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Yuji wandered the streets alone as blood ran down the side of his head and stomach. He slumped against the wall and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath.
His current location was the colony Tokyo No. 1, where he had been separated from Megumi and Higuruma as they traveled around the colony to find the angel to unlock the Prison Realm. Panda and Hikari weren't able to find her in Tokyo No. 2, so her location was in their colony because of the personalized chat system they had created with somebody's hundred points forcibly.
Upon traveling around Tokyo No. 1, they were ambushed by several powerful sorcerers, whose cursed techniques were convoluted and difficult to deal with. Yuji had barely escaped with his life, but now he was brutally injured. Looking up at the sky with his head resting against the wall, he noticed a figure flying around. Staring at him.
Yuji could see her making direct eye contact with him even though she was far away, but the unmistakable halo floating above her head gave her identity away. It seemed like he was one of the few ones wandering around the streets if Hana Kurusu was looking straight at him.
How he was able to find her so quickly was beyond him, and now was not the time to deal with another powerful sorcerer, who was 1,000 years old.
Yuji dashed into a nearby house with a missing door, albeit in a sloppy manner as he tripped on his own feet and fell on the ground. Blood gushed out from his wound as he tore it open from such sudden movements.
He winced as he held his breath, hoping for it to fade, but all he could do was concentrate on the searing pain roaring through the side of his abdomen. He wasn't in any condition to fight back or handle much movement, but if need be, he was going to fight her.
He could hear the sound of wings flapping in the air as the clack of boots made their way inside the house. Yuji crawled around, trying to hide from her.
She stepped towards where he was and stood over him while being careful not to step on the puddle of blood he had created. Yuji fired up his cursed energy and swung his foot to hit her with it, but one word from her mouth canceled the cursed energy from him while she jumped back. "Extinguish."
Yuji tried to summon cursed energy back into his body, but the lack of response told him she really could stop cursed techniques. She was possibly strong enough to end Gojo Satoru if she could cancel his cursed techniques with no backlash.
"That wasn't supposed to happen, but because you have no cursed technique, it erased your cursed energy instead." Hana gazed down at Yuji with a look of pity. "You were the one who did it, weren't you?"
"D-Did what...?" Yuji stopped concentrating on his thoughts and the pain ripping him apart to look up at her.
"Killing everyone in Shibuya who was caught inside the domain expansion radius."
Yuji didn't respond.
"Or was it the demon resting inside of you? Because no one could have razed a circular portion of an area down that precisely unless it was Sukuna. Believe it or not, news spread quickly even in contained spaces."
"Well... You are a thousand years old, so I would suspect you'd know Sukuna that way too..." Yuji grunted as she made her way over to him again.
"Shall I heal you, vessel of Sukuna? It seems you can't stop making a mess at the moment." Hana said, gesturing to the blood leaking from him. Her hand glowed with reverse cursed energy as she bent down to touch him.
Yuji looked at her with wide eyes, but he accepted the help she gave him as his wounds healed. Then she touched the side of his head and watched as the blood stopped dripping from his torn skin.
"Why are you doing this?" Yuji asked as he looked at her carefully. He wasn't so sure he could trust her just yet.
"I'm an angel, aren't I? I fulfill my duty by helping people out." Hana scanned Yuji up and down for what he was before deeming him pure. "Yet you look so different from what Sukuna would back in the days. I'm sure you're more innocent than you look because you are just a vessel."
"Then why was it when I looked up your real name you had points stacked up?" Yuji asked, hoping to trip Hana up in her own words.
"I'm still allowed to defend myself when I need to, but I'm not going to intentionally start trouble with sorcerers if they don't want it."
"And if I attack you right now?"
Hana looked down at him with a menacing look. For an angel, she sure could make a terrifying face. "Then I would be a few points richer."
"Sorry, it was just a hypothetical question... Besides, I'm not as innocent as you think I am. I'm still going to take full responsibility for all the people I murdered in Shibuya..."
"Were they truly your actions or are you just confusing it with taking responsibility because it was forced upon you?" Hana looked at him, expecting an answer right away, but when none came, she knew she said something right. "You're confused and lost. Something a child shouldn't be experiencing."
Yuji looked at the ground in shame as he slowly sat up on the wooden floor. He gripped onto the chairs next to him to steady himself. His blood loss had been immense, and he was a bit dizzy. "It... It still doesn't take away the fact that I have the king of curses living inside of me."
"No, it doesn't." Was all she said as she took a few steps forward and sat down next to him. She wrapped her wing around his body and observed him.
Yuji froze up as he glanced at the wing covering him, but within a few seconds, he welcomed the hearty gesture. But now that Hana was next to him, he noticed she was easily taller than him.
Together, they sat in silence, waiting for each other to break the quiet atmosphere. Weak wisps of wind whistled outside the doorway of the house, creating a tune that nature sang.
Yuji didn't say it, but he liked the wing guarding him. It reminded him of a hen, who would protect her chicks from any danger with its wings. He liked the way it tickled his neck as it adjusted itself several times.
"But the burden you're carrying must be troublesome. Can you really carry that on your own for as long as you live?" Hana asked, breaking the silence suddenly.
She was as smart as her age suggested. When someone was a thousand years old, he wouldn't doubt that they had experienced way more things than he had. Or maybe she had just reincarnated into another person's body recently as Sukuna had with him.
But she wasn't wrong. He'd gone through so much in less than a year and he hated how it ate him alive, only to push it all down and concentrate on completing his mission to eat the rest of the fingers he had remaining at those times.
It was too much to handle. He had lost Junpei and Nanamin. As for Nobara, he didn't know exactly what her state was, but it was still kept under wraps for now.
He saw Junpei, Nanamin, and Nobara all get warped by Mahito's cursed technique. And every time the nightmares played in slow motion in his head, he hid it between the deepest crevasses of his brain.
The way Junpei's body morphed into a transfigured human, the way Nanamin's body blew away from the base of his spine in a flash, and how the side of Nobara's face splashed across the air, mingled with a horrific amount of blood made him sick with grief.
During Yuji's battle with Mahito for the second time in Shibuya, Todo had lost an arm because of him. He had killed hundreds of innocent people by Sukuna's takeover, who employed a domain expansion over Shibuya within a 140-meter radius.
Inumaki had also lost an arm because of Sukuna, which was really just him, but out of control. Gojo Satoru was sealed away, though there was still hope for him now that the angel was surprisingly nice. From his perspective, he caused everything so far.
He wasn't strong enough to contain Sukuna. He wasn't strong enough to save everyone. All he did was watch everything unfold before him as their lives were taken away or as they were horribly injured.
He claimed he was just a cog in the circle of sorcerers to eradicate curses, but was he really? Hana had reawakened all the memories he had actually just been pushing away, buried between the valves of his heart.
Why did he have to be executed anyway?
Why was he alive?
Didn't his grandpa tell him to help people?
Who had he helped so far in his war to gain 20 fingers?
Did he really have to die after he ate all 20 fingers?
What if he could contain Sukuna the whole time without him coming out to kill anyone?
Why was he so scared to die, despite all the agony he's caused?
Fingers came into his blurry vision as tears were wiped away from his face. The smoothness of her fingers brushed up against his face and dried the wet streaks trickling down his cheeks.
"I can't... I just can't help but feel like everything in my world's been turned upside down ever since I stepped foot into the world of curses and sorcerers. I don't want to die, but I also can't stay back while I watch everyone else die. Yet all I've done is kill and injure everyone around me... Why can't I save anyone within my grasp?" Yuji shook his head as he suddenly stood up, causing Hana to jump slightly at his abrupt movement.
He wiped his own tears away and looked down at Hana while his lips trembled in rage and frustration. But his anguish got the better of him as he looked away in shame. He couldn't bring himself to look at her the way he was now. "I-I gotta get some fresh air."
He briskly walked away, but the moment he reached the doorway, she grabbed his wrist firmly. Out of shock, Yuji gazed into her eyes for any telltale signs of the reason why. But the look on her face was one of compassion and empathy, instead of the opposite reaction he had been hoping he would get for suddenly walking out on her.
"Stop holding it in," Hana whispered softly as she pulled him closer to her, wrapping her arms and wings around Yuji's body. A hug was what it was called.
Yuji's body shook as he let his frustrations out. He hated it. He hated how weak he was and how everyone he knew was disappearing, leaving him all alone.
He wanted to help everyone, but his two hands could only help so many people at once. When it was his time to go, he wanted to be surrounded by others, but with how alone Yuji always felt, he felt like the embers dying from a fire. Nobody could really say they were there, watching it as it died out.
Hana looked down at him when his body stopped quivering. She tenderly patted him on the head and looked outside the door with a look of caution just in case anyone dangerous stepped in.
When he had calmed down, Yuji made his way out of her hug and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes.
"You're strong, vessel of Sukuna. Make sure to help others."
Yuji nodded his head. He didn't know he needed it. There were many days he wanted to break down, and even though it wouldn't bring back anyone from the dead or undo all the damage he's inflicted, he was relieved to let it all out to someone.
"Uh... Hana? I need your help to free my sensei, Gojo, so could you help me out on that?"
Hana nodded her head as she tapped him on the shoulders with her hands to guide him outside the door. "If that's what you want, I won't deny that request."
Yuji nervously twiddled around with his thumbs as he formulated his next request. "A-Also, could I feel your wings on me again?"
Hana smiled as her wing gently caressed him. "You're a needy one, aren't you? Just say it and I'll see how well I can accommodate your needs."