Chapter Text
Much like yesterday, the first thing to greet my eyes is a bright light. From the sun this time.
I sit up, forgetting for a brief moment where I am. I died and now I'm in a dorm room at Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High? Holy shit man. My mind races as I mull over the implications of that in my head:
It's 2018, I must be some kind of sorcerer, Yuuji hasn't eaten Sukuna yet, in like.. (Fuck it's July right?) 5 months Gojo is going to die and in 3 he's going to be sealed. Those are the least of my problems at the moment though. I legally don't exist anywhere, let alone Japan and I'm ravenous. I'm stuck here, so I might as well make the most out of it.
I slide out of the bed and put on a bland outfit Gojo managed to get me last night, seeing as my old clothes were caked in blood and god knows what else. A t-shirt and jeans. I can't care about how anyone might look at me with this heat.
My boots, however, were 60 dollars off Depop and I am NOT letting those go so easily. I begin wandering around campus for a kitchen or maybe a vending machine without knowing what time it is or what to expect. Eventually, when the sun comes up fully and starts beating down on me, someone appears behind me. Whipping around and damn near falling down the stairs, I come face to face with Gojo Satoru for the first time since last night. Struggling to look nonchalant, I smile at him dumbly. "Yo, where's the kitchen or whatever." God this is humiliating.
"Oh. I forgot to give you a proper tour!" He starts walking in the exact opposite direction I came from. The kitchen is in an insanely obvious place that I somehow walked past 15 damn times.
"So," I know what's coming. I'm not even halfway through my first bite of cereal yet. "You have no record of your existence and abnormal cursed energy." I nod, pretending that I'm pretending to know what he's talking about. This guy's a genius, I need to be careful.
He sits down across from me, his tone scarily serious. "I need to know how you ended up like that." Didn't he already ask that?
"I got hit by a car. I'm still 90% sure this is all fake. I mean… what do you mean monsters formed by people's bad feelings exist? Like what the fuck? And what do you mean people can be healed with a touch?" Not all of that sentence is fake. I'm still debating whether I should let the time travel thing slip. I don't remember 2018 at all and every joke, reference, hobby... fucking everything are from nearly a decade from now. I pinch the bridge of my nose, the familiar feeling of a metaphorical cinderblock on my chest kills my appetite. I won't be able to go back. I know that. I'm dead.
His eyes soften. "Well you got hit by a car outside of Japan in the fall… and you're claiming to have just woken up here without any memory." I breathe in quickly and look at the ground. Fuck I'm suspicious.
Pro tip: when lying, let a little bit of the whole slip so that it looks like you're letting a huge truth slip.
"Well.. I was born in 2009. It's 2018 now. I'm actually 17, now. So this makes no sense. Like we're in a pre-covid world right now." His eyes widen, quickly catching on to what I mean even though I didn't plan how to say that.
"For real?" He doesn't even ask what Covid is. God that's embarrassing. Gojo doesn't believe me. Shit. I have to double down.
"For real real."
He doesn't answer, clearly thinking I have an unhealed head injury. Probably to my advantage.
"Anyway!" His tone is just as excited as it is in the show. "We're going out! Then you're getting trained." My eyes are the ones to widen this time.
"What? Where- wait trained for what? I'm not a wizar- sorcerer." The words clamber out of my mouth. Like a verbal rendition of a crowd crush.
He takes joy in my confusion, but before he can explain my next few weeks of torment, Fushiguro Megumi walks in. He makes eye contact with me and narrows his eyes. Oh do I still have blood on my face? Or is it my scars? He's not that kind of guy, is he? My shower last night was mostly spent figuring out how to turn the damn thing on. Showers are completely different from house to house. I never thought that they'd be even more confusing abroad. The brain damage didn't help.
I put a hand to my forehead and pick off some dried blood. Oops.
Gojo's sitting in the front passenger seat with Ijichi, while Fushiguro and I are in the back. I'm freshened up now, but it's still difficult getting used to a world I shouldn't exist in. The auras are suffocating, but this new hoodie is soft enough to drown them out. I'm not risking judgement for my scars in notoriously conservative Japan.
"Your cursed energy is weird." I raise an eyebrow at Fushiguro.
"What do you mean?" I wish Gojo would just give me a clear explanation on what's wrong with me. Both him and Dr. Ieri seemed hesitant.
"You're like Zen'in with her heavenly restriction, but it's moreso negative cursed energy than a small am-" Maki? Ohhh that explains it. I'm a black hole. That's what they were talking about.
"Megumi." I can hear the smile in his voice. "[Name] over here was calling sorcerers wizards this morning. Go easy on him." Why do I feel so embarrassed? I sheepishly turn my head to Fushiguro, trying to make conversation while acting like I don't know everything about him.
"Your name's Megumi?" I tilt my head.
"It's Fushiguro Megumi. Yes it's usually a female name. Don't ask." I nod.
"It's fine. I knew guys back home with girl names. They always just picked different ones though." I think about Kyle, my trans friend who I genuinely forgot was transgender. I haven't seen him in so long. Does he even know I'm dead yet?
Fushiguro tilts his head. "You can do that?" I nod.
"You just have to ask someone to call you a different name and it's usually put into the school's online system thing as a nickname." I remember Kyle complaining about how difficult it was with substitute teachers. Could you even do that in 2018? Maybe he'll just think it's a foreigner thing.
Gojo speaks up. "I'll let you guys go off on your own. Just don't die, okay!" He cranes his head back at us, grinning. I can tell he cares about Megu- fuck, I mean Fushiguro, deeply. I tense a bit at the idea of being with a stranger. I'd hate to embarrass myself immediately. I'll just have to play it cool. Nodding politely, I look out the window to avoid eye contact with Fushiguro, who, despite all his supposed nonchalance and apathy, is looking at me curiously. Not subtle whatsoever. God kill me.
I follow Fushiguro around like a lost puppy. Buying things at his pace rather than my own. I'm not trying to get lost in a foreign country 8 years in the past- not when there are curses roaming. Am I being annoying? I know that Gojo is nearby. Only now do I begin to consider that this could be a test.
The weirdest thing about being here by far is my newfound ability to feel auras. Stephen King bullshit (Insomnia was straight ass, fight me). I can feel every single person around me. I can almost hear their deepest worries through the ocassional flyhead sticking to a shopping cart or a shoulder. When I decide that a week's worth of clothes and necessities are more than enough, I let Fushiguro get some alone time and find Gojo. I don't want to be around all of that longer than necessary.
"That's all you got?!" I shrink under his gaze. Even through that blindfold, it's intense.
"What's with the blindfold?" I ask, distracting him from my minimalist tendencies.
"You know how I'm the strongest, right?" He starts walking and I follow, rolling my eyes.
"That's only because I have really good eyes. If I have them uncovered for too long, I start getting a migraine." I raise a questioning brow but don't push it. I've never fully understood the six-eyes, even when I could simply Google them.
"Why are you being so… hospitable? I mean you didn't have to do any of this. I don't exist, I'm crazy, and I'm useless without the cursed energy you were talking about." He laughs.
"The last guy I met without cursed energy was far from useless." I bristle at his casual mention of Toji. He notices more than he lets on.
"What? Don't believe me?" I shake my head.
"I mean… Fuku-fuck I mean uh- Fushiguro said that I had less than zero. What does that even mean?" I stumble over the name for added effect.
"That's what the training's for!" He grins like a madman. For the first time in a while, I feel fear. We stop in front of a… Mochi shop? What's with this guy and mochi? I guess I can't judge since the only mochi I've eaten was in ice cream form, but still.
Gojo didn't let me reject the various sweets, claiming that I'd need the energy later. I guess all that healing really took a toll on me because they were gone in minutes. Talking to Gojo is enjoyable, letting me forget about my circumstances for the first time since I got here.
Gojo steps uncomfortably close to me and leans in. "You healed yourself."
My heart sinks. What? No. Ieri did… right? Gojo's voice breaks through to my foggy mind again.
"Her technique didn't work on you… but…"
The kid seems genuinely shocked at his abilities. Gojo lets himself trail off. A newly awakened sorcerer, then? One with reverse cursed technique? No.. His cursed energy is too weak. If he has any at all. Gojo shudders imperceptibly. This can't be a heavenly restriction. He would be able to heal faster on his own and that wouldn't stop RCT from working on him…
"Where are you from?" [Name] hesitates to answer, or maybe it's the head injury… but obliges. His heart seems to leave his body when Gojo explains where he is and what state he was found in. Shoko's initial explanation clearly didn't get through his skull. Understandably, given the circumstances.
"I'm in a high school?" Gojo nods, amused.
"We train young sorcerers from across Japan to kill curses."
"What's a cur- wait sorcerers?" He sits up further, ignoring the fact that some injuries aren't fully healed yet, clearly interested in what Gojo is talking about.
"A curse is the manifestation of a person's negative emotions- or cursed energy. A sorcerer is someone who can control cursed energy."
…"So I'm a sorcerer? What kind of wizard gets run over?" Gojo grimaces at his bright expression.
"Well-" Shoko interrupts him.
"There's no record of you ever having lived in Japan. Or entering the country." [Name] stiffens noticeably.
"What do you me- oh fuck wait I'm in Japan." He clearly just had that fact click in his head. Rather than push him further, Gojo checks the time and decides to let the kid rest.
"We'll figure this out once everyone gets some sleep. Especially you, Shoko." His grin returns full-force.
"Uh.. I'm sorry to ask so late but um, who are you two?" Gojo blinks.
"Ieri Shoko, the school's doctor, and Gojo Satoru, a teacher." Shoko responds for him. "I'll need to check up on you tomorrow, but I agree with Gojo, we should all rest." Her tone is as measured as always.
"…Uhm Gojo?" He hums.
"So reverse cursed technique… what is it exactly?"
"Reverse cursed technique is basically just a multiplication of one's own negative cursed energy to create positive cursed energy. It's what Shoko does to heal people." Is he a bad teacher or it just that difficult to explain? Damn me for not reading more of the lore…
"So cursed energy detracts from your health?" Gojo shrugs.
"In the same way being depressed would. Jujutsu sorcerers can reinforce their bodies using cursed energy. It's extremely rare to be able to use reverse cursed technique, though."
I nod. "So can you use it?" He smiles, not having to answer. Fushiguro returns a few minutes later and by 3 in the afternoon, I'm in a training field with Gojo.
"Alright," He begins. "I want you to try to punch me." His egotistical tone would be annoying if I didn't know it was entirely justified. I guess I'll try punching through literal infinity. Not supposed to know that.
Nodding slowly, I throw a jab at his chest. Through static, I feel it land.
The fuck? Was that intentional?
Gojo's eyes widen. "Shit- did I punch too hard?" Shocked back into my native language, but thankfully Gojo understands. He shakes his head, grinning wildly.
"Do that again." I throw another punch, lighter this time. He's terrifying off-screen. It lands. Doesn't he usually have infinity on for these kinds of things?? I try to ignore the other possibility. Gojo doesn't let me know how he's feeling. He's scarily good at masking his thoughts.
I nervously run through some drills with him and practice a few more punches. 3 laps around a track, 20 pushups, and a 3 minute plank are enough to have my brain freshly fried, but I keep going. He seems to enjoy sparring with me, despite clearly not being used to hits landing.
However, at some point when I try kicking him, my leg slows down and seems to stop within a centimeter of him. So now it's working? I give him a confused look and he hums in interest.
"That's my technique. Infinity. You shouldn't be able to touch me at all. Whenever someone gets closer to me, they get infinitely slower and never end up reaching me."
I try to remember a YouTube video about his technique. "So the distance gets infinitesimally smaller? Like the fucking uh.. Greek heel guy and the tortoise? Achilles?"
His smile widens. "Exactly." I narrow my eyes. Is my technique like Angel's? Some kind of nullification? I'm so cooked. Jacob's ladder me now.
He reaches his hand up to ruffle my hair and I instinctively tense up, being overworked sends my survival instincts into overdrive. Could've used those the other day, I think bitterly. His hand meets air. With a small gasp he pushes his hand closer. More air. I look up confused. "What are you doing?"
"Put your hand out." I comply. He tries to touch my hand only to meet nothing. This continues for three seconds before suddenly he's unintentionally giving me a high five.
"Wait so anyone can do that?" I play dumb, hiding the scream of thoughts rushing through every part of my mind.
Gojo's expression is unreadable but I can feel energy buzzing under his skin.
He shakes his head. "I think I have an idea of what your technique is."