship, but everyone around Jujutsu Tech called The Strongest Sorcerer by his first name that to hear any variation of Gojo was weird. Yuuji had thought only he and Megumi did it. (Well, Nanamin, too. And Ijichi-san. But those two did it because they were polite and Gojo-senei was their superior. Nanamin may claim that he didn't respect Gojo-sensei, but clearly that wasn't wholly true. Or was, perhaps, Gojo-san an indication of a specific kind of bond the way Yuuji felt his Gojo-sensei was?)

Yuuji did it because he respected and looked up to the man more than he has with anyone else in his life. Even when it became apparent that Gojo-sensei wouldn't mind informalities, even when the man would nap through the movies they were meant to watch together and sometimes even leaned on Yuuji - and accidentally touched the cursed corpse, which made the doll suddenly be overwhelmed with sensei's power and ended up unching Yuuji's lights out, therefore making him sleep through the movie, too - even after they'd practically lived together for two months, he never stopped calling him Gojo-sensei because, especially after he found everyone using his first name, it felt special. And after learning about Fushiguro's past with the man, it felt even more so since the other boy also called him Gojo-sensei.

It felt like a different sort of intimacy and camaraderie that can't be explained by any definition that exist in dictionaries.

Yuuji didn't know how to react to Okkotsu Yuta also using Gojo-sensei as opposed to Satoru.

"Well~! Now that that's out of the way, let's go celebrate~!" Gojo gushed, coming over to sling an arm around Yuuji's shoulder, making the boy jump for the first time at his teacher tactileness despite being more than used to it for months now. The taller man didn't acknowledge it and just started leading Yuta and Yuuji towards the still waiting car with a nervous looking Ijichi. "I've booked us all a really nice room in the best karaoke place in Tokyo~! And they have all sorts f delicious items on their food menus~! I tried their cheesecake once and I've yet to find one that can match it!"

"Hey, don't just go making plans by yourself!" Protested Maki but Toge was already following after Yuta and Panda was going after Toge. Megumi was following after Yuuji, so Nobara and Maki had no choice but to go after the boys because there's no way they wouldn't get up to something stupid with all that testerostrone going on unchecked. Especially with their manchild of a teacher.

"And where, exactly, is this karakoke place?" Asked Nobara skeptically.

The white haired man lifted up his blindfold so he can wink at her. "Ro~pon~gi~!"

The car ride was annoyingly loud but, for once, Megumi didn't try to make others aware of how annoyed he was by it. He was sitting squashed between Gojo-sensei and Itadori, Okkotsu-senpai on the other side of the teacher and Maki-san squashed against the other door, Kugisaki in her lap. Inumaki-senapi was sitting up front with Ijichi-san and Panda-senpai was riding on the roof of the car, protected by a small Veil Gojo-sensei had put up so the cursed corpse could ride with them. Ijichi-san was seconds away from having a heart attack over it. No one seemed to care, not even the perpetually nice and polite Itadori and Okkotsu-senpai, too engrossed in some story Gojo-sensei was weaving, gesticulating around wildly in the cramped space without a care in the world and much gusto. If Megumi tried to take out his phone to croll through some of his favorite sites, Gojo-sensei would point an innocent finger at it and Megumi would stuff it back into his pocket, not wanting to see his phone get twisted by curse energy.

He didn't even grumble too much when the white haired menace reaches over to ruffle his hair if some story involves, even marginally, Megumi but he did get annoyed when Gojo-sensei made a comment about the dreaded baby pictures. Not that Gojo-sensei had known Megumi as an actual baby or toddler, nor has Megumi ever been happy to have his picture taken, but the man does have plenty of incriminating pictures in his phone just waiting to be shown to the world.

When they finally arrived, they were treated like royalty. Well, except poor Ijichi-san, because Gojo-sensei can be a menace like that. Since it was Gojo-sensei's treat, everyone went a bit overboard with their orders, even making a competition out of it. Well, except for Okkotsu-senpai and Megumi. Gojo-sensei ordered for Megumi instead, much to his chagrin, but at least he got him all the things he liked, even though more than half of it will have to be packed up for them by the time they're ready to leave since there's no way anyone can eat all that food. Hell, even with the extra mouth of Sukuna too feed, they'll still have massive leftovers. Why Itadori even bothered to feed the curse was beyond him but also not his business. The less he interacted with the bastard, the happier Megumi will be.

Turns out, Gojo-sensei didn't just go overboard with the food; they had the room booked for the entire day and it was the biggest, fanciest, most expensive one the establishment had to offer. Gojo-sensei must have spent quite a dime on all of it, not that he'd feel it, between the money he'd inherited and the money he makes as a special grade sorcerer.

Kugisaki tried getting Maki-senpai to sing a duet with her, but ended up doing a really interesting retention of I Want It That Way with Inumaki-senai and Panda. Kugisaki was actually pretty decent, but between Inumaki's limited vocabulary and Panda's tonedeafness, it was hilarious instead of touching. It was also a tiny bit of torture but no one would dare tell that to Kugisaki for fear of getting a hammer to the head.

Gojo-sensei actually managed to dare Sukuna into singing Call Me Maybe with him and Itadori and they sent the video to poor Nanami-san. Worst thing was, they didn't sound half-bad. Then Kugisaki, like a fool, dared the man to do a solo to a song of her choosing. Too bad for her Gojo-sensei was actually a great singer and his retention of Despacito was pitch perfect. The man was honestly unfairly unreal because he could do whatever he wanted and be good at it. Megumi had to stop Kugisaki from issuing more challenges when he saw her almost selecting Rap God. No one needs Gojo-sensei letting the 'god' part get to his head even more.

Megumi eventually got roped into singing All The Single Ladies with the other boys, Sukuna included but Panda-senpai not, much to the cursed corpse's indignation, which caused a mini depression spell. Kugisaki and Maki-senpai had a blast laughing their asses off while Gojo-sensei just filmed them. Megumi couldn't even be too irritated because all the fun activities seem to have at least cleared the gloomy cloud that had been enveloping Itadori since that morning and he was laughing and joking around and enjoying himself. Gojo-sensei, too, seemed to be in a genuinely good mood.

Somehow, they never got bored nor did they stop ordering food. Gojo-sensei, thankfully, had eaten something of actual sustenance and nutritional value instead of just sticking to the sweets. Panda threw up twice but Gojo-sensei just destroyed it with a miniature Hollow Purple, which was just flexing on his part and a totally inappropriate use of jujutsu. At least it didn't stink in the room.

"Megumi! Megumi~! Come sing a song with me~!" Gojo-sensei sing-songed at around noon before bodily dragging him towards the karakoke machine and choosing a song without consulting Megumi about it first, much to his annoyance. He wasn't sure why he indulged him, anyway, but he did enjoy how humerus Gojo-sensei managed to make his version of Hall Of Fame.

Things got only crazier afterwards when the man grabbed Itadori and cleared up as much room to create a 'dance floor' and chose a song, dragging Itadori along for the ride as the pink haired vessel tried to match his moves, huffing and puffing before just relaxing and going with the flow. Their ridiculousness led to Kugisaki dragging Maki-senpai and Panda-senpai to the improvised 'dance floor' too, all of them rocking it to Dancin', but thankfully no one tried to get Megumi, Inumaki-senpai and Okkotsu-senpai to join in.

Just when the junk food started making their stomachs protest, they were delivered some miso soup and some of the best sushi Megumi has ever seen. The woman delivering the food first looked somewhat disdainfully at the amount of food they still had on their plates, not yet eaten, but then she looked up at Gojo-sensei, for once without sunglasses nor blindfold, and became a sputtering mess, red as a beat. She somehow managed to both shyly and shamelessly ask for a selfie - probably mistaking him for some sort of celebrity or at least a model ... or she just wanted to brag to her friends about the handsome guy she'd met - which Gojo-sensei indulged before turning around with the food that will probably sooth their stomachs.

Things calmed down a bit, shenanigans devolving into conversations. Kugisaki talked about her narrow-minded village. Itadori told them about the time he'd won Ninja Warriors - it had actually happened, apparently, and was yet to air as the whole season was not yet filmed - while he'd still lived in Sendai. Panda-senpai revealed that, apparently, Gojo-sensei had been Principal Yaga's consultant in his creation, seeing as the Principal's end goal was something no one had attempted nor succeeded in before and so he'd wanted the opinion of someone who could actively see how the multiple cores interacted with each other and what changes needed to be made to keep the body stable. There were many jokes going about how Gojo-sensei was Panda-senpai's "mother", much to the cursed corpse's vehement denials and Gojo-sensei playing at being mortally wounded at the rejection. Inumaki-senapi told them how he got his grade two status so young and Maki-senpai told them about how she'd told the current Zen'in Clan Head that she'd be coming back to take over in his place once she's an elite jujutsu sorcerer. Megumi was persuaded into revealing what it was like during parent-teacher conferences with Gojo-sensei as his legal guardian. Okkotsu-senapi told them about Rika and the promise ring he always wears.

Gojo-sensei, though, told the most stories and most of them were definitely the most fascinating and entertaining.

"So there he was, our resident stick-up-his-ass levels of serious grumpy Nanami, barbecue sauce on his titties-"

"And that was the first time Naoya-kun has ever seen a first grade, mind you, so it wasn't all that surprising that he actually peed his pants. We were six ... How old was I when I saw my first grade, Yuuji-kun? Why, I wasn't an hour old~! Though I guess that doesn't count ... Ahahahahaha, never mind~!"

"There was this one time when Panda-chan sensed a curse before Masamichi. The guy had been so sick he probably wouldn't have noticed a special grade if it was in front of his nose! So cute little Panda-chan, at just around my waist in height, came running into his office, in the middle of a meeting with Gakuganji, and punched through a wall seemingly at random~! It was so cute! The curse was on the other side, of course, so he could have taken it out from there, but this was closer and faster and I got to film it all on tape~! Here, here, see~? Look at how cute he was~!"

"Back when Ijichi was still a student, he used to be even more jittery. Yes~, it's possible~! Anyway, we've always known he has a sort of crush on Shoko but he never had the guts to admit it, so a friend of mine and I decided to take pity on him. We gave him flowers to give her, some chocolates, even Shoko's favorite brand of cigarettes and gave him instructions, and I quote 'Tell her You're pretty'. Half an hour later, threatened with a death penalty if he chickens out and makes us suffer more with his jittery, jumpy pinning, we're watching him walk up to Shoko, hold out the flowers and freak out, blurting, and I quote verbatim 'I-I'm pretty!'. I nearly strangled him! He never did work up the courage to ask her out. Now he's simping for Nanami's being the 'adult of adults'."

"There was this one time Utahime and Mei Mei were stuck in some grade two curses's domain and needed saving-"

"Always remember to put up a curtain on missions, kids! Masamichi hits hard~!"

There were also a lot of sort of personal or embarrassing stories involving the students themselves.

"I'll never forget Maki's face as she dangled from that curse's vines!"

"Toge once mistook his prescripted throat medicine for Shoko's 'secret', 'disguised' sake at-work bottle. It was a nightmare stopping him from making everyone dance the Macarena! The curses weren't all too bad, if I'm honest~!"

"It was very interesting when I found out that Nobara can't hit a nail on the head when trying to hang up a photo."

"Panda once accidentally swallowed a Flyhead. It was awesome~! But then it wasn't because it had to come out on the other end as we couldn't exorcize it from within. The Principal nearly had my head for that one."

"Yuta here used to be so clumsy when we first began his sword training that I didn't dare hand him an actual blade. Sure, he trained mostly with Maki, but I had to teach him the basic stands. He actually managed to stab himself with a wooden sword! It was the shinai since then until I felt more confident in his ability not to maim himself before others. Maiming others is A-okay as long as they're your enemies, of course~!"

"Yuuji-kun had so much trouble with concentrating when we were watching Harry Potter that he had a permanent indent from Tsukamoto's punches! It was almost more entertaining than Harry sticking his wand up a troll's nostril!"

"When Megumi was little, he thought his Divine Dogs need to be taken on walks, so he got up one morning and took them outside, no leash or anything. Now, since the shikigami caused by the Ten Shadows are more intuitive to their summoner's thoughts, feelings and the such, as young as they were, they believed themselves to be ordinary dogs as much as Megumi do, so, as you can imagine, they ran off after the first cat they saw because that's how Megumi imagined them acting! I had to spend half of my day running after them with Megumi and it was not all fun and games, because Megumi stumbled upon a second grade curse. At least the Divine Dogs learned what they are and Megumi learned not to take them for casual walks! Especially as there was this grouchy old lady pushing her hundreds who actually saw them and swore up and down until she passed away that there were wild wolves running around the neighborhood and that I was somehow at fault because I was a 'bad omen' or something like that! Man, were we tempted to throw a party on the day of her funeral, but Tsumiki's always been too sensible to let us get away with shit like that."

It was embarrassing but everyone was laughing and having fun and, for once, everything outside of that room didn't matter. Not curses, not execution orders, not jujutsu society's expectations and rules, nothing. Hell, even Sukuna was behaving and that's like a miracle. Megumi was even completely relaxed for the first time in a year and was just enjoying himself.

At one point, Gojo's phone rang and one look had him losing his relaxed smile before he plastered on his ordinary, I-might-turn-annoying-any-second-now one as he stood up. "Excuse me, I have to take this. But you guys continue having fun~! Yuta, you should tell them about your trip! Oh, and Megumi, you gotta tell them about how you tamed Nue! That was a treat to watch! It's a great story! Yuuji-kun should definitely tell you lot about his mission with Nanamin~! Nanami told me you really did a number on that patchwork curse! Be back in a jippy~!"

There was a moment of silence when he walked out, as if all of them had sobered up and remembered that they were jujutsu sorcerers and not just ordinary kids enjoying a day at a karaoke joint. Nobara tried to start up a conversation. It wasn't exactly the best topic, but it worked.

"Man, I don't want to sound jealous, but it really is obvious that sensei has favorites, huh?"

Maki snorted. "You just noticed?"

"Well, at first I thought it was because they knew each other longer, but now that we've had more time to spend all together, with you guys who he's definitely known the longest, I can see what's really going on."

Yuuji and Megumi stiffened up, all of the tension that had drained out of them from that morning coming rushing right back in. Yuta just blinked at them, not quite sure what they were talking about. "Gojo-sensei doesn't have favorites, though?"

"He does," synchronized Panda, Maki and Nobara, Toge giving his own version of agreement. "I mean, I personally don't care nor need to be Satoru's favorite student-"

"That's because you're the Principal's favorite," countered Maki, which the panda named Panda ignored.

"But it's definitely clear he does have a favorite."

"Salmon, tuna mayo, bonito flakes," Toge said, which might as well translate to 'He very rarely trains with individual students because he can barely make time for his own meals or sleep, let alone tutoring individual kids.' "Mustard leaf."

"But Gojo-sensei only trained me personally because everyone feared Rika-chan would come out and cause trouble," Yuta said with a small, self-deprecating smile.

"Yeah, same for me and Sukuna," Yuuji added, trying not to look bothered. He failed.

"It's part of his deal with the school and the Zen'in in exchange for me not being forced to be a Zen'in," countered Megumi.

All three boys frowned when the two female jujutsu sorcerers and Sukuna snorted. "We never specified who his favorites are. Nice that you acknowledge it yourselves. At least you're not that dumb. I honestly thought Satoru's obliviousness was rubbing off on you lot."

"Eh? But I'm not Gojo-sensei's favorite," protested all three boys, surprising themselves and others. All three of them turn to give each other shocked, confused looks.

"No, I'm definitely not Gojo-sensei's favorite. If it's anyone, it's Fushiguro-kun," stated Yuta, absolutely certain of this.

Megumi frowned. "But I'm not. I'm just a responsibility and a kid that often calls him annoying. If it's anyone, it's Itadori."

"But I'm not, though! He just doesn't agree with the execution order from those higher-ups and he's the only one who could contain Sukuna if he came out! No, if today is anything to go by, the senpais were right and it's definitely Okkotsu-senpai!"

"By the heavens and all nine circles of hell," groaned Sukuna. "I knew the brat was an idiot, but I am disappointed that Fushiguro Megumi and a fellow special grade are, too."

"No one is interested in your simping for Fushiguro right now, crusty old demon man," Yuuji snapped.

"I'm starting to regret you found yourself an attitude."

"No one cares," the whole group intoned except Yuta, who was still trying to get used to the fact that the King of Curses resided in Itadori Yuuji's body when the boy was a verified ray of sunshine and kindness. Sukuna huffed and retreated into his domain, intent on giving them the cold shoulder, as if anyone would care about his sulking. Well, Yuuji might, if the sulking affects his own also already rather sulky mood.

"Back to the topic at hand," Maki said, ignoring the whole interaction with the curse altogether. "If we're seriously going to base this on Itadori's 'if today is anything to go by' argument, then Satoru definitely has a favorite."

"Favorites," corrects Panda. "After all, he talks the most about Yuta, Fushiguro and Itadori."

"He dragged you three into most of the jokes, conversations and activities he initiated," Nobara added her own argument.

"He's always reaching out to ruffle your hair and I'm not sure I've seen him once using Infinity around you three. Not even when Rika was completely uncontrollable nor now that Itadori has eaten, what? Four fingers?" Maki pointed out.

Toge informed them in his own way that the higher-ups were definitely getting twitchy about how capable Yuuji is as a vessel and whether four was already his limit. Satoru didn't care either way.

"But that's because you all always bat his hand away," Yuta argued, knowing his classmates have never been overly fond of expressing any form of respect, gratitude or affection towards the white haired man. Yuuji and Megumi could only agree with him.

Nobara rolled her eyes. "Besides me not wanting my hair getting ruined every five minutes, sensei really doesn't try to invade my personal space as often as he does you two," she points to her own classmates before looking at Yuta. "And you, too. I've, like, only watched you guys interact for the past several hours but even I can tell you're close with sensei."

"And you always get special gifts," Panda added again.

"Ever notice how different Yuta's and Yuuji's uniforms are compared to all of ours?"

"That's because Gojo-sensei designed it back when I didn't know you can submit your own alterations to the standard uniform!" Protested the above mentioned boys together.

"But you never changed it, either," has to point out Megumi, because that detail hasn't escaped his attention, either.

"Toge says Fushiguro's room is full of rare, expensive jujutsu books that look too old to have only belonged to Megumi."

The boy glares at the cursed corpse. "They could have been a bribe from the Zen'in to help with my technique."

Maki snorted. "We both know you want to have nothing with the clan if you can help it. And Satoru helps you with that. All the time." Then she turns her attention to Yuta. "Didn't you ever wonder why that sword never shattered, even when you fought that special grade curse you were telling us about an hour ago?"

"No? My control got better?" Yuta replied questioningly and suspiciously.

Maki took his sword despite his protests and showed him the sigil on the butt of the hilt. "This is the symbol of the Gojo family. Due to the amount of cursed energy their Limitless grants every member, the Gojo had some of the best quality weaponry that aren't outright cursed tools. Not a single one has ever made it to a black market, but people are ready to pay millions of dollars for the smallest of pocket knives because the Gojo's weapons are capable of accepting sinfully large amounts of cursed energy."

Yuta gawked. And spluttered. "Gojo-sensei probably only felt obliged to give it to me since we're supposedly really distant relatives or something!"

"Fushiguro's shoes are fire and water-proof and could probably stomp a first grade curse spirit into the ground," Nobara said, actually leaning down and grabbing his whole leg up just to show the brown shoes to the other students. She grabbed Yuuji's red hoodie. "And this thing is made of cotton-terry-cashmere. You have to touch it, Maki-san! It's the comfiest and softest and fluffiest damned thing I've ever touched and I'm honestly tempted every day to sneak into his room and steal it!" Yuuji freed his red hood and cradled it protectively while leaning away from his female classmate. Megumi was kind enough to slap Toge's hand away when the cursed speech user tried to follow Nobara's advice without asking for permission to touch first. Toge gave him a look.

And proceeded to be a traitor by telling the others about how Gojo had stayed with Megumi the night they had thought Yuuji dead, coming out of his room in the morning looking like death warmed over, like he hadn't slept a single wink all night.

Panda joined in on the betrayal by telling everyone Satoru had also openly threatened Gakuganji and the other higher-ups for both Yuta's and Yuuji's sake. Maki added how terrified the Zen'in had been for days when Satoru had come to Naobito to ... 'discuss' ... Megumi's case.

By this point, all three boys were decidedly uncomfortable at all the 'evidence' presented and were squirming in their seats with various degrees of a mortified or embarrassed blush painting their cheeks.

"Hey, but if you really look at it all like this, how can we decide which one is sensei's favorite? I mean, like, favorite favorite? If he's spoiling them all rotten," Nobara asked, bringing the bad kind of tension back to her classmates and introducing it for the first time in Yuta, who finally realized he ... would be upset, a bit, if the answer wasn't-

"I'm back~!" Gojo announced, bouncing back into the room as though nothing had happened, only to pause when he saw the change in atmosphere. "Hmm, what have my darling students been up to, huh~? You can tell me~!"

Nobara, being the shameless, bold girl that she was, pointed a finger at their teacher and directly asked what they all wanted to know. "Sensei, who is your favorite student?" Maki and Megumi, in a show of clear DNA similarity that can only come through blood bonds, whacked her over the head in sync while Panda started cackling in a way the others have rarely, if ever, seen from him. Yuta and Yuuji were beet red and not daring to look at their teacher while Toge flushed in second-hand embarrassment.

Satoru, though, didn't seem perturbed by the question. Instead, he smiled sunnily. "What are you talking about, Nobara? I love all of my students equally~!"

The two girls gave him the stink eye while Toge eyed him skeptically and Panda cackled louder. "Sure. So where's my special grade cursed tool?"

"Didn't I entrust the Playful Cloud to you, Maki-chan~?"

"And my special quality comfy clothes that cost a small fortune?"

"... You do realize that I finance half of your shopping trips, right, Nobara? You could have just bought whatever you liked. Like you did for your tracksuit."

"Salmon, seasame?"

"Do you want to watch movies with me, though? I thought you hated spoilers~!"

"Everyone does," deadpanned all the students, even Sukuna joining in, because he really hated that one time Gojo had revealed the major spoiler in that one movie when his vessel only began the 'movie-watching training regimen'.

"I guess I would let a few head pats here and there, too, Satoru. But only sometimes because I'm a panda and not a dog!"

"But you never liked it when I used to do it to you when you were a tiny, wittle panda, Panda-chan!"

"Regardless," Nobara butted in, determined to get to the bottom of this because she could see how her friends had fallen into a funk since yesterday when this topic was first touched upon. "We know you have a favorite! Hell, every teacher and even every parent does, no matter how hard they try not to be biased! So spit it out already before all of our hair starts matching yours from old age."

Satoru gave an offended gasp at that, but no one cared. Not even the perpetually kind and polite Yuuji and Yuta could find it in themselves to care because they were invested in the answer that may come from the special grade sorcerer. Seeing that the kids were determined and serious about getting an answer, Gojo actually took the question seriously and contemplated how to answer. He, of course, knew what they were getting at, but the question really wasn't as simple as they thought. For three people besides himself, the question and its answer may have a deeper meaning.

"Hmm, while I am truthful about loving and caring for all of my precious students equally, if I had t pick a favorite, I guess it would be," he gave a dramatic pause, because even when shit was serious, he was still dramatic and annoying because he was Gojo Satoru. Everyone waited with bathed breath, especially Megumi, Yuta and Yuuji, who were bracing themselves. "Maki-chan~!"

"... HUH!?" Needless to say, they were all surprised, even Sukuna and especially Maki.

Gojo nodded, clapping his hands like an excited kid.

"Not that I have anything against you picking Maki-san and I even support and approve your choice, sensei," Nobara started a bit uncertainly, because she was ready to bet her money on Yuuji and Megumi sharing that spot in their teacher's heart with their fourth senpai being a close second because it was obvious. Almost painfully so. This was a twist none of them could have predicted. "But can you elaborate why?"

"Hmm, well, it's because Maki has next to no cursed energy," began the white haired man, only to be interrupted by Maki's scoff.

"So I don't irritate your senses on your bad days, is that it?"

"Oh, no! Nothing so shallow, Maki! No, it's because of the way your idiot clan treated you for it. You see, back when I was still a student and younger, of course, there used to be another guy with a Heavenly Restriction like yours. Only his was even more extreme and he had zero cursed energy, making him an anomaly, a one of a kind case in the entire world! The lack of cursed energy was traded in for superhuman strength, speed and five senses, of course. He was super skilled with cursed tools and could take on pretty much any sorcerer in combat, no sweat. Nearly killed me, in fact, when I was about your age, but that's a story for another time~!" He said far too cheerily for a person talking about nearly dying. All the kids looked greatly alarmed at these news, for more reasons than one. "The point is, the Zen'in treated him horribly, perhaps even worse than they have you, and so he left the clan, severed all ties and became, as one would call it, a non-curse user. Some of you might have heard of him as the Sorcerer Killer."

"The Sorcerer Killer?!" Asked Panda, gawking.

"Yup~! So, as I was saying, he definitely proved the Zen'in how wrong they've treated someone with so much talent and potential just because they were stuck in their own conservative, traditionalist, narrow-minded ways, but the idiots didn't learn a damn thing from their experience with him and instead treated Maki the same way. So, really, the reason I would pick Maki as a favorite student would be because she wants to stick it to them about as much as I want to and change the way the jujutsu world currently works. Not to mention that, aside from maybe Yuuji, Maki has improved the most since the first time I met her in such a short time~! It sure was fun tutoring her in using cursed tools, even when she spat cusses at me like a sailor~!"

Maki actually looked a bit embarrassed by all the praise, especially when everyone turned to look at her. "But Yuta-! And Fushiguro-! And Itadori-!"

"Hmm? Oh! Well, I can't exactly choose one of them, you know~!"

"And why is that?" Sukuna asked sarcastically, both interested and not really, but he was bored and drama was afoot.

"Why, because that would be nepotism! Yuta's literally related to me by blood, no matter how distant our relation may be, I've personally raised Megumi for a decade now and I'm all three of theirs legal guardian~!"

"Wait, you're my/their legal guardian!?" Yuta and Yuuji, as well as the other students except Megumi, all asked in one voice, Toge's, of course, consisting of rice ball ingredients so he wouldn't accidentally curse someone.

"Of course~! That was the only way to keep those vultures away and it's not like it was a hardship or anything~! In fact, my three boys have brought nothing but joy into my life~!" And Satoru really meant that. Megumi (and Tsumiki), Yuta and Yuuji all came exactly when he really needed something else to focus on than his own loneliness and grief. Megumi and Tsumiki were his saving grace after Suguru left when they were third year students at Jujutsu Tech. Yuta was someone to focus on after Suguru's death because he still needed Satoru's guidance. And Yuuji was the final push Satoru needed to properly reconnect with Nanami, despite it being quite a while since the blond had returned to the jujutsu world.

Not to mention that all of the kids were the reminders Satoru needed as to why jujutsu society as a whole has to change. Megumi would have been forced to live a life similar to Satoru's had the Zen'in gotten their hands on him, meaning he would have been tool and weapon first, person never, revered for the technique he was born with and never loved the way a child should be. Yuta and Yuuji would have been executed for things that were out of their control, two young, dumb kids who had no idea about jujutsu until their own special grade curses entered their lives and Jujutsu Tech inevitably found out about them.

Satoru wouldn't let these kids, or any of his students, go through what he and his best friend did when they had been their age. Getting Maki her chance to prove herself, saving Megumi, Yuta and Yuuji, giving Nobara a chance to live her life in a place where she feels she can express her opinions and personality as she wishes without facing scorn from her narrow-minded country folks, showing Toge that he shouldn't fear people fearing him and his words and that putting in an effort to make friends is worth it, showing Panda that his uniqueness is a blessing ... That was a privilege and only the start.

Satoru had chosen to teach the future generations so that he could have bright minds on his side when he takes on the council that rules over the world of jujutsu sorcerers. He is The Strongest, but he also knows it's not enough for only him to be strong and that people need to be ready to be helped and saved in order to be so. Satoru will not allow for youth to be taken advantage of, for it to be wretched from children. He won't allow for there to be another Amanai Riko, another Haibara Yu, another Geto Suguru.

"And, really, I've meant it when I said I love all my students equally," Satoru told the kids in a gentle tone of voice, completely serious and genuine and so full brimming with affection that even the densest idiot in the world would not be able to misinterpret it. "Just because some need or ask for more attention than others doesn't change that. Just because some have papers that legally bind them to me as family doesn't mean that all of you are not my family~!" He slung his arms around Yuta and Yuuji on one side and Megumi and Nobara on the other side while making grabby hands at Maki, Toge and Panda. He was honestly surprised when they actually came over and no one complained as he initiated a group bear hug, with some generous help from Panda.

"Disgusting!" Snarled Sukuna before migrating back into his domain now that things had gotten mushy and Satoru just laughed and held his students closer, ignoring how Megumi gripped the back of his jacket in a fist reminiscent of how a much younger, surly boy had done a long time ago, how Yuuji leaned into him, how Yuta sought out the skin of his hand as if he needed that to relax, how Maki and Nobara leaned on each other more than the rest of them and how Toge seemed to have snuggled himself between Yuta and Panda. Calling attention to all of that right now would be uncouth and despite what everyone seems to think, Satoru does have some decorum of tact. He usually just chooses to ignore it.

Really, asking Gojo Satoru who his favorite student was is a very complicated question.

His favorite student, as in someone he'd trained at Jujutsu Tech? As he'd said, it's Maki. She embodies exactly the type of critical thinking and attitude he wishes to change the old ways with. (She reminds Satoru of the reason why he's strong and why he needed to get stronger. Why and how he became The Strongest.)

His favorite pupil whom he'd personally taught everything? That would be Yuuji, the kid who swallowed a finger just to save a complete stranger's life, with no regard to his own. The kid who came back to life, who kept fighting despite losing a friend, despite the world he'd entered without much choice wanting to kill him. (Satoru saw a bit too much of himself in Yuuji, which is why he was so protective of him, if he's being honest.)

The favorite student he'd mentored? That would be Yuta, the only person in years who could, potentially, one day, stand on the same line as Satoru, the same level, a kid who needed guidance on how to connect to people so he wouldn't be lonely, like Satoru had once needed but had had to figure out on his own through trial and error. (Yuta was, perhaps, the reason why Satoru regained his belief in love as something beyond the most twisted curse. He got to see Suguru one last time. He got to have one last moment of connection to him. It was closure he'd never have gotten otherwise.)

His favorite student according to personality? Definitely Nobara. She reminded him a bit of himself when he was that age, as well as another girl which just as much spunk whom he hadn't managed to protect. But Nobara was strong and Satoru will make sure she gets stronger. (She has so much potential. Satoru wants to see her reach it.)

His favorite student for being so unique? Panda. Panda, whom he'd actually had a bit of a hand in raising, even if he probably didn't remember it much, since Satoru had always been so busy. (But Panda was someone who understood perhaps better than anyone what it was like for Satoru: he is alone because no one else was like him. And they both needed to get over that in order to fit in. Satoru was the only one who could teach that to Yaga's little 'son' and his old teacher had recognized and acknowledged it.)

Th student who is his favorite despite him having no previous connections with him? Whom Satoru trusted with his other newbie students? Toge. Toge was responsible and reliable and protective. He was also feared for his cursed technique, something Satoru intimately understood, even though Satoru had thrived on that fear, whereas Toge just wanted to be kind and nice to other people and have friends.

And then there was Megumi ... Megumi, before anything else, was his family, so to group him as a student, a pupil or a mentee felt like a demotion of the bond they share, but if he had to use one of those labels, then Megumi was all three of them. He was the student who was Satoru's favorite just because he'd solidified Satoru's dream of change through education and not anarchy or too much violence. (Some violence and death was unavoidable. Satoru wished it wasn't so, but those old farts weren't going to go down without a fight.) Megumi may be the son of the first and only man who'd made Satoru experience concepts of fear and death, but Megumi was as much his namesake as anyone could ever be. Not to mention that Tsumiki was part of the Fushiguro package deal that had brightened Satoru's days and taught him what a real family should - probably - look like. (And oh, how Satoru missed his little girl. He will rip the person and/or curse responsible for her condition to shreds the second he finds them with his own bare hands, no techniques or anything.)

So, asking Gojo Satoru, special grade sorcerer, The Strongest, the bearer of the Six Eyes and Limitless, who his favorite student was is a very complicated question with a very long, just as complicated answer.

But perhaps Satoru's favorite 'student' was himself, as, with these kids, he'd learned more than school or jujutsu training could have ever taught him and for that? He's eternally grateful.

So interpret that answer as you may please, because Satoru doesn't care about anyone else's opinion.

Gojo Satoru knows his heart is big enough for all of them.

OWARI