Chapter Text
"When it's your time to go… make sure you're surrounded by others."
Yuuji stares at the unmoving form in the hospital bed, the words replaying in his head like a broken record.
“Don’t end up like me.”
Easier said than done, Yuuji thought. He chokes back a laugh, refusing to let the tears fall. With slow steps, he walks over to the phone and calls the nurse. He’s silent for a few seconds, listening to the nurse speak.
He sucks in a breath.
“My grandpa is dead.”
And he lets the phone hang loosely in his hand as he watches them roll his grandpa out of the room.
——
Yuuji’s head is pounding with questions and concerns and fears as he signs the last of the documents. But he ignores it. He ignores the puffiness of his eyes and the sinking of his heart. He ignores the twitch of his lips and the shaking of his nerves. It’ll be okay, he hopes. And even if it doesn’t get better, even if it won’t be okay, at least he could be happy his grandpa had a proper death.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” one of the nurses asked, and Yuuji briefly wonders if she realizes how dumb and insensitive that question can be at a time like this.
It’s his first time experiencing something like this and it hasn’t really sunk in yet. But he can’t mope around now, not just yet. His grandpa would be mad if he did. So he’ll just have to laugh while he burns him up. The sound the nurse makes when he tells her as much almost makes him wonder if he’s said something wrong, but his head is so wrapped around the thought of death that he brushes off anything she says to him.
——
Yuuji wonders if he’s been casted in A Series of Unfortunate Events because this just cannot be happening right now. His friends are going to die, soon after his grandpa died. They’re going to die by whatever the hell is currently destroying the fourth floor of his high school. And just the thought of it is absurd. Yet with every passing second, reality keeps sinking further and heavier within him. It makes his legs stay rooted to their spot.
“Stay here!" Fushiguro commands.
There’s no time for an argument, Yuuji realizes. So he stays put, watching Fushiguro take off to fight that beast. He clenches his fists, ignoring the voice in his head telling him to save as many people as he can, to help them. He should just leave it to the pros, someone who’s strong and has a better chance at saving than he does. Besides, he reasons, it’s not like he’s particularly close with Sasaki and Iguchi in the first place.
But, his mind whispers, this type of death wouldn’t be proper.
He bends his knees.
Everyone dies, something that’s cementing in his brain.
He lets out a breath and jumps.
But the least he could do is guide them toward a proper death. Because this, this is unnatural and cruel and just wrong .
He smashes through the window and kicks the deformed and misshapen thing, grabbing Sasaki and Iguchi when it loosens its hold on them.
And Yuuji knows, of course, that there’s no such thing as a right death. Death is death, as scary as it is, it’s as simple as that. But to die like this, because of this monstrosity… it isn’t right.
So he fights it, punches it when it hits Fushiguro through the wall. He tries and tries, knowing that he isn’t doing any damage. So when he hears Fushiguro tell him that only curses can exorcise other curses, he gets an idea:
Why not eat the finger that started this mess? It’d be killing two birds with one stone. He’d be keeping it away from the curse while using the cursed energy from the finger to kill it.
Yuuji swallows the finger.
And it’s one of the worst things he could have done.
——
“Pick your hell.”
The words settle in his head like soothing afternoon rain. He won’t delude himself into thinking that he’ll live long. After all, it’s either die now or die later. Death is waiting for him on either end. But if he dies now, who would surround his body? Who would actually mourn?
“You’re a strong kid, so help people.”
He'll just have to see which one he can make the most out of—which side would leave him with fewer regrets.
He flexes his fingers, ignoring the part of his brain whispering all the best and worst ways a person could die. “If Sukuna is completely eliminated… will there be fewer people killed by curses?”
And Gojo’s small smile is a comfort to him, a breath of fresh air amongst the too thick clouds twisting around in his head. “Of course.”
Yuuji is silent for a moment before he exhales. “Do you still have that finger?”
“Yeah.”
He takes the finger out of Gojo’s hand and stares at it. How did he even manage to swallow the first one? It looks so disgusting. Throwing caution to the wind, he swallows the second finger.
He shivers. “Gross! It’s so gross it makes me laugh!”
He stands up, stretching before looking back at the sound of Gojo laughing. It should be concerning, but Yuuji figures that he isn’t in a position to judge.
After all, he did laugh while burning his grandpa’s body.
Gojo uncrosses his legs and leans forward on the bench. “I take it you’re prepared for what’s to come?”
Yuuji stares ahead, thinking about a few ways he could end up dying. “...not at all.” He rubs the back of his head. “I’m wondering why the heck I have to be executed. But I can’t just do nothing about the curse. I’m gonna eat the rest of Sukuna. That’s all.”
“When it’s your time to go, make sure you’re surrounded by others.”
What an irritating last request.
Gojo smiles even wider, face splitting into a grin. He mumbles something to himself before getting up. “Get your belongings together by the end of the day.”
At that, Yuuji turns to face him completely, eyes squinting slightly and face blanking in confusion. “We goin’ somewhere?”
“Tokyo.”
What an irritating last request, Yuuji thinks again while smiling at Fushiguro.
——
He stares up at the sky, fighting the urge to go find his heart and frantically smoosh it back into the gaping hole until it fits perfectly. As he wonders how Kugisaki and Gojo-sensei are going to react to the news, he lets out a slow breath.
“Please.”
He clenches his fists.
“Why did you run away?”
He stands alone above the dead body of Yuuji Itadori.
“Live a long life, okay?”
And Fushiguro has never felt so weak.
——
Yuuji picks himself up off of the wet floor, mouth set into a wide grin and an eye twitching. He stares up at the man staring down at him. And all he could think about is the fact that this bastard ripped his heart out.
“You look like you want to kill me.”
And he laughs—he's full-blown cackling. "Well, you did kill me," Yuuji says, laughter simmering down to soft chuckles. “Thanks for that by the way. You ripped my shirt and everything.” he frowns then. “I liked my customized uniform…”
Sukuna laughs then, sound rattling the throne of bones he sits on. The laugh makes him think of a fire crackling and knives. It’s sharp, an air of condescension to it that makes his hands sweat and grin strain. The sound of it sends a shiver down Yuuji’s body, traveling all the way to the tips of his toes. It makes Yuuji itch to fight him.
If he has to spend the rest of his time here, he may as well find ways to quench his boredom.
What better way to start than by beating the hell out of the jackass who killed him?
——
Safe to say, that fight did not go how Yuuji thought it would. And so maybe picking a fight with the king of curses is a dumb thing to do. But it doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that he’s back, alive and still kicking.
So he pushes the feeling that he’s forgetting something to side and slaps hands with his teacher and grins. He’ll think about it later. As for now, he wants to focus on living and getting stronger.
He stares at his hand and flexes it. He’s been given a second chance, a second chance to live and fight, to get stronger.
The fight against that Special Grade Curse opened his eyes. He thought he’d be ready to die, to choose how he went. But he had been a fool, he realizes now. He doesn’t have the power nor strength to choose how he dies and even then, he wants to live longer.
And to live, he needs to fight. To fight, he needs to be stronger. To be stronger, he needs to get better— be better. He lives to fight and fights to win. Otherwise, what’s the point of staying alive? They’d have him executed for sure if he failed to prove his worth.
So Yuuji flexes his fingers and stands up. He refuses to stay weak.
It’s a good thing the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer will be training him.