Chapter Text
"Thank you for the purchase!" The shop owner hands Gojou the manju he bought.
"Thanks!" Gojou accepts the dessert and walks away. It's been months since he last visited this village. The manjus here is as delicious as he remembers it. He walked towards the village's cemetery, expecting someone to be there. When he arrived, he sees the black-haired boy he knows so well. "I knew you'd be here." Gojou places a piece of manju on the tombstone and says his prayers. He's not the most religious person, but he doesn't mind giving the deceased the respect they deserve. "How have you been, Megumi?"
Megumi stopped his prayers and looked at Gojou. "Just as usual. I'd never thought I'd see you again after all this time. Last time you visited, you said that you'll be busy doing... shaman stuff or whatever." He was surprised.
"Aww, did you think I died or something~" Gojou laughs mischievously. "Don't worry, I'm strong as hell." Gojou looks at the tombstone. "How does time fly. You're turning 15 next year right?"
"Yeah." Megumi places his hand at the rough but cool surface of Tsumiki's tombstone. It's been 2 years already, yet he still misses her deeply.
Gojou looks at Megumi. "You sure have gone taller. But still not as tall as me~" Gojou pats Megumi's head.
"Shut up, Gojou. I'm definitely going to punch your smug face someday." Megumi grumbled, however, he didn't try to push away Gojou's hand from his head.
Gojou retracts his hand. "You sure you made the right decision? Even after I told you the real identity and nature of that god, you accepted them either way."
Megumi scoffs. "They still owe me for wasting my time."
"It was only for four days."
"I know that!" Megumi replies grumpily. "I also like hanging out with them too..."
Gojou chuckled at the response. Both of them stayed silent for some time.
"Was there," Megumi starts. "Was there really no way to save Tsumiki?"
Gojou's smile falters slightly after considering the question. "You heard it from the god there right? The only way to break a pact by offering was by using a set amount of magical energy to break the contract. Considering that a god's magical energy is based on how many believers they have, at least all people in the world must know the god's name or all of Japan to be a devout believer of the god. Put it simply, Tsumiki would have suffered a slow death, only to be rid of the curse at her old age."
Megumi looks at the tombstone again. Rest in peace, Tsumiki
Megumi rose from his kneeling position. "Come on, I'm going to the mountain. Itadori'll be noisy with you here." Megumi sigh in exasperation.
"Aww, don't be like that, Megumi~" Both of them left the cemetery area.
"So whatever happened to my family? You never asked me about them anymore since last year." Megumi asked as he walks through the streets of the village. They are done visiting Tsumiki's grave, their next destination is the mountain.
"Oh, don't worry about them anymore. I just told them that I met you and you didn't show any abilities in being a shaman. Then add it with a hefty fee every month for no further questions, you're pretty much safe from them." Gojou explained.
Megumi thinks upon the words. "Do I have the potential to be a shaman though?"
Gojou is intrigued by the question. "You actually have the potential to be a top-notch shaman. With enough training and experience, I'm sure you'll even be able to defeat the strongest shaman in the current age. Well, you still won't be able to beat me though~"
Megumi grumbles in annoyance at the final remark. "Well anyway, I might take up being a shaman someday in the future. I don't want you to have to keep paying them just to keep me from them."
Gojou smiles. "I'll keep that in mind."
-----
"Ahh! Gojou-sensei! Welcome to our shrine!" Itadori waves at the two visitors.
Sukuna glances at both of them and gave a scoff. "Oh. It's the shaman again. Wanna give it a go? Someone prayed to us again and this time I won't lose."
When Gojou meets with Sukuna and Itadori, Gojou single-handedly defeated Sukuna. Now Itadori calls him sensei because he won against the bastard.
Gojou shrugs and waves his hands sideways. "Too bad, I'm not here for fighting. Came here for a short visit today."
Sukuna didn't listen and cuts the area around Gojou. Only for his form to disappear before the cut reaches his flesh. "No need to be rough in front of Megumi right~" Gojou reappears right next to Sukuna, sitting at the shrine's ledge. Gojou puts his arm at Itadori and Sukuna's shoulders and draws them together. "Did you guys decided to change forms again? You got older, didn't you?"
Sukuna tries to push his way out of Gojou's hold, but he can't. Meanwhile, Itadori accepts the hug and laughs. "How did the mission go, Gojou-sensei? Did you beat them easily?"
"Of course, Of course! I'm strong as hell, no one can beat me~" Gojou rubs the head of both gods.
"Gah! Let me go already, shaman!" Sukuna still tries to free himself but is failing miserably.
"Gojou, let Sukuna go already, he'll pick a fight with you if you don't." Megumi scolds Gojou's buddy-buddy action. Itadori may be okay with Gojou's antics, but Sukuna's at the point where he might actually try to kill Gojou for real.
"Aww, still the shrine keeper aren't you? Well, I've had my fill anyway~" Gojou lets go of Sukuna.
Sukuna pulls himself back and pats the parts where Gojou touched him. "Ugh. What brings you here? Just tell us so you can be on your way." Sukuna grumbles.
"Just here to check up on you both. Gotta make sure you're not getting yourselves in trouble~" Gojou stands up and Itadori followed him.
"We've been doing fine. We didn't cause any trouble as you told us. There are not many people that go to this shrine anymore, so we haven't cursed anyone." Itadori said.
"That's great. This way the shamans won't suspect anything about your survival." Gojou replied.
"At this rate, people might forget about us," Sukuna adds.
"I'm okay with that! As long as Fushiguro still remembers me~" Itadori moves behind Megumi and hugs him from behind.
"Stop that!" Megumi tries to budge out of the hug, but Itadori's hold is strong as always. Because Itadori's body is that of an older one, his arms are more longer, which makes it hard for Megumi to move.
Gojou smiles. "Well, I guess that's it for me. I still have another mission to do after this, so I'll leave you to it. Also, Sukuna is giving a death glare, I'm scared~" Gojou pretends to be afraid due to Sukuna's glare.
"Tch. Just get out of here if you're done." Sukuna grumbled.
"Bye, Gojou-sensei!" Itadori waves at Gojou with his right arm. His left arm is still holding Megumi.
Megumi waves at Gojou too. "Thank you for visiting."
Gojou smiles and leaves the shrine area. The three of them looked so cute together.
-----
"Say, aren't you afraid of dying, Fushiguro?" Asked Itadori. "Being a shaman is a dangerous job, even we know that." The three of them are sitting together at the shrine's ledge, as usual. It's a normal occurrence for the 3 of them, sitting together and just talk.
Megumi thinks for an answer. "Of course I'm afraid." Megumi looks at the grey sky. It's about to snow soon. "But, Tsumiki accepted it happily so I'm sure it's not that bad. Besides, I don't want to keep mooching off Gojou." Megumi said.
Itadori stares at Megumi because of the answer he gave and smiled at his bravery.
"How about you? If people forget about you, won't you just disappear?" Megumi asks.
"Yeah, we'll disappear. But we talked about it for some time and we didn't mind. It's time for us to go anyway." Sukuna shrugs. "Besides, I'm kind of curious what's on the other side for us."
Itadori nods. "It's not worth staying here if you're not here, after all."
Megumi blushed at Itadori's remark. "Don't just up and decide that staying in this world is not worth it because of me!" Megumi hits Itadori's head to scold him.
"Ow! But it's true though! We'd rather just try and follow you!" Itadori rubs his head in pain.
Megumi looks at Sukuna, who didn't show any visible reaction/objection.
Megumi sighs. "Fine. If we get the chance, let's meet again. Somewhere on the other side, or something." Megumi looks at the view of the village from the shrine.
Snow starts to fall, it is the end of the year after all. Megumi doesn't know what the future holds for him, however, if there's certainty in this world, Megumi knows that the time he spent together with his friends is truly precious.