Chapter Text
A pair of brilliant azure eyes suddenly opened in the darkness.
Moments ago Satoru Gojo had been sleeping but now he lay staring at the ceiling, wide awake. The time was just past 2 am and his six eyes told him that outside his door stood a powerful cursed spirit that wanted to kill him.
Ah well, that was true to a point.
The one standing outside his door was his student Yuji. Satoru stayed where he was, laying comfortably in bed for outside appearances but ready to strike at full power at any moment. It seemed like all Yuji was doing was standing there but the flow of cursed energy coming from him was more turbulent than usual.
What was going on? Was Sukuna trying to do something? Had he figured something out? Did he gain enough power to overcome Yuji's natural dominion over him and was about to take full control of his host?
He knew that his student was a ticking time bomb. At any moment something inside of him could snap and it would be up to Satoru to clean up that mess. Still he was allowed to stay hopeful that now was not that time. Especially after all that had happened it would be very... unfortunate if he had to kill Yuji.
If Sukuna really was on the verge of taking over why had he come here at this time of the night? Did he think that he could get Satoru if he took him by surprise while he was asleep. He gripped his fist under the sheets. Well bad luck there my friend!
They stayed like that for a moment that seemed to drag into eternity. Yuji standing outside his door; Satoru ready to pounce into action. If something was going to happen it had better hurry up!
Eventually the only thing that did happen was that Yuji turned on his heel and started walking away.
Satoru whipped off the covers and in a few strides of his long legs he was opening the door.
“Yuji,” he called to the retreating back. The boy turned around, his face pale and exhausted.
“Ah sensei, did I wake you?” replied a weary voice, trying but not at all succeeding to sound like his usual cheery self. “Sorry about that.”
Satoru shook his head. “What's wrong? Why are you up?”
The boy stared off into the distance with a strained look in his eyes before replying “I can't sleep.”
“Sukuna?” asked Satoru simply. Yuji nodded. Satoru paused for a few moments thinking about the situation. Clearly the kid was having a harder than usual time containing that monster, it would be better to keep an eye on him until he was sure he was fine.
“Come on,” he said clapping the boy on the shoulder and led him to the kitchen.
The harsh electric light glared off the surfaces of the kitchen, the air here was a biting cold. Satoru stirred a spoon through a mug of hot chocolate, his six eyes seeing all the individual particles of the powder mix into the liquid. The dust drifting through the air, the moisture condensed on the surfaces, the grain of the worktop, all of that stood out in harsh relief to him. He wished he'd thought to grab a pair of sunglasses before he opened his door but now he couldn't be bothered going back for them.
Picking up the two mugs he walked over and sat down at the table. Yuji was already sitting there staring at his clenched fists. Satoru pushed one of the mugs towards him and Yuji absent-mindedly pulled it towards himself, blew over it a few times and took a sip.
“How is it?” he asked.
Yuji shook his head. “I don't know what's wrong sensei. Usually I can ignore him. But lately he's been saying all sorts of horrible stuff, showing me... things.” His fingers tightened around the mug. “I guess it's starting to wear me down a bit.”
Satoru grinned at him. “I meant the hot chocolate.”
Yuji's mouth formed a small “o” and he looked down at the mug of hot chocolate in his hands as if seeing it for the first time. Then his face broke into a smile. “It tastes great, thank you sensei!”
Satoru smirked and took a sip from his own cup. Actually it was just some random shit he found in the cupboard. It was even past its use by date. What the hell did he mean it tastes great?
Though it was a relief to learn that all Sukuna seemed to be doing was talking, he was expecting to hear something worse than that. Even if it was having a distressing effect on Yuji at least he seemed fully in control. Considering that in the past he was willing to regain control of his body even if it meant dying the threats Sukuna was making were probably aimed at his friends rather than Yuji himself.
Satoru reached over and placed a strong hand on the kid's arm. “Don't worry Yuji, if he ever gets free I'll sort it out.” He hopes that came across more as reassuring rather than just boastful. Defeating Sukuna as he was now wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately if it came to that then it also meant his vessel would die.
The boy looked up at him with watery eyes. “I know sensei,” he said. “Thank you.”
Satoru didn't know what to say to that so he simply continued looking back at him.
The arrow of the clock in the kitchen was starting to eek closer to 3 am when Satoru decided it was starting to get way too late. Yuji was looking much better now so it was about time for him to turn in. He washed the two empty mugs in the sink and walked out taking Yuji back to his room.
“Good night,” he said and was about to head back to his own room when he saw his student's eyes go wide and all the colour drain out of his face.
“Yuji...?” he asks and a moment later the boy leaps towards him pulling him into a tight hug, holding on to him as if for dear life. Satoru had to overcome his natural reflex to activate the infinity just in time.
“What's wrong?” he said gently.
“Don't go,” a tight voice replied. “I'm scared.”
Satoru swallowed. He lowered his arms around the boy and patted his back in what he approximated as a comforting gesture. What the hell was he supposed to do right now? People gave him way too much credit if they thought he knew how to handle this kind of situation. Feeling weak and frightened was not something Satoru could empathise with very well. Any enemy that had the idiocy to challenge him ended up as another stain under his boot.
“I'm here,” he said. “Don't be scared.”
That was all well and good but what next? Were they going to stand like this in the hallway all night? People accused him of being cold hearted, and usually weak people got on his nerves, but something about this gnawed at his heart. He just didn't have it in him to push the boy away.
Sighing he rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was probably one of his worse ideas but he didn't have a better one right now. With a sweep of his arm he picked Yuji up, carried him into his room and lay down on the bed. It was too small for two people so the kid ended up lying partly on top of Satoru with his head on his chest.
“Look, I'll stay with you. So don't be scared, go to sleep.” He thought Yuji was going to complain and tell him to leave but instead he buried his head deeper in his chest and his fingers grabbed a generous handful of his pyjama shirt. Honestly! He better not get used to such favourable treatment and turn out spoiled.
The tension in his student's body went out and it wasn't long before his breathing became slow and steady, the warm breeze blowing across the skin of Satoru's neck. Asleep already? That was fast. Satoru also closed his eyes, looking for all the world to see as if he too had gone to sleep. In fact he did not dare. Lying like this with Sukuna's vessel was the equivalent of putting your head into a lion's mouth and hoping it would not bite down. If he went to sleep now he might be woken by Sukuna's claws tearing his throat out.
In fact he simply did not need his eyes to be open for him to see clearly and the constant flow of information from the six eyes was a strain. This was fine, it wasn't the first time he had pulled an all-nighter though the next few hours were going to be exceptionally boring. At least Yuji could get some sleep this way, it seemed like his sleep hadn't been good these last few nights.
Absent-mindedly he ran a finger across his student's brow, brushing through the hair, and let out a sigh.
When was it exactly that he had gotten this soft?