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"Ouch!" Itadori Yuji yelped as pain shot through his body. A five pound pomeranian was firmly attached to his calf, drawing blood with its surprisingly sharp teeth.
"Stop! Ouch!" He exclaimed again as he shook his leg to dislodge the rabid dog. He still was unsure how they had ended up in this situation to begin with. Yuji's eyes drifted down to Nobara's hammer, which had very recently been in the pomeranian's mouth.
This hadn't been at all what anyone expected when the Principal had issued the mission to dispatch a second grade curse hive located in a wooded area only a handful of kilometers from the school grounds. It should have been a relatively easy mission with a short travel time and a return window before midnight.
Gojo had warned, or moreso mentioned, that the curse was ‘peculiar’, though as far as the three of them were concerned… there wasn’t a such thing as a ‘typical’ curse. Every one had some sort of caveat or quirk that kept the sorcerers on their toes. It didn’t mean difficult. It didn’t mean mind blowing. So when they’d seen the main body of the hive none of them were too shocked to see a gargantuan, hairy beast that looked more werewolf than anything else they could describe. The hair was long, auburn and wiley, covering its eyes and torso and hiding its every limb except the four front legs and toothy, elongated snout, which were decidedly nude. It was only vaguely humanoid and ran for cover as its pack of violent, hairy, miniature clones aggressively bit at their ankles and heels with every intention of slowing and then swarming.
The tactic wasn’t inventive or interesting in the least. Megumi’s shikigami kept the majority of the fuzzballs at bay, while Nobara had decided to chase the main body, leaving Yuji to do… really whatever.
But by the time he’d caught up with Nobara he’d found no demon at all, no fragments or even any lingering energy. He’d seen only a faint smoke… and the dog that was now gnawing at his leg.
“Itadori!” The shout was preceded by hammering footfalls, though Fushiguro Megumi was not out of breath as he appeared in the dark corner where the trees formed a solid semicircle against a wall of granite. Instead he was only confused. And perhaps a bit concerned. “Are you okay? This is no time to be playing with dogs.”
"Does it look like I'm playing?" Yuji threw his hands violently in the air in protest. Of course he hadn't attempted to remove the fangs from his leg, for that would have made sense. "Help me out? You're the animal whisperer, right? "
"Shikigami aren't normal animals!" Megumi protested, despite his approach to the rear. "You're lucky I'm not afraid of getting bit by a dog!"
Unless it had rabies. It was acting pretty aggressively. Did it have rabies? Yuji might be resistant to poison and disease, but Megumi wasn't. This might be a huge mistake.
"Keep it occupied!"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Yuji growled, blood now trickling down his leg.
But just as he said something, the tiny pomeranian dropped his mauled leg and turned tail. She moved back to Nobara's hammer and picked it up. It looked funny as the miniature mutt pranced, tail proudly high, up to Megumi.
Which brought another question to Yuji's mind, now that he wasn't fighting the extreme pain in his leg. "Where is Nobara?"
The more stoic of the two shifted and glanced down at the dog, who was very pointedly asking for a lift, though why he wasn't entirely certain. "I… don't think you're going to like the answer, now that I've had a moment to scan the area."
But he needed a touch more proof, and as Megumi lifted the small dog up underneath the front legs he held her out to Yuji. "Don't piss her off again, I have to look for something. If you're lucky I'm wrong, but the evidence shows you being careful now that she's armed."
Yuji furrowed his brows, cautiously eyeing the dog. "What do you mean? Why is it holding Nobara's hammer? Do you think this thing is her?"
It was a viable response considering how badly Yuji was bleeding from tiny puncture marks on his calf.
"Just hold her or you're going to get smacked with that hammer and I can assure you it will be worse than your leg." Megumi insisted.
Reluctantly, Yuji reached out for the dog. "I still don't understand how a dog can use a hammer."
Before the words were fully out of Yuji's lips, Nobara's hammer swung downward, connecting solidly with the boy's skull. The impact was not that of a regular impact, but instead, Nobara's full cursed energy filled the swing.
Unfortunately, the stunned Yuji crumpled under the impact and dropped the dog simultaneously.
"Alright. I'm over this." Yuji whimpered.
"You really must have made her mad." The other teen mused aloud. "I'm going to look for her clothes. If there's any curse residue that's where it will be lingering. Let me know if anything changes."
Yuji lay flat on his stomach, prone in the same position he had fallen. He felt the pomeranian climb onto him, settling smugly on his back. What was really confusing him, especially now with his head throbbing, was Megumi’s words. "What'dya mean 'made her mad'?"
After summoning a dog of his own, Megumi turned and flattened his gaze. "When you ran over here to follow Kugisaki after that curse… what did you do? What did you see?"
"Nothing. I was following Nobara, and she was ahead of me," Yuji trailed off, grabbing his head. "I lost track of her for a minute. Then smoke, I think? And then there was a tiny dog with Nobara's hammer and then it bit me."
"Did that happen right here?" Megumi spun once, but saw nothing, and instead picked up something off the ground. It was one of the nails Nobara often used in conjunction with the hammer and was not something she dropped lightly.
"Uh, yeah." Yuji shifted, dislodging the dog which grumbled as it moved to sit on the ground. Still, Yuji felt like he was missing something. Did Sukuna come out? He did always lose track of time in those instances.
Well at least he hadn't seen something lewd.
"I'm sure it's a misunderstanding." Fushiguro held out the nail for the dog to sniff.
A sharp and almost squeaky noise came from the dog, tail wagging excitedly.
"Wait. You’re telling me that is NOBARA?!?" Yuji sat up straight, eyes widening as it finally started to sink in.
Ignoring his teammate, Megumi instead focused on the large black dog, which glanced at the pomeranian then back at its master. "I'm looking for any other traces." He instructed, after which the dog trotted off a few feet before starting to dig.
Despite Itadori's rambling protest and the small dog yapping in response, it was about a meter down that the dog finally uncovered a damp, filthy uniform that resembled their companion's typical dress.
"Buried?" Fushiguro refrained from touching the article, as the goop dripping from it clearly was cursed in nature. "And covered in… if I didn't know better I'd say that's dog drool. But it's curse ectoplasm. No doubt."
"Gojo is gonna murder us!" Yuji hopped back to his feet and joined Megumi where he was staring at Nobara's discarded clothing. "What happened? Can we change her back?"
The black haired sorcerer gave his teammate a very serious look, almost edging on a scowl. "Have you ever known a curse transformation to be temporary?"
Itadori's mind snapped back to one of his worst memories. The bubbling transformation of Junpei into ... the beast. The pain and sorrow that had filled him. There was no changing someone back. That had been made clear.
However.... "I don't think she's in pain or tormented? Do you? " Besides the obvious fact she was posed at Yuji.
"She was attacking you but-" but compared to the majority of curses they'd encountered there wasn't any of the usual markers. Yuji, for once, was right. That and there was one other difference that Megumi found particularly striking. "There's no curse energy on her body except when she hit you with the hammer. Like any intact sorcerer. And the fact she went after you like a rabid beast… it is Nobara we're talking about."
Immediately a bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
"But I still don't get it? Like. If she's not a cursed spirit, what is she?" Yuji went to pick up the small dog, and this time Kugasaki let him with only a small bark of complaint.
That wasn't a question Megumi could answer at the given time. The smart answer would be to withdraw and call one of their superiors at the school, but…
"It's just a second grade curse, right? If the curse had anything to do with this, exorcizing it should lift the spell." Glad Nobara hadn't attacked him as well, Megumi’s expression flattened slightly so that it resembled determination. "I say we complete our mission. Figure it out from there."
Nobara Pup baked in affirmation, the hair along her spine standing on edge, making her look like she had a mini fauxhawk.
"I think that's as good an idea as any!" Yuji agreed, looking around at Megumi’s shikigami. "Does Divine Dog have any ideas? This is kinda his area of expertise? Right? "
The dog had since dropped the filthy clothes and was sitting there with head tilted in a way that wasn't typical for the beast, resembling more of an average dog than powerful shikigami.
For a long moment Megumi went silent. Listening. Focusing.
"We just need to find the big, hairy demon. It's close, but somehow it's concealed. Maybe in a lair or some sort of innate barrier. We know when threatened it sends out minions and that it is classified as a hive curse. Also, when cornered it's possible that it somehow transfigures it's attackers into… small dogs?" There was another pause. "So either we're right on top of it or one of the known facts is wrong. It's not the same as other transfiguration we've seen this far, nor is the hive aspect as clear and cut as previous encounters. In fact the strength of the abilities and curse energy seems… less. It's abilities are halves. That's why nothing is quite right, which means this concealment should be the same."
"You are both dense."
For a moment no one knew what was going on, the disembodied voice was familiar but they couldn't place it.Then Yuji looked to the back of his hand, seeing the familiar toothed grin that occasionally tore through his flesh in random places. Sukuna.
"What do you mean?" Yuji questioned looking down at the mouth on his hand.
"The Curse is right in front of your eyes."
Yuji glanced up and saw, almost to his surprise, that the curse was standing in a crouched position on the ridge right in front of them. The only thing visible underneath the fur was a large, sharp toothed grin.
Megumi’s eyes followed Yuji's to the rock face and felt a crippling wave of embarrassment when the curse stared right back at him. It was still not emitting a trackable amount of energy, but it was right there.
Beneath the teens' feet Nobara pup began a furious fit of high pitched yaps.
"Looks like it was right under our noses." Megumi wasn't even going to need Totality for this one. The black dog and Yuji's Black Flash should be enough to put the thing out of its misery. "Let's end it!"
Yuji didn’t have to be told twice. It was like a switch had been flipped and the innocence faded into his fighting stance. Now that the beast was revealed, he would be easy prey. “Bet I get the killing blow!”
"Don't be an idiot." Came the flat pan retort, Megumi refusing to be reeled in by any of Yuji's stupid games. "It's succeed or fail, our team mate's life may very well be on the line."
Without further hesitation the large dog at his side bolted forward, claws and teeth slashing at the rock, leaving deep, seething, purplish black gashes in its wake.
Yuji was a beat away, fist colliding with flesh. The curse rippled as the second burst of Yuji's power erupted. He hadn't gotten the hang of his new powers entirely but that would not stop him.
As the first blows concluded the rock disguise entirely evaporated, leaving the beast, and a new wave of hairball minions, bleeding but still barely alive.
"Impressive it could hide from us, I'm guessing that's the only reason this thing was considered second grade at all." Megumi kept his stance but made no motion to move closer or use hand to hand abilities.That was what Yuji was there for.
In moments it would be over, anyway.
As divine dog tore into the minions, Yuji lunged forward once more. "Child's play! "
Fist connected once more, and this time, the curse exploded and the remaining minions disappeared with a scream. In the mayhem, smoke and confusion, it took a moment to realize that Yuji was now also missing.
Instead, where he had been was a small, black, scraggly looking dog that resembled an affenpinscher standing in a pile of Yuji's clothes.
Megumi spun around when he heard the body thump, right as it hissed away in twisting strands of blackened ash. The world around seemed to still-
But for the yapping dog at his feet, tripping over the fabric to reach him and hop up, tail wagging as it stood up against his leg. The dog's black fur was suspiciously salmon colored at the tips, almost as if someone had given the poor creature a bad bleach job...
"You… have to be kidding me!"
Soon to join the over-excited affenpinscher was the pomeranian. Now they were both barking and asking for up, as if it was a competition to get Megumi’s attention.
…
"Well, this is quite the situation, isn't it?" Beneath Gojo's words was a shaky, stifled chuckle, one that had persevered despite the healing attempts, disenchantments and every form of reversal magic the senior members of Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College had in their arsenals. "Maybe if they don't change back we can make them the school mascots!"
Which would be much to the chagrin of the school board, who'd been reluctant to involve Satoru at all, let alone let him feed and board the two afflicted sorcerers.The prodigy was not to be deterred, of course. Not once he'd set his mind to it.
"The school's not gonna agree to that." Megumi sighed, flat resignation seeping from every pore. "They're still sorcerers, you know. And Itadori still acts as Sukuna's vessel… whatever that would look like, right now."
Gojo took his chin between his forefinger and thumb as he hummed contemplation for a while. "You know, I think this might work in our favor!" Gojo exclaimed as he grabbed the Yuji dog, mostly black with pink blond tips.
Yuji wagged his tail excitedly as Gojo coddled him like a baby. "There's no way the council will kill him now! And Sukuna seems to be controlled under whatever this cursed energy did to the two of them."
"Do you… even know how to take care of a dog?" Megumi’s protest fell on deaf ears as their senpai and Yuji pup were cheek to cheek. Gojo absolutely reveling in the dog's soft(?) fur. "They're covered in mud and sage. Do you really want that in… wherever it is you live?"
Gojo was silent for a moment, face completely stoic. For a brief moment, he was frozen in time. The only thing breaking the picture was Yuji puppy furiously wagging his tail in the teacher's arms.
All at once, he returned to life, a mischievous smile on his lips. "That doesn't matter. But first. A bath!"
Gojo had never been allowed a dog. But now, these weren't actually dogs, they were his students! It was his duty as their dear teacher to take care of them in whatever facet he was allowed. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
"Wait!"
Not one to listen, Gojo skipped away at a surprisingly swift pace, a dog under each arm.
…
Eventually Megumi caught up to Gojo at the dormitory showers, of all places, his weapons filed right behind him in the form of Nanami Kento and Kiyotaka Ijichi. While it had taken a moment to backtrack and retrieve the two from the main building, Megumi was all but certain he wouldn't be a match for Gojo on his own. Better to have the level head of Ijichi and Nanami's unrivaled ability to be the lone person Gojo even pretended to regard. Luckily Gojo was yet to go inside, and thus they were able to flank around and block off the entrance.
"This is all new levels of student endangerment!" Ijichi stammered, heel to heel with the two sorcerers, effectively forming a wall.
“Endangerment!” Gojo gasped as he pushed past the two and he shook his head. “Since when has a bath ever hurt anyone?”
“I can think of a long list of things that-” Nanami cut off as Gojo disappeared into the bath without a second glance back at the trio.
It was only moments after the sound of running water came to their ears that there was a yelp, a scream and two loud smacks. Before anyone could investigate, as they had been too stunned to do anything else, two figures appeared. The first was Gojo, soaked to the bones with a large, red, hand shaped mark on his cheek.
Itadori Yuji appeared just behind his teacher, stark naked, no longer a dog, dripping wet with a matching red mark on his face. He looked stunned as he blinked at his classmate first, and then to the two other older sorcerers before him.
Nanami shifted his glasses on his face as he cleared his throat. “Well now. Who would have guessed that regular tap water was the cure to the curse?”
"I'll… go get some pants." Ijichi said, a bit uncomfortably, though it was better than trying to consider how no one had considered cleaning them off before this point in time, or even used water in one of the attempted cures.
"And some soap." Megumi suggested. "Still smells like wet dog."
Yuji blinked, staring at his friend with the confusion of, well, only Yuji. "What are you talking about! I don't smell like-" but upon further investigation and a quick sniff of himself, Yuji felt himself blush.
"Why do I smell like a wet dog?"
"Do you seriously not remember being a dog for almost twelve solid hours?!" While it was Ijichi who spoke, he was not the only one who's entire body stiffened and wore a look of absolute disbelief and horror. Megumi had enough pride, however, that it was only half as exaggerated as his senior.
Yuji blinked, as if it was physically straining to remember anything past the last ten minutes. "I did? What about Nobara? Is that why-"
Itadori blinked as if something had suddenly made sense. "Is that why we were naked together?!?" As if he had been considering any other option from the start.
"You know what they say." Gojo said with a snicker as he slouched over to drape arms over the shoulders of Ijichi and Megumi, much to the relief of a very prickly Kento. "A dog by any other name is still a mother-flippin' dog."
Then he paused, putting his thumb to his chin and essentially choking the glasses clad man beneath his arm. The addition of the red handprint on his face made it even more difficult to take him seriously. "Or is it once a dog always a dog?"
"What does it even matter!? Just say he's a dog and get it over with!" Megumi said, shoving the lanky arm off his shoulder.
"But I thought I wasn't a dog anymore?" Yuji turned in place, looking for his tail.