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#fushiita in which yuuji is apprehended and taken away, kept under talismans and charms in a shrine deep in the forests, in a prefecture far from tokyo, and nobody has any information on what'll happen to him, but for now, yuuji is a prisoner to the whims of the elders
megumi searches and searches, and finally arrives at the rundown shrine, where he finds yuuji, legs tied and eyes masked with a charmed blindfold, lying own in the main chambers. no one ever comes to this shrine anymore. megumi pleads, "itadori, let me save you, bring you away."
yuuji shakes his head no, megumi can't, and shouldn't do it. but megumi's insistent. persistent. "itadori. i'll kill those elders, burn their homes - even goji-sensei, kugisaki, senpai won't stop me. they'll help me." yuuji says no again, a little bit more forcefully. "i'm fine."
megumi shrugs, and sits outside the window. "then i'll stay here until you say yes."
hours pass, megumi stays. the sun sets. yuuji begins to fret. the other boy haven't ate anything since he appeared from within the trees last night. "fushiguro... food?" curt, "i don't need it."
yuuji hasn't had a proper meal himself since the 2 weeks he's been abducted, but he's learnt to adapt to the scant, instant meals the people in charge in him had provided. so he tosses a curry rice packet in megumi's direction, outside his window. megumi stares at it blankly.
"fushiguro, you need to eat?" it's been 2 days the other boy's been here; not a single drop of water, not a single grain of food. yuuji's dying of worry. not to mention, it's nearing saturday, the day where those people in kimonos will come - fushiguro must not be discovered.
if megumi was caught to have visited criminal itadori yuuji, even talking to him, megumi would be punished.
(also, everytime those people come... it hurts. it hurts so, so much. yuuji's not quite sure the reason why, but fushiguro, absolutely, must never see, never know that.)
megumi's tranquil snoozing under the tree was broken by a woven slipper to his head. he jumps, shocked and a bit angry, and turns to face yuuji, only to see the other raising his hands in surrender. "fushiguro, sorry! just! okay! i'll accept!" megumi breaks out into a smile.
before he could move to break those wooden window panes - to eat those talismans away with his shadows, letting max elephant wash away all those hideous strokes of ink caging itadori in - yuuji raises his hands again. "but with some conditions!! you can't break me out now!"
megumi frowns. yuuji sighs. "no... you just can't, not now, fushiguro, it's too dangerous. give it 100 days." megumi balks obviously - that's too long. "no." was his firm reply. but yuuji wrings his hands. "just... 100 days, fushiguro! let everyone forget about me, yanno!"
he continues rambling. "also, you're clearly planless - very unlike the fushiguro i know - and being hasty. where can we hide after escaping? how do we escape? money? who'll help us? what about missions and work?" questions tumble over each other. megumi was struck speechless.
megumi can't see yuuji's eyes, but he knows it's wide and pleading beneath that blindfold. "just... 100 days, fushiguro?" megumi thinks. "but i need to see you. i need to know you're okay, that the elders haven't done anything sick to you, itadori." yuuji beams.
"well then, fine, those 100 days, you must meet me every day! after that, you're free to help me escape or whatever you want to do. i'll wait for fushiguro, come anytime of the day!" megumi didn't think too hard - as long as he could see itadori, he's prepared for anything.
also, shadow travelling is now as natural as breathing to him. just slips into some shadows, hike a ride onto someone's silhouette, doesn't require any of his own energy. as long as itadori himself consents to being whisked away, megumi is willing to do anything.
there's just a wiggling worry. 100 days, definitely, is too long. never mind, he'll make sure everything seems normal (well, as normal as life without yuuji can be) be as soon as possible, so everyone can forget about yuuji, so he can speed up the process a little. he'll try.
10 days pass. megumi begins to plan. he checks his savings and the emergency bank account gojo set up. he digs around for fake IDs, and finds a comfortable cottage house in the countryside, far, far away from tokyo, kyoto, or any of the other cities overrun with sorcerers.
on the other side, yuuji begins preparations too. he requests for a book, a pen, and some colour pencils to the woman who brings him his food. (she gives them to him with a pitying sneer.) every day, he writes. sometimes he draws, when he feels the floor is about to swallow him.
but everyday, every single day, fushiguro megumi and itadori yuuji looks forward to meet each other. they don't tire, even after 1 month passes in this manner. megumi walks to the window, emerging from the shadows, and knocks thrice. then they'll talk, megumi sharing news.
even when rain falls, megumi will come knocking on yuuji's window. yuuji can't see, but he hears those silent footsteps against the gravel of the shrine, splashing in the puddles. those rainy days are the days both feel loneliest; the other's presence will always be a comfort.
but megumi never stays long, only an hour or two. he needs to return to the academy after all, for missions and school the next day. yuuji misses that life too, now it's pure boredom and the occasional fighting with sukuna. oh. and those painful days when the people come.
they come always at noon, they chant charms as they surround the shrine, and every time yuuji feels his body set aflame. he'll writhe and sob in his futon, and sukuna seethes in anger under his skin. "they're weakening you, brat. they're killing you. ha! as if."
but even on those days, yuuji looks forward to meeting megumi. hearing megumi's voice soothes the pain and aches away. but fushiguro must never, never, ever know that it's happening. yuuji 's super great at plastering smiles on his face even if he's dying, so he'll continue that.
2 months pass; megumi's plans are shaping up nicely, yuuji's just getting more bored. maybe he'll ask megumi to break him out faster. he ponders on it.
but that day, that day, the woman sending him his food passes him a letter. "your execution date. it's set."
yuuji sees the date. he counts. ah. in a month. on that day. why does it have to be that day. he giggles when the woman leaves. "fushiguro is going to be so mad."
but he won't tell. that night, when megumi comes to tell him excitedly the house is ready, he grins happily.
the days go by. 89, 90, 91... 96. it's the last stretch. megumi's impatient. just a little bit more. he's got everything in order now, his plans were perfect, infallible, there multiple incontingency plans too. he's going to successfuly break yuuji out, no matter what.
98... 99. it was the 99th day. the very last day. tomorrow, tomorrow he can bring yuuji out and set that goddamned shrine ablaze. but tonight, it's time to meet yuuji, and tell him all the careful plans he's made. suddenly his phone rings. megumi frowns, unsettled.
"hello? ijiichi-san, yes... huh? an emergency mission? but i've filed for leave..." he begins to shake in anger. the elders had ordered him to be dispatched to exorcise curses in still-destroyed shibuya. "no, really, is it that urgent... what? everyone?"
every single sorcerer had been dispatched. megumi's fingers shakily puts his phone down. he's made a Plan C if in case he was dispatched in a urgent mission, but if truly everyone's involved, all his plans are quite literally trashed. none of his allies can help him out now.
"fuck..." megumi steels himself. he's getting this over as quick as possible.
-
as it is, even going out full power, it wasn't until morning that the curses were finally eliminated. seeing the sun had rose in the horizon, megumi curses beneath his breath. he's missed the 99th.
but no matter. today's the 100th.
within an hour he finds himself in front of the shrine. but something's awfully wrong. he can't feel yuuji. and the charms. the charms. they're gone. raindrops begin to fall from the gloomy sky. megumi concentrates, but there was still no trace of yuuji.
he begins to panic. he raps at the window desperately. no reply. megumi smashes it. there's still no trace of yuuji. as far as he can see, there was no yuuji in the room. "itadori? stop playing around." maybe yuuji's been training to hide his presence. he'll pop up now, right?
"itadori!" it's more urgent. "where the fuck are you!" it's no longer a question, just a desperate plea. yuuji's going to pop right now, giggle and say it's all just a prank, just like that day he seemed like he couldn't breathe, right? "itadori, come out!"
suddenly megumi's eyes fall on a notebook, neatly tucked in a corner of the room. if he hadn't been ransacking this bare room for any signs of yuuji, he'd have missed it too. megumi gingerly, carefully picks it up. there was a note stuck behind it. megumi peels it off.
his eyes widen, and tears begin to fall. he pieces it all together. "itadori yuuji, you asshole liar." he crumples to the floor, hugging the notebook close to his beating heart. "itadori, itadori, itadori...!"
「sorry, fushiguro :> live a long life 」