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Yuuta fights because he can’t stand the idea of people being hurt. Because he wants the best for the people he loves. Because he’s hurt people, and he wants to make up for it. He fights because he thinks he should.
He wonders why other people fight. On nights when he can’t sleep, he lays awake at night thinking about other people’s motivations. Why is Toge at Jujutsu Tech? Why had his predecessors ever stepped foot on these grounds? Why are you risking your life like this? Why is Megumi doing this?
Now, as he scans the boy with pink hair, he wonders why Yuji fights. You’ve described him before, over the phone and in letters - you’ve talked about him.
You think he’s the future. Yuuta thinks you’re an idealist, but he also thinks that without idealists - the world would be better off dead and society would be stagnant. He thinks minds like yours are necessary just as he thinks minds like Maki’s are necessary.
You’ve talked about Yuji’s kind heart. His giving nature. His strength both physically and emotionally. Yuji isn’t the smartest, you say, but he’s the nicest person someone could ever meet. He thinks Megumi agrees - because why else would Megumi have saved him?
Yuuta can deduce that that is the truth. He trusts Megumi’s judgment, but more importantly, he trusts your words.
If Megumi jumps off a cliff then he’s done the due diligence to ensure he’ll land safely, so Yuuta would jump, too. But if you tell Yuuta to jump off a cliff, it’s because you know something pleasant is waiting at the bottom - so Yuuta would jump first.
He knows Yuji is nice because that’s what you say. He knows Yuji isn’t the monster Sukuna is because that’s what you say. He knows you like Yuji as a person, so Yuji must be someone Yuuta would like, too.
Yuuta can see you in Yuji. Yuji’s desperation to win, he can tell something keeps Yuji from giving in. Yuji reminds him of Maki in that way and Panda in his easy charisma. Yuji is definitely someone that could’ve been dear to him if they’d met under different circumstances.
You aren’t here right now, but he can hear your voice. Pleading with him to stop. To give it up. To join you and Yuji and the others.
Yuuta knows how important Yuji is to you and Megumi and Maki and Toge and Panda, but he has to hold up the act - just for a little longer.
…
Yuji gets a few moments to really look at Yuuta while the cursed spirit holds him still. He couldn’t focus on him when he’d first arrived, too busy trying not to let the creeping sensation of Yuuta’s cursed energy send him spiraling. Then they fought, and Yuji was more worried about making it out alive rather than what shoes Yuuta was wearing.
They’re white shoes. The kinds where the laces don’t look tight, so it’s easy to slip them on and off. They’re dirty, though. A thin veil of brown lines the bottoms.
Yuji’s eyes flick up to Yuuta’s face, wanting to know what had you so enamored.
You’d described Yuuta multiple times. He’s shy but full of life. He’s got a round face. He’s got rosy lips that frame a thin smile.
Megumi and Maki said he had big bug eyes full of hope and optimism. And Maki gagged after she said it.
“Sappy shithead,” she'd called him.
But she was smiling as she said it - faintly so, but still smiling.
Yuuta’s eyes are big, but the brightness seems to have dulled slightly. He looks disappointed. Intimidating. Less so doe, more stag.
There are heavy bags clinging to his eyes.
His face isn’t all that round or boyish, Yuji thinks. He’s probably grown into his looks since you last got to see him. He knows that Yuuta cares about you because the stories you tell show that he does - and besides, Yuuta never got to know him the way you did. So he’s sure Yuuta’s not an evil person, but when the blade is split hairs away from piercing his chest and Yuji’s trying to pull away, it takes endless self-control to not curse the name Okkotsu, Yuuta.
He’s sure Yuuta’s a good guy because you’ve said that he is. Yuji almost wishes he could meet him in a different way, just to get a sense of what you meant.
…
Yuuta doesn’t know Yuji that well, but he grins when the boy wakes up. His eyes wide and breathing ragged.
“People I care about - care about you,” it’s all Yuuta can think to say when Yuji asks why he’d helped.
You would be so hurt if he killed Yuji. You wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes. Besides, Yuuta was once where Yuji was - he can’t execute the boy. He can’t watch that burn of betrayal and anguish ignite in your eyes.
You rush Yuuta when you see him. You squeeze your arms around his waist and you stuff your face into the material of his white uniform shirt.
“Do you like him?” you whisper.
Yuuta nods as Megumi and Yuji have their own reunion. He doesn’t feel so closely attached to Yuji, but in a relative sense, he does like him because you like him. A friend of yours is a friend of Yuuta’s and someone you admire is someone Yuuta will protect until his heart is laid to rest.
“I do,” he murmurs, squeezing your body as closely into his as he can manage.
He missed you.
“I knew it,” because you also know that Yuji is the future of jujutsu - and anybody with a heart should like him. And Yuuta will believe that because you do.
“Yeah, yeah, you called it.”
He brushes his lips to your forehead. Yuuta will care for the people that the people he loves care for, and that includes Yuji.
Because Megumi and Maki and Toge and Panda have built a standard, but you have your way with words that just manage to wrap Yuuta around your finger. If Megumi thinks Yuji is trustworthy then that’s because Megumi has built that relationship over time and experience. If you think Yuji is someone worth believing in, then that’s because you know something incredible will come out of it - so Yuuta will, too.