Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The biker shorts underneath her skirt barely reached the rim of it as she jumped in place when the door was suddenly opened.

The planchet slid a few centimeters across the table from the force of everyone's reaction.

The classroom itself had long since been transformed into the occult club's base of operations. Curtains drawn shut despite the afternoon sun outside, desks pushed together to form a larger table, and several questionable decorations bought online hanging from the walls. According to Sasaki, the atmosphere was important, according to Yuji, they just looked cool.

“Occult club!” Yuji turned around alongside her senpais to look at the intruder, their silly séance left unfinished and immediately forgotten.

“Plankton president, what’s up?” Yuji leaned back, one arm draped over the backrest of her chair as she shot the club president a smile trying to hold back a laugh. A few pink strands slipped free from the messy half-up bun she'd thrown together that morning, exposing the black underside of her hair near her neck.

She'd given up trying to keep it neat hours ago.

“I already told you, you must report club activities, there’s no space available in the school!” The student council president arranged his glasses with one hand while looking at the three students. “From now on, this will be the changing room for the female track team. So get out already!”

Annoyed, Yuji placed two folders on the table. “Don’t talk to my sempais like that.” She said bothered while Sasaki and Iguchi smiled content at the defense of their kouhai.

“What’s that? And what are those faces?” The president raised an eyebrow at the students while they gathered together near the desk.

“We are investigating a new paranormal case related to the school.” Sasaki began while for a second Yuji’s thoughts drifted away as she stopped paying attention.

As she looked through the window, noticing how clear the sky looked, she shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. ‘I could make oyakodon for dinner… or maybe I can buy dorayaki from that store close to the hospital on my way back…’ she could feel her mouth watering at the thought of food.

“As far as we know that was just ticks.”

The room remained quiet for a few seconds.

“So what?! Our club is searching for the occult to make a proper report! This still counts as an activity report!” Yuji punched the table while Sasaki looked down at the table embarrassed.

The president, looking annoyed, said, “It’s enough for these little kids games! Besides, the problem here is you, Itadori Yuji.” he pointed at Itadori accusingly. “You’re registered in the female track team, not the occult club.”

At that, the pink-haired remained stock shocked, while her two senpais slowly turned their head to look at her. “You don’t have the minimum required members to function as a club.” The president finished.

“Itadori…” Sasaki looked annoyed at the pink-haired while crossing her arms.

“Eh?! But I remember I marked down the occult club, I’m sure!”
“I’m the one who changed it!”

A new voice made its presence, and at the door stood the athletics advisor, sports wear showing he was in fact, a sports dude.

“Itadori, we need you to win the nationals.” The coach declared dramatically, pointing a finger at the teen as if entrusting her with the fate of the entire school.

The room immediately filled with disapproving stares as four pairs of eyes looked at him like he had just kicked a puppy.

The coach ignored them.

Yuji crossed her arms. “I already told you no! Like a thousand times!”

“I won’t accept it!” The coach said while the student council president debated if the situation was even proper for a school teacher to be doing.

“He won’t allow it?...” Yuji murmured as she looked at her sempais, she felt a headache coming.

The occult club room suddenly seemed much smaller than usual.

She could hear students practicing in the halls and outside the windows, the distant sound of whistles and shouting drifted through the glass, reminding her exactly why she preferred spending her afternoons here.

Inside the club room it was quiet, comfortable and, most importantly, free of people trying to make her run laps.

“However! I’m not unjust. If you can defeat me, I’ll excuse you from the team.” The entire room stared at him; the coach puffed out his chest proudly “Let’s solve this with a small competition!”

At this point, the council president was genuinely debating whether this situation violated some kind of school policy.

Yuji blinked and a grin slowly spread across her face, a competition? Now that was a language she understood. “A competition? You got a deal!”

“If you win, I’ll leave you alone, but if I do-.”
“Let’s go! I got the drill.”

The pink-haired interrupted the teacher while walking out the room followed by her sempais.

“Is it even allowed to change a student club application?” The president wondered after everyone left the room and they made their way to the outside track.

They were a few months into the school year and the consistent beg from the teacher never ceased, it was certainly bothersome.

Itadori Yuji was not a force to be reckoned with, she had tried in her time different sports, none of them satisfying that hunger for more; when you win every single game, every single match and no one is enough to make you work for a win, it gets boring.

So, participating in the sport club was something she had no interest in, she’d rather spend her time with the occult club, it not only allowed her to do different things but also it ended at the perfect time to let her visit her grandpa during the allowed hours in the hospital; it was a win-win, the club could do their activities as they had the minimum of students required, and she could visit her only family.

“Coach Takagi is going to compete with Itadori!” some students shouted while they gathered outside to watch.

The sun warmed her skin as she stepped onto the field, freckles becoming more visible beneath the afternoon light. A grin spread across her face almost immediately; whatever challenge they had prepared for her, it would probably end the same way every other challenge did.

“14 meters!” A student marked the land of the coach’s throw while Itadori stood a few paces back watching.

A few whistles sounded from the gathered athletes.

It wasn't a bad result by any means, and several members of the track and field club nodded appreciatively while the coach crossed his arms with a satisfied smile, clearly proud of his performance.

Yuji didn't look particularly impressed.

On the side, a small crowd had begun to gather; what had started as a handful of curious students quickly became several dozen, word traveled surprisingly fast whenever Itadori was involved in something athletic.

Sasaki leaned to the side to talk to Uguchi, “Is Itadori famous or something? I haven’t heard anything.” she questioned; and behind them, unnoticed by either club members, a black-haired that didn’t even have a school uniform stood behind them listening, silently observing the scene.

“There’s rumors she passed all the ninja warrior stages and that she’s the reincarnation of the fighter Filipovic Mirko.” Uguchi whispered back to her only to gain an eyebrow raise from his classmate.

“Filipovic is still alive… and that’s a guy… She’s a girl.” Sasaki slowly turned toward him and Uguchi nodded. “How could she be his reincarnation?” She stared at him for a moment before deciding there was probably no point arguing and she looked toward Yuji again.

“They even called her ‘Tiger of the West’.” Iguchi whispered while Sasaki raised an eyebrow.
“Lame.”

The girl in question was busy turning the shot put around in her hands, completely oblivious to the absurd discussion happening a few meters away.

For all the ridiculous stories surrounding her, Yuji herself seemed far more interested in figuring out how the event worked. “How do I throw this?” she asked, weighing the metal ball in one hand. “Can I do it however I want?”

“Mm? Yeah, sure.”

Yuji shrugged as she planted her feet and the field gradually grew quieter, even those who had only come to watch out of curiosity found themselves paying attention.

Something about the casual way she stood there made it feel like they were about to witness something interesting.

Yuji drew her arm back, and a familiar sensation appeared almost immediately. It was difficult to explain; a strange feeling that had always been there, lingering in the back of her mind whenever she exerted herself.

Sometimes objects felt slower than they should, sometimes falls seemed softer than they had any right to be, punches landed harder, steps felt lighter. Grandpa always dismissed it whenever she brought it up as a child, so eventually she had stopped questioning it.

Even now, she couldn't really tell what it was, only that if she focused on it, the shot-put in her hand suddenly felt less heavy.

For a moment she considered using it; then immediately discarded the idea, that would be cheating.

The coach had challenged her to a competition and she had accepted, using that weird feeling would defeat the entire point; besides, it wasn't like she needed it, the shot-put wasn't particularly heavy, and fourteen meters wasn't exactly an intimidating record.

A grin spread across her face as she tightened her grip around the metal sphere; the loose strands that had escaped her half-up bun whipped across her face as she wound back her arm, pink hair flashing against the darker black underneath before she launched the shot-put across the field.

The projectile tore through the air and several students followed its trajectory for the first few meters before realizing it wasn't slowing down or rather, not slowing down enough.

Eyes widened and the grin on the coach's face vanished.

Then a metallic clang echoed across the field, the shot-put slammed directly into the crossbar of one of the football goals nearly thirty meters away, making the entire structure bend from the impact.

Silence followed.

A whistle slipped from someone's mouth, a clipboard hit the ground somewhere behind Yuji and the coach stared at the goal open mouthed.

Yuji tilted her head with a smile. “Nice! Does that mean I win?”

“A tiger? More like a gorilla…” Sasaki murmured. “She threw that like a baseball pitcher…”

“Well coach, I gotta go. Nice throw!” Without waiting for a response, Yuji turned around and made her way back toward her senpais.

Behind her, the coach remained frozen in place, still staring at the football goal with his mouth hanging open and both eyes wide.

A few members of the athletics club had already gathered around the teacher, piling more shot-put balls over his head, balancing them as the teacher remained frozen. Others walked to the goal arguing over the exact distance while some kept sneaking glances in her direction.

Sasaki tilted her head at the pink-haired. “Itadori, you don’t have to be part of the occult club if you don’t want to. Maybe in one of these sports you’ll do better.”

Yuji blinked as the suggestion caught her off guard enough that she scratched the back of her head, dislodging a few loose strands from her half-up bun. “Huh?”

She looked between her two friends.“Huh? But you guys can’t even enter scary places without me… Besides,” Yuji continued with a grin, “It’s the only club that ends activities before five you know. I like being part of the occult club.”

The words came out so naturally that she didn't think much of them; Sasaki and Iguchi, on the other hand, immediately stiffened and a faint blush appeared on both of their faces.

After all, they had originally recruited Yuji simply to keep the club from being shut down, even going as far as offering her to be a ghost member and telling her it wasn’t necessary for her to show up to the meetings; hearing her casually admit that she enjoyed spending time with them was unexpectedly embarrassing.

“No problem,” Iguchi said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“As you prefer,” Sasaki added with a small smile.

Before the conversation could continue, her gaze drifted toward the large clock mounted on the outside wall of the school building. The second she registered the time, her relaxed expression disappeared. “Shoot. It’s 4:30, I gotta go.”

Without another word, she grabbed her bag and took off toward the school gates, leaving her sempais behind as they watched her disappear down the path.

As she rounded a corner, her attention was briefly drawn to a black-haired teenager standing near the wall and for a second their eyes met.

Yuji slowed her pace just enough to take note of him; the boy looked around her age, dressed in black with a white shirt and carrying himself with a serious expression, more importantly, he wasn't wearing a school uniform, at least, not one she recognized.

The thought barely lasted a moment before she glanced down at herself and immediately felt a little hypocritical; technically she wasn't wearing hers either.

The school skirt was still there, but the jacket had long since been replaced by a yellow hoodie a few sizes too large and since they had spent the afternoon outside, she had swapped her indoor shoes for her favorite red sneakers before heading to the field.

Looking at it that way, she probably looked less like a student than he did, the thought made her feel slightly guilty.

She resumed her pace and by the time the guy decided whether he wanted to stop her or not, Yuji had already disappeared around the corner.

A few minutes later she pushed open the door to a small flower shop nestled between two larger buildings and the bell chimed overhead.

The familiar scent of flowers immediately greeted her.

Rows upon rows of colorful bouquets lined the walls, filling the small shop with shades of yellow, pink, white and purple.

Sunlight filtered through the front windows, illuminating tiny particles of dust drifting lazily through the air; compared to the noise of the school and the busy streets outside, the store felt peaceful.

Yuji had been coming here for years, long enough that she no longer needed to look around, long enough that the owner always knew exactly why she was there.

"Good afternoon, Yuji-chan." The elderly owner greeted her from behind the counter, setting aside a pair of gardening scissors.

"Good afternoon oba-san." Itadori smiled at the lady.

The wrinkles around the woman's eyes deepened as her smile appeared. "You're cutting it close today." and Yuji laughed awkwardly. "The usual?"
"Yep."

Without another word, the owner moved toward a section of flowers near the back of the shop.

Yuji wandered between the displays while she worked, occasionally stopping to inspect flowers she didn't know the names of, not that she knew many to begin with. If someone asked her the difference between half the flowers in the shop, she'd probably fail immediately.

A few moments later, the elderly woman returned carrying a neatly arranged bouquet. "There we go."

Yuji's face brightened immediately. "Looks great."

"Of course it does." The owner puffed out her chest proudly. "I made it."

Itadori left the shop with a small arrangement of flowers cradled carefully in her arm and resumed her journey toward the hospital.

The next traffic light caught her just before she could cross. "Aw, come on." The red light remained stubbornly in place.

Beside her, two women chatted while waiting for the signal to change; one carried a baby in her arms while the other listened with a smile.

The baby, however, seemed far more interested in Yuji, tiny hands reaching toward the bouquet as the child made an insistent noise.

Yuji looked down at the flowers, then gave a side-eye at the baby, and looked back at the flowers; it was a difficult negotiation but after a moment she carefully plucked the smallest flower from the bouquet and held it out.

"There."

The baby's face immediately lit up, tiny fingers wrapped around the flower triumphantly and the mother looked mortified when she realized. "Oh no, I'm sorry- I should’ve paid more attention."
"It's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."

The woman still looked unconvinced. "It was part of your bouquet."

Yuji glanced down at the flowers remaining in her arm before looking back at the child, who was currently examining the flower as if it were the greatest treasure ever discovered. "I think it found a better owner."

The mother let out a small laugh at that, some of her embarrassment finally fading while the child happily waved their prize around while Yuji smiled. The tiny flower narrowly avoided hitting the mother in the face several times, making the woman scramble to catch the baby's wrist before any accidents happened.

For a moment, the intersection felt strangely peaceful; cars waited patiently at the red light, conversations drifted through the crowd of pedestrians and the warm afternoon sun reflected off the windows of nearby buildings.

Then the traffic signal changed and Yuji adjusted her grip on the bouquet as she stepped forward with the rest of the crowd. "Have a nice day."

"You too." The lady said as the baby responded by enthusiastically shaking the flower in her direction.

Yuji couldn't help smiling as she crossed the street alongside the flow of pedestrians, the hospital already visible at the end of the street.

The automatic doors slid open with a soft hiss as she stepped inside, the familiar smell of disinfectant greeted her immediately.

Doctors walked through the halls carrying charts, visitors moved between rooms while nurses discussed schedules near the reception desk. It was busy enough to feel alive but familiar enough that Yuji barely noticed any of it anymore.

"Good afternoon." A few staff members greeted her as she passed.

The elevator ride was short and soon enough she found herself walking down a corridor she could probably navigate with her eyes closed.

Her pace slowed as she approached the room at the very end, the bouquet shifted slightly in her grip; taking a breath, Yuji reached for the handle and pushed the door open.

“How many times have I told you to stop coming? And quit bringing flowers with you all the time!” The old man's complaint greeted her before she had even fully stepped into the room.

Yuji rolled her eyes.

The room itself looked much the same as it always did; the afternoon sunlight filtered through the large window near the bed, painting long shadows across the floor while the steady beeping of medical equipment filled the otherwise quiet space.

“You always give me that, and I already told you, these aren’t for you, they're for the nurses that have to deal with you.” She carefully removed the wrapping paper from the bouquet before placing the flowers on a nearby chair.

“All the more reason not to!” The old man shot back immediately. “And what about your club? Go to your club! Your club!”

“Ah calm down already.” Yuji glanced toward him, narrowing her eyes. “It ends before five. If I had something to do I wouldn’t even be here.”

The answer didn't seem to satisfy him. “Tch-, then listen to me, since I have free time too.” he began, his tone immediately made her suspicious.

Experience had taught her that whenever Ji-chan said something like that, it usually meant a lecture was coming.

“I’m not interested.” Yuji murmurs as she grabs the empty vase from the windowsill and walks toward the sink tucked into the corner of the room.

The old man clicked his tongue. “Just listen well. There’s something I want to tell you before the end.” Water began running from the faucet and the sound echoed softly through the room. “It’s about your parents.”

“I said I’m not interested.” She interrumps without even turning around. The response came so quickly as the mention of her parents barely registered anymore; they had never been there, and after enough time had passed, curiosity had simply stopped mattering. Behind her, Wasuke shot a stinky eye at the back of her head. “Ji-chan, can you stop trying to act cool before you die?”

“Every man deserves to go with style you know!” The man complained loudly enough that a nurse passing outside the room briefly glanced through the window. “Get a clue you useless child.”

The words were ignored entirely as Yuji returned carrying the vase, now filled with water. She placed it on the windowsill and began arranging the flowers inside one by one.

The sunlight illuminated the bouquet as she worked. “Quit snapping over everything.” She murmured as the vase was placed on the window and the flowers inside. “You can just be yourself.”

“Tsk- What I have to deal with…” The man said as he turned around on the bed to lay on his side, giving his back to the teen.

For a moment, the room fell quiet, only the distant sounds of the hospital remained, footsteps in the hallway, a cart rolling across polished floors, the steady hum of the ventilation system.

“Yuji.” Something in his voice made her stop, the flower she had been adjusting remained between her fingers and slowly, she turned her head; Wasuke didn't move from where he lay.

“Don’t let anyone take advantage of you, you hear me? You’re a strong girl, so help others.” The words came out quieter than before and Yuji's expression softened slightly. “Even if you don’t get to help everyone, help those you can; if it’s only those closest to you, if you’re not sure or they won’t appreciate it, even if you lose your way…”

The old man paused, his breathing sounded heavier than usual. “Just save as many people as you can, even if it’s only one.” The afternoon sunlight continued to pour through the window, dust drifted lazily through the air.

“When you die, you should be surrounded by others. Don’t end up like me.”

Silence settled in the room, and for a few seconds, Yuji didn't move, the flower remained untouched in her hand, Ji-chan had never sounded like that before.

“Ji-chan?” She calls leaning away from the window and letting go of the flower; the old man doesn’t answer.

The room suddenly felt too quiet; Yuji looked at the back of the man before taking a few steps closer, her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the blanket.

“You’re not alone.” The words left her mouth almost automatically, a simple truth as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I'm here...”

After a few seconds in silence, she reached for the phone mounted on the wall beside the bed; the movement felt strangely automatic as though her body had already decided what needed to happen while her mind remained stuck staring at the old man lying in front of her.

The receiver felt cold against her ear and a ringing tone echoed through the line for a few seconds until someone answered asking confusedly for his grandpa as he never called the reception before.

Yuji opened her mouth yet nothing came out; her eyes remained fixed on the floor and the tiles blurred slightly, only then did she realize tears had begun gathering in her eyes, not enough to fall, just enough to make everything look a little less clear.

The receptionist spoke again. "Itadori-san? Is everything all right?"

A knot formed in her throat, for a second she considered calling his name again.

Maybe he would answer this time, maybe he would complain about the flowers, maybe he would tell her to stop wasting her afternoons visiting him, but even if he called for him, she wouldn't get a response and the room would still remain silent, the machines would still remain silent, the person on the bed would still remain silent.

Yuji swallows the knot on her throat. “My grandpa is dead…” The words sounded strange, barely real.

The receptionist immediately changed tone, concern replaced by professionalism, but Yuji barely listened. She answered whatever questions were asked of her, her voice sounding distant even to her own ears.

She blinks a few times and looks up holding the tears, she feels herself shaking as time passes. She wasn't entirely sure how much after, but a few minutes later nurses entered the room.

One gently guided her to the side while others moved around the bed; they spoke quietly and respectfully, still Yuji couldn't bring herself to pay attention to them, instead, she stared at the bouquet resting near the window.

The flowers looked exactly the same as before.

Eventually the bed was wheeled out of the room and the sound of its wheels echoed through the hallway before disappearing entirely.

Not too long after, she’s in the reception filling some documents; papers came and went, signatures were requested, questions were asked. Yuji answered all of them mechanically, her eyes moving across the forms while her thoughts remained somewhere else entirely.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the pen, she still didn't know what she was feeling; sadness sat somewhere in her chest, heavy and uncomfortable, but every time she tried to focus on it her mind drifted away.

The reality of the situation refused to settle properly, part of her still expected to walk back into the room and find Ji-chan complaining about the flowers or criticizing her posture.

Instead there were forms, forms and signatures and polite condolences.

The hospital felt different now, the same nurses walked through the halls, the same phones rang in the distance, the same fluorescent lights illuminated the waiting area, nothing had changed, yet somehow everything felt wrong, and she just wants to go home.

“This should be everything.” The nurse gave her a last paper to fill; the woman had been glancing since Yuji arrived, concern evident in her eyes; after a brief hesitation, she finally asked. “Will you be ok?”

Yuji stared at the paper for a moment before lowering her head and continuing to write “Yeah, sorry.” She sniffed quietly while finishing the form. “Is just… I never had to deal with this before. It doesn’t feel real yet.”

The nurse's expression softened as Yuji finished signing the document and handed it back with a small smile. “Ji-chan would snap if I just mopped around forever though…” A smile that felt easier to make than trying to explain everything swirling around inside her head.

Itadori looked up from the desk. “So I’ll just smile while I roast him up.”
“Phrasing!”

Not even a second passed before Yuji felt a pressure settle against the side of her head.

The sensation wasn't physical, nothing was touching her, yet it felt as though something heavy had suddenly entered the room, not heavy enough to force her down or make breathing difficult, but enough that she became immediately aware of it.

A faint irritation spread behind her eyes and she resisted the urge to rub her temple.

The feeling wasn't entirely unfamiliar, her whole life she had occasionally noticed similar sensations around certain people, most of them felt different, softer somehow.

This wasn't one of those.

This felt like somebody pushing the side of her head with a hand while she remained in place; it was like when you took a dive on the deepest part of the pool, and you just kept going deeper and deeper to the point you could feel the weight of the water on you.

This pressure wasn't enough to hurt, just enough to make their presence impossible to ignore.

As she turned her head, the pressure immediately became clearer and she found a familiar face standing near the entrance of the reception area. “Itadori Yuji, right?” They boy asked while coming into the light of the reception, revealing to be the same black-haired student she had crossed paths with while leaving school earlier that day.

“Oh. It's you.”

This time he wasn't just wearing the black shirt from before; a gakuran rested over his shoulders now, making him look much more like a student, even so, the uniform wasn't one she recognized, and between the unfamiliar school and the weird pressure he seemed to carry around him, the guy was becoming stranger by the minute.

“I’m Fushiguro from the Jujutsu Technical College.” His eyes remained fixed on her. “I’d like to have a word with you.”

Yuji blinked, the name meant absolutely nothing to her. “Jujutsu Technical... what?”

The pressure remained there, lingering at the edge of her awareness, not stronger than before, but no less irritating either.

The nurse beside her slowly looked the newcomer up and down, the side-eye she gave him was powerful enough that Yuji almost forgot about the weird sensation entirely and after a moment, the nurse returned her attention to the girl. “If you need anything, just call.”

The implication behind those words was not subtle and Yuji had to bite back a laugh. Meanwhile, Fushiguro looked completely oblivious to the fact that he had just been judged by a medical professional.

As they moved away from the reception, towards the chairs in the waiting area Yuji adjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. “Sorry but uhm…” She scratched her cheek awkwardly. “I’m in mourning right now.”

Fushiguro didn't seem particularly moved. “Sorry, but there’s no time. The cursed object you carry is really dangerous. Hand it over.”
“Cursed object?”

The boy immediately pulled out his phone and brought up a picture. “This one. You have it?”

Yuji leaned closer; the pressure she'd felt from him earlier remained, settling firmly at the edge of her awareness like an annoying weight refusing to leave. “Ah yes. My sempais have it, they seemed very excited when we found it.” For the first time since approaching her, Fushiguro's expression visibly changed and the look immediately made Yuji suspicious.

Leaning back she noticed the disturbed face on the boy and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t mind if you take it honestly. But my sempais took a liking to it. Can I have an explanation on why you need it?” She asked while leaning back into the sofa of the waiting area.

And as Fushiguro went on a tangent of negative emotions, curses and talismans; the more he spoke, the more ridiculous the conversation sounded, at least until it didn't.

Yuji rested her chin on her hand and couldn’t help but wonder, as her eyes drifted away from Fushiguro for a moment, the things he was describing sounded familiar.

Ugly little creatures hiding in corners, dark shapes lurking beneath bridges, things that sometimes peeked at people from around the corner before disappearing.

She had spent most of her life occasionally spotting things that didn't seem quite human; the memory surfaced naturally, a small creature clinging to a train station ceiling, something with too many eyes watching pedestrians from an alley, another one hiding behind a vending machine near her elementary school.

None of them had ever done anything, they mostly looked miserable or annoying, sometimes both.

Yuji had never paid them much attention, if they weren't bothering anybody, why would she? Besides, nobody had ever reacted to them, after enough years, she'd simply assumed they were normal or that everyone else could see them too.

“Most of the time, cursed objects are kept in schools as talismans. What you guys found was that.” Fushiguro's voice pulled her back to the present.

“Wait, what’s wrong with a talisman? What’s dangerous about that?” She questioned the black-haired about it.

“Talisman sounds good enough yet when more cursed the object is, it fends off causes, like fighting poison against poison.” His expression darkened slightly. “But, with the passing of the years, the seals weaken and the curse strengthens; it is like a bait alluring other curses.”

Yuji frowned. “A bait?” That sounded considerably less harmless.

“The one kept in your school was deemed a high grade curse and danger. So before someone ends up dead, give it to me.” The seriousness in his voice finally got through to her.

“I already said I don’t mind, dummy.” She pulled her backpack forward onto her lap, Yuji opened it and rummaged through the contents, a notebook, a pencil case, the receipt from the flower shop, eventually her hand found the wooden box.

“There.” She placed it into Fushiguro's hands; as far as she was concerned, that was the end of it. With a small stretch, she rose from the sofa as she closed her bag and adjusted it on her back.

The day had been exhausting and she wanted to get home already; Yuji had barely taken two steps before fingers wrapped around her shoulder. “Where is the content?!” When opening the wooden box he realized it was empty.

“I already told you my sempais have it.” she pushed the hand away from her while taking a step back, the movement was harsher than she intended, maybe because she was tired or maybe because she had spent the entire afternoon dealing with things she didn't want to deal with.

Either way, her patience was running thin, and looking at the boy up and down judging him hard as he got close. “Touch me again and your nose will end up in the back of your face, idiot.”

Fushiguro looked completely unimpressed by the threat. “What’s wrong with you?! Don’t you realize how big a deal this is?!” He snapped and looked angry at her. “Where are they?”

The pressure around him immediately felt heavier, just enough to make the irritation behind her eyes return.

“Uh, I don’t know, I think school. They mention they wanted to open it tonight, something about removing the seals.” She scratched the back of her head noticing the absolute panic settling on the boy’s face, for the first time since she'd met him, his expression cracked completely. “Is it dangerous?”

Fushiguro shoved the box to his pocket and turned around to exit the hospital. “It’s worse than dangerous… They’re going to die.”

The automatic doors slid shut behind them as they left the hospital.

Yuji barely had time to leave her backpack with the nurse from the reception before Fushiguro was already moving.

With a sigh she matched his pace easily, the city lights beginning to flicker on as evening settled over Sendai. People turned their heads as the two teenagers sprinted down the sidewalk, weaving between pedestrians and crossing streets without slowing.

“Do talismans come off easily?” Yuji asked between strides.

“No.” Fushiguro didn't even look at her. “It's impossible for people who lack cursed energy.”

Yuji pointed ahead. “There! It’s a shortcut!”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned sharply into a side street and Fushiguro followed. The street opened onto a steep road leading directly toward the school grounds; their footsteps echoed against the pavement as they ran uphill.

“This time the object itself is too strong,” Fushiguro continued. “The seal is ancient. At this point it might as well be paper.”

That sounded significantly worse than before; Yuji frowned. “I still don't get this thing about curses.” she murmured to herself.

Fushiguro stopped and next to him Yuji stopped too as a cold pressure crashed over them.

It was very different to the weight she had felt from Fushiguro earlier, this wasn't merely irritating, it was suffocating; the air itself seemed heavier and her skin prickled.

For a brief moment it felt like someone had draped a soaking wet blanket over her shoulders and started pushing down; cold ran over her body and the pressure settled behind her eyes and along the back of her neck.

Every instinct in her body screamed that something was off; beside her, Fushiguro's expression hardened and slowly, both of them looked up.

The school stood at the top of the hill, and above it darkness; not ordinary darkness, something thick and unnatural churned above the building like black smoke, spilling over the rooftop and crawling across the evening sky.

Yuji's stomach dropped, for the first time since meeting him, the pressure she felt from Fushiguro completely vanished from her awareness, swallowed whole by whatever that was.

The boy's eyes remained fixed on the school. “Stay here.” His tone left no room for argument. “Where's your club room?”

“Wait.” Yuji stared at him. “Are you serious? I should go with you.”

He answered immediately. “You're crazy if you think I'm letting a normal girl with barely any cursed energy walk into that.”

The words hit a nerve, those people might only have been her senpais for a few months, but that hardly mattered, they were still her senpais, people she knew and they were trapped inside that building. “Those are my senpais. Even if I barely know them, I can't just leave them there.”

The cold pressure hanging over the school continued to grow.

“Stay here, damn it.” For the first time all evening, genuine urgency entered Fushiguro's voice.

Yuji noticed and it only made her more determined; Megumi apparently noticed that too, with an irritated click of his tongue, he turned toward the gates. “Stay.”

“Don’t order me around, I'm not a dog.”

He ignored her entirely. Without another word, Fushiguro vaulted over the school gate and sprinted into the grounds. For a few moments she could still make out his figure crossing the courtyard, a dark silhouette against the evening lights of the school, but before long the strange darkness hanging over the building swallowed him completely and he disappeared from sight.

Silence settled over the street.

Yuji stared at the school. The thing looming above it hadn't changed, if anything, it looked larger now that she was focusing on it; the pressure in the air felt awful, heavy, cold and hostile, completely different from the irritating weight she had felt from Fushiguro earlier, that had felt like somebody trying to get her attention.

She shoved her hands into the pocket of her hoodie and remained where she was.

The city continued moving around her as if nothing was wrong, cars passed through nearby intersections, somewhere in the distance a dog barked before being answered by another; the sounds of ordinary life continued uninterrupted while a massive cloud of whatever-that-was sat on top of her school.

It felt ridiculous.

Yuji shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked away from the gate, then she looked right back.

“Stay here… Why am I even listening to that guy…” Fushiguro had told her to stay and thinking it through, the guy clearly knew more about this than she did. Everything he had said in the hospital still sounded insane when she replayed it in her head; curses, talismans, cursed objects… The rational part of her wanted to dismiss the entire thing as nonsense, but then she remembered the look on his face when she mentioned the seals being removed.

She notices the pressure hanging over the school, and most importantly, she remembered the things she had occasionally seen throughout her life and never really questioned. But this? This didn't feel insane, it was purely demental.

Another minute crawled by as she stood there staring at the school gates. “What am I even afraid of? Death?” She closed her hand on a tight fist. “Was grandpa also scared of death? If he was, he sure didn’t look like it…”

Every passing second she tried convincing herself that Fushiguro would handle everything, her mind immediately supplied images of Sasaki and Iguchi sitting in the club room, excitedly talking about the box, arguing over occult nonsense and probably laughing while they ignored every warning label attached to the thing.

“I cried because I felt alone, not because I was scared of death…” Her stomach twisted. If Fushiguro was right, and those curse things actually hurt people… Would that mean her senpais were in danger because she had handed over the box without thinking?

Yuji exhaled slowly and dragged a hand through her hair, loosening a few strands from her bun. The evening breeze caught the pink locks immediately, revealing flashes of black as they brushed across her cheek.

“Between this death that looms above my sempais and the one that took my ji-chan, is there even a difference?” She remained standing outside the gates for one more minute before letting out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.

Without more delays, she jumped above the gate just like Fushiguro did before and ran towards the side of the building.

The closer she got to the building, the worse the sensation became; earlier it had merely been uncomfortable, an unpleasant pressure that sat behind her eyes and made her aware that something was wrong, but now it felt as though the very air around the school had thickened.

Every breath felt heavier than the last and the instinct screaming at her to turn around only irritated her more because her senpais were inside, whatever that feeling hanging above the building was, whatever those curses Fushiguro had spent the entire run talking about were, they were inside with it; and the thought alone was enough to make standing still impossible.

Her eyes immediately searched upwards to the fourth floor, the clubroom was on the fourth floor.

The main entrance would be faster for a normal person, but Yuji had never been particularly normal, she could already imagine herself running through empty hallways trying to find the correct staircase while wasting precious minutes, and every second spent doing that felt like a second too many.

A window would be easier.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, another memory surfaced right behind it, small moments throughout her life where she had jumped higher than she should have, objects lighter than what they should be, and maybe, just maybe, that feeling could be used to make herself lighter.

The warmth she associated with that feeling spread through her body as she ran.

It settled around her shoulders and chest like a blanket, comforting in a way she had never found strange until recently; and as the pressure from the school remained, cold and suffocating, her own presence drowned part of it out.

The next step she took cracked the pavement beneath her shoe and launched her upward and the ground disappeared almost instantly.

Wind rushed against her face and the third floor window reached her shoulder where she took a hold of it to force her feet to plant against the wall; concrete fractured beneath the impact and she pushed again, sending herself higher while pieces of stone scattered toward the ground below.

And in less than a second she approached the fourth-floor windows, both hands shot forward and as her fingers caught the walls surrounding the window, her body kept moving up for an instant before the warm feeling left and she came down, using the gravity as an impulse she shot her body to the glass.

The window exploded.

Glass burst inward as Yuji kicked through it without a second thought. The creature had barely begun turning its head when both of her feet slammed directly into its face and the impact folded its upper body backwards and sent the enormous mass crashing through a row of desks that splintered apart beneath it.

The thing was enormous. Twisted limbs protruded from a swollen body covered in eyes and mouths that seemed to shift every time she looked at them; the pressure coming from it was overwhelming, cold enough that it almost felt physical, and she finally understood why Fushiguro's presence had felt so different, his had been irritating, this felt wrong.

Her gaze immediately moved to Sasaki and Iguchi; both of them hung limply on the curse’s body, and the relief of seeing them alive lasted less than a second.

"Itadori?!" Fushiguro shouted from somewhere to her left.

Yuji, still above the curse, planted both feet against its body and launched herself backwards before it could recover; one hand seized Sasaki beneath the arms while the other grabbed Iguchi's collar, their weight barely registered.

The floor rushed toward them and instinctively, the warmth inside her expanded.

The sensation spread beyond her own body and wrapped around the people in her arms. It felt natural, like reaching out with a limb she had always possessed but never consciously used and the world suddenly became lighter.

Sasaki and Yuji’s hair floated around their faces and Iguchi's sleeve drifted upward.

Around them, a few shards of glass, broken chunks of concrete and even fragments of overturned desks hung suspended in the air for several seconds; the destruction surrounding them seemed frozen in place as though the room itself had stopped moving.

Then the feeling slipped away and everything crashed down at once.

Yuji landed in a crouch several meters away from the curse, her shoes scraping against the floor as she absorbed the impact before carefully lowering Ugichi onto the ground behind her and holding Sasaki in her arms.

“What… time…” The cursed mumbled while twisting its body to look around, and Yuji grimaced at the view.

“That’s a curse?” Yuji stared at the creature as it writhed on the floor.

The thing looked nothing like the strange creatures she had occasionally spotted throughout her life, those had always been small, annoying and sometimes ugly enough to make her wonder how something could even look like that in the first place; yet none of them had ever felt dangerous, most simply lingered in dark corners or watched people from rooftops before disappearing again.

This thing had nearly killed her senpais. “It’s nothing like what I’ve seen before...” she whispered more to herself than anyone else.

Before she could think more about it, two large dogs lunged forward and sank their fangs into the curse. The creature shrieked as they tore into its limbs, pulling it apart piece by piece while dark energy spilled across the floor and dissolved into the air.

The pressure that had been crushing the room moments ago slowly began to fade.

As Yuji watched in fascination; with a sigh, Fushiguro stepped around the rubble and approached her. “I should be more annoyed that you're here...” He glanced at Sasaki and Iguchi before looking back at her. “But you did good.”

'Who does he think he is?' Yuji thought while raising an eyebrow at the comment. Ignoring him completely, she looked past his shoulder toward the two animals currently eating what remained of the curse. “What are those things munching the curse?” She questioned

“Those are shikigamis… You didn’t know?” Fushiguro Fushiguro placed a finger against his chin while studying her; the expression on his face made it look like he was trying to solve a puzzle. “But she has cursed energy.” The words were quiet enough that she almost missed them and after a moment he let his hand drop. “They’re like curses, but I control them. You’ve never seen those?”

“Ah well,” Yuji adjusted Sasaki in her arms, trying to get a more comfortable hold while making sure her senpai's head wasn't hanging awkwardly. “I’ve seen curses before, just never as big as that one…” Her eyes drifted back toward the dogs. “Or as cute as those puppies…”

The black-haired boy visibly paused. “They’re wolves not puppies…” He murmured while rolling his eyes. “Aren’t you scared?” he finally asked and the question made her blink.

“Well… I was before, but we're all gonna die right?” Yuji looked down at Sasaki sleeping peacefully in her arms, the question lingered in her mind longer than she expected.

Earlier that afternoon, death had been something distant, something waiting in a hospital room while she stubbornly pretended it wasn't coming; now it felt like it was everywhere, reaching for people who had done nothing wrong.

“I would like that at least, the people I know, died in a proper way.” She looked back towards the remains of the curse being devoured by the wolves. “I don’t understand it very well either.”

For a brief moment, the room felt strangely calm despite the destruction surrounding them.

Then something slipped from Sasaki's pocket, the object bounced against the floor with a dull sound.

She carefully crouched while keeping an arm around her unconscious senpai and picked up the shriveled finger before holding it up between two fingers. “Is this it?”

“Yeah,” Fushiguro immediately recognized it. “The cursed object of the special grade: Ryomen Sukuna. At least a part.” Fushiguro informed the girl who was standing up.

“Why are curses after this thing? It looks disgusting.” She questioned looking at the finger, neither of the teens noticing the curse coming out of the ceiling.

“If they eat it they would get stronger, their cursed energy would grow significantly and they would become more powerful.”
“Eat it? Does it taste good or something?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just give it to me.”

As the pink-haired reached out her arm with the finger to the teen, and the concrete bulged, cracked and then exploded as a grotesque limb burst through the rubble and the curse dropped from the ceiling, in a quick movement, the two dogs came running to push both the girl and the unconscious senpai on the floor away.

“Get out!” Fushiguro's shout echoed through the room and Yuji barely caught a glimpse of him leaping backward before dust swallowed everything.

As the cloud of dust covered the hall Itadori couldn’t help but worry about the boy who just saved her from being crushed. Yuji tightened her hold around Sasaki instinctively; the finger was still in her hand.

The wolves beside her began melting back into the shadows beneath them, their forms dissolving like ink being washed away by water, the room gradually came back into view as the dust cleared, and ahead of her the curse had Fushiguro on its hands, one enormous hand wrapped around his body while the other anchored itself into the broken floor.

The black-haired sorcerer struggled against its grip.

“Nue!” He made a hand sign trying to bring out another shikigami but the curse moved before anything could happen, as if it knew exactly what he was trying to do.

Its arm snapped sideways and Fushiguro's body slammed into the opposite wall hard enough to crack the concrete, the sound echoed throughout the room.

Then the curse jumped after him, the entire wall exploded outward and both him and the curse landed on a rooftop outside.

As the black-haired sorcerer pushed himself off the rubble, he tried to bring his hands together into the familiar sign, the gesture barely made it halfway before his vision blurred and the world tilted beneath him.

A sharp pain pulsed behind his eyes, spreading through his skull with every heartbeat, and for a moment he had to catch himself against a broken piece of concrete to keep from falling over entirely. “Dammit. I can’t focus.” he murmured seeing the curse approach.

Chunks of debris crunched beneath its weight as it approached through the dust, its massive frame barely fitting through the hole it had created in the wall, every step sent vibrations through the floor and Fushiguro could already tell he wouldn't be fast enough, not while his head felt as though it was splitting apart.

The curse lunged yet before it could reach anything, a deafening impact shook the floor and the creature was slammed face-first into the ground hard enough to shatter the concrete beneath it, cracks spreading through the hallway in every direction; dust exploded outward from the point of impact and for a second even the curse seemed too stunned to move.

Above it stood Yuji; Fushiguro stared. “So much strength…” The words escaped him before he could stop them. She hadn't reinforced herself, there had been no noticeable flow of cursed energy around her fist, no technique, no attempt to strengthen the strike, she had simply punched it.

Before the curse could recover, Yuji pushed herself away from it and landed beside the teen, crouching immediately to bring herself to eye level, the concern on her face appeared genuine, as though she hadn't just flattened a monster several times her size. “Are you okay?”

Fushiguro almost laughed, instead he winced. “I told you to get out.” He managed to sit upright with a sharp gasp as another wave of pain shot through his head; everything swayed for a moment before settling again, forcing him to shut one eye while waiting for the dizziness to pass.

“Forget it. You can’t even stand up on your own.” There wasn't any mockery in her voice; with a sigh she stood back up and turned towards the curse, placing herself between it and the injured sorcerer.

The night air whipped through Yuji's hair as she took a few steps forward; the curse lunged first.

Its arm shot toward her with surprising speed, forcing her to duck underneath it as the attack tore through an air conditioning unit next to her; metal twisted and exploded across the rooftop and before the creature could recover, Yuji drove her fist into its side.

The impact echoed through the night as the curse's body folded around the punch and skidded across the rooftop, leaving a trail through the concrete before crashing into the safety fence surrounding the building, the metal bent outward under the force.

For a second, Yuji thought that had to hurt it, then the thing stood up completely fine. "You're kidding." The curse screamed angered.

Its grotesque body swelled before charging again and the familiar warmth spread through Yuji's chest; the world immediately felt lighter as she jumped.

The rooftop disappeared beneath her feet as she launched herself above the curse, wind rushed against her face and for a moment she hung in the air, looking down at the creature from a few meters above only to then drop, driving both heels into its head; the impact slammed it back into the roof hard enough to crack the concrete.

The curse got back up again and Yuji landed several meters away to stare; her fists hurt, not because she was injured, but because she had punched this thing with most of her strength and the creature should have stayed down… Why wasn't this thing staying down?

She rushed forward again, a punch, a kick; every blow landed cleanly and every attack should have been enough to finish a normal opponent, yet the curse simply kept coming.

The pressure coming from the creature was awful, cold and suffocating, like standing beneath a waterfall while somebody pressed down on the back of her neck. Every instinct she possessed told her that this thing was dangerous, but the more it refused to stay down, the more annoyed she became.

With a frustrated click of her tongue, Yuji pushed off the rooftop again; the familiar warmth spread through her body as the world became lighter around her, the distance between herself and the curse disappearing in an instant as she launched into the air.

Wind rushed past her ears while the lights of the city stretched beneath her for a brief moment, her hair pulled out of her face as the cold wind pushed it back, her fist tightened, ready to drive the creature through the roof this time if she had to.

The curse moved faster; one of its grotesque arms shot upward and wrapped around her waist before she could strike, the sudden stop knocked the air from her lungs as the creature slammed her back down toward the rooftop, cracks spread through the concrete beneath them and before she could recover, the curse lifted her again, its mouth split apart, revealing rows upon rows of jagged teeth.

A foul smell immediately hit her nose, rotten and damp enough to make her stomach turn. "That's disgusting." Its grip tightened as it slowly pulled her toward the open maw.

Yuji pushed against its arm with both hands and her muscles strained, she placed both her feet at the teeth of the mouth pushing her own body away from the mouth and trying to keep it open to not be eaten.

"What are you doing?!" Fushiguro shouted from behind her.

"What does it look like?!" The curse lowered her another few centimeters and she kept pushing with her legs. "It's trying to eat me!"

Fushiguro cursed under his breath; blood had begun drying on the side of his face and one of his eyes remained half shut from the damage, but he still looked more concerned about her than himself. "Stop fighting it like that! You can't beat it!"

Yuji gritted her teeth and pushed harder as sweat began to fall from her forehead and hair began to stick to her cheeks. "Can something even be done?!"

"Only curses can exorcise other curses!" Fushiguro’s words barely registered at first, the creature's teeth were getting very close. "You can punch it all night and it won't matter if you're not using cursed energy!"

The curse suddenly jerked its arm, making Yuji lose the little leverage she had built; her eyes widened as she slipped closer to the creature's mouth only to regain her footing and keep pushing the mouth open.

"You should've said that before!"
"I thought you knew! You have cursed energy but you’re not using it!"

For a brief moment the absurdity of the conversation almost distracted her from the fact she was about to be eaten; the pressure surrounding it intensified.

Behind her, Fushiguro forced himself to stand completely, swaying for a second before catching his balance. "There's no use for you being here if you don't have a proper use of cursed energy! You need to get out!"

The statement annoyed her immediately, not because it was insulting but because it was true.

Yuji frowned, ‘cursed energy.’ She thought about the warmth she always carried, the strange pressure she felt from other people, the thing she had sensed from Fushiguro and the one she felt from the curse; her own always felt comfortable and safe, everyone else's felt different and apparently that wasn't normal.

"So I need more cursed energy, right?" The question had come out so casually that for a second he wasn't sure he had heard correctly.

Yuji shifted slightly and something slipped from the pocket of her hoodie, the finger; the shriveled object slowly slid free before tumbling through the air and her eyes immediately followed it, she snatched the finger out of the air before it could fall inside the curses mouth and stared at it for a second.

Up close it looked worse, ancient, dry and absolutely disgusting.

Fushiguro's eyes widened as realization struck him all at once. "Wait."

Yuji looked between the finger and the curse, then toward Fushiguro, then back at the finger. "There's one way I could get more." The color immediately drained from Fushiguro's face; she made a face. "Oh this is a terrible idea."

Then she shoved the finger into her mouth and the taste hit instantly; every muscle in her face twisted in horror as Fushiguro stopped breathing and Yuji gagged before everything became silent.

‘It’s a special grade cursed object, lethal poison.’ Fushiguro couldn't look away. The night wind swept across the rooftop, carrying dust and loose debris through the air while the city lights flickered far below.

The curse had frozen completely, every eye fixed on the girl trapped in its grasp. For a brief moment, everything felt still; a drop of sweat slid down the side of his face. ‘She’s going to die… Unless…’

A single hand movement from the girl made the curse explode, the force of the attack sent dark flesh and cursed energy scattering across the rooftop before the remains immediately began dissolving into ash-like particles. The pressure that had been suffocating the area vanished so suddenly it almost felt wrong, like a sound being cut off halfway through a sentence.

The possibility barely crossed his mind. ‘One in ten thousand chances.’ His heart sank and Fushiguro looked at the girl with wide eyes.

As the remains from the curse began to disappear in dust, Yuji remained standing perfectly still, her head lowered and her shoulders relaxed.

The wind tugged at the strands of pink hair that had escaped her almost fallen bun, carrying them across her face while some strands kept sticking on her cheeks due the sweat. Then a laugh escaped her lips.

The sound immediately sent a chill down Fushiguro's spine as her voice went from her high pitch to a much deeper one still sounding like her but yet not quite the same.

“This is what the moonlight feels on the skin.” The girl lifted both hands and pushed the hair sticking to her face all the way back as black markings slowly spread across her face; they crawled beneath her eyes, across her cheeks and forehead, appearing one line at a time as though they had always been there waiting to surface.

Fushiguro's stomach dropped. ‘From the ten thousand chances…’ The curse's grin widened. ‘This is the worst outcome…’

The newly reincarnated King of Curses stretched their arms overhead, joints cracking softly, only to then take a hold of the hoodie the girl wore to shred it away.

Fushiguro immediately looked away, not out of embarrassment, -at least that was what he told himself-, but rather modesty, as part of his brain reminded him that despite everything happening the body being used still belonged to a teenage girl.

He took a breath in and glanced back, to notice the sports bra underneath, so it mostly looked like a top, a ridiculous amount of relief washed over him accompanied by embarrassment as his own thoughts irritated him.

Jujutsu history's greatest calamity had just reincarnated in front of him, an ancient monster is standing a few meters away, in other words Jujutsu’s Satan just got reincarnated and he worries if the body used for the reincarnation is showing their bra or not.

“I have no interest in meat from dead curses.” The voice coming from Yuji's body was deeper now, relaxed in a way that made Fushiguro even more uneasy. The curse barely spared him a glance as it stepped over the rubble scattered across the rooftop.

The remains of the curse had already begun dissolving into dust, disappearing into the night breeze as though it had never existed at all; and the reincarnated curse’s attention drifted toward the city.

Thousands of lights stretched across the darkness below, streets illuminated by traffic signals and store fronts, apartment windows glowing against the night. “Where’s the people? Where are the women?” The curse stared silently for a few seconds before climbing onto the rooftop railing as though the dozens of meters separating it from the ground didn't exist. “Women and children going around like maggots, what a time to be alive huh.”

The smile spreading across Yuji's face didn't belong to her. “It’s going to be a massacre!" The curse laughed, a loud, genuine laugh, the kind someone would make after hearing a good joke.

Then its own hand suddenly shot upward and grabbed its face and the laughter stopped immediately. “What the hell are you doing with my body?” The higher pitched voice came back out as the curse jumped down from the railing back into the rooftop; the curse's grin disappeared and tilted their head to the side.

Confusion crossed its face for the first time since appearing.

“How are you doing this?”
“Well, it’s my body you weirdo.”

The answer came so naturally that it almost sounded offended.

A few seconds of confusion were enough for Fushiguro to raise both hands ahead of him, both hands closing in a tight fist as darkness pooled around his feet before stretching outward across the concrete like black water. “Don’t move!” The possessed body turned toward him.

“Itadori Yuji,” The shadows continued spreading. “You’re no longer human. According to Jujutsu regulations, you’re classified as a curse.” The words felt strange even as he said them; Yuji had been a normal girl only a few minutes ago, now she was standing in front of him carrying the most dangerous curse in history. “I will exorcize you.”

Quickly, both hands immediately shot upward in surrender at the same time that the black markings covering her body began retreating beneath her skin. “Hey wait, hold on.” The pressure around the rooftop lessened. “We should go to a hospital.” She said pointing at both of them. “We are kinda injured.” She pointed at her head where some blood had been falling and neither of them noticed.

‘Who is in control? She or the cursed object?’ Fushiguro thought while slowly the shadows retreated and the rooftop became silent again.

At least for three seconds.

“What’s the situation?” A new voice next to Fushiguro spoke, making him nearly jump, as he turned around he saw the tall man with white hair that always annoyed him.

“Gojo-sensei? What are you doing here?” The black-haired questioned while the adult pulled out his phone from his pocket.

“I didn’t want to come, bu~ut,” Gojo dragged out the words while reaching into his pocket. “The higher-ups got very insistent when they got a hold of a missing special grade cursed object…” He pulled out his phone. “So they sent me.”

His gaze must’ve moved to Fushiguro to properly look at him, as he stood quiet looking in his direction, it was hard to tell with the blindfold he used. “Man you sure look messed up,” Before Fushiguro could react, a flash exploded directly in front of his face. “Let me take a picture for the second-years, they’re gonna love it.” He said with a smile while snapping a bunch of photos of the injured student leaving partially blind as the shots came out with a flash.

The flashes left bright spots floating across Fushiguro's vision, and by the time Gojo finally lowered the phone, the younger sorcerer looked ready to commit a crime. “So… have you found it?” Gojo pocketed the phone while looking at his student.

“Sorry but…” Yuji raised a hand, both sorcerers looked toward her. “I ate that thing.” She pointed at herself with her other hand to gain the attention of the tall adult; Fushiguro looked away again for her modesty, did she even realize she was only in her sports bra?

The white-haired looked at her up and down. “Really?” The black-haired returned his gaze to the girl, locking eyes with her for a second, then looked back at Gojo simultaneously. .

“Really.”
“Really.”

They both answered together and Gojo's smile faltered just a little.

Before either teenager could say anything else, Gojo suddenly bent forward and Yuji instinctively leaned back.

The white-haired sorcerer lowered himself until he was practically eye-level with her face, studying her with the same curiosity someone might have while examining a particularly strange insect. His covered eyes remained fixed on her for several long seconds while he tilted his head one way and then the other, as though expecting Sukuna to suddenly pop out and wave hello.

The rooftop had gone strangely quiet.

The night wind continued blowing across the damaged building, carrying loose dust and small fragments of concrete over the edge while the distant sounds of traffic drifted up from the city below.

Neither of them realized how absolutely disturbing the sight looked from an outside perspective.

A grown man leaning uncomfortably close to a teenage girl, said girl who was currently standing around in a sports bra, both on a rooftop, in the middle of the night.

“Oi, knock it off!" Fushiguro's voice cut through the silence immediately, the black-haired sorcerer looked horrified.

Gojo finally turned his head. "What?"
"What do you mean 'what'?!" Fushiguro pointed accusingly at him. "Stop doing that!"

Only then did the teacher seem to realize how the scene looked from the outside. “Oh…” A pause. “Yeah I see.” The white-haired man straightened back up and took a step away.

The tension in Yuji's shoulders eased slightly, though not by much. The entire situation felt surreal, less than an hour ago she had been sitting in a hospital filling paperwork after her grandfather died, and now she was standing on top of a damaged school building in the middle of the night while two sorcerers argued over her existence.

Gojo looked at her for another second before smiling a little. “He really did merge with you.” The pink-haired girl raised an eyebrow, the comment made absolutely no sense. “Do you feel any different? Any anomaly with your body?”

The question made her glance downward, trying to find anything weird on her body only to immediately regret it; her hoodie was long gone and only now she realized it and the fact she had been standing there talking normally for the last several minutes without noticing made a blush spread across her face so quickly it almost hurt.

Yuji immediately folded her arms across her chest, then adjusted them, then crossed them again. None of it felt particularly effective and the more she thought about it, the more exposed she felt.

The rooftop suddenly seemed much colder than before. “Mm. Not that I’m aware of.” She avoided eye contact completely, looking at Gojo felt embarrassing and looking at Fushiguro felt even worse; the fact neither of them had said anything somehow made the situation more awkward.

The wind picked up again, carrying loose dust across the rooftop and making several strands of pink hair fall into her face and she was very aware of herself all of a sudden, she felt quite vulnerable to everything.

Gojo hummed thoughtfully, his expression remained surprisingly calm. “Can you swap with Sukuna?” He questioned, completely ignoring the fact that the teenage girl in front of him looked very uncomfortable.

The girl gave him a confused side eye.

“Sukuna?”
“The curse you ate.”

A small shiver ran down her spine, now that the adrenaline was fading, the thought was considerably more unsettling than it had been in the moment. “Ah.” She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think so.”

Gojo's smile widened. “Alright. 10 seconds.” The white-haired sorcerer rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms above his head. “Swap back after 10 seconds.” He crouched a bit to place his hands on his knees and stretch his shoulders.

“But...” Yuji looked at him with doubt. Wasn't the entire problem that the thing inside her was supposed to be unimaginably dangerous? Ever since she met Fushiguro, she hadn’t stopped listening to how this finger could cause the world to end; and now this sorcerer was casually asking her to let the curse take over again.

The confidence with which he talked somehow made it even harder to understand. “Don’t worry.” Gojo grinned. “I’m the strongest.” The answer sounded less like reassurance and more like a fact.

Before either teenager could comment on it, the white-haired sorcerer tossed a convenience store bag toward Fushiguro. “Hold this for me Megumi.” The black-haired barely managed to catch it from where he sat among the rubble, still sore from being thrown through a wall.

Fushiguro looked at the bag confused. “What is this?” He frowned while he opened it, nestled inside the bag was a small decorative box.

“Kikifuku from Kikusuian, Sendai’s specialty.” Gojo pointed out and for a moment Megumi simply stared at it, then at Gojo, then back at the sweets.

“This guy was buying souvenirs while people were dying?” Fushiguro mumbled annoyed only to gain a pout from the sorcerer.

“Not a souvenir.” Gojo immediately corrected. “They’re to eat on the shinkansen the way back.”

The rooftop fell quiet for a moment. The wind carried loose dust through the air while the city lights stretched endlessly beyond the school grounds and the destruction surrounding them stood in sharp contrast to the normal life continuing beyond the school.

Then the atmosphere changed; Fushiguro felt it before he saw it, the pressure around the rooftop became heavier and the cursed energy coating the area shifted into something far more malicious.

His eyes widened. “Watch out!” Gojo didn't even turn around, the possessed girl had already moved.

Black markings spread across her face and limbs as Sukuna crossed the distance between them in an instant, her feet no longer touching the rooftop as he jumped towards the sorcerer, and throwing a punch directly toward the back of the his head.

Yet the impact never arrived, and a shockwave erupted across the rooftop where dust exploded outward and chunks of concrete were ripped from the ground.

For several seconds, Fushiguro lost sight of both of them entirely and when the dust finally began settling, his eyes slowly moved upward; the sight waiting for him sent shivers down his spine.

The possessed girl stood in place, looking down at him, the low light made parts of her face look hidden in shadows, yet her eyes stood out from the darkness as they now where two pairs of shiny red looking down at him with disgust.

They weren’t frozen, but everything around them was; gravel, dust and broken pieces of concrete remained suspended in the air around the three of them. The effect stretched several meters in every direction, creating an almost perfect sphere where gravity itself seemed to have stopped functioning.

Sukuna slowly looked around, the black markings on Yuji's face twisted alongside a grin. “Anti-gravity?” The curse sounded genuinely compelled. “What an interesting technique.” With a casual motion of her hand, the suspended debris lost support and followed back the laws of physics crashing back onto the rooftop.

Behind Sukuna stood Gojo untouched and not a single speck of dust rested on his clothes. His head tilted slightly as he observed the area around them. ‘This is quite the range… Almost ten meters’, he noted mentally while looking at the circle of affected space. ‘With no training.’ he was sure that with a bit of training on the girl the area would definitely grow.

The thought amused him; most sorcerers spent years refining a technique and Yuji had apparently been using hers by accident.

With no warning, Sukuna spun around and attacked again and Gojo vanished as the curse's eyes narrowed when the white-haired sorcerer reappeared several meters away, he tried again only to miss again, it was like a chase where the reincarnated curse was slowly understanding the way the sorcerer moved.

To an outside observer, the exchange looked ridiculous. Sukuna moved fast enough to blur across the rooftop while Gojo casually avoided every strike without appearing rushed in the slightest.

The King of Curses gradually stopped smiling, and started to pay attention; the first strike missed, the second missed too, the third came closer. Suddenly, Gojo appeared behind the pink-haired and leaned on their back. “My student is watching, so I gotta show off a little.”

The comment barely finished leaving his mouth before the white-haired easily took a hold of the smallest wrist and twisted to pull their body around; the movement was effortless and Sukuna's entire body was pulled off balance

Gojo made them spin once only to punch them on the mouth, the impact launched him across the rooftop

Sukuna activated Yuji's technique instinctively and the body stopped in midair suspended as if weightless. He rolled their shoulders back, bones cracked and muscles relaxed. The technique effect disappeared and gravity reclaimed the body all at once, sending him crashing back onto the rooftop and landing on his feet.

‘He’s unreasonably fast… no that’s not it.’ The thought had barely formed when another punch connected and he landed on his back in the wall of the school. “You’re quite the bother.” Sukuna muttered while pulling himself from the rubble.

“You jujutsu sorcerers are always trouble, no matter the era.” The curse extended a hand and sent an attack; broken concrete, twisted metal and loose debris rose into the air in a mix of anti-gravity with Sukuna's own cursed technique; hundreds of fragments shot toward Gojo from every direction.

The rooftop disappeared behind a cloud of dust and for a second, nothing could be seen.

Then a voice echoed from inside. “Seven… Eight…” He was counting up calmly. When the dust finally settled, Gojo stood exactly where he had been before.

Fragments of concrete floated motionless around him while a perfectly clear path stretched through the destruction on either side, the attack never even reached him.

And for the first time since taking control, Sukuna looked genuinely confused; the curse stared at the white-haired.

‘Could he also possess the anti-gravity technique?’ The possibility crossed his mind. ‘Are my vessel and this sorcerer related?’ No.’ He discarded the theory as quickly as he made it. ‘Neither had reacted as though they knew each other.’ The cursed markings narrowed slightly around Yuji's eyes. ‘Must be another technique.’

“Nine… Time to wake up kid.” Gojo let his technique drop and immediately, the debris suspended around him lost whatever invisible force had been keeping it in place; chunks of concrete, broken pieces of wall and scattered gravel crashed back onto the rooftop, the noise echoing through the night while dust rose once more into the cold air.

Behind him, Megumi instinctively raised an arm to shield his face from the cloud of debris and watched closely, his attention fixed entirely on the girl standing a few meters away.
For a brief second, nothing happened, then the black markings covering Itadori's skin began retreating; the lines faded from her face first, disappearing beneath her skin as though they had never existed.

The pressure hanging over the rooftop changed almost immediately as the suffocating weight that Sukuna carried with him vanished, replaced by something much lighter.

The pink-haired head hung down for a second and in a blink, the black marks on Itadori disappeared completely as she lifted her head up, she blinked a few times and shook her head. “Oh! Is everything ok?” She looked around at the destroyed rooftop, at the massive holes in the walls, at the debris scattered everywhere, and finally at the two sorcerers staring at her.

Both Fushiguro and Gojo looked shocked for a second before the white-haired's grin returned wider than before. “You really can control it!” The excitement in his voice made it sound like he'd just discovered a new toy rather than witnessing something that should have been impossible.

Yuji hugged herself instinctively; the moment Sukuna disappeared, she became aware of the cold again. “I guess yeah.” The night wind swept across the rooftop, slipping through the fabric of her sports bra and making her shiver.

Without the adrenaline of fighting and without the overwhelming presence of the curse occupying her body, exhaustion was beginning to creep back in; her muscles ached, her head hurt and she was fairly certain there were bruises forming in places she hadn't even noticed yet.

She rubbed the side of her head. “I can hear his voice though.” Her fingers tapped lightly against her temple a few times. “He’s quite annoying too.”

-How are you doing this, brat?!

The voice immediately answered and Yuji frowned. “Very annoying.”

-Watch your mouth before I tear your tongue out.

“Very annoying.” The fact she was casually arguing with the strongest curse in history only made Gojo look entertained, Megumi on the other side looked mortified.

Apparently now realizing the situation of the girl, Gojo slipped off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders; the fabric was still warm.

Yuji blinked in surprise before quickly pulling it around herself; the sleeves hung well past her hands and the jacket itself nearly reached her thighs just above the school skirt she still had on. Looking down at it, she realized just how ridiculous the size difference actually was, then of course, Gojo was absurdly tall, standing next to him felt a bit like standing next to a lamp post as he was like two heads taller than her.

“It’s a miracle that's all he's doing.” The casual statement from Gojo made her pause and a small knot formed in her stomach, because whatever was inside her wasn't normal and wasn't supposed to be controllable.

The rooftop suddenly felt much quieter.

“Well.” Gojo raised his hand. “Hang tight.” Two fingers pressed lightly against her forehead and for a moment, nothing happened.

Yuji waited. “What was that abou-.” The sentence never finished as a wave of exhaustion crashed into her so suddenly it felt unfair; her eyelids became heavy and the world tilted.

The soreness in her body that she had been ignoring all night returned all at once; every punch she'd thrown, every impact she'd taken, every minute of stress, grief and adrenaline seemed to catch up with her simultaneously.

She blinked and the lights of the city blurred. “Aw c’mon…” Another blink and her legs suddenly felt much farther away than they were supposed to; the last thing she registered was the sensation of falling forward and then darkness.

Gojo caught her when she tilted forward.

“Oi, what did you do?” Megumi's voice carried a mixture of concern and irritation as he watched the unconscious girl being effortlessly held by the taller sorcerer.

Gojo adjusted his grip slightly. “She’s okay.” The white-haired sorcerer looked down at the sleeping vessel for a moment before glancing back at his student. “Only passed out.” He adjusted his grip slightly.

For a few moments, the only sounds were the wind moving through the damaged school building and pieces of loose concrete occasionally sliding from broken sections of the roof.

“When she wakes up, if Sukuna isn't in control, she might have potential as a vessel.” Gojo continued talking out loud and Yuji didn't react at all to the noise or movements, her breathing calm and steady despite everything that had happened during the last few hours. With the black markings gone, alongside the overwhelming pressure, it was hard to connect this exhausted teenager with the monster that had stood in her place only minutes ago.

Gojo's gaze shifted toward his student. “Now I have a question for you.” And Megumi already knew where this was going, the night suddenly felt colder. “What should we do with her?”

The question lingered between them.

Megumi looked at Yuji, at the dried blood near her forehead, at the oversized jacket covering her shoulders, he looked in detail at the girl who had jumped into a building filled with curses for people she barely knew and had willingly thrown herself into danger despite not understanding what was happening just to save him.

“Even if she's a vessel...” he finally said, his voice quieter than before. “According to Jujutsu regulations, by being possessed demands for her to be executed.” The words tasted bitter, because for the first time, the regulation wasn't describing a curse.

It was describing someone he had spoken to, someone whose name he knew, who had stubbornly argued with him all evening, and risked everything for him.

His eyes lowered for a moment. “However...” The pause lasted longer than he intended. “I don't want to let her die.”

For a second, genuine surprise crossed Gojo's face, then it immediately disappeared to be replaced by a smile. “Oh?” A grin slowly spread across his lips. “Personal feelings?” Megumi instantly regretted speaking. “You got a girlfriend already?”

“It’s not the time!” The response came so quickly that even Gojo looked impressed yet the white-haired laughed, a loud, shameless laugh.

Meanwhile, Megumi felt a headache forming, he took a slow breath and his shoulders sagged slightly, the exhaustion from the night finally beginning to catch up to him. “But yes, please do something about it.”

For a moment, Gojo simply looked at him, the teasing vanished completely. Underneath all the jokes and nonsense, he could clearly see the sincerity in his student's voice because Megumi wasn't asking as a sorcerer, he was asking as himself.

The white-haired effortlessly threw the unconscious girl over his shoulder as if carrying a normal sleeping child instead of the vessel of the King of Curses. The smile slowly returned. “Now it's a request from my precious student.” The white-haired sorcerer raised a thumbs up. “Leave it to me!”

For the first time that night, Megumi felt a small amount of relief, not much but just enough to breathe easier.

Because if there was one person capable of picking a fight with the entire jujutsu world and somehow winning, it was the idiot standing in front of him.